November 6, 2006 There was a heated debate among the teachers of the Law of Moses over the question

Which of the commandments is the greatest? They were not just speaking about the 10 commandments; the 10 commandments had been expanded to 248 prescriptions and 346 prohibitions. When Jesus is asked this question He answers with the clarity and simplicity of the Wisdom of God. He gives us the great commandment; the law of Love: You shall love the Lord your God, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. He joins to it a second commandment: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The scribe who asked this question of Jesus begins as an enemy, but when as he sees the wisdom of Jesus he ends up close to the Kingdom of God. The law of Love is simple to understand, but it is difficult to put into practice. So many things pull at us, such as, selfishness, laziness and pride. We so easily get things out of order. There is a quote from Pope John Paul that says: Love God as God, love man as man, and love things as things. Our problem is that we love things as if they were God. We need to examine our conscience by asking ourselves, how much time and effort do I spend on such things as clothing, cars and my entertainment? Am I giving possessions the place that belongs to God? I can easily love people more than God and desire their affection and good opinion more than I desire to do the will of God and seek His love. It is no small matter to have the right order in our loves. Without neglecting to love our neighbor and do deeds of charity, we have to love God as God; to love Him as He deserves. The best way to do so is what we are about right here and nowcelebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Anyone can get a group of people together to read the Bible, pray and sing hymns, but in the Holy Eucharist we are doing something divine, something commanded by God Himself. Jesus told us to do this in memory of me at the Last Supper on the night before He died for our salvation. We need the Holy Eucharist! That is why attending Sunday and Holy Day Masses is a serious obligation. If we miss Holy Mass, except for a serious reason, we commit a mortal sin. Then we need to go to Confession before we receive Holy Communion. But it is sad if we look at the Holy Eucharist as merely an obligation; it would be the greatest joy in our lives if we really understood what was happening here upon the altar.

It is an infinite fountain of grace for us! We need to keep coming back to it, drinking from it, if possible even on a daily basis. Over the next several weeks I want to reflect on different aspects of this Queen of the Sacraments with you in the homily. We need to grow in our understanding of this gift which brings the Sacrifice of Calvary and Jesus Himself to us. The holy Eucharist is the reason that the Church and the priesthood exist. Vatican Council II said it is the source and summit of the spiritual life. When I began my theology studies at Kenrick Seminary, I ran across a series of talks given to St. Louis priests by Archbishop Fulton Sheen. In them I heard something that changed my life. He spoke about the Holy Mass as the renewal of the one sacrifice of Christ on Calvary in the unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass. In all my years of Catholic Education and 4 years of seminary, this was the first time I heard anyone speak of the Holy Mass in these terms. Even the word sacrifice was rarely, if ever, used. I began to understand that Jesus wanted His sacrifice to be, not just a distant memory that happened long ago in a place far away, but something that was present here and now. When Jesus said to the apostles, Do this in memory of me they immediately grasped an idea from their religious practice as Jews. Moses was told by God to have a yearly ritual meal called the Passover. When they ate this meal and performed the ritual they didnt just remember that their ancient ancestors were freed from slavery and led to the Promised Land, but they actually relived it. They were part of the original Passover, no matter how long ago it happened. Jesus told the apostles that this was the Blood of the new and everlasting covenant that will be shed for you and for all. His sacrifice was meant to be renewed and relived in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Now every time that the priest takes the bread and quotes the words of Jesus: This is my body and separately takes the chalice of wine and says: This is the cup of my blood Calvary is renewed; we are there at the foot of the cross with Mary, John and Mary Magdalene. The grace of Redemption is poured forth into our hearts once again; we are washed clean by the Blood of Christ. Now that we have our large crucifix hung, we are reminded even more vividly about the sacrifice of love that Jesus made of Himself and still does in the Sacrifice of the Altar.

(Quote from the Council of Trent in the CCC #1366.) We are commanded to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and we can do so in the Holy Mass. However, when you think about it, isnt it true that it is not so much about our loving God, but His loving us and pouring out the grace of salvation upon our souls?

November 12, 2006 Arent you amazed at the faith and generosity of the two widows in our Readings this Sunday? The widow in the First Reading from the Book of Kings knows that she has just enough wheat and oil to make one last loaf of bread for herself and her son and then they will starve to death because of the terrible famine that is upon the land. Then the Prophet Ezekiel comes to her and tells her to get him a drink of water and make him a loaf of bread; she trusts in the prophet of God and gives him the last of their food. The miracle happens in which the grain doesnt run out, nor the oil run dry. Her faith is rewarded. This has long been seen as a miracle pointing to the Holy Eucharist in the New Testament. Jesus feeds us, not with earthly bread, but with the Bread of LifeHis very own Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in Holy Communion. He feeds us again and again with this great Sacrament and His grace and mercy are never exhausted. Last week I began a series of homilies on the Holy Eucharist by speaking of the Holy Mass as a sacrifice. In this sacrament the bloody sacrifice of Jesus on the altar of the Cross is renewed in the unbloody sacrifice of Christ on our altar. Think of Calvary as the source of a great river of grace and mercy that flows through human history until the end of time. Each time the Church celebrates the Holy Mass it is like plunging into that river no matter where or when it happens. We are united to what happened on the Cross in this act of worship that God Himself has commanded. There is an infinite source of grace in each Holy Eucharist; we could become saints by attending one Mass. This doesnt happen for two reasons. First, because even though the grace is unlimited our capacity is very limited. It is like turning on the water facet with an unlimited supply of water, but we can only drink a glass or two and then we can take no more at that time, even though we will need more water later. We can only receive so much grace each time because of our limited capacity and then must come back again and again, certainly weekly, if not daily. Some of the saints ate no other food than their daily Holy Communionsuch as St. Catherine of Sienna and St. Pio of Pietrelcina. Their capacity was so great that even their bodily need for food was satisfied by this spiritual food.

Secondly, we dont receive all that we can from the Holy Sacrifice because of our sins. Sin diminishes our ability to receive Gods gifts and can completely cut us off from them. The Second Reading of the Letter to the Hebrews says that Jesus didnt have to offer Himself repeatedly like the Old Testament sacrifices. There were many animals offered in sacrifice in the Temple each day. Jesus sacrifice is different from the one offered by the High Priest who enters each year into the sanctuary with blood that is not his own; if that were so, he would have had to suffer repeatedly from the foundation of the world. Jesus gave himself once for all time. His sacrifice is perfect. In the Mass it is as if each time the priest offers the bread which becomes His Body and the wine which becomes His Blood that Jesus shows the wounds of His hands and feet and side to His Heavenly Father and says look what I have done for them. The reason that the Mass is the perfect prayer is because through it we enter into the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. We do not pray on our own, for in the Holy Eucharist we are united to the prayer of the Son of God who offers Himself to His Father in the love of the Holy Spirit. The Father accepts this prayer and offering because it is perfect, unlike our prayers which are so often filled with selfishness and pride. Jesus word in the Garden of Gethsemane becomes our own: Not my will, but thy will be done. At the end of the Eucharistic Prayer the priest sums it up by saying: Through Him, with Him, in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours Almighty Father, for ever and ever. You will sometimes hear people say Why do I have to go to Mass, I dont get anything out of it? OR The Mass is boring. If you come to Mass to be entertained, like when you watch a television show or listen to your favorite music or play a video game you are going to be disappointed. We are going to try and make the music beautiful, the preaching relevant, the vestments and the appointments of the Church reverent, but the Mass is about much more than those things. It is not primarily about getting something, but about giving something. It is about giving God the worship that is due to Him. Although the main work of sacrifice belongs to Jesus, we cannot come to the Sacrifice of the Mass empty handed. We have to bring something. If we were to say, thanks Jesus for dying on the Cross for me, but then refuse to bring our own sacrifices, we could be called nothing else but ungrateful. We have to bring God the sacrifices of our daily work done well, the good deeds we did for others, the times that we overcame our

temptations, our daily prayers and penances. We have to join our sacrifices to His in each holy Mass. The widow in the Gospel is the perfect example. Many other people were making donations to the temple that were great and notable, but the poor widow makes a donation that no one but God would notice. The widows mite was less than a penny; t wouldnt really buy anything for the temple. Yet Jesus saw it for its true value because while the others gave and it didnt hurt their lifestyle, her offering was all she had to life on. It was a real sacrifice! We need to bring our sacrifices, no matter how small, and unite them to Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Then we will begin to appreciate the meaning and learn to deeply love the Holy Mass.

November 19, 2006 As we come to the end of the Church year and then begin anew with the season of Advent in just two weeks, the readings always direct us to the end of time. We think about Judgment Day and the need to be ready to meet our Maker. In todays Gospel, Jesus says on that day they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory, and then He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky. The first Christians looked with joy and expectation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, not with fear, and that is expressed in the Sacred Liturgy in a number of places. The priest prays these words after the Our Father in each Holy Mass: Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. When we celebrate the Holy Eucharist we are not only thinking about the Second Coming of Jesus, but of His coming to us in Holy Communion. The past two weeks I have been speaking on different aspects of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. First, about the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary that is renewed in the unbloody Sacrifice, when the priest offers the bread which becomes His Body and the wine which becomes His Blood. The sacramental signs signify death, for when body is separated from blood you have death. The one sacrifice of Calvary is renewed upon our altar in each Holy Mass so that we are touched by the grace of redemption here and now. Then, we remembered that the prayers that we offer unite us to the offering of the Son of God to His Heavenly Father in the love of the Holy Spirit. Our prayers and offering are lifted up into the sacrifice of Jesus. The Holy Eucharist allows us to enter into the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity. Every time we come to the Holy Eucharist we encounter the living God and are touched by Him. I have only mentioned the high points of these truths, there is so much more that could be said. Now I would like to move on to the teaching of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. We take Jesus at His word when He said at the Last Supper: This is my Body This is my Blood. In the consecration of the Mass, the bread and wine is changed in its substance, only the things you see, touch and taste remain the same. Before the priest says the words of consecration

you have ordinary unleavened bread and wine. Afterward, they are the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. It is really the Lord who comes to us in Holy Communion to become a part of us so that we can be united to Him. Archbishop Burke said it so well in his column: In the Eucharistic Sacrifice, our Lord Jesus Christ, seated at the right hand of the Father in eternal glory, descends to earth, renewing the outpouring of His life for us on the Cross. From His glorious pierced Heart, He offers us His Body and Blood, the heavenly food and drink which sustain us along the way of our life pilgrimage to our lasting home with Him in heaven. In the year 700, an Italian priest was having doubts about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and he decided to make a pilgrimage to Rome, hoping that his faith would be strengthened. He stopped at the town of Lanciano, Italy and celebrated Holy Mass the next morning. When he said the words of consecration the bread and wine visibly changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. All the people at Mass exclaimed that it was a Eucharistic miracle and as you can imagine that the priest had no more doubts. They put the Flesh in a monstrance like we do for Eucharistic Adoration and the Blood in a crystal chalice. You can still go there and see this Eucharistic miracle to this day. In the 1970s Pope Paul VI asked a team of doctors and scientists to investigate this miracle and they found out that the flesh was human flesh and not just from the skin, but a slice of the heart muscle. When the Blood which had dried into five pellets was liquefied it had all the qualities of freshly shed blood. You may know that blood donated to a blood drive has to be refrigerated; otherwise within a half hour it is nothing more than red liquid. The liquefied Blood of the Eucharistic miracle had all the proteins and enzymes of newly shed blood. Eucharistic miracles are used by our Lord to strengthen our faith and there are over 100 of them accepted by the Church. Jesus comes to us in the Holy Eucharist so that we can be united to Him in a most personal and loving way. Sometimes a mother will look at her sweet, little baby and say I could just eat you up! Far from being gruesome it expresses a desire to be united to her baby. Jesus allows us to encounter Him through Holy Communion. Many Catholics have lost their belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. I think that many have just not been taught. Even our language can betray us. How many times have I heard people say: Are

they distributing wine at Mass? OR Did you take wine at Mass? There is no Catholic Church in the world that distributes WINE at Holy Communion. The substance has been changed during the Consecration. It is no longer wine, it is the Precious Blood; it is no longer simply bread, it is the Body of Christ OR the Bread of Life OR the Bread of Angels. To call it bread or wine is false. Each particle of the consecrate Host is the whole Christ. Each drop of the Precious Blood is the whole ChristBody, Blood, Soul and Divinity. That is why we use special vessels called chalices and patens and ciboria that are made out of precious metals to hold the precious Body and Blood of Christ; we use a special cloth called a Corporal to set the chalice and patens upon and Purificators to wipe the chalice. If possible, we use patens when distributing Holy Communion to catch the Host or any particles that may fall. The purification of the sacred vessels is done carefully by the priest or deacon in order to show reverence for Jesus Christ, truly present in the Holy Eucharist. I want to recommend a practice to strengthen your faith in the Holy Eucharist. Every time I drive by a Catholic Church or hospital or convent where I know the Blessed Sacrament is reserved, I make a spiritual communion. I simply say, Jesus, I unite myself to You in the Blessed Sacrament OR My Lord and my God. OR Jesus I trust in You. I recommend this practice to you and ask you to teach your children. We need to develop a greater reverence for Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist.

November 26, 2006 Pontius Pilate knew only one type of king and one type of authority; a king who conquered and subdued peoples, maintaining his power by the force of arms. That is why Jesus had to answer Pilates question Are you the king of the Jews? by stating that My kingdom does not belong to this world . . . . Jesus was a different kind of king. Jesus would rule by sacrificial love; by offering Himself on the Cross as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. He invites us to accept His Kingship; He does not force us like earthly kings. He shows us that the power of love and grace and mercy is the greatest power in the world. Pontius Pilate did not understand this kind of kingship and it is difficult for us at times, too. Jesus answers Pilate, You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice. We have come today to listen to the voice of Jesus Christ our King. Jesus Christ our King is truly present with us right now in the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle. The word tabernacle comes from a Latin word meaning tent. The first temple that was set up by Moses at Gods command was a moveable tent, later King Solomon would build a permanent temple in Jerusalem. To this day we have a cloth veil around the tabernacle reminding us of that tent set up by Moses. In the tent God commanded Moses to set up the Holy of Holies which corresponds to our sanctuary. At the center was the Ark of the Covenant which was a box of wood covered with gold flanked by two adoring angels. It held the 10 Commandments and later the staff of Aaron, the first priest and a pot of the manna, which the Israelites ate while they wandered in the desert. In front of that was the table with the shewbread and the Altar of Sacrifice. The tabernacle light that burns day and night before the Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist reminds us of the six branched, golden lampstand that was burning before Gods Presence in the Ark of the Covenant. We still follow this same pattern that God gave to Moses in Catholic Churches to this day. Last Sunday I said that we take Jesus at His word when He took bread and wine at the Last Supper and said This is my Body This is the cup of my Blood. Jesus told us more that that about the gift of the Holy Eucharist in the Gospel of John, chapter 6. It was a year earlier that He began instruction on the Most Blessed Sacrament. He first worked a miracle that fed thousands of people by multiplying a few loaves and fishesteaching us that He would feed us with the never-ending source of the Holy Eucharist

under the form of bread. Then He told them that I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Then Jesus leads speaks what are the most startling words in the entire Bible: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you shall no have life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life everlasting and I will raise him on the last day. The crowds were appalled by these words which sounded like cannibalism and the Gospel tells us that the large crowds left Him and would no longer follow Him. It was so bad that Jesus turned to the apostles and asked them Will you also leave me? St. Peter, who didnt understand any more than the crowds who left, responded Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life. He believed in Jesus and he knew that Jesus would not ask anything as horrible as cannibalism, but would only ask them to do what was good and true and holy. They would wait a whole year to understand Jesus teaching. The first Christians reflected on this great gift of the Most Blessed Sacrament in order to understand its meaning. They had to develop the words and terminology to describe what happens in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. They said that at the consecration the bread and wine were eucharisted. They took our word Eucharist from the Greek word for thanksgiving to God who created, redeemed and sanctifies us. It was really St. Thomas Acquinas in the 13th century who came up with the best explanation of the miracle that happens in every Holy Mass. He used the word Transubstantiation to explain that at the Consecration of the Mass the very substance of bread and wine becomes the very substance of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. The things that remain are what we sense; he used the word Accidents to describe what we taste, see and feel. After the Consecration we no longer have bread and wine, but the true Presence of Jesus Christ. St. Thomas Acquinas delved into the mystery of the Holy Eucharist that his thinking has never been surpassed. He also gave us Eucharistic Hymns which we use to this day such as Tantum Ergo Sacramentum and Adoro Te Devote and Panis Angelicus. We adore the Lord Jesus Christ our King in the Blessed Sacrament. That is why we dont just come into Church and sit down, we first go down on our knee in adorationa genuflection. It is the same gesture that was used to honor royalty in past times. One time, I remember seeing a man enter a movie theater and genuflect before he sat down. He was probably just distracted, but he certainly had a good habit. Let us be conscious of what we

are doing when we come into Church. Our genuflection should be an act of faith and reverence for Jesus our King. Why does Jesus, as it were, hide in the Blessed Sacrament? He doesnt show us the Eucharist as His visible Flesh and Blood as He did in the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano that I spoke of last week for an obvious reason: we couldnt eat visible flesh and blood without feeling repulsed. There is another more important reason that I want to explain with a true story. Patrick and Bridget. Jesus wants us to love Him for Himself. If we were to see His glory, we could not resist Him. Now we must live by faith, not by sight. Jesus is calling us to follow Him for He is Christ our King!

December 3, 2006 -- First Sunday of Advent The season of Advent causes us to reflect on the two Comings of Christ in the world. The first was silent and noticed by only a few when He was born of the Virgin Mary in the stable of Bethlehem. The Scripture Readings often put us back in time with the ancient Israelites who were longing for the Messiah to come into the world. The prophets, most notably Isaiah and Jeremiah, foretell everything about Him. Jeremiah refers to Jesus in our First Reading when he prophesies: In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land. The Messiah would come from the family tree of King David. Advent is a season of preparation for the birthday of Jesus. The Readings, such as todays Gospel, also cause us to look forward to the Second Coming of Jesus. It will not be silent for there will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay and they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. There is also a third coming of Jesus Christ, which is a personal one to each of us. He comes to us in faith through Holy Mother Church and through the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist. The last four weeks I have been speaking about the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as a sacrifice and a sacrament. We believe that Jesus is truly, really, substantially Present in the Blessed Sacrament. When we enter the Church, we genuflect to Christ the King in the tabernacle; when we receive His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in Holy Communion Jesus comes into our body and soul to be our heavenly Food. We should be filled with reverence and awe as we approach the Lord in Holy Communion! If you think about it, Jesus does not hesitate to enter into a body that is disfigured or eaten away by some terrible disease, as long as the soul is pure. We might hesitate to touch or even look at such a distressful sight, but Jesus comes with joy and light to a pure soul. However, if the most physically fit man or most beautiful woman has a mortal sin upon his soul Jesus finds it horrendous to come into his body and soul in Holy Communion it is a sacrilege on our part. We need to be in the state of grace to receive Holy Communion worthily. Man sees appearances, but God sees to the depth of a soul. This brings us to a problem that has been lamented for many yearsthere is a loss of the sense of sin. Many dont know the difference between right and

wrong others think there is no such thing or simply dont want to admit sins out of pride or ego. I remember many years ago when I was helping with Confessions at a private Catholic school. There was a girl who came to confession, but she couldnt name any sins. So I asked her the usual questions, Did you fight with your brothers or sisters? No. Did you disobey your mom or your dad? No. Did you tell any lies? No. I finally had to just give her a blessing instead of absolution because she couldnt confess any sins. There is a problem with many people today who simply do not want to admit to themselves or anyone that they deliberately do wrong. They have to be perfect and cant have a flaw. It is a great burden to have to be little miss perfect. If you dont know a single thing about me as a person you can say without error that Father Elliott IS A SINNER. Every human being that has ever lived except for Jesus and the Blessed Mother has flaws and commits sins on a daily basis. We are all sinners; why should we be afraid to admit it?! It is not like there is some big surprise. If we can humble ourselves and admit to having faults and sins then the Lord can do so much for us through His mercy in the Sacrament of Penance. Some people say why should I go to Confession? The simplest answer is because it is a sacrament that has been given to us by Jesus for our good. If Jesus thinks that it was important enough to make this action of repentance into one of the seven sacraments, who am I to question Him? The Catholic Church didnt make up this sacrament to make us feel guilty; it was given to us by Jesus as the fruit of His death and resurrection. Read the Gospel of John, chapter 20. On the first Easter Sunday evening Jesus appeared to his apostles for the first time. He said Peace be with you and then showed them His hands and His side. He showed them the wounds from the crucifixionthe nail marks and the wound from the soldiers spear. He wanted to show them that it was really He who had died on Good Friday, but also to show them that the way to peace and reconciliation with God was through His sacrifice. He repeats Peace be with you. Then the Gospel of John says that He breathed on them and said Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; whose sins you hold bound, they are held bound. The apostles went forth and forgave sins in the name of Jesus; the bishops and priests of the Catholic Church continue to do so until the end of time.

If you want to find peace of soul, there is no better way than through the Sacrament of Penance. People are constantly looking for peace and happiness in all the wrong placesthrough material goods, pleasure, drugs, sex, etc. But they will never find it that way. They will always feel empty and restless. We can only find peace through reconciliation with God and striving to do His will each day. Earlier, I mentioned that one true thing you can say about me is that I am a sinner, but you can add a sinner who has been forgiven. I go to confession to another priest on a regular basis because I need it. I am not telling you to do something that I dont practice myself. Confession is good for the soul and a perfect way to prepare spiritually for Christmas. Jesus warns us in the Gospel Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that the day (of His coming) catch you by surprise like a trap. Jesus wants us to wake up and be forgiven, so that we can live like true sons and daughters of God.

December 102nd Sunday of Advent Whenever at king would make a state visit to a city, the people would do more than prepare the best food and the best place to stay. They would actually change the terrain of the roads upon which he would travel. If the roads were rocky and filled with potholes, they were smoothed out; if there were valleys or hills, they were leveled. They wanted to make it as easy as possible for the king to visit. From the beginning of his preaching, John the Baptist takes up this theme of a king coming to Israel. He quotes the Old Testament prophet Isaiah: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth. He wanted the people to know that they had to make their hearts and lives ready to receive the Messiah, the Savior. John the Baptist is the perfect Advent guide for us as we prepare to celebrate Christs birth at Christmas. He told the people that they needed repentance from sin. He instituted a baptism of repentance that symbolized that desire to clear out sin from their hearts. A whole movement of conversion was started in order to prepare for the coming of the Lord. We need to have sin washed from our hearts as well, so that Jesus can enter. The clutter of sin blocks the way of the Lord. We sometimes forget how serious sin truly is. We can pretend that even the most serious sins dont matter. The problem is that they dont just go away; every sin, even the most private has an effect. There are three effects of sin. The first is Eternalevery sin violates the perfect and just law of God and hurts our relationship with Him. I remember many years ago I played the film of St. Bernadettes life for the grade school childrenin it, the saint said that sin was a slap in the face to God. I asked the religion teacher if any of the children had put the saints definition of sin on the test that she gave them. Her response surprised me. She said I hope not Father, that would be too negative! Well, I think that if there is one thing we can be negative about, it is sin!! God is so gracious; He forgives us and wipes away the eternal punishment that our sins deserve whenever we go to the Sacrament of Penance.

Lets remember that punishment that comes from God is not like human punishment. Far too often we inflict punishment because we have been annoyed or inconvenienced or hurt by another. Our punishment is often vindictive or the result of anger. Gods punishment is always medicinal; it is only for our own good. We speak of hurting God or offending God, but He never thinks about His own honor or majesty, He is totally concerned about us. We need to be careful not to project our human ideas onto God. The second effect of sin is that it hurts other people, ultimately the whole Church. Each sin is like throwing a rock into the middle of a smooth pond. It sends out ripples to the very edge. If I loose my temper and yell at someone, the effects are obvious. If I keep that anger within and refuse to forgive, it will hurt the relationship in ways that will be hidden. The other person will often not even know what the problem is. Pope John Paul said that there is not only a Communion of Saints, but a Communion of sin. Each sin lowers the spiritual temperature of the whole Church. The third effect of sin is personal. When I sin and do not repent, I have become less virtuous. Instead of moving forward with a good action, I have taken a step backward. I am not the person that I should be; I am called to be a son of God. If I dont repent and work on my faults, I am not staying the same, I am becoming worse. Wine gets better with age, they say, but the human person will get worse if he does not struggle against his faults and seek the mercy and strength of God. Archbishop Fulton Sheen put it bluntly: Dead bodies float downstream. If I dont struggle against the current, I will be carried away. Sin is not neutral; it pulls me away from heaven. John the Baptist knew that the people were not going to be ready to hear the Savior if their lives did not change. They needed conversion, which means to turn your life around. Conversion is not a one time event. We do speak of people who convert to the Catholic faith; usually at Easter they are baptized and receive the other sacraments. But even for them it is really a beginning. Conversion takes a life time of work. When we examine our consciences, we often find that we commit the same sins over and over again. That is not surprising, since we all have certain areas of weakness and that is where we fall. It is good for us to know what is called, our predominant fault. It may be greed or lust or anger or any of

the capital sins. If I am aware of the root cause of my sins, then I can work on them. God is so good to give us the Sacrament of Penance, so that we can receive His mercy and healing from sin. He wants us to have hope. We dont have to be chained or trapped by our sins. Too many people give up and say I have always been this way, I cant change now. That is not true. God wants to give you freedom and help you to become a child of God. Prepare the way of the Lord by struggling against your sins and making a good Confession this Advent.

December 17, 2006 Third Sunday of Advent The multitude of people took to heart John the Baptists message of repentance in order to prepare the way for the Savior; they wanted to know What should we do? John could have told them to leave their homes and family and live in the dessert in prayer and penance as he was doing. But he didnt say leave the world! He told them to live their lives and do their work in a new way. If you have excess share it with those who are poor; tax collectors should be honest; soldiers should not bully and coerce anyone into giving them money. He told them to live their lives in justice and mercy. That was the best way to prepare for the Messiah. When the crowds thought that it was John who was the Messiah, he said no I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. John used water in his baptism, but through Christian Baptism we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit and the fire of His love. We need to have a new outlook to life. It is easy for us to be trapped in sinful ways of acting and taking others, even our own family members, for granted. The world around us is constantly pulling us away from Christ. John the Baptist is telling us, like the people of his own time, to look at our lives and see if we are truly living as God would have us live. A man was traveling on a train to Chicago when he particularly noticed a large house that must have been newly paintedit was so very white in color. Then traveling home after a snowfall, he passed that same house, but now it looked grimy and soiled next to the pure, white snow. We have to lift up our standards; we cannot be satisfied with the standards of the world around us, they are too low. Our lives have to be pure and truly reflect the grace that was given to us in Baptism. At the 11:00 am, Bishop Hermann is coming to celebrate the Holy Mass and officially install me as the Pastor of St. Gianna Parish. The ceremony is brief, but part of it involves the recitation of the Nicene Creed, as we do every Sunday. After that, I continue alone, and say these words: With firm faith, I also believe everything contained in the Word of God, whether written or handed down in Tradition, which the Church, either by a solemn judgment or by the ordinary and universal Magisterium

sets forth to be believed as divinely revealed. I also firmly accept and hold each and everything definitively proposed by the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals. Moreover, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman Pontiff or the College of Bishops annunciate when they exercise their authentic Magisterium, even if they do not intend to proclaim these teachings by a definitive act. In case you havent observed something about me, I will tell you plainly. My job is not to teach you the doctrine of the Father Elliott Church! I am a priest who wants to teach the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, the one established by Jesus Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit. After 24 years of priesthood, I could make up my own doctrines or give you my own opinions from the pulpit or water things down so that there is no doctrine. Sadly, people tell me that if you disagree with a particular teaching of the Catholic Church and you look long enough you can find a priest who will tell you what you want to hear. I hope you have to look long to find such a priest! If you want the Father Elliott Church or the Father so and so Church you wont find it here. I hope you want the true teaching of Christ and that you know that there is no substitute for it. By the way, I dont want the Father Elliott Church either. I wholeheartedly believe that the teachings of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church are the only ones that will direct us to happiness and fulfillment. Doctrines are not cold, empty laws, but a challenge to live and see the world as God has created it. They open up my vision so that life can be seen in the perspective of heaven, not just the accomplishment or pleasure of the moment. They cause me to humbly admit that there is something greater than myself and that I can serve God and others with joy. They tell me that I can commit my life to something that is solid and clear and substantial. The Third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday; Gaudete means rejoice in Latin. St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice. The Blessed Virgin Mary knew the fullness of joy as she waited for the birth or her Son. The First Reading from the Prophet Zephaniah has long been seen as a reference to Mary. She embodies all the hope and longing of the people of the Old Testament for the Messiah. He was to come at long last through Mary. Zephaniah says: Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O

Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! Let us rejoice with Mary for the Lord has come and wants to bring us true joy and true hope and a peace that the world cannot give.

December 24, 2006Fourth Sunday of Advent Every Jewish girl dreamed of being the mother of the Messiah. They all knew that it would be a great honor to be chosen by God! Little did anyone truly understand what it meant. When Mary was asked by the Archangel Gabriel to be the mother of the Messiah, who would be nothing less than the Son of God, her thought was not on the honor she had just received. Her mind was dwelling on a minor bit of family news that the Archangel told her at the very end of his visit. He said that her elderly cousin Elizabeth was with child. Mary was thinking of her cousin and the need to help her in the last months of pregnancy. The Gospel begins today, saying: Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste. When Mary arrived at her cousins house and greeted her, the unborn babythe future John the BaptistLeapt in her womb. Someone put it that the future precursor of Jesus leapt in the womb of his mother for joy, so near was his salvation. Mary was literally bringing Jesusthe unborn baby Jesus. This Gospel passage of the Visitation, then tells us that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy spirit and cried out in the words that are so familiar to us: Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. We repeat those words again and again as part of the prayer The Hail Mary. Both of these holy women possessed a virtue that allowed them to see and understand the great plan of God that was unfolding before their very eyes. It is the virtue of humility. The first characteristic of humility is forgetfulness of oneself. The proud and self-centered are always worried about themselves. What do I want? What is going to make me comfortable? What should I do to receive the attention that I deserve? Who is going to take care of me and give me my rights? Both Mary and Elizabeth were thinking of the other. They werent concerned with themselves. In Marys case she was totally focused on a mission of service. Unfortunately, the commercialization of Christmas makes us think very much about ourselveswhat do I want for Christmas?what presents am I going to receive? On the other hand, the true meaning of Christmas prompts us to give to others, especially those who cannot give anything in return. Our first Giving Tree at St. Gianna was a great success; many of you gave gifts to the poor who will never be able to thank you.

Elizabeth continues in the Gospel with some extremely important words concerning the Blessed Virgin. She says: Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me? The words Mother of my Lord were actually a title that came from the Old Testament. It was given to the mother of the reigning king. The Mother of my Lord was the Queen mother. Elizabeth is inspired by the Holy Spirit to understand the truth about Mary and her unborn Son. Humility is truth about oneself. Mary doesnt deny what Elizabeth has said, for it is true, but instead she gives God the glory. Marys response is: My soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. Unlike Mary we have faults and flaws that we have to admit to in humility, but like Mary we have to give God the glory for all the good that we have and accomplish. Humility doesnt keep praise for oneself, but immediately turns it into praise of God. The word humility comes from the Latin word humus meaning earth. Perhaps we con say that the humble person is one who is down to earth. The humble do not put on airs or think that they are better than others. Mary is truly a Queen of the highest order, yet she lived an ordinary, hidden life. She lived a life of poverty with great joy and contentment. Look at the example of Jesus. The First Reading from the Prophet Micah predicts His birthplace. He wasnt to be born in the great city of Jerusalem in honor and power and wealth. Micah says: You Bethlehem-Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel. Jesus was born in a small town, with no room for His birth even at an inn. He had to be born in a stable and laid in the manger as a cradle. The Son of God, the King of kings chose to come into our world in this way. This is true Humility. It reminds me of the Christmas play that the children were practicing. One little boy came home very sad because of the part he had in the play. He told his mom that he was the innkeeper and had to tell Joseph and Mary that there was no room at the inn and turn them away. He felt so bad for them. When the night of the play came, the boy stepped out to say his lines, but instead of the words they rehearsed he answered Josephs question Is there any room at the inn for my wife and I? with Of course there is, come right in! Humility means having the heart of a child. We have to be children of God.

Humility is necessary for prayer. If I cant humble myself before the Lord and realize that I am talking with my Creator and Father, then I wont be able to pray. Catholics are the only ones who begin their worship of God with a public acknowledgement of their sinfulness; it is in the Penitential Rite that begins every holy Mass. Jesus and Mary show us the importance of the virtue of humility. It is only through humility that we can begin to understand the meaning of Christmas and see Gods great plan unfold for us in our own lives.

December 31, 2006Feast of the Holy Family There are only two Gospels that narrate the early life of Jesus: Matthew and Luke. The other two GospelsMark and Johnbegin with the events of Jesus life as a full grown man; when He is about to begin His public life. In Matthew and Luke we have precious few incidents to reflect upon. Perhaps you have heard of the Gnostic gospels which tell many incidents of the early life of Jesus; they have Him working all kinds of miracles and doing many extraordinary things. However, these gospels are not true; they are not inspired by the Holy Spirit. They were made up by individuals based mainly upon their own imagination and agenda. All Christians accept the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as canonical. They are part of the Canon of Scripture, which is the complete list of sacred books that the Church by apostolic Tradition has determined to be inspired by the Holy Spirit. There is a good reason that the true Gospels have only a few incidents from the first 30 years of the life of our Lord. For the most part, the life of the Holy Family appeared to be the life of an ordinary family of the time; Jesus didnt work miracles for His playmates or talk to unseen angels. The Holy Family worked and prayed and lived like any other family. Jesus wanted to live like this in what is called the hidden life. Most of the days of our lives are ordinary too, without significant events; maybe we could even say boring! We work, we study, we interact with friends and family, we pray and come to Churchthese things make up the fabric of life. The Gospel of today tells us of the incident that happened when Jesus was 12. The Holy Family went to Jerusalem on a religious pilgrimage; it was required of every adult male Jew who lived within 15 miles of Jerusalem to attend the Passover in that great city. On their return home, the men traveled with the men and the women with the other women, so both Mary and Joseph thought Jesus was with the other group. When it was discovered that He was not with them, they returned to Jerusalem to look for Him everywhere; they finally found Him in the temple teaching the teachers. He shows us that not only was He true man, but He was true God and had the wisdom of God. Jesus had been the perfect child; never giving His parents the least bit of trouble or worry. So, Mary asks Him Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety? Mary is referring to Joseph, His foster father; the text uses a lower case f for father. Jesus answers by saying Why were you looking

for me: Did you not know that I must be in my Fathers house? Jesus answers, referring to His Heavenly Father and the text uses a capitol F. Jesus was not sinning in this event, after all, He is God; He was obeying a higher lawthat of His Heavenly Father. The Gospel says: He returned home and was obedient to His parents. Most parents want the best for their children. They want them to be healthy and take care of them in all the illnesses and accidents of childhood. They want them to grow up to be successful in their lives and so they provide a good home and education and many opportunities for growth, such as playing sports or learning a musical instrument. These are all good, but they are not enough! Todays Feast reminds us that a family is not judged by God on whether it is successful or not, but on whether it is HOLY. We tend to forget about the call to holiness. The foundation of every life is built in the family. One thing the Gospel teaches us is that the Holy Family prayed; they went up to Jerusalem on pilgrimage. In his Letter to Families, Pope John Paul II said that prayer should be normal in a family. Not something that is done rarely or only in extraordinary circumstances, but something that is as normal as eating and breathing. In the family, children are taught the prayers of our faith, such as the Our Father and the Hail Mary, but also the importance of daily prayer and the worship of God in the Sacraments, particularly the Sunday Mass. Many virtues are taught in the family, such as hard work, perseverance, courage, forgiveness. St. Paul lists some in our Second Reading: heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Perhaps the virtue that under girds them all is the the Pro-life principle. Children see how their parents treat them and others with care and respect and dignity. The Book of Sirach says: Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from them. When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother. We learn to value human life at home. Of course, God has given us a sacrament to support family life with His grace: the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. All Christian denominations provide a place for a couple to make their vows, but no Protestant denomination considers it a sacrament. Catholics believe it is one of the seven sacraments that Jesus instituted for us. That is why all Catholics are obliged to have a Catholic priest or deacon witness their marriage or it is considered invalid in the sight of God. Also, we dont have weddings in

parks or while skydiving, but in Church, because marriage is a holy thing and deserves a holy place. Catholics who didnt get married in the Church need to talk to a priest; they need to get their marriage blessed or validated. The graces that come from this sacrament are too important for their relationship and their children. Obviously, a married couple has to access the graces of the sacrament by remaining in the state of grace and through daily prayer calling upon God to help them live their marriage vows with fidelity and love. There are many powerful forces and ideas that are trying to break up marriages today and, far too often, they are winning. There was a father who was putting his young son to bed on night, when they kneeled down to say their prayers. The little boy said his usual prayers then looked up to his father and prayed: Dear God, make me a great, big, good man like my daddy. Amen. The boy jumped into bed and was asleep is a couple of seconds and his father still kneeling made his own prayer: Dear God, make me a great, big, good man, like my son thinks I am. We turn to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph to help families to be holy and faithful to God.

January 7, 2007Feast of the Epiphany For Christians in many countries, such as Mexico or Russia, the day to give presents is not Christmas, but Epiphany. It makes sense to give one another presents on the day that the three Kings brought their gifts to the Christ Child. Epiphany was traditionally celebrated on January 6, the 12th day of Christmas, but we move it to the nearest Sunday after the Octave of Christmas. The Magi set out on an arduous journey following the light of a star that they had observed from its rising in the heavens. The former translation that we used in the Holy Mass called them astrologers which makes one think of astrology. Astrology is superstition. Astrology says that ones life is controlled by the stars and one is born under a certain astrological sign which means everyone born under that sign will have similar characteristics. Of course, the characteristics are so broad that anyone and everyone have those personality traits to some degree. We dont believe that the stars control our lives; we do believe that the heavens reflect the glory of God. God used this star to lead the Wise Men to the Christ Child. The gifts that they brought were very appropriate; we too try to buy gifts that we think are fitting for people. After Christmas, one of the news anchors on TV said that he was returning the Christmas gift that he bought for his wife. He bought her a cordless power drill!! Now normally a husband knows that if he buys his wife power tools or a vacuum cleaner for Christmas, he would be in big trouble. This man was returning the drill because it wasnt powerful enough for his wife. He knew his wife and what she really wanted. The gifts that the Kings brought tell us about this Child and His mission. They were prophesied in the Old Testament; Isaiah said in our First Reading: Caravans and camels shall fill you . . . bearing gold and frankincense and proclaiming the praises of the Lord. Gold is the gift that signifies the kingship of JesusHe is the King of kings. If only King Herod could have understood the true kingship of Jesus, he would have really begun to reign, since Jesus wants all the members of His Kingdom to reign with Him. Instead, Herod is jealous of the Christ-Child and when he learned the ancient prophecy of His birth-place in Bethlehem, he sent his soldiers to kill the baby Jesus.

The next two gifts were far more valuable than gold in ancient times. They were the very rare, aromatic resins of frankincense and myrrh. Frankincense is used to worship God and Jesus is true God and true man; He deserves our adoration and worship. Incense is used in the Liturgy of heaven as the Book of Revelation tells us: the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the [golden censor] of the angel before God (Rev. 8:4). Myrrh is a strange gift to give at the birth of a child, since it was used in funeral rites. It would be like giving a baby shower gift of embalming fluid! But it was an appropriate gift for this Child, since His very purpose for being born was to be our Savior by sacrificing Himself on the Cross for our sins. Everyone born in this world is born to live; Jesus was born to die. There is another meaning to the birth of Jesus that the arrival of the Magi from the East illustrates. St. Paul tells us in our Second Reading: the mystery was made known to me by revelation. It was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel. The Jewish people knew that they were the Chosen People of God, but they had increasingly become very narrow in their understanding of Gods plan for them. They were to be the ambassadors of God to all the nations of the world. This was prophesied in the Old Testament in many places, including our First Reading today. The kingdom that Jesus established was for all the peoples of the world, regardless of their race or country. That is why the Three Kings are portrayed as men of different races in all our Nativity Scenes. Jesus wanted His Church to be Catholic, which comes from the Greek word meaning universal. This is a title that was given to the true Church very early in Christian history. The first written mention goes back to St. Ignatius of Antioch who wrote seven letters on his way to martyrdom in Rome in the year 107 A.D. He wrote: Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there; just as where ever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. St. Ignatius was not writing anything new, but what had been believed from the beginning; he wasnt an innovator. Although we must have a personal faith in Jesus Christ, He meant us to live as members of His Body, the Church, the Kingdom that He established on

earth. That is why He taught us to pray Our Father not My Father who art in heaven. As we said in the Responsorial Psalm: Lord, every nation on earth will adore you. That is our prayer with the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, the humble shepherds and the three Kings who followed the star to the true light of the worldJesus Christ.

January 14, 2007--Second Sunday of Ordinary Time Jesus and His disciples attended a wedding in the city of Cana. There was little time for leisure in Biblical days; most people had to work from sun-up to sun-down in order to survive. A wedding was the one occasion for people to stop work and celebrate. The Blessed Virgin Mary was also present and as a good mother and she noticed a situation that would end the celebration and greatly embarrass the newly married couple: they were about to run out of wine. Mary intercedes for the couple and asks Jesus to solve the problem. It would be His first miracle! She instructs the servants with the words that echo through time to each Christian: Do whatever He tells you. Wine is a symbol for the grace and love of God and Jesus turns six large jars of water into the best of wine. The wine steward comments: You have kept the good wine until now. God has saved the very best of His revelation and love for us in His Son Jesus who has poured out His grace upon the world. This is also true in the gift of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. As Catholics we believe that marriage is a sacrament; one of the seven sacred signs that were instituted by Jesus to give us grace. Grace is the very life of God poured into our souls. It makes all the difference in the world whether you believe that marriage is merely a human institution or a God-ordained sacrament. If it is merely man-made, then marriage can be changed or manipulated any way that a person or society wants. Marriage, then, is binding only until it becomes difficult; it doesnt have to be a lifelong commitment. If only human, then two people of the same sex can marry or why even bother with marriage, just let a couple live together. There are many consequences to these ideas and they are destroying our society and ruining lives. Just look at how many broken families we have; how many lonely and hurting people there are because of divorce. The statistics of what happens to children raised without two parents are grim. Now we dont have to be a statistic, but the effects of this way of thinking of marriage are clear. If marriage is ordained by God, then a whole different way of living is presented to us. It means that God who is the creator of marriage has a plan and we must follow that plan in order for it to work. This past summer I purchased some desks for use in our parish office. It came in four huge

boxes with hundreds of pieces. Now I could have said I am a man. I dont need anyone to tell me how to assemble things! I could have ignored the directions and set to work. However, it would have taken me ten times a long and most likely I would have never figured out how that desk went together. We have to have humility when it comes to Gods plan for marriage. If putting furniture together is complicated how much more mysterious is the relationship between man and woman in marriage. We have been particularly blessed in our time because of the teachings of our late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. He gave us tremendous insights into Gods plan for Holy Matrimony and human sexuality in a series of teachings called The Theology of the Body. We are still trying to understand and bring this great teaching to the Church in our time. I would like to spend the next several Sundays talking about marriage in light of The Theology of the Body. The Pope began with the idea from the first book of the Biblethe Book of Genesisthat we are created in the Divine image and that the human body is a visible reflection of the soul. The human body including its sexuality is meant to show us how we are to live and love in the image of God, who is life and love. The body can be used in a way that reflects Gods love then it is authentic or the body can be used to lie. Just think of a used car salesman who smiles and shakes your hand saying, You are really going to love this car, friend, while thinking, Am I glad to unload this lemon on this sucker. He is lying with his body! That smile and that handshake are false. The same is true with the human sexuality. It is a gift from God the Creator that can be used according to His plan or it can be misused, and then it becomes a lie. Let me repeat again, it is so important whether you believe that marriage is a human institution that can be manipulated in any way or a God-ordained gift that must be used in the right way. One of the greatest counterfeits to genuine love is pornography. It uses people by turning them into things or objects of lust. Formerly, you had to go to some seedy part of town in order to get pornographic material. Now it is just a few clicks of the computer mouse or of the TV remote control and the worst images imaginable are brought right into the home or office. Scientific study has shown that pornography actually changes the structure of the brain and is addictive causing the person to want more and more.

When pornography is viewed it produces a dulling of the senses and a numbing effect that comes upon the person. It is not manly, nor does it ever lead to true love. Is it any wonder that Jesus says in the Beatitudes: Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. To look at pornography cuts us off from the grace of God. It keeps us from seeing God. It also leads to hopelessness and despair. There are three steps to overcoming the use of pornography: 1. destroy all materials, whether pictures or videos; block the internet and any television channels that allow access. 2. Make a good confession of this sin in the Sacrament of Penance. 3. Go before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and put the images that are still in your mind, one by one, into the Tabernacle and let the Divine Physician heal you. The imagination needs cleansing and healing. Throughout the Bible marriage is used as an image to show Gods love for His people. The covenants of the Old and New Testaments express Gods desire to have a relationship as close and deep as that of marriage. Our First Reading from Isaiah is a perfect example. Isaiah says: For the Lord delights in you and makes your land his spouse. As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you. Marriage is meant to reflect the love of God and it is vital for our salvation that we understand Gods plan and follow it.

January 21, 2007Third Sunday in Ordinary Time We are so grateful to St. Luke for carefully writing his Gospel. He wasnt one of the original twelve apostles, but came along later as a disciple of St. Paul. He tells us that he carefully went back to the sources to get an accurate account of the life of Jesus. No doubt he spoke to the Blessed Virgin Mary, because he has incidents that only the Mother would know. Todays Gospel passage introduces the Gospel and then jumps three chapters. Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth with startling news for His friends and neighbors. He quotes from the Prophet Isaiah the words that apply to the Messiah and says without hesitation or doubt: Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing. Jesus who lived as an ordinary boy and man in Nazareth is now proclaiming Himself the Savior! By His teaching and His miracles, He will fulfill the words of Isaiah to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Many in His hometown would not believe in Him, they said where did He get all of this? They thought that they knew Him so well; they had made up their minds about Him and were not able to receive His message. Jesus wants us to listen to Him today and put our faith in Him. The teaching and preaching of His Church and the grace of the seven sacraments continue to challenge us to listen to Jesus and follow Him anew. He is calling us to be open to His grace and mercy because He wants to bring liberty to captives and sight to the blind today. Last Sunday, I began speaking about human sexuality and the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony in the light of Pope John Pauls teaching known as The Theology of the Body. The teaching of this great pope is helping us to understand the truth about Gods plan for sex and marriage. The problem that we are facing today, particularly since the sexual revolution of the 1960s, is that Gods plan is being distorted and twisted by our culture. Hollywood and radical feminism see sex merely in terms of pleasure and powerand we are buying into it. They do not understand that God has created the love between man and woman to be a sign or reflection of His love for us. Gods plan for marriage and human sexuality is holy and is meant to lead us to Him.

Last week I mentioned that we easily accept a counterfeit type of love. Pornography, which is so available, wants us to be satisfied with lust, rather than true love. It wants us to look upon a person who should be loved and respected as a thing for our own use. If I were to ask you, What is the opposite of love? you would probably respond with the word hate. Pope John Paul taught that the opposite of love is . . . use. When we use a person for any reason we no longer love the person; we are doing the opposite of love. Pornography is typically a male problem, but our society also tries to distort the female vision of love. 95% of romance novels are purchased by women. They present fantasies of the perfect, romantic man who will sweep the heroine off her feet. No husband could possibly live up to this ideal; they distort true love and relationships.

The love of God has four characteristics: free, total, faithful, fruitful. Human love must also have these four characteristics if it is to truly reflect Gods plan for love. I want to reflect on freedom as a characteristic of love this Sunday. If you were to ask people what freedom means in regard to human sexuality you would probably get the answer that it means I can do anything I want. No Commandments; no one telling me what is right or what is wrong. I can act in any way that I feel like. I can be me; I can make myself happy; I can be spontaneous! What the world calls freedom in human sexuality is really slavery. Soon those who follow this way of life can no longer control their passions and desires; instead of feeling free they become addicts. Each action becomes a chain that binds them more tightly. They are no longer in control of themselves and no longer free to give themselves in love. More and more, they are isolated in their selfish pursuit of pleasure. This is the idea that destroys the connection between freedom and responsibility, it divorces sex and love; it separates men from women. The Churchs idea of freedom is far different. Freedom for the Christian comes when one is able to be the master of his passions and desires. When they no longer control you, but you control them, you are truly free. You are able to give yourself in love to your spouse that you professed in your vows on your wedding day; you are able to give yourselves to your children with a love that is unconditional and unselfish; you are able to love others in a way that respects their dignity and value. Far from holding us

down, the Commandments of God, the teachings of the Church lift us up. They are the sure guide to the freedom to love that God wants for us. For this to happen we need the grace of God. This is where Jesus really fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah for us that Jesus quoted in the Gospel: He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free. To those who are slaves of sin and their own passions He brings freedom. It is easy for us to say I cant change if the false idea of freedom has dominated our lives and sin has kept us from loving as God loves, but it is not true. With Christ, we can conquer ourselves and have true freedom. God has a great plan for marriage and human sexuality. It is time we started to understand it and live by itfor the truth will make you free.

January 28, 2007 Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time To be able to speak all human languages and even the language of the angels; to have the gift of prophecy; to have faith that would move mountains and even to die for it would seem to us remarkable. St. Paul describes actions that we would call heroic or saintly in our Second Reading. Yet, he says that these things are nothing . . . without LOVE. It is very possible to do great things with the wrong motive. One could make a large donation to a hospital or some charitable institution simply to see ones name chiseled in stone above the entrance. The gift is not given out of love, but only for vanity and human praise; it then has no value in the sight of God, no matter how big it is. St. Paul gives us a good description of love when he says: Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests . . . I should also add that Love is not easy; love means sacrifice! For the last two weeks, I have been speaking about Pope John Pauls teaching on Christian marriage and human sexuality, which he called The Theology of the Body. The Holy Father taught that we are created in the image and likeness of God so that we can love like God. The deepest longing of the human heart is to love in the way that God loves us; not just a nice word or a passing feeling, but real love. There are four characteristics to the love of God: free, total, faithful and fruitful. Human love must also have these four characteristics to be genuine love and in accord with Gods plan for marriage. Before the bride and groom profess their vows, they are asked three questions which express these characteristics of love: Have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage? Will you love and honor each other as husband and wife for the rest of your lives? Will you accept children lovingly from God and bring them up according to the law of Christ and His Church? Married love has to be a gift of one to another that is without reservation. Of course, like any relationship it needs to grow and become more complete with the passing of time. There is a hidden time bomb in many marriages that I must speak about to you today. The culture around us has made up its mind about this particular teaching on marriage and many Catholics have done so based on the opinion

of the world and not on the teaching of Christ and His Church. This is the teaching on contraception. Up until 1930, no Christian denomination disagreed with the Catholic Church on the immorality of contraception. At that time the Anglican Church made some exceptions to this unanimous Christian teaching and Pope Pius XI responded reaffirming the constant Christian teaching with an encyclical Casti Cannubii (On Christian Marriage). In the early 1960s, the birth control pill was invented, which made contraception easy and available. There were many civil laws opposing contraception, but Planned Parenthood and their quite immoral foundress, Margaret Sanger, had been working many years to get them overturned. In 1965, the Supreme Court did so in the decision Griswold vs. Connecticut. The same argument would be used in Roe vs. Wade to legalize abortion in 1973. In 1968, Pope Paul VI responded with his watershed encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life). In 1960, 66% of Catholics were living the Churchs teaching on contraception; by 1990, 80% were opposed to the Churchs teaching. An enormous cultural shift occurred in those 30 years. There is an intrinsic link between contraception and abortion. The very same groups that support contraception also support abortion, most notably, Planned Parenthood. Abortion would never have become legal and accepted were it not for the previous legalization and acceptance of contraception. The birth control pill is an abortifacient. There are 3 chemical effects that the Pill has on a womans body; the first two stop ovulation, but the third causes and early abortion if the first two dont work. Any woman on the pill can have this chemically induced abortion without even knowing about it. Abortion and contraception are linked in every way. Perhaps, the most common type of birth control is surgical. Strangely enough, a tubal ligation or vasectomy is the only surgery in which a doctor will operate to destroy a perfectly healthy organ that is functioning the way God intended. Even the appendix, which is basically a useless organ, would not be operated upon if it were not diseased. Why is it that the organs that have to do with fertility can be mutilated and destroyed without the least ethical concern? The worlds view of life and babies is so different from the Biblical view. Everywhere in the Bible a baby is seen as a blessing from God. Today children are seen more as a burden or a hindrance. A family that has more

than the specified 2.1 children are looked down upon and strangers will come up to them in the supermarket and say things like: Dont you know that too many children are using up the worlds resources? or Dont you know about birth control? Our First Reading from Jeremiah expresses the Biblical idea that a child is a direct creation of God: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. No child is unplanned by God; He creates each and every one with love and a purpose. If human love is meant to reflect Gods love which is free, total, fruitful and faithful, then contraception hits at the very heart of Gods plan for married love. A husband and wife who by their acts of contraception say I give myself to you except for my fertility or I love you except for your fertility are holding back on the total gift of love. Contraception says that they are not open to Gods gift of children. The fruitfulness that God wants a husband and wife to be open to is denied. Certainly, if there is a serious reason a husband and wife can use the periods of infertility that are built into a womans cycle. We have learned a lot about a womans cycle that was not known until recent times. Modern Natural Family Planning is 99% effective. God has a plan for marriage and human sexuality. He does not want to oppress us, but to free us. On the other hand, do not expect that you can disobey God and that goodness and happiness will be the result. What do you do if we find you are not following Gods plan? Do you just say God is wrong, I can do anything I please or do you open your heart and ask the Lord for the grace to see His plan of love and life?

February 4, 2007Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time We read of the first meeting between Jesus and Simon Peter in our Gospel today. Jesus asks him for a favorto use his boat in order to preach to the people who had gathered to hear Him on the shore of the lake. Simon had been up all night fishing; he was tired and disgusted because they had caught nothing. Now this itinerant preacher wanted to use his boat. No doubt his brother Andrew persuaded him to do what Jesus asked. Afterwards, there is still one more request by Jesus: Put out into the deep and lower your nets for a catch. Simon knew the lakes moods and best fishing spots, as well as, any man; this was not the time of day to fish. At first he protested: Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets. Then there was a miracle that these humble, hard-working fishermen could understand. There were so many fish that their nets were about to tear. Simons reaction to this miracle is to fall down on his knees before Jesus and say Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. With that kind of humility, it is no wonder that Jesus made him the first Pope! Pope John Paul II used the words of Jesus in this Gospel to teach us what the Church needed to do at the beginning of the third millennium of Christianity. Our late Holy Father said the words Put out into the deep and lower your nets for a catch are for us today; they need to be understood in a spiritual way. The Holy Father called it the New Evangelization. The countries of Western Europe and North and South America had long ago heard the Gospel of Christ preached in their nations. However, many of the people and cultures who were once Christian, were no longer so. The Gospel has to be preached anew, for many have not really heard the message of Christ. We cant just blame this situation on the hostility of the world around us; we in the Catholic Church have done a poor job in teaching the faith for the past 35 years. A large number of people know little about Christ, and do not find him compelling. They are what we might call practical atheists. They dont hate God; they arent trying to remove every vestige of Christianity from public life, like some people. They just dont see how Jesus makes a practical difference in their life; they dont want to take the time or make the effort to follow Him; they certainly dont want to make any changes in their

lives that take them from their pleasures or pursuits. They have grown lukewarm in their faith. Put out into the deep and lower your nets for a catch reminds us that there is something very deep and meaningful in our faith that we need to search for. The Catholic faith cannot be captured in a few sound bites. It takes reflection, prayer and studyit has a deep meaning that God wants us to find. This is hard for those who want instant gratification and instant everything; even though technology works like that, the human soul does not. You cannot learn about yourself and the meaning of your life without thought and quiet reflection. You cannot learn to pray in an instant; nor can you learn to love, except over a lifetime. For the last three weeks I have been speaking about Pope John Pauls Theology of the Body which teaches about human sexuality and Holy Matrimony. God meant us to be able to learn to love the way He loves us. His plan for Christian marriage is that a man and a woman can give themselves to one another in a way that truly expresses the love of God for His people. The sexual relationship in marriage is therefore holy. The Holy Father loved the phrase from the Second Vatican Council that said: You cannot find yourself, except through the sincere gift of self. Everyone is looking for their purposefor meaning of their lives. The only way we can find it is when we are able to truly give ourselvesmake a sacrifice of our time and lifeto another in love. If someone is depressed or sad, the best way to get over that is to do something good for someone without seeking anything in return. For example, if a wife is in meltdown and comes to her husband with a crisis during the Super-bowl, the husband who has made a sincere gift of self to his wife on their wedding day, has to make a sacrifice, leave the game and help his wife. You see, love is not easy! Of course, the loving wife would not ask her husband to leave the big game unless it was really of importance! The love of those who commit themselves to celibacy or consecrated virginity also falls under Pope John Pauls Theology of the Body. In this case the sincere gift of self is not made to a single human being, but to Christ and His Church. A Religious Sister is called the spouse of Jesus Christ; she wears a ring symbolizing her total dedication to Jesus Christ, her Divine Spouse. The priest is wedded to the Church on his ordination day; the Church is his bride and the priest is meant to give himself totally to the

service of his people. Celibacy is not just denial of marriage and family, nor is it just something that allows the priest to be more available, since he doesnt have to give his time to his family first; most importantly, it is a real way to give oneself totally in love to Christ and His Church. For me, Jesus has to be so real that I can love Him as a Person and a Friend and give myself completely to His work. The words that Jesus spoke to Simon Peter Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men are spoken to every priest as the mission and joy of their lives. To bring my brothers and sisters to Christ, that is you, allows me to find fulfillment in love, which is the goal of all human life. No matter what our state of life, we are called to love as God loves us.

February 11, 2007Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time The words and the actions of Jesus that are recorded in the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are a precious treasure to the Catholic Church. In the Holy Mass we especially honor the Gospel in a number of ways. First of all, we stand as a sign of respect for those holy words; only an ordained minister, a priest or deacon is allowed to read them during the Sacred Liturgy; except during Lent we sing that Hebrew word of praise, Alleluia, when there is music. Secondly, the priest or deacon who will read the Gospel prepares himself: the priest says a silent prayer before he reads the Gospel: Almighty God, cleanse my heart and my lips that I may worthily proclaim your Gospel; the deacon receives a blessing from the priest before he reads the Gospel: The Lord be in your heart and on your lips that you may worthily proclaim his Gospel. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, we all prepare ourselves with a gesture of three crosses: one on the forehead, then the lips, then the heart. There are no set words, but I always like to think as I make the crosses: I will understand these words with my mind, I will speak in praise of them with my lips and I will love them with my heart. Finally, at the end the priest or deacon kisses the page of the Gospel book that he has just read. In our Gospel today, we hear a different set of Beatitudes than we are familiar with or memorized in our youth. Those were the 8 Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount from the Gospel of Matthew, but at another time, Luke tells us of Jesus preaching 4 Beatitudes and 4 Woes. If you had a choice between these two ways of living that Jesus describes, I bet I can guess which you would choose. On one hand, a life that is wealthy, with plenty of food, where you were always laughing and never persecuted for you faith OR a life that is poor, where you are hungry, sad and persecuted for your faith. We would most naturally choose the wealthy, full, fun and easy life, BUT Jesus says that is the life of WOE, not blessedness. Does Jesus want life to be miserable for us? Of course, not. We have to look a little deeper in order to understand what Jesus means. There is a disease that we have in the United States, which afflicts us all to some degree. It has been cleverly termed: AFFLUENZA! It is a combination of the words affluence and influenza. We have the highest standard of living in the history of the worldwe should thank God for that. Even our poorest are better off than most of the rest of the world. Yet, there are

problems: perhaps, the most common childhood disease is obesitythat has never happened in the history of the world. There are other spiritual problems, as well. Affluenza can cause us to focus on passing things and blind us to what is really important. When we are rich and full of the things of this world, we can be so satisfied that we forget that we are really poor and hungering for spiritual gifts. In truth, we are totally dependent upon God for grace and faith and hope and salvation; there is nothing in this world that can be a substitute for the gifts of God. But we can fool ourselves, by substituting passing pleasures and material goods for eternal beatitude. Jesus question in this regard is haunting: What will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life (soul)? (Matt. 16:26). Not only that, but when we base our happiness on the things of this world we rebel or feel we are being taken advantage of if we dont have the pleasure of those things. Any little sacrifice or suffering becomes intolerable. Jesus words continue to astound us. Laughing sounds better than crying, doesnt it? Christians should be the happiest people in the world because God has given us so many blessings, especially His mercy. But there is a time to crywhen we consider our sins and how they have hurt our heavenly Father and our Savior who suffered so much for us in His sorrowful passion. Not all tears are bad, some are absolutely necessary for salvation. The gift of the Holy Spirit that we call Fear of the Lord is not a terror and horror of God, but a fear of offending Him by sin, because we love Him as a good Father. We do hurt God by our sin and tears of repentance are appropriate. Finally, persecution for our faith is not a pleasant thing, but if we stand for the truth of God as He has taught us through Holy Mother Church, then persecution is inevitable. Jesus reminds us that it was the false prophets who had everyone speak well of them. What should we do about the serious disease of Affluenza that is touching us all? The medicine is just around the corner if we want it. The season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 21st, just a week and a half away. The whole Church is invited once again to think about the focus of our life. You cannot understand the meaning of Jesus words without

daily prayer. A person can actually come to Holy Mass and not pray during the time that they are in Church; they dont lift up their hearts to God. They can even come up to Holy Communion and receive the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord without even thinking of what they are doing or who they are receiving! It is never too late to start praying. We have to make sacrifices in little things and be willing to give of our time and talent and treasure to the Church and to the poor. I always check myself when I am figuring out my taxes to make sure I really did give a tithe to the Lord10% of my income or more. The Lord has never let me lack anything that I need when I am generous to Him! Let us ask Holy Mary the Mother who was totally devoted to the Son of God, her own Son to pray for us so that we can be true Christians who know the importance of being poor, hungry, mourning and persecuted, so the we can really be rich, full, joyful and strong in faith in the things that will make us blessed forever.

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary TimeFebruary 18, 2007 The Sign of the Cross usually begins and ends our prayers as it does in the Holy Mass. There is a deep meaning to this simple prayer. One time a seminary professor surprised us on the first day of class by beginning with the Sign of the Cross and then immediately beginning his lecture. We expected another prayer to follow the Sign of the Cross; he was teaching us that it was a prayer in itself. First of all, the Sign of the Cross reminds us that we are saved by the Cross which we trace upon our bodies. It also reminds us that the Cross must be a part of our daily lives. Secondly, we say the names of God, the Most Blessed Trinity. Everything we do must be in the name of God and united to the will of God. Finally, when we first dip our fingers into Holy Water we add the idea of our baptism. We were baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit when the water of baptism was poured upon us. Sometimes non-Catholics think we are swatting flies when they see us make the Sign of the Cross without care. We need to do it with deliberation, conscious that it really is a meaningful prayer. The Cross of Christ is the sign of our salvation, our reconciliation with God. God has forgiven us because of the death of His Son upon the Cross. That is why Jesus so frequently calls us to forgive one another fully and with generosity. Jesus uses an image at the end of our Gospel today that would be very familiar to the people of His time. In those days the measurement of grain was not as precise as ours; we have pounds and exact scales. At that time, to get a measure of grain you would simply fold up your outer garment and the one selling the grain would fill up that fold as a measure. You can see that one could be very stingy or very generous in the amount given. Jesus tells us to: Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you. Look what happened to David in our First Reading. King Saul, with his whole army, was unjustly pursuing him in order to kill him out of jealousy. One night David is able to enter the camp of Saul without being discovered; it had to be a miracle that kept these soldiers so soundly asleep. David has the chance to kill King Saul and put an end to his mindless pursuit, but he doesnt. He takes the kings spear and water jar and calls to him from afar. King Saul realizes the mercy that David has shown to him and totally

repents. Forgiveness and mercy can have a very powerful effect on people, including ourselves. Why do we find it so hard to forgive past hurts? Is it because we think that the other person really hasnt suffered enough? They cant be forgiven until they really feel our pain. We do not hurt others by holding on to the anger, hurt and lack of forgiveness as much as we hurt ourselves. Father Corappi says, it is like holding a snake to our hearts and allowing it to bite us with its poison. Jesus knows that to forgive relieves us of a terrible burden. You often hear people say I forgive, but I cant forget. We cannot erase our memories like a chalk board, but there is way keep it from affecting us again and again. You have a choice when something triggers a past hurt or injustice. On one hand, you can choose to think about the circumstances and it becomes like the engine of a train that pulls all the rest of the cars down the track. The memory dredges up all the hurt and anger, the imagination fills in all the details, often exaggerating them. It is like reliving the incident all over again; it is reinforced, rather than forgotten. OR you can make the choice when something triggers a past hurt to pray Lord, I have forgiven, help me not to think about this anymore and think about something else. Forgive and you will be forgiven. It is good for us to make a real act of forgiveness. So often we simply allow the things that offend or hurt us to fade into the past; time goes on, we move on. But that is not the same as forgiving that person and receiving the healing that we need. It is important for us to make a frequent Confession and bring the hurt and anger to the Lords mercy. Also, it is a good idea to take some time, especially in front of the Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament, and go through your life and think of the past hurts and make acts of forgiveness, one by one. There is no need to keep those things buried in our hearts. No parents are perfect, cant we forgive them? They merely acted in the way that they had been trained by their parents. Cant we forgive our colleagues and our children and our friends, our priests and our bishops? We are all thoughtless and inconsiderate and selfish at times. Jesus tells us in todays Gospel to Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If we are to love and forgive our enemies, shouldnt we love and forgive our own family members and friends? If we are not able to forgive,

right away, the best place to begin is to do what Jesus said, pray for our enemies and those who mistreat us. If we begin by praying for them, then our hearts will be softened to become generous in completely forgiving them. A good measure for our actions is the basic moral principle that Jesus gives to us: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. You want people to treat you with respect and kindness; you want them to praise and thank you for the good you do; you want them to be patient and hold their anger; you want them to correct or give advice in a way that lifts you up, rather puts you down; you want people to forgive your faults. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for He Himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful as your Father is merciful.

February 25, 2007First Sunday of Lent We have begun the 40 days of Lent in imitation of Jesus 40 day fast in the desert that we heard in our Gospel today. We know of Jesus tenderness and compassion, but this Gospel tells us of His courage and strength. The physical and spiritual trial of this 40 day fast and temptation by the devil clearly show it to us. Why did Jesus take on this intense suffering at the beginning of His public life? Why do we do penance during the season of Lent? It is far more than a quaint custom of Catholics; there is deep meaning behind the Churchs practice. Whether it is giving up food, which is called fasting, or meat, which is called abstinence, or other sacrifices of video games or TV or candy, it is meant to teach us a spiritual truth. For a partial answer, look at the first temptation of Jesus by the devil. Jesus is starving when the devil appears to Him saying: If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread. The stones looked like little Jewish loaves of bread; all Jesus had to do was use His Divine power to satisfy His hunger. Jesus refuses with Man does not live on bread alone. You will notice in the Bible that Jesus does not use His Divine power for His own comfort, only for the good of others. We need penance and acts of self-denial because we so forget this truth of the first temptation. We can so easily reduce our lives to just satisfying our physical needs, which include the desire for entertainment. It can become very difficult for us to make a distinction between what I NEED and what I WANT. The body needs a certain amount of sleep, but I can extend that to pure laziness; then I only do the minimum of work and can even use sleep in order to avoid reality. The body needs a certain amount of food, but I can increase that to gluttony; instead of true purpose or genuine love, I can look for happiness in food. When we concentrate on satisfying our desires and appetites, we can easily go far beyond what we need; they will soon take over and enslave us. The deeper problem is that I can concentrate my life so much on satisfying my physical wants that I will neglect the spiritual goods that I should be striving for. Man does not live on bread alone. Blessed Mother Theresa often made the point that the poorest of the poor are not only those who live in third world countries and do not have food, but those in

rich countries who have everything, but are starving for God and His grace. They often dont even know that they are starving spiritually. Too many Catholics are lost and unhappy, when the remedy is right before them in the Bread of LifeHoly Communion. We have a spiritual hunger that only Jesus, truly Present in the Holy Eucharist, can satisfy. He is so available and so near in the Blessed Sacrament. Another important reason for doing penance is that it unites us to the saving work of Jesus. Jesus paid back the debt of sin by His bloody sacrifice on the Cross. It is theologically true that one drop of His Precious Blood would have been enough to save us. Why did He go to the extreme of enduring the scourging with as many as a thousand whip marks on His Body, carrying the heavy Cross along the Via Dolorosa amidst the spitting and cursing crowd; being stripped of His garments, opening the wounds once again; having His hands and feet nailed to the wood of the Cross and then for three hours suffering until He finally gives up His spirit? When you love much you are able to endure much for the beloved. The love of Jesus for each and every person is literally infinite. When we look at Jesus crucified, only the hardest and coldest heart would fail to reach out to Him in compassion. It is not enough to just thank Him, we are called to be like Him. Penance is a voluntary way for us to share in the sufferings of Christ our Savior. They are a way for us to be united to the Redemption of the world. Most of us die of something: disease, accident or old age, but occasionally someone dies for something. Father Maximillian Kolbe was a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz. One of the other prisoners escaped, which meant that 12 would have to die the terrible, slow death in the starvation bunker, without food and water until death mercifully took them. The camp Commandant nonchalantly picked out the men one after another, who stood in stunned silence. Finally the last man began crying out that he had a wife and children and wanted to be spared. At that moment, Father Kolbe stepped out of the line and approached the Nazi officer with the request that he take the place of the man with the wife and children. The Commandant, who never changed an order in his life, did so on this day and Father Kolbe marched off to his death. He helped the other prisoners die with faith until on the eve of the Assumption of our Lady the soldiers came in with a syringe of carbolic acid to end his life and make room for the next group of condemned men. The man whose life was saved spent the rest of

his life telling the story of Father Kolbe and was present at his canonization. Father Kolbe was declared a martyr of love of neighbor by Pope John Paul II. He gave his life for something, for someone. Lent is the opportunity for us to remember that Jesus gave His life for us and that we need to give our lives for others. Most likely, we wont have a dramatic opportunity like St. Maximillian Kolbe, but remember that St. Maximillian Kolbe would not have been able to make that sacrifice of his life for another man if he had not died to himself every day prior to that event. It was the small sacrifices of daily life that prepared him for the great sacrifice of his life. If you havent chosen a Lenten program for yourself, do it right now; it is not too late. Pray that the Holy Spirit will show you what you need to do to convert your life. When you do your penance, make sure it is not a penance for everyone around you. If you become crabby and make everyone miserable, then you need to adjust something. Our penances should be honest and meaningful. There was a couple when I was growing up who went to a fancy restaurant each Friday in Lent and ate a lobster dinner. They were obeying the letter of the law, but missing the spirit. If you go to a fish fry and gorge yourself on fish, are you really doing penance? Lets turn to Mary, the Blessed Mother. She suffered more intensely than any human being because her heart was totally united to the Sacred Heart of her Son. She courageously endured His Passion and death for love of God, knowing that that was the price that had to be paid to for our salvation.

March 4, 2007Second Sunday of Lent Our citizenship is in heaven St. Paul tells us. Yes, we are citizens of the United States of America and we are grateful for it and strive to be good citizens of our country. However, this is a temporary home because our true home is heaven. We have to long for heaven. Gods great plan from the time of the Original Sin of Adam is to make us His sons and daughters and get us ready for heaven. He has done this through a series of covenants. The First Reading tells us of the covenant He made with Abraham and the Gospel foreshadows the New Covenant with His Son Jesus Christ. A covenant makes two people or two tribes the members of the same family. The ancient world had a saying Blood is thicker than . . . mothers milk. It meant that two people who entered into a blood covenant were closer than two who were actual brothers by birth. Remember the cowboy and Indian movies where they would cut their hands and join them mingling their blood so that they would become blood brothers? A covenant bond meant that you were part of a family. God wants us to be members of His Divine family. The covenant with Abraham involved the sacrifice of a number of animals. Remember that blood equals life; the sacrificed animal was a visible symbol for the giving of ones life to God. Abraham was giving his life to God, placing himself in Gods hands and trusting in His great promise that he would be the father of a great people. God said: Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so shall your descendants be. To confirm the covenant, Abraham receives a mystical vision from God in which he sees a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch pass between the pieces of the sacrificed animals. The New and Eternal Covenant far surpasses all the covenants of the Old Testament. The sacrifice is not merely an animal, but the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. It is through that sacrifice of the Son of God and the shedding of His Precious Blood that our sins are forgiven and we become children of Gods family. Three of the apostles receive a mystical vision that far surpasses that of Abrahams vision. Peter, James and John are able to see the divinity of the Son of God shine through His sacred humanity. While he was praying his face changed in

appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. Then the cloud overshadows them, which is a symbol of the Presence of the Holy Spirit and the voice of God the Father speaks This is my chosen Son, listen to him. This is so extraordinary! The almighty God, who commands the universe, simply asks and invites us to do what is right and what will fulfill us. Jesus is heading to His sacrifice on the Cross. God is once more inviting us to listen to Jesus and become one with Him. What does Peter do? He sees Jesus with the great figures of the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah and says Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. The Gospel comments: But he did not know what he was saying. No doubt Peter was overwhelmed by this vision, but the problem is that he wants to hold on to the glory. Archbishop Fulton Sheen made up a word to account for Peters problem: Staurophobia. It comes from two Greek words phobia meaning fear of and stauros the cross; fear of the Cross. On the cover of our missalettes is the very famous picture by the Italian artist Raphael of the Transfiguration. However, it only shows the top part of his painting, which is the promise of glory that the apostles see in the transfigured Christ. Below that scene is a part of the painting showing the boy who is possessed with his father; the colors are very dark and the scene is chaotic. The three apostles are going to have to leave the glory of the transfiguration and go back into the suffering world and then go to Jerusalem and the horror of the Cross. We have to live our lives in a world that is often filled with suffering and trial and uncertainty! Yes, we have to keep our sights set on heaven; for our true home is heaven, but we havent reached the goal yet. We have to decide what to do with suffering. I can either fear the cross of suffering and try to hide from it or unite it with the Cross of Jesus Christ. It makes all the difference in the world. So many people hide from the Cross by using drugs or alcohol or seeking material goods; it only works for so long. We Catholics say offer it up. That means when a suffering or trial, little or great, comes to us we silently unite it to Jesus Christ. (Of course, we dont complain.) Then it takes on a new meaning; Jesus makes it part of the Redemption. Not only that, Jesus will help us to bear it. We are not alone. Peter would learn not to fear the cross and would even die upon the cross, in Rome, upside down! A great persecution began in Rome and the authorities

sought to kill all the leaders of the Christians. Peter was advised to leave Rome and save his life. As he was walking down the Via Appia on the outskirts of the city, he saw a vision of Jesus walking toward Rome and he said Quo vadis, Domine? What way are you going Lord? Jesus responded I am going to Rome to be crucified again! Peter turned around and went back to Rome to die for his faith in Jesus Christ. Lets ask the Lord to help us to be united to Him and learn to love the Cross, not fear it. For the daily Cross is our way to salvation. No cross, no crown.

Third Sunday of LentMarch 1, 2007 When a trial or setback comes into our lives we often react like the disciples in the Gospel. What did I do to deserve this? Is God punishing me for some sin? The disciples were talking about the news of the day: Roman soldiers killed some Galileans and performed an act of sacrilege; 18 people were killed when a tower fell. It was no different than the stories of war and disaster that we hear every day on our evening news. Jesus clearly tells them and us that those horrible events didnt happen to those people because they deserved it: Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means. There is no one to one correlation between suffering and sin, but there is a connection. Every sin has consequences. Some are obvious, such as, if I get angry and hit the wall with my fist, I am going to feel it immediately and clearly. Other consequences are spiritual and involve relationships with people; they may not manifest themselves until later. For example, if a married man views pornography he may not realize that it is an addicting and destroying his marriage until his life is in ruin. Even then he may not make the connection. Justice is not perfect in this world. Not every sinner is going to see the consequences of his sin. Not every person who is sexually promiscuous will get AIDES or some sexually transmitted disease; some chaste people have gotten those diseases through a blood transfusion. Even though we cannot expect perfect justice in this world, it will happen. At the end of life we will come before the prefect judge, Jesus Christ, Himself. He will look at our lives from beginning to end. He will know all the circumstances, including what we knew or didnt know when we acted. Ignorance of the law is no excuse when it comes to human law. The officer who stops you after running a red light cannot tell if you honestly didnt see that light or if you purposely didnt or if you werent paying attention because you were talking on your cell phone. There can be no excuses or rationalizations before the Divine judge; He knows all, already! Jesus Christ will make a perfect judgment. Sometimes people say we speak about sin in the Church because we like to make people feel guilty! That is not true, although if we are guilty it is only normal to feel guilty. We speak about sin because it is real and has terrible effects upon us. That is why Jesus said: But I tell you, if you do not

repent, you will all perish as they did! Sin has three effects upon the sinner. First, it harms or destroys his relationship with God. Even sins of thought that are known only to God keep us from loving Him as He deserves and blocks His grace. Secondly, sin harms or breaks off his relationship with other people. Like a rock thrown into the center of a placid pond sin sends ripples through the whole Church. In a mysterious way, all are affected by my sin as well as by the good that I do. Thirdly, sin hurts the sinner, himself. Every time I sin, I decrease the level of virtue and grace that I could have had. I am not the person that I could be or should be.

I may seem strange to say, but suffering is not necessarily a bad thing, as a matter of fact, God can bring great good through it. I will never grow in virtue, if I do not have to struggle with something. Parents, your children are making you holy when they test your patience! You will grow in the virtues of patience and fortitude if you struggle with your anger and frustration. You will not grow in virtue or goodness if it is never tested. All those people you dont like or find frustrating can make you holy. It is a moral principle that you cannot do evil and expect good to come from it. But God can bring good out of evil! God can write straight with crocked lines. As a matter of fact, sometimes I dont get the message until I am hit over the head with a two-by-four. It really takes some trial to rouse me out of my self-satisfaction and comfortable existence in order to be a real disciple of Christ. Many people find in an illness the wake up call to turn back to God, sometimes at the very end of life God will make a last attempt to call them to repentance. Otherwise, they wouldnt have a chance for heaven. God isnt the source of evil, but He can use it for our good. Finally, those who are closest to God experience suffering, often intense suffering. The crucified Christ loves them and embraces them leaving His wounds upon them, so that they will become more like Him who suffered for our salvation. Just look at our patron St. Gianna. She was the kind of wife, mother and doctor that we need in our world. Yet God asked her to make a great sacrifice by offering her life so that her baby might be born. First, her death would separate her from her beloved husband and children. She would not be around to love them and teach them. Secondly, after her baby was born St. Gianna experienced intense suffering until she died a week later in Gods peace. As holy as she was, St. Gianna was purified by this last trial and made more like her beloved Jesus Christ.

Jesus wants us to know the reality of sin and its consequences, but He also wants us to know that the love of God is more powerful. He next tells the parable of the fig tree that bears no fruit. A fig tree normally takes three years to bear fruit and if it doesnt do so then there is little likelihood that it will ever do so. This three year old fig tree is given another chance. The gardener wants to cultivate the ground and take extra care of it to see if it will still bear fruit. Jesus is the Divine Gardener doesnt give up on us either. He keeps sending us grace. We need to use the rest of the season of Lent to open our hearts to His gifts, even if that means suffering, for He is calling us to bear good fruit.

Fourth Sunday of LentMarch 18, 2007Laetare Sunday The father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son does some things that no father would do, especially in that culture. First, when the younger son asks for his inheritance the father gives it to him without reservation. It is like the son saying, I cant wait for you to die, I want my inheritance now, so I can do with it as I please. No father would have permitted such disrespect! This one does. When the younger son returns in rags, starving and without a penny, it appears that the father has been constantly scanning the horizon looking for his return; he so longed for him to come home. The father doesnt even let the son make his whole confession before he is calling the servants to Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found. There is no bitterness in him, nor any resentment; he has entirely forgiven his son. This father does not act like a normal father; he is total love and forgiveness without any regard for how he has been treated. Jesus wants us to know that our Heavenly Father is like the father in the parable. Sometimes people have very false ideas of God. For example, we may have the idea that God wants to catch us in the state of mortal sin, so that He can condemn us to hell; the exact opposite is true, He wants to catch us in the state of grace and bring us to heaven. Or there is the idea that God really doesnt care very much about us, He is like a great clockmaker who wound up the universe at creation like a clock and lets it wind down through history without personal care for us. Or some people say God loves you just the way you are which is only a half-truth. The whole truth would be God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you so much He doesnt want to leave you there. The father in the parable is more like our Heavenly Father than any of our imperfect ideas. He knows our weaknesses: He even knows that we will waste most of the gifts that He has given us, but He wants us to return home to Him in repentance. He wants us to come home! He loves us! If you dont understand this or dont feel this you are missing something very important in our Catholic faith.

One time I was studying the Scripture with a group of mothers and one mother commented on this parable by saying I would never let my son get away with that kind of repentance. The Prodigal Son came home because he was starving and didnt have any money or place to live. He is not really sorry for what he did. She reacted like most of us would if we have been hurt or offended by someone. Remember, there are two kinds of contrition or sorrow for sin: perfect and imperfect. Imperfect sorrow is the result of the fear of punishment; I am sorry for what I have done because I know that I am going to get punished and I dont like punishment. Perfect sorrow results from love, knowing that I have hurt the person that I love by my offense, regardless of the punishment that may come. The Prodigal Son had imperfect sorrow; the father accepted it. So does our Father God. Its almost as if He will take any crumb that we throw to Him and turn it into something good. The Parable concludes with the entrance of the older son who comes upon the scene of the party for the return of his brother; he was a hardworking and faithful son. He resents his brother and his indulgent father and will not enter the feast. The father comes out to him to invite him in and explains: My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found. Certainly, there are times in life that we need, not only to be forgiven, but to forgive others. The older brother represents this need to forgive others, but also there is another meaning. The older brother had to accept a father who forgives generously or he would never be able to understand and love his father. We have to be willing to accept the forgiveness that God gives; to love it and to long for His mercy. At the beginning of Holy Mass we have the Penitential Rite in which we express our sorrow for sin. We pray Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy. In Lent, we have been singing those words in Greek. The first language of the sacred liturgy was Greek and even when it was translated into Latin we still kept those words in Greek. Kyrie means Lord; eleison means have mercy. Christe means Christ; eleison, have mercy. God gives us His mercy through the great Sacrament of Penance. When we make a good Confession it is like returning home to our heavenly Fathers

house. Why dont we allow God to take the load of sin off our backs? Why dont we seek out His mercy, when it is so easily available to us in the Sacrament of Mercy? It is quite painless to go to Confession: first, examine your conscience and have sorrow for your sins. Use the Ten Commandments as a guide or some list of questions made to help examine your conscience. Then, find a time to go to Confession; I havent exactly been overwhelmed by the number of confessions. Next, confess your sins honestly and with trust in God; the priest is meant to be the instrument of God to bring you mercy. Finally, receive your Penance and make your Act of Contrition. Then the priest will give you absolution. The whole thing takes about two or three minutes. There was a man who claimed that he was receiving apparitions from Jesus and he went to the bishop to seek guidance. The bishop questioned him at length and finally said as a test: I want you to ask the Lord to tell you the worst sin that I have committed in my life and then come back and report it to me. The man returned after some time and said that he had asked the Lord to tell him the bishops worst sin as he requested and the Lord answered. . . . I forgot! When God forgives us in the Sacrament of Penance, He wipes away our sin; He forgets it.

March 25, 2007Fifth Sunday of Lent In the Parable of the Prodigal Son that we heard last Sunday, Jesus wanted us to understand the infinite mercy of our Heavenly Father. Todays Gospel shows us the Divine Mercy in action. Both Jesus and the men who brought the woman to Him, acknowledged the womans sin of adultery, but how different was their judgment upon this woman! We know that the men were using a human being and her sad situation as a way to trap Jesus. They probably had other motives as wellnone of them good. It wouldnt be the first time that people used religion in order to justify themselves. Stoning this woman could come from a desire for personal revenge upon her, or the desire to appear righteous in upholding the law or simply malice. Their judgment was without mercy. They thought they could use it against Jesus. Either He would say let the woman go and then they could accuse Him of violating the law of Moses or say stone her and then claim Him a fraud who really didnt believe in the mercy He preached. You notice that Jesus doesnt answer right away, not because He has to think of an answer, but to let them think and cool down. Finally, He says Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. Then He bends down and writes in the dirt again, giving them time to examine their consciences. No doubt the light of God was coming into their souls to help them see their own sins without excuse. The Gospel tells us that they leave one by one, and would not dare to cast a stone. Who is without sin? When they are left alone, Jesus acts as the judge of this woman and says Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She replied, No one, sir. Then Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more. She could have never expected this outcome to her situation. Not only was she saved from death, but she was freed from the death of sin. She was truly free. This woman caught in adultery has long been associated with Mary Magdalene. The Scripture isnt clear, but even if it was not the future saint, no doubt this woman became a great penitent and saint. The mercy of God had such power to change lives. It still does!

The words of Isaiah are always true to the Christian: Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? Have you made a good confession this Lent? Have you allowed the Divine Mercy to do something new in your soul? We have to be very careful about the judgments that we make of other people. The mind is created by God to judge. We do it constantly, such as 2+2=4; the works of Michelangelo are beautiful and awesome; abortion is always morally wrong. We have to train our minds to make judgments based on the truth and refrain from making judgments when we really dont know the truth. Here is an example: two men are walking down a country road and far ahead they see a large tree with red fruit hanging from it and the one man says to the other Look at that apple tree covered with apples. When they get close enough to see it clearly, they discover that it really is a plum tree, covered with plums. Of course, that mans judgment was not immoral, but it was wrong; he made a judgment without sufficient knowledge. Now we often make judgments without sufficient knowledge about people and their motivesthen it becomes a sin. The CCC calls it the sin of rash judgment and says one commits the sin of rash judgment when one who even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor. We have the duty out of Christian charity not to make these kinds of judgments. We have to stop and ask ourselves, Am I making a judgment about another person without really knowing the truth? Am I attributing motives to them that I couldnt possibly know? Am I basing this judgment on superficial things like skin color or clothes or first impressions? St. Ignatius of Loyola said: Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to anothers statement than to condemn it. If he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. It is common for people to fall into the sin of rash judgment without giving it a thought. We need to judge our own thoughts before we judge others. Rash judgment leads to the sin of detraction, which the CCC says one commits who without objectively valid reason, discloses anothers

faults and failings to persons who did not know them. It seems as if those in politics are constantly trying to use the faults of others, interpreting words and actions in the worst possible way, in order to advance themselves. They dont care about the truth of the oppositions words, just how they can use them to hurt them. We listen to it and do it ourselves. The old saying is If you cant say something good about another person, dont say anything at all. Why do we gossip about others and point out their faults? None of the reasons are good. If you have a poor self image, gossip brings down the other person and makes you feel better than him or her. It is also a way of justifying ones own sins by pointing out the supposedly worse faults of another. It may be because we have been hurt or offended and want revenge, so we point out that persons faults to make them look bad to others and hurt them. Perhaps it is just a way of controlling others by making ourselves appear superior and putting them on the defensive. Sometimes we do have an objective reason to point out the faults of others, for example, in order to protect people from them. A good way to judge the difference is to ask yourself, Will I get satisfaction out of saying these things or are they painful to say? I have a priest friend who is quite elderly, but long ago, he must have made a promise not to speak badly of another person. In all the 30 years that I have known him, I have never heard him say an uncharitable thing about anyone. He certainly has had opportunities, because like all of us, he has been treated unjustly and cruelly. He always finds something good to say or change the subject of say now, now when others start to gossip. Jesus is calling us to a higher standard of Christian charity. It is a standard that He Himself has set for us. We can easily become like the mob in the Gospel or we can choose to follow Christ. It takes discipline, maturity and grace.

Palm SundayApril 1, 2007 The last words that a person speaks before he dies are usually considered to be particularly meaningful. Maybe the dying person expresses his love for those who are so dear to him or gives some advice to his children or summarizes the meaning of his life. The last words of Jesus as He was dying on the Cross hold great meaning for Christians. The Gospels tell us of 7 last words of Jesus. We have to remember what it cost Him just to speak as He was nailed to the Cross. To speak or even to breathe took great physical effort. He had to pull on His nailed hands and push on His nailed feet in order to lift His body to get a breath. Every word is significant. In the Gospel of Luke we have three of the Last Words of Jesus. The very first that He speaks after being raised upon the Cross was: Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Even though He was beaten, mocked, spit upon and nailed to the Cross, His very first thought was forgiveness. That is the whole meaning of His Passion and Death. No matter how cruelly He was being treated, He was thinking of us. He was offering Himself in payment for our sins and the sins of the whole world. Father forgive them and He adds for they know not what they do. The soldiers were ignorant of who they were crucifyingonly at the end does the soldier who pierces His Heart finally understands and says that surely this man was the Son of God. However, Jesus was not only speaking of the soldiers, but of all mankind. If we really understood the evil of sin, we would never commit a sin again. We are so often ignorant, blinded by our passions, caught up in the desire to be liked and approved by others that we ignore the tragic meaning of sin. My sin, your sin, puts Jesus on the Cross. Luke gives us another Last Word of Jesus. This time it is directed to one of the thieves who was crucified at His side. He defends Jesus and acknowledges His Kingship: Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom. Jesus promises, Amen, I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise. We see the power of Gods mercy at work in the soul of this thief and the very last moments of his life. The mystery of grace is something that we will only understand when we get to heaven. Why did the one thief turn to Jesus in faith, while the other who was experiencing the very same moment of grace did not? The other thief only mocked Jesus, while his partner in crime saw heaven opened up to him.

The final Last Word from the Gospel of Luke is Father, into Your hands I commend my spirit. Jesus is the true Son of the Heavenly Father. He loves Him and has been obedient to Him and has fulfilled the mission of redeeming the world that His Heavenly Father gave to Him. We need to put ourselves into the hands of God. Jesus has made Him our Father too. Lets walk with Jesus this week through His Passion, death and resurrection, staying close to the sorrowful Mother who was so united to her Son at every step of the Way.

Holy Thursday Everything we do tonight in the Sacred Liturgy is meant to connect us to the night before Jesus died. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass=the Last Supper The washing of the feet of 12 men of the parish=the 12 apostles The solemn procession around the Church with the Blessed Sac.=Jesus journey to the Garden of Gethsemene The vigil until midnight with the Blessed Sac.=corresponds to the time that Jesus asks His apostles to watch and pray with Him. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the rest of the Paschal Mystery fulfill all that God did for the people of Israel in the great Covenant, which we now call the Old Covenant or Old Testament. In the First Reading God told Moses to slaughter an unblemished lamb=Jesus is the innocent Lamb who is led to the slaughter on the Cross The blood of the lamb is put on the doorposts to save the people from the angel of death=Jesus Precious Blood save us from the death of sin The lamb is roasted and eaten as a meal that will join the future generation of Jews to the Passover night=The Holy Mass is the renewal or representation of Jesus one sacrifice on Calvary so that Christians are forever united to that saving event. The Israelites pass from slavery to freedom=we are saved from our sins The Holy Mass anticipates the eternal banquet of heaven. Past, present and future are united in each and every Mass. St. Clair of Assisi

Good Friday On Palm Sunday, I mentioned that the Gospels tell us of 7 Last Words of Jesus as He hung upon the Cross. We read three of the from the Gospel of Luke; the Gospel of John which we just read gives us three more. Woman, behold your son. Behold your Mother. I thirst. When Jesus came to Calvary they nailed Him to a tree; red, were His wounds and deep; For those were crude and cruel days and human life was cheap. When Jesus came to Birmingham, they merely passed Him by, they would not harm a hair of His, they only let Him die. For men had grown more tender now, they would not cause Him pain; they merely passed on down the street and left Him in the rain. And so, it rained the Winter rain that drenched Him through and through. And when all the crowds had left the street without a soul to see, then Jesus crouched against the wall and SIGHED for Calvary. It is finished.

Easter Sunday2007 Once again, we sing the word Alleluia. Since Ash Wednesday we have not heard that word. Alleluia is a Hebrew word that expresses joy and praise and victory. No one would have thought to say that word on the first Easter morning. The horror of the Crucifixion still fixed the minds of the apostles and disciples on ideas of defeat and sadness. The holy women went to anoint the dead body of Jesus; the apostles were in hiding. They did not expect to find the stone rolled away, the empty burial wrappings and the empty tomb. Alleluia was not a word that was on their lips that morning, but it would be by that evening. The death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ are meant to bring the world lasting joy. It is not like the passing pleasures of chocolate bunnies and Easter egg hunts or family dinners--as good as they are. Easter is meant to bring a joy that is lasting and deep. The death and resurrection of Christ have changed the world! Without it we would have had no hope in the struggle with the devil, sin and death. Without Jesus Christ they are too strong for us, we are helpless. With Jesus Christ we have the hope of heaven and everlasting happiness. Tonight we are going to celebrate the baptism and confirmation of our first convert to the Catholic faith at St. Gianna Parish. Vince Gilbert has been studying and praying for more than a year. He has been deeply longing for this night in which He can receive the grace of the resurrection through these sacraments and be united with Jesus Christ in Holy Communion. This night will change his life and bring him the peace and joy of the risen Savior. For all of us the death and resurrection of our Blessed Lord is meant to have a lasting effect. Even though the events we are celebrating happened almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus is pouring out His graces on us here and now. He is calling us to be true Christians and true sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. Our lives have to change because of the Sacred Mysteries we have been celebrating. I cant emphasize enough the importance of worshipping God in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass each Sunday. From the earliest times Christians have

called each Sunday a little Easter. How can you truly call yourself a Catholic if you do not do this minimal act of worship? God has to be more important than the soccer ball or your bed or even your work. We find time for everything but God. If you want the true joy of Easter to remain in your heart, you have to come to the source which is the grace that the Lord gives to us in His sacraments, especially Confession and the Holy Eucharist. When Mary Magdalene and the holy women arrived at the empty tomb and later realized that the Lord had risen, their sadness was turned into joy. Alleluia became their song! The Lord wants us to have this same joy, but we have to seek Him too. If we seek Him, we will find Him! Alleluia

Divine Mercy SundayApril 15, 2007 A teenage girl went to a party in her home town in Poland. In the midst of the laughter and the music she suddenly saw an apparition of Jesus Christ as He appeared after His scourging at the pillar. He was covered with wounds and crowned with thorns. He asked her when she was going to respond to His call to become a nun and give herself completely to Him. She immediately left the party and went to the city of Cracow, where she eventually entered the convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy and took the religious name Sister Faustina. For the rest of her life, which ended in 1939, she had apparitions of Jesus who asked her to spread devotion to His Divine Mercyto be His Apostle and Secretary of Divine Mercy. St. Faustina Kowalska was canonized by the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II in April of the year 2000, the first saint of the new millennium. He also declared that the Sunday after Easter should be known from that point on as Divine Mercy Sunday. This was a request that Jesus Himself had made to St. Faustina years before. The painting that hangs in our vestibule is an exact copy of the painting that hangs in the shrine of Divine Mercy in Poland. It shows Jesus with two rays, one red and the other white, coming from His chest, which stands for the Blood and water that poured from His pierced Heart on the Cross. They symbolize the Mercy that He is pouring out upon the whole world. The prayer Jesus I trust in You is at the bottom of the painting. Trust in Jesus is a key idea to this devotion. There is a chaplet that uses the Rosary beads and repeats the phrase: For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. The Scripture readings for this Sunday fit the devotion to perfection. The Responsorial Psalm calls upon Israel to cry out His mercy endures forever. The First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us that after Pentecost Sunday Many signs and wonders were done among the people at the hands of the apostles. People were bringing the sick to be near as St. Peter walked by so that at least his shadow might fall upon one or another of them. The mercy of God was being poured out upon the sick with miracles of healing. Most importantly, the Gospel tells us of the gift of Divine Mercy through the institution of the Sacrament of Penance. We could say that the Sacrament of Penance or Confession was the first gift of the resurrected Christ to His Church; it is no wonder that we call it the Sacrament of Mercy. It is not

meant only for Lent and Advent, but it is a sacrament that we need throughout the year. This Gospel tells us of the first appearance of Jesus to His apostles on Easter Sunday evening. They were behind locked doors in the Upper Room. He comes to them saying: Peace be with you. The purpose of His suffering, death and resurrection was to bring reconciliation with God and peace to our souls by the forgiveness of sins. Jesus shows the wounds in His hands and feet and side to prove that it was really the Jesus who had been crucified, but even more so to show them what peace cost. It cost Him dearly! He maintains those wounds on His glorified Body, even now that He is in heaven at the right hand of His Father. He repeats Peace be with you and then breathes on them giving them the first installment of the Holy Spirit, the definitive gift will come on Pentecost. Then He says the words to institute the Sacrament of Penance: Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, whose sins you retain, are retained. It is the duty of the apostles and their successors, the bishops and priests, to bring the fruit of Jesus Passion, Death and Resurrection to the world until the end of time through the forgiveness of sins. Jesus wants us to be free of sin, to master our passions and desires and live in His image. We cannot do this on our own; it takes His grace which comes to us through the sacraments. All seven sacraments are the fruit of His Paschal Mystery, but did you notice that Jesus instituted three sacraments at the time of His suffering, death and resurrection? At the Last Supper, He instituted the Holy Eucharist and the Priesthood and on Easter Sunday as we have just noted, the Sacrament of Penance. These three sacraments are at the heart of our struggle with sin and living the Christian life. Without the Priesthood, we cannot have the other two; the purpose of the Priesthood is to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and absolve us from sins in the name of Jesus Christ. Those two sacraments we receive again and again because we constantly need those graces. In his Apostolic Exhortation on the Holy Eucharist, Pope Benedict speaks about the example of some Christians in the 4th century who lived in Northern Africa. The authorities of the Roman Empire forbid Christian worship under the pain of death. These Christians were caught at the Holy Mass and martyred after declaring that it was not possible for them to

live without the Eucharist, the food of the Lord: sine dominico non possumus. They would rather die than miss Sunday Mass! Life was not worth living without the Holy Eucharist! We need a renewed fervor for the sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and Penance. Far few people take advantage of the Mercy that God is offering to us. I am praying in a special way these days for Catholics who have grown lukewarm in their faith and only go to Sunday Mass when they feel like it. They dont have any idea of what they are missing and certainly dont have the zeal of those Martyrs of Northern Africa who would rather die than be deprived of the Holy Eucharist. Lets ask St. Faustina and our own patron St. Gianna to help our fellow parishioners and each of us to have a real zeal for our faith and the great gift of the Sacraments.

April 22, 2007Third Sunday of Easter The apostles saw the risen Jesus with their own eyes, they heard His voice and they touched Him. Last Sunday we heard the words of Jesus to doubting Thomas put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe. The apostles knew that Jesus was risen, but they didnt yet know what to do about it. In todays Gospel we see them return to their old way of life as fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. They cannot go back; they have been called by Jesus and have said yes to that call. After they have been out fishing all night without catching anything they see the figure of a man on the shore in the dim light of dawn who calls out to them and tells them to cast the net to the right side and they will catch something. Then they make such a huge catch of fish that they can hardly pull the nets into the boat. Immediately this must have triggered the memory of the first time that Peter met Jesus. Then, He had asked to use Peters boat to speak to the crowds on the shore and afterwards directed them to put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. It was a miraculous catch of fish. Jesus told Peter and the others, Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men. Now they realized that this distant figure is Jesus and so they go to meet Him. Peter, his impetuous self, jumps into the water and swims ashore. Jesus has a breakfast ready for them and they eat with Him. John notes that there were 153 large fish in the net. Why would he note this particular number? It was a commonly held that there were 153 nations in the world at that time. One fish for each nation; they were to bring all the nations in the world to Jesus. Jesus reaffirms the primacy of Peter at that meeting. He asks him, Simon Peter, do you love me more than these? and tells him tend my sheep, feed my sheep. Do you notice the question is asked three times? It is in reparation for the three times Peter had denied Christ on the night before He died. In any case, Peter and his successors are to be the chief shepherds in the Church of Christ. Christ is the invisible Head; Peter and his successors of are to be the visible head of the Church. Jesus wasnt going to let Peter

and the apostles go back; they had to go forward on a mission to spread the Gospel to all the nations of the world. The First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles takes place after Pentecost and shows Peter and the other apostles with a totally new and clear understanding of life and their mission. Here we find them arrested by the Sanhedrin and admonished to stop speaking about Jesus. These were the authorities who handed Jesus over to death; the ones who could punish if they were not obeyed. Although they let them go in the end, they first had them scourged. Peter speaks to them with a boldness and lack of fear that is astonishing. He announces the principal, that We must obey God, rather than men. We all like to think that we are free and independent in our thinking and our choices. No one tells me what to do; I make my own decisions. However, what St. Peter said is really trueall of our choices fall into one camp or the othereither we follow God or we follow those who are opposed to God. As Christians this means that we need to look at life from Gods point of view. The Roman Catholic Church was established by Jesus Christ on Peter, His visible Shepherd, to teach us and guide us to see as God sees. It is very easy for us to be fooled by the media and the world or culture to believe that we are free and independent thinkers when we are only following their outlook and plans. We could reflect on countless examples, but I would only like to mention two. First, how do couples decide on the number of children that they want in their family? The magic number seems to be twoa boy and a girl. All the commercials show a family of four enjoying their products and vacation spots. I have mentioned this beforeif a family with 3 or more young children goes out in public they will inevitably encounter someone who criticizes or mocks them for having a large family. Why is it? Who decided that 2 was the right number of children? Everywhere in the Bible children are described as a blessing. They are not seen as a hindrance to careers or a drain on ones leisure time. The Church has always taught that one of the two purposes of marriage was to cooperate with the Creator and bring forth new life in our world. Openness to children and the strict prohibition of contraception has always been a teaching from the very beginning of Christianity.

It is not God or His Church that has decided on 2 children as the ideal family; this comes from a world that is opposed to life and is bent on promoting a culture of death. Now if God gives a couple 1 or 2 children, then that is His gift, but Christians are called to obey God, not man. The second example comes from the way we view our value or self-worth. Recently, someone told me that in a survey only 2% of women are satisfied with their physical appearance. Who decided that women had to have a certain figure or sex appeal or they were not good enough? Every magazine and movie shows models that have the perfect figure, hair style and make-up. How many mothers have told me that it is almost impossible to find clothes for their daughters that are stylish and modest. All the clothes are so tight fitting that they show every curve and as much skin as possible. The Bible tells us that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and should be taken care of, but it is far more important to have internal beauty. How one looks on the outside is going to be left behind with the passing of only a few years, but goodness, virtue and deeds of love will remain to eternity. Everything that we have been celebrating this past Lent and now in the Easter season is meant to show us that our value depends of God who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son up to death on the Cross for our salvation. Lets ask the Lord to help us to see ourselves and life in the way that He sees and give us the grace to obey God, rather than men.

Fourth Sunday of EasterApril 29, 2007 It was one year ago (April 28th) that Archbishop Burke announced the foundation of a new parish under the patronage of St. Gianna. The announcement had been long anticipated because of the obvious growth at St. Patrick and Immaculate Conception Parishes. I really had no idea what it meant to be the Pastor of a totally new parish and, as a matter of fact, no one in the administration of the Archdiocese had any experience with starting a new parish since the last time it happened was 25 years ago. As you know, our first Sunday Mass celebrated here on September 25th, on the anniversary of St. Giannas marriage to Pietro Molla. This coming Friday from 6:30-9:00 pm there is an opportunity to take another step forward in planning for the future of the parish. Bishop Hermann has arranged for Vince Estrada, a strategic planner, to come and meet with us. It will be an opportunity to express your desires for our parish; we will think in terms of where we want to be in five years and what the priorities for the parish are in regard to buildings and programs and spiritual growth. I know the notice is short, but everything happened quickly this past week. Please invest your time in the future of our parish! This is Good Shepherd Sunday; Jesus has proved Himself to be the Good Shepherd. He laid down His life for us when He died on the Cross and conquered sin. He rose from the dead on Easter proving that He was even more powerful than death. In todays Gospel, He said: My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me. There is a tribe in Africa that had no numbers. They never counted things and didnt know how to do so. One time an explorer came to the tribe and asked a shepherd how he would know if a sheep was missing since they didnt count them. The shepherds reply was I would miss its face. Now I cant tell the difference between one sheep or another, but this shepherd knew his sheep. In the Gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus says that even the hairs of your head are numbered. If God knows us down to that detail then we have to believe that God knows us very personally (like that shepherd in Africa) to the depths of our soul. He knows me better than I know myself: my motivations and reasons for acting, which are not always good, are clearly known by God. Yet He loves me in spite of all this!!

On this Good Shepherd Sunday we need to think not only about what it means to be a Good Shepherd, but also what it means to be good sheep. There is another story about a tourist in the Middle East who saw three shepherds and their flocks come together on a grassy plain, mingling their sheep. When they departed the sheep left the combined flock and followed after its own particular shepherd. The tourist was amazed by this and asked if the sheep always followed their shepherd. He answered that the only time they would not follow their shepherds voice was if they were sick, then they would follow anyone. In private conversations, I have often had people make this statement about themselves: I am a good person. What does it mean? Perhaps that they havent killed anyone or been sent to jail for embezzling funds or something of that sort. In some ways, everyone is a good person; Joseph Stalin loved his daughter and she loved him, even as he killed millions in the Soviet Union. The question is not am I a good person, but do I follow Jesus Christ the Good shepherd and the Church He founded? That sets up a whole different set of criteria for living. To be a good person can mean anything you want and you can live any way you choose. To be a follower of Christ means that there is a very specific way to live; there are commandments and things that are right and those that are wrong. They are given by God and cannot be changed by man. They dont change according to the whim of public opinion. To have Jesus as our Good Shepherd means that we follow the shepherds that He has appointed, particularly Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop Burke. The word Pastor comes from a Latin word meaning shepherd. It is a title that I treasure and continually try to live up to. When Archbishop Burke asked me to become the Pastor of the new parish that he was going to establish, I could have refused. As a matter of fact, I was very happy in my pastoral work at St. Josephs in Josephville and didnt really desire to move. However, Archbishop Burke is the Shepherd that God appointed and I believed that God speaks through him, so I accepted. We need to love the shepherds that God has given to us, even though they are men and are not perfect. In a particular way, we need to stand by Archbishop Burke in this controversy over the fundraising event for Cardinal Glennon Hospital. What

did he really do? It was so little; he didnt say close the hospital or stop the second collection that helps support it, he simply refused to be involved with a fundraiser that had a performer who publicly opposed key teachings of the Church in regard to life. The angry and hateful reaction is all out of proportion to what he did. I think there is a hidden agenda behind it. We as faithful Catholics need to pray for our Shepherd and support him. To be a follower of Christ means that He gives us the gift of eternal life. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. What a comfort it is to follow the Good Shepherd! He will guide us in the midst of a world that is filled with peril to our souls and our eternal happiness. He will not lead us astray, and will protect us from the devil with his errors and lies. You may have noticed that the statue of the Blessed mother has grown this past week. A family in the parish donated this new statue to us to replace the one that was borrowed from a priest friend of mine. This statue of Our Lady of Grace shows Mary standing on a serpent with an apple in its mouth. The idea comes from Genesis 3:15. There God speaks to the devil who is in the guise of a snake and has just tempted Eve and Adam to commit the Original Sin by eating the fruit from the tree that God commanded them not to eat of. He says to the devil I will put enmity between you and the woman and between her offspring and yours. He shall crush your head while you bite at his heel. This passage was understood by the ancient Jews to be a prophecy of the Messiah who would defeat Satan and we understand it more fully that it is also a prophecy about the Messiahs mother. Mary united with Christ her Son will conquer the power of the devil; a lowly woman will be the instrument to defeat the pride of a fallen angel. Mary is the new Eve. We are gong to begin the month of Mary, let us particularly look to her to help us on our pilgrim way to heaven.

Fifth Sunday of EasterMay 6, 2007 The ancient Greeks had three words for love, each of them with a different emphasis. In English, we use the same word when we say I love pizza or I love you or I love God. Those are really three different uses of the word love. Some things that we call love are not really true love at all; they merely express our likes and dislikes. Other times what we think is love is little more than selfishness. That is why it is very important that when Jesus gave us His commandment of love in todays Gospel that He said: As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. Not any kind of love will do; we have to learn to love like Jesus Christ. Jesus gave us a NEW commandment: to love one another. Why does He call it new? It is new because He has given us a new power to lovethe power of grace which lifts up our human efforts to something Divine. One of the words the Greeks used for love is AGAPE. They believed that it was a kind of love that was beyond human power, only the gods could live it. It was a self-sacrificial, totally committed, giving-without-counting-the-cost, kind of love. Jesus has given us the example of this kind of love in His saving death on the Cross. Because of His grace, we have a new power to live a kind of love that is normally beyond mere mortals. The word love is used frequently in the New Testament and word Greek word Agape is used far more than any other. There is a video of Pietro Molla recalling the memory of his wife St. Gianna. He is still alive and in his 90s. At one point everyone laughs when he says: In her very first letter, Gianna asked me what I expected of her so that she could make me happy. Confronted with such openness, I thought that if a woman thinks like this then most certainly we would get along. (Everyone laughs). He adds: I naturally wanted to do likewise so I asked Gianna what she expected from me in order to make her happy. The unconditional love of St. Gianna for her future husband called forth a like response. Genuine loves does that! One day a second grade girl asked a rather profound question in religion class. They had memorized the two commandments of love and she asked Father, if I love God with ALL my heart, mind, soul and strength, how can there be any love left for my neighbor? If I have fifty dollars and give it all away, I have nothing left. Love doesnt work that way. When I love freely and with truth it is more like a beam of light that shines upon a

prism. The light doesnt go out; it beams back to me and all around the room in a rainbow of colors. The more I give of myself without asking for return, the more I have. This is especially true when we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Martin of Tours was riding with his fellow soldiers one day when they passed a beggar who was freezing in the snow. The other soldiers mocked him and rode on, but Martin couldnt. He took his cloak and cut it in half with his sword, giving half to the beggar. That night Martin had a dream in which Jesus Christ appeared wearing half his cloak confirming the words of Jesus: Whatever you do to the least of my brethren you do unto me. Pope John Paul II often quoted the phrase from the Second Vatican Council that said Man cannot find himself, except through the sincere gift of self. It is only when we give ourselves away to others that we can discover who we are and what we are made of and our true value. A person who is sad or depressed will often find relief if he freely does some deeds of charity. Our problem is that we often think that we love another person when we are really only thinking of ourselves. Perhaps we are lonely, or want someone to take care of us, or to make us feel happy. Far too often people mistake lust for love. If we use another person for our own selfish desires and ends then we do not love at all, we are doing the opposite of love. Man cannot find himself, except through the sincere gift of self. Giving, not taking is the key. We often refer to the Holy Eucharist as the Sacrament of Love. Pope Benedict began his Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist by writing: The sacrament of Charity, the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of Himself, thus revealing to us Gods infinite love for every man and woman. This wondrous sacrament makes manifest that greater love which led Him to lay down His life for His friends. In every Holy Mass and every Holy Communion, Jesus is giving Himself anew to us. He makes Himself the sacrifice and food for our souls. When we participate in Holy Mass, we need to remember why we are here. Yes, we need the grace and strength to live that comes from this Eucharistic Banquet, but if our main purpose is only to receive, we need to change our motives to see this as a time to love and worship God. We want to make the music and vestments and surroundings as beautiful as possible, but if we are here to be

entertained, we have to change our motives to see this as a place to praise and adore our God. We have to give ourselves in love to God in each Holy Mass, for He gives Himself to us in each Holy Mass. In his encyclical God is Love, Pope Benedict holds up Mary as a model of love. Marys greatness consists in the fact that she wants to magnify God, not herself. She is lowly: her only desire is to be the handmaid of the Lord. She knows that she will only contribute to the salvation of the world if, rather than carrying out her own projects, she places herself completely at the disposal of Gods initiatives. Mary, help us to learn how to love as God has loved us.

Sixth Sunday of EasterMay 13, 2007 When there is a dispute about the doctrine of Jesus, how do you decide what is true and what is false teaching? Often in history, particularly in the last 500 years, the way to solve a problem has been to break away from one church to form another. Those who hold a different doctrine make up a new church and go their own way. There are over 30,000 different Christian denominations in the world today and the number is constantly growing. This was not the way to solve doctrinal questions in the beginning of Christianity if we look at the First Reading of todays Holy Mass from the Acts of the Apostles. Paul and Barnabas were faced with a doctrinal problem that had many practical consequences. The problem is simply stated this way: now that the Church was baptizing non-Jews, was it necessary for these pagans to follow the many Jewish laws and customs, including circumcism, that governed life for Gods chosen people OR could they simply enter the Church without such observance. Remember, the first Christians including the Apostles were all Jews who had followed the Law of Moses faithfully. This law had customs in regard to food, dress, dealing with non-Jews and many things that distinguished the Jews from all other peoples, besides purely religious matters. Some of the Jewish Christians began to assert that you had to basically become a Jew before you could become a Christian. Paul and Barnabas show us how to solve a doctrinal problem of this sort: seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit with those who have the authority of Christ. They go back to Jerusalem and consult with the apostles; the year is 51 A.D. This is the first of many great Councils in the history of the Church. After the lifetime of the Apostles there have been 23 great councils of the Church: the first was the Council of Nicea that took place in 325 A.D. and produced the first part of the Creed that we will say in a few minutes; the last was the Second Vatican Council from 1962-5. Most of the Councils of the Church are called as the result of a heresy or false teaching that requires an official answer. Paul and Barnabas and most clergy and laity throughout history have believed that there is such a thing as truth and that it is a matter of life and death, heaven and hell, to get things right. This means that the teachings of God are not a matter of opinion, but need to be adhered to with unwavering faith and taught clearly

by His Church. How different from today where everything is seen to be relative by many people, especially those in media and public life! Jesus states in a number of ways the idea in todays Gospel: Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. To keep the word of Jesus; to obey His commandments is essential to salvation. What you believe is very important. In these Councils throughout history, the bishops, who are the successors of the Apostles, in union with the Pope, the successor of St. Peter, discuss the great matters at hand and make a decision. Remember, even though Jesus gave us the true faith in its fullness, He didnt give us an answer to every doctrinal and moral question that would arise in the history of the world. Instead, He gave us a Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told the Apostles at the Last Supper in our Gospel today: The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. The Apostles and their successors are charged with guarding and teaching the great deposit of faith, but they are not alone in this task, the Holy Spirit will guide them. Most of the deeds of the Council of Jerusalem are left out in the First Reading today (to make it shorter). In it, St. Peter, rises and voices the teaching that will be accepted by the Council. The result is that the apostles and other leaders send Paul and Barnabas back with a message saying that the customs of the Jews didnt have to be followed in order to be a Christian: It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities, namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals and from unlawful marriage. If you keep free of these, you will be doing right. Farewell. Throughout Christian history this pattern of seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit through the bishops of the Church will be followed to solve the most pressing doctrinal and moral problems. The teaching of any individual priest (including mine) is only good if it conforms to the official teaching of Holy Mother Church. Otherwise, it is merely my opinion, which may be useful or not, but will not guarantee salvation. I dont know about you,

but I personally want the truth of God, the whole truth and nothing but the truth! As a pastor, that is what I want to give to you. In a few moments we will be crowning the statue of the Blessed Mother with a wreath of flowers. The May crowning is a beautiful expression of our love for the Mother of Jesus who is also our spiritual mother in heaven. The Catholic Church is a familywe have not only our natural family, but a spiritual family. God is our Heavenly Father, Jesus is our Brother, the saints and our fellow Catholics are our brothers and sisters. Mary is our spiritual mother. No, she is not equal to God, but she has been given the role of motherhood for the Church of Christ. Marys role is indispensable in Gods plan for salvation.

Ascension of the LordMay 20, 2007 In a way, what happened to Jesus Christ has happened to us. He is the Head of the Mystical Body, the Church, and we are the members. He suffered and died on the Cross we are freed from the power of sin and given the grace of the sacraments; He rose from the dead on Easter Sunday and we are freed from the power of death; Jesus ascended into heaven and we are given the hope of eternal life in heaven. Jesus leads and we follow! St. Luke concludes his Gospel by telling us of the ascension of the Lord into heaven: Then He led them out as far as Bethany, raised His hands, and blessed them. As He blessed them He parted from them and was taken up to heaven. Jesus lifts up our weak human nature to the glory of heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Father, in the midst of the praise of the angels in the Heavenly Court. The Ascension into heaven looks like the happy ending to a great story. As you know, it isnt the end of the story, it is only the beginning. St. Luke begins his next book the Acts of the Apostles with the Ascension and then tells the story of the early Church. In his Gospel, St. Luke gives us Jesus words to the apostles before He ascends into heaven: It is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. The apostles had a great mission to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins to all the nations; this is still the good news that the Church preaches in our day. It is easy for us to forget that there is a battle for souls going on each day; we can become very complacent and self-satisfied. Jesus is victorious over the devil and his power, but we have to freely choose Christ; He will not force us to follow Him. We can accept the invitation of Christ or submit to the power of the devil. The CCC says: the grace of baptism delivers no one from all the weakness of nature. On the contrary, we must still combat the movements of concupiscence that never cease leading us into evil CCC#978). It also says: Since concupiscence is left for us to wrestle with, it cannot harm those who do not consent, but manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ. Indeed, an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules (CCC #1264). We have a struggle first within ourselves because of our human weakness.

This past week I gave a Day of Recollection for the eighth graders from St. Josephs in Josephville and I was reminded of an idea that Archbishop Fulton Sheen used to explain this battle that goes on in our souls. When we are tempted to sin, we hear two voices competing for our attentionthe voice of the devil and the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Dont expect the devil to speak with a raspy, demonic voiceit may be the voice of a friend or a sports figure or a personality on TV or our own thoughts. The devil will say things like this: Dont be afraid to steal from this store, they have plenty of money; or you will be popular if you get drunk or take drugs; or everyone is looking at pornography, its OK to just a click on those internet sites. The devil will sound like a friend who is on your side to get you to give into temptation. On the other hand, the voice of Jesus will sound like someone who is trying to keep you from having fun or being popular. He will say: There is a commandment against stealing; you have responsibilities that must be fulfilled; you are not going to like the results of this sin, and it is a SIN; you must obey me! Everything changes if we give into sin. The devil now reveals himself and says: I have got you. Give up. Despair. Dont think that you can undo what has been done; YOU ARE MINE. The voice of Jesus also changes: Come back to me. Repent of your sin. I can make your soul whiter than snow. I will forgive you; I have paid for your sins with my Precious Blood, for you are mine. The battle is not only internal, but also external. It comes in the form of persecution, sometimes subtle, other times not. If a practicing Catholic attends a university, even one with the name of Catholic, they are very likely going to be mocked for their faith. Even attending Sunday Mass will bring down ridicule upon them and if you express Catholic moral teachings on marriage and life issuesyou can expect a fire storm of persecution! This is happening everywhere, in the workplace and in entertainmenthow many movies are really suitable for Christians to view? A person who is dying of poison and is given an antidote in a bottle will die, whether he throws it out the window or simply ignores it! We have to be on guard. Neglect can kill our souls, just as easily as, consciously committing sin.

We are not in this battle alone. That is what today is about. Jesus is victorious and is reigning with His Father and the Holy Spirit. We have the power of His sacrifice, His mercy and grace. When we fall in sin, He will call us back and forgive us if we repent. May the words of St. Paul to the Ephesians be our own prayer today: May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to His call, what are the riches of glory in His inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power for who believe. Jesus last instructions to his disciples were that He wanted repentance and the forgiveness of sins, to be preached in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalemand even to us here at St. Giannas in Lake St. Louis.

First Holy Mass of Father John J. OBrien Pentecost SundayMay 27, 2007 It was almost 20 years ago that Father OBrien was just a boy serving Holy Mass at Assumption Church in OFallon when the unthinkable happened! During the Mass he dropped the glass cruet and it hit the ceramic tile floor. As a priest, it didnt matter so much to me since accidents happen and it is only a glass cruet, but to a boy who is trying to serve without mistakes, it must have sounded like a stick of dynamite exploding in the sanctuary. At the end of the Mass, I recounted a story that I had heard Archbishop Fulton Sheen tell concerning two altar boys who had broken cruets as they were serving Holy Mass. The first boy broke the cruet and the priest became furious, yelling at him and telling him never to come to the Church again. He didnt. He fought against the Church for the rest of his life and became the Communist dictator of Yugoslavia, Tito. The second boy lived across the world and when he broke the cruet serving for the bishop in the Cathedral, the bishop kindly spoke to him putting his arms around him and said tell your mother that when you get big you will go to Louvain and you will be just as I am. The bishops prophecy came true on both counts: that boy was Fulton Sheen. Of course, it wasnt only a single incident of breaking a cruet and the very different reaction of those priests that caused these two boys to set out on very different paths, but it reminds us of how important it is to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and strive to be a good instrument of God. We never know how we will influence others! As we celebrate Pentecost Sunday and participate in the First Holy Mass of Father OBrien it is important for us to reflect on the work of the Holy Spirit and what it means to serve Him. The Holy Spirit is mysterious and in some ways ungraspable. He has been called the Great Unknown. We can easily picture Jesus (just look at the crucifix and listen to His words in the Scripture) and even the Heavenly Father, but the Holy Spirit is much more difficult. Jesus compares the Holy Spirit to the wind saying: The wind blows where it will, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes, so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit (John 3:8). The Gospel tells us of Jesus giving the Apostles the first installment of the Holy Spirit on

Easter Sunday evening. First, He breathes on them and says Receive the Holy Spirit. The full manifestation of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was no longer a breath, but a mighty wind for suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. This was loud and couldnt be missed; a large crowd of people are drawn to the house to hear the apostles and 3000 are baptized, probably because they first heard the Holy Spirit speaking through this mighty wind. More often than not, the Holy Spirit works quietly in our lives like a gentle breeze that refreshes us and gives us a gentle nudge. We have just seen the Holy Spirit work in a clear and powerful way. Yesterday, at the Cathedral Basilica we saw the Holy Spirit take a man, John OBrien, with his gifts and talents and weaknesses (which we all have) and make him into a priest of Jesus Christ. Through prayer and the laying on of hands by Archbishop Burke, a Successor of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit made an instantaneous change in the soul of this man so that he can now act in persona Christi (in the Person of Christ). Before his ordination to the Sacred Priesthood, John OBrien would not dare take bread and wine to the altar and offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Today, Father OBrien will quote the words of Jesus from the Last Supper and the Sacrifice of Calvary will be renewed with all its power and love and mercy. The bread and wine will be changed into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. Father is now able to bring Jesus Christ to us here on earth in a way that will only be surpassed in heaven, when we see Him Face to face. Before the power of the Holy Spirit transformed John OBrien, he would not have the courage to raise his hand to give absolution to the sinner. Now, Father OBrien will speak those words of mercy and wash souls clean with the Precious Blood of Christ as he forgives sins in the Confessional. The Holy Spirit has done something concrete, permanent and visible in the life of this new priest of Jesus Christ. That is why we are here today and rejoicing in the celebration of his First Mass of Thanksgiving. The Holy Spirit doesnt work alone. He wants to allow individuals to participate in the work of God for the salvation of souls. That is why we need to know the Holy Spirit and strive to be faithful servants of the Lord.

As I look at the people here today, it is very easy to see how many people have participated in the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of Father OBrien. First of all, the family is the first seminary for vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. If you know John and Rene, you know that they are a couple who firmly believe in Jesus Christ and the teachings of His holy, Catholic Church; they strive to live their faith intensely and have passed this on to their children in a very clear way. The Sacraments, prayer and devotion are part of the fabric of their family life. They have formed their son in a way that prepared him to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and accept the gift of Ordination to the Priesthood. John and Rene, you can clearly see one result of your faithfulness to God in your marriage in the ordination of your son to the priesthood That is not all. How many teachers have helped Father OBrien throughout his life by their instruction and their dedication to teaching? How many priests by their holy example and love for the Eucharistic Lord and His Church have shown Father OBrien what it means to be a priest? How many friends have been there in time of need to help Father throughout his life? How many prayers have been offered for him (including those of the Blessed Virgin and the saints in heaven) so that God would send him the grace he needed in that moment? Some things will only be known when we get to heaven, but the Holy Spirit has indeed been at work through many people to bring him and us to this day of rejoicing. One day in an ecstasy of love, Jesus exclaimed I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled! (Luke 12:49) He was longing to give Himself in sacrifice on the Cross for our redemption. He wanted to see the world burning with the fire of Divine Love. When the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost Sunday, He appeared as tongues or flames of fire over the heads of the apostles. They who were timid and unsure moments before were filled with a zeal and certainty that lead them to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth, even giving their lives for their faith in Jesus Christ. They would begin to set the world on fire for Christ. Every time we see a new priest ordained, the work of Christ is continued in His Church. A priest has the opportunity to re-enkindle hearts that have grown cold and set new hearts on fire with Divine Love. Father OBrien has committed his life to this great mission of Christ by his ordination to the priesthood and we thank him for this gift of his life and we must commit ourselves to pray for him and many more priestly vocations.

The Blessed Virgin Mary was present at every key event in the life of Christ and was present at the birth of the Church; the Acts of the Apostles tell us that she was praying with the apostles in the Upper Room. She is the Mother of the Church, from the beginning. May she continue to be the heavenly Mother of Father OBrien and watch over him and his priestly ministry all the days of his life.

Pentecost SundayMay 27, 2007 The Holy Spirit is mysterious and in some ways ungraspable. He has been called the Great Unknown. We can easily picture Jesus (just look at the Crucifix and listen to His words in the Bible) and even the Heavenly Father, but the Holy Spirit is much more difficult. Jesus compares the Holy Spirit to the wind saying: The wind blows where it will, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes, so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit (John 3:8). The Gospel tells us of Jesus giving the Apostles the first installment of the Holy Spirit on Easter Sunday evening. First, He breathes on them and says Receive the Holy Spirit. The full manifestation of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost 50 days later is no longer a breath, but a wind, for suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. This was loud and couldnt be missed; it was more like a tornado. A large crowd of people are drawn to the house to hear the apostles and 3000 are baptized that day, probably because they first heard the Holy Spirit speaking through this mighty wind. More often than not, the Holy Spirit works quietly in our lives like a gentle breeze that refreshes us and nudges us. He guides us by quiet inspirations that move us to prayer or action. Here is a problem: you cant miss a tornado, but a small gentle breeze can be ignored or blocked. There are many things that block the voice of the Holy Spirit in our lives, so much so, that we can even think He is not speaking to us. Just the constant noise of music or video games or television can keep us from listening; the busyness of life that seems to overwhelm us at times or the busyness of life that we deliberately create to keep us from thinking and praying about things that really matter. Busyness can be an escape! If we dont make room in our lives to listen to the Holy Spirit, we will miss His voice. In the Archdiocese of St. Louis, we have just seen the Holy Spirit work in a clear, concrete way. Yesterday (this morning), at the Cathedral Basilica we saw the Holy Spirit take 4 men with their gifts and talents and weaknesses and make him into priests of Jesus Christ. Through prayer and the laying on of hands by Archbishop Burke, a Successor of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit made an instantaneous change in the soul of these men so that they can now act in persona Christi (in the Person of Christ).

Before their ordination to the Sacred Priesthood, those four men would not dare take bread and wine to the altar and offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Now, as priests of the Church they will quote the words of Jesus from the Last Supper and the Sacrifice of Calvary will be renewed with all its power and love. The bread and wine will be changed into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. Before the power of the Holy Spirit transformed those four men, they would not have the courage to raise their hand to give absolution to the sinner. Now, as priests they will speak those words of mercy and wash souls clean with the Precious Blood of Christ as they forgive sins in the Confessional. The Holy Spirit has inspired those four men to lay down their lives for Christ and His Church. We saw such a dramatic change in the Apostles themselves on the first Pentecost. Before Pentecost they knew of the death and resurrection of Jesus and the meaning of the Old Testament prophecies, because Jesus had explained them, but they didnt know what to do about it. Before Pentecost they were afraid and didnt have the courage to speak before crowds. When the Holy Spirit comes upon them everything changes; they are courageous and St. Peter, the uneducated fisherman, gives the first Christian sermon. They will not fear arrest or ridicule, but will go forward even to the four corners of the earth boldly preaching Jesus Christ and laying down their lives for their faith. St. Paul tells us that you cannot say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Of course, we can say those three words, but we cannot understand them or live by them, unless the Holy Spirit enlightens us. Many people see the Catholic faith as little more than the external practice of certain prayers and sacraments; to say Jesus is Lord is just a nice phrase, but doesnt effect how they live their lives. To take Jesus as your Lord means that you are going to submit your life to Him and strive with all your might to live like Jesus lived, including His loving sacrifice. It means that we have to keep trying to grow in virtue and eliminate our faults. That is an all consuming task that reaches deeply into our souls. To say Jesus is Lord means something life-changing for a Christian. To say Jesus is Lord is the beginning of Christian prayer. We cannot pray without the Holy Spirit. The CCC reminds us: The Holy Spirit, whose anointing permeates our whole being, is the interior Master of Christian prayer. From our baptism, the Holy Spirit has been at work in

our souls; He is always trying to move us to prayer and teach us how to pray. Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of Your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Your love. St. Paul reminds us that the Holy Spirit comes to each of us with many gifts: To each individual the manifestation of the Holy Spirit is given for some benefit. Each person has many gifts and talents and they are meant to be used for the good of God and other people. We shouldnt just hoard them for ourselves. When I do a good deed for a neighbor, I need to see that as a gift for the Lord. I need to change my motive if I am doing it because I want my neighbor to do something for me in the future; it is a gift to You, O Lord. When I make my Sunday offering, it shouldnt be just a duty, because if I dont we probably cant pay our electric bill and it is going to be a long, hot summer and I like an air-conditioned Church. No, my Sunday offering is a direct gift to You, my God. Remember, the Holy Spirit is as powerful today as He was on the first Pentecost when He changed the lives of the Apostles and all who heard the Good News. We need to let the fire of Divine Love permeate our lives, so that we can truly be on fire for our faith. Lets ask the Virgin Mary who is the Mother of the Church from the beginning (she was there on Pentecost) to pray for us to respond to the movement of the Holy Spirit.

June 3, 2007Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Today we celebrate the first and most important mystery of our faiththe Most Holy Trinity. There is only one God, one almighty, eternal Being who has created everything seen and unseen. Yet, God is not just an individual person, but He is more like a family. There are three Persons in one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Fallen man has always had the tendency to worship many things as gods. It may be something more powerful like the sun or something like the statue of a calf made out of gold jewelry while Moses was on the top of the mountain receiving the 10 Commandments. Often different cultures have worshiped many gods like the Greeks and Romans, with temples and altars for each of them, including some of the Emperors. The devil has been worshipped in many forms like the horrible, cannibalistic god of the Aztecs. God had to teach mankind the most basic and fundamental truths about Himself. Throughout the OT, He drilled into the minds and hearts of the Jewish people that there was only one true God. The first Commandment says: You shall have no other gods, before me. Jesus taught us You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve (Matt 4:10). When He sent His Son to be our Savior, God wanted to reveal more about Himself. He is a Trinity of Persons in which the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit who possess the one Divine Nature, as the CCC teaches: The divine persons do not share the one divinity among themselves but each of them is God whole and entire: The Father is that which the Son is, the Son that which the Father is, the Father and the Son that which the Holy Spirit is, by nature one God. There are little hints of the Trinity in the OT, such as in our First Reading from Proverbs. The wisdom of God is personified. Wisdom speaks as if it were an individual being saying: When the Lord established the heavens I was there, when He marked out the vault over the face of the deep, when He made from the skies above, when He fixed fast the foundation of the earth. This passage has often been applied to the Son, Jesus Christ our Lord; He is the true wisdom of God. We have an account of the trial of St. Justin who was martyred in the year 165. The Judge Rusticus questions him: P. 1447.

If we say that a family is a reflection of the Most Holy Trinity. Even in the best of families there is sometimes division and discord, someone wants to do this another that. In God there is perfect unity among the three Persons. It is difficult for us to even comprehend this kind of unity! It is a unity expressed by perfect love of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit for one another. Although we usually attribute Creation to the Father, Redemption to the Son and Sanctification to the Holy Spirit, no Person of the Holy Trinity acts alone. You do not have one Person without the other two Persons. Even though it is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Second Person who is present in the Holy Eucharist, you do not receive Jesus alone, but the other two Persons come to you as well. In other words, God the Trinity comes to us in each of the sacraments. If only we could better understand this great mystery. In the Gospel speaks of this unity. He says Everything that the Father has is mine and when He comes, the Spirit of Truth, He will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears and will declare to you the things that are coming. You were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; you speak the names of the Trinity every time you make the Sign of the Cross; in the Holy Mass we pray to the Father, through the Son, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. We hope to spend all eternity with our God, the Most Holy Trinity. We need to get to know Him now.

June 5, 200725th Anniversary of Ordination to the Sacred Priesthood Thank you for coming to celebrate this Holy Mass on the 25th anniversary of my Ordination to the Sacred Priesthood. I was really intending to have a very small celebration, but my mother and Rita and several others werent going to let me get away with it. Considering that we only began planning a couple of months ago, everything has come together beautifully. This night gives me a chance to offer thanksfirst of all to God. As the years have passed, I have become more and more conscious that the Priesthood is a gift from God. First, it is certainly nothing I deserved or earned. Secondly, through this grace of the priesthood God has gotten me to do things that I never thought that I could do! If you think that I love to get up and speak in front of people, you are wrong. I would be quite content if I never had to give another homily again. The words of St. Paul in the First Reading are the only explanation: The love of Christ impels us. There isnt a choice; to be a priest means I must preach the Gospel. St. Paul further says: We are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. It is amazing to me that I have something to say after all the words that I have spoken in 25 years, but the Holy Spirit keeps coming up with new insights and I just keep saying them. Many of you have heard the story of my call to the Priesthood. I was a senior in high school on a senior retreat. In one of the activities they gave us six slips of paper and told us to write the six most important things in our lives upon the papers. I wrote: family, friends, hobbies and on the last sheet God. Then we were told to arrange them in order with the most important on top. I looked at the one that said God and the thought came to me If God is God, then I ought to serve Him. From that moment on I knew that I should become a priest. I went home and told my mom and I think she was surprised because I hadnt even mentioned the priesthood before; I entered the seminary that fall. Years after ordination I realized how blessed I was not to have doubts about my vocation. Most seminarians are constantly debating whether they should become a priest or not and I really didnt have that struggle. At the center of every priests life is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is what we are ordained for. God chooses weak, sinful men to renew the Sacrifice of Calvary and bring the Real Presence of Jesus to the faithful in Holy Communion and to abide with us in the Tabernacle. I can say that I

have offered the Holy Mass every day for 25 years, except for a handful of times when I was too sick. It is not only my duty to pray for the Church and the world in this great Sacrament, but also I need the Holy Eucharist daily. I can honestly say I believed all that holy Mother Church teaches about the Blessed Sacrament from the first Holy Mass that I offered. The daily celebration of Holy Eucharist has not diminished my love, but has caused me to realize that it is truly the greatest gift that God could give to us lowly creatures. It is Jesus Himself in the Holy Eucharist who comes to us and strengthens us and leads us as the Good Shepherd. After 25 years of offering the Holy Mass, I feel more blessed than ever to be a priest of Jesus Christ and His holy Catholic Church. When God called me as a high school student I said yes without calculating what it would cost or whether I could even do what a priest does. It was probably a little nave, but I havent changed much in that regard. Last year when Archbishop Burke asked me to found a new parish I said yes again without calculating the difficulty or my own inadequacies. I believe that God speaks through the shepherds of His Church, so I felt that was the will of God for me. Of course, I do doubt my own abilities in all this and I frequently say that I dont know what I am doing (people think that I am being humble), but I trust in God and His will. We will see what He can do with me and this parish of St. Gianna. I am going to try my best to be His priest and shepherd for as long as He gives me. No priest can be a priest alone. God has given me so many good and generous people to help me on the pilgrimage of life, most of whom are here tonight. My original desire as a seminarian and priest was to bring people to God, but I have found that I received more help than I have given in the wonderful people that I have met over these past 25 years. I want to thank a few people in a special way: Mom My family, a particular joy comes from my brothers who have returned to fervent practice of the faith and are striving to be good Christian men. My brother priests Sisters of the Precious Blood Rita People from North American Martyrs, Assumption, St. Albans, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

St. Joseph in Josephville New friends from St. Gianna Just because I didnt mention you by name doesnt mean that I am not grateful. On the morning that I was ordained 25 years ago today, I knelt before the statue of the Blessed Virgin in the side chapel of the Cathedral and consecrated my priesthood to Mary Immaculate. I have always felt that Our Lady has taken special care of me and I renew my consecration and filial devotion to her tonight.

June 10, 2007Corpus Christi Many of you are familiar with the magnificent statue by Michelangelo called the Pieta. He was just a young man of 23 when he chiseled the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the lifeless body of her Son in her lap, just after it was taken down from the Cross. It is a priceless treasure that rests in St. Peters basilica in Rome and has awed and lifted up the hearts of millions of people. The Church has a treasure that is far more valuable than the Pieta or even St. Peters Basilica itself. You dont have to travel to Rome to partake of it, for this treasure is the Most Blessed Sacrament. In every Catholic Church, even our humble little Church we have a treasure of inestimable value. All the seven sacraments give us the gift of Gods grace, but this sacrament, the Queen of Sacraments, gives us Jesus Christ Himself. We receive our Lord and God in every Holy Communion and He remains with us for the private conversation of prayer in our tabernacle. No artist would dare to take a hammer and chisel and think that he could make an improvement on Michelangelos Pieta. Some years ago a madman entered St. Peters with a sledgehammer and struck the statue destroying a part of it before he was subduedit was perfectly repaired by experts. In a similar way, the Holy Mass is Gods masterpiece that needs to be understood and appreciated better and better. For too many years, some priests and people have thought that they could tinker with the Mass and make it better or more suited to their personal likes and agendas. Sometimes with good intentions they have taken a sledgehammer to the Holy Eucharist. Now there are legitimate options that the Church has given us, but she has constantly taught that no one, not even a priest, has the right to add or subtract anything on his own authority. Pope Benedict wrote in his Apostolic Exhortation on the Holy Eucharist that the prayers, readings and instruction contained in the liturgical books contain riches which have preserved and expressed the faith and experience of the People of God over its 2000 year history. We have a great treasure in the Holy Mass and it is up to us to understand its riches. We are not meant to change the Holy Mass to suite ourselves, but are meant to be changed by the Holy Mass. God prepared the world for the gift of this Sacrament and Sacrifice in many ways. Two of them are contained in the Readings for this day. The First Reading narrates the time when Melchizedek (who is mentioned in the first

Eucharistic Prayer) offers a sacrifice to God for Abraham. Melchizedek is priest and king of Salem (later known as Jerusalem); he offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God for a victory that Abraham had in a battle. Notice that it is not the usual sacrifice of an animal that is then burnt up on the altar, but of bread and wine; this clearly points to what Jesus would do at the Last Supper. The priesthood of Jesus Christ is in the order of Melchizedek, rather than the OT priesthood of Aaron. The Gospel gives us another clue to the gift of the Holy Eucharist. Jesus works the miracle of multiplying bread and fish to feed the thousands that had come out to the deserted place to listen to Him. Through the Holy Mass, Jesus feeds millions upon millions with the Bread of Life. Notice that at the end of that meal, when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets. Even though this was ordinary bread, Jesus wanted His apostles to gather up the fragments. When we receive Holy Communion we need to realize that even the crumbs are precious and are the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ: the Host and all its particles, the Precious Blood in each drop is the Real Presence of Christ. The patens that the servers use are meant to emphasize this truth of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Even if you receive Holy Communion under one form, that of bread, you are still receiving the whole Christ and all the grace that you can possibly take in. There are certain things that are required of us to receive Holy Communion. First of all, we need to examine our consciences to make sure we are in the state of grace. If we have committed a mortal sin we first must be forgiven in the Sacrament of Penance before we approach the altar for Holy Communion. To receive our Lord, conscious of serious sin, is really an offence against God; we will not benefit from that Holy Communion at all. Also, we are asked to fast from food and drink, except water, for an hour before we receive Holy Communion. Some of you who are old enough will remember that at one time you had to fast from food and drink from midnight until your Holy Communion. The present regulation is rather easy. The bishops of each country were asked to set a standard policy for receiving Holy Communion. In the United States they decided that we would receive it standing, and would make a bow of reverence before we receive Holy Communion. (If someone wanted to receive it kneeling they were not to be refused Holy Communion.)

When we were setting up this building as a Church, I wanted this space to be more than just a multi-purpose room, but a sacred space that was dedicated to worship and prayer. The people of this parish have been good about keeping the talking to a minimum and making this a place where people can pray before and after Holy Mass. Please keep it up and have conversations outside, so that this space is really the House of God. After all, it is our Lord Jesus Himself who dwells here, that is why we make a genuflection before going into the pew because we believe that Christ the King is truly Present in the tabernacle; He deserves that kind of reverence. When we bend our knee, we are really bending our hearts, submitting our hearts to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This Sacrament is greater than any work of art that man has made; it is a jewel of inestimable value. Far too many Catholics dont even know what they have right in their own neighborhood Church. In every Holy Mass the miracle of Gods Presence and the grace of Redemption are poured out upon us. Lets pray that the Most Blessed Trinity will help us understand a little better what we are celebrating and what God is doing for us in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

June 24, 2007Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist Prophecy had been silent in Israel for centuries. The great prophets of the OT foretold many things about the life of the future Messiah. Micah announced that He would be born in the town of Bethlehem; Isaiah said that a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel and that the Messiah would be the suffering servant for the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. With the birth of John the Baptist the voice of prophecy would once again point the way to God. It would no longer speak of some distant event, but the voice of the Baptist would call the people to immediately prepare for the coming of the Savior. John the Baptist was truly a great man. Jesus would honor His cousin and say no man born of woman is greater than John the Baptist. We only celebrate 3 birthdays in the liturgical year: Our Lords on Dec. 25, Marys on Sept. 8 and John the Baptists on June 24, the only other saint to be so honored. The events surrounding the birth of John make us to realize that this babys life was significant. First, his birth was announced by the archangel Gabriel to Zechariah while he was performing his priestly duty in the great Temple of Jerusalem. His father who disbelieved was struck dumb until after the birth of John as we read in our Gospel today. When the Blessed Virgin Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth to assist her in the last months before Johns birth, Elizabeth said that the baby in her womb leapt for joy at Marys greeting. It is not a doctrine, but a long held belief, that at that moment the unborn baby John was cleansed of Original Sin by the unborn baby Jesus. In any case, we are meant to see how closely the lives of Jesus and John are linked. When Elizabeth gave the name John which means God is gracious she was told that no one in the family had that name; the name was new and signified something new was happening in this child. The gospel tells us that all who heard these things took them to heart, saying, What then, will this child be? Johns whole life was directed to the great mission of preparing the way for the Messiah. He called people to repent of their sin and be ready for the moment that God had been preparing the Israelite people for from the very beginning. John was reminding them that they had to put God first in their lives as the First Commandment God gave to Moses taught: I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange gods before me. Jesus summed up our duties toward God with the Great Commandment: You

shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind. We have to examine our lives to see if we are living up to this clear commandment of God. Lets not fool ourselves into thinking that we can love Jesus only with sweet words for He said If you love me you will do what I command. Jesus is looking for deeds. It would be very strange for people today to make a statue of gold or silver and worship it as if it were God. Even our beautiful statues of Jesus or Mary or St. Joseph or one of the saints is merely a reminder of the heavenly persons that we love. We know they are made of plaster or marble and in themselves are nothing divine. But it is possible to treat material things as if they were God because of the importance we place upon them. The most obvious are money or success or power. They can literally rule our lives without us even realizing it. Many people worship at the altar of the almighty dollar and desire more and better things without end. Amen. It may sound strange, but people can love their pillow more than they love God! If they say I am too tired to get up and go to Sunday Mass, arent they really saying their pillow is more important than God? It is really quite easy to worship false gods in our day! Not too long ago someone proposed a compromise in posting the Ten Commandments, since the Supreme Court has made contradictory rulings (and seems to think the 10 commandments are harmful to our society). The idea was that we just list the last 7 Commandments which have to do with our duties and conduct toward one another and leave out the first three which mention God. On the surface it seems like a good compromise, but the problem is that without God we cannot maintain right relations with other people either. Faith in God is the foundation for all the commandments. As the Russian author Dostoyevsky put it Without God, all is permitted. If we dont have a firm belief in God and know that His commands are worth obeying and that we will have to give an account, then there is nothing to keep us from acting like barbarians and terrorists. Without God, all is permitted. We have to learn to direct our lives totally to God. Our work, family life, recreation and friendships should reflect our belief in God. We really dont go on vacation from God! Prayer should be as much a part of our lives as eating and sleeping. God deserves our adoration! We certainly do that in the most perfect way when we celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Here we are united to the perfect offering of the Son to the Father in the

unity of the Holy Spirit. But God deserves our worship and adoration every day. I love the simple expression of Pope John Paul when he said: We should love God as God, man as man, and things as things. We shouldnt love things as if they were God or love God as if He were no more than a material possession. If we keep our loves in the right order we will be able to obey that first Commandment well You shall not have strange gods before me. St. John the Baptist gave his whole life to bring people to the Savior. Even though it meant dying for the truth, he would not back down. King Herod didnt want to hear about his adultery, but John did not fear him and boldly proclaimed the truth of Gods commandments. Lets ask St. John the Baptist to help us put God in the first place in our lives.

July 1. 200713th Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus had set his face toward Jerusalem. He was now on the path to the Cross; to die for the salvation of the world. He would not pass this way again. The Gospel tells us of three would-be followers who come up to Him on the journey, but they have excuses and hesitations. Jesus answers them strongly and starkly without any hint of compassion. It would be most difficult for a disciple who was wholehearted in his commitment to Jesus to endure the scandal of the Cross; it would be impossible for one who was not totally committed. Jesus looked at the first man and realized that he would not be willing to live like Jesus who had nowhere to rest his head. This man loved his comforts and easy life too much to live the life of sacrifice that Jesus disciples were called to live. The second man wanted to delay his discipleship until later. When he said Lord, let me go and bury my father first it is even possible that his father was not yet dead, but only ill, according to the customary way of speaking at the time. If we put something off, it is very likely that we will never get the thing done. It was essential that a disciple follow Jesus now, before His death on the Cross. The third man says I will follow you, Lord but first let me say farewell to my family at home. He really wants to give only a partial dedication to the Lord. His service will be lukewarm. None of these would-be disciples are fit for the task. From our baptism we have been given the vocation to be a disciple of Christto live our faith and spread it to others. There is a real struggle for our souls that is going on each day. We feel a battle within as St. Paul put it in our Second Reading: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other. Even after baptism we have within us a pull to sin. Why does it seem so much easier to give into temptation, rather then to do something good or virtuous? It is called concupiscence or the tinder of sin. When you start a fire you usually begin by lighting the tinder or kindling wood which then lights the larger logs. Within our souls is the tinder or human weakness that easily catches fire, drawing us to sin. Just because St. Paul uses the word flesh to describe this evil tendency within us, dont make the mistake of thinking the body or material things are

evil in themselves. Sin is in the will; it is the wicked choice that we make when we sin. (By the way, to be pro-choice is not a moral way to live because there are some choices that are good and others that are evil abortion is always an evil choice.) Even though the body isnt evil, when we are tempted, we often feel it in the body. When we are tempted to gluttony, it is the tongue that starts to salivate. Lust certainly resonates strongly in the body, while anger contorts our whole body to support its expression. In other places St. Paul calls this tendency to sin the old man or the old nature. Last week we reflected on the first commandment You shall not have strange gods before me and remembered that we are to put God in the first place in our lives, just as St. John the Baptist did. Our vocation as a Christian calls us to love the Lord Your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind. In order to do this, it is necessary to have the virtue of humility and fight against the tendency to pride. Pride is the first in the list of the Capitol Sins. It is the sin of Lucifer the great archangel who said to God I will not serve and fell from the glory of heaven to hell. Pride is the sin of Adam, the Original Sin, because Adam and Eve disobeyed Gods command not to eat the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. The devil told them if they did, they would be like gods and in their pride they believed him. Someone has said that pride will not die within us until 8 hours after we die. It is so strongly rooted within our fallen human nature. Look at Jesus humility in our Gospel today. When he was rejected by the people of the Samaritan village and James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven to consume them Jesus rebuked His disciples. Jesus came to bring salvation to these very people who wouldnt allow Him to enter their town, but He humbly accepted their decision and would not react in anger. We have to ask ourselves if pride is our root sin. Do I always have to make my opinions known, even when I am not asked for them? Do I have to win all arguments? Do I have to get the last word in? Do I think I am better than others and put people down in my thoughts and words? Do I think that others are meant to serve me and forget that I am called to serve others? Pride can creep into our lives in many ways. We need to ask the Lord to

help us to be humble like He is and realize the truth about ourselves, some of which is virtuous and some of which is shameful. We need more Godconfidence and less self-confidence; we need a greater desire to please God and be less concerned about our own esteem. Humility helps us look away from ourselves and look out to others and say to God I shall serve.

14th Sunday in Ordinary TimeJuly 8, 2007 When Jesus wanted to spread the news about the Kingdom of God, He sent the disciples out two by two into every town that he intended to visit. Last week I announced that we are going to visit the homes of our fellow Catholics within the parish boundaries to invite them to be a part of our little portion of the Kingdom of God, here at St. Gianna Parish. The means that Jesus used are still good for us today. Jesus said to His disciples, The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. The harvest that Jesus is speaking about is souls. There are many today who still have not really heard the message of the Gospel. Each new generation, each new soul, is a chance to begin again to make Jesus known. We have the advantage on our side because God has created each human person with a desire to know, love and serve Him. We have to help our brothers and sisters to become aware of that desire and seek the one true God and not the false gods that the world has to offer. I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange gods before me. Although we all have a part as laborers in the kingdom of God, we are especially called upon to pray for vocations to the priesthood. You may have noticed some DVDs on a table in the vestibule, entitled Fishers of Men. They were produced to help people understand the vocation to the priesthood in a positive light. A number of us saw it when we attended the Priests Appreciation dinner by the Serra Club this past spring. It is a very moving video for your family to watch. Please take advantage of them as you leave Church. When the 72 returned they were rejoicing at what had been accomplished on their first preaching mission. They told Jesus Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name. They experienced great power in the holy Name of Jesus. By using that Name they could cast out the devil and work great miracles of healing. The name of a person tells us something about him. The name Jesus means Savior. That is what He wasthe Savior of the world. Although other boys had this name, it truly fit the Son of God made man, better than any other man who ever lived. God revealed his name to Moses as He spoke to him from the burning bush on Mount Sinai. The Sacred name of Yahweh

means I Am Who Am. Actually the CCC gives three different meanings for the name of Yahweh, which makes it all the more mysterious. But that is fitting, for even though God has revealed himself to us and given us His name, He is mysterious and holy beyond our capability of understanding Him. In any case, Yahweh, I AM Who Am, is the source of all things, we live and move and have our being because of Him. Without God, nothing would exist. God gave Moses the second Commandment in regard to His name: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. The Jewish people held this name to be so holy that they would not even pronounce it. Instead they used the word Adonai, which we translate as Lord. The sacred name Yahweh was only pronounced once a year by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies in the great Temple of Jerusalem. How different things are today when people use the name of God without thinking of its meaning and who it refers to. There was a time when you never heard the names God, Jesus, Christ, on television or movies except when they were praying. Now you hear people using it in anger or as a curse word without giving it a thought. Many people have a bad habit of saying O God as an exclamation. Notice that the commandment prohibits using Gods name in a vain or useless way, not just as a curse. The holy name of God should be treated in a holy way. Jesus taught us to pray in the Our Father Hallowed by Thy name. He wanted to remind us to keep the name of God holy every time we say the Lords Prayer. The rubrics of the sacred liturgy instruct us to make a bow of the head whenever the names of Jesus or Mary or the saint whose Feast Day it is, is spoken. I try to remember this as a way to honor the holy name of Jesus and the names that are connected with Him in the Communion of the Saints. Also, there is great power to resist temptation and overcome the sadness and discouragement that the devil wants us to feel in speaking the Holy Name of Jesus. Try saying it, even softly, when you are tempted to sin. It is no wonder that many of the martyrs of the Church would speak the Holy Name while they were enduring their sufferings. They found the strength to endure their trials even in the midst of great torture. The Martyrs of Japan were put to death in 1565 by crucifixion. An eyewitness to the scene wrote that St. Paul Miki looked at his comrades and began to encourage them in their final struggle. Joy glowed in all their faces, and in Louis most

of all. Anthony, hanging at Louis side looked toward heaven and called upon the holy namesJesus, Mary! He began to sing a psalm. Others kept repeating Jesus, Mary! Their faces were serene. Some of them even took to urging the people standing by to live worthy Christ lives. In these and other ways they showed their readiness to die. We need to give God praise and remember that You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

To conclude I would like to say the prayers that we call the Divine Praises: Blessed be God. Blessed be His holy Name. Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man. Blessed be the Name of Jesus. Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart. Blessed be His Most Precious Blood. Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar. Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy. Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception. Blessed be her glorious Assumption. Blessed be the name of Mary, virgin and Mother. Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse. Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints.

A book or movie should always have a happy ending, in my opinion. It is not just that I am sentimental and like to see the good guys win and everything work out in the end. Its just that I think that human stories should be modeled upon the Divine Story. God is writing His story in human history and we know that it is going to have a happy ending. We have already seen it in the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we are waiting for it in regard to His plans for His Church. As St. Paul tells us, God is working out all things for the good, for those who love Him. We see a happy ending to the life of Jacob, also known as Israel, in our First Reading today. It tells us of his joyous meeting with his son Joseph who he thought was long dead. He exclaims At last I can die, now that I have seen for myself that Joseph is still alive. Now his whole family, which was on the brink of starvation, is able to enjoy the bounty of the land of Egypt. Truly a happy ending if there ever was one! However, if you look back at certain moments in the life of Jacob you will realize that there was a lot of sadness and trial. At those times it certainly didnt appear that there would be a happy ending. When Josephs brothers brought his torn and bloody cloak of many colors home, it broke Jacobs fatherly heart. It certainly wouldnt have helped if he had known the truth Josephs brothers were so jealous that sold him as a slave in order to get rid of him. Jacobs life was filled with sadness at this untimely death, why had God taken his beloved son, Joseph. Later when the famine hit, he didnt know what to do to save his large family from starvation. No doubt he begged God for help, but no relief came. When they went to Egypt as a last resort to buy grain, one of the brothers had to remain in prison as a ransom. Things just seemed to go from bad to worse. Little did they know that God was working out all things for the good. A great plan was being carried out. God was even using the sin of man to aid in His planonly God can turn the evil of man to bring about a good result. In the Gospels, Jesus frequently warns us that the life of a Christian will not be easy. In todays Gospel He says to His apostles: Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves. And you will be hated by all because of my name. It doesnt sound very inviting, but Jesus doesnt want to give us any false impressions.

There are many today who preach the health and wealth Gospel that says all you have to do is pray and God will answer all of your prayers for money and good health so that you wont have to suffer. While the Blessed Lord is so good and generous to us, nonetheless, He doesnt promise us a life without suffering. As a matter of fact, Jesus tells us that we have to be willing to lay down our lives and follow in His footsteps, which means the Cross. On day when St. Theresa was traveling to another convent the wheel of the carriage got stuck in the mud and as she was getting out she fell in the mud. She complained to God about the mess she was in, and He said to her That is how I treat my friends! St. Theresa replied, And that is why You have so few friends. Jesus is calling us to a greater faith and trust in Him. We have to believe that He is working out all things for the good even when that means suffering and sadness on our part. He wants us to unite all our sufferings and trials to Him. We turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary for a perfect example of suffering united to Jesus. She stood beneath the Cross of her beloved Son and without wavering in faith and hope she said yes to the will of God. That yes to God meant that she was saying yes to all that was happening to her Son. What could be a greater sorrow for her motherly and Immaculate Heart? No sorrow that we experience can be deeper than her sorrow. Her heart was pierced by what could only be described as a sword of sorrow! When we have trials and suffering, we shouldnt turn away from God, but toward Him. Look at the Cross. Ask Jesus for help, but also unite yourself to Him. There you will find relief and comfort. He said in the Gospel You will be hated by all because of my name, BUT whoever endures to the end will be saved. As Christians we are looking for a happy ending to the story of our lives and God wants us to have it. He gives us the grace and mercy that we need to reach eternal life. God wants us to truly live happily ever after.

July 15, 200715th Sunday in Ordinary Time Moses was 125 years old and at the end of his very long life when he spoke the words that we heard in our First Reading. He wanted to exhort the Israelites who were heading into the Promised Land to be true to the Commandments of God. He tells them that the commands of God are something that they can understand and put into practice. He couldnt have put it better than by saying that the Law of God is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts. The Ten Commandments are part of what we call the Natural Moral Law. When God made our human nature and each one of us, He put into our very being the Natural Moral Law. The Natural Moral Law is the Divine directions for putting a happy and fulfilling life together. Of course, we have the freedom to disobey it, but we have to be willing to pay the consequences. It is like buying a bicycle that is all in pieces and needs to be assembled. If you want a working bicycle you follow the directions and put each piece in its proper place. If you follow the directions it will turn out to be a working bike. You can always decide to ignore the directions. If you decide to do it your own way and, for example, put the seat on the place were the handle bars belong you will not have a usable bike. It would only be fit for a clown in a circus. We can discover the Natural Moral Law on our own and many people and cultures have done so throughout history. As Moses said so truly it is written in our hearts. However, our human weakness and passions can easily cause us to miss this truth about ourselves. God wants us to be happy and so He has revealed the Natural Moral Law through the teaching of the Bible and the Catholic Church. The old saying is God forgives always, man forgives sometimes, but nature forgives, never. If we disobey the Natural moral Law there are grave consequences for us and our society. We can clearly see them in our society which is trying to change the very nature of marriage, which is a lifelong, faithful commitment between a man and a woman who are open to Gods gift of children. The Ten Commandments, which are part of this Natural Moral Law, are very important and as the CCC says they are fundamentally immutable and they oblige always and everywhere. At the same time, the Ten Commandments are not the highest expression of Gods Law; they are really the minimum requirement of what we need to do to be a Christian. In our

Gospel a scholar of the Law of Moses tests Jesus by asking, Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus turns the question back to him saying What does the Law say? and he answers perfectly You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. The highest form of the law of God is the Law of Love. But we cant obey the highest if we are not obeying the minimum requirements. If we want to find the happiness that only God can give we need to be true to His Law and not be afraid of it or think that it is restricting our freedom. Through following Gods Law we find the truth about ourselves and our relationship with God and neighbor. It is the truth that makes you free. I need to say a few words about the document that was released this past week from the Vatican. It teaches that the Catholic Church is the true Church established by Jesus Christ and that there are certain characteristics necessary for a Church to be a true Church. One Catholic woman reportedly said that Pope Benedict has undone in a moment what Pope John Paul worked for all his life. Little does this woman know that in the year 2000 Pope John Paul approved a document called Dominus Jesus that taught exactly the same thing as Pope Benedict has taught in this document. Another Catholic said after reading the article in the Post Dispatch that the Church is teaching that only Catholics can get to heaven. The document says nothing about who is going to get to heaven or not, but if you understand the teaching of the Church and this document in particular, it says that although communities that came from the Reformation dont have all the qualities that are needed to be a true Church they do have elements that can help people to reach salvation. You do not understand the Catholic Church if you are surprised that we believe that we are the one, true Church established by Jesus Christ on the Rock of Peter the Apostle. Jesus didnt establish two Churches or a thousand Churches, He established one. For the first one thousand years of Christian history, if you were a Christian you were a Catholic. There was no other Christian Church but the Roman Catholic Church for one thousand years. In the year 1054, the Patriarch of Constantinople, which is now Istanbul Turkey and Muslim, broke away from the Catholic Church. They are now the Churches that use the word Orthodox in their namethe Greek Orthodox or the Russian Orthodox. Even though they broke away from the Pope, they preserved the seven sacraments, including a valid priesthood with the Apostolic Succession and the Eucharist. 500 years later

with Martin Luther and the Reformation there was another break. Even though they maintained their faith in Jesus Christ they deliberately denied a valid priesthood with any connection to the Apostolic Succession and a valid Eucharist. Those two are absolutely necessary elements to have the true Church that Christ has established. Strictly speaking we call them Ecclesial Communities or Christian Denominations, but not Churches. Obviously, when we speak in non-theological terms we can say the Baptist Church down the street or the Lutheran Church on the corner. There is another element behind this document that concerns a breakaway group from the Catholic Church. After Vatican Council II a French bishop named Marcel Lebevre broke away from the Church saying that the changes in the Holy Mass and some other teaching of the Vatican Council were heretical. When he was getting old, Archbishop Lebevre ordained four bishops against the express order of Pope John Paul in order to continue his schismatic group after his death. They have many followers in Europe and Latin America and even had a Church in St. Louis County for many years it may still be there. One of the things they objected to was a phrase in the document of the Vatican Council that says the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church. They complained that it should say that the Church of Christ IS the Catholic Church. The Vatican Council wasnt denying this truth, but it was trying to point out that there are elements of salvation in other Christian denominations. For example, they believe in Jesus Christ as there Lord and Savior and the need to lead a good, moral life. It amazes me how some Catholics react to the teaching of the Pope. They immediately say The Pope doesnt know what he is talking about or The Pope is crazy or The Pope is ruining the Church. If I ever heard something that the Pope said that sounded strange or false, I would not trust the local newspaper, but I would read the actual words. Then I would think, hmm, Pope Benedict is a brilliant theologian, he has spent his entire life serving the Church, he has prayed and thought about the doctrines of the Catholic Church, maybe he understands some things better than I do. In other words a little humility, before I go spouting my opinions certainly helps me find the truth and lead others to find it, too. I can understand Catholics objections to it if like many the highest virtue is tolerance and speaking in a politically correct manner. If you think we should hide our beliefs for fear of what others will think, then you will want the Pope to remain silent. But Jesus tells us not to hide our faith under a

bushel basket, but to make it known to the whole world. For it is the truth that will set us free.

July 22, 200716th Sunday in Ordinary Time Abraham unexpectedly had an encounter with God one day as he was sitting outside of his tent. Three men, three strangers, were passing by and with his characteristic Middle Eastern hospitality he invites them in for a meal. They looked like ordinary men, but Abraham was to learn that they were really angels who represented God Himself. He understood this because they made a promise that his elderly wife Sarah would have a son within a year, verifying the promise that God had made to him that he would be the Father of many nations. There is a famous painting, an icon, which depicts this scene from the Old Testament. It shows three men at a table who look exactly alike, carbon copies, and it is meant to represent the three Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity who are equal in power and glory and majesty. Abraham and the later Christian artist were able to penetrate this moment and see beyond what was visible. These three guests were not ordinary men but representatives of God and God was speaking through them. Martha and Mary would actually eat a meal with God in the flesh in our Gospel this Sunday. Jesus, true God and true man, was at the home of his good friends Lazarus and Martha and Mary. Martha is busy preparing everything for the meal, while her sister Mary is at the feet of Jesus, listening to His words. It appears as if Martha has a just grievance against her sister when she says Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me. One would be tempted to say, Mary dont just sit around, it is not charitable to let you sister do all the work. But Mary has seen this encounter with Jesus as something more than just a time to have a good meal and an enjoyable conversation. Jesus answers for her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her. This was an opportunity that Mary couldnt let pass. To be with Jesus is better than anything a human being could do. We may think how wonderful it would be to have the encounter with God like Abraham or, especially, Martha and Mary. God can seem so far away from us. But if we understand the meaning of the Holy Mass and the Eucharistic Presence of our Lord we can se that God is very near to us. At

every Holy Mass, we are invited to a meal with Jesus, a Sacred Banquet. It takes faith to see that Holy Communion is more than ordinary food. Many years ago, I was in a beautiful Catholic Church in Paris that had many great works of art. It was built to look like the Greek Parthenon on the outside. Immediately, I noticed that on the altar the Blessed Sacrament was exposed in the Monstrance, which was pretty rare in the 1970s. I went up to the front pew to pray a little when I noticed and mother and her son walking through the Church. When they passed by the little boy asked What is that white circle that people are looking at? The mother replied That is something that Catholics do and they went on. It made me so sad to think that this mother and son were passing right before the true Presence of God and didnt recognize their Creator who loved them so much that He remained in the Blessed Sacrament so that we could be close to Him and Him to us. At the Consecration when the Sacred Host is lifted up do you adore the Lord who has come among us in the Blessed Sacrament? Do you thank Jesus who has poured out His Precious Blood for our salvation? When you come up to Holy Communion, do you remember that you are encountering your God in a unique way that will only be closer when we see Him Face to face in heaven? It takes faith to say yes to those questions. We have to be willing to look deeper. Our sight and touch and taste dont till us the whole meaning of the Holy Eucharist. Actually, our senses fail to tell us what only faith can reveal. To come to Holy Mass on Sunday is not optional for us Catholics. The third Commandment given to Moses says Keep holy the Lords Day. For the Jews in the Old Testament that was Saturday, but it soon became apparent to Christians that the day on which Jesus rose from the dead, Sunday, was the Lords Day. The new covenant had a new day on which to worship the Lord as He commanded at the Last Supper, Do this in memory of me. For us Catholics this has meant, first of all, attending Holy Mass on Sunday or the Vigil on Saturday evening. Also, avoiding unnecessary work and making it a time for faith and family. It is a serious obligation and even though many have falsely taught otherwise the Sunday obligation is a grave matter. To deliberately miss Sunday Mass without a serious reason is a mortal sin. To Keep holy the Lords day is not an option it is at the very heart of our Christian existence. Without the Holy Eucharist our faith cannot withstand the pressures and

temptations that we find all around us. We need this encounter with Jesus at least on a weekly basis. Those who are able to, find that the daily Holy Mass is the strength of their day. Once you start attending Holy Mass on a daily basis, you wonder how you could live without it. In another homily, I mentioned the story that Pope Benedict told in his Apostolic Exhortation on the Holy Eucharist, when he speaks about the example of some Christians in the 4th century who lived in Northern Africa. The authorities of the Roman Empire forbid Christian worship under the pain of death. These Christians were caught at the Holy Mass one Sunday and were martyred after declaring that it was not possible for them to live without the Eucharist, the food of the Lord: sine dominico non possumus. They would rather die than miss Sunday Mass! Life was not worth living without the Sunday Mass! We should be able to say the same thing. The gift of the Holy Mass as the greatest act of worship that we human beings can give to God is something that is indispensable for our lives as Christians. We should be able to say with the first Christians that we cannot live without the Sunday Mass.

17th Sunday in Ordinary TimeJuly 29, 2007 With all due respect, Abraham bargains with God like any good negotiator at a Middle Eastern bazaar. When you wanted to buy something you bargained with the seller back and forth until you thought you got the best price. Abraham wants to make sure that he saves his nephew Lot and his family from the immanent destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; those towns were notorious for their immorality and the word sodomy comes from the name of the town in which Lot and his family lived. Abraham starts out by asking God if He will spare the city if there are fifty innocent people and proceeds to bargain Him down to 10. Please let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time. What if there are at least ten there? He replied, For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it. Do you notice the kind of relationship that Abraham had with God? He spoke to God like he would speak to a friend. He knows that the Lord will listen to him and he speaks with confidence and respect. God treats Abraham in the same way, as a friend, listening to his words and responding with patience. This is an important lesson for us as we pray to God, either in the Sacred Liturgy or in our private prayer. We have to speak to God as a friend. Pope Benedict has been teaching us this from the very beginning of his Pontificate. In the Holy Mass that inaugurated his Pontificate, Pope Benedict said: There is nothing more beautiful that to be surprised by the Gospel, by the encounter with Christ. There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to speak to others of our friendship with Him. Jesus teaches us to pray to God as a Father in our Gospel today. The apostles saw how Jesus prayedthe deep, confident, loving way He addressed His Father God was evident in His words and attitude and the expression on His Holy Face whenever He prayed. It is no wonder that they wanted him to teach them how to pray. He gives them and us the Lords Prayer which begins by addressing God as Our Father. He doesnt want God to be distant from us, but close like a good, loving and strong human father who is near to his child. The parable that follows points out a very real danger in regard to prayer: we so easily give up. Jesus wants us to persevere in prayer like the friend

who goes to a neighbor to borrow bread for an unexpected guest. Even though the neighbor is reluctant, he does not stop asking and eventually the neighbor will give in because of his perseverance. God makes us wait for an answer to our prayers for a number of reasons. First of all, our motives are not always right when we pray for something; or maybe we are praying for something that is merely selfish. We need to keep praying in order to eventually acquire the correct motives. Thy will be done is always the correct attitude when we pray. Then too, if God answered every prayer immediately we might begin to treat God as if He were a machine that should crank out answers to all of our whims. God is not a soda machine that gives us the Coke or Pepsi when we put the correct amount of money in, but a Father who wants a real relationship with us. We have to be careful not to forget that God desires to be a true Father to us and we should not treat Him like a genii that grants wishes. When Jesus says And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you He is telling us to keep asking and seeking and knocking. One time will not necessarily be enough! The example of St. Monica praying for her son Augustine for nearly 20 years without ceasing is an example of perseverance. It looked hopeless, since Augustine fell away from the faith, lived a hedonistic lifestyle, fathered a child out of wedlock, lived with a girlfriend and joined a religious cult for several years. But when God granted her unceasing prayer He did it in a way that was truly fantastic. Augustine not only converted, but became a priest, bishop and a great saint. We celebrate the feast days of mother and son at the end of August. Jesus says that a human father would never hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg. We can count on God, our Heavenly Father, to give us what is truly good and at the perfect time. We sometimes think that if God doesnt give me what I want then I will just have to take second best. Gods gifts are the best. His answers to our prayers are better than we can ask for. Maybe you have noticed that I have been speaking about the 10 Commandments one by one and this week we come to the fourth Commandment Honor your father and your mother. It is the first commandment with a promise Honor you father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you. For us this is a sweet Commandment to obey. Instinctively we know that we

owe so much to our parents who gave us life and nurtured and cared and sacrificed for us from the very beginning of our lives. Parents look forward in time with the good of their children before them and children look forward often forgetting their parents Obedience is a bad word these days, but this Commandment requires obedience of children to their parents when they are under their care. Even though no one is perfect and sometimes we have to disagree with parents, we still need to show them honor and respect no matter how old we may be. This commandment also covers those who have authority over us, civil and religious. God has given us a Pope and an Archbishop that truly cares for the flock He has entrusted to them, and I might add a Pastor and Deacon that also desires to serve and bring those of St. Gianna parish closer to Christ through the treasure of our Catholic faith. You dont know how much it pains me to think of all of those Catholics who have fallen away from their faith and are caught up in the web of sin! Lets ask our spiritual Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, to help us to honor our parents and those in authority and thus come to the joy of our eternal home.

August 5, 200718th Sunday in Ordinary Time The problem with disputes over money is often not a problem of justice giving each person his duebut of greed. That seems to be the case with the man who comes up to Jesus saying Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me. Jesus uses this incident to teach about greed and not finding our happiness in this worlds goods. He responds with Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, ones life does not consist of possessions. There are two Commandments that caution us about worldly goods. The 7th Commandment is You shall not steal and the 10th Commandment You shall not covet your neighbors goods. To COVET means to desire inordinately or with envy. We forget that there is such a thing as a sin of thought. First we have to think about the action in a sinful way; then we act in a sinful way to get it. Not every thought is sinful and sometimes we have the most outrageous thoughts pop into our minds for no reason. When we realize it we often say Why am I thinking about this thing?! When that happens we have a choice to make. Either we reject it and think about something else, then there is no sin at all, OR we continue to think about it and let the idea build in our mind. Then we commit a sin of thought. Coveting the goods of another has lead to terrible sins of stealing and even murder. We have to ask ourselves if we are honest at work? Or are we stealing time from our employers or cheating customers? When we shop do you always have to have everything you want? Impulse buying is another form of greed. We should ask, Do I really need that thing or can I do without it? I had a relative who collected things all of her life and when she got elderly her house was full of junk. In her bedroom, there was only a little path to her bed. All around were stacks of newspapers and magazines and knickknacks. There was just enough room on her bed for her to sleep because al the rest of it was covered with stacks of things. Her whole house was like that. One of my brothers was the executor of her will and it would have taken a lifetime to go through all the junk. In the end he had to shovel most of it into a huge dumpster! All those things which we think are so precious, will seem like junk to others and will probably be thrown into a dumpster.

Vanity of vanities! All things are vanities. . . . For what profit comes to man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun. You wouldnt want to read this book if you were sad or depressed, but there is a lot of wisdom in it. This doesnt mean that we should give up working. As a matter of fact, we should work hard and be successful. God wants you to be successful. We need to have the right motives behind our work. Out intentions shouldnt be greed, but to serve our families, to make a contribution to society, to be productive so that we can give to the poor and help the Church in her mission. I should pray that you are all very successful so that you can be generous and contribute to the Parish so that we can build a permanent Church and school! Jesus tells us a parable about a man who acquired great riches and stored up his wealth in barns thinking he could rest, eat, drink, be merry! And God said to him, You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong? Many people throughout history have sought money and power at the expense of others. You read about kings and rulers who would stop at nothing to acquire these things. But you know, they all died, every one of them! They left all there things behind and they didnt do them a bit of good They should have read this parable and thought about it. St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading: If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. We need daily prayer, but we also need to sanctify our work by offering it up to God. Each morning we should make a Morning Offering giving God all my works, joys and sufferings of this day. Throughout the day I need to renew that offering, giving God this task and that job. In this way I make my work holy and a true gift to God. I can keep the right intention behind my daily work. Lets keep our hearts set on God and avoid greed, working with the right motives by sanctifying our daily work as a gift to the Lord

August 12, 200719th Sunday in Ordinary Time You may be aware that a committee of English speaking bishops is working on a more accurate and beautiful translation of the prayers for the Holy Mass. One of the likely changes is in the wording of the Nicene Creed. Instead of saying We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty . . . we will say I believe. It is good for us to think about this wording in our prayers. When you say I believe what do you mean? First of all, it means that you hold something to be true. For many people the only kind of knowledge is the kind that can be proven by science or the senses. 2+2=4 always and everywhere; it never equals 5. Of course, there are many things in science that people think are proven, but they are only theories. Yet many people will accept things as scientifically proven when they are not. When you go outside on a hot August day, you dont need a meteorologist with all his equipment to tell you its unbearably hot. Our senses give us enough certainty about that, but our senses dont always tell us the truth. When you put a straight stick halfway into a pond of water it looks bent, but it really isnt; our eyes are fooled by an optical illusion. When it comes to faith, on the other hand, it is easy to dismiss it as something that you really cant prove; it is a matter of opinion or feelings. Unfortunately many Catholics over the last 40 years have been given such poor teaching that they dont even realize that the Catholic Church has real content and substance to its beliefs. There is a classic definition of faith in our Second Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews. I am going to quote the passage from the RSV version of the Bible. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. It is much more strongly and accurately worded than the translation we use in the Liturgy. Faith gives us ASSURANCE and CERTAINTY. Our Second Reading is from Chapter 11 of the Letter to the Hebrews and is a catalogue of the Old Testament Saints who lived by faith. First of all, Abraham is commended for his faith a number of times in this chapter; we call him our father in faith in the First Eucharistic Prayer. God called him to a special mission to be the father of many nations. Do you think that a man like Abraham would leave his home and country on a whim or an opinion? He would surely have to have certain knowledge that Gods call and promise were true. Faith gave him the assurance of things hoped

for. Do you think that when God tested Abraham, asking him to sacrifice his only son Isaac, that he would do this based on a feeling? Abraham had the conviction that God could only bring good out of this test. The Bible tells us that He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol. Abraham couldnt know that the almost sacrifice of his son Isaac was to be a foreshadowing of the death and resurrection of Jesus. This past week we celebrated the Feast of St. Lawrence. He was a deacon called by the Pope from Spain to serve in Rome where he was known for his care for the poor. He died as a martyr for his faith in the year 258. Contrary to the usual Roman style of execution, which was beheading, a quick way to die, St. Lawrence was put on a gridiron and roasted to death. With a kind of holy humor, St. Lawrence said at one point of his torture Turn me over, Im done on this side. Now St. Lawrence could not endure such a painful death if it were not for the faith that gave him certainty that Gods promise of salvation would be given to those who persevered. Our faith gives us certainty to live for Christ in the world today. When we are faced with problems or sufferings, the Christian can bear them knowing the God has a plan for our lives. We are not alone; Jesus has endured far worse and He will help us bear the heavy Cross that can come into our lives. Not just to bear it, but to bring good out of it! When we see a world that seems to have abandoned all moral living and ignores the commandments of God, our faith gives us strength not to give in just because it seems that everyone else is doing it. Faith causes young people to stay pure until their wedding in the Church. It also causes them to say yes to a vocation to the priesthood or religious life as a tremendous way to dedicate ones life to God. When we say I believe, where does this faith come from? It is a gift of God that comes to us through the Church that He institutedthe Roman Catholic Church. I dont make up the content of faith, which has been revealed to us by God Himself, particularly through His Son Jesus Christ and taught with certainty by the Church. When I say I believe it is my response to the grace of God, first of all in baptism. An adult who is unbaptized is given a preparatory grace to lead him to embrace the gift of faith that will come to him fully in baptism. When I say I believe I am

saying yes to a truth that is outside of me and is not made by me. It depends upon God who is truth itself. I can base my life on that kind of truth with assurance and conviction. All the winds and storms of life; all the fads and opinions that come and go; all the scandals and evils that can be so disheartening will not turn me from the course that leads to heaven. The Church has often been called the bark of Peter the boat of Peter because Peter the fisherman and his successors will steer us on a safe way. Remember who sailed in the boat of PeterJesus Christ. Faith is something that needs to be strengthened in us. We have to pray for an increase of faith. Abraham is the model of faith in the Old Testament; Mary is the model of faith in the New Testament. Mary, model of faith, Mother most pure, Mother assumed into heaven, lift up our hearts to God. God grant us the assurance and conviction that only faith can give to our lives.

August 19, 2007--20th Sunday in Ordinary Time In a world that holds tolerance as the highest virtue and people seem to summarize their morality with the phrases Im OK, your OK and Cant we all just get along? the words of Jesus in our Gospel today must seem very strange. He says: Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three. This comes from the one who is called The Prince of Peace; at the Rite of Peace in the Holy Mass the priest quotes Jesus speaking to His apostles, I leave you peace, my peace I give you. How do we reconcile these two ideas? First of all, we have to remember that there is such as thing as a false peace. How many times in history have people gone to war and then made a peace treaty only to be broken at the next opportunity? The peace treaty didnt resolve the differences, but only hid them for a while. It was a superficial peace that wasnt real or lasting. Jesus came to bring a peace that reaches to the very depths of our soul, because His peace reconciles us with God through his death on the Cross and the forgiveness of the debt of sin. A classic definition of peace is the tranquility of order. Jesus restores true order by reconciling us to God. If we want peace of soul we have to make sure our lives are lived in accordance with Gods Law; we have to avoid sin if we want peace. Jesus did not come to bring us a false kind of peaceso division has resulted when one remains true to Jesus Christ, even between family members. Then too, peace may merely be a cover for cowardice. Either I am afraid to speak the truth because others may not like it or I simply dont want my own lifestyle to be changed. Look what happened to Jeremiah in the First Reading of todays Holy Mass. He spoke a truth that no one in Jerusalem wanted to hear. The city was surrounded by its enemies and they were using the greatest weapon in their arsenal: starvation. They couldnt breach the walls so they were preventing the people from getting any food into the city. Jeremiah said that if the king and the leaders would surrender to the enemy, God would save them and make things right, but if they persisted on relying on their own strength they would be totally defeated. No one wanted to hear this word of the Lord. And the princes said to the king: Jeremiah ought to be put to death; he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in this city and all the people, by speaking such things to them; he is not

interested in the welfare of our people, but in their ruin. They threw him into a muddy cistern where he would have died if the king had not sent men to rescue him. In spite of the hatred and suffering Jeremiah spoke the truth of God with courage. We cant be surprised that there will be opposition to the truth of our Holy Catholic faith. The Letter to the Hebrews points to the example of Jesus who endured the cross, despising not its shame. . . . Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. It will often take courage to live our faith and many in history have shed their blood as martyrs. We dont have to go out and antagonize people, but we cannot be afraid if they are offended. Perhaps the best advice in preaching the Gospel comes from St. Francis of Assisi who said At all times preach the Gospel, and when necessary, use words. Our Christian example is the best way to win people over to the Gospel. Today we need to consider the fifth Commandment: You shall not kill. This means that no one has the right to take the life of an innocent person. Obviously, if your life is physically threatened or you are a soldier at war, you have the right to defend yourself even if that means killing another person; then the person isnt innocent. The Servant of God, Pope John Paul summed up the problem of our world today by saying that we live in a culture of death. Our world today is at war with the very notion of the sacredness of human life. Science and technology have not eliminated war, and often only increased its destructiveness. We see a war on human life in our culture particularly against the unborn and the terminally ill. Abortion and Euthanasia are always seriously wrong, the matter of mortal sin. It is sad that a civilization as advanced as ours approves of the destruction of the most innocent and helpless of persons!! Under this commandment we also have to watch out for anger and hatred. Jesus teaches: You have heard that it was said to the men of old, You shall not kill: and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment. But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment. There are many angry people today who do not have the peace of Christ in their souls. There is such a thing as just anger, because of an offense against God or an innocent person that must be righted. But more often than not our anger is simply the expression of pride or love of comfort

or jealousy that has been aroused within us. It is often all out of proportion to the offense. Jesus constantly teaches us to forgive and to even love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. I really believe that forgiveness is not an easy matter. Even forgiveness of ourselves when we have done a serious wrong is difficult. I have spoken to many women who wanted Gods forgiveness for an abortion that they greatly regretted. Even when they truly repent their motherly heart still feels the pain of that action. Recently, a woman asked me about a friend of hers who was not a Catholic and was planning to have an abortion; she couldnt talk her out of it. She told her friend that after the abortion she should go to a church and ask God for forgiveness. It is true that God will forgive any sin when we truly repent and amend our lives, but the effects of a sin against the 5th Commandment dont go away with just a few words. We have to have true repentance and seek the healing that only God can give. Only God knows, but it may take a lifetime!! Jesus said at the beginning of our Gospel passage: I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! He wants the world to burn with the fire of true love, the love that is enkindled and expressed by His sacrifice on the Cross. If we are united to Jesus in living genuine love, according to His pattern then we will have true peace.

August 26, 200721st Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus doesnt answer the question that is posed to Him in the Gospel today: Lord, will only a few people be saved? It is neither the kind of information that Jesus wants to give, nor is it the kind that we should be concerned about. Jesus wants us to work out our salvation with freedom. Everyone has to have the hope of eternal life unrestricted by numbers or quotas. The Church proclaims that certain people are in heaven through canonization, but she never consigns anyone to hell, not even those we think are most likely there, such as Judas Iscariot. God has not given us knowledge of that kind! Only He knows the state of a persons soul at death. That is why we pray for the souls of the Faithful Departed, and dont loose heart, asking that the mercy of God will cleanse them of sin and the Temporal Punishment of sin, bringing them to eternal life. Jesus doesnt answer the question posed to Him in the Gospel, but He does use it as a way to teach a spiritual truth. He says: Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. We might tend to think that just because we belong to the Catholic Church that we have the reward of heaven guaranteed or that heaven is easy to attain. Life is a struggle for the Christian. The Sacrament of Baptism which makes us an heir of heaven is not the end of the struggle, but the beginning. Jesus tells the parable of those who have been locked out of the house and are trying to make a claim on the master of the house by saying We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets. But the reply is I do not know where you are from. Depart from me you evildoers! If our faith is superficial or only meant to look good to others, we do not have an authentic faith; we do not really know Jesus Christ. Converting our hearts and lives to follow Jesus Christ is a daily task and it takes a lifetime. An Alpine guide died on the side of the mountain, and on his tombstone they inscribed: He died climbing. In a spiritual sense they should be able to say that about each one of us. We have been reflecting on the Ten Commandments in the Sunday homilies over the past several weeks and this week we are considering the 6th and 9th. You shall not commit adultery and You shall not covet your

neighbors wife. These two Commandments call us to use the gift of sex according to the plan of God. So many people look at the teaching of the Catholic Church and only see Thou shalt not and Dont to this and No to that. They dont realize that the only reason that God and His Church say No to certain things is so that we can say Yes to Gods gift lived in all its fullness and beauty. God has created the sexual relationship, including its desire and pleasure, to exist between a man and woman who have permanently committed themselves to one another in marriage. When it is experienced within marriage, the sexual relationship is meant to bring about a deeper love between husband and wife. It is a love that has the power to draw them closer to God, and make them co-creators with God in bringing forth new life. Outside of marriage, sex ruins Gods plan for life and love. It is serious matter, the first condition for mortal sin. In order to experience Gods blessing we have to live the Virtue of Chastity. The CCC says that Chastity provides for the successful integration of sexuality within the person leading to the inner unity of the bodily and spiritual being. We have to live Chastity according to our state in life; it is different for the married person than for the single person and different still for those who have a vow of virginity or celibacy. This integration within the person does not happen automatically because of concupiscence, which is the result of Original Sin. We have a weakness that needs to be overcome and healed by Gods grace. That is where the 9th Commandment You shall not covet is so important! Sin begins in the thoughts and desires. If we do not control our thoughts and direct them to what is good, they will soon lead us to dwell on impure thoughts and images and then to impure actions. There is a powerful temptation today to distort Gods gift by the easy access to pornography on TV, video, and the internet. People speak of pornography by labeling it Adult or for Mature Audiences. It should really be labeled for underdeveloped and immature audiences. The person who has integrated sexuality into his personality doesnt need pornography. Christian men should have a clear understanding that a real man doesnt need pornography. The Virtue of Chastity helps us to keep our sexuality in the proper perspective. For the modern culture sex is the most important thing. The

media, especially advertising, gets it all out of perspective. When I was a young priest, I went to the airport to pick up someone and while I was waiting for the plane, I bought a cup of coffee. The woman who waited on me asked if it is true that Catholic priests dont get married. I said Yes and she looked astonished saying, How could you live without sex? Like many today this poor woman thought that sex was the most important thing in life. Unfortunately, many people dont realize that love is the most important thing in life and that the sexual relationship may lead to a deeper love, it isnt the only way to find love. Unless the sexual relationship is lived within Gods plan for marriage, it is a barrier to genuine love. God wants us to have the very best of what He has to offer us and that is why He has taught us how to love. He accomplished this through the example of His Son who loved His own to the end, to His death on the Cross. Sacrificial love is the highest form of love. Jesus ends this Gospel passage by saying that in the Kingdom of God behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said that there will be three surprises when he gets to heaven. First, there will be people there that he thought could never have made it. Second, there will be some people absent who he thought would surely reach heaven. Third, and the biggest surprisehe made it to heaven himself! We have to strive for heaven with pure hearts and never stop climbing.

September 2, 200722nd Sunday in Ordinary Time The very fact that Jesus accepted the hospitality of a leading Pharisee, knowing that they were watching Him, shows that He never gave up hope for anyones conversion. Jesus never gives up hope on anyone, even His enemies, and neither should we. At this dinner Jesus must have witnessed a disgraceful scene that prompted Him to speak a parable to the guests on humility and to speak to the host or charity. What did He see? Were people trying to show their importance by demanding certain places at table? Were they showing off their clothes in order to prove they had the latest fashion and the most luxurious taste? Were they comparing the food and the accommodations to the other parties they attended? It wouldnt be surprising that the host and guests were trying to be noticed, seeking to look important, trying to outdo others. It happens at all times and among all social classes, not just the wealthy. In the parable directed to the guests, Jesus gives the example of the man who takes the place of honor and is told by the host Give your place to this man and then has to proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Then He gives the example of the one who takes the lowest place and is told My friend, move up to a higher position. Jesus is really asking the question, what kind of person do you admire: the one who is haughty, putting others down and always trying to look important OR the one who is looking out for others, giving to others and not thinking of himself? It is really the humble person that is esteemed in the eyes of God. The First Reading from the Book of Sirach says: My child, conduct your affairs with humility; and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are and you will find favor with God. After all, the Son of God humbled Himself to take on our human nature and sacrificed His life for us on the Cross. He shows us true humility. Then Jesus speaks to the host of the banquet. The host who is trying to impress others with the best food, the most fabulous decorations, and the most important guests is really wasting his time. The host may get invitations in return and compliments and a momentary pleasure of outdoing everyone else, but it is all fleeting. Jesus says he would be better off giving food to the poor for blessed will you be because of their inability to

repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. The reward that God will give is far more lasting and valuable than anything that we can receive in this world. We are going to finish reflecting on the Ten Commandments by considering the 8th this Sunday: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. This commandment forbids lying which is speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving. Jesus tells us that the devil is the father of lies. And that He Himself is the way, the truth and the life. And it is the truth that will set you free. Not only are we to avoid lying, boasting, bragging and flattery, but we are called upon to be honest. We need to be honest and sincere with our family, friends and those we deal with in business. Words like authentic, sincere, genuine, truthful and straightforward should characterize our lives. Of course, it can be most difficult to be honest when we have been caught deliberately doing wrong. It is hard for us to admit we have made mistakes. You often see people trying to blame others to cover up their own faults or mistakes. Unfortunately, those in politics and media think spin is just the normal way people should react to situations such as these. The old saying is true: what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive. One lie leads to another like a spiders web that tangles up our lives. The first thing to go in those who are addicted to drugs or alcohol is the truth; they cannot be honest about anything. The greatest witness to truth is the act of martyrdom. The word martyr means witness. The CCC says Martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith: it means bearing witness even unto death. The day on which the martyr dies is called his natalicia in Latin, meaning his birthday. The martyr is born into eternal life on the day he dies. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote this as he was being taken to Rome by armed soldiers on his way to martyrdom: Neither the pleasures of the world nor the kingdoms of this age will be of any use to me. It is better for me to die in order to unite myself to Christ Jesus than to reign over the ends of the earth. I seek Him who died for us; I desire Him who rose for us. My birth is approaching. . . . St. Ignatius was the third bishop of Antioch and was arrested by Emperor Trajan and taken to Rome by armed soldiers where he was thrown into the amphitheatre and was devoured by two lions in the year 107.

The reason God gave us the ten Commandments is not to make us feel guilty but to help us to repent. He wants to lift us up by His grace to be His own dear children. We are all sinners and guilt is meant to be the warning sign that we need to change, not to put us down and make us feel hopeless. God is calling us to great things and His mercy endures forever.

September 9, 200723rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Some people think that it is easy to be a Christian; you worship on Sunday, you say a few prayers, dont do anything terribly wrong and that is about all there is to it. Salvation doesnt take much effort on our part according to this way of thinkingonce saved always saved. However, all the words of Jesus in the Gospel this Sunday tell a different story. Without lessening the power of the words of Jesus we have to remember that the language of His times used the most vivid images possible to make the point clear. We arent meant to take them with a cold literalness; they are meant to inflame us to a greater love. Jesus says: If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. We have to put Jesus Christ in the first place in our lives. He has to be above even those most human and natural loves that we have for our family. As a matter of fact, if we dont love God first of all, then we are not going to truly love our family. All the other relationships that we have get out of order and become deficient unless we love God above all others. St. Thomas Acquinas wanted to become a member of the new Order of St. Dominic, but his wealthy family was opposed because the Dominicans were little better than beggarsthat is how they earned their daily bread. If he wanted to become the Abbot of a wealthy monastery that would be fine, but nothing less was good enough for their son. Thomas knew the kind of life that God was calling him to and he joined the Dominicans. One day his brothers came and kidnapped him, locking him in a tower of the family castle. Thomas would not give into their arguments; they even tried sending a woman into his room to tempt him against purity and Thomas took a flaming fire iron and chased the woman out of the room, eventually his family relented. He loved his family, but he loved God first. He became not

only a saint, but one of the greatest theologians in all the history of the Church. Remember that Jesus was heading toward Jerusalem and His death on the Cross when He spoke these words: Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. The scandal of the Cross always looms up before people who think Christianity is easy! Jesus doesnt say I will take up the Cross, and you dont have to do anything. He tells us to take up our own cross and follow Him. Lets not confuse earth with heaven. Heaven is the place of perfect happiness, without suffering or sin or anything that will mare our perfect joy; earth is the place of strife and suffering and temptation. Jesus did not come to take that away, but to transform it. When we willingly take up our daily suffering and challengesgreat and smalland unite them to Jesus crucified and risen, we will find meaning and strength and true joy. If we try to escape it or pretend that it doesnt exist, we will be miserable. We will miss the opportunities to be united with our Savior and become like Him. There are many blessings on earth, but it is not to be confused with heaven. He wants us to count the cost of following Him and gives two examples. The man who wants to build a tower must first look at the cost and then add up his assets before he starts building. Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him. Any good businessman would ask himself if he has what it takes to finish the project. And so, the king who is preparing for battle has to judge the forces of his enemies and his own before going to battle. If there is no chance of winning then he is foolish to attack, instead he should send a delegation to ask for peace terms. Jesus doesnt want to discourage us, but He wants us to have a realistic understanding of discipleship and salvation. In his book, Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict points out the original meaning of the word Gospel or evangelium in Latin. We normally translate it as Good News but it means something more. The word evangelium gives us the word in English, evangelist. The four evangelists were Matthew, Mark Luke and John who recorded the life and words of Jesus for us. We use the word evangelist to refer to a preacher of the Gospel. In ancient times the evangelium was a decree of the Roman Emperor. Their content wasnt necessarily cheerful and pleasant, but the words from the emperor are a saving message, that is not just a piece of news, but a

change of the world for the better. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John understood that the message of Jesus was not just the imparting of information, but action, efficacious power that enters into the world to save and transform. Jesus wants us to understand that very point in the Gospel today. He is calling us to transform our lives and gives us the power to do so by His grace and mercy.

24th Sunday in Ordinary TimeSeptember 16, 2007 We live in a world that is increasingly hostile to God and religion. At the same time there are a growing number of people who simply dont care about God or eternal life because they are centered only on the things of this world. On the survey cards that parishioners have been filling out or leaving at homes during our parish visitation, one of the questions asks: Surveys tell us almost of U.S. citizens dont attend church. What to you think is the most common reason why people dont attend? The almost universal answer is too busy. We are busy, but we also make time for the things that we truly think are important. Fortunately God doesnt look at us in the same way. It is Gods firm and constant plan to help us to find true happiness, to know His eternal love and save our souls for all eternity. The three parables of Jesus in todays Gospel tell us that very thing. In the parable of the shepherd who leaves the 99 and goes after the lost sheep we have an image of God who cares for each person. The shepherd doesnt say, I have 99 sheep, which is plenty for my flock, what is one sheep more or less? The shepherd isnt satisfied; he cares for each single sheep. Even that sheep which is dumber that the rest and gets lost, perhaps falls of a cliff because it sees a little patch of green grass that it just cant reach. It is not a flattering comparison, since sheep are apparently stupid

animals, but we are too often like that lost sheep. We think that we have a better idea than our Good Shepherd, Jesus. Everything else is better, every other path is more preferable and we fall off the cliff into sin and unhappiness because we wont obey Jesus. What a tender picture it is to see the shepherd carrying his lost sheep on his shoulders, so that it doesnt have to walk. It was frightened and disoriented, but now it is in the arms of its good shepherd. God has that same kind of compassion for each of us. Dont think that you are in the flock of 99 and the one who ran away and had to be rescued is someone else. The Lord has rescued each one of us by His saving death on the Cross. St. Paul realized this profoundly; listen again to his words in the Second Reading: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost. But for that reason I was mercifully treated, so that in me, as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life. The second parable tells of the woman who searches her house diligently until she finds the lost coin. You know how frustrating it is to loose something. If it is valuable you just cant give up, you have to keep looking no matter how much time and effort it takes. God knows that your soul is valuable beyond compare. He will not give up on you. Jesus says that there will be great rejoicing among the angels of God over the one sinner who repents. The third parable of Gods eternal love is often called The Parable of the Prodigal Son, the wasteful son. It should be called the Parable of the Prodigal Father because it really is the father who wastes all his gifts and blessings on an ungrateful son. He does it without regret and without the desire for thanks or for repayment! When the son returns impoverished, filthy and half-starved the father is the first to see him. It is as if he were always scanning the horizon hoping that his son will return home. The ring on his fingers and the sandals on his feet show that the father has restored his son to his rightful place. That is the same way that our Heavenly Father bestows graces and blessings upon us. He knows very well that we will often waste them or misuse them, but He still gives them to us anyway. Sanctifying grace is the free gift of God in which He shares His Divine life and friendship with us in a stable or habitual way. Simply, God puts His

life into our souls so that we can live as His children and go to heaven. It is free because we do not earn or merit sanctifying grace. It is given to us first of all, in the sacrament of Baptism. That is why the Catholic Church has always baptized infants. This gift of sanctifying grace should come to a soul as soon as possible. Pope Benedict was baptized on the day he was born. Parents should not delay this gift to their children; they should have their baby baptized without delay. You cannot feel sanctifying grace, nor weigh or measure it. In our world you have to be able to feel something in order for it to be realbut grace or faith is not a matter of feelings. However, we do feel the effects of grace in our soul, for example, when we are moved to praise God or have sorrow for our sins or do some good deed. When we respond to Gods gift of grace to do some good it opens our hearts to receive more grace, increasing our capacity to respond more fully to God. We are caught, not in a vicious circle, but a gracious circle. It is only sin that can break this gracious circle. Besides Sanctifying grace, God also gives us actual graces. This is grace that is given to move us to do a particular good deed at a certain moment. God is raining these graces upon us and is giving them even to the unbaptized in order to move them to the conversion of their lives to Christ, so that they can receive baptism and Sanctifying Grace. We are going to begin our classes for those interested in learning about the Catholic faith this Wednesday evening at 7:00 pm. If you are an adult here today who hasnt been baptized or received the sacraments of Holy Communion or Confirmation in the Catholic Church, ask the Lord if He is calling you. You are not a member or a full member of the Catholic Church without these three sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion. Is the Lord calling you now? Or is there someone in your family who needs to inquire about the Catholic faith? The CCC uses a number of images from the Bible to help us understand Gods gift of Sanctifying Grace. We become a new creature, and adopted son of God, who has become a partaker of the divine nature, a member of Christ and a co-heir with Him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit. St. Catherine of Sienna was given a vision of a soul in the state of grace that was next to God in heaven. She said that the light was so beautiful that she could not tell one from the other. The soul in the state of Sanctifying Grace is filled with the Divine life. The Holy Spirit has come to

dwell in our souls with the gift of Sanctifying Grace and we become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Our souls and bodies are holy because of so great a Guest. Pope St. Leo the Great said Christian, recognize your dignity. The Lord recognizes our dignity and wants us to truly live as the heirs of the Kingdom.

September 23, 200725th Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus gives us a very unusual parable in the Unjust Steward. He is a bad man who gives us a good exampleat least, Jesus is able to draw several lessons from this mans life to help us see how to live in a right way. This steward is a real scoundrel. When he realizes that his master is going to fire him, he finds a way to make others look favorably upon him. The unjust Steward has been embezzling money from the owners profits for many years. He is lazy and used to the good life. The steward said to himself, What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. So he brings in his masters creditors and cuts their invoices in half drawing them into his schemes. Now they will look favorably upon him, but also open themselves to blackmail, since they willingly cooperated with his scheme. And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. Jesus draws some lessons for us from this parable. First, He tells us that those who love and desire this worlds goods are often more resourceful and zealous and energetic than Christians who are striving for eternal life. He wants us to have zeal for heavenly things like grace and good deeds and the teachings of Holy Mother Church and her sacraments. One of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit is Piety. Piety leads one to devotion to God. It gives a religious sense that is expressed in personal and popular devotions, such as, the Holy Rosary or the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Piety causes us to desire to pray and receive the sacraments as frequently as possible. It moves us to have devotion to Jesus truly present in the Blessed Sacrament in Holy Communion and in the Tabernacle; it causes us to honor His Mother Mary and the angels and the saints. We all need to pray for an increase of the gift of Piety. Then Jesus says to use this worlds goods with the understanding that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. We dont think about it too much, but it is true that we cannot take anything of this world with us when we die. We will leave everything that we treasure behind, even our bodies! The only thing that we will be able to take with us is the good deeds that we have done in our lives. There is the story of the rich woman who had a fine house and garden, but was very selfish and would seldom help anyone who was in need. Her wealth was her own. One night

she had a dream and an angel was taking her to the place that had been prepared for her in heaven. They passed beautiful houses and magnificent mansions. The angel pointed out the house that was prepared for her gardenerit was splendid. She thought I had a beautiful house on earth; mine should be even more wonderful in heaven. They turned a corner and the angel pointed to a small, poorly constructed, shack as her house. She stopped in stunned silence and then asked Why should my house look like this while my gardeners house is so exquisite? The angel replied, We can only build a house out of the materials that are sent up in life. The good deeds that we do are all that we will take with us to eternity! The Lord has blessed us with many gifts and talents and material goods and He wants us to use them, not for selfish reasons, but for the good of others. This past week some representatives of the St. Vincent de Paul Society from Immaculate Conception Parish spoke at our Parish Council meeting. 30% of their cases are within our parish boundaries. They are taking care of them since we are still at the beginning of our parish and do not yet have a St. Vincent de Paul Society. They are asking for our help and so we are going to begin giving the monthly food collection to the food pantry at Immaculate Conception. If you can help them with your time or money, it would be a great service to the poor. You could also put money in the collection and mark if for St. Vincent de Paul and we will get it to them. It is a holy use of your money. As you know, we are looking forward to the day when we can have a permanent Church and school. We have a real blessing in the items from the old St. Philip Neri Church. The stained glass windows, altars, baldachino and the pews that you are sitting in will grace our Church one day. These items are really priceless and I cant help marvel how they could have afforded to build a Church of that quality! Especially since it was built in 1933, right at the time of the Great Depression! People were in bread lines, out of work and struggling just to keep alive, yet they still gave so much to build that magnificent Church! Why cant we do the same today? I am going to say this with a smile. When you invest your money in the stock market, it goes up and down; when you gamble your money on the river boats, you are guaranteed to loose more than you gain; when you buy things that you dont really need and they pile up in the garage and basementwhat does your money come to? On the other hand, I can

guarantee that any money you invest in the building of our Church and school can instantly double in value and even have eternal value. You know that Archbishop Burke announced that the Archdiocese would match any gifts given to our parish up to $500,000. I promise you that your money will not be wasted, but will double in value and be used for Gods glory and the sanctification of our people and the education of our children. Jesus tells us to use this worlds goods, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Finally Jesus reminds us that we cannot serve two masters. Today we can have a full time job and also a part time job. That was not so for a slave. All his time belonged to the master; he had no spare time. Jesus uses that situation to tell us that we cannot belong to Him part time. Too many people think that they can go to holy Mass on Sunday, giving that time to God, while the rest of the week belongs to themselves or other things. They do not see that their Christian faith should guide their whole life. It is like the example from the Old Testament in the First Reading. The Prophet Amos says people are asking: When will the new moon be over you ask that we may sell our grain, and the Sabbath, that we may display the wheat? They performed their religious duty, but couldnt wait to get back to their business so that they could cheat their customers. We see it today when Catholic politicians say I am personally opposed to abortion, but I cant let that influence my voting record. Our lives belong either totally to Jesus Christ or they dont belong to Him at all. No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon. The Lord is calling us to a more committed level of faith and service!

26th Sunday in Ordinary TimeSeptember 30, 2007 Jesus paints the picture of two very different men with only a few words in the parable of todays Gospel. The rich man, who is not named in the parable, but is often called Dives, which is the Latin word for rich, has everything in abundance. Only the wealthy could have purple cloth for their clothes in those days and every day was a lavish party for him. Lazarus, on the other hand, was so poor that the scraps from the rich mans table seemed like a feast. In those days they didnt have knives or forks or napkins, so they ate with their hands and wiped them with scraps of bread, which they put into the trash. That is what Lazarus longed for. He was so weak that he couldnt even keep the dogs from licking his sores. Everything changes when death comes to these two men. Now Dives is in torment, so much so, that if Lazarus could only dip his finger in water and let that drop touch his mouth it would be a great relief from the fires of hell. Lazarus is now at peace comforted by Abraham. At the time Jesus spoke this parable, the gates of heaven were still closed to man, so the greatest reward for a good Jew would be eternity with Abraham. Jesus death and resurrection would open eternity to Abraham and all the good souls who were waiting for that day in what we call the Limbo of the Fathers. What was the sin of Dives? He didnt order Lazarus to be removed from his gate or curse him. He had no malice toward the poor man by his door. The sin of Dives is that he simply didnt care about the sufferings of his fellow man. He looked the other way and thought it was natural that Lazarus should suffer while he lived in luxury. He could have helped Lazarus without even changing his own life style, but he wouldnt make the least effort to do so. One of the choices at the beginning of Holy Mass is the Confiteor, in which we say I have sinned through my own fault in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do. There is such a thing as a sin of omission. When I have the possibility of doing a good deed, but refuse, I commit a sin of omission. I always think that on judgment day my greatest sorrow will be for the times when I failed to act because of laziness or fear of what others might think or simply because I said I was too busy (with the wrong things!)

It may seem harsh that Abraham refuses Dives plea then I beg you, father (Abraham), send him (Lazarus) to my fathers house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment. Dives wants a miracle to convince his brothers to change their lives. He thinks something extraordinary or supernatural will turn them from their life of selfishness. Now sometimes God does intervene in extraordinary ways to set people on the right path. We have many examples from peoples lives and the lives of the saints. Normally God will not use the extraordinary. Notice that Abraham rejects Dives plea by saying If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead. We have clear direction from God about how to live; He hasnt left us in the dark. The word of God in the Holy Bible, the teachings of the Magisterium of the Church, the example of the saints all give us a clear direction about what it takes to get to heaven. We can easily have a distorted vision of Gods love for us. Here is an example. Suppose we have a teenager who knows his faith: there is a commandment to keep the Lords Day holy and that his parents have given him a good example of faith and taken him to Holy Mass every Sunday of his life. He knows that to deliberately miss Sunday Mass without a sufficiently serious reason is a mortal sin. Then one Sunday, his parents are out of town and he decides not to get up for Sunday Mass. The next day he realizes that God didnt strike him down and the next Sunday he receives Holy Communion in the state of mortal sin, still God has not done anything to him. His conscience bothered him, but he was able to override it since, at least at times, he loves his bed more than God. Since God didnt take any action against him, maybe the sin isnt really that serious, maybe, just maybe, there isnt even a God at all. This is a vision of a vengeful God, not a Father who loves us and wants us to truly be the best that we can be and live with him forever in heaven. It is as if God wants to catch us doing something wrong so that He can punish us. Unfortunately, this way of thinking means that one doesnt understand the love of God at all. When we commit a mortal sin it is like taking a spear and thrusting it into the side of Christ, right into His Heart, like the soldier did on Calvary. Did Jesus come down from that Cross and punish the soldier? Did Jesus strike them dead when they scourged Him at the pillar or hammered the nails into His Sacred Hands and Feet? Did He

curse those who jammed the crown of thorns down upon His Head and spit upon Him? No, He spoke not a word of condemnation, but took it as a punishment for our sins. Dont expect God to punish you because you destroy the friendship by sinning; His Heart is too broken by it. God always loves us; the friendship can only be broken on our side. On judgment day we will see clearly whether we are friends with God or not. We have more today than those who listened to the parable about the poor man Lazarus, we have the power of Jesus death and resurrection. He gives us the strength and grace to live the law of love. Also, Jesus mentions in the parable that the angels took Lazarus to the bosom of Abraham. Yesterday was the Feast Day of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. On October 2nd we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels. God has given each one of us an angel by our side. We need to get to know our Guardian Angels and seek their prayers and guidance on the path of life.

Homily for Kenrick Alumni MassOctober 3, 2007 Archbishop Burke, Bishop Hermann My brother Priests, especially those who are celebrating their Golden or Silver Anniversary of Ordination to the Sacred Priesthood My dear Seminarians The passage of time is something that is difficult to calculatenot in terms of minutes and hours, days and yearsbut in our perception. When I was in the seminary it seemed like the day of ordination would never come. The years passed so slowly, then after ordination, you turn around and 25 years are gone. Older people would say the older you get the faster time passes, now I know what they mean! One of the reasons we are present this evening is to give thanks to God for the gift of the priesthood, and connected to that, the opportunity to serve His Church. How different it is from the three would-be disciples in the Gospel! They saw Jesus and heard His voice, but did not answer His call to Follow me. Jesus looked into the heart of the first who boldly proclaimed I will follow you wherever you go and saw that he loved his creature comforts too much. You cannot follow Jesus and count the cost, so He answered Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head. The second wouldnt follow immediately and wanted to delay his discipleship; who knows how near or far his fathers death was? Jesus was going to Jerusalem, to His imminent death on the Cross; He would not pass that way again. It was now or never! The third would be disciple couldnt respond to the invitation of Jesus because he was looking back to his former life, not forward. Even though we use tractors instead of oxen in St. Charles County, you still have to keep your eyes ahead in order to plow a straight furrow! And it is still hard work! We have to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ if we are going to walk the narrow path that leads to heaven. We rejoice today in the priests who accepted the call of Jesus Christ on the day of their ordination and said humbly and boldly I will follow you wherever you go. But we are not machines that coldly perform our programmed duties. We are men who have strengths and weaknesses and are subject to temptations and doubts and fears and inconstancy. Also, we can grow! When asked by the bishop on the day of our ordination if we

were ready to accept the call of Jesus Christ, we said I am with the help of God. We need the grace and strength that only God can give to us in order to, not only, follow Him, but remain close to Him. We need to pray for an increase of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but one that we need and often forget is the Gift of Piety. Piety helps us to look to the honor and glory of God our heavenly Father. It helps us to have a true filial relationship that makes us see all that we do in the light of the truth that we are sons of God. It calls us to have a deep trust in our Father who is guiding our lives and helping us to serve Him and our brothers and sisters with joy. Piety gives a warmth and zeal to our prayer and all that we do in our priestly ministry. In this regard, I cant help but think of the Feast Day of St. Therese this past Monday and the spirituality that God gave the Church through her. She wanted to do great things for the Lord. She looked at the lives of the great missionary saints and martyrs and wanted to emulate them. Yet how could she do so, since she lived in a cloistered convent in France? Sometimes sanctity seemed complicated and unreachable, as if it belonged to a privileged few. The Holy Spirit helped her to see that she could reach great sanctity by what she called the Little Way of Spiritual Childhood. St. Therese wrote Sanctity is an interior disposition which makes us humble and little in Gods arms, conscious of our weakness and trusting even to audacity in the goodness of our Father. Her piety was strong, not soft. She is associated with the rose which is soft and beautiful. Remember that a rose also has thorns! St. Therese accepted the sufferings of life, whether it had to do with the annoying characteristics of another nun who no one liked or the final illness that ended her life. She bore those sufferings with courage and love. Detachment and self-denial are necessary for us to follow the call of Christ or we will end up like that first would-be disciple in the Gospel. Sacrifice is the essence of true love and allows us to do great things for God in our own little way of life. The Gift of Piety moves us to love Jesus truly present in the Holy Eucharist. It calls us to a tender love of our Eucharistic Lord, so that every time we celebrate the Holy Mass we do so as if it were the most important thing that we do in our day. It is the source and summit of the interior life; how much more so for us priests who are ordained for the Holy Eucharist?

We have much to thank God for as we gather together on this Kenrick Alumni Day. Lets ask Mary, the Queen and Mother of Priests to watch over our vocations so that no matter how quickly or slowly time moves, we keep our eyes on Jesus Christ and keep the promise of Ordination, saying I will follow you wherever you go. October 7, 200727th Sunday in Ordinary Time The apostles ask an important thing of Jesus when they say Increase our faith. They realized that their faith was weak and that strengthening it was Gods work because faith is His gift to us. There was a wealthy man in a small Midwestern town who put up signs all over town promising to pay the debts of anyone who came to his office between 9:00 and 12:00 on a certain day bringing their bills. It was the talk of the town, but no one believed it. They thought there must be some catch. The man was in his office at nine on the day announced and no one showed up until 11:00 when one man who had been walking up and down the street, finally opened the door and asked Is it true that you will pay any mans debts? Surely, replied the rich man, do you owe anything? I certainly do answered the man. They looked over his bills and he left with a check to pay all his debts. Only two others came in before noon and they both left with big checks. At noon the man closed his office. When people saw the checks of the three men who had gone in they groaned What fools we were not to go and have our bills paid! It is good to be cautious about things that seem too good to be true. After all, the motto of the Show me state is only practical wisdom when it comes to our fellow man. The apostles, however, were not talking about a human faith, but about belief in God and the truths He has made known. The CCC defines faith as both a gift of God and a human act by which the believer gives personal adherence to God who invites his response, and freely assents to the whole truth that God has revealed. One of the great errors of our time is to equate feelings with faith. If I dont have warm feelings toward the Catholic Church, how can it be right? If there is something that annoys me or is difficult to understand about a certain teaching then I will just ignore it or find another Church that doesnt teach it all. If I have happy feelings then I have strong faith, if I dont then my faith is weak. None of those have anything to do with the gift of faith that God gives.

It is not that warm feelings are bad, as a matter of fact, God often uses them to attract us to Himself. They just arent enough; they are not deep enough! If I have some tragic event happen in my life, I am probably not going to have warm feelings in my heart toward God or anyone, but in the depths of my agony I can still believe in God and know He has a purpose in it. If I am tired or sick, my level of enthusiasm will be low, but I can still have a deep faith that carries me through. It is easy in our world today to have temptations against certain teachings of the Catholic Church, especially the moral teachings, but I do not have to let my own human weakness deny the truth of God and destroy my faith. And certainly, dont let the sinfulness of individuals, even if they are priests or bishops, destroy your belief that God did set up a Church that is holy and true. When we pray for an increase of faith, we need to pray for something deep and meaningful to happen in our souls. Pope Paul VI wrote: We ourselves must be convinced of the need for a living, true and active faith; even more today when the difficulties are so much greater. It is not enough to have a vague, weak and uncertain faith which is purely one of sentiment and habit, made up of theories, doubts and reservations. Nor is it enough to hold a faith which just accepts what it pleases, or which seeks to avoid difficulties by denying assent to truths which themselves are both difficult and mysterious. Look to the example of Blessed Mother Theresa. If you saw videos of her life or read her writings you saw a woman of prayer and joy and heroic service to the poorest of the poor. Everyone believed that she was a living saint before her death. Now we find out through some private letters to her spiritual director that internally she suffered from a total lack of consolation from God or even the feelings that He was near to her and approved of her work. God seemed to be totally silent and absent from her prayer life. Of course, anyone with a little knowledge of the spiritual life has heard of a stage in the spiritual life called the dark night of the soul. This is when holy person of deep faith, often having amazing supernatural experiences, such as ecstasy or visions of Jesus Christ, suddenly find it totally withdrawn. Like Blessed Mother Theresa, God removes Himself from their consciousness. They do not desire a sinful or worldly life and they want the Lord with all of their being, but they have no feelings or consolations helping them to experience God. They persevere in faith and hope and love without them.

Why does he do this? Here is an example: if you had a lot of money and you constantly gave it away along with many expensive gifts to your friends, you would have many friends, I can assure you. However, you might begin to wonder if they really valued your friendship or if they didnt just love your money. One way to test it would be to stop giving gifts and see who really was a true friend. Jesus gives us gifts in abundance, but the question is Do we love Him for His gifts or for Himself? It is not that He needs to prove anything to Himself in regard to His saints, like Mother Theresa, but He has to test them so they can really learn to love Him for Himself. We can see that Mother Theresas faith was something deep and heroic; even though she didnt have the consolations and sweetness that can come from knowing Jesus Christ, she had a joy that the world could not take away; she was serving her Lord with all her strength. She now enjoys the consolation of the Blessed in heaven. A man writing an article about Baby Boomers who have lost their faith makes this comment: What brings Baby Boomers back is that when we finally begin to look at the faith with adult eyes, we realize that there was so much more truth and trust there than all the little truths we had toyed with for too long and never really trusted. We find nothing that could bring us to Christ better than the Church of our childhood when seen and experienced through adult lives. We begin to understand that we dont have to settle for the ordinary, for the good enough. We begin to understand that waffles, football and television dont provide a lot of answers at the shank of the evening. We begin to understand that with God through the grace of the sacraments, anything is possible and nothing, particularly life, is meaningless. Lord increase my faith!

29th Sunday in Ordinary TimeOctober 21, 2007 When Moses raised his hands in prayer on the top of the mountain, we read, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Ameleck had the better of the fight. That priestly gesture of prayer is something that we continue down to our time. The priest is instructed in the rubrics (or directions) of the Holy Mass to raise his hands in prayer at certain times; that gesture also makes us think of Jesus hands that were nailed to the Cross. The priest acts like Moses did so many centuries ago, now as the intercessor between Jesus Christ and His Church by offering prayer and sacrifice. Prayer is very powerful, but at times, it is very difficult. Even Moses got tired and lowered his hands, in other words, stopped praying. Two men, Aaron and Hur, helped him by holding up his hands, which points out how much we need the help of others to pray and grow stronger in our faith. Sometimes people say, I dont need a Church to pray to God or even, the Church gets in my way with my relationship with God. What a misunderstandingthe Church is our brothers and sisters in the faith and they are not a barrier, but assist us in our faith. Jesus said: Whenever two or three or gathered in my name, there am I in their midst. We need to help one another to pray and believe by our faithfulness to the Holy Mass and other types of prayer. The problem that Moses had is a problem that we all have when it comes to our spiritual lives. Perseverance in prayer, love and devotion are not easy. We have many distractionsworries or the plans of the day or just our desire to do what we want or even our tiredness. They cause us to loose the value that comes from prayer and can make praying seem like a burden. One time St. Benedict was riding his horse to another monastery and a man walking on the road muttered I wish I could have the easy life of a monk and just pray all day and ride a nice horse. St. Benedict turned around and asked the man if he thought it was easy to pray. The man replied Yes. St. Benedict said, If you can say the Our Father one time without any distractions, I will give you this horse. The man eagerly agreed and began Our Father, who art in heaven, hollowed be Thy namecan I have the saddle too? He lost the bet, but also proved how difficult it is to prayer with our heart focused on God.

We have to remember that prayer is a gift of God. As always, we have to do our part, but St. Paul teaches us that we cannot pray, except by the Spirit. Prayer does not come from us alone. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray. Jesus gives us the parable in todays Gospel reading to remind us that we should not loose heart when we pray, even if it seems as if God is not answering our prayers. He tells us of the widow who wants a just judgment in her case and will not stop asking the corrupt judge until she gets it. She knows the kind of man she is dealing with, but will not be discouraged. The unjust judge finally answers just to stop the widow from pestering him. Jesus says: Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of His chosen ones who call out to Him day and night? After all, He is a loving Father. I often think of Zachariah, the husband of Elizabeth in the Gospel of Luke. He and his wife prayed with great faith for a son for so many years and they were quite elderly, still with no children. He must have given up; God wasnt going to answer his prayer after saying no for so long a time. Even when the angel Gabriel came to him as he was doing his priestly duty in the temple he would not believe that God was going to answer him. I think that I would at least be open to the message if an angel appeared to me! His mind was made up, it was closed, he would not believe. Yet, God had heard his prayer and was going to give him a wonderful answerJohn the Baptist the precursor of the Messiah. Often God doesnt answer our prayer at the time we thing He should. We need to persevere in prayer with the phrase, Thy will be done. Lets let God be God and decide what is best. I also want to warn you about what I call the Fanatic Factor. The Fanatic Factor causes us to think that if we pray we are religious fanatics. Here is how it operates. If you attend Holy Mass on Sundays and go to Confession once a year to about 2/3 of baptized Catholics you are a religious fanatic, not counting the rest of society. Statistics show that 1/3 of Catholics attend Mass on Sundays; 1/3 attends Mass at Christmas and Easter and a few special occasions and 1/3 never attend Holy Mass. What we would call a practicing Catholic looks like a religious fanatic to 2/3 who do little or nothing. The Fanatic Factor increases if you say the Holy Rosary or read the Holy Bible regularly, even more if you are involved in a Bible study or make an hour of Adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament each week or attend daily Mass. You look like a religious fanatic if you do one thing more

than the next guy. We cannot let peoples prejudice discourage us from moving forward in our prayer lifeGod is calling you to come closer to Him and make an effort to increase your time of prayer. St. Paul tells us that we should use the Sacred Scripture to pray. In the Second Reading he says All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction and for training in righteousness. There is an old method of prayer called lectio Divina. It means that you read a passage of the Bible and then meditate upon it. Perhaps putting yourself in the scene and trying to imagine what all the characters were doing and thinking. God speaks to a person through this type of prayer. St. Jerome the great father of the Church who studied Scripture so thoroughly said Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. We are beginning a Bible study soon in the parish and I invite you to attend. Lets turn to Mary, the woman of prayer, who responded to the message of the Archangel Gabriel with the phrase, Be it done unto me according to your word. Mary can teach us how to pray and desire the will of God in all things.

Blessed Mother of those whose names you can read in my heart, Watch over them with every care. Make their way easy and their labors fruitful. Dry their tears if they weep; sanctify their joys; raise their courage if they weaken; restore their courage if they loose heart; their health if they are ill; truth if they err and repentance if they fail. Amen. --from a French prayer.

Blessed Mother of those whose names you can read in my heart, Watch over them with every care. Make their way easy and their labors fruitful. Dry their tears if they weep; sanctify their joys; raise their courage if they weaken; restore their courage if they loose heart; their health if they are ill; truth if they err and repentance if they fail. Amen. --from a French prayer.

Blessed Mother of those whose names you can read in my heart, Watch over them with every care. Make their way easy and their labors fruitful. Dry their tears if they weep; sanctify their joys; raise their courage if they weaken; restore their courage if they loose heart; their health if they are ill; truth if they err and repentance if they fail. Amen. --from a French prayer.

October, 28, 200730th Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus tells us a parable about two men who went up to the temple to pray, but only one did. The Pharisee wasnt praying to God, he was talking to himself. Probably all the things he said about his religious practice were true: I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income. Outwardly he was living a religious life, but his prayer did not reflect a true relationship with God. He did not come to seek anything from God, such as mercy; neither to pray for another in misery, nor to praise nor thank God for His goodness, but only to commend himself. That is not prayer! No one who despises his fellow man can really be said to pray. The Pharisee said O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanitygreedy, dishonest, adulterousor even like this tax collector. Whenever we start to compare ourselves to others, we are asking for trouble. First of all, we dont really know what is in the heart of another person. Sometimes they look bad to us when we really dont know them or the circumstances surrounding their lives. Perhaps, if we got to know them, we would see a totally different kind of person. Also, who is totally innocent of sin? We are all sinners and should not compare ourselves to others because in that comparison we might come out looking worse. It is like the man who traveled to Chicago by train and noticed a house in the middle of a field that was painted so white he couldnt help taking note of it. After a day he traveled back home along the same route and was startled to notice how dull and dingy that house now looked. You see a perfectly white snow had fallen that morning and in comparison the house no longer looked so white. If we compare ourselves to others we are going to be in danger of looking like a worse sinner in the eyes of God. We should always look to the example of Jesus who is described as the unblemished Lamb of God pure and innocent of any sin. We have a long way to go in our struggle against sin, but Jesus will help us along the way if we keep our sights set on Him. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The priest quotes those words of St. John the Baptist in each Holy Mass when he holds up the pure, white Host, which is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. Sirach teaches us the kind of prayer that will be heard by God in our First Reading. He says, The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does

not rest till it reaches its goal. That is the kind of prayer exhibited by the second man in the parable of Jesus. The tax collector could not brag about the kind of life he had been living. He knew that he was a sinner and he was despised by all the people who looked down upon him for his profession. Jesus shows us the humility of this mans prayer in several ways. First, the Pharisee went up to the front to pray, while the tax collector stood off at a distance to pray. Then the tax collector would not raise his eyes to heaven. He didnt dare even look up to God, but humbly kept his gaze down; he was not going to boast in any way. He beat his breast, which is a gesture of humble sorrow, which we still use when we say the Confiteor I have sinned through my own fault. Finally the prayer of the tax collector is nothing more than the words, O God be merciful to me a sinner. He cannot brag about anything and he doesnt compare himself to anyone; he simply seeks the mercy of his God. Jesus gives us the moral, The latter went home justified, not the former. He who exults himself will be humbled, while he who humbles himself will be exulted. If we boast about ourselves we will eventually be deflated; if we allow God to exult us, we will truly be lifted up. At the Last Supper when Jesus announced One of you will betray me. Eleven apostles asked Is it I, Lord? and Judas asked Is it I, master? Judas could not call Jesus Lord because he had long ago lost his faith in Jesus, but he knew exactly what he planned to do that night. He knew that he was the one who had arranged to hand Jesus over to His enemies. Peter, John Andrew, James and the other apostles had no intention of betraying Jesus, yet they still asked Is it I, Lord? In the face of Divinity, no one is totally innocent. We are all capable of betraying Jesus, even by serious sin. We need to humbly seek the mercy of God each day of our lives. That is why it is good to make an Examination of Conscience each night before we go to bed. In just a couple of minutes to think through our day and recall how we have offended God and tell Him we are sorry. It is a great way to end each day. It will also help us to make a better Confession, since we will be more aware of our actual faults and give a better account of our sins. The nightly Examination of Conscience will help us know ourselves and seek the mercy of God. Mary called herself the lowly handmaiden of the Lord. She who was full of grace would not take any credit for the blessing that God had bestowed upon her in making her the Mother of God. Her soul magnified

the Lord and gave Him all the glory as she continues to do to this day. Even when we venerate and honor Mary she always gives it to the Blessed Trinity. Mary, help us to be truly humble before the Lord.

November 4, 200731st Sunday in Ordinary Time There are many surprises in the Gospel passage of the conversion of Zacchaeus. This passage is often used as an example for children making their first Confession. It is probably because educators think that children can relate to this man who was short and couldnt see over the heads of the adults who lined the road, so he had to climb a tree to see Jesus passing by. The first surprise is the humility of Zacchaeus. Here was a ruthless man who regularly ordered the Roman soldiers to forcibly collect taxes from his countrymen. Tax collectors were anything but humble, they didnt hesitate to make their presence felt. Yet Zacchaeus didnt hesitate to act like a little child and climb a tree to see Jesus that day. It didnt matter to him how he looked to other people. The second surprise is that of all the people who lined the road that day, Jesus stopped to talk to Zacchaeus. To all appearances, Zaccheaus looked ridiculous. But Jesus saw something deeper in him and knew that he was a man who could turn his life around. Jesus didnt stop to give him a lengthy sermon on justice or chastise him for the life he had been living, He merely said Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house. It reminds me of the words of St. Francis Brothers, preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words. Jesus presence and example are enough to bring about a tremendous change in the life of this sinner. Zacchaeus conversion must have surprised everyone except Jesus. Without any prompting he says Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over. These actions would have probably impoverished him, but he no longer cared about the money and power, he had found something more valuable in Jesus Christ. Jesus wants each of us to find the same treasure that makes life worthwhile and fulfilling. There is no other possession or pleasure in this world that can be anywhere near as valuable as knowing, loving and serving the good Lord. Zacchaeus learned that lesson that day. Did you notice that Zacchaeus didnt just repent of his past sins, but he also made reparation for them? He repaired the debt that his sinful actions had acquired by paying back four-fold any tax money he extorted from people. Sin is far more insidious than we realize. It has a two-fold effect: vertical

and horizontal. First of all, it has a vertical effect; sin affects our relationship with God. If it is mortal it completely cuts us off from Him and the life of grace. Only God can make up for the eternal punishment of sin and He did by becoming man and sacrificing Himself on the cross for our salvation. When we repent and go to Confession, the merits of Jesus Christ wash us clean and remove the eternal punishment that our sins deserve because they offended God. The First Reading from the Book of Wisdom exclaims to God But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook peoples sins that they may repent. . . . you spare all things, because they are yours, O Lord and lover of souls. What a beautiful title for God: Lord and lover of souls. However, our sins also have a horizontal effect; they affect others and even our own soul. Sin acts like a rock thrown into a pond that sends our ripples to the very edge. My sin hurts you and in some way the whole Church. If I steal like Zaccheaus, then I should pay back what I have taken. I need to do reparationrepair the evil effects that my sin has had on others. There is what we call a temporal punishment due to my sin. When I sin, even in small ways, I do not love or act the way I should; I have lessened my humanity. I can also become attached to things and pleasures that bind me even though I do not commit serious sin because of them. At death, I may have defects, such as prejudice or a lustful heart or a jealous streak. All these things need reparation or purification. That is why God created Purgatory, which is simply a place of purification for all the sins and temporal punishment of sin that still needs reparation at the moment of death. Purgatory is really very merciful, because many, who had no mortal sin at death, would not be ready for heaven, for as the Book of Revelation says, Nothing unclean shall enter the kingdom of heaven. We have to get rid of the last vestige of sin otherwise we will not be happy in heaven; we just wont fit. Dont think that God is trying to catch anyone in sin in order that He can send them to hell. Just the opposite, God is doing everything to help us to freely choose Him and heaven. He has even laid down His life for us on Calvary. He continues to pour out the full force of His mercy every time we offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and renew in an unbloody manner the one sacrifice that redeemed the world. Every time that we hear the words of absolution I absolve you from your sins in the Confessional we are forgiven and strengthened to resist sin in the future. As Jesus said at the end

of the Gospel today The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary TimeNovember 11, 2007 There are a number of times that Jesus enemies try and trap Him with words in order to accuse Him of false teaching. Each time Jesus answers with a wisdom that astounds them. We often try to have a snappy comeback to people who try and catch us off guard. (I usually think of the perfect answer about a half an hour later.) Jesus doesnt answer just to appear clever. His words always express the truth and a desire to win people to God, even His enemies. The man who tries to trap Jesus in our Gospel passage today is a Sadducee. He belonged to a particular group of Jews who accepted only the first five books of the Bible; they didnt believe in angels or the resurrection of the dead. Even though he asks Jesus a question about the resurrection of the dead and heaven, he doesnt believe in them. He asked a question that made it seem ridiculous; who would be the husband of a woman in heaven who married seven times? This Sadducee didnt understand some basic truths. People who are married will not have the same kind of relationship in heaven as they did on earth. They will love each other in a special way because of the sacramental bond, but that love will be perfected and fulfilled. Jesus says, The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They no longer die, for they are like angels. There will no longer be the physical/sexual component to marriage, but their love in heaven will fulfill the reason for the marital embrace in this world. So it is with all the sacraments. There is no greater gift than the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist; we cannot be closer to Him than when we receive Him in Holy Communion or are in His Eucharistic Presence. Yet in heaven we will not have the Blessed Sacrament because its

meaning, its reality, will be fulfilled when we see Jesus Face to face in the Beatific Vision. If you want to see an example of a heavenly marriage lived here on earth, look to Mary and Joseph. The sexual component which is proper to marriage on earth did not exist between that couple. They were already living the deep and profound love that marriage will have in eternity. It is very important for married couples not to expect something that their spouse is incapable of. You cannot expect to find perfect happiness through your spouse. That is putting a burden upon them that no one can live up to. Every one of us is imperfect with flaws and defects in our personality and weaknesses that come from our sins. No one is perfect! You have to love your spouse with his or her flaws and dont expect too much of them. Only God can make you perfectly happydont expect your spouse or any other human being to do so. Marriage was not made as a substitute to loving God and finding our fulfillment in Him; it is to be a help. I am praying for a number of married couples who are having problems. An important thing to remember is that almost every marriage is going to get to a point where there is a crisis. You will think, I made a mistake in marrying him or her; I have to get out of this miserable relationship. God permits this because He wants you to evaluate the way you have been living your marriage and wants you to make a change for the better. So many times we get in a rut and think that we are doing fine in our relationships when we are not. This crisis is meant to help you to take a new look and improve; too many just give up and get a divorce rather than using it as an opportunity. Turning back to our Gospel, Jesus also wants to teach the Sadducee about the reality of the Resurrection of the dead and heaven. He doesnt quote from a book like Maccabees in our First Reading today because they only accepted the first five books of the Bible. In Maccabees is a very clear expression of belief in the Resurrection. In it the young man who is being tortured for his faith responds: You accursed fiend, you are depriving us of this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up to live again forever. It is for His laws that we are dying. The Sadducee only believes in the first five books of the Bible, The Pentateuch. So Jesus quotes from them: That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he calls the Lord, the God of Abraham,

the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and He is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive. When we die our souls go to judgment before Jesus Christ and our bodies become lifeless corpses and are buried. At the end of time when Jesus comes again for the Last Judgment, He will raise our bodies from the dead; they will be glorified. Once again we will be creatures of body and soul. In a class on the topic of the Resurrection of the Dead a woman heard this and said Oh no, that means that I have to go back on my diet! Dont worry; our bodies will be glorified, like Jesus body after His Resurrection. They will no longer be subject to suffering or disease or old age (or excess poundage). They will be perfected bodies. We will live in Gods Kingdom forever. The Blessed Virgin Mary already shares in the Resurrection of the body that we pray for in the Creed each Sunday: We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. The glorious Assumption of Mary into heaven at the end of her earthly life allows her to share now in the glory that all the children of God are destined to live. Ken Wikoff will receive the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion this morning and become the newest member of our Church.

32nd Sunday of Ordinary TimeNovember 18, 2007 When you climbed up to the city of Jerusalem in Jesus time the great Temple looked like a white mountain rising in the distance because the columns were made of white marble 40 feet tall. The morning sun rose to reflect upon the gold ornaments of the faade; the most notable was a golden vine with clusters of grapes as tall as a man. The reflection of the sun was so bright that it caused you to look away. To every Jew the glory of the Temple was meant to last until the end of time. This was the sight that caused Jesus to prophecy about the future of the Temple and the whole world. It is almost as if He saw all of human history in a glance, starting with the Temple. He said All that you see herethe days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down. In the year 70 AD the Roman army marched into Jerusalem. The ancient historian Josephus says that 1,100,000 people died and 97,000 were carried away into captivity, the Temple was burnt and the city made desolate. The only thing that was left is the one foundation wall that is called the wailing wall. Jesus doesnt make any other prophecy that can be pinned to a particular date. The events He speaks about will be repeated over and over again through out history. The first thing He warns us against is being deceived, He says See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, I am he and The time has come. Do not follow them! We have to be able to discern the truth of Jesus from false Messiahs. God has given us the means, first in the Holy Bible, where we can actually read the words of Jesus; He has established the Catholic Church to give us His authentic teaching, particularly through the Magisterium, which is the Pope and bishops in union with him; and through the gift of the Holy Eucharist in which we can pray in His Real Presence and receive Him in Holy Communion. These are sure means to help us recognize false saviors from the true Savior False messiahs dont just come in particular religious men. They also come in the guise of social and political movements. How often have we heard that human progress can get rid of all the evils and misery of the world if only we had better education, better science, better psychiatry, better technology. The same voice has been heard in political movements, such as, fascism or communism. They were supposed to solve the problems of

man, but actually created more. The latest movement seems to find its savior in the environment. Now its one thing to be a good steward of Gods creation, but it is another to get it all out of proportion and turn it into a kind of religion. Many have been fooled by these false saviors who never bring about what they promise. Do not follow them! Jesus warns. Jesus continues: Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines and plagues from place to place. The pattern of wars and natural disasters will be repeated throughout history, but they are not the sign that the end is near. Probably the saddest of all is the persecution of those who are faithful to Jesus. He says, You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends and they will put some of you to death. Remember that there were more martyrs for their faith in the 20th century than all the previous 19 centuries put together. Martyrdom is not just a thing of the distant past. Next Sunday is the last Sunday of the Church year, the Solemnity of Christ the King. At this time of the year the Readings always direct our thoughts to the end of time and what we call the Last Things. The Four Last Things are death, judgment, heaven and hell. A Christian is never morbid about death like some people today in for instance, the Goth movement, the music of certain Rock bands and other places. Christians look at death with hope, not despair; it is not the end, but the beginning. As St. Paul so movingly teaches: For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Whether a Christian lives or dies he is called to be with Jesus; death will only bring us more fully into His Presence and eternal Kingdom. It is good for us to remember that our lives will have an end and at the Second Coming of Jesus, the whole world will come to an end. It helps us keep things in perspective. All our thoughts, words and deeds will be judged by Jesus at the end of our earthly lives. We dont live only for this world, but we are in a period of testing to see if we freely want to live in heaven or hell for all eternity. It is Gods desire that we live our lives in a way that chooses heaven, but He freely gives us the choice. We can say that each day we are walking either toward God and eternity or away from God and toward hell. Thanks be to God we can repent, even if we walk away from God for a time. At the same time lets not give in to the sin of presumption which believes that we can receive Gods mercy without really repenting; God isnt playing a game with us.

When Jesus judges our lives, on our part there will be no rationalization, no excuses, no you didnt understand. Jesus will know all the circumstances, all the graces and opportunities that we had; all the disadvantages, too. He will form a perfect judgment, so much so, that we will only be able to Yes Lord, You are right and just in Your judgment. We then either go directly to heaven, or very likely to heaven with a little purification in Purgatory or we go to hell. Hell is a reality and we can choose it! If we couldnt say NO to God, how could we truly say YES to God? I might add that the devil and the fallen angels are working hard to get us to join their infernal kingdom. It is true that Misery loves company. In this spiritual battle we need to call upon our Guardian Angels. Let us turn to that woman who is more powerful than all hell combined as we say in the devotions to Our Mother of Perpetual Help. God has made Mary our Mother so that we can call upon her motherly help. With her whole heart she wants us to share the joy of heaven with the Most Blessed Trinity forever. Lets keep our sights on heaven and eternal life.

Solemnity of Christ the KingNovember 25, 2007 David was enthroned as king of the Hebrew nation and the Book of Samuel quoted the Lord God saying You shall shepherd my people Israel and shall be commander of Israel. It was expected that a king would be a great warrior to defend his people against enemies and conquer nations. To be king meant power, wealth and honor; he would have his golden crown, royal throne and magnificent palace. David was anointed with the fragrant oil on that day that signified he was the chosen of God, even as we are anointed with the oil of Holy Chrism in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Ordination to the Priesthood. Todays Feast Day presents Jesus as King of kings, the King of the Universe. Jesus is a different kind of king from all the rulers of the earth and so His coronation and rule are quite different, too. We have the Gospel of the Crucifixion! Instead of being the commander of the people Israel, He is deserted by all but a fewHis Blessed Mother, John, Mary Magdalene and Mary of Clopas. His crown is of thorns; His throne is the rough wood of the Cross; the most Precious Blood that covers His Body is His royal robe. He is not the kind of king that Israel was expecting; He is not the kind of king that anyone was expecting. The rulers and the Roman soldiers mocked Him saying He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the chosen one, the Christ of God and If you are King of the Jews, save yourself. Even one of the thieves that were crucified by His side said Save yourself and us. Jesus was not the kind of King that any of them wanted. A true king doesnt suffer and die as a criminal! When faced with the great evils of the world we may be tempted to think that Jesus is not the right kind of king. Why doesnt God strike down the evil people of the world? Why doesnt God make an end of suffering, if He is all-powerful? Why is God so patient with horrible crimes like abortion and child abuse and murder? All of us could probably make a list of people whose absence would make the world a better place. At the very least, if God would only force them to do what is right! (Of course, we dont want God to force us to do His will, only other people!) If you are God, show us Your mightSave yourself and us!

God has chosen a different way to save us. The Good Thief was able to see this when so many others missed it. He responded to the taunts of the other thief by saying: Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus the innocent One did not condemn sinners, even though we deserved it. As a matter of fact, He forgave and even excused us. His first words from the Cross were Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. By taking on our sins and accepting our punishment, Jesus broke the cycle of evil. He made it possible for us to freely choose His Kingship. We are able to be members of His Kingdom. Perhaps you have heard the story of Immaculee Ilibagiza. She grew up in the African country of Ruanda. She came from a faithful Catholic family; they were well educated and generous to the poor. Immaculee grew up without knowing that there were two different tribes of people living side by side, but had at times been at war with on another. Then one day the government which was controlled by one tribe announced that the members of the other tribe were enemies of the people and must be destroyed like cockroaches that are crushed underfoot. It began a three month massacre in which 1 million of Immaculees tribe were hacked to death by vengeful, drunken mobs of killers. Her parents and two brothers, as well as, many other members of her family were killed. Immaculee went into hiding with 7 other women in a 3 by 4 bathroom for 3 months; every day might be their last! But during that time she prayed incessantly, one Rosary after another, and went from despair to anger to forgiveness and total trust in God. When exiles from her own tribe were able to expel the hateful government, Immaculee was able to get to freedom. The French peacekeepers were horrified by what they saw with hundreds of thousands of unburied bodies and themselves became hateful toward the killers. Naturally, Immaculees own tribe reacted with anger and hatred toward the people who had been so merciless. Immaculee could not react that way because God had changed her life during those months of imprisonment. She returned to her home town and found her parents house burned and went to the prison that now held the man who was responsible for her familys death. His motivation had been greed for her fathers property. The warden said Immaculee could curse him, spit upon him, and knock him down; whatever she wanted to do to this man. When he was brought in the pitiful man fell down before her feet; she gently touched his

arm, looked into his eyes and said I forgive you. The warden was actually angry that she didnt react in a hateful way because he too was caught up in the cycle of hatred and revenge. There is no power greater than merciful, self-sacrificial love and Christ our King has shown that love to the world. Every time we participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the one sacrifice of Calvary is renewed upon our altar. Time and space no longer form a barrier; we are at the foot of the Cross with Blessed Mary, John and the other holy women. The power of sacrificial love is poured out upon us. During the Eucharistic Prayer we are on Calvary; at Holy Communion we are in Paradise. Jesus came to break the cycle of sin and He wants us to embrace Him and His Kingdom. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy Kingdom come!

First Sunday of AdventDecember 2, 2007 The first coming of Christ into the world took place in the silence of the stable in Bethlehem, with few people noticing his arrival; the Second Coming will take place on the clouds of heaven and everyone in the world will know of His arrival as the King of glory! The season of Advent helps us to focus on those two events so that we can benefit from their meaning here and now. It is difficult for us to prepare for Christmas because the world around us is pushing all kinds of things in our face. The stores have been selling lights and plastic Santas for months; we have already heard arguments about whether a Christmas tree should be allowed on a college campus and undoubtedly many more disputes will arise about Nativity scenes; we are cajoled into buying more and more gifts as if they bring true happiness; and office Christmas parties are planned that foster anything except Christian behavior and friendship. These things and many more keep us from preparing our souls for Christmas, which is the most important thing to prepare. Advent first of all, causes us to have the same longing that the people of the Old Testament had for the Messiah, the Savior. They knew that they couldnt save themselves; that they could only go so far under their own strength; that they needed the help of God. Abraham, Moses, David and all the holy men and women of the Old Testament had faith in Gods promise of a Savior. The book of Hebrews (11:13) says: These all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar. Advent puts us in the place of Mary, who like all of her ancestors looked for the Messiah and then one day received the message of the Archangel Gabriel announcing that the time had comeshe was to be the Mother of the Messiah, the Mother of God! There is a famous painting by Hans Holbein that shows Jesus holding a lantern in one hand and knocking on a cottage door with the other. One man commented to the artist as it was being exhibited that there was one flaw: he forgot to put a door knob on the outside of the door; how could you open it? The artist replied that this door can only be opened from the inside. Jesus is knocking at the door of our hearts, but He will not force His entry. We have to seek Him and open our lives to Him, and allow His light to dispel the darkness of sin and selfishness.

Do you really want Jesus to enter into your life? We often say that we do. But, are you willing to forgive and let go of past hurts? Are you willing to give up the gossip and backstabbing? Are you willing to sacrifice your pleasure and comfort to do good for others? Will you take time for prayer each day to talk to your truest Friend? Will you make an effort to correct your faults and go to Confession? In the Second Reading, St. Paul says: Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh. Sometimes we just like the idea of Jesus, but dont want to do the hard work of actually following Him! Advent also calls us to think about the Second Coming of Jesus at the end of time. No one knows when that will be. Jesus continually tells us to be vigilant because it will happen all of a sudden. The examples of the Gospel this Sunday point to the fact that it will happen without warning. He says that the people of Noahs time were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. It is a time of separation and judgment when Jesus will draw his own to himself: Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken and one will be left; two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. It will come like a thief in the night, so be prepared! This can also be applied to the end of our own lives, for no one of us knows when that will be. The reality is that death will come for each one of us and so Jesus warns us to be ready. Jesus doesnt want fair weather friends. Those are the kind of people who only want His friendship when they are in need. Now He will often use eventstrials and sufferingsin our lives to point out that we need Him, but He wants true friends. After 9/11 the Churches were full of people, but it wasnt long after the threat was over that those people stopped coming to Church and the numbers went back to their normal level. Jesus wants us to be the kind of friends who are there for better of for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad; those who are really committed to Him. Dont be fooled by the false doctrine of Millenarianism, which comes in many forms. Basically, it teaches that there will be a rapture in which all the good Christians are taken up to heaven, while the rest of humanity is left

under the rule of the devil and then eventually the Second Coming of Christ will take place. It has been popularized in a series of books called Left Behind, but it has no Scriptural foundation and was only invented in the 1830s. The CCC teaches The Last Judgment is Gods triumph over the revolt of evil, after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world. Preceded by the resurrection of the dead, it will coincide with the second coming of Christ in glory at the end of time, disclose good and evil, and reveal the meaning of salvation history and the providence of God by which justice has triumphed over evil. Finally Advent is about hope. It is about the hope of salvation and the trust that we have in Gods Providence which guides our lives. The symbol for hope is an anchor. An anchor is something that is dropped into the ocean to keep a ship from moving. An anchor is solid and fixed. That is the hope that Jesus Christ wants to give to us in this Advent season. A hope that is sure. Let us spread the hope of Christ to others. We can do this by being optimistic and cheerful; by pointing out the good that people do and thanking them for it; by looking for what is right, rather than what is wrong. God fulfilled His promise of a Savior and He fulfills all His promises; we can trust in Him.

Second Sunday of AdventDecember 9, 2007 There is only one religious figure in the history of the world that has ever been pre-announcedJesus Christ. No one knew that Confucius was going to be born; no one expected the birth of Mohammed. The coming of Jesus was prophesied throughout the Bible, even down to the place of His birth! In other writings of the ancient world we can see that our Lord was expected. For example, the Roman historian Tacitus said, People were generally persuaded in the faith of the ancient prophecies, that the East was to prevail, and that from Judea was to come the Master and Ruler of the world. The Prophet Isaiah foretold aspects of the life and mission of Jesus in many ways seven centuries before His birth. Our First Reading reminds us of the promise that God made to King David, son of Jesse. God promised that the descendents of King David would reign on the royal throne forever! Forever is an enormous promise. As the centuries rolled on it looked as if the promise of God would not be fulfilled. There were still descendents of King David but they no longer had royal power or wealth. Our humble St. Joseph was of the royal line. Isaiah prophesied that even though it appeared that the family tree of King David, son of Jesse, was cut down, God would fulfill His promise. It would be like a new shoot that comes from the roots of a tree trunk that appears dead. He said: On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. Jesus, the Messiah, would fulfill the promise of God to David, for He is the King of kings and His reign shall be forever! Further, Isaiah says that He will be the perfectly just king, for Not by appearance shall he judge . . . but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the lands afflicted. He will bring a peace that goes to the very root of conflict, even between natural enemies: Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. When this king sets up His kingdom, it will be a universal Kingdom, Isaiah says: On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious. Now the kingdom of Jesus has begun in our souls and in the Catholic Church, but will only be totally fulfilled in heaven.

Dont think that the Kingdom of Jesus is of less value now because it hasnt been totally fulfilled as it will be in heaven. He has given us great gifts in the redemption, the teaching of Holy Mother Church, the Bible and the grace of the sacraments. We have been given the peace of Christ the Prince of Peace; we are His brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of our Father God. These gifts are invaluable, but they have to be protected and defended like anything good in this world. We can loose the peace of Christ; we can lose the grace of Christ! Many have! As we hear in the Gospel this Sunday, John the Baptist comes upon the scene at the right moment to begin the final preparation for the coming of the long-awaited Messiah. His simple life and straightforward preaching attract many people to the Jordan River for a baptism of repentance. They wanted to acknowledge their sins as a way to prepare, but it is not yet the Sacrament of Baptism that the Messiah will bring. John says I am baptizing you with water but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Even though Christian baptism uses water as the primary sign, it will be something totally new; it will have the power of God behind it. It will change those who receive it, just as fire totally transforms what it touches! John the Baptist warns that his work of repentance and baptism cant be a superficial thing. Some Pharisees and Sadducees were coming who werent ready to repent and he says strongly: You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. They shouldnt rely on their ancestry which links them to Abraham For God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. John didnt want a half-hearted preparation or for people to fool themselves into thinking their lives can remain unchanged and still be ready for the Savior. We can be like the businessman who rose to a prominent position in society and fell in love with a well-known and highly-respected actress. For many months he was constantly in her company, escorting her to all the right places. Eventually he decided to marry her. But first he hired a private detective to investigate her life. The detective had no knowledge of the identity of his client and filed this report: Miss --- --- has an excellent reputation. Her past is spotless, her associates beyond reproach. The only hint of scandal is that in recent months she has been seen in the company of a businessman of doubtful reputation.

Preparation for Christmas means that I have to look anew at my life and ask if I am in the group that only makes an outward show of my Christianity, but never really changes OR am I truly striving to convert my life to Christ? The problem is that if I dont work at it, with time my faults only get worse. They dont remain the same or get better. If I am angry now, the anger will only increase with time. If I give into lust now, it will only take greater control over my life in the future. If I am selfish now, it will only grow as the years go on. I have to look at my life and actively make corrections. It is so easy for me to fool myself into believing that I am just fine and dont need any work. How many times have I heard someone say I am a good person when they really need to seek Gods forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance? The people of the ancient world needed a Savior and many of them knew it. Are we so different? Everything in our Holy Mass this Second Sunday of Advent is pointing to us to find our hope in Christ Jesus. He alone is the answer. Mary Immaculate is our good and loving Mother. She hoped in Jesus with all of her pure heart. Let us imitate her unwavering hope in the Savior who was born for us.

Christmas NovenaDecember 21, 2007 The Prophet Zephaniah presents a vision of happiness and victory that expressed the desire of his people. All of Israel was longing for the coming of the Messiah, when all things would be made right. The prophet said: The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love. Their joy would come from Gods presence and His mighty works. This longing for God doesnt only express the hope of Israel, but of each and every single person throughout history. St. Augustine said You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee. Even now we long for God to be more fully manifest in our lives. The world needs hope more than ever. Even though many seem prosperous and have plenty of time to entertain themselves, they are not happy or at peace. There is an emptiness that doesnt seem to ever be filled; they lack purpose and meaning in their lives. Pope Benedict XVI recently released his second encyclical entitled Spe salvi, We are saved by hope. In it he clearly teaches about false hopes that people have. Then he writes about the legitimate hopes of our lives, which he calls the greater and lesser hopes, but he says we also need what he calls the great hope. Pope Benedict wrote: Let us say once again: we need the greater and lesser hopes that keep us going day by day. But these are not enough without the great hope, which must surpass everything else. This great hope can only be God, who encompasses the whole of reality and who can bestow upon us what we, by ourselves cannot attain. God has revealed this great hope to us in his Son. We will express this hope in the O Antiphon of this night: O King of the nations, the only joy of every human heart; O key-stone of the mighty arch of man, come and save the creature You fashioned from the dust. We are coming to the end of Advent; how many people express the idea that they are too busy and hassled because of the nearness of Christmas? The pressures that the culture puts upon us today are not really necessary for the celebration of Christmas, but even though that is true, it is almost impossible to escape them. Instead we have to force ourselves to find Jesus and grow spiritually in the midst of the world in which we live. A simple, yet difficult, idea is to try and have the right motive behind everything that we do. Am I shopping for this gift because it is an expression of my love? Am I hanging the Christmas decorations because I want to give joy to people and

help them celebrate the birth of Christ? Am I waiting in line at the Post Office or caught in traffic and offering up those trials for the good of souls? Am I taking time out for prayer each day in order to give glory to God and for the good of my own salvation? Often my motives are unclear or selfish. I can easily become the martyr and think that people are taking advantage of me and not doing their fair share; or even worse that they arent sufficiently grateful for all that I have done. Then I am doing things for the wrong reason. That will ruin Christmas for countless numbers of people. However, I can change my motivation in a second! If I find myself worried and stressed, then it is good sign that I need to look at my reason for doing things and give them a supernatural motive. Try offering up to God each specific task for the intention of a family member or the needs of the Holy Father or the Church. When we put a supernatural motive behind our daily tasks it really helps us to keep focused on doing things for the right reason. However, there is a battle that has to be fought right in our minds and hearts. If we work on it we will be better because of the struggle. People keep asking me if I am ready. Well, time is going to force me to be ready because Christmas day is going to come in so many hours and minutes without fail; I cannot stop time. And whatever is prepared will be prepared, whatever is not, will not. But the question still is AM I READY? Is my soul ready? Ive gone to Confession. Ive been praying each day. Ive made extra efforts to remember what everything is about. I am as ready as possible. In one sense, I am never fully ready because the mystery of Christmas is something that is too great for me to fully comprehend and put into action in my life at one time. Each year the Church wisely calls us to prepare for and celebrate the birth of Christ again. We need to keep returning to this mystery in order to penetrate the meaning of the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, who became man, born of the Virgin Mary to be our Savior. The joy of the Prophet Zephaniahs vision was fulfilled first in the Incarnation. Jesus is the answer to the hope and longing of Israel and every human heart. That hope was most perfectly expressed by a single person: the Blessed Virgin Mary. The prophet said: Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! This daughter Zion, this daughter Jerusalem is Mary who completely realized the fulfillment of that hope and joy in God made man; first in her own womb and then by His birth on Christmas day. The

joy of Mary has to become my joy because by faith I also realize that the Almighty has done great things for me. As part of our Christmas Novena we will say the words of Mary from the Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth as recorded in the Gospel of Luke. Mary was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit when she spoke the words of the Magnificat: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked with favor on His lowly servant. Lets not just say her words our own, but make them our own with all the faith and love that they express.

Fourth Sunday of AdventDecember 23, 2007 If someone came up to you and said Ask for any wish that you want and it will be granted you might think you were in a fairy tale with Aladdin and the Genie or Cinderella and her fairy godmother. This is what happened to King Ahaz in our First Reading when the Prophet Isaiah approached him, saying: Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God; let it be deep as the netherworld, or high as the sky. King Ahaz pretends to be humble when he refuses, saying: I will not ask; I will not tempt the Lord. Isaiah knows that he really has no faith in God. So the prophet gets angry and says the Lord Himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel. This sign of a child born of a virgin-mother is a miracle that is fulfilled in Jesus and Mary. Matthew quotes Isaiah and applies it to Jesus and his Mother when he tells us some of the events surrounding the birth of the Lord in his Gospel. Only the Gospels of Matthew and Luke tell us of the birth of Jesus. As we read today, Matthew tells us of the time when Joseph finds that Mary is with child. He is mystified and confused. Even though the evidence of his eyes tells him something else, Joseph knows the kind of woman Mary is: pure, good and holy. How should he handle this in a righteous way? He decides to divorce her quietly to keep her from shame; to all those looking from the outside, Joseph would look like the shameful one who was abandoning his wife when she is with his child. Finally, God resolves the conflict that Joseph has by sending His angel to tell him the truth. This child was not conceived by man, but by the power of the Holy Spirit and He will be the Savior, the long-awaited Messiah. When Joseph knows the will of God, he does not hesitate; he is totally obedient to his God: When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. This mystery that Mary and Joseph alone knew, at this point, is one that we contemplate each year in the Advent and Christmas seasons. The Incarnation: the Eternal Word of God, the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity took on our human nature and was born of the Virgin Mary. We should be in awe of this mystery! In every Holy Mass when the priest or deacon prepares the chalice he pours a drop of water into the wine and prays silently: By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the Divinity of Christ, who humbled Himself to share in our humanity. The wine represents the Divine Nature of Jesus and the drop of

water represents the human nature of Jesus. Even though the water cant be seen in the chalice of wine, it still remains waterH2O, but it has been transformed. Jesus took our humanity body, soul, mind and will and joined it to His Divinity. Even though He limited Himself by taking on our human nature, He was still God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. He didnt cease being Divine, even though He chose to live and grow as an unborn baby, a child, a teenager, and a man. He is true God and true man. That is why the title Emmanuel, which means God is with us, is applied so perfectly to Jesus. God is not distant, God is near to us. However, for many people God is very distant. He doesnt have much to do with how they live their lives. Oprah or soap operas or the most popular star influences how they talk and how they dress and how they live far more than God. How many people have been worshipping at the temple of materialism for hours and hours (the Mall), but havent been into the Temple of the Lord, (the Church) to worship God at all or only do so grudgingly? Is it any wonder that God is distant to them? The Lord doesnt want it to be that way, for He is constantly calling us and giving us the means to reach Him and be loved by Him. Recently, Pope Benedict released his second encyclical entitled Spe Salvi, (We are Saved by the Truth) and in it he gives the example of an African saint, St. Josephine Bakhita. She was born in Darfur, Sudan in 1869. At the age of 9 she was kidnapped by slave traders who beat her until she bled. She was sold in the slave markets 5 times and was beaten by cruel masters. She bore 144 scars upon her body for the rest of her life. Finally she was sold to an Italian who worked in the diplomatic corps and he took her to Italy. Her new master was kind to her, but she soon found a Master who was above all other masters. Like her, He had been beaten and scourgedJesus Christ. She received baptism and Holy Communion from the hands of the Patriarch of Venice. She wrote: I am definitely loved and whatever happens to me I am awaited by His love. Eventually she entered a religious community of the Canossian Sisters and spent her life in humble service to the Divine Master of us all. She made trips around Italy to work for the missions because she wanted everyone to know of the love of Jesus Christ. We have obstacles in our lives, but nothing like the ones faced by St. Josephine Bakhita. The Lord is inviting us this Christmas to seek Him and find Him and realize that we are awaited with a love beyond all telling.

ChristmasDecember 25, 2007 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone, said the Prophet Isaiah. This day celebrates the fulfillment of that prophecy when the light of Christ dawned upon the world. (Midnight Mass: we realize the importance of this day, so much so, that we didnt want to wait any longer than possible to rejoice in the birthday of the Lord at this Midnight Mass.) We are here at this Holy Mass because we believe that this Child born in Bethlehem is the way, the truth and the life for us. We know what it is like to be in darkness even though we have lights almost everywhere these days. When there is a power failure it can be uncomfortable or disorienting or even frightening. We have to feel our way to find a flashlight or a candle; each little noise seems to be a hidden menace. When the sun finally dawns or the power is restored then all the phantoms disappear. The darkness that Isaiah was speaking of is of a spiritual kind. It is the darkness of ignorance when people dont know right from wrong; it is the darkness of hopelessness which keeps so many from happiness and peace; most of all, it is the darkness of sin which keeps us from seeing God and His love for us, and ultimately cuts us off from eternal life. This spiritual darkness had to be dispelled by God; we could not do it on our own. That is why He had to come to our rescue. As St. Paul said: The light of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age. What a beautiful plan God had to rescue us. He came in humility, even poverty, in order to save us and let the light of grace shine in our hearts. The story of Christs birth as recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke are simple and tender and glorious, all at the same time. What is more ordinary that the birth of a baby? At the same time, what is more miraculous than a new life that has been created by God and destined for eternal life with Him! A baby brings hope; hope for a future in that new life that is born. We hear of Mary and Joseph who are forced to make a difficult journey by powers that are out of their controlthis is a command of the Emperor, who is far away in Rome and knows nothing of the effects of his order upon this holy couple. We can imagine the sadness of Mary and Joseph who do not

find a decent place for the Child to be born and have to settle for a stable and a manger for a cradle. Their poverty and discomfort touch our hearts. Like any parents they want the best for their child, how much more so for the Son of God! At the same time we hear of the angels who are spreading the news to the lowly shepherds telling them the good news of great joy that will be for all the people." The wise men will come from the east following the light of a star to find Jesus Christ the light of the world. The angels will sing: glory to God in the highest and peace to men of good will. The Kingdom of god has come with the birth of Divine Son. Pope Benedict has so movingly spoken of the Kingdom of God in his encyclical Spe Salvi, We are Saved by Hope. He wrote: God is the foundation of hope: not any god, but the God who has a human face and who has loved us to the end, each one of us and humanity in its entirety. His Kingdom is not an imaginary hereafter, situated in a future that will never arrive; His Kingdom is present wherever He is loved and wherever His love reaches us. We are part of that Kingdom because His love has reached us. Christmas day has been celebrated in many different ways throughout the centuries. There are many different cultures and expression of Christmas customs. Some are good, others miss the mark; we all know that the current emphasis on materialism misses the point of Christmas. But in any case, Catholics, in whatever country or whatever culture have celebrated the birth of Christ, since the beginning in one way: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In the Holy Mass the Son of God, true God and true man comes down from heaven upon the altar under the form of bread and wine. By the power of the Holy Spirit that bread and wine are changed, miraculously, in the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus. We can no longer call them bread and wine. We speak of it simply as His Real Presence. He becomes food for our souls and remains with us in the tabernacle. God is so near to us. It is the same Jesus who was born in the manger in the stable in Bethlehem. Remember, a manger is the container that holds the food for animals; Bethlehem means house of bread. Jesus is the Bread of Life who feeds our souls with Himself. We have experienced the Love of God in the birth of Jesus our Savior and we say with the angels: Glory to God in the highest and peace to men of good will.

Feast of the Holy FamilyDecember 30, 2007 As we gaze upon the Nativity scene in Church or in our homes, we see represented in those little statues the ideal familythe Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. We can only imagine the love and kindness and selfsacrificial spirit that each member had for one another. Their house was the place that everyone in the village wanted to visit. It was a place of happiness, peace and consolation. It was a home where you could go to feel uplifted and healed of sadness. When He grew up, Jesus would be the kind of boy who would include everyone in their games, who brought out the best in each of His friends and who in a natural way directed them to His Father God. The Holy Family, like all families, is meant to be a representation of the Most Blessed Trinity. Sometimes the Holy Family has been called the trinity on earth. Jesus, of course, is the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity. Mary, who was free from the stain of Original Sin and all the distortions of personality that come from it would act without sin and full of virtue. St. Joseph, although not free from Original Sin, was a man given many graces in order to carry out his mission; he worked hard, did what was right and sacrificed himself for his family. These three individuals make up the perfect family and are meant to be a model for all families which in turn are meant to mirror the life and love of the Most Blessed Trinity. The Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity are united in a bond of love that is beyond our understanding. Although distinct Persons the Father never acts without the Son and the Holy Spirit. Even though it is the Son of God who is truly Present in the Holy EucharistBody, Blood Soul and Divinity, He brings us into Communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit, also. The Holy Spirit, whose power sanctifies us, particularly in the sacraments, unites us with the Father and the Son. The family is the basic cell of society. A good and healthy society is made up of good and healthy families. A family is made up of a man and a woman who have given themselves to one another in the lifetime bond of Holy Matrimony, with children as the visible fruit of that love. This is not just a matter of chance or conventional thinking; this is Gods plan for the family. Studies have been done to show how difficult it is for children who do not have the guidance of both parents; a single parent family has a greater burden upon it, but that should not make us give up hope! It should make us work all the harder to see that the virtues of family life are lived well. So

it is with other types of families. I cant help but think of parents who adopt children and make them a family like St. Joseph adopted the Child Jesus as his own Son. At the same time, even if many families do not fit Gods plan in our current society, whether through their own fault or not, that doesnt mean we can say Gods plan is unnecessary or useless, it still remains the norm. So what does it take to be a family? St. Paul helps us understand in the Second Reading. He says that we should put on certain virtues like putting on our clothes. Put on, as Gods chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another. I would say this last is particularly importantto be willing to forgive and forget is essential in living with people who are imperfect and have flaws, as we all do. St. Paul continues, then like a belt around the clothes he says and over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. It is self-sacrificial love that brings unity to different persons and makes them into a family. Look to the holy family in our Gospel passage today. Joseph is told by the angel in a dream Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him. Joseph awakes Mary and they hurriedly pack up and go into exile into a foreign country. As difficult as this is, Joseph obeys the voice of God and Mary obeys Joseph, and they go in the middle of the night. Notice that God doesnt spare the Holy Family sufferings and difficulties; they have to endure them like all of us. King Herod refuses to worship the newborn King like the three kings from the East; instead he chooses to try and kill Him and ends up killing the baby boys that we call the Holy Innocents, whose Feast Day we just celebrated. Joseph and Mary make this great sacrifice in love for their Son. They are like countless parents throughout history who do so for their children in many different ways. We also speak about the Catholic Church as a family and our parish as a family. Since we started a little over a year ago, I have been inspired by people of this parish who are constantly giving of their time, talents and treasure to make this parish work. At the same time, we are fighting against the tendency today which is each man for himself. We hear preached from every advertisement and

television program things like: I have to find my own happiness; I cant let others hold me back. Its time for me to take care of myself. There is a very self-centered mentality today that doesnt look out for the other, but only takes care of oneself. It looks for ones selfish interests above others or the common good. This causes division and separation, rather then unity. It affects all families, including the family of the Church. Pope Benedict reminds us that we do not live for ourselves and we should not hold the hope of salvation in a selfish manner, either. In his latest encyclical Spe Salvi, he writes: Our hope is always essentially also hope for others; only thus is it truly hope for me too. As Christians we should never limit ourselves to asking: how can I save myself? We should also ask: what can I do in order that others may be saved and that for them too the star of hope may rise? Then I will have done my utmost for my personal salvation as well (#48). Too often in matters of salvation the attitude is Me and Jesus when it really should be the Most Blessed Trinity and us, the Church. That gives you a whole different way of living your life and practicing your faith. Husbands and wives should see that the main purpose of their marriage is to get themselves and their children to heaven by the way they live their family life. Ask yourself: Am I doing all that I can to get my spouse to heaven? Am I making every effort to see that my children really do understand and love and practice their Catholic faith? Am I working to correct my faults, so that I can live my family life better? The First Reading from the book of Sirach is a meditation on the 4th commandment: Honor your father and your mother. This is a sweet commandment and is the first to carry a promise of reward. This Commandment is for teenagers, too. In a special way lets ask Mary and Joseph to pray for our families that we may become more like the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Mary, Mother of GodJanuary 1, 2008 At the beginning of the New Year the Gospel calls us to continue our gaze at the Nativity scene and see the birth of Christ through the eyes of the humble. First of all, we see it as the shepherds see it. They who are the most humble, living a simple, quiet life caring for their sheep are the first to make it to the stable and see the infant lying in the manger. Their Savior is born in a lowly condition. They know that He will understand their situation in life; He will say one day: Blessed are the poor in spirit, the Kingdom of heaven is theirs. The shepherds leave glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them by the angels. Mary, the Mother of God, looks upon her little Son in this scene. She loves Him with all of her being, with all of her heart. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Mary is the most humble and pure of heart and this scene will touch her deeply. She will meditate on all these events and persons for the rest of her life and will tell them to the Gospel writers who recorded them for us. And Josephwho is noted only by his presencesays nothing in the Gospels, but is a privileged witness to these great events. Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and we who witness this scene by faith are called to a great hope. We have to approach Jesus Christ with humility and ask the Lord to help us to understand and be a witness to the gift of His birth. The world needs the hope that Jesus Christ can bring more than ever. Even though many seem prosperous and have plenty of time to entertain themselves, they are not happy or at peace. For many people there is an emptiness that doesnt seem to ever be filled; they lack purpose and meaning in their lives. Pope Benedict XVI recently released his second encyclical entitled Spe salvi, We are Saved by Hope. In it he clearly teaches about false hopes that people have. Then he writes about the legitimate hopes of our lives, which he calls the greater and lesser hopes. These are the hopes that we have, such as, to live a fulfilling life; to find the right partner for marriage; to be cured of an illness and so many others. But he says we also need what he calls the great hope. Pope Benedict wrote: Let us say once again: we need the greater and lesser hopes that keep us going day by day. But these are not enough without the great hope, which must surpass everything else. This great hope can only be God, who encompasses the whole of reality and who can bestow upon us what we, by ourselves

cannot attain. God has revealed this great hope to us in his Son; this is what we have been celebrating this Christmas. This is a hope that has lifted us up to be the sons and daughters of God. As St. Paul says: God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we night receive adoption as sons. This is our true fulfillment; this is our true hope. It is one that lifts us above the trials and sadness of life and gives us a purpose beyond this world. People often make predictions about the coming yearusually they are simply wrong or so broad that any event will fulfill them. We can be certain that 2008 will be filled with joys and victories, sadness and sufferings, just like every year. We sometimes say, I hope next year will be better when a particular trial is on our minds, but every year has its own sufferings. This life is never free of them. Lets ask Mary, the Mother of God, to help us to keep the great hope of Jesus Christ before us then we will have nothing to fear about the future, but will approach it with trust and joy in Jesus Christ our Savior.

Epiphany of the LordJanuary 6, 2008 The word Epiphany means a Divine manifestation or a bright and radiant appearance. The wise men saw an epiphany in the new star that had begun to shine in the heavens. They were able to recognize in the star a sign that the King, the Savior had been born. God who cares for all peoples and nations inspired them to follow the light of that star to the true light of the worldJesus Christ. He is the true EpiphanyGod appearing in human form to show us the way to live in this world, for we are on a journey, too. In our First Reading we heard Isaiah prophesy: Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See, Darkness covers the earth, and thick cloud cover the peoples; but upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory. The world basks in the light and glory of Jesus Christ. There are many wonderful stories concerning the three Kings. One of them says that the kings were of different agesone old, another middle age and a third a young man. When they came to the stable they went in one at a time. First, the old king went in a found not a baby, but an old man his own age. They discussed heaven and the old king learned many things about eternal life. The middle aged king went in and found, not an old man, but a middle aged man. They talked about the meaning of life and the things that were important to him. Then the young king went in and found a young man in the stablethere they discussed the hopes and dreams of the future. Finally they all went in together and found the Christ-child in the manger. No matter what our age or condition in life, Jesus Christ is the answer. He understands all of our problems and questions, our hopes and fears. We need to go to Him in prayer; we need to seek Him out; we need to listen to His teachings once again. He will not let us down. At the same time, we need to go to Jesus Christ together, as the holy, Catholic Church. It is only when we are united to the Church in faith, hope and love that we can really get the whole truth of Jesus Christ. If we only go to Him alone, we can very easily be deceived about right and wrong, truth and lies. How many people have read the Bible, without the guidance of the Church and thought they had the truth, but really didnt? Many have been led astray by their errors, some even to death! It is the Catholic Church that has been entrusted with the full light, the full truth that the Savior came to bring to us.

In his encyclical, Spe Salvi, We are saved by Hope, Pope Benedict used an idea from St. Gregory Nazianzen and says: at the very moment when the Magi, guided by the star, adored Christ the new king, astrology came to an end, because the stars were now moving in the orbit determined by Christ. Up until that time many people thought that the stars determined their lives, but the truth is that the stars are guided by Christ and our lives are in His loving hands. Still people today read horoscopes and follow astrology, as well as, other occult practices like palm-reading, Ouija boards, new age practices and the like, thinking that they can discover or control the future. Pope Benedict continues, This scene, in fact, overturns the world-view of that time, which in a different way has become fashionable once again today. It is not the elemental spirits of the universe, the laws of matter, which ultimately govern the world and mankind, but a personal God governs the stars, that is, the universe; it is not the laws of matter and evolution that have the final say, but reason, will, lovea Person. Probably many of our likes and dislikes and choices are not as free as we think they are. When they do studies of twins separated at birth, it is uncanny how many of their choices in life are exactly the same even though they have had no contact with one another when they were making them. At the same time, the Pope is telling us that it is not the genetic code or the impersonal forces of nature that govern our lives and the world, but it is a loving Goda God who has a human Face. He has given us the ability to think and to love and to choose Him. We are created in His Divine image. Sometimes we get to a point in our lives where we think we are trapped: maybe it concerns problems or disasters in our personal lives; perhaps it involves sin or sinful tendencies that seem to control us; maybe we get to a point in life where we think we cant change. We have to remember that we are not on our own. The powers of the world which seem so strong do not have the final say. It is God who has each one of us in His loving hands and He not only can help us, He desires with all of His Heart to help us. We have to abandon ourselves to Him, trust in Him, and throw ourselves on His Divine Mercy. I cannot do it on my own; I need His light and His grace. This involves a struggle with ourselves and the world. We have been given the freedom of the truth and the grace of the Sacraments, but we have

attachment to sin that still controls our lives. It is not easy to let go of the idols of sin; they are deeply rooted in our hearts. We have to work at it by actively seeking Jesus Christ; using the grace and mercy by praying and devoutly receiving the sacraments; overcoming ignorance by learning His doctrines that are taught authentically by Holy Mother Church. The journey of life is before us; we do not know how many years or days that we have left. However, we have to seek the light of Christ like the Wise Men who followed the star to the stable in Bethlehem. God has a human face and He loves us with an eternal love.

The Baptism of the LordJanuary 13, 2008 We are ending the Christmas season with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord this Sunday. In the Christmas season the sacred liturgy links together 4 events in the life of Jesus, even though 2 took place when He was an infant and the other 2 took place when He was a full grown man of 30 years. They are each seen as an epiphany event; remember an epiphany is a divine manifestation. The first is His birth when Mary, Joseph and the humble shepherds saw the newborn Jesus, God in the flesh; God with a human face. The second is the coming of the three kings from the East who followed the light of a star to the true light of the world. The third is the event we are celebrating today when the full grown Jesus comes to the Jordan to be baptized by John the Baptist. The fourth epiphany event is only seen in some of the antiphons of the Divine Office, which priests and deacons are bound to pray. It is the wedding feast of Cana when Jesus works His first miracle by changing water into wine at the request of Mary, His Mother; it will be the first of many, many miracles. Each of them shows a different aspect of the Divine light of God that entered our world when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. In todays feast we see the manifestation of each of the Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity. First, of course, is Jesus, the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity who seeks to be part of John the Baptists movement to call people to repentance and a baptism that symbolizes their desire to prepare the way of the Messiah. When Jesus steps out of the river the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the most Blessed Trinity manifests Himself in the form of a pure, white dove. Then the voice of God the Father is heard saying This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are making themselves known at the Baptism of the Lord. Why did Jesus receive this baptism of repentance when He had no sin? St. Maximus of Turin gives one answer: For when the Savior is washed all water for our baptism is made clean, purified at its source for the dispensing of baptismal grace to the people of future ages. Christ is the first to be baptized, then, so that Christians will follow after Him with confidence. The source of the grace that we receive in Christian baptism is Jesus Christ; He makes the water holy. All the sacraments connect us to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, for it is the source of their power. Jesus didnt establish Christian baptism

until 40 days after His resurrection. We call it Ascension Thursday when He spoke to His disciples for the last time and said Go teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Catholic Church has been doing so ever since and will do so until the end of time. Lets not forget that the real work of Baptism and each of the sacraments is done by our Lord. Yes, we have to present ourselves and desire them and understand them to the best of our ability, but they are not dependent upon useither the recipient or the minister. The Church has long used the Latin phrase ex opere operato which means that when the sacraments are performed according to the mind of the Church, they actually bring about the grace that they signify. Baptism involves the pouring of water on the body or a kind of washing, but it isnt the body that is cleansed when that happens, it is the soul that is cleansed of Original Sin and any personal sins that one may have committed. Ex opere operato means that if the minister is not holy or the recipient is not holy, the grace of the sacrament is still given. You dont have to wonder if Father so and so is in the state of grace or not when he celebrates the sacraments in order for God to work in the sacraments! An infant who doesnt comprehend what is happening can be baptized because it is primarily God who is working in the sacrament; an unconscious person can also receive the Sacrament of the Sick for the same reason. None of us fully understands the greatness of the sacraments, but God wants us to be as holy and as knowledgeable as we can be so that the fruitfulness of the sacrament can be made manifest in our lives. The grace of the sacrament of baptism is something that is meant to unfold during a persons life; its graces arent complete at once. Pope Leo the Great once reminded people: O Christians, remember your dignity! Dont just say I was baptized, but I am baptized. It is a new life unto eternity. The Sacrament of Baptism makes us a member of His Church, the Kingdom of God here on earth with the idea that we are to walk step by step to the fullness of that Kingdom, in heaven. We baptize babies as soon as we can because we want them to be a part of Gods Kingdom, with Original Sin cleansed and Sanctifying Grace in their souls. Pope Benedict was baptized on the very day he was born which was Holy Saturday in that year. One priest jokingly said that if you wait a month to baptize your baby boy you cant expect him to be more than a priest!

Every time we walk into Church we have the custom of dipping our fingers in the Holy Water font and making the Sign of the Cross with the Holy Water. It is meant to be a reminder of our own baptism when we were washed clean and began our lives as children of God. St. Louis, the patron saint of the Archdiocese used to sign his documents Louis of Piossy rather than Louis IX, King. When someone asked him why he responded: Poissy is the place where I was baptized. I think more of the place where I was baptized than of Rheims Cathedral where I was crowned. It is a greater thing to be a child of God than to be the ruler of a Kingdom: this last I shall lose at death, but the other will be my passport to an everlasting glory. St. Louis understood the meaning of his own baptism very well. The Son of God was born to be our Savior, so that we could receive His grace through the Church and the sacraments and in turn become sons and daughters of God forever.

Second Sunday of Ordinary TimeJanuary 20, 2008 Are you surprised that John the Baptist didnt know that Jesus was the Messiah? He said in todays Gospel: I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel. It seems so obvious to us who know all the signs that were given at Jesus birth and understand how all the prophecies were fulfilled in Him. At the time, people, especially Mary, pondered these things in their hearts. But this Gospel event takes place 30 years after those events and it is widely believed that John had been living with a group of Jewish monks called the Essenes when he heard his call to prepare the way of the Lord. He wasnt told who the Messiah would be, but he was given the sign: On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. The title that John the Baptist gives to Jesus in this passage makes us think of sacrifice: The Lamb of God. The vast majority of animals sacrificed in the Old Testament were lambs. Of that countless number, the lamb that was sacrificed at the time of Passover is the most important example. It wasnt just killed and burned in a holocaust sacrifice. The blood was put on the doorposts to protect the Israelites from the angel of death and the animal was roasted and eaten as a meal. Jesus is like the unblemished lamb, for He who is totally free from sin was sacrificed on Calvary for our salvation. It is the Blood of Christ that saves us from the power of sin and death; it is His Body and Blood that nourishes and strengthens our souls, the bread that has come down from heaven. The sacrificial lambs of the Old Testament only receive their true meaning in the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God. We use the words of John the Baptist in every Holy Mass: Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. We repeat them three times at the Breaking of the Bread. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was called the Breaking of the bread by the first Christians in the Acts of the Apostles. It is not surprising that that action should impress them so. As the Apostles broke the Holy Eucharist, the Body of Christ, they couldnt help but think of Christs broken Body upon the Cross; broken by the sufferings and pains which He endured unto death. As we sing or say the words Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us the priest is instructed to break the large Host and put a piece of it into the Precious Blood in the chalice. At that part of the Holy Mass, I cant help but think of Christs broken body upon the Cross and all of His

sufferings as I break that Hostthe Body of Christwith my own fingers. It is always deeply moving for me. John the Baptists whole life was in the service of the Messiah. When he realized that it was Jesus, he pointed it out to all who would hear. Each individual person has to make this discovery. We have Holy Mother Church to guide us, including our parents and teachers and priests and others, but we have to personally take up the cry of the Baptist: Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This is the truth that many in our world have not discovered. I have mentioned it before, but when we visited homes of the people in our parish boundaries, they were asked why they think a large number of people do not attend church on Sunday. The most common answer was: We are too busy. That answer is really not the truth; it is a cover up. Everyone makes time for what he thinks is important, even if it is the most inane television program availablethey will find time to watch it. The truth is that they do not see Jesus Christ and the worship of God as a priority in their lives. They have not discovered the Lamb of God. They do not yet know that the purpose of this life is to know, love and serve Godnot themselves. They do not know the joy of liberation from sin that comes from a good Confession. They do not realize that God is testing us to see if we really want the gifts that He has to offer for all eternity. They do not realize that what John the Baptist understood on that day in the Jordan River is what makes life happy and fulfilling and meaningful. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Once again we approach the tragic anniversary of Roe vs. Wade that legalized abortion in this country and along with Doe vs. Bolton made it possible for a mother to kill her unborn baby even until the last moment before the baby is all the way out of the womb. This decision unleashed in our country what the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II called the culture of death. Even though we dont want to be a part of this culture of death, and arent directly participating in it, we none the less feel its effects. The culture of death breathes hopelessness and despair into peoples livesafter all, as Blessed Mother Theresa said: If a mother can kill the baby in her womb, what is left?; it causes marriages and families to become broken; it demeans the value of the person, seeing others as nothing more than things to be used; it promotes selfishness and the power of the strong over the weak.

As Catholics we have duty, an obligation, to stand up for life. First, in the choices we make regarding chastity or an unplanned pregnancy of someone we know (there is no unplanned pregnancy as far as the Creator is concerned), but also, in the voting booth and in our conversations with others. We have to pray continually. Archbishop Burke has asked us to pray the Holy Rosary for life, which we do as a parish each Saturday morning before the 8:00 am Mass. The evil of abortion, human cloning, embryonic stem cell research and euthanasia is enormous and there are people making a great deal of money from them, but we cannot give up hope. God hears each of our prayers. I cant help but note that ever since we lost Amendment 2 by a narrow margin every advance or bit of news regarding stem cell research has been from adult stem cells. The immoral research that destroys human embryos has produced nothing. We may have lost the battle, but we have won a bigger war through Gods Providence. The title Lamb of God that John the Baptist used is also used in the Book of Revelation. There, it is a sign not so much of the sacrifice, but of the victory of Jesus. St. John recounts his vision saying: After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and people and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us!

Third Sunday in Ordinary TimeJanuary 27, 2008 Pope John Paul was once asked by a reporter What is the gravest danger facing mankind today? One could think of various answers, such as war or terrorism or famine or disease that wrack our world. The late Holy Fathers answer hit to the heart of the matter of the gravest danger, his response was one word: Sin. Even though other dangers are terrible, it is only sin that can destroy ones soul and close off heaven to us. Also, many of the problems of the world are caused by human greed and selfishnessby personal sin. St. Matthew wants us to see Jesus as the answer to the darkness of sin. He takes a prophecy from Isaiah, which we heard in our First Reading and applies it to our Lord. Isaiah was telling the people of his time that God would help them. They had been conquered by the Assyrian army which was the fiercest and most merciless army of the time. The people were miserable under the oppression of the Assyrian army, but God had not abandoned them. He would rescue them for as Isaiah says the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. Matthew wants us to see that prophecy fulfilled in a deeper way. It is Jesus who will deliver us from the darkness of sin with the light of truth. The first words of Jesus in His public life are Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. These words summarize the whole purpose of Jesus mission to our world. He wanted to offer us the grace of His Kingdom and call us to turn from the false treasure, the false gods of this world, which is really the kingdom of Satan. Jesus gives us a choice and the power to make that choice. He knows it will be a struggle for us, but we are not alone in making that choice to be a part of His Kingdom, which is His Church on earth. The Gospel then tells us the response of the first people He calls to be a part of His Kingdom. They are four men going about their daily work as fisherman on the Sea of Galilee: Simon Peter, his brother Andrew and the brothers James and John. They have met and heard Jesus, even spent time with Him, but now they are invited to definitively join His Kingdom. He says: Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men. Their response is immediate and complete. They leave their boats and nets and even their father behind to follow Jesus. They do not know it yet, but they are going to have to leave more than that behind. They will have to leave

behind their prejudices, their false ideas of God and His plan, their sinfulness. It will all be worth it but it is not easy. Jesus will teach them by word and example, but ultimately it is the Cross and Resurrection and Pentecost that will finally bring them healing from sin and concupiscence. The problem that afflicted the church in Corinth, in our Second Reading, afflicts us today. There were divisions among the first Christians of that city, each claiming to follow a particular apostle with different doctrines. St. Paul writes: For it has been reported to me about you . . . that there are rivalries among you. I mean that each of you is saying, I belong to Paul, or I belong to Apollos, or I belong to Cephas, or I belong to Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? The question is: were they going to follow Jesus teaching or some other gospel? Dont we have this problem in the Catholic Church today? Look at the life issues that divide our country: abortion, human cloning, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia. You hear Catholics saying I am a Catholic but I dont agree with the teachings of the Church on. . . . It is going to be especially bad this year with the national elections in November. Most of the talk in the media and political class has nothing to do with right or wrong, but with the pure desire to gain power. Someone who claims to be a Catholic and yet disagrees with the clear teaching of the Church on these life issues must first believe some very strange things about God. He must either believe that God has not revealed anything to His Church on these most critical issues of life and death or that God simply doesnt care about them. Because they are saying one opinion is as good as another; there is no authentic teaching about right and wrong. They think God is indifferent to these matters of life and death. They dont claim to belong to an apostle, like Peter or Paul, but to a political party or Planned Parenthood or some other group; however, they do not belong to Christ. This is the philosophy of relativism. Many are choosing to live their lives this way. Shortly after Pope Benedict was elected and began teaching, he spoke about the immorality of abortion and the media was shocked. They thought that there might be a change from Pope John Pauls insistence upon the evil of abortion. They did not understand that the Catholic Church believes that God has revealed doctrines that are unchangeable; these doctrines do not

depend upon the opinions or whims of men. Nor do they rely on majority vote, for they are given by God Himself. If your response to the teaching of the Pope or Archbishop Burke is one of anger and outrage, then you need to look at the substance of your opinions. The answer is not to leave the Church, nor stay in and be bitter and divisive, but to find the truth. I would bet that many Catholics do not have any idea of the reasons behind the Churchs teaching on these life issues. A good place to start would be Pope John Pauls encyclical The Gospel of Life. Remember that the Pope and Bishops and priests have an obligation before God to speak out and help their people know the truth of God. God is going to judge us on whether we really were good shepherds or lazy and neglectful shepherds. Archbishop Burke feels a grave responsibility toward those who turn from the Catholic faith, especially public figures; not only for their souls but for the scandal they cause other faithful Catholics. I cant understand how people can condemn the Archbishop for doing his duty before God. Jesus is meant to be a great light for those dwelling in darkness, not to leave us in a land overshadowed by death. He came to give us life!

February 3, 2008Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time The Beatitudes are not pious platitudes; they are meant to overturn our understanding of what makes us happy or blessed in this world. They give us a radically different view of life and the things that we think will bring us happiness. Jesus tells us that the world gets it wrong and God wants us to get it right! In the culture in which Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount, it was widely believed that those who had money and good health were blessed by God, while those who were poor or sick or disenfranchised were rejected by God. They thought that wealth and prosperity were the way you judged how much God loved you. When Jesus said, Blessed are the poor in spirit, the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs He was saying something very startling to people. However, it must have been a great consolation to the large number of people who didnt appear to be blessed by God. The idea that there was more to life than possessions and that they said nothing about whether one was loved by God or not was something radically new. Several years ago a carpenter told me something that happened to him as he was doing some finishing work at an exclusive private school. A boy who was waiting for his mother seemed interested in his work. So he took time to show him what he was doing and explain how it was done. Then the mother came out of the school and shuffled her son off quickly and he heard her say: We dont associate with people of that kind. This hurt his feelings, of course. He was a successful carpenter and had a beautiful home with a great familycertainly an upper middle class family. That mother taught her son a very powerful lesson that day about the central place of money and how to look down on others who have less than you do! Dont get the impression that Jesus says money and possessions are evil. We have to have a certain amount of them to live in this world. God doesnt say that walking around in rags and suffering from malnutrition will make us holy. He is saying that there is a great danger in possessions. They can easily become an idol for us to worship and build our lives upon. We can become so attached to them that we think that they make us happy. He wants us to be poor in spirit, which means detachment from our money and possessions; it means putting the right emphasis on the love of God and neighbor. St. Josemaria Escriva tells the story of a poor man in Spain who ate in a soup kitchen every day. He had nothing in this world except a

pewter spoon. He had a ritual of taking it out of his pocket and shining it before he used it and then carefully cleaning and polishing it before he put it back. It appeared to be the most valuable thing in the world to him. Even those who dont have much can still become attached to possessionsto little things! Here are some questions that might help you think about being poor in spirit in our world today. They were formulated by Phil Lenahan in a book titled 7 steps to Becoming Financially Free, A Catholic Guide to Managing Your Money. He asks: Are your lifes pursuits focused primarily in the acquisition of wealth and a lot of stuff or on developing a deeper relationship with God? Is your prayer life on life-support, or is it thriving? Do you and your spouse argue about money matters, or is there financial peace in your home? Are you always scrambling to make ends meet at the end of the month, or are you living within your means? Do you find that your charitable giving is done after all your other bills are paidas an afterthoughtor have you learned to be generous from your first fruits? Do you pay your entire credit card balance off every month, or is consumer debt accumulating? Do you have a planned savings program where money is set aside every month for future needs, or are you spending all your current income? It is not easy to overcome the way we look at wealth and possessions. We are in a consumer society, a materialistic society; it guides our perceptions, in ways that we are often not aware. Jesus asks in the Holy Bible: What good does it do for a man to gain the whole, but loose his soul in the process? We do have a choice and Jesus wants us to make the right choice and not be fooled by a false happiness that is only for the moment. Our First and Second Readings point out another aspect that underlies this and all the Beatitudes that we have to consider. We cannot understand what Jesus is saying without the virtue of humility. The Prophet Zephaniah in our First Reading says: Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth, who have observed his law; seek justice, seek humility; perhaps you may be sheltered on the day of the Lords anger. If I think that I am selfsufficient and know all that I need to know then the Lords words and gifts will never sink in. Humility allows me to open myself to God and receive the truth. There are people who do things that are clearly opposed to the law of God, and sometimes I think that if Jesus Himself came and told them to stop, they would argue with Him! Who do you think you are to tell me

what is right or wrong? Seek humility; perhaps you may be sheltered on the day of the Lords anger. There is a great emphasis on self-esteem and self-confidence today that distorts our relationship with God and causes us to forget that we are children of God. It leads us into the sin of pride. St. Paul reminds us God chose the foolish of the world to save the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something. You dont have to worry about your childrens selfesteem if you teach them that the Almighty God loves them as His own dear children and that they have inestimable value in His sight. You dont have to worry about their self-confidence if they learn to trust in the Lord and know that He will help and guide them and forgive them. There are many things within myself that I should not esteem, as a matter of fact, I confess them in the Sacrament of Penance as sins. I have character flaws that I dont love and have to constantly work to correct them. But if I know and trust Jesus, then I will have no problems with self-esteem or selfconfidence. I wont even use those words because I will have Godconfidence. We are about to begin the Season of Lent this WednesdayAsh Wednesday. It is a time for us to seek the Lord anew. We pray, make sacrifices, give to the poor, in order to focus our lives on the Lord because we have often forgotten Him and how much we need Him. Let us practice the virtue of humility and open our hearts to all the good gifts that our loving Father wants to give to us His children.

February 10, 2008First Sunday of Lent The damage done by the first Adam is repaired and redeemed by the second AdamJesus Christ. St. Paul summed it up in the Second Reading: For just as through the disobedience of the one man [Adam] the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one [Jesus], the many will be made righteous. As St. Paul points out Jesus more than made up for the sin of Adam by His sacrifice! The first chapters of Genesis tell us of the wonderful creation of the universe, with man as the crowning act of Gods creation; man is made in the very image and likeness of the Creator. All that God made was good. Adam and Eve were created in what we call Original Innocence, which means that they not only had no knowledge of sin, but no tendency or desire to sin. That is difficult for us to grasp; due to Original Sin we all have that fomes peccatitinder of sin within us. The image reminds us of lighting a fire; it is best to start by lighting the small twigs, which then catch the logs on fire. Within us is that tinder of sin that very easily leads us to sin; we have to battle not to sin. It is also called concupiscence. Adam and Eve did not have this knowledge or tendency, so the devil tempts them with the desire for the knowledge of great thingsthings beyond them. When Eve protests that God gave them a specific command not to eat of the tree in the middle of the garden lest they die, the devil says: You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil. He is telling her to do what he did, try to take the place of God, grasp His glory for herself. We know all too well the sad result of the first temptation, Adam and Eve would sinthe Original Sin. After they ate the forbidden fruit it says Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. Before that sin, Adam and Eve could look at one another in their nakedness and only have the desire to serve and love and give themselves to one another, after the sin they look upon one another with lust and realize that they must cloth themselves to stop the selfish, lustful feelings that well up within their hearts for the first time. When God comes into the Garden of Eden to speak to them they are hidingthey know that they have been cut off from Gods friendship. This

is another result of Original sin they lost the gift of Sanctifying Grace the life of God within their souls. Why does God ask Adam Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? It wasnt because He was ignorant of what they had done; God knows all things! He wanted Adam to repent; to say he was sorry and take the punishment like a man. Even to take the punishment his wife deserved because he loved her totally and should be willing to lay down his life for her. But Adam does not. Instead he blames his wife for the situation and she in turn blames the devil. The devil cannot force us to sin; we have the choice, but he can make it awfully tempting. Because of the weakness of concupiscence we would not have a chance to overcome the temptation of the devil. We needed one who could undo the Sin of Adam and the uncounted sins of humanity throughout human history. We needed a Redeemer. In the Gospel we hear that Jesus was tempted by the devil; after His fast of forty days the devil first tempts Him with food. Work a miracle Jesus and feed Yourself; these rocks look just like little Jewish loaves of bread. But Jesus has chosen to fast and He will not let bodily suffering stop Him from fulfilling this sacrificeas he will say one day to His disciples: Some devils can only be driven out through prayer and fasting. As necessary as food is to us, there are some things more important for One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Is following the commandments of God and being a faithful Catholic more important than food or possessions or our own comfort? The devil is tempting us, as he tempted Jesus, to answer that question his way. Then the devil wants Jesus to test Gods Fatherly love. If you throw Yourself off the temple God will save You, wont He? We hear this temptation in every tragedy or suffering: If God really loves us, why does He let terrible things happen to people? We expect God to prove His love at every turn. Many years ago, a family finally acquired their own farm and even though the buildings were in need of repair and rat infested they were so happy to finally get their own place. The oldest daughter decided to make a big cake for the whole family and even though it was difficult to find the ingredients because everything was still in disarray she found a can of flour and got it baking in the oven. She stepped out to help with the unpacking when she

noticed black smoke coming out of the kitchen window. She found her cake burnt to a crisp and with many tears unceremoniously threw it out on a pile of junk. A few hours later her brother came in and asked Who used my rat poison? He had mixed some flour with the poison intending to kill the rats and his sister had mistakenly mixed it into the cake. When they looked they found the cake almost eaten by the rats who dropped dead by the dozens. What seemed to be a calamity turned out to be a blessing. I wish I could tell you that there are always clear answers to why you are suffering or someone else is suffering, but that isnt the case. I have to remember that even though I dont always know the reason, I know the One who does know the answer. I trust in His Love. In response to the third temptation, we might say that it would be better to have Jesus rule over the nations of the world than the devil. All He has to do is worship Satan and receive power from him. The desire to have power over others, to command and rule their lives, is not from God, it is always diabolic. God does not force us to follow Him, He give us true freedom, even the freedom to say No as Adam did. The Christian use of authority always has the motive of serving, not of lording it over others. We are called to use our authorityin the Church, the family and the community to lead others to God. Jesus rejects the temptation to power and answers: The Lord your God, shall you worship and Him alone shall you serve. St. Paul says that the gift of Jesus is not like the transgression of Adam: For if by the transgression of the one, the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many. Not only did Jesus totally resist the temptations of the devil, but by His death and resurrection gives us the power to do so too.

Second Sunday of LentFebruary 17, 2008 Peter could never forget the vision he witnessed on the day that Jesus took him up the mountain with James and John. He refers to it many years later in his Second Letter saying that they were eye-witnesses of his majesty (2 Peter 1:16). When the Divinity of Jesus became visible they could only describe it in the terms of light: His face shown like the sun and his clothes became white as light. If you could have a wish to see two of the most important people in history, for a good Jew it would be hard to beat Moses and Elijah. The humble apostles saw these two great men of salvation history speaking to Jesus in his glory and majesty as the Son of God! To complete this overwhelming picture they hear the voice of God the Father speaking to them: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him. They could never forget this vision and it was meant to help them survive the dark days of His Passion and death. This event of the Transfiguration takes place during the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. Once a year the Jews would set up tents for a week and live in them remembering the time when they were led by Moses and lived in tents in the desert on their way to the Promised Land. Even though the apostles couldnt find words to express what was happening, that doesnt stop Peter: Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. He wanted to put up tents for them, just like the Jewish people were doing at that very time for the Feast of Tabernacles. It is only natural that Peter would want to hang onto this spectacular vision. We want good things to go on forever. Of course, nothing good lasts forever in this world, for that will only happen in heaven. The vision will end all too soon and Peter and the other apostles will have to come down from the mountain to the trials and sorrows of this life. Just before the Transfiguration, Jesus predicted His Passion and Death for the first time saying that: He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. The Cross is the path that leads to glory! We cannot get to heaven except through the power of the Cross. It is the Redemption of Jesus that makes it possible for us to be forgiven our sins and made holy. Do you think of heaven? Do you long for heaven? This world is only temporary; heaven is our true home. This world is a preparation for

eternal life, not a thing that we can hold on to, anymore than Peter could hold on to the vision of the Transfiguration. It is good for us to think about what the Church calls the Last Things during Lent: death, judgment, heaven and hell, along with Purgatory. Our goal is heaven, we are made for heaven; the only thing that can keep us from going there is our own free choice. But to get there we have to pass through death and judgment. Since I am not facing my imminent death it is easy to say that we should not be afraid of death. It may not be so easy for one who is seriously ill or facing martyrdom to have the peaceful, confident attitude of St. Paul: For me, to live is Christ, to die is gain (Phil. 1:21). We can only look at death like that if we truly trust in God and seek His mercy in the Sacrament of Penance by making frequent confessions. St. John reminds us of the truth about ourselves: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8). But there is a remedy for our sin: the mercy of Jesus Christ. Death can happen to us at any time; we are not guaranteed a long life. We have to use our time well in this world so that we can give a good account of it to the Lord at the moment of our death when we come before Him at the Particular Judgment. At that point there will not be any rationalizations or excuses. We will see our lives clearly in all its dimensions, with our motives and opportunities and knowledge taken into account. Often when we look back we can acknowledge that we were truly ignorantFather, forgive them for they know not what they do. At the end of time when Jesus comes again there will be the Last Judgment. All the particular judgments will be confirmed, but at that time we will see Gods great plan for our lives and the world in all its fullness; every element of every life and event will be played out. In his Encyclical Spe SalviWe are Saved by Hope, Pope Benedict says that the judgment of God is hope. We hear the word judgment and are afraid because often human judgment is in error or unjust. However, when we hear of someone who abuses a child or kills innocent people at random we call for justicefor them; for ourselveswe dont necessarily want it. The Holy Father says The judgment of God is hope, both because it is justice and because it is grace. If it were merely grace, making all earthly things cease to matter, God would still owe us an answer to the question about justicethe crucial question that we ask of history and of God. If it were merely justice, in the end it could bring only fear to us all. God

cant just say let us forget about the evil actions that hurt others and pretend that they dont matterthat would not be justice and we need to see true justice; we need an answer to all the sufferings of this world. The just and merciful judgment of our Savior will give us the answer. Hell is a reality and those who freely choose to turn from God and reject Him are choosing it for real and for eternity. Sin, particularly mortal sin is not a game, it has eternal consequences. I have always believed that we should live and act out of the motive of love of God. Maybe if we had a little more fear of punishment it would put the breaks on people who seem to think the answer to their problems is the murder of the innocentin the womb and in the streets or universities. Finally, Purgatory is the place of purification for those who have not repented of venial sins and those who have not made reparation for the earthly consequences of their actions. Our sins, even the most private, effect others like the rock that is thrown into the pond and sends ripples to the very edge. Our sins affect others and we are responsible for making reparation. Purgatory is a great mercy of God because few will be perfectly ready for eternal life at the moment of death. For Nothing unclean shall enter [heaven] (Rev. 21:27) the Bible tells us. We have to be totally purefilled with love and grace in order to fit into heaven. Nothing I have said should make you sad. These truths of God are meant to call us to responsibility and repentance and joy. We have an advocate on judgment day, first of all the Holy Spirit, then Jesus Himself with His merciful Heart that was pierced for us on the Cross and finally the Blessed Virgin Mary. We ask her to pray for us now and at the hour of our death countless times in the prayer the Hail Mary.

Third Sunday of LentFebruary 24, 2008 When the Samaritan woman came to the well at high noon, the last thing she expected to find was her Savior. Jesus wanted to call this woman to conversion by offering her His gifts. He begins by asking for a favor: a drink of water. This softens the womans heart to converse with him. Then He says: If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, Give me a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water. The phrase living water tells us that Jesus is no longer talking about ordinary water. Throughout the Bible water is used to express the gifts of God, particularly the gift of grace. We see a perfect example of that in the First Reading. Moses is commanded by God to Go over there in front of the people . . . holding in your hand, as you go, the staff with which you struck the river . . . strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink. God gave a great gift to the people in the form of water; enough water to quench the thirst of the whole nation. Many other examples in the Bible can be given that use water to foreshadow the greatest gift of God, which is the gift of sanctifying grace. Of course, the Sacrament of Baptism, which uses water as its primary sign is the way that God first gives us sanctifying grace. Sanctifying grace is the gift of God which St. Peter says makes us partakers of the Divine nature and St. Paul says makes us temples of the Holy Spirit. Simply, grace is the life of God in our souls. We need sanctifying grace in order to get into heaven; we need it in order to do works that are meritorious in the sight of God. We speak about being in the state of grace. That is why we examine our consciences according to the Commandments of God and the teachings of His Church in order to make sure we are in the state of grace. If we sin mortally we loose the gift of grace and need to repent and make a good Confession as soon as possible. Then we are back in the state of grace by Gods mercy. Jesus says that everyone who drinks of the well water will be thirsty again, but the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Naturally the woman wants this water, but she first needs to change her life before she can receive Gods grace.

The reason the Samaritan woman went to the well at the noon hour of the day, rather than in the cool of the morning, was because she was shunned by the other woman of the village for her immoral life. When Jesus says Go, call your husband and come back she responds I do not have a husband. Jesus then calls her to brutal honesty by saying You are right in saying I do not have a husband for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. If we do not live according to Gods plan we will not receive the living water of grace. It is particularly important for this woman and for us today is to get Gods plan for human sexuality and marriage right. Otherwise, we are not going to truly find the meaning of our lives nor the way to salvation. To disobey Gods plan for marriage has consequences. In the culture today, there are many people, even Catholics, who do not believe that God has a definite plan for marriage. They think that they can make it mean whatever they want. The three goods of marriage which are permanence, fidelity and openness to children are essential to Gods plan for a happy family. Every couple says the words for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part in the marriage ceremony, but many people do not see their marriage vows as an oath before God that is binding for life. If a man or woman has not been chaste before marriage, but has had multiple partners, how can one expect them to be faithful to one husband or one wife for life? Contraception has made pleasure without responsibility the norm of life. Without responsibility how can a husband and wife be prepared to make the sacrifices that marriage requires? I inserted a pamphlet into the bulletins this weekend entitled Making the Switch from Contraception to Natural Family Planning by Patty Schneier. I want to read the opening paragraph: Discovering the Truth about contraception can be one of the most defining moments in a couples marriage. But quite often the joy of this discovery is accompanied by fears, doubts, and many questions. My husband Larry and I experienced all of the above in January, 2002 when, after 13 years of marriage, we finally decided to live our lives according to Gods plan for love and life. We literally threw out the contraception. This was the best decision we ever made, and we have never looked back. It was THE defining moment in our marriage. I am saying this to invite you to learn about Gods plan for marriage and human sexuality. I encourage you

to read this pamphlet and pray; ask God how you can live your marriage according to His plan and make it what He truly means it to be. When I think about these issues I have to ask myself, has the worlds plan been working? By the 1970s, the decade after the birth control pill was invented the divorce rate shot up to 50%. It is hard for anyone now living to remember the days when most families were intact and divorce was rare. The so-called freedom that contraception was supposed to bring has opened wide the door to abortion and divorce and infidelity. Contraception invites a person to see how low they can go, since responsibility is not required. Parents that choose to follow Gods plan and have more than 2.4 children are often ridiculed. Everything has been turned around. In spite of the disaster that has come upon marriage and family life, we cannot give up hope. St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading that hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. You notice that he said poured out; we have the gift of Gods grace to help us. We need to seize that hope and follow Gods plan, even if it means going against the worlds opinion. That is not easy; sometimes it even brings crucifixion.

Fourth Sunday of LentMarch 2, 2008 There is more than meets the eye in the healing of the man who was blind from birth. It is, of course, a great gift from God to receive ones sight, especially when one has never been able to see, but this miracle is about more than human sight. The same is true in our First Reading from the Book of Samuel. Samuel was told by God to go to the house of Jesse and anoint one of his sons as the next king of Israel. Samuel was a wise and holy man who thought the obvious king would be the first born among Jesses sons--Eliab. God spoke to the prophet and said Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man see the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart. It was to be the youngest of Jesses sons, David, who would be the Lords anointed. David became the model king of the Old Testament and his throne was inherited by Jesus as the King of kings. Like Samuel, we so often only see on the surface of events and peoples actions; we then make judgment that are incorrect or faulty. There is a deeper way of seeing that only God can give to us. We need to beg Him for the light to see in truth and love. Going back to the Gospel, we see the Pharisees who have their human sight; they also have intelligence and an understanding of Gods Law. Yet they are not even able to recognize the truth of what has happened to the blind man. They heard the testimony of the man who was miraculously healed; they listened to his parents who said he was blind from birth, but still could not come to the conclusion that this was truly a miraculous act of God. Even the simple formerly blind man reasons it out perfectly when he responds to the accusation that the Pharisees dont believe Jesus is acting by the power of God, he says: This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him. It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything. The Pharisees refuse to see! At the end of the passage the formerly blind man encounters Jesus again. Jesus asks a question about faith: Do you believe in the Son of Man? This is another term for the Messiah. He replies Who is he; that I may

believe in him? You have seen Him, the one speaking with you is he. The man who sees Jesus before him with his own eye sight, now sees Him with the eyes of faith: I do believe Lord, and he worshipped Him. This man has been given the greatest gift, the understanding that comes from faith. The Pharisees for all their learning are blind to what is really important. The light of Christ makes things so clear, as He truly says: I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see might see. And those who do see might become blind. As an example of what it means to see with faith just look at the Crucifix in our Church. A person without faith or understanding would see that statue and say What a grizzly picture to have before you; a man who is beaten and naked and dying on that horrible instrument of torture and death! I wouldnt want to look at that all the time A person with faith looks at that same image and sees the greatest act of love and self-sacrifice in the history of the world. It depicts the time when our God became one of us to take the punishment that our sins deserve so that we might be free. Further, a Christian sees the Crucifix as a comfort and strength in his own time of suffering. Those are two very different views of the same object. But then remember the day that Francis of Assisi was praying about his life before the crucifix of the broken down Church of San Damiano when the crucifix suddenly came alive and spoke to him. Jesus said Go, Francis, and repair my house, which as you see is falling into ruin. That vision of the crucifix started him on his vocation to serve Christ and the Church, founding the Franciscan Order and literally rebuilding the Church of his time in faith and love and poverty. Then let us look at the Holy Eucharist. A person without the Catholic faith sees it as only a mouthful of unleavened bread and a sip of wine, and at best a reminder of what Jesus did at the Last Supper. It is something that you can take or leave. However, a person with the Catholic faith understands that the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John, chapter 6 and the words of Jesus from the Last Supper are fulfilled in a miraculous, life-giving way in this most Blessed Sacrament. Jesus said I am the bread of life. . . . My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. . . . You must eat my flesh and drink my blood if you wish to have eternal life. Faith allows us to see beyond the little circle of bread and realize that by the words of Consecration that the priest says a miracle occurs right before our eyes. In Holy Communion we are united to the Real Presence of Jesus Christ; He becomes the bread of

life for us. When you come up for Holy Communion you have to see it with the eyes of faith. I cant help but think of St. Catherine of Sienna and St. Pio of Pietralcina who believed in the Holy Eucharist so profoundly that it was almost the only food that they ate each day for many years of their life. If we receive the Eucharistic Lord with faith and spend time in prayer before the Blessed Lord in Eucharistic Adoration we will deepen our faith and find the answers to the problems in our own life. The Lord Jesus wants to give us a new, a clearer vision during this Lent. The CCC reminds us of an important point when it says: The forgiveness of God cannot penetrate our hearts unless we have cleared the way by forgiving others. We have to clear the way through forgiveness from the heart: forgive and forget. Holding grudges and wallowing in past hurts will block the mercy of God for us. Lets not be afraid to seek the mercy of God by frequently making a good Confession of our sins. St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading: You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.

Fifth Sunday of LentMarch 9, 2008 When Martha and Marys beloved brothers illness was getting to the point of no return they called upon their friend Jesus to help him. After all, Jesus and His apostles would stay with this devout family whenever they were in the area. Jesus had healed countless numbers of people whom He never met before; Lazarus, Martha and Mary were His close friends. The messenger went to Him and returned, but still no Jesus. He delayed His coming to them until it was too late. Lazarus died, his funeral was complete and four days had passed before Jesus finally arrived. Why did He not come sooner? Most people would have become bitter or angry at Jesus. We put the love of God to the test all the time. O God, why did you let this illness come upon me? Why do innocent children die? Why didnt my plans work out? If you really loved me Lord, why do you let these bad things happen? We expect the Lord to constantly prove His love. However, when our love is tested by the least little temptation, we easily give in. We barely put up a struggle against anger or lust or selfishness. Gods love is always faithful; our love is the one that needs to be tested and strengthened. It was the people who were there to mourn for Lazarus who made the accusation: Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died? Martha, on the other hand, went out to meet Jesus and professed her faith in Him: Lord, if you had been here our brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. When Jesus tells her that her brother will rise, Martha expresses her faith in the Resurrection at the last day. In the Creed we say each Sunday: We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen. When Jesus comes in glory at the Second Coming He will raise our human bodies from the dead, glorify them, and join them to our souls for all eternity. The resurrected body will not suffer, nor get sick, nor grow old, but will be strong and healthy and young for all eternity; it will be like Jesus resurrected body, unaffected by time or space. We heard God promise the resurrection through the prophet Ezekiel in our First Reading O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the

land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people. Dont be fooled like many Christians today who believe in what is called the rapture; it is unbiblical and not of Sacred Tradition and was not believed by any Christian until it was made up by a Scottish visionary in the 1800s. It has many forms, but basically it says that Jesus is going to come at some point in history and take all His people to heaven instantly, leaving those who are not saved to live in the world under the rule of the devil for a thousand years, or some length of time, after which He will return for the Last Judgment. Jesus came once in Bethlehem and He will come a second time at the end of the world. We believe that now is the time to work out our salvation as St. Paul puts it. We have a battle with evil and the devil here and now. We need to be ready to meet Jesus at the end of our lives or at the Second Coming, whichever comes first. Jesus wasnt finished teaching Martha about the resurrection of the dead. He wanted her to experience it in the present so He said: I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. What hope Jesus gives to Martha and to us who believe in the truth of His words. Death, which is so powerful and unavoidable and frightening doesnt have power over Jesus; He has power over it. He wants to show Martha and Mary by raising their brother from the dead and then by His own resurrection that death is defeated by the power of God. As the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II put it: Gods love is more powerful than death; more powerful than sin. This past week I saw an editorial in a newspaper making the point that fanatical Muslim leaders and even mothers are encouraging their sons to become suicide bombers in order to defeat the West. He said that they were trying to import their culture of death into the United States. When I read the phrase culture of death I wondered if he realized that that was the term that Pope John Paul used, not to describe fanatical Muslims, but the abortioneuthanasia culture of the West. The Supreme Court of our country has said that mothers have the right to kill their unborn children as long as it is done behind the sterile doors of a so-called clinic and the baby isnt totally out of the womb (partial-birth abortions). We dont have to wait for a culture of death to be imported; it is already here! This whole attitude

is reflected in the hopelessness and despair of so many people today. They look for love and meaning in all the wrong places. We cannot place our hope in this world. Jesus Christ alone has the answer. If we place our hope in Him we will have a hope that is solid and firm. The symbol for hope is the anchor. The ship lowers the anchor to hold it firmly in place against the waves and wind that wish to move it. Pope Benedict taught in his encyclical on hope that Christian hope is not just a wish or desire, like I hope the weather will be good tomorrow or I wish that my project will go well. He wrote that Christian hope based on faith draws the future into the present, so that it is no longer simply a not yet. The fact that this future exists changes the present; the present is touched by the future reality, and thus the things of the future spill over into those of the present and those of the present into those of the future. What Jesus has done by his own resurrection is not just a future event for us, but is already touching us here and now; it affects our whole outlook toward life. Jesus went up to the tomb of Lazarus and after they rolled away the great stone, shouted in a loud voice Lazarus, come out! We can only imagine the shock and then joy that came upon Martha and Mary and all who were present. Lazarus walks out wrapped in the burial clothes, alive, restored to them. Their sorrow has turned to joy. No one else could do this but Jesus; He is the Resurrection and the life for all who believe in Him. This faith and this hope makes all the difference in how you live your life.

Palm SundayMarch 16, 2007 This Sunday begins Holy Week for us. Although many children think it is holy because it is Spring Break; it is holy because these are the days when we renew and relive the events of our salvationthe suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This Sunday is called both Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday and anticipates the unexpected triumph of Easter, as well as, the incredible suffering of the God-Man on Good Friday. The palm branches which we blessed at the beginning of Holy Mass remind us of the joy of the people who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem as their Messiah and King. They waved palm branches and shouted Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest. These words are almost exactly what we say in every Holy Mass in the Sanctus prayer. This moment of triumph before Jesus death foreshadows the unexpected resurrection on the following Sunday, when the devil, sin and death are roundly defeated. However, this Sunday is also the day when we read the account of Jesus Passion and death. This year it is from the Gospel of St. Matthew; it rotates with the Gospels of Mark and Luke over a three year cycle. St. Johns Passion is read every Good Friday. When we really participate in the Holy Masses and Services and devotions of this week it causes us to put the focus of our lives on Jesus Christ and take it off of ourselves. That really is the problem. The ego constantly draws our attention to our selves, to our needs, our desires, our plans, our wants, our pleasuresme, me, me. In a religion class the teacher asked the students What does faith mean? and one boy answered (without any arrogance or conceit): Faith means I believe in myself. Now this is what we are taughtin school, in the media, in our culture. But faith means just the opposite: it means I believe in Jesus. I believe in something more than myself, a Someone who is the Creator and Redeemer of me and the whole world. We adults often forget this as well. In order to celebrate Easter with true joy we have to have Good Friday. We cannot just enjoy the fruits without participating in the work that it takes to arrive there. That is why we have been trying to be a little tough on ourselves this Lent with penance, abstaining from meat, fasting, extra prayer and good deeds to others, especially helping the poor. If we do not bear the

Cross with Christ, how can we expect to share the crown? No Cross, no crown. Let us allow this week to lift us up to God and deepen our understanding of His Passion, death and resurrection. Only when we discover who God is can we really discover ourselves and our destiny.

Holy ThursdayMarch 20, 2008 These three holy days beginning tonight prove the ancient belief of the Church that the Old Testament prepares for the New and the New Testament fulfills the Old; the two shed light on each other (CCC #140). We see how God planned everything perfectly for the coming of His Son and the mission of His Church. Our First Reading from the book of Exodus tells us of the night that God established a covenant through Moses to save Israel from cruel slavery in Egypt. At the Last Supper, Jesus established the new and everlasting covenant to save the world from slavery to sin. As the sign of the covenant Moses instructed the people to sacrifice a lamb, put its blood on the doorposts and lintel of the house so that the angel of death would pass over their houses. In the New covenant, Jesus, the Lamb of God, sacrificed Himself on the Cross and His Precious Blood saves us from the second death, punishment in hell. Then Moses instructed the people to eat the sacrificed lamb as a meal and to do this each year as a perpetual institution. At the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass so that every time it is offered, as St. Paul says: you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes. It is almost a forgotten teaching of the Church that the Holy Mass is a sacrifice; it is the unbloody renewal of the one sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary. Jesus could only die once in His human nature in His bloody death upon the Cross. He now sits in glory at the right hand of His Father. Even so, He wanted His sacrifice to be more than an event of the past; He wanted it to reach all believers throughout time with all of its power, mercy and love. Since He could not die again and again to make it a reality for us today it is through the sacramental signs that Calvary is renewed and relived in a most miraculous way. The validly ordained priest takes bread and offers it to God as Jesus did at the Last Supper; separately he offer the chalice of wine. Then at the Consecration, through the power of the Holy Spirit he consecrates bread into Bodythen separately wine into Blood. He doesnt say This is my body and my blood. When you separate blood from the body, you have death! That is what the sacramental sign shows us at each Holy Mass and the teaching regarding all the sacraments is that they confer the grace that they signify. Christs saving death and resurrection, the whole Paschal Mystery, is renewed in every Holy Mass.

It has been said that the consecration is Calvary; Holy Communion is Paradise. To be united with Jesus in Holy Communion is the closest we can get to heaven here on earth. We receive the Real Presence of Jesus in Holy Communion. Even if we receive only under one form, the form of bread, we receive the whole ChristBody, Blood, Soul and Divinity. I have heard people say that they feel closest to God when they walk in the woods or along the seashore. Certainly we can see a reflection of God in nature, but I feel closest to God when I am in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist because that is truly God present in our world in a most miraculous way. Now it takes faith to see this; it means we have to grow in faith. We all do! This is also the night on which Jesus established the priesthood of the New Covenant. With the simple phrase to His apostles Do this in memory of me He makes them His priests. The Old Covenant had the priesthood of Aaron, but the New Covenant has the priesthood of Jesus Christ. This morning all the priests of the Archdiocese of St. Louis were gathered in the Cathedral Basilica and before Archbishop Burke renewed the promises that we made at our priestly ordination. You cannot have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Holy Communion without the priesthood of the Catholic Church. We need to pray for many vocations to the priesthood from our parish! It is from the Holy Eucharist that we receive the strength to be Christians. The Holy Eucharist causes us to serve others like Jesus did at all times. In a few moments I will wash the feet of twelve parishioners who represent the twelve apostles at the Last Supper. Jesus, the Son of God, took off His outer garment and knelt down to do the duty of a slave, a servant. It was the slaves who were to wash the feet of the guests before a banquet. He wanted to show the importance of humble service; after all He came not to be served, but to serve. He even washed the feet of Judas who He knew was about to betray Him. A Christians love has to be heroic, even to the point of loving our enemies! Even though not all will accept salvation, Jesus died so that all sinners could be saved; He did not die only for some. After Holy Mass this evening we process around the Church singing with the Blessed Sacrament, just as Jesus and His apostles sang psalms on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane. Then at the Altar of Repose we watch with Jesus, unlike the apostles who fell asleep. If you can come back and pray at some time, we will be here until midnight. After Mass, the altar is stripped and we depart in silence, thinking about the emptiness of life

without Jesus. But Jesus has not left us orphans because the Last Supper tells us of the Most Blessed Sacrament that He instituted on the night before He died so that He could remain with us always.

Good FridayMarch 21, 2008 The impact of reading the Passion of St. John is probably less intense since we are people of such a visual way of thinking. A movie like The Passion of the Christ probably strikes us more than the words we have just read. Never the less we are called upon to enter into the mystery of Christs suffering and death this Good Friday in a deeper way; in a way that touches our lives and way of acting. The words of the hymn the Stabat Mater express the love and identification with Jesus that Mary had and the relationship that we need to acquire: O sweet Mother! Fount of Love, Touch my spirit from above; Make my heart with yours accord. Make me feel as you have felt Make my soul to glow and melt, With the love of Christ, my Lord. Mary didnt suffer physically on Calvary, but she suffered in her heart and soul like no other human being ever could or ever will. Her Immaculate Heart was totally united to the Most Sacred Heart of her Son. When the soldier pierced the Heart of Jesus with his spear and blood and water poured forth, the prophecy of Simeon at the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple came true: Your heart shall be pierced by a sword, also. Mary felt that spear as if the soldier stabbed into her own heart. Mary understood very well that all that was happening was the will of God and freely chosen by her Son. It was not forced upon Him, but was part of Gods great plan to redeem the world. The 2nd Vatican Council said of her: In sharing her Sons passion as He was dying on the Cross, by her obedience, her faith, her hope and burning love, she cooperated, in a way that was quite unique, in the work of the Savior in restoring supernatural life to souls. She is therefore a mother to us in the order of grace. In contrast to Marys total dedication to her Son, I would like to draw attention to another prominent figure in the Saviors passion and death Pontius Pilate. I wont use the word saint to describe him, but he is the patron or model for many people in our culture today. What kind of man was he? He didnt have the best assignment in the Roman Empire, because

the people of Judea were known to be rebellious and stubborn. However, Pilate was a commander of Roman soldiers, with an affluent lifestyle and a sophisticated and superior heritage. He was forced to judge Jesus by those who were envious of Him and even though Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent, he sentenced Him to death in order to avoid trouble from those in power. At the judgment, Pilate asks Jesus Then you are a king? Jesus replies You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice. Pilate responds: What is truth? Truth in person is standing before Pilate and he does not recognize it. All he recognizes is powerthe power of armies, the power of politics, usefulness and expediency. He does not recognize any higher truth that all men must obey because it comes from God. He is the model relativist, the patron of all people who refuse to believe in a truth that is above their own will or desires. For several decades this idea has been called New Age Religion. It comes in many forms since it doesnt believe in doctrine. They speak of a religion that allows you to reach a higher consciousness. You shouldnt worry about guilt or sin, that just come from the religions of the past; we are just conditioned to think like that, but you can break free from commandments and doctrines. Sure Jesus is important, but He is just one way among many others to reach a higher consciousness. They use Christian and spiritual terms to fool people into thinking they are speaking about Christianity. The problem with this way of thinking is precisely what we are remembering todaythe Crucifixion. What they want is a nice guy, who doesnt ask anything of us, but gives us some useful teachings on how to tolerate one another. They want Christ without the Cross. If He was merely a teacher who could not read the signs of the times and got caught in the politics and envy of others and suffered the cruel death of the Cross then He was a fool and should be forgotten. But if He really was the Son of God, as we believe, then the Cross is indeed the sign of our salvation. Those who think the Son of God became man and suffered and died in the cruelest way imaginable just to be one way among many or give one idea about higher consciousness do not understand the meaning of the Cross. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life as He

said. He did take the sins of the world upon Himself and by His perfect act of loving obedience to His Father He paid back the debt of sin. The Cross means that sin is real and I cant pretend it doesnt exist; guilt is the signal that we need to repent and seek the forgiveness of God, just like the pain in the body tells us to seek medical help. The remedy is real too Jesus and His Church and His sacramentsthe Holy Cross opens the gates of mercy for us. By Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world!

Easter SundayMarch 23, 2008 Every human heart longs for the resurrection whether it knows it or not. We know deep down inside that we are made for more than this world has to offer. Yet, death seems so powerful and fearful; sin from its cruelest forms down to the pettiness and selfishness of every life seems insurmountable. It certainly seemed that way to the apostles and friends of Jesus. They witnessed the cruelty of His enemies; they experienced their own cowardice. Death once again triumphed in the bitterness and brutality of death on the Cross. They did not expect Him to rise. It was a tremendous surprise, the best imaginable, when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb and found that the great stone had been rolled away and an angel, whose appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow spoke to them and said Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for He has been raised just as He said. This dawn of the first Easter begins to dawn on the friends and apostles of Jesus, one by one. Sin and death do not have power over Him; He has power over them. Every human heart longs for this truthto know Jesus who is the resurrection and the life. These holy days of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus tell us of the great hope that is rooted in our heart. All the passing pleasures of this world and all our plans and dreams for success and worldly happiness are not enough. As a matter of fact, recent studies on human happiness show that more money can make you happierif you do not have clothes to keep you warm, if you have no food for you children, and no roof over your head at night, money for these basic provisions greatly improves reported happiness. . . . Once a person has the basic necessities, more money does not lead to more happiness. In a book by John Stossel, he interviews two lottery winners, one $5 million the other $26 million. He asks them Have you been happy? Sherry the $25 million winner replies: Yes and no. I got a divorce two years after we had won. People have a misconception about having money. You go out and you go, Oh, thats what I want, Ill buy it. Well, a couple of weeks later its like, you know, that emptiness comes back. Then what? Curtis the $5 million winner replied: I mean, how many suits can I wear? How many hats can I wear?

Pope Benedict has told us in his encyclical on hope Spe Salvi, that the lesser hopes of life will never satisfy us without the great hope, which is God. The Holy Father says: His love alone gives us the possibility of soberly persevering day by day, without ceasing to be spurred on by hope, in a world which by its very nature is imperfect. His love is at the same time our guarantee of the existence of what we only vaguely sense and which nevertheless, in our deepest self, we await: a life this is truly life. Only an active faith in God can provide us with the hope that gives life meaning. St. Paul tells us how we can participate in the joy of the resurrection which is our great hope, he says: For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection. That is the law of victory that is written in the natural world around us. We are all longing for Spring, and it still seems far off, but Spring doesnt come without death. The plants and flowers have to die in the Fall; even many of the animals hibernate or fly to warmer climates, then after the death of Winter, the joy of Spring will come when new life bursts forth from the earth and barren branches. This Lent we have been trying in a special way, to die to ourselves so that the love of God can be more firmly rooted in our lives. We have made extra efforts at prayer, penance and good deeds. These things, of course, are essential, not only during Lent, but throughout the year. They allow us to participate in the saving death of our Lord, so that the happiness of the resurrection is ours even now. There has to be a dying to selfto sin, selfishness, anger, lust, and pride. All of these things which are so firmly rooted in us need the healing of Jesus mercy; they need to be touched by the Cross. Only then can we experience the joy of the resurrection, which is not a passing feeling, but something deeply rooted in us. Genii Openlander was received into the Church and confirmed and made her first Holy Communion at the Easter Vigil.

Mercy SundayMarch 30, 2008 This Sunday of the Octave of Easter was formally named Mercy Sunday by our late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. It was in response to a request made by Jesus to Sister Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun of the Community of Our Lady of Mercy back in the 1930s. Pope John Paul canonized St. Faustina as the first saint of the New Millennium in April, 2000. The very last Holy Mass that Pope John Paul heard before he died was on Saturday evening, the Vigil Mass of Divine Mercy Sunday. This Feast Day is part of Gods great plan to make us aware of His gift of mercy in our lives. He wanted St. Faustina to be His Apostle of Mercy and so this devotion has spread throughout the world. The Scripture readings of the day, especially the Gospel, fit this theme perfectly. The Gospel takes us back to Easter Sunday evening when Jesus appears to His apostles for the first time. They are gathered in the Upper Room where Jesus held the Last Supper and gave us the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Jesus now appears to 10 apostles in the locked room and says Peace be with you showing them the wounds in His hands and feet and side. This not only proved that it really was the Crucified One who is alive, but more importantly it shows us that He won for us the gift of peace by his sacrifice on the Cross. Peace, first of all, comes from reconciliation with God. Whether we know it or not, each human soul is looking for reconciliation with God. We cannot achieve it on our own; it has to come to us as a gift. It is God who cleanses us from sin; it is God who lifts us up and it is God who gives us peace. The sacrificed Christ, who is risen, gives us access to this gift of mercy. How many people are slaves of sin and feel that their lives are sad and empty and hopeless? This is in spite of all the comforts and material goods they have. They have not yet realized the meaning of Christs saving death and resurrection as St. Peter exclaimed in our Second Reading: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading. The first gift that the Risen Christ gives to His Church is the Sacrament of Penance, the Sacrament of Mercy. After Jesus greets the apostles He breathes on them and gives them the power to forgive sins in His name. He says Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven

them, and whose sins you retain are retained. This is the moment that Jesus institutes the Sacrament that forgives those sins committed after Baptism; we can receive His mercy again and again in our lives by a good Confession. The truth that we are forgiven is not due to our imagination or a wishful thought; we hear the words of the priest who is ordained to speak for Christ, to act in the Person of Christ, in this sacrament saying I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. What peace comes from this Sacrament of Mercy! What joy comes when we know that God has forgiven us! The frequent use of Confession is not an option for us to ignorewe need it in order to honestly evaluate where we stand before God; we need it in order to receive the gift of mercy in our lives to heal our sins, which we all have. How can we ignore the gift of the resurrected Christ to His Church on Easter Sunday evening? Even if you are ashamed of your sins and think they are too bad to be forgiven, the Lord Jesus wants to forgive and heal you. With over a million abortions by women in our country each year and many others acting as accomplices there is much need for healing! With over 68 million searches for pornographic internet sights each day there is much need for healing! Jesus wants to give us His mercy and describes it to St. Faustina as an ocean of mercy that flows from His pierced Heart. We need to take Him at His word and Trust in Him! Jesus I trust in You! The Gospel goes on to tell us something important about faith. St. Thomas, doubting Thomas is not present at the first appearance of Jesus to the apostles. It is one thing to be gullible, which accepts something on the flimsiest of evidence or no evidence, but it is another thing to be stubborn. The other apostles with absolute conviction told Thomas that they had seen and spoken with the risen Christ and still he refused to believe saying: Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. It is only the next week when Jesus appears to all of them and Thomas sees Jesus that he can finally believe and say My Lord and my God. Pope St. Pius X recommended that we say those words at the Consecration, when the priest holds up the Consecrated Host. Jesus responds to Thomas by saying Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed. Faith is more than the evidence of our senses, of seeing Jesus; it takes a personal encounter with Christ within His Church. We did not see

the risen Christ like St. Thomas, but we believe because we have the firsthand witness of the apostles, which has come to us through the Catholic Church, which has taught us by way of the Sacred Scripture and the Sacred Tradition. I dont believe because of a private revelation; I was taught. A private revelation can help a person or in the case of St. Faustina, help the whole Church, come to a deeper understanding of the faith. However, I didnt acquire the grace of faith by my own efforts it was a gift of God through the Sacrament of Baptism. The First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us of the life of the first Christians, which we are called to live to this day: They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers. We have to humbly open our hearts and minds to Jesus and His apostolic doctrine; we have to seek Him in the sacraments, particularly the Holy Eucharist the breaking of bread, and daily prayer; we have to follow Him by living His commandments and by being merciful to others. Faith is a gift that needs to grow and be strengthened within each one of us as members of the Body of Christthe Roman Catholic Church. This Feast Day of Divine Mercy calls us to seek the Mercy of God that was won for us by Jesus suffering, death and resurrection and be merciful to others. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Third Sunday of EasterApril 6. 2008 It was on Easter Sunday evening that two disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus, lamenting the death of Jesus. Then the risen Jesus begins walking at their side as just another traveler on a journey; they do not recognize Him. The last thing they expected was to see Jesus alive! They begin conversing about the horrific events of Good Friday and how they hoped in Jesus who was a mighty prophet. All their hopes had been dashed when He was sentenced to death and crucified. This stranger at their side exclaims Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory? In other words, dont you know the meaning of the scripture that you have read and studied? These things are all there, written for anyone to see! Jesus then quotes Moses and all the prophets that had foretold the events of His life, particularly His suffering and death and resurrection. If you want to know which examples Jesus used, all you have to do is look through the Scripture texts that are chosen for the Holy Mass during seasons of Lent and Easter. The Church has reflected on those texts from the time of the apostles and has incorporated them into the Sacred Liturgy. In our First Reading, which is from Pentecost Sunday, Peter tells all of those Jews gathered around the house where the Holy Spirit descended upon them that King David had foretold the resurrection and he quotes from psalm 16. We used this as our Responsorial Psalm today. You will not abandon my soul to the netherword, nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption. This passage refers to Jesus who would not be abandoned by His Father God, but would rise. Arent we often like these two disciples? God was walking at their side and they didnt even know it. We wonder where God is and why He isnt active in our lives. God seems hidden from us. For many people in our world there is no room for this hidden God. They live their lives as if God doesnt exist. They act as if God has not spoken to us; as if God is not at our side. Isnt it like that old story of the man whose house was endangered by the flood waters and he prays to God that He will save him? When the waters are almost at his door and his neighbors come by in a boat asking him to join them, he replies I trust in God. He will save me from these flood waters. Then when the waters rise and the man is forced to the second floor of his

house a rescue boat comes along telling him to evacuate with them and he replies out of the second story window: I trust in God to rescue me. Go on. When the flood waters rise again and he is forced to the roof a rescue helicopter hovers over, but still he will not budge until he is swept away by the flood waters and drowns. When he gets to heaven, he asks God Why didnt you rescue me, I trusted in you? And God replies, I sent you two boats and a helicopter. Instead of expecting God to do extraordinary things, we need to look for the presence of God in the people around us and the ordinary events of life. The Lord is always trying to speak to us. If we wait for the miraculous, we will miss most of what He wants to say to us. We will miss tremendous opportunities that may not be available again. Did you notice when the disciples finally realized who He was? It was when they arrived at their destination and invited Him in for dinner and Jesus did what he did at the Last Supper: He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. It is the Holy Eucharist that most fully reveals His presence. The apostolic Church used the term breaking of the bread to describe what we call the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The breaking of the piece of bread, which has become His Body through the miracle of the Consecration (Transubstantiation), reminded them of Christs beaten, bloody, broken body upon the Cross. It reminded them of the sacrifice that He made on Calvary which is renewed in an unbloody way in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. When we come up to Holy Communion we need to remember that Jesus is uniting Himself with us in a most intimate way. He wants us to know that H loves us and wants to give us His grace and mercy. We also need to make sure that we do our part by being in the state of grace. We say Lord, I am not worthy to receive you before Holy Communion because no one is perfectly free from the stain of sin, but we do have to have a minimum standard. We should not receive Holy Communion if we are conscious of any mortal sins on our souls until we confess them. The pattern for the Holy Mass is really contained in this Gospel passage. There are two movements: first the Liturgy of the Word, then the Liturgy of the Eucharist. When Jesus was walking with the two disciples He was reciting the Sacred Scripture (the Old Testament to us) and explaining its meaning to them. That is what we do in the Liturgy of the Word. We listen

to the Word of God from the Old and New Testaments, especially the four Gospels and reflect upon them in the Homily. Also, we should reflect upon them in our hearts as we listen attentively; the Holy Spirit is trying to speak to us at that time. The Liturgy of the Eucharist corresponds to the meal that Jesus shared with the disciples and did the actions of the Last Supper. In the consecration and Holy Communion Jesus reveals Himself to us as He did to the two disciples in the Gospel. It is not only for the Ordinary Form of the rite that we use, but also for the Extraordinary Formthe Mass of Blessed John XXIII, which Pope Benedict has authorized and was used solely before the 1960s. This has been the pattern for the Holy Mass from the beginning. Jesus wants to reveal Himself to us, let us recognize Him in the Holy Eucharist.

Fourth Sunday of EasterApril 13, 2008 Peter preaches the first Christian sermon on Pentecost Sunday. This humble fisherman now has a boldness and wisdom that only the Holy Spirit could give to him. He summarizes the meaning of Jesus suffering, death and resurrection for the people gathered around the house on Pentecost Sunday. Then in the beginning of our First Reading today, he says: Let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. They realized that they had missed their opportunity to know the Savior and shared in the responsibility of His death, so the people cry out What are we to do, my brothers? Did you notice that the answer of Peter wasnt believe in your hearts and that is enough, but he tells them Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. To believe is a call from God, it doesnt originate in me. Sanctifying Grace and Faith are gifts from God that I cannot acquire on my ownthey arent really a matter of feelings, for feelings can be deceiving. I have to receive grace and faith through the Church and the sacraments that Jesus Himself established. Although my faith is personal, I have to believe in Jesus and His doctrine, it isnt individualistic; it isnt just me and Jesus. I am part of the Catholic Church, if I am to believe in the whole truth of the Lord and receive all His gifts. We dont pray My Father, who art in heaven but Our Father who art in heaven. An infant isnt aware of what is happening at baptism, although he may cry when he feels the cool water poured upon his head, but it doesnt matter because the work of baptism is done by God who plants the seed of faith. The child is taught by his parents and others in the Church and one day must make the gift of faith personal by choosing to believe when he is capable of understanding its meaning. Dont forget that the choice to follow Christ is not just a one time event; we must all keep choosing to follow Him each day. Sometimes parents will say, I am not going to force my faith on my child, I am going to wait until my child is old enough to choose for himself. They dont do that in anything else; they dont let their baby choose what food to eat or later whether to go to school or not or countless other things. They form their children in a certain way of living that they think is best for their child, knowing that one day they will make choices for themselves. If religion and grace and faith are a good thing, why would any

parent withhold the gifts of God from their child? Pope Benedict said it so well in his encyclical Spe Salvi. When parents have their children baptized, he says that it is not just an act of socialization within the community, not simply a welcome into the Church. The parents expect more for the one to be baptized: they expect that faith, which includes the corporeal nature of the Church and her sacraments, will give life to their child eternal life. An adult who is baptized is required to go through a series of instructions to understand the Catholic faith and decide whether he wants to make the changes in his life to actually follow the Lord. It is not like joining a country club or a social group of some sort; it is a serious matter, an eternal matter. Even an adult who can understand what is happening is still receiving the gifts of grace and faith from God. God does most of the work of the sacraments, we merely respond! The Fourth Sunday of Easter is always Good Shepherd Sunday because the Gospel quotes Jesus using the image of a shepherd to describe His role. The good shepherd is the one who will protect his sheep even if it means laying down his life for his sheep. The good shepherd leads his sheep to safety into the sheepfold to protect them from the wolf or the thief. The sheep for their part recognize the shepherd and follow only him. Jesus said The sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. A traveler in Greece saw a flock of sheep led by its shepherd and was told that it wasnt unusual for the shepherds to give names to their sheep and that the sheep obeyed the shepherd when he called them by name. The tourist then asked the shepherd if he would call one of his sheep. He did, and one of the sheep left his nibbling and ran over to the shepherd and began nuzzling his hand as a dog might do, showing every sign that he was happy. They would not follow a stranger who called and actually ran from them. Those who knew their names were called TAME sheep and those who had not yet learned their names were called WILD. Jesus is our Good Shepherd. He knows each one of us by name. He did not abandon us when He ascended to heaven in glory; He set up His visible Church on the apostle Peter and continues to guide us through the Successor of Peter and the successors of the Apostlesthe Pope and bishops of the Church. To me it is simple and logical: if I hold that God has revealed

himself through His Son Jesus Christ our Savior and has given us the truth in order to reach heaven, then I had better find that truth and live according to it. The bible is essential, but it isnt enough! Every Christian denomination in the world has the same Bible with a multitude of different doctrines that often contradict one another. Besides, the Bible came from the Catholic Church. The books that we hold as inspired by the Holy Spirit were chosen by the bishops of the Church in two councils back in the 390s. If the teachings of religion are just a matter of anyones opinion, one being as good as another, then why did God even bother to try and teach us how to get to heaven? If He just left it up to us to find the truth without guidance; if He left us in uncertainty with no authority to say what God wants us to do what kind of shepherd would He be? He wanted to be the Good Shepherd who guides us through the visible Church until the end of time. This coming week Pope Benedict XVI is making a pastoral visit to the United States for the first time as Pope. We need to pray for the Holy Father and all who are journeying to Washington D.C. and New York in order that the trip will be safe and successful. Lets accompany him with our prayers and ask God to help him, so that the message of Jesus Christ will take root and help us all to be faithful to the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Firth Sunday of EasterApril 20, 2008 St. Paul says that If one member [of the Church] suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together (1 Cor. 12:26). I hope you were able to watch some of Pope Benedicts visit to the United States this past week and feel honored in the welcome that our Holy Father received. He was welcomed by the President of the United States, wished Happy Birthday, listened to, prayed with and cheered in our nations capitol and New York City. We all share in the honor that Pope Benedict received because we are united in the one family of Christ, the Catholic Church. As Americans, we love our country, but we also realize that we belong to a Church that is universal and has members in every country of the world. The Pope, the Vicar of Christ, the Successor of St. Peter can come from any country, such as Germany or Poland or Italy and we are united to him as our common father. The visit of the Pope reminds us how big the family of the Church isone, holy, Catholic and apostolic. St. Peter uses an image of a building to describe the Church in our Second Reading this Sunday. He writes: Come to Him, a living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house. Jesus is the living stone or the corner stone upon which the whole Church is built. Today a corner stone is mostly a symbolic thing that has an inscription on it. But in the past it was the building block upon which the whole building rested and it was the measure used to keep the walls level and in line with one another. We use the word church to describe a building in which we worship God, but a church building is meant to be an image pointing to the true meaning of the word church: which is the People of God, hierarchically arranged. We dont all have the same vocation or function (only one man can be Pope at a time), but we are all important to the Church. St. Peter says we too are like living stones resting upon the truth and grace of Jesus. Did you notice he says that we should let ourselves be built into a spiritual house? This gives us the idea that even though we are part of the Church by baptism, the spiritual life is an ongoing process. The work of grace is not done in me yet, at least, I hope not. I have a long way to go to be like Jesus Christ. I have to strive to imitate His virtues, such as forgiveness, courage, trust in His Heavenly Father, deeds of love and selfsacrifice. I still need to be built up by His grace that comes through the sacraments.

Whether we describe the Church as a body or a family or a building made of living stones we have to consider the idea of the unity of the Church. When we believe and are baptized, we are no longer a lone ranger or an isolated individual Christian. The I becomes a we in the unity of the Church. It is difficult for us who have been trained to think of the American who lifts himself up by the bootstraps and relies on his own strength to conquer all enemies. More than that, our culture constantly stresses the idea of protecting my rights, doing my will (with no one to tell me how to live), and putting my preferences and comfort in the first place. This tends to make us self-centered and narcissistic. To be a member of the Church calls us to remember the words of Jesus who came not to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for the many. The unity of the Catholic Church means that we are responsible for one another. Its like the famous story of the boy who is carrying another boy on his back and the priest says, Son that boy is too heavy for you to carry. And the boy responds He aint heavy, Father, hes my brother. The Church calls us to look upon all men and women as our brothers and sisters and help them to bear their burdens. As the early Church began to grow, the Apostles established a particular ministry in order to care for those who were in need: the deacon. The First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles recalls the first seven men who were ordained by prayer and the laying on of hands. The word deacon comes from a Greek word meaning one who serves. The deacon was to aid the widows, while the apostles continued to establish the Church by prayer and preaching. Later in history, the Christians living in the Roman Empire were also known for their charity. They didnt dress any different or have any special mark from the rest of the people of the Roman Empire, but they were conspicuous because they took care of the poor and the sick without pay; they did the deeds of love that no one else would do. Charity is really the hallmark of all Christians: They will know us by our love. Our love of neighbor rests on our desire to love and serve the Lord and to live with Him for all eternity. Jesus doesnt describe heaven as a state of mind or as living in another dimension, but as home. He says in the Gospel that In my Fathers house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? Heaven is like going home with all the meaning and love and warmth that home can bring to our minds.

It seems that there are many people today who do not think of heaven, but seem quite content to make this world their permanent home, at least as far as life will allow. Perhaps it is because the average American lives a life that Kings and Queens of past centuries could never have dreamed of living. The modern conveniences, the constant entertainment, the technology make this life very attractive and comfortable. Why think of heaven when I can just concentrate on making this life as pleasant as possible? Worshipping God on Sunday or obeying His commandments just interferes with my plans in this world. To live like this denies something very deep in our souls, something planted by God in our very makeup. St. Augustine said it so well: You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee. If we dont ignore it or block it we want the great hope that Pope Benedict speaks about in his encyclical Spe Salvi. That great hope is Jesus Christ who declared I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Everything in this world that seems so important and satisfying pales before the great hope of Jesus Christ. When we pray at the Holy Mass and receive the real, true Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist we must open our hearts and ask Him to be our hope. We have to ask Him to help us through the trials and sadness and disappointments of life. No matter how hard we try to make it happen, this world with all of its blessings is not enough for us. We are made for something more; we are made for the fulfillment of Gods promises of eternal joy and complete happiness. We are made to be at home with God.

Sixth Sunday of EasterApril 27, 2008 Tomorrow [Monday] we celebrate the Feast Day of St. Gianna, our patron saint and begin the 3rd year of the establishment of our parish. St. Gianna who died in 1962 is a saint for our time. We see in the life and death of this wife, mother and doctor an example of extraordinary love. Even if she had not died expressly by giving her life so that her unborn daughter might live, she would still be a saint in the eyes of God because of the way she lived her life. At the age of 15 she went on a retreat that made a noticeable change in her life. She was already used to making a daily meditation, but now she took her duties and her studies more seriously. These are the resolutions she made on retreat: I resolve to do everything for Jesus; every work of mine, every trouble, I offer all to Jesus. I resolve that in order to serve God I no longer want to go to the movies if I do not know in advance whether . . . they are modest and not scandalous and immoral. I prefer to die rather than commit a mortal sin. To say a Hail Mary daily so that the Lord may give me a happy death. To obey my teacher and study even though I dont want to, for the love of Jesus. Her family noticed a real change in the way Gianna lived and she began to excel in school. At the university, Gianna became a leader in the Catholic Action movement, which stressed Eucharistic devotion, apostolic action and heroic purity. The girls of Catholic Action were attracted to Giannas shining example of self-sacrifice and prayer and they eagerly sought her advice and followed her counsels. Later when she became a doctor she was known and loved for the care she gave her patients. Her work as a doctor involved more than medical treatment; she said Our mission is not finished when medicines no longer help. There is the soul to lead towards God. Jesus is there, saying, Whoever visits the sick helps ME! A priestly mission! Just as the priest may touch Jesus [in the Holy Eucharist], so, too, we doctors touch Jesus in the bodies of our patients: the poor, the young, the old, children. Gianna was unequivocally pro-life. We have the notes from a medical conference that she attended; she wrote, The doctor should not meddle. The right of the child to live is equal to the right of the mothers life. The doctor cannot decide; it is a sin to kill in the womb.

She not only preached these words, but she would one day be called upon to live them in her own life. Gianna and Pietro became engaged and were married in September of 1955. Pietro was a very serious man, chiefly concerned with his business, but Gianna was to change all that as he recalls in his memoir: That radiant summer of our engagement you were for me, more and more each day, the wonderful person who gave me the gift of love for life. For climbing peaks and rushing down snowy slopes, the gift of joy at the enchantment of creation and of her ineffable smile, joy for the new family we would soon start, the joy of the grace of God. Now we jump to the year 1962, when Gianna is pregnant with their fourth child. The doctors confirmed what she already knew as a doctor herself, that the only way to completely remove a painful uterine tumor would mean the death of her unborn baby. Without hesitation, Gianna said: With faith and hope I am trusting in the Lord even against sciences terrible sentence. I trust in God, but now it is up to me to fulfill my duty as a mother. I renew the offering of my life to the Lord. I am ready for anything as long as my baby is saved. God accepted that offering and her baby was born, but she went to God on April 28th, 1962. For St. Gianna, the words of Jesus in todays Gospel were the rule of her life. He said: If you love me, you will keep my commandments. For her, love meant deeds, not sweet words; doing the will of God, not her own. That is not the dominant tendency in us. For example, many hear the commandment of God to Keep holy the Lords Day but they make up their own version. They attend Sunday Mass only when it suits them or fits into their plans or their whims. People know Jesus commandment to love one another as I have loved you, but instead of being chaste before marriage and faithful to their spouse, they make up their own commandment and pretend that God doesnt care about sins of fornication or adultery. We say I love you, Jesus, but dont expect me to do what you command. I am going to make up my own commandments. He repeats in todays gospel: Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. As difficult as it is to follow the commandments at certain times, we have to remember that Jesus hasnt left us alone. He said in todays Gospel: I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you

always, the Spirit of truth . . . I will not leave you orphans. He has given us the Holy Spiritthe Spirit of Truth and Love. In our First Reading, two Apostles, Peter and John, go to the land of Samaria to those who had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. That is the Sacrament of Confirmation. We get a glimpse of the sacrament of the Holy Spirit as it was administered in the early Church. All adults have received this Sacrament and next Saturday the children from our parish are going to be confirmed at the Cathedral Basilica through prayer and the laying on of hands and anointing with Sacred Chrism by a successor of the apostles Archbishop Burke or Bishop Hermann. [At this Mass we are going to have the baptism and confirmation of Scott Roscoe, who is ready to be received into the Catholic Church and follow the Lord Jesus in this new way of life.] The Holy Spirit is with us; we just need to listen to His voice. St. Gianna did and we can too. St. Giannas daughter Gianna Emanuela grew up and became a doctor like her mother. At the Second World Day of the Family presided over by Pope John Paul a young woman offered a prayer: Thank you, Mother. Thank you for having given me life twice: in conception and when you permitted me to be born, deciding for my life. Intercede so that all mothers and families may always come to you with confidence. This woman was Gianna Emanuela, and when the Pope heard her moving words, he wept. St. Gianna, pray for us so that we may be people of life. Help all the families in our parish to be zealous for the Lord and reflect their Catholic faith in all the works, sufferings and joys of each day. St. Gianna pray for us!

Solemnity of the AscensionMay 4, 2008 As much as possible, the Church calendar tries to follow the sequence of events in the life of Jesus. The Last Supper takes place on a Thursday evening, the next day, Friday, we remember Jesus death on the Cross and the resurrection is celebrated on the third daySunday. The Easter Season continues for 40 days until the Ascension of the Lord and then 10 more days until Pentecost. St. Luke summarized the events of the time after the Resurrection in our First Reading today: He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. Then he quotes Jesus who says wait for the promise of the Father . . . [for] in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. This past Thursday was 40 days since Easter (the Ascension has been moved in this country to the following Sunday, today) and next Sunday, Pentecost, will be 50 days since Easter. After Pentecost, we will move the Easter candle out of the sanctuary. It is the primary symbol of the resurrection; Jesus Christ, the light of the world. We are always an Easter people because by the death of Jesus we have died to sin and by His resurrection we have risen to the new life of grace. Every Sunday becomes a little celebration of Easter for the Church. That is why very early in history the Church changed the weekly celebration of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. The Jews had observed and continue to observe Saturday, while Sunday became the Lords Day and the way for Christians to fulfill the third Commandment. After the Ascension, Jesus will no longer appear to His disciples in the flesh, except in visions, such as St. Paul experienced or the saints throughout history. He wanted to give His final word to the apostles and disciples who were gathered on the mountain before He ascended into the clouds. He said: All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. This is the institution of the Christian Sacrament of Baptism. The Jews baptized with water and St. John the Baptist did also, but now Jesus gives us the Sacrament, which has the power of the Holy Spirit. We partially fulfill this commandment each time we bring a baby or an adult to the baptismal font to receive this great sacrament. With this great gift there also goes great responsibility. It

makes us children of God and disciples of Christ and so we have the obligation to live and speak about our faith in order to make disciples of all nations. Do you think about your responsibility of bringing other people to the Catholic Church? Do your words and example lead others to understand how a Christian is supposed to live? This obligation to spread the faith is not just for the clergy and religious sister and brothers, but for all the faithful. There are many areas of life, such as family, business and entertainment, which are the domain of the laity, and you can touch many lives and bring them to the Church. But in a special way I would like to reflect on our need for priestly vocations. Last month, Father Butler, the archdiocesan vocation director, spoke at the Serra Club dinner about the greatest obstacle to priestly vocations. Sad to say, it is parents! There are so many who do not want their sons to become priests. Perhaps they are thinking about grandchildren or they want their sons to have a successful career in terms of making money and a comfortable life. Father Butler noted that one of the main problems was the image of priests that the media has presented over the last several decades. He said that there were three stereotypes of priests and perhaps you can think of movies or television programs that you have seen to fit these images. The first stereotype is the ineffective priest. He is usually pictured as a harmless guy, but is foolish or useless or insignificant in the lives of others. The second stereotype is the evil or malicious priest, who is manipulating people for his own ends. As horrible as the priest abuse scandal has been, those involved are still only a small number out of the thousands of priests who serve faithfully in this country. However, the media has helped to fix that picture of the evil, perverted priest in many minds. The third stereotype is of the nice guy priest who just cant live up to his promise of celibacy and has to leave his ministry behind in order to find true happiness in marriage. Father Butler noted that these images of priests have bombarded parents minds and unless they can overcome they probably will not welcome priestly vocations in their families. First of all, the priesthood is the gift of Jesus Christ; He gave it to us at the Last Supper along with the Holy Eucharist. At the ordination of a priest his soul is changed; it is configured to Christ. Holy Orders is one of the three sacraments, along with baptism and confirmation that seal our souls for all eternity. Secondly, without priests we would have no Holy Mass or Communion, forgiveness of sins after Baptism, no Anointing of the Sick or

Confirmation or Sacrament of Holy Orders. All those sacraments depend upon the Priesthood. Our Church would not be the Catholic Church without the Priesthood! I can testify to you that the priesthood is a happy and fulfilling life. I hope you can see that I am a happy priest in my ministry. Of course, my life has its ups and downs, sorrows and joys like every life, but God has called me to His service and the service of His Bride the Church. What could be more joyful than to serve the Lord? In his talk at the Serra Club dinner, Father Butler also mentioned a small village in Italy in which mothers began earnestly praying for vocations. They would gather once a month after Holy Mass and publicly prayer together. Over the next several decades they had hundreds of vocations to the priesthood and religious life; all out of proportion to the population. Several of the mothers at that dinner asked if we could do the same thing here at St. Giannas. I heartily agreed and we are going to begin after the 11:00 am Mass this Sunday. At the end of Jesus words on the Ascension, He says: And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Jesus did not abandon His Church; He will guide her until the end of the world. Lets pray for vocations to the priesthood and we can be sure that the Lord will provide.

Solemnity of PentecostMay 11, 2008 Fifty days after the resurrection the promise of Jesus was fulfilled as the Holy Spirit descended upon the Blessed Virgin Mary and the apostles who were gathered in prayer in the Upper Room of the Last Supper. The Holy Spirit appeared in wind and fire to change the apostles that day and to begin to transform the world. Fire is a symbol for the Holy Spirit. Just as fire changes into itself everything that it touches, so does the Holy Spirit transform everyone that He touches. The First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us part of the story. The apostles who were timid and uncertain about what they should do with the truth of the crucified and risen Christ now boldly go out to the large crowd that has gathered around the house because of the mighty wind. The people are amazed because of a supernatural phenomenon that was happening. Even though they came from many countries with many different languages each one heard them speaking in his own language. It was called speaking in tongues. Pentecost reverses what happened in the Book of Genesis when the people in their pride began to build a great tower that would reach above the clouds. They thought that they could get to heaven their own way and under their own strength. Instead, God destroys their work and causes their languages to be confused. They no longer spoke one language, but many and were divided. On Pentecost the Holy Spirit brings about unity so that all the people can understand the language of faith, the language of the Church. A 6th c. Christian author wrote: Therefore if somebody should say to one of us, You have received the Holy Spirit, why do you not speak in tongues? his reply should be, I do indeed speak in the tongues of all men, because I belong to the body of Christ, that is, the Church, and she speaks all languages. What else did the presence of the Holy Spirit indicate at Pentecost, except that Gods Church was to speak in the language of every People? St. Peter, the humble, uneducated fisherman, now has a boldness that allows him to get up in front of the crowd and give the first Christian sermon to the people gathered around the house that day. At the end, the people ask: Brethren, what should we do? Peter responds, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

3,000 are baptized that day. The Church can no longer fit in the Upper Room and it will continue to grow until it reaches every nation on earth. Pentecost is considered the birthday of the Church as the Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer says: Today we celebrate the beginning of your Church when the Holy Spirit made known to all people the one true God. However, the Church is a many faceted thing; the Fathers of the Church, at the beginning of Christian history, reflected on the words of the Gospel of John and saw the birth of the Church happening when Christs side was pierced by the soldiers spear as He hung upon the Cross. St. John makes a point of mentioning that blood and water flowed from the side of Christ when it was pierced by the soldiers lance. The Fathers saw this as a symbol for the sacraments flowing from the sacrificed Heart of Christ; the blood standing for the Precious Blood and the water for Baptism. All the sacraments get their supernatural power from the saving death of Christ. Since the sacraments are the very heart and center of the Churchs life, it is no wonder that they saw this moment on Calvary as the birthday of the Church. Pentecost is certainly the moment when the Church as the Body of Christ is born. As our Second Reading, from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians teaches us: No one can say, Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is the moment when the first Christians receive the gift of faith in Jesus and the new life of Baptism through water and the Holy Spirit. Jesus becomes Lord of our lives. Water is another symbol for the Holy Spirit. Our Second Reading says: For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. To receive the gifts of grace from the Holy Spirit into our souls is like taking a drink of water that refreshes and gives us life. Baptism and Confirmation, along with Holy Orders, are sacraments that seal the soul for all eternity. It is like the emperor or king would take his ring with his coat of arms on it and press it into soft wax to make an official seal that marked his documents. So the Holy Spirit seals our souls when we receive these sacraments. We are marked for all eternity as belonging to Jesus Christ, the King of kings. The graces of these sacraments dont necessarily manifest themselves at once; they are graces that unfold over a life-time. Like a seed that sprouts and then turns into a sapling, then a full grown tree, God wants the graces of these sacraments to be with us for a

lifetime and continually grow within us. Of course, we can block the work of the Holy Spirit within us, by sin or neglect. We have to remember that the Holy Spirit hasnt lost any of His power. He can do for us today, what He did on the first Pentecost Sunday. On this Pentecost Sunday let us turn to Holy Mary the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, for this is also Mothers Day. We ask Mary to comfort and console all our mothers who have played such a significant role in our lives. They have helped the grace of God has grow within us. We thank all mothers and ask the blessing of God to be upon them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Solemnity of the Most Holy TrinityMay 18, 2008 Today we are celebrating the most fundamental and greatest mystery of our faith. The doctrine that there is only one God in three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is the basis for all that we believe as Christians. God is not a single solitary Person alone in His Divine Majesty, but more like a family of Persons united in a perfect communion of love. The human family is a reflection of the Blessed Trinity. This doctrine is not explicitly stated in the Bible and the word Trinity comes from the Tradition of the Catholic Church. Yet all genuine Christians hold this doctrine to be true and the best way to explain the ineffable mystery of God. In the Creed we say that we believe that Jesus Christ is God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father. We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son He is worshiped and glorified. The First Reading and the Gospel reveal two important ideas about God that we have to reflect upon. The First Reading tells about the vision of God that Moses is given one day. Moses makes a request that the Lord God will be present with His people and asks Him to show him His glory. God agrees and replies with this condition: while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen. Even though Moses was as close to God as any human being could be, still he was not allowed to see the face of God. Moses bowed to the ground and worshipped. The glory of the Almighty is overwhelming! C.S Lewis in the Chronicles of Narnia has a great lion named Aslan as a Christ figure. He uses the phrase that Aslan is not a tame lion. It is his way of saying that Aslan is beyond their control or their categories. In the same way, we cannot expect to limit God to our way of thinking; rather we have to change our way of thinking to become like His. He is far greater than we imagine. Every time we approach our God, especially in the Holy Eucharist, we need to remember who we are dealing with. If you were going to have a personal meeting with the President or the Pope, you would prepare for that meetingwhat am I going to wear, what am I going to say, the day is coming closer, do I look all right? I dont want to trip or say the

wrong thing! If this is how we would react with just another human person, how should we act when dealing with God Himself? The greatest prayer that we have is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; it is the greatest thing that we can do. It is not of human origin, but of Divine origin. Whether I am in a great Cathedral or a humble Church like our own or saying Mass on a table in a hotel room this is a great and awesome prayer. I always try to celebrate the Holy Mass with a profound sense of reverence because here we are worshipping God Himself, united to Him, in the way that He has commanded us to worship. Lets not take the God of majesty and glory for granted! It is the Most Blessed Trinity whom the angels eternally adore in the unapproachable light of heaven with Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Hosts! Heaven and earth are full of your glory. In the Gospel Jesus tells us that His Heavenly Father is not a tyrant who is out to punish us even though we do deserve His punishment because of our sins. Rather, Jesus beautifully states: God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. If God didnt love us, even with our faults we would have no hope of happiness or heaven. At the same time the saying that God loves you just the way you are is only half true. The whole saying should be that God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you so much that He doesnt want to leave you that way. The Most Blessed Trinity wants us to come to understand His love and then to live it in our own lives. This is the task of a lifetime because our human love is so often imperfect. It needs to be purified and strengthened. Pope Benedict spoke to the bishops of the United States last month, saying: People today need to be reminded of the ultimate purpose of their lives. They need to recognize that implanted within them is a deep thirst for God. They need to be given opportunities to drink from the well of His infinite love. It is easy to be entranced by the almost unlimited possibilities that science and technology place before us; it is easy to make the mistake of thinking we can obtain by our own efforts the fulfillment of our deepest needs. This is an illusion. Without God, who alone bestows upon us what we by ourselves cannot attain, our lives are ultimately empty. It is Jesus Christ and the Divine Love that He brings to us that makes us truly happy.

This past week the California Supreme Court followed the Massachusetts Supreme Court in declaring that people of the same sex can be legally married, even though 62% of Californians had voted to keep marriage between one man and one woman. There is a constitutional amendment this fall on that issue, so this isnt the last word. It used to be that even nonreligious people had an understanding that marriage as we have always understood it must be protected because healthy marriages are the foundation of a healthy society. Common sense isnt so common anymore, especially among a militant minority who are trying to impose their own ideas on the rest of society. It is true that the law is the great teacher of morality; even if a law is wrong, it still guides and teaches many people. One problem in discussing this issue is that to disagree with the current bias in favor of homosexuality is to risk being called hateful, homophobic and intolerant. Of course, as Christians we have to love and respect all people while upholding the teaching of God and His Church. There are many people within our society who are struggling with homosexuality and they must know that God is with them to give them His grace and help them to live chaste lives. We are all, or should be, struggling against sin in our lives. Marriage is not just a human institution; it has been created by God and is an indispensable part of His plan to help us know how to love rightly. Not all are called to marriage, but to change marriage according to human whims is to destroy Gods plan. God has made us male and female, so that in the marital embrace of husband and wife, Gods love which is free, total, faithful and fruitful can be manifest. So called same sex marriage can never do this. There are many different battles because of our human weakness due to Original Sin. The most Blessed Trinity has a plan for each of our lives and we have to remember those words of Jesus in the Gospel today: For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. We sometimes dont truly know what is good for us or we are fooled by temptation, but God does and His only desire is that we should come to the knowledge of His truth and love.

Corpus ChristiMay 25, 2008 This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ to express our devotion to the Holy Eucharist, which the Second Vatican Council taught is the source and summit of the spiritual life. It is commonly called Corpus Christi which are two Latin words meaning the Body of Christ. The Catholic belief is that when the validly ordained priest prays the words of Consecration over the unleavened bread and wine they are miraculously changed. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, ordinary bread and wine become the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. The Lord comes down from heaven in His Real Presence upon our altar to be our Heavenly Food and remain near to us in the Tabernacle. God is present throughout the universe which He has created, but He can manifest Himself in greater or lesser ways. It is like a husband who travels far from home on a business trip and takes a picture of his wife so that he can look at it and feel close to hershe is present in a certain way. Or, he may call her on the phone and hear her voice and talk to hershe is present in a greater way. Finally, he comes home and sees her in personthat is the greatest form of her presence. The Lord also makes Himself present in different ways. Who hasnt felt His presence when looking at the grandeur of the mountains or the vastness of the ocean or in the silence of the woods? But there is a greater presence when we actually read His words in the Holy Bible and hear the voice of God speaking to us. Also, God manifests Himself in the greatest way this side of heaven in the Real Presence of the Holy Eucharist. That is why we Catholics do certain things when we come into Church and before we sit in our pews. First, we genuflect to the Eucharistic Lord present in the tabernacle. It is the gesture of one who humbly comes before his King. Jesus is our King and we honor Him, not just by bending the knee, but by submitting the heart to His rule. Then we kneel down in prayer for a few moments before sitting back in our seat. This is a holy place precisely because the Presence of Jesus is here with us in the Blessed Sacrament and we need to acknowledge it and unite ourselves to Him. In the first Reading from the Book of Exodus, Moses reminded the Israelite people that God had fed them with the unknown food they called Manna.

Each morning they woke up and found on the ground this thin, white breadlike substance that provided them with nourishment all throughout the 40 years of wandering in the desert. Moses told them that it had a deeper purpose than just to feed their stomachs, for it was in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord. If the Lord says that He will take care of you, He willyou can count on Him. But the Manna also had another purpose and that was to be revealed centuries later by Jesus Christ. Our Gospel is taken from the very important Eucharistic chapter of John 6. In it the Jews remind Jesus that Moses had given them the bread from heaventhe Mannaas a sign of his power and ask what He is going to do. But Jesus says that it was His Heavenly Father who gave them the Manna and that He was going to fulfill and perfect that gift in Himself. He says: I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. He continues later in that discourse with the strongest and most startling words in the entire Bible. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. . . . For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. We take Jesus at His word. When He took bread at the Last Supper and said This is my Body and took a chalice of wine and said This is my Blood we believe that He meant what He said. He told His apostles to Do this in memory of me. That was the moment of their ordination and from that time on the apostles and their successors in the bishops and priests have done just that. Archbishop Burke ordained nine new priests for the Archdiocese of St. Louis and they are going to continue to offer this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for generations to come. Just before the priest receives Holy Communion at Mass and then distributes it to the people, he quotes the words of the Centurion who came to Jesus asking that He heal his sick servant. When Jesus starts to walk to his house, he stops Him and says Lord, I am not worthy to receive You under my roof, say but the word and my servant shall be healed. How humble the Centurion was before the Lord. We take those words and say Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed. Do we really believe that we are not worthy to receive the Lord in Holy

Communion? It is an invitation to humble ourselves before the Lord and acknowledge that it is only through His goodness that we can dare to approach the altar. No one is worthy of this great sacrament, not even the greatest saint, but there is a minimal standard. We do have to examine our conscience and make sure that we do not have any unconfessed mortal sins before receiving Holy Communion. We also need to be in communion with the teaching of Christ and His Church. That is the problem of many Catholic politicians these days. They have so turned from significant moral teachings, in a very public way, that they are no longer in communion and therefore should not receive Holy Communion. If you dont believe what the Church says it is the Most Holy Body of Christthen it doesnt really matter what state your soul is in when you come to Holy Communion. However, for those who do believe, their actions are a great cause of scandal. It has almost been 26 years since my ordination to the priesthood and I can say that even though I have celebrated the Holy Mass every day and sometimes more than once a day, the Holy Eucharist is more important to me today than ever. It is a great mystery in which the love and mercy of God is poured out upon us. To be able to pray in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament is a great source of strength and hope for me. I really couldnt live without the Real Presence of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I pray that we will all grow in love day by day for the Eucharistic Lord. Lets ask Mary, the Mother of the Holy Eucharist, to pray for us.

Ninth Sunday in Ordinary TimeJune 1, 2008 Moses tells the Israelite people I set before you here, this day, a blessing and a curse: a blessing for obeying the commandments of the Lord, your God . . . a curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord, your God. For many people today the commandments of the Lord and His Church are not seen as a blessing when they are fulfilled, but rather as a curse. They are seen as something that restricts freedom; written by people who want to keep everyone from having fun in this world. It is no wonder that they abandon Jesus and His Church because they think they can find happiness and fulfillment in the pleasures and material goods of this world apart from God. Pope Benedict spoke on this topic to the seminarians and young people from around our country last April when he said: Have you noticed how often the call for freedom is made without ever referring to the truth of the human person? Some today argue that respect for freedom of the individual makes it wrong to seek truth, including the truth about what is good. . . . But what purpose has a freedom which disregarding truth, pursues what is false and wrong? How many young people have been offered a hand which in the name of freedom or experience has led them to addiction, to moral and intellectual confusion, to hurt, to a loss of self-respect, even to despair and so tragically and sadly to the taking of their own life? Dear friends, truth is not an imposition. Nor is it simply a set of rules. It is a discovery of the One who never fails us; the One whom we can always trust. In seeking truth we come to live by belief because ultimately truth is a person: Jesus Christ. That is why authentic freedom is not opting out. It is an opting in; nothing less than letting go of the self and allowing oneself to be drawn into Christs very being for others. Do you remember the story of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens? When the ghost of Jacob Marley appears to Ebenezer Scrooge, he is bound by lengths and lengths of chains, which have heavy weights on the ends. Marley says that he forged those chains link by link in this life through his greed and selfishness. That is what really happens when we sin; the world has it all wrong. The world thinks that doing whatever you wantwhatever you feel likeapart from right or wrong is true freedom. In reality that way of living is forging chains of slavery to our weaknesses, passions and temptations. When we submit to the worlds law, or anti-law, we find the

curse Moses spoke ofthe evidence is all around us in so many broken lives, so many lost and hopeless souls. When we submit to Gods law we find the blessing of true freedom, which is manifest in the lives of His saints. As the Holy Father said, our search for truth leads us to a PersonJesus Christ. The thing is that God has already found us and is waiting for us to discover Him. St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading from Romans that we are justified freely by His grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by His blood. For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law. We could not be reconciled to Godwe could not find Godif Jesus hadnt died for us and washed us clean in His Precious Blood through the Sacrament of Baptism. Nothing we can do would ever earn grace or faith or heaven. It is a gift that has its source in God. However, we are not saved by faith alone, or by just calling upon Jesus as our personal Savior. Jesus tells us in the Gospel: Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. We have to put our faith into action. Good deeds are the response of someone who believes and are absolutely necessary for heaven. We have to do the will of God. This is where we come back to the commandments of God and the teachings of His Church. They are sure guideposts to finding Jesus Christ and doing the will of God. Without them, human weakness and the temptation of the devil will very quickly turn us from the right road of truth and goodness. Jesus gives us a parable to illustrate His teaching. He speaks of the wise man who built his house on rock and the fool who built his house on a sand foundation. The rain fell, the floods came and the winds blew and buffeted the house. The man who built his house on rock found that his house did not collapse, while the other house build on sand collapsed and was completely ruined. Jesus is the rock foundation upon which we build our lives and He will ensure that we reach happiness and heaven. The question of whether we are wise or a fool is, as always, our choice. In the Responsorial Psalm we called God a rock: Lord, be my rock of safety. Remember, Jesus also called someone else the RockPeter. You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Jesus set up the office of Peter the Rockthe papacy and guaranteed that the Holy Spirit would guide those

who held this office until the end of time. Not all popes were holy or even good men, but they have never taught error in all these two thousand years of the Churchs life. We need to listen to our Holy Father, the Pope and trust that God is teaching us through him. He has promised to be with the Church He founded upon Peter. Our present Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI is not only an intelligent man, but also a holy man. We need to listen to and love our Pope. June is the month dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is good for us to try to understand the meaning of this particular devotion. It shows Jesus who loves us with all His Heart, which bore the suffering and sorrows and sin of the world. It is a Heart that is wounded for love of us. He is inviting us to turn to His Pierced Heart and find true love. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come!

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary TimeJune 15, 2008 If you have a big job in life to accomplish, it is easy to get overwhelmed! Whether it is connected with work or family or something personal to you, it is good advice to break it down into smaller tasks so that you can a finish it step by step without losing heart. God had an enormous task of establishing His Kingdom among a human race that had fallen because of Original Sin. Making it even more difficult, God respects our freedom and wants us to choose or reject Him of our own free will. His goal was every human soul, but He began by choosing a single nation and calling them to be His faithful people. God tells us in our First Reading this Sunday about His plan. Moses was His appointed leader to lead the Israelite nation from slavery in Egypt by many great and miraculous signs to Mount Sinai where they would receive the Ten Commandments. He says to Moses: If you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. He founded His Kingdom upon the 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus came to fulfill the great plan of His Heavenly Father. The Gospel tells us that Jesus established the new Kingdom upon the twelve apostles. We read that very familiar list of 12 names beginning with Simon Peter and ending with Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him. Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. They were to be the first missionaries of His Kingdom, His Church. He said As you go, make this proclamation: The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Their first task was to the lost sheep of the house of Israel but eventually they were to teach all nations as He said before his Ascension into heaven. The Church is always missionary! The Church is always Catholic, that is, universal, in its message. Our late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II spoke about the new evangelization. He understood that many countries that previously had the message of the Gospel preached to them were no longer listening to the voice of Jesus Christ. The people of these countries, particularly in Western Europe and North America needed to hear it again and anew. The culture which is materialistic and atheistic is pulling many people away from the Church. Also, many lack a real understanding of the true teachings of the Catholic Church; they no longer see their lives in relation to Jesus Christ.

We can see clear evidence of this all around us, even in our own families. Pope John Paul wanted us to renew our efforts to spread the Gospel and make it come alive again. The plan of God to reach every soul comes from the loving Heart of Jesus Christ. The Gospel tells us the motivation of Jesus to establish His Church: At the sight of the crowds, Jesus heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. God sees our needs, our sadness, and our trials and loves us with all of His Heart. He wants to care for us like a shepherd cares for His sheep; He wants us to be a part of His Kingdom and to spread His Kingdom. Today, Sister Suzanne Giro of the Sisters of St Joseph of Carondolet is going to speak to us about the missionary work of her community in South America. and we are going to take up a second collection that supports all those who do missionary work from our Archdiocese.

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary TimeJune 22, 2008 God uses persons, things and events again and again to teach us about His plan for our salvation. The Old Testament prepares for what Jesus will fulfill in the New Testament. For example, every time that water is mentioned it somehow foretells the gift of baptism and sanctifying grace. When Moses led the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt to freedom through the Red Sea with the waters parted like a wall to the left and to the right it symbolized what God would do for us in baptism. When we are baptized with water we leave the old life of slavery to sin behind us and begin to walk in the new life of grace. These persons, things, events, even numbers, that are repeated throughout salvation history are called types. The study of them is called typology. It is a very enlightening way to study the Bible for you see how God has planned everything so carefully. St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading that Jesus is the new Adam. He even uses the word type: death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one who was to come. The first Adam committed the Original Sin which had horrific consequences throughout human history. God confronted Adam in the Garden of Eden and asked Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? He wasnt looking for information, for He knows all things. What response did He want Adam to give? He wanted Adam to admit His sin, take the punishment and even lay down his life for his wife Eve. If he had done this the world would be a totally different place. Instead, he blamed his wife and she blamed the devil and the world went down the path of sin. The new Adam, Jesus Christ would do just the opposite of the first Adam. He, who was totally innocent, would take the sins of the world upon Himself, lay down His life on the Cross and pay back the debt of sin. The first Adam is a type for the second Adam, Jesus Christ. St. Paul continues in the letter to the Romans the gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one [the first Adam] the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many. Jesus sacrifice of obedience has infinite value for our salvation. Each sin has two effects, one is eternal and the other is temporal. Jesus suffering and death paid back the eternal punishment of sin as only God

could do. He has reconciled us to God. But sin also has an effect upon the world. It is like throwing a rock into the center of a pond. It hits the water and sends out ripples to the shore all around the pond. Our sins affect the people around us; the whole Church in a way! We have the duty to make right the wrong we have done. Again, we have the grace of God through the Church to help us, but we have to do our part. It is up to us to pray, do penance and perform good deeds which can make up for this temporal punishment of sin. The Indulgences of the Church, those assigned prayers and good deeds are meant to help us make reparation for the effects of sin in this world. Dont think that God is a tyrant who is trying to catch us in sin. Remember, that God is perfectly just. The moral order thrown out of balance by sin must be put in balance once again. Although God could take away any punishment that is due to sin and totally let us off the hook, we would never become the free, noble children that He wants us to be. It is just like the parents who try to protect their children from all consequences of their disobedience and mistakes in life thinking they are helping them. They blame the teachers when the children dont do well and the police when they are arrested for crimes. The children never mature, nor do they learn how to deal with problems and setbacks. God wants us to learn by making reparation and to participate with Him in His work of salvation. We have a responsibility to do reparation for our sins and the sins of the whole world. Jesus wants us to see God as a loving, strong and caring Father who desires only the best for us. He says and do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. It is the devil and sin that we should avoid with all of our strength. He is our true enemy, not the good and just God. Further, Jesus wants us to understand that God knows us and cares for us. If God knows every sparrow that falls from the sky, then He knows and cares about you. Now it might be possible to count all the hairs upon my head, but who would want to? Yet, Jesus says Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid. We should not be afraid even if we are in a situation as bad as Jeremiah in the First Reading. Jerusalem was surrounded by an army that was going to starve them into capitulation. Food was getting scarce and Jeremiah was

told by God the solution that no one wanted to hear: they were to surrender. If they did then God would protect them. Jeremiad was thrown into a muddy cistern to die by the leading men of the city, but was at last rescued by the king. Even with his life-threatening situation and knowing that the king and people would not obey God, Jeremiah trusts in the Lord and says: Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for he has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked! The Lord has rescued us from the power of sin. Let us put our trust in our Heavenly Father and do our part as His children to do reparation for our sins and those of the whole world.

Solemnity of Sts. Peter and PaulJune 29, 2008 Today the whole Church celebrates the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul who are the two pillars of our Catholic faith. They laid the foundation of the Catholic Church by their prayer, teaching, sweat and blood. They show us what it means to be faithful to Jesus Christ. Wouldnt you have liked to have been there at the first meeting of Jesus and Simon on the Sea of Galilee when Jesus gave him the name Peter? The humble fisherman had been introduced to Jesus by his brother Andrew who believed he had found the Messiah. Jesus gazed upon Peter and saw in him the whole history of the Church until the end of time. He gave him a new name which always signifies a mission in the Bible. The name Kephas means rock or the proper name Peter. When you look at the personality of Peter, he seemed to be anything but a rock. In the Gospels he often acted without thinking and to extremes. It may be like the seminarian when I was in the seminary who had the nickname Tiny. At six-foot-five and 200 plus pounds he was anything but tiny. Peter may not have been as solid as a rock, but Jesus saw what he could become. God has two pictures of us what we are and what we can become. God has the greatest esteem for us and what we can accomplish in this life! It is only at the time of todays Gospel reading that we understand the meaning of the name Peter and the mission he was to have. Jesus takes His apostles to the northern part of Israel near the town of Caesarea-Philippi, which was built on the top of a mountain with an enormous rock face. It is with this background that Jesus asks His apostles Who do people say that I am? He takes the first opinion poll in the history of Christianity. Do you notice that all the answers are wrong? So much for opinion polls. He asks Who do you say that I am? No one answers, but Simon Peter. He is correct You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus responds You are Kephas (Rock) and on this kephas (rock) I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Every word is so significant. The name Rock is applied to God throughout the Bible and is only applied to one man besides PeterAbraham. Jesus only uses the word Church three times. He mostly uses the terms Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven. He will build His Church, his Kingdom, on Peter, the Rock. The Holy Spirit will protect the Church so that even the devil will not be able to destroy her.

But he doesnt stop there. Jesus is setting up an office in His Church that will last until the end of time. He says I give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. In the Old Testament kingdom there was always a steward, who was second in command to the king. He was given the keys to the palace, to the treasuryso that he could literally open and close doors in the name of the king. The keys in those days were not like our keys which can fit in our pockets; they were so large that they had to be carried over the shoulder. Peter and his successors are given the keys, not to any earthly kingdom, but to the Kingdom of Heaven. When the Pope speaks, he doesnt just speak for himself, he is teaching the truth of Christ! Many people have the idea that there is no such thing as truth that we must follow if we want to have eternal life. They think everything is a matter of opinion. When one pope dies another will come and change the doctrines or one archbishop goes and the next will make up his own teachings. They dont understand what it means to believe in a God who is timeless and teaches through His Church truths that are timeless! They dont understand that some things are always right and others are always wrong, no matter which way the winds of fashion and culture blow. I give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Statues and images of St. Peter always show him holding to large keys. Pope Benedict has asked the whole Church to celebrate a Jubilee Year in honor St. Paul on the 2000th anniversary of his birth, beginning this Sunday. This persecutor of the Church was touched by Jesus Christ to such a profound degree that he became a great apostle and missionary to the Gentilesthe nations. As Saul was traveling to Damascus to continue the persecution in that city, Jesus appeared to him, knocked him to the ground and blinded him. At the same moment, Jesus enlightened his soul, saying Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? And he said: Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do. Saul prayed and three days later was baptized, received his sight back and took the name Paul. From there he would eventually make three great missionary journeys to spread the Christian faith throughout the ancient world. A quarter of the New Testament consists of the letters of St. Paul.

St. Paul often uses images of sports contests, particularly of races. He battled all of his life against a world that didnt understand the true God and the Son that He sent as Savior. There is always much opposition and persecution for one who fearlessly speaks the truth. There are always those who do not want to change their lives and give up their way of sin; they do not want to fight the battle with their own weaknesses. Instead they would rather excuse themselves and avoid talking about right and wrong as if that makes it go away. There are those who want to change the teachings of the Church to justify their own sins. We should all be able to say the words of St. Paul in the second letter to Timothy at the end of our lives. He wrote I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. St. Peter was the bishop of Rome for some thirty years until he was arrested in the first Roman persecution by the Emperor Nero around the year 67. As they were about to execute him, Peter said, I am not worthy to die like my Lord. So they crucified him upside down; he was buried in a cemetery on the Vatican Hill. St. Paul was executed in the same year and as a Roman citizen, he was beheaded. He is usually pictured with a sword, the instrument of his martyrdom. The faith that these two great apostles taught at the beginning is the faith that the Catholic Church maintains to this day: one, holy Catholic and Apostolic faith.

July 6, 2008Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time It is an amazing thing that God wants our friendship. We really have nothing to offer to Him, but nonetheless He desires to call us His friend. Jesus says in the Gospel this Sunday, No one knows the Son except the Father, no one knows the Father except the son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him. You may know some things about your neighbors or those you work with or go to school with, but often this knowledge concerns a few facts about their lives and some likes and dislikes, probably things you have in common. Often it is pretty limited; pretty much on the surface. God, on the other hand, wants us to have a deep and abiding knowledge and love of Him. When He speaks about revealing Himself, Jesus means that He wants the deepest kind of friendship with us; a friendship that will last forever. One of the virtues that is necessary to get to know God is humility. Jesus possesses it to the highest degree. He says Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. He is humble of heart and He wants us to come to understand the greatness of this virtue. Simply put, humility is truth! It is truth about our faults and sins and the need to repent of them and it is truth about our talents and worth in the sight of God and using them for good. A woman visited the home of Beethoven and the guide pointed out the piano that the great composer used. She immediately sat down a played Beethovens Moonlight Sonata. She asked if famous musicians often came to this home to visit. The old guide replied, last week the famous conductor Paderewski was here. She asked Did he sit down to play at Beethovens piano? The man replied: No, he said he wasnt worthy! Humility helps us to be careful about exaggerating our talents and ourselves. The opposite of humility is the vice of pride. Pride is the sin of Lucifer, who said I will not serve God. Pride is the Original Sin of Adam and Eve who disobeyed the command of God in the Garden of Eden. Someone jokingly said that pride doesnt die in usuntil 8 hours after we die! It is so strongly rooted in us. Strangely, we also use the word pride in a positive sense. We say take pride in your work or take pride in yourself. We mean, do a

good job or see the value in your work or yourself. But the vice of Pride is a very insidious thing that can ruin our lives and keep us from God. Many people complain, and I do myself at times, that I pray and pray but God never seems to answer my prayer! I need to examine my attitude when I pray. Am I praying as a prideful man who demands that God answer me exactly as I wantright now? Or do I pray with humility saying God is my Father and He knows what is best and I will wait upon His good answer? Dont ever think that your desire is best and when Gods answers differently that that is only second best. Gods answer is always for the best and humility helps us to realize it. The humble are willing to look at their lives, repent and follow the commands of God. If an employer realizes that there is a command from God not to cheat his employees and get rich on the backs of others, the humble man will repent and change the way that he does business. If a man and woman realize that it is Gods command that they not engage in the sexual relationship until they are married, those who are humble will repent and change their relationship to fit Gods plan for sex and marriage. The prideful person will not change, but will say who is God to tell me how to live? They will probably not be that bold, but try to blame the Church for making restrictive laws that are old-fashioned. Who is the church to tell me how to live? The Catholic Church does not teach human doctrines, but only the doctrines of Jesus Christ in faith and morals. We are in the Jubilee Year of St. Pauls birth and the Second Reading is usually from St. Pauls letters. He tells us today You are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. He means that we do not have to be controlled by our human weaknesses because the Holy Spirit dwells in our souls ever since Baptism and Confirmation. But we do have to fight against our sinful tendencies, the temptations of the devil and the pull of the world around us. At times the temptations to do wrong seem to have more power over us that the Holy Spirit. We feel it in our flesh, in the body. The Holy Spirit is stronger than any evil, but we have a battle and at times we loose. We need humility to repent, go to Confession and try again. God will not give up on you as long as you dont give up on His mercy and grace. One day a group of people were taking a tour of a great cathedral in France when the guide started pointing out the figures of saints in one magnificent

stained-glass window. A little girl asked What is a saint? The guide began to explain what it means to be a holy man or woman who is canonized by the Church. All of a sudden the sun came from behind the clouds and illuminated the window so that the colors became brilliant with the light. The little girl turned to her mother and said I know what a saint is; it is someone who lets the light shine through. In her simple way, the girl came upon the truth that the saints do not block Gods grace from shining through their words and deeds. God wants us to humbly allow the light of His grace and mercy to shine through our lives, too. Lets ask Mary, most humble, to pray for us to her Son and help us to humbly seek the will of God in all things and give Him thanks for all of His blessings.

Fifteenth SundayJuly 13, 2008 The parables of our Lord are unique. They are short stories that teach a spiritual truth. Even the simplest person can understand them, but at the same time they have meaning that inspires even the most intelligent person; they are a great treasure for all people and all times. However, those who are proud and blinded by sin will not understand the simplest parable. Jesus tells us that He speaks in parables because they look but do not see and hear but do not understand. Then He quotes the Prophet Isaiah at length who foretold the hardness of heart of the proud. This past week I flew to Texas for a workshop for priests. A man sat down next to me and asked if I was a Catholic priest. Then he asked if I knew of a recent encyclical that stated Catholics believed in the doctrine of salvation by faith alone. There was no encyclical, but an ecumenical dialogue group of Catholics and Lutherans in Europe had issued a document, approved by the Pope that came to a common understanding of that Reformation issue. I mentioned that the Catholic Church has always taught that we could not earn heaven, but that we can only be saved if God gives us the gift of salvation. Then he asked if we thought that we could loose our salvation. I said that there was sin that was serious enough to cut us off from God and salvation, but we could always repent. We believe in free will, it you cant say NO to God how can you really say YES. He thought about it. Later, I thought of something that I wished I had added. Even though I have to judge my thoughts, words and actions and know that I could sin mortally and loose God and eternal life, my faith is not sad or fearful. My Catholic faith brings hope and joy to my life. Our parable of the Sewer and the seed today makes the very important point that we must persevere in our faith because we can loose it. The seed is the Word of God that is sewn into our hearts so that we can bear abundant fruit in this life. When you hear the phrase Word of God what do you think of? Most of us would, first of al, think of the Holy Bible as the Word of God. Really the Word of God is Jesus Himself; we follow a living Personour Lord Jesus Christ. The CCC makes the point: The Christian faith is not a religion of the book. Christianity is the religion of the Word of God, a word which is not a written and mute word, but the Word which is incarnate and living. If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, open our minds to understand the

Scriptures. Jesus speaks to us through the written Word in the context of Sacred Tradition as taught by the Magisterium of the Church. The First Reading from the Prophet Isaiah is fulfilled in Jesus. Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats so shall my word be. It is Jesus who gives life to our souls. Back to our parable. In that part of world farmers use the scatter method. They do not plant in neat rows like we do. They want to get the seed on the good ground but some does fall on the path and rocky ground. What a difference the soil can make! We dont have to look any farther than the land in our own parish. The soil across the street is fertile and produces corn crops each year. But the topsoil in the new subdivisions was stripped away leaving only rocky clay. You cant grow anything in that! God gives each of us the grace we need to reach heaven, but it makes a tremendous difference what we do with it. Whether we persevere or not doesnt depend on God, for He is always faithful, but it does have a lot to do with our response.

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary TimeJuly 20, 2008 Jesus once again uses an image from farming and nature to teach a spiritual lesson in this Sundays Gospel. He tells about the farmer who sows good seed and finds that an enemy has come and sown weeds in the midst of his good crop. He tells his servants to wait until harvest in order to separate the wheat from the weeds because it is difficult to tell the one from the other while they are growing. It is probably typical to farming, but in Holland they faced a similar problem with cornflower seeds that would grow up in the midst of the wheat crop. It was impossible to tell the difference between the two until the golden sheaves of wheat where contrasted with the blue flower of the cornflower. The cornflowers were beautiful, but it meant a smaller wheat crop and sometimes tourists would trample the wheat in order to pick the flowers in the midst of the crop. This parable of the wheat and the weeds tells of the mercy of God toward His creatures. He doesnt just destroy the wicked, but gives them time to repent. Although weeds cant turn into wheat, people can repent and reform their lives. A perfect example in this Jubilee Year of the birth of St. Paul is the saint himself. He started out as a persecutor of the Church; he arrested any Christians that he could find and even approved of the stoning of the first martyr of the ChurchSt. Stephen. No doubt the Christians were praying to God that He would deliver them from the menace of Saul. Save us from this persecutor of Your Church! God didnot by destroying Saul, but by transforming him into Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ. On his way to Damascus to continue the persecution Jesus appeared to him, knocked him down, blinded him and told him of his true mission in life. He prayed, fasted and was baptized. No doubt the Holy Spirit moved him at this time, as he would later write to the Romans in our Second Reading: The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. Because of the Holy Spirits work in his soul, St. Paul was able to bring forth a fruitful harvest for Christ. There is another aspect of this parable that we should consider. Just as it is difficult to tell the difference between wheat and weeds as they are growing, so it is sometimes difficult to tell evil from good. Evil can appear to be good. St. Paul says: even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). The devil wants to trick us into thinking good is evil and evil is good; and that there is no such thing as sin. All the issues that have to do

with the sanctity of life, marriage and human sexuality are examples of this confusion in our time. Many people think that by using the words freedom and choice that they can justify anything, no matter how evil. On Friday, July 25th we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Pope Paul VIs encyclical Humanae Vitae, On Human Life. In it he realized a profound truth that separating love from life in the marital act by artificial contraception would destroy Gods plan for marriage. He predicted that it would have dire consequences for marriage, family life and society as a whole. In the 1960s when the birth control pill was just beginning to be marketed it appeared as if the Pope was wrong. In her talk Birth Control, Why Not? Dr. Janet Smith points out the thinking of the time. Briefly, she said, people thought that the pill would solve the overpopulation problem; that it would allow women to have less children and thus enter the workplace; that it would make marriages better since there would be no fear of unplanned pregnancy and you could try out a partner before marriage like you test drive a car without fear of pregnancy. We now have four decades of birth control, including abortion in our countrywe can easily see how flawed that thinking was. In Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul said that it would have four effects. The first would be a lowering of morality in society. Just look at the difference between television programs of the 50 and early 60s compared to today. The divorce rate which was inching up over last century reached 25% by 1965 and doubled to 50% by 1975 and has remained at that level since. If the good of children are not essential to the marital act, then what is wrong with so called same sex marriage? Secondly, the Pope said there would be a general disregard for women by men. Although women have entered the work force in great numbers, the vast majority of people living in poverty in our country today are single women with children. Families without fathers reached epidemic proportions in the black community decades ago and the same is now happening in the rest of society. Pornography, which treats women and even children as mere objects for pleasure is engulfing our societyfor example, daily there are 2.5 million pornographic e-mails (8% of total e-mails). Thirdly, governments would use family planning programs to coerce people. Chinas one child family program which forces women who become pregnant with a second child to have an abortion is well documented. The UN has long tied aid to poor countries with aggressive population programs. The problem of the future is not too many people, but too few; no developed nation is having enough

children to replace its population. Those who study population trends are using the term Demographic Winter to describe the lack of people in the future. Finally, the Pope said we would begin to treat our bodies as if they were machines. Women as surrogate mothers, designer babies with only the right genes, children being conceived in Petri dishes and who knows what in the future? Remember, we are talking here about more than a pill or a sterilization operation; we are talking a way of living, a philosophy of life. Pope Pauls teaching, like all the Successors of Peter, in regard to faith and morals is guaranteed by Jesus Christ Himself to be without error. Sad to say, even Pope Pauls predictions were right on the mark. The bitter fruit of the birth control mentality, which separates love from life in the marital act, is very clear after four decades. Catholics, as a whole, live their lives very much like those who have no teaching from God in regard to marriage and human sexuality. The place to begin is by asking yourself how you formed your opinions on birth control and marriage? Are they based on the clear teaching of Jesus and the Catholic Church? Do you even know what the Church teaches beyond a list of donts? It is beautiful, uplifting and noble. OR, did you form your opinions on the teaching of Planned Parenthood, MTV, the Post Dispatch, ABC, CBS and NBC? They are all teaching the same thing and it is opposed to Gods teaching. Who are you following? We need the Holy Spirit who comes to the aide in our weakness. Come Holy Spirit. Open our hearts to your truth. Tonight we close the Novena to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel with the title Gate of Heaven. A gate opens two waysit lets people in and out. Mary by the obedience of faith opened the Gate of Heaven to the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Because of her perfect consent to the Archangel Gabriel, she allowed God to become man and enter our world with the gift of salvation. Now, she acts as the Gate of Heaven to us by dispensing the graces that the Most Blessed Trinity has placed at her disposal. As a spiritual Mother, she is assisting us on our earthly pilgrimage to reach heaven. Mary Gate of Heaven, pray for us.

Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary TimeJuly 27, 2008 Jesus uses images that are very attractive to describe the Kingdom of Heaven. Who wouldnt like to find a buried treasure or discover a pearl whose value is not recognized by anyone else? Yet Jesus wants us to look beyond those earthly images and seek a treasure that is beyond price, beyond this world. Solomon knew what was truly valuable even as a young king about to begin his reign. His father, King David was the model king of the Old Testament and Solomon had some very large shoes to fill. God spoke to him in a dream: Ask something of me and I will give it to you. He could have chosen anything, such as a long life, riches or conquering his enemies. (If I had this choice, I might be tempted to ask for all of the money we need to build our Church!) Solomon didnt, instead he said Grant your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. For who is able to govern this vast people of yours? Solomon wanted wisdom to be a good and just leader for his people; the worldly prizes were just not enough for him. It is very tempting for us to allow the physical and material needs to dominate our lives. They are so obvious to us; they are so pressing. Of course, you have to do many things to provide a good life for yourself and your family, such as your daily work; but the love of comfort and the selfish desire for pleasure also pull at us. How many people have left the Church and the practice of their faith because their comforts and possessions seem to satisfy them? They have the nice home, the cars, the vacations and all the luxuries that this life can provide. Why bother with religion? At the World Youth Day, Pope Benedict pointed out to the young people gathered in Sydney, Australia: In so many of our societies, side by side with material prosperity a spiritual desert is spreading: an interior emptiness, an unnamed fear, a quiet sense of despair. Too many people dont relate the emptiness of their lives to the fact that they have left God behind; all the pleasures and things of this world really leave them with nothing. Only God can fill our lives; only the Catholic faith can give us the direction we need and guide us to true happiness. The sacraments, particularly the Holy Eucharist and Confession, are Gods way to touch our lives with His grace and lift us up to Him.

Pope Benedict laid out Gods plan for renewal to the young people in Sydney: Empowered by the Spirit, and drawing upon faiths rich vision a new generation of Christians is being called to help build a world in which Gods gift of life is welcomed, respected and cherished not rejected, feared as a threat and destroyed. A new age in which love is not greedy or self-seeking, but pure, faithful and genuinely free, open to others, respectful of their dignity, seeking their good, radiating joy and beauty. A new age in which hope liberates us from the shallowness, apathy and self-absorption which deadens our souls and poisons our relationships. The Holy Father is telling us that we can build a world on Christ that is beautiful and noble. One of the patrons for World youth Day was Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. He was a young Italian who died at the age of 24, but in his short life showed us, and continues to show us, how to live a Christian life with joy. He came from a wealthy, but troubled family. His parents didnt divorce, but it often seemed as if they would; there was little practice of religion in the home; his father was an agnostic. Hardly an ideal family to produce a saint and yet Blessed Pier Giorgio came from a family that is like many families in our time. As a teenager he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and wholeheartedly gave of his time and money to the poor. He would do things like take his friends to play pool and bet them: if the friend won, he would give him money, if Pier Giorgio won the friend would have to go make a Holy Hour with him in the parish church. There were many Holy Hours because Pier Giorgio was a good pool player and had some extra help! He loved mountain climbing and skiing and would arrange trips for his friends and amazingly up in the mountains they would run across a priest with all that he needed to offer the Holy Mass (which Pier Giorgio had previously arranged). They would pause and pray before they continued their mountain climbing. His constant work for the poor and the money he earned to give to them was kept secret from his parents because he knew that they wouldnt understand his charity. He contracted a disease at age 24, probably from some sick person that he had been helping, that brought his good life to an early end. His parents were astonished by the number of people who lined the streets for his funeral procession. Pier Giorgio touched countless people by his charity, faith and goodness. Pope John Paul called him the man of the beatitudes. His motto was verso laltoto the top

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati said To live without faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for truth, that is not living, but existing. This is what happens to many people who seem to have everything. They are constantly seeking new experiencesa thrill here, a new pleasure there, more excitement, greater highs, the latest cause to champion because they fear boredom and meaninglessness. They just exist for the next new thing in life. It leads no where. Blessed Pier Giorgio had the perfect excuse to be just like everyone else because of his parents, their wealth and apathy, their lack of faith, yet he chose to live for God and truth and struggle for something eternal. That made him unique; that made him a saint! Lets take courage from the words of St. Paul in our Second Reading: We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. We have all been called by God from the moment of our baptism; His plan is for our good. Jesus calls us to be like the treasure finder or the merchant who goes out and sells everything he has in order to acquire the treasure, so He wants us to seek Him and His Kingdom first of all. And all things will be given us besides.

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary TimeAugust 3, 2008 St. Paul knows that there is only one answer to the questions he asks the Romans: What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? For the Christian, the answer is that none of these things can separate us from Christ. Jesus Himself endured all these things and conquered overwhelmingly through His willing death and glorious resurrection. In Christ, the Christian will be able to conquer all things including the power of the devil and death. What will separate us from the love of Christ? Nothing has that power. That saidwe often have a struggle within ourselves with the very trials that St. Paul lists. Sufferings and setbacks in life can make us question the loving God who is guiding all things. The evils that come our way test our trust in Jesus. The Christian response of which St. Paul says is so certain is something that we have to wrestle with anew each time a new suffering comes our way. We live in a world that has no idea of the Christian meaning of human suffering; it sees suffering as a thing that must be avoided at all costs. The world can only hide from it for so long by deadening its pain with drugs or alcohol or pornography or constant entertainment and thrills. The truth of the matter is that you cannot escape suffering. It is a part of life. There is a story of two little fir trees that were planted near one another; however, one was out in an open field, while the other grew under the protection of much larger and older trees. In the cold winter, the tree out in the open was covered with snow and the cold winds blew making it seem as if it would never grow strong, while the other tree was protected form the worst of the elements and grew rapidly. Years later, when a great storm blew down many large trees in the forest, the sheltered fir was uprooted as well. The tree that stood in the open had sent roots down deeper and deeper over the years and stood firm as the great winds blew. Not only is suffering inevitable, but it is the only way we can grow in virtue. For example, you will not grow in patience and fortitude if you never have trials that test your patience. St. Josemaria Escriva wisely said that People dont annoy us, they sanctify us. We can either see the trials of life as depressing and a cause for bitterness or a way to become saints.

St. Clement Hoffbauer was known as the Apostle of Vienna. He cared for a great number of orphaned children and would often beg for donations to feed and care for them. One day he went into a caf and began asking for donations when he came up to a man who was a notorious anti-Catholic. The man cursed him and finally spit right in his face. St. Clement took out his handkerchief wiped off the spittle and calmly said: That was for me, now what will you give me for my orphans? The man was so impressed by the forbearance and self-control of the saint that he totally changed his life and became a faithful Catholic and benefactor. St. Clement developed those virtues by constant practice and by overcoming his own weaknesses. In his second encyclical Spe Salvi, We are Saved by Hope, Pope Benedict writes: To suffer with the other and for others; to suffer for the sake of truth and justice; to suffer out of love and in order to become a person who truly lovesthese are fundamental elements of humanity, and to abandon them would destroy man himself. Yet, once again the question arises: are we capable of this: is the other important enough to warrant my becoming, on his account, a person who suffers? Does truth matter to me enough to make suffering worthwhile? Is the promise of love so great that it justifies the gift of myself? In the history of humanity, it was the Christian faith that had the particular merit of bringing forth within man a new and deeper capacity for these kinds of suffering that are decisive for his humanity. For the Christian there are some things that are worth suffering forlove, truth, other peopleand this kind of understanding that comes from following Jesus own example of selfsacrifice brings out the best in humanity. What do we do when we have suffering in our life? First of alldont be surprised! You cant escape it; sufferings large and small will constantly afflict us. Secondly, pray and ask the Lord for the strength you need to grow in virtue because of what you are undergoing. In a sense, dont waste suffering, but turn it to good. Do what Pope Benedict recommended in his encyclical on hope. He wrote: There used to be a form of devotion . . . that included the idea of offering up the minor daily hardships that continually strike at us like irritating jabs, thereby giving them a meaning. . . . What does it mean to offer something up? Those who did so were convinced that they could insert these little annoyances into Christ great com-passion so that they somehow became part of the treasury of compassion so greatly needed by the human race. In a way, even the small inconveniences of daily life could acquire meaning and

contribute to the economy of good and of human love. Only in Christ crucified can our daily sufferings, large and small, find meaning. His voluntary suffering on the Cross redeemed the world. When we unite our sufferings to the Cross, Jesus Himself will give them meaning. Look at the crucifix, ponder its meaning; He will help you. There is no greater time to offer up ones sufferings than right here at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The central meaning of the Holy Mass is the unbloody re-presentation or renewal of Christs sacrifice on Calvary right here upon our altar. Our faith tells us that the sacramental signs bring about what they signify. The separate consecration of bread into Body and wine into Blood symbolizes the death of Jesus on the Cross. When you separate blood from body you have death! All the grace and mercy and power of the Redemption are renewed for us in each holy Mass. Put your sufferings on the altar; pile it up with your petitions and the people who need help. Unite yourself and all your worries and fears and problems with Jesus crucified and risen in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We need the Holy Mass to help us to live for Christ, to live with joy. Through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we can truly learn the meaning of St. Pauls words that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ!

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary TimeAugust 10, 2008 The Prophet Elijah had seen God work many mighty and miraculous deeds in his lifetime. It is only natural that he would expect the All-powerful Lord to reveal Himself in an equally majestic way. Our First Reading picks up with Elijah waiting for God to reveal His glory. The Lord had told him that he should wait in a cave until He had passed and then he could see His glory from behind, since no man could see His face. Elijah first heard a wind that was so powerful that it was rending the mountains and crushing rocks. This was followed by an earthquake and then a fire storm. But the Lord God was not present in any of those powerful events of nature. It was only when Elijah heard a tiny whispering sound the sound of a small breeze that could be missed by anyone that Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave for the Lord was present at that moment. God can certainly do mighty deeds and He has throughout salvation history and clearly in the lives of the saints. More often than not, God is going to speak and act in ways that we can easily miss if we are not attentive. He speaks in the little things that happen; in the ordinary events of life; in silence; in ways that can be overlooked. One of the main reasons that all the Jewish people did not follow Jesus is because He was not the kind of Messiah that they were looking for. The Messiah that they expected would be a great king who would lead invincible armies that would conquer their enemies, particularly the Roman Empire at that time, and set up the city of Jerusalem as the capitol of the world. Jesus came quietly, born in a stable, in poverty and after being rejected by the people of power, He allowed Himself to be sacrificed on the Cross. Isaiah had foretold this quiet Messiah when he said [h]e was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter. . . . St. Paul laments the fact that the Jewish people did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. As he says to the Romans in our Second Reading: For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh. They are Israelites; theirs is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises. Of course, Jesus was of the Jewish race in His human nature, as was the Blessed Virgin Mary, the apostles and all the first disciples, including St. Paul. However, most did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

One of our human tendencies is to try and make God into our own image. Back in the 1970s when everyone was having identity crises they tried to give one to Jesus. They were teaching in both Catholic and Protestant circles that Jesus didnt really know who He was. He didnt know that He was the Messiah until He began His public life with His baptism at the Jordan and He certainly didnt know that He was God! That was simply remaking Jesus into their own confused image; in so doing they missed knowing the real Jesus Christ. We have to be careful not to do the same thing. For example, some say that God doesnt really care about abortion and that voting for a pro-abortion candidate has nothing to do with my faith or civic responsibility, after all, there are more important issues than the sanctity of life; God doesnt really care if we engage in a sexual relationship before marriage, especially since everyone is doing it; God doesnt care if I attend Sunday Mass or skip it, what is the big deal? In these and similar statements people are directly contradicting what God has clearly revealed through His Church. Arent they really saying I want a god who doesnt disturb my way of thinking or acting? I want a god who doesnt challenge me to turn from sin and grow in virtue? If we dont discover who God is as He has revealed Himself we will miss knowing Him and all that He offers us. Instead we will worship a false god, an idol. Daily prayer is absolutely essential for us to know God. St. John Vianney was a man who knew how to pray and many miracles were granted in answer to his prayers. In one of his sermons he said: Some men immerse themselves as deeply in prayer as fish in water, because they give themselves totally to God. . . . How unlike them we are! How often we come to church with no idea of what to do or what to ask for. And yet, whenever we go to any human being, we know well enough why we go. And still worse, there are some who seem to speak to the good God like this: I will only say a couple of things to you, and then I will be rid of you. I often think that when we come to adore the lord, we would receive everything we ask for, if we would ask with living faith and with a pure heart. In the Gospel today, Peter shows us both, the boldness we need to follow Jesus, and how easy it is to take our eyes off of Him and loose trust in our Lord. When Jesus comes walking on the surface of the water toward the

apostles who are sailing the rough sea in their boat they think they are seeing a ghost. Jesus is doing something that is humanly impossible! When He assures them Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid. Peter takes Him at His word. He is ready to do the impossibleto step on the water and walk to Jesus. As long as he kept his eyes on the Lord, he was able to walk on water; it was only when he became frightened by the wind and the waves, loosing confidence in Jesus that Peter the Rock began to sink like a rock. But he turns back to Him crying Lord, save me! and Jesus lifts him up out of the water and into the boat. How can we keep from sinking if we do not keep our eyes on Jesus, through prayer and constantly guided by the light of truth that He has given to His Church? We have to take up the words of Peter: Lord, save us! And He will!

August 17, 2008Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus sounds harsh when he speaks to the Canaanite woman in the Gospel this Sunday. It is as if He only grants her request to heal her daughter when He is forced into it. We have to remember several things. First, Jesus always wants to help people grow in faith. It is one thing to ask Him for a miracle, but it is another to truly believe that He can do so because He is the Son of God. So Jesus doesnt answer her plea right away in order to test her. Sometimes we ask for things without real faith and that is never acceptable; faith is something that Jesus wants to strengthen in each of us. We are called to persevere in prayer like the Canaanite woman. Then when she does persevere, He answers: I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. This woman was a foreigner and the plan of God was that He would fulfill His ancient promise by sending His Son to the chosen people of Israel. This didnt mean that salvation was only for one people, but that they had to have the opportunity to accept it or reject it first. When Jesus gave His instructions to the disciples before He ascended into heaven, He indicated Gods plan of preaching the Gospel: You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). The woman accepts Jesus mission, but she doesnt give up her cause. She does Him homage and says Lord, help me. This woman is not like the Pharisees and those who were stubborn and refused to repent and believe; He could do nothing for them. Jesus cannot resist the plea of someone in need, but He gives her one final test when He says It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs. One thing the Gospel does not tell us is the look on the face of our Lord and the tone of His voice. Jesus was always compassionate and it registered naturally in His features. The woman must have been encouraged by His demeanor, for she answers boldly: Please Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters. Jesus sees her strong faith and grants her prayer immediately. Jesus wants everyone to hear the Gospel and desires to draw all people into His Kingdom. The prophet Isaiah reminds of the importance of the Third Commandment Keep holy the Lords Day in order to be close to God. In

the First Reading he writes: All who keep the Sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant, them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer. Our late Holy Father, Pope John Paul wrote an Apostolic Letter on the importance of Sunday called Dies Domini, The Day of the Lord. He opens by writing: The Lords Dayas Sunday was called from Apostolic timeshas always been accorded special attention in the history of the Church because of its close connection with the very core of the Christian mystery. In fact in the weekly reckoning of time Sunday recalls the day of Christs Resurrection. It is Easter which returns week by week, celebrating Christs victory over sin and death . . . . Each Sunday is a little celebration of Easter. The Pope is telling us that every Sunday is a little celebration of Easter. Sunday is a day of joy in which we can attend Holy Mass and celebrate the death and resurrection of the Lord each week. That is why teenagers have always realized the importance of getting up for Sunday Mass and never give their parents a bit of trouble, but jump up joyfully from their beds and desire to get there early to pray and prepare themselves!!! Or do I have that backwards? I know that it isnt always easy to get up for Holy Mass or take the time when we may want to do other things. It is really only an hour or so and the Lord deserves our worship, our thanks and He wants to speak to us and feed us with Himself His own Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. It is not as easy as it once was to dedicate Sunday to prayer and rest and family activities. For many people, Sunday is just another day to work and catch up on all the things that they didnt do in the past weekfor others, it means they must work or loose their job. Minimally, we must attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass each Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation or the evening of the preceding day. There are so few Holy Days left! This is the first of the five Precepts of the Church. The CCC says The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excuse for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin. The Church very wisely teaches that it is a mortal sin to deliberately miss Sunday Mass without a serious reason. As soon as we miss Holy Mass, attending only when it is easy or suits our fancy, we are

already casting God out of our lives. We are saying that our pillow is more important than God or our soccer ball or the football game is more important than God. To deliberately miss Sunday Mass is a red flag that our lives are turning away from the Lord. If you do you must first receive Gods forgiveness in Confession before again receiving Holy Communion. In spite of what you may have heard in the last few decades, this is the unchanging teaching of the Church. Our late Holy Father, Pope John Pauls words continue to challenge us today: I would strongly urge everyone to rediscover Sunday: Do not be afraid to give your time to Christ! . . . Time given to Christ is never time lost, but is rather time gained, so that our relationships and indeed our whole life may become more profoundly human. The Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary body and soul into heaven reminds us to always ask the prayers of the woman who is the model of faith in the New Testament. The words that Jesus spoke to the Canaanite woman could be most perfectly spoken to His own dear Mother: O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done as you wish. Marys prayers are powerful before the throne of Almighty God.

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary TimeAugust 24, 2008 Our Catholic faith is something very personal, but it is not private. It is intensely personal because God desires to be our Father and adopts us as His sons and daughters. Jesus is our personal Savior who died for love of us upon the Cross and He wants to speak to us Person to person, Heart to heart throughout our lives. The Holy Spirit is the personal and intimate guide for each Christian to eternal life. For too long Catholic politicians have been trying to tell us that you can be personally opposed to moral evils, all the while supporting them in publicmost notably abortion. It is as if they can live their faith in a private sphere that has no influence upon their lives or the world. From the very beginning to be a Christian meant to be a part of a community of faiththe Church. St. Paul described the Church as the Body of Christ. He taught that Christ is the head of the body, the Church (Col. 1:18) and by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (1 Cor. 12:12). In the unity of the Church we all impact one another, so much so, that St. Paul says If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored all rejoice together (1 Cor. 12:26). Our faith is not a private matter because it affects our relationship with all those around us. Jesus put it in these terms: Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, you do unto me. The future saint, Martin of Tours was traveling with his soldier comrades when they passed a beggar lying in the snow, with barely any clothing upon his ailing body. The other soldiers made fun of him and rode on by, but Martin could not. He stopped, took out his sword and cut his cloak in half and gave half to the man. That night in a dream Jesus appeared to Martin wearing that cloak same cloak. Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, you do unto me. The Church is certainly spiritual and invisible, but it is not only that. The Church that Jesus Christ established is very concrete and visible. The Gospel passage today tells us of the visible office that Jesus set up upon the apostle Peter. It is an office that is meant to continue throughout history, not just an honor for one person, the apostle Peter. The Kingdom that Jesus set up takes its pattern from the kingdom of the Old Testament. In the Davidic kingdom there was always a chief steward, who was second to the king. He could speak for the king and he kept the keys of the kingdom which were very large and had to be carried over the shoulder. The passage from Isaiah

in our First Reading says that God is going to remove the unfaithful steward Shebna and replace him with the faithful Eliakim. God says: I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakims shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts no one shall open. I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot, to be a place of honor for his family. Jesus sets up the office of steward upon Peter. He uses similar words to those of Isaiah in the Old Testament, when He tells Peter I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. It is the will of God that His Church be visible and governed by Peter and his successors until the end of time. The Pope and bishops in union with him have the duty and the grace to teach in the name of Jesus Christ. We as members of this living Body of Christ are called to honor and obey them. It gives us great peace to know that Jesus is protecting the truth through the teaching of His Church, which He guides. To make our faith a purely private matter kills it. Our faith is meant to form our world view and God expects us to find creative ways to bring our faith to family life, the workplace, politics, the media, to the whole world. St Paul exclaims in an ecstasy of praise in our Second Reading Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! If only we could realize the greatness of God and give Him the praise that is His due. Recently the Vatican drew our attention to the holiness of the name of God. The name of God that was revealed to Moses when he heard the voice of the Almighty coming from the bush that was on fire, but not consumed by the flames was so holy that they did not utter it. The name revealed to Moses is called the Tetragramatron and is made up of the four consonants YHWH (Hebrew writing doesnt use vowels) which we translate as Yahweh. This sacred name was only spoken once a year by the High Priest when he entered The Holy of Holies in the Temple. In any other worship or speech they used the word Adonai or Lord. In Christian tradition we never used the name Yahweh in the sacred liturgy and the Vatican has asked us to avoid its use, which is mainly in some hymns of the last 40 years.

The second Commandment reminds us to keep the name of God holy: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Notice that it doesnt say you shall not curse with the name of the Lord, but you shall not use it in vain; in vain means to make something worthless or useless. There was a time when you would never hear people say God or Jesus or Christ on TV or movies except with reverence. That time has long passed. There are some people who have a bad habit of saying the name of God that needs correction. As Christians, we need to respect the holy names of God and the saints in our speech. If you say it by habit or hear others misuse the name of God it is good to do reparation by saying, at least in your heart, something like Blessed by God. Blessed be His holy name. This comes from the Divine Praises that we say at the end of Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. We can make St. Pauls words concluding todays passage from the Romans our own: For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary TimeAugust 31, 2008 Sometimes people will say that they are angry with God. Events didnt turn out the way that they wanted and they think God didnt hear them or answer their prayers. They question why do bad things happen to good people? The Prophet Jeremiah expresses a similar idea in our First Reading, he says: You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped; you were too strong for me, and you triumphed. All the day I am the object of laughter; everyone mocks me. Even though he was the prophet of God, Jeremiahs message was rejected and he was hated for it. Jerusalem was surrounded by the armies of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Jeremiah told them to surrender if they wanted God to save them, but they couldnt overcome their blind nationalism and trust in the Lord. Instead they persecuted Jeremiah. The prophet might have remained silent to avoid further trouble, but as he says: I say to myself, I will not mention him, I will speak in his name no more. But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it. Jeremiah feels a great responsibility toward God and his own people. He knows that he has the obligation to speak the truth, even if no one wants to hear it. It causes this good and just man great pain. If you ever feel like Jeremiah and get angry with God, the first thing to remember is that He can take it! God is big enough. We are His children, although we often act more like spoiled brats than children of God. However, we have to come to a deeper understanding of Gods plan for our life. So often the things that we think are absolutely necessary for us are really harmful. Father does know best; our Father God. For the Christian, suffering is not all bad, as a matter of fact, suffering in obedient love is what redeemed the world. The crucifix, although it shows intense suffering is really the greatest sign of love in the history of the world. This past week we had the feast days of St. Monica and her son St. Augustine. There would be no St. Augustine if there hadnt been a St. Monica. Augustine was a brilliant young man who became a great teacher, but he left the Catholic faith and joined a cult that appealed to his pride and intelligence. Later he became a skeptic. He lived an immoral life with a woman outside of marriage and had a son out of wedlock; no one could tell him what to do, especially his mother. All of these things caused his mother Monica to weep and pray continually for his soul. Many parents today are

dealing with the same kind of thing and in a strange reversal of events many young people are dealing with their parents who are living far away from God. One day Augustine was anguishing over his life when he seemed to hear a child sing: Take and read. He opened the Bible and read the words of St. Paul: Let us live honorably as in daylight; not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual excess and lust, not in quarreling and jealousy. Rather, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the desires of the flesh. He was completely converted and later became a priest and bishop and a canonized saint. Monica prayed and wept for her son Augustine for 17 years before she saw an answer to her prayers; she willingly embraced the Cross of Christ all of that time. The reaction of Peter in our Gospel was very natural when Jesus predicted His upcoming suffering and death. This takes place right after the Gospel we heard last Sunday when Jesus made Peter the Rock, the head of the Church, giving him the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Peter loves Jesus and cant believe that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed. He responds: God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you. The reaction of Peter is only natural in the face of suffering. How can it have meaning? How can it be a good thing? How could Jesus embrace suffering? Jesus reacts to him in a surprising way, calling him the devil and saying You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as man does. We all have a fear of the Cross. Like Peter, we want to avoid suffering. We tend to think this life should be easy and relaxing and problem free. What we are really talking about is heaven. There we will no longer have suffering, disagreements, sin, hunger and thirst; it will be a perfect place of happiness and total fulfillment. Heaven is not earth! Lets not confuse the two. Jesus tells us point blank what it takes to be His disciple, He doesnt hide anything, nor does He ask us to do something that He wouldnt do. He says: Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. It sounds difficult to be a disciple, only if we think that we are bearing the daily Cross alone. Suffering will come whether we want it or not; it is a part of life. When we offer up our sufferings, Jesus will help us

bear them and make them the road to eternal life. To see the cross as God sees it is to see it as an act of love. Jesus asks a question that should make us think: What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? If we could make this life totally comfortable, filled with pleasures and money and things, is it worth loosing your soul and heaven? Many people sell their souls for a lot less than gaining the whole world. Lets turn to Holy Mary who suffered more than anyone as she stood beneath the Cross of her Son. She accepted all that happened to Jesus as the will of the Father for our good. Mary, help us to bear our daily Cross with Jesus and participate in the redemption of souls.

September 7, 2008Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time We usually only correct people when they make us angry or annoy us enough; then we make it very clear where they have gone wrong. That is not what Jesus is talking about in our Gospel this Sunday when He said If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. This fraternal correction, as the Church has called it is motivated by love, not anger. It cares about the salvation of the other persons soul and how they stand in relation to the truth of God, not about things that are superficial and a matter of difference of opinion. One of the Spiritual Works of Mercy is to Admonish the Sinner. We dont do this because we want to look for peoples faults, but because we have a duty that God has given to us to help one another on the pilgrimage of life. As a matter of practice, we should praise others 4 times for every criticism; talk about doing something difficult! In the First Reading, Ezekiel is told by God If I tell the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way, the wicked shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. This death that God speaks of is death of the soul because of sin. God tells us that we are our brothers keeper. On the other hand, God says But if you warn the wicked, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself. When we teach the truth of Christ and warn them of sin, we have done our duty before God; we cannot control the choices of other people, even your own children. These words from Ezekiel and this duty from God cause me alarm! I have to examine my own conscience. Have I refrained from helping others see the truth because I am afraid that they wont like me or will reject me? When I should have spoken up have I remained silent because it was easier? There is a kind of process in Jesus instruction on fraternal correction. First, go to the person and speak to him privately of his sins. Secondly, bring witnesses to show him it is not just a private opinion, but can be verified by others. Finally, bring him to the Church and if he still refuses to repent, then Jesus says: treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. The term that the Church uses is excommunication. Excommunication is a punishment, but is meant to be medicinal. It calls the person to see how serious their sin is a repent in order to be in communion with the Church

once again. In a real way a person excommunicates himself, just as a person damns himself by his sins. And a person can turn from punishment to reconciliation and glory by deciding to repent, all under the influence of Gods grace. In the year 390, the Emperor Theodosius committed a terrible sin. In a riot over the imprisonment of a popular charioteer, some of the people of Thessalonica in Greece killed the commander of the city by stoning him to death. The emperor reacted in uncontrolled anger. The next time the games were held he ordered the massacre of all the people who went to the amphitheatre. Over 7,000 men, women and children were murdered in a bloodbath by his soldiers. St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan heard about this and excommunicated the Emperor Theodosius. Considering the power of the Roman emperor and his unquestioned authority, it was an extraordinary act of courage on the part of St. Ambrose. He wrote to the emperor: the odium of the crime would fall even more heavily on me, if I were not to declare to you the necessity of becoming reconciled to our God. Put away this sin from you kingdom. You may do that by humbling your soul before God. You are a man, and temptation has come to you; now get the better of it. Tears and penitence alone can take away sin. Neither angel nor archangel can do it. Nay, the Lord Himself grants no remission of sin except to the penitent. I dare not offer the Sacrifice of the Mass if you determine to attend. For can it possibly be right, after the slaughter of so many, to do that which may not be done after the blood of only one innocent person has been shed? On Christmas day, the emperor of the world, went to the cathedral basilica of Milan and humbled himself before God, laying on the floor and begging for His mercy. He made his confession to Bishop Ambrose and was absolved for his sins. The excommunication had worked and brought about repentance. You may be aware that current history has brought about another issue that calls for repentance of the powerful. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, a pro-abortion Catholic, was interviewed on television and totally misrepresented the teaching of the Catholic Church on this foundational moral principle of the sanctity of life. Anyone who knows the most basic teaching of the Church on the immorality of abortion found her words incredible. The bishops of the country reacted very quickly to this public statement because they know that they are responsible if they allow a

public figure to mislead people about the Churchs teaching. Although there hasnt been a public excommunication, the pro-abortion stand of many Catholic politicians puts them out of communion with the Church. It calls for them to acknowledge that they are not above the law of God and that they need to repent. They are going to have to face a more serious judgment because they have been given much and much is expected from them. The verse for the Psalm today calls all of us to listen to the voice of God: If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts. It reminds us of the danger of pride that hardens our hearts. St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. Love, true love, looks for a way to call people back to God; true love softens the blow of correction and allows the sinner to see that God is calling them to be His children, not His enemies. May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus transform our hearts so that we can be the instrument of His Love in the world today.

Exaltation of the Holy CrossSeptember 14, 2008 Unlike some preachers today, Jesus doesnt promise us that following Him will bring us health and wealth or an easy life. The health and wealth Gospel is very appealing, but it is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We heard Him say two Sundays ago that whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. The Holy Cross isnt meant to be an instrument of fear or defeat for the Christian, but the door to eternal happiness. The Feast this Sunday is the Exaltation or Triumph of the Holy Cross. St. Paul says to the Corinthians: We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. . . For the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Cor, 1, 23, 25). Our first reaction to suffering is to reject it and call it useless or foolishness, but St. Paul asks us to look at it from Gods perspective. God has a planand a great plan. In the year 107, St. Ignatius, the bishop of Antioch was arrested for his Christian faith and taken by soldiers to Rome in order to be killed by the wild beasts in the arena for the entertainment of the mobs. On his way he wrote seven letters that we still have as a precious treasure of the life of the early Church. His is the first written record that the Church of Christ was called the Catholic Church. In one letter, he wrote to the Roman Christians that they should not try and stop his martyrdom. Even though being torn to pieces by the lions would be a painful end to his life, he saw Gods plan behind this evil deed. He wrote: I plead with you: show me no untimely kindness. Let me be food for the wild beasts, for they are my way to God. I am Gods wheat and shall be ground by their teeth so that I may become Christs pure bread. Pray to Christ for me that the animals will be the means of making me a sacrificial victim for God. Like the martyrs all throughout history, St. Ignatius saw that his suffering and death would really be victory. The First Reading from todays Holy Mass tells us of a very unusual command from God. He orders Moses to make a statue of a serpent out of bronze and mount it on a pole so that the Jews who were dying of poisonous snake bites might be healed. As a general rule, God forbade the making of any statues by the Jews because of the tendency of ancient peoples to worship them as if they were gods. It seems very strange to us today that

anyone could worship a statue. For us, statues are a visual reminder of the invisible God who became man or the angels and saints who are not visible to us in this world. We love our God, the Blessed Mother and the saints, but a statue or painting is no more than a way for us to remember them. It is just like a husband who goes away on a business trip and takes along a photo of his wife and children because he misses them and the picture reminds him of his loved ones. The crucifix is the greatest symbol of love and forgiveness for us! Back to the First Readingthe Book of Numbers gives us the reason that the people were being bitten by poisonous snakes. It was because they complained against God for rescuing them from slavery and bringing them to the desert; they were tired of the hardships, but instead of asking God for help they condemned Him for the good He had done. He left them to their own devices and the snakes were more than they could handle. They finally ask Moses to pray for them and God tells him to make the bronze statue of the serpent; the image of the very animal that was causing suffering and death would now be the means to heal them. Jesus says that this event was a foreshadowing of the crucifixion. He tells Nicodemus in the Gospel: just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. When Jesus was lifted up on the cross, He bore the wounds of the scourging, the beatings, the crown of thorns, the nails in His hands and feet. He looks like the picture of sin if we could see it visibly. Yet all who look on the Crucified One with faith will be forgiven their sins. His sufferings opened the door for our salvation. Without the Cross, we could never have the hope of heaven. In that famous verse John 3:16, (held up on a sign at so many sporting events) Jesus tells us the purpose of the Crucifixion: For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that He who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. The reason for this is that sacrificial love is the deepest expression of love. When we overcome our selfishness or pride or laziness or lust, we are able to love in a powerful way. Listen to the words written by Pietro Molla, the husband of our patron St. Gianna as he reflected upon the meaning of her death; he wrote these words so that his children would know the kind of woman their mother was: You made your sacrifice for the sake of charity, because of your sense of maternal responsibility, because of the supreme respect you had for that

pregnancy, for the child in your womb who, in your view, had the same inviolable rights as . . . the other babies you had carried and given birth to, as well as those you might have had in the futureall of them were gifts from God. In the months following the operation you suffered so greatly without any complaint! . . . You would not have carried out the heroic act of saving the life of your unborn baby if you had considered it an act of injustice toward our family or a betrayal of the morality that you saw as one with all of Gods laws. . . . But in your humility, you trusted that the Lord would make up for the absence of your visible presence. You believed that you would not be acting unjustly toward our children or toward me, as you accepted the Lords will, knowing that I, even in my distress, shared your faith and love. At the Last Supper, on the night before He died, Jesus described His upcoming Passion and Death as His glorification. When Judas left to betray Him, He said to the Apostles: Now is the Son of man glorified, and in him God is glorified; if God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once (John 13:31). The Cross is the way to glory, if we ask Jesus for strength and wisdom to see our sufferings in its light. The Blessed Virgin Mary loved her Son more than anyone could; she accepted the will of God and stood beneath the Cross as Our Lady of Sorrows. She stood with unwavering faith and hope in the resurrection, even as she was united to the Heart of Jesus who turned defeat into glory! Holy Mary, help us to be united to the pierced Heart of your Son.

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary TimeSeptember 21, 2008 This parable is not meant to teach us about the just wage that the owner of a business should give to those who work for him. After all, the master in the parable gives the same wage to those who worked for only an hour as those who worked all day in the hot sun. This parable is definitely not the way to boost morale among the work force. The owner first gave those who worked for only an hour the full days wage and secondly those who worked longer, the same amountthey naturally expected more pay and resented the fact that they didnt get it. This parable is not about economics, but about spiritual truths that Jesus wants us to know. The master of the vineyard in the parable is God who doesnt just give us a days wage, but freely gives us sanctifying grace and eternal life. We cannot earn heaven or grace; all that we can do is accept or reject Gods gift. Heaven is a reward beyond all our imagining. As a matter of fact, our imaginations cannot really help us. Sometimes people say heaven will be an unending golf game on the most beautifully manicured course or an eternal supply of chocolate that doesnt make you fat. The problem with these ideas is not that they are too great, but they are too small! St. Paul had a vision of heaven and reports no eye has seen, nor ear heard nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him. We cannot imagine anything as great as Gods gift of eternal life; nothing in this world compares to it. It is like the little girl who was taking a walk one night with her father and they were looking at the glory of the stars reaching from one end of the sky to the other. The little girl looked up at her daddy and said, I was just thinking if the wrong side of heaven is so beautiful, how wonderful the right side must be. This parable teaches about the generosity of God. At the time of Jesus, the normal way to find employment at harvest time was to go to the town square in the morning and wait for the owners to hire you; they needed extra workers. Those who were hard workers got up early and were ready to go; those who were lazy got up later and went into the town square, perhaps hoping they wouldnt be hired and get a day off. This Master of the vineyard is so generous that he doesnt hesitate to hire the less than desirable workers and give them the full days wage even though some only worked an hour. The workers in the vineyard who didnt get more for their longer

hours of work start complaining and the Master replies: My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous? God is indeed generous with us. We read in the First Reading from the Old Testament: My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts. We cannot forget the difference between the infinite, perfect, almighty God and ourselves, but in Jesus Christ we now have access to heaven and the very life of God. Jesus came to make us sons and daughters of God and wants to be the Lord of our lives. This is a good question to ask myself: Is Jesus Lord of my life? Is He the King and head of my family? The purpose of the consecration of the family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is to make a public affirmation that He is the King who rules in my home and we are determined to live in a way that pleases Him. Is Jesus Lord of my daily work or do I forget about serving Him by doing my job well and treating my co-workers with Christian charity? Is Jesus Lord of my recreation and hobbies so that they really make me a better person, refreshed, and able to serve others? Is Jesus Lord of my money so that I dont waste it on frivolous things, but give a generous return to God for the poor and the needs of the Church? Is Jesus Lord of my time, so that I dont let hours and days and years of my life slip by uselessly? Is Jesus Lord of my sufferings so that I unite them to Him, one by one? Is Jesus really Lord of my life or am I holding back? What I am talking about can be summarized with the word stewardship. When we hear that word, we think first of all, of money, but it really is a whole way of living ones life in reference to God. Stewardship involves giving to God my time, talents and treasure. It means making Jesus the Lord of every aspect of my life. There is an insert in the bulletin for this Stewardship Sunday that reminds us of the joy of putting God in the first place of our livesof being good stewards of all that He has given us. St. Pauls words to the Corinthians concerning his death could only be spoken by a man who made Jesus Lord of His life. In our Second Reading, he wrote: For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. Every aspect of

his life has been given over to Jesus Christlife is Christ. He endured numerous sufferings and traveled untold miles for the sake of preaching the Gospel and laying the foundation of the Church in city after city in Asia Minor and Greece. Nonetheless, death is gain because he will be with Jesus Christ forever. He is not afraid of death! He ponders in his letter: if I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. I do not know which I shall choose. I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better. St. Paul has a holy indifference to death. Whatever God wants for him, he will accept: Jesus is Lord of his life! Remember the first words of Pope Benedict when he was elected Pope? He had been given the stewardship of the whole Church; he spoke from the great balcony of St. Peters Basilica and he humbly said: Dear brothers and sisters, After the great Pope John Paul II, the Cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord. The fact that the Lord knows how to work and to act even with inadequate instruments comforts me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers. Let us move forward in the joy of the Risen Lord, confident of his unfailing help. The Lord will help us and Mary, His Most Holy Mother, will be on our side. We each have to pray, Jesus help me to make you the Lord of my life!

September 28, 2008Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Neither of the two sons is obedient to their fathers legitimate command at the beginning of this parable in todays Gospel. The first son simply refuses to do the work that his father asked him to do; the second son, maybe with good intentions or simple hypocrisy, never does what he says he will do. It is only after a time that the first son gives it some thought and repenting his words goes to the field to work for his father. Jesus compares two groups of people to these two sons. The sinnersthe tax collectors and the prostituteslistened to John the Baptist and converted. They are like the first son in the parable. Jesus then says to the chief priests and elders of the people who are like the second son: When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him. The example of sinners turning back to God should have been a clear sign to them, but it wasnt; they had hardened their hearts. This parable is important for our spiritual lives. God is not just calling us to be saved, to give us the gift of eternal lifeHe is calling us to become saints. The road to sanctity involves struggle and perseverance and never loosing heart. It is not just a one time commitment, but a daily, ongoing commitment to be a disciple of Christ. Jesus tells us Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life and those who find it are few (Matt. 7:13-14). We can forget that the Lord is calling us to something great and noble. We can take Him for granted along with all the holy means of the Bible and the sacraments and the Catholic Church that will help us become holy. We can become numb to the presence of God and the true purpose of life. Dont you feel the pressure of the world pulling us away from Christ? Someone once said that the only tragedy in life is not to become a saint. It is not necessary that you become well known or make a fortune, but it is necessary that you become a saint. How do we do that? St. Paul says in our Second ReadingHave in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus. Have the mind of Christ; think like Christ Jesus thinks. Then in that beautiful hymn or poem he tells

the Philippians the way that Christ thinks and acts. He begins, even though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Jesus is the Son of God from all eternity, equal to His Father and the Holy Spirit in every wayin glory, power, knowledge and majesty. It was not the true Son of God who grasped at the majesty of God, but the devil, who declared I will not serve. Then St. Paul tells us the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity wanted to serve, so He emptied himself, coming in human likeness. This is the great mystery of the Incarnation that the Son of God, while still remaining God now takes on our human nature to live and teach and heal and reconcile us to God. He never used His Divine power for His own comfort or glory; it was only used to bring man to God. He came to serve othersthat is the mind of Christ. If I want to make my life worthwhile, I have to learn how to serve others, beginning in my own family, but not ending there. St. Paul continues, He humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Jesus came to give Himself as a sacrifice for our sins so that we who couldnt pay back the debt of sin would be free. The attitude of Jesus is sacrificial love. If I want to have the attitude of Christ, I have to learn how to deny myself, to repent of my sins and learn how to love as He loves me. This passage concludes with the glory that the Father gives to His Son: God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend . . . and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. God has always promised us a reward, even as we heard from the Prophet Ezekiel in the First Reading: if he turns from the wickedness he has committed, he does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life; since he has turned away from all the sins that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. We now know that if we live with Christ here on earth have the same attitude of Christwe will reign with Him forever in eternal life. The Church Year, with all its feasts and fasts, is meant to help us live with Christ throughout year. The Church Calendar or the Church Year is a brilliant piece of work. We start the Church year with Advent to prepare for the birth of Jesus at Christmas. We celebrate the events of His life, such as, the Presentation in the Temple when Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus to fulfill the customary rites of the law and Simeon recognized his Savior; His

baptism by John in the River Jordan when He was to begin His public life; His Transfiguration upon the mountain when the three apostles saw the glory of God shining through Him. Each Lent helps us to imitate Jesus who fasted and prayed in the desert so that we can prepare for the events of the Last Supper, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Each feast day on the calendar helps us to be close to Jesus. The Bible readings are especially chosen to fit these celebrations so that we can understand their meaning. Along with the events in the life of Mary and the lives of the saints throughout history, the whole life of Christ is presented year after year so that we can live with Christ and learn to have the mind of Christ.

Two years ago, this past week, we celebrated our first Sunday Mass as a parish, here in this building; always with the idea that we would build a beautiful Church and school on the 25 acres off Highway N. This week we are beginning a 5 week comprehensive survey of the parish called a feasibility study. If we as a parish choose to move forward, the study will provide us with information to prioritize our goals and establish a realistic campaign goal. You probably noticed some drawings as you entered the Church this morning. The Building Committee has been working with our architect over this past year to come up with a plan. This plan is provisional; it could be, and probably will be changed. The First Phase is a Foundational Church which will later be turned into a parish hall and the beginning of a school. The Foundational Church will seat about 350 and will be simple, but a beautiful place to worship. During this feasibility study you will be asked to give your input either by a personal interview or a written survey that you can just return in the bulletin. It is very important that every parishioner participate; we need your thoughts and desires in order to know how to proceed.

October 5, 2008Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus summarizes the whole history of Israel in this parable. He uses the image of a vineyard to represent Israel. We said in the Responsorial Psalm The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel. The vineyard planted by the owner and leased to the tenant farmers is the perfect place to grow grapes. We hear all that he did to make the perfect vineyard: put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. It will ensure a fruitful harvest. God gave Israel all that she needed to be a faithful people and live a happy life under His Law. They were his chosen people and He meant them to be the beginning of the redemption of all peoples and nations. But so often in their history they forgot God, trusted in their own strength and turned to the worship of idols and worldly power and pleasure. If they remembered their place as His chosen people and trusted in the Lord God, they would be protected when their enemies attacked. If you remember the story from the book of Judges (Ch. 7), the Midianites would attack Israel just when the fields were ready to be harvested, destroying all their crops. Gideon was chosen by God to lead Israel, but it turned out that he had far too many soldiers, for God Himself was going to save His people. When Gideon told those who were afraid that they could leave, 22,000 returned home and 10,000 remained, but there were still too many, so Gideon whittled them down to only 300 men. Even though the Midianites were so many that they looked like locusts covering the valley, Gideon took his little army in the middle of the night to their camp. With trumpets in one hand and jars covering torches in the other, they went into the camp blowing the trumpets and breaking the jars so the torches could be seen and the whole Midianite army woke up in terror and fled. Gideon and his men didnt even draw a sword. It was obviously the power of God, not man, which won the victory. However, when Israel turned from God to trust in their own power they were always overmatched by their enemies. Armies, such as those from Assyria, Babylonia and Rome would attack and overwhelm them throughout their history. But God is so patient and generous that He would never forget His people and like the owner in the parable who sent his servants again and again to collect his harvest, God would send the judges and prophets to His people. More often than not, they wouldnt listen to Gods messengers.

Jesus tells us in the parable that the owner doesnt just forget or destroy the tenants, he gives them even morehe sends his son as his final messenger. God the Father didnt abandon us, but sent His Son as the final and perfect messenger of His love. It is only after the rejection of the son that the final reckoning takes place and so it is for us. Now is the time of mercy, after death will be the time of justice. I have long thought that the most important lesson that God wants us to learn in life is how to live sacrificial love. The purpose of Jesus life was to offer Himself on the Cross so that our sins could be forgiventhe greatest example of sacrificial love. However, I am beginning to think that the most difficult lesson for us to learn is to trust wholeheartedly in God. We too often turn to our own strength, which is really not very strong; we trust in our own knowledge and wisdom, which are not very great. As soon as some trial or temptation comes along we fail to trust in God and turn away from Him. It is no wonder that we are so often confused and depressed. St. Paul instructs us in the Second Reading: Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. When we trust in God with all of our heart and pray, we will find true peace and happiness. To find peace means that we also have to root sin out of our lives. The First Reading from Isaiah uses the image of a vineyard to represent Israel. He says that even though a good crop was planted in the vineyard he looked for the crop of grapes, but what it yielded was wild grapes. They were hard and sour and useless. The wild grapes have to be rooted out because if you dont they would eventually take over the whole vineyard and it would be totally worthless. Sin is like the wild grapes that turn our lives sour and make us sad and depressed. We have to keep rooting sin out by examining our consciences and going to Confession. The Sacrament of Penance isnt just for Advent and Lent, but is meant to help us throughout the year. Sin doesnt afflict us only twice a year, but is constantly making us miserable. As a parish, we also have to look to God with trust in regard to building our permanent home. It would be easy to be discouraged at this moment in history; we could dwell on how difficult the task is because of the state of housing and mortgages and the worries of the economy and the upcoming election. If I were to only look at my poor talents and the state of the world I

would have to say this is the worst time to found a new parishbut if I look at what God can do, then this is as good a time as any to undertake this work of St. Gianna Parish. Trust in the strength of God, not in our poor efforts, and we will succeed! This past week we had two Feast Days of AngelsSts. Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and the Guardian Angels. God has given us these heavenly spirits to enlighten and guard and guide usthere are twice as many persons in this Church praying than our eyes can seewe each have our Guardian Angel. We should rely on our angels help in our daily lives. Just because some paintings and statues make the angels look weak and wimpy, dont be fooled. The angels are the most powerful and wise creatures that God has made. I always pray to my Guardian Angel when I get in a car and especially when I flyan angel can hold up the whole airplane on one little finger! There is a spiritual battle that is taking place all around us and the angels are on our side, if we invoke them, in the battle with the devil. St. Michael, the archangel, defend us in battle, be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil.

October 12, 2008Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Heaven is often pictured as a great wedding banquet in the Holy Bible. We have such abundance when it comes to food, but in ancient times, people were always struggling to get enough food just to survive. The wedding banquet was one of the few times that the people would stop and celebrate with a great feast. It was a very appealing image to them. Isaiah uses the wedding banquet to describe the time when God would fulfill all of His promises: On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines. It will be a time of rejoicing, abundance and unity for all people on Gods holy mountainin His kingdom. You have probably heard the story that says all the people condemned to hell are actually sitting around a long table filled with the very best food and drink. They can eat as much as they want as long as they use the forks provided. However, the people in hell are starving and bitter and hopeless because the forks are four feet long and their arms cannot bend. They cannot reach their mouths with the forks and all they can do is longingly look at the food in misery and starve. In heaven, the situation in surprisingly the same! There is the same long table with an infinite abundance of food and drink; the same four foot forks and they cannot bend their arms. However, in heaven everyone is happy and fulfilled and satisfied because they are using the long forks to feed one another. Love and thinking of others reigns in heaven! We are either heading toward heaven or hell right now. It is sad that so many people are wrapped up in a miserable little world of themselves. They do not think of others, but are concerned only with their own pleasure or pain, with their own desires or misery. They are living hell on earth, even if they have great wealth and fame and appear happy on the outside. On the other hand, those who give of themselves in love, who are looking out for others, who desire to do what God wants are happy and heading toward heaven no matter what suffering they have in this life. The good news is that we can change our lives with Gods mercy and our efforts! St. Paul tells us that the conditions of this world, good or bad, should not determine our happiness or meaning. He says: I know how to live in humble circumstance; I know also how to live with abundance. In every

circumstance and in all things I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need. I can do all things in him who strengthens me. This is true for all of uswe can do all things in God who gives us the strength. If it only depended upon me, it would be impossible to reach happiness and heaven, but at the same time, God insists that I participate in my salvation by being faithful to His commandments repenting of my sins and doing His Divine Will. I can do all things in Him who strengthens me. Our country is going through a time of testing in many ways and it is a test for each one of us. Does your happiness depend upon the direction of the Stock Market? Does your purpose in life depend upon your bank account or the comforts that you have? Too many people have built their lives only upon the things of this world and we can see how fragile that is. We have to build our lives upon the firm foundation of faith in Jesus Christ, upon the rock of His Church. The words of the Holy Bible are more reliable than the words of economists and financial advisors. Recently, Pope Benedict speaking at the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God commented: We now see in the collapse of the great banks: money disappears, turns to nothing and all these things, which seem like the true reality on which we can count are realities of a second order. One who builds his life on these realities, on objects, on success, or everything visible, builds on sand. The Word of God is the foundation of every reality, fixed as the heavens and more than the heavens. We have to realize that people are more important than money. The first Christians realized a very profound truth; it has been simply stated that we are in the world, but not of the world. They lived their lives in cities like anyone else, they worked in all the same occupations as their neighbors, raised their families, acted as good citizens, just like those who were not Christians. But at the same time they knew they had their citizenship in heaven. St. Justin the Martyr wrote in the year 200 that Christians reside in the respective countries, but only as aliens. They take part in everything as citizens and put up with everything as foreigners. Every foreign land is their home, and every home a foreign land. They knew that this world was passing and that their true home awaited them in the eternal banquet of heaven. The parable that we heard this Sunday again uses the image of a wedding banquet thrown by a great king. Those who were originally invited refused

to come: Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. Doesnt this remind you of people today who say they dont have time for Sunday Mass or daily prayer, but are busy with everything else? We have been invited by Jesus to be a part of His Kingdom, his Church here on earth. We are here at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass which He instituted and in which we receive the most Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus in Holy Communion. If we only understand, this is the Sacred Banquet that foreshadows the eternal banquet of heaven. St. Thomas Aquinas expressed it in this prayer: O Sacred Banquet in which Christ is received, the memory of His Passion is renewed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary TimeOctober 26, 2008 The greatest power in the world does not come from weapons or armies, nor does it come from wealth and finances; the greatest power in the world is love. Jesus shows us the power of love by His life and death on the cross. His love redeemed the world! The Servant of God, Pope John Paul II wrote in his encyclical on Divine Mercy: Love is more powerful than sin, more powerful than death. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is, He responds with the Law of Love: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love is something that can motivate us to do great things, but do not think that He has given us the easy road. Christian love involves a struggle, not only with outside forces, but forces within our selves. I once met an American who joined a strict monastery in Italythey stayed within its walls, living and working and praying for life, they never ate meat and practiced many other penances. He told me that the thing he missed most wasbarbecue. Then he went on to compare the Christian life to a mountain climber. If you are going to reach the top, you have to leave everything except what is absolutely necessary; you certainly cant carry a barbecue pit with you up the side of a mountain! The Law of Love allows us to reach great heights, but it is difficult, and involves many sacrifices, as well as, perseverance and toughness. The goal that Jesus gives us in striving to live the Law of Love is the only worthwhile thing that we can achieve on earth. Everything else is passing and temporary, but deeds of love bear fruit for eternity. In addition to the Law of Love, we also need the Ten Commandments of God and the laws of the Church to form our conscience. In our First Reading we heard a passage from Exodus that breaks the 10 Commandments down into very practical guidelines for the Jewish people. Those prescriptions of the Law may only fit a particular time or culture that doesnt correspond to our own, but they are based on truths that are for all times and places. If the Law of Love is like a mountain that we are to climb, then the Commandments of God and the Church are like a wall around the base of

the mountain. After all, I dont always act with the best of motives, sometimes I am tempted and my human weakness pulls at me to sin. I need the law of God to tell me when I am no longer living in love but am in danger of turning away from God. When I cross over that wall of the commandments Thou shall not I am warned that I need to repent and return to the right way of acting. Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, a former priest from St. Louis, reminds us of our duty to live by the Law of Love and the commandments of God as citizens of our great country, he wrote Our Catholic moral principles teach that a candidates promise of economic prosperity is insufficient to justify their constant support of abortion law, including partial-birth abortion, and infanticide for born-alive infants. Promotion of the Freedom of Choice Act is a pledge to eliminate every single limit on abortions achieved over the last thirty-five years. The real freedom that is ours in Jesus Christ compels us, not to take life, but to defend it. To live as a follower of Christ is not easy and calls us to base our lives on something higher than our own opinions or our own selfinterest. In the Catholic Church we have two sacraments of love: Holy Matrimony and the Holy Eucharist. In marriage a man and a woman must find a way to love each other even when the honeymoon is over. Love is not just a warm feeling that comes and goes depending upon our mood; it is a commitment that takes great effort. Those of you who are married in the Church heard the words of the vows: I take you for my lawful wife (or husband), to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. You didnt say I will stay married to you as long as things are going well, as long as we have no problems, as long as the warm feelings last. You said even if things get worse or we get poorer or one of us gets sick we will love each other all the days of our life. Love isnt love if it only exists when life is easy and you are getting what you want from the other person. The covenant of Matrimony is meant to reflect the love of Christ for His Church and the Church for Christ. We know how Jesus showed His love for usby the Cross and the Church, especially in her martyrs, has returned that love down through the ages. A husband and wife have to learn how to love each other without asking for return; they must be willing to give, even

when it hurts. St. Paul tells us that Christian love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Cor. 12:7). The other Sacrament of Love is the Holy Eucharist because there Jesus gives Himself totally to us as food for our souls. Again and again, we experience in a sacramental way, the renewal of Calvary in the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass. We receive JesusBody, Blood, Soul and Divinity in Holy Communion. How much closer can He get to us! He wants the love of His Sacred Heart to penetrate our cold and hardened hearts so that we may genuinely learn how to love. In the Holy Eucharist, Jesus heals us and teaches how to live the Law of Love.

November 2, 2008All Souls Day There is a saying: You wont get out of this world alive! It is true that death come to us all; we only have a limited amount of time in this world. However, our hope as Christians is the exact opposite. We believe that death is merely a moment in time and that Jesus came into this world so that we could have resurrection and eternal life because He has conquered the power of death. He said: I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die (John 11:25-26). The hope of heaven is deep in the heart of every human being, even if he does not realize it. We know that we are made for something more than this world. Even though heaven was closed until Jesus rose from the dead, the people of the Old Testament knew that death wasnt the end. In the first Reading from the Book of Wisdom, it says: The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace. When the faithful die they are still connected to us in the Communion of the Church. Just because I cant see them here on earth doesnt break the bond with my loved ones, but can actually intensify it. In Christ, we are more united than ever, even though our loved ones are dead in the sight of this world. Yesterday, we celebrated All Saints Day, remembering our brothers and sisters throughout history who reached the final goal of eternal life in heaven. They can pray for us because of our unity in the Church. We need to ask them for their prayers, especially Holy Mary, St. Joseph, St. Gianna and our patron saints. Today we are recalling the souls of the Faithful Departed who need a final purification from sin before they are ready for heaven. St. John teaches us in the Book of Revelation as he sees the Kingdom of Heaven in a vision that nothing unclean shall enter it (Rev. 21:27). Sin has its consequences that must be punished or redeemed before we are ready for eternal life. That is accomplished in the place of Purgatorya word which means forgiveness. Jesus paid the price of the eternal punishment that our sins deserve because they offend the very majesty of God by His saving death on the Cross. That isnt the only consequence of our sins; there is also the

temporal punishment that we are responsible for. Even in our imperfect legal system we realize that a man who embezzles $1 million from his company must first pay a price of jail time since he broke the law, but also must pay his companys stockholders the $1 million back. That is only a matter of justice. Our sins affect the people around us and in a way the whole Church. If we die free of mortal sin, we may still have venial sins that we didnt repent of and the temporal punishment of sin that we didnt repay. We would not be happy in heaven until all is reconciled. That is only a matter of justice and mercy. God is so good to give us this place of Purgatory so that we may have one last chance to make atonement. All souls in Purgatory are eventually going to heaven and our communion with them in Christ allows us to pray for them to assist them on the way and for them to pray for us. The Church triumphant in heaven; the Church suffering in Purgatory and the Church militant, still struggling on earth are one Church. This Monday we are going to extend our weekly time of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to an all night vigil. I invite you to come at any time from the 8:00 Mass on Monday through the 8:00 Mass on Tuesday morning to pray for the elections. Never in my lifetime have I seen this kind of direction by the bishops of our country to ask people to make extraordinary efforts to pray for the outcome of an election. Bishops from across the country have made it clear in Apostolic Letters that Catholics must form their consciences upon the clear teaching of the Church not cooperate in evil by supporting candidates who will without a doubt push our country to the extreme limits of the abortion mentality. It shows how absolutely critical this election is for the good of our country and the pro-life movement. Through the Freedom of Choice Act the next congress and president will have an opportunity to undo all the advances that we have made in the prolife movement. The opposite stands on abortion, the Freedom of Choice Act and same sex marriage between the two presidential candidates couldnt be clearer. Sometimes people say we shouldnt base our vote on one issue alone. The right to life is a foundational issue. If you build a building using the best windows and doors and brick and electrical and plumbing materials, but you have a foundation that is deteriorating, it doesnt really matter how well the rest of the building is built. It will soon fall and become useless when the foundation gives way. The right to life is at the very root of what makes our

country great. To destroy that right will eventually lead to the destruction of our country because its very foundation will be rotten. Jesus did not come into this world and die on the cross so that we could claim a right to destroy our childrenthose souls that He created in His own Divine image at the moment of conception. He is the resurrection and the life! God will not bless a land that destroys its children! I often wonder how long the Lord will permit this to go on! We need to pray in this Holy Mass, the Rosary and at the Eucharistic Adoration this Monday that God will work a miracle for our country. Holy Mary, Mother of Life Himself, pray for us.

November 9, 2008Dedication of St. John Lateran People think that they know what the Catholic Church is; that they can fit it into a nice definition or stereotype or prejudice. The Church was established by Jesus Christ and it is a mystery of Gods love. It is mysterious! The Church is visible such as in the members of our parish or in her hospitals, in her care for the poor and for the unborn, but it is also invisible and universal. Her sacraments and prayers affect the whole world in a mystical, unseen way. The Church is the Kingdom of God here on earth that will only be fulfilled and completed when all her members reach the fullness of heaven. The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ and in the Holy Bible is compared to a sheepfold, a vineyard, the new Jerusalem and our Mother. Today we are thinking about a very natural comparison of the Church to a building, the Temple of the Lord. We are celebrating the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran. We usually think of St. Peters Basilica in Rome when we think of a great church building connected to the Pope. St. John Lateran was built by the Emperor Constantine in the year 324 on the property owned by the Laterani family and is dedicated to St. John the Apostle and St. John the Baptist. Every diocesan bishop has a church with a chair or throne called a cathedra that symbolizes his teaching authority. The church with the cathedra is called the cathedral. St. John Lateran is the cathedral church of the Pope and is given the grand title: Mother of the Churches of the city of Rome and the world. As a parish, we know how important it is to have our own building where we can worship God and gather as a community of faith, since we dont have one yet. A church building is more than brick and mortar, marble and woodit is a symbol. It stands for something more than the eye can see. In our gospel, Jesus goes to the great Temple of Jerusalem which is the dwelling place of God on earth. Gods presence is in the temple in a unique way. When He arrives He finds a disgraceful scene. The place where the non-Jewish people are allowed to pray, the Court of the Gentiles, was filled with money changers and animals to be sold for sacrificeno one could pray there. In one way, those merchants were performing a service. You were not allowed to pay the temple tax with foreign coins that had pagan kings or deities upon them so the money had to be changed to Jewish coins. Also, not everyone could bring and animal for sacrifice so they conveniently sold them right there at the entrance. However, these merchants were not

there out of reverence, but to make money and they were selling animals for sacrifice that were the worst of a flock, rather than the best. In any case, Jesus gets angry and overturns the tables and makes a cord of whips to chase them out. What a sight it must have been to see the just anger of God blazing forth! Our Lord is then confronted by the temple officials who ask: What sign can you show us for doing this? He responds by saying, Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. Jesus is no longer talking about a physical building, but as the apostle notes, He is talking about the temple of His body. That Jerusalem Temple which held the Presence of God was meant to be replaced by Jesus, who is true God and true man. He is the presence of God on earth. St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading: You are Gods building. . . . Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? It is because of the sacrament of Baptism and particularly the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist that we are in union with Jesus Christ. He makes us holy; through His Holy Spirit we become the holy temple of God. St. Caesarius preached on the anniversary of basilica: My fellow Christians, do we wish to celebrate joyfully the birth of this temple? Then let us not destroy the living temples of God in ourselves by works of evil. We must prepare our hearts to be as beautiful as we expect this church to be. Do you wish this basilica to be full of light? God too wishes that you soul be not in darkness, but that the light of good works shine in us, so that He who dwells in the heavens will be glorified. What does a Catholic Church building represent? It represents the people of God, hierarchically arranged pope, bishops, priests, deacons and lay faithful who are living stonesworshipping God and living their lives united to Jesus Christ who is the foundation and the cornerstone. Sometimes people will say I dont need a church to pray or The church gets in my way. That is really a sad misunderstanding of the Church founded by Jesus Christ. The Church is our brothers and sisters in the faith and is meant to help us to come to worship God in the way He wants. Also, the Church keeps us from falling for false ideas by giving us the true teachings of Jesus. Holy Mother Church keeps us from being centered upon ourselves and allowing our human weakness to deceive us. It is so easy to give into the world, which is constantly lowering the bar of what is right and wrong. The Church keeps calling us to keep our sight on Jesus and the goal of heaven.

In our First Reading, Ezekiel recounts a vision of the temple from which a stream of water flows down through the plain and into the sea. This water has great power for it turns the salt water into fresh water and cause all kinds of life to flourish, so much so that the fruit trees are constantly bearing fruit, and their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail. Every month, they shall bear fresh fruit for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. This water is the grace of God which gives us lifeeternal life. If you remember the Baltimore Catechism there was a picture that put this vision of Ezekiel in Christian terms: it showed St. Peters Basilica as the new temple on a hill and from it flows seven streams of water which represent the seven sacraments and dear drinking from the streams represent us who receive these life-giving waters in the sacraments. It is the Church alone that gives us the Holy Eucharist, which is the real Presence of Jesus Christ in the world. It is the Bread of Life which we need on this long journey. He remains with us in the Blessed Sacrament in the Tabernacle for us to adore and love. It is no wonder that many Churches put over their doors This is the House of God and the Gate of Heaven. The Catholic Church spread throughout the world in her countless people and their works of charity, her sacraments, her teachings and institutions that make Jesus alive in the world today. Lets ask Mary, Mother of the Church to pray for us so that we may be grateful for the heavenly Fathers gift of the Roman Catholic Church founded by his Son Jesus.

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary TimeNovember 16, 2008 In the time of Jesus a talent was a unit of money like a 100 dollar bill is to us. In English a talent is a special ability or aptitude like someone who has the talent to play the piano or to play soccer. The English use of the word helps us to understand the parable of Jesus concerning the master who leaves three servants different amounts of money. He is really talking about more than money. The master gives one man five talents, another two and the lastone. It is important for us to realize that God has given each one of us talents or gifts; each one of us has a part to play in Gods plan of salvation and each of us is loved by God with an infinite love. There are always those who are smarter or less intelligent than me; those who are more virtuous or less; those who have this gift or that gift that I dont have. We are not all equal in the gifts, talents and graces, but we all have a sufficient amount. We should not be jealous of those who have a gift that we dont have, including money, but learn how to develop the talents that God has given us. For when he returns home the master expects his servants to give him a return on the money he gave them. The first two men who were given five talents and two talents doubled their masters money. He responds: Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your masters joy. This is a glimpse of judgment day; those who live a life faithful to Jesus and use His gifts well will receive the reward of eternal joy in the Kingdom of Heaven. The third man tells the master that he is just giving back the single talent that he was given because he buried it out of fear of losing it. That is not good enough! The master says he should at least have put it in the bank so he could have the interest. I dont know what interest rate was in Jesus day, but it is so low today, you might just as well bury it in the back yard! But notice the master didnt demand that he double the money like the other two servants, but only get interest from the banksomething is better than nothing. He is called a wicked, lazy servant and his judgment is throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be waling and grinding of teeth. This corresponds to condemnation to hell.

It is important to note that to be a good and faithful servant doesnt have to be anything showy or extraordinary. The First Reading from the Book of Proverbs tells us of a good and faithful servant of God who is an ordinary wife. It says that her husband, entrusting his heart to her, has an unfailing prize. She brings him good, and not evil, all the days of her life. She is doing the ordinary things of a wife in her day and that is enough to commend her virtue: Give her the reward for her labors, and let her works praise her at the city gates. This parable of the talents, also tells us that we should not waste the spiritual gifts that God has given us in the sacraments. He has invested a tremendous treasure of grace in us through baptism and particularly, the Holy Eucharist. This investment did not come cheaply, it cost Him His life. Every Holy Mass contains the entire Passion of Christ; it contains the whole of the Redemption; it contains Jesus who comes to us in Holy Communion. I wonder how so many Catholics can skip Sunday Mass without a serious reason and not give it a thought. Their actions show that they judge this awesome gift of God as a thing that has no value. They throw away the gift of God the Father, which is nothing less than His Son Jesus, for a soccer game or and extra hour of sleep! When they come before Jesus on Judgment Day is He going to say Well done, my good and faithful servant. Come, share your masters joy when they treated Him with such disdain? This parable also speaks to us as a parish at this time in our history. We have embarked on a capitol campaign to build a permanent home on our property on Highway N. Many people have volunteered to leadership positions and I am grateful for their help. The thing that has impressed me since we founded our parish some two years ago is the willingness of you the parishioners to jump in and work for the establishment of this parish. Most of you left a parish where everything was in placeyou had a church, school, programs of all sortsyet you were willing to respond to the call of the Churchof Jesus, and start from scratch at the new parish of St. Gianna. That takes courage and faith, which not everyone has! I believe that what we are doing is Gods will. He is the one who wanted this parish established and built. This isnt just a human effort. But it is a fact of life that buildings cost money; they arent put up by wishes and dreams. These are hard times economically for all of us as we have seen the stock market slide and financial institutions failbut the things in this life are never totally secure. If we wait to act when everything is going well

then we will never move forward because that day will never comethere will always be excuses. I cannot help but think of the parish of St. Philip Neri from which we received the beautiful stained glass windows and marble baldachino and the pews you are sitting on. Their parish church, which was of the highest quality, was completed in 1933, right in the middle of the Great Depression. They had to have great faith, love for God and a spirit of sacrifice that allowed the parish to be built in a time of the greatest economic hardship in our history. People say that that kind of devotion is a thing of the pastpeople today care more about their own comforts than the glory of God. I do not believe that is true from my experience as a pastor and my experience here over the last two and one half years. The people of this parish love God and love the Church. I also believe that we cannot build this parish if we are only going to give from the leftovers that God has given us. It is going to take sacrifice on the part of each one of us. I pray that God will help me first of all, to have courage and faith, and you to be good stewards of the gifts that He has given ustime, talents and treasure. We come back to where we started-God wants us to use out talents well and make a generous return to Him for all that He has given us. St. Gianna, pray for us.

November 23, 2008Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King After death, each one of us will face two judgments: the particular judgment at the moment of death and the general or final judgment at the end of the world when Jesus comes again in glory. When the Sacred Scripture speaks about judgment it usually refers to the final judgment as in the Gospel parable this Sunday. Jesus said: When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit upon His glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before Him. And He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. At the end of our lives we are going to have to give an account to Jesus of our good deeds and our sinsthose sins that I have consciously committed in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do. Because of the gift of Gods mercy, particularly in the Sacrament of Penance, we should be able to go before Jesus with repentant hearts that have partaken of His mercy throughout our lives. We will either receive the reward of heaven, or most likely, a period of purification in Purgatory and then heaven, or condemnation to hell. Even though we may not look forward to judgment day, we all do want justice. Every time we hear of a child who is abused or a poor person who is cheated, we ask why God doesnt do something about it. Where is His justice? In this world there will never be perfect justiceat times, the good will suffer and the guilty will prosper. God always wants to give everyone a sufficient amount of time to convertbut on judgment day the Lord will bring about perfect justice. At the final judgment, the results of the particular judgment will be reaffirmed, but then we will see Gods great plan in all its fullness and beauty. If you have ever seen a real tapestry from the back it looks like a tangle of threads and knots; it has colors and patterns that are random and without purpose. However, when you turn it around and look at the front you see a beautiful picture that was carefully sown with a definite plan and pattern. Life often seems to be without meaning like the back of a tapestry, but at the final judgment we will see that God really has been guiding the world to a glorious conclusion and that all things have indeed worked for the good for those who love Him. When we examine our lives as we stand before God, we have to hold two ideas. First, we have to acknowledge our sinfulness and that we cannot do

anything good without His mercy. I dont know if you noticed that they have changed the words of the hymn Amazing Grace. (It really irritates me.) The hymn used to read Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. Now it reads that saved and set me free. It is apparently too negative to call ourselves a wretch! I was joking with a priest friend recently, and I said I think that if they really had their way they would change it to Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a person with great self-esteem and self-worth like me. (They just didnt have enough notes to fit!) Did you know that that song was written by John Newton a one time British slave trader? He had shipped slaves in the most deplorable and inhuman conditions imaginable in order to sell them as property or work them to death on sugar plantations. One day he came to the realization of his many sins and repented. He knew that he was a wretch who had been saved by Gods mercy and he spent the rest of his life in prayer and penance. His good friend was William Wilberforce, a member of the British parliament, who dedicated his life to the effort to ban slavery in the British Empire. Now we may not have 20,000 ghosts haunting our consciences as John Newton did, but is it too hard for us to admit that we too are wretches who need the mercy and grace of God. If we cannot admit that we are sinners, we may be able to fool ourselves and others, but we will not fool God. If we live in denial of our sinfulness, judgment day will truly be a thing to fear because we will then be forced to see ourselves as we truly are. Secondly, when we examine our lives before God, we also have to see ourselves, not only as sinners, but as sons and daughters who are loved with an infinite love. God doesnt stop loving us when we sin; He doesnt expect us to earn His love; He doesnt expect us to be without fault. Even the greatest sins that separate us from Him can be forgiven if we repent and seek Him again. He loves us like a good shepherd, the prophet Ezekiel in the First Reading: I myself will look after and tend my sheep. As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep. . . . I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest, says the Lord God. If it sounds too good to be trueit isnt! We must not forget that God doesnt see things like we do. He certainly doesnt love like we love. He wants us to turn it around and learn how to love as He loves.

Jesus puts the Law of Love in the simplest terms: Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, imprison and you visited me. These are things that we can all do; they are not beyond our capacity. They represent the small deeds of love that we can and must do each day. Notice the motivation behind these deeds of love: they are not done because we want to be thanked or because we want to be repaidthey are done to the least, those who cannot do anything in return. Jesus takes them very personally: whatever you did for the least brothers of mine, you did for me. The Kingdom of Christ is not a kingdom of the powerful and self-sufficient; it is not a kingdom of the successful or the perfect, but a kingdom of love. This Kingdom of love is meant to begin in His Church, in each one of us. We are to reflect the image of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesusa love that is on fire, a love that is sacrificial, a love that is pierced to the heart. Most Sacred heart of Jesus, Thy Kingdom come!

November 30, 2008First Sunday of Advent The name Advent comes from two Latin words Adventus Domini which means the coming of the Lord. The season of Advent is meant to call us to a deeper understanding of the coming of Jesus into our lives as we prepare to celebrate His birthday at Christmas. We all know how to prepare the material things for Christmas. The lights and decorations and presents and food and family are all good things, but the Lord wants us to go deeper. Every year, since I can remember, the media has told us that the sales for the upcoming Christmas are going to be weaker than expected and that the economy is going to suffer because people are looking for bargains and dont want to spend so much this year. Lets get something straight, Christians are not responsible for keeping the economy strong because we buy a lot of Christmas presents. That is not the purpose of Christmas! Many people get sad during the weeks leading up to Christmas and especially after Christmas day. They feel disappointed or alone and empty after what they are told should be the happiest day of the year. Isnt it because they have substituted passing and superficial things for the real meaning? Isnt it because the very things that they thought would make them happy leave them with a feeling of emptiness after a while? After all, the decorations will have to come down; no matter how good the food is or how much we eat at the Christmas dinner, we will wake up hungry the next morning; the Christmas presents which we thought we had to have will be used for a while and then be stored or thrown in the trashall too soon they will no longer fit or become outdated; the relatives and friends will go home and the party atmosphere will end. I dont want to be the Grinch that stole Christmas, but who said that the happiness of Christmas should mean that we are free from troubles or sickness or sorrows? They are part of life in this world. The cross has to be born on Christmas too! After all, our Lord was born in povertyin a cold stable. Advent is the time to ask myself what do I want after Christmas has come and gone. Jesus doesnt want you to be empty after Christmas; He wants you to have the very best. Why are people sad around Christmas? It is because they sought happiness and satisfaction in things when they were really looking for a Savior. We

sang in the Responsorial Psalm: Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved. We want to see the face of Godwe want to know and experience Him. Advent is meant to put us in the place of the people of ancient Israel who were longing for the Savior. The prophet Isaiah will speak to us throughout the season to remind us that the answer to the deepest longing of our heart is found only in God. In our First Reading, Isaiah says: You Lord, are our father, our redeemer you are named forever. Why do you let us wander, O Lord, from your ways . . . Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, with the mountains quaking before you. Jesus makes it possible for us to know and love God and receive His love. In the Holy Mass we hear His word spoken to us through the Bible readings that are specially chosen for the Advent season. We hear about the great plan of God from all eternity to come as our Savior. In the Blessed Sacrament we receive the real presence of Jesus who comes into our bodies and souls in Holy Communion. He wants to let us see His Face through faith in the Most Holy Eucharist. We have to believe that that Bread is not just ordinary bread, but the Bread of LifeJesus Himself. Then our souls can be carried away in the love of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Jesus wants us to see His Face in other ways, too. We have to see Him in the poor and the needy. I am always impressed by the people who take the time to give gifts from the Pro-life Giving Tree for people they have never met. Not just at Christmas but throughout the year we are taking up collections for the poor, the missions and those experiencing natural disasters throughout the world. We also have to see His Face in those who are annoying or difficult to deal with. They may be in our own family! Every person that comes our way is an opportunity to love Jesus. Blessed Mother Teresa told the story of a young Maltese woman who joined their order. On the first day she was sent to the Home for the Dying. One would think that this was a very difficult and discouraging assignment, but when she came back she was radiant. Mother Teresa asked her why she was so happy. The girl said: Mother, I have held Christ in my hands for three hours. She saw in the dying person that she was helping and comforting the very face of Jesus Christ. I also hope that you can see the Face of Christthe work of Christ in our plans to build a permanent home for St. Gianna Parish. As you know our time in this building is limited and contingent upon a plan to move to our

property off highway N. During this Advent season, will you prayerfully consider making a sacrificial gift to our capitol campaign which will be starting soon? I have already prayerfully made my pledge. I see this as another way to serve Jesus that will benefit many generations of Catholics to come and I hope you will also. Advent also puts us in the place of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She personifies her people as she longed for the birth of her Son, the Savior, Jesus Christ. God had prepared her to be His own Mother by the special privilege of the Immaculate Conception which we celebrate each December 8th. God made Mary the most beautiful and pure temple, the first Tabernacle to hold His Son. One of the prayers, later in the Advent season, says: His future coming was proclaimed by all the prophets. The virgin mother bore Him in her womb with love beyond all telling. Advent is calling us to seek the Face of Jesus Christ, so that He will enter our hearts more fully by grace, and in Him, we will have a lasting gift this Christmas that will not fade. Let us seek the Face of Christ!

December 7, 2008Second Sunday of Advent Adventus Dominithe coming of the Lord! Advent is the time to reflect upon the first coming of Christ in the manger in Bethlehem and the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time sitting upon the clouds of heaven. Also, we are meant to desire His coming now into our hearts by grace through his Church. St. John the Baptist enters upon the scene in the Second Sunday of Advent to tell us to prepare the way of the Lord, just as he instructed the people of his time. Why did the people of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem flock to the desert to hear John the Baptists words and receive a baptism of repentance? First of all, they knew that something was wrong in their lives and in their world. It wasnt something that could be fixed by any man. There was an emptiness that nothing seemed to fill and the burden of sin weighed heavily upon them. They were longing for the Messiah, the Savior to come and help them. They knew the words of Isaiah that we heard in the First Reading: Cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news! Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God! Here comes with power the Lord God, who rules by his strong arm. John was telling them that the time to expect the Messiah was now; there was to be no more waiting. He said that he was A voice of one crying out in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. In John the Baptist they saw someone who was different; he was not seeking his own comfort or his own honor but was a man who was on fire for His God. His whole lifestyle radiated his conviction. He was clothed in camels hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. He was living a life of sacrifice, totally dedicated to God and his mission. Also, he was not concerned with human respect. He didnt seek the praise or approval of the Pharisees and Sadducees, as a matter of fact, he called them a brood of vipers. He certainly didnt seek the approval of the worldly or powerful, but condemned King Herod in the strongest terms for his immoral lifestyle. The people received a baptism of repentance from him. Although it uses water like Christian baptism, it was not Christian baptism. John says One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen

the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Jesus wouldnt give us the sacrament of baptism until some three years later on Ascension Thursday when he spoke his final words to the disciples and ascended into heaven. He said, Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The people who received the baptism of John desired to turn from sin, but in Christian baptism we are truly cleansed from sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. One of the effects of the sacrament of baptism is to wash us clean from Original Sin and all personal sin up until that point. The CCC says yet certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence. . . . Since concupiscence is left for us to wrestle with, it cannot harm those who do not consent but manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ. Indeed an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules (#1264) Of course, this is the great struggle that we all have even though we have been baptized. The people were coming to John the Baptist because they were longing for Gods forgiveness, we should have that same desire and frequently receive His mercy in the Sacrament of Penance. After baptism, the Sacrament of Penance is the ordinary way for us to receive forgiveness of our sins. The Lord makes it so easy for us to have His grace in our daily struggle. Even if you have been away for 10 or 20 or 50 years you should not be afraid to make a good Confession. The CCC says The confession of sins, even from a simply human point of view, frees us and facilitates our reconciliation with others. Through such an admission man looks squarely at the sins he is guilty of, takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens himself again to God and to the communion of the Church in order to make a new future possible (#1455). Bishop Hermann asked the priests of the Archdiocese to remind our people that missing Mass on Sunday without sufficient reason is a serious sin and that people are not to receive Holy Communion if they have committed a serious sin since their last confession. We need the mercy and grace of Jesus; He is our true hope.

This week we have to feast days of Our LadyMonday is the Immaculate Conception a holy day of obligation and then Friday is the Feast of our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the Americas. Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego in 1531 and following that there were millions of conversions and baptisms to the Catholic faith. In spite of the work of many Franciscan and Dominican priests there were few conversions before Our Ladys apparitions. The main reason was that Mexicans had practiced a truly satanic religion in their worship of the Aztec idols. This worship demanded human sacrifice and just 40 years earlier they consecrated the temple of Mexico with the sacrifice of 80,000 people. Most Mexicans held a bloody, diabolic understanding of God that could not be easily set aside. They were truly living in a culture of death! It took the appearance of a loving Mother, the Mother of Jesus to convince the people that He was nothing like the false gods that they had formerly worshipped. Mary still provides that motherly image for us and she wants to help us escape from our own culture of death. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.

Third Sunday of AdventGaudete SundayDecember 14, 2008 St. John the Baptist was a man who knew who he wasand who he was not! That is essential to the virtue of humility and to true happiness! When the priests and Levites came out to the desert to question him because he was making quite a stir among the people they asked him who he was. They gave him three possibilities to claim greatness, but he denied all of them and chose to be known as nothing more than the voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord. They asked John if he were the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet. All the Jews were looking for the Messiah; they were longing for him to come in their own time. Some thought that he would come and bring universal peace; others thought that he would be a national champion who would raise armies and free the Jews from their conquerors. There had been many pretenders who led rebellions and claimed to be the Messiah, the Christ. That name Christ, which we sometimes treat as if it were a last name, is really a title. It is the Greek form of the word Messiah. It was the belief that the Prophet Elijah would return before the Messiah and settle all disputes and even anoint the Messiah in his kingly office. Whenever there was a dispute about property or when the owner of something was unknown the Jews had a saying that they would have to wait to solve it until Elijah comes. When asked, John said that he was not Elijah, but later Jesus tells us that if we understood Gods plans correctly, John the Baptist fulfilled the role prophesied of Elijah. He was not Elijah reincarnated, of course, but he did what Elijah was supposed to doprepare people spiritually for the coming of the true MessiahJesus. John would do this by calling people to repentance and being the first to point out Jesus as the Messiah: Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. It was commonly believed that Isaiah or Jeremiah would come at the time of the Messiah and so they looked for the one called the Prophet. But it was really from the words of Moses who said The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren him you shall heed (Deut. 8:15). He would be the greatest of all prophets. Of course this is Jesus, who is like Moses, but greater than Moses.

John the Baptist did not claim to be anything great, but he was a man with a mission from God and he was determined with all his might to fulfill it. We should have the same attitude of John the Baptist, for we too have a mission from God and He is counting upon us to fulfill it. From the moment of our baptism we were called to become saints of God. St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading: May the God of peace make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will also accomplish it. Sometimes, in the past, people thought that really only priests and religious were called to holiness; the laity had to settle for a second rate status of holiness. The universal call to holiness as the Second Vatican Council pointed out is not just for a few, it is for all the baptized. Jesus has given us that call to become saints and has given us the grace to accomplish it, but we have work to do. How am I supposed to fulfill my mission from God to become a saint? First of all, I have to examine my life to make sure that I am living according to His commandments. If I have deliberate mortal sins that I have not confessed then I can be sure that I will not be right with Godit is no wonder that one can never find a deep peace or happiness. If you are single: are you striving to be pure of heart and living as if the sexual relationship is a sacred gift that belongs only to marriage? If you are married: are you living your vows with fidelity and joy and open to life as God intends? Is your marriage blessed in the Catholic Churchall Catholics must have their marriage blessed by a Catholic priest or deacon or have a dispensation from the bishop? Are you faithful to the practice of attending Holy Mass on Sundays and Holy Days? Are you giving your life over to God or do you let alcohol, drugs, or pornography rule you? Are you honest in your business dealings, such as, paying a fair wage or giving your employer a full days work? This is where the Sacrament of Penance is so important. We dont have to be separated from God; He wants to forgive us and free us so that we can become His true children. In order to become a saint, I also have to work on eliminating my defects and character flaws. Am I self-centered or have to have everything my way? Am I angry and resentful towards people who I think hurt me? Do I worry about things when I should be trusting in God? Do I blow things out of proportion and let my emotions and imagination rule me? Do I have a lack of forgiveness and hold on to grudges? I need to know my flaws and

earnestly strive to correct them. It is not good enough to say thats the way I am; I have to become better. To fulfill my call to holiness, I have to have a daily prayer life. St. Paul said: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks. As the CCC notes, We cannot pray at all times, unless we pray at specific times. The Morning Offering as soon as we wake should begin our day by dedicating all our sufferings, works and joys to the Lord. The examination of conscience at the end of the day allows us to see the good we have done, the sins we have committed and tell the Lord we are sorry before we go to sleep. The Holy Rosary, reading of the New Testament and other prayers and devotions should find a place in our daily life, even if we cannot attend daily Mass because of our schedule. The Holy Mass is our greatest prayer! That is really only the beginning of a prayer life that helps us on the path to holiness. We have to begin to have a real prayer life if we are to fulfill the mission of our baptism. God has called us to be saints; He wants us to become holy. He also wants us to have the joy of Mary whose words we heard after the First Reading: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

December 21, 2008Fourth Sunday of Advent King David was securely seated on his throne in a fine palace when he realized that the Ark of the Covenant, the very throne of God in Israel, was still dwelling in a tent. He wanted to build a fitting temple for the Lord God and spoke about his desires to the Prophet Nathan. Nathan returned with a message from God. God was pleased with his generosity and rewarded David with a great promise: Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever. Now this might seem like exaggeration. Forever is a long time! After all, the Bible does use hyperbole or exaggeration to make a point in a number of places. As the centuries rolled on, the Davidic kingship was pretty much a thing of the past. 2,000 years ago there were ancestors of King David, such as Joseph and Mary, but there was no true king of Israel. The Romans had conquered and all leadership, political and military, served at the whim of the emperor. Even though the promise to King David seemed to have failed, God meant it to be taken literally. It wasnt until God sent the archangel Gabriel to a humble virgin, named Mary that we could see how God meant to keep His promise to King David. The angel greets Mary in the familiar words of our prayer: Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you. He then tells her that she will conceive a child and He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. Jesus, who is the Son of God, inherits the royal throne of David by taking on human nature and the royal connection; He conquered even death itself by rising from the dead and lives forever as the King of kings. Jesus came to establish an eternal Kingdom! It would resemble an earthly kingdom, but it would be something far greater. The Kingdom of God is manifested in several ways. First, the Kingdom of God is in heaven itself. Jesus now reigns there in all His glory as the God-man, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, with the Father and the Holy Spirit. At the end of time when all those who are destined for heaven enter His Kingdom it will be the perfect fulfillment of everything that God had planned since the creation of the universe. There will be no sin or suffering, but only eternal joy with the angels and saints in the glory of God. Heaven is the completed and perfect manifestation of the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is also manifested here on earth in the Roman Catholic Church. We are members of this visible kingdom by virtue of our baptism. It is the spotless Bride of Christ because of the grace of our Savior, the sacraments, the Scripture, the teachings, the prayers and devotions. It is a visible kingdom in which the Pope is the Vicar of Christ, the personal representative of Jesus who holds the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Through her hierarchical structure the Church dispenses the grace and truth of God to the whole world. Does this mean that the Church, the Kingdom of God on earth, is without flaw? Of course not, because it is governed and inhabited by human beings who are sinners and constantly need to repent. But even though the Kingdom of God on earth, the Roman Catholic Church, is not a perfect manifestation, God still accomplishes His plans through her. It has been said that God can write straight with crooked lines. He can use us imperfect instruments to do great things. The Kingdom of God exists in another way that is no less important. The Jews constantly thought of the kingdom of God as a political, military structure. The Messiah would be a great king with armies that would conquer the enemies of Israel and bring triumph and universal peace. But Jesus tells them not to look for it here or there, He says: The kingdom of God is within you. Jesus has set up His royal throne in our souls by the gift of sanctifying grace. He wants us to freely submit to His authority and live according to His will. He doesnt force us; and unlike other people who try to rule us, Jesus wants only our goodwhich is for us to come to the Kingdom of God in its fullness in heaven. Here is where we have to struggle for the Kingdom of God to reach its perfection. I have to ask myself if I am living like Jesus would live. Do my thoughts, words and actions resemble His? Am I striving to imitate His virtues? Am I keeping my focus upon Him and heaven? If you are feeling distressed and overwhelmed by the business of these days and even wish Christmas were over and done, I truly feel sorry for youwe all feel the pressure. But you should see those feelings as a red flaga warning signal. It means that you have lost your focus on the true meaning of Christmas and substituted things which are not important for Jesus. It is difficult because the world, and even our families, put so many expectations upon us that we think we have to do things which really take away our peace and cause us to loose the blessings of this time. The Kingdom of God is within, but we have to build it one prayer, one loving deed, one act of penance, at a time.

There is an example of a human being who lived the fullness of the Kingdom of God here on earth: the Blessed Virgin Mary. We see her total submission to the will of God in the Gospel of the Annunciation. She doesnt hesitate to accept the message of the angel and embraces it wholeheartedly, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, May it be done to me according to your word. She never turns back, even when it becomes difficult, almost impossible to bear, such as at the Cross. Mary, who was conceived without sin, lived the fullness of grace here on earth and now shares it in the glory of heaven, with the eternal King, the son of David and her Son! We must also remember that God cannot be outdone in generosity. I cant help but apply that to our capitol campaign. Notice the new thermometer in our vestibule, which is in the shape of a cross. We are already near $800,000 with only the gifts of the campaign leadership; the rest of the parish is to be solicited in January. I know from my own personal experience and the witness of others that when you give to the Lord, He will always make a generous return. God cannot be outdone in generosity!

December 25, 2008Christmas 2,000 years ago there was no mass media like we have today, but you can be sure that everyone knew who was important and who was notorious. Everyone knew that Caesar Augustus was the emperor and when he spoke, people listened. In Syria, Quirinius was governor and in Judea, Herod the Great was king. They were always gossiping about what King Herod was building next; who was in favor in the royal court and who was to be executed. They bet on the athletes of the day: the fastest charioteer and the strongest gladiator. They were the big stories they were on everyones minds. Yet, not long after all of these important people lost popularity or died, they were forgotten. Even the greatest of them became mere footnotes in history; certainly they no longer influenced anyones life. It is a lesson that we have to keep in mind today. The people, who seem so influential and powerful in the news today, will be forgotten tomorrow. The news story that most people missed was actually the one that will never be forgotten. It had been foretold by all the Jewish prophets and had been longed for by all people who realized that something was not right with the world. Isaiah predicted it in our First Reading: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown . . . For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. All the longing of Gods chosen people and of all men of good will was fulfilled in silence, far away from public attention. On that first Christmas day, God gave His Son to us born of the Virgin Mary to be the Savior of the world. From a merely human point of view, the event of the birth of this Child was no different than the birth of every other baby in the world. Bethlehem, although it was the birthplace of King David was a small, insignificant town. Jesus was born in a poor family and when they were forced to Bethlehem because of the census there was no room at an inn and Jesus had to be born in a stable. His cradle was a manger, the place where animals ate their food. What a humble beginning for the Prince of Peace! Yet, of all the big stories and important people who were influencing the world at that time none of them are important to us today. The little story, the hidden birth of Jesus is the one that brings us here to the Holy Mass this Christmas. Jesus alone is the one who has touched our lives. As a matter of

fact, I would be a different man without Him; my life would be impoverished and meaningless if I did not know Him. He has made all the difference for me and for you. We have a faith and hope that reaches beyond this world of sorrow and trial; we have received a mercy that is more powerful than sin; we have a Love that has touched us to the depth of our souls. Jesus grace transforms us so that we can break through our selfishness and self-centeredness to become the sons and daughters of God that we are destined to be. Every Holy Mass is primarily about the renewal of Calvary in the unbloody sacrifice of the altar, but in a way it is always about Christmas, too. For just as the Son of God came from heaven and took on flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, so He comes from heaven in every Holy Mass, body, blood, soul and divinity under the form of bread and wine to become our Holy Communion. He is hidden, like in Bethlehem, but He is really present in the Eucharist and wants to become more fully a part of our lives if only we will recognize Him. This Christmas season we need to stop and pray before the Nativity scene in Church and in our homes and reflect upon this holy Child and His Mother and good St. Joseph. We need to thank God for the gift of truth and grace that has come to us in Jesus. This holy night reminds us that no matter how hidden a life may be, unnoticed by the media and the movers and shakers of the world, it has value if it is united to Jesus. God sees what is truly valuable, while the world misses the point. Lets recommit ourselves to Jesus Christ and His Church this holy night upon which the Savior of the world was born in silence and in peace.

December 28, 2008Feast of the Holy Family Have you ever wondered what it was like to live in the home of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Nazareth? It was a poor family, which meant that work was constant and intense in order to scratch out a meager living. Mary had to get water from the well and cook on a fire; they had little furniture or possessions, yet they were happy, indescribably happy. It was a home where prayer was normal; it was a place that neighbors went to receive good counsel from Mary and wise guidance from Joseph. It was a home where the laughter and songs of children could be heard. No doubt, the family life of the Holy Family of Nazareth was an inspiration to everyone in the village. Marriage and the family are not man-made creations, but were designed by God. They are part of the Natural Law which God inscribed upon our hearts when He made us. The human family reflects the love of the Most Blessed TrinityFather, Son and Holy Spirit. The Christian family is to strive to live the kind of love and unity that exists, in perfection, in the three Persons of the one God. In the Second Reading, St. Paul tells all Christians that they should strive to live a virtuous life. He describes the practice of the virtues like putting on clothes, he says: Put on, as Gods chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. The family is the first place where we should learn how to live these virtues. The CCC says that parents first responsibility is educating their children and they do this first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. A home is more than a house. A house may have all kinds of luxuries and filled with things, but it still may not be a home. In a home the children learn their value and the value of each individual when they see the love of their parents for themthe home is where we should learn the meaning of being Pro-life! They learn how to give of themselves in loving service when they see their parents example and are also encouraged to do their part in the work of making it a loving home. How important it is for parents to show their children how to acknowledge their mistakes, apologize for them and seek forgiveness! We are all sinners, so there is no shame in admitting ones faults and striving to overcome them.

The Christian family has long been called the domestic church because of its almost irreplaceable role in forming and educating children in the ways of faith. The Gospel today shows the holy Family fulfilling their religious duties with fidelity. Mary and Joseph took the Child Jesus to the temple for the ceremony of the presentation of the first-born son to God. The Law of Moses prescribed that the first-born son belonged to God and had to be redeemed by his parents with a sacrificeMary and Joseph offered the sacrifice of two turtle doves, the offering of the poor. This Child belonged to God like no other, since He was the true Son of God. Simeon had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he saw the Savior. On that day when the Holy Family came to the Temple he recognized this Child for who He was and taking the Child in his arms he said: Now, Lord, let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all the peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. Mary and Joseph would fulfill the role of all parents, to be examples of prayer and the practice of faith for the Son of God. Recently, Deacon Tony told the story from a previous parish, of parents who would drop their child off for Sunday Mass and then go get their latte or read the paper and pick him up after Mass. In a bizarre way they thought they were doing their duty to bring him to Church. However, the child soon learned by the example of his parents that Sunday Mass was a waste of time and he would just play around, not paying attention to the Holy Mass, until his parents came to get him. The surest way to destroy the faith of your children is to bring them to PSR classes or a full time Catholic school and then not attend Sunday Mass! I have spoken to many parents who regret the fact that they didnt do what they could have done or didnt see the importance of faith and religion when they were raising their children. They are often deeply troubled by this realization. The consequences of some sins are impossible to repair by human means, so we must use supernatural means. Prayer and penance and the good example of parents will not be wasted in the lives of their children, even if it comes after they are grown. On the day of the Presentation in the Temple, everyone else, except for Simeon and the holy widow Anna, thought this Child and this family was like every other in Israel. The truth was hidden to them; they did not realize

that God had come to the Temple in the Person of Jesus and that this Child would save the world. Simeon prophesized to Mary: Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradictedand you yourself a sword will pierceso that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. Already the shadow of the Cross was falling upon the Holy Family and particularly upon Mary. The family helps us to learn how to bear the sorrows and sufferings of life. The CCC says that the Christian home is well suited as the place for education in virtue and that this requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment and self-mastery. It is more important to teach your children self-denial and self-control than it is self-esteem. Our culture constantly speaks of the importance of self-esteem, which usually is no more than narcissism and selfishness. Self-control will help them to live in this world with true freedom, so that they will not be ruled by their passions and selfish desires. It will help them to bear the sufferings of life and be of service to others. The sad fact is that the family is under attack from every side in our world today and yet its importance as the basic cell of society and the Church cannot be doubted. Good Catholic families are hidden just like the Holy Family and they are rearing a new generation of faithful Christians. The Holy Family is the perfect image of family life and we can say that Jesus, Mary and Joseph were living on earth the kind of life we will all be living in heaven. No other human family is perfect, but all Catholic families are called on this Feast of the Holy Family to examine your family life and strive to live in the pattern of self-giving love that Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived. With God all things are possible!

January 1, 2009Mary, Mother of God The Gospel of Luke presents us with a very simple, yet beautiful view of the birth of Jesus. He shows it to us through the eyes of the shepherds who went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph and the infant lying in the manger. Archbishop Sheen once said that only two kinds of people go to the mangerthe very wise and the very humble. The three Kings were the very wise and the shepherds were the very humble. The shepherds were poor and unimportant in the eyes of the world, but God did not forget them! He called them through the vision of angels to go to see and adore His Son, first. The angels sang: Glory to God in the highest and peace to all men of good will! The shepherds answered this call from God as the Kings would follow the star that called them to the birth of the Savior. The shepherds and certainly Mary and Joseph were truly humble people. What does it mean to be humble? First of all, the humble person doesnt brag or boast of his accomplishments or good deeds; he doesnt deliberately draw attention to himself, but tries to give God the glory and show gratitude to those who helped. People who have the vice of pride want to be the center of attention and get their will in everything. The proud try to force and control others in order to get what they want. The humble strive to give themselves to others by serving their needs. I am not an economist and I know it is more complicated than this, but it seems to me that a number of financial problems in the stock market and mortgage institutions happened because people were making a lot of money on paper, (or should we say on the computer?) but were not really producing any goods or services; it was all bravado or show. Also, they were investing money in people who were famous and wealthy and made outlandish claims of financial success that appealed to their greed. The humble person doesnt make a big show, nor is he ruled by greed, but does his duty with fidelity and honesty, whether it is shepherding sheep or running a bank. Humility helps you to bear burdens and trials and insults with peace. If it rained or snowed, the shepherds accepted it and went on without complaint. Mary and Joseph undoubtedly wanted a better place for their Son to be born, but when they couldnt find it, they accepted the lowly stable as the birthplace of Jesus and the lovable will of God. Jesus Christ is the most

humble of all because as God he deserved the best at His birth. Yet, the sufferings of rejection at the inn, of the cold and dirty stable were willed by Him, not forced upon Him. He wanted to show us that the way God sees things is what counts. He was ignored and insulted by the Pharisees and leaders and rejected by the mass of people, but they did not understand; they did not see the truth about Gods plan of salvation. Humility allows us to see the truth about ourselves, life and God, while pride blinds us. Holy Mother Church wants us to begin the new year by looking at the example of Mary, Mother of God. We know what a mother is, but we can barely grasp the greatness of the title Mother of God. This was the reason Mary was blessed by God with so many gracesfull of graceso that she could be the fitting mother of His Son. One of the prayers in the Holy Mass says: The birth of Christ your Son deepened the virgin mothers love for you, and increased her holiness. How could Mary, who was full of grace, have increased her holiness and love? If you compare it to a glass of water that is full to the brim, one more drop cannot be added or it will overflow: it is full. But if you compare it to a balloon that is filled with waterno air in itthat balloon can be expanded and more water can be added. Holiness is like that! Our souls can expand to receive more grace and love from God. Of course, we are not full of grace like the Blessed Mother because we still have love of sin and our own will and are attached to the things and the opinions of this world. Turning to Mary and uniting our prayers to her Immaculate Heart will help us to increase in grace and love. Our little, weak drop of prayer, when united to Marys prayer will become like a strong river that will reach the throne of the Blessed Trinity with true devotion. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

January 4, 2009Solemnity of the Epiphany We prayed: Lord, every nation on earth will adore you. in our verse for the psalm this Sunday. With the coming of the Magi to adore the Christ Child, this prayer was beginning to be fulfilled. Up until this point the Lord had chosen one nation, Israel, to be His chosen peoplethey had the promises and covenants; they had the Patriarchs. However, His plan of salvation was not to be for just one nation, but for the whole world. People of every race and nation were to be called to share in the promises that God made to Israel. That is why in most Nativity scenes the three kings appear to come from different races. Isaiah prophesied in our First Reading that caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord. So the Kings came bringing their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, following the light of a star. Probably people in those days were more attentive to the night sky than we are today (because of the bright lights and many distractions), but the Magi apparently studied the stars and the heavens. They realized that this particular star was different and through divine inspiration set out on a journey to follow it to the Savior. When they arrived in Jerusalem the star seemed to have disappeared from their sight for a while, so they went to the local king asking Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star rising and have come to do him homage. Of course, Herod the Great was not happy to hear this news; he had been made king because of his crafty use of friendship with the powerful in Rome and had killed various family members, including his wife and brother, who he thought were plotting against him. Herod could not stop Gods plans, even though he later would send his soldiers to kill all the baby boys in the birth place of Jesus, and are called to this day, the Holy Innocents. The priests and scribes turn to the prophet Micah to see that the Savior was to be born in Bethlehem, the birthplace of King David. Were the kings surprised when they again saw the light of the star and it led them to the humble birthplace of the newborn King? Perhaps they understood the humble greatness of Gods plan. In any case, they prostrated themselves and did him homage.

Like the three kings we need to adore and worship our God. What is adoration? It is one of the forms of prayer that we all need to do. The CCC says Adoration is the first attitude of man acknowledging that he is a creature before his Creator. It exalts the greatness of the Lord who made us and the almighty power of the Savior who sets us free from evil. When we come before God in prayer we realize that He is our Creator and we are lowly creatures. We should be conscious of the difference! Everywhere today you get the impression from people that God is not all that important or significant; who He is and what He commands does not really matter to them. When we adore God we realize His greatnessI really have nothing to offer to Him because everything that I have is already a gift from Him, including my very existence and my faith! The CCC continues: Adoration is homage of the spirit to the King of Glory, respectful silence in the presence of the ever greater God. In the silence of prayer we come to an ever deeper understanding of the glory of God and want to praise Him and bless Him. All day on Mondays we have an opportunity for prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament which is exposed upon our altar. It is a time of silent prayer that is called adoration. Even though we cannot add anything to the greatness of God, lets seek to give the Most Blessed Trinity adoration and homage, like the three kings did for the Christ-Child. There are many moments of adoration in the Holy Mass. When you come into Church, you genuflect before entering your pew. That is an act of adoration to Jesus Christ the King who is truly present in the Holy Eucharist reserved in the tabernacle. You kneel in prayer before God, especially during the words of Consecration in the Eucharistic Prayer to show your reverence. Just before you receive Holy Communion you bow you head in homage of the Lord who is about to come to youBody, Blood, Soul and Divinity. The priest genuflects after each consecration and before he receives Holy Communion. These are all gestures that are meant to help us to have the interior attitude of adoration and worship of our God. The prayer that all Catholics know by heart the Glory be is a brief prayer of adoration that we can very frequently say to our God. I like to imagine that my Guardian Angel takes that prayer and strengthens it and gives it to the Blessed Mother Mary who makes it a powerful act of adoration to God.

Perhaps you know the child-like poem that goes: What can I give Him poor as I am? If I were a shepherd I would give Him a lamb. If I were a wise man, I would do my part what can I give Him, give him my heart. Lets be conscious of our need to adore our great God who became little for our sake.

January 11, 2009Baptism of the Lord During the Christmas season there are four events in the life of Christ that are connectedtwo from His infancy and two when He is a full grown man. They each manifest His Divinity and His mission to the world. First, of course, is His Nativity when God who took on our flesh was born and able to be seen with human eyes, touched, and even held in ones arms. No doubt even the rough shepherds asked the Blessed Mother, if they could hold the baby. God, in the flesh could love and be loved by man. The second is the Epiphany, which we celebrated last Sunday. There Jesus was adored by the Magi who represented all the nations that would come to Him. The light of Christ was meant for all peoples and all nations. The third, which we celebrate this Sunday and which closes the Christmas season, is the Baptism of the Lord. Jesus, now around 30 years old goes to the Jordan River where His cousin John the Baptist has been preparing people to receive Him by a baptism of repentance. Jesus is now manifested in a new way to the people. The Holy Spirit descends upon Him in the form of a dove and the voice of God the Father proclaims You are my beloved Son; with You I am well pleased. John the Baptist cries out Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. He is the true Son of God who has a mission to be the sacrificial victim to save the world from sin. Finally, the miracle of the wedding at Cana manifests the Divine power of Jesus as the Son of God. There He works the first of many miracles of healing, expelling the devil and feeding the thousands with the miraculous bread that show Gods love and power. When you look at the life of Jesus, most of His 33 years were not surrounded by miracles and extraordinary events. We call the first 30 yearsthe hidden life. He was quietly living as a normal boy, growing into a man, with Mary and Joseph; nothing unusual to report except the incident when He was 12. This is an important lesson for us that ordinary life, the place that God has given us is the place where we are to grow in holiness. One spiritual author puts it this way: We will obtain the grace to be faithful in the important things that at present we find impossible, by being faithful in the little things within our grasp, especially when those little things are the ones that the Holy Spirit asks of us by calling to our

hearts with His inspirations. By the hidden, little things of our daily prayer, our daily work, our family life and friendships we have the opportunity grow in faith and holiness. I want to take some of the homily time to give you a little history of our building plans. When Archbishop Burke founded this parish I met with him and he expressed his desires and the direction given to him by the chancery officials who advised him, including Bishop Hermann. He said that we were to build a Catholic grade school and a transitional church, with the idea of one day building a noble church that used the beautiful furnishings from the former St. Philip Neri Parishthe stained glass windows, baldachino, marble altars and pews. As soon as possible, I formed a building committee from the parish and we met with architect Duncan Stroik who was recommended by Archbishop Burke. We immediately saw that he could build a beautiful, traditional church that would be different from the ones built in the last couple of decades in St. Louis. With the matching grant of $1 million from the archdiocese, we gave him a budget of around $4 million, hoping that we could raise $1 million and borrow $2 million from the archdiocese. The first plan had Phase One as a two story building with the foundation church above and 4 classrooms below. Bishop Hermann immediately intervened with Archbishop Burke and had a meeting with members of the Parish Council, Finance and Building Committees here one evening. Although the design was beautiful, he firmly believed that we needed to start with a school that had 8-12 classrooms in order to make it attractive to parents. At this point we formed an Education Committee which began investigating local Catholic schools and finding out what they thought was necessary to build a functional school in the 21st century. We gave Bishop Hermanns advice to Duncan Stroik and he designed two more plans, one with eight classrooms, and the other with 12. Naturally, we liked the larger plan and took it to Bishop Hermann for his approval, since Archbishop Burke had been transferred to Rome. We then displayed these drawings in the vestibule with a price tag of around $7 million. When the feasibility study was completed last October (28), it indicated that we could probably raise between $1 and 1.5 million. Obviously, a $7 million building was far out of our price range. After this, chancery officials asked us to interview 3 St. Louis architects who they thought could build

Phase One for around half the price and I formed a small committee to do so (Nov. 18). Of the three, we were impressed by Chiodini Associates for several reasons. First, they said they could build a traditional Catholic Church; they had an excellent record for staying on budget and thought they could build a First Phase for around $3.5 million; thirdly, their connection to the town of Magenta, Italy, the hometown of our St. Gianna. Lou Chiodini had relatives from the town and had visited it and seen the beautiful basilica of San Martino in which St. Gianna had married her husband Pietro. He suggested that we could take some of the features of that Renaissance style Church and use it in our own. When I met with Bishop Hermann and other official from the chancery (Dec. 5), they clearly indicated that we had to go with a more affordable architect, especially now that the economy had experienced a downturn. We do not have a contract yet, which is worked out and signed by the Office of Building and Real Estate. We do have a lot of preparatory work done by our Building and Education Committees and we have begun working with Chiodini Associates. When will we begin and how much will we build? The only answer is as soon as possible and as much as we can afford, that is why this capitol campaign is so critical. It is a three year campaign, so we wont have all the money immediately, but it is possible that we could break ground this year. This is a hope; no one can predict how things will progress. We will have to renegotiate our lease with the building owner here and hope that the city of Lake St. Louis will extend the zoning variance that allows us to remain here. I hope you noticed our thermometer in the vestibule, we are over $1 million and this represents around 50 individual gifts. This is quite extraordinary! Of course, every gift is important because the more we can raise at this time will make our debt less. You should have received a mailing last week and now your fellow parishioners are trying to call you and meet with you. Please be kind. And please prayerfully consider what God is calling you to do on behalf of St. Gianna parish. God will never be outdone in generosity.

Second Sunday in Ordinary TimeJanuary 18, 2009 Imagine that you had never seen a swimming pool and didnt know its purpose. When you came up to a public swimming pool you would probably first see a list of rules, such as, No running on the pool deck; no food or drink; no diving in the shallow end, etc. If you didnt know what went on in a swimming pool, you might wonder why anyone would want to go into a place with all those rules. How could it be fun? Of course, those rules actually allow people to have fun and be safe in the swimming pool. That is how many people look at the Catholic Church. They only see the commandments and Thou shalt nots and never realize that the laws of God are meant to keep us safe on the path to eternal life. Their understanding of the Catholic faith is negative and limited. They dont go any deeper; they dont realize that the Christian life is meaningful, fulfilling and joyful. As one author put it, the Church cannot just be compared to a swimming pool, but to a great divine ocean. There is no limit to the depth and beauty of the Catholic Faith. This is especially true in regard to human sexuality. St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading this Sunday The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. Pope John Paul II said to the young people in a pastoral visit to America, Sex is goodwithin marriage. This is really the teaching of the Catholic Church. God made the sexual relationship with two very clear and good purposes: to bring about the deepest possible union of husband and wife (the one flesh union) and to allow a husband and wife to become co-creators with God in bringing forth new life. Love and life are the purposes of marriage and the sexual relationship. It is a very powerful force within us for great good or for great evil. Christopher West, a nationally known speaker on Pope John Pauls Theology of the Body, compares sex to a rocket engine which is very powerful and can lift a rocket into outer space, but he notes that if the rocket engine is pointing the rocket toward the ground it still has the same power, but it will drive the rocket into the ground and cause great destruction. If sex is not used according to Gods plan it causes great evil. So many people do not want any restrictions upon their passions and desires; they dont want to hear no. They have not learned self-control in anythingpossessions, food, entertainment, work, prayerso no wonder they cannot control this very powerful force of human sexuality. Not only

that, but instead of repenting, they try to justify even the most clearly immoral behavior of fornication, adultery, homosexuality, contraception, pornography and self abuse, along with abortion. St. Paul continues in his letter to the Corinthians: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with him. Avoid immorality. Through our baptism, we were joined to the Catholic Church and we are members of the Mystical Body of Christ. We should strive to be holy and pure of heart and never bring the stain of sin upon the Body of Christ. St. Paul asks Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? In todays Gospel of St. John, we hear that Andrew brings his brother Simon to Jesus. The first thing that Jesus does is change his name from Simon to Peter, which means Rock. You will see the name CEPHAS in various places in the New Testament, which is the name of the Apostle Peter. Peter is Kepha in Aramaic, which was the language Jesus spoke. The Gospel of St. Luke adds something to this first meeting, he tells us that Jesus asked Peter to use his boat to preach to the crowds on the shore and then tells Peter to go out and fish even though they had caught nothing after fishing the whole night. When they obey Jesus and bring in an enormous catch, Peter believes that a miracle has happened and he falls upon his knees before Jesus saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord. Do you think Peter was right in believing his own eyes that something miraculous had indeed happened? Maybe he just imagined it or maybe there was some natural explanation for that unexpected catch of fish. Peter was a rational man, a man with good sensehe knew the waters of the Sea of Galilee better than almost anyone; they had tried their best all night and he knew there were no fish to be caught there, especially at that time of the day. I dont think anyone would belittle Peter for making the judgment that a miracle had indeed happened. Why is it that when it comes to the beginning of human life some of the most intelligent people in the modern world will not believe their own eyes? We are not talking about a miracle, although one could argue that each human life created by God is a miracle. The photographs we now have that show the development of the unborn baby in the womb of his mother are truly magnificent. Medicine allows us to objectively know that the unborn baby is indeed a human being. In every cell of that baby is the genetic code

that belongs to humans. It is not possible for the baby to develop into an eagle or a giraffe, but only a human being. Even as science shows us more and more conclusively that the unborn baby is a human being and therefore with rights that deserve the protection of the state, they will not believe their own eyes. They still say that abortion is just the choice of a woman and does not take the life of an innocent human being. Here is their problemwhen you cut yourself off from Gods law and His truth, you also cut yourself off from human reason and logic. You can no longer even accept what your own eyes or senses or reason tells you are right or wrong, true or false. That is why we have to be so thankful to God because He has given us the truth, and the Church and the Successor to Peter, the Pope to keep teaching that truth until the end of time.

January 25, 2009Conversion of St. Paul In this Jubilee Year of the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of St. Paul, Pope Benedict has given us the option of celebrating the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul this Sunday. It is an opportunity for us to learn from the most important conversion to the Catholic faith in the history of Christianity. As you know, St Paul was named Saul and used the Roman form of his name Paul after his baptism. Saul was one of the most feared men in the early Church. He was present at the condemnation and the stoning of the first martyr, St. Stephen and was determined to wipe Christianity off the face of the earth; he thought he was doing the will of God. You know that it is possible to be sincere, but wrong; that was Saul. He was arresting those who had joined the Way, as they called it, and was throwing them in prison wherever he could find them. He wanted to expand the persecution north to the city of Damascus. No doubt, the people were praying, Lord, save us from Saul, Stop the persecution of your people, maybe even Lord, give him his eternal judgment now. God heard their prayers in a way they never would expect. Instead of getting rid of Saul, God converted him! Instead of a persecutor, he became an apostle. As he was nearing Damascus, our First Reading tells us that a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? This was a day that would totally change Sauls life; he would experience one shock after another. The first shock was that Jesus was alive! He thought that Jesus was just a dead, fanatical teacher who was already judged by God. Not only was Jesus alive, but He was manifesting Gods power in that mighty vision. The second surprise was that in persecuting the disciples of Jesus, he was really persecuting Jesus Himself. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Jesus said. The words of our Lord in the Gospel are to be taken literally: Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, you do unto me. St. Paul would reflect upon these words and later teach that the Church could be compared to a human body with Jesus as the Head of the body. In First Corinthians, he taught: For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ (1 Cor. 12:12). He doesnt even bother to add so it is with the Church Christ founded, he simply says so it is with Christ

because Christ and His Church are one. He also speaks about the unity of the members of the Church, adding: If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together (v. 26). We have long added the word MysticalMystical Body of Christ to this name of the Church because there is a great reality and mystery to the unity of the Church with Jesus that cannot be seen or grasped by merely human vision. Even when the members of the Church are scandalous in their behavior, the Church herself is still united to Jesus like a spotless bride to her groom. The Catholic Church is the Mystical Body of Christ. The third shock to Saul had to be the message that Ananias brought to him after a vision of Jesus. Jesus said to Ananias: Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings and children of Israel, and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name. Saul was the champion of the Jewish religion and he was given the mission to go to the unclean, pagan peoples! Here is how St. Paul describes himself in Philippians (3:5-6): a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law a Pharisee, as to zeal a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law blameless. God knew that this was the man, unlikely though it may have seemed who would become the Apostles to the Nations. How much he would suffer for Jesus. Paul lists his sufferings in Second Corinthians: Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. He did it all, willingly, for the love of Christ Jesus who appeared to him on the road to Damascus and made him His chosen instrument. What does conversion mean? It means changing the direction of your life. You were walking one way with certain ideas, goals and desires in life and you turn around and walk the other way with Christ and new ideas, goals and desires. We often speak about the idea of ongoing conversion, which means that we continually work on changing and transforming our lives in

Christ. This means that the work of conversion or sanctification is never done. As St. Paul came to understand Life means Christ. It is a mistake to read the Acts of the Apostles and think that Paul set out almost immediately on the first of his three great missionary journeys. It was at least ten years between his conversion and the first journey. In the meantime he was prayingthree years in the desertHe was receiving the sacraments; he was searching the old Testament, for the New Testament wasnt written yet; he was conversing with the apostles and learning from his fellow Christians all about the life and teachings of Jesus. He was learning to live the life of Christ as a member of His Church in those years. You dont become a saint in a day; it is a lifetime of work. It is a journey!

February 1, 2009Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time The people hear the teaching of Jesus and see His power over the devil and the Gospel tells us all were amazed and asked one another, What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey Him. What is this authority that they recognize in Jesus? It was different than the authority of the scribes who belonged to the school of one rabbi or another. Whenever they were asked a question they quoted some famous authority, such as Rabbit Hillel; they certainly never spoke on their own authority. Jesus, on the other hand, would say It was said to them of old . . . but I say to you . . . Pope Benedict wrote in his book Jesus of Nazareth: The peoples alarm is precisely over the fact that a human being dares to speak with the authority of God. Either he is misappropriating Gods majestywhich would be terribleor else, and this seems almost inconceivable, he really does stand on the same exalted level as God (pp. 102-3). That is really what began to strike the people of Jesus day and it is something that still speaks to our hearts when we hear the Word of God, either in the Scripture or in the doctrines of the Church. We can hear the voice of God if we listen with an open heart. The authority of Jesus was different than the authority of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire had its powerful armies and leaders who would force their will on others. Their authority meant soldiers with swords taking lives or depriving one of property or goods. You obeyed, whether you agreed with them or not. The teaching of Jesus had an authority that was filled with the power of truth. The people recognized what He was saying was true and right, even if it called them to repent and forsake their sinful ways. Moses had foretold that God would send a prophet like himself. In our First Reading we hear the promise God made to Moses: And the Lord said to me, I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command him. Whoever will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it. Jesus is the one whose words speak the truth of God.

Remember the trial of Jesus when Pontius Pilate asked What is truth? For this loyal Roman soldier truth was power; truth was the voice of the emperor. He didnt believe in a higher law than this; the Roman gods were meaningless, they didnt demand justice or moral goodness. Political and military power and domination of others were all that mattered. Dog eat dog! The weak and the helpless were on their own. However, the voice of conscience still tries to speak to every person trying to draw us to the truth. Pilate had to totally ignore it in order to condemn the innocent Jesus to death. The Second Vatican Council put it so well when the Fathers wrote: Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and avoid evil sounds in his heart at the right moment. . . . For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. . . . His conscience is mans most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths. Of course, the voice of conscience can be dulled and even malformed by ignorance or sin. Many people have said I am just following my conscience in order to justify their disobedience of Gods clear law of right and wrong. What they really mean is they are following their feelings or whims because to obey God would be demanding and even involve self-sacrifice or go against popular opinion. They are trying to justify themselves. They are not really following their conscience because that voice is the voice of God always calling us to love and to do what is good and avoid evil. But if we stop and listen with repentant hearts in the grace of the Holy Spirit, we will discover that Law of God within us. The humble people who were listening to Jesus began to realize that His authority was based on truth. How many saints have been attracted by the beauty of truth? A young man of 20 named Anthony attended holy Mass one day when he heard the words of the Gospel that we have heard countless times If you seek perfection, go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor. You will then have treasure in heaven. However, the Holy Spirit moved him so deeply that he did exactly what the Gospel said. He sold all his property and possessions and went to live as a hermit in the desert. He endured terrifying struggles with the devil and temptations of the flesh, but he persevered in prayer, penance and Gods grace. He lived to be 105 and was a model of holiness to all. Another great saint, St. Athanasius, wrote his lifes story and

it influenced other saints in their conversion, such as St. Augustine and St. Martin. The beauty of Gods truth caused St. Anthony the Abbot to do extraordinary things for God! In the Second Reading St. Paul speaks about a very practical reason for remaining unmarried in the celibate vocation. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided. Marriage requires that you use your time and energy for your family, first, without forsaking love of God; celibacy allows you to give yourself totally to God and the service of His Church, first of all. Each vocation has its own gifts and beauty, and is a way to eternal life. Celibacy is more than just a cold, practical way of life so that priests will have the time to serve the Church freely. Speaking for myself, celibacy is the way that God has called me to love, forsaking a wife and family, but loving and being loved nonetheless. First of all, Jesus has to be so real that He is seen as a Someone who loves me with an infinite love and that I can love in return, especially in his real Presence in the Holy Eucharist. Even on a human level the priest receives the love of the people he is called to serve and can express his love in service to them. Then a priest has to realize that the happiness of heaven is more valuable than any pleasure or anything this world has to offer. Celibacy directs ones gaze to eternal life. It is a way to live like Jesus lived in this world and how we will all live in the glory of heaven. Please pray for priests and vocations to the priesthood. I especially pray for the boys who serve at the altar because they assist the priest in the most holy duty that he hasto offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Lets pray that the beauty of Gods truth and love will inspire many more priestly vocations.

February 8, 2009Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Poor Job! It is difficult to find fault with Job for his negative attitude in the First Reading this Sunday. He says: Is not mans life on earth a drudgery? . . . My days are swifter than a weavers shuttle; they come to an end without hope. Remember that my life is like the wind; I shall not see happiness again. After all, one morning he is the most prosperous man in the land and by evening he has nothing. One after another his servants came in saying things like The oxen were plowing . . . and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them, and slew the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you. The same with his sheep and camels and finally of his seven sons and three daughters: Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brothers house; a great wind came across the wilderness, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you. Job is then afflicted with boils; it is easy to see how he could despair. You may have some trials in your life, but few have the total ruin that Job experienced! God wants to give us a lesson about the mystery of suffering through Job. At the end of the Book, God appears to him and asks him if he was there when the world was created, if he knows how its foundations were established, if he commanded the sun to rise each morning since the beginning of time. On and on, until Job has to admit he doesnt understand most things. What God wants Job and us to do is to face the fact that we wont always understand the meaning of suffering, but that God does! If we place our trust in Him, then we will find consolation and purpose in suffering. I may not understand, but I trust in the One who does. Does God understand our suffering? It is true that God in Himself cannot experience pain or distress, but the old principle is that God cannot suffer, but He can suffer with another. The word compassion means to suffer with. When you feel compassion for someone you feel their pain. Love allows one to suffer with those who are suffering. God loves you more than anyone, so He truly understands your suffering. But more than that, He proved it to us by taking on our human nature and bringing His mercy and healing to the world. The Gospel shows us a day in the life of Jesus. What a busy day it was! He constantly healed people, such as Peters mother-in-law from a fever and

many others. He drove out the demons that were possessing people and gave Himself constantly to those who were suffering in every way. By healing and teaching and casting out the devil Jesus was showing the world the power of God over evil. The Gospel of Mark also notes that Jesus arose before dawn and went to a deserted place to pray to His Heavenly Father in the Holy Spirit. Jesus shows us by example, that unless we pray, we cannot learn how to deal with suffering and the power of evil! When the apostles find him, Peter says: Everyone is looking for you. And Jesus begins again. For this purpose I have come, He says. But even more, in Jesus Passion God understands your suffering. Archbishop Sheen speaks of the triple transference that happened during the Passion of Jesus. He actually took on the suffering of the world: moral, physical and mental. He transferred that suffering to Himself. In the Agony of the Garden, Jesus took on moral suffering, that is, the burden and guilt of sin. He saw Himself as a murderer, an adulterer, a thiefa million times over. He felt the guilt that we feel, the frustration and pain that comes from sin. No wonder He sweat blood in the Garden of Gethsemane! Then by the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the carrying of the heavy cross and the crucifixion, Jesus took on all the physical sufferings of the world. He understands a migraine headache that feels like a crown of thorns piercing the brain; He knows a serious burn that feels as if the flesh were being torn off by the lash of a whip. All the physical sufferings that we experience were experienced by God on that first Good Friday. Jesus revealed to St. Catherine of Sienna that the reason He wanted the soldier to pierce His side and Heart with the spear after He died on the Cross. Jesus told her: I had finished the actual work of bearing pain and torment, and yet I had not been able to show, by finite things, because my love was infinite, how much more love I had, I wished you to see the secret of the Heart, showing it to you open, so that you might see how much more I loved than I could show you by finite pain. Finally, Jesus transferred the mental pain of suffering to Himself, in the abandonment by His apostles and the rejection by His own people who left Him alone. But also in that experience of the absence of God, when He said My God, my God, why have You abandoned me? He knows what it is like to be alone and in darkness.

God understands our sufferings and He wants to transform them. Just as His sufferings conquered sin and death, so our suffering united to Him will have meaning. God still works miracles to show His power over evil and suffering. There is one that is particularly moving that happened in Spain in the 1640s. It is perfectly documented, and most extraordinary. A young man of 20 named Miguel Pellicer was injured when he fell off of a horse and a wagon ran over his right leg, crushing his shinbone. He was taken to the local hospital, but they were able to do little for him, so he decided to make the 190 mile journey to a famous hospital in Saragossa. When he arrived after 50 days in excruciating pain he first went to the ancient shrine to Mary of our Lady of the Column for confession and holy Mass. In the hospital the doctors decided that his leg had to be amputated immediately because it was filled with gangrene. They buried it in the hospital cemetery in a marked grave. After several months he was discharged with a pair of crutches and a wooden leg. He was now unable to earn a living and received permission to collect alms at the entrance to the shrine of Our Lady of the Column. For two years, he attended daily Mass becoming a familiar and beloved sight to the people who came to the shrine. He asked the sextons each day for a small amount of the lamp oil to rub over his stump and the wound that refused to heal. Finally he decided to return to his parents home and made the 75 mile trip which took him seven days. They welcomed their son and although he could do little to help his father on the farm, he went to the neighboring villages and received alms. Thousands of people got to know him and his condition. One day after helping his father fill baskets with dung and taking them by donkey to fertilize a field he came home exhausted and went to bed right after dinner. He had to give up his room that night for a guest and slept on a mattress on the floor of his parents bedroom. When his mother entered the bedroom at about 11:00 she smelled a wonderful heavenly scent. She looked at her 23 year old son sleeping on the floor and saw an unbelievable sightthere was her son with two healthy legs! It was a miracle that could not be explained by the surgeon who amputated it and was witnessed by numerous people who knew Miguel and his suffering. The leg that was miraculously restored had a scar where the amputation took place and three small scars from childhood accidents; the leg buried in the hospital cemetery over two years earlier was not to be found. With God all things are possible!

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary TimeFebruary 15, 2009 One of the most feared diseases in ancient times was leprosy. The term was also used for a variety of skin diseases that today are easily curable. It was the duty of the Jewish priest to determine its existence or pronounce it cured. Those who did have leprosy had to leave their home and family and call out Unclean, unclean if anyone without the disease drew near, as specified in our First Reading from the Book of Leviticus. They became an outcast with little hope. In the Gospel a leper comes up to Jesus and asks to be healed. Perhaps the most meaningful thing to the leper besides the healing by Jesus was the fact that Jesus moved with pity . . . stretched out His hand [and] touched him. No one had dared to touch him. Who else but the Lord Jesus would show this fearlessness and compassion? This miracle is meant to show us more than the compassionate Heart of Jesus. There is also a spiritual meaning to this cure, which reminds us that we are all spiritual lepers in need of healing. In the Responsorial Psalm we prayed: I acknowledged my sin to you, my guilt I covered not. I said, I confess my faults to the Lord, and you took away the guilt of my sin. We have a spiritual disease, which is concupiscence, the weakness that leads to sin; we need healing from this spiritual disease. The CCC (#978-9) says the grace of baptism delivers no one from all the weakness of nature. On the contrary, we must still combat the movements of concupiscence that never cease leading us into evil. In this battle against our inclination towards evil, who could be brave and watchful enough to escape every wound of sin? I saw a bumper sticker recently that said I like me. I wonder why someone has to make that kind of statement. If you are really happy with yourself do you have to make a public declaration about it? The truth of the matter is that I should like those things that are virtuous in me, but I should hate those things that are sinful. I am made up of both virtues and vices and I need to develop virtue and get rid of vice. If I dont acknowledge my sins like the psalm said then I cant have my sins forgiven by God, nor can I make any progress. It is so important to make a frequent Confession. Sometimes people think that if their sins are private and not known to anyone then they really dont matter. Of course, all sin hurts our

relationship with God and He knows our minds and hearts through and through. Besides that, any sin that I commit makes me less of a person than I would have been had I not sinned. I am not as virtuous as I would have been, nor am I able to love and live in the freedom of God as I would have been if I had not sinned. Sins chain my soul. They suck the humanity from me. We have to be careful at work and with friends whose conversation and behavior can be little better than animals. It takes courage to correct people and may mean that we wont be so popular if we stay away from the jokes and gossip that put others down. Some sins, like viewing pornography, seem as if they dont hurt anyone, but even if that were true, the person who views pornography has a lessoned capacity to love others as children of God who deserve respect and has become more self-centered in the selfish pursuit of pleasure. As a matter of fact, science tells us that viewing pornography actually changes the structure of the brain and releases chemicals that are extremely addictive, as addictive as drugs! Here is a phrase that people will frequently say: I am a good person. What does that really mean? Perhaps it means that I am not an ax murderer or I havent embezzled a million dollars or I havent beaten my wife so I am a good person! Is that really enough to get to heaven? Jesus isnt calling us to the minimum of sinful behavior; He is calling us to the maximum of virtue and holiness. No one can get into heaven with even the least blemish of sin upon them as the Book of Revelation says: Nothing unclean will enter Heaven (Rev. 21:27). It isnt enough to be a good person to get to heaven we have to become a saint. That is why people cant wait to convert their lives and confess their sins on their death beds. What a dangerous game! First of all, you may not have the time to do that if your death comes suddenly in a car accident. Also, it is not so easy to convert ones life. Jesus tells us Not all those who say Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matt. 7:21). He wants us to call upon Him, even in the last minute, but it isnt just a matter of saying words that bring eternal life. It is a matter of a real conversion. He wants us to do the will of God the deeds of lovenow, and not to wait to the last minute and the possibility that we wont really convert. For the leper in todays Gospel there was no hope for the cure that would allow him to return to a normal, happy lifeuntil Jesus came along. He wisely went up to the Lord, knelt down with humility and asked If you

wish, you can make me clean. His hope was realized because of the Love of God. Lent is coming upon us shortly. Do we see the need to be cleansed from the spiritual disease of sin? Do we see the hope that Jesus offers if we ask for His mercy in a good Confession? Like the leper, Jesus is our only hope, too! It is really extraordinary news that we have reached the upper end of our capitol campaign goal! Just to remind you, we didnt have the original goal of $1 to 1.5 million dollars because we thought that would be enough to build our transitional Church and school, but because that was the number that our feasibility study indicated was possible. We have really blown that study out of the water because of your generosity. Now I know that there are active parishioners who cannot at this time afford to give anything extra to support this campaign and I want to assure you that what I have always said is true your prayers are important toward our effort to build St. Gianna parish. Do keep praying, we have a long way to go and many circumstances are out of our hands, so lets put everything into the hands of the Lord.

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary TimeFebruary 22, 2009 The four friends of the paralyzed man in the Gospel show us the meaning of true friendship. We dont know how the man became paralyzed, but most likely, it was through a recent accident. He was now helpless, but his friends didnt desert him. Those who are friends when everything is going well, but leave when it is not, were never true friends. Not only that, these friends took him literally to God; they carried him to the house were Jesus was staying. They would not let obstacles keep them from bringing their paralyzed friend to the Lord, so when the entrance was blocked by people they lifted him up on the roof and opened a hole in the thatching and lowered the man right down in front of Jesus. True friends bring others to a deeper faith in God. We dont often think about that part of friendship. Whether through Christian example or getting them to go to Holy Mass and Confession or many other means, Christian friendship leads people to become better disciples of Christ. Jesus looked at the man lowered in front of Him and doesnt do what everyone expected. Instead of healing his body, He says: My son, your sins are forgiven. When we think of the problems that people have our first thought goes to what we can seetheir physical problems. They have the flu or they have cancer or they have financial problems or a flood destroyed their home. We easily miss the most serious things that people suffer from in this life. The Servant of God, Pope John Paul II was once asked by a reporter What is the greatest danger mankind is exposed to nowadays? His answer was so clear and deepSin. The Holy Father was looking deeper than the surface, just like Jesus. Jesus saw that grave danger of sin when he looked at the paralyzed man. Was the man bitter and angry at God because of what happened to him? Was he angry with those who were trying to help him out of embarrassment over his helplessness? Had he given up hope? Or was it simply because he was a man and like all human beings he was afflicted by sin? Whatever the case many have been, Jesus saw that he needed the healing of Gods mercy. We often wonder why our lives are so mixed upwhy we are unhappy or angry or dont seem to make progress. The cause is often sin that we refuse to acknowledge and repent of. I remember when I was a boygoing through some teenage angst and my mother suggested I go to Confession to find relief. It worked! The Lord doesnt want us to be burdened by sin. He

wants to give us relief. Isaiah says in the First Reading that God takes our sins and their burden personally: The people I formed for myself, that they might announce my praise. Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob, for you grew weary of me, O Israel. You burdened me with your sins, and wearied me with your crimes. It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more. The consequences of sin are often far reaching, like throwing a rock into the middle of a still pond. Often we dont realize their growing effect. It is like the old story of the frog and the boiling pot of water. If you put the frog in a pot of boiling water it will immediately jump out or die trying to get out. It cant stand the hot water. However, if you put a frog in lukewarm water and slowly raise the temperature until it eventually reaches boiling point the frog will happily boil to death. It wont try to jump out until it is too late. That is what has happened in our society over the past 50 years or so in regard to immoral behavior. Little by little we have tolerated things that were wrong, making them common practice, until no one sees the evil. Then we move on to a greater evil making it common practice, starting the process all over again. If the television programs that are on networks every evening in 2009 had been shown in the 1950s when television was new, every father in the country would have thrown the television in the trash and never let their children watch it. The decay happens so slowly that we hardly notice it. This is also true in our own lives. When I commit a sin and ignore it or justify it in my mind, then it makes it easier to commit the sin again and move on to something worse. I become more burdened and troubled and try to find relief and meaning in all the wrong places. It starts a downward spiral in my life. Guilt is like physical pain that warns us of bodily ailments. If it gets to the point that I dont feel guilt then my heart is totally hardened. However, when I acknowledge my sin and bring it to the great Sacrament of Mercy, then God takes the burden of guilt and sin away and restores me to freedom. When I repent, I am actually strengthened by God so that I will have the courage to fight against temptation the next time. However, habits of sin take a long struggle and we must not loose heart. God never gives up on us, so we should not give up on Him or ourselves.

Ash WednesdayFebruary 25, 2009 The purpose of Lent is to prepare us to celebrate the Sacred Triduum. Those are the three holy days that begin on the evening of Holy Thursday with the Last Supper, continue through Good Friday with the Lords death on the Cross, through Holy Saturday with the Resurrection on Easter Sunday morning. All of human history prior to those events was leading to them and all human history afterwards flows from them. In order to be prepared we need to become better friends of Jesus Christ. We should see this friendship as a precious treasure. On the part of Jesus His friendship is unwavering and totally faithful. He has proven His love for us a million times over by His death on the Cross. Dont just think that He died for the mass of humanity; He died for you as an individual person. Like all kinds of love it takes two to have the love of friendship. The problem is always on our side. For our part we are often half-hearted and turn from His friendship for the silliest, most selfish reasons; we are the ones who are unfaithful. We need this season of Lent to strengthen or restore that friendship with Jesus Christ. The plan for Lent comes from the Gospel we just heard. It is three-fold: prayer, penance and almsgiving. If we never speak to our friend or spend time with him, what kind of friendship do we really have? It will soon end. We have to spend time with our Lord in the conversation of prayer. Even if we are distracted and cant focus, we still need to give Him time each day. Lent calls us to increase the time of prayer, perhaps through daily Holy Mass, the Stations of the Cross, the Holy Rosary or reading of the Holy Bible, among many choices. Penance and sacrifice, especially fasting, says that even food and other bodily pleasures are not more important than my relationship with Christ. I often have to turn from love of self and satisfaction of my pleasures in order to clear the way for a deeper friendship with God. Doing good deeds and giving to the poor are ways to show that my love for Jesus is alive in the way I treat others. The ashes that you will receive with the words Remember man that you are dust and unto dust you shall return help us to put our lives in perspective. We only have a limited time in this world. Lent is an important opportunity for each one of us to grow in our friendship with Jesus Christ.

First Sunday of LentMarch 1, 2009 The number 40 signifies a period of testing in the Bible. The rain fell upon the earth for 40 days and 40 nights while Noah was in the ark with his family; the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years and Jesus fasted and prayed in the desert for 40 days. The Gospel tells us that during this time Jesus was tempted by the devil; even the Son of God endured temptation. Jesus was tested and He passed the test with flying colors. Unlike us He didnt take the temptation into His mind and mull it over and let it appeal to HimHe rejected it totally. It is like the Mississippi steamboat captain during the Civil War who was asked by a greedy cotton dealer to take a load of cotton up the river to the north for $100. It was illegal to do so at that time and the captain reminded him that it was against the law and refused. Then he said I will give you $500 and the captain thundered No. I will give you $1000. No repeated the captain. Ill give you $3000 the merchant insisted. At that the captain drew out his pistol and pointed it at his tempter, shouting: Get off this boat. You are coming too near my price! He knew that the only way to deal with temptation was either to leave the tempter or make the tempter leave you. If we try to argue or debate with the temptation, we will loose. The best thing is to turn to God in prayer and move our minds away from the thought. We are all faced with temptation. It can either come from within because of our own human weakness or come from an external source, particularly the devil. Hateful thoughts, lustful thoughts can pop into our minds at almost any time, even when we are praying. Critical, uncharitable thoughts come to us without any effort. We must remember that God has made the mind to make judgmentsputting two and two together. If someone comes in wearing the ugliest clothes you have ever seen, your mind cant help but make that judgment. What matters is what we do with that thought. As soon as we realize we are thinking about something that is wrong we have a choice to maketo keep on thinking about it or to dismiss the thought and move on to something else. If we dismiss it and move on to something else, then there is no sin. If we keep thinking upon it then we have committed a sin of thought. In order to keep from falling into sin we have to avoid the near occasions of sin, which are any person, place or thing that makes it easy for us to give

into temptation. There is an excellent movie, now on DVD, called Fireproof about a fire chief and the problems that he and his wife are having in marriage. The fire chiefs father persuades him to embark on a 40 day plan in order to save his marriage from divorce. At one point the plan says that he must give up any addiction in order to truly love his wife. It is obvious that he has an addiction to pornography. The film shows him on the computer when an add pops up saying click here to see a pornographic sight. He is tempted, but he manfully resists it, and not only that, he takes the computer outside and smashes it with a baseball bat before throwing it in the trash. Meanwhile his elderly neighbor is looking on thinking he must be crazy. That computer was a near occasion of sin for him so he had to get rid of it. He put a note for his wife on the desk saying I love you more. In the Lords Prayer we pray lead us not into temptation. This doesnt mean that we think God will tempt us to do evil. What this petition means is that we pray that God will not let us be tempted beyond our strength. God does permit temptation in order to strengthen us in virtue. As St. Paul says: God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (1 Cor. 10:13). The devil is always at work to try and tempt us so that we will turn away from grace and God. The old saying is certainly true for him Misery loves company. You can be sure that the devil wants us to loose hope and despair in these days because of financial difficulties or other sufferingsbut recognize that for what it isa temptation that has to be rejected. Dont let fear get a hold upon you. In our Second Reading, St. Peter reminds us that Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. We need to realize that we are not in this struggle alone, but that God is always by our side. Although He made a covenant with Noah never to destroy the earth with flood waters, He has flooded our lives with His grace, first through the waters of baptism. St. Peter continues by saying that Noah and the ark prefigured baptism, which saves you now. The struggle is not easy, but we can conquer with Jesus Christ!

As you know, we are at a very important point in our Like Living Stones capitol campaign that is aimed at building our parish facilities on our own land. We have raised over $1.5 million in pledges and gifts due to your prayers and generosity. Our needs are immediate and real. We only have so much time in which we will be allowed to rent this space that we are in at present. Our parish will undoubtedly grow once the economy has turned around. We need our own space for Sunday Masses, for individual classes for a day school and for individual classes for PSR (which is currently off-site in the cafeteria of the public high school. I am so grateful to the catechists who persevere in a difficult teaching situation). We also need space for other programs and meetings and office space. The Building Committee is working with a local architect and the Archdiocese to come up with a plan that will meet our needs. This Sunday we have put pledge cards and envelopes in the pews for this Count Me In weekend. It is for those who are not registered at the parish but would like to help us out with a pledge or for those we werent able to reach or for those who would like to give an additional contribution. One of the Precious Blood Sisters has told me that she is praying that a millionaire will give us $1 million. Maybe you are out there today! I always smile when Sister reminds me of her prayer, but I dont doubt the prayers of a determined Sister, either. But even if you are not a millionaire, whatever you can give as a sacrifice to the Lord will help. I am not asking you to do something that I myself havent done. I believe in this project so I have made my own sacrificial gift. I realize that all households give at different levels so each one of us has to make a sacrificial gift according to our own means. Whatever you can do is gratefully appreciated. Remember that God sees what no one sees and He will never be outdone in generosity. As I pointed out last week: all the Churches that we have attended in our lives to celebrate the Holy Mass and receive the Sacraments were built by those who went before us. Now it is our charge to do the same and build for us now and for the future.

Second Sunday of LentMarch 8, 2009 The almost-sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham was a dress rehearsal for the sacrifice of Jesus on Mount Calvary. The comparisons are many. Abraham was commanded by God to take his only son Isaac, the son of the promise, and sacrifice him on Mount Moriah. God had told Abraham that he was to be the father of many nations, with his descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. He was already over 100 years old and now he must kill his only son as a human sacrifice. Of course, God the Father would offer His only Son Jesus as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Abraham took Isaac on a three day journey to Mt. Moriah and then put the wood of the sacrifice on his back to carry up the mountain, just like Jesus who carried the wood of the Cross on His back. Isaac wasnt stupid; he knew that they needed an animal to sacrifice, so he asked his father: Where is the lamb? Abraham merely says that God will supply it, but this question was not truly answered for centuries until one day on the banks of the Jordan River, John the Baptist points to Jesus and says: Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus is the true lamb of sacrifice. What was Abraham thinking when he built the altar, put the wood upon it, tied up his son and stood with his knife ready to slay Isaac? The New Testament Book of Hebrews tells us by faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. . . . He considered that God was able to raise men even from the dead; hence he did receive him back and this was a symbol (Heb. 11:17, 19). God sent his angel at the last moment to stop Abraham, but God Himself offered His only Son to His last breath, to the last drop of His Blood, for our salvation. What happened to Isaac was a symbol for the death and resurrection of Jesus. In the Gospel, Jesus took three of his apostles up another mountain to receive a vision of His glory, but the Cross was not absent even from the glorious vision of the Transfiguration. For a brief moment the apostles can see the glory of His divinity shining through His humanity, even through His clothes, which became dazzling white. Jesus is the new Moses. When Moses went up the mountain to receive the Law, his face became radiant with light so that he had to cover his face with a veil because it was so

startling to the Israelites. The light of Moses was a reflected light, the light of Jesus comes from withinthe light of Divinity! Moses and Elijah appear with Him in conversation, as the Gospel of Luke (9:31) fills in: they appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. His departure or Exodus was through His sacrifice on the Cross. Moses and Elijah are both prophets of the Passion, since both spoke about the Passion of the Messiah in the Old Testament. The Transfiguration took place during the Jewish festival of the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles. It was at the end of the fall harvest when the Jews would live for eight days out in the open fields in tents or thatched huts remembering the time they lived in the desert as Gods chosen people led by Moses. It was a time of thanksgiving and hope for the day in which they would have an eternal dwelling in Gods Kingdom. Even though Peter is so overwhelmed by the experience, it doesnt keep him from saying something: let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Peter sees in this glorious event the fulfillment of the hope of Israel and the time of the Messiah. As Pope Benedict notes in his book Jesus of Nazareth: It is only as they go down from the mountain that Peter has to learn once again that the messianic age is first and foremost the age of the Cross and that the Transfiguration . . . requires us to be burned by the light of the Passion and so transformed (pg. 315).

We have to bear the Cross with Christ in this world if we want to share the glory of eternal life in the next. First the Cross, then the crown. One of our gravest dangers is we that we will not learn how to sacrifice, how to give, how to die to ourselves. We then become self-centered, selfish, spoiled brats, rather than the noble, loving children of God. If I believe everything is centered on me and I am entitled to whatever I want, then I will be miserable. That is the state of many peoplesadly, of many children today. Their parents never taught them the joy of giving or the self-satisfaction that comes from earning things because everything has been handed over to them without effort. I have been taking Holy Communion to a young man of 28 who is dying of cancer. He probably wont be with us this Easter. Many of the things he has said in our conversations have pierced me to the heart! He told me that if he had the choice to have cancer or not, he would choose to have cancer! The reason: it has caused him to convert his whole life to Christ. He has

realized that all the things he treasuredTV, truck and other possessions really dont mean anything compared to his Catholic faith. He has detached himself from all those things. He is in constant pain and finds it difficult to eat or sleep even though he is receiving powerful medicine. He said that he is offering up all his sufferings for the conversion of those who will die before he does. This young man has learned more about the meaning of suffering and sacrificebearing the Crossthan most people learn in a long lifetime. It is one of the privileges of being a priest to minister to someone like him. The words reparation and atonement are vital to us as Christians. We have a duty, united with Christ, to repair the debt of sin, whether our own or the sins of the world. Sin is an offense against God who loves us. We need to make amends to Almighty God by our prayers, good deeds and sacrifices. We have to be willing to bear the Cross in all the little trials and annoyances and setbacks of each day, s well as, the great sufferings that come into our lives. How are you being tested today like our father Abraham? The words of St. Paul in our Second Reading ring out with hope for us: If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but handed Him over for us all, how will He not also give us everything else along with Him? God has given and will give us all good things, if only we will seek the true treasure. We will find that treasure in bearing the Cross, which is love, with Christ. First the cross, then the crown of eternal glorythat is the way it works!

March 15, 2009Third Sunday of Lent In order to support the daily sacrifices in the great Temple of Jerusalem, it was required that every Jew over the age of 19 pay the yearly temple tax. The tax was about 2 days wages and could not be paid with foreign money, which was unclean. Therefore it had to be changed to Jewish money. On the great feast of Passover, there could be as many as 2 million pilgrims assembled in the Holy City. This meant that money changers set up a thriving business right in the temple area to perform this service to pilgrims. It was a very practical arrangement! No matter how wise the situation seemed from a human point of view, it was really offensive to God. St. Paul reminds us in the Second Reading: For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Why was Jesus angry at this practical arrangement? First of all, the money changers were making a huge profit from those who could ill afford it; they charged a full days wage for the changing of the temple tax, which was already 2 days wages. Also, since many pilgrims would want to offer animals for sacrifice, the money changers sold animals right there. However, they would sell the animals at exorbitant prices and even if you bought an animal outside the temple for a cheaper price it had to be inspected and would most likely be rejected as unfit for worship. It was being done in the name of religion! The money changers were doing their noisy business right in the Temple area called the Court of the Gentiles. This was the only place that non-Jews could enter to pray to God. My house shall be a house of prayer for all the nations (Mark 11:17) the Gospel of Mark adds to the scene of the Cleansing of the Temple. It was impossible for anyone to pray there. St. Jerome says that is was probably unnecessary for Jesus to make a whip of cords to chase the money changers out of the Temple, since a certain fiery and starry light shone from his eyes, and the majesty of the Godhead gleamed in His face. St. John then quotes Psalm 69 to explain Jesus actions: Zeal for your house will consume me. The great Temple of Jerusalem was the place where Almighty God dwelt upon the earth. It was a magnificent building with a long history. King Solomon built the first temple upon that spot in 961 BC and at the time of Jesus it had been rebuilt by King Herod taking 46 years of work. We have

to understand that the Temple was not only a building, but a symbol for Jesus Christ, who is the true God in the fleshthe true Temple of God. When they asked for a sign from Jesus, He replied: Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. When they scoffed at His words, St. John explains: He was speaking about the temple of His body. Therefore, when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this. If we want to know and love and serve the true God then we must know, love and serve Jesus Christ; there is no other way. There is another meaning to the Temple. St. Paul says that we are temples of the Holy Spirit because of our Baptism, which is strengthened by the Sacrament of Confirmation. When we are in the State of Grace, which means that we examine our consciences and there is no mortal sin, God dwells in us; this is especially clear when we open up our souls to receive His Precious Body in Holy Communion. In the worthy reception of the Holy Eucharist Jesus enters body and soul to strengthen us with His real, true Presence. We carry the Presence of God within us; we are His temple. Well, at least, we should strive to be the temple of God and let His light shine in our words and deeds. It is so easy for us to turn away from God and allow the light of His Presence to be extinguished in our selfishness and selfcenteredness. Pope Benedict recently wrote a letter to the bishops of the world in which he gets to the heart of the problem of our day and its solution. The Holy Father wrote: In our days, when in vast areas of the world the faith is in danger of dying out like a flame which no longer has fuel, the overriding priority is to make God present in this world and to show men and women the way to God. Not just any god, but the God who spoke on Sinai; to that God whose face we recognize . . . in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. The real problem at this moment of our history is that God is disappearing from the human horizon, and, with the dimming of the light which comes from God humanity is losing its bearings, with increasingly evident destructive effects. As Christians we dont just believe in any god, or in anything, we believe that God has revealed Himself and how to get to His Kingdom. The Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai, which we just read in the First Reading, are sure and objective norms that apply to every human being. They are part of the natural moral law, which means that when God created us He put these laws into the very fabric of our being. You shall

have no other gods, you shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal are written upon our hearts. If we violate them or ignore them, we loose our bearings and its effects are destructive, as Pope Benedict points out. The culture of death is moving forward. Without being political, President Obama, this past week, as he promised in the campaign, has ordered the government to use tax money for the destruction of human embryos in order to experiment upon them. (There have been no cures from embryonic stem cells, but there have been many cures from adult stem cells, which carry no moral problem.) Weve moved public funding for abortion to the very beginning of human lifethe embryo. If life is not precious at its beginning, nor as it develops in the womb, nor at the moment of birth, how can we be surprised when it is seen as expendable during any point of a persons life? When we hear of the shooting of innocent people by a madman, we are hardly surprised anymore. People are losing their bearings and acting destructively because they no longer have the true God and His inviolable law as the foundation for their lives. Lent is inviting us to turn back to God, to live on the firm foundation of His Commandments and the rock of His Church. Even if the whole world turns from God, we have the duty to live the law of love that Jesus has given us and to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. As Pope Benedict said To make God present in this world and show men and women the way to God is our duty as Christians.

Laetare SundayMarch 22, 2009 There is a definite pattern in the relationship between God and Israel in the Old Testament. It is repeated over and over again. The First Reading from the Book of Chronicles succinctly tells us of one example from history. Israel is Gods chosen people and He made it clear that He would protect them if they would remain faithful to His commandments, particularly the First Commandment which forbade the worship of false gods. Chronicles tells us that all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations. This is how the pattern begins for Israelthey forget the Lord God and turn to the worship of false gods. The worst was the god Moloch who was worshipped by human sacrifice. His statue had a fire burning within it and people would take their babies and throw them into the red hot fire in order to worship this god. Truly an abomination! Of course, I cannot help but think of the murder of the innocents that has taken place in our country and world through abortion. Does it really make that much difference if the babies are sacrificed to a god in a temple or are killed behind the sterile walls of an abortion clinic? Either way, it is an abomination. Chronicles tells us the second step in this pattern comes from God. The Lord doesnt give up on His people without warning them again and again: Early and often did the Lord, the God of their fathers, send His messengers to them, for He had compassion on His people and His dwelling place. But the people did not listen to the prophets, especially Jeremiah, and kept offending God until the anger of the Lord against His people was so inflamed that there was no remedy. The Lord is so merciful that He doesnt take action immediately but gives His people every chance to turn back to Him and to turn from their destructive ways. It is not so much that the Lord inflicts a penalty upon them by sending an army, in this case, the Babylonian army, as that the Lord leaves them to their own prideful consequences. When Israel disobeys the Commandments, refuses Gods wise counsel and His protection, forgetting all about Him, then they suffer the consequences. Without God there are no defenses. Evil will have its way and it is horrible. In 587 BC, the Babylonian army invaded, burnt the Temple, tore down the city walls and everyone who was

not killed in battle was taken captive to Babylon. Jerusalem was practically a wasteland for 70 years as the Prophet Jeremiah predicted. The pattern continues with Israel repenting and turning back to the Lord who forgives them. They learn their lesson and want to be His faithful people once more. The Responsorial Psalm today tells of Israels longing to return home: Let my tongue be silenced, if ever I forget you, [Jerusalem]. Chronicles narrates that God inspired King Cyrus of Persia, a pagan king, to bring Israel back to the Promised Land from the Babylonian Exile. He issued a proclamation: Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord, the God of heaven, has given to me, and He has also charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of His people, let him go up, and may his God be with him! Israel is once again Gods faithful peopleat least until the pattern of unfaithfulness begins all over. Although the Church of Christ can never totally abandon Him we can see this pattern repeated in Christian history, too. If we look around today there are reasons for sadness and signs of hope. No doubt the United States and western culture are in a serious state of decay. Godlessness and atheism are snuffing out the light of Christ and His love from many hearts; the law of the country, which is a great teacher, and the only teacher for many people, no longer supports the dignity and value of each human life from the moment of conception. Hopelessness and violence are left in its wake. We have to honestly acknowledge those sad trends in our society. But at the same time there is reason to hope. Christian hope is not just a human virtue based on changeable characteristics, like the economy or who is governing the country or the sufferings of the moment; it is a supernatural virtue based on faith in Christ. St. Paul reminds us in the Second Reading: God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love He had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christby grace you have been saved. The season of Lent, which prepares us for the great events of our salvation, calls us to build our happiness upon Jesus our Savior. He has already been victorious! The outcome is certain. We are members of the Kingdom of God on earththe holy Catholic Churchand we are getting ready for its fulfillment in heaven.

There are visible signs of hope for us. We have had saintly, intelligent popes to guide our Church for a long time. The Servant of God, Pope John Paul and our present Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI are truly great leaders. There is great hope in many families who are making extraordinary efforts to bring up their children in the Catholic faith; they are not afraid to oppose the direction of society. There have been many converts, especially Protestant ministers who bring a great zeal and love of the Bible with them to the Catholic Church. Our seminarians are prayerful, orthodox men who want to serve Christ and are men of the Church, who love the Church. I have been a priest long enough to know that that wasnt always the case in the seminary. There are young people, like those who went to World Youth Day, who are really seeking to live as friends of Christ. There are many reasons for hope. Above all, there is hope in the Cross of Christ. In the Gospel today, Jesus recalls for Nicodemus an event that happened in the Old Testament when Moses was leading the people through the desert. They complained about their troubles, they didnt ask God for help, they complained, and so God sent a punishment of snakes that bit the people and killed them. Then they turned back to God and God told Moses to make a bronze statue of a snake and mount it upon a pole. When the people looked upon it they would be healed. Jesus says Jesus looked like the visible picture of sin, with His beaten, bloody body nailed to the Cross; whenever anyone looks upon the crucified Christ with faith, he will find healing from the poison of sin. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. This is the Good News, the life changing news that gives us a hope that the world cannot take away.

Fifth Sunday of LentMarch 29, 2009 The Church wisely follows last Sundays Gospel in which Nicodemus visits Jesus to question Him with the Gospel this Sunday in which the Greeks ask to talk to Jesus. In the Gospel of John they are separated by nine chapters, one at the beginning of Jesus public ministry and the other near the end. Through these two meetings, Jesus explains the purpose of His mission in two different ways to help them and us to understand. Remember last SundayNicodemus was a Jewish Pharisee and so Jesus gives him an answer that he would understand. He refers to the Bible and Moses who was commanded by God to make a bronze serpent that looked like the very snakes that were poisoning the people in the desert. He was to mount it on a pole so that everyone who looked upon it would be healed. Jesus said to Nicodemus: Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. Jesus, by His bloody death on the Cross, looked like the visible picture of sin, and by that act would heal the world of the poison of sin and give us eternal life through faith in Him. This was a reference that any good Jew could understand. The Greeks, however, needed another kind of explanation since they didnt know the Jewish scriptures. So Jesus gives them a reference from nature. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. If the grain of wheat remains unburied in the ground it doesnt change and you can do little with a single grain; but if it is planted, the great mystery of life takes over and that grain comes alive with a sprout and roots and a stalk and then sheaves of grain, which can be harvested along with others, to make flour and then baked into bread, which gives life and nourishment to man. Jesus is that grain of wheat who willingly died on the Cross to bear the fruit of salvation. To those without faith who observed the scene of Jesus death it looked like they were just burying a corpse that Good Friday evening, but to those with faith He looks like a seed that was planted and would rise three days later to offer grace and eternal life to the whole world. In the Gospel the word hour stands for the time of His suffering, death and resurrectionthe Paschal Mystery. Jesus sees His suffering, death and resurrection as one thing, the glorification of God. He prefaced His remarks

to the Greeks by saying The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. And later the voice of God the Father, which sounds like thunder, answers Jesus prayer to glorify His Name with I have glorified it and will glorify it again. The glory, the goodness of God, is supremely manifested in His love and mercy which flows from the sacrifice on the Cross. Last week Pope Benedict was in Angola, Africa and had a meeting with the young people. He told them: My dear friends, you are a seed which God has sown in the world, a seed that contains power from on high, the power of the Holy Spirit. And yet, the only way to pass from the promise of life to actually bearing fruit is to give your life in love, to die for love. Jesus Himself said: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. This is what Jesus said, and this is how He acted. His crucifixion seems like complete failure, but it is not! Jesus, in the power of the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God (Heb. 9:14). Thus once He fell to the earth, He could bear fruit in every time and place. What does it mean to hate ones life in this world? It means to die to self; it means to pick up my own Cross each day and follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Yes, we could not do anything if the Precious Blood of Christ had not redeemed the world, but God expects me to apply that grace to my own life by doing my own part. I have to work to rid myself of selfishness and lust and anger and gluttony and laziness, greed and envyal the capitol sins. I do that by self-denial. I do that by not giving in to all my desires and even by denying myself legitimate pleasures at times. I do that by deliberately making sacrifices for God and for other people. I do that by repenting and making a good Confession. That is what we are trying to emphasize in Lent. I need to develop a spirit of penance; I need to die to myself. There are two kinds of penance or crosses: passive and active. The passive penances are those things that we do not choose, but happen to us, such as, enduring cold or heat, people who annoy us, sickness, aches and pains, the breakdown of a car or the loss of a job. On and on, these unlooked for sufferings come into our lives. If we unite them to Jesus Christ crucified and allow Him to use them in the same way that His sufferings redeemed the world, then they have meaning. There are the penances that we actively

choose, such as, fasting from food or alcohol or television. We choose to do these penances in order to conquer sin and direct our lives away from ourselves to the love and service of God and neighbor. We need to do penance in order to grow. In speaking to the youth of Africa, Pope Benedict continued with the theme of the wheat seed falling to the earth and dying in order to produce much fruit. That seed can be made into flour and bread, but especially the Bread of the Holy Eucharist. The Holy Father continued: In your midst you have the new Bread, the Bread of future life, the Most Holy Eucharist, which nourishes us and pours out the life of Trinity into the hearts of all people. We need the Holy Mass and Holy Communion in order to give us the strength to bear the crosses of life and to have hope. Many Catholics are starving their souls by not attending Holy Mass and worthily receiving the Bread of Life. They do not have the grace to see Gods plan in their lives or truly love as God has loved them. This past week we celebrated the Solemnity of the Annunciation. The angel Gabriel was sent to Mary to ask her to be the Mother of God. When she accepted Gods plan for her, through the power of the Holy Spirit the Word of God became flesh. Every Jewish girl longed to be the mother of the Messiah. Mary accepted the will of God wholeheartedly, including the sufferings that would come. She knew that Isaiah had predicted that He would be a suffering servant. The joy that came to her was filled with her total commitment to the will of God. She would see many sufferings, but particularly the incomparable sufferings she endured at the foot of the Cross. Mary help us to say yes to Jesus even when it means enduring sufferings, which are meant to purify and perfect us as children of the Heavenly Father.

Palm SundayApril 5, 2009 On the first Palm Sunday, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem upon which no one has ever sat. Archbishop Sheen once joked that maybe because of this, Our Lord should be the patron saint of cowboys. In the Jewish religion an animal used for a sacred purpose must not be used for anything else. It was truly a sacred purpose to carry the Messiah into Jerusalem in triumph so no one had ever ridden it before Jesus. The prophet Zechariah foretold: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. Lo, our king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, and riding on a donkey and upon a colt the foal of a donkey (Zech. 9:9). In those days a donkey was considered to be a noble animal. A king went out to battle riding upon a great horse, but when he came in peace he rode a donkey. Every good Jew knew what it meant for Jesus to come into Jerusalem riding upon a donkey that first Palm Sunday. They rejoiced, giving Him a conquerors welcome, but they did not understand the kind of conqueror He wished to be. They were still looking for a king who would lead great armies into battle to defeat the enemies of Israel, particularly the Roman Empire. They should have known, however, since the Bible contains the passages from Isaiah which are called the four songs of the Suffering Servant. Our First Reading this Sunday is from one of them and describes the suffering of Jesus as if Isaiah were an eye witness of His Passion: I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. The four prophesies of the Suffering Servant from Isaiah are read on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week and the fourth on Good Friday. I have often wondered that if I lived in the time of Jesus, would I have recognized Him as the Messiah, the Son of God? Jesus healed the sick, the blind, the deaf, the lame as the Messiah was supposed to do; He taught with authority, unlike the Scribes and the Pharisees; He freed sinners from the captivity of sin; He rode into Jerusalem on the donkey in triumph and peace. Then He died as it was foretold. In this Holy Mass we read Psalm 22, which says: they have pierced my hands and my feet; I can count all my bones. They divide my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots. Again this psalm foretells the sufferings of the Messiah and they were fulfilled by Jesus. All the signs were there that Jesus was truly the Messiah; would I have recognized Him and followed Him?

It takes certain human virtues to find Jesus. First, I have to be willing to humbly search for the truth. If I think that I have all truth and there is nothing beyond me or higher than me, then I cant find Jesus. Pride and vanity will keep me imprisoned. Secondly, I have to have courage to defy the world around me. To some extent I have to be a non-conformist because the culture is always pulling at me to go with the crowd, with the popular, with those who have power and fame and money. One of the greatest dangers today is simply to give up and be indifferent to God. There is a poem that expresses this idea; it is in two parts. The first part speaks about the way Jesus was treated when He came to Calvary; the second part imagines how Jesus would be treated if He came to a modern city. Since the poet is British, he uses the city of Birmingham, England, but it could be any city today. When Jesus went to Calvary, they nailed Him to a tree; Red were His wounds and deep. For those were crude and cruel days And human life was cheap! When Jesus came to Birmingham, they merely passed Him by; They would not harm a hair of His they only let Him die. For men had grown more tender now, they would not cause Him pain; They merely went on down the street and left Him in the rain. So it rained the winter rain that drenched Him through and through. And when all the crowds had left the street without a soul to see, Then Jesus crouched against a wall and SIGHED for Calvary. The indifference of men today is more painful than the sufferings of Calvary. Would I know and follow Jesus if I lived in His own time? The answer is: how well do I know, love and serve the Lord today? If I do it today, then I would have done it while He lived and suffered and died for me. This week is the time for us to be united to His suffering, death and resurrection. If at all possible, come on Holy Thursday evening for the Mass of the Lords Supper and Good Friday for the Good Friday Service and the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday evening. We need to spend time with the Lord. Would I have recognized Jesus if I lived in His own time?

Holy ThursdayApril 9, 2009 The apostles must have been greatly surprised when Jesus said at the Last Supper: This is the Blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. All their lives they had lived under the covenant that God made with Moses. It governed not only their religious lives, but social and political as well; everything in the life of a good Jew was governed by the teachings of Moses. Now Jesus announces a new covenant. Jesus did not come to do away with the old covenant, but to fulfill and perfect it. Jesus is the new Moses. Moses led the Israelite people from slavery in Egypt into the Promised Land; Jesus frees the world from the slavery of sin to begin a new life as children of God and ultimately lead us into the Promised Land of Heaven. The Israelites passed through the waters of the Red Sea to safety from their enemies and in the New Covenant we pass through the waters of baptism to escape the power of the devil. Moses institutes the Passover in which an unblemished lamb is sacrificed and eaten as a meal. Jesus institutes the Eucharistic Sacrifice which anticipates His sacrifice on the Cross and then gives Himself to us in the sacred banquet of Holy Communion. Moses places the blood of the lamb upon the doors to protect the people from the angel of death. Jesus sheds His Blood and saves the world from the death of hell. The twelve tribes of Israel form Gods chosen people; the Twelve Apostles become the foundation of the Church, the new people of God. The apostles probably didnt realize all the implications of the New Covenant that Jesus was establishing with the Last Supper and His imminent suffering, death and resurrection. However, they had to realize that what Jesus was doing was truly life changing. They would reflect upon it and under the power of the Holy Spirit come to understand it in its fullness as we are able to do today. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the ministerial priesthood were established at the Last Supper. The priest is a priest precisely to celebrate the Holy Eucharist and act in the Person of Christ. It is the reason for the priests existence. The Holy Mass is the source and summit of the Christian life because in the unbloody sacrifice of the altar all the graces of Jesus sacrifice are poured out upon us like a great river of grace and Jesus feeds us with His Real Presence in Holy Communion and remains with us in

the tabernacle. There is no way to get closer to Jesus here on earth than in this Most Blessed Sacrament. Sometimes people will say that they feel closer to God when they are in the woods or walking by the sea shore than anywhere else. We certainly can feel close to God in those places, but if we understand the great gift of this Sacramentthe true meaning of the doctrine of Jesusthen we would know that there is really no place that we can get closer to God on earth than in the Holy Eucharist. This is the Mystery of our faiththe Holy Eucharist. This sacrifice is not meant to be kept to ourselves. It is meant to be a banquet of Love that leads us to deeds of charity. Can you imagine a more powerful image than the King of kings, the Lord of the Universe, at the Last Supper taking off His outer garment and kneeling down and washing the feet of His apostles? That was the work of a slave; no wonder Peter objects at first. Jesus wanted to impress them that to be His disciple meant to be of service and to love one another as He has loved us. He explained: Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me teacher and master and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one anothers feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do. The English word Mass comes from the last words of the holy Mass in Latin. Ite, missa est, the word missa is the origin of the word Mass. It literally means, Go, you are sent forth. The Mass sends us forth to be a living Gospel of Christ because we have been strengthened and nourished and enlightened by this Holy Banquet. We follow Jesus closely these holy days. Our procession with the Holy Eucharist at the end of Mass tonight recalls the journey of Jesus and the apostles to the Garden of Gethsemane. Just as He asked the apostles to do, we will have the opportunity to keep watch and pray with Jesus until midnight. Perhaps you can stay and pray before the Blessed Sacrament in the Altar of Repose or come back some time before midnight. Let us go forth from this Holy Mass and every Mass bringing the Love that we have received to our homes, workplace and the world.

Good FridayApril 10, 2009 It is only a matter of days between Palm Sunday and Good Friday, but the difference in the peoples reaction to Jesus is astounding. It went from Hosanna to the son of David to Crucify him! At the Last Supper Peter said to Jesus I will lay down my life for you and a few hours later to the serving girl in the High Priests Courtyard: I do not even know the man. How did they turn away from faith and trust in Jesus so quickly? It usually doesnt happen so quickly for most of us, but is a gradual pattern of lukewarmness that leads us away from Jesus. Archbishop Sheen once traced the events that led to Peters betrayal in five steps and then his return in three steps all from the accounts of the Passion of our Lord. The first step away took place Peter stopped praying. When Jesus took the apostles to the Garden of Gethsemane, He specifically asked Peter, James and John to stay awake one hour and pray with Him as He endured the terrible agony of taking the sins of the world upon Himself to bear them to the Cross for us. Peter and the others, humanly speaking, were groggy from a heavy meal and the late hour. If we dont pray every day, we wont have the strength or wisdom to overcome the trials in our lives. Peter needed to pray that night, even though he didnt feel like it. There are clearly times when we dont feel like praying, but should anyway. If we let all the worldly things absorb our time, how will we keep watch with Jesus in prayer? The second step was that Peter substituted action for the wisdom that comes from prayer. Maybe it would be better to say reaction, than action. When Judas leads the soldiers to arrest Jesus, Peter pulls out his sword and strikes at one of the soldiers, cutting off his ear. There was no thought, just a mindless reaction; surely Peter could have mounted a better defense of Jesus. When we dont pray, we lack wisdom and understanding in our actions. How often in our family life do we merely react to some offense and that person reacts to our reaction and on and on. Nothing ever changes or improves in our relations. Even though we are busy with many things they arent the right things. We get farther from our Lords plan for life. Thirdly, Peter follows Jesus from a distance. Up until His arrest, Peter was always at Jesus side, but afterwards the Scripture says Peter followed Him

at a distance into the High Priests Courtyard. He is afraid and embarrassed by Jesus. We can we can become that way; we dont want anyone to know that we are Christians or follow a different moral standard than anyone else. Fourthly, Peter seeks creature comforts; in the courtyard, the Bible says that Peter was next to the fire standing there keeping himself warm. At the very time that his Lord is suffering from the wounds and rough treatment of the soldiers and is undergoing the first of His trials Peter is seeking his own comfort. When we are falling away from Jesus we try and find happiness and satisfaction in the pleasures of this world. We are no longer close enough to Him to feel the warmth of Divine Love in our lives. Finally, we come to the last step which is denial. As Jesus predicted at the Last Supper, Peter denies even knowing Him, not once, but three times. His fall is complete. That is not the end of the story of Peter because unlike Judas who despairs, Peter does not. The first step to His return begins with something that everyone heard everyday of their lives in country placesthe crow of the rooster. But this very common sound was what God used to turn Peter around. When he heard it he remembered the prediction that Jesus had made, Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times. The Lord can use the most ordinary things to bring us back to Him. It could be a song or the sight of someone praying the Rosary or the beautiful view of a sunset that triggers a return to Him. That cock crow shattered the wall that Peter had allowed to separate him from Jesus. At that very moment Jesus is dragged out of the trial before the High Priest and His eyes meet those of Peter. The gaze of the Lord penetrates him to the very depth of his soul. How can we look the Lord in the face from the darkness of unconfessed mortal sin? Only the grace of Jesus can lift us up, He does it for us, like He did it to Peter. There is no sin that God cannot forgive because He is all merciful; the Cross proves it. The Bible simply tells us the third and final step that leads Peter back to Jesushe wept. The Lord hears the cry of those who turn to Him for mercy. Peter was the friend of Jesus again and so are we because of His Mercy!

Easter SundayApril 12, 2009 Because of Eastereverything that was lost has been found, He who was dead is alive! On Good Friday is seemed as if all the hope of people in Jesus as the Messiah and Savior was dead. His stirring words were silenced; His miracles destined to fade into the past. To those who saw the sorrowful procession of Blessed Virgin Mary, Nicodemas and Joseph of Aramathea carrying the dead body of Jesus to the cold tomb it looked like the typical burial of a corpse. The devil had won again; death was still victorious. However, to the eyes of faith the burial of Jesus body was the burying of a seed. It was to produce great fruit three days later in his glorious resurrection; a fruitfulness that continues to flourish even to this day, some two thousand years later. Because of Easter we welcome into the Catholic Church throughout the world tens of thousands of adults who have studied and prayed to be ready for this milestone in their lives. They desire to enter into the Church and into the mystery of Christs death and resurrection. They want to walk with Jesus for the rest of their lives in the family of the Catholic Church. We have two people in our parish who embarked on this journey last night: Ryan Allen and Jennifer Mahan. They were here with their sponsors and family, Ryan was baptized, confirmed and received his first Holy Communion; Jennifer was received into the Church, confirmed and received her first Holy Communion. It is because of the grace of Jesus Christ, who suffered, died on the Cross and rose from the dead that they wanted to make this step. In our hearts this Easter we must all go to the tomb of Jesus. We must be like Mary Magdalene and the other holy women who went to anoint the body on Easter Sunday morning, to do a last final good deed. There they found the great stone rolled away, the empty tomb and an angel who said Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; He is not here. We should be amazed by the great love of God who sent His only begotten Son to die on the Cross so that we might have freedom from our sins. We all know how powerful sin is; we feel its pull in our human weaknesses; we feel its pull in the world around us. This past Lent we have made an attempt with deliberate acts of prayer, penance and good deeds to conquer our sinfulness at least a little.

In our hearts this Easter we go the tomb of Jesus like Peter and John. They run to the tomb and find the burial cloths there, but no body. John who is younger and quicker arrives first, although he lets Peter enter first since he is his elder and the Bible tells us John saw and believed. This Easter is meant to cause us to believe even more deeply in Jesus. There are many reasons to give up hope in a world that is filled with suffering and trial. There is much uncertainty and insecurity; it seems as if the culture of death is unstoppable. Our hope is not in this world which is passing, but in Jesus Christ and the victory that He has won by offering himself as the victim for our sins. We already share in that victory because we have received His grace and mercy in our own Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion and all the sacraments. This past Wednesday, I offered the funeral Mass for a young man of 28 who died of cancer; I have known him since he was a teenager. I spoke of him in a homily during Lent because of his tremendous example of bearing his sufferings with Christ. He said to me: Father if I could choose to have cancerchoose to have itI would. He saw his whole life converted to Christ because of it. He saw everything differently in the face of his upcoming death. His possessions became meaningless in comparison to facing eternity; his physical strength ebbed; his independence was taken away. But he realized what was really importanthis Catholic faith, the sacraments, particularly Confession and Holy Communion, which gave him great peace and the love of his family who deeply cared for him in his lasts months and weeks. St. Paul told us in our Second Reading: If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above. He learned to die to himself and live for Christ. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory. When I look at his grave in the cemetery across the street, I ask his prayers to help me to understand what is truly important as he did. Because of Eastereverything that was lost has been found, He who was dead is alive! This Easter is meant to help us to live in this world with renewed hope in Jesus who is truly risen from the dead.

Divine Mercy SundayApril 19, 2009 It is impossible for any human mind to fully know God; not even the greatest angel can do so. God is infinite and we are finite. However, God has revealed Himself to us gradually over time so that we can know something of Him. In Jesus we have the visible picture of the invisible God. He who has seen me, has seen the Father Jesus told Philip at the Last Supper. It is important for us to have as correct an understanding of God as possible. Perhaps the most important characteristic of God is the one we are celebrating today on Divine Mercy Sunday. Gods mercy, which is another expression of Divine Love, tells us who God is. The Moslem religion shares our understanding of God in many waysHe is almighty, the Creatorbut they do not see God as merciful. For Christians, mercy is at the very Heart of who God is. For God, mercy is not just letting us off the hook for our sins, but taking them upon Himself to pay the debt of sin. The whole purpose of Jesus suffering and death on Good Friday and His glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday was to open the gates of Divine Mercy upon our world. Look at our Gospel this Sunday for clear examples of Divine Mercy. Jesus appears to the apostles for the first time on Easter Sunday evening in the room of the Last Supper. He wishes them peace and then shows them His hands and His sidein other words, the wounds from the Crucifixion. All the other wounds upon His sacred body had been healed at the resurrection, but He kept the five wounds in His hands and feet and side. They are the permanent marks of the Divine Mercy that was obtained for us by His Passion and Death. Then in that same passage, Jesus institutes the Sacrament of Mercy, Confession. He gives the apostles the power to forgive sins in His name. Jesus breathed upon them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained. Throughout all the ages of Christianity, it has been the prime mission of the Church to bring the mercy of God to the whole world. This Sunday recently became known as Divine Mercy Sunday. It was named so by the Servant of God, Pope John Paul at the request of Jesus to a Polish nun Sister Faustina Kowalska. Jesus appeared to St. Faustina in the late 1930s to ask her to be his apostle of Divine Mercy. He spoke to her about the ocean of mercy that He wanted to pour out upon the world; He gave her a series of prayers to be said upon the Rosary beads and a novena, as well as, asking for a painting that depicted Him as He appeared to her.

We have a copy of that painting which hangs in the Divine Mercy Shrine in Poland right here in our Church. Jesus also asked that this Sunday be designated Divine Mercy Sunday. We know what was taking place in Germany in the late 1930sthe rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party, which culminated in World War II and the horrible holocaust of Jews and any opponents of the Nazi regime. The pictures of the emaciated concentration camp survivors are still haunting to this day. The world certainly needed Divine Mercy at that point in history! The hatred of war doesnt always end even when the good side is victorious. Jesus wants us to know how deep and infinite His Mercy is for those who seek it. We heard repeatedly in our psalm today: His mercy endures for ever. He made it easy for us to receive it on that first Easter Sunday when He established the Sacrament of Penance. It is so sad that many Catholics still dont take advantage of it! We are not only to receive mercy but to give it to others. Jesus knows that it is very difficult for us to forgive and let go of bitterness, anger and past hurts. The truth is that we are the ones who are hurt if we are not able to forgive. Most of the time the person we are mad at doesnt even realize it. It doesnt do any good to say I will forgive when they have paid for it sufficiently; we want revenge, but when will that ever come? What will be enough payment? Jesus has made forgiveness of others the condition for our forgiveness from GodForgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. You will not have peace in your souls until you are able to forgive those who have hurt you, including your parents, your spouse, and your children. A number of years ago, I heard a conference by a Catholic psychologist who recommended to his patients that they should go before the Blessed Sacrament and think of every hurt or pain that was caused by people in their past. They should try to find an excuse for the persons behavior, perhaps he was an alcoholic or mentally ill or simply ignorant. Then in the presence of Jesus forgive that person from the heartone by one, putting the people and incidents in the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. It may take some time and repeated efforts, but he said many of his patients found healing from Jesus and no longer needed a psychologist; he was happy to loose that business. I did this myself; it is amazing how many things you can remember even from your childhood. There was particularly one incident in which I thought a brother priest had maligned me and forced me out of a position in which I thought I was able to do good for others. One by one, I asked Jesus to heal me as I forgave. I didnt expect anything else from those conscious acts of

forgiveness other than the peace that comes from truly forgiving from the heart. A few months later the priests were on a diocesan retreat and during a penance service this priest who I hadnt seen for many years came up to me, took me aside and asked for my forgiveness. He also wanted me to hear his Confession. I have always marveled how the Lord works if only we forgive from the heart! There is a famous phrase in the First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles that says The community of believers was of one heart and one mind. Cor unum et anima una. This is what happens when we open our lives to the mercy of God like the first Christians. They were gathered around their bishopsthe apostlesand shared all that they had with one another, so that no one was needy. Their hearts and minds were one in the unity of the Church. It is a beautiful way to live and one that we must strive for in our own lives and our own parishone heart and one mind. Lets ask Mary who never lost faith or hope in the resurrection of her Son to help us to rejoice in the Divine Mercy that God is pouring out upon us and upon our whole world this very day.

First Holy CommunionApril 25, 2009 Every once in a while a mom or dad will come up to receive Holy Communion carrying a little child, who will say out loud Mom, I want one. Now that little child really doesnt understand Holy Communion at all and is going to have to wait many years. You children are now old enough and know enough to receive your First Holy Communion this day. What a happy day it is for you and for your family and for our parish family of St. Gianna. You know that when a priest takes ordinary bread, the unleavened kind, and ordinary wine to the altar and says the words of Jesus from the Last Supper This is my Body and This is my Blood that ordinary bread and wine are miraculously changed. We believe Jesus meant what He said. The ordinary bread and wine become Jesus Himself; His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. It becomes food for our souls. What kind of food? When you ate breakfast it filled up your stomach and gave you strengthat least until lunch. Holy Communion is food for the soul! We heard in the First Reading how the prophet Elijah was fleeing for his life into the desert because the wicked Queen Jezebel was trying to kill him. He walked and walked until he could walk no more and sat down under a tree and fell asleep. Then an angel came and woke him up and gave him some miraculous food of bread and water. When he ate it he was strengthened and walked forty days and forty nights without stopping until he got to Mount Horeb. Now that was powerful food! The Holy Eucharist is powerful food that will help us to be faithful to God. Holy Communion gives us strength to avoid sin and grow in grace and be a faithful member of His Catholic Church without giving up. Even though there is enough grace in each Holy Communion to make us a saint on the spot, we can only take in so much in at a time. We have to keep coming back to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament because we need Him day after day; once is not enough for us. We have to grow into saints little by little; Holy Communion by Holy Communion. Back in the early years of the Church there was a great persecution. If you were a Catholic, you would very likely be put to death. They did it in the cruelest ways! In the year 304 there was a group of Christians in northern Africa (Abitene, Tunisia) caught by soldiers at Sunday Mass. They were

arrested and brought before the judge and put on trial for their faith. If they would stop being a Christian and stop attending Sunday Mass they could go free, otherwise they would be killed. Those Christians said Without the Sunday Mass it is not possible for us to live (Sine dominico, non possumus). They would rather die than do without Sunday Mass. They knew how important it was to receive Holy Communion and worship God on the Lords DaySunday. If only we could have the faith of those Christians today! We have to look at this great gift of the Holy Eucharist with the eyes of faith. Your taste buds wont help you to know that it is Jesus in Holy Communion; your human eye sight wont help you; your sense of touch wont help you. Only believing on Jesus and His Church will help you to see Him in the Holy Eucharist. It is just like those two disciples in our Gospel. They knew Jesus had died on the Cross and was buried on Good Friday, but they didnt yet believe in the resurrection. They were walking to the town of Emmaus when a stranger joins them on the road. They didnt know it was the resurrected Jesus. He teaches them about all the things the prophets predicted would happen to Him, especially His suffering and death. Still they do not recognize Him. Finally when they invite Him to stay for dinner, Jesus sits down at the table, takes bread, blesses it, breaks it and gives it to them. It looked like the very thing He did at the Last Supper, the first Holy Mass. It was only then that they recognized Jesus and He disappeared. Jesus wants you to recognize Him hidden in the Holy Eucharist. Your taste wont help you, your sight wont help you, but your faith will. Say to Jesus when you kneel down after Holy Communion: Jesus I believe in You; Jesus I trust in You; Jesus I love You. With faith, you can recognize Jesus in your First Holy Communion and every Holy Communion for the rest of your lives.

Third Sunday of EasterApril 26, 2009 At the end of the movie The Passion of the Christ it shows the risen Christ standing in the tomb, with the hole from the nail mark clearly in His hand. He pauses for a moment in the triumph of the resurrection and then resolutely steps forward with the attitudenow lets begin! In one way the resurrection was the total triumph of the Son of God over sin, death and the devil, but in another way it was truly the beginning of everything. Jesus appeared to His apostles Easter Sunday evening and instead of rejoicing with Him, Jesus first has to convince them that it is really Him alive. It wouldnt be until after Pentecost that Peter could speak the truth with confidence as we heard in our First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles: The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses. However, on Easter they were not waiting for the resurrection; they were totally surprised. St. Lukes Gospel takes us back to the first Easter and tells us that the apostles thought the risen Jesus was a ghost. He showed them the wounds in His hands and His feet saying: Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have. Then He asked for something to eat and they gave Him a piece of baked fish. That scene always strikes me as humorousto think of the apostles standing around Jesus watching Him eat that piece of baked fish! Here is the Son of God who has passed through suffering and death, still with the work of convincing His own apostles that He was alive as He promised. God will not force us to believe, but He doesnt give up on us either. That night Jesus gave his apostles and the Church the job to continue this work of convincing the world Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. In each generation, in each life, God has to begin again the work of our salvation. It is a never ending task and we certainly dont make it easy for Him. We put Him to the test again and again. If You are real then why dont You answer my prayers the way I want and now; if You are really powerful, why do you allow suffering for others and for me?

St. John tells us in the Second Reading that we must avoid sin: I am writing to you so that you may not commit sin. It is almost impossible for the world today to believe that we should hold our lives up to the standard of God and avoid sin. The pleasures, the exceptions, the false freedom that the world constantly puts before us are meant to tempt us to forget about Gods plana higher law. The voice of the world screams at us to just do the minimum in your faith, be mediocre, dont stand out, at best do the lesser of evils and dont worry about what God thinks. St. John tells us in the strongest terms that The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments. Those who say, I know him but do not keep his commandments are liars, and the truth is not in them. God is calling us to perfection, to holiness, not to mediocrity and lukewarmness. This week we are celebrating the Feast Day of our patron St. Gianna. Her life which is so close to ours in time, she died in 1962, is a model for how we are to live as fervent Christians and as authentic Catholic families today. From her First Holy Communion, which the children of our parish just made, St. Gianna attended daily Mass, no matter what the weather. She had an endearing personality as a child, but really preferred playing with her brothers and sisters than trying hard on her school work. She was a sweet, ordinary, Italian girl growing up in a loving family. It was on a retreat when she was 16 years old that a turning point took place in her life. Every child has qualities and characteristics that are endearing, but it is only when we begin to make deliberate choices, especially those that involve a struggle within ourselves that we develop as Christians and human beings. Her first retreat resolution was I resolve to do everything for Jesus; every work of mine, every trouble, I offer all to Jesus. There were other practical resolutions regarding movies and other things, along with one that meant a struggle with herself: To obey my teacher and study even though I dont want to, for the love of Jesus. Her life was changed because she deliberately chose to live for Jesus; her grades improved and she eventually went to the university and became a doctor. She enjoyed skiing, clothes, music and other things that any girl and woman of her day would like, but at the same time she made the deliberate attempt to live her life for Christ. This showed in her cheerfulness, faithful prayer, hard work and concern for others. She helped other girls in a youth group called Catholic Action to learn how to put their faith in action. Once upon

returning from a visit to with her Catholic Action group she was stopped by a friend in the street and explained that she needed to go home for a shower; Please dont keep me long; Ive just bathed an old woman and Im covered with fleas! She cared for the sick as a doctor; someone testified that she would not leave the clinic until she had seen the last patient, no matter how long it took. If the patient was poor, besides a free examination, Gianna gave him medicines and money. She was devoted to her husband and brought him great joy. Her husband Pietro relates that during their engagement (in February of 1955) she wrote him a letter saying: I must tell you right away that I am a woman who wants affection very much; I have found you, and I intend to give myself totally in order to form a truly Christian family. He continues: In subsequent letters, her joy, her faith, her humanity, her thanking the Lord for all the good things He gives, came across clearly. She loved her children with all her heart, even to the point of laying down her life so that her baby might be born. We need a renewed commitment to our Catholic faith to live like St. Gianna with integrity, joy and a spirit of loving service. It is too tempting to live a mediocre, lukewarm faith today. That is not what Jesus sent the apostles to do that first Easter; He sent them out to the whole world to bring the good news of forgiveness and salvation. Does He expect anything less from His Church today? The life-changing message of the Gospel is still what the Church brings to the world today!

Fourth Sunday of EasterMay, 2009 The image of a shepherd and his flock is deeply rooted in the Bible. The shepherd is selfless and dedicated to his sheep, but he is also the strong hero who defends his flock from the attack of the beasts of the field. The king of Israel was looked upon as a shepherd. King David was a shepherd before he was chosen as a king and defended his people in many battles, first against Goliath. He told King Saul that just as he had defended his flock from lion and bear, he would now slay the Philistine Goliath. Above all, God was considered to be the shepherd of His people. In the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, God denounces the false shepherds who have abandoned and killed His sheep and says that He Himself will be the shepherd of His people. This promise is fulfilled when Jesus comes to be the Good Shepherd. He says in the Gospel today: I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. After St. Peter was arrested and questioned about the miraculous healing of the crippled man, he points to Jesus in the First Reading, All of you and all the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; in his name this man stands before you healed. . . There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to men by which we are to be saved. St. Francis Solanus is considered to be the Apostle to Argentina and Peru. One day, as his ship approached Peru it was caught in a terrific storm and was blown onto a sand bank. The captain ordered everyone into the lifeboats. On board there were 80 slaves from Argentina whom St. Francis had been instructing in the faith, but there was no room for them in the lifeboats, so the saint gave up his place and stayed with the terror stricken slaves. Calmly he instructed them and baptized all of them while the storm raged. A giant wave hit the boat and broke it in two, with many people drowning, but St. Francis sprang to the deck of the remaining half and spent three days calming the men and waiting to be rescued. When it finally came, St. Francis was the last to leave and just as he was about to step on the rescue boat a wave carried it away and left him alone on the deck. Fearless, he dove into the sea and swam to the boat where he was hauled to safety. Fortunately, he was a good swimmer! But he was also a selfless shepherd, like Jesus, who lay down his life for his people.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel: I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me. Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves because He loves us thoroughly, but do we really know Him? And how can we get to know Him? We can learn everything about the life of Jesus, His words, His deeds, His miracles, His doctrines from the Holy Bible and the teaching of the Catholic Church. It is important for us to get to know the real Jesus, not some false image of Him. Pope Benedict notes in his book Jesus of Nazareth that much of the biblical scholarship of the last century got it wrong. They were looking for what they called the historical Jesus, the pope wrote at one end of the spectrum, Jesus was the anti-Roman revolutionary workingthough finally failingto overthrow the ruling powers; at the other end, he was the meek moral teacher who approves everything and unaccountably comes to grief. We have seen this in our own day with liberation theology that described Jesus as a Marxist revolutionary or the rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar, which made Him out to be a 1960s flower child; biblical scholars and popular culture get it wrong. The Pope wisely concludes that these ideas were not true pictures of Jesus, but more like photographs of their authors and the ideals they hold. The biblical scholars and others were making Jesus into their own image rather than discovering who He really is. As important as knowledge is, it is not enough to know facts about someone; in order to really know a person more is needed. We have to have a relationship, a friendship, a love of that person in order to really get to know him. How do we really get to know Jesus; how do we become His friend? The short answer isprayer. Prayer, in the sense that we deliberately set aside time each day to have a conversation with God. Prayer is not something that just happens when we have some leftover time or we want something from Him, it needs to be planned into our daily schedule. We have to set aside time to talk and listen to God. Our meals are planned, we never miss an opportunity to watch our favorite television shows or spend time on the computer or listening to music, so why cant we find some time to spend with God each day? Why should He get only the leftovers? Begin by making a resolution and a schedule for daily prayer. Why not begin each morning with the Morning Offering where you offer your sufferings, works and joys of the day to the Lord, right from the beginning? At night before you go to bed, stop and think through your day: what good did I do? What sins did I commit? Then make an act of Contrition. Can you find 15 minutes to quiet your soul, perhaps begin by

reading a chapter from the Gospels and talk to the Lord about it? Perhaps it means getting up a little earlier or taking a little time from lunch. When we take a certain amount of time and talk to God about our problems and concerns, thank Him for His blessings, praise Him for His greatness, this is called Mental Prayer or Meditation. It is meant to be conversation with God. The Lord will seldom respond with words like you hear from another person, but He will respond by moving your soul or directing your thoughts or giving you peace or the desire to do a good deed. Whatever time you give to Jesus is never wasted time! It will bear fruit. In the month of May, lets look to the Blessed Virgin Marys example to teach us how to pray. The CCC (#1617) says Marys prayer is revealed to us at the dawning of the fullness of time. Before the incarnation of the Son of God, and before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, her prayer cooperates in a unique way with the Fathers plan of loving kindness. She whom the Almighty made full of grace responds by offering her whole being: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word. . . . this is Christian prayer: to be wholly Gods, because he is wholly ours. Holy Mary, teach us how to pray and pray for us now and at the hour of our death!

Fifth Sunday of EasterMay 17, 2009Mothers Day Jesus often uses examples from nature to teach us about deep spiritual truths. In todays Gospel, He uses the grape vine and its branches which bear much fruit to teach us how sanctifying grace works in our lives. Sanctifying grace is an invisible, spiritual reality that we cannot touch or measure or feel; no wonder it is difficult for us to grasp. The CCC says that God shares His divine life and friendship with us in a habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that enables the soul to live with God, to act by His love. Simply, sanctifying grace is Gods divine life in our souls. We all know that a vine gives life and nourishment to the branches that are connected to it. The sap runs from the vine into each branch. If the branch is cut off then it will die. Jesus says in the Gospel Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. We need the grace of God to give us spiritual life; otherwise our souls will whither and die. When a person commits a mortal sinwithout forgetting that venial sins can be like a slow deathhe cuts his soul off from the grace of God, like a branch that is cut off a vine. We are no longer His friends, nor can we enter eternal life without first repenting, normally through a good Confession. Often we think that we can live life on our own without the help of God and we try to do it! If I think that I dont need prayer and the sacraments, the Holy Bible and the true teaching of the Church, I will soon be lost. There are too many voicesdont forget the powerful voice of the devil that will lead me away from God for all eternity. Jesus tells us Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. This is an image of the fires of hell! People dont like to talk about hell these days and I certainly dont like to think about it. However, the thing that is really frightening is to hear people actually say that they dont care if they go to hell or not! Sometimes they even think that is where all the parties are and all the wild, fun people! In the classic poem, Inferno, by Dante, which is a tour of hell, he states that over the gates of hell is written Abandon all hope ye who enter here. Hell is hopeless and full of people who are in despair; there is no pleasure or joy, but only pain and loneliness. The really fun people are in heaven!

Last week I suggested some types of prayer to help you form a consistent prayer life. I mentioned beginning the day with the Morning Offering and ending it with the Examination of Conscience and finding 15 minutes to have a conversation with God in your own thoughts called Mental Prayer or the Prayer of Meditation. In the month of May, Marys month, I would like to promote the praying of the Holy Rosary. When our Lady appeared to the children at Fatima, Portugal in 1917 she found that the three little shepherds would say their Rosary after lunch before they began to play, but they would just say the first two words of each prayer: Our Father, Hail Mary, Hail Mary, Hail Mary. They called it the short-cut Rosary. Mary told them to pray the full Rosary because it was the key to personal peace and world peace. The calm repetition of the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be bring a very peaceful rhythm to prayer. One day Archbishop Sheen was giving instructions to a married couple and explained the Rosary to them. The woman exclaimed, Well this is too much, if you have to say a prayer more than once, then how can you say you are sincere? Archbishop Sheen asked the husband: Do you ever tell your wife that you love her? Yes, he replied, I do it often. Sheen turned to the wife with a grin and said: If he has to tell you that he loves you more than once, how do you know he is sincere? Each prayer of the Rosary is meant to say I love you to Jesus and Mary. Besides that, the Mystery that accompanies each decade of prayers is meant to help us meditate on the most important events in the lives of Jesus and Mary. We can let the Hail Mary fall to the back of our mind and picture the scene of the mystery in our imagination. The origin of the Rosary is lost in the mists of time, but the form that we know goes back to a vision of Mary by St Dominic in 1214. St. Dominic and the Dominicans became the great promoters of the Holy Rosary from that time. The three traditional sets of mysteries are the Joyful, which tell 5 events from the birth and childhood of Jesus; the Sorrowful, which recall 5 moments of His suffering and death; and the 5 Glorious, which tell of Jesus triumph at the resurrection and its fruits. In 2002, Pope John Paul II added a new set of mysteries called the Luminous, which begin with Jesus Baptism and end with the institution of the Holy Eucharist, filling in the time of His public life. The Holy Rosary is a great family prayer and teaches so much about the faith when the mysteries are emphasized and reflected upon. When you

drive in the car you can pray it and even small children can take a turn leading a decade. Sometimes we get the idea that if I cant do a prayer perfectly, in the best place, with complete peace and attention then I might as well do nothing. That is not true. If you can only get one decade in each night as a family, that is better than nothing. This Sunday we are also recognizing our earthly mothers on this Mothers Day. We thank God for them and realize how important a mother is to a family. She is the heart of the home; in a world that has become so computerized and cold families need the guidance of a loving heart more than ever. May God bless all the mothers, including those who opened their hearts to the adoption of children and give them the love and consolation of the Blessed Mother Mary.

Homily for My House, anti-pornography initiative Imagine that you had never seen a swimming pool and didnt know its purpose. When you came up to a public swimming pool you would probably first see a list of rules, such as, No running on the pool deck; no food or drink; no diving in the shallow end, etc. If you didnt know what went on in a swimming pool, you might wonder why anyone would want to go into a place with all those rules. How could it be fun? Of course, we know those rules actually allow people to have fun and be safe in the swimming pool. Many people look at the teaching of the Catholic Church and only see the commandments and Thou shalt nots; they never realize that the laws of God are meant to keep us safe on the path to eternal life. Their understanding of the Catholic faith is negative and limited. They dont go any deeper; they dont realize that the Christian life is meaningful, fulfilling and joyful. As one author put it, the Church cannot just be compared to a swimming pool, but to a great divine ocean. There is no limit to the depth and beauty of the Catholic Faith. This is especially true in regard to the Churchs teaching on human sexuality. St. Paul tells us in the First Letter to the Corinthians: The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body (1 Cor. 6:13). Pope John Paul II said to the young people in a pastoral visit to America, Sex is goodwithin marriage. This is really the teaching of the Catholic Church. God made the sexual relationship with two very clear and good purposes: to bring about the deepest possible union of husband and wife (the one flesh union) and to allow a husband and wife to become cocreators with God in bringing forth new life. Love and life are the purposes of marriage and the sexual relationship. It is a very powerful force within us for great good or for great evil. Christopher West, a nationally known speaker on Pope John Pauls Theology of the Body, compares sex to a rocket engine which is very powerful and can lift a rocket into outer space, but he notes that if the rocket engine is pointing the rocket toward the ground it still has the same power, but it will drive the rocket into the ground and cause great destruction. If sex is not used according to Gods plan it causes great evil. So many people do not want any restrictions upon their passions and desires; they dont want to hear no. They have not learned self-control in

anythingpossessions, food, entertainment, work, prayerso no wonder they cannot control this very powerful force of human sexuality. Not only that, but instead of repenting, they try to justify even the most clearly immoral behavior of fornication, adultery, homosexuality, contraception, pornography and self abuse, along with abortion. St. Paul continues in his letter to the Corinthians: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with him. Avoid immorality (1Cor. 6:15, 17-18). Through our baptism, we were joined to Jesus and we became members of the Mystical Body of Christ. We should strive to be holy and pure of heart and never bring the stain of sin upon the Body of Christ. St. Paul asks Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? With this clear and beautiful teaching of Christ in mind we have to honestly acknowledge something that is destroying marriage, families and individual lives today in epidemic numbers: pornography. It used to be that you had to go to some seedy part of town where no decent person would be seen in order to get pornographic materialnow it is easily available on the internet in the comfort of ones own home. And is it available! In 2004, there were 4.2 million pornographic websites; 372 million pages. In 2003, there were 68 million pornographic search engine requests; 25% of all requests. Daily there are 2.5 billion pornographic e-mails. (See Blessed Are the Pure of Heart by Most Reverend Robert W. Finn for these and more examples.) Our culture gives us a very mixed message at best. On one hand it condemns the sexual abuse of women and children, while on the other, it tells us that pornography doesnt really hurt anyone and that it is perfectly natural. The decisions of the Supreme Court have been far more restrictive to the practice of religion and far more favorable to pornography. Jesus gives us a very different message than our culture. He teaches in His program of Christian living, the Beatitudes: Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. (Matt. 5:8). We need to avoid lust and all its bitter fruits by remaining pure or by regaining purity of heart. The Servant of God, Pope John Paul II in a series of teaching on human sexuality called the Theology of the Body said that the opposite of love is not hate, but the use of another person for our own purposes. When we look upon another person with lust, we are using that person for our own selfish reasons. Not only is that persons dignity lessoned, but our own human

dignity is lessoned as well. We are no longer pure of heart and we increase our own spiritual blindness so that we cannot see God. Pornography jeopardizes our eternal salvation. Bishop Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph wrote a pastoral letter on this subject. He noted some reasons why a person who repeatedly views pornography is affected in his relations with others: Pornography stunts a person emotionally. Those addicted may withdraw from friends, family and even spouses. Pornography leads them into a world of unreality with idealized, unrealistic figures who do not engage one in a truly human manner. As people withdraw, their interpersonal skills and relationships weaken. They look at others as objects rather than as people with the capacity for friendship and love. (See Blessed Are the Pure of Heart, Chapter II, by Most Reverend Robert W. Finn). Pornography is often the hidden problem that lies behind marriage and family troubles, including divorce. The good news is that the situation for those who have viewed pornography or may feel trapped by it is not hopeless. Jesus Christ is the answer; the love and mercy that He offers to us is more powerful than sin, and even death. The Archdiocese of St. Louis is beginning an anti-pornography initiative called MY HOUSE to help people become aware of this problem and receive hope, healing and help. It is based on the words of Joshua who spoke to the people of Israel saying but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15). Our parish will participate through [here list parish efforts, such ashandouts; offering Theology of the Body classes based on Pope John Pauls teaching; showing a DVD on the dangers of pornography, etc.] Throughout the Archdiocese there will be support groups for those who are addicted to pornography, as well as, a list of counselors. Most importantly, we must pray before the Blessed Sacrament and use the Sacrament of Penance to overcome the evil of pornography in our lives and in our culture. Our heavenly Father has given us the means to be free from the poison of sin and to live in the glorious freedom of sons and daughters of God. Let us join with Joshua and say but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord

Homily for the My House anti-pornography program on the Feast of the Holy Family, December 27, 2009 During the Christmas season we rejoice in the birth of Jesus Christ who was born to be our Savior. On this Sunday after Christmas the Church directs our gaze to the Holy Family of Nazareth; it gives us the opportunity to reflect that Gods plan for our salvation comes through the family. We know very little of the first 30 years of the life of Jesus. The Gospels give us only a few extraordinary events, presumably because the life of the Holy Family was otherwise totally ordinary. They didnt appear to be different from any other family in Nazareth. The Gospel of the Finding of Jesus in the Temple, the fifth Joyful Mystery of the Holy Rosary, shows us one extraordinary moment. Joseph and Mary took the boy Jesus up to the Temple for the celebration of the religious feast. We get the impression that prayer and the Jewish religious customs were normal for the Holy Family. When Mary and Joseph began their journey home and realized that Jesus was not with them, like any parents they retraced their steps and searched in sorrow for their lost Son. They finally find Jesus in the Temple teaching the teachers of the Law. This Child is more than He appears, for He is true God, as well as, true man. He must at this moment be in His Fathers House, doing His Fathers mysterious will. They do not understand what He said to them but they accept Gods will and returned home. In the mystery of suffering, Mary and Joseph express the meaning of genuine love, which always involves a self-gift, self-sacrifice. God came into our world through the love of a family, with all of its joys and sorrows. One reason was to teach us of the beauty of marriage and family life. Many people think that the moral teaching of the Catholic Church only involves the thou shalt nots of the Commandments, but the opposite is true. The purpose of the Commandments is to protect the beautiful and fulfilling teaching that God has given His Church. This is especially true in regard to the Churchs teaching on human sexuality. In the Second Reading, St. John told us to keep Gods commandments and do what pleases Him. And His commandment is this: we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. The Servant of God, Pope John Paul II said to the young people on a pastoral visit to America, Sex is goodwithin marriage. This is really the teaching of the Catholic Church.

God made the sexual relationship with two very clear and good purposes: to bring about the deepest possible union of husband and wife (the one flesh union) and to allow a husband and wife to become co-creators with God in bringing forth new life. Love and life are the purposes of marriage and the sexual relationship. It is a very powerful force within us for great good or for great evil. Christopher West, a nationally known speaker on Pope John Pauls Theology of the Body, compares sex to a rocket engine which is very powerful and can lift a rocket into outer space, but he notes that if the rocket engine is pointing the rocket toward the ground it still has the same power, but it will drive the rocket into the ground and cause great destruction. If sex is not used according to Gods plan it causes great evil. So many people do not want any restrictions upon their passions and desires; they dont want to hear no. They have not learned self-control in anythingpossessions, food, entertainment, work, prayerso no wonder they cannot control this very powerful force of human sexuality. St. Paul taught in his letter to the Corinthians: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with him. Avoid immorality. (1Cor. 6:15, 17-18). Through our baptism, we were joined to Jesus and we became members of the Mystical Body of Christ. We should strive to be holy and pure of heart and never bring the stain of sin upon the Body of Christ. St. Paul asks Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? With this clear and beautiful teaching of the Church in mind we have to honestly acknowledge something that is destroying marriage, families and individual lives today in epidemic numbers: pornography. It used to be that you had to go to some seedy part of town where no decent person would be seen in order to get pornographic materialnow it is easily available on the internet in the comfort of ones own home. And is it available! In 2004, there were 4.2 million pornographic websites; 372 million pages. In 2003, there were 68 million pornographic search engine requests; 25% of all requests. Daily there are 2.5 billion pornographic e-mails. (See Blessed Are the Pure of Heart by Most Reverend Robert W. Finn for these and more examples.) Our culture gives us a very mixed message at best. On one hand it condemns the sexual abuse of women and children, while on the other, it tells us that pornography doesnt really hurt anyone and that it is perfectly natural. Jesus gives us a very different message than our culture. He

teaches in His program of Christian living, the Beatitudes: Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. (Matt. 5:8). In order to be happy or blessed, we need to avoid lust and all its bitter fruits by remaining pure or by regaining purity of heart. The Servant of God, Pope John Paul II in a series of teaching on human sexuality called the Theology of the Body said that the opposite of love is not hate, but the use of another person for our own purposes. When we look upon another person with lust, we are using that person for our own selfish reasons. Not only is that persons dignity lessoned, but our own human dignity is lessoned as well. We are no longer pure of heart and we increase our own spiritual blindness so that we cannot see God. Pornography jeopardizes our eternal salvation. Bishop Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph wrote a pastoral letter on this subject. He noted some reasons why a person who repeatedly views pornography is affected in his relations with others: Pornography stunts a person emotionally. Those addicted may withdraw from friends, family and even spouses. Pornography leads them into a world of unreality with idealized, unrealistic figures who do not engage one in a truly human manner. As people withdraw, their interpersonal skills and relationships weaken. They look at others as objects rather than as people with the capacity for friendship and love. (See Blessed Are the Pure of Heart, Chapter II, by Most Reverend Robert W. Finn). Pornography is often the hidden problem that lies behind marriage and family troubles, including divorce. The good news is that the situation for those who have viewed pornography or may feel trapped by it is not hopeless. Jesus Christ is the answer; the love and mercy that He offers to us is more powerful than sin, and even death. The Archdiocese of St. Louis is beginning an anti-pornography initiative called MY HOUSE to help people become aware of this problem and receive hope, healing and help. It is based on the words of Joshua who spoke to the people of Israel saying but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15). Our parish will participate through [here list parish efforts, such ashandouts; offering Theology of the Body classes based on Pope John Pauls teaching; showing a DVD on the dangers of pornography, etc.] Throughout the Archdiocese there will be support groups for those who are addicted to pornography, as well as, a list of counselors.

Most importantly, we must pray before the Blessed Sacrament and use the Sacrament of Penance to overcome the evil of pornography in our lives and in our culture. We prayed in the Responsorial Psalm today Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord. God wants us to dwell in His house forever in the Kingdom of heaven with pure and holy hearts. Our heavenly Father has given us the means to be free from the poison of sin and to live in the glorious freedom of sons and daughters of God.

Sixth Sunday of EasterMay 17, 2009 The Church was meant to be catholic from the very beginning. Catholic means universalnot just for one people, but for all mankind, no matter what their nationality or culture or race. Yes, it was to begin with the Chosen People of Israel, but it was Gods intention that the faith of the Church would reach the whole world. The first time we have a written record of the Church being called Catholic is in a letter written by St. Ignatius of Antioch in the year 107; he was under arrest and being taken to Rome for martyrdom. When he used this term, St. Ignatius did not consider it to be anything innovative, after all, he had been taught by the Apostle St. John, himself. It was part of the apostolic understanding of the Church that it was to be the Catholic Church. In our First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles we have the record of the baptism of the first non-Jewish members of the Church. Up until chapter 10 the only members of the Church were Jews, starting with the apostles themselves. At this point, Peter received a vision of a giant canvas being lowered to the ground that contained animals on which some were considered clean and others unclean by Jewish religious standards. He heard a voice say: Slay and eat. Peter responded that he would never eat the meat of a forbidden animal. Remember, Jews were not to eat some animals, like pigs, and to separate themselves from all non-Jewish people because they were ritually impure. As soon as Peter sees this vision 3 times he heard a knock at the door; it is a messenger from a Gentile, a non-Jew who wanted to be baptized. He went to the house of Cornelius, and, as recorded in our First Reading today, he said In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears Him and acts uprightly is acceptable to Him. The Holy Spirit descends upon Cornelius and his whole household and Peter baptizes them. The Church is now Catholic in fact. Of course, it will continue to spread to every nation of the world. The Church always has a missionary spirita missionary heart because of the great commandment of Jesus in the Gospel today. In the Gospel, Jesus says: This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down ones life for ones friends. This is a love that reaches out to the whole world. The love that Jesus commands is not any kind of love, but sacrificial love, which he showed by laying down His life; by freely embracing the Cross. Many people call selfishness love, which is the opposite of sacrificial love. Peter

Kreeft, a well known Catholic author, writes that one of the main goals of the devil is: Make them all shoppers instead of saints: soft, spoiled, self-indulgent consumerists utterly addicted to the comforts of this world and utterly unwilling and, eventually unable, to practice sacrifice and embrace suffering. In other words, continue to undermine the one virtue that is absolutely necessary to practice any other virtue at all, namely courage. Give them Christ without the Cross. Kreeft continues: The Muslims embrace the Cross without Christ. That is why they are winning the world from Christians who embrace Christ without the Cross. Of course, Christ WITH the Cross will conquer everything. . . . The Muslims are fiercely faithful to God and their religion and willing to sacrifice personal gratification to have large familiesthey are willing to embrace the Cross, in this sense. We Christians dont seem to be ready to make sacrifices and live in the love of Jesus which conquers all things: No one has greater love than this, to lay down ones life for ones friends. Sometimes people complain that Jesus commandment tries to force us to do something that we cannot control. They ask: How can I control my love for another person? Many people think that love is only a matter of feelings, of liking or disliking someonewhich we cannot control. Love is really a choice, an act of the will. I can choose to love and do good and work for the best for someone that I do not even like. I can even choose to love my enemies as Jesus commands me to do. How many Christians throughout history prayed for their persecutors who were in the very act of torturing and killing them, like Jesus Himself? The first martyr of the Church, St. Stephen, is a perfect example. He was condemned and drug outside of Jerusalem to be stoned to death in the presence of the future St. Paul, who was an enemy of Christ at this point. As the stones hit him, St. Stephen knelt down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep (Acts 7:60) in death. Jesus tells us very clearly that we must keep His commandments if we really love Him: If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Fathers commandments and remain in His love. Today, as throughout Christian history there have been those who rebel from Jesus Christ and His commandments, saying they want to be free. They dont want anyone telling them right and wrong, good and bad. The truth is that if I do not choose Jesus as my Master and Friend, and obey His commandments, then I will be subject to another Master. I will become the

slave of my passionslust, anger, prideor I will be a slave of my own laziness, only looking for my comfort and the easy way. If I reject the sweet yoke of Christ, I will most likely follow some person or movement or ideology that shapes and directs my life. There is really no such thing as total independence because the storms and currents of life push and pull at us all. The question is who will be my Master? Will I submit to Jesus who laid down His life for me or not? I cant help think of the honor that Notre Dame University is bestowing upon the President today. No matter what you think of President Obamas policies and the direction he is leading our country the fact is that he is the most pro-abortion leader that we could possibly have elected. Even though the bishops of this country in 2004 directed that no Catholic university should give an honor or platform to a politician who clearly opposed a core teaching of the Catholic faith, Notre Dame has publicly disobeyed the bishops. It is a case of seeking prestige and worldly honor over faithfulness on the part of the University. Our response has to be one of prayer and the courage to stand up for what we believe even thought the world may be against us. Lets ask Holy Mary who declared herself the handmaid of the Lord, the servant of the Lord, to help us choose her Son and live in the freedom of the sons and daughters of God. Please join me in saying a Hail Mary so that life may be victorious in our country. HAIL MARY. Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, pray for us.

Devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Legatus Meeting, June 16, 2009 The heart is more than an organ of the body that pumps blood to every cell; it is also a symbol. All throughout our culture and probably every culture the heart stands for the inner beingthe center, the substance of a person. We say things like: He loves you with all his heart. He wears his heart upon his sleeve. He has a broken heart. We naturally clasp our breast when we feel sorrow; we strike our breast when we feel sorrow for sinmea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. The Holy Bible has frequent references to the heart in both the Old and New Testaments. God speaks through the Prophet Jeremiah about His Law, saying: I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people (Jer. 31:33). And Jesus reminds us For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Lk. 12:34). God in Himself doesnt have a body with organs, but the Old Testament often speaks of the Heart of God. The Prophet Samuel condemns King Saul for disobeying God and says that his kingdom will end and that The Lord has sought out a man after His own heart (1 Sam. 13:15). That man will be King David. God speaks to the people of Israel through Jeremiah saying: And I will give you pastors according to my own heart and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine (Jer. 33:41). God will be the Good Shepherd of His people because He loves them with all His Heart. He fulfills this promise perfectly by sending His Son, Jesus Christ. When the Word became flesh and dwelt among us God had a human Heart, a Sacred Heart. He could love us with a human heart. Jesus says Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matt. 11:29). The Second Vatican Council taught: For, by His Incarnation, He, the Son of God, has in a certain way united Himself with each man. He worked with human hands, He thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart He loved (Gaudium et Spes, #22). In his watershed encyclical on the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Haurietis Aquas, Pope Pius XII taught that the pierced Heart of the crucified Redeemer has never been altogether unknown to the piety of the faithful, although it has become more clearly known. In other words, the Church has always had a devotion to the Most Sacred Heart. You might

think that this devotion began with the great apparitions to St. Margaret Mary in the 1670s, but it really began with the Gospels. In the Gospel of St. John as he narrated the crucifixion of our Lord, John deliberately noted one aspect with great emphasisthe piercing of the side of Jesus by the soldiers spear. The soldiers were instructed to break the legs of the three crucified men in order to hasten their deaths. John wrote: So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him; but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and at once there came out blood and water (John 19:32-34). Then John specifically mentioned that he was an eye witness: He who saw it has borne witnesshis testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truththat you also may believe (19:35). Then he followed this with two Scripture passages from the Old Testament that foretold this piercing with the soldiers lance: Not a bone of him shall be broken and They shall look on him whom they have pierced (19:36-37). This is the Holy Spirit inspiring the author to lay the foundation for devotion to the Sacred Heart. The Fathers of the Church recognized that the blood and water that flowed from the pierced side of Christ was the source of grace, the sacraments and the very Church, herself. Water is an important image for grace; it refreshes and gives life to those who receive it, just like a thirsty man is refreshed and renewed by a drink of water. St Ambrose (339-397) said Drink of Christ, for He is the fountain of life. Drink of Christ, for He is the stream whose torrents brought joy to the city of God. Drink of Christ, for He is peace. Drink of Christ, for the streams of living water flow from His bosom. If you saw the movie The Passion of the Christ, it had an amazing depiction of the Blood and water that came from the side of Christ when the soldier pierced His Heart. It sprayed forth in a mist upon him. Normally bodily fluids falling upon a person would be repulsive; but the soldier looks refreshed and renewed when it sprayed upon him. It was really a beautiful depiction of the life-giving streams that flow from the pierced Heart of the Lord. St. Augustine (d. 430) compares the creation of Eve from the side of Adam to the Church coming from the side of Christ. He said: Adam sleeps that

Eve may be born; Christ dies, that the Church may be born. When Adam sleeps, Eve is formed from his side; when Christ is dead, the spear pierces His side that the sacraments may flow forth whereby the Church is formed. The sacraments and the Church come from the wounded side of Christ; they get their power from the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Many of the Fathers of the Church spoke of that moment as the birthday of the Church, even though we normally speak of Pentecost as the birthday of the Church. Maybe we can say that Pentecost is the public manifestation of the Church and therefore her birthday. Here I would like to make a connection to the Divine Mercy devotion, even though it is not strictly an apparition showing His Sacred Heart. The image that Jesus wanted St. Faustina to have painted when He appeared to her in the 1930s in Poland shows His full figure with two rays, one red, the other white shining from his breast. When St. Faustina asked Jesus about the meaning of this image, she heard these words from the Lord: The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to His apostles on Easter Sunday evening and showed them the wounds in His hands and feet and side as proof that the Crucified One was really alive. All the other wounds that He received in His Passion were healed at the resurrection. Surely the wounds in the hands and feet would have been enough to witness to the apostles, but Jesus also kept the wound in His side. This detail from the Gospel shows us that it was Gods plan that we should have devotion to His Most Sacred Heart. St. Catherine of Sienna, in one of her many mystic visions asked Jesus why He wanted His Heart to be pierced after His death; He couldnt suffer any more for our redemption at that point. Jesus replied Because my desire towards the human generation was ended, and I had finished the actual work of bearing pain and torment, and yet I had not been able to show by finite things, because my love was infinite, how much more love I had, I wished thee to see the secret of the Heart, showing it to thee open, so that thou might see how much more I loved than I could show thee by finite pain. I poured from it Blood and Water to show thee the baptism of water which is received in virtue of the Blood. His love is so great

that all of His sufferings were not enough, only the sign of His pierced Heart, His open Heart can show us His infinite love. Also note that the Sacrament of Baptism receives its power, like all the sacraments, from His sacrifice and the shedding of His Precious Blood. If you look throughout Christian history you can see that the words of Pope Pius XII are true: In fact, there have always been men specially dedicated to God who, following the example of the beloved Mother of God, of the Apostles and the great Fathers of the Church, have practiced the devotion of thanksgiving, adoration and love towards the most sacred human nature of Christ, and especially towards the wounds by which his body was torn when He was enduring suffering for our salvation. This devotion didnt begin with a private apparition; however, it was the great apparitions of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary in the 1670s that gave this devotion its definitive form. After her profession as a Visitation nun in Paray-le-Monial, France, St. Margaret Mary Alocoque began receiving extraordinary graces and favors to prepare her for the great visions of the Sacred Heart. On December 27, 1673 she received the first one, while the second and third occurred in 1674. Here is her account of one of them: The Blessed Sacrament was exposed, and I was experiencing an unusually complete state of recollection, my sense and faculties utterly withdrawn from their surroundings, when Jesus Christ, my kind Master, appeared to me. He was a blaze of gloryhis five wounds shining like five suns, flames issuing from all parts of his human form, especially from his divine breast which was like a furnace, and which he opened to disclose his utterly affectionate and lovable heart, the living source of all those flames. It was at this moment that he revealed to me the indescribable wonders of his pure love for mankind: the extravagance to which hed been led for those who had nothing for him but ingratitude and indifference. This hurts me more, he told me, than everything I suffered in my passion. Even a little love from them in returnand I should regard all that I have done for them as next to nothing. And look for a way of doing still more. But no; all my eager efforts for their welfare meet with nothing but coldness and dislike. Do me the kindness, thenyou, at leastof making up for all their ingratitude as far as you can. In order to do this, Jesus asked her to receive Holy Communion as often as possible; accept any mortification or humiliation that came her way; receive Holy Communion on the First Friday

of the month and make a Holy Hour every Thursday night to share His sadness in the Agony of the Garden. At the time of St. Margaret Mary, Calvinism had had a particularly strong influence upon religion in France. Calvinism held that God predestined everyone for heaven or hell and there was nothing that you could do about it. You didnt really know if you were going to heaven or hell, but no amount of repentance or charity would make a difference. It stripped religion of art and beauty and joy. Jansenism was the Catholic version of this heresy, which limited Gods mercy to the fewthe elect. A perfect illustration is the style of the crucifix inspired by Jansenism. Instead of Jesus with His arms spread wide to pour out redemption upon the whole world and with His eyes looking down to invite men to Gods mercy, the Jansenist crucifix had Jesus with His hands tied together over His head and His eyes looking upward. They wanted to express the idea that Gods mercy was for the least number possible and that Jesus was looking away from sinful man. Many Catholics had grown cold and indifferent in their faith because of Calvinisms and Jansenisms influence, especially in regard to the Most Blessed Sacrament. Jesus spoke to St. Margaret Mary: There it is, that Heart so deeply in love with men, it spared no means of proofwearing itself out until it was utterly spent! This meets with scant appreciation from most of them; all I get back is ingratitudewitness their irreverence, their sacrileges, their coldness and contempt for me in this Sacrament of Love. What hurts me most is that hearts dedicated to my service behave in this way. In some ways this coldness and indifference to the love and mercy of God is always a danger for mankind, even sadly, in priests and religious who are dedicated to His service. It is especially destructive in our day because there are so many comforts, pleasures and means of entertainment that we can forget all about God. People say I believe in God, just dont ask me to do anything about it. We often substitute immediate and shallow pleasures for what is deep and lasting, especially when sacrifice is demanded of us. It is so easy to compromise with sin and excuse ourselves because of the dictatorship of relativism as Pope Benedict famously said. When there are no standards of morality or decency, except political correctness, it is not easy to stand for the truth or to stand for anything. Devotion and consecration to the Sacred Heart is meant to call us from this lethargy.

What does consecration mean? We speak of the Consecration of the Holy Eucharist or the consecration of a bishop or an altar. If you dissect the word it means to become holy with another. By uniting ourselves to the Sacred Heart we are striving to be like Jesus Christ and entrust ourselves to His care; it is a sure path to holiness and heaven. It is a personal act, in the sense that I have to make the consecration for myself, no one can make it for me and I cant make it for another person. Consecration is especially important for families and businesses who want to live with Jesus as their Head and King; it sets the tone for the way the family lives and the business operates. It means that the persons consecrated strive to imitate Jesus virtues and they are many. We can see His courage to speak and live the truth even when there is great opposition; how He loved His enemies; His patience with sinners and the weak; His selflessness in serving others. The Gospels speak of two pierced Hearts, not just one. When Mary and Joseph took the Child Jesus to the temple for the usual rites, Simeon, a just and holy man recognized the Child for who He was. He blessed God who allowed Him to live to see the Messiah and after prophesying about Jesus the light to the nations the glory of His people Israel Simeon turns to Mary. He foretells: Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through you own soul also) (Luke 2:34). The sorrow and pain that Mary experienced at the foot of the Cross is beyond our comprehension. The soldier didnt drive a spear in her side, but He might as well have since her heart was so united to the Heart of Jesus. Although Mary didnt die as a martyr, she is rightly called the Queen of Martyrs because of all that she endured on Calvary. To be consecrated to the Sacred Heart means to be consecrated to the Immaculate Heart, since those two pierced Hearts are one.

The Ascension of the LordMay 24, 2009 Jesus spent 40 days after His resurrection appearing to the 11 apostles and other disciples until He finally ascended into heaven. Pope St. Leo the Great comments that at the Ascension: that blessed company had a great and inexpressible cause for joy when it saw mans nature rising above the dignity of the whole heavenly creation, above the ranks of angels, above the exalted status of archangels. Jesus took our human nature to the very throne of God where He reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit in eternal glory. As we said in the Responsorial Psalm said: God mounts His throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord! What was Jesus doing during those 40 days before His Ascension? First, He had to convince the apostles that He was truly alive after they witnessed His Passion and death on the Cross; Jesus seemed to be totally helpless, at the mercy of His enemies who completely defeated Him. He taught them that it was all part of the merciful plan of God to redeem the world from sin. We know that Jesus appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and explained all the passages from the Old Testament that foretold His suffering and death. Those are the very same passages that the Church has taught us; we especially reflect upon them each Lent. Jesus taught them how His Church was to be governed with Peter, the Rock, his chief shepherd, as His personal representative and the other apostles gathered into a college of leadership. They were to be the leaders of the 12 tribes of the new Israel, the Church. That is why we read that after the Ascension, Peter directs the apostles to choose another to take the place of Judas. When the awaited Holy Spirit came at Pentecost there would be twelve apostles at the birthday of the Church, the new Israel. Jesus also explained to the apostles the seven sacraments that were to be the source of grace and strength. At the Ascension, He instituted the sacrament of Baptism, telling them Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). Even though the apostles saw and heard and touched the risen Christ, they still didnt quite know what to do about it, nor did they have courage. They were humble, uneducated men, not great orators or leaders. As important as the teaching of Jesus is there was something more that was needed. Without

it, the apostles would have been helpless; their mission would have failed. In the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke is inspired to give us some of the words of Jesus at the Ascension and he reports Him saying: you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. They needed the power of the Holy Spirit who would come at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit would guide and enlighten and give them courage. We need to pray that the Holy Spirit will have power in our lives as well. We have been baptized and most of us confirmed in the Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit! In St. Marks Gospel, he recounts Jesus telling them that they will see signs of the Holy Spirits action. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. All of these things have happened time and time again throughout history. The apostles themselves on Pentecost would speak in languages that they did not know in order to preach the first message of the Gospel to the Jews that came from many different parts of the world with many different languages. One time St. Paul was shipwrecked and they built a fire on the shore. A poisonous snake crawled out of the wood and wrapped itself around his arm. Everyone thought that he would be dead within a few hours and believed it was a punishment from God, but he shook it off his arm and was perfectly finethen they believed he was blessed by God. In the 500s, St. Benedict was a monk who was living in solitude when the abbot of a nearby monastery died and the monks wanted him to be their abbot because of his holiness. However, it didnt work out as they thought; they didnt agree with his austere life and tried to kill him by poisoning his drink. He said a prayer of blessing over the cup and it shattered. St. Benedict returned to his cave, safe from the poison. Later he would found many monasteries and preserve the faith during that dark period of time. The signs of the Holy Spirits presence are always with His Church. Some years ago I read an article about a Christian denomination in this country that would actually handle poisonous snakes as part of their worship. They thought that if they had enough faith in God then He would protect them from the snakebite. Actually, what they were doing was the opposite of faith! To do something foolish and expect God to work a

miracle is the sin of presumption. True faith means that we trust in God to protect useven work a miracle when it is His will, for His glory and for the true good that He alone knows. To try and force God to do what we want is not faith at all. Jesus tells His disciples: Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. You notice He doesnt say go into the whole world and compromise. He wants His Church to go forth with the fire and fervor of the Holy Spirit. The culture today uses words like tolerance and dialogue in ways that are very different from what we mean in the Catholic Church. We want to spread our faith because we believe it is the truth revealed by God who cannot deceive nor be deceived; we respect the conscience of each person who is created in the image and likeness of God. We do not want to force anyone to believe, they have to freely accept it on their own. We dialogue because there are many anti-Catholic ideas that need correction and we need to promote mutual understanding with those who do not share our faith. Now when it comes to issues that affect the common good or what we call the Natural Law, Christians need to work for laws that are for the good of society. Issues like abortion and so called same sex marriage are of this type and not strictly matters of religion. They are matters of the common good that Christians along with all good people must work to uphold. The worldly understanding of tolerance and dialogue means that there really is no such thing as true doctrine and they can claim that faith admits doubt. Right and wrong are nothing more than opinions; the most important thing is to speak about these things in a way that doesnt sound harsh as if there were such a thing as objective truth. Naturally with this kind of thinking it is easy to compromise, because they dont stand for anything. The message that Jesus gave the Church has not changed, He still tells us: Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.

Pentecost SundayMay 31, 2009 Look at how God planned for the day of Pentecost! At the Last Supper in the Upper Room, Jesus promised the apostles that He would send the Holy Spirit: When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, He will testify to me. . . . But when He comes, the Sprit of truth, He will guide you to all truth. On Easter Sunday evening when the risen Jesus appeared to His apostles for the first time the Gospel narrates, He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained. This is the first installment of the gift of the Holy Spirit. On the Ascension last Sunday we read in the Acts of the Apostles that Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would come soon: in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. . . . You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses. . . . On Pentecost, the apostles were gathered in the same Upper Room or Cenacle of the Last Supper with the Blessed Virgin Mary; they had been praying and waiting for the Holy Spirit. No doubt Mary was telling them events from Jesus childhood, some of which would make their way into the Gospels. But even the most ordinary things that happened in the life of Jesus would be eagerly listened to as Mary told them. It is no coincidence that Mary was present on the first Pentecost. If I may say so, she is like a lightening rod for the Holy Spirit. She is the spouse of the Holy Spirit. Just as the Son of God was conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit when she gave her consent to be the Mother of God at the Annunciation, so she should be present when the Church, the Body of Christ, is born on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came in great power that day! First, there was a mighty wind that must have sounded like a tornado, since it drew people from all over the neighborhood to that place. Then tongues of fire appeared over the apostles heads. Just like the bush from which God spoke to Moses was on fire but not consumed, so the apostles were filled with the fire of Love that was meant to spread to the whole world. The apostles then began to speak and St. Peter gave the first Christian sermon; all the people no matter what language they spoke understood the apostles. What happened at Pentecost is the opposite of what happened at the Tower of Babel in the Old Testament. There men tried to reach God on their own by building a great tower that

would be as high as the heavens. Sin and the devil always bring about disunity and division. Because of their pride, God dispersed them, confusing their languages so that they could not work together foolishly thinking that that could seize power from Him. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit is at work bringing all people together in the one language of faith in Jesus Christ. The Church was meant to bring about unity and communion and so 3,000 were baptized that day into the unity of the Church. It was always Gods plan that we should reach as high as the heavens, not in pride and lust for power, but in humility and love as a gift from Him. We are meant to be sons and daughters of God. St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading that No one can say, Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Now anyone can say those three words Jesus is Lord but they cannot believe them except by the grace of the Holy Spirit; no one can change his life and follow the example and commandments of Jesus except by the power of the Holy Spirit. If you take an opinion poll today you will find 80% or more believe in God, but that doesnt mean that they are following the commandments of God. It is easy to say you believe in God, but it is another thing to live it in the power of the Holy Spirit. In every Catholic parish there are only about 1/3 of registered parishioners who are doing at least the minimum of practicing their faith by attending Holy Mass each Sunday. That means that 2/3 of registered parishioners are not even doing the minimum. Whenever you here an opinion poll that says so many Catholics believe this and a percentage believe thatdont believe the poll! 2/3 of those who respond cant truly speak of the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church because they dont have a living faith. Come Holy Spirit; fill us with the fire of a living faith, hope and love. St. Paul reminds us that Jesus and His Church are one. The Catholic Church is not just a man-made organization like the Boy Scouts or Kiwanis Club or even one that is based on Catholic principles like the Knights of Columbus. Their members belong to them when it suits their purposes and leave when it no longer does so. The Catholic Church is more like an organism, a body, which is living and consists of parts like eyes and ears and hands and feet. Those members are a living part of the body and cannot live apart from the body. St. Paul uses his famous comparison of the Church to a human body in our Second Reading: As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ.

By the way, this is one of the occasions when St. Paul uses the proper name Christ to refer not to Jesus, but to His Church. Jesus Christ is so identified with his Church that they are one and the same thing. Further, St. Paul says we become a member of this Body, this Church through baptism and that it is because we have been given the grace of the Holy Spirit like water to drink that we have life. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body . . . and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. For the Church to be the one established by Jesus Christ, it has to have certain characteristics. We say in the Creed each Sunday: We believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Those are the four marks of the Church. Further, the Church established by Jesus Christ has to have the seven sacraments, including a valid priesthood and Holy Eucharist. This means that there have to be bishops, priests and deacons who receive their ordination from bishops who are connected in an unbroken line back to the Apostles themselves. The Pope in a special office established by Christ on the Apostle Peter is the visible head who represents Jesus the invisible Head of the Body. The Catholic Church is not a man-made organization, but one willed by Christ and established by the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost Sunday. It is a mystery of Gods grace that we will never fully understand. One of the greatest mysteries is that it is made up of sinful members, like you and me, who are always in need of repentance and reform. In spite of our weakness, God is able to bring salvation through His Church generation after generation. Lets pray for the unity of the Catholic Church so that she may fulfill her mission today and everyday.

Most Holy TrinityJune 7, 2009 It is the most important doctrine of our faith and the most difficult to understand. The doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity deals with who and what God is, in Himself. In many ways it is incomprehensible; it took the Church a thousand years to come to up with the ideas and words to explain it to the best of our ability. God in His love for us wants us to get to know Him, since He knows us through and through. He has gradually revealed Himself over salvation history. In the Old Testament, He laid the foundation for this doctrine. First, He wanted the Israelite people to understand clearly that there is only one Godone Being with a Divine nature. There can be only one Being who is all-powerful, all-knowing and perfect in every way; there can be only one who is the source. In the First Reading we heard Moses words to the people telling them that they were blessed because God chose them from among all the people of the earth and rescued them from slavery in Egypt: did any god venture to go and take a nation for Himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with strong hand and outstretched arm, and great terrors, all of which the Lord, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? Moses continues, This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on earth below, that there is no other. They needed to recognize that all the so-called gods, including those of Egypt, were really nothing and that they must believe in the Lord alone. The great prayer of the Jews which is recited twice a daymorning and eveningis called the Shema, Israel and begins with Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one (Deut. 6:4). Throughout their history, which was filled with many falls into idolatry, they thoroughly learned their lesson about the oneness of God who alone deserved worship. By the time that Jesus came into the world as the Messiah there was no doubt. It is then that God reveals something further about himself; He is not a single person, but more like a family of Persons. Jesus could truthfully say the Father and I are one because He is truly God. As we say in the Creed each Sunday: He is God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father.

These words come from the Council of Nicea in the year 325 A.D, convened by the Emperor Constantine. It was the first great meeting of all the bishops of the world who came together to settle a serious doctrinal question. A priest named Arius was teaching that Jesus was not truly God, the Son of God, but a man who was blessed and chosen by God. He had spread this teaching throughout the known world. One of the clever things that he did was to put this heresy into the words of songs and taught them to sailors who spread them throughout the Mediterranean Sea. Many people became infected with this false teaching and the bishops knew that they needed to clarify the truth of the Divinity of Jesus Christ once and for all. This happened at the great Council of Nicea, which produced the first part of the Creed. In the year 381, the Council of Constantinople dealt with the issue of the Divinity of the Holy Spirit and added the last part of our Creed, particularly the words: I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life . . . . With the Father and the Son He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets. Simply stated the Doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity says that there is One God in three Persons. There is only one Divine NatureGod the Almightybut there are three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When Jesus gave the apostles the formula for Christian Baptism at the Ascension, He told them Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We have all been baptized in this Trinitarian form; it is not a valid baptism to say, I baptize you in the name of Jesus. Jesus Himself gave us the words which express the truth that we enter into the life of the Blessed Trinity. The Athanasian Creed states our faith even more clearly: We distinguish among the Persons, but we do not divide the substance. For the Father is a distinct Person; the Son is a distinct Person; and the Holy Spirit is a distinct Person. Still, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have one divinity, equal glory, and coeternal majesty. What the Father is, the Son is, and the Holy Spirit is. Our prayers express devotion to the Holy Trinity. The Sign of the Cross is in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. When we dip our fingers into Holy Water it adds a reminder of our baptism. All our prayers are addressed to God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. St. Paul tells us in our Second Reading that it is Gods great plan for us who have received the Hol y Spirit to be children of God. He calls the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of adoption, because we have been adopted by God. He says that The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. In St. Pauls view, to bear our sufferings with Christ is a blessing because it makes us more like Him and thus more like the sons and daughters of God that we are meant to be. The month of June is especially dedicated to devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. He revealed His pierced Heart to St. Margaret Mary in the 1670s as a sign to us of His love and mercy. He told her that all His suffering were meant as a proof of His love, He said of His Sacred Heart: There it is, that Heart so deeply in love with men, it spared no means of proofwearing itself out until it was utterly spent! This meets with scant appreciation from most of them; all I get back is ingratitude witness their irreverence, their sacrileges, their coldness and contempt for me in this Sacrament of Love. What hurts me most is that hearts dedicated to my service behave in this way. Lets make a return to Jesus for His sacrificial Love when we receive Him in Holy Communion this morning and adore and praise the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

Corpus ChristiJune 14, 2009 After the animals were sacrificed and the Book of the Covenant was read Moses took some of the blood of the animals and sprinkled it upon the altar and upon the people. This sprinkling with blood seems very foreign to us and even repulsive! For the people of Israel it was a very vivid sign of what was happening that day; even though strange to us, the meaning of that sacrifice and sprinkling is something that remains true for us today. The sacrifice of an animal in worship to God had a deep meaning to Israel. First, it was a valuable gift to give up. The sacrifice said that this particular lamb or bull, which could be used for food and clothing, is now given to God in thanksgiving or for atonement of sin. Sacrifice meant giving away something that was useful or precious because God deserves the best. Secondly, the sacrifice of an animal represented the person offering it. For the people of Israel, blood means life! If you loose your blood you die. Even with blood transfusions that give us a little insurance, the same is true today. The sacrificed animal was a statement by the person offering it to God, saying: I want to give myself totally to You. The person or the family or the whole nation of Israel offered the sacrifice because they wanted to give themselves to God; they wanted to be united to Him in a covenant. Moses said after sprinkling the blood on the people: This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words of His. The blood that touched their skin and clothes was an unforgettable sign of this covenant. The idea of unity with God was shown in another way when the sacrifice was not burnt up in a holocaust, but roasted and eaten as a meal as at the Passover. Jesus deliberately held the Last Supper in connection with the Feast of the Passover on the night before He died. He wanted the Last Supperthe first Holy Massthe institution of the Holy Eucharist to be connected to the sacrifice of the Passover lamb and his death on Good Friday. All the sacrifices of the Old Testament were foreshadowing Jesus sacrifice and His sacrifice fulfills the meaning of those thousands upon thousands of sacrifices in Israels history. He offered Himself as the pure Lamb of God, sacrificed upon the altar of the Cross so that our sins could be forgiven and we could truly be reconciled to God.

In the Holy Mass, this sacrifice is not the bloody sacrifice that was offered once for all on Calvary. It is the unbloody sacrifice of Christ that perfectly unites us to His one sacrifice in every time and place that the Holy Eucharist is offered. How does the sacrament present the Sacrifice? Like all the sacraments, through sacred signs. The priest offers bread and wine, like Jesus did at the Last Supper, quoting His wordsThis is my Body; this is my Blood of the covenant which will be shed for many. Notice that he first consecrates bread into His Body and then, separately, wine into His Blood. When you separate blood from body you have death! The sacramental signs bring about what they signify through the power of the Holy Spirit. What happens in every Holy Mass is a miracle of the first order. Calvary is renewed with all its grace and mercy and the Son of God comes down from heaven changing the bread and wine into His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. He becomes the Bread of Life for us so that we can be united to Him in the most profound way. Whenever you receive Holy Communion under one form you receive the whole Christ. Receiving Him under both kinds does not add anything to the immeasurable gift that you are receiving, nor does receiving Him under the form of the consecrated Bread alone give you any less. Only the priest is required to receive Holy Communion under the form of bread and wine. As a matter of fact, there is enough grace to make you and me a saint in one Holy Communion. Why doesnt that happen? First of all, I have a limited capacity. Because of sin and attachment to the possessions and pleasures of this world I limit the effect of Gods grace. Also, I am often distracted and not really seeking the good things of the Lord, but only my own will. I limit what I can receive in each Holy Communion. One day a man wrote to St. Josemaria Escriva that even though he was attending daily Mass and receiving Holy Communion, he didnt make any progress, Anybody else would be a saint by now. And I am not getting any better. St. Josemaria replied: Keep up your daily Communion and think: what would I be if I hadnt received? We need the Holy Eucharist! It is the Sacrament of Love. Through it Jesus gives us strength in time of temptation and trial; through it He gives us encouragement when things seem hopeless. Our daily prayers should be an extension of the Holy Mass, uniting us to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament; we bring our Eucharistic faith to our daily work by offering up our tasks in union with Jesus, thus making our work holy.

Pope Benedict reminded us of our need to care for the state of our souls and to have reverence for the Holy Eucharist, he wrote: Should we not also think of how much Christ suffers in His own Church? How often is the holy Sacrament of His Presence abused, how often must He enter empty and evil hearts? How often do we celebrate only ourselves, without even realizing that He is there? Every time we receive Holy Communion Jesus doesnt give only Himself, which is a gift beyond price, but He also brings the Father and the Holy Spirit, for the Trinity is one God. We can truly say that Jesus brings heaven into our souls at the time of Holy Communion, which includes the Virgin Mary and all the angels and saints. Holy Communion unites us to the Communion of the Trinity and the Communion of the Saints. Even though we examine our conscience and are in the state of grace when we prepare to come up for Holy Communion we still say right before Holy Communion Lord, I am not worthy to receive You, but only say the word and I shall be healed. We should mean those words in all humility and truth and rejoice that the Lord has called us to Communion with Himself in this Most Blessed Sacrament.

Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary TimeJune 21, 2009Fathers Day The Book of Job gives us the first piece of the puzzle to understand the mystery of human suffering. Job was the model of a just man who followed the Law of God without fail. Yet, without warning he is afflicted with one disaster after another and the question naturally arises Why do good people suffer? Within a short time Job lost all of his children who were killed when the roof of the house fell upon them; then his flocks and herds were destroyed one after another so that he was almost reduced to poverty; finally he was afflicted with boils that covered his body. What is the answer to the meaning of human suffering, especially for the innocent? The first piece to this puzzle is given when God appears to Job and questions his wisdom and knowledge, part of which is in our First Reading: The Lord addressed Job out of the storm and said: Who shut within doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb; when I made the clouds its garment? On and on God asked Job questions about the creation of the world and the universe, which he couldnt answer. God made the point that there are many things that man cannot know or understand. Even today when we know so much about the universeboth outer space and down to the molecular and genetic level, there is still far more that we havent grasped; we certainly cannot create as God created the universe from nothing, but simply by His willing it. Although God is telling Job and us that there are clear limits to our ability to understand His plans, which permit human suffering, we can take comfort in God who does know the reasons. Even though I dont understand why I have to suffer, I trust in the One who does have the answersour Almighty God and Father. I need to believe that He really can and is working all things out for the good. Another thing that we have to remember is that life in this world is not meant to be heaven. We often confuse the two, expecting everything to be comfortable and happy and according to our plans. When they are not, we complain to God and become dissatisfied. Heaven is the place where we will have perfect joy, without any suffering; earth is the place where we are tested. Heaven will not end, it is eternal; everything on earth is temporary and passing. Lets not expect earth to be heaven, even though now we experience glimpses of eternal life, especially in the gift of the Holy Eucharist, as last Sundays Feast of Corpus Christi reminded us.

Suffering is always going to be a mystery to some extent; the sufferings of each person are is some ways unique. It is the freely chosen suffering and death of Jesus that gives us the most important piece in understanding the meaning of why good people suffer. Jesus suffering shows us the power of sacrificial love; it redeemed the world; it gives us the hope of heaven. A lot of Christian preachers preach what is sometimes called the health and wealth Gospel. They say that if you entrust yourself to Jesus then He will take away or heal all of your illnesses and sufferings and make sure you are prosperous in this life. They do not understand the meaning of redemptive suffering or they think it is only for Jesus and not for us who are His disciples. His words If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me do not fit into their way of thinking. Jesus loves us and wants to help us and relieve us of our sufferings. But He also wants us to grow and develop in virtue. If life were always easy and free of trial we would never grow in virtue or become true sons and daughters of God. We would only be spoiled brats, selfish and self-centered. Just like a muscle becomes stronger when it is used and struggles against a weight, so we have to be tested in order to grow in virtue and spiritual strength. God really does know what we need and what trials will strengthen us and not break us. Just look at the Gospel today. Jesus takes His apostles into the boat and they set sail across the Sea of Galilee. It is very typical for sudden squalls to come up on that Sea of Galilee so that even experienced sailors can fear for their lives. A number of the apostles were experienced sailors. The storm came raging, the apostles were terrified and yet there was Jesus asleep in the midst of this terrible storm. He must have been a sound sleeper! Thats what happens when you have a clear conscience! Finally they wake Him up and cry Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Jesus waited for His apostles to ask Him for help before acting. They had to develop the virtue of trust in Him. They endured this frightening trial until Jesus calms the winds and the waves Quiet! Be still. . . . Why are your terrified? Do you not yet have faith? Afterwards, they were filled with great awe and said to one another, Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey? This trial led them to greater faith in Jesus; if they hadnt endured it and seen His power they would not have moved forward.

This past Friday we celebrated the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. His pierced Heart is meant to be a symbol of His infinite love and mercy. We often pray: Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come. We all have a part to play in making that Kingdom come, but we need His strength to play our part, no matter how humble and ordinary it may be. This Feast was also the first day of the Year of the Priest declared by Pope Benedict. He wants the whole Church to come to a greater appreciation of the gift of the priesthood, to pray for more vocations and to pray that priests may truly grow in holiness and fidelity to their vocation. In our parish we already have the Vocation Cross program started by the Knights of Columbus wherein a family takes a crucifix home and prays for vocations for a week and then returns it for the next family. We are further encouraging prayer for priests with an opportunity in the vestibule to choose a particular day of the month and pray on that day especially for priests and vocations throughout the coming Year of the Priest. St. Paul writes a very famous verse in our Second Reading, The love of Christ impels us. Priests have to feel this inner pull in their hearts that comes from the Sacred Heart of Jesus so that they can give themselves more fully in prayer and service to Jesus and His Church. On this Fathers Day we honor and thank our fathers who are meant to be living examples of the self-giving love and strength of our Heavenly Father and Jesus who loves us with His Most Sacred and Pierced Heart. We ask Gods blessing upon all fathers so that they may know the importance of their vocation.

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary TimeJune 28, 2009 It is hard to imagine that there is anything more difficult than for parents to see their little child dying and realizing that they are helpless to prevent it. This sorrowful scene opens our Gospel this Sunday; a synagogue official kneels before Jesus with the plea My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come and lay your hands on her that she may get well and live. The father realizes that he is powerless to help his daughter, but he has faith that Jesus can help her! When they are near the mans home, messengers arrive saying that it is hopelessthe girl is deadwhat can anyone do? The teacher could heal someone who is sick, but what can anyone do in the face of death? It was Benjamin Franklin who said: Nothing in life is certain except death and taxes. Although there are many other things for us Christians that are certain, nonetheless, his point is valid, that death cannot be escaped. We have had great advances in medicine, and we do have the greatest medical care available in the world today or ever in the history of the world. Even so, death is still that final and great mystery that cannot be avoided. It is one that we dont even like to think about. The answer to this fearful reality is in our Gospelit is Jesus. No doubt the worried father gave up hope when he heard that his daughter had died, but Jesus is the Lord of Life and said Do not be afraid; just have faith. Jesus took the parents and three disciples into the dead girls room, held her hand and said Little girl, I say to you, arise! With those words the girl came back to life and was restored to her parents. The sadness and hopelessness of the parents was instantly turned to joytheir little one was returned to them through a miracle. We know of other incidents when Jesus brought the dead back to life, such as his friend Lazarus and the only son of the widowed mother of Nain. These were all great miracles, but we must not forget that all those who were restored to life by Jesus would one day have to die again and Jesus didnt bring everyone to life that died in His time. There is another meaning to these resurrection miracles and a great lesson for us who must face death. The Book of Wisdom teaches that God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. . . . But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world. Death is the result

of sinthe Original Sin of Adamwho rebelled against God by giving into the temptation of the devil. What would the end of our lives have been if death had not come through Original Sin? Perhaps the end of the Virgin Marys life gives us a clue, since she had no stain of Original Sin. At the time that was determined by Godthe end of her earthly pilgrimageHe took her into heaven body and soul. The definition of this doctrine doesnt say if she first died or not, but in any case the decay of death did not touch her body. She was lifted up into the glory of the resurrected life of her Son; this is the doctrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. If Original Sin had not entered our world with the bitter fruit of death, then maybe God would simply take us to heaven at the end of our lives like He did the Virgin Mary. The resurrection of the little girl in the Gospel shows us the compassion of God. He wants us to see in it, and in the resurrection of Jesus Himself and the Assumption of Mary, that death does not have the final say. It is Jesus who is the resurrection and the life. When it comes to death we are often like the poor man who had a hard life of manual work. One day he was carrying a bundle of sticks and became exhausted, so he sat down on the side of the road, threw down his bundle of sticks and said I am sick and tired of this. I wish Death would come and relieve me. Instantly the Angel of Death appeared and said Here I am. What do you want of me? Immediately the astonished man replied I want you to help me to put this bundle of sticks on my back so I can keep going. We dont really want to die, except for a moment or two when things overwhelm us. A Christian should try and live as long as he canas long as Gods wants him to. At the same time, the words of St. Paul remind us that death is defeated by Christs resurrection: O Death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? (1 Cor. 15:55) The words of Jesus to the girls father in the Gospel today apply to death as well as life: Do not be afraid; just have faith. God also wants us to remember that life in this world is a gift and it is only temporary. When you are young you think you are invincible and that you will live forever; when you get older you realize that isnt true, but you think that your possessions and money will insulate you from death. Life is not meant to be forever in this passing world. Although we dont always understand or appreciate it, Jesus wants to give us more than human life He wants to give us eternal life. He said I have come that they might have life and have it to the full.

This life has already begun in those who are baptized and in the state of grace. Sanctifying grace is the pledge of eternal life; it is our ticket to heaven. Sanctifying grace is Gods life within our souls that is transforming us to become more like Jesus Christ in our thoughts, words and deeds. I have to examine my conscience daily asking myself Am I in the state of grace? Have I committed a serious sin that I have not confessed? It is important to examine our consciences honestly in the light of God. There is a far worse death than that of the body, the death of the soul! We dont only loose grace by mortal sin, but also by venial sins that keep diluting our relationship with God. We can simply loose our souls by neglect. The pull of the world, including bad company, as well as, our own faults and weaknesses can lead us slowly down the road to lukewarmness and denial of God. There are many people who are walking around today with souls that are dead. The Lord wants to give us the mercy that flows from His Sacred Heart so that we will be strong in our faith, steadfast in His commandments. He wants to give us life, not just in this passing world but life for all eternity. Do not be afraid; just have faith.

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary TimeJuly 5, 2009 St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about having an abundance of revelations and a thorn in the flesh; the glory of God and the suffering of the Cross marked St. Pauls life. No one knows what the thorn in the flesh was, but there have been many speculations: from temptations to persecutions to physical sufferings. The most credible is that St. Paul had the disease of malaria. The chronic recurrent fever of malaria would attack without warning causing the sufferer to be incapacitated with a headache like a red hot bar thrust into the forehead. He prayed three times that the Lord would take this away from him, but God didnt, replying My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. From a human point of view, wouldnt it be better for an apostle with the great mission of spreading the Gospel to be strong, able to speak clearly and well? The fever of malaria would keep him from doing his best for the Lord, at times rendering him helpless and unable to act. St. Paul realized this trial was necessary, first of all, so that he might not become too elated because of the abundance of revelations. He was given so many gifts by God, natural talents and supernatural revelations, that he could have become proud and presume that his successes came from his own strength. Pride is a danger to us all, especially when we are successful! He realizes that the thorn in the flesh would keep him humble. Even more than that, he tells us that Gods power could accomplish His purpose even when the instrument is weak and flawed. St. Paul stated: I will boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. I have experienced this principal myself. There are times when I am listening to the deacon read the Gospel and I just feel exhausted. As I am walking over to the ambo, I tell the Holy Spirit that He is the one who is going to have to use His power to inspire and move you and I will just get out of the way; I dont have the strength. Those are usually my best homilies! It is probably the finest attitude to have when preaching at any time. I am content with weaknesses . . . for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong. With Jesus Christ my weaknesses and sins will not hold me back or cause me to become hopeless. I have His mercy in Confession; I have His strength in Holy Communion; He will not abandon me. St. Josemaria Escriva counseled: In apostolic undertakings its very

goodits a dutyto consider what means the world has to offer you (2+2=4). But dont forgeteverthat your calculations must fortunately include another term: God +2+2 . . . . Of course, it is God who changes the equation and produces much more than we can on our own. We have to keep praying for an increase in faith and trust in the Lord and not loose heart, no matter what our weaknesses may be. The people of Nazareth prayed their whole life long for the coming of the Messiah, but when Jesus returned to His home town they refused to recognize Him for who He was. They said Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him. They thought they knew what the Messiah was supposed to do; he was supposed to be a great warrior who by force of arms would liberate them from the Roman armies and make Israel the supreme nation on earth. Jesus didnt fit this idea. They thought that He was too ordinary; too much like them. After all, they knew His Mother and His relatives; they all had lived in the same small town. Jesus wasnt powerful enough to do what the Messiah was supposed to do, so they rejected Him. How often we look at God from a worldly point of view. We say God why dont You use Your power to stop all the evil in the world? Why dont You put an end to the child abusers, murderers and swindlers? Use Your power to force them to do good. Of course, we dont want God to stop our petty little sins of anger and lust and selfishness, only those other people. Now, just as then, God will not use His power to force anyone, He didnt create robots, He created human beings with a free will. He wants us to freely choose to follow Him. Sacrifice on the Cross, self-giving service seem like weakness to many, but they are the means that will conquer the world. This past week we celebrated the Feast Days of Sts. Peter and Paul and the first Holy Martyrs of Rome. The first 250 years of the Churchs history were dominated by persecution. In the year 64 there was a great fire that destroyed most of the city of Rome and the people held the Emperor Nero responsible, so he put the blame upon the little group of Christians. In 67 Peter was crucified upside down and Paul was beheaded. To be a Christian meant to be a martyr for ones faith. Christians lived in the world, but not of the world. They cared for the poor and the sick, they didnt practice

abortion, they lived honest lives and when they went to their deaths they sang hymns and had smiles of joy on their faces. They continued to win people over to the faith even though there was no earthly gain by becoming a Christian. Nero covered them with pitch and put them on poles lighting them on fire to illuminate his garden; even young women and girls like Sts. Felicity and Perpetua were thrown to the lions and bears in the Roman circuses to be torn apart; the Christians of Abitine, Africa were caught at Holy Mass and responded that they would rather die, because Without the Sunday Mass, life would not be worth living. Sometimes the persecution would die down, but it wouldnt be long until another emperor renewed it. One time they would go after the soldiers who were Christians, purging the army, another time the liturgical books and Christian writings were burned, then they would kill the bishops, priests and deacons. Almost all of the 31 popes of this era died as martyrs or in exile. The last persecution under the Emperor Diocletian was the worst and it seemed as if all were lost, but then came the victory of Constantine who saw a vision of the Cross with the words, By this sign, you shall conquer. He put the Cross on the soldiers shields and he did conquer, becoming the Emperor of Rome. He legalized Christianity in the year 313. God conquers by the Cross and Love. To many this is weakness, but as St. Paul realized in bearing his own sufferings: The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Cor. 1:25).

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary TimeJuly 12, 2009 Perhaps you have heard the saying: God loves you just the way you are. It expresses the idea that in spite of the fact that we are sinners who will very easily betray Him, God loves us with an infinite love. If we do good and kind things to others, most people love us in return. There is nothing that we can do to earn Gods loveHis love doesnt work that way. He loves us unconditionally. However, Scott Hahn pointed out that the saying God loves you just the way you are is only a half-truth. The whole truth could be expressed God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you so much that He doesnt want to leave you that way. Throughout salvation history, God has continually called His people to repentance and growth in virtue. There were many prophets sent to the people of Israel to call them back to faithfulness to their covenant with God. In our First Reading the Prophet Amos was sent to the northern part of the kingdom of Israel to condemn the way that the rich were treating the poor. It was a time of great prosperity and peace, people thought that they were safe and secure. They were practicing the external form of religion offering the sacrifices at the royal sanctuary of Bethelbut they were not honoring God with their hearts. A true covenant with God demands that people deal justly with one another. That wasnt happening; the life of the poor was being sucked out of them by the greedy and powerful. Amos exhorted the people to repent, but they thought that they were safe and refused to turn from their injustice. In our First Reading we hear how the priest Amaziah condemns Amos for speaking against the king and the powerful; he accuses him of prophesying in order to get money. Amos responded by saying that he didnt choose to be a prophet; he was just a humble man a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. He said, The Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me, go, prophesy to my people Israel. They readily dismissed this prophet who preached doom to them; they had no intention of changing their lives and thought they were secure in their own power. What they didnt know was that the mighty Assyrian army was on the march and there would be a terrible invasion of Israel. It would end their injustice to the poor in a very definitive way! This past week Pope Benedict issued his third encyclical entitled Caritas in Veritate, Charity in Truth. It is a social encyclical, calling the Church and the world to practice Christian love in the way we deal with the progress and

development of individuals and nations. He wrote that Charity goes beyond justice, because to love is to give, to offer what is mine to the other; but it never lacks justice, which prompts us to give the other what is his, what is due to him. Through Amos, God asked the people of Israel to practice justice to the poor, but he asks us to go beyond that and deal with others, beginning with our own family members and co-workers and friends and the poor with Christian love. It is more demanding because it means as the Holy Father said love is to give, to offer what is mine to the other. The problem is that we not only have to struggle with our own natural selfishness, but we live in a culture that promotes narcissism in every way. There was an interesting article by Jennifer Hartline that said welcome to the Age of ME. Every time she wrote the word me she capitalized both letters. Here is how she summarized our thinking today: Everything is about ME. Life is, and should be, about ME and what I want, what I decide will make ME happy, and get ME the most I can possibly get. Decisions made by other people must not make any requirements of ME, or place any restrictions on ME. If they do, I have every right to disregard them, denounce them, and demand change. There is no moral code outside of the one I write for ME. I have no obligation to anyones best interest other than mine. I work only for ME, and I am still entitled to take from someone else what I feel I deserve but did not earn myself. I can make vows that suit ME today and break them next week or next year if they no longer suit ME or make ME as happy as I deserve to be. We usually dont speak in such frank words. In order to love, I have to go beyond my own needs and wants; I have to look outside of myself to others and try and determine how I can serve them, otherwise I will never be fulfilled and I will never be able to love as God calls us to love. In a special way, a great debt of gratitude is owed to families who have been open to God in the number of children that they have. It is not easy to make the sacrifices that are necessary to have children, especially a large family. Even though you arent always appreciated, and even ridiculed, those sacrifices of time and money reach far beyond your own family; they benefit the Church and our whole society. Most people think that there is a population explosion, but the opposite is true. Those who study population trends say we are heading toward a demographic winter. There are less and less people in each generation since the baby boomers to buy homes and cars

and other goods. The population is aging and there are less young people to support those who older than ever before. Strong, Catholic families are the hope of the future. We dont have to wait for some kind of evolution to get to the perfect example of a human being; we already have that model in our Lord Jesus Christ. God calls us to become the living image of the perfect Man, His Son Jesus Christ. We cannot do this on our own, but only with the grace of God. You can hear the utter amazement of St. Paul in the letter to the Ephesians in our Second Reading when he speaks about the grace that has been given us: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said that God has to pictures of each one of us. In the first picture He sees us exactly as we are, with all our strengths and weaknesses, with what we have accomplished and what we have failed to do; the other picture sees us as we could be, if we responded to His abundant graces. There is only one person in whom those two pictures are the same: the Blessed Virgin Mary. She lived and acted just as God wanted her to in all of her thoughts, words and deeds. She was full of grace. Lets ask Mary to help us to realize Gods infinite, unconditional love and more fully respond to his call.

Throughout the Bible we hear that God cares for His people like a good shepherd. --Ps. 23 The Lord is my shepherd. He leads us in verdant pastures, he gives my repose; beside restful water he leads me. Your rod and your staff give me repose. God wants the leaders of His people toboth political and spiritualto act like Him. The king of Israel was to be a good shepherd as well as, a ruler. In the First Reading from Jeremiah God acknowledges that that isnt happening. Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture. God knows well the heart of man. He promises that He will raise up a righteous shoot to David. This promise is fulfilled perfectly in Jesus. He came to be the good shepherd and lead us into heaven. Even though the paths in this world are filled with spiritual danger, He will be the sure guide. Gospel: He leads His apostles to a place of rest because they have been working so hard that they barely had the opportunity to eat. --When they arrive there is already a vast crowd waiting for them. Jesus cannot turn them awayHe is the Good Shepherd His heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. In this Year for Priests, we remember that God has called men in the Church to the ministerial priesthood to be the Good Shepherd to His people. Of course, we have all the weaknesses of humanity, but in spite of that, He wants us strive to live and act in His image. In a particular way, priests are to bring Christ to the world through the sacraments and teaching the faith. The people wanted to hear the teaching of Jesus; He was the Shepherd who was feeding them with the Word of God, which is life giving. He didnt have to force them, they were hungering for it. After this passage Jesus feeds the 5000 by multiplying a few loaves of bread and fish. This is a Eucharistic miracle. The priest is to feed the Church with the greatest gift possiblethe holy Eucharist. It is really JesusBody, Blood, Soul and Divinity. What greater gift can a priest give to His peopleJesus Himself.

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary TimeJuly 26, 2009 You are what you eat is a saying that has some truth to it. The idea behind it is that to be fit and healthy you need to eat good food; if you dont it will harm your health. We see the evidence of this when children eat sugary foods or drink and get out of control. The sugar has an immediate effect upon their behavior, as well as, their body. You are what you eat is only partially true because our health depends on other things, such as, how much we exercise and simply our genetics. However, when it comes to Catholics and the Holy Eucharist You are what you eat takes on a deeper and spiritual meaning. God in His infinite wisdom uses the most ordinary things, such as, water, oil, bread and wine to give us grace in the sacraments and bring about union with Him. When we eat something, such as, a piece of toast at breakfast, it gives us strength and nourishes our body. The toast really becomes a part of us as the body breaks it down into the nutrients that give us energy. God uses the bread and wine of the Holy Eucharist to show us that by eating and drinking of this Blessed Sacrament, His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity become a part of us. He nourishes and strengthens the soul that receives Him in faith. Maybe it would be better to say that we become united to Him in Holy Communion rather than He becomes a part of us; the greater lifts up the lower. We should become what we eat through Holy Communion. He wants to transform us lovingly and gently into His imageso that the Father can see and love in us what He sees and loves in Christ. This Sunday we begin reading from chapter 6 of the Gospel of John. It will take us 5 Sundays to read through this very important Eucharistic chapter. Step by step the Lord leads us to a deeper understanding of His doctrine of the Real Presence and the Bread of Life. St. John begins the chapter with a tremendous miracle. He gives us a clue that ties it to the Holy Eucharist when he says The Jewish feast of Passover was near. It was at the Last Supper, near the feast of Passover, that Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist. Jesus heart was moved with pity for the vast crowd that had come out to this deserted place to listen to His words, but He only had five loaves of bread and two dried fish to feed five thousand men, plus the women and children. From a human point of view we would agree with the apostle Philip who said, But what good are these for so many? With Jesus, a little becomes abundance.

When Jesus received the bread and fish, He did what He will do at the Last Supper and as the priest does at every Holy Mass. He took the bread and gave thanks. The word Eucharist means thanksgiving. The Eucharistic Prayer of the Mass recalls the blessings of God upon His people, especially the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus which redeemed the world and gives thanks throughout. One of the four purposes of the Holy Mass is to give thanks to God for these and all His blessings. The other purposes are to petition Him for what we need, to make reparation for sins and to adore Him for His glory. All of this is done in union with Jesus Christ, not on our own! The apostles had to be a little frightened when they took the baskets with a single loaf of bread out to the crowd as Jesus told them to do. A hungry crowd could have become an angry mob. Through this miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish there was plenty for all. So much so, that they gathered up 12 baskets of fragments that were left over after all the multitude had eaten their fill. It reminds us that if Jesus took care to gather up the fragments of ordinary bread, how much more careful the Church must be in caring for the Holy Eucharist. We are careful with even particles of the consecrated Host since each part contains the whole Christ. The Hosts that we use are made to have few fragments, but if you receive Holy Communion in the hand and notice a crumb, you should consume it. If you would ever spill some of the Precious Blood on your clothes, when you get home rinse it in water in a bowel and throw the water on the ground under a bush or plant and then wash the clothes normally. The Real Presence of Jesus is in every particle of the Host and every drop of the Precious Blood. Even if you receive Holy Communion under one formthe form of bread you still receive the whole ChristBody, Blood, Soul and Divinity. From the beginning, I believed that this parish should be centered upon the Holy Eucharist. When the architect designed the interior of this building, the small meeting room off the entry way was supposed to have a door into Church where the tabernacle and the Blessed Sacrament would be place. I immediately changed that, since I believe the Blessed Sacrament should be at the front and center of the Church. It is Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament that makes us a parish, not our efforts alone. You wouldnt believe the obstacles that I had to get these pews here. The architect and the building office of the Archdiocese said that we should buy folding chairs and not use the pews from St. Philip Neri; someone else from the Archdiocese e-mailed me saying that it would cost $100,000 to move

them here; a local pastor called, out of the blue, advising me that if we just used folding chairs then this could be a multi-purpose room. Even though it would be great to have space for other things, I knew that first and foremost we needed a sacred spacea Church where we could pray, have Eucharistic Adoration and offer the Holy Mass and other sacraments. I felt the pews would set this off as a Church, even though it still looked like a warehouse from the outside. The opposition seemed all out of proportion. Finally, I told them that I knew a man with an 18 wheeler truck and that I could get a crew together to get the pews, just tell me when. After that all opposition disappeared; suddenly they would take care of it and here they are. The Servant of God, Pope John Paul put it this way in his last encyclical, which was on the Holy Eucharist: . . . in sacramental communion. We can say not only that each of us receives Christ, but also that Christ receives each of us. He enters into friendship with us . . . The Eucharistic Lord, the Bread of Angels, the Bread of Life, the Bread from Heaven has to be at the center of our parish and our lives.

August 9, 2009Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time That was no ordinary bread that the angel of God gave to Elijah in the First Reading! Fleeing the evil Queen Jezebel who had given orders to put him to death, Elijah went a days journey into the desert and was exhausted. An angel appeared to him with bread and water and said Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you! Elijah ate the bread and was then able to walk through the desert for forty day and forty nights without resting. That bread from God gave him supernatural strength for his journey. If only we realized it, God has given us food for the journey through life that is far greater than the bread given to Elijah. We are half-way through chapter 6 of St. Johns Gospel this Sunday. Step by step Jesus is leading us to understand the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist. The chapter began with the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish to feed thousands of people. Next Jesus told the people who followed Him to the other side of the shore: Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you. With these words, you begin to understand the He is not speaking about ordinary bread. Like all food, you eat your toast for breakfast and you are soon hungry again; it certainly doesnt lead you to eternal life. The next step is to remember the mannathat bread-like food which appeared on the ground each morning and fed the people of Israel as they were led by Moses for 40 years through the desert. The manna was considered to be the supreme work of Moses, but the Messiah would surpass it. Our Gospel today begins with the people murmuring about Jesus words I am the bread that came down from heaven. What could this possibly mean? They dont like the sound of thisit seems like crazy talk. In answer, Jesus repeats an essential idea again and again in this chapter: You must have faith in me; a faith that is given by my Father. He says things like No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him and Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from Him comes to me. To believe that the little wager of unleavened bread that you receive in Holy Communion is the real Presence of Jesus Christ takes faith. When the priest or deacon holds up the consecrated Host and says: The Body of Christ you respond Amen meaning I believe it is the Body of Christ. That Amen is an act of faith, or better said, it is an opportunity to make an act of faith.

There are many reasons not to believe in Jesus. One of them is right here in our Gospel this Sunday. It was believed by the Jews that the Messiah was not to have a human origin and so they asked Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, I have come down from heaven? They thought that they knew Him; Jesus had human parents, He was just an ordinary carpenters son from an ordinary village, how could he be the Messiah and do great things? Of course we can easily see how wrong they were; they were judging by human standards. We know that good St. Joseph was Jesus foster father and that God was His Father from all eternity: God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God. Those who were murmuring at Jesus were mistaken on all counts. You can find many reasons not to believe in Jesus if you try. There have been several recent best sellers by atheists debunking faith in Jesus and particularly the Catholic Church. To be truthful, they have nothing new to say; the arguments they think are unique have been around since the beginning of Christianity. Sad to say, many people have read these books and have had their faith weakened or destroyed and others have become more hardened in their unbelief. You can easily find those kinds of books and listen to those kinds of arguments. You can hurt your faith and fall into the self-centered, materialistic society of the day that so many people strive for or you can do something quite different. Read your Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, spend time in prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and pray the daily Rosary; examine the lives and words of the saints. Then your faith will be strengthened; dont let it be weakened! I cant help but think of one of our American saints in regard to faith in the Holy Eucharist. Elizabeth Ann Seton was a very pious and faithful member of the Episcopal Church; she believed in Jesus, prayed fervently and lived a good Christian life. On a vacation to Italy, her husband became seriously ill and had to be quarantined on the ship. She stayed with some friends who were business partners of her husband, and also, faithful Catholics. During the time of her husbands illness and eventual death in a foreign land these friends encouraged her to pray and find solace in Church. This was the first time she had been in a Catholic Church and in the Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament; she immediately realized that there was something different here. It was through this time of prayer to Jesus in the Tabernacle that she converted to the Catholic Church. In spite of the rejection by her family in Philadelphia who looked down upon Catholics, she persevered,

founded a religious order and the Catholic school system in America and became a saint! All because of the faith to understand that it was Jesus who was truly present in the Holy Eucharist. This is no ordinary food; this is the Bread from Heaven! Over the centuries the Church has developed a precise way of speaking about the Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in answer to many heresies. It is described as a real, true and substantial Presence. It is real in the sense that it is not just a symbol. Some Protestant denominations will have services using bread and wine or grape juice as a symbolic way of remembering Jesus and what He did at the Last Supper. For us the Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is real and not only a way of remembering Him. It is a true Presence that doesnt depend upon the imagination or the will of the person receiving Holy Communion. The old example is that if a dog comes into Church at the time of Holy Communion and somehow ate the consecrated Host, did he receive the Body of Christ? The answer is yes because it truly is the Body of Christ. The dog wont benefit in any way because there is no understanding or capacity to receive that grace. Finally the Presence is substantial because by the words of consecration the very substance of bread and wine becomes the very substance of the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. The title of Pope John Pauls last encyclical on the Holy Eucharist was Ecclesia de Eucharistia, the Church comes from the Eucharist. We Catholics are a Eucharistic people because here we encounter Jesus Christ in His real, true, substantial Presence. He is the Bread from Heaven! When I make a Spiritual Communion, I use the prayer: I wish my Lord to receive You with the purity, humility and devotion with which Your most holy Mother received You, with the spirit and fervor of the saints. Lets receive Jesus in Holy Communion with renewed faith and the fire of love that comes from the Holy Spirit.

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary TimeAugust 16, 2009 The words that we heard in our Gospel today have to be the most startling words in the entire Bible. Jesus says: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my Flesh is true food and my Blood is true drink. The crowds that had been following Him on two sides of the Sea of Galilee were logically thinking that Jesus was speaking about cannibalismeat my flesh, drink my blood! This teacher seemed so good; at one point they thought He was the man worthy to be their kingnow He speaks like a madman. Jesus is using the language of sacrifice; particularly recalling the sacrifice of the Paschal lamb. In the Old Testament, God told Moses that the people of Israel were to take an unblemished lamb and sacrifice it. Then they were to put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and lintel to mark the house so that the angel of death would pass by. Next they were to roast the lamb and eat it in a sacred meal that would become a perpetual memorial of Gods power and love for His people. Those events which marked the great Covenant of the Old Testament would be repeated for the New Covenant and would be fulfilled in the New Covenant that Jesus established. The lamb sacrificed in the New Covenant is Jesus, who freely chose to offer Himself as the Lamb of God on the altar of the Cross. His Precious Blood frees us from the slavery of sin and destroys the power of death so that we can have eternal life. In the Holy Eucharist He becomes the Bread of Life to feed our souls; the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the Sacred Banquet which is the perpetual memorial of the power and love of God for His Church. At the Last Supper Jesus said: Do this in memory of me. The Israelites had a special word for the term memorial. It was the Hebrew word zikkaron; this wasnt just remembering something from the past, such as when you take out your pictures from last Christmas and think about the wonderful time you had with your family gathered together for the holiday. A memorial for the Jews was a re-living of the Passover events, as if they went back in time with their ancient ancestors who were celebrating that first Passover in Egypt. The Passover meal for the Jews to this day is a re-living or a renewing or a re-presentation of the first Passover. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a memorial in this sensewe are re-living or renewing that one sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary in the unbloody Sacrifice of the Altar.

Every Holy Mass takes us back to the Cross with Mary and John and Mary Magdalene to witness that event and receive that graces that flow from it like a great river of mercy until the end of time. Last week I mentioned that the Church speaks about the Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist as real, true and substantial. She has also used the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas as the best explanation of the change that takes place in the bread and wine at the moment of the Consecration. St Thomas Aquinas used the word transubstantiation. He said that there are two kinds of changes that can take place in any thing. One is on the surface, such as when I walked from my chair to come over to the ambo. I am still the same person, but my body moved from there to here. When you paint a wall, it is still the same thinga wallbut it is now a different color. The other kind of change is substantial because it changes from one thing into another kind of thing. When I die, my soul will leave my body and will go to judgment before Jesus Christ. My body will be changed into a corpse; from a living being to lifeless fleshthat is a very substantial change! What happens at the Consecration of the Mass is a substantial change. The very substance of bread and wine is replaced with the very substance of what makes Jesus who and what He isso that the bread and wine become the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. That is why when the priest holds up the consecrated Host we can say with St. Thomas the Apostle: My Lord and my God. How can Jesus give Himself totally in Holy Communion hundreds of millions of times throughout the world? Of course it is a supernatural action, but here is a comparison. If I would take a full length mirror and hold it up, I could see a single reflection of myself in the mirror. If I were to take that mirror and throw it to the ground it would shatter into a thousand pieces and then my image would be reflected a thousand times in the pieces of glass. Jesus through His divine power gives Himself to us again and again in the most Blessed Sacrament. In the year 700 there was a priest who was having doubts about the real Presence of Jesus and the sacrifice of Calvary renewed upon the altar. Naturally, like all of us, he couldnt see any visible change in the bread and wine after the Consecration. He was on his way to Rome when he stopped in the town of Lanciano, Italy. There he offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and at the Consecration, the bread visibly changed into human flesh

and the wine changed into human blood in the chalice. Of course, his faith in the Blessed Sacrament was restored and all doubts ceased. The circle of Flesh from that first recorded Eucharistic miracle was put into a monstrance and the Blood was put into a crystal chalice and you can still go to Lancinano and see it to this day. In the 1970s the Eucharistic miracle was investigated by a team of doctors and scientists and they found that the flesh was indeed human flesh and the blood human blood and that the flesh was not just a slice of skin, but a slice of the heart muscle. When they liquefied the blood which had dried and formed into five pellets, they found that it had all the proteins and enzymes of newly shed blood even though it was 1200 years old. In every Holy Mass the bread and wine become the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus, but He prevents us from seeing it for at least two reasons. First of all, we would find it repulsive to consume, but more importantly, we are to live by faith, not by sight. Jesus asks us to believe in Him and trust His word; that word which we clearly heard in the Gospel and which his Church, has faithfully taught for two thousand years. Yesterday, we celebrated the Feast of the Assumption of MaryGod took her into heaven body and soul at the end of our earthly life so that she could share fully in the resurrection of her Son. God wants us to share in the resurrection of Jesus and the surest way is through adoration and the devout reception of Holy Communion. It is the banquet of eternal life for as Jesus said: This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary TimeAugust 23, 2009 There is a single sentence in the Second Reading that makes husbands think I like the sound of that and wives bristle with indignation: Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. Before you become hardened in your reaction, either way, we need to understand the profound and beautiful truths that St. Paul is teaching about Christian marriage. Of course, no woman or man should accept the word subordinate or subject in a way that makes the husband a tyrant over his wife who dictates and controls her. After all, St. Paul begins the passage by telling husbands and wives to Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. The word subordinate could easily be rendered by the word serveChristian husbands and wives are to serve one another. A marriage counselor was speaking to a large audience of married couples about honoring and respecting their spouses. He brought out a violin for them to see. It was a pitiful looking instrument with the strings hanging loose and obviously in need of repair. He then said I never thought that I would hold one of these in my hands and he read the date printed on it which said 1722 and the name Stradivarius. He told them that it was worth $100,000 at the very least. Everyone in the audience gasped. They gasped in the presence of that violin out of awe at its valuethat is what respect feels like. In the same way, God wants husbands and wives to have honor and respect for one another. St. Paul compared the love of a husband and wife to the love that Jesus has for His Church and His Church has for Him as Bridegroom and Bride. That lifts up the love of marriage to a high and noble way of life. It was St. Paul who called marriage a sacrament for the first time at the end of this passage, he wrote: This is a great mystery. That word mystery comes from a Greek word mysterion, which also gives us the word sacrament. St. Paul is saying This is a great sacrament, but I speak in reference to Christ and His Church. He began talking about marriage by distinguishing the different ways in which the husband and wife serve one another in marriage. They arent the same, but they are complimentary. You may have heard of books like Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus (1992) and others that have been written about how men and women look at life, make decisions and relate to

one another in very different ways. As Christians, we know that God has indeed given different gifts to the personalities of men and women in order to support their relationship in marriage and family life. As Genesis said: The two shall become one fleshspiritually and physically. St. Paul first addresses women saying: As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything and later let the wife see that she respects her husband. Just because a man generally has a difficult time expressing his feelings, as all women know, doesnt mean that his male ego and self-respect are as strong as they appear. Husbands are often longing for respect. A wife using the special gifts of femininity that bring love and respect to a marriage can support him. Women have a special understanding of relationships and what draws and holds people together. The wife is meant to be the heart of the home. Pope John Paul, in his Apostolic Letter, On the Dignity and vocation of Women, wrote: The moral and spiritual strength of a woman is joined to her awareness that God entrusts the human being to her is a special way. That is why a woman who misuses her gifts can wield the sword of the tongue in a way that is very powerful and damaging. Instead of being the center of love in the family she can hurt the persons entrusted to her. Then St. Paul spoke about the role of the husband: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and handed Himself over for her to sanctify her. Husbands have to die to themselvestheir pride, their desiresand serve their wives like Jesus who gave Himself totally and completely, even unto death on the Cross to save His Church. A husband cannot serve himself, but only finds fulfillment when he sacrifices himself for his wife and children. Wives are longing for the husband to love her more than he loves himself. He brings steadfastness and fortitude to form a firm foundation for his family. His role as the head of the family, (his wife being the heart) has to be fulfilled in the motto: To serve is to reign. Of course, a man can misuse his gifts, including his physical strength, in order to serve himself and his needs to the destruction of his wife and children who have been entrusted to him. Marriage is a great sacrament; a great mystery of Gods love. There are two Sacraments of Love: Holy Matrimony and the Holy Eucharist. We have been reading for five weeks through Chapter 6 of the Gospel of St. John in which Jesus teaches us about His real Presence in the Holy Eucharist. He particularly gives Himself to us in this Sacrament of His

Love. Last week heard Him say the startling words: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my Flesh is true food and my Blood is true drink. There are three reactions to this most startling statement. First, the crowds that had been following Him up to this point will no longer do so: Many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied Him. You notice that Jesus didnt stop them and say You must have misunderstood me; let me explain it in a different way. No, He meant what He said, including the fact that they needed faith to understand His doctrine. The second reaction came from the apostles, at least 11 of them. They must have been visibly shaken because Jesus asked them: Do you also want to leave? Peter answered for them as the head of the apostles: Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God. Now Peter didnt understand the meaning of Jesus words any better than those who left, but he had something they did not: he believed in Jesus; he had the gift of faith. He would wait until the Last Supper to find out how he could eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus in a way that was beautiful, true and good. The third reaction is that of Judas. Jesus asked at the end of the chapter: Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil? (Verse 70) and St. John added He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was to betray Him. (Verse 71) This is the first time he is named as the betrayer in Johns Gospel. Judas would appear as an apostle but he no longer believed in Jesus because of the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist. We have two Sacraments of Love in which God reveals His love and teaches us how to love in return.

August 30, 2009Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time The Jews were given the great gift of the Law by God, which set them apart from all the people on the earth, for as Moses proclaimed in our First Reading: what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statues and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today? The Law consisted first of the Ten Commandments and secondly, the first five books of the Bible known as the Pentateuch. Over the centuries thousands of little rules and regulations had been added to explain the Law; they governed every possible situation and circumstance in their lives. This was the tradition of the elders which they asked Jesus about in the Gospel. For example, the washing of hands and cups and jugs and kettles and beds was not just a matter of cleanliness, as it is for us, but a matter of religious purity. This tradition of the elders had become so burdensome that it was impossible to perfectly fulfill. When the Pharisees condemned the disciples for not following these regulations, Jesus rightly answered them saying: You disregard Gods commandment but cling to human tradition. Sometimes people have leveled this charge against the Catholic Church. As you know, we believe that God has revealed Himself through Jesus Christ by way of two sources: Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. The Second Vatican Council taught: Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together and communicate one with the other. For both of them flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing and move towards the same goal. The source of both the written and oral revelation is God, so that the Bible and the doctrine of the Church cannot contradict one another and both are leading us to the truth and to heaven. St. Paul told the people of Thessalonica in his second letter: stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter (2 Thess. 2:15). The tradition that St. Paul was speaking about was the authentic doctrine that he had taught them in person when he first preached the Gospel to them and the words of the letters he wrote to them which would later become part of the Bible itselfword and letter.

You will notice that the word tradition, like most words, has several meaningssome good and others bad. When the Church writes about tradition (you can see this in the CCC) she makes a distinction between the authentic, unchangeable doctrine of Christ by referring to it with a capitol T and the customs and practices which can change with a lower case t. An example of Tradition with a capitol T is the doctrine that says The Most Holy Trinity is three Persons in one God. It cannot change nor become something else, although over time we have come to understand it better. An example of tradition with a lower case t is the practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays. Before the Second Vatican Council every Catholic abstained from meat on every Friday as a way of doing penance in union with Jesus who died on Good Friday; that law was changed by the Church because it was a custom, a tradition with a lower case t. Friday is still a day of penance, but it is up to us to choose which penance we will do. We shouldnt be surprised that human customs grow up around the mysteries of faith. Just look at the many customs surrounding the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. The white dress, the unity candle and the exchange of rings are human customs, but they can add to some degree to the importance and meaning of the Sacrament. Of course, there are customs that can detract from Holy Matrimony; a nice reception and dinner emphasize its importance, but spending an extravagant amount of money on receptions or getting drunk at them detract from the meaning. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for the kind of tradition that takes away from the true teaching of God. The Pharisees obeyed all the customs about washing hands and other thingsthe external things, but didnt pay attention to purifying their souls of sins. He told them that the things that offend God and keep people from being right with Him come from within: From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. We have to admit that anyone of us could fall into these sins. Like the Pharisees, we can fool ourselves into thinking I am doing just fine and ignore the problems of sin in our lives. There is always an unhappiness or restlessness or sense of not being fulfilled that accompanies this self-deception. Another thing that can trap us is false expectations of life and allowing our feelings and imagination to control us. If I think I will only be happy if I

have this kind of career, marry this kind of person, have this house or car or bank account then I am setting myself up for unhappiness. When you marry Prince Charming and he turns out to have flaws like every other man; when the basement starts to leak in the perfect home; when health problems afflict us, then we can become very disappointed because life didnt follow my plan. This past summer Pope Benedict went on his vacation with the intention of resting and writinghe loves to write and teach. We are all waiting for his next book on the life of Jesus. During that time he fell and broke his right wrist, so he couldnt write. He commented on his situation by saying that he intended to write, but God wanted the Pope to pray more than write. Pope Benedict wanted to follow the plan that God manifested to him, even though it meant suffering and a change of his own desires. Gods plan for our lives is better than we can imagine because it doesnt only deal with things on the surface, but involves something deep and eternal. Lets pray and open our hearts to discover His plan in the circumstance and people that we encounter each day.

September 6, 2009Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Isaiah predicted that the long-awaited Messiah could be recognized by certain miraculous events: Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing. Todays Gospel tells of the miraculous healing of a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. Jesus was working one of the many miracles of healing that showed the compassion of God and that He was indeed the Messiah. Like all the passages in the Bible there is also a deeper, spiritual meaning to this miracle. Jesus discretely took the man aside so as not to embarrass him and touched his ears and mouth with His finger, but before He healed him, He looked up to heaven and groaned. It was as if Jesus looked throughout history and saw all the suffering that would come upon people who were deaf and all the misery of people who could hear with their ears, but closed their heart so as not to understand the word that God was speaking to them. He groaned in the face of all that suffering. In the Rite of Baptism the priest or deacon imitates Jesus in this miracle by touching the ears and the mouth of the baby with his finger. The prayer is called Ephphetha after the Aramaic word that Jesus used in this passage meaning be opened. The words of the prayer at Baptism are: The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak. May he soon touch your ears to receive his word and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father. We are praying that the child will grow up to understand the teachings and the way of life that Jesus calls us to and one day praise God with full awareness of His glory. St. James told us in the Second Reading last Sunday Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. When we come to Holy Mass or whenever we pray and read our Bible it is never enough to just understand the words on an intellectual leveljust to hear the words. Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are meant to inspire us to action; to be doers of the word. God speaks to us in many ways! It happened in another parish a number of years ago, but there was a father who told his children that he wasnt going to send them to religion classes anymore; he didnt think they were getting anything out of PSR. Amazingly, the children begged their dad to go back

to religion class and when he refused the children said Cant we at least go to Sunday Mass? He finally said that they would go to Sunday Mass every once in a while. Now God was speaking to that father through his children as surely as if it were a voice from heaven. God was reminding that man of his most important duty of teaching the faith to his children and ensuring that they practice their faith. He heard the words of his children, but he refused to understand that that was really the voice of God directing him to do his duty. By the way, there is no Commandment or teaching of the Church that says keep the Lords Day holy every other week or whenever you feel like it. God particularly speaks to us in prayer when we quiet our souls and listen to His voice. People often say God never speaks to me, but isnt it more likely that we dont stop and listen to Him? Noise, music, video games, TV, computers, texting and unceasing busy-ness block the voice of the Holy Spirit. His graces are like a gentle dew that falls upon us to move us to grow in virtue, to make sacrifices, to repent, to fall deeper in love with the Blessed Trinity, to decide on a vocation to the priesthood, religious life, diaconate or marriage. How do you know that a particular inspiration is the direction of the Holy Spirit? After all, we can imagine things and the devil can even suggest things to our minds. One spiritual author put it this way: The Holy Spirit cannot, in His inspirations, ask us for anything that contradicts His will as expressed by the more usual means: the Word of God, the teaching of the Church and the demands of our vocation (Jacques Philippe, In the School of the Holy Spirit, p. 47). If a wife and mother one day feels inspired in prayer to go and join a convent (after a hectic day that thought probably enters the mind of every mother from time to time!), she should seriously consult a wise priest. That would not be an inspiration of the Holy Spirit since it is opposed to her vocation. The recent deaths of Senator Ted Kennedy and his sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver remind us of what a tremendous effect Catholics can have on many otherseither by following the teachings of Christ or opposing them. Eunice Shriver was faithful to the Churchs teaching on life and firmly opposed abortion. She founded the Special Olympics in 1968 and worked tirelessly for children with disabilities. Her brother Senator Ted Kennedy started out as pro-life, but reversed his position to become an unbridled advocate of abortion, embryonic stem cell research, partial-birth abortion,

and homosexual marriage. He was a most influential senator from one of the most prominent Catholic families in the U.S. If he had listened to the direction of the Holy Spirit in regard to life teachings, we might be living in a very different country today. We will probably not have as great of an influence on people as the Kennedys, but we will influence many people. God is calling each of us to seek His healing to open our ears to hear His word and put it into practice. In order to be doers of the word, we first have to listen to it with minds and hearts that are repentant and open to doing Gods will.

September 13, 2009Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Peter, St. Peter, has such an honest and forthright character; we can clearly see in him what is virtuous and what is flawed in our own human nature. In the Gospel, he is the one who answered Jesus question Who do you say that I am? Without hesitation Peter said: You are the Christ. Christ is the Greek form of the word Messiah. Previously, other apostles stated that Jesus was the Son of God or the Messiah, but they said it out of amazement at a miracle that Jesus worked. Peter made this statement out of the supernatural virtue of faith. The Gospel of Matthew fills in a few words and ideas from this scene; there Jesus comments upon Peters profession of faith: Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven (Matt. 16:17). Peter received the gift of faith from God in order to understand who Jesus really is and he spoke without hesitation. Peter demonstrates the great capacity we have to receive graces from God and act upon them. St. James reminded us in the Second Reading: Indeed someone might say, You have faith and I have works. Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. It is a false understanding that came from the Protestant Reformation that good works or deeds are not necessary for salvation. We all agree that we cannot do anything without the grace of faith that God gives us, but as St. James said What good is it, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Faith and good deeds are necessary. Peter has bothbut imperfectly at this point. He could not quite understand or accept what Jesus told them next; it is the first time that Jesus predicted His upcoming Passion and death on the Cross. It will shake the faith that Peter has just professed. The Gospel says: He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. How could suffering, rejection by the elders and death be a part of the plan to save Israel and the world? That is not the way to win victories; that sounds more like defeat. Besides, Peter loved Jesus and did not want to see him suffer or be rejected. It is so amazing that Jesus was one minute extolling Peter and the next minute publicly rebuking him: Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as man does. Peter is Satan? Yes, for that moment

because he is tempting Jesus not to fulfill His mission in the way that God planned. Peter does not understand the meaning of suffering. Arent we like him in this? We too, reject suffering and dont understand that it has a purpose and meaning. In our own time, we vividly see this attitude in the euthanasia movement, which instead of relieving suffering they use suffering as an excuse to kill someone. Jesus wanted Peter and the apostles and us to learn that there is a redemptive meaning and purpose to suffering. In his Apostolic Letter titled On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering, the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II wrote: In bringing about the Redemption through suffering, Christ has also raised human suffering to the level of the Redemption. Thus each man, in his suffering, can also become a sharer in the redemptive suffering of Christ. Love is manifest in the self-giving of one person to another. Self-giving hurts! If you love someone a little bit, you might make a small sacrifice for that person, but if you love someone a great deal, you might even lay down your life for that person. I bet there are many men here who would willingly sacrifice their life to protect their wife or children from death! Jesus knew that the deatheternal damnationthat comes from sin was an obstacle that no single person, or all humanity could ever overcome. It took the God-man, who as God could make infinite reparation for sin and as man could represent the human race in paying back the debt that we owe. Only Jesus through the gift of Himself in obedient love to the Father, sacrificing everythingto the last breath, to the last drop of bloodcould break the power of sin and death. His rejection and bloody death on the Cross, looked like defeat, but in reality it was the greatest act of love in all of human history and it redeemed the world. As Pope John Paul wrote and demonstrated in his own very public suffering, we can participate in the redemption of the world by accepting and offering our sufferings, great and small in union with Jesus. Archbishop Sheen once wrote: Every tear, disappointment and grieved heart is a blank check. If we write our name on it, it is worthless. If we sign it with Christs name, it is infinite in its value. In prosperity, Christ gives you His gifts; in suffering with faith, He gives you Himself. Besides when we offer our sufferings in union with Jesus, He will help us bear the Cross; we will not be alone! The Gospel tells us that Jesus summoned the crowd to make it plain to everyone that suffering has value

eternal value: Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever looses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it. It is also true that we cannot grow in virtue without suffering and trial. If parents shield their children from all the consequences of their actions thinking that they are protecting them, their children will never develop the fortitude or wisdom to deal with lifes problems; when the problems come and mom or dad is not there to help them, then what? Growth in virtue is like growth in a muscle; when you use the muscle to push or pull against a weight it becomes stronger, when you dont use your muscles, you dont save their strength, they become weaker and weaker. The trials and setbacks in life can make us stronger in faith and character or weaker depending on how we look at them. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever looses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it. I can honestly say that I have faith in God, but it only seems to take a little obstacle and that faith is shaken. I am immediately complaining to God Why did you let this happen? or Why do I have to suffer this? What I need to say is Jesus I offer this trial to You; through it, help me to grow in faith, hope and love. Help me to bear it, for with you I am strong. Lets offer our trials to God each day and find the strength and meaning that He wants me to learn.

September 20, 2009Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time This is the second time that Jesus predicted His future suffering, death and resurrection. Last Sunday we heard that St. Peter tried to turn Him away from His mission to redeem the world when He predicted His passion and death the first time. Now the Gospel says they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question Him. Isnt it more likely that they didnt want to understand because it sounded so terrible? The cross was a humiliating and agonizing form of punishment and death. After all, who wants to dwell on bad news? Maybe they didnt want to question Jesus because it was something they would rather forget. They missed the whole point of sacrificial love as we heard Jesus say last Sunday: For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever looses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it. Instead they were thinking about who was the most important; who was the greatest. Jesus didnt get angry with them but gave them an unforgettable example to help them understand His teaching. He brought a little child into their midst and said Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me. That little child had no power advance their career; the child had no possessions and could not give them money or fortune; the child needed to be cared for and had no strength to do anything for them. The very life of that little child depended upon adults caring for him. Jesus wanted the apostles to realize that instead of thinking about greatness and reward, His disciples needed to think about humble service; about serving those who could not advance their careers or fortune. He summed it up by saying: If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all. Jesus not only taught this message, but He also lived it. There is a story of the father of a family who one Christmas Eve told his wife and children that he wasnt going to Midnight Mass with them because he just didnt see why God had to become man in order to save the world; if He was so powerful, why couldnt He just command it to happen? So the wife took the children off to Church as the snow whirled and piled up around their farm on that freezing night. It wasnt too long until the man heard the barn door banging, so he got his flashlight and put on his boots and coat and went out into the cold. On his way, he saw a flock of birds flying around with no warm place to roost and so he opened wide the barn door and with his flashlight tried to guide them into the barn, but it was hopeless.

They could not understand. He thought If only I could become a bird, then they would follow me and I could lead them into the warm barn. At that moment, it struck him that that was why God became a man, so that He could lead us, and not just tell us, how to reach the safety of heaven. When his family returned home, he surprised them by announcing he would be at Holy Mass on Christmas morning. Of course, Jesus suffering and death was first of all necessary for us because He alone could pay the price for our sins. But we also need Jesus example in order to teach us how to live a virtuous life that will lead us to heaven. He is certainly the perfect example of humility. From the first moment of His life Jesus showed us humilityHe was born in a stable into the poor family of Joseph and Mary. He worked with His hands as a carpenter; He did not have a place to lay His head during His public life and finally died, condemned as a criminal, rejected by almost everyone. As Son of God and King of kings, Jesus could have had every luxury and sign of power that one could imagine, but He rejected them all to teach us what is really important, but His own example. Like the apostles every human being has to battle the sin of pride. It is the first of the 7 Capitol Sins and the sin of the devil, who would not serve God; pride is the root of the Original Sin of Adam who disobeyed Gods command. It has been jokingly said that pride doesnt die in us until five hours after we are dead. We have to examine ourselves to see if pride or humility is governing our lives. Do I try to help people around me to become the best that they can be or do I try to control them? Do I always have to have things my way? Do I always have to have the last word? Do I use anger or the silent treatment to force others to do what I want? Do I play the martyr in order to get sympathy and my way? Do I expect others to know what is bothering me without telling them? Do I need to be the center of attention? Do I brag about my accomplishments? Do I put others down in order to make myself look better? Pride can come in many different forms and we need to root them out one by one. The best way is to stop thinking of myself and focus on God and those around me. Archbishop Carlson wrote a letter for this Sunday on stewardship. He gave some good advice: Stewardship begins by opening our hearts to Gods will for us. To know Gods will for us, we must spend time with God.

We all need to give time each day to be alone with Jesus in prayer. Make a stewardship pledge to find more time for prayer. During your time in prayer thank God for all the many blessings and gifts that He has given to you. Then ask God what He wants you to do with those gifts right now, right here, in this time and in this Church. Is there some service or some sacrifice that you can offer? Can you step forward and volunteer in your parish community? Can you increase your financial support? I am not asking you for more money or more time. I am simply asking you to pray so that you will know what God wants you to do with the gifts He has entrusted to your care. On October 20th several parishioners from our Parish Council and Finance Council are going with me to meet with the Archdiocesan Loan Committee. It will take about a year to build our first phase and an estimated $3.7 million. If we begin building next spring we will need the bulk of the $3.7 million within a year. The pledges that we have made are coming to us over a 3 year period so we wont have nearly enough money available to build by next year and therefore need a loan. The Loan Committee is made up of bankers and other financial people who advise the Archbishop. An additional loan will mean more interest payments for us. The Finance Committee is working on the paperwork that we will present, including the amount of money already contributed. Since we are only about 6 months into the Capital Campaign, it was suggested that if those who are making an annual pledge could do it as soon as possible, rather than wait until December, it would give us a more complete picture of where we stand. Also, the owner of our building has said that he will give us a lease for a year and then 6 month extensions after that at the same price. It turns out that the City of Lake St. Louis cant legally throw us out and, of course, why would they when they get taxes from an otherwise empty building and we have been such good neighborsnot causing too many problems! By being members, you have taken a risk on the success of this new parish and on me, and I deeply appreciate it. Again, I ask for your continued prayers and thank you for your generosity. We put ourselves in the hands of God and that is the safest place to be!

September 27, 2009Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time What is it that separates us from Jesus Christ? The Gospel today tells us of an incident that John brought to Jesus: Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent Him because He does not follow us. The apostle thought that if you werent a part of the inner circle of disciples then you were not connected to the Lord and you shouldnt use the name of Jesus. Jesus doesnt see it that way, He answered: There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. Further, he told them that even those who do a small deed like giving you a drink of water because you are a Christian will be rewarded. What is it that separates us from Jesus Christ? Jesus gives us the real answer: it is sin; especially those that cause the innocent to sin. To give scandal and to lead others into sin is truly serious and Jesus doesnt mince any words but says Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. In this Gospel passage, Jesus doesnt expect us to maim ourselves by gouging out our eyes and cutting off our hands or feet because we use them to sin. Here He is clearly using hyperboleobvious exaggeration to make a point. He wants us to realize that sin is so injurious to our souls and our salvation that it can be compared to mutilating our bodies. Jesus makes the very logical point that it is better to enter heaven with one hand than hell with both hands. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. Did you notice that Jesus uses the word Gehenna for hell? The Jews had very fuzzy ideas about hell and heaven. In the Old Testament, the word Sheol is used and means the place of the dead; it somewhat corresponds to what we mean by Purgatory. Of course, we have to remember that heaven was closed to all mankind until the resurrection of Jesus on Easter, so the true understanding of heaven wasnt as important to them as to us. It would be Jesus and the teaching of His Church that gives us the very clear ideas of heaven and hell that we have in the Christian faith. Gehenna was an actual place; it was outside of the city of Jerusalem. It had an evil reputation because at one time human sacrifices to worship pagan gods took place there, so the Jews turned it into the city dump. It was a place that smelled of

garbage and rotten things, where worms and maggots and other vermin lived. Like many dumps it had smoldering fires that made it look eerie and desolate. Gehenna brought a very clear and visible picture of the reality of hell to the people; as He said, a place where the worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. Jesus doesnt speak about this because He wants to focus on negative things, but because he wants to warn us. Hell is real and it is for eternity and we can choose it. In a true sense, we say that God does not condemn anyone to hell; we choose it by the way we live. Hell is the place where there is no hope; where God is not present to any degree. The real consequence of sin is that souls loose their friendship with Jesus. Mortal sins cut us of from sanctifying grace and friendship with God, while venial sins damage that friendship. The venial or lesser sins dont cut us off from God, but they set us on the path to mortal sin, if we do not repent. Repentance changes everything! God forgives us and strengthens us, especially when we go to the Sacrament of Penance, admit our sins, tell Him we are sorry and have a firm purpose of amendment. We must confess mortal sins in the Sacrament of Penance, but repenting of our sins, large and small, in this Sacrament of Mercy gives us peace and restores or strengthens our friendship with God. This means we have to be honest with ourselves and have humility. Last week Jesus reminded us that His followers must imitate His humility and for us a humble confession of our sins is essential to our salvation. In this Gospel passage, Jesus doesnt use the word heaven, but the word life. When we follow Him and turn from sin we have life, and life to the full is heaven. It is the opposite of sin, which is death to the soul. Jesus is calling us to lifetrue life. Every time that we make a worthy Holy Communion Jesus gives us His lifelets acknowledge that these two sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist are the sacraments of life for our journey through lifeto Life.

October 4, 2009Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time The Pharisees are often opposed to Jesus, but in this Gospel they have something in common with Him in regard to marriage that many people in our world do not. The Pharisees presumed that God had a plan for marriage and that marriage was of divine origin. Many people in our world today think that marriage is just a human institution that can be changed and manipulated in any way that they want. In their view it can be temporary or a relationship between people of the same sex; who knows what is next? When you detach marriage from Gods plan, you destroy it. When marriage is destroyed, society collapses! At least, the Pharisees believed that marriage was connected to the Law of God and revealed to leaders, like Moses. Moses had actually tightened up the law of marriage by insisting on a legal divorce. Before that a husband could just throw his wife out of the house and she would have no legal recourse or community to support her side. The Pharisees didnt understand that God had a great plan for marriage from the very beginning, so Jesus said Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her. . . . Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation . . . and then He quotes Genesis. Pope John Paul II took this scene from the Gospel as the basis for his Theology of the Body. He explained it in a series of Wednesday audiences. Through the Theology of the Body our late Holy Father taught the meaning of marriage and human sexuality in a new and positive way; it was truly revolutionary. Pope John Paul took Jesus at His word and went back to the beginningthe first three chapters of the Book of Genesisto begin his teaching on marriage. Our First Reading is taken from chapter 2 of Genesis. There we hear of the radical aloneness of Adam. There were no other human beings in existence that he could love in a fully human way. Even when God made the animals, they were not enough. You can love your dog or cat or gold fish and they return an endearing kind of attachment and dependence that we might mistake for human love, but they cannot love with a free will. Genesis points out that the man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all wild animals; but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.

It is only when God creates Eve that Adam can at last give himself in love and be loved in a fully human way. In a very visible picture, Genesis says that God took a rib out of Adam to begin the creation of Eve; it shows that they were of the same substance. Adam sees Eve and exclaims This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. Man was made for woman and woman was made for man in the permanent, committed love of marriage. Genesis concludes by saying: That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh. Gods plan from the beginning was for marriage to be permanent, total and fruitful. The first command that God gives to Adam and Eve is Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it (Gen. 1:28). Everywhere in the Bible children are seen as a gift and a blessing from God. Although abortion and contraception have always existed, it is only in our own time when technology has sufficiently developed and we have so much wealth that we can have a culture that enshrines them as a great advancement. The modern invention of the birth control pill separated sexual pleasure from the love and self-giving and responsibility that God intended to be at the heart of married love. With this separation of love and life, it is no wonder that marriage has been decimated. Abortion became legalized and given the status of a right in order to back up failed efforts at contraception. There would be no legal abortion without the invention and acceptance of the birth control pill and other forms of contraception, such as sterilization! When fruitful lovethe gift of childrenis taken out of the meaning of marriage, then it is no longer necessary to insist that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman who alone can be co-creators with God and bring new life into the world. When the responsibility for children can be eliminated by contraception or passed on to government programs or others, then the permanent commitment of marriage looses much of its support and the increased divorce rate is a natural consequence. The problems we are facing today are the logical outcome of a society that no longer sees marriage as a Divine institution, but merely human. In Genesis, chapter 3, Adam and Eve commit the Original Sin, which is disobedience to the command of God. Although the most serious consequence of Original Sin was in their relationship with God, the first consequence that the Bible notes was in the relationship between Adam and Eve. In the beginning there was no sin, no lust in their lovethe man and

his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed (Gen. 2:25). They looked at one another only with self-giving love. After the Original Sin, it says Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons (Gen. 3:7). Lust had entered into their hearts and they could no longer look at one another with pure, self-giving love. This is where the grace of Jesus Christ comes into Gods plan for marriage in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. He brings the healing of the redemption to souls and teaches us how to live in self-giving, self-sacrificial love. Jesus made marriage a sacrament. He calls married couples to believe in the Divine origin of marriage, overcome their faults (which we all have) and live in love as God intended husbands and wives to from the very beginning. This is the great challenge for all married couples todaywe cannot control what society is doing, but you can direct your own lives to God and live your own marriage according to Gods plan. The future of our society depends on what you choose to do!

October 11, 2009Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time The disciples were astonished about Gods view of wealth because it was so different from their understanding. After the rich young man left, our Lord said: Children how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. They thought that when a person had wealth and health and success that those were sure signs that God loved you and blessed you; poverty and sufferings and setbacks were seen as a sign of punishment from God. Jesus wanted them to look at wealth from Gods point of view; it has nothing to do with our salvation or Gods love for us. By the way when we think of the eye of a needle we usually picture a sewing needle, but in Jesus day, the little door that could be opened in the city gate was also called the eye of a needle. It was designed to keep someone from entering while riding a horse or camel when the big gate was closed. It would be impossible to get a camel through the eye of a sewing needle, but it would be pretty difficult to get a camel through that eye of a needle of a city gate. St. Josemaria Escriva wrote about wealth in these terms: Earthly goods are not bad, but they are debased when man sets them up as idols, when he adores them. They are ennobled when they are converted into instruments for good, for just and charitable undertakings . . . Our treasure is Christ and all our love and desire must be centered on Him, for where our treasure, there will our heart be also (Mt. 6:21) Christ is Passing By, #35. It is so easy to love money and find our security in it, but the recent economic downturn tells us how little we can rely upon it because it can literally be gone overnight. The author from the Book of Wisdom in our First Reading said that he prayed for wisdom: I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her, nor did I liken any priceless gem to her, because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand. Wisdom is more than the knowledge of facts. There are many people who know a lot of trivia but that doesnt mean that they are wise because wisdom enables us to see the meaning behind the facts, behind the circumstances of life. Wisdom is really a spiritual gift that enables us to know the purpose and plan of God. It

allows us to see life from Gods perspective. We need the treasure of wisdom! The incident in the Gospel this Sunday was used by the Servant of God, Pope John Paul as the basis for his encyclical on moral theology, The Splendor of the Truth. The young man knelt before Jesus and said: Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Pope John Paul wrote: The question which the rich young man puts to Jesus of Nazareth is one which rises from the depths of his heart. It is an essential and unavoidable question for the life of every man. This man wants salvation, he is looking beyond this world; he knows that there is more than just this world. The word that he uses Good is a word that was normally applied to God who is the source of all that is good. So Jesus asks the question Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. In other words, Young man you are applying the word to me that describes God; do you believe that I am God? Jesus then asks if the young man is following the Ten Commandments. He responds that he has all of his life; he is really living a good life. If you want to live in the grace of God and you want to go to heaven, then it is absolutely essential that you follow the Commandments. There was a comic strip in the paper that showed Moses coming down the side of Mt. Sinai with the two stone tablets in his arms upon which God had written the Ten Commandments; they are literally written in stone. The caption underneath had a man asking Can we negotiate any of these? The reason that we cannot negotiate these is because the Ten Commandments are part of the natural moral law. This means that when God made us, He wrote upon our hearts, or more correctly, upon our consciences, the natural moral law. If a person had the time and intelligence, he could come up with the Ten Commandments without anyone telling them to him. The natural moral law is written upon our very being and to violate it is to do damage to ourselves, not to mention other people and, above all, to our relationship with God. Another reason the Commandments of God and the teaching of the Church are necessary for our salvation is that we very easily lower our standards. We convince ourselves that sinful things are really OK and finally that they are good. We forget that there are objective truths that apply to our conduct always and everywhere; this is called moral relativism. We see evidence of this in every aspect of our society. For example, there was a time when pornography was seen as strictly evil and demeaning to the human person,

but now it has become so common due to the internet that many people think that it is OK or even good. Some marriage counselors will even advise it for married couples who are having problems. To turn other people into objects of lust is never going to help people understand how they should genuinely love one another. Pope John Paul pointed out that following the moral law is not enough for salvation, it takes something more. Jesus looked into the soul of the young man who desired eternal life and followed the commandments so faithfully and knew that he needed to do something more. The Gospel says so tenderly: Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come follow me. Not everyone has to sell all they have and give it to the poor, but some people do, and this man was one of them. The key here is in the last words come follow me. Our late Holy Father, Pope John Paul wrote: This is not a matter only of disposing oneself to hear a teaching and obediently accepting a commandment. More radically, it involves holding fast to the very person of Jesus, partaking of His life and His destiny, sharing in His free and loving obedience to the will of the Father (V. S. #19). We can never be satisfied with merely following the commandments of the moral law, as necessary as they are, but we must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and realize that He alone is our true treasure. Everything else in this world is trash if we do not follow Him. Christianity is not a religion of laws, (for that could make ones faith cold and inflexible) but a religion of love for Jesus and through Him, the Blessed Trinity, one God, which then reaches to everyone. The young man went away sad for he had many possessions. Lets seek true happiness by remaining close to Jesus who calls to us Come follow me.

October 18, 2009Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time The Holy bible doesnt hide the flaws of the apostles since the Holy Spirit wants us to see ourselves in them and to learn from them in order to correct our own faults. Two of the apostlesJames and Johnwent to Jesus asking for an important place in His Kingdom, the Vice-president and Secretary of State, if you will. Even though the Gospel of Matthew has their mother asking for this advancement (a good Jewish mother, after all), the Gospel of Mark leaves her out since everyone knew this promotion was their desire. These two apostles, and later the others, do not yet see their discipleship in terms of self-giving love. Like them, we all very readily ask What am I going to get out of this? Whats in it for me? Jesus patiently tried to teach them the true meaning of happiness and fulfillment; He didnt give up on them, neither does He give up on us. He asked them if they would follow Him using two images that they would have clearly understood: Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? It was like saying Will you be submerged in the rejection, sufferings and trials that I will have to undergo? Most courageously, they responded that they will. Jesus accepted their good will, but said that the positions to the right and left, which are the places of honor, have already been reserved by the Heavenly Father. Jesus doesnt tell us who will sit there, but I think that we can guess. It is no accident that the statues in our Church and many Catholic Churches are arranged as they are. Isnt it fitting that the two most humble peopleMary and Josephshould be honored as greatest in the Kingdom of God? Whoever holds those places, greatness in the Kingdom is characterized by humble service. Last week, some of the Knights of Columbus came back to count the money they had collected for charity from the tootsie roll drive. One called out to me that they have a donation for the new building and I jokingly asked Is it a million dollar bill? And it was! However, it only took a second to see that it was a clever advertisement and wasnt real. I mention this because many people are satisfied counterfeit love when they should be seeking genuine love. The Servant of God, Pope John Paul loved to quote an expression from the Second Vatican Council: man cannot fully find himself, except through

the sincere gift of self. It sounds like the opposite would be true. To find yourself, in other words, to know yourself, to be happy and fulfilled, to be loved, it seems like you should receive, not give away. Many people spend their whole lives looking for someone to love them, someone to care for them, someone to bring fulfillment to their lives and make them happy. They will never find what they are looking for since genuine love only comes when we act as Jesus teaches: Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. It is a lesson that every human being must learn in his lifetime: only through giving ourselves to others, without counting the cost will we find genuine love. How many people are always looking for repayment for every good deed and every act of love? It has to be evenI am not giving more than I receive. They count the cost of everything and expect repayment. As someone said, these people know the price of everything, but the value of nothing. Counterfeit love is rather easyyou can buy it or trade for it, but it satisfies only for the moment, it only gives a little reward, which may be intense and then leaves you as lonely and empty as before. Its false promise makes you look for more and more, but you receive less and less. This is the case of casual sexual relationships or drugs. It is also the case of tyrants and dictators who want power over others in order to feel important. Jesus warned the apostles You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Remember, a tyrant can have a very small kingdoma kingdom of one. This happens when someone tries to control another by verbal or physical abuse. It can happen by a so-called love that is really nothing more than selfishness. In his clever, little book, The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis sets up a story where the souls in hell can take a bus to heaven and remain there if they so choose. However, most do not because they refuse to let go of their sin and return to hell for good. One case is a mother who smothered her son with a so-called love. She goes to heaven and her brother meets her and tells her that her son could not see her because she is so thin and ghostlike. She must learn to love another, namely God, if she wishes to see her son. After much discussion, she cries out: I dont believe in a God who keeps mother and

son apart. I believe in a God of Love. No one has a right to come between me and my son. Not even God. Tell Him that to His face. I want my boy, and I mean to have him. He is mine, do you understand? Mine, mine, mine, for ever and ever. Genuine love is difficultit involves self-giving and sacrifice and doesnt promise an immediate return, but it fulfills completely and satisfies the soul thoroughly and eternally. Last week, Pope Benedict canonized Father Damien of Molokai. St. Damiens life is one of genuine love. (I have had a devotion to him since I was a boy). He was born in Belgium and became a priest in the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He was sent to the Hawaiian Islands as a missionary in 1864. The next year a law was passed by the Hawaiian legislature and approved by King Kamahemaha that quarantined all those with leprosy to the island of Molokai. Those who had this dreaded disease were left with few means to sustain themselves and lived in abject poverty. Father Damien was the first to volunteer to go to the island to minister to the people; most anyone else would have seen it as a death sentence! Not only did he build the little Church of St. Philomena, but he helped build painted houses to replace the shacks and helped them to plant crops and change bandages and dig graves. He changed all of their lives for the better and all the lepers loved him. He wrote to his brother: I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ. He would normally begin his sermons by saying, You lepers until one day he started by saying We lepers; he had contracted the disease himself. He died in 1889 at the age of 49. He did not live a life of comfort or surrounded by beauty, but he lived a life that brought great happiness to others and to himself because he learned how to love like Jesus who came not to be served, but to serve and give His life.

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary TimeOctober 25, 2009 There is only one priest in the Catholic Church! You might be thinking, Wait a minute, I know of a lot of priests; there are Catholic priests all around the world. Yes, it is true that every man who is validly ordained in the Catholic Church is a true priest, but he is not a priest on his own, he has a share in the one priesthood of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the High Priest, and every other priest participates in His one priesthood. The letter to the Hebrews in our Second Reading compares the priesthood of Jesus Christ to the Jewish priesthood of the Old Testament, the priesthood of Aaron. The central role of every priest, the reason for his priesthood is to offer sacrifice to God. The letter to the Hebrews said: Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. The priests of the Old Testament offered animals in sacrifice, while the priests of the New Covenant offer the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass, which is the renewal of Christs one sacrifice on Calvary. The sacrifices of the Old Testament did not take away sins, but were a symbol, a foreshadowing of the Sacrifice of Jesus, which truly did make up for the sins of the whole world. The Servant of God, Pope John Paul spoke about the connection between the priesthood and the Eucharist in his last encyclical: the Holy Eucharist is the principal and central reason for the existence of priesthood, which effectively came into being at the moment of the institution of the Eucharist (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, #31). Both sacraments were instituted at the same moment of the Last Supper. The words at the Consecration of the Mass Do this in memory of me are the words that ordained the apostles as the first priests of the New Covenant. The priesthood is a vocation, a call from the Lord as Hebrews said: No one takes this honor upon himself but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. Aaron was the brother of Moses and was called by God to be the first priest, the high priest. Jesus has been sent by his Heavenly Father to be the High Priest by virtue of His Sonship and the Second Reading quotes two Old Testament prophecies: You are my son: this day I have begotten you and You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was mentioned in the Bible during the time of Abraham. He was a priest and king of Salem who offered a sacrifice to God for Abraham as a thank offering. He is a priest of God the most High and

king of the city that will later be called Jerusalem. He offers a very unusual sacrificenot of an animal, but of bread wine. He foreshadows what Jesus will do at the Last Supper and what we do in every Holy Mass, offering bread and wine which are the sacramental signs of the Sacrifice of Calvary. Like Melchizedek, Jesus is the true High Priest and as descendent of King David the true King. His priesthood will last forever, now that He lives and reigns at the right hand of His Father and His priesthood continues in His Church on earth until the end of time. Every young man who enters the seminary has perceived the call from God to become a priest. It is during those years as he prays, studies and does pastoral work that he comes to see more fully that this vocation was not just his own idea, but a true call from God. The priesthood is not a right, but a call from God through His Church. It is only when he is called by the bishop to Holy Orders and ordained that he can be certain that it is Gods will for him. Some have heard this call from the time that they were boys; others have only discerned the call when they are adults and already have another career. St. John Vianney, the patron saint of priests, knew from the time that he was a boy that God had called him, but he was only ordained after much struggle. He had difficulty in memorizing his studies, especially because in those days they were in Latin and his memory was never good. A holy priest tutored him for years so that he could finally pass his exams. He was drafted into the army at the time of Napoleon and was delayed for years from moving forward to ordination. Even though his holiness was obvious because of his devotion to prayer and penance, they still thought that he didnt have the necessary knowledge to hear Confessions and give solid moral advice. He wasnt given permission right after ordination to hear Confessions as were most priests. The irony is that he is definitely the saint of the confessional because there came a time when people from all over France and then Europe came to his little village of Ars to go to Confession to him. He would normally spend 18 hours in the confessional each day when the great pilgrimage to Ars was in full force. This was not just occasionally, but day after day, year after year. In this Year for Priests, Pope Benedict is asking all of us to pray that priests will ever more fully embrace the priesthood of Jesus Christ. St. John Vianney is the model for priests this year on the 150th anniversary of his death. The Pope didnt inaugurate this just so people could say Good job

Father and thank priests for accepting their vocation, but with the purpose of focusing the whole Church on the inestimable gift of the priesthood. All priests need to become more like Jesus Christ in dedication, love and service. We use the Latin phrase to describe the priest who acts in persona Christi capiti which means he acts in the person of Christ the Head of the Church. Particularly at the Holy Mass and the celebration of the other sacraments, the priest is no longer Father so-and-so, but the hands and voicethe instrument of Jesus Christ. He is supposed to allow Jesus the High Priest to work through him. The best way that you can affirm the priesthood of any priest is by going to Confession to him. The forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus Christ is something that only a priest can do. Please continue to pray that we priests will live up to the vocation that God has called us to by growing in holiness. Meeting with the Archdiocesan Loan Committee. Thanks to Finance Committee of Don Hladky, John Pins and Mary Williams. John Kainady President of Parish Council and Todd Oppeau of Building Committee. All those who prayed, especially during the all-night vigil before the Blessed Sacrament.

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary TimeNovember 8, 2009 There is always great merit in the sight of God when we give almshelping the poor or the mission of the Churcheven when the amount is small. We have two examples of that in our readings this Sunday. The First Reading tells us of the widow of Zarephath who was on the brink of starvation because of a terrible famine. When the prophet Elijah came, she told him that she had just enough flour and oil to make a little bread for herself and her son and when we have eaten it, we shall die. How pitiful! When Elijah asked her to make a little cake first for him, the widow might have thought, Why should I give up my last little bit of food for this man, when my son and I need it so badly? It would be a natural reaction. She wasnt a Jew and this man of God didnt mean anything to her. We dont know what she was thinking, but perhaps, it was: I want the last thing I do on this earth to be an act of charity. We see her deed, she made the cake and gave her last little bit of food to the Prophet Elijah. God saw her deed, too, and through the prophet granted her a great miracle. For a year and a half, those empty jars of grain and oil produced enough food for the three of them to live upon! In the Gospel, we see another widow who made an offering for the support of the Temple and Jesus was there watching. You may have heard it called the widows mite. A mite was a copper coin about the size of a pencil eraser and the lowest denomination of coin that had ever been produced; it had far less value than a penny today. Naturally no one would have paid much attention to the widows offering. Many others had contributed a lot more than the widow. When someone today gives a large amount of money to build a hospital or orphanage or Church, we all take notice and usually that person is publicly acknowledged. God sees those gifts, but He also sees the gifts that dont mean so much to us, but have great value in His sight. Jesus commented to the apostles: Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. Why? For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood. Many times people have come up to me and said that they wished that they could give more to the Church, but they really are barely making enough to support their family. Of course, I always tell them that God wants them to provide what their family needs and when they have more in the future then

they can give more, but dont worry about it now. Jesus wants us to be prudent; however, when we make a sacrifice for God and the poor out of love, that kind of generosity is greatly valued by God. This widow of her own free will gave everything she had out of love! God always wants us to do the right thing for the right reason. In giving alms, Jesus said: Thus when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men (Matt. 6:2). They gave alms, but did it for the wrong reason. It is important to remember that if I find that I am doing some good thing but realize that I have the wrong intention; I can change that intention in an instant. It I am doing something to be noticed or receive praise; I can change my purpose and do it for love of God. If I am thanked, I can silently give God the glory for the ability to do that good thing. Of course, having the right intention cant make a bad action good, neither can a good result justify the use of sinful meansthe end doesnt justify the means. No matter how sincere or good hearted I am a sinful action is still a sin! A lot of people are confused about this today. I must always do the right thing for the right reason. Jesus commended the widow because her gift was a sign that she wanted to give herself and everything she had to God. The Scribes in contrast are condemned by Jesus. They studied the Law of Moses and were respected for giving themselves to a noble line of work, but Jesus notes that they were only giving part to God and holding a lot back for themselves. He warned: Beware of the scribes. . . . They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a severe condemnation. They looked good on the outside, but were not really the holy men they seemed to be. It is a good reminder to us to strive to be holy and thoroughly Catholic. There is always a tendency to follow the teachings of the Church that are easy and deny those that are demanding. Very few leave the Catholic Church because of disagreement with the doctrine of the Trinity or the teaching on Transubstantiation, but many leave because of her teachings on marriage and human sexuality. Those moral teachings demand much of us in a world that no longer understands purity of heart and fidelity in marriage. Part of the problem today is that many dont know the beautiful teachings on marriage and sexuality that were given by the Servant of God, Pope John Paul, called the Theology of the Body.

Another point to consider in the widows offering is that she trusted totally in the Providence of God. We need more trust in God. St. John Vianney founded a school for orphan girls in his poor little parish of Ars in France. He named the school Providence. They had very little and had to trust in the providence of God. The girls who lived and studied there were loved and taught the faith and how to make a good life for themselves. At one point, they were down to the last bit of corn that they kept in the attic. St. John Vianney couldnt let the children starve; after exhausting all other means, he took a relic of St. John Regis into the attic, piling the little bit of corn that was left around it and prayed. A little later, St. John Vianney told the cook to Go and gather what corn there may be in the attic. She had great difficulty opening the door of the attic and when she cracked it open a stream of corn escaped. She ran down stairs and exclaimed: You wanted to test my faith; your attic is full. God usually provides for us with ordinary means, but sometimes, when it is His will, even through miracles. Lets be generous with our God and trust in His Providence for God will never be outdone in generosity.

November 15, 2009Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time The end of the world has been predicted many times. The leaders of the Jehovahs Witnesses named several dates last century that all came and went; before the year 2000 many were afraid of the end of the world, surprisingly even those who were not religious. Remember Y2K, when they thought that all the computers would shut down at midnight on December 31 and cause a disaster? The ancient Mayan calendar ends in 2012 and that is supposed to be a prediction of the worlds end. There have been many others, but as Christians we are certain that none of them could possibly be correct. At the end of our Gospel today Jesus said quite clearly: But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Jesus does give us teaching on the end times. Throughout the Bible it is described as a time of war and calamity. Daniel gives that idea in our First Reading: At that time there shall arise Michael, the great prince, guardian of your people; it shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since nations began until that time. Jesus said in the Gospel: In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the power in the heavens will be shaken. It is not going to be a pleasant time; however, it will end well. Jesus continued: And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory, and then He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky. Jesus spoke about His Second Coming in triumph. This kind of passage in the Gospel is sometimes called a multiple-fulfillment prophecymeaning that it will be fulfilled in different times and places in similar ways. Jesus indicated this when He said: I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Not only does this passage speak about the end of the world, but also about another catastrophic end that happened during the lifetime of those listening to Him. In 70 AD the Roman army led by General Titus besieged the city of Jerusalem. The Christians had already left the city because they knew the prophecy of Jesus recorded in LukeWhen you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains and let those who are inside the city depart (Luke 21:20-21). At the same time the Jews

fled into the city from all the surrounding countryside to seek protection from the advancing Roman armies. In the city there were three Jewish leaders who were vying for power. They were little more than leaders of bandits who murdered and raped and stole from all the citizens. They began with an ample food supply, but in their struggle for power they burned one anothers provisions so that they were all reduced to starvation, even to the point of cannibalism. The Romans did not stop until the city was destroyed and then Jesus prophecy came true: There will not be left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down (Mark 13:2). To this day only part of the foundation of the Temple survives; it is called the Wailing Wall. It could easily be called the greatest catastrophe of the ancient world; a foreshadowing of the end of the world. The world will come to an end one day, as we say in the Creed, when Jesus will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end. There is little reason for me to become worried about the end of the world because it is far more likely that my world will end before the world does. I need to be concerned about the state of my soul. I might have 20 or 30 years ahead, but this also may be my last day on earth. There are people my age who die every day! Am I prepared for the end of my world? A fine example for us is King St. Louis IX of France, the patron of our Archdiocese. He was only 56 when he lay dying in Africa, far away from his homeland. It was his second crusade to free the Holy Land from Moslem control. He had been the model Christian king in caring for His people, bringing peace and justice, as well as leading them to deeper faith in Jesus. He was captured in his first crusade, and after regaining his freedom he changed his life, which was already good. He no longer cared about the earthly pleasures, great and small, that had once delighted him; he was focused upon eternity. As he lay on his deathbed, King St. Louis might have felt sorrow over the failures of his military record, but on his face there was only a quiet peace. He knew that the only failure for a Christian was to loose ones soul. He called his son, Prince Philip and gave him a hand written letter. He told the next king of France to set his heart on love of God and to be ready to suffer every kind of torment rather than commit a mortal sin; to avail himself of the sacraments; and to unburden his heart to his confessor.

We have to avoid and repent of mortal sin, too. Remember, there are three conditions to committing a mortal sin. It has to be serious matter, we have to know that it is a sin and we have to freely choose it. Without all three conditions present, it can either be reduced to a venial sin or no sin at all. Serious matter is not only the obvious, like murder, including abortion or stealing a large sum of money; it is also getting drunk or high on drugs, sex outside of marriage, deliberately missing Sunday Mass without a serious reason; the use of contraception. Mortal sin cuts us off from God by destroying the life of grace in our soul. Many people who are sad and confused really feel the absence of God in their souls, even though they dont know it. God doesnt want to trap us or catch us off guard so that He can condemn us, it is just the opposite. He wants to give us every grace in order to free us from the chains of sin and allow us to be His sons and daughters. God gives us the opportunity to repent by making a good Confession. This life is the time of Mercy! When I die, I am going to have to give an account of my life. There will be no excuses or rationalizations before Jesus. He will show me all the circumstance and reveal my true intentions. The saddest thing about my judgment is that I will see how often I have let the Lord down when He has been so good to me. My only part will be to acknowledge His perfect judgment. There are three possible outcomeshell, purgatory, which leads to heaven, or directly to heaven. Daniel poetically speaks of the Last Judgment in the First Reading: Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some shall live forever, others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace. But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever. God is calling us to seek His grace so that we can shine like the stars forever.

Solemnity of Christ the KingNovember 22, 2009 We pray daily in the Our Father Thy kingdom come. We want Jesus to be our King and to be members of His kingdom. It may seem strange that our Gospel on this Feast of Christ the King shows us the scene when Jesus was on trial before Pontius Pilate. We might ask with Pilate what kind of King is Jesus? Pilate was very uneasy about a certain kind of kinga king who would try and usurp the powers of the Emperor of Rome, his master. He only knew of earthly kings that had armies and arms to win battles and maintain power. They had money and property and luxury that were far beyond the dreams of normal people. Pilate asks Are you the King of the Jews? with this in mind. Jesus was not the kind of King that Pilate knew, He said: My kingdom does not belong to this world, if my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here. Jesus was a different kind of king. He wasnt interested in earthly wealth or power. He wanted pure hearts, rather than pure gold. Instead of dominating peoples, Jesus wanted free hearts that would obey out of love, not fear. In order to have this kind of people, He sacrificed Himself on the Cross to pay back the debt of sin and give us the life of grace. He was unlike the kings that Pilate knew. There is much more to the Kingship of Jesus. He told Pilate: I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice. Pilate could be called the patron saint of cynics, for he then asked What is truth? This is a question that many people are asking today. The problem is more than just a matter of knowing right from wrong and how to apply it; we all have to search for that. The real problem with Pilate and many people is that they do not believe that there is such a thing as objective truth: truth that has its source in God; truth that is for everyone; truth that is more than a search for the pleasure of the moment. You will hear them say things like: It may be right for you, but that doesnt mean it is right for me or Who are you to judge me or lecture me about right and wrong? or Dont impose your morality on me. When the Second Vatican Council dealt with the issue of conscience, the Council Fathers put it this way: Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must

obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment. . . . For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. . . . His conscience is mans most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths. This law inscribed by God is called the natural moral law. It is not a law that I make up; it is not a moral code that varies from person to person; it is given by God to each one of us. We have to discover the Law that God has written upon our hearts and has also been revealed in the moral teaching of the Church and the Holy Bible. I can easily misunderstand this Law of God because of my sin or ignorance or bad influence by others. Even though I have those kinds of obstacles, I have an obligation to seek the truth. As a matter of fact, I already have the desire to seek the truth because God has also planted that in my heart. I can never be satisfied or at peace with anything less than the truth of God. If Pontius Pilate could have only understood, the answer to his question What is truth? was standing right before him. Jesus already taught in the open I am the way, the truth and the life. Jesus doesnt just tell us the truth; He is the truth in Person. Every word and deed of Jesus instructs us on how to live and forgive, how to love and bear suffering. Pilate knew there was something different about Jesus, but he didnt go any farther. To pray Thy kingdom come is a prayer that desires more than this world can offer; it calls for a real detachment from anything that we love more than God. Jesus is truly present with us now in the Most Blessed Sacrament, just as He was present to Pontius Pilate in the flesh. When I pray, am I listening to Jesus? Am I trying to find out from Him the answers to my problems? When I receive Him into my soul in Holy Communion do I let Him give me His love and tell Him that I love Him? Jesus is silently moving us to understand his truth and love every time we open our heart in prayer. His voice is heard again in the Holy Bible and the teaching of His Church. Often I am like Pontius Pilate and dont see the Truth that is right before my eyes! In Daniels vision of the heavenly throne in the First Reading, he sees the Ancient One seated like a King upon His throneGod the Almighty Father. Another Person is presented to God who Daniel calls the Son of man. This is the title that Jesus applies to Himself in the Gospels: Son of Man. The doctrine of the Most Blessed Trinity was not yet revealed, so Daniel could not have known that the Son of man in his vision was truly the

Son of God, but he sees that when he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all people, nations, and languages serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed. We know that Jesus is the true Son of God, as well as, true man. He has received that kingdom from His Father. He has invited all of us to be a part of His Kingdom, the Kingdom of His Most Sacred Heart. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come!

First Sunday of AdventNovember 29, 2009 This is really New Years Day for us in the Catholic Church. The First Sunday of Advent begins a new Church year. Even though every day is an opportunity to begin again, Advent calls the whole Church to hope; with Jesus we will succeed in reaching heavenbegin again! We are fast coming to the end of the civil year 2009 A.D. Sometimes people use the phrase after death as a way to remember the meaning of A.D. Really A. and D. are the first letters of two Latin words: Anno Domini, meaning the Year of the Lord. Since the birth of Jesus Christ, we are always living in the Year of the Lord; this is the time of the reign of Jesus Christ who was born for our salvation. Each year, each day belongs to Him. We have a great treasure in the calendar of the Church year to help us become closer to Jesus Christ. Through the seasons and feasts of the liturgical year we are constantly thinking of the great events in the life of Jesus that changed the world and our own personal lives. Advent calls us to prepare like the people of the Old Testament and Mary for the coming of the Savior who was born for us at Christmas. That birth divided the very history of the world into two. Lent reminds us to repent and answer the call to truly be members of the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The suffering and death of Jesus have conquered the power of evil for us; we have to accept that gift of mercy. Easter immerses us in the joy and victory of Jesus resurrection. If we are attuned to these great seasons of the Church year and the other feast days of Jesus and Mary and the saints, we will be more united to Christ. Often the prayers of the Feast Day speak as if we are present at the moment that they took place. At Christmas, one of the prayers says: Christ is Your Son before all ages, yet now He is born in time. At Easter, another reads: We praise you with greater joy than ever on this Easter night, when Christ became our paschal sacrifice. We dont just think back and remember; those events touch our lives through time and space here and now in the Sacred Liturgy. The liturgical year also helps us to have a rhythm to our lives. We sometimes need to fast and do penance and other times we need to rejoice and celebrate. It is easy for us who have so many luxuries and so much abundance to think every day should be a day of eating and celebrating and getting everything that we can. The sad fact is that in the name of Christmas

our culture is using all of its power to turn Christmas into a time of overindulgence and materialism. Sometimes, however, we need acts of selfdenial and sacrifice. The liturgical year is meant to help us keep balance in our lives. In the spirit of Advent, Jesus reminds us in the Gospel today: Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and the day catch you by surprise like a trap. Sad to say, He is speaking about the focus of many peoples lives today. Recently, I celebrated a wedding at another parish and had to return quickly for Confessions and Saturday evening Mass;, so as I rushed to my car, I couldnt help hear a young man say to two young women, Now, we can go get wasted. I thought what an appropriate expression to describe what he was longing to do to get wasted. Even though he was just coming from Holy Mass, he was focused on getting drunkhe wanted to waste his time, his life in carousing and drunkenness. In a particularly way, his actions were wasting his soul away. Many years ago, a woman told me the sorrowful tale of her marriage and family life. Her husband loved to read, but so much so that he kept reading one novel after another every chance he got. When he came home from work, he went right to his book and shut his wife and children out of his life as much as he could. His wife was the kind of woman who would talk incessantly without giving you a chance to say a word or a break to excuse yourself and go do something else. She wanted people to listen to her, since her husband would not. Did her talking drive him to find escape or did his lack of attention lead her to seek attention by talking incessantly? They probably fostered one anothers faults by their own self-centeredness. Now if you met this husband and wife or that young man from the wedding, you would say that they were good people. They had many virtues and did good things for people, went to Church, but was the focus of their life on Jesus Christ or on their own attachments and selfish needs? How easily we can become wrapped up in ourselves! In the Second Reading, St. Paul calls upon us to strengthen our hearts as he did to the first converts in the city of Thessalonica: May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you, so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His

holy ones. It is only by Gods grace and our humble willingness to accept it that we can become holy and find true love and be ready to meet the Lord. The first Christians kept the Aramaic word Maranatha as part of their prayers even though they spoke other languages. It means Come, Lord. The Christians were praying for the Second Coming of Jesus because they were not afraid of His judgment, but were totally conscious of His love and mercy and wanted His Kingdom to be fulfilled. In Advent, we continue to pray like the first Christians, with Blessed Mary, Come, Lord.

Second Sunday of AdventDecember 6, 2009 If you were in charge of public relations or advertising for the Son of God, you would probably choose someone to announce Him who would make an impact on the world scene. A number of people with that kind of influence are listed in the Gospel today. Surely the Emperor of Rome, Tiberius Caesar could make the whole world ready for Jesus by an imperial order; everyone would take notice when he spoke. Or at least, if you wanted to start on the local scene, you could choose one of the rulers in Israel, such as Herod or Philip, or since it was a religious messagethe High Priest of Jerusalem. But the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert. John the Baptist was an insignificant man, a poor man. Yet God chose him to announce the coming of Jesus and not the movers and shakers of the world. We often think that if only I were rich I would be happy. If only I had power and influence over others or some impressive talent like a first class athlete or a brilliant mind then I would be fulfilled. The truth is that those things not only will not make you happy, but they will often block true happiness and make you miserable. Those things can easily become idols blocking the voice of the only one who can make us happyour God and Savior. Without putting anyone down in the current news cyclehow many times do was have to see the misery and unhappiness of so-called successful actors and athletes and business figures to realize that money and fame and talent dont bring us happiness? They have all those things and are still dissatisfied with life! The great men listed in our Gospel, with all that they possessed, were not able to receive the Word of God, but humble John the Baptist was. John was called from the desert to begin his great work as the herald of the King. The desert has a very important spiritual meaning in the Bible. It is a place of testing and purificationthe Jews spent 40 years in the desert after abandoning God by idol worship before Mount Sinai; Jesus prayed and fasted for 40 days in the desert before beginning His public life; St. Paul did likewise after his conversion and so have many hermits and monks throughout Christian history. In the desert you leave all your possessions behind; there is nothing to complicate life. There is little food or waterJohn the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey, which was a meager diet. There is no longer the need to impress people and look for their approval. In the desert you are alone with

yourself and with God. There is no place to hide; you have to confront yourself, with all that is evil and selfish and egotistical. You cant hide by using music and video images and constant noise to escape from really looking at yourself and getting to know who you are. The desert is filled with an enormous silence! It is there that you can at last hear the voice of Godcertainly St. John the Baptist did! Now we dont have to go to a desert in order to listen to the voice of God, but we do need to learn the lessons of the desert. I have to make quiet time for prayer happen each day in order to get to know myself and God. I have to stop escaping from it with all kinds of excuses. Maybe some things should not be done or left undone in order to find that time for prayer. I need a good Confession in order to receive the healing of God for my sins. Above all, I need to listen to the voice of God. When a great king came on an official state visit they literally changed the landscape so that his journey could be made easier. With this mage in mind, John the Baptist quotes the prophet Isaiah: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth. Jesus, the Son of God is the King of kings and John wanted the people to clear the landscape of their souls of anything that prevented Him from coming into their hearts and lives. John called them to repentance and used the washing with water in the Jordan as a sign that they want to be clean and welcome the King. If you think it is easy to change one flaw in your personality you dont know yourself very well. To change jobs is nothingto move from one city and start over in another is simple compared to correcting one fault or sinful tendency in your personality. How many people will make resolutions at the beginning of each year and yet few will persevere beyond a few days or weeks? If I want to get over my anger or fear or lust or gluttony or envy then I have a lot of work to do. I will have to be vigilant for the rest of my life, but most importantly, I have to abandon myself into the hands of God. I cannot do anything on my own power; I need the grace of God. If you ever find yourself thinking that you have overcome some fault, you better stop yourself immediately and turn to the mercy of God because you will soon find the old saying true: Pride goest before the fall.

Even though it is difficult to change even one flaw, we have to start now because if we dont work on them, they only get worse with time. A crack in the foundation of a house doesnt seal itself up with the passing of time; it only gets bigger until it threatens the whole structure. It is also true that our faults only get worse with age. The prophet Baruch says that it is God who will bring about the change in the world to make it a beautiful place of peace and justice. His vision revealed: For God commanded that every lofty mountain be made low, and that the age-old depths and gorges be filled to level ground, that Israel may advance secure in the glory of God. . . . For God is leading Israel in joy by the light of his glory, with his mercy and justice for company. He will do the same for you through grace, prayer and the sacraments. The voice of the Lord has not grown silent; He is speaking to you nowin the present moment.

Third Sunday of AdventDecember 14, 2009 John the Baptist preached to the people along the River Jordan about the coming of the Messiah. When they heard his words they didnt say what a powerful speaker he is or werent his words profound; they responded with the question What should we do? Whenever the Holy Spirit works in our souls he moves us to respond. He doesnt just leave us as we are. The same was true on Pentecost Sunday when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in the form of flames of fire. The apostles went forth and St. Peter preached the first Christian sermon to the people who were gathered about the house. When they heard his words they responded Brethren, what should we do? St. Peter told them Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thus on Pentecost Sunday the words of John the Baptist in todays Gospel were fulfilled, when he said one mightier than I is coming. . . . He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. John the Baptist told the people that if they wanted the Messiah to come they had to repent and he used a baptism of water which was a foreshadowing of Christian baptism. It was to be a sign that they wanted to prepare the way for the Savior. The Holy Spirit moved the crowds to do more than listen to John the Baptist, but to want to make a change in their lives. John didnt tell them to leave their work or their family, but simply do what was right. Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise. The tax collectors should stop taking more than was due from people and soldiers should stop bullying people for money or gain. None of these things were extraordinary, but all of them meant a change in behavior. These people were probably doing what everyone else was doing around them. If everyone else was greedy and self-seeking why should they be any different? If people dont care about following the Commandments, why should I? If my neighbor is living as if there was no account to give to God at the end of life, why should I worry about judgment? They werent any worse than anyone else. However, that is not good enough! The Holy Spirit moved them to desire something more and to take action. Things dont change in human nature, unless God transforms us and we freely respond. The work of the Holy Spirit is very personal.

Yesterday, we celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and it reminds us that it took the special intervention of God to transform the people of Mexico in the 1500s. Before the Spaniards arrived the people of Mexico were dominated by the worship of a hideous god called the Hummingbird Wizard. The worship of this pagan god demanded human sacrifice by cutting out the victims heart. There were temples in every large town and the great temple of Mexico had been consecrated with over 80,000 human sacrifices; it was a diabolical, blood thirsty religion that deformed peoples understanding of the one true God! The Spaniards destroyed the dreadful statue and stopped the worship of the pagan gods that dominated every life in Mexico; the Franciscan missionaries were very kind to the native peoples and worked hard to convert them. In spite of this there were few conversions to the Catholic faith. All the human efforts were good and necessary, but it was the special work of the Holy Spirit through the Mother of God that caused the trickle of baptisms to become a torrent. In the 7 years after Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego there were over 8 million baptisms. Mary left the beautiful and miraculous image of herself on the cloak or tilma of St. Juan Diego that inspires peoples faith to this day. There is a copy of it hanging in our vestibule. It took the tender, motherly love of the Blessed Virgin to help the people understand how much God loves each of His creatures, so much so, that He came to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our salvation. God wanted to replace the bloody, human sacrifice of pagan worship with the unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass. When the people heard John the Baptist speak and saw the ascetic kind of life he was living the Gospel tells us Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ. John the Baptist was truly humble and made it immediately clear that they should not mistake him for the Messiah: I am baptizing with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. Throughout history people have been deceived by men who appeared to be the savior; they are charismatic figures who have strong leadership qualities and are able to convince large numbers to follow them without question. Unlike John the Baptist they do not have humility and instead foster a messianic cult around them. We can think of many notorious examples of men like this who promised heaven on earth, but produced misery, even in our own time. No human being can bring us true happiness and we cannot find perfect fulfillment on this earthonly God and heaven can provide those things for us.

The third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday which is a Latin word meaning rejoice! We even change the color of the vestments and the candle on the Advent wreath to remind us that Advent is halfway over and Christmas is near. Our Mass texts are filled with expressions of joyful hope, particularly the Second Reading of St. Paul to the Philippians: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! The only way to find the joy spoken of in the Bible is by focusing our lives on the Lord our God. Nothing else will do! Lets make the question of the people in the Gospel our own this Sunday: Lord, what should we do? Holy Spirit, move us to follow Your inspirations so that we can make our hearts and lives ready for Jesus.

ChristmasDecember 25, 2009 Before the birth of Jesus, everyone in the world was longing for a Savior, whether they realized it or not. All the philosophers were searching for true wisdom; all the prophets of Israel had foretold His coming down to the last detail, even the town of His birth: Bethlehem, the city of King David; all people knew that there was something missing, an emptiness, a hole in their hearts that needed to be filled. The Virgin Mary was completely united to God by a special gift of grace from the moment of her Immaculate Conception; even so, her longing for the Savior was not decreased, but only increased. The world which walked in darkness, needed a great Light! We heard in the First Reading how the Prophet Isaiah foretold the great event that would happen many centuries in the future: For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. This was the hope that Israel held in their hearts as Gods chosen people and the unspoken hope of the whole world. How would this prophecy be fulfilled? No one could have imagined that the Almighty God, who seemed so distant and unapproachable, would choose to enter our world by becoming one of us; born as a baby to a poor and insignificant couple. Who would conceive of the idea that the Creator of every single human being would be ignored by His creatures, instead of making Him welcome? Who would have thought that the Divine Majesty who possessed the universe and all its wealth would be born in a stable, cold and hardlacking all comfort? God didnt come into this world for Himself; He humbled himself and came for our sakes. If you watch the news and observe all the sin and evil around you, you might think that this world is hopeless. The most perverse images that could ever be imagined are available to children on their computers or iphones through a few clicks on the internet. Christian moralitywhich simply used to be called the common goodis attacked on every front. It is easy to become discouraged or angry over the disintegration of our culture. We might ask why should God care? Christmas tells us that God does indeed care; He thought that it was worthwhile being born in humble circumstances, rejected by men and crucified for our sakes. Through Christmas, He is trying to tell us that we are worth all His efforts to save us and get us ready for heaven.

Christmas should root more firmly in our hearts the truth of the dignity and value of each person from the moment of conception. For a Christian, every child is a sign of hopea new act of Gods creative love. A child tells us that there is a future and that we shouldnt give up hope. Every human being is a gift from God and is worth all the efforts of the Christ-child of Bethlehem. St. Paul told us in the Second Reading: The grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly and devoutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope. We should take this promise of God, maybe we can even say this hope that God has in us, very personally. He didnt come just to save the mass of humanityHe came for you personally. God in His infinite knowledge knew you before you were created and from all eternity He wanted to be your Savior. He loves us in spite of our sins and all the things we say and do that are unlovable, even at times, repulsive. A woman tells of an evening when she and her husband were in a restaurant with their toddler just before Christmas. Everyone was eating quietly when little Erik suddenly pounded his hands on the highchair tray and squealed with glee Hi there! He was looking at a man in dirty clothes and worn out shoes and uncombed and unwashed hair. The man replied to little Erik Hiya buster. Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at the two tables as the old man and the baby continued to converse. Nobody thought the old man was cute. He was obviously drunk. Embarrassed, the woman and her husband ate in silence, but little Erik kept talking to the man. They quickly finished their meal and the woman headed for the door with little Erik; her husband went to pay the check and said he would meet them in the parking lot. The old man had also finished and was standing between the woman and Erik and the door. Before she could stop him, Erik ran up to the old man with his hands held up in a babys pick me up position. The man did just that. Suddenly the very smelly old man was holding her sweet little baby; his eyes closed and tears hovered beneath the eyelashes. His aged hands, full of grime, pain and hard labor cradled the babys bottom and stroked his back. He said in a firm voice to the mother, You take care of this baby. Somehow she managed to say I will and took the baby back. The man said, God bless you, maam. Youve given me my Christmas gift.

The woman raced to the car and her husband with tears saying, My God, my God, forgive me. She realized she had just witnessed Christs love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment; a child who saw a soul. She thought I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not. She felt like God asked her, Are you willing to share your son for a moment? when He shared His Son for all eternity with us. Christmas tells us that God loves us totally and was willing to send His Son into our smelly, dirty world of sin to be our Savior. CHRIST IS BORN FOR US. COME LET US ADORE HIM.

Feast of the Holy FamilyDecember 27, 2009 When we think of the birth of a baby, we also naturally think of the parents of that baby and the family in which he is born. The Church turns our attention to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph this Sunday after Christmas. From the beginning of Christianity, the family has been called the domestic Churchthe Church at home. The CCC explains that the home is the first school of Christian life and a school for human enrichment. Here one learns endurance and the joy of work, fraternal love, generouseven repeatedforgiveness and above all divine worship in prayer and the offering of ones life. The Catholic Church has also been understood in the light of a familythe Family of God. We use the term Holy Mother Church because we are reborn and nourished through her sacraments and instructed by her teaching. We call our priests Father since they have the role of spiritual fatherhood; consecrated women and men are called Sister and Brother. The priest sometimes addresses his people at Holy Mass with the term My brothers and sisters. We are the true family members of Jesus Christ through our membership in His Church. Like the Church, the human family has its own hierarchy of father and mother and children, with each member of the family in a particular role of loving service to the other members. In the First Reading, the Book of Sirach tells of the reward for children who obey their parents: Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from them. When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother. It reminds us of the Fourth Commandment which is the first to have a promise connected to it: Honor your father and your mother; that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you. When we think of the members of the Holy Family of Nazareth Jesus, the Incarnate Word of God is always listed first, Mary the Mother of God and the Immaculate Conception is listed second, while Joseph is listed last. The doctrine of the Church doesnt indicate that he had any extraordinary graces, yet we know that when God gives a person a vocation, He also gives the graces that that person will need. Joseph was called by God to be the head that Holy Family and Jesus gave His foster-father obedience and respect. Even though Jesus was the Creator of the universethe Divine Carpenter, He would sit attentively at the feet of Joseph as he taught Him to make the simple tables and doors and objects of a carpenter. Jesus obeyed the fourth

Commandment in regard to Joseph in another example of the great humility of God! Even in the Gospel today when the holy Family went up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover we cannot say that Jesus disobeyed Joseph when He remained in the Temple without telling His parents. Jesus was obeying the mysterious will of His Father God, which has precedence over all human authority: Do you not know that I must be in my Fathers house? The Gospel passage ends by saying of Mary and Joseph: they did not understand what He said to them. [Jesus] went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. Joseph is often pictured with a lily in his hand, as in our statue here in Church. Someone commented, couldnt they have picked a more masculine image than a sprig of flowers. The lily is a symbol for purity or holiness and St. Joseph had the duty from God to protect the purity and holiness of Jesus and Mary. As any loving husband and father, he would do everything in his power to protect his family, even to the point of laying down his life. He left his home and business in the middle of the night and fled to Egypt to protect the infant Jesus from King Herods soldiers who killed the other children of the townthe Holy Innocents, as we call them. Josephs example instructs all fathers today how important it is to, not only protect your family from physical harm, but to protect the innocence of your family from the impurity that surrounds us in the world, like never before. The world is trying to destroy the innocence of children as soon as possible and by every means possible. That lily of purity that is depicted with St. Joseph is a reminder of the duty of all fathersprotect the innocence and virtue of your family. There are no recorded words of St. Joseph in the Gospels. Many women might say how typical of a man, you can never get him to talk about what is going on inside! However, in St. Josephs case, he didnt have to say anything that was particularly noteworthy (his Son would take care of that) because he was a man of his word and his actions spoke for him. He worked hard in his carpenters shop; he was honest and straightforward. Unlike many people, in particular, the politicians of today he didnt believe in spin or doubletalk; there was no need to hide things or try and fool people about who he was. Remember the time when he and Mary were engaged, but not yet living together; engagement in those days was the beginning of the marriage unlike engagement in our culture which is the period before marriage. Joseph found that Mary was with Child and he

knew it was not his. No doubt he agonized over this decision; he knew the kind of person Mary wasso pure and good. In his disappointment he intended to do the right thing. He decided to divorce Mary quietly, even though that would mean he would look bad; it would appear to the world that he abandoned his pregnant wife. He was not a gossip who would damage Marys reputation in trying to defend himself. Joseph obeyed when Gods angel told him the truth that Mary conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and took her into his home. Joseph was the kind of man that a woman would not hesitate to be subordinate to as St. Paul indicates in our Second Reading. He was ready to give everything for his wife and Sonreputation, possessions and even his life. Mary was superior to Joseph in grace, wisdom and knowledge, yet she submitted to him without reserve. She could trust in him with her life and love and her purity; she could count of Joseph to always do the unselfish and just thing. As a matter of fact, the Heavenly Father trusted in him when He chose Joseph to be the head of the Holy Family. St. Joseph is the example of a real man for men of our time. One night a father was kneeling by his son saying his night prayers. The boy prayed for his family and other things; he ended by praying and make me a big, strong, good man like my daddy. The father tucked him in and he prayed as he left the room: Dear God, make me a big, strong, good man like my son thinks I am. St. Joseph, pray for us.

January 1, 2010Mary, Mother of God We begin this new year by looking at the Nativity through the eyes of Mary and the shepherds. It was to the shepherds alone that God sent His angels with the message that the Christ-child was born. The angel told them Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. The shepherds represent the poor, and maybe we could say, the average man. They did not have an easy life and had to work hard to scratch out a living; they were not among the movers and shakers of the world and were left out of important decisions and great events. On the other hand, their humility allowed them to listen to God and not be distracted by the noise and pleasures of the world. They received the message of the angels with faith and went to the stable to marvel at the newborn King who was born in humble circumstances just like theirs. God loves each person and no one is meant to be left out of His plan. Why was the birth of Jesus, two thousand years ago the fullness of time? St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading that when the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law that we might receive adoption as sons. Many things had come together to make it the fullness of timeAlexander the Great had spread the culture of Greece to the eastern world bringing a greater unity between west and east; through its armies, the Roman Empire had brought a certain peace to the world that had constantly been at war; the prophets of the Old Testament had said all that was needed to be said about the coming of the Messiah. There was nothing more that was necessary in order to begin the work of redeeming the world from sin and making us His sons and daughters. I often think that there were many good reasons that Jesus was born in a pretechnological world. Even though we think that many things are essential to our existence, like cell phones, computers and satellite TV, they would not have added anything to His mission of salvation. Can you imagine what 24 hour news broadcasts would have made of the events in Bethlehem and then on Calvary? What a media circus that would have been! Of course, they probably would have ignored those obscure events to focus on the latest celebrity scandal.

In any case, there is more to these events than meets the eye. We have many different images in our mind concerning the scene of our Gospel today. From Christmas cards and Nativity scenes, like the one in Church, we can picture what happened in Bethlehem. But we have to look with the vision of Mary. The Gospel says that all who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Mary heard and saw these events first hand, but she knew that they involved something great and mysterious that mere sight could not capture. They needed to be prayed about and reflected upon and mined for their meaning. We too have to learn to go deeper into the meaning of the Nativity. It is not just enough to scratch the surface. These events are meant to be lifechanging. Pope Benedict commented on the meaning of the word Gospel in his book Jesus of Nazareth: The term has recently been translated as good news. That sounds attractive, but it falls far short of the order of magnitude of what is actually meant. . . . This term figures in the vocabulary of the Roman emperors, who understood themselves as lords, saviors and redeemers of the world. The messages issued by the emperor were called in Latin evangelium, regardless of whether or not their content was particularly cheerful and pleasant. The idea was that what comes from the emperor is a saving message, that it is not just a piece of news, but a change of the world for the better (pages 46-47). Christmas is more than a time for warm feelings or renewal of good childhood memories; it is a time to change our lives for the better; to allow the grace of Christ to change our lives. How can that happen unless we realize that we have to be quiet and pray, reflecting on these things in our hearts? How can our lives change unless we celebrate the Holy Mass and receive Jesus in Holy Communion with faith? How can we be happy and at peace unless we go to Confession and have our sins forgiven? The reason that God has allowed the world to continue to the year 2010 is very simpleHe wanted you to be born and live; He wanted you to work out your salvation and reach Heaven. That is why we have this new year! Like all years there are going to be joys and sufferings, good things and bad, but if we hold fast to our Catholic faith and pray, we have everything to hope for and work for in this coming year. The greatest new years resolution for any one of us isto set aside time for prayer every day of 2010. Holy Mary, teach us how to pray!

January 2, 2010Feast of the Epiphany The three kings came from the East following the light of a star which revealed to them the birth of a great King. They came to worship Him bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. How beautifully that fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah in our First Reading: Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come; the glory of the Lord shines upon you. . . . Nations shall walk by your light and kings by your shining radiance. . . . all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense and proclaiming the praises of the Lord. Did you notice that when the Prophet Isaiah prophesied the ultimate triumph of God of Israel, he mentioned two of the gifts that the Magi would bring one day to the Christ-child, but not the third? Isaiah doesnt mention myrrh for a very good reason. Gold was the symbol of royalty and frankincense was the symbol of the priesthoodboth gifts were fitting for the triumphant vision of Isaiah. Myrrh, however, was a symbol of death and would not fit the picture. Myrrh was a fragrant resin, sometimes mixed with wine and given to criminals condemned to the cross to ease their pain, which Jesus refused during His crucifixion; more often it was mixed with oil for anointing of the dead body at burial. Right from the very beginning we have the indication that this Child came to die as our Savior. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen once, said: Every other person who ever came into this world came into it to live. [Jesus] came into it to die. At Christmas, when our Nativity scene is beneath the altar in our humble Church, it strikes me very deeply; visually there are four things that are connected: the birth of Christ in the Nativity scene, the altar of sacrifice, the tabernacle with His Real Presence and the crucifix above it all. For me it connects the most significant events in the life of our Blessed LordHis birth and deathwith us in the present. Every time the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered upon our altar the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary is renewed with all its power of mercy and grace; we are plunged into that river of salvation that poured forth from the pierced Heart of Christ. When we receive Jesus in Holy Communion with faith or worship Him in His Real Presence in the tabernacle we are united to the same Jesus who was held in the arms of the Blessed Virgin Mary and loved Him with a love that is beyond all telling. It is the same Jesus, worshipped by the Magi from the east, who enlightens our minds and hearts in each Holy Communion.

Pope Benedict put it so well in His Christmas homily: In all kinds of ways, God has to prod us and reach out to us again and again, so that we can manage to escape from the muddle of our thoughts and activities and discover the way that leads to Him. But the path exists for all of us. The Lord provides everyone with tailor-made signals. He calls each one of us, so that we too can say: Come on, let us go over to Bethlehem to the God who has come to meet us. Yes, indeed, God has set out towards us. Left to our selves we could not reach Him. The path is too much for our strength. But God has come down. He has travelled the longer part of the journey. Now He invites us: come and see how much I love you. Come and see that I am here. If we look in our own lives we can see that God has given us tailor-made signals as the Holy Father noted; although we sometimes miss them. There is an interesting story of a woman who had a reconversion to the Catholic faith. Kathy started out as a very pious girl who believed that God answered prayers as she and her family faithfully practiced their Catholic religion. When her parents marriage became filled with arguments and painful confrontations, she prayed wholeheartedly that God would intervene and make them stop. It ended in divorce when Kathy was 13 and she became disillusioned thinking that God didnt listen to her prayers; by the time she was 15 she decided that religion was a sham and announced to her mother that she would no longer be going to Church. How often we blame God for the faults of man! We think that it proves that He doesnt hear us when the answer to out prayers is not what we want! In college, Kathy followed the path of so many young people with the mantra: sex, drugs and rock and roll and the total absence of God. She met her future husband in college and before she graduated, they married and soon found that she was pregnant with their first child Nathan. Her life had gone in a very different direction from her plans, but she was very happy and with the birth of their second son her family became the focus of her life. Kathy wanted to give her children the happy family life that she had not had. A strange thing started to happen when her first son Nathan was four years old; he started pointing at Church steeples as they rode in the car and wanted to go inside. Finally, when Nathan was six, they decided to go on a field trip to San Diegos historic old town and visit a parish Church there and take Nathan inside, since he kept insisting on going into a Church. When they entered Nathan immediately knelt down in a pew with his little hands together and his head bowed ever so reverently. [She] asked

him what he was doing, and he announced, Shush, Mommy, Im praying. He had never been taught this, and as far as [she] knew, had never seen anyone do it. . . . he got up, went to each of the Stations of the Cross, pointed at it and said yep as if he was acknowledging that they were accurate and in their proper place. He then walked over to the baptismal font and announced: Thats where they wash the babys head, mom. [She] was flabbergastedwhere had he gotten this information? She didnt yet recognize this as Gods tailor-made signal to her! It was two years later that she and her husband had the duty of driving a group of people from a convention that they were attending to a nondenominational service at an arena. She just wanted to sit in back so she could sleep. As she began to doze she felt a strange sensation upon her head almost as if she were being pulled to the top of the arena. She was afraid to open her eyes and whispered to her husband Am I still touching the ground? He thought she was kidding, but when they invited anyone to come and acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and Savior she felt compelled to do so. She was overwhelmed by the experience and for the next week cried and kept asking What am I supposed to be doing? The answer was always the same pray the Rosary. She knew that only Catholics prayed the Rosary and the last thing she wanted to do was to start going back to the Catholic Church. The next week, emotionally and mentally exhausted, she called her mother and said that she needed to attend Mass at the local Catholic parish; Kathy found that her mother had started going to Mass a month before because she had felt compelled. She was shaking as she and her mother attended holy Mass, but she wrote: As soon as Mass started, I felt at home. It was as though a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I felt at peace for the first time in years. This began the whole conversion of her life and her family. Her children were thrilled at the news and even more so when they saw their mom and dads marriage blessed in Church. Her thirst for Catholicism is unquenchable and she finally feels at home. How is God leading you? Have you recognized His call to deepen your faith and walk by His light? The light of Christ is still pointing out the way to all who are wise and humble enough to look for it.

Baptism of the LordJanuary 10, 2010 The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord this Sunday closes the Christmas season for us. At Christmas, the Church traditionally connects four events in the life of Jesus that show forth His presence and glory as the Son of God. The first is the Nativity when the world could see God made visible in the Babe of Bethlehem. The second is the Epiphany when the kings came from the east to worship the Christ-child, representing all the nations of the world who would come to believe in Jesus and walk by His Light. The third is todays Feast of the Baptism of the Lord which took place when Jesus began his public life at the age of 30. John the Baptist was baptizing people in order to prepare them for the coming of the Messiahwhen the Messiah came. He had testified to the people one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of His sandals. In the Gospel today we heard the voice of God the Father declaring: You are my beloved Son; with You I am well pleased. Also, the Holy Spirit was present in the form of a dove; the dove is one of the symbols we use in art to depict the Holy Spirit. The fourth event that we reflect upon at Christmas is only seen by those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours; it is the wedding of Cana when Jesus worked His first miracle at the request of His Mother Mary. The first of so many miracles that would heal and comfort and cast out the devil from peoples lives! All four events show forth the glory of our Savior! When we think of the Baptism of Jesus we also have to think of our own baptism. St. Maximus expressed it this way: For when the Savior is washed all water for our baptism is made clean, purified at its source for the dispensing of baptismal grace to the people of future ages. Christ is the first to be baptized, then, so that Christians will follow after Him with confidence. The baptism of John the Baptist, however, was not Christian baptism. Christian baptism was instituted by Jesus on Ascension Thursday, forty days after the resurrection. He was about to ascend into heaven and He gave us the sacrament saying Go, therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). Christian baptism, like all the sacraments, receives its power from the death and resurrection of Jesus. The love of His pierced Heart is the source of the grace we receive in baptism.

John said in todays Gospel: I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. . . . He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Johns baptism used water as a sign of the repentance that had already taken place in the hearts of the people; Christian baptism uses water as the sacramental sign of the work of God in the soul of the person; the Holy Spirit comes with the fire of love and grace to transform and seal the soul of the one who is baptized. In the Sacraments it is God who does the work, we can only respond to the best of our ability. At the moment of baptism, God changed our relationship with Him. We became children of God, friends of God and co-heirs with Christ because Original Sin was cleansed and we were given the gift of Sanctifying Grace. We were made members of the Kingdom of God, the Church here on earth; always looking forward to its fulfillment in Heaven. This friendship with God and membership in the Church which is accomplished by Baptism are the reasons we even baptize infants. Although they cant yet understand what happens to them they are already benefitting from this sacrament. In a similar way babies are members of the United States of America and dont yet understand what that means, but they are already benefitting from the prosperity and freedom of our country. How much more so by becoming members of Gods family through Baptism! Thats why an early Pope once said: O Christians remember your dignity! Dont just say I was baptized, but I am baptized. It is a whole new life unto eternity. It is good for us to remember that we have been given a whole new life at Baptism. Saying that doesnt mean we are freed from struggle in this world. As St. Paul wrote to Timothy: An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules (2 Tim. 2:5). Even though all sins and the punishment for sin are forgiven at Baptism, the CCC points out: Yet certain consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so on, as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence. . . . Concupiscence is left for us to wrestle with, it cannot harm those who do not consent but manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ (#1264). God accomplishes the initial work of our salvation and gives us graces all along the way, but He does expect us to do our part by living the Christian life. Earth is the place for struggle with sin and growth in virtue; Heaven is the place for victory and rest. Lets not confuse the two!

Sometimes Catholics think that salvation is a kind of game: If I can get away with as much as I want, without seriously offending God, then maybe I can squeak by and get into Heaven. Maybe I can get God to look the other way and ignore my sins even though I dont repent of them nor try to amend my life. That is often how people in this world deal with one another, but God is not interested in that kind of relationship; He wants far more for us than that! From the moment of your Baptism, God called you to be a saint! No one in this parish should object saying that holiness is only for priests and religious sisters and brothers. Our patron, St. Gianna, was a wife, mother and doctor. She didnt pray all day in Church with her hands folded, but she did pray like that for some time everyday and prayed throughout her day. She performed her daily work, whether caring for her family or her patients, with the understanding that it was all a gift to God that she wanted to do with love. She liked skiing and music and clothes, but everything was ordered by modesty and the understanding that she must live with her sight on Heaven and lead others to Heaven. Baptism is the first step to eternity and like St. Gianna, you are called to be a saint, too!

Second Sunday in Ordinary TimeJanuary 17, 2010 Mary is doing what she does best in our Gospel this Sunday. She is bringing the needs of people to her Sonwhich we call intercession. The scene at the wedding feast in Cana is important as Jesus first miracle, but it has many levels of meaning when we ponder it. Mary is the first to notice something that will be very embarrassing for the newly married couplethey are about to run out of wine. Wine was essential to a celebration of this kind. It wasnt that people got drunk at weddings for drunkenness was a great embarrassment. They always mixed water with their wine; two parts wine and three parts water. You notice that the deacon mixes a little water with the wine when he prepares the chalice at the Offertory. That is certainly what Jesus did at the Last Supper, so we continue to do so. Wine was a symbol of joy in biblical times. Mary the attentive Mother brings this problem to Jesus. She intercedes with Him for the young couple. Mary continues to do this for us when we bring our needs to her attention. Jesus response is one that doesnt translate well into English. When he addresses His Mother Mary as Woman it sounds rather harsh. A better way to translate it in order to convey His meaning might be the term we sometimes use: Our Lady. But it is necessary to use the word Woman because it immediately links us with 3 key passages in the Bible that help us to understand Marys role in our salvation. First, we go to the foot of the Cross when Jesus again uses that word for His Mother: Woman, behold your son and to St. John Behold your Mother. At this moment John the Apostle knows that he must now physically care for the Blessed Mother as his own, but in this scene, John represents all future disciples of Jesus. When Jesus says to him Behold your Mother He also says to us: If you are my disciple then Mary is your Mother; Behold your Mother. Mary was given a new role of spiritual motherhood for all the faithful at the Cross, because we are brothers and sisters of Jesus and children of the Heavenly Father. Another part of Jesus answer at Cana takes us to the Cross: My hour has not yet come. Whenever Jesus speaks of His hour, He is referring to the time of His death on the Cross when He redeemed the world. Archbishop Fulton Sheen explained this so well when he wrote: Our Lord was saying to His Blessed Mother: My dear Mother, do you realize that you are

asking me to proclaim my Divinityto appear before the world as the Son of God, and to prove my Divinity by my works and my miracles? The moment that I do this, I begin the royal road to the Cross. When I am no longer known among men as the son of the carpenter, but as the Son of God, that will be my first step toward Calvary. My hour is not yet come; but would you have me anticipate it? Is it your will that I go to the Cross? Marys response to her Son is so perfect; she instructs the servants: Do whatever He tells you. She trusts her Son and she knows that He must be the suffering servant and the Savior of the world. As much as that pains her, she chooses the will of God over her own will; she is perfectly obedient. That takes us to the second passage connected with the woman which is in the first book of the Bible, Genesis 3:15. This is after the Original Sin when God spoke to the devil and said: I will put enmity between you and the woman; between your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head and you shall strike at his heal. Even though man has rebelled against Gods will, He will not forsake us, but already is announcing His plan for the salvation of the world. This was the first prediction of the future Messiah and also His Mother. Unlike Eve who has already given in to the devil, the woman of Genesis is one who would have no connection with sin or the devil, but perfectly prepared to be the most pure Mother of the Savior. The Fathers of the Church understood that Jesus was the new Adam and made the connection that Mary was the new Eve. They would reflect that The knot that Eve tied by her disobedience was untied by Marys obedience. We have to turn from the first to the last book of the Bible to find the third passage connected to the woman. Revelation 12:1 says: And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. This passage, which also refers to the Church, points to Mary in glory. At the end of her earthly pilgrimage, God took her to heaven, body and soul, to be the first to share in the resurrected life of her Son. She is clothed with the sun in the glory of heaven. The title Woman is one that the Holy Spirit used from the first book of the Bible to the last to help us understand Gods plan for Mary in the work of her Son and the work she continues to do for us in the Church today.

The wedding Feast of Cana also points us to the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Jesus first miracle changes the substance of water into the substance of wine. In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Jesus changes the substance of wine and bread into His own Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. The wine steward comments to the groom Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now. We can say that the new life of grace through the sacraments, especially, the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is the very finest of gifts and the fulfillment of all that God did in the Old Testamentit is the new wine. This new wine of grace gives joy to the soul of a Christian. Mary, the good Mother spoke to us when she said: Do whatever He tells you. When we seek the will of God and obey it as she did we will find the answer to all our hopes and desires.

Third Sunday in Ordinary TimeJanuary 24, 2010 The Catholic Church is often misunderstood because it is partly an institution like other human organizations, but at the same time it is so very different from any other human organization. The Church is a great Mystery that has to be loved in order to be understood. For those who know and love her, the Church is a MotherHoly Mother, the Church we say. It is here that you find life and love, guidance and strength, healing, and direction to our true home of Heaven. There are many descriptions and images of the Church in the Bible. The Church is called a cultivated field or a vineyard; remember when Pope Benedict was elected pope, he described himself as a fellow worker in the vineyard of the Lord. The Church is also a sheepfold; it is called the building of God or his holy temple made up of living stones. Perhaps St. Pauls image in the Second Reading is the most helpful. In 1 Corinthians 12 he compared the Church to a human body: As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. This is one of the times that St. Paul uses the name Christ to refer not to Jesus, the God-man, but to the Church. Jesus, after all, is in perfect union with His Church. In his letter to the Colossians, St. Paul writes: Jesus is the head of the body, the Church (Col. 1:18). A human body is a living and growing organism with each of its members performing different functions for the good of the body. So is the Church, as St. Paul wrote: Now you are Christs body, and individually parts of it. Some people God has designated in the church to be, first, apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then, mighty deeds; then gifts of healing, assistance, administration and varieties of tongues. He also told us how to become a member of this body, the Church: For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit and Baptism that we became members of the Body of Christ. The grace of the Holy Spirit is a life-saving, refreshing drink to the soul. Sometimes you will hear people say things like: I dont want to become a member of the Catholic Church, they are all a bunch of hypocrites. I dont want a Church getting in between me and Jesus. I dont want a bunch of old men in Rome telling me how to live my life. Lets think

about these ideas one by one. First, if you mean that members of the Church are hypocrites because they are sinners who dont always live up to what they profess and need to repent and try again, I say, who isnt in that boat? Unless you think you have no sin, come on in and join the rest of us hypocrites who have received the mercy of Jesus again and again and want to keep on trying. The idea that the Church gets in our way to Jesus misses the point that the Church is the Body of Christ, the People of God working together for the glory of God and the salvation of man. When the apostles asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He didnt say, pray My Father who art in heaven . . . give me this day my daily bread but pray Our Father, who are in heaven . . . give us this day our daily bread. The Church is our brothers and sisters in Christ, they are not a hindrance, but a help to our salvation. Religion is not just a private affair between me and Jesus it is more of a public actGod the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and us, His Church. Of course, in our private, daily prayers we want to talk to God very personally, but that should never keep us from praying as His Church in the Sacred Liturgy, particularly, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Jesus taught When two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst. Even though we are sinners and very imperfect, we do have the saints who are models for our lives; just because they have left this world for heaven doesnt exclude them from the Church. They still inspire and pray for us before the very throne of God, especially the great Mother of God, Mary most holy. The Church is a great family that is meant to help us to heaven. We live in a culture that is opposed to authority and rejects the idea that obedience is a virtue. When Jesus set up His Church, He deliberately chose Peter and the apostles to lead the Church. He set up an office that they and their successors were to hold until the end of time. Jesus said to Peter: You are Peter [the Rock] and on this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matt. 16:18-19). The Pope and the bishops of the Church do not make up the faith; it has been given to us by Jesus under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Pope Benedict is not allowed to change one doctrine of faith, but must teach without it faithfully. We believe that the teaching of the Pope on faith and morals will be guarded by the Holy Spirit so that it will not contain errorthis is the doctrine of Papal Infallibility.

Pope Pius XII taught in his encyclical on The Mystical Body of Christ: For [the Pope as] Peter in virtue of his primacy is only Christs Vicar; so that there is only one chief Head of this Body, namely Christ, who never ceases Himself to guide the Church invisibly, though at the same time He rules it visibly, through him who is His representative on earth. Christ is the invisible Head who rules through the Pope, the visible head of the Church, the Body of Christ. The Pope cannot change any of the teachings of the Church, but must obey them himself, for he is Christs spokesman, not the origin of truth. Pope Leo XIII taught that just as a body had a soul, so the Church as the Body of Christ has a soul and the soul of the Church is the Holy Spirit. When Jesus opened the scroll to read from the Prophet Isaiah in our Gospel today, He said that passage was fulfilled in their hearing. Isaiah foretold that the Holy Spirit, Himself would be at work to accomplish great things in the time of the Messiah. It read: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Jesus the Head of the Church ushered in that time of the Holy Spirit which is meant to continue now through the members of the Body of Christ. God is counting on us to love the Church, to pray for Christian unity and to spread the Gospel to the world today through the power of the Holy Spirit.

January 31, 2010Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Hearing St. Pauls words in the Second Reading today may cause you to ask What more could God want from us? Isnt it enough to have faith so as to move mountains and to give away everything I own? Of course, we are very far from that kind of heroic generosity, but St. Paul is making an important point that it is not only the good deed that counts, I also have to have the right motive when I am doing that good deed. In any thought, word or action that I do, I have to consider, first of all, whether it is good or not. At any moment the strangest thought can come into my mind and I need to decide whether it is something worthwhile pondering or if I should reject it. A lot of thoughts should be rejected outright! If I start to ponder them they can lead me down a terrible path. Sinful thoughts are the source of sinful actions. Remember King David who was comfortably settled into the palace life and had too much idle time? He strolled along the palace roof in the warm sun and gazed out at the view and saw the beautiful woman next door. It led to impure thoughts for Bathsheba, who was a married woman, and then to adultery and then to the murder of her husband Uriah by sending him to the front of the battle line and ordering the troops to pull back so that he would be killed. Too many people act by impulse; just because it strikes them at the moment or they desire it, they do not restrain themselves to even ponder the rightness or wrongness. That is how animals act; God wants us to be free sons and daughters, not beasts. How do I judge a thought, word or action? The 10 Commandments and the teachings of the Church are objective guides that God has given us to know right from wrong. But most of the time, I am simply going to have to ask myself if my actions are selfish; do they result from self-centered motives? That brings us to St. Pauls words which say that a person can do the most extraordinary things, but do them for the wrong reason and then I gain nothing. I have to also consider the reason or intention behind my actions. Giving alms to the poor can be changed from a good deed to a bad deed simply by doing it to be praised by others and not out of love for the poor. The good news is that if I catch myself acting for the wrong reason, I can simply change it in an instant. If I help my neighbor because I want them to do something for me as a payback, I can stop myself and say, no I am going to do this without seeking any kind of returnjust for friendships sake. That instantly changes the intention and makes it good. On the other hand, a

good intention doesnt make a bad deed good. The end does not justify the means! We have to be very clear about that. Often we have several different intentions or no conscious intention that inspires an action and that is why we need the grace of God to purify our hearts. St. Paul says that the greatest motive is love. No matter what I do I can do it for love of God and the love of neighbor as Jesus taught us in the two great commandments of love. The worlds idea of love is nothing more than warm feelings or the desire for someone to care for me or make me happy or bring me fulfillment. Those ideas are more like selfishness because it directs love to me, me, me. Christian love directs the person to do good for someone else; the direction is totally opposite! St. Paul taught us about Christian love when he wrote: Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. How many couples have chosen that passage for one of the readings at their wedding Mass and didnt realize how demanding it was? Maybe married couples, as all of us, could examine themselves on how they are living up to the Biblical meaning of love. The reason that Jesus is thrown out of the synagogue and nearly stoned to death in todays Gospel was because He pointed out to the people that they were lacking the motive of love in their practice of religion, or at least their idea of love was very restricted. He opened the scroll and read the passage from Isaiah which we heard last Sunday. It spoke of the time of victory by the Messiah and Jesus said that it was fulfilled in Him. He then went on to show that in the past God had favored Gentiles, non Jews, with miracles which He did not work in Israelgiving two examples. This angered the people in the synagogue because they thought that only Jews were favored by God and the rest of humanity was rejected. In fact, Gods plan was that the Jewish religion to be the stepping stone for the redemption of the entire world. Jesus wanted them to have the motive of love for all mankind behind their faith. Along with the goodness of the deed and the right motive we need to think of the circumstances and consequences. They contribute to moral goodness or evil, for example, stealing a stapler from work that costs ten dollars or

embezzling a million dollars that bankrupts the company and puts people out of work are both sins of stealing, but the circumstances make a one lighter matter and the other grave. One long weekend a man found himself alone at home because his wife took the children to visit a relative and he decided that he was going to use his time to fix something around the house as a surprise for his wifea good deed with a good intention! So he decided to sand and paint the outside of the house which needed repair. He worked hard all weekend long and when his wife returned and saw the beautiful exterior she didnt seem too excited about all his effortshe was disappointed. Later he found out that what she really thought needed repair was the kitchen floor which was patched and cracking and stained. He did the good deed for her without really finding out what she wanted. Now we cant foresee all consequences or read peoples minds, but we should strive to do good deeds, with the right motive and consider the consequences and circumstances. At the end of the Second Reading, St. Paul wants us to remember that all the things of this world are passing. How easily we get upset over passing things and forget the eternal things. Faith, hope and love are eternal things and even so, when we get to heaven, God willing, there will no longer be a need for faith since At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. Of course, mirrors werent very good in those days, but faith is for this world, in heaven we will see God. There will be no need for hope because At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. Everything we hope for while on earth will be realized when we get to heaven. He concludes: So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love. In heaven love will be fulfilled and remain forever. If we strive to put love behind all of our deeds we are already starting to live here on earth as we will live in heaven.

Fifth Sunday of Ordinary TimeFebruary 7, 2010 One bright morning, Jesus borrowed the boat of Simon Peter in order to preach to the multitude on the seashore. The boat or bark (barque) of Peter became a symbol of the Church which would preach the Gospel of Jesus until the end of time. It is a fitting symbol for the Church because a boat sails across the water to find a safe harbor and the Church is on a voyage, a journey, through this life to the safe harbor of Heaven. A boat sails on water that is sometimes smooth and sometimes rough; the Church, the bark of Peter, has had to make its way through some turbulent times of historyit always seems as if there is some trouble to navigate, whether from the inside through heresy and dissent or from the outside through persecution. The Church continues sailing on her certain course with the Pope as the captain until Jesus finally brings her to the end of her voyage. St. John Bosco was a saint who had many prophetic and striking visions. In one of them he saw the Church as a great sailing ship with the Pope at the helm, when suddenly a storm hit and she was attacked by many other ships. The Ship of the Church looked as if she were going to be sunk when two massive columns rose up from the ocean. One was topped with an enormous white Host, representing Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and the other was surmounted with a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Pope steered the Ship of the Church between the two columns and immediately escaped the attacks and sailed into calm waters. St. John Boscos vision reminds us that devotion to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and to Mary are the ways that God has given to us to reach eternal life safely when we have to endure struggles in this world. Also, that it is under the guidance of the Pope that the Church will stay the course. Jesus finished using Simon Peters boat, but he was not finished with Simon Peter; as a matter of fact, He had just begun! Jesus asked the future apostle to go out fishing again: Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch. Simon protests at first because he and his companions were expert fishermen. They knew the waters of the Sea of Galilee, as well as, the best and worst times to fish better than any man. Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing he replied. Here Simon shows his trust in Jesus, maybe a grudging trust at this point, for he continues: but at your command I will lower the nets. The catch was totally unexpected and must have been extraordinary for Simon Peter to react the way he did. He fell down before Jesus and said Depart from me,

Lord, for I am a sinful man. He knew that he had witnessed the power of God right before his eyes. Simon had the same reaction as Isaiah in the First Reading when he saw a vision of heaven. There was God, majestic upon His heavenly throne with the mighty Seraphim and the incense filling the temple. He heard the voice of the angels singing Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts! The heavenly hosts shook the building with their powerful voices. We sing or say those words in every holy Mass right before we kneel down for the Eucharistic Prayer. Isaiah sees this vision and immediately recognizes his sinfulness: Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts! Whenever we come into the Presence of God, we naturally realize our unworthiness. That is why at the beginning of Holy Mass we have the Penitential Rite and we say: Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. The first thing we do in each Holy Mass is acknowledge our sinfulness and the need for Gods healing mercy. Simon Peter teaches us to overcome our pride and willfulness; we tend to think that we know everything, at least in our own area of expertise. After all, the fisherman should have known more about catching fish than a carpenter. Jesus is a carpenter, but also God and He not only knows where the fish are, He can even call them to the very spot where they can be caught. Simon who had no specific sin that we know of, nonetheless, fell to the ground expressing his unworthiness in the Presence of the goodness of God. The last thing we do before we receive Holy Communion is say Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed. We should mean those words! How different from people who think that they have the right to decide right and wrong in opposition to God; that they know better than God who is our Creator and has clearly revealed the moral law. I sometimes think that even if Jesus Christ Himself appeared to these people in person and told them that abortion or sex outside of marriage was a sin, they would still deny it and say maybe for you it is, but not for me. Jesus said to Simon Peter: Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men. Jesus made this humble man the first Pope. Simon Peter could be formed into the kind of leader who would guide the Church to Heaven. If we try to find fulfillment on our own, concentrate on raising our

own self-esteem and self-worth it will be superficial and temporary, at best. If we are like Simon Peter and we allow the Lord to lift us up by His grace then we can accomplish great things for ourselves and others. St. Paul is one of the best examples of what the grace of God can do. In the Second Reading he humbly admitted that he was the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle because he persecuted the Church. He knew that it was the grace of God that lifted him up and made him what he is: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me has not been ineffective. The Catholic Men for Christ just held a conference and used a quotation from St. Irenaeus as their theme: The glory of God is man fully alive! It is when we seek to follow Christ authentically and totally that we truly become what we are meant to be as human beingswe are fully alive. That is Gods desire for us and His glory. Perhaps you are aware of the pro-life commercial that will be broadcast during the Super Bowl today. It says so much about what is wrong and what is hopeful in our country. The culture says that we should not deny a womens choice to have an abortion, but when anyone tries to emphasize the goodness of the choice for life as in this commercial they protest and make all kinds of hateful and angry claims against pro-life people. That is the sad part, but the hopeful part is that the commercial is showing in spite of it! We have to become fully alive in Christ and help our country to do the same.

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time February 14, 2010 We are more familiar with the 8 Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount than the 4 Beatitudes and 4 Woes of the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel today. In both cases the words of Jesus were earth shaking. It was believed by most of the Jews listening to Jesus that if you had wealth and food and were free from sorrow and had the esteem of men you were blessed by God, if you didnt have those things you were not blessed by God. In the Beatitudes and Woes, Jesus told them that that was not how God viewed things and in many ways it was just the opposite of the way God saw it. Jesus said: Blessed are you who are poor and then Woe to you who are rich. Blessed are you who are now hungry and Woe to you who are filled now. Even today you will hear Christian preaching in certain denominations that can be called the health and wealth Gospel. They say that if you have faith God will heal you of all your ills and He will take care of your financial problems. The danger is that we can begin to see God as if He were a vending machine; when you put your money in and you push the button, you get the soda or candy bar that you want. God is not a machine, but a Father who loves us and wants the best for us. As a Father, He wants us to grow and develop in virtue and to live out our faith by doing good deeds. Of course, we should ask God for all that we need, but we should not forget that Jesus also asks us to bear the Cross with Him. As a matter of fact, He taught If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23). Love means sacrifice! Love means the bearing the Cross. It is easy to jump to the conclusion that blessing and prosperity mean God loves me. However, I could never say that because I was born in the United States with prosperity and freedom all but guaranteed that it is a sign that God loves me more than someone who was born in a country like Haiti, even before the earthquake, where you are almost guaranteed a life of poverty and oppression. There has to be something more to life than wealth and health and plenty of food. As a matter of fact, sometimes people who have little in the world are happier than those who have too much. When Jesus says Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours He doesnt mean that everyone has to get rid of all their possessions to find consolation and the Kingdom of God. Some people are

asked to renounce all their possessions in this world like the apostles and the rich young man in the Gospel and consecrated religious who take a vow of poverty in the Church. Most Christians are expected to work hard and be successful and provide a good life for their family and support the works of the Church, which include helping the poor. Jesus taught in the Parable of the Talents that like the king who distributed various amounts of money (talents) to his servants and expected a return on his investments, so God expects us to make a return to Him. God has given us various talents and gifts and wants us to work hard to produce benefits for ourselves and others. It is not money that is the root of all evil, but love of money. It is so easy for us to misuse the blessings of this world. When we allow work or possessions or food or entertainment to take the first place in our lives then they become something they were not meant to be. We can easily turn wealth and prosperity into something that we love in place of God. God, the sacraments and daily prayer have to have the first place in our lives. If I find happiness, consolation and fulfillment in shopping, eating, drugs, pornography or any thing instead of God then I have misused that blessing. Those things become attachments or addictions that push God out of my life. They become my true treasure in life, rather than goodness, virtue and grace. No wonder Jesus says But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are filled now for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way. If our treasure increasingly becomes possessions and pleasures and the esteem of men then we will have nothing when those things are taken away. Our lives will be empty; many are already feeling like that in our world today. This coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. It is a time for us to examine our lives and make a better effort to put God back where He belongsin the first place. Jesus gives us the three-fold plan in the Gospel on Ash Wednesday of prayer, penance and good deeds. Lent is a serious time and we see that in the Holy Mass: we dont sing or say Alleluia or the Gloria, the color of purple which signifies sorrow for sin marks the vestments and we begin by being signed with ashes and the words Remember man that you are dust and unto dust you shall return. There is nothing like the thought of death to make us sober up and take stock of our lives and think of eternity. St. Paul told starkly told us in the Second

Reading that our faith is for more than this world, he wrote: If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all. The purpose of our Catholic faith is to get us to Heaven. God is calling us to look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come as we say in the Creed. The future begins now with the conversion of heart and seeking first the Kingdom of God.

Ash Wednesday We are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing though us St. Paul tells us in our Second Reading. An ambassador is someone who personally represents his country to a foreign land; the very place he lives the embassyis part of his country in that land. The ambassador doesnt represent himself, but his government. We are called to be living representatives of Jesus Christ representing the Kingdom of God to our world. This means that we have to be identified with Jesus Christ, particularly remembering that we have been sealed with the Cross of Christ. In our baptism we were sacramentally sealed with that indelible mark of the Holy Spirit. Daily we make the Sign of the Cross tracing that Cross upon our bodies and in a few moments you will be sign with blessed ashes in the form of a cross. To be united to Christ means union with His Cross! For this to happen we have to have to desire true conversion which this season of Lent calls to our attention and calls us to deepen. Conversion means the recognition of our sinfulness and the acceptance of the grace of God that heals us and strengthens us to live as His sons and daughters. Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense the psalmist pleads. This kind of conversion or sanctification is a lifetime project. Our prayers, penance and good deeds are meant to help us remember that God deserves the first place in our lives. Daily prayer is always and obligation for a Christian, but Lent calls us to intensify it. No bodily desires should take the place of God and giving up even legitimate pleasures of food or TV or computer time reminds us how easily things absorb us and pull us away from God. Deeds of charity flow from the Christina life, but we know that we have to force them at times by making a real effort. As we are marked with the ashes, lets remember that we only have so much time in this world and that Jesus is calling us to conversion and to be His ambassadors of the Kingdom of God.

First Sunday of LentFebruary 21, 2010 In the year 271, Anthony a young man of 20 heard the Gospel at Holy Mass that said If you seek perfection, go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor. You will have treasure in heaven (Matt. 19:21). He took those words to heart and began to live an ascetical life in the desert of Egypt. There with great efforts of prayer and fasting, he endured terrifying struggles with the devil and violent temptations of the flesh. It was in the desert of Egypt that he became a saint and inspired many others to sanctity. In one vision St. Anthony saw the great city of Alexandria; in the entire city there was only one devil who was lounging lazily upon the city wall, while in his little dwelling there was a hoard of devils flying around like a whirlwind doing everything they could to tempt him. He asked the Lord why he was so afflicted while all the people of Alexandria were barely tempted. The response was that the people of the city of Alexandria had so easily given in to sin that the devil didnt have any work to do, but St. Anthony was so faithful and steadfast that the devils did their worst against him but to no avail. The season of Lent is 40 days of prayer, penance and good deeds in order to imitate Jesus who prayed and fasted 40 days in the desert and was tempted by Satan. The early Church realized the need for the season of Lent as a preparation for the Sacred Triduum, the three holy days of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. The Sacred Triduum begins on Holy Thursday evening with the Last Supper and continues through Jesus death and burial to His resurrection and concludes on Easter Sunday eveningthe three most holy days of the year. Like Jesus we too are subject to the temptation of the devil. But unlike our Lord and St. Anthony of the desert we give into temptation fairly easily. Ash Wednesday, like Good Friday, is a fast day for the whole Church and it is pretty easy to fulfillone normal meal two small meals and no eating in between and no meat. Yet, why is it that I felt hungry all day and thought about food many times when normally I would have gone about my daily work without giving it a thought? The devil really doesnt have to do much work on me because my weak human nature and bad habits do his job so well. That makes it all the more important to do even the small things of self-denial in order to strengthen my weak will when it comes to bodily pleasures.

St. Augustine spoke so well about the purpose of spiritual struggle: Our pilgrimage on earth cannot be exempt from trial. We progress by means of trial. No one knows himself except through trial, or receives a crown except after victory, or strives except against an enemy or temptations. Satisfying bodily desires was the first temptation that Jesus endured from the devil. He was incredibly hungry from those many days of fasting and so the devil tempted Him to use His almighty power to work a miracle. Just change those stones into bread. Its a little thingno big deal! But Jesus never used His Divine power for His own comfort, only to help others. There are two ways to deal with temptation: one is to reject it outright, without giving it a consideration; the other way is to think about, imagine it and run the arguments pro and con in your mind. Jesus rejected the temptation of the devil the first way, without giving it consideration; too often we take the second way and are trapped. If we try to reason with evil, bargain with the devil, we will almost always be overcome. The second temptation for Jesus was to exercise power over othersnot to serve them, but to rule them. The devil allowed Jesus to see all the kingdoms of the world with all of their wealth and power. He can have them if only He would bow down and worship the devil. Of course, Jesus already owns the kingdoms of the world and the whole universe which He has made, but for now they are under the power of sin. In regard to the use of power God and the devil come from totally different perspectives. The devil wants to control and master and rule over souls, enslaving them with attachment to sin so that they have no freedom of will and must obey him in fear. Jesus has infinite power, but wants to use it only to serve souls who freely choose to cast off the yoke of sin and lovingly follow Him as their King. The Lord rejected the kind of power that the devil desires. We are tempted with this kind of power, whether it is the leader of a mighty nation or a kingdom of one. Instead of seeing authority as a chance to serve, we use it as an opportunity to ruleto get my way, to seek an advantage for myself by using others. We try to control others by anger or playing the martyr or the silent treatment. We may win arguments and power over others, but only by using the devils tactics. When there are disputes, wouldnt it be better to ask the simple question Am I doing this or saying this because it is the right thing to do or because I want to be right? How often our motivation is just to win an argument rather than do the right

thing? We have the choice to use power like God and are tempted to use power like the devil in so many little ways. The third temptation is to control God. The devil took Jesus to the top of the temple and said that God would protect him if He threw Himself down. Even the devil can quote Scripture; he takes a verse from Psalm 91: He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you. We try to control God, when we expect Him to answer our prayers right now and in the exact way that I have desired. We are tempted to complain, God if you love me, why do you let this bad thing happen? Now we should approach Him as a loving Father, without fear, and tell Him of our anger and disappointment, but it is another thing to think we have the right to demand anything of God. We are always in the position of humbly seeking a favor whenever we pray. Spoiled brats demand, true children askand say Thy will be done. At the end of this Gospel it says the devil departed from him for a time. This means that the devil will be back, particularly in the Garden of Gethsemane and on Calvary to continue his temptation. The old saying is: the devil doesnt take vacations. He is constantly trying to tempt us. Even though he cannot destroy the Church, he does his best to weaken it and make it less effective. We have seen that so clearly in the last 40 years: Catholic politicians dont even have the basic understanding of morality or the courage to stand up for the value and dignity of human life; priests have forsaken their vows of celibacy and human decency in sexual abuse cases; generations of Catholics havent been taught the basics of their faith, including the meaning of the sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and Confession, which are so essential for our conversion and struggle with temptation. When the Church is holy, she can influence the world for good, when she is not, the whole of society suffers a loss. We need Lent more than ever because we need to grow in holiness. God is depending upon us to be His saints and bring the world to Christ.

February 28, 2010Second Sunday of Lent Our citizenship is in heaven St. Paul taught us in the Second Reading this Sunday. It is good for us to think about Heaven since we often feel ourselves pulled away from God by earthly things. The first Christians used the phrase that they were in the world, but not of the world. Like them, we live and work and raise our families in this particular society, but we are members of the Kingdom of God. We repent and struggle against the sin that pulls at us, while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus and Heaven. Sometimes people will ask Is Heaven a state of mind or a place?the answer is both. In Heaven our minds will be enlightened by the glory of the Beatific Vision, but it is definitely a place because we know that there are two human bodies thereJesus and Marys. When Jesus spoke about Heaven, He told the apostles: In my Father house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also (John 14:2-3). Heaven is really going hometo our true home. We all have some kind of concept of home. I know that I do! I have a very specific house in mind. I can imagine driving there since I have done it thousands of timesdriving down Wilshusen Avenue with the small brick houses and large trees that overarch the road; turning onto Kenridge Lane and then Annette Avenue to the last house on the right, turning into the driveway and going to the back door, which we always use; opening the door and I am home! Now you may not have a specific house in mind that means home, but it is really the people and the good memories of the people that we love that make us feel at home. At the end of our earthly lives when death closes our eyes and we are judged by Jesus, most likely in need of purification in Purgatory, we will enter Heaven and know that we are finally homehome for good! There we will see the faces of the ones we love our God, the Most Blessed Trinity, Mary and Joseph, our Guardian Angels and patron saints, our family and friends who are the saints of heaven. What a blessed homecoming it will be! In the Bible the idea of the Promised Land eventually came to stand for Heaven. However, the people of the Old Testament had a very earthly understanding of it. Remember, heaven wasnt a clear idea to them; it had been closed because of Original Sin and would not be open again until the

Resurrection of Jesus. Still they had the first glimpse of its true meaning as we see in our First Reading. There we see Abram, whose name means Father, and was not yet changed to Abraham, meaning the Father of nations speaking to God. God has just called him from his homeland, saying Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so shall your descendants be. God promised him a new homeland, saying I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession. God made this covenant with Abraham in a mystical vision after Abraham offered a sacrifice of animals. The blood of the sacrifice was a sign that this event was a grave and solemn mattera matter of life and death. Later, when the Jews had been away from their homeland for over 400 years and were reduced to cruel slavery in Egypt, they had not forgotten the Promised Land. God called Moses to lead them from slavery to freedom, but they would only return home after 40 years of wandering in the desert because of their worship of the golden calf at the very foot of Mount Sinai when Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments, the first of which said You shall not have strange gods before me. Every fall, the Jewish people celebrated the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles when they would leave their homes and live in tents like their ancient ancestors who wandered in the desert on the way to the Promised Land. They camped out for a week and celebrated Gods blessings. Besides pointing to their past history, it also pointed to the future. It anticipated the time when the Messiah would come and all the just would dwell in joy and peace in the fulfillment of all Gods promises. The Transfiguration of Jesus in todays Gospel took place during the Feast of Booths. That is why Peter in the middle of an ecstasy, more sublime than Abrahams, cried out Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Peter saw Jesus with the light of His Divinity shining through His human nature and Moses and Elijah, the two great figures of the Law and the Prophets, standing next to Him and he understood that this was the time of the Messiah, this was the time of the realization of all Gods plans. The true meaning of the Feast of Booths was being fulfilled right before his eyes! For Christians the idea of the Promised Land would be transformed to mean the Kingdom of Heaven. No earthly reality could ever be as great as what God has prepared in Heaven for those who love Him. At the

Transfiguration, the voice of God the Father from the cloud indicated the way to get to Heaven: This is my chosen Son; listen to Him. It is through faith in Jesus, the Beloved Son and following Him that we can get to the true Promised Land. Peter was right to see this event of the Transfiguration as the beginning of the times of the Messiah, but they were not the completion. Peter, James and John would come out of the ecstasy and go down from the mountain. There they would find a boy possessed by the devil and the sin and suffering of life. What a contrast between the ecstasy they had just experienced, which was a glimpse of heaven, and the misery and messiness of human life! The Gospel told us that Moses and Elijah spoke to Jesus about His exodus that He was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. The word exodus links Jesus death and resurrection to the Exodus in the Old Testament. Jesus was going to Jerusalem to die as the innocent Lamb of God, like the Paschal lamb that was sacrificed the night before the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. Jesus would bring about our exodus, our freedom, from sin and death and lead us into the Promised Land of Heaven. The only way to get to the joy of Heaven is by following the path that Jesus tookthrough the rough and narrow road of the Cross. It is by bearing our crosses each daylarge and smalland uniting them with Christ crucified that we make our way to eternal lifeday by day. We can actually be coredeemers with Christ. Lets push forward with our Lenten sacrifices and walk each day with Jesus through the Crosses of this life to the joy of the Promised Land.

Third Sunday of LentMarch 7, 2010 You could read headlines in todays newspapers just like the news brought to Jesus in our Gospel: people were killed by a falling tower and others killed by foreign soldiers, right in the Temple. Terrible events, such as these are always taking place; only the names and locations change. When He heard of them, Jesus asked: Do you think that they were more guilty than anyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Jesus saw in these events, something that others did not. First of all, Jesus saw those two tragedies as a foreshadowing of what would happen in the future. He knew that if the Jews kept up their plotting and intrigue and rebellion they would commit national suicide and that is exactly what happened. In 70 AD the Roman army attacked Jerusalem and destroyed the citytearing down all of its towers and killing all of its people. Only the Jewish Christians escaped the terror because they fled to the nearby abandoned city of Pella. They knew the prediction of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Luke: When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains and let those who are inside the city depart (Luke 21:20-21). Secondly, Jesus wanted to break the idea that there was a direct connection between the suffering of the individual and sin: Do you think that they were more guilty than anyone else . . . ? It was the common opinion that those who suffered where guilty of sin and were obviously being punished for it. Sometimes we think like that. We express it with ideas, such as, What did I do to deserve this? Im a good person! Why did God let this happen to me? Sin does cause suffering, but it is false to reverse it and say my suffering is the result of my sin. When we sin there are built-in consequences; some of them are obvious. For example, if I get angry and punch a wall, I will see a clear punishment that results from my anger: my fist will be hurt and there will be a hole in the wall. But the consequences of sin that I dont see are far worse. Jesus put anger under the Fifth Commandment, You shall not kill. When I loose my temper I kill things like friendship, respect and self-esteem in the victim of my anger. I also damage my relationship with God; if the degree of anger

is serious matter, I destroy the life of grace in my soul and cut myself off from Godmortal sin, deadly sin. Throughout the Bible we see a pattern of sin on a national level. Again and again, the nation of Israel turned from God to idolatry, which leads to every kind of sin. Then they were conquered by another nation because God abandoned them to the consequences of their sin. Even those who didnt agree with the direction of the country were bound to their nation in many ways and its consequences. This is a principle that we can apply to the United States of America. We have to be very much aware that in our own country when sin, particularly abortion, is dominating the nation we are in danger. There will be consequences for all if we do not repent. Liberty without responsibility is license and anarchy. The saying, Freedom is not free means that we have to fight for true freedom and protect it when it is threatened. Even though God allowed Israel to be punished for their sins, He never abandoned them. He always desired their repentance and return to Him. We see Gods fidelity in our First Reading and the parable from the Gospel. When Israel was far from God, living a life of cruel slavery in Egypt, God called Moses from the midst of the burning bush that was not consumed by fire. He told Moses I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering. Therefore I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians and lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Even though God did not forget His people and led them out from Egypt by great miracles they still rebelled. And still, God did not give up on them. After many prophets, He would send His own beloved Son! The parable of the fig tree also illustrates Gods fidelity. The owner of the fig tree realized that it had not born fruit in three years and told the gardener to cut it down. But the gardener asks for more time to fertilize and cultivate it for another year. The parable teaches us about the patience of God and how He wants to give us every chance and grace to repent and bear good fruit in our lives. He will never force us, but always invites us to return to Him.

There is a moving poem by Francis Thompson called the Hound of Heaven. In it he first describes his own life in which he tries to run from God, like all of us: I fled Him, down the nights and down the days; I fled Hem, down the arches of the years; I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways Of my mind; and in the midst of tears I hid from Him and under running laughter. . . . The poet continues that God will not give up on him; he hears His footsteps behind like a hound that doesnt give up seeking its prey: From those strong Feet that followed after. But with unhurrying chase, And unpertbed pace, Deliberate speed, majestic instancy They beatand a voice beat More instant than the Feet All things betray thee, who betrayest me. God will not give up on us, so no matter what, we should not give up on Him! ---------------------------------------------------There were two developments the past two weeks concerning our future building: 1) Sanitary sewers should be in place by the middle of next year 2) At a meeting with Archdiocesan finance people this past Mondaythey are working on a plan for the loan, then with the Archbishops permission we can work with the architect on detailed plans, put out the bids and break ground by fall.

Fifth Sunday of LentMarch 21, 2010 The Gospel today takes us from the most terrifying moment that is possible to imagine to the most exhilarating moment. The Pharisees and Scribes were about to execute the Law of Moses which commanded that a woman caught in the act of adultery was to be stoned to deathto crush the evil out of the land. As they say today, the Pharisees and Scribes didnt want to waste a crisis so they brought the woman to Jesus in the hope that they could use the situation trip Him up. It must have been well known that Jesus was compassionate to sinners because they asked Him: Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say? If He would say stone her then they could point to His lack of compassion and if He would say let her go then they could say He didnt follow the teaching of Moses. His answer, of course, would literally disarm them! Jesus saw something that terrified Him at this moment. He wasnt afraid of death, everyone has to die and He came into this world to open the gates of Heaven by His death and resurrection. The thing that pierced Him to the Heart was that the soul of this woman would be lost forever to Him. He knew that if this woman died in the state of mortal sin, she would be condemned to hell for all eternity. This is the most terrifying vision that cut Jesus to the heartHis Most Sacred Heart. There is no more terrifying thing than eternal damnation! From the point of view of the woman, she was like a trapped animal. She saw the hatred in the eyes of her accusers and the stones in their hands. In these desperate moments she was totally concentrated on avoiding the pain of the rocks and certain death. She was not looking at her soul as Jesus was; she was not thinking of sorrow for her sin and the immediate judgment that awaited her before God. This woman knew the 10 Commandments, including You shall not commit adultery and was formed by the Jewish culture that surrounded her, but her faith had ceased to guide her life. Far too many people are like this woman. They do not stop to ask themselves how they stand before God if their judgment was today. Even those who call themselves a Christian and know the Ten Commandments and the teaching of the Church will sometimes set up for an alternate set of

beliefs that rationalizes certain sins that they otherwise know are wrong. They have two sets of standards that they use for different aspects of their lives. Sometimes they act out of one set; sometimes they act out of the other set. Jesus taught that a house divided against itself cannot stand. Even though this was in another context, it applies to our souls as well. When we hold two sets of standards, we will feel divided; there will be a lack of peace and direction. Even though the pleasures of the moment will give us a certain satisfaction we will never be deeply happy. We become attached to things and behaviors that are not fitting for a son or daughter of God. God wants us to be just the oppositewhole, authentic, unified. If you ever go to a counselor to seek psychological help, you will most likely be asked two questions: were you abused as a child and are you a Catholic? Most counselors have a bias against the Catholic Church because they think that all Catholics are riddled with guilt. Catholics should be the most free and happy of all people. However, the truth of the matter is that the Catholic Church has a very clear understanding of right and wrong which has been revealed by God. Just look in the section of the CCC, which covers the Ten Commandments and lists all the sins that fall under each one. If you form your conscience well, you are going to feel guilt when you violate your conscience. Then if you dont use the means that God has given for healing, you will never find relief; you will be riddled with guilt and feel trapped. You will never become whole. What are the means to find healing? First, examine your conscience in the light of God. The ancient Greek philosophers got it right; Plato said An unexamined life is not worth living and Socrates said simply Know thyself. If we never take the time to be alone with God and examine how we stand before Him, then we cannot take the first step toward healing. Secondly, we need to have sorrow for our sins. This doesnt mean that we have to have tears flowing from our eyes, but that we have to have the interior act of sorrow. There are two motivations for our sorrow. The traditional Act of Contrition explains them well when it says: I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. Because my sins deserve punishment and I dont want to be punished, I am sorry for them. Many people would do well to begin with this motivation for sorrow, but the Act of Contrition continues but most of all, because

they offend Thee, my God who are all good and deserving of all my love. This is called a perfect act of contrition because the motive for my sorrow is not just the breaking of a law, but the hurting of a Friend, a Divine Friend, by my sins. I need to look at the Crucifix and think, My sins put You there, Jesus! The Crucifix is the visible picture of how my sins have hurt my God who loves me with an infinite love. How ungrateful and selfish I am when I sin! The next step is to get rid of all near occasions of sin. I have to avoid any person, place or thing that will easily lead me to sin again. This is where we often falter. It is so hard to give them up! They keep pulling us back to sin. Then we have to confess our sins and do penance. The Sacrament of Penance is too often misunderstood. It is not just a cleansing of sins, but it is an encounter with Jesus Christ. In the Gospel we read that all the men left the street one by one dropping their stones because they knew that they were sinners too and could not cast the first stone at the woman. She found herself alone with Jesus who asked: Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She replied, No one, sir. It is impossible to imagine the love and mercy in His face when He said Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more. This Gospel takes us from the most terrifying moment to the most exhilarating moment of mercy. How easily we forget that the Sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist and Penance, are a true encounter with the mercy of Jesus Christ for us in the present. He is still with us; He is still forgiving us. The woman in todays Gospel has long been thought to be Mary Magdalene, but you really cannot tell that from the Gospel text itself. If it was Mary Magdalene then we know what happened to this woman, she lived a life of penance and did not return to her sin, but became a saint. The question is still open for me and you, will I waste the gift of God who loves and forgives me or will I accept the mercy of God, turn away from sin and become truly His? The verdict is still out!

Palm SundayMarch 28, 2010 There is a very moving painting of Jesus that shows Him carrying the Cross or perhaps it takes place at the very moment that He receives the Cross. The painting is a close-up of His Head, which is crowned with thorns, and His shoulders. You can see His hand holding just a part of the beam of wood, which is pressed to His Face. The expression on His Face is not one of pain or sorrowbut of love. It looks as if He loves the wood of the Holy Cross which He is being forced to carry to His death on Calvary. This painting certainly expresses the inner disposition of Jesus during His suffering and death. He didnt fear the Cross; He loved the Cross because through it He knew that we would be saved. We have read the Gospel of the Passion of St. Luke and we will read the Passion of St. John on Good Friday. Lent has focused us on the Cross as we did penance and made sacrifices and prayed, particularly, the Stations of the Cross. It is important for us to do so, but it is not enough for us to look upon the Cross from a distance. Jesus taught us If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23). What is your daily Cross? It is the conflict with members of your family with spouse or children; it is aches and pains or a more serious illness; it is the financial problems or loss of your car keys; it is the missed opportunity or the driver who cuts you off; its the temptation to sin that wont leave you alone. On and on the sufferings of daily life present themselves to us. When confronted with suffering we have a choice. We can waste them by only gritting our teeth and bearing them or losing our temper or becoming depressed. We can also choose to turn those sufferings into the daily Cross that Jesus speaks about. This happens when we unite them one by one to Jesus crucified. Just as God made the sufferings of Jesus the means of our salvation, he can also use our sufferings for the reparation of our sins and the sins of the whole world. St. John Damascene wrote: We must sacrifice ourselves to God, each day and in everything we do, accepting all that happens to us for the sake of the Word [Jesus Christ], imitating His passion by our sufferings, and honoring His Blood by shedding our own. We must be ready to be crucified. As Christians we need to learn to love the Cross as Jesus did and see it as the primary means to reach holiness and heaven.

If we bear the Cross with Jesus, we will not be alone in our sufferings. He experienced everything that we suffer; He understands them better than anyone else. The holy Cross becomes the key to the door to heaven for those who wish to be disciples of Jesus. If anyone would be my disciple, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Holy ThursdayMass of the Lords SupperApril 1, 2010 Tonight, we begin to walk with Jesus through the three most important days in the history of the world. His suffering, death and resurrection took place for our benefit, for the redemption of the world. Without Jesus sacrifice there would be no hope for us to break the slavery of sin and no hope of eternal life. The world has been profoundly changed by what Jesus did during these three Holy Days. The sacrament of the Holy Eucharistthe Eucharistic Sacrificewhich Jesus gave to us on the night before He died is the summary of these great events. Like the Paschal sacrifice and meal of the Old Covenant, this sacrificial meal is the perpetual institution of what Almighty God has done for us through His Son in the New Covenant. Once a year the Jewish people celebrate the Feast of Passover in which they do not just remember, but reliverenewthe great events that happened when Moses led His people out of slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. God manifested His power to His people in miraculous waysin the Ten Plagues, the crossing through the Red Sea and His mysterious Presence leading them by a pillar of fire and cloud, which eventually rested upon the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies. The First Reading told us about the institution of the Passover meal, with its ritual, so that the people of Israel would not just remember these events but that they would be a part of their lives, no matter how many generations would follow. The CCC teaches us The Old Testament prepares for the New and the New Testament fulfills the old (#140). The Feast of Passover was fulfilled in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The paschal lamb, whose blood was placed on the doorposts and lintel of the house to ward off the angel of death, was fulfilled by Jesus, the Lamb of God. His Precious Blood which was shed upon the altar of the Cross is now poured out upon us to purify and strengthen us in the sacraments. God wants us to liveand to live forever. The fulfillment of the Passover happens in a particular way in the Holy Eucharist. The words of consecration make the connection between the two: This is the cup of my Blood, the Blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me.

At the Last Supper, Jesus told the apostles to Do this in memory of me. They would have immediately connected what He was doing to what they had always done in the Passover, now fulfilled in a New Covenant. Those words werent just a command to keep on celebrating this new paschal meal in the New Covenant, but also the power to do so. Those are the words of ordination to the priesthood for the apostles and the institution of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Right along with the institution of the Holy Eucharist is the institution of the priesthood. The priesthood is absolutely essential to the Eucharist; without it there would be no Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and no Holy Communion. If I can do nothing else that is good as a priest, if all my attempts to serve others by preaching and pastoral work fail, then I can offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with love, reverence and devotion and my priesthood is fulfilled. There is an inspiring story of the only priest ever ordained in a Nazi concentration camp; his name is Karl Leisner. He was born in Germany in 1915 to a strong Catholic family. He was a good student and became a youth leader; his beaming smile opened many hearts to him. He struggled with sin, but made firm resolutions in the spiritual battle that we all face. When he was 18 years old, the National Socialists came into power under Hitler and Karl wrote: At school the confrontations are becoming more and more harsh. . . We are castigated as Catholic activists, enemies of the State. . . We are all the more proud for it. In spite of the many dark moments which inspire fear, we are holding very high the Catholic banner of the youth movement. At the end of that year of 1933, Karl decided on a vocation to the priesthood during a silent retreat and began his studies. He wrote: Solitude has strengthened me; it has given me the definitive courage to dare to take upon myself the burden of a priestly vocation. 5 years later he was ordained sub-deacon and then deacon by Bishop von Galen, known as the Lion of Munster for his opposition to the Nazis. Deacon Karl had been in a state of exhaustion with coughing fits for some time before his ordination and was diagnosed with advanced tuberculosis. By the time he began to recover, war had broken out and Europe was in flames. While in the hospital Karl made an offhand comment to a friend who was a Nazi sympathizer that it was too bad that Hitler made it through a recent attempt on his life. He was reported to the authorities and was soon interred in the Nazi concentration camp of Dachau. Even though the conditions were horrendous, he was eventually moved to a section for the

clergy were they had the immense consolation of attending Holy Mass. Karl ended up in the infirmary, which was little better than the rest of the death camp, but there he became known as the angel of comfort because the sick confided in him and he secretly kept a little box of Hosts so that as a deacon he could give Holy Communion to others. He knew that his dream for ordination to the priesthood could never be fulfilled there. In 1944, a French bishop was arrested and sent to the camp; all the prisoners began to ask Why doesnt the bishop ordain Karl a priest? Secretly they got permission from Karls bishop and all the arrangements were made down to the last details of vestments. On December 17, 1944 Father Karl Leisner was secretly ordained, while the Protestant clergy kept watch for the camp guards. He said his first Holy Mass nine days later. The Americans liberated the concentration camp of Dachau in April of 1945, but it was too late to save Father Leisner since his illness had become terminal. He was only able to offer the Holy Mass one more time and wrote in his journal that day Also bless, O Most High, my enemies. He died on August 12, 1945. Pope John Paul beatified him in 1996. He offered only two Holy Masses, but his priesthood was fruitful to an infinite degree and his charity is inspiring to all who hear of Father Karl Leisner, the only priest to be ordained in a Nazi concentration camp. The Holy Mass and the Priesthood are two inestimable gifts of Gods love to the Church. They are meant to move us to bring Jesus Christ to the world through our own deeds of love. In a few moments I will call up 12 men to represent the 12 apostles and wash their feet as Jesus washed the apostles feet. His words explain the action: If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one anothers feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.

Good Friday ServiceApril 2, 2010 In the words of our First Reading we have what appears to be an eyewitness description of the Crucifixion. However, they were written by the Prophet Isaiah eight centuries before Jesus was born. God gave Isaiah great visions of the birth and death of Christ and also an understanding of their meaning. He wrote Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, while we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. Jesus suffered all that He did in His Sacred Passion so that our sins could be forgiven, so that we could be reconciled with God. The Gospel of St. John and the Passion, which we have just read, shows Jesus who fulfilled His mission step by step without faltering; nothing happened by chance. When Judas left the Last Supper to betray Jesus, Our Lord was not depressed and defeated. The Gospel of John reports Him saying: Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him (John 13:31). He knew that the upcoming events would cause Him terrible pain, both physically and spiritually, but it was all part of Gods loving plan to save the world. He came to show us how to love one another. Genuine love means sacrifice and always results in the glory of God. When Jesus was brought before Pilate, he was amazed at Him, not the least because He was unafraid of this soldier of Rome who had power over life and death. All other prisoners were begging for their lives before Pilate. Jesus was a King nobler than any Caesar and He said to Pilate: My kingdom does not belong to this world. Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God and was doing so at that very moment by His suffering and apparent defeat. His kingdom was not like an earthly kingdom of pride and wealth and armies, but of love and grace and truth. St. Johns Passion gives us three of the seven Last Words of Jesus. First, He gives us the gift of His Holy Mother to be our Mother. St. John standing at the foot of the Cross represents all those who would be the future disciples of Jesus, so he said to Mary Woman, behold your son; then to the Beloved Disciple and to us Behold your Mother. Jesus gave us redemption, but that was not enough, He wanted to give us more, to give us everything that was precious to Himeven His own Blessed Mother. Mary became a spiritual mother to all the disciples of Jesus from this moment.

Next He said I thirst. Of all the sufferings that He endured, why would He make the immense effort to speak about that particular one? His thirst on the Cross from dehydration was a symbol for His thirst for souls to come to God. You see, Jesus paid the debt of our sins and offers redemption to the whole world, but each individual of his own free will must accept or reject it. Archbishop Fulton Sheen wrote: Some men have a passion for money, others for fame; His passion was for souls! Give Me to drink meant give Me thy heart. The tragedy of Divine love for mankind is that in His thirst men gave Him vinegar and gall. He wants our salvation and He gives us the grace, but God always respects our free will and refuses to violate it. We often make a poor return to Jesus for His love. The final words of Jesus are It is finished. The great work of redemption was completed when Jesus said this Last Word and breathed His last, giving up His spirit into the hands of His Heavenly Father. He fulfilled ever prophecy in the Old Testament, down to the least significantHis work was done. His death was a His choice and He gave everything that He could to show His love for you. John includes in his account of the Passion, the piercing of the side of Jesus by the soldiers spear. He states categorically that he was an eyewitness to this and quotes two scripture passages to show how this piercing of the Heart of Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. When the soldier thrust the spear into His side blood and water flowed forth. The Fathers of the Church realized that this symbolized the grace that comes to us through the Church and her seven sacraments, particularly through the water of baptism. St. Catherine of Sienna, in one of her many mystic visions asked Jesus why He wanted His Heart to be pierced after His death; He couldnt suffer any more for our redemption after He gave up His spirit. Jesus replied I had finished the actual work of bearing pain and torment, and yet I had not been able to show by finite things, because my love was infinite, how much more love I had, I wished thee to see the secret of the Heart, showing it to thee, so that thou might see how much more I loved than I could show thee by finite pain. I poured from it Blood and Water to show you the baptism of water which is received in virtue of the Blood. Our Blessed lord shows us all the love of His Sacred Heart by His suffering and death on this day. We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

The Resurrection of the LordEaster SundayApril 4, 2010 If you have ever read a really good adventure story, you can easily get caught up in the struggles of the hero. There are times when it seems as if all the forces of evil are insurmountable and you are afraid that he will be killed or give up the quest and all that is good will be destroyed. You might get so wrapped up in the story that you want to look at the ending to make sure everything comes out all right. We have an epic adventure of the greatest significance in the life and suffering and death of Jesus. We have once again reflected upon it in Lent and particularly since Holy Thursday evening when we recalled the Last Supper and the beginning of Jesus Passion and Death on the Cross. Jesus waged a spiritual battle against the powers of the devil and on Good Friday it appeared that the devil had won once again and that Jesus had lost! We are part of this great adventure. Our lives can often seem monotonous and boring or at times filled with great peril for ourselves or those who are dear to us. We experience sickness and strife and evil and death at so many moments. There are times when we wonder if everything is going to turn out well for us or our loved ones or our Church or our country. At those moments we would like to see the end of the storya happy endingso that we will not give in to fear and despair. We are celebrating today the triumph of Our Blessed Lord who defeated Satan by the wood of the Cross and rose from the dead on Easter Sunday morning. Easter tells us the end of the story of the life of our Blessed Lordit was triumph and victory and eternal joy. But His death was not just for Him alone; it is also the picture of what will happen to us. If we endure the daily Cross, seek His infinite mercy and remain His faithful disciples, the story of our lives will have the same happy ending as His. The victory of Christ is our victory, too! Because of the grace of Easter the world has changed! We often forget that truth. For example, sometimes people will say that the way God appears in the Old Testament is so different than in the New Testament. When you read the Old Testament, He appears to be demanding and punishing and fearsome, while in the New Testament He looks like a loving Father who is infinitely merciful. Did God change? No, God is the same yesterday, today and forever; what happened is that we have changed in our perspective and

that is reflected in the Holy Bible. If you were looking out of a window at a magnificent landscape and the window was covered in mud and filth, you would barely be able to make out that view, it would look fuzzy and dark, so that the beauty is obscured. If you moved over to the next window that was perfectly clean, you would see that scene in all its clarity and beauty. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus we can now see God in all His Love and Mercy. Remember, the Old Testament picture is not totally wrong, just incomplete. God is a good Father and like all good fathers, He is demanding and wants only the best for His children. By baptism, we are made His sons and daughters; a new relationship has been created. We have been given sight! St. Paul asked the Romans in his Epistle: Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we to might live in newness of life.

Because of the grace of Easter, we have a new strength. We are no longer the prisoners of sin and our human weakness. We can rise above the selfishness and baseness of animals that seek only their own pleasure and comfort because the prince of this world, the devil, has been defeated. However, the devil will not give up in his battle to lead us to hell, but he no longer has power over us, if we submit to the Lordship of Christ crucified and risen. St. Paul told the Colossians: If then, you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. This grace of Easter is given us through the seven sacraments of Holy Mother Church. Those of us who are lifelong Catholics can easily get accustomed to the grace that comes to us in the sacraments and take it for granted. We can forget the great strength and hope and mercy that Christ Jesus pours out upon us each time we have our sins forgiven in Confession and receive the Bread of Life, the Bread of Angels, the Body and Blood of Jesus in Holy Communion. As a reminder to us of the goodness of God, we are privileged in our little parish to receive 4 adults into the Catholic Church who have already been baptized in other Christian denominations. They are making their profession of faith and receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation and their First Holy Communion. They are Harold Buckley, Jr., Steve Overturf, and David and Kendal Williams. Also two other

Catholic men are receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation: they are Jerry Engelhard and Justin Lane. They are joining hundreds throughout the Archdiocese of St. Louis and tens of thousands of people throughout the world who are seeking Gods grace as members of the Catholic Churchthe Body of Christ. Their commitment and example will help all of us to be better Christians and we welcome and thank them for responding to the grace of Jesus Christ. It is almost impossible for us to grasp the greatness of the Sacraments instituted by Jesus Christ to give us Divine Life. The CCC teaches that the Sacraments are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in His Body, the Church. They are the masterworks of God in the new and everlasting covenant (#1116). We cannot progress in faith and hope without the constant gift of God that comes to us each time we reverently and devoutly receive them. They are the fruits of Jesus death and resurrection which we are celebrating during these Holy Days. Thanks be to God for all that He has done to save us and make us His children. Jesus Christ is Risen as He said. Alleluia, Alleluia!

Divine Mercy SundayApril 11, 2010 Jesus appeared to a Polish Sister named Faustina Kowalska in the late 1930s in order to ask her to be His Apostle of Divine Mercy and spread a new devotion throughout the Church. Jesus wanted to concentrate our attention on this important characteristic of mercy in a world that is so unmerciful. Shortly after St. Faustina received these visions the Nazis invaded Poland and World War II began with its reign of death and despair. At the same time, Communism in Russia was killing millions, making people slaves of the government; it was advancing in country after country and remains in China and Cuba, among others, to this day. Our own century began with the horrific attacks of radical Islamic terrorism on 9/11. The mercilessness of the world looks more alarming today than it did in the 1930s when Jesus asked for this new devotion of Divine Mercy. You can see the connection to the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus by looking at the picture that Jesus asked St. Faustina to have painted. Jesus is shown, not with His Heart exposed, but with two rays of light coming from His chestone red and the other white. He told St. Faustina that they represented the blood and water that flowed from His side when the soldier pierced His Heart with a spear. In the painting they are meant to signify the abundance of mercy that Jesus is pouring out upon the whole world. The Divine Mercy and the Sacred Heart devotions are expressions of Jesus attitude toward us and the whole world mercy and love. Our Lord asked St. Faustina to have the Sunday after Easter designated as Divine Mercy Sunday and the Servant of God, Pope John Paul did so in 2002; he died on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday 2005. Little by little this devotion has spread; it calls us not only to meditate on the mercy of God and be comforted by that mercy, but also to practice mercy towards others. Sometimes we hold up lofty standards for others that we dont apply to ourselves and then we get angry and refuse to forgive them when they dont live up to them. Be merciful as the Lord is merciful! The Gospel on this Sunday narrates the first gift of the risen Christ to His Church on Easter Sunday evening. Jesus institutes the Sacrament of Penance or what could rightly be called the Sacrament of Mercy. He appeared to His apostles and showed them His hands and His side as a proof that it really was Him, the One who was crucified, but was now alive. Not for that reason only, for the five wounds which He kept on His glorified

human body are meant as an eternal testimony of the sacrificial love of God for us. That sacrifice gave us the grace of reconciliation and the forgiveness of our sins, which comes to us in a remarkable way through the seven sacraments. He turned to his apostles breathing on them and giving them the initial gift of the Holy Spirit, which would come in its fullness on Pentecost. He then gave them the power to forgive sins in His name: Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained. The apostles went forth forgiving sins after baptism in the name of Jesus; the bishops and priests of the Church have continued to do so in every time and place. The early Christians called Confession a second baptism. To believe in the risen Christ, His Church and His sacraments takes faith. Although we can study the bible and the teachings of the Church, we cannot believe in them without the gift of faith. Doubting Thomas, as he has been called, was not present with the apostles on Easter Sunday evening. When his good friends witnessed to him the fact that they had actually seen and touched and talked with Jesus who was risen as He promised, he would not believe. Usually when a reliable witness tells us something that is reasonable, or at least possible, we will accept it as true. But Thomas said: Unless I see the mark of the nails in His hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. In spite of the reliable witness of his fellow apostles, Thomas did not yet have the gift of faith that would allow him to believe without seeing. Jesus chastises Thomas when He appears to him the next Sunday: Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed. All of us need an increase of faith. Faith doesnt end with believing in true doctrine and following the moral law, as important as that is. It really means much more; it means adhering to Jesus as my best Friend. It means seeing Him as a real Person who loves me and I can love in return. It means that I see Him as someone I want to talk to in prayer; someone I can rely upon and trust when all other friends leave me. He is always my true Friend who doesnt sugar coat things, but forgives me and calls me back to goodness when I am selfish and sinful. Many people do not have a faith that goes beyond the surface. They know that when they turn from the Commandments they are in danger of loosing their soul; they know that they should attend Sunday Mass and pray; they have a loose idea of being faithful to the Church, but it never develops into a

real and living faith. They often feel trapped by sinful habits and have a general sense of having lost their way, but they never take the steps necessary to have a dynamic faith and a true Friendship with Jesus Christ. This is what our Lord is continually calling us to. Lord, increase my faith! Faith in Christ and His Church means that we have to be courageous in our defense of the Church and the Holy Father. We live in a world that will use any means to destroy the Catholic Church; even something as horrible as child sexual abuse, which statistics show is more prevalent among family members than among the clergy, becomes a tool to harm the Church. Pope Benedict has done more than anyone to root out this grave evil and the Catholic Church has done more than any institution in this country, including public schools, to set up the mechanism to prevent it from happening in the future. The problem is that sexual abuse cannot be stopped in a world where morality and self-control are mocked. The media and the culture promote pornography as a right or a matter of freedom and then they are surprised when people act upon the filth that they see. When our Holy Father was elected Pope in April 2005 he said this: My dear friends, at this moment I can only say: pray for me, that I may learn to love His flock more and morein other words, you, the holy Church, each one of you and all of you together. Pray for me, that I may not flee for fear of the wolves. Let us pray for one another, that the Lord will carry us and that we will learn to carry one another. He knew the trials that a Pope had to endure. This past Holy Saturday the husband of St. Gianna died. Pietro Molla was 97 years old. One priest who knew the family well commented that sanctity didnt end with St. Gianna. Sanctity is catching; by its very nature it radiates out to others. Pietro Molla was married to St. Gianna for 6 years and lived after her death for 48 years, now I am sure they will spend all eternity together in the joy of the Most Blessed Trinity. Lord Jesus, help us to have a living faith that radiates out to others so that we may all come to the glory of heaven.

First Holy Communion MassApril 17, 2010 If you tried to think of the greatest treasure of the Catholic Church, you might think of St. Peters Basilica in Rome. It is the largest Church in the world, decorated with marble and mosaics; its magnificent dome can be seen from all over the city of Rome. Or you might think of the priceless statue called the Pieta inside St. Peters Church. It was carved out of marble by the famous artist Michelangelo. It shows Mary holding the body of Jesus that was just taken down from the Cross. People travel from all over the world to look at that statue and that Church. But those things are not the greatest treasure of the Catholic Church; you dont have to go far away to find it. As a matter of fact, children, I am going to give you the greatest treasure this afternoon when you receive your First Holy Communion. As you know, Holy Communion is really and truly Jesus. Holy Communion is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus, hidden under the forms of bread and wine. He is our greatest treasure. He comes to us through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and remains with us in the Tabernacle in every Catholic Church throughout the world. Here in our humble little Church of St. Gianna we have a treasure that is greater than all the money and all the artwork and all the magnificent buildings in the worldwe have Jesus in the Holy Eucharist! Why does Jesus come to us in this hidden way as food? First of all, He wants us to know that our souls need Him as much as our bodies need food. When you skip a meal, you soon find your stomach starts speaking to you, growling to tell you to eat and then you start feeling tired and weak because you dont have any energy. Your body is telling you to eat! When you do, you feel strong again. The same is true for our souls. We need the strength of the Bread of LifeHoly Communionto keep us going strong in faith. As a matter of fact, without the Holy Eucharist our souls become weak and we give into sin more easily and we can become sad and feel lost. Jesus comes to us as food for our souls. Look what happened to the Prophet Elijah in our First Reading at this Holy Mass. He was being hunted by his enemy, the wicked Queen Jezebel and fled into the desert. He was hungry and thirsty and was exhausted. He sat down by a scraggly tree and prayed. The Lord gave him a loaf of bread and some water and after he ate and drank, he became like Superman. He got up and walked for forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God.

That was a miraculous food that is meant to make us think of Holy Communion. When we receive Holy Communion with faith and love our souls are strengthened so that we can be faithful to God and resist temptation. It is the Spiritual Food that will get us to Heaven. Another reason that Jesus come to us in this hidden way as food is because He wants us to have faith in Him. Just imagine that there was a great light that would shine from every consecrated Host or lightning and thunder at every Holy Mass. People would certainly notice of something impressive like that! Take our Gospel for example. Jesus was just resurrected from the dead on the first Easter Sunday when He went up to two disciples who were walking on the road to their town of Emmaus. They didnt expect to see Jesus because they thought He was dead and so they didnt recognize Him. He began talking to them about all the predictions of the prophets from the Old Testament about Him. When they got to their home, they asked Jesus to stay with them. He went in and had dinner with them and the Gospel said that Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to them. It looked like what Jesus did at the Last Supper and with that their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, but He vanished from their sight. They didnt recognize Jesus who looked like an ordinary traveler on the road; they didnt realize that Jesus was with them until He did what He did at the Last Supper and we do in every Holy Mass. It was faith that opened their eyes and that is why Jesus stays hidden in Holy Communion. He wants us to have faith in Him; to look for Him; to seek Him even when our sight or taste or touch cant help us. Children, you know that When the bread and wine are brought to the altar and a priest says the words of ConsecrationThis is my body and This is my blood then ordinary unleavened bread and ordinary wine are completely changed into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus. The taste and smell and feel dont change; there are no bright lights and no thunder and lightning. But Jesus comes to us hidden in the Holy Eucharist so that He can feed and strengthen our souls. He helps us avoid sin and leads us little by little to Heaven. Today, you are receiving the greatest treasure of the Catholic Church when you make your First Holy Communion.

Third Sunday of EasterApril 18, 2010 Archbishop Fulton Sheen put it graphically: Dead bodies float downstream. He meant this in reference to the spiritual life. Growth in faith is like swimming upstream, against the current. If we dont keep moving forward in our Friendship with Jesus we dont just stay the same, we fall back. The world, sin and the devil are constantly trying to deaden our souls. Like a swimmer that keeps on pushing ahead we need to keep working on our spiritual lives. After Lent there is a temptation to go back to our old ways. If you fasted there is a temptation to gluttony; if you gave up television or electronics there is a temptation to overdo it; if you spent extra time in prayer there is a temptation stop praying altogether. This is part of the point of our Gospel today. The apostles had seen the resurrected Jesus two times already, but they didnt know what to do about it. On Pentecost Sunday when they would receive the Holy Spirit in His fullness, He would guide them to go out to all the nations and preach the Gospel fearlessly. At this point, they decided to go back to their old occupationfishing. Peter, James and John and several of the apostles went out into the boat all night and caught nothing. Jesus is not going to let them go backward; He has a great mission for them. This third apparition of the Risen Christ is connected to the very first time that Peter met Jesus. That time, too, Peter had been out all night fishing and Jesus asked to use his boat so that He could speak to the crowds. When He was done, He told Peter to put out into the deep and cast his nets again. They had a miraculous catch of fish, just as they did this time when the Risen Christ called to them from the shore. Up to this point they did not yet recognize it was Jesus. He told them to Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something. The Gospel continues: So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord. Peter with his usual enthusiasm jumps into the water and swims to the shore to meet Jesus faster than they could row the boat. St. John notes in his Gospel that they caught 153 large fish. It was believed at that time in history there were 153 nations in the known worldone large fish representing each nation. Again, going back to the first time Peter met Jesus, Jesus told him that he would no longer be a fisherman, but a fisher of men. He could not go back to His old way of life.

What a contrast in attitude with our First Reading that took place after Pentecost Sunday when the apostles had received the Holy Spirit. Peter and the apostles were arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin, the very group that had condemned Jesus to death and could do the same to them. The accusation was We gave you strict orders, did we not, to stop teaching in that name? Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and want to bring this mans blood upon us. Even though the apostles would be scourged and rebuked they would not give up teaching about the saving death and resurrection of Jesus. They were bold and unafraid. The reading from the Acts of the Apostles concludes: So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. It wasnt easy; there would be many obstacles like this, but they were moving forward in their faith and the proclamation of that faith, first in Jerusalem and then to the whole world. We need to keep moving forward in our spiritual lives, too. I would like to recommend a practice that is very brief, but crucial to living for Christ. The very first thing that we should do when the alarm clock goes off is to get up and make a Morning Offering. We should offer our day to the Lord from the beginning. I have one memorized that I have said for many years; it begins: O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day. . . . When you begin the day well, giving it over to the Lord, then no matter what happens, it is a worthwhile day. This brief prayer sets the tone for the day. Of course, this presupposes that you are also doing what in the spiritual life has been called the heroic minute. The heroic minute means that you get up when the alarm goes off and do not lie around or push the snooze button. After all, you are the one who decides when to set it; set it for the time of sleep you need and then get up immediately, offer the day to God and begin the new day. You can see why it is called heroic; there is a tendency for us to be lazy in the morning. There was a study of those who survived long term in the Nazi concentration camps and those who did not. The only difference between the two groups was that those who got up in the morning immediately and did not have to be forced out of bed survived. Even though they had to face a miserable day, they got going. As children of God, we should be grateful for each new day and be ready to get up and go!

The Gospel ends with Jesus asking Peter Do you love me? three times to make up for the three times that Peter denied Jesus on the night before He died. But even more than that, there are three Greek words for love and two of them are used here. Jesus asks Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me with a totally committed, giving-without-counting-the-cost, sacrificial kind of love? Peter answers with the other word for love, saying: You know that I love you, with a friendly, easy-going kind of love. Jesus tells him Feed my sheep in other words, be the Good Shepherd of the flock for me. Jesus will use whatever love we can give Him to bring about good. The second time it is the same: Simon, son of John, do you love me with a totally committed, giving-without-counting-thecost, sacrificial kind of love? Peter answers: You know that I love you, with a friendly, easy-going kind of love. The third time Jesus asks: Simon, son of John, do you love me with a friendly, easy-going kind of love? Peters heart sank and he answered, Lord you know everything; you know that I love you. Peter would grow in his faith and learn to love in that totally committed, sacrificial kind of way. Lets grow in our faith too. Make the Morning Offering, do the heroic minute and begin each day with and for the Lord.

Fourth Sunday of EasterApril 25, 2010 This coming Wednesday is the Feast Day of St. Gianna. Our Parish was established by Archbishop Burke 4 years ago on the Feast Day of St. Gianna, April 28th, 2006. We held our first Sunday Mass here in this building on September 24th, which also happened to be the anniversary of the marriage of St. Gianna and Pietro Molla. We couldnt have asked for a better patron saint for our parish and for our times. In an age when marriage and family and even life itself are under attack, St. Gianna stands as a model for Christian living. From a conversion when she was on a retreat at 16 years of age, Gianna set herself on a deliberate path to heaven. Her first retreat resolution was I resolve to do everything for Jesus; every work of mine, every trouble, I offer all to Jesus. She lived her life with this motto and carried it out in everything that she did. It isnt miraculous events or extraordinary things that make a person a saint, but simply the day to day resolve to follow Jesus; to do the will of God in our state of life. The Fourth Sunday of Easter is called Good Shepherd Sunday and the Gospel always makes reference to Jesus as our Shepherd. We heard His words in todays Gospel: My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. The shepherd in Biblical times was seen as the perfect image of service. The shepherd was constantly with his flock, making sure they had water to drink and green pasture for food. They would keep the wolves and other predators away and would even lay down their lives in order to protect their flock. The sheep on their part would only follow the voice of their shepherd, no one else. Jesus told us that He is like a good shepherd who takes care of his flock. To be in the flock of Christ means that we listen to the voice of Jesus because He wants only the best for us; He feeds us with the finest foodthe Bread of Life, His own Body, Blood, Soul and Divinitythe Holy Eucharist. He loves us and wants to protect us from sin and hell in order to lead us like a Good Shepherd to happiness in Heaven. St. Gianna knew that following the Good Shepherd meant a struggle with herself in many small things: another retreat resolution stated: To obey my teacher and study even though I dont want to, for the love of Jesus. She followed those resolutions and later in life, after she completed her studies as a doctor, she wanted to go work with her brother who was a

missionary priest and doctor in Brazil. (By the way, the investigation of her brothers cause for canonization has begun in Brazil.) Even though that would mean leaving her home in Italy, she was ready to make that sacrifice to serve Christ in the poor as a doctor alongside her brother. However, her health wasnt good enough to live in the hot, humid jungle, so she set about serving God in her own town. St. Gianna listened to the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd and put His love into all that she did. It is prayer that allows us to do this, she wrote: There should not be any day in a disciples life that does not include a specific time for meditation at Gods feet. St. Gianna saw her work as a doctor, not just as a job, but a vocation to serve God, she said May Jesus reveal Himself though us; may He find many physicians who willingly offer themselves to Him. Someone testified to her dedication that she would not leave the clinic until she had seen the last patient, no matter how long it took. If the patient was poor, besides a free examination, Gianna gave him medicines and money. Her understanding of the value of each human life was demonstrated in her care for others. She knew how to serve others consistently, day after day, without drawing attention to herself. She was devoted to her husband and brought him great joy. Pietro related that during their engagement she wrote him a letter saying: I must tell you right away that I am a woman who wants affection very much; I have found you, and I intend to give myself totally in order to form a truly Christian family. He continues: In subsequent letters, her joy, her faith, her humanity, her thanking the Lord for all the good things He gives, came across clearly. She loved her children with all her heart, even to the point of laying down her life so that her fourth baby might be born: Gianna Emmanuella. After St. Giannas death in 1962 after only 6 years of marriage, it must have been a great suffering for Pietro to care for his 4 children without his beloved wife. He later wrote as if speaking to St. Gianna: When the Lord called you to heaven 40 years ago, although we were suffering, we continued to feel that you were increasingly present and near, our protector in heaven. In 2005, Pietro wrote: Ive often thought and said that not even eternity would give me enough time to thank the Lord for the very unique gift He gave me in seeing my beloved Gianna elevated to the highest honors

of the altar. St. Gianna is a woman who reached sanctity by living an ordinary marriage and family life with extraordinary love. It is something that is possible for every member of a Catholic family that is fortified by prayer and the Holy Eucharist. __________________________________________________________ This past Wednesday we met with five men from the Archdiocese who are in charge of recommendations for financial issues to the Archbishop. The good news is that we have been given permission by Archbishop Carlson to build Phase One of our plan. This consists of our transitional Church, offices and the space for four classrooms. The money will come from our capital campaign, the $1 million matching grant that was promised us by Archbishop Burke and a loan from the Archdiocese. This is the good news that will give us our own Church on our own property and will allow us to grow and attract people to be members of St. Gianna Parish. You noticed that I started out with the phrase The good news is which implies that there was some not-so-good-news. This plan does not include a parish school in the foreseeable future. After looking at the number of registered parishioners and the income that we have, they concluded that it would not be possible to build or support a parish school. I want you to know that up until this past week I believed that we would have a school in the immediate future. It was in the plan from my first meeting with Archbishop Burke and strongly supported by Bishop Hermann. I have to be honest with those parishioners who want to put their children in a Catholic School, the pastors of the neighboring parishes with schools have categorically refused to allow St. Gianna parishioners to remain in our parish and have your children attend their schools, at least, without a higher tuition. However, this Friday I spoke with the pastor of St. Josephs Parish in Josephville (not Cottleville) and he agreed to allow our parishioners to attend his school. They have a brand new school building and would welcome any of our parishioners. We already have several parishioners who attend St. Josephs School in Josephville. I am grateful to Father Huber for his generosity. My goal is to make St. Gianna Parish the kind of parish that people will want to join. When they see our prayerfulness, orthodoxy and charity they will flock to us. May God give us the grace that we need to build our parish according to His plan so that we and our families can be models of holiness in the image of St. Gianna, our patron saint!

Fifth Sunday of EasterMay 1, 2010 The Gospel takes us back to the Last Supper and the very moment when Judas leaves to betray Jesus. If you were present at this moment you might be discouraged or angry at the turn of events, but Jesus sees victory. He said: Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in Him. No doubt, there was pain in knowing that one of His chosen apostles would betray Him and that He would be rejected by the very people He came to save, besides all the physical sufferings that awaited Him in His Passion and Death on the Cross, but still He was about to accomplish the very purpose for which He came into this worldour salvation. This was the time of fulfillment and glorification, when the love of God for mankind would be manifested. Jesus then gives the New Commandment: Love one another. In some ways the command to love one another or love your neighbor as yourself was not new; it was taught by God from the beginning, such as in the third Book of the Bible, Leviticus. The Jews did their best to live it but often their idea of neighbor was very limited and could not embrace anyone outside of their own nation or race. Jesus calls it a new commandment because He was going to give the world the powersanctifying graceto live that love in a new way. The ancient Greeks had three words for love and the highest form of love was agape; it was thought to be too difficult for mere mortals. It was a love that was totally committed, self-sacrificial and so exalted that only the gods could possibly live that kind of love. Jesus didnt just tell His disciples to live that kind of love; He also gave us the strength. Our Lord continued at the Last Supper: As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. How did Jesus love us? He loved us totally and completely, by giving everything, even laying down His life for us. His love is sacrificial and life-giving. In the English language, we use the one word love to express many different things. We say I love pizza or I love baseball or I love you or I love God using the same word. When I was a boy, the Sisters would correct us in the classroom when we said I love candy or soccer. They would teach us to say I like candy or I like soccer and keep the word love for truly loveable things, like people and God. They understood something that most did not. The Second Vatican Council taught: Man can only find himself through the sincere gift of self. Only when we can give ourselves in love to

another will we be fulfilled. It may seem as if giving oneself results in a loss, but in regard to love it means fulfillment. A Judge told me this true story: a woman came into a lawyers office announcing that she wanted to divorce her husband. The husband didnt pay any attention to her and was more concerned about his business and his interests than in hershe had enough of it and wanted to really make him feel her pain in this divorce. The lawyer suggested a way to do that; he told her to that for the next month, she should be as nice to her husband as she could be. She should make sure he had everything that he wanted, constantly be attentive to him and make his life heaven on earth, then after a month give him a call and they will serve the divorce papers and shock him completely. Six weeks went by and the lawyer didnt here from the woman, so he called her and she said O, I forgot to call you, we are getting ready to go on a second honeymoon. When I started to treat him like a king as you advised, he started treating me in the same way. Our marriage has completely changed and now I wont need your services. Good bye. When we make a sincere gift of self we will find all that we really want. On the other hand, someone recently told me that many years ago at his fifth high school reunion one of his classmates said she was getting divorced because her husband was not making her happy. At their 30th high school reunion the same woman was in her fifth marriage and still wasnt happy. She never will be unless she can learn to give herself without counting the cost like Jesus taught us to do and did Himself for the salvation of the world. If only we could learn to live the New Commandment. There is only one creature of God that has lived this New Commandment perfectly, that is our Blessed Mother Mary. Her whole purpose in life was to love God completely and by loving everyone in order to bring them to the love of God. Her Immaculate Heart was, and is, filled with the pure love that brings souls to God. She wants to help us to live the command of love. The month of May is the month of Mary. It is a reminder to increase our love and devotion to Holy Mary, so that she can help us to love Jesus more. Mary never keeps any devotion and love for herself, but hands it all to God for His glorification. In a particular way, I would like to recommend to you the daily Rosary. I never let a day go by without reciting this beautiful prayer that has been recommended by the Popes for ages. Its origin is lost in history, but its present form goes back to St. Dominic who received an apparition of the

Blessed Virgin in 1208; she asked him to spread the Rosary as a means of combating heresy. Rosary means a Crown of Roses given as a spiritual bouquet to our Blessed mother. The four sets of Mysteriesjoyful, luminous, sorrowful and gloriousallow us to meditate on the life of Jesus and Mary throughout the year. We dont just think about Jesus birth at Christmas or His death on Good Friday, when we pray the daily Holy Rosary; the life of Jesus is continually before us to teach us how to live and love and to suffer in this world. The Servant of God, Pope John Paul called it his favorite prayer after the Holy Mass and the Divine Office and said How beautiful the family that recites the Rosary every evening. Parents should adapt the Rosary to their family situationmaybe saying only a decade each night or having the children lead the prayers; using a Bible verse that corresponds to the mystery or having a picture that illustrates it. The best place to pray the Rosary is before the Blessed Sacrament with few distractions. However, dont fall into the error that says if I cant pray in the ideal conditions then I wont pray at all. It is better to pray, even poorly, than not to pray. Pray the Rosary when you are driving, it will keep you calm in traffic; pray it when you are walking for exercise; pray one decade when you have a five minute break at work and the next decade when you have a few minutes and little by little you can pray a Rosary in each day. Entrust yourself to Mary and she will lead you to Jesus. Mary above all will help you to live the New Commandment to love one another.

May 9, 2010Sixth Sunday of Easter The first dispute within the Church about doctrine happened very early in Christian history. The First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles told us how the apostles solved this problem; what they did set the pattern that the Church would use whenever a heresy threatened her throughout history. The problem doesnt seem important to us, precisely because it was solved, but it was very disturbing to the early Church. Simply stated, did the nonJewish members who wanted to enter the Church, first have to follow all the Jewish customs, such as circumcism and dietary laws, before they could become Christians or could they simply enter through faith in Jesus and baptism? Some Jewish Christians from Jerusalem were stirring up trouble, so in the year 51 A.D. Paul and Barnabas took the dispute to the apostles in Jerusalem for a decision. They met in a council and discussed the matter, finally St. Peter rose and spokehe is the head of the Church, after alland his words were adopted by the council as the solution. After that heresies and problems that afflicted the Church would be brought to official councils of bishops for solution. Many would be on a regional basis, but some issues were so serious that they demanded the attention of the Pope and the bishops of the world; these are called Ecumenical Councils. There have been 23 Ecumenical Councils in 2,000 years of history with the Second Vatican Council, meeting from 1962-1965, as the last. Notice how the apostles expressed their decision in the Council of Jerusalem, they wrote: It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us. The teaching that they were giving was not just human in origin, it was through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but He taught the Church through the apostles, the bishops of the Church. In the Catholic Church, doctrines of faith and morals are not just made up to fit the fads of a particular time or even the opinion of the majority. Truth doesnt depend on a majority vote, much less an opinion poll. Even though the Pope has supreme authority in the Church, he is bound by all the decisions of councils and previous popes in regard to faith and morals and cannot change them. Many people think that all we have to do is wait for a less conservative pope to come along and then he can change things like the immorality of abortion or contraception or sex outside of marriage. Those things are defined doctrines and cannot be changed by any pope, so anyone waiting for that will be forever disappointed. The Church does not have the power to change Gods teaching; it is the same yesterday, today and forever.

As important as the Holy Bible is, Jesus didnt give us the answer in the Bible to all the problems that would come up in the course of history or even the terminology and theology that would be needed to understand them. Instead He gave us the Holy Spirit and the Catholic Church. The Church doesnt come from the Bible; the Bible comes from the Church. The Bible was written by believing Catholics, such as the apostles long after the Catholic Church was founded on Pentecost Sunday. Jesus said in the Gospel today: I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. This was not only true for the apostles in their time, but for the Church throughout time. The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church; He teaches and guides and gives His gifts to the Body of Christ, the Church. Jesus promised the gift of true peace. He said: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives it to you do I give it to you. How is the peace of Jesus different from a worldly peace? If you think about it the world can only give a peace that is temporary and on the surface. For example, peace treaties between nations at war often put only a temporary hold on fighting; they dont change hearts and seldom solve the problems that led to battle. The political correctness of our day seeks to impose a ban on certain words or expressions, but it only covers up ignorance or prejudice and doesnt seek real understanding of differences. A worldly peace uses instant gratification as a solution for true problems. How often do people cover up serious wounds of the soul with things like alcohol, pornography, food or even video games? They never really bring peace to a soul. On the other hand, the peace that Jesus gives reaches to the very depth of the soul and it is life changing. First of all, it makes us right with God. A soul that is in the state of sin, estranged from God, can never be at peace; there is always something wrong or out of place. A soul that has a clear conscience is at peace. It is not because that person is perfect, but because he repents and goes to Confession frequently. There exists a relationshipa friendship with God that brings true peace. Jesus said: Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.

This kind of peace cannot be disturbed by problems or suffering because it is based on something deeper. Those beautiful words of Jesus ring true to a faithful soul: Do not let your heart be troubled or afraid. The peace of Jesus gives us the power to struggle with sin and our human weaknesses. It doesnt mean that we are not going to have to struggle with temptation or wrestle with our emotions and desires, but we do have a solution to those problems: the sacraments, prayer and sanctifying grace. Although the emphasis today is on self-esteem, it is far more important to learn selfcontrol and Jesus can help us to master ourselves. Trust in Him and Do not let your heart be troubled or afraid. On this Mothers Day we have to be grateful to God for the gift of our mother. In so many ways a mother is the visible picture of that constant love and concern that God Himself has for us. I hope all mothers feel the love and gratitude of their children today and every day. We ask the prayers of our Blessed Mother Mary in the month of May, the month of Mary for our own mothers, living or dead, on this Mothers Day. God bless you.

The Ascension of the LordMay 16, 2010 It wouldnt be fitting for the apparitions of the risen Christ to simply fade out over time without a definitive ending. The Ascension provided, not only a conclusion of this phase of salvation history, but the beginning of the next that will end with Christs coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead. That is why the angels said to the disciples after Jesus ascended into heaven: Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? 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. God wanted them to get to work and prepare for Jesus who will come again in glory. After appearing to His apostles and disciples for 40 days, Jesus called them to the mountain for a final meeting. He gave them His last words; He promised the coming of the Holy Spirit as He did at the Last Supper and told them that they were to wait in Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high. He also instituted the Sacrament of Baptism, saying: Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). We dont become members of the Church by physical birth, but by being born anew by water and the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God, but He was always laboring against an idea of the kingdom that was false, but deeply rooted in the Jewish mind. The Jews had been a conquered people for a good portion of their history and thought that the fulfillment of Gods promises to them meant that they were to finally conquer all the nations with the Messiah as their king and Jerusalem as the capitol of the world. That is the meaning behind the question in the First Reading: Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? But Jesus did not come to establish an earthly kingdom; when Pontius Pilate asked Him about the claim that He was a king, Jesus clearly replied, My Kingdom is not of this world. What kind of kingdom did Jesus establish? First of all, He came to establish the kingdom of His Church. The Catholic Church is the Kingdom of God on earth, made up of the members of His Body who are under the guidance of the visible head, the Popethe Vicar of Christ and the bishops who are successors of the 12 apostles. Unfortunately, many people only see the Catholic Church as another human organization, a power-hungry institution like so many others. The Church is a visible institution, but with a spiritual

purpose; it is for the glory and worship of God and the sanctification of souls. We are a communion, a family guided by the pastors who are meant to be good shepherds to the flock. As the pastor of St. Gianna Parish, I feel a great responsibility to make sure we have a fitting home and build our own Church. However, if you notice, I always pray that God will give us the spiritual and financial resources that we need to build our parishthe spiritual resources first! If we could build the most magnificent Church possible, it would be worthless if we as members of this parish are not growing in faith, hope and love. Even now in this humble building we can be a strong parish because we love God and one another and worship Him with faith in the Holy Eucharist and the other sacraments. We need the spiritual resources in order to make the material valuable; our hearts cannot be set on building an earthly kingdom, but on becoming saints ready for heaven. The Kingdom that Jesus came to establish is manifested in another way: He told the Pharisees not to look for the Kingdom here or there for behold, the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). Each one of us as individuals must believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior and commit ourselves to Him each day, including the willingness to bear the daily Cross. Perhaps you are aware that there is going to be a change in the words of the Holy Mass sometime next year. The bishops of the English speaking countries have been working on a new translation for 10 years and it has just recently been given the final approval by the Vatican. One of the changes in the Creed will be at the very beginning: instead of We believe in one God, it will be I believe in one God. First of all, it is an accurate translation of the Latin Credo, but more than that, it means that I personally have to make the profession of faith in the Blessed Trinity and the Church. The Kingdom of God must be in my heart. If it is not, then I am not a true member of the Catholic Church, the Kingdom of God on earth. That is why Pope Benedict said, The Church never imposes, but ceaselessly proposes. Faith cannot be forced on anyone by the Church, it must be freely accepted. We have to be careful not to build an earthly kingdom ourselves. As Pope Benedict pointed out in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Without God man neither knows which way to go nor even understands who he is. It is very easy for us to forget about God, especially when we have many luxuries and comforts. We can easily love them and think that our happiness lies here on earth. No matter how much we cling to possessions and

pleasures, they will never satisfy us. As a matter of fact, we become enslaved to them and the happiness that they originally gave us has a bitter taste. The CCC teaches that the Church will receive its perfection only in the glory of heaven, at the time of Christs glorious return. Until that day, the Church progresses on her pilgrimage amidst this worlds persecutions and Gods consolation. The Kingdom of God on earth is made up of us and we are imperfect and often fail to live up to our great calling. Jesus did not come to call the righteous, but the repentant and so God can use us poor instruments and help us to bring about His good plan of salvation. It is very sad, but we should not despair when we hear of Catholics who fall away and do evil, even among the clergy, but keep our gaze on Jesus and heaven. Yes, there are many Catholics who give bad example, but there are also inspiring models of faith in the many canonized saints throughout history. The preeminent member of the Church is the Blessed Virgin Mary. She gives us a shining example of fidelity and courage at the Cross; she waited without doubt for the resurrection of her Son and she now intercedes for us as the Mother of the Church. The humble woman of Nazareth turns out to be the one who will crush the head of the devil with her Son Jesus as it was foretold in the prophecy of Genesis. Entrust yourself to our Blessed Mother, pick up your Rosary, and rejoice in Christ who is victorious and reigns in the Kingdom of His Most Sacred Heart, now and forever.

Pentecost SundayMay 23, 2010 We are in the age of the Holy Spirit; the time of the Church. We call Pentecost the birthday of the Catholic Church, even though we can truly say that the Catholic Church and her sacraments receive their sacred power from the wounded side of Christ pierced by the soldiers spear on the Cross. It is on Pentecost that the Church is first made known to the world in the light of the Holy Spirit. The CCC (#732) teaches: By His coming, which never ceases, the Holy Spirit causes the world to enter into the last day, the time of the Church, the Kingdom already inherited though not yet consummated. We heard about that event in the Acts of the Apostles when the Holy Spirit came with miraculous signs. There was a mighty wind that probably sounded like a tornado because it drew the Jews from all over the neighborhood. The apostles, along with our Blessed Mother, were gathered in the same Upper Room or Cenacle where the Last Supper took place. The Holy Spirit came upon their heads in the forms of tongues or flames of fire that did not burn them but enlightened them. It reminds us of the burning bush from which God spoke to Moses in the Old Testament. It was not consumed by the fire but was the place from which God announced His plan to Moses. He heard His peoples cries and was about to set them free from slavery and bring them home to the Promised Land. The apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, went out to the crowds and Peter gave the first Christian sermon. All the people, who came from different countries for the festival, understood his words no matter what language they spoke. This manifestation of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, as it is called, reversed the damage done at the Tower of Babel in the Old Testament. Remember, the people in their pride thought they could reach heaven under their own power without God, so they began building an enormous tower to reach to the skies. God caused them to be scattered and their speech confused so that they could not understand one another and work against Him. Now on Pentecost the Holy Spirit helped the people to understand one language of faith, teaching them that they were to be united by their faith in Christ, in the communion of the Catholic Church. The image of water is a meaningful symbol for the Holy Spirit. St. Paul said in the Second Reading: For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free and we were all given to

drink of one Spirit. Water washes our body clean of dirt and the Holy Spirit washes our souls clean of sin in baptism. Water gives us life, for we can go longer without food than water. It is fitting to say that we drink of the Holy Spirit because He gives spiritual lifesanctifying graceto the soul. St. Cyril of Jerusalem wrote: Water comes down from heaven as rain, and although it is always the same in itself, it produces many different effects, one in the palm tree, another in the vine, and so on through the whole of creation. . . . While remaining essentially the same, it adapts itself to the needs of every creature that receive it. In the same way the Holy Spirit, whose nature is always the same, simple and indivisible, apportions grace to each man as he wills. We all need the water of grace. In addition to the gifts of faith, hope and love, each of us needs particular graces to help us in this life to reach eternal life and the Holy Spirit provides them. Grace is generally divided into two categories: sanctifying grace and actual grace. Sanctifying grace makes our souls right with Godjustifies usso that we can enter into heaven. Its sets up a new relationship with God so that we are His sons and daughters and can call Him Father. One of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit is Piety, which allows us to understand this Divine Filiation, that we are truly His children. If we only realized the dignity that this gives us to be called children of God! The gift of Fear of the Lord keeps us from offending God by sin because we love Him and do not want to hurt Him with our sins. As Catholics, we do not believe in the idea of once saved, always saved because we can loose this relationship with Godwe can loose sanctifying grace. It remains in our souls as long as we dont sin seriously, that is, by what we call mortal sin. It can be restored by repentance and a good Confession. As we heard on the Sunday after Easter, our Gospel today again told us of the institution of the Sacrament of Penance when Jesus gave His apostles the first installment of the Holy Spirit: Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained. Its no wonder that the early Church called Confession a second baptism. The grace that is given to us, especially in Baptism and Confirmation, manifests itself over time. Like a rose bud that gradually opens petal by

petal, so grace moves us over a lifetime. At times it seems as if the grace of these sacraments has no effect upon a person and then an event or an inspiration moves a person forward in faith. It is the work of the Holy Spirit and the grace of the sacraments that has been activated. Besides sanctifying grace, actual graces are given by the Holy Spirit to help us perform a certain act or deed. For example, Parents need special graces to see the individual needs of their children and form them into good Christians and good citizens. We need grace at times to resist a temptation to sin or to have the courage to speak up in defense of our Church or the Pope when attacked. We need actual graces to do good deeds to help someone and make a sacrifice of love. There is the grace that moves someone to a vocation. The Holy Spirit gives these actual graces one after another; I will respond continually with one good deed after another if I simply dont say No. However, I have great veto power and my selfishness and laziness and other weaknesses prod me to say no. God will not force us to do good even though it would be good for us if we did the good deed that He was prompting us to do! There is one last miraculous occurrence that happened on Pentecost Sunday; it is greater than mighty winds or tongues of fire or speaking in foreign languages. When the crowds of people heard Peters words about the death and resurrection of Jesus, they responded: Brethren, what shall we do? Peter answered: Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The greatest miracle of Pentecost was that 3,000 people were baptized that day; 3,000 lives changed direction and began to walk with Christ to the glory of the Promised Land of Heaven. The work of the Holy Spirit is not completed; He is as powerful today as He was 2,000 years ago and He can still accomplish great things for us through His gifts. Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in us the fire of Thy love.

Most Blessed TrinityMay 30, 2010 St. Augustine lived in North Africa, died in the year 430 and had one of the greatest minds in the history of the Church. He was determined to write a treatise on the Most Blessed Trinity that would explain this doctrine. He knew all the Bible passages and all the theology up to that time and he pondered and pondered a way to understand that there was only one God, yet three Divine PersonsFather, the Son and the Holy Spirit. One day he took a break and was walking on the beach when he saw a little boy who had dug a hole in the sand and was taking water from the ocean and pouring it into the hole. He stopped and asked what he was doing and the little boy said, I am going to empty the whole ocean into this hole. St. Augustine smiled and replied, Son, you know that what you are trying to do is impossible. The little boy, who St. Augustine believed was inspired by the Holy Spirit, answered, It is no more impossible to do what I am trying to do than figure out what you are trying to understand. St. Augustine took this as a sign from God. He was dealing with the first and most important mystery of faith, but one that is far beyond even the most intelligent person to understand completely. God is infinite and we can only fit so much into our finite mind. Of course, St. Augustine wrote a great book on the Trinity that still stands the test of time. St. Augustines reasoned in this way: the all-knowing, almighty God the Father existed from all eternity and is the source of everything. His selfunderstanding is so perfect and so complete that He expresses Himself in one Word; that Word (with a capital W) is the perfect, all-knowing, almighty God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity. He is as we say in the Creed, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, one in Being with the Father, through Him all things were made. St. Augustine continued: the love between the Father and the Son is so perfect and complete that its expression is the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son He is worshiped and glorified. The Holy Trinity is a model for the human family and love. Each of the Persons of the Trinity lives completely for the others; each is a complete gift of self to the others. Their inseparable oneness results from their total gift of love. The human family is also called to be united in the gift of love and

service; that self-giving of each member to the others is really what makes a family. We need to pray that our families may love one another like the Persons of the Trinity. The Most Holy Trinity is the center of our faith. We were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Sign of the Cross which calls upon the names of the Blessed Trinity begins and ends our prayers and is a prayer in itself. The way we pray in the Holy Mass expresses our belief in the Trinity. In the Opening Prayer of the Holy Mass we pray to God the Father . . . through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Throughout the Old Testament, God hammered into the minds and hearts of the Jewish people that there was one God only. It was so very easy for people of ancient times to worship gods of many kinds. Any thing that they could carve out of wood or stone became an idol; the sun, the moon, snakes and bulls became idols of worship. I find it difficult to understand this mentality. We have many beautiful statues and paintings in our Catholic tradition, but no one believes a statue of Mary is any thing more than a reminder of the Heavenly Mother who we love. It is inconceivable to think of it as an idol to worship any more than a husband who is away on a business trip thinks the photo of his wife is to be worshipped. He will look at it and may even kiss it, but he knows that it is only a reminder of the one he loves. We can see hints of the Blessed Trinity in the Old Testament from our First Reading from the Book of Proverbs. It speaks of the wisdom of God as if it were a person: When the Lord established the heavens I was there, when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep . . . I was beside him as his craftsman, and I was his delight day by day. The wisdom of God in many places in the Old Testament is seen as a representation of the Son of God. When God firmly established the truth that He was one and that there were no other gods, He sent His only-begotten Son into the world. At the fullness of time, the Father sent His Son who took flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, was born and taught us that although God was one, He was not a solitary person. The Father and I are one Jesus told His apostles. In the Gospel today, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth who will

guide them into all truth. He speaks about the unity of God in three Persons when He says of the Holy Spirit: He will not speak on His own. But He will speak what He hears. . . Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that He (the Holy Spirit) will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Lets praise and adore and thank our God the Most Blessed Trinity for revealing Himself to us and giving us a share in His Divine Life. God the Father unbegotten, only-begotten Son and Holy Spirit, the Comforter: holy and undivided Trinity, with all our hearts we acknowledge You: Glory to You for ever (Angelic Trisagion). We have exciting news for the future of our parish. We are planning to break ground no later than November 1. We are going to be able to build the Church seating about 450 peopletwice as many as we can here. We will have office space and four classrooms plus an unfinished area that will make a pretty sizeable parish hall. It is really more than I had hoped for and I think that it is wonderful news! They say it will take a year to build, so at the latest, we will be in our Church by Christmas of 2011. Lets pray for a mild winter so we can keep working after November. God has been good to us even though the economy has not. Let us praise the Blessed Trinity for all His gifts to our parish!

Corpus ChristiJune 6, 2010 In the year 1263, a German priest, Peter of Prague was having doubts about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Did the Lord really change the bread and wine into His own Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity at the words of Consecration? He decided to make a pilgrimage to Rome and pray at the tomb of St. Peter to ask that his faith might be restored. Father Peter stopped at the city of Bolsena, Italy and offered the Holy Mass. He had barely spoken the words of Consecration when blood started to seep from the consecrated Host and trickled over his hands onto the corporal (the square cloth that we unfold on the altar and place the chalice and paten on.) He interrupted the Mass and nervously left the altar; the blood dripped on the stone step as he did so. You can still go to Italy and see the blood stained corporal and the blood stained stone which are kept in special reliquaries. That isnt the end of the story because Pope Urban IV was in the neighboring city of Orvieto when word was brought to him about the Eucharistic miracle. He spoke to Peter of Prague who confessed to the Pope that his doubts were completely cleared and that he believed totally in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. The Pope then wrote a document on the Eucharist and established the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1264, which we are celebrating today. Pope Urban asked Friar Thomas Aquinas to write the prayers for the Feast of Corpus Christi and St. Thomas wrote several hymns, such as O Salutaris Hostia and Tantum Ergo, which we still sing today on Mondays at the beginning of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and then at Benediction at the closing of Adoration. Our Gospel this Sunday from St. Luke tells us of another Eucharistic miracle or at least a miracle foreshadowing the Holy Eucharist which Jesus would institute a year later at the Last Supper. Jesus had been teaching the crowds in a deserted place and was aware that they were hungry. His apostles could only come up with a five loaves of bread and two dried fish for a multitude. He prayed, blessed the bread, broke it and it was miraculously multipled to feed thousands upon thousands of people. This gospel miracle is teaching us that just as Jesus would feed the hunger of the body of so many people on that day in Galilee, so He would feed the souls of countless people with the Bread of Life, the Holy Eucharist until the end of time.

In the Gospel of John, chapter 6, Jesus very clearly and startlingly told us the meaning of this Blessed Sacrament: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. At the Last Supper, Jesus didnt say this bread is a symbol of His body or a representation of His body, He said This is my Body. After the words of Consecration at the Last Supper, Jesus told the apostles to Do this in memory of me. This word memory or memorial meant far more to the Jews than it does when we use it today. We just celebrated Memorial Day this past week on which we remembered and prayed for the men and women who died in the armed services to defend our countrywe remembered them. For the Jews a Memorial was not just a memory aid but it was more like re-living or re-presenting or participating in the original event. This particularly applies to the Old covenant that God made with Moses and Israel at the Passover Meal. For the Jews, the Passover Meal each year, with all its ritual and ceremony, is like returning to the moment when their ancient ancestors ate the first Passover with Moses and the angel of death passed over their houses and God freed His people from slavery in Egypt. They experience that event in all its power and meaning once again. For us in the New Covenant, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass allows us to participate in the sacrifice of Jesus, the Paschal Lamb, sacrificed on the Cross. At Holy Mass, it is as if time and space are stripped away and we are there with our Blessed Mother, the apostle John and Mary Magdalene at the foot of the Cross. All the grace and mercy of that day are poured out upon us once again in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. St. Paul said in the Second Reading: For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes. As many Holy Masses that I have celebrated in my 28 years as a priest, it is really impossible for me grasp the magnitude of what takes place in this Sacrament. Every Mass is a new experience of the Love of God poured out upon the world! I am always in awe whenever I celebrate the Holy Mass. It is no wonder that the Church has placed a serious obligation upon all Catholics to worship the Blessed Trinity in the Eucharistic Sacrifice at least once a week on Sunday, the Lords Day. To go any longer through our own

fault is to cause our souls to become weakened and hopeless and break our Friendship with God. We need the Holy Mass, even if there is something preventing you from receiving Holy Communion. If you are conscious of mortal sin or if you simply ignored the requirement of fasting for an hour before Holy Communion or you arent a member of the Catholic Church then you can still receive blessings from attending the Holy Mass even though you dont come up for Holy Communion. It has been said that wherever the Cross is there is the Presence of Jesus. This applies to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in a particular way, since it is Calvary renewed. At the Consecration we are united to the Cross of Jesus, but at Holy Communion we enter Heaven; or maybe it is better said that Heaven enters us. Yes, at Holy Communion you receive the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus; even if you receive the Consecrated Bread alone at Holy Communion, you receive the whole Christ, an infinite gift of grace, but that is not all. Jesus the Second Person of the Holy Trinity is united to the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Blessed Trinity comes to us in Holy Communion; if that were not enough to overwhelm us, there is still more because united to the Holy Trinity is the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, all the angels and saints. Do you realize you are receiving all of Heaven into your body and soul at Holy Communion? This isnt just a prayer meeting; this is a participation in the very life and love of the Most Blessed Trinity. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the way that Jesus commanded us to worship God when He told the apostles: Do this in memory of me. We need the Lord to increase our faith in the Holy Eucharist. We need our genuflections to be a real expression of adoration to Christ our King in the Blessed Sacrament. We need to adore Him before we receive Him in Holy Communion. Come let us adore Him!

12th Sunday in Ordinary TimeJune 20 During the 1960s and 1970s there was a concerted effort to remake Jesus into a man that fit the mood of the time. The musicals Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell were produced then. Jesus became a flower child who only spoke about love and self-expression; He certainly didnt want to impose any commandments upon the world. They gave Him an identity crisis, since everyone had one in those days; He didnt really know that He was the Son of God or that He had a definite mission from the Father. He was the victim of organized religion and politicians who brought about His death. However, if you look at the actual words and deeds of Jesus in the four Gospels you will find quite a different picture of Our Lord. Jesus described Himself with the expression the Son of Man as He does in todays Gospel. This recalled the vision of the Prophet Daniel who saw the throne room of heaven and called God the Father the Ancient of Days. Daniel wrote: I saw in the night, visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away . . . (Daniel 7:13-14). Unlike Daniel, we can understand the meaning of this vision. Jesus is the Son of God, equal to the Heavenly Father and has been given kingship over all nations. He is called the Son of Man because He identified Himself with us by taking on our human nature and redeeming us. Jesus is true God, and true man. In the Gospel, Jesus first asks the apostles who do people say that I am and then who do you say that I am? He was not looking for the results of an opinion poll, but for the apostles to make a profession of faith. Peter is moved by grace and confesses his faith in Jesus as The Christ of God. Although the apostles didnt yet understand the mission of the Messiah or Christ, Jesus did, and clearly foretold it: The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. The suffering and death of Jesus, the Sacred Passion, was probably the most intense suffering that was possible. If you love someone a little you are willing to endure and sacrifice a little for that person; if you love someone greatly, you will endure a sacrifice to match it, even to the point of laying

down your life for that person. Jesus wanted to show us the depth of His lovea divine love, an infinite love. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said that Our Lord wasnt Jesus Christ, Superstar, but Jesus Christ Superscar! He came to be scarred, wounded for our offenses to pay back the debt of sin. The prophet Zechariah, in our First Reading, foretold And they shall look on him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only son . . . . On that day there shall be open to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a fountain to purify from sin and uncleanness. The Blood and water that flowed from the pierced Heart of Jesus is the sign of the grace that comes to us through the Church and the seven sacraments to purify and strengthen us. When I was a newly ordained priest, a local Christian television station asked me and others to film three, five minute spiritual reflections that they would broadcast. I had enough sense to speak about subjects that would be understood by, not only Catholics, but other Christians, so I didnt speak about the Pope or the Holy Eucharist, or our blessed Mother. To my surprise, only two of them were broadcast. In the third one, I spoke about the importance of identifying ourselves with the Cross of Christ, offering our sufferings up in union with Him so that He could use them and give them meaning. As I later realized this concept of the Cross is lacking in most Protestant theology. All Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the redeemer of the world and that, not only could we not save ourselves, we are totally helpless without His grace. But that isnt the whole pictureI cant just sit back and say that Jesus has done everything so I can take it easy. Jesus loved me with an infinite love, so I need to love Him in return. That is why He said, If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Jesus doesnt enjoy seeing us suffer, but He wants us to know that we all have a role to play in the redemption of the world; we are co-redeemers with Him. We can use our daily sufferings and trials to show our love and participate in the work of redemption. Father Benedict Groeschel, jokingly, yet truthfully spoke about our fear of the Cross. He said that we would like to bear a Cross made out of Styrofoam, rather than wood, with a little wheel on the bottom to make it easier to drag along. Nobody likes to suffer, but we really cannot escape it in this world. We have to trust in God that He will not give us a Cross that

is too heavy to bear, but one that will make us grow in love. Remember love means sacrifice! We Catholics have the phrase offer it up. This means that whatever trial or disappointment or suffering comes our way, we pray and consciously unite it to Jesus crucified. We then cant complain about it or secretly hold on to a grudge or anger, for that ruins the merit of offering it up. We have to let it go and let God use it for good. This simple action gives suffering meaning; it transforms it into something redemptive and Jesus will help us to bear the daily Cross. It is very difficult for our world to understand this idea, since people spend a huge amount of time and money avoiding any and every suffering. Looking at suffering in this way will also help us to conquer any sinful attachments or addictions in our lives. So often we feel sorry for ourselves or resentful when we suffer. We often falsely reason, dont I deserve a release from the stress; dont I deserve a reward? It is so very easy for us to give into drinking or drugs or pornography or gambling or over-eating or excessive video games or shopping in order to relieve stress in our lives. With that way of thinking we can become attached to even legitimate pleasures. By making a real effort and uniting our sufferings to Christ crucified we will find relief and we wont have to resort to sinful behaviors. I usually keep a small crucifix in my pocket and squeeze it as a reminder, but even looking at a crucifix will help. That is one reason we have religious art in our homes, to direct our thoughts to God and ask the prayers of the saints in time of temptation and trial. It isnt easy to grow in our faith; it takes a lot of hard work. There is so much more to being a Christian than the shallow, effortless kind of love that the 1960s and 70s picture of Jesus portrayed. It is truly by uniting ourselves to the love of Christ crucified that we will grow and reach our full potential as sons and daughters of God. Fathers Day: I was reading a recent study that once again proved how necessary fathers are to the success of children in every area of life. Of course, we dont need a study to tell us that because we believe God made marriage and fatherhood as the best way to help children mature and live their lives well. Fathers serve their families in a unique and God-given and God-like way. We thank all of our fathers and ask God to bless them as we celebrate Fathers Day.

June 27, 2010Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time James and John love and believe in Jesus and when they witnessed His rejection by the people of a Samaritan village they resented it. They asked if they should call down fire from heaven to consume them? It is no wonder that Jesus gave them the nickname sons of thunder. Jesus rebuked them. John himself would give the reason: God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him (John 3:17). As a matter of fact, Jesus was at that very moment heading up to Jerusalem for that very purposeto suffer and die on the Cross. The Gospel then tells us about 3 would-be disciples. They all have a desire to follow our Lord, but they all hesitate. The first boldly states that he will follow Jesus wherever He goes, but Jesus sees into his heart and wants him to take stock of himself. Jesus kindly tells him that it will not be easy because a disciple doesnt always have a soft bed and comfortable dwelling. Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head. Are you sure you can make the sacrifices needed to follow me? The second is called by Jesus, but he hesitates and gives an excuse Let me go first and bury my father. Jesus answer sounds harsh, Let the dead bury the dead. It is very possible that this mans father was not yet dead, but only sick and his death and burial was at some unknown future date. But in any case, there was no time to delay, Jesus was on His way to the Cross, the time to follow is now. It is easy for us to find all kinds of excuses to keep from following Jesus wholeheartedly, especially when it comes to a vocation to the priesthood or consecrated life. The third would-be disciple sounds like Elisha in the First Reading. God sent the Prophet Elijah to anoint Elisha as the prophet who would succeed him. It was a great honor; one that could not be rejected. Elisha had a good life; he was a successful farmer with his twelve yoke of oxen plowing the fields; what more could he want? When the Prophet came to him he hesitated, saying he must first go to his father and mother just like the third would-be disciple in the Gospel. The Prophet got angry because how could anyone not wholeheartedly embrace this call from God. Jesus referenced this incident from the Old Testament and said No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of

God We dont know what the would-be disciple did, but we do know the response of Elisha. He went and killed his valuable oxen, cooked it for food, thereby cutting off any possibility of returning to his former way of life. His break with the past was complete and definitive. He would then become a great prophet in his own right. For most Christians to be a disciple of Jesus doesnt mean leaving our homes and our work and our daily duty. But it does demand the same wholehearted service that Jesus asks of those would-be disciples in the Gospel. The Servant of God, Pope John Paul II was once asked by a reporter What is the greatest danger mankind is exposed to nowadays? You could think of many answers to this question: poverty, war, aids, drugs, pornography. Pope John Paul was able to see things so clearly, his answer wasSin. No one of us wants to come down with cancer or another debilitating illness, we certainly dont want war or poverty and we think the greatest tragedy is death, especially that of a young person. But there is something worsethat is to allow sin to destroy the life of grace in the soul and loose Heaven. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and loose his soul? Jesus is asking if the death of the soul is a fair a trade for money or power or other worldly goals. St. Paul taught us in the Second Reading: For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery The words freedom and slavery mean very different things for a Christian and a worldly man. When most people think of freedom today they mean that they dont want anyone telling them what to do, imposing commandments or limiting their pleasures. They want to do only what they want; their great motto is my will be done. We are all tempted by the sin of pride. Slavery to them is the Law of God, obedience to the Church and being bound to responsibilities. For the Christian freedom means the ability to choose to do good and resist evil. It means responsibility and self-mastery. We would not have that ability if Jesus had not set us free. Sin is the yoke of slavery that St. Paul warns us against. Christ gave his life so that we could have true freedom for freedom Christ has set us free. To be able to control my desires and passions and feelings and not let them control me is the sign of Christian freedom. The Christian finds that the Law of God and the teachings of the Church are not oppressive, but a true guide to happiness.

We need to pray for light to see where we stand before God. It is very important to our spiritual lives to examine our conscience on a daily basis. In the evening, perhaps right before we go to bed, to take 2 minutes and ask What good did I do today? What are my sins? Then end with an Act of Contrition. When I examine my day, besides breaking the Commandments and deliberate sin, I can ask myself: Did I do my duty today? Was I selfish or self-centered? Did I treat others, especially family members, with respect? Did I pray today? Was serving God and others the motive for all my actions? We cant fool God with the answers to those questions and we dont need to impress anyone else, so we can be brutally honest with ourselves. Quite frankly, it is not so easy to lift the rock and look under it and acknowledge our faults, but it is necessary. It helps us to resolve to do better the next day and since we take stock of our lives, we can make a better Confession. We thank Jesus for the freedom that He won for us by His saving death. We turn to His Most Sacred Heart and seek the mercy and love that sets us free from the slavery of sin.

July 4, 2010Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time In 2002, the Servant of God, Pope John Paul gave the Church a new set of mysteries for the Holy Rosary: the Luminous Mysteries. The Holy Father realized that the other three sets of mysteries didnt cover the public life of Jesus, so he chose five events that would fill in the picture of that part of the life of Christ. The third Luminous Mystery is known by a long title: the proclamation of the kingdom and the call to conversion. That is precisely what our Gospel is concerned with today. Jesus had previously sent His twelve apostles out to preach the Kingdom of God and we just heard that He sent out a further 72 disciples with the message The Kingdom of God is at Church as the Kingdom of God on earth was meant to be a home for all people regardless of their race or nation. The Pope as the Successor of Peter, and the representative of Jesus, is the universal shepherd of the whole Church throughout the world. Ultimately the Church is to be fulfilled perfectedin Heaven. What is the Kingdom of God like? In some ways it resembles an earthly Kingdom, but in other ways it is very different. The CCC teaches at length about the Kingdom of God, in part, it says: Now the Fathers will is to raise up men to share in His own divine life. He does this by gathering men around His Son Jesus Christ. This gathering is the Church Christ stands at the heart of this gathering of men into the family of God (#541-542). Jesus is the true King of this Kingdom and it is Gods great plan that through Him we become members of His family, not just a political organization. Unlike earthly kingdoms where the leader is often feared or unapproachable, God wanted us to relate to Him as a Father. Although Gods Kingdom would begin with the people of Israel, it was never meant to be solely limited to them. The very word catholic in the name of the Catholic Church means universal or world-wide. The Catholic Church as the kingdom of God on earth was meant to be a home for all people regardless of their race or nation. The Pope as the Successor of Peter, and the representative of Jesus, is the universal shepherd of the whole Church throughout the world. Ultimately the Church is to be fulfilledperfected-in Heaven. During the Civil War, a woman came up to President Lincoln and said: O Mr. President, I feel so sure that God is on our side, dont you? President Lincoln replied, Maam, I am more concerned that we should be on Gods side. As Christians, we have to be on Gods side; we cant be on the

sideline, uninvolved in the work of the Kingdom, acting as if the Law of God doesnt apply to me. The CCC says: One must enter the kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in order to know the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven. For those who stay outside, everything remains enigmatic (#546). Enigmatic means unknowable or mysterious. It is possible for someone to know the teaching of the Catholic Church so well that he could teach in a university, but not be a believer. That person may know the cold hard facts of Christianity, but he will never understand why you would, for example, give up marriage and family to be a priest or why you would resist the temptations to indulge in a pleasure that everyone else says is alright or why you would sacrifice your life as a martyr for Christ. This past week we celebrated the Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul and the next day the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome. Without faith the sacrifices of their lives would be pointless. In those first 250 years of Christianity to become a Christian meant you would probably have to die for Christ. The first 40 popes were all martyrs. The martyrs came from rich and poor, young and old. Some of the most impressive were the virgin martyrs, like Cecelia and Agnes. St. Agnes declared to her torturers: I am espoused to Him whom the angels serve. . . . For Him alone I keep my virginity intact. St. Perpetua was giving birth to her baby in prison and the guards appealed to her motherly love to deny her faith and save her life, but she responded: Today it is I who suffer in giving birth, but [in the arena] it will be Another who will suffer in me, because I shall suffer for Him. It is only by faith in Jesus and truly entering His Kingdom that you can live and die like these Christians. As impressive as they are, dont forget what we could call the martyrdom of ordinary life. To pray and work, do our daily duty without seeking reward, living as a faithful Catholic in a pagan society, takes great faith tooand heroism. Most Catholics are going to live their lives in the vocation of marriage. To be very clear, I am speaking about a sacrament, not just any kind of marriage ceremony or any kind of commitment. The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony has been established by God Himself and entrusted to the Catholic Church to guard and protect it. In the past, our society adopted the Christian understanding of marriage. Today the secular culture is trying to change its meaning in a number of ways, and whether they realize it or not, if they are successful, they are going to destroy this gift of God which is essential to the Church and society. The bond of marriage is the foundation of the family; as the family goes, so goes the world.

Catholic marriage is a covenant, a commitment of one man and one woman who give their wordits not just a piece of paper they signthey give their word that they will remain faithful to one another for the rest of their lives and be open to children as God gives them. Simply, marriage is the communion of love and life, which imitates Gods covenant with His Church that gives us love and life. The devil wants to destroy the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, so we as faithful Catholics have to do everything in our power to preserve it. There was a time when the Catholic culture conveyed what was necessary in regard to marriage from one generation to the next, but that is no longer the case; many Catholics are ignorant about the meaning and practice of marriage. One of the most basic things we must do is to make sure we follow the marriage law of the Church. A Catholic has the serious obligation to have their marriage vows witnessed by a Catholic priest or deacon with two witnesses. Now there are some cases when a marriage can take place outside of these conditions, but they have to have the permission or dispensation of the local bishop. The obligation is so serious that a Catholic cannot receive Holy Communion if he or she has not been married in the Church. Now there are a number of couples in every parish who have been married in a civil ceremony or in another Christian denomination and need to get their marriage blessed by the Churchif there are no previous marriages that is a fairly simple thing. Some may need to apply for an annulment because of a previous marriage or marriages. Sometimes, as in the case of elderly couples the solution is that they may agree to live as brother and sister, not sharing the marriage bed. I really want to work with anyone in the parish who needs their marriage blessed in the Church. We cannot expect the Sacrament of Marriage and the family to be preserved if we as Catholics dont obey the law of God in regard to marriage! God has given us a great gift in Holy Matrimony and to be a member of the Kingdom of God we have to be willing to obey His teaching and not make up our own. It may be difficult, even call for heroic action, but Heaven is worth all of our sacrifices. The Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the Gospel.

July 11, 2010Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time The Scribe, in the Gospel, grasped the purpose of life, but didnt know how to act on it. He asked Jesus what he needed to do to get to Heaven. Notice how Jesus led him to the truth by answering his question with a question: What is written in the law? How do you read it? At the prompting of Jesus the Scribe came up with the 2 great commandments of love: You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. We need to ponder those words and relish them. This is the purpose of life: to live the law of love of God and neighbor in order to reach the happiness of Heaven. In our First Reading, Moses told the people This command I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you. . . . No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out. Not only can we discover Gods law of love from what He has revealed in the Holy Bibleboth the Old and New Testaments, but it is a desire already planted in our heart. We need to love and to be loved. Pope Benedict wrote in his encyclical on love, Deus Caritas Est: God has loved us first and He continues to do so, we too, then can respond with love. . . . He loves us, makes us see and experience His love, and since He has loved us first, love can also blossom as a response within us. God has loved us first! I hope you have personally experienced this love in your own life. I would like to mention a few concrete ways in which God has shown His love to us all: He created you in His own image and likeness; He sent His only Son to save you. He has loved you in each sacrament: Baptism washed you clean and made you a son or daughter; Confirmation strengthened your faith; Holy Communion allows Jesus in His Real Presence to enter your body and soul; Confession heals you with His Mercy because we are all sinners. Jesus speaks to you in the Bible, His Blessed Mother Mary watches over you and His angels guard your footsteps. These are just a few ways that God continually shows His love for you. The Scribe knew the law of love, but how should he live it? He asked Who is my neighbor? Every good Jew already knew the answer: their fellow Jews; everyone else was a part of the Gentile nations, the unclean people who didnt have the Law of Moses. It didnt mean that they couldnt be

kind to others, but the concept of neighbor was often very limited. This Scribe was searching and behind his question are many other questions, such as: Could he limit his love to certain people and not give it to others? Could he dole out his kindness and generosity sparingly? Did he have to love even when he didnt feel like it or when it was demanding? Jesus answers with a parable: The Good Samaritan. In this masterpiece, Jesus told us about a man who went to extraordinary measures to help a stranger; a man who had been beaten, robbed and left for dead. It is the Samaritan who is unafraid to stop and help even though the robbers may still be there, waiting for a new victim. He bandaged his wounds and took him to an inn, paying for his care out of his own pocket. If you were in the place of this beaten man, what kind of person would you want to pass by? Someone who loved only when it was easy or convenient or a man like the good Samaritan? He was the true neighbor in the fullest meaning of that word because he treated the robbers victim with mercy. How should I carry out the Law of Love? I should do it without fear, without limitin the same generous way that God loves me. If you think this is easy, you are fooling yourself! Christian charity is the best way to respond to illness and suffering and ignorance. If you look throughout history, the first hospitals, orphanages and universities were all begun by the Catholic Church. Religious orders of sisters built most of the hospitals in our area and they still bear the names associated with them. It was so often a particular saint who saw a need and then went out for the love of Jesus to find a solution to that need. Great works of charity and missionary efforts began with the loving heart of a saint. I dont want to speak about politics; however, there are some in our country who are saying that it is a duty for Christians who believe in helping the poor and less fortunate to support their political ideas. Their solution involves massive government programs and bureaucracies as the best way to handle problems like health care and welfare and college loans, etc. If we want to go this way as a country, that is one thing, but it is not demanded by Christian charity that we hand over responsibility for the poor and sick to the government. Pope Benedict stated it so well in Deus Caritas Est: The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering personevery person needs:

namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need (#28). Kings and governments throughout history have supported the works of the Church, but they should allow those who do the work to have freedom and creativity and responsibility. Christian charity is personal and immediate, not cold and bureaucratic. In 1979, the newly elected Pope John Paul II went to Central America to a regional bishops meeting. His advisors to him not to go because passions were running high and it might be embarrassing for the Papacy. He went anyway. At the time there was a very influential movement called Liberation Theology that was centered in Latin America and emanating throughout the whole Church. It reinterpreted Jesus, the Gospel and the Church according to Marxist, Communist ideas. There was devastating poverty and brutal dictatorships in many countries and legitimate concern for the poor and oppressed. But Pope John Paul knew from personal experience that socialism wasnt the solution. He grew up in Poland when the National Socialists, the Nazis from Germany overran his country, immediately followed by Communism imposed from the Soviet Union. He knew well that Socialism would change the form of government for these people, but would only replace one kind of dictatorship with another. The lives of the poor would not change. His 1979 visit was a success and He taught that the Church had a greater freedom to proclaim than any political liberationthe freedom of the sons and daughters of God who could live under any political system. The answer to human needs always goes back to the Law of Love that Jesus lived himself while here on earth and has given to us as the sure path to happiness. In many ways it is so simple and basic, as Moses taught: This command I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you. . . . No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out. Love God with all your heart and your neighbor for the love of God.

July 18, 2010Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time It soon became evident to Abraham that the three strangers who were passing by his tent that hot day were not ordinary men. Abraham with customary hospitality insists that they stay and have a meal before they continue on their journey. In the New Testament, the Book of Hebrews refers to this passage saying: Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares (Hebrews 13:2). There is a very famous painting of this scene in the style of a Byzantine Icon; the same style as Our Mother of Perpetual help in the back of Church. The figures always look two dimensional, but it is a very symbolic style of painting with deep meaining. In this icon which was painted in the 15th century, there are three men seated at a table with a goblet upon it, giving the appearance that they are going to have a meal. Really they are three angels because you can see their wings in the background. They look exactly alike, so much so, that they could be identical triplets. The angels are meant to represent the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity who are equal in power, knowledge and majesty. Usually in Christian art the Father looks like an elderly man, the Son, as we always picture Jesus, and the Holy Spirit like a dove. Sometimes we may forget the perfect equality and unity of the three Persons who have only one Divine Nature, such that there is only one God. In Genesis, these three strangers give Abraham a message: I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son. God wanted to assure Abraham that he would keep His promise that Abraham would be the father of many nations. He once said: I will make your descendents as many as the stars of the heavens and the sands of the seashore. At this time, Abraham was near 100 years old and his wife Sarah near 90 and they did not have even their first son. It is a little late to be starting a family! Abraham still trusted in God even though humanly speaking it seemed as if God would not or could not keep His promise. It is no wonder that we call Abraham our Father in faith in the first Eucharistic Prayer because no matter what his trial, he trusted in God. When our prayers arent answered immediately and in the way we want then we quickly doubt God and His love. St. Gertrude was a great mystic who fervently asked God to heal a sick friend. Jesus appeared to her and said: You trouble me, Gertrude, by asking me for the cure of your friend. I

sent her this sickness as a trial. She accepts it with admirable submission to my will which gains great merit for her, and I thus prepare a more beautiful Heaven for her for all eternity. Now we should always pray for our needs with confidence, however, since most of us will not receive a direct message from Jesus about His will in a particular situation, we should always pray Thy will be done. As one spiritual author put it we should pray with the thought that if Jesus doesnt grant it, it is because his plan is more beautiful than ours. (I Believe in Love, dElbe, p. 101) His plan is never second-rate; it is always the best. Look at the words of St. Paul in our Second Reading when he spoke about the mystery of suffering: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of His body, which is the church. St. Paul was not saying that there was anything lacking in the suffering and death of Jesus Christ to make up for the sins of the world. Here as in several other places he uses the proper name Christ to refer not to the God-man, but to the Church. St. Paul so identifies the Body of Christ, the Church, with the Person of Christ that he uses one to refer to the other. Jesus as the Head of the Body made up perfectly and completely all that was needed to redeem the world and pay back the debt of sin to the Divine Justice. However, there is still what we call the temporal punishment of sin; our sin not only damages or destroys our relationship with God, but it also harms our relationship with one another. St. Paul said that his sufferings and trials were able to be used by God to repair the effects of our sin upon one anotherthe Church. It is kind of like a spiritual blood transfusion. When someone looses blood because of a wound or illness another person of the same blood type can supply that blood, giving life to the sick person. Spiritually our prayers and sufferings can do the same for others, including the souls in Purgatory. St. Paul could even rejoice in his sufferings because he loved his fellow Christians and knew that God could use his suffering to bring about tremendous good for the Church. We can do the same if we deepen our faith and if we pray. The two sisters in our Gospel, Martha and Mary, had different responses to the presence of Jesus in their home. Martha prepared the supper and the house for her Divine guest and His disciples, while Mary sat at His feet and drank in each of His words. It may appear that Mary was simply lazy, content to let her sister do all the work, but Jesus who could read hearts saw

it differently. He told Martha: Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her. Being with Jesus, listening to Jesus, what we call prayer, especially prayer in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament, is the better part. We must do our daily duty, which involves toil and stress, but what is absolutely necessary to make our daily work valuable is prayer. Without this supernatural aspect to life our actions become burdensome and meaningless. In recent homilies I have been recommending the daily Morning Offering, the Examination of Conscience at night and the daily Rosary as means of prayer, but we also need to spend time with God each day in mental prayer or meditation. This is different than praying throughout our day, which we should do, because it means giving a concentrated period of time to God each day. We have to set aside time, no less than 15 minutes, and speak to Jesus as a friend. We dont find it burdensome to talk to friends for a much longer period of time on the phone, so why do we find it hard to spend time in conversation with Our Lord? He is our best friend! Perhaps, during that time read a passage from the Holy Bible or some spiritual book and reflect upon it in your heart. God will probably not speak in words, but He can move your mind and your heart. Using your own thoughts and affections, He will speak to you and help you to understand the mysteries of our faith, give you the courage and zeal that you need and help you to see how to live the law of love in your own life. Mental Prayer is conversation with God. Daily prayer is essential if we are to become more like Abraham our Father if Faith, St. Paul who could even rejoice in his sufferings, and our Blessed Mother Mary who knew how to do the will of God at each moment of her life and consented to the plan of God wholeheartedly when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her: Be it done unto me according to thy word.

St. Gianna, Pray for us.

July 25, 2010Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time It was normal for a rabbi to give his disciples a prayer that stated the themes of his teaching. So the apostles asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Not only did they want this kind of a prayer that they could say together, but it was obvious that Jesus really understood how to pray. He often rose before everyone else and went to a deserted place to pray; He would fall into prayer at every opportunity in which He wasnt engaged with people, such as when they walked the lonely roads from village to village. Jesus knew how to pray! In response to his apostles, Jesus gave us the prayer that we know and love: The Lords Prayer. Many sermons and books have been written on this prayer by great saints and the CCC explains it line by line. One of the Fathers of the Church put it so well: The Lords Prayer is truly the summary of the whole gospel (Tertullian). The main theme is contained in the first two words. We are to address God as Our Father. The words of Jesus were very carefully chosen, He said to the apostles: When you pray, say. In another place He said to Mary Magdalene: I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. This wording expresses the truth that our relationship isnt the same as Jesus. Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God and Divine by nature, we are adopted children of God by the gift of sanctifying grace. Nonetheless, it is the great gift and the will of Almighty God that as His adopted sons and daughters we should relate to Him as our Father. God is a good Father, unlike human fathers who can be cruel or forsake their children. Our Heavenly Father provides for us and protects us and desires that we become the best that we can be, namely saints. Jesus makes the point that human fathers know how to give what is good to their children, how much more we should trust that our Heavenly Father knows how to give us what is good. We need to purify our ideas of God and come to a deeper understanding of His Fatherhood. Many people today think that God is irrelevant to their lives; they dont hate God, but they do little or nothing to practice their faith or live their lives according to His law. They have a nice home, abundance of food and luxuries, computer, iPod, iPhone and on and on. What do they need God for, since they have a very comfortable life? God again shows His

Fatherhood, for He respects our freedom, even if it means that we reject Him. He will always try to get us to return, but He will never force us. This also means that we have to accept the consequences of our actions, and they are dire. The Bible narrates how Israel would turn from God, including idol worship; God would allow them that free choice and without His protection they would be conquered by an invading army. There was always an army waiting to conquer that strategic piece of land. Israel would learn its lesson and return to Godfor a time. That pattern is repeated again and again in the Bible. It is difficult to criticize Israel too much because I often get off track, too. At times, it seems as if I need a strong reminder to get my attention! That is why we should try and see our sufferings, as perhaps, the only way God can get our attention and move us back to Him. The pull of the world around us and our own weak human nature are very powerful. It is an illness or a financial setback or other trials and disappointments that can help me to see how much I need my Father God and how unsatisfying and uncertain the things and pleasures of this world really are. Francis of Assisia beloved saintcame from a well-to-do Italian family. He loved his fine clothes, wealthy friends and parties. He wanted to become a knight, since it was heroic, and joined the battle against a neighboring city where he was taken captive and held as a prisoner for a year. God was telling him something through that trial. He returned home after his miserable imprisonment and again took up his carefree life, but by the next year he suffered a serious illness that led to a spiritual crisis. His failure as a knight, his captivity and then his illness seemed like a punishment from God; he didnt know what to do or where to turn. If they had not happened, Francis would not have been ready for his true mission in life. It was only after these trials as he was praying in the broken down Church of San Damiano that Jesus appeared to him. The crucifix came alive and Jesus said: Francis, Francis, go and repair my house, which as you can see, is falling into ruins. He was ready to turn from his worldly life to a life of prayer, service and poverty that would change the world. Through all the trials, his Father God was really guiding his dear son, Francis. Another attitude that we can have toward God is to see Him as a tyrant who wants to punish us and send us to hell. The truth is that God wants to forgive us and save us. He has sent his own Son as St. Paul said in our Second Reading: And even when you were dead in transgressions . . .

He brought you to life along with [Jesus] having forgiven us all our transgressions; obliterating the bond against us . . . nailing it to the Cross. He made it so easy for us to have even the most serious of sins forgiven if we repent and change our life and make a good Confession. In the Bible there are clear cases when the situation was so hopeless that God had no alternative, but to take decisive action. As our First Reading mentions indirectly God had to punish even whole cities. The angels that had visited Abrahams tent were on a mission to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. They were cities where immorality, in particular homosexuality, was totally dominating the lives of the people. Abraham, whose nephew Lot lived there, began by asking God to refrain from destroying the cities if there were at least fifty innocent people, but since the cities were so bad he barters his way down to 10 innocent people. It turns out that there were not even 10 innocent people living there. Nonetheless, the angels go and rescue Abrahams nephew Lot and his family before the cities were destroyed by fire and brimstone. However, we have to be very careful about attributing Divine punishment to a city or nation that suffers from some disaster. It is God who is the judge of souls, not man; we have to be concerned with His perfect judgment of our souls at the moment of death. His desire is to save, not destroy. Jesus tells us to approach our Father confidently in prayer: Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. This doesnt mean ask one time, seek for only a short while, or knock for a minute, but keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking at the door of Gods Heart and He will hear your prayer. Perseverance and consistency are absolutely essential for a true prayer life. That is why we need a plan of life; a plan of prayer for each day that we stick to. When we pray we get to know God as our Father and little by little conform our lives to His will. Prayer is not to change Gods mind, but to enlighten us so that we can understand and choose His good will. Let us trust in our Father God and seek His will in all things.

August 1, 2010Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time People would often bring their disputes and problems to well-respected rabbis in order to find a solution. The man in todays Gospel asked Jesus to settle a dispute between him and his brother over their inheritance. Jesus didnt give him the answer that he was looking for, but the solution to the real problem. The answer wasnt split the inheritance 50-50 or 60-40, but get rid of the sin of greed. He said: Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, ones life does not consist of possessions. There is nothing wrong with working hard and being successful, as a matter of fact, God wants us to use the gift and talents He has given us so that they will produce much fruit. It is not money that causes us problems, it is love of money. Greed is an excessive love of money and possessions. The man in Jesus parable illustrates the problem in two ways. First, he never looks beyond himself; he doesnt even store up his fruitful harvest with the idea of helping his family, it is all about himself. Listen to how many times he says me, myself and I in just a few sentences. What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest? This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry! Greed or avarice wants more and more for itself. The greedy person doesnt help the poor or the Church, because in his mind there is never enough extra to give away. He is always anxious about money and the cost of things, even small losses or expenses cause depression or anger. In some forms the greedy person will live a life of luxury, caring for no one else; in other forms of greed he will even deny himself and live in poverty just to keep the money. The greedy person might be someone who hoards things, so much so, that you cant even get through their house except by a narrow path; possessions have literally taken over their life. It is difficult for all of us to resist the pull of greed that comes from every direction. Advertizing is constantly preaching that we need to have the newest thing and follow the latest fad or we will not be happy. We need to remember that greed doesnt only afflict those who are rich. St. Josemaria Escriva told the story of a man who had no money and ate in a soup kitchen each day. He had only one possession, a pewter spoon. When he sat down to eat, he would take that spoon out of his pocket as if it were

made of gold and afterward he would polish it with reverence. You could almost imagine him risking his life rather than loose his precious spoon. Greed can afflict us even if we dont have a lotpossessions can possess us. How do we overcome greed? We need to realize that we are only pilgrims in this world. Our life is only for a short time and we will not be able to take anything from this world once we die. The author of the Book of Ecclesiastes in our First Reading laments this reality of life: Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! Here is one who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, and yet to another who has not labored over it he must leave property. This also is vanity and a great misfortune. Yet, it is true. That leads us to the second problem of the man in the parable. First, he didnt look beyond himself and secondly, he didnt look beyond this world. As listeners to this parable, we know the future of the man. He thinks that he is going to have a long, secure life because he has stored up his wealth. We know that he is going to die that very night. This man was not thinking of his true futurehis death and judgment and eternal life. On judgment day, God will not ask you what kind of house you lived in or what kind of car you owned or how much you had in your bank account that will be meaningless. He is going to ask you if you were generous with your blessings, did you use your gifts to help others, did you do good deeds, especially to those who could not repay you? There is an amazing miracle that happened to St. John Bosco, whose life was filled with an abundance of supernatural visions and miraculous events. In 1849 a 15 year old boy named Charles was about to die and the doctor informed that boy and his mother that he should see a priest. Call Don Bosco: Charles begged. St. John Bosco was out of town so they called another priest, the boy went to Confession, but still begged for Don Bosco. When the saint returned the boy had been dead for 11 hours, the doctor signed the death certificate and he was already in burial clothes sown up in a bed sheet with a veil over his head, ready for the funeral. St. John Bosco told everyone to leave the boys room except for his mother and aunt; then, he prayed for a few moments and cried out: Charles! Rise! The mother and the aunt saw the body tremble and Don Bosco ripped open the bed sheet and took the covering off his face.

A long sigh came out of the boy and he opened his eyes as if awakening from a deep sleep. He cried, Don Bosco, how I waited for you! How I needed you! God has granted me a great favor sending you to me even now. Father I should now be in hell! Two weeks ago, I was with a bad companion who led me into sin and at my last Confession, I was afraid to tell everything. Oh, Ive just come out of a horrible dream! I dreamed I was standing on the edge of a huge furnace surrounded by a horde of devils. They were about to throw me into the flames when a beautiful Lady appeared and stopped them. She turned to me and said: Theres still hope for you, Charles. You have not yet been judged! At that moment I heard you calling me. Oh, Don Bosco! What a joy to see you again! Will you please hear my Confession? The mother and aunt left the room while the saint heard the Confession. When they returned with all the other relatives, Charles called out: Mamma! Don Bosco has saved me! After some time, the saint called for silence and said: My good people, God has been kind to all of us today by showing us the importance of a good Confession. He turned to the boy: Charles, now that the gates of heaven lie wide open for you, would you rather go there or stay here with us? The boy looked away for a moment and his eyes grew moist with tears. Don Bosco, he said at last, Id rather go to heaven. Charles leaned back on the pillows, closed his eyes, and settled once more into the stillness of death. How different a situation from the man in the parable who was not ready to die, but thought he was so secure in all the things he treasured in this world? Jesus gives us the lesson: Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God. Our greatest treasure is the love and grace of God; seeking God will make us rich for all eternity.

August 8, 2010Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time For many people, even believers, religion is little more than a warm feeling; they think that the doctrines of faith arent really certain or provable. On the other hand, it is science and medicine that are certain and objective; all their positions can be verified. The very purpose of the scientific method is to verify hypotheses and correct previous theories. We know that science and medicine are continually improving and discarding theories of the past. What some hold true today can be disproved tomorrow. Also, scientists dont always put aside their bias when trying to prove a theory. Even though religion doesnt use the same method as science its teaching is still certain. The CCC points out: Even in human relations it is not contrary to our dignity to believe what other persons tell us about themselves and their intentions or to trust their promises (for example, when a man and a woman marry) (CCC #154). Faith tells us that we can place our trust in God who has revealed Himself and the way to Heaven for us. The Letter to the Hebrews in our Second Reading gave us a definition of faith: Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Notice that I am using the translation from the Catholic edition of the Revised Standard Version of the holy Bible rather than the one in our Lectionary. The RSV translation more clearly makes the point that faith involves assurance and conviction. Far from being uncertain or a mere feeling, faith is a firm foundation that we can build our lives upon and our desire for future glory. Chapter 11 of Hebrews is a catalogue of the Old Testament saints who lived by faith, with Abraham, our father in faith, as the most important. He left his homeland and traveled to a distant land in order to obey God and receive His reward; he passed the severe test when God asked him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, and only at the last moment was he stopped by the angel. A perfect example of the certainty of faith comes from the martyrs of the Church. St. Justin was put to the test in the year 165. The Roman Empire mercilessly persecuted the Church for 250 years, but one thing they did was keep accurate court records. We have the words from St. Justins trial before the prefect Rusticus:
Rusticus said: You are a Christian, then? Justin said: Yes, I am a Christian. The prefect said to Justin: You are called a learned man and think you know what

is true teaching. Listen: if you were scourged and beheaded, are you convinced that you would go up to heaven? Justin said: I hope that I shall enter Gods house if I suffer in that way. For I know that Gods favor is stored up until the end of the whole world for all who have lived good lives. The prefect Rusticus said: Do you have an idea that you will go up to heaven to receive some suitable rewards? Justin said: It is not an idea that I have; it is something I know well and hold to be most certain?

St. Justin, like so many martyrs, went to his death with full confidence in Jesus based on the authority of God Himself who can neither deceive nor be deceived (CCC #156). The CCC says that Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed (#150). The gift of faith, and it is a gift of Gods grace, causes us to love and trust our God, even in the most difficult circumstances. How many times have I heard people say Where would I be without my faith? We have to grow in our love and knowledge of God because as St. Augustine said: I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe. Our understanding of God, as a Father who loves us and wants to save us, is something that needs to grow and penetrate our whole life. Besides a loving relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we also need to faithfully follow the commandments of Jesus, who taught us: If you love me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:15). The desire for Heaven should influence our choices for right and wrong. In the parable of todays Gospel we were told of the servants who were vigilant and prepared for their masters return. That kind of servant will so please his master that he will do an extraordinary thing: he will turn around the relationship of master/servant and wait upon the servant. The preparation that Jesus wants is in regard to our souls; our souls need to be ready to meet the Lord. But Jesus also tells us of the unfaithful servant who will be punished and the degree of punishment is proportionate to his knowledge of the masters wishes: That servant who knew his masters will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his masters will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly.

God has so blessed us that we dont have to discover His doctrines or the moral law on our own, although we have to make them our own by personally choosing to follow them. We have been given the gift of the Church and the Magisterium. The Magisterium is the teaching office of the Church whose ultimate authority is in the office of the Successor of Peter. St. Peter made his profession of faith in Jesus near the great rock wall upon which the city of Caesarea Philippi sat. Jesus told Peter that Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. (The supernatural gift of faith comes from God.) And I tell you, you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound n heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:17-19). He created the office of what we would later call the Pope; the word Pope comes from the word Father. The Pope is our common father or as St. Catherine of Sienna referred to him the sweet Christ on earth. We can have the certainty that the authentic teachings of the Catholic Church are true, for Jesus guaranteed that hell, the devil, would not prevail with all his errors and malice; the core teachings that we call Sacred Tradition with a capital T are unchanging. Now a word of caution because there are many people who get distorted ideas of the teaching of the Church because of misinformation and ignorance; that is why we need to keep studying our faith so that we can correct false ideas. Abraham is the model of faith in the Old Testament; the Blessed Virgin Mary is the model of faith in the New Testament. Her Immaculate Heart allowed her to understand the things of God without any distortion of sin and she accepted Gods plan for her totally and completely. Her answer to the Archangel Gabriel covered everything, even to the foot of the Cross. For our Blessed Mother and for us Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

August 22, 2010Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time There is a big difference between a threat and a warning. If someone threatens you they want to do harm or violence to you; if someone warns you they care about you and want you to avoid the actions that will lead to trouble or harm. Jesus warns us in our Gospel this Sunday when He is asked the question Lord will only a few people be saved? Our Lord loves us and wants only the best for us, which means eternal life, so He warns us frequently about the danger of hell. Sometimes we get the idea today that there is no hell and that everyone is going to Heaven. Certainly, when someone dies, we want to remember what was good about their life, but that doesnt mean that we should canonize them on the spot. Everyone has faults and we have the duty to pray that the departed will be purified of their venial sins in Purgatory, not pretend that they were perfect saints on earth. We cannot forget that there is the sin of presumption. The sin of presumption causes one to foolishly think that he can obtain [Gods] forgiveness without conversion and glory without merit (CCC #2092). Interestingly, the CCC calls the sin of presumption a sin against the virtue of hopeit is a false hope, an anti-hope. Jesus wants us to have true hope. On Gods part it really is as St. Paul says in the First Letter to Timothy: God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4). If God had His way, all would be saved and go to Heaven, but at the same time, He so respects our free will that He will not force us to love Him and go to Heaven. There is no such thing as true love of God if there is not at the same time the possibility of rejecting the love of God. Even the Blessed Virgin Mary had to have that possibility. Unlike Eve who disobeyed God when tempted by the fallen angel Lucifer, Mary wholeheartedly said yes to the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation: Be it done unto me according to thy word. That is why the Fathers of the Church said that the knot that Eve tied by her disobedience, was untied by Marys obedience. Jesus taught us in the Gospel to enter through the narrow gate. As He further explained in St. Matthews gospel: for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few (Matt. 7:13-14). The good news is that if the

gate is narrow then there is a clear way to Heaven. We dont have to wander around lost, wondering which way to turn. Jesus has given us the clear way, as a matter of fact, He has called Himself the Way and the Gate. You have heard it said that if someone is trying to sell you something and it seems too good to be true, then it is probably false and they are trying to cheat you. If something in life seems too easy and takes no effort it is probably not a choice that leads to Heaven. There is a place where life is easy and perfectly happywithout suffering and trialthat place is called Heaven. Earth is a place of testing and purification, where we struggle to learn the meaning of sacrificial love and humble trust in God. You may have noticed that I have been speaking about the meaning of suffering in many different ways over the last couple months. It is so important for us to plummet into the depths of the mystery of suffering, since we face it in many ways throughout life. Suffering can either make us a saint or turn us away from God completely depending on how we look at it. In our Second Reading from Hebrews, we heard that we should see suffering as discipline from our Father God: Endure your trials as discipline; God treats you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline. We often dont understand the true meaning of discipline. To get angry at someone because they defied you is not true discipline; to yell at someone because they annoyed you is not true discipline. True discipline is motivated by love. You want to see the person under your care improve or avoid a problem, so you tell them about it in a way that will motivate them to act in the right way. A father or mother who doesnt discipline their children in the right way, does them a great disservice and doesnt really love them. The Holy Bible tells us to look at our sufferings in life as Gods way of helping us to grow in virtue. You cannot develop virtue except by struggle, just as you cannot develop a muscle except by using it to pull and push against an object. There is a story called The Fable of the Birds that goes like this. When God created all the animals in the Garden of Eden, the birds were most unhappy. They complained as they walked in the garden with the other animals about the heavy appendages that they had to carry at their sides. They couldnt use them to hold things and they were totally useless. Why did God make us like this? It was only when one of them fell off a hill and took flight that they realized that the very thingsthe wingswhich they thought held them down really lifted them up to the sky. In a similar way,

we have to try and see the meaning behind suffering. God isnt trying to hold us down or punish us; He is trying to lift us up to be true children and heirs of Heaven. Faith allows us to see our faults and weaknesses, the setbacks, the illnesses, the frustrations, all the trials as a way, maybe, the only way, to lift us up to holiness and Heaven. The Letter to the Hebrews admonishes: So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet. When Jesus came to show us the meaning of love, it turned out to be sacrificial lovethe suffering of His Sacred Passion and Death on the Cross won our redemption. We need to follow the way of the Master.

Last Sunday we had a missionary priest from India; Father Raphael stayed with me this past week and I got to know him pretty well. We come from very different cultures, you could say we are worlds apart, literally and culturally; his filled with extreme poverty and even the threat of harm and death, yet I was struck by what we had in common. We have the same faith, the same love for Christ, His Church, the Pope and the Blessed Mother. We have the same desires to serve our people and the same love of the Holy Mass; you could see his reverence as he offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Our Catholic faith is so beautifully universal, drawing all nations and races into the one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Faith. Also, as he mentioned in his homily, the Catholic faith of India goes back to St. Thomas the Apostle who preached and was martyred there and is very ancient; the Catholic faith planted in our country is recent by comparison. Lets thank God for the Church that He established upon Peter, the Rock.

August 29, 2010Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus was invited to a dinner by one of the Pharisees and encountered a disgraceful scene. This wasnt a gathering of friends or family for an evening of food and friendship; it was a gathering of rivals who were trying to outdo one another. They were envious of those who got more attention and the better seat at the table; they were looking to see who was the best dressed, who was the most popular. Jesus told them a parable that gently pointed out the virtue of humility, which from a human point of view brings honor in the sight of others: When invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, My friend, move up to a higher position. Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. Those who have real character dont have to build up their ego by constantly seeking attention or human respect. There is much more to the virtue of humility; it has an eternal dimension, too, for Jesus told us For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. God is the one who will reward those who are humble for all eternity; dont be satisfied with mere human praise or reward. It is too little and too temporaryGod gives the greatest reward. The First Reading from the Old Testament Book of Sirach told us Humble yourself the more, the greater you are and you will find favor with God. Why is humility so important? The virtue of humility allows us to acknowledge our dependence upon God and open ourselves up to His will so that we can receive the graces and blessings that He wants to give us. Pride, on the other hand, says that I am self-sufficient and I dont need anything from God; I certainly dont need to obey Him. The devil wants us to think that obedience to God and His Catholic Church holds us back, ties us up and keeps us from being free. The opposite is true: when I obey Gods law, it is only then that I can be truly free because it allows me to conquer my weaknesses and flaws and temptations; all the things that want to chain me. Jesus, Himself, gives us the finest example of humility. St. Paul wrote to the Philippians: Jesus though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave. . . . And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross (2:6-8). Jesus, the true Son of the Eternal Father, prayed in the Agony of the Garden

on the night before He died that the cup of suffering would pass, yet not His will, but His Fathers will be done. There he took upon Himself the sins of the worldall those that were committed from the beginning and all those that would be committed until the end of time. Anyone would ask for that cup of suffering to be taken away! Even though it was so intense that He sweat His Precious Blood, He wanted to be obedient to His Fathers Divine will. Jesus humble obedience won the redemption of the world; it paid back the debt of sin. There is an ancient document in the Church that goes back to the year 80 AD called the Didache. It is the earliest Christian writing that we have besides the New Testament itself. It begins: There are two ways, one of life and one of death and there is a great difference between the two ways. Jesus has called us to the way of life and its requirements are clear. The Holy bible and the doctrines of the Catholic Church teach them. It is a common opinion that moralityright and wrongis only a grey area or just a matter of personal preference. The purpose of this way of thinking is so that they dont have to change their lives or deny themselves some pleasure. Christians have always and everywhere believed that right and wrong were completely different and that they were God-given, not man-made. Father John Corapi summarizes the two ways so simply: Humility ObedienceLife; pridedisobediencedeath. Humility and obedience are ridiculed today as something old fashioned. It is no wonder that the Venerable Pope John Paul used the term the culture of death to describe all the forces that afflict our world today. The culture of death is the result of pride and disobedience on a massive scale. The culture of death has struck at the very root of life in two ways: first, by destroying the value of children; second, by destroying marriage and family life. Children are seen as a burden, rather than a blessing, especially if there are more than one or two. The family, which is the basic cell of society, is torn asunder by unbridled lust and selfishness. When I reflect upon the effects of the culture of death, I am amazed that it all begins with something that most people would think of as necessary and even a great good for society. Yet this thing and the intention behind it has split love and life asunder in marriages, so that the once sacred union of the sexual relationship no longer carries with it the responsibility of a lifelong commitment in love, only the desire for pleasure; it set the stage for legal abortion in all 9 months of a pregnancy, destroying the belief that life was sacred from the moment of conception. All this in only one little pillthe birth control pill.

The pill was developed in the early 1960s. No wonder the sexual revolution or the moral decline of our country began in that decade. Before its use a man and woman knew that they needed to control their passions because a baby could be conceived and that baby needed a family. With the birth control pill they thought they could do what they wanted without responsibility. It led to greater selfishness and lust that could even be indulged in after marriage. Is it any wonder that the divorce rate skyrocketed in the 1970s and has remained that high ever since. The birth control pill has three effects: two stop fertilization, but the third stops implantation of the brand new life and causes an early abortion. Any woman who takes a birth control pill has a chance of causing an abortion of a new life that is known to no one, but God alone. These hidden abortions, along with the fact that the pill doesnt always work led to the Supreme Court decision of 1973 that legalized abortion for the first time in our nations history. We couldnt have had the legalization of abortion without acceptance of the birth control pill, first. Today when we worry about hormones in food and seek out organic foods, we nonetheless pump unlimited hormones into women through the pill, even teen age girls, without a care. These eventually make their way into the water table. Many doctors, prescribe the pill for a number of medical reasons, other than preventing pregnancy, but they arent solving the problems with these prescriptions, they are only hiding them. Is there any wonder that the link between the pill and breast cancer is coming to light and will undoubtedly become clearer with the passage of time? The sad thing is that many Catholics, and we can see this in most Catholic politicians, have been so conditioned by the culture of death that they now minimize or ridicule or deny the most basic teachings of the Church in regard to life and the family. The way of lifeeternal lifeis the path we are called to walk. Gods way is not always popular; as a matter of fact, it is bound to go against what everyone else is doing. Therefore, it is going to take effort and sacrifice, but if you humble yourself and choose Gods way, He will give you peace and strength and exalt you forever with the reward of eternal life. We must choose the Way of Life!

September 5, 2010Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus didnt hide anything when he spoke about the commitment of a disciple. He used hyperbolethe strongest possible termsto make His point: If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sister, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. We cant take the word hate literally since we know His commandment is to love one another, but we cannot forget that love of God, love of our Blessed Lord, must take the first place over all other human loves. Thomas Acquinas was a young Italian from a wealthy family who knew that God was calling him to the new Order of Preachers, founded by St. Dominic. They lived the vow of poverty with strictness and didnt have the prestige of other long established religious orders. The Acquino family was not pleased and two of Thomas brothers kidnapped him and locked him up in one of the family castles. They threatened and pleaded with him saying that joining this poor religious order would dishonor the family name and was causing his mother much grief. When they could see they were not making any progress they tried another tactic. Late one night, the door to Thomas room opened and in walked a very beautiful woman with questionable morals to tempt young Thomas. He immediately went over to the fire place and took out the red hot firebrand and held it up to the woman with an expression on his face that meant business. She screamed and ran out of the room and Thomas took the firebrand and burnt a cross into the wooden door. After this, his brothers relented and let him go. But what if he had placed his mothers love and his brothers wishes and the family name ahead of doing the will of God? Or what if he had given into the temptation of the flesh that night? He would have never entered the Dominican Order; he would never have used his considerable intellectual talents for the Church, especially developing the theology on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and the meaning of Transubstantiation; he would never have become a saint. Most of the time there will be no conflict, however, when we dont put the will of God and His Commandments ahead of human love and earthly desires, we will not only loose our love for God, but we will deform even our earthly loves and plans that we held so dear. In our Second Reading, St. Paul asked his friend Philemon to make a difficult decision for Christ. Philemon was a wealthy land owner and a

convert of St. Pauls. Paul was under house arrest and converted a fellow prisoner to the faith named Onesimus. The problem was that Onesimus was an escaped slave who belonged to Philemon. At that time in history slavery was an integral part of society and the runaway slave was treated most cruelly if he were caught. At the least he would be branded on the forehead with the letter F for fugitivisrunawayand at the worst crucified. St. Paul was asking Philemon to put away his anger at his rebellious slave; ignore his peers who would accuse him of being lax, after all, there were 60 million salves in the Roman Empire and they needed to be kept under control. Paul would have liked for Onesimus to remain with him and spare trouble for all, so he delicately wrote I should have liked to retain him for myself, so that he might serve me on your behalf in my imprisonment for the gospel, but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary. Considering the attitude toward slavery, Paul took a risk in sending Onesimus back. Paul appeals to the Christian conscience of Philemon and wrote that he should take him back no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother, beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man and in the Lord. Did Philemon take him back or perhaps send him to help Paul, we dont know for sure? Fifty years later, St. Ignatius of Antioch was being taken to Rome for martyrdom and on his way, he wrote 7 letters that we still possess. One was to the church at Ephesus where he praised their great and holy bishop, who was named Onesimus. It is possible that this was the former slave, saved by the grace of God and St. Paul who became a holy bishop in Ephesus. Jesus calls us to be disciples and to put aside human opinion and plans in order to accomplish great things by fidelity to God. Often in life we are faced with projects or trials that we think are beyond our talents or ability or strength to handle. (I have often thought that about myself in founding our parish.) For example, a young man and woman who decide to get married and realize that being open to Gods gift of children in their lives will not be easy. It means sacrificeputting aside their own plans and comforts in order to raise a Christian family. It can be frightening in a world that trains us to think about ourselves and our needs first and only love others if it is convenient. If you are faithful to the plan of God in regard to married love and reject contraception and abortion you will not find support in society at large. Families that have more than two children are often looked down upon and total strangers will make demeaning comments.

However, if we place our trust in Jesus Christ and obey him we will find that we can accomplish much more than we ever imagined. Gods grace will strengthen you and increase your capacity for love. This morning, we have two men who are going to make their profession of faith in the Catholic Church after having professed the Nicene Creed with us at Mass; they will also receive the Sacrament of Confirmation and their first Holy Communion. They are Jeremy Davis and Mark Eberwein and are seated with their families in the front of Church. They have been studying the Catholic Faith and praying and are ready to join us. It is always a great inspiration for us to have adults stand up and profess their faith in Jesus and His Church. Let us pray that God will give them the grace of perseverance and joy in being members of His Mystical Body, the Church. Jeremy and Mark remind us of the call that we all have to be faithful followers of Christ.

September 12, 2010Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time This month a book was published by renowned physicist Stephen Hawking that argued that God didnt create the universe, but that it came about spontaneously. He is a man of great intelligence when it comes to physics, but like all atheists, he misses a key part of the knowledge of life that comes only by way of faith. Another scientist who praised Hawking made this fundamental error in thinking, he wrote: As a scientist, I have never quite understood the conviction . . . that creation requires a creator. . . . Every day beautiful and miraculous objects suddenly appear, from snowflakes on a cold winter morning to rainbows after a late afternoon summer shower. Yet no one but the most ardent fundamentalists would suggest that every such object is painstakingly and purposefully created by divine intelligence. In fact, we revel in our ability to explain how snowflakes and rainbows spontaneously appear based on the simple, elegant laws of physics (Lawrence M. Krauss, WSJ, Sept. 8, 2010). Christian belief has never held that God directly creates each snow flake and blade of grass, notice I say directly. We believe that God has created an untold number of processes in nature that work together in a beautiful harmony to bring about all that we see and experience in the visible world. The laws of physics can explain a lot of these processes, but what it cannot explain is what began it all. St. Thomas Aquinas developed 5 proofs for the existence of God that still hold up to this day. In one he made the point that everything that exists has a cause. You exist because of your parents who conceived you and they existed because of their parents and back and back, one cause after another until you get back to the one cause that began it all; this First Cause was not caused by anything else. It is as St. Thomas named itthe Uncaused Causeor simply God the creator. Professor Stephen Hawking and others who dont accept God the Creator have to substitute something else. In his new book, he wrote of the possible existence of extra dimensions that brought about the spontaneous existence of our own universe. It sounds more like science fiction than science, but it still doesnt answer the question of where these other dimensions came from. The simplest Catholic understands the answer to that question; it is God who created the universebrought all of its matter and energy into being out of nothing, simply by an act of his Divine Will.

There is another thing that we should remember: God may not directly create each snowflake, but He does directly and immediately create each human soul at the moment of conception. Each new life is a brand new act of creation as important as the creation of the universe at the beginning of time. You see what this belief means in regard to your value and the value of each human life from the moment of conception? You arent a random, meaningless, expendable part of creation; you are planned and willed by a loving God. Is it any wonder that our world which has become increasingly atheistic has also forgotten the value of life and allowed the culture of death to dominate? The Parable of the Prodigal Son takes us a step further. Jesus wants us to see our Creator as a loving, most merciful Father, we could even say, an indulgent Father. In the parable, the younger son does the most offensive things to his father; no father at that time would have tolerated them. He couldnt wait for his father to die in order to get his inheritancehe wanted it now! He took his money and left the love and security of his fathers home and squandered it all to the point that he was starving. From the point of view of the Jews he was in the worst position possiblehe was reduced to feeding pigs, which are an unclean animal to the Jews. He finally realized his wretched condition and decided to ask his fathers forgiveness and return home. I remember of group of mothers who were studying this parable and one of them said, if he were my son, I would never let him get away with this pathetic apologyhe was only asking forgiveness because he was in such miseryhe didnt really mean it! Most good parents would want their children to be sincerely sorry and to learn the right lesson as that mother did. However, we often dont want to forgive others who offend us, not because we care about their spiritual growth, but because we feel that they arent sorry enough or havent paid enough of a price for hurting or disobeying us. This is precisely the main point of the parable; God is so good and merciful that He will accept the minimum of repentance in order to get us back into His houseHis lovein order to lead us to a deeper understanding. The prodigal son could barely make his confession, before his father welcomed him home and held a banquet, saying: This son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found. God our Creator and Father loves us with and infinite love and wants us to be His true sons and daughters. Let us thank Him for the great Sacrament of Penance where we can make our confession and receive His mercy.

Every time we receive this Sacrament of Mercy this parable is lived in our lives. You may have heard the news that in Advent of next year, 2011, we will begin using a new translation of the prayers for the Holy Mass. The bishops of the English speaking world have been working for the last 10 years to come up with a more accurate and beautiful translation of the Mass prayers. The prayers that we have been using since 1973 have become very familiar to us, but one of the almost universal complaints is that they were not an accurate translation nor beautiful translation of the Latin Roman Missal. Before the Second Vatican Council, the Holy Mass was prayed in Latin throughout the world which conveyed the idea of unitythere was only one Catholic Mass that was the same in Europe, the United States and everywhere else. Even though we mostly say the Mass in the vernacular it is important to have the idea that we are all praying the same Holy Mass, no matter what language we are using. The Mass that we are celebrating here at St. Gianna Church in not my Mass, not the Mass of the people of St. Gianna Parish, but the Catholic Churchs Mass, Christs Mass. We need to remember that we are in union with the whole Church and with Jesus Christ every time we pray the Mass. That is one reason that the Church insists that no one, not even a priest has the right to alter the Holy Mass. Obviously there are options given by the Church, but no one may add or subtract from the Sacred Liturgy on his own whim. There are going to be changes that will take a little bit of time to get used to, since we know so much of the Mass by heart. You can go on-line to the US Bishops web site to read the text of the four Eucharistic Prayers. They are really quite beautiful and take a step forward in solving the problem that we have lost a sense of the sacred. The language that this translation uses will restore a sense of the sacred in the way we pray the Holy Mass. There will be much more on this over the next year.

September 26, 2010Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time In just a few sentences, Jesus draws a clear picture of the two men in the parable. The rich man, who is unnamed, is often called Dives, which is the Latin word for wealth or riches. Dives lives a life of luxury without any care for anyone else, most notably, Lazarus, the poor, sick man who is starving outside his very door. Jesus then tells us of their judgment: Lazarus goes to the bosom of Abraham, which was the Jewish way to refer to ones eternal reward; heaven would not be opened until the resurrection of Jesus. Dives goes to eternal punishment. Dont think that the poor man went to heaven simply because he was poor and the rich man went to hell because he was rich. After all, a poor man can be filled with envy and hatred, but Lazarus was not that kind of man. A rich man can be kind and generous, but Dives was not that kind of man. Dives sins were not just due to neglect of Lazarus who he could have easily helped without lessening his lifestyle, but also greed and gluttony and the love of comfort. God reminds us throughout the Holy Bible that those who have many blessings, whether money, time or talents, are given them in order to share them. The prophet Amos in our First Reading describes the luxurious lifestyle of the complacent in Zion in his day and condemns them for it. He predicts that they shall be the first to go into exile. Their wealth will not buy them any security when the enemy marches upon their land. As Christians we have the duty to fulfill the two commandments of the Law of Love that Jesus gave to us. Love of God and love of neighbor are so linked that St. John wrote in his first letter: Anyone who says, I love God, and hates his brother is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen (1 John 4:20). Although governments can assist in caring for the poor, God always tells us that this is a personal duty, a matter of Christian charity. We will be judged like the rich man by our deeds. We have to ask ourselves: Am I generous in giving my time and talents or do I try to avoid doing good deeds for others because of laziness or self-centeredness? Am I stingy in sharing my money because I rely upon it for my happiness and security rather than upon God? Do I look beyond my own needs and comfort to look for ways to make a difference in the lives of others? The second part of this parable is a dialogue between Abraham and Dives. Dives thinks that if Lazarus miraculously appeared to his brothers who were

living the same kind of life style that he once lived, they would convert. We know that miracles do sometimes aid people in converting their lives, but Abraham makes a point that we should all remember. He responded: They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them. Dives and his brothers had all that they needed in order to live a good and holy life in the teaching and example of Moses and the prophets without a miracle. We too have all that we need to become saints: we have the sacraments, the Holy Bible, 2000 years of teaching, particularly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the extraordinary example of our blessed Mother and all the saints. We have so many opportunities to learn, including the Church History course that we are offering here at St. Gianna beginning next month. Last week Pope Benedict visited England in order to beatify an extraordinary manCardinal Newman. He was a famous convert, author and priest who lived most of the 19th century. He has been called a Father of the Second Vatican Council, even though it took place in the century after his death, because his teachings on conscience and the role of the laity were expressed in the documents of the Vatican Council. The Pope quoted these words from Blessed Cardinal Newman: I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold and what they do not, who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it. Who know so much of history that they can defend it. What more grace and wisdom could we ask for, than has already been given? The solution is not more from God, although He continues to give us morethe solution is to open our minds and hearts to Him. Dives protested that that Moses and the prophets were not enough, but that the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead would convince them. Jesus knew that He Himself would one day rise from the dead when he narrated this parable and had Abraham respond: If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead. From the very first moment of Jesus resurrection there were those who denied that it was true and they still do so today. I have often said that if Jesus would appear bodily to many people today and tell them to change their lives and follow the teaching of His Church on something as basic as the immorality of abortion or sex outside of marriage, they would not repent either. It is a hardened heart that blocks the grace of God. Lets pray that the Lord will give us and our world light and wisdom to open our hearts to Him.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that we will have a new translation of the prayers of the Holy Mass by Advent of next year, 2011. The words that we will use are a more accurate translation of the original Latin, but also a more sacred translation. I wanted to give you two examples that struck me. Remember, that we are here to worship Almighty God; we have the tendency to make everything about us and the translation that we have been using tends to do that too. The first example comes from the very beginning of the First Eucharistic Prayer. The priest now begins: We come to you, Father with praise and thanksgiving through Jesus Christ your Son. The word we is mentioned first and that we are bringing praise and thanksgiving to God. Notice the emphasis is on God in the new translation: To you, therefore, most merciful Father, we make humble prayer and petitions through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. In the Gloria, which is our prayer of praise to God, we now sing or say: we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. The more accurate translation will be: We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory. We should praise, bless, adore, glorify and thank God in every Mass for all that He has done for us. The new translation will help us do just that.

October 3, 2010Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time The disciples made a very important request to Jesus in our Gospel today: Increase our faith. They obviously had faith, since they left their work, their family, their home to follow Jesus. At the same time they realized that their faith could grow and that it was necessary for their faith to grow. We should make their prayer our own: Lord, increase my faith. We have faith too, that is why we are here today, but it needs to be deepened and strengthened. We cant be any more satisfied with the level of our faith than the apostles were. What is faith? First of all, it is a gift of God that we receive when we are baptized. Faith does not have its origin in us or in our efforts; it comes from God. An adult who is not baptized is given graces by God to move him to seek baptism and faith. At that time, the Holy Spirit plants faith like a seed in the soul. In the sacrament of baptism the Church acts in a special way as a holy Mother who brings new life to her children. Faith causes us to hold that it is true that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior. It means that I accept Him and His doctrines in Scripture and Sacred Tradition as taught by Holy Mother Church. As the CCC says: Communion in faith needs a common language of faith, normative for all and uniting all in the same confession of faith. That is why we recite the Creed at Holy Mass each Sunday. One of the changes in the wording of the Creed that will take place next year is that instead of saying We believe as we do now, we will say I believe. The word in Latin is Credo, which means I believe but this change has a deeper meaning. I have to make my own profession of faith as do you; it is personal. The CCC puts it this way: Whoever says I believe says I pledge myself to what we believe (#185). Faith isnt only a matter of the mind, the intellect; it is also a matter of the will, the heart. Faith means that I adhere to Jesus Christ as my Lord, God and Savior with all my mind and heart. Sometimes we are tempted to confine our faith to Church and Sunday morning, like putting it into a box, but it is really meant to influence all our decisions at every moment of our lives. St. Paul wrote to his friend and disciple St. Timothy in our Second Reading to be unashamed in living and preaching his faith. Paul had ordained

Timothy as a bishop, which then, as now is expressed through prayer and the laying on of hands by a validly ordained bishop. Paul wrote: I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. Dont let the gift of faith die out like a fire that has no fuel, but stir it up so that it is a burning light. That is good advice for all of us. Dont take your faith for granted; pray that it may be strong. Lord, increase my faith. Paul reminded Timothy to Take as your norm the sound words that you heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. What should Timothy base his faith upon? Not his feelings or opinions; it is the teaching of Paul the apostle that is the norm. The first Christians didnt make up the faith; they believed and taught what had been given to them by the apostles themselves. So it has been throughout 2000 years of Church history. The teaching authority of the Church is called the Magisterium, which consists of the Pope and the bishops in union with him. The living, teaching office of the Church has the task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Holy Bible and the Sacred Tradition. It is a great gift for us so that we can be certain of the teachings of Jesus Christ in a world that is so uncertain. Jesus wants our faith to be a comfort and guide for us in all the trials and decisions of life. Our biggest test comes when there is suffering. The First Reading from the prophet Habakkuk expresses the anguish of the suffering person: How long, O Lord? I cry for help but you do not listen! I cry out to you, Violence! but you do not intervene. Suffering can make our faith grow exponentially or it can cause us to become bitter and angry; we have to decide. It is especially difficult to understand when it concerns a child or young person. On September 25, a teenager who died when she was only 18 years old was beatified, which is the final step before canonization as a saint. Chiara Luce Badano was born in Italy in 1971 to parents who longed for a child but were unable to have one for the first 11 years of their marriage. Her mother said, Even though we were so immensely happy, we understood straightaway that this child wasnt ours alone. She belonged to God first of all. At nine Chiara used to write down her little acts of self-denial, one note said: My friend has scarlet fever and everyone is too scared to visit her. With my parents permission I

decided to do my homework over at her place so that she wouldnt feel lonely. It was at this time that Chiara and her parents joined the Focolare Movement, which is a lay Catholic organization to help people live their faith intensely. She was popular with her friends and was good at tennis, swimming, and mountain climbing. Her friend said She dressed modestly and with good taste. She was always well-groomed, without overdoing it. Then one day when she was 17, Chiara was playing tennis and experienced a sharp pain in her shoulder that wouldnt go away; it turned out to be one of the most serious and painful forms of bone cancer. Her father said at the diagnosis, We were sure that Jesus was in our midst in that moment and he gave us the strength to accept it. Chiara said courageously, without tears: Im young. Im sure Ill make it. Her kindness and unselfishness stood out in her many admissions to the hospital for treatment. One of the boys from her youth group said: At first we thought wed visit her to keep her spirits up, but very soon we understood that, in fact, we were the ones who needed her. Her life was like a magnet drawing us to her. As each lock of hair fell out from the chemotherapy she would say sincerely, For you, Jesus as she united all her sufferings to the Lord. When she lost the use of her legs, Chiara said, If I had to choose between walking or going to heaven, I would choose going to heaven. When she nearly died of a hemorrhage, she said: Dont shed any tears for me. Im going to Jesus. At my funeral, I dont want people crying, but singing with all their hearts. In her last days she said: I no longer ask Jesus to come and take me away to heaven. I dont want to give him the impression that I dont want to suffer any longer. Her last words to her mother were, Goodbye. Be happy because Im happy. She died, just short of her 19th birthday in October of 1990. This is a young woman who understood the meaning of suffering and allowed her faith to take her to the heights of sanctity in a short time. There were 25,000 people at her beatification ceremony last week. Our faith is meant to guide us to heaven like it did Blessed ChiaraLord, increase my faith.

St. Gianna Financial Report July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010 Income Weekly envelopes Loose money Votive offerings Stole Fees St. Louis Review Escrip (Schnucks) Investment income Total Expenses Salaries 78,011.42 Payroll taxes 3,981.35 Employee Benefits 620.67 Supplies 15,879.76 Fees and Services 9,337.36 Contract Services 539.15 Rent 57,500.00 Utilities 12,716.22 Maintenance 1,098.53 Property Insurance 5,520.00 Archdiocesan High School Assessment 14,171.00 Cathedraticum 13,259.00 St. Louis Review 1,134.00 Health Insurance 21,000.00 Interest paid on debt 62,469.81 Accounting fee 2,644.50 Total 299,882.77 242,660.86 58,088.58 2,569.52 535.00 1,525.00 518.64 7,605.62 313,503.22

October 17, 2010Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time We learn about the power of prayer in our First Reading, as well as, our need for perseverance in prayer. Exodus 17 told us of the first battle that the newly freed Jewish slaves fought on their own. After the ten plagues, Pharaoh ordered them to leave Egypt, but then in anger and revenge he pursued them with his whole army. Israel didnt have to raise a sword, since the Lord God fought for them and defeated Pharaoh in the waters of the Red Sea. Now they had to fight for themselves, but they were not alone. Moses went to a hill next to the battlefield and prayed for them. He raised up his hands in the gesture of prayer that is still prescribed for the priest during certain prayers at the Holy Mass. As long as Moses prayed with hands upraised the Israelites won, but when he lowered his hands and stopped praying they lost. Two men had to help Moses by holding up his arms and so he continued praying for the hours that it took to win the battle. It is not easy to persevere in prayer, mentally or physically. Even though God didnt fight for Israel in a miraculous way, He still fought for them and prayer was the key to their victory. We too have many spiritual battles in our lives that arise from the temptations of the devil and from our own human weakness. It is prayer that will give us the strength to be victorious and reach the Promised Land of Heaven. Jesus clearly told us of the power of prayer in His name: Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it. That the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it (John 14:13-14). We often put our trust in weapons or worldly power or even money to find our security in this world rather than prayer in the name of Jesus. At the same time we think, How can there be any power in praying the Rosary or the Holy Mass? If prayer is so powerful then why dont I always get what I ask for in prayer? First of all, we have to understand the purpose of prayer. Prayer isnt just a matter of saying certain words and getting what I want from the all-powerful God. When I put my coins in the soda machine, I expect my soda to come out. Prayer isnt like that. God is not a machine whose purpose is to please us; God is a Father who desires what is truly best for us. He is our dearest

Friend. If we use people for our own pleasure or advancement, we are not treating them with dignity, nor with friendship, so how could we look at God as merely a genie in a lamp who is meant to do our bidding. A boy wanted a bicycle for his birthday, but the family could not afford it. His father who didnt believe in God tried to test his faith one day by saying: You believe in God, dont you, why dont you just pray for a bike and we will see if God hears your prayers? The birthday came and there was no bike, so the father said, I guess God didnt hear your prayers. The boy responded, Yes, He did; He just said no. God always hears our prayers, but He will say no when our prayers are selfish and self-centered. He will say no when it is not the right time or situation for them to be answered; even if it seems like the right time to us. He will not give us something that will do harm, because He loves us. Even if you pray for the conversion of your son or daughter for many years and you still do not see any result, dont give up prayingthe time is just not right yet. To ask something in the name of Jesus means that we are in accord with the will of God. We want what Jesus wants. That is why it is good to say with Jesus in our prayers: Not my will, but Thy will be done. Another reason to persevere in prayer is that we learn the will of God in our lives when we pray with faith. St. Augustine wrote: God wills that our desire should be exercised in prayer, that we may be able to receive what He is prepared to give. The purpose of prayer is not to change Gods mind to what we want, but to change our minds to what is truly goodHis will. Prayer is not just a matter of a particular devotion or particular method; it not a psychological activity or an effort to reach a mental void. Prayer is conversation with God who is our best Friend. I speak to Him and He speaks to me. I use words and images in my mind to talk to Him; He can use words, but that is very unlikely. His response will be to move my mind to understand something that I didnt before or to move my heart to repentance or joy or to gratitude; He will give me the impulse to pray for someone or go out and do a good deed or make a firm resolution. Even if I dont feel a concrete response from God, I cant give up on prayer because it is always time well spent with the best of Friends. Blessed Mother Theresa didnt feel the closeness of God for the last 50 years of her life, but she persevered in prayer, joy and service. Perseverance in prayer is not a matter of warm feelings, but of sacrificial love for God. This

experience of Blessed Theresa is called the dark night of the soul which the saints experience, sometimes for a short time, but sometimes for years. Nonetheless, God is at work purifying and elevating their souls for eternal reward. In the end the key to prayer is perseverance. I must see prayer as a priority and do it day in and day out. As soon as I let it go one day, then it turns into two and then God becomes a stranger to me. To persevere in prayer takes a plan. We should turn spontaneously to God throughout the day, but we also owe Him scheduled time. I know you are busy, but I would like to propose the start of a plan for daily prayer that takes no more than 10 minutes. First, when you wake up in the morning, say the Morning Offering; giving God all the works, joys and sufferings of your dayit takes less than a minute. Second, read for five minutes a day from the New Testamentstart with the Gospel of St. Matthew through Revelation and then begin again with the First Gospel. St. Paul told us in the Second Reading: from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God. . . . Third, pray the Angelus at noon. It is that beautiful prayer that recalls the moment when God became man through the consent of our Holy Mother Mary; it takes only 2 minutes. Fourth, examine your conscience before you go to bed. It only takes a couple of minutes to think through your day asking: What good did I do today? What are my sins? Conclude with an act of Contrition. The most important prayer is the holy Mass, followed by the Rosary and mental prayer, but we have to start somewhere to make a plan for daily prayer; begin with these four things: make the Morning Offering; read five minutes from the New Testament; pray the Angelus at noon; examine your conscience at night10 minutes. The Gospel ends with that most heartbreaking question of Jesus: When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? Lets console the Sacred Heart of Jesus who gave everything for our salvation. If we persevere in prayer, even if no one else believes, we will remain faithful until He comes again.

October 24, 2010Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time The disciples listening to Jesus would have had a very clear idea of the kind of persons who went up to the Temple to pray in the parable: the Pharisee and the tax collector. For us a Pharisee is synonymous with a hypocrite; those listening to Jesus knew that the Pharisees were a sect within Judaism that made a pledge to follow the whole Law of Moses with perfection. They followed not just the 10 Commandments, but all the hundreds and hundreds of explanatory laws; they were supposed to be the holy ones. St. Paul, who was of the Pharisee party later said that it was unfair to put the burden of the Law of Moses upon the new Gentile converts to the Church because even he as a Pharisee could not follow it perfectly. Likewise, the disciples would have had a very clear idea of a tax collector. They were notoriously greedy and cheated people in the collection of taxes and, worst of all, they were collaborators with the hated Roman Empire. These two men went up to the Temple to pray and in their words of prayer Jesus reveals their souls; their prayer did not match their appearance. As a matter of fact, Jesus revealed that the Pharisee didnt really pray to God at all: The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself. His words were full of pride, praising himself for how good he was. He looked down upon everyone else, but especially, the tax collector who represented greed and dishonesty to him and the listeners of this parable; this is not the prayer of a holy man. The prayer of the tax collector didnt fit his stereotype, either. His prayer was humble and filled with sorrow for his sins: O God, be merciful to me a sinner. What a simple, beautiful Act of Contrition! Jesus said that he went home justified, that is, right with God, at peace; forgiven of his sins. I want to be right with God (and I hope you do to), as a matter of fact, I know that I cannot be right with myself or anyone else unless I am right with God. A lot of our problems in life, particularly in marriage and family, are caused by the fact that we are not living right with God. When I repent and make a true effort to convert my life, turning away from sin, I find happiness and I will find satisfaction in my relationships. Sin makes me sad and life unlivable. God has blessed us with a sacrament to receive His mercy and healing from our sin; the frequent use of Confession will make all the difference to our happiness.

Have you ever wondered why it is so difficult to make a change in your lifeto conquer one personality flaw or one area of sin? Sometimes we have flaws and even addictions that we hate, but they seem overwhelming. We shouldnt give up on ourselves by saying thats just the way I am or I cant make a change; God never gives up on us. There are several reasons that make it seem impossible to change. First of all, we dont really know ourselves very well. The ancient philosophers understood it; Socrates said it simply: Know thyself. The only two perfect personalities in human history were Jesus and Mary. Adam and Eve began that way, but lost it through the Original Sin, by disobedience to Gods legitimate command. The weakness that comes from Original Sin has affected us all. We have to get to know what has long been called the predominant fault; from our predominant fault flows most of our sins. It can be greed or laziness or lust or gluttony or any of the capital sins. Often we have to dig deep in order to find out the real problem in our souls. The Pharisee didnt know himself. Or he refused to see that even though he was following the Law of Moses, he wasnt as good and as he thought and still had sins that needed repentance. It is difficult for any human being to admit his flaws to himself, but we have to face the fact that we have good and evil tendencies in us. Until we can approach the throne of Mercy with humility and self knowledge like the tax collector we will never be able to conquer our faults. The second reason that it is difficult to change is because we have a habit of reacting to people and situations that has been built up and practiced over a long time. It is often easier to be patient and kind to a stranger than to a member of our own family. For example, a child refuses to do what he is supposed to do because of laziness and the dad reacts by getting angry and yelling at his son, threatening punishment. The son has heard this before and reacts by tuning his dad out or at least waiting until he has said it enough times and is finally going to take action. This irritates the dad and makes him angrier and the son more resentful. This forms a pattern of acting and reacting that we do without thinkingover and over again; we arent really thinking and making free decisions. If we know ourselves and pray at the first sign of a desire to sin, then we can easily overcome it. This is especially true with the temptation to pornography; if we pray at the very first desire we will not be trapped into following the same old pattern.

However, if we wait until the desire gets a hold of us, picture it in our minds, take steps to do it, then it will become increasingly more powerful. The third reason that we find it difficult to change is because we trust too much in our own power and too little in Gods power. St. Paul wrote to Timothy in our Second Reading that even though everyone else deserted him, God did not. He wrote: But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength. . . . And I was rescued from the lions mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to His heavenly Kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen. We have to do our part, but by our own strength we cannot conquer sin, it truly is hopeless. It can only be accomplished with trust in God, for Whom all things are possible.

In regard to our building plans: Everything takes longer than anticipated. We are not going to break ground for our permanent buildings at the beginning of November, but certainly within the month. The plans are now completed and the contractors will receive them in the first week of November in order to formulate their bids. We are waiting on the approval of certain offices in the archdiocese who oversee building. Again, we are hoping to build the common room that will serve as a parish hall, but that will all depend upon the cost when the bids are returned and your continued generosity to our capital campaign. The budget of $4.1 million is for the buildings alone, so they will be completely unfurnished. We are intending to use everything here and move it to the new Church. The windows will be clear glass until we can raise the money to repair and install the stained glass windows we have in storage, which will be an additional $100,000. There is no money to refinish the pews or get new kneelers, so we will have to make due. We are going to have to find money for such things as the sound system and the organ speakers and telephone system over and above the cost of the building. Of course, we will use everything that we already have here. At the Parish Council meeting last week we decided not to have an official groundbreaking ceremony with the Archbishop, for the simple reason that it is so difficult to get people onto the property until a road is built. Maybe in the future we can ask the Archbishop to come and bless the property and the building that is already under construction. In spite of our limitations, it will be a great moment in the history of our parish when we can finally break ground and that moment is coming nearer.

October 31, 2010Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time The character of the tax collector was well known to the people of Jesus time. In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector last Sunday we reflected on the greedy, selfish tax collector who went up to the Temple to pray and found that he did not fit his stereotype; he prayed with humble sorrow: Lord, be merciful to me a sinner. This Sunday the Gospel tells us of a real tax collector named Zacchaeus. Jesus was passing through Jericho and for whatever reason Zacchaeus wanted to see Him. Was it just curiosity? Or was it something more? Did he realize that the money and power, which seemed so pleasing, really made his life empty and lonely? Did he think that this Man of God could help him to reach for something higher? In any case, Jesus stopped on the road in front of the despised tax collector, of all people, and asked to stay in his home. Even though no one else would have suspected it, Our Lord knew that here was a man who could repent and turn his life back to God. And what repentance! Zacchaeus not only promised reform, but he did reparation for all his past sins of greed. Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over. He was sorry and willing to make up for his past sins. Sin has a two-fold effect. The first is verticalit affects our relationship with God; the second is horizontalit affects our relationship with one another. When we repent and go to Confession, the gracious God forgives our sins against Him. Not only does He cleanse our sins, but He wipes clean the punishment due to our sin because Jesus paid that price on Calvary. Our relationship with God is healed. However, event though God forgives our sins against othersthe horizontal effectwe still have to make reparation for them. This is called the temporal punishment due to sin; temporal meaning earthly or related to life in this world. The Feast of All Souls day and the month of November are a reminder that we cannot ignore the effects of sin in our life. If we die with unrepentant venial sins upon our soul or with the temporal punishment that is due to sin or attachments to things of this world we will need further purification before we are ready for Heaven. The Book of Revelation tells us that: Nothing unclean shall enter heaven (Rev. 21:27). God in His mercy

provides the opportunity for a final cleansing of venial sin and reparation for sin. This takes place in Purgatory; the name means purification. You can see why we pray for the holy souls in Purgatory in the Prayers of the Faithful and the Eucharistic Prayer of the Mass and many other times. We look at our loved ones who have died and confidently know they lived good lives, yet most will probably have need for purification from things and pleasures that they held on to, as well as, forgiveness of venial sin and the reparation of the temporal punishment. Sin is far more insidious than we commonly realize! The Old Testament Book of 2 Maccabees tells us of the Jewish belief in praying for the dead and doing reparation for their sins. In this book, the Jews, led by Judas Maccabees, fought a great battle in which some of the Jewish soldiers were killed. When they examined the bodies of the men who died they found that they had amulets of a foreign god under their clotheskind of like lucky charmsthat were sinful to wear. Seeing this, Judas took up a collection and sent it to the Temple in Jerusalem in expiation of the sins of the fallen soldiers and the Bible says: It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they might be loosed from their sins (2 Maccabees 12:39-46). The Church under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit continued this practice and doctrine. Most of the Mass intentions for the priest are prayers for the Faithful Departed. It is no wonder that Martin Luther deleted the 2nd book of Maccabees from his Old Testament version because it confirms the ancient belief of the Catholic Church. As Catholics, we believe in the reality of the Communion of the Saints. We no longer have the earthly company of those who have died, but that doesnt really separate us from them. We are in communion, that is, union with themwe can pray for them and they can pray for us. The saints in heaven, no longer need our prayers because they have reached the goal; they have finished the race, but they can certainly intercede for us before the very throne of the Blessed Trinity. In union with God they can know our needs and can help us. The statues and images of Mary and the saints are meant to be reminders that even though we cannot see the members of our heavenly family, they are still united to us. God wants us to help one another through our prayers, sacrifices and good deeds. He can, of course, do everything Himself, but he gives us the dignity of participating in our salvation and the salvation of others.

The souls in Purgatory benefit from our prayers and they can pray for us. Purgatory is a temporary state, since they are all going to heaven, but they can no longer help themselves. Connected to our prayers we can also apply the spiritual treasure of the merits of Christ and the saints to them through indulgenced prayers and deeds. When we perform a charitable deed or prayer that has been assigned by the Church for this purpose, God will use it to remit the temporal punishment for sinseither for the person performing it or for a soul in purgatory. This is called an indulgence. Yes, there was abuse of this spiritual treasure and sound doctrine of the Catholic Church back in the 1500s, but that was reformed long ago by the Council of Trent, which ended in 1563. The Book of Wisdom in our First Reading expresses Gods desire for our salvation: You spare all things, because they are yours, O Lord and lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things! Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little, warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O Lord. We in the age of grace, the time of the Church, should continuously praise and thank God for all the help that He has given to us so that we might reach eternal life. Jesus saw the conversion of Zacchaeus and rejoiced: For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost. When we convert our lives Jesus rejoices in us, too.

PROCESSIONAL HYMNS
DROP DOWN DEW
December 15, 18, 21

Drop down dew, O gracious heaven, Let the clouds rain down the Just: Let the earth bud forth the Savior! In Thy promise, Lord, we trust. Thus the Patriarchs were crying, When the earth in bondage sighing Sought in vain for heavens gate, Closed by sin and satans hate. God the Father in His mercy Planned to save our fallen race, While the burden of our sinning, God the Son deigned to embrace. God the Spirit gave His token Through the Virgin who had spoken: Lo, Thy handmaid, Lord, has heard, Work in me Thy wondrous word. Then the Son took mans frail nature, Was made flesh and dwelled on earth. Life and Light with grace abundant He bestowed of priceless worth. Earth, rejoice, exult with gladness, A new Sun dispels our sadness, Let us then our voices raise, Let us sing our Saviors praise.

O COME, O COME EMMANUEL

December 16, 19, 22

O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here. Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel, To Thee shall come Emmanuel! O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer Our spirits by Thy advent here. Disperse the gloomy clouds of night And deaths dark shadow put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel, To Thee shall come Emmanuel! O come, O come, Thou Lord of might, Who to Thy tribes on Sinais height In ancient time did give the law, In cloud, and majesty, and awe. Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel, To Thee shall come Emmanuel! A ROSE SPRANG UP
December 17, 20, 23

A rose sprang up unheeded, A fresh and tender shoot; As prophets long had pleaded, The rose from Jesses root. It bore a Flowret bright, That opened in bleak winter All in a star-lit night.

The rose above all others Isaiah longed to see Is our Immaculate Mothers Fruitful virginity. By Gods sublime decree A child was born to Mary Yet left her virgin free. Divine her Child and human, All of the Holy Ghost; Conceived, yet born of woman, Our natures only boast. Behold Him weak and small, And still the King of ages, The Hope and Life of all.
(Please kneel.)

L: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. A: AMEN L: Open our mouths, O Lord, to bless Your holy Name. Cleanse our hearts from all vain, perverse and distracting thoughts. Enlighten our understanding. Inflame our affections, so that we may perform this service with due attention and deserve to be heard by Your divine majesty. Through Christ our Lord. A: AMEN. O Lord, in union with that divine intention with which You Yourself, while on earth, offered praises unto God, we offer this Novena unto You.

L: In a spirit of humility and with contrite hearts let us bow down and confess our sins: A: I confess to Almighty God, to blessed Mary ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, to all the Saints, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned exceedingly, in thought word and deed: through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore I beseech blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed Michael the archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy Apostles Peer and Paul, all the Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray to the Lord our God for me. L: May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life. A: AMEN. L: To You I lift up my soul; in You, O my God, I put my trust. A: Stir up Your power, Lord, and come to redeem us. L: Come, O Lord, and do not tarry. A: Take away the iniquity of Your people. L: Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight His paths. A: Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low.

L: The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain. A: And all flesh shall see the salvation of our God. L: Let us pray: Stir up our hearts, Lord, to prepare the way of Your only-begotten Son, that through His coming, we may attain to serve You with purified minds. Through Christ our Lord. A: AMEN.

LESSON
L: Brethren, know that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. The night is passed and the day is at hand. Let us, therefore, cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 13:11-14. A: The peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

PROCLAMATION OF THE PROPHESIES

(Please be seated)

Choir: The Lord, our coming King; hasten to adore Him. A: The Lord, our coming King; hasten to adore Him. I C: Rejoice, O daughter of Sion, and exult, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold the Lord shall come, And in that day there shall be a great light, and the mountains shall bring forth sweetness, and the hills shall flow with milk and honey for a great prophet is coming, and He will renovate Jerusalem! A: The Lord, our coming King; hasten to adore Him. II C: Behold, He that is God and man, shall come forth from the house of David, His Father, to sit upon His throne, and you shall see Him and your heart will rejoice. A: The Lord, our coming King; hasten to adore Him. III C: Behold, the Lord shall come, our Protector, the Holy One of Israel, bearing on His head the crown of a kingdom; and He will rule from sea unto sea, and from the river to the utmost bounds of the earth. A: The Lord, our coming King; hasten to adore Him.

IV C. Behold, the Lord shall appear and He will not deceive; if He delay, wait for Him, for He will come and He will not tarry. A: The Lord, our coming King; hasten to adore Him. V C. The Lord will descend as rain on the field; in those days shall rise His justice and abundance of peace; and all the kings of the earth shall adore Him, all nations serve Him. A: The Lord, our coming King; hasten to adore Him. VI C. A Child shall be born to us and He shall be called the God of strength; He will sit on the throne of David, His father, and He will rule, in Whose hand is all power. A: The Lord, our coming King; hasten to adore Him. VII C. Bethleham, city of the highest God, out from thee shall go forth the ruler of Israel; and His going forth will be as from the beginning of the eternal days; and He shall be praised in themidst of the universe, and peace will be on earth when He shall have come. A: The Lord, our coming King; hasten to adore Him.

CANTICLE
(Please stand.)

C. Let the heavens rejoice and may the earth exult, / praise ye the Lord, ye mountains. A. Let the mountains break forth in-to gladness / and the hills with justice. C. For our Lord shall come / and to His poor He shall show mercy. A. Of us, O Lord, be mindful / and visit us in Thy sal-vation. C. Drop down dew, ye heavens from above / and let the clouds rain the just one, / let the earth be opened and bud forth the Savior. A Show unto us, O Lord, Thy mercy / and grant us Thy salvation. C. Come, O Lord, and in peace visit us / that with a perfect heart we may re-joice before Thee. A. That on earth, O Lord, we may know Thy ways, / and among all nations Thy salvation. C. Put forth, O Lord Thy strength and come / that Thou may-est save us. A. Come, O Lord, and do not tarry, / do away with the offenses of Thy people. C. Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Ho-ly Spirit. A. As it was in the be-ginning, / is now, and will be for ev-er. Amen

Chapter
L. Brethren, rejoice in the Lord always, again I say: rejoice. Let your modesty be known to all men, for the Lord is near. (Philippians 4:4)

On Jordans Bank

OUR LADYS CANTICLE THE MAGNIFICAT

The O Antiphons Day oneDecember 15 Behold, our King comes: the Lord of the whole earth, and He shall take away the yoke of our captivity. Day twoDecember 16O Sapientia O Wisdom, O holy Word of God You govern all creation with Your strong yet tender care. Come and show our people the way to salvation. Day threeDecember 17O Adonai O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed Yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law of Sinai mountain: Come, stretch out Your mighty hand to set us free.

Day fourDecember 18O Radix O Flower of Jesses stem, You have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in Your presence; the nations bow down in worship before You. Come, let nothing keep You from coming to our aid. Day fiveDecember 19O Clavis O Key of David, O royal Power of Israel, controlling at Your will the gate of heaven: come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead Your captive people into freedom. Day sixDecember 20O Oriens O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, O sun of justice: come shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. Day sevenDecember 21O Rex O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart; O key-stone of the mighty arch of man, come and save the creature You fashioned from the dust. Day eightDecember 22O Emmanuel O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, Savior of all people, come and set us free O Lord our God. Day nineDecember 23 When the sun shall have risen on the heavens, you shall see the King of kings proceeding from His Father as the bridegroom from the bridal chamber.

REPEAT ANTIPHON L. The Lord be with you. A. And with your spirit. L. Let us pray. O God, who does gladden us with the yearly expectation of our Redemption, grant that we, who now joyfully receive Your only-begotten Son as our Redeemer, may also, without fear, behold Him coming as our Judge, our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. A. AMEN

Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Please kneel. O salutaris Hostia / Que coeli pandis ostium: / Bella premunt hostilia: / Da robur, fer auxilium. Uni trinoque Domino. / Sit sempiterna Gloria, / Qui vitam sine termino / Nobis donet in patria. Amen. Pause for silent adoration. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be. Tantum ergo Sacramentum / Veneremur cernui; / Et antiquum documentum / Novo cedat ritui; / Praestet fides supplementum / Sensuum defectui.

Genitori genitoque / Laus et jubilatio; / Salus, honor, virtus, quoque / Sit et benedictio; / Procedenti ab utroque / Compar sit laudatio. Amen. L. You have given them Bread from Heaven. A. Having all sweetness within It. L. Let us pray. Lord Jesus Christ, You gave us the Eucharist as the memorial of Your suffering and death. May our worship of this sacrament of Your Body and Blood help us to experience the salvation You won for us and peace of the kingdom where You live with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. A. Amen. C. Laudate Dominum omnes gentes: / laudate eum omnes populi.
(O praise the Lord, all you nations: praise Him, all you people.)

A. Quoniam confirmata est super nos misericordia ejus: / et veritas Domini manet in aeternum.
(For His mercy is confirmed upon us: / and the truth of the Lord endures forever.)

C. Gloria Patri, et Filio, / et Spritui Sancto.

(Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.)

A. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, / et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen.

November 7, 2010Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time The Second Book of Maccabees narrates the heroic stories of the Jewish martyrs under the vicious rule of Antiochus Epiphanes. He attempted to destroy the Jewish religion by bribery, threats and finally torture and death. The First Reading today told us of a mother and her seven sons who refused to violate the Law of Moses by eating pork. It may seem like such a little thing, but both the Jews and their enemies knew that violating this small prohibition was truly denying their faith. It was the same for the Catholics in the first 250 years of Christianity under the Roman Empire. They could be spared arrest, torture and death by putting a little incense on the coals before the pagan statue. They refused to worship an idol and joyfully professed their faith in the face of martyrdom. Sometimes faithfulness in little things makes all the difference. The reasons the Jews in Maccabees and later the Christians in Rome would make that ultimate sacrifice of life in this world is summed up by one of the brothers in the First Reading. He said to his torturer who was about to cut out his tongue and cut off his hands and feet: You accursed fiend, you are depriving us of this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up to live again forever. It is for His laws that we are dying. These brothers realized that God had promised eternal life and the restoration of the body in the resurrection of the dead and that His promises were more certain than all the wealth and pleasure promised by an earthly tyrant. In the year 258 AD Pope Sixtus II was offering the Holy Mass in secret when the Roman soldiers broke in and killed him on the spot. His deacon St. Lawrence was ordered by the authorities to gather all the treasure of the Church and bring it to them the next day. They thought that they would get rich on gold and silver; instead, St. Lawrence brought them a group of poor people and said: Here is the treasure of the Church. What the world considers valuable, Christ and His true followers consider worthless. The ancient pagan saying was: Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we will die. It may seem like the people who are saying that are having all the fun, but if you think about it, there can be no expression more hopeless. They thought that there was nothing beyond this worldno reward or punishmentand that they better get all they can get now because today may be it; they will cease to exist. Christians on the other hand, would sacrifice the pleasures of this world, especially those that violate the law of

God, and sacrifice even life itself, because there is a great hope that lies beyond the door of death. It is a hope that will make everything in this world look worthless and foolish. St. Paul wrote after having a vision of heaven: Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor. 2:9). The Sadducees came up to Jesus in our Gospel today to present a puzzle that made the resurrection of the dead look foolish. The Sadducees were very different from the Pharisees; they didnt believe in angels or the resurrection of the dead; they believed only in the first five books of the Scripture; they were few in number and very wealthy and did not look for the coming of the Messiah because that would have disturbed their carefully ordered lives. The puzzle they present is of a woman who married seven brothers, one after the other as each one died, without any children. They asked whose husband would she be after the resurrection of the deadif there really was such a thing? Jesus told them not to think of heaven under the same terms as they understood life on earth. Human life will be transformed and marriage will be fulfilled and perfected. The Holy Eucharist, which is the true Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, is the greatest gift that God can give to us here on earth. We need to love and deepen our faith in this Most Blessed Sacrament and appreciate its inestimable value. However, in heaven we will no longer have the Holy Eucharist because the Sacred Bread of Life will give way to direct union with God. There we will see Him Face to face! So it is with marriage. It is a great sacrament of love between a husband and wife, but it will not be lived the same way in heaven. Certainly, that special bond will always exist between husband and wife, but there, it will no longer have the physical, sexual component as it does here on earth, with the duty and joy of bringing children into the world; nor will it have the same exclusivityone husband and one wife. That is the meaning behind Jesus words: The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels. . . . Mary and Joseph lived their marriage here on earth as all married couples will live it in heaven. What a beautiful marriage

that was! Priests and Consecrated Religious live on earth the kind of love expressed in celibacy that we will all live in heaven. The Old Testament martyrs and the saints of the Catholic Church teach us how to live in this world while keeping our sights fixed on heaven. Pope Benedict reminds us that this is our great hope upon which all other lesser hopes are based. If we have this great hope then we will live in this world with true joy, no matter what sufferings we face. St. Paul instructed us in the Second Reading: May the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.

November 14, 2010Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time When you speak about the end of the world it always arouses curiosity and sometimes fear. So it did among the apostles in the Gospel this Sunday who asked: Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen? There are several truths about the end of the world that we can know for certain. First, the world will come to an end! This created universe is not eternal; the Second Coming of Jesus will mark the end of the heavens and earth as we know it and bring about new heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13). In this new universe, the Book of Revelation consoles us by saying that God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away (Rev. 21:4). The second truth about the end of the world is that no one knows the day or the hour that it will take place. Jesus stated this clearly. There are some groups that have given a date for the end of the world; those dates have come and gone, sometimes with disastrous consequences for fanatical leaders and followers. It is more likely that my life is going to end with death before the Second Coming of Jesus, but with that said, we do not know when it will happen so we must be prepared, ready for the coming of the Lord in glory. Thirdly, Christs Second Coming will not be hidden like in Bethlehem, but will be obvious for the entire world to see. Jesus told us they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Matthew 24:30). In the Gospel today Jesus didnt initially speak about the end of the world, but the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem. You always went up to Jerusalem when you entered the Holy City, since it was built on a mountain. The magnificent Temple was at the highest point and could be seen by all who went up to Jerusalem. The Temple at the time of Jesus had been rebuilt by King Herod the Great. He was a great builder, but not a just or good king. Jesus saw its architectural beauty and its meaning, but also much more. He saw the day when it would be destroyed: all that you see herethe days will come when there will not be a stone upon and another stone that will not be thrown down. This happened in the year 70 AD when the Roman General Titus surrounded the city with his army.

All the Christians had already fled because of the prophecy of Jesus, but there were over a million Jews in the city. Famine racked the city as strife among three groups raged and they destroyed one anothers food supplies. Finally, Titus gave the order and even though he didnt want to destroy the city, a fire started and led to the greatest tragedy of the era: the destruction of Jerusalem and its great Temple. Today, you will see Jews who pray at the wailing wall which was thought to be a foundation wall of the Temple, but the best archeology of the day says that it was actually the foundation of a great fortress outside the Templenot a stone left upon a stone. The apostles heard Jesus prophecy regarding the Temple and immediately jumped to the idea of the end of the world, after all, it was the same thing for them. It would be something like the destruction of the iconic Basilica of St. Peters in Rome for us. What a disaster! However, even if St. Peters was destroyed the Catholic faith would continue wherever Christians could gather for prayer and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. For the Jews the destruction of the Temple meant the end of sacrificial worship. Jesus turned from speaking about the Temple to teach them about the end of the world by telling them and us: See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, I am he, and The time has come. Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end. These things happen and continue to happen in world history. This brings us to the fourth truth about the end of the world, which is explained in the CCC: Before Christs second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the mystery of iniquity in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messiah by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of His Messiah come in the flesh. Things are not going to get better and better until the end; Scripture and the teaching of the Church say just the opposite. We have seen the persecution of the faith many times in history, but before the end there will be a great apostasy in which the Antichrist will pretend to be the Messiah and teach the

true faith. He will do all he can to lead people away from following the commandments and the teachings of the Catholic Church. He will use all the means at his disposal to convince people that good is evil and evil is good. It will fool many. We heard Jesus heart-wrenching question a few weeks ago: When the Son of Man comes will He find faith on earth? (Luke 18:8). Just look at a few deceptions that we are facing today. There has never been an age in the history of the world when abortion could be practiced on the scale it is today and given the status of a right, as if it were a good thing! Pornography is perhaps the greatest scourge that has hit the Church in 2000 years because it is so available and secretive; with its addictive power that is equal to drugs, it is leaving the destruction of marriage and family life in its wake to an unprecedented degree. As important as it is love everyone whether we agree or disagree with them, no society that puts homosexuality on a par with marriage is going to survive; it is not a sign of advancement, but a sure sign of decay. I dont know whether the end is near, but we have to face the fact that many are being deceived into believing that wrong is right and with the advance of media and the internet and wireless communications and whatever will come in the future it will be easier than ever to reach people and deceive them. How do we respond? Jesus tells us that by our perseverance we will be saved. We need to know the teachings of our faith deeply in order not to be deceived by those who are clever in their use of words. A superficial understanding in not enough! We need to listen to the Holy Father, the Pope, for he has been given to us as the sure rock of faith; we need to pray and receive the sacraments with fervor. We need to pray to the Holy Spirit so that He will give us wisdom that Jesus promises, a wisdom that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. Let us pray for perseverance because we need that grace whether the end of time is near or still very far away. Only God knows!

Christ the KingNovember 21, 2010 The kingship in ancient Israel came about in opposition to the will of God. God had been governing His people by prophets and judges up until the day that the elders of Israel came to the prophet Samuel and asked for a king so that they could be like the nations around them. Samuel prayed and God spoke to him in these words: Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to you for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them (1 Sam. 8:7). Samuel warned the people that kings would draft their sons into his army, tax them and use them for their own enrichment, but still they wanted an earthly king. If you look through the long history of Israel there are a few good and wise kings, but by and large they were tyrants. They did exactly as Samuel said; they were greedy for money, greedy for power and allowed the worship of pagan gods in Israel. The first king, Saul ended up in disaster, but God chose the second king, David and had Samuel anoint him. In spite of Israels rejection of God as king, God had a wonderful plan for the kingship of Israel. In the First Reading, we heard of the peoples acceptance of David to succeed King Saul. He certainly had his flaws and the Bible doesnt ignore them, but David was to become the model king of the Old Testament. God made a promise that Davids heirs would reign on the throne of Israel forever. Nearly 1,000 years later, after many unworthy kings, God was about to finally fulfill His plan for the kingship. He sent the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary of Nazareth, who along with Joseph her betrothed, were both descendents of King David. The angel asked Mary to be the Mother of God and said to her concerning Jesus: He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end (Luke 1:32-33). Jesus as true God and true man would be the King that the people of Israel truly longed for from the beginning. He would fulfill Gods promise to David that his heir would reign forever. St. Paul comments in our Second Reading that God the Father delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. As members of the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church we are under the Kingship of Jesus Christ the King of

the Universe. The Church is His visible Kingdom on earth; the Kingdom of His Most Sacred Heart. The Gospel tells us the kind of King that Jesus came to be when it focuses our attention on the scene of the Crucifixion. Most earthly kings wanted power in order to dominate and control their people. They wanted to make sure their royal authority and dignity was absolute in the eyes of their subjects by force and fear if necessary. Jesus is just the opposite. He is the kind of King who has come to serve His people, lift them up and sacrifice Himself in order to do so. He is the kind of King who wants the obedience of His subjects to be freely given. First, he would have to win that grace by His saving death on the cross. On the cross Christ the King sacrificed any semblance of royal dignity. He looked just like the two criminals who were hanging beside Him. He endured the sneers of the rulers and the soldiers who jeered at Him. Even one of the thieves mocked Him: Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. Jesus didnt allow His royal dignity to stop Him from doing everything it took to reconcile His people to God and save them from the power of sin and the devil. In an amazing moment of grace, one of the thieves was able to see through the bloody, beaten, crowned with thorns and crucified body of Christ to the royal dignity that was present. He rebuked the other thief saying: we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal. Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen once commented, the good thief remained a thief to the end, for by his faith he stole heaven. Jesus promised him Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise. The opposite of love is not hate, but the use of a person for ones selfish reasons. Wicked rulers use their subjects to increase their own power; we imitate them when we use people instead of love them. Sometimes we do it out of a desire for security or the need to be loved; we think we can force them into loving us; it never works. Other times we are just selfish or lazy and want others to do our bidding; it gives us a sense of power to control others even though our kingdom may be as small as one person that we are ruling. Jesus shows us the true use of power, which is a sacrificial love that saves the world. He will not force you to obey him or to love Him; He will not

force you to pray or fulfill your obligation to keep the Lords Day holy; He will not force you to keep any commandment. He will not violate our free will. Sometimes I wish there was no free will; it is so difficult to do the right thing and so easy to do the wrong thing. How easily I misuse this awesome gift to hurt and violate Gods trust in me. God insists upon our free will, nonetheless, since He didnt want to make puppets on a string or program robots to do His will, but free sons and daughters who would choose to obey a good and loving King. If we submit to Christ the King we will not loose anything, including our freedom, but we will open our hearts to receive all the kingly gifts that Jesus Christ our King wants to give to us.

First Sunday of AdventNovember 28, 2010 The word Advent means an arrival of someone; in our case, of someone who was long expected. Throughout the long history of Israel, the Jews were waiting for the coming of the Messiah. In the season of Advent, we join our minds and hearts to their longing for His arrival, which happened 2,000 years ago. At the same time, we are longing for the Second Coming of Jesus. This is meant to increase our longing for the true Presence of God in our lives here and now. Isaiah is the great prophet of Advent and in the First Reading, he told us of the kind of world the Messiah would bring. The Messiah would be the source of truth and peace: For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. . . . They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. It is a world that we all desire. It can only come from God who brings healing to a sinful and divided world. It expresses the deepest longing of our hearts which is union with God and life with Him forever. St. Augustine put it so well: Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee. The verse for our Psalm expressed this desire by saying: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord. The first coming of Jesus happened at a specific time and place; we do not know the day or the hour of the Second Coming. The Second Coming will be for the entire world to see, but the first coming was hidden in the manger in the little town of Bethlehem. Even though Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies concerning the birth, the miracles and the death of the Messiah, it still takes faith to believe in Himthat He is truly the Son of God and our Savior. Otherwise, He looks just like any other holy man or prophet of the past. The four weeks of Advent are calling us to have deeper faith; Advent is calling the world to have the hope that only faith gives to us. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council which took place in the 1960s wrote this about faith: Many . . . of our contemporaries either do not at all perceive or explicitly reject, this intimate and vital bond of man to God. Atheism must therefore be regarded as one of the most serious problems of our time. Atheism rejects or denies the existence of God; if it was a clear problem in the 1960s it has only increased in our own time.

There are different kinds of atheism. One is a militant atheism that hates God and religion, particularly the Catholic Church. We see this in organizations like the ACLU or authors like Christopher Hitchens or fiction writers like Dan Brown. They do everything they can to destroy belief in God and the practice of religion. Most of the main stream media is looking for anything to make the Catholic Church look bad; we can expect negative stories before Christmas and Easter each year. But there is a more insidious type of atheism that isnt so obvious. The CCC calls it practical materialism. This type of atheism doesnt necessarily have a hatred for God and religion, but indifference. The CCC says that practical materialism causes people to restrict their needs and aspirations to space and time (#2124). God and heaven just arent important to them because they have what they need in their cars and electronics and comforts and business here on earth. Faith in God just restricts them from doing whatever they want or can get away with. They have too many important things to do than concern themselves with God and the practice of religion. In the average Catholic parish only 1/3 of registered parishioners are actually practicing their faith. The five precepts of the Church put forth the bare minimum for a practicing Catholic: attendance at Sunday and Holy Day Masses; Confession and Holy Communion at least once a year; observance of the laws of fast and abstinence; providing for the needs of the Church (CCC #2042-43). Only 1/3 of registered parishioners practice their faith, this doesnt count all those who are not registered, but, of course, a number of that group do much more than the minimum. This shows how atheism has decimated the faith of so many. In the Gospel, Jesus tells us that the end of the world and the final judgment will come quickly and many will not be ready for it. He said that it will be like the time of Noah: In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark and flood came. There will be a similar situation before the Second Coming and Final judgment: Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Jesus doesnt say that they were militant atheists who hated God. They were doing the normal things that everyone else was doing. They were busy about their lives.

What is the difference between the people who are ready for His coming and those who are not? The difference is real faith. It makes all the difference! There is a dramatic movement of faith that is taking place in our own time. You may not be aware that Pope Benedict has set up a new structure in the Church called the Anglican Ordinariate for those of the Anglican Church who want to come into full communion with the Catholic Church. It will be something like the Military Ordinariate in the U.S. which has a bishop overseeing the clergy and lay faithful who are connected to the U.S. military throughout the world. In the Anglican Ordinariate they will be able to keep the specific forms of prayer and customs that are dear to them in parishes of their own, but will be in full union with us. Just a few weeks ago it was announced that 50 Anglican clergy, including 3 bishops, in England and Wales have decided to resign their offices and be received into the Church. The 3 bishops will be ordained Catholic priests in January and the Anglican pastors who want to become priests will undergo a study course and be ordained to the Catholic priesthood at Pentecost of next year. The break-up and division of the last thousand years is beginning to be healed in a dramatic way. The year 1054 marked the separation of the Orthodox from the Catholic Church, the first separation of the one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. In the 1500s, the Protestants began to break away, with King Henry VIII beginning the Anglican religion in England. Now there is a real opportunity for unity in the one Church that Jesus Christ willed from the very beginning. Unity is one of the four marks of the true Church. Let us pray for our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion who will soon be joining us and ask God to strengthen our faith so that we will always be good examples and attract others to Him. Faith does make all the difference!

December 5, 2010Second Sunday of Advent When people investigate their family history we say they are discovering their family tree. A tree is a good image because it is something that has roots and grows over a period of many generations and it is a living thing. In the Bible there are many lists of family trees or genealogies that read Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king (Matthew 1:5-6). That is part of Jesus family tree on His human side. We find them quite boring to read, but the Jews found the genealogies the most interesting part; they wanted to know their history and their lineage and their connection to the patriarchs and promises of God. Like a real tree a family tree is a living thing with future growth; on the other hand, the image of a tree that has been cut down and reduced to a stump is very sad and signifies the ending of something important. In the First Reading, Isaiah describes the family tree of Jesse, the father of King David as a stump. From a human point of view, all the promise of the line of David had ended. The kingdom was divided into the north and the south and it was led by corrupt or ineffective kings who would soon be carried off to exile in Babylon; it appeared that Gods promise to David that his ancestors would reign forever would not be fulfilled. Isaiah saw the situation of the Davidic line and the Kingdom of Israel in a very different lightin the light of faith and the Messiah. He wrote: On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. There was hope for the future because God would bring new life to the family tree of David, which would become the family tree of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of Godand our family tree. Isaiah continued the prophecy in our First Reading by listing the virtues of the Messiah, which we have come to know as the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, knowledge, counsel, understanding, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord. The Messiah would exercise those gifts to perfection. In a world with corrupt judges and unjust laws, the Messiah would be the perfect judge in all justice and mercy. The world in Isaiahs vision would be changed, so much so, that natural enemies will no longer be at odds: Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. It will be like Garden of Eden all over again.

We might say, Jesus came 2,000 years ago, where is this perfect kingdom of peace and justice? We like things done instantly, immediately, but Gods plan is something that unfolds over time; it doesnt come to completion all at once. Gods plan is like a tree that grows over many generations; like the great redwoods that grow over many centuries. Much of the promise will be fulfilled only when the Lord comes again in glory and creates the new heavens and the new earth. But it has begun and it will be completed! The promise that God made through the prophets began to be fulfilled when John the Baptist came on the scene as we heard in todays Gospel. St. Matthew told us: It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: A voice of one crying out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. John the Baptist was a man of Godaustere in his food and clothing, totally dedicated to his mission. The way he lived matched his message. Did you notice that he didnt come preaching: Take it easy; Im OK, your OK; lets all work on our selfesteem. No, he said Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! The kingdom of heaven has to take root in me, if I want Gods kingdom to truly come. In a similar way, I cant expect there to be world peace if my soul is not at peace. If I dont repent of my sins and grow in virtue, then I wont have peace of soul and I wont be at peace with those around me. Should I be surprised that the world is still full of war and discord? The Kingdom of God begins with repentance and the healing of God. Leonardo da Vinci was painting his masterpiece The Last Supper when he had an argument with a certain man; he lashed out at the man with bitter words and threats. When the argument was over, da Vinci went back to work, which at that moment was the face of Jesus, but found that he couldnt paint a stroke. He finally realized the problem, put down his brush, found the man he had offended and asked for forgiveness. He returned to work and calmly continued painting the face of Jesus. Forgiveness is required for peace of soul. The Gospel told us that the people responded to the preaching of John the Baptist in great numbers; as a sign of their desire for repentance and the coming of the Messiah they received a baptism. He told them that the Messiah will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Christian baptism, which Christ would institute before His ascension into heaven, is powerful and purifies the soul like fire through the action of the Holy Spirit.

Christian sacraments are effective and change the soul; they arent just external ceremonies that depend on ones feelings to make them meaningful. It is the Holy Spirit who is at work in each of the sacraments. For the life of faith to grow within us two sacraments are essential: Confession and the Holy Eucharist. Our sins drag us down; without frequent Confession, how can we really expect to grow? Confession allows us to repent, receive healing and strength from God so that we can move forward. The Holy Eucharist is the spiritual food that strengthens our faith and virtue like nothing else. In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass all the grace and mercy of Christs sacrifice on the Cross is poured out upon us, so that we can truly say The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: The victim is one and the same: the same [Victim] now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different (CCC#1367). In Holy Communion we are united to JesusBody, Blood, Soul and Divinityeven if we receive only under one form of the Sacred Host we receive the whole Christ. There are many opportunities to go to Confession before Christmas. I will offer it after most of the evening Novena services which begin on December 15 and run to the 23rd. Check the bulletin for the schedule. Advent is a time to grow in our faith, so that we can celebrate the birthday of our Savior with renewed joy and deeper faith.

December 12, 2010Third Sunday of AdventGaudete Sunday Advent is the season of Christian hope. This is a kind of hope that the world cannot take away. It is based on your faith in Christ, that He has a plan for your life, and that He has Heaven waiting for you. No matter what our problems and sufferings in life may be, they cannot destroy Christian hope if we dont let them. One of the greatest weapons in the arsenal of the devil is to get you to feel sad and hopeless; he wants you to let all the problems and stress and difficulties cause you to give up and forget about your Savior. The devil will even use Christmas to his advantage. We can understand if John the Baptist had his hope challenged. The Gospel told us that he was in one of King Herods deepest, darkest prisons, with the constant threat of death hanging over him; all for speaking the truth about the immorality of Herods marriage. The Gospel said that he sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus if He were really the Messiah. Blessed John Newman once said: One thousand difficulties do not make one doubt. However, it is far more likely that his disciples were having questions about Jesus rather than John the Baptist, so he might have simply told them to go and ask Jesus Himself. Throughout his life on earth our Lord was laboring under the popular, but false idea, that the Messiah was meant to be a king who would raise armies, fight battles, make his people the rulers of all the nations and after His triumph live like an Eastern potentate in wealth and ease. Now this description would better fit the life of Mohammed, the founder of Islam, who came 600 years after Jesus, but it certainly did not fit Jesus. This false understanding of the Messiah would cause many to question and doubt our Lord. Jesus didnt simply say Yes, I am the Messiah. Its me! Could any cleverly worded statement really answer their questions? Instead He referred to the prophecy of Isaiah, which we heard in our First Reading: Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. The Messiah was foretold to work these miracles and Jesus was working them in plain sight. What more evidence does one need?

As he does in many places, the Prophet Isaiah foretold the fulfillment of Gods kingdom and how wonderful it would be. In our First Reading, he wrote: The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers. . . . This prophecy was fulfilled in a partial way on this very day (December 12) in the year 1531 just outside of Mexico City. There was a barren hill in the middle of winter that was instantly, miraculously covered with the most beautiful roses in full bloom. First, here is a little background to this miracle. Mexico had been dominated by the cruel, Aztec religion whose chief god demanded human sacrifice. This ghastly worship took place in the great stone temples of every city and town. The great mother goddess was a grim woman whose head was covered with loathsome snakes and her garment a mass of writhing snakes. Hernando Cortez and the Spaniards arrived in Mexico in 1519, and even though they were not perfect men, they recognized the evil of this pagan worship and heroically destroyed the statues and temples and eventually replaced them with Catholic Churches. Through missionaries, Christianity was slowly entering into this pagan environment. Some of the few converts were Juan Diego, his wife and beloved uncle. Juan Diego was a poor man of genuine faith and a widower after his wife suddenly died. On December 9, 1531 he made the long journey of 15 miles to attend holy Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception which was celebrated on the 9th at that time. He crossed Tepeyac Hill, which once held a temple to the pagan mother goddess, the snake goddess of the Aztecs, when he suddenly heard the voice of a woman tenderly calling to him. Peering over the rocky hilltop he came face to face with the most beautiful woman and he fell to his knees in front of her. Here is what she told him, Know for certain, dearest of my sons, that I am the perfect and perpetual Virgin Mary, Mother of the True God, through whom everything lives, the Lord of all things, who is Master of Heaven and Earth. I ardently desire a temple be built here for me where I will show and offer all my love, my compassion, my help and my protection to the people. I am your merciful Mother, the Mother of all who live united in this land, and of all mankind, of all those who love me, of those who cry to me, of those who have confidence in me. Here I will hear their weeping and their sorrows, and will remedy and alleviate their sufferings, necessities and misfortunes.

She then asked Juan Diego to go to the local bishop with her request for a Chapel to be built on that spot. The bishop, who was a kindly man, patiently listened to Juan Diego but wasnt going to build a Church without real proof and dismissed Juan Diego, even when he came back the next day at the request of Our Lady. Juan Diego again met the Blessed Mother on Tepeyac Hill and said that no one believed him, but would she give the bishop a sign to convince him. She promised that she would do so the next day. Bishop Zumarraga secretly prayed for a sign that would take a true miraclethe gift of roses in the dead of winter. Overjoyed, Juan Diego then went to visit his beloved uncle Juan Bernadino who was seriously ill with a deadly fever. He stayed with his uncle through the night who asked him the next morning on December 12th to go and get a priest so that he could receive the Last Rites. Juan Diego had forgotten all about the meeting with Mary in his concern for his sick uncle until he arrived at Tepeyac Hill; then he decided to pass on the opposite side so that he wouldnt have to face Our Lady. He was suddenly startled to see her descending from the hill in a blaze of light to meet him. She told him not to worry, that his uncle was cured and that he should go to the top of the hill and gather the roses in his mantle. There he found the most beautiful, fragrant roses in full bloom atop the rocky, formerly barren, hill. He gathered them into his rough cloak or tilma and the Blessed mother rearranged them with her own hands. Juan Diego went to the bishop and when he opened his cloak upon it was the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, just as you see it in the picture out in our entryway. The roses convinced the bishop, the painting convinced the people of Mexico to come to Mary and she brought them to Jesus. There were millions of baptisms in the next decade and the people found the true Savior of the world who did not demand human sacrifice for worship, but offered Himself in sacrifice on the Cross and in the un-bloody sacrifice of the Mass. Our world still needs healing from evil, not the least from abortion, which is a modern version of human sacrifice, and Mary is still the Blessed Mother who loves and comforts her children and brings us to the true Savior of the worldJesus Christ our Lord, the true hope of the world.

December 19, 2010Fourth Sunday of Advent If you took an opinion poll about the meaning of Christmas, you would probably be amazed by how many people wouldnt mention Jesus or His birthday. At the same time, it looks as if everyone is celebrating Christmasthe lights and decorations, the gifts and Christmas parties are all around us; it is still a national holiday even in our secularized culture. It spontaneously brings out the best in people who feel a need to share with those who have lesslook at the response to our Giving Tree and many other programs and hidden ways that people give to others. How many people are celebrating Christmas in some way, but do not know why? Christmas brings out a certain longing in peoples hearts for something more than busyness and materialism; there is a natural human expectation that something greater is in store for us. This longing and expectation was expressed by the people of the Old Testament who were waiting for the promised Messiah; everything about Him was gradually revealed in the various prophecies. The Mass texts for Advent bring all of those prophecies to our attentionone by one. In the First Reading we have one of those prophesies, Isaiah told King Ahaz: Ask any sign from the Lord, your God; let it be deep as the netherworld, or high as the sky! King Solomon before him asked for wisdom and he was granted it in abundance, but Ahaz did not have any faith and so he pretended to be humble, saying: I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord! Isaiah got angry at this false modesty and said that God Himself would give him a sign and it would be something remarkable: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel. St. Matthew told us that this prophecy was fulfilled around 700 years later when Jesus was born. In the simple account of St. Matthews Gospel, he told us about the circumstances before Jesus birth that led up to the fulfillment of this prophecy. Betrothal for the Jews was not the same as an engagement today. An engagement can be called off even up to the minute before the marriage and there are no legal consequences. For the Jews the betrothal was the beginning of the binding, legal marriage and a couple could begin living together as husband and wife even before the vows of the wedding ceremony took place. Mary and Joseph had not done so, so Joseph was

doubly surprised by the pregnancy of Mary. After all, he knew the beautiful, pure and holy kind of woman that Mary had always been, and secondly, they had been inspired by the Holy Spirit to live their marriage in a celibate way. Now how was he to resolve this apparent contradiction? It took the Angel Gabriel to speak to him in a dream to tell him what had happened and it was truly a miracle: Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins. The good and obedient Joseph did exactly as the angel told him. St. Matthew adds the prophecy of Isaiah to tell us that it was fulfilled in this event: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel. He also adds the translation of the name Emmanuel, which means God is with us. This brings us to the meaning of ChristmasGod is with us. Before Christ, God was incomprehensible to most of the human race, even though St. Paul rightly observed that anyone can come to an understanding of God through the things that He has made; creation reflects the Creator (Rom. 1:19). However, their understanding of God was confused because of the darkness caused by sin. The Jews alone were given the true revelation of God, but still it was only partial. Even though God spoke of Himself as a loving Father or Bridegroom, He was still invisible, all-powerful, somewhat frightening and distant. It was only when in the fullness of time that he sent His Son, born of woman, born under the law (Gal. 4:4) that we could finally say without fearGod is with us. In the Old Testament, statues and images of God were forbidden because no one could rightly picture the invisible God, besides idolatry was so common throughout the pagan world that it was almost impossible to escape the temptation. However, when God became man and took on our human flesh we could finally picture God. Since Jesus was born for us it is permitted to make statues and images of God, the Blessed Virgin, the angels and saints without fear of idolatry. They are visible reminders of the members of our heavenly family and there is little worry that anyone will mistake a statue of the Sacred Heart for the real Person of Jesus. Beside that we have the real Person of Jesus with us in every Tabernacle of every Catholic Church throughout the world. We believe that through the

power of the Holy Spirit the bread and wine are miraculously changed into the true Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus. Do you see how every Holy Mass is similar to what happened when the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary at the Annunciation? Then, the Son of God came down from heaven and took on our human nature; in the Holy Eucharist, the Son of God, true God and true man comes down upon the altar hidden not by a human nature, but by the consecrated Bread and Wine to become food for our souls and remain with us. God is with us in the Blessed SacramentEmmanuel is here! Jesus has to be as real to us the little boy who one Christmas day went with his mother to visit the Sisters at their convent. The adults talked about old times while the boy played with the toy train that he had just received as a Christmas gift. When they went into the chapel, the boy saw the Holy Child in the almost life-size manger. He noticed that Jesus didnt have any toys and he asked the Sister if He didnt like toys. She replied, Oh yes, He does, but His father and Mother are too poor to afford them. He thought to himself, I have so much; so he went up to the Nativity scene and put the little toy engine in the outstretched arms of the baby Jesus. First, he taught Him how to wind it thinking a small baby would not be clever enough to know how. He felt great joy as he left the darkness of the chapel with Jesus clutching his toy engine to His chest. Jesus really is looking for presents on His Birthday, but the kind that He wants is our faith and trust in Him; He wants the deeds of love, not just the words, but the deeds of love that make life worth living. Even if everyone else doesnt understand the meaning of Christmas, we must not forget. The reason for the lights and presents and carols is Jesus and His birth as the Savior of the world; He is EmmanuelGod is with us.

ChristmasDecember 25, 2010 We are not going to begin at the beginning, but with Christmas Eve in the year 723, near the village of Geismar, which would one day be in the center of the country of Germany. Bishop Boniface was nearly 60 years old and had great success in converting the pagans to the Catholic faith, but near the village of Geismar there was an enormous oak tree called the Thunder Oak of the pagan god Thor. They boasted that no one could destroy this oak tree; in order to worship Thor they gruesomely sacrificed childrenevil always seems to hate children, most of all. Bishop Boniface approached the oak with an ax that Christmas Eve in 723 and struck one blowthe mighty oak tree immediately cracked and fell to the ground. They were astounded! Behind the fallen tree was a small evergreen tree. St. Boniface said: This little tree, a young child of the forest shall be your holy tree tonight. It is the wood of peace . . . It is the sign of an endless life, for its leaves are ever green. See how it points upward to heaven. Let this be called the tree of the Christ-child; gather about it, not in the wild wood, but in your own homes, there it will shelter no deed of blood, but loving gifts and rites of kindness. This was the origin of the Christmas tree, which St. Boniface said was to be a sign of new life in Christ for those pagan peoples. Christ became the light of the world for that tribe of people leading them out of the darkness of paganism, just as He is the light for people of every time and place. Long ago, Isaiah foretold that there would be an answer to the night caused by sin and death; mankind could not solve its own problems, the answer had to come from above: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. The source of this light is the holy Child who was born on the first Christmas over 2,000 years ago. This event was foretold by Isaiah as if he were seeing the Nativity scene himself and understood its meaning: For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful. This was not any baby, but one who was the answer to all the prayers and hopes of the world. We know that this Baby born on Christmas Day was the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, sent by His Father to redeem the

world, For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). The Son of God took on our human nature and was like us in all things, but sin. He was born of the Virgin Mary and named Jesus, which means God saves by his foster father, St. Joseph, who received the name from an angel; Jesus came to show us the way out of darkness into the light of grace. More than that, He came to be our Savior and take the punishment and the burden of sin off our shoulders and put them on His own. Jesus established the Catholic Church to make His saving actions present at every moment of history and throughout our lives by the power of the seven Sacraments. In baptism after baptism, God adopts new children to be His own and gives them the light of sanctifying grace for the first time; He endlessly pours out His Divine Mercy in all the souls who seek His forgiveness in the Sacrament of Confession. In countless Holy Masses, He renews the one sacrifice of Calvary upon the altar; every time we offer this Sacrifice of Love, He leaves his Real PresenceBody, Blood, Soul and Divinityto feed our souls and remain with us in the Tabernacle. All the Sacraments are the gift of our Savior to continue the work of Redemption in each soul, in each new generation. This Christmas, we look again at the humble Nativity scene as it pictures the words of Sacred Scripture. God didnt come into the world to set up His Kingdom by force of armies and weapons; He didnt come to dominate and control; He came with an invitation and with the grace to respond to it. That is why He humbled himself to be born as a baby, in a poor family, in a dirty stable, in a manger where the animals ate their food. The first visitors to the newborn Baby were the lowly shepherds who kept watch in the fields, but also listened to the words of the angels. This scene cannot frighten, it cannot force us, for it is a scene of peace, humility, tender love and deep joy. As the angel said to the Shepherds: Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a Savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord. Like the shepherds, the angel still invites us to come to Jesus and accept Him as our Savior and freely follow Him. Here we are at the end of the year 2010; we too have been called out of darkness into the Light of Christ. The significance of Christmas is as powerful and effective today as it was in the year 723 when St. Boniface confronted the god Thor and won the people for Christ, and in every other age since Jesus was born for us in the stable of Bethlehem. Come, let us adore Him!

January 2, 2010Epiphany Sunday It was an interior impulse of the Holy Spirit that started the Wise Men on their journey to the manger in Bethlehem, but it is very moving that they travelled by following the light of a star. The ancient peoples paid far more attention to the night sky than we do today; we have the glare of electric lights which block out its brightness. They used the constellations for guidance and particularly for navigation in the Mediterranean Sea; they also wondered at its meaning and beauty. It is not surprising that these wise men recognized something different among the stars of the firmament and moved by God set out by the light of an unusual star to find the true Light of the world. They arrived at Bethlehem and found the Christ-child with His holy Mother Mary and good St. Joseph. In spite of the poverty of their situation, the three kings recognized the true meaning of the scene they encountered. Isaiah again foretold the event: Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. . . . Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. The Son of God came in a hidden way on the first Christmas day, but His coming was meant to be known by people of all nations and races. The Messiah wasnt for the Jews alone; St. Paul said in our Second Reading that this was the mystery that was made known to him by a revelation: that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. The Light of Christ is not just meant to be comforting, but also to transform our lives. When we think of the light of Christ, we should also think of grace and love. St. John writes in his first letter about the command of Jesus to love one another. He first said that he is writing about an old commandmentafter all, the Law of Love that Jesus gave to us was already expressed in the Old Testament (Lev. 19:18), but then John changed his mind and said: Yet I am writing you a new commandment (1 John 2:8a). This commandment is new because Jesus has given us sanctifying grace and the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that we can live the Law of Love in a powerful, supernatural way. How we live this New Commandment determines whether we are in the light of Christ or not. St. John continued: the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is

in the darkness still. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and in it there is no cause for stumbling (8b-10). St. John lived to be nearly 100 years old; he was the only apostle not to die as a martyr. St. Jerome reported that in his latter days the old apostle repeated again and again to his disciples: Little children, love one another. He was asked why he kept repeating this one phrase over and over again and he replied that It is the Lords commandment and, if that is kept, it is enough. Christian love is at the heart of what it means to follow Jesus. Christian love is not just niceness or tolerance; it is something heroic, even when it is lived only in the ordinary circumstances of family life and daily work. It is self-sacrificial; it calls us to love those who annoy us or even hate us; it calls us to love our enemies. First of all, the virtue of love allows us to see people in a supernatural way. Each person is a child of God, created in His Divine image and our deepest desire should be to help them in any way we can to get to heaven. This attitude should color all of our relations with other people, especially those in our own home. Lets face it everyone has faults and flawsexcept me! Thats how we often think, isnt it? If all those other people around me would correct themselves then my life would be easier. Since your husband obviously has faults you might be tempted to think if only you had married another man you would be happy, but the truth is, you would simply trade one set of flaws for another. Ever human being has them. Whatever flaws your wife has that makes life so unbearable, just know that you have your own faults that affect her in a similar way. So many of the problems I have with people are not a matter of right and wrongof them sinning or notbut simply, they are blocking what I want; they are getting in my way! Christian charity allows me to see beyond my desires and to look to see how I can make others truly happy and help them become holy. We have to be so careful about making rash judgments, which consist of affirming evil in another on a slight indication. Let me give you two examples. First, a carpenter was doing some finishing work at an exclusive private school. One of the boys was waiting for his mother and watching him work. So the carpenter explained to him what he was doing and the boy was really interested, as most boys would be. The mother came out of the office and saw her son talking to the carpenter and hurried him off saying,

We dont talk to that kind of person. This deeply hurt the man who was just doing his job and being kind to the boy. The woman not only made a cruel, prejudiced judgment, but she also gave scandal to her son by those uncharitable words. The second example concerns a woman who several years ago applied for a declaration of nullity for a previous marriage in the Church. She phoned her parish priest all upset because on the previous Friday she had talked to the secretary at the Marriage Tribunal and didnt get the answer she wanted, probably because the secretary couldnt make a decision of that kind. Nonetheless, she began making all kinds of judgments about the motives of that secretary and the priest in charge. She said that they didnt care about her situation, they were lazy and hypocritical; the priest wouldnt talk to her (he probably just wasnt in the office), and so she said, who does he think he is the Pope? On and on, she made judgments about how heartless they were without any foundation. One hour later she called her pastor back and said the secretary from the Marriage Tribunal had just phoned; she knew how upset she had been, so she talked with the priest in charge and he examined the case and said that the information they had was enough to proceed. Now the secretary and the priest couldnt be nicer and more concerned about her situation. There are times when we have to make judgments about peoples actions, particularly when you are protecting yourself or another from danger. For example, parents have the duty to make judgments about the kind of people who are around their children. At the same time, we shouldnt judge others motives because we do not really know them. Even if we think we do. How can we judge with certainty the interior intentions of a person whose doubts, errors, difficulties, temptations, good desires or repentance, we do not know? Only God can make that kind of judgment because He sees into the heart and mind of each person. Even when we have good cause for making a judgment about someones actions, we should always be open to revising our opinion about them when new information comes along. Christian charity advises us to hate the sin, but love the sinner. Love has the power to transform us and even hardened sinners. Jesus came into the world to give us light and grace and love. The light of a star led the three Kings to Bethlehem and Jesus wants the light of charity to lead us to Heaven. Love one another, as I have loved you (John 15:12).

January 9, 2011The Baptism of the Lord We celebrated the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem two weeks ago. Todays Feast takes us 30 years into the future; at that time, Jesus was a full grown man ready to begin His public life and is baptized by His cousin John the Baptist in the river Jordan. John the Baptist had been inspired by the Holy Spirit to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah by repenting of their sins. He confirmed their intention through a baptism of repentance. John taught the people that he baptized with water, but the one to come after him would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 3:16). This helps us to understand the power of the Sacrament of Baptism and all the seven Sacraments to make a real change in our soulsin our lives! We believe that baptism isnt just a man-made ceremony that we designed to express our connection with God, but was truly instituted by Jesus Christ and has Divine power connected to it. If you go out into quiet of the woods or stand before the ever-beating waves of the ocean or the vast panorama of the mountains you can get a spiritual feeling that in some way connects you to God who created the world of nature. It can be very moving, but it is a passing feeling and very subjective. When you approach a sacrament with an open heart, it isnt just a matter of a moving feeling (which may or may not be felt), but it is a matter of the Almighty God reaching down to us and pouring His Divine life into us. It affects us for the rest of our earthly life and for eternity, if we let it. The only kind of religion that Hollywood finds acceptable these days is a religion that has an impersonal god who is in creation, not above it. Just look at the movies of the Star Wars series and more recently Avatar. God is not a person, but a force, which has a dark side in Star Wars; they say The force be with you we say The Lord be with you. For us, God is a someone who loves us as a father, who came personally to be born as our Savior, who touches our souls and guides us throughout life to our eternal home. To be in touch with god in the movie Avatar means that you have to be connected to natureliterally so. God is nature, not above it as its Creator. In this Hollywood kind of religion, God doesnt make objective laws to follow or teach like Jesus: If you love me, you will obey my commandments; instead, it is based on ones feelings or ones impulses or ones private opinions. Those things can change from year to year or moment to moment. It is not a personal call, nor does it place any demands

upon a person. This is so very different from the Catholic religion; the Sacrament of Baptism illustrates this difference. When a person is baptized there are certain effects that take place in the soul. The first effect is the forgiveness of sins and all punishment due to sin. Our loving Father reaches down to us to give us His mercy because on our own we could never reach Him or heaven. Secondly, because of the gift of sanctifying gracethe grace of faithwe become a new creation. St. Paul expressed it by saying that we become a new creature, an adopted son or daughter of God and a temple of the Holy Spirit. These images tell us that God has lifted us up from the state of sin and called us to a new life through baptism. This is so different than the image that Martin Luther used when he started the Protestant revolution back in 1517. He said that when we are justified by faith we are like a dung hill that is covered with snow. Christs merits are the snow that covers our sinfulness; you can no longer see or smell the manure beneath, but you are still a pile of manure (pardon the expression). Our Catholic faith has taught us that a person is really changed in his very being and becomes holy through the grace of baptism. The CCC (#1264) points out: Certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character. Also there is the inclination to sin called concupiscence. We have to struggle with this inclination to sin in order to grow in faith, hope and love. God expects us to participate in our salvation. As St. Augustine said, God made us without us, but He will not save us without us. The third effect of Baptism is that we are incorporated into the Catholic Church; we become members of the Body of Christ. Baptism makes us members of the Kingdom of God, so we want to baptize babies as soon as possible after birth in order to bring them into the Kingdom of God. In our Second Reading, St. Peter spoke to Cornelius who was a Gentile, a non-Jew who had asked for baptism. Peter had just had a vision that instructed him to accept even the Gentiles into the Church and the Acts of the Apostles tells us that Peter baptized Cornelius and his whole household at that timethis would include children and slaves. They became the first non-Jewish Christians. From the beginning of the Church baptism of infants was a

common practice because the first Christians new that there is a great difference between being in the Kingdom of God or outside of it. Why did Jesus consent to be baptized even though He had no sins to repent of? First of all, Jesus wanted to support the very good mission of John the Baptist to call people to repentance. But even more than that, Jesus baptism is the moment when the Father publicly declares Him as his beloved Son: A voice came from the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Jesus is God made visible; God who personally loves us and wanted to live among us. Also, Jesus accepts the identification of Himself as the Lamb of God when John the Baptist said Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus was born to be the sacrificial lamb who would take our sins upon Himself and nail them to the Cross so that we could be redeemed. This was why he came into the world. This was the reason He established Baptism and all the seven sacraments, so that we could be touched by His grace in every generation until the end of time. When Jesus stepped into the water of the Jordan River to be baptized, He wasnt made holy by the water as we are at Baptism, but He made the water holy for the Sacrament of Baptism to give us grace. Baptism is gift from God that gives direction to our whole life, but also, a vocation from God to live as His children and as members of the Kingdom His Most Sacred Heart.

January 16, 2011Second Sunday in Ordinary Time The priest quotes the words of John the Baptist from todays Gospel at each Holy Mass. As he holds up the consecrated Host, which has become the Body of Christto be more accurate, I should say the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christhe says: This is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Those are the words that John the Baptist spoke when he saw his cousin Jesus coming to him for the baptism of repentance. At that moment the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove and John understood that Jesus was the Messiah who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Lamb of God. From the first book of the Holy Bible to the last book a lamb is an important symbol. In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit has used people and events to prepare us for the full coming of the revelation in Jesus. You could say they were rehearsals for everything that Jesus would do. Certain symbols like water or light or the lamb can be studied in order to better understand the meaning of Jesus mission. The sacrifice of a lamb was used in the Old Testament in order to worship God and as expiation for sins. An animal that was sacrificed represented an offering of something good and useful for man as a gift to God. It was usually burnt totally or partially and called a holocaust sacrifice. The sacrifice of the animal symbolized the offering of ones life to God. People of ancient times could see the close connection between blood and life and understood that life belonged to God. When you loose your blood you die; there were no blood transfusions in those days. The blood of the sacrificed animal was expiation for the sins of the one offering the animal. Since blood was sacred it would often be sprinkled upon the altar or the people. In the New Testament book of Hebrews it says: without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb. 9:22). The most important sacrifice in the Old Testament took place at the time of Moses when the Israelite people were slaves in Egypt. God had sent 9 plagues to convince Pharaoh to let His people go, but Pharaoh had refused to listen. Finally God sent the tenth plague, which was the angel of death to kill the firstborn son of everyone whose house was not marked by the blood of a lamb. The Israelites were commanded to take a lamb, sacrifice it and put some of its blood on the doorposts and lintel. Then instead of burning up the lamb in a holocaust, they were to roast it and eat it in a meal with

unleavened bread and bitter herbs. This Passover meal was a religious ceremony, as well as, a meal. The eating of the Passover Lamb was also a sign of communion with God, just as the eating of any meal with family or friends strengthens the bond of love and friendship. The Paschal Lamb was an unblemished, year old male. What could be more innocent and helpless than a lamb? What could be a more fitting symbol for Jesus, the Lamb of God, who was sinless, refused to defend Himself, and willingly offered Himself for sacrifice? Just as the blood of the Passover Lamb protected the Israelites from the angel of death, even more so the Precious Blood of Jesus saves us from the death caused by sin and the eternal death of hell. You can see the obvious connections between Calvary, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Passover meal. Jesus, the Lamb of God offered Himself, once and for all, on the altar of the Cross. That one sacrifice of love is of infinite value for the forgiveness of all the sins of the world. Each Holy Mass renews that one sacrifice of the Lamb for us here and now and at all times and places. We are directly connected to the Cross with all of its grace and mercy by the Holy Mass. We partake of the Lamb of God in Holy Communion and are strengthened by the grace that He pours into us through His Real PresenceHis Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. The priest truly says with John the Baptist Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world in the Holy Eucharist. In the last book of the BibleRevelationthe Lamb (capitalized) is frequently used as a title for Jesus. The Book of Revelation uses many symbols that are sometimes fantastic and difficult to understand, but the Lamb of God is clear. Jesus is the Lamb who was slain, but is now victorious. St. John heard the whole Heavenly Court of angels and saints cry out in a loud voice: Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! (Rev. 5:12). Jesus, the Lamb of God, teaches us the power of sacrificial love. It has redeemed the world and it makes our lives meaningful and happy. In sacrificial love alone is victory! We need to unite ourselves to Christ crucified for two very important reasons. First of all, we have a role to play in the redemption of the world. When we unite our sufferings to the Lamb

of God, He will give them the power of redemption. Sufferings are not useless when placed on the Cross with Jesus; He lifts them up. The second reason that we need to unite ourselves to Christ crucified is because we can easily get weighed down by life. We feel the burden of our human weakness and the faults and flaws of those around us. Many people feel hopeless because of the trials of daily life or even the monotony of their lives. Perhaps, they dont feel loved or appreciated. Everything in life seems like a burden. If we look to the Cross and the sacrificial love of Jesus, meditating on the meaning of our Lords life and death we can find a hope that makes life worth living; a strength that will keep us moving forward because Jesus is with us and we are with Jesus. Look to the Lamb of God as St. John the Baptist told us and realize that He alone can take away the burdens of life and, most importantly, the sin of the world.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

Heb. 9:22 without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Old Testament
Cain and Abel (Gen. 4:1-7)
-Abels sacrifice of the lamb is accepted; Cains offering of the fruit of the ground was not. Blood means lifethe sacrifice of the animal symbolizes a sacrificial gift of oneself to God and expiation for ones sins.

New Testament
John the Baptist (John 1:29)
-Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Divine Liturgy
Transubstantiation
-The theological explanation of Jesus words in the Bread of Life Discourse. The whole Substance of the bread and wine becomes the Body, Blood Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christa substantial change. The Accidents (the things that are sensedtaste, color, shape, etc.) remain unchanged if they did change we would have the Flesh and Blood visible before us, as in the Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano.

Bread of Life Discourse (John 6)

-Manna in the desert -I am the bread of life. -My flesh is real food, My Blood is real drink. -You must eat my flesh and drink my blood, if you wish to have eternal life.

Abraham and Isaac (Gen. 22)

-Abraham to sacrifice the son of the promise. -Isaac carries the wood for the sacrifice. -Where is the lamb?

Last Supper (Matt. 26:26-29)

-Jesus takes bread: Take, eat; this is My body. Melchizedek -Jesus takes wine: this is (Gen. 14:18-20) My Blood of the new cov-sacrifice of bread and enant, which is poured out The Mass wine. for many for the forgive-ness- The Eucharist of sins Eucharist means Passover thanksgiving for all (Exodus 12) Calvary that God has accom-lamb is slain. -Jesus bears the wood of the plished through -blood of Lamb on doorposts the cross. creation, redemption, keeps angel of death away. the Son (Lamb) of God is and sanctification. The -lamb is eaten as a meal with sacrificed. priest representing unleavened bread and bitter -the Blood of Christ sets the Jesus Christ, takes herbs. world free from sin. bread and wine, quotes -Zikkaron-when the Passover the words of the Last Meal is eaten, it is a reliving of Supper, which reof the event, not just a memory presents (makes preaid. sent) the sacrifice of -from slavery to freedom. the CrossZikkaron.

The Sacrifice on Calvary

The Sacrifice in the Mass

1. Internal meaningwhat is in Jesus mind and Heart? Jesus is obedient to the Father. Jesus continues His eternal act of obedience at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. Thy will be done. Thy will be done.

Bloody death

2. Externalwhat does the sacrifice look like? Separate consecration of bread into Body and wine into Blood signify the death of Christ.

The sacraments signify what is really taking place through the power of the Holy Spirit.

January 23, 2011Third Sunday in Ordinary Time In 722 BC, the cruel and unstoppable Assyrian army smashed into Israel, destroying everything in its wake. The first to bear the brunt of this darkness and distress were the lands of Zebulon and Naphtali, in the region of Galilee. We heard in the First Reading that Isaiah predicted that God would not forget the suffering of His people: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. St. Matthew quoted this passage from Isaiah and said that the prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus began his public ministry in the region of Galilee because God never forgets His promises; He would be that great light bringing the truth and grace and love of God to Zebulon and Naphtali by His preaching and miracles. This light of Christ was always meant to reach the whole worldto people of all times and placesbut it has to have a beginning. In the Gospel passage we heard that Jesus went to the Sea of Galilee and called his first Apostles. Peter and Andrew and James and John, who were fishermen, were the first to hear the call of Jesus: Come after me, I will make you fishers of men. Peter who would be the first to hold the office of Chief Shepherd or Pope and the others as the first bishops of the Church would go to all the world and bring the light of the Gospel to the four corners of the known world. Their successors would continue that work to our own day and to the end of time. This is Gods great mission for His Church. It is never easy to maintain the unity of faith. Right in the first generation we already see divisions springing up. In our Second Reading, St. Paul had to correct the Corinthians who were forming into parties within the local Church, saying. I belong to Paul, or I belong to Apollos, or I belong to Cephas, or I belong to Christ. St. Paul has to ask: Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? If the Corinthians misunderstood or forgot that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who alone could save the world they would soon break the unity of the Church and form many different churches. At the Last Supper, Jesus didnt establish many churches and then tell the apostles to choose whichever one they wanted, He established one Church. Remember his prayer to His heavenly Father: I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; . . . I in them and thou in me, that they may become

perfectly one . . . (John 17:20, 21, 23). It is only through the sinfulness of man and the temptation of the devil who hates the Catholic Church that divisions have arisen over history. For the first 1000 years there was only one Church scattered throughout the known world and it was the Catholic Church with seven sacraments, the Holy Bible, the hierarchical structure under the guidance of the Successor of Peter, the Pope. In 1054, the Eastern part of the Church, those who have the word Orthodox in their title, broke from Rome. In 1517, Martin Luther began the Protestant revolution that further broke the unity of the Church; now there are over 30,000 Christian denominations and growing. We are in the middle of the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity, which ends on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on January 25th. Even though there is much division in Christianity, we cannot simply accept it and give up. Nor can we settle for a superficial unity that ignores doctrine or the seven sacraments. The Church that Jesus established has to have certain characteristics that I mentioned already for it to be the true Church. We have to keep praying for the unity that Jesus willed from the beginning. In a previous homily I brought to your attention that Pope Benedict has set up a new structure in the Church so that those who belong to the Anglican Communion and wish to enter into the unity of the Catholic Church can do so without forsaking their customs of prayer and spirituality, called the Anglican Ordinariate. 3 former bishops of the Anglican Church in England were received into the Catholic Church on this past January 1st, the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God; they were ordained Catholic priests on January 15th and will assume leadership roles for the many other Anglican priests and lay faithful who will follow them into the fullness of faith in the Catholic Church. This is one of the signs of unity that show us that Jesus can still heal all the wounds of division brought about by mans sins; He is still the great light for the world. Yesterday, we grimly remembered an anniversarythe Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States on January 22, 1973 Roe v. Wade. Venerable, soon to be Blessed, Pope John Paul, II saw the problem of our modern world so well when he spoke about the danger of the culture of death. This is a way of thinking and acting as if human life were a burden or something that is useless or even harmful to ones personal happiness. This attitude has been present throughout history; nations that have worshipped demonic idols commonly practiced the sacrifice of

children. There have been and still are those godless nations that have murdered or exposed their children to the elements in order to avoid loving and raising their children. Never in the Bible or in Christian lands has this been seen as anything but murder of the most heartless kind. Until Roe v. Wade, the people of the United States had always seen each new life as a gift from God that needed protection and the love of families and society. The culture of death has so permeated our society that even Catholic politicians have no qualms about supporting abortion if it furthers their power and career. We have seen them deliberately misrepresent the teaching of the Catholic Church in order to try and justify themselves. Once you devalue human life in the womb it is devalued at every stage and human life becomes disposable, dispensablethus the culture of death grows like a cancer and ruins every aspect of life. I have long believed that abortion and the related issues of the culture of death have no human solution. But that doesnt mean that we are hopeless because there is a Divine solution. We have to respond with prayer, penance and the truth so that God can conquer every evil, including abortion. Jesus wasnt just the light for the people of Zebulon and Naphtali 2000 years ago; He still remains the great light for people who walk in darkness. Light give direction and comfort in darkness and Jesus does the same for us in a world that can often be very dark. Lets place our trust in Him and not give up nor loose heart.

January 30, 2011Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus gives us the Beatitudes to show us the way to happiness. In the Old Testamentand this idea continues even todaymany people thought that health, wealth and success were the signs that you were right with God and that He loved you. If you were poor or sick or oppressed, that was a sign that you were being punished for your sins. By the time of Jesus, the Jews had begun to realize that was not true; however, it is the Beatitudes that clearly turn those standards upside down! They offer to our world a different way of looking at happiness and fulfillment. Pope Benedict has said that many people today do not believe in God because they fear Him. They are afraid that He will take away their freedom if they follow His commandments. They think that they will have to give up their happiness in order to be a true Christian. Even the poorest people in our country and the western nations have a far higher living standard than a majority of the rest of the world and far better than most people of Jesus time. So, they ask, why turn your attention to God and Heaven when you have all the goods and pleasures of this world at your disposal? An answer lies in the life of St. Paul; this past week we celebrated his conversion. Before his conversion to Christianity, Saul thought that he knew the will of God; he was self-assured, educated, proud, a man of action, nothing was going to stop him from reaching his goal. He knew that he must stamp out all the disciples of Jesus and put an end to Christianity before it took root. He arrested Christians and supported their punishment, like that of St. Stephen, the first martyr, who was stoned to death by an angry mob. He was on the top of his game until that fateful ride to Damascus when Jesus appeared to him, knocked him to the ground and changed the direction of his life. Saul was baptized and took the name Paul as a sign of the new life he had begun; he would eventually go out to the nations and find his happiness in bringing the Gospel to as many people as possible. He longed to be with Christ in Heaven, but he wanted to continue his work for the good of souls. He expressed this to the Philippians: For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me (Phil. 1:21-2). He knew that his happiness no longer relied on his will or pride or plans, but in Jesus and so he wrote to the Galatians: I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live,

but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal. 2:20). He told the Corinthians in our Second Reading that God doesnt need wealth or power or worldly sophistication to attain His goals: Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God. God can and does work through the unsophisticated and humble. Paul could no longer find happiness in what the world considered to be important. All the money in the world (even winning a lottery) meant nothing; he could say with Jesus Blessed are the poor in spirit for they will attain an infinite amount more in the kingdom of heaven. All the power in the world was useless; he could say with Jesus Blessed are the meek and Blessed are the merciful and Blessed are they who are persecuted . . . for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. All the human respect or praise or flattery that one can attain was a passing shadow compared to those who hunger and thirst for holiness. What he found in faith and the love of Jesus was a joy and fulfillment beyond compare. We, too, have to learn this lesson about true and lasting happiness that the Beatitudes teach us. The Beatitudes call us to awaken from the sleepiness of lukewarmness or spiritual sloth. The CCC says that spiritual sloth goes so far as to refuse the joy that comes from God and to be repelled by divine goodness (#2094). It is very easy to let our standards slip so that we are no longer acting as disciples of Jesus Christ, but only going through the motions. We can also set up two sets of moral standards, one that causes us to act like a faithful Christian under certain circumstances and a whole different set of standards that allows us to act in ways that are immoral and would be embarrassing if our family found out. It is very possible to live a divided life that keeps some things secret, but never brings peace. We should have the same set of Christian standards no matter where we are or what we are doing; honesty and transparency are always good weapons to defeat Satan who Jesus called the father of lies (John 8:44). The devil doesnt want us to face up to our sins and go to Confession.

I have to mention, in particular, the Beatitude, Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. It is a great challenge for us to live up to purity of heart when we are in an age that mocks it. Most have forgotten what modesty of dress means and custody of the eyes. Our culture, not only makes pornography easily available, but encourages its use. By viewing it we quickly become dulled to its effects and excuse ourselves by saying that everyone is looking at it; sad to say, that is becoming truer with each passing day. Next month the Archdiocese of St. Louis is initiating a program to help raise awareness about pornography and offer hope to those who have been trapped. It is called My House and you will be hearing and reading more about it next month. You might remind yourself of this Beatitude when there is a temptation against purity and ask: Do I want to see God? then I must be pure of heart and resist temptation. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Here again, we should not be afraid of God but seek His help and find true happiness. It has never been easy to be a Christian, but the Lord Jesus lived the Beatitudes Himself and gives us the grace to live them, as well.

February 6, 2011Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time On St. Pauls second missionary journey, he went to the city of Athens, Greece, which had once been a great center of learning and wisdom with teachers like Plato and Socrates. At the time of Pauls visit, Athens was a vast museum to its glorious past past; a place of chatter and fads, rather than a place of learning. To St. Paul it was very disturbing; it was a city full of temples and idols of every god or goddess that was known and even a temple to the unknown god as if they wanted to cover all the bases. The Acts of the Apostles tells us that while Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy at Athens his spirit was stirred within him, seeing the city wholly given to idolatry (Acts 17:16). This intrepid missionary was compelled to preach the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He went to the Areopagus, which was the meeting place for discourse and discussion, to tell the people who their unknown god really was. He gave a well thought out talk on the one true God who has made Himself known in Jesus; he taught them some basic Christian doctrines, such as Jesus has called us to repentance and would judge the world at an appointed time and shown us the truth of His message through His resurrection from the dead. However, in spite of a few conversions, Pauls words fell flat and his audience dismissed him saying we will hear you again about this. However, they didnt mean it. As he travelled to the city of Corinth, St. Paul reflected on this experience in Athens and learned a powerful lesson. He later wrote to the Corinthians those words from our Second Reading: When I came to you proclaiming the mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. It is the cross of Christ that powerfully speaks to the human heart. It is the self-sacrifice of Jesus that moves souls to choose genuine love over selfishness. It is Christ crucified that gives suffering meaning and causes heroic virtue, even martyrdom among Christians of every age. In homilies, I have often reflected on the happiness that comes from following Jesus Christ. The world tries to fool us into thinking that temporary pleasures and money and power and human flattery are the goal of life. It is only when we realize that living the Law of Love and giving up at least some of those earthly pleasures and desires that we can really be

fulfilled. Recently, Cardinal Burke was asked by a reporter from the St. Louis Review about the meaning of free will for Catholics. His Eminence responded with these words: Free will is developed in us through a discipline of our thoughts and our affections, and our words and our actions, so that they more and more are conformed to the mind and heart of Jesus Christ. . . . And we experience great freedom. We discover that freedom is not meant for my selfish enjoyment, but that true freedom is for the good of my brothers and sisters . . . . We discover that our greatest joy comes from being selfless and being generous and sacrificing ourselves, even when it hurts us very much, in order to love. It is this genuine freedom, which comes from bearing the Cross with love that moves young men and women to totally dedicate their lives to Christ in vocations to the priesthood and religious life; it gives husband and wives the strength to sacrifice their own desires and plans to love one another daily and devote themselves to their childrens formation; it even calls soldiers and firefighters and police to heroically risk their lives to save others; it calls all Christians to live and defend the faith amidst ridicule or hatred or martyrdom. St. Paul asked the Romans: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Rom. 8:35, 37). Bearing the Cross does not destroy our happiness as Christians. God wants us to participate in our salvation. No, we could not do it without His saving death on the Cross; He made us with free will and has redeemed us. In our ability to chose Him and his commandments we experience the human dignity that He wants for us. We are not puppets on a string who are forced to act as if God were a dictator. We are not forced to act by our genetic code or by our environment or by addictions. However, it is obvious that we often have to struggle to overcome our weaknesses and that means bearing the Cross, which will hurt. The problem is that we can reject the grace that moves us to choose Gods Law, which brings true freedom and instead choose the slavery of sin. In the Gospel this Sunday, Our Lord said that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world: But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. Unlike salt, we can repent and be restored by God to grace and friendship. If you feel sad and burdened by life, if you feel

worthless and without a future it is a sign that you need to look to the Cross of salvation and turn to Gods infinite mercy. I wanted our Church to have a crucifix that you couldnt miss because the Cross is so central to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and to our lives as Christians. We even had to raise the roof to fit it in! The Cross is not something sad, but the sign of the greatest act of love in human history when God became man and gave Himself for our salvation. All Catholics should have crucifixes in their homes. I even keep a small one in my pocket so that I can hold it when times get tough and it seems like the Cross is getting too heavy for me to bear. If we turn to Jesus, He will not let us bear a Cross that is too heavy, nor will He let us bear it alone. A very powerful lesson was reinforced for St. Paul in the great city of Athens; it is one that we need to relearn again and againthe center of our Christian faith is Christ, and Him crucified.

February 13, 2011Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Since the 1960s many Christians have been acting as if Jesus came to do the very opposite of His words in the Gospel today: Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. We often have the negative mindset that the Commandments and laws of the Church are arbitrary and forced upon us by people with power to make our lives miserable and control us. People will say, as long as I am not hurting anyone or if it is between consenting adults, how can it be wrong? This totally misses the meaning of Gods Law; Gods law is not about breaking rules, but about responding to Him in love. In the Gospel today, Jesus took some of the commandments that were very familiar to the Jews and brought them down to the level of ordinary, daily life. The serious commandment, You shall not kill can be violated in a more or less serious way by anger towards ones neighbor. The commandment You shall not commit adultery can be violated by adultery in the heart or the sin of lust, and so on. The purpose of these explanations is to point out that sin hurts our relationship with God and with others. For example, picture a young man and woman who are walking down the street, holding hands and talking and looking at one another as if they were in love. Up the street comes a very attractive woman who is immodestly dressed and the young man begins to stare at her; he follows her with his eyes, so much so, that he bumps into a telephone pole. What to you think his girlfriend would think? He finds that women more attractive than me; he would rather be with her than me. He could explain that his lustful thoughts didnt really hurt her, as a matter of fact, he was the one who got hurt! The problem is the relationship is damaged. Just imagine the same scene with a different twist: a young man and woman who are walking down the street, holding hands and talking and looking at one another as if they were in love. Up the street comes a very attractive woman who is immodestly dressed and this time the young man masters his desires and instead of taking another look at the woman, he looks into his girlfriends eyes and smiles at her until the other woman passes. Now, what would his girlfriend think? He has eyes only for me; He has a heart only for me. The same is true in our relationship with God, even more so, since He has loved us with an infinite love. The purpose of Commandments and law are

to help us know when we have turned away from living the Law of Love. When we disobey a law of God it is a sure sign that we are heading in the wrong direction. We have damaged or even severed our relationship with Him. In the First reading from Sirach, the prophet puts it plainly: Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him. With all of His Heart, Jesus wants us to choose life. If I ask, how far can I go without committing a mortal sin, then I am looking at life in the wrong way. I should be asking, how can I love God and my neighbor in a way that will bring about the greatest good? How can I serve you this day Lord? How can I serve my family, my neighbor for love of You, O Lord? It is not only a matter of avoiding sin; it is also a matter of growing in virtue. The CCC teaches: A virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person . . . pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions (CCC #18030). Just because I propose to do something doesnt mean that I will actually do it. We all have made resolutions that we havent carried through. Gods grace is always there to help us if we ask for it, but in order to grow in virtue I have to make repeated acts that cost me a little. There is pain in saying no to myself; in making even little sacrifices to gain self-mastery. Take the young man I used as an example who is able to keep from looking lustfully at a woman. First, he has to know his weakness; then he has to assess the situation that is before himwill an immodestly dressed woman lead him to sin; next he has to pray for help from Jesus and finally he has to avert his eyes and look to something goodinto his girlfriends eyes. This takes self-knowledge and a habit of prayer and a habit of denying ones impulses. This isnt easy; it takes repeated actions, plus the Sacrament of Confession to develop the virtue of purity of heart and any other virtue. One spiritual author writes The word virtue is related to the two Latin words vir and vis meaning man and strength. A mans real strength resides in his virtues. Of course, the same is true for women; our real value and selfworth as human beings comes from self-mastery and living the virtuous life. Our Responsorial Psalm reminded us Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord. Jesus gave us his Law out of love so that we could know how to rightly return His love in our lives and reach Heaven.

February 20, 2011Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time If you want to understand the meaning of Christian marriage and human sexuality the words of St. Paul in our Second Reading are a good place to start. He asked the Corinthians: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? This says so much about who we are and Gods plan for us. First, a temple is a sacred building in which God dwells. We have been created and redeemed by Jesus Christ so that we are really holy and that God is not distant from us, but truly dwells in our souls. Secondly, it is not enough to be a temple; the Holy Spirit wants to help each of us to walk the path to holiness according to our vocation: priest, religious, married or single. Many people look at the Catholic Churchs teaching on marriage and human sexuality and see nothing but a series of laws that say Thou shalt not. As I mentioned last Sunday: The purpose of Commandments and law are to help us know when we have turned away from living the Law of Love. When we disobey a law of God it is a sure sign that we are heading in the wrong direction. Commandments are meant to protect something that is good and sacred. Take for example a sport like football or baseball or golf. These sports have many rules that govern them; they have referees to make sure the rules are followed and every true fan knows the rules by heart. The rules arent a hindrance to playing football, as a matter of fact, they are necessary to make it fair and fun for all. They set standards that players measure up to or surpassjust look at all the statistics that they show at a Superbowl. If this is true for sports and other human activities, why should we be surprised or resent the fact that God has laws and commandments to protect and guide us in something as important as love and sex. While the culture is disintegrating before our very eyes and disregarding any standards of right and wrong, the Catholic Church wants to hold up the true plan of God as the way to happiness and heaven. Pope John Paul, who will soon be Blessed John Paul, gave a series of talks on marriage and human sexuality that he called the Theology of the Body. He presented the plan of God and the teaching of the Catholic Church in a way that calls us to live with true human dignity and nobility in regard to sexuality. One of the teachings of Theology of the Body is that out of all Gods creatures, He has made man for his own sake alone. In other words, one human person is

not meant to be used by another for his own selfish purposes; that violates the dignity that God gave to us. The opposite of love is not hate, but the use of someone. One of the most common ways to selfishly use another person today is through pornography. It used to be that you had to go to some seedy part of town to find hard-core pornography, but now it is only a click away on the home or office computer or cell phone. It is so available, but at the same time, it is a hidden or secret problem that destroys marriages and families and lives. The Archdiocese of St. Louis is beginning a new program called My House that is meant to address the use of pornography in our world today. All registered Catholic families should have received a letter from Archbishop Carlson and a brochure in the mail regarding the My House program. I would like to say, first of all, that the purpose of addressing this issue is not to condemn anyone for the use of pornography, but to help us all understand what it is doing to souls and find healing and hope. I always knew that pornography was wrong, but I didnt understand until several years ago that it is also very addictive. When an impure image is viewed, the brain releases certain chemicals that actually change the brain so that the person will desire further images in order to get that same feeling again and again. That chemical release can lead a person very rapidly to addiction, which in turn leads to more and more graphic images in order to get the same level of feeling. This causes a person to feel trapped and hopeless because on one hand they desire to look and get that chemical release, but at the same time they know it is disordered and wrong. The pornographic industry is immense: an estimated $14 billion is spent each year on pornography in the U.S. alone and there are over 24 million Adult XXX websites (My House brochure). 90% of 8-16 year olds using the internet have viewed pornography on linemost while doing homework; 11 years old is the average age of first internet exposure to it (Bishop Finns Pastoral Letter on pornography). The statistics are staggering, but behind them are people and families whose lives and souls are harmed. In his Pastoral Letter Blessed are the Pure in Heart Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph spoke about its effects: Pornography leads [people] into a world of unreality with idealized,

unrealistic figures who do not engage one in a truly human manner. As people withdraw, their interpersonal skills and relationships weaken. They look at others as objects rather than as people with the capacity for friendship and love. They become preoccupied with every situation and person they encounter: will it provide for me the gratification I seek? The attitude of looking at people as things to be used for ones gratification isnt just left behind on the image, but is transferred to real people and real life. Bishop Finn continued by speaking about its spiritual effects: Viewing pornography for this distorted venereal pleasure is, objectively, a mortal sin. It is seriously contrary to the life God intends for others and ourselves. It kills the life of sanctifying grace. We have to be brutally honest with ourselves in examining our conscience, but not loose heart, and not be afraid to come to the Sacrament of Confession for Gods mercy and healing. If you have been viewing pornography and maybe even feel hopeless, I say to you, you are too good a person to let yourself continue to walk this path; with God you are stronger than you thinkyou can overcome your weakness and sinwe all can! St. Paul again is our guide in the Second Reading: If any one among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool, so as to become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God. Let us seek the wisdom of God, not the foolish guidance of the decaying culture around us, and even though the world thinks of us as fools or old fashioned we have true wisdomthe wisdom of God. After Holy Communion, Pete and Julie Lassiter, our parish coordinators for the My House program are going to say a few words about it.

February 27, 2011Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time We might have the same reaction to our own suffering and trials that we heard in our First Reading; Isaiah reported the suffering nation of Israel exclaiming: The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me. The CCC points out that God can sometimes seem to be absent and incapable of stopping evil. But in the most mysterious way God the Father has revealed His almighty power in the voluntary humiliation and Resurrection of His Son, by which He conquered evil (#272). It looked like defeat when Jesus died on the Cross, but it really was victory and His Resurrection verified it. Even though we might think God has forsaken us in times of suffering, we are called to persevere in faith and not loose heart. Isaiah told us Gods response to suffering Israel: Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. No one has to teach a mother to love her child; it is something that flows naturally from her motherly heart. She knows that she has the responsibility to nourish and protect and teach her child. God uses this image of the natural love a mother to say that His love for each of us, His children, is even greater. He promises that even if a mother forgets her child, as unlikely as that is, He will not forget us. To those who are involved in the pro-life movement the name of Dr. Bernard Nathanson has great meaning. In the 1960s, he was instrumental in moving the country toward legalizing abortion which happened in 1973 Supreme Court decision. He admitted that he and others made up the numbers of so-called back alley abortions; the true number was 100,000 a year, but they said that the number was 1 million a year. Women died from them at about 200-250 a year, but they continually fed the media the totally fabricated figure that it was 10,000 women who died each year from botched abortions. He also helped develop the terminology that substituted Prochoice for pro-abortion in order to make it sound more acceptable, when it was something that was unacceptable to the vast majority of Americans at the time. As the head of a clinic in New York, Dr. Nathanson presided over 60,000 abortions from 1970-1972. He was looked upon as the champion of abortion in this countrybut his life was going to totally change. God began to lead him away from the miserable path his life had taken up until then. First, he was treated as a pariah in legitimate medical circles.

Second, he saw an Operation Rescue in which hundreds of serene people were moved by their faith to protest at an abortion clinic and he began to wonder what moved them. The third thing that effected his decision to turn away from abortion was the invention of ultrasound imaging which clearly demonstrated that there was a separate life from the mother in the womb. He later made a video that showed an unborn 12 week old child shrinking away from the abortionists instruments, chillingly called The Silent Scream. Nathanson had been raised as a non-practicing Jew and considered himself an atheist. He had totally rejected God and had done as much as anyone possibly could to make abortion acceptable in our country. As Isaiah said, even if a mother forgets her child, God never forgets us and God would not forget Bernard Nathanson. He later wrote about that time in his life: I felt the burden of sin growing heavier and more insistent. He was empty and filled with despair, his third marriage was heading to divorce and he was estranged from his adult son and he didnt know where to turn. The first thing was to stop any connection with abortion and begin spreading the truth in place of the lies; thats always a first step to conquering any sin; then God led him to the Catholic Church. He met a very intelligent Opus Dei priest who helped him with his intellectual objections about the Catholic faith; in 1996 he was baptized by Cardinal OConnor of New York. About his baptism Nathanson wrote: I was in a real whirlpool of emotion, and then there was this healing, cooling water on me, and soft voices and an inexpressible sense of peace. I had found a safe place. When asked why he converted to the Catholic faith, he answered: No religion matches the special role for forgiveness that is afforded by the Catholic Church. One of his baptismal sponsors was another famous pro-life activist Joan Andrews Bell who wrote about him: He will be remembered as a very strong advocate for babies. One factor stood out, knowing him over the years and that was the he had a deep pain for what he had done in terms of abortion. I remember there were periods he was fasting; he underwent huge amounts of fasting to make up for it. Dr. Bernard Nathanson died this past week at 85; may God grant him eternal rest. The life of Bernard Nathanson is a sign of the love and power of Gods grace to move even the most hardened sinners. We are all on a journey of faith that has its goal in Heaven; but it isnt an easy journey. Jesus warned us in the Gospel that we can be turned from God by the things and pleasures of this world and become enslaved to them, He said: No one can serve

two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon is an Aramaic word meaning material possessions. It is not that they are evil, but that possessions can easily possess us so that we think they are all-important and that God is of little importance. We said in the verse to the Responsorial Psalm: Rest in God alone, my soul. Lets reflect upon that verse and see if our lives really do rest in God alone or are they worried and busied by things that disturb our peace and do not lead us to Him. What changes is God calling me to make in order to walk on the path that leads to Heaven? Jesus gave us the right order in dealing with money and possessions and even intangible things like success and human loves: Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. If we seek God first, He will not let us down.

Funeral Mass for Richard BamptonMarch 3, 2011 In the name of Msgr. Hickel, Father Lane, Father Hager, Father OBrien and Deacons Fielding Harrison and Barry Clayton, I want to offer our prayers and condolences to you Connie, on the death of your beloved husband of more than 50 years; also, to his children Rick and Rob and Rod and Leanne and Linda and Lori; and to your spouses and children and all the relatives and friends of Dick who are gathered here today to pray for his soul and remember his life. There is a story of a family that was shipwrecked on a Pacific island. While trying to survive on what they could find on the island they always kept their eyes on the horizon looking for a ship to rescue them. Finally they saw a little dot that turned into a canoe paddled by two natives of another island. They were barely able to communicate, but it was obvious that only one member of the family could fit in that canoe, so it was decided that the father would go first and bring back help to his family. You can imagine the tears and hugs when they parted from one another. The happy news is that the father was able to bring back help and rescue his family. Something similar has happened to you in the death of Dick, the father of a very large family. His parting brings you sadness, like the family on that Pacific island, but it also brings a hope and certainty that they didnt have. They didnt know if their father would arrive safely or if they would ever see him again when he paddled away in that little canoe. Through the gift of faith and the life that Dick lived, a life of faith in Jesus Christ, we have great hope that he will arrive in the Kingdom of Heaven safely and that you will see him once again. Jesus has promised us that He is the Resurrection and the life and that He came to give us life through His saving death on the Cross; not just life in this world but eternal life in the joy of Heaven with the Blessed Trinity, Holy Mary, St. Joseph and all our loved ones who persevere in faith. St. Paul reaffirmed our faith in Jesus, in our Second Reading from the Letter to the Romans: Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. He goes on to say that even though we were still sinners we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life. Jesus death and resurrection are the reason for our hope in eternal life.

The events surrounding the death of Dick so perfectly express the meaning of his life; the two most important things in his life, and the only things that really matter in life, were there in his last days and moments: faith and family. I brought him Holy Communion twice last week and each time he received the Blessed Sacrament with such serenity and joy that you knew he understood that he was truly receiving his Lord and Savior into his body and soul through that Holy Communion. He was proud of his conversion to the Catholic faith and lived as a faithful Catholic man should with conviction and gratitude to God and also to his wife Connie for her own example of faith that led him to the Catholic Church. When he died he had his very large family surrounding him reciting the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, which has particular meaning and power at the moment of death. His devotion to our Blessed Mother Mary and his many pilgrimages to Medjugorje expressed his life of faith so well. There is no doubt of his love for his family; he expressed that love for each one of you as an individual, who received his time and attention and advice. I was assured that he never lacked advice for those who asked for it! It was never empty words, but was always advice that was wise and backed up by whatever means he could provide to help carry it out. That brings us to the Gospel that Connie chose for this funeral Massthe Gospel of the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are the plan that Jesus gave us to reach sanctity. Jesus Himself was the living picture of the Beatitudes and to imitate Jesus is to live the life of the Beatitudes. They turn the normal ideas of what is important in life upside down. Instead of building ones kingdom here on earth, that is, finding satisfaction and fulfillment in selfish pursuits one looks to the Kingdom of God and seeks it above all things, particularly by helping others find it as well. Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness . . . Blessed are the merciful . . . the pure of heart . . . the peacemakers . . . for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. This is done through constant unselfish acts in things large and small that help others without counting the cost to oneself. This is simply living the Law of Love as Jesus has given it to us. Many of you can attest to the fact that Richard Bampton unselfishly helped you in your life, simply because he wanted you to accomplish more than you thought you could. His natural cheerfulness and optimism gave you the courage to move forward; his friendship was a valuable gift that you have

cherished and whether you realized it or not, was a reflection of a true Christian who knew His Lord and where he was headed. Jesus told His disciples who lived the Beatitudes: Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. We have to thank St. Joseph the patron of this parish and the patron of a happy death for giving a happy death to Dick. St. Joseph died in the comfort and love of Jesus and Mary, his Holy Family, as depicted in the painting above this sanctuary. The good saint interceded for a holy death for your beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend this past Sunday and he found it surrounded by his family in the midst of prayer. We pray for the repose of his soul and at the same time trust that Jesus and Mary were there this past Sunday morning to take him to eternity. May God grant him eternal rest.

Ninth Sunday of Ordinary TimeMarch 6, 2011 You cant be a pretend disciple of Jesus and expect to get away with it: Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. We can fool other people by putting on a good show, we can even fool ourselves, but we cannot fool the Lord who sees into our souls. Besides, anyone can speak pious sounding words or recite a creed, but it takes a lot more effort to live those words as a Christian. You would think that those who prophesied in the name of Jesus or drove out demons in His name or worked miracles in His name had a sure entry into heaven, but that is not the case according to the Gospelit is only [the] one who does the will of my Father in heaven. There have been and will be many false prophets who appear to do miracles, sometimes by the power of the devil. How do we know the will of the Heavenly Father in order to put it into practice? First, just to ask that question implies something that fewer and fewer people believe today. So many people do not look outside of themselves to an objective truth that they must follow in order to find happiness and heaven. They think that their own desires or impulses are enough guidance for their lives. Ultimately, all the principles that guide that kind of life can be reduced to one: selfishness or narcissism. They do not look to God and His word, as a matter of fact, they do not want commandments that must be obeyed. That is why people turn to the occult or angelic type of beings or Eastern religious ideas: they want a sense of God and the spiritual and a purpose beyond this world, but do not want to have to obey God. It takes humility to seek the will of God and admit that my will is not supreme; and that what I want is not always what God wants. How do we know the will of the Heavenly Father in order to put it into practice? Jesus told us elsewhere If you love me, you will do what I command. The first step is to examine my life in the light of the 10 commandments and the teachings of the Catholic Church; I have to check to see if I am objectively doing the will of God. If I am not living according to them then I have to make efforts to repent and change my life. This Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, we begin the season of Lent, which is the perfect time to turn our lives back to God by examining our conscience in

the light of Gods plan and making a good Confession. There is nothing than brings peace like being right with God through His Divine Mercy! The Law of God is a necessary guide for us to know His will, but as St. Paul teaches in the Second Readingour own efforts alone cannot save us. He wrote to the Romans that we are justified freely by His grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, who God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by His Blood. Every good deed and prayer and penance has value only in union with the saving grace of Jesus. Our obedience in faith is itself a gift won for us through the death of Christ on the Crossthrough His most Precious Blood that was shed for us. Examining my conscience in the light of Gods law is the first step, but I need to do more in order to know the will of God in my life. If I dont pray I wont be able to hear the Holy Spirit who wants to guide me in all the decisions of life, large and small. It is not just enough to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance once in a while, I have to have a real relationship with Him, a real friendship that comes through prayer. That means that I have to have a plan for daily prayer that gives quality time to God and shows that I am not just a fair-weather friend; I dont just speak to Him only when I am in need, but I have a true friendship; I have a longing to speak to Him and be in His Presence. It is so important to spend time with Jesus truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. During Eucharistic Adoration we encounter our God Face to face and Heart to heart. Through prayer I will be in tune with the promptings of the Holy Spirit. A prayer life helps me to have a godly perspective and a deeper understanding of the normal human events of life. Again, Lent is the time to renew and increase our prayer timenot just for 40 days, but for life. Jesus told us in the gospel today that everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. Jesus took this example from real life. In the summer there were many gullies that looked like the perfect place to build a house, but in the winter they became raging torrents of water. A builder had to look ahead and build a house on a firm foundation in order for it not to be washed away. Jesus wants us to build our lives on a firm foundation and an important way to do that is to listen to His words in the Holy Bible. A month or so ago, I suggested a 10 minute plan of prayer for those who do not have one. Part of that plan involves reading the New Testament for five minutes a day starting with the Gospel of Matthew and ending with Revelation and then beginning

over again. You wont understand everything, no one does. The Bible is meant to be like a mine that you can keep delving into for the rest of your life. It is so important to get to know the words and deeds of Jesus; they form a pattern for understanding the will of God in your own life and help you to imitate the life of Jesus. The last Synod of Bishops that Pope Benedict held in Rome was on the important topic of the Sacred Scripture and he encouraged all Catholics to become more familiar with the Bible. In the document that summarized the Synod, the Pope wrote last September: With the Synod Fathers, I express my heartfelt hope for the flowering of a new season of greater love for Sacred Scripture on the part of every member of the People of God, so that their prayerful and faith-filled reading of the Bible will with time, deepen their personal relationship with Jesus. Lets take up the Popes desire for the Church by reading and studying the Holy Bible this Lent. Lets conclude with this prayer to the Holy Spirit: O Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore You. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me. Tell me what I should do . . . give me Your orders. I promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me and to accept all that You permit to happen to me. Let me only know Your will.

March 13, 2011First Sunday of Lent Every so often Hollywood produces a film about the exorcism of someone possessed by the devil that attracts peoples attention. These films can sometimes cause a person to face the reality of the devil and evil and turn back to God, but true demonic possession is rare. However, the devil does attack us day in and day out, not by possession, but by temptation. Our First Reading spoke about the original temptation in Genesis chapter three and the Gospel told us about Our Lords temptation in the desert at the end of His 40 day period of fastingthe first Lent! The first three chapters of Genesis may seem very simple or even primitive in the way they describe the origin of the universe and the beginning of human history, but dont be fooledthey teach profound truths. The Holy Bible is not meant to be a science book, and even though it contains history, is not meant to be a history book; it is meant to teach us the truths of salvation. Actually, the simple style used by the Holy Spirit allows us to see those truths in Genesis more clearly. The first chapter describes the creation of the universe by Godex nihiloout of nothingusing no previously existing matter. He created everything by an act of the Divine Will. Man is the crowning act of creation for we are created in the Divine image and likeness. Chapter two focuses in on the creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. When Adam saw Eve for the first time, he realized that she was his equalbone of my bones and flesh of my flesh and that he could love her totally without counting the cost in a self-giving, sacrificial kind of love. There was no sin in their heart or selfishness or lust for they were created in original innocence as Pope John Paul put it in his teaching on the Theology of the Body. Genesis three is where our First Reading takes up the story today. Here we have the temptation of Eve, and then Adam, to disobey Gods legitimate command not to eat the fruit of the tree in the center of the garden. The devil knew that he could not tempt Eve through her senses. He can very easily tempt us to desire something wrong by saying it will taste good or feel good, but Eve was totally in control of her passions and desires. This is the same temptation that the devil gave to Jesus in the Gospel, to use His Divine power to satisfy His human hunger: If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread. Even though His stomach was crying out for food, Jesus was very well aware that there are many things far more important than satisfying the needs of the body: One does not live

by bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. To feed our souls spiritually is one of those things! We need the Holy Eucharist and the Holy Bible to feed our souls. Do you know that Genesis doesnt actually say what kind of fruit was in question, even though we traditionally picture it as an apple? I think the fruit was probably a lemon, which looks good on the outside, but is sour when you bite into it! The devil always tries to make us think that sin is something good. He will tell us You need this, life is so difficult for you. Everyone else is doing it. It wont really hurt you. You deserve it! There is always a worm to catch us on the hook of sin. Archbishop Sheen once pointed out that during temptation the devil pretends to be our friend and God appears to be our enemy. Then if we give in the roles change dramatically; the devil says I got you; give up. You have fallen again and promised so many times that you would avoid this sin. There is no hope; there is no forgiveness possible for you. The devil reveals himself as he really isour great enemy. On the other hand, God who appeared to be the one standing in our way of our happiness with His commandments and rules before the sin, now says: Come back to me; I am your Father. I want to forgive you and restore you; I will be your help and strength. Trust in me! Since the devil cannot tempt Eve through her senses, he uses pride. If you eat the fruit, he tells her, . . . you will be like gods who will know what is good and what is evil. Its the desire to have power and to command others and to take the place of God; that is the very temptation that the devil succumbed to himself. The tragedy is that it was and is Gods plan to make us, His creatures, into His own sons and daughtersto lift us up to share in His life and glory. Whenever we try to reach God by our own strength we are going to fall far short. Adam and Eve lost so many good gifts for themselves and for the whole human race by their sin of pride. The first gift that was lost was sanctifying grace and friendship with God, but the first effect that is noticed is that lust had entered into their hearts: Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. The Original Sin distorted the pure, self-giving love that they had for one another up until that point.

God actually gave Adam and Eve the possibility to repent and be restored to His Friendship right after their sin. They didnt accept it. Instead of taking responsibility Adam replied to God The woman you gave me to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate (3:12). If only he had been a real man and said: I have sinned. I will take the punishment, just spare my wife. I love her so much I am willing to lay down my life for her. Eve said: The serpent beguiled me and I ate. In other words, The devil made me do it; it is not my fault. We still act like our first parents and try to find someone to blame for our sins. It takes humility to seek Gods forgiveness after we sin, the kind of humility that King David expressed in the famous Psalm 51 which we heard today in the Responsorial Psalm: Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. The hope that we have for forgiveness does not rely on our own strength. As a matter of fact, if you finally conquer some temptation to sin the worst thing to do is attribute it to yourself. You will surely fall right back into the sin: Pride goeth before the fall is the old saying. Immediately we must turn to God and give Him thanks for the grace that allowed us to move forward in virtue and not give ourselves the credit, for we will quickly find out how weak we are. St. Paul told us where our hope lies: the gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one, (Adam) the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many. Jesus is the new Adam and He is our hope of salvation. You may think that your sins are too terrible your temptations too base, but there is infinite hope is Jesus. It begins by admitting my sins; going to Confession and making a firm amendment to avoid the near occasions of sin. If you are struggling with some sin Confession once a year is not nearly enough, it may need to be on a weekly basis. We are in a spiritual battle that began with our first parents and will continue to the end of the world, but God has given us an inestimable treasure in the Sacraments. With Christ we will conquer!

March 20, 2011Second Sunday of Lent Throughout the year the Jews had religious festivals that they celebrated like we celebrate Christmas and Easter. One of the most important Jewish Feasts, called the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles, involved a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. They would camp outside the city in tents or huts made out of palm branches for a week with daily processions to the Temple. This festival was taking place at the time of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, which is why Peter at one point says: Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Obviously, the camping out in tents reminded the Jews of a very important event in their history when Moses lead them for 40 years through the desert after God had given them the 10 Commandments. During that time, God purified them of the worship of the golden calf and the effects of the idolatry of Egypt. The number 40 is a Biblical number that signifies purification; the 40 days of Lent have the same meaning for us right now. The Feast of Tabernacles, didnt just look to the past, but also looked toward the future fulfillment of Gods plans when the Messiah would come and the just would dwell with Him. To Peter, James and John, it looked like that time had come as they saw Jesus transfigured before them. It is hard to imagine the impression that scene left upon them. First, they saw the divine glory shining through the human body of Jesus in such a way that even His clothes became as white as light. Then they saw the two greatest heroes of their historyMoses and Elijah. Moses was the giver of the Law and Elijah, the greatest of the prophets who foretold the coming of the Messiah. The bright cloud was the Presence of the Holy Spirit and the voice of God the Father was heard. Peter could never forget that scene and years later wrote: . . . we were witnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to Him by the Majestic Glory, This is my beloved Son, with whom I an well pleased, we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with Him on the holy Mountain (2 Peter 1:16-17). It is amazing that the Almighty God who could command us and force us to follow Jesus because it is for our own good, merely invites us: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him. Listen to Him; I am asking you; I am trying to coax you to freely choose Jesus, My

Son, for your happiness and salvation. Once again, God shows that He is not a dictator, but a Father; if we choose to disobey with all of its negative consequences, He will still respect our choice. The Gospel of Luke tells us the subject Moses and Elijah were discussing with Jesus, they spoke of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). Pope Benedict comments upon this passage, saying Their topic of conversation is the Cross, but understood in an inclusive sense as Jesus Exodus, which had to take place in Jerusalem. Jesus Cross is an Exodus: a departure from this life, a passage through the Red Sea of the Passion and a transition into glorya glory, however, that forever bears the mark of Jesus wounds (Jesus of Nazareth, page 311). The Transfiguration points us to the Passion and death of Jesus. It is only natural that Peter wanted to hang on to the glorious experience of the Transfiguration: the glorious Messiah is here; build the tents, make it permanent, lets never leave the mountain. But the vision ended; Jesus veiled His glory and they had to go down from the mountain because He had work to do. There was work to do before the great work of redeeming the world. When the apostles left the mountain of Transfiguration with Jesus they were immediately confronted with a man whose son was ill and needed healing. People needed healing, they needed to be taught, and they needed to be freed from the power of Satanthere was evil and sin in the world that had to be confronted. There is a spiritual principle that says that there is no crown of glory without first bearing the cross of daily sacrifice and loveno cross, no crown. Like Peter, this is hard for us to accept as well. We would like this world to be free of suffering and pain and struggle and confusion and doubt. Heaven will be, but earth is a time of testing and purification and growth in virtue. St. Paul wrote to Timothy in the Second Reading today: Bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God. Because of Jesus sacrifice, we can find meaning in our suffering and the strength to bear it. It has long been a practice to unite our sufferings, great and small, with the Cross of Christ; to offer them up, as we say. To do this we consciously place each particular sorrow and trial upon the Cross and through it unite ourselves with the Lord who suffered so much for us. This

means you really do have to let go of any bitterness or anger in your heart; certainly it means you cannot complain about the suffering. If you do this you will find the peace of Christ and His strength to help you bear the suffering of life. Jesus will use it, in union with His own sacrifice, to make reparation for sins and make us ready for Heaven. Offer everything up in union with the Lord. The Transfiguration also reminds us of our own future glory in union with Jesus. At the end of our earthly life, we will be judged by Jesus, but at His Second Coming, at the end of time, He will raise up our mortal bodies and glorify them like He did His own human body after the Resurrection and unite them again with our souls for all eternity. The glory of Heaven is beyond our imagining, but now we must bear the daily Cross so as to receive the crown of eternal life.

Week after week I have been telling you at the end of Mass that we are still waiting for the permits from St. Charles Co. in order to begin building. Now I can finally tell you that this past Monday we received the Land Disturbance Permit and the Building permit, which means we can begin construction as soon as the ground is dry enough to start grading. Lets give thanks to God, the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph and St. Gianna for bringing us to this day. But I also want to thank two men who have done so much to get us to this pointJohn Kainady, our Parish Council President and Todd Oppeau from our Building Committee. John Kainady thought that he was going to take it easy when he retired, but we have kept him very busy with this project and he has been incredibly generous with his time.

Third Sunday of LentMarch 27, 2011 God made water so basic to the very existence of human life it is no wonder that He used it as an instrument to give us supernatural life. Water cleanses the body and is necessary to sustain life; you can go longer without food than you can without water. Throughout the New Testament water is always a symbol for Gods grace and the sacrament of Baptism. Even in the Old Testament water is a symbol that anticipates the sacrament of Baptism. In the Gospel this Sunday, it appears to be a chance meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the village well. But Jesus used it to point to the new lifethe Divine life of gracethat He came into the world to bring to us. It took place in the middle of the day when Jesus was alone, since the apostles had gone into town for food. The woman came to get water from the well and Jesus asked her for the favor of a drink of water, but He really wanted to do her a favor. Every soul is important to Jesus and He wanted her know God and to receive the gift of grace and faith. One of the seven last words of Jesus from the Cross was: I thirst. He wasnt just complaining about dehydration in the midst of the many sufferings that He could have complained about. He was expressing the great desire of His Heart: He wanted all human souls to come to His mercy and be saved. He couldnt have expressed it more poignantly than to speak about thirsting for souls. Through the conversation that Jesus had with the Samaritan woman He lead her step by step to the truth; He often used this process to help people gradually understand and accept spiritual truths. The first step is Jesus statement: If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, Give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. The woman understood that Jesus wasnt talking about ordinary water from the well and his next words confirm it. He said Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. He is speaking about the gift of sanctifying grace which comes to us through the Sacrament of Baptism. In the previous chapter of Johns Gospel, Jesus told Nicodemus: Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot

enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5). This being born again by water and the Holy Spirit happens to us when we are baptized. Baptism is the ordinary way that God has set up for us to share His life of sanctifying grace. Far too often people, even Catholics, think that the sacraments are just nice religious ceremonies; they give you comforting or warm feelings, remind you of good things, such as the life of Jesus, but do no more. The living water that Jesus spoke about to the Samaritan woman has a power to transform the soul and give a new direction to life. When a person is baptized, even if they are a baby, God changes the soul of the person. You really are cleansed of the stain of original sin; you really do receive the very life of God into your soul; you really do become a new creation and a member of His Church. Baptism becomes a spring of water welling up to eternal life. We are set on the path to Heaven by Baptism. The Samaritan woman somewhat grasps what Jesus is saying and responds: Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water. There is more that has to happen before she can come to the full truth. She needs conversion; she needs to change the way she has been living. Jesus led her on this next step by saying: Go call your husband and come back. She was embarrassed to admit the truth of her marital life, but Jesus knew it and told it to her: You have had five husbands and the one you have now is not your husband. She had been married and divorced five times and was living with a man to whom she was not married. This had to be changed before she could move forward. Unrepentant sin caused her to have a spiritual blindness that was an obstacle to faith as it is for us. Next, she tried to distract Jesus by talking about the religious controversy between Jews and Samaritans. We all do it; we try to change the subject when faced with the truth about our sins. It is so hard to admit it; it is so hard to let go of them. But it is necessary! It is only Jesus, with His love and mercy that gives us the courage, just as His Presence that day gave the Samaritan woman the courage to change. He ended the discussion by revealing Himself as the one who could save herthe Messiah. She said: I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us everything. Jesus said to her, I am he, the one who is speaking with you. Jesus had just fulfilled her expectation of the MessiahHe told her the truth of her life and was offering the living water of grace to her to change.

She was perhaps the most unlikely messenger of the Gospel, but she became the witness to the people of her village and brought many other souls to Jesus and they believed in Him. They said: . . . we have heard for ourselves and we know that this is truly the savior of the world. Jesus uses the human desire for water to quench our thirst to teach us that our heart is thirsting for Him and His gifts above all other things. Everything else will please us for a moment, but will not last; they will always leave us high and dry. We will only be satisfied when we come to drink of His grace and partake of His life. Jesus, give me the living water that I may never thirst again.

April 3, 2011Fourth Sunday of Lent It was the common belief during Our Lords time on earth that people who suffered from illness or misfortune were being punished by God for their sins or at least on account of their parents sins. That is why the disciples asked Jesus about the blind man they encountered by the Pool of Siloam: Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? God isnt the creator of sickness or trial or death; that came into our world through sin. But God alone can use evil and bring about good. That is exactly what Jesus does for the man born blind. He explained to the disciples: Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. . . . I am the light of the world. He then completely healed the man of his blindness. It is important to note that one of the rules for making moral decisions that applies in every case is taught in the CCC: One may never do evil that good may result from it (#1789). We are tempted to think that if I disobey Gods commandments to find happiness in this world then it excuses everything. How many women have sacrificed their virginity for a moment of love and found that there was really no love there the next morning, only emptiness? The CCC teaches that The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to the slavery of sin (#1733). We can also say that it leads to spiritual blindness. Jesus came into this world to bring us freedom, light and sight. The Holy Spirit can give us a spiritual sight that allows us to look beyond the normal human way of seeing things to see as God sees. It was given to the Prophet Samuel in our First Reading. He was told by God to go and anoint a new king for Israel from one of the sons of Jesse. Samuel looked at the seven sons that were present and thought the oldest was surely the one that God wanted as King; he was strong and noble. But God revealed to Samuel that this was not the one, saying: Do not judge by appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart. God allowed Samuel to see in the youngest, David, the one who was chosen to be the future King of Israel. David may not have appeared to be kingly material in comparison with his older brothers, but he would become the model king in the Old Testament and it would be from his descendents that

the Messiah would come to inherit his throne in a kingdom that would last forever. Jesus wants us to look at life with the eyes of faith. It doesnt mean that we will have to understand extraordinary things like Samuel, but the light of faith allows us, for example, to look at each human being as a child of God and not a thing to be used for our own selfish purposes. It allows us to look upon our sufferings as a way to be united with Jesus in the work of redemption, rather than a meaningless trial that oppresses us. The light of faith that Jesus gives to us is meant to help us see life in a whole different way, as St. Paul said in the Second Reading today: You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness.

As the Gospel proceeds there is an obvious contrast between the way the formerly blind man sees events and the Pharisees. The Pharisees knew their religion; they were experts on the Law of God, sophisticatedand filled with pride. The formerly blind man was humble, simple and uneducated. Yet he could read the events of his miraculous cure accurately and the Pharisees could not. The Pharisees interrogate the man and even his parents in order to discredit Jesus. Yes, one should investigate a miracle, but even when the parents said that was their son who was blind from birth and can now see, they dismissed their testimony because they were jealous of Jesus. The evidence didnt fit their agenda. In the end the Pharisees will neither believe the facts nor the evidence that was right before their eyes. The man healed by Jesus clearly saw the truth; he stated it simply and logically to the Pharisees: This is what is amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him. It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.

Jesus wanted to bring the blind man the sight of his eyes, but also the light of faith. When Jesus met him again, He asked him if he believed in the Son of Man and to his request to know who the Messiah was, Jesus said: You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he. The man is now able to see with the eyes of faith and he responds in faith: I do believe, Lord, and he worshiped him. The Lord has given us the light of faith, but it is a vision that can increase. It is meant to grow and deepen, but it can also weaken and be lost. Only through actions of prayer and penance and good deeds, and of course the Sacraments, will we be able to see all that the Lord wants us to see: While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

April 10. 2011Fifth Sunday of Lent St. Francis of Assisi conceived the idea of the Stations of the Cross back in the early 1200s and they have become an essential part of Catholic devotions. During his time, Christians could no longer make pilgrimages to the Holy land and walk in the footsteps of Jesus since the Moslems had conquered that part of the world and put to death all Christians who went there. St. Francis knew that it would benefit the faith of the Church if we could spiritually walk with Jesus through the various steps from His condemnation by Pilate to His bearing the Cross to His Crucifixion to His burial. At the end of this devotion, we come to the 14th Station and remember that Jesus lifeless body was placed in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathia; it was wrapped in the burial cloths so carefully by the Blessed Mother. Then the great rock was rolled in place to seal the tomb. To human eyes it looked like the end of everything, the defeat of Jesus and the triumph of evil. When we look at that Station with the eyes of faith, we have to smile because we know a great secret. That dead body would not remain so for long; for on the third day Jesus rose again from the dead in His glorified body. What looked like the end was only be the beginning of his work through the Holy Spirit and the Church He established on Peter and the other apostles. We have a great hope when we meditate upon that 14th Station of the Cross; one that is foreshadowed by our Gospel today. We heard about the raising of Jesus good friend Lazarus from the dead. One of three times when Jesus brought the dead back to life. He did this out of compassion for those who were mourning, but also because this was to be a sign to all to have faith in Him. He told the apostles in the Gospel: Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. He wanted everyone to know through the miracle that He was about to work that He was the Lord of life and that we should not fear even death itself if we trust in Him. Every week we end the Nicene Creed with the words We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen. We profess our belief that at the end of time when Jesus comes again to judge the living and the dead, we will receive our bodies back no matter how long we have been dead. A woman was listening to a priest explain this doctrine of the Resurrection of the Body in a class one day and shouted out: Oh no,

that means that I will have to go back on my diet again! He replied, Dont worry. It will be a glorified body. Or as the Church has expressed it her doctrine, it will be a spiritual body. St. Paul compared the human body before death and the glorified body to a seed that is sown in the ground. He wrote to the Corinthians: What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body which is to be, but a bare kernel. . . . What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable (1 Cor. 15: 36-37, 42). The glorified body will be like Jesus body after the resurrection; it will no longer get sick or age or get tired or weak. I, personally, will be glad to have glorified eyes so that I will no longer have to wear glasses! When Jesus raised Lazarus and others from the dead, they came back to their normal human life and would eventually have to die again. When Jesus raises our bodies to life at the Resurrection of the Dead, we will begin living a new kind of life which will be eternalno longer subject to death. Unlike the angels who never had a human body, but were created as pure spirits, God has made us body and soul. It is our normal state to be bodily creatures and that normal state will be restored and perfected at the end of time. The CCC notes that From the beginning, Christian faith in the resurrection has met with incomprehension and opposition. It then quotes St. Augustine who died in the year 430: On no point does the Christian faith encounter more opposition than on the resurrection of the body (CCC #996). Many thinkers, including some ancient Greek philosophers, could accept the existence of the human person after death in a spiritual fashion, but certainly not the body, which was material and corruptible. To put it simply, they thought that the soul was good, but the body was evil. However, the truth is that the Son of God who took on our human flesh and then glorified it at His resurrection tells us that the human body like all things that God has created is good and will be brought to perfection. In the soon-to-be Blessed Pope John Pauls Theology of the Body, he made the point that from the first book of the Bible we are taught that man is created in the Divine image. This means that not only our soul but our body reflects the Divine image. The body is the physical image of the individual person. We are called to reflect God in our interior and exterior activities in what I think, say and do. That is why the body cannot be manipulated as

if it were merely a machine to be used. We have heard this argument in favor of abortion which says a woman can do whatever she wants with her own body. Of course, we know and science has proved it, an unborn baby is a separate person and not just a part of a womans body, but even if this were so, our dominion over our body comes from self-control, not by treating it as a thing to be manipulated according to our will. This understanding of the human person that comes from Divine Revelation is the reason that the Church has formulated clear teachings on contraception and fertility issues like in vitro fertilization and the sanctity of the unborn, as well as, euthanasia and medicine like embryonic stem cell research. This understanding of the human being created in the Divine image effects our whole way of looking at life. Increasingly, it is a view that the world does not understand nor has the humility to accept. Instead, we tend to think that we are gods who can do whatever we want through science and medicine, rather than stewards of Gods gifts. In the Old Testament God gradually revealed the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead to Israel. Our First Reading from Ezekiel spoke of the promise of God: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them . . . . But Jesus made this doctrine personal in the Gospel when He told Martha: I am the resurrection and the life. Our resurrection depends on Jesus and is united to His resurrection. In a way, we are already resurrected with Jesus through the Sacrament of Baptism because we have a share in His resurrected lifethe gifts of sanctifying grace and faith. Now our task is to be united with Christ in his death by dying to ourselves to our selfishness and willfulnessin order to fully share in His resurrected life. For We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

April 17, 2011Palm Sunday Palm Sunday brings us the joy of Jesus Christ as King and the sorrow of the Cross. How can things have gone so wrong, so quickly? The palm branches that we blessed today are a reminder that Jesus was welcomed into the city of Jerusalem as the Messiah King. The people picked the palm branches and waved them in exultation while singing Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest! Even riding the humble donkey, rather than a great horse, was the sign of the Messiah as foretold by the prophet Zechariah. The reading of the Passion reminded us that in just a matter of days we are plunged into the sorrow of the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, the rejection by the crowds in Pontius Pilates courtyard and the horrific Passion and death of our Lord upon the Cross. Things didnt really go wrong; they were all a part of Gods great plan for the redemption of the world. Jesus chose the Cross. He spoke of his upcoming suffering and death as his glorification and that of his Heavenly Father. After Judas left the Last Supper to betray Him, Jesus said: Now is the Son of man glorified, and in Him God is glorified (John 14:31). The movie The Passion of the Christ shows Jesus receiving His Cross in a very moving scene. It is banged down in front of Him and He puts His hands upon it like He is caressing it; He lays his bloody Face upon it as if it were a precious object. To Him, it is not the instrument of torture and death as it was for the two thieves who were furious at being forced to carry their crosses. Even though He is suffering greatly from the scourging and crowning with thorns, Jesus loves the Cross because it is the price for our freedom and He is willing to pay that price. He loved us so much that He would endure any kind of suffering so that we might be free of the slavery of sin. As a Church, we walk with Jesus through this Holy Week from Palm Sunday through the Last Supper, through Good Friday and finally to Easter Sunday. Each of the Sacred Liturgies of this week is unique and is meant to help us identify with Jesus, to love Him and to pray in union with Him. Please dont let Good Friday be just like any other day! It is not a day for shopping or entertainment, but a day of prayer and quiet and movies about the life of Christ and reading the Holy Bible. The lessons of Holy Week are at the very heart of our Catholic faith; lets re-live them and learn again how to walk in union with Jesus.

April 21, 2011Holy ThursdayThe Mass of the Lords Supper On this night we thank God for instituting two of the seven sacraments: the Holy Eucharist and the Sacred Priesthood. These two sacraments are closely linked in the life of the Church; our late Holy Father Pope John Paul taught that the reason for the existence of the priesthood is to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Recently, someone asked why we dont do everything that Jesus did at the Last Supper in the celebration of the Holy Mass. We certainly do some things: the priest takes bread and quotes Jesus This is my Body and takes a chalice of wine saying This is my Blood. However, many other words and actions from the Last Supper are not done, such as the washing of the apostles feet, which we do reenact tonight alone. The reason we dont do everything like the Last Supper is because the Holy Mass is about more than the Last Supper. As a matter of fact, the Last Supper was about more than the Last Supper. The Last Supper looked forward and we look backward to Good Friday and Jesus sacrifice on Calvary. The Holy Eucharist is, first of all, sacrificial. On the Cross Jesus died when His Blood was separated from His Body through the many wounds inflicted upon Him. The blood and water that flowed from His Sacred Heart when the soldier pierced it with a spear seemed designed to empty his Body of the last drop of blood. In the Holy Eucharist, the sacrifice of Jesus is represented in an unbloody manner through the sacramental signs. First, the bread is consecrated into His Body and separately the wine into His Precious Blood. The sacramental signs separate Blood from Body and signify His death. Remember, all of the sacraments actually accomplish what they signify. In baptism, the pouring of water on the body, a kind of washing, actually accomplishes the washing clean of the soul from Original Sin and any other personal sins by the power of the Holy Spirit. So, it is true that in the Holy Eucharist the separate consecration of bread into Body and wine into Blood renew and re-live His Death through the sacramental signs. Jesus does not die again; His sacrifice on Calvary was once for all, but through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we participate in that one sacrifice with all of its mercy and grace as if we were there at the foot of the Cross with out Blessed Mother, St. John and St. Mary Magdalene. We really are

there; time and space are erased. St. Paul expressed it in our Second Reading: For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes. That is not all. The Last Supper and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass also point to Easter Sunday. When we receive Holy Communion we receive the risen Body of Christ. In each form of the Holy Eucharist, whether under the form of Bread or Wine you receive the whole ChristBody, Blood, Soul and Divinity. If you only take Holy Communion under the form of Bread, you are not lacking anything; you receive the whole Christ, the Risen Christ into your body and soul. You are united to Jesus in the most loving and personal way that can happen while here on earth; the word communion means in union with another. You are Jesus and Jesus is yours. Someone once said that at the Consecration we are on Calvary, but at Holy Communion we are in Heaven! There is more in every Holy Mass that we must consider. The sacrifice of Jesus which is renewed upon the altar is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament sacrifices, particularly the Passover sacrifice. Our First Reading from Exodus told us of the first Passover. In order to free His people from slavery in Egypt, God sent the final plague which was so devastating that Pharaoh would finally relent. In order to protect the Israelites from the angel of death that would kill the firstborn sons, He instituted the Passover ritual which involved the killing of a lamb and marking the doorposts with its blood. Instead of burning it up as a holocaust offering, they were to cook it and eat it as a meal with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Now God could have protected His people in another way, but He wanted this ritual meal established as a perpetual memorial of the event, but He also established it to foreshadow the Sacrifice of the Mass. God wanted the Holy Eucharist established in the New Covenant of His Son so that the world would know that it was freed from the slavery of sin through the sacrificial death of Jesus, the true Lamb of God. When we celebrate this Eucharistic Sacrifice, we are not alone. As we recall in the Sanctus: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Heaven and earth are joined in worship of God the Most Blessed Trinity in every Holy Mass. The angels, saints, and above all, the Blessed Virgin, are with us in a mystical way during the Eucharistic celebration. The Church is much more crowded than we realize!

There is more that could be said, but every Holy Mass sends us forth to live our faith in our love for one another. The washing of the feet of the twelve apostles, even Judas feet, that took place at the Last Supper, reminds us that we cannot keep our faith to ourselves. It is meant to be spread to others through deeds of love and service, even if they dont appreciate them. Our Eucharistic faith is meant to draw them to Jesus. We want everyone to know the happiness that only God can give to us through Jesus who is our Eucharistic Lord. This prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas summarizes our faith in the Blessed Sacrament so well: O Sacred Banquet, in which Christ is received, the memory of His Passion is renewed, the mind is filled with grace and a pledge of future glory is given to us.

April 22, 2011Good Friday The merciful Lord wants us to have mercy upon Him. When we read the Sacred Passion of St. John and gaze upon the Crucifix and kiss it, as we do this night, our hearts are deeply moved; the creature can look with pity upon the Creator. We have to be astounded by the humility of God! Isaiah foretold it: Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth; like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers; he was silent and opened not his mouth. Jesus is truly the sacrificial Lamb of God. Why did the Lord have to suffer so much? Couldnt He have redeemed us in another way? Couldnt He have just decreed our redemption, like a judge who passes a merciful sentence upon the guilty and lets him go? It has been speculated that one single drop of His Precious Blood would have been enough to redeem the world. He didnt shed just one drop, He shed it all. The first reason that Jesus suffered so much is because sin is a serious matter; far more serious than we commonly realize. To simply decree that all sin was forgiven would say that our offenses against God and one another really dont matter; those persons and relationships arent important. Jesus suffering and death show us just the opposite; the persons offended by sin, particularly our loving God, deserve our love and respect. Those offenses need serious atonement. When you love someone a little, you will make little efforts to overcome small obstacles to that love, but large sacrifices will be too much. However, when you love someone greatly, you will overcome great obstacles and make great sacrificeseven laying down your life for the beloved. Jesus love was the greatest and He wanted to show it by the particular suffering and death that He endured. The greatest suffering was not the crown of thorns that pierced His Head nor the lash of the whip that cut His flesh, nor the nails that pierced His hands and feet, but the burden of sin that He bore. The heaviest weight was the murder and lying and cruelty and lust and greed and despair that He took upon Himself in the Agony of the Gardenall of the sins of the world from the beginning of time until the end, including your sins and mine. He wanted all of these sins healed and only he could do ittrue God and true manthe Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Isaiah

explained what it all meant in our First Reading: Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, while we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. The sin of the world could only be healed by a mercy that was infinite, like a great ocean of mercy as Jesus told St. Faustina in His revelations to her. Pope John Paul said that His was a love more powerful than death, more powerful than sin (Dives in Misericordia). Another reason that Jesus died the way He did was to show us the true meaning of love. My first inclination is to think that the purpose of love is to make me happy and fulfilled. Love makes me feel those wonderful warm emotions that are so pleasant to body and spirit. It makes me feel secure and important to at least someone. Pope John Paul continually reminded us that it is only through the sincere gift of self that we find ourselves. It seems contradictory. If I give myself awaytime, talents, treasurethen I have less of them, dont I? If I give you ten dollars, then I have ten dollars less. But love doesnt work like that. As the late Holy Father demonstrated by his own life, when I give without counting the cost, I dont lack anything, but I gain everything. The only fulfilling kind of love is sacrificial love and that is what Jesus demonstrated on the Cross. The Crucified Christ is the image of genuine love and the pattern for us to imitate. The irony is that if I seek to be loved in order to find happiness and security, I will never find it; however, if I seek to lovegiving of my self, freelyonly then will I find the deepest kind of love that my heart desires. Archbishop Fulton Sheen noted that there were only three reactions that we can have to Jesus and they are all demonstrated at the foot of the Cross. The first reaction is the love and faith of our Blessed Mother, John, Mary Magdalene and the other holy women. They were united to Jesus in his suffering. Their silent witness spoke volumes. The second reaction is one of hatred, demonstrated by the chief priests, scribes and elders who passed by mocking Jesus, saying You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God and come down from the cross! The very reason Jesus came into this world was to die on the Cross, He wasnt about to forsake His mission of redemption at the last moments.

Although there are many who hate Christianity, particularly the Catholic Church, it is the third reaction which predominates today. That was shown by the Roman soldiers who were gambling for Jesus clothes behind the cross. They were indifferent; they didnt care about the suffering of a criminal; they just wanted to do their job and get on with their own pleasures and concerns. That is how many view their Christian faith. They find time for everything else but God. All their preferences take first place and the Lord Gets only a nod when it is convenient. We are here tonight because we want to live like Mary, John and the holy women at the foot of the Cross. Our Blessed Mother bore her sufferings with great heroism because her love was so great. Lets ask her help to be good disciples of her Son for He gave her to us at the Cross to be our spiritual Mother. St. John represents all the disciples of Christ and Jesus told us through him: Behold your mother. When we love God and neighbor without seeking our own happiness or advantage, the amazing thing is that we become the happiest people in the world. Jesus came to teach that lesson; Mary lived it with her whole heart. We are called to put it into practice in our own lives. Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto Thine.

The Resurrection of the LordApril 24, 2011 One of our Easter hymns says: Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia. Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia. Who did once upon the Cross, Alleluia. Suffer to redeem our loss, Alleluia. The Church celebrates every Sunday as a little Easter but Easter Sunday causes us to have great joy as we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord. If possible we get together with our family, we wear our best clothes to Church, we have fine dinners and Easter egg hunts, with lots of chocolate candy. It is a day to celebrate! The reason we celebrate now is that we know that we have a share in the resurrection of Jesus already and we hope to have a complete share in it in the future. This is our great hope as Pope Benedict put it. All the little hopes of our life are based upon our hope of heavenof resurrection and eternal life. Pope Benedict said in his Lenten message: Communion with Christ in this life prepares us to overcome the barrier of death, so that we may live eternally with him. Faith in the resurrection of the dead and hope in eternal life open our eyes to the ultimate meaning of our existence: God created men and women for resurrection and life, and this truth gives an authentic and definitive meaning to human history, to the personal and social lives of men and women, to culture, politics and the economy. Without the light of faith, the entire universe finishes shut within a tomb devoid of any future, any hope. The hope of Easter could not happen without the Crucifixion. We have been meditating upon the Cross this past Lent and on Good Friday. Even though we have been redeemed by the saving death of Christ we are still wounded by sin, particularly Original Sin. We have to bear the Cross with Christ each day in order to find healing and the strength to live genuine love, which is sacrificial love as Jesus showed us on the first Good Friday. Each one of us is conscious that we have a long way to go, but the hope of Christ leads us forward. There are two Biblical figures who dramatically demonstrate the struggle between sin and mercy: Peter and Judas. Both were chosen by Jesus to be apostles and both of them betrayed Him; but the outcome couldnt have been more different for them.

It is interesting to note the first time Judas is named the betrayer is in the Gospel of John chapter 6. That chapter is a Eucharistic chapter. Step by step, Jesus taught the meaning of the Holy Eucharist which he would institute at the Last Supper. In the most startling words of the Bible, He bluntly stated: Truly, truly I say to you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you have no life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed (John 6:53-55). He stated the doctrine of the Real Presence in this chapter and because of it many stopped believing in him and no longer followed Him. In the last verse, Jesus asked, Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was to betray him (vs. 70-71). Judas stopped believing because of the doctrine of the Eucharist. To believe in the Real Presence of Jesus takes faith for us, too. At the Last Supper, Jesus announced both of His betrayers. First Judas, without naming him, which was an act of charity, He said: But behold the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of man goes as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed! (Luke 22:21-22). It was a final warning to Judas. Then Jesus directly told Peter: I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow this day, until you three times deny that you know me (Luke 22:34). The Bible tells us that Judas accepted 30 pieces of silver from the chief priests and elders to betray Jesus. His betrayal was planned and deliberate. Peters betrayal was the result of fear. The terror caused by the devil on that night after the Last Supper must have been palpable. Peter and the other apostles deserted Jesus at the first sign of trouble when the mob led by Judas came to arrest Him with swords and clubs. When Jesus said to Judas, Friend, why are you here? he said the word friend without bitterness or sarcasm; He meant it; He loved Judas. Judas would not accept His friendship and betrayed Him with a kiss. Later, in the courtyard of the High Priest, Peter three times denied even knowing Jesus as Jesus foretold. Judas and Peters reactions to their guilt made all the difference. Judas realizing what he had done, flung the 30 silver pieces at the chief priests and elders, saying I have sinned in betraying innocent blood (Matt. 27:4). He knew what he did was wrong, but he didnt seek the mercy of God, which Jesus had preached time and time again, but despaired and hung

himself. Peter, on the other hand, heard the cock crow and remembered Jesus prophecy and wept bitterly for his betrayal of Jesus. He sought the mercy of God and was forgiven. We see the whole meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus played out in the life of St. Peter. In different ways, but in each of our lives the same drama of sin and mercy is acted out. We betray Jesus through sin, particularly mortal sin and we have the choice to repent and seek His mercy and friendship once again in the Sacrament of Confession. In the Holy Eucharist, He remains with us and feeds us with His own Body, Blood, Soul and DivinityHis Real Presence. In Baptism, he applied the grace of redemption to our souls, planting the seed of faith, hope and love in us. Each Easter, we renew our baptismal promises as a reminder that we have been given a share in the resurrected life of Christ and that the power of His Cross will help us conquer sin and the devil. Tonight we are welcoming Cheryl McAliney into the Catholic Church. She has already been baptized so she will make her profession of faith, receive the Sacrament of Confirmation and make her first Holy Communion. She has studied and prayed over the past seven months and we are so happy to have her as a member of the Catholic Church and St. Gianna Parish! Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia. Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia.

May 1, 2011Divine Mercy Sunday The Easter Alleluia resounds in our hearts as we close the Octave and celebrate this Sunday as Divine Mercy Sunday. All the joy and mercy of the death and resurrection of Jesus is alive in our souls. Today we make St. Peters acclamation in our Second Reading our own: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading . . . . This Sunday was renamed Divine Mercy Sunday in the year 2000; it was done at the express wish of Jesus Christ and accomplished through two saintly persons. The first was Sister Faustina a Polish nun who received a series of apparitions from Jesus in the 1930s. He asked her to be His apostle of Divine Mercy and spread this devotion to the world which was still suffering from one world war and was about to be plunged into a second. Part of this devotion was to make the Sunday after Easter Divine Mercy Sunday. Sister Faustina predicted that this devotion would be suppressed for a time, but then it would finally spread throughout the world. The Office of the Doctrine of the Faith, which examines devotions of this sort, received a poor translation of Sister Faustinas diary that contained many errors and did indeed forbid this devotion to spread. It was the second holy soul, Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, who asked the Vatican in 1978 to reexamine this devotion and the reply came that there was no reason for its continued suppression just a few months later Cardinal Wojtyla was elected Pope John Paul II. In the year 2000 Pope John Paul canonized St. Faustina and made this Sunday Divine Mercy Sunday. Today in St. Peters square, Pope Benedict XVI beatified Pope John Paul II, making him Blessed John Paul II. The Gospel this Sunday is a perfect expression of Divine Mercy. It covers the first two apparitions of the risen Jesus to His apostles in the Upper Room where the Last Supper took placeone on Easter Sunday evening and the second on the following Sunday. When the resurrected Jesus first appeared to his apostles, do you think they might have been wondering if He would be angry or upset at them for deserting Him in His hour of need? Whatever they were thinking, Jesus came with His usual demeanor of love and greeted them Peace be with you. Then He showed them the wounds in His hands

and His side; of all the wounds that afflicted His Sacred Body during the Passion and Crucifixion, He kept only five on His glorified Body. They are to be the eternal testimony of His love and mercy that redeemed the world. Then He instituted the Sacrament of MercyConfessionbreathing on the apostles and saying: Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained. The apostles would go out to the entire world to bring the forgiveness of sins to the baptized and the Catholic Church will continue that mission until the end of time through her bishops and priests. Jesus wants His Divine Mercy to touch the hearts of everyone. We cannot have true peace of soul unless we are right with Godrepentance and mercy are necessary. Today Pope John Paul II was beatified in St. Peters Square before an enormous crowd who recognized the sanctity of this beloved Pope. When Blessed John Paul was elected in 1978, he was facing a Church and world in very serious trouble. There was a mistaken understanding of the Second Vatican Council that was undermining the new springtime that the Council was meant to bring; the Church was filled with dissent, including Liberation Theology that was using Marxism as a basis for teaching the faith. Marriage and family was under attack like never before and love for the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Mother were in decline. The world was dominated by atheistic Communism originating in the Soviet Empire that truly seemed invincible. The first words of the new pope were Be not afraid! This is how he approached life and he was to convey his unwavering faith in Jesus, the Redeemer, to the world so that the Church would be renewed. Blessed John Paul is a witness to sanctity for most of us who were touched by his 26 year pontificate. Many of the young priests of today found their vocations because of Pope John Paul, particularly through the World Youth Days that he instituted. There are many characteristics of the new Blessed that we should imitate, but lets reflect upon a couple for now. The priest in charge of the process of beatification, called the Postulator, said that the investigation into his life has proven to be a confirmation of the total transparency of his life as a man and a priest. He said that the media didnt create a likeable, fervent, engaging Pope. Rather, those qualities were the essence of his person. His public life and his private life were identical. He didnt act one way in public and another in privatethere was a unity of life. The opposite takes place when we act like a faithful Catholic in public, but then

do not act like a good Christian in private when we deal with our family members or fellow employees. We should act like a good Christian when choosing TV programs or looking at the internet even though no one is watching. We need the integrity that comes from being a true Christian who is right with God. A saint doesnt have to hide anything because he truly is what he appears to be through and throughBlessed John Paul was that kind of man. Another characteristic was Blessed John Pauls fervent prayer life. The Postulator said that prayer was the air he breathed, the water he drank, the food that nourished him and that kind of prayer endured through the hour of his very public death, which itself was so inspiring to the world. One day, after his election as pope, his secretary needed him for an urgent matter but couldnt find him anywhere. In a panic he was told by another priest, a longtime friend of the Pope, to look in the chapel. He did, and there was the pope lying on the floor with his arms extended like a cross in such deep prayer that it would be sacrilegious to disturb him; the matter could wait after all. When his collaborators could not come up with solutions to particular problems, he would repeatedly say: They will be found when we have prayed more. How easily we give up on life when confronted with problems instead of turning to more fervent and faithful prayer. Of course, we cannot forget his deep love for our Blessed Mother and her Rosary, including the Luminous Mysteries which he gave us. We see how Blessed John Paul practiced Divine Mercy in his own life when the assassination attempt took place in St. Peters Square. He immediately forgave his attacker like Jesus had done on the Cross. He wrote an encyclical on mercy, entitled Rich in Mercy in which he described the mercy of God as a love more powerful than death, more powerful than sin (Dives in Misericordia). As always, in that encyclical he wrote of Mary and said: Mary is the one who has the deepest knowledge of the mystery of Gods mercy. She knows its price, she knows how great it is. On this Divine Mercy Sunday lets ask our Mother of Mercy to help us understand how great the mercy of God is for each one of us. Mother of Divine Mercy, pray for us. Blessed John Paul II, pray for us.

May 8, 2011Third Sunday of Easter The two disciples of Jesus walking on the road to Emmaus are sorrowful and bewildered. They are sorrowful because they had experienced the death of Jesus on Good Friday and the hope that He was the savior of Israel was crushed; they were perturbed because they had just heard that the body was missing and some of the women had the incredible report of a vision of angels saying Jesus was alive. Whether Jesus face was hidden by a hood or there was some supernatural reason the two disciples didnt recognize Him as He joined them on the road that first Easter Sunday evening. This Gospel passage reminds us that our lives are a journey with a clear goal and that we do not walk alone. There is a well known poem entitled Footprints in the Sand in which the narrator has a dream of walking along the beach with Jesus and sees the events of his life flash before his eyes; sometimes there were two sets of footprints and at other times only one. He said to Jesus: You promised me Lord, that if I followed You, You would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods in my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed You most, have You not been there for me? The Lord answered: The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you. Even though we are often like the two disciples who do not recognize the presence of Jesus at our side, He is guiding us, teaching us and sometimes carrying us on the road of life. The strange thing is that people will often turn away from God when they need him most. I have noticed that when some people have trials and sufferings in life they blame God or think that He is cruel or unfair to them. They stop praying and receiving the sacraments which are the very things that God has given to us for healing and direction, especially in the tough times of life. We have to realize that that is a temptation because the devil wants to keep us from trusting in Jesus; he wants us to loose hope and despair. The little prayer that Jesus taught St. Faustina as part of the Divine Mercy devotion is one that we can say many times a day: Jesus, I trust in You. If we find it hard to recognize Jesus, just think of the good thief hanging on the cross next to Jesus. If anyone would have an excuse for missing the Presence of God, it would be him. There was Jesus rejected, mocked, beaten

and nailed to a Cross. He didnt look like a king or a savior of Israel. The other thief mocked Jesus and exerted peer pressure even at that last moment of life. Nonetheless, the good thief said: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. In spite of everything, the good thief put his faith in Jesus and saw beyond the moment of pain and suffering. We have to have the confidence that we expressed in the Responsorial Psalm today: Lord, you will show us the path to life. Not only do we fail to recognize the Presence of Jesus, but far too many think they can walk the road of life on their own power. They dont need Jesus; they dont even want Him. Perhaps they are even afraid of Jesus because they think that He will take away their freedom and what little happiness they have in this world. The truth is that sin makes us miserable slaves and that Jesus came to free us from the power of sinto pay the ransom for our slavery. St. Peter said it in the Second Reading: conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning, realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb. This Gospel of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus can also be seen as a pattern for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. As you know, there are four parts to the structure of the Holy Mass: first, the Introductory Rites, which begin with the Entrance Song and continue through the Opening Prayer or Collect; second, the Liturgy of the Word; third, the Liturgy of the Eucharist and fourth, the Concluding Rite, which consists of the final blessing and dismissal. The heart of the Holy Mass is the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. When the two disciples began talking with Jesus, the Gospel told us that He explained to them all the Scripture passages starting with Moses and all the prophets that referred to Him. This is the point of the Liturgy of the Word. We listen to the Holy Biblethe old and new testamentsin order to understand Gods plan for our lives, particularly as it relates to Jesus and all that He has done for our salvation. Sunday by Sunday, and for those who attend daily Mass, day by day, we are walking with Jesus and listening to His holy Word. He is speaking to us in the Liturgy of the Word, which includes the Homily. The disciples would later say: Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?

Then, when they reached their destination, they invited Jesus (whom they still do not recognize) to come and eat dinner with them. He accepts and while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. These gestures were reminiscent of the Last Supper when Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist. In the third part of the Holy Mass, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we imitate what Jesus did at the Last Supper and He renews the Paschal MysteryHis saving death and resurrectionand gives us His Real Presence in Holy Communion. After Jesus performed these Eucharistic actions the Gospel noted: With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. In the Holy Eucharist we too should recognize Jesus; yes, He is still hidden from our sight behind the consecrated bread of the Holy Eucharist, but faith allows us to see the hidden Lord. Jesus is really here with us in the Blessed Sacrament! Lord, help me to see You with the eyes of faith! Open my eyes so that I will never loose hope, but always walk with You through the journey of life until I reach my true home, which is heaven. We pray for our mothers on this Mothers Day and ask the Lord to bless them for all that they have done to show us the love of God through their vocation of motherhood. We thank you mothers and ask our Blessed Mother to give you hope and joy and consolation for all that have done and continue to do in your vocation of love.

May 15, 2011Fourth Sunday of Easter In ancient Israel, the king and the people were often compared to a shepherd and his flock. Not only was the shepherd self-sacrificing and dedicated to the care of his flock, but he was also strong enough to defend his flock from the attacks of wild animals. The future king, David told King Saul that he would fight the giant Goliath without fear because as a shepherd he had often killed lions and bear in defense of his flock. Far too often, though, the king did not live up to the image of a good shepherd for Israel. Instead, they acted like thieves who taxed and used the people for their own power and luxurious lifestyle. No earthly king could really be the good shepherd. Psalm 23 told us who the good shepherd is: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul. . . . Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage. God Himself is the true Shepherd and King of Israel. After the passage we read in todays Gospel, Jesus clearly said: I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep, and mine know me. It is Jesus who fulfilled the hopes and desires of Israel, and ours, for the good and strong shepherd and king. The Pharisees listened to a parable about a good shepherd who enters through the gate and leads his flock that follows only his voice, verses the thief who climbs over the fence to steal the sheep that will neither listen to his voice nor follow him. St. John commented that the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them. Perhaps they were incapable because they had closed their minds to the truth and simply didnt want to recognize Jesus for who He was. Jesus doesnt give up on people, even those who openly oppose Him, so He tried another example to help them understand. This time He used the image of a gate. He said: I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. There is no other way to salvation except by faith in Jesus that is lived out in hope and love. With a couple of exceptions the Pharisees will not recognize Jesus as the Good Shepherd, but the First Reading gave us an example of those who did. This passage takes place right after the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles at Pentecost. The apostles went out to the crowds that were attracted by the

mighty wind that shook the house at the descent of the Holy Spirit and Peter gave the first Christian sermon. When the people heard his words about Jesus death and resurrection, it said: they were cut to the heart, and they asked Peter and the other apostles, What are we to do, my brothers? Their hearts were open to the grace of faith; they wanted to follow Jesus who is the Good Shepherd and the Gate of Heaven. Peter responded by telling them: Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. . . . It adds that 3,000 were baptized that day. When we were baptized, whether as an infant or as an adult, Jesus became the Good Shepherd of our lives and the only one who could lead us to the green pastures of Heaven; we became members of His flock, the Catholic Church. Notice something else that Peter told the people that day: Save yourselves from this corrupt generation. Do you think he would say the same words to us today? They would probably be stronger! Every generation and culture has good things and evil things about it. We have to take Peters words to heart and discern which things are acceptable for a Christian today and which are harming our faith. We have to ask the Holy Spirit for light to examine entertainment, fashion and all the things we spend our time and money upon. Many people never ask themselves whether it is right or wrong to see certain movies or wear certain fashions or go to certain places. Remember that we not only have to avoid sin, but we are also responsible for avoiding near occasions of sin. Near occasions of sin are those things, places or people that will easily lead us into sin. If a man is tempted to get drunk, then he not only has to avoid hanging out at bars, but has to avoid those friends who drink and get drunk whenever they get together. If a teenager cant get his school work done, then he has to limit or avoid the music or games or internet that is absorbing his time. If a woman easily gets discouraged or fearful she has to learn to control her imagination and not let it take over her thoughts and feelings. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemies, cant we? In order to know our Good Shepherd and follow Him faithfully, without being led astray by this corrupt generation our greatest weapon is prayer. Of course, the Holy Mass, Confession and Eucharistic Adoration along with reading the Holy Bible and other quiet times of prayer are essential, but in this month of May, I also want to recommend the Holy Rosary.

This prayer was so beloved by Blessed John Paul II that he prayed many Rosaries every day, no matter how busy he was. We are all busy, but who of us is as busy as a pope? You know that prayers to Our Blessed Mother and the angels and saints arent meant to end with them. They are our prayer partners and join us in prayer from heaven whenever we ask for their assistance. Just as you ask me and I ask you for prayersplease do pray for meso we ask the blessed of heaven to pray for us to God, the Most Holy Trinity. Many times people will say I dont know how to pray. Praying is really no more than conversation with God and doesnt take any special technique or position or placeyou can pray anywhere and at anytime, although prayer in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament is a privileged place. The problem is that we find it difficult to sustain prayer for any length of timethat is where the Rosary comes in. The Holy Rosary is more than reciting the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be over and over again. It is also a time to meditate upon the mysteriesJoyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and the new Luminous mysteries given to us by Blessed John Paul. Each set helps us to meditate upon the events of the life of Jesus and Mary that are so essential to our salvation. Before I begin the decade, I think of the mystery and try to visualize it in my mind often by using a Bible verse and then begin the Our Father. You can easily let the Hail Marys sink to the back of your mind and reflect upon the mystery and its meaning. St. Louis de Montfort recommended putting a word that fits the mystery in the middle of each Hail Mary. Our Lady of Fatima appeared to three shepherd children in Portugal in 1917 and told the children to pray the Rosary everyday. After lunch the children had been praying what they called the short-cut Rosary. They would just say the first two words of each prayerOur Father, Hail Mary, Hail Mary, Hail Mary. . . . She wanted them to know that the Rosary was a powerful prayer that could bring about the conversion of sinners and even prevent wars. At that time she predicted the World War IIobviously we didnt pray enough Rosaries. We need daily, consistent prayer in order to protect our souls and our families from the dangers to faith in our world today. The Holy Rosary is the help we need to pray. Holy Mary, Queen of the Rosary, pray for us.

May 22, 2011Fifth Sunday of Easter Philip said to Jesus at the Last Supper: Master show us the Father and that will be enough for us. You can almost hear the frustration in Jesus answer Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. Philip, like any one of us, wanted to see the glory of the Almightysomething spectacular. Perhaps he was thinking of Moses who spoke to God face to face and had to cover his face with a veil because an unearthly light shown from it that frightened the people. Or maybe, he was thinking of Isaiah who saw the great throne room of God and heard the mighty Seraphim chanting one to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts (Isaiah 6:3); or Daniel who saw the Ancient of Days sitting upon a throne of fiery flames and One like the Son of Man who was presented before Him and given an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away (Daniel 7:14). Any of these would be overwhelming experiences of God the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, but that is not the only characteristic that God wanted Philip to see. Jesus is the visible picture of the invisible God: Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. . . . Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? . . . If we want to get to know God we need to look to Jesus. We have to see how much He loved souls, not only by dying on the Cross, but in every action. His Heart reached out to the sick and suffering with healing; to those who were burdened by sin and every kind of trouble He brought forgiveness and peace. He was patient with the apostles who so often didnt understand what He was saying. He was courageous in speaking the truth even though He knew that many would not follow Him. He forgave His enemies and never stopped hoping for their conversion. Most amazing of all was His humility, which caused Him to take on our human nature and to pay the price of our sins Himself. These are some of the characteristics of God that we need to know and imitate. When we get to know Jesus through reading the Holy Bible and prayer, especially in his Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist, we will get to know God and true happiness. That is not all; Jesus is also revealed through the teaching of the Church. Sometimes we think the doctrines of faith and morals are cold and have little to do with the real Jesus, but we couldnt be more wrong; they are another

way that the Holy Spirit has given us to see the Face of Jesus in all its truth and beauty. Human beings have a tremendous capacity for falling into error. We want God to approve of our ideas and our weaknesses, so instead of looking for the true picture of God, we tend to make Him over into our own image. Many are fooled by their own false ideas or by listening to the latest preacher or guru. Throughout the history of the Church there have been men who have taught errors in a formal way called heresy. The Magisterium of the Church, the authentic teaching authority, then has to define the truth in a doctrinal statement. One of the first heresies was called Arianism after a monk named Arius. He began teaching that Jesus was not truly God, but only a creature. This started spreading throughout the Roman Empire just after Christianity was legalized by the Emperor Constantine in the year 313. The first Ecumenical Council in the history of the Church was called in the city of Nicea in the year 325 to solve this problem. The bishops of the Church came together from all over the world; many of the bishops who attended were living martyrs who were maimed from suffering torture and imprisonment in the recently ended Roman persecution. They discussed the question and taught the truth about Jesus as true God and true man and gave us the first part of the Nicene Creed, which we will recite at this Mass. The words express the belief of all Christians from the beginning: We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. The truth was preserved and the heresy condemned for all time. Arius may have been sincere in his teaching but he was sincerely wrong and his heresy would have kept the Church from knowing the true Jesus. Every heretic is filled with incredible pride because they think they alone know what the rest of the Church failed to understand. The Pope and the bishops in union with him are entrusted by Jesus and guided by the Holy Spirit to keep us on the path of truth and help us see the true Face of Jesus. As Jesus told Thomas in todays Gospel: I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. It is essential to salvation to know the true Jesus; we cannot be satisfied with a distorted or false Christ.

Even though doctrine defined by the Pope alone, or a Council of Bishops in union with the Pope cannot be changed, doctrine does develop. A perfect example is right in the First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Jesus established the Sacrament of Holy Orders when He ordained the first priests at the Last Supper, sayingDo this in memory of me. But it wasnt long afterwards that the apostles realized that they needed help. The widows of one group of Christians were not being taken care of as well as another group. So the apostles decided to associate others with them and ordain 7 men who would not be priests, but perform a ministry of service as deacons. They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them. Prayer and the laying on of hands is still the way bishops ordain deacons and priests and other bishops to this day. The Priesthood established by Jesus Christ was not changed, but the apostles were inspired by the Holy Spirit to institute the Order of Deacon as part of this Sacrament. Doctrine develops like a sapling that grows into a mighty redwood. The redwood sapling will not eventually grow into a pear tree or a dogwood, but will deepen its roots and strengthen its trunk and send its branches ever higher until it becomes one of the largest trees in the world. A doctrine will develop organically as well. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is an example; it is expressed in the words of Jesus in the New Testament, particularly when He told the disciples to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Council of Nicea in 325 and the later council of Constantinople in 381 developed the doctrine which we affirm in the Creed; so did St. Augustine in the 400s and so did the writings of St. Edith Stein, a Jewish convert who became a Carmelite nun and was killed in the Nazi Concentration Camp during the Second World War. They along with many others have deepened our understanding of the Holy Trinity, but the doctrine will never change to say there is only one Person in God or four Persons in Godit always will be three Persons in one God. We need to cut away the errors and distortions that can creep into our faith and keep searching for true Face of Jesus Christ because He is always and only the way and the truth and the life for us.

May 29, 2011Sixth Sunday of Easter The first time that the Sacrament of Confirmation was administered was on Pentecost Sunday accompanied by great miracles. The Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and the Blessed Mother who were praying in the Upper Room of the Last Supper. There was a mighty wind, not of destructive force like a tornado, but of the constructive power of love. Many in the neighborhood came to the house because of the miraculous manifestations of the Presence of the Holy Spirit; He guided Peter in preaching the first Christian sermon which brought about thousands of baptisms that day. In the First Reading, the Acts of the Apostles told us about another time that the Sacrament of Confirmation was administered in the early Church. Two of the apostles, the first bishops in our terms, were sent to the people of Samaria. The Deacon Philip had preached the Gospel there, casting out the devil and healing many people and baptizing them. It told us that Peter and John . . . went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. These two apostles administered the sacrament by praying for the Holy Spirit to come upon them and the laying on of hands. Notice that this time there was no astounding miracles as on Pentecost; it was quiet, yet profound, touching the depths of their souls. In a similar way, Archbishop Carlson and Bishop Rice administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to our eighth grade students just a couple of weeks ago at the Cathedral Basilica. The Archbishop prayed for all the Confirmands and he and Bishop Rice laid their hands upon each persons head and making a cross on the forehead with the oil of chrism said: Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. There were no miraculous signs reported or anything out of the ordinary that day either; nonetheless the Holy Spirit came upon those young people when they were confirmed. Although God does work miracles in our own time to help people believe, normally He wants us to live by faith and not by sight. The grace of the Sacraments is meant to unfold gradually over a lifetime, leading us step by step to God. Will those recently confirmed open their hearts to Gods grace or will they ignore that grace; perhaps it has already happened even in these two short weeks? Bishop Rice said in his homily that day that there is a

dirty little secret that all priests know: a good number of those confirmed will never be seen in Church after that day. They and their parents arent really practicing Catholics, but just go through the motions of receiving the sacraments. However, we never loose hope and keep praying that all those who have been marked with the indelible seal of the Holy Spirit will one day come home to holy Mother Church. There was an old woodcarver who had many objects of delicate hand carved wood in his shop, one of which was the model of a beautiful cathedral. It was covered with the dust of many years and nobody paid attention to it. One day an assistant cleaned it up and placed a light inside the model; its gleams shone through the beautiful miniature stained glass windows. Then everybody stopped to admire it. The same is true for us if we only realize that the light of the Holy Spirit is within us. There is a beauty that shines forth from the life of each Christian who loves Jesus and obeys His commandments. Just think of Blessed John Paul II and Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcuttatwo saints who lived in our own time. Even when Parkinsons disease and other ailments had reduced his ability to move and speak freely, Pope John Paul was a tremendous example to the worldpeople saw the light of God emanating from his weakened frame. Blessed Mother Theresa was bent and wrinkled from her life time of service to the poorest of the poor, but young women flocked to join her order of sisters and live like her in poverty, chastity and obedience; and they still do! The light of God shone through their lives. Jesus told the apostles at the Last Supper that If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, who the world cannot accept because it neither sees nor knows Him. But you know Him, because He remains with you, and will be in you. The Holy Spirit was given to us as individuals when we were baptized and confirmed, so we need to call upon the Holy Spirit to guide us in our lives. A little prayer like Come Holy Spirit is one that we can say many times a day. How do you know when the Holy Spirit is inspiring you? First of all, the Holy Spirit will never inspire you to do something that violates the commandments of God or the teachings of the Church. Sadly, we have heard too often of people who do some horrendous act and say that God has told them to do so; they are either insane or listening to the devil, but

certainly not the Holy Spirit; He will not inspire you to break the least law of God. Secondly, the Holy Spirit may ask you to do something that is difficult, but even though you may not want to do it, you have a sense of peace. I remember when Cardinal Burke first asked me to found St. Gianna Parishit was the last thing that I expected him to ask me to do and I really didnt want to leave my first assignment as Pastorbut, after he asked me I felt a profound sense of peace and so I knew it was Gods will. Even though it was the hardest thing I have had to do in my life, I left St. Josephs and began my work here at St. Giannas. Not only will the Holy Spirit guide you to do what is Gods will for you, but He will also warn you when something is wrong, particularly in regard to false teaching. He wants to protect our faith for He is the Spirit of Truth. We need to ask the Holy Spirit for counsel and light in our daily lives. Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Your love.

June 5, 2011Ascension of the Lord After the Resurrection, Jesus was no longer meant to live in this world. The apostles recognized the risen Lord, touched His wounds and ate with Him it was really Him, but He was different! When Jesus worked miracles to bring others back to life, such as His good friend Lazarus, Lazarus went back to living his normal life and would later die again. When Mary Magdalene first saw the risen Jesus and fell to His feet, He told her: Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father . . . (John 20:17). In other words, Mary Magdalene couldnt relate to Jesus as she did before his saving death and resurrection; she had to see Him in a new way. He was meant to be with His Father in the glory of heaven, not live here on earth. For 40 days after the resurrection Jesus appeared to His apostles and disciples, teaching them and reassuring them before ascending into Heaven. As a going away present, He gave us the Sacrament of Baptism, the sacrament that is the doorway to salvation and the other sacraments. He said, All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. How do you make disciples of all the nations? By baptizing and teaching. It is the grace of God that comes through baptism that first redeems the soul and then by our efforts, in union with Gods grace, that we grow in understanding and strengthen our will to become true disciples. A question that was on the minds of the disciples and all Jews was asked of Jesus at the time of the Ascension: Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? They were convinced that the Messiah would establish an earthly, political kingdom where he would be the invincible king and Israel would rule the world. It is good for us to remember that Jesus kingdom is not of this world. Yes, He established the Catholic Church to be the visible Kingdom on earth as the means to eternal life and the sure guide to heaven, but the Church is on a pilgrimage through human history and will only be perfected in the full glory of heaven; heaven is our true home. After Jesus ascended into heaven two men dressed in white garmentstwo angelssuddenly stood before them and said: Men of Galilee, why are

you standing there looking at the sky? 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. It is a firm doctrine that Jesus will return again at the end of time in His glorious Second Coming. From the time of the early Church, Christians have always prayed that Christ would hasten His return using the Aramaic expression: Marana thaCome Lord Jesus! It is foolish for Catholics to be concerned about any prediction of the end of the world. Recently, a man who predicted the end of the world back in the 1990s did so again. Both dates came and went. He then claimed that he got his calculations wrong and will rework them. I was surprised that many people were concerned that the end of the world might actually come based on the word of an unknown man. Next year the Mayan calendar supposedly predicts the end of the world. There have been many such predictions and there will be many more. You shouldnt give them a thought. The end of the world will come, but it will not be a great explosion in which the world turns into a great burning ball of fire, nor will it be like someone turning the lights out and everything suddenly goes dark. The end of the world is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Those who love the Lord and are faithful to His commandments will be overjoyed at that event; it will not be something fearful or distressful. It will be the time of triumph of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the full and complete manifestation of His Kingdom. The reign of Satan and sin will be ended forever. As for the timing of the end of the world, Matthew and Mark recorded these words of Jesus: But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven . . . (Matthew 24:36). Anyone who claims to know is a false prophet. More likely than not, my life will come to an end before the world comes to an end, that is why Jesus warns us to be vigilant. You may have heard of terms like rapture or millenarianism that has swept through some Christian denominations and is at the heart of books like the Left Behind series. Millenarianism has many versions, but basically says that at a certain point true Christians will be taken up into heaven body and soulthe raptureleaving the rest of humanity under the rule of Satan for a thousand years. After 1,000 yearsa millenniumJesus will come again. It is strange that so-called Bible Christians would adopt this doctrine which is so unbiblical; the Catholic Church has long rejected it as a false doctrine. This is just another reason why it is so important to have a Church

that can teach with the authority of Jesus Christ and that we know the teachings of our faith. It is very easy to be carried away by fads in religion that claim to be true, but lead many away from the truth. This is particularly true in regard to the time before the Second Coming of Christ. The CCC (#675) says that the Church will pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution will unveil the mystery of iniquity in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. It will involve a false Messiah who will put himself in the place of God; the term that is used for him in the Bible is the Antichrist. Many will be fooled by this false teaching and deny the true faith. It is no wonder that Jesus one day exclaimed: when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth (Luke 18:8). There have been many such men who have acted like an antichrist in Christian history, starting with the Emperor Nero who began the persecution of the Church by the Roman Empire that lasted for 250 years. During that time any Christian was liable to be arrested and martyred for their faith. The charges leveled against Christians stated that they were atheists who would not worship the gods of Rome including the reigning emperor. Ironically, those who worshipped pagan gods were considered religious, while those who worshipped the one, true God were atheists. To call the truth a lie and a lie the truth is often enough to deceive people and is always the work of the devil; sometimes to distort a truth, not totally change it, or mix in a little error is all that is needed to lead people away from God. Jesus promised that He would not leave us orphans and His final words at the Ascension were And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age. Jesus will never abandon His Church; no matter what the trials that we have to undergo, He will always guide us in the way of the truth. Jesus has promised us and He always keeps His promises!

June 12, 2011Pentecost Sunday Ever since Pentecost, the unceasing work of the Holy Spirit is to build up the Church, the Kingdom of God on earth. Soul by soul, the Holy Spirit is giving His gifts so that we will be prepared for eternal life. As human history progresses the Holy Spirit moves the Church closer to her fulfillment as the Kingdom of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The apostles are the first example of what the Holy Spirit can do. Before Pentecost they were frightened and uncertain about their mission. They had seen the risen Lord and had talked to Him, but they didnt know what to do about it. Then as the Acts of the Apostles narrates: And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each of them. The Holy Spirit surrounded the apostles with miracles that day, but the greatest miracle was the change that took place in them. The uneducated fisherman Peter had the wisdom and boldness to go out to the large crowd gathered around the house and preaches the first Christian sermon. The apostles became true leaders of the people with wisdom and understanding; they were no longer afraid and would one day fearlessly go to their death as martyrs for Jesus Christ. Pentecost is sometimes called the birthday of the Church because on this day the Church first becomes manifest to the world. There are four characteristics or marks of the Church established by Jesus Christ. We publicly proclaim those words in the Creed each Sunday: We believe in one, holy catholic and apostolic Church. The Holy Spirit is continually drawing us to a deeper understanding of these four characteristics of the true Churchone, holy, catholic and apostolic. Oneness or Unity is so important to the Church because God, although three Divine Persons, is one God in perfect unity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Catholic Church has to speak with one voice of faithdoctrine and moralsin order to lead the world to the one true God. The word orthodoxy means true teaching, which also implies that there is such a thing as false teachingnot everything is true! Although many would like to believe it because of the error of relativism, everything is not equal between various religions or even Christian denominations. There is some truth and goodness in each religion, and we respect everyones freedom of

conscience, but only the Catholic Church has been given the full measure of truth by God the Holy Spirit. The devil is always trying to cause division, to destroy our friendship with God and turn us from love of neighbor; he wants to turn us into enemies of one another. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is working to bring us together in one communion of love. The Book of Genesis tells us about the Tower of Babel and a time when everyone spoke the same language; there was still a certain amount of unity in the human race. However, in their pride, they began building a great tower that they thought would reach Heaven. Of course, we know that no matter how high the tower was built, it would only reach the heavensthe skyand not the Heaven where God dwells. God does want everyone to come to heaven, but we cannot reach it on our own power. In order to stop their foolishness, God caused them to speak different languages and their speech sounded like babble to one another. The Bible told us of the division that resulted because of the sin of pride. Finally, at Pentecost, that division was reversed. When the apostles went out to speak to the people gathered outside their door, who had come to the city of Jerusalem from many different countries, with many different languages, they could all understand the apostles as if they were speaking the same language. In the Catholic Church the Holy Spirit continues to bring people from all races and tongues together in the one true faith. Last summer we had a young priest from India making an appeal for the missions. He professed the same Creed that we do, he loved the same Jesus, he had the same loyalty to Pope Benedict, he believed in the same sacraments and he read the same Bible and prayed the Rosary just as we do. There is one language of faith that Catholics speak throughout the world. Even more than that, when you read the Fathers of the Churchthose holy popes and bishops from the first several centuriesthey sound familiar. Their teaching is the same that we believe today; their words could be written by any pope or bishop in the 21st century. This unity in faith is not caused by human means, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. There are personal lessons that we should learn from the Tower of Babel and Pentecost. We need the grace of the Holy Spirit to become holy and reach heaven. We cannot conquer our human weakness or grow closer to God by our own power. We have to ask for His help because He does most of the

work in getting us to pray or repent or do a good deed or make a sacrifice. We think that we do most of the work of conversion by ourselves, but you could say that He does 99.9% of the work, which leaves us with only .1% to dobut how difficult it is to do that .1%. It can seem like moving a mountain, just to conquer one little fault in my life! It is not easy to do our little part because of the bad habits and iron will we have developed over years. On our own it would be impossible, but with the Holy Spirit, all things are possible. Jesus and His Father did not send the Holy Spirit to hover over you at a distance. They sent the Holy Spirit into your heart, into your soul. Remember, that you are a temple of the Holy Spirit from the moment of your baptism. The Holy Spirit is near your heart and He wants to guide you into all that is right and good and true. If we do not listen to His voice, there are other voices that are all too ready to lead us away from faith and goodness. A young American pilot was shot down over the Brazilian jungle during World War II. He landed in a tree and broke his only water bottle. With the help of his compass, he headed east toward the ocean; he passed through the pathless jungle filled with snakes and other wild animals. In an almost superhuman effort, he had to wade through swamps, all the while praying continually. Finally, he made it to a native village and they showed him the way back to civilization. He was asked how he made it out of the jungle when so many others died of starvation or were eaten by wild animals. He replied, The Holy Spirit dwells in me. He was given to me when the bishop confirmed me. I kept praying to the Holy Spirit to lead me. I also prayed my Rosary continually. I must have said a million Hail Marys. I was sure that the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Mother would lead me back to safety. And they did! The Holy Spirit will guide us too, if only we ask Him continuallyCome Holy Spirit.

June 26, 2011Corpus Christi Sunday When we eat food our body breaks it down to give us energy and nourishment. The toast that you eat for breakfast becomes a part of you. It ceases to exist as bread, while giving you life. Almost the opposite happens when we receive Holy Communion. When you receive the consecrated Breadthe Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christit doesnt so much become a part of you, as much as you become united to Jesus Christ, so that He lifts you up into His own Divine life. St. Paul told us in the Second Reading: The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Ordinary food doesnt allow us to participate in the life of Christ, but Holy Communion does. Jesus uses ordinary foodbread and wineto help us to understand that through the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist He is nourishing our soul so that we are strengthened in our spiritual life and become more like Christ. This participation in the very life of Christ has another important effect; it makes us members of the Body of Christ, that is, the Church. St. Paul used the image of one loaf of bread which is made of many individual grains of wheat to explain that through the Holy Eucharist, we are united in the one family of God the Catholic Church: Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body. For we all partake of the one loaf. Back in the 1970s everyone was using the word community and saying that we need to build community in the Church. The truth is that we cannot build community in the Church by our own power; it is only formed by Jesus Christ who unites us in the Holy Eucharist. When we believe in Jesus, truly Present in the Blessed Sacrament, then He will bring about unity as one family, one community of faith, one Body, one Church. In his last encyclical on the Holy Eucharist, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Blessed John Paul wrote: The seeds of disunity, which daily experience shows to be so deeply rooted in humanity as a result of sin, are countered by the unifying power of the Body of Christ. The Eucharist, precisely by building up the Church, creates human community. The closer we become to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, the closer we become to one another. We need to be very clear about what we believe as Catholics in regard to the Holy Eucharist. We take Jesus at His word. He didnt say at the Last Supper that This is a symbol of my body or This is a reminder of my

body, but This is my Body. One year before the Last Supper Jesus taught the disciples in the words we heard in the Gospel today: I am the living bread that came down from heaven; Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. . . . These words were very startling to those who heard Him speak that day; it sounded like cannibalism! It sounded so strange that most of the large crowds that followed Him would do so no longer; even the apostles were shaken by His words. They graphically explain the reality of the Holy Eucharist. When a validly ordained priest, says the words of Consecration over unleavened bread and wine, the miracle of Transubstantiation takes place. The substances of bread and wine become the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. It is no longer bread and wine, but the Real Presence of Jesus Christ. We worship the Holy Eucharist with the same adoration that we give to the Most Blessed Trinity; the Holy Eucharist is the Lord Jesus present in our midst. Blessed John Paul highly recommended prayer in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament in his encyclical on the Holy Eucharist. He wrote: It is pleasant to spend time with him, to lie close to his breast like the Beloved Disciple and to feel the infinite love present in His heart. If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the art of prayer. How can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament? How often, dear brothers and sisters, have I experienced this, and drawn from it strength, consolation and support. Blessed John Paul showed us by his actions that prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament was essential to his life and ministry. We seldom appreciate the gift that we Catholics have in the Blessed Sacrament. I cannot comprehend how anyone could really understand Its meaning and then leave the Catholic Church. The fact that so many do leave for other Christian denominations or stop practicing their faith altogether shows that we have not done very good job teaching about the Holy Eucharist or demonstrating the love and mercy that flows to those who do believe. We need to increase our love for the Eucharistic Jesus. Remember that love is not just a matter of warm feelings. We sometimes go to Holy Mass or begin our daily prayers and feel like we want to be anywhere else but in Church; we are filled with distractions and wonder it is even worth

bothering to pray. It happens to us all. Love is not just a matter of feelings, which come and go, but of loyalty, faithfulness, sincerity and struggle struggle with ourselves and with the devil who is always trying to keep us from prayer and faith. In the year 700 in the town of Lanciano, Italy a priest was saying Holy Mass, but he was filled with doubts about the Real Presence of Jesus; as he said the words of Consecration the host changed into human flesh and the wine changed into a chalice of blood. You can imagine how that very visible miracle changed the doubting priests life and many others who witnessed it and visit the Church. You can still go there after all these centuries and see the Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano. In the 1970s Pope Paul VI had a team of doctors and scientists investigate it and they found that the flesh was human flesh and the blood human blood and that the flesh was not just a slice of skin, but a slice of the heart muscle. They performed many tests and found that the blood once liquefied had all the proteins and characteristics of newly shed blood, not blood that was over a thousand years old. Of course, if that miracle happened in a visible way at every Mass, we could not receive Holy Communion; it would be repulsive; besides, God wants us to live by faith and not by sight. Every Holy Communion is a new opportunity to renew our faith and say Jesus, I believe in You; Jesus, I love You. When we genuflect, does it truly reflect our belief that Christ the King is present in the tabernacle? Do we approach Holy Communion free of mortal sin and conscious of Who we are receiving into our body and soul? Lets approach our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament with renewed commitment and the desire to get to know Him better and love Him more. St. Thomas Aquinas hymn Adoro te devote sums up our faith so well: I devoutly adore You, O hidden God, Truly hidden beneath these appearances. My whole heart submits to You And in contemplating You It surrenders itself completely./ Sight, touch, taste are all deceived In their judgment of You, But hearing suffices firmly to believe. I believe all that the Son of God has spoken: There is nothing truer than this word of Truth.

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary TimeJuly 3, 2011 Many years ago, a women said, Father, there are times when I think God is asking me to do some act of service and I resist because I am afraid that if I make a sacrifice now, God will ask more of me later and it will get too difficult. She was expressing a thought that comes to many of us. We may be afraid of God because we think He is too demanding or that obeying Him will take away our freedom or take the fun out of life. We think that if I can only follow Him part way and have my independence in other parts of life, then I will be happy. In the endit is all or nothing; I must either give my whole life to Christ by conquering all my faults with His grace or choose the opposite way and loose everything, including Heaven. Dont let that scare you into thinking that you might as well give up, since you are so far from becoming a saint. The truth is that God wants us to grow into the image of Jesus Christ and for most of us that is gradual step by step. When we respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, He will give us the grace so that we can do what He asks and be ready to take the next step with ease. Some people have very dramatic conversions that change their whole life, like St. Paul, but even so he still had to keep growing and deepening his faith for the rest of his life. St. Francis of Assisi was on his death bed when he told his brother Franciscans Brothers, now lets begin. A saint knows that if you have one more minute, you can still begin again to serve the Lord and it shouldnt be wasted. If we are afraid of God we should look at the words of Jesus in the Gospel today: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light. Jesus really means these tender words to be taken personally by each one of us. Our problem is that we fail to go to Him in prayer; we dont spend time with Him truly Present in the Blessed Sacrament; we dont talk to Him about our burdens; we dont seek His help. Without Jesus, our true Friend, life becomes burdensome and meaningless. No amount of money or entertainment or drugs or sex can ever fulfill us even though our culture thinks it will, or at least, ease the pain of lifeonly Friendship with Jesus is the answer to the deepest longing of our heart.

St. Paul wrote in the Second Reading today: You are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. . . . For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. St. Paul isnt saying the body and the material world is evil like some heresies have taught throughout Christian history. The flesh, that is, our fallen human nature, wounded by original sin pulls us away from the life of the Holy Spirit. That kind of sinful, this-world-only living leads to the death of the soul; living the life of the Holy Spirit leads us to eternal life. We are fighting a battle in this world that is not easy to win. I want to propose a three-step battle plan that will help you conquer any sin in your life if you are also actively participating in the sacramental life of the Church. Every sin begins within our mind and will. It starts with a thought or desire, certainly it may be prompted by what we see or hear, but sin begins within our soul with a choice. However, you may notice that you often begin thinking about something for a time before you realize what you are thinking aboutyou see someone with that expensive new car that you cannot afford or the new designer clothes or the latest iphone and begin to desire it; you see a woman dressed immodestly and the impure thought comes into your mind; you are overwhelmed by worries and fears that wont give you any peace. There comes a point when you realize what you are thinking about or desiring and then there is a decision to makeam I going to keep thinking about this sinful thing or not? The first step in the battle plan against sin is to realize the sinful thought or desire and choose to stop it. If you dont stop it, it is going to become stronger and lead to other thoughts and then actions. It is like putting the engine on a railroad track; it will pull all the other cars down the line. If we dont deal with the problem at the very beginning we get into patterns of acting and reacting that seem to imprison us. Then we get discouraged and want to give in to the sin and quit fighting. Some of these patterns have been ingrained into our lives after many years; some have been inherited because of the way we were raised or other events in our lives that have damaged our personalities. That is why it is so important to know ourselves. The daily examination of conscience is not

meant to condemn, but to seek Gods mercy and enlighten us as to how we need to change in order to become more Christ-like. The first step is recognizing the sinful thought or desire and choosing not to keep thinking about it. However, it cant stop there because sin and our habits are too powerful. The second step is to pray. Im not saying you have to make a Holy Hour, but simply pray the Hail Mary or some other short aspiration like, Sacred Heart of Jesus, grant me peace. We have to rely on the grace of God much more than on our own power. We try to say no, no, no with only our own effort of will, but soon find ourselves saying yes, yes, yes. Here is where the Holy Mass and Confession are essential. We need the grace of the Holy Eucharist weekly, even daily (I know I do). Confession only once or twice a year will never be sufficient to win this battle. We need to step up its frequency if we are serious about overcoming our faults. The third step is to get our mind on something good. If we follow the first two steps of recognizing the sinful thoughts and desires, pray and then just leave our mind empty, we will soon turn back to the original thought. Perhaps we should go get some exercise or read a good book or call a friend or work on a hobbyanything to get our mind on something good. St. Francis was once tempted to desire a wife and family and regret his vocation of celibacy. He knew that that thought would lead to others if left unchecked so he went out into the snow barefooted and made statues of a woman and children out of the snow. The freezing weather quickly took his mind off the temptation! Lets turn to something good and productive to fill our minds and hearts in order to resist temptation and sin. All this depends upon a real desire to overcome our sins; we get so used to them that it is not easy to even begin to wage the battle. The Holy Spirit dwells in you, ask Him for help, knowing that we do not have to be dominated by sinwe can be truly free! Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, grant us peace. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

July 10, 2011Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei would often ask people to pray for him and would sometimes follow it with this startling statement: If you dont pray for me, I could go out tomorrow and commit the worst sin possible. Now he had no intention of committing such a sin and lived a life of heroic sanctity, but he also knew the meaning of human weakness and that he like anyone could turn away from God through sin. Jesus is warning us of that very possibility in the Parable of the Sower. People can loose their faith; it has happened in the past and it continues today. It is always sad and even scandalous when a priest gives into temptation; lets remember that our faith doesnt depend upon a particular priest, but on Jesus Christ and the truth taught by the Catholic Church. Jesus based His parables on ordinary things in order to help the average person to understand spiritual truthsso it is with the Parable of the Sower. In the Holy Land, particularly around the Sea of Galilee, farmland was often on the hillsides or valleys in narrow patches surrounded by rocks and thorns and pathways. They used the broadcast method of planting seed, which meant that some of the seed fell on poor ground that would not allow it to grow very well, if at all. Although there are always many levels of meaning, Jesus explained this parable to His disciples. He said that the seed is the word of the kingdom or simply, the word of God (Luke 8:11) that is placed in our heart. Because of this gift, we are able to live a life of faith, hope and love. He also warned us of the dangers that could stop the Word of God from bringing forth a fruitful harvest in our lives. What is the Word of God? Pope Benedict spoke about this at length in his Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini. He wrote that the Word of God has a number of meanings that are linked to one another. First of all, it is Gods self-communication to usit is God speaking and acting. Pope Benedict quoted the Second Vatican Council saying that the unseen God from the fullness of His love addressed men and women as His friends, and lives among them in order to invite and receive them into His company. God speaks to us because He wants us to get to know Him, to be His friends and share His life.

When you hear a speech by someone, it may inspire you deeply with enduring consequences. In an even more profound way, when God speaks, His word is powerful and accomplishes great things in our lives if we are receptive. In the First Reading, Isaiah compared Gods word to the rain and snow that water the earth and bring forth life, speaking for God, he said: my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it. The most important meaning of the Word of God refers to the Person of Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary. St. Johns Gospel says: the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Jesus is the Eternal Word who took on our human nature, became the visible picture of the invisible God and spoke to us in a human voice with words full of grace and truth so that we could understand Gods great plan for our salvation. The Word of God is also the Churchs living Tradition. Jesus told His disciples to Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation (Mark 16:15). They did this before even a word of the New Testament was written. Sacred Tradition is the official preaching and teaching of the Successors to the Apostlesthe Magisterium which is guided by the Holy Spirit to teach us the authentic doctrine of Christ. Sacred Tradition is necessary to keep the Church from misinterpreting the Word of God and walking down the path of error and heresy, which is very easy for us to do. Finally, the Word of God is the Sacred Scripture, both the Old and New Testaments. The Holy Bible is the written speech of God. Pope Benedict wrote in Verbum Domini: In short, by the work of the Holy Spirit and under the guidance of the magisterium, the Church hands on to every generation all that has been revealed in Christ. The Church lives in the certainty that her Lord, who spoke in the past, continues today to communicate his word in her living Tradition and in sacred Scripture. Indeed, the word of God is given to us in sacred Scripture as an inspired testimony to revelation; together with the Churchs living Tradition, it constitutes the supreme rule of faith. You will often hear Christians, even Catholics, ask about a certain doctrine of the Church, Where is it in the Bible? They imply that if you cant find the words of a particular doctrine in the Bible like the Trinity or the

Immaculate Conception of Mary or Purgatory then it cannot be true. This cuts Gods revelation down to one source onlyignoring Sacred Tradition and the teaching office of the Pope and bishops in union with him. Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture have only one source, that is, God and there will not be any contradiction between them; both are necessary for understanding the Word of God. We need the Holy Bible and the teaching of the Catholic Church to get the full picture of the Word of God. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass expresses this unity of faith so well. It is the Sacred Scripture that prepares us for the Holy Eucharist. In the first half of the Holy Mass we read from the Holy Bible. On Sundays there are three Scripture readings and a psalm and, as a matter of fact, all the words that we say at Holy Mass come from the Bible. In the second half of the Holy Mass we enter into the very sacrifice of Christ and receive the risen Jesus in Holy Communion. It is the Word of Godthe Sacred Scripturethat leads us to the Word of Godthe real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. In this Parable of the Sower of the seed, Jesus warns us to be on guard because there are many things and people and situations that can weaken and destroy our faith. At the same time, the seed of the Word of God is a good gift of sanctifying grace that is given to each of us. Even if our faith has weakened and we are plagued by our faults, God can restore us because His Word is powerful, yet gentle. Holy Spirit, make us receptive to the Word of God in its fullness, so that we may bear a fruitful harvest for the Lord.

July 14, 2011Carmelite NovenaBlessed Kateri Tekakwitha If you think that it is difficult to be a Christian in 21st Century America (and it is), then you should look at 17th century America and the life of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. She was born in 1656 in what is today Auriesville, New York to a Mohawk chief and his Catholic wife. When Kateri was only four years old her father, mother and younger brother were killed by a smallpox epidemic. She survived, although disfigured for life, and was adopted by her uncle who became chief. As she was growing up she heard the Jesuit missionaries teach and watched them offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Certainly no member of the chiefs family could consider becoming a Catholic, since their presence was barely tolerated. When Kateri was 20, Father de Lamberville came to her village and she immediately asked him for baptism. He was amazed at her understanding of the Catholic faith and found that she had a prayer life that was like a contemplative nun. He came to see that this Mohawk maiden was an extraordinary soul. Knowing how delicate his position was, and what it would mean for Kateri, he gave into her request. The persecution began immediately. Her bigoted aunts said that if she refused to work on Sunday, she would not eatevery Sunday became a fast day. One Mohawk brave threatened to kill her with his tomahawk if she didnt renounce her faith; and her uncle even urged drunken men to molest her. Through it all she remained steadfast in her faith. Finally, Father de Lamberville with a well respected Catholic Mohawk chief helped her to escape to a Catholic village where she spent the rest of her short life. She was called the Lilly of the Mohawks because of her purity. She made the extraordinary request of making a private vow of chastity so that Jesus could be her only spouse. Her last words were Jesus I love You. When she died on Holy Thursday morning, the priest attending her cried out in astonishment for the disfigurement that came from the childhood disease of smallpox disappeared and her face became radiantly beautiful. The people moaned We have lost our saint and She loved the Holy Eucharist and the Cross, and now she could spend Holy Week in heaven. The virtue we are considering tonight is purity and its contrary vice of lust. Blessed Kateri lived a life of holy purity and even if one is not called to take a vow of chastity or live the celibate life we are all called to be pure of heart in our own vocation. Jesus taught us in the Sermon on the Mount: Blessed

are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Deep in our hearts we all long to see God Face to face in Heaventhat is called the Beatific Vision. If you have something in your eye or you get your glasses smudged you cant see clearly. Sin and especially sins of impurity get in the way of seeing God and His will in our lives. It causes a kind of spiritual blindness. We are fighting a battle for purity in this world that is not easy to win. The internet gives immediate access to every kind of pornographic image that hell can devise. Television and movies consider adultery and sex outside of marriage normal. The decisions of the Supreme Court of the last four decades have been more favorable to pornographers than to pro-lifers. Mothers tell me how difficult if is to find clothes for their daughters that are fashionable, without turning them into sex objects. The temptations are everywhere. I want to propose a three-step battle plan that will help you conquer sins against purity and really any kind of sin in your life if you are also actively participating in the sacramental life of the Church. Every sin begins within our mind and will. It starts with a thought or desire, certainly it may be prompted by what we see or hear, but sin begins within our soul with a choice. However, you may notice that you often begin thinking about something for a time before you realize what you are thinking aboutyou see someone with that expensive new car that you cannot afford or the new designer clothes or the latest iphone and begin to desire it; you see a woman dressed immodestly and the impure thought comes into your mind; you are overwhelmed by worries and fears that wont give you any peace. There comes a point when you realize what you are thinking about or desiring and then there is a decision to makeam I going to keep thinking about this sinful thing or not? The first step in the battle plan against sin is to realize the sinful thought or desire and choose to stop it. If you dont stop it, it is going to become stronger and lead to other thoughts and then actions. It is like putting the engine on a railroad track; it will pull all the other cars down the line. If we dont deal with the problem at the very beginning we get into patterns of acting and reacting that seem to imprison us. Then we get discouraged and want to give in to the sin and quit fighting.

Some of these patterns have been ingrained into our lives after many years; some have been inherited because of the way we were raised or other events in our lives that have damaged our personalities. That is why it is so important to know ourselves. The daily examination of conscience is not meant to condemn, but to seek Gods mercy and enlighten us as to how we need to change in order to become more Christ-like. The first step is recognizing the sinful thought or desire and choosing not to keep thinking about it. However, it cant stop there because sin and our habits are too powerful. The second step is to pray. Im not saying you have to make a Holy Hour, but simply pray the Hail Mary or some other short aspiration like, Sacred Heart of Jesus, grant me peace. We have to rely on the grace of God much more than on our own power. If we try to say no, no, no with only our own effort of will, we will soon find ourselves saying yes, yes, yes. Here is where the Holy Mass and Confession are essential. We need the grace of the Holy Eucharist weekly, even daily (I know I do). Confession only once or twice a year will never be sufficient to win this battle. We need to step up its frequency if we are serious about overcoming our faults. The third step is to get our mind on something good. If we follow the first two steps of recognizing the sinful thoughts and desires, pray and then just leave our mind empty, we will soon turn back to the original thought. Perhaps we should go get some exercise or read a good book or call a friend or work on a hobbyanything to get our mind on something good. St. Francis was once tempted to desire a wife and family and regret his vocation of celibacy. He knew that that thought would lead to others if left unchecked so he went out into the snow barefooted and made statues of a woman and children out of the snow. The freezing weather quickly took his mind off the temptation! Lets turn to something good and productive to fill our minds and hearts in order to resist temptation and sin. All this depends upon a real desire to overcome our sins; we get so used to them that it is not easy to even begin to wage the battle. The Holy Spirit dwells in you, ask Him for help, knowing that we do not have to be dominated by sinwe are the sons and daughters of God--we can be truly free! When we think of the heart of Mary, we dont call it a holy heart or a steadfast heart or loving heart (even though it is all those things); we call our

Blessed Mothers heart Immaculate. From the first moment of her conception the Holy Spirit created her soul completely free from all stain of sin so that at least one person could love her Divine Son in the way that He deserved while He lived on earth. Mary wants to help us to love Jesus with purity of heart, free from any sin or addiction that would blind or distort our vision of Him. She wants us one day to be able to see our God Face to face even as she looked into that Holy Face as she held the Christ-child in her arms and sees Him now in glory. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us. Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.

July 17, 2011Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Every teacher has experienced the difficulty of trying to get students to learn a subject. Even if the teacher is enthusiastic and is convinced of the importance of the knowledge, the student may still not want to learnso much depends upon the receptivity of the student. Jesus expressed the same ideas when He spoke about His use of parables. In last weeks Gospel, He quoted the Prophet Isaiah when He spoke about the effects of parables on some listeners: Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and be converted, and I heal them. So often people who were very intelligent and learned in the Law of God, like the Scribes and Pharisees, refused to listen and understand Jesus words. Their pride caused them to become spiritually blind and deaf. Every teacher laments the fact that you cannot get through to those who refuse to listen. For them the parables of Jesus only became a wall blocking the message of the Gospel. On the other hand, Jesus quotes Psalm 78 in todays Gospel to tell us a different effect of the parables upon people: I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world. To those with open hearts, the parables were simple stories from everyday experience that allowed them to understand deep spiritual truths. Jesus told three parables in a row in todays Gospel and explained the meaning of the first one. The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds tells the story of a farmer who finds that an enemy has sown weeds in his wheat field. Apparently this did happen at times. It was very difficult to tell the difference between the wheat and the weeds as they were growing. It was only at harvest time that it became obvious and then the painstaking work of separating them had to begin. Jesus explained this parable to the apostles pointing out that there were two very different kinds of people represented by the wheat and the weedsthe good seed [are] the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one. In this world both those who are good and those who are evil (and in between) will live and work side by side like the wheat and the weeds growing in the same field. It will be God who will separate them at he end of their life into two groups

those going into the fiery furnace and the righteous who will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The reason that the farmer will not let his servant pull the weeds while they are still growing is because it was difficult to tell the difference between them and the wheat. In this life, we cannot really judge whether a person is going to heaven or hell because, unlike the weeds which cannot change into wheat, we can turn from lives of sin to lives of faith. People can and do repent! Perhaps you have heard the amazing story of the conversion of Don Calloway. In briefhe was raised without any religion whatsoever; he had heard of the name of Jesus but knew nothing about His life or His significance. He grew up in southern California and at an early age entered into the MTV lifestyle of sex, drugs and rock music. When his family forced him to move with them to Japan since his father was in the military and transferred there, he vowed revenge for making him leave California. He intensified his pagan rebellion, ran away from home and got involved with the Japanese Mafia. When they returned to this country, (he was evicted by the military police) he continued this lifestyle. His mother had in the meantime become a Catholic and prayed intensely for the return of her prodigal son. After a while, Don came back to live with his parents because he had no were else to go and one night he picked up a book of Marian apparitions that his mother had been reading. He started reading and Marys words struck him so deeply that he couldnt put it down. She spoke clearly, in black-andwhite terms about sin and prayer and fasting and turning back to God and loving Jesus completely. He read until 3:30 am and began crying so intensely that his mother was worried about his sanity the next morning when she awoke. He asked if there was a Catholic Church on the military base and ran with all his might, bursting in the door of the chaplaincy and shouting Catholic priest, Catholic priest. With his long hair and earring and shabby clothes, he certainly didnt look like he belonged on a military base, but the Catholic chaplain calmed him down and listened to his story. The priest, who was used to hearing confessions of sailors, was shocked by the lifestyle of this young man who poured out his sins one after another. Here was a young man who seemed to have no hope of ever coming to know Jesus Christ; he lived a lifestyle that was totally devoid of love and morality,

yet, God reached down to him and converted his whole life. He became a Catholic and a priestnow known as Father Don Callowayand lives a life totally dedicated to Jesus and His Blessed Mother. Weeds cannot turn into wheat, but with Gods grace and prayer we sinners can become saints. St. Paul reminded us in the Second Reading that The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought. So often we come to Holy Mass or take time for private prayer, we dont know what to say to God, we dont know what to ask for in our lives or the lives of others. Further, there is no human answer to so many of our problems; they seem insurmountable. We need the Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray and to give power to our prayer. Lets not give up hope on anyone, but pray more intensely in the power of the Holy Spirit for their conversion and place them again and again in the hands of Jesus and Mary. God can accomplish things that we think are impossible.

July 31, 2011Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time In the ancient world, the majority of people were just a step away from starvation. They had to work hard to earn their daily bread because they seldom had anything extra for the next day. That is why the words of Isaiah in the First Reading were so appealing: All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat; Come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk! He was giving them a picture of the Kingdom of Godof heaven. It is a place were there is no longer hunger or thirst, but even more importantly, it is a place where all of our deepest desires will be perfectly fulfilled, namely we will be with God. Do you ever stop and think about those basic questions of life? Why am I alive in this world? What is my purpose? What is Gods plan for me? We may think these questions apply only to young people who are looking to the future, but they are questions that we have to keep pondering to the very last day of life. Eternal life is always before us. The culture doesnt want us to think about these things, rather it is trying to distract us so that we never have time to think and ponder. There has to be constant entertainment or music or video games or busynessanything to keep me from finding out Gods good plan for my life or thinking about what He means to me. It is not easy to be silent with our own thoughts. Isaiah continued in the First Reading by asking Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages for what fails to satisfy? We think that all kinds of things and pleasures will satisfy us and spend a lot of time and money acquiring them, but they make us feel emptier than ever. I think it is very sad for a Christian to reduce their desires to the pursuit of nothing more than to live as long and as comfortable as possible. Their world becomes smaller and smaller until it is only centered upon themselves. St. Josemaria Escriva wrote this: People see only the flat surface. Their vision is two-dimensional and fixed to the ground. When you live a supernatural life, God will give you the third dimension: height, and with it, perspective, weight and volume (The Way #279). God is calling us to so much more than this world can offer! He is calling us open our lives to Him and the infinite and reach the heights of sanctity and become truly fulfilled. He wants us to be successful in this world in so far as it leads us to Him and the service of our brothers and sisters.

In the Gospel, Jesus partially fulfils the promise made through Isaiah. This is one of the two accounts of Jesus miraculously multiplying bread to feed a mass of people. The crowds followed Jesus out into the desert to listen to His words and be healed by Him. After a long day, Jesus knew that the people were hungry and wanted to feed them Himself. He asked His apostles to give them food, but they only had five loaves and two fish. That little amount would not satisfy the crowd which numbered 5,000 men, not counting the women and children. What was humanly impossible; was certainly possible for God. After the miracle, they gathered up the scraps of bread, there was such abundance that they filled 12 baskets. The meaning of this miracle wasnt only to point to the future joy of the Kingdom of God, but it also pointed to the greatest gift that God would give to His people on earth. In St. Johns Gospel, chapter 6, gives a much longer account of this miracle by quoting Jesus explanation. Here are a few quotations from Jesus words in the Gospel of John: Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life . . . I am the living bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die . . . He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed (John 6:27, 50, 54-55). The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves of bread and the fish is pointing to the Living Bread of the Holy Eucharist. Jesus gives us this Holy Bread in order to strengthen us on the path to Heaven, which is very difficult at times. St. Paul asks in the Second Reading today: What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness or peril, or the sword? His answer is No, but with all due respect to St. Paul, I say all these things and a lot less can separate us from the love of God. The least little temptation can come to us to look at pornography or take that drink and we give in. Our laziness and selfishness keep us from doing the good deed that would take so little effort. We have a constant struggle and without the Holy Eucharist to sustain us there would be little hope. We need to pray for a deeper faith in Jesus Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist. When you come into Church do your eyes and heart go to the Tabernacle? You cant miss it in our Church! When you pass by a Catholic Church or hospital, do you mentally go into the Church and unite yourself to

Jesus with a short prayer, like Jesus, I believe in You. Do you take the opportunity to attend the Holy Mass during the week, even though you are not obligated to as on Sunday? Do you take time for Eucharistic Adoration? Many people have found the answers to problems and the strength to bear their sufferings and their vocation in life through silent prayer in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament. We have it on most Mondays, but many Churches have it 24 hours a dayPerpetual Adoration. If we dont seek Jesus like the people that followed Him into the desert that daygiving up their comfort and their timehow can we expect to find the answers to the deepest needs of our heart?

August 7, 2011Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time It was such a startling sight that it could only have been a ghost walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee in the early dawnbut it was Jesus, in the flesh! The apostles heard His familiar voice: Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid. Perhaps, the most amazing thing about this miraculous scene was the response of Peter; he asked Jesus if he could walk on the water to meet Him. It was certainly his faith and trust in Jesus that moved him to get out of the boat and put one foot on the surface of the water and then the other and walk. Like Peter, it is so important for us to have faith and trust in the Lord in order to walk the journey of life. There are many obstacles and sufferings and events that seem to make little sense in life. We can easily become disturbed and frightened. What is faith? Pope Benedict quotes the Second Vatican Council in his document Verbum Domini, (#25), The Word of the Lord: By faith one freely commits oneself entirely to God, making the full submission of intellect and will to God who reveals and willingly assenting to the revelation given by God. Faith is first of all an act of thinking and choosing to follow all that God has revealed. The emotions are a part of us, but not the most important part. Today, we often think it is only worth praying or obeying Jesus if I feel like it; too often, we let our emotions and laziness and love of comfort control us. Faith is concrete, for God has taught us about Himself, our salvation, as well as, right and wrong very clearly through his Catholic Church. I can understand what God is asking of me and I am able to put it into practice. Of course, the difficult part is choosing to do so and persevering. The Holy Father makes the point that faith is not just following a list of doctrines, as necessary as they are, but of freely committing oneself to a personJesus Christ. He is someone I can learn to love because He loves me. He has demonstrated his love particularly in His sacrificial death on the Cross and I have to take that act of love, not just in the sense of salvation for the whole world, but for me personally. Jesus Heart is so great that He loves each one of us in a personal way, as if you were the only one. Faith and trust is something that isnt just given once and remains static, it is a gift from God that is meant to grow and deepen and increase. Have you noticed that Jesus will often ask someone Do you believe that I can do this? Do you have faith in me? before He works a miracle. It isnt

because He needs a persons faith to exercise His Divine power, but because a miracle is little more that a magicians trick if it doesnt lead to faith or strengthen ones faith. Faith is often increased through testing, as in the example of St. Peter in the Gospel. He walks on the water as long as he keeps his eyes on Jesus. As soon as he looks and the wind and the waves, he falters. They frighten him; he could sink, he could be engulfed. What a lesson Peter gives to us when we are sinking through sin or sorrow! We have to do what he did, call out to Jesus, Lord save me! Jesus immediately lifts him up out the water and puts him into the boathe is safe. Yes, Peter faltered, but so do we. It was a powerful lesson for all the apostles to trust in Jesus; put your faith in Him even when all things seem lost. St. Josephine Bakhita is a wonderful example of faith and trust. She was born in Darfur, Sudan in 1869 (a country that still has much war and strife) and at the age of 9 was kidnapped by slave traders. She was beaten until she bled and was sold 5 times in the slave-markets of Sudan. She was then bought by an Arab general who flogged her every day and left 144 scars upon her for the rest of her life. Finally, in 1882 she was bought by an Italian merchant for an Italian diplomat who left the Sudan because war broke out and took his new slave back to Venice, Italy. In Italy slavery was illegal and she was set free. After all the cruel masters she had, in Italy, Bakhita came to know a totally different kind of master, Jesus Christ. There she heard about the Lord of lords who was goodness and kindness personified; she learned that He loved this lowly slave who had been so despised. This Master had Himself been flogged and now awaited her at the Fathers right hand. She was baptized, confirmed and received her First Holy Communion in 1890 from the hands of the Patriarch of Venice. Six years later she took her vows as a religious in the Congregation of the Canossian Sisters. St. Josephine Bakhita died in 1947 with a reputation of sanctity and was canonized by Blessed John Paul in the year 2000. When St. Josephine came to know Jesus Christ, she found someone who could heal all of her wounds and give her joyshe always had a smile upon her face that comforted and lifted up those around her. We need to turn to Jesus and ask Him to increase our faith, to heal our sorrows and sins and keep us on the path to Heaven. Lets remember the lesson that the prophet Elijah learned. In our First Reading we heard that God promised to show Himself to the prophet. He went to Mount Horeb and

waited for Gods magnificent Presence to be manifested. Perhaps he was surprised that God wasnt in the mighty wind that was strong enough to crush rocks, or the earthquake or the fire storm. Surely God the Almighty would choose something dramatic like that to show His power! Instead, Elijah hid his face, recognizing the Presence of God, when the gentle whisper of a breeze came by. We sometimes want dramatic signs from God in answer to our prayers or the evil of the world and miss the fact that He is speaking to us through very ordinary situations and events and people. In the quiet of prayer we hear His voice most clearly. Lets united ourselves with Jesus in this Holy Mass and receive Him in love in Holy Communion as the Lord in Whom we can totally put our faith and trust

August 14, 2011Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Forty days after the resurrection Jesus ascended into Heaven, but before He left them He gave the apostles final instructions on the task of preaching the Gospel and establishing His Church. He told them: You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). It was always Gods plan that the Jewish people, as the chosen people, would be the source of salvation to the whole world. In the First Reading today, Isaiah spoke about the temple in Jerusalem as a house of prayer for all peoples. The missionary work of the apostles would follow the plan Jesus laid out for them because the Jewish people deserved to hear the Gospel first; secondly, God didnt forget Samaria, and finally, it was to go to the whole world. We know that Peter went to the capitol of the worldRomeand as its first bishop was martyred there; Thomas went to India; James, the brother of John, to Spain and the other apostles, except James, the cousin of Jesus who was martyred in Jerusalem, went forth from the land of their fathers to fulfill the command of Jesus. Last week in the letter to the Romans, St. Paul spoke about his Jewish brethren, saying: They are Israelites; theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; theirs the patriarchs and from them according to the flesh, is the Christ. . . God blessed the Israelite people throughout history and guided them so that they could lead the world to faith when God would send His Son as our Savior. St. Paul laments the fact that so many of his fellow Israelites did not believe in Jesus. He pointed out in the Second Reading today that the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. He wrote to the Romans that he hoped that through the mercy of God which had called them to faith, even though they had no part in the covenant that God made with Israel, they would in the end help Gods chosen people. He thought that the Israelites would see Gods great plan that reached out to all peoples and that they themselves would turn to the mercy of God revealed in Christ. Throughout history this hope of St. Paul has been fulfilled. One moving example is St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross whose feast day was this past week. She was born with the name Edith Stein into a practicing Jewish family in Germany in 1891. She was a gifted child and admired her mothers strong Jewish faith but by the time she was a teenager she had become an atheist. She worked hard and eventually received her doctorate

in philosophy and began teaching in a German university. One day on vacation when she read the autobiography of St. Theresa of Avila, she was so moved that she converted to the Catholic faith. She was baptized in 1921, gave up her professorship and began teaching at a Catholic girls school, while becoming familiar with the Catholic philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. In 1933, Edith Stein, decided to become a nun in the Carmelite Order which had been reformed in the 1500s by St. Theresa of Avila. In honor of this saint, she took the name Sister Theresa Benedicta of the Holy Cross. She used her intellectual gifts to write about Christian feminism, which are so opposed to the radical feminism that has been forced upon our society since 1963 when Betty Friedan wrote the Feminine Mystique. Blessed Pope John Paul was influenced by St. Theresa Benedictas ideas in writing his Apostolic Exhortation on the value and dignity of women. Because of the growing anti-Semitism of Nazi Germany, her order transferred Sister Theresa Benedicta to the Netherlands. On June 6, 1939, she wrote: "I beg the Lord to take my life and my death for all concerns of the sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary and the holy church, especially for the preservation of our holy order . . . as atonement for the unbelief of the Jewish People and that the Lord will be received by his own people and his kingdom shall come in glory, for the salvation of Germany and the peace of the world, at last for my loved ones, living or dead, and for all God gave to me: that none of them shall go astray." In 1942, the bishops of the Netherlands wrote a letter condemning Nazism that was read at all the Sunday Masses and the Nazi revenge upon that nation didnt spare Sister Theresa Benedicta even though she was a cloistered Christian nun. She was arrested and taken to the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz. There, her act of atonement was accepted by God as she gave her life in that place of evil on August 9, 1942. God has a great plan for each one of our lives. Often in life we are going to have things happen that dont make sense, we may wonder if God is really looking out for us. We ask why do I have to suffer or why do the innocent have to suffer? This is where faith and trust has to guide us. I will understand the meaning of many things in life, but there will be some things that I will not understand until Heaven. If I trust in God, I will persevere in peace because that means that I know the One Who does know the reasons.

The life of Our Blessed Mother is meant to be a sign of hope for us. This Monday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven (although it is not a holy day of obligation, it is a holy day). We believe that Mary was taken up into Heaven body and soul at the end of her earthly pilgrimage. She who had no stain of Original Sin or any sin was not allowed to experience the corruption of the body in the grave. The end of her life followed the pattern of her Divine Son and the pattern that God intends for all of us at the Second Coming of Jesus. At that time, our bodies will be raised from the dead (no matter how long they have been in the grave), glorified and then joined to our souls for all eternity. Our Blessed Mother is already living the resurrected life to the full. The cover of the new missalette has a beautiful painting of the Assumption. It shows two scenes: the bottom half is an earthly view, while the top half shows a scene that human eyes could not see. In the bottom half the apostles are gathered around the tomb of Mary and it is obviously empty. One of the apostles is pulling out the wrappings that had once covered the body of the Blessed Virgin. In the top half we see Mary taken up into Heaven on a cloud by a host of angels. She is looking up to the goal of her life: to be with her Son for all eternity in His Kingdom. Mary, Queen assumed into heaven, pray for us.

August 21, 2011Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Recently, there have been two very different groups of youth in the news. For four nights in London and other English cities the news reported youth rioting and looting. They were not hungry or victims of injustice. The cause of the violence was described by the Prime Minister of England in a landmark speech: Do we have the determination to confront the slowmotion moral collapse that has taken place in parts of our country these past few generations? Irresponsibility. Selfishness. Behaving as if your choices have no consequences. Children without fathers. Schools without discipline. Reward without effort. . . Some of the worst aspects of human nature tolerated, indulgedsometimes even incentivizedby a state and its agencies that in parts have become literally demoralized. He didnt mention it but, England has particularly become a godless nation without any reference to objective moral truth; sad to say, most western nations are not much better. When you dont believe in God, everything is permitted and chaos results. Contrast that with over a million youth who have gathered in Madrid, Spain for World Youth Day. They have come from all over the world to pray with Pope Benedict and listen to his words, to learn more about their faith and worship God in the Holy Mass and Eucharistic Adoration and pray the Rosary. They are deepening their friendship with Jesus Christ and helping their fellow youth to become better Catholics on fire with the faith. In previous World Youth Days the crime rate went down in the city in which it took place and they left it cleaner than they found it. The Holy Father called the young people of World Youth Day to a different kind of life, he said: Dear young people, listen closely to the words of the Lord, that they may be for you \"spirit and life\" (Jn 6:63), roots which nourish your being, a rule of life which likens us - poor in spirit, thirsting for justice, merciful, pure in heart, lovers of peace - to the person of Christ. Listen regularly every day as if he were the one friend who does not deceive, the one with whom we wish to share the path of life. Of course, you know that when we do not walk beside Christ our guide, we get lost on other paths, like the path of our blind and selfish impulses, or the path of flattering but self-serving suggestions, deceiving and fickle, which leave emptiness and frustration in their wake.

It is amazing that so many young people want to listen with such joy and enthusiasm to our 84 year old Pope at World Youth Day. We have to remember that the papacy is not a human institution. It was established by Jesus Christ and the pope has the grace of his very powerful office to speak to the hearts of everyone as the Vicar of Christ. The Gospel this Sunday narrates the very institution of the Papacy. Jesus had already given Simon the new name Peter, which means Rock before He brought the apostles to the north of the Holy Land near the city of Caesarea-Philippi. You have to know something of the geography to appreciate this scene. The city was built on a mountain with a shear cliff 200 feet high by 500 feet long. The sight had once been the place of sacrifice of the pagan god Pan. In a large cave in the rock wall there was a deep pit from which water flowed. The pit was so deep that they could not measure its depth; it appeared to be the very mouth of hell. Jesus asked the apostles Who do people say that the Son of Man is? The answer came that people thought He was one of the great prophets of old who had come back upon the earth. Anyone else would be flattered by the answer. But Jesus was so much more than any of the great prophets! It was Peter who gave the correct answer, but he didnt figure this out on his own; he was given the grace of faith by the Heavenly Father to understand who Jesus truly is: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. He is not just a holy prophet, but truly equal to God the Fatherthe Son of God. Jesus response is to set up an office so that Peter and his successors would govern the Church in His name until He returns at the end of time. With the background of that enormous rock cliff, Jesus said, You are Peter (the Rock) and upon this rock I will build my church. Jesus only uses the word Church twice, so this is significant. The office of Peter, which is held by every man who is the successor of Peter as the Bishop of Rome is meant to be the support of the rest of the Churcha strong foundation rock. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Pope is to ensure that true doctrine and authentic worship is preserved in the Church. It doesnt take very long for the highest ideals and noblest truth to become weakened and degraded; we quickly put aside the hard parts. Jesus knew that the Papacy would be the necessary means to preserve His teaching from error. Jesus continued speaking to Peter with that unfathomable well of water, the mouth of hell, in the cave behind them saying: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The devil will do his worst to undermine the

Catholic Church and he has done so in our own time, especially with the scandals of the priesthood in these last 40 years, as well as, the general loss of faith in the Church. Although most of the popes throughout history were worthy of the office, not all were. But even though a pope has to work out his salvation, like we all do, no one has every taught error. Hell will not be able to triumph, Jesus told Peter. Then Jesus said, I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. In the kingship of the Old Testament, the chief steward, the man in charge under the king, held the keys to the palace. They were not little keys like we have today, but large keys that had to be carried over the shoulder. The First Reading told about and unfaithful steward of the king who was deposed and replaced by another. God said through Isaiah: I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakims shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut; when he shuts, no one shall open. I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot to be a place of honor for his family. Peter was not given the keys to an earthly palace, but to the very Kingdom of Heaven. With the keys, come the power to forgive sin and the power to hold one responsible for ones sins: Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. The Pope, like all priests, is a shepherd who desires every member of the Church to seek the forgiveness of God, especially in Confession, and be released from the chains of sin. What a great gift the papacy is to the Church! From that day near CaesareaPhilippi until now and to the end of time, Jesus is with His Church guiding her unfailingly through His Vicar the Pope. Let us be very close to Pope Benedict, listen to his wise and holy teaching because when we hear his voice, we hear, not the voice of a man, but the voice of Jesus Christ speaking to us today.

August 28, 2011Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time One of the greatest mysteries of life is the mystery of suffering. Why do I have to suffer? Does it have a meaning? Why do the innocent suffer? It is appropriate to the use the word mystery when speaking about suffering because a mystery is something that is at least partly hidden, but also something with a deep meaning that can only be penetrated through reflection. In faith and prayer we can penetrate the mystery of suffering. In the Gospel this Sunday, Peter represents all of us in his rejection of suffering. Jesus very openly foretold His upcoming passion and death, giving the apostles a warning of the future and helping them to understand His true mission in the world. The all too worldly desires of Israel thought the Messiah would be a conquering king who would raise armies and defeat the enemies of Israel. Gods plan was different from mans plan, for Jesus came as the Suffering Servant foretold by the prophet Isaiah, who would conquer the devil and free the world from the tyranny of sin by bearing our sins and sacrificing Himself. Jesus suffering redeemed the world. When Jesus foretold His suffering and death, Peter took Him aside and said God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to You. Peter loved Jesus and didnt want to see Him rejected and in pain, but he also did not understand the meaning of redemptive suffering. It is difficult for all of us! But Jesus didnt let him get away with it and in the strongest terms rebuked him: Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does but as man does. Peter was acting like the devil in his thinking; the devil doesnt want us to see the connection between sacrifice and love; he wants us to reject the Cross. Our world spends a great deal of time and money avoiding suffering. If we honestly look at life we realize that we cannot keep from suffering because it is all around us in small and great ways. One reason that addictions of every kind are rampant in our comfortable world is because of the attitude that we should shield ourselves from suffering. Alcohol has long been used to dull the pain of life; Marijuana which has become more and more acceptable since the 1960s keeps young people from dealing with the trials of their teenage years, including learning how to deal with people, which is often painful. They avoid the pain, but they never grow or learn from it and remain emotionally immature well into their adult life.

In order to search for the meaning of suffering we have to realize that growth in virtue and grace comes from undergoing trials and self-denial. An athlete understands this when he trains for a sport; he has to deny himself certain foods and exercise, forcing the body to go beyond its limits. He makes many sacrifices in order to achieve the victory or reward he seeks. I might add that every mother is willing to bear the sufferings of labor in order to bring a child into the worldher sufferings bear immediate fruit in the life of that beautiful baby who is born through her pain. We shouldnt be surprised that Jesus said the same thing in regard to discipleship: Whosoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. The Church has always taught that penance and self-denial, even in the little things of life, are necessary for spiritual growth. When confronted with suffering, I always have a choice before me. I can let suffering cause me to become angry or bitter or depressed or I can unite it to the Cross of Jesus and find meaning and comfort in Him. The obvious choice is to unite it to Jesus, but often my first reaction is not so noble or so sensible; I may have a battle with my emotions even when I make the right choice. Depending on how severe the suffering is, this battle within ourselves can be difficult and take time. Dont forget that the devil is always trying to prevent us from seeing the connection with suffering and the Cross; he hates the Cross, even as he hates Jesus. In order to discover the meaning of suffering we have to put it in the perspective of eternity. I am only going to live so long in this world; all suffering will end when death comes. I do not know the day or the hour, but death will happen for me and for everyone. Dr. Gianna Emmanuella Molla spoke about her Saint mother last month in a conference in Kansas City. She told us that after St. Gianna gave birth to her, her Saint mother began to suffer greatly. At one point she lost consciousness for a time and when she came to, she told her husband that she had seen Heaven and willingly came back to consciousness to suffer more in reparation for sin. St. Gianna was able to see the redemptive meaning of her suffering. She profoundly realized the meaning of the words of St. Paul: What we suffer in this life can never be compared to the glory . . . which is waiting for us (Romans 18:2). As bad as our sufferings may be and as sorrowful as the sufferings of the innocent are, they will seem like nothing when compared to eternal joy.

Even as we make this connection between suffering and redemption and the joy of Heaven we should still make use of the human means of medicine and diet that can relieve our sufferings. As Christians, we must always care for the sick and suffering with a special tenderness and try to ease their pain. Blessed Pope John Paul wrote a moving encyclical on the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering that is worth reading in order to better understand the mystery of suffering. He pointed out that each individuals suffering is in some ways unique to them, but we have to reflect upon our own suffering in the light of faith; only then can we understand its true meaning. If we listen to the voice of despair which Satan utters or accept the empty solutions of a godless society, instead of looking to the Holy Cross we will not find answers. In this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which makes present the one sacrifice of Jesus upon our altar in a sacramental way, lets particularly place our sufferings upon the Cross with Jesus and find renewed peace and strength. We adore You O Christ and we praise, You, because by Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

September 4, 2011Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus taught us clearly about the danger of judging others. He said Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get (Matthew 7:1-2). Often in our society this passage is hurled at Christians who speak out in order to maintain moral standards for the common good and be faithful to the Commandments of God. Those who tell Christians not to judge others often dont want to be held up to any standards or told that there is such a thing as right and wrong. This is the relativism that guides so many lives and our society as a whole. However, in todays Gospel, Jesus told us not only to make judgments, but to go to the person and correct him. This has long been called fraternal correction. Why does Jesus tell us not to judge on one hand and then to make judgments and corrections on the other? There is a vital difference between these two types of judgments. The forbidden kind of judgment, judges the soul of the personwhether they are saved or condemnedwhile the other, judges the actions of a person, without condemning the soul of the person. Even though this is sometimes difficult for us in our human weakness, we must always make the distinction between judging persons and their actions. Jesus set up a three step program for correcting those who have sinned. The first step is: If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. This is done to one who is a brother. A brother is someone we love and care about. We dont want to see our relatives or friends fall into sin or turn away from God. Our greatest desire for someone we love is to see them walk on the path to heaven and so we do all that we can to help them get there. This correction is to be made personally and privately. The fault of the person is not broadcast to the world, nor to our 100 closest friends. The sin of gossip or detraction means that without a valid reason, [one] discloses anothers faults and failings to persons who did not know them (CCC #2477). We should ask ourselves, does this person need to know something negative about another? The second step is If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you. Having other witnesses helps verify that this correction is not a

personal opinion, but really does go against the faith and morals that God has given to His Church. We often correct people because we are irritated with them or because they have caused us inconvenience, not because they have done something objectively wrong and we want to help them. The third step is to bring it to the Churchto Church authority. Jesus said: If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Obviously, we are talking about truly serious and public matters at this point. This is the origin of the Church penalty of excommunication, which is always meant to be medicinal. Its purpose is to wake the person up to how serious the matter is so that he can repent and return to the flock of Christ. The First Reading only goes to emphasize our responsibility for others. Ezekiel prophesized: if you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way, the wicked shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. God wants us to help one another to come to the truth and to be faithful. Christianity is not just a private matter; we are all in this together as one Church, as one Body of Christ. We have a duty that reaches beyond the confines of those in the Church; our society and our country depend upon us to maintain all that is good and truly human and holy. Without Christian morals our society will fall into chaos. Over the next few months, I am going to spend part of the homily speaking about the changes that are coming in the words of the Holy Mass on the first Sunday of Advent, which is the weekend of November 29-30. The English speaking bishops of the world have been working on this new translation for over ten years to replace the one that we have been using since 1973. Perhaps some of you remember that there was another English translation that came about in the late 1960s and lasted until 1973. I was in high school when that change happened, but I remember it clearly. Why a new translation of the Mass? There are several reasons. First, different English speaking countries, such as England and Australia have been using slightly different translations. The Holy Mass is meant to be a sign of unity in faith and a single English translation will help show that unity. Second, the 1973 translation is not a very accurate translation of the Latin. You know that all the prayers are written first in Latin and then translated into the various languages of the world. One of the criticisms of the present English translation is that it misses some of the richness of the

ideas, which are Biblical, that are present in the original Latin prayers. I have long felt that many of the prayers, such as the Opening Prayer, are bland and have nothing memorable in them. The third reason is that even in the Holy Mass, which is the greatest and most solemn prayer of the Church, there has been a loss of a sense of the sacred. The language that we use in the Holy Mass isnt the only thing that gives us a sense of the sacred, but it does make an enormous difference. When we pray in the Holy Mass, we use a different kind of language than we do in everyday life. For example, when a doctor talks to you about an illness or surgery, you expect him to use a tone and language that is professional and serious because he is dealing with serious matters. You wouldnt like him to joke around as if you were at a baseball game together. In our private prayers we should strive to talk to God from our heart in our own way, but at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, gathered as the one people of God, we need a more solemn tone and language; that is what the bishops have been working to achieve in this new translation. Of course, when you are familiar with somethingknow it by heartit takes a little bit of time to get used to something new. It means you will have to pick up the missalette and read along. I know that I will have to do that for some time. We are not allowed to use the new translation until the First Sunday of Advent, but the Bishops Conference of the United States thought that we should get a head start on some of the changes that are sung, particularly the Gloria. As you know, we dont sing or recite the Gloria in Advent so the first time we would sing the new translation is at Christmas. Our choir is working on a new setting for the Gloria and other Mass parts that we will soon be using. But first they are going to introduce the SanctusHoly, holy, holyand the Agnus Deithe Lamb of Godsince they are shorter. There is only one change in the wording of the Holy, holy, holy and none in the Lamb of God. In the Gospel passage today, Jesus told his disciples For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. This couldnt be truer than when we gather together to pray in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Dont be afraid of the new translation. Once we get used to it, it will help us to pray better and understand the beauty of the Holy Mass in a new way.

September 11, 2011Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus frequently asked us to forgive one another precisely because it is so difficult for us to do. In the Lords Prayer He taught us to say: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. He wanted us to say that petition day after day and remember that God has been merciful toward us and that we should respond in kind. The parable in todays Gospel came about because Peter asked Jesus how much forgiveness is enough. Peter was being generous in his mercy when he asked if forgiving someone who wronged him 7 times was enough. Jesus response was that I say to you, not seven times but seventy times seven times. He didnt mean that you should multiply those numbers and stop there, but that our mercy should be as magnanimous as Gods mercy. The parable that follows puts Gods mercy toward us in perspective. The first servant owed the king an enormous amount. I read once that in terms of our money it would be around $6 million. The king who represents God forgave the entire debt when the servant begged for mercy. That servant then went to a fellow servant and demanded repayment of his debt. The second servant owed something in the neighborhood of $12. The two amounts are so disproportionate; it is hard to believe that the first servant wouldnt realize that he should forgive that pittance since he was forgiven the enormous debt by the king. But he didnt forgive and had his fellow servant put into debtors prison. We are represented by the first servant. God has forgiven us a tremendous debt due to Original Sin and our own personal sins. Remember that God is an infinite Person and an offense against Him demands infinite punishment. We could never pay back that debt, so God paid it for us, Himself, by the death of Jesus on the Cross. When we are offended by someone it is an infinitely smaller debt, yet we find it so difficult to forgive. Sirach is correct in our First Reading: Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. To hold onto past offenses doesnt really hurt the person who offended us; most of the time they have completely forgotten about the incident or didnt even realize how much it had an effect upon us at the time. The only one who is hurt by bitterness or anger is the one who wont forgive. We hurt ourselves. Why do we do it? Perhaps we think that the person who offended us needs to suffer in order to

pay us back, but what is enough suffering, what is the threshold for forgiveness? Of course, we often like to play the martyr and talk about how often we have been wronged in order to get sympathy from others. Whatever the reason, it is not good for our soul. The best way to handle difficult hurts is to go in front of the Blessed Sacrament and think of each offense, even going back to your childhood, forgive the person and place it in the Tabernacle. Make a conscious act of forgiveness. Let Jesus heal it. Then when you begin to think about it again, stop yourself before all the feelings arise once more, renew your forgiveness and get your mind on something else. If we go over the incidents again and again in our mind we will never be able to forgive and forget. You cant erase your memory, but you can refuse to think about it and pray for Gods healing. Of course, the grace of the Sacrament of Penance is so important because our anger or bitterness is first an offense against God. We need the mercy and healing that comes from a good Confession. Archbishop Dolan, the President of the United States Bishops Conference wrote about the events that happened on 9/11 ten years ago. He said that as Catholics, We resolve today to reject hatred and resist terrorism. The greatest resource we have in these struggles is faith. Lets focus on the heroism and sacrifice of so many who lost their lives in that terrorist attack, rather than hold on to anger or hatred. The police, fire fighters, emergency workers and chaplains, who rushed to the scene, many giving their lives, are worth remembering and even celebrating. God alone can bring good out of evil if we let Him. -----------Last week, I mentioned that I would spend some time each Sunday speaking about the new translation of the Holy Mass that the Bishops of the English speaking countries have been working on for the last ten years. I gave several reasons for the changes and I would like to mention a specific change this Sunday. Perhaps you have heard the story about the distracted priest who was going to see a movie one day. He walked into the theatre but before he went into the row, he genuflected. Good habit, wrong place. We very easily form habits which are often good, but can cause us to forget their meaning. This new translation will force us out of our comfort zone, but also can help us to think again about the meaning of the words we are praying at the Holy Mass.

The Sanctus or the Holy, holy, holy will have a minor change. Instead of saying Holy, holy, holy Lord God of power and might, we will say Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts. In religion we use the wordhost in two different ways. The word host refers to the communion bread, whether consecrated or unconsecrated. It comes from the Latin hostiam which means victim; Jesus is the sacrificial Victim who offered Himself on Calvary and renews that offering in the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass. The second meaning of the word host refers to the heavenly armies of angels, which is usually in the pluralhosts. That is the meaning in the Sanctus Lord God of hosts. This prayer comes from two different Bible passages that are joined together. The first is a vision of Isaiah who saw the throne room of heaven with Almighty God seated on His throne surrounded by the heavenly armies of angels. Isaiah reported that the great Seraphim cried out to one another: Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of your glory (Is. 6:3). The second passage is from the Gospel of Matthew and the scene of Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem which we celebrate each Palm Sunday. The people greeted Jesus as King with the words Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! (Matt. 21:9). By joining those two Bible passages together Holy Mother Church teaches us that in the Holy Mass heaventhe heavenly hosts of angelsand earththe people in Jerusalem, representing usare united to praise God and particularly to praise Jesus as true God. This takes place right before we kneel down for the Eucharistic Prayer in which Calvary is renewed and Our Lord in His Real Presence comes down upon our altar to be our Holy Communion. The bishops of the United States have given us permission to use the new translations in the parts of the Mass that are sung. We are learning a new music setting that is called a Chant Mass in honor of St. Ralph Sherwin. Chant is a certain type of music that has a long history in the Catholic Church. You may have heard of Gregorian chant which takes its name from Pope St. Gregory the Great who became pope in 604 AD. He didnt invent it, however, because it has a more ancient origin. If you listen to recordings of the chanting of the psalms that come from the Old Testament worship in the temple, there is an amazing similarity to Gregorian chant. The Second Vatican Council said that chant should be given pride of place in the music of the Church and we are trying to continue its use in this new Mass setting.

September 18, 2011Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Do not use this parable to decide how to pay your employees. We instinctively realize that it doesnt seem fair to give those who worked only an hour the same amount as those who worked all day. Jesus uses a typical scene from His time to teach us a spiritual lesson, not an economic lesson. The daily wage that is given to each of the workers, without regard for the time that they worked in the owners field, represents Heaven. Salvation is first and foremost a gift of God. We know that we could never earn Heaven; even the merits that we do gain by doing good works of charity and prayer and penance only acquire their value because God attributes merit to them. The key to this parable is in the words of the landowner: My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous? God is generous and we should rejoice that He is merciful to those who are faithful Catholics their whole life and work all day in His vineyard, as well as, to those who only convert at their deathbed. It is not up to you or me to judge who is worthy of Heaven; that is Gods decision. His decision is based upon true knowledge of each persons circumstances and opportunities in life. I do not know how many days or hours that I have left in this world, so I better take the Prophet Isaiahs advice to heart. We heard him admonish us in our First Reading: Seek the Lord while He may be found, call Him while He is near. Let the scoundrel forsake his way, and the wicked his thoughts. We live in a time and place where God can easily be found. We have access to all the teachings of the Catholic faith through the CCC and the words of the Holy Father, which come to us almost as soon as he speaks or writes them. We can go to any book store and find a Catholic Bible. Dont forget that it wasnt that long ago that few people could read. We have endless videos on saints and catholic teaching and access to Catholic TV at EWTN and Catholic radio. There is a Church within a short drive to attend Holy Mass, even daily, and pray in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament; no one will hinder us. We can read the words of the Church Fathers and the saints throughout the ages at the click of a button. We have every opportunity to seek the Lord while he may be found.

Why does God make us seek Him? He could instantly make us saints worthy of heaven without any effort on our part. It is like the old saying Give a man a fish and he has food for a day, teach him how to fish and he has food for life. God makes us work and strive and seek Him and allows us to suffer because He wants us to have human dignity. He wants us to participate in our salvation, so that we are true sons and daughters, not puppets on a string. It is only through seeking him and conquering our faults and struggling against the devil that we can open ourselves up to His gifts of grace and get ready for Heaven. When it comes down to it, we have to do so little. All we have to do is respond to Gods gift of grace and we will be carried on to heroic sanctity, like the saints we admire. To be more accurate, all we have to do is not say No to Gods gift of grace and we will become saints. That is easy to say, but difficult to do. The struggle against our human weaknesses and the temptations of the world do seem like working hard all day in the hot sun of the vineyard. This is a challenge that God has given us. He said through Isaiah: As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above youre your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts. We have got to ask the Holy Spirit for the vision to see His great plan for us and not limit ourselves to a too earthly view. Everyone who goes to Florence, Italy visits the museum that holds Michelangelos famous statue of David. It is a masterpiece showing the future king about to engage in battle with Goliath. His body is slightly curved as if in the act of throwing the fatal stone. The block of Carrara marble that he used was actually brought to Florence by a now unknown artist over 100 years before Michelangelo was born. The sculptor had begun to work and accidently cut off a great slice that made it useless for his statue. There it sat until Michelangelo saw it and realized the possibility that lay in the stone. He began chiseling and carving and produced the magnificent statue that still amazes people. He even used the flaw made by the original artist in the arched back of David. God wants us to be able to look at life, with all its difficulties and work and suffering from His point of view. Even though his thoughts and ways are above ours, He lifts us up by sanctifying grace to understand how all things can be used for our salvation.

In order to continue our preparation for the new translation of the Holy Mass which will begin on the first Sunday of Advent, I would like to reflect on

two parts of the Mass that give praise to God: the Gloria or Glory to God and the acclamation after the Consecration. It is important for us to not only ask God for things, but to give Him praise. We begin the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by asking God for mercy and the very next thing we do is praise Him in the Gloria (except in Advent and Lent when we are toning things down). The first line of the Gloria is taken from the scene of the Nativity in the Gospel of Luke. At the birth of Jesus the heavenly hosts of angels praised God and we use their words to begin this prayer: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will. This is slightly different from the words we are used to in the present translation. But what follows is quite different, for we will praise God with 4 short exclamations that are not in the present translation: We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory. These bursts of praise are meant to express the great honor that we want to give to the Blessed Trinity, to Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. The acclamations after the consecration are going to be reduced from 4 to 3. The one we presently use: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again was never in the Latin and it really is a statement of facts, rather than an expression of praise for the Mystery of Faith. The priest will introduce it with a shorter phrase, simply: The mystery of faith instead of Let us proclaim the mystery of faith. What is the mystery of faith that we are praising? It is transubstantiation. The bread and wine have just become the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ through the miracle of transubstantiation. That is indeed something to praise! We want to give God glory and praise in every Holy Mass because here we seek the Lord in the most perfect way; here in this Sacrament of Love He is near.

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary TimeSeptember 25, 2011 Good intentions are not enough; we also have to act on them with good deeds. In the parable of todays Gospel, Jesus wanted us to see the intentions behind the words of the two sons who were ordered by their father to go and work in his vineyard. The first son refused, while the second agreed to the request of his father. It seems obvious which is the good son and which is the bad son. However, after they spoke to their father they both had second thoughts. The son who refused, began to think of the duty that he owed his father and the need to overcome his laziness and changed his mind and went into the vineyard to work. We need to look at our actions and evaluate them, too. Am I doing what God wants or I am letting my weaknesses control me? Am I giving in to the pressure of others to do wrong? If we dont examine ourselves we will be carried away by all the impulses and whims that afflict our bodies and minds. At one time our culture really helped people to choose what was good and avoid evilwhich is what the human community should do. Today our culture has lost its moral compass, and not only doesnt give true direction about right and wrong, it actually fosters a way of life that is opposed to God and goodness. The sad thing is that many people will not have a Church that teaches them how to live morally and how to treat one another with dignity, so where will they get it from? It is also important for us to consider our motives or intentions behind a particular action. Often our motives are mixed or we are doing even good things for the wrong reason, for example, praying or fasting in order to be seen my men. However, if we realize that our motives are not pure we can change them in an instant and decide to fast in order to please God and grow in self-mastery. Then the action which would have lost its goodness and merit becomes something pleasing to God. Wrong intentions can be changed in an instant. Lets consciously strive to do the right thing for the right reason. Now to the other son who seemed so obedient, we find that he also reconsidered his fathers order. Maybe his pride got a hold of him and he thoughtI am going to do what I want; its my life, after all. Or he simply became lazy and decided not to bother going to the vineyard. He didnt really hate his father; he just didnt want to obey him. Sin can creep into our lives so easily. Ezekiel spoke about the effect of this attitude in our First

Reading when people say: The Lord is not fair! We then blame God for all of our problems. It doesnt have to start out as hatred of our Father God, but it will eventually lead to it if we dont recognize it, repent and turn our lives back to Him. Jesus told this parable to the chief priests and the elders of the people because He wanted them to recognize Gods plan for their salvation which was unfolding right before their eyes. He pointed out that even great sinners recognized the message of John the Baptist and repented and changed their lives, while those who knew the revelation of God refused the Divine invitation to repent and enter into the Kingdom. He wanted them to obey their Father God and let them know that they could change like the one son who first refused, but then went to work in the vineyard. Jesus is always reaching out to us in compassion. We know that words alone are not enough, but still words are important when they convey the truth about something, especially about God. We are going to begin with the new translation of the Holy Mass on the first Sunday of Advent this year. I would like to focus on some of the changes in the Creed. You may know that the Creed we say each Sunday comes from the first great council of the Church; all the Catholic bishops met in the city of Nicea in the year 325 to solve a serious problem that was dividing the Catholic Church due to the teaching of a deacon named Arius. Arius was a handsome, charismatic man who began teaching the Jesus was not divine, but only a man. This pleased the learned Greeks who didnt like mystery, but wanted everything explained. The teaching that Jesus is true God and true man can only be understood to a certain degree, after that, we have to face the reality that it is truly a great mystery and something that is ultimately beyond human comprehension. The average Catholic of the time believed the ancient faith because if Jesus was true God and true man then that meant that God is not distant, but close to us. The bishops met in Nicea and answered the question by producing the first half of the Nicene Creed. It wasnt easy to find the right words to express this great truth; they had serious debates over various words and expressions. I am going to read the new translation that we will be praying in Advent; one word in particular will stand out for you. The words that deal with the divinity of Jesus teach that He is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made,

consubstantial with the Father. The word consubstantial has been translated as one in being in the 1973 wording that we are used to. Consubstantial means of the same substance; the Father and the Son are of the same substance, which is the Divine nature. There is, and only can be, one God. Consubstantial comes from a Latin word that goes back to the original text of the bishops of the Council of Nicea. It has such a long history that we should use it and become familiar with it. Another noticeable change in the Creed is that we will say I believe rather than We believe throughout the text. It is only when I can stand and you can stand and state that I believe in the words of the Creed that we become a Church who believes in the same true faith. In the Creed I am making a statement of belief; I am standing up for the truth; I am speaking with conviction that I am a Catholic who believes in the Most Holy Trinity Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. The new I believe phrases will read like this: I believe in one God, the Father Almighty. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary TimeOctober 9, 2011 The joy of a great banquet, with plenty of food and drink, is a symbol for the joy of heaven. Isaiah used it in our First Reading: On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines. For the most part people had to scratch out a living each day and had very little extra food starvation was always a real possibility! A banquetan eternal banquet would be very appealing to them and it is used throughout the Bible. A wedding banquet, as described by Our Lord in the Gospel parable had a special appeal. Weddings were a time of unique happiness and celebration. That is why the refusal of the people to accept the invitation of the king to his sons wedding banquet seems so strange. The king wasnt ordering them to work in his fields or become soldiers in battlehe was asking them to a party. Their reaction was: Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. Jesus meant this parable to apply, first of all, to the Jews who had received the call of God to become His chosen people, yet throughout history had often forgotten their relationship and had ignored His servants the prophets, even killing some of them. They were the first to be called, but God intended His kingdom, His wedding banquet to encompass all peoples. In the parable, the king then sent out other servants to fill the wedding hall with anyone they could find. Finally when it was time the king came and saw someone without a wedding garment and ordered him out of the banquet. Even though the invitation from the king was free, it did take some effort on the part of those who accepted it. They had to leave behind their work and their own pursuits; they had to take the time to dress properly and make the effort to be there on time. There is a profound spiritual meaning to this parable for all of us. God is the King who has given us the invitation to become members of His Church, the Kingdom of God on earth, and to enter one day into the Heavenly Banquet for all eternity. However, there is the danger for us to react just like the would-be guests in the parable. The reaction of indifference to the invitation is particularly fitting for our time. In our world it is very easy to live a life without God; we can find our comfort in material things and luxuries that have never been possible in the history of the worldwe dont

have to worry about where our next meal is coming from. Many people think that they dont need God at all because they basically have everything they want here and now. It is so easy to get things out of perspective. For example, even good things like work or exercise can become distorted. Work is a good thing that God wants us to perform well, but how easy it is to overemphasize it and become a workaholic. Exercise is necessary to keep the body healthy, but it can also become an addiction that distorts life and pushes out other necessary aspects of life. The invitation of God to his Heavenly Banquet calls us to ask what is important in life. This past week a very famous person diedSteve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, who was the inspiration behind so many computer and communication advances of our age. Now I dont know anything about the mans personal life, but some thoughts occurred to me upon hearing about his death. One thing is that no matter how much money you have or how influential you may be, death comes for us all. Im sure Steve Jobs had the best medical care that money can buy, but at some point there will be an end to our life in this world, as there was for him, and we will all come before Jesus Christ, the just and merciful judge to give an account. What this world considers valuable will probably not be what God considers valuable. Certainly, we are called to use our talents well for the good of others and he accomplished a lot in that regard, but all his money and influence and popularity will mean nothing in eternity. I have to ask myself: Am I striving mainly for the things that this world has to offer? Am I satisfied with seeking my comfort and doing what I want and forgetting all about God and eternity like the servants in the parable? Do I strive to grow in virtue or just let my vices control me? Am I living a life of prayer and service to others or one that puts me first? Steve Jobs made billions of dollars, but he had to answer the same questions about his life that you and I will have to answer before the Lord. The imagery of a wedding banquet applies especially to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The Holy Eucharist is the great wedding banquet that we celebrate here on earth. Our heavenly Father invites us to partake of this Sacred Banquet in which Jesus, the Divine Bridegroom desires to unite Himself to his bride the Church in an unbreakable bond of love. The Holy Communion makes us one with Jesus who loves us with an infinite love. Lets never turn a blind eye to the Holy Eucharist like the servants did to the invitation of the king in the parable.

There is an old Italian saying that says: The translator is a traitor. Meaning that whenever you translate from one language to another you will probably not capture the exact meaning of the original words. There are usually a number of words that can be chosen that have a little different meaning for any word you are trying to translate. The new translation of the Holy Mass that will begin this Advent points to that principle. For example, in the current translation of Eucharistic Prayer I the priest says at the Consecration of the Precious Blood: When supper was ended, he took the cup. Again he gave you thanks and praise, gave the cup to his disciples, and said: . . . Now there are a number of words that you could use to speak of a drinking vessel. We speak of a paper cup which is used once and thrown away or a teacup or a coffee mug or a drinking glass or a wine goblet which could be made out of fine crystal. However, when we hear the word chalice we immediately think of a drinking vessel that has a very specific meaning. The new translation will read: In a similar way, when supper was ended, he took this precious chalice in his holy and venerable hands, and once more giving you thanks, he said the blessing and gave the chalice to his disciples, saying: . . . A chalice has a different meaning than a cup. Another example is in the Creed. At the beginning we profess our faith in God the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We will say maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. If you are standing around the corner you are unseen, but you are not invisible. The Creed is speaking about the invisible things that God has created, such as the angels. Each one of us has a Guardian Angel with us right now, but no matter how hard I look, I will not be able to see themthey are invisible, unless God grants a special grace, like He did to some of the saints. Your response to the greeting The Lord be with you will become And with your spirit. That is the exact translation of the Latin and a phrase that has a long history. English is the only language that didnt translate it And with your spirit. When you say that to the priest you are acknowledging more than the particular man, you are acknowledging the fact that at his ordination he received the Spirit of Christ and is now acting as the representative of Jesus Christ. There is a deeper meaning to those words than appears on the surface.

Act of Consecration to the Holy Family

O Jesus, our most loving Redeemer, who having come to enlighten the world with Thy teaching and example, didst will to pass the greater part of Thy life in humility and subjection to Mary and Joseph in the poor home of Nazareth, thus sanctifying the Family that was to be an example for all Christian families, graciously receive our family as it dedicates and consecrates itself to Thee this day. Do Thou protect us, guard us and establish amongst us Thy holy fear, true peace and concord in Christian love: in order that by living according to the divine pattern of Thy family we may be able, all of us without exception, to attain to eternal happiness. O Mary, dear Mother of Jesus and Mother of us all, by thy kindly intercession make this our humble offering acceptable in the sight of Jesus, and obtain for us His graces and blessings. O Saint Joseph, most holy Guardian of Jesus and Mary, help us by thy prayers in all our spiritual and temporal needs; so that we may be enabled to praise our Divine Savior Jesus together with Mary and thee, for all eternity. Amen.

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary TimeOctober 16, 2011 We have a duel citizenship. We are members of the Kingdom of God, the Catholic Church, and citizens of our own country, the United States of America. Normally we are able to live our lives as good Christians and fulfill our duty as Americans without conflict. The first Christians living in the Roman Empire put it this way; We are in the world, but not of the world. They realized that they could work and live and raise their families with the rest of their neighbors, but they couldnt give in to the immorality or worldliness that was all around them. They knew that this world was only temporary and they were passing through to the eternal Kingdom of Heaven. In the Gospel today, Jesus was confronted by His enemies with a problem that was meant to trip Him up, not find out the truth. However, Jesus answered with a wisdom that astonished them and laid down a principle for Christians to follow when dealing with governments and politics until the end of time. They asked Him if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not. To say no would mean that they could turn Him over for arrest to the Roman soldiers for refusing to pay taxes; to say yes would mean that He would be deserted by the people who hated the Romans and their taxes. Jesus didnt fall into the trap; He asked to see a Roman coin and pointed out that the coin had Caesars image upon it so it belonged to him: Give to Caesar what is Caesars, but give to God what is Gods. The Jewish leaders knew that they could not object to this answer since they themselves made a law that would not let the people pay the Temple tax with Roman coins; the Roman coins had to be exchanged for Jewish coins, hence the money changers in the Temple. Money, which is so important to the greedy and worldly, is not the most important thing in the Kingdom of God. Normally we will be able to live out our duties to God and country without much difficulty, but sometimes conflict will occur; then we cannot turn from our duty to God even if it means persecution and martyrdom. This has happened throughout Christian history under all kinds of governments and rulers. We have much to offer to politics and American society as Catholics. The bishops of the united States wrote in their document Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: The obligation to teach about moral values that should shape our lives, including our public lives, is central to the

mission given to the Church by Jesus Christ. Our Christian duty calls us to speak out in regard to the common good of our society. We cannot remain silent. If government and politics has the purpose of serving the public good then we have to know what is good and what is evil; the Catholic Church has, not only the teaching of Jesus Christ, but 2,000 years of experience in these matters. Our bishops pointed out a basic moral principle in their document: the end does not justify the means. You cannot do evil and expect good to come from it. Further, there are some evils that are intrinsic evils which mean that not even the circumstances and events that surround them can ever make them good. The bishops list these intrinsic evils: they are abortion, euthanasia, cloning, embryonic-killing research, genocide, torture, racism and the targeting of noncombatants in acts of terror or war. These things can never be justified and are always opposed to the common good of society. There are, of course, other issues besides intrinsic evils; when Catholics evaluate a candidate we need to look at all the issues he or she supports, not just one issue only. We should not support a candidate because of one issue only, but we should deny our support for a candidate who openly promotes an intrinsic evil. In the Catholic Church we are very careful not to tell people to vote for this candidate or that candidate for office. Unlike some Christian denominations that open their pulpits to politicians for political speeches, we do not. We believe that Catholics should be educated in the teachings of their faith and have the freedom to make political decisions that will advance the common good. Of course, we have to realize that many Catholics, and those who call themselves Catholics, dont really know the moral teaching of Christ. In their ignorance they have been swayed by the media and public opinion and their own human weaknesses to believe things that are not true. We have to seek the truth and work to be educated in the teachings of the Church so that we can truly contribute to the common good of our society, particularly when it comes to elections. In this month of the Holy Rosary we need to remember the power of that prayer to convert hearts and turn our country to the true good. Mary is a good and loving Mother who supported her Son throughout His life on earth. The four sets of mysteriesjoyful, luminous, sorrowful and gloriouscall

us to reflect upon the lives of Jesus and Mary and learn from their example and seek the powerful prayers of our Blessed Mother. If you are like me, and think this is a critical time for our country, then praying the Rosary is a powerful weapon to defeat Satan and turn peoples minds and hearts back to God. We cannot continue on this current path of moral decay and loss of freedom and expect our lives to be peaceful and prosperous. Lets ask the prayers of Mary through the Holy Rosary to help our country. As you know, we are going to begin using the new translation of the Holy Mass on the first Sunday of Advent at the end of November. I have been speaking about some of the changes each Sunday to help prepare you. In Eucharistic Prayer III there is going to be new wording that will make the Bible passage that it is referring to clear. Near the beginning it reads; From age to age you gather a people to yourself, so that from east to west a perfect offering may be made to the glory of your name. You might ask, why does it leave out people who live north and south? It is referring to a Bible quotation from the Prophet Malachi. Malachi was the last of the Old Testament prophets. He criticized the Jews for their sacrifices in the Temple because they were offering sickly animals that they certainly wouldnt give to a governor or king. They were performing their religious duty without any fervor. He prophesied that God Himself would one day establish a perfect sacrifice that would be pleasing to Him. Malachi prophesied: For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name is great among the nation; and everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name, and a pure offering (1:11). The Council of Trent taught that this sacrifice prophesied by Malachi is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass instituted by Jesus Christ. Malachi didnt say from east to west, but from the rising of the sun to its setting. He wasnt talking about direction, but time. This pure sacrifice would be offered continually from morning to night. The new translation will capture this sense. It will say: and you never cease to gather people to yourself, so that from the rising of the sun to its setting a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name. We are privileged to offer this pure sacrifice that God has given us in order to give Him fitting worship. It is offered at every moment of the day somewhere in the world to praise and bless and adore and glorify the most Blessed Trinity.

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary TimeOctober 23, 2011 There was a great debate about which commandment of God was the greatest among the various schools of rabbis. The Pharisees put this question to Jesus and He answered with the Law of Love. He summarized the whole teaching of the Old Testament very simply, yet completely. He said that the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul and mind. Joined to the love of God and for the sake of the love of God is the second commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. What is love? We all want to be loved, but not with just any kind of love; we want to be loved deeply and fully and forever. What does it mean to love as Jesus Christ commands us to love? Often people get married with the natural thought that they want someone who will make them happy; who will take care of them; who will keep them from being alone. The fear of being alone is a very powerful reason that people enter into all kinds of relationships, even those that are destructive. But is this real love? The direction of this kind of love is me, me, me; it sounds more like selfishness than love. It is always asking, what can you do for me? How are you going to make me happy? It begins to weigh every act of kindness to see if it is being repaid. It becomes fearful or suspicious or angry because the person feels he or she isnt loved enough or love is being given to others. This kind of love will ultimately fail. Many couples choose the Scripture passage from St. Pauls first letter to the Corinthians as one of the readings at their marriage; it describes Christian love. St Paul wrote: Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude, it does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends (1 Cor. 12: 4-8). It sounds so beautiful and sweet. However, just think of how difficult this kind of love really is. When someone irritates you for the thousandth time with the same old thing, is it easy to remember that St. Paul said love is patient and kind? When people just wont do what you want them to do, which is the best way in your opinion, do you stop and think, St. Paul said love does not insist on its own way? Genuine love is not easy, it is hard and demanding.

Genuine love does not seek to gain, but to give. It doesnt seek its own happiness; it strives to make others happy. It does not count the cost of every deed, but is willing to give more than it receives. Love is selfsacrificial. Blessed John Paul described love, in his Theology of the Body, as a self gift. When you love someone you make a gift of yourself to that person, putting yourself at the disposal of that person for all that is good and true. Obviously, anything that someone would ask in the name of love that was immoral or destructive of human dignity would not be included in this self-gift, for example, if one spouse insisted that they use contraception in their marriage. To give in to that demand to do something immoral would not be a part the self-gift because it disobeys the law of God. Love has to be something concrete and practical. In the First Reading from the book of Exodus, God spelled out actions that the Israelites should perform. He said things like this: You shall not molest or oppress an alien . . . You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. If you take your neighbors cloak as a pledge, you shall return to him before sunset. These were very specific deeds that fit the time and culture, we have to make our love for God and neighbor very practical, too. In the 1600s, before the United States of America even existed, The Church was sending missionaries to North America to bring the good news of the Gospel. Two Jesuit priests, Father Isaac Jogues and Father John de Brebeuf came from France with other companions to the Huron and Iroquois tribes in what would later become New York State and southern Canada. They knew that it could very well be a death sentence, but they loved Jesus so much and they loved mankind and wanted all people to know of the salvation offered through the Catholic Church that they willingly came across the ocean to a distant wilderness. They wanted to express their love with deeds. Here are some of the words that St. John de Brebeuf wrote in his diary: My God, it grieves me greatly that you are not known, that in this savage wilderness all have not been converted to you, that sin has not been driven from it. He also wrote: I vow to you, Jesus my Savior, that as far as I have the strength I will never fail to accept the grace of martyrdom, if some day you in your infinite mercy should offer it to me, your most unworthy servant. He didnt look at this possibility with dread or remorse, but with joy. He and his companions were brutally tortured and died for their faith; the first martyrs in our land.

In the Responsorial Psalm we said: I love you Lord, my strength. It is good to speak words of love to our God, but we also need to express our love for God with deeds. Taking a significant piece of time each day and giving it to God in prayer is vital for our spiritual lives. There are about 50 or so people who make the effort to go to daily Mass in our parish, others get up and go to an earlier Mass or go during lunch at other parishes. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the greatest prayer and if possible we should attend more than once a week. On Mondays we have Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and we really need more people to come and spend some time with the Lord in prayer; at some hours we only have one person. The Law of love that Jesus gave to us is not easy because it has to be lived in deeds that involve sacrifice. In the new translation of Eucharistic Prayer II which we will begin using in Advent there is a part that I want to draw your attention to. This Eucharistic Prayer has its origin in the writings of St. Hippolytus who died in the year 236. In his writing, The Apostolic Tradition, he describes the Holy Mass as it had been celebrated from the time of the Apostles. The second Eucharistic Prayer is based on that description. One change in the new translation of Eucharistic Prayer II will say: Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. What does the dewfall refer to? It refers to the Old Testament passage when Moses led the Israelite people through the desert to the Promised Land. When they ran out of bread, Moses prayed and God sent them Manna. Manna was a thin, bread-like substance that they found on the ground all around them like the morning dew. They collected it and ate it for bread. Each day during the 40 years of wandering in the desert they collected it as a gift from God. The manna in the desert is a foreshadowing of the Holy Eucharist. Eucharistic Prayer II will recall this connection between manna and Holy Communion. Manna nourished the bodies of the Israelites, but in a far more wonderful way our souls are nourished by the Bread from Heaven in Holy Communion.

Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary TimeOctober 30, 2011 A man came up to a Catholic and quoted part of todays Gospel: Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Then he asked him What do you call priests in the Catholic Church? He replied sheepishly, Father. This man was trying to sow doubt into the Catholic about his Church. Lets reflect upon this passage a little deeper. If Jesus simply meant to ban words then a child couldnt call his male parent father without sinning. Also, Jesus didnt speak these words in English, He spoke in Aramaic; we have to choose words in English like father and rabbi and master, but other words could be chosen and then we would have a whole list of banned words. Jesus wasnt banning words, but condemning the attitude of pride and vainglory that was so evident in the scribes and Pharisees. It is easy to get off track when one is given authority over others, whether one is a parent or cleric or government official. We can start to think that we are so important and that everyone should serve us because of our position. Our Lords final words in the Gospel today were: The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted. The way God sees things is totally the opposite of the way the world see things. God sees the humble servant as the one who should be praised and honored. Jesus was the model for all authority, especially in the Church. He came not to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many, which He did on the Cross! St Paul is a great model of Christian leadership. In the Second Reading, he described his motives for preaching to the Thessalonians, With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as well, so dearly beloved had you become to us. You recall our toil and drudgery. Working night and day in order not to burden any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. St. Paul gave himself totally to the Thessalonians in order to bring them the good news of Jesus Christ. Even though the scribes and Pharisees didnt have the right motives, they still had the truth that God had revealed through Moses; the people should follow the truth even if the messengers were of poor quality. Jesus said The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of

Moses, therefore do and observe all the things whatsoever they tell you. The chair of Moses is a symbol for the teaching authority of Moses. In the Catholic Church this symbol is still used for the teaching authority of the Pope and bishops. In every Cathedral there is a special chair or throne that is set aside only for the bishop of the diocese. No other bishop or priest uses it. That chair is called a cathedra in Latin and the Church in which it sits is called the Cathedral. If you go to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis on Lindell Boulevard, you will see that special chair or cathedra that only the archbishop of St. Louis uses because he is the chief teacher of all the Catholics in the archdiocese. The bishops are the successors of the apostles and we honor them and listen to their teaching as we would if we met St. Peter or St. Paul. The bishops sit upon the chair of the apostles. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in his first letter (4:15): For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. St. Paul became a spiritual father to the Corinthians. He knew he wasnt taking anything away from the Fatherhood of God, but that God had entrusted to him a share in His Divine Fatherhood. So it is with priests and so it should be with fathers of families. Every father has the duty to reflect the fatherhood of God to his family as a priest does to his parish. Fathers are you the spiritual leaders of your family or do you mainly leave that to your wife? Do you motivate your children to pray, attend Holy Mass and be faithful members of the Catholic Church? Are you the first to make a sacrifice for your family in a heroic way? Are you a model of virtue, such as, forgiveness, humility and steadfastness for your wife and children? Jesus wanted the people of His time and us to realize that fatherhoodwhether a spiritual father or father of a familyis a great responsibility. One day a Roman centurion came up to Jesus with a request to heal his servant who was paralyzed. Jesus replied that He would come to his house right away. The centurion said: Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed (Matthew 8:8). He had great authority over other soldiers and when he told them to do something they obeyed without question. He didnt want to trouble Jesus by making him come to his house and he believed that Jesus had the authority to simply give a command and the healing would take place. This man was pagan and didnt have the revelation of the Jews, so Jesus marveled at his faith.

We make the words of the centurion our own before we receive Holy Communion in each Mass. The priest holds up the consecrated Host and quotes John the Baptist when he first saw Jesus on the River Jordan: This is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Then he adds: Happy are those who are called to His Supper. The title, Lamb of God recalls all the lambs that were sacrificed to God in the Old Testament worship; they pointed to Jesus who would sacrifice himself on the Cross for the redemption of the world. As we gaze upon that Sacred Host we quote the words of the centurion with the idea that Jesus in Holy Communion is coming soon to be Holy Food for our souls in this Sacred Banquet and heal us of sin. In the new translation beginning this Advent the priests words will be a little different: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the super of the Lamb. Your response will more closely resemble the words of the centurion from the Gospel: Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. Our soul becomes the house, the roof under which Jesus in His Real Presence enters into us. We become the dwelling place of Jesus. That is why we must be free of mortal sin before we receive this great gift. I cant help but think of the reality of the words: I am not worthy to receive Jesus in this great Sacrament of Love. My past sins, my imperfections, my love of the world and weak faith, hope and love make me unworthy. No one is really worthy, not even the holiest of saints, but His infinite love longs for us to receive Him and His Divine Mercy willingly heals us so that we can be the dwelling place of His Divine Majesty.

November 6, 2011Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time As usual, Jesus took a scene from daily life to form the basis of the parable of the 10 bridesmaids. A wedding was a special time of celebration for people whose life consisted of working from dawn to dusk for their daily bread. There were many marriage customs at the time that are very different from our own. The newly married couple didnt go away for a honeymoon, but had an open house for a week. After the wedding, the groom would arrive at their home at any time without warning. Ten bridesmaids would accompany him into the home with lighted lamps; it was a kind of a game to catch them off guard. However, once the groom entered and the door was locked, no one would be admitted. In the parable, Jesus spoke about 5 virgins who were ready for the groom with extra oil to light their lamps, while the other 5 were not. We might ask why the five with plenty of oil didnt share their oil with the other five. That would surely be the charitable thing to do. The oil is a symbol. There are some things that you cannot acquire at the last minute and there are some things that you cannot borrow from someone else. For example, you cannot acquire a good character at the last moment; it takes a lifetime of work. You cannot borrow a relationship with God from someone else; you have to develop friendship with Jesus yourself. The oil stands for all the good deeds, prayers, virtue and grace that we must acquire over time, by our repeated efforts. If we dont acquire them here and now, we will be locked out of the wedding banquet of Heaven like the foolish bridesmaids who werent prepared to meet the groom. Jesus calls 5 of the bridesmaids foolish and the other 5 bridesmaids wise. Wisdom is a virtue that we need to ponder. There is a human virtue of wisdom that we must acquire with effort and there is a supernatural gift of wisdom from the Holy Spirit that is given to us in Baptism and Confirmation. In theology there is an old saying: grace builds upon nature. Human virtues are the foundation upon which God lifts us up and gives us His gifts on a higher level. Here is a comparison between the human virtue and the Gift of the Holy Spirit: imagine a sailboat on a sea where there is absolutely no wind; in order to get anywhere you have to row the boat with great effort. To acquire a human virtue we have to do repeated good acts, fighting against our weaknesses and temptations to do the opposite; it takes a lot of effort. Back to the sail boat: before, there was no wind and progress was slow, now a mighty wind blows and you dont have

to row because the sail picks up the wind and moves you along quickly and effortlessly. The gift of the Holy Spirit causes us to progress in virtue with little struggle. The human virtue of wisdom could also be called common sense. It allows you to see the consequences of words and actions and put things into a proper perspective. My first pastor always used to say we shouldnt call it common sense but good sense because it isnt very common today. One of the problems of the day is that we have an enormous amount of information at our disposal, but little wisdom. There was a TV commercial that showed two people holding a conversation. One said a sentence and the other picked out one word and started giving all kinds of facts about that word in a monotone voice like a computer. There was no real conversation; the commercial said the person had information overload. I forget what it was advertising; however, it made a point that we have information, statistics and facts in abundance, but we dont know what to do with them or what they mean. Wisdom is that human and supernatural virtue that helps us to see the meaning behind mere facts and information and to understand the plan and purpose of God. Wisdom ponders questions like: Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is the meaning of life? What is the meaning of suffering? What does God want me to do? The answer to questions of this kind takes thought and prayer. We have to ponder them in the silence of our heart. We cannot find the answers to these questions with an internet search. They dont have a one time answer, but need to be asked throughout our lives. The great thing about growth in wisdom, as in any virtue, is that it doesnt have stop increasing because we get old. When we get older we may not be able to do the physical things that we did when we were younger and dont have the same kinds of battles with sin, but we can still grow on the inside: we can still increase in virtue as long as we have another moment of life. The First Reading today is from the Book of Wisdom in the Old Testament. There wisdom is personified; it speaks the praises of Lady Wisdom. We heard: Resplendent and unfading is wisdom, and she is readily perceive by those who love her, and found by those who seek her. We need to seek wisdom and ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us with His gift so that we

can find the answers to the most important questions of life in this world and the next. Besides the sacraments, daily prayer is so essential in acquiring wisdom and all the other virtues and gifts of God, particularly mental prayer or meditation. It means setting aside some time each day (at least 15 minutes) for quiet conversation with God. It is best in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament, but we can pray anywhere. Perhaps we need to read a passage of the Gospel or some good spiritual book to get the conversation going or back on track, but many times we can think of things to talk to about with our God. Although God can do whatever He wants, dont expect to hear a voice from Heaven. He will speak to you by moving your thoughts to a good resolution or a deeper understanding or your heart to an act of love or sorrow for sin or gratitude. Speak to Jesus as your best friend and spend time with Him because He is really Divine Wisdom in person. In three weeks we will begin using the new translation of the words of Holy Mass. At the very beginning of Mass we turn to God and acknowledge our sins and seek His mercy in the Penitential Rite. There will still be three forms, but the wording will be a little different. If a Deacon announces it he uses the form with a petition followed by either Lord have mercy or Christ have mercy. That really hasnt changed at all. But the Confiteor or I confess has a little different wording. Instead of saying: that I have sinned through my own fault in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, we will pray that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Some of you may remember the Latin words which are mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. One of the problems that we are facing in our world today is a lack of the sense of sin. This triple affirmation in the Confiteor will help remind us of the responsibility that we have for our actions. True wisdom doesnt pretend that we are sinless, but humbly acknowledges it and causes us to seek the remedy, which is the mercy of God.

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary TimeNovember 13, 2011 We can learn so much about ourselves if we ponder the Parable of the Talents. In the parable, the master is about to go on a journey and gives each of his servants different amounts of money. He expects them to make a profit which they will give him upon his return. Just like the three servants in the parable, God gives each of us His servants various abilities and gifts, both human and supernatural. He doesnt give the same amount or the same kind to each person. Here is where the sin of envy can come into our lives. It is very dangerous to compare ourselves to others: Why dont I have that talent? Why does everything seem easy for him? Why am I not as pretty as her or have as much money or success? God doesnt want all of us to be the same; He gives each of us various talents in different degrees so that we can accomplish good things for others and ourselveswhich spreads His Kingdom. The problem with the third servant in the parable wasnt that he didnt make any profit or as much money as the first two that had received more, but that he did nothing with what he received. Blessed Mother Theresa said: It is not that we are successful, but that we are faithful. There have been many humble people who have done nothing that the world considers valuable, but they have had a great effect upon others and God has brought about great fruitfulness through their lives. Think of St Therese of Lisieux who never left the cloistered convent of Carmelite Nuns, yet her autobiography The Story of a Soul which explains her Little Way of holiness has blessed and moved countless people closer to God. Think of humble parents who sacrificed themselves to raise a Catholic family in virtue and as a result their influence reaches down through generations. They are not successful in the sight of the world, but they are eminently successful in the sight of God. It is not how many talents we have, but what we do with them that matters. In the Book of Revelation, the Angel of God speaks to the Church of Laodicea with the very blunt statement: I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth (Rev. 3:15-16). God is saying that He would rather the people hated Him than that they remain lukewarm in their faith and love. Both lukewarmness and hatred are sins, but hatred shows the person still cares,

while lukewarmness gives God nothing to work with. The Church of Laodicea was rich and knew that it was rich; Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who was so insightful, thought that if the United States could be compared to any of the seven churches in Revelation it would be this one. We have been given so much, but we are in great danger of wasting all the material and spiritual gifts that God has given to our nation. The CCC (#2094) says that lukewarmness is a sin against love because it is a hesitation or negligence in responding to divine love; it can imply refusal to give oneself over to the prompting of charity. It is related to the sins of indifference, ingratitude, spiritual sloth and hatred of God. Jesus did not call us to be nice people, nor to a life of comfort, nor to a life that stays under the radar, but to the Kingdom of God. To be a Christian is not easy! G. K. Chesterton wrote: It is not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and has not been tried. The Church cannot fail! Too many people think that they know what it means to be a Christian, but in fact have not really embraced the message of Christ to the full. We have the tendency to put religion in one part of our lives and then let the rest of our days be governed by the pull of a depraved culture or our own self-centeredness. All the while, we think we are good examples of Christianity. Our Catholic faith has to permeate family life, work, leisure and everything that we do and are. I have to admit that I am a sinner and have a long way to go in living my vocation as a priest and a Christian. I have to examine my conscience and try to get at the root of my sins (it is so difficult to know ourselves), go to Confession, pray and receive Our Lord in Holy Communion and not loose heart and not give up! It is a battle that will not end until my last breath. To wage this battle and be victorious is the very purpose of life in this world. The Parable of the Talents ends with the master acting as the judge. The man who accomplished nothing with the talent and returned it with the pitiful excuse that the master was a hard man and he was afraid is judged as a wicked, lazy servant who was thrown out into the darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. This is certainly an image of hell. In a culture like ours that doesnt want any objective standards, many dont believe that there will be a judgment or that there is a hell where souls will be eternally cut off from God and the joy of heaven. To the contrary, the Bible and the teaching of the Church for 2,000 years tell us that we are going

to have to give an account of our lives before Jesus Christ and that hell is real. Unlike the third servant, the first two servants were industrious and made a return to the master for the money entrusted to them and he said, Well done, my good and faithful servant . . . Come share your masters joy. This is a symbol for a judgment that ends in Heaven. It is Gods desire for each human being to end up in Heaven with Him forever; the only thing stopping it is our free choice to disobey. We have to renew our commitment of shooting high for Heaven, using the giftshuman and spiritualthat God has given to us. In two weeks we will begin using the new translation of the Holy Mass. All the prayers that we use were first written in Latin and then translated into the various languages of the world. After Vatican Council II, we had an interim translation that was replaced by the one we are currently using since 1973. The bishops of the English speaking world have been working on a new more accurate translation of the Latin prayers into English for the last 10 years; they received approval from Rome and we are ready to use them on the First Sunday of Advent. The Church wants us to be able to see the unity in faith and doctrine in the way we pray the Holy Mass. It will also aid us in seeing the close connection of the very words of the Holy Mass to the Bible passages from which they are taken; they will add a new reverence in the language that we use for prayer. I have been practicing the prayers and realize that it will take some getting used to, but I think we will all be surprised at how quickly we will adapt. Lets pray that we may love the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass more and pray it with ever greater devotion because it gives us the strength to live our lives for God, so that we will be ready to hear Jesus say to us on judgment day Well done, my good and faithful servant . . . Come share your masters joy.

Solemnity of Christ the KingNovember 20, 2011 It was a bitterly cold day around the year 334 when Martin of Tours was travelling with his fellow soldiers to the city of Amiens in what would one day be France. He saw a beggar by the side of the road who was barely clothed; the other soldiers mocked him, but Martin could not. He had nothing but his weapons and his clothes, so he stopped and with his sword cut his cloak in half and gave half to the beggar. That night, Jesus appeared to him in a dream wearing that half of Martins cloak and said: Martin, while still a catechumen, has covered Me with his garment. Martin was soon baptized, later ordained a priest and bishop and was among the first venerated as a saint who was not a martyr. Today we are celebrating the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King of the Universe. Jesus is truly the King of kings, but He is not a distant king like so many earthly rulers who are more concerned with themselves than with their people. Through St. Martins dream, Jesus wanted to show him how closely connected He is with His people, especially those most in need. Our Gospel, this Sunday makes that same point in the context of Judgment Day at Jesus Second Coming. He is the great King, seated upon His throne, but He is also the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep. He divides all mankind into flocks of sheep and goats; the sheep destined for Heaven, the goats destined for hell. He told them that their salvation depended upon whether they cared for Him when they found Him hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked; He explained this by saying: Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me. Saul, the future St. Paul, came to understand this truth when he was riding to Damascus to persecute Christians. Jesus knocked him down and spoke to him saying: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? (Acts 9:4) From that point on, Saul realized the intimate union between Jesus and His Church; he used the image of a human body to express it. He wrote in the First Letter to the Corinthians: For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. . . (1 Cor. 12:13). Jesus is the Head of that Body, through Baptism we are the members of the Body of Christ. Sometimes people will say that they dont want to belong to the Church because it is nothing but a bunch of hypocritesCatholics dont practice what they preach. Well, my answer is that we Catholics are all sinners who

have a long way to go, but come join us anyway because you can lift us up by your holiness and perfection. Lets never think of our fellow Catholics as a hindrance, but as our brothers and sisters in the journey of faith. At the same time there are so many saints, from every walk of life, who inspire and teach us how to live as true disciples of Christ. As St. Paul taught: If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together (1 Cor. 12:26). We are all in this together as one Church. It isnt just me and Jesus; it is the Church and Jesus. Yes, I have to have a personal relationship with our Lord that no one else can give me, but I have this relationship because I am a member of the Church, the Body of Christ that He founded on St. Peter and the apostles. I learned about Jesus and his teachings through the Catholic Church that teaches and proclaims Jesus in all its fullness. Through the sacraments of Holy Mother Church, I received the life of grace that she strengthens and nourishes it day by day, especially through Confession and the Holy Eucharist. Even if I were to say I got my understanding only from reading the Biblethe Bible alonestill those 27 books of the New Testament were written by the first members of the Church and the Catholic bishops chose them out of many that were circulating at the time and declared them inspired by the Holy Spirit, while all the others were rejected. It is through the Catholic Church that the Holy Spirit teaches and sanctifies His people down through the ages. Pope Leo XIII taught that the Holy Spirit could be considered the Soul of the Body of Christ. Just as our soul gives life to our bodies, so the Holy Spirit gives life to the Church. Pope Pius XII wrote an encyclical titled The Mystical Body of Christ. He taught that although the Church is a visible institution, made up of sinners, it is properly called mystical because it has a supernatural, invisible character that cannot be seen. She is the pure, spotless Bride of Christ. Pope Pius XII put it this way: As the nerves extend from the head to all parts of the human body and give them power to feel and move, in like manner our Savior communicates strength and power to His Church so that the things of God are understood more clearly and are more eagerly desired by the faithful. From Him streams into the body of the Church all the light with which those who believe are divinely illumined, and the grace by which they are made holy as He is holy. (#49)

The closest and most personal encounter with Jesus in this life comes through the Catholic Church in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the Most Blessed Sacrament because it is His Real PresenceBody, Blood, Soul and Divinity. We honor Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament as our King each time we come into His Presence and genuflect before the Tabernacle. As you know, we genuflect before we enter the pew and again when we leave. When I genuflect, I try to make it a prayer, not just a routine or mechanical gesture. Recently, when I genuflect I have been greeting Jesus with the words Your Divine Majesty, Jesus my dearest Friend. He is my King, but also the one who loves me most. Lets let every genuflection and every Holy Communion and every spiritual Communion remind us that we are best friends with the Kingand His brothers and sisters, as well.

First Sunday of AdventNovember 27, 2011 The Christian looks at the world in a very different way from those who have no faith. A person without faith thinks that we can solve our problems on our own, while the Christian knows we cannot. If only we had a little more education, a little more money, another program we could get rid of injustice and hatred and war; we could finally solve the problem of evil, they think. In our First Reading, the Prophet Isaiah expressed the truth that we live in a world oppressed by sin and evil and we are incapable of changing anything on our own. Isaiah, frustrated by the power of sin, cried out: Why do you let us wander, O Lord, from your ways, and harden our hearts so that we fear you not? He knows it is not Gods fault that there is sin in the world, but ours: Behold, you are angry, and we are sinful; all of us have become like unclean people, all our good deeds are like polluted rags; we have all withered like leaves, and our guilt carries us away like the wind. He then used the image of God as a potter: Yet, O Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are the work of your hands. It is God who made us and God who can remake us into a fitting vessel. We cant do it on our own; we need God to remake us. This Advent Season calls us to join the people of the Old Testament who longed for the Messiah, the Savior to come into the world. As Christians, we believe that God the Father answered the prayers and desires of the Old Testament by sending His Son born of Mary as our Savior in the quiet of Bethlehem, under the loving care of Joseph. It is this Divine Child who lifts us out the world of sinwho remakes us into the image of God. Still, we can ask with Isaiah, why doesnt God stop sin from happening? Why does evil seem so powerful? We have to remember that this life is a testing ground and it is temporary; it is a preparation for all the joys of Heaven. Recall the test that God gave to Abraham? He told Abraham to take his only son, Isaac, to the mountain He would designate and kill him, then burn him up like he would an animal sacrificea holocaust. Abraham knew that God did not permit human sacrifice and the New Testament reveals that Abraham believed that God could raise his son Isaac from the dead. Nonetheless, what a test! Abraham had to build an altar, then put wood upon it. Next he tied up his son and placed him on the wood (what was Isaac thinking through all this?); finally with his knife in hand ready to

strike his son, the angel of the Lord stopped him. God waited until the last minutethis was a supreme test of faith. Abraham is called our father in faith. We have many tests of faith in this life. If life were easy and without trials we could believe in God without effort. We would never doubt His love if He answered every prayer instantly. It is when you are confronted with illness or financial setbacks or death that it is a real test of faith. It is a real moment to grow in faith. Can I still believe that God is working out all things for the good when He doesnt seem to answer my prayer? Can I still believe that God has a plan for my life and the world when I cant see any progress? Can I hold onto my Catholic faith and remain loyal to Holy Mother Church when the world laughs at it and tells me it is all a lie? When I see the faults of the clergy, which the news will trumpet as a sign that the Church is corrupt, can I still believe? God is testing our faith today! There are some people that I have been praying for, for years, but nothing seems to change, however, to keep things in perspective, there are many prayers that God has so wonderfully answered. It is easy to focus on the negative and forget the many times God answered my prayers. St. Paul reminded us in the Second Reading that God has blessed us with so many graces so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is so important to be in the state of grace, which was first given to us at Baptism. St Catherine of Sienna was given many visions of supernatural things and in one vision she saw a soul in the state of sanctifying grace right next to Almighty God Himself. She said that the soul was filled with a magnificent light, and if she didnt know better, she would think there were two Gods, instead of One God. Grace is the very life of God that he puts into our souls; without it we do not have a relationship with Him nor can we enter into Heaven. That is why mortal sin is so disastrousit puts out the light of God in our souls; it separates us from His Friendship. Too many people who should have the light of sanctifying grace in their souls have lost it and do not repent and turn back to God who wants with all His Heart to restore it to them. We are not lacking any spiritual means to open our hearts to Gods grace. We have the Sacraments, especially Confession and the Holy Eucharist, the Holy Bible, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and countless means of prayer, such as, the Morning Offering, meal prayers, the Holy Rosary, and

the examination of conscience. We have the magisterium of Holy Church under the guidance of the Successor of St. Peter and a wealth of spiritual writings, especially the CCC. In the Gospel today, Jesus told us to Be watchful! Be alert! What He means is that we should persevere in faith until he comes again. God has not revealed the day of the Second Coming or the day of our death, which will most likely come first, but He has told us to be ready for it and that there will be many tests to our faith. At the same time, He is with us and He is our true and only Savior. The verse of the Psalm today is a perfect Advent prayer: Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

Second Sunday of AdventDecember 4, 2011 The visit of a king to a city was a great event. They would actually change the landscape so that the kings journey to their city would be smooth. The Prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of the Messiah in the terms a state visit by a great king: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. With this kind of prophecy in mind, the Jews expected a Messiah who would come as a mighty king with all the ostentation of a great monarch. His herald would cry out: Here is your God! Here comes with power the Lord God, who rules by his strong arm. This prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus, true God and true man, and in His herald John the Baptist. The Gospel of Mark opens with a quotation from the Prophet Isaiah concerning the mission of John the Baptist as the messenger of the Lord. Mark described him as clothed in camels hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. He wore rough clothing and ate food that you would find in the desert. He is altogether a humble, poor and lowly figure. The figure of John the Baptism doesnt correspond to what was expected of the herald of a great king! Yet God fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah in His own way, not according to the picture of men. We so often think that our ideas are better than Gods and we want to impose them upon Him, rather than wait and listen and look for His good will. If He doesnt answer me the way I want and when I want, then I presume that He isnt really listening or doesnt care or doesnt exist! John didnt proclaim that the Messiah would conquer the enemies of Israel with great armies and tremendous power; rather he proclaimed that the Savior would defeat the real enemy, which is sin. John called the people to repent of their sins and show their intentions through a form of baptism. In spite of the fact that John didnt fit the picture of the herald of the Messiah for the leaders of the Jews, great numbers of people listened to his voice and began to prepare for the coming of the Messiah in a spiritual way. John the Baptist still speaks to us and calls us to prepare for the coming of Jesus in a spiritual way this season of Advent. We all know that we need to prepare in a material way for Christmas with decorations and cards and

cookies and presents. Those things are all good and joyful in their proper place, but it isnt so obvious to the world that it is far more important to be spiritually prepared. The Nativity of our Lord has to be something more meaningful than materialism and pleasure seeking. John the Baptist gave people a message of hope. It was a hope based on the truth that God was near and dwelt among them; that He came to free them from the power of sin and death. The whole Gospel is a message of hope. In his encyclical on hope (Spe Salvi), Pope Benedict XVI wrote: In our language we would say: the Christian message was not only informative but performative. That means: the Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be knownit is one that makes things happen and is life-changing. The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of new life (#2). Our Christian faith gives us a hope that reaches beyond death into eternity. The hope of Heaven is the truest expression of Christian hope. The holy Bible and the Sacred Liturgy express the deep longing that we all have for the coming of the Kingdom of God in its fullness. To inaugurate it, Jesus will return in what we call the Last Judgment or the Second Coming. First of all, Jesus told us no one knows the day or the hour. In the Second Reading, St. Peter told the first Christians that it may seem like the Lord is delaying His promise to return again but that we should not consider it delay for to the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. . . but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Jesus has delayed his Second Coming, for 2,000 years, so far, so that you could be born and that you could be saved. Our Lord told us that His Second Coming will not be silent like His birth in the little town of Bethlehem with Mary and Joseph and a handful of others present. He said: When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne and all the nations will be assembled before him (Matt. 25:31). It is at the Second Coming in glory that Jesus will judge the living and the dead. At the end of the Creed we say: I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

No where in the Bible or Christian teaching has there ever been the idea that God will suddenly take all the saved to himself, called the rapture, followed by a period of tribulation and a millennium of time before the Second Coming. This is a false teaching that many Christians have fallen for in recent times. It was popularized by the Left Behind series of books. The CCC teaches that at the Second Coming We shall know the ultimate meaning of salvation and understand the marvelous ways by which His Providence led everything towards its final end (#1040). An image of this is to view all history as a fine, woven tapestry. If you look at the back side of the tapestry, all you can see are threads and knots that look like a senseless mess; there is no picture there. Life often seems like that, as if there is no sense or meaning to it, especially when we see so much evil and suffering in the world. However, if we turn the tapestry around, we will see that on the front there is a beautiful, intricately woven picture. That is how it will be on Judgment Day, we will see all of Gods great plans clearly; we will know that He had a plan and it will be glorious to behold. St. Peter adds that at that time, God will make a new heaven and a new earth; there will be a mysterious renewal of the visible universe: the heavens will be dissolved in flames and elements melted by fire. But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. The Prophet Isaiah was already anticipating the fullness of the Kingdom of God where the power of sin and death would be totally defeated and the Kingdom of love, peace and joy would reign forever, when he wrote those beautiful words that began our First Reading: Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated. The hope of heaven is something that should guide our lives so that we will trust more in our Savior and live as those destined for eternity.

December 8, 2011 Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the BVMary St Paul marveled at how God blessed the ordinary Christian with graces: Blessed be God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world. If God blesses us so much, how can we be surprised that He would give extraordinary graces the one who had the most extraordinary role in the history of salvation: the Blessed Virgin Mary? Today the whole Church celebrates one of those gifts: the Immaculate Conception. This doctrine teaches that Mary was preserved free from Original Sin and all stain of sin from the first moment of her conception in the womb of her mother St. Anne. We prayed in the Collect to God that He preserved her from every stain by virtue of the Death of Your Son, which you foresaw. For God there are no constraints of time, He applied the merits of the death of Jesus backwards in time to Mary to free her from the power of sin. We all need the saving death of Our Lord! The Archangel Gabriel greeted Mary with a greeting that is unique in the Bible. Instead of addressing her by name as God always did personally or through His angels, Gabriel addressed her by a title. He called her Full of Grace. Mary, not only was free from sin, but was full of every virtue and grace that God could give her. She is properly called Full of Grace. The First Reading from the book of Genesis took place after the fall of Adam and Eve. It speaks about the struggle that will be waged between mankind and the devil throughout history. In verse 13, here is a prophecy concerning the ultimate triumph of Jesus and Mary: I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heal. Mary is the woman prophesied here and with her Son will conquer Satan. The passage ends by calling Eve the mother of all the living. In fact, she became the mother of all the dead. Through the Original Sin, not only physical death entered the world, but also spiritual death because of the loss of sanctifying grace. The Fathers of the Church began calling Mary the new Eve. They said that the knot of sin that was tied by the first Eves disobedience and pride was undone by the obedience and humility of Mary, the new Eve; she is truly the Mother of all the living.

There is a beautiful devotion to our Blessed Mother under the title Mary, Undoer of Knots. The idea is that you entrust all the sorrows and habits of sin one by one to Mary and ask her to undo the knots in your life; we are incapable of undoing so many things from the past that still haunt us and keep us from being truly free. There is a painting connected with this devotion that is very moving. It shows Mary with two angels. In her hands is a ribbon and Our Lady is very calmly and patiently undoing a knot in that ribbon. One angel is holding half of the ribbon that is filled with knots and tangles; the other angel is holding the half of the ribbon that has been smoothed and straitened after Mary has undone all the knots. That ribbon stands for our lives and reminds us that if we entrust ourselves to Mary, she can undo all the knots of sin and sadness in our lives. God has given the Blessed Mother a special role in the plan of salvation and for the world and for each one of our lives, as well.

December 11, 2011Third Sunday of Advent St. John the Baptist was extremely successful in his ministry as the herald of the Messiah. People were coming to him in great numbers for the baptism of repentance; he had faithful disciples and even the leaders of the Jews had taken notice of him. It would be easy for any man to be tempted by pride and think that it was all due to him; to forget that he was the servant, not the master. Not John the Baptist. He knew that his mission was to prepare the way for the Messiah, not claim to be the Messiah. Malachi prophesized that Elijah would come before the Messiah and the Jews believed that the one called the Prophet, the greatest of prophets, would come at that time. Although Jesus would later say that John the Baptist fulfilled the role of Elijah from the prophecy of Malachi, Johns humility would not allow him to take any such exalted roles. When questioned about his mission, he claimed to be nothing more than a voice. Quoting the Prophet Isaiah, John said I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord. When Jesus came upon the scene, John didnt try to hold onto his disciples, but told them to follow Jesus with the words we hear at ever Holy Mass: Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world. The term Lamb of God had deep meaning for the people of Israel. It made them think of the Passover Lamb. God had commanded Moses on the evening before the 10th and final plague, to instruct the people of Israel to take a lamb and sacrifice it and place its blood upon the doorposts and lintel of each house. When the angel of death came, he would pass over the houses marked with the blood of the lamb. This foreshadowed the Precious Blood of Jesus, the true Lamb of God, which flowed from the Cross, and saved us and the world from the power of sin and death. Moses told the people to roast the sacrificed lamb and eat it as a meal. For us, Jesus becomes the Food for our souls through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in Holy Communion. We are blessed to be called to the Supper of the Lamb. Each morning and each evening a lamb was sacrificed in the temple of Jerusalem for the sins of Israel. Those lambs could not take away sins, they were only pointing to Jesus, the true Lamb, whose perfect obedience to His Father in love would make up for all the sins of the world. Our sins have

been, and continue to be, washed clean by the Precious Blood of the Lamb of God. Isaiah also used the image of the Lamb of God in his prophecy of the Suffering Servant. He said that the Savior who would take our sins upon Himself was like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth (Isaiah 53:7). During His Passion, Jesus did not complain, nor blame others; He bore all of His sufferings in silence because, unlike a dumb animal, He chose to endure everything for our salvation. The reason that we have to keep talking about sin and repentance and keep examining our conscience and going to Confession is not because we want to be negative, but because God wants us to be free. He wants us to know that license is not the same as freedom; He wants us to know that when we do not govern our desires we become enslaved by them; He wants us to know that there is a battle plan conceived by the world and the devil to deceive us. Freedom is not the ability to try all the choices that are available to me, but to know what is good and choose it. It is like a key ring with many keys upon it. Each key opens a different door. When I unlock the door to get into Church each morning, I could start with one key and try it, and then move to the next and try all the keys until I finally get to the right one. That would be a foolish waste of time! I know which key opens the door to Church, so I shouldnt waste my time trying all the others. As a Catholic formed by Holy Mother Church, I know that God has revealed the way to happiness and heaven, and even though I have the freedom to look in all kinds of other places, and try all other avenues, why should I waste my time? Why not just use the key that God has given the Catholic Church to open the door of life? The freest human person who has ever lived in this world, did so in poverty, without any formal education, without any power over others. We celebrated her Feast Day this past Thursday, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We remembered that God gave her the special privilege of freedom from Original Sin and every stain of sin. She could be rightly called Full of Grace by the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation. For not only did God make her a pure and spotless vessel in order to be the Mother of God, but He gave her every grace possible for such an exalted role in His plan of salvation. Because of

her purity, she is the freest of Gods creatures and the most joyful. This Sunday, the words that usually come from one of the psalms are taken from the words of Mary at the Visitation: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. St. Paul advised us in the Second Reading: Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks. . . Lets ask Our Blessed Mother to give us true joy and show us how to truly be free in this season of Advent.

December 18, 2011Fourth Sunday of Advent Archbishop Fulton Sheen gave the first chapter in his book the Life of Christ the title: The Only Person Ever Pre-announced. He wrote There were no predictions about Buddha, Confucius, Lao-tze, Mohammed or anyone else. But there were predictions about Christ. Others just came and said, Here I am, believe me. We can look throughout the Bible and find that everything about the birth, mission and saving death of the Messiah was predicted and Jesus fulfilled them all. The Prophet Isaiah said the Messiah would be born of a virgin; the Prophet Micah told us the name of His birthplace; the Book of Numbers told us of the star that would rise at his coming; Psalm 72 told us of the gifts from the kings of the east that would be brought to Him. On and on the prophecies prepared the way for Jesus. He is the only person ever pre-announced. When John the Baptists disciples came to Jesus asking if He was the Messiah, He didnt just say Yes, I am the One, He pointed out the fact that His miracles fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah. He said: Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: The blind regain their sight, he lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them (Isaiah 7:23). His deeds are the very ones that the prophet predicted that the Messiah would do; what better proof could He give? The First Reading told us of a promise God gave to King David that was fulfilled by Jesus. David wanted to build a permanent house or temple for God in the city of Jerusalem. Although God was pleased by this offer it was not for him, but for his son Solomon to build. Instead, God gave David a great promise; his heirs were to rule upon his throne forever. Only God can make a promise that will last forever. As the centuries rolled on, there were still heirs to King David, such as Joseph and Mary, but none of them held any royal power. It looked as if the family tree of King David , son of Jesse, was cut down to a stump and God would not fulfill His promise. Again, Isaiah foretold what would happen: There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:1-2).

Even though all seemed lost, God would fulfill His promise in a wonderful way. The Gospel takes us to the moment of the fulfillment of Gods promise to King David and the final pre-announcement of the Savior. At the Annunciation the Archangel Gabriel asked the Virgin Marywho he addressed with the title Full of Graceif she would consent to be the Mother of the Messiah. He told the Blessed Virgin about Gods great plan for her: Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he shall rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. The angel made the point that God would fulfill His promise to King David in Marys Child. Jesus would receive the throne of King David and His rule would last forever. The Second Reading ends the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans with an exclamation of praise to God who has made known the plan of salvation clearly to all those who will listen and believe. He said that his preaching of the Gospel to the Romans was the means that God used to reveal the mystery which was kept secret for long ages, but is now disclosed and through the prophetic writings is made known to all nations. We seldom grasp the gift that we have received in our Catholic faith. It is a great gift to believe in Jesus as our Savior and live as His disciple. The Second Vatican Council taught: The Word of God, through whom all things were made, was made flesh, so that as perfect man he could save all men and sum up all things in himself. The Lord is the goal of human history, the focal point of the desires of history and civilization, the center of mankind, the joy of all hearts, and the fulfilment of all aspirations. It is he whom the Father raised from the dead, exalted and placed at his right hand, constituting him judge of the living and the dead (Gaudium et Spes, #45) . Although other religions in the world have some ray of the truth of God, Jesus alone is the Savior of all men and He has given the fullness of truth to the Catholic Church which He founded on Peter. At the end of chapter one of the Life of Christ, Archbishop Sheen wrote that Jesus does not fit, as the other would teachers do, into the established category of a good man. Good men do not lie. But if Christ was not all that He said He was, namely, the Son of the living God, the Word of God

in the flesh, then He was not just a good man; then He was a knave, a liar, a charlatan and the greatest deceiver who ever lived. If He was not what He said He was, the Christ, the Son of God, He was the anti-Christ! If He was only a man, then He was not even a good man. It is faith that allows us to look to Jesus and see who this Baby born in Behtlehem truly was and is for us. He is still our only hope in these terrible times; He is still the only one who can answer all the longings of our heart. Lord, increase my faith!

December 25, 2011The Nativity of Our Lord Most of the Christmas carols that we are familiar with come from Europe. There is one, and possibly the only one, that was written in our country: The Little Drummer Boy. It tells a simple, but faith-filled story. The drummer boy began by saying he received a message from the angels: Come they told me/ A new born King to see. Our finest gifts we bring/ So to honor Him. When he arrived, he spoke to the Baby Jesus: Little Baby/ I am a poor boy too./ I have no gift to bring/ Thats fit for a King. So he decided to give the only gift he had: Shall I play for you,/ On my drum, pa-rum-pumpum-pum. He asked nothing from the new born King, but the carol ends by telling us of the wonderful gift he received: Then He smiled at me,/ Me and my drum. Even though we are separated from the event by more than 2,000 years, we are still filled with wonder and joy as we pray before the Nativity scene here in Church or in our homes. During Advent we reflected upon the prophecies from the Old Testament which foretold all the events of the life and mission of Jesus on earth. Archbishop Sheen summarized their meaning by saying that Jesus was the only person ever pre-announced. God so carefully planned it all. Pope Benedict reflected upon the birth of our Savior and said: the fulfillment of the prophecy, which began that night in Bethlehem, is both infinitely greater and in worldly terms smaller than the prophecy itself might lead one to imagine. As the Holy Father said, the fulfillment of Gods plan was, first of all, infinitely greater than anyone could have imagined. We have the teaching and wisdom of Holy Mother Church for 2,000 years to help us understand the greatness of the event that the simple shepherds were privileged to witness. We know that the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity took on flesh at the Annunciation and was born for us as our Savior on Christmas Day. St. Paul wrote to the Philippians of the great humility of God expressed in this event: Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:6-7). The Holy Father said that the coming of Christ was infinitely greater than could be imagined, but also in worldly terms, much smaller. One would have expected the Savior to come with great power and wealth and majesty

so that the entire world would recognize Him, but he didnt. Perhaps this is why many people have missed the significance of Christmas and the very life of Jesus Christ. We live in a world that worships power and celebrity. The humble and quiet and ordinary are not exciting and attention grabbing, so we downplay them and think them unimportant. Far too many look at the Nativity and think oh! That is nice, but it doesnt really have anything to do with my life or the things that I want. And so they pass Him by. Yet, the very fact that the Son of God came into our world, not in celebrity, but humility is what makes Christmas so significant. Pope Benedict commented that because of Christmas: the infinite distance between God and man is overcome. God has not only bent down, as we read in the Psalms; He has truly come down, He has come into the world, He has become one of us, in order to draw all of us to Himself. Everyone is drawn to a sweet, innocent baby; who could be afraid of God who came to us in this way? Who could resist following Him with all their heart? The same could be said about the Holy Eucharist as the Holy Father said about Christmas, since it is the Real Presence of Jesus ChristHis Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. The coming of Jesus to us in Holy Communion is infinitely greater than could be imagined, but in worldly terms, much smaller. We believe that little circle of unleavened bread, which fits upon our tongue or the palm of our hand, is the hidden Presence of God Almighty who comes into our very bodies and souls. It is impossible to grasp the meaning of so great a gift in the Blessed Eucharist! Even the holiest of saints only understood it in part when they received Holy Communion. At the same time, the great God humbles Himself again and again to be our Food for eternal life. That little, consecrated Host hides the majesty of God in a way that we can receive Him without fear and become one with Him in the quiet of our prayerful heart. Because it is so ordinary, we could easily miss its significance and pass Him by. There is a saying, that at Christmas, we should make our heart a manger for the Lord whose birth was unnoticed and rejected by so many on that first Christmas. When we receive Him in Holy Communion, He really does come into our soul. United to the heart of the Blessed Mother and that of St. Joseph, lets be a dwelling place that honors Him with many deeds of repentance and kindness and prayer to welcome our Savior and our King into the manger of our heart. We shall not pass Him by!

January 1, 2012 Mary, the Holy Mother of God In some circles of history and archeology they are substituting the letters C.E. (Common Era), for the usual form of marking the years with the letters A.D. A and D are the first letters of two Latin words: Anno Domini, meaning the Year of the Lord. We are now entering 2012 A.D. Even though it seems that they made a slight miscalculation, by a year or so, on the birth of our Savior in Bethlehem, nonetheless, we are living in the Year of the Lord. All time and history have their meaning in reference to the birthday of Jesus. He is the Lord of history and is guiding all things to the good conclusion that Divine Providence has planned. His birth has made all the difference! The first day of the new year is celebrated with parties and fanfare and with remembering the events of the past year, but in many ways there is little difference between January 1 or December 31 or January 2. It is another day. Saying that it is simply another day is not to belittle it because each day is a gift from God to us. Each day is a new chance to get closer to Him, to pray, to do deeds of love for one another; to do our daily duty. Each day is a gift from God and we should wake up full of trust and optimism. Even if there is suffering ahead, and there is always suffering, we can turn it to union with the Cross and get closer to Jesus and eternal life through it. The same can be said for the new year ahead, with all of its sufferings, works and joys. We should approach it with Christian optimism, trusting that God is working out all things for the good. This past Wednesday we celebrated the Feast of the Holy Innocents. Each year we remember those baby boys that were killed by the soldiers of King Herod. He was called Herod the Great because he was a great builder, not because he was a great man. He was so deranged and paranoid that someone was going to take over his throne that he even killed members of his own family to protect it, including his wife and brother. Therefore, it is not surprising that Herod would try to kill the newborn king when he found out about His birth. It is estimated that there were 12-15 boys in Bethlehem that were slaughtered by Herods soldiers. The Church calls them martyrs even though they were not conscious of the meaning of their deaths and says so beautifully in one of the antiphons for Morning Prayer on the Feast of the Holy Innocents: These children cry out their praises to the Lord; by their death they have proclaimed what they could not preach with their infant voices.

This feast of the Holy Innocents is a reminder to us that the culture of death is always ready to raise its ugly head. The devil hates life; a mother who suffers so much in order that her child can be born is abhorrent to him because it teaches us the meaning of redemptive suffering like nothing else in this world. A mother who lays down her life so that her child can be born and then sees the fruit of that sacrificial love in her arms is the image of the death and resurrection of Jesus that Satan cannot stand. He is waging a war on human life in our time unlike any in the history of the world. It is amazing that a country like ours which claims to be so civilized and concerned about human rights actually protects and promotes abortion as a right! What a contrast to all that we stand for as Catholics! In the front of Church you can see the first of the four paintings that will hang in our sanctuary; its pro-life theme reflects one of the principles of the life of St. Gianna. It is filled with children and saints connected with life. St. Gianna, our patron is at the center holding two children. We are reminded of the sacrifice that she made of her life so that her fourth child could be born. Our patron saint and this painting teach us that in the end life shall be victorious and the very birth of Jesus is a witness to that fact. Today is the Octave of Christmas and the Solemnity of Holy Mary, Mother of God. Each day of the Octave is meant to continue the celebration of Christmas. It is such a momentous event that one day is not enough for us; the Christmas season continues through Epiphany Sunday. The Gospel calls us to look once again at the simple and peaceful scene of the Nativity. St Luke described it by saying: The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the Infant lying in the manger. Luke told us that the shepherds became messengers to everyone they met; they told of the birth of Jesus and all that they heard from the angels and saw with their own eyes. St. Luke also told us something that human sight could not perceivewhat was happening in the heart of Mary. He said: And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. We should imitate our Blessed Mother. She didnt just let these events pass by; she wanted to come to a deeper and deeper understanding of them. She pondered them. Of course, her Immaculate Heart was free from Original Sin and all stain of sin, so she wasnt hindered as we are from understanding Gods ways. Even though our minds are dimmed and our wills weakened, we have been given the gift of sanctifying grace so we too can ponder the

events surrounding the Nativity and come to a more complete understanding of their meaning. We should sit in front of the Nativity scene with our Bible and read the passages from Matthew and Luke and read from the CCC to learn the Churchs doctrine and wisdom concerning this Holy Birth. I need to ask myself what Jesus means to me and how I can follow Him more faithfully with a steadfast heart in this new year. If we do this in union with the Heart of Mary, she will help us get new insights and be more committed to our Blessed Savior. As Christians we cannot help to begin 2012 with hope and optimism because it is Anno Domini, the Year of the Lord.

January 8, 2012 Epiphany of the Lord The Magi travelled from the East by the light of a star to worship the new born King of the Jews. Many have wondered what kind of star they followed because it doesnt seem to act as stars normally do. Some have speculated that it was a comet, but it doesnt completely match the description in the Gospel of Matthew. A celestial event like that would have been noticed by everyone and considered an omen for some great event or some great evil. However, when the Kings arrived in Jerusalem, Herod was surprised by the news that the Kings had followed a star; it wasnt noticed by them. Another idea is that what they were following was a wandering star which is a planet. The planet Jupiter, for instance, would appear bright in the night sky, but not as bright as a comet, and its movement would fit the pattern described in the Gospel. Not being so obvious, it would be consistent with the spirit of the Nativity; Jesus was born in humility and silence, unnoticed except by a few. Perhaps you have seen the commercials for the program Catholics Come Home on TV. They are really well done and we hope that they will bear fruit in the lives of many Catholics who have fallen away from their faith. If you look at the numbers of families registered in any Catholic parish (we have around 460) you will find that only1/3 are practicing; another 1/3 participate whenever they feel like it which may be as little Christmas and Easter and the final1/3 do not practice their faith at allthey are only names on the books. This is true for families that attend a full time Catholic School or send their children to PSR; the only exception is for those families who homeschool. Even after 2,000 years the meaning of Jesus life is still noticed by only a minority. We think of the long journey of the three kings and all the hardships that they endured; how sad that people cant even travel a few minutes to their local Catholic Church or take the time to worship God in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as He has asked. Recognizing the problem, Pope Benedict announced a Year of Faith in the Church, beginning this October. At the announcement, he said that It will be a moment of grace and commitment to a more complete conversion to God, to strengthen our faith in Him and proclaim Him with joy to the people of our time. The Pope wants us to concentrate on getting out the message that Jesus Christ is our Savior, the true Light of the world, who alone can dispel the darkness of sin and doubt and despair that so afflicts our world. In many countries, that

were once solidly Catholic, people have been absorbed by a culture that is materialistic and atheistic. It is a world that makes fun of the faith or openly opposes it. The Holy Father says that we shouldnt give up on them, but that they need to hear the message proclaimed anew and with conviction. In our parish we are encouraging prayer for your family members and friends and neighbors who have left the practice of the Catholic Faith. There are cutouts of praying hands available in the vestibule to put a first name or initials of a person you are praying for; we will put them up as a reminder for all of us to pray and work for the conversion of our fellow Catholics who God is calling home to the faith. There are many stories about the Wise Men from the East, but one of them says that the kings were not only of three different races, but of three different ages. One was a young philosopher, the other a middle aged man and the third an elderly man. When they arrived at the manger, they went in one at a time to see the new born King in this story. The old King went in first and to his surprise, did not find a baby, but an old man like himself. They spoke of such things as eternal life and preparing for death that comforted the old king very much. The middle aged king went in next and found, not a baby or an old man, but a middle-aged man and they discussed the purpose of suffering and many other things. Lastly, the young king went in and found a Savior his own age and they talked about the meaning of life and its purpose. Finally, they all went in together and found the Christ-child in the arms of His Blessed Mother and bowed down to worship the new born King. No matter what our age or condition, Jesus has the answers for our life just as He did for the three Kings in this story, but it is only when we worship Him together as His Church that we get the full picture of who He is and what He means for us. Each Sunday we recite the Nicene Creed beginning with the words I believe. One by one, we profess our faith in the principle doctrines that Jesus revealed to His Church. Our faith is not based upon mere feelings or human opinions, which can change from moment to moment. Our faith is based on eternal truths that have been revealed by God Himself. As Catholics we can build our lives solidly on Divine Truth. St. Paul said in the Second Reading that there was a great mystery that had been hidden until now. This mystery is that God had called, not only the Jews to be His people, but that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same

body and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus. It was certainly hinted at in the First Reading when Isaiah foretold Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. . . . All from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord. The Magi from the East were the first non-Jews to believe in Christ and Gods desire is that the Gospel should reach all peoples and that we should be united in the one, holy, catholic and apostlolic Church. One spiritual author put it this way: Christians are made one by the profession of a shared faith. For this reason, when each individual is able to say I believe a new I emergesthe community of believers, now able to speak with a single voice. The I of the creed is also the I of one bodythe one body of Christ; the I of the Church professing her faith in Christ her Savior (Inside the Mass, Rev. Theodore Book, p. 36). The three kings were enlightened by Christ to follow the star that led to the manger. We have been enlightened by Christ through faith and baptism and have the duty to seek Him and to spread the light of His truth to the world today.

January 15, 2012Second Sunday in Ordinary Time At the time of St. Paul, the city of Corinth was notorious for its sexual immorality. To call someone a girl from Corinth was to call her a prostitute. It was not easy for Christians to live in that environment and remain pure of heart and true to Christs teaching. St. Paul wrote the Corinthians two letters to guide them. In the Second Reading today, he stated a very important principle of Christian morality: The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body; God raised the Lord and will also raise us by His power. He is saying that God has created the body with a purpose; ultimately, it is going to be glorifiedlike the resurrected body of Jesus. This is not how most people think today nor in St. Pauls time, either. People think that their body is a thing to be used according to their whims or desires. The body is no different than the television that is used for their entertainment; the body can be used and manipulated as they wish. It has no Divine purpose that is governed by Gods law; it is mine to do with as I want. In the end, the only principle for their moral decisions is I want. They might add, as a cover for their selfishness, As long as it doesnt heart anyone. We have heard this attitude expressed by the pro-abortion side for many yearsIt is a womans body; she can do what she wants with it. No one has the right to restrict her choice. They are saying that God has nothing to do with it; He has no purpose in creating her body or for that matter the body of the unborn baby in her womb. The same is true with vasectomies or tubal ligations. They are the only surgeries that doctors will perform to destroy a perfectly healthy working organ because someone requests it. They would consider it unethical to operate on any other organ unless it was diseased or malfunctioning, but not the organs that have to do with the begetting of new life. The body is for the Lord and the Lord is for the body. Where would a person learn Gods purpose for the body and moral decisions in our world today? Our country was founded upon Judeo-Christian principles. At one time, the laws of our country supported Christian principles of morality and you could look to them for guidance. People say that government cant legislate morality, but it does so all the time; murder is a crime, marrying more than one person at a time is illegal. The truth is that law has normally been a great teacher for people about right and wrong.

When a law that prohibited an immoral behavior is taken off the books, many people will think that that behavior is now all right. The laws of our country are becoming less and less a guide to right and wrong and Gods plan for morality. If young people look to the culture around them for guidance they will be totally lost. TV and movies have followed and aided the decline of right and wrong in our country. There are very few television programs that dont support fornication, adultery, homosexuality and pornography on a regular basis. These behaviors have become part of normal living for their characters; they never question it. They are trying, quite successfully, to convince us not to question their immorality, too. How can young people ever be expected to know that sex is holy and must be reserved only for those who have made the lifetime commitment of marriage? At best parents on TV will say to their teenagers that they should wait until they are ready, whatever that means! I pity those who only have the culture to direct them, for they will never learn Gods good and noble plan for the body and human sexuality. Instead they will be caught in the chains of sin that reduce human beings to animals. When you think about it, there is only one source in our world today to learn Gods plan for right living in its fullnessthat is the Catholic Church. Most Christian denominations simply reflect the culture in their moral teachings and water down the truth of Christ by whatever is popular. Our moral teachings follow consistent principles that are unchanging because they come from God who neither deceives nor wavers. We have the Magisterium to guide us through the turbulence of every age. It is not only faithful shepherds, but also good Catholic parents who ensure that Christs teaching reaches into the hearts of their children. Catholic morality cannot be reduced to Thou shalt not but is based on our union with Jesus Christ and the love that He has for us. St. Paul gave us another principle of Christian morality as he continued writing to the Corinthians: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with Him. Avoid immorality. Because we have been baptized and are members of the Catholic Church, the Body of Christ, we are united to Jesus who is the Head of this Mystical Body. St. Paul points out that it is not just through our souls, but also through our bodies that we are united to the Lord. What I do with my body has a direct connection with the state of my soul. If I give

into sexual sin, then I have directly offended Jesus because He is so closely connected to me. What I do to myself, I do to Him. St. Paul put it is such graphic termsin the terms of slavery: Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. We were once slaves to sin, but Jesus didnt want to leave us in bonds, so He paid the price of our liberty by dying on the Cross and taking the punishment we deserve. He purchased our freedom by His saving death. If we want to return to slavery or stay in slavery we can do so, but we can also be freed. Dont ever believe that there is no hope, even if you are currently trapped in a habit of sin. Confession and Holy Communion are the first means to true freedom for us. We also have to fight against temptation and the pull of our society because we will easily be pulled down if we remain passive. St. Pauls final words to us were: Therefore glorify God in your body.

January 22, 2012Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Do you ever stop and think what gives your life purpose? What motivates you to get up in the morning? Simply, what makes your life worth living? If you were a St. Louis Cardinal your talents might make your life valuable, it you were a St. Louis Ram, not so much. The Cardinals are getting fame and praise and money from their talents and recent success. Yet, we all know how fleeting celebrity isone bad season and everyone is ready to through the bums out! Maybe it is your family that motivates you to get up in the morning and do your daily work, even when it is boring and routine. As important as your family is, your children are entrusted to you only for a time and are not your possessions. One day your children will be grown and they wont need you to provide for them; sad to mention it, but your spouse and other family members may be called by God and leave you behind. If you rely on your bank account and possessions to give meaning to life, recent experience has shown how those things can disappear over night. It is not a surprise that there are many people who think that their lives are empty and meaningless; they feel that life is not worth living because of discouraging events or sickness or setbacks in their career or other plans. Isnt there something that can make life worth living that is not just for the moment? Cant we find a purpose that gives us dignity and doesnt leave us empty? The answer is yes and we can find it in the very first words our Lord spoke when He began His public life. We heard Him say these words in the Gospel today: This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel. The Kingdom of God has been established by Jesus. We are members of the Kingdom of God through our baptism into the Church. Baptism isnt just a ceremony, but a sacrament. When you were baptized your soul was literally changed. The Holy Spirit washed away your sins and gave you sanctifying grace so that you became a new creation. One of the early popes, Pope Leo the Great, exclaimed: O Christians, remember your dignity! Dont just say I was baptized, but I am baptized. It is a new life unto eternity. Every time you enter Church and dip your fingers in the Holy Water font making the Sign of the Cross it is meant to remind you of your baptism that made you a member of the Kingdom of God.

The main purpose for establishing the Kingdom of God was, so that, redeemed by the Precious Blood of Christ, we could become sons and daughters of God Himself. St. Paul wrote to the Galatians (4:4-6): But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying Abba! Father! Jesus Christ is the Son of God by nature; we are children of God by adoption, but nonetheless, we are true sons and daughters of God. God wants us to look upon Him as our loving Father. The new translation of the words introducing the Lords Prayer at Holy Mass says At the Saviors command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say. We wouldnt presume to call God our Father if He didnt want us to and Jesus hadnt told us to do so. Like a father, our Father God provides us with direction to our lives; He gives us encouragement and the power of grace; He calls us to do more than we think we can. He loves us and forgives us from the depths of His Heart, which is why we sometimes refer to the Kingdom of God as the Kingdom of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and pray Thy kingdom come. What does it mean to be a child of God? We have been given a great dignity; we are children of the great King and therefore heirs of eternal life. No matter what trials our life may hold we always must keep the hope of Heaven before us. This world, with all of its sorrows, is only the testing ground, the preparation for eternal joy. Back in the third century, Cyril was only a boy when he defied his pagan father and was baptized as a Christian. His father mocked him and beat him and finally threw him out of the house, but nothing could extinguish the joy in his heart; he won many other boys to the Church by his faith. It was a time of persecution and Cyril was soon brought before the Roman judge accused of being a Christian. The judge promised to release him if he would just return home to his wealthy father and resume his former life. He replied to the judge: Leaving home did not trouble me. There is a real home waiting for me, much grander and more beautiful, where my Father in heaven lives. They took him to the place of execution in order to frighten him and then back to the tribunal but nothing would shake his faith. Some Christians were weeping as he was finally led forth to die and St. Cyril responded: You ought to be a joyful escort for me. Evidently you do

not know the City where I am going to live. He died in the flames steadfast to the last. We should be able to face all the difficulties of life with that same kind of faith and trust in our Father God. It would be good to ponder each day that we are children of God and He is our loving Father. Baptism brings about a Divine adoption, but we must remember that every child created by God from the first moment of conception is created in His image and likeness. On this sorrowful anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion throughout our country during all nine months of pregnancy we cannot forget this modern day holocaust that is taking place in our country. Every abortion is a triumph of the culture of death and leads us further into ruin. When you think of over 53 million abortions since 1973, you cant help but wonder how many doctors who could have discovered a cure for a disease were not allowed to be born; how many priests and sisters who could be serving the Church never saw the light of day. We cannot give up hope because in the end life shall be victorious! We have a great responsibility that comes from being children of God. St. Josemaria Escriva wrote these words on how much God is counting upon us: We are children of God, bearers of the only flame that can light up the paths of the earth for souls, of the only brightness which can never be darkened, dimmed or overshadowed. The Lord uses us as torches, to make that light shine out. Much depends on us; if we respond many people will remain in darkness no longer, but will walk instead along paths that lead to eternal life. (The Forge, #1) Lets remember that we are children of God and because of that life is worth living.

January 29, 2012Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time One day I went to the airport to meet a flight and while I was waiting I stopped to get something to drink. I was only ordained a few years, so I was still a young man, and the young woman who served me asked Are you a Catholic priest? I said Yes. She asked, Is it true that you dont get married? Yes. I just dont see how you can live without . . . She didnt finish the sentence. There are probably many who do not understand how you can live without sex in our sex-saturated world. The celibate priesthood and consecrated life stand out in stark contrast to the culture around us. Celibacy is constantly under attack because it reminds people that you can choose to control your natural desires and direct them to a greater good; they dont want to hear that message. In the Second Reading, St. Paul gave a very practical reason for recommending celibacy to his fellow Christians. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided. He said the same is true for woman. If you are married and especially if you have children, your first responsibility is to your family; they have the first right to your time and energy, but a celibate man or woman is free to give himself to the service of the Lord and His Church, so that it becomes his first priority. As practical as St. Paul words are, he also hints at the true motive to live a celibate life. The main motive has to be loveto please the Lord. In a way you could say that as a priest, I bet my life on the belief that Jesus is real and that He loves me and I can love Him in a way that is joyful and fulfilling. One day, the apostles were talking with Jesus and Peter commented Lo, we have left our homes and followed you. And [Jesus] said to them, Truly, I say to you, there is no man who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not receive manifold more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life (Luke 18:28-30). Jesus knew that Peter and the apostles had given up everything to follow Him, including marriage and children, but He wanted to assure them that their reward would be great for their sacrifices. I can affirm that the Lord fulfills that promise. He has blessed me with so many good friends over the years of my priesthood and you my parishioners become my family. I now have a very large family after being a priest for

nearly 30 years. I have been loved and able to love in a way that has been beyond my expectations. When God called me to the priesthood, my principle reason for seeking the priesthood was to serve Him by bringing people closer to Him. As a spiritual director at the seminary for many years, I can report that this is the same motive that inspires the seminarians of today. The motivation for celibacy must be love! The image of marital love has long been used to explain the love of the consecrated virgin or celibate priest. An example from the early Church is St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr. Agnes was from a noble Roman family and was raised as a Christian. In the year 303, when she around 13 years old the Roman Prefect wanted her to marry his son. Agnes refused, in spite of the fact that he offered her many gifts, and she explained: I am already promised to the Lord of the Universe. He is more splendid than the sun and the stars, and He has said He will never leave me. Out of revenge, they turned her over to the authorities accused of being a Christian. She was tried and condemned to death. To those who were begging her to save herself, St. Agnes responded I would offend my Spouse if I were to try and please you. He chose me first and He shall have me. St. Agnes understood that her relationship with Jesus was properly expressed as a spiritual marriage. When a woman makes her vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to become a religious Sister it is seen in the terms of a marriage to Jesus Christ. Sometimes during the ceremony of profession of vows the young woman will wear a brides dress to show more fully the connection between virginity and marriage to her divine Spouse. In the purity of her heart, she is to serve Jesus day after day and belong to Him alone and to no other. You notice in the new translation of the Holy Mass that the Church is no longer referred to as an it but as her with the feminine pronoun. The celibate priest at his ordination is married to His bride the Church. He is to love his people with a pure and dedicated spirit of service, as a husband vows himself to love his wife at their marriage ceremony. It is true that celibacy for the clergy is not an unchanging dogma, but a discipline of the Church that could be changed by the Pope for a serious reason, but that statement doesnt give it its full weight. Celibacy for the clergy is an Apostolic Tradition, which means it goes back to the preaching and practice of the apostles themselves. St. Paul lived it and recommended

it as we heard in the Second Reading. Among the apostles, we only know that Peter was married because the Gospel mentions his mother-in-law who is in charge of his household, but not his wife; it has long been held that Peter was a widower before Jesus called him to be an apostle. After speaking about the indissolubility of marriage in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus spoke of celibacy as a gift from God: Not all men can receive this precept, but only those to whom it is given. He then used a very blunt phrase to describe it: For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it (Matthew 19: 10-12). Jesus wasnt speaking metaphorically; His choice of words leaves no doubt that those who freely chose to do so under the prompting of the Holy Spirit renounce the use of their sexual powers for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Celibacy is ultimately pointing to the life that we will live in Heaven. Jesus said that in Heaven we will be like angels because our human love, even the blessed love of marriage will be perfected. There it will be totally cleansed of all sin and human weaknessso it will be angelic. Here on earth the consecrated virgin and celibate priest are striving to live that Heavenly love here and now. Pope Pius XII said it is the pearl of great price from the Gospel. Pray that those of us who have committed ourselves to celibacy or virginity will always be faithful to our commitments and strive to love and serve with an ever purer heart.

February 5, 2012Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time If anyone could complain about being a good man and having bad things happen to him, it would be Job. Job was a just man who served God and faithfully obeyed his commandments, yet he lost everything almost overnight. His children, his flocks, his wealth disappeared in one bad report after another. Finally, his health was taken from him. We heard his cry of anguish in the First Reading: My days are swifter than a weavers shuttle; they come to an end without hope. Remember that my life is like the wind; I shall not see happiness again. At the end of the Book of Job, God gives an answer to the mystery of suffering that still holds up. God asked Job a series of questions about how the world and the universe were created; He asked Job if He had the wisdom and knowledge to supply the answers and, of course, Job was speechless. In the end God was asking Job to trust in Him as the loving Creator. We may not know the answer to the mystery of suffering, but we do know the One who does. When you are suffering it is good to pray: Lord, I dont know why this is happening to me, but You know the reason for all things and I trust in You. Our faith in Almighty God leads as to be certain that His good plan has been designed to give meaning to suffering. Nothing is useless in His plan; everything is included in His Providence. Even though the Book of Job gives us an answer, it is Jesus Christ and our Catholic faith that has so much to teach us about the meaning of suffering. Non-Catholic Christians really do not have an understanding of suffering or we could say a theology of suffering. Their answer is: if you have enough faith and pray hard enough, then God will take the suffering away. However, that is not always the case. The Gospel today comments on the miracles that Jesus was working throughout Galilee; it told us that He healed Peters mother-in-law and He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and He drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew Him. There were also many, presumably good people, who were not healed by His miracles and had to go on bearing their sufferings. He didnt come to do away with all suffering in this world, but to transform it. Look at the Apostle Paul as an example. He told us that God had given him a great suffering that he called a thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7). Although we dont know what it was, the best guess is that Paul suffered from malaria.

Without warning, a person that once had this disease could be totally incapacitated with a terrible headache and fever; it would certainly hamper Pauls ministry. He begged God three times to take it from him, but Gods answer was My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. In other words, bear this suffering and you will grow in holiness. Those without faith have to avoid suffering with all their might or just grit their teeth and get through it; it doesnt have any more meaning than a plant enduring a drought or being pulled up by its roots. Two people who bear the very same suffering can have very different results: one can become bitter and turn away from God; the other can open his heart and become a saint. It is not so much the suffering, but what you choose to do with it. If you do have faith then it causes you to turn to God for help and understanding. It causes you to grow in humble trust. Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia recently spoke these words about suffering: In real life, bad things happen. Progress is not assured and things that claim to be progress can sometimes be wicked and murderous instead. We can step backwards as a nation, just as easily as we can advance. That is why optimismand all the political slogans that go along with itare so often a cheat. Real hope and real joy are precious. They have a price. They emerge from the experience of suffering, which is made noble and given meaning only by faith in a loving God (1/22/12). Our Lord Jesus Christ was born in our world, not to have an easy life, but to embrace our sins and redeem us through His own suffering and death. The Prophet Isaiah foretold the meaning of Jesus suffering when he said: He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5). The meaning that Jesus gives to suffering is love and redemption. He wants us to look upon suffering in our own lives from that perspective. Jesus said: If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23). Jesus didnt say this because He likes to see us suffer, but because He knows that it is only when

we unite ourselves to His Cross by willingly bearing our own crosses that we will truly be united to Him and can open our hearts to the gifts of His love. In a divine sense love means sacrifice. A soldier realizes this when he offers his life to save his buddies in battle; a mother realizes this when she bears all the sufferings of childbirth. However, it is when suffering doesnt seem to make sense that we need faith to see it as a way to unite ourselves with our Savior; we need humble trust to accept that it has meaning in the Divine Plan. When we come to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we should mentally place all of our works, joys and sufferings upon the altar at the Offertory with the bread and wine. Jesus will take those sufferings and trials and unite them with the renewal of His own offering of Himself to His Heavenly Father. At the Holy Mass we are united with the Cross in a unique way; the Lord Jesus will help us bear it and use it for reparation of sins. Nothing is wasted in Gods Providence and all things are given meaning in union with Our Lord and His Cross.

February 12, 2012Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time Its difficult to judge the former leper too harshly even though Jesus explicitly ordered him not to tell anyone of his cure, but the priest. Once it was made known, Jesus couldnt go into the towns and villages because of the crowds. People had to go out to deserted places to meet Him; it was inconvenient for everyone. The former leper acted out of pure joy, since he was truly restored to life by the miraculous cure. The Law of Moses, which we heard in the First Reading, set the norm for those who contracted this terrible disease. They became outcasts, who had to leave behind family and friends, even as the disease slowly consumed their body. Everyone was afraid of them because it was so contagious. Did you notice that Jesus, in His great compassion, touched the man while he was still a leper? Then He healed him. Besides showing the love and power of God, this event also has a spiritual meaning which touches each one of our lives. Leprosy is a symbol for sin; Jesus the Divine Physician came into the world to heal us from sin. He has touched us in the sacraments of Holy Mother Church and continues to heal us, especially when we make a good Confession. Every time we have our sins healed through the ministry of the priest who acts in persona Christi in the very Person of Christ, in the confessional, we should be filled with joy and peace like the leper on the day of his miracle. We can be raised to the life of grace from the death of mortal sin; we can be restored to our family the Church and begin life anew because of His mercy. We need to begin by having faith in Jesus Christ. The leper, in the Gospel, kneeled before Him with humble faith saying: If you wish, you can make me clean. He trusted in Jesus. I have to have that same kind of faith and trust that Jesus can make me clean of my sins, no matter how serious or wretched they may be. In order to prepare myself for Confession, I have to examine my conscience. The Second Vatican Council said this: Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment . . . For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God (Gaudium et Spes, #16). Conscience is different from our feelings or desires or passions; although many people dont distinguish one from the other. The voice of conscience is based upon

the law of God, which is a law that I dont invent. This law which is ever calling us to do good and avoid evil is called the Natural Moral Law. It is place by God deep in the conscience of each person. The Ten Commandments are part of the Natural Moral Law. One problem is that a persons conscience can be poorly formed and result in making wrong judgments. The CCC (#1792) says this can happen for a number of reasons. First, we can be ignorant of Christ and the Gospelhow may in our own time have never learned that there is such a thing as right and wrong and God has taught it to us? Their parents didnt take the time to teach them; the books and religious instruction were so watered down in our Catholic schools and PSR programs that they ended up learning it from TV and movies or their peers, which is to say, they learned nothing good or right. Another reason the conscience is poorly formed is because too many simply didnt have a good example of imitate. The heroes and icons of our day are more often examples of immorality and greed than virtue. Also, if one is enslaved by sin through the habit of committing sin then you will find it difficult to hear the voice of conscience; sin screams so loudly that the still, small voice of conscience is drowned out. The CCC also said that many have bought into the false idea of freedom, which means you can do anything you feel like or desire; they dont listen to the teaching authority of the Church and resent any kind of authority which restricts their pleasures. Is it any wonder that people have lost the sense of sin and dont turn to the mercy of God in Confession? They even fear God! Just because a person doesnt know he is dominated by sin, doesnt mean that he doesnt feel its weight upon him. It is sin that is at the bottom of so many people who feel sad and discouraged and confused and lost. They wonder why there is no hope in their hearts, but they still go back to the same old sins to find relief that never comes. This can be alcohol, drugs, including marijuana, video games, even books. We want to encourage people to read, but I remember a man, many years ago, in another parish, who would work hard all day long and came home each evening and read book after bookhistories, novels, anything he could find. He didnt want to talk to his wife or deal with his children, so he escaped into books. His wife became the kind of woman who would talk and talk without letting you get a word in because you might escape. Whether she caused her husband to retreat into books or he caused her to seek attention elsewhere, I dont knowprobably a little of both.

As an example of how we should look more deeply into our souls is gluttony. We normally define it as consuming an excess of food or drink. C. S. Lewis told the story of a very thin woman who ate very little, but was gluttonous. All she wanted for breakfast was tea and dry toast. When her daughter brought it in she would comment Oh, the toast was a little too brown! the next day Oh, the tea was a little weak or a little too strong. She would comment under her breath I dont ask for much, just tea and toast the way I like it. Gluttony can be manifested in being too picky about how our food tastes or is prepared. Despair is one of the most powerful weapons of Satan. There are many ways to give into hopelessness. Sometimes it is manifested by people who give up on their prayer lives. Instead of their prayer getting stronger, as the years go on, they merely do the minimum. They could go to daily Mass, but dont make the effort; they could pray the Holy Rosary or spend time reading the Holy Bible, but dont bother. They stop making the effort to advance in virtue and grow farther away from God, rather than closer. It is a giving up; a kind of despair. If we examine our consciences deeply, we find that we need the healing of Jesus every bit as much as the leper in the Gospel. Confession is always meant to give us peace and true freedom. The leper could have just ignored Jesus and remained in his diseased state, but he sought the Lord and found a joy that couldnt be silenced; he had to tell everyone. Lets seek that same joy that only the Divine Physician can give to us. Here are a few questions that I have been pondering in regard to the recent requirements of the health care policy of the country: Who or what gives the President of the United States the authority to mandate that one week every employer must provide insurance with free contraceptives, abortion inducing drugs and sterilizations, even those who have moral objections and then the next week mandate that insurance companies must pay for it? If the President can force these policies on the country today, what will stop him from insisting on free abortion for every American next year and free drugs to commit suicide the following year? Why is it more important that people have access to free contraceptives and abortion than any other health care need? The President didnt hold a press conference concerning free cancer drugs or AIDS drugs.

There is such a thing as just anger, but we have to make the distinction between policies and persons; we can hate policies and work to change them, but we cannot hate persons. We also have to remember that Jesus is the Lord of history, not any politician. They come and go; we have to place our trust in Jesus who is guiding all things according to Divine Providence.

February 19, 2012Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time When the four friends brought the paralyzed man to Jesus, they had one objective: they wanted Jesus to heal his body. They had faith in Jesus. They were good friends who were not going to let any obstacle get in their way, even the crowds who blocked the doors. They climbed up on the roof, carefully lifting the mat on which their friend lay and lowered him right down in front of Jesus. Even though what they wanted was obvious, Jesus saw the situation in a different way; He saw it in a deeper way. He first healed the mans soul before He healed His body. We usually just see the surface of things; Jesus saw what was most important. To our eyes the condition of the body takes priority, but Jesus knows that the condition of the soul is far more important. The body can be perfectly healthy, while the soul is dead because of mortal sin. In our time we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us to see life, especially the great moral problems of our time, in the light of God. We often respond to them in a superficial way. We are so conditioned by our culturethe media, friends, co-workers and family membersthat we find it difficult to decide things without following the crowd; Catholics ideas about right and wrong are often no different than unbelievers. Recently, Pope Benedict spoke to some Roman seminarians and called them to Christian non-conformism. He explained that this does not mean that Christians flee from the world, but on the contrary, that they let themselves be transformed by their faith in order, thereby, to transform the world. We need to be transformed by our faith, too. Since President Obama brought it up, I would like to reflect with you on whether contraception, particularly the birth control pill, is really such a great blessing for women. Is it so good for women and our society that it should be provided free of charge when other health care needs are not? In 2005, the World Health Organization categorized the birth control pill as a Group One cancer causing drug, which means that it can and does cause cancer in women. The birth control pill was invented in the early 1960s and was in widespread use by the early 1970s. Since 1973 the breast cancer rate has risen 660%. Compare it to Hormone replacement Therapy which was used by over 30 million American women when it was announced in 2002 that it was found to cause cancer. 15 million or half of the women stopped

taking it rather than risk cancer; tumors in women over 50 have dropped 11% since then. The same drug that is in Hormone Replacement Therapy is in the birth control pill. We are so concerned about hormones in our milk and food, yet we continue to pump massive doses of hormones into women; even teenage girls are regularly given birth control pills by their doctors, not only to prevent the birth of a baby, but for a wide range of other health problems. The birth control pill doesnt cure anything, but only masks the symptoms. Even more than that, the birth control pill is an abortifacient. It has three chemical effects to stop the birth of a baby; the first two effect ovulation, but if that doesnt work, the third effect causes the newly created human being from implanting in the womb and thus brings about an early abortion. In any cycle of a woman who uses the pill an abortion can occur, unknown to her. These are only some of the physical effectsnot to mention, the infertility that can come from the early and prolonged use of the pill. You may know the name of Margaret Sanger, who died in 1968. She was the founder of what became Planned Parenthood. She was a totally immoral woman who believed in Adolph Hitlers plan of eugenics. Eugenics held that the white race was superior to all others and the other so-called inferior races must be subjugated or eliminated. Hitler used concentration camps, but Sanger knew that contraception and abortion would accomplish those same evil ends in our country. Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of abortion in the world. Is there any other organization that is more protected and coddled by government and media today? Just look at what happened when the Komen foundation tried to separate itself from Planned Parenthooda firestorm of anger from politicians and media forced them to reverse their decision almost immediately. Even though the link between contraception and abortion to breast cancer is clear, the Komen Foundation whose purpose is to find a cure for breast cancer gave in to the pressure. In 1968, (what a fateful year!), Pope Paul VI wrote his famous encyclical Humanae VitaeOf Human life. Remember the pill had just been invented earlier that decade. He taught that marriage was created by God and not just a man-made institution; therefore the Creator had made marriage with certain purposes, they were two: the procreative and unitive, simply put, God made marriage for life and love. Marriage and the marital act were meant to unite husband and wife in that most intimate one flesh union and increase their love for one another. At the same time, it is a love that God

meant to be fruitful, according to the periods of fertility and infertility that He designed into women. The love of marriage is so holy and powerful that it can, with God, bring about the creation of a brand new lifea baby with an immortal soul destined for Heaven. Pope Paul taught that these two purposes of God for marriage were broken by contraception. It deliberately and arrogantly says no to life, no matter what God wills. Pope Paul said it would have serious effects on women, marriage and society; he listed three in Humanae Vitae. When openness to life is separated from the pleasure of the marital actknowing human weakness it would lead to an escape from responsibility. The Pope said: Let them consider how wide and easy a road would thus be opened up towards conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of morality. The divorce rate jumped to 50% in the 1970s and has remained there ever since; who of us has not been hurt by divorce personally or seen its effects on families? There is no need to comment on the Popes prediction of the general lowering of morality; it is self-evident. The second effect of contraceptive practices would be that the man may finally lose respect for the woman and . . . come to the point of considering her as a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment. . . . The plague of pornography, which was very limited in the 1960s, has engulfed our society through the internet; it is mostly aimed at women treating them as an object of lust. How many one parent families, which are overwhelmingly female, are struggling in poverty because the father doesnt take responsibility for his children? With the contraceptive mentality he thinks that if the woman didnt use contraception then she has to live with the consequences! The third effect listed by Pope Paul was that governments could impose contraception upon their people, which has been done in Communist China for many years in their one-child policy. If you look at contraception objectively, you have to at least doubt those who say it is so good for womens health. Why is free contraception and abortion so important to President Obama, and, sad to say, all Catholic politicians in his administration including the Vice-President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services? Come Holy Spirit, free us from the paralysis of sin and open our eyes and minds and hearts to see Your great plan for marriage, which You have written upon the human heart. Amen.

February 26, 2012First Sunday of Lent After the Original Sin closed the gates to Heaven and opened the flood gates of sin upon the world, God immediately set in motion His plan to save humanity little by little. It would involve a series of covenants, ending in the new and eternal covenant of Jesus Christ, whereby He would call mankind back to Himself; the first covenant was with Noah. The depravity of sin had reached such a point in the world that only Noah and his family were untouched. God decided to cleanse the world of sin by a great flood and save Noah and his family on an ark so that they could restart the human race once the flood waters had receded. Sometimes we may think, God why do You permit evil and sin to continue in our world unabated? Why dont you just wipe all the sinners off of the earth? (Of course, that group doesnt include me!) It may seem like a solution to the problem of evil, but God has shown us that it doesnt work. Even though God started over with Noah, sin did not disappear; it raised its ugly head almost immediately after they arrived on dry land. In the First Reading we heard that God made a covenant with Noah, saying: I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth. The rainbow would be the beautiful sign of this covenant. St. Peter told us in the Second Reading that the flood and the covenant with Noah have a spiritual meaning that directly relates to our lives as Christians. He wrote that after his death on the Cross, Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison. These were all the souls who had died, including Noah, and were awaiting the resurrection of Jesus which would open the gates of Heaven to them. We often use the term the Limbo of the Fathers to signify this place that is neither Heaven nor hell, but more like Purgatory. St. Peter went on to write that Noah and the ark and the flood waters prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. . . . The flood water of Noahs time washed away sinful mankind, but the water of Baptism washes away sin from our soul and saves us. The Sacrament of Baptism applies the merits of Jesus death directly to our souls, one person at a time.

As time went on, God made a covenant with Abraham; the CCC teaches: The people descended from Abraham would be the trustees of the promise made to the patriarchs, the chosen people, called to prepare for that day when God would gather all his children into the unity of the Church (CCC #60). This covenant prefigured the Catholic Church. Later in history, the most important covenant of the Old Testament was established with Moses. God called His people from slavery in Egypt to be His chosen people who would prepare for the final covenant in which His Sons saving death would at last reconcile the world to Himself. A covenant is more than a contract between to parties who promise to fulfill their duties. First, it is not between equal parties like human contracts. God is the almighty Creator and we are His creatures; there is an infinite gulf between us. Also, the covenant is initiated by God who acts out of His goodness. We do not have the ability to reach Him on our own strength. St John put it this way in his first letter: In this is love, not that we love God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the expiation for our sins (1 John 4:10). Everything good begins with our loving God. A covenant is not a cold contract, but a family bond. When two parties enter into a covenant they become members of a family. You may have heard the saying: Blood is thicker than water. It means that the family bond is stronger than anything else. The ancient Arabs had a variation on that saying: Blood is thicker than . . . mothers milk. It meant that when you entered into a blood covenant, it was more binding than even family relationsthan those who shared the same mothers milk. Gods purpose is to make us members of His familyHis sons and daughters. Finally, there are obligations that go along with a covenant. For His part, God is always faithful; the fault always lies on our side. Israel demonstrated this in the Old Testament by abandoning the Ten Commandments, time and time again, especially through idolatry and all its consequences; we demonstrate this through our sinfulness which shows that we have not yet conformed our life to Jesus Christ and His Law of Love. St. Mark briefly told us of the 40 day fast of Jesus in the desert without mentioning the temptations of the devil, but he gave us a summary of the whole Gospel in the first words of Jesus preaching: This is the time of

fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. We need to concentrate on the words: This is the time . . . We shouldnt wait to repent of our sins until another time; we shouldnt wait to begin acting like Jesus until another day; we shouldnt let the shame of our past sins stop us; we shouldnt let our fears hold us back, including the fear that following Jesus will keep us from fun and happiness. Jesus has told us that today is the day; the Kingdom has begun; we are part of the family of God and He is our Brother and Friend who has initiated the new and eternal Covenant in His own Precious Blood. The grace of the Sacraments is nowwe cannot wait for another day or we will miss the opportunity that is offered today!

Second Sunday of LentMarch 4, 2012 Abraham was put to the kind of test that few fathers would be able to endure. God had promised him that he was to be the father of many nations and yet God made Abraham wait until he was one hundred years old before he had his first son. Kind of late in life to be starting a family, isnt it? Then when Isaac, the only heir, was 12, God asked Abraham to do the unthinkabletake his only son to the top of a mountain and offer him as a human sacrifice. The new Testament Book of Hebrews tells us what Abraham was thinking: He considered that God was able to raise men even from the dead (Hebrews 11:19). If it was Gods will for him to do this terrible deed, then God could make it right through raising his son to life. The life of Abraham reminds us that life in this world is a test for all of us. We may think that life is meant to be easy and comfortable, but when the trials and sufferings come we then wonder why it so often isnt that way. Some think that the purpose of life is to develop ones talents and become successful and praised, but when the applause stops or the finances decline we begin to question if it is all worth it. It is only when we realize that this life has the purpose of preparing us for Heaven that we can make some sense of it. The sacrifice that God called Abraham to make is only properly understood in the light of Jesus Christ. It is a type or foreshadowing of what God intended to do with His own Son to redeem the world. The First Reading left out the part that told us that Abraham gave Isaac the wood for the sacrifice and he carried it up the mountain on his back. This reminds us of Jesus who carried the wood of the Cross up to Calvary where He would be the sacrifice of our salvation. Abraham was ready to go through with Gods command when at the last moment the angel appeared to stop his hand from striking the fatal blow. God the Father, on the other hand, would go through with the sacrifice of His only-begotten Son. Jesus was not spared any indignity; He took each blow of the whip, each thorn, each painful step under the heavy wood of the Cross; each nail; each word of mockery. This was a test, too. It was a test of His obedient love for the Eternal Father who was so greatly offended by the sin of mankind. It was a test of His love for us who are burdened by sin and could not find our freedom without

Divine help. Jesus passed this test perfectly; His love is infinite and can heal all wounds. The Church is always being tested, too. Sometimes the trial comes from without and it means martyrdom. There were more martyrs for the faith in the last century than all the history of the Church; so martyrdom is not just a thing of the distant past. Sometimes the trial comes from within due to Catholics who do great evil and cause scandal or those who betray Christ for worldly gain. There is a big difference between those who are sinners and those who are imposters. Sinners are those who believe in the teachings of the Catholic Church, but through temptation and human weakness fall short of what God commands; they repent and strive to change their lives. They certainly do not publicly deny any teaching of the Church, but rather defend Holy Mother Church as if she were their own mother. The Catholic Church is not made up of perfect people, but sinners who are striving to be more faithful to Christ. That is far different from an imposter. An imposter publicly proclaims to be a Catholic, but also publicly denies one or more core moral teachings of the Church. They cause scandal because of their position as leaders in society. I dont have to mention the names of Catholic politicians and public figures who are not just sinners, but are imposters; they do not hesitate to dissent from Catholic dogma when it makes them popular with the media or suits their interests. We have to be careful not to become imposters! There is a tremendous test today to remain faithful when it seemsI emphasizeit seems that the Catholic faith is foolish or a thing of the past or even harmful to humanity. You dont have to look far to find those who will say any and every hateful lie that they can manufacture about the Church; they sound so intellectual, so sophisticated and so convincing. Surely, they know more than I do; surely, the polls must be right; if everyone is saying it, it must be true. Do you think that Abraham questioned whether God really asked him to sacrifice his son? Do you think that Abraham wondered what people would think when they found out he had sacrificed his long awaited heir? It was foolishness; it was madness! St. Paul asked the Corinthians: Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? . . . For the foolishness of God is wiser than men,

and the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Cor. 1:20, 25). Lets not be afraid to be fools for Christ in the eyes of the world. It is so amazing in the Transfiguration of Jesus, which we read in our Gospel today, that God the Almighty Father simply invites us to follow His Son: This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him. He doesnt force us, but simply invites us to listen to Him and find the truth that our hearts are yearning for. The meaning of Jesus life doesnt end with death; it is the prelude for the resurrection and Peter, James and John got a little glimpse of it at the Transfiguration. At Easter this year we should have learned anew the lesson that all our Lenten sacrifices are pointing to: Jesus is the more important than any legitimate pleasure or thing in the world that I could have. I am giving them up to learn more deeply the lesson that there is nothing more important than listening to and following Jesus. Sinner that I amHe is my Lord, God and Savior!

Third Sunday of LentMarch 11, 2012 It may have begun with the best of intentions, but the selling of animals and the changing of money turned the Temple of Jerusalem into a marketplace. Originally it was a service to the pilgrims who went to worship God in the Temple. You could not pay the temple tax with pagan coins; they had to be exchanged for Jewish coins. Why not perform this service right there at the Temple? Since the animals for sacrifice had to be certified as worthy, why not sell approved animals right there at the Temple? One problem was that they used the Court of the Gentiles as the place to do all this buying and selling and exchanging. This was the only place that non-Jews could come to pray, since they were not allowed to enter any further into the Temple. It was almost impossible to pray with all the noise and commotion. The Jews were the chosen people, but God wanted His Temple built in such a way that all others would also have a place to pray. The second problem with this situation was that greed soon entered into what should have been a service. There was always some question about the exact value of one coin compared to another which left an opportunity for the money changers to cheat the pilgrims. Also, the animals were not always the unblemished specimens that were required by law; the sellers were making money on sickly animals that they could not market for profit elsewhere. Jesus who was meek and humble of heart responded to this shameful scene with angerjust anger. When He turned over the money changers tables and drove out the animals, who would dare stand before the righteous anger of God? The true God is the God of justice and righteousness and law, as well as, love and mercy. How different from the pagan religions which had gods that were so arbitrary in their judgments? They made decisions, or so the pagans thought, like human beings who were petty and selfish and prideful. The true God, the Most Blessed Trinity, acts according to reason; His decisions are wise and He governs all people of all times in accordance with his infinite goodness. We see that clearly in the Ten Commandments narrated in the First Reading. You could say that the Commandments bind even God Himself, in the sense that He will always judge every human being according to them and not set up other standards.

The Ten Commandments are part of the natural moral law, which God has placed in every human heart when He created us. It is not a law that we devised, even though with reflection and wisdom we could come to know it without Divine Revelation. God revealed them to Moses because it is often difficult for us who are blinded by sin and foolishness to miss this law written on our hearts. Recently, I heard a phone call on the radio where a man was complaining that the Catholic Church was so arbitrary in how it enforced its rules. He said on one hand they condemn politicians who support abortion, but when St. Patricks Day falls on a Friday in Lent the bishop readily gives a dispensation from abstaining from meat; the Church is not consistent in following her own rules, he said. This brings up a good point that many fail to recognize; obviously there is an enormous difference in the seriousness of supporting the willful murder of a baby by abortion and eating meat on a Friday in Lent. Even more than that, there are some laws that are given by God and not even the Pope can change them or dispense from them; there are other laws that the Church has decreed, based on Scripture and Tradition, like fasting and abstaining from meat, which are for the good of all the faithful and she can dispense from these laws given certain conditions. (After all, what is St. Patricks Day without corned beef?) The Pope cannot give permission for someone to worship an idol or to steal or to lie; these are Gods laws and the Church has no authority to change them. The CCC teaches that the Ten Commandments are fundamentally immutable, and they oblige always and everywhere. No one can dispense from them. The Ten Commandments are engraved by God in the human heart (#2072). We are only talking about the moral law here, but there are also doctrinal teachings which not even a pope can change or do away with. They bind him, as well as, the whole Church. From the list of the Ten Commandments we are especially tempted by the 6th and 9th today: You shall not commit adultery. You shall not covet your neighbors wife. Our culture has so conditioned us that more and more Catholics think that there is nothing wrong in living together without marriage or having sexual relations with one or more persons, as long as they use birth control. They are either ignorant of Gods law or think that they are above the Ten Commandments which really do not bind them as it did other generations.

Often people look at Gods law as something that represses their freedom and is meant to make them unhappy. This idea fundamentally denies the goodness of the Creator who did not give His law to make our lives miserable, but to show us the way to true happiness, which may not be the same thing as the pleasure of the moment. This is where our society gets it so wrong! God has so set up human sexuality that a man and a woman totally give themselves to one another soul and body in the one flesh union. Sexual relations become a lie, not an act of genuine love, when they do not express this total commitment of a man and woman toward each other. That is why God made marriage as the fitting relationship for this powerful and sacred union. Marriage is a public, permanent, exclusive relationship between one man and one woman; it is an institution created by God, not made up by man, and it cannot be changed according to the fads of the day without damaging its meaning and harming the Church and society. It is not to repress or deny the love of a man and woman that God created marriage, but to make it possible to live a happy, fruitful life together; marriage gives love and sex their true meaning. It is not easy to resist the powerful pull of sex, especially when TV, movies, magazines and the internet tell us to give in to our every impulse of lust. At the same time, God has given us His law and the teachings of His Church to guide us to the truth, as well as, the grace of the sacraments and prayer. This is a spiritual battle and Jesus is calling us to choose Him. He didnt say warm feelings are enough to show our love, but He did say If you love me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:15).

March 18, 2012Fourth Sunday of LentLaetare Sunday Jesus applied one of the most unique events of the Old Testament to Himself in his reply to Nicodemus: Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. It referred to the time that Moses was leading the Israelite people through the desert to the Promised Land when once again they started to complain about their hardships. Instead of asking God for help they murmured and condemned Him for bringing them out into the desert, as if God brought them there to die. He punished this infidelity with a plague of poisonous snakes that bit the people causing some of them to die. They then realized that without Gods protection they would be totally helpless and begged Him for relief. Moses prayed for them and God told him to make a bronze statue that looked like the poisonous serpent that was biting them and mount it on a pole so that the people could gaze upon it and be healed. This was something that He had forbidden with the very first Commandment: You shall not have other gods besides me. In the explanation of that Commandment, God warned: You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. There were two golden statues of angels resting upon the Ark of the Covenant, but otherwise it was forbidden to make any statue, for it might be worshipped as if it were God. God clearly demonstrated His power over the false idols of Egypt while the Israelites were still slaves there. Each of the ten plagues that God sent upon the Egyptians was to show His power over a particular false god. They worshiped a god of the Nile River, so He turned it to blood; they worshiped a frog god, so He sent so many frogs that you couldnt step anywhere without crushing a frog; they worshiped the god of death who could not protect their first born sons from the angel of death, while the Israelites were protected by God. Each plague was meant to show that the gods of the Egyptians were powerless before the one true God. It is very difficult for us to understand this tendency to worship idols. We have paintings and statues of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin and the angels and the saints, but would never dream or worshipping one of them as if it were God! They are merely visual reminders of those heavenly persons that

we love and who are part of the family of the Church even though they are not visible to us now. Ever since the Son of God, invisible to the human eye, took on flesh, we can depict Him and other heavenly persons to help us remember those we love and those who love us and can pray for us before the throne of God. This event of the bronze serpent from the Old Testament can only be completely understood in the light of Christ and His mission from His Heavenly Father. The bronze serpent looked just like the snakes that were biting the people, but had no poison in it, rather it took away the poison of all those who looked upon it. Jesus, bleeding and wounded and crucified, looked like the visible picture of sin, which wounds and even kills our souls. If we could see the effects of sin in a visible way, it would truly be horrible! When we look upon Jesus crucified with the eyes of faith, He heals us from the wounds of sin. Jesus showed us the power of reparation. Archbishop Fulton Sheen spoke so well about the meaning of reparation for sin: In the physical order, doctors graft skin from a back to a face to restore burned tissue. If a person is suffering from anemia, doctors will transfuse blood from a healthy member of society to the anemic person in order to cure the person of that condition. If it is possible to transfuse blood, is it not possible to transfuse prayer? If it is possible to graft skin, is it not possible also to graft sacrifice and suffering? We live in a world in which we live on the work of others. We do not raise sheep, though we wear woolen clothes. Others do that work for us. So in the great spiritual community of the lovers of God it is possible to offer up pain and suffering in order that others who lack love of God may find it through our efforts. Jesus wants us to participate in His work of redeeming the world, particularly in regard to the temporal punishment of sin. Sin is like a rock that is thrown into a smooth pond; it sends out ripples to the very edges. We need to do reparation for our sins and the sins of others which have such dire consequences upon the world. It is almost impossible for us to grasp the magnitude of Jesus redeeming mission. Lets look at two aspects. First, He took upon Himself the punishment for all the sins of the world from the Original Sin of Adam down through history including yours and mine. We sometimes feel the weight of sin when our conscience bothers us because of something we have done; can you imagine the weight of the sins of the world? It is no wonder that the

gospel tells us that He sweat blood in the agony of the garden when He took the sins of the world upon Him. The second aspect of Jesus redeeming love is that it is personal. He didnt die for the mass of humanity, like a great herd of cattle, He died personally for you. He loved you as if you were the only one when He hung upon the Cross. Jesus explained the meaning of His life to Nicodemus in the Gospel: For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He came for your redemption, for the expiation of your sins, so that you might have eternal lifeit is very personal!

March 25, 2012Fifth Sunday of Lent It must have been obvious that the tension between the religious leaders and Jesus was at a breaking point. The Gospel told us that some Greeks asked Philip if they could speak to our Lord. From the answer that Jesus gave to them it seems as if they wanted to warn Jesus and perhaps to persuade Him to escape from the impending calamity. Jesus didnt come into this world to escape His suffering and death, but to embrace it for our sake. His purpose wasnt just to be a great teacher with a new philosophy; He came to be our Savior. He even described His upcoming suffering and death in terms of victory: The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. In last weeks Gospel Jesus used a reference from Jewish history to explain His mission; He recalled the bronze serpent that God commanded Moses to make so that all who gazed upon it would be healed from the snake bites. Jesus couldnt explain to these non-Jews His true purpose in life by using the same image that He used for His fellow Jews, so He took an image from nature. Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. This is something that anyone could understand. The law of death and resurrection is written into the very fabric of nature. Each autumn we see the leaves fall from the trees in what looks like a kind of death, but each spring, without fail, the new leaves sprout forth in a kind of a resurrection. It is no wonder that many pagan and primitive peoples had heroes that went through a death and resurrection that imitates what happened to Jesus. It is not that Jesus is just another myth like so many others, but rather His earthly life is the pattern that the Blessed Trinity put into the very fabric of creation. Many peoples throughout history were able to see and grasp this pattern of death and life and they incorporated it into their myths. A grain of wheat looks like something that is dead. Seeds can last unchanged for years, even centuries if they are not planted. There is no apparent life in them until they are sowed in the ground, then they will sprout forth producing a plant and then grains of wheat that can be harvested and made into bread to give us life. Yes, Jesus knew that the time of His sacrifice was approaching and in His human nature He was shaken by the magnitude of bearing the sins of the world, but that would not stop Him: I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? Father save me from this

hour? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. The Second Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews explains the very human struggle of Jesus; it is just like the struggle that we have when bearing suffering or disappointment or setbacks in our life. In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, He offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the One who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His reverence. Notice Jesus was heard by His Father, but He still had to undergo His Passion. Jesus wants us to know that God understands human suffering for He endured it too, but that we can conquer just as He did. Again Hebrews explains: Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered; and when He was made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him. As hard as it is, suffering united with Jesus, strengthens us, causes us to grow in virtue and teaches us to trust in God like no other experience in this world! Jesus told us that the grain of wheat has lessons that apply directly to us. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. This is just the opposite of the way we normally think. We think we should take care of ourselves, make sure we have all that we need and then we will be happy. The lesson of childrens programming on television is be true to yourself, whatever that means, but it and many expressions today are little more than a call to selfishness. Jesus tells us to give of ourselves, if we want to be fulfilled. Make others happy if we want to find our own happiness. It is the only way that we can produce fruit that will last even unto eternity. We are called to sacrifice like Jesus: Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me. This is done usually in little things, which are sometimes the most difficult. To get up day after day and go to work, even if it is monotonous; to care for your family even when your efforts are not appreciated; to hold your tongue when it is so easy to gossip and criticize; to spend time in prayer when you would really like to do something else; to go the extra mile when you would rather relax. These and many little sacrifices cause us to die to ourselves, so that we can rise with Christ.

Palm SundayApril 1, 2012 There are three times that the Son of God has humbled Himself for our salvation. St. Paul spoke about the first two in the Second Reading of this Palm Sunday Mass. He bids us to imitate Christ Jesus who was in the form of God meaning that He possessed the Divine Natureequal to God the Father and God the Holy Spiritbut did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. There is one who did try to grasp at equality with GodLucifer, Satan. St. Paul then told us of the first great humiliation of our LordHe emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness, and found human in appearance. Although He didnt cease being God, the Son of God limited Himself by taking on our human nature from the Blessed Virgin through the power of the Holy Spirit. This past Monday, our first Holy Mass in the new Church, was the solemnity of the Annunciation. It is at the moment that Mary said yes to the Archangel Gabriel that the Son of God became manbody, soul, mind and will. St. John said it this way: And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. From this moment, God the Creator and Governor of all creation, was cared for by Mary and Joseph and He was obedient to them; He who is THE WORD had to speak with many words to communicate; He who is all powerful, was subject to heat and cold, hunger and thirst and to the jealousy and hatred of men who should have obeyed Him, but did not. This is the first great humiliation of our Lord. St. Paul described the second humiliation, saying: He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. We have just recalled the suffering and death of our Lord in the reading of the Passion of St. Mark. This Holy Week directs us first to think about all that Jesus suffered for our salvation. Even though we have thought about its meaning many times, if we ask the Holy Spirit, He will help us to get new insights and have deeper gratitude for all that Jesus sacrificed for us in this second great humiliation on the Cross. This is a week to do more spiritually, not less. Good Friday is not a day for entertainment and shopping and worldly things, but a day to reflect on Jesus death. Even those who are at work can pause during the hours of noon and three and thank Jesus for dying on the Cross for them.

On Holy Thursday evening we celebrate the Mass of the Lords Supper. This brings us to the third great humiliation of Jesus. At every Holy Mass He lowers Himself to come down upon our altar, hidden under the species of bread and wine to become our Holy Communion. He humbles Himself to remain in the tabernacle, waiting for us to visit Him. He longs for us to spend some time with Him, who continues to humble Himself as our loving Savior.

This is a dream come true for me and I hope it is for you too! We have so much to be grateful for as we celebrate this first Sunday in our new Church. First of all, we thank God whose Providence has brought us to this day through many setbacks and delays. We want to thank our Blessed Mother Mary for her unfailing help, as well as, St. Joseph. We cannot forget St. Gianna, our patron, and all the angels and saints who form our spiritual family that great cloud of witnessesmany of whom are pictured in our beautiful paintings in the sanctuary. Next, I want to thank you the faithful parishioners for all your prayers and sacrifices to make this possible. You took a risk to leave your former parishes and come to St. Giannas to begin something new. Not all were willing or able to do so! I might addyou were willing to risk believing in me, too, which touches my heart!! I am deeply grateful to you for your support. I just want to mention a word of thanks to a few people who were involved in the move. Rob Grillion organized everything so well that it left me speechless to see how quickly and efficiently everything left the old Church last Sunday. He and his team from the moving committee are to be congratulated. Rob seems to have thought of everything and has been available time and time again to assist in so many ways, especially in acquiring the free office furniture that we have in our classroomswe could never have afforded to purchase anything so nice. Next, Glen Boland and so many men, particularly from the Knights of Columbus, have done spectacular work moving the pews and fixing the kneelersyou can only imagine how much effort that took when you remember the trouble we have had with them in the old Church. Special thanks goes to Ed Zmuda for

being here from morning to evening to do anything and everything that needed an extra hand, particularly in seeing that everything was moved from the storage unit to the new barn. Cathy Tuffner and the Ladies Auxiliary have provided so much help in acquiring the tables and chairs and organizing the shower for the Church, you responded with great generosity. Those who have moved into a new house know how much you need to begin living in a new place. Also, thanks to Rita Schulte, our parish secretary and so much more, Mary Romine, and the other women who cleaned up the building these last few days. Our beautiful landscaping is owed to Randy Bergfeld, which is superior to anything that we could have afforded and adds so much to the property. Dr. Mike Brown made it a priority to get our stained glass windows restored, which seemed like an impossible goal last year. We cannot forget His Eminence Cardinal Burke, who not only founded that parish, but ensured that we got the windows from the old St. Philip Neri Churchthere is a story behind that! I just want to mention two men who have been absolutely indispensible: John Kainady, for all that he has done in the countless building committee meetings over the past year and Don Williams for the beautiful woodwork of the Shrine to St. Gianna and the tabernacle altar and many other items for our Churchsome of which are still to come. Really, I am only mentioning a handful of people because there have been so many others who have made contributions and just stopped by and given a hand. God has blessed us indeed and this is only the beginning of St. Gianna ParishHe has great plans for our future!

Holy ThursdayApril 5, 2012 When an important event happens in history we make efforts to insure that it is remembered by future generations. Perhaps there is a monument erected depicting a battle or significant personWashington DC is famous for its memorials to Presidents Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln and wars throughout our history. We usually remember a certain date connected with them and celebrate it by speeches and wreath laying and banquets and other ceremonies. In a similar way, God devised a way for us to remember the most important events in the history of salvationparticularly His covenant with Moses and the new and eternal covenant through His Son Jesus. The First Reading from Exodus told us of the institution of the memorial that would remember Israels liberation from slavery in Egypt. God had worked 9 miraculous signs to tell Egypt that He was the true God and that they should let His people go, but Pharaohs heart was hardened. The last sign or plague was the angel of death who passed over the houses of the Israelites, but killed the first born son of each house of the Egyptians. This led to Israels freedom and was an event of such importance that it should never be forgotten so God instituted the Passover meal which was to be celebrated each year. He said: This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord, as a perpetual institution. He set this yearly memorial as a sacrificial meal. God commanded Moses to have each house take an unblemished male lamb, sacrifice it and put its blood on the doorposts and lintel, so that the Angel of death would pass over that house. Then the lamb was to be roasted and eaten as a sacred meal with ceremonies that recalled the events of that night. This Passover meal is celebrated by pious Jews down to our own day. It is more than just a remembrance of a past event; it is as if the Jews were back with their ancient ancestors reliving it with all of its meaning and power at every Passover. The covenant with Moses and Israel was a foreshadowing of the covenant that God would make with us through His Sons death upon the Cross. It too would involve a Sacred Banquet as a perpetual memorial that would fulfill the Passover meal. You can easily see the parallels between the Passover and Calvary. We are slaves to sin and need the freedom that only God can provide. The Lamb of

God is no longer a mute, senseless animal, but the Son of God become man who freely chooses to offer Himself as the Victim to take the punishment that our sins deserve. On the night before He died, Jesus set up a memorial banquet, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, as the way to remember the most important events in historyHis suffering, death and resurrection. The Gospels tell us what He did and the words of Consecration relate them to us in each Holy Mass, as does St. Paul in the Second Reading tonight. Almighty God wanted us to do more than remember Christs death; He wanted us to be touched by its meaning and power in the present. He wanted it to have an effect upon us as if we were present at the very moment that Jesus died on the Cross and opened the floodgates of Divine Mercy. St. Paul told us in the First Letter to the Corinthians: For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes. It has been said that if the Consecration is Calvary renewed, then Holy Communion is Paradise. The death and resurrection of Jesus is communicated to us in a unique manner through each and every Holy Mass. It is the greatest gift that God could give to us because it allows us to stand with the Blessed Virgin, St. John and St. Mary Magdalene at the foot of the Cross and then receive Him into our body and soul as our Holy Communion. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass brings about a union that cannot be achieved in a greater way until we see Him Face to face in Heaven. It is the power of the Holy Mass that gives us the strength and grace to live the Law of Love that Jesus has commanded His followers to obey. It is easy to be selfish and self-absorbed; it is not easy to love in a sacrificial, selfless way. Jesus demonstrated at the Last Supper how we should act. He washed the feet of His apostles, doing the work of a slave to show us that if the Master, the Son of God, could act in humble service, we could also humble ourselves to serve one another in love. We need the power of the Holy Mass to do so!

Good FridayApril 6, 2012 What is the difference between Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot? Both of them were chosen as apostles and both of them betrayed our Lord at the time that He needed them the most; yet one is the Prince of the Apostles and a saint, the other is the greatest of sinners. The first time that Judas was named as the betrayer in the Gospel of St. John was just after Jesus taught the crowds about the doctrine of His Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist. Jesus told them He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him (John 6:5456). Many who had been following Jesus deserted Him because of this teaching, including Judas. Jesus then asked His apostles: Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil? St. John explains: He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was to betray Him (John 6:70-71). Judas remained in the apostolic band, but no longer believed in Jesus. Peter was also on the scene and he didnt understand those most startling words of Jesus any more than the others, but when Jesus asked the apostles Will you also go away? Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God. Peter believed in Jesuswhile Judas did notand Peter would wait until the Last Supper when Jesus would change the bread and wine into His body and blood for the first time so that they could eat His flesh and drink His blood in a way that was beautiful and good. John told us another difference between Judas and Peter. When Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus with the expensive perfumed oil, Judas complained asking why the oil wasnt sold and the money given to the poor. John explains This he said, not that he cared for the poor but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to take what was put into it (John 12:6). Judas was greedy and a thief; he had attachments to the things of this world that were keeping him from believing in JesusPeter did not.

The next difference is that Judas plotted to betray Jesus. He planned it out with the chief priests and the Pharisees as we heard in the Passion of St. John tonight. He selected the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus often went with His apostles to pray; he arranged the signthe kiss of friendshipand led the band of soldiers and guards armed with lanterns, torches, and weapons to Jesus. Peters betrayal was not planned; it happened on the spur of the moment when he felt trapped and afraid. His betrayal was due to a momentary lapse of weakness, not a planned event. In the end the main difference between Peter the betrayer and Judas the betrayer is true repentance. Judas realized what he had done and took the 30 pieces of silver back to the temple where he threw it to the ground. He hated what he had done, but he did not turn to Jesus in sorrow and in prayer. It is not uncommon to have some thing from a persons past that they regret; they hate it, but they do not see it as something that hurt Jesus personally and needs repentance; they are thinking only of themselves and their foolishness or weakness. True repentance cannot be repentance to the universe or some cosmic power or to oneself, but to God who loves us. Judas empty repentance led to despair and suicide. Peters journey of repentance began immediately after his fall from grace. After his third betrayal, denying that he even knew Jesus, he heard the cock crow and remembered the prediction of Jesus at the Last Supper: Before the cock crows today you will deny me three times (Luke. 22:71). That sound woke Peter up from the fear that paralyzed him. At that very moment Jesus was being taken out from His first trial and the Gospel simply said that the Lord turned and looked at Peter (Luke 22:61). Peter looked into that Face, into those eyes of the one he loved and believed in and knew that he had committed a grave sin. He didnt just regret it; he knew that it had hurt Jesus; the Gospel said: And he went out and wept bitterly (John 22:62). He was sorrowful, but did not despair for he turned to his God for pardon. The difference between Peter and Judas is not that one didnt sin, but one believed in Jesus and turned to Him with confidence that He would pour out His Divine Mercy upon him, the other did not. The same is true for us. We have sinned, but those who turn to the Lord and repent unto Him with sorrow and the intention to amend ones life will be forgiven and walk the road to sanctity and Heaven just like St. Peter.

Easter VigilApril 7, 2012 Jesus enemies, and surprisingly His friends, believed that the Crucifixion was the end of His life and influence. His enemies thought that they had silenced this Rabbi from Galilee by a death that was so cruel and shameful that no one would dare to honor His memory in the future. The friends of Jesus were heartbroken and discouraged; they didnt expect him to rise again on the third day, even though He had predicted His suffering, death and resurrection three times. It was difficult for the disciples of Jesus to understand that His ignominious death upon the Cross, which looked like the end of everything, was really the beginning of everything that God had planned from all eternity. We have been reflecting upon Gods great plan throughout Lent, but also in a special way tonight during this Easter Vigil. In the Old Testament Reading from the Book of Genesis we heard of the creation of the universe. God who dwells in unapproachable light created the light of the sun and the moon and the stars designing everything down to the creation of each living thing on earth. The crowning act of His creation was mankind: God created man in his image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God has always meant us to be His sons and daughters, even though the Original Sin destroyed the gift of sanctifying grace and delayed the start of this aspect of His plan. Then we heard of the rescue of the Israelite people from slavery in Egypt in the Book of Exodus, which foreshadowed our salvation from sin through baptism. The Prophet Isaiah who foretold everything from the virgin birth of Jesus to His role as the Suffering Servant spoke to us about the word of God that shall not return to me void, but shall do my will achieving the end for which I sent it. Jesus is THE WORD who would do His Fathers will perfectly becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Just like the disciples of Jesus, it is hard for us human beings to understand that sacrifice and suffering can have meaning and bear good fruit. It seems like a waste to our world which is constantly seeking its own pleasures and trying to find fulfillment in the possessions and comforts that are so readily available. Even though we have advanced in technology and many other ways beyond any other people in history, we have not advanced far beyond the selfish, self-seeking pagans of any age in the past.

Jesus came to give us a different meaning to life; to show us how to live in a different wayin the way of Love. The sacrifice of our Lord, which looked like defeat, opened the gates of grace and mercy that have changed the world and will change our lives if we let it. Moreover, when any sacrificegiving of our time, of our efforts, of our treasure without counting the costis united to Jesus crucified it becomes more valuable than the greatest treasures of this world. There is no resurrection without a death. There is no lasting joy without embracing the Cross. The law of death and resurrection is written into the very fabric of nature itself. Each autumn we see the leaves fall from the trees in what looks like a kind of death, but each spring, without fail, the new leaves sprout forth in a kind of a resurrection. That is why Jesus said: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. We have to learn to die to ourselves, so that we can truly live! This Easter Jesus is asking from us something that our world finds very difficult to do. He is asking, not for lip service, but for commitment to Him and His Church. He isnt telling us to pick and choose what we want to believe or what we find easy; He is asking us to follow Him unreservedly He said: If you love me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:15). He wants to help us overcome our laziness and indifference and get up each Sunday and go to Holy Mass which He instituted at the Last Supper as a perpetual memorial of His sacrifice on the Cross. He wants you to receive all the grace and mercy of Holy Communion and Confession, so that you can become the sons and daughters of God that you are meant to be. In a few minutes we are going to see a perfect example of what kind of commitment Jesus is asking for. Elizabeth Jackson along with four of her children, and Bryan Lindenmann will stand up and be baptized, confirmed and receive their first Holy Communion tonight. Kelley Alred will be received into the Church and receive the sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion. Russell Field will also be confirmed tonight receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They have been preparing the past year by attending weekly classes to learn about our faith and praying; they are now ready to embrace that faith as a disciple of Christ in His Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. They know that like all of us the road of life isnt easy and is filled with many temptations, but with Jesus Christ they also hope to walk along a new road that leads through the Cross to the resurrection of

eternal life. We congratulate them and with the example of their commitment to Christ we should be encouraged in our own commitment as we once again renew our own baptismal vows later in this Holy Mass. Jesus Christ is risen as He said! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Easter SundayApril 8, 2012 Jesus enemies, and surprisingly His friends, believed that the Crucifixion was the end of His life and influence. His enemies thought that they had silenced this Rabbi from Galilee by a death that was so cruel and shameful that no one would dare to honor His memory in the future. The friends of Jesus were heartbroken and discouraged; they didnt expect him to rise again on the third day, even though He had predicted His suffering, death and resurrection three times. It was difficult for the disciples of Jesus to understand that His ignominious death upon the Cross, which looked like the end of everything, was really the beginning of everything that God had planned from all eternity. We have been reflecting upon Gods great plan throughout Lent and particularly in these last days of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and now Easter. Just like the disciples of Jesus, it is hard for us human beings to understand that sacrifice and suffering can have meaning and bear good fruit. It seems like a waste to our world which is constantly seeking its own pleasures and trying to find fulfillment in the possessions and comforts that are so readily available. Even though we have advanced in technology and many other ways beyond any other people in history, we have not advanced far beyond the selfish, self-seeking pagans of any age in the past. Jesus came to give a different meaning to life; to show us how to live in a different wayin the way of Love. The sacrifice of our Lord, which looked like defeat, opened the gates of grace and mercy that have changed the world and will change our lives if we let it. In a large apple orchard a man noticed that one particular tree was so laden with apples that they had to prop up the branches; he asked the owner why it was so. He replied: Go, look at that trees trunk near the bottom. There he saw a deep gash in its trunk that had healed. The owner said: That is something we have learned about apple trees. When the tree tends to run to wood and leaves and not to fruit, we wound it, gash it, and almost always, no one knows why, this is the result: it turns it energies to fruit. Jesus sacrifice on the Cross out of complete self-giving love produced a fruitfulness that redeemed the whole world of sin. In the Second Reading of this Holy Mass, St. Paul advised us: Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life

is hidden with Christ in God. Moreover, when any sacrificegiving of our time, of our efforts, of our treasure without counting the costis united to Jesus crucified it becomes more valuable than the greatest treasures of this world. There is no resurrection without a death. There is no lasting joy without embracing the Cross. The law of death and resurrection is written into the very fabric of nature itself. Each autumn we see the leaves fall from the trees in what looks like a kind of death, but each spring, without fail, the new leaves sprout forth in a kind of a resurrection. That is why Jesus said: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. We have to learn to die to ourselves, so that we can truly live! This Easter Jesus is asking from us something that our world finds very difficult to do. He is asking, not for lip service, but for commitment to Him and His Church. He isnt telling us to pick and choose what we want to believe or what we find easy; He is asking us to follow Him unreservedly He said: If you love me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:15). In a very practical way, He wants to help us overcome our laziness and indifference and get up each Sunday and go to Holy Mass which He instituted at the Last Supper as a perpetual memorial of His sacrifice on the Cross. He wants you to receive all the grace and mercy of Holy Communion and Confession, so that you can become the sons and daughters of God that you are meant to be. Last night, at the beautiful Easter Vigil, we saw a perfect example of what kind of commitment Jesus is asking for. Elizabeth Jackson along with four of her children, and Bryan Lindenmann stood up and were baptized, confirmed and received their first Holy Communion. Kelley Alred was received into the Church and received the sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion. Russell Field was confirmed receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They prepared the past year by attending weekly classes to learn about our faith and praying; along with hundreds of others throughout the Archdiocese in every parish, they were ready to embrace that faith as a disciple of Christ in His Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. They know that like all of us the road of life isnt easy and is filled with many temptations, but with Jesus Christ they also hope to walk along a new road that leads through the Cross to the resurrection of eternal life.

With the example of their commitment to Christ we should be encouraged in our own commitment as we once again renew our own baptismal vows in this Holy Mass. Jesus Christ is risen as He said! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Divine Mercy SundayApril 15, 2012 It may seem as if God changed between the Old Testament and the New Testament! In the Old Testament, God may appear to be harsh and punishing with unbending law and plagues and plenty of fire and brimstone. In the New Testament, He clearly sends us His Son to redeem us with His sacrificial death upon the Cross, teaching the Law of Love and telling us to call Him Father because He looks upon us as His sons and daughters. With this reading of the two Testaments, it may seem as if God has changed. The truth of the matter is that God has not changedwe have! The CCC (#313) teaches In God there is no variation or shadow due to change. God is He who Is, from everlasting to everlasting, and as such remains ever faithful to Himself and to His promises. Because of Good Friday and Easter Sunday humanity is different; we have changed and our perspective is different. Jesus won for us the gift of sanctifying grace, which has lifted up our fallen humanity and made us a new creation. Before our Redemption, God was dealing with a totally depraved humanity that was prone to idolatry and had little understanding as to what was good and right in His sight. Even His chosen people had to constantly be called back to His Law and suffer the consequences of forsaking Him. From the point of view of sinful humanity the virtue of Fear of the Lord, looked like we should be afraid of God who was all too ready to punish us for straying from His commands. Now through the teaching of Jesus and His Church, we understand that God is our loving Father who wants us to act like sons and daughters and receive all the blessings and rewards that it entails. Fear of the Lord for the Christian can only mean fear of offending our Father God by our sin because He loves us so much and we love Him. How has sanctifying grace changed us? The first effect of sanctifying grace is the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God who justifies us makes us right with Him. It is at baptism that we first receive sanctifying grace and the forgiveness of sins. Jesus didnt wait to talk about forgiveness of sins; at the first meeting with the apostles on Easter Sunday evening, Jesus established the Sacrament of PenanceConfession. The Gospel told us that He breathed upon them, saying: Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained. The Church was to go forth and bring the forgiveness

of sins to the whole world and she continues to do so through the great Sacrament of Gods Mercy. The example of the Apostle Thomas in the Gospel gives us another clear example of the effect of sanctifying grace. After the resurrection the apostles clearly didnt believe that Jesus had risen. They wouldnt believe Mary Magdalene who saw Him first near the empty tomb, nor the two disciples who were walking on the road to Emmaus and recognized Him in the breaking of the bread at supper. At the first appearance of Jesus to the apostles on Easter Sunday evening Thomas wasnt present. He heard from his brother apostles the glorious news, but would not believe even them: Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. It is only the next week, when he saw Jesus with his own eyes that he finally received the grace of faith and knelt down saying: My Lord and my God. I wonder if he was so bold to insist on putting his finger into the nail marks! The Gospel doesnt say. Sanctifying grace can also be called the grace of faith because another of its fruits is to give us faith. Before the grace of faith, Thomas was unbelieving; afterward he knelt down in adoration before Jesus. Jesus responded to him saying: Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed. Jesus was speaking about us. We were not able to see Him in the flesh; we were not able to touch Him and talk to Him and listen to His words, but we believe. This is not our own doing! Sanctifying grace has come to us so powerfully in baptism and the other sacraments that we are able to base our lives upon our faith. A living faith gives us a whole new perspective on life; it causes us to act even in heroic ways. Look how it affected the first Christians in the Acts of the Apostles. The First Reading said that the community of believers was of one heart and mind. They were united and shared what they had with one another so that no one was in need. They were living a new kind of life because of their faith in Jesus and their unity in the Church. Even the pagans would look at the first Christians in amazement and say: See, how they love one another! It is a wonderful thing for me as a priest to hear how peoples lives have been changed by the sacraments. After the Easter Vigil we get those who

celebrated the sacraments that night together to speak about their experiences. It is always true that before baptism or their entry into the Church they knew they needed something more in their lives; they may have felt lost and uncertain, but the grace of the sacraments came to them and something changed within them they say; they now belong to Christ. Sanctifying grace can also be called Divine Mercy. This Sunday after Easter has become known as Divine Mercy Sunday because Blessed John Paul officially declared it to be so while he was Pope. He took this action in response to the apparitions of Jesus to St. Faustina Kowalska. She was a Polish Sister who received messages in the 1930s that Jesus wanted the world, which was about to plunge into World War II, to know that He was ready to pour out His Divine Mercy upon the whole world to bring healing and hope. He wanted this Sunday to be officially declared Divine Mercy Sunday. The painting in the vestibule shows the full figure of Jesus with two rays of red and white coming from His chest and the two rays of red and white in the painting in our sanctuary recall these apparitions. The two rays are meant to remind us of Jesus whose Sacred Heart was pierced by the soldiers spear on Calvary and poured forth Blood and Water; they are symbols of the grace of the Sacraments and His mercy which shine upon the hearts of all believers and the whole world. He wants everyone to know of His Divine Mercy and called us to pray Jesus, I trust in You and For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us, and on the whole world. This is the time of mercy for us; we should open our hearts and say with St. Thomas as the consecrated Host is held up for our adoration at this Holy Mass: My Lord and my God and then add have mercy on us and on the whole world.

April 22, 2012Third Sunday of Easter Shortly after Pentecost, Peter and John went up to the Temple to pray when a man who was lame from birth begged them for alms. Peters response was I have no silver or gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. The man was instantly, miraculously cured. This attracted a large crowd and Peter addressed them in the words of the First Reading. Peter is very clear about who Jesus was and the circumstances of his death, he said: The Author of life you put to death, but God raised Him from the dead; of this we are witnesses. At the same time, He gave them an excuse, which could soften their hearts so that they could convert. He said: Now I know, brothers, that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did. . . Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away. The Acts of the Apostles told us the results of this healing and sermon by the first pope, St. Peter. First, Peter and John were arrested and thrown into jail; secondly, many people began to believe and the Bible gives us a number about 5,000. 3,000 were baptized at Pentecost and now 5,000; you can see how the Holy Spirit was at work, converting hearts to Jesus through the witness of His Church. That isnt the end of the story; the next day the apostles were brought to trial, but the leaders could not punish them for fear of the people, since the man that Peter healed was so well known and the miracle was indisputable. They decided only to threaten the apostles and admonish them not to speak of Jesus. As Christians, we should respect those in government or religion who have been given authority over us. However, if the commandments of God are violated or the revealed truth of God is denied, Christians cannot stand idly by. The Acts of the Apostles told us that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit when he answered the chief priests: Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard (4:19). The next time they were arrested, Peter stated simply: We must obey God rather than men (5:29). This time they were scourged before they were released. Unlike the apostles, we readily complain when our comfort is violated in the least way; if I dont get my way, or someone gets in my way, I make sure that they feel my wrath; if I feel offended by a word or deed of another, I make sure that they and everyone knows how my rights were violated and

how I have been hurt. On the other hand, when it comes to defending Christ or His Church, we are far more reserved; we will let people bash the Pope or the bishop who is only standing up for the revealed truth of God, whether it be revealed doctrine or the natural moral law. We dont utter a word if someone is mocking Christ or using his name in vain. The apostles were willing to be arrested and scourged and martyred for their faith because they knew that it was something that had to be defended and was worth defending; it was something to die for! The culture of the last 50 years has had anti-authoritarianism as its hallmark. Question Authority is the bumper sticker that expresses it. Like the apostles, we have to judge whether human authority is in conformity with, or at least not in violation of, Gods law as taught by His Churchfor there is unjust authority. What has happened, particularly since the 1960s is not the rejection of unjust authority, but the rejection of any authority that goes against my personal desires or whims, especially when it came to the sexual revolution that took place in that time. God became the oppressor; the Churchs teaching was met with ridicule or dissent. Among Catholics, dissent from the authentic moral teachings and liturgical practice became a virtue. You would hear Catholics after Vatican Council II speak of the spirit of the Council which was really a phrase that meant you dont have to look at the actual words and meaning of the Pope and bishops from Vatican Council II, but make it say whatever you wantand they did! Many people lost their faith when they were taught a watered down Catholicism that turned the Bible into a myth and substituted a weak psychology for true teaching and devotion. Eucharistic and Marian devotions were almost lost during these decades. In the Second Reading, St. John summed up the teaching of the whole Bible in this regard by telling us that obedience is the virtue; dissent and disobedience are the vice. He wrote, The way we may be sure that we know [Jesus] is to keep His commandments. Those who say, I know Him, but do not keep His commandments are liars, and the truth is not in them. But whoever keeps His word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. The CCC (#143) puts it this way: By faith, man completely submits his intellect and his will to God. With his whole being man gives his assent to God the revealer. Sacred Scripture calls this human response to God the author of revelation, the obedience of faith. Blessed John Newman wrote: A thousand questions do not make a single doubt. Questions that naturally arise about faith and morals should

be examined and studied with the idea there is an answer because God who has revealed the Catholic faith is Truth itself. Instead of seeking the truth with faith many simply doubt and fall away. One of the things that we make clear to those new Catholics who have been received into the Church is that they have to keep studying and nourishing their faith. If they dont it will soon be smothered by the cares and pleasures of the world and even those who spent so many hours preparing for the Easter sacraments can soon see it disappear from their lives. The same is true for all Catholics, even if you have been a Catholic since birth. You have to work at your faith and come to a deeper understanding of her teachings. Recently, a man wrote me praising a friend who had thoroughly studied a dozen or so religions and compared them to one another finding good and bad in each. I responded that I have been studying the Catholic faith all my life and I still have not thoroughly grasped all of its implications because there is always some new insight to discover; and I am still amazed by its beauty and truth. Our faith is like a finely cut diamond whose facets can be observed from different angles and in different lights and whose beauty never fades. May the grace of this Easter season renew our desire to pray and study and follow Jesus our Risen Savior. As we heard in our psalm at this Holy Mass: O Lord, let the light of your countenance shine upon us! You put gladness into my heart.

Fourth Sunday of Easter - April 28, 2012 A travel in Greece was told by his guide that the shepherds gave names to their sheep and that the sheep obeyed the shepherd when it was called. He decided to test it by asking a shepherd if he would call one of his sheep out of the flock. Immediately, after the shepherd called, one sheep lifted his head and ran up to the shepherd, nuzzling his hand like a dog might do. The shepherd knew his sheep and the sheep knew and obeyed the shepherd. The Fourth Sunday of Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday and Jesus applied the image of a shepherd to Himself in the Gospel. I am the Good Shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. Jesus knows each one of us personally and loves each of us as an individual. When He died on the Cross, He died for you as if you were the only one who needed salvation. It is difficult for us to grasp a love like this because our love is so often limited and small; Divine Love is unlimited and magnanimous. If we believe that Jesus is the Good Shepherd then we have to be the good sheep. We respond by obeying His commands because He truly loves us and wants the best for us. At times that means self-denial and it certainly means mastery of our human weaknesses and faults that so often pull us away from the true good. It is when things, like suffering, dont make sense that we are called to follow the Good Shepherd, nonetheless. Tomorrow morning, Archbishop Carlson will celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and dedicate our new Church. The Rite of Dedication of a Church and Altar is a very meaningful ceremony. In it the Archbishop sprinkles the people and walls with Holy Water and then he pours the oil of Holy Chrism upon the four corners of the altar and in the center and anoints it. After that, he anoints four places on the walls below the candles that are now in place. The altar candles and the consecration candles are then lit. These are signs that the building is consecrated as a sacred place for divine worship. Finally, he celebrates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and puts the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle, which is empty at the beginning. You can see a connection between the dedication of a Church and what happens to us as Christians. We were sprinkled or washed with Holy Water that cleansed us from sin and gave us sanctifying grace in the Sacrament of

Baptism. The bishop anointed our forehead in the form of a cross with the oil of Holy Chrism in the Sacrament of Confirmation. By the way, the children of our parish received the Sacrament of Confirmation from Archbishop Carlson this afternoon at the Cathedral. By these sacraments which are mirrored in the Rite of Dedication of the Church we too are consecrated to God. We belong to Him; we belong to Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd. This consecration is renewed every time we come to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and are united to Him by receiving Holy Communion or by making a spiritual communion. We have to give thanks to God on this dedication Sunday for all that He has done for us in bringing us to this day. Humanly speaking, this Church was an impossible dream. When we were founded on April 28, 2006 this was the fastest growing area in the state, but it wasnt long until the housing market crash and economic downturn rapidly ended it. It seemed impossible to build in that economic climate. Divine Providence guided us and turned the impossible into reality; it is a dream come true! We also want to give thanks to the Blessed Virgin Mary and good St. Joseph whom we invoked time and time again to get us over all the obstacles that arose over these past six years. This parish Church is a place that we can finally call home to worship God in a fitting manner and live the life of holiness and love that we are called to as Christians, yet it is also a gift to the Archdiocese of St. Louis. I would like to list just two reasons. First, the tabernacle and pews, and above, all the beautiful stained glass windows are part of the historic and religious patrimony of the Archdiocese. They were originally make for St. Philip Neri Church in North St. Louis some 80 years ago and we are now able to continue their use in St. Gianna Church. We are the custodians of these treasures. Secondly, the parish is named for St. Gianna, wife, mother and doctor who died 50 years ago today. We were the first parish in the United States named for this saint canonized by Blessed John Paul in 2004. St. Gianna exemplified in her life the Catholic response to all the issues that are most pressing in our country at this time of history. The four paintings in the sanctuary illustrate her significance, each with a theme from her life; pro-life, marriage and family, her love of the Church and healing. She lived her life with an overflowing joy, even in the face of suffering, particularly in her final sacrifice that allowed her unborn baby to be born. She and this Parish named for her are a reminder that we who are consecrated to Jesus

Through the sacraments have the duty to live our Catholic faith in the same kind of sacrificial love and joy. We are very grateful to her intercession in bringing us to this day. St. Gianna, continue to pray for us.

Fifth Sunday of EasterMay 6, 2012 As He does in the Gospel today, Jesus often used nature to teach spiritual truths. He said: I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit. We dont need a botanist to give us a scientific explanation of how the sap comes from the vine and gives life to the branches so that they can produce leaves and then grapesit is obvious. We have also seen the effects of a branch cut off from the vineit withers and dies. Jesus came into the world to give us life. He wasnt speaking about our human life which we already have through the creation of our immortal soul by God and the cooperation of our parentsHe came to give us divine life. We call this divine life sanctifying grace. God puts His very life into us through the gift of grace. This has certain wonderful effects upon us; one of them is that it makes us ready for Heaven. We need to be in the state of grace in order to enter Heaven. How do we get sanctifying grace? First, it is a gift from God. We are given this gift in Baptism and if it is lost through mortal sin, it is restored in Confession through a sincere conversion of heart. All of the sacraments were established by Jesus to give us sanctifying grace or increase it within us, especially the Queen of the Sacraments, the Holy Eucharist. Sometimes people will tell me that their son or daughter has joined another Christian denomination and they will add: at least they are going to church. While there are many good people in other Christian denominations who believe in Jesus and are doing much good, they do not have the whole truth and the biggest piece of the puzzle that they are missing is the seven sacraments. We Catholics seldom realize the priceless treasure that we have in the sacraments; if we did we could never leave the Catholic Church. You may say that you dont feel any difference when you receive a sacrament, although many do. On the reverse side, those who sin mortally and cut themselves off from God may say that they dont feel any difference, although many do feel the pang of their conscience. St. John said in the Second Reading: Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God and receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. He is telling us that

I have to examine my conscience in the light of the commandments of God to know where I stand before Him. We have to be careful about relying on feelings as the main source of knowledge about where we stand before God; often they are the most unreliable. We can love without affectionate feelings; we can believe without warm feelings. Sometimes those feelings can actually be a hindrance to true faith and true love because we seek them as a reward when we should be giving of ourselves without seeking any return. Faith, hope and love, at their deepest expression, are an act of the willI choose to believe and hope and love. God is not a dictator who controls and forces us to do His will even when he is moving us to do something for our own good; He always wants our free response. The old maxim applies here: Grace builds upon nature. Gods grace works with our human limitations and weaknesses. He knows you as an individual and He is always calling you in the circumstances of your life. He loves us just the way we are, but doesnt want to leave us there; He wants us to become betterto become nothing less than saints! Our First Reading told us what happened to Saul, now Paul, after his conversion. Remember that he was on the road to Damascus to continue persecuting the Church when he was struck down and saw a vision of Jesus. He was blinded and led into the city by his companions. There he prayed and fasted and was baptized. The bible said that something like scales fell from his eyes at baptism. Very dramatic, but very symbolic because up until then, even though he had his eyesight, he could not see the most important thingthe truth the Jesus was the Savior who had been promised in the Old Testament; baptism changed that! After his baptism, the Acts of the Apostles told us that Paul returned to Jerusalem a different man. At first the Christians were afraid of him, but Barnabas took charge of him and brought him to the apostles, and he reported to them how he had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. We cannot earn grace, any more than a branch can get the sap on its own, but we can dispose ourselves to receive grace. When we do deeds of prayer, penance and good works we open our hearts to receive more from God. Gods grace in turn helps us to conquer our sins and human weakness and grow in virtue. St. John said in the Second Reading: Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. As we do those good deeds, little by little, and gently, God builds upon our human nature to

fashion the image of Jesus Christ within us. The sacraments are vital in this plan of God to get us ready for Heaven. That is why the Holy Eucharist, daily if possible, and frequent Confession are needed to build us up; they are indispensable. Surely, there are more parishioners of St. Giannas who could come and make a Holy hour on Mondays before the Blessed Sacrament exposed upon the altar! The sad thing is that many people are miserable in life; the best that they can do is look for the next pleasure for themselves. They go from pleasure to pleasure, but never feel at peace or fulfilled. Often their conscience has become so deadened by sin that dont even know what they should seek. The answer is to listen to the voice of God who always speaks to our hearts; He has called us to be His sons and daughters in Jesus, His only-begotten Son. Through Him, and with Him and in Him we pray at Holy Mass. We have to be defined and get our self-worth from being children of our Father God. How many people define themselves by the lowest common denominator? For example, they think that their sexuality is the most important aspect of their lives and brag about their sexual or define themselves by their sexual orientation. We have been told that things like wealth or success or power bring us happiness and self-worth. They are lies that are not easy to overcome; they are all far less important than the fact that you are a son or daughter of God and are seeking your true home of Heaven. Jesus is the true vine and He has come to give you life.

May 13, 2012Sixth Sunday of Easter It is difficult for us to believe that the way to love and joy is through obedience to the commands of God. We rebel against someone, even God, telling us what to do; we think that commandments are oppressive and hold us down; if I can only live my life the way I want and express myself without anyone telling me what to do then I will be happy. Jesus told us that the opposite is true, He said in todays Gospel: If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Fathers commandments and remain in His love. . . . I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete. He doesnt tell us to do something that He Himself hasnt done. He was and is perfectly obedient to His Father. It was a number of years ago that Paul Scott, an athletic high school student was struck down with leprosy. After six lonely years, he was finally cured, but his face was horribly disfigured and he walked with a limp. One night as he was walking all alone down the streets of New York, he stopped by St. Patricks Cathedral, although he was not a Catholic. A priest arranged for him to meet Bishop Fulton Sheen. Depressed, Paul told him: I have come to you because I have no one else to turn to. I havent a friend in the world. Well, now you have one, the bishop smiled and invited him to dinner the next night. It was the first of many dinners. Bishop Sheen told Paul: God has a purpose for your life. It is up to us to find it. When Bishop Sheen was installed as Bishop of Rochester, New York, Paul was invited and sat in a pew near the center aisle. As the bishop walked down the aisle he stopped the entrance procession, put his arms around Pauls shoulders and whispered: Its nice to have you here, Paul. A woman nearby asked Paul Are you a representative from the Vatican? No, Said Paul, just a friend. The love of friendship is very powerful. Jesus has called us His friends in todays Gospel: I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain. To be a friend of an important person had great significance; Abraham was called a friend of God. At the courts of emperors and kings there was a very select group who were called the friends of the king. They had access to the king at all times and had the right to come into his bedroom at the beginning of the day

to be the first to speak to him. He talked to them even before he spoke to his generals and other statesmen. The friends of the king had the most intimate connection to him. We are the friends of the King of kings, Jesus Christ. It means that we have access to Him at all times, especially in His Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist. People are constantly texting and talking to friends on their cell phones; we dont need any device to talk to our best Friend, Jesus Christ; He is always listening; He is always paying attention to us. For our part, we need to be a good friend, too, and take the time to talk to Jesus each day. Prayervocal prayer or mental prayer, especially the Holy Massis meant to be conversation with God our dearest Friend. Even if we dont feel any concrete difference, we always benefit from prayer because we spend time with our Lord. Friendship, like all love, must be shared in order to bear fruit. The love that the Servant of God, Archbishop Fulton Sheen showed to Paul Scott flowed from his love for Jesus. St. John advised us in the Second Reading: Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. We need to be careful about sins against love like rash judgment, detraction or calumny (CCC #2477). These sins, which are sometimes loosely called gossip, harm or destroy the reputation of others. Rash judgment assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor. With this attitude we think the worst of people rather than give them the benefit of the doubt. The CCC says To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbors thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way (#2478). Even though we would like people to give us a break we dont do it for them when we make a rash judgment. The sin of detraction occurs when, without an objectively valid reason, [we] disclose anothers faults and failings to persons who did not know them. There are times when we have to warn others of real dangers from another person, but we need to ask ourselves before we speak Does this person really need to know this? If they dont, then we have committed the sin of detraction. Calumny is the most serious because it makes up false statements to harm the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.

It is important for us to examine the motives behind these sins when we commit them in order to know ourselves better and correct them. Why do we commit acts of rash judgment and detraction and calumny? Perhaps we want to seem important at the expense of others or we are jealous of them. Maybe we want to minimize our sins and faults, so we point out the faults of otherswe look better in comparison to them. Maybe, we just refuse to forgive, so we keep going over the past hurts again and again, never letting them go. In our mind we think that the person who did this harmful deed still hasnt paid back the debt he owesthe question is: when will it ever be enough so that I can let it go? St. Johns words should give us pause: In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as expiation for our sins. If God has so loved us that He has taken our sins upon himself and paid the debt by His death on the Cross, shouldnt we be able to forgive and forget and excuse the faults of others, rather than trumpet them for all the world to know? The Golden Rule is a most sound moral principle to guide us : Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. On this Mothers Day, we think about the blessing that we have through a mothers love. We have seen the virtues and goodness of love time after time in our mothers example. Even though it takes great sacrifice, mothers seem to naturally reflect the love of the Heart of Jesus in their many deeds for their children. We are grateful to God for the gift of our mother, whether she is living or dead. Lets ask the Blessed Mother Mary to guide and protect and bless all mothers on this Mothers Day and every day of the year.

May 20, 2012Solemnity of the Ascension After the resurrection Jesus appeared to His disciples for forty days; He proved that He was alive, explained all the prophecies about Himself and instructed them on preaching of the Gospel and the establishment of the Church. They wouldnt be able to fully understand the great mission that He was entrusting to them until the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit would enlighten them and give them courage. After this time period, Jesus gathered His disciples together on the holy mountain, instituted the Sacrament of Baptism and then ascended up into the clouds. Jesus took our glorified human nature up to the very throne of God where He reigns as the God-man with His Father and the Holy Spirit in glory and majesty. The Collect for the Ascension says: where the Head has gone before in glory, the Body is called to follow in hope. What has happened to Jesus is a foreshadowing of what will happen to us. Our hope for Heaven is not just a vague wish it would be nice; it is something certain that we can count upon if we are faithful. As a matter of fact, the power of God has already begun to transform us from the moment that we were baptized. We were given the very life of God in our souls, called sanctifying grace. All of the other sacraments in their own way either restore it or strengthen it within us. Little by little, we are walking the path to Heaven through the grace of the sacraments. Three weeks ago Archbishop Carlson celebrated the Rite of Dedication of the Church and Altar in our new Church. What he did to the Church in that ceremony is done to us through the Sacraments of InitiationBaptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion. For many Christian denominations a Church is just a functional building; the building has no meaning beyond a stage for worship. For Catholics, it is a symbol for who we are and what we believe. That is why we should build our Churches strong and beautiful. This building stands for us as disciples of Christ. St. Peter compared the People of God to the stones of a building, he wrote: and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5). St. Paul reminds us that your body is the temple of the holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). Lets reflect on the Rite of Dedication to better understand its meaning for us. At the very beginning of the Dedication Mass, Archbishop Carlson blessed water and sprinkled the water upon the people and the walls of the

Church and finally the altar. Sprinkling with Holy Water always reminds us of our baptism. The waters of baptism washed us clean of sin and made of us a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, so the sprinkling of the walls and altar acts as a sign of the purification of this building for the pure worship of God. After the liturgy of the Word we sang the Litany of the Saints, invoking all our heavenly brothers and sisters to pray for us before the very throne of God, especially, our patron, St. Gianna. Next the deacon carried the altar stone which contains the relics of saints to the Archbishop and he placed it in the altar. From the first centuries of Christianity when the Church often found itself under persecution, the Christians of Rome would secretly gather in the catacombs to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The altar would often be the very tomb of a martyr who had recently died for the faith. Ever since then, we have put the relics of saints in the altars that we use for Holy Mass. Our altar stone is one foot square, by one inch thick of marble with the relics of martyrs of the early ChurchSts. Clement, Vincent and Liberati. After the prayer of Dedication, the Archbishop put on the linen gremial, which is a kind of apron to protect his vestments, and anointed the altar with the oil of Holy Chrism. This is the same oil that is used when we are anointed in the Sacrament of Confirmation and are then dedicated to Christ in that great Sacrament of the Holy Spirit. The Archbishop poured out the oil on the four corners of the altar and the center and rubbed it in. He then went to four places in the Church and anointed the walls by making a cross with the holy oil. Those four spots are marked by the consecration candles that permanently hang there. Next the incense was burned upon the altar to make a great cloud of smoke rise up to the ceiling. (I made sure that the smoke detectors were turned off that morning so that we didnt have the fire department join our ceremony). Incense is a symbol of our fragrant prayers that rise up to Almighty God when we worship Him. The Book of Revelation speaks about a golden bowl full of incense made of the prayers of the saints (Rev. 5:8). The altar is an altar of sacrifice: in the Old Testament, the animal that was sacrificed was burnt up in a holocaust to God on the altar with its smoke rising up to the sky. We now offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which is the unbloody sacrifice that renews the one sacrifice of Jesus upon the Cross for our sanctification. One of the Prefaces for Easter pointed to Jesus who By the oblation of His Body, He brought the sacrifices of old to

fulfillment in the reality of the Cross and, by commending Himself to You for our salvation, showed Himself the Priest, the Altar, and the Lamb of sacrifice. In the Rite of Dedication deacon went around the Church incensing the people and the walls of the Church as a sign that we too offer ourselves as a holy sacrifice to God by our prayers, works and sufferings that are united to Jesus Christ. Finally, the altar cloths and candles were placed upon the altar and the Archbishop handed the deacon a candle lighter with which he lit the altar candles and then the consecration candles on the walls. It is a sign that the light of Christ has come to into this Church and our souls to enlighten our lives and our pathway to Heaven. The Holy Sacrifice was offered by the Archbishop and we received Holy Communion. It was a ceremony filled with meaning! You may not know that each week since the foundation was laid, I came up here and sprinkled the new work with holy water and prayed the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be and the St. Michael prayer as I walked around the building. Before the dry wall was taped, I placed medals blessed by Pope Benedict in the walls and particularly at each entrance. They are medals of the Sacred Heart, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Family, the Miraculous Medal, Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Michael and St. Josemaria. Every day I come into this beautiful Church and thank God. I hope you are filled with joy by it as I am and that it causes your heart to be lifted up in praise and gratitude toward God. When you come into this House of God, you expect to see it in good repairso far, no leaks! You want it to be a place that is noble and worthy of the worship of God clean and in good order. If the Building stands for us as believers, we should also make sure that our souls are clean and pure. Obviously, we are all sinners, but we should cleanse our souls from sin by frequent Confession, especially if we are conscious of mortal sin. If we are the living stones of this Church, then we should make sure our intentions are in right orderso often, we need to rectify them because we come to Church with distracted and self-centered intentions; our minds can be on every thing except the right thing. We are here to give God the worship and praise and love that He deserves. The Responsorial Psalm made us think of Jesus at the Ascension: God mounts His throne amid shouts of joy; the Lord, amid trumpet blasts. Sing praise to God, sing praise; sing praise to our King, sing praise.

May 27, 2012Pentecost Sunday The Gospel took us back to the Upper Room, that most sacred place, where Jesus offered the first Holy Mass at the Last Supper. The newly risen Christ appeared to His apostles for the first time there and gave them the first installment of the Holy Spirit. He breathed on them and said Receive the Holy Spirit. One of the first acts of the Holy Spirit is the purification of the soul by the forgiveness of sins; so our Lord then instituted the Sacrament of Confession: Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained. Jesus gave them this first gift of the Holy Spirit on Easter Sunday, but the Holy Spirit would not come in His fullness for 50 dayson Pentecost Sunday. Chapter Two of the Acts of the Apostles told us of that great event in the First Reading. The Apostles were once again in the Upper Room or Cenacle praying for the Holy Spirit to come as Jesus had instructed them. The Blessed Mother was with them and no doubt they asked her about the first 30 years of the life of Jesus, which she knew like no one else. Every incident from the announcement of His birth to His first words to what He did in His daily work to His leaving home to begin His public life became a precious memory for them to treasure. The Blessed Mothers holiness and purity acted like a lightning rod for the Holy Spirit; He came upon them on Pentecost Sunday with miraculous signs. There was a mighty wind that blew through the house and was so loud that it attracted a great crowd from the neighboring houses filled with pilgrims for the Jewish festival. Then tongues as of fire appeared over their heads. We wear read vestments for the Holy Spirit to recall the red flames of that first Pentecost. Finally, the apostles went out and spoke to the crowds and St. Peter gave the first Christian sermon. The people who came from many different lands and spoke many different languages could understand the apostles without difficulty. The Holy Spirit united them in the one language of faith. The second stained glass window from the back on St. Josephs side illustrates the line from the Creed which says I believe in the Holy Ghost. The top image shows Pentecost Sunday with the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove directly over the Blessed Virgin with four of the apostles around her; all with flames of fire over their heads.

The Holy Spirit always brings unity; the devil brings division. The name Satan comes from a word that means to break apart and smash. You can always tell the influence of Satan when we feel discouraged and hopeless; he wants us to fall into our own little world of self-pity. He wants us to think that we are alone. It is the Holy Spirit, the Consoler, who unites us to God and His Church through the fire of His Love and lifts up our hearts. The middle image in the stained glass window of the Holy Spirit shows Him again in the form of a dove over the head of the pope who is seated upon the Chair of Peter, symbolizing his teaching office, wearing the triple crown with two angels by his side. The Holy Spirit brings unity to the Church by guaranteeing that the official teaching of the pope is kept free from error. We need this work of the Holy Spirit in order to ensure that we have the authentic teaching of Christ until the end of the world. There have been many heresies since the beginning of the Church and the Holy Spirit has always allowed the Church to recognize them and present the true teaching anew. If Catholics, including Catholic politicians, encourage dissent or choose only the teachings that they want to follow as if they were in a cafeteria, they are not listening to the Holy Spirit. Pope Benedict announced that the whole Church will celebrate a Year of Faith beginning this October. One of the things that he wants us to do is to study the teachings of our faith, particularly the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We need to increase our knowledge of the Catholic faith; believing in God goes hand in hand with knowing Him. In his letter announcing the Year of Faith, he wrote: The Church on the day of Pentecost demonstrated with utter clarity this public dimension of believing and proclaiming ones faith fearlessly to every person. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit that makes us fit for mission and strengthens our witness, making it frank and courageous (#10). It is difficult to believe that in 21st century America we might have to face the same kind of persecution that the first Christians endured from the Roman Empire. Bishop after bishop has been warning us that the HHS mandate may be the beginning; that is why 41 Catholic institutions, including our own Archdiocese, have sued the federal government. We have to have the courage to witness to our faith and defend it. St. Paul taught that there was a clear difference between those who live according to the desire of the flesh and those who live by the Spirit.

He gave us a catalogue of evils in our Second Reading and a list of the fruits of the Holy Spirit; they have nothing in common. There is probably a sermon in each word, but I would like to look at the first word of each list. Immorality heads the list that leads to the slavery of sin. It is accurate to say that one of the new virtues that Christianity brought to the world was chastity. The ancient world was filled with sexual immoralityChristians remained chaste until married and faithful to their spouse all of their lives. This was remarkable in a world that not only condoned sexual immorality, but thought that they were acting like the pagan gods who were themselves immoral. Sad to say, some things never change; our world condones every kind of immorality that the ancient world practiced. On the other hand, the first fruit of the Holy Spirit is love. The Greeks had three words for love: eros, philia and agape. Eros means the kind of love of a man for a woman which has passion in it; philia is the love of friendship; agape is the love that is self sacrificial, gives without counting the cost and seeks the good of the person without using them for ones selfish reasons. Agape love was considered too high for mere mortals in the pagan world, but this is the word that is used throughout the New Testament to express the love that God has for us and that we should have for Him and one another. We could not live this godly kind of love without the grace of the Holy Spiritit would indeed be too far above us. Lets go back to our stained glass window and the bottom illustration of the work of the Holy Spirit. He is again pictured as a dove sitting on the shoulder of St. Thomas Aquinas with two angels holding his greatest writing the Summa Theologica. St. Thomas is looking at a vision of the Holy Eucharist. His explanation of the Real Presence using the word transubstantiation is the best we have in the history of the Church. The Holy Spirit moved him and moves us to love Jesus truly present in the Holy Eucharist. As the many grains of wheat are made into the one loaf of bread, so we though many, who receive our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion, are united in the most wonderful way in one Church and one faith. Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Your love.

June 3, 2012Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Each Sunday we profess, I believe in one God. In a Gallop poll taken last year 92% of Americans said that they believe in God; every time that this has been asked in the last century over 90% have answered the same way. It is encouraging to see that the vast majority of Americans have some kind of faith in God. In the First Reading, Moses reminded the Israelite people that God had done great miracles on their behalf to free them from slavery in Egypt. He asked: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did and live? Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders . . . ? Moses demanded a response, not just in words, but in deeds. They were to fix their hearts on faith in the one true God and they were to obey His commandments. As important as it is for us to profess our faith in words as we do in the Creed each Sunday, it is not enough; it demands deeds of faith. Even though so many Americans profess their belief in God, we dont know exactly what that means in actual practice. Some people are just hedging their bet when they answer that way; they have been taught that there is a God and most people seem to believe it, so if there is a God, theyd be better off saying yes I believe in Him. Some people think that they are god, in the sense that they are the ultimate judge of right and wrong; there is no one higher who can tell them what to do. Too many people make God over into their own imagewhatever they want, whatever their flaws may be it is all right because God is just like them and wants what they want. It is important for us to come to a true understanding of God. We dont have to make it up because He has revealed Himself and established a Church to teach in His name. Today we are celebrating the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. The CCC teaches that The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in Himself (CCC #234). God has so honored us that He has revealed His inner self, His inner life to us so that we can get to know Him in a personal wayFather, Son and Holy Spirit, one God in three Divine Persons.

God is not an impersonal force like in the Star Wars movies where the characters imitate our greeting at Holy Mass by saying The Force be with you. We greet one another in the Person of Jesus who is our LordThe Lord be with you. He wants a personal relationship with us and revealed that He is the eternal Son of the Eternal Father and that the Holy Spirit is the eternal Bond of Love. God is all powerful, but rather than a solitary force, He is more like a family of persons who love one another and are united to one another in an unbreakable bond. The human family is meant to reflect the Divine Family of the most Holy Trinity. Our relationship with the Most Holy Trinity began when we were adopted by God in the Sacrament of Baptism. The Gospel this Sunday recounts some of the last words of Jesus before He ascended into the glory of Heaven. He instituted the Sacrament of Baptism at that time: Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The reason that we baptize infants as soon as possible after birth is because we want them to become adopted children of God and be members of the Kingdom of God as soon as possible. Pope Benedict was baptized on the very day that he was born! Jesus doesnt stop there; the work of the Church begins with baptizing the nations, but continues with: teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. It is the duty of the Church to teach who Jesus is and what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Many people who profess to believe in God in an opinion poll really dont know what that means or they have erroneous ideas about God. Unlike a tyrant who wants to control everything and force all others to be subject to him alone, God wants us to participate in His great work of creation, redemption and sanctification. In a wonderful way, parents participate in the creative act of God when a new life is conceived even if they arent the source of the human soul of their child. We participate in the redemption of the world when we offer up our sufferings in union with Christ crucified. We are united to the work of sanctification of others when we live our Christian faith and pray for others. So many people have converted to the Catholic faith because they saw the good example of a believing Catholic who inspired them. Another important implication of belief in a personal, all-powerful God is that He is in charge and I dont have to take responsibility for the whole

world. Yes, I have to be responsible for my own actions and do my part, but it is really God who is guiding all things according to His wonderful plan. Blessed Pope John XXIII who was burdened with so many problems reported that at the end of the day he would say: It is Your Church, O Lord, Im going to bed. Even though we have good reason to fear for the future of our country and religious freedom; even though we may have financial problems or illness or face death, we too have to entrust all things to the Most Blessed Trinity in faith and confidence. Now having said this, I have to point out that we will often times have a battle within ourselves to have true faith in God. Like many of you, I wake up at night worrying if we are going to have enough money to pay our bills and pay back the loan on our beautiful Church or worry about the problems that others have made known to me, so I have to wrestle with myself and get my mind back on track to trust in God and let the problem go. He can handle it so much better than I can! He knows what you are suffering; He knows what you need, which is sometimes not what we think we need; He loves you and has a plan for your good, which is better that the plan we may have for ourselves. Keep making acts of trust in the Most Blessed Trinity for He will not abandon you. St. Theresa of Jesus wrote this simple prayer of trust in God: Let nothing trouble you. / Let nothing frighten you. Everything passes. / God never changes. Patience / Obtains all. Whoever has God / Wants for nothing. God alone is enough. (CCC #227) We need to think less about our own needs and more about the praise and gratitude that we owe God. That simple prayer that we know so well beautifully praises God: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

June 10, 2012Solemnity of Corpus Christi Have you ever wondered why sacrifice and blood are so central to the worship of God? In the First Reading, we heard about the ceremony that ratified the Covenant that God made with Moses and the people of Israel. The people told Moses: We will do everything that the Lord has told us. This was followed by erecting an altar and the sacrifice of bulls. Then Moses took the blood of the bulls and splashed it upon the altar and sprinkled it on the people, saying: This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words of His. These ideas are so basic that mankind has grasped them even without the revelation of God. Pagan religions used sacrifice and in a horrible distortion, even engaged in human sacrifice. At the very beginning of human history Cain and Abel knew that they must offer sacrifice to God and the First Eucharistic Prayer asks that God will accept our sacrifice as He was pleased to accept the gifts of your servant Abel the just. The people of Israel understood that blood means life. Without your blood you will die. For us, it is a little less obvious because a blood transfusion and modern medicine can save many lives that would have been lost in former times; even so, we can still see that blood and life are intimately connected. The next step in their thinking was that life was sacred, therefore, blood was sacred. This exposes a fundamental flaw in our modern way of thinking about life. For more and more people life is not sacredwe see this expressed in abortion of innocent unborn babies and in the terrorists who kill without concern for the innocent. We hear on the daily news about people committing murder without any apparent reason or to make a statement or just because someone got in their way. We are surrounded by the culture of death which sees life as expendable and disposable. Blood is sacred in the Bible because life is sacred. Moses sprinkled that altar and the people as a sign that they too were sacred, since they had become Gods chosen people through the covenant which they promised to obey. Blood was also a sign of the need for purification from sins; for who is worthy to approach the all-holy God without repentance. The sacrifice of an animal meant giving something that was very valuable as an offering to God. The sacrifice was complete when it was burned so that they could not use it for themselves ever again. It was a way of giving a gift

to God (who really does not need anything from us), but the meaning behind the sacrifice of an animal was that in the offering of something that was precious they were also offering themselves to God. That is why the prophets will sometimes condemn the people of Israel for their sacrifices, not because the idea of sacrifice was wrong, but because they were following the ritual without the right intentions. The prophets told them that if they no longer obeyed God, by being greedy and self-seeking, then the ritual sacrifice lost its deeper meaning and became loathsome to God. It was probably only the holiest and wisest of prophets would get a little glimpse of the true meaning of sacrifice in Israels worship of God. All the millions of animals that were offered over the centuries would finally find their fulfillment in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Ultimately, sacrifice means love; the giving of oneself for the sake of the beloved. Jesus told us that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus suffering and death was the most pure expression of love. The Second Reading from the Book of Hebrews told us that when Jesus fulfilled His mission of sacrificial love upon the Cross and ascended into the heavenly sanctuary, He entered not with the blood of goats and calves but with His own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. Unlike the sacrificed animals that could not choose to live or die, Jesus freely chose to offer Himself as a sacrifice, shedding His Precious Blood, so that He could pay back the debt of sin and reconcile us to God. His desire to follow the will of His Father God was flawless, unlike our best of intentions, and thus contained the power to redeem the world. Hebrews continues: For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifers ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God? All those sacrifices of the Old Testament were preparing the way for the perfect sacrifice and the true worship of God. In order to allow us to truly worship God, Jesus instituted the unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass at the Last Supper as we heard in the Gospel. In this sacrament Calvary is renewed with all of its mercy and power to forgive and unite us to God right here and now. The sacramental sign of bread which is

consecrated into the true Body of Christ, and separately, the wine which is consecrated into the true Blood of Christ signify death. When you separate blood from body you have death. Just as the pouring of water in baptism on the body cleanses the soul from sin, so the separate consecration of bread and wine renews the one sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross in an unbloody way. This is the Mystery of faith that we proclaim and the miracle of the Holy Mass. Jesus who promised to remain with us always even to the end of the world does so in a unique way in the Holy Eucharist. It is His real Presence that we receive in Holy Communion and worship in this Blessed Sacrament. Is it any wonder that the Church insists that we should at least be free from mortal sin before we approach the altar for Holy Communion? We are receiving Jesus into our body and soul, and not only that, but the Son is never separated from the Father and the Holy Spirit, so we receive the Blessed Trinity into our soul. But not only that, the Blessed Trinity is not separated from the Blessed Virgin and the angels and saints who dwell with Him in the unity and glory of Heaven, so we can say that we receive all of Heaven into ourselves when we receive Holy Communion. When you receive Holy Communion you receive the resurrected Christ who is present totally in each particle of the Host or each drop of the Precious Blood. Even if you receive Holy Communion under the form of bread only, you receive the whole ChristBody, Blood, Soul and Divinity. You are as closely united to Christ in Holy Communion as is possible here on earth. Even if a person cannot receive Holy Communion at this time, make a Spiritual Communion uniting your heart to Jesus truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. The words of the ancient prayer summarize its meaning: O Sacred Banquet, in which Christ is received, His Passion is renewed, the mind is filled with grace and the pledge of future glory is given. All this is in the Holy Eucharist.

June 17, 201211th Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus began His preaching with the words: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15). The Gospel today gave us two parables to describe the kingdom of God. What is the kingdom of God that is so central to Jesus teaching? It has three meanings. First, the kingdom of God is the Catholic Church which he established on earth to bring His doctrine and the grace of the sacraments to the world until the end of time. The Pope, as the Successor of Peter is the visible head of the Church, while Jesus who reigns from heaven is the invisible Head of the Church; He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Gods kingdom is not confined to a particular border because wherever the Catholic Church is there is the visible kingdom of God. There is an ancient saying that is translated: Where the pope is, there is the Catholic Church. This doesnt mean that the person of the pope has to be in a particular spot for it to be the Church, but that wherever the teaching of the pope is followed there is the true Church. The popes teaching on faith and morals is guaranteed to be free from error by the promise of Jesus and so we can count on it to contain the authentic teaching of Jesus Church. Jesus told us the second meaning of the kingdom of God when the Pharisees asked Him when the kingdom of God was coming, He responded: The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, Lo, here it is! or There! for the kingdom of God is within you. When you received the Sacrament of Baptism, you became a member of the Church and the kingdom of God. The Most Blessed Trinity began to dwell in your soul. As long as we are in the state of grace the kingdom of God is within. The Holy Spirit can therefore guide us and speak to us. Now if you start to think the Holy Spirit is telling you to do something opposed to the Commandments or the teachings of the Church, then it is not the Holy Spirit, for the devil can dress up as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14) to fool us as St. Paul points out. If you get an inspiration to do a good deed or pray or make reparation for sin then you can presume the Holy Spirit is speaking in your soul. I have experienced His help on countless occasions. Every time I begin to write a homily and every time I begin to preach I ask for His help; if He were not guiding my thoughts and words, I would have run out of things to say many

years ago. In the opposite direction, the Holy Spirit has also warned me internally about false teaching, even when I couldnt quite understand what was wrong with it. The kingdom of God is so near to our hearts. This past Friday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and we had a very successful Youth Conference connected with this devotion. Jesus is the King and center of all hearts if we let Him rule. He doesnt rule His kingdom like a tyrant who forces and compels, but He rules with an infinite Love that is meant to draw all people into His Kingdom. We have to let Him touch our hearts and guide our lives so that his kingdom will grow within us. In the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus told us that the kingdom starts off very small. The mustard seed that He was speaking about is not the typical mustard seed that we know; it is black and not more than a speck. Jesus said that it grows into a very large bush that is big enough for the birds to make their nests in. The Kingdom of God within us is meant to grow; it has not reached its fullness in any one of us. It needs more grace; it needs more knowledge; it needs more sacrifice; it needs more work. I have been studying the Catholic faith in earnest for my 8 years of seminary and my 30 years as a priest and I am still amazed by how much I can learn and grow. The parable about the farmer who sews the seed and watches it growfirst the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the eardoesnt know how it happens, but he knows that it will happen because God has a plan and. as we would say, God has programmed it into every seed. We were trying to get the young people at our Hearts on Fire Youth Conference to get to know and find Gods plan for their lives. God has a plan for each of our lives and we need to discover it. Even if we get off track because of sin and the pull of the world, God is still calling us back to his great plan for our lives. We could say that His plans are fluid and He will work us back in at this point, even if we didnt follow His original plan for our lives. Of course, the day will come when it is too late to convert, not because God cant reach us even at the last minute, but because a life that has closed itself off to God would have an extremely difficult time of turning back to Him. St. Paul taught in the Second Reading: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.

The third meaning of the kingdom of God is heaven itself. Maybe we could say that the kingdom of the Church and the kingdom of God within cannot remain just as it is on earth. It is ordered to Heaven and must find its fulfillment in Heaven. In Heaven, God will reign forever and we will reign with Him.

July 1, 2012 Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Our Lord Jesus turned immense sorrow into great joy in the two Gospel miracles we heard today. Jesus demanded faith in both cases. The poor woman who had been suffering from an illness for twelve years and could not be healed by any of the many doctors that she consulted, merely touched the hem of Jesus garment and was instantly healed. When she humbly knelt down before Him, He responded, Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction. He brought their daughter back to lifesorrow was turned into joy. Why doesnt God work miracles for us all the time so that we wouldnt ever have to suffer? I can personally attest to the fact that God does work miracles and most of you here today could say the same, but there is a reason that He doesnt solve all or our problems. God could make us instantly, blissfully happy by filling us with grace and wiping out any vestige of sin and evil and suffering. If this were the case, we wouldnt have a struggle in this life, nor have to put forth any effort at all. With this kind of life we would not need faith or trust in God. Gods love is perfect. He wants us to have the fullness of happiness, but He doesnt want to just give it to us. We would have no part in it; we would have no ownership. We would be happy like a flower that receives the rain and sun that it needs, but without any consciousness of what it takes for the gardener to plant and weed and toil in the hot sun so that it has all that it needs to grow and bloom. His love insists that we put forth effort and that we take responsibility. The first step to the happiness that God wants us to have is to realize that the pleasures and possessions and acclaim of men will not make us truly happy. They last for a moment and are gone. Jesus taught us: Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy and thieves break in and steal (Matt. 6:19) If we look into our souls, the words of St. Augustine ring true: You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee. We have a restlessness within us that longs for the fullness of happiness which only God can give. To recognize this takes a certain depth of understanding of ourselves and the realization that the world is constantly tempting us with instant gratification so that we will take the easy way out

and not seek true happiness. Not only that, the temptation is for us to become animals seeking only our own selfish pleasure. In the Second Reading from the Book of Wisdom the author got it right when he wrote: For God formed man to be imperishable; the image of His own nature He made him. But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who belong to his company experience it. God wants us to have the fullness of happiness, but He wants it to come from within, that is why He doesnt just give it to us. He wants us to put forth effort and work for it so that we truly have something invested in our happiness. He wants to purify and lift up that restlessness in our hearts so that it will become a deep faith and trust in Him. The desire for happiness in things and comforts is meant to point us in the direction of that true happiness that comes from sacrificial love and the strengthening of our hearts in all that is good and virtuous. Ultimately, we long for the joy of Heaven, which is call Beatitude. Prayer is meant to open our eyes to the will of God. St. Thomas Aquinas taught: The purpose of prayer is not to change the will of God to ours, but to change our will to His. Yes, we are to ask for what we need like a little child going to his loving father, but always with the intention: Thy will be done. True prayer does not have the purpose of trying to force God to do what I want or insisting that what I want is the only true good. Prayer opens my mind and heart to see the will of God and accept it as the very best thing for me. This is not an easy thing! However, when I persevere in prayer, God will purify my heart so that I can desire the true happiness that He offers to me. All of this takes faith and trust, which is a gift from God, but also something that takes work on our part. We have to strive to see beyond this world and know that Jesus is with us at every moment of life, especially in our sufferings. He will bear the Cross with us, if only we will allow Him. God also wants us to bring His truth and goodness to our society. We have a great gift to offer to the world in the natural moral law expressed in the 10 Commandments and the teachings of the Church. As free citizens, we Catholics have the same right as other citizens to bring our beliefs and teachings into the arena of public opinion and have them considered in a serious way. The Catholic Church has lived within empires and

dictatorships that were sometimes hostile, under good kings and democracies and every form of government for 2000 years. Sometimes it has been easy to live our faith, other times it meant martyrdom. It has been fairly easy to live our faith in the freedom offered by our country, even though there has been a growing hostility in media and government. As we again approach Independence Day on July 4, we are conscious that religious freedom must be protected and defended like any other freedom. Our religious freedom has been under attack from the HHS mandate, which our bishops recognize as the tip of the iceberg. A good captain knows that the ice he sees floating above the water is only a very small portion of the ice below the surface. That hidden ice will destroy his ship if it is ignored. Our bishops are warning us that we have to take a stand now before it becomes too late. We certainly must vote this coming November for those candidates who support the things that we hold dear. The non negotiable issues are: the sanctity of life from conception until natural death (we cannot support those who promote abortion or euthanasia); opposition to embryonic stem cell research (embryonic stem cell research has produced no cures in spite of all the money that has been poured into it), human cloning and homosexual marriage (God has a plan for marriage and it is for one man and one woman). Even if we feel overwhelmed by the problems of our life and of our country we have to take the words of Jesus to the sorrowing mother and father in the Gospel to heart: Do not be afraid; just have faith. Mary Immaculate, Patroness of our country, pray for us.

July 8, 2012Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time You might think that Jesus would be welcomed as a hero when He returned to His home town of Nazareth. He was, after all, a famous Rabbi with disciples and the report of wondrous miracles. This was not the case, for as He said, A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house. . . . He was amazed by their lack of faith, the Gospel commented. The home of the Holy Family of Nazareth was the kind of place that the neighborhood children flocked to because of the joy and love they always experienced there; it was the place where the women went to consult Mary and ask for her prayers; it was the place where the men went to seek the wisdom of Joseph in his carpenters workshop. The astonishment of the people of Nazareth to the homecoming of Jesus tells us that in spite of the love and wisdom of this Holy Family Jesus, Mary and Joseph did not draw attention to themselves. Their lives of faith and hard work were so natural that they did not stand out as something unusual or extraordinary even though they were! The people of Nazareth thought that they knew Jesus, but they really only knew Him in a superficial way. We are blessed to understand the great mystery that was hidden to them through the Catholic Church which acts as Teacher and Mother to us. For instance, we know that the Blessed Virgin was the mother of only one Child: the Son of God who took on our human nature in the womb of Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. She and Joseph had no other children, but lived their marriage with a love purity that will only be achieved by married couples in Heaven. It is a defined doctrine that Mary remained a Virgin after the birth of Jesus. Yet, the Gospel today spoke about the brothers and sisters of Jesus and even named four of the brothersJames, Joses, Judas and Simon? You have to do some investigation to understand the meaning of this passage. First, in the Aramaic language, which they spoke, there was no word for cousin as we have n English. You merely referred to the male relatives of your generation as brothers and your female relatives as sisters. Later in the Gospel, the first two so-called brothersJames and Josesare named as sons of Mary, the wife of Clopas. Even though these two points are convincing, they will not convince everyone. That is why Jesus established a Church with the authority to teach the truth in His name. Without the

Catholic Church there would be no agreement on any doctrine that two or more people began debating. God knew that we would need the Church to help us maintain the truth and be faithful to the Gospel He taught us. In the rejection of Jesus by His own family and neighbors, and ultimately the Crucifixion, we see that being successful is not the most important thing in life. Blessed Mother Theresa pointed that out when she said, It is not that we are successful, but that we are faithful. St. Paul boldly told the Corinthians in the Second Reading today about his weaknesses, even though that might make them think less of him. He said that God gave him a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to beat him, which was some kind of suffering. We dont know what the thorn in the flesh was, but the best explanation is that Paul had contracted malaria during one of his missionary journeys. You never knew when the effects of malaria would reappear; they came on suddenly with a terrible headache, disorientation and extreme weakness that forced you into bed. It certainly hindered the apostolic work of St. Paul and gave a very bad impression to others. St. Paul prayed, as we should do with any kind of suffering, and God revealed to him those famous words: My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. In other words, what you think is important and even necessary is not; I have a plan and it does not depend on your strength, it depends upon my grace, my power within you. In order not to get confused about who is accomplishing the great good you are doing for souls, accept this trial and realize that I will be victorious even in your weakness. St. Paul wrote Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecution, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong. God did not take the thorn in the flesh away from St. Paul, nonetheless, he remained faithful and became a great saint. This past week we celebrated the feast day of St. Maria Goretti. From a human point of view it would seem as if there was nothing outstanding about Maria Goretti and no chance that she would become known beyond her own little Italian village. The situation in northern Italy in the late 1890s was one of dire poverty for the Goretti family who were tenant farmers. They were faithful Catholics, but with little formal education. Its astonishing to see pictures of the destitution of their home which they shared with a man and his teenage son, Alexanderthey had nothing, but the clothes and few possessions that they absolutely needed to live.

By the time Maria was 12 years old she had reached such a high level of sanctity and fortitude that she was able to stand up for what was right and even die for it. Maria was at home when the teenage boy Alexander decided to force himself upon her and destroy her pure and innocent heart. She resisted him; Alexander took out a knife. Preferring death to committing a mortal sin, she cried out: No it is a sin; God does not want it. He stabbed her 14 times to keep her quiet. Maria Goretti died the next day after forgiving her attacker. Alexander was arrested and sentenced to prison, where he remained unrepentant until he had a dream 3 years later in which St. Maria Goretti appeared to him, giving him lilies, which immediately burned up in his hands. After he was released, he went and asked his mother for forgiveness and she said if Maria could forgive him, she could too. They attended Holy Mass together the next day and Alexander always referred to Maria Goretti as my little saint. He was present at her canonization in 1950, which was probably the first time that the person who martyred a saint was present at their canonization. St. Paul and St. Maria Goretti, like all the saints, have shown us what it means to live with integrity and faith. One of the reasons that make it especially difficult today is that our lives are more and more being immersed in the fantasy of the media and the internet where money and sex and excitement are the center and most important things in life. Many are convinced that this make believe world is real and that we should have everything that we see in it. In this fantasy world it appears that everything should be easy, that we shouldnt have to worry about our responsibilities; that we shouldnt have to bear the cross. It is not real; dont desire it because you will be forever disappointed if you do! Jesus who made Himself our brother and died on the Cross for us shows us that sacrificial love is really the way to victory and fulfillment.

Carmelite NovenaJuly 8, 2012Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time You might think that Jesus would be welcomed as a hero when He returned to His home town of Nazareth. He was, after all, a famous Rabbi with disciples and the report of wondrous miracles. This was not the case, for as He said, A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house. . . . He was amazed by their lack of faith. The home of the Holy Family of Nazareth was the kind of place that the neighborhood children flocked to because of the joy and love they always experienced there; it was the place where the women went to consult Mary and ask for her prayers; it was the place where the men went to seek the wisdom of Joseph in his carpenters workshop. The astonishment of the people of Nazareth to the homecoming of Jesus tells us that in spite of the love and wisdom of this Holy Family Jesus, Mary and Joseph did not draw attention to themselves. Their lives of faith and hard work were so natural that they did not stand out as something unusual or extraordinary even though they were! The people of Nazareth thought that they knew Jesus, but they really only knew Him in a superficial way. We are blessed to understand the great mystery that was hidden to them through the Catholic Church which acts as Teacher and Mother to us. For instance, we know that the Blessed Virgin was the mother of only one Child: the Son of God who took on our human nature in the womb of Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. She and Joseph had no other children, but lived their marriage with a love purity that will only be achieved by married couples in Heaven. It is a defined doctrine that Mary remained a Virgin after the birth of Jesus. Yet, the Gospel today spoke about the brothers and sisters of Jesus and even named four of the brothersJames, Joses, Judas and Simon? You have to do some investigation to understand the meaning of this passage. First, in the Aramaic language, which they spoke, there was no word for cousin as we have n English. You merely referred to the male relatives of your generation as brothers and your female relatives as sisters. Later in the Gospel, the first two so-called brothersJames and Josesare named as sons of Mary, the wife of Clopas. Even though these two points are convincing, they will not convince everyone. That is why Jesus established

a Church with the authority to teach the truth in His name. Without the Catholic Church there would be no agreement on any doctrine that two or more people began debating. God knew that we would need the Church to help us maintain the truth and be faithful to the Gospel He taught us. Blessed John Paul wrote about the importance of the teaching authority of the Church in regard to the title of Mary the Mother of God at the beginning of his encyclical Redemptoris Mater, The Mother of the Redeemer. As you may know, the various sections of this encyclical, written 25 years ago, form the theme for the homilies at the Carmelite Novena this year. The love and devotion that Blessed John Paul had for our Blessed Mother was evident to the world because he used every opportunity to teach us by his words and his example to love her more. In the introduction to the encyclical on Mary, he wrote about the Council of Ephesus which took place in the year 431. The problem was that the Bishop of Constantinople named Nestorius taught that Mary could not be given the title of the Mother of God. His reason was that if Jesus were truly consubstantial with the Father, then how could He be born and grow and suffer and die. Nestorius separated the divinity from the humanity of Jesus making it seem that there were two persons in one body. This denied the Incarnation, which taught that the Son of God as a Divine Person took on our human nature when He was conceived in the womb of Mary, so that He was true God and true man. In Nestorius teaching the Blessed Virgin was only the mother of the human nature and could not be called the Mother of God. No mother is the source of the soul or person of her child because God is the Creator of each person at the moment of conception, so the Blessed Mother is not the source of the divinity or Divine Person of Jesus. Every woman who gives birth to her baby is the mother of that child really and truly and so Mary is the Mother of God really and truly. The Council of Ephesus taught this truth very clearly and the people of the city rejoiced with the Council Fathers in a candlelight procession. In his encyclical on our Blessed Mother, Pope John Paul pointed out that the whole reason for her existence was fulfilled when she freely chose to be the Mother of God. He opened the encyclical by quoting the passage of St. Paul to the Galatians which said: When the fullness of time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, so that we

might receive adoption as sons (Gal. 4:4-5). Blessed John Paul commented on the importance of the fullness of time; it is full of meaning for us as Christians. He wrote: It marks the moment when the Holy Spirit, who had already infused the fullness of grace into Mary of Nazareth formed in her virginal womb the human nature of Christ. Our Blessed mother had been prepared beforehand by God through her Immaculate Conception for this great role of motherhood which allowed the Eternal Son of God to become man and allowed man to become children of God. The Holy Father noted that in the Incarnation [the Church] encounters Christ and Mary indissolubly joined: He who is the Churchs Lord and Head and she who, uttering the first fiat of the New Covenant, prefigures the Churchs condition as spouse and mother. Marys total and flawless consent is a symbol for the Church which also must be united to her divine Spouse, Jesus Christ. As sons and daughters of God, we are called to become more and more like Jesus by rejecting sin and growing in virtue. This means that we have to flee from sin, recognizing it for the great evil that it is, even in a world that glorifies very kind of sin. One of the reasons that make it especially difficult today is that our lives are more and more being immersed in the fantasy of the media and the internet where money and sex and excitement are the center and most important things in life. Many are convinced that this make believe world is real and that we should have everything that we see in it. In this fantasy world it appears that everything should be easy, that we shouldnt have to worry about our responsibilities; that we shouldnt have to bear the cross. It is not real; dont desire it because you will be forever disappointed if you do! Jesus who made Himself our brother and died on the Cross for us shows us that sacrificial love is really the way to victory and fulfillment. Lets ask Mary, Mother and Queen of Mount Carmel to guide us on our pilgrimage of faith so that we may be victorious with Christ her Son.

July 29, 2012Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Matthew, Mark and Luke all included the institution of the Holy Eucharist in their accounts of the Last Supper, but St. John did not. The first three Gospels told us that Jesus took bread and said, This is my body and took the chalice of wine and said, This is the chalice of my blood. . . . Instead of repeating those words, which were so familiar to Catholics from the Holy Mass, he gave us the magnificent chapter 6, which explains the meaning of the Holy Eucharist. We have begun the chapter this Sundays Gospel and will continue reading from it for the next 4 Sundays. Chapter 6 begins with the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish to feed thousands. The First Reading told us of a similar miracle in the Old Testament by the Prophet Elisha. This great prophet multiplied 20 loaves of bread to feed 100 peopleit was a great miracle that astounded them. The miracle that Jesus worked is far greater in its scope. He had only 7 loaves of bread and some dried fish and multiplied them to feed 5,000 people with 12 baskets of scrapes left over. It shows us the superabundant gift of Jesus who fed them with more than they could possibly eat; it far surpasses anything of the kind in the Old Testament. This miracle has a more important meaning than to teach us that Jesus cares about the comfort of His people; it can be called a Eucharistic miracle because it points to the gift of the Holy Eucharist that He will give to the Church at the Last Supper. St. John told us at the very beginning of chapter 6 that the Passover was near. There are three times that John mentioned the Passover in His Gospel: first in chapter 2, then here in chapter 6 and finally at the Last Supper. He wanted us to connect chapter 6 with the Last Supper. Jesus asked Philip where they could buy enough food to feed the multitude of people that had come out into this out of the way place. The Gospel notes that Jesus said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. This miracle was all a part of Gods great plan, which would ultimately lead to the gift of the Holy Eucharist. Like so many passages in the scriptures this miracle reads as if it were a matter of fact event Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. The reaction of the multitude shows us that this was a

great miracle and that they were astonished by it. They said, This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world. Moses predicted that God would one day send a prophet like him and they believed that it had to be Jesus because of this awesome display of power. They wanted to carry Him off to Jerusalem and make Him king, right then and there, but Jesus eluded them and went alone to the mountain to pray. He didnt come into the world to be a Bread-King, to have earthly power and fame; He came into this world to be a Savior who would lay down His life in atonement for the sins of the world. We will read next Sunday that the people were following Jesus for the wrong reason and He tries to help them to see the real reason that they should follow Him. It is good for us to examine our attitude toward Jesus and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Why do I follow Him? Why do I come to the Holy Mass each Sunday and, if possible, on a daily basis? Why do I spend time in prayer each day when I could be doing other things? Part of the answer is that deep inside of us we are hungering for something more than this world has to offer. There is an emptiness in our soul that no possession or pleasure can fill. We often try to fill this hunger with earthly pleasures and many never go beyond that idea. Think about the desire for food. We need it to live and meals are a time for families to get together and share their livesand that is good. Our hunger for food should also make us take another step and think of the spiritual food of Holy Communion and our desire for God. The verse for the Psalm today reads: The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs. This is so true, but we fail to remember it. Instead of keeping food in proportion and seeing that we have a deeper hunger that only God can fulfill we can turn food itself into a kind of god. We then eat far more than we need and ruin our health; we think too much about our next meal always desiring better quality and greater quantity. This can happen with food, but it can also happen with things such as alcohol or sex. Instead of keeping these things in their proper place they become idolshow many people are addicted to pornography these days! Nothing will fulfill us except God and His grace. We need the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, to feed our souls. You may not be able to receive Holy Communion in this Mass for many reasons. Sometimes people forget and do not fast for an hour, others have something on their conscience

and children who are simply to young should be encouraged to make a spiritual communion. It means that you unite your mind and heart to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, taking Him into your heart. I make at least one spiritual communion every day. As Catholics, we believe an extraordinary thing that Jesus revealed to us in chapter 6 of St. Johns Gospel, at the Last Supper and in the teaching of holy Mother Church. Jesus is really and truly present in the Holy Eucharist. That little circle of unleavened bread is no ordinary bread, it is really Jesus Present with us. He remains with us to comfort us, to feed us and teach us. If there are times in your life when you feel all alone, as if there is no hope (it happens to us all) then go to Jesus. He is here; He is waiting for you. Come and spend time with Him and you will find the answer to the problems of life; many men and women have found vocations to the priesthood, deaconate and religious life by praying in front of the Eucharistic Lord. On Mondays we have adoration all day; it would be so wonderful if the Church would have many people praying at each hour rather than only one or two. The Eucharistic hymn of St. Thomas Aquinas begins with these words: O hidden God, humbly I adore Thee, Who truly art beneath the forms before me. To Thee I bow m heart and bend the knee, As failing quite, when contemplating Thee. Sight, touch, taste in Thee are each deceived; The ear alone most safely is believed. I firmly hold whatever Gods Son has spoken, Than Truths own word there is no truer token.

August 5, 2012Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time When the crowds who witnessed the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish took boats to the other side of the sea, they were amazed to find Jesus there. Remember, He went up to the mountain alone to pray and He sent His apostles over to the other side of the sea in the only boat available. When new boats arrived the people sailed across the sea and there they found Jesus! We are reading through chapter 6 of St. Johns Gospel, which teaches us about the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist in Jesus own words. The Sacred Liturgy left out one passage of this chapter that tells us how Jesus got to the other side without a boatHe walked on the water. John recorded the great miracle in this chapter, to teach us that Jesus is truly God and we would do well to listen to His words. If you read through this chapter 6, Jesus repeats a theme that we hear in todays Gospel passage, He said: This is the work of God, that you believe in the One He sent. We must believe in Jesus if we are to understand the great gift of the Holy Eucharist. We must believe in Jesus if we hope for eternal life. The people ask Jesus how He got to the other side of the lake, but He doesnt answer their question. Instead, He wants to teach them to follow Him for the right reason, so He said: Amen, amen, I say to you, 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. Naturally they were impressed by the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, as anyone would be who saw a great magician do a magic trick on stage. Its amazing and you want to see more! It is especially true since it was a miracle that filled their stomachs. Jesus didnt come into the world to do tricks; His miracles always had a deeper meaning and that is why He called them signs. The bread they ate on the other side of the sea was something that only lasted for a short time and then they were hungry again. The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish was a sign pointing to the Holy Eucharist, which is the food that endures to eternal life. Step by step, Jesus will lead them in this chapter to the doctrine of His Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist.

The next step has to do with an event in the Old Testament that was really like a dress rehearsal for the Holy Eucharist. The people pointed out that Moses gave their ancient ancestors manna in the desert to eat, which implied the question, what great miracle can you do? The First Reading takes us back to the time that Moses was leading the Israelite people in the desert to freedom after their 400 years of slavery in Egypt. In the desert the people began complaining as they so often did, accusing God and Moses of trying to starve them to death. Moses prayed for the people and God promised to rain down bread from heaven for you. Each morning of the 40 years in the desert they woke up and found a thick, dew-like substance upon the ground that they could pick up and eat for bread; they called it manna. In the Second Eucharistic Prayer, the priest extend his hands over the bread and wine and prays: Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down Your Spirit upon them like the dewfall, so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. The word dew is another word for manna and the Eucharistic prayer connects this passage from the Old Testament to the Blessed Sacrament. They also called manna the bread from heaven because it looked as if it fell from the sky upon the ground each night. We call the Holy Eucharist the Bread from Heaven because it is the Real Presence of Jesus who came down from Heaven to be our Savior and remains with us in this Blessed Sacrament. Jesus summarized this part of John chapter 6 by saying: I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. The Church took the explanation of St. Thomas Aquinas as the best way to describe what happens at the Consecration of the Mass to the bread and wine. He used the word transubstantiation. He taught that every created thing could be broken down into substance and accidents. This is not the way that science looks at things which says that all material things are made up of smaller material things like protons and neutrons and quarks, which bond together to make bigger material things. St. Thomas and philosophy go deeper. Each created thing has a substance which makes it what it is. Bread has a substance, which makes it bread and it also has those qualities that we can see, and touch and taste and smell, called accidents. When the priest says the words of consecration over unleavened bread and wine, the substance of bread and wine changes into the true Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, so that it really becomes His true Presence among

usit is really Him! However, the accidents, those things that we see and taste and touch and smell remain unchanged. If they did change, we couldnt receive Holy Communion because it would be repulsive to eat visible flesh and drink visible blood. Sometimes people will say that the Holy Mass is boring. (It never is for me!). This can happen for several reasons. First, the person may not understand what is happening. In a similar way, if you dont know the rules of football or baseball and dont know the players and the teams, it will seem boring and a waste of time to watch it. If a person doesnt understand the Real Presence, and particularly, John chapter 6; if you dont know what transubstantiation is or how the Mass is a sacrifice, then you will find it boring. The last 45 years of teaching in our schools has been so watered down that most Catholics were never taught the basics of the faith or the Holy Mass. Another cause of boredom is that if you dont actually participate at Holy Mass by saying the prayers you will probably lose focus very easily. (I dont know about you, but I still have to read the prayers of the new translation.) It takes more than just being here to benefit from this great Sacrament; we have to put forth effort. Many people are helped by reading the Scripture readings as they are spoken because they use two sensessight and hearing. In the end, we cannot pray without asking the Holy Spirit to help us. The Holy Mass is not man-made; it is given to us by Jesus, Himself at the Last Supper. The more we develop a true friendship with Jesus the more the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will mean to us. This is the true Bread from Heaven, the Food that endures to eternal life. It is Jesus truly Present.

August 12, 2012Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time It was in the year 700 that an Italian priest was plagued with doubts about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Did the bread and wine actually change into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ when he said the words of Consecration even though he could not see a change? He decided to make a pilgrimage to Rome and stopped in the city of Lanciano where he offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. God worked a miracle that ended all of his doubts. At that Holy Mass, the consecrated Bread turned into a thin circle of visible flesh and the consecrated Wine turned into blood in the chalice. They put the circle of Flesh in a beautiful monstrance and the Blood which dried into five pellets into a crystal chalice at its base. You can still go to the city of Lanciano, Italy and see this Eucharistic miracle after 13 centuries. In the 1970s, Pope Paul VI commissioned a team of doctors to investigate the miracle. They found that it was indeed human flesh and blood, not animal, and the blood type was AB. The circle of Flesh was not skin tissue, but actually a thin slice of the heart muscle. If you give blood to a blood bank it must be refrigerated right away, otherwise, within an hour it breaks down and is useless. When the blood from the miracle was liquefied it had all the proteins and enzymes of freshly shed blood, even though it was over 1300 years old. The scientists concluded that there was no human explanation for the Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano. Jesus does not work a visible miracle at every Holy Mass because He wants us to have faith in Him; to believe in His words, particularly those words that we have been reading for three weeks from John, chapter 6. This chapter began with the multiplication of the loaves of bread and fish to feed thousands. After the miracle, Jesus told the people: Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. The chapter continued with the reference to the miraculous gift of manna that God gave through Moses to feed His people as the travelled through the desert for 40 years. As we began the section of chapter 6 in todays Gospel, we saw that all these miraculous events connected with bread were fulfilled in Jesus, He said: I am the bread that came down from heaven. The immediate reaction was that the crowd doubted Him. After all, they knew Joseph and Mary; they were His parents, werent they? How could He

say He came from heaven? He is only a man like us, isnt He? Jesus repeats the underlying theme of this Eucharistic chapterwe must have faith in Him, which is a gift from God the Father: Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from Him comes to me. We have to ask for an increase of faith in our own lives. Faith is not just a onetime eventyou accept Jesus as your Saviorand that is it. It is a supernatural gift from God at baptism, planted like a seed in our souls, which must grow and develop. It is something that must be nourished by prayer, penance, good deeds and study, which in turn open the soul to receive greater gifts of grace from God. On the other hand, faith is also something that can be lost by sin that is not repented of or it simply dies out through neglect. The Holy Mass is not only the greatest prayer, but is the chief source of the grace of faith as we walk on the pilgrimage of life. When we come to the Holy Sacrifice we should seek an increase of faith and all the other virtues that God wants to give to us, but that shouldnt be our first reason for being here each Sunday or on a daily basis. If I have faith in Almighty God, then my first purpose for attending Holy Mass is not to think of my needs, but to give God, the Holy Trinity, the praise and worship that is His due. What have I that the Lord hasnt given to me? He created everything in this world and gave me life; He sent His Son to redeem me; He gives me faith and hope and mercy. Dont you feel the need to sayas we do in the Gloriawe praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify, we give you thanks for your great glory. One of the reasons that the Greek word, which we translate as Eucharist or thanksgiving became a name for this great Sacrament is because in the Holy Mass we give God thanks for all that He has done in creating, redeeming and sanctifying us. How can I give fitting worship and praise to God, sinner that I am? I cant! That is why Jesus instituted the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the Last Supper. On my own, I cannot give God the worship that is due to Him, but by joining myself to Jesus and His perfect offering of Himself on the Cross, renewed in every Holy Mass, I can give God fitting praise and worship. In the Holy Mass I am united to the perfect obedience and love of Jesus for His Father.

I need to do more than just attend the Holy Mass, which is a serious obligation on Sundays and Holy Days; I have to bring my own sacrifices of prayer and good deeds and generous love and unite them to Jesus sacrifice. I shouldnt come empty handed to Church; I should consciously do good deeds each day and bring them as an offering to God and let Jesus take them up into His own perfect offering. We will always receive more than we can give to the Lord, just like the prophet Elijah in the First Reading. He fought a great battle with the 500 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and won! But now the wicked queen Jezebel was after him and he fled into the desert completely exhausted. Gods angel provided him with a miraculous bread to eat which gave him the strength to travel for 40 days and nights without stopping. When we are united to the Bread of life, the Bread from Heaven, Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, we will have the strength to overcome all the obstacles of life and remain faithful to God. Jesus didnt back down when the people doubted Him; He led them to the next step in the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist at the end of this Gospel passage, saying: I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. If you dont think that will cause some trouble, stay tuned for next Sunday.

August 15, 2012Solemnityof the Assumption of the BVM The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin into heaven body and soul teaches that God is concerned about the redemption of the body, as well as, the soul. Through his death on the Cross, Jesus brought us forgiveness of our sins and reconciliation with God. In a special way, he sent that grace from the Cross to Mary at the moment that she was conceived in the womb of her mother St. Anne to keep her free from the stain of Original Sin and all sin. Her soul was perfectly redeemed by the future death of her Son for whom there is no restriction of time. St. Augustine pointed out that Mary conceived the Son of God in her heart before she conceived Him in her womb. The mission that God gave to her to be the Mother of God meant that she had to be the fitting dwelling placebody and soulfor the divine Presence of the Son of God. She was the first tabernacle, more precious than anything that we can design to hold the Blessed Eucharist in our Churches. The First Reading told us of St. Johns vision of the Heavenly Temple which contained the Ark of the Covenant. Remember the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament was a box made of precious wood covered inside and out with gold. It contained three thingsthe tablets of the Ten Commandments, some of the manna, that bread by which God fed His people in the desert, and the staff of Aaron, the first priest of the Old Covenant. All three things point to Jesus, who is the Law of God, the Word made flesh; the true Bread from Heaven in the Holy Eucharist and the true High Priest of the New Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant in this vision represents the Blessed Virgin Mary who held in her womb and in her heart the most beloved Son of God. The vision of St. John continues when: A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. This is the vision of Mary in glory, having been assumed body and soul into heaven at the end of her earthly pilgrimage. She was the first to share fully in the resurrected life of her Son; we will all share in that fullness when our bodies are raised from the dead and glorified at the Second Coming of Jesus. God has planned for us to live with the Blessed Mother, body and soul, forever in the joy of heaven.

August 19, 2012Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time At the beginning of John, chapter 6, the people were ready to carry Jesus off to Jerusalem and proclaim Him King, by the middle of the chapter the mood had completely changed. We began reading this Eucharistic chapter three Sundays ago with the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, which pleased the people, but Jesus teaching on the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist angered them. Last week, we ended with the verse that began the Gospel this week, Jesus said: I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. This was too much; it sounded like cannibalism! Perhaps even the Apostles were thinking, Jesus, explain the meaning of your words so that they dont sound so harsh! Soften the words so that the people will not leave You! Did Jesus back down and say, wait, you misunderstood me; you took my words too literally? No, He answered: Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. I think that these are the most startling words in the whole Bible. This is the doctrine of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. When you receive Holy Communion, you receive Jesus, Himselfbody, blood soul and divinity into your body and soul. Jesus is wholly present in each particle of the consecrated Bread and in each drop of the consecrated Wine. Here is a comparison that might help you to understand. If I were to bring a full length mirror into Church and stand in front of it, there would be one reflection of me. If I were to take that mirror and throw it on the floor it would break into a hundred pieces and in each piece of mirror you would see a full reflection of me standing there, not just a part of me in each piecea hundred full reflections. In a similar way, Jesus is fully present in each particle of the Holy Eucharist. You dont receive more of Jesus and His grace by receiving a bigger piece of the Host, nor less by receiving a smaller piece; you do not receive more grace by drinking from the chalice, nor do you receive less if you do not.

The Holy Eucharist is not only a sacrament, but a sacrifice. It is intimately connected to the death of Jesus on the Cross. At the Last Supper, Jesus was anticipating His sacrifice on the Cross the next day, when He said: For this is my body, which will be given up for you. Every Holy Mass since then is a renewal of that sacrifice that won the redemption for the world on Good Friday. At the consecration of the Precious Blood, He said, For this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Why this emphasis on sacrifice and the offering of His Blood? The offering of a sacrifice of an animal to worship God is so basic that almost all peoples have understood its meaning, even if some cultures have horribly distorted it by human sacrifice. At the very dawn of salvation history, Cain and Abel each offered a sacrifice to God. Cains was the fruit of the land; Abels was the sacrifice of an animal. The Bible notes that it was the blood sacrifice of Abel that was acceptable as true worship because blood has a deep meaning; it symbolizes life and deathblood means life because the loss of your blood means death. The worship of God was a matter of life and death. It was so important that God commanded Moses and the Israelite people to set up a special place of worship as they travelled n the desert and offer the sacrifice of animals in a very precise ritual, with priests and vestments and incense and the Ark of the Covenant. The portable meeting tent or Tabernacle was eventually replaced with the great Temple of Jerusalem. The blood of the animal was also a symbol for the forgiveness of sin. Moses sprinkled the people with the blood of the sacrificed animal as a sign that they were cleansed from sin. The Letter to the Hebrews states that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb. 9:22). All the millions of sacrifices of animals in the Old Testament only had their meaning in the light of Jesus death on the Cross. He came into the world to offer Himselfthe Lamb of God as the perfect sacrifice to atone for the sins of the whole world. His perfect love and obedience made up for all the disobedience and hatred caused by sin from the beginning of time to the end of time. Last week, I mentioned that the first reason for our attendance at Holy Mass on Sundays and Holy Days, and each day if possible, is to give true worship to God. We should not be here only to get something, but to give something. Jesus established the Holy Sacrifice so that in union with Him

we could give true worship to God. Our prayer of praise and thanksgiving takes on a divine dimension when united to Jesus. The second reason for attending Holy Mass is still notme, me, mebut to make atonement for sin. If someone you love has been offended, you want to make things right. We cannot possibly make up for our sins on our own, which have offended the infinite holiness of God, much less the sins of the world. Here again the greatness of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass shines through, for by participating in the Holy Mass, which unites us to Jesus perfect atonement we too can make up for our sins and the sins of the whole world. For the last year of so, I have been silently praying these words as I hold up the Host for adoration at the Consecration: Eternal Father, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You the most holy Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for my sins and those of the whole world. I have nothing to offer God because of my own merits; nothing that would make up for my sins. However, with Jesus in my very hands, I offer Him up to the Eternal Father and then I have everything that I need for the atonement of my sins everything that I need to be reconciled with God. Unite your heart and mind to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and offer your own sufferings, works and joys to the Father in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. You will then have something truly valuable and truly beautiful to give to Almighty God at each Holy Mass.

August 26, 2012Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus didnt back down; He used the most graphic words to describe His real Presence in the Holy Eucharist. This is the fifth Sunday that we have been reading from chapter 6 of St. Johns Gospelthat Eucharistic chapter. As we heard last Sunday, Jesus told the crowds: Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you do not have life within you. These startling words of Jesus sounded like cannibalism and they would test the faith of all those listening to Him. Too many people, then and now, think that faith is little more than a feeling or a mood. It comes and goes according to my fancyif the teachings please me then I will follow them, if they make demands upon me, then I just move on to something else, something easier. True faith is not just a matter of feelings, although they can help us believe; faith is a matter of conviction. Through faith I commit myself to Jesus and His Church and strive to follow Him in every detail of my life, even though I am a sinner and often fail and must begin again through Gods mercy. The First Reading told us of the time that the Israelite people finally arrived in the Promised Land. Joshua was their leader and he knew that the faith of the people would be severely tested. Sometimes it would be tried by their own weaknesses and other times by the pagan peoples who surrounded them with their idol worship that in some cases demanded the sacrifice of infants. Joshua put it plainly and with conviction: As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. The people all agreed. Throughout John, chapter 6, Jesus warned the people that they must have faith in Him if His teachings are to make sense, in todays Gospel He said: For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father. Faith is first of all a gift of God and secondly, it is a human act. This means that we have to respond to this gift of God with our mind and will. I have to deepen my understanding by study and prayer and I have to fight off doubts and temptations against living the Christian life in a world that is often at war with my Catholic beliefs. I have to freely choose to be a disciple of Christ; God will never force me into it. Those listening to Jesus speak about the Holy Eucharist in the synagogue in Capernaum had to make a choice that dayand they did! There were three reactions to the words of Jesus. The first was by the crowds that had been

following Him in large numbers. The Gospel simply told us that as a result of this, many of His disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied Him. How sad! The greatest gift that God has given to us is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and His Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist. How many today are still following the pattern set by the people listening to Jesus that day? Only about 1/3 of baptized Catholics attend Holy Mass Sundays. Another third attend at Christmas and Easter and the final third never bother with the Holy Mass at all! The vast majority of Catholics have never heard the teachings that we have been reflecting upon the last four weeks; they do not even know what they are missing! The second reaction to the Holy Eucharist is the most interesting. Jesus turned to the Twelve Apostles and asked: Do you also want to leave? This indicates how shaken they were by His words. It is Peter who speaks for eleven of the apostles with the beautiful words of faith: Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God. Now Peter didnt understand what Jesus meant any better than the crowds that left, but he had something they did not havefaith in Jesus Christ. Peter and the other apostles would wait for a year until the Last Supper when they would finally understand as Jesus took bread and changed it into His Body and took wine and changed it into His Precious Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal Covenant. They would then see how something that sounded horrible like cannibalism was really something beautiful, good and true union with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. The words of Jesus in the consecration of the Precious Blood would strike the Apostles in a way that we dont understand. The New Covenant would make them think of the covenant that they had lived under their whole lives and would forever after be called the Old Covenant by Christians. That was the covenant that God made with Moses and the Israelite people on the last night of their slavery in Egypt and on Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments. God called them to be His chosen people who would obey and serve Him alone and for His part, He would protect them. It was a covenant sealed through a blood sacrifice of a lamb that was then cooked and eaten in a ritual, sacred mealthe Passover Supper. The lambs blood was put on the doorposts and lntel as a sign of this blood covenant so that the angel of death would pass over their houses.

Every year they were bound to celebrate this Passover ritual meal as a memorial of that great event from their history. However, it wasnt just a recalling of the event like we do when we celebrate Independence Day each July 4 and remember the founding of our country. For the Jews the Passover is a re-living or renewal or representation of the event of their liberation so that it is like being there with their ancient ancestors. Do this in memory (or as a memorial) of Me Jesus said at the Last Supper. The apostles would come to understand that the Last Supperthe Holy Sacrifice of the Masswas a ritual, memorial meal that renewed, re-lived or represented the event of their liberation from sin and death by Jesus death on the Cross. He is the true Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The Holy Mass is a memorial in this sense of the word, for every time this sacrifice is offered the saving death of Jesus with all of its mercy and power is renewed for us. It is as if we are standing at the foot of the Cross with Mary and John and witnessing our salvation. The only difference between Calvary and the Holy Mass is the manner of offering; everything else is the same. Jesus is the priest offering the sacrifice in atonement for the sins of the world on the Cross and in the Holy Mass. Through ordination, the priest acts in the Person and the name of Jesus; I am Jesus hands and voice offering the Sacrifice of the Mass. Jesus is the victim who freely offers Himself as the Lamb of God. In the Agony of the Garden, He told us what was in His Heart when He said, Father, not my will, but Thy will be done. He was perfectly obedient to His Father on Calvary and nothing has changed as He sits at the right hand of His Father in HeavenHe is still the obedient Son. Only the manner of offering is different. On Calvary, it was a bloody sacrifice that happened once and for all; in the Holy Mass the sacrifice is renewed through the sacramental signsthe separate consecration of bread and wine. First the priest takes bread and says, For this is my Body. Separately, the priest takes wine and says, For this is the chalice of my Blood. When you separate blood from body, you have death. The separate consecration signifies what is happening in the Holy Mass. Calvary is renewed for us; the unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass is the memorial of Jesus saving deathwith all the depth of meaning behind that wordmemorial. The third reaction to Jesus words came from Judas. At the end of the chapter, Jesus said: Did I not choose the twelve and one of you is a devil? He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the

twelve, was to betray him (v. 70-71). This is the first time that Judas is named as the betrayer. It was the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist that brought out his lack of belief, but unlike the people who left, he remained in the apostolic band as a future betrayer. Belief in the Holy Mass is not just a nice idea, not just an option, it separates believer from non-believer. It is the source and summit of the Catholic faith. It is a doctrine that goes to the very heart of our faith in Jesus. Jesus increase my faith!