Here is my homily for this weekend. God bless all of you!
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Wisdom 9:13-18b; Philemon 9-10, 12-17; Luke 14:25-33
September 6/7, 2025
We have to let go, my friends; we simply must let go, and how difficult this is for all of us.
St Therese of Lisieux, in her simple yet profound way, summed it up by saying she chose only one thing in life and she let go of everything else: Only the will of God for her in the smallest of matters was of importance. She let go of everything else. She sought nothing more. She was attached only to God’s will.
Yes, we must let go, my friends, of all our attachments to things of this world. Eventually, we must let go of even our families. We must let go and accept the Cross. There is no other way. There is no other path. Only letting go of what seems important in this life and accepting what will bring us into eternal life — and the Cross is what brings us there.
Jesus is telling us in the Gospel that letting go is vital if we are to survive and thrive in this world and in the next. Jesus is saying that in this life we will be confronted with daunting challenges – building towers or facing formidable armies, so to speak – and in these challenges, we must renounce our selfish plans – building foolish monuments to ourselves we cannot finish and our senseless wars with each other and within ourselves, and instead of all that, we must be willing to let it go and put it in the hands of God, and give all we have to Him. We must, as the king did in the Gospel, surrender to the real king, God, who is far more powerful and wise than us.
We have to let go, my friends, of our egos, our selfishness, our self-made empires, our sins, everything, if we are to be his disciples and enter the kingdom of heaven. There is no other way. And we must do it now. We must not fall into the trap of presumption, assuming we have untold months and years to let go and stop sinning, to ignore God’s plan for us. We must let go now, and surrender to God now. As the responsorial psalm said, “For a thousand years in God’s sight are as yesterday or as a watch in the night.” Now is the time. If we don’t do it now, we ultimately risk being very much alone with the world we have hung on to.
The first reading from the Book of Wisdom reminds us that our corruptible bodies burden our minds and our earthly worries burden our souls. I can attest to that. I am sure you can also. We have to let go of those worries and burdens.
Letting go will mean we are ready at all times for the Lord to come. Not tomorrow, not in ten years, but now. Can we detach from worldly things that burden us? Why do we hang on to such things? Can we accept whatever God asks of us, even if it is always carrying his Cross? Why do we refuse? Can we let go and let God? Can we let go of our sins? Why are we so addicted to them? Will we begin by confessing our sins? O, if only we would accept God’s will!
I talked about the Cross in a recent homily. I described it as walking with Jesus on the way to Calvary, seeing what He saw, hearing what He heard, touching what He touched that day as He carried His Cross for us. I described it as becoming like Jesus. That is what we must hang on to in this life, namely, being like Jesus. We must let go of all else.
What I am talking about today is what we call conversion. It’s all about letting go of our attachments to things of this world, and hanging on to Jesus, clinging to Him, choosing Him.
My prayer for all of us is that we more and more, starting today, let go of our pride, our ego, our selfishness, our foolishness, and our sins, and grab on to Jesus, to the Eucharist, and to the Church.
Let go and let God. Surrender to His will for you, and do it now. Grab on to Jesus Christ, found in the sacraments, found in the Church, found in prayer and in the Cross.
]]>14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 66:10-14c; Gal.6:14-18; Lk 10:1-12, 17-20
July 7-8, 2025
I will soon be turning seventy years of age. At the end of my seventh decade of life, I find myself thinking about how life has gone for me, the ups and the downs, the consolations and desolations of it all. What has become very evident is that since my early twenties, I have personally known the Cross. I know what the Cross is like.
For nearly thirty-eight years I did psychotherapy before retiring ten years ago. I heard over a thousand people talk about their crosses of life. I listened to how life treated them, the choices they made in life, and how they understood their crosses.
As a deacon for sixteen years now, I have talked with parishioners in four different parishes. As a spiritual director for clergy and men in formation the past three years, I continue to hear of the cross in the lives of so many.
I have concluded that no one over the age of twenty is exempt from the cross. I have concluded the Cross is very real.
Saint Paul, in our second reading this weekend, wrote of his experience of the Cross. He wrote, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Gal. 6:14) Earlier in that same epistle (verses we did not read today) he wrote: “I have been crucified with Christ, and the life I now live is not my own; Christ lives in me. (Gal. 2:19b-20a)
How do we think about our crosses? What is our attitude toward them? Do we boast, or as some translations put it, glory in our crosses or are we fearful and ashamed of them?
Tough stuff if we are really honest. Confusing stuff if we think as human beings think, and not as God thinks. Impossible stuff if we understand only as humans understand and not as God understands. Painful stuff if we remember as humans remember, and not as God remembers.
Do you glory in your cross, whatever it may be, or are you ashamed and fearful of it?
We run from the Cross. We flee from it. We hide our personal crosses so others cannot see, or know, or recognize them in us. We want to get that cross off our backs as soon as we can. We reject the cross.
Each of us is carrying at least one cross. Each of us must find a way to see in that cross the very place where God most fully loves us. Each of us must begin to understand how it is in that cross we bear that God most clearly has loved us, poured out His love upon us, even if we can’t feel it. In the cross of your life, God is loving you most.
I have seen men care for their critically ill wives. Certainly, no man would want a critical illness for his wife, yet in that cross the love of a husband for his wife is most clearly seen. I have known parents who sacrificed their own comfort and financial security to save the lives of their children. That cross becomes the very place where parental love is most fully expressed.
Too often we see the cross of our lives, whatever that cross might look like, as an indication of the absence God and His love. Too often the cross in our lives seems like a sign of God’s lack of concern for us.
Yet, Saint Paul says, we should boast of our crosses, glory in them. I think he is reminding us that we cannot escape God’s love or His presence, no matter what has happened or where we go. I think he is telling us that we cannot escape the fact that in those crosses of our lives, God has poured out into us His love, more than perhaps at any other time or place in our lives. We cannot escape God’s presence. He is present in those crosses. Indeed, our crosses were His before they became ours. Jesus Christ has carried them first. He knows everything about them. In some sense, our cross is in fact His cross.
Yes, we share in the Cross of Jesus. We carry some of His cross in our lives. We are very close to Jesus when we take up our cross, and He is very close to us. When we see our cross as the Cross Jesus carried, we are in fact walking cheek to cheek with Him and He with us.
That is why Saint Paul can say that he boasts and glories in the cross. He can say with honesty that his cross is Jesus’ cross, and that Jesus has allowed him to walk cheek to cheek with Him.
All of this requires faith. It makes no sense at all if you do not have faith. It is all gobbledygook without faith.
Yes, I have known the crosses of the loss of loved ones, the loss of my wife, the loss of possessions, loss of health, being misunderstood and ridiculed, being rejected and unloved. I have known the crosses of fear, worry, loneliness, and confusion. I know these are the same crosses many of you bear. How will we see them and understand them? Will we conclude that they are signs of God’s absence and His failure to love us, or will we in faith find in them the love of God poured out abundantly into our lives?
To me, in faith, they are opportunities to experience the love of God poured out in abundance upon me. In that way, I can boast in the cross, knowing God is present in my cross, never leaving me alone, always present to me in love.
How will it be for you?
May God love you all!
]]>Pentecost Sunday, Cycle C
Acts 2:1-11; 1 Cor 12:3b-7,12-13; John 20:19-23
June 7/8, 2025
Have you ever experienced the Holy Spirit? If you have, what was He like? What words would you use to describe Him? What images do you have of Him? How was He?
Unless you are in the Charismatic movement, you probably will struggle to answer those questions. I do. We only give passing thought to the Holy Spirit, except maybe at Pentecost or at Confirmation. That’s really too bad, because He is so necessary for our lives and our world. He is always doing good and beautiful things. The Holy Spirit mysteriously works. Sometimes I think He is the divine “Delta Force,” doing remarkable things in concealed ways.
Our faith teaches us that the Holy Spirit is God, the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. The Father loves His only begotten Son so much, and in return the Son loves the Father so much, that their bond of love is the Holy Spirit.
We speak often about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and rightly so. We have images and words to describe Him. He is like us in all things except sin, so we can identify with Him. He lived on earth as a human though He is a divine person, the Son of God.
We speak often about the Father, and have images and words to describe Him. Again, rightly so, for He keeps everything in existence by His holy will. He is the source of all life. We know a lot of earthly fathers, so we can relate to God the Father.
But when it comes to the Holy Spirit, we are rather tongue-tied and blind. The images from the Bible of a dove, or a tongue of fire, or a breath of wind don’t seem to work for us. We like the images, but how can we connect with them when we are none of these ourselves?
Maybe the Sequence we recited right before the Gospel will help us. In it we hear of some of the effects of the Holy Spirit, some signs of Him and His work. He is sweet refreshment, grateful coolness in the heat, solace, one who heals and strengthens, forgives and guides, and gives joy. All these are human experiences and attempts to wrap our minds around the divine person of Holy Spirit.
Maybe our readings today will help us. They highlight three characteristics of the Holy Spirit: Speech, Unity, and Peace.
Speech: The Holy Spirit is always speaking to us. Maybe we aren’t quiet enough to hear Him speak. Maybe we are too noisy in a noisy world. I often think about that when there is a lot of chatter in church. We have a hard time even in church being silent and listening. Many of us don’t like silence. It makes us nervous. How can we hear the Holy Spirit speak in a noisy life?
Unity: Our world is divided and so are we. Unity seems like fantasy, a nice concept but not reality, so we are anxious and distracted. We long for unity, but it seems far off. That’s how we think about the Holy Spirit… far off, when in fact He is very near. Yes, God allows divisions among us to exist, but those divisions become the portals through which the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and our world.
Peace: We are so attached to our world, to our possessions and material things, that we are ill-at-ease, defensive, and quick to quarrel. We have a hard time letting go and letting God. We are not at peace. We think of peace as a goal, but not as a sign of the Holy Spirit.
One of my ministries is offering spiritual direction to men. I graduated from the School of Spiritual Direction at Franciscan University Steubenville and am certified in spiritual direction and in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. I am one of the approved spiritual directors in the diocese. I mention this because spiritual directors learn how to help others to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, and how to recognize and reject the voice of the Evil Spirit. Quiet prayer is necessary if we are to hear the Holy Spirit speak, to recognize His presence, and obey Him. Divisions are due to some form of natural or supernatural evil. Peace is a promised consolation that God can give for the good of our souls.
How can you be more aware of the Holy Spirit in your life and be able to describe Him to others?
1. Carve out time each day to be completely silent. Give that time to God. Start with ten minutes of silence a day. Listen and see what happens.
2. When you find yourself feeling divided, anxious, and torn, immediately drop what you are doing, and ask the Holy Spirit to put the pieces together for you, to bring about the unity He wants for you. Beg the Holy Spirit to make sense of the confusing divisions you face. He can do it; you can’t without Him.
3. When you are in conflict with someone, remember your strength is in God, not in winning an argument. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring about the peace he wants to give to you.
I think you will be able to better describe the Holy Spirit if you talk to Him and recognize how He speaks to you. The Holy Spirit is kind of like the “Delta Force” of our spiritual lives. He is behind the scenes working, unrecognized unless we take the time to talk with Him in silence. I think that we all need to get to know the Holy Spirit better.
I know I do.
]]>Acts 13:14, 43-52; Rev 7:9, 14b-17; John 10:27-30
May 10-11, 2025
“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)
God alone is the author of life. He alone sustains it into eternity. Once God gives us life, He never takes it back. Rather, He is faithful to the person to whom He gives this most precious gift, and He is faithful to the gift itself. He sustains the gift of life in each of us, and He requires us to protect human life from its conception to its natural end. Life is a gift, a gift to be enjoyed with God now and in eternity, and in gratitude to Him who has given it. Yes, we are to live in gratitude to God for the life we now directly experience in this world and will experience anew for all eternity after we pass through the doors of death. We must live in gratitude.
When I had my psychotherapy practice at Gundersen, and now in the spiritual direction to men in formation, I recognized over and over again that a sign of mental and spiritual health was living in gratitude.
Are we grateful for the life we have been given? I hope so.
God chose a woman, the ever virgin Mary, to be the Mother of God, the mother of Jesus who is the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Just as God chose Mary to be the one through whom Word of Life would be given to the world, so too God chose our mothers to be the ones through whom life would offered to each of us. Just as Mary said “yes” to God through the invitation of the Archangel Gabriel, so too our mothers said “yes” to God when they were told that they were to bear a child into this world, a child who would be given eternal life by grace and the will of God Himself. Just as we should be grateful to our Blessed Mother for having said “yes” to the angel, so too we need be grateful to our mothers for their “yes” to God on our behalf.
My mother taught me the sacredness of my life. You have probably heard me say this before, but she taught me that God always has my life in His hands – like we heard in our Gospel today. He always is sustaining that gift of life, every second of every day, conceiving me over and over again, willing me to live every second. Should He ever stop willing the life He gave me, through my mother, I would cease to exist, but His eternal promise is that He will never abandon me or leave me an orphan. God does the same with you. Through your mother, He gave you life and now sustains the life you have been given.
How grateful we need to be to God and to our mothers!
There is a great temptation in our world today to take life rather than sustain it. There is a great temptation in our world today destroy life rather than live in gratitude for it. We see this in so many obvious ways like abortion and euthanasia, but we see it also in the ways we undermine the sanctity of mothers and the family. If we devalue the importance of motherhood, we devalue women, and we devalue the dignity of human life. I think our culture is doing just that. It is my contention that the ways in which our culture is demeaning mothers and motherhood and women are attacks on human life and its sanctity. If the world can accomplish that, then we no longer will live in gratitude; instead we will live in selfishness which is exactly that Satan hopes happens. Are we grateful, or are we selfish? How do we answer that question?
Now, I know many people grew up without a mother, or perhaps a less than good one. I know if you are one of those who experienced that, Mothers’ Day can be painful. My own father grew up without a mother. Grandma died when dad was only three years old. If your mom died in your infancy, or abandoned the family for some reason, I ask you to
bear this cross with gratitude nonetheless. Perhaps you have a greater reason for living in gratitude for you too were given life and now you are living it courageously. Perhaps you are the ones who live gratefully for the gift of life sustained by others, and you now live for others. I know my dad did not live in selfishness or bitterness for having been orphaned. There was a simple gratitude for how life developed for him. He gave himself for his family’s sake.
I end with this prayer for all our moms. Heavenly Father, I lift up to you today all our mothers. Bless them with strength to continue to care for their children, with the same bold selflessness Mary showed Jesus. Help our mothers feel our gratitude for all they have done and truly know the effect their love has had on our lives. Grant them we pray peace of heart and the joys of life now and into eternity. Amen.r
]]>Sir 27:4-7; 1 Cor 15:54-58; Lk 6:39-45
March 1-2, 2025
There is something about which I have been thinking more and more in recent years, and with increasing concern, i.e. is how we speak in public and private about others.
Two verses stand out for me in today’s readings: “From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Lk 6:45) and “When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do one’s faults when one speaks.” (Sir 27:4)
How true it is. It reminds me of a particular caution and a particular sin I’d like us to think about today.
The caution is: Think before you speak! Do not needlessly harm a man’s reputation, or your own, with rash speech!
The sin is detraction, which is according to the Catechism: “The disclosure of another’s faults and sins, without an objectively valid reason, to persons who did not know about them, thus causing unjust injury to that person’s reputation.” In other words, telling others about the faults and sins of someone else. Everyone has a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Detraction is a sin against truth.
How many times I have regretted speaking impulsively about someone! My mouth getting ahead of my head, ahead of my better judgment. I suspect most of you recall times when you have spoken before thinking.
How we speak about others says a lot about us. Our heart and our desire are revealed in our speech.
So much political speech nowadays is pure detraction. For me, it has gotten to a point where I almost never pay attention to what is said in politics. When I turn on the radio, it seems to flood my home with rash speech — loud, accusatory, and negative — always attacking someone’s reputation. When I log on to websites, the same thing pops up on the screen. Blogs that are written even by Catholics often fall into that category, disparaging other Catholics. Free speech, they claim. First Amendment rights, they assert. Really? Even courts of law recognize no one has the right to slander or libel another. Too often, free speech claims are invoked to justify the sin of detraction.
I recall back in the late 1970s when I was working at a factory. I heard my coworkers dumping on their wives, devaluing them publicly, exposing their faults. It said a lot about those men’s characters. I have heard wives always finding one fault after another with their husbands, rather than looking for that which is admirable about them.
I tire of all this. Enough, I say. Stop it!
Detraction is a sin against the truth. God is truth, the source of all truth. God is the source of truth for each one of us and God is the source of the truth about that person we are tempted to criticize publicly, exposing their faults and sins to others who have no right to know about them. The truth is that person is a child of God and infinitely loved by Him. How different we would treat each other if we really believed that! How different we would speak about others if we would always remember that before opening our mouths. How differently we would speak about our spouses, our children, our neighbors!
One reason, I think, the sin of detraction is so widespread is that people do not believe there is a truth which can be discovered and embraced, except for the “truth” of themselves. This denial that truth comes from God is a big deal nowadays. Do we care about what is true? For many, truth is relative to their feelings. If I feel it is true and I can therefore express it. Everything “depends” on my view. Does God exist? Depends. Does truth exist? Depends. The “depends” part refers to whether or not I see it so. When we go down that road, nothing is true and nothing is sinful except what violates my personal viewpoint. I become my own God.
No, my friends, God is the source of truth. If something is really true, then it comes from God. So, what I am about to say about someone else, is it of God, and from Him?
I read in a church bulletin (not ours) that there are three questions we need to ask ourselves before revealing the faults of others. Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary to say it?
If it is true, it is from God not from us.
If it is kind, our motivation will be pure. Lies are never kind. Half-truths are cruel. Hatred is evil. Anger is destructive. Wounding others’ reputations is sinful. Never speak quickly when angry, hurt, or armed with hearsay. Speak in love.
Is it necessary to reveal this? To answer, we must sleep on it. We must pray about it before we speak about someone’s faults. When might it be necessary? On the witness stand in a court of law. Before God in the confessional. Before God in spiritual direction. When intervening to save a man’s life and well-being. When protecting a vulnerable individual from serious harm. In other words, it is seldom necessary to reveal someone’s faults to another.
Fill your heart with good things. Fill your heart with the Lord. Fill your heart with the truth which comes from God Himself. Fill your heart with the love of God for you and for all. Fill your heart with the truth who is God. Then your hearts will be full of good things and you will produce rich fruit as we heard in the Gospel. Then your speech will be just and true, and honorable.
Yes, from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks. (Lk 6:45)
]]>February 1-2, 2025
Malachi 3:1-4; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40
Today, February 2, traditionally is Candlemass Day when all the candles to be used in the parish were blessed for the upcoming year. It was a day, then, when light entered the church, candles, stunning and brilliant, chasing away any darkness in the building. We remembered back then how that Light, (with a capital L) who is Jesus, entered the temple at the Presentation, today’s Feast. Light also was a symbol of our faith in Jesus, who came into the darkness of the world. Candles remain a symbol of our faith in Jesus Christ who breaks into the darkness. So, today I would like to speak of light and darkness and faith.
In the gospel, Jesus came into the temple as an infant with Joseph and Mary. His parents came to be purified, as was the dictate of the law, and Jesus was declared to be “a light for revelation”, a light, recognized that day by just a few: Simeon, Anna, Mary, and Joseph, but today he is recognized by millions as the Light of the World, who enters every aspect of the world and of our lives, dispelling the darkness around us, and our doubts and our sins within us.
In the gospel, Simeon told Mary that a sword would pierce her heart and that her son would be a sign that would be contradicted. Like Mary, a sword will someday pierce our hearts too, and yes, Jesus continues to be contradicted even today, but here is the good news: where there is light, darkness disappears, where there is faith, doubt and fear vanish. Light purifies darkness, and faith dispels doubt and fear. In other words, where there is faith in God, there is light. No darkness. No fear.
All this happened in our baptisms. We were purified after we entered the parish church with our parents, renounced sin and Satan, and all his empty promises, and then confessed our faith in God, and entered the waters of baptism. A brilliant light entered our souls that day with the anointing with Holy Chrism and the gift of the Holy Spirit. If only we could have seen with these eyes the brilliance of that light; it would have stunned us!
You see, if we have faith in God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — like we professed in our baptisms, and renounce Satan and evil and all the darkness he brings into our lives, the light of the Holy Spirit is given to us by God the Father. In baptism, we became temples of the Holy Spirit. Faith was the foundation on which this light entered the temple of our lives. Yes, God entered the temple our lives, our souls, just as Jesus entered the temple of His time. God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is our Light. We have nothing to fear of any darkness that we may be experiencing now if we remain strong in our faith.
We often concede that, yes, Jesus is very powerful. We often admit that the Holy Trinity is very powerful. It is kind of easy to admit that. God is powerful. What we find hard to admit is how necessary and powerful is our faith. It is so necessary for us to remain full of faith.
St Paul in the second reading basically says this light of faith has the power to destroy all darkness and sin. It has the power to free us even from eternal death. He tells us that the light of faith is so powerful that it clears the slate so to speak. It purifies us from our sin and from all darkness. This indeed happened to us in our baptisms, and will continue to happen to us if we are willing to live consistent with our baptismal promises.
Has darkness entered your life? If it has, have you let the light of faith enter to dispel it?
The light of faith is so powerful and darkness is so fragile! Remember that when you seem surrounded by darkness and problems in life. Just a match shatters the darkness, no matter how dark or how big the darkness may seem. It is a fact that a small light on an open sea at night can be seen for ten miles. Think of that! Think of how much more powerful is the light of your faith, how far it can penetrate the spiritual darkness of your life. Light is so powerful! Our faith is so powerful! Jesus is so powerful! God is so powerful! Darkness, and sin, and life’s problems, and all those things are so weak and fragile in comparison. So fragile are they!
The light of Christ has completely shattered all darkness. Just as the smallest of lights shatters the physical darkness, the light of faith, no matter how small, shatters the every spiritual darkness. That light becomes brighter the more we are purified of any sin that is within us.
Never despair if you seem engulfed with darkness, with problems, or with sins. No matter what may be happening that seems discouraging, never despair because your faith within you will shatter the darkness around you. My friends, never extinguish the light of your faith for any reason! I repeat, never abandon your faith! Never! Stay close to Jesus, stay close to the sacraments so that light of your faith remains in you!
]]>2nd Sunday of Advent – Cycle C
December 7/8, 2024
Baruch 5: 1-9; Phil 1:4, 8-11; Lk 3: 1-6
God comes to us. Will we go to him?
Imagine two scenarios and two different voices. First, I’d like you to think of the voice of the oddest member in your family, maybe your uncle or cousin. Imagine that family member being gone for a few years and then all of a sudden returning looking pretty ragged and out-of-sorts, speaking directly to you and going on and on about God coming soon and how we all have to repent and get ready.
Now, imagine another scenario and another kind of voice,. You are walking through a mountain range. Big tall mountains that seem to speak to you with their size and beauty, and the deep valleys that repeat back to you every word you speak. This voice seems to pull you farther and farther into the mountains, mesmerizing you by their grandeur and beauty, only to find that you are lost and can’t find your way back home because the mountains block your exit and the valleys are too deep to escape.
Now, my question is to which of these two voices will you listen to in your life? Is it the call of the mountains of resistance and the echoes of the deep valleys of temptation? Or, will you listen to the words of John the Baptist in the Gospel? The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness; and he went into the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Make ready the way of the Lord! Clear him a straight path! Let every valley be filled, every mountain made low! Let all mankind see the salvation of our God, for he comes! Smooth out the rough patches John said, and straighten the crookedness of your life. Fill in what is missing!
God wants to make our lives smooth. He wants to remove the mountains of distress in our lives and he wants to fill our valleys of despair with his presence, with his peace, with his justice, with his glory. Yes God comes to us! He comes so that we might not be held captive by sin and death. He comes so that we might be free from all that would tear us away from him. God comes to seeking us out.
God comes to level our mountains of resistance. He comes to fill the trenches of temptation. God comes to strengthen our hands and make firm our knees, so that we might stand tall upon the heights and declare before all the people, “The Lord has done great things for us! We are glad indeed!”
Yes, return to the Lord with all your heart. Go to him. Ready yourself, for Jesus is coming! He will complete in us the good work, the good news, which he began so long ago.
Ask yourselves, “What are the valleys of temptation in my life? Where are the mountains of resistance that impede my progress? What has led me away from my God?”
My friends, John the Baptist outlines three steps we must take to find our way out of those mountains and the valleys of life.
Step one: we must go into the wilderness, into the desert, into those mountains and valleys. We must find time to be with God. We must find time to pray. In the wilderness we must struggle to admit our sinfulness and our need of forgiveness. We must admit we are lost and in need of guidance and direction.
Step two, we must let the God come to us and lead us out. God comes to us when we pray. God comes to us when we read Scripture and hear it read. Yes, God wants us to seek him out by going into the desert, but he also wants to lead us out of that wilderness; he wants to free us from whatever holds us captive. He wants to give us his Spirit who guides us out of the mountains and valleys that surround us. He comes to give us the hope of rebirth! On his own initiative, God comes searching our souls, searching our hearts that have been held captive by the addiction of sin and the temptations of the world around us.
Yes, God comes to forgive us. When does that forgiveness come to us in a very personal way? When we go to confession and receive absolution. We all need to confess our sins, admit our guilt and receive the Lord’s forgiveness. We must go frequently, on a monthly basis, to the sacrament of Penance. It is our way of being prepared for his coming. It is our way to ready ourselves for the coming of Jesus.
Step three, we must go out and proclaim the faith. He sends us out to announce to the whole world that God is good and that he has done great things for us. He sends us out in joy and peace so we might give witness to his presence and his love, so that we might lead others to him. He sends us out so that others may learn the faith, and know God. He sends us out to proclaim the truth that God is found in the Catholic Church, in her teachings, in her living Tradition and Apostolic ministry.
In a nutshell, Advent is a time to go into the wilderness in order to listen and hear God’s voice, to be open to his coming into our lives, to seek his forgiveness, and then to become witnesses of his coming into our world.
God will lead us. He will level the mountains of sin and fills the trenches of temptation. He will bring to completion the work he has begun. He will grace us with his presence. Look for him! He is coming soon! Go to him! As the Scriptures say, “Let all mankind will see the salvation of God!” God comes to you. Will you go to him?
]]>Deuteronomy 6:2-6; Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 12:28b-34
November 2/3, 2024
I would like to focus today on the beginning two lines of the Gospel and in that way address everything else you have just heard.
“Hear O Israel! The Lord your God is Lord alone!” Yes, my friends, hear…. hear!… and…. God is Lord alone.
Now, I want you to imagine what would happen if I were to call for a show of hands, right now here in this church, if I asked you, “Do you believe that there is one God and you need to hear Him in some way?” How many of you would raise high their hands? I think most of us would raise them high. Surely, we all would, because it is a basic part of our faith. Now imagine what would happen if I were to ask you a follow-up question, the “truth in the pudding” kind of question, “Do you listen to God more than anyone or anything else in your life?” What do you imagine would happen? How many hands would stay up? Most of our hands would drop, right?
So I will ask the question “To whom or to what do you spend most of your day listening?” If you were to actually add up the number of hours you spend listening to people or something like your smart phone, I will wager that you would discover that you actually are spending more time listening someone or something other than God.
There is an old adage that says, “He to whom you listen, is he whom you will eventually obey.” So, to whom are you listening? Who do you obey?
There are so many people, causes, organizations, political parties that demand we listen to them, especially during an election year. Have those people, causes, organizations, political parties, and candidates — to whom we spend a lot of time listening and hearing— become our lords, to use the word from the Gospel?
The answer is “Yes”. I think I can safely say that. I think all of us break that First Commandment frequently and confess it rarely. We have lords other than God, who is Lord alone because we listen to and hear other people more than God.
Who then is your Lord? Truly, who do you listening to in your life more than anyone or anything else? If we spend a lot of time listening to someone, that person becomes our lord.
Now, please understand that I am not suggesting we stop listening to each other. Or that husbands should stop listening to their wives or wives to their husbands, or children to their parents. No, we need a lot more time listening to each other and in that way reduce the tensions in our relationships and our world. Listening is a good thing! But on the flip side of the coin, and this my point, we all know what history teaches us if we fall into the trap of listening to someone who has become our lord and who drowns out the voice of God in our lives. Recent and ancient history are full of examples. Let us learn from history if not from the Scriptures. We are now finding out what happens when a piece of technology — our iPhones and Androids— become our lord. We spend most of our time listening to them, don’t we? In the Bible God kept telling His people to stop giving their allegiance and their lives to false gods. God kept calling them back to Himself.
For over 15 years now, I have been living without television or internet in my home. I’m not bragging, just stating a fact. I have done this for several reasons, but mainly to help me not succumb to the temptations TV, the Internet, and technology bring, tempting me to me to listen to someone other than God throughout my day. I way too easily fall into trap of idolatry. My forgoing of them is my way of listening to God as much as I can. I know that if I listen to Him more than I listen to the world, He will become my Lord, my one Lord, and I will be set free.
I like to think that by trying to hear God more, I will be better able to accept Him for who He is, i.e., my Lord, the one Lord of my life, who alone makes sense of my life and all that has happened to me. I hope that by living in this way, I may be free from anything that will become a false god to which I become a slave.
That’s one of the wonderful things about God; the more you hear Him and obey Him, the freer you become. He wants you to hear Him and freely serve Him. He wants you to find in Him the freedom which comes in loving Him completely. You were made for freedom and you will only find that freedom by hearing God, having Him as your one Lord, and responding with the love He has first given you.
My challenge to you is take a look at your life. Who are you listening to? Are you hearing God? Can you shut off the computer, the iPhone or Android, cut way down your screen time? Can you begin to question who you pay allegiance to, and where is God in all of that? How can you better hear God? Are you listening to Him every day? Can you honestly say God is Lord of your life because you listen to Him more than others?
Let the words of Moses be my words to you today. Hear these words not as enslaving commandments, but rather as words that will free you from all forms of idolatry and slavery to sin and to the world. “Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! Take to heart these words I enjoin upon you today. Love God above all, with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” In all humility, I testify that I have found this to be true.
]]>October 5/6, 2024
Gen 2:18-24; Heb 2:9-11; Mk 10:2-16
It was April of 1977, and I was sitting at the reception desk at Kelly Hall at what was then St. Mary’s College, my alma mater. I was pouring over my notes on metaphysics, which was an upper level philosophy course I had been taking. Metaphysics deals with the first principles of things, being, substance, cause, and space. It is very abstract. An elderly priest approached me and asked what I was studying. “Metaphysics,” I told him. He then looked at me and said, “Young man, remember one thing. Do not let anything or anyone confuse you about this. What is, is, and what is not, is not.” Yes, what is, exists, and what is not, doesn’t exist. I have never forgotten the face of that priest, and I never have forgotten his simple wisdom. It has served me well in life.
Today’s readings are all about marriage. In some ways, I may not be very credible when it comes to marriage, but I did spend 38 years as a marriage therapist, during which time I heard it all. I was married for 42 years. I experienced the highs and lows of married life. I experienced how much God loves marriage and how He blesses it in every way possible. I also experienced how Satan hates marriage and those in it, and how he attacks it viciously. Now, I am just a celibate deacon and will remain so the rest of my life, seeking new ways of living and loving and serving God’s people. When I was ordained in 2009, Holy Orders and Matrimony became for me a fully integrated vocation. They were distinct, yet inseparably united. They were two lungs breathing life into me. For me, there was no confusion. Both were the answer to the questions, “Who am I? and, “What am I to do?” There was no division between the two sacraments. I had no need to rewrite the truth of Marriage or Holy Orders. I accepted them both as they are.
My friends, more and more people are confused about marriage, and, frankly, about Holy Orders, but I will talk only about marriage today. The reason, I think, for the confusion is people are confused about themselves. They are unsure who they are and what they are to do in life which spills over into uncertainty about marriage. They are unsure of themselves and so they live in a great and painful uncertainty. This is causing so much division, so much division, in the world, in the Church, in our families, and yes within each of us, so much so that many are thinking they need to redefine what marriage is.
What is, is, and what is not, is not. What is marriage? God’s Word, which we have just heard, is clear. It is the indissoluble union of one man and one women who freely and totally vow to give themselves to each other until death. It is the union of two bodies, the union of two hearts, and the union of two minds. It is the sharing of a home and children. Marriage is the primordial sacrament. It existed from the time of Adam in the beginning, before the fall, before the seven sacraments we now know. It is rooted in our very nature as men and as women. It exists by God’s design, not ours, and it is expressed in human nature. Marriage is not what it cannot be, such as the union of two men or two women or a relationship of a human and something else in creation. Such relationships do exist, as is so evident in our society now, but those relationships are something other than marriage, and cannot be marriage, no matter how much we may want them to be. Those in such relationships are searching for a way of understanding themselves and the world, and they take what is known to them (marriage) and lay claim to it and apply it to their situation, doing themselves great harm, rather than undertaking what is of vital importance to them, and what would be of great service to us all if it were undertaken, i.e., to better understand who they are, what is their vocation, and the meaning in their lives in the light of God’s design for them and the world. Rather than take what is (their relationship) and try to make it what it is not (marriage) if they would only ask the deeper questions about God, themselves, and the importance of their lives and their God-given vocation.
I don’t think anyone needs to ask these deeper question alone. There are resources and people available to assist them. I heartily recommend Courage as one of those resources. It is a solidly Catholic apostolate available to anyone willing to undertake those deeper questions. If you want to know more about it, talk to me.
You know, back in April of 1977, I went in for that metaphysics final examination. I aced it. I got my degree in philosophy. Although I cannot credit that elderly priest for my degree, I do credit him with giving me needed and helpful advice that cut through not only the speculation of metaphysics, but also the uncertainties of life.
May we all grow into a deeper understanding of ourselves, our lives, and marriage. For all of you who are called to the vocation of marriage, may you experience its joys and many blessings. For all called to other vocations, know that God loves you, and the life He has given you is an expression of that love, and He has a beautiful plan for you.
]]>23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B
Isaiah 35:4-7a; James 2:1-5; Mk 7:31-37
September 7/8, 2024
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, and the tongue of the mute will sing…. be strong, fear not!
What are the impediments in your life? What are the things that keep you from hearing and seeing and speaking about your faith?
Have you ever heard God say to you, Ephphath, be healed? Believe me, God wants you to hear it now. Will you hear him? What blinds you? What keeps you from speaking boldly about your experience with Jesus, like the man in the Gospel did?
The answer, I believe, is we are sorely wounded and have not yet been healed. I have come to believe that we are impeded by our wounds, and we think it’s normal. We have become silent and incoherent, and we have been okay with that.
We must change. We must be healed. We will only be healed if we have a direct experience of the Incarnate God, i.e., Jesus, like the man in the Gospel.
We need to understand what it is that has hurt us so much that we fail to speak out about our faith, we fail the poor, the elderly, the sick, and the “worthless” in our society, like St. James warns us in the second reading.
We need to figure out what it is, what deep wounds we are carrying around inside us, as individuals and as a nation, that make us hate — I use that word deliberately — hate ourselves so much that we accept the violence toward our unborn children, we are increasingly accepting euthanasia of our elderly and those considered useless, and think these crimes are acts of love. The pro-life battles we have been fighting are never going to end until we figure out what it is within us that we dislike so much that we accept abortion, physician-assisted suicide, and the indirect killing of the poor through our neglect of them.
The problem is in us. We are the problem. We have to start with ourselves. We need to be healed so we can hear better, see better, and speak boldly about what is the truth.
What I just tried to say in a psychological way (thank you Dr. Freud), I’ll now try to say in a theological manner. Satan has entered our lives and his work is evident. He is the father of lies and hatred. Satan plants hatred in anyone who listens to him. Satan wants so much for us to hate— especially when we don’t even know we are doing it. He works undercover and disguises hate as something good. He couples his hate with his lies. Satan wants us to think that hate is good, so we will choose to do it thinking we are loving someone. That is the great lie of Satan, i.e., that to hate is good.
What lies, have we accepted? How deeply have I been wounded in this way?
Healing and truth are found only in an encounter with the Incarnate God, who is Jesus. How will you encounter him and be healed? When will you hear him say to you, Ephphatha? It is not that difficult to hear him.
Jesus is the Incarnate God now ascended into heaven, but He lives yet in his people. How then will you encounter him and be healed? Look at the crucifix! Who and what do you see there? Jesus, yes, but look deeply. Who is there with him on that cross?
I see an unborn child in danger of abortion. Mary’s pregnancy would be considered a “problem pregnancy” nowadays. Think of it. A fourteen year old girl, pregnant, and Joseph was not the father. Can you imagine the scuttlebutt, the questions about her character? Nowadays, Mary would probably be counseled to have an abortion.
I see a terminally ill man. Jesus was dying on that cross. What did the people do? They wanted him to be put out of his misery before sundown so they could get on with the Sabbath. So, I see every terminally ill person in danger of physician-assisted suicide.
I see an unjustly condemned man. On the crucifix, I see every man on death row.
I see a homeless man. Jesus had nowhere to lay his head. On that cross I see the homeless of today.
I see a foreigner. Mary and Joseph took Jesus across international boundaries to save his life. So, I see all those foreigners seeking the same in our country.
I see what Mother Teresa would call “the poorest of the poor.” Jesus owned nothing except the tunic on his back.
My point is we can and will encounter the Incarnate God in all these people of our day. If we encounter them, and not turn away from them, we will be healed. We can encounter all of them by gazing on the crucifix. Satan does not want us to gaze on the crucifix because he knows it is the sign truth which defeats him.
If you want to encounter Jesus and be healed, here is my challenge. It is both easy and difficult. For 15 minutes a day, every day for 90 days, gaze on the crucifix in this church. If you simply cannot get to church every day, then gaze on the crucifix in your home. If you don’t have one, buy one. I believe your hearts and minds will be changed if you do this.
I challenge you to do this. I challenge you to be healed. Get rid of your impediments. Do it, then come and tell me what happened.
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