12th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

The lawyer posed a question in order to test Jesus. Jesus turns this around by responding to him with a question of His own. To this the lawyer responded, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.”

It is one thing to say these words and it is another thing entirely to put these words into action. Knowing this the Lord responded to this man, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”

The parable of the Good Samaritan unfolds from here and further expounds upon what was told to this lawyer. At the heart of the message we should not spend our time attempting to figure out who our neighbor is, but instead take care of all those whom we come across. One does not have to be of the same demographic in order to be shown such care.

Often times this Good Samaritan is seen as being Christ. He encounters this man who was left for dead and through His mercy restores Him to proper health, even entrusting him to the care of the inn which is the Church. It is from this same font of mercy that we are given health and set upon the straight path which leads towards the Kingdom of Heaven.

Like this lawyer we need to encounter the Lord and be sent forth by Him in a spirit of such charity. It can be easy to rationalize our lack of care for the needs of others. This was precisely what the Lord was making this lawyer to understand.

The Gospel challenges us to something more then using the proper set of words. Rather, it sends us forth to glorify the Lord by our life. Whenever we fail to love our neighbor we cannot claim to have love for God. Love God can only be made manifest if we are also willing to love our neighbor as self.

In our prayer we should reflect upon the ways in which we have failed to show such charity to others. This might entail thoughts that we hold in our mind concerning them, this might be the words which we speak against them, or even the actions that we put into motion which goes against their human dignity.

As Christians this gospel challenges us in a great way. If we are to grow in the practice of such charity towards our neighbor we must enter into the infinite love of God. By entering into this reality we are sent forth to share what we have received. Let us be willing to let go of ourself in order to grow in that love that expressed to us by Christ from the wood of the cross.

22nd Sunday of OT Year C Homily

Saint Augustine stated, “The way to Christ is first through humility, second through humility, third through humility.”

Saint Thomas Aquinas in the Summa perfectly defines this virtue, “Humility means seeing ourselves as God sees us: knowing every good we have comes from Him as pure gift.”

Humility’s opposite, pride, is seen as the root of all evil. Therefore, humility serves as the foundation from which all other virtues are able to take root. Without humility what would seem to be virtuous would only point back to our self importance.

From Saint John Chrysostom, “Humility is the root, mother, nurse, foundation, and bond of all virtue.”

Humility is no easy task. A simple reflection of the prayer known as the Litany of Humility would give rise to such feelings. Deliver me, Jesus from the desire of being esteemed, the desire of being loved, the desire of being extolled, the desire of being honored, the desire of being praised, the desire of being preferred to others, the desire of being consulted, the desire of being approved, the fear of being humiliated, the fear of being despised, the fear of suffering rebukes, the fear of being calumniated, the fear of being forgotten, the fear of being ridiculed, the fear of being wronged, and the fear of being suspected.

Dispositions such as these should make us see the difficultly of being humble. It is easy to want ourself to be exalted for all the wondrous things that we have done. We must live in proper balance where we don’t think too highly or too lowly of self. Through humility we realize who we are and that we are dependent on God’s grace and the love that Christ shares to us from the wood of the cross.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola makes reference to three modes of humility: humility for the sake of salvation, humility of a detached life, and humility for the Love of the poor Christ. To achieve this we must first acknowledge our need for humility by acknowledging our faults and sins. Then we can grow in our desire to follow the will of God instead of being caught up in our own desires, and then finally we are able to live as one who goes about things simply out of pure love for Jesus.

Let us desire to grow in such humility for without humility we would be unable to strive to be saints. Through such humility we will find our rest not in the ways of this world, but in Christ who invites us to abandon all things in order to come and follow after Him.

11th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

In the Rite of Baptism we are told at the Ephpeta, “May the Lord Jesus, who made the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak, grant that you may soon be able to receive His word and profess the faith to the praise and glory of God the Father.”

Baptism thus takes an individual who has inherited the stain of original sin and washes it away. Through our baptism we can proclaim with the Psalmist, “Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”

Through our baptism we have been given sanctifying grace. It is important that we do not allow such a gift to lie dormant. Instead as those who have been baptized we must be sent forth in order to live a life of faith.

The Ephpeta makes two comments, “to receive His word” and to “profess the faith to the praise and glory of God the Father.”

The reception of something requires humility on our behalf. We must realize that we are in need of the gift of God’s grace that is being bestowed upon us. We cannot receive if we remain closed to such a reality for we will be unable to hear the voice of God which is being made manifest in our life.

To profess something requires that we be sent forth to share what we have received. As is said in Saint Matthew’s Gospel, “Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lamp stand, where it gives light to all the house.” Through profession of faith are making Christ a priority of our life that we radiate wherever we may go.

Profession of faith does not require that we write books on the topic, give lectures, or preach in the public square. Profession of faith does mean that we allow our whole life to rotate around Christ. That when we are with others we live as one who has been claimed for Christ. Are our words and actions lived in accordance with the gospel?

Baptism has been and will continue to be an important element of our life. Nevertheless, we must continue to nurture this gift given to us each day. Continue to enter into relationship with God through prayer and the sacramental life of the Church. Continue to invite God’s grace to enter into your life in order that you may remain an obedient disciple of the Lord.

From Saint Ignatius of Antioch, “Let none of you turn deserter. Let your baptism be your armor; your faith, your helmet; your love, your spear; your patient endurance, your panoply.” In such manner we will “receive His word and profess the faith to the praise and glory of God the Father.”

21st Sunday of OT Year C Homily

This evening we gather together as one around the altar of sacrifice. Here we come in order to adore the Lord our God and to give thanks for all that God has given to us. We will come to commune with Him in the most intimate of ways through our participation in the Eucharist. Through the Eucharist we receive Christ who is present with us Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

From our Responsorial Psalm we were instructed to “go out to all the world and tell the Good News.” This evangelistic mentality is necessary for through the Great Commission we were told to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” As a parish family we must heed this call and continue to draw others towards Christ and His Church despite our limitations.

Figures such as Moses and Jonah were filled with such fear of unworthiness when they received their call. The apostles had their own faults and yet they were still called by name to come and follow after Him. Likewise, we have been given all that we need to be such an missionary through our relationship to Christ and the sacramental life of the Church.

If we are to lead others towards Christ we must come to embrace a life which is lived in unison with Him. For this reason we strive with the help of Christ’s mercy and God’s grace to enter through that narrow gate. As a parish family let us be sent forth from this place to “go out to all the world and tell the Good News.”

10th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

Our gospel calls us to live out a life of humility. The opposite of humility is pride which has been seen as the root of all sin.

Saint Thomas More stated of it, “But no matter how high in the clouds this arrow of pride may fly, and no matter how exuberant one may feel while being carried up so high, let us remember that the lightest of these arrows still has a heavy iron head. High as it may fly, therefore, it inevitably has to come down and hit the ground. And sometimes it lands in a not very clean place.”

If we go to the beginning we will encounter Eve who despite being free of the stain of original sin partook of the fruit of the tree. She was lead to believe by the serpent that through such an act she would achieve high results. On the other hand, we have Mary who serves as a saint of true humility (she is after all the New Eve) who stated in the Magnificat, “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.”

Through humility we become the lowly who have been cast down from their thrones. Humility makes us understand that we are simply a servant of God. Despite the shortcoming that are present in our life we must be willing to humbly go before God and be found receptive of His mercy and grace. As Saint Therese of Lisieux had said, “I want to be a saint, but I feel so helpless.”

If we to the saints who have gone before us into eternal life we can see that they were not perfect. They needed the mercy of God and the gift of His grace if they were to preserve until the end. The understood that they could not think too highly of themselves because they were in need of only what God could give.

Through our pride we fail to understand this lesson. Through pride we begin to exalt ourself to high places. In such manner we fail to trust in the mercy of God and we fail to be grounded in the gift of God’s grace. We instead set out as if we are capable of saving ourself for we have been led believe that we don’t need God.

As those who have passed through the waters of baptism we have been oriented towards a much greater path. We are called to be saints and this is only possible if we are willing to be found humble of heart. As Saint Catherine of Siena said, “Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire.”

We can only accomplish such a task if we are found willing to come to know God and desire to serve Him. This understanding can only come about if we are willing to be humble of heart. In all humility participate in the sacrament of confession and be sent forth fortified by His mercy and grace. In such manner we, despite our faults, can persevere unto the end to be numbered among the saints of Heaven.