26th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

We each have a list of things that we would like to accomplish in this life. Some things that appear on our to do list will be accomplished no matter what attempts to get in our way. Other items on our to do list exist with the sole hope that we will be able to one day get around to them. Nevertheless, we should all realize that we only have so much time to accomplish the things that appear on this list. For example: if we desire to go to a sporting event and fail to get a ticket early we could easily find ourself realizing that the event has been sold out and thus find ourself being out of luck. We should also realize that our to do list never really gets finished because before we know it something else of importance arises in our life that we must do. Again these items can fluctuate from something impulsive like an item that we see in a store and desire to have to something more important like taking care of a family member who is sick. When we think about it we can never really be made whole because there is so much that we desire to do.

So without a proper relationship to God we most definitely would never be made whole. With Christ we are given everything that we will ever need and thus do not need to be filled by items which attempt to grab our attention. With a relationship to God the suffering that we may experience with a family member or even ourself takes on authentic meaning. Instead of having a to do list that only fuels our love for self and our need to accomplish a vast array of possessions; our relationship with Christ shows the complete opposite where we finally experience a love that is not restrictive, but is giving. In Saint Paul's letter to the Philippians we hear this reflected because we are told about God who is filled with love. This love was so great that He did not desire to remain at a distance, but instead took on human flesh in the incarnation. This love did not stop here, but instead it lead to Christ accepting His own death upon the wood of the cross in order that we may each be forgiven from our many transgressions against God the Father.

I hope that through our own experience with Christ that we will see the authentic love that is found here. From this love may our life finally take on meaning instead of leaving us wondering around in need of discovering something more. Through Christ we will and have received everything that we will ever need if only we can allow ourself to trust in Him and finally allow our life to not be disordered in sin, but instead to be ordered through our love for Him. If we develop this love and this trust in Christ we indeed will no longer bend our knee to sin and confess sin to be our Lord, but instead we will live out the words of Philippians and allow our knee to bend at Christ alone and to truly confess with our words that Jesus Christ is Lord. This can never be accomplished if we so easily shrug off our Catholic faith and ignore what we believe and profess to be the truth. If we continue to place more stock in the events of the world at the cost of our own faith and relationship with Christ we will always be like the man who did not go out into the vinyard to work.

We must each be willing to go out into the vinyard of to work. We cannot be content at saying that I will get around to it one day because as we know time does eventually run out and we will be held accountable for the actions of our life. We will be held accountable that we have professed Christ to be our Lord through our baptism and yet were never willing to lead other souls to Christ or even to allow our own knee to bend as we confess Christ to be our Lord. What we find in the Catholic Church is the fullness of faith that will lead our soul and other souls to Heaven, but so often we fail to surrender ourself to the fullness of faith that is found here. We think that we know better then Christ and His Church. Christ has given the Sacraments as a gift to the Church that each of us may continue to be drawn into a deeper relationship with Him. We cannot live out our life of faith as if all of the Sacraments are not of great priority to us. 

And so, the Eucharist that we will receive today is a great gift from God where Christ is truly present in both His Body and Blood that we may be able to order our life after Him. Confession is a necessary Sacrament, as the precepts of the Church say: A Catholic must confess their sins at least once a year. Confession is not an option for us, but instead it is most necessary for us to be prepared to work faithfully in the vinyard of our Lord. May we each begin to place more attention upon the necessity of the Sacraments, upon the necessity of prayer especially before the Holy Eucharist and our fidelity to the rosary of Our Lady, and also upon our own necessity to be moved into relationship with God who is love and in return to share this authentic love with others. It is not enough for us to hold onto mere words, but we must also put these words into action by the way that we live out our life. May responding to this call to enter into the Vinyard of the Lord truly be a top priority on our to do list; which we will never allow to be overshadowed by the many other items that are found upon this list that distract us from our relationship with God.

25th of OT Year A Homily

If we are workers our Gospel should be very upsetting to us. It would be unfair to say that we could work a full day's work and receive a wage equal to somebody who worked less then us. This scenario is very much so unfair, but thankfully our salvation does not work in the same manner. If our salvation dealt with staying faithful from the point of our baptism to the point of our death all of us would be in a lot of trouble. There is none of us here who can claim that they have worked a full day's wage concerning their worthiness for salvation. From our Holy Father, Francis, "We are all sinners." At some point we have gotten off the path, but hopefully when this happens we quickly reorient ourself to the mercy of God. The lives of the Saints attest to this because when we study the saints we will see many different people with many different stories. Some have radiated God by their life from their childhood, others as adults, and even others before the point of death. Some were grave sinners while others did not sin to such a degree. 

Nevertheless, what they all hold in common will hopefully be equal to what we will obtain one day which is the grace of final perseverance. Final perseverance is the grace that is necessary for us to obtain salvation. It means that we will die while in the state of grace. It means that if we have committed a mortal sin that we would of confessed it, turned away from it, and never went back again. One cannot claim that they have achieved the grace of final perseverance if they have died in the state of mortal sin. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 1035: "Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire." The Council of Trent holds that the grace of final perseverance has one origin which is from God Himself. The same council held that it is an error to believe that one can achieve this grace without the help of God. God is most necessary because we cannot obtain final perseverance due to our own merit.

If we truly desire to achieve the grace of final perseverance may we prevail ourself to God who is the only one who can grant such a grace. May we realize that there is never a point when we are unable to surrender ourself to the mercy of God and thus to be moved towards authentic conversion. Saint Alphonsus gives us the example that we need to fervently pray for such a grace to be materialized inside of our life. At the conclusion of every prayer that Saint Alphonsus offered he would include a petition where he would ask God for this grace to be achieved within his life. Saint Alponsus found this grace to be so important concerning our salvation that he would remark: "All those who are in heaven are there for this one reason: They prayed, they asked for perseverance. All those who are in hell are there for this one reason: They did not pray and they did not ask the Lord for the grace of final perseverance." May we to desire the just wage of salvation by praying that we may achieve such an important grace and also be willing to amend our life to match such a desire.

Thankfully our Gospel message sounds unfair to our ears. Thankfully all of us can pray for the grace of final perseverance and thus when we die we to can be found worthy to enter into the Heavenly Kingdom. Some of us here have worked fervently in the Harvest of the Lord since their childhood, others have worked fervently since having a conversion experience, others began to work fervently due to their desire to get their children to Heaven, others begin to work fervently in this harvest at the moment before they take their last breath on this earth, and still others have yet to find such a wondrous path that leads towards salvation. May we not continue to run from the just wage of salvation, but instead move ourself towards it. May we not become so prideful that we believe that we are owed such a wondrous wage without the help of God. May we truly pray that we can achieve final perseverance at the moment before our life ends.

In conclusion may we listen to this prayer offered by Saint Alphonsus for the grace of final perseverance and thus allow his words to penetrate into our heart that we may truly desire to achieve this wondrous grace.

Eternal Father, I Humbly Adore and Thank You, for having Created me, and for having Redeemed me. I Thank You for having made me a Christian, by giving me the True Faith, and for Adopting me as Your Child in Baptism. I Thank You for having given me Time-to Repent, after my many Sins, and for having Pardoned all my Offenses. I Renew my Sorrow for them, because I have Displeased You. I Thank You also for having Preserved me from Falling-again, as I would have done, if You had not Held me up, and Saved me. But my Enemies, do not cease Fighting-against me, nor will they, until I Die. If You do not Help me Continually, I will Lose Your Grace again. I, therefore, Pray-for Perseverance till Death. Your Son Jesus, has Promised that You will give us whatever we Ask-for in His Name. By the Merits-of Jesus Christ, I beg You, for myself and for all those who are in Your Grace, the Grace-of Never-more being Separated-from Your Love. May we always Love You in this Life, and in the Next.

Mary, Mother of God, Pray to Jesus for me. So I Hope. So may it be.

Amen.

Exaltation of the Holy Cross Homily

The cross is not glamorous. We can try as much as we want to take away the blood and wounds that were present on that day, but in reality the event of the crucifixion was not glamorous. There is nothing that we can do to make the cross glamorous, but this is rightly so. We cannot allow ourself to begin to glamorize the cross because in the process we will lose the true meaning of salvation that was won for us upon the wood of the cross. In likewise manner our own life is not glamorous. There are plenty of things within this world or in our own life that we would like to take away. No matter how much makeup or surgery that we undergo we will never actually be glamorous because the many wounds that are present within our life will remain, and rightly so. Despite this reality the cross is most beautiful because it presents to us the true meaning of love. It presents to us that despite the brokenness that is found within our world or within our own life that we have been redeemed through this instrument of our salvation.

 

Today we will have a second collection which draws attention to the pains that can come when one accepts the cross. Our second collection today will be for those many Christians in the Middle East who are being persecuted and even put to death for their faith. We cannot allow ourself to look the other way concerning this matter nor can we begin to speak as if this issue is not of great concern. May we be willing to give any aid that we are able in this matter especially through the prayers and sacrifice that we make in our life. It is hard to fathom that within the world people are still persecuted and put to death for their beliefs. We must join in prayer and offer our sacrifice on their behalf that this persecution and other ones that continue to take place will one day be put to an end. These people have great faith because they have realized that the cross is not glamorous. What they are going through is far from glamorous and yet through the cross we are able to see that all the suffering that they endure is connected to God's mercy which will always prevail in the end.

What we face inside of our own life is far different then what the people in the Middle East are going through, but we are joined to them through the cross. As we heard only a few weeks ago in our gospel: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." We join with them because the cross is not glamorous and thus all the nasty stuff taking place within our own life and within our word has been given meaning and hope through the cross. It is easy for us the live and profess our faith when everything around us seems to be perfect, but this is much harder to do once it loses it's glamour. It is hard for us to bear the weight of the cross because when we do we do not find quick comfort. Through the Stations of the Cross we will remember that Christ carried His cross and from its weight He fell on three occasions. We to must behold and bear the many crosses that appear in our life and not run away at those moments when we continue to fall. When we fall or lose hope we must immediately run back to the mercy of Christ that is found through what was offered on the cross.

 

There is a a stained glass window located at Saint Meinrad, where I attended seminary, that sums up this loving mercy contained within the sacrifice offered upon the cross. In this window we see the tree on which the apple hung where sin entered into the world. Interestingly enough if you look up from this tree we will see that it turns into the wood of the cross on which Christ hung to show triumph over the death that came with this sin that entered into the world. This image sums up the fact that no matter what hardship that we are forced to endure inside of this life that our pains are not made in vain. It shows that the mercy of God is able to triumph over sin if we so desire it to do so in our life. This feast that is celebrated today was added to the liturgical calendar due to Saint Helen finding the true cross in Jerusalem. Legend holds that when this cross was discovered the bishop desired for it to be tested with two other crosses. For the test a woman who was near death touched each cross, but the false ones gave no results while the true cross restored the woman's health.

We celebrate today the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. As this woman's health was restored through her faith in the cross, so are we brought back to health through the mercy that Christ extended to us upon the cross. As sin entered into the world through the tree that Adam and Eve would feast upon we must remember that it was the cross of Christ that would triumph over this tree of sin. When we look around us, what we see is a world that is far from being glamorous, but the cross reminds us that despite this reality that we have been redeemed and are thus oriented towards something greater then the here and now. Through the Holy Cross Christ is lifted up in order that each of us may truly live as those who glanced upon the saraph mounted to a pole that was held my Moses were able to do. The cross is truly not glamorous, but through it we are able to proclaim with great trust: "We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world."

13th Sunday After Pentecost Homily (Extraordinary Form)

Nine of the lepers in our Gospel display the ingratitude that we at times have within our own heart. We are truly given so much by God, and yet we never take time for prayer and to be thankful except for those moments when we find that we are in great need. When we are in great need we often live out our faith as if it were a mere snack machine. We can pass by the machine many times during the course of the day and never pay it any attention. When hunger strikes us we all of a sudden realize its presence and are able to make a choice concerning what we will receive. We also in this scenario receive what we desire in a moments notice and are never forced to wait. Despite the ingratitude of the nine lepers I am sure that if something else of unfortunate nature befell them they would return to Christ in order to be healed. Despite this reality they failed to be filled with gratitude and they banished Him from their midst at those moments when they were not in need.

Out of the ten lepers only one was willing to show his gratitude. Only one was truly changed to the point where the actions of Christ remained firmly on his mind. This one leper is an example for all of us of the gratitude that we should have for all that God has given us. We indeed should be thankful and desire to be held in communion with God, even at those moments when we are not facing a great tragedy in our life. God's presence is not restricted to moments of tragedy, but instead God is always present with the desire to enter more intimately into our life. Only one leper out of the ten was able to realize this and thus his life was forever transformed. May we allow this same leper to lead the way for us to encounter his great sense of gratitude and in return to truly allow our faith to be transformed.

 

You may be asking yourself what you have to be grateful for. Maybe despite all your prayers you have seen nothing besides children fallen away from the faith, the death of a loved one, a lost job, a broken marriage, or something else. Indeed each of these examples are tough to deal with, but we must keep in mind that from the cross springs forth the new life of the Resurrection. Our prayers are indeed heard, even if we do not get the quick results that we desire. Saint Monica was distraught at the lack of faith of her son, Augustine, and yet she persevered in prayer, and eventually Augustine was converted, and was even moved towards sainthood. May Saint Monica be a reminder for us of the need to have gratitude, to have trust, and to have perseverance when we return to Christ as that one leper inside of our Gospel was able to do. This unending trust can indeed be most difficult, but it is also something that can be accomplished.

So how are able to join with the grateful leper and therefore not find ourself counted as one of the other nine? We must realize that God does not work as a genie who grants wishes on demand, but instead is the loving creator of all things. This loving creator shows us His love unceasingly and we should desire to share within this love that is shown to us and to spread it to all those whom we encounter. If we desire to be truly grateful for this gift we will take time out of our busy lives to make room for prayer. We will realize that the world is a very loud place and therefore find ways to enter into silence where we will come to encounter God. We must find ways to cultivate the virtue of humility in our life because through our pride we never allow God to enter in to give us aid. We should persevere in our desire to be holy instead of so often being led astray from this most wondrous path to pursue a life of sin. We should desire to cultivate our mind with a understanding of God and our faith through study and the reading of spiritual books. A final way we show our gratitude is through the faithful reception of the Sacraments.

May we not find ourselves among those nine lepers who thanked Christ with ingratitude. The one leper who was faithful in this matter gives each of us the example of gratitude. May we indeed not only need God in moment's of tragedy, but instead may we turn to Him in great gratitude for the love that God has always' has shown us. In gratitude may we continue to find ways to faithfully live out our faith and to be drawn into union with God. In this way we will model the leper who was faithful Christ instead of the other nine who lacked faithfulness.

23rd Sunday of OT Year A Homily

We are each called upon to assist each other with great charity to stay upon the path that leads towards Heaven. So often we fear about giving offense to another due to the faith that we have; be it a spouse, a child, a friend, a neighbor, a coworker, or somebody that we encounter in passing. Nevertheless, our Gospel instructs us that we must care for all these people and thus be concerned with helping to lead them towards Heaven. This concern should strike fear in our hearts because this concern should be held as being most serious. It is so easy to look the other way and be accepting of another's sins, but indeed it is a lot tougher to walk with them as an assisting hand which leads towards the Heavenly Kingdom. To be this assisting hand is most tough because it requires work on our part, it requires us to truly live out the virtue of charity, it requires us to embrace the conversion that we are also in need of, and it requires trust in God that His will shall be accomplished in all things.

 

The Sacraments place us upon a path that leads towards God. Faithfully living out the Sacraments will keep us firmly grounded upon this path, but so often we lose trust in them and thus fall entirely away from this path. We cannot allow ourself to forget, even for a moment, that Holy Matrimony is a Sacrament. The path that two enter into within this Sacrament is not to lead them into enslavement to their passions or the abuse of the other, but instead it is to assist them in truly living and thus keeping them firmly grounded upon the path that leads towards Heaven. It is the role of the husband and wife to communicate with each other especially at those moments of sin where we cannot allow ourself to look the other way or even to participate in the sinful activities of the spouse. When we are participating or ignoring this reality we are not faithfully living out the vocation that we have responded to by our life.

The starting foundation for our life of faith was begun in us at the moment of baptism. In most cases it is babies who are brought to the Church and are baptized. This is a most important moment for parents and godparents to remember because after all the child cannot answer for themselves. They are not just bringing a child to have water poured on their head as some ritualistic action that is only family tradition. This is a most serious action that takes place, especially for parents and godparents, because they say "yes" to God through their responses. It is their desire to be an example of the faith that will help to lead their children along the path that leads towards Heaven. Out of love for God and for your children you promise to bring your children to Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation, you promise that your children will receive the other sacraments of initiation, and you promise to teach your children about the faith. Out of love for God and them we cannot ignore these responsibilities, but take them seriously.

Through the course of the day we encounter so many people. We encounter those who we work with, are friends with, and people who we will never get the opportunity to know. Despite how much we know somebody or don't know them; we must remember that all of them have been created out of love in the image and the likeness of God and therefore should live as if they are oriented towards Heaven. In the workplace we should find ways to avoid situations that lead to gossip, the putting down of another, or the use of crude language. None of these give aid in our spread of the faith to those whom we meet. Among friends and family we may know of people who have left the faith for some reason, but never reach out to them to bring them back into union with Christ through the great gift that is the Holy Eucharist. We are not asked to look the other way or to participate in the sins of another, but instead we are asked to be concerned for all and to help walk with others along the path that leads to Heaven.

If we are to have this concern and this desire in our heart, we must be balanced in the virtue of charity. Charity is so often confused to be the acceptance of everything, but this is not charity. Charity is most vividly seen through the Holy Trinity where we observe that within the three Persons of the Trinity love in equally shared and is in no way abused. We cannot leave this Church and act without charity in our encounters with others because if we do we will be unable to move with people along the path that leads to Heaven. When we guide a spouse, child, friend, or somebody else along this path we cannot attack them or put them down because this would not be living out charity. On the other hand, we can not look the other way or partake in another's sin because this also would not be living out authentic charity. If we can find no other way to engage these people, to be loving guides for them in the faith, we can always turn towards prayer. When Saint Monica desired the conversion of her own son, Augustine, and it did not come immediately, she did not just give up on him and look the other way, but in her charity she prayed for her son's conversion. Indeed this day may all of us be filled with great charity, become true examples of the faith, and be willing to assist others towards the Heavenly Kingdom.