Palm Sunday Year B Entrance Homily

Today with great joy we welcome Christ into Jerusalem. May we continue to be filled with joy each and every single time when we encounter Christ and the mercy that He extends unto us. With joy we now enter into Holy Week and thus God's abundant mercy is made known unto us. On Holy Thursday we encounter His mercy through the institution of both the priesthood and the Holy Eucharist. On Good Friday we encounter His mercy upon the wood of the cross where He pours Himself out entirely for us. Then we will wait with great hope placed upon Easter Sunday and thus the Resurrection of the Lord. From the Resurrection we know that the mercy of God is unending. As we process into the Church and our joy is slowly turned into grief when we hear of the Lord's Passion may we remember that God is merciful and that His mercy endures forever. May we always prevail ourselves unto this infinite font of mercy as we now go forth into this Church with Christian joy.

4th Sunday of Lent Year B Homily

Our current Holy Father , Francis, has said that Christians should remember that they are a people of joy, not sad people. As we celebrate this fourth Sunday in Lent we are instructed to rejoice. What do we have to rejoice about when we are surrounded by the penitential penitential character of this season? What do we have to rejoice about when we glance at the brokenness not only found within our life, but also within the world? With all the fears and hardships that we must endure how can we rejoice and how can we always present ourself to the world as a person of Christian joy?

The entrance antiphon for this Mass states: "Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning; exult and be satisfied at her consoling breast." Here we who are found in mourning are being addressed and we are told to be joyful. We must be joyful and be found rejoicing because we as Christians have nothing to fear because that which has been cast into darkness has been restored to its proper light. From the Book of Chronicles we were shown how humanity has constantly pushed God to the side, but in the process they never discovered true joy. When Saint Paul addressed the Ephesians he reminded them that it is God who is rich in mercy. This mercy comes to us from the cross and it continues to spread itself down upon us through the generations and for this we are given every reason to rejoice and to be found joyful.

Year after year we begin Lent in the same fashion through the reception of ashes upon our foreheads. In being marked with ashes we are told: "You are dust and to dust you shall return." Of course the reception of ashes is not a statement of pride to exclaim to the world that we are Catholic, but instead this mark proclaims to the world that we are a sinner. This mark echoes the words of our Gospel: "people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil." Thankfully as I look out upon you today I see that this mark has been washed away and is no longer found upon your foreheads. This is important for us to remember because we cannot continue to endure in our sin, but instead we must be moved towards God's infinite mercy. This means that we who publicly proclaim through our ashes that we are sinner are in need of God's mercy and thus we must allow ourself to be healed from this great burden that ways us down through the Sacrament of Confession. 

Through a good confession we will have our sins washed away and we in return will be able to rejoice and to be found joyful. We can never truly rejoice nor can we ever be joyful if we allow ourself to remain separated from God and His abundant mercy. We can never truly rejoice nor can we be found joyful if we allow the mark of ashes to remain proudly placed upon our foreheads. Through our sin there is nothing for us to be proud about! Therefore my brothers and sisters in Christ may we prevail ourself to the light of God's mercy for it will be here alone where we who our burdened and weighed down by the weight of sin will be able to rejoice and to be found joyful. The mark of ashes proclaims to the world that we are a sinner; a sinner who is in need of the Sacrament of Confession.

Please make use of this parish's many opportunities to make a confession. We have confessions here Wednesday following our morning Mass, Saturday morning following Mass, and Saturday evening from 4pm-5pm. You can also schedule a confession by appointment with a priest in order to find a time that is convenient for you. We will also be having our parish penance service this Wednesday at 7pm where we will have the pleasure of having many priests join us here for this life giving sacrament. One of the precepts of the Church states to us that a Catholic must confess their sins at least once a year. A Catholic should also make haste to return to this sacrament if they find themselves in the state of mortal sin instead of enduring in their sin and continuing to receive our Lord who is present in Holy Communion. 

The world gives us a lot to despair over, but thankfully as we proclaim in the mystery of faith: "We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again." Through His death we have the abundance of His mercy poured out upon us and through His Resurrection we see that there is more to life then what we currently understand. May we indeed rejoice and be filled with joy by casting aside the darkness of our sin and being moved towards the light of Christ's abundant mercy. In this manner we as Christians will have the joy that is radiated by the saints because their life did not radiate themselves, but instead they ushered the joy of Christ into the world.

3rd Sunday of Lent Year B Homily

Jesus shook up what had seemingly become acceptable within the temple. Over time hearts which were meant to be made pure had become hardened to the truth that they were extending to others. In Lent our own life should be shaken up in a way that will rid ourself of all the practices of our daily life which are unacceptable of someone who claims to be a follower of Christ. At our baptism we were given a heart made pure and yet we all in some way have hardened our heart to what was begun in us at our baptism. Jesus driving people out with a whip of cords, Jesus overturning tables, and Jesus exhorting souls to stop making His Father's house a marketplace was something not only pointed towards those who have corrupted the life of the temple, but these words and actions are also being pointed towards us who have corrupted our life in similar fashion through a lack of trust placed in Him.

We are often left with the impression that Christ is tolerant of all of our actions no matter how harmful that they may be. Our Gospel shows us that is not the case. Christ saw hearts which were hardened and through His actions within the temple He desired to set those souls back to their original innocence. Christ is not falling into the sin of anger, but instead He is working charitably to give them their just due for their actions. The true sin would of been committed if He looked the other way and failed to challenge these souls to reform their life. In the Book of Exodus we are not given ten suggestions, but instead were given what are known as the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are not given in order to enslave us to the law, but instead through our following of them we are truly living life as we ought. When we live life in this manner we will truly come to discover that God is love.

There are some who like to be passive when it comes to their practice of religion. There are also those who like to fulfill the letter of the Law without allowing it to also penetrate into their heart in order that they may be truly transformed by God's love. We cannot allow ourself to fall into either of these categories. We cannot be passive about our faith because in return we are not fulfilling the Law and thus our heart cannot be conformed to the Gospel of Christ. Christ desires that we will live life accomplishing true happiness which can only be found when we live out natural law instead of remaining enslaved when we turn against it. The issue of what was taking place inside of the temple was the fact that people came to offer sacrifice, but those in charge of the temple had made this task difficult for the people. Money was changing hands and people were getting ripped off and thus what should of been freely offered was leading to other's personal gain.

Christ cleanses the temple because this signals to us that God who was made Flesh has come and He in return will be the one who will offer the perfect Sacrifice upon the cross. Due to Christ's salvific action we are no longer in need to offer the sacrifice of animals, but instead we are being invited to abandon our sin and to follow after Him. In the temple people were kept away from this great reality, but through Christ all people have been invited to enter in and to share in His love. According to Saint Augustine He drives them out of the temple with a whip made of cords because our sins are bound together and they create a cord from which we will be punished. Therefore they were driven out of the temple because of their sin which caused the hardness of their heart. They needed the tables to be overturned in order that they could have their faith shaken up.

This day may each of us truly come to embrace this Lenten season that is before us. We are all in need of having Christ to enter into our life in order that He may shake things up for us. We need to have our tables overturned and to be driven out with a whip made of cords. In this manner we will realize that our faith is serious and that through faithfully living it out we will come to discover God who is love. May we not fear to have our life shaken up during this Lenten season and may we not fear to be drawn into relationship with Christ. All that we must surrender and leave behind to grow in this relationship will be worth it because in return we will be freed from that which unknowingly leaves us enslaved. In the words to this Mass' Collect: "In fasting, prayer, and almsgiving have shown us a remedy for sin." May we embrace these Lenten practices  in order that we may have our faith shaken up and therefore be once again sent forth on that path begun in us at our baptism.

2nd Sunday of Lent Year B Homily

Abraham did not look back when he was put to the test, but instead he always looked forward with great hope and trust firmly placed in God. 

The Lenten message is contrary to the message that we hear proclaimed from within this world. The Lenten message is about doing mortification in order that we can draw close to Christ while the message that we often hear proclaimed from within this world is one of pleasure. In our American way of life we can practically have anything that we desire without having to wait to get it. If we want food we can have it, if we want to see a movie we can do it, if we want to buy something on the spur of the moment we can, and this list goes on and on. We truly don't always understand what it means to give sacrifice. The season of Lent is about giving sacrifice because it is in this manner that we will be drawn closer to Christ. We sacrifice when we fast because in the process we are letting go of our wordily desires, we sacrifice when we give alms because we are giving of our excess, and we sacrifice when we pray because we are surrendering our time to that which is truly most valuable.

With this wordily message surrounding us it is easy to lose sight and to get caught up within it. Last Sunday we were reminded of this fact in our Gospel when Christ entered into the desert and there was tempted. We too have entered into the desert of the Lenten season and throughout the course of this period we will be tempted to not take the need to mortify our flesh seriously. It is for this reason that we now look to this week's Gospel with great hope. Before the eyes of the apostles Christ was transfigured which means that before their eyes they were given an intimate glimpse into the fact that Christ was God and thus they too were given a glimpse into the Heavenly Kingdom. When we are tempted during this season to give up hope we must remember the Transfiguration of the Lord because at the heart of it's message is one of hope. 

We need this glimpse if we are ever to stay on course towards the Heavenly Kingdom. Without this glimpse it would be easy to ask ourself what is the point and thus to get wrapped up in the comfortability of the world even when it comes at the cost of our relationship with God. Lent is most important for us because it helps us to take control of our passions and in return to properly orient them towards God. This would be an impossible task if we did not set the Transfiguration before our eyes because this event gives us the hope that is necessary to succeed and also shows us the beauty of a life as is reflected through its Heavenly splendor.

The Transfiguration of the Lord was most necessary for the apostles to hold steadfast in their faith instead of so easily running away from it. It would not be long after this event that they had to endure the trials that came with the Lord's passion. Through the Transfiguration they experienced this most wondrous scene where Christ's clothing became so white that is was stated to us that no clothing maker on this earth could make a garment equal to what they now beheld. In this experience they also beheld Moses who represented the Law and Elijah who represented all the prophets which comes as a confirmation that this in the Person that all of history had pointed its way towards. Finally, they were given the same confirmation that we heard at our Lord's baptism by hearing: "This is my beloved Son; to him, then, listen." This statement confirmed to them that the Incarnation had indeed taken place and thus Christ was God made man. No matter how much the world would attempt to tear them away from Christ this event truly helped them to stay grounded in their faith.

As we continue our journey into this Lenten season may we always keep the Transfiguration before our eyes. When we are tempted to turn away from the path that leads us to Christ may we remember the Transfiguration for it shows us the path which leads towards Christ and thus also towards Heaven. When we loose hope along the way may we find that hope through the glimpse into the Heavenly Kingdom that is found in the Transfiguration. We cannot find this hope and joy in the many messages which attempt to distract us in this world, but we can find it through Christ. May we truly come to trust in Him during this Lenten season.