Sunday, November 29, 2015

1st Sunday of Advent Year C Homily

"Adventus" is the Latin word meaning "to come." Therefore, throughout the Advent season we prepare ourself for the coming of Christ as He is ushered into this world through the event of His first coming. We must also remember as we come to proclaim in the mystery of faith, "until you come again." This is to say that there will be a second coming of our Blessed Lord when He will come again in the fullness of divine power. This second Advent will be most important because through it we will be obliged to accept this King of Justice fully into our life. During this season that has now been set before us may we stay on watch for the coming of our Lord and thus allow the truth contained within the Gospels to penetrate into our heart.

Saint Paul admonished the Thessalonians to stay awake in order that we may "be blameless in holiness before our God and Father." The season of Advent serves as the reminder of the coming of the Son of God not only at Christmas, but also through the second coming. If we are convinced that this is a coming reality we must stay awake and remain prepared because this is the message that is contained within the Gospels. Quoting from Luke's Gospel: "Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy."

We must ask ourself, therefore, how we are to remain awake and prepared for our Lord's coming. There are many ways that this can be fostered within one's home, but I propose two things: Confession and the Eucharist. These two sacraments go hand in hand!

Saint Paul proclaims that we must "throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light." Entrusting ourself to the Sacrament of Reconciliation brings us to the Lord's mercy. Making a confession casts off the darkness of sin and restores us to the light of sanctifying grace. On Thursday our parish will hold its penance service at 7pm. We will have a total of nine priests here who will be hearing confessions. Also, don't forget to make use of our new confession times which begin thirty minutes prior to every Sunday obligation Mass. If we are to climb the mountain of the Lord we must make straight the path that has been set before us. If it has been ten, twenty, thirty, or sixty years since your last confession do not fear the Lord's mercy. If you don't know how to make a confession don't let that excuse get in the way of the Lord's mercy. If you don't understand the purpose of confession swallow your pride and entrust yourself to God's mercy.

Only through the mercy of God can we come to truly see Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ pours Himself out of love to each of us through the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ our Savior. We as a parish are blessed to have  a perpetual adoration chapel. We are blessed because people are constantly praying within this chapel. Do we want to reform our life, do we want to restore life to this parish, do we want to promote vocations to the priesthood, religious life, and marriage? Then come before Christ and pray. Learn to sacrifice your time and as a family let yourself be formed by Jesus Christ the divine teacher. We are busy, but there is nothing greater then a relationship with Jesus Christ and we as a Church are blessed with His presence under the form of bread and wine.

Therefore may we desire to journey unto the mountain of the Lord and may we remain awake for Christ is indeed coming soon. 

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Christ the King Year B Homily

Today we celebrate the final Sunday of the Liturgical Year through this celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King. Next Sunday we embark upon the season of Advent and thus we will begin to long for He who is known as "Rex Pacificus" "The King of Peace" who is Christ our Lord who was born in that little town of Bethlehem. 

This Solemnity further serves as a reminder of this world's need for this great King of Peace. Time and time again throughout the history of the world we have seen a rejection of this reality and thus too we have see the consequences. For this reason Pope Pius XI instituted this feast on the liturgical calendar in 1925 thus proclaiming Christ's royalty over us as individuals, families, society, governments, and nations.

Quoting Pope Pius XI from his encyclical letter, "Quas Primas" "In the First": "These manifold evils in the world are due to the fact that the majority of men have thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives; that these have no place either in private affairs or in politics: and that as long as individuals and states refuse to submit to the rule of our Savior, there will be no hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations. Only Christ, the Prince of Peace, is able to restore in the heart of human society the reign of justice, love and peace which has been shattered by sin and by the rejection—public and private—of God's law. That is why we must work every day to establish the "peace of Christ through the reign of Christ," that is to say the fruitful union of faith and of the fatherland, the Church and the State."

We see these effects mentioned by Pope Pius XI played out upon the world in what seems to be a constant basis. We have seen this most recently played out in France only a week ago when terror struck their nation. We see this played out constantly as we are thrust into a world of fear and doubt which desires to remove Christ from the public sphere. Where Christ is not found we will never come to know peace!

In the heart that has been hardened by sin; peace cannot be found. Why, but because in the midst of sin we have pushed Christ the King of Peace from our midst. We have come to prefer chaos over peace. This utter rejection of Christ leads to the world's miseries because what we see here is a rejection of this great King and thus the peace that He brings.

May each of us come to reciprocate the peace that Christ has ushered into this world. Where our life is shattered under the weight of sin may we turn towards the spirit of conversion which alone can usher peace into our life and world. May families allow themselves to be modeled after the peace of Christ which always shines forth from the tranquility of the Holy Family. If we desire to discover peace within this world we must entrust ourself to Christ who is the King of Peace.

May we allow our mind and heart to be elevated towards this great King for here alone can we come to discover peace

Monday, November 2, 2015

All Souls' Day Homily

Tonight is about illumination. We notice the darkness of the outside and yet from that darkness always shines forth new light. Today families processed into the Church with a lit candle and left them near the side altar of Saint Joseph who is the patron of a happy death. This candle professes Christ's saving action upon cross which through the Resurrection which brought light into a world cast into darkness. Through sin we have been cast into darkness, but Christ continues to illumine us to our proper light. In death we mourn, but in Christ our hearts are illumined as we trust in the reality of the Resurrection. We now gather and pray that all the souls of the faithful departed may be illumined towards the proper splendor of the Heavenly Kingdom.

What we attend today is a type of Funeral Mass where we come together to join our prayers and to offer them unto the Father on the behalf of all the faithful departed. It is important that we continue to offer our prayers, sacrifices, and the Holy Mass for the dead. Some claim that this practice is foolish, but Sacred Scripture instructs us differently in the Book of Maccabees: "for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death." The Gospels use the analogy of gold passing through a furnace in order that it's impurities may pass out of it.

We cannot allow ourself to lose the sight of this most important work of praying for the dead. The faithful departed who we commemorate this day were found worthy of Heaven at the point of their death, but they must first pass through Purgatory in order that they may be brought towards the great light of Heaven. Sin stains our soul and leaves behind the effects of temporal punishment. Our prayers and sacrifices help to take these temporal punishments away and to slowly bring the souls of the dead to the light of Heaven. 

If you were to throw a rock into a body of water you would see the water ripple. This is the effect of the rock which was thrown. If a child were to be throwing a football in the house and was to break a window we would see the effect of his action. The parent would then punish the child with being grounded for six months. Then through the good works of the child the parent decides to lower their punishment to three months. This is an analogy of temporal punishment and the effect that our prayers have upon the faithful departed.

In this vestment we see black which reminds us of the reality of sin and of death. This color gives us the permission to mourn, but at the same time we notice the silver and gold. This is what is taking place in the souls of the faithful departed as we pray for them. They are slowly being brought to the light of Heaven.

There is a story of a priest who asked another priest to offer the Mass for him once he died. Upon hearing the news of the priest's passing he quickly went to offer the Mass on his behalf. Once the Mass was finished the priest appeared to him and asked why it had taken him 30 years to have this Mass offered. May we not delay in the seriousness of what we are able to do to assist these holy souls. As we pray them, they in time will brought into Heaven, that will make them a saint, and then they will be able to pray for us that we may one day join with them in the Heavenly Kingdom.

As we reflect upon death may we also come to reflect upon our own life. If we have an unconfessed mortal sin upon our soul may we fear not in taking it to confession. May we practice penance and sacrifice in order that we may become detached from venial sin. May we do the same concerning the effects of temporal punishment that is upon our own soul. We must strive for sanctity and always be open to turning towards the infinite mercy of God.

May all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

All Saints' Day Homily

In every Mass there is what is known as the fracturing rite. This is when the priest takes the host ,which has been consecrated, and breaks it in half. He then breaks off a small particle of the host and places it into the chalice. These three pieces of the host are symbolic of the Church which is divided among three realities. There is the Church Triumphant (which is those who now reign with God in Heaven and thus are forever known as saints), the Church Penitent (which is those who are now in Purgatory and very much so are in need of our prayers and sacrifices), and the Church Militant (which is all of us on this earth who must continue to persevere onward towards the Heavenly Kingdom).

Throughout the next couple of days the Church places its focus upon this reality in a most special way. Today we place our attention upon the Church Triumphant as we call upon all the saints to intercede on our behalf. On Monday our attention will be shift towards the Church Penitent as we recall the need to pray for all of the dead. And finally we as the Church Militant see our goal in life which is to embrace death in confidence as we place our sight upon Heaven with our desire to be numbered as one of the saints. No matter which of these three realities that one finds themselves within we can claim with the confidence of faith that Christ's offering of self upon the cross effects all of these realities.

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. The Church's calendar is filled with with the names of many saints, but we must also remember that anyone who is in Heaven known or unknown by name is a saint. The saints have lived lives which were worthy of Heaven. Each saint tells a different story, but at the story's conclusion they were found worthy of Heaven. It is now their duty to give proper adoration to God in a most perfect way as they are able to join with Moses in seeing God face to face. They now forever look upon us and pray for our behalf that we too may enter into this most beautiful relationship with God.

We, on the other hand, must continue to strive to be like them. It would be an error for us to think that sainthood is out of our reach; if we were to hold onto this notion we at the same time would be proclaiming that Heaven is an impossibility for us. We are the Church Militant because we find ourselves on this earth and thus we must continue to do battle with Satan and all of the evil spirits who prowl about this earth seeking the ruin and loss of souls. As the Church Militant we must remain obedient to our state in life and at the same time fight against the enemy who desires our soul. Sainthood is not out of reach for us, but we must strive to achieve this goal.

The Solemnity of All Saints proclaims this goal to us. It encourages us onward towards sainthood. It forces us to realize the importance of dying in the state of grace; because once we pass through the effects of Purgatory we will be assured of our Heavenly reward. May we turn close to all of the saints this day and entrust ourself to their care, especially to our Blessed Mother. Our Blessed Mother always leads us towards her Son and thus she points the way towards the Heavenly Kingdom for all of us. Each and every one of us are called to be saints, but do we truly believe this path to be possible? Each and every one of us are called to be saints, but do we desire to be numbered as one of them?

May all the angels and saints of Heaven , pray for us, and may they lead us onward towards the Kingdom of Heaven.