Holy Family ABC Homily

Merry Christmas!

We have just celebrated Christmas Day and thus we continue to celebrate with joy throughout this Christmas season, the joy that Christ our Lord who has been born into this world. Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph which allows us to further mediate upon how God through the event of the Incarnation came to dwell with us in the very fabric of society which is the family.

So often we think of the Sacrament of Marriage as simply being the joining together of a man and woman in a lifelong bond of love. This facet of marriage is true and is something that is important for us to defend, but we must also realize how marriage brings together a man and woman and thus they become one flesh through the conjugal act and new life is brought forth. Therefore marriage creates through the joining together of two and the begetting of children, the family which is the fabric of our society. This is precisely why the sanctity of marriage must always be defended. If this sacrament is not defended we in return see the death of our culture's understanding of the family's role within society.

The family is important because through family life one enters into a community which at its core should desire to support one another and to ultimately lead one another towards God. The focal point of Christmas is Christ and thus the focal point of the family must be a love for Christ. Parents have been bestowed the sacred duty to lead their children to encounter Jesus Christ and His love. This means that they have been extended the sacred duty to do all which is possible to pass on the Catholic faith which has been established by Christ to them.

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph is the family to which we should raise our gaze. In both Mary and Joseph we see a love for Christ which is found to be perfect. Concerning the years of Christ's childhood we don't know much, but we can say that He was raised within the context of a family by the loving care of Mary and Joseph. Here He was taught the importance of prayer through the loving example of His parents and here He was taught an understanding for Sacred Scripture.

Our first reading from the Book of Sirach instructs children to not only have love and concern for their family, but to also learn to pray. This love for prayer must be fostered within the home. This means coming to Mass as a family and frequenting the sacraments together (this includes confession). This means that despite the busyness that exists within the modern world that families learn to sacrifice time in order that they may join together to pray (maybe before a shared meal, a family rosary, time before the Blessed Sacrament, or some other practice). There are many things which families make a priority within this world, but is God one of them? Colossians further explains the love that must exist within the family. This is a love which respects all persons and thus helps to direct them towards Heaven no matter the difficulty which might lay in wait. Mary and Joseph search out their Son in our Gospel as we must continue to do each day of our life no matter the difficulty. They had great concern to find Him once they had realized that they had been separated. This love shown by Mary and Joseph should encourage us to always trudge onward in searching for Christ with the desires to be placed at the center of our life and our family.

May the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph guide all families towards a perfect love for God. May we as a community of faith emulate the love that is exists within the Holy Family because this love is found to be perfect for God and His commands. From this love may we come to know Christ and thus desire to share this same love with all whom we encounter.

Christmas Homily

Merry Christmas!

This night we begin our most joyous celebration of the Christmas season. On this most holy night we acknowledge the reality that God's love for us is so great that He has sent His Only Begotten Son to come and dwell among us. He who comes is the Word made Flesh and thus God has come to dwell among us in the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. Due to the coming of Christ the world has been redeemed when He presented Himself upon the wood of the cross in atonement for our sin. Christ has come to lead us towards a true knowledge and acceptance of peace.

Our world is, very much so, in need of this peace which Christ has ushered into the world some 2,000 years ago. 2,015 years removed from this event we continue to see the results of a fallen world (war and senseless violence, people who are impoverished, and sin which disassociates  the human person as being created in the imagine and likeness of God the Father) and thus we come to acknowledge how it is Christ alone comes to calm every heart. Fear is a normal human emotion; we see that with the shepherds when the angel commanded them: "Be not afraid." Why are they to "be not afraid", but because "for today a savior has been born for you who is Christ the Lord."

This is the same reason why we should "be not afraid." This night was not only special in the past, but it continues to transcend both time and place and thus remains special for us here and now. It is for this reason that we gather here to not only keep Christ in Christmas, but to also keep the Mass in Christmas. Christ comes here within these Sacred Mysteries and He makes Himself known to us in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. It is here that He embraces each of us and tells us those words familiar not only extended to the shepherds who heard them from the voice of an angel, but to all of us who continue to hear these words proclaimed by Christ.

The shepherds may have been the first to hear the announcement of the Christmas message, but we despite our fear encounter this same angelic greeting. "For today a savior has been born for you who is Christ the Lord." From this we realize just like each of the shepherds that He who we come to approach is Christ our Lord. He extends from the crib His little hand and desires that we take ahold of it and except His loving embrace offered to us as He proclaims "be not afraid." We are too afraid that we are found to be weak and defenseless against our fears and struggles, but may we always remember what we come to encounter in the Christmas Crèche. For here we encounter Christ who is found small and lowly; here He is found to be defenseless and in need of the love and protection His mother, and yet He will, in time, triumph upon the cross and usher true peace into this world. This is the peace in which we are in search of and may we not be afraid in coming to accept this peace into our life.

May we come to trust in the Christmas message that has been proclaimed to us tonight. May the message which is contained here penetrate into our life. Through our experience with Christ in this most sacred season, may we be not afraid, but instead may we come to trust with the confidence of faith that "today a savior has been born for you who is Christ the Lord."

4th Sunday of Advent Homily (Extraordinary Form)

This is our final time together before we embark upon the season of Christmas. Therefore this liturgy serves as our final reminder that we must "prepare the way for the Lord." Saint John the Baptist serves as the forerunner to Christ in all things including death. Therefore we see him coming out of the desert and heading into the countryside to call all people to repentance. Christ, like John the Baptist, headed out of the desert after a period of prayer and went forth to call all people to come and to follow after Him.

John the Baptist is calling all people to be prepared for the coming of this Messiah. Therefore he invites people to enter into baptism. This is not a baptism equal to the baptism that Christ extends, but nevertheless this baptism prepares hearts and souls to accept the Messiah who will soon reveal Himself to them. We know this Messiah to be Jesus Christ because He has revealed Himself to us and to this world. It was for this reason that we were brought into new life through baptism and thus our eyes were opened wide through the washing away of original sin.

In this Mass' Collect we petition: "stir up Thy power." To stir something up brings what was idle into motion. To stir up is to mix something in with another substance. This is exactly what God desires to do with us as we enter into this Christmas season. If we have grown idle in our practice of faith may we allow God to set us back into motion. May we accept the grace that God desires to bestow upon us and mix it into our life instead of so easily rejecting it by that way that we choose to live our life.

Saint John the Baptist desires that we prepare the way for the Lord because he understands that the one who we await is the Messiah. May we come to this same understanding and do all that we are able to in order to welcome this great gift into the world. There is no greater gift that can be known or encountered then the gift that is God made Flesh. On Christmas, God becomes Flesh and He comes here to dwell among us in the little town of Bethlehem. Through this reality the world has forever been changed because we have come to see the love which God has in store for each of us.

Here in our midst will come this same gift for which we now await. For here at this Mass, Christ will come to dwell with each of us in form of bread and wine. If we cannot approach the Altar of God to worthily receive the Eucharist how can we propose that we can invite Christ into this world on Christmas morning? To receive the Eucharist is to receive Christ and to allow Him to be the one who sets straight the path of our life in order that we may be sent forth from here stirred up in our practice of faith.

May we come to invite this great joy into our life and may we joyfully enter into the season of Christmas to dwell with the Word Made Flesh who continues to come here to dwell among us.

3rd Sunday of Advent Year C Homily

On this Gaudete Sunday we rejoice for the Lord is near.

Throughout this season of Advent we have been continuously reminded of our need to prepare ourself for the one who is to come. Last week Saint John the Baptist commanded us in the words of the Prophet Isaiah: "prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths." This week he further exhorts us to turn away from our sin because the one who is coming "will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

Time is speedily moving along and therefore we must do something with the time that has been extended unto us. At this time of the year many are running about stressed by the fact that Christmas will soon be here. There is stress because there is still shopping to be done, cards to be filled out, and decorations to be put up around the home. Despite these many anxieties and the  others which exist from within this world we are instructed to "rejoice."

We "rejoice" because what we are moving towards is a tranquility and peace which this world is very much so in need of. The world has a longing to encounter Jesus Christ for it is here alone in which the reality of peace can be found. We "rejoice" today because the path which has been set before us to encounter Christ is forever growing shorter. The end is in sight! We are not building up a level of stress, but instead we as Christians await Christ with joyful expectation.

If we are filled with joyful expectation at the reality in which we await we in return will prevail ourself to the mercy of God. Towards God's mercy we come with a contrite heart and are made clean. The chaff that is separated from the wheat by the winnowing fan will be burned for it is found without use. We do not want to become this chaff which falls away. Rather we should prevail ourself to God's mercy and be made clean.

As a Church we embarked upon the Year of Mercy on December 8th which was our celebration of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. On this day the "Holy Doors" were opened by Pope Francis at Saint Peter's in Rome. Doors are a passageway which leads us from sin towards forgiveness, death towards life, and chaff towards wheat. It is not enough to be content with our life if we have closed ourself off from conversion and receiving God's mercy. This door remains open for you, but one must desire it to enter through it.

So let us "rejoice" for our Lord is merciful. As a child is drawn towards a present found under the Christmas tree with great anticipation on Christmas morning, so should we be concerning God's mercy. There is a lot for us to prepare for in these days which lay ahead, but may we always be found "rejoicing" at the Lord's coming. We should rush towards this gift of God's mercy that has been extended towards us with joy and gladness as we "rejoice" at the Lord's coming.

Immaculate Conception Homily

Throughout the Advent season we desire to form ourself into a worthy dwelling place who is fit for Christ to come and dwell among us. The Immaculate Conception is the point in history where Mary was prepared to be a worthy dwelling place for the coming of God made Flesh. Defined by Pope Pius IX the Immaculate Conception is the reality that Mary was conceived free from the stain of Original Sin. It is from this reality that she is further depicted as standing upon the head of the cursed serpent who lead Adam and Eve astray.

In our world many have been tricked by the cunning of the devil, but we must continue to hold firm in our practice of faith. We do not have to give into the lies that he presents unto our ears because Mary reflects the path which leads towards an encounter with Jesus Christ. Some fear that God's mercy cannot be extended into their life, but this is untrue. Through the event of the Immaculate Conception we can confidently proclaim that Satan has been trampled under foot and thus there is always hope to cast the cloak of sin behind and to be sent forth as a new creation in Christ.

The angel Gabriel's greeting is very important for us to understand. "Hail, full of grace."  Some translations of scripture use the word "favor" over the word "grace." "Grace" on the other hand holds true to the Greek word used and thus reveals to us at whose expense this celebration of the Immaculate Conception is given. "Grace" is a gift which is given by God. "Grace" is not a gift which we can give to ourself. Through the Immaculate Conception Mary perfectly received God's grace into her life to the point where she became the perfect vessel for God to come and dwell.

Today also marks for us the beginning of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. What a perfect gift extended unto the Church on a day such as this where our Blessed Mother was extended the gift of God's grace in such abundance. May we set our eyes upon God's mercy and thus desire to welcome it into our life. From the reception of such an abundance of mercy may we be sent into the world to lead others to come and encounter Christ and His mercy. The Year of Mercy is not for you and me who are gathered here alone, but instead it has been showered upon the world as a whole. We can see this from Christ's total offering of self upon the cross.

From Pope Francis' letter to welcome the Church into the Year of Mercy: "When faced with the gravity of sin, God responds with the fullness of mercy." The sin of Adam and Eve led to the mercy of God being showered upon us through the Word taking on human flesh. This event was only possible through the Immaculate Conception for it was here that she was made into a dwelling place which was fit for God to come and dwell. We see the effects of sin upon our life and upon this world, but may we in return never lose sight of God's mercy which springs up as a response from God's love.

May we allow the Blessed Mother to always intercede on our behalf and thus may we allow her to open wide the doors of the Father's mercy for us. She desires to lead us towards Christ and thus assists us in making ourself a worthy dwelling place for her Son to come and dwell.

2nd Sunday of Advent Year C Homily

Saint John the Baptist is the great forerunner who has been sent out to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. He serves as a voice which draws souls to come and encounter Christ and thus too when they come to behold Him that they may be found able to accept Him. The season of Advent concerns itself with assisting us in not only coming to behold the Messiah who is drawing close, but to also begin to set straight the paths of our life in order that we may come to behold Him more clearly.

We live in the midst of a world that has cast itself into the baroness of the desert, but we in return do not have to remain lost here. Jesus Christ invites us to pass out of this desert and thus "put on the splendor of glory from God." Prior to our baptism we were found lost within this desert, but thanks to the gift of our baptism we have journeyed away from here towards God. Why would we ever want to confuse ourself into turning back towards our former way of life instead of continuing to journey onward towards Christ?

Not only does John the Baptist reecho these words taken from the Prophet Isaiah that we heard proclaimed in today's Gospel, but later He will come to behold Christ with his own eyes and proclaim to all with great faith: "Behold the Lamb of God." We hear these same words proclaimed to us before we receive the Eucharist and thus invite Christ the sacrificial lamb into our life. The Eucharist is the food that comes down from Heaven and thus encourages us onward towards Heaven. It is food for the journey that we may not lose faith and hope and turn back towards the enslavement of our former way of life, but instead that we may always look forward by putting "on the splendor of glory from God."

How we come to accept the Eucharist into our life is exactly how we come to accept Christ into our life. This is true because Christ is the Eucharist where the Lamb of God is to be encountered. We set straight the path of our life, not for some unknown moment, but instead for today when we invite Christ in the Eucharist into our life. From the Second Letter of Saint Peter: "be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him."

Therefore I invite you to come before the Lord and present yourself to Him. What are the fears and worries of your life? Present them unto the Lord! How has your life entered into the baroness of the desert? Present it unto the Lord! Perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is a great gift because at any hour of the day, in the midst of any struggle or need, you can come before the Lord and present all before Him. Our world is filled with stories of tragedy; tragedy which we cannot fix on our own, but fear not to present your needs unto the Lord! For here alone can all things be made well.

Let us come to humbly pray before Christ who is present with us in the Eucharist. May we come to behold the Lamb of God who continues to present Himself unto us under the presence of bread and wine. In the Eucharist Christ continues to come before us to dwell; let us make straight the path for all shall see the salvation of God.