3rd Sunday of Lent Year A Homily (1st Scrutiny)

I welcome those in our RCIA program, especially our catechumens, to this Mass where today we celebrate the first scrutiny. The scrutinies are broken into three parts and were implemented into our liturgy in order to help the unbaptized prepare themselves for what they will experience at the Easter Vigil when they will come to be baptized.

As a community of faith we should be praying for these individuals who are in our RCIA class. In their heart they have a fervent desire to be admitted to the sacraments. Many of us here have partaken of the sacraments on many occasions and thus we might of allowed them to become something that we just go through the motions of. Hopefully, their fervent desire will help us to reevaluate the sacrament’s role in our life. What we receive through the sacraments is very important and in no way are the sacraments some mundane act.

During the scrutinies we are to use cycle A of the lectionary. At the first scrutiny we always hear the story of the woman at the well and how through her encounter with Christ she came to acknowledge her sinfulness and thus was moved toward the water of life. Our reading from Exodus displays this longing for water because water sustains life. In the hearts of our catechumens is this same longing to be received into the waters of baptism. 

None of us here are perfect, but through baptism we have been conformed to Christ in a special way. May we continue to pray for these catechumens as they come to approach the waters of baptism. May we as a community of faith come to acknowledge our own baptism and thus try to order our life accordingly after such a life giving encounter, which is Christ.

2nd Sunday of Lent Homily (Extraordinary Form)

The Second Vatican Council document, “Lumen Gentium” “Light of the Nations,” serves as a reminder that the universal call to holiness is not made to a select few, but instead this invitation has been extended unto all members of the Church.

Saint Paul is exhorting us in his Epistle to answer this call to holiness. From verse 3: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.”

Verse 4 reminds us of the spirit of this Lenten season: “that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor.”

If we are to answer this universal call to holiness we must entrust ourself to Christ and to His saving mercy.

Christ alone can bring about this transformation within us.

A transformation which is made exteriorly where we are sent forth to love and serve our neighbor.

A transformation which is made interiorly where we allow our faith to be more then actions which other people see, but rather something which has been integrated into who we are as a Christian.

To come and answer this call to holiness is difficult at times because as we were reminded last week, we will be tempted in the course of our earthly life.

Despite temptation may we not begin to think that this path towards holiness is impossible. Again, may we set our sight upon Christ and His saving mercy for it is here alone where we will come to find transformation from our former ways of life.

In our Gospel we are given the story of the Transfiguration from Saint Matthew’s perspective.

Through the Transfiguration the selected apostles are given a glimpse into our Lord’s Passion and how from it will spring forth a great joy unto the world.

During the Lenten season we are journeying towards Calvary, but may we not lose heart when we get there and come to discover the lifeless body of Christ who brought about our salvation.

Along this path which leads towards cross we will encounter many hardships, but may we not move backwards, but instead forward. 

Forward with the understanding of what it was that Peter, John, and James came to encounter upon the mountain top.

Upon this mountain top their faith was strengthened for it was here that they were given a glimpse into the glory of Christ following His Resurrection.

May we too look towards Easter with great joy because what we will come to discover here is this same Jesus who was discovered by Peter, James, and John upon the mountain top.

Here we will come to behold Him in all of His glory and He will embrace us with His mercy.

If we believe in the Easter message may we take upon ourself to move towards the illumination of our Lord’s Resurrection.

In this process may we strip away that which holds us back from coming to know Christ and thus coming to answer this universal call to holiness.

It is towards Heaven in which we now journey for it is here where we will come to encounter true joy because we will finally come to see Christ not veiled under the appearances of sin.

May we indeed desire to see Christ in this manner and thus may we pursue the universal call to holiness.

1st Sunday of Lent Year C Homily

We must remember that temptation is part of the human reality.

Christ was led into the wilderness following His baptism and there He was tempted.

We now enter into Lent with high hopes, but may we remember that we will be tempted and thus may we remain on guard.

Catechism of the Council of Trent: “Men are tempted for an evil purpose, when they are impelled to sin or destruction; and this is the peculiar province of the devil; for he tempts mankind with the view of deceiving and precipitating them into ruin; and, therefore, is he called in Scripture, the Tempter.”

1 Peter:  ^“Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith.”

Despite temptation may we continue to set our sight upon the cross and journey towards it.

In doing this we will come to resist our advisory, the devil, and remain on watch against him.

When we fall under the weight of temptation and thus enter into sin may we remember Christ who in the course of the "Stations of the Cross" falls under the cross's weight on three occasions.

Despite falling under it's weight He continued to get up and journey forward.

It is for this reason that we ought to taken Lent seriously.

Through Lent we have the opportunity to journey towards Christ and thus abandon all practices which keep us from making this journey.

We journey towards Him through practices such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

These practices assist us because they purge from our midst our disordered passions and reorient our mind towards God.

Our Responsorial Psalm, Psalm 91, proclaims unto us that we are to remain under the Shadow of the Almighty.

Under this Shadow we will come to discover assistance in the midst of temptation.

Under this Shadow we will come to proclaim three truths of God with the full confidence of our heart: "Our protector, our refuge, and our God."

Our protector for sin is real and thus trust in God and His mercy will keep us from falling into the state of mortal sin which robs our soul of sanctifying grace.

Our refuge because in times of trial we will have a place to go in order that we may be kept safe from that which wishes to do us harm.

Our God because through the course of trusting in Him and purging from our midst our relationship to sin we will be able to see Him as He is in the Kingdom of Heaven.

So as we head into Lent for this 40 day period of fasting and prayer may we come to trust in these three truths concerning God.

May we find ways to increase our prayer during this season: (1) Praying the Rosary especially the Sorrowful mysteries, (2) Praying the Stations of the Cross especially on Fridays when we call to mind the events of the Lord’s Passion, (3) Praying with Holy Scripture especially placing our focus upon the Passion accounts, (4) Sacrificing time to spend time with Jesus in our adoration chapel, or (5) Reading a book of spiritual value.

May we find ways to fast because in doing so we purge the voice of Satan from our midst and redirect our mind back towards God. We can fast from food or something which we love. In doing so we are moving towards the end which is a relationship with God.

Through almsgiving we partake in penance and thus grow in fraternal charity where we can detach ourself from that which we hold onto and finally be able to love our neighbor as one created in the image and likeness of God the Father. 

Finally may we make use of the Sacraments. The Sacraments assist us in our battle against temptation. Make use of the Sacrament of Confession for through it God’s mercy is encountered through the forgiveness of sins. Receive the Holy Eucharist in the state of grace and thus receive protection against the temptations which give rise in daily life.

Temptation will take place on the road which leads towards Easter, but may we remain under the protection which is the Shadow of the Almighty. 

Ash Wednesday Homily

Today begins the Lenten season.

Therefore we will receive upon our forehead the mark of ashes making the form of the cross.

The minister of the ashes will say either “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” or “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

This practice takes us back to scripture and reminds us of our need to turn away from sin in order that we may move back towards God. 

Such as seen in Judith 4:11 “And all the men and women of Israel, and their children, living at Jerusalem, prostrated themselves before the temple and put ashes on their heads and spread out their sackcloth before the Lord.”

The ashes also serve as a reminder of our own mortality and how through the course of time we will come to die.

No matter how hard we try this reality cannot be avoided. It is the only thing which we are entitled to in this life.

Jesus remarks in the Gospel of Saint Matthew: “If the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”

I encourage you to not only receive ashes upon your forehead today, but please realize that the mark which you will soon dare to bare is a public profession made to the world that you are a sinner.

A sinner who is in need of the Lord’s mercy.

A sinner who desires to turn away from their sinfulness and through actions of penance desires to be made clean.

We must mediate upon what we will do between the time when we get these ashes smudged onto our forehead leading up to the moment when we actually become these ashes through our passing into death.

I hope that in the time which will pass from our reception of these ashes leading to our death that we will come to “repent and believe in the Gospel” for we “are dust and to dust we shall return.”

Quinquagesima Sunday Homily (Extraordinary Form)

Lent begins on Wednesday and with it we will take up practices such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. On this first day of Lent many will receive ashes as a reminder of their mortality and thus the need to turn away from sin and to move towards Christ. Conversion does not come easily and thus it requires from us a struggle which we must be willing to undertake for our whole life.

Lent, much like our spiritual life, is filled with a continuous struggle. It is easy to be filled with energy at the start of the Lenten season, but to quickly give up hope as we begin to lose steam with the passing of time. Retreats are beneficial for our spiritual well being, but we must allow our faith to transcend a retreat mentality. What I am speaking about is leaving a retreat with an increased spiritual high which goes away with the passing of time and we in return stop the progress that was begun in us there. Retreats are beneficial for they assist us in coming to know God and the allow us to recharge our spiritual batteries.

In our Gospel we are given an example of all of this for we encounter a man who yelled out in his need, but did not lose hope when he was rebuked. Instead he only continued to cry out the louder. It may seem that we are without hope when we enter into the Lenten season. Maybe because of a sin that we struggle with that we have yet to overcome. I implore you to not lose hope, but to entrust yourself to the abundant mercy of Christ and you will be made clean.

Lent is easy for us to enter into with high hopes, but when temptation begins to knock at our door may we not allow ourself to turn back. If the man in our Gospel would of turned back Christ would of never acknowledged his voice because He never would of heard it. Instead Christ acknowledges him through his persistence. We must be persistent in asking of the Lord’s mercy. 

May we allow nothing to hold us back from coming to know Christ. Temptation and sin will raise up, but we must remember that none of this has any power over the healing embrace of Christ. The devil wants us to believe that their is no hope that we may be healed, but all that he utters into our ear is nothing more then a lie. If we want to acknowledge truth we will come to acknowledge Christ and to profess Him with our lips, heart, and mind.

Lent is the vessel which takes us on this journey as we take up practices such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These practices help to rid from our midst all which turns us away from Christ. It wis easy to lose hope or interest and to turn away from these practices, but we must persevere with the confidence of faith. From our perseverance Christ will acknowledge our petitions and answer them. The only question is will we be willing to persevere or will we give of hope with the passing of time.

5th Sunday of OT Year C Homily

It is said of the apostles that “they left everything and followed after him.”

These are radical words because what they demand from us is an unending love for Jesus Christ. Without a true relationship which is founded upon Christ we will continue to cast our net out into the sea, but we will never catch a thing. With Christ alone will we be able to cast our net and make an abundant catch.

Jesus commands us: “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” What we are to catch is that of souls which we will gather for Christ. The torrents of the deep are rough, but nevertheless the foundation which is Christ and His Church remains as firm as a rock for us.

When we loose the sight of Christ the waters of the deep beat us about and we will not catch a anything. We are in search of something which will feel the void which exists in our hearts. Our hearts desire that we may be loved, but we endlessly chase after love and belonging in so many areas which ultimately leave us and the reality of our salvation placed in harms way.

Christ is instructing us that we are not to give into the relativism where the world desires to banish God from our midst. Instead we are to hold fast to the teaching of the apostles such as Paul whose conversion to the Gospel was a story of great awe. To think that a man who had persecuted Christians and put them to death was called to conversion. Through his experience of conversion he turned away from worldly allurement and entrusted himself to loving mercy of Christ. Through his conversion he cast his net into the deep and from it he made an abundant catch of souls for Christ.

Wednesday will fall the beginning of Lent with our celebration of Ash Wednesday. The reception of ashes reminds us that we are dust and unto dust we shall return. They remind us of a spirit of conversion and abandonment which lead us towards hearing the voice of Christ more clearly from the midst of a world which is filled with so many distractions.

If we are to live Christian joy which draws souls to encounter Christ and His Church we must find ways to more clearly hear the voice of Christ in order that we may respond to His call. Lent is not to deprive ourself of a favorite food because we are fulfilling the letter of the law, but Lent is to better conform our mind and heart towards Christ through actions of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Take advantage of Lent for these penitential practices assist us in coming to know Christ and thus the joys contained within the Gospel. They will increase within us the Christian virtues and will banish the plague of vice which has come to infest us.

May we allow ourself to leave all behind in order that we may follow after Christ. With our complete trust placed here may we come to permeate the joy of the Gospel to the world. From this expression of Christian joy we lead souls to encounter this same Jesus Christ and thus entrust themselves to Him and His abundant mercy which He desires to extend unto the whole world. But if we are to do this, we must first entrust ourself to this reality.