13th Sunday of OT Year C Homily

“No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” In other words we are called to follow after Christ and through our pursuit of Him we are set free.

Saint Paul instructs that we are to use our freedom not as an opportunity for the flesh, but rather in order to serve one another through love. Generosity allows us to live this freedom.

May we find ways where we can be generous and thus give freely of ourself. The action of giving can be difficult, but its rewards are infinite in letting go of ourself and following after Christ without looking back.

5th Sunday After Pentecost Homily (Extraordinary Form)

“Go first to be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” 

It is hard to live out a life of charity towards others and thus it is so easy to fall into the trap of being uncharitable against them.

It is especially easy for us to return evil with evil rather then counteracting it with good.

Our Epistle instructs us that with God on our side we can return evil with good.

Our Epistle goes on to say that we must be “lovers of the brotherhood.”

This is to say that we must be lovers and defenders of the community.

That we must always desire to protect it from all which might do it harm.

Our collect petitions that God may: “pour into our hearts such love towards thee” that we may “obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire.”

This prayer sums up what is needed within this world. 

Our sight needs to be directed towards God the Father and from this love which is discovered here we will have something to share with our neighbor.

On this Father’s Day it is my hope that all Christian fathers may come to emulate the love that is discovered through the Fatherhood of God.

God the Father is not self serving and neither should a Christian father.

Saint Joseph shows the value of the father in his protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary and through his upbringing of Christ.

The father must take it upon himself with the assistance of his wife to shepherd the family into the Heavenly Kingdom. 

If we are to strive towards the Heavenly Kingdom we must let go and repent of the many ways in which we have brought harm upon the community.

Gossip is such an easy exercise to partake of, but it can rip the community apart through the spreading of exaggerations and lies.

The Gospels states that a Kingdom which is divided among itself will not stand.

And so today’s Gospel speaks about the vengeance that is anger which rips the community apart and causes it to falter.

Anger causes us to fail to see the humanity of another and to lash out at them through our thoughts or actions.

We are called not to anger, but are called to be reconciled with those who have trespassed against us.

Therefore, may we pray for the virtue to forgive those who have trespassed against us.

May we foster the virtue of charity in our life that we may not participate in acts which might break down the community of faith.

And may those of us who have trespassed against another seek out the mercy of the Lord that we may “be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”

12th Sunday in OT Year C Homily

“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” This is a very powerful statement when we think about it. It should cause us to reflect upon the crucifixion and what it means to us. The cross was an instrument of death and yet we allow the cross to adorn our home or to be placed around our neck. When we look upon the cross we should realize that what we behold is the very instrument of our liberation.

In our Gospel Christ is leading Saint Peter towards making a perfect profession of faith. In order for Saint Peter to make this profession he had to understand the value of the cross and have the desire to embrace it within his life. From the pains of the cross spring forth the joys of the Resurrection. We too in this day and age have received this invitation not to run from the cross, but to embrace it.

Saint John Vianney: “There is no doubt about it: a person who loves pleasure, who seeks comfort, who flies from anything that might spell suffering, who is overanxious, who complains, who blames and who becomes impatient at the least little thing which does not go his way—a person like that is a Christian only in name; he is only a dishonor to his religion, for Jesus Christ has said so: Anyone who wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross every day of his life, and follow me.”

We live in the midst of a world which announces that if we are to be happy we must chase after the many desires in our life. That if we chase after power, possessions, prestige, or pleasure that we will come to discover the true meaning of happiness. Yet when we chase after these many desires we always realize the emptiness which is present because they cannot fulfill us. We have a longing to be loved and to be happy and we can only bring this longing to its fulfillment through Christ.

To embrace the cross shows an alternate path because it leads us away from this emptiness and pain. The cross shows us the path which leads to love because it is a total outpouring of self. The cross is a counter cultural message because it is a total rejection of what we are often told by society which will make us happy.

If we dare to deny ourself and to take up our cross daily in order to follow after Christ we will come to embrace hardship which points its way towards eternal life. We chase after so much which is passing away and which cannot fulfill us, but the way of the cross does not pass away. The way of the cross leads towards eternal life. 

The cross is not easy, but neither is any activity which we want to excel at. In order for an athlete to excel at their sport they must put in work which brings about their desired result. We too must pursue the Heavenly Kingdom with all of our energy. If we are to do this we must heed the words of Christ and stand with Saint Peter in making a true profession of faith through the way in which we order our life. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

11th Sunday of OT Year C Homily

The Mass has a few silent prayers which are offered. Maybe we have never heard them or paid much attention to them. The one that I would like to highlight is when the priest or deacon kisses the Gospel he prays: "Through the words of the Gospel may our sins be wiped away."

When we hear the words of the Gospel we come into an encounter with Jesus Christ and thus we come into an encounter with His saving mercy. It is often pointed out that Catholics do not know the bible. It is sad to say that on average this statement is very true. Nevertheless, when we come to study the Bible especially the Gospels we come to know of Jesus Christ and His love for us.

This is the same Jesus Christ who looked upon this woman and told her, "Your sins are forgiven." This is a very impressive statement and who among us would hope that the same would not be said of us.

1st Samuel reminded us of the sin of King David. He fell into adultery and killed a man and yet we heard concerning him, "The Lord on his part has forgiven your sin." I hope that we do not want to remain with the Pharisee who wanted to keep the woman at a distance. If we want her kept at a distance then we too must claim that we desire to be kept at a distance from Christ and His mercy.

No matter the seriousness of the sin of our past life Christ desires that we be assured of the forgiveness of our sin. No matter the sin which is currently prevalent in our life Christ assures us of the assistance necessary to banish it from out life. Christ desires for us to come to Him and to His mercy. It is not His desire that we be kept at a distance from it. There is always a way out from our sin and this is made apparent by Christ's interaction with this woman. This is the same invitation in which Christ makes with us that we may be freed from the burden of our sin. 

And so to think of the beauty which is discovered within the Sacrament of Confession. In the Sacrament of Confession we come in burdened by the weight of sin, but leave from its midst entirely liberated. It is said that following a confession that God remembers nothing concerning the sin of our past life. Instead we have received absolution and thus have been instructed, "Your sins have been forgiven."

May we truly desire to be like this woman in our Gospel. She had the courage to approach Christ and from her courage she received the forgiveness of sins. It would of been easy for her to make excuses to why she could never be accepted for her sinful past and yet she reached out in the faith to this man that she had heard so much about. She did not allow these fears to overcome her, but instead she overcame them and was consoled by Christ.

When we approach the Gospels we approach Christ who desires to heal us and to make us whole. All of scripture points its way towards Jesus Christ. The same Jesus who comes to us in the Eucharist under the appearances of bread and wine. From our encounter with Him may we too desire to hear the words, "Your sins have been forgiven.”

3rd Sunday After Pentecost Homily (Extraordinary Form)

On Friday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This solemnity assures us of the infinite love of our Savior who died upon the cross and rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures. 

Quoting from Pope Benedict XVI concerning this solemnity: “In biblical language, "heart" indicates the centre of the person where his sentiments and intentions dwell. In the Heart of the Redeemer we adore God's love for humanity, his will for universal salvation, his infinite mercy. Practicing devotion to the Sacred Heart of Christ therefore means adoring that Heart which, after having loved us to the end, was pierced by a spear and from high on the Cross poured out blood and water, an inexhaustible source of new life.”

Therefore, may we be thankful for this infinite font of love which loves us so dearly. May we come this day and always to “Behold, the Heart which so loved us.” Instead of looking inwardly upon our self may we instead turn our attention towards the Heart of Jesus. With our attention placed here we will grow in our love for God, love for neighbor, and disgust for sin.

One fitting place to place out attention is upon the Eucharist for it is here that we come to discover Jesus and His infinite Heart of love. It is here where we will come to discover His love for us and His love which is poured out for the whole world. May we adore our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar for from this devotion we will come to know the heart of our Savior.

The Heart of our Savior is most beautifully shown to us in today’s Gospel. His Heart pours out with love and compassion for that one sinner who has wondered away. There are none of us here who can claim that they have been perfect disciples of our Lord. Nevertheless, we must remember this Heart of love who never ceased to love us. Instead of ceasing to love us it continued to pour out love and mercy upon us until we were healed.

In this Year of Mercy I hope that we will entrust ourself to this infinite font of mercy. I also hope that during this Year of Mercy that we will come to know and trust in the Heart of Christ. Through the Heart of Christ may we too come to share in His desire to save souls and to go after the lost sheep.

Our world is filled with many distractions and messages which go against the values contained within the Gospels. We as Christians must turn away from these messages and live lives of Christian virtue. If we want our world to be reformed we must the ones who not only talk about it, but put our words into action by the way that we choose to live our life. 

From our devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus may we learn to imitate the true and sacrificial love which has been poured out for each of us.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us, and may we truly grow in our love for thee.

10th Sunday in OT Year C Homily

In our readings we encountered two sons who were found be to dead and yet they were restored to life. These accounts serve as a foreshadowing of the effects of sin upon our soul. They show that despite the pull of sin that Christ can free us from its grasp and burden. Through the Lord’s Resurrection there is always hope for new life and thus the triumph over the tomb of sin that effects us.

In our Gospel the man was brought to his place of burial, but Christ reached out and touched the coffin and commanded him to arise. Christ is constantly reaching out and commanded us to do the same. He is giving each of us an invitation to receive his mercy and to be restored to proper health. Sometimes we do not embrace His mercy as quickly as we ought and thus our life begins to get out of control. We lose balance because Christ had been banished from our midst and left forgotten that we no longer know of Him and His healing mercy.

From 1 Kings we see that the boy’s death was brought about by a gradual process. He first grew sick, it then progressed, and then he finally died. This shows the effects of sin upon our soul. Falling into mortal sin can be a gradual process where we slowly erode away our moral boundaries until we no longer care about the outcome. Some will say that venial sins are not a big deal and thus should not be confessed. 

From Pope Pius XII: “As you well know, venerable brethren, it is true that venial sins may be expiated in many ways that are to be highly commended. But to ensure more rapid progress day by day in the path of virtue, we will that the pious practice of frequent confession, which was introduced into the Church by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, should be earnestly advocated. By it genuine self-knowledge is increased, Christian humility grows, bad habits are corrected, spiritual neglect and tepidity are resisted, the conscience is purified, the will strengthened, a salutary self-control is attained, and grace is increased in virtue of the sacrament itself.”

The confession of venial sins is also strongly recommended according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 1458. It is strongly recommended for through confession we receive the grace that God pours out upon us. This sacrament of the Lord’s mercy goes hand in hand with our reception of the Eucharist for through the Eucharist we receive Christ Himself into our life. We cannot heal our life on our own because if we are to accomplish this task we must first trust in the assistance of God’s grace. No matter how small the sin it still hurts our relationship with God, but most of all we do not want it to develop into a mortal sin which robs the soul of sanctifying grace.

Therefore, my dear brethren, may we come to trust in the Lord’s cross and Resurrection. These two realities show the joys of everlasting life and thus point to the life which is to come for each of us. May we allow Christ in His infinite mercy to heal us as He healed those found throughout the Gospels, but most of all may we always allow Christ to restore that which is found to be dead to life. Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.