8th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

The Lenten season is about upon us. On March 1st will fall Ash Wednesday and thus the beginning of the sacred Lenten season. Throughout its course we will pass through a period of 40 days in order that we may do penance and turn back towards the Lord.

Our Gospel instructs us to not worry about our life. This is a difficult statement which is made of us because there is a lot for us to be concerned with in the midst of our life. Despite this truth we so often forget about the Lord who is always in our midst. We fail to turn towards Him in the midst of trial and need and thus we turn ourself towards so much which can never truly fill the longing of our heart.

Lent is our opportunity to question the many ways in which we have failed to allow God to enter into our midst. The many ways in which we have allowed our passions to conquer our relationship with Him. Lent is an invitation for us to place our trust upon the Lord rather then the many ways of the world through which we are distracted from this reality.

Thus throughout the course of the Lenten season we will fast, pray, and give alms in order that we may build up virtue within our life. To fast is to deprive our senses of something in order that we may be drawn close to God. To pray is to further develop a relationship with God which is so necessary in the midst of this world which is filled with so much noise. To give alms is to give of ourself and thus practice good works which build up the Kingdom of God here on earth.

On Thursday our parish will hold its Lenten penance service. On this night we will have many priests here to hear confessions and thus to absolve sin. This is an invitation for us to return to the Lord and His mercy. It is an invitation for us to place our trust in His midst. It was Christ Himself who has given us this most wonderous sacrament of mercy and thus how can we deny our need to make use of this sacrament. Thus a good confession places our trust upon Lord and gives us reason not to worry for through this sacrament we can know that our sin is forgiven.

To bear ashes upon our forehead on Ash Wednesday is a public proclamation that is made that we are a sinner; a sinner who is in need of the Lord's mercy. Thus the mark of ashes proclaims our need to make use of this sacrament of our Lord's mercy and to be set free from this burden of sin.

As we embark upon this Lenten season may we find ways to place our trust in the Lord. There is so much at work within our life which distracts us from this relationship, but nevertheless we still receive this invitation to place our trust in Him. Indeed may we not worry about which lies ahead, but rather may we come to place our trust firmly upon the Lord.

7th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

"Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed."

We are familiar with this statement. We make it prior to our reception of Holy Communion. I have heard it say that this statement makes no sense for I have no roof over my head.

Yet we hear in 1st Corinthians: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God."

In other words we are each a temple of the Holy Spirit and thus we are inviting Christ present with us in the Eucharist to come and dwell under our roof.

Christ dares to enter under our roof why, but because He desires to give us the strength which is necessary if we are to undergo the journey of faith. Thus we can confidently proclaim: "be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy" as was stated to us from the Book of Leviticus.

This is precisely true for each of us because we are all called to holiness. The 2nd Vatican document "Lumen Gentium" "Light of the Nations" stated: "that all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity; by this holiness as such a more human manner of living is promoted in this earthly society. In order that the faithful may reach this perfection, they must use their strength accordingly as they have received it, as a gift from Christ. They must follow in His footsteps and conform themselves to His image seeking the will of the Father in all things. They must devote themselves with all their being to the glory of God and the service of their neighbor. In this way, the holiness of the People of God will grow into an abundant harvest of good, as is admirably shown by the life of so many saints in Church history."

Saint Matthews's Gospel stated: "be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." This is precisely the invitation that the Church is making to us through this universal call to holiness. The Church is inviting us to grow close to Christ and thus we in return are able to allow Christ to be at work through us.

Let us therefore invite Christ to enter into our roof thus we may begin to allow Him to be at work within us. Our life must become an extension of what we receive from the Eucharist. Thus we may assist the Lord in gathering souls for Christ, but first we must allow our soul to be directed towards Christ.
Lent will soon be upon us. I implore you to not allow the Lenten season to sneak up upon you without first giving it proper prayer and concern. Lent is the perfect vessel to assist us in preparing our heart to receive Christ and thus responding to this universal call to holiness.

We encounter such wonderous gifts here within the refuge of the Church we must be willing to invite others into this refuge and thus produce an abundant harvest for the Lord. May we thus invite the Lord under our roof and thus allow Him to assist us in this universal call to holiness.

6th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Today we celebrate World Marriage Sunday.

On February 14th we celebrate Saint Valentine's Day, but who was this Saint Valentine? This forgotten saint defended the sacrament of marriage when it was under attack, spoke against pagan fertility rituals, and healed the blind. At the time the Roman emperor made it illegal for young men to get married because if they were married they would not be able to partake of the military. This is so because it was believed that married men made bad soldiers. This law fed the permissive society in which Saint Valentine lived, but he would go onto preach concerning the importance of marriage and would even marry couples who searched out the sacrament. This led to his eventual marytdom. He ultimately died professing the sacredness of marriage and thus may he intercede for our society that we may always hold marriage to be sacred.

Marriage is a sacrament which was instituted by Christ. Throughout society marriage has existed, but in the Gospel of Saint Matthew Christ states: "Because Moses by reason of the hardness of your heart permitted you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so." Therefore, it is Christ who elevates marriage to the status of a sacrament. He restores it to the original purpose for which it was given by God Himself from the beginning.

Marriage is a sacrament and therefore like all sacraments it bestows grace upon the receiver. Grace is that which leads us to follow God and thus to get to Heaven. The married life is not simple, but with God's grace at work within the sacrament it is possible.

We live in the midst of a culture which does not understand the importance of marriage and the gracein which Christ imparts upon the receiver. We see this through the desire to redefine marriage as no longer being between a man and a woman. We see this through the many who delay marriage and live together outside of its bonds thus creating a serious sin for themself. We see this through those who don't understand the Sacrament of Marriage and the grace it imparts and thus enter into an illicit marriage outside of the Church. We see this through our throw away society which struggles with accepting a life long bond of love. We see this through the prevalence of contraception within marriage which leads towards a perversion of the mutual love of the couple.

Rather the Church invites us towards something greater. This invitation is to be led towards Christ and thus too what God has established for us from the very beginning. It is for the very reason that the Church must continue to defend the sanctity of marriage because it is the Church's mission to lead us to encounter Christ and His infinite mercy. Marriage is a pillar of society because from it springs up the family and thus the church at home is formed.

On this "World Marriage Day" may we discover the beauty that lies behind this sacrament and thus pray for all married couples and those who will soon enter into marriage. Following this Homily there will be a reaffirmation of vows and a special blessing given to all married couples following the "Our Father." May Saint Valentine intercede for us that we may always defend the sanctity of marriage and that all those now married may continue to profess this wonderous Sacrament of God's love.

5th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Light penetrates from the darkness and thus it attracts others towards it.

We as a community of faith must be willing to become this light which shines forth from the darkness thus drawing others to come to know of Christ and His Church on this earth.

We must realize that we cannot take our lamp and hide it under a bushel basket, but rather we must allow it to shine brightly for all people to see.

If we are to allow this to be so we must cultivate within our life and home the precepts of the faith, enter into the reality of prayer, and frequent the sacraments. In this manner we will begin to allow God to be at work in our life and thus this light will shine forth from the midst of the darkness of night.

If we truly allow our faith to be integrated into who we are as a human person we will draw others to the faith. It is impossible to not see a fire which has been lit in the midst of the darkness and thus too it is impossible for others to miss the authentic representation of Christ which stands in their midst.

If we consider for ourself the life of the saints we will realize that they professed Christ not only by words, but Christ was the very proclamation of who they were as a human person. People have been drawn to Christ because of the saints not for who they were, but rather on the behalf of Christ who they professed.

The Vatican document INSTRUMENTUM LABORIS, Working Instrument, stated: "Announcing and proclaiming is not the task of any one person or a select few, but rather a gift given to every person who answers the call to faith. Transmitting the faith is not the work of one individual only, but instead, is the responsibility of every Christian and the whole Church, who in this very activity continually rediscovers her identity as a People gathered together by the Spirit to live Christ's presence among us and discover the true face of God, who is Father."

So often we allow this light of faith which has been lit at our baptism to be dimmed through our participation in sin, lack of prayer, and lack of entering into the sacramental life of the Church which means not just receiving communion, but allowing the mercy of God to penetrate into our life through the Sacrament of Confession. If we do this the light of our faith will shine brightly before all.

We must look around and see that Christ has given us a mission which is to fill these pews with other souls. We must be willing to invite others to experience the joys of Christ's Church on this earth. If we cannot enter into this mission of evangelization we in return hide our lamp under a bushel basket.

May we truly be willing to become the light of Christ that penetrates from the darkness and thus attracts others towards it. We must be willing to spread the light of Christ to all whom we encounter in this life. May we be willing to spread this light always!