4th Sunday of OT Year B

What an exciting time that this is for the Diocese of Knoxville and thus for the the local Church such as ourself.

We are in the midst of a diocese which is flourishing. We can see this through the many priests of our diocese, to the people who are served through the mobile clinic, to those assisted by Catholic Charities, to those educated within Catholic schools such as our own.

As we know the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus will soon be dedicated on March 3rd. This new Cathedral will stand as the mother Church for our diocese. GK Chesterton remarked concerning a cathedral: “A Christian cathedral was more than an aspiration, it was a proclamation. It was not addressed only to the ultimate reality above us all; it was also addressed, in a very definite and very detailed way, to us also; that is, to the ordinary, emotional and exasperated race of men.”

Thus the cathedral serves as a teaching reality of our faith which is to cause our heart and soul to be brought into relationship with God. From the verse of our Responsorial Psalm: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” An encounter with Christ should cause a response to take place on our behalf.

As a church we cannot hear this voice and not respond unto it. The Diocese of Knoxville is flourishing because so many have opened their heart to hearing the voice of God and thus have responded to this voice. Thus next Sunday we will undergo the annual bishop’s appeal which calls us to assist the Diocese of Knoxville with its many needs. We are called to support our local parish, but we must also see the importance of supporting the diocese in its efforts of spreading the Good News of the Gospel message.

In our Gospel Jesus rebukes the man with an unclean spirit. He commands Him to be quiet. May we to be quiet and allow ourself to hear God’s voice and to respond to this voice. We do this when we see someone who is in need and give them assistance. We do this when we acknowledge the needs of our parish community and assist with its financial needs. We do this when we see the needs of our diocese which is flourishing through its ministries which are abundant and assist in those efforts.

Next Sunday may we come to assist the annual bishop’s appeal by allowing ourself to assist in the many areas of need that have been designated by our diocese. May we also continue to support our local parish in its building up of the Kingdom of God in the city of Oak Ridge. May we also enter into the silence of prayer and respond to the demands that the Lord asks of us. “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts

3rd Sunday of OT Year B

The worst fishermen in recorded history must be the apostles. Scripture never records them as catching so much as one fish on their own. Rather, they are only able to catch fish when Christ is present in their midst. In our Gospel Christ encounters them and invites them in these words: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

This is an invitation to abandon everything and to follow after Him. At His call they left their livelihood behind and followed after this man who had called out to them. This man who they had known on no level and yet were willing to abandon all to follow.

Christ calls out to us with the same certainty of our readings were time is running out and thus we need to embrace repentance and the message of the Gospel. Jonah had to give a message of repentance: “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed.” In Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Corinthians: “I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out...for the world in its present form is passing away.”

We have grown very comfortable when it comes to how we live our life and practice our faith. Outside of Lent we probably don't give as much as a thought to the concept of repentance and thus actions such as fasting and other practices of mortification of the flesh. Practices such as these are very important because they lead to detachment from self and the ability to abandon all for the sake of the love of Christ.

In the Gospel of Saint Luke Christ exclaims: “You cannot serve both God and mammon.” Thus we must practice detachment for the sake of following after the Gospel. We cannot allow ourself to grow lukewarm when it pertains to our practice of faith. To be lukewarm is to place our love of things on the same level if not higher then our love for God. Again we must realize that there is an urgency to Christ’s invitation to follow after Him.

Therefore in our everyday life may we find ways to follow after Christ. This detachment does not require the radical poverty of Saint Francis of Assisi, but it does require that we take the Gospel serious and thus conform our everyday life to it. This means that in the workplace one does not waste time, but uses it as a good steward. This means that student uses the time allotted to them for study. This means that parents should guide their children in example. This means that we should accept the crosses which are thrown our way and embrace them in order that they made assist us in coming to follow after Christ.

Christ invites us today out of the busyness of our life in order that we may come to follow after Him. May we come to heed this invitation and thus come to serve Him above all things.

2nd Sunday of OT Year B Homily

Each of us are called to “behold the Lamb of God.” This invitation which is given at each Mass prior to our reception of the Eucharist invites us to behold Jesus. We are also called to behold Jesus through each moment of our everyday life. One way in which we do this is to embrace our vocation in life and thus to assist others in coming to embrace their own vocation. Responding to our vocation is to chase after the Kingdom of Heaven.

We should all be praying for an increase of vocations within the Church. When I tell you to pray for vocations it is easy to think about priests and the consecrated life. We must also remember that marriage is a vocation and thus pray for the youth of our parish that they may in time enter into good and holy marriages which are entered into as a response to this call which comes to us from God.

The home is the primary place where children will receive their upbringing in the faith. For this reason it is very important for families to promote vocations. The Church is very much so in need of more priests, more who will enter into consecrated life, and more who will enter into marriage. How often does your own family promote these realities? 

Without priests there cannot be the Eucharist nor the mercy of God found in the Sacrament of Confession. We are very much so in need of priests. Without those in consecrated life we miss out on their example of holiness. We are very much so in need of consecrated religious. Without men and women joining together in marriage society would begin to fall apart for the family is the building block of society. We are very much so in need of good and holy marriages.

The verse to our Responsorial Psalm is very difficult: “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.” If we are to do the will of God that means that we need to put our own will to death. It means that we will pursue what God demands of us even if we are afraid and unsure of ourself. God does not call the perfect to be priests, but time and time again He calls ordinary people like you and me. Thus a vocation to the priesthood, religious life, or marriage is made up of ordinary people who are called to pursue holiness in their everyday life.

God called out to Samuel in our first reading. God also calls out to each of us and hopefully in time we allow ourself to discern the voice of God which is being made present within our life. Hopefully we can respond as Samuel did: “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

We live in the midst of a world which is filled with so much noise and thus it becomes near impossible for us to listen to the voice of God. We need to enter into silence and from here we need to listen for God’s voice. Prayer before and after Mass in the silence of the Church is a way to discover God’s voice, coming to the silence of the Blessed Sacrament chapel is a way to discover God’s voice, turning off the television or phone and entering into the silence of prayer is a way to discover God’s voice.

Let us listen for God’s voice and may we be found willing to do God’s will. Truly we need more laborers in the Lord’s vineyard, so may we respond to this invitation to “behold the Lamb of God” by how we order our life and draw others to encounter this same invitation.

Baptism of the Lord Homily

For one final time: Merry Christmas!

Today’s celebration of the Baptism of the Lord brings about the conclusion of the Christmas season.

This celebration is most important for it reminds us of our own baptism and thus the commitments which began here which we must continue to foster in our daily life.

We know Christ to be without sin and thus this baptism that He received from John did not wash away any sin. Rather, Christ participated in the baptism of John the Baptist in order to give us an example of what we must undergo. It was here that we were given an Epiphany, a manifestation, of the Trinity: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For here we have the voice of the Father and the Spirit which comes upon the Son in the form of a dove. 

Through baptism we are conformed to Christ and His Church. Baptism washes away our sin and thus makes us as white as snow. Baptism is not something which exists in the past, but rather it is something which leaves a seal which never goes away, in this life or in the next.

Thus through today’s celebration of the Baptism of the Lord may we come to renew in ourself our baptism. From this renewal may we strive each day to hold close to Christ, abandon all that separates us from Him, and allow His mercy to continue to purify us.

Ephiphany Homily

Merry Christmas!

Today we celebrate the Epiphany which means our Lord’s manifestation to the whole world. These kings come to represent the fact that every language and nation has now been called to encounter the Messiah who manifests Himself unto the world. Therefore like these kings who have gone before us we must also come to encounter the Messiah and rejoice with Him. We must thus allow the light of the star to shine upon us and to illumine our heart and soul to behold our Lord.

The light of this star led the magi to this small town and led them to the home which housed our Blessed Lord. This small town of Bethlehem and this little home were not fit for a king such as the one that Herod assumed would threaten his throne. Yet we are instructed concerning the magi that they “were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house.” They were the first of the gentiles to come to acknowledge this great king and thus this star illumined this reality for them.

What they came to believe and profess concerning this child is the same that we must come to believe and profess. For the Lord now manifests Himself for the whole world to see. He reveals Himself to us not only to be a child, but to be God made Flesh. So many looked upon this child and saw Him to be man, but through eyes of faith the magi looked upon Him and knew that He was also God made Flesh. For this reason they gave Him the gift of gold to acknowledge Him as King, they gave him the gift of frankincense to point towards His divinity, and the gift of myrrh to profess His eventual death. 

May we too come to this same understanding that the magi professed. May we become “overjoyed” at the thought of this loving Savior who comes to dwell with us out of love. May we realize that to look upon Him is to look upon the Face of God. Thus what a wonderful gift that the Eucharist is. A gift which should cause our heart to grow “overjoyed” for what we receive here is the same Jesus whom the magi came to adore.

Thus may we join with the magi in coming to acknowledge who Christ truly is. At such a realization may we come to to do Him homage and thus allow our life to be transformed in His presence. May the light of this star shine upon us and illumine our heart and soul in order that they may truly come to behold our Savior who dwells among us.

Announcement for Easter and the Moveable Feasts

Know, dear brethren,

that, as we have rejoiced at the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ,

so by leave of God's mercy

we announce to you also the joy of his Resurrection,

who is our Savior.

On the fourteenth day of February will fall Ash Wednesday,

and the beginning of the fast of the most sacred Lenten season.

On the first day of April you will celebrate with joy Easter Day,

the Paschal feast of our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the thirteenth day of May will be the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the twentieth day of May, the feast of Pentecost.

On the third day of June the feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

On the second day of December, the First Sunday of the Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ,

to whom is honor and glory for ever and ever.

Amen.

Mary Mother of God Homily

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

As we embark upon this new year we do so through the intercession of our Blessed Mother. This celebration in no way pulls our sight away from Christ. Rather it orients our sight towards who Christ truly is. We thus call our Blessed Mother the Mother of God. This title is a testament to who her Son is for Christ is God made present with us in the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity.

Many embark upon a new year with many resolutions on their mind. For the most part these resolutions never became a reality. As we embark upon this new year may we do so with the desire to draw closer to Christ each day. If we allow ourself to grow in our devotion to Mary we will indeed come to grow in our love for Christ. She points the way to her Son who we should desire to follow after entirely.

If one has not already done so this I would recommend making a Consecration to our Blessed Mother during this new year. Simply pick a Marion date on the calendar and do the prayers of preparation which can be found in Saint Louis Marie de Montfort‘s book “Total Consecration” or the modern book “33 Days to Morning Glory.” Also, don’t forget to commit yourself to the praying of the Most Holy Rosary. This prayer allows us to give our Lady a crown of roses and allows us to mediate upon the mysteries of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Let us also turn towards Sacred Scripture where the Angel Gabriel proclaims that she is “full of grace.” From this we can see that she leads us in all of the virtues. If we want to grow close to her Son in this upcoming year we need her intercession in growing in virtue.

May our Blessed Mother interceded for us thus leading us into this new year with the fervent desire to draw closer to her Son.