17th Sunday of OT Year B Homily

I want you to pretend that two things will happen today. Firstly, that you will come forward and receive our Lord in Holy Communion. Secondly, that when you return home you turn on your television and see on the local news the report that this church has burned down. Now the question becomes what will you spend the rest of your day talking about?

For many the answer to this question will be the fact that this church has burned down. That is understandable for this is an extreme example and falls outside of the ordinary of our life. Nevertheless, the more important part of our day is the fact that we have had the opportunity to receive our Lord in Holy Communion. So many lower this sacrament to simply being a mundane action which is done among the many other things which we do.

In all reality there is nothing more important then our opportunity to commune with our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion. Not the news of a church that has burned down, not the fact that your favorite football team has made it to the Super Bowl, not that a member of your family has gotten engaged. To various degrees all of these may be important, but I must stress the importance that is receiving our Lord in Holy Communion. Yet despite this importance we so often take what we receive for granted.

This lack of importance can so often be seen from the communion line itself. Here the “amen” which we have been instructed to say prior to our receiving of Holy Communion in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite often goes forgotten or is mumbled without true conviction. As Gandi once exclaimed: “If I believed what you say you believe about the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, I would crawl on my hands and knees to the altar to receive Him.”

As Cardinal Sarah put it: “The most insidious diabolical attack consists in trying to extinguish faith in the Eucharist, by sowing errors and fostering an unsuitable way of receiving it. Satan’s target is the Sacrifice of the Mass and the Real Presence of Jesus in the consecrated Host.” 

Let us look to the example of Saint John Paul II whose faith in the Eucharist was fervent. Despite his failing health he never ceased to kneel in the presence of the Eucharist. He would have trouble getting back to his feet, but he would always insist that he would kneel. Yet for us genuflections go forgotten or become curtsies as we lose focus upon that which is most important, Christ who is present with us in the Eucharist. It is no wonder that it becomes so hard to bare good fruit within this world when so many could care less about the gift that is Christ present with us in the Eucharist.

Our Gospel shows us the importance of this great gift. In it Christ looked out upon the multitude and saw them in their hunger and at that He multiplied the fish and the loaves and they were fed. Some would see that He is feeding their bodily hunger, but He is also feeding their soul. This serves as a foreshadowing of what we come to receive in the Eucharist. Through the Eucharist we have the opportunity to receive not mere bread and wine, but rather the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ our Lord. As Christ goes onto say later in this chapter: “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.”

Let us not take this food which endures for eternal life for granted, but instead let us approach the Eucharist with true devotion. No one should approach the Eucharist in the words of Saint Thomas Aquinas “without reverent devotion and fervent love, without true repentance, or without recalling the mystery of his redemption.”

16th Sunday of OT Year B Homily

We tend to be an over anxious society which is always on the go and is always in need of having something else to do. It is a miracle if we allow ourself the opportunity to find the rest that we are in need of. My mind is taken to the example of the White Rabbit found in “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” When we first encounter this character we are told that he speaks from his anxiety: “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!” We are then described of his actions: “the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on.”

So many of us can emphasize with this Rabbit who goes about in a rush because so many of us find it difficult to slow down and find rest. In our Gospel we are told that Jesus looked to His apostles and said: “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” In the words of Saint Augustine: “Our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you O Lord.”

Therefore we must find time to rest, but in doing so we must find time to rest with the Lord. Rest gives us a time of enrichment, it allows us to love God, and even assists us in becoming pleasant to those around us. No matter how busy a person may be we are in need of rest. Sacred Scripture even gives us this example in the book of Genesis: “On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.”

This leads us to two ways in which we can find this rest: through the silence of prayer and through the observance of Sunday.

We must be willing to enter into the silence of prayer for through it we allow ourself to rest with the Lord. It is easy for us to stay busy and to fill our mind with noise, but this noise does nothing more then buffer out the Lord’s voice. In seminary we would make a monthly Day of Recollection which would simply be a time of silence and prayer. When is the last time that you have made time for such a feat in your life? Even if it be just for that brief moment before the Eucharist. The church as building has become reflective of this for it has become a place of noise. Before and after Mass as we have allowed ourself to lose sight of the value of silence and prayer. It is in the midst of silence that we pray and that we allow ourself to rest with the Lord.

Next we need to also place value on Sunday and the assistance of Mass. As the precept of the Church states: “You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation.” Notice that this does not say you are to attend Mass when it is convenient. So often to go on vacation is not to attend Mass. So often sports and other activities are placed before one’s assistance at Mass. So often there is too much homework to be done or sleep that needs to be caught up on that Mass is not made a priority. How can we expect to rest with the Lord if what we do tears us away from our relationship with Him? Some would be shocked to hear that to miss Mass on a Sunday or Holy Day is grievous matter and thus should be confessed in the Sacrament of Confession.

Let us not forget that Sunday is a day of rest. So often it is used as a day to catch up on work and thus we never allow ourself to find this rest. Let us be willing to go to a deserted place with the Lord and rest a while. Here we will discover true peace and tranquility from the busyness and noise present in our life. Let us not rush about, but instead be willing to find rest with the Lord.

15th Sunday of OT Year B Homily

One of the seven sacraments is that of Anointing of the Sick. As we heard in today’s Gospel: “They anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.” Elsewhere we hear in the Book of James the following instruction: “Is any one among you sick? Let him call for the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if has committed sins, he will be forgiven forgiven.”

This sacrament is simple and yet I believe that there is a lot of misunderstanding which surrounds it. For example the arrival of a priest at a hospital can be a sign of death to the uneducated soul. From movies we would receive the understanding that if the priest comes and anoints you that you will soon die. For this reason there are many who pass up the opportunity to receive this sacrament when they begin to become in danger due to sickness or old age.

Canon Law 1004 instructs on who can receive this sacrament: “It can be administered to a member of the faithful who, after having reached the use of reason, begins to be in danger due to sickness or old age.” As it goes onto say: “This sacrament can be repeated whenever the sick person again falls into serious sickness after convalescence or whenever a more serious crisis develops during the same sickness.”

With this in mind an individual can be anointed on multiple occasions. For example an individual receives the diagnoses of cancer and thus they can be anointed. As the cancer progresses they can be anointed again. Finally, as they lie upon their deathbed they can receive the sacrament again. What I desire to stress is the fact that this sacrament can be received on multiple occasions and thus one does not have to wait until they are about to draw their last breath in order to receive it.

To be anointed imparts many special graces upon the faithful. Anointing of the sick unites the person to the passion of our Lord, it prepares them to pass over to life eternal, gives strength in the midst of suffering, it forgives sins if the person could not obtain it through the usual means of confession, and if conducive to one’s salvation it can even bring about healing.

Keeping these graces in mind I hope that you see the importance of receiving this sacrament. It is not a sacrament that we need to be afraid of. To be anointed does not mean that you will die, but to be anointed does mean that you will be imparted with grace. For this reason you should let your family know of the importance of this sacrament for they may need to call on your behalf.

So often I run into family members who do not understand this sacrament. Some will only call the priest after death, but at that point you cannot be anointed. Some will wait until the very end of one’s life to make this call. The fruit of making this call earlier is the fact that you could make a confession and receive Holy Communion while receiving this sacrament.

Let us make this sacrament a priority in our practice of faith and through it be assured of God’s healing grace.

14th Sunday of OT Year B Homily

Some claim that if the Church were to change her teachings and make life easier for the faithful that she would have more members. This is an absurd statement for the Church’s mission is to preserve the teachings of Christ as handed down to us by the apostles and is to lead others towards an encounter with holiness. Even Jesus did not have it easy. Some even rejected Him as we see played out for us in today’s Gospel.

From it we were told: “He was no able to perform any mighty deed there. He was amazed at their lack of faith.” The rejection of Christ and His teachings are summed up throughout the course of the scriptures such as in John 6:66 (666 that should be easy to remember): “As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” Also, in Mark 15:13 when He was judged to crucifixion: “They shouted again, crucify him.”

If we think of the prophets (like Christ and all of us) they also did not have it easy. From Ezekiel we were instructed: “I am sending you to the Israelites, rebels who have rebelled against me.” It would of been easy for a prophet to head into a foreign nation and tell them what they want to hear. If they did this they would be easily accepted, but they would not be transmitting the truth to which they were to testify to.

Saint Paul’s epistle hits the nail on the head for in he mentions: “I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” These are powerful words because they are not what we want to hear. We would rather be told to avoid weakness, to avoid insult, to avoid persecution, to avoid constraint for in doing so we will be accepted and our life will be made easy.

If we want our life to be made easy we must come to accept Christ and to hand over everything to Him. In Matthew 11: 28-30 we are comforted by these words: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Therefore, my sisters and brothers in Christ, let us not conform ourself to what comes easily or to what is of popular opinion. Rather, let us be conformed to Christ Jesus. In conforming ourself to Christ we come to embrace Him no matter the joy or difficulty. To proclaim Christ to a world which is hostile to the reality of truth can be hard, but we must be willing to represent the Gospel in its fullness and not just one which is fragmented to represent popular opinion. G.K. Chesterton: “We do not want a Church that will move with the world. We want a Church that will move the world.”

May we allow our heart to be moved with the Gospel message. In return may we participate with God’s grace in heading into the world, not being conformed to the world, but conformed to Christ. In this manner souls will be drawn to the Lord for from their encounter with us will be an encounter with Christ.

13th Sunday of OT Year B Homily

Death is something which many of us are uncomfortable with. We are uncomfortable of our own death and are uncomfortable with the death of a loved one. We see this same uncomfortableness played out in our Gospel for Christ states of them: “Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.” To the eyes of those without faith it would seem that death is the end, but through the eyes of faith we proclaim the words found in the preface for the dead “life has changed, but not ended.”

We should fear death. Not our bodily death, but rather the death of our soul. The Church holds that to fall into mortal sin puts our soul into eternal jeopardy. In the words of Saint John of the Cross: “The lack of God is death to the soul.” Mortal sin deprives us of God for it deprives us of grace. The girl in our Gospel was not dead, but only sleeping. Her soul was not dead, but rather her soul rested with God.

At one’s death it is common to use the initials, R.I.P., which stand for Rest In Peace. This common saying is a Catholic saying which comes to us from the Latin words of the Mass for the dead: “requiescat in pace.” These words serve as a reminder that a soul does not pop out of existence at death, but through their faithfulness rests with God for all eternity. These initials should serve as a reminder to us to pray for the souls of the faithful departed. 

To rest in the peace of Christ is not something which is boring. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1024: “Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.” In the words of Pope Benedict XVI: “The souls of all the saints and other faithful who died after receiving Christ’s holy Baptism already have been, are and will be in heaven, in the heavenly kingdom and celestial paradise with Christ, joined to the company of the holy angels. These souls have seen and do see the divine essence with an intuitive vision, and even face to face, without the mediation of any creature.” To me the communion of angels and saints does not seem boring nor does Heaven and eternal relationship with God seem boring. Let us all strive to rest in the peace of Christ!

If we are to strive to rest in the peace of Christ we must strive while on this earth to pursue Christ. We must dare to place the reminder of death before our sight. The Latin words for this is “momento mori” in English “remember death.” If we remember death we will pursue Christ and will desire to banish the stain of sin from our life. Therefore, my sisters and brothers in Christ, let us strive for Heaven by frequenting the Sacraments especially that of Confession and Eucharist. Many lack a concept of sin, so I implore you to find an Examination of Conscience in a book, on an app, or on the internet and to pray with it to assist in forming your conscience and making a good confession.

In such manner with God’s grace we prepare ourself to embrace our bodily death and to rest in the peace of Christ. The same peace which we now implore for the souls of those who have gone before us into life eternal.

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them.

May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God, Rest In Peace. Amen.