26th Sunday of OT Year B Homily

Pope Francis has invited the whole Church to pray the rosary and the Saint Michael prayer everyday during the month of October as we turn our attention towards our Blessed Mother and Saint Michael that the Church may be protected from the devil who seeks to separate us from God. This is very fitting because today I desired to introduce the Saint Michael prayer and next week I desired to cover the importance of the rosary on what will be the Memorial of our Lady of the Rosary. I hope that each of us will take the Holy Father’s words to heart and pray these prayers. To think how the world would be snatched out of the hands of Satan if all the faithful would take to heart these prayers instead of pushing them off because they are too busy chasing after the ways of the world as Satan prowls about thrusting the world into sin.

On September 29th we celebrated the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. These three make up the Archangels who are mentioned throughout Sacred Scripture. There are nine choirs of angels and interestingly enough the Archangels are just about the lowest rank in this hierarchy. They only appear before the rank of angel. Those towards the bottom such as the Archangels or angels have many dealings with humanity. The archangels serve in a most special way as God’s messenger angels and have been given the most important of missions within scripture. So we have Saint Gabriel who goes to announce the great joy of Jesus to Mary. So we have Saint Raphael who was sent in order to heal Tobit of his blindness. And so we have Saint Michael who led the army of angels to cast Satan and the other fallen angels out of Heaven.

We cannot falsely be led to believe that angels are not important for us in this day and age. Spiritual warfare is something which is very real. The war for our soul is being waged all around us and yet we have divorced ourself from devotion to the angels. Rather, we must foster proper devotion to them especially to our guardian angel. Guardian angels are not something that is for children that we grow out of as we age. God has assigned a guardian angel to each of us who is to assist us in following after God and His commands.

Our Gospel makes it very clear that hell is real and that we should cut away everything that might lead us there. In this day and age it seems that we have bought into the greatest lie that the devil can tell and that lie is that Satan is not real and thus too hell does not exist. If we don’t believe angels then we can’t believe in fallen ones. Again may we be reminded that we are in the midst of great spiritual warfare as we speak.

Bishop Stika wishes that we resume praying the St. Michael prayer following the celebration of Mass. Some of you may remember this prayer as being offered among others following the Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Hopefully each of you already have this important prayer memorized and are already offering it daily, but do you know the origin of this prayer?

The St. Michael prayer is actually a very modern. It was written by Pope Leo XIII in 1884. The reason why it was written was because Pope Leo received an awful vision as he was offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In this vision he saw demons who were gathering upon the Eternal City of Rome. Some go as far to say that this vision related that Satan would attack the Church from within. It was in 1886 that what became known as the Leonine Prayers would be attached to the end of the Low Mass until they fell out of use in 1964.

I find it very fitting that the bishop of this diocese desires to restore this prayer to the end of the Mass. I find it very fitting that Pope Francis desires that the faithful pray this prayer as well as the rosary every day. We can see the many ways in which Satan has come to attack the Church as well as society. The horrors of the sexual abuse crisis are demonic in nature. The division that is found between bishops especially when it pertains to what is truth is demonic in nature. The war that is being waged against marriage, against the human person, against human sexuality, and against the family is demonic in nature. We can no longer believe the lies of the devil, but we must come to rebuke him solid in our faith.

May Saints Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel pray for us that we may be protected against the wickedness and snares of the devil. 

25th Sunday of OT Year B Homily

The Apostles display the fact that they didn’t get it. Christ had just told them about His coming Passion and yet they are caught up worrying about which one of them was the greatest. We too have heard the Good News of the Gospel message and have heard of our Lord’s Passion and yet we so often forget about these words in order to pursue worldliness. Just like the Apostles we too often don’t get it.

Part of the issue for the Apostles is that they haven’t yet fully come to understand the Kingdom that Christ came to establish. Their mind was often caught up in the world below, but in all actuality Christ came to establish a Kingdom far different from a worldly one. As our Gospel instructs: “But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to ask him.”

We too are often afraid to fully turn our attention towards the Lord. We know that the Passion and cross of our Lord requires sacrifice and yet who here actually wants to practice sacrifice? It was only last week that we were instructed: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” These words looks great on paper, but they are so difficult to put into practice.

If we are to strive for this Kingdom that Christ establishes then we must become convinced that there is nothing which is more important. If we cannot become convinced of this reality none of us would ever feel compelled to embrace the cross of our Blessed Lord. There is nothing which will be greater then the Kingdom of Heaven for in the Kingdom of Heaven we will be held in communion with God always. In the Kingdom of Heaven there will no longer be sickness nor death for the original relationship with God will be restored.

It is easy to hold to a concept of Heaven which requires nothing on our behalf. In our Gospel Christ shows that this is not the case for He takes a child and places it in their midst and says: “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.” In this statement He is teaching us that we must be found humble of heart and in return be accepting of all that Christ hands on to us. Christ hands on a lot to us through the teaching authority of the Church.

At times these teachings come easily for us to practice and at other times they become very difficult to accept. Despite something which may be difficult we don’t want to say that I know better then the teaching authority of the Church because in doing so we fail to be humble, we fail in being obedient to Christ, and we end up disowning the cross.

Let us realize that we are in need of the Lord’s help and that we can do nothing independent of Him. Let us humble ourself in His midst this day and present ourself to Him as a child who is willing to accept all that He hands onto us. Through the cross and resurrection we are set free and thus let us come to embrace the cross as we set our sight upon Heaven and not the worldliness which comes with this earthly kingdom.

24th Sunday of OT Year B Homily

I wish that I could stand here and tell you that discipleship comes easily, but that would be a lie. Jesus does not say follow after me and all will go as you desire. Rather He is truthful with His disciples when He states: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

Who truly wants to live these words and yet to enter into the sacramental life of the Church is to embrace these words. To enter into the life giving waters of baptism does not mean that you will never struggle with faith. To make a good confession does not mean that you will walk away to never be tempted again. To enter into marriage does not mean that everyday will be perfect bliss. To receive our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion does not mean that all will go as you desire. To be anointed does not mean that you will never struggle with the reality of pain and death.

We want to live in a world where things come easily and when we don’t get what we want as quickly as we wish we simply disengage. It is easy for the road to get difficult and thus we simply give up and turn back. Jesus teaches us that there is value to be found through the cross. Yet who here truly wants to follow the Stations of the Cross which outline this church by taking up Christ’s path and taking up the weight of the cross for themselves?

To think of the horror that was on the mind of the disciples when they heard this statement from the lips of our Blessed Lord. Everyday they were faced with the knowledge of crucifixion and thus they could vividly call to mind this cruel instrument of death. They did not know the cross as a pendant worn around one’s neck, but instead they knew it for the pain and agony which is brought into the life of the one who will be claimed by its grasp. Who would want to embrace such as instrument of torture?

To carry the cross is a sick and twisted punishment. Firstly one would be beat as they were whipped and their skin was ripped open. Then they were forced to carry the cross bar which would be balanced upon their shoulders while their arms were tied to this beam weighing roughly 75-125 pounds. To fall would not be easy because there would be no way to brace one’s fall as they plummeted face first into the ground. Yes, to carry the cross is not a pretty image and yet to carry the cross is a life giving reality for Christ has sanctified the cross through His sacrificial action upon it. 

To be Christian is not to follow after a Gospel of prosperity, but it is to reach out and embrace what our Lord has done for us. To be a Christian is to see value in the cross of our Blessed Lord and to be willing to embrace it for ourself. Again discipleship does not come easily, but that is okay because we are not left alone. Instead to embrace the cross is to embrace Jesus in His pains and suffering and to find meaning in the midst of our own pain and suffering.

From the words of Pope Benedict XVI: “Taking up the cross means committing oneself to defeating sin, which blocks the way to God, accepting the Lord's will every day, making faith grow above all in the face of problems, difficulties, and suffering.” May we thus be willing to take up the cross and follow after Christ always.

22nd Sunday of OT Year B Homily

In the Mass we are surrounded by many signs and symbols. With some of these we simply go through the motion without placing our mind on what is at hand. What is done in the Mass in word and deed has profound significance and is never done just because. There is nothing that we do here which should be taken lightly because all holds profound significance upon our life. If there is something that you don’t understand take it upon yourself to ask questions and to study the faith in order that your entering into these Sacred Mysteries may be entered into through their fullest degree.

In our Gospel Christ confronts the scribes and Pharisees who were scandalized by the lack of purification that Christ’s apostles underwent. The scribes and Pharisees followed the Law to its fullest degree, but they failed to allow the Law to meet its God given purpose. It wasn’t about going through the motion of a ritual of purity, but rather it was about letting the ritual remind them of the necessity of purity that they had to undergo as well as live. Not just their hands, but of the whole body including one’s heart and mind.

This ritual was done to remind them of the purity which was needed in order to encounter God. In the words of Psalm 24: “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart.” These words were the prayer used in order to enter into the Jerusalem sanctuary. It was here that they would come to encounter God and thus they came to profess their need to undergo purification.

It is easy to find ourself gathered in this place and forget about why we are here. We too should desire to be purified in our Lord’s presence just as the Jewish people understood their need to undergo purification. We should not just go through the motions of our faith, but enter into the motions in order that we may be transformed. And thus from the very beginning of the Mass we take up this attitude through the penitential act: “I confess to almighty God...that I have greatly sinned...through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault” as we strike our breastplate as action of penance.

For a tad over a month we spent time with the 6th chapter of Saint John’s Gospel. Here we came to encounter the Bread of Life discourse which presented Christ who is present with us in the Most Holy Eucharist. To fathom that Christ dwells with us here in the Eucharist out of love and yet so many could care less about what they encounter. In the words of Saint Ambrose in his prayer written for preparation for Mass: “Lord, Jesus Christ, I approach your banquet table in fear and trembling, for I am a sinner, and dare not rely on my own worth but only on your goodness and mercy.”

How many of us think of these words of Saint Ambrose in relation to the Eucharist? “Fear and trembling.” I challenge you to find a copy of Saint Ambrose’s prayer and to pray it in the silence of the Church before Mass and to also find a copy of Saint Thomas Aquinas’ prayer of thanksgiving to be made after Mass. We should not carelessly receive our Lord in communion, but allow ourself to undergo proper preparation for the great gift that we receive. Let us make use of confession, purify our heart and soul, and truly become a Eucharist people.