2nd Scrutiny Homily

There are some who will never experience the beauty of the Easter Vigil. If possible the attendance of this Mass is something which I highly recommend. Nevertheless, I understand that this may be impossible. The Easter Vigil is filled with beautiful symbols which sum up our Christian faith. The readings which are proclaimed can be lengthy, but they instruct us on the course of salvation history which reaches its culmination through our Lord’s Resurrection. 

Throughout the Lenten season we are preparing for this same encounter with our Lord’s Resurrection. Through the Cross and Resurrection of our Lord we come to triumph over sin and death. This is the message which is proclaimed to us from the waters of baptism.

In our Gospel Christ comes to proclaim, “I am the light of the world.” Through sin and death this light comes to be blocked from reaching its full potential. Through the Resurrection the darkness of sin and death can no longer block this great light which shines forth. At the Easter Vigil we start Mass in complete darkness, but from the light of a candle, which represents our Lord’s Resurrection, light begins to spread dispelling the darkness from our midst.

Our Lenten journey is very much so connected to this message, for it is a journey to make way for the Lord, in order that He may shine forth in our life all the more. From the waters of baptism, from which we have been baptized, we came forth from them in the words of the psalmist as being “whiter then snow.” Sadly, we allow sin to lead us astray causing blindness to be brought to our sight.

Easter is to have this blindness ripped away as we begin to recommit ourselves unto the Lord. In the Easter season we will have the opportunity to make a renewal of our baptismal promises. Hopefully, when we renew these vows we do so with a true spirit of renewal which recommits ourselves to what was begun when we entered into the life giving waters of baptism.

Today we come to celebrate the second Scrutiny, which focuses upon this same reality for those among us who now prepare themselves to enter into these same waters from which we have entered. There is a very serious commitment which is taking place here because through baptism they are committed unto the Lord. The Lord ,who through baptism, will wash away all of their sin, especially original sin, which is inherited by the Fall.

May we, as a community of faith, continue to pray for them as they undergo this journey which leads towards the Easter Vigil and an encounter with this life giving sacrament. Very soon their eyes will be opened for they will be transformed through their reception of the Sacrament of Baptism. Likewise, may each of us, continue to dispel the darkness of sin from our midst in order that the light of Christ may shine all the more.

4th Sunday of Lent Year C Homily

In our Gospel we encounter this man whom as we are told: “squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.” Dissipation takes on many manifestations, to name a few of these: debauchery, intemperance, overconsumption, drunkenness, and promiscuity. This man thought that he knew what would fulfill the longing of his heart and yet he was wrong. He ended up realizing that only with the love of his father and his mercy could he come to be fulfilled.

The opposite of dissipation is asceticism. Asceticism is taking self-discipline over forms of indulgence. It’s foundation is the Greek word, askesis, which means to practice. We know that if an athlete is to excel at a given sport that they must first practice. As Saint Paul states from his First Epistle to the Corinthians concerning asceticism: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air; but I discipline my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

In CS Lewis’ third book in his Chronicle of Narnia series, The Horse and His Boy, he gets to the very heart of asceticism and the goal to which it leads. Here we encounter Hwin, who is a talking horse from Narnia. Quoting from this book: “Then Hwin, though shaking all over, gave a strange little neigh and trotted across to the Lion. “Please,” she said, “you’re so beautiful. You may eat me if you like. I’d sooner be eaten by you than fed by anyone else.” “Dearest daughter,” said Aslan, planting a lion’s kiss on her twitching, velvet nose, “I knew you would not be long in coming to me. Joy shall be yours.”

Hwin uses the metaphor “to eat” in order to apply “to love.” This is the true goal of asceticism because it assists us in being able to love. If there is a boundary to our love it must be overcome in order that we may love freely. The character Aslan in the Narnia series is representative of Jesus Christ. Thus Hwin is able to say that everything has been stripped away and he loves Christ totally.

This must become the same goal for each of us. We should all be able to say that we love Christ totally. Going back to Saint Paul in his First Epistle to the Corinthians we are given a list of actions which lead us away from this love and towards a life of dissipation: “Do you not know that the unrighteousness will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, not the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revivers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

The man in our Gospel realized this, he came to strip away all that held him back from his father, and returned to his father’s love. Let us be truthful with ourself and ask how we have entered into a life of dissipation which must be stripped away if we are to ever encounter the love of the Father. Asceticism is the key for us because through practices such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving we tame that which is disordered and come to reorient our sight towards the Father. Let us return to the Father, who in His mercy, runs out to embrace us.

3rd Sunday of Lent Year C Homily

In this world there are those who are blessed with a green thumb and those who seem to only have to look at a plant in order to make it die. If you have not been blessed with a green thumb worry not because our Gospel has nothing to do with our talent or the lack thereof. If we are to bare good fruit we must first allow God to be the one who is found at work within us.

We call this “grace.” Grace is a supernatural gift of God bestowed on us through the merits of Jesus Christ for our salvation. There are two types grace, sanctifying and actual. Sanctifying grace is necessary for us to get to Heaven. Actual grace is God’s help which enlightens our mind that we may do that which is good and come to avoid that which is evil. If we desire to receive this gift called “grace” we do so through prayer, participation in the sacraments, especially the worthy reception of the Most Holy Eucharist.

Seeing that sin harms our relationship with God or even worse, mortal sin, kills our relationship with God and deprives us of grace we need to participate in the sacrament of confession. The sacrament of confession is not a suggestion, but through it we can be healed from our sin and come to receive God’s grace.

If we desire to bare good fruit then we must participate fully in the sacramental life of the Church. We must remember that no plant can survive and bear fruit if it is removed from the ground from which its nutrients flow. So too we must realize the necessity of remaining within the confines of the Church for she exists in order that may be brought to eternal salvation. Within the confines of the Church we find the sacraments, especially the Most Holy Eucharist, which allow God to be made at work within our life.

Seeing that sin hurts this relationship with God and the Church we are in need of the Father’s mercy. One of the precepts of the Church is that a Catholic will go to confession at least once a year. Sadly, there are those who believe they know better then Christ who left us with this sacrament and thus they never go to confession. Sadly, there are parents who don’t take their children to participate in this Sacrament of the Father’s mercy. It is sad to think that for some their first confession was their last confession. We must remember that it was Christ who breathed upon His apostles and said: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven and whose sins you retain are retained.” Let us make a good confession in order that we may be healed of all that ails us and receive grace that we may be sent forth into the Harvest of the Lord to bear good fruit.

On Tuesday at 7pm we will have many priests of our diocese at our parish for its Lenten penance service. If you have been away from the Sacrament of Confession for a long time I invite you to return to this Sacrament of the Father’s Mercy. Come back to the Father’s mercy for you have nothing to fear, realize that you can’t accomplish holiness without a relationship with God and His Church on earth. Let us begin to bear good fruit by allowing God and His grace to always be found at work within our life.

OLOF Men’s Evening of Recollection Sermon I: St. Joseph

Today the Church comes to celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Saint Josemaría Escrivá gave a few points concerning the importance of Saint Joseph: “There are many good reasons to honour Saint Joseph, and to learn from his life. He was a man of strong faith. He earned a living for his family — Jesus and Mary — with his own hard work... He guarded the purity of the Blessed Virgin, who was his Spouse. And he respected — he loved! — God’s freedom, when God made his choice: not only his choice of Our Lady the Virgin as his Mother, but also his choice of Saint Joseph as the Husband of Holy Mary.” (The Forge, 552)

From this quotation Saint Josemaría Escrivá leaves us with four important points for our reflection. These points sum up a foundation of true manliness as is expressed through Saint Joseph. Let us take a moment to delve further into these four points.

1) “He was a man of strong faith.”

-We should assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass each Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation.

-We should frequent the Sacrament of Confession.

-We should become educated on the precepts of our faith.

-We should foster a spirit of prayer within our life as well as within the household.

2) “He earned a living for his family.”

-We should sanctify ourself through our work.

-We should work tirelessly to provide for the wellbeing of our family. 

3) “He guarded the purity of the Blessed Virgin.”

-We should foster the virtue of purity within our own life.

-We should take it upon ourselves to preserve the purity of those entrusted to our care especially one’s children and spouse.

-We live in the midst of an over sexualized culture, but we must remain on guard against these temptations of the flesh which corrupt the purpose of human sexuality.  

4) “He respected God’s freedom.”

-We should become men of prayer who respond to the challenges of this life through prayer.

-We should silence our heart in order that we may come to hear God’s voice made manifest.

May we thus turn towards Saint Joseph, the most chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and allow him to intercede on our behalf that we may become true men who pursue the excellence of virtue and pursue God above all things.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

1st Sunday of Lent Year C Homily

For a period of forty days and forty nights we join with Jesus in the desert. We call this period of time Lent and there we too will be tempted and lied to by Satan that it would be best for us to go back to our old way of life. It was Moses who led the Israelites out of their slavery. For forty years they toiled about lost in the desert and even rebelled against God that it would be better for them if they could go back to their former way of life. This sounds so much like us!

Some of you are at work with your resolve to turn towards the Lord during this Lenten season, some have been too slothful to give it any thought, and still there are others who have set the bar too high.

Saint Josemaria Escriva reminds: “We were reading -you and I- the heroically ordinary life of that man of God. And we saw him fight whole months and years (what ‘accounts’ he kept in his particular examination!) at breakfast time: today he won, tomorrow he was beaten... He noted: ‘Didn’t take sugar...; did take sugar!’ May you and I too live our ‘sugar tragedy’.”

We must remember that Lent is not here to make us miserable, but to assist us in growing closer to God. We don’t have to stop eating for forty days putting ourself into a hospital to accomplish this task. At the same time we must feel compelled to be moved towards the Lord. Saint Josemaria Escriva gave us the example of a man who was taking simple penances upon himself. To deny himself sugar in his coffee was a cross which helped him to grow in virtue.

I once encountered a woman who had not made prayer a habit of her life. One day she decided that she would set a timer to two hours and spend that time in prayer. Only a few days later she had enough and found that she couldn’t stick to her resolve. My question was why would you go from nothing to two hours? Why not fifteen minutes and increase the time accordingly?

Therefore, what simple tasks can you undergo in this Lenten season which will assist you in growing in virtue?

Here is a small list that I have come up with, but feel free to add to it yourself as needed:

-For those in our middle/high school ministry grow in gratitude by forcing yourself to sign the thank you card each week. 

-Force yourself to stay until Mass is over instead of rushing out the door after communion. 

-Sign up for Formed and use it to learn more about your Catholic faith. 

-Get out of bed at the first ring of your alarm clock and don’t use the snooze button. 

-Attempt to attend the Friday Stations of the Cross. 

-Take up the practice of praying the rosary every day. 

-If possible come to daily Mass. We do have Mass on Saturday morning. 

-Save your change and give to a charity such as Operation Rice Bowl or somewhere else.

-Begin to practice making a monthly confession.

-And forgo sugar in your coffee as act of sacrifice.

Truly the Lord was led into the desert and there He fasted and prayed for a period of forty days. During Lent we have received the invitation to join with Him. Hopefully we will answer this invitation and rebuke the assaults of the devil which attempt to make us abandon this path.

Ash Wednesday Homily

On Palm Sunday we celebrate Christ’s joyful entry into Jerusalem. It was here that palm branches were placed along His path and the crowd joyfully came to proclaim: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.” It would only be a few days later that this crowds’ joy would fade into hate. They would now shout: “Crucify Him!”

Now these palm branches have been burned and turned into ash. There is a connection to this joyful entry into Jerusalem because from we too stretch from belief to unbelief. We have entered into the waters of baptism, thus being marked as a follower of Christ, and yet we still reject Him. You can say that in the midst of our sin we stand with the crowd and shout: “Crucify Him!”

Very soon we will dare to bare a mark of ash upon our forehead. Throughout the pages of Sacred Scripture we are not told that ash is a sign of pride, but rather we are told that it is a sign of repentance for one’s sinfulness. I find it odd that so many pride themself for this mark of ash, I find it odd that those who step into Church two or three times a year come out of their way to receive this mark, I find it odd that those who have resolved in their heart that they don’t need the Sacrament of Confession would dare to bare this mark.

To dare to bare this mark of ash is to profess that you are a sinner who is in need of God’s mercy. To dare to bare this mark of ash is to profess that you are a sinner who needs to prevail themself to the Sacrament of Confession. To dare to bare this mark of ash is profess that you are a sinner who is in need of Christ and His Church in your life thus you attend Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation. To dare to bare this mark of ash is to profess that you are a sinner who does not find pride in your sin, but sorrow.

Through Ash Wednesday we enter into the Sacred Season of Lent. May we use this time set before us to reorient our life towards God in order that we may truly come to rejoice with Him anew on Easter Sunday. “Repent and believe in the Gospel” for “You are dust and unto dust you shall return.”

8th Sunday of OT Year C Homily

In a few days there will be a lot of transition taking place around us. Green vestments will turn into violet. The Gloria, Glory to God, will fade away and be lost for a period of time. Plants and flowers which once decorated our church will disappear in favor of barrenness. Music once joyful in nature will begin to display a penitential tone. And we cannot forget about the Alleluia for it to will be put to rest until it rises again with our risen Lord at Easter.

This list is to remind us of the penitential nature of the Lenten season. Hopefully, we not only allow transition to take place within the church and her liturgy, but also in our own life.

From Sirach we were told about the sieve which was shaken. A sieve is used for straining in order that what is strained may become separated. The Gospel of Saint Matthew did not speak of a sieve, but instead gives the image of a winnowing fan which has a similar purpose, separation. In the words of the Evangelist: “His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

The Lenten season assists us in being truthful with ourself in order that we may be willing to under this period of transformation. We must separate that which is found to be harmful within us from our life. We cannot simply remain content with where we are in the here and now. We cannot make up the excuse that my sins are too deeply intrenched for there to ever be hope. We cannot forget about the urgency that is our life for there will come the time when we will be called home to God. We may have filled our life with the spirit of relativism (the rejection of truth), but with God there is finite truth to which I hope we strive to orient our life on this earth.

Saint Luke’s Gospel reminds that if we are to undergo transformation and become a true disciple of the Lord that we must come to know and love the Lord. A blind man cannot lead the blind. “No disciple is superior to the teacher.” We must perceive the wooden beam in our own eye. Must bear good fruit instead of allowing ourself to become corrupted to the point that the fruit which we bear is found to be evil and unacceptable in the sight of the Lord.

In the few days which still remain before we enter into the Lenten season and the time of transformation for the Easter season may we prepare our heart to enter into this period of time. We must ask ourself how we can we use the ancient practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in order that we may better come to know the teacher, restore sight to our eyes, and begin to bear good fruit to the world?

If you plan on given up something such as chocolate or something similar I ask if this is enough to make you grow in virtue or are you simply trying to fulfill the perceived law of what you must do? Lent is not here to make us miserable, but more Christ like. Through practices such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving we make use of the sieve to strain away all which is unnecessary and harmful within our life. In this manner we become purified in the Lord’s sight. 

It is also important the we undergo purification via the sacrament of confession. Hopefully this is already a sacrament which you frequent. Through confession we are freed from the chains of sin and are given strength in order that we may resist it in the future. Through participation in this sacrament and the Lenten season our life is in transition from sin towards virtue and death towards life. May we be willing to separate all that holds us back from the Lord from our life and thus be sent into the world as true disciples of the Lord.