10th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

It is easy to point the finger outward from ourself, “as also is this publican.” It is more difficult to point the finger inward upon ourself, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

As GK Chesterton was once asked, “What is wrong with the world.” His response, “Dear sirs, I am. I am what is wrong with this world.”

With this in mind we must take a look at ourself. As Sacred Scripture asks, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?”

What is being asked of us is a true sense of humility. Without humility we will constantly walk around grounded in pride where we think everything revolve’s around us. It is only through humility that we are able to look inward upon ourself and to be truthful with what is present. What is that wooden beam that we need to take care of instead of continuing to ignore?

The sacrament of confession aids us in this humility. A good confession is not listing the sins of another or making excuses for our sin due to outside influences. Rather, we look inward upon self and cry out to the infinite mercy of the Father like the publican.

The pharisee had a wonderful resume of accomplishments, but these were done in vain because his heart was far from God. The publican in his simplicity did not rely upon accomplishments, but upon the mercy of God.

As people of faith we are called upon to be found active in our life of faith. Therefore, we will do many wonderful things, but we cannot be fooled into believing that these wonderful things bring forth our salvation if our heart is kept far from God’s mercy. Only like the publican can we come to this realization with a profound sense of humility.

Our days should not be spent wondering around pointing out the misdeeds of others. Instead we are to be concerned with ourself and make sure that our soul is in the state of grace. If we take it upon ourself to act in such fashion we will begin to change the world because we will begin to act more Christlike in the midst of a world which is greatly in need of such influence.

As we will come to be instructed at the conclusion of Mass, “Go forth, the Mass is ended.” This invitation sends us out to live what we have received here, Christ present with us in the Most Holy Eucharist. This can only be accomplished if we are like the publican and take to heart the mercy of the Father and the grace that He pours out upon us.

“O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

9th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

As we pray in the Our Father, “Lead us not into temptation.” Pope Francis has recently advocated that a better translation of the Greek would be “do not abandon us to temptation.” As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states concerning this petition, “Lead us not into temptation implies a decision of the heart.”

Temptation is a part of our early life that we are called upon to stay on guard against. The devil is prowling about like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. For this reason we must stay on guard and remain open to the gift of God’s grace. It is God’s grace that sustains us and assists us in our struggle with temptation.

It would be improper to state that God is the one who is leading us into temptation. Rather, He is the one to whom we must open our will in order that we may come to not fall into its grasp. There is an alertness that exists concerning temptation. As the Lord stated to His apostles when they fell asleep, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Here we can ascertain the weakness of our flesh and the desire that exists within the depths of our mind. The struggle with sin is something which is real and we must acknowledge this instead of giving into an excuse that allows us to continue to sin. When our struggle has been taking place for a long time it can become easy to give into despair. We cannot lose hope, but must stay close to the Lord.

Through our participation in prayer we open our heart up to God and His grace. When the Lord came to combat the temptations of the devil in the desert we notice that He fasted and prayed. We too ought to turn to such measures in order that we come to be healed. So often we want something quickly, but are unwilling to persevere when it seems that there is no use.

Temptation should not be seen as failure, but as an opportunity for us to grow in virtue. In the words of Saint Ambrose, "When we find ouselves in some grave danger we must not lose courage but firmly trust in God, for where there is the greatest danger, there is also the greatest help from Him who wants to be called our 'Help' in times of peace and in times of tribulation.”

We will never overcome temptation on our own. We must remain open to God in order that we may not fall into its’ grasp. Where we have sinned we must remember the confessional which purifies our soul and restores it to the state of grace. Where we are tempted we must hold fast against the cursed one and use it as an opportunity to grow in virtue.

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen”

16th Sunday of OT Year B Homily

We live in the midst of a culture that does not make rest a priority. It seems that we are always on the go to accomplish our next task. Therefore, the Lord leaves us with some pretty important words, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”

We cannot confuse this command to rest as a form of sloth. It is not slothful to take care of our needs. It only becomes slothful when we do not make time to accomplish our tasks according to our vocation and state in life. It becomes slothful in the spiritual life when we fail to make time for prayer.

In the Gospel of Saint Matthew our Lord states, “Come to me, all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” From this we can ascertain that the Lord is the one who gives us rest in the midst of all that we face in this life. It is for this reason that we cannot fail to build up a relationship with Him because we are too busy finding our rest in other pursuits.

Let us remember that during creation “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.” As Catholics we are to observe Sunday as this day of rest because this is the day of the Lord’s Resurrection. Likewise, this day must be sanctified by us and set apart from the other days of the week. It is for this reason that it is a serious sin to miss Mass on Sunday and holy days of obligation.

It is hard in our modern day society to find such rest. Nevertheless, this is something that we should be mindful of. Through such mindfulness we begin to make a priority of that which is most important. When something becomes a priority it becomes something that is habitual and unable to be sacrificed.

Let us heed these words of our Blessed Lord. Such rest does not disconnect us from God. Such rest is an invitation to allow God into our life and home in order that our life may be modeled after His. If we are unwilling to make time for such rest it is difficult to open our heart to God and the movement of His grace.

Be not too busy to rest. Be not too busy to pray. Be not too busy to study Sacred Scripture and the faith. Be not too busy to be here for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Each of us, despite our busyness, are in need of rest. Let us find our rest in Him.

8th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

From Monsignor Knox, “we must not read too much into this parable, but we must use our worldly goods while we still have time to do it. We must copy the steward with his urgent thought about the future.”

In the words of Saint Augustine, “The steward was insuring himself for life that was about to end. Would you not insure yourself for eternal life?”

This parable should bring forth focus on the four last things (death, judgment, Heaven, and hell). Our sight should be placed upon Heaven and we should have the desire to get there. If this is true within us we must come to order our life after eternal life before time runs out.

We know not the time nor the hour, but there will come a time when we will find ourself before God to be judged. Time was running out for the steward and he used what little time that he still had prudently. Time, no matter what our past is, we must act prudently with the time that we still have set before us. This time cannot be squandered with the false pretense that we will always have tomorrow.

God has entrusted us with so many gifts and we are called to do something with them. Earthly goods are not and evil, but we cannot not allow them to control us nor can we use them against the common good. Some order their life after the excess of earthly mammon. It is this mammon which becomes the purpose of their life. We instead are called to live freely as disciples of the Lord taking from what we have and doing something with it.

As Americans we are taught that we must invest in our future. Thus people invest their money into a 401K or Roth IRA in order that they may provide for their future once retirement comes. This parable is inviting us to invest in our future by providing for our spiritual wellbeing and letting go of all that keeps us from God.

Are we truly thinking prudently when it pertains to eternal life or are we overlooking it in order to be overly concerned with the ways of this world? The Lord is inviting us to be smart with the time that we still have and to act prudently. Use this time for prayer and the pursuit of virtue. With these elements entwined into our life we prepare ourself for that which is most important. We prepare ourself for eternal life. With the gift of God’s grace let us strive for this Heavenly Kingdom.

7th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

The Lord warns us concerning the assault of false prophets. By their fruit we will know them. It is important that we don’t use these false prophets as an excuse to why we are unable to practice our faith. We cannot abandon the faith handed onto us by Christ due to the influence of a false prophet be they a lay person or member of the clergy.

In listening to this parable we must be aware that these false prophets have always and will always exist. Nevertheless, in knowing of their existence we must understand the one whom we are called to serve. The answer to this is Christ. We are called to serve and to orient our sight unto Him always.

In our world and the everyday operations of the Church there is a lot that causes us angst. Therefore, we can transfix ourself upon something that is totally out of our control. No, we cannot allow laws to be overlooked, but usually we are only concerned with doom and gloom instead of the light that is brought forth by the Good News of the Gospel.

No matter what we believe is taking place in the world and Church we cannot allow the cursed one to lead us astray. We must remain united in Christ. No matter the assaults that come our way Christ and His presence among us in the Eucharist stays the same. Are we here for Christ or are we here for the exaltation of ourself and our own wants?

What we can do is learn to pray and offer all these things unto God. What we can do is fast and offer sacrifice for ourself and all who have turned their sight away from God. These actions will bring forth more fruit then sitting around worrying about the unknown, complaining about that which is out of our control, or loosing hope.

We must remember that Christ is the Lord. Despite any false prophets among us this never change. We are not here for them, but for Christ. This should bring the virtue of hope unto our minds. Hope is always present for Christ has triumphed upon the cross and has risen on the third day. This hope is one which can never be taken away.

As Christians we must come to know this hope for ourself and share it with all those whom we encounter in this life. We must look inwardly upon our self and make sure that we are living the faith authentically. If we fail to do so we will be known for our fruit and might even be a false prophet ourself.

Let us never be led astray, but stay united to Christ and His Church on this earth despite all those voices which would cause us to do otherwise. Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and thus we must pursue Him instead of being led away from Him. Embrace the faith to its fullest degree for we are called to enter into communion with Christ.