Octave of Christmas Homily

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

Today we observe the Octave of Christmas and commemorate the Holy innocents. Through the fact that these two realities meet serves as a great contrast. On one hand we have the Word made Flesh lying in the humility of a manager and on the other hand we have the cry of Rachel who is weeping for her children.

The Nativity is not over glamorized by the Church. From the very beginning the Child born in Bethlehem is marked by great contradictions. Shepherds come in order to adore Him and kings come to do Him homage and yet Herod was filled with fear and wanted to threaten Him with violence. The shadow of the cross is already being shown to us from the wood of the manger.

The Holy Innocents did not not speak a word nor did they choose martyrdom. They did not even know the Name of Christ. Nevertheless, the Church venerates them as martyrs for they died in confession of Christ. Through their death it is proclaimed that the world resists the light that comes in order to save.

This is the cost of the Incarnation. God takes on our human flesh and makes His dwelling place here among us. Nevertheless, the world continues to rebel despite such a wondrous gift. The Lord comes bringing with Him truth. Truth is something which is difficult to accept, but by taking on truth whatever it may be we come to be healed in Christ.

This Sunday there is a great weight that has been placed upon our hearts. This is after all the final Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite to be offered in this parish church. Here there is a sense of loss and sorrow that weighs upon us. The Church is not asking us to pretend as if grief is not real. Even Rachel in her sorrow was allowed to weep.

The Holy Innocents serve as a reminder of fidelity until the end. Through such fidelity that which would seem as if defeat becomes victory. Their blood which was spilled was not the end of their story for they are remembered and venerated to this day. Our fidelity must remain to Christ and to His Church no matter how difficult such fidelity may be.

The Infant Christ was threatened by Herod and so He went into exile. Yet He remained the Savior. So too the Holy Innocents lost their life and yet they now reign victorious in Heaven. Loss when united to God becomes an eternal gain. Through the loss that is felt let us remain united to the truth of faith and through the obedient taking up of such a task, we will strive for the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Holy Innocents teach us how to suffer and the Christ Child teaches us how to trust without fear. Let us have such faith as we continue to give thanks to God and strive to serve Him and His Church each and every day of our life.

Holy Innocents, pray for us.

Feast of Holy Family Homily

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

On this Sunday within the Octave of Christmas we are given two feasts which we might prefer to keep apart. This Sunday we observe the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Jospeh. On December 28th we also observe the Feast of the Holy Innocents who were the infant children of Bethlehem who were murdered by King Herod in his attempt to kill the newborn Christ.

The Feast of the Holy Family places our focus upon the importance of the family in society. Through Jesus, Mary, and Jospeh we are reminded how the family is to point towards holiness in the midst of our everyday life. Mary was open to the will of God, Joseph was found with courage as he protected his family, and Jesus as child was found dependent on His parents.

In our modern world the family often finds itself under attack. Our culture treats commitment as something which is temporary and self-fulfillment as more important than sacrifice. This mindset leads to an increase in divorce, children born outside of marriage, couples living together outside of marriage, and a blatant disregard for the sanctity of human life.

The Holy Family challenges all of our families to something so much greater. Like Mary we are invited to remain open to the will of God being made manifest in our life and like Jospeh we must have the courage to protect the family from all the might do it harm. The family is important for we are all dependent on God and His grace.

The Feast of the Holy Innocents shows us the sad effects the sprung forth due to King Herod’s fear. In the words of Saint Augustine, “the cruelty that sought Christ found the Innocents instead.” It is these holy souls who unknowingly shed their life due to Christ who came in order that light may prevail over the darkness.

Despite the proclamation that the family ought to be directed towards holiness we should know that family life is not always easy. Fear, poverty, violence, children lost, and other issues continue to plague our fallen world and thus too the family. Through the Holy Innocents we are reminded that every vulnerable life is never forgotten and is sacred.

Christ is present in the vulnerable for he was a vulnerable child born of Mary who would lay down His life for us out of love upon the cross. Through the blending of these two feasts we are able to reflect upon our own families. How do we as a family stand against cultural, political, or personal issues which threaten the holiness of the family? How are we being invited to build up the domestic church (the Church at home) in order that Christ may always be made manifest?

May this Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph assist us in the midst of all the hardships of this life in order that we may come to pursue holiness in our everyday life. 

Holy Innocents, pray for us.

Holy Family of Nazareth, pray for us.

Christmas Homily

Merry Christmas!

Tonight we acknowledge the great fact that God’s love is so great that He chose to make His dwelling place among us. He does not come with thunder nor armies, but with great vulnerability. We see this vulnerability in the form of the Christ child who was small and helpless and entrusted to the care of the family.

Without His coming we would be unable to be healed from the effects of the Fall from which we have inherited sin and death. Through the Incarnation God declares that our human nature is worth saving. As we come to venerate this child God is revealed to us and we are reminded of who we are meant to become.

 As Saint Leo the Great would state, “Christian, remember your dignity.” In our day and age many forget that their dignity is a gift from God. Whenever we forget our dignity or the dignity of another we do not treat them as if they are one who has been created in the image and likeness of God. It is this image and likeness that we are reminded of whenever we look upon Christ.

Saint Athanasius would state, “God became man so that man might become god.” This statement does not mean that humans are able to take on the nature of God for there is only one God. This quotation points towards our participation. Through the Incarnation we are able to share in God’s life through grace.

From 2 Peter we are told, “He gave us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakes of the divine nature.” Through Christ, we are lifted beyond whatever we could ever achieve of our own. Through the sacramental life of the Church we are aided in this journey of faith through the gift of God’s grace.

Saint Augustine preached, “we are transformed into what we receive.” This is precisely what happens when we receive Christ into our life through the gift of the Most Holy Eucharist. We must learn to humbly approach Him for in doing so we come to be aided in all that we will encounter in this life and be assisted in living out a good and holy life.

Christmas must not only be something that is remembered, but something that must be lived. Through our celebration of Christmas we orient our sight towards God’s taking on our human flesh and make our profession to be sent forth to live a life which has forever been oriented onto Him.

Throughout the Christmas message many came to encounter Him from shepherds to magi. Each of them came to adore and they left forever changed. Let us too come to adore this child for He is the Savior of the world and let us be sent forth from His midst, not to be conformed to world, but to be forever transformed by the one who has made His dwelling place among us.

4th Sunday of Advent Year A Homily

Our gospel places Saint Joseph firmly before our sight. It states that he was “a righteous man.” This title is something more then simply being found morally upright. He was one who lived a right relationship with God as well as with other people, he was willing to listen attentively to God’s word, and ordered his life after what he was instructed.

Very soon we will welcome the coming of Christ at Christmas. Saint Jospeh stands before us as a reminder of entering into the silence of prayer and remaining faithful when it pertains to what we have been instructed. So often we are those who are too busy to pray and too afraid to go where we have been called.

Saint Joseph shows us that righteousness is rooted in action and not in words. Throughout the course of Sacred Scripture Saint Joseph is attributed with saying nothing. Nevertheless, he was found so willing to respond by taking his wife, naming his child, protecting his family, and providing for their needs through his labor.

As Saint Bernard of Clairvaux would state, “Jospeh was called righteous because he was a faithful servant, prudent and trustworthy, whom the Lord appointed as head of His household.” Like Saint Joseph we must take to heart the fullness of what has been entrusted to our care and act upon it as a true disciple of the Lord.

Saint Jospeh’s life was not filled with pomp and circumstance. He labored with care by carrying out his daily responsibilities with love and perseverance. He becomes a model to us that we must also act with such hidden faithfulness in all that we do. It can be easy to forget that the mundane gestures of our life are also a means to which we can be connected to God.

Pope Benedict XVI stated of him, “He does not cling to his own ideas of happiness, but makes room for God’s will.” In our life we must also learn to make such room for God’s will within us. It is so easy to become to busy or worried about the ways of the world to the point that we forget to invite God in to dwell with us.

Saint Joseph displays such trust to us through his willingness to pray and act upon what he is told. He was a righteous man who looked upon his relationship with God with great humility. He saw his unworthiness in all of this, but God still called him to act in such a way through the protecting of this family.

Let us continue to make room for God to dwell with us as He does through the Incarnation. Through this act of love God comes in order to make His dwelling place among us. Will we be found ready to greet Him or will we instead be found too busy and unwilling to rush out in order to greet Him? Let us reflect upon this relationship and be found willing to go wherever God leads.

Saint Jospeh, pray for us.

3rd Sunday of Advent Year A Homily

As Christians we are called upon to have the courage to remain committed to the truth no matter what that commitment might require of us. Saint John the Baptist was committed to the defense of such truth and even died in defense of it. Therefore, he stood firm against Herod, the Pharisees, and the crowds in order to proclaim the coming of the Messiah.

We can state that Saint John the Baptist was not a “reed swayed by the wind.” Such imagery reflects one who changes their convictions based upon pressure, who seeks the approval of others, and is willing to waiver in faith or morals. Such actions are the opposite of the virtues of firmness, fidelity, and fortitude.

Saint Jerome likened this to a person who was “tossed by the storms of every doctrine.” In our day age there are those within the Church who have been caught up in such pursuits which are incompatible with the the gospel. The Church is not a democracy and her teachings a faith and morals cannot be overlooked just because we might find them to be hard.

As Venerable Fulton Sheen had stated, “There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church- which is, of course, quite a differed thing.”

Such a statement should challenge each of us to educate ourself on what the Church teaches. So many are so easily swayed by the wind and do not want to challenge themself by their well formed conscience. It is so much easier to follow feelings and popular opinion instead of orienting our mind to that which is true.

As Saint Paul states in 2 Timothy, “For the time will come when people will not endure sound doctrine, but have itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires.” In such manner we wrongly think that truth is what we feel, that we don’t need the Church, that sin doesn’t really matter, and that faith and morals should change with the times.

If we attempt to stand firm alone we will bend or break with the storm. Instead we must always remain firm by staying close to the Church even when doing so might be difficult. Let us not be swayed by the wind, but rooted in the Sacraments, in Sacred Scripture, and the Magisterium which is anchored in the unchanging truth of Christ.

On this 3rd Sunday of Advent we have great longing for the Lord will soon come. Let our longing be to encounter Him entirely as His disciples instead of receiving Him as if He is to conform to our desires. In all things let us stay united to truth for the truth is not a reed that sways by the wind.

Immaculate Conception Homily

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

With Marian feasts I usually stress that everything points the way towards her Son, Jesus. It is for this reason that when we pray the “Hail Mary” that Jesus remains at the heart of this prayer. It is He who “is the fruit of thy womb.”

The Immaculate Conception is a doctrine of the Church that has been defined as dogma since 1854. This was only 171 years ago, but this does not mean that this teaching has not been held prior to this date. From the earliest of centuries Christians would honor her as being free from personal sin.

Saint Justin Martyr and Saint Irenaeus in the 2nd century would come to refer to Mary as being the new Eve. This acknowledges the fact that Eve was created without sin upon her soul and yet through the Fall such sin entered into the world. Mary, on the other hand, brought forth the Saviour of the World who has freed us from all sin.

In the 3rd century Saint Gregory the Wonderworker would refer to her as being the New Ark of the Covenant. This title acknowledges the fact that the one who dwelled within her womb was God Himself. This title also points towards the ark which was made of gold for the one whom it contained was God.

Both these titles sum up what is being celebrated through the Immaculate Conception of Mary. She is the Godbearer who would bring forth the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. Therefore like Eve she was without sin and like the Ark of the Covenant was a pure vessel for God.

None of these traits were enacted by Mary through her own merit. Rather, it was God who worked on her behalf and thus the angel Gabriel was able to proclaim at the Annunciation, “Hail, full of grace.” She has truly been filled with such grace to its fullest degree for God has worked on her behalf.

Let us continue to foster such devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Through such devotion we are always being led into a deeper relationship with her Son, Jesus. She never leads us away from Him for she always leads us towards the virtuous life. By coming to pursue such a life we make room for the Lord to enter in and to make His dwelling place among us.

Saint Mary, pray for us.

2nd Sunday of Advent Year A Homily

The prophet Isaiah gives us a vision of hope, “A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse.” This image of a stump relays something which has been left finished, cut down, and left beyond repair. Nevertheless, despite such certainty renewal is able to take place in this stump as well as in each of us.

From this stump will a shoot sprout and with it life will be brought forth. This reality is made so through the coming of the Savior. He comes without spectacle and brings forth life to all that He touches. As we continue this Advent journey we must be found willing to look inwardly upon self and to see our disordered habits, our broken relationships, and our spiritual dryness and to allow God to bring forth new life within us.

Saint John the Baptist makes this his message as he cries out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Through such repentance we are willing to move towards God and to realign our life towards the one who is to come. We can only act in such a manner if we are found willing to be honest in those areas in our life where we resist God and to be found willing to move back towards Him. 

As we are told in Saint Matthew’s Gospel that we will, “produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.” In such manner good fruit is brought forth despite the certainty of what seems to be finished, cut down, and left beyond repair. Through Christ this sprout will spring forth and life will once again come to triumph in it’s place.

It is this image from Isaiah that is the basis for the Jesse Tree. Through the Jesse Tree the linage of Christ springs forth from the stump of Jesse. The world has been prepared for the coming of the Messiah through the lineage of people such as Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets, and finally Mary and Jesus.

Let our sight be forever set towards such a coming. Through the virtue of hope we can and must prepare for such a coming. He will be found at work within us (even if we feel finished, cut down, and left beyond repair)  if we are willing to come to Him without reservation. During this season of Advent let us come to Him in such a manner and thus allow the Lord to prune all that must be pruned in order that we may be sent forth from His midst in order to bear good fruit.

Dedication of the Church Homily

Today we gather in order to celebrate the Solemnity of the Dedication of our Church.

From 1st Kings we were told, “even the highest heaven cannot contain You- how much less this house which I have built.” Therefore, the stones which make up this church represent that this is a holy place which has been consecrated to God where God continues to dwell among His people. We see this in the sacramental life of the Church especially through the Most Holy Eucharist. Through entering into such a life we are sent forth to put what we have received into action.

It is Saint Paul who reminds that we are “God’s building” and “the temple of the Holy Spirit.” Through such a proclamation we are reminded that through this celebration that God desires that we be sanctified in His sight. As the consecrated people of God we must continue to be the living stones which build up the Body of Christ. This means that we are to be sent forth from here to live out a life of faith that transforms all that it touches.

This evening we come to celebrate this parish community and it’s rich history here in Johnson City. In the past many have contributed to the wellbeing of this community by putting their faith into action for the spread of the gospel. As we move into the future we do so proclaiming Christ by the way in which we choose to live and order our life on this earth and thus from these walls flows faith to all that it touches.