24th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

The command to forgive “seventy-seven” times is not a multiplication problem that equals 490. Rather, what is being demanded of us is an infinite and perpetual readiness to forgive. The number seven represents perfection and expressing it as seventy-seven shows the importance of an infinite disposition towards forgiveness.

This command flips around what was stated in Genesis concerning vengeance, “If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.” In this thought process no matter how small the offense would be met with endless retaliation. Jesus takes this mindset and turns it around to where we are called to embrace infinite mercy.

As we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” To possess such forgiveness we must realize that it is rooted in God. Human forgiveness is not a natural human output because it is a response and participation in the divine mercy that we have already received from God.

Forgiveness is not the acceptance of evil nor does forgiveness mean that we must be someone’s best friend. Forgiveness requires calling a sin what it truly is. Forgiveness releases personal vengeance, but does not eliminate the demand for justice. Forgiveness is not forgetting the harm done to us, but is to look upon an offense without the desire for malice.

Forgiveness is an act of the will to release the debt which is owed, to forgo vengeance, and to desire the spiritual good of the offender. Each time that resentment resurfaces the choice to forgive must be renewed. Through forgiveness we break the bond of resentment allowing the victim to heal and live in spiritual freedom.

In order to forgive we must not confuse feeling with deciding. Feelings of pain, anger, or grief are involuntary reactions to injustice. A feeling of anger does not mean that you have failed to forgive. Forgiveness is an active choice of the will where we refuse vengeance and thus the desire to wish harm upon another. We can choose to forgive while the heart still hurts.

Forgiveness is a process and not a one time event. In forgiving seventy-seven times we are not being told to forgive seventy-seven different offenses only, but to forgive the same offense perfectly. Old wounds can easily be reopened through memories, anniversaries, or seeing the individual. Each time such bitterness returns we are presented with the opportunity to renew our decision to forgive instead of giving into unforgiveness.

In the Eucharist we see self-sacrificing love and through it we are given the strength to extend mercy that we can never give through our human effort. Through the sacrament of confession we allow God’s grace to heal our wounds by clearing away any resentment and hatred that has taken root in our heart. Let us embrace such perfect forgiveness as we direct our sight towards the altar of sacrifice and thus Christ present with us in the Most Holy Eucharist.

22nd Sunday of OT Year A Homily

The word “duped” makes it sound as if God tricked Jeremiah with false promises. From Hebrew this word could also mean enticed, persuaded, or attracted. Therefore, God did not trick Jeremiah with false promises for He warned him much earlier that he would face opposition. Jeremiah is expressing that he could not resist this prophetic call because he was enticed by God’s love and truth.

He was so swept up by the beauty and power of God’s call that he did not yet fully grasp how much human suffering would come with it. Despite that original attraction he now faced being mocked, thrown into a pit, and isolation from his own community. 

Jeremiah wanted to quit preaching because it brought him so much pain, but God’s word was “like a fire shut up in my bones.” Such a statement expresses what we as Christians must now come to know and believe, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

For us the cross isn’t something which is optional. Following God does not guarantee comfort, approval, or earthly success. Jeremiah was unable to escape the suffering that came with his calling, just as a true disciple of Christ cannot escape the cross. The cross is something which is always part of our life, but in embracing it we do not fail, but grow in our love for Him.

Jeremiah felt as if he were “duped” because his life has become ruined by his call from a worldly sense. Nevertheless, he surrendered to the “burning fire” rather than running away, he chose to remain faithful to God no matter the cost. Likewise, the cross comes first and it is the only road that will lead us to true life and the resurrection.

Peter shows his lack of understanding in all of this by taking Christ aside to protest, “God forbid, Lord!” Here Peter is thinking as human beings do, he wants the victory of the Messiah, but he wants it without the pain and ridicule that comes from the cross. Neither Jesus nor can we take the easy way out by abandoning the cross.

The spiritual life must move beyond a feeling for it demands something hard from us, that we choose to live our life for Christ. This means that we choose to stand firm with Him no matter the cost, even if it means that the world will mock us. Through embracing such a reality we take up the cross which transforms our heart into an enduring love for Christ that becomes who we are.

Jeremiah complained, vented, and felt betrayed, but he didn’t walk away. Peter panicked and tried to reject the cross, but eventually he took up his own. Likewise, we cannot get caught up in the glamour of faith without the cost that it brings. Let us choose to take up the cross and follow after Him instead of so easily turning away from it and thus too Christ.

21st Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Of the four gospels, Saint Matthew is the only to state, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Not only is this stated to Saint Peter, but only two chapters later it is stated again to the apostles as a collective whole.

What differs between these two exchanges is what was said to Peter alone, “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.” These keys are a reference to Isaiah, “I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”

For the ancient kingdom of Judah, the royal steward, was the highest ranking official in the royal court, second in authority to only the king himself. It was he who managed the day to day administration of the kingdom and spoke and acted with full weight of the king’s authority. Jesus is the ultimate king of Israel who prior to ascending into heaven appoints Peter to manage His royal household, the Church, on earth.

When Shebna was removed from his office as steward the key was handed down to Eliakim because the office outlives the man who holds the key. Similarly, the papacy is not a temporary gift to Peter, but is a perpetual office passed down through apostolic succession to every Bishop of Rome which would include our current pope, Leo.

The pope is the guardian and not the author of the faith. It is his primary job to safeguard, defend, and pass down the Deposit of Faith. This being the divine revelation handed down from Christ and the Apostles through Scripture and Sacred Tradition. From the throne of Saint Peter he speaks infallibly (speaking as such is rare), but outside such a statement he can be wrong, misinformed, or make a poor decision.

The pope does not work in isolation in protecting the Deposit of Faith for he works in union with the College of Bishops. Together with the pope as its head, the College of Bishops possesses supreme and full power over the universal Church. We see such authority expressed through ecumenical councils and the universal magisterium. Cum et Sub Petro (With and Under Peter).

Therefore, the Deposit of Faith is not subject to modern political trends, culture wars, or the personal whims of an individual leader. It is the steward’s job to keep the house running on the King’s rules thus providing a stable foundation so that our faith stays rooted in Christ.

We cannot allow our own personal preferences to lead us astray from the unity of faith. Obedience is always the answer (even if difficult) for through obedience we place our trust in Christ and not the trends of the world which bring forth division. Let us always pray for our Holy Father (Leo), our Bishop (Mark), and the preservation of the unity of faith by all the people of God.

21st Sunday of OT Year A Homily (Parish Picnic)

This Saturday we gather for our parish picnic. This Saturday also happens to be the Memorial of the Queenship of Mary. Mary’s Queenship is defined by her maternal care and advocacy, not earthly domination. Her presence at the heart of the parish encourages a culture of mutual support, hospitality, and fidelity to the faith.

Such fidelity is signified by the keys which were presented to Saint Peter in our gospel. These keys signify order, continuity, and unity. The stewardship of Peter and the hierarchy of the Church exists to keep the flock together as one. At a time when division is common in our wider culture, celebrating a shared faith under one shepherd highlights the parish as a sanctuary of peace and oneness.

As we celebrate these sacred mysteries we enter into the depths of such unity. The Church embraces us where we have grown weary and reorients us towards the mercy that Christ alone brings. We are not a church community fragmented in thought, but one body brought togehter when we behold our Lord present with us in the Most Holy Eucharist.

As we depart from this sacred space let us take what we receive here with us out into the world in order that it may be lived. We must continue to work together as one instead of allowing division to enter into our community. Such oneness is expressed through mutual support of one another, a spirit of hospitality, and fidelity to the faith in its fullness.

Mary Queen of Heaven, pray for us!

20th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

At the Easter Vigil Mass begins in complete darkness until a fire is struck and the Paschal Candle representing the Risen Lord is processed into the church dispelling darkness from its midst. Once the candle reaches the sanctuary the Exsultet (The Easter Proclamation) is chanted recounting the history of salvation, culminating in the declaration of Adam’s happy fault.

“O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed, completely by the Death of Christ! O happy fault, that merited so exalted and so glorious a Redeemer!” This does not mean that Adam’s sin was morally good; it means that God’s response to sin (sending Jesus Christ) resulted in a higher state of grace and union with God than humanity possessed even before the Fall.

The Exsultet calls Adam’s sin “happy” not because sin is good, but because of what God did in response to it. As Saint Thomas Aquinas stated in the Summa, “God allows evils to happen in order to bring a greater good therefrom; hence it is written: ‘Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”

From Romans we heard pertaining to such disobedience that brought forth an outpouring of God’s mercy. The remedy that God provides due to such disobedience elevates humanity to a higher state than if Adam had never fallen. Redeemed people become partakers of the divine nature, an intimacy with God far exceeding even original innocence in the Garden.

Disobedience remains evil and bad in itself. However, through the lens of such a happy fault, human sin is not a defeat for God, but the ability to pour forth Redemptive Mercy upon us and upon the whole world. Through our human weakness we are able to make room for His mercy, which transforms our spiritual life.

O Happy fault reminds us that failure never has the final word. Despite however many times we fall into sin and repeat a persistent weakness it is easy to have shame and despair instead of making room for the virtue of hope. Instead of running away from God we must remember our total reliance on Him.

The Canaanite woman in our Gospel exemplified such an attitude where she turned to Him in total reliance and thus received an outpouring of His mercy. She does not come demanding healing as something already owed unto her, but in her lowliness she acknowledged her complete dependence upon God’s grace and thus she was told “O woman, great is your faith!”

Let us have such Christian faith modeled after this woman. We must stop giving into despair over our many mistakes, temptations, and sins. Instead let us entrust ourself to His mercy and grace especially that mercy and grace that awaits us in the sacrament of confession. Indeed, there is hope for us, brought forth from that “happy fault, that merited so exalted and so glorious a Redeemer!”

Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary Homily

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. Pope Pius XII stated that this event was a “manifestation of the hope” of all humanity. In the Creed we profess such a hope, “the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” Therefore, we cannot forget that Christ’s redemption redeems the whole human person, body and soul.

As Saint Paul states in his 1st epistle to the Corinthians, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep… But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.” 

Mary is the first among “those who belong to Christ” to receive that ultimate promise. She was united to Christ fully (after all she was declared to be “full of grace”), bearing Him in her body and standing by Him at the cross. Her glorified body in heaven serves as a preview of the bodily resurrection that has been promised to every believer at the end of time.

What has already happened to Mary is what the Church as a collective body hopes to experience when Christ restores creation. She has reached the destination toward which every pilgrim Christian is currently walking. May she pray for us that we may seriously come to pursue such a life that leads us towards such Heavenly glory.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!

19th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Our reading from 1st Kings picks up with Elijah hiding in a cave on Mount Horeb. Prior to this moment he had a lived a life that had experienced great miracles. Fire was just called down from heaven on Mount Carmel to defeat the prophets of Baal. Yet when threatened by Queen Jezebel he panicked, lost faith, and fled into the wilderness.

Despite all the big stuff that Elijah had experienced his heart had not yet been permanently transformed to have complete faith in God. The imagery of wind, earthquake, and fire represent to us the big, external, noisy, and emotional events of life. If our faith depends upon constant emotional heights or dramatic signs we will always be left wanting more.

Saint John of the Cross uses the term “spiritual gluttony” to describe what happens when we look for God primarily in big, emotional, or miraculous events. He observed that beginners in the spiritual life often become addicted to feeling good during prayer and seeking out intense emotional highs. He argued that when hunt for such sensations we are seeking ourselves, not God.

Elijah came to hear God’s voice not in a massive event, but through a small voice. God does not force Himself on us through overwhelming force. Rather, He speaks to us in the interior quiet of the soul. In order to hear a whisper you have to learn to be quiet and enter into interior silence. Through interior silence we recognize the movement of the Holy Spirit in our life.

The Eucharist serves as the perfect example of such a reality. The Lord does not come upon the altar with thunder and lighting, but through silence. Those who look upon the Eucharist do not see some massive sensation for they look upon bread and wine. Through faith we are able to acknowledge that what we look upon is truly the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ.

As people of faith we do not need new private revelations or spectacular signs in order to be saved or know of God’s love for us. The fullness of truth has already been handed down to us through Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Sacraments. We do not need a dramatic spiritual experience in order to be a person of faith because all we have to focus on is the ordinary.

Elijah didn’t need another display of lightning; he needed rest. He needed to eat the bread that the angel gave him and to listen to that voice that told him to get back to his ordinary mission. This relates well to Saint Peter who was able to walk on water in so far as he kept his sight on Jesus. The moment he shifted his attention to the wind and waves he sunk. It is easy for us to shift our sight to such signs and also take our sight off of Jesus.

As people of faith let us stop chasing after the storm (however it may manifest itself in our life) and instead come to abide in the quiet, sufficient grace that He has already given to each of us. Through such assistance from God we can go back to our ordinary life and do in the words of St. Therese of Lisieux, “ordinary things with extraordinary love.”

18th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Physical hunger and thirst are used as symbols for spiritual alienation and our deepest human desires. Isaiah 55 addresses an exiled Israel that has been trying to satisfy its deepest desires with things which do not last. The ultimate lesson that is being made known is that the pleasures of this life can never satisfy for we have a much deeper spiritual hunger.

When the Lord came to feed the multitude He transcended the mere desire to feed them physically, but also to provide for the needs of their souls. What was promised to the people in Isaiah has finally come to be fulfilled through Christ and what He gives. The Lord looked upon them and provided for them in order to fill their spiritual hunger.

As would be said by the Lord at the Bread of Life Discourse in John 6, “Do not work for food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.” This sign that was worked in the presence of this multitude pointed towards the Eucharist and what would be accomplished through it.

The Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ under the appearances of bread and wine. Jesus provided for thousands with the five loves of bread, but also has the power to transform bread into His very self, in order that we and those throughout the world may come to be fed spiritually.

As Isaiah invited, “Come to the waters, you who have no money.” Here we can see that the one who provides for our needs has already done so and that all we have to do is come to Him. Instead of coming to Him with the trust of faith it is so easy to get caught up in our own fears, needs, desires, and busyness to where we fail to look towards the Lord and place our trust in Him.

The Eucharist is not a temporary remedy for hunger. Instead through the Eucharist He offers Himself in order that we may come to be filled. The food that the Israelites would partake of in the desert would eventually leave them hungry while the Lord promised “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

Let us come to pursue Christ and thus the Eucharist for through such a pursuit we are not attempting to fulfill ourself, but to allow this infinite abundance of grace to fill us to the fullest degree. Such a movement is to shift away from self-reliance to surrender as we place our trust in the Lord not just momentarily, but always.

As we approach the altar of sacrifice let us foster such Eucharistic awareness. Such awareness is to be intentional about our life and its relationship to the Eucharist, not just being on autopilot. Praying in preparation for such a gift prior to Mass and in thanksgiving after Mass, making time for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and going to Him in prayer throughout our day to make a spiritual communion. In such manner we learn to be honest with ourself and to come to Him in the midst of our hunger in order that we may come to find our fill.

17th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

A man finds treasure and sells all that he has in order to buy that field. Selling all that one has in order to obtain it is not a burden, but a gain. He acted as such “for the joy it gives him.” Such joy was not just a fleeting emotion for it was a driving force of Christian detachment and self-giving that propelled him forward.

The world’s advice on such an act would be to weigh the cost and then reluctantly surrender yours goods with the hope that it will pay off later. Through such a disposition of mind the sting of loss would be felt. The Gospel is not asking us to make an agonizing sacrifice, but is giving an invitation to obtain something that actually fulfills.

As Saint Augustine writes, “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Each of us has a spiritual hunger that we spend our life attempting to satisfy. Our attention is placed upon status, money, comfort, achievements, and control. This is like the man in the parable who dug in the field attempting to find that which would eventually fulfill.

Upon stumbling upon the treasure his restlessness ceased. He came to recognize that this was what he was made for. When the man found the Kingdom of God (the treasure) his soul came to recognize its true home. His restless heart finally came to find its rest which allowed him to sale all that he owned in order to obtain it “for the joy it gives him.”

As Saint Paul states to the Philippians, “Whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ. More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Here he was not pointing towards a tragic loss due to what he was called to give up, but the realization that these things were holding him back.

Wealth, career, reputation, and control are not bad in themselves. The problem arises when we look to them to find our identity, treating them as if they are the true treasure for which our heart longs. By surrendering unhealthy dispositions we are allowing God to be the true treasure of our life.

It is so easy to see the demand of sacrifice, forgiveness, detachment, and living counter culturally solely through the lens of what we are being forced to give up. Faith transcends mere rules to satisfy another, for through embracing the faith to its fullest, we are truly set free in our pursuit of that which brings rest unto our restless hearts.

Let us be propelled forth like this man by “the joy it gives.” The man found the treasure first and then proceeded to obtain it. Likewise, we must find that treasure through prayer, adoration, and scripture. Through such an encounter we will behold God’s goodness and move towards such goodness by conforming our life unto it. This opens the way to small detachments where we fast in minor ways in order to not be controlled by the world, but to live for the Lord our God. Do we desire to live for Him and if so what are we being called upon to surrender “for the joy it gives?”

16th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Pope Francis stated, “I see the Church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else.”

A field hospital does not check someone’s moral credentials or worthiness at the door before treating their wounds. Instead it takes people as they are (broken, wounded, and complex). The Church on earth is not a museum of saints (a field of pure wheat), but is a sanctuary for the imperfect (a field where the wheat and the weeds are allowed to mingle).

The servants in the parable were so eager to judge and destroy, “Do you want us to go and pull them up?” It is easy to desire immediate order over having patience for the growth that must take place. To rush to judgement rushes to uproot the wheat possibly driving people away from God and the Church completely.

We must allow the weed and the wheat to grow together until the harvest arrives for there is always hope for conversion. If God had prematurely pulled up the weeds the Church would have lost Saul before he could convert to Saint Paul. Such a mindset would have deprived so many of the saints their reward and so too would have costed us to be cast off for we are all sinners in need of God’s mercy.

A weed can never change its identity becoming wheat. On the other hand, a human through the grace of God and personal repentance can become a saint. This would be the Greek word “metanoia” which means a “a change of mind” or “turning around.” This is a life altering spiritual conversion that is a total reorientation of one’s heart toward God.

The Church assists us in such conversion of heart. Through her care we receive the sacraments especially confession and the Eucharist. The Church provides the time, safety, and grace needed for sinners to repent and grow into the saints that God calls them to be.

This is not the trap of relativism for truth is absolute. The harvest is coming, the separation of the wheat and weeds will take place, and the weeds will be burned. Through the practice of charity and prudence may we walk with others in order that they may be healed. Also, we must be truthful with self and not be so prideful to think that we are not also sinners in need of such mercy.

This parable leaves us with hope that we do not have to stay on the path that we are on, but that we can instead move towards God. How can we move towards such a disposition of mind in order that we may be healed and not deprive others of the healing that they need? Let us not squander this time that has been set before us, but use it in order to choose the follow after Him and to achieve such conversion for ourself.

15th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Our readings deal with the dynamic that is at play between Divine Grace and our human free will. Grace is a free gift that comes to us from God that we are unable to purchase, receive elsewhere, or give to another. Freewill is our ability to choose our awn actions which allows us to either accept or reject the gift of His love and grace.

From the Prophet Isaiah we are told how God’s Word is an unstoppable force of nature. Rain and snow come to the earth and they assist in the growth of life. God’s Word brings forth such life to all that it touches. God’s gift to us is grace and we are given such a gift freely even before we might think to ask for it.

In Matthew’s Gospel the seed remains the same to matter where it is scattered. It is the harvest which changes depending upon where it lands. The Prophet Isaiah has already guaranteed that God’s Word is powerful while Matthew’s Gospel points towards us as an individual and our ability to be found receptive of such a gift.

As Saint Augustine stated, “God created us without us, but he will not save us without us.” God’s grace is perfect and it lacks nothing, but God also respects our human dignity and so will not force His grace upon us if we refuse it. 

Each of us are called to embrace holiness in our everyday life which means that we must cooperate with such a gift that comes to us from God. Through such a pursuit we must remember that we have been called upon to be numbered among the saints. The saints are those who strove to love God above all things and died in sanctifying grace, they have now been judged as worthy of Heaven.

It is important that we remember that we do not have to generate holiness for ourself (this would be impossible). The seed being the Word, the Sacraments, and grace already has the power inside in order to make us a saint. Our job is not to manufacture its growth, but to allow such growth to take place inside of us by not impeding God and the gift of His grace.

No matter how we find the soil of our life there is always hope for us to properly prepare it in order that it may bear fruit. A path can always be broken up, rocks can always be dug out, and thorns can always be weeded. Thus spiritual disciplines like prayer, receiving the Eucharist, Confession, and acts of charity help to prepare the soil to bear such fruit.

A farmer would never scatter seed on a dirt path or a thorn bush for this would be a waste. It is God who scatters His grace everywhere without cost. The sower scatters this seed hoping that one day the soil will change in order that it may bear good fruit. Let us cooperate with God in order that our life may change in order that we too may come to bear good fruit by remaining open to the gift of His grace and allowing it to be found at work within us.