Baptism of the Lord Year A Homily

Today we observe the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The Lord’s baptism is important because it foreshadows what will come for us through our own baptism as well as the effects which have been brought about through the Cross and Resurrection. This celebration assists us in looking ahead to what these life giving water mean for us.

By stepping into the river Jesus sanctifies the water that He touches. He descends into the place of repentance in order that sinners may come to rise to new life. Through His descent we acknowledge that Christ enters into death itself in order that we may come to be liberated from its grasp over us.

At His baptism the heavens came to open. Through such an action a proclamation is being made concerning what the cross will accomplish. It was sin which closed the door between Heaven and earth, but it is Christ who dies in order that this barrier may be lifted. Upon the cross His side would be pierced and blood and water symbolic of of the Eucharist and baptism would flow from this wound.

As the voice stated at His baptism, “You are my beloved Son.” These words are true of Christ because He is God the Son. The same words must also be made true within us, for each of us, are called to order our life towards Him. Our call is not to sin, failure, or death, but belonging through our relationship with Christ.

All of this must challenge us to live as a people who have truly been set free from such bonds. If we have died to sin and risen with Christ, then we cannot live as though sin and death still have rule over us. Our words and choices must reflect that freedom that we have received through our baptism. Through baptism we are called upon to reject that which enslaves in order to live with true Christian dignity.

Some falsely act as if baptism is an action which only affects the past. We must remember that through baptism we are given an indelible mark which never goes away even with death. Despite only being baptized once those graces of this sacrament continue to be found at work within our life to this day and beyond.

Baptism is not a superstitious action where one is able to live as they wish because they have been baptized. Rather, we are called to an authentic life of faith that is integrated into who we are as a Christian. As Saint Paul remarks, “Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?”

Let us continue to renew that which was begun within us at our baptism. Each of us must strive for such renewal in order that our life may be lived for Christ. It is He who entered into the Jordan and conquered the grave and thus it is He who continues to lead us from these waters, through the cross, and into eternal life.

Epiphany Year A Homily

Jerusalem was not at the height of it’s strength. They were a people who had known exile, darkness, and disappointment. The temple had been destroyed and now their future was left uncertain. Nevertheless, they were told by the prophet Isaiah, “Your light has come” It is this great light which shines in the midst of the darkness bringing hope to whatever it touches.

This Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord is the declaration of this hope fulfilled. The light which was foretold by Isaiah was not just an idea, but a person. This light takes on a face, a name, and a human heart. This light is Jesus Christ and He has been revealed not only to a nation, but to the whole world.

Isaiah says, “Darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples.” We live in world which continues to know of such darkness. There is division, violence, and fear that continues to enter into our human condition. We have been touched by grief, loneliness, and sin. To such darkness we must come to believe that the “light has come.”

Isaiah goes onto say that “nations shall walk by your light.” The light of Christ has not entered into this world in order that it may remain hidden. Like the star that guided the magi by its light towards Christ must we continue to lead others towards Him. We can only complete such a task if we are found willing to encounter the Lord and to depart changed by Him.

The Magi came to notice this light. They trusted in it and thus they journeyed towards it. They persevered whenever the road before them became rough. Finally, they were able to encounter Christ and from this encounter they were left forever changed. Through this encounter they did not return the same way and so too they did not return to their ways of old.

This morning we are blessed to have those with us who will soon make a Profession of Faith. In doing so they will proclaim their faith in Christ and His Church and they will come to be confirmed and make their first communion. They have set their sight upon Christ who is the great light and now their life will always be transformed by Him.

Let all of us “rise up in splendor” for our “light has come.” Let us not attempt to put such a light “under a bushel basket,” but “set on a lamp stand, where it gives light to all in the house.” We must allow Christ to illuminate our life in all that we do. We who have encountered Him have been forever changed by such an interaction and so let us never turn back.

Mary, Mother of God Homily

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.

Our celebration points towards the importance of the Incarnation. Through the Incarnation Christ came in order to take on our human flesh and to make His dwelling place among us. To state that Mary is the mother of God is to state that her Son is God the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. It is He who came in order that we may be redeemed. 

Through the events of His Nativity much had unfolded in the life of Mary. Shepherds have come in order to adore, angels have spoken, and a child now lies before her who is dependent while being eternally divine. It would be easy to rush past this moment and to attempt to explain it away. Rather, we are told that Mary, “kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”

As Saint John Paul II would state of her, “Mary’s faith was a faith that pondered. She advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, faithfully pondering the mystery of Christ.” Through such action she is showing us that holiness begins with attention. Without having our attention upon Christ and pondering Him we set out to be centered upon other pursuits.

In the Church we have the great gift which is the Most Holy Eucharist. Through such a gift Christ is present among us as we have the opportunity to receive Him humbly, bodily, and hopefully with the desire to continue to ponder Him in our heart. What we receive is to be kept, reflected upon, and lived in our daily life.

Nevertheless, despite such an opportunity we place so much in the way of Jesus. It is easy to strive to be the first out the door following communion and thus in our rush we fail to ponder that great gift that we have received into our life. The invitation to “go in peace” is not to return to the world alone, but with Christ who we must live and make manifest.

As Saint Bernard of Clairvaux would state, “Mary kept silence, but her heart spoke; she pondered the mystery not with words, but with love.” Likewise, we must ponder the gift that we have received and dare to put such things into action through our own outpouring of love. The Lord’s Nativity is not just an event of the past, but continues to animate us here in the present.

This celebration of Mary as Mother of God is teaching us to open our hearts more fully to God’s presence. Let us be so mindful and not overlook the presence of God in the midst of our daily life. May Christ, whom she bore into the world, be born anew in our hearts today as well as throughout the year to come.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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.

Most Holy Name of Jesus Homily

Merry Christmas! Today we observe the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus.

As we were told of this Most Holy Name in our Epistle, “There is no other Name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.”

As the angel instructed Saint Jospeh in his dream, “She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

The Most Holy Name of Jesus expresses his mission as the Saviour sent by the Father for the salvation of the world. His Name literally means “God saves.”

In veneration of this Most Holy Name we are told in Saint Paul’s words to the Philippians, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under earth.”

Sadly, our society often fails to venerate such a Holy Name. The Name of Jesus and well as God is so easily taken in vain. We instead must go to this Name in true faith for through such devotion we will be given the grace that is necessary to endure.

As Christ states in the Gospel of Saint John, “If you ask the Father anything in my name he will give it to you.”

In the midst of all spiritual trials call upon this Name. From the snares of Satan call upon this Name in order to be delivered. No matter what lies in wait for us always let us always call upon the Most Holy Name of Jesus.

In the Book of Acts the apostles used the Name of Jesus in order to give strength to the lame and life to the dead. To think what waits for us if we foster such devotion to this Most Holy Name which saves.

The world in which we live is in need of such faith in the Saviour. Let us make room for Him to enter into our life in order that we may persevere in the journey that exists from this life to the life which is to come in Heaven.

As the Lord stated to Saint Paul in the Book of Acts, “Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and Israelites.”

Let us go in such fashion doing all things with the Most Holy Name of Jesus firmly upon our lips for it is this Name which saves.

Mary, Mother of God Homily

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Today we observe the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God which brings about the conclusion of the Octave of Christmas.

In our Gospel we were told that “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” This is a great contrast to what we were told only a few days ago in the gospel for Christmas at night, “there was no room for them in the inn.”

With such a statement we are able to look inward upon those many ways in which we have failed to allow Christ to enter into the inn of our heart and dwell with us. In this world it so easy to allow something else to grab our attention thus pulling us away from Christ who ushers peace into our life.

We must be like Mary who remained firm in her love for her Son. During this season of Christmas we see how much unfolded concerning her due the importance of her Son as Word made Flesh. As we come to honor Mary as the Mother of God we proclaim that her Son is indeed God the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity.

Mary did not allow herself to grow distracted by all that was taking place around her. Instead she took these things to her heart and through pondering them came to put the picture together concerning her Son and her role in all of this. It was He who was revealed to her by the angel Gabriel to be the “Son of the Most High.” Her sight was elevated to this truth.

We too must come to ponder Him in our heart. It is so easy to move about our life without making time for the silence of prayer. It is so easy to enter into the world and forget that we are Christian and are called to live as such. It is so easy to lose sight of the importance of what is proclaimed through this season of Christmas.

Come to foster devotion to Mary for devotion to her never takes away from her Son, but leads us into closer relationship with Him. She did not know what lied ahead for her as we do not know. As was said of her in the Gospel of Saint Luke, “And you yourself a sword will pierce.” Despite this unsettling prophecy and the trials of the cross which lied ahead she continued to ponder her Son and dwell with Him. So too, no matter what lies ahead for us, let us come to place our trust in Christ the Prince of Peace.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and the hour of our death. Amen.

Sunday of Octave of Christmas Homily

Merry Christmas!

On Christmas Eve Pope Francis opened the Jubilee Doors at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. These Holy Doors will also been opened in four other locations throughout Rome to help usher in the Jubilee Year which happens every 25 years. These doors symbolize the path of salvation and the spiritual journey that leads from sin to grace. Passing through these doors is symbolic of passing into the presence of God thus leaving behind our life of sin.

The theme for this Jubilee Year is “Pilgrims of hope.” Hope is an important virtue where one places their trust not in their own strength, but on that which is given to us by God. Through the virtue of hope we realize that we are not alone, but are given the grace that is necessary to make the journey from this life to Heaven.

In our world there are many who have lost this virtue of hope. They are perpetually joined to the cross without the ability to look outward towards something greater which is to come. They only know the pleasures of this life, but have nothing to fall back on when the road before them gets tough. It was for this reason that Pope Benedict exclaimed that in order to have hope we must know both the cross and the resurrection.

As Saint Paul remarks of this virtue in his letter to the Romans, “Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.” These words show the importance of hope in the midst of a world that is searching for such hope.

As Pope Francis recently stated on the virtue of hope, “The image of the anchor is eloquent, it helps us to recognize the stability and security that is ours amid the troubled waters of this life, provided we entrust ourselves to the Lord Jesus. The storms that buffet us will never prevail, for we are firmly anchored in the hope born of grace, which enables us to live in Christ and to overcome sin, fear, and death.”

This season of Christmas is about such hope. On this silent night of Christmas Christ was borne into the world as Word made Flesh. It was this encounter with Him that a world touched by sin and death had been longing for. In the taking up of the Lord to the Temple at His presentation we see this revelation of hope professed for “behold this child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel.”

Let us foster such hope in our life in the Lord Jesus. It is He who lifts us our of our sinfulness and assists us on that path to Everlasting Life. Let us make use of His mercy that is found in the sacrament of confession for this mercy endures forever and without it there would be no hope. Let us be people of hope who embrace this virtue in the midst of every hardship that lies in wait for us.