Votive Mass for Election of a Bishop Homily

On this 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time Archbishop Fabre, our diocesan administrator, has asked that every parish in this diocese celebrate a Votive Mass for the appointment of a new bishop. It was for this reason that we used a lectionary different then the Sunday lectionary.

If we would of read from Sunday’s lectionary we would of heard a few words proclaimed only two weeks ago, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” This statement was directed to His disciples who became the first priests and bishops of the church.

In the church we profess the reality of apostolic succession. Apostolic succession is an unbroken chain that stretches from the modern day bishops of the Church to the apostles who were sent out by Christ. If there was a broken link in this chain the reality of having a bishop or priest is something which would be impossible. 

Therefore, it is Jesus who gave His apostles an important role in the life of the Church as He called them by name and sent them out. They along with Peter are able to “bind and loose” for they hold teaching authority over the whole Church. So too throughout the Church’s history has such authority been extended to the bishops of the Church.

The Diocese of Knoxville is currently what is known as “sede vacante” which means “the chair is vacant.” The chair that is being spoken of is that chair in the cathedral in Knoxville which the bishop alone sits on. This chair is important for it is a symbol of his teaching authority. In Judaism the rabbi would sit upon a chair whenever he was speaking from a position of authority.

As the people who make up this diocese we must now pray for the movement of the Holy Spirit as we await a new bishop for this diocese. As we heard in our Gospel Acclamation, “I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; a good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” The bishop is often referred to as being the Chief Shepherd for his ministry is modeled after the Good Shepherd which is Christ.

May the bishop that will called by name to serve this diocese have the desire to be faithful to the Church’s teachings and model Himself after Christ who is the Good Shepherd. As people of faith may we be prepared to receive our new bishop and to support him with our prayers. It is this bishop who will continue to care for the people of this diocese as Christ cares for needs of His Church. He will teach, govern, and sanctify the people who have been entrusted to his care. He will anoint the faithful with the Sacred Chrism as the Holy Spirit is called upon them in a special way in the sacrament of confirmation. He will anoint the hands of priests with Sacred Chrism who through their ordination will be sent forth to shepherd the people of this diocese.

Let us continue to support our new bishop with our prayers whoever he may be. Make sure to include him in your daily prayer intentions even praying that prayer that we pray at the end of Mass for him. Support him through your prayer and fasting that “the Heavenly Father, through the Holy Spirit, appoint a new shepherd after the heart of His Son, the eternal shepherd and may we come to receive him with great joy.”

14th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

Saint Josemaria Escriva popularized the concept of the heroic minute.

In “The Way” he states concerning it, “Conquer yourself each day from the very first moment, getting up on the dot, at a set time, without granting a single minute to laziness. If, with the help of God, you conquer yourself in that moment, you’ll have accomplished a great deal for the rest of the day. It’s so discouraging to find yourself beaten in the first skirmish!”

In the heroic minute one wakes up instantly when the alarm goes off and commonly will say “serviam!” which is Latin for “I will serve!” The heroic minute is a form of mortification which starts the day in service to God. There are many things which we live in service to. In the hierarchy of goods, so often God and prayer is that which gets pushed off to the side. Upon waking our day can begin through an endless scrolling of social media or can begin with a prayer orienting our day in service to God.

As the Morning Offering states, “O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, for the salvation of souls, the reparation of sins, the reunion of all Christians, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father this month. Amen.”

This prayer sums up what our day should be about. Instead of reaching for such goals we enter into a endless mindlessness where we enter into the passions as service to self. We forget the outward relation that we are to enter into with God which extends to how we treat those who are around us. As we treat those around us without love and as we get caught up in an endless pursuit of something we are getting further and further away from entering into relation with God and living in service to Him. In such manner we end up falling into the trap that Saint Paul warned against in our Epistle, the lusts of the flesh.

In our Gospel we were instructed, “You cannot serve God and mammon.” These words should cause us to reflect upon who or what we live our life in service to. Is it is service to God or the lusts of the flesh? Each of us have different hobbies and interests, but these hobbies and interests cannot take the place of God in our life. We do not entrust ourself to them as if they are the ultimate end. There is only one whom we can serve and that one should be God.

As we are sent forth from this Mass let us do all things in service to Him. From the very first moment of the day we must decide that God will be the one whom we live in service to. If we understand this, the rest of our day in all of it’s undertakings, will flow from this understanding of service. Let us make this conscious decision to live in service to God and all of His holy commands.

13th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

In our Gospel we encounter ten lepers who came to be healed through the mercy of Christ. This healing mercy that was shown to them is shown to each of us every time that we call out to Him in like manner, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”

We must understand that leprosy kept an individual from entering into communion with one another. Lepers had to stay at a distance until they were healed and proclaimed by the priest to be clean. Likewise, sin puts us at a distance from the community of faith. Through repentance we come to the mercy of Christ and that which has been broken down by sin is restored to life.

We must understand that whenever we encounter Christ we encounter God who has taken on our human flesh. As the angel of the Lord revealed to Joseph, “She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” In this Gospel the lepers call Him by name for it is this name which saves. As Saint Peter professes, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Through Sacred Scripture it is understand that only God can heal one who has been stricken by leprosy in order that he may go to the priest in order to be made clean. As we hear of this in 2 Kings, “If only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” To this we are told that the king of Israel 'tore his garments and exclaimed: ‘Am I a god with power over life and death, that this man should send someone for me to cure him of leprosy?” Elisha then instructs Naaman on what he is to in order that God may make him clean.

This Gospel shows that Christ is greater then Elisha. It is only God who heals and thus in our Gospel it is God made Flesh that heals the ten lepers of their burden. Likewise, it is God alone who is able to save and we come to Him and His mercy in order that we may come to be healed by sin. It was upon the cross that He embraced this reality of salvation that was revealed in His most holy of Names.

As this healing was made manifest in the ten there was only one who returned in order to show his gratitude. So too we must be filled with gratitude at all that God has given to us in this life especially the waters of baptism that claimed us for Him. In gratitude we must continue to give Him glory and honor. We do this whenever we assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We do this when we call upon His most holy of Names.

Let us keep the Name of Jesus upon our lips. Like these ten we cry out to Him, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” This not a statement that we made once, but must continue to make each day of our life. As we are told in the Book of Philippians, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” As we are told of this Name by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, “The name of Jesus is light, and food, and medicine.” Let us turn towards this most holy of Names which saves.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

21st Sunday of OT Year A Homily

In our Gospel we were told, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

From the Book of Isaiah we were instructed on these keys, “I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one will shut, what he shuts, no one will open.”

These keys are again referenced for us in the Book of Revelation, “The holy one, the true, who holds the key of David, who opens and no one shall close, who closes and no one shall open.”

Here we must understand that David and his descendants, all being the anointed kings of Judah, needed assistance in governing. This gives way to the position of the Master of the Palace that we heard of in our first reading. The person who holds this position wore special robes which indicated his authority and he was entrusted with the keys to the kingdom. These keys become a symbol of the authority that was given to him by the king.

We must remember that Jesus is of the royal lineage of King David. He looks upon Saint Peter and entrusts him with the authority that was found in the position of the Master of the Palace. We know that Saint Peter was the first pope of the Church and that these keys have become a symbol of the papacy. As we move forward throughout the history of the Church this is a reality that extends from Saint Peter all the way to Pope Francis and his successors.

Peter is that rock on which Christ chose to found His Church. As the Lord stated, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” Here we should notice that the Lord changes Simon’s name to Peter which shows the special role of authority that had been entrusted to him. He becomes a rock because he is the solid foundation upon which a community would be built much like Abraham was considered a rock for the Jewish people. There are those who use the Greek translation to state that the Lord is referring to a small rock, but this is not the case with the Aramaic langue that the Lord would of used.

Peter and his successors are empowered by the Holy Spirit and make sure that the truth of Christ and His Church is always protected. Papal infallibility does not mean that truth is up for grabs. The Holy Father is called upon to protect and proclaim the truths of faith that have been entrusted to His care. Just like the Master of the Palace he has been entrusted with so much. Let us never forget to pray for Francis our pope.

As people of faith may we always remain united to the truths that have been entrusted to us by Christ Jesus. Where there is difficulty in understanding find ways to educate yourself on the faith in order to form your conscience in the ways of the faith. In all things let us stay united to Christ through the Church that He has established on this earth.

12th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

There are a growing amount of people that claim to be Christian, but believe that they have no need for the Church. There are others who simply see the church as the building that we worship in and fail to see it as something much greater. Others have left the Church because they find that it is filled with sinful members including the clergy and thus they are lead to believe that the Church is not perfect.

The four marks of the Church are that she is one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic. This is professed in the Nicene Creed. She is one because she is united in her belief, sacraments, worship, tradition, and leadership. She is holy because she was established by Christ who shares His divine grace with each of us. She is Catholic because she is universal through baptism and the necessity of proclaiming Christ to the entire human race. She is apostolic because Christ chose to found it upon His apostles. 

We notice in our Gospel that the good samaritan brought the man to the inn and gave the innkeeper two pence to further take care of his needs. Christ is the Good Samaritan who lifts us out of our sin and has entrusted us to the care of the inn which is the Church. The innkeeper is those who have been called to leadership in the Church for they are to take care of the truths that have been extended to their care by Christ.

The Church continues to be important for each of us. The Church is made up of sinful humans and bad clergy who have done terrible things. Nevertheless, she is not less holy for she was established by Christ. Thankfully we can proclaim this because despite all the short comings of her members she remains that refuge that each of us are in need of. Through her care we come to be nourished by the sacraments and escorted to Everlasting Life.

The church is the building consecrated by God that we gather to worship, but the Church is also the universal body of believers who have been joined together by baptism. Other faith traditions have a small understanding of church while we enter into and know the universal reality of the Church. She is found throughout the whole world and includes each of us, those souls in purgatory for whom we now pray, and the souls of the faithful who are in Heaven. Again through her care we come to be protected and escorted to Heaven where we will join with God forever.

The Church is important for us because through the reality of the Church we enter into deeper relation with Christ. It is He who left us in the care of the inn that is the Church. In the Church we continue to be nourished by the sacraments and receive the outpouring of God’s grace. Great empires and kingdoms have come and gone, but the Church remains. The Church is one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic. It is she who is important for each of us. Let us enter more fully into the life of the Church.