30th Sun OT Year C Homily

We encounter a God of great mercy inside of today's Gospel. Despite the sinfulness of the tax collector's past he is forgiven through the mercy of God. He is forgiven because through his humility he realized his own sin and repented from it and with true faith placed his trust in God's never ending mercy. On the other hand we encounter the Pharisee who had every opportunity to encounter this same mercy from God. The Pharisee was stuck in his list of good works and following proper religious rules to the point that he missed what they were leading him towards. He was stuck inside of his pride and failed to see the limitations in himself that were struck by the stain of sin. This failure at self reflection and the acknowledgment of sin caused him to skip over the mercy of God that was always present in his life. This mercy never goes away, but is always present. The problem is that we are often like the Pharisee who through his lack of proper preparation wanted nothing to do with God's mercy.

We often reflect the values of this Pharisee inside of our own lives. We like to boast over the list of our accomplishments as if through these accomplishments alone we will reach God's mercy. In the carrying out of our good works we are not doing so to impress our Lord in any way, but are doing so because we must have this response out of obligation of calling ourselves Christian. To dismiss these opportunities to do good works through the service of our neighbor is failure to truly come to understand the ultimate charity that is displayed to the world by Christ crucified upon the cross. We also reflect the Pharisee when we are filled with pride and in return fail to see the importance of humbling ourselves to God's abundant mercy. If we are to truly be able to humble ourselves to this mercy we must begin to challenge ourselves to daily conversion from our sins. We cannot tap out to the submission of sin and allow it to continuously conquer our lives, but instead must realize that with God's mercy we are forgiven and can conquer it.

The tax collector realized this with his whole heart when he beat his breast in the realization of his sin and exclaimed: "O God, be merciful to me a sinner." At the beginning of each Mass we have the penitential rite that gives us the opportunity to stand with the tax collector in great humility. We stand with him as we call to mind our sins and prepare our hearts to receive our Lord in Holy Communion. We stand with him as we beat our breast crying our in the realization of our sin "through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault." May we not rush over this action inside of the Mass without giving it proper preparation because it is only with humility that we will be able to prevail ourselves to God's mercy. This rite should also extend into our homes through a daily examination of conscience. It is here that we can continue to realize the totality of our sin and in return receive the strength necessary to endure in our journey of faith through encountering Christ's divine mercy. This daily examine should also open our hearts in perfect preparation for the great action of humility that is required to prevail ourselves to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

 

It is within this sacrament of God's love and mercy that we are able to join with Saint Paul in proclaiming "The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat." It is from this profound sacrament of mercy that we join with Sirach in trusting that God "hears the cry of the oppressed." When we begin to allow ourselves to trust in the mercy and the forgiveness of God with an acceptance of humility we join with the tax collector who did not allow his sin to control his life, but instead conquered it by embracing the mercy of God. May we embrace this same mercy by joining with this tax collector instead of running away from this mercy with the Pharisee. In pride we join with him in constantly running away instead of trusting that we can be rescued from every evil threat through our encounter with God's mercy.

In Saint Faustina's diary she writes concerning her encounter with Christ: "Write that I am more generous toward sinners than the just. It was for their sake that I came down from heaven; it was for their sake that my Blood was spilled. Let them not fear to approach Me; they are in most need of my mercy." If we are to respond to this invitation from Christ we must leave our pride behind and embrace this invitation for mercy in its totality. We can only embrace this invitation when we do so humbly by our realization that we are all in need of Christ's loving mercy daily. In humility we will examine our conscience and be driven back to God's mercy. In humility we will confess our sins and be strengthened in Christ's mercy. Through humility we will put our pride to death and in return move ourselves towards God's mercy. In the words of our Holy Father, Francis, "we are all sinners." This means me and you; it means all of us are in need of humbling ourselves to God's mercy that we may be liberated from every sin that enslaves us. The humble are the sinners who Christ came down from heaven for and the just are the sinners who are to prideful to accept Christ spilling his blood for them. May we accept our sinfulness in humility and in return embrace God's divine mercy.

29th Sun in OT Year C Homily

Jesus instructed his disciples to "pray always without becoming weary." It is from this verse that Saint Paul instructs those in his letter to the Thessalonians to "pray without ceasing." Our necessity to pray unceasingly is equal to the struggle that Moses had to endure in raising his hands above his head as war ensued. Prayer can indeed become a struggle when we glance at our life and see a lack of results that we have received or the reality of the length of the day and how tiresome it would be to pray a "Our Father" or "Hail Mary" nonstop for a twenty four hour period. In our prayer we must have faith because we may not always get the results that we want. Without faith unanswered prayers would show the lack of concern that God has for us. Joined with faith our prayer will find its true value because we will not be chasing after worldly rewards, but instead will be joining ourselves to God and overtime will find all our fears and needs answered by this joining of ourselves to the beatific vision.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to prayer as "a vital and personal relationship with the living God." Countless amounts of saints have defined prayer through the use of their own words. For Saint Therese of Lisieux prayer is "a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned towards Heaven; it is a cry of recognition and love, embracing both trial and joy." Saint Jane Frances de Chantal stated "a good and perfect prayer requires that we forget self and be ready to sacrifice all that we are for God." Through the words of these saints we do not hear that the purpose of prayer is to gain rewards for ourself and for those whom we know. Instead we hear that prayer is important because it joins us to God and allows us to move past ourself towards another. Prayer gives us the opportunity to grow close to God while here on this earth and gives us the ability to receive strength and hope when we find ourself is the midst of trail and tribulation.

To join ourself to God through prayer does not mean that we must constantly repeat a prayer over and over again throughout the day. We of course must eat, sleep, work, and do other activities that require our attention. No matter how busy we find ourself we must take the time necessary to enter into prayer and to work towards praying unceasingly. Prayer is not only available for those who are experiencing great difficulties in life, but it is for everyone at all of life's stages. We should strive to be aware of the presence of God through all of life's various activities. It is possible to work, do sports, or even to watch television while being aware of God's presence in our life. The problem is that we have not worked very hard at harvesting this disposition inside of our life. In the process prayer has become segregated from all that takes place in our life. Instead of allowing this segregation to continue to build we must find ways in our life to be connected to God and learn to respond to Christ's command "to pray always without becoming weary."

As we progress in our understanding and willingness to enter into prayer we must make sure that we always remember Christ's question that comes at the conclusion of today's Gospel. "But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" This question sets up for us the true foundation that our prayer must be based upon. We must ask ourselves this same question because without faith prayer can quickly seem meaningless, but with true faith we will indeed be able to realize the true importance of prayer. With faith will find the value that truly exists in our liturgical prayers such as the Mass, community prayers such as the Stations of the Cross or the Rosary, or our own personal prayer that comes from the depth of our own hearts and joins us with God. With the foundation of faith we will not desire to behold the rewards of prayer in own image, but instead will allow our prayer to join us and our needs to God.

In Saint Paul's letter to Timothy we hear that one who belongs to God will be found competent and equipped for every good work. When we allow ourselves to enter into prayer we are truly allowing ourselves to belong to God. In this action we surrender all of our needs here and realize that in doing so that there is truly value to be found. Even if we have not received the results that we want may we realize that God still hears and answers our prayers. If we allow ourselves to remain persistent like Moses with his hands raised high or the widow in our Gospel we will be found competent and equipped for every good work. With faith as our standard may we find ways to enhance our liturgical prayers such as praying with the scriptures of the day, with faith as our standard may we enhance community prayer with the knowledge that value is found when joining with a group in prayer because we are not alone, and with faith as our standard may we challenge ourselves to learn to grow in personal prayer to where we can train ourselves "to pray always without becoming weary." This day may we open wide the doors of faith through our persistent prayers that join us to the beatific vision of God.

27th Sun of OT Year C Homily

The 11th of October will mark one year since the year of faith has begun. Throughout our readings from this week we constantly see a reflection of why it is important to have faith. The examples that we have been given throughout our readings should feel timely to the many issues that we continue to wrestle with to this day. The words of the apostles seem so simple, but in reality required a lot of work from them. For us to use the same command "increase our faith" requires us to move away from the desires of self and to eventually embrace God totally without reservation. As we have experienced within our lives we move from periods of great faith to periods where we have moved onto other things which seem more important. In light of these readings it would be good to evaluate how we have increased our faith during this past year. May they also serve as a reminder that we must continue to find ways to bring about an increase of faith within our lives, our families, and inside the world.

When the "Year of Faith" began a year ago we were given a letter from our bishop that was read in every parish of this diocese. In it he challenged us to four specific goals to work on throughout this "Year of Faith" that would help us in beginning to grow in the increase of faith that the apostles desired to obtain inside of our Gospel. He wanted us to: (1) Increase your daily prayer life to include the Profession of Faith that we pray in the form of the Nicene Creed. (2) Frequent the Sacrament of Confession.  As medicine is for the body, confession is health care of the soul.  Also, avail yourself of the special plenary indulgences that are offered during the Year of Faith, that help to better purify us for our heavenly reward. ( 3) Increase your involvement in your parish community with the gift of your time, prayer, and resources such as participating in Scriptural studies, making Holy Hours of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. (4) Take every opportunity to be the hands and face of Jesus to all you encounter.

If we have forgotten about these goals I encourage you to begin to work upon them. To work upon them not only as an individual, but to foster them from within the home. A family should be able to glance at these goals and see that they are reflected at home. To pray, to learn about the faith, to be healed by the sacrament of confession, and to treat others as Christ are important ways for an individual to allow their faith to increase. These are also good ways where the family can grow in faith together being led by the example of parents in the importance of prayer, of study of the faith, of the importance of going to confession to return to God's love and mercy, and the example of treating others as Christ. On November 24th the "Year of Faith" will come to a close, but we all know that the need to increase in faith is a life long journey. Hopefully we will or have allowed this "Year of Faith" to make faith faith more manifest inside of our lives.

In a recent homily Pope Francis encouraged the faithful to come to a knowledge of Christ through the use of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In this "Year of Faith" I believe the Catechism is a good start for a person who wants to grow in their knowledge of faith. The Catechism is what the faith teaches and why and is a better place to go to understand what we believe then turning towards the interpretation of personal opinion or what we are told inside of the media. Personal opinion and the media will not and cannot change what is believed by the faith. If a person truly wants an interpretation of everything that Pope Francis has said since being elected I encourage that person to open the pages of the Catechism because their answers will be found there. To study the pages of this book along with Sacred Scripture will model what must be done not only in the mind, but also through our actions. Faith is not about knowledge alone, but is also about something that is alive and active.

The later half of our Gospel reminds us of the work that must done if we truly have the desire for this increase of faith. We should not immediately take our place at table, but instead should continue to labor as we foster our faith. Faith cannot be attained by a graduation ceremony and therefore it must continue to be fostered among family and friends. Faith will be missed if we never silence the many noises of our world to enter into prayer. Faith will become an afterthought if we allow our lives to grow dark with sin casting out our relationship with God. Faith is not based upon getting quick results for our needs, but is about total surrender to God. With faith we are not called to be isolated to ourself, but instead to expand ourself to becoming the hands and face of Christ to all whom we encounter. During this "Year of Faith" may our faith grow to the size of a mustard seed because with that alone we will be able surrender ourselves totally to God. May we be willing to say this day: "Increase our faith!"

25th Sun Year C Homily

In Dante's great work the "Purgatorio" the effects of each of the seven deadly sins are analyzed showing the perspective of the penitent in Purgatory. One of the seven deadly sins is "greed" which we hear reflected throughout the parable of the dishonest steward inside of today's Gospel reading from Luke. Dante shows the penance of those who suffer from greed by placing them face down upon rocky ground as they weep and pray while calling out examples of greed and there corresponding virtues. This posture reminds them of the words of Psalm 119:25 which states "my soul clings to the dust; revive me according to your word." In the life of these people they constantly chased after higher things to the point where they were raised in a worldly sense through all their wealth, talent, and possessions. In Dante's vision of Purgatory the lowering of oneself to the ground reminds them of the words of our Gospel: "You cannot serve both God and mammon." In this lowering of self they finally begin to understand that true charity requires the lowering of oneself to others especially to God who gives us life through His creative word.

Living in a society which has a fear of our economic future does not get us off the hook of having to worry about greed. We cannot allow excuses such as the uncertainty of our future to fuel our belief that we cannot be challenged to give of ourselves in anyway. We also look to our culture where we have become very busy with work, school, or sports. No matter how busy that we have become we must still realize that when we only chase after the raising of ourselves we are failing to lower ourselves to the needs of others who surround us not only in society, but also in our own homes. The home should be a place where a family shares time and resources with each other instead of a place where we are segregated to the loneliness of our possessions and needs without human contact or our relationship with God.  To be truly intrenched inside of the vice of greed completely cuts us away from these relationships and in return makes us slaves.

The dishonest steward definitely felt the tension of becoming a slave of two masters. On one hand he was reprimanded for squandering the property of the rich man and on the other hand he was commended for acting prudently. In his actions he was torn between the service of his own needs and the liberation that comes when one gives of their self. This dishonest steward was lifting himself from the lowliness of his greed when he began to give of his own commission. In his slow separation of self he was training his body that he could no longer serve both God and mammon. We have all separated ourselves from this reality at times. We have at times allowed ourselves to become transfixed upon our wealth, time, possessions, and talents. God has given us so much inside of our lives and yet we must remember that we have no rite to take complete ownership of our possessions. We are all travelers on a journey of life that at some unknown moment will come to an end and in return we will be forced into separation with our possessions, wealth, time, and fame. The dishonest steward realized the end that was quickly coming for him and he in return acted prudently.

Our Gospel challenges each of us to act prudently in all matters. From the dishonest steward we see the effects that greed brings into our lives. Greed destroys us because we are always left looking upwards away from the needs of others. No matter how firm a grasp that greed has upon us there is always hope that we can challenge ourselves each day to conquer this vice through the virtue of charity. From charity we take ourself away from the enslavement of the exaltation of self and deliver ourself towards the lowliness that allows us to see our brothers and sisters in Christ who are in need. In this lowliness we realize that our faith requires us to be good stewards of everything that we posses. In the giving of our wealth, possessions, talent, or time we are growing in the virtue of charity and doing away with the vice of greed.

If we will ever be able to escape the grasp of greed in our life we must replace it with the growth of charity. Charity begins with our love of God and from this love extends our love that is shown to our neighbors. Growing towards God through prayer and sacrifice we are able to continuously lower ourself and place what we posses into its proper order. With this proper order defined we are then able to continue to lower ourself towards the needs of all those whom we encounter. With true charity established inside of our life we will no longer be enslaved to mammon, but instead we will become totally devoted to God who is the creator of all that is good. With God our heart will finally find the comfort that it was in search for because with God we find fullness and with greed we find a never ending desire to accumulate more and more which always leaves us feeling empty. Charity is the driving force for true happiness and liberation because it allows us to truly love through our wealth, time, possessions, and talents.

Where have we allowed ourselves to become enslaved by mammon in our life and what can we do in return to feel the tension of charity instead?

24th Sunday of OT Year C Homily

Yesterday was a very special time in the life of the Diocese of Knoxville. At our Eucharistic Congress in Sevierville we had the opportunity to celebrate our 25th anniversary as a diocese. Throughout these 25 years this diocese has continued to grow and to form the faithful in the truth of the faith. At this event close to 5,000 people were present to share in the sacrifice of the Mass, to be healed by the sacrament of Confession, and to learn what it truly means to be a Catholic. Today we gathered here for this Mass have the same opportunity to grow in our faith. We have an opportunity extended to us to allow the Eucharist to become the focal point of our lives, to see the necessity to be healed within the Sacrament of Confession, and to further our knowledge of the faith. Today's selection of readings reflect these values because Saint Paul was strengthened from his past as we are with the Eucharist, our Gospel is a representation of the need to turn away from our sins, and Moses desired truth to be found that would save people from falling away from God.

Inside of our Gospel we are told three parables which reflect similar values. They reflect the reality of sin and its grasp inside of our lives. They reflect the never ending hope that a sinner will in time be found and will prevail themselves to the mercy of God. Inside of the first parable we are given the image of Christ, who is the good shepherd. Inside this parable he finds the lost sheep and places it upon his shoulders. I imagine that at first this sheep squirmed around upon his shoulders, but eventually found comfort as it was being led back to the flock. We to continue to squirm around in our sin and attempt to escape that path that leads to holiness. Instead of moving about endlessly we must allow ourselves to find true comfort from our sins within Christ. Christ desires that we will be led back to His mercy through the sacrament of Confession. In Confession we will find true comfort from each disordered passion that has led us astray.

Christ the Good Shepherd has not left alone, but continues to dwell with us inside of the Holy Eucharist. It is here that our unbelief can be healed and we can be strengthened inside of the journey of faith that we find ourselves upon. In this sacrament we receive the Body, Blood, soul, and divinity of Christ our Lord. This is not a representation of bread and wine, but is carrying out the command from scripture "to do this in remembrance of me."  If we have truly repented of our past sins and confessed all of our mortal sins we will be prepared to celebrate the great feast of the Lord that is the Holy Eucharist. It is from this Sacrament that we will be fed and strengthened in our life to turn away from sin and orient ourselves entirely towards God. It is also from this sacrament that we will draw upon the benefit of the sacrifice that is present. At this Mass we join with Christ upon Calvary and leave all of our worries and sins to be offered to God that we may strengthened as Saint Paul was.

As we use the sacraments of the Church to draw ourselves towards Christ the Good Shepherd we must also trust inside the knowledge of faith that will always open wide our love for God. In Exodus the people led out of slavery by Moses had removed themselves from the truth. We to can think of many ways where we have cut the truth of faith away from our own lives following after the many idols of the world that pull us away from God. With knowledge light should be brought into the darkness of night and our faith should become illuminated inside of its truth. In the light of our faith shines true devotion to God and the reality of the impact of our sins upon the world. We must challenge ourselves to not follow after many endless idols, but instead should begin to find time in our lives to draw towards God. We should be willing to enter into the quiet of prayer, have the desire to not be ignorant of Sacred Scripture, and be willing to enter into the fullness of the tradition of the Church by our knowledge of what she professes.

In Confession we will return ourselves towards Christ the Good Shepherd who desires us to return to the ninety-nine. In the Holy Eucharist we enter into both meal and sacrifice where we are brought into deep relationship with Christ the Good Shepherd. Within our knowledge of the faith we do away with the many idols we have built up for ourselves within the world and return to the love of the Good Shepherd. In our faith we will attempt to squirm around and escape from these comforting shoulders, but through confession, the Eucharist, and knowledge we will always be brought back to this relationship and be fortified in Christ Jesus. We will be like the lost son who had his relationship to his father restored when he truly repented of his sins. His repentance was not mere words, but was truly made from his heart and conversion was brought about. In the Sacraments and knowledge of the faith we to can make this perfect conversion of heart. Through this conversion may we grow comfortable upon the shoulders of Christ the Good Shepherd.