11th Sunday of OT Year C Homily

The Mass has a few silent prayers which are offered. Maybe we have never heard them or paid much attention to them. The one that I would like to highlight is when the priest or deacon kisses the Gospel he prays: "Through the words of the Gospel may our sins be wiped away."

When we hear the words of the Gospel we come into an encounter with Jesus Christ and thus we come into an encounter with His saving mercy. It is often pointed out that Catholics do not know the bible. It is sad to say that on average this statement is very true. Nevertheless, when we come to study the Bible especially the Gospels we come to know of Jesus Christ and His love for us.

This is the same Jesus Christ who looked upon this woman and told her, "Your sins are forgiven." This is a very impressive statement and who among us would hope that the same would not be said of us.

1st Samuel reminded us of the sin of King David. He fell into adultery and killed a man and yet we heard concerning him, "The Lord on his part has forgiven your sin." I hope that we do not want to remain with the Pharisee who wanted to keep the woman at a distance. If we want her kept at a distance then we too must claim that we desire to be kept at a distance from Christ and His mercy.

No matter the seriousness of the sin of our past life Christ desires that we be assured of the forgiveness of our sin. No matter the sin which is currently prevalent in our life Christ assures us of the assistance necessary to banish it from out life. Christ desires for us to come to Him and to His mercy. It is not His desire that we be kept at a distance from it. There is always a way out from our sin and this is made apparent by Christ's interaction with this woman. This is the same invitation in which Christ makes with us that we may be freed from the burden of our sin. 

And so to think of the beauty which is discovered within the Sacrament of Confession. In the Sacrament of Confession we come in burdened by the weight of sin, but leave from its midst entirely liberated. It is said that following a confession that God remembers nothing concerning the sin of our past life. Instead we have received absolution and thus have been instructed, "Your sins have been forgiven."

May we truly desire to be like this woman in our Gospel. She had the courage to approach Christ and from her courage she received the forgiveness of sins. It would of been easy for her to make excuses to why she could never be accepted for her sinful past and yet she reached out in the faith to this man that she had heard so much about. She did not allow these fears to overcome her, but instead she overcame them and was consoled by Christ.

When we approach the Gospels we approach Christ who desires to heal us and to make us whole. All of scripture points its way towards Jesus Christ. The same Jesus who comes to us in the Eucharist under the appearances of bread and wine. From our encounter with Him may we too desire to hear the words, "Your sins have been forgiven.”

3rd Sunday After Pentecost Homily (Extraordinary Form)

On Friday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This solemnity assures us of the infinite love of our Savior who died upon the cross and rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures. 

Quoting from Pope Benedict XVI concerning this solemnity: “In biblical language, "heart" indicates the centre of the person where his sentiments and intentions dwell. In the Heart of the Redeemer we adore God's love for humanity, his will for universal salvation, his infinite mercy. Practicing devotion to the Sacred Heart of Christ therefore means adoring that Heart which, after having loved us to the end, was pierced by a spear and from high on the Cross poured out blood and water, an inexhaustible source of new life.”

Therefore, may we be thankful for this infinite font of love which loves us so dearly. May we come this day and always to “Behold, the Heart which so loved us.” Instead of looking inwardly upon our self may we instead turn our attention towards the Heart of Jesus. With our attention placed here we will grow in our love for God, love for neighbor, and disgust for sin.

One fitting place to place out attention is upon the Eucharist for it is here that we come to discover Jesus and His infinite Heart of love. It is here where we will come to discover His love for us and His love which is poured out for the whole world. May we adore our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar for from this devotion we will come to know the heart of our Savior.

The Heart of our Savior is most beautifully shown to us in today’s Gospel. His Heart pours out with love and compassion for that one sinner who has wondered away. There are none of us here who can claim that they have been perfect disciples of our Lord. Nevertheless, we must remember this Heart of love who never ceased to love us. Instead of ceasing to love us it continued to pour out love and mercy upon us until we were healed.

In this Year of Mercy I hope that we will entrust ourself to this infinite font of mercy. I also hope that during this Year of Mercy that we will come to know and trust in the Heart of Christ. Through the Heart of Christ may we too come to share in His desire to save souls and to go after the lost sheep.

Our world is filled with many distractions and messages which go against the values contained within the Gospels. We as Christians must turn away from these messages and live lives of Christian virtue. If we want our world to be reformed we must the ones who not only talk about it, but put our words into action by the way that we choose to live our life. 

From our devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus may we learn to imitate the true and sacrificial love which has been poured out for each of us.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us, and may we truly grow in our love for thee.

10th Sunday in OT Year C Homily

In our readings we encountered two sons who were found be to dead and yet they were restored to life. These accounts serve as a foreshadowing of the effects of sin upon our soul. They show that despite the pull of sin that Christ can free us from its grasp and burden. Through the Lord’s Resurrection there is always hope for new life and thus the triumph over the tomb of sin that effects us.

In our Gospel the man was brought to his place of burial, but Christ reached out and touched the coffin and commanded him to arise. Christ is constantly reaching out and commanded us to do the same. He is giving each of us an invitation to receive his mercy and to be restored to proper health. Sometimes we do not embrace His mercy as quickly as we ought and thus our life begins to get out of control. We lose balance because Christ had been banished from our midst and left forgotten that we no longer know of Him and His healing mercy.

From 1 Kings we see that the boy’s death was brought about by a gradual process. He first grew sick, it then progressed, and then he finally died. This shows the effects of sin upon our soul. Falling into mortal sin can be a gradual process where we slowly erode away our moral boundaries until we no longer care about the outcome. Some will say that venial sins are not a big deal and thus should not be confessed. 

From Pope Pius XII: “As you well know, venerable brethren, it is true that venial sins may be expiated in many ways that are to be highly commended. But to ensure more rapid progress day by day in the path of virtue, we will that the pious practice of frequent confession, which was introduced into the Church by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, should be earnestly advocated. By it genuine self-knowledge is increased, Christian humility grows, bad habits are corrected, spiritual neglect and tepidity are resisted, the conscience is purified, the will strengthened, a salutary self-control is attained, and grace is increased in virtue of the sacrament itself.”

The confession of venial sins is also strongly recommended according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 1458. It is strongly recommended for through confession we receive the grace that God pours out upon us. This sacrament of the Lord’s mercy goes hand in hand with our reception of the Eucharist for through the Eucharist we receive Christ Himself into our life. We cannot heal our life on our own because if we are to accomplish this task we must first trust in the assistance of God’s grace. No matter how small the sin it still hurts our relationship with God, but most of all we do not want it to develop into a mortal sin which robs the soul of sanctifying grace.

Therefore, my dear brethren, may we come to trust in the Lord’s cross and Resurrection. These two realities show the joys of everlasting life and thus point to the life which is to come for each of us. May we allow Christ in His infinite mercy to heal us as He healed those found throughout the Gospels, but most of all may we always allow Christ to restore that which is found to be dead to life. Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.

Corpus Christi Year C Homily

We have prayed the “Our Father” on countless occasions. If we pray with our separated brethren of other faith traditions it is a prayer which is seen to be common ground and thus can be prayed by all. When we join together for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass the “Our Father” is always prayed in the course of the liturgy.

In this prayer we pray “give us this day our daily bread.” This is a very important petition which we are making if we have meditated upon it or not. The Duay-Rheims, an English bible strictly translated from the Latin Vulgate, instead says “give us this day our supersubstantial bread.” Here this word “daily” has been translated as “supersubstantial” and thus is pointing towards the Eucharist.

In accordance with the Council of Trent as well as the Catechism of the Catholic Church the petition that we are making during this prayer is to be fed by the Eucharist. In the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, known to some as the Latin Mass, the priest is instructed to look down upon the Eucharist when this prayer is being offered. He is to look down upon the Eucharist because Christ is present in the midst of the Church through the appearances of bread and wine and when he says “daily bread” he is referring to his desire to receive this great gift and to be nourished by it.

Therefore, we can claim that this word “daily” reveals a great mystery unto us. This Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. This is a wondrous celebration because it is a celebration of Jesus Christ and His love for the Church. It is a celebration of Jesus Christ because it is Jesus Christ Himself who comes to dwell with us in the form of bread and wine. From the Second Vatican Council “the Eucharist is the source and the summit of the Christian life.” This is the petition that we make when we utter the words “give us this day our daily bread.”

In saying these words we desire to be united to Christ through our worthy reception of the Holy Eucharist. The world in which live is a very difficult place because it easy to fall into sin and to despair concerning our future. Things were not very different for the Israelites of the Old Testament for they were found in slavery, they were liberated from it, and as they wondered throughout the desert they even began to grumble against God. They desired to return to their slavery. Despite all of this God poured out bread from Heaven upon them which fed them and gave them the strength to trudge forward towards the Promised Land.

We are in search of the Promised Land which is the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus continues to look out upon the multitude and to feed them. We are fed by this “supersubstantial” bread which is poured out to us from Heaven. May we pray the words of the “Our Father” with our whole heart because through these words we show our desire to turn away from sin and despair and to instead allow Christ to be the one who nourishes and guides us towards the Heavenly Kingdom.

Corpus Christi Year C Procession Homily

Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

On Corpus Christi parishes often have processions of the Eucharist through the streets. When I studied Spanish for ten weeks in Guatemala I had the opportunity to partake in many processions throughout the city of Antigua. One was three hours in length and rain poured down upon the faithful for most of the time. Yet, hundreds of people were joined together to celebrate the great gift to the Church which is the Eucharist.

Today we have the opportunity to participate in a Eucharistic Procession. We will take Christ out into this world. This is exactly what we should be doing with every Mass that we attend. We gather here and receive Christ and in return are to take what we have received into the world. 

Our life is a constant procession towards Heaven. The Israelites were found to be in slavery in Egypt, but God liberated them from this slavery. They then processed through the Red Sea and into the desert where they would wonder about. They were making a procession towards the Promised Land. On their journey there were many setbacks and grumblings, but God poured out bread from Heaven upon them which gave them the strength to carry on and to not move back towards their former way of life.

And so our procession today will remind all of us of this journey that we are currently on towards Heaven. It is the Eucharist which comes down from Heaven and feeds us in order that we may faithfully accomplish this journey. We may struggle and grumble as we toil about with our daily life, but we must remember Christ who is present with us in the Most Holy Eucharist and nourishes our heart and soul with the grace which is necessary to get to Heaven.

In our Gospel Jesus looked out upon the multitude and He saw their hunger. This is the same hunger that we have some two thousand years later. Jesus continues to look out upon each of us who are alone and afraid. He looks out upon us despite our separation from Him through our participation in sin and He desires that we be healed from its grasp. He poured Himself out for us in the Eucharist. This is the great gift which has been extended unto the Church for this is the gift of Christ Himself. The Eucharist is not just some symbol pointing towards Christ, but what we have the opportunity to receive is Christ Himself.

The Second Vatican Council exclaimed that the Eucharist is the source and the summit of the Christian life. If we can claim this to be true then we can claim that nothing is superior to our relationship with Jesus Christ.

When you reverently receive the Eucharist today realize that what you are receiving is food for the journey that each of us is making towards Heaven. Realize that what you are to receive is to be brought by you into the world by the interactions that you have with others as well as how you order your life after Christ. 

Today we solemnly bring Christ into the world through our Eucharistic Procession. May we allow Christ to be the one to transform our life as well as the world in which we live.