29th of Sunday of OT Year A Homily

“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belong to God.”

This verse shows that there is a separation that exists between these two realities. As Americans this is one reality that we enjoy, the separation of Church and state which guarantees us religious freedom. In other societies especially ancient societies this separation is not the case. In some cultures the authoritative figure is seen as being a god such as is the case with pharaoh and the Egyptians.

Judaism has a complex history when it pertains to the relationship that exists between religious and civil leaders. The Lord is drawing upon this reality when He gives His response to their question. This comment would be impossible in a culture such as Rome or Egypt for there was no division found between religious and civil leaders. Nevertheless, this comment expressed the division of these two realms.

As Saint Peter and the apostles answered in the Acts of the Apostles, “We must obey God rather than men.” So too we are called upon to follow the will of God in our life. Where just laws are found we must obey them and where unjust laws are found we must fight again them. Just because something is found to be culturally acceptable does not mean that it is acceptable in the eyes of God.

It shouldn’t be too difficult to think of the many ways in which we as a society follow practices though legal which are harmful for our spiritual wellbeing. There is a plague in our society against the unborn, there is a plague in our society against the true meaning of our human sexuality, there is a confusion of the sanctity of marriage, and we have become too busy to allow God to enter into our life.

Saint Thomas More was put to death for he was unwilling to reject the truth that he proclaimed in his heart. Despite the law of the land he was unwilling to reject the faith that he held as true. He could of accepted Anne Boleyn as queen, but he could not reject the authority of the pope as he was being required to do by law.

We must be willing to live good and moral lives which do not compromise the truths of the faith. Sure these things may be legal and culturally acceptable, but as Christians we are always called to something greater. If we know Christ and come to profess Him with our lips we must come to embrace the Gospel in its entirety and not just the part of it that we find to be most useful and fulfilling.

This day let us come to embrace the Lord. Wherever our life has wondered away from Him let us move back to Him and His mercy. Let continue to pray for society and thus that just laws may always come to be enacted. In all things let us realize that we are called upon to “obey God rather than men.” Let us obey Him with our whole heart, soul, and mind.

28th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

This weekend has been set aside to be our parish stewardship weekend. With this in mind we come to reflect upon the importance of stewardship in the life of the faithful. Sadly, many will define stewardship solely as the giving of money. This definition is lacking of a true stewardship mentality. Stewardship is a freely given response to the Gospel where one chooses to give of their time, talent, and treasure.

It is in the Gospel of Saint Matthew that we are given the Parable of the Talents. Through this parable we are told how some did something with what they were entrusted while one chose to do nothing with what he was given. If we are to take a stewardship mentality upon ourself we must realize that we have been given a lot and from what we have been given we are called to do something with it.

In today’s Gospel we are told of a wedding feast and how one was thrown out of it due to not wearing his wedding garment. So too we have received an invitation to this celebration that serves as an image of Heaven and we must be found ready to enter by wearing our wedding garment by living a life of faith. If we have been entrusted with much we are called upon to do something we those gifts which we have received. To be cast off from the wedding feast is to say that this individual did not live a life of faith. Through a stewardship mentality we faithfully live our our faith in service to the Gospel.

In this parish community we have many who are convinced of such a reality. They have chosen to give of their time, talent, and treasure to this parish community. Without our many volunteers it would be difficult to accomplish much as we are told in Sacred Scripture for “the harvest is abundant but the laborers are few." When parishioners come together to take ownership of their parish home we are better able to serve the Gospel message here in Johnson City.

This week you will receive a letter in the mail asking you to make a stewardship commitment to this parish for the year to come. Please pray over the responses that you will give as you you discern how you can give back to this parish from the midst of your time, talent, and treasure. Most of all I ask that you continue to offer your prayers for the good of this parish community. It is my fervent hope that every household will return this commitment form in the week to come or find another means of returning it to the parish.

Let us continue to be good stewards over the many gifts that have been entrusted to our care. As good stewards we give our faithful response to the Gospel as we strive for the Kingdom of Heaven above all things. Let us always come to faithfully live out this commitment as we respond to God’s call to live more graciously with everything that has been entrusted to our care.

19th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

We are given the image of a wedding feast which serves as an image for the Kingdom of Heaven. Here we are told about four groups of people. There were those invited who refused to come, there were those invited who ignored the invitation, there were those who attended without the proper wedding garment, and finally there are those who attended this wedding feast.

This image of being invited, but refusing to attend makes me think of CS Lewis’ the Great Divorce. In its opening chapters we are told of a bus station and how there are those who are observed who keep looking at their watches. They eventually lose hope and decide that they can wait no longer. Due to their lack of patience they never enter the bus which leads to the ultimate destination of Heaven.

So too we are often caught up in many distractions which cause us to refuse to journey towards that ultimate destination of Everlasting Life. As the king later instructs, “Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.” Therefore, this invitation is sent throughout the whole world. This means that this invitation comes to people of all walks of life.

No matter our walk of life we must make sure that we are prepared to enter into this wedding feast. There were those cast off from its midst because they dared not to wear their wedding garment. In other words these individuals refused to be converted to the truth of the Gospel and instead chose to continue to live a life which was contrary to it.

We are each called upon to strive to be saints. One cannot be numbered among the saints if they refuse to accept the mercy of God and refuse to allow their heart to be opened to conversion. The Church must continue to call us towards this encounter with truth and once we realize this truth we must come to embrace it without compromise. 

There is nothing more that the devil wants to accomplish then causing discord. As our Epistle professed, “give not place to the devil.” It is the role of the Church to continue to form souls in matters of faith and morals, so that we may be found wearing that wedding garment. As GK Chesterton put it, “I don’t need a church to tell me I’m wrong where I already know I’m wrong; I need a Church to tell me I’m wrong where I think I’m right.”

Let us continue to hold firm to our faith. Let our hearts be lead into an encounter with Christ Jesus. Wherever sin is found let us move towards Him with a spirit of repentance opening our heart to His mercy. Where we are tempted may Christ and the gift of God’s grace be brought to our life. In this manner we will be found ready for that wedding feast for we will be found wearing that wedding garment. 

Let us keep this garment unstained always.

26th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

The month of October is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary. On October 7th we will celebrate the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. It is this feast that commemorates victory won at the Battle of Lepanto which was attributed to the faithful praying of rosary as called upon by Pope Pius V. On October 13th we call to mind the miracle of the sun which brought about the conclusion of the apparitions at Fatima. It was here that she came to proclaim that “I am Our Lady of the Rosary. This first Sunday of the month of October is traditionally set aside to focus upon the importance of the Most Holy Rosary.

The focus of the rosary is Jesus. Through the praying of the rosary we mediate upon the mysteries of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. With each “Hail Mary” that is prayed we place our attention upon Jesus for He is the fruit of her womb. It is this Name which is most powerful over all other names. From Philippians we were told “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend.” It is the Name of Jesus which serves as the hinge of this prayer and so we cannot hurry past this Name. Whenever we call upon this Name in the rosary or at other times we should keep it holy.

Throughout Scripture we are told that Mary treasured these things in her heart. We have the opportunity to do precisely this when we take up the rosary. Through this prayer we take to our heart the mysteries of our salvation by entering into those important moment’s in the life of Christ that lead towards such a reality. By entering into such devotion leads us to love Christ and to live a life which is more loving of Him. When we live such a life we turn away from a life of sin and choose to live for the Lord

As was instructed of us by the prophet Ezekiel, we must turn away from all the sins that we have committed for by doing so we will surely live and not die. Our Gospel reveals this reality to us through sinners who came to enjoy Everlasting Life because they turned away from their life of sin. So too the rosary aids us in taking on that spiritual armor that is necessary to combat temptation and to lead our heat unto the Lord. As we pray in the “Hail Mary,” “pray for us sinners now and the hour of our death.” Here we turn towards her intercession that we may turn away from our life of sin and live for her Son and thus for Everlasting Life.

 

If the rosary is not a devotion that you foster I encourage you to rediscover the beauty of this devotion. As was stated by Saint John Paul II, “I look to all of you, brothers and sisters of every state of life, to you, Christian families, to you, the sick and elderly, and to you, young people” confidently take up the Rosary once again. Rediscover the Rosary in the light of Scripture, in harmony with the Liturgy, and in the context of your daily lives.” Let us take up this invitation thus growing in our love for the rosary and our desire to turn away from sin and to live for Christ. 

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

17th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

Saint Paul instructs, “that you walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called.”

In the Church some are called to enter into marriage, others to religious life, and others to the priesthood. No matter the calling that we have received we are called to pursue holiness in our everyday life. By taking up our vocation we share in the same common vocation of building up society in a matter that reflects the love of God.

In our Gospel we were told of the importance of this love. We are thus to “love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind” and you are to also “love thy neighbor as thyself.”

These words express the goal of this common vocation of love. Love is begotten out of self sacrifice. We see this perfect expression of love presented to us upon the cross when the Lord laid down His life for us. Through living in service to others we act as God to others and model ourself more closely after Christ each day. When we faithfully take up our vocation we live in the hope that we will join with God one day in Heaven.

For our prayer we must discern what is our vocation and what is current state in life. Once we understand this we can better reflect upon the love that we are being called to show as we embrace that vocation and state of life. A married person’s response to this will be different then that of a priest then that of a child. In the end each of us are called towards holiness in our everyday life.

If we have the desire to be holy then we must desire to love. Love is not something which is optional for love is something that must be present in every vocation. It is love which draws us into union with God. We should have love for Him and should realize the need to enter into relationship with Him. We must also love our neighbor because a vocation calls us outward to share that love that we have with others.

In order to heed Saint Paul’s words and to be found “worthy of the vocation in which you are called” there must be love in the midst of all that we do. Whenever we fail to love God or our neighbor we cannot claim that we have fully lived out our vocation. Our vocation to love is displayed right here at the Mass.

As Saint Josemaria Escriva remarked concerning the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: “The Mass is long, you say, and I add: ‘Because your love is short.” The Mass serves as a lesson in love for through it we enter into Christ’s love for us upon the cross. By entering more deeply into these Sacred Mysteries we grow in our love not only for God, but for one another. 

Let us walk worthy of the vocation in which we have been called by embracing all that God has extended to us in a spirit of love and self sacrifice. This world in which we live is greatly in need of such love for the love in which we so often profess in our society is far from a love of God and a true love for our neighbor as one created in the image and likeness of God. May we live such love for God and neighbor in all that we do.