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. 

22nd Sun of OT Year C Homily

There is nothing wrong with authentically striving for high places. The problem is we often want to skip all the work that must first be involved and jump straight to the top. Our motives can also become disordered towards the worldly pleasures involved instead of authentic reasons which are always in unison with God the creator of all things. For anyone that has ever had to work alongside an unprepared boss or leader we know how quickly everything can get out of control if they are not fully prepared for what they are getting into. Jesus in this parable given to the Pharisees is pointing out the need to authentically strive after high places so that things will not get out of control for us. A high place cannot be sought out in order for us to be exalted and all of us must work hard each day in the harvest of the Lord to achieve the highest honor of all, Heaven. It seems that many people will agree that Heaven is real, but never want to authentically move towards it. Instead we have developed the attitude that when we die we go straight to Heaven no matter what the life we had lived was like.

This simplistic view erases away the complexity of Heaven. Saint Thomas Aquinas states: "Therefore by the gift of grace men can merit glory in such a degree as to be equal to the angels, in each of the angelic grades; and this implies that men are taken up into the order of the angels." These human beings do not then become angels, but remain human as they partake in the beatific vision of Heaven. What we have explained here is the complexity of Heaven and how we should not strive on this earth with the mere hope to get into Heaven because it is what happens to everyone. We should instead realize that our goal in life is to achieve the highest honor possible. We cannot achieve it if we never set out to do any work and prepare our lives for this great honor. We cannot achieve it if we have already placed ourselves foolishly at the head of the table assuming that Heaven will simply be granted to us so easily.

From Sirach we heard: "Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God." The words that we heard from Saint Thomas challenge us to this. They challenge us to see the complexity of salvation, where through our own humility, we will be able to achieve great rewards. The reality of being brought into the choirs of angels as a human should be a great joy for our hearts. This would be a high honor for us, but of course we cannot place ourselves there now. We instead must persevere in the journey of faith by cutting away all that enslaves us in this world from truly coming into union with God. We are all called to high places, but we must prepare ourselves for them instead of arriving with the pride that everything is already owed to us. Our place within Heaven will be attributed to our ability to draw close to God while here on this earth. May we as the poor, crippled, lame, and blind draw ourselves close to God that we may find true richness, be liberated from all that harms us, and have site given to our eyes. The more that we are willing to authentically hand ourselves over to God the greater we will be when we are called to join inside of the beatific vision of Heaven.

We must also remember Purgatory where in the words of Hebrews: "the spirits of the just are made perfect." Purgatory is a path that leads us to the high honor of Heaven. Due to sin and everything that keeps us enslaved we will need to be made perfect. We can of course work towards this perfection while here on earth, but upon our death will enter into Purgatory that we may be able to totally be made clean. The souls that find themselves inside Purgatory are here that over time they will be able to work their way towards a higher position by doing away with each element in their existence that blocks their ability to truly be able to behold God. While on this earth may we never forget to pray for these souls and may we begin to purge ourselves now from all that separates us from God.

Now is the time for us to work hard in the harvest of the Lord. We cannot wait any longer because we do not know how much time we have left. We must begin to make every effort in this life to draw ourselves towards Heaven instead of falsely believing that nothing is required of us because we have already been granted that high seat at the table of the Lord. Instead of being filled with this pride may we begin to humbly draw ourselves towards Christ. In this humble relationship of lowering ourselves to Christ we can begin to achieve higher places. We can begin to love God in a more complex way to where maybe we can in time be venerated as a saint. We should make every effort on this earth to avoid or to lessen our time inside of Purgatory instead of joking the reality of Purgatory away. We should not have the audacity to place ourselves at such a high honor as Heaven, but instead should work faithfully each day to achieve this honor, so that we will hear from Christ: "My friend, move up to a higher position."

21st Sun of OT Year C Homily

Surely we would never hear: "I do not know where you are from" at the end of our lives. Surely we would never find the door to Heaven locked leaving ourselves on the outside saying: "Lord, open the door for us." Surely we would not be cast off from the presence of God with the words: "depart from me all you evil doers." Luke's Gospel instructs us that the gate towards salvation is narrow and therefore not all will be strong enough to enter. Many of us have lived our lives without reflecting upon this narrow gate. We have instead widened this gate beyond its true reality. We have lied to ourselves to the point that everything is okay inside the world and therefore we should change nothing about ourselves. We have allowed ourselves to believe that the Church has no wisdom to share and therefore have allowed truth to be cut away from our lives in order that we may model our faith after what works for us and for our families. The world has been allowed to triumph over the Church because Heaven is for everyone.

Heaven is indeed for everyone! We are all called to enter into Heaven and to share within the joys found therein. We are called to persevere in our faith always remodeling ourselves after the truth. We are all called to encounter and to trust inside of the infinite mercy of God. The gate is indeed narrow, not that we may be cast off, but to the reality that we must remain strong enough to enter. To enter through this gate requires us to be strong because we have to persevere each day in our faith keeping ourselves from taking the large gate which comes so easily. When we glance upon the cross we see how hard it truly was for our salvation to be won for us. Christ's crucifixion upon the cross did not come easily, but instead was a tough path that was taken. Through the wounds of Christ we see our invitation to be totally liberated from sin and our many excuses that plague our lives. With the cross we are able to join that we may be strengthened in order to pass through the narrow gate and truly become known by Christ.

None of us here should be okay with gambling our relationship with God away. God's love dwells with us always, but it is through our disorder where we turn ourselves away from God's love. Despite our sinfulness and greed this love always remains, but we must desire in our hearts to prevail ourselves to it. Those who find themselves outside the door had many opportunities in their life to return to this mercy, but they never desired to do so. With their contentment with sin God is forced to say "depart from me, all you evil doers." No matter how much we think that Heaven is the only state in life we must remember that the Church still professes that Hell is real. Even inside of our Gospel we see the effects of Hell which comes with the separation of ourselves from God. At the end of time there is indeed only two states which will last forever, Heaven and Hell. We cannot fool ourselves into thinking that Heaven is the only reality, but we should also not live in fear because Heaven is achievable if we truly desire it.

Saint Paul spoke to the Hebrews that their paths could be made straight through the use of discipline inside their lives. In this letter he drew an analogy between the discipline that a child endures for their own good and the discipline that we as a believer in Christ must endure. Having to endure discipline inside of our lives never comes easily, but from discipline comes our ability to truly be able to run the race of faith that lies before us. We cannot grow close to Christ and remain strong inside of the faith if we are never willing to discipline ourselves on behalf of the faith. We must be willing to cast off all that holds us back from our relationship with God. In disciplining our lives we will be forced to admit that we need to confront change in order to truly be able to follow after the Gospel. With discipline moving us forward inside of our lives we will be able to pass through the narrow gate and hear Christ proclaim "well done my good and faithful servant."

From the Prophet Isaiah we know that God already knows our works and our thoughts. Therefore we cannot fool God with our intentions because they are already known. Instead we should embrace our lives where we currently find them and elevate ourselves towards God. The faith that we share is real and requires constant endurance instead of the attitude that God will conform the truth in order to meet our own needs. If we want God conform to ourselves, a mere creature, we will be left outside the gate crying: "Lord, open the door for us." Instead we must enter into the discipline of the faith and prepare our bodies and souls to be raised entirely to God.   What are the things that we hold onto within in this life that are dangerous for the well being of our souls? What ways have we desired God to conform to our own needs instead of allowing ourselves to be conformed to the truth? How can we continue to challenge ourselves in this life that we may be disciplined to the faith? Christ wants each of us to be strengthened that we may enter through the narrow gate.

20th Sun of OT Year C

Christ has come into the world to set the world on fire. This imagery makes me think of the transformation that must take place inside of our life when we encounter Christ. To come into this divine encounter we must realize that our lives must blaze brightly now as we prepare for an hour we do not expect. Inside of the waters of baptism we first came to encounter Christ. In baptism we did not receive membership into a club nor did we only do so due to cultural obligation. In baptism we encountered Christ and therefore our lives should already be set forth blazing. For those of us who have received the sacrament of Confirmation we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and in return have become "Soldiers for Christ" where we are obligated to spread and defend the faith by our words and deeds. In this manner we can truly begin to set the world on fire as the Holy Spirit has done when the fire of the Spirit descended upon the world burning away our carnal desires and leaving spiritual love behind.

In our never ending quest to set the world on fire we must model ourselves after the great "cloud of witnesses" that currently surrounds us. When Saint Paul spoke of this "cloud of witnesses" he was not speaking of people standing nearby, but is referring to all the saints in Heaven who have offered their life as a witness to the faith. In their unending witness they surround us because through their words and deeds they always gave glory to God. Their very lives were set on fire to the point where their carnal desires were burned away and total love for God was left in their place. The saints of Heaven are always present giving us this example desiring to assist us in setting our own lives on fire for God that we may inherit the rewards of eternal life. In our joining of voices for the "Holy Holy" at this Mass we join not only with those who surround us, but with each angel and saint of Heaven who comes to our aid inside of this life that we may be drawn to Heaven.

In order to allow our lives to be set on fire we must begin to rid ourselves of every burden and sin. This burden that we carry is all of our past sins that continue to bend our soul downwards making it easier for us to fall into sin. This sin that we carry is all of the carnal desires that are present within in the world that direct our lives towards disorder allowing the flame of faith to be buffed out within our lives. Striving after the life of the saints we know that it is possible to move past the burden of our past sins and to find conversion and to no-longer fall into the sin that we find within the world. Each day we must place our glance upon Christ allowing ourselves to be reoriented towards truth. We must run inside of the race of faith every single day without looking back upon our burden and sin. In looking back we lose the sight of Christ and return to our old selves in the process. We cannot accept this mediocracy inside of our lives because our baptism has directed towards something greater.

When the Spirit descended upon the world our hearts were ordered towards the truth of our Heavenly Father. Our house has therefore become divided because we should no-longer be enslaved by the Father of the Lies. We must banish the voice of Satan from our lives because through baptism we have been set apart. In this banishment of falsehoods we must trust in Christ who we have set our gaze upon. The Church was instituted by Christ in order to be the herald of the truth and to help all believers to constantly chase after God. When we chase after the truths of the Church our houses will indeed become divided because we will be going against all disordered carnal desires. We will be going against the burden and sin that keeps us moving away from Christ. Our very lives will be set aflame through the reality that we have decided to follow Christ without the excuse of desiring to turn back towards our former way of life.

Anytime when we believe that we are running the race that lies before us we cannot place our eyes upon ourselves or upon the world. In doing this we will lose the sight of Christ, will turn against the countless examples of the saints, and allow Satan to infiltrate our lives. To attend Mass only when we feel like it, to lie or cheat in order to get ahead inside of this world, to pervert the sacrament of marriage to meet our own expectation instead of that of Christ, to allow anger and hate against a neighbor to control our lives, believing that we in our limited understanding know more then wisdom of the Church, to avoid Christ's invitation to return to His mercy in Confession, and through a countless amount of other examples we place our eyes upon ourselves instead of Christ. Instead of being comfortable with this way of life we are each invited to something much greater. This day may we allow our site to be placed entirely upon Christ. With our eyes placed here it is possible for our lives to be set on fire for the faith. The more we abandon sin and trust in conversion the more this flame will spread into the world. May we not grow weary and lose heart, but abandon ourselves entirely to Christ instead of the excuse of sin. We are all called to one day join the saints in Heaven and we should accept this goal into our lives now instead of later. May we be transformed this day in the presence of Christ and in return, allow the world to be set on fire through our faith. 

Assumption Homily

"Today the Virgin Mary was taken up to heaven; rejoice, for she reigns with Christ for ever." These are the words of the Magnificat antiphon that is found in Evening Prayer for today's Solemnity of the Assumption. In today's Solemnity we are able to celebrate this reality that sheds light upon our own futures. We know how difficult it can be to look into the brightness of the sun and it is indeed the same to behold the great glory of God. It is through Mary that we go in order to arrive at this wonderful splendor. She does not take our devotion and keep it for herself, but instead is always drawing each of us closer to her Son. In today's solemnity she points the way towards Heaven for each of us. This is so because within the Assumption Mary was taken into Heavenly glory. It was with the Ascension into Heaven that Christ, who was God made man, would be called home to Heaven. Through the Assumption we know that Heaven is not only for God, but for all mortals. In the Assumption we see the future where all of us are called to the glory of Heaven. Mary in her great charity always points this path out to us.

Within this solemnity we see the fulfillment of the rewards for a life that has been totally dedicated to God. Mary was conceived without sin in order that the sin brought into the world by Adam and Eve could be conquered. In her yes to the angel Gabriel at the Annunciation she set into motion the reality that God would be brought into the world not through a vessel that was stained by sin, but instead through purity itself. Her yes was given out of charity itself in an outpouring of love for the creator of the universe. Following the birth of her son she did not fall into the uncharitableness of sin, but instead continued to live a life of charity through an outpouring of love for her Son. Upon the cross she watched her Son as He was crucified upon the wood and her heart was indeed pierced according to the prophecy of Simeon. Her heart was always consumed with charity that all may flock towards her Son out of love. For her faithful life she was given the reward of Heaven that each of us hope that we may one day be able to obtain.

With the Assumption we are able to see that our life has been set into motion towards Heaven. All of the actions of Mary show her charity upon this earth where she showed her true devotion to God which earned her the reward of Heaven because uncharity could not be found upon her soul. All of our actions upon this earth also effect the reality of our salvation. We have been given our life by God that we may live a life of charity where we are able to give of ourselves out of love. We are to turn away from our uncharity because in these moments we disorder ourselves from the truth of God and get lost inside of our disordered passions. When we glance into the reality of the Assumption we should should see that our life is being directed entirely towards God, and thus we must do away with all of our uncharitable actions. In embracing a life of charity we will begin to build up virtue within our lives overturning the grasp of Satan upon us. For this we rejoice because the Blessed Virgin was taken up to heaven and now reigns with Christ forever.

As we rejoice at this reality we should not fall into despair because we unlike Mary have been touched by sin. Despite our encounter with sin we are still all called to strive after charity as we work hard inside of the harvest of the Lord to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. We must remember that the greatest action of charity that was ever given was upon the cross. It is through the wood of the cross that Christ suffered and died in order that we may be forgiven. This charitable act continues to pour out forgiveness into our lives that gives us the hope that we can one day join with the Blessed Virgin Mary and Christ in Heaven. Through the greatest act of charity that was ever given we have the hope that we will be taken up to heaven and reign with Christ forever.

When Christ ascended into Heaven He did not leave us alone, but left us with the most charitable institution in the history of the world that is the Church. The Church was instituted by Christ in order that each of us may be led towards the glory of Heaven. Our life is indeed made up of our many struggles, but we cannot allow these to overcome us and to continue to burden  our minds. In the charitable institution of the Church there is the concern for salvation for all souls. A concern that everyone will be able to encounter and trust inside of the divine mercy of Christ. Despite the current trajectory that we find ourselves upon we are always called to seek out the mercy of God and to be nourished by the Holy Eucharist. Confession is a charitable sacrament of the Church that allows us to encounter this conversion of heart. The Holy Eucharist is a charitable sacrament which in the words of Saint Thomas Aquinas where there is "nothing in our selves or in our past that one Communion cannot more than repair - if we have but enough faith!" Our growth within these charitable actions will aid our lives in being found fit to be taken up to heaven where we will reign with Christ forever.

On this day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven we see the effects of the person who is totally dedicated to God with their lives. The person who finds themselves totally dedicated in this manner will be taken to Heaven. May each of us strive to dedicate ourselves entirely to God by trusting in the sacraments of the Church when we find that we have strayed from this path. Our devotion to the Blessed Mother shows an outpouring of charity that will always bring us to the mercy of Christ. "Today the Virgin Mary was taken up to heaven; rejoice, for she reigns with Christ for ever." This to is our hope as we glance into the reality of the Assumption.