30th Sunday of OT Year A

This past Sunday was a most joyous celebration in the life of the Church because Pope Paul VI was brought one step closer to sainthood. It was Blessed Paul VI who would bring about the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council which was begun by his predecessor Saint John XXIII. At his beatification ceremony Pope Francis stated: "(Through his) humility the grandeur of Blessed Paul VI shines forth: before the advent of a secularized and hostile society, he could hold fast, with farsightedness and wisdom – and at times alone – to the helm of the barque of Peter, while never losing his joy and his trust in the Lord." We can see traces of where his joy and trust originate through the two mottos that he chose to sum up his ministry as the Successor to Saint Peter. "Cum Ipso in monte", "With Him on the mountain of the Lord", and secondly "In nomine Domini", "In the name of the Lord." These are statements which sum of the fact that if we desire to know and to spread love we must first join with God in prayer and we must in return allow our life to be an expression of that love that we encounter here with all those whom we meet.

The idea of "love" is a very misunderstood term in our modern day society. Our Gospel tells us that we must first love God and next love our neighbor, but what does this actually mean?  Is this love that is to be shown to our neighbor mean that we must accept sinful actions as being healthy? No! Does this love mean that truth is not important because it might offend somebody? No! Pope Benedict XVI in his first encyclical letter, "Deus Caritas Est" "God is Love," says that whenever we fail to love our neighbor we also fail to love God and whenever we fail to love God we also fail to love our neighbor. Allowing a person to live in sin without being moved towards conversion could never be true love. Love is more then a lust for another person, love is more then living with a person outside of the commitment of marriage, love is more then using another person as an object to meet one's sexual gratification. Despite what we are told LOVE can be and is sacrificial; just look to the cross and you will see this love proclaimed to you.

I am sure that you have seen many reports concerning the Synod on the Family that recently took place in Rome. I myself have seen many articles which proclaim that this synod will usher in great change for the Church. They claim that this change will usher in new theology which changes the way that the Church understands marriage, the family, and even love. Yes this synod will bring about great change to the Church, not change to doctrine because that has been given to us by God and therefore it cannot be changed, but instead change that will lead souls to come and to encounter the love of Christ. This change will indeed be counter cultural because it will proclaim to a world that has a problem understanding love that love is something that is real and that it is an expression of God who is true love. The meaning of love cannot be truly expressed in a culture that so easily professes that marriage is not forever. Throwing away the Church's teaching concerning contraception would not bring a couple closer to Christ, but would instead separate them from a love that is mutual and self giving because this action, no matter what we think, is intrinsically evil. To pervert love would not lead souls to encounter God, but instead would lead them towards enslavement to sinful actions instead of challenging one to embrace the pains of conversion where we come to feel and encounter the great love of Christ's mercy.

One of Blessed Paul VI's great works was his encyclical letter "Humanae Vitae" "Of Human Life." Much like this Synod on the Family it was said that Humanae Vitae would finally change outdated Church doctrine, but instead what was revealed was a document the enforced the teachings of the Church, but more importantly then that it proclaimed the value of love to a world that has lost its grasp on what love really is. Love can never be seen as being abusive of another person. Love can never get in the way of our relationship with God. If what we believe to be "love" leads us away from our neighbor and away from God it cannot therefore be truly known as love. Humanae Vitae is a document that challenges the world to put away it selfishness and instead to return itself towards the true meaning of love.

And so this day may we allow Blessed Paul VI to intercede for us and for our families that we may truly be able to love in a way that is both mutual and self giving. To encounter this love may we be willing to take his two mottos upon ourself and thus go to the mountain of the Lord because it will be here alone where we will allow ourself to enter into silence and to truly begin to allow ourself to pray. From this relationship built up around God all of the actions that we do in this life will be carried out in the name of the Lord. When we sin we cannot claim that we are acting in the name of the Lord and we cannot claim that we have gone to the mountain of the Lord to be strengthened in our love for God and for our neighbor. Blessed Paul VI was filled with joy and trust because he was able to not only love God, but also his neighbor. May the love that we have for God truly become our strength that will assist us in encountering this same joy and trust that Blessed Paul VI expressed by his life.

28th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Our Gospel tells us that we have each received an invitation to a wedding feast. In fact, we can say that each of us who have been baptized are already present in the banquet hall of this great celebration. We are present because through our baptism we were conformed to Christ. Through our baptism we were washed clean from the original sin that we inherit from Adam and Eve and are thus forever oriented towards Christ. Through our baptism in the Church we have been forever marked as one who is currently on a path that leads towards the Kingdom of Heaven. I therefore must say that baptism remains most important because it is a necessary sacrament for us to receive because it places us in the banquet hall of this great celebration, it extends to us the further possibility of being nourished at the altar of God by Christ's Body and Blood, and it leads us towards being sealed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation.

We cannot make the mistake of not always remaining on guard just because we are present in this banquet hall through our baptism. We cannot make the mistake to say that I was baptized, I have received the Holy Eucharist, & I have even made the decision to be confirmed,  so therefore when I die the Kingdom of Heaven will be owed to me simply through these merits. In the words of our Gospel: "Many are invited, but few are chosen." The man who was cast out of this banquet hall was not found properly dressed for such an occasion. He decided that he would attend this wedding feast without first taking the time to be properly dressed in a wedding garment. He received the invitation to attend this wedding feast and yet he did not go onto make the prudent decision to come to this celebration properly dressed. Again, we find ourself gathered in this banquet hall through our baptism when we to were clothed with a white garment. St. Gregory of Nyssa said: "Thou hast driven us out of paradise and called us back; Thou hast taken away the fig leaves, that garment of our misery, & clothed us once more with the robe of glory."

Indeed, we have each been clothed with this "robe of glory" through our baptism. The problem is that we often forget about what took place for us on this day and have instead wondered throughout our life allowing ourself to be separated from Christ. Surely we cannot say that a life that has been separated from Christ can truly be rewarding because our Gospel testifies that people will be turned away from the Wedding Feast which they had not only received an invitation to, but actually showed up and were present in the banquet hall. We to already find ourself in this banquet hall because we have entered into baptism, but we don't always act as if we are worthy to have such a great gift bestowed upon us. The gift that we await is already felt here on this earth because at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass Heaven comes to meet earth. 

At the Mass we come to behold the bridegroom who is Jesus Christ who has entered into marriage with the Church and thus we are each invited to grow into a deeper relationship with Him. Through the words of consecration that we hear at the Mass we join with Christ whose love is so great for each of us that it is consummated in the handing over of His body for the many who share in His eternal covenant. In this action Heaven truly comes to meet earth and we are each given a glimpse into the reward that we will one day be able to further participate within. In Heaven there will be no more sickness nor death, but instead what we will discover is the peace of being in the presence of God who is the creator of all things. May we not allow ourself to become sidetracked from participating in this reality, but instead may we always be found properly dressed in our wedding garment as we await this joyous occasion. This wedding garment was given to each of us as a great "robe of glory" through our baptism, but we can and do reject such a gift through the ways that we live our life to the point where God will be forced to say: "My friend, how is it that you came here without a wedding garment?"

With this statement we are not being called upon to do the impossible, but we are each asked to take up the struggle of our cross daily which will lead us to triumph over our sin instead of simply growing comfortable to it. May we continue to allow ourself to bear the weight of the cross and to also trust in the great gift that is the Church which through the sacraments continue to strengthen us to be found properly dressed in the wedding garment that is necessary for such a wondrous celebration as the Kingdom of Heaven. If we can trust and allow ourself to struggle with the cross and living out the life of the sacraments we will indeed be found worthy on the day of judgement to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven where we will truly discover true beauty and peace. May we allow nothing to impede this relationship in order that we may be found properly dressed on the day of judgement to enter into the house of the Lord.

27th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

The United States Council of Catholic Bishops have set aside the month of October to be known as Respect Life Month and thus this first Sunday of the month is known as Respect Life Sunday. With this move it is their desire that we will pray in a special way for the sanctity of human life and find ways where we can give assistance and aid that leads towards the well being of human life. Here in the state of Tennessee this should be very important for each of us because of the upcoming election and thus Tennessee Amendment One. We therefore have probably seen pink signs scattered throughout Oak Ridge or this Church campus which say "Yes on One." This "yes" represents the great reality that we must always be concerned with the sanctity of human life and thus we cannot ever allow ourself to simply look the other way. To look the other way and to be passive whenever human life is not being respected would be a great sin because all life must be held as being sacred from conception to a natural death. Dracano Sapien stated: "He who has the ability to act on an injustice, but who stands idly by, is just as guilty as he who holds the knife."

So often we have allowed a relativistic way of looking at the world to seep into our practice of faith. Concerning moral questions we may say that we believe that life should be held as sacred, but do not want to define that as a truth that everyone must accept. Others, even Catholics, say that abortion does not really kill life because after all life does not begin until birth. If this were to be the truth what took place at the Annunciation when Mary said "yes" to the angel Gabriel was nothing special. If this were so when the baby leaped in the womb of Elizabeth when the baby Christ came into his midst would only be pure coincidence because neither would actually be human life. Yes, we have the obligation to be concerned with human life and thus cannot allow ourself to take a relativistic approach concerning this matter. We also cannot fall into the trap of seeing this as a one issue matter because the sanctity of human life issue concerns all life.

Our Gospel frames together this message because through it we see that Christ is the one who would come to die upon the cross to lead others towards salvation. His death was not done in order to save a few whose life He believed should be held as sacred, but instead was offered that all of us may realize our importance in His eyes because we were created in the image and the likeness of God and thus in return are cherished by Him. If His love was so great upon the cross, so should our love be great for all of human life that we encounter. We should realize the importance of human life and be willing to defend it always especially through our trust in the words of Saint Paul's Letter to the Philippians which stated: " by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known by God." Indeed may we be willing to pray always that life may be held as being sacred and may we also be willing to produce fruit in the Vinyard of the Lord which shows our concern for the issue of human life instead of so easily turning away.

The theme given to us for this Respect Life Sunday was taken from a homily given by Pope Francis in which he stated: "each of us is a masterpiece of God's creation." Indeed we are each a masterpiece of God's creation. May we allow the fruit of our life to reflect such a reality because in doing so we are not living as animals, but as those who are created in the image and likeness of God. When we see those who are not being treated with such respect may we be willing to stand up for truth, no matter how hard it may be, and shows these individuals the respect that is owed to them because they are a masterpiece created by God. When we come across the poor, the young, the elderly, the worker, the imprisoned, or the dying may we not begin to remove people's dignity, but instead to always give it proper due. In this manner we will indeed be showing and living out the great fact that all of human life is sacred from conception to a natural death.

I conclude this homily with a letter written from our bishop, Richard Stika, concerning the upcoming election and Amendment One. As we listen to these words may all of us be willing to stand up to the sanctity of human life by our prayer or fasting, by educating ourself and others on the importance of this amendment, and actually going out to vote.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

One of the great privileges of living in a democracy is the right of its citizens to vote.  Although the Catholic Church will never identify itself with any political community or system, we can and must speak up in support of moral issues.  One such issue that we as Catholics will have an opportunity to vote on November 4th is Amendment One.  This amendment is neither a Republican nor Democrat issue, but a moral and life issue of greatest magnitude.  A yes vote on Amendment One, a prolife amendment, would neutralize the extreme interpretation taken by the Tennessee State Supreme Court in 2000 in which they declared that our State Constitution guarantees the right to an abortion. Passage of this Amendment would restore back to the voter the “life” decisions that were taken from them by the state court decision. For this reason, I and my brother Bishops in Nashville and Memphis wholeheartedly ask for your support for “life” by voting for “Yes on One” this November 4th.  

26th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

We each have a list of things that we would like to accomplish in this life. Some things that appear on our to do list will be accomplished no matter what attempts to get in our way. Other items on our to do list exist with the sole hope that we will be able to one day get around to them. Nevertheless, we should all realize that we only have so much time to accomplish the things that appear on this list. For example: if we desire to go to a sporting event and fail to get a ticket early we could easily find ourself realizing that the event has been sold out and thus find ourself being out of luck. We should also realize that our to do list never really gets finished because before we know it something else of importance arises in our life that we must do. Again these items can fluctuate from something impulsive like an item that we see in a store and desire to have to something more important like taking care of a family member who is sick. When we think about it we can never really be made whole because there is so much that we desire to do.

So without a proper relationship to God we most definitely would never be made whole. With Christ we are given everything that we will ever need and thus do not need to be filled by items which attempt to grab our attention. With a relationship to God the suffering that we may experience with a family member or even ourself takes on authentic meaning. Instead of having a to do list that only fuels our love for self and our need to accomplish a vast array of possessions; our relationship with Christ shows the complete opposite where we finally experience a love that is not restrictive, but is giving. In Saint Paul's letter to the Philippians we hear this reflected because we are told about God who is filled with love. This love was so great that He did not desire to remain at a distance, but instead took on human flesh in the incarnation. This love did not stop here, but instead it lead to Christ accepting His own death upon the wood of the cross in order that we may each be forgiven from our many transgressions against God the Father.

I hope that through our own experience with Christ that we will see the authentic love that is found here. From this love may our life finally take on meaning instead of leaving us wondering around in need of discovering something more. Through Christ we will and have received everything that we will ever need if only we can allow ourself to trust in Him and finally allow our life to not be disordered in sin, but instead to be ordered through our love for Him. If we develop this love and this trust in Christ we indeed will no longer bend our knee to sin and confess sin to be our Lord, but instead we will live out the words of Philippians and allow our knee to bend at Christ alone and to truly confess with our words that Jesus Christ is Lord. This can never be accomplished if we so easily shrug off our Catholic faith and ignore what we believe and profess to be the truth. If we continue to place more stock in the events of the world at the cost of our own faith and relationship with Christ we will always be like the man who did not go out into the vinyard to work.

We must each be willing to go out into the vinyard of to work. We cannot be content at saying that I will get around to it one day because as we know time does eventually run out and we will be held accountable for the actions of our life. We will be held accountable that we have professed Christ to be our Lord through our baptism and yet were never willing to lead other souls to Christ or even to allow our own knee to bend as we confess Christ to be our Lord. What we find in the Catholic Church is the fullness of faith that will lead our soul and other souls to Heaven, but so often we fail to surrender ourself to the fullness of faith that is found here. We think that we know better then Christ and His Church. Christ has given the Sacraments as a gift to the Church that each of us may continue to be drawn into a deeper relationship with Him. We cannot live out our life of faith as if all of the Sacraments are not of great priority to us. 

And so, the Eucharist that we will receive today is a great gift from God where Christ is truly present in both His Body and Blood that we may be able to order our life after Him. Confession is a necessary Sacrament, as the precepts of the Church say: A Catholic must confess their sins at least once a year. Confession is not an option for us, but instead it is most necessary for us to be prepared to work faithfully in the vinyard of our Lord. May we each begin to place more attention upon the necessity of the Sacraments, upon the necessity of prayer especially before the Holy Eucharist and our fidelity to the rosary of Our Lady, and also upon our own necessity to be moved into relationship with God who is love and in return to share this authentic love with others. It is not enough for us to hold onto mere words, but we must also put these words into action by the way that we live out our life. May responding to this call to enter into the Vinyard of the Lord truly be a top priority on our to do list; which we will never allow to be overshadowed by the many other items that are found upon this list that distract us from our relationship with God.

25th of OT Year A Homily

If we are workers our Gospel should be very upsetting to us. It would be unfair to say that we could work a full day's work and receive a wage equal to somebody who worked less then us. This scenario is very much so unfair, but thankfully our salvation does not work in the same manner. If our salvation dealt with staying faithful from the point of our baptism to the point of our death all of us would be in a lot of trouble. There is none of us here who can claim that they have worked a full day's wage concerning their worthiness for salvation. From our Holy Father, Francis, "We are all sinners." At some point we have gotten off the path, but hopefully when this happens we quickly reorient ourself to the mercy of God. The lives of the Saints attest to this because when we study the saints we will see many different people with many different stories. Some have radiated God by their life from their childhood, others as adults, and even others before the point of death. Some were grave sinners while others did not sin to such a degree. 

Nevertheless, what they all hold in common will hopefully be equal to what we will obtain one day which is the grace of final perseverance. Final perseverance is the grace that is necessary for us to obtain salvation. It means that we will die while in the state of grace. It means that if we have committed a mortal sin that we would of confessed it, turned away from it, and never went back again. One cannot claim that they have achieved the grace of final perseverance if they have died in the state of mortal sin. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 1035: "Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire." The Council of Trent holds that the grace of final perseverance has one origin which is from God Himself. The same council held that it is an error to believe that one can achieve this grace without the help of God. God is most necessary because we cannot obtain final perseverance due to our own merit.

If we truly desire to achieve the grace of final perseverance may we prevail ourself to God who is the only one who can grant such a grace. May we realize that there is never a point when we are unable to surrender ourself to the mercy of God and thus to be moved towards authentic conversion. Saint Alphonsus gives us the example that we need to fervently pray for such a grace to be materialized inside of our life. At the conclusion of every prayer that Saint Alphonsus offered he would include a petition where he would ask God for this grace to be achieved within his life. Saint Alponsus found this grace to be so important concerning our salvation that he would remark: "All those who are in heaven are there for this one reason: They prayed, they asked for perseverance. All those who are in hell are there for this one reason: They did not pray and they did not ask the Lord for the grace of final perseverance." May we to desire the just wage of salvation by praying that we may achieve such an important grace and also be willing to amend our life to match such a desire.

Thankfully our Gospel message sounds unfair to our ears. Thankfully all of us can pray for the grace of final perseverance and thus when we die we to can be found worthy to enter into the Heavenly Kingdom. Some of us here have worked fervently in the Harvest of the Lord since their childhood, others have worked fervently since having a conversion experience, others began to work fervently due to their desire to get their children to Heaven, others begin to work fervently in this harvest at the moment before they take their last breath on this earth, and still others have yet to find such a wondrous path that leads towards salvation. May we not continue to run from the just wage of salvation, but instead move ourself towards it. May we not become so prideful that we believe that we are owed such a wondrous wage without the help of God. May we truly pray that we can achieve final perseverance at the moment before our life ends.

In conclusion may we listen to this prayer offered by Saint Alphonsus for the grace of final perseverance and thus allow his words to penetrate into our heart that we may truly desire to achieve this wondrous grace.

Eternal Father, I Humbly Adore and Thank You, for having Created me, and for having Redeemed me. I Thank You for having made me a Christian, by giving me the True Faith, and for Adopting me as Your Child in Baptism. I Thank You for having given me Time-to Repent, after my many Sins, and for having Pardoned all my Offenses. I Renew my Sorrow for them, because I have Displeased You. I Thank You also for having Preserved me from Falling-again, as I would have done, if You had not Held me up, and Saved me. But my Enemies, do not cease Fighting-against me, nor will they, until I Die. If You do not Help me Continually, I will Lose Your Grace again. I, therefore, Pray-for Perseverance till Death. Your Son Jesus, has Promised that You will give us whatever we Ask-for in His Name. By the Merits-of Jesus Christ, I beg You, for myself and for all those who are in Your Grace, the Grace-of Never-more being Separated-from Your Love. May we always Love You in this Life, and in the Next.

Mary, Mother of God, Pray to Jesus for me. So I Hope. So may it be.

Amen.