The Widows' Example

Homily for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

8 November 2015

Last week, we had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate the great Solemnity of All Saints, recalling our vocation modeled for us by countless men and women, who are known and unknown to us, to sanctify the world by being men and women of the Beatitudes. This week, we have the blessed opportunity through the examples of the widows in our First Reading and Gospel on how we are to truly live the Beatitudes in this world: We put our trust in God, and give all without counting the cost.

While I'm sure we have heard or said the phrases "Offer it up" and "Give it to God", it's only human nature to count the cost. We have a difficult time in just letting God do what He needs to; we have a hard time in allowing our trust in God to give us His peace. The widow of Zeraphath is a prime example of this as she protested to the message and request brought to her by Elijah. While she was looking out for the welfare of herself and her son, Elijah called her to be more faithful in her trust in the Lord.

The widow in our Gospel, on the other hand, seems to have that implicit trust in God, so much so that Jesus is able to recognize the giving of her everything to the praise and glory of God.

Sometimes we are like the widow of Zeraphath. Sometimes we are like the widow in the Temple.

One widow in the Tradition of the Church teaches us how to truly turn everything over to the Lord - Our Blessed Mother, Mary. During my time away from the parish in recovery, I had A LOT of free time on my hands. I had and took that opportunity to learn a little more about some the Marian apparitions that may be a little less known. One of these apparitions grabbed my attention - and, dare I say, also my heart. Our Lady's appearances in Kibeho, Rwanda, were an amazing series of visions, not only because they foretold of the genocide experienced in Rwanda in the mid-1990's, but - like all authentic Marian apparitions - the called us back from being obsessed with the things of this world to turning our hearts and live back to Jesus Christ.

Giving everything to the Lord - not just what we WANT to give over to Him - is essential in living out the Beatitudes. It is only in turning our entire life over to God that we can truly imitate Him, trust Him, and give Him praise. Our Lady's appearances to the visionaries of Kibeho do this by calling the Rwandan people back to that relationship lived in fidelity with her Son. The turning of our hearts back to the Lord, the giving of our livelihood from our spiritual poverty for the praise and glory of God, includes all that which turns our hearts away from the love of God and our neighbor. The messages of Our Lady of Kibeho urge us not to give the Lord only what we believe will please Him, but giving Him the entirety of our whole self. This is what the widow of the Temple models for us: That trust in God, and giving Him everything from our livelihood, ultimately releases any fear and doubt that we may have. Our practice of giving the widow's mite opens us up to letting go of all that binds us to this world, and allows us to be men and women of the Beatitudes.

It is important to keep this all in mind as we begin to close out this liturgical year. As we prepare to celebrate the great Solemnity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ the King, and as we prepare for the blessed season of Advent, it would be wise for us to keep the message of Mary, that Blessed Widow, in mind: The more that we keep in our hearts - jealousy, fear, anger, resentment, etc. - the less that we can give to the Lord in praise. The more that we offer the Lord from whatever is simply left over from the excess of blessings, the less that we can offer Him from the bottom of our coffers in our spiritual poverty.

Our participation in the widow's mite must be for us an invitation to a life lived through the Beatitudes. This abandonment of our fear and practice of trust in the Lord is the graced moment when we recognize how much the world controls us, how much we try to control the world, and the sacrifice coming from the coffers of our livelihood is that which should bring us closer to Christ. This is one of the messages that Our Lady gave to the visionaries of Kibeho: You are burdened in life with cares of every sort. Understand that difficulties are the daily bread of all who live on this earth. When they become too hard to cope with, know how to offer them to God. He really likes and expects from every Christian at least one sacrifice. The burdens and difficulties of this life - as well as its joys and ecstasies - need to become for us that which we offer as our mite, holding nothing back in our praise of God.

That is what the widows this weekend teach us:

          - The Widow of Zeraphath: Showing us the human condition;

          - The Widow of the Temple: Modeling for us how we ought to respond in faith; and

          - The Widow of Nazareth: Reminding us that we need to move beyond the limits of our human condition, and to trust in God so that we do everything for His glory and praise - including bearing our burdens and difficulties.

As a parish family, our trust in God and His plan for us will be tested over the next few months. Like the widows, we must respond in faith. We need to be able to offer everything back to the Lord, including any joy, fear or frustration we may be feeling. While there may be much confusion and doubt about the future, the response we give back in faith to learn Jesus, to love Jesus and to live Jesus is how we take that step in faith and open ourselves to the grace and movement of the Holy Spirit. Will it be uncomfortable? Yes. Will it be scary? You bet. But following the example of these faithful women, we allow that sacrifice to transform us, to sanctify us so that we may sanctify the world.

The sacrifice that we offer mow in the Eucharist is the first step in becoming more trusting of God as we lay over lives upon the Altar, giving to Him all that we are. The widows that we have encountered this weekend - of Zeraphath, of the Temple, and of Nazareth - remind us that it is in God alone that put our faith in, for us we truly want to be women and men of the Beatitudes, we can offer nothing better back to God than the totality of our very selves.

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Enjoy the journey . . . 

Sanctify the Ordinary

Homily for the Solemnity of All Saints
1 November 2015

       Yesterday, I had the wonderful opportunity to witness and officiate over the marriage of my sister and brother-in-law. During that homily, I reminded the couple of something that seems commonplace, but is a piece of Christian living that seems to be often overlooked. And this is something that we need to be more aware of, especially as we celebrate this feast of All Saints.

       We often hold the saints of the Church – or any person of historic significance – on pedestals, believing that we could never be as heroic – or holy – as they were. What we often forget is that the saints were ordinary men and women, just like we are, and they had to struggle and strive for holiness, too. The Christian life, as I reminded the newlyweds and all those gathered, is to find a way to sanctify the ordinary – we must be able to make holy all that is in our lives. As Edward Hays reminds us: The challenge of the saints of the Twenty-First Century is to begin again to comprehend the sacred in the ten thousand things of our world; to reverence what we have come to view as ordinary and devoid of spirit.

       The Beatitudes which we heard in our Gospel is the guide by which we sanctify the ordinary. As we allow ourselves to be poor in spirit, to mourn, to be meek, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be merciful, to be clean of heart, to be peacemakers, to be persecuted for the sake of righteousness, we begin to sanctify our lives so that we become more like Christ. As we live out the Beatitudes in our own lives, then we become more like those countless men and women who we honor today.

       Saint Francis of Assisi once said: Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify the world. To become a saint is to first recognize that as people of the Beatitudes, we are given the opportunity to become more like Christ, for the Beatitudes are a portrait of Christ, Himself. Jesus Christ came to the world to sanctify the world. He left us His teachings in the Scriptures and the Sacraments and other means of the Church to pursue the call to holiness. The more we sanctify ourselves, the more we become like Christ. The more we become like Christ, the more we can sanctify the world. The more that we sanctify the world, the more we can reverence those ten thousand things of the world that we have come to view as ordinary or devoid of spirit.

       Whether we are married or single, a member of a religious community or a priest or deacon, each person is called to holiness, to sanctity; each person is called to become more like Christ and called to be the living image of Christ. How do we begin? We learn Jesus, love Jesus and live Jesus. How do we live this image out? We become men and women of the Beatitudes. What do the Beatitudes call us to do? They call us to sanctify ourselves so that we may sanctify the world.

       In our celebration and reception of the Eucharist, this Living Reminder of the very Presence of Christ, Himself, we open ourselves to be transformed into His Beatitudinal likeness – we allow ourselves to be poor in spirit, to mourn, to be meek, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be merciful, to be clean of heart, to be peacemakers, to be persecuted for the sake of righteousness. Our celebration and reception of the Eucharist engages us to endeavor in the sanctification of our very selves and of the world. The Eucharist – which fueled the souls and lives of the saints – is that foretaste of the glory that the saints now share in, and should be, for us, the foretaste of the glory that we seek. However, it is our choice to be people of the Eucharist, people of the Beatitudes – and it is our choice whether or not to become saints.

       Let us recall the words of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux: You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all. We are all called to be saints. We all have the vocation to pursue holiness. Yet we all have the obligation to transform and sanctify the ordinary things and events of our lives, so that the entirety of our lives and of the world reflects the glory of God. This is what the saints tried to do throughout the course of their lives on Earth.

       The saints were not perfect men and women who walked around with glowing halos around their heads and quoted Scripture constantly. Rather, these were people like you and me who are trying to live life to the best of our abilities. The only difference that we have with the saints is that they are laboring in Heaven while we are laboring here on Earth. Nevertheless, Christ calls us – as He has called many men and women throughout the ages – to struggle and strive to the best of our ability to live out the Beatitudes.

Yes, throughout our lives there will be times where we will be called to be poor in spirit, to mourn, to be meek, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be merciful, to be clean of heart, to be peacemakers, and to be persecuted for the sake of righteousness. But through all of that, we work on our ultimate vocation to sanctify those things and events in our lives that may seem ordinary but, through the grace of God, lead us to that which is eternally extraordinary.

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Enjoy the journey . . .

Drinking the Cup: On Mission for the Church Alive!

Homily for the 29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time
18 October 2015

       Today, throughout our entire Diocese of Pittsburgh, all priests and deacons will stand before their Communities of Faith and with one accord echo a proposal for all parishes to follow faithfully. On Mission For The Church Alive! throughout the six counties of the Diocese is our concerted effort to fulfill the mandate of Jesus proclaimed in the Gospel. As the disciples of the Lord Jesus we must be concerned beyond our own desire and wants so that our Parish Family of Resurrection will become conscious of what is happening throughout our entire Diocese.

       Bishop Zubik has chosen this weekend – when we celebrate World Mission Sunday – to ask us to speak to you, which is not coincidental. On this Sunday, we are forced to answer the same question posed by Jesus to James and John: Can you drink the cup? Hopefully we will be as zealous as the Sons of Zebedee in our answer of “yes.” However, to be a parish On Mission For The Church Alive!, to be a community willing to drink the cup, we must become aware and willing to form a new understanding of what it means to be disciples of Christ in light of the call of the New Evangelization and Pope Francis’ invitation to be a Church of service rather than topics.

       This Diocesan Mission stems from the heart of the Bishop and his call for us to awaken the Faith within the individuals, families, institutions, schools and parishes within Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Greene, Lawrence and Washington Counties. As one of the 200 parishes of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and as the parish which bears the title of the pivotal event of the Life of Jesus, our willingness to drink His cup is essential for us to be a family alive in the newness of life brought about by the Resurrection of Christ.

       In his book, Can You Drink the Cup?, Henri Nouwen, the great spiritual author of the Twentieth Century, gives us three motions to contemplate Christ’s cup: holding, lifting and drinking. In holding the cup, Nouwen reflects that we hold a cup of sorrows and a cup of joy; in lifting the cup, it is a cup of blessing that we lift to life; in drinking the cup, we consume from the cup of salvation to the bottom. This cup of Christ, which James and John had the audacity to presume to drink from, is the same cup that you and I not only drink from as well, but also profess as we gather each week as the Body of Christ. It is this same cup that we hold and lift as we go out to serve our brothers and sisters as the presence of the Risen Lord. In his book, Nouwen reminds us that this cup that we hold, lift and drink from is an entrance into and participation in the life of Christ. It is this cup from which we are nourished to be On Mission For The Church Alive!

       In his first pastoral letter to our Diocese, The Church Alive!, Bishop Zubik names five areas where we – as individuals and as a parish community – need to focus on to be renewed and alive in the Faith: evangelization, stewardship, formation, catechesis and Eucharist. These five areas are the ingredients of the Essence of Christ found in that cup which we hold, lift and drink from – this Cup of Sorrow, this Cup of Joy, this Cup of Blessing . . . the Cup of Salvation. Evangelization, stewardship, formation and catechesis are not only found in the Body of Christ that is living, but of Christ, Himself, since they all flow from and return to our celebration of the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of our Faith, as the Second Vatican Council teaches us.

       To drink the cup means that we evangelize, that we go out and spread the Gospel, the Good News that Christ has died, Christ is risen, and that Christ will come again. To drink the cup means that we become good stewards of the gifts of time, talent and treasure that the Lord has given to us. To drink the cup means that we are people who are formed in the Faith, allowing that faith in Jesus Christ to guide all of our thoughts, words and actions. To drink the cup means we are a people who learn, love and live Jesus by coming to know Him through His Church. To drink the cup means that we are a people of and centered in the Eucharist, and that our celebration of the Most Blessed Sacrament is that which transforms our lives to be that reflection of the presence of Christ.

       What, then, does this mean for us as the Resurrection Parish Family? This is a question that we must be willing to look at, discuss, and answer through our participation in On Mission For The Church Alive! However, this is a question that we have been pondering through our participation in the Beechview-Brookline Catholic Collaborative. For more than a year, we have been gathering with the four other parishes in our cluster to understand and further define our role in the community, and how, together, the parishes of Brookline and Beechview can cultivate a Church that is truly alive in Christ through the way we not only minister to the parishioners of our own faith communities, but all of the people in our neighborhoods. To that end, I would like to remind you of our Inter-Parish Assemblies being held [tomorrow / today] from 2:00 – 4:00 PM at Saint Pius X Parish in Brookline and on Wednesday from 7:00 – 9:00 PM at Saint Pamphilus Parish in Beechview. Your participation in these assemblies is important not only because we want to hear your feedback, but also that you have the opportunity to hear first-hand the information presented. If we want Resurrection to be a parish alive in Christ and on fire with the Holy Spirit, then we need to be able to take a step back and not only come to understand our place in a changing community, but also to have the opportunity to further define our role within the Body of Christ.

       Ultimately, to be an individual, a family, a parish, or a diocese this is On Mission For The Church Alive!, we must be that individual, family, parish and diocese that is willing to drink of the cup that Christ offers. Yes, it will contain both joys and sorrows, but the cup we hold, lift and drink from nourishes and sustains us so that as we consume from the Cup of Salvation, we will be those people who enter fully into the evangelical mission of the Church. We, as a parish family, are this day being invited by Bishop Zubik to drink to the bottom from the cup Christ offers us by being a parish family that is alive in Jesus Christ, His Spirit, and the mission we are called to.

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Enjoy the journey . . .

Things and Stuff

Homily for the 28^th Sunday in Ordinary Time
11 October 2015

       A few days ago, I had the opportunity to celebrate the birthday of one of my Godsons. He is at that wonderful age of four, where the world is still so full of wonder. Yet while he is still learning much, he is also a wonderful teacher.

       At his party, he was excited – as most children are – to open his presents. He couldn’t wait! (And neither could his little brother.) There was the anticipation to see what he would be getting, and what he could call his own. He was, of course, more excited to get the gifts that he could play with instead of wear, but he presented us with a great teachable moment, nonetheless.

       How much are we like my Godson or the man in today’s Gospel? We are happy to have “things” that we can call our own: our house, our car, our phone, our clothing. But if we are asked to give one of these “things” up or go without them for a period of time, we sulk like the young man in the Gospel, or we throw a temper tantrum like my Godson. We like our “stuff”; we like to spend time with our “stuff”. The “stuff” and the “things” of our lives preoccupy us, and keep us diverted from what really matters in this life.

       When Jesus talks about how difficult it is for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God, He wasn’t necessarily talking about everyone who has a lot of material wealth. Rather, our Lord was referring to those who are preoccupied with the “stuff” of this life. While it is necessary to have a certain amount of material goods for one’s basic survival, it is important for us to not be dragged down by the “stuff” of life. As it’s been said before: The possessions of one’s life should not possess us; that which we consume to survive in this life should not consume us.

       Yet, this holds true for us even in living out our spiritual lives. This is why our Gospel is paired so wonderfully with our First Reading from the Book of Wisdom. What should really preoccupy us in this life is discerning the Mind and the Heart of our God. The rich young man could not allow himself to deny his Earthly life so as to pursue the Wisdom of God. And how much are we like that young man?

       Even in the pursuit and discernment of the Heart and Mind of God, we tend to hold on to the “things” which ought to help us grow closer in our relationship to the Lord, and when we misplace or lose them, we are preoccupied in finding them instead of taking the opportunity to grow in our spiritual life. Have you lost your favorite set of Rosary beads? Use your fingers, reminding yourself of how you are made in the image and likeness of God. Misplaced your favorite devotional book? Take this opportunity to seek out a new one, opening yourself to a new way for the Lord to speak to you.

       Even as a parish family, we must be able to move beyond the “stuff” of life, always seeking how to best spread the Gospel and minister to our brothers and sisters in the best ways possible. [This weekend / At this Mass], we will be commissioning two new members of our Pastoral Council, praying that they will continue to discern and deepen their commitment to dwelling in the Heart and Mind of God for the good of our parish community. At the same time, we, as the Resurrection Parish family, must continue to dive deeper in our discernment of what God is calling us to, to not only serve and be the presence of the Risen Lord to those in our particular parish territory, but also for how the Lord is calling us to minister to those in our cluster community of Brookline and Beechview.

       To paraphrase the opening lines of our First Reading: “We prayed, and prudence was given us; we pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to us.” This is the “stuff” – the prudence, the wisdom – that we need to be filling our lives with. Everything in this life is transitory, is temporary. The wisdom that comes from the Heart and Mind of God is eternal, and that is what we should be yearning for, seeking for, and desiring after. It is when we possess these things that we are able to discern the Mind and Heart of God, but we are also able to live out our call and promise to be the disciples of Christ.

       The rich young man left Jesus because he couldn’t let go of the “stuff”, of the “things” that are temporary and transitory in this life. He couldn’t see the eternal promises that Jesus was offering because of his lack of ability to discern the Mind and the Heart of God – even when God, Himself, was standing before him. My four-year-old Godson can’t yet comprehend a life without “stuff” – but eventually he’ll learn what it is to discern the words of Jesus. Yet you and I, who are gathered here today, have the understanding – and hopefully the desire – to discern where God is calling us.

       In discerning the Mind and Heart of God, we need to be able to let go of all the “stuff” of this life and the “things” that possess or consume us. As we prepare to receive the Eucharist in a few moments, we need to turn over to the Lord all those things of this world that possess and / or consume us. We cannot consume the Lord and hope that He will consume us if there are “things” blocking our discernment of His Mind and Heart.

       How are you and I like the rich young man? How are you and I like my Godson? Probably in more ways than we would like to admit. Nevertheless, if we only desire the “things” of this world, then we will never open ourselves to desire to know the Mind or Heart or will of the Lord. To truly be people of the Resurrection, we only need to be a people united to His Heart, His Mind; we only need to be people desiring His will. Let us not walk away from the Lord downtrodden, but, instead, be the people of hope and mercy that the Gospel urges us to be and to become.

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Enjoy the journey . . . 

Four People, Four Characteristics

Homily for the 26^th Sunday in Ordinary Time
27 September 2015

       I hope that you’ve been following a little of Pope Francis’ visit to the United States. In a lot of ways, this has been a phenomenal time for the Church in America. Our Holy Father continues to witness to the Gospel among the people of this great nation.

       Some of you may have had the chance to catch the Pope’s address to Congress this past Thursday. During that talk, the Holy Father mentioned four Americans for us to emulate: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton. These four people, the Pope tells us, point to four characteristics that we as Americans – and for us, especially, as Catholics! – should practice: openness to God, social justice and rights, liberty, and plurality. Each of these characteristics can be traced to the example of Moses, and that, as Pope Francis reminded us, should lead us to God, Himself.

       These four characteristics are also realized in our readings this day. As we have listened to a portion of the story of Moses and the Ancient Israelites, and we reflect upon the ministry and teaching of Jesus, we realize that our vocation as Christians must include the examples of Lincoln, King, Day and Merton.

       As we consider Abraham Lincoln and his characteristic of liberty, we recognize that it is this liberty that God gives to us to live in, to pursue, and to exercise our free will. This gift of liberty is the essential and primordial present that the Lord gives to us. It is this gift which we first choose or reject God. Liberty is that characteristic in which we enter into the life God gives us and allows us to pursue the happiness that we’re all searching for. The Ancient Israelites were experiencing this now-found liberty, and, while still pining for their days in Egypt, they began to understand this gift that God had given them, and how to remain faithful to Him through the struggle from slavery into freedom. It is this gift of liberty that Jesus provides for us to be able to follow Him, to do His will, and to preach the Gospel in word and deed. It is that liberty in which that anonymous person was driving out demons in the Name of Jesus, and it is that liberty in which we are free and able and called to do the same.

       When we turn our attention to Martin Luther King and his characteristic of plurality, we come to the recognition of how it’s not left to a select group of people to fulfill the will of God and the building up of the Kingdom. Rather, each person has the obligation to labor in the vineyard of the Lord. Just as Eldad and Medad began to prophecy in the camp of the Israelites, to that anonymous person exercising demons in the Gospel, we are given the examples to see how the Spirit of God will move as He will, and that – in liberty – we, as individuals and as a community, have the choice to cooperate with Spirit whenever He moves us. This characteristic of plurality reminds us that each person and each community has the opportunity and obligation to work with each other for the spreading of the joy of the Gospel.

       This leads us to consider the example of Servant of God Dorothy Day. This convert to Catholicism and her characteristic of working for social justice and rights bring to light how this gift of plurality ought to be used to work for the benefit of our neighbor and the advancement of the common good. The working for social justice and rights is NOT socialism, but is, rather, the ordering of the society to work for the human society because of the underlying understanding of the dignity of the human person being created in the image and likeness of God. Though Dorothy Day worked primarily with the physical needs of the people, her work was based in the Gospel. She understood that working for social justice and rights was not simply a matter of giving people some clothing, food or shelter. Rather, she understood that to be the image and example of Christ, she would do more than something physically good for her brothers and sisters, but could also help them in their spiritual longings, as well. She understood the Gospel teaching that to truly care for our brothers and sisters, we must take an integrated and holistic approach: that the body and soul must be taken care of simultaneously. To work for social justice and rights, we look at the person as person and recognize their dignity of being our brother or sister – no matter their race, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or religious creed. But we must work towards those justices and rights through the understanding of the teachings of Christ and His Church, and apply those teachings to the working of building up the dignity of humanity as an image of God, fully alive in body and soul. As we can glimpse through our readings today, the understanding that to take care of a person’s physical well-being could also heal them spiritually and vice versa was commonplace. It is an awareness that we have lost in this post-modern age, because we have separated the spiritual and the physical. The human person is body and soul – and both have to be taken care of. And as we work together to ensure the liberty of each person – born and unborn – we do so because the work of ensuring the justices and rights of each person is done for the building up of the common good and the Kingdom of God.

       Yet none of the three previous characteristics – liberty, plurality, working for social justice and rights – make sense or have any weight if there is not first an openness to God, as Thomas Merton examples for us. Merton, as Cistercian monk, lived a life that was always searching for that which would fulfill him. Until he truly opened his life to have that freedom, that liberty, to encounter God, Merton, himself, could not truly live. It is the same with us. This openness to God is at the very heart of who we are as Christians. It is this openness which allows us to be Christ-like to the greatest and the least of our brothers and sisters. If we do not have this openness to God, then our attempt to live out the Gospel is futile. Pope Francis made mention to how Merton was a man of dialogue, which he truly was. But he could have never been a man of dialogue if he didn’t first have that openness to dialogue with God first. As Merton teaches us, it is in the silence, solace and solitude of our hearts that we truly encounter the Presence of the Living God. We must be open to first dialogue with our God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – before we can ever begin to dialogue with others, or even begin to work for their good and the common good. It is this openness to God which we see working in the prophesying of Eldad and Medad among the Israelites; it is this openness to God which we see working in the anonymous person in the Gospel. It is this openness to God that you and I must have at the very depths of our hearts, the very core of our being, if we are to truly be Christ to one another and to others. It is the same openness to God that our parish family must be during this time of discernment within our diocesan cluster of Brookline and Beechview. If we cease in any way our openness to God, we cease being a human being fully alive; we cease being a Church alive. Merton reminds us so plainly in his life how the dialogue with God gives us the grace and the openness to do His will.

       Those who are open to God, open to a true dialogue with God, and open to the movement of His Spirit will always choose the liberty He offers, not simply for themselves, but for the common good of their brothers and sisters. We will recognize that it is the job of each man and woman to labor in the vineyard of the Lord so that the justices and rights that are given to us by God – and not those deemed essential or necessary by humanity and the whims of society – are established and secured for the dignity of all mankind. Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton all understood this. Pope Francis understands this, as well, and calls not simply the Congress to live this out, but is calling the United States of America to once again be a land and a people who are open to God, so that greatness of our nation may be an example of the true liberty, the true freedom and the true exercise of rights given to us by God may be an example to the rest of the world. And, at the same time, we are to be, in that openness to God, a people who champion for the dignity of all life, defending the unborn, the elderly, the sick, and the imprisoned – especially those on “Death Row” – so that all people may know and experience the mercy, compassion and life that our Risen Lord promises in this life to prepare us for the next. It is this openness which will truly allow us to experience the intimate encounter of our God in the Eucharist, and through the Eucharist, be sent back out into the world, so that our brothers and sisters may, themselves, learn what it is to be truly open to God so that they, like Dorothy Day – and like we should be, may be servants of the Gospel first, and our own desires second.

       Our Holy Father’s visit to our country truly has been a time of great excitement. However, that excitement must be that which opens us up to dialogue with God in the silence, solace and solitude of our hearts, leading us to defend and champion the liberties, rights and freedom that true justice in God provides. We are to be a people who are not afraid to be like Eldad, Medad, Moses, Jesus or the anonymous person – for each brought forth the glory of God to their time and place, to their neighbor and community. It is time for us to do the same. It is time for us to lead our society out of the darkness of sin and into the light of God.

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Enjoy the journey . . .

Servant-Leader

Homily for the 25^th Sunday in Ordinary Time
20 September 2015

       This past week, I caught a little of the Republican Presidential debate on CNN. There are some candidates that I like; others I would hope would step aside. But through it all, and  as I look at the candidates on both sides of the fence, I’m not just looking to the best leader, but someone who reflects what Jesus taught His disciples in today’s Gospel: I’m looking for someone who will be a servant-leader.

       What, then, is a “servant-leader”? It is a person who does not lead because of power or prestige, but, rather, is a person who leads because, at the heart of who he or she is, recognizes that the Christ in them must serve the Christ in others. The servant-leader leads others to the common good and the fulfillment of the Natural Law because they, themselves, have been led to and sent from the Heart of Christ.

       Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, is a wonderful example of what it is to be a servant-leader. He has encountered Christ, found joy in that relationship, and allows his life to be an invitation for others to encounter the joy of the Risen Lord. He takes seriously his title of “Servant of the Servants of God.” The Holy Father, by his teaching and lived example, seeks to bring you and me – and, in fact, all of humanity – to serve each other with the heart of Christ.

       And that’s not only the example we need to follow, but is, in fact, the example we are to show to others.

       Pope Francis reminds us in his recent encyclical, Laudato Si’, that “when human beings place themselves at the center, the give absolute priority to immediate convenience and all else becomes relative” (LS 122). Not only is the Holy Father talking about the care of creation, but is talking about how we interact with each other as the human family. When you and I live a life that’s “all about me,” we fail to lead others to the Heart of Christ; we fail in serving others in the Name of Jesus Christ; we fail in leading others to the joy of the Risen Lord.

       When you and I become servant-leaders, the words spoken in our First Reading from the Book of Wisdom will come to life. We will be condemned; we will be put to death. Because our society shuns the truth of Christ and the Truth Who IS Christ, we will be mocked and we will be hated. Our society is one that “places [human beings] in the center,” and we have become witnesses of our own demise and downfall.

       Yet the words of Wisdom also serve us not just as a warning, but more so as a rallying cry for us to be faithful and faith-filled witnesses of the Gospel. They should be for us words of inspiration to endeavor in our fidelity to Jesus Christ and His Church. People will mock us, shun us and hate us because we choose to lead others to Jesus Christ and serve in His Name and His example. And while our society may condemn us, we strive for the righteousness of God, cultivating His peace, as Saint James reminds us in our Second Reading, for it is that peace  which a servant-leader brings forth to the world from the Heart of God.

       When you look at yourself, when I look at myself, and we contemplate our relationship with the Risen Lord, can we honestly say that through our Christian service we lead others closer to Christ? Does our love of God and neighbor enable us to use our thoughts, words and actions to bring others to the truth Christ teaches through His Church? Or do we place ourselves in the center of our existence, that we end up not only compromising the Church’s teachings, but also our relationship with God and each other?

       Thus weekend, we celebrate Catechetical Sunday. It is more than just an opportunity to celebrate and appreciate those who mission to pass on the Catholic Faith, but is also for each of us a reminder that, as servant-leaders, we are charged by our life’s vocation and state of life to teach and pass on the truths of Christ and His Church through our gifts and talents, and by the way we live our lives.

       We are also reminded on this Catechetical Sunday that our teaching of and passion along of the Faith is not limited to what we do on this parish campus or simply the programs we offer. We remember that parents are the first and primary teachers of the Faith, and that their charge as servant-leader is to bring their children closer to Christ – no matter how young or old they may be. As your spiritual father, this is a charge I take seriously towards you, my spiritual children. Nevertheless, what we do in our Religious Education Program, our Catholic schools, youth ministry or adult formation programs is only secondary to what is to be taught in the home. The “Domestic Church,” as Saint John Paul II called it, is the first and primary environment in which we encounter and Jesus Christ.

       As a community today, we welcome the children among us. As we heard in the Gospel, whoever receives a child in the Name of Jesus receives Jesus, Himself. In welcoming the children in our midst, we welcome Christ, Himself. And in welcoming Christ in this way, we are reminded that as servant-leaders, we are called to become like Christ in the most child-like fashion: We are called to become vulnerable. Vulnerability is not always a bad thing. Children remind us that being vulnerable opens us up to being trusting, dependent and open to the support and care of others. While our society has become rather apathetic to the world around them, as servant-leader we understand that the child-like vulnerability we embody allows us to be more empathetic so that we may better lead others to the Heart of Christ. We welcome the children today, for they are the servant-leaders teaching us what it means to be vulnerable, for we are all dependent on God.

       My brothers and sisters, in a few moments you and I will have the opportunity to remind ourselves how vulnerable and dependent on God we really are as we receive the gift of the Eucharist. In a few moments, we will be reminded in the most intimate fashion of what it is to be a servant-leader as we are led to the very Heart of God through the Most Blessed Sacrament. And from His Heart we are sent to the world to serve and to lead our neighbors and community closer to Christ.

       As our nation once again enters the cycle to elect the next president, I pray that whoever is chosen will have the heart of a servant-leader, so that he or she may remind us of who we have been called to be: People on a mission to teach and to lead others to the very Heart of God by serving them through our thoughts, words and actions.

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Enjoy the journey . . .

Homily for Ascension

The Solemnity of the Ascension that we celebrate today is also the day in which we begin the great preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Yet part of that preparation is to use the gifts that God has equipped us with for the proclamation and spreading of the Gospel. For the Lord has commissioned some of us as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, all to equip and assist each other for the work and within the work of ministry.

The question arises, however: Are we afraid to go out into the world? In some ways, yes; in other ways, no. There are moments where we will answer with haste the call to go out to all the world and tell the Good News. And there are moments where we will be dumbfounded, and continue to stare into the clouds, waiting for something miraculous to happen in our lives.

Whether we are afraid or not is not the question. Ultimately, the question becomes: Are we faithful to the call, to the vocation (in all aspects of the word), that the Lord has given to us? Remember the adage: God doesn’t call the equipped; He equips the called. For we have been urged to live in a manner worthy of the call that we have received; that with all humility and gentleness, with patience, we are to bear with one another through love, always striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as we have been also called to the one hope of THE call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism...

Our Lord ascends today to be seated at the right hand of the Father, raising our humanity to an unparalleled state. It is our hope and calling to one day join all the saints and angels around the throne of God. However, for us to be present in that august body of creatures, we are to be faithful to the mission and ministry we have been called to. We are to trust that the Lord will equip us for the mission at hand.

We are to faithfully enter fully into that vocation to go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.