The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

I'm sure you have all heard at one time or another the phrase, “There is no 'I' in 'Team'”. The phrase is of course not just about how to spell the word “team” but more importantly about how members of a team must learn to work together in order for that team to succeed. If an individual within a team is only interested gaining a name for himself or herself (only looking out for “Number One”), not only will the team very likely fall short of it's goal, but so will that individual. Teams are made up of individuals and each individual has his or her own individual talents and personalities that add to the mix of the team, but unless those individuals can learn to let those individual talents and personalities work together, unless they can put aside selfish ambition in favor of the success of others, that talent won't get them anywhere.

The movie “Miracle” tells the story of Herb Brooks leading the US Men's Hockey team to a gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics. The movie focuses a lot on how Brooks took some of the best players in college hockey at the time and made them into a team. In the first half of the movie, the team is not doing well at all. In fact, they are not even acting like a team. There is competition between the players of whose college team is the best. Whenever Brooks asks them what team they play for, they answer with their individual college teams. They don't even consider themselves to be on the same team.

The team is able to pull off a tie against the Norwegian National team, but Brooks is unimpressed. He has the team do sprints up and down the ice. In a inspirational part of the movie, he yells, “You think you can win on talent alone? Gentlemen, you don't have enough talent to win on talent alone.” He says several other lines in this scene as well, all talking about the need to work as a team, and not as a group of individuals hoping for success. Brooks keeps yelling “Again” and the assistant coach blows a whistle and the team sprints over and over. Finally, when the players are so exhausted that they can barely stand up, one player calls out his name and where he is from. Brooks asks, “Who do you play for?” Between gasps for breath, the player says, “I play for the United States of America”. Brooks simply says, “That's all, gentlemen”, and then leaves.

This idea of working for more than just our own individual, selfish goals can be applied to many other parts of our lives than just sports teams. Today is the Feast of the Holy Family. Like a team, a family is made up of individuals, each with their own personality; each with their own unique gifts and ways of looking at things that contribute to the overall make up of that family. But if each member of a family cared only about their own wants and desires and cared little for the needs of the overall family, that family is going to fall apart. The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph is a great example of a family that cares about each other, rather than individual desires. Their example can help us in our families to do the same.

The Gospel tells the story of the Holy Family's flight into Egypt. St. Joseph leads his family into Egypt for protection and then to Nazareth where they are able to settle down and begin their life together as a family. It is important for us to understand, however, that there would not be a Holy Family had not each individual member of that family agreed to put aside their own desires in favor of the family's needs and the will of God the Father. St. Joseph at first wanted to avoid any trouble by simply divorcing Mary quietly. Even after Mary gave birth, he certainly had the free will to leave whenever he wanted. The temptation to just do his own thing and avoid all the problems connected with having a pregnant wife and a child who has already been given a death sentence by the king, must have crossed his mind at some point. But he remains a faithful father and husband. Neither did Mary have to say yes to Gabriel's message. She could have opted for a more simple life as a carpenter's wife in Nazareth. Yet she says yes to the Father's will. Jesus, as the Son of God, understood in a unique way, the Father's plan and His will for Him, so it is not too surprising that He agreed to God's will, but He definitely did not have to come to earth this way. He didn't have to be born or be raised in a family or be obedient to parents. He did this to humble Himself, become one of us, and to help teach us what it means to be a part of a family.

The first and second readings also teach about families and what we are called to do for our fellow family members. The first reading from Sirach talks about how each member has a job to do, talking about a father over his children and a mother's authority over her sons. Sometimes children complain about there being too many rules and how unfair it is that they are not in charge, but what the children hopefully understand eventually is that the authority given to the parents is to protect them and help to grow up into healthy adults. Children also have a role in obeying their parents, to honor and revere them. They will also take care of them when they are old.

The second reading from St. Paul's letter to the Colossians, talks about the love that members of a family have for each other; mirrored by the love that God has for the Jesus Christ and the love Jesus has for the Church. The last paragraph can sound contradictory to the rest of it. “Wives be subordinate to your husbands” and “Husbands love your wives”. St. Paul isn't giving an advantage or some sort of power to one spouse over the other. That word “subordinate” simply means to have respect and reverence towards. This is not being asked just of the wives, but of the husbands for their wives as well. Have love and respect for each other. Children are asked to have this for their parents as well.

What all this amounts to, is that we, as members of families, are called to love and respect each other. We are called to work as a team to help each other grow in holiness. We are not in this just for ourselves, but so that we can help each other enter into Heaven.

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Some people trust other people very easily, for others it can take some time to learn to trust. This can be the case especially after a person is hurt or taken advantage of by another person. I’m sure that many of you have gotten hurt by those you have trusted in the past. Maybe it was mistake or an accident and you're afraid of a similar accident happening again. Perhaps you have reason to believe that the person had every intention to deceive or hurt you in some way. Sometimes after a major wound like that, a person becomes jaded or cynical of anyone else who claims to be trustworthy. I'm not saying that this happens to everyone, but for those who have experienced something like this it can be hard to trust another person again.

It can also be hard for a person to trust in God after being hurt or betrayed by another human being. Catholic psychologists have noticed that a person's relationship with their father can influence their spiritual relationship with God the Father. So if you had an uneasy relationship with your dad, it might be hard for you to have a deep relationship with God the Father. You may find it easier to pray to Jesus Christ the Son or to ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to pray for us, rather than to pray to God the Father directly. Our relationship and acceptance of the Church and how we get along with our fellow Christians can also influence our relationship with God. Now here is the important thing, however. Just because we have a hard time trusting in God, does not give us permission to simply leave our lack of trust where it is and blame all the other untrustworthy people who we have met along the way. No. Our readings today teach us to have complete faith and trust in God.

Our first reading from Isaiah focuses quite a bit on the lack of faith of King Ahaz. Now to be fair to Ahaz, the poor guy has it pretty rough. He is the king of Judah, or the southern part of David’s kingdom. If we look a little ahead of today’s reading, we see that his capital city of Jerusalem is being attacked by two kingdoms from the north, Aram, a kingdom located in modern day Syria, and, ironically, Israel, the northern half of David’s kingdom. These two northern kingdoms formed an alliance and a joint army that filled King Ahaz and his people with much fear and trepidation. In response, God sends the prophet Isaiah to go talk to the king. God tells the king, through the words of the prophet, not to fear these kingdoms. God will protect Jerusalem and will cut those enemies down. He warns the king, “Unless your faith is firm, you shall not be firm.” When we get to today’s reading, Ahaz is apparently not yet convinced the he can trust in God to take care of everything. Again, God speaks through the prophet and tells the king to ask for a sign. God is basically saying, “Look! I know you’re scared. Choose any sign that you want, it can be as big as you like, and it will be given to you. Then you will know that I really am watching out for you and protecting you.” Ahaz’s response of refusing to tempt the Lord is not really as modest or as humble as it might sound. It isn’t that the king is trying to avoid tempting God or testing Him requests of signs or miracles. This response shows that his mind is already closed. He is not interested in God’s attempts to make him believe.

The prophecy that comes after all this, is no longer just for the benefit of King Ahaz, but is for the benefit of generations to come, including our own. In fact, the sign mentioned in the prophecy will actually not do the king any good, because it doesn’t happen until several generations later. This sign is for all of us. Though there is death, and disease, and wars, and violence and numerous other things in this world that cause us sorrow and distress and mistrust of our fellow human beings; though there is all these hardships around us, God sent His son, Emmanuel, to be among us and to save us. This season of Advent is meant to prepare us for the coming celebration of Christmas when this Virgin will give birth to the one who is God-made-flesh. What a wonderful celebration.

In contrast to the stubborn and distrustful King Ahaz, the Gospel reading gives us the very trusting and faithful example of St. Joseph. It is not by coincidence that we have two people in the Bible with the name Joseph who play big roles in salvation history. The patriarch Joseph (with his coat of many colors) and St. Joseph have a lot in common beside their first name. Both are given messages from God through dreams. The patriarch receives visions that tell of how his brothers will turn to him for help and will bow before him. Later, he interprets dreams for Pharaoh and some of his servants. Their dreams are again messages from God, which lead to Joseph getting a high position in Egypt and able to help his family when they eventually come. St. Joseph receives the message we hear today about Mary and the child she is to give birth to. It leads to his accepting Mary into his home and raising Jesus as his own son. Later on in the story, Joseph will be warned in dream to take Mary and the Child to Egypt to protect them from Herod. The fact that St. Joseph takes the Holy Family to Egypt for protection is meant to reflect how the patriarch Joseph brought his family with him to Egypt to protect them from famine.

The biggest similarity between these two men is the faithfulness. Jewish rabbis have long pointed to the patriarch Joseph of righteousness and faithfulness. They give him the title Tzadik (ZAW – dik) which means righteous one. Though the rabbis don’t acknowledge who St. Joseph is, he is clearly meant to mirror that same righteousness of his namesake.

Both of these tzadikim believed that God was with them. They knew what it was like to have hardships: imagine being sold into slavery by your family or being told your wife will give birth to the savior of the world. They were faithful; they trusted that God would be with them.

As we enter into Christmas is just a few days, remember that Christ truly is Emmanuel: God with us! Do not fear as Ahaz did, but trust and rejoice as St. Joseph did.

Friday of Third Week of Advent

Friday of Third Week of Advent

Mary's "yes" to being the Virgin who gives birth to Emmanuel is a "yes" that still affects us today.  We have her to thank for our savior being born for us.  In contrast to yesterday's Gospel, in which Zechariah is more incredulous of the angel's message when he says, "How shall I know this?", Mary simply wonders "How can this be?", how will this all happen?  With the explanation that the Spirit will make it possible, Mary responds with an enthusiastic "yes" when she says, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

May we follow the example of Mary in saying yes to God's call for us.

Thursday of Third Week of Advent

Thursday of Third Week of Advent

Two angles sent to two women, both of whom were barren, and are informed that they will in fact have sons and that they will indeed have sons who will be consecrated to God.  These accounts about the announcements of the births of Samson and John the Baptist foreshadow the magnificent account of the angel Gabriel's message to Mary.  We'll hear about that announcement tomorrow  (stay tuned!).  Until then, we are reminded that God has special plans for His children (all of us) and the bringing of an Old Testament judge (Samson) and a prophet (John) is just the beginning.  The special celebration is coming soon.

Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent

Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent

The first reading today shows that God chose Judah to have a certain primacy among the tribes of Israel.  The Gospel then gives us the genealogy of Jesus, showing that His family comes all the way from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah and all the way to King David and through the Babylonian Exile.  Three sets of 14; a number symbolic of King David.  Matthew is pointing out the Jesus is the son of David and Abraham, but also showing that God had this planed from the very beginning.  As we continue in these last seven days before Christmas, let us be mindful of God's loving plan to bring us closer to Himself.

Third Sunday of Advent

Third Sunday of Advent

There are two words that can be used to describe what the readings are about for today: joyful expectation. The readings speak of waiting for someone; of waiting for the Messiah. But it isn’t just some boring wait that we have to endure like when we wait at the check out or wait for a traffic light to change. Those who wrote these passages we just heard are clearly talking about expecting someone of great importance. This Messiah is not someone who we are waiting for with dread, but someone who we will be filled with joy at seeing. So the readings, in fact the prayers and other texts that are written specifically for the Third Sunday of Advent, are truly about joyful expectation. This Sunday is called Gaudete Sunday, which means “rejoice”.

When I was writing this homily, I was thinking to myself what would make a good image to help illustrate this idea of joyful expectation? And I began thinking about how when I go back to my parent's house in Grand Rapids, there is always one there who is so excited to see me, it is almost as if she waiting with bated breath for my return. I am talking about Dori, my parent's Golden Retriever. Now some of you might not be dog people, some of you might not really like them at all, so you might not be able to relate to this all that well, but if you have ever watched a dog react to seeing his master or family come home, you know that he is going to be overjoyed to see them and will do his best to show how excited he is. It doesn't matter if you were out the door for five minutes or were gone on a vacation for a week and had to leave the dog in the care of the neighbors, if that dog is healthy and is being taken care of, he is excited to see you. “Oh boy! You're back! I didn't think I would ever see you gain!”

Dogs have a gift for being able to show their emotions in their whole body language. When you think about it, the word emotion is not just talking about feelings, but also about how the body reacts to that feeling. Emotions literally give motion to the body. This is very apparent in dogs. If a dog is sad the ears and tail both droop and head might be lowered as well. Angry, the ears are perked up, the muscles tighten and his hackles are up. Excited or happy, the mouth is open and the tail is wagging. Sometimes the whole body is wagging with the tail.

Going back to my parent's dog Dori, she doesn't actually wait at the door for me, since I only go back about once or twice a month, but seeing her reaction, you would think she had been awaiting my return. She is almost ten years old now, so she is not as spry as she used to be. She used to jump off the couch and run to greet me. Sometimes she won't even get off the couch now, but once she sees it's me, she'll still get up, albeit slowly, and wag her tail enthusiastically and even jump up to say hello. He favorite thing to do when I come in the door is to get one of her toys, which are scattered throughout the house, and get me to play with her. I am certain that if that dog could talk, her favorite thing to say would be. “Oh boy! It's you! I have the perfect toy! Wait right here! I'll go get it!” And she'll run off to find it and will be back in a few seconds, so I can play with her. The funny thing with this dog, is that she is not looking for just any toy. I know this because she will run past other toys in search of a specific toy that she has in mind. And she will find that toy, because in her mind I have come back specifically to play with her and for no other purpose.

I hope that talking a little about dogs and their exuberance at seeing familiar humans come back can at least give us an idea of the joyful expectation that today's readings are trying to convey to us. The Prophet Isaiah describes what almost sounds like a scene out of a Disney movie. The coming of the Messiah is going to be so exciting and so joyful that the land itself is going to be transformed, simply because there is so much joy! “The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song.” Land that is arid and has very little growing on it is going to burst forth with life with the coming of Christ. The land itself will even sing for joy we are told. This is a big deal. The reading ends with, “Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy; they will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee.” To ransom someone means to free them from something. In this case they are talking about how Christ is going to free His people from sin. No wonder there is so much rejoicing! If we could understand what that really means to be freed from sin, we would be rejoicing as well. We take it for granted that Christ saves us, thought. That's the problem.

While Isaiah talks about getting excited for the coming of the Lord, St. James says in his letter to be patient. Impatience, the apostle warns, leads to a lack of charity towards those around you, and so he warns not to complain about others. He also seems to be saying to trust in God when he says, “Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand.” St. James is talking about Jesus' second coming and is telling his audience to be ready. He knows that those reading the letter are already excited about Jesus' coming, but he also knows that the excitement might boil over if they don't keep patience and get properly ready for this incredible event.

The Gospel does not disappoint by continuing this theme of joyful expectation. Even John the Baptist has had expectations of the coming of the Christ. I am certain that John already knew that Jesus was “the one who is to come”, but I'm guessing he sent his disciples to ask Him for their own benefit. As if Jesus' response to the question is not already a clear enough answer of “Yes!”, with all the references to the lame walking and the deaf hearing, the Lord gives a side explanation to the crowd. They have been expecting someone important. John didn't meet those expectations and neither did Jesus. But John is more important than you think, and so is Jesus. Jesus is saying, I'm here, and big things are going to happen.

I encourage all of you, don't let this Advent Season and the coming Christmas Season pass you by as just some crazy time of year to get through. We are expecting the second coming of Jesus one day. Let us be joyful about this. Let us welcome Christ with joy!

Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent

Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent

The readings speak about gathering the lost sheep of the flock and giving comfort to the people of God.  God loves us and wants us close to Him, and so He seeks out the lost and those who have wondered astray.  He doesn't seek us out to try to force us to be with Him or enslave us as His servants.  He gathers us close to Him so that He can comfort us and console us in whatever hardships and troubles we may encounter. 

These readings can be looked a couple different ways.  When we are the lost sheep, through sins we have committed, it is reassuring that God will always be looking out for us and will comfort us when we are at out lowest point.  These are also words to encourage us when we encounter our brothers and sisters who have wondered away from following God and have become the lost sheep.  We can help them to understand that God is not trying to force Himself into our lives, nor is the Church trying to force us into anything (as it can sometimes feel like when they have a bunch of people trying to get them back to Church).  God just wants to comfort us and get us back to His flock.  If we just allow that to happen, our joy will be complete.

Second Sunday of Advent

I hope everyone had a very blessed Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception yesterday.  I totally forgot about posting my homily for last Sunday, so here it is.

Second Sunday of Advent

          It can be very easy for a person to fall into a deep sense of guilt over a wide variety of things.  Maybe a person feels guilty for what they said or did to another person, like insulting another person or speaking about them behind their back.  Perhaps it is guilt for what they did not do for that person, like not saying “Thank you” for a kind deed or for not giving someone help or a kind word when you know they needed it.  In some instances, guilt is simply our conscience letting us know that we have done something wrong and we need to rectify the situation.  Guilt can also be harmful to us if we don't deal with it in the right way, however.  People have gone crazy because they didn't deal with their guilt in a healthy way.  Some hold on to guilt long after they were forgiven of what they feel guilty about and some feel guilty for things that were not as bad as their imaginations make them out to be. 

          There is a type of guilt that is common among Catholics that is often referred to simply as “Catholic guilt”.  Catholic guilt is simply the guilt that a Catholic feels when he or she is not doing all that they think they should be doing as a Catholic.  Catholic guilt can be helpful in some situations.  It can help remind us of our need to pray, go to reconciliation and give to the poor and various charities.  It can even help us to get ourselves off our duffs on a Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning and get to Church at a descent time.  Catholic guilt can also be hard on a person however.  In fact, I think it is very easy for us Catholics to be a little too hard on ourselves.  Maybe we miss Mass because of bad weather.  Bad weather is a valid reason for missing Mass, but I'm sure there would still be people who say to themselves, “Yeah, but if I would have just driven very slowly on the black ice, I might have still made it.”  Yes, but the Church also wants you to stay alive!  There is no need to beat ourselves up over something like that.  We can go to reconciliation if we feel we must, but know that God wants us to pray to Him on Sundays.  He doesn't want us to risk our lives, or the lives of others, just to get to the Church.  The same can be said about missing Mass because of illness. 

          I brought up all this about guilt and about whether guilt is helpful or justified in certain situations, because we want to be careful not to let guilt get the best of us.  If we let it get the best of us, then we become afraid of having anything to do with God.  We hold back and end up having nothing to do with faith or religion at all.  In reality, we should be running back to Church, back to God, so that we can talk with Him and see the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist so that any wounds can be healed.  It is through the Church that we can hope to improve our relationship with God and grow in holiness.

          Today's Gospel reading talks about repentance and having reconciliation with God.  But I hope that we can see in all the readings, however, that this is not meant to make us feel guilt ridden, but rather as encouragement for us to have a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God.  In the Gospel, St. John the Baptist, who is considered the forerunner of the Jesus, the one who is to prepare for His coming, is preaching about repentance.  “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”.  It is true that we need repentance, but there is a danger if all we think about is how we have to repent.  It is easy to start thinking that there is something wrong with us.  We begin thinking that God isn't going to love us any more because we are so sinful.  That, of course is not the message that St. John the Baptist or Jesus wanted to give.  As the rest of the readings show, the message is really one of encouragement: encouraging us all to strengthen our relationship with God through prayer and seeking reconciliation with God.

          The first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is about how God will judge the nations through this mysterious person who is described as this “shoot from the stump of Jesse”.  “Stump of Jesse” is a reference to the House of David.  A shoot means that this person is going to be a descendent of King David.  Isaiah is talking about the coming of the Messiah, which we Christians recognize as Jesus Christ.  The prophecy continues that this Messiah will judge the peoples in a peaceful way.  He will not judge by hearsay or by appearance, but with justice.  So peaceful and just will this be that the whole world will be at peace.  Even animals that are typically in a predator versus prey relationship (like wolf and a lamb or lion and a calf) will live together in peace.  This is God's goal that the world will be at peace and in union with God.

          The second reading continues that same idea.  “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus.”  God isn't interested in holding our sins over our heads.  He wants us to move past our sins and strengthen our relationship with Him.  I'm not saying that God doesn't care that we have sinned.  He does care.  Our sins hurt our relationship with Him.  What I am saying is that God isn't trying to take us on a guilt trip when He tells us to repent or talks about the sins of this world.  Seek prayer and reconciliation and our relationship with God will grow.

          As we continue in this season of Advent, let us make it our goal to strengthen our relationship with God.  That means prayer.  That means getting to the Church for Mass.  That means getting into the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  It will all mean a closer understanding of Jesus, and a joyful celebration of Christmas.

Friday of the First Week of Advent

Friday of the First Week of Advent

Memorial of St. Nicholas today, a man of great faith and (according to the stories anyway) of great generosity.  May his example help us to do the same.  We also hear today about the faith of the two blind men who were healed in the Gospel today.  Let us not fear to ask God for what we need. 

Thursday of the First Week of Advent

Thursday of the First Week of Advent

Christ is our firm foundation.  If we listen to Him, the Word of God made flesh, then we will be like that wise man in the parable: set firmly on rock.  Tough times may happen (winds blowing and buffeting the house) but it won't crush us.  Let us put our trust in that help.

Wednesday of the First Week of Advent

Wednesday of the First Week of Advent

Two different meals mentioned in the readings today, the great feast on the Lord's mountain from Isaiah, and the multiplication of loaves.  Both refer to a meal that is so much more than just food to be put in our bellies, however.  They refer to the Eucharist, the bread of life, which is to get us ready for the Eternal Banquet in Heaven.  Who knew salvation could be connected with good food? 

First Sunday of Advent

First Sunday of Advent

Since we are just finishing up on Thanksgiving weekend, I'm sure that most of us here have a pretty clear idea in our minds of what it means to make preparations for something big that is about to happen. Even when my sister and I were children and we weren't old enough yet to be much help in the kitchen, we were asked to do our part in getting the house cleaned and presentable for guests. So whether you were a part of the cooking crew or the clean up crew this weekend, I'm sure many of you had some part to play in preparing for this weekend.

As I told a few of you, this year I played host to a few members of my family. I'm not in a straitjacket so I must of survived it just fine. My mom was the main cook for the dinner, but I helped around the kitchen with getting the meal prepared and getting the table all set. Whenever I'm doing food prep, I can't help but think about a very funny scene from a Three Stooges episode in which Moe, Larry, and Curly volunteer to help make dinner for a birthday party. You know this is not going to go over very well. At one point Larry tells Curly to shave some ice. The next scene you see is Curly with a big block of ice on a chair and he's sharpening a straightedge razor blade. He then whips up some shaving cream and proceeds to literally shave the block of ice, saying things like, “You're new in neighborhood, aren't you?” and making jokes, “Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck!” After Moe gives him the usual head slap, Curly then goes to stuff the turkey for the dinner. He reads the ingredients as he goes. “Separate two eggs”. He holds them apart and puts both of them whole into the bird. “Two potatoes. Diced”. He shakes them like a pair of dice and rolls them on the table before putting them in whole. He then literally pinches some salt, puts in a half dozen oysters (shells and all), and a can of peas (the whole can). When told to put in a loaf of bread, well soaked, he punches a loaf several times and stuffs the whole thing in the bird. He also looses his ring and a wrist watch during this process, which guest finds later on in the stuffing.

The Stooges are anything but good examples for how to prepare for a feast or celebration. But it is still rather humorous to think about how bad things could get if you had three knuckleheads trying to cook something. It is also nice to know that even with a few mistakes, any of us will probably do far better than they did.

As we begin the new liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent, our readings speak about looking forward to glorious times that are coming for the people of Israel and about making preparations for that day. The first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah speaks about how things will be so wonderful for the people of Israel that people for all over will want to come to Jerusalem and to the Lord's House. Part of the city of Jerusalem is built on a mountain called Zion, so when you hear “Zion” mentioned, like in this reading and elsewhere in the Bible, it is a reference to the whole of the city of Jerusalem. The city is considered a holy city since that is where the Temple is located. So saying that all these people are going to Jerusalem also suggests that they are going to the Temple to pray and to worship God. This is also referenced in the psalm, “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord”.

Obviously something spectacular is going to be happening for the people of Israel. What it is isn't mentioned here, but I would hope that our Christian faith would indicate to us that this is one of many prophecies within the Old Testament of the coming of Jesus. The next two readings talk about how to prepare for that.

St. Paul in his letter to the Romans speaks of an urgency about being prepared for the coming of Jesus. He says, “You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand.” Now obviously, at the time Paul wrote this Jesus had already come, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven. He is not talking about the first time Jesus came; he is speaking about Jesus' Second Coming, which we are all waiting for as well. It is important to understand that St. Paul and many other Christians of the first century thought that Jesus' Second Coming was going to happen within their lifetime. It could happen at any moment and they did not want to be ill prepared for that moment. So leaders, like the Apostle Paul, preached and taught a lot about being prepared for that eventual coming again of Christ. In this instance, Paul uses the images of waking from a deep sleep and moving from darkness into light, just like any of us might be awakened in the early morning. You don't want to be all groggy and still waking up when Jesus comes. Be ready.

The Gospel continues with this idea of Jesus coming again without warning and at an unknown hour. The people of Noah's time didn't know that the flood waters were coming. Noah's family made preparations and survived; the others did not. Jesus also uses the imagery of staying awake. Perhaps the Apostles heard about a man who's house had been robbed during the night and Jesus uses that image as well to show the urgency of paying attention to what is happening.

Both Jesus and St. Paul are telling their listeners, including all of us today, that we do not know when that Second Coming will happen and so we must be prepared. So how do we do that? Well, both readings talk about disconnecting ourselves from worldly attachments. St. Paul mentions rivalry and jealousy and other sins that indicate an unhealthy attachment to the things in this world. In other words, they care more about stuff on earth, than about going to Heaven. Jesus also mentions the people of Noah's time who cared more about what they wanted than about doing God's will.

The best way for any of us to disconnect ourselves from worldly attachments and our own selfish desires is through prayer and taking time to focus on our relationship with Jesus. The Season of Advent is a wonderful time to do just that. Take a moment from the holiday rush that is beginning right now and focus on preparing for Christ. It will be well worth your time.

Wednesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Wednesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Be aware of what it is that God is asking you to do for Him.  Not always an easy task, but if we ask for the grace, God can help us to have a heart, open to what His desires for us are. 

King Belshazzar was not paying attention to what God wanted as he ruled his kingdom.  He even uses vessels that were supposed to be used for sacred ceremonies at the Temple for common eating and drinking at a party.  His kingdom is divided among his enemies.

The Gospel tells us to trust that the Holy Spirit will give us the words at the proper time.  Let us keep our hearts open.  God will help us.

Tuesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Tuesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Kings, kingdoms, temples, buildings, everything done by human hands and human ingenuity, will eventually fade away.  It will become nothing more than dust.  One thing remains: God.  It is He who we should focus on and it is on He who we should focus our praises towards.  As today's responsorial psalm says, "Give glory and eternal praise to him".  As we wrap up this liturgical year, may all our praises be to our God alone.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Every year the last Sunday of Ordinary time, in fact the last Sunday of the entire liturgical year, is the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe; or simply called, Christ the King. We are literally saying that we have a good and merciful God who came to earth just like one of us to die for our sins who is our supreme ruler in Heaven and Earth and all of creation. So, what exactly does that mean?

Part of coming to know what that means involves understanding that if there is a king, then there must also be a kingdom. We call Christ the King of the Universe, so literally all of the universe is His kingdom. But most specifically, we want to get into His Kingdom in Heaven. That means coming to know Him better and striving to be with Him for eternity.

I'm sure many of you have at least heard of a series of books called the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. A central character in each of the seven books is a lion named Aslan. As readers get more into the books, we find that Aslan is really a symbol for Christ. We see the lion at creation of Narnia itself, we see him at the end of creation, we see him appear at the darkest hour of the other main characters and impart wisdom and encourage virtues. He even breaths on them as Christ does for his Apostles to give them strength and courage and sacrifices himself for the sake of others. Aslan is clearly meant to symbolize Christ as King as well. Lewis chose to portray him as the “king of beasts” in his books. He is described as the son of the king over the sea and as the one true king of Narnia.

Some of the other main characters of the books are children from our world who go to this mythical land. At the end of most of the books, they have to return to our world. This return is always met with a mix of happiness and sadness: happy that the bad guys have been vanquished and all is well for Narnia, but sad that they must leave that land behind. They especially hate to leave Aslan behind. In one of the books, the children have an opportunity to enter Aslan's own country over the sea. They find out from Aslan that they cannot enter now, but there is a way to enter his country from their land. He says he will be telling them how to get there. When he tells them that they must leave now for their own world, they are sad and tell him that it is because they will never see him in their own world. “But you shall meet me, dear one” Aslan says. “Are – are you there too, Sir?” asks one of the children. “I am. But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This is the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.” Though this is from a children's novel, I would hope that all of us, adults and children, can apply this to our own faith life. We hear about Jesus in the Bible and from what people have told us. Maybe we have read books like the Narnia books that show us symbols of Him. But we are being called to know Him better in our real relationship with Him. This means taking time for prayer and spending time talking with Him and discerning what He wants us to do. This is our opportunity to enter into His own land; into His kingdom.

Our readings today speak about how we are to trust in our King in Heaven and come to know Him better. The first reading from 2 Samuel talks about King David's anointing as the king of Israel. The various tribes of Israel come together to choose him as their king. They talk about how he did great things when he was working as a servant under King Saul and how God himself chose him to be the shepherd and commander of Israel. This is not directly about Jesus, since it is clearly before the time of Jesus, but since Jesus is considered the son of David and is the fulfillment of the prophecy that says a son of David will sit on the throne forever, we are still talking about Christ the King. Christ's purpose is to watch over the people of Israel. That includes us, thanks to our Baptism through Christ.

The Responsorial Psalm speaks to where we hope to go as we get to know Jesus. “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord”. This psalm can have several meanings. It was first written as song that the Israelites would sing as they entered the Temple in Jerusalem to pray. We Christians sometimes use it to describe us going to Church to worship. But both the Temple and the Church are earthly symbols of Heaven. So we are truly singing about going to Heaven; the Kingdom of Christ.

St. Paul's letter to the Colossians doesn't say anything about kings, but it does talk about who Christ is. The Apostle says, “All things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church.” St. Paul is making the profession of faith about who Christ is, because he wants his listeners to be working at being closer to this great person. And after an introduction like that, why wouldn't we want to know Him?

The Gospel caps all this off by showing us why we call Christ our King and letting us know our rewards for following Him. At first the kingship is seen as a mockery. The soldiers and the one criminal all taunt Jesus to do something miraculous. But He doesn't, because He knows He must die first to fulfill what He came to do. The good criminal or thief gets what must happen. This may be the his first time meeting Jesus, but he is not just getting to know Jesus, like meeting someone on the street. He realizes who Jesus is and what He must do. He knows that Jesus truly is a king and must come into His kingdom. He asks to come with (“Jesus, remember me”), and because of his faith, Jesus obliges (“Today you will be with me”).

Christ is our King and we desire to be with Him in His Kingdom. Next week we will enter into the season of Advent and begin preparing for the birth of our Savior. Let us take this time, these next four weeks, to get to know Jesus better and ask for His grace so that we do not have to be without Him, but can be with Him is paradise for eternity.

Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr

Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr

St. Cecilia's Memorial is today.  She was a virgin martyr of the early Church.  There are stories about how she heard heavenly music at her wedding and how she later converted her husband to the faith and that they continued to minister to the poor and need in Rome until they were arrested and martyred.  However much of all that is true, the main point of it is that Cecilia wished to focus on what was holy.  She wished to focus on her relationship with Jesus most of all. 

The readings today call us to keep focused on what is holy as well.  1 Maccabees tells the story of the first Hanukah and how they rededicated the Temple after it had been defiled.  Jesus talks as well about keeping the Temple as a place of prayer.  This is all about keeping focused on what is holy.  We are called to keep focused on our relationship with God.  May St. Cecilia pray for us that we may receive the grace we need to do that.

Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Memorial remind us that from early on, God was getting Mary ready to be the Mother of the Jesus Christ; to be the Mother of God.  God was with her from her Immaculate Conception as we will celebrate in December.  She was devoted to Him, as we can see is Sacred Scripture, both as a mother and as a child of God (still a child because she was created by God).  God gave her the graces necessary.

The readings today are not for this specific memorial today, but do talk about preparing for the end times.  1 Maccabees talks about wars and revolts.  The Gospel talks of Jerusalem being attacked and destroyed.  In both cases, we are being told we want to be close to God the Father.  We want to have a closer relationship with Him.  This will bring peace, Jesus tells us.  Punishment will be prevented.  Let us come to know Him better.

Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

The context of the first reading today might seem familiar to some of you.  Two weekends ago we heard the beginning of this story, hearing what happened to the first four brothers.  Today we hear about what happened to the mother and the youngest son.  In hearing this story and meditating on it, we might have a hard time understanding why this family was willing to do this.  What would give a mother and her seven sons the courage to face such terrifying opposition?  It is important to remind ourselves that this was not the first time this family had considered how important their faith was.  They did not practice their faith when it was convenient for them: they lived it out faithfully and consistently. 

We are called to do the same thing with our Christian faith.  We do not just pray when bad things are going on and we happen to think of it.  We don't just go to Church (going to Mass or a service) just because we happened to get up on time and we have nothing else to do on Sunday.  Faith is not a passing thing, it should be a deliberate thing that is a consistent part of our lives.  By doing this, we already know that our relationship is important and we will have the grace and the courage necessary to stand up for our faith when others challenge us. 

This requires us to prepare ourselves and get ready.  We need to work at praying, building a relationship with Christ and being better Christians.  It seems to me to be part of what Jesus is getting at with the parable today.  We are told He is responding to those who thought the Kingdom was coming right away.  It will not, and just like the two servants who are rewarded for their hard work, we need to make preparations as well.  Don't worry, God will help us, we just need to put in a little effort ourselves.

Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

When I was a kid at religious ed. classes, I remember talking about the early martyrs.  They had to choose between worshiping pagan gods or be put to death.  A classmate asked why they didn't just fake it: do the actions of the pagan worship to please the Romans, but keep believing in our real God and just pray to Him in secret.  God would know that we wanted to remain faithful to Him.  Our teacher explained that would actually be a problem because it could lead to scandal.  If others saw one of us worship a false god, they might think it is okay to do that since this faithful Catholic did it.  Or it might sadden them to see a Catholic doing it and that might lead them to just giving up.  Others wouldn't know you're just "faking it" and might get the wrong impression.  That is what Eleazar is worried about when his friends try to get him to fake out the authorities by substituting the pork with a more kosher meat.  Others may be scandalized. 

We need to be mindful of this in our modern day as well.  Our society tries to get us to go along with them in what is popular and feels good.  These feel good things don't always match with what the Church teaches us; what the Bible teaches us.  This includes Catholic thought on life, morality, social justice, marriage, politics, and others.  We might be tempted to just pretend that we go along with it in public (with our friends perhaps) just to fit in with the crowd, but still talk to God about how we believe Him and talk to our Church friends that we follow the Church.  But it doesn't work that way and we may lead others astray by doing such things.  Stay true to what we know God has taught us.  We may even help others to be closer to God through the courage we will show.

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

My Sunday Homily.  God is with us!

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

We all have those moments when we expect one thing and end up with another. It can happen with work, school, politics and many other situations: we think we have a promise of one thing, but then the truth comes out, we get something entirely different. Sometimes it is the fault of the other person or organization: maybe they were lying from the beginning or maybe other circumstances changed that prompted them to change their mind. Whatever happened, they told us one thing, and we ended up with another. It could be something as simple as being told to come in to work on a Saturday when we thought we had the weekend off, or being asked to cancel vacation plans for work. Not as major as other broken promises in the history of the world, but still I don't think that anyone appreciates being asked to work when you originally planned not to.

Sometimes things go differently than expected because of a mistake on our part. Maybe we misunderstand the instructions, or we are confused and don't ask enough questions to clarify, or maybe we weren't pay close enough attention. We think we understand something and we are willing to go with it, but only later we realize we got something wrong or jumped to the wrong conclusion. A great example of this that I have noticed is that many Christians have come to believe that if they are good Christians, if they work hard enough at following the Commandments, if they pray hard enough, if they love Jesus enough, then God will protect them and nothing bad will happen to them. Then, when of course something bad does happen to them in their life, they jump to the conclusion, “God must be mad at me. I must have done something bad. I must not have done enough good things. God is punishing me.” They may even go as far as thinking there is no good and gracious God.

That lie that God will never let anything bad happen to you probably comes from misunderstanding Scripture passages like we hear in the first reading today. God says through the prophet Malachi, “But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.” This comes after saying that bad things will happen to all evildoers. In another place in the Gospels, Jesus says, “My yoke is easy and my burden light”. People seem to take these passages to mean that God will protect those who fear His name and prevent bad things from ever happening. In reality, we are being told that God will be with us and help us, even during the difficult times. Bad things will still happen to good people, but God will be there in our lives. That is the truth.

There is a popular phrase that people like to use. I've noticed that some people hate it while others really like it. The phrase is, God never gives you more than you can handle. I've noticed that whether you like it or dislike it seems to be based on how you interpret that phrase. In other words, what does it mean to say that God will never give you more than you can handle? If it means that God will never allow bad things to happen in your life or that God will never test you, then you're probably not going to like this phrase. One does not have to live life in the real world for very long to see that life as a Christian is full of challenges and hardships. Even as faithful Christians we are still going to experience sickness, stress, and persecution. Christians will still be jobless and poor, and will still experience death on earth. When I hear people complain about that phrase and say they don't like it, they indicate that it is because they themselves or someone they love has experienced a hardship like those I just mentioned.

There is another way of interpreting this phrase, however, that I think can give us some consolation during hard and difficult times. We can say that God doesn't give us more than we can handle because He is always there with us, even in the midst of the most difficult times of our lives. Granted, it might not always feel like God is right there when we are going through the darkest times of our lives. But if we search our hearts later on, I believe we can all find how God the Father was still there, encouraging us to continue forward; Christ the Son was there to give us courage as we carried our crosses; the Holy Spirit was there giving us the words to say at the right time.

Our Gospel today speaks to this. Jesus gives some very scary warnings about coming violence and persecutions. He warns His disciples not to let these things terrify them or to let themselves worry. He warns about the persecutions that the Romans will make against the Christians in the first several centuries of Christianity. Christians are still persecuted today when we consider that we live in a culture that so often goes against what our faith teaches us. Christ describes how people will be arrested and taken before kings to answer for what they did. Later we hear that even family members will turn loved ones in to authorities for believing in Christ. All this, Jesus tells us, will lead to giving testimony. This is a good thing, because it means that the story of Jesus is being told to others. Many of the early martyrs gave testimonies that resulted in many conversions, including the very guards who were holding them prisoner. How will we get these words to give such powerful testimonies? Jesus tells us we don't have to worry about what we will say: He says, “For I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.” The point is, God is going to be there with us and will give us the words we need.

God never promised that He would keep all bad things from happening to those who believe. He did, however, promise to be with us until the end. God does not make us take on hard times in our lives by ourselves. He is there. Accept the help. He will give us what we need. We may even help others to find their way as well.

Sorry for the delay on posts everyone.  Busy week last week and now I'm taking some vacation, but I plan to be back to my regular daily posts after that.  Please keep praying for me!

Fr. Joe

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

I heard a stand-up comedian make a funny observation about human fears once. He pointed out that in a survey several years back, the question was asked of people what they were most afraid of. The number one answer was speaking in public. The number two answer was death. The comedian pointed out that for the average person, if you are at a funeral, you would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy. I don’t know what that says about me, I have to speak in public regularly and I speak to families about death quite often. I should be a nervous wreck according to that statistic.

I am not trying to make light of people’s fears, especially people’s fear of death. I brought up that quote because I wanted to point out that many people are afraid of death. I’m not sure whether the statistic is still the same or whether the fear of death has gotten higher or lower in comparison to other fears, but it is most definitely still a great fear for many people. For some it seems to be a fear of their own death; their own mortality. For others there is a fear for those who have gone before us. Still others seem to have a combination of both. Perhaps that is why there are so many shows and movies concerning death. There are many horror films centered on psycho-killers. Other films focus on the un-dead, with zombies and vampires and mummies coming back from the grave. I’m no psychologist, but it certainly seems to me that these scary images of death stem from people’s fear of death. A person unsure of what may happen after death, may fear that there is no peace after death. The fascination of un-dead zombies and monsters in movies and TV is really a twisting of the Christian idea of life after death.

I personally love Shakespeare. He would often include veiled references to matters of the Christian faith in his plays. In the play Twelfth Night, one of the main characters is a countess by the name of Olivia. Olivia is in mourning after the death of her brother. Her attendants are worried about her because she has been mourning a long time. A man shows up at the house who is Olivia's court jester. The jester's job was to entertain his master, but also to be the one who speaks the truth to the master. The jester was also called, the fool, because only a fool would tell the whole truth, even bad news, to their boss.

Anyway, this fool has been traveling around, but without Olivia's permission. Such a thing could get a person locked up in chains or even killed. This jester seems to be very foolish indeed. When Olivia first sees the jester, she orders her men to “Take the fool away.” Thinking quickly on his feet, the jester starts arguing that the countess is actually more foolish than he is. Olivia brushes this off as ridiculous, and tries to have him taken away again. But the jester begs her, “My lady, give me a chance to prove you are a fool”. She says, “Prove it”. The jester asks her, “My lady, why are you mourning?” She looks incredulously at the jester, “Good fool, for my brother's death!” The jester simply says, “I think his soul is in hell, my lady.” Olivia responds angrily, “I know his soul is in heaven, fool!” The jester looks at her and says, “the more fool, my lady, to mourn for your brother's soul, being in heaven.” He then turns and tells her guards, “Take the fool away, gentlemen!”

The jester's quick wit helps pull Olivia out of the melancholy she was been feeling. His point is quite clear: he may be called a fool and do foolish things, but she is more foolish for mourning for so long when her faith told her that her brother was in heaven. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with mourning or being sad about the death of a loved one. There is a time to mourn and weep, and there will be plenty of times when that loved one will be missed. In the play, Olivia had taken the mourning to an unhealthy level. The jester was trying to pull her back to reality and to see a more positive side.

That positive side is what is being talked about in the first reading and the Gospel today. The first reading was from 2 Maccabees. 1 and 2 Maccabees both chronicle a Jewish revolt against an attempt by the Greeks to assimilate the Jews into Greek culture and religion. Here we learn about the mother with seven sons who were being forced to eat pork, a big “no no” in Jewish dietary laws. The gentile king thought he could force all Jews to comply by threatening them with torture and death. Imagine the surprise of the king and his attendants when they saw that these seven brothers and their mother would rather die than go against God's laws. They did this because they recognized that there was something more important than this life on earth: there is also eternal life in heaven. Consider some of the things that they said. One brother says, “The King of the world will raise us up to live again forever.” The forth is even more bold and says, “It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the hope God gives of being raised up by him; but for you, there will be no resurrection to life.” Not only did he reiterate what his brothers had said before, but he even added a parting shot to his persecutors. They knew they were going to heaven. They knew there was life after death.

In the Gospel, some Sadducees are attempting to trap Jesus with His words. They don't believe in a resurrection, but Jesus did, for obvious reasons. The Sadducees thought they had the perfect trap within Jewish law: if there is a resurrection, if there is life after death, then this woman in the story is legally married to all seven brothers! Why would God have a resurrection if it would result in such a sacrilegious situation? Jesus finally points out, they are missing the point. The important thing is not who is married to who or who has the most kids or who accomplished what on earth. The important thing is having life after death. The important thing is having eternal life with God.

My brothers and sisters, there is no reason to fear death, as long as we have hope for eternal life. Let us ask our Lord and Savior for the grace and the strength to gain such a wonderful and glorious end.

Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

As I was reflecting on the well known story of Zacchaeus this week, I began thinking about the

similarities between this story and the stories we hear of fans of musicians and actors and other famous people who will do whatever it takes to see or touch or get an autograph from these people. I'm talking about the people, usually teenagers, but sometimes other age groups as well, who will camp out all night to get tickets for a big concert or wait around long after the concert to see them leaving. Fans will wait all day to see their favorite actor come to a big premier and I would think you could include in this group those who will wait all day in some crazy costume for the first to buy tickets for a long anticipated sequel.

For centuries people have done what they must do to see those famous people they want to see. People have long endured big crowds, unbearable heat or cold, sat precariously in trees, and climbed the side of buildings just to see the rich and famous. So it is not all that surprising that we hear this story of Zacchaeus who so longs to see Jesus that he tries to make his way through crowds and then climbs up a tree (like a kid trying to see a parade or a baseball game) to get a better look.

Though I am comparing Zacchaeus to teens who go crazy waiting to see their favorite pop artist, I hardly think for a moment that our short, tax collecting friend is interested in seeing Jesus simply because He was probably the most famous rabbi at the time. Remember, he actually agrees to change his whole life around when he welcomes Jesus in and the crowd starts grumbling. I could be wrong, but I don't think that a rich tax collector would change his whole life around and turn from sin simply because a famous person was coming to his house. I love the Star Wars movies, but if Harrison Ford came to visit me, that alone would not be enough to convince me to stop sinning! Zacchaeus' interest in Jesus goes much deeper than that.

St. Augustine was a bishop in the 4^th and 5^th Centuries. He was a brilliant man and wrote many different theological works. In his autobiography, Confessions, he famously wrote, “Our hearts are restless until the rest in you, O Lord”. St. Augustine had experienced this first hand in his own life. He started out as a trouble maker as kid. As an adult, he tried out various religions and philosophies before finally accepting Catholicism. In reflecting on his life later on, he realized that his heart had always longed to be with God, but he didn't recognize it at first. He knew his heart longed for something, so he tried to fulfill it through various philosophies and religions. It wasn't until he found Jesus in the Catholic Church that his heart finally found rest.

All humans have experienced this longing to be with Jesus. Some get distracted along the way, but they eventually find their heart's desire in a relationship with Him. I believe that we are seeing an example of this in the story of Zacchaeus. No doubt, he thought his heart's desire was to have money. So accordingly, he worked hard as a chief tax collector to make as much as he could. Not surprisingly, that physical wealth wasn't enough to fulfill that longing. He needed something more.

Now Jesus is coming through the city of Jericho. We don't know how Zacchaeus first heard about Jesus or for how long he had been hoping to meet him. Perhaps he had heard people talk about His miracles or His teachings a few weeks before and had desired to meet Him since then. Maybe he had heard about Him months before then, but it wasn't until he heard that Jesus was passing through town that he wanted to see Him. Perhaps Zacchaeus had even heard Him speak somewhere else before, but he only desired to meet Him now. It is even possible that this tax collector hadn't even heard of Jesus until that day and that simply hearing about Him was all he needed to desire to see Him.

Whatever the circumstances or events leading up to this, all Zacchaeus knew was that he wanted to see Jesus, and so he famously climbs a sycamore tree to get a better look. We too, as St. Augustine writes, have a longing to be with Jesus; to look upon His face. What are we going to do so that we can be with Him? What obstacles might be blocking our view of the face of Jesus? Perhaps we feel too sinful, that we are unworthy. Perhaps we feel like we just don't know Him all that well and it is too hard to get to know Him better. We might feel like we are behind the big crowd that is already pressing in around Jesus. Maybe we feel too short in stature to see Him. How are we going to see Him? How are we going to climb that tree to get a better look?

Many times in Scripture, a tree becomes symbolic of the wood of the Cross of Jesus. Just as Zacchaeus comes to know Jesus by climbing a tree, so we can come to know Him better by going to the Cross by which we were all saved. We do this by prayer, by coming to the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. It might sound contradictory, but we can ask Jesus to help us come to know Him better. He will help us.

Once we do come to know Him better, what do after that? If this were some other famous person we would probably just go home and talk for a few days about that awesome night we met so and so and so off pictures and autographs. But then we would forget about it and life would simply go on as it had before. This is Jesus. Zacchaeus makes a vow to change his life around. He promises to give half of his possessions to the poor. He even promises to pay back anything he extorted from anyone four times over, which is probably going to be a lot since he is a rich tax collector. We know that this not just a song and dance to impress the Jesus or the crowd either because Jesus commends Him for what he is doing.

Jesus longs to be with us, just as we long to be with Him. May God bless us so that our hearts may be converted as Zacchaeus' was. May we come to be closer to His Son.

Solemnity of All Saints

Solemnity of All Saints

It has been a busy All Saints day for me and it isn't done yet.  I haven't had a chance to write anything as of yet, but here are a few thoughts that I'm including in my homily for today.

We have many different saints that we recognize in the Catholic Church.  They are named saints because the Church as examined their lives, and talked to people who have asked for their intercession, and looked at miracles attributed to them and we believe they are for sure in Heaven.  When we honor them on this day and on their respective feast days, we don't do it in order to laud their own talents and abilities as if they made it to Heaven under their own power.  Rather, we honor God who gave them the grace and blessings necessary to get there.  We also honor Him for giving us these saints so that we could use their lives as an example of how we are to live our own lives.  In short: all praise to God.

One last thought: God is not done making saints.  He didn't stop doing it in the middle ages or at the start of the 20th century or 21st century for that matter.  He has been working with all of us.  He worked with loved one who have gone before us.  May we all meet one day in the Kingdom of Heaven!

Thursday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

Thursday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

Despite all the problems in the world and all the persecutions that take place today, we still have God and the love of Christ.  That is what St. Paul is talking about in the first reading today.  He was talking about life in his time, but it still applies to our time today.  Why should we give up or give in to fear of persecution or death when we know that Christ loves us and that God is giving us all the blessings and the grace that we need?   Trust in the love of Christ.

Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

St. Paul is talking about hope in the first reading today.  I notice that sometimes we use the word "hope" in a context almost as if we doubt rather than have hope or faith.  We say, "I hope it doesn't get too cold this winter" or "I hope the Vikings can win another game this season", but what we really mean is that we would like these things to happen but the likelihood of it happening seems rather slim.  The virtue of hope, which is what St. Paul is talking about, is not about sitting around, wishing that good things would happen.  It goes along with the other virtues of faith and love. Through those Theological Virtues (as they are called) we know God has promised eternal life and freedom from sin to those who believe.  We don't know necessarily when or how it happen.  We can't even say for sure who it will happen to, but we know that the promise is real and so we await that fulfillment with hope.  Then when we are in the eternal banquet we will experience God's abundant love.

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Throughout the many different cultures that we find around the world, we hear many stories and fairytales that include characters who are different than they originally appear. I’m not just talking about those stories that center around a mistaken identity or dressing up as someone different. Sometimes a character will start out appearing as a good guy or a bad guy, but by the end, they prove to be the exact opposite.

I’m reminded of the classic fairytale of Beauty and the Beast. Whether you are a fan of the Disney version or another version, you probably remember that the Beast is hardly in contention for being a good guy at the beginning of the story. He is a big scary beast who lives in a dark castle and captures travelers who lose their way in his woods. When each of us first heard that story, we were convinced that the Beast was an evil villain who needed to be vanquished. By the end, however, we realize that he is a very kind and loving character.

If you remember the story of Rumpelstiltskin, the title character goes the other way, going from good to evil. At first he seems to be kind and helpful, offering to spin straw into gold to save the life of a young woman. By the end he becomes evil, however, trying to take the woman’s child as payment for his help. Only by guessing his name is she able to spare her child, and that takes a little trickery of her own.

The Gospel tells a tale about two people: a tax collector and a Pharisee. We have gotten so used to hearing this parable and knowing what the outcome is, I think it is easy to forget just how incredible this story really is. Just like the characters in the children's tales I was just talking about, these two men were not what people in Jesus' time expected them to be.

Let's take a closer look at the Pharisee. When we present day Christians hear the word “Pharisee”, my guess is that most of us think of those evil men who plotted to have Jesus arrested and crucified. But back in his day, this man would have been considered a very holy person. Listen to how he describes himself: “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity – greedy, dishonest, adulterous”. Since there is no mention that he was lying, I believe we can take this description as accurate; he really did avoid those sins of greed and adultery and dishonest actions. He says he fasts twice a week. From what I have learned, that was well beyond what most Jewish people did for fasting. He also tithes, that is, pays ten percent of his income for the Temple. This is a holy person.

Now consider the tax collector. The tax collectors were despised by the Jewish people for two big reasons. One was that they represented the Roman government who had taken over and were oppressing the people. The taxes went to the governor and the Emperor. Second, these collectors didn't just take the money what was owed to the government, they would also take extra for themselves. See, tax collectors weren't given a wage for their work. Whatever they could get beyond what was owed to the government, they got to keep. In addition, there was no regulation as to how much they were allowed charge extra for their own keep. So you can imagine that the only limit to all this was how greedy the tax collectors was.

As far Jesus' audience was concerned, that tax collector was just as sinful and despised as that Pharisee was holy and revered. They could not have been more polar opposite. A modern equivalent might be if you saw a devout Catholic who goes to Mass every Sunday and most of the rest of the week as well and prays the Rosary regularly and goes to Reconciliation regularly and a street gang member, complete with tattoos and the typical clothing, walk into a Catholic Church to pray. We would expect that church attending Catholic to have the stronger faith life and deeper relationship with God than the gang member. But what if after their prayers, God actually blessed the gang member rather than the church goer? What if the gang member walked out of there with a deeper relationship with God than the church goer? That is basically what happens with the Pharisee and the tax collector.

Both of these men offer up prayers while at the Temple. The real difference between the two prayers, however, is that the Pharisee is so busy trying to pat himself on the back, he is barely even speaking to God. The tax collector is actually showing humility and admitting that he is truly as sinful as any other human being and is asking for God's mercy and help. Yes, the Pharisee does start out by thanking God that he is not all those sinful things, but then he goes on to talk about how it is he who fasts and tithes and how he is nothing like that tax collector. So not only is he giving himself all the credit, he is even throwing in a disparaging judgment of his fellow Jew. He is exalting himself when he should have been exalting God. To put it plainly: his prayer is flawed.

Where the Pharisees' prayer was an example of arrogance and pride, the tax collector's prayer is one of humility. As I said before, this Pharisee really was a holy man and lived a virtuous life, but just like the rest of us, he was still a sinful person. He still needed God's mercy and help to avoid sin, it was all the grace of God that got him that far. The tax collector realizes the need for God's grace, and even though others may have considered him to be too far down the road of sin to think he had any hope of salvation left, he asks for God's help. “O God, be merciful to me a sinner”. Such a short and simple prayer, but it speaks more eloquently of his faith that God will hear him and grant his request than anything else he could have said.

We too need to have the humility to realize that we are sinners and we need God's help in order to avoid sin and enter into heaven. We also need confidence that He will hear us and answer us. Remember what the first reading and psalm tell us, “God hears the cry of the poor”. He will hear us in our cry for salvation as well.

Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

God created each one of us.  He created our bodies and He made them good.  But as St. Paul points out, we have an inclination towards sin.  That is what he is talking about when he mentions that sin dwells in him.  We need God's help to get us past those inclinations and focus more on God law of love.  May God give us the grace to do it.

Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus wants to set the world ablaze, he says in the Gospel.  He wants us to love and serve God all the more.  But He warns that this is not going to bring about peace in the world, but division: even to the point of dividing families.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the words of our Holy Father, Pope Francis.  He isn't saying anything new; everything he has said in interviews and his own writings has all been said before in the Catechism and other documents and in the Scriptures.  He is, however, challenging us to live these teachings out more in our day to day lives.  We all know that Jesus calls us to love our neighbors as well as our enemies, but to have the Holy Father calling us to really live that out is quite a challenge.  We have to go outside of our comfort zone to do these things.  It is tempting to brush it off as we say we are already doing enough.  But before we despair of having to do all this "new stuff", remember that God is going to help us and give us the grace and courage to do what we need to do.  There is a challenge, but we have help.

Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

We have been saved from slavery to sin, and have become slaves of righteousness.  When we read St. Paul mention that we are slaves in both cases, we might wonder what the difference is.  We're slaves either way, and with the strong sense of independence we have here in America, the idea of slavery doesn't sit very well.  However, slavery to righteousness is not a bad thing.  It means we are devoting our lives to righteousness, devoting our lives to Jesus Christ, as opposed to devoting our lives to living in sin and selfishness.  We are called to righteousness and we will be judged accordingly by God at the end of our days.  God is just and merciful, so it's not like He is going to be mean, but we still have to work at doing the right thing.  Christ will give us the grace. 

Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

We are sinful.  We have all inherited this inclination towards sin.  St. Paul talks about this.  Through one man we are all condemned.  Okay, now that I have you thoroughly depressed, pick yourself up off the floor put a smile on your face, because there is good news.  St. Paul continues that just as one man's transgressions brought about death for many people, so too the gracious gift of Jesus Christ brought about salvation for many.  Christ loves us and so He died for us.  That is why we go to church and pray and do what we can to follow the Commandments.  We want to be close to Christ, because He is our reason for hope for eternal life.

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

After reading through the Gospel passage for today about the persistent widow, I started thinking about other examples of persistence that we can find in everyday life. Kids, for instance, can have a lot of persistence. Not long after I arrived here, I told a story about my niece loving to ask the question “Why?” multiple times in a row. Kids can be very persistent in asking that question. Some ask it out of a keen desire for knowledge and understanding. I am certain that niece is also doing it to be cute and funny. Either way, there is persistence in asking the question. The same can be said of that age old question of kids sitting in the back seat of a car: “Are we there yet?” Maybe it's boredom or maybe excitement at coming to the destination. Perhaps he or she has a desire to know where they are precisely. The child will not rest until he or she has the desired information.

How about the persistence of a dog wanting to be petted or its ears scratched? In my humble opinion you have not lived until a golden retriever has persisted in doing everything in its power to get you to throw that darn ball just one more time! Not only is there persistence there but also a staring contest to be reckoned with.

There are other examples of persistence in adult life too. Applying for a job or a promotion whenever there's a chance. Trying out for a team or a group. Trying to get that person on the phone who is just very hard to get a hold of. Practicing something again and again until you get it right. There are many ways in which we can all relate to the idea of persistence. Even if we do not consider ourselves quite as persistent as the widow in the parable, I'm certain we call all relate to this because I'm sure we have all met at least one person who is as persistent and feisty she is. We probably aren't afraid of physical harm as that judge is, but we have undoubtedly met people who will not take “No” for an answer and will not stop until they have achieved their goal. They can be wonderful and kind human beings, but you do not want to mess with them.

Jesus' point in bringing up the subject of persistence is quite clear: if a judge who does not even fear God or respect other human beings can finally give in to the persistence of one widow and give her what she wants, how much more will God listen to our persistent prayers? If we can finally give in to the persistence of other we meet, won't God listen to us? Jesus is also pointing out that we need to have faith in God that He will listen to our prayers. So it is also important for us to remember that if we can be persistent in asking for the things we want and in doing the things we want here on Earth, shouldn't we then be persistent in asking God for things and have faith that He will grant it?

God wants us to have faith in Him. He wants us to never stop turning to Him in prayer and asking for what we truly need. When you think about what you pray for, sometimes God gives it to us right away. But many times what we ask for is delayed for awhile or sometimes what we get is different than what we originally expected. Either way, God is listening, and that is what we need to have faith in.

The first and second readings also speak to how we are to be persistent in prayer and faithful to God. The first reading tells the story of a battle between Amalek and Israel. Amalek was a leader of a group of people who lived in southern Palestine and the Sinai Peninsula. As the Israelites and Amalek and his people battle, Moses stands on a hill and raises his hands. The scriptures don't say that he prays, but the raising of his hands is clearly an act of prayer. He is praying to God for Israel's success in this battle. As his arms are up, Israel is winning. But because of the limits of human strength, Moses can only keep his arms up for so long. As he drops his arms, the other army begins to win. Aaron and Hur are able to help, however, supporting Moses arms and giving him a rock to sit on. This is not unlike how any of us can support another person, or how we might be supported by others. I'm talking about encouraging a person to keep praying, even when prayer feels dry; to keep faithful, even when a person is going through great trials or adversity. The point of all this is, Moses stays persistent in his prayers, even with a little help from others.

The second reading comes from St. Paul's second letter to Timothy. We hear again about having faith and being persistent. This time St. Paul is talking about Sacred Scripture: we need to have faith that the Scriptures are from God and inspired by God. We must be persistent in teaching others about the scriptures and that God is speaking to us. That might sound different from what we have already been talking about, but it is still very much connected. We are called to have faith that God will hear our prayers and we are called to have faith that He speaking to us in the Scriptures (think of it as the response to what we say in our prayers). We are called to be persistent in our prayers and we are called to be persistent in tell others about our special relationship with God; that we can talk to Him and that He speaks to us in many different ways.

As Christians we are called to pray, to keep our conversations going with God. We must not stop just because we are afraid of rejection or afraid it just takes too long. We are called to be persistent and to be faithful. It is through this that we have hope for entrance into the kingdom of heaven; to be with God for eternity.

Feast of Saint Luke, Evangelist

Feast of Saint Luke, Evangelist

Just a quick thought today:  St. Luke was one of the four Evangelists.  The Evangelists worked hard to spread the Good News despite all the hardships that are allude to in the readings today.  May we have the courage and faith to help spread that joyful message to all we meet.

Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr

Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr

Faith is the important thing.  St. Paul is writing about this because at the time there was much debate among Christians about whether a person needed to become Jewish and do everything a Jewish believer did before being baptized a becoming Christian.  St. Paul was obviously in the camp that said that it was not necessary for a Christian to follow the various pious practices (St. Paul called them "works") of the Jewish religion.  That is why he sums up this section of his letter as saying that Jews and Christians will both be justified by faith; that it is by faith that we make it into Heaven.

St. Ignatius of Antioch was a bishop in the early Church.  As he was taken off in chains from Antioch in Syria to Rome, he wrote seven letters to various Christian communities and a brother bishop.  He wrote about many different topics, but it was truly all based on his great faith that God would give him the grace he needed to get him through his trials.  We have wonderful examples for us in St. Paul and St. Ignatius.

Wednesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Wednesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

We will be judged by the way we judge others.  It is very easy for a person to start going down that slippery slope of judging others.  Our readings today should encourage us, therefore, not to give in to judging, but to ask for the grace of God to be helpful and kind to others who are in need of assistance (in my experience, usually the people we are most judgmental of).  It is through that grace that we can hope to do the right thing and make a difference in the world.

Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

St. Teresa of Avila was a mystic from the 16th Century.  She was a member of the Carmelite order, but at the time the order was beginning to live a life of ease.  People would donate money and food to them, and the order's focus seemed to be more on enjoying the pleasures of life rather than on spirituality.  St. Teresa received a vision, however, where she was shown a place in Hell that would be hers if she did not change her ways.  After that she began work developing a deeper relationship with Jesus, not just on the outside (like praying and going to Mass and doing nice things for people) but truly believing it and living it out.  While working with St. John of the Cross she reformed the Carmelite order, starting what are today called the Discalced Carmelites. 

That inward conversion of the heart that St. Teresa went through is what St. Paul and Jesus talk about in the readings today.  St. Paul talks about those who knew God but did not accord Him glory as God.  They were probably showing what they were supposed to, but did not actually allow their whole heart and self to enter in.  The same was with the Pharisees.  Don't just say that you care about faith or do a few outward signs.  Actually live out the faith.  Let us live out the example of St. Teresa.