Keep the Faith [7-04-21]

There is a story told of a new preacher who came to town, who very quickly developed a reputation, for being a very inspiring, enthusiastic preacher who shared his faith joyfully each week. Soon his Church was bulging with new worshipers. Many came back after lengthy absences, many who had never worshiped before were received into the Church and some even came from other churches.  There was something so real, about his preaching. It was very lively and upbeat, and it was also very solid, authentic and never watered down. He shared with his congregation that he had a dream of converting everyone in town, and then in the county and then in the state and beyond. For a time, it all seemed so possible. People even talked about the need for a new larger church building. But then, gradually, after a while, things changed. People changed. Their practice of the faith changed their beliefs changed. Many of them stopped going to church; after a while it seemed as though everything had changed; but there was something that had not-and that was the preacher. He did not change at all. He continuously preached the same content in the same way with the same fervor and enthusiasm even though now his congregation had dwindled to just a handful of people. One of his helpers finally began to ask him, how he could keep it up, how he could still so enthusiastically preach about converting the world when there was hardly anyone left in his church.  For quite some time the preacher ignored the question, but one day he did respond.  He said that of course, he noticed that his congregation had diminished almost to the point of nonexistence and that some time ago he began to realize that maybe he wasn’t going to convert the world.  He said, “Maybe it is true I will never convert the world, but I am going to continue to preach God’s message with the same fervor and the same zeal as ever. Just because I am not converting the world does not mean that I will ever let the world convert me.” And he continued preaching in the same way until he died.  Some people who used to listen to him preach, out of respect did come to his funeral. They acknowledged, that although they eventually went a different way, they never doubted that when they were in his church that a prophet was among them. So, what about us?  We are all called to be prophets, to be witnesses to the truths that come to us from God. Ultimately, we cannot control what other people do with the message we present to them with our lives. All we can do is to make sure that we keep the faith. Therein lies the victory.

But How Does the Seed Grow/ [06-13-21]

There is a story told about an Irish pastor in a small town in Ireland who one morning was making his usual rounds through its streets. His name was Fr. Murphy. In short order, he came upon Mr. O’Reilly, who had recently purchased a home and was working in his garden, to which the previous owner had not tended for years. Fr. Murphy took a minute to admire the garden and said to Mr. O’Reilly, “Well, Mr. O’Reilly, I must say, you and God have done a marvelous job bringing this garden back to life.  Mr. O’Reilly, immediately shot back, “But Father, what do you mean, ‘me and God’ brought this garden back to life?” Father Murphy said, “I simply mean that I think it is wonderful how you and God are working together on this project.”  Mr. O’Reilly then retorted, “Well pardon, me, Father, but do you remember this garden when only God was tending to it?”

I suppose that Mr. O’Reilly’s point should be well taken. His effort certainly was integral to the success of his garden. He planted the seeds, and he tended to them by cultivating and watering them, etc. But he did not make them grow. God did that. And God did that without Mr. O’Reilly ever knowing how he did it. Mr. O’Reilly’s hard work and effort was totally based on his faith that somehow God was going to make growth happen. In our Gospel today, Jesus makes the point that we need to approach our faith and the Kingdom of God in the same way that we approach tending to our gardens and so much else that we do in our daily lives. We are to do the work, we are to plant the seeds, to water them, to cultivate them etc. and trust that God will provide the growth without us needing to know how He does it-just that He will and that he will do so according to what is best for our spiritual growth, for our salvation.

Pentecost: It's Why I Believe [5/23/21]

Pentecost: It’s Why I Believe

Well folks, I might as well come right out with and finally say it, and maybe you have already figured it out, but I tend to be a rather skeptical person. I definitely would fall into the “trust but verify” category.   It is not my normal way to just accept things, especially those things that seem to defy reason and logic without at least some kind of serious scrutinizing on my part.  In my late teens and young adulthood, which is probably at least somewhat typical, I did not know what I believed; I wasn’t even sure if I believed in God. I questioned pretty much every thing. And I truly questioned the Resurrection; I was not impressed by the fact that the stone was rolled away or even that Jesus’ body was not there.  I mean, really, if you were Mary Magdalen, would those circumstances have led you to conclude that Jesus was alive? I don’t think so.  Than we get into the eyewitness accounts, and while they do give more substance, I probably would still remain a doubting Thomas. I mean, after all, like Thomas thought, if the other apostles had seen the risen Jesus, then why did they stay locked in the Upper room?  As a matter of fact, they stayed in that room until guess when?  Pentecost would be the answer.  I have no doubt something really big and really special happened on that day. Whatever it was that did happen put their hearts on fire and allowed them to change the world and literally bring us to our pews today.  I have no other explanation for what happened after Pentecost, except that the apostles were literally transformed on that day.  It is pretty clear that they were going nowhere before Pentecost happened. But after Pentecost there was nowhere they didn’t go. Furthermore, it only makes sense that what they proclaimed was the truth and the inspired Word.  For me, Pentecost, is what makes it all make sense. Just look at what didn’t happen before and what did happen after.  I challenge any one to come up with another explanation.  The long and the short of it is that because of Pentecost I believe, and it just might be why you believe as well.

The Good Shepherd [04/25/21]

If we lived in Israel at the time of Jesus, we would instantly relate to what Jesus told us today in the Gospel.  Sheep were the people’s main source of meat, milk and cheese.  They provided wool for clothing.  And they were regularly used for sacrifice in their liturgy.

If I were to try to think of something in our culture today that would be similar to the relationship of a shepherd to his sheep, the best comparison I can come up with is a mother who needs to care for several toddlers. Just as toddlers depend on their mother’s care, the sheep depend on the care of their shepherd, and the shepherd, who usually, had dozens of sheep, is kept busy all hours of every day.

Today’s Gospel makes reference to an activity that was part of the shepherd’s daily routine.  Each night, a number of shepherds would come together with their sheep and put them in a common pen.  Then they would sleep as one shepherd would stay awake to guard against thieves or predatory animals.  In the morning, each shepherd would call out for his own sheep to follow him to pasture.  The sheep knew the voice of their own shepherd and would follow only his voice when they were called and would ignore the calls of the other shepherds.  Remember, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me.

Some people are offended to hear themselves compared to sheep.  Maybe that’s because they don’t realize they need God’s constant care at all times and not just when they become aware that they have problems or are in need.

We live in a society where everyone is trying to get our attention.  We constantly are bombarded with commercials, information and pseudo information on radio, TV, internet, social media, as well with all kinds of signs, posters and billboards all over highways, streets and buildings trying to catch our eye.  Sometimes, we have a tendency to simply follow the latest message we’ve heard, or sometimes, because we hear so many messages, we might be tempted to just follow the crowd.  However, if we want to follow Jesus, we have to be able to hear and to recognize His voice, from among the many that are competing for our attention.  We have to make a conscious effort to shut out all kinds of other noises so that we can listen to Him.  If we don’t do so, we can easily lose touch with Him. More than ever, we must be intentional and proactively seek out His voice. We need to take time to be quiet, to be still, to pray, so that we can stay in touch with the Good Shepherd.

Our Lord does not want to lose any of us.  He wants us to be with Him forever.  He wants to wipe away every tear from our eyes.  He leads us through this very celebration each day and each week. Sheep may not be the most intelligent creatures, but they are smart enough to know that they need their shepherd and to recognize His voice and to seek it out.  May we also be intelligent enough to know that we need Jesus and smart enough to recognize His voice so that He might lead us through the present time to the eternal pasture of Heaven.

“You are Witnesses of These Things?” (4/18/21)

And so the disciples who had just left Jerusalem, who were returning home to Emmaus, who were about to try to figure out the next direction their lives would take after the death of Jesus, suddenly found themselves back in Jerusalem speaking to the 11 Apostles about the amazing experience they had just had.  As they were walking along, they encountered someone they thought was a stranger, someone with whom they were so enamored that they begged him to stay with them for their evening meal. Finally, when He broke bread at their table, they realized that He was no stranger at all but that He was Jesus risen from the dead! But as soon as they recognized Him, He vanished from their midst.  At this point they could think of nothing else but to quickly get back to Jerusalem and tell the Apostles.  That is how it’s like when we have had a true experience of Jesus, isn’t it? All we can think of is to tell other people.  And while they were recounting their story to the 11 Jesus appeared in their midst.  He (Jesus) did His best to put everything He ever said or did in perspective for them and then left them with these beautiful words: “You are witnesses of these things.” Those are great words, wonderful words, aren’t they? But then again, on second thought are they not much more than just that? Do you think that Jesus would come back from the dead and visit His disciples simply to say nice things to them, or whisper sweet nothings in their ears? I think not!  I can almost hear my mother exclaiming, “Not for nothin’!”  Folks, the more I think about it, the more I cannot help but think that those words are not merely a nice statement of the obvious-they are a command. Jesus did not suffer and die and rise for us just so we could live “happily ever after” (besides that’s very boring anyway) or bask eternally in the knowledge that we are witnesses. He did so, so that He would have witnesses to spread His good news. Being a witness is not something that we are; it’s something that we do-it is a tremendous responsibility.  We are witnesses of Him. So just don’t sit or stand there, go out and proclaim through your words and deeds that Jesus Christ is risen.

Are Your Doors Locked? (4/11/21)

So here we are, celebrating the Second Sunday of Easter, the Sunday within the octave of Easter, the Sunday also known as “Mercy Sunday,” and, as per usual, we hear the story of “Doubting Thomas” and we know how that story goes.  The Apostles were locked in the Upper Room for fear of the Jews, the Romans and whatever else might be “out there.” But I don’t think that’s all they were afraid of. I think they were also afraid of what was inside as well. I think they were afraid of what was in their hearts, of the future, of who they were, and how they would go on, even if what was currently “out there” was no longer out there.  Remember, each one of them, with the exception of John, had betrayed Jesus, they failed to stand beside Him in His hour of need. I am pretty sure that a lot of soul searching was going on. I am pretty sure that, yes, they were scared, but I bet they also were pretty remorseful, pretty sorry, pretty regretful, pretty down on themselves. And so, the doors were locked. Do we ever do that? Do we ever lock the doors of our hearts, of our souls, perhaps because partially we are afraid of what’s “out there,” but maybe even more so because of the regret that’s already in our hearts to the point where we just can’t take any more?  I am pretty sure that we do, I am pretty sure that many of us have done this, that many of us are doing it right now, and that many of us will do it again. But that’s where the lesson of this Second, Sunday of Easter, this “Doubting Thomas” Sunday, this Mercy Sunday comes in. Although the doors were locked we are told that Jesus came and stood in their midst. That’s what He did for the disciples, and that’s what He does for us. Imagine, their amazement, but also imagine their shame and their fear because of their guilt?  But what does He bring?  “Peace be with you,” He says to them. He brings mercy and forgiveness and gives them a mission- to forgive the sins of all. That’s what He brings to us, and to our locked hearts. Peace, Mercy, Forgiveness and New Purpose. Amazingly and Unbelievably… Are your doors locked?  They might be able to keep the bad guys out there, but take heart, they won’t be able to keep Jesus out, not if you long for Him.

He is Risen....and He Reigns - Easter Sunday [04-04-21]

Good morning everyone and welcome to St. Aloysius where we are all gathered to celebrate Easter Sunday and the two tremendous and lifesaving truths of our faith:  He is risen and He reigns.

He is Risen!  What a glorious truth of our faith indeed!  But on what basis do we believe? Or do we believe?  Do we really believe?  During these next few weeks we will hear several eyewitness accounts who saw Jesus after His death but there are no such reports here on Easter Sunday.  In today’s gospel Mary Magdalen did not see Jesus and it never entered her mind that He rose from the dead. She saw an empty tomb. Peter saw exactly the same thing and a resurrection did not occur to him either. John, however, witnessed the very same scene as did Peter and Mary but he saw and “believed” that Jesus was alive.  Why?  Because he saw two neatly placed burial cloths. His faith told him that if thieves had stolen Jesus’ body they would not have gone through the trouble of tearing the cloths, which would have adhered to the body because of the burial oils, and neatly folded them.  And, undoubtedly, the cloths would have had to have been ripped into many pieces and could not have remained in two singular pieces.  We can believe in Jesus’ Resurrection today because in the midst of the “messiness” of our regular ordinary lives Jesus leaves signs, i.e. his neatly folded burial cloths, everywhere and primarily in the love and goodness that we receive from others. For us though, we need to believe so that we can see. I actually believe that is how it happened with John as well. I think that it is because he believed already that He “saw” that Jesus was alive even though he did not see Jesus in the flesh. Once we believe that Jesus is alive we can truly rejoice and strive through our joy and holiness of life to allow others to believe.  But there is more to it than that. This is not the ending, this is only the beginning. There is no ‘happily ever after” because this is not a fairy tale.  And thank God it isn’t. “Happily ever afters” are so very boring, and if there is one thing Jesus is not He is not boring.  After His resurrection, He doesn’t just live happily ever after He reigns over heaven and earth.  He judges us based on our lives on earth. So, the good news is that because Jesus conquers death we will all live eternally. But it is also true that we will face a judgment.  Truly, it might have been easier for Lazarus to have remained in the tomb. Sometimes the thought of a judgment which has eternal implications is pretty scary to me. Because I just know I wouldn’t make the grade of my own accord.  And I hate to tell you this but I don’t know if any of you would make the grade either.  But, don’t fret, there is more good news. In the First Reading, St. Peter says this: “everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins through His name.”  This means that those who believe in Him will be judged by God the Father in Jesus Christ. So, because Jesus is alive, we have eternal life, and He becomes our judge. That’s why we’re all here today, folks. So, the question is do we believe and live as we believe or do we take a chance at being judged, not in Jesus Christ, but on our own merits?  I know where I stand on that one, I can tell you that!  Remember, He is Risen and He reigns! Alleluia!

Holy Week at Saint Aloysius- Do Not Miss It. [03/28/21]

Believe it or not, it is Palm Sunday, 2021!  We are about, once again to enter into holiest of all weeks of the year, as we begin by commemorating the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and His Passion. Next Sunday of course, we will celebrate His Resurrection. But what about all the days in between-remember it is “Holy Week;” it is made up of seven days, not just one or two. Our invitation and challenge is walk with Jesus from the time of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, through His sorrowful passion to His joyful Resurrection.  I firmly believe that here at Saint Aloysius Parish you will have ample opportunity to do just that.  Of course, we will begin by participating in today’s celebration of the Mass of Palm Sunday. Note that we are invited to leave from Mass in silence as a sign of the fact that we are beginning the most solemn journey with Jesus through the holiest of weeks. Perhaps you would consider joining us for morning Mass at 8:30AM [Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday] either in Church or via Livestream. You will have the opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, March 31.

Please note that this is your last chance to receive the sacrament before Easter.

On Holy Thursday we will celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7:00 PM. Join us as we present the newly blessed sacramental oils, celebrate once again with Jesus the Last Supper, the First Mass, the institution of the Eucharist and of the Priesthood.  At the end of Mass the altar will be stripped and we will process the Blessed Sacrament into the Gathering Center to the Altar of Repose which will be where the Sacred Heart statue now stands.

As the Triduum continues we will commemorate Christ’s passion and death with the celebration of Morning Prayer on Good Friday. Adoration will continue throughout the day until our Celebration of the Lord’s Passion at 3:00 PM. This is an absolutely moving service which includes the most powerful ritual of the veneration of the Cross.  On Holy Saturday morning, we will pray Morning Prayer at 8:30 AM once again. Then we wait with heartfelt expectation for the blessing of the Easter Fire at 7:29 PM on the evening of Holy Saturday as we begin the Easter Vigil and celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus.  As you can see, this is indeed the holiest of weeks.  Do not miss it! 

Greek Salad, Anyone? [03/21/21]

In our Gospel passage for today, the 5th Sunday of Lent, the last Sunday before Palm Sunday (can you believe it?), we hear a story that is presented only by John.  It is the story of some Greek Jews who were in Jerusalem for the Passover who expressed their desire to see Jesus to Phillip.  Now by this point, folks, we should know that we are in for some kind of very special teaching.  We are coming up against the mystery of the Passion and Jesus now has the opportunity to speak to these, probably very well educated, visitors from Greece, who are always interested in wisdom and learning.  So, what is he going to serve them and us?  Well, here is some of what He says:  "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.  Whoever loves his life loses it and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.  Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be.  The Father will honor whoever serves me.”  That certainly is a mouthful, is it not?  Some of the most profound teachings that Jesus ever gave us were first served up to these Greek visitors.  Jesus is saying nothing less than, that He is about to be glorified-on the cross; that if we want to live our lives to the fullest, we must first lay them down; that if we endure all kind of suffering in this life for Him, we will enjoy eternal life with Him; and that the Father will honor whoever serves Him.  I know how I feel as I try to fully comprehend all that Jesus is saying in these few lines even though I have heard them so many times before; can you imagine how His Greek guests must have reacted upon hearing it for the first time?  I wonder if Jesus advised them to allow themselves a little extra time to digest what He had just served them.  Actually, that’s still some pretty good for us today. We are, after all, only a week away from Palm Sunday.

John 3:16 [03/14/21]

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life.” These words make up perhaps one of the most famous scripture verses of all, but do we understand them in the context which Jesus spoke them?  Further, do we truly believe them and, finally, are we willing to live as if we believe them?  Jesus spoke these words to a man named Nicodemus, a Pharisee who came to see Jesus “while it was night.”  Why? Because he was afraid of the Jews, and especially the other Pharisees. The last thing he wanted to do was to let others know that he had an interest in Jesus and the things that He was saying.  And as we listen to what Jesus is saying to Him it becomes rather obvious that Jesus, who is facing death in just a few days, is rather frustrated with him. He says to Nicodemus that certainly, he who is a learned man and a teacher, can see that everything Jesus is saying is correct and true, and if that is the case, why is he slithering around in the dark?  Why isn’t he proclaiming the good news of Jesus in the daylight?  After all, God sent Jesus so that everyone who believes in Him will be saved; not condemned. What is Nicodemus afraid of?  If he believed in Jesus, he should not have been afraid of anything.  Then Jesus presents him with the ultimate challenge: “…the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed.  But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.” And so, what is Nicodemus going to do? Is he going to boldly live and proclaim his faith in the light of day, or is he going to continue to slither around in the dark for fear of everyone else?  And, of course we are in a similar position as Nicodemus. Do we believe that Jesus came so that those who believe in Him might have eternal life? If so, are we ready to proclaim and live our belief in Jesus in the light of day, or are we, because of our fear, going to remain in the dark of night?

The Ten Commandments-God's Free Gift [03/07/21]

Well, here we are; we have already arrived at the third Sunday of Lent.  Today we will be talking about the grace of God, which He has given to us without cost. Not only is His   grace completely free, it is always more than enough for us. What the world offers us is never free but God’s grace is always free.  God’s grace leads us to victory; the more of the world always leads us away from Him.  Grace can be defined as God’s presence in the world and in our lives but it is more than that; He is not only present in our lives, as St. Paul says, He is “for us,” He favors us, at all times no matter what we do or don’t do, no matter what we say or don’t say; but His grace is more than that.  God’s grace is powerful. Not only is God always with us, not only is He for us, but He favors us. St. Paul says, “If God is for us, who can be against?”  There is no adversary that we will ever have that can ever stand against the power of God’s grace. God’s grace is victorious. Always.  And it is a totally free gift. Today we hear of another totally free gift of God; the gift of his Ten Commandments; His Ten Commandments. To truly understand the Ten Commandments, we need to look at them from the standpoint of His grace.  They are free, they are for us, they are not burdensome and they lead us to victory. They favor us. They are given to us in the same way that a Father gives parameters and guidelines to His children. They are given out of an abundant love. They are not a set of conditions. They are not a scoreboard. They are not arbitrary. They do not condemn. They are a path to life. They are keys to God’s abundant grace which is the more that we have been looking for. Everything God gives to us, He gives to us from His love, which is all He is.  He gives the commandments to the Israelites after He rescued them from slavery as a means of showing them how to live in freedom. As we make ourselves more and more receptive to the grace of God, He bestows more and more gifts upon us.  That’s how we should see the commandments. They are, like the grace of God, for us, and they are a pathway to His grace, which is always more, so much much more than enough for us.

There is Always a Ram Caught in the Thicket [02/28/21]

At one point in the story of “Testing of Abraham,” as Abraham and Isaac are on the way to carry out what Abraham believed was the Lord’s will that he sacrifice his son, Isaac presented him with the inevitable and pointed question: “Father,” he said, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”  Now, imagine that you are Abraham; imagine how you would feel if your son, the son of the promise that was at long last fulfilled miraculously by God, the son whom you loved above anything that you could possibly imagine, the son whom you are at that very moment taking to the place where you are about to offer him in sacrifice to the God who gave him to you, asked you that question?  How on earth would you answer him? Could you answer him? Would you tell him the truth?  Would you lie to him?  Well, this is how he did answer him: “My son,” Abraham said, “God Himself will provide the sheep for the burnt offering.” So, did Abraham lie to his beloved son?  I contend not.  I argue that he shared with his son the only truth that his faith would allow him to believe and on which he depended.  I believe that the only hope that kept him going was the hope that somehow, provided that he was totally obedient to what he truly believed was the will of God, he would come back down that mountain with his son by his side.  And that is what did happen. God did provide the sheep for the sacrifice.  There was a ram caught in the thicket. That, I believe, is the invaluable lesson of this story.  For those who are faithful and obedient to the Lord no matter what He asks, no matter what it costs, no matter how much sense it does not seem to make, there will always be, at the very last moment, a ram caught in the thicket and the promise of the Lord will always remain intact.

Fighting Temptation...Is it Even Relevant Anymore? [2/21/21]

As it is the First Sunday of Lent we hear of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. Mark does not go into as much detail as does Matthew and Luke, but we know that Jesus faced the same kinds of temptation that the Israelites experienced as they wandered in the desert for forty years. And these temptations are also very similar to the temptations we face throughout our lives. Of course, we know He know that He won a dramatic victory over Satan and that His victory is meant to inspire our own victory over temptation during this season of Lent. However, I can’t help but thinking, does anyone ever fight temptation anymore?  I mean, really, does any one see any value in such an arcane struggle in the present day?  Perhaps I am seeing the glass as half empty, but I do think I have valid reasons to be concerned. We are so affected by modern culture that I even wonder if we recognize sin any more or the value of trying to stay away from it – and that is the very reason that Jesus died on the cross! Have we actually gotten to the point where we no longer really value trying to stay away from the very reality (sin) from which Jesus came to save us?  We are so very much affected by the world that I am truly very worried. The world teaches us that any action is perfectly acceptable as long as no one gets hurt. This is the old “victimless crime” theory. The problem with this is that there is no such thing. If we commit sin, no matter how “private,” someone always gets hurt. It is not okay to hurt ourselves or anyone else or to offend God and sin always involves all three. The world teaches us it is psychologically harmful to deny ourselves of anything that we want-and really, if we want something, we need it; don’t we? Therefore, if I want something, I am harming myself if I don’t act to get it.  We are also taught human beings cannot overcome temptation so there is no reason to try to overcome it or teach our children to do so. Therefore parents should supply their teen children with means of birth control, and provide them with “safe havens” to abuse alcohol etc. because they would not be able to refrain from sex or beer etc.  This kind of thinking denies young people of the human dignity to which they, believe it or not, want to be held. Last, but certainly not least the world teaches us that since we are living in modern times we need a whole new set of moral guidelines. Because things have changed so much and because we are have learned so much and have become so “enlightened,” we simply can no longer be expected to  abide by the antiquated values of the past. Therefore, no one can be expected to refrain from sex before marriage, and certainly we now realize that same sex marriage is to be regarded in the same way as traditional marriage and we certainly should not trap people into biological genders.  What is amazing about this one is that, while we think we are so enlightened, we are not quite enlightened enough to realize that countless cultures bought this lie before us. And guess where they are now?  Well they are exactly where we will be if we also buy it-on the ash heap of history just like the Romans at the hands of the barbarians. You see, the bottom line is this:  there is good, there is evil, there is right there is wrong, and they are here to stay. And human beings are always tempted to sin. But Jesus gives us the means to victory. His lesson is that we don’t have to be slaves to sin. All that we have to do is struggle to resist temptation, and when we fall we turn to Him and keep on striving-and the victory is ours. The only question is does any of this matter to us anymore?

Jesus' Desire to Heal Us is More than Skin Deep [2/14/21]

The story of Jesus healing the leper is another one of those stories of which we are very familiar and which we have heard over and over again. And as I have said before, this can be very dangerous. Why? Because we might have a tendency to consciously or subconsciously “tune it out” as soon as recognize it because, after all, it is a “rerun.”  But in so doing we cheat ourselves of the blessings and benefits of the “always new” message of the scriptures and we eliminate another opportunity for the Lord to inspire us. So let’s go.  Imagine the leper. Imagine the courage he must have had to leave his leper colony, the suffering he must have endured on the way, both physically and from every encounter with another human being he had to endure before he got to where Jesus was. Imagine also, his sense of desperation.  Maybe we have felt something like that before; maybe we are feeling something like that right now. But desperation is not all bad. It might be sometimes just what we need to finally bring ourselves, like the leper to the feet of Christ, where he cried out, “If you wish, you can make me clean.”  St. Mark says that Jesus was ‘moved with pity.” Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t know of any other reality in the entire Gospel ever “moving” Jesus other than human suffering and His desire to heal it. Not war, not evil, not sin, or anything else causes Jesus to be moved-but human suffering does. We also need to understand that His desire to heal us goes much deeper than our own desire to be healed.  I am sure that sometimes we have been to the doctor when we were in pain and so much wanted to be relieved of it. The doctor will do what he/she can and then tell us how we need to change our behavior so that we might not experience that pain again. At times like that we might realize that we actually are much more interested in getting rid of the pain than getting rid of some of our behaviors that might have led up to the pain.  It is much the same with Jesus.  He desired to heal not just the leper’s skin, but his heart and soul as well.  Jesus does not only want to heal the pain that evil brings us, but the cause of that evil as well. But He will not take away our free will.  We have to choose to bring ourselves to Him, despite all the very real obstacles in our way and cry out just as the leper did.  And when we do, we will discover that Jesus’ desire to heal us is much more than skin deep.

Jesus' Authority: What a Beautiful Thing [1/31/21]

I remember once as a teacher in high school I happened to be walking down one of the school hall ways a few minutes after the bell to begin classes had rung and I saw a teacher standing just outside his classroom door.  As I came closer, I noticed that he looked a bit distraught and then he said to me, “Father, I’m pretty much at the end of my line. I can’t do anything with this boy. He doesn’t listen to a word I say.”  As I was listening to him, I saw just inside the door that there was a young man, a sophomore, standing on the teacher’s desk entertaining the rest of the class.  I did not know him that well as he was not in any of my classes, but I did know his name. I stepped inside the room, snapped my fingers, pointed in a downward direction and in what I thought was a rather gentle voice, said “Yo Phillip, sit down.”  I spoke briefly to him and to the class about proper classroom decorum.  As I was about to leave the teacher thanked me profusely for my help and said he didn’t know what he would have done if I had not passed by.  As I left I found myself wondering why Phillip and his classmates listened so readily to me and would not give their teacher the time of day. I also remembered how during my first year of teaching it was very difficult for me to maintain discipline in my classroom, but that, beginning with my second year, I had very few discipline problems.  It really was all about authority. The teacher I helped that day did not have it. I did not have it my first year.  But I did, at least to an extent, develop some authority as I went along.  All of this helps me to recognize the authority of Jesus.  What gave Him His authority?  I think it has to do with the a couple realities: who He was, what He said, why He was saying it, and who He said it for.  Jesus, in one of my favorite quotes says, “All this I tell you that my joy may be yours and your joy may be complete.”  I think that He answers pretty much all those questions with that statement.  Jesus is the Messiah who speaks the truth that is easily recognized, and spoken for the benefit of His listeners for whom He cares deeply.  One of the things I learned about my students is that, whether they knew it or not, they wanted their teachers to have authority.  When they recognized authority in their teachers they felt safer.  The same is true with us and Jesus. His authority allows us to have peace. It truly is a beautiful thing.

Jonah, Jonah, Jonah!!! [1-24-21]

I’m sure that we remember Jonah, who, although fictional, is one of my favorite biblical characters.  Jonah found peace in a rather strange place- the belly of a whale. But before we chuckle, we should take a moment to reflect on the rather odd places where we have either found or have attempted to find peace, albeit a peace that was at best only temporary.  You see Jonah had sinned against God.  God called him to preach repentance to the people of Nineveh, but he hopped onto the first boat going in the opposite direction because Jonah hated the Ninevites. But then a great storm erupted, as storms do erupt when we try to run from God, and Jonah had himself, thrown overboard so that his shipmates might be saved.  That’s where the whale enters the scene and rescues him. Inside the whale, Jonah was basically able to go on retreat: he offered praise and thanksgiving to God and repented for his disobedience. He found a kind of peace, but only for a while.  But what about the Ninevites?  They were still there, and they still needed to be saved, they needed to be set free of their slavery to sin.  If his story ended here we would not be talking about Jonah today.  After Jonah repented, the whale immediately spewed him out onto dry land and God once again called him to go to Nineveh.  This time he went and the Ninevites were saved.  So Jonah went off and lived happily ever after, right?   Wrong!!! He cursed God and climbed the nearest mountain from where could watch the city and prayed to God to destroy the city.  Remember he hated the Ninevites. Also he lamented the intense heat and thought he was going to die because of it.  So God raised up for him a large plant that he used for shade and Jonah found relief-but only for awhile.  The plant quickly shriveled up and died and Jonah once again cursed God-this time for destroying the plant. Now this is where God steps in and teaches him a lesson. God points out to him that Jonah’s priorities were way off.  He cared more about the silly plant than the thousands of Ninevites who desperately needed the message given them.  So, aren’t we thankful, that we are not like Jonah since of course we have all our priorities lined up with the will of God and cheerfully live our lives accordingly?

Listen, Lord, Your Servant is Speaking [1/17/21]

“God has created me for some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have a mission.  I may never know exactly what that mission is in this life. I shall be told it in the next.  I have a part in a great work.  I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.  He has not created me for nothing.  I shall do good.  I shall do His work.  I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, even if I do not realize what I am doing. But, if I keep His commandments, I will serve Him in my calling.”

These are not my words, although I wish they were. They are the words of John Henry Cardinal Newman who was an intellectual who lived in England from 1801-1890. His study and thought led him to convert from the Anglican Church to Catholicism. He entered the priesthood and later became a Cardinal. He has been beatified by Pope Benedict.

 I have to think that the words of our Scripture passages this weekend were close to his mind and heart when he penned this quote, but even if that is not the case it certainly is true that his words are close to my mind and heart as I ponder these passages.

Like Newman’s words, the words of the readings make it clear that we are all called by the Lord and that we have an innate need to stay connected to Him and that the only way for us to experience true fulfillment is for us to find and carry out the specific purpose for which we were created.

 We all have general callings and specific callings. All of us in this parish are called to serve God. But our individual calling is more specific than simply a general call to serve the Lord. We are called to serve Him in the specific vocations to which he leads us. There are young men here at St. Aloysius who are called to serve the Lord as priests or religious.  There are young women here who are called to serve the Lord as religious sisters. There are many who are called to serve the Lord by faithfully living out a vocation to the married life and there are some who are called to joyfully serve the Lord in the single life.

 But His call does not stop there. It’s not as if once we discern our vocations the story is over and we live happily ever after. That is just the beginning. Besides, happily ever after is so very boring. We are not finished discerning God’s will simply because we have determined that we are called to the consecrated life, the married life or the single life. We are still very much discerning the specific purpose that God has for us and pray that we are on the right track to fulfilling it.

 During my father’s funeral Mass it struck me that perhaps God’s specific purpose for me was actually to gift my dad with a priest son to celebrate his passing from this life to the next. The more I thought about it I thought maybe that could actually be the case.  Who’s to say what is in the mind of God?  However, while I obviously don’t know for sure, I wonder if that is still the case, simply because I am still walking around on this earth.  Although, I can’t say this for, sure my guess is that once we have fulfilled our purpose in life, He takes us home, but then again, what do I know?  I’m just trying to continue my discernment like every one else.

 So how do we discern God’s calls- from the general to the specific?  I think we can take some clues from our readings and from Cardinal Newman’s words. We have to stay connected to the Lord on a very regular basis. We need to stay with Him. Remember, Samuel was sleeping in the Temple of the Lord. The two disciples stayed with the Lord that day and then stayed with Him as he walked the earth for the next three years. Because they stayed with Him their lives were changed forever.  If we look at our own lives just a little bit we can see that we have a great need and desire to stay connected with our peers and with the world around us. We don’t want to miss anything. How much time do we spend on facebook, or sending and receiving text messages or checking scores etc? How hard is it for some of us to even imagine the thought of missing some game or TV show or some social event? We have a vested interest in staying super-connected.  It’s as if modern means of communication have become our lifeblood.

 The same needs to be true of our relationship with God.  The need we have to stay connected is only a sign that points to our deep spiritual need to stay connected with God. He will not impose Himself on us but He so desires for us to bring ourselves to Him continually so that He can reveal Himself ever more deeply to us. He has so much to show to us and He doesn’t want us to miss a thing, and He knows that that is what we so much need in our lives so that we can experience fulfillment.

 In addition to staying connected with the Lord through prayer, we need to study, listen to and reflect on His word in the Scriptures. The Scriptures help us to hear His words in our prayer time with Him. We also need other people to help us in our discernment. Discernment is not something that we can do on our own. While our peers and friends can be of value in this area, we do need to go beyond them and seek guidance from trusted folks who just might be a little bit more experienced in the spiritual life. The two disciples in the Gospel had John the Baptist; the boy Samuel had Eli.  John the Baptist literally pointed Jesus out to the disciples; Eli told Samuel what to say when the Lord called.

 “Speak, Lord for your servant is listening.”  These of course, are the words that Eli gave to Samuel, but they signify much more than just words. They point to a whole disposition of openness and listening to the Lord. We can’t just simply at some arbitrary point  decide that we are going to pull ourselves away from our frantic lives, shut off our ipods, smart phones or whatever, quiet ourselves down and say, “Ok, Lord, you can speak now; I’m listening.”  As a matter of fact, I would daresay that when we do make time for prayer, it’s usually more like we’re saying, “Listen, Lord, for your servant is speaking,” rather than the other way around.   When we pray we so often are very rushed and feel like we have to voice every need and concern and petition to Him and before you know it we’re off and on our way and God never had a chance to get a word in edgewise.  And besides, God doesn’t work that way any way. He’s going to speak softly, in His time, in such a way that can only truly be heard in the context of a well nurtured relationship.

 After consistently spending truly quiet time with Him for an extended period of time, we start to discover that we do in fact have a relationship with Him. We don’t so much feel the need to dominate our time with Him with our voiced prayers and petitions because we begin to realize that He knows what we need even more than we do ourselves and that He is always there for us. We gradually begin to want to simply “be” there with Him and even for Him.  We start to understand that He pretty much always has a little something for us and we don’t want to miss it, we realize that He is ever so gradually inviting us into the depth of His plan for us. Eventually our disposition changes and more and more we want to serve Him because we know that is how we find our peace. Finally we find ourselves disposed like the psalmist to say “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will,” or as Samuel to say, “Speak, Lord for your servant is listening,” as a way of inviting, not commanding the Lord to reveal Himself to us.

 All of this takes a great deal of time and effort, just like it takes time and effort to keep up with all of our peers etc, but we do so, because staying connected is so important to us and we don’t want to miss anything. The Lord invites us as into a life long relationship which leads us to discovering the very purpose of our creation and fulfillment in this life.  And we can be sure that this is not something that we want to miss.        

In Baptism He/She/We Died with Christ... [01/10/21]

At every Funeral Mass the priest prays in these or similar words: “In Baptism, N died with Christ. May he/she share with Him everlasting life.”  Indeed, it is an integral part of our faith that in the sacrament of Baptism, we do experience a spiritual death.  As the Father, in this same sacrament claims us as His beloved children, we accept the call to die to ourselves and our selfish wills so that we might live fully for Him as His true sons and daughters. Perhaps we know the story of St. Maximilian Kolbe, the priest who, while in a Nazi concentration camp, gave up his own life so that another man would live. When asked how he was able to make such a choice, he explained that he was a Catholic priest, and that in a very real way he had had already given up his own life-on the day of his ordination. Actually, all of us have already given up our own lives, if we are truly living out our baptismal calls.  So-what about the baptism of Jesus?  If we believe that in our own baptisms, we have died with Him, then isn’t it correct to say that it was at His own baptism, that He died with us-every bit as much as He died for us on the Cross?  Jesus’ Baptism is so significant because it marks the time of His decision to follow the will of His Father. It was on the day of His Baptism that He laid down His life for us. From the day of His Baptism, He never strayed from His journey to Jerusalem and the Cross. No wonder it was at this time that His Father proclaimed Him as His beloved Son in whom He was well pleased.  Now, what about us?  Have we truly died with Christ at our baptisms or have we strayed away from our baptismal callings and from our own personal Crosses?  Are we living for Christ, or for ourselves? We are doing either one or the other-which is it?  Do we believe that Christ is in fact the one who was pointed to by all the prophets, etc. during the Advent/Christmas Season and proclaimed as such by God the Father Himself as the season comes to its end today-or not?  The answer to these questions will become clear to us as we examine how we live out our baptismal calls during the days of Ordinary Time-which begin tomorrow.

Mr. Rose's Epiphany [01/03/21]

Over 25years ago, I met a man named Mr. Rose who was a parishioner in the first parish to which I was assigned as a priest.  My guess was that he was about 45 years old but I never really knew for sure. I don’t think I ever learned his name until my second year in the parish but I had become familiar with his face almost as soon as I had arrived in the parish.   He came to Mass every Sunday and attended almost every parish activity by himself.  He sat in the middle of the center pew of the church, he wore one of two very similar looking suits every time I saw him, and although he was very polite I don’t know that I ever saw him engage any one in an actual conversation.  If I ever encountered him personally it was after Mass while I was greeting parishioners. He would simply nod as he went by.  He was intriguing because of his almost complete silence, his persistent presence and the sadness that always seemed to emanate from him. I wondered if I was ever going to get to know him and his story; and then one day he called the parish office for an appointment and wanted to see me.  We met several times over the next few months.  He was a single man who worked at a grocery store. He explained that he had been feeling sad ever since his mother died and he did not know how to shake it. At first I told him that it was very normal to feel sad after losing a parent and that at the very least it would probably take a full year before things would begin to feel somewhat normal again. But he explained that it had been several years and he still felt pretty much the same way. I asked him how long it was since his mother had passed and he said that it was now well over 10 years ago.  I have to say that this was very surprising to me. Here was a middle aged man who had been talking to me as if his mother had died in the very recent past but now I realized that he had been in this state of malaise for over a decade and saw no way to ever change his life situation. It was as if the life he had lived had simply been dealt to him and that he had no control or even influence over it. He was an only child who had lived in the same house from the time he was born and was now living there by himself since his mother’s death. I saw, however, that he did want to rise above his sadness, and although, I did not know the answer, I hoped very much that I could help him. Then finally at one of our meetings I asked him the following question.  “Mr. Rose,” I said, “have you ever done anything for anyone?”  He kind of looked a bit puzzled at first, as if he wondered what my question had to do with his situation, but after a bit of a pause he said that he really could not remember any time that he extended himself to anyone.  I explained to him that helping other people always tended to lift my spirits and I thought maybe it would help him as well. The rest, as they say is history. Mr. Rose agreed to help out at a local soup kitchen and became a regular there. Eventually he became very involved in the parish, and especially in any service activities. He became much more socially outgoing and his spirits rose almost exponentially. He wrote to me a couple years after I had been transferred and thanked me for the time I had shared with him and that he come to see my question as an “epiphany,” that literally brought him to new life.  You know what, folks?  I think Mr. Rose’s epiphany can be an epiphany for each of us. If we ever feel like we are in a rut that we can’t get out of, there is nothing like asking ourselves what we can do for others to pick ourselves up. Isn’t that what the three wise men did?  They took themselves out of their own safe little comfort zones and ended up walking differently for the rest of their lives. That’s what happened with Mr. Rose. He brought himself to new life. I’m thinkin’ it could happen to us too.

Yes, Your Family is Holy [12/27/20]

Every time I am about to celebrate Mass for the Feast of the Holy Family, I always very carefully scan the congregation. Why, you may ask?  Well to make sure that none of my immediate family members are there in Church, of course!  You see, almost twenty years ago now, as I came to the center of the sanctuary to preach the homily, this little two year old young lady came running up the aisle and stopped short about two pews away from me gleaming at me with a big smile on her face. Sure enough, it was my niece Katie and I quickly saw that my brother, his wife and family were there a little ways back; they had come up to pay me a surprise visit. Looking down at her, I said  “Well hello there little Miss Katie, it certainly is wonderful to see you, your Mom, your Dad and your two brothers, Donny and baby David here today! But now I am in a bit of a tight spot; do you know why? Because since today is the Feast of the Holy Family, I was, and still am, going to spend the next few minutes talking about you and them.  Family. You never know when they are going to turn up, do you?  It’s no wonder that we celebrate the Feast of the Holy family just a few days after Christmas. It’s right around this time of course that so many of us had a chance to see them again and spend time with them again. And therefore it’s also right around now that so many of us are also thanking God for already doing so or begging Him to send them home.  Yes this time of year reconnects us with our families, warts and all; the good, the great, the bad and the ugly.  For me it reminds me of so many things, and perhaps most of all of how important forgiveness is in a family. Forgiveness that I must humbly seek.  Forgiveness that I must readily give.  And why is it so important?  Because a major part of the Christmas message is that the Father chose to send His son into the world as part of a family. A specific family-Jesus’ family was not chosen randomly, but handpicked by the Father.  The same is true with each and everyone of us. God chose us to be part of His creation, but He didn’t just do so randomly. He handpicked our family, just like He handpicked Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  Yes. As Jesus’ family is holy, so your family is Holy. Happy Feast everyone!