Listen, Lord for your Servant is Speaking [01-14-24]

“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 everyone 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 iPod, 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.

Mr. Rose's Epiphany [01-07-24]

As a newly ordained priest, 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.

Holy Family Sunday [12-31-23]

HOLY FAMILY SUNDAY

Good morning every one!  I ask that you allow me a moment to scan the congregation to make sure that none of my family members are here in church. I have been doing this for the last 30 years or so because of an incident that happened on Holy Family Sunday that to this day gives me pause.  On that day, as I stepped to the center aisle to begin preaching, this, cute as a button two-year-old young lady, came running down the aisle from her pew, and stopped just about two pews short of where I was standing and gave me kind of an “in your face but happy to see you kind of stare.”  Of course, I quickly realized that she was my niece Katie, who had brought her whole family with her for a surprise visit.  I introduced her to the congregation, and I told her that I was very happy to see her and her dad (who is my brother) and her mom and her two brothers, but that now I was in a bit of a dilemma. You see my homily that day, the Feast of the Holy Family was largely based on talking about them!  Oh, what to do, what to do?  That’s why ever since then, I really don’t talk about my family that much on this day. Ever since then, I talk about your families-so here goes.  First of all, I must say that I do think it is fitting that the Church celebrates this feast on the first Sunday after Christmas, because undoubtedly, we have been visiting with family members and by this time have probably just about had our fill of them.  Or in other words, this time of year does put our families, warts and all, in the spotlight, does it not.  For us Catholic Christians the starting point is that God the Father sent His own son into the world to be part of a family. This, of course, has so many implications for us, but the starting point is that our family is our family and the family we are in is not just some random coincidence-it is part of God’s plan.  That is the simple truth. And as far as striving to have a simple Christmas goes. I’ll bet a lot of what you have been trying to do or simplify has to do with your families. I am sure that so much of what God wants us to accomplish this Christmas and through out the year is about making progress and growing in our family relationships.  What He wants for all families is very simple, but it is not easy. But first of all, I think I can identify something that all of us want and hope for and not just for Christmas but for all year round. All of us want to be accepted for who we are; at some level all of us just want to get along.  Parents want their children to get along, employers want their staffs to get along, pastors want their parishioners to get along, etc. etc. No one wants to live in a war zone.  Actually, I think this might be why some of us are having trouble living simply, which actually means to live in hope.  Our expectations might be low or even non-existent because we know that our wives are going to annoy us, or that our husbands are going to let us down, or that our siblings are going to drive us crazy, or that our in-laws are going to what they always do, and we won’t feel accepted because we can’t get along and our hope is smothered out.  Believe me, I get it. Well, if that’s you, I think St. Paul has some thing to say to you, and to all of us. In the first verse of the 15th chapter of Romans, St. Paul says that we who are strong should put up with the failings of the weak, not for the purpose of pleasing ourselves, but rather to build them up.  In other words, he is saying that we need to accommodate the very people who are getting on our last nerve and let them have things their way.  Not only should we not insist on having things our way but should even look for ways to allow them to have things their way. We should focus on ways to build them up, to accept them as Christ has accepted us. And we should do all this, why?  In verse 4 he says, so that we may have hope.  That’s right; when we accept other people as Christ accepts us, when we let them get their way, when we accommodate them, we receive hope. That is how it works.  That’s what Christ does with us; that’s how He wants it to be with us. We give acceptance; we receive hope. Try it; you just might like it.  Christ accepts us totally as we are, with all of our flaws, and then He says “Follow me.” Acceptance comes first, discipleship comes later.  We are all accepted by Christ as we are. We all have unconditional acceptance from Him and He expects us to give to others what He gives to us. And you know what, folks, it’s a better way to live, it’s an easier way to live, it’s a more successful way to live, and it’s all about simply living in the hope God wants us to have.  So instead of trying to change all those crazy people God put around you; accept them, and you will have hope. By the way, I think I can say that I have learned something else. Acceptance not only leads to hope, it also paves the way to influence. We can influence others if we first accept them. So now let’s go back to Joseph who is at center stage as the simple miracle of Christmas continues to unfold. Here I would like to suggest that the crucial point of this passage goes along exactly with what we have been saying and we find it in the last line of last week’s Gospel: “When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.” 

The Christmas Present [12-24-23]

It was the evening of December 24, 1966. Christmas Eve. And it was snowing. Really hard. They called it a blizzard. It was the last time we had a truly white Christmas in these parts. You can look it up.

There was a six year old boy who spent most of the night either with his hands and face pressed against the window beside his top bunk bed anxiously hoping to see Santa and his sleigh flying through the wildly swirling snow flakes and running to the bedroom of his Mom and Dad with one concern after another.

His concern began a few days earlier when he realized that his home did not have a fireplace or a chimney. This fact did not usually present him with much of a problem, but all of a sudden it became very problematic two days before Christmas. Without a fireplace, without a chimney, how on earth was Santa going to get into the house and put all those wonderful toys under the Christmas tree?  He asked his father about this and good dad that he was, he had just the right answer. His father explained that on Christmas

he would leave the above ground outside basement door unlocked so that Santa could come in through the basement and right up the stairs to the living room where the tree was located.  The little boy was greatly relieved. He even thought that Santa would like this method much better than trying to squeeze up and down a dirty old chimney.  His

Dad had showed him earlier in the day on Christmas Eve that he had in fact unlocked the basement door which, was about at a thirty degree angle from the ground to the house and closed. He explained that Santa would know that it was unlocked from previous years. Everything seemed to be in place. Soon it was time for him and his five brothers and sisters to go to bed.

But, it was snowing.  And it was Christmas Eve. And Santa was coming! And everyone else was soon asleep. And this little fellow from his window by his bed could see that basement door! He thought sure that if he could only stay awake; he would see Santa and the reindeer and be able to actually watch him come into. Sleep for him was not something that was going to happen any time soon. Or for his Mom and Dad either, for that matter.

Then it occurred to him.  The basement door was unlocked. Any body could get into the house. Robbers could get in. They could steal the toys. His toys!  That was the occasion of his first trip to his parents’ room. His mother calmed his fears very quickly. She explained that it was snowing too hard. It was would be too difficult for anyone to get around that night. There was no need to worry about robbers that night. It made good sense to the young man. He went back to his room, climbed to his top bunk and re-pressed his face to the window pane.

He was peaceful for a while. It was snowing too hard for robbers.  They could never get around in that kind of weather. No one could. But soon it occurred to him that it might be too hard for Santa and his reindeer to fly in this kind of weather as well.  What if Santa could not make it this year? Every one had been saying that they could not remember a storm like this around here, especially on Christmas Eve. It was now time for his second trip to see Mom and Dad.

Again, Mom was able to bring him some peace.  She told him that Santa was used to weather like that. It was always snowing really hard at the North Pole. In fact he probably liked it better that way. That seemed to make sense to him, so back he went to the window pane.

He was sure that Santa would be there soon. But as he looked down at that basement door, he became filled with worry again.  The snow was piling up very quickly on top of the door. He could barely even see it He thought that if Santa did not get there soon he would not be able to open it up because it would be too heavy. Somebody had to do something. Fast.

He ran back again to his Mom and Dad. They assured him that everything would be alright, if he would just go to sleep. They sent him back to his room.

This time he went back to his post on his top bunk in a very concerned state of mind. But he kept his nose pressed to the glass and, before too long, he saw something that he would never forget.  No, it was not Santa Claus. It was not a sleigh. It was not reindeer that he saw. What he did see was his father who had donned his winter gear and was now shoveling the snow off of that basement door so that Santa could get in. His dad looked up at him and waved. Then he opened the door so that his son could see that everything was going to in order for Santa’s arrival.

The next thing I remember is that it was Christmas morning and I was under the tree with all of my brothers and sisters surrounded by Christmas presents. But I don’t remember anything that Santa brought me that night. And if the truth be told, I would be hard pressed to give an accounting of any gift that Santa ever brought me over the years. I do, however, very much remember the gift that my Mom and Dad gave me that night.  (I kind of think that my Mom might have suggested to my Dad that he clear the snow off that basement door.)

To me, this story is as simple as it gets and it is transcendent; it is not limited by time or space. As we make our final preparations for Christmas, let’s make sure that we give our loved ones true gifts. Gifts that they will always remember. Gifts that truly show how much we care.  Remember, it is your loving and caring present that is the most wonderful present. Merry Christmas to all!!

~Father Maloney

Gaudete Sunday [12-17-23]

Today we celebrate the Third Sunday of Advent, which is also known as Gaudete Sunday. “Gaudete” is a Latin word that means “rejoice.”  Today is a day that the church calls to focus on the realities that we are near to both the celebrations of the birth of Christ and His Second coming. And so we hear the wonderful words of the prophet Isaiah: “The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God.  I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels.”  And we hear Saint Paul saying, “Rejoice always in the Lord,” and we hear St. John the Baptist described as a man who was sent to testify to the light. We also light the third candle which is rose colored, rather than purple, and we wear  rose colored vestments (yes, they are rose, not pink; not that I would have any problem if they were pink, mind you, but they not, they are rose!) because rose symbolizes rejoicing. However, I must admit, that this whole theme of rejoicing does present me with a bit of a challenge. I wish I could say that it never presents a challenge for me, but indeed it does. But it shouldn’t. Not for me and not for you. Ultimately there is never a reason for us not to rejoice in the Lord. No matter what we are facing in this life, the Lord is always there loving us, consoling us, healing us, forgiving us and giving us hope. But we let other, small realities pull us down. Now I don’t mean we don’t face real challenges and real suffering, but they all fade in comparison to what God has for us, what He does for us and who He is for us.  If we keep our focus on preparing the way of the Lord, as John the Baptist exhorts us to do throughout the ages, we will be able to rejoice heartily in the Lord. For me, one of those things which keep me from rejoicing at this time of year are those confounded lists to which we keep subjecting ourselves. You know what I mean-especially now that we are within 12 days of Christmas.  I’m talking about those “people to see, places to go, things to do, gifts to buy, cards to write, etc. etc. lists.  Of course we make up these lists to try to get ourselves organized- which is all well and good, but one of my problems is that I can never even finish writing the lists, any list. They just keep growing and expanding. Before you know it, we become slaves of the list, and can no longer see the forest for the trees. This doesn’t mean that lists can’t be useful; it does mean we can’t let them take control of us. What we need to do is to keep our focus on our goal which is to rejoice heartily in the Lord. Always. And at all times-especially now when the celebration of the birth of the Lord is near.

Faith= Gratitude in Advance [12-10-23]

Last week I was saying that in order to truly experience and live the season of Advent we must intentionally strive to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.  We said that ingratitude is absolutely incompatible with happiness yet it remains a trap into which we are very susceptible to fall. We fall into it even though we know that cultivating an attitude of gratitude is a much better way to live. There are all kinds of reasons why we fall into this trap but perhaps one of them is that we are trying to do too much too fast perhaps especially during this time of year. When we do this the trials and tribulations always seem to become more and more difficult to navigate and this makes it very difficult to focus on the goal that lies ahead-if we can even remember what that might be. The goal of this Advent/Christmas season needs to be positioning ourselves and our families etc. in the best way we can to receive all the blessings that God has for us during this wonderful season. If we are practicing gratitude we come to realize that just as God has continually blessed us in the past and in the present, He will only continue to do so in the future.  We come to know that there are blessings behind every burden and this knowledge inspires and encourages us to go forward, to keep moving toward the blessings and to even thank God for them before we receive them. That is what faith is. Faith is gratitude in advance of the blessings that lay beyond the burdens. On this Second Sunday of Advent St. John the Baptist offers us the great hope that one day our path to the salvation which God offers will be made level and straight. We can help to straighten our own paths by thanking God in advance for the blessings to which they lead. In so doing, even the burdens begin to look a bit less burdensome we might even find ourselves focusing even more on the Lord than the blessings that He has for us. We come to understand more clearly what we are looking for.  And what we are looking for we tend to see.

An Advent Attitude of Gratitude [12-03-23]

We all know that traditionally in the secular world the beginning of the Christmas season has been associated with Thanksgiving and the appearance of Santa Claus at the end of the Thanksgiving Day parade.  Not to give in to the secular world, but I do think that the Thanksgiving spirit, leads wonderfully into the season of Advent. And the First Sunday of Advent is usually the third day after Thanksgiving, so hopefully we are in a “grateful mode” when Advent begins. Also, I do think that to experience and even celebrate the season of Advent as it should be celebrated we must practice gratitude. So many times, and we know it is true, we live in a way that displays ingratitude even though ingratitude is absolutely incompatible with happiness.  So why do we do it? My guess is that there are many reasons. Maybe we have unfair expectations of other people or of the world. Maybe we are too proud. Maybe we have a sense of entitlement or maybe we are so wounded that we can’t see any good possibilities around the corner. Or maybe we allow ourselves to fall into laziness and slothfulness. On the other hand there is no practice that is more effective in leading us to feeling better about ourselves than practicing gratitude. And we really do have a choice- we can go one way or the other. There was a study done in which two groups of people were given opposite tasks for period of 10 weeks. One group was asked to list everything for which they were grateful every day. The other group was asked to list everything that was bothersome or annoying to them. Guess what happened? In both groups, the lists became longer and longer as the weeks went on. Each group became either more and more aware of their blessings or more and more aware of things that made them unhappy. So, it really is true that we find what we are looking for. On this First Sunday of Advent the Gospel calls us to be watchful and alert. I believe that a good way to begin practicing vigilance is to be aware of the many blessings that come to us from the Lord. We need to look for them and count them. Writing them down would not be a bad idea. And this Season of Advent is a perfect time to do just that. Through these coming weeks we will be given the opportunity to reflect on the blessings that God has given us through salvation history. By recognizing and counting our gifts and blessings our attention will be refocused from the gift to the Giver, who is, of course God Himself. GK Chesterton once said that the worst thing about being an atheist is that you have no one to thank. Our attitude of gratitude leads to a deeper relationship with the Lord and to a greater desire to give of ourselves in ways that we might never have imagined. It is very true that life does not always seem wonderful to us. But it is always true that cultivating an attitude of gratitude is a wonderful way to live. Happy Advent, everyone!

Solemnity of Christ the King [11-26-23]

For a number of reasons, I often say that this month presents us with a wonderful opportunity to move into a very reflective frame of mind. The change of the seasons, the colder weather, the shorter days, the celebrations of All Saints, All Souls and Thanksgiving all come together and call us to take a closer look at our relationships with the world, with those who have gone before us, with each other and with God.  Today’s Solemnity of Christ the King indeed provides us with a wonderful opportunity to bring these thoughts to a kind of conclusion.  As we ponder our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and King of the Universe we can focus on His purpose and ours.  Jesus was sent by God the Father to open the gates of Heaven so that we might spend eternity in Heaven with them. Indeed, we and all those who have gone before us are or will be defined by where we are on the path to Heaven. The souls in hell are those who have refused to accept the love the grace and the mercy of God and in so doing have rejected Heaven. You might argue that you don’t believe in hell because why would a loving God create it and why would He send anyone there?  The answer is that He didn’t and He doesn’t.  As far as the existence of hell I certainly believe in it and I can tell you why. It’s because you can see it on earth. Just look around. We don’t have to wait until we die to choose to get there. The saints (the Church Triumphant) are those souls who are in Heaven. The souls in Purgatory (the Church Suffering) are all those souls who are experiencing a purification in order to be prepared for Heaven and who depend upon our prayers to get them there. And, finally there are all of us (the Church Militant) who are striving to conform our hearts, minds and souls to the Lord so that we might share eternity in Heaven with Him.  And so, as we conclude this month and prepare to begin another liturgical year on this Christ the King Sunday, we once again ask the question, “So, how do we get to Heaven?”   Well, the short answer is that we can’t and that there is nothing that we can do to get us there.  Have a good day!  Just kidding; sort of.  But it is the truth; we can’t do anything to get us into heaven, at least not by ourselves, and you might say that that is bad news. But there is good news. And the Good News is that we are not alone.  God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe, to us to make it possible for us to get to Heaven. Through the sacraments (especially baptism) and through faith in Him the gates of Heaven are opened for us. What we do with our lives as we strive to live the virtuous life is all about developing our character which is the only thing about us that we can take to Heaven. That’s what this life and even Purgatory is about. What Jesus does for us is God the Father’s gift to us.  The development of our character is our gift to Him. Jesus Christ the King shows us how to do that and gives us the grace to make it possible. So, how do we get to Heaven? Well you might say it’s like this. I remember quite clearly that my Father was very much uncomfortable with the fact that as we grew up we could, well, leave the house. He could not sleep until we were all back from wherever we felt compelled to go.  I used to think that if he could he would build a fence around our property that would keep us in. Forever. Remember God is our Father. He wants all His kids to be home. Accordingly, He does everything He can, short of taking away our free will to get us there-including sending His only Son to die on a cross.  That is the message of the Solemnity of Christ the King and of the end of the Church’s year. And so, with the season of Advent we begin. Again.

Whose Got Talents? [11-19-23]

The parable of the talents always strikes me as one that always needs another look. I say that because we often seem to fall into our own patterns of thinking and assume that God thinks like us; and we seem to continually compare ourselves with others. For instance, while the parable does say that the talents were distributed to each one according to the person’s ability, we automatically assume that this means that the one who was most capable received the most talents and so on and so on.  But how do we know that’s the way God distributes the talents?  How do we know that God does not distribute the most “talents” to those with the least ability instead of the other way around?  After all, is it not possible that perhaps, God may feel that those who have the least ability might need special help from Him?  Isn’t it possible to think that God ultimately wants the same yield from each of us and so He distributes the talents accordingly?  Who is to say that the Lord does not expect the same return from those among us who seem to have the least amount of talent as He expects from those with the most?  Maybe He gives less talents to those who have the greatest ability because in His mind they need them less than do those who have less ability. If that is the case, what about those of us who assume, after comparing ourselves with others, that we have very little talent and therefore God is not expecting much of us, and so we bury our talents in the sand?  What do we say to the Lord when He says to us, that we had much more ability in His eyes than others who used their talents to accomplish much more than we did?  The truth of the matter is that God rightfully expects a bountiful yield from each of us. The greatest tragedy would be that we would compare ourselves to others and bury our God given gifts in the sand.

Where Are You Going to Be When the Music Stops? [11-12-23]

Today’s Gospel parable of the Ten Virgins demands a little explaining because it presumes a custom that we no longer follow.  On the day of a wedding, the groom would go to the bride’s house and confer with her father.  He would sign the marriage covenant and then escort his bride back to his or his father’s house. The bride’s family would follow.  When they finally got to the house, the wedding reception would begin.  The ten virgins would be part of the ceremony. Their role was to light the way for the newlyweds, particularly the groom.  The meaning, of course is that the bride is going from her father’s home to her husband’s home. That’s kind of like our situation on earth isn’t it? Are we not (hopefully) on the way to the Father’s house?  That means that we have to be ready for when the groom (Jesus) comes to take us with Him.  Perhaps a little bit of an insight can be taken from the game of musical chairs.  You remember how to play musical chairs, don’t you?  You walk around the chairs, carefully situating your “sit down” over each chair, as you wait for the music to stop, hoping that you can get to a chair before a slower person. Imagine Jesus telling the parable of the “Kids Playing Musical Chairs” and then turning to you and asking, “Where are you going to be when the music stops?”  And so, where are you going to be when it stops?  Where are you going to be when the groom comes?  Where are you going to be when Jesus comes to take you to His Father’s house?  These are appropriate questions for us to ask ourselves at any time, and especially during the month of November, as we remember the saints and the souls of our beloved dead that have gone before us.  November is the time for us to contemplate the truth that we must make ourselves ready at any moment, and that no one else can do that for us but us.  When He comes calling, we need to have our “faith lamps” filled with oil, and we need to have figured out how we are going to be able to sit down in heaven.

It's not About Us- Will We Ever Get it? [11-05-23]

In today’s Gospel Jesus is continuing to hammer and pound on the scribes and Pharisees as he has been doing for the last several weeks but this time He is talking to the people about them.  A challenge for us is to always understand that whatever issue He has with the Pharisees, He also has with us. His main criticism of the Pharisees is that they had turned religion into a means of elevating themselves. By virtue of their position in the Church, they were able to serve themselves instead of the people, which, of course, is exactly the opposite of what they were supposed to be doing. They turned something that was supposed to be all about God and the people into something that was totally about them and their power. Jesus is trying to teach us that the way that the Pharisees and scribes conducted themselves was diametrically opposed to the way He wants us to live. Discipleship is not about us. It is about Jesus, and if we’re honest with ourselves that is a very tough truth for us to truly accept and to live. Discipleship is not about serving ourselves. It is not about accumulating wealth or power, or position or status or favor, etc. It’s about loving God with all our hearts, minds and souls and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Selfishness has no place in the heart of a disciple.  Ironically, we do indeed become the best that we can be when we realize that it is all about serving God and His people and not at all about us.

Much, Much, More Than a Feeling [10-29-23]

We often associate the word “love” with some pleasant feelings, or intense and delightful emotions.  But the word Jesus used for love means something much deeper.  It is the word "agape" [AH-gah-pay], and it refers to the love that means desiring communion with something that is good in itself.  If we say that we “love” ice cream, of course, we mean that we very much enjoy eating it.  We probably do not mean that we want to enter into a spiritual communion with ice cream. If we love a person, (using Jesus’ word “agape”) it means we love spending time with them, getting to know them, and sharing the experiences of life with them.  But when it comes to loving God, Jesus wants to make sure that we understand that even the word agape is not enough to completely convey the type of love we are to have for God, ourselves and our neighbor.  He says that we must love God with all of our hearts, our minds and our souls.  We must love Him with all our hearts; this means we must desire what God desires.  We must love God with all our minds; this means we must value and understand things in the same way that He values and understands them.  We must love Him with our whole souls; this means we must choose to actively live in accordance with the desires and understanding of His mind and heart.  If we love God as Jesus commands us to do, than loving our neighbor as ourselves will pretty much become second nature to us.  I believe in fact that if we truly do love God with all of our hearts, minds and souls it would be virtually impossible for us to do any thing but love our neighbors in the way that Jesus envisions us doing.  And always remember, the love of Jesus, i.e. Christian love, is much, much more than a feeling.

They Thought They Had Him [10-22-23]

“Should we pay the tax or not?” The Pharisees and scribes really thought they had Him this time. What was He going to say?  (Not that they really cared about the answer He would give; all they cared about was trapping Him.)  If He said that they should pay the tax, then surely the crowds that were hanging on His every word and deed would turn against Him and He would cease to have any kind of following and they wouldn’t have to worry about Him anymore. If He said that the tax should not be paid, then all they had to do was hand Him over to the Romans.  Either way, or so they thought, there simply was no way out for Jesus.  But look what happened; Jesus asked for a coin because He didn’t have one. He didn’t have one because He did not rely on money; He was not part of the Roman system.  The Roman coinage, the Roman tax had little or no bearing on Him. But who showed Him the coin with Caesar’s insignia?  Of course, the Scribes and Pharisees did, and in so doing they exposed themselves. They exposed themselves as participating in the Roman economic system.  Jesus was basically saying to them, “If you are going to play the game with the Romans, then you have to play by their rules.” In other words, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.”  The problem with the Pharisees and scribes, once again, is that they were hypocrites, and they were easily exposed as such by Jesus.  Their question was insincere; they did not care about it at all. They were obsessed with defeating Jesus, and because their motive was not pure, they did not stand a chance up against the pure light of Jesus.  They exposed themselves as being part and parcel of the Roman system.  That’s why we need to make sure that our motives are pure, that we give to God what is His. If our motives are not pure we can be sure that we will expose something about ourselves that we do not want the world (or ourselves) to know.  Remember, they thought they had Jesus dead to rights.  Instead they trapped themselves.

Do We Allow God to Change Our Plans? [10-15-23]

Ingratitude is the substance of many sins, and all sin separates us from God and from the meaningful life that comes from living close to God - it keeps us from accepting God's invitations.  And so, a healthy sense of gratitude is one of the best ways to combat sin and stay close to the Lord.  Today's parable shows us exactly how to grow this rare and powerful virtue: by letting Him change our plans.  If the invited guests in the parable had truly respected their king, they would have adjusted their plans for his sake, putting aside their personal preferences for a little while to show their gratitude to Him.  God asks us to change our plans in many ways. Let’s talk about two of them.  First, when He allows tragedy or suffering in our life.  For instance, when a young married couple discovers that they can't have children, God is most definitely asking them to change their plans.  This is an invitation to follow God more closely, to join Jesus on the cross, so that they can later join Him in the banquet of the resurrection.  He also asks us to change our plans when it becomes risky to act like true Christians in a non-Christian world. Standing up for the rights of the unborn is not always the popular or easy thing to do. Simply striving to live the life of a faithful Catholic in today’s world can require a lot of courage and self-sacrifice.  There is a fair chance that in the week to come God will ask each of us to change our plans in some way or other for the sake of His Kingdom - maybe in something big, maybe in something small.  When He does, let's be generous. Let’s show Him that we truly belong to Him, that we truly do believe, as today's Psalm reminds us, that He is our shepherd, and that He will lead us to the fullness of life. Will we; can we, change our plans for Him?

To Labor, To Hope, To Share in His Victory [10-08-23]

Jesus’ audience could easily identify with the story about an absentee landlord and his not-so-good tenants. It was quite common for the owners to let out their estates to tenants. Their wealth allowed them to travel and own houses in other places. Jesus' story, however, was unsettling to some. Why did the scribes and Pharisees in particular feel offended? Jesus' parable contained both a prophetic message and a warning to the religious community and its leaders. Isaiah had spoken of the house of Israel as "the vineyard of the Lord.” Isaiah warned his people that their unfaithfulness would yield bad fruit if they did not repent and change. Jesus' listeners understood this parable as a reminder that God will in due time root out those who produce bad fruit and put an end to rebellion. What does Jesus' parable tell us about God? First, it tells us of His generosity and trust. The vineyard is well equipped with everything the tenants need. The owner went away and left the vineyard in the hands of the tenants. God, likewise trusts us enough to give us freedom to live our lives as we choose. It also tells us of God's patience and justice. Not once, but many times He forgives the tenants their debts.  But while the tenants take advantage of the owner's patience, his judgment and justice prevail in the end. Jesus foretold both His death and His ultimate triumph. He knew He would be rejected by His own people and be killed, but He also knew that would not be the end. After rejection would come the glory of resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father. The Lord continues to bless us with the gift of His kingdom. And He promises that we will bear much fruit if we abide in Him and remain faithful. He entrusts us with His gifts and grace and gives us a particular work to do in His vineyard. He promises that our labor will not be in vain if we persevere with faith to the end. We can expect trials and difficulties as we labor for the Lord, and even persecution from those who oppose His kingdom. But in the end, we will see triumph. Do you labor for the Lord with joyful hope and with confidence in His victory?

Sincerity [10-01-23]

Sincerity

Sincerity is the virtue of one who communicates and acts in accordance with the entirety of their feelings, beliefs thoughts and desires in a manner that is honest and genuine. While we look for it in other people, we may find it hard to live ourselves.  Hypocrisy makes us blind to God's presence in our lives. We need to be sincere especially in three key areas of our lives.  First of all, we need to build up sincerity in our relationship with God.  We should never try to impress Him or put on a show for Him.  We need to open our hearts to Him completely (He knows them thoroughly already), like little children, so that He can touch our hearts with His transforming grace. Secondly, we must be sincere in our relationship with ourselves.  We sometimes are less than honest with ourselves about the reasons we do things, making excuses or falling into the habit of quick rationalization. We must take responsibility for our actions, good and bad, confident that God can fix whatever we may break. As Christ said, the truth will set us free.  Last but not least, we need to develop sincerity in our words. Sometimes we distort the truth when we talk, we like to flatter people, or make them admire us, so we say things that aren't really true. While we don't have an obligation to tell everyone everything we do have an obligation to be truthful in what we choose to say. Of course, we know that we have the opportunity to receive Holy Communion virtually every day of our lives. The Eucharist can serve to strengthen our resolve to be people of sincerity with hearts open to God's grace.  The pure, white, unleavened bread that is transformed into Christ's body can be an image of sincerity for us.  The host itself is indeed beautiful in its simplicity – in its sincerity.  As we walk up to receive the Eucharist and return to our pews, let’s pray that we might strive to truly become more sincere.  That indeed would be simply beautiful.

God is Not Fair; and Thank God He Isn't! [9-24-23]

When I was 12 years old and my youngest brother was 8, I was quite sure that he was making out like a bandit when it came to our weekly allowance. We both received the same amount, although I knew that I did at least twice as much work as he did around the farm.  Although, I did this very rarely, I felt compelled to approach my father about this terrible injustice and after I managed to gather together enough courage I did so. I told him that I did not think it was right that I did more than twice as much work as my brother did and got paid the same amount.  My father’s reaction surprised me very much. He said something to the effect of “So, you do not think I am being fair, and you want me to be fair, is that correct?”  I responded that I did, in fact, want him to be fair.  Than he told me that he would think about it, and that he wanted me to think about it some more and we would talk again the next night.  I left our meeting in high spirits. It went way better than I ever thought it would. He did not seem upset at all, I had successfully made my case, he listened, and I was about to reap a monetary reward for my brave efforts.  But then I could not sleep. It was too easy; my dad did not seem concerned in the slightest. If I had won my case, then why did we have to meet again the next night?  I knew that something must be up. Things never went that easily where my father was concerned. I basically fretted all night.  The next day I tried to figure out what might be going on. Just as I contended, I was easily doing at least twice as much work as my younger brother. But I also realized that the chores he had actually required more effort for him than the chores I had required of me.  Then I knew I was in trouble!  I just knew that my dad was going to say that if I truly wanted him to be fair, then my brother should receive more than me!  I realized for the first time that the definition of “fair” was a very subjective one indeed.  I concluded that I wanted no part of another meeting with my father; I prayed that he would forget about it.  But he did not. Just as I was getting into bed, he came to my room and said, “Don’t we need to talk?”  I said that we did not; I had thought about it and was now OK with everything.   He said, “But you said I was not being fair, isn’t that right?”  I said that it was, to which he responded, “Are you saying, then, that you do not want me to be fair?”  And I told him that he was correct, that I did not want him to be fair-and so we left well enough alone.  The question that remains for us today after listening to the parable of the workers in the vineyard, is whether or not we actually want God to be “fair” with us.  As for me, I can tell you with certainty since this incident when I was 12 years old that when God judges me I beg that He be anything but fair.

I think it's About Forgiveness [9-17-23]

Cheryl McGuinness learned this secret of mercy at the foot of a strange and terrible cross. She is the widow of the co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, which was hijacked and smashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. That morning, she and her two teenage children cried and suffered at the horrible loss of Tom, her husband. In the midst of her tears, she remembered something that her husband, knowing that a pilot's job is risky, had told her long before: "If anything ever happens to me, you have to trust God. God will get you through it...” She took that to heart, but it wasn't easy. A turning point in the process came almost a year after the attack, when she went to Ground Zero to participate in the Victim Compensation Fund. When she arrived to Ground Zero, emotionally stunned, she looked into the pit where the buildings had once stood. As she looked at the remains, her eyes fixed on the only steel structure left standing. It was in the shape of a cross. She kept looking from the pit to the cross and her eyes focused on the cross. She prayed in the silence of her heart, "Lord, they killed my husband." Then she seemed to see herself at the foot of Cross, Christ's cross, on Calvary. She heard God in her heart, inviting her to forgive the terrorists who had committed this atrocity. She asked Him why, and the answer that came into her soul was: "Because I forgave you." It was a moment of grace and of spiritual clarity for Cheryl, in which she saw that although she had never committed horrible acts of terrorism, she had indeed committed sins - she had done evil. And Jesus had forgiven her. It was that she felt the inner strength she hadn't felt before, the strength to forgive her husband's murderers, and it changed the direction of her life. She realized she had a choice to forgive or remain in hatred.  She chose to forgive and that is what it is all about.

[Information for this Illustration was garnered from https://www1.cbn.com/700club/cheryl-mcguinness-widow-9-11-co-pilot-shares-her-inspired-mission]

What's the Problem, and Whose is it? [9-10-23]

The Gospel reading we have for today is a very interesting one indeed, especially if we truly listen to what Jesus is saying to us. Of course, we know that what He is doing in this passage is explaining to us a set of procedures we should follow if someone sins against us.  At first glance it might seem like He is about to explain to us how we are to go about the process of getting retribution and justice for the wrong that was done to us.  But that’s not what Jesus does at all. The end goal of the instructions He gives to us today, is not aimed at the injured party receiving any kind of retribution at all. Jesus’ primary goal when any kind of sin has been committed is that the sinner who committed the sin be restored to the community.  Everything He tells us to do has to do with reconciling the sinner with the faith community once again. To Him, the problem that is created when a sin has been committed is that now the sinner has separated himself/herself from the faith community. To Him it is the problem of the one who has been sinned against and the faith community as a whole to do everything that can be done to try to bring the sinner back into right relationship with the community.  Basically, we are called to treat the sinner as the Good Shepherd would treat a lost sheep.  That’s a little bit different than how we think isn’t it?  When some one wrongs us, do we find ourselves concerned with the poor soul who has now separated himself from the community, or do we find ourselves concerned with ourselves?  Yet Jesus says that’s the way it’s supposed to be.  Part of following His command of loving one another as He loves us means that our utmost concern has to be with doing everything we can to make sure that all members of the community are reconciled with each other-even when we are the one who has been wronged by another. It means realizing, understanding and living out the truth that even when someone wrongs us, the biggest problem is that the one who has sinned is now faced with the possibility of living a life outside of the faith community, and that this problem is ours.

9-03-23 Jesus: Friend of Peter, Friend of Us All

If we put last Sunday’s Gospel together with today’s Gospel (which is very reasonable to do since today’s verses immediately follow last week’s), we see that we have quite a conversation going on between Jesus and Peter. Within the same conversation Jesus first says the following to Peter: "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so, I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,” but then later He says: “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.  You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."   We know of course that the first statement was made after Peter had correctly identified Jesus as the Messiah, and that the second was made after Peter expressed his dismay at the thought of Jesus being crucified, so Jesus’ words are understandable.  However, I think there is something else going on here as well.  Jesus is being a true friend to Peter.  He affirms him when Peter makes a correct choice, but lovingly scolds him when he begins to head in the wrong direction.  That is what friends do.  Jesus loves Peter and He loves us too much to do anything but to tell us the truth with love.  Do we do this? With Jesus?  With our friends?   Are we totally honest with Jesus when we pray to Him?  Do we try to have a real heart to heart conversation?  Are we totally honest with our friends when we know they are going down a destructive path or do we shy away from saying the hard things?  Being a true friend means truly loving our friend, it means risking our friend’s love for us in order to demonstrate our love for him/her.  That’s what Jesus did in this conversation with Peter.  That’s what Jesus does for us.  The best way for us to thank Jesus for His friendship to us is by being totally honest with Him in our prayer, and by being a true friend to those He gives to us.