Deep South Deacon

The Record of Gambling In Louisiana is Terrible: Think Long and Hard Before Voting For A Slidell Casino

2021-10-29T15:05:00.003-05:00

So that there is no misunderstanding, please be clear that this not a homily that you usually see in this BLOG.. It is just food for thought. Also, I am not against gambling. I have been known to purchase one or two lottery tickets when the jackpot hits $200 million or so. I also enjoy a friendly game of poker and regularly get together with friends for $20 buy in Texas Hold'em. Last but not least, I have visited Mississippi Gulf Coast Casinos several times, mostly for shows at the Beau Rivage, but a few times this included a little gambling on the low stakes blackjack tables or video poker. I estimate that I am somewhere between $400 and $500 ahead when you total out all my trips.

My issues with the Slidell casino proposals are two-fold. FIrst, those who have promoted gambling (government officiials as well as gambling lobbyists) in Louisiana have never kept a single promise when it comes to the terms, conditions, or benefits. Not a one. Second, two very important officials, Slidell Police Chief Randy Fandal and St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith are outspoken opponents.

History of Gambling in Louisiana: A String of Broken Promises

For those who were around when the Lottery was legalized in Louisiana, you may recall that it was promised that a flat percentage of the proceeds would be dedicated to the schools in the state. The schools needed money, so the good citizens of Louisiana approved the bill. However, we were snookered by the politicians. In what amounted to a legislative shell game, they did in fact dedicate the agreed money to schools, but at the same time, an equal amount of money that had been previously dedicated to schools was undedicated and sent to the general fund. This money became available for pork barrel projects. The lottery has been a net gain of zero funding for schools.

And then there was riverboats gambing. What was presented to the public was 19th century style paddlewheelers cruising up and down the Mississippi, evoking gambling tales spun by Mark Twain.The 1991 legislation limited the number of caasino boats to 15. Supporters presented it as such that the romantic paddlewheelers concentrated on the Mississippi River would draw in throngs of tourists to New Orleans. As it turns out, the vast majority of gamblers in the state are Louisiana citizens,

The boats were supposed to cruise for three hours at a stretch followed by 90 minutes at the dock. But the casinos earned at least 25% more when docked. So the Star casino (now defunct) on Lake Pontchartrain began frequently citing the hazard of a gentle breeze to remain dockside. The Treasure Chest in Kenner cited low-hanging power lines and then simply remained at dock after the power lines were raised.

The Queen of New Orleans, operated by the Hilton Riverside, cited fast currents on the Mississippi River to avoid cruising, even though pleasure boats went out every day from adjoining docks. The Boomtown Belle casino in Harvey blamed darkness for not sailing at night. So Casino lobbyist went to work on the Legislature. In 2001, the Legislature ended the need for excuses by mandating that the boats could simply stay dockside.

The land-based Casono at the foot of Canal Street was sold as a small, stand-alone Monte Carlo-style casino, where high rollers in formal wear would gamble the night away. This casino would have neither restaurants nor hotels to ensure that gamblers spent their money with the existing business in the city. It was promised that the Casino would bring at least $250 million of revenue to the state.

You may recall that Harrah’s began temporary operations at the Municipal Auditorium in 1995 but generated less revenue thanprojected and filed for bankruptcy months after opening. The permanent casino opened in 1999,also fell short of revenue projections, and it filed for bankruptcy a second time in 2001. Harrah’s executives and lobbyists got lawmakers to reduce the minimum state payment to $60 million and won approval to open a hotel and a restaurant. Quite far away from the $250 million promised.

Revenue peaked for Harrah's in 2008. They were having trouble meeting their obligations to keep 2400 full-time employee. In 2016, the Legislature gave in to Harrah’s and began counting employees at the Harrah’s hotel across Poydras Street – as well as employees at hotel restaurants – against the 2,400 employee minimum. In 2019, the Legislature approved Harrah’s request to extend its operating contractd for another 30 years and to allow the casino company to build a second hotel and open swanky restaurants. In 2021, the Legislature once again made it easier for Harrah’s to meet the 2,400-employee minimum by approving a bill allowing the company to count construction employees.

Once they got their foot in the door, gambling companies and their lobbyists in Baton Rouge have gradually convinced state lawmakers to expand their games of chance, lower their taxes and relax their rules.

According to Jim Richardson, the state’s pre-eminent public policy economist. gambling revenue to the state has remained virtually flat since 2007. if you figure in inflation, it has actually dropped by 27%. There is no more blood to get out of the gambling turnip. This in spite of all the additional forms of gambling approved by the state. Louisiana needs to look elsewhere for revenue. Or reign in spending. Or both.

Disapproval By Local Law Enforcement Officials.

In a press conference on June 29, Slidell Police Chief Randy Fandal and St. Tammany Sheriff Randy Smith said they are very worried about the crime the casino might bring. These officials say an FBI study shows casinos bring in crime, prostitution, and raise suicide rates and they say that’s not what St. Tammany needs.

From those that I speak with around the parish, it seems like one of the highest, if not the highest concern is the increase in crime. If this is the case, it seems like voting for a Casino in Slidell is tht last thing one would want to do. After all, the two most prominent law enforcement officials in the Parish have come out publicly and said in no uncertain terms "Don't do this. It is a mistake."

Promises of Sugarplums Dancing In Our Heads

Peninsula Pacific Entertainment (PPE) is currently in a full-court press marketing campaign to convince the voters of the Slidell area to approve the relocation of their Casino license from Bossier City to Slidell. They have money and they are spending it. You may have received one of their glossy brochures touting all the benefits to the people of Slidell including a marina and a new multi-purpose athletic complex.

This is the same PPE who closed their casino in Bossier City because of declining revenue and left the area looking worse than a town with an abandoned Wal-Mart. Based on their track record, why should we believe any of their promises. And based on the track record of broken promises from the state government with respect to gambling, why would we trust anything when it comes to gambling. Some of the things that PPE promises will just disappear because they will not be in the law. And no problem for those things that PPE finds to be "burdensome" bit are not in the law. They will just call on the gambling-friendly Louisiana legislature.

Any way that I look at it, it seems like a bad deal for St. Tammany Parish and Slidelll. I would love to know how you see it.

Remembering Your Death: Lifegiving Moments In Christian Spirituality

2021-06-28T11:31:00.002-05:00

The following is a close approximation of the homily I delivered on June 26, 2021 for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary time year B at St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Slidell. The scripture readings on which this is based can be found at this link.

Life is a very uncertain thing. No matter how much we plan and how much we think we are in control, the truth is that we cannot be certain what is going to happen tomorrow, much less what next month or next year are going to look like. Although he did not coin the phrase Ben Franklin is often quoted as having said “ it is impossible to be certain of anything but Death and Taxes.”

In light of my many health struggles, I find one of this topic so upsetting, so disturbing that it is almost impossible for me to talk about. I start to tear up. So as to not cause an upset here in the Church, I will never, ever preach about … Taxes. However, death… that’s a different story. As people of faith, we should be regularly contemplating our own mortality and future deaths in light of the Christian message of salvation. We should be comfortable with the discussion of death and should grow to accept that it is not something to be feared, but to be understood and embraced as part of our destiny.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus raises a little girl back to life. The raising of Jairus' daughter is meant to bring up the themes of life and death and life and after death - themes that lie at the heart of the Christian message of salvation. In the last two weeks of Gospel readings, Jesus shows that he has power over nature (the wind and the sea), over sickness, and over death. So what do we have to fear? Why is this topic so difficult for Christians? Even though Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter, she died again, all the apostles died, you and I will die. It is a certainty.

Most of us do not deal well with death. We avoid going to wakes and funerals . We don’t know what to do or say. We do not regularly speak of it in our homes, so our children and grandchildren never learn how to feel, or what to do or say when someone known by the family dies. Yet, we should not only be talking about death, but we contemplate our own deaths regularly. Let’s see what scripture has to say about that.

From Ecclesiastes 7:4 “Someone who is always thinking about happiness is a fool. A wise person thinks about death.”

Book of Sirach: “In whatever you do, remember your last days, and you will never sin” (Sirach 7:36)

Memento mori (Latin: "remember that you will die") is an ancient Christian spiritual reflection on one’s mortality. It reminds one of the passing, brief nature of this life which ultimately, should, mean nothing to us. Memento Mori used to be very common and generally encouraged. Now we only hear about it for 10 seconds a year…on Ash Wednesday – “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” In the last 150 years life expectancy has risen in the US from 39 years to almost 80 years, so death seems so far away for most. And in a culture that is obsessed with youth and looking young, death has become almost a taboo topic.

For the Saints, however, death was always in the front of their minds. Many kept skulls in their bedrooms as a constant reminder of their mortality. The image of the skull also has been represented in depictions of many saints, including St. Jerome, St. Aloysius, and St. Francis, who used skulls in their spiritual reflection. And keep in mind that the feast days that we celebrate for saints are memorials of their deaths, the day that they were born into eternal life.

There are those who insist that all talk of skulls, and bones, and death is morbid and should be avoided at all costs. This point of view is mainly caused by fear. As Christians we need not be fearful of anything, including our own mortality.

What is the benefit of contemplating our own death? It is related to what we refer to in the Church as the Last Four Last Things: death, judgment, heaven and hell. No one can avoid death or judgement and our choices in this life determine if we will experience heaven or hell. Daily remembrance of this reality is not morbid; it is actually life-giving, because it reminds us to live well and prepares us to die well.

What is our homework? I suggest two things this week. If the subject of death is on the taboo list in your home, that needs to change. You, your children and grandchildren need to become comfortable with the subject of death from a Christian perspective – as the day we are born into eternal life. Second, memento mori – remember your death.

Unfortunately, there is no perfect formula for the meditation on death. And how you do it from day to day will vary. However, in just a few short minutes, here is one way you could go about it. First, think something along the lines of, I could die at any time. I could die today…tomorrow… next week Am I ready to meet the Lord? If not, it is never too late, not matter what.

Second, imagine yourself on your deathbed or dying suddenly. As you think about death’s inevitability and imagine it, allow your mind to think about it as a real event, not just to think about it in a detached way.

Third, after you use your mind to think about this reality, lift your heart in prayer. Whatever comes up during your short meditation on death, bring it to God. Listen to what he has to say in response to any anxiety and fear that you might experience.

However you might chose to meditate on death, it is important to remember that, for the Christian, prayer is key. Christians do not meditate on death as a dark, dismal end. Jesus died for our sins, saving us from death. In the Christian context, the light of Christ streams through the darkness of death and fills it with the hope of heaven.

God created us for life, to become beautiful, to become more and more like him, until eventually we leave this world and are united to him for always. That is our destiny, this is something on which you can be certain.

FedEx, Baskin Robbins and Jesus Christ: Hiding in Plain Sight

2021-03-24T13:33:00.001-05:00

The following is a close approximation of the homily I delivered on March 24, 2021 at St Luke the Evangelist Church in Slidell, LA for the 5th Sunday in Lent, Year B. The scripture readings on which is this is based can be found at this link.

It was hiding in plain sight. Have you ever heard this before? It means that something that seemed to be hidden was actually out in the open. For whatever reason, we just fail to see it. For example, in the Baskins-Robbins logo, there is a clearly the number 31 hidden in plain sight. If you look at the pink parts of the letters “B” and “R” you’ll see “31.” The number refers to their early days when their claim to fame was a different flavor for each day of the month and their marketing jingle was 31derful flavors.

Speaking of logos, something that I never noticed until preparing this homily is the white space in the FedEx logo. Hidden in plain view between the E and the X is an arrow, representing speed, accuracy, perfection, and perseverance. If you have never noticed it, the next time you see a FedEx truck or package, take a good look.

And finally, have you ever had the experience of frantically looking for something around your house? Think of your keys, glasses, wallet or phone. Maybe you looked 10 or 15 minute or more. And then suddenly you find them in a place where you know you looked a half dozen times? If so, you are not alone. It is due to a phenomenon called “traveling brain waves” where your eyes may pass in front of something, but it does not actually register in the brain.

There may be many things around us that we just overlook, that are right in front of us and we do not see. And that is OK. But as Christians it is of utmost importance to each of us that Jesus Christ is not hiding in plain sight.

As you heard at the start of Mass, today is the 5th Sunday in Lent. You will notice some things in the Church that are hiding in plain sight. I am referring to the statues and the cross that are veiled in anticipation of the evening of Holy Thursday. Did you ever wonder why we do this? Until 1969, today was the beginning of a season within the season of Lent called the Passiontide. The Passion account of our Lord was read on this Sunday, Palm Sunday and Monday to Wednesday of Holy Week. The Sunday gospel had this concluding sentence: “But Jesus hid Himself and left the temple.” So among other things, the "hidden" statues and cross bring to mind that verse from the Gospel.

We no longer call this season with Lent Passiontide. The readings for this Sunday have changed. But the veiling of crosses highlights in a dramatic way, the thirst of the Greeks who wanted to see our Lord at the beginning of today’s gospel. They approach Philip and request “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”

Why did these Gentiles want to see Jesus? They probably heard reports about the Lord, such as Him raising Lazarus from the dead and wanted to see him perform more “tricks” so to speak. During that time people looked for Him for many different reasons. The Scribes and the Pharisees wanted to trap Him in their theological quarrels. The Elders and the Chief Priests were always looking for Him to find an excuse to have him executed. The sick looked for Him in search of healing and consolation. Mary Magdalene looked for Him in search of forgiveness. All that is well and good, but the questions you should be contemplating are am I looking for Jesus? For what reason? What do I expect?

There is in the heart of every human being a natural desire for God. As St. Augustine wrote in his Confessions “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” Perhaps Augustine’s most often quoted phrase, it captures something that touches the heart and soul of everyone. This thirst for God is felt by everybody, whether they know it or not.

For many of us, the desire becomes stronger when we are in trouble. In times of doubt, anguish, fear, serious illness, or pain, we might pray all the more for Jesus to reveal himself. Many of us want to see Jesus only because we want Him to solve our problems and, possibly, make our lives easier. But Jesus is not the genie in the lamp that you can rub and have him do your bidding and then send Him out of sight when all is well.

We sometimes fail to see Christ either because we do not seek Him or because like the person who looks for their keys in plain sight, he is in front of our eyes but does not register. If we are looking for Jesus for the wrong reasons, chances are that we will be disappointed, because we may not find Him.

This brings us to our homework. How can I see Jesus in the little time there is left in Lent? Even if we have done nothing for Lent so far, it is not too late. Almsgiving, one of the 3 pillars of Lent is one way. Jesus is all around … in the sick, the poor, the hungry… but like those who never saw the arrow in the FedEx logo, we looked right past Him. Take your time, money or both and do what Jesus said to do. “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

If you want to see Jesus, then read the Scriptures frequently and devoutly, for as St Jerome tells us, “ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” Two years ago, in a homily I gave everyone a challenge to read the entire Bible in a year. I gave out a method to do this in just 15 minutes a day. 3 people that I know of completed this challenge and all told me that afterwards they saw Jesus in a completely new light. Want to see Jesus. Read the scripture.

But most of all, we encounter Him in the flesh, truly, really, substantially, soul and divinity in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. If you want to see Jesus, receive the Eucharist worthily, reverently and frequently, for as the Catechism says, “the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life.”

And finally, visit him in the Adoration Chapel. You will find that He is in plain, and not hiding at all.

Can You Drop Your Net?: Being a True Christian is Really Hard.

2021-01-25T15:50:00.000-06:00

The following is a close approximation of the homily I delivered on January 24, 2021 at St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Slidell for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B. The scripture readings on which this is based can be found by clicking this link.

In a Business Insider article entitled “16 People Who Worked Incredibly Hard to Succeed” the author wrote about people who did hard things to reach their goals. People like Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz who works at the office 13 hours a day and then at home until the wee hours of the night. Then there is sisters Venus and Serena Williams who at 7 and 8 years old were up at 6 AM every day hitting tennis balls. Or Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. When starting his first company, he routinely stayed up until two in the morning reading about new software and went seven years without a day off or a vacation.

Just as worldly endeavors require hard things to be successful, as Christians we daily must do hard things to follow Christ.

In today’s Gospel, we find Jesus inviting two sets of brothers, Simon Peter and Andrew and James and John to become his followers. Notice that according to Mark everyone abandoned everything and started following Jesus. If we really stop and think about this scene, we will quickly realize how difficult this had to have been for them. Neither set of brothers were just weekend fisherman who took their boats out on Lake Pontchartrain for the weekend hoping to fill their ice chests with speckled trout or redfish. These were professional fisherman. Their livelihoods were dependent on them catching fish. And other people depended on them.

We know from the Gospel of Luke that Peter was married and to some extent took care of his mother-in-law. It is likely that Peter and Andrew had some employees. Yet they just left everything when Jesus said to them “Come after me and I will make you fishers of men.” We also know that James and John were in the fishing business with their father Zebedee and that they had employees. Remember we heard in the Gospel “So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.”

So here we have four men, in the prime of their working careers, leaving their lives and livelihoods to follow along with Jesus. They had no income and no means of support. They just followed. How hard must that have been?

No harder than for any of us who are called to follow Jesus. Let’s look at some of the hard things that Jesus tells us to do. To be true followers of Christ, here are just a few of the hard things we must do.

From Luke 6 “But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Extremely hard to do, agree?

From Matthew 10: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; “Here Scripture tells us that we must love Jesus more than anyone else, including our close family. How many of us really do this?

Here is a really, really hard one. From the Gospel of John, Chapter 6, Jesus is preaching to the crowd that he is the bread of life. They are murmuring and saying under their breath that this is impossible. Listen now to a few key verses. At verse 54 Jesus says:

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”

Skipping down a few verses, John writes “Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Notice the word “hard”. Jesus is asking his own disciples to do something that they think is hard. Skipping down a few more verses John continues: “As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” Jesus tells them that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood. Many disciples thought this teaching too hard to follow. They left. And Jesus does not run after them and tell them he was speaking figuratively. He lets them go.

The Church has taught from the beginning that after the priests speaks the words of consecration and the Holy Spirit comes down upon the bread and wine, the substance of those gifts changes and become truly the body, blood soul and divinity of Jesus. They look like bread and wine, they taste like bread and wine, they smell like bread and wine. But they are no longer. Not a symbol, not a memorial, but the real thing. Believing in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is a hard thing to do. But it is the central and foremost belief of the Catholic Church. Quoting Pope Benedict from a homily in June of 2011 “Without the Eucharist, the Church simply does not exist” One more time “Without the Eucharist, the Church simply does not exist.”

This is the first of a series of homilies that you will hear during this Year of the Eucharist. These homilies will look at various aspects of Eucharistic teaching and beliefs. For homework, I would like everyone to contemplate and reflect on where you are in your belief in the real presence considering what I am about to tell you.

A poll from 2019 reported that only 1/3 of Catholics believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. That number is shocking to me. Virtually 100% of people who present themselves for Holy Communion, after being presented the Eucharist and they hear “The Body of Christ” they respond …. Amen. … I believe. Without a doubt. What is even more shocking to me is an interview with the late Fr Benedict Groeschel I heard many years ago. He said that on the streets of New York, a consecrated host goes for $100 or more. They are purchased by Satan worshippers to be desecrated at a so-called Black Mass and in other ways. Not only do nearly 100% of Satan worshippers believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, but some of them can actually tell which hosts are consecrated and which are not. Fr. Groeschel readily admits “How they know, I have no idea. But they know.”

As you can tell, something is really wrong with this. Only 1/3 of Catholics believe in the real presence while virtually 100% of Satan worshippers do.

Being a follower of Christ can be really hard. Way harder than working 20 hours or waking at 6 AM to hit tennis balls. Love Him more than your family. Believe in the Eucharist. Turn the other cheek. Do good to those who hate you. Can you drop whatever nets in your life are holding you back because Jesus is calling you to follow Him?

Your Chance To Change the World: Become A Holy Family

2020-12-27T17:10:00.002-06:00

The following is a close approximation of the homily I delivered at St. Luke the Evangelist Church for the Feast of the Holy Family on December 27, 2020

A few years ago, I read what was supposed to be a funny story. There is a grammar school that puts on an over-the-top Nativity play each year. They always have a line of people trying out for almost all of the parts – but few for the role of the innkeeper. The role is very small, the costume is not very interesting, and the inn keeper is looked at as the Grinch or Ebenezer Scrooge

This particular year, only 1 person, a 3rd grade boy tried out. He of course got the role. He did great in rehearsals. But, when it came time for his line in the actual play, after Joseph knocks on the door and asks for a place to stay. The little boy, answers, “No, I am really, really sorry, but we don’t have any room. But you and your wife look really tired. Why don’t you come in and rest your feet and have a cup of coffee.”

Well that brought down the house. Everyone was roaring with laughter. But after meditating over this story, you may realize, as I did, something very important. This boy must live in a household with an extraordinary amount of love and compassion, a modern-day Holy Family.

As a people of faith, we can help transform society by making our family a modern-day Holy Family

The brings the question of what is means to be a holy family front and center. In the 2nd reading from Paul - there is a paragraph that always raises eyes. When Paul writes the following

“Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them.”

- what does he mean? Paul explains this same thing in more detail in the 5th chapter of the letter to the Ephesians when he writes that Wives should be subordinate to their husbands, and that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the Church. What did Christ do for the Church? He laid down his very life. So are modern husbands called to lay down their lives for their wives.

The same holds true relationship between children and parents. Children, as we heard in first reading from Sirach, are called to honor, love and respect their parents. This does not just apply to young children as they grow up in the parent's home, but to adults as their parents age and have difficulty taking care of themselves. The converse is also true – parents are admonished not to nag or be overbearing to your children.

We are called to mutual love in our families between husband, wife, and children in a manner that reflects the Holy Family. It is the same manner as the extraordinary love in the Trinity, where the love between the Father, Son, brings forth the Holy Spirit. In a sense, a holy family, your family can be an icon of the blessed trinity for all the world to see and to imitate.

There are many beautiful works, by great artists that depict the Holy family as perfect - perfectly clean, well dressed, and well groomed. I am sure that you have seen this portrayal on holy cards as well as Christmas greeting cards. This depiction of perfection in art had its purpose, but also sets an unrealistic view for us as we strive to model our families on the Holy Family.

The Holy family had problems just as each of us do. To name just a few: The Blessed Virgin Mary in her ninth month of pregnancy had to either walk or ride on the back of a donkey about 90 miles to take part in a census. That is the distance from Slidell to Baton Rouge, 9 months pregnant. Ladies, can you imagine doing that?

When they arrived at their destination there was no kind innkeeper like the little 3rd grader to invite them in for a cup of coffee. Mary had to give birth in a stable. Take a deep breath and think about what it smells like?

We know that the Holy Family was poor. The offering that was made at the presentation of our Lord was that of a poor family. What family among does not have or has not had financial issues to deal with?

And finally, after living a life of difficulties and sacrifices, the Holy Family experiences what many would consider the two worst things that can happen in a family - the death of a spouse and then finally, Mary faces what is the ultimate pain for most parents, the loss of her child. Our God is empathetic to our everyday struggle to be a Holy Family because He has lived those very same struggles that we do.

In the early days of the Church, the world was not much different than it is today. There was rampant immorality, crime, world-wide disease and corrupt leaders. Yet, over time, Christians changed the world. The change came not through force, but by the holiness of individual Christians, and the holiness of the families. People saw how Christians lived their lives. It was so different from the world that people looked in from the outside and thought “Wow! I want to be part of that.”

If having a perfect life does not make us imitators of the Holy Family, then what? How are we to become imitators of the Holy Family and thereby transform our culture one family at a time? That is for your homework.

Go home today and start making your family more perfect. Spend as much time together as possible. Love your family generously and deeply. A family that disappears into their separate rooms watching their separate TVs just cannot represent the love of the Trinity. Neither can a family where everyone has their own activities and hobbies that they do separately. Play games together. Go hunting, fishing, play music, swimming or whatever it is you do. Eat meals together. Talk to one another about your deepest hopes and fears. And of course, pray together.

Some of you who live alone, have no children or family relationships might be thinking that this homily has nothing to do with you. But people, made in the image of God, are made for community. Having a family relationship does not require that you be a close blood relative. Seek out community with whom to form that family relationship. It could be here at Church, in your neighborhood, or with those you consider close friends.

And finally, for those that already have strong families, if there is room in your heart, why not prayerfully consider inviting someone who is alone to participate in the life of your family? It can start with something simple, like offering a cup of coffee and a place for someone to rest their weary feet.

Fear of Spiders and Snakes: How Do They Relate to Fear of the Lord?

2020-11-15T19:30:00.002-06:00

The following is a close approximation of the homily I delivered the weekend of November 14 -15 at St Luke the Evangelist Church in Slidell. The scripture readings on which this is based can be found at this link

Fear is defined on Websters.com as “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.. “ . According to one authoritative list, the # 1 fear in the world is that of spiders. #2 is snakes. Those are not surprising to me, but some were. #17 is Alektorophobia, the fear of chickens. #63 is Bananaphobia – yes, the fear of bananas!

Half way between fear of chickens and fear of bananas, 1t #31 is Theophobia, an irrational fear of God. Theophobia is being afraid of God in the same way that people are afraid of spiders and snakes. It is a paralyzing fear, a fear that makes God into a threat.

Theophobia is not what scripture refers to as fear of God or fear of the Lord. For people of faith, the fear of the Lord is loving him so very much that you cannot bear the thought of offending Him.

St Thomas Aquinas wrote about different kinds of fear - worldly, servile and filial. Worldly fear is simple emotional fear. Worldly fear can be healthy and good. God gave us fear to warn us against danger. This is the fear you might feel if a vicious wild animal was running at you with teeth flashing. This fear would tell you to get away and save yourself. Worldly fear to the extreme, becomes a phobia, paralyzing you and causing you to be unable to react sensibly.

Servile Fear is fear that a servant has toward his master. We will hear more about this in a minute. It’s the fear of being punished, like the fear of spending eternity in hell. That is not what God wants for us, but it can play a role in our salvation. Fear of the punishment of Hell is also known as imperfect contrition. This is the type of fear that I had when I did something bad and my mother would say “wait until your father gets home!” Again, servile fear of God is not necessarily a bad thing, but if we are stuck there, we should take a hard look at our spiritual lives and our image of God and try to understand why we see God as a punishing master.

Filial Fear is the fear that we have of losing that which most important in our lives – our relationships. This is primarily the kind of fear that the Holy Spirit moves within us through the Gift of Fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the most extreme type of filial fear. It is reverential awe, love and respect toward God combined with obedience to God’s will.

In the first reading we heard from Proverbs about the qualities of a great wife. Notice it does not say that the most witty, charming, and attractive woman makes the best wife. Recall what we just heard Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting; the woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

‘Blessed are those who fear the Lord.” is what we heard over and over in the responsorial psalm. Both the first reading and the responsorial psalm are referring to the extreme of filial fear – the love of God so strong in us, that we fear offending him or hurting him in any way.

Today’s Gospel makes mention of fear. Just for a little background, although we do not know the exact amount, the “Talents” that Jesus referred are worth about 15 years wages. If we assume for discussion purposes that $50k in today’s dollars is an average annual wage , then the master gave out $3.75 million, $1.5 million, and $750k to the 3 servants. This is a lot of money, not really a small matter in worldly terms as Jesus says in the parable.

The servant of least ability who received the one talent, buried his $750k for fear of being punished for losing it. The type of fear that the lazy servant experience was paralyzing servile fear. Instead of praising him for being safe, the master is outraged. Think about it… if you entrusted a lump sum of $750,000 to an investment advisor, and 30 years later he dug your principal up out the ground and returned it to you, would you not also be outraged?

I hope you see that the fear of the Lord is quite different from being afraid of God. Unfortunately, it is obvious by what we see transpiring around us in our society that the reverential fear of God is rapidly declining. People no longer even have servile fear of God, because the popular belief is becoming “Everyone goes to heaven”, right? If there is no hell, then what is to fear?

What is for your homework

The first assignment is to parents, godparents and grandparents. It is time to re-instill the fear of the Lord in your children. This must be a reverential fear, a love God so very much that we fear offending him the smallest bit. And please, do not ever, ever, ever tell them “God is going to get you for that” when they do something wrong. This kind of talk can put the wrong image of God in their minds forever. Instead, use it as an opportunity to remind them of how much God loves them and because we love him back, we never want to offend him.

Finally, I challenge each of is to look at our own lives to see if the Gift of Fear of the Lord working. Do you feel sorrow for your sins because you have offended God or because you might go to hell? Are you overwhelmed with wonder when you think about God, heaven, and the spiritual world? Are you struck with your own unworthiness of the great gift of his love and grace?

If not, it is never too late to do something about it? After all, what are you afraid of?

Shooting Free Throws and Your Relationship WIth Jesus: What Do They Have In Common?

2020-08-09T14:35:00.000-05:00

The following is a close approximation of the homily I delivered for the 19th Sunday of Ordinary time Year A. The readings on which this homily are based can be found at this link

On the 8^th grade, basketball team, I was making about 20% of my free throws. In one game, I missed all 13 free throws. That was the last straw for my coach. He made me shoot 100 free throws or 10 made ones in a row after every practice. I almost always shot the hundred. But I did get a lot better, making about 65%. The average NBA player makes about 70%. However, there are a few elite who do much better.

Steve Nash is the leading retired NBA free throw shooter with a nearly 91% lifetime average. Over his career, Mr. Nash attempted 3378 free throws and made 3054. He did this by developing a great technique through practice – shooting tens of thousands of free throws. He developed remarkable concentration, keeping his eye on the goal, despite all sorts of distractions. If you have seen any pro or college games, you will have noticed the big noodles that get waved while someone is shooting, as well as the screaming and mechanical noisemakers. Yet Steve Nash was always able to tune out the distractions. As people of faith, we can learn a lesson from great free throw shooters like Steve Nash. We need to practice keeping our eyes on Jesus and learn to block out the distractions.

Today’s Gospel occurs on the Sea of Galilee right after Jesus feeds the 5000. The Apostles are in a small boat. It is “the fourth watch of the night.” - around 3 AM. On the Sea of Galilee, winds come down from the mountains in the east and cause terrible and sudden storms, with waves over 10 feet high. Imagine what the water of Lake Pontchartrain looks like with huge white caps and this is our scene.

Peter sees Jesus walking out on the water but like the others is not sure. Maybe it is some sort of Spirit. Good ole impulsive Peter – Hey Lord if it’s you command me to come. Peter leaps out of the boat and starts walking to the Lord. Everything seems fine but then Peter gets distracted. I imagine he started looking around, noticing the winds and the waves, and was started thinking something like “What in this world am I doing!?” He took his eye of Jesus. His trust in Jesus faltered momentarily and he got in trouble.

Jesus tells Peter “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” But Peter certainly had faith. He had participated in feeding the multitude, the day before he had seen Jesus cure many sick people. And he not only expressed his faith in Jesus by challenging him to let him walk on the water, but then he leaps out of the relative safety of the boat to walk on the rolling waves! Yes, he had faith. More than I would likely have in that situation. I would have likely said something more like “Lord if it’s you come join me in the boat” Peter’s trust in Jesus falters momentarily and he forgets that Jesus is the one who is in control, just for a split second. Even Peter’s reaction when he started sinking was an expression of faith Lord save me! Jesus’ mild rebuke of Peter could be Jesus equating a small lapse in faith like Peter had with “little faith”.

As Christians, we may be doing fine in our walk of faith. But then, we get distracted. It is not basketball fans with noisemakers and white noodles. We get distracted with the storms that are going on around us, and we begin to sink. And there are many storms – family illnesses, loss of income, COVID, elections, you name it. Sometimes doesn’t it seem that we go from storm to storm to storm in our lives. Somewhere in this very church there are people facing great storms. Maybe it is you, maybe the person sitting near you. Keep your eyes up and focused on Jesus. Because when you look down, all you may see is the hardship. And you sink

Sometimes it is not the storms that distract us. It is just what we consider the “normal” things in everyday life. We allow our time to get filled with work, obligations to family and friends, our children’s activities, social media, following the Saints or some other sports teams, or other hobbies. We become so distracted by all these things that we only see Jesus in a passing glance. Maybe you are one of the fortunate ones. You have dream job, a lovely house, your family is great, you are in great health with plenty of money saved for retirement and a good pension. All is so good that we take our eyes off of Jesus. We feel like we are in control, on top of the world. In reality, none of us are in control. Control is an illusion. God is in control. Life circumstances can change in an instant.

Today’s Gospel tells us that when the storm comes up and things seem their darkest that Jesus is close. We just need to keep our eyes on him. When the Apostles invited Jesus into their boat, the storms subsided, and the winds calmed down. So, it also is with us. When we invite Jesus into our lives our storms will calm down. Not that bad or unpleasant things will not happen to us – I assure you that they will. Bad things happen to good people all the time. But with our eyes focused on Christ, we can have, as St Paul wrote to the Philippians, the peace that surpasses all understanding – regardless of the storms going on around us.

What is your homework?

Just like Steve Nash practiced his free throw shooting every day, we must daily practice keeping our focus on Jesus so that we can perfect it. It does not happen without effort. Your homework this week is to look up, keep your eyes on Jesus. Here are some simple suggestions

First, take a serious look at your problems and bring them to Jesus in prayer. See in whatever problems that you may have, an opportunity to keep your focus on Jesus, to turn over all to him, to acknowledge that He is in control.

Start practicing frequent and regular prayer. How about for this week setting your alarm on the hour for 8 hours each day and say this simple prayer “My Jesus I trust in you". Practice, practice, practice

If there are things in your life – activities, television shows, hobbies, friendships -whatever they might be – that are distracting you from your relationship with Jesus, it is time for you to change them or rid yourself of them. We will not make our life’s goal, everlasting life with Jesus, if we allow distractions to keep us away from him in this life.

On final thing as we prepare to approach Jesus in the Eucharist, an old custom that seems to have faded away – every time you pass a Catholic Church, make the sign of the cross acknowledging your belief in the real presence and giving homage to Jesus just like the apostles did when Jesus entered the boat.

Practice. Keep focused. Practice some more. It applies to free throw shooting. And it applies to your relationship with Jesus.

Judging Actions vs. People: What is the DIfference?

2020-07-19T19:36:00.001-05:00

The following is a close approximation of the homily I delivered at St. Luke the Evangelist Church for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary time, Year A. The scripture reading on which this is based can be found at this link.

In 1948, a medical student named Bernie coerced his girlfriend to have an abortion, which were illegal at the time. He paid for it out of his own pocket. His own child! Somehow in some twisted way, this must have been a positive experience for him as he decided to become an OB/GYN. He also became crusader for the legalization of abortion and would himself become an abortionist. Not just ANY abortionist. He was a significant contributor to the passage of the infamous Roe V Wade Supreme Court Decision. By his own estimate, he presided over more than 60,000 abortions, instructed medical students in the performance of about 15,000 more and performed 5,000 abortions himself. In one of those abortions, he took the life of his own child conceived with yet another girlfriend.

By 1980, with the widespread use of prenatal ultrasound rising, he became convinced that a pro-life position was the only right one. He spent the rest of his life as a pro-life crusader. He grew up as a self-described "Jewish atheist". In 1996 he converted to Catholicism through the friendship of one Catholic, Fr. John McCloskey. When, Bernie, better known as Dr Bernard Nathanson died, his funeral was celebrated in New York’s St. Patrick Cathedral where he was hailed as one of the giants in the pro-life movement. For people of faith, Dr. Nathanson’s life is a reminder to all of us that we should be extremely slow to judge people

In today’s Gospel, we hear the parable of the wheat and the weeds. Jesus explained it, so I do not think that I can explain this better than God himself!

Instead, let us look at some lessons that we can learn from this parable that apply to our lives today. Why are the weeds and wheat hard to tell apart? The people who originally heard this parable would have known the particular weed of which Jesus was speaking. It has the long botanical name, typically known as darnel or “false wheat.” Until harvest, it is almost impossible to distinguish the false from the real wheat.

Isn’t it that way in our lives today? The people who are weeds are very hard to tell apart from those who are wheat. There are weeds all over - in our families, in our government and in our Church. They put on the appearance of being good and honorable, but it is all just a show. It is nothing new. There have been weeds in the world from the beginning. Cain killed Abel and Judas was the treasurer for the Church. There will always be weeds in our lives.

Another lesson comes from the question the servants ask the master: "Should we pull out the weeds?"

The answer goes back to the problem of determining which are the weeds. You could be making a big mistake judging a person as a weed because they drink, are promiscuous, have same sex attraction, have an irregular marriage, or have a drug addiction. St. Mark Ji Tianxiang was a Chinese layman and martyr who was denied Holy Communion for the last 30 years of his life because he could not break his opium habit. Yet, he willingly gave his life for the faith. And he is now that patron saint for those who are addicted to drugs. We really never know what is in someone’s heart, what their relationship with the Lord is, or how they are going to turn out.

Should we pull out the weeds? This question also strikes at the core of one of the greatest points of confusion in the Church today – what does it mean to judge? Does “not judging” mean we can no longer oppose evil or point out errors in conduct or morality? This is absolutely not the case. God gave us an intellect and hopefully we were formed with right consciences so that we can judge good actions from bad actions. When we correct a person for their own good, we are doing them a favor. a spiritual work of mercy – admonishing the sinner. We can—and must—warn others, without hatred, anger, or an air of superiority when they are living in habitual sin. Just to be completely clear – there is a real and substantial difference between judging someone’s behavior and judging the person. It is not just semantics.

We must resist the false shame that society inflicts on us by saying that we are being judgmental and intolerant if we speak against blatantly immoral behavior. And now we are becoming fearful of speaking out against immoral behavior, law and lifestyles for fear of being “cancelled”

The parable of the wheat and the weeds forbids us to do what is left to Christ alone: to judge the final disposition of someone’s soul. Will they enter the Kingdom of Heaven or will that soul, by its own choice and actions, be one of the ones as Jesus says today will be tied them in bundles for burning

The wheat and the weeds is also a parable of mercy; while things will be sorted out someday, the farmer tells his servants to wait until harvest time, leaving maximum time for mercy. When asked why he converted, of all religions, to Roman Catholicism, Dr. Nathanson stated that "no religion matches the special role for forgiveness that is afforded by the Catholic Church.”

What is our homework?

Dr, Nathanson was converted by the friendship and tireless witness of one single Catholic. Most of us have friends and family members who are living a seriously sinful lifestyle. I am sure we could all make a list. We often say nothing to them for the sake of peace, so that we can get along. Your homework is to decide how from now forward, you are not going to make peace a higher priority than their immortal souls. Instead, you can be that one friend and witness to someone who is ripe for conversion.

Yes, it is possible to correct poorly. Correcting too much can be seen as nagging. Correcting someone in public can be humiliating and fruitless However. if we are honest with ourselves, I think we will find that we usually fail to correct at all rather than over correct.

And as we prepare to receive Holy Communion, maybe it is a good time for each of us to thank God that he is leaving each of us the maximum time for mercy.

Hearing The Word of God: Its Time to Ammend Your Soil

2020-07-12T13:32:00.000-05:00

The following is a close approximation of the homly that I delivered for the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A. The scripture reading on which this is based can be found at this link

Some of you know that I have been a gardener for over 50 years. I grow or have grown flowers, fruit and vegetables. I grow some interesting things. I had a magenta and a white gladiolus that accidently crossbred themselves in my garden. They are stunningly beautiful, and I have been caring for them for over 20 years. Although I can’t be sure, I believe I have one of the few pineapple orchards in St Tammany Parish. Well, 7 or 8 pineapple plants probably can't actually be called an orchard! Besides pineapples, I am currently growing blood oranges, satsumas, blueberries, blackberries, loquats, pomegranates, tomatoes, cucumbers, and various herbs. In the past I have grown, various squash, cantaloupe, watermelons, okra, beans, peppers, garlic, and onions among others.

While I am by no means an agricultural expert, with all my experience I have developed a few gardening sayings. Here are 2 that you might find helpful .

“Don’t grow plants that have flowers that make your wife sneeze.”

I did that once by planting a hedge of dwarf gardenias. Bad move, I must say! After a couple of years, I dug them up and gave them away.

The most important one is,

“its better to plant a $1 plant in a $10 hole than planting a $10 plant in a $1 hole.”

In other words, the quality, richness, and condition of the soil is really, really important. So important for me that I make my own garden soil. No matter how good the seed, plant , or location if the soil is not fertile, plants just will not grow properly. And for people of faith, for the seed of faith which is the word of God to take root, we must have fertile hearts and minds.

There are at least two parables in the new Testament that I believe could have better names. The first is the parable known as the Prodigal Son. Calling it the Prodigal puts the emphasis on the son. The son was a jerk. By asking for his inheritance before his Father had died, he was essentially saying that his father was dead to him. And he only came home to save his own skin, not out of any real remorse. The father, on the other hand, must have been out looking over the horizon every day hoping that his son would come home. That is how he saw his son at a distance. What was extraordinary in this parable was the mercy of the father. That parable should really be known as The Merciful Father,

The second parable that could have a better name is what we heard in today’s Gospel, the Parable of the Sower. Depending on the context, the sower could be Jesus or anyone who faithfully preaches the word of God. It could be one of the prophets, me, father, or even you. There is only one seed, which is the word of God. What are different are the types of soils, the way in which people are disposed when the hear God’s word.

The first that is described is that hard, beaten down, compacted soil that you would find on a well-traveled path. The person, I will call The Unbeliever. He is described as one who hears the word of God but does not have a clue what any of it means. It just goes right by.

Then there is the seed sown on rocky ground. The person described as follows, I will call the Shallow Person. He hears the word of God and is initially over-joyed with it. But when times get tough, he bails out. I wonder how many of the fallen away Catholics are those with rocky ground?

There are seeds that fall among the thorns. These types of people, I will call The Worldly Person. They hear God’s word but become full of anxiety and worried about acquiring worldly possessions and becomes choked off. This is the Catholic who you cannot tell is Catholic by the way they live their lives.

Then there are the seeds that fall on fertile soil. I will call the person One On Their Way To Sainthood. According to the Gospel, he is “the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.” This could be my former Jewish friend Bob, who I helped bring into the Church a few years ago. From the moment he started RCIA until today, he never misses a chance to talk to people about Jesus. He even grew his beard down to the middle of his chest just so that when people asked him “what’s with the beard, you look like Jesus” he could use it as an entrée to evangelize. His soil is without doubt fertile and he is producing fruit 60 and 100 fold.

This parable would be better called the Parable of the Soil rather than the Parable of the Sower. It is the heart, mind, and soul represented by the soil that make a difference as to whether the word of God produces no fruit, some fruit, or an abundant harvest.

In the garden, with the right amount of work, the proper amendments, with patience and time almost any soil can be transformed into fertile soil. When it comes to gardening before adding amendments, you must understand the current condition of the soil. And for people hearing the word of God, it is important to understand the condition of the soul. Here is where your homework comes in.

What sort of soil are you? If you are a Person On Their way to Sainthood, and we certainly have some here, that is awesome! But not all of us are, so I ask you to reflect on the following.

Am I the Unbeliever? Yes, there are unbelievers who attend Mass every week. Is being a member of St Luke’s a social thing or a habit. Have I allowed sin and pride to close the door of my heart against God? Perhaps I have never really learned the Faith and developed a relationship with Jesus.

Am I the Shallow Person? Have I failed to nurture the gift of faith through prayer and the sacraments? Am I a person of prayer? Do I share the gospel with and minister to people God places in my life? Or am I a “cafeteria Catholic” picking and choosing that parts of the faith that I make me feel good, and discarding those that make me even the least bit uncomfortable.

The Worldly Person—What occupies most of my time - worldly possessions, luxuries, temptations, and worldly desires? Can people who do not know me tell that I am a disciple of Christ or do I blend in with the pagan culture around me? Are my priorities in order? Do I think I will spend time with God in the life to come when I spend very little time with Him in this life?

Now is time to look at the condition of our hearts, minds, and souls. Make your amendments. If you are not One Who Is On Their Way to Sainthood, what will it take to get you there?

Fatherhood: Important for Earthly and Eternal Happiness

2020-07-05T19:07:00.000-05:00

The following is a close approximation of the homily I delivered at St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Slidellfor the 14th Sunday of Ordnary Time Year A. The scripture readings on whch this is based can be found at this link.

When I was growing up fathers in popular culture were generally shown as good examples: good character, tough but gentle, wise, strong, and loving to their children. One of the dads that comes to mind is Ward Cleaver from Leave it to Beaver. It was one of my favorite shows when I was very young. There were a number of shows even back in the 50’s and 60’s that showed unconventional family situations.All the great dads were not parenting in two parent homes. Lucas McCain from the Rifleman (another of my favorite shows), Sheriff Andy Taylor from the Andy Griffith show and Steve Douglas from My Three Sons were all widowers. Great dads were not even all biological fathers. Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air comes to mind.

Fast forward to today. Dads are depicted more like Homer Simpson, passing out drunk or running naked through town. Or Tony Soprano who had his daughter’s boyfriend whacked. Or complete goofs like Al Bundy from Married with Children.

85% of incarcerated youth grew up in homes without a father. Research from many sources is clear that children who have the continuous positive involvement of a father or father figure have the best life outcomes. Secular studies show that children who grow up with involved fathers are dramatically better off physically, emotionally, economically, mentally, and socially than a child who grows up without a father. And for people of faith, we must realize that a child’s relationship with their earthly father can dramatically affect their relationship with their heavenly father.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus makes more than 150 references to God as a father. In the short 5 verses of today’s Gospel, Jesus refers to His Father 5 times. For the Jews of that time, this was a new way of addressing God. Old Testament authors might identify God using qualities of earthly fathers and mothers. But Jesus referred to God using more informal, intimate language. The word Jesus speaks for father is abba, which has been translated as papa, dad, daddy amongst others. Whatever the best translation, its meaning describes a deep, mutual, loving relationship between father and child.

In today’s Gospel we also learn about how God is revealed to infants and children more than the wise and learned. This was a open rebuke to those who considered themselves the wise people in Jewish leadership. To become wise required studying the Torah, learning the law and having a deep understanding of the languages in which this was all written. When would a regular person who toiled from sunup to sundown just to survive have a chance to gain this wisdom? So, the Scribes, Pharisees, and Rabbis had a monopoly on knowing God.

Jesus completely flips this around because He sees that while the wise people may know about God, few actually know him. He states that the way to come to know God is the way a small child learns from his father, this includes being in Jesus’ presence, following Him, learning from what does imitating His relationship with the Father, much the way an apprentice learns from a master craftsman.

Some may have a difficult time relating to God as a father. We may project our expectations or experiences of what a father should be, or has been, onto our heavenly Father. A fatherless child who longs for a dad may have a hard time seeing God as capable of filling that role. Others who believe that they must succeed in sports or school to earn a father’s approval may see their relationship with God in a similar way – requiring something on their part for God to love them. And this is completely backwards, for God loves us unconditional for who we are, not what we do. For others, the word father may bring up memories of abuse or neglect. How awful that such a beautiful facet of God’s character is often stained by the sins of human fathers!

This brings me to our homework. There is a lot this week and it is not easy.

First, for families. You are being flooded with negative images of fatherhood in movies, commercial and television shows. Turn off the ones you can. Use the those that you cannot to have age appropriate discussions with your children about real fatherhood.

Second. Dads it is time to, as they say to man up. I hope that I have shown that are few roles in our lives more important than our fathers. We must begin to think of our relationship with our children as the models that they are going to take into their relationships with God. We need to ask ourselves this question: Is my relationship with my children going to help them know God and get to their ultimate goal, heaven? If not, it is never too late to change.

And for those who are not biological fathers, you are not off the hook. Whether you are a potential dad, an uncle, stepdad, older brother or close family friend, there are enough children without father figures to go around and then some. A recent survey commissioned by National Public Radio showed that 39% of school aged children do not have a father / father figure in the home and that in some cultures, that number is approaching 80%. It’s time for you to man-up also.

Finally, mom’s you are not off the hook either. If you want to promote fatherhood in the family, point out to your children positive actions you see from their dad’s efforts to be a good father. Never, ever belittle him or denigrate him in front of your children or to anyone else. If you disagree with their dad’s parenting, take it up with him privately. If he is awkward or not confident in his role as father, set him up with opportunities to succeed.

As a parent, you have probably received a small taste of how God feels as “our Father in heaven” which we will all pray shortly. When parents gaze the face of their newborn baby, they know they will love the child no matter what. That is what I experience with my children and exactly how God experiences us.

I Told You It was Coming!: Catholic Chaplain of MIT Forced Out For Speaking the Truth

2020-06-26T13:27:00.004-05:00

In last week's homily I told the story about Thomas More and how he ended up losing everything for the sake of the Truth. I made what has possibly turned out to be a prophetic statement. Close to the conclusion I said

"We are already seeing that if one voices an opinion that goes against political correctness, that person could be vilified and lose their job or business."

The American Spectator filed a story last week that Fr.Daniel Moloney was forced out of his position as Catholic Chaplain at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for writing the truth within the guidelines of Catholic Social teaching.

In a blog post and an email to students published at the beginning of June, Moloney spoke out about the errors of the new approach to fighting racism — dividing people, accusing them of prejudice, and canceling those who disobey — and called instead for a Christian path of charity and solidarity.

It seems like one of his real mistakes was saying something so racist as “To conquer racism requires a conversion to holiness.” Whoa! Those are some very controversial words.

Interestingly, although he forced out a week ago, he is still listed on MIT's website as the Catholic chaplain. You can read about Fr. Moloney's most impressive credentials here On MIT's website, but you better hurry, because I am sure that this is coming down soon.

I am disappointed that Fr. Moloney did not receive support from the hierarchy. Nevertheless, his statement can be used in virtually any situation - To conquer ____________ (fill on the blank) requires a conversion to holiness. We must not be afraid to speak the truth, in love, whether it cost us our job as in the case of Fr. Moloney or our lives as in the case of Thomas More.

Fear No One?: Well Not Exactly and It Depends What You Mean By Fear

2020-06-22T10:16:00.000-05:00

The following is a close approximation of the homily that I was privileged to deliver at the 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM Mass at St Luke the Evangelist Church for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A. The scripture readings are on which this is based can be found by this link

Examining someone’s actions over the course of their life, you can generally tell what or who they love and of what or who they fear. St Thomas More, whose feast is tomorrow is one person who made these things completely clear by the way he lived.

More lived approximately 500 years ago. He was a lawyer, author, scholar, husband, father of seven, and Lord chancellor of England under Henry the 8^th. The Lord Chancellor was like the Vice-President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court rolled up into one. He was a very powerful person but was also admired throughout the country as a just and honest man.

More got into hot water when Henry the 8^th wanted an annulment from Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn. Henry wanted More’s support with the Pope. More refused. He went deeper into hot water when Henry decided to break all of England away from the Catholic Church. He refused to swear an oath of allegiance which said that the Church was now the Church of England, the King was the head, and the Pope had no authority over the Church.

More was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Because he was so well-respected, and fearing backlash, for a year the king and others tried over and over to get More to agree to the Henry’s oath. He steadfastly refused, siding with the indissolubility of a valid marriage. More was convicted of treason at a sham trial. After 15 minutes of jury deliberation he was sentenced to death. Finally, he was executed and left these as his final words: "I die the king's faithful servant, but God's first." He then forgave his executioner right before he was beheaded. St Thomas More lived his life the way all Christians should. What we should fear most is not any man or any fate but falling out of friendship with God.

In today’s Gospel we hear “Fear no one.” Then a little later we heard what might at first sound like a contradiction. “… do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” I asked several people who are very knowledgeable in their faith to read this Gospel passage. Then I posed this question - According to this Gospel, who are we to fear? The answers, logical but all wrong, were all the same – Satan or the Devil.

The person who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna is God. Satan has no power over us. He can tempt us. Greatly. We can let him into our lives and eventually become possessed. But Satan is not our judge. That is God alone.

Fear of the Lord can be understood in two ways. First, imperfect or servile fear is fear of punishment and the loss of Heaven. Many people operate at this level. They avoid sin out of terror of spending eternity in hell. The thought of hell should be terrifying. Jesus often appeals to imperfect fear in His own preaching, describing hell in detail. Among other things, He says it is a place of eternal torment, of unquenchable fire, where people will wail and gnash their teeth. Today we hear Him compare Hell to “Gehenna” , which was formerly a place of human sacrifice, considered cursed and converted to an ever-smoldering trash dump. If imperfect fear keeps us from sin, that is a good thing. But in our spiritual lives we should be moving from imperfect to perfect Fear of the Lord.

Perfect or filial fear of God equates with the highest love of God. A person, knowing God’s awesome majesty and knowing his or her moral weakness, fears that he displeases or betray their relationship with God. It is selfless fear, they type of fear of the Lord that Thomas More had. It is the type of fear of the Lord we have when we can in out hearts call God, Abba, daddy.

The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about the power of fear of the Lord. You may recall “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (9:10). But it seems as if this is generally ignored throughout human history, including today.

In this country there are judges at all levels who identify as Roman Catholic who pass judgments that are clearly against the laws of God. Likewise, there are Catholic senators, congressman and governors who promote abortion and legislation that enables the destruction of the nuclear family. And we all know that from the recent scandals that many deacons, priest and bishops who certainly have no fear of the Lord. We may be enraged and shocked by all of this. We may want to point fingers at them at judge how shameful they are. And, honestly, it is shameful.

While it is easy to point at the lack of fear of the Lord of prominent Catholics, remember what Jesus said to the men who were preparing to stone the woman caught in the act of adultery – “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” For each of us, the answer to the question “who do I fear” is much more important than casting stones.

We are already seeing that if one voices an opinion that goes against political correctness, that person could be vilified and lose their job or business. If the legal, social and political tide continue to flow in the current direction concerning things such as gender ideology, euthanasia, marriage and family, it is certainly possible that we will be faced with the same choice as Thomas More, breaking God’s law or breaking man’s law. What choice will you make?

And if you think this all is a sign of the end of the Church or another calamity, it is not. It is history repeating itself. Consider the case of Thomas More. Before this incident England was almost 100% Catholic. Except for More, Cardinal John Fisher, and a few handfuls of others, all the priests, bishops and members of Parliament went along with Henry 8^th. They feared Henry more than God and wanted to save their position, money, power, and lives.

The homework assignment this week is very easy. You can eat popcorn while doing it!

There is an Academy award winning movie that I would like you to watch titled “A Man For All Seasons.” It is about the conflict between Thomas More and Henry the 8^th. Available on Amazon and other outlets, the movie clearly shows that despite the loss of honor, power, property, and eventually his life, St. Thomas More had perfect fear of the Lord, and would lose anything rather than offend God.

When you finish watching perhaps you can discuss this question with your friends and family – If a movie were made of my life who would it show that I loved most and who would it show that I feared?

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions:Consult With the All Knowing One

2020-05-25T11:40:00.000-05:00

This is the homily I delivered May 24, 2020 at Saint Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church in Slidell for the Feast of the Ascension, Year A. Thank you for Fr. Pat Wattigny for allowing me to preach and many thanks to the Media and live streaming team for recording this. The scripture readings on which this is based are reproduced below, and taken from the USCCB web site, http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052420-ascension.cfm

The Ascension of the Lord
Lectionary: 58

Reading 1ACTS 1:1-11

In the first book, Theophilus,
I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught
until the day he was taken up,
after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit
to the apostles whom he had chosen.
He presented himself alive to them
by many proofs after he had suffered,
appearing to them during forty days
and speaking about the kingdom of God.
While meeting with them,
he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem,
but to wait for “the promise of the Father
about which you have heard me speak;
for John baptized with water,
but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

When they had gathered together they asked him,
“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons
that the Father has established by his own authority.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
throughout Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.”
When he had said this, as they were looking on,
he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.
While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going,
suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.
They said, “Men of Galilee,
why are you standing there looking at the sky?
This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven
will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”

Responsorial PsalmPS 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9

R. (6) God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
All you peoples, clap your hands,
shout to God with cries of gladness,
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;
the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
For king of all the earth is God;
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Reading 2EPH 1:17-23

Brothers and sisters:
May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation
resulting in knowledge of him.
May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,
what are the riches of glory
in his inheritance among the holy ones,
and what is the surpassing greatness of his power
for us who believe,
in accord with the exercise of his great might,
which he worked in Christ,
raising him from the dead
and seating him at his right hand in the heavens,
far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion,
and every name that is named
not only in this age but also in the one to come.
And he put all things beneath his feet
and gave him as head over all things to the church,
which is his body,
the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

AlleluiaMT 28:19A, 20B

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Go and teach all nations, says the Lord;
I am with you always, until the end of the world.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelMT 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Your Elevator Pitch: Changing the World In Two Minutes Or Less

2020-05-19T09:12:00.001-05:00

I have been publishing what I call "close approximations" of homilies since I was ordained 13 years ago. This is because although I have either notes or an outline in front of me, I frequently preach differently from what is on the paper. Hopefully, these deviations are responses to gentle movements of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes I am never quite sure.

Sometimes I preach 2-3 times in a weekend, homily 1 only distantly resembles homily 3. When I am finished preaching, I go home and try to reconstruct from my notes and the best of my recollection, hence a "close approximation" of what I preached that weekend.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our pastor, Fr. Pat Wattigny fully endorsed and supported the Technology and Media team at St. Luke the Evangelist doing whatever we could to livestream the liturgy. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I do not have to reconstruct what I said. You have it verbatim. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

I apologize in advance that you have to listed to my raspy voice. 13 years ago, a surgeon's scalpel severed one of what is called the recurrent laryngeal nerve, leaving one of my vocal cords paralyzed.

This homily is for the Sixth Sixth Sunday of Easter. The scripture readings on which this is based can be found at this link.

Working Up A Good Thirst:How Will You Quench Yours?

2020-03-15T13:56:00.001-05:00

I delivered this homily at St Luke the Evangelist Church in Slidell during the weekend of March 14-15. The scripture readings on which this is based for the 3rd Sunday of Lent can be found at this link.

When I was about 10 years old, I fell in love with the sport of basketball. I couldn’t shoot or dribble. All I could do was rebound and play defense – two parts of the sport where effort can overcome a lack of skill. When I was 12, I decided that to get better, I had to go where the good players played. I got on my bike and went looking for games, sometimes in parts of the City people refer to as “the hood.”

The game played was called “winners.” If you won, your team stayed on the court and kept playing. You lose, you sit. I hate to lose and I hated sitting, so I practiced like a madman and my game improved quickly. I became an excellent shooter and a decent ballhandler. Playing for hours in the middle of the day in summertime New Orleans, I would get terribly thirsty. What little water available was from outdoor water fountains, when they worked, was warm. This did not satisfy my thirst one bit. All I could think about when it was time to ride my bike home was how thirsty I was and how the only thing that could satisfy me were many tall glasses of ice water…or if I was in the right part of town, a snowball from Plum Street Snowballs.

Thirst is a good way to think about our relationship with God. As Christians, we must realize that we have a thirst that can only be fully satisfied when we willingly enter into God’s love and that God has a thirst for us.

The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman probably does not seem shocking to you. It would have been scandalous to a first century Jew for three reasons. First, Jews and Samaritans absolutely hated each other. The hate between the Jews and the Samaritans goes back to around the year 600 BC. The favorite terms that Jews used for Samaritans was “dogs” and “half-breeds.” In a homily on this scripture, Bishop Robert Barron said that most pious Jews would have avoided even walking onto Samaritan soil and become unclean. By going into this region, Jesus was purposely seeking out the woman who represents the marginalized and outcast. Jesus seeking out is an important point to remember.

Second, women were considered second-class citizens. Jesus’ own disciples were surprised that Jesus was talking to a woman in public. To make matters worse, Samaritan women in particular were considered to be in a perpetual state of impurity or uncleanness.

Third, the Samaritan woman was a notorious sinner. She had married 5 times and was shacking up with the 6^th man. She is out at the well in the middle of the day, in the heat of the sun, because she is an outcast from society. The well was the coffee shop or the Facebook of the day – where the women got together early in the morning, got their water and caught up on events with friends.

The Samaritan woman clearly had this thirst inside of her. She just got confused, as many of us do, and tried to quench it with the wrong thing. Having been through 5 husbands and then electing to live in scandal with a sixth man, she clearly thought her thirst would be quenched by a relationship with a man.

The 20^th century English writer C.S. Lewis wrote “We live with a God shaped hole in our hearts.” We each have an empty space put into us on purpose by God. He wants us to seek Him and fill that empty space with Him. Unfortunately, many of us don’t get it either. We are thirsting for God, but we try to satisfy this spiritual thirst with things that cannot satisfy this for long. Drugs and alcohol are obvious things that many used to satisfy their thirsts. But there are many, many others.

For some of us it’s food—we don’t eat because we’re hungry. We eat because it feels good, tastes good and gives temporary satisfaction. Some seek satisfaction through acquiring increasingly nice possessions – houses, cars, clothes, jewelry and electronic devices. For others it’s traveling, sports, partying, parades working out, fitness, social media or Candy Crush. The list is virtually endless.

All of these things have their place but cannot provide ultimate fulfillment. As country singer Johnny Lee sung in the movie Urban Cowboy, we are all … looking for love in all the wrong places.

You see the problem is that none of these things last. A high from drugs, alcohol or other addiction quickly becomes a low and we need more. Feelings of pleasure are fleeting. Good times become faded memories. Things that we buy eventually wear out, break, decay, rust or become out of style. Our thirst can only be fully satisfied in our relationship with God.

Many think – I cannot have a real relationship with God. I am not worthy. I have too much baggage and shame in my past. Let’s look for a moment at the exchange between Jesus and the Samaritan woman and see if this is what Jesus thinks. Jesus is willingly engaging this person considered to be an unclean, female, half-breed, dog, sinner. In general, she has no idea what Jesus is talking about. The woman is talking at a physical level and Jesus is talking on a metaphysical and spiritual level. But when Jesus says “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but … the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman responds “, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty” In other words, I don’t understand it all, but I’ll bite. I am in.

He offers this shame-filled, sinful, woman “living water”. Living water referred to water that moves, such as that from rain, a spring or river. This was the water that was required for a mikveh, a bath that was a precursor to baptism. The Jews and Samaritans used the mikveh for ritual cleansing when people or things became impure . In other words, Jesus offers this woman the opportunity to become clean. Can you imagine? This woman, who lived as an outcast with the stigma of rejection, uncleanliness, and shame… has her life drastically changed by this encounter with Jesus who reached out to her.

And he does not wait until the woman is perfect until he reaches out to her. She is still mired in a sinful relationship. Although the rest of the conversation between the woman and Jesus are not recorded in the Gospel, I imagine that like the woman caught in adultery, Jesus told her to go sin no more. I also imagine that he embraced her and told her “welcome home” like the father in the Prodigal son from this morning’s Gospel. Although this woman is unnamed in the Gospel, tradition has it that this same woman the Church came to know as St. Photina, one of the earliest evangelists. She is venerated as a martyr who was scourged like Jesus and then of all things, thrown down a well in Rome by the emperor Nero. And now for your homework.

The story of the Bible is not man’s search for God, it is God’s search for man. Your story is not what you have earned, accomplished, experienced or done in this life. It is God’s search for you. Since almost everything is shut down right now, what better use of your time then to examine your conscience and look at your priorities in life. It is said that whatever you spend most of your time thinking about has become your God. Ask yourself these two questions - What has become my God? If you find that there is sin in the way of your relationship with God, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is not shut down due to the corona virus. Second – how or through whom might God have been reaching out to me and I did not hear his voice/?

We each have a thirst inside of us that can only be satisfied by submitting to the love of God. But God has a greater thirst for you. He is just waiting for you to take a baby step towards him. As the psalmist wrote If today you hear the sound of his voice, harden not your heart. What will you do?

The Cobra Effect, Law Books, and Traffic Regulations: God's Law versus Man's Law

2020-02-17T12:36:00.002-06:00

The following is a close approximation of the homily I delivered at St Luke the Evangelist Church at the 11:00 AM Mass for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The scripture readings on which this is base can be found at this link. Just click here and the readings will pop up in a new window.

There are undoubtedly some very bad laws that have been passed in human history by people with very bad intentions. Laws that legalized slavery, abortion, and euthanasia come to mind.

Even with the best intentions made by the best people, man’s law can still have negative unintended

consequences. Let me tell you about the Cobra Effect. In 19^th century India, there was concern about the number of snake attacks from deadly cobras. A law was passed placing a bounty on every cobra, and the population plummeted. Then some bright citizens got the ideas of breeding cobras so that they could be brought in for the bounty money. The population of Cobras became higher than before.

The government got wind of this and passed a law cancelling the previous law. Except now the cobra breeders, left with a large inventory of now worthless snakes, released them all the same time, and the cobra population exploded. None of that worked out well.

However, in general, laws are passed to protect citizens, keep order and ensure public safety. As bad as driving in New Orleans is now, can you imagine how it would be if there were no traffic laws. No requirement to stop at stop signs or to drive the right way on a one-way street. No speed limits. It would go from dangerous to beyond chaos. We would never get to our destination.

As opposed to man’s law, God’s law is perfect. From today’s scripture readings - The commandments will save you. Keeping the law gives eternal life, not keeping the law leads to eternal death. Blessed are they who follow the law. As people of faith, we must know God’s law so that we can follow it to eternal life.

Many tend to look at God’s law as burdensome, as restrictions that cramp a desired lifestyle. But like traffic laws, God’s law is there to keep us safe, protect us and help us to reach the end for which we were created – heaven. God says be fruitful and multiply. We want to live in a big house and retire early. More than 1 or 2 children will cost too much. So, we live according to our desires. The effects of ignoring God’s law can be seen on a huge scale in Europe where all 28 countries have birth rates so low and populations shrinking so rapidly that it is a real possibility that cultures such as the Spanish, Italian, French and Greek will disappear completely.

It is important to understand the nature of man vs God. Men live in space and time. What we know and experience happens somewhere and some time, past, present, or the future. We can never for certain know the future consequences of a current decision, such as the Cobra effect example. Mankind is continually growing in knowledge, but even the smartest people have limited knowledge. Contrast this to God who exists outside of space and time. He sees all things – past, present and future at once. He lives in what is often called the eternal now. He knows all things. And because of this, there are no unintended negative consequences of his laws.

There is one other key difference between God and man. God loves perfectly. Man does not and cannot because man is not perfect. God loves us so perfectly that He gave us perfect rules to live by to keep us safe from harm. That is what we sang over and over in the responsorial psalm “Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!”

However, our goal is to try to love perfectly. That is what Jesus was getting at when he said he came to fulfill the law and with His statements of “You have heard it said….” in the Gospel. We are to keep the commandments, but keep them with perfect love. God’s law is certainly not there to cramp our style or to make us unhappy, but the free us, to bring us joy and keep us safe from spiritual harm.

He gave us a Church who could help us understand these rules or laws. Some try to separate what God said in the Holy Scripture from the moral law that the Church teaches. I don’t need to follow the law of the Church, only what it says in the Bible. Listen to what the Bible says about that. Our Lord says to St. Peter in Mt16:18-19

“And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

When you reject Church moral teaching, you are rejecting Jesus who very clearly gave the Church the authority to create laws, to enforce them, and to administer consequences.

God also loves us so perfectly that he will not, under any circumstance, force us to follow his law. It is our choice. That is what our first reading from Sirach is saying. he has set before you fire and water to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him. If God compelled us to follow his law, then it would not be love, for love cannot be coerced or forced. It must be freely given.

Finally, for those who find the law of God and his Church, too much, overwhelming, I offer you this. Have you ever seen a law office with bookcases filled with hundreds of volumes of law books? Compare that with the three books that would be enough to know, understand and apply God’s law and the law of his Church.

First, we have the Bible, which contains God’s word and the law as handed down through the prophets, apostles and evangelists.

Then, we have the Code of Canon Law which governs the actions of laity and clergy. How old people must be to validly marry, what are the requirements to be a Godparent, and the retirement age for bishops are all contained in the Code of Canon law.

And finally, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which summarizes all of the beliefs and moral teachings of the Church.

This is where our homework comes in.

The Catechism is organized into 4 parts – the Creed, the Sacraments, Life in Christ and Christian prayer. Within part 3, Life in Christ is a section on the Ten Commandments. Its about 100 pages, 1 chapter for each commandment. Over the next 10 days, I challenge you to read just 1 chapter, about 10 pages per day. If we want to know Jesus better, learning about the law the He said he came to fulfill is a great way. If you want to know, for example, why superstition, astrology, palm reading and the like are against the first commandment, you can find that in para 2111-15

Jesus came to fulfill the law with perfect love. The most complete act of love in human history was Jesus offering himself on the cross for our sins. Today, as you approach the altar to receive Holy Communion, recommit yourself to Him. Tell Jesus you love Him, that you want to live for Him, and that you will take the time to learn what that really means.

Finishing Strong: LSU Tigers, Holiness, and Heaven

2020-01-19T09:40:00.000-06:00

The following is a close approximation of the homily I delivered for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary time at St Luke the Evangelist in Slidell. The scripture reading on which this is based can be found at this link.

What is your primary goal in life? The one most important thing you want to accomplish, what is it? When interviewed amidst the confetti and celebration after winning the National College Football championship, LSU QB Joe Burrow said “This is what I wanted to do from the time I was 5 years old” He wanted to win the college football championship since the age of 5! Can you imagine? At 5 I did not even know what a college football championship was!

The 2019 LSU Tigers did not start the season expected to be one of the best teams in the history of college football, but that’s how they finished. Burrow surely had his share of sacrifice, hard work and failures along the way. Yet he was a man on a mission. Single minded. Focused. If he is not working out, he is studying film, talking or thinking about football.

We need to all be like Joe Burrow. Heisman trophy winning qb? No? #1 NFL draft pick. Highly unlikely. As people of faith we must be single-minded in our quest for heaven, which requires nothing less than holiness.

In the second reading, the introduction to the First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul points out exactly what following Jesus has done for us. With any scripture, it is very important to keep this in mind. Scripture has two audiences. The first audience is the person or people to whom it is written at a particular time in history. Real people living in real places. For example, today’s Gospel from John was written around the year 90 to the Christian community in Ephesus, then part of the Greek empire, now part of Turkey.

Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians was written as a letter of correction and encouragement to the Christian Church of Corinth Greece about the year 55. However, listen to what Paul wrote in 2^nd Timothy “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”. This means that you and I today and every Christian throughout the ages are the 2^nd intended audience for all scripture.

Now imagine that instead of writing to the Church at Corinth, Paul was writing to you and your family. Imagine that you are reading a letter addesssed to you, sealed with a wax seal. Open your missalette or Bibe and read along with me.

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God that is _____(insert your family name here) , to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy… Paul is telling us that Jesus Christ came so we can be holy. Not nice. Not good. Holy.

I confess that I fall short of holiness, but I pray for it every single day. I also pray for a cure for my cancer, but in my conversations with the Lord, I ask him if I can only have one, make it holiness. Because even if I am cured, I am still going to die eventually, and dying as a holy person is what we should all want. . Most of us may not have considered holiness as a possibility for ourselves . You might consider others that way, but not yourselves. But we have an obligation to strive to be holy. We can’t think that we are not good enough and will never be good enough. Jesus Christ died on a cross to make us good enough.

Paul says that we have been called to be holy. What did he mean? To be holy is to be set aside for God. Jesus came, suffered and died, and then rose again to give us His life and to set us aside for God. Christ died so you and I can be holy.

The saints became saints by constantly striving for holiness. Perfection was their goal. Like Joe Burrow, each saint had a share of sacrifice, hard work and failures along the way. They did not all start out holy, but that’s how they finished. If you have lived a much less than perfect life until now, that is not an obstacle to holiness. St. Augustine was a playboy and had a mistress, St. Mary of Egypt was a prostitute who particularly like to corrupt young men, Pope St. Callixtus was an embezzler, Saint Camillus de Lellis, a 15th-century Italian priest, started out as a con man. Many saints struggled with sin as much as any other person. Their weaknesses were transformed into channels of God’s love and mercy If they can become saints, so can each of us.

I have heard more than a few people state that their goal is to be good enough to just squeak into purgatory by the skin of their teeth. This is the wrong goal. That would have been like LSU setting the goal to win each game by one point. What if there was a fumble or interception? Squeaking into purgatory is way too low of goal. What if you miss? There is no 2^nd place in the game of life. Our goal should be to become a canonized Saint. Every one of us.

What is your homework. I urge you to go home and look at your life. Look at the life of your family. Ask yourself, am I striving for holiness? Is my family? What do we need to get rid out of our lives? What are we doing the is keeping us from holiness? More importantly, what are we not doing that is keeping us from holiness? Remember, avoiding evil, avoiding sin, is only the start of holiness. It is doing good, being the light to the others that moves us from “not bad like everyone else” to holiness.

You might recall the crazy celebration that took place at the end of the National Championship game. Then to top it off, there was a parade and a celebration in Baton Rouge this weekend. All that celebration will pale in comparison to the celebration that the angels and saints will have for you when you reach your goal of holiness at the end of your life. Who is ready to party - with the saints?

God's Will or Your Own: Choose Wisely

2019-12-22T13:57:00.001-06:00

The following is a close approximation of the homily I delivered at St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Slidell, the weekend of the 4th week of Advent. The scripture readings on which this is based and be found at this link.

Chase Hilgenbrinck of the MLS
New England Revolution

Has anyone here ever heard of Chase Hilgenbrinck? Chase had always wanted to be professional athlete. Too short for professional basketball, he pursued soccer. He made the US under 17 national team and played on scholarship for Clemson University. Graduating with a degree in Spanish, he signed a contract with a top division team in Chile and became a star. After 4 years, he returned to the US and signed a large Major League Soccer contract.

At the age of 25 Chase Hilgenbrinck had it all. Strikingly handsome, perfect health, a great girlfriend, money, and fame. Yet he was still unfulfilled. In July 2008, he abruptly announced his retirement from the New England Revolution and the sport he loved. And in May of 2014 Chase Hilgenbrinck the soccer star became Fr. Chase Hilgenbrinck the Catholic priest. How and why did this happen?

In the midst of status, fame and fortune, Chase kept a life of prayer, oriented to God and the Church. And despite that same status, fame and fortune he was unfulfilled. So one day in prayer he blurted out to God “what do you want of me?” and clearly heard a call that he was not expecting: “be my priest.” The rest is history now. An so it should be for each of us. Our lives must be oriented to God and the Church so that as people of faith, when God calls us to do or be something not in our plan, we can hear Him and say yes.

In today’s Gospel, Joseph and Mary had already completed the first part of the Jewish marriage ceremony some time in the past. In he first part of the ceremony, the couple was officially married but did not live (or sleep) together until after the wedding feast. This period, usually a year; was known as the betrothal. During the betrothal, the husband prepared a place for the couple to live and the wife began assembling what she would need to manage the house. Should the couple break up during the betrothal, a divorce would be required.

Imagine you are Joseph. Mary comes to you and tells you she is pregnant. Oh honey, I’m pregnant but I am still a virgin. I am carrying God’s child! What would have been your first thought? Joseph would have been within his rights to have Mary put on trial for adultery. Listen to what Jewish law says about a woman found pregnant in the betrothal period. Deuteronomy 22:20 But if this charge is true, and evidence of the young woman’s virginity is not found, they shall bring the young woman to the entrance of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death… Can you imagine if Joseph would have pursued this option?

But, as our Gospel says today, Joseph was a righteous man. To be a righteous Jew in the 1^st century meant that his entire life: days, weeks and years were oriented to his religion and to God. Joseph followed the law in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. He prayed at least three times per day. His weeks were oriented around the Sabbath, on which he did no work. Time each week was spent in the Synagogue, where the scripture was read, memorized, and discussed. This, and his studies as a young child, would ensure that Joseph knew our first reading today from Isaiah, that God would send a sign, a virgin would conceive and bear a child. Perhaps Joseph pondered over this passage for a few days and thought – “Could it be Mary”.

He knew that it was possible for God to speak to ordinary men in dreams as He had done so in Genesis, Daniel, Kings and Judges. With his life oriented to God , when the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream giving him today’s message, he believed rather than thinking he was hallucinating.

I also imagine Joseph thinking “I do not want to be the foster father of the Son of God. I want a regular wife. I want to have normal Jewish family with lots of children” For Joseph, this would fulfill Psalm 127 Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, children, a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are .. sons…. Happy is the man who has filled his quiver with them.

Fr Chase Hilgenbrinck

I am certain that Joseph wanted a normal wife, a happy life, and a quiver filled with arrows! However, more important to Joseph was what the Lord wanted and to be conformed to His will. Much like Chase Hilgenbrinck did. God wants the same for you. Not as a burden or to intrude on your life, but to bring you joy beyond oyur wildest dreams by being the person that you were made to be.

To be clear, to follow God’s will does not mean that we all must become priests, deacons, or religious brothers and sisters. No! We must become only what God has called us to be. God needs mothers and fathers, lay people in every profession and walk of life. It is the lay people that make up the vast majority of the Church and who God is calling to sanctify the world by striving to live in holiness. Each of you is called to become a saint and to have a life of great joy in God!

But there are many obstacles to this in our modern lives, so many distractions. The majority of Catholics do not orient their lives around God and his Church. Days revolve around jobs, children / grandchildren their homework, their many and varied sporting and extracurricular activities. More care and planning go into coordinating our weeks with the Saints or LSU schedule than with the life of the Church. And even for the 39% of Catholics who attend weekly Mass, the percent who make this a day of prayer, family activity, and rest is clearly much lower. In place of a deep and consistent prayer life and offering ourselves in works of charity, many fritter their time away with social media, Candy Crush and other time-fillers.

Many tell me that they would do God’s will but they have no clue as to what that is. One step to getting a clue and being available to do God’s will is to orient our days, weeks and years to God and his Church. Here is your homework:

As yourself this question: What is the focus of your family life? Is it even remotely centered on God and His Church? If not, there are so many prayers, devotionals and activities that the Church offers that I could not begin to discuss them all. Here a just a few.

Daily, Mass is offered in every Church in our archdiocese. Traditional prayers that help mark out your day for God include the Angelus, recalling the Incarnation, traditionally prayed at 6 AM, Noon, and 6PM. You can pray it alone or with your family. It only takes 5 minutes. The Liturgy of the hours, prayed 1 to 7 times a day, required of the Clergy but is a great way for the laity to immerse themselves in the liturgical life of the Church.

Weekly, you can begin to plan your Sundays as truly the Lord’s day. Allow rime for rest and relaxation. Spend time visiting and being with your family. Avoid unnecessary work, shopping and other activities that can distract you from God. Consider performing works of charity as a family.

Begin to order your calendar according to the Church rather than Walmart or Amazon. Contrary to the what you are hearing, Christmas season starts on Wednesday, it is not over. Liturgically, Christmas begins on the 25^th and ends on the feast of the Baptism of our Lord, which is Jan 12^th. next year. Similarly, Easter season does not end when all the candy is half price on Easter Sunday. It starts on Easter Sunday and ends on Pentecost.

It comes down to this: God’s plan for our lives versus our own. We don’t really know how our plan is going to end. God’s plan is always to give great joy in this life and eternal joy as a Saint in heaven. Which will you choose?

Care For the Poor: A Basic Christian Moral Obligation

2019-09-23T12:29:00.002-05:00

The following is close approximation of the text of the homily I delivered at St. Luke the Evangelist Church on Sunday September 22, 2019, for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, year C. The scripture readings on which this is drawn from can be found at this link.

No show of hands, but who in this Church considers themselves wealthy? Wealth is very much a relative thing. To the person with a minimum wage job, someone making $50k a year might seem wealthy. To that person, a six-figure income might seem wealthy and to that person, the athlete making $10-15 million per year might seem wealthy. Whatever the dollar figure, we can probably agree that the top 1% financially, are wealthy. Does that seem reasonable? Let’s see what it takes to be in the top 1% of wage earners in the world

If your family has an annual income of $32,000 or more, you are among the top 1% wage earners in the world. That is because there are countries such as Madagascar, where the average annual income is $440, Pakistan at $1500, and Nigeria at a slightly less than $2000. $1500 – for those who have cable TV, isn’t that about the amount of your annual bill?

Half of the world’s population lives on less than $2.50 per day, 80% live on less than $10 per day.

Nearly a billion people have no access to clean water and a quarter of the world’s population, nearly 1.6 billion people have no electricity.

Now, compared to the rest of the world, by a show of hands, who considers themselves wealthy? As American Catholics, in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, we have a duty and moral obligation to care for the poor of this world.

The prophet Amos in the first reading is essentially saying “woe to you who cheat and do not take care of the poor. God is NEVER going to forget this.” This tracks very well with Matthew chapter 25 where Jesus talks about those who do not care for the poor ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (I think we all know where that place is) .For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink… and you gave me no clothing’ Our calling and obligation to care for the poor is very clear in Old and New Testament …and the consequences for not helping the poor are also very clear.

Our Gospel today is possibly one of the most difficult to understand. Some have used the parable of the unfaithful steward as an excuse to cheat others. That is most certainly not what Jesus was saying. The best explanation I believe is that this parable is an allegory about almsgiving. The master represents God, the olive oil and the wheat represent the goods of the world. We are the unfaithful stewards. What Jesus was saying is, if you use your possessions now and give to the poor, you are building up treasure in heaven. This explanation is based on a simple profound truth of Christian belief: everything we possess in this world doesn’t really belong to us. We are all stewards of the one true Master, God, who is the Lord of heaven and earth and the real owner of everything. We are just the caretakers.

And finally, in the psalm we hear over and over: “Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor.” Yes He does. But how? He does not make food, clothing, clean drinking water and shelter appear out of nowhere. He does it through us, the stewards of his goods.

Some ask - what is the number - how much should I be giving to help the poor? The Old Testament speaks to the Jewish people of the tithe – a word that literally means 1/10 th. But we are not people of the Old Testament. There is not a hard and fast rule for Christians, but rather a concept and moral principle.

Scripture teaches us that whatever one gives is pleasing to God, with the important caveat…. that it ought to be given out of our need, not out of our excess. That is to say, we do not give God what is 'left over'. This is the principle behind the episode of the widow's mite from Luke 24, where the Pharisees gave out of their surplus, the widow gave money that she needed “all she had, her whole livelihood” one translation says. The levels of giving were different for the two; but God was more pleased with the widow's giving, because she gave money that she needed.

I believe a major obstacle to almsgiving among many American Catholics is lack of gratitude. We take for granted the gifts that God has showered upon us. We have an extreme lack of awareness of what most of the world is like and a lack of gratitude that we have it so good. We expect and see as normal that we turn on the switch and have reliable electricity and all the pleasures, help and conveniences that it and electrical appliances bring. We expect clean water when we open the faucet. We go to the market and expect abundant, fresh, high quality products year-round, in season and out of season. For most of our brothers and sisters on this planet, this is not how things are. If you were here in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and had no electricity, limited access to food, water and communications, that is how a large portion of our brothers and sisters around the planet live.

What is for homework?

I cannot and will not tell you how much to give nor who to help. That is between you and God. I will tell you that we need to bring back as a central focus of Catholic family life our obligation to help the poor. Not as an afterthought, but as a part of our normal everyday living. Developing an attitude of Gratitude is the antidote to being slack in almsgiving. I have some simple suggestions to help in this area

First, spend some time each day or at least each week, either by yourself, or even better with your family , acknowledging specifically the things for which we are grateful. The dinner table is a great time and place to do this.

Second, spend at least part of your personal prayer time giving thanks to God for His generosity to you, and asking Him to show you specifically in what ways you and your family can be more generous.

And third, led by gratitude and the result of your prayer, develop a plan of action of specifically how you and your family are going to be more generous the poor

Yes indeed, we are a rich country and have much for which to be grateful. And as we prepare to receive the Eucharist, keep in mind that the word itself comes from the Greek eukharistia meaning "thanksgiving, gratitude." Far greater than all the food that God provides to feed our mortal bodies; we have the banquet the Jesus left us to feed our immortal souls. There is nothing to be more grateful for than that.

Political Correctness and Christianity: Are They Compatible?

2019-08-19T12:57:00.001-05:00

The following is a close approximation of a homily I delivered at the 6PM Mass at Saint Luke the Evangelist Church in Slidell. The scripture readings on which this was based can be found at this link.

Webster’s online defines the term politically correct (PC) as a belief that language and practices which could offend political sensibilities should be eliminated. People often go along with PC ideas because they fear civil, political or social punishment. Political correctness is nothing new.

Recall the Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Anderson. It seems that two con men, posing as weavers promised to make the emperor the finest suit of clothes ever. The clothes made from the cloth they wove would be invisible to those who were not smart or who were unfit for their jobs. While they looked busy weaving day and night, the alleged weavers were doing nothing. The king believed the con men and no one in the town wanted to be seem to be stupid or unfit, so everyone marveled at the wonderful cloth and the beautiful clothes – until a small child cried out “but he isn’t wearing anything at all”

This fairy tale, published in the 1830’s, is based on a similar 14^th century Spanish story. You see, people in all places and times have convinced themselves that lies are truth. As people of faith, we must always follow the truth, Jesus Christ, no matter the consequences.

In our first reading we hear from Jeremiah. He had been called at a young age to be a prophet. He initially resisted, fearful of those responsibilities and consequences, but finally submitted. People tried to kill him several times because of his messages. The setting of today’s reading is that the Egyptians had been at war with the Babylonians. Israel first sided with the Babylonians then switched to the Egyptians’ side, who were soundly defeated. As retribution, the Babylonians decided to destroy Jerusalem.

Jeremiah had been given this message from the Lord “Those who remain in this city shall die by means of the sword, starvation, and disease; but those who go out …shall live.” Jeremiah was trying to get the City to surrender, which went against the politically correct attitude of the time - the City was a fortress that none could conquer. Because he would not be silent, Jeremiah was tossed into the bottom of a dry well to sink in the mud and die. By the way, Jerusalem was destroyed.

In the Gospel, Jesus says “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” Many have the mistaken idea that being a Christian means that you must smile and get along, not make waves, be agreeable. Not necessarily! In Hebrews 4, the word of God is said to be sharper than any two-edged sword. It cuts. It divides. Living and speaking the truth is going to cause division. Being a Christian and speaking the truth can cost friends, money, and more. But the consequences of being politically correct and not speaking out against lies and evil can be unimaginable. Here are some examples of horrific things that happened in overwhelmingly Christian nations when Christians did nothing but watch and went along with the politically accepted thoughts of the few.

The US Declaration of Independence reads “all men are created equal” yet from our founding to the Civil War we allowed people to be enslaved, to be considered as property, because of the color of their skin. The result – millions dehumanized, families separated, generations of poverty.

Science absolutely proves that a unique human is created at the moment of conception, but in the US these babies are considered less than human. The politically correct terms around this are “clumps of tissue” and “woman’s health care.” The result of that has been 60 million souls lost.

Russia was predominantly Orthodox Christian when Joseph Stalin took over. 60 million “undesirable” people were killed. In the Soviet Union, Political Correctness became a religion.

When Hitler came to power, Germany was 94% Christian. Germans listened to Hitler’s rhetoric and went along with it out of fear of reprisal. Jews are vermin. Germans are the master race. 17 million killed.

In all of these examples, Christians did nothing for fear of giving offense or of receiving reprisals.

Now we are engaged in a culture where the politically correct thing to say is that any family arrangement is as good as the next. Two moms. Two dads. It’s all OK. It’s not. This goes against tens of thousands of years of human culture and science. It is a clear direct attack on the family, straight from the Evil One. But most of us are afraid to say or do anything for fear of giving offense or being labeled a hater. We have the political correctness of gender ideology. Boys can be girls. Girls can be boys. I can change my mind and be a boy today and a girl tomorrow. Clearly this is also not according to science or the word of God. It is not truth.

Closer to home…. How many of us have family and friends who are living lifestyles completely at odds with the teaching of the Church or who are completely away from the Church? Probably most of us. I do. Yet we say nothing. We try to keep the peace. This is the type of false peace that Jesus clearly said he did not come to establish.

Speaking up does not mean finger wagging, shouting, or being in someone’s face telling them that unless they repent, they are going to hell. It does not mean being rude, impolite, or overbearing. It does not mean a holier than thou attitude, because we are all in fact sinners. It does mean speaking the truth, with love, out of genuine Christian concern for their immortal souls.

For homework, there are 3 assignments. You cannot convince someone that a way of life is sinful by telling them “the deacon said so” or it just is wrong. You need to have some basic understanding of Catholic morality to have an intelligent conversation. Starting with the Catechism can be overwhelming. There are many books out there. This one is part of a free series published by the Knights of Columbus. This part is titled “Some Fundamental Principles of Catholic Morality”. This one, Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth by Catholic Answers costs a dollar in quantity. I will post these on my BLOG. If you want some other sources, please contact me and I will be glad to assist.

As I said last month in my homily, we must be in relationship with those who act, think and believe outside the teachings of the Church. We cannot influence those with whom we have no relationship. But we must not ignore their sinful lifestyle or pretend that is OK. Pray to the Holy Spirit that he will give you the right words at the right time. And then when He gives them to you, speak. It will happen. It has happened for me many times. Sometimes right here at the ambo.

And speaking of prayer, pray daily for those promoting abortion, euthanasia, racism, contraception, and gender ideology. Prayer changes everything. I repeat, prayer changes everything.

You may be the very instrument that God has provided to help show someone the error of their ways and save their souls. By keeping silent, you may be condemning them to eternity in hell. How are you going to respond to Jesus at your final judgement when he asks “I sent you. Why did you keep silent?”

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Addendum: Pillar of Fire Pillar of Truth is available o-line at the following link https://www.catholic.com/tract/pillar-of-fire-pillar-of-truth or for $1 in a print version here https://shop.catholic.com/pillar-of-fire-pillar-of-truth-the-catholic-church-and-gods-plan-for-you/

The publication by the Knights of Columbus on morality is available for download at this link: http://www.kofc.org/en/resources/cis/cis123.pdf

Are you a Mary or a Martha?: A different point of view

2019-07-22T20:04:00.003-05:00

The following is a close approximation of the homily I delivered at St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Slidell LA for the 16th Sunday in ordinary time year C. The scripture on which this is based can be found by clicking this link.

A traditional definition of hospitality is the friendly and generous reception of guests or strangers. In praying over the scriptures this week, I had the occasion to reflect on hospitality experiences in our family. Over 30 years ago, tired of packing the children in the car for every holiday and visiting someone on both sides of our family, we picked a holiday and declared it “ours.” We selected Thanksgiving and announced that we were preparing dinner and that anyone who wanted to come was welcomed. If they couldn’t come, that was fine, but we would no longer be visiting on Thanksgiving. Much to our surprise EVERYONE came. And we have been hosting Thanksgiving ever since. Some years the crowds are small, only 12 or 15 and other years we have had over 50. And our family continues to grow!

No, we don’t have 50 in our immediate family. That’s where the hospitality comes in. How do we end up with so many? Our daughter calls – “We have these friends in the Coast Guard and they don’t have any family here. Would it be OK for them to come for Thanksgiving?” “Sure” we answer. “Oh dad, by the way, they have 6 children. “No problem. Then my sister calls – “We have some friends who will be visiting from Scotland. Can they come to Thanksgiving dinner?” Sure. Then our youngest son calls from LSU “I have a friend from Panama and one from Iowa and they can’t go home for the Thanksgiving break” And on and on. All of our Thanksgivings have been great celebrations and our family’s lives have been immeasurably enriched by these experiences. In light of today’s scripture, it is a good time to reflect that for people of faith, hospitality is a virtue.

In biblical times, hospitality was both a duty and an act of mercy, often necessary for survival. Travelling was dangerous. Cities were far apart and there were few inns. Roads were unsafe. Remember last week, the victim in the parable of the Good Samaritan. He was a traveler. Those who ran out of food or water or were unable to find safe shelter during their journeys would die. They often had to depend on the generosity of strangers.

Our first reading shows one way that hospitality can be rewarding. Abraham welcomes into his tent three strangers, two who turn out to be angels, the other may have been God Himself. In return for his radical generosity, the strangers tell Abraham, that even in their very old age, he and his wife will have a son next year. Abraham serves these strangers joyfully, expecting nothing in return, and is rewarded abundantly.

There is a sharp contrast between this reading and the Gospel. Much of the discussion, preaching and writing around this Gospel passage classifies people as “Marthas” - those are doing active service, and “Marys” those who primarily sit and listen to the word of God. I have been in group discussions where people define themselves as “Marys” or “Marthas” and how it is obviously better to be a “Mary” because Jesus chided Martha and said that Mary had chosen the better part.

You are free to accept that interpretation. It has been around for nearly 1800 years. I would like for you to consider an alternative one. Jesus does not chide Martha for doing her acts of hospitality, actively serving Him. How could Jesus disapprove of acts of service when His teaching is filled with instructions to do so? He would be contradicting himself, which is not possible. Whatever you do for the least of my brother, you do to me. Feed the hungry. Give drink to the thirsty. Visit the sick and imprisoned. Listen to the Gospel text one more time. Martha says "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord said to her in reply, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.”

Jesus chides Martha not because she is doing an act of service, but because she is anxious and worried about many things. She is angry at her sister for sitting at the feet of Jesus and perhaps a little jealous. Martha is doing things that look like hospitality, but amidst her anger and jealousy is focused on doing things and, at least for a while, loses sight of the most important aspect of hospitality… the person that is being served. Serving someone else without the “friendly” and “generous” part … I am not quite sure what that is, but it is not hospitality. Mary “chose the better part” because she is focused on the person – on this case the most important person to ever walk the earth – Jesus Christ.

Today’s society seems to be anything but hospitable. A large amount of our social interaction comes through electronic communications and social media, which can be without a doubt inhospitable places. We gravitate towards those of similar backgrounds, cultures, social status, with like-minded views about politics and other issues. In general, we avoid the “strangers” – those that we do not know, who look different, think differently, dress differently and act differently.

We are all called to see Christ in the faces of all those around us, not just members of our own Church. Jesus offers us His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, as He did to His closest disciples at the Last Supper. Jesus, the generous host, invites us to His banquet, where He gives Himself as our nourishment and expects us to go out and invite others. As Baptized Catholics, we are all called to Evangelize. That means you must interact with strangers.

What is for homework?

I am not suggesting that you invite people from 4 continents to your table for every holiday. I am asking you reflect on these two questions - Do we see Christ in others, especially strangers? Do strangers see Christ in us? I am also asking you to get out of your comfort zone. Today. Don’t be a member of the holy huddle of the like-minded. It is time to step out.

What better way to evangelize someone then to offer generous hospitality? You can be a friend on the schoolyard to the student who appears to be a misfit. Invite someone for a good meal, a beer or a cup of coffee. Get to know the stranger and let them know that they as a person are important to you. In biblical times, people’s mortal lives depended on the hospitality of strangers. In our times, the immortal soul of a stranger may depend on the hospitality that you show.

What are you going to say to Jesus when, at your judgement, he asks why you did not reach out to the stranger that He sent to you who needed to hear the Gospel?

Redwoods and the Eucharist: Taking It For Granted

2019-06-24T14:55:00.001-05:00

The following is a close approximation of the homily I delivered at Saint Luke the Evangelist Church in Slidell, June 23, 2019 for the feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus (Corpus Christi). The scripture readings on which this is based can be found at this link

Last week my wife Pam and I returned from long overdue vacation. Part of our 10-day trip was driving through coastal Oregon and northern California. We were not sure what to expect. What we encountered was absolute stunning beauty. Dramatic overlooks from high cliffs to the Pacific Ocean, violent waves crashing over enormous rocks, jagged coastline, beautiful rocky beaches, endless trails, forests so dense that they block out the sun and absorb all the sound, redwood trees 20 feet and more in diameter, 300 feet and taller. It is hard to see such natural beauty and not believe in a creator God.

And then I started wondering… what did the first Europeans think when they saw the redwoods? Did they think about God’s gift or did they think – I can build a whole house from one tree! And then I thought further – for people who live near all this beauty, how long does it take before they start taking it for granted? You might think -taking this for granted – that must be impossible. But 95% of coastal redwoods, some almost 2000 years old have been cut down. Yet, this coastal beauty is nothing compared to what happens during Mass in every Catholic Church around that world. Simple bread and wine become the body, blood, soul and divinity of the God of the universe. Yet many find this ho-hum, quite ordinary. As Catholics, we must guard against ever taking this great gift for granted.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, better known by its Latin name of Corpus Christi. The feast was established in the year 1264 in recognition of the Eucharistic Miracle of Orvieto Italy, where during the consecration, the host turned into actual heart tissue and the contents of the chalice turned into real blood as an affirmation of Jesus’ words – this is my body, this is my blood. Almost 800 years later, this Eucharistic miracle still exists in the Cathedral of Orvieto.

Inspired by the miracle, Pope Urban held a contest to compose a Mass and hymns for this feast. The contest was won by a lowly Dominican friar. You may have heard of him, Thomas Aquinas. Some of the hymns composed include Tantum Ergo (Down in Adoration Falling) , Panis Angelicus, and O Salutaris Hostia (O Saving Victim) which we still sing. The sequence we recited together was also composed by Aquinas for this feast.

Aquinas, arguably the most intelligent theologian ever, certainly never took the Eucharist for granted. He once wrote, Christ did not say at the Last Supper “this bread is my body” but rather “this is my body.”

You might wonder why they Church picked these particular scripture readings for today. If this is about the Eucharist, why not read all about the institution of the Eucharist or the bread of life discourse from John? Who is this Melchizedek character? Why are we hearing about loaves and fishes?

Both the first reading and the Gospel involve what is called typology in Biblical studies. Typology is a special kind of symbolism. A type in scripture foreshadows a someone or something much greater. For example, Jesus is called the lamb of God. We will all acclaim that in a little while. This is because the blood of the Passover Lamb at the first Passover saved the Jewish people. Jesus’ blood offered on the cross, saves all humanity. So, the Passover lamb is a type for Christ, as it represents something much greater that is coming.

Melchizedek is a very mysterious character in the Bible. We know little about him. He was a priest and king of Salem, an ancient name for Jerusalem. We do not know where he came from or what happened to him. We do not know how he came to know God, but that he did as he refers to God as “creator of heaven and earth…. And God Most High.” We also know he was a “righteous king” because that is what his name means. Mechizedek is what we would call a “type” of Christ and the consecrated bread and wine offered by him are a type of the Eucharist. When the priest prays the Eucharistic prayer you may remember hearing this:.

Look with favor on these offerings and accept them as once you accepted the gift of your servant Abel the sacrifice of Abraham, our father in faith, and the bread and wine offered by your priest Melchizedek.” The Eucharistic prayer is referring to this passage from Genesis.

In the miracle of the loaves and fishes, we see another type, or foreshadowing of the Eucharist. In this Gospel story, Jesus does something with bread that is humanly impossible, feeding thousands with just five loaves. Yet he does it. The words in Greek that are used at the Last Supper in the institution of the Eucharist – Jesus takes, blessed, broke and gave it to the disciples – are the exact same words that Jesus uses in today’s Gospel before sending the Apostles to distribute the bread and fish.. At the Last Supper Jesus did something else with bread that was equally humanly impossible– transforms it into his body and blood. Yet he does this too and commands us to continue to do this as an eternal memorial of His sacrifice. This is why these two readings are included in the Mass today.

Why do I say earlier that many take the Eucharist for granted? I could give you my own observations. Instead, I am going to read you part of story about a conversation between lay Catholic apologist Patrick Madrid and a Mormon he met a conference where Madrid had just finished speaking.

“I really don’t get the impression that most Catholics believe what you have just said about ‘the Eucharist’.” The Mormon explained that he had been to several Catholic Masses “the Catholics I’ve seen there sure didn’t seem as though they believed in what you just said about Jesus being in the Eucharist. I’ve seen Catholics going forward [for] Communion chewing gum… some look pretty bored. …some waving to others as they go forward.” Even after receiving Communion, “they look disinterested and indifferent”. And then the Mormon finished with this, which was like a gut punch to Mr. Madrid he said “If I believed what you believe… if I truly believed that it is really God himself and not just a symbol, I would fall flat on my face and be prostrate before it – him. I would be so overcome with awe and worship. And I’ve never seen any Catholic show that kind of respect. So… I guess they just don’t believe it.”

Simple homework this week. Think about this conversation. Talk about it with your friends and family. Some possible questions for discussion and self-reflection. What does my attitude, posture, state of grace, appearance and reverence say to the world about my belief in the Holy Eucharist? Am I taking it for granted or have half-hearted belief? Am I properly disposed, free of serious sin? Am I coming up to Communion just because it is my row’s turn to come up? Does my “Amen” mean – yes Lord I completely believe that you are present, body, blood, soul and divinity or … does it mean something less?

The world should have never taken the beauty of the Pacific Coast for granted, and as Catholics we must never allow the Eucharist to be seen as anything but God’s greatest gift to mankind.

Love One Another: What Did Jesus Mean By "Love"?

2019-05-19T11:13:00.001-05:00

The following is a close approximation of the homily I delivered for the 5th Sunday of Easter Year C during the 4:00PM vigil Mass and the 7:30 AM morning Mass. The scripture on which this is based can be found at this link.

Love is the most misused and overused word in American English. The first definition in the dictionary is “an intense feeling of deep affection.” We refer to things, activities, and people that give them pleasure as something that we love. I love walking on the beach, I love a good glass of bourbon. Love is used in place of fondness, affection, lust… you name it. In today's gospel Jesus gives a simple order: love one another. What does Jesus mean by love? I would like to tell three brief stories.

By the time she was 12, Agnes knew her role in life. She left her home as a teenager to devote herself to taking care of the poorest of the poor and the dying. Agnes won the Nobel Peace prize in 1979 and donated the $190,000 award to charity. You may know Agnes better as Mother Theresa or St Theresa of Calcutta.

Closer to home, Francis left a comfortable home in Bavaria, and came to the US to minister to German speaking immigrants. He turned down an appointment as Bishop, and eventually become pastor of St Mary’s Assumption in New Orleans where he cared for yellow fever victims. Francis Xavier Seelos, exhausted from working around the clock, caught the disease himself and died.

However, one does not need to be a nun or a priest, declared Saint or Blessed, to love as Jesus commanded. It is for all of us. There are regular everyday lay people from Slidell that have done the same. You may have read the recent story in the paper about a man from Slidell, Reece Cousin, who died in the Florida surf. He was engaged to Shelli Oulliber, who came into the Church at St Luke and was a former member of the RCIA team. Shelli and Reece were caught in a riptide. As they struggled to escape, Reece used his last bit of strength to pick up and throw his fiancée to safety,

Based on these three stories, I would like to propose this definition of Christian love – “Deep, perpetual affection, motivated solely for the good of the other, put into action.” For people of faith, this is the type of love the Jesus commands us to have for each other.

You may be wondering why I used the word “perpetual” in my definition. Love for one another, reflects the perfect love of God in the trinity and the perfect love of God for us. Once God loves, it is never withdrawn. No matter how often and how badly we sin God still loves us the same. That is how we are to love. You might look at ourselves as an empty glass. God loves us so much that he fills us up. He keeps pouring and pouring and we overflow. That overflow that keeps coming is the love we share with each other.

In Acts 2:44 to see how much the early Christians loved. “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need.” Sell our possessions. Give to anyone in need. That’s a hard teaching, even when it comes to members of our own Church. But Jesus takes it to a completely different level.

Recall in the sermon on the plain in Luke 6: “But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Give to everyone who asks of you…” If we cannot love like Jesus with our friends, relatives, co-workers or classmates, how are we going to love those who hate, curse and persecute us? Yet it must be possible, or Jesus would not have said to do it.

How can we love our enemy who hates us, when we cannot even give up our pew at Mass because it is where we always sit? How can we sell our possessions and give to anyone in need when we cannot see our way clear to support the Church financially? How can we show the world that as Catholics we love each other, when the people in the Church who always sit way in the back, don’t even know the people who sit over by the choir?

I am certain that neither Mother Theresa, Fr. Seelos, nor Reece Cousin loved like this 100% of the time. None of us are perfect, and we all fail to love perfectly at least some of the time. Going back to the full glass analogy, some of us have it so filled with other things – attachment to possessions, pleasures, people, our ego, even what other people think of us – that there is just not much room for God. Some of us feel so unworthy of God’s love, that we put our hands over the figurative glass and are in effect saying – God is not welcomed here.

First, we need to turn over that glass, and empty it of our attachments and make the maximum room for God to fill us with his love.

Second, for God to fill us with His love to overflowing, we must completely accept this statement – There is nothing bad that I can do to make God love me less AND there is nothing good that I can do to make Him love me more. All we must do is accept God’s love, remove our hands from the top of the glass and let it flow in.

What is for homework?

When learning a skill, we often turn to someone who has already perfected it and have them show you how. The Church recognizes men and women as Saints not because they were perfect, but because they were imperfect and overcame these imperfections to allow God to love them and in turn to love others in the same way. They serve as examples for each of us. Pick a saint, read about their lives. Better yet, read something that they wrote to understand this way of love. Some the I recommend are St. Augustine, St Rose of Lima, St Therese of Lisieux, St Maximillian Kolbe and St. Ignatius of Loyola. If one of these does not strike you, just pick one or two that you like and learn the way of love as they did.

If there is any doubt of God’s love, as we prepare to receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, we can think about this – the creator of the universe humbled himself so low that he allowed Himself to be tortured and executed. By virtue of this sacrifice, he gave us the Eucharist. He further humbled himself to be really and truly present in this little piece of bread, in the small sip of wine. It is through the Eucharist that we become intimately untied with our Lord and Savior who becomes our spiritual nourishment, leading us to everlasting life. If that is not love, what is?

God Is Not Fair - He Is Merciful

2019-04-28T20:35:00.004-05:00

The following is a close approximation of the homily I delivered at St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Slidell, LA for Divine Mercy Sunday, the 2nd Sunday in Easter, April 28,2019

Americans seem to believe strongly in a concept of justice which we call fairness. If someone commits an offense, they should pay the penalty. Seems fair, right? Except, when you are the offender.

Years ago, I was driving right around the corner from my house and my mind was completely in another world. A sheriff’s deputy was there to kindly escort me back to earth. Sir, did you know you were driving 50 in a 35 mph zone? I could not lie to him. I responded: I live right around the corner. I complain about speeders here all the time. I can’t believe I did that. My mind must have been on another planet. All he said was Driver’s license and insurance card, sir. As I sat and waited, all I could think about was the fine for the ticket, that my car insurance was going to skyrocket, and that I was going have to tell my wife. After what seemed like forever, the deputy returned, handing me a non-moving violation for having my seat belt unbuckled (it was buckled) and told me to drive safely and have a nice day. What that deputy did that morning was not fair. It was not fair at all. It was merciful

As people of faith, on this Divine Mercy Sunday, we celebrate that we have not a fair God, but a merciful God, who forgives us, no matter how big or how often we fail.

In the Gospel today, the resurrected Lord appears and tells the apostles As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Why did the Father send Jesus to earth? To reconcile God and sinful man. In this passage, Jesus is commissioning the Apostles, giving them his authority, to go out and reconcile men and all their sins with God. Then he gets more explicit.

He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained. Clearly Jesus gives the apostles the power and authority to forgive sins. It’s very hard to interpret this passage differently. The only other time in the entire Bible that God breaths on man is in Genesis 2:7 The LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being. The unmistakable message from John is that forgiveness of sins is so life giving that it is equated with God giving life to mankind.

It is also clear from early Church writings from as early at 60 AD, that the Apostles handed this power down to their successors in ordination. This is why we must, like it or not, confess our sins to a priest. Jesus said so! Notice that while Jesus commissioned the Apostles to forgive sins, he did not tell them how to do it. But because the apostles and their successors had to decide which sins to forgive and not to forgive, they had to know what these sins were. The sinner had to confess them. Over time, the forms in which the sacrament has been administered have changed. In the very early Church, publicly known sins were often confessed openly in church, though private confession to a priest was always an option for privately committed sins.

Penances were performed before rather than after absolution and were much harsher than those of today. A person who denied the faith might go through a period of 2 or 3 years of public penance before being re-admitted to full Communion at the Easter Vigil. I for one am grateful that I do not have to stand in front of the Church and admit all my sins nor go 3 years as a public penitent wearing sackcloth and ashes. Over the years the Church has realized that its role is to dispense Mercy with a bucket rather than with an eyedropper.

Maybe you can relate to this. I often do not go to Confession as often as I plan or need. The main reason is simple - pride. I do not like admitting to that I made yet another mistake. I despise confronting my own shortcomings, the ways in which I knowingly turned away from God and chose sin over love. I hate committing the same sin that I resolved to avoid just a few weeks ago. But I always feel the weight of the world off my shoulders after Confession.

It can seem difficult to go to Confession, especially if months or years have passed or if you have done something that you feel is particularly terrible. What will father think about me? This is too embarrassing to say out loud. Be assured, you cannot shock the priest. He is there to dispense mercy, not judgement. And I also assure you that when a great sinner makes a good Confession, heaven is dancing! Recall in Luke Ch 15 in the parable of the lost sheep: I tell you that … there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Some may be turned off from going to Confession to a priest because of the abuse scandals. Don’t let it. The priest is not forgiving you. He is acting in what is called in persona Christi – in the person of Christ, participating the Church’s ministry of reconciliation of which Christ is the head. Christ is doing the forgiving. If you are waiting for a priest without sin to hear your confession, it is not going to happen. In fact, if you are looking for a bishop, priest or deacon who is perfect to preach a homily or perform any sacrament, you are out of luck. We are all sinful men, and all fall short.

One final thing, as we move into the Liturgy of the Eucharist and prepare to receive Holy Communion, we will pray the Our Father, and all say forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. How many times have you prayed that? What does this mean? This leads to your homework.

I would bet my last dime that most of us have unforgiveness in our hearts towards at least one person. Probably more than one. Maybe your parents or siblings were mean to you. An unfaithful spouse. Someone who committed a crime against you or your family. A student teased or bullied you in public. A coworker who treats you badly. Maybe you have hard feelings and unforgiveness against someone in this Parish. A member of the clergy did our said something that hurt you. Fr. Pat, possibly. Maybe me.

When we pray the Our Father, we are saying, God, you are an endless fountain of mercy, but … only let me drink from that fountain to the extent in which I show mercy to others. Your homework this week is to show mercy to the person on top of your list. And then find another and another and another. If you are thinking – Deacon, I can’t do that, it just is not natural. You would be right. It is not natural…it is supernatural. And when you are done forgiving, will you not only be able to drink from that fountain of mercy that Jesus offers, you can bathe in it. Thankfully God is not fair. He is merciful.

Beating Your Slaves, Topless Sunbathing, and Decency: What Do You Think?

2019-03-28T14:50:00.002-05:00

The following is the text of a talk on decency I gave the Knights of Columbus Council #9973 in early 2018.

I have been asked to speak to my brother Knights on the topic of decency. What, you may ask, is decency? It was only 200 years ago when behaving decently meant not beating your slaves. There was a point in our not too distant history, that if someone insulted you, the decent thing to do was have a duel to the death. The last recorded duel in the US was fought in California, on September 13, 1859.

Up until the 1930’s, topless men sunbathing on public beaches, was considered indecent. As late as the 1830’s, it was considered indecent to read in bed.

In many parts of the Arab world, giving someone the thumbs up sign is considered indecent. It is equivalent to giving them the middle finger in the US.

There are almost as many definitions of the word decency as there are sources of definitions. However, one that seems to come up the most often is this one.

“Behavior that conforms to accepted standards of morality or respectability.”

That definition leaves us with a very big problem. It in essence means that decency is never really defined. If means that if as a community or a society we decide that viewing explicit sexual activity online is decent, then it is decent by declaration. Does decency really change over time? Who is doing the “accepting of the standards?” 100 years ago, who would have imagined that abortion, same sex unions, and euthanasia would be considered “decent”? What will be considered decent in another 50 to 100 years?

Was whipping your slaves every really “decent”? Since slavery was never decent, the question of the decency of beating them or not is a non sequitur, it does not follow and makes no sense. Was topless sunbathing for men ever really indecent? It might depend on if the man looked like Jackie Gleason or Jackie Chan and exactly who was doing the looking and what they were thinking!

And then you add the problem of cultural differences!! Two thumbs up.

Because of these complexities, no one could possibly give you a complete list of what is or what will be decent in every time, culture, and situation. So, what I would like to do is borrow an analogy of musical instruments from the great Christian author C.S. Lewis.

Imagine that everyone in a large group is a musical instrument. Before playing in the band or orchestra, you would need to make sure that you were in tune and playing the best that you could play. Trumpets need to sound like trumpets, French horns like French horns, and so forth. A clarinet should not sound like a piccolo, and a piccolo should not sound like a concert flute. In other words, we need to be, act like the best versions of ourselves we can be. God put in this specific place and time. He put us in our role as sons, husbands, brothers, friends, employers and employees. Scripture 1 Cor 6 – Did you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, you do not belong to yourself?

Next, we need to make sure that we are playing in the correct key, using the same sheets of music as all of the other instruments. We need to come into the song when it is our proper turn, or the music will not sound right. Imagine if the tuba played when the clarinet was supposed to chime in. There would be no harmony. The second part of decency, then, could be considered acting in harmony with those around us. No thumbs up in Kuwait. Galatians 5:14 For the whole law is fulfilled in this one statement, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And Mt 7:12 Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.

Now, many would say, that this enough. I am in tune and in harmony with everyone. I am acting decently, right? What if you are a member of the LSU Golden Band from Tiger Land and you are all playing the Notre Dame fight song when LSU enters the field. You are all playing the wrong music!

There is one thing we have not yet considered: the conductor. The purpose of human life as a whole: what tune does the conductor, our eternal, all knowing, all powerful God, want us it to play? Are we acting according to the will of God? Scripture Mk 3:35 - “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

In summary, if you act as the person you were intended to be, in harmony with all of those around us, and according to plan of God, the great conductor, you will always be acting with decency.

Deep South Deacon

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