As a Boy Scout, I like to go camping and particularly I like backpacking. Backpacking provides an interesting challenge in that you simply can’t take all the “stuff” you might want to. You have to leave a lot of stuff behind that might be useful, but ultimately too heavy or just not necessary. Jesus is saying something similar in the Gospel today. Martha seems to get criticized for being “anxious and worried about many things.” It’s not that the things she’s doing aren’t good. It’s just that she’s doing all these “good” things while missing what Jesus calls “the one thing necessary.”

How often do we do this same thing in our lives. We are busy doing “many things” all the while loosing sight of the “one thing” we need most, namely God. Think of how much time we spend on sports, especially our kids. It’s always sad to hear that someone missed Mass because of sports. It’s not that sports are bad, but choosing sports over Mass is missing out on the “one thing” in favor of the “many.” The same is true of all the work that we adults do. Supposedly we work to provide for our families. Yet, how often today do we work so much that we don’t have time for our families. We’ve become busy with many things and lost sight of the one thing that was the point in the first place.

Let us look carefully at our lives and, like good Scouts, do what we like to call a “shakedown.” Let’s take a good look at all the stuff we’re carrying around in our pack and see if maybe we’ve got too much of a good thing in some areas. Doing as many activites as possible is like carrying everything we can in our pack. It just causes you to fall over and lie on the ground unable to move. What are some things in our life that, while good, are getting in the way of the greatest good?

St. Augustine reminds us that, “Our hearts are restless until the rest in you, O lord.” Let’s take some time to put things in balance in our life and find peace for our restless hearts. If we know that God is the “one thing necessary” then we can follow Augustine’s other great advice, “Love God and do what you will.”

The first reading today describes several cases of injustice that would seem to cry out for God to “do something about it.” Yet, God’s ways are not our ways. He does indeed care about our problems and injustices, but his way of dealing with it may not be exactly what we would want. It can seem like he doesn’t hear our prayers. As we celebrate Mary today, we are reminded that it took God from the fall of Adam and Eve all the way to the time of Mary to send his promised Messiah. God won his great victory over evil not with an invading army, but with the quiet “yes” of a young girl living in a cave in Nazareth. Jesus himself won the ultimate victory not by “crying out in the street” as the gospel reminds, but by his silence at his trial and the silence of his death on the cross. God does indeed hear and answer our prayers. Let us be like Mary and say yes to God and allow him to work in his patient, sometimes silent, way.

With so many different “churches” offering opportunities to “worship” one must ask the question, “What is worship?” “Where does it come from and how do you do it?” This talk explores the origin of Christian worship in the Old Testament, showing that it was God who first asked us for worship and the essence of this worship was expressed through offering sacrifice. But what place does offering sacrifice have in worship today? Are there any “rules” for worship, or do we just make it up and do whatever we like? Understanding how we are in fact called to offer sacrifice is the key to understanding the Mass and…the meaning of life.

This talk was given to a group of Catholic students and permanent community from the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center in Lawrence, KS. The talk was a part of their new “Theology on Tap” series and was given at Old Chicago in Lawrence.

We are all familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan in today’s gospel. Yet, what do we do with the knowledge gleaned from this parable? Today’s homily gives the unfortunate results of several studies demonstrating that a lot of us are like the priest and Levite in the story…we ignore those in need. There are lots of reasons why this is and not all of them are because we are uncaring people. We’re often just in too big a hurry to stop and help. Perhaps more often, we tend to think that someone else will help.

There is an important principle of Catholic social teaching called “subsidiarity.” It says basically that problems and changes should be handled at the lowest level possible. If there are poor and needy people around us, it is not the job of the federal government, the state government, or anyone else to help them. The poor need to be helped at the lowest level possible and that lowest level is you and me. We cannot rely on some government program to help the poor. The fact that we may give money to a charity or pay our taxes that fund welfare doesn’t absolve us of our responsibility to help those in need that we encounter each day.

Ultimately, there is no law that will force us to take care of those around us. However, Jesus doesn’t appeal to the law in today’s gospel. He appeals to our hearts. No policeman will arrrest you for passing by a homeless person or not helping someone change a tire. Only the love of Christ can compel you to act with compassion. St. John of the Cross reminds us that “in the evening of life, we will be judged on our love.” We all know the story of the Good Samaritan, but that’s only half the battle. The real question is…”what will we do?”

We often tend to ignore the reality of hell. We talk and act as if it didn’t exist. Yet, today’s gospel clearly says that it does, and that people go there. In 1917 our Blessed Mother appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal. On July 13th of that year she gave them a special warning about hell. She showed them a vision of hell and all the souls suffering there. She asked the children to pray and do penance for sinners so that fewer souls would be lost. Mary gave several prophesies to the children about what would happen if her call to repentance was not heeded. She continues to call to us today to pray, to pray the rosary especially for peace. Let us resolve today to change our lives, do penance for our sins and those of the whole world, and to pray the rosary every day.

Today we rightfully give thanks for the blessings of freedom we enjoy in this country. Our scripture readings today also call us to give thanks for an even greater freedom, the freedom that only God can give. What is the source of this freedom? Isaiah reminds the Israelites that as bad as things might seem in exile, they have cause for hope. One day they will return to Jerusalem. Jesus teaches the apostles in the Gospel that if they have him, they needn’t fear that anything will be lacking. There is a great freedom in knowing that God is in control. Yet so many of us rarely experience this kind of freedom. What gets in the way? In a word…fear.

We’re afraid of so many things. We’re afraid of loosing our job, afraid we won’t find a job, afraid our kids will lose the faith, afraid our health will fail and list goes on and on. Ultimately, we’re afraid that we will die. In little ways and big ways we are confronted with death every day. If we live in fear of dying, we are not truly free to live.

St. Paul gives us the answer to this problem in our second reading. He talks of how we should boast in the cross of Jesus. The cross seemed like the ultimate defeat and yet was turned into the symbol of Jesus’ triumph over death. The cross reminds us that death is not the end and that Jesus has conquered death. We need no longer fear death.Boasting in the cross is now our ticket to true freedom. If we have nothing to fear from death then we need not be afraid to encounter the cross in our life. To live in the knowledge of the resurrection gives us a freedom the world can never give.

Today we are especially thankful for the freedom we have in this country and we know that it was bought at a great price. Men and women throughout history have given their lives that we might live free. Even greater though is the freedom in God that points beyond this world. This freedom too was bought at a great price. Jesus gave his life on the cross that each of us might live in freedom, freedom from sin and death. This is a victory we celebrate every Sunday. Each week we can rightfully celebrate the Lord’s day knowing that it is indeed our Independence Day.

50th Wedding Anniversary of Joe and Pat McGreevy

St. Paul speaks today in the second reading about freedom. Perhaps no other value expresses better the core element of what it means to be American. But what do we really mean by freedom? Today, we tend to think that freedom means being able to do whatever you want, whenever you want, and no one can stop you. We also value freedom as “keeping all our options open.” St. Paul, and the Church, have a different view of freedom in mind. Freedom should be seen as the ability to be who you were created to be. Our freedom is a gift to be used in such a way that we make ourselves a gift to others. When we discover how we are to make this gift we are called to use our freedom to make a commitment.

If freedom is seen as “keeping all your options open” then commitment would seem to be the opposite of freedom. After all, doesn’t making a commitment limit one’s freedom? While committing to something will necessarily close the door to certain other options, it is actually through making a commitment that we become most free. A life that is lived with “all options open” is a wasted life. When you make a commitment, especially the commitment of your life as in marriage or religious life, then and only then can you become who you were created to be. Then you find a new freedom that you never knew before.

After a commitment is made, there can be only one course of action…fidelity. If you think about it, we wouldn’t need to have solemn public commitments in marriage if it were easy to stay married. We wouldn’t need sacred vows in religious life if everyone who became a priest or religious just naturally went on without any temptations to think that maybe the grass was greener somewhere else. It is precisely because of the great difficulty in living out our vocations that we need commitment. If the only thing that keeps you coming to Mass every Sunday at times is that you know you have a commitment on pain of mortal sin, well…good! That’s what the commitment is there for…to get you through the tough times.

This weekend we celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Joe and Pat McGreevy. We celebrate the commitment they made 50 years ago and have been living out in fidelity ever since. It has of course  not always been easy, and that is precisely why the joy of celebration today is so special. They’ve remained faithful to their commitment through good and bad times, just as they promised each other. What is the result? Joy and peace…and life. Just look at the family that they have around them and you can see the fruit of a commitment faithfully lived. We thank them for their faithfulness and witness and ask God to strengthen all of us in our commitments that we too may know this great peace and joy.

The following homily was given at the monastery of Santa Maria Real in Spain while on pilgrimage. A Eucharistic miracle took place here in which the appearances of the the consecrated bread and wine in the Mass were changed along with the substance into true flesh and blood.

Today we have the celebration of the Feast of the Visitation on the Church calendar combined with the American celebration of Memorial Day. I think we often overlook how difficult a journey it was for Mary to travel from Nazareth all the way to Jerusalem and on the the “hill country” town of Ein Karem, the home of Elizabeth. We see Mary respond so easily. She goes “with haste” even. She is a woman of virtue who sees a need  and just goes. On this Memorial Day, the story of the visitation reminds me of this same kind of spirit in those who have given their lives in service of our country. When there was an urgent need, people in trouble, the world threatened, how many American soldiers volunteered and went “with haste” to do their duty, many giving their lives in this service. We are grateful today for this spirit of sacrifice that has bought us the gift of freedom. May each of us have this spirit as we look out for our brothers and sisters in need and go “with haste” to help them.

The Trinity is a complicated thing. Today’s homily tells how even the great St. Augustine was reminded that he would never be able to fully understand this mystery. How can God be 3 persons in 1 God? The things we can say about each person of the Trinity we learn from sacred scripture. Perhaps the most obvious thing about the Trinity…and the easiest to understand…is often the most overlooked. God is not an isolated individual, but is rather a communion of persons. You could say that our God is a family of persons.

To say that “God is love” is often hard to grasp. To love, you need someone to love. You can’t love in isolation. It is not surprising then that God would not be alone, but would be a communion. The Trinity is a communion of love. Perhaps the easiest way to understand the meaning of this is to look at our families. They are supposed to be communions of love. Let us look to the Trinity today as our example. Let us be willing to lay down our life in love for others. We just might find the Trinity a little more understandable.

We are all familiar with the ordained priesthood, but did you know that everyone who is baptized is a priest? The job of a priest is to offer sacrifice and we see the ordained priest offering the sacrifice of Jesus at the altar. However, all of the baptizied should come to Mass with something to offer. We “offer up” all the struggles and difficutlies of our day in union with the sacrifice of Christ. So be a good priest and come to Mass with an intention next time and offer it up to God.

The story of the “rich young man” in today’s Gospel is a challenge to all of us. This young man received the great call of Jesus to come and follow Jesus but was unable to answer the call. He had been living a good life and following the commandments, but he is ultimately not able to follow Jesus. His material possessions get in the way and he goes away sad.

What gets in the way of you saying yes to Jesus? Let’s not be afraid to leave anything behind in order to follow Jesus more closely. If we do so, not only will we avoid going away sad through this life, but we will have the great joy of a life in Christ.

Today’s feast of Pentecost is often called the “birthday” of the Church. It was on this day that the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and the Apostles gathered in the upper room and the Church was then made very visible as they spilled out into the streets proclaiming the good news. Although we can rightfully see this as a sort of “birthday,” it would be incorrect to think that the Church began on this day.

When a baby is born, we celebrate that we can see the baby now visibly in the world, but no one would claim that somehow the baby only came into existence at the moment of its birth. For the previous nine months the baby was being formed in his or her mother’s womb. In a similar way the Church was being formed for 9 days following the Ascension in quiet and expectant prayer in the upper room. Although Jesus had given the Church it’s mission at his ascension, he did not send them off on their own at that point. Rather he told them to wait in Jerusalem for coming of the Spirit. Only when they had received the Spirit were they ready to go out.

There is an important message here for all of us. We can’t be the Church by each of us going off and doing our own thing. The first reading tells us plainly that “they were all together” when the day of Pentecost came. We need to gather together in prayer to receive the Holy Spirit. We gather today in the “upper room” of our church, around the altar of the Eucharist, with the Apostles and Mary and we pray. Come Holy Spirit. It is the birthday of the Church once again.

Perhaps our natural response to opposition and setbacks is to assume that we have done something wrong. In today’s gospel, Jesus says quite the opposite. Jesus tells us to expect trouble from the world when we follow after him. Indeed, we can even see trouble and opposition as a sign that we are fact doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing. Jesus promises us peace amidst the troubles of the world. He promises us the Holy Spirit to be our comforter and encourager. Let us strive to know the Holy Spirit better and trust in Jesus promise, “Have courage. I have overcome the world.”

Today’s homily tells the story of a man who came to realize that we really don’t have a lasting home in this world; in truth we are all “just passing through.” The Solemnity of the Ascension which we celebrate today also reminds of us this fact. We should live our lives with our eyes fixed on heaven as the apostles eyes were fixed on Jesus as he ascended. As we sing in the liturgy today, “Where he has gone, we hope to follow.”

One would think that heaven would be an obvious goal for our lives, but do we really hope for heaven? Do we tend to think of heaven as simply the events of this world continuing on forever? Perhaps we wish for a place with only the good things in life and none of the bad. But still, if heaven is just more of this life stretched on forever, this seems more like a curse than a blessing. Heaven has got to be something radically different from the life we experience here.

Pope Benedict offers a cure for this thinking. He suggests that we see heaven not so much as “a place to go” but rather as a “person.” Heaven is not just some generic place of happiness. The joy of heaven comes precisely from being with Jesus. If we long to be with Jesus and live our lives set on this goal, then we will have our wish. We will experience the joy of being forever with the one we love. That indeed is something to look forward to with great hope.

Yet we need not wait until our death or Jesus’ return in glory to begin living this way. We’ve got to form this intimate relationship with Jesus right now in this life. In that respect, heaven really isn’t so radically different than this life. If our life is based on a relationship with Jesus, then we will find great joy in this life and will find ourselves very much at home when we get to heaven. This is the great hope held out for us today in the feast of the Ascension.

May is the month in which we traditionally honor Mary and often crown her statues with wreaths of flowers. While this is a special event for May, we can actually “crown” Mary with our prayers any time. The tradition of praying the rosary developed from this idea. The prayers we say on each bead of the rosary are meant be like beautiful roses that we offer to Mary. The rosary is even designed in a circle, like a crown of roses.

I have read in the lives of the saints that sometimes while praying the rosary they would actually smell the scent of roses. This was seen as a great miracle from Our Lady to show her happiness with the prayer. I once had a similar experience…but you’ll have to listen to the recording to get the whole story.

The rosary is a beautiful way to meditate on the life of Jesus. As we reflect on the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious mysteries, we do so through the eyes of Mary. In all the important events in the life of Jesus, we find Mary close by his side. On this Mothers’ Day, we are also mindful that our own mother’s have often been right by our side too for all the important events in our life. Like Jesus, as we too go through joys and sorrows, our moms are there with us.

The circular nature of the rosary also points toward another truth of our faith. As we “go around” the life of Jesus again and again through the mysteries, we keep bumping into the cross. The otherwise perfect circle of the rosary has this rather interesting attachment of the cross to cause us to stop. In all the events in life we will find the cross popping up. Yet Jesus tells us not to let our hearts be troubled. He says that he leaves us peace. Jesus is on that cross clanking around on our rosaries, and he is with us through the crosses in our life.

So, whether you find your life in a joyful, illuminated, sorrowful, or glorious state right now, you will find the cross, and you will find Jesus there. Where you find Jesus, Mary is sure to be close by. May God bless all our mothers today and may our heavenly mother help bring us to Jesus.

In today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we see how Paul changes his plans several times because, as he says, “The Spirit prevented me.” Can we say in our own lives that we are listening well enough to the voice of the Spirit that we recognize Him directing us? If not, perhaps we need to spend more time in quiet prayer and learn to listen. Another reason why we may not always hear the Spirit is that the spirit of the age, the evil spirit, may be choking out the voice of the good Spirit.

Often we follow the spirit of the age without even thinking about it. We just go with the flow. Jesus promises us that if we follow after him, the world will hate us. If we’re getting along too comfortably in this life, it’s a good sign that we are probably following the wrong spirit. Likewise, if we are often persecuted and don’t fit in for following the path that Jesus seems to demand, that’s a good sign that we’re on the right track and following the lead of the Holy Spirit. Let’s be sure to take time for prayer so that we hear and follow the right Spirit.

The Holy Father gave some particular words of encouragement to priests. He urged them: “live the liturgy and worship with joy and love: It is action that the Risen One carries out through the power of the Holy Spirit in us, with us and for us. [...]

“And I would also like to invite each priest to celebrate and live the Eucharist with intensity, which is at the heart of the task of sanctifying; it is Jesus who wants to be with us, to live in us, to give himself to us, to show us the infinite mercy and tenderness of God.”

I can imagine the media being rather befuddled wondering, “in the wake of so much crisis” (as they love to remind us), why would the Pope would choose to remind priests about the importance of the Sacred Liturgy? When things seem to go badly for the Church and the priesthood, how many people would look to the liturgy as the answer? Yet this is exactly the solution (and the problem). We are blessed to have a very smart Pope who knows the liturgy well.

There is an ancient axiom with regard to the liturgy that is paraphrased as lex orandi, lex credendi, “The law of praying is the law of believing.” I like to say that if we pray correctly, we will believe correctly, and we will act correctly. If, therefore, we find problems in the way we are acting, the first place we should look ought not be to a “study” or “poll” or “experts.” Rather, we should look to the liturgy. If things are messed up in the Church, there’s almost a sure bet that things are messed up in the liturgy.

One of my favorite verses in Scripture is spoken in today’s Gospel by St. Philip. He asks Jesus, “Show us the Father.” While Jesus has to rebuke him slightly for his lack of trinitarian theological understanding, the desire is exactly right. We should all have this great desire to see God, to know God. Philip learned from Jesus about the love of the Father. He wanted to know God the way Jesus knew the Father. St. James (the less) became the head of the Church in Jerusalem. Both Philip and James gave their lives as martyrs in witness to their love for Jesus. We pray today that we may have the desire to want to be with God and the courage to offer ourselves totally to Him in this life that we might be happy with Him forever in the next.

How do you find the Church? Can you find the Church? Many Christians who say they believe in the Church and even claim to be members of it, also claim that the Church is “invisible.” They think of the Church as an idea or an intangible body made up of all those who “accept Jesus into their hearts.” The Scripture gives us a very different image of the Church.

It’s clear from our first reading, that the Church is in fact very visible. When Paul and Barnabas go to a town they either find the Church there or they establish it there. It’s a physical, tangible, group of people. More than that, Paul and Barnabas appoint men to be leaders, “presbyters”, from where we get the word “priest.” The Scriptural accounts of the Church show that it is clearly something that you can seek out and find. It’s marked by authentic teaching, the practice of the sacraments, devotion to the saints, an officially appointed clergy, etc. All of these things help one to identify the Church.

However, our Gospel today gives us perhaps the most important way to identify the followers of Jesus. St. John tells us that all will know we are Christians by the way we love one another. If someone walked into our church today, would they be able to tell we are members of Christ’s Church by the way we love one another? What about in our daily lives?

Perhaps the reason non-Catholics came up with the idea of an “invisible” Church was because we often do a rather poor job of showing ourselves to be members of this Church. The officially appointed hierarchy, a gift from Jesus, often fails miserably (just ask St. Peter). How well do we actually show that great love for one another we’re supposed to? Often we are countersigns to the holiness the Church is supposed to have. One can see how it would be more attractive to pretend that the Church is “invisible” rather than admit that we sorry bunch of sinners are actually it.

Yet, this is the truth. The Church is made up of sinners. From the Pope right down to every adult that ever darkens the door of a church. The Church on earth is not perfect. If you do find the perfect church, for heaven’s sake don’t join it…you’ll wreck it!

The Church may not be perfect on earth, but St. John gives us a beautiful vision of the Church perfected in heaven in our 2nd reading. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. The Church will be beautiful as the Holy City coming down from Heaven, as a bride prepared for her bridegroom. Yes, that day is coming. Let’s all do our part to make the Church on earth more like the heavenly image. As St. John himself would tell us, let us love one another and the rest will all follow.

St. Pius V is probably best known for the leading the Church through the reforms following the Council of Trent. In 1570 he promulgated an updated version of the prayers used at Mass, the so-called Missal of Pius V. This missal was in fact just an updating to the texts of Mass that had been in use almost unchanged since the time of Pope Gregory the Great in the 5th century. At the time of the Second Vatican Council, the texts of the Mass had been in use for over 1500 years.

After the Second Vatican Council ended in 1965 many things were done in the way of experiment with the liturgy. Most of these changes were not authorized but undertaken on private initiative in the name of the “Spirit of the Council.” Our present Holy Father, Pope Benedict, is a great lover of the liturgy as was Pius V and has written extensively about the need to correct some of these unauthorized experiments. Pope Benedict has continued what is often called the “reform of the reform”. In 2007 he gave permission for all priests to celebrate Mass according the the missal of Pius V with a few updates (now technically therefore the Missal of John XXIII). Just yesterday, he approved a new English translation of the Mass to help us return to the use of a more sacred language in the liturgy.

We pray through the intercession of St. Pius V and the leadership of Pope Benedict we way truly see a renewal of the sacred liturgy in the way intended by the Second Vatican Council.

We tend to think of sheep as these adorable cuddly little fluff balls of cuteness. However, when you get right down to it, sheep really aren’t all that cute. They actually smell bad and are rather unruly. When Jesus refers to his followers as sheep, it’s not exactly a compliment. Yet it is the truth. He knows us. Sheep are not very bright. They have no idea how to find food for themselves. Left on their own they tend to wander off and get lost or hurt. Yes, Jesus knows us well.

It actually takes a lot of humility to admit that we are sheep. We’re admitting that we need help. Fortunately, help is not lacking. Jesus is our good shepherd and he continues to give us shepherds. All we need do is listen to his voice and follow. Unfortunately, we seem to follow the voice of strangers a lot these days. The culture tells us all these false places where we can supposedly “get fed.” Yet, we continue to find ourselves empty. Why don’t we try listening to Jesus? He tells us plainly that he came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Let’s trust that voice and stop listening to strangers.

Today we celebrate what is often called “Good Shepherd Sunday” in reference to our Gospel reading. It is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Since this is also the Year for Priests as proclaimed by our Holy Father, I devoted my homily today to the mission of the priesthood. The priest has traditionally been charged with three sacred tasks, to teach, to sanctify, and to govern. Each of these tasks can be seen in the readings today.

In the first reading, we find Paul and Barnabas out teaching. God did not leave us with just a book to be a “do-it-yourself” Christian. He left us teachers. Our world is filled with darkness and error. It is precisely into this context that the truth of the teaching of our faith shines as a bright light. May we always be grateful to God for the teachers he gives us, especially in our priests.

In the second reading, we have a description of the beautiful scene in heaven where those who have struggled through this life now live in joy. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. This is a sign of where we are all destined and a sign of our mission here on earth. We are called to be holy, set apart. That’s what it means to sanctify. The priest especially is set apart by his ordination, but all of us are called to be God’s special people through baptism. May we have priests who are selfless models of holiness to point us to heaven.

Finally, the priest is called to rule or govern. Jesus reminds his priests that the model for their leadership is that of the shepherd. At the time of Jesus and even to this day the way a shepherd leads is unique. A shepherd does not forcefully drive the sheep with whips and prodding the way cattle are driven. Rather, a shepherd goes to the group of sheep, some of which might belong to other shepherds, and simply begins to sing. He then walks away singing and his sheep know to follow. As Jesus tells us in the gospel, they know his voice. This is how the priest is to govern; he walks ahead of the sheep, leading them to the green grass of the life of grace, all the while singing the praises of God. May we have priests who are not afraid to walk alone at the front of the sheep and may the sheep listen well and know to follow the voice of their shepherd.

“This is a hard saying. Who can accept it?” This is the reaction of the disciples of Jesus to his teaching on the Eucharist. Because many people were unable to “accept” what Jesus was saying, his own disciples left him…and Jesus let them go. He was even content the let the apostles leave as well. Although Peter doesn’t understand any better than the others, he does give us the model of how to deal with hard sayings. “Lord to whom shall we go? We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

We learn to trust the truth of the hard sayings because we trust the one who says them. If Jesus says it, it must be true. We’ve got the rest of our life to figure it all out. If God can become man, does it really seem so impossible that the God-man can change bread and wine into God? It might be a hard saying, but it sure isn’t impossible.

Today marks the 5th anniversary of the election of our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI. On this day the Church throughout the world remembers him in prayer and thanks God for the gift of his faithful leadership. May we continue to be good sheep, following our good shepherd. Ad multos annos!

In Jerusalem there is a church in honor of St. Peter called “St. Peter in Gallicantu.” It sits on the location of the house of the high priests where Jesus was tried and St. Peter famously denied Our Lord. Why a church to commemorate this tragic event in the life of St. Peter? This church is all about repentance. In the crypt level are three icons, one depicting Peter stating “I do not know him,” one of Peter crying saying simply “He wept bitterly,” and a final one after the resurrection with Peter telling Jesus, “You know that I love you.”

Because Peter has this powerful conversion from his sin he is able to then go out boldly as we see in the first reading. The leaders of the Sanhedrin demand that Peter and the other apostles stop talking about Jesus. Peter refuses and with great courage preaches the good news of Jesus raised from the dead. He knew he was forgiven and he knew that he had a mission to bear witness to the one that he loved.

How tragic it would have been if Peter had remained in shame over his sin and gave into the demands to be silent. Perhaps we too at time feel ashamed by our sins. We feel too much like hypocrites to go out and tell anyone about living a life of holiness. These feelings are not from God. Jesus forgives our sins and tells us to forget the past and go out boldly. Nothing will separate us from the love of God, not even our sins if we repent as Peter did. We thank God for the gift of our Holy Father today who continues to speak boldly about Jesus. May we be attentive to his teaching, thankful for his ministry, and follow his example.

Everyone loves a good story. Some stories are just made up (see my previous post on the Clash of the Titans movie). Today we celebrate a story that is not only true, but the greatest story ever told. As the sequence for Mass sings, “Death and life fought bitterly for this wondrous victory. The Lord of Life who died, reigns glorified.” As the popular Easter hymn sings, “This is the feast of victory for our God.” It is also our feast of victory.

We all need a chance to be victorious. Perhaps this is why we love sports so much. We like the feeling of winning. Just imagine if the Royals won the World Series this year (it’s April…we can still dream). It would be a victory all the sweeter because we in Kansas City know all about being down and out. As wonderful as it would be to have 1985 all over again, that victory would pale in comparison to the victory we celebrate today.

“Christ the lamb has saved the sheep.” No one has ever been more down and out than the human race since the fall of Adam and Eve. Yet, God has continuously mounted a rescue mission. As he used a lamb at Passover to save the Hebrews in Egypt, so today he uses the Lamb of God to save us from the bondage of sin and death. Jesus truly died and was buried and is now raised from the dead. This is the greatest comeback story in history!

Today is our day to be excited and cheer that we are victorious. It is also Divine Mercy Sunday which reminds us that our sins need not get in the way of sharing in this victory. When Jesus appears to the apostles in the Gospel he still bears the wounds of the crucifixion, the mark of what our sins have done. Yet he comes not with condemnation, but reassurance for his apostles. “Peace be with you,” he says. He says the same to us today. Our sins are lost in the ocean of his mercy and we sing the hymn of victory with the lamb.

“Christ the paschal lamb has been sacrificed, therefore let us keep the feast.” This is our day of victory, a day won for us by the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad for the Lord is risen…indeed he is risen!

Perhaps this was just another pathetic example of the current lack of talent in anything besides special effects coming out of Hollywood. However, to be fair, this story was written before Hollywood. There’s something just silly about the whole story in the first place. One couldn’t help but see how ridiculous it would be to live in a world in which God(s) was somehow in competition with us. The men in the movie rebel against the gods by refusing to “nourish” them with their “prayers”. “The gods need us!” one rebel triumphantly shouts as he refuses to “pray.” It’s no wonder people think religion is for imbeciles

Does it really make any sense to think that the one true God who made the entire universe out of nothing would then be subservient and dependant on his own creation? God isn’t just the most powerful thing out there. He’s not the most powerful titan or head of some group of powers. He’s outside of and above all of this. Despite our attempts to treat God as though we could control him or even just avoid him, we know that this is ultimately impossible, and thank God for that.

In a strange sort of way, the film actually helped reinforce my faith. The Bible simply must be true, because if we tried to make up our own religious story we’d get something like Clash of the Titans.

Now that Eater is finally here, you might be wondering…”now what?” It would be easy to go back to our normal routines. That’s what Peter appears to be doing in the gospel today. Not knowing exactly what to do with this news of resurrection, he decides to go back to fishing. For those of us born again in the new life of Easter, there really is no going back. May we have the love of St. John to recognize the Lord in our everyday life and may we have the zeal of St. Peter to jump into the sea when we find him. Nothing should separate us from the new life offered us by Jesus.

It turns out that much of the false attacks against the Pope initiated by this newspaper were in fact not properly researched (I know…it’s shocking). Apparently they were in such a hurry to find some facts to back up the story they had written that they didn’t even have time to properly translate the key source for their story which happened to be in Italian. Seemingly lacking even one person on a staff of thousands who was fluent in Italian, they instead decided to use “Yahoo translator” to interpret.

Perhaps they also consulted Wikipedia as a source for this story. Thank goodness for journalists who can work to find all the hard facts we normal people could never figure out. Read the sad details below and then say a prayer for the Pope (and maybe think about that job at the NYT).

New York Times Story Based on Gross Translating Error

I was reminded of this street when I read today the rather silly article that boldly claims that the papacy of Pope Benedict is now officially a failure. If the mainstream media are declaring the Pope to be a failure, I can be just about 100% certain that he is succeeding overwhelmingly. Let us pray for an end to the lies and calumny against the Holy Father, but let us also take courage that all the right people hate him.

I wonder if there is a possibility that a culture given over to all kinds of immorality would have an ulterior motive in trying to undermine the world’s only remaining moral authority. I’m just wondering.

Easter Sunday and the 8 days that follow (the Octave of Easter) give us a rare treat of an additional chant for Mass. Right before the Alleluia we have the chanting of what is known as a sequence (See the Catholic Encyclopedia article for all the details). Of the four sequences that are still in use in the modern form of the Mass, none is more famous than the Easter sequence, Victimae Paschali Laudes.

Today at Mass I talked through some of my favorite Easter themes found in the sequence. Below is an English translation and the audio of the homily:

Christians, praise the paschal victim!
Offer thankful sacrifice!
Christ the Lamb has saved the sheep,
Christ the just one paid the price,
Reconciling sinners to the Father.
Death and life fought bitterly
For this wondrous victory;
The Lord of life who died reigns glorified!

O Mary, come and say
what you saw at break of day.
“The empty tomb of my living Lord!
I saw Christ Jesus risen and adored!
Bright angels testified,
Shroud and grave clothes side by side!
Yes, Christ my hope rose gloriously.
He goes before you into Galilee.”
Share the good news, sing joyfully:
His death is victory!
Lord Jesus Victor King, show us mercy.

It was the year 1632 and Central Europe was suffering through the ravages of the Thirty Years’ War which had left the people in poverty and disease. The bubonic plague was the silent stalker at the door of ever house. For the tiny village of Oberammergau in southern Germany deaths from the plague rose from 1 per month in October of 1632 to over 20 per month by March 1633.

Faced with the doom of their entire town, the faithful people gathered at the cemetery where so many of their family and friends lay buried in graves all too new. With great trust they came to implore the mercy of God for an end to the plague.

The fruit of their prayer was an inspiration that would make the little town of Oberammergau famous even to this day. In a desperate yet hopeful bargain, the people promised God that if the He saw fit to protect them from the menace of the plague that they would conduct a special passion play in honor of the death and resurrection of Jesus to be repeated every 10 years for all time.

Truly these people had experienced a share in the Lord’s passion and it was to the passion of Christ that they looked with hope for deliverance. If the Father could give Jesus victory over death, surely he could help them.

Immediately following this fateful cemetery meeting and the precious vow entered upon therein, the deaths from the plague began to drop dramatically and finally came to a complete end. The people saw clearly the hand of God and the answer to their prayer. God had truly heard them and the people were overjoyed. They knew what they needed to do to express their thanks.

In 1634, these grateful people returned to the cemetery where they had first met in grief two years prior. This time, they met to give thanks. There, over the graves of those who had been taken all too soon by the plague they constructed a small stage and, with many of the townspeople taking part, they performed what they called “A Play of the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ”, the first of what would become known as the now famous Oberammergau passion play.

Perhaps a cemetery is not the place where we would expect so much drama. Yet, what place could be more fitting for entering into this ongoing cosmic battle of life and death. The people of Oberammergau came armed with a story, a story of the victory of the God of life over death.

Today we come to this church armed with the same story. The death of Jesus which we commemorate today causes us to gather in sadness, penance, remorse, and grief. Yet, we know that this same story is also the cause for our hope. Today the cross is our symbol of victory.

As the most holy Three Days of the year begin this evening, I offer the talk I gave last night to those preparing to become Catholic. The Triduum (Latin: three days) begins on the evening of Holy Thursday and ends on the evening of Easter Sunday. During this time we commemorate and experience again the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Obviously the three days on which these events took place mark the most important days of all history, and the most important days of the liturgical year.

This talk was given to highlight some of the spiritual insights to be found in the ritual texts, music, and actions of these days. I hope that you will find this reflection helpful in your own living out of these most holy days. I wish you a Blessed Triduum.

Today we celebrate both the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as well as his shameful crucifixion and apparent defeat. That’s a lot to handle in one day. In between and among these events we find all the details of betrayal and denial that have become so familiar. We tend to focus on Judas as the traitor. How quick we are to overlook the denial of Peter and the other apostles. Surely they betrayed the Lord as much as Judas. Yet, the difference is that Judas despaired and committed suicide. Peter and the other apostles eventually turned back. Peter became the revered head of the Church just has Jesus had predicted. Jesus knew that those closest to him would abandon him and yet he chose them anyway. Why?

I wonder if perhaps Jesus allowed these major scandals in the beginning to prepare us for the many future scandals that would affect the Church. Maybe he wanted it to be very clear that the Church is his Church and it will thrive not because of the holiness of the members, but because of him. If the early church could overcome the first pope denying that he even knew Jesus, then surely there is no scandal so big that it should ever cause us to despair as Judas did.

Today, we see that not much has changed since to time of the passion. All around we see scandal. The Church in Ireland and Germany is going through something similar to what we experienced in the United States some years ago. We are rightfully ashamed and outraged at the crimes of abuse perpetrated by some priests in those countries. Some people have even falsely accused the Pope himself in much the same way we see Jesus accused. Most of all, we hurt for the victims.

Yes, scandal continues to plague the Church, but we should not be so surprised. All of us have betrayed the Lord through our sins. It is fitting that today we are both part of the crowd that yells “Hosanna” and the later one that yells “Crucify him”. At the Last Supper, when Jesus predicts his betrayal, the apostles respond with shock, “Who would do such a deed?” Perhaps me…perhaps you.

Yet, we need not despair. We know the end of this story. This is the story we celebrate this week and it truly is “The Greatest Story Ever Told.” Yes, we humbly admit that we have many times shouted that we prefer Barabbas to Our Lord. But we also know the hope held out for us in Jesus Christ and we will assuredly also be in the crowd a week from today yelling no longer “Crucify him”, but rather, “Alleluia…He is risen.” Let’s have confidence and not give up along the way.

Maybe it’s been a while since you’ve been to confession. There are lots of reasons that people can fall away from the practice of regular confession. In today’s homily, I focus on some practical tips to make the whole experience less scary. Some are very basic, like what to say and do. Some should be obvious, but often prove difficult. For instance, when you go to confessions, make sure you confess your sins and not those of your spouse! Also, confessions should normally be brief. The priest doesn’t need to know the “story” behind your sin (which often amounts to making excuses to justify ourselves).

Confessions doesn’t have to be complicated or scary. Just come and concisely tell the whole sin…and nothing but the sin. In exchange, God takes them all away and you start over with all the grace you need to be holy. That’s a pretty good deal. Listen to this week’s homily for other tips to make sure you are prepared for this sacrament and for Easter.

Today’s familiar gospel story of the prodigal son presents us with an important image of life. The first part of the story tells of the tragic movement of the son away from home and away from the love of his father. The second part concerns the beautiful story of repentance and the return home to the loving father’s welcome. Amongst the details of the story, there are many characters and moments that provide much for meditation. However, there is one key moment that perhaps we don’t think enough about; it is that moment when the son chooses to reverse his path and head home. What brings about this important change? St. Luke tells us simply, “Coming to his senses, he thought…”

The key for the prodigal son was being able to stop, realize how far away he was from where he needed to be, and then deciding to do something about it. What if he had never had this moment? Perhaps most of us are not so far away from God as the prodigal son found himself. Yet, if we’re honest, there are probably a least a few ways in which we have to admit that we’re not headed in the right direction. In order to discover these things that stand in the way of our relationship with God we need to do like the prodigal son; we need to take time to stop and realize where we’re at. To do this we need silence. We need to turn off the TV, our computer, cell phone, or iPod. We need to take time to stop, come to our senses, and think.

In today’s first reading, Naaman the Syrian gives us all an example of what we need to do if we desire healing from God. Despite being a high ranking official, he has the humility to admit his weakness and seek help. He perseveres despite being rejected by the king of Israel, passed off to some lowly prophet who won’t even come out to meet him, and then being told to literally go take a flying leap into the Jordan River. With a little help from his friends and great humility on his part, he gains the gift of healing he so desired.

The example of Naaman is a pattern for all of us to follow. Jesus even suggests him to us in today’s gospel. If you want to be healed, you’ve got to recognize your need, be humble enough to seek out God through the means he has established in his Church, and then persevere. Jesus is waiting to heal us, but if we are too proud to come confess our sins, or think that we can do this on our own, then we will experience the sad scene of the gospel; Jesus will walk right through the midst of us and we will miss him.

In 1521, St. Ignatius of Loyola had a powerful conversion that turned him from a life of worldly dissipation to becoming one of the greatest saints in the Church. The key moment for him came when he was recovering from an injury sustained in the battle of Pamplona. While forced to lay in bed all day he began to read about the life of Jesus and the saints. He wondered if maybe he could do the things they did. Yet, he still loved to dream of battle and romantic conquests. Gradually, he became aware that the thoughts of God brought him a lasting joy whereas the other thoughts brought only momentary pleasure. He then asked the question that would change his life forever, “Why?” This led him to an understanding of the workings of both the good and evil spirits and the writing of his rules for discernment of spirits that continue to bless the Church to this day.

A similar experience happens to Moses in our first reading today. He too becomes aware of something very important. In the movie “The 10 Commandments” Joshua is with Moses but sees nothing special, just “a bush that burns.” Moses, however, not only notices the bush in the first place, but is aware that there is something special about this bush. While burning, it is not consumed. He too asks the question, “Why?” This question is at the heart of all knowledge and learning. The official seal of the University of Kansas actually depicts this famous meeting between God and Moses at the burning bush encircled with the words of Moses which serve as the university’s motto: Videbo visionem hanc magnam, quare non comburatur rubus…”I will see this great vision, why the bush is not burned.”

For both Ignatius and Moses, becoming aware and asking “Why?” ultimately led them to an encounter with the living God. The same can be true for us. How aware are we of the workings of the spirit in our lives? Sadly, we seldom take time for this awareness. Instead, we often try to avoid thinking too much about why we do what we do or feel a certain way. Instead, we try to remain constantly distracted through TV, music, Internet, or a host of other sources of “entertainment.” Often the real reasons behind what we do or how we feel are too painful and so we try to ignore them. Lent is a great time to strip away some of these distractions and allow ourselves to be a little uncomfortable with some silence and to be aware of things that we had maybe been avoiding.

The story of the fig tree in the Gospel shows us what happens if we don’t pay attention to what’s happening in our spiritual life; we will be fruitless and barren. The gardener has the perfect example for us. He realizes that maybe the tree is not producing fruit because no one has paid enough attention to it. He decides to cultivate the soil and fertilize it. That is the great call to us this Lent, to begin paying attention and become aware, to live deliberately. If we do this, as was the case for Ignatius and Moses, we will soon find ourselves in a beautiful and new encounter with God. Yet, the lesson of the fig tree is also that time is limited and results are exected. Don’t put off making the changes you know you need to make. “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

Today’s first reading from the prophet Daniel gives us a beautiful example of humility before God. When we humbly admit our sinfulness, it is then that God is able to show us his mercy. He would of course be just in condemning us, but Jesus instead teaches us that the Father is merciful. He then cautions us that, if we receive God’s mercy and forgiveness, then we should also be merciful to our brothers and sisters. The measure with which we measure will be measured back to us. In other words, don’t be stingy with showing mercy to others. What goes around comes around and we’d probably hope that God will be merciful in judging us. Let’s do the same for those around us.

Praying over the scriptures today, I began wondering about what was meant by saying that we a people that God has made “peculiarly” his own. A little research and some dusting off of my Hebrew and Greek led me to some interesting insights into God’s plan for our life. We are called to be not only peculiar, but holy, and perfect. That idea of being perfect is often troubling. Yet, if we look at the Greek word that underlies the English we can see how wonderful this call is and also why it makes sense that we have to love our enemies as the Gospel indicates.

While watching the Olympics recently, I was very interested in the “freestyle skiing” competition. The athletes ski down a steep hill and then into a ramp that throws them high in the air while they do all kinds of flips and twists before landing. I wondered how one would ever get the courage to do this the first time. I suppose that they probably didn’t start with the complicated moves we see on TV at the Olympics. They probably started with just learning how to ski and maybe with one simple flip. As they progressed they gradually added more flips and twists as they were pushed by the competition.

I noticed that the spiritual life is a lot like this. God doesn’t ask us to put on skis for the first time and head down a mountain in an attempt to flip 8 times with 5 twists. Rather, we start small, maybe just learning how to ski. This is what Lent is for. We learn how to discipline our wills, not by doing large and extravagant penances, but starting small, by learning how to say “no” to things like candy. As we learn to resist these smaller temptations during Lent, we may find that we can do more than we thought. We may start to feel comfortable stretching ourselves, adding a few more flips to our spiritual repertoire.

Let us do our best to compete this Lent, to compete against ourselves and our weaknesses, to overcome the temptations of the devil, and emerge from the wilderness triumphant just as Jesus did in the Gospel today.

Many people speak of the great joy they find in their relationship with God. You can see how alive they are with the Spirit. This is a truly beautiful gift from God. However, have you ever felt like God seemed distant, your prayer dry, with no love for the things of God? Sadly, many of us can relate more with the second category than the first. Yet, St. Ignatius of Loyola has some really encouraging news for those who find themselves in this group. He assures us that we all will at times experience this state which he calls spiritual desolation, and it doesn’t mean that we’ve done anything wrong or that God really is absent. Today’s homily shares some of the wisdom from St. Ignatius for what to do in desolation, how to overcome it, and how to grow in our faith.

God tells us today through the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” John Henry Cardinal Newman reminds us that this means we all have a special mission from God that is given to no other. It would be a great tragedy if we went through life without ever knowing our mission. The recent anniversary of the legalization of abortion in this country is also a tragedy that becomes even greater when you think about all the unique missions that have been lost. A commercial that is set to be shown during the Superbowl this year is creating some interesting controversy in this area. This week’s homily explores the unique mission given to each of us and our reasons to have hope for the future.

Sometimes as we go through life we can become so focused on our present situation that forget our larger place in history. We can even wander away from our core principles if we fail to review them from time to time. A recent trip to Washington, D.C. provided an opportunity for me to reflect on the history of our country and the principles that define it. It was surprising to notice all the references to God that were carved in the stone of all the buildings. In many ways we have forgotten the context in which our country was founded. Although I didn’t climb up to see it, I was reminded that atop the Washington Monument, the highest stone in the entire city bears the simple message, Laus Deo, “Praise be to God.” This is the mark the our founding fathers wanted to leave on history. We pray that when the history of our lives is written that they may be a great monument rising to the heaven and capped with the final words, “Praise be to God.”

In the summer of 2008, a movie came out called “WALL-E”. The plot is set many years in the future when Earth has become so covered with trash that nothing will grow anymore. All the people are forced to leave the planet and live in spaceships while trash collecting robots clean up the earth. WALL-E is one of these robots. One can imagine how sad the people must have been as they left Earth behind. Yet it was not without hope. The departure was only temporary. As soon as the Earth was cleaned up, they could return. They created a system of probes to go regularly and check on the Earth. As soon as plants began to grow again, the probes would bring back the evidence that it was safe to return.

In the course of the movie the great day finally arrives when a probe returns to one of the spaceships with a tiny plant from Earth. At last, the good news that had long been awaited has arrived. Everyone can now return home. However, instead of the expected great joy, something different happens. You see, the people had been living so long in the spaceships that they had grown accustomed to this new life. The movie shows them all fat and lazy, sitting on little floating chairs watching TV all day. In a great twist, the people don’t receive the “good news” as good at all. They’re not much interested in returning to Earth. Moreover, the one in charge of the spaceships kind of likes being in charge and doesn’t want to see it end. He tries to hide news of the plant and then even sets about frantically trying to kill the little plant. How could good news go so wrong?

I was reminded of this movie by our gospel today. Much like the people in the movie were supposed to be patiently waiting their return to Earth, the Israelites in Jerusalem were supposed to be anxiously preparing for the Messiah. However, as time passed, the Israelites began to grow accustomed to their enslaved state. They made compromises with the Romans and worshiped their gods. The began to fit in with the pagans around them and forgot all about waiting for the Messiah. Then one day in our gospel, the Magi show up and announce the good news that at last the long-awaited Messiah has been born. What is the reaction?

Just as in the movie, the good news is not seen as being so good. The gospel tells us that the Magi were “overjoyed at seeing the star” and yet when the people in Jerusalem get the news, they are “troubled.” A new Messiah would mean that all their lives would have to change. Even if this would be for the better, it’s often easier to just keep on doing what you’re used to. King Herod himself has grown rather accustomed to being in charge and doesn’t like the idea of a new king. Instead of welcoming his savior, he sets about trying to kill him just as they tried to kill the little plant in the movie.

What’s the message here for us? I think you have to ask why these outsiders, these Magi, were able to see something that everyone in Jerusalem missed. We don’t know exactly what the star of Bethlehem looked like, but it couldn’t have been all that obvious. Rather, these Magi were experts at studying the start. They probably spent many hours looking to the heavens and so they were watching when the star appeared and were able to identify it. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, people were figuratively looking at the ground. They were looking at this world and how to compromise and get by and stopped looking in the right place, toward heaven.

The message of Christmas is not just that Jesus came 2000 years ago, but that he comes to us today. He brings us good news. He offers to radically change our lives for the better if we follow him. Do we really see it as good news? Maybe we have become like the people in WALL-E and just enjoy being fat and lazy as we try to get by with our eyes fixed on this world rather than on heaven. The star shines for us today just as it did for the Magi. They left everything to follow the star. The question is, “Will we?”

There is a popular Christmas carol that asks of the newborn Jesus, “What child is this who laid to rest on Mary’s lap is sleeping?” Today, on this octave day of Christmas, the Church gives us this feast in honor of Mary under the title “Mother of God.” Many non-Catholics at first might have difficulty with this title. However, the answer to the question posed by the carol, “What child is this?”, is also the answer to any objections to calling Mary the Mother of God. Mary gave birth to the child Jesus and this child was, is, and always will be God. Mary is therefore properly called Mother of God.

In the history of the Church, this title was actually first questioned by a Catholic bishop in 431. Although the Church had been referring to Mary as Mother of God for some time, the bishop Nestorius thought that this title implied that Mary was somehow the origin of God the way any parent could be seen as the origin of their child. Obviously Mary is not the source of the Godhead since Jesus was God even before his conception. Still a Council was called in Ephesus to determine if this title should continue to be used. What was discovered was that, if it was said that Mary was not the Mother of God, then the logical question would return to our carol, “What child is this?”

As is the case with all of the doctrines regarding Mary, they speak not so much about Mary but rather about Jesus. Was Jesus always God? Because Nestorius did not want to admit that Mary was the Mother of God, he then ended up denying that Jesus was God at his birth. Needless to say, the council fathers rejected Nestorius and affirmed the long-held teaching of the Church that Jesus was always God and Mary, his mother, is therefore rightfully called Mother of God.

Today we celebrate that Mary is also our mother. Jesus gave her to us from the cross. May she continue to protect and nuture our faith and belief in Jesus. May she intercede to bring us peace in this new year. May she do as she has always done…lead all of us closer to Jesus.

God was always a Trinity of persons from all eternity. The second person of the trinity, the Son, always existed. Yet, we celebrate at Christmas that he took on flesh and was born in time. This reminds us of an important truth. This world is good, so good that God himself entered into it and became one of us. He who was eternally begotten of the Father, and is now begotten of Mary and enters his own creation. However, Jesus comes into this world to lead us beyond this world. As good as this world is, it’s not all there is. St. John reminds us today “Do not love this world or the things of this world.” We have to keep things in perspective. Christmas us the we are good enough that God would become one of us, but it also reminds us that we are too good for this earth. We are made for heaven. Let us remember this Christmas that Jesus came to earth so that we might come to heaven.

St. Thomas Becket is perhaps the most famous martyr of the middle ages. He was Lord Chancellor of England under King Henry II who later also named him Archbishop of Canterbury. Thomas did not want to be bishop and it soon became clear that he had only been named to this post because the king assumed he would be a pushover who would easily allow him to control the Church in England. For a while, Thomas was actually willing to go along with plan. However, the grace of ordination eventually caught up with him and, to his credit, Thomas responded. He stood up faithfully for the Church and defended her against the intrusions of the king. Thomas eventually gave his life rather than submit any more to the king’s plan.

Today, maybe society isn’t going to threaten us with martyrdom if we don’t play along, but there are pressures. If you stand up the faith and refuse to give into the secular watering down of society then you will suffer. Jesus promised this. How do we allow ourselves to be played by society and merely used? Where are we being called to take a stand like St. Thomas and say that we’ve had enough. The readings continue to speak of light and darkness. Let’ make sure that we continue to follow the path of light.

It’s hard to imagine that anyone could see a little baby as a threat, yet that is what we see recounted in our gospel today. When Jesus was born, the shepherds and magi see in the Christ Child a savior. Herod, however, sees only a rival to be feared and eliminated. The “Holy Innocents” we celebrate today are all those little babies that Herod had murdered in Bethlehem in an attempt to kill Jesus. Sadly, this event is not the first such occurrence in Scripture. When the Israelites grew numerous in Egypt, Pharaoh also sensed a rival and thus ordered all the babies to be thrown in the river. Despite this attempt, Moses, like Jesus, escaped the plot. The important point in these stories is to recognize that God’s plan was brought about even in spite of these murderous efforts to thwart it. Many babies died in Egypt and Bethlehem and yet Moses and Jesus remained safe. God’s plan was accomplished.

Sadly, some today continue to look upon children as an inconvenience just as Pharaoh and Herod did. Like them, people continue to make the mistake of thinking that killing babies will eliminate our problems. No, the Scripture shows us clearly that God’s will is done. The readings speak today of light and darkness. The magi are in darkness, and yet they see the star and follow the light. They are willing to go out of their way, to change their lives to conform to God’s guidance. The magi find their way to the light. We too are often given the choice between light and darkness.

This day which commemorates the sad slaughter of so many innocent children in Bethlehem is somewhat ironically a feast day on our calendar, a day for celebrating. We celebrate the fact that Herod’s plan failed. Not only did Jesus survive, but the lives of the little babies were not snuffed out as Herod had planned. Rather, these children now live forever in heaven where they intercede for us. Yes, we rejoice to see that God’s plan is triumphant even in the face of great opposition and evil. Light will always be triumphant over darkness. The only question that remains is, “Who’s side are we going to be on?”

On this day when we honor the Holy Family, we might be temped to merely look at Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as a unique group in history to be admired but not much else. Yet, the Church never holds up saints or anything holy merely to be looked at like a museum piece. Rather, the saints show us what we are capable of and inspire us to imitate their holiness. Our families are called to be “holy families” too!

This may at first seem like a rather difficult task to imitate the Holy Family. They seem so unique. If we look closely though, we see that they had their difficulties and struggles just like any family. Mary and Joseph were real parents who had to take care of and raise little Jesus. Jesus, we are told, had to learn and grow in wisdom and knowledge. Today we read how the young boy Jesus got lost. Although the Holy Family was indeed given special graces for their special mission, much of their life was not so different from ours.

God has chosen to use the family as his special means to bring about the salvation of the world. He chose to be born into a family. He has given us our families, with all their imperfections, to be our means to salvation as well. There is a special blessing in the fact that we don’t choose our families. We can plan out our lives all we want but, in this most important area of family, it’s up to God. Parents don’t choose their kids and kids don’t choose their parents. We’re stuck with each other. Yet, if we really stop an think about it, we probably wouldn’t have it any other way. Our family may not be perfect, but it is our family. Our family is God’s gift to us to show us his love and today we ask him to help make us a little more holy, like Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Our first reading from Isaiah gives us those beautiful and familiar words, “For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.” The people of God at the time of Isaiah knew well that they needed a savior. Today, if we are to experience the full joy of Christmas, we too must recognize our desperate need for our savior, Jesus Christ. These four titles foretold of the Messiah by the prophet give us a way to recognize this need.

In a world filled with voices speaking lies and promising happiness from every form of sin, we need a counselor. We need a sure guide who will give us true teaching and lead us to truth. We need a wonder-counselor.

We also need heroes. A hero is someone who inspires us by showing all that is great an good about the human race. A hero shows us a glimpse of what we all might be capable of. We tend to idolize sports figures and celebrities as our heroes today, but they ultimately let us down. Jesus Christ is the ultimate and greatest hero, the God-hero. No one better shows us what we are capable of and inspires us to perfection like Jesus.

Many of us can testify first hand to the need for a savior for our families. The devil knows that the family is God’s key to manifesting his love for the world. Fatherhood has suffered greatly in recent times. We need a savior, a Father-Forever, to restore our families. Jesus is the love of the Father incarnate. He shows us what it means to love with a family love. God is not some distant power, but a father who loves us. Jesus reveals this love to us.

Finally, perhaps most associated with Christmas is the desire for peace. In a world plagued by war and violence, we need a prince of peace. Yet, the peace that Jesus brings is not merely an earthly peace. There has always been and always will be war in this life. Jesus brings us the chance to have peace no matter what difficulties life might throw at us. This is a heavenly peace that no one can take away.

The angles sing at Jesus’ birth, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” May our Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, our Prince of Peace, bring us this joy and heavenly peace this Christmas.

The Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament represented the presence of God to the Israelites. It was his dwelling place. As they journeyed through the wilderness they kept the ark in the tabernacle, the meeting tent. Upon arriving in the promised land, David decided to build a more permanent structure. His son, Solomon, would eventually build this great temple to be God’s house. Yet at Christmas we celebrate something even greater. God no longer dwells in tents or buildings. Rather we celebrate that God took on flesh and became incarnate. Our own flesh became God’s house when Jesus became man. This is a greater wonder and a more glorious dwelling then anyone ever imagined. This is what we celebrate at Christmas.

Today’s gospel tells of the birth of John the Baptist. You might remember the gospel from a few days ago in which little John was described as “leaping for joy” in the womb of Elizabeth when Mary arrived carrying the baby Jesus in her womb. It should be perfectly clear from Scripture that no Christian could ever hold to the lie that babies are nothing more than “tissue” before they are born. These two little ones were not only alive in a natural sense, but even alive in the spiritual sense, responding to the grace of the Holy Spirit.

It is a great irony to think that after Jesus is born, this little baby would be seen as such a threat that Herod would have all the baby boys in Bethlehem murdered. How can a baby threaten anyone? Yet, Herod found the birth of this new “king” to be an inconvenience to his own plans. Jesus would have brought Herod happiness that he never could have planned for; instead he planned to have Jesus killed. Fear and selfishness sometimes cause us to do irrational and even diabolical things.

Unfortunately, the crime of Herod was not the first such incident in history. Pharoh had done a similar deed at the time of Moses. Nor was Herod the last to have such ideas. Tomorrow, on Christmas Eve, on the very night when Christians everywhere will gather in prayer to celebrate the birth of a little baby, the United States Senate will instead be meeting to plot for the first time in history to force all tax payers to cooperate in the murder of millions of little babies through the forced public funding of abortion. Not much has changed in 2000 years.

It remains a great sadness today as it was in the time of Moses and Jesus to ever think of a little baby as a threat that needs to be killed. However, the line from the Gospel today that most saddens me with regard to abortion is the observation of the crowd at the birth of John the Baptist, “What then will this child be?” I often pose this question to parents at baptisms. I wonder about the futures of all the little babies lost to abortion. What good were they created to do? What medical cures and scientific discoveries have been lost? Perhaps someone destined to be one of the greatest saints in the Church has been aborted.

In history God has often used the birth of a baby to bring about his plans. Often this was through what we would call today an “unplanned pregnancy.” To Mary and Joseph, no preganacy could have seemed more unplanned that Jesus’, yet God had planned it from all eternity. The same is true of any baby conceived today. When faced with an unplanned pregnancy we need to ask, “What then will this child be?” Let’s pray that the Senate will change their minds and go home for Christmas to celebrate the birth of a little baby who saved the world.

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, one of the rather nice connections with Christmas and the natural world is that the celebration of Our Lord’s birth takes place just after the annual winter solstice. This is the darkest day of the year. Christmas is therefore just after this darkest time when the the light is just starting to increase each day. Obviously, the all of our brothers and sisters in the southern hemisphere things are quite different, but up north this connection with light and darkness is a nice addition.

However, a problem arrises when people claim that the celebration of Christmas was all made up as a replacement for pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. The truth is that the exact reason for December 25th being the day of Jesus’ birth is not completely clear. There is, however, some good evidence to show that long before the celebration of Christmas, the Church celebrated the Annunciation on March 25th. Add nine months and the you can see that the date of Christmas was set based on this (I always assumed it was the other way around). Whatever the reason for the date, we celebrate the true light coming into the world as God became man. Now that’s a lot more to celebrate than just the revolving of the earth around the sun.

We often overlook the person of the Holy Spirit and his role in the Christmas story. The Father and the Son seem a bit more tangible to us in general. The Holy Spirit can be rather enigmatic. On this last Sunday of Advent, perhaps one way to make the third person of the Trinity a little more real is to remember that Mary is often referred to as the spouse of the Holy Spirit.

I often speak at weddings of how the love expressed in marriage has certain important qualities that make it unique. Married love is marked by four key characteristics; it is free, total, faithful, and fruitful. The relationship between Mary and the Holy Spirit ought to then exhibit these same characteristics. Mary gave a free assent to God’s plan. She held nothing back and gave a total gift of herself to serve God. She was faithful to the Spirit’s leading, even when she didn’t understand. The result was that, although she remained a virgin her entire life, the Spirit made her fruitful. Jesus, the Son of Mary, is the love of God incarnate, the fruit of the spousal union of Mary and the Spirit.

Mother Theresa reminded us that the surest sign of the presence of the Spirit is joy. This is what we see in Mary. After being told that she is to be the mother of God, she goes with haste to visit Elizabeth and take care of her needs. The joy of the Spirit makes even difficult tasks easy. Elizabeth is filled with the Spirit and John the Baptist leaps for joy in her womb. If we find that we are lacking in joy this Christmas, maybe we need to pay more attention to the Holy Spirit and our union with God. We too are called to give ourselves freely, totally, faithfully, and fruitfully to God. If we do, the end result is clear; we will have joy.

In the ancient world, years were often reckoned according to the reign of the current leader. The current year might be given as “The 7th year of the reign of Octavian” or “The 8th year of Augustus”. For the past 2000 years, we have derived our calendar year from the birthof Jesus. Our readings today prophesy about this event that would so change the understanding of God that his title and even the calendar would have to change as a result. Despite attempts to remove Jesus from our culture and our calendar, his birth remains single most important event in history, the date on which God became man.

Today’s first reading tells of the little known prophet Balaam. He is best known for his prophecy foretelling that “A star shall advance from Jacob.” This prophecy is often interpreted as referring in part to the star of Bethlehem seen at the birth of Jesus. The readings today remind us that God has a plan for all of history. If we are going to find fulfilment and happiness then we need to conform our lives to that plan. We need to follow the star.

On this third Sunday of Advent we hear the great cry of John the Baptist, “Repent!” The word in the original Greek comes from meta, meaning a change, and noete, a command referring to the mind, the nous. So the word repent literally means “Change your minds.” When I looked it up in the dictionary I found that the full definition referred to “A change of mind leading to a change in action.” That is what we are called to do in this third week of Advent, to think differently so as to act differently.

This past week I had the rather sad occasion to baptize and confirm the little baby of our youth ministers, Bryce and Angela. It was sad because little Corrigan was born at only 23 weeks and lived for only about an hour after his birth. It is easy in these situations to wonder just what God is doing. We trust that He always brings good out of everything, but sometimes it’s hard to see. In this situation, however, it didn’t take long to receive some amazing grace from God.

I first have to say that Bryce and Angela themselves are amazing. They truly “thought differently” about this situation. While they were certainly sad at the death of their son, they also found cause to rejoice that they had a saint in heaven. Since Corrigan was baptized and confirmed before he died, we know that he is in heaven. The truly amazing part of this story is that it didn’t take very long for Corrigan to start working miracles.

One of Angela’s grade school friends saw a picture that Bryce and Angela put on the internet with them holding Corrigan. It turns out that the friend was also 23 weeks pregnant and had made an appointment to have an abortion. Seeing the picture of little Corrigan caused her to have a profound change of mind. She canceled her abortion appointment, and instead called a real doctor and scheduled an ultrasound. She has now decided to keep her baby. A change of mind leading to a change of action.

The end result of repentance leads to the other focus of this day, rejoicing. Whenever we change our minds and begin to act in accord with the plans of God we will find great joy, no matter what obstacles may come. In this third week of Advent, let us look carefully at the ways that we need to change our minds, to repent, so that we can then fully rejoice at Christmas.

The Gospel today speaks of children who are upset because people aren’t dancing along with the various tunes they are playing. Society plays many tunes for us and often we do in fact dance right along without giving much thought. It’s just easier to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. If we refuse we get singled out like those mentioned in the Gospel. Yet, this is what we are called to do. Let’s be careful who’s music we’re following. Let’s try to stay in tune with God.

We might think of predestination as a Calvinist idea that rightly no Christian could hold. While this is true of Calvin’s and many Protestant understandings of predestination, there is a clear teaching on predestination that Christians can find acceptable. Our readings speak of this today. God has predestined each of us for holiness. We were made to be with him forever in heaven. We celebrate Mary’s immaculate conception today as a sign of what we are all called to be. We are all called to be free from sin. This is the gift given us in baptism and restored in the sacrament of penance. Withe the Blessed Mother as our example let us all realize our common destiny, to be holy and to be with God forever in heaven.

Today Jesus shows us in the Gospel that he has the power to forgive sins. He also shows us that sometimes we need a little help getting to the point of forgiveness. The man int he Gospel is paralyzed and it is the faith of his friends that brings about his healing. We all need to be forgiven, to be healed, but we don’t have to do this alone. St. Ambrose is a great example of a friend who helped bring many people to know Jesus. His most famous convert is the great St. Augustine. Who are the people in our lives who have helped us come to know Jesus? Who do we need to reach out to and help? With a little help from our friends, and God’s grace, we can do a lot more than just get by.

Advent is a season full of symbols. We have the Advent wreath and Advent calendars. There is the Jesse tree. We put lights on our houses to symbolize the light of Christ coming into the world to scatter the darkness. At Christmas the familiar manger scenes replace the wreathes of Advent. We make special food, sing special songs, and send special cards. Yes, there are many symbols of this season. One symbol that is often overlooked is the ever familiar…orange construction cone.

Why an orange construction cone to symbolize Advent? No one likes to encounter a construction zone while driving down the road. The person holding the sign with the ominous warning “Slow” says it all. It can take a great deal of patience not to get frustrated with a construction zone. Despite the inconvenience while the construction is going on, pretty much everyone is pleased with the result when the construction is over. Driving down a nice smooth road or having a new turn lane are often worth the wait.

Today’s readings speak of our relationship with God using images taken from road construction. In order to prepare for the coming of God, we are told to straiten the crooked roads, smooth out the rough places, level the hills and fill in the valleys. As we look to get our highway prepared for the coming of God this Advent, maybe we notice a few potholes that need to be fixed. Maybe the work required is more substantial. Sometimes you’ve patched things so much that there comes a time when you need to scrape off the worn out layer and resurface. What kind of spiritual roadwork do you need to do to prepare this Advent?

In addition to the repairs that we need to make, the message on the familiar sign is a good one, “Slow.” This season can become so busy with all the extra things we add. Yet, what we need most is to slow down, take time for prayer and reflection, to simplify our lives. Maybe an orange construction cone is not such a bad symbol for Advent after all. The next time you encounter some construction, think of the smooth road being created and then remember to slow down in your own life and prepare the way of the Lord.

Today’s Gospel tells of two blind men who, despite not being able to see, are described as “following” Jesus as he passes by and then “approaching” him when he goes inside. Have you even thought how difficult that must have been? We all go through periods of darkness in our lives when it seems hard to see Jesus. We know Jesus is there, but the situation is so difficult or God seems so far away that it’s like we’re blind. The men in the Gospel give us a great example today. When things are difficult and it’s hard to see, we’ve got to keep going and keep following and approaching Jesus. After all, we walk by faith and not by sight. A little blindness now and then can be a great opportunity to strengthen our faith.

St. Andrew is best known in the Gospels as being the brother of St. Peter. He is in fact the one who introduces Peter to Jesus according to St. John’s Gospel. We know very little else about St. Andrew, but we do know that he gave his life in witness to Christ, probably on this day in A.D. 60. It is said that, like his brother, he felt unworthy to be crucified after the manner of Our Lord, so he was crucified on a cross in the shape of an ‘X’ as opposed to the familiar ‘T’. This cross has come to be known as the St. Andrew’s Cross. St. Andrew is also the patron of Scotland whose flag bears his cross. In the early Middle Ages, the relics of the saint were taken to Scotland, the “end of the earth” at the time, to keep them safe. Since that time, St. Andrew has been helping keep the faith in Scotland safe. We pray that he may inspire us to continue to take the Gospel to the “end of the earth” in our day. That might even mean to members of our family. Maybe we too have a “brother” who needs to hear about Jesus.

We begin this new year somewhat where we left last week, focused on the coming of Jesus. The message today is to be vigilant and be ready. This is really the point of the season of Advent, to prepare well for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. I’m getting asked a lot lately if the world is going to end in 2012. There’s a new movie out that uses this as part of the plot. Although I’m not recommending the movie, it does have people thinking. Will the world end in 2012? I don’t know. It might. It might end long after that…or it might end…TODAY.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel today that many will fear his coming, but that we are to hold our heads erect knowing that our redemption is at hand. Does the thought of the world ending in 2012 scare you? Why? Maybe there is something that you know you need to change that you’ve been putting off. Maybe it’s been a while since you’ve been to confession. The bottom line is this; if there is something that you would change in your life to be ready if you knew the world was going to end in 2012 then…DO IT! Don’t wait, just fix it now. You may not even have until 2012.

We’ve been given the next several weeks to spiritually prepare for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. We have to realize that society is not going to help us with this. We need quiet, simplicity, and time for prayer and contemplation to awaken a sense of hope and anticipation. Society is throwing materialism, noise, and an overwhelming sense of busyness at us. Be deliberate with your preparation this Advent. Clear away anything that impedes Jesus coming fully into your life. If Jesus returned today, are you fearful or prepared and read to hold your head erect? Jesus is coming; let’s be ready.

There are two parts of thanksgiving, and I’m not referring to food and football. On this national civic holiday of Thanksgiving you will often hear people listing the things for which they are thankful. The first part of thanksgiving is knowing just what it is that we should be thankful for. This task can be harder than it seems these days. When you stop think about it, we’re a society that really has it all. Yet, just as Jesus warns time and again in the Scriptures, material wealth and “having it all” don’t lead to happiness, yet alone thanksgiving. Rather we seem to be a culture of complaining and dissatisfaction most of the time. Thanksgiving is therefore a great day to stop and smell the turkey before devouring it and remember just how fortunate we really are. There is much for which we should be thankful and that should be a cause of real joy.

However, having a lot to be thankful for is only the first part of thanksgiving. Even more important than knowing the things for which we should be thankful, we’ve got to know the one to whom we should be thankful. In today’s Gospel, we hear the story of ten lepers who are cured but that only one returns to give thanks to God. We might be tempted to think that the point is that only 1 out of 10 were thankful. I don’t think that is the case. To be cured of leprosy would have left all ten overjoyed and no doubt feeling very thankful. The difference between the one who returns and the other nine is not that one was more thankful than the others. Rather the one who returned knew not only what he should be thankful for, but to whom he needed to go to offer that thanks. He returned to to Jesus, to God, to express his gratitude.

On this great day of Thanksgiving, let us take time to to call to mind all the things we should be thankful for, our material prosperity, our freedom, our family and friends…even food and football. But let’s not forget the one to whom we owe all thanks and praise. The most important part of thanksgiving is knowing and thanking the God who gives us everything. Praise God from whom all blessings flow, today and every day.

Today’s feast marks the last Sunday of our liturgical year. It comes at the end to remind us where things are headed. Jesus Christ is King! This is true now, but it is also a truth that has not yet been fully realized. We live in this tension of the “now” and “not yet” of God’s kingdom. Our mission is to bridge this gap, to make the reign of Jesus that is not yet perfect a part of the now in which we live.

It is interesting that we celebrate Jesus today under the title of our “King.” In the Old Testament, we see that God never intended that his chosen people would have a king to rule over them. God himself was to be their king. Yet, when the Israelites settle in the promised land, they see that all the other nations have kings. Their kings lead them in battle and give them someone to rally around and to cheer for. Israel decides that they want a king too. In choosing an earthly king over God, the Israelites substitute a lesser in place of the greater.

We are not so different today. There are many ways in which we continue to substitute other things in the place that properly belongs to God. If we look at our passion for sports we can see where we love to assemble and jump up and down and scream and yell for our team. We love to rally around our teams and we idolized our sports heroes. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but we do have to realize that these desires will never be fulfilled by sporting events. They point us toward a more important reality.

This past week, over 23,000 young people gathered in Kansas City for the National Catholic Youth Conference. As we gathered in the Sprint Center it was a scene that would have been familiar to the building at the start of any major sporting event. However, something very different happened here. When the curtains parted for the team to run onto the court, instead of Michael Jordan running out, Jesus ran out to center court. Archbishop Naumann carried our Lord in the Eucharist to the altar and the crowd went crazy, better than Jordan ever got. As the lights came down and people fell to their knees, countless flashes started to go off to get a picture of the “superstar” at center court.

After a period of adoration and benediction, there was a huge procession down the middle of downtown Kansas City to Bartle hall. The scene was one that could have easily been confused for a World Series parade. People packed the street from side to side for an hour in procession. Yet, the victor at the head of this parade was not some winning sports team, but Christ the King. For a few days at NCYC, things were turned right-side up again and Jesus was in his proper place. We got to experience a little bit of the “not yet” that is possible even “now.” May this feast of Christ the King give us the courage to look hard at the places in our lives where we have substituted something else in place of the kingship of Jesus. Let’s give Jesus his proper place.

On this Memorial of the Presentation of Mary, the Gospel has an interesting connection. While not chosen specifically for this feast day, the Gospel speaks of how there is no marriage in heaven. Those called to the celibate vocation give particular witness to this fact. While different biblical scholars have different opinions, there is evidence to suggest that Mary had made a pledge of celibacy and intended to live as a consecrated virgin during her life. This vow would have probably been taken at the time of her presentation when she was dedicated to the Lord. She said yes to God’s plan then and continued to say yes over and over throughout her life. May we always say yes to God like Mary did.

Our first reading today tells the sad tale of how many of the Israelites abandoned the practice of their faith in  order to fit in better with the pagans around them. The got tired of having to live a lifestyle that was different than the rest of the culture. The Gentile king even proposes that it would be much better if everyone could be unified in worshiping the same gods. How often we hear this same logic in our own day. If only we would give up these silly religious beliefs or at least not claim to know anything with certainty; then we could all be unified. After all, religion is the cause of so much division. If we just admitted that nothing is true then there would be nothing to argue about and we could all be unified. So goes the popular wisdom. The reading today ends with the brief statement that some of the Israelites refused to abandon their faith for the sake of this false unity. They chose to die rather than submit to an evil compromise to achieve a fake unity. What will we do? How will we respond to the pressures of our time?

The football team at the high school where I am chaplain has the tradition at the end of the third quarter of raising four fingers in the air to remind everyone that it is now the 4th quarter. If the team is behind, it’s a sign that the game is not over yet. “We can still win this thing!” If the team is ahead, it’s a reminder not to quit or try to coast to a victory. “Keep up the intensity!” Four fingers in the air on the hands of all the players and coaches is a great sign to remember that the game is going to end very soon and what you do in the next quarter is going to determine the outcome.

In the readings today, Jesus also wants us to be aware of the signs of the times. As we come to the end of our liturgical year the readings remind us that, just like a football game, life does not go on forever. We are living as it were in the 4th quarter of life. Maybe there are some things we know we need to change. It’s not to late. “We can still win this thing!” Maybe we’ve been leading a pretty good life. Now is not the time to rest on our laurels. “Keep up the intensity!” One thing we cannot do is pretend that life should be easy and we can simply run out the clock on life and automatically expect to win.

One of the greatest mistakes in life is to live as though we have no enemies. Life is battle and it’s not easy. The Church has traditionally reminded us of three important enemies that we face: the world, the flesh and the devil. The world refers to all those external pressures that get in the way of our being holy. Society and all that goes with it today is not so much in the business of helping us to heaven. Sadly, much of what secular culture throws at us these days is something that we need to actively oppose. The flesh refers to all of our disordered desires, particularly those of selfishness and pride. We have to master our passions or they will control and enslave us.

Our final enemy is the devil. We have to realize that we have a real, personal, and powerful, enemy working against God’s plan for our life. We needn’t fear the devil, or any of these enemies,but we do need to engage in opposing them. When the football team holds up their four fingers, they’re not thinking “Oh no, it’s the 4th quarter; we might lose.” Rather I hear them shouting “This is our quarter!” This is the kind of confidence we need. We need to recognize that we do indeed have enemies that we must fight, but then we need to recognize that “This is our quarter!” When Pope Leo XIII received a vision that the devil would be particularly powerful in the 20th century. He confidently implored the help of St. Michael by writing the following prayer and having it prayed at the end of every Mass:

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him we humbly pray,
And do thou, O prince of the heavenly host,
By the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all other evil spirits,
Who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

With St. Michael and all our heavenly friends joining us in the fight, we know who wins this game.

Many people think a cathedral is just a really big or beautiful church. Actually, any church could be a cathedral. A cathedral gets its name from the Latin word cathedra which means “chair.” Each diocese has a church which houses a special chair reserved for the bishop. This chair represents his governing and teaching authority over the diocese. A Bishop’s church which contains his chair, his cathedra, is therefore called a cathedral.

Today we celebrate the dedication of the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, the Basilica of St. John Lateran. The bishop of Rome is of course also the Pope and thus, if you go to the Lateran basilica you will find a chair upon which Pope Benedict sits which represents his authority over the diocese of Rome and indeed over the entire universal Church. Today’s feast is thus a commemoration of the historical event in 324 when the physical building was first dedicated, but it also serves as a spiritual reminder. The Pope and his successors teach with authority given to them by Jesus. It is only through this ongoing presence of Jesus to His Church that unity is achieved.

Pope Benedict may well be remembered as the “Pope of Christian Unity” one day. His recent welcoming of many Anglicans back into union with the Church is just one example. Jesus promised that he would not allow the Pope to lead His Church into error in matters of faith and morals. This is a divinely protected gift that works often in spite of the sinfulness of the man himself. We thank God for the example of our present Holy Father today and pray for the continued unity of all Christians.

Today’s readings present us with the tale of two widows. In biblical times, widows were some of the most vulnerable in society. With no husband to provide for them and no welfare system, they were completely on their own. The widow in our first reading has absolutely nothing, not even food enough for one more meal. In the midst of this, the prophet Elijah comes and demands that the woman bake him a cake! This would be comical if the situation wasn’t so desperate. What is God doing? Despite her destitute situation the woman complies and bakes the cake for Elijah. The result is that “the jar of flour did not go empty nor the jug of oil run dry” and she ate for a year. In giving all that she had, this woman received all that she needed and more.

The pardox present in our readings is that in order to receive, we have to give. Why does this work…because God will not be outdone in generosity. If we try to hoard and create our own security by constantly taking, then we wind up miserable, no matter how much wealth we might accumulate. If we give and continue give no matter how little we have, then we will never be wanting and we will always be content and happy.

In difficult financial times such as these, it can be easy to say “I don’t have enough money right now to give to the Church, but later I will.” This is not the example given us in the readings. Elijah recognizes that the woman is indeed in a very dire situation, yet he says to her “make me a cake first and then you can fix something for yourself.” To her credit, the woman trusts and is rewarded for her trust. The truth is that God does not need our money, but he wants our trust. No matter how little money we have, there is at least 10% of it that we can give to God “first” so as to grow our trust. How much should we give? The widows in the readings give us and example. It’s really a question of how happy we want to be.

Today’s Gospel tells us of the “unjust steward” who gets in trouble with his master for not doing a good job with his stewardship. This reading is a good opportunity to reflect on just what it means to be a steward. A steward is someone who in charged with the care of someone else’s property. We often describe the use of our time, talent, and treasure as an act of stewardship. This is a fitting word because we should realize that everything we have has been entrusted to us by God. It’s not really ours. We are stewards, caretakers, of the gifts given to us by God. The unjust steward in the Gospel makes the mistake of thinking that the master will not hold him accountable for his stewardship. We need to make sure that we don’t take this attitude with God. He too will one day demand a full accounting of our stewardship.

St. Paul cautions us today about judging our brothers and sisters. If you’ve ever tried to help someone who was doing something harmful to themselves, perhaps you’ve been reminded of this as the person demands that you stop judging them (not that they’re judging you of course). The word the Paul uses for judging would actually be better translated as “condemning.” We shouldn’t presume to know the state of one’s soul. With that having been said, there are plenty of times when we are called to correct our brothers and sisters out of charity. This is one of the spiritual works of mercy after all. The trick is to be careful and make sure that if you’re going to try to help someone that you are really acting out of love…and then try to be thankful when the tables are turned.

Sometimes we try to pretend that death isn’t really all that bad. When a loved one dies we may try to reassure ourselves with the consolation that “they’re in a better place.” We may even think that we should feel happy for them. While it is true that death is not the end and that it is the doorway to eternal life, we should not be so quick to try to put a happy face on death. Death is not simply “a natural part of life” as we sometimes hear. St. Paul tells us that death came through sin. Death was not part of God’s plan. Death is our enemy. We have to understand death as our enemy to fully understand just how wonderful it is that Jesus has saved us. To be saved, you have to be saved from something, and that something is death, a real enemy.

In the light of our Christian faith and the knowledge of the victory won for us in Jesus, we can indeed have hope even in the face of death. Yet, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t still grieve. Death presents us with mixed emotions and that is as it should be. Today we mourn for the loss of the physical presence of our departed brothers and sisters and we pray for the repose of their souls. Yet, we mourn as those who have hope. We know that death is not the end. We know that life will be victorious.

Description to come…

In our first reading at Mass today, St. Paul shows clearly that he never saw himself as having given up being a Jew to be a Christian. Similarly, to be a good Christian today, you really have to understand our Jewish history. As Pope Pius XII once said, “Spiritually, we are all Semites.” In our Catholic liturgy, we continue pray for and revere our Jewish brothers and sisters as “the first to hear the word of God.” Jesus came to fulfill all the the law and prophets foretold, but God did not begin some radical new story with Jesus. Jesus come right in the middle of a story that God had been writing for a very long time. The New Testament is not so much a new story as the next chapter in a very old story.

In light of this, Christians should do all we can first to learn the story of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament. Secondly, we should could continue to have great respect for the Jewish people. Sometimes, people wrongly try to blame “Jews” for killing Jesus. This is ridiculous. Not all Jews at the time of Jesus and certainly none of the Jews living today had anything to do with the death of Jesus. Jesus was killed because of our sins. There is no place for anti-Semitism among Christians.

Finally, in our modern world, it is important that we keep separate the religious notion of God’s chosen people Israel and the man-made political state of Israel. Too often, Christians are guilty of supporting the state of Israel in anything it does, no matter how unjust, in a false notion that somehow these are “God’s chosen people.” If it helps, consider that 75% of the “Jews” living in Israel don’t even believe in God yet alone practice their faith; they call themselves “secular Jews.” Then remember that all of the Christians in the Holy Land are Palestinians! While the United States might have good reason to support Israel politically, the religious reasons are far less solid.

St. Paul struggles to maintain both his Jewish and Christian identity. As Christians, we could do well to get in touch with our roots and realize our own Jewishness.

The theological virtue of hope is the virtue that causes us to desire heaven. St. Paul reminds us that no one hopes for something that he already has. Hope keeps us constantly looking forward toward the life to come. This is especially important when life is difficult and we might be tempted toward despair. This life is not all there is and thank God for that. Why do we often struggle so much with lack of hope, with a lack of desire for heaven. Pope Benedict observed in his second encyclical on hope that we often tend to think of heaven as merely a continuation of this present life going on forever. Who would hope for that! Heaven is infinitely greater than anything we can conceive of in this life. Let us ask God to give us an increase in the virtue of hope that we may have a great desire for heaven.

There is a lot of debate about the Sabbath in Scripture as we see in today’s readings. Today, we have almost lost the concept of the Sabbath rest. Why should we rest? Well, the point of the rest was always to remind us of why we work. If we continue to work every day and just do different kinds of work on Sunday, we will soon forget what the work is all about. We will come to think that the work that we do here on earth is our primary goal. Yet, our primary goal is really heaven. When we take a day off from work, we remind ourselves that this world is not what we are working for. This world is passing away. We work in this world with our eyes fixed on the world to come. The Sabbath rest should help us keep this balance right if we practice it faithfully.

After a long exile in Babylon, the prophet Jeremiah brings good news to the Israelites in our first reading today. It’s was time to go back to the promised land! However, he says something very interesting. He says that they were going to be taking the blind, the lame, mothers and women pregnant with children along with them. The journey back to the holy land was a long a difficult one and it would have been tempting to leave the blind and the lame and pregnant women behind. After all, they would just slow everyone else down. God reminds the people that all of these people, especially these marginalized people, were part of his family. God would not allow anyone to be left behind, no matter how much of a “burden” people might have wrongly considered them to be.

A similar thing happens in our Gospel today. Notice where we find the blind man…on the side of the road. He is calling out and the people try to get him to be quiet. They just want him to stay in his place on the side of the road, on the margin. Jesus breaks in as is typical in the Gospel and shows that this blind man is part of his mission and part of his family. Jesus will not allow anyone to be marginalized from the family of God, especially not those who society considers not to have much value.

We continue to do the same things today. We tend to value people more for their use to us and what they can contribute to society. We fail to recognize the dignity of every human person that comes from their being created by God. How often do we hear a child conceived unexpectedly referred to as “unwanted” or a “burden” who is just getting in the way of someone else’s plans. We are currently hearing a lot about how old people at the end of their lives are costing us too much money for all their expensive health care. We make them feel that they are burdens and ask if maybe we couldn’t just leave them behind and “let them die” so we can more easily get on to where it is we think we need to be.

It’s not hard to imagine how Jesus feels about this. To show how important human dignity is, Jesus took on our own human nature. He became one of us and had a special care for those that society considered useless or burdensome. He continues to do so today. He asks the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?” If Jesus, who is God, can have the humility to ask this question, then perhaps we too can find some people by the side of the road in our life and ask them the same question.

In our struggle to do good and avoid evil as we go through life, we can sometimes start to think that God is keeping track of all the bad we do in some kind of accounting system. We act as though the goal is to try to have enough good things in the book to balance out all the bad so that, hopefully in the end, everything comes close to zero. This we think will then earn us entrance into heaven. This creates a big problem. We’ve got to remember that God is not our accountant…he is our Father.

If we try to make everything “balance out” in life in a strict legalistic kind of way, we will never make it and we will be miserable. St. Paul reminds us that Jesus has won freedom for us. We are no longer slaves of the law and he reminds us that we need not live as slaves to our passions, what he calls “the flesh.” Rather we should live in the freedom of “the spirit.” The psalm from today best sums up the attitude we should have as we go through life in this freedom, “Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.”

Heaven is not about accounting and reward, but about relationship. On earth we should live with a longing to be in relationship with God, to grow in love with God. If we live with this longing, even though we may not be perfect, we will get what we desire. We will see the face of God forever in heaven. That adds up pretty well in my book.

St. Wenceslas died a martyr in the early 10th century, being killed by his own brother. Wenceslas used his authority as king of Bohemia to ensure that the poor were taken care of. He also very openly practiced his Christian faith, even though this brought him into danger with pagan members of his court and even his own family. Eventually his strong Christian witness would cost him his life. His love for the poor is memorialized in the famous Christmas carol about him. Though written in the 19th century, the full song tells an appropriate story fitting to the life of the saint:

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath’ring winter fuel

“Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou know’st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes’ fountain.”

“Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear him thither.”
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind’s wild lament
And the bitter weather

“Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.”
“Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly.”

In his master’s steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing

Our first reading and gospel today recount unfortunate stories in which people are performing good works in the name of God and yet are looked down upon because they do not belong to the “correct group.” How often do we do this today as fellow Christians? There are two key points that Catholics especially must keep in mind. First, we should rejoice when we see our Christian brothers and sisters in other communities doing the works of God and loving Jesus. This is a good thing! Too often we look down on our separated brothers and sisters because they’re not “one of us.” This division is a scandal and not recognizing the good that exists even outside the visible bounds of the Catholic Church adds to the scandal.

However, secondly, we must also avoid falling into the trap of thinking that it doesn’t matter which church you happen to go to. Jesus really did found one Church and wants everyone to be a part of it. He really did give us leaders that he promised to guide and protect from error because he knew that was the only way we would be able to remain unified. He really did want us to have the Eucharist and the other Sacraments. He really does want everyone to be Catholic. While the Church does not have a monopoly on the truth, only the Catholic Church has everything that Jesus intended his Church to have, the “fullness” of the truth. It would be very offensive to Jesus to pretend that none of this really matters.

The challenge is to hold both of these points together at once, and to do it with love. The fact that as Catholics we have the fullness of truth doesn’t mean that we use it very well and it doesn’t mean that we don’t have a lot we can learn from our separated brothers and sisters. We should desire that everyone would be Catholic, but we should desire this from a knowledge that we love our brothers and sisters and want to share with them all the good things that Jesus wants them to have. There is no room for a triumphalist “I’m better than you” attitude in the Church. Let us thank God for the beautiful faith we see all around us, even outside the visible bounds of the Catholic Church, and let us work as Jesus prayed, “That all may be one.” Let us share the truth with love.

Matthew himself thought that he was an unlikely choice to be an apostle. Yet, the words of the first reading remind us that “Grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” Jesus chooses not those who seem most qualified in the eyes of the world. Rather, who gives his grace to those he chooses. He chose Matthew for a special mission and he has given each of us the grace we need for the special mission entrusted to us. May we have to courage to leave behind anything that would keep us from following Jesus on this mission.

Competition can be a good thing. St. Paul himself urges us to “compete well for the faith” and likens the whole of Christian life to the competition of a race. He reminds us that all compete for a single prize…”Run therefore so as to win!” Competition can indeed be a good thing when it causes us to strive to be the very best we can be. Yet, as is often the case, the devil can take what is good and twist it.

A good spirit of competition can degrade to the spirit of “jealousy and selfish ambition” spoken of by St. James in the today’s second reading. Instead of competing to be the very best we can be, how often to we instead try to bring others down? How often do we fall into the trap of thinking that putting someone else down somehow makes me higher? This is what is happening in our first reading today. Here we have a just man who is mocked and attacked all because he is trying to be holy and others don’t like it and try to tear him down. This is competition turned to jealousy and selfish ambition indeed.

We see this tendency in the corporate world too where getting ahead can often mean pushing back a bunch of others. In climbing the corporate ladder too often we see people not at all concerned about the people they are stepping on while trying to get to the top. All of this is summed up in one word, “use.” We can be guilty of using people for what they can do for us. We try to win friends and influence people by having the right friends that can get something for us.

As John Paul taught us, the opposite of love is not hate, but use. We should never use another person as a means to an end. To disrupt the cycle of jealousy and selfish ambition of our society we need love. This is exactly what Jesus is talking about in the Gospel. In the face of selfishness and a desire for power, Jesus gives self emptying. He who is on top of the power chain, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, gives it all up. He uses his power to serve and wins with love.

The apostles obviously don’t understand and famously argue about who it the greatest. They are still stuck in the cycle of jealousy and selfish ambition. To disrupt this Jesus gives the example of a child. If you think about it, what advantage is a child in this scheme of using people to climb higher. You really don’t gain anything by having “influential friends” amongst 2nd graders. A child has nothing to offer your selfish ambition. Rather, a child must be served. This is how we should see people, someone to be served without jealousy or selfish ambition.

Today’s memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows reminds us that Mary shared intimately in every aspect of the life of Jesus. This means that she shared in many great joys, but it also means that she felt, more than anyone, the sorrows of his life. The Church has traditionally reflected on seven events in the life of Mary that have come to be called the “Seven Sorrows of Mary.”

• The prophecy of Simeon that a sword would pierce her heart
• The flight into Egypt
• The finding of the child Jesus in the temple
• Mary meets Jesus as he carries his cross
• Mary stands at the foot of the cross
• The body of Jesus is placed in Mary’s arms after being taken down from the cross
• The body of Jesus is placed in the tomb

We remember that to be close to Jesus means to share in both the joys and sufferings of his life. No one did this more perfectly than Mary. We ask her to help us to carry our cross well through the difficulties of life that we may share in her joy and the joy of all the saints as we one day behold Jesus face to face. May we always stay close to Jesus as Mary did.

In an interview published in The Washington Post, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said that as a Cabinet official she supported PresidentBarack Obama’s pledge not to make abortion funding part of health care legislation but did not give her own opinion on the subject. She also refused to say whether she is heeding Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann’s admonition not to receive Holy Communion, according to the interview transcript.

MS. ROMANO: You are pro-choice.

SECRETARY SEBELIUS: Yes.

MS. ROMANO: Do you think that the federal government should do some federal funding of abortions, personally?

SECRETARY SEBELIUS: Well, the President has made it pretty clear that Congress and the new health insurance plan will not provide federal funds for abortions.

Despite what the President may have said, multiple independent groups point out that the actual details of each of the bills that have been proposed all do in fact fund abortion. Further, every time an amendment has been proposed to specifically exclude abortion from the bill, those amendments have been voted down. So, while Sebelius can say that the President has “made it pretty clear,” if he really wanted to be clear he would state plainly that he will veto any bill that does not explicitly exclude abortion funding. In the end, that is really the only legislative power the President has; until he promises a veto he’s really not promising anything.

MS. ROMANO: Well, I know that. I was asking you what you thought.

SECRETARY SEBELIUS: I am the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and I will support the President’s proposal moving forward.

MS. ROMANO: You are also a pro-choice Catholic, and I was reading some stories out of your home state recently where one of the bishops took an action. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

SECRETARY SEBELIUS: Well, the Archbishop in the Kansas City area did not approve of my conduct as a public official and asked that I not present myself for communion.

It is not her conduct as a public official that gets her in trouble with the Church. It is her conduct as a Catholic who creates a public scandal to other Catholics that gets her in trouble.

MS. ROMANO: What did you think about that?

SECRETARY SEBELIUS: Well, it was one of the most painful things I have ever experienced in my life, and I am a firm believer in the separation of church and state, and I feel that my actions as a parishioner are different than my actions as a public official and that the people who elected me in Kansas had a right to expect me to uphold their rights and their beliefs even if they did not have the same religious beliefs that I had. And that’s what I did: I took an oath of office and I have taken an oath of office in this job and will uphold the law.

There are two key issues here. First, she uses the the excuse that public officials can behave immorally because they are just following orders. This is no different than if the leaders of Hitler’s Nazi party were to claim that they were personally opposed to slaughtering millions of innocent people but had taken an oath to separate this private belief from their public action. If the pro-abortion politicians of today can get away with the “just following orders” defense then we owe a huge apology to a lot of people we convicted of war crimes after WWII. An unjust law is no law at all. Further, the idea that Sebelius merely upheld the law is also false. She activelyvetoed pro-life legislation passed by both houses of congress duly elected to represent the will of the people to whom she claims she is beholden. Only 7% of the American people support abortion on demand as it is currently interpreted by our courts. Clearly it is not the will of the people that is being protected here.

Secondly, most dangerous is this attempt to turn abortion into a “religious” issue. Abortion has nothing to do with the “separation of Church and state” issue as Sebelius claims. Abortion is not merely a religious issue. This is an issue of civil rights. Can we continue to deny the rights of fellow members of the human race simply because of where they are located or what functions they are capable of performing? Any atheist can come to a logical conclusion that a baby growing inside its mother is a separate and unique human being that is alive. Every medical text book states this fact. The issue is whether we will continue to deny human rights to these human persons. That is a civil issue and separate from religion although religious people would no doubt fight for civil rights. 

MS. ROMANO: Do you continue to take communion?

SECRETARY SEBELIUS: I really would prefer not to discuss with you.That’s really a personal–thank you.

This weekend was a really exciting one for me. One of my many jobs as a priest is serving as the Scout Chaplain for the Archdiocese. I’ve been a scout for 23 years now and have always loved how the Catholic faith and scouting go together so nicely. When the Archbishop appointed me Chaplain for all the scouts I was very excited. I also had a few ideas.

One of those ideas was that I thought we should have an annual event that gathered all of the Catholic scouts together for a big campout. I thought maybe we could have a cooking competition, Mass, and maybe a Christian music concert. I went to the Catholic Committee on Scouting that existed at the time and told them my idea. I told them that I knew that there were wide open fields surrounding the headquarters of the Archdiocese and that I thought it would be great if we could fill those fields with tents and scouts. I think they thought I was crazy.

Eventually we agreed that it was possible, but I was told that events had been done in the past and that I could probably expect about 40 to 50 people. I was a little disappointed, but I thought we could start small and grow the event over the years. So we decided to do it.

I started praying a lot to the Holy Spirit. I wasn’t sure how techno savvy the Spirit is these days (have youever gotten a text message from the Holy Spirit? I’ve never even seen a Tweet from Him), so I also helped Him a little with some Facebook, Google, Web pages, and a lot of networking. The end result was that this small little event went big time really fast. We had over 300 scouts surrounding Savior of the World pastoral center. It didn’t occur to me until later, but if we had wanted to take over the Archdiocese, we actually had a pretty formidable army surrounding the place.

Fortunately for the Archbishop these scouts came not to invade, but to cook and have fun. We had beautiful weather and the day was everything I hoped it would be. Celebrating Mass that evening with all the scouts on the surrounding hill with the sun going down was just perfect. We then had an awesome concert by campfire light and I sat and tried to digest all the BBQ entries I had judged earlier in the day. Meanwhile the lights of scouts camped all around lit up the hill while Cub Scouts chased each other around with flashlights for no apparent reason.

The first annual Holy Smokes was a huge success. I might have had the idea, but it never could have happened without the support of many people, including our great new Scouting Chairman in the Archdiocese, Harold Bradley. Everyone that came said they had an awesome time and will be back next year along with more people. Maybe next year we’ll have a thousand! We better start planning now.

 Check out more pictures on our Facebook group

Jesus gives us many difficult examples in the Gospel today. “Turn the other cheek” best sums up all of them. He tells us when someone wrongs you, don’t try to get even. Not only are we not supposed to get even, but we’re actually supposed to give even more than the person has already unjustly taken. This is a hard teaching indeed. However, I think we tend to focus too much on the “what” of this teaching and miss the “why.” Jesus says that if we do these things, “Your reward will be great in heaven.” All of these difficult things Jesus asks are ultimately to remind us that we should live with our eyes fixed on the life to come.

Because we believe in life after death and that there is a heaven, we don’t have to “get even” in this life. We all long for a justice that ensures that everyone gets what’s coming to them. The difference for Christians is that we don’t have to get it here and now. If this world were all that existed then Jesus’ sayings make no sense. If there is not heaven then when someone wrongs you in this life then you’ve got to get back right here and now because that’s all there is.

Christianity and a “Christian world view” can be a great source of peace in the world. If everyone has to get even right here and now then we are doomed to endless war and violence. “An eye for an eye just makes the whole world blind.” Yet, if we as Christians are able to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile with our eyes fixed on a reward that comes later then we have a chance for peace. We still have to work for justice, but we as Christians work for justice in this world knowing that the true and lasting peace and justice we long for will only be experienced in the life to come.

In honor of the birthday of our Blessed Mother today and the upcoming birthday of the famous Matty Molnar, I thought this video to be a fitting tribute. This video was recorded live at the Mundelein Seminary coffee house night on May 5th, 2005. Matty was tragically killed in a car accident the following September 15th, so I believe that this video represents the last public performance of this famous song that Matty wrote in honor of Mary.

For some reason the camera wanted to focus on me way too much, but at any rate, that’s me singing off key on backup vocals (if you can call it that), former seminarian and now holy husband and man of God Ben Beier on drums, and Fr. Tien Tran on bass. This was a great night at the seminary. I’ll try to post some more videos of the event if people are interested.

Here’s to the Blessed Mother and Matty. Happy Birthday to you both.

We all know that Jesus performed many healings in his public ministry, most of which were not recorded anywhere. Why then, among all these, did St. Mark choose to tell us about the healing of the deaf and mute man in the Gospel today? For one thing, the Greek word for “mute” is used in only two places in all of Scripture, in the Gospel and in our first reading from the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah tells us that when the Messiah comes he will restore sight to the blind, restore hearing to the deaf, and the “mute” will sing. Mark is clearly telling us that Jesus fulfills this passage and is the Messiah.

However, both St. Mark and the early Church often made use of this healing for another reason. It is a symbolic model of the process of evangelization, or spreading the “good news” about Jesus. The apostles heard the Word of God and then went out and spoke about it to everyone. These people heard the apostles preaching and they in turn went and spoke about it to all their friends. Eventually the good news reached the entire world.

Today, however, we are in danger of losing the faith that the apostles gave their lives to hand on. Many people are abandoning the faith. For this reason, John Paul II called us to what he termed a “New Evangelization.” We’ve got to start this process of hearing and speaking all over again. When we hear the term “New Evangelization” we might immediately think about going out and speaking more about the faith. This is backward. The reason we are not speaking the Word of God well is because we are not hearing it well.

It is common that when a man goes deaf he will ultimately develop a speech impediment because he can’t hear. The Church is suffering from a sort of spiritual speech impediment and the cure can only come from learning the hear again. Jesus first heals the man’s hearing and then frees his tongue. The same will be true for the New Evangelization. The Good News is that God so loved the world that he sent his only son that we might have life. That’s really great news, but most of us are not “hearing” it and hence are not sharing it.

In order to heal the deaf and mute man in the Gospel, Jesus had to take him away from the crowd. Maybe God is calling you to come away, to leave what is comfortable so that he can help you to hear the Good News. Jesus could have just willed that the man be healed, but instead he touched him. He put his fingers in his ears and spit on his tongue. He then spoke a seemingly magic word…ephphatha. It means “be open” in Jesus’ native Aramaic. Jesus wants to touch each of us as well and allow us to hear clearly so that we may speak clearly. What next step is God asking you to take? Whatever it is, hear Jesus saying ephphatha…that is…be open.