The Scriptures use the image of wind and fire to describe the power of the Holy Spirit. The Greek word for this power is dynamis, from where we get the more familiar word dynamite. Like the Apostles we might wish to stay comfortable in the relatively safe environment of the upper room or our church buildings. However, this is not the plan of the Spirit. The Spirit doesn’t like to stay boxed in. He blows where he wills and does so with power. Today is a day for coming out of our comfort zones to speak boldly and publicly about Jesus. We’ve got infinite amounts of grace stored up through the Sacraments. Now it’s time to let the dynamis of the Spirit explode.

There are lots of theological ways to look at the meaning of today’s Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord. However, in today’s homily I give a perspective that few priests will probably preach on today. Today’s homily is the Ascension from a pilot’s perspective. Fasten your seat belts please.

Mary’s Month

The month of May is one in which we give special honor to our Blessed Mother Mary. Today’s homily if full of some good tips in how we can entrust ourselves more to Mary and so become more like Jesus her son. Like little children, we never have to be worried or afraid in the arms of our mother.

I was once surprised to learn that many non-Catholics use the same creed that we do and actually profess to believe in “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church” just like we do. How can that be? For most of them, they understand the word “catholic” very generically and believe that this “universal” church is in fact more of an idea or even invisible. Today’s first reading clearly shows us a church that exists concretely. St. Paul establishes actual communities with priests to lead them. When he goes to a town he calls together the church, clearly a tangible body. So why would someone want to belong to an invisible church?

Two things come to mind. First, an invisible church doesn’t make any demands on us. We can stay exactly as we are and create our invisible church to suit all our weaknesses that we’d rather not change. An invisible church can be rather convenient if you’re not looking to grow in holiness. Secondly, an invisible church can be perfect, no faults or sinners to mess things up. Sometimes when you look at the concrete church that actually exists you can’t help but see all the mess. Yet we can also take comfort in the fact that it has existed for 2000 years and no amount of sinning has managed to destroy it yet.

No matter how attractive the idea of an invisible church might be, the Scriptures and history are clear. The church is and has always been a concrete, existing, visible reality that one can find and adhere to. We tend to focus on dogma and correct teaching to know the true church, but today’s gospel gives us another way. St. John tells us that the way the disciples of Jesus can be found is by seeing the way we love each other. How are we dong on that? Would people know we are the disciples of Jesus and that they had found his church by looking at our love? It’s easy to point out how the Catholic Church is the church founded by Jesus, but would others be able to tell this apart from doctrine? Would they know we are Christians by our love?

Faithful to Hope

It seems everyone wants to be successful, but when it comes to faith this can be a dangerous goal. You see, we always tend to measure success on the world’s terms. Do people like us? Are we getting ahead? Yet, in the Scriptures we see that sometimes the heroes are the ones that seem to be most defeated. The martyrs are killed, the apostles are put in prison and then killed and on and on. This sure looks like a lot of failures. Mother Theresa gives us the perfect answer to this problem. She tells us that God does not call us to be successful, but faithful. Faithfulness, no success, is our goal.

This is why we can have great joy even amid worldly failures. This world is not our goal. We live this life knowing that Christ has already won the victory and that if we follow him, our good shepherd, then nothing can take us out of God’s hand. God would never allow the slightest evil in the world if he were not able to bring about an infinitely greater good. The Father is greater. This leads to the virtue of hope. Even in our darkest moments, with all the pain and suffering that we’ve seen even just this week in Boston and other places, in the middle of all the apparent failures, we have joy and hope. In the end, we win. Therefore, let us not despair but remain faithful to hope.

When Jesus reveals himself to the apostles after his resurrection the Scriptures tell us that his wounds were still visible. Why would a glorified body have wounds? The wounds of Jesus reveal how much he loves us, what he endured to save us. They are part of his perfect body because they perfectly reveal his mercy. Rather than condemn the apostles for their failure at the time of the passion, Jesus wishes them “Peace.” When God forgives our sins, what he is saying is that he loves us anyway. Even through our woundedness God is able to bring about great good. Our sins our swallowed up in the ocean of his Divine Mercy. Now that’s good cause for all of us to have peace.

In today’s Gospel, we read how Peter and John both saw the same evidence at the tomb. The tomb it empty. Yet faith was necessary to correctly interpret what really happened. One could conclude the body had been stolen, but you’d be wrong. Faith isn’t just some fringe nicety that we can do without. If we don’t have faith, we are doomed to misinterpret all kinds of things in life. In this Year of Faith, let us resolve today to take the new life given us at Easter and make it grow.

After weeks of prayer and fasting through these forty days of Lent, the Gospel tells us today that “the hour” has come. It is time for the celebration of the most important events in our Christian lives. Yet these are not just historic remembrances. Through the mystery of the Sacred Liturgy this week, the Church throughout the world lives once again these special moments. May the renewal of the Holy Spirit be evident in this upcoming Holy Week.

This past week has been an amazing time of excitement and joy in the Holy Spirit as we rejoice at the gift of our new Holy Father, Pope Francis. Today’s homily relives some of my personal experience of this week and considers what the election of Pope Francis might mean for the future of the Church.

Today’s homily gives an overview of the history of electing the Pope and the process that will be followed this week. If you have other questions not covered in the homily, feel free to post them below. Most of all, pray for the Cardinals and the coming of the Holy Spirit to help inspire the choice of our new Holy Father.

Today I am on the road in Longview, Texas giving a parish mission at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church. Msgr. Xavier Pappu and all the parishioners have been so welcoming. Last night I had dinner at an authentic Texas Roadhouse! (It seemed very similar to the Texas Roadhouses in Kansas, but this time I was in Texas). I officially kicked off the mission this weekend by preaching at all the masses. I’ll be here for the next two days and will be posting talks from the mission. If you are in the Longview area, tell people to come to the mission or send them to the website. Thanks for all those praying back home.

Today’s homily also provides my theme for the mission, “Time to Bear Fruit.” Maybe this Lent we need to spend some time cultivating the soul and spreading some fertilizer on our spiritual life. This is what the gardener in the gospel suggests. Yet, the gospel also comes with a warning…we don’t have infinite time. Moses also serves as our great example this weekend. We’ve got to pay attention and focus on God. Don’t wait for later. Now is the time to bear fruit.

Paul reminds us in today’s second reading that “Our citizenship is in heaven.” To be a citizen means that you are at home, you are protected by the defenses of your city, you have certain rights. Especially in biblical times, citizenship meant the peace and security of a walled city. If “peace and security” are the best descriptors for your life right now, then we start to understand what St. Paul meant. This is not our home. Here we will never have the kind of permanent security that we would like. That’s because what we really want is heaven. Jesus gives the apostles a glimpse of this in today’s Gospel. Although we can’t have heaven permanently in this life, we are all called from time to time to go up the mountain, to pray, the talk with God, and there experience a little bit of what our true citizenship has to offer.

After fasting for 40 days, Jesus was hungry. So says the inerrant Word of God in today’s Gospel. We tend to think that this fact is obvious because we tend to think of physical hunger. Maybe Jesus was hungry for something else. Aren’t we all hungry? We are constantly seeking to satisfy a multitude of desires. A lot of them are good, but we need to keep them in the right balance. Today’s homily explores how Jesus gives us the model for success in balancing our desires with what we really hunger for, namely, God.

Remember death. That phrase is very similar to the one we hear today as we receive ashes, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Why so much focus on death as we prepare for the great celebration of life at Easter? Today’s homily explores how sometimes having a deadline might just be the life-giving trick that we need.

It has been said that all that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing. When we see injustice and evil we naturally want to do something about it. Certainly that is the case this week as we mark the 40th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade supreme court decision. All this week there will be prayer and fasting, marching in Topeka and Washington. Generations from now when abortion is relegated to the shameful past along with the holocaust of WWII, we want to be able to say that we did something. Today’s homily explores something that we might do, starting at the real root of the problem.

For the video mentioned in the homily click here.

For my previous homily on the Holy Family click here.

In today’s Gospel we read of the arrival of the Magi in Bethlehem. However, what always puzzles me is the arrival of the Magi before Herod who, along with “all Jerusalem,” seem oblivious to the birth of the Messiah. How is it that these non-Jews from far away can show up at ground zero for Jewish Messiah watching and catch everyone off guard? What about the star? What about the Scripture? Today’s homily looks at how the Magi got it right while Herod missed it. The example of the Magi is a great gift to make sure that we don’t end up missing Jesus too.

Isn’t it amazing to think that when God came into this world he couldn’t even take care of himself? He chose to come in need of a family to raise him. As we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family today, it’s important not to simply make this about honoring Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. As important as that it, there is a tendency to think, “Well aren’t they great, but my family could never be like that.” The good news is that you are not called to be “the” holy family; but you are called to be “a” holy family. Today’s homily explores some ways in which our families make us holy and how to grow together in holiness.

One of the greatest TV moments in history occurs in the great classic, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” when Charlie Brown famously asks, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” Linus confidently steps forward with his trusty blanket and proceeds to give one of the most memorable readings ever from tonight’s Gospel of St. Luke. The story of the birth of Jesus. That’s what Christmas is all about.

Yet, the prophet Isaiah in our first reading also has an idea of what Christmas is all about. Living in a time of great darkness for the Jewish people, Isaiah prophesies the coming of the Messiah as a great light for his people. He gives him four famous titles: Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. Tonight’s homily looks at how each of these titles speak of not just a past Messiah, but our real need for a savior here and now. Our world needs the Messiah today more than ever…and he’s right here, Emmanuel, God with us. Good news indeed. In fact, that’s what Christmas is all about.

Sometimes people will speak of the Old and New Testaments as if they were completely different stories. A false distinction is often made between the “God of the Old Testament” (who is apparently mean and distant) and the “God of the New Testament” (who is nice and approachable). However, today’s Gospel reading and the famous “O Antiphons” of Advent tell a different story. The little baby that is to be born in Bethlehem is none other than the great I AM who revealed himself to Moses on Mt. Sinai. The Jewish people called him “Lord” or, in their language, “Adonai.”

In today’s 2nd Reading, St. Paul reminds us to “Rejoice Always!” At times in our life it might seem particularly hard to rejoice. In the wake of the terrible events that took place in Connecticut on Friday it might seem almost inappropriate to be told to “rejoice” this weekend. Yet we have to be careful not to confuse joy and happiness. St. Paul is not telling us to be happy in the face of evil, but rather to rejoice. Joy and peace are possible even in the darkest times. St. Paul certainly knew that in his own life. It is precisely when things seem most grim that we need to be reminded why we have cause to rejoice. Today’s homily attempts to bring St. Paul’s perspective to bear on what might seem like a present situation of gloom.

In today’s reading we hear of John the Baptist and all the people that were going to him in the desert to repent. Why is it that when we sin, we seem to be afraid to make even the much easier journey to a Catholic church to go to confession? Today’s homily helps answer some important questions and alleviate unnecessary fear of confession. Penance services abound this week, so it’s a great time to come back to this beautiful sacrament.

We are all familiar with the great symbol of the Christmas tree and all that it means for this time of year. Yet, for our Jewish ancestors, the time of waiting for the Messiah was focused not only a tree, but on a stump and on a shoot that was to spout from that stump. The tree spoken of here is not a Christmas tree, but a family tree…the family tree of King David.

When the prophet Jeremiah in today’s first reading speaks of a “shoot” he is referring to the Messiah who would come from the family tree of David and would save the Jewish people. Jeremiah was writing at a time of great trouble for Jerusalem, where they were desperate for the coming of the Messiah. We too have many great struggles in life. The world appears broken and inadequate in so many ways and we know that we contribute to this with our sin. We too are in need of a savior. The good news is that we’ve got one. He has come and he is coming back.

This Advent, let’s not be afraid to acknowledge all the ways in which perhaps our life seems a bit like a lifeless stump. The good news of Advent is that it will not stay this way. A shoot shall sprout from the stump. The Messiah will return. Let our prayer be that of the early church…Marana Tha…Come Lord Jesus.

What does it mean to say that Christ is King? Today’s homily discusses how the faithful in Mexico help us to answer this question. During the 1920’2 and 30′s a severe persecution of the Church was being carried out by those in power in the Mexican government. It was essentially made illegal to be Catholic and thousands of priests and faithful were rounded up, tortured, and killed. In self defense the faithful banded together in a resistance army composed of what came to be known as “Cristeros.” Their famous battle cry was “Viva Cristo Rey…Long Live Christ the King.”

One of the most well-known priests at this time was Fr. Miguel Pro. He is now Blessed Miguel Pro and is one step away from being canonized a saint. Today’s homily shares his dramatic story which culminated in his execution as a martyr for Christ. In the seconds before he died he was able to yell once more “Viva Cristo Rey.” On this Solemnity of Christ the King may all of us take up this battle cry and truly make Christ the King of our lives.

  
Blessed Miguel Pro, Pray for Us

At Bishop Miege High School where I am the chaplain, the football players have the tradition at the end of the 3rd quarter of raising their hands showing four fingers and going up and down the sideline yelling “Four!” This is to remind everyone of the importance of the 4th quarter about to begin. This is the last quarter. The game will end soon. As we come to the end of our liturgical year, the Church does something similar by focusing our attention on the end of our lives and the “four last things.”

Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell…these four things are put before us today to remind us that life does not go on forever. In the end there are clear winners and losers…heaven or hell…those are the only options. Probably everyone would say they want to go to heaven and sadly some people today even question the existence of hell. The hell there is! Ultimately God will give us what we want. If we say with our lives that we want God then we will have God for all eternity and this we call heaven. If we say with our lives that we want our way and ourselves and not God, we will have just ourselves and not God for all eternity and this we call hell.

The kids at school are all caught up in whether the world might be about to end because of the so-called “Mayan calendar.” Jesus tells us plainly in the gospel today that no one knows the hour of the ending of the world, not even the Mayans. The Mayans are dead and the Church is alive. Yet, if the thought of the world ending soon scares us, then maybe that’s good.

We would do well to assume we’re living in the 4th quarter of life. If we’re behind in some way, there’s time to rally and catch up. If we’re winning in some areas, don’t give up now; press on to the finish. The Church at this time of year is reminding us that life does not go on forever. Remember death, judgement, heaven, and hell. It’s as if the Church is running up and down the sideline of our lives yelling “Four!” Let’s not be afraid. This is our quarter. Let’s go out and win!

Today’s 2nd reading continues from the the Letter to the Hebrews. It was written by Christians to a Jewish audience attempting to explain how Jesus is the fulfillment of everything God had promised his chosen people throughout history. One of the most significant aspects of Jewish life at the time of Jesus was the presence of the Temple in Jerusalem. Today’s homily looks at the history and meaning of the Jewish Temple and the worship that went on there. The Temple provides an important key in understanding what happens at Mass today.

This is the first in a series of homilies explaining various elements of the Mass and Catholic worship in honor of the 50th anniversary of the beginning of Vatican II. Today’s homily focuses on some aspects of  the role of Sacred Music in the liturgy. It is also an answer to a question that comes up from time to time with regard to the role of the priest celebrant. I hope this homily is both informative and clears up some confusion.

In today’s Gospel Jesus calls a young man to follow him. It is the greatest moment in his life, and yet we are told he goes away sad. His riches stand in the way of his answering the call. What stands in the way of us saying yes to God? Whatever it is, sell it, be free, and follow Jesus. God will not be outdone in generosity!

As you survey the state of marriage in our society today, it would be easy to get discouraged. Yet we see in our gospel today that even at the time of Jesus they struggled with marriage. When Jesus explains what is required of married people, some of the apostles even question if maybe it would be better not to get married at all. Today’s homily speaks of some of the tough issues surrounding marriage today, including divorce, contraception, so-called “same sex marriage” and others. Things may look grim now, but a new springtime is taking root. If we follow Jesus’ words to return to God’s plan “from the beginning” then we will soon see our society, and marriage in particular, go from worse to better.

You are a prophet! Maybe you didn’t know it, but in your baptism you were anointed “priest, prophet, and king.” Perhaps you’re wondering about just what a prophet is supposed to do. Today’s homily looks at the Old Testament for examples and especially St. John the Baptist. A prophet is someone who speaks for God, with their actions and words. What kind of prophet are you? What message are you sending by the words and actions of your life?

In today’s gospel, Jesus opens the ears of a deaf man. Maybe we think all of our senses are working just fine, but what about our spiritual senses? What about our ability to recognize someone in need? Today’s homily tells the amazing story of what God did with one simple scout who had this awareness. If we’re a little closed off to the needs of others, perhaps we need to ask God for healing, that we might hear him say to us “be opened.”

When we’re growing up, no kid seems to like rules. I remember a similar experience learning to play the trumpet. My teacher wanted me to learn a bunch of scales. I just wanted to play songs. Our readings today also speak of rules, but especially having them in the right balance. It’s good to follow the rules, but we can’t become obsessed with the rules. No musician will perform scales for a concert.

In music, perhaps the best analogy to the kind of life God wants for us is found in Jazz. You’ve got to know the rules…the scales, the key, the changes, etc…but then you get to make it up. You improvise. May we all learn well the rules of life and then improvise with our unique lives as we give God glory with all that jazz.

We’ve spent the last several weeks learning about the Eucharist as we read St. John’s gospel. However, there comes a time when you have to make a decision to act. It’s not enough just to think about the Eucharist or understand it. Ultimately, our lives must answer the key question, “How important is the Eucharist?” Today’s homily looks at how three different priests answered this question.

    
St. Edmund Campion, Fr. Walter Ciszek, and Cardinal Francis Van Thuan

This weekend’s homily continues the theme of considering various aspects of the Eucharist as we reflect on St. John’s gospel. Today we learn about what is meant by the term “Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.” What sacrifice is this referring to? What does it mean that Jesus is the Lamb of God?

We normally use our senses to understand our world and to identify what things are. However, things aren’t always as they appear. In in philosophy, we use two important terms to differentiate between what our senses can tell us about something and what that thing actually is. The properties that are perceptible to our senses we call “accidents.” This would include things like color, taste, smell, etc.. Beyond what something looks like, we call the property that actually makes something what it is “substance.”

The terms substance and accidents are philosophical terms that are important to our understanding of the Eucharist. We start with ordinary bread and wine. After the words of consecration the substance of the bread and wine is changed while the accidents remain. What still appears to be bread and wine has been completely changed into the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus. The Eucharist is God although it retains the accidental properties of bread and wine.

This transformation is so important and unique to the Eucharist that a new word was created to describe what happens at the consecration. “Transubstantiation” is the word used by the Church and simply means “a change in substance.” As we go forward to receive the Eucharist today, let us be mindful of this great mystery. Jesus says that whoever eats this bread will live forever. Indeed this “bread” is much more than what it appears to be.

I always enjoy watching the Olympics. There are so many sports that I would never watch if it weren’t for the Olympics. I was watching diving the other day and marveled at all the complicated moves they are able to do. All of the athletes are so inspiring. We marvel at the “finished product” we see on TV, but I especially enjoying hearing the stories of all the hard work it took to get there. The training routines and years of discipline are truly inspiring. Why do they do it? …to win a gold medal of course.

St. Paul reminds us that we are competing for a much bigger prize in the competition we call life; we want to win the prize of heaven. If heaven is our goal, why would we expect that getting there would be any less difficult than winning a gold medal? The Christian life requires training and discipline. The early church gave each newly baptized Christian a new title, “Athlete of Christ.” It’s not easy to be a Christian. No one hands you a gold medal simply for showing up.

The lighting of the famous Olympic flame marks the beginning of competition at the Olympics. In our baptism we too are given a flame to mark the beginning of our race in life. The priest passes the torch as it were from the Paschal Candle to the baptismal candle and onto the parents and godparents. As he does so he says to the newly baptized, “Receive the light of Christ.” He might just as well be saying, “Let the games begin.”

This week is Natural Family Planning Awareness Week. If you are now asking yourself, “What is Natural Family Planning?” then you see the need for the week. Today’s homily considers the joy and sacrifices of married love and the great gift of family. For those unfamiliar with NFP, it will also hopefully be an introduction to something that is not only free and over 99% effective, but could also radically change your marriage and your relationship with God. Perhaps it is enough simply to say that if you follow society’s wisdom you have an over 50% chance of getting divorced. If you follow God’s plan through NFP, you have less than a 5% chance of getting divorced. Those are good odds that will hopefully make you want to become more “aware” of NFP this week if you’re not already.

After observing Jesus and learning from him, today it’s time for the apostles to “go.” The word “apostle” literally means, “one who is sent” so it makes sense. However, Jesus also asks them to take nothing with them so as to build their trust in God. They are supposed to take a walking stick and sandals. This is a good image for the Church. We are a people on the go; we have a mission and we’re not meant to stay still. At the end of every Mass, the deacon or priest tells us all to “go.” The word “Mass” actually comes form the Latin word meaning “to be sent.” There’s a lot of going and sending implied in Mass. Today’s a great day to make sure we know our mission and then to get going.

Most people tend to think of prophets as people who foretell the future. The biblical notion of a prophet is much different. A prophet is someone who speaks on behalf of God. Sometimes their messages are about the future, but most of the time they are concerned with talking to people about the present moment. The Old Testament is filled with stories of prophets. One thing they all seem to have in common is that it often doesn’t go very well for the prophets. They all end up ridiculed or dead.

The problem with prophets is that God doesn’t normally send them when everything is going well. Normally, a prophet is sent to say that God is not happy or that we need to change somehow. Not surprisingly, we tend to shoot the messenger. It’s a tough job to be a prophet. The interesting thing about the Christian life is that not only are we called to listen to the prophets that God sends us even today, but we are also called to be prophets. By virtue of our baptism, each of us is a prophet. That means we are to speak about God and bear witness to him by our words and actions, just like the prophets of old.

So how are we doing? What message does your life send? What kind of prophet for God are you?

God is love. We hear that a lot, but somehow it seems like we need more than just that line. Augustine famously described the love of God as a communion of love that necessarily had to involve more than one person. Lover, beloved, and love are the titles he used. This can help us understand a bit more about the Trinity.

Blessed Pope John Paul II took the understanding of Augustine regarding the Trinity and applied especially to the family. Our God is not a solitary God, but rather a family of persons. We on earth are called to image this love in our families. This is why the Church takes marriage so seriously. Our families are a most precious gift by which can come to know a little bit more about the love of God, even if we do it imperfectly here due to sin. May God bless all families in the mission to be a reflection of the love of the Trinity.

In today’s first reading, the Holy Spirit is described as a “strong driving wind.” We’re all familiar here in Kansas with just how powerful the wind can be. It can literally push you…or your house…over. On Pentecost, the Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit was a force like this. If we look at our lives, what drives us? Is it the Holy Spirit? Perhaps we’re driven by a lot of the things that St. Paul mentions in our second reading…immorality, lust and the like.

The Holy Spirit is also described as being fire. Fire can be destructive but also purifying. If we are driven more by the spirit of the world than the Holy Spirit, then maybe we could use a little purification from the Spirit. Renewing the face of the earth is a big task, but it starts on person at a time. Don’t be afraid to unlock the doors and let the Holy Spirit start driving.

When Jesus ascended to heaven, he did not abandon his apostles. Rather he becomes present in a new and even more powerful way. The divine assistance he gives from heaven will be all the more necessary considering the mission he has given them. He tells them to go to the ends of the earth preaching the Gospel. Their mission is the make the Church “universal” or, in the Greek, Catholic. Today the Church does exist even to the ends of the world. We must carry out this same mission. The good news is that we are not alone. Jesus is with us as well.

In 1967, the theologians Lennon and McCartney pronounced their famous dogma, “All you need is love.” It sounds so simple and peaceful. Yet, as another later theologian (and Eurodance phenom) Haddaway asked in 1993, “What is love?” We use the word love to refer to a lot of different things. I “love” everything from my dog, to pizza, to my spouse, to God. Using the same word to refer to such different things has indeed created confusion.

Fortunately, in the original languages of the Bible, there is actually more than just one word to talk about all these different kinds of “love.” Today’s homily focuses on 3 of those words from the original Greek of the Bible: eros, philos, and agape. If you understand the distinctions between these three, then maybe Lennon and McCartney were right.

To the Bishop Miege High School class of 2012. Congratulations on your achievements. Having finished your finals and passed all your classes, it is clear that you know a lot about a lot of things. However, as you leave Bishop Miege, here are just three more things that I hope you will know.

Jesus tells us today that our mission is to go and bear fruit, much fruit. Yet, in order to achieve this mission he reminds us that we have got to stay connected to him, as branches on a vine. Notice that remaining connected to Jesus, the vine, also means that we must stay connected to all the other branches. We need all those branches. To be united in Jesus is to become a family. This is what we see in the Acts of the Apostles and this is what we are called to be today. It’s more challenging with a couple billion of us, but we are truly all brothers and sisters, united in our connection to Jesus.

Today we hear the beautiful story of the Good Shepherd. We probably don’t think much about it, but this means that Jesus is calling us sheep. What kind of sheep do we think we are? We normally picture sheep as being cute and fuzzy, like Binkles my little stuffed sheep. Today’s homily reveals the true story…the dark side if you will…of sheep. On this World Day of Prayer for Vocations let us give thanks for our shepherds. Let’s be the kind of sheep we normally picture in our minds. Let’s all do our best to “Be Like Binkles.”

The following homily was given at the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas

What a contrast we see between Peter and the apostles before Pentecost and then the radical change afterward. They get such courage from the Holy Spirit. They are a great example for how each of us is called to give our testimony about Jesus. Peter boldly proclaims, “We are witnesses.” The Greek word here is martyroi…”martyrs” in English. We shouldn’t expect it to be easy to preach the good news about Jesus. Yet, if we really know what good news it is, then nothing should hold us back. We too are called to be His witnesses.

“He saw and believed,” is says of St. John in today’s Gospel. What did he see that caused him to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead? What evidence is there for the resurrection? If you go to Jerusalem you can see the same thing that John saw on that first Easter…an empty tomb. Something about the empty tomb touched the faith of St. John that allowed him to believe. Why do we believe? What evidence do we have? Probably many of us can describe an experience when we have in fact encountered Jesus. Our challenge this Easter is to go share the good news. Other people need to know about Jesus. We are called to be witnesses; we are called to be living evidence of the resurrection.

This day marks the most tragic event in the history of the world. God loved us so much that he came in person to show us his love…and we killed him. Yet, as Jesus hung dying on the cross he prayed, “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.” If we realize today how much we need God’s mercy and are willing to change our lives to put God first, then we will have something to celebrate tomorrow night. If we are willing to ask for forgiveness then we can even dare to call this darkest of days…good.

This evening we sing an ancient hymn composed by St. Thomas Aquinas for the Mass of Corpus Christi in the 13th century. While most people will probably never read much of the volumes of theology he wrote, almost everyone is familiar with the words of his famous chant, Pange Lingua. We use the last two verses which begin with the wordsTantum Ergo in the liturgy of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Tonight this chant serves to accompany the procession at the end of Mass whereby we spiritually follow Jesus as he leaves the upper room and goes to the Garden of Gethsemane. Tonight we sing of his glorious body and receive that same body through the gift of the Eucharist. Tonight we are Jesus’ “chosen band.”

Sing, my tongue, the Savior’s glory,
of His flesh the mystery sing;
of the Blood, all price exceeding,
shed by our immortal King,
destined, for the world’s redemption,
from a noble womb to spring.

Of a pure and spotless Virgin
born for us on earth below,
He, as Man, with man conversing,
stayed, the seeds of truth to sow;
then He closed in solemn order
wondrously His life of woe.

On the night of that Last Supper,
seated with His chosen band,
He the Pascal victim eating,
first fulfills the Law’s command;
then as Food to His Apostles
gives Himself with His own hand.

Word-made-Flesh, the bread of nature
by His word to Flesh He turns;
wine into His Blood He changes;
what though sense no change discerns?
Only be the heart in earnest,
faith her lesson quickly learns.

Down in adoration falling,
This great Sacrament we hail,
Over ancient forms of worship
Newer rites of grace prevail;
Faith will tell us Christ is present,
When our human senses fail.

To the everlasting Father,
And the Son who made us free
And the Spirit, God proceeding
From them Each eternally,
Be salvation, honor, blessing,
Might and endless majesty.

How quickly on this Palm Sunday the cries of the crowd change from “Hosanna” to “Crucify Him.” It is a reminder to all of us that our faith can be very weak at times. All seems well in a moment of triumph, but then a moment of weakness finds us abandoning God. We need to strengthen our faith, to “keep watch and pray.” This week has been given to us as just such a time. This week we recall the greatest mysteries at the center of our Christian faith. It is a week to be set apart gaining spiritual strength and love. A week we simply call “holy.”

In the first reading today, the prophet Jeremiah foretells that soon God will do something new. He will make a “new covenant” with his people. If we really want to grow in holiness, we have to be open to God working in new ways in our life. This may mean getting out of our comfort zone and trying something new. Ultimately God wants everything from us, our entire life. Yet, he does not ask for it all at once. He gives us little opportunities to say yes to him everyday. If we give God just a little to start with, like a small grain of wheat, God will allow us to bear fruit abundantly.

By the end of Jesus’ public ministry, perhaps people had gotten used to the way he worked, even in his miracles. If someone was sick, or lame, or blind, you bring them to Jesus and he will heal them. As miraculous as that sounds, it had become somewhat commonplace with Jesus. Perhaps that is why in today’s Gospel Jesus does something so unexpected. He wants to stretch his disciples and show them that he is victorious not just over sickness and suffering, but over death itself.

Perhaps it seems strange that we as Christians would use the cross with such pride, that we carry it as a banner of victory. On the cross Jesus looks like he’s been through war and looks defeated. Yet we know this is not the end of the story. Jesus indeed fought and died for the price of our freedom, but his death brought life to the world. If we follow Jesus, we must take up our cross. When we do, we shouldn’t be so surprised that we will end up looking like him, as though we’ve been through war. May we fight well this earthly battle that we may indeed share in the victory to come.

Our catechumens received a new title at the beginning of Lent. They are now known as the elect. The work elect means to chose and these men and women have been chosen for baptism this Easter. All of us should reflect on how special it is that God has chosen us. The gift given us in baptism is even more radical than if we were blind from birth and all the sudden could see like the man in the Gospel. In our baptism we were called from a life of darkness to walk in the light. May all of us use this Lent to strengthen this most important commitment of our baptism.

A human being is full of desires. These were put there by God. Yet they are not ends in themselves. God’s plan is to lead us by our desires to him. In today’s Gospel, Jesus uses the ordinary thirst of a Samaritan woman to lead her to life-giving water in the spiritual life. Where are our desires leading us? Are they perhaps out of control? Lent is a great time to reorder our desires toward God, the only one who can truly fill us.

Have you taken time lately to look at the owner’s manual for your car? You might be surprised to find a few new features there. God has also given us a spiritual owner’s manual for our lives. In it are many rules that tell us what we need to do in order to live life to the fullest. Do we take time to look over our spiritual owner’s manual? Or do we rather think that God’s rules are impositions that restrict our freedom? Today’s homily explores why we should instead see God’s rules as fatherly instructions for our happiness.

Today Jesus gives his apostles a special glimpse of who he really is. Standing in the presence of the transfigured Christ with Moses and Elijah bearing witness the apostles know for sure that Jesus is God. Were we there we would indeed exclaim with Peter, “It is good that we are here!” Yet, they cannot stay on top of the mountain. Live is not live always on top of a mountain. Today’s homily explores how to manage the peaks…and valleys…of our life.

There’s going to be a test at the end of Lent, and it’s not going to be about whether you managed to avoid dessert for 40 days. The test has six questions and you have to get all six right in order to pass. The good news is that today’s homily gives you not only the questions, but also the answers.

On Easter, the priest is going to ask us to renew the promises of our Baptism. Do we even know what those promises are? Do we know why they’re important? If someone asked you the question, “Are you saved?” would you be able to answer? Today’s homily will steer you safely through Lent and onto getting an A+ on the test this Easter.

If we saw a man like in today’s Gospel who couldn’t walk or even move we would probably recognize that this person was in a very serious and sad condition. When Jesus encounters this man in the Gospel, he too recognizes a serious illness that needs healing, but not the one that we would automatically think of. Jesus looks right past the fact that the man is physically paralyzed, and instead sees that, even more seriously, he is spiritually paralyzed. The man is stuck in sin.

Jesus shows us that spiritual sickness is far more serious than any physical sickness. As we begin Lent this week, are there ways in which we are spiritually paralyzed?  Let’s all pray that this Lent we can make a good confession, take on some spiritual discipline, and hear those beautiful words of Jesus, “Your sins are forgiven…rise and walk.”

This week we celebrate the ongoing legacy of a system of education that has been handed on to us as a treasured gift from past generations. Our Catholic schools continue to exist for one reason: to pass on the faith. This begins with outstanding teachers who form the minds of young Catholics in our great Tradition. Yet, intellectual knowledge of the faith is not enough. In a real sense, the faith cannot just be handed on; it must be caught anew by each generation. Our Catholic schools provide a wonderful environment for the Holy Spirit to work powerfully in our students. May God bless our dedicated educators as they work tirelessly to not only inform, but truly transform the lives of our children.

People are often confused by the meaning of celibacy practiced by those in religious life. Sometimes people think that priests are celibate because it gives them more time to devote to ministry. Sadly, sometimes people might assume that marriage is less holy than priesthood. Neither are the real reason for the celibate vocation. Rather, the celibate person serves as a prophetic witness to the reality of heaven.

Marriage and family are good, holy even. Celibacy is a sacrifice precisely because the priest or religious gives up something good. Yet, as good as this life is, it is not the greatest good. The celibate person is meant to be a sign reminding us of heaven. In heaven there is no marriage because it is as though we are all married to God. That relationship of love with God is so real that celibates forgo the early sign of marriage to point to the reality of the heavenly marriage awaiting us.

So, never feel sorry for your priests or religious, or wish for them to be married. We freely and joyful choose to give our lives completely to God. Pray that we may be good prophetic signs that point people to heaven.

Today we rejoice in the manifestation of the Jesus to world, symbolized by the arrival of the “magi” in Bethlehem. The journey of the magi began long before Christmas. In them we can find a model for our Christian journey. Through the light of reason alone, interpreting the stars, the magi know that something special has happened and they follow the star. Needing more than just reason, they receive the last piece of the puzzle from God’s chosen people and form the Scriptures. This leads them to a personal encounter with Jesus in Bethlehem.

Our lives are meant to follow this example. What signs is God giving us? Are we following and using all the tools available in the Church and Sacred Scripture? Have we had a personal encounter with Jesus? Hopefully we can say yes to these things. However, one more thing remains. The Gospel says that after encountering Christ, the magi return by “another way.” We too must follow another way after meeting Jesus. May this new year be a time when each of us encounters Jesus in a new way and follows him more closely.

We might think of Mary’s title “Mother of God” as saying something about Mary. Some even think that the title is too exalted for a mere creature, even the greatest of creatures such as Mary. Yet this title is important not so much for what it say about Mary, but rather what it says about the baby the Mary gave birth to in Bethlehem. Mary’s title answers the famous question in the Christmas carol, “What Child is This?”

Mary’s child is God. If we refuse to admit that Mary is “Mother of God” then we end up saying that Jesus was not God when he was born. The truth is that Mary gave birth to Jesus and Jesus is God. The title “Mother of God” is therefore not so much about Mary, but rather reminds us that this child born of the Virgin Mary is truly God in the flesh. This is what we celebrate at Christmas and this is why we honor Mary today.

In the classic Peanuts show “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” Charlie Brown famously asks, “Can anyone tell me what Christmas is all about?” His friend Linus then proceeds to give perhaps the most famous reading of St. Luke’s Gospel account of the birth of Jesus. St. John has his own version of the story, what one might call the “advanced” version of the Christmas story. John tells us, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” He also says beautifully that “The light shown in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”

The truth is that there remains much darkness in all of our lives. It is precisely to this situation that Jesus came and continues to come. God did not abandon the world 2000 years ago and he has not left us alone either. God has been and always will be with us. In times of darkness, the light shines all the brighter. In whatever situation we find ourselves this Christmas, God comes to us just as he did in Bethlehem 2000 years ago. This light brings us great hope, and that’s what Christmas is really all about.

The opening scene of today’s gospel is filled with names of people and places that readily evoke the expectation of Christmas: Gabriel, Nazareth, Joseph, Mary… Yet, the name that would most stick out to a Jew at the time of Jesus would have been that of David. God had promised that a king of the line of David would rule over his people forever. Exile and destruction had left many questioning if God had forgotten his promise. The family tree of David seemed to be annihilated, that is until the angel Gabriel brings good news to the a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph of the House of David.

Has it been a while since you’ve been to confession? Maybe you’re worried or just reluctant to go because you feel you don’t know how to go confession. This weekend’s homily provides some practical tips and an explanation of the basics of making a good confession.

Advent is a time filled with many treasured symbols: the Advent wreath, the Christmas tree, favorite foods and songs. In today’s homily I introduce my favorite Advent symbol: the orange construction cone. At first it may seem like an unlikely symbol for such a peaceful season, but if you look at the readings today, they’re all about road construction. Isaiah says plainly that our job this Advent is to build a highway for God.

How’s you’re road to God looking these days? Have you patched so many potholes that it looks more like a mine field? This Advent God invites us to put a big “under construction” sign out. We’ve got to do the hard work of repairing our road/lives through some spiritual resurfacing. No one likes construction while it’s going on, but there’s nothing nicer than a brand new road. The Sacrament of Penance is our chance to resurface our road and start over.

Finally, the season of Advent is one that can easily get out of control is we’re not careful. If we follow the wisdom of society we will wind up being very busy and arrive at Christmas exhausted and glad it’s over. To avoid this we need to slow down. Picture that construction worker on the side of the road with his big orange “SLOW” sign. Consider it a sign from God this Advent. Slow down, take time for prayer and quiet, and think of the beautiful new road God has planned just as soon as you get through this construction zone.

Jesus tells us over and over in the Gospel today to “watch.” This is our attitude for the season of Advent. Just as the new translation of the Mass is causing us to have to watch carefully the words we use and pay attention, so we are meant to pay closer attention to our spiritual lives this Advent. This watchfulness of Advent is not a passive sitting back. Rather, the collect of today’s Mass prays that we will have “the resolve to run forth” to meet Christ at his coming.

Advent recognizes two comings of Christ. The obvious one is the coming of Jesus at Christmas. Yet, these first weeks of Advent urge us to prepare for a more important coming, the return of Jesus in Glory. This anxious expectation gives Advent and the Mass a sense of direction. We are not sitting around idle waiting, rather we are on a mission. May this season of Advent increase our resolve and an eagerness to welcome Christ at his coming.

Like a pop quiz or a thief in the night, Jesus will return. The good news is that we know the questions that are on the test. We even know the answers. In the evening of life we will be judged on our love. How well did we care for the least of those among us? How well did we use the gifts God gave us? That is the emphasis of today’s Gospel. God has given each of us special gifts according to our ability and each of us is called to greatness. Let’s resolve not to compare ourselves to others but to do the best we can with the talents we have been given. If we do that, we will hear at the end of our life, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

Paul uses the language of sleep to describe death. This makes death sound so temporary and indeed it is. The early Church had seen firsthand how Jesus could raise someone from the dead. They had experienced the resurrection of Jesus, a word literally meaning “to get up again.” It is not surprising then that the Christians refused the pagan practice of cremating the remains of those who had died. Instead they created large underground cemeteries such as the catacombs in Rome. There they placed the bodies of their loved ones awaiting that great day of awakening. This weekend’s homily explores the Church’s traditions regarding care of the body after death and explains what the Church really teaches about cremation.

Yesterday we honored the Church in Glory, the saints in heaven. Today we commemorate and pray for the Church Suffering, all those who have died and await the full glory of heaven in purgatory. There is a tendency today to “canonize” everyone who dies and talk as though it is certain that they are in heaven. Yet, the Scriptures tell us plainly that nothing imperfect can enter heaven. Certainly we know many of our deceased loved ones who we believe died in a state of grace. Yet, how many of us are completely free from all attachment to sin and are thus perfect when we die? Purgatory is the great gift of God’s mercy to allow us to get cleaned up before entering heaven.

On this day, we remember that it is a great spiritual work of mercy to pray for the dead. Let us remember our brothers and sisters who have died and can be greatly aided by our prayers, especially those forgotten souls who have no one to pray for them. May perpetual light shine upon them and may they rest in peace.

To be a saint is to be in heaven. Today we celebrate all our brothers and sisters whom we know are in heaven. From there they behold God face to face forever. Thus they hold out for us the great example of where we are headed if we live heroic lives as they did. Yet, from this place of bliss they remain joined with us in the great Communion of Saints. Like the fans at a sporting event they cheer us on. They desire for us to share in their glory. May we be grateful this day and every day for the saints, our heavenly friends and our biggest fans.

St. Paul tells us in the second reading today that he is proud that he shared with his disciples, “not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as well.” We all love teachers who put themselves into their teaching and give us more than just the words in the textbook. I think we love this quality in our priests as well. We love priests who understand us and with whom we have something in common. While we have beautiful examples of how the humanness of our priests helps us to know God better, their are also cases where the humanness of priests becomes a major stumbling block and even a scandal. It has always been this way since the beginning of the Church.

On this Priesthood Sunday we give thanks for our priests who are chosen from among us. We priests are called to image the perfect fatherhood of God, yet we often fall short, as all fathers do. Pray for your priests. Give thanks for the good you see, quickly overlook the bad, and remember that the two are always wrapped up together in the human condition. May God allow us as priests, broken though we are, to be living witnesses as we share not only the gospel of God, but our very selves.

St. Paul gives us what appears to be a paradox in the 2nd reading today. He praises the Thessalonians for accepting the Word “with affliction and joy in the Holy Spirit.” How can affliction and joy exist together? St. Francis of Assisi is a great model for solving this riddle. In his own unique way, St. Francis shows us how to radically live out the call of today’s Gospel to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. If we do that, we can have perfect joy no matter what affliction life throws at us.

In the new translation of the Mass which we will begin using this Advent, the words of consecration of the chalice will be changing. Instead of referring to the fact that Jesus shed his blood “for all” we will hear the priest refer to Jesus shedding his blood “for many.” While Jesus did indeed die for all, the new translation is not only faithful to the Latin, but also points out the sad fact that not all will accept Jesus’ offer of salvation. Like the people in the Gospel, many of us today make excuses as to why we have better things to do than accept God’s invitation.

Every Sunday we are invited to the marriage banquet prepared by God. How do we respond? Do we tell God that we have “better things” to do? If we do come to Mass faithfully each week, how is our attitude? Are we really participating and putting ourselves fully into it so as to “get something out of it?” Perhaps the meditation in today’s homily concerning our beloved Kansas City Chiefs football team will help.

I was conducting a parish retreat last weekend and so didn’t have a Sunday homily. As a bonus then, here is the homily I have at Bishop Miege High School for the homecoming Mass on the Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi. May we be like Mary in the Gospel and know how to find the one thing that is most important among the many. When we find that it is God that we need, may we be like St. Francis in leaving everything to follow God, placing nothing before him, not even sports.

Our readings today speak of several reversals of roles. None is greater than the one spoken of in the 2nd reading. Paul tells us plainly that God become man. The creator became part of his creation. To really understand the enormity of this event, we have to hold on to two very important truths about Jesus. Namely, Jesus was 100% God and at the same time he was 100% man. Jesus is God, consubstantial with the Father. Yet he also took on our flesh, became incarnate, and is one us.

Because of Jesus’ self-emptying and his death for us, we ourselves are in for quite a role reversal. God became man so that we might become like God. Jesus did not stay dead and neither will we. We are meant to be lifted up and live with God forever in heaven where “Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

The landowner in today’s Gospel has such compassion that he goes in search of workers for his vineyard time and time again. Even though he probably has no need for more workers, he knows how much the people need the work. God has no need of us, yet we have great need of God. He has called each of us into his vineyard, some early in life, some later. Our response should never be to compare ourselves to others and become jealous. No matter when we were called, our response to God must always be the same…gratitude.

On this 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on our country, the phrase often featured on signs and memorials reads simply, “Never Forget.” Yet, what is it that we are not supposed to forget? In the days and weeks following the attacks there were many feelings of anger and hatred and a desire for revenge. Our scripture readings today encourage us not to try remember these feelings of hurt and anger, but rather to have a heart of forgiveness. While certainly we resolve that we will never forget those who died, there are some other things that we as a nation would do well to “Never Forget.”

Before 9/11 many in our country didn’t think very much about God. Things seemed to be going well and our country and our lives seemed strong and invincible. Many proudly claimed that we didn’t even need God any more. On 9/11 and the weeks following, the country prayed. We went to church. We knew how much we needed God and how only trust in him who brings good out of evil could make any sense of such sad events.

Before 9/11 many of us took our families for granted. It seemed that our lives would go on forever and that we had plenty of time to make needed changes later. On 9/11, the people in the planes that had the chance to make one last phone call or scribble a few hurried words before the planes impacted almost universally had the same wish. They weren’t worried about money or their sports teams. They simply wanted to tell their family that they loved them. Many family members left behind wished the same.

Before 9/11 it seemed that America was divided and so many people were only selfishly focused on what was in their own best interest. Other people didn’t matter so long as I got what I wanted. On 9/11 we saw average Americans become heroes. As the twin towers were falling we know that they were filled with fighters and police racing to get into those towers to help people. In the following weeks thousands of young men and women volunteered to protect our country by joining the military. 9/11 brought the country together around the common desire to help others.

There are many things to remember about 9/11. Most people alive then can remember where they were. On this anniversary, let us resolve not try to remember the past anger and hatred. Rather, I pray that we might once again be reminded of how we learned what was really important on that day. May we never forget how much we need God. May we never forget how special our family and friends are. May we never forget the great pride and sense of community we found when each of us cared about others more than ourselves. These are truly worthy things. These are things that I hope we will “Never Forget.”

A popular philosophy plaguing our society today is the idea of moral relativism. This way of thinking says that there is no truth; it’s all relative to whatever morality an individual person might want to create. The supreme virtue in such a society is that of tolerance. We should condemn nothing and tolerate everything since nothing is objectively right or wrong. We often hear the Scripture quoted reminding us not to “judge” others. Yet is this really the Christian view?

In today’s readings, God is clearly telling us that not only is not wrong to correct someone doing something bad, such correction is required. This is a natural consequence of a correct understanding of the fact that there is of course such a thing as absolute truth. Something can be true even if no one believes it at the time. More importantly, in our Christian beliefs, we understand something as sinful not because it breaks an arbitrary rule but because it is bad for us. Sin is bad because it ultimately makes us unhappy and less free.

In this light, we can see why the Bible is so forceful that not only must we judge when our brother or sister is doing something bad, but we must correct him or her. The key here is how we do it. Fraternal correction is an act of charity when motivated by unselfish love for our brothers and sisters. We all need the support of the community to help us get out of sin when we are stuck. We pray that our Church would be such a community where we build each other up and help each other live a moral life. Indeed we really are called to be our brother’s keeper.

In today’s gospel a Canaanite woman comes to find Jesus and asks healing for her daughter. Surprisingly, Jesus won’t even talk to her. When he does finally talk to her he calls her a dog. In the very next sentence he then praises her for her faith in a way that we don’t even see him compliment his disciples. What is going on here?

First, we have to see that this woman is not Jewish. She is not a part of the chosen people. Jews often referred to gentiles as dogs, so we see Jesus repeating a popular objection to involving himself with a non-Jew. Notice though that this woman is said to be coming out from the land of the gentiles and is going toward Jesus. Spiritually, she represents all the gentiles who will come to have faith in Jesus. Most Christians today were not born Jewish, therefore we are gentiles and the fulfillment of the Psalmist’s desire, “O God, let all the nations praise you.”

However, there is a second important reason behind Jesus’ delay in responding to the woman. St. Augustine remarks that “The woman is ignored, no that mercy might be denied, but that desire might be enkindled.” The crisis that led the woman to leave Tyre and Sidon behind, to beg Jesus for help, allowed her desire for God to increase. God wishes to do the same for us. Through the difficulties and struggles of our life, we pray that our desire for God might be increased.

When we are ready to come out of Tyre and Sidon, to leave sin and separation from God behind, we will discover that God is also coming out to meet us. Let us therefore persevere and turn to God in moments of crisis that our desire might be enkindled and we might hear those beautiful words of Jesus, “Christian, great is your faith.”

In today’s first reading, the prophet Elijah has an amazing encounter with God. Mt. Horeb was the famous mountain where God appeared in smoke and fire to give Moses the 10 commandments. Elijah would have been full of expectation, and indeed while on the mountain he experiences some powerful signs. There is a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire…all powerful signs that God had used in the past to show his presence. Yet, this time, Elijah discerns that God is not in any of these. Rather, Elijah encounters God somewhat unexpectedly in “a tiny whispering sound.”

Where do we expect to encounter God? Do we tend to look for him primarily in big and powerful ways, in ways that stir our emotions and excite us? This can happen, and we need it to happen every now and then. However, God is more often found not in loud exciting ways, but in silence. If we make time for silence, we might just be surprised that we will have an amazing encounter with God. In the ordinary work of our day, don’t forget to take some time to meet God, to be silent, and listen for the tiny whispering sound.

Maybe we’ve never experienced a lack of water in our lives, but all of us experience thirst. We have a spiritual thirst put in us by God that only he can satisfy. Society gives us all kinds of things that it says will satisfy us, but they ultimately leave us unfulfilled. Today God invites us to “come to the water.”

After we have found the life giving water in our faith, Jesus then asks us to share it. Perhaps we are afraid. We may think that we’re not qualified to be an “evangelist.” The truth is that we don’t have to be experts to share the faith. Maybe we only have a little, like 5 loaves and 2 fish. We bring to Jesus the little that we have and he does the rest. All it really takes to be an evangelist is to recognize that you are someone who is thirsty and that you’ve found the source of water. Now who wouldn’t want to share that?

Our world is hungry like never before for the satisfaction only God will give. Don’t wait for someone else to do something about it. Jesus says to us as he said to the apostles…”Give them some food yourselves.”

Jesus speaks today of a treasure hidden in a field. Hopefully we get the point that our faith is a treasure and our relationship with God worth “selling” everything. Truly there is wisdom in our Church beyond what Solomon could have imagined. Yet, do we realize this? Can we really say that our faith is what we value most of all?

We tend to focus on the man in the story who finds the treasure, but did you every stop to think about the man who sold him the field? He obviously didn’t know he had a treasure. Maybe he never bothered to really look around his field or else he could have found the treasure. As a result he probably sold his field cheap, no knowing what he had.

This parable is a warning to all of us. We have a treasure in the Church. However, if we fail to learn our faith, to dig around in our field, we will one day find the little faith that we had…gone. We will run the risk of leaving the Church and selling our field cheaply, believing that we actually got a pretty good deal on what we thought was just an empty field.

With all the violence, difficulties, and scandals in our world, this place can really seem less than ideal. Well, it is. The good news is that we don’t have to make everything right in this world. We don’t have to fight to the death to avenge wrongs done to us. There is another world where all will be made right. As we go through this world, our task then is patience, like the farmer who allows the weeds and the wheat to grow together until the harvest.

While we’re at it criticizing the world and everyone else in it, we can often think that of course we’re the wheat. Is that so? Most of us probably look a little more like weeds than wheat at times. The good news is that God is not done with us. We are all works in progress and that is why we must be patient, with each other and with ourselves. The harvest will come when all will be made well, until then…patience.

Today’s homily was given in the Chapel of the Twelve Apostles on the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation in Osceola, Missouri.

Our young people today have so many options before them. Particularly alluring is the world of sports. It is not uncommon for kids to be playing multiple sports and giving great amounts of time to this. On top of sports there is a multitude of other activities to be involved in and it seems that no one wants to risk “missing out” on anything, so they try to do it all. In this way they seem to be a lot like the situation described in today’s gospel.

The gospel from today’s Mass describes a sower going out to sow. As he goes, it seems that he is throwing seed everywhere. Some lands in rocks, some on the trail, some among thorns, and some on good soil. Like kids who try to do everything, he seems to be casting seed everywhere, much of it having little lasting effect.

There is a notion of freedom today that relishes the ability to do whatever we want. However, I would propose that the true joy in life comes not from doing a great number of things, but rather in being committed to a few important things. The seed that falls on good ground needs time to stop and put down roots. We too need to stop trying to find happiness in the quantity of activities and realize that true joy and freedom will come only from commitment.

What is worthy of the commitment of our lives? For what are we willing to say that we will forgo all these other activities in order to commit to something special. The greatest joy in life comes when we find the special things that are worthy of our commitment, when we stop and put down our roots. While there will be many things along the way that will give great meaning to our life, ultimately only God is worthy of the total commitment of our lives. May we have the strength today to sink our roots deep in something of great meaning, most especially our faith.

This weekend we celebrate our freedom, our Independence Day. What could be more American than freedom? Yet, have you ever stopped to think about what that freedom really means or where it comes from? Ultimately, our freedom cannot simply be about doing whatever we want and no one stops us. True freedom is the freedom not to do what we want, but to do what we ought. We are most free when we become the people God created us to be.

In our Declaration of Independence, our founding fathers recognized that the right of people to be free comes not from government but from our Creator who has endowed us with “unalienable rights.” It was for the same reason that the phrase “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in the 1950′s. Communism was trying to remove belief in God from public life, leaving only the state as the source of rights and freedom. If the government thinks that it gives us freedom, it can also try to take away our freedom. The recent attempts to remove the “Creator” from the Declaration or “under God” from the Pledge shouldn’t just make us sad, it should make us scared.

If we will not be a nation under God, then we will inevitably be a nation under tyranny.

The truth is that freedom comes from God and we are truly free only when we give ourselves completely to God. We have no better example us this than our Blessed Mother. She found great freedom in her complete obedience to God. An even more perfect example of this is God himself. Jesus entrusted himself completely to Mary as a little baby. If Jesus could give himself into Mary’s hands this way then we should too. Blessed Pope John Paul II took as his papal motto, Totus Tuus, “totally yours.” Everything we have belongs to God. In the great irony of the Christian life, it is when we claim nothing as our own and give ourselves totally to Jesus through Mary that we are able to be truly free.

At first it might seem strange to celebrate a day in honor of the Eucharist. Don’t we do that at every Mass? Of course, but today is a special day to recommit ourselves to our faith in the Eucharist. Sometimes we can let our faith grow weak, not really stopping to think who it is we receive in Holy Communion. It’s easy for our senses to be deceived since the Jesus comes to us under the appearance of ordinary bread and wine. We might doubt that this is really Jesus.

This was the case for a priest whose doubt of the Eucharist gave rise to the feast we celebrate today. Today’s homily tells the story of Fr. Peter of Prague and the great miracle God worked for him and for the Church in 1263. May we all recognize the great miracle that God works at Mass today and every day.

After encountering Jesus after the resurrection, the gospels describe the apostles as being “fearful, yet overjoyed.” Perhaps that’s the best description we can hope for to describe how we should feel in the presence of God. On today’s Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity we try to put into technical language what is ultimately a mystery. How do we properly describe God? Is God a powerful force that created everything, the “Lord” who appears to Moses in smoke and fire? Or is God a loving father, who sends his son on a rescue mission to save his beloved children? Yes…”both and.”

On this Fathers’ Day we are reminded that earthly fathers are meant to be an image of our heavenly Father. Although we should always know that our fathers love us, my experience is that when you’ve been bad, no words strike more fear than the infamous, “Wait until your father gets home!” Earthly fathers image this “both and” of the Trinity. God loves us, but he also expects certain things. We pray for our fathers today that God will strengthen them to carry out their mission. Through them, may we come to know a little bit better the love of the Holy Trinity.

Today is not any ordinary day. Today is Pentecost. It is a day filled with the power of the Spirit. Today the apostles went from being locked in a room in fear to spilling out onto the streets to boldly proclaim the Gospel. The Spirit was present on another fateful Pentecost in Warsaw Poland in 1979. John Paul II returned to Poland for the 1st time as Pope and told the millions gathered, “Do not be afraid.” The Catholic Church in Poland came out of their locked rooms and the Spirit sowed the seeds that would lead to the end of atheistic communism in just 10 years.

The Spirit continues to come to us today. Pentecost is a day on which we can change the world…one family at a time. All it takes is one family, one person, to say yes to the Holy Spirit and we can change the world. Let’s not try to contain the Holy Spirit. Let’s say yes to the Spirit today, and when you do…do not be afraid.

There is more to reality than what we experience in the material world. Many things are very real that are beyond our senses. Today we celebrate the day when Jesus Ascended into heaven and left this material world. Yet, as he was leaving, he promised that “I am with you always.” As the Church fathers put it, the Christ of history is now present in mystery. Sometimes we think that the apostles had it better because they experienced Christ physically present in the world. The truth is that the presence of Christ which we experience today is every bit as real, more real in fact.

The Second Vatican Council taught that the presence of Christ can be experienced today through the Word of Sacred Scripture, through the Sacraments, the person of priest, and especially through the Eucharist. When we realize that Jesus is with us always, we are no longer tied to just one physical place as the apostles were. Now we are ready for mission. Jesus’ last words to the apostles were instructions to “Go!” So at the end of Mass, after we have been filled with the presence of Christ, we too are told to “Go!” As we are sent we hear Jesus say to us as he did to the apostles, “Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

St. Peter reminds us in the 2nd reading today to always be ready to give an explanation for the “reason for your hope.” Perhaps we don’t know the faith as well as we should. Maybe we are afraid when others question or challenge us about teachings of the Church. St. Peter reminds us that the faith is reasonable. Our faith “makes sense” and can be defended. However, our faith is much more than just a reasoned deduction. Hope is not quite as tangible as reason, but is just as real. Our hope points us toward heaven and our relationship with God.

In today’s gospel Jesus says that he goes to prepare a place for us and will then return to take us to be with him forever. It sounds like the end of the world…and it is. But, the language also tells us something about our relationship with God right now. In the time of Jesus, when a couple became engaged it was known as betrothal. The formal period of betrothal began when the husband paid the father of the bride the “bride-price.” The couple was then known as husband and wife. However, they were not yet married. The period of betrothal would last around a year.

During the year of betrothal, the husband had to ensure proper employment such that he could support a family and he had to go and build a home for this new family. Literally, he had to go and prepare a place for his wife and children. After a year, the marriage was sealed when the husband came to the home of the bride and took her in solemn procession into his new home. During this period of betrothal, the couple did not engage in marital relations. Rather, the time of betrothal was meant to prove that the couple could live chastely and were not mere slaves of their passions.

It is in this context that Jesus says in the gospel that he goes to prepare a place for us and will return to bring us to himself. Jesus is saying that he is our bridegroom who has betrothed himself to his bride the Church. This means that in this life we should be waiting expectantly for the coming of Jesus the bridegroom. It also means that during this time of preparation we are called to faithfulness. How are we doing?

We can certainly see that with regard to marriage we could be doing a lot better. Moving in together is no longer seen as the sign of marriage. In fact, couples live together today with almost no commitment at all. It wasn’t too long ago that if a boy tried to take some young lady to live with him outside of marriage that the father of the girl would have been there with a shotgun. Where are the fathers today to protect their daughters? Where are the fathers to show their sons how to be real men and care for women?

St. Philip the apostle begs Jesus today, “Show us the father.” Indeed, we are in dire need of strong fathers who will protect their families from evil. We also must see in Philip’s request the great desire we should all have to be in heaven. During this time of betrothal we pray that we can have the expectant joy of a bride preparing for her husband. We pray that we will be faithful.

We often think of sheep as being cute and fuzzy little creatures that you just want to hug when you see them. However, I was reminded of a different side of sheep recently when I saw a book written by a Protestant pastor entitled, “When Sheep Attack.” We often like to think of ourselves as cute little sheep, but the truth is that sometimes we attack. We often find ourselves frustrated with our shepherds. Yet, we need to stop and think about how we got these shepherds leading the Church in the first place.

The Church does not have the leaders she does because our bishops and priests are are so incredibly talented and holy. In fact the Church succeeds in spite of the often obvious unholiness of her leaders. There can only be one reason that the Church is what it is today, and that is because God is holy. He chooses to work through unworthy servants that he calls to be shepherds of his people. If chose the leaders of the Church, we would probably pick different people than what we’ve got, but then we’d also want to take credit for any success.

Today we thank God that we are not in charge of the Church; he is. If our shepherds are holy men, praise God. If we are frustrated by our shepherds at times, pray for them. Above all, trust that, no matter who the shepherd might be, the voice of the Good Shepherd speaks through them. Learn to hear his voice, no matter how unworthy his instrument may be. May God bless us with holy shepherds…and more of them!

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Like a time capsule left for us in scripture, these words are addressed to us living today. We never saw Jesus during his public ministry. We did not see him die on Good Friday. Except for a few mystics, we have never seen him alive after his resurrection. Yet, billions of Christians all over the world gather today and profess our whole-hearted belief in Jesus Christ. Have you ever stopped to think how amazing this is? St. Paul tells us that “without seeing him, you love him.” On this day that see our beloved Pope John Paul II officially named “blessed,” the words of Jesus remind all of us who believe that truly we too are among the blessed.

An atheist once admitted in a debate that, although he did not believe in the resurrection, the only logical conclusion was that the apostles did. He said it was completely absurd to think that the apostles made up a story of the resurrection, or faked it, or just thought it in their minds. How did he arrive at this conclusion? He said that the lives the apostles led after the resurrection, the testimony that they gave…and especially the testimony of laying down their lives as martyrs…could lead to only one conclusion. The apostles really thought they saw Jesus raised from the dead.

Now this atheist also believed that the apostles were hallucinating, but his conclusion is at least partly right. The lives of the apostles bore witness to what they had seen. What about our lives? We have the same chance that Peter and John had in the Gospel today. They saw an empty tomb and it says that St. John “saw and believed.” We can see the same empty tomb today in Jerusalem. Do we believe? If we do, is there the same kind of evidence in our lives such that even an atheist would have to say of us that there is no doubt that we really believe we have encountered Jesus raised from the dead?

Today, 2000 years later, all Christians gather on this Easter Sunday to boldly proclaim together, “We have seen the Lord!” Alleluia!

It is a great mystery to think that the Almighty God became man and became a part of His own creation. Yesterday we celebrated the incredible mystery that this same God would then take ordinary bread and wine and change them into Himself. However, nothing can compare with what we celebrate today. Today is the strangest of days. On this day we recall the inexplicable truth that God died for us.

This event is made so real today that the sacrifice of the Mass is not celebrated. Today we come confidently before the thrown of grace to receive God’s mercy. We venerate the wood of the cross now become the tree of life and we eat of it’s fruit, Jesus the crucified given us today in Holy Communion. Oh strange and blessed day on which the savior of the world died that we might live. Come, let us worship.

This evening we sing an ancient hymn composed by St. Thomas Aquinas for the Mass of Corpus Christi in the 13th century. While most people will probably never read much of the volumes of theology he wrote, almost everyone is familiar with the words of his famous chant, Pange Lingua. We use the last two verses which begin with the words Tantum Ergo in the liturgy of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Tonight this chant serves to accompany the procession at the end of Mass whereby we spiritually follow Jesus as he leaves the upper room and goes to the Garden of Gethsemane. Tonight we sing of his glorious body and receive that same body through the gift of the Eucharist. Tonight we are Jesus’ “chosen band.”

Sing, my tongue, the Savior’s glory,
of His flesh the mystery sing;
of the Blood, all price exceeding,
shed by our immortal King,
destined, for the world’s redemption,
from a noble womb to spring.

Of a pure and spotless Virgin
born for us on earth below,
He, as Man, with man conversing,
stayed, the seeds of truth to sow;
then He closed in solemn order
wondrously His life of woe.

On the night of that Last Supper,
seated with His chosen band,
He the Pascal victim eating,
first fulfills the Law’s command;
then as Food to His Apostles
gives Himself with His own hand.

Word-made-Flesh, the bread of nature
by His word to Flesh He turns;
wine into His Blood He changes;
what though sense no change discerns?
Only be the heart in earnest,
faith her lesson quickly learns.

Down in adoration falling,
This great Sacrament we hail,
Over ancient forms of worship
Newer rites of grace prevail;
Faith will tell us Christ is present,
When our human senses fail.

To the everlasting Father,
And the Son who made us free
And the Spirit, God proceeding
From them Each eternally,
Be salvation, honor, blessing,
Might and endless majesty.