"Never grow weary of doing what is right."

Quite often we are the greatest obstacles to doing what is right

We know what is right, but we talk ourselves out of it.

"Maybe someone else will do it"… we might say to ourselves

We become fearful because of some terrible result we expect to happen if we do something… much like the Apostles often did

But they became so successful in their ministry because they went with courage

They knew Jesus walked with them

"I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you" He tells us in today's Gospel

When we fall to sin…when we lose in something

It is easy to take it to heart and sometimes to even drown in it

But when we gather in this place… in this Church or any other Church

They are beacons of hope in the midst of a world that focuses on the defeat of the grave.

But we look beyond the grave.

God created Adam out of the dirt of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life. So too does God imbue us with the breath of life, but how often do we think about the significance of this breath?

Sometimes we are so preoccupied with what we don't have, that we fail to think about what we do have.

We lose that sense of gratitude for what God has given us and the people he has surrounded us with.

We are like those windows. Sometimes we're afraid to let Christ's light shine upon us because we're afraid of what we might find. Sometimes, we prefer to stay in the dark so that we can "appear" to be okay... at least that is what we tell ourselves.

We get excited to tell people about all sorts of things in life, so why not excitedly proclaim the closeness of Christmas? Or even yet, why not proclaim a true encounter with our Lord, Jesus Christ in word and sacrament?

As we find ourselves closer to the end of the Church year, we tend to get scripture readings with apocalyptic themes. And with each of these stories, there is a story behind the story. Jesus is speaking to His disciples about being vigilant about the things to come. They're not to be followers of these false messiahs. While the stories of Christ's followers would ultimately have a happy ending in Heaven. Many of them would suffer persecutions and be betrayed by friends and family members. Jesus urges for them to take courage and have faith in Him through it all.

There's an iconic scene in Star Wars: A New Hope where Luke Skywalker is gazing off into the horizon. He has just experienced the loss of his family and he's wrestling with what it all might mean for him. This scene; however, provides Luke with an opportunity to let the past and future melt away into the present for a brief moment. It gives him a sense of peace. As Christians, we're encouraged to imitate Luke Skywalker in some ways. But instead of looking into the sunset, we're to look to the Son - Jesus Christ.

How do you pray?

Do you pray?

Do you try to better your relationship with God?

The Temple area was a holy place for the Israelites

It was not only a place of pilgrimage, but it was a testament to their faith.

The hulking temple stood at the city center… everything else was built around it.

People from all over the world would come here to marvel at its size and beauty.

Jesus, too, was a visitor here from time to time.

And he used this great monument of faith as the place of His parable for this week.

Two people went to the Temple to pray… one a Pharisee and one a Tax Collector

The Pharisee marveled at himself in God's house.

"I do this…and that… and I'm glad I'm not like the rest of creation"

And off to the distance was the tax collector

"Have mercy on me, a sinner"

The unique quality of a Saint is recognizing when they have an authentic encounter with Christ, but I think there's something else there as well. Like the Leper in today's Gospel, they are able to recognize the fingerprints of God in their midst. And because of this, there's only one proper response: thanks and praise.

It is pretty obvious that the Apostles have no idea what faith is by their proposition to Jesus: "Increase our faith." By this question, it almost sounds like they want Jesus to zap them with faith, but by Jesus's response, we know that faith is a virtue… something we have to choose and work at in order to grow.

How far can encouragement go? St. Paul's encouragement in His letters helped to shape the Church into what it is today. Despite the odds or what obstacles the early followers of Jesus had in front of them, the words of St. Paul echoed in their minds in order to help give them the strength to travel uphill in an upwards battle of faith. His words ring true even to this day.

On a daily basis, we are making choices whether we're aware of it or not. Most of these choices are simple choices; however, some of these choices carry a bit more weight. What does this have to do with the spiritual life? Simply put: God gave us a gift of free-will and the way that we spend our time either is in service to Him or in service of "the world" (or ourselves).

Think for a moment that the God of the Universe was not born to some royal family in some mega metropolis; rather, Jesus had some of the most humble of beginnings. His life teaches us that we're able to do the same regardless of our station in life. And while some are called to help the poorest of the poor in 3rd world countries or even our inner cities, some are called to act in humility for our neighbors, friends, and families.

And if not them, then usually that role is for our aunts and uncles.

And we also trust the secrets of our hearts to our friends. We are limited by what our 5 senses can experience and what the mind can come up with. But there are some things in life we have to leave to trust. We put faith in people. Sometimes that faith is honored when they come through for us. Sometimes that faith is shaken when things don't go according to plan

This has been a question that has been asked for many generations. Sometimes you look at the world around you and you feel helpless to do anything. That is, until you read a story or see someone actually do something. We were so fortunate here in Cleveland this past week to be not only on America's center stage, but the world's center stage. Everyone was just waiting for the violence, but we had many like-minded individuals who came together and thought and believed that they could truly change the world. Everything from handing out water and food to people; to offering to pray with or give hugs to some of those who might have initially desired something different out of anger.

But you see, there was something else at work in Cleveland over this past week. It was something that we were part of, yet could not see. It might have been the most effective tool that we had in propelling against anger, hatred, and violence.

What is this tool?

Hopefully you do it every day –

Prayer

With so many distractions in life, it is sometimes difficult to find time for silence. The new Pokemon Go game as well as other things in life provide us with some unexpected time for thought, conversation, and perhaps even prayer.

 The Church's history goes back about 2000 years, and her history books are filled with stories of people who not only transformed the Church,  but also transformed the world.

An unnamed woman visits the house of Simon the Pharisee in order to see Jesus

She doesn't care what people say or what people think

She just wants to do something kind for this man she's heard so many great things about

She washes his feet and anoints them with oil

She doesn't expect anything in return, she just does it – love truly compels her

What Jesus says and does is truly profound

As the crowds are talking about this woman amongst themselves

And thinking terrible things within their hearts

She is the only one acting out of love

Jesus uses this great deed as an example to all

The great desire of his heart has always been to love His people

To have His people allow him to love them

He desires relationship

The others have closed themselves off

But she has opened herself up, despite all she has done

"Your sins are forgiven", He tells her

"Go in peace"

Elijah raises up the son of a widow in Zarephath

And Jesus raises up the son of a widow in Nain

We're not given the name of either of the widows

Only that these seem to be the last living male relatives that they have

Culturally, Jewish women at this time needed to have a male to accompany them through town – the males were also the owners of property

So life was very difficult for women

Especially Widows

And these two widows were not only sadden by the loss of their sons

But also by the fact that they'll soon be cast aside by society

But God does not let that happen, does He?

Elijah's prayer is answered as God raises up one son

Jesus, who is God incarnate, has pity on the widow in Nain and raises up her son

In both cases God brought joy for what he did in the life of His people

But what's the bigger miracle here?

We often fixate on the resurrections

Which is truly a great miracle

But we know from the history of Jesus, that He yearns for the faith of His people

He longs for a relationship with His people

It is the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ.

Our second reading is what we know to be the first written story of what happened at the Last Supper

St. Paul wrote his letters before the Gospels were even written

He took the bread…

He took the cup…

Offered thanks

And gave it to his disciples

This is my body… this is my blood…

Do this in remembrance of me.

We hear these words so often at Mass that sometimes our minds overlook the significance

Jesus gave us a command to "do this in remembrance of me"

It wasn't a suggestion, it was a command.

As Saint Paul puts it, as often as we do this, we remember him – we put him first

But do you notice there is another word that we hear and read in what Jesus said…

He gave "thanks"

The turned the focus from what was out there in the world, to what was happening presently

To what he already had

He gave thanks to the Father for what he was doing in this Eucharistic meal

Eucharist is truly an act of thanksgiving

The Apostles were scared that they also would be put to death

So they lock themselves in a room and hide from the Jews and Romans

Jesus appears to give them their mission

He promises to send the Holy Spirit to them to help them with this mission

And in the 1st reading, it doesn't look like too much has changed

They saw the risen Jesus

They saw Him ascend into heaven

Yet they still haven't started Jesus's mission to "go make disciples of all nations" by "teaching them" His "commands"

The Holy Spirit realizes this and enters into them in a new way

The Spirit stirs in them the gifts that were in them all along

Most of them became courageous to the point of martyrdom, dying for Christ

My friends, on that Pentecost day, the fire of the Spirit did not just descend on the disciples and not move

When you read the Acts of the Apostles, you hear that it spread

It wasn't a destructive force like a wild fire

But it was something new, it was a consoling/healing flame

That same fire of the Holy Spirit is still with us today

We just need to be willing to recognize it.

If we allow Him, He wants to pull us from the world-view that we're used to in order to see the world from a different perspective

To see ourselves from a different perspective

As you probably noticed, our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles almost reads like a travel manual.

Paul and Barnabas are on fire with the Holy Spirit and have no greater desire than to spread the message of Christ all over the place

So they're really going from city-center to city-center

Sharing the message of Christ, and drawing in converts

The people in these cities, if you read through the Acts of the Apostles, were looking for hope in the world

And what is more hopeful than the message of Christ

But this being called out of themselves goes back to what we get in our Gospel today

In this short Gospel Jesus explains the heart of what it means to be a disciple

"they will know you are my disciples through your love"

How wonderful it must have been to be in Antioch to hear the message of resurrection.

And for those listening to Paul and Barnabas, as we hear in our first reading, it wasn't just a story for them

It was something they were invited to be part of.

They were often shunned by the ancient jewish people because they didn't have cultural jewish lineage.

But this new "way" taught by these two disciples of the Risen One, made them equal sharers in eternal life

That was a big deal.

That meant they could worship God in heaven as we hear about in our reading from Revelation

But it also meant that the consoling words of Christ we hear in today's Gospel were not just meant for His fellow Jews, they were meant for all who believe

There’s a good chance that if you’ve watched TV or went to the movies sometime within the last few months, you will have seen quite a number of movie trailers

The two that stuck out to me quite a bit, possibly because of the amount that they were played were Batman vs Superman and Captain America: Civil War

There’s a theme that is implied within the titles of these two big-budget superhero movies:

Those who would normally do just about anything to protect the world, turn on each other.

One can sort of assume that there is a difference of world-views that come up.

It is something that we all go through – we debate differing worldviews.

But of course with superhero movies, they do so with lots of explosions and flexing of superpowers and gadgets.

There’s also another theme that’s implied, but much less focused upon –

That is the theme of forgiveness.

In order for them to be the heroes we all admire, they must be willing to forgive each other for wrongdoings

They have to be able to walk down a common road in order to bring healing into their own lives, and in the life of the world.

That’s what’s implied in the “hero” part of superhero

My friends, this theme of forgiveness is put on display in this episode from John’s Gospel.

 We have to remember that many of these Apostles went onto distant lands they did not know

Thomas, according to Tradition, would possibly go the furthest as he made his way to India.

What gave him the strength and perseverance to do what he did?

The peace of the risen Christ

The peace of Christ, my brothers and sisters, is beyond what the world considers peace

As he would go on to say “The peace I leave you, the world cannot give”

It isn’t a lack of conflict

Or quiet moment

Rather the peace of Christ is the invitation to retreat in prayer with Him for a moment

To be transported to another world

So that he can enliven the fire of His love within your heart

To inspire you to go out of yourself and become more of who He made you to be

But you’ve got to leave that upper room, whatever it might be in your life

Each one of us has memories that help shape our thoughts and who we are

We have memories of family growing up

Memories of school

Perhaps memories of weddings

Memories of trips and vacations

For me, going a number of years back, one of those mind shaping memories has been looking at one of the most beautiful of sunrises

I had spent the night at the house of a cousin of mine

We had just pulled an all nighter

When I look down at my watch and realize I should probably just drive home at this moment

I was a bit exhausted, but the urge to get in my car and hop on the roadways was strong

As I bid my farewell to my cousin, I did just that, hopped in my car and began the 30 minute commute back to my family’s house

When I got to the end of my cousin’s country street, just as I was about to get on the highway, a sliver of light peaked over the horizon

I pulled off to the side of the road, and for the next 15 minutes, I allowed myself to be encapsulated by this beauty that God had created.

It almost seemed impossible that something this beautiful could exist.

And the only thing on my mind, my brothers and sisters, was just how much more encapsulating must the resurrection have been to the earliest disciples

This cross that was for hundreds of years the ultimate sign of torture and death

Became a lasting sign of victory

But not just victory over anything

Victory over something that had been undefeated for billions of years à death

It was as a seminarian that I had an opportunity to truly get into what it meant to celebrate my faith. It wasn't because of my status as a seminarian; rather, it was because I was told by the faculty to get involved as much as possible during the Holy Week celebrations at my home parish. As a youth, we would occasionally go to one or two Holy Week celebrations each year, but never any more than that. Part of that was due to my brothers and I complaining to our mother that it was "too much Church." It wasn't until I could put my faith in the context of the whole of Holy Week that I could truly appreciate what my faith was all about.

But what about the Divine Referee? Not only do we see folks team up against him in today's Gospel, but they walk away humiliated after they are called out for what they are doing and who they really are. Do we sometimes try to do the job of the Divine Referee?

It is often said that Pride is the root of all sin

Because in the moment we choose sin, we are saying by our actions that we know better than God and others

We can do things on our own –

We don’t need anyone

And we especially don’t need God

Some could even argue that in a moment of sin, we become atheists –

Because we flat out deny God

This is what the younger son does to his father in the Prodigal Son story

He needs to realize that the farther he is from the Father, the more he loses his sense of identity – he loses who he is.

Pride not only ruins our relationship with God, but ruins our relationship with others

As we barrel over the people in our lives, often the ones who love us the most

But we always need to remember

That when we enter into the dirtiness of life

And we’ve hit rock bottom

The Father in heaven is always there to pick us up

Because he is always willing to give us mercy

But we have to be willing to ask for it

Jesus is breaking down the cultural norms of 1st century Jewish life

But he is showing us another way to look at scandal –

Jesus shows us that scandal can be a good thing

Here we have Jesus going to Jacob’s well at midday

He sits down next to a Samaritan Woman and asks her for something to drink

From her response, I imagine this woman giving Jesus a very strange facial expression here

She wonders why a Jewish man is there at noontime speaking with her

The Jews never went to the well at midday because it was very hot

But the Samaritans went to the well at this time… it was the cultural norm

Jesus enters into scandalous activity right from the beginning as he starts talking to a Samaritan woman.

Not only was it culturally unacceptable for Jews to interact with Samaritans -

It was very scandalous for a Jewish man to speak with a woman who was not his immediate relative

Even Jesus’s disciples enter into the scene and begin to ask questions to themselves … why is Jesus doing this

Why does Jesus do all of this?

He does it for a variety of reasons

But I think Jesus enters into scandal here to show us that some scandal can be good

Most of the stories we hear in the New Testament sound normal to us.

Jesus cures, Jesus speaks to people, Jesus does other miracles

But to a 1st century Jew, He is being very scandalous – going against everything in the Jewish culture

But Jesus always explains why He does what He does

He always puts the person first – even if that means He has to enter into the dirtiness of their life, our life

What does the supernatural realm have to do with the 2nd Sunday of Lent? Well, for starters, our Gospel features a very supernatural experience for three of the Apostles. But instead of frightening them, it calms and excites them.

Our Gospel message urges us to keep moving forward with courage in life. There are many fears that we can encounter in this world, but most of them deal with the unknown. St. John Paul II urged pilgrims to the Vatican to meet these challenges with "Corragio" (Courage)

On this first Sunday of Lent, we find Jesus entering into his own time of preparation

He knows that it is now the time that he has to begin his public ministry

But he isn’t quite ready yet

So he goes into the desert to get away from the world

To get away from distractions and temptations

Only… he does encounter a big distraction

And he is tempted

Somewhat midway through his time in the desert, Jesus encounters Satan

Satan believes that he can get Jesus to fall into temptation because he is vulnerable

He’s hungry and tired

So the first temptation here is a temptation of the flesh

Food was something that his body was telling him he wanted

Yet the food that Jesus sought in the desert was not physical in origin

He wanted to gain spiritual strength

He had been training his will

When Jesus declines this, Satan tempts Jesus with power

Promising to give him all that he sees from the high mountain

But Jesus knows that wealth and popularity are not going to make him happy

He went into the desert to get away from all of that after all

So finally Satan tempts Jesus with glory

Basically tells him that he should be the one in control of his own life

It is a temptation to pride and ego

But Jesus came to be one of us

He realizes that he already emptied himself to become a lowly human being

Not one born to royalty, but born simply

Forging a new identity is a theme we can trace in this weekend's readings.

Beginning with our first reading, Ezra is looking over the destruction of his beloved Jerusalem

It was once a great city

He’s heard stories and perhaps even saw it as a little boy

But it has since been destroyed by conquerors

He looks around and sees his own facial expression in his fellow Israelites.

Distraught, saddened, and hopeless.

But instead of simply brewing in the reality of the situation

Ezra finds a copy of the Torah, the first 5 books of scripture

He begins to read from it so that all could hear

The stories of their ancestors of faith changed the mood from sorrow to excitement

They began to believe and to dream

They were to do their best to unite and rebuild

And then we get the letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians

He too is reminding them of their own heritage

And helping them understand that they are to forge a Church with Christ at its head

And because of Christ, the whole community is connected in and of one body

If one hurts, we all hurt

If one is lacking, we are all lacking

When one rejoices, we all rejoice

St. Paul is trying to break old divisions of Gentile vs Jew and Slave vs Free

To remind them that all are part of the Body of Christ as believers in Christ

I think just about all of us have seen one of those movies with a riveting motivational speech

Most of the time you’ll see them in movies that have battlefields of sorts – whether it be an action adventure movie with a climatic battle, a sports movie, or even a movie about social change where the team or person we’re rooting for seems to be down and out.

One of the main characters will step in front of the troops

He or she will speak about the reality of the situation they are dealing with –

But despite the odds, they owe it to themselves and to the people that they love to give it all they’ve got

We’d be kidding ourselves to think that these speeches are a modern phenomenon

As a matter of fact, we can find them in the earliest forms of written language

And we can even find a number of them in scripture –

They are prophetic voices to help God’s people remember that they are the children of the God who made the universe, and still loves them so deeply

Fr Chris invites you to be a copilot in his car in this new podcast series entitled "The Drive." Just as you would with anyone who you drive along with in the car, Fr Chris will talk about various topics going on in his life. He'll also talk a bit about his experience as a priest.

In this episode, recorded on Christmas day 2015, Fr Chris will enlighten listeners about his Christmas experience as a priest. He'll speak a bit about what it means for a priest to get an emergency call. He'll also talk about a topic many would like to know and that is a bit about the family life of a Catholic priest.

“What’s a worthwhile investment to you?”

This was the question one of my professors posed to us students as he started the class.

I wasn’t a business major, but immediately my mind went to investing money.

I think if we were to get that question today, that’s where most of our minds would have went.

But he took the question a bit further.

“most of the time we want a good return on our investments…”

We expect that a movie will be good when we spend time and money at a movie theatre to watch one of the latest films.

We expect that if we make a financial investment in the stock market, some time later, we’ll get a return of sorts.

If we send our kids or ourselves to get music lessons or sports clinics, we believe that it should help.

When we buy food in the grocery store or at a restaurant, we expect it to be good

And when we use our utilities at home, we expect them to operate as they were made to.

And the professor then looked around the room at each one of us.

“But my students, there are things in life where we not only expect to be ripped off, we want to be ripped off…”

“…And for most of you here today, you are looking to receive and to do the bare minimum…”

“Why spend so much money to go here if you do not want the best return on your investment?”

“You expect it for just about everything else”

When I was in seminary, during Feasts dedicated to the Blessed Mother, they would often play a song called “Virgin of Love”

I asked Ryan, our music director, to play it during Mass

I remember the first time hearing that song it transported me to a whole different world

Everything from the melody to the lyrics just took me somewhere else

I’d say that it is one of those songs that capture just a bit of what the Blessed Mother’s love is like.

It was like being wrapped in her mantle the first time I ever heard it

My Brothers and Sisters we celebrate today the most ancient of the Church’s celebration for Mary

“Mary Mother of God”

It was celebrated in the early Church, but became an official doctrine of the Church in 431 during the Council of Ephesus.

The feast doesn’t say so much about Mary as it does about Jesus.

To call Mary the Mother of God affirms our belief that Jesus is indeed Divine

He is indeed the 2nd person of the Trinity

Just as Mary wrapped her arms around the Christ-child so many years ago

And we even imagine her embracing Him as an adult

She does so today as our Mother

Sometimes love such as this is difficult to explain in words

Which is why I truly believe that God has gifted us with art such as music

Because it is that same art that has the ability to transport us to another place

Sometimes into the arms of the Blessed Mother

And she’s always there to listen when we need her.

Just this past September, Pope Francis came to the United States to share his wisdom with the world.

He said in advance of the trip that his main goal of the visit was to come for the World Meeting of Families in Philidelphia.

At Mass with a number Bishops, Clergy, and Religious he told a story about St. Katharine Drexel – an American Saint

She went to Pope Leo XIII and wanted to speak about the needs of the missions

America, after all, was still a missionary nation.

Being a wise Pope, Leo XIII turned her question back on her –

“What about you?”

“What are you going to do?”

These words changed the life of St. Katharine

The Pope then turned the question on everyone in the congregation

“What about you?”

There are so many images in this world of peace, but none compare to the image of the Nativity. I've never seen a Nativity picture or sculpture that did not look peaceful, that is, because in that moment the world seemed to stop. Our Gospel paints this beautiful picture of this very scene. Many of God's creatures (Animals, Humans, Angels) came together to worship before this very scene. While the stars were shining so brightly, their beauty and radiance did not compare to that of the Christ child in their midst.

The beauty of this New Ark of the Covenant is that we do not need to go through a labyrinth of dangerous obstacles to experience her like Indiana Jones did in "Raiders of the Lost Ark"; rather, she has been given to each of us from the beginning. The greatest gifts that we have sometimes are the gifts that we already have.