We Have Seen the Great Light

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom
a light has shone.

Since the time of our first parents, Adam and Eve, all of mankind has walked in darkness and dwelt in a land of gloom.  Why does Isaiah give such a sorry interpretation of humanity’s state of life before Jesus?  He does so for three reasons, the first is that we were lost in sin, i.e. we had no way out of it, and we would always be caught in its web.  The second reason is that he is trying to make the contrast very clear, the contrast between having no hope and that of living redeemed.  The third is to show us that it was God himself who came to be among us, “Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.” 1 Jn. 1:5 

This great light that is now shining on us is none other than Jesus himself.  He is the light of the nations, the light of the world, the bright morning star.  So even though we fall to sin we now have a way out, that way out is through Jesus Christ, “If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.  1 Jn. 1:9

Christmas is that time where we share gifts with one another; the gift giving comes from the first gift and the first gift giver, Jesus.  We share because He has abundantly shared with us.  Sometimes, however, the first gift and first gift giver gets lost on us because of everything else that is going on around us, all the fanfare of Christmas.  Please do not misunderstand me, I love Christmas.  I love the lights, the trees, Santa Claus and his little elves, the carols, the seven fishes, exchanging gifts, and all the rest.  Yet, with all of that we are asked to remember the greatest gift otherwise all the other small gifts lose their meaning.  You see the greatest gift does not come wrapped in a box; rather the greatest gift ever given was a little infant lying in a manager wrapped in swaddling clothes, with very few people to acknowledge it in a far away forgotten place called Bethlehem.  That was the very first Christmas, a Christmas that was quiet, solemn, and very intimate.  Remember that as you begin your Christmas festivities, and I am sure they will be lots of fun, remember that quiet place, remember that infant, and the few farm hands who came out to worship him, remember that in your heart while with your family and friends and thank the Lord for giving you the greatest gift you could have ever hoped for:

For a child is born to us, a son is given us;
upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.
His dominion is vast and forever peaceful,
from David’s throne, and over his kingdom,
which he confirms and sustains
by judgment and justice, both now and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Come Down Off That Tree

“Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house.” 

And he came down quickly and received him with joy.

These are beautiful words from our Gospel today, Jesus commanding Zacchaeus to come down quickly and that he was received in joy.

Zacchaeus, like all of us had a past and maybe some of it was not that bright or filled with virtue.  As a rich man he may have cut corners when it came to his responsibility to the poor, to family, and friends, to society.  Being a man of means and maybe even prestige, he may have used the loopholes of his own day to fudge on his tax returns J or some other type of scheming.

Yet, he was a man much like us in and that he had a great interest in Jesus and because of his height wanted to get a good look at him and climbed a tree so that he could see.  We do the same in our lives, we want to meet Jesus and have Him receive us in joy so we may not climb a literal tree but we may do this or the other thing to get his attention, i.e. a good deed or make a promise.

That beautiful encounter moved Zacchaeus’ heart, not only to conversion but to start living out the commands of Jesus, i.e. love your neighbor.  He does this by generously giving away half of what he had and paying those he wronged four times over.  Grace was moving in him!  Don’t we all want that same grace, a grace that moves us to joy and to love?  We can have it my brothers and sisters, yes its simple, just come down from off the tree, and meet your Savior, the one who wishes to dine with you tonight and in our case in the next 30 minutes or so when we celebrate the Eucharist, let your hearts be filled with joy, the same joy Zacchaeus experienced!

I Have Kept the Faith

I am already being poured out like a libation,
and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have competed well; I have finished the race;
I have kept the faith.

       These words of St. Paul are haunting as they describe both his present predicament, being under house arrest in Rome, but also his near future, as he can see the end of his life.

       Yet, St. Paul realizes the most important thing, and that is his eternal salvation.  He is looking back on his life of faith and can say with good moral confidence that he has competed well and has kept the faith.  This notion of competing and keeping the faith are signal words for perseverance and if there is one virtue that describes the life of faith the best it would be perseverance.

Looking at St. Paul’s life you better believe he had perseverance, unshakable at that.  After his conversion he waited patiently for the Church to recognize his sincerity, I would imagine in some cases it took his entire life.  St. Paul traveled from place to place which was all done on foot, through some dangerous territory which was filled with brigands, criminals, and marauders.  The towns and cities he entered were not always receptive, as in many places he was arrested, punished either by whippings, being stoned, punched, slapped and spit on.  He also had to win over his Jewish brothers and sisters many of who turned their backs on him.  Finally he was arrested and brought to Rome and it’s amazing he did not die on the way as he was bit by a deadly scorpion and also shipwrecked.

St. Paul was a man of great perseverance as through it all he always kept the faith, he competed well!  St. Paul went on to receive his crown of glory for his work in the faith.  A question for us is: How much of a model is St. Paul to us?  Do we look to this wonderful saint in our own moments of struggle, especially when the last thing on earth that we want is to carry the cross one more step!  And yet, St. Paul did and he urges us to do the same, his entire two letters to St. Timothy are precisely about that, follow my example.

Being holy and getting to heaven is not easy work, it requires belief, but belief is easy, belief in my mind that is, the hard part is living out that belief each and every day, and not just in the days that we are smiling but even in the days in which we are crying or even at wits end.  St. Paul continues to cry out to us, the great preacher that he was, and says, “Hold on, continue to get up, fight the good fight, become a libation onto the Lord and keep the faith!  Amen!

I took that picture at the Vatican in Aug. of 2005

God Listens and He Answers

Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones
who call out to him day and night?
Will he be slow to answer them?
I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.
But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

I love the way this week’s Gospel from Luke ends, it gives us great hope and assurance that God listens to us and even answers us when we pray. Jesus even goes as far as telling us to be as this persistent widow, a woman who was not only persistent according to the story but even had become a nuisance to the judge who was at the point of exhaustion with her therefore granting her what she wished.

We believe as Catholics that God does hear all our prayers and even answers them; however, sometimes the answer is different than the one we had in mind, expected or even asked for.

This past March 19^th, on the feast of St. Joseph my mother suffered a heart attack and two strokes.  Her life remained in the balance.  When I asked the doctor to give me the truth about her condition and possible improvement, he said, “Fr. John, she’s very sick, pray and storm heaven with your prayers.”  Me and my brothers did that and after some weeks and months she began recovering real well and then on July 19^th, just four months later after a bleeding episode she was rushed to the hospital and after a number of tests they discovered colon cancer.  She underwent surgery which was successful and the cancer was only stage two (a) so it was completely contained and there is no need for further treatment besides routine checkups.  Her oncologist told me that if she had not been on blood thinners she would not have had that kind of bleeding episode and the tumor would have likely continued to grow, in a way God saved her through the heart attack.  The oncologist looked at me and send, and surely through your prayers.

Now that these moments are in the past I sit back and reflect on them.  My first thought is, “why did God answer our prayers just the way we wanted, i.e. that my mom would get better and she is?  I think of that in contrast to my father who passed away on the operating table when going for by-pass surgery.  We prayed just as much, our prayers were sincere, we were very much like the persistent widow and yet the outcome was much different.

I can say this, that God heard both the prayers for my dad and for my mom.  He also answered both prayers in His Divine Wisdom and Providence.  Others would just write it off as chance, i.e. one live another dies, the cycle of life, yes to some extent but with God’s hand in nature, always!

However, the question remains, why different outcomes, does not Jesus say, “I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.”  And in another place, “Ask and it will be given to you.”  The best way for me to explain this is not so much from the biblical text but personally once again.

When I took my father to the hospital that morning of November 28^th 2011 I knew that he would not make it, the Spirit of the Lord was speaking to my heart and preparing me.  It was not my distrust of doctors or their competence, I just knew he could not handle it, the feeling you get deep down in your gut where you already know the outcome.  I wanted so bad to turn around and tell him not to go through with it.  But I did not and for a time regretted it as he died some hours later.  When I shared these feelings with my a priest friend he told me, “Thank God you did not turn around.”  He went on to say, what if you had returned home and did not go through with the surgery and your father dies two weeks later on the kitchen floor, or in his sleep or walking outside, would the family have blamed you for not allowing him to have the surgery, how much would you have blamed yourself?  Finally he said, “What if God simply wanted him, are you ok with that, are you ok with God’s will?”  He did not say this to bring me down but to remind me, how much do I trust God and in his promises?

When God took my dad it was for the good as I look back on it now.  He had grown tired, his heart was bad since he was a child, and he prepared himself well to meet the Lord, my wanting him here was based on earthly wants, what I wanted for me, his presence, which was not a bad desire, actually a good one, but faith tells me it is a better desire to be with the Lord. 

Yet I still love the scene from a Man For All Seasons in which Meg, St. Thomas More’s daughter pleads with him to sign King Henry’s divorce decree and he refuses.  She says to him, then you desire to be a martyr.  He responded, “God asks us to pray for the best outcome and to do so always until He answers otherwise, so believe me Meg I will pray and do all I can to avoid this trouble, but if the doors continue to close in front of me and God shows me martyrdom then I will pray that I have the spittle for it. (Paraphrased)

So should you and I, pray always for the best outcome no matter what until God begins to show us otherwise.  My dad prayed that he would live but in the last few weeks when he was getting worse he too could feel it, that he would not make it and his prayers shifted to accepting any death that the Lord would give him and that he would embrace it.  That morning in the hospital he too knew in his gut because I could see it when he looked at me, it was not a look that everything would be fine as we judge fine, but that he was leaving.  Looking back this was not a bad thing, but a good thing and God did answer our prayers, He took my dad home where we all belong, in heaven.  Yet, my time with my father was not over, for even in death we spoke and that is for another time.

So, yes I bombard heaven like the persistent widow and I do so expecting the best outcome until God tells me differently.  Do I always trust implicitly, no, but I do always return to prayer because it is there that God answers me and I hope that you always do the same as well.

The Great Chasm

In today’s Gospel from Luke we hear Jesus say, “Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.”  I always found these to be quite interesting words, especially, “a great chasm is established between us.” 

In the Gospel reading this chasm is described in terms of distance between that of the righteous and that of damned.  In particular in this story it is between that of the poor man Lazarus and the rich man.  The distance, however, is not just in terms of space between them but also in manner of life.

St. Paul exhorts Timothy on this manner of life when he says, “But you, man of God, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith.”  These virtues are at the heart of being a Christian.  The rich man abandoned these virtues, especially the greatest one, love!

Aristotle defined 4 kinds of people, from worst to best, and he labeled them as the tyrant, the incontinent man, the continent man, and the virtuous man.  The tyrant was the man who gave in completely to vice and his passions.  The incontinent man was the man who struggled to live with virtue and often enough falls into vice.  The continent man has many virtues but on occasion will fall into vice.  Finally the virtuous man has achieved all the virtues and either never gives in to vice or if so it would be very rare.  You can see there is a great distance between the tyrant and the virtuous man.  The distance between them rests in manner of which they live.

Ask yourself, “Where do I fall on the scale?”  Am I closer to the virtuous man or Lord forbid, the tyrant?  It is a good exercise for us.  Being a good Christian is not just about lip service, but actually doing and living the faith.  Here is what the Lord says about lip service, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Rather, who is it that enters the kingdom of heaven? Jesus answers,  “the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”  And what is the will of the Father, the answer is found in Matthew 25, “‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’   And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Jesus does not equate virtue with belief only, rather to be righteous one must as St. Paul exhorted us today, to be devout, to have faith, to love, to be patient and gentle, this is the heart of the Christian, if we do all in our power and again as St. Paul says, “Compete well for the Faith,” then yes we will become Aristotle’s virtuous man.  More importantly we will become like the poor man Lazarus, who was taken by angels to the bosom of Abraham and not the tyrant who was taken to torment.  So as you see the chasm is not just about space as in measuring distance, but in measuring righteousness vs. evil.  God bless you, Fr. John

Money Left, God Right, Which Way Will You Choose?

Jesus’ words, “You cannot serve both God and mammon,” has much deeper meaning than just money.  Often times it is translated, “You cannot serve both God and money.”  That is true but it is only one component of what Jesus meant in the entirety of its meaning.

The Gospel deals with the dishonest servant and dishonest wealth.  It goes on to conclude that as Christians we need to be shrewd and prudent in our dealings with the world but more importantly that we always remain virtuous in everything we do and that we also do not become slaves of the world.

Becoming slaves to the world involves the love of money, no question about that, but it also means to lose perspective and that when we do we become slaves of the world, we retreat into ourselves in a very selfish way.  Listen again to the words from the Prophet Amos, “Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land!  “When will the new moon be over,” you ask, “that we may sell our grain, and the Sabbath, that we may display the wheat?  We will diminish the ephah, add to the shekel, and fix our scales for cheating!”  To fix our scales for cheating, cheating against whom and to what purpose?  The cheating is against our neighbor, the poor, the oppressed, the maligned, the marginalized, those who cannot stand up for themselves and the purpose is to be rich, powerful, and full of prestige.

It’s interesting that Amos uses the term, “fix our scales.”  Scales as you know have to do with measuring things out, in this case money but it also has to do with justice, i.e. the scales of justice.  When we hear today’s readings and listen to them, I have to ask myself, “am I always the person that balances the scales fairly?”  Have I ever tipped the scales in my favor through cheating someone else?  It’s interesting that when we hear the readings is how do we process them in our conscience.  Do we always align ourselves with Jesus and somehow always interpret him to be speaking about someone else, i.e. I would never be that mean or sinful.  What if I am the person that Amos is talking about, maybe not in the same degree, but even a little?  Doesn’t Jesus say he who is untrustworthy of little things is untrustworthy in great matters as well?

Today’s Gospel lesson and readings are challenging.  Jesus wants us to tip the scales of justice evenly.  Once we start to tip them in our favor we become those people who love mammon more than God.  We become lovers of the world in the things that are passing, power, prestige, wealth, none of which brings true happiness.  So my good Christian brothers and sisters when dealing with the world remember your scales and to keep them even, do so with prudence, wisdom and most of all with compassion for your neighbors.  God bless you, Fr. John

Recognition, Ambition, and Pride vs. Trust, Faith, and Humility

If there was one single thing you could point to about Jesus’ personality or that which he thought was the greatest trait we could have, it would be humility.  I heard Scott Hahn in a talk once say, “God hates the proud, even when they are right.”

Today’s Gospel was all about taking seats of honor in order to be recognized as being someone important.  The question to ask is, “why would we do that?”  I understand that it is a nice thing to be recognized once in a while just to know you are appreciated and doing a good job in life.  All of us need that, the occasional pat on the back, but what Jesus is talking about is something more than the occasional pat on the back, this is about one’s pride and selfishness.

It is easy to get caught up in life with recognition it usually stems from ambition, an ambition to be something more, not out of a sense of service but to show others how far you have come and even worse to parade it and flaunt it.  We all have to admit that at least in some way we have fallen into this sin from time to time, be it at school when we wanted recognition when in reality we did not deserve it or even if we did, did we humble ourselves when someone else received the recognition.  This may have also happened to us at work when someone else got promoted and we did not.  The examples could go on and on.

Being humble is not an easy thing, actually it is quite difficult.  How do I feel when someone is put in the limelight or put up on a pedestal?  Do I rejoice that the Lord gave such to that person or do I become jealous and envious?  The Lord asks me to take the last seat and the one all the way in the back.  What will I do?  Will I go up front so that everyone can see me up there and recognize me?  If so, the Lord will move me to the back, He has a way of making that happen.  Rather I should go to the back and let the Lord move me up front if He wills such.  That takes trust, faith and great humility.  I pray that all of us will have those virtues, God bless you, Fr. John

The Discipline of the Lord

In today’s letter to the Hebrews we read, “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.”  Endure your trials as “discipline”; God treats you as sons.   For what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline?”  Today we have lost this sense of discipline.  We do whatever we can to run from suffering or pain, it does not matter what that pain is, we try to avoid it.  I would not recommend running towards suffering or wishing it, the suffering I am talking about here is the suffering of discipline.

When I was a young child and teenager it was the teacher, coach, mentor, priest, who was right 99% of the time when it came to me and my friends being disciplined, corrected and even punished by them, not to mention the second punishment we received upon returning home.  It was a very rare occasion indeed when a parent would take the side of the child, basically 1% of the time.  Today, however the pendulum has swung to almost the child or teenager being right 99% of the time and the teacher, coach, mentor, priest, etc. being right only 1% of the time.  Forgive me I exaggerate, but you get the point.

It is as almost that we do not want anyone to feel any pain whatsoever.  We do not want a child to be cut from his or her team during tryouts, or for the child to accept and learn from a failing grade, or for the child to be held accountable among adults.  Isn’t good to allow a child to feel a little humility, some guilt, some wrestling with oneself and others in order to become a more virtuous person from learning from their mistakes.  Anytime a parent complains to a coach about their child’s playing time, or complain to a teacher about a grade or to the priest that their child must receive Confirmation this year even though they have not had Religious Education for three years, only because their friends are receiving this year does an injustice not only to the child but all involved.

God says that He disciplines us and He surely does.  Every time we sin He holds us accountable.  He lets us feel the guilt and even the shame in order for lessons to be learned.  He is also merciful and when we show sorrow and contrition no one is quicker than God to heal and forgive.  But He does not hand out forgiveness and mercy without teaching us first.

If we know that God deals with us that way are we not supposed to deal with each other that way as well, especially with our young people?  Let our children grow up by learning through discipline so that their character will develop and they will go on to be good and accountable people of society.  God treats us that way, that we will be holy and to become holy means nothing less than learning and going through the lessons of life, whether we deserve them or not.  Christ did not deserve the Cross, yet He carried it anyway, we deserve our crosses let us be molded and shaped by them so that we are truly sons and daughters of God, “For what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline?”

Play Like a Champion Today

In today’s second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews we heard, “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.” 

These are very motivating words, they are also words of great encouragement.  The words are motivating because they challenge us to persevere in running the race.  Our faith is like a race, for some it’s a short distance race, for others a long one, and still for others somewhere in between.  A race, nevertheless it is.  What does a race feel like, well, it can be tiresome and physically draining regardless of what shape a person is in.  Effort is needed for a race and to run it well one needs maximum effort.  So too with our faith, are we running it well, are we giving maximum effort.

When I began as a coach I realized that to be successful we would have to give maximum effort all the time even in practice.  This could become draining and eventually take its toll so the race if you will would have to have purpose and meaning.  And what race could have more purpose and meaning than that of the Christian life?

Jesus is the one we are running to.  We run to Him in all things, regardless if they be sad moments or happy ones.  Our eyes should be fixed on the prize just like (and with even more) determination than a professional athlete has in winning a championship.

The other motivation is that we are not alone on our journeys.  We obviously have Jesus with us every step of the way, but as the Letter to Hebrews says, (we) “are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.”  The communion of saints cheers us on.  All of those who have gone before us, from heaven, “send a volley cheer on high.”(Notre Dame Victory March)  Isn’t good to know our loved ones who have gone before us pray for us and that they root for us in all things good.

St. Paul and all the Saints understood that faith was “fighting the good fight,” that fight is synonymous with running a race, there are times when we tire and fall down, there are other times we stop running because it becomes too difficult, there are other times when we run it very well, but that most important thing is that we finish and like St. Paul we to will be able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim 4:7)

Are You Ready?

“You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”  We will meet Jesus face to face in two ways, either through our own death or if Jesus returns right now, are your ready for either one?  My reflection will be not so much with the end of the world, the return of Christ, or the apocalypse, but rather how does one prepare.

Being a former basketball coach, many of you I am sure have either played a sport, may be even coached a sport, and even if you did not you still understand that the athlete must prepare well in order to be successful.  So what does a coach do?  A coach first makes sure that the players buy into the system, i.e. the philosophy, which is accomplished in the first few practices.  Next, the coaches must make sure that the players reach top physical performance and maintain that throughout the season, that is done by drills, drills, drills.  After that the coaches will put in place offensive and defensive schemes, plays, go over all kinds of scenarios and throughout the season will game prepare for each opponent.

It seems like a lot, but to be well prepared it has to be done.  At this point, game time, the coaches hope that all the pieces are working, that every player has done their part and worked hard, if not the team will suffer loss and even embarrassment.  We prepare not only for sports, but the actor prepares diligently and will practice, practice, practice, until they think they are the character they are playing so that when it’s time to act in front of the camera the finished product is magnificent.  The musician will do much of the same, as well as the manager of a company, the worker in the work force.  One must prepare to do anything well, be it sports, acting, music, work and even school my young friends, “A” grades are not given out for free.

So too goes for our Christian lives.  We must prepare well.  But again, how?  We prepare well by living the virtues, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, by attending mass and the reception of the sacraments, by living out the beatitudes and most of all the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love.

We can practice these virtues and ways of life throughout the entire day.  It begins as soon as we wake up and right before we go to bed.  St. Paul said, “Pray always.”  He meant that we are to always have a disposition towards Christ no matter what you are doing that way if it is time to leave this world even unexpectedly or if Jesus returned right here and right now then we would not caught off guard, but like a good sentinel Jesus would find us keeping watch at our post.  God bless you, Fr. John

Reflection for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Maturity, Self Discovery and Purpose

In today’s first reading from Ecclesiastes we heard, “For what profit comes to man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun?  All his days sorrow and grief are his occupation; even at night his mind is not at rest.  This also is vanity.”  These words at first seem quite negative and one could look at life as a monotonous drudgery of events which are filled with pain and sorrow.  However, the author, whom old rabbinic tradition believes was King Solomon, was only trying to describe stages of life, the things we go through.  Indulge me for a moment as I offer a reflection on the latest Star Trek film, “Beyond,” in particular the character of James T. Kirk.

In the reboot of the films we see all the old characters, Spock, Bones, Scotty, and Kirk.  In this last film, “Beyond,” they did a real nice job of developing Kirk’s character.  Spoiler alert, stop here if you are going to see the film, though I won’t be giving away any major plot lines.  It has been three years since Kirk has taken command of the Enterprise as her captain.  When he first became captain and they were beginning their six year mission he had great excitement in his heart, he could not wait to get out there and explore, to find new life and civilizations and to boldly go where no man had gone before.  However, as the days and weeks went by he began to feel the weight of everyday boring tasks, issues with crew, the ship, and the responsibilities of a being a captain.  You could see in his eyes that it was not what he signed up for.  Yet, that was not his only issue.  He was also trying to fill very big shoes, that of his father, George Kirk who saved many of the lives on his own ship and then sacrificed himself by going down in his ship to save others.  His father became a legend and a hero.  He had also replaced another revered former captain of the Enterprise, Captain Christopher Pike, who was one of Star Fleets finest officers.

Captain Kirk was not only dealing with the everyday toil, as Ecclesiastes points out, but he added to his own worry by putting himself in the shadow of his father and even that of Pike, and he wondered if he could ever become his own captain. 

In reality James T. Kirk did become his own captain, he just couldn’t see it.  He had already saved his own crew twice and one time saved the earth, but because of his own self conceived expectations and living in the shadow of others it would take a grand moment of self realization to see his own worth and the beauty of being a captain.  As the film progresses he begins to realize that he is his own man, his own captain, with gifts and talents and purpose that were given to him and he begins to mature and learn about himself and his role as a captain.  At the end of the film he is offered a vice-admiral job, which he turns down because it’s a desk job, his simple response in all Kirk style was, “what’s the fun in that,” he began to see himself for who he really was.

I think our friend King Solomon was not much different than our fictional friend, Captain James T. Kirk.  I guess there are a lot of responsibilities that come with being a captain of a ship, but imagine the responsibilities of being a king, the everyday work and toil, the constant worry of keeping your people safe, financial issues, food issues, and on and on.  I am sure Solomon had grown weary from time to time.  I am also sure like Kirk he too had to grow out of his father’s shadow.  King David probably the most revered king in human history, how would you like to follow that!  And yet, it was not David who built the Temple but Solomon and just like his father he too ruled for an entire generation with God bestowing on him incredible wisdom.  I am sure that Solomon began to realize his own purpose as he too matured, but during that maturation process he felt as he said, “all things are vanity.”  

He spoke a truth we all feel from time to time, we say it in such ways as, “what’s it all for, or “is it all worth it?”  All of us have been Kirk, all of us have been Solomon, and how may you ask, simply because we all share the same human nature.  No matter what, we too must mature and work through the sometimes minutiae of life realizing that in doing so we are building up our own characters, we are finding ourselves, and sometimes even getting out from under the shadow of others.  You may have had that big brother or sister in your family who could do no wrong, the Mary's of the world and you may have been the Martha of the world, the one who is anxious and worries and is told, your sister chose the better part.  You may be in a job where it seems like the same thing over and over again, you wake up, you go to work, you come home you work more and then go to sleep.  The every day grind which may seem like a bad thing while we may feel it from to time time is actually a good thing as the Lord is preparing us, molding us, shaping us to be better at whatever it is we do.

God has a purpose and wonderful plan for each and every one of us.  So yes, at times it will seem like vanity, but when we grow and come to realize God’s work in us and others, like Solomon we will be able to rest after we build the temple God desires us to build, whatever that temple may be or like Captain Kirk realize, this is where I am supposed to be, I am the captain of the Star-ship Enterprise, and boy that is a lot of fun!

Choose the Better Part

In today’s Gospel from Saint Luke, Jesus says, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.  There is need of only one thing.  Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”  The better part that Mary has chosen is to be silent in the presence of Jesus, she has let go of everything and given Him all her attention.

Jesus does not intend that we stop working, planning, or building up our families and communities, but what He does mean is that He must be first in all things and that when we do approach Him, He has our full attention.  Sometimes that is difficult.  It is amazing that human nature has not changed in 2,000 years.  Martha is anxious and worried.  What was on her mind?  What was preoccupying her?  What was she going through?  Like any person, she may have been thinking about the next thing, i.e. making sure everything is ready and that all flows smoothly instead of just letting things happen and unfold.  That is very hard for us to do, to just let things unfold, we feel like we lose control when that happens.  We want every iota figured out and planned.

Sometimes what prevents us from being fully present to Jesus is our fears which come from worry and anxiety.  That fear could be from anything, it could be fear of the future, i.e. will I and my family be ok?  The worry, doubt, and fear could come from trying to please others and trying to become everything to everyone.  We cannot please everyone in this world nor will we like everyone we meet.  Though we must love everyone, and yet what others may think of us in some way does matter, because we want to be well thought of, but it should not be what makes us tick, what makes us tick is what’s inside of us, our own motivation, drive, and desire to be virtuous and holy.

Other times the worry and anxiety can be about everyday things ranging from, will my children be safe to will we get dinner prepared in time?  Jesus tells us not to worry for every hair on our heads has been counted.  I just hope He took the count when I was twenty-five years old.  All kidding aside, I know it’s sometimes hard to let go of everything, but we must and especially when we come into the presence of the Lord, here at Mass, wherever and whenever we pray, when we quiet ourselves before Him.  In those moments all the worry and anxiety fall away from us.  A great way of doing this is to go to a quiet place, breathe slowly and deeply and then begin a rosary or reflect on Scripture or any prayer; you will quickly notice the change.  This is what Mary did and she entered that place of peace and was able to let go of everything while Martha still carried all of the worry and anxiety around with her even though Jesus was in her presence.  Mary chose the better part; I pray that we too will choose the better part.

Something Very Near to You

"For this command that I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you.  It is not up in the sky, that you should say, 'Who will go up in the sky to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?'  Nor is it across the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?'  No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out."  What a beautiful passage we heard today from the book of Deuteronomy.   The commands of the Lord are not mysterious or difficult that we cannot know them; rather they are simple, sometimes so simple we look past the words, thinking, no, it cannot be that easy, but it is.  The words that God gave us through Moses were simple, the command comes down to love as is also affirmed from today’s Gospel, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."

Even though the command is a simple one it is sometimes difficult to carry out.  The difficulty is not in the commandment itself, rather the difficulty arises in us.  When we turn inwards, for all sin, I believe is an inward movement towards self, i.e. selfishness.  I do not mean self care, relaxation, meditation, prayer, etc. I mean those things that are sinful, that are vices.  When a person over indulges in drink, that is an inward movement of selfishness, i.e. I want to feel a certain way.  The same can be said for over indulging in food, becoming a workaholic, ignoring ones prayers, becoming prideful, vengeful, etc.  All of those sins impede or altogether prevent true love flowing into me and out of me.  The command becomes difficult and even burdensome.

We are used to the two part command, but in that two part command is also implied, self love.  We must also love ourselves, not to the point of pride or selfishness, but know that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by our God and that through His grace we become like gods, higher even than the angels.  I have to be able to love myself, love others and love God.

I spoke previously about some of the things that hold us back from following the commandment of love; I would now like to speak about some of the remedies or the virtues that help us to love.  The virtues that help us come right from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.  He says faith, hope, and love are three of the greatest virtues.  We are to have faith, not only belief in God, but to trust Him in both good times and bad.  We are to hope for the best and our final hope is union with God.  And finally love, in this sense love as sacrifice.  Before that Paul speaks of kindness, honesty, humility, and perseverance, all which help us to move outwards towards God and neighbor.  Instead of us being selfish we are now being selfless.

During the week we should try to remember this two part command and exercise to the best of our ability to love self, others, and God.  Opportunities always arise in which we can show love, let us not miss those opportunities because it is in those opportunities that we bring about the Kingdom of God, a kingdom of faith, hope and love.  God bless you, Fr. John

Go Forth Good Apostle and Preach the Good News

As an undergrad at Catholic University we had a choice at the end of our classes to either take a two day test in front of the faculty or write a forty page thesis.  I chose the forty page thesis.  I wrote it on St. Vincent Pallotti and Vatican II’s Vision on the Laity.  St. Vincent Pallotti is not a well known Saint in the United States, except in those places where the Pallottines have taken assignments, in our Diocese we have Bishop Eustace, where I once taught theology and we have the Church of St. Vincent Pallotti right next to Paul the Sixth High School, so you may have heard of this little Roman Saint.

St. Vincent Pallotti was born in Rome 1795 he died in 1850.  In his life time he was dubbed the apostle of Rome, as he worked tirelessly in that city.  He established a lay group called the Union of Catholic Apostolate, a group that would help re-enkindle faith and charity among Catholics and to spread the faith to those who did not believe.  He wanted to get the laity involved as much as possible, where as in the past and for a long time, it was work, pray and obey for the laity.  St. Vincent realized that all people are apostles by virtue of their baptism.

But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, Jacob, and formed you, Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine. (Is 43:1)  By virtue of our Baptism we are called and sent.  Jesus knows us personally and gives us our vocation, though it may take some time to figure out what that vocation is, nevertheless just like the seventy-two we are also sent.  In that sending we are required to teach, to preach, and to heal.  When I say to teach, preach, and to heal I do not mean that all of us will preach like St. Augustine, or that all of us will be able to teach like St. Thomas Aquinas, or that all of us will be able to heal the sick like St. Peter or St. Paul, yet in our own way we are called to do so. 

The opportunities for us to do so are plenty and all around us.   The vision of Vatican II, especially on the work of the laity is that they take the Gospel message from where they hear it and bring it to the world.  You bring it to the world in your family first, then your friends, places of work, at school, even during recreation.  One is not required to be an expert in matters of theology and religion, but we are required to love.  Think for a moment how often we do have the opportunities to share the Good News, be it with a friend who needs for someone to listen to them, when someone doubts their faith, when we are a healing presence to the sick, when we forgive others, when we teach the young about a good moral life and the beauty of our faith, when we admonish one another and challenge one another to be saints, there is so much to do and Jesus asks us to do it and trust in Him, by taking, “no money bag, no sandals,” and any other comforts, but a total trust in His love and mercy.

Obviously our time, our culture, our problems are not the same as the problems of the 1^st century, though in some ways they are similar and the human condition is the same.  We are called to also be voices crying out, “make straight they way of the Lord.”  As the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has asked that we especially call to mind and make others aware of our religious liberties.  When someone tries to take our religious liberties away or puts a stranglehold on them as apostles we are to speak out against such discrimination.  Over the last thirty years or so, slowly and now more quickly our religious liberties have come under attack.  We have to speak out on topics such as the freedom to be able to speak our mind on matters concerning right to life, immigration, helping the poor, the true nature of marriage, and many others.  It seems now that when we speak of such things there is a growing intolerance against Christians.  The Church is the moral voice of the world, through Christ, and sometimes the world does not want to hear that voice because the world many times looks to self interest first.  We are to be brave, but at the same time compassionate.  If we argue and grow angry we lose credibility, we must be “like lambs among wolves, crafty as a serpent and gentle as a dove.”

Remember, you are apostles; Jesus has called each and every one of you by name and has sent you out like the seventy-two.  You have the gifts, you have the grace, and you have the love to take the message of Christ and change the world, yes change the world, just like the twelve did with a small group of others.  Know that the Saints pray for us, the angles watch over us, and Jesus gives us the grace to go forth, to go forth with good courage and with love.  Go forth good apostle and change the world, change the world!

Don't Look back

The beauty of the Scriptures is that they record not only the brave and valiant deeds of the Apostles, but they also record the shortcomings, the temptations and even the sins of the Apostles.  We look back on these twelve men and we rightly honor them and follow their example.  The examples they left us were the virtues, virtues of humility, wisdom, courage – even in light of arrest, torture and martyrdom.  They were not only saints, but great ones.  And yet, the Scriptures also record their failings.  At times we see the Apostles arguing among themselves on who would be the greatest among them.  We see one of them deny Jesus three times and another betray him completely.  In today’s Gospel we see that two of them, James and John, the sons of thunder as Jesus would call them wish that they could call down fire from heaven to consume the Samaritan town that did not accept Jesus.  It shows us the humanness of the Apostles.  

As the Gospel continues Jesus shows what a true Apostle is, one that does not look back, but keeps his eyes forward on the prize, and the prize is God Himself.  We should not judge James and John too harshly, we too would have done the same, and how often have we wished that God reign down thunder and fire on our enemies?  Rather, Jesus asks for perseverance and patience with such things in order to allow time for conversion and mercy.  For James and John there was frustration, in the sense of, how dare these people who do not accept us, who do not accept the Christ, especially after how hard we have worked to spread the message.

Jesus responds by saying, not to worry about what just happened and who did not accept you, keep your eyes fixed forward, and carry on in your duty.  Jesus also was teaching those around Him, what it meant to be a true disciple, because looking back takes on many forms, not just what we perceive as failure, looking back could also mean possible regret we feel, or doubt, fear, past hurts, sin or something else that keeps us from going forward such as attachments.  

You remember the Old Testament story of Lot’s wife who looked back on Sodom and turned to a pillar of salt.  She looked back because she longed for what was before, what she had left, the comforts of what she had, she did not trust that what was in front of her was better as God had promised, “Do not look back!”

How much are we like James, John or even Lot’s wife.  What are we looking back to?  Today’s Gospel reminds us that we must look forward because in looking forward we know we can rejoice in God’s promises, we can have confidence in those promises because the one who made them is trustworthy, we should be brave and know that what lies ahead is better because what lies ahead, even though it may seem like a crucifixion is also resurrection.  God bless you, FJ

From Jerusalem to the Cross to the Resurrection

Passion Week begins today on this faithful Sunday in which Jesus enters into the Holy City.  He enters His own city, the city He has made and sustained and a city He will continue to bless until the end of time, which is Jerusalem.  However, He enters into more than just an earthly city, but He enters into salvation for the inhabitants of the entire world, for all of those present, all of those before Him and all of those who would come after that accept His grace.  His entrance into Jerusalem has two meanings one, Jesus is revealing Himself as the King of Glory and two, He comes to save us.

Jesus gave many hints, both obvious and others more sublime that He is the Son of God, the Messiah, that He is Divine.  This was done in order to prove that God was among us, that He no longer wanted to speak in prophecies, dreams and visions, through nature, etc. but in person.  God desired, not out of need, to be present with us but out of love.  God among us.  The entrance into Jerusalem is precisely that, not just another King David, but your God is coming to you riding on a donkey.

There is also another reason and maybe twofold here, is that Jesus is coming to save us from our sins and He will have to enter into His passion.  It also signifies how quickly we forget because today the crowd is cheering, “Hosanna in the highest to our King, Hosanna,” and by Friday the same crowd will be cheering, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.”

Who are we in the crowd?  Are we the fickle ones who change their minds quickly and often?  We would never be the ones cheering crucify, crucify Him, rather we would be shouting out, Hosanna.  I wonder even in my own life sometimes, who am I in that crowd?  After honest reflection I have to admit I am sometimes the fickle one, the weak one.  How often do we go to confession or ask God for forgiveness and then quickly return back to the same sin or some other sins, we go from the strong resolution to the weakness that is in us.  Peter himself said, “Lord I will die with you.”  Less than a few later He was denying He ever knew Him.  Am I better than Peter, are you?  I would imagine not!   That is why Jesus enters into the passion so that His work on the Cross would be our saving remedy and not just a onetime remedy, but that every time we failed we could go back to the Cross and be forgiven.

His act of love is powerful enough to forgive every sin except the one or ones we do not want to be forgiven for.  God’s grace is more powerful than any sin or evil that can be committed because of His mercy.  The Cross of Christ proves this lest one think that evil is more powerful than God’s grace.  More importantly we must remember what this cost Jesus, it cost Him everything and ultimately His life for ours.  

When Jesus enters Jerusalem today to begin Holy Week (Passion Week) we too must make an effort to enter into it with Him, we must follow Him today to the Upper Room, to Mt. of Olives, to the way of the Cross, to His Crucifixion and death on Calvary and finally to rise with Him.  Let this week be one of serious reflection, prayer and sacrifice so that we may enter into that Spirit that is freeing, loving, and all forgiving, the Spirit of God.

Went Home With Head Held High

We can take many lessons from the Woman Caught in Adultery story from today’s Gospel.  The first is obvious, forgiveness.  However there are more lessons, such as “the angry and righteous mob,” “feelings of humiliation,” “feelings of defeat,” and most of all – feelings of relief and happiness.

The angry mob who wanted to stone this woman to death had become the self righteous and angry mob.  They wanted to make sure that they rooted out all that of which was immoral from their sight with no second thought to anything, this is what usually happens in the mob mentality, it is a mentality we see today often in our political world where everyone makes their own candidate the Messiah and the other guy a demon and these feelings are disguised and bathed in one’s own self righteousness which then makes it easy to go from point a to point b, i.e. catching the woman in the act and then dragging her through the streets and getting ready to kill her.

The feelings the woman had would have been of fear but also humiliation as now she is exposed publicly.  However, those same feelings got turned around on the angry mob as Jesus challenged them in looking for the person who had no sin to cast the first stone; it was they who now felt humiliation.  The question for those persons would have been, did they finally understand mercy or did they walk away bitter?

The woman finally would feel relief in that she was not going to die that day or in that fashion and she also felt great happiness as the sin of adultery, which in fact is a very grave sin had been lifted from her.  She already paid the price and penance for those sins, being dragged through the street and almost stoned death would have been enough much more than just saying two rosaries.   I like to picture in my own mind, Jesus picking her up by the hand and looking at her face to face.  I am sure when her eyes met His, her knowledge of Jesus went beyond Him just being a nice guy but someone who could take away her sins.

Two groups of people came out that day, on the trip out the mob held their heads high in self righteousness and the woman held her head low in humiliation but on their journey back to their homes the mob went home with heads held low and the woman now made clean went home with head held high, Amen!

Bringing About the Kingdom

In today’s Gospel from Luke the congregation that was listening to Jesus read from the scroll the passage from Isaiah and then to complete it by adding, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing,” could have only meant two things to do those who were listening.  The first interpretation could have been, “He (Jesus) is reminding us that God’s spirit is with us all and that these days will be blessed because of God’s presence among us.”  The other interpretation could have been a more literal one, i.e. is He saying He is the fulfillment of that passage?  Does He mean to tell us He is the anointed one?  Yes and yes!

That is why just a little bit later Jesus says, “Surely you will quote me this passage, physician heal yourself.”  He says this so there could be no mistake He was speaking literally, i.e. He (Jesus) is the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God on earth.

Many did not understand that yet in Jesus’ time, others would eventually come to believe through Jesus’ words and actions proving He was the Messiah.  We all have come to believe it since we are here worshiping.  Nevertheless, Jesus still says to us right here and right now, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  It begs the question of us, do we believe it and if yes, then do we also help bring about the kingdom of God in this world?

For some, to bring about the kingdom here on earth means, attending mass and prayer.  That is just one component.  We are to bring the kingdom to others through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, especially this Jubilee Year of Mercy.  As a reminder for all of us here they are in an easy list we can remember.

The Corporal Works of Mercy

feed the hungry
give drink to the thirsty
clothe the naked
shelter the homeless
visit the sick
visit the imprisoned
bury the dead

The Spiritual Works of Mercy

counsel the doubtful
instruct the ignorant
admonish sinners
comfort the afflicted
forgive offenses
bear wrongs patiently
pray for the living and the dead

Not everyone is drawn to the same works, some love to visit the sick while others more like teachers and gravitate towards instructing the ignorant or counseling the doubtful.  During this great Jubilee year we really need to look at these works, one at a time and try to practice them as best we can, again some may be more to our suiting but also the Lord may be pulling us out of our comfort zone.  Either way please pray about it and incorporate them into your life, they help build virtue and holiness and give us great joy knowing that we are being another Christ to someone\s.  We are bringing about the kingdom so that no matter what we are doing and where we are doing it we can say along with our Lord, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  God bless you, Fr. John