Twelve Years a Priest

Twelve Years a Priest

Today (August 13th), twelve years ago I was ordained at my hometown parish of Our Lady of Grace.  I remember the day, it was clear, sunny, and hot.  A typical August day, but far from typical for me, my family and friends.  I understood what I was doing as I am sure even those who get married know that they are sure, but you can never imagine the fullness of what it is you are doing on that day.

I could imagine all the moments I would have as a priest, be they moments of extraordinary joy and at times moments of great challenges, and these were moments I could envision even as I lay prostrate in front of the sanctuary.

Even though I had these thoughts I did not see everything they encompassed or had in store.  As I reflect over the twelve years, though not long as say 25, 40, or 50 years, the friendships I have made from my time at Bishop Eustace to now at Holy Family are incredible.  To be blessed by so many wonderful, good and holy people is amazing.  The blessings we receive as priests are numerous:  to preach, to administer the sacraments, to prepare for liturgy, our own prayer life, etc., are all so meaningful and of great import.  However, in those moments relationships are made and are built up.

I understand now, that even though I gave up the possibility of having my own children and being married, as priests we are married to everyone and all are our spiritual children.  Going through seminary I always thought that saying was so cliché, i.e. you get more children by being a priest because everyone becomes your family.  However, as the years have gone by I understand clearer what Jesus said to the Apostles, that since they gave up so much they would be greatly rewarded both here and in heaven, and I can see and experience those rewards already because of you.  To know that you are my friends and there are so many of you, too difficult to count, gives me a profound sense of purpose.

There is no greater thing for a priest than to love his people and know that he is loved in return.  I strive to love all and I pray I will have the same fervor before I leave this earth as did St. Paul did, here are his words, and not only words but something he truly meant and felt, “I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie; my conscience joins with the Holy Spirit in bearing me witness that I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart.  For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh.” 

In my twelve years as a priest I have come to understand these words more and more especially since I have become a pastor.  Everything is about relationships and love.  I have received two great gifts in my life, the first was being ordained to serve the people, the second gift was the people themselves.  My prayer much like St. Paul’s is that I too will be a gift to you to help you on your journey to heaven, for in the end that is our goal, to be with God for all eternity.  Thank you for your prayers, love and friendship it has made these twelve years a priest the greatest joy of my life.   

Belief in the Christian Story: Tolkien and Lewis

Beloved:
We did not follow cleverly devised myths
when we made known to you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . (2 Peter 1:16)

Often atheists will look upon Christianity or any religion for that matter, as a myth, a telling of a story that is not true and at best is just a moral platitude.  I say that the story of Christianity is a true story and that it is history itself, a story that is true, for even the word “true” or “truth” has no meaning without this story, the story of God.

When J.R.R. Tolkien was trying to convince his good friend C.S. Lewis that God existed and that the Bible was not a cleverly devised myth he used the analogy of a prison.  He said to Lewis, in an argument to this effect, “If people from birth were immediately put into a prison with no windows would they ever be able to conceive of anything in their minds outside of the prison?  No, they would not, their entire world and knowledge is contained within the walls of the prison, it would be impossible to think of something outside of the walls.  Unless, indeed there was something outside of the walls, and that – that something gave the prisoners an instinct, a thought, of something greater than what was inside of these walls only.” 

Tolkien’s logic is solid, for how can man think of anything outside of this world\universe, this world – this universe is our prison, if you will.  How is that we can think of God, of heaven of something that exists outside of these walls?  No, we could not!  But since God has made us in His image, we have the instinct, the thought of what’s beyond these walls.

Tolkien hooked Lewis with this argument.  He met Lewis on level ground, two master story tellers, one showing the other the value of story and its beauty to show that all stories are connected to the one story, the story of Jesus. It’s His story (history).  It’s a story rooted in truth a truth we could never conceive on our own, but a truth embedded in our very nature (we are made in the image and likeness of God).

Lewis was a staunch atheist who became a very devout Christian.  He realized that story was not a cleverly devised myth but one that made complete sense.  He not only understood Tolkien’s argument of the prison but He felt something even greater, the power of Christ.  He felt the author of all tell the story through Tolkien, but more importantly he felt the author of all touch his heart and he realized that he was an important character in the story, a prisoner who finally understood why he had these thoughts of something outside the walls, for that thing is God!

Pictured below is early art concept of a Tolkien - Lewis film, I pray it is true :)

Trinity: Perfect Unity and Peace

Brothers and sisters, rejoice.
Mend your ways, encourage one another,
agree with one another, live in peace,
and the God of love and peace will be with you.

This is the challenge St. Paul puts to us today from his 2^nd letter to the Corinthians, chapter 13, verse 1, and following.  When he says, “mend your ways,” he is asking us to be united with one another in purpose, unity, and love.  There must have been some tension or even sin amongst the peoples at that time, there are always squabbles, differences, and fights breaking out among us since the dawn of day and yet St. Paul says, “fix it.”  But not just fix it, but also to encourage one another, agree with one another, and live in peace.

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is One God, united in perfection, a perfect relationship, but also perfect love, therefore the three are one.  In marriage, we hope that the two become one, not just in the flesh but in their love.  There are still two people there but in their perfect love for one another they are one.  An analogy for the Trinity, not a perfect one, but one that helps us to understand the Trinity.  Regarding St. Paul’s challenge, it should also be a model for our unity.

The question for us becomes, “are we living in peace with one another?”  This question can be asked on all levels, i.e. is there peace in my family, is there peace in my community, my nation, or in the world?  When we turn on the news, it does not seem that we are in peace, either as a nation or internationally, since we are divided sharply down the middle and we also have great tensions between other nations, is it always the other guy’s fault?  Is America always right, always perfect, never wrong at all?  How about within my own family, am I always right and the other person wrong?  Is it always their fault?  

If there is tension, fighting, divisions, are they always the cause of someone else, or am I responsible for that fighting to some extent?  There can be no peace, no unity, no love, until one humbles themselves, for pride is the root of all sin.  And it is pride that blinds one from their own guilt.  St. Paul’s challenge can only be achieved with the virtue of humility.  God himself became humble when he became man, he humbled himself out of love, love for us, and he was \ is perfect.  You and I are not perfect so we should humble ourselves the more.  Because when we do we know that God of peace and love is with us.

The 13th Apostle

Peter and John and James and Andrew,
Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon theZealot, and Judas son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

The Judas mentioned here is not Judas of Iscariot, but the beloved St. Jude, patron saint for hopeless causes.  The passage is also interesting that the Apostles were not the only ones in the Upper Room waiting on the gift of the Spirit, but so was Mary, Jesus’ mother as well as some other women and Jesus’ brothers (which refers to cousins).

This image is one that St. Vincent Pallotti, born in Rome in 1795, who became the founder of the Pallottines (Priests and Brothers) and the Union of Catholic Apostolate, a lay organization that devoted themselves to being active apostles in the Church, had used to help foster the concept of Church.  Sometimes when we think of Church we often think about the Church as this building, and rightly so, the Church is found here, but it does not encompass the whole Church.  Sometimes we think of the institution or the hierarchy of the Church, again, rightly so as the magisterium is a vital component of the Church but that too does not encompass all of what it means to be Church.

We also have the people, the everyday people who are all apostles, called by name and sent, just as all of these folks who were mentioned in the Book of Acts.  It lists the names of the eleven because of their role as leaders, bishops.  But it also lists the name of Mary because she is our mother, but it also lists other women and Jesus’ brothers, they were not bishops, but they were part of the Church as will be confirmed when we celebrate Pentecost next week.

This image, this story from two thousand years ago is present right now, this is our Upper Room and Jesus is with us as well as His mother and we are his brothers and sisters, we are his disciples and apostles.  We like them have come to this upper room to devote ourselves to prayer, but also like them when we receive the Spirit to leave from these doors and go out and preach, to bring the Word of God, Jesus to others.  You are the 13^th Apostle!  Jesus has called you by name, because you have entered His Upper Room, now He sends you, so go forth Christian soul and bring the Gospel to all creatures, AMEN!

Passion Sunday: Jesus Stands Silent

And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders,

he made no answer. Then Pilate said to him, 

"Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?" But he did not answer him one word,  so that the governor was greatly amazed.

This is what we heard today from the Passion according to the Gospel of Matthew. It is incredible that Jesus could remain silent in front of his accusers, even though He was completely innocent. We know that even the guilty try to defend themselves, though they should admit their fault\crime. I ask myself often, why did He remain quiet? I think part of the answer is that He knew they would not listen anyway, as St. Thomas More was asked at his trial, “do you have anything further to add,” he simply replied, “to what purpose, I am a dead man.” I also think part of it was Jesus knew what He had to do, and that was go to the Cross, so defending Himself and possibly being proven innocent, as he was, would have defeated the goal, the salvation of humankind. Still I think the biggest reason was to show us an example. An example of what to do when we are accused or even approached in a hostile manner by others.

Jesus’ passion was not just the carrying of the cross and being crucified, He was already crucifying our weakness by His example of always taking the high road even when challenged, accused, was made fun of, ridiculed, and the rest. We have been asking ourselves, “what does Lent mean to us?” In doing so we have taken up little disciplines, made promises, avoided certain foods or beverages, as I have said before, “that’s nice,” but Jesus looks for more than just niceties. He is looking for a humble and contrite heart, and in that humility, He is asking us to do likewise.

How do we respond when we are accused or challenged? Typically, because of our weak human nature, we defend ourselves, even when we are wrong and more so when we are innocent. Sometimes when challenged we have knee jerk reactions and quickly respond. I include myself here, how often have I been corrected, challenged or accused in my life and how quickly I offer retort. Why can’t I keep quite like Jesus? What is this impulse in me in having to respond or defend myself?

I understand that prudence and justice demands we speak up for virtue, goodness and right. Prudence is the virtue to know when to speak, how to speak and why to speak or speak at all. Have we acquired this virtue? Again, human weakness clouds it and we speak when we should not and keep quiet when we should speak. Maybe next Lent we can ask the Lord to help us with the virtue of prudence and coupled with that is humility. Remember that the Lord of the Universe humbled Himself in front of His sinful creatures, unbelievably amazing! Lord, at least during this week of the Passion give me prudence, give me a humble and contrite heart! Help me to nail my weaknesses to the Cross and help me rise with You as a new creature one clothed in the light of holiness, Hosanna to the King of Kings!

For information on the painting please see link below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGZR7FaTq7I

5th Sunday of Lent: And Jesus Wept

In today’s Gospel reading from John we have heard an incredible story, that of the raising of Lazarus from the dead.  I cannot even begin to imagine what the people felt when they saw a man who had been dead for four days rise from his tomb.  People must have been in incredible awe, fear, astonishment and every other adjective you can use to describe it.  There are many points of reflection we can take from the story, I wish to focus only on one short verse, “And Jesus wept.”

I have had the privilege for the second time to teach the men who are in formation for the diaconate on the theological subject of Christology.  Christology is simply, the study of the person of Jesus Christ.  The class examines Jesus’ Divine and human nature and how that mystery is presented to us in the Incarnation, the Word of God taking on human flesh.  You can probably imagine the questions that are brought up, some of which are, “when did Jesus know He was Divine?”  “Were His two natures ever at odds with one another, i.e. did he have to suppress his Divine nature to be fully human?”  Some of the mystery rests in the fact that Jesus had to learn how to talk and walk, yet at the same time was holding the entire universe in existence.  Wow, that’s a lot to try and figure out.  Nevertheless, we have made our feeble attempts.  More importantly here, however, for our purposes, I would like to focus on Jesus as human.  Often, we just assume or even take the human nature of Jesus for granted.  When we usually think of Jesus we automatically think of his Divine nature.

Today we see that human nature really come to the fore as Scripture tells us, “Jesus wept.”  Why did he weep?  Some say he simply wept because his friend Lazarus had died.  Some say he wept for the crowds as he could still see that their faith was not fully there yet, they were still clinging to the earthly, only the here and now.  How true is that of all of us.  When a family member passes, we are devastated and rightly so, it hurts deeply when we experience death of the ones we love.  Eventually, however we must come to realize that Jesus takes care of His own!  That our loved one is happy and in the Lord’s presence.  How much do we cling to the here and now, not only for our loved ones but even for ourselves?  Do we long for heaven?  Another way to understand it would be that the crowds were doubting whether Jesus could do anything now and if He had been here earlier He would or could have saved Lazarus.

Jesus shows His human nature by His tears, no matter for what reason He shed them, it could have been for all the reasons I mentioned.  He shows His humanity by crying.  He is truly one of us as St. Paul said, but without sin.  Like you and me, Jesus had to be nursed by his mother, learn carpentry from his father, he shed tears and blood like all of us, he smiled, laughed and cried, He felt pain, He grew tired, He grew physically weak, He grew in wisdom, and He died just like we all do.

In the movie, “The Shack,” the character Mac, who met the Trinity says to Jesus, I find it easiest to talk with you.  Jesus replied, “because I am like you.”  Jesus truly meant that, the only difference is that He never sinned and that He also has a Divine nature, which also reveals itself when He commands Lazarus to rise!

It is good to know that Jesus shared everything we experience.  Knowing that God would become one of us and dwell with us gives us comfort.  Yes, He is our Lord, yes, we pay Him great reverence as the King of Kings, yes, we approach Him humbly, but we can also approach Him as friend, one who weeps right along with us, one who laughs right along with us, one who does everything right along with us.  It is a gift beyond comprehension that God would weep not just for Lazarus, but also for us!

Ash Wednesday and the Season of Lent

Ash Wednesday and the Season of Lent

My dear friends, what is it we Catholics do today?  Today Catholics begin the sacred season of Lent, a period of 40 days (not including Sundays) to the Great Easter Vigil (Saturday before Easter, starts when it becomes dark).  During these 40 days Catholics are asked to abstain and fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.  They are asked to abstain (from meat) on all other Fridays.  More importantly, however, is the total immersion we do in the life of the Trinity, particularly with Jesus and going with Him into the desert for forty days.  This should be a period of more intense prayer, fasting and alms-giving, three virtues the early Church asked Christians to practice in order to become more holy but also to truly enter into the passion of Jesus Christ, especially focusing and reflecting on Good Friday and all that meant for Christ as He endured tremendous suffering.

The desert experience we enter into these 40 days is that we not only experience some dying of ourselves (that sinful part) but also that we rise with Christ on Easter Sunday, that we leave behind in the tomb all those things that hold us back from holiness and come forth in new life, resurrected and clothed in our Lord Savior, where true happiness is found as well as eternal life.  God bless you all this Lenten Season.  Fr. John

The Law Written on My Heart

Jesus said to his disciples:

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

The Jews when hearing Jesus would have been concerned about his teachings, especially when it came to the Law. He was teaching something that was new, or actually not new, but teaching the law now in its broader understanding, i.e. following the spirit of the law instead of the letter. When hearing this some thought he was doing away with the Law of Moses, actually he was not doing away with it but rather teaching it in its fullness. Allow me to explain.

When Moses gave us the Ten Commandments, he was giving us the Divine Law, law that was from God Himself. The Law in its nature is a teacher, it teaches between right and wrong, between virtue and sin. However, the law is just letters on stone, if the law is to mean anything those letters must be written in our hearts. The second thing Jesus wanted us to understand is that not all things are black and white or cut and dry as they say, rather one must follow the spirit of the law and judge oneself or another according to that common sense-wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit, i.e. remember the story of King David when he and his soldiers were starving and ate the holy bread which was reserved for the priests alone, objectively by the letter of the law they were sinning, but not by the spirit, because God would give His bread to a starving man, that’s common sense.

Jesus affirms that he will not abolish the law, rather that he would fulfill it. You see, you and I can never really fulfill the law to the letter, we fall in sin even the best of us and St Paul reminds us, one sin and the entire law is broken, no one stands justified by one’s self before the Lord, we stand justified through Christ and living his law in our hearts. Always remember we follow Jesus first, a person, then in consequence and even instinct we follow the law as best we can to please him but also to help us grow in holiness, it’s never the other way around.

A good reflection for us this week is to examine the Ten Commandments and to ask ourselves, “Are these laws truly written in my heart?” If not, what can I do to make it so? God bless you, Fr. John