Preached Thursday, August 29 - the Passion of St. John the Baptist (preached at St. Kateri/ Christ the King 6:30 and 8a)

Today's Mass Readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082913.cfm

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing"

            This is a quote often attributed to the 18^th century Irish political philosopher, Edmund Burke.  And its corollary would be something like “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to SAY nothing.”

            Obviously, this is a philosophy that John the Baptist would subscribe to.  For if any of the blesseds in heaven have a reputation for outspokenness, for speaking truth to power, for not keeping silent, it is John, whose martyrdom we celebrate today, whose words of truth led to his execution.  Who called out the king and his wife, who spoke the truth about their adulterous marriage.  Not out of anger but recognizing that their very public sin could not stand without causing scandal to the people.  Not out of anger but in a spirit of encouraging repentance and change.  In a spirit of prophecy.

            You see, we call John a prophet, but we don’t mean the sort who can prophesy about the future.  John was a prophet in the sense of a person able to look around, see the evil and injustice and speak the truth about it.  To not remain silent, to not do nothing.

            Each of us, by our baptism, is also called to prophecy, to not remain silent in the midst of evil and injustice, to not remain passive and do nothing.  As you and I were anointed with the Sacred Chrism at our baptism, the priest or deacon spoke these words:

“As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet and King, so may you live always as a member of His body. ” 

            So, my brothers and sisters, you and i are called to talk the talk.  To look about us at our world, which is steeped in evil and injustice and to not remain silent.   To speak in love, to be sure, but to speak the truth.

            But, if you’ll remember yesterday’s Gospel, we are also called to walk the walk, to witness to the truth not only with our words but also with our actions and by the holiness of our lives.  John was certainly one whose simple life of poverty was a witness to his message of truth, repentance and change.  And his cruel martyrdom, with his innocent blood shed at the hands of the powerful, foreshadowed the death of Our Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary.  By his words, his life, and by his death, John fulfilled his mission which was to point the way to Jesus Christ.

            And my sisters and brothers, for each of us that is our mission too.  To point the way to Jesus Christ in a world so badly in need of Him.   Let us pray then, through the intercession of St. John the Baptist, that you and I will speak the truth with courage and love, and that our lives will be a beacon of light, a sign of Christ’s presence in our dark and broken world.

Preached Sunday August 25 - 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - St. Kateri Parish / St. Cecilia Church

Today's mass readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082513.cfm

            It seems to me like it was longer ago, but it was just last summer, a year and a couple weeks ago, that the Summer Olympic Games were held in London.  The games lasted for over two weeks, and one of the big stories of the Olympics was how well would Michael Phelps do?  Recall that Phelps, the greatest swimmer in history, had won eight gold medals in Beijing in 2008, and everyone wanted to know how he could possibly top that.  Well he didn’t – he won only six medals – including four gold, but he still won the most medals of any athlete in London.  But Michael Phelps retired with Olympic records of 22 medals including 18 gold medals, twice as many golds as any other Olympic athlete in history.

            Now his swim races didn’t take much time – some were over in less than 50 seconds.  So it is difficult to imagine, watching a race that was over in under a minute, how much time, and discipline, and diet and hard work and sacrifice all came together in preparation for that 50 second race.  A little google research tells me that Phelps would swim five hours a day, six days a week, for a total of 50 or so miles a week, 8 miles a day.  And he did this for nearly twenty years.

            Fascinating stuff, but what’s my point?  Well the training and hard work, discipline and sacrifice that Olympic athletes put in to prepare for their events came to mind as I focused on one word that Jesus uses in today’s Gospel – and that word is “strive.”  “Strive” he says, “to enter through the narrow gate.”  The greek word that St. Luke used, which is translates as “strive” in this Gospel passage, is  agonizomai, (ah-go-nid-zo-mah-ee) which means to “contend for a prize, especially against an adversary.”  It implies a struggle, a fight.  It’s the same root word for the English word “agonize.”  It’s not unlike the “discipline” that we just heard proclaimed in the letter to the Hebrews.

            Agonizomai is the same word St. Paul uses in First Corinthians 9:25 when he tells the people of Corinth to “run so as to win.  Every athlete exercises discipline in every way.  They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.”  

            And we find agonizomai again in Paul’s second letter to Timothy chapter 4 when near the end of his life Paul says “I have competed well, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

            So I think what Jesus is telling you and me today is that Faith in Him is no easy street.  Jesus Himself is the narrow gate to salvation, but following Him is something that requires us to agonizomai, something we must strive for, we must struggle and work for, to remain faithful.  To grow in holiness.  Following Jesus is not to be one more thing in our lives, one pursuit among many.  It’s to be the most important thing in our lives, indeed the reason for our lives!  It’s something that requires our time and effort.  Michael Phelps wouldn’t have won a single medal had he trained for an hour a week.  No, he had the prize, the gold medal that he strove for, worked for, sacrificed for, and that was the focus of his life for twenty years.  How much greater than a gold medal is eternal life!  How much more should we be focused on our eternal salvation!

            Indeed, Jesus is today taking the question “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” and turning it into the question to you and me “Will YOU be saved?”  He’s asking, how important is that to you, that you be saved?  What are you willing to do differently?  How will you live your life differently?

            Now it’s important to note that no amount of work, or sacrifice, or effort, can merit you or me eternal life.  It is only by grace, won by the death and resurrection of Christ, that we can merit eternal life.  But what is to be our response to that grace, our response to His love for us, our response to His invitation to follow Him – that is what Our Lord is asking us today. 

            What Jesus is asking of you and me is that we strive to grow in holiness.  Holiness, which means to be different than this world.  True faith in Christ should make us look, and act and be very different than this world.  Saint Matthew in his Gospel records this same scene with Jesus comparing the narrow gate which leads to life, which few will find, with the wide gate and broad road that lead to destruction, where many will enter.   I cannot grow in holiness if I am of this world, if I think like this world, if I take on the subtle and not-so-subtle attitudes and beliefs of this world.  That, my brothers and sisters, is the broad road, the wide gate.  You and I are called to follow after Christ.

            Our attitudes are to be formed by Christ, by His written word, and by His Church.  We are so blessed to have 2000 years of Church teaching and tradition to guide us toward the narrow gate.  Teaching and tradition that is usually at odds with the attitudes and beliefs of this world.  In matters of how we treat the poor, the prisoner, the elderly and infirm, the unborn.  In what we believe about human sexuality.   In how we view material goods, material wealth.  And in how we love.  How we love each other.  How we love our neighbor.  How we love our enemies.  In each of these, the narrow way of Christ is vastly different than the broad road of this world.

            My sisters and brothers, throughout our lives, every single day, you and I are faced with decisions, with choices.  To choose this world’s way, the broad road, or Christ’s way, the narrow gate.  With the grace of frequent reception of the sacraments, by study of the bible and spiritual writings, by constant, regular prayer, by expressing our faith in love and service to others, Jesus calls us today to strive to follow after Him, the narrow gate.  He calls us to strive to grow in holiness, to grow in love.

             So that at the end of our days, you and I may be able to proclaim with St. Paul “I have competed well, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Preached this morning, St. Kateri / Christ the King, 6:30 and 8a - Tuesday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time

Mass readings:    http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081313.cfm

Video:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObPlYLiqDU4

 

                “See that you do not despise one of these little ones” Our Lord tells us in this Gospel.

            As I was pondering this line and preparing for this homily, I received a message from lifesitenews.com with this week’s cover of Time Magazine attached.  This cover reads “The Childfree Life – when having it all means not having children.”   It shows a young couple smiling and relaxing on a beach. 

            And the words of the Lord all made sense.  For if our culture doesn’t despise children, it’s one that increasingly doesn’t value children, that doesn’t see children as a gift, a blessing, a culture that more and more sees children as a burden.  The gist of the Time Magazine article is that children get in the way of living the good life.  And, sad to say, that’s an attitude that’s becoming more widespread.  Kids require self-sacrifice, self-giving, and aren’t those virtues out of style?

            You see, Jesus lived in a time when little children, if not despised, were held in no esteem.  Both the Greek world and the Roman Empire routinely, and legally, practiced infanticide.  It was really the advent of Christianity, of Judeo-Christian attitudes, that put an end to that practice.  But sadly, in our western world that seems increasingly wont to reject the Judeo-Christian beliefs of two millenia, many of those attitudes toward children have returned.  The brouhaha in Texas a few weeks back was entirely about whether 8- and 9-month unborn babies should be protected, or whether they can be legally aborted.  I saw a poll of young people last week which showed a disturbing amount of support for expanding the right to abortion to children after birth.

            And the belief that a fundamental purpose of marriage is the procreation of children has gradually and steadily gone by the wayside.  Our nation’s birthrate is at the lowest it’s been in history, and is rapidly approaching the levels seen in Europe, where a population disaster is in the works, where the birthrate is far below even a replacement level.

            Indeed, if children are a gift, a blessing, from God, then a culture which routinely accepts artificial contraception and legal abortion must give the devil great satisfaction.

            So what’s the point?  Since I know I’m largely preaching to the choir here this morning? 

            It’s simply this – be aware and vigilant about these attitudes, these trends that are all around us, and know that we as Catholics are called to stand in opposition, to be a light in the darkness.  Pope Paul said in Humanae Vitae that the Church is called to be a “sign of contradiction” against the culture in which we live.  You and I are called to always exhibit an attitude of love and respect for children of all ages, born and unborn.  And called to acknowledge that marriage is fundamentally about procreation and education of offspring.

            And pray.  Pray without ceasing.  Placing our trust in Our Lord Jesus Christ, who had a special place in His heart for the littlest ones among us, that we may have the strength and courage to do our part to transform our culture and build His Kingdom here on earth.

Preached at St. Kateri / Christ the King - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 11, 2013

Mass readings:   http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081113.cfm

Sorry, no audio recording.

July 2, 2010 was as pretty a day as we will ever get here in western New York.  The sun shone brightly all day, the sky was a deep blue, the air was pleasantly warm and dry, and there was a light, refreshing breeze blowing off the lake. 

The day was perfect.  You might wonder how it is that I remember that day so well.  My wife Pam and I were sitting in Brockport that evening, watching two of our daughters in a soccer game.   I was remarking about how exquisite the weather had been all day.  And then the phone rang.

The dreaded call. 

You see, Pam’s brother, 51 years old, had gone out for a bike ride that afternoon, enjoying an equally splendid afternoon down in Binghamton.  Chuck was visiting, up from South Carolina, and we had just spent time with him the weekend before.  But this day, at the end of his bike ride, in front of his hotel, he sat down under a shade tree, and because of a congenital heart disease that nobody knew he had, he never got up.

A healthy, happy, and I dare say holy husband and father of four, taken from us suddenly, without warning, completely by surprise.

I suppose each of us, by the time you reach a certain age, has our own similar stories – friends, relatives, close loved ones perhaps, snatched away from us in the prime of life.  We know it happens.  Many of us have felt or are still feeling the pain.  We were shocked when, a few weeks ago, a man driving a truck northbound on route 590 in the can of worms, without any warning met his fate when an out-of-control tanker truck spun out and fell from an overpass, crushing his cab.  We know that life is fragile, uncertain, that we know not the hour or the place.

So Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel have a certain urgency to them – He tells us “if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.  You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”  The first lesson of this Gospel, then, is to be prepared.  Be prepared. 

Being prepared causes us to examine ourselves - what is the state of my soul, if the Lord were to come knocking tonight?  What is the state of my relationship with God?  The catechism teaches us that we must be free of serious sin, mortal sin, to attain eternal life in heaven.  “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent,” the catechism teaches.  It is a severing, a cutting off, of our relationship with God. 

The Sacrament of Reconciliation, where we tangibly experience the love and mercy of Christ, is available to us every single week, available to wipe away our sins and restore us to God’s grace, restore us to relationship with Him.  I know a man down near Corning, a devout Catholic man, who had just lost a fellow worker in that plane crash up in Buffalo a few years back, and I still remember his words to me – “state of grace, just in case,” he told me.  My brother-in-law was indeed blessed, as he received the Sacrament of Reconciliation the day before that fateful Friday bike ride.  You and I should be so blessed!

But this Gospel is about more than being free of serious sin, it seems to me.  For you and I weren’t created only to avoid sin in our lives, important as that is.  No, I think there’s an even larger message here – that when the Lord returns, He should find us vigilant and doing His will.  Doing what we ought to do, not merely avoiding what we oughtn’t be doing.  In the Penitential Act, we pray for forgiveness and mercy – for my thoughts and words, for what I have done and for what I have failed to do.  Indeed, the Lord says “the servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely.”  

This lesson of the Gospel, then, is that we’d better get busy – busy discerning God’s will, God’s will in your life, and in mine, and busy going about fulfilling it.  How am I being called by God to love and serve Him, to love and serve my neighbor?  What gifts and talents did God give me and how is God calling me to use those gifts and talents to build His Kingdom?  In what way is He calling me to give Him the rest of my life?

And, my sisters and brothers, we may have many such “callings” in our lives.  God may call us over and over again to different types of service.  Mother Teresa was perfectly happy as a school teacher for the children of the wealthy in India when she received what she said was her “Call within a call.”  “I thirst” she heard Our Blessed Lord tell her, and from that moment she knew that she must go to serve the poorest of the poor, the starving, diseased and dying in the streets.

My brothers and sisters, we do not have an unlimited amount of time on this earth.  You and I were created for a purpose, each of us for our own specific role in fulfilling God’s plan.  It’s why we were conceived, why we were born.  And He has entrusted you and me with much, so much is demanded of us. 

Fed and nourished by His very Body and Blood, we will soon be commanded to Go Forth from here, forth to be the living presence of Jesus Christ in our world.  May we fully accept this challenge with our entire lives, so that when the Master finally comes, He will say to each of us “well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Preached at St. Kateri/St. Margaret Mary for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 4, 2013

Readings:   http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/080413.cfm

Sorry, no audio recording

 

 

            One night, an old Cherokee chief was sitting at the campfire with his grandson.

            As he stared into the fire, the light of the flames cast deep shadows in the wrinkles on his face, a face weathered over his many years, a wise face.  And the old man began to speak.

            “A fight, a battle, is going on inside of me,” he told the young boy, “it is a terrible fight between two wolves.

            “One wolf is evil, full of anger, hatred, greed, lust, vanity, sorrow, regret, self-pity and pride.

            “The other wolf is good, full of joy and peace, love, humility, kindness and faith.”

            “My grandson,” he continued, “This same fight is going on inside of you, …and inside of every other person on this earth.”

            The grandson pondered this for a moment and then turned to the old man and asked, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?”

            Ahe old man smiled and simply said,

            “The one you feed.”

            I heard this story quite some time ago, and it came to mind as I was pondering today’s reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians.  St. Paul, in his own way, is describing this evil wolf when he speaks of the parts of us that are earthly – immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed, idolatry and dishonesty.  Jesus, in our Gospel, focuses on just one of these – greed - and warns us to take care to guard against all greed.

            Now I don’t know about you, but this Cherokee legend rings very true in my life.  For both wolves live inside of me at all times and both struggle one against the other with my life and my soul as the prize.  And the wise old grandfather is right – this same fight goes on inside each one of us, huh?  Now maybe not every one of us struggles with every one of the vices on the list, but I’ll bet there are one or two or three that are the main struggles, the main burden for each of us.

            You don’t have to look very far in the world around us to see each of these sins manifest themselves.  Anger and hatred are on the front page of every newspaper in the world.  Lust is but a click of the TV remote, or a mouse click, away.  Greed is manifest all around, evident in the logos on our cars, the address of our homes, the crowded parking lot at the mall. 

            What both St. Paul and Our Blessed Lord are telling us today is this – the two lists – one of vices, one of virtues, the two wolves, if you will, they’re incompatible.  They won’t live together nicely.  We can’t serve two masters, Jesus tells us.  I cannot be attached to money and be generous at the same time.  I cannot be greedy and grateful at the same time.  I cannot be filled with lust, and be truly loving, at the same time.  I must choose.  One or the other.      

            The Cherokee grandfather tells his grandson you must starve the evil wolf.  Don’t feed him.  And in his own way, St. Paul’s instruction is the same as the grandfather’s.  Paul commands the Colossians to put these things “to death” he says.  To death.

            It’s not enough, though, to starve the evil wolf.  It’s not enough just to try to shed ourselves of our vices, of our sins.  We must feed the good wolf.  We must put on virtues.  Put on Christ.  We must seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, St. Paul tells us.

            And we Catholic Christians are indeed blessed to have the ultimate food to feed our “good wolf,” the ultimate weapons in this epic battle.  For we have the Sacraments. 

            We have the Sacrament of Reconciliation where we humbly admit that we have failed, that we have sinned, we throw ourselves on mercy of Christ Jesus.  And let me tell you this – the last place the evil one wants you and me is in that confessional.  For there is great grace there to transcend our sins and live a more virtuous life.  We are blessed here to have this sacrament available to us every Saturday at all three of our sites.

            And we have the Eucharist – where we receive the very Body and Blood of Our Lord, where we literally “put on Christ” and are empowered, strengthened to go forth from here to serve.  To serve the needs of others, rather than to focus inwardly on ourselves in sin.  We here at St. Kateri are blessed to have masses at multiple sites and multiple times every weekend, and every day of the week.  Christ is here to feed us, if we only seek Him.

            And we must pray.  Regularly.  Without ceasing.  Morning and night.  Talk to Jesus.  Tell Him our struggles.  His mercy and love are overflowing.  He will shower us with His grace, with His help, if we only ask Him.             

            And we have a heavenly intercessor in His Blessed Mother, Mary.  She listens to our pleas, she holds us tenderly in her arms, and she points the way to Her Son, Our Lord.

            The good news is this – the good wolf is way stronger than the evil wolf.  Jesus Christ is infinitely more powerful than the evil one.  The answer to the little boy’s question, “which one wins” is this – Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior wins.  If we’ll only let Him.  If we’ll only seek Him.