The homily I preached - August 25/26, 2018 - 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - St. John the Evangelist Greece

Scripture readings:   http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082618.cfm

I don’t know about you, but I’m angry.  I’m also feeling sad, dismayed, confused, disillusioned and embarrassed.  But most of all angry.

Our Church, which is supposed to be a witness to the truth, and the holiness, of Jesus Christ in a wayward, secular, even evil world, is being dragged through the mud in the newspapers and TV news, subject to attorney general investigations, first in Pennsylvania and now in a number of other states.  We are being mocked and laughed at, and generally we the Catholic Church look like a bunch of complete hypocrites. 

I’m speaking, of course, of the most recent chapter in the priest (and bishop) sexual abuse scandal, on the heels of the Pennsylvania Attorney General report, the Cardinal McCarrick scandal, and just this week, 70 miles to the west, scandal in the Diocese of Buffalo.

It is an evil age, as we heard in last Sunday’s readings, and the Church is supposed to be a light in the darkness.  That light seems mighty dim right now.

I’m angry that I am forced to feel so embarrassed.  Embarrassed for the Church I love.

The other evening I read a letter from my former pastor, one that was on one hand apologetic but on the other hand saying, well, these things happened 30-50 years ago.  That’s true, Father, many did, yes, but not all.

Just over the past couple days Eyewitness News in Buffalo ran an in-depth investigative report – allegations about two Buffalo diocesan priests – not so much abuse of children but abuse of young, male adults.  And the lack of firm and appropriate response on the part of the bishop of Buffalo.

Yesterday a number of political and civic leaders were calling for the Buffalo bishop to resign.

And we know of former-Cardinal McCarrick of Washington DC, and how he was able to perpetrate similar abuses all during his long career, as he rose in the ranks of the hierarchy.

And it is not at all clear what the leaders of the Church, right up to the Holy Father, plan to do about this.

That makes me angry.

And I don’t think I’m alone to say that all this makes me want to walk away, look for another religion, another place to practice my faith in Jesus Christ.

So, what’s stopping me?  Nothing more than the words I just proclaimed from the ending of the sixth chapter of the Evangelist John’s Gospel.  Asked “do you also want to leave?” Peter responds “Master, to whom shall we go.  You have the words of eternal life.”

If we were to leave, to whom shall we go?  For as flawed and sinful and even hypocritical as our Church is, we have something here that no other church has – and for five weeks we’ve been hearing it proclaimed, we have here Jesus Himself, Body Blood Soul and Divinity.

All this year we’ve been reading from the Gospel of Mark, but for these past five weeks we’ve been hearing from the sixth chapter of St. John – the Bread of Life discourse.  We’ve heard Jesus promise His disciples and us the bread that He will give – His flesh for the life of the world.  Amen I say to you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life in you.

This amazing gift our Lord gives us and this is the only place we can get it.

Make no mistake – there is a devil, and Satan hates you and he hates me and he wants us to be eternally separated from God.  He wants to destroy Christ’s Church.  After all, the Church is Christ’s means of bringing salvation to the world.

Satan especially hates the Eucharist, the Sacrament in which we are united in sublime communion with Christ and with one another.  And he hates the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the sacrament in which we are reunited with Christ when we’ve strayed from Him.

So it should be no surprise that we are witnessing Satan’s all-out attack on the Church, not an attack from outside but an attack from within, an attack especially on her priests and bishops, for these men are our only means of our only means of receiving the Body and Blood of Our Blessed Lord in Eucharist, and our only means of hearing the magnificent words of absolution – words of Christ’s mercy and forgiveness.

Make no mistake, this is a battle, this is war, and this is a call to arms.  So what do we do?  Brothers and sisters, we are not powerless.  In fact, at this point in history, at a point when we are most tempted to throw in the towel, I think we are being called to lead.

First, to lead in holiness.  To double down on our own commitment to the Lord and especially to these two Sacraments – Eucharist and Reconciliation.  To examine our own lives and purge all that is not holy, all that stands in the way of our perfectly following our Blessed Lord, all that stands in the way of our being a perfect witness to His truth, love and mercy in our broken world.

Second to lead in prayer.  Prayer especially for our Bishops and Holy Father, as they address the issues we face, that they may recognize the depth of these issues and take firm steps to reform our Church and especially our clergy to be the more perfect, more holy, more visible Body of Christ in our world.

Third – pray some more - pray and fast.  Our Lord said that certain demons can only be driven out by prayer and fasting and make no mistake, there are demons afoot in our Church.  Let us pray and fast for Holy Mother Church, and especially for her priests and bishops.  That those men who’ve answered the call, who’ve given their lives as disciples of the Lord, may increase in faith and holiness and become more and more perfect Alter Christuses – “Other Christs” – to lead and sanctify the people of God.

Finally, to trust.  Trust that our God can and will bring good out of every evil situation.  And renew our faith and hope.  Sisters and brothers, let us not lose hope.  We have the assurance of Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ that even the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church.  Let us ask His Blessed and Immaculate Mother, in her titles Mother of the Church and Mother of Priests, to intercede for us.  And in faith, let us move past our anger and disillusionment and embarrassment and renew our faith and hope in the promises of the Lord.

Homily preached Sunday, July 22, 2018 - Sixteenth Sunday in ordinary time - cycle B - St. John the Evangelist Church

Today's readings -   http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072218.cfm

“…His heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.”

When He ascended to the Father, Our Blessed Lord, in His infinite goodness, left behind a Church - led by twelve Apostles (which we know today as bishops) and He appointed one Apostle as the preeminent apostle.  That was, of course, Peter, who became Bishop of Rome, and whom we know as our first Pope.

You see, just as in today’s Gospel, Our Lord saw the need for the people to have a shepherd, and so entrusted the care of all of us to shepherds to this day.  We have our local shepherd, Salvatore, and we have our preeminent shepherd, Francis. 

The job, the mission, of the bishops and the Holy Father is simple in concept but what an awesome responsibility – to safeguard the Faith handed down over the centuries in Word and Tradition, and to boldly teach that Faith – to lead the sheep to the eternal Shepherd.

This coming October, we will celebrate the canonization, Pope Francis will declare a “saint” - of a great shepherd, Blessed Pope Paul VI, the very first pope I can remember as a kid, who will then be known as Saint Paul VI.  Paul VI was elected in 1963 upon the death of John XXIII, who was canonized along with Pope John Paul II four years ago.

Even though John XXIII usually gets credit for calling the second Vatican Council, his call to “throw open the windows of the Church and let the fresh air of the Spirit blow through,” it was Paul VI who presided over almost the entire length of the Council, which lasted from late 1962 (just months before John died) until 1965.

But what is Paul best known for?  Best remembered by?

Something we will remember, and yes celebrate this week.  For this Wednesday marks the fiftieth anniversary of Paul’s best-known work the encyclical Humanae Vitae, or “Human Life.”

It was 1968, a year I’m old enough to remember well.  A turbulent year, a turbulent time.  Here in the U.S. Martin Luther King assassinated.  Bobby Kennedy assassinated.  Riots in Chicago.  And the “sexual revolution” was in full force.

That sexual revolution could be traced, in part at least, to the more and more widespread acceptance of artificial contraception, and John XXIII decided to establish (and Paul then expanded) a Papal Commission on Birth Control.  The Church had always held that artificial contraception was gravely sinful – in fact until beginning in 1930, all Christian religions taught the same thing. 

But the “times they were a changin’” so the Holy Father thought it best to examine the issue and this Commission was established.  And the Commission came back recommending that Holy Mother Church change her mind on this issue.

But to the surprise of many, the shepherd Paul VI, said “no.” The Holy Father, in Humanae Vitae, said NO to changing the Church’s consistent teaching – NO to artificial contraception.  History remembers this as a big NO.

But what he really said was “yes” – YES to God’s plan for human sexuality, YES to remembering and teaching the intrinsic link between the sexual act and the co-creation with God of new human life.

YES to remembering the seriousness of the great gift of our sexuality.  The first sentence of this great encyclical, translated into English, reads “The transmission of human life is a most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator.”

The sexual act, after all, was invented by God, the very way in which He creates new children of God!  It doesn’t get any more serious, or sacred, than that!

Tragically, Humanae Vitae was and has been largely ignored and even rejected, certainly by an increasingly secular and even hedonistic western culture, and even by many or maybe most within the Church – clerics and married couples alike.

Which is, if you ask me, very sad.  For this document, if you take time to read it fifty years later, was profound and even prophetic.  We’ve been reading of the Old Testament prophets these last three weeks – Ezekiel, then Amos, now Jeremiah.  I dare say Paul VI was a prophet.  He told us fifty years ago what would happen if artificial contraception were to become generally accepted.

And what were his prophecies?

There were four - that contraception would lead to an increase in marital infidelity, that contraception would lead to a general lowering of morality, that Contraception would lead men to cease respecting woman in their totality and would cause them to treat women as “mere instruments of selfish enjoyment” rather than as cherished partners, and that widespread acceptance of contraception by couples would lead to a massive imposition of contraception by unscrupulous governments.

Each of these prophecies, it cannot be denied, has come to pass, even the last, as certain countries have forced sterilization and even abortion on their populations.

But what about what Paul didn’t foresee, didn’t’ prophesy?

That widespread acceptance of contraception would eventually lead to a widespread disordered understanding of human sexuality.  That sex would come to be seen completely removed from its God-given purpose – the transmission of human life.  Are any of us completely immune from this understanding, so prevalent in our culture today?

And the fruits of this disordered understanding? Some include the scourge of legal abortion, which is after all generally “backup contraception.”  The epidemic of pornography.  A widespread and increasing acceptance of same-sex sexual relationships.  A rejection of the belief that God created us male and female, even acceptance of the idea that we can somehow select our gender. Even entire nations contracepting themselves out of existence. Blessed Paul’s native Italy, for instance, has a birth rate far below replacement level.

All of these things would be impossible to even imagine if it weren’t for the notion that sex can be divorced from its God-designed purpose – the creation of new life.  A notion that was once unthinkable.  A notion now ingrained in our culture and ways of thinking.

What’s our takeaway, then, fifty years hence? 

First, I think we owe it to ourselves, our Church and the Lord that we take another look – and reconsider - the prophetic teaching of this great encyclical Humanae Vitae.  That we reconsider all the ways our thinking and beliefs have been formed by “this world” rather than in conformity to God’s plan.

If our beliefs, behaviors and even lives have strayed from God’s plan that we beg His mercy.  And beg His grace to re-form our beliefs and understanding of sexuality to conform to His.  God, please - help me to see rightly 

And that we ask for His power and strength to teach and proclaim His truth against a culture increasingly hostile to it.

Blessed Paul VI, please pray for us.

Homily preached for the Second Sunday of Advent, December 9/10, 4p and 8a, St. John the Evangelist Parish

Today's mass readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121017.cfm

We celebrate this weekend (today) the Second Sunday of Advent.  Now we normally think of Advent as a four-week season of preparation for the Feast of Christ’s birth, but this year we’re getting short-changed. 

Advent is only three weeks – the fourth week, after all, will last only from the 10 o’clock Mass on Sunday to the first Christmas Eve Mass five or six hours later on Sunday afternoon.  So three weeks it is to get our hearts ready for the birth of the Savior, and one of them is gone – so only two weeks left.

Only two weeks til Christmas!?  Some might be struck with panic at the thought – I have so much to do – shopping and decorating and baking and you name it. 

And some may be struck with panic – my heart is not nearly ready.  I haven’t much time.  But like we used to say as children in hide-and-seek, He is telling us “ready or not, here I come.”

It is the message of the season.  The message of this Gospel, the message of last week’s Gospel and in fact, the message of a number of Sundays before that.  Namely “Get Ready.” It’s a rather urgent message that John the Baptist is preaching to the folks coming out to the desert.  Folks coming out probably mostly out of curiosity – who is this guy eating locusts and honey?  They come out and they get an earful – repent and prepare!

That is a vital message to us, isn’t it?  We have an opportunity to do just that this afternoon at the regional penance service at Holy Cross. Avail ourselves of His mercy, repent of our sins, let Him cleanse our hearts in preparation for Christmas.

But it’s easy to let that message overpower the other messages in these readings –

“Comfort.  Give comfort to my people,” says the prophet Isaiah. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem… Here comes with power the Lord GOD… Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.”

And from this reading from the second letter of Peter: “The Lord does not delay his promise, but He is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Yes, it’s urgent that we should repent, but it’s comforting that He is coming with His comfort, His gentle care, and with His patience.

So what to make of all this?  What to make of the last two weeks of Advent, this time of preparing our hearts?  I struggled with that question – O Lord what am I to say to the people, what would you have me say to their hearts for this short 14 days.  And I think it’s this.

One of the dangers of this season, occurring every year, is that this Advent might be no different than last Advent or the Advent before that.  With the two weeks we have left, let’s focus on this being different, better, than any Advent before.

And specifically how, you ask?

Let us fall in love with Him.  Fall in love with the infant King in the manger.  With the crucified King on the Cross.  With the triumphant King risen from the dead.  With the King who is God and man, who loves you and loves me more extravagantly, more generously, more deeply than you or I will ever fully realize this side of heaven.

All He wants is that we love Him.  So let us fall in love with Him.  Or more accurately, let us pray that we fall in love with Him.  Like never before, like no Advent before.

While visiting family in Cincinnati last weekend, we were in the student center at Xavier University, and I saw on the wall a quote by the Spanish Jesuit Father Pedro Arrupe which really struck me.  Then at Mass this (yesterday) morning at the Genesee Abbey, the homilist mentioned it again, so I took it as a sign that this is what I, at least, need to ask for, need to pray for, this Advent.

The quote is this:

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in a love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything."

So, sisters and brothers, that will be my focus and my daily prayer for these last two weeks of Advent – “O Lord, help me realize how much you love me.  And Lord, help me fall ever more deeply in love with you.” 

Once we realize, not only in our brains but in our hearts and in our marrow, how much He loves us, how much He loves you, how much He loves me, brothers and sisters we will have no choice but to fall in love with Him.  Our lives will be radically different, as are the lives of everyone when they’re in love.

“O Lord, help me realize how much you love me.  And Lord, help me fall deeply in love with you.”

Homily for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, preached 6p, Friday December 8, St. John the Evangelist Parish

Mass readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120817.cfm

You might think, from the Church’s choice of this Gospel – the Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary – that this feast would be about celebrating the conception of Jesus in the womb of His Blessed Mother.  In fact, a lot of people think that…But they would be wrong.  We celebrate Our Blessed Lord’s conception on the feast of the Annunciation, March 25.

On this day we celebrate the dogmatic belief that Mary herself was conceived without stain of sin, without original sin, in the womb of her mother, St. Ann.  She, the new Eve by whom the salvation of the world was to be born, she who was called “full of grace” by the angel in our Gospel, she was called “a worthy dwelling for her Son” in the collect which Father just prayed.  A worthy dwelling for her Son.

And that sums up the why of today’s feast – why Mary had to be conceived without sin –because a Divine Son, an infant King through Whom all things were made, required a worthy dwelling.  She was chosen before time began to be the first dwelling place, the first sacred tabernacle if you will, of Our Blessed  Lord.  For it was by her “yes” to the Angel, and it was in her womb, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that our salvation first entered the world.

Jesus, King of the Universe and Savior of humankind, required a worthy dwelling place.

All well and good, Deacon Ed, but what’s that got to do with me?  Well I’m glad you asked.

I have three different and mostly unrelated thoughts about that, three different take-aways on this feast, if you will.  If you don’t remember all three, hopefully you’ll at least take home one.

The first is this and it concerns this area of our Church, of our sanctuary, right over her to my right.  Here we have the physical tabernacle, in which Our Blessed Lord in His sacred Body resides, where Our Lord’s sacred Body is reserved.

Whenever you’re near the tabernacle, please recall Mary, the Immaculate Conception, the first sacred tabernacle of Our Lord, and realize Who it is in this tabernacle.  Let’s especially be mindful of this in this, our year of the Eucharist, in which we are frequently reminded of Christ’s real presence – body, blood, soul and divinity in Holy Eucharist.  Reverently kneel before His holy tabernacle, if you’re able.  Bow, if you can’t kneel.  Know this – the Lord is right here, really present.   Let us worship Him.

Second – when we receive His Sacred Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in Holy Eucharist, you and I are, in a very real sense, also His tabernacles.  He chooses to come dwell with us, in us, to strengthen us, to unite us, to do His will.

Now you and I weren’t conceived without sin.  No, you and I weren’t given that great grace, that great gift, which Mary received.  But if He is to dwell in us, oughtn’t we be as perfect a dwelling place for Him as we can be?  In the same opening prayer, Father prayed that “through her intercession, we, too, may be cleansed and admitted to” the Father’s presence.

The place for that cleansing is especially in the confessional, in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  I’m sure as heck not immaculate, but when I walk out of the confessional, having been absolved of my sins by Jesus Christ Himself through the power vested in the priest, that’s the closest thing to immaculate this side of heaven.  I walk out washed clean of my sins by the power of His life, death and resurrection.  Washed clean in His blood, in His mercy.  Filled with His grace to go forth to try again, to grow in holiness.

Sisters and brothers, if we are to be His dwelling places, if we are to be worthy dwelling places for Him, let us be careful to not receive His Sacred Body and Blood into our own bodies and souls if we are conscious of grave sin.  Let us first approach Him, sorry and repentant of our sins, and fall on His mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. That is the way, the power, He left His Church to make us worthy dwelling places for Him.

Third and finally, this solemnity is also the patronal feast day of our nation, the United States of America.  Mary in the Immaculate Conception is the patroness of our great country. We trust in her protection and guidance.  Ironic and sad, it seems to me, that that sacred place which should be the safest - the womb - is the most dangerous place in this nation.  Fully one-third of babies conceived here die in abortion. 

Let us recommit ourselves, through the intercession of Mary the Immaculate Conception, to work to change hearts to recognize this great national tragedy, and by her intervention with her Divine Son and by our work, may we once again restore legal protection to our tiniest and most defenseless sisters and brothers.

Let us now pray for her intercession for ourselves and for our nation using the words of the Angel Gabriel – “Hail Mary…”

Homily preached for the Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe, Nov 25/26 2017 - all Masses, St. John the Evangelist Parish

Today's Mass readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/112617.cfm

Trivia question for you – what do Morocco, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Cambodia, Belgium, Bahrain and the Netherlands all have in common? 

Trivia answer – Each has a king.  Japan has an Emperor.  Denmark has a queen, as do sixteen different nations who honor Queen Elizabeth II as their monarch.

But we in America – we have no king, no queen.  Rejected him, got rid of him 241 years ago.  “We got this,” we said in 1776.  “We can rule ourselves.”  And we have, not perfectly but pretty successfully over those 241 years, I would say.

As a result, you and I have little understanding of what it means to have a king, a monarch. And that’s a pretty important thing to understand on this feast, the solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, isn’t it?  Even in those nations who still have a king or queen today, that person is usually a figurehead, as the governments are mostly elected by the people.  So I’m not sure the folks in those places really understand the concept either, as it once was.

There was a time when pretty much all the world, every nation, was ruled by a king or a queen.  What did it mean to have a king?

Of course, the king was the head of state – the public face and symbol of his nation, his people. The people would give him honor, respect, allegiance, even love.

The king was the leader – would lead his people, and his people would submit to being led. 

The king demanded obedience from those he ruled.  The king was leader, yes, but also ruler.  The executive branch, legislative branch – he made the rules – and the judicial branch.  The king was the supreme judge. So you prayed for a good king, a benevolent king, who would use such vast powers wisely and lovingly.

A good king would care for his people, care for the people entrusted to him.

We celebrate today that we have such a good king, a loving king, a perfect king – Our Blessed Lord.

A leader and ruler who lovingly and personally shepherds us, as we heard in our first reading from the prophet Ezekiel. 

“I myself” says the Lord three times.  “I myself will look after and tend my sheep. I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered. I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest.”  That is the kind of king we pay homage to this day, every day.  The kind of king who loves us so much that He left heaven to come to save us!

But if He is a good and perfect king, a loving shepherd, what does that make us?  For after all, the concept of Christ our King implies a relationship.  If He is to be our King, we, then, are His subjects, His sheep even. 

It means that we are to submit our minds, our wills, our hearts, our lives to Him.  To let Him rule our hearts and lives as our King.  That’s the hard part.  Especially for us Americans I think.  We still have that tendency to say “I got this. I can rule myself.”

And this culture, which you can sum up, I think, in Frank Sinatra’s signature song “I did it my way” encourages just that kind of attitude.  “I don’t need no stinkin king.  I can do it myself.”  That is the attitude of the sleek and the strong of which Ezekiel speaks: “The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy, shepherding them rightly.”

He calls us to have the attitude of sheep, of subjects, humbly submitting to being led, trusting in His care for us, turning to Him and relying on Him in every aspect of our lives.  Letting Him really be the King of our hearts.

Now His is a different sort of kingdom – it’s one where we can, and do, vote for king.  By our lives, by the way we live our lives, we elect Him King of our hearts, or we vote for something else.  Our lives proclaim Him “my Lord, my King, my God,” or we proclaim “not my king.” We do that when we obey Him, or when we obey our own whims and passions.

And Our Lord, in this Gospel, tells us vividly, and frighteningly even, how we do that.  We do that by how we serve our neighbor.  Or how we neglect them.  By how we look for our King in the least, the poorest, the most defenseless among us.  Do we see in the homeless and hungry the face of Our Blessed Lord?  Do we give Him to eat, to drink?  Clothe Him, visit Him, care for Him?  Or did we go about our own business, our own way, ignoring them, serving ourselves? 

That is how we vote – that is how we proclaim Him my King, or not.  How we choose His Kingdom, or the Kingdom of the prince of this world.

A story is told about a king…who lived in a far-off land.  He had a wealthy kingdom, with all his needs and desires met every day by his royal court.  He was loved and respected by his family and noblemen and was known throughout the land for his wisdom and fairness.  He had everything he wanted, except for one important thing:  he had no heir to whom he could leave his kingdom and all its wealth.  So in his wisdom and he came up with a plan.  He would invite young people from all over his kingdom to come to the castle and be interviewed for the job.  He’d find the most-qualified, most well-suited young man to become his prince and heir.  The king sent out the word to his people and then he waited.

Far away in a tiny remote village, a poor young man heard about the king’s plan. Intelligent and hard-working, his heart leapt at the thought of meeting the king and perhaps earning his trust to become his adopted prince.  But the castle was a long way from the young man’s village and he had no supplies for such a hard journey.  So the young man worked and saved day and night to earn enough to buy the food he needed to make the trip and new clothes suitable for meeting the king.  After weeks of work and difficult travel, he finally found himself outside the king’s castle.

Sitting by the castle gate was a filthy beggar dressed in dirty rags. “Have pity on me, my son” the beggar cried out to the young man.  “Help me.” The young man looked down at the beggar and his heart was moved to pity for him.  He gave the beggar the new clothes he’d worked so hard to buy.  And he gave him the money he’d saved for his return trip home. 

The beggar was overjoyed and thanked the young man for his generous heart and kindness.  But now his giving heart was fearful as he looked down at the old clothes he’d worn on his travels.  Since he’d given away the only new clothes he had to the beggar, he was going to have to wear his old things to meet the king.  “Oh well,” he thought, “I’ve come too far to let anything stop me now.” 

He was escorted into the palace and led down a long hallway to the king’s throne room.  As the huge doors opened before him, the young man stepped into the presence of the king.  And there, seated on the throne, was the beggar, wearing the clothes the young man had given him.  The king smiled and looked at his shocked visitor, threw open his arms and exclaimed, “Welcome, my son!”

That is the kind of King we have, sisters and brothers.  And that is how He will judge whether we are worthy to spend eternity with Him.  Let us choose wisely.

Homily - 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 11/12, St. John the Evangelist Church

Mass readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/111217.cfm

Good evening/morning.

I think a single word can sum up all three of our readings this evening/morning, and that word is WISDOM.  Wisdom. Our first reading, in fact, is from the Old Testament Book of Wisdom.

But what is wisdom?  Intelligent, smart, right?  I don’t think so.  A little story might help.

There were two little boys, ages3 and 5.  Whenever the boys’ uncle would come to visit he liked to play a little game with the 3 year old.  So he’d pull out two coins – a nickel and a dime, and he’d ask the little guy to pick one, whichever one you pick you get to keep.  Naturally, the 3-year old picked the bigger one, the nickel.  And this went on over a number of years, every time the uncle came to visit, with the younger one picking the bigger coin every time, until now the two boys are like 8 and 10.

The uncle comes by, and as he usually does, he pulls out the two coins, and as he usually does, the now 8-year old still picks the nickel.  A few minutes later, with the uncle out of the room, the older brother says, “you dummy – why do you always pick the nickel when you know the dime’s worth twice as much.”

“I’m no dummy,” says the younger brother.  “Unc has been giving me nickels for five years, and as soon as I pick that dime, he’s gonna stop playing the game!”

Sisters and brothers – that is wisdom.

It’s far greater than smarts, or intelligence. 

Wisdom involves being able to see ahead, into the future.  To understand what is going to happen.  What happens if I keep going down a certain road, if I don’t change direction?

And wisdom involves having priorities right.  Knowing what’s important, and what’s not.  What’s more valuable, and what’s less.

This world, which thinks it’s so smart, doesn’t have its priorities straight, doesn’t understand what’s more valuable.  And so it is, so often, with us.  We’re attracted to the immediate, the pleasurable, the shiny object, and will so often choose that over the eternal, what will bring us eternal joy.

This Gospel is about this sort of wisdom, isn’t it?  In Our Blessed Lord’s parable we see the five foolish virgins, and the five wise virgins.  The fools had made no preparation for the coming of the bridegroom, while the wise were always ready.

And that’s the simple but powerful message of all these readings, isn’t it – we will live in a life beyond this one, and if we’re wise, we’ll wind up in the right place. 

We’ll be prepared.  Unlike this foolish world, we will be prepared.

What does it mean to be prepared?

First, it means that we are careful to always be in a state of grace, free of serious sin on our consciences.  How?  By our obedience when faced with those decisions – to give in to temptations or reject them and stay faithful to the Lord.  

And for those times when we are weak, when we fail, and we are all sinners, we are all weak and all fail, well we have a place, we have a Sacrament! -  to repent and be reunited, reconciled to the Lord, who always stands ready to welcome us back with open arms and a loving smile. The Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Use it often!

Second, it means that we must forgive.  How can we expect the Lord to forgive us if we hold tight the offenses others have done against us?  Too many of us grow old with life-long grievances, unwilling or too hard-hearted to let it go, to let it be healed.  Too many of us take such grievances to our graves, never giving the forgiveness we are counting on from the Lord!

Third, to be wise and prepared means we must use our time wisely – to love as He did.  We are only given so many years, so many days, so many hours, so many breaths.  And we have no idea how many we’re given.  So it’s high time we examine how we’re using that time – is it the way He wants us to use it?  Is it the way He’s calling me, calling you, to use our precious days and hours?

Are we giving of ourselves in loving service, or hoarding our time, talent and treasure to ourselves?

Fourth and finally, are we spreading His Word, His Kingdom.  Sisters and brothers, you and I are IT – you and I are THE disciples He chose to bring His Word, His kingdom to Greece, New York, right here, right now.  Are we doing that?  It’s a big job, a big responsibility, and we might think He’s a fool to choose us, weak, sinful and afraid as we are.  But He’s no fool, and He gives us all the help, all the grace we need. 

We don’t have much time.  So we’d better get at it, huh?

Real wisdom can be summed up, I think, in the simple words of the psalmist – “make me know the shortness of my life.”  Wise people know, yes often from painful experience, that life is short, life is fragile.  We saw that so tragically and vividly in a little Baptist Church in South Texas just six/seven days ago.

But the truly wise know that this life is not the end. The truly wise are always ready, always hoping, always looking for the coming of the Kingdom, the coming of the bridegroom, who is of course Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Homily preached for the Solemnity of All Saints, Wednesday November 1, 2017 - 6p St. John the Evangelist Church

Mass readings:   http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110117.cfm

Everybody has a favorite saint, huh?  Who’s yours?  Your namesake perhaps?  Or maybe another saint who’s special to you?

I have a couple favorite saints. My namesake, for one, St. Edward, King of England.  I was touring Westminster Abbey in London something like 20 years ago and there, behind the altar, is St. Edward’s chair, a dumpy old wooden chair but famous because every king and queen of England sits in it when they’re crowned and vested.  I was given his saint’s name, so I have to show favoritism, even if he lived nearly 1000 years ago!

Another favorite of mine is St. Joseph…patron of fathers and husbands, workers, protectors, providers.

Oh and St. Peter, too….mainly because he was so human – bold but so weak, betrayed the Lord, then led our Church, gave his life for the Lord as did so many of the saints we celebrate today.

The Solemnity of All Saints - while the best known saints have their own feast days, we gather this evening to celebrate All Saints.  All those who’ve gone before us, who’ve lived exemplary lives, lives of beatitude, lives of heroic virtue, lives of bearing their crosses and surviving great distress and are now gathered around the throne of God as we just heard in our first reading.

But why do we celebrate them?  For a few reasons actually –

Because of their example.  These days we emulate sports figures, and politicians, and entertainers…Kardashians, anyone?  The ones we should be emulating are the saints, who show us in so many diverse ways the way to live, the way to genuine self-giving love, the way to holiness.

We celebrate them because of their help, their support, their intercession – we have this cloud of witnesses, like this giant cheering section up there, rooting us on on our own faith journey, giving us aid and comfort and praying for us before the throne of God.

And, because to reverence the saints, we give praise to God.  None of the saints, you see, did it on their own.  They’re with God in heaven for one reason – Our Blessed Lord died and rose again to save them.  To be sure, each had to cooperate, each had decisions to make, each had to respond to God’s call with a heroic “yes!”  But by reverencing the saints, we are praising Jesus our Savior.

And we celebrate them this day because you and I are called to join them.  To become saints ourselves.

Oh that’s silly, Deacon Ed, you might say.  If you knew me, you’d know I’m no saint.  That’s certainly true about me!

But make no mistake, you and I are called to Sainthood, whether or not we’re ever canonized, whether or not we ever have a feast day. 

It’s comforting, I think, that of all the saints we celebrate today, every one was a sinner save Mary, the Blessed Mother of Our Lord, who was of course born without stain of sin.  But other than her, all these holy men and women were, like you and me, sinners. 

Some were great sinners – St. Paul presiding over the stoning of St. Steven comes to mind.  Or the sexual sins of St. Augustine - “Lord make me chaste, but not yet,” prayed St. Augustine. But St. Monica kept praying for her son and praying for him and lo, he became one of our greatest saints.

Yes, even though each was a sinner, each persisted in the faith, each let the power of grace work in their lives, and each grew in holiness.  And each went to their graves having lived exemplary lives.

Sisters and brothers, you and I are called to join them.  Father Larry Richards, a well-known Catholic speaker from Erie, spoke a few weeks back at the diocesan men’s conference.  I bought three of his book “Be a Man” – one for each of my two sons in law and one son-in-law to be, God willing.  It was lunchtime and I waited until Father Larry was done praying before the tabernacle to ask him to sign each book.

“Be a Saint” he wrote in each one.  And then he looked at me and said “…or go to hell!”  “Be a saint or go to hell!”  That bluntness was a shock to me!  But the choice before us is really that stark. 

If we pursue lives of selfishness and sin, keeping Jesus far away, or confined to an hour each week, we’ll go to the warm place. 

But if we pursue with all our effort the path of holiness, giving ourselves completely to Him and letting His grace work in our lives…if we choose to obey Him in all the little decisions we face…if we strive to live lives of self-giving love, of beatitude - you and I will join those holy men and women who’ve gone before us, and we, too, will live eternally in the peace and unimaginable joy of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Oh, and I’d be completely remiss if I didn’t mention the greatest of the saints – Our Blessed Mother – whose help is most valuable, and who will absolutely lead us to her Son if only we ask her and trust her.  Let us ask her right now for her intercession – “Hail Mary, full of grace…”

Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A - preached at St. Kateri at Christ the King August 26/27, 2017

Today's scripture proclamations:  http://usccb.org/bible/readings/082717.cfm

“It is a great day to be a Catholic!”

I haven’t personally heard him say this yet - perhaps you have - I think he’s said it at more than one liturgy.  But my wife heard our new parochial vicar, Father Mike Buontello, proclaim this in a homily at daily mass a couple weeks ago.  “It is a great day…to be a Catholic!”

Now why would we say such a thing, much less why would we proclaim such a thing? 

The answer - because it matters.  It matters that I am Catholic, that we are Catholics.

            A friend sent me an interesting article the other day, written by Deacon John Beagan, a deacon who serves in a parish up near Boston, entitled “What’s Missing in the New Evangelization?”  After reading it I decided this article could just as easily have been entitled, “why aren’t our evangelization efforts working?” Or perhaps “why are we failing to convince people that it matters to be Catholic?”

Bishop Robert Barron asserts that for every one person joining the Church today, six are leaving.  And it is all too apparent, we are an aging Church – where are the young people?

Deacon John asserts that the Church is languishing these days because folks are pretty well off - reasonably comfortable financially, and despite challenging and traumatic events at times, life is pretty good.  He says that “basically, we live in a time and place where, practically speaking, we don’t need God.”

The Holy Father calls the Church a “field hospital for sinners,” but Deacon John writes “When I look at my extended family members and friends who don’t go to Mass, and people in the pews who don’t participate in parish life outside of Mass, I don’t see wounded people in need of a Church hospital.”

He observes that we are basically healthy and content and drifting away from our Lord Jesus.  Why?  The reason he says - “people have been infected by an increasingly steady stream of doubts and false beliefs.”

He cites a questionnaire conducted of Catholics in his hometown just last year, a questionnaire that reveals significant doubts among Catholics.  Doubts that the Church is critical to our relationship with God; doubts about the teaching authority of the Church; doubts about Jesus’ moral teachings as taught by the Church; even doubts that Scripture is the word of God.

Frankly, it seems to me, we’ve largely been evangelized by this world.  Modern media – television, movies, internet – have been far more effective than we’d like to admit in evangelizing us to ways of thinking that are far from God’s way.  And none of us are immune.  How far we’ve strayed in our beliefs about sexuality, economics, our responsibility to the poor.  To the point that the Church is seen as irrelevant, often even among us pewsitters.

The main false belief that has infected us, according to Deacon John, is the belief, the presumption, that everyone goes to heaven.  Eulogies at funerals routinely become canonizations of the deceased.  This belief is, of course, not scriptural, certainly not something the Lord Jesus taught us.  His way, He said, is the narrow gate, and those who enter it are few.    The last thing this world wants us to realize is that we are engaged in a battle - between good and evil, God and Satan, over our eternal souls. 

Which brings me to this Gospel.  Jesus asks “Who do YOU say that I am,” Peter answers with the magnificent confession of faith “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus confirms this: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”

Our Blessed Lord, the Son of the living God, then invests in Peter His power.  Upon you, Peter, I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against her.

And this is why it matters that we are Catholic – Jesus, who has just confirmed that He is the Christ, hands to Peter the keys to His kingdom.  Just as the Lord gave Eliakim the key to the House of David in our first reading from Isaiah, making him the doorkeeper of His household, so Jesus gives Peter the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, giving him and by extension the Church, the power to bind and loose – what you bind, I will bind in heaven. What you loose, I will loose in heaven.

That day our Lord invested in Peter, as head of the apostles, as the future earthly head of His Church, the power of eternal salvation.  The powr to carry on the mission of Jesus, which is salvation!  No, not everyone goes to heaven, Our Lord makes clear. But the Church, likened to a ship, with Peter as the original helmsman, is charged with the sacred responsibility and power of safely carrying souls across the stormy sea. Across the stormy sea of this world, a sea of disbelief, disorder, and downright evil, safely to our goal, our heavenly homeland.

Sisters and brothers, we are that Church that Our Lord promised to build on the rock of Peter that day.  We are that boat.  It is right here, right back there in that little room in the corner, that we experience in the person of the priest, the power of Jesus to bind and loose – to forgive our sins and call us to ever growing holiness.  The only place, in fact, where our serious sins may be remitted so that we may be reconciled to God. And it is right here at this altar that we experience the most sublime gift Our Lord  left us – His sacred Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in Eucharist.

So two thoughts to leave you with today –

First, get in the boat.  Humbly think with the Church.  Recall today’s collect, which Father Joe just prayed on our behalf: “O God, who cause the minds of the faithful to unite in a single purpose, grant your people to love what you command and to desire what you promise, that, amid the uncertainties of this world, our hearts may be fixed on that place where true gladness is found.”

Lord, help me to love what you command and desire what you promise.  Incline my heart according to your will, O God.  Give me the humility to realize that you came to save me, and left behind a Church and her holy Sacraments to safely lead me to live with you eternally in that place where true gladness is found.

Second, invite others to get in the boat.  He wants us with Him forever, and He gave us the great gift of our Catholic Faith to lead us there. When we realize what’s at stake – our eternal lives, our eternal gladness – how can we not reach out in love to invite others to get in the boat with us? The most hateful thing we can do is to leave people far from God, wallowing in sin, without hope.

Brothers and sisters, this is the way Our Lord wants to use us in this world – indeed it is our mission as Catholics, the mission Our Lord gave to our fathers and mothers in faith 2,000 years ago, and the mission we took up at our baptism – to go forth be His eternal life-saving presence in this world so increasingly far from Him.

It is indeed a great day to be a Catholic!

It is a great time to be Catholic!

Homily for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 19/20 - St. Kateri at St. Cecilia

Today's scripture proclamations:  http://usccb.org/bible/readings/082017.cfm

"It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." From the mouth and lips of Our Blessed Lord.

I was thinking - that seems like an "un-Christian" thing to say to the woman, huh?  More or less calling her a dog.  I don’t know about you, but to my ears and brain, this has to be among the hardest Gospels to figure out.  Why would Our Blessed Lord, true God and true man, perfect in every way, seemingly insult this woman who’s come to Him begging for His help?

I did some reading and the only thing I’m sure of is that nobody can say for sure.  Investigating the original Greek language in which St. Matthew wrote the gospel, it’s clear that Our Lord didn’t mean dogs like a pack of dogs.  The Greek word Matthew uses has a meaning more like a small dog, a pet, a member of the family even. 

And I can relate to that because we have a small dog who’s always around the dinner table ready to pounce on whatever gets dropped (or secretly fed to her).  If that’s the case, then maybe what we take as an insult wasn’t meant to be an insult at all. 

But then again there’s the idea, and Matthew makes this clear, that Jesus is in a foreign district, Tyre and Sidon, and this woman is a foreigner. And not just any foreigner but a Canaanite.  The Canaanites versus the Jewish people – a conflict of hatred that went back centuries. 

We know from the parable of the Good Samaritan that the Jews not liking Samaritans, but to the Jewish community to whom Matthew was writing, well, he’s talking about someone despicable here.  And it was common for the Jews to speak of Canaanites as dogs – and not the household pet variety – this was demeaning and an insult.

And as an aside – Jesus is speaking here to a woman to boot – you’ll recall that it was forbidden to speak in public to a woman, doubly so to speak to a Canaanite woman – either would make you ritually unclean.

So that sets the picture – Our Lord Jesus speaking to this Canaanite woman – whom His disciples would probably have thought a dog – and after her pleading with Him, after her outwitting Him if you will with her response – “even the dogs eat the scraps from the table” – Jesus relents and cures her daughter at once.

This is no doubt a story of her great faith.  Some say it was a turning point, perhaps, in Jesus’ life or so goes one theory – when His eyes are opened not only to the lost sheep of Israel but to all humankind.

And it’s no doubt a story of the need to be persistent in prayer, of never giving up.  What mother would give up in seeking a cure for her daughter, even seeking the cure from a hated Israelite?

But I think the most important takeaway from this story is best framed in what’s happening right now in our own country.  Just like the bright dividing line that separated Jew from Canaanite, who is “in” and who is “out” - we have our own bright dividing lines, don’t we?  And in my lifetime I can’t recall this much intolerance, even hatred on the lips and faces of so many, shown for those on the other side of their line – for those “outside.” Intolerance of anyone with a differing opinion, huh?

Think of all the dividing lines – right, left. Democrat - Republican.  American – foreigner. Catholic - non-Catholic.  Black – white.  Christian – Muslim.  And I could go on.  Scary stuff.  It’s almost a little comforting to know that there were dividing lines in Jesus’ day, and Our Lord (or at least His disciples) were not immune from them.

But faced with this situation, what does Our Lord do?  He has a conversation – with someone on the other side of the line, someone He’s not supposed to be talking to.  He stops, He listens.  And He relents and heals.  He praises her great faith – she who twice calls Him Lord, and Son of David.  In place of hatred, He has sown love. He has made peace.

And He has blurred the dividing line, if not erased it.  Done something that must have shocked His disciples, but something that certainly taught them, too, taught them a new way. 

Sisters and brothers, He’s teaching you and me today as well.  Teaching us that blurring dividing lines is what you and I are called to do.  To focus not on what separates us but on what unites us in our common humanity – what we all have in common.  To follow Jesus, to blur those dividing lines, cross over in conversation, and bring the love and peace, the forgiveness of sin and the salvation bought by Christ’s blood, which we experience here, to all.

I was drawn in to a posting on Facebook the other day – it was entitled “50 groups of people Jesus said it’s OK to hate.”  Intrigued, I opened it, and stared reading, and scrolled down to the listing.  And it was fifty blank lines, numbered one to fifty.  Meaning Jesus gave us the OK to hate no one. 

“Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you,” He commanded us.  It is incumbent on us, His followers, those who are to be light to the world and salt of the earth, to shine the light of His love into the darkness all around us.

Homily for Sunday, August 6, 2017 - Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord - 8 and 11 St. Kateri at St. Margaret Mary

Today's scripture readings:  http://usccb.org/bible/readings/080617.cfm

I’m fond, I suppose, of any mention of mountains in our Mass readings.  For the top of a mountain, any mountain, is my happy place, I’ve decided.  There are 115 high peaks in the Northeast – 48 here in New York, 67 in New England – I’ve hiked 63 of them, 7 this summer, and have 52 to go to say I’ve climbed them all.

One of the things that I most like about mountains is how old they are.  Sitting atop a wilderness high peak on a clear day, looking about at God’s creation all around, it’s not hard to imagine that what you’re looking at is pretty much the same thing you’d be seeing if you had been sitting there 10,000 years ago.  You get a sense for how small we are, how temporary we are, how fleeting our lives are.

And you get a sense, too, of the great power and glory of God, who created all the beauty you’re gazing upon from that lofty peak.  I get a real sense that He is God, the eternal creator, and I am not. Hiking mountains gives one a sense of getting away from our day-to-day lives, and in a real way encountering God.

That was the experience, I think, of Peter, James and John as they hiked up Mount Tabor with Our Blessed Lord.  They must have been curious, I think, about why they were hiking this mountain, without the others, and I think they must have been confused about who this Jesus guy was.  They’d given up everything to follow Him, yet they must have wondered at times why – what was He all about.  He was their friend, their confidant, their teacher – Rabbi – but still they must have been confused I think.

And now we know why they were going up the mountain – for there they were given proof that this man Jesus was not only human, but the Son of God Himself.  This was not just a nice hike but an encounter with the living God! His face bright as the sun. His clothes white as light.  Conversing with Elijah the prophet and Moses the bringer of the law.

“This is My beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleased,” said the Father from the cloud.  Here the three apostles are given not a glimpse but a clear high-def picture of who Jesus is - true man, true God.

So I suspect they had to have been completely blown away by what they witnessed – wouldn’t you be?  I know I would be.  Yeah I thought He was a pretty good guy, and He said some things about being “the One” but whoa – He really meant it!

And of course what happened on Mount Tabor wasn’t only for those three – it was for you and me as well.  Especially now, especially in this world we live in. 

It seems to me so much of our faith is focused on how close Jesus is to us – “imminent” is the word – and He is. And we sometimes think of Jesus as this friendly and nice and even fluffy guy – like singing Kumbaya around the campfire.  But how often do we stop to think of Him as “other,” as transcendent, as GOD?” 

Yes He is close to us, He understands our humanity because He walked and talked, was born and even died.  But do we really think of Him as God, as all Holy, which means “other” or “set apart.” Do we really think of Him in His dominion, power and kingship as the first reading speaks of Him?

We just prayed together to Him “You alone are the Holy One. You alone are the Lord.  You alone are the most high, Jesus Christ.”  Wonderful words of worship – but do we stop to dwell on what they mean?  Do we live those words – that He alone is the Holy One, the Lord of our lives?

Sisters and brothers, I think when we stop to ponder His otherness, we realize two things –

First we realize how utterly unworthy of Him we are in our sinfulness.  We get a sense of how wide the gulf is between God and humanity, in our sin.  How my sin offends God who is all good and all holy – offends Jesus who is all good and all holy.

In one version of the Act of Contrition which we pray in the Sacrament of Confession, in the presence of the priest, yes, but praying to Jesus Himself, we pray “O my God I am heartily sorry for having offended you.” 

And we go on “and I detest all my sins because of thy just punishment but most of all because they offend you, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love.”

Jesus, the eternal Son of God, with Whom the Father is well-pleased, is offended by our sins, because He is God, is all good, all holy, deserving of all my love.  Am I just as offended by my sins, such that I’m resolved to stop sinning so as to please Him rather than offend Him? Glorify Him rather than forget Him?

Considering His glory, His kingship, we might ask ourselves - am I giving Him all my love?  Do I give Him all my worship?  Do I give Him all my life?  Or do I give Him a little piece of my life, my love, my worship, content to worship other things too? Is He my Lord?  Am I letting Him change me, change my life, transfigure my life so that I more and more closely follow after Him?

The second thing is - if we really ponder His otherness, we’ll fall on our knees in thankfulness, that this eternal Son of God, through Whom all things were made, in His great love would condescend to become one of us, to be born of woman, to live and teach and suffer and die – and why?  For you. For me. To save us from our sins. 

We should be filled with awe and thanksgiving that the eternal Son of God, Jesus, out of great love, with great mercy, would come and stand in the abyss between humanity and God, and be a bridge between God and man.  Taking our sins unto Himself and reuniting God and man. Yes – He loves us that much.

Thankfulness is the only proper response when we realize the great gift we’ve received in being invited to be His disciples, to receive His love and mercy, to have Him who is God call us “friend.” Thankfulness and worship are why we gather here at this altar to celebrate Eucharist, which means “thankfulness.” 

Yes, thankfulness is the only proper response to His gift, and resolve, too.  Resolve to live lives more and more worthy of such a gift.  And to share that gift with others.  To share our faith in the eternal Son of God with others, to share the love He pours into our hearts with others, and to share our hope.

Hope that one day, purged of all our sins and made holy, you and I too may stand before the throne of God, our clothes white as light, our faces shining like the sun, our lives transfigured by the life, the love, the mercy of His only begotten Son, Our Lord and eternal Savior, Jesus Christ.