Blessings and More

Because The Villages, our community here in central Florida, is so very large and still expanding, our parish receives many new parishioners every month. Part of our welcoming process includes an offer to bless each family's new home. Many folks accept this offer.  

The Church actually has a specific rite for the blessing of a new home; indeed, it has rites for the blessing of people, homes, businesses, religious articles, vehicles, pets...you name it. And here in our parish, we permanent deacons are often called on to perform many of them...sort of a "Blessings are Us" kind of thing. 

October 4th is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, a saint who was particularly fond of all God's creatures. And so, on that morning, shortly after morning Mass, two of us, Deacon Greg and I, spent some time blessing a large gathering of family pets our parishioners had brought to the parish. We conducted the blessing rite outside, under a portico, so we would all remain dry in the event of rain. As it turned out the day was perfect. After the readings, prayers, and general blessing, we then blessed each animal individually, while sprinkling it with holy water. Given the circumstances, and the large number of animals, I'm amazed at how placid most of these wonderful creatures remained.    

As I recall, the animals that morning were all dogs and cats, nothing too odd or too wild, so this year was fairly normal. In the past I've been asked to bless snakes, tarantulas, lizards, and a few other of God's not very domestic critters. A few of our local farmers and ranchers have also asked me to bless cattle, goats, and horses. Yep, we do it all.

One of our parishioners, Maria, had asked if I would go to her house that morning and bless her two birds. She didn't want to take them to the parish blessing rite because it would probably upset them, being surrounded by dozens of noisy dogs and cats. Of course I agreed.

My experience with birds as pets is limited to a single bird. When I was a child, our family had a parakeet named Heinz, a clever little bird with a fondness for learning new words. Heinz had developed a close relationship with our female Weimaraner, Heidi. Heidi, a very tolerant dog, readily accepted her new flying friend. Heinz often landed on her back, then made his way across her head, and down to her nose. There he would stand, sometimes for ten or fifteen minutes, just looking at her. Heidi accepted all this and seemed to enjoy his walking on her back. Perhaps she appreciated the massage delivered by his little bird feet.

I won't go into the details of Heinz' sad and premature demise in which Heidi played no part. Although accidental and certainly unintentional, it was all my doing, a truth I have tried to repress for the past 70 years.

Anyway, when I arrived at Maria's home, she, her husband, and their little dog greeted me. I was then introduced to their two birds who were enjoying themselves out of their cages. Other than the limited knowledge I picked up from my childhood experience with Heinz, I know very little about tropical birds. Parrots, cockatiels, cockatoos, mynahs, and others are mysteries to me. They're very attractive birds, are long-lived, and seem quite intelligent. I'm also intrigued by their remarkable ability to imitate human speech and other sounds. 

I can't recall the names of Maria's two birds, although given the state of my aging brain, that's not unusual. But both birds, and the dog, seemed very interested in this man who had invaded their home, at least until I blessed them and sprinkled them with holy water. That led to some confusion. One bird, I believe it's a cockatoo (?), stood on my hand as I blessed it, and Maria captured the moment with her phone's camera. The bird, however, was eyeing my ear, so it was probably wise that I handed it back to Maria.

So, there you have a few hours in the life of a deacon, extending God's blessings to His people and His creatures. It's a small but enjoyable part of my ministry, and I'm always overwhelmed by the joy it brings to His people.

Homily: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Readings: Is 53:10-11; Ps 33; Heb 4:14-16; Mk 10:35-45

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One hot summer day in 1941, in the infamous death camp of Auschwitz in southern Poland, the Nazis sentenced 10 prisoners to die by starvation in retaliation for an escape. One of the ten had a wife and children, so a 47-year-old Polish, Franciscan priest offered himself in his place. The man's number was crossed off the list and the priest's inserted: number 16670.

That very day ten men entered the starvation bunker, just an underground pit -- no light, no air, no food, no clothing, nothing…nothing but the love of God radiating from one simple priest. Two weeks later they injected him with a fatal dose of carbolic acid, then incinerated his wasted body on the feast of the Assumption. Forty-two years ago, on October 10, 1982, Pope John Paul II celebrated the canonization of this man, St. Maximilian Kolbe.

Maximilian lived the Gospel to the fullest, conformed his will to God’s, regardless of consequences, and answered God’s call personally, without question. Only a few are called to give witness to God's love as martyrs, although their numbers have increased greatly in recent years. But the word “martyr” simply means witness, and we’re all called to witness, and sometimes to lead radically Christian lives in the circumstances in which God places us.

Sometimes the Gospel message almost knocks us flat with its firm but unmistakably clear demands.

Sometimes it shakes the very foundation of our world, turning our lives upside down.

Just consider the Zebedee boys, James and John, in today’s Gospel passage. Jesus had just told His Apostles, for the third time, about His passion, death, and resurrection. Their response? Silence. This just isn’t something they want to think about. So, instead of focusing on Jesus and what He has just told them, they change the subject, to their favorite subject: themselves. Don’t you just love how the two brothers approach Jesus?

“…we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

But they don’t really ask, do they? No, then they give Our Lord an order, as if they’re in charge:

"Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left." 

They simply tell Jesus exactly what they want. Sadly, it reminds me of the way I sometimes pray. Do you ever do that, just give God orders? I not only tell Him what to do, but how to do it.

"Dear Lord, I’ve got this problem, and here’s how I want you to solve it…"

Like many of us, James and John don’t seem to be overflowing with humility, do they? Convinced they had earned it, they demanded prime seats, essentially telling Jesus:  Lord, seat us in glory right beside you. We’re your special ones, Jesus. These other guys…well, they’re okay, but they really don’t measure up, do they?

Like these two brothers, we too are often driven by pride, aren’t we? Even those seeking holiness can fall prey to a kind of spiritual greed. So, Jesus gives them the first of two lessons. Because they don’t know what they are asking, Jesus first tells them what their demand means.

They must first drink from the Lord’s chalice, and undergo His baptism of suffering, something that they had not yet understood or accepted. 

Ironically it was James, the elder son of Zebedee, who was the first of the apostolic martyrs. Perhaps he and his brother would have understood had they actually listened to Jesus and also pondered the words of Isaiah from our first reading. 

Yes, hundreds of years before the Incarnation, God reveals, through His prophet, what the Son of God made man must suffer to redeem the world of its sins. Just a moments ago we heard these prophetic words…

“…through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear.”

But I suspect Isaiah’s Suffering Servant was far from the minds of James and John. They couldn’t imagine Jesus, in an act of divine humility, emptying Himself, suffering, and dying on a Cross, like a slave, before entering His Kingdom.

The other Apostles were no different. Upset with the brothers, they were really driven by the same motivations: Lord, we’re just as good as those two.

And with that, Jesus teaches calls them all together and teaches His second, more important, and more challenging lesson:

“…whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.”

Is there a more politically incorrect word today than slave? And yet, here’s Jesus, telling His Apostles, and telling us, to be like slaves. We are slaves, you know. That's why Christ can ransom us through His suffering. Someone truly free doesn’t need to be ransomed, but slaves do.

You see, like James, John, and the others, we too can become self-absorbed, something that will ultimately enslave us, enslave us to sin. Jesus is telling us to turn away from ourselves and turn to others. From a worldly perspective St. Maximilian was enslaved by the Nazis; and yet, in truth, his faith made him free, free to offer himself, Christ-like, and give his life to ransom the life of another.

The call Jesus extended to the Apostles, and its example manifested by St. Maximilian while surrounded by the evil of Auschwitz, is a call to love, a call of loving humility. It’s a message that the Apostles ultimately learned and lived, and one that we must learn as well.

My dad once told me, humility is the foundational virtue that supports all other virtues. Lacking humility, the value of any virtue is lessened. If, for example, a wealthy person gives generously to charity or the Church but is motivated solely by the public recognition he receives, the poor may certainly reap some benefit. But what about the giver's soul? 

And then Dad followed this thought with another: “Humility’s a very strange commodity, because once you know you have it, you just lost it.”

Yes, it's funny, but he was right. You don’t hear saints talking about their humility, because they know that true humility merely reflects reality, divine reality. God created each of us in a divine act of love; but created each no better than the other. Yes, we are all so very valuable, everyone from conception until natural death must be loved and protected. To grasp this perhaps every morning we should all read the final verses of chapter 25 of Matthew’s Gospel, the only place in Scripture where the last judgment is described in any detail.

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.”

Jesus is telling us how valuable we all are, that He became one of us, took on our human nature, so we should see Him, the divine, creative and incarnate Word of God, in everyone we encounter. God calls us to love Him and each other, and in return for our response, for our submission to His Will, He promises a treasure far greater than you and I can ever imagine.

Here I am, after 80 years of a life with very little suffering, it’s easy to consider opting for a finishing leisure and just sit back and enjoy the rest of my days. But then the Spirit calls to mind St. Maximilian, the Apostles, so many others, and especially the world-redeeming suffering of our Lord, Jesus Christ. And so we ask: What does God have in store for each of us? As He revealed in our reading from Hebrews, we can only…

“…confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.”

Yes, we all plead for God’s timely help during these times of our lives, as we struggle to be seen worthy of the gift. 

But only arms that are empty of self can stretch out to receive that gift…just as St. Maximilian did when he held out his arm for that fatal injection. And just as Jesus did when He emptied Himself giving everything on the Cross.

"I am the way, the truth, and the life," Jesus tells us; therefore, nothing should take precedence over Christ in our lives, over His right to rule over our hearts. For that which we place first in our lives – when it is not God – becomes a prison. And that's the paradox: only as servants, as servants of God and each other, can we experience true freedom.

Signs of Truth

Often enough, people don’t want to hear the truth, especially when it’s stark and perhaps a bit frightening, the kind of truth that denies their Weltanschauung and their hopes for the future, as well as the hopes and lives of those they love. I suppose that’s a normal human response when things seem to be going reasonably well, and then someone comes along and insists on a very different view of the world. 

But faithful Christians don’t view their lives through a worldly lens. For them the truth is always “Good News” even when, to the worldly, it seems very bad indeed. After all, Jesus is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” [Jn 14:6]. When the world and its confusion and hatreds pour into our lives, we Christians should be joyful because it’s an opportunity to suffer for the proclamation of the Gospel. 

Oops! Today most Christians in the West don’t expect to suffer simply because they go to church on Sunday and drop a few bucks in the basket. And yet, here we are, facing what could be another era of persecution. Don’t believe it? Just look around the world and realize it’s on its way to you and to me…and a lot sooner than we probably think. But the Church has been there before, many times, and yet it’s still here and will be here until the end. Although in the US and in Europe, the Church appears to be in decline, this isn’t true globally. In Africa and parts of Asia the Church is growing, just as it grew in its earliest years.

We need only look to that early Church and its response to persecution. Tertullian (died c. 220 A.D.) was a lawyer (we’ll forgive him for that) who converted to Christianity largely due to the courage of condemned Christians he witnessed as they went to their deaths singing hymns. His ultimate response, one directed to the Roman Empire:

“We are not a new philosophy but a divine revelation. That’s why you can’t just exterminate us; the more you kill the more we are. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. You praise those who endured pain and death – so long as they aren’t Christians! Your cruelties merely prove our innocence of the crimes you charge against us…

Yes, indeed, “the seed of the Church.” God calls us Christians to sacrifice and actually expects His disciples to give all for Him: evangelization without compromise. But that’s a truth few of us want to hear, much less think about. The signs, though, are there for all to see. The persecution of Christians today is greater than at any other time in history. And where is the Church growing? Wherever it suffers persecution.

I’ve focused below on only three nations: France, Finland, and Nigeria. These nations, from almost every measurement, seem to have little in common. France, a nation once considered among the most vibrant Catholic nations in the world, now hosts a Catholic Church in decline. Finland, a largely Protestant nation, now has a government that prosecutes members of parliament and clergy for speaking the truth about Christian morality. And Nigeria, where Christians of all denominations are subjected to deadly persecution. 

The stories that follow were pulled from the news in just a few days. As you might expect, most of them haven’t received much attention from the mainstream media or Western governments. 

Catholicism in France. As in many European countries, the Church in France has been in decline. To my knowledge French Catholics aren’t being imprisoned or sent to the guillotine just because they practice their faith. But persecution often involves the application of far more subtle means as secular governments merge with societal forces intent on undermining religious values. And their primary targets are children and young adults. We see this throughout the western world, in schoolrooms, in social media, in advertising, in businesses, and through dozens of other channels. And yet, as Isaac Newton demonstrated, actions generate reactions.

In France, as in much of Europe, roadside crucifixes (calvaires in French) are common sights. Many, erected decades ago, are in need of restoration. In 1987, in a small town in northern France, SOS Calvaires was formed to maintain these roadside crucifixes. Since then this apostolate has expanded its work to include the erection of new crucifixes throughout the country.  As might be expected, the organization has attracted both religious and laypeople. Perhaps surprisingly, most of the latter are young people in their teens and twenties. Three years ago it set a goal to build a new roadside crucifix each month, but it now averages more than one every day and has expanded to include 65 affiliated groups throughout France. 

It might sound like a small thing, but it isn’t. Every day in what many have called “pagan France” the young Catholics who make up SOS Calvaires are erecting crucifixes, some as tall as 13 feet, somewhere in the country. And as they do this work — work which demands both physical strength and moral courage — people see them witnessing to Jesus Christ. Their witness remains embedded in each crucifix, a sign to all of their personal faith and a sign pointing back to the once-vibrant faith of France. The French government might ignore the nation’s ancient and formative Christian heritage, and the Church might continue to suffer physical attacks (more than 800 in 2022), but things are changing. Even baptisms are up. As a leader of SOS Calvaires said, “If we don’t see the Cross, we don’t think about God.” May their tribe increase.

Finland. The enemies of Christianity sometimes wear business suits and hang out in courtrooms and parliaments. That’s certainly true in Helsinki where a member of parliament, Päivi Räisäne, has been charged, again, with violating “hate speech” laws by quoting the Bible’s teaching on marriage. The state prosecutors are very upset with one of her 2019 tweets that included pictures of Bible verses, as well as a 2004 pamphlet she wrote on marriage. And so, she now faces a trial for expressing her Christian views on marriage and sexuality. Interestingly, two years ago she was acquitted of these same charges by the Helsinki District Court. I don’t know for sure, but perhaps Finland doesn’t protect its citizens against double jeopardy, or maybe these are new charges based on different writings by Räsänen. But that’s all irrelevant. One would think a so-called Western nation like Finland would appreciate and encourage free speech.

Defending their case, the prosecutors, displaying an obvious but subtle hatred of Christianity, stated that as prosecutors they “can limit freedom of expression in the outward expression of religion.” I suppose that’s a plus when compared to the beliefs of some prosecutors in the UK who have charged people for praying silently outside abortion clinics. Before arresting these dangerous Christians, the police had to ask them if they were actually praying, or just standing around. All of this is happening in nations that were once a part of Christendom, but are now just failing secular states competing with each other as they race to oblivion.

As Räsänen herself stated so eloquently:

“Everyone should be able to share their beliefs without fearing censorship by state-authorities. I know that the prosecution is trying to make an example of me to scare others into silence. Yet, you do not have to align with my views to agree that everyone should be able to speak freely. With God’s help I will remain steadfast and continue defending everyone’s human right to free speech.”

Pray for this courageous woman who takes her Christian faith seriously. 

Nigeria. In many parts of the world, persecution is far less subtle. For example, Christians in northern Nigeria are the most persecuted people on earth, and theirs is a deadly persecution. According to Open Doors, in 2022 roughly 90% of the world’s Christian martyrs — which equates to over 5,000 Christians — were slaughtered for their faith in this part of Nigeria. Who’s been murdering them? Islamists. This has been going on for a long time. In the past 15 years 52,250 Nigerian Christians have been brutally murdered at the hands of Islamist militants. They not only kill Christians — men, women, and children — but also destroy churches — over 18,000 Christian churches and 2,200 Christian schools were set ablaze during this same period. And if you’re a moderate Muslim who objects to such genocide, the Islamists will kill you too. Approximately 34,000 moderate Nigerian Muslims died in Islamist attacks.

Megan Meador, communications director of Aid to the Church in Need (ACD) describes the situation faced by Christians and others in today’s Nigeria:

“The persecution comes from terrorists, from machete-wielding militias, from mob violence and laws that implicitly encourage them, and from authorities who are indifferent to the mayhem and shrug off these atrocities, allowing perpetrators to go free while punishing victims…We’ve had cases where Christians have been hauled in front of Sharia courts, without jurisdiction, and accused of crimes like apostasy, which is not supposed to be a crime in Nigeria…We are right now supporting a Sufi Muslim young singer, Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, who was sentenced to death on blasphemy accusations for posting lyrics to social media, and is now challenging that law at the Supreme Court. Nigeria needs to fully practice what is protected under its Constitution."

ACD is a strong and constant supporter of religious freedom throughout the world. In Nigeria ACD’s work includes defending Christians from legal attacks, false accusations, and discrimination. They also support those who are threatened by blasphemy laws if they express their religious beliefs openly. Both Open Doors and ACD deserve our support for the work they do. 

Bible Study Notice

Just a brief announcement for those who participate in our parish Bible Study: Our Wednesday morning session (10 am on October 9) is canceled because of hurricane Milton. All parish events are canceled on Wednesday and Thursday, October 9 and 10.

Birthday and Life

A few weeks ago, on Friday the 13th, I celebrated a birthday, my 80th, and I’m slowly coming to terms with it all. I suppose, from one perspective, it’s just another birthday, one among many. But it’s also a birthday I never really expected to reach. When I was younger, 80 seemed so very, very old and I simply never really considered living that long. And later, as a Naval aviator, I thought my life might be cut short by some unanticipated, catastrophic event in either war or peace. But, surprisingly, I survived, and here I am, 80 years old! And it still seems so very, very old. But I thank God for permitting me to live so long, and ask what He still has in store for me. After all, He didn’t keep me alive just to count the days or aimlessly stumble about, but to do some good. Sometimes, though, the good we’re called to do is involuntary, simply the result of God’s work. We do it but don’t ever, at least in this life, either understand or see its results. So, as Jesus commands us, “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Jn 3:15). Yes, we are called to repentance and to faith, and to keep doing as He commands throughout our days. 

Another redeeming value is my heath; it remains reasonably good, at least for now…although I could stand to lose a few pounds. I’m working on that, and still get up at 5 am every day to take my 2-mile fast walk. I also toss about 50 newspapers from driveways to front doors. Neighbors think I do this out of kindness, but in truth I reap the benefit of bending over to pick up each newspaper and give my back and tummy a minor workout. As a result, I have no problem reaching my 10,000 daily steps, although I’m not sure why that’s a desirable goal. Why 10,000, this remarkably round number, when 9,571 or 11,212 are probably just as good? But my little smart watch (Fitbit) tells me this is important, so I acquiesce and work to achieve this goal. Perhaps that’s the reason we need goals, easily defined, grasped, and achievable goals…like 10,000.

Other goals and hopes are, of course, far more important. For example, the American Catholic bishops have instructed Catholics to vote for life, to vote against those advocating abortion. We can only hope the faithful will listen and obey. That’s right, when the Church speaks definitively, when it speaks from its magisterial teaching authority, we are called to obey. The existing culture of death, which currently rules much of our political life, must be resisted by the faithful. You might not “like” every politician who pledges to support a culture of life. You might disagree on some issues, but as one spokesman for the bishops said, "At the forefront of 'life issues' is the right to be born as the right upon which all other 'life issues' rest.” We cannot, then, vote for anyone who supports abortion, the intentional taking of an innocent human life.

I’ve always believed that ultimately abortion will be overcome by prayer and through the work of the Holy Spirit, who alone can change the hearts and minds of the people. But that doesn’t mean we just ignore the political and simply turn it all over to God, while turning away from the evil surrounding us. The trouble is, when you’re surrounded, you really can’t turn away. And, anyway, God likes to use us to fulfill His work in the world. Just don’t fall into the trap of thinking it’s our work, our effort that brings God’s will to fulfillment. As Mary said, just “Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5). And pray for life!

Homily: 24th Sunday in Ordinary Timne - Year B

Readings: Is 50:5-9a; Ps 116; Ja 2:14-18; Mk 8-27-35

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“Who do you say that I am?”

An interesting question Jesus asks the apostles. Only Peter answers, but he gets it right, doesn’t he? With a little nudging from the Holy Spirit.

“You are the Christ” [Mk 8:29], he responds. That’s right --  You’re the Messiah, the one who will set us free. Of course, Peter’s understanding is very different from that of Jesus. This becomes apparent just a few moments later when Peter gets it wrong. He gets it so wrong that Jesus calls him a Satan. I guess that’s about as wrong as you can get.

Poor Peter. He’s beginning to understand who Jesus is. We see this in Matthew’s Gospel where this same scene is described. Here Peter answers Jesus by saying,

“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” [Mt 16:16]

For Peter, Jesus is the promised one, the king who will reign over Israel and bring freedom to His people. But Peter’s idea of a king and freedom are human concepts. And there’s the irony. Peter’s beginning to understand, but for all the wrong reasons. In truth, he hasn’t a clue…at least not yet.

Peter and the others never dreamed that the words of Isaiah, words we just heard proclaimed here, could apply to the Messiah, and still less to Jesus:

"I made no resistance, neither did I turn away. I offered my back to those who struck me, my cheeks to those who tore at my beard; I did not cover my face against insult and spittle." [Is 50:6]

Isaiah’s Suffering Servant isn’t the Messiah they envisioned, nor is He the God they worship. It was a slow, painful process for the disciples to change their thinking, something that wasn’t fully realized until after the resurrection, until Pentecost.

And brothers and sisters, we, too, must sometimes go through the same process. That’s one of the more interesting aspects of this exchange between Jesus and Peter: It’s still going on today. Jesus still asks us who do we say He is…and just like Peter, far too many, don’t have a clue.

Many so-called Christians stopped believing in Jesus’ divinity long ago. I mean, really, how can any educated person today believe that this itinerant 1^st century Jewish preacher was actually God? A powerful teacher, perhaps…a man of strong character…a wise philosopher…all of these things…but the Son of God?

Others will say, okay, maybe he was a prophet…Or a great moral leader…Or a revolutionary hero…Or simply a good man who, like many other good men, died before his time…Or perhaps he was simply a fool…Yes, indeed, these answers, and others like them, are all out there.

But for most of us, for us Christians, at least when things are going well in our lives, Jesus’ question is easy to answer: He’s the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

When you saw your newborn child or grandchild for the first time…Thank you, Lord; Oh, yes, Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

When a loved one is cured of that life-threatening disease…Thank you, Lord…Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

When an adult child returns to the Faith. Thank you, Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

Oh, we know the answer when things are going well, in the midst of success and happiness and the good things of life.

But then, there are other days, aren’t there? Days when that question nags and challenges — even taunts us for a response: But who do you say that I am? When others ask about Jesus, what do you say to them?

“I don’t know!”, we want to cry. “I wish I knew. I wish I could say for certain…”

So often, that question comes to us, not from one of the good places, with nice landscaping, and good food, and valet parking, and room service. 

Sometimes it comes from the deserts of our lives, from the dark woods choked with thorns and brambles. Then it just doesn’t sound very pleasant, does it? No, it sounds sharp, so sharp it can wound. Yes, God’s question, “Who do you say that I am?” comes just as often from places of uncertainty, from places of pain and conflict.

And that’s when we want to scream an answer: “I thought I knew who you were, but not today, not after this…” Not when we’re lost in those wilderness places, places where the border between hope and folly, between life and death, between trust and despair – places where those distinctions are so blurred the words become almost meaningless to us.

A few weeks ago, I conducted a committal service for a family at the National Cemetery in Bushnell. The husband and father, seemingly in wonderful health, had died suddenly of a heart attack while he and his wife were visiting their children. One moment he was laughing and playing with the grandchildren and the next moment he was gone. They were devastated – all of them – and each struggled to answer Jesus’ question: But who do you say that I am? And do you know something? So did I.

For it was one of those days when the answer we want to give, the witness we want to be, the words we long to say – the healing words, the comforting words, the reconciling words, the words of faith and hope – stick deep in the back of our throats, or remain stubbornly silent, too elusive, too fragile, too uncertain to be spoken aloud.

And yet that question, “Who do you say that I am?” continues to echo down through the ages from the hills of Galilee. It lingers in the air of a refugee camp in the Sudan. It shouts from a hospital bed in Leesburg, or a half-way house in the Bronx or nursing home in Palm Beach. It calls to us from a tunnel in Gaza, from an empty kibbutz in Israel, from a burned-out village in Nigeria, or a soup kitchen in Wildwood. From a neighborhood across the globe to one just around the corner and down the street.

Who do you say that I am?

The question arises when good men and women die, when families grieve, when hearts are broken when trust is betrayed. When it’s not a beautiful day in The Villages, who do we say Christ is? Is He still the Messiah, the son of the living God?

After Jesus asked that question, he turned to the crowd and told them:

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it” [Mk 8:34-35].

For that grieving family standing at the graveside, for the woman just diagnosed with cancer, for the man who unexpectedly loses his job…these words of Jesus are hard words to hear. For so many, isn’t life itself burden enough?

But in truth, only the cross can bear the full weight of human suffering. Only the cross contains the promise that death is not the final word. Only the cross offers real hope in the midst of the world’s despair. Just watch the news, folks, and see the chaos and hatred. 

Do we accept and believe this truth even when our world is crumbling and the path ahead seems so uncertain? Not if our lives reflect a double standard. How can we be Christians and yet have the same values as the rest of society? We can’t.

Sisters and brothers, we are surrounded by a Godless culture, a culture of death. As Jesus prayed to the Father:

I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world [Jn 17:14].

Do we belong to the world, or do we belong to Jesus Christ?

How can we be Christians if our primary concerns are with material plenty, professional success, great careers for our children and grandchildren? Oh, it’s a full-time job just "saving" our lives, just locking in our security, isn’t it?.

But then Jesus tells us that to be really free, we must let it go, stop clinging. He tells us to give and not to grab, to share and not to hoard, to choose life at every stage, from conception until natural death. To see others as brothers and sisters, not as rivals and competitors. He tells us to love others, to reach out to them, not to guard against them.

Who do you say that I am?  he asks us, every day.

In the end, though, the question doesn’t call for an answer in words; no, it demands a decision; it demands action. Words are easy, aren’t they? Recall what James told us in our 2^nd reading.

"Go in peace…Oh, and if you have no bread, well, don’t worry, God will provide.”

"Sorry, I can't help you now, I’m on my way to Mass."

"Oh, yes, I can imagine how difficult it must be to be homeless. I'll pray for you."

No, Jesus doesn’t want just words; He wants a decision, a decision to pick up our cross, to help others carry theirs, and to follow Him together…for He’s the only one who knows the way…the way home.

God love you.

Homily: Silver Rose Prayer Service

Readings: 2 Cor 9:24-27; Ps 63; Luke 1:26-38

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About 1,600 years ago, way back in the year 431 the Council of Ephesus gave Mary the title, Theotokos, a Greek word meaning “God Bearer” or “one who gives birth to God” or as we say today, “the Mother of God.” By giving her that title, the council didn’t mean that Mary was the Mother of God from eternity. But because Jesus Christ is true God and true man, and Mary gave birth to Him, she is, therefore, the Mother of God in time.

It’s the misunderstanding of the Church’s long-held teaching on this relationship between Mary and Jesus that has led some Christians to think that we Catholics worship Mary as some sort of goddess. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. From the reality of this relationship, we can fulfill her prophecy in the Magnificat and can call Mary the “Blessed Mother.”

As many of you know, motherhood is no easy vocation. Both my mother and my wife had to put up with a lot and sacrifice even more during those years when their time was focused so intently on raising their children. But can you imagine how it must have been for Mary…to be the Mother of God…and be fully aware of it? After all, Gabriel hid nothing from her:

“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Mary, then, knew from the first that this child of hers was the “Son of the Most High,” or as Gabriel added later, “the Son of God.”

What a remarkable family life! Mary and Joseph raising Jesus who is fully human, all the while aware of His divine origin, His divine nature. Luke, and to a lesser extent, Matthew, give us a glimpse of life in the Holy Family. It’s as if the Holy Spirit is telling us, “You don’t need to know the details of daily life in this holiest of families, but I will share a few incidents with you, so you will know who Jesus, Mary, and Joseph really are.” Just consider all that Mary encountered:

The long arduous trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and the unexpected need to give birth in a cave, a stable fit only for animals.

The Presentation in the Temple, a prophecy of pain she would suffer, sorrow she would experience.

A life-saving flight to Egypt, refugees in a foreign land where they await the death of a brutal king.

The quiet years in Nazareth, when she no doubt wondered how this Son of hers, this Son of the Most High, would fulfill all that had been prophesied. She knew that He would eventually leave her to carry out the Father’s will in the world.

And another event Luke shares with us: the Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem, when the 12-year-old Jesus is lost in the crowd of pilgrims. The panic she and Joseph experienced, the frantic search, the joy of finding him, and their bewilderment when after three days He wondered at their parental concern.

In each instance Mary wouldn’t fully understand – just as later she wouldn’t fully understand her Son at Cana, or when He asked the crowd, “Who is my mother?” or when she cradled her Son’s lifeless body in her arms at the foot of the Cross.

But always, Mary ponders these things in her heart. She knows God’s ways are not ours. Could she fully understand the crucifixion of her Son, God’s Son? And so, she ponders. She steps away, seeks the quiet of contemplation, and savors all that has been revealed to her.

In doing so teaches us how to pray, how to accept God’s will, how to abandon oneself to God’s love. She ponders, she returns to the source, to that day when the angel declared her, “full of grace,” when her heart overflowed. “…full of grace”, and that’s exactly what Gabriel meant. Mary is literally full of God’s grace, so full there’s no room for any sin within her.

And how could it be otherwise? For God incarnate must enter the world via a spotless vessel, born of woman but a woman without sin. For her pondering heart is immaculate, perfectly pure, because it focuses solely on Jesus. Mary is single-hearted. She trusts in God, just as she trusted when Gabriel asked for her response.

But now, today, that same trusting, pondering, immaculate heart is focused on you and me, interceding for our salvation. This, brothers and sisters, is the immaculate heart, the heart of Theotokos, the Mother of God whom we honor here today. For Our Lady of Guadeloupe presented the world with a gift of Castilian roses and an image of herself, a virgin awaiting the birth of our Savior.

Without Mary’s “let it be done”, her fiat, without her declaration of faith, without the word of Mary, the Word of God could not be Emmanuel, God with us. What did the angel tell her? “You shall conceive and bear a son…the Son of the Most High.” And Mary agrees: “Let it be done to me according to your word.” With this, Jesus is not simply in her thoughts and hopes, in her prayers and yearnings. He is in her flesh. His flesh is her flesh. Hers is His. She waits only to see His face and offer Him to the world. This is Our Lady of Guadeloupe. She knows she is blessed, for she told us…

“…He has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.”

Words we too should pray every day, because God has done great things for us well. He’s given us His Son, who in complete humility takes on our flesh, redeems us through His passion and death, and in His Resurrection defeats death.

But isn’t it interesting that Christ’s redemption of the world requires the consent of Mary. We are created in and for love. Had God imposed His will on Mary, without her free consent, love would be absent, and we couldn’t share His divine life, which is freedom.

Through her love for Jesus, Mary is the first disciple, and the one who lived discipleship to the fullest. Jesus told us clearly what it means to be a disciple: “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother…the ones who listen to the word of God and act on it.” And that is Mary: She hears God’s word within her, and she acts.

She visits her older kinswoman, Elizabeth, who was with child and needed Mary’s help. Mary’s first act as Jesus’ mother is to carry him, not for herself, but for someone in need. And how wonderful, when Mary greeted Elizabeth, John the Baptist leapt for joy in Elizabeth’s womb. Yes, Our Lord was first greeted in the world by an unborn infant who sends a message of life to the world.

Mary, the perfect disciple, follows Jesus. She is blessed, not only because she bore God’s Son, but also because she is the prime example of those who listen to the word of God and keep it. She follows Jesus all the way to the Cross, and beyond. She remains faithful even after her Son’s death, listening to the Lord, joining the apostles in prayer, waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

And just as Jesus came to Mary in poverty and human weakness, He comes to us today, not in glory, but in helplessness. Just as He came to Mary powerless, Jesus comes to us in the hungry and thirsty, in the stranger, the lonely, the sick and dying, the confused and troubled, addicted and imprisoned. Again, in the Magnificat, she sings that

[God] “has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty…for he has remembered his promise of mercy.”

Today God chooses to proclaim His truth to the world through you and me. That’s right, we must become truth tellers. We must courageously counter the lies and distortions of the culture of death, all the weeds planted and cultivated by Satan. For we are a Church of life. Did not Jesus say, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Just as Mary said, “Yes,” to life, so must we.

So many cry out to God in their confusion: they hunger for love, for truth, for justice, for life…It’s more than a human cry; it’s God’s Word calling.

I can’t tell you exactly what God is calling you to do, for God works differently through each of us. I can assure you He’s not telling you to do nothing. We are Jesus’ disciples, in imitation of Mary, but only if we listen to his word and act on it. Our faith, then, must be a living, active faith. How did Jesus put it? “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Yes, indeed, accept and repent of our sinfulness and accept the gift of faith.

This kind of discipleship is not without cost; it’s never easy. “A sword shall pierce your heart,” Mary was told – just as it must pierce the heart of every true disciple. But like Mary we can take comfort in God’s presence within us.

As Jesus told us, if we love Him and keep His word, His Father will love us, and they will come and make their home with us. Christ all around us. Christ leading us. Christ within us. We need only listen to Mary. In her words, “Do whatever He tells you”, and then do it.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, pray for us.

 

Homily: Tuesday, 20th Week in Ordinary Time (Year 2)

 Readings: Ez 24:15-23 • Dt 32:18-21 • Mt 19:16-22

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Today we celebrate St. Bernard, a Cistercian monk and abbot, a doctor of the Church, a brilliant 12^th-century theologian who, for a monk certainly got involved in a lot of stuff outside the monastery.

St. Bernard had a tremendous impact on the Church of his day and defended its teachings against the rationalism of Abelard and others like him, who tended to lift human reason to an almost divine level. Much of what he wrote applies as well to today’s confused world. Indeed, in some ways he mirrored Ezekiel’s message in today’s reading.

Reading Ezekiel’s words, it’s hard to believe they were written several thousand years ago. One would think they were written today and aimed directly at those who seem to think they actually control human life on earth. How did Ezekiel put it?

Because you are haughty of heart, you say, “A god am I”…And yet you are a man, and not a god, however you may think yourself like a god.

Just a few days ago, I read the words of a technology guru and he dropped a few interesting comments, all related to the emergence of artificial intelligence:

“If you have a problem in life, you don’t ask God, you ask Google or Facebook.”

And if that weren’t enough, he went on to say:

“…religions have been organized around fake news. Just think of the Bible. Fake news lasts forever in some cases….eternal fake news.

And he concluded with:

“Human history began when men created gods. It will end when men become gods.”

These are the words of more than just one man. They reflect the beliefs of many who claim to be smarter than the rest of us, smarter even than the God they don’t believe in, the God who created them. Yes, they believe they can create their own form of divinity, even if it all must take place in shadows. They are indeed gods, little gods, not unlike the false gods that the Chosen People had to deal with in Ezekiel’s time. They are men and women who look at creation and see only themselves.

I’ve been reading a lot of the Early Church Fathers lately, and St. Ephraim the Syrian, an interesting fourth-century theologian, left behind some wonderful thoughts in the form of little prayers. 

Yesterday I came across one of these, a St. Ephraim one-liner, a tiny prayer that sums up the spiritual needs of so many of us today:

“Inside I am not what I appear to be. Heal me.”

Of course, it’s a plea, asking the Holy Spirit to heal us of our spiritual hypocrisy, that human tendency to project an image to others that bears little resemblance to the true state of our soul. We want others to see a better version of ourselves, while we keep our true self hidden, even from ourselves. And when we do experience those rare moments of self-awareness, we find ourselves asking the same question asked by the disciples:

"Who then can be saved?"

In a sense they’re really saying, “Well, if I can’t be saved, how can anyone be saved?”

Jesus simply tells them and us that salvation is not something we can earn or achieve on our own, an impossible task for us sinners.

“For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

…and with this, He gives us hope. 

But, as usual, Peter so often assumes our role, demonstrating how clueless we all are in the presence of God. Ignoring what Jesus has just said, Peter responds with a self-absorbed statement and question:

"We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?"

Peter, no doubt speaking for all of them, is looking for a kind of super-reward. After all, Jesus, this discipleship hasn’t been easy.

Jesus lets him know that there will be wonderful things for “you who have followed me.” But then, with His final words, Our Lord tells them they’re not yet there, that they’re still far from being fully formed disciples. How did Jesus put it?

“But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

At this point, those words were probably a bit too subtle for them, but I’m sure, with the help of the Holy Spirit, they understood them later.

Like those first disciples, brothers and sisters, we all have a way to go…to lower ourselves, to be healed of the pride of the world, and accept the reality of humility.

As St. Ephraim prayed: Yes, Lord, “Inside I am not what I appear to be. Heal me.”

 

Been a While

A few folks -- a tiny remnant of the irregular readers of this blog -- have asked me why I haven't posted very much recently. Actually, they're very kind, because I really haven't posted a thing since June. The reason? I've simply been busy. 

I spent a lot of time preparing for a course on Biblical Typology that I'm now in the middle of conducting. The preparation demanded more time and effort than I had expected. And in the midst of it all, Diane and I went north for a couple of weeks to visit our children, grandchildren, and some old friends. I've also been wrapped up in some of the administrative details related to a pilgrimage to Italy that Fr. Glen and I will lead in January. So, you see, I have plenty of good excuses.

But I'm also disheartened by our nation's political landscape, and how things seem to be moving. And for weeks I've been left without words, wondering whether I should address the issues publicly. I guess I will. Please understand, though, these are my personal views, and I do not presume to speak (or write) for the Church. 

I look at today's Democrat party and wonder how it moved so far to the political left and so quickly. I've always believed that Marxism (and, folks, socialism and communism are both founded on solid Marxist principles) is attractive to two kinds of people. 

First, there are the "useful idiots" as Lenin purportedly called them. They listen to the false promises of an ideology that will never deliver, and they actually believe what they hear...at least for a time: 

"We'll pay off your student loans; we'll make the downpayment on your home; we'll guarantee wonderful healthcare that will cost you nothing; we'll bring true democracy and equity and diversity and inclusion and anything else you cry for..."  

The second, much smaller, group are the Marxist elites, those that feed the masses with all those promises. Ironically, few of the elites actually believe in Marxist ideology, because they're not hoping for equality or democracy or the people's happiness. No, they seek only one thing: power. And, conveniently for them, the consolidation of power into the hands of a few happens to be a guaranteed byproduct of Marxism's full implementation.

Marxists also despise religion...well, not all religion because they offer the masses their own version of religious faith. Perhaps more accurately, they despise the faith and values of Jews and Christians, and will join forces with anyone else who mirrors their hatred. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend...for a while.

To the Marxist, religion is a serious competitor because it shifts the allegiance of the individual from the state to God and His Church. They can't have that, and so they attack the Church, at first through the media and laws and regulations. But once they have power, the attacks become viciously physical. Just look at Marxism's history in the USSR, China, Cuba, etc.

Remember when Joe Biden told the TV host, Charlamagne Tha God, “I tell you if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”

Of course, it was just another of Joe's racist statements in which he assumes all blacks, really all minorities, must think alike, that they must hold identical political and moral beliefs.

So, let me one-up him, and tell the faithful: "If you vote for today's Democrats, you ain't Catholic." 

In this instance, though, I appeal to the deposit of faith, the Church's foundational beliefs, beliefs that are rejected by this political party. Not only do they support abortion and infanticide, but they also attack Church teaching on virtually every moral issue. And did you happen to hear how the Democrat vice presidential candidate, Governor Walz, called his opponent, Senator Vance, "Weird"? Why? Because Vance is an intelligent, religious, family-loving, pro-life, Catholic. Yep, all those traits really bother today's new Democrats.  

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm no big fan of the Republican party either. But at least their platform and values seem more closely to mirror my own. Yes, some of them wander off into the bullrushes and support that which helps them personally, forgetting the needs and freedoms of those they represent. But most appear to toe the line that runs between life and freedom.

I suppose the problem with politics is that it's plagued by politicians; that is, men and women who think of politics as a career instead of an opportunity to spend some time helping others live better and more rewarding lives. Term limits have always seemed like a good idea to me: ten years in the House; two terms in the Senate. After that, go back and do some real work in the world, growing our economy rather than draining it. 

And maybe Christians who fill political offices should also be thinking about how they can help others on their journey to salvation. After all, the First Amendment of our Constitution is very specific:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

So, if, like me, you are a believing, practicing Christian, feel free to exercise your religious beliefs whenever and wherever the need arises. Of course, the Constitution protects you only from government interference; you may have to deal with others who are not so open to expressions of religious beliefs. In those instances, I find actions are often more effective than words. Practice your faith and show the world what you believe. Let them see how a Christian lives.

God's peace...and don't forget to vote.