Homily: 3rd Sunday of Advent, Year C

Readings: Zep 3:14-18a; Phil 4:4-7; Lk 3:10-18

Newtown, Connecticut – Years ago some dear friends of ours lived in Newtown and we visited them on a number of occasions. In fact, as a youngster I lived only 15 miles away in the much smaller town of Nichols, Connecticut.

I remember Newtown as a lovely town, quiet and quaint, one of those typical New England towns of the kind pictured in calendars, a nostalgic sort of place where people long to settle with their families.

On Friday that quiet town and many of its families were shattered by the actions of a single person – horrific actions, evil, irrational – and quite likely we’ll never fully understand the motivations involved. These unanswered questions will only add to the grief of those families.

Yet here we are in this holy season of Advent, looking forward to Christmas, the celebration of our Savior’s coming into the world. For Christmas is a joyous event. Indeed, today is Gaudete Sunday, the joyful Sunday of Advent. As a sign of that joy, we light the rose-colored candle on our Advent wreath. Our readings instruct us not only to experience the joy of expectation in Christ’s coming but also to express our joy openly. We’re repeatedly called on to shout for joy, to sing joyfully, to cry out with gladness, to exult with all our hearts, not to be discouraged, to have no anxiety and to fear nothing.

And yet, as we think of and pray for those families who mourn and grieve for their children today, it just doesn’t seem to fit together, does it?

Holy Innocents - Sagrada Familia - Barcelona

When I first became aware of the extent of that tragedy, my thoughts turned to a similar tragedy that occurred in another sleepy little town 2,000 years ago. The town was Bethlehem, where God had told the prophet Micah the Messiah, the ruler of Israel, would be born. Thinking he could actually thwart God’s plans, King Herod sent his soldiers into Bethlehem to kill all its young boys two years old and under. Yes, that first and most joyous Christmas was also marred by tragedy.

As we studied Matthew’s Gospel in a freshman theology class, someone asked our professor, “How many children do you think Herod killed?” I remember the good Jesuit saying, “Well, Bethlehem was a pretty small town – probably only about 20.”

About 20…the Holy Innocents we call them – infants and toddlers, unknowingly martyred, canonized by their baptism of blood. How the mothers and fathers of Bethlehem must have mourned.

About 20…today 2,000 years later we mourn the loss of another 20 innocents, a loss that will change how we will celebrate Christmas. We will hug our children and grandchildren a little tighter this year, and we will pray in thanksgiving for keeping them safe.

Of course, as Christians we’re called to see these events through the eyes of faith; and in faith we know that this life is not all there is, that our true home is elsewhere. And so we accept that these young innocents, who had tasted only a sample of this life, are now in God’s loving, eternal embrace.

Did you hear what Paul told us in our second reading? “Rejoice in the Lord always. I say again, rejoice!” [Phil 4:4]

Rejoice always? Truly remarkable words. And they’re remarkable because Paul didn’t write these words to the Philippians from some hotel room in Ephesus, from a condo in Corinth, or from a retirement community in the Greek isles. No, Paul wrote them from a Roman prison, where his life was in imminent danger.

Rejoice always! That’s hard to do sometimes, for certain times just don’t seem to call for rejoicing. And yet, in the early church our mothers and fathers in faith went to their deaths rejoicing. They literally did “Rejoice in the Lord always.”

And Christians are still doing it today. I recall reading about a Romanian Baptist preacher named Josef Tson. Back in the 1970s he was continually persecuted and imprisoned by the communists in his country…simply for preaching the gospel. It’s still happening today, in China, Viet Nam, Cuba, in many parts of the Islamic world…Christians are imprisoned or martyred simply for preaching the gospel.

After one of his many arrests Tson felt certain he would be killed. Resigned to his fate, he told one of his interrogators, “You should know your supreme weapon is killing. My supreme weapon is dying,”

You see, brothers and sisters, that’s how St. Paul can say, “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him…” [Rom 8:28] In the immediate aftermath of this tragedy, the good is not readily apparent…but we must give God time to work, because He works through us, through you and me.

You and I can’t address the causes of what happened, because we don’t know what’s in the heart of another human being. We leave that to God. Instead we can do only what John the Baptist told the crowds to do in today’s gospel passage as he preached the Good News throughout Judea.

“What should we do?” they all asked him [Lk 3:10].

Give to the poor, he told them…and give from your own need, not just from your surplus. Be honest, loving, caring people.

This was the message that John was sent to give to the world. He was educating the souls of men and women, preparing them to receive what Christ would tell them.

And the result? Paul supplied the answer: “Your kindness should be known to all…Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” [Phil 4:5,7]

And perhaps the best place to first express our kindness is in our own homes, to those who love us most, those to whom we can sometimes be most unkind indeed.

Yes, John and Paul, two men who died martyrs’ deaths in prison, both discovered that the joy of God’s presence overcame all fears, removed all anxiety, turned every kind of suffering into a reason to rejoice and give thanks. It was their work to awaken those who were totally unconcerned with the things of God, to pull them out of their complacency, to wake them up with the Good News.

It’s no different today. To shake the world out of its indifference we need prophets like John and Paul, men and women who are true witnesses to God’s love for the world. Today, brothers and sisters, we need people of joy, not just on one Sunday of Advent, but every day. We need you, because God has sent each of you to do just that.

Pray for the souls of the children and teachers who died.

Pray for peace in the hearts of those who love them.

Now the hard part…As Christians we must pray too for the soul of the confused and troubled young man responsible for this massacre of innocents. We must pray for him because the families of most of his victims will be unable to take that step, probably for years to come. Forgiveness cannot easily enter a heart that is understandably filled with grief and anger. We must extend forgiveness for them who are as yet unable to do so.

And bless your children and grandchildren each day, for blessings are spiritually powerful acts, especially when extended by a parent. As fathers and mothers, as grandfathers and grandmothers, reach out and touch their precious heads with your hands and extend God's blessing in the name of Jesus Christ. Send them into the world each day cloaked with God's love and your love.

Let them know you love them deeply and ask the Father to protect them, for as Jesus told us, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father" [Mt 18:10].

God’s peace…

Homily: Feast of Holy Innocents (Dec 28)

Readings: 1 Jn 1:5-2:2; Ps 124; Mt 2:13-18

More than any other day in the liturgical year, Christmas is a celebration of life. It’s the day we celebrate the remarkable gift of the Father – the gift in which He gives us His Son, Jesus Christ, by having Him share in our human life, by becoming one of us. On this day God sends Himself into the world. The Word is made flesh and dwells among us. He becomes Emmanuel – God with us. Yes, Christmas is a wonderful manifestation of God’s love for us. It shows how greatly He cherishes His gift of life.

Herod orders the slaughter of Innocents - Altamura Cathedral, Puglia, Italy

But in today’s Gospel reading we witness how man so often rejects this gift. Herod, so afraid of losing his earthly power, a power that cannot last, turns that fear into hate, and that hate into the destruction of innocent life. Like many of today’s political leaders, Herod foolishly believes he can defeat the will of God. Driven by fear and hatred, he becomes a mass murderer of the most innocent among his people.

Today we are faced with something very similar, but really something far worse. Since 1973 over 50 million of our nation’s most innocent have been slaughtered by abortion. And that’s just a small percentage of the global total. It’s time to stop this child-killing and put the Life back into Christmas.

And I’m convinced this won’t come about through politics. No, it will happen only when we as God’s People undergo a change of heart, when we all begin to lead the Christian life the Gospel calls us to lead.

Catherine Doherty, Servant of God and founder of Madonna House, phrased it best when she titled her book, The Gospel Without Compromise.

We can start by following St. Joseph and obeying God’s commandments – quite simply, doing what He tells us, even if He tells us to get up in the middle of the night and go to Egypt.

We are called also to love, and that means loving even the Herods of today’s world. Love them into God's kingdom by calling them to repentance, forgiving them, praying and suffering for them, and sharing the love of Jesus with them.

We, too, are called to repentance, to ask God to heal our apathy, our lack of faith. As John told us in our reading today, "If we acknowledge our sins, He Who is just can be trusted to forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrong" [1 Jn 1:9]. When we are right with God and His Church, when we repent and accept God's forgiveness, all things are possible.

You see, brothers and sisters, you and I aren’t battling people. No our real battle is with Satan. By prayer and fasting we can drive out the demons of abortion and hatred. 

And finally we can fix our eyes always on Jesus Christ. It is He who welcomes those innocents into the Kingdom, and it is He who can forgive those who took their precious lives. Only Jesus Christ, and the grace He showers on us through His holy Church, can save us from our sinfulness and from eternal death. Only Jesus Christ can give us the gift of life, eternal life…for He is the Lord of Life.

We must never forget that.

Holy Innocents

Tomorrow, December 28, is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, those children of Bethlehem who were murdered by Herod in his bizarre attempt to thwart God's plan. Matthew briefly describes the event in his Gospel:

When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.

Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet: "A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation: Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more." [Mt 2:16-18]

Slaughter of the Innocents - Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

Matthew relates this horror in just three short verses. How many children were killed? Just a few? Less than a hundred? Several hundred? We don't know. Matthew provides no details, and we can be sure that Herod wanted no records kept of this horrendous act. Today, of course, we keep detailed, accurate records of our killing. Since 1973 our nation has allowed the slaughter of over 50 million of our most innocent, our unborn infants. You don't have to believe me. The federal government proudly publishes the abortion statistics every year. 

Herod's killing of the innocents was met with "sobbing and loud lamentation." Today's killings of innocents are met with a collective shrug. As one woman told me after a Mass in which I had preached a pro-life homily, "You and the Church are wrong. I think the girls should have a choice." 

I didn't mind her calling me wrong. Lord knows I've been wrong time and time again. But not the Church, not when it comes to matters of faith and morals, and not about something the Church has taught consistently for 2,000 years. Her words are simply symptoms of the disease that has infected so many of our citizens. It is a most diabolical form of political correctness, a willingness to be completely absorbed by today's culture of death and to condemn those who champion life. It stems from one thing: an especially insidious form of selfishness that declares openly and without embarrassment, "I am the measure of all things." For unless I believe this, how else can I deny God's will in favor of my own?

A few months ago, during a conversation with a friend, who happens to be a Protestant minister, he mentioned a woman who had applied for an administrative position in his church: "She made a point of telling me she was strongly pro-life. Well, as you can imagine, that eliminated her from consideration." I know I should have responded more strongly, and used the incident as a teaching moment, but I was too flabbergasted that he had said this to me. So I just said, "As you know, I'm a deacon in the Catholic Church. And so I, too, am strongly pro-life. Send her to us."

Radical political correctness has also apparently commandeered our State Department. We hear little from our government regarding the growing persecution of Christians throughout the world. Communist governments, steeped as they are in radical atheism, have always persecuted Christians and will continue to do so. Persecution and oppression are the rule for Christians living in North Korea, China and Vietnam. But how often do we hear anything about this from either the mainstream media or the federal government? After all, China and Vietnam are trading partners, and North Korea? Well, we don't want to upset our diplomatic efforts to bring them into the fold of civilized nations. And so the barbarity continues.

And when it comes to the rapidly growing persecution of Christians in Islamic countries, we encounter a special form of political correctness that seems to say: Islam is good, Christianity and Judaism are bad. Well, pardon me! But I'm a Catholic Christian and I simply won't accept that.

This form of PC wants us to believe that the vast majority of Muslims disagree with the Islamist jihadist terrorists, aka Al-Quaida, Hamas, Salafists, the Taliban, the Muslim Brotherhood, et al. "Don't worry," we're told, "Islam will ultimately reject this aberrant behavior by a few extremists." And yet, as a result of the much praised "Arab Spring," a significant majority of the voters in Tunisia and Egypt voted for these "few extremists" who, among other things, intend to impose sharia law on their nations. It would seem the extremists have now become mainstream. When the governments of other nations with Muslim majorities are overthrown -- Syria, Pakistan, Iraq, Nigeria... -- we can expect much of the same. Christians in these nations will have few options. They will either leave their homelands or they will suffer increased persecution.

Yes, today's innocents will continue to suffer, right here at home and throughout the world. Pray for them and for their oppressors.