Clean Jersey

Finding joy in the wounds we suffer for each other

10/19/2017

Luke 11:47-54 The Lord said: "Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets whom your fathers killed. Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building. Therefore, the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and Apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute' in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood! Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter." When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.

            Let me ask you a riddle this morning. What are the only man-made things in heaven? At first blush you may think great human achievements will be in heaven: like Leonardo DaVinci’s painting of the Mona Lisa, or musical masterpieces like Mozart’s Requiem Mass, or at least Michael Jordan’s retired Chicago Bulls’ jersey with number 23. No, these things will only shine as a candle does next to the sun, they will have no home in heaven. Rather, the only man-made things in heaven will be the five wounds of Jesus Christ: his two pierced hands, his two pierced feet, and his pierced side. That’s humanity’s contribution to the glory of heaven: how we crucified Christ. But besides Jesus’ wounds, I believe our own wounds will be in heaven, that is, how we suffered for Christ, and suffered for each other.

             Let me tell you about the wounds of the French Jesuit missionaries called “The North American Martyrs.” In the 1640’s Jesuit priests from France came to the area around Ontario, Canada and New York state to evangelize the Iroquois Indians. Their names were Frs. Rene Goupil, Isaac Jogues, Jean de Brefeuf, Noel Chabanal, Charles Garnier, and Gabriel Lalemont. Some Iroquois were happy to have the Jesuits, while others hated the Jesuits. The latter tortured and killed them in very unique and exquisite ways. The Jesuits explained that priests can only say Mass and touch the Bread of Communion with their thumb and forefinger, called the “canonical digits.” So, to torture them, what did the Iroquois do? They cut off those four fingers. But did that stop the missionaries? Not at all. They returned to Rome, asked the pope permission to celebrate with their remaining six fingers. He granted the permission, and they returned to the Iroquois saying: “Hey, guys, we’re back! Did you miss us?” And then the Iroquois killed them. These Jesuit missionaries’ wounds are also in heaven. When you get to heaven and see a bunch of French priests walking around with 6 fingers, you’ll know who they are. What are the only man-made things in heaven? The wounds of Jesus and our wounds.

              My friends, will you have any wounds when you get to heaven? Like soldiers who return from a war and talk about the scars they got at the Invasion of Normandy, or at the Battle of the Bulge, so in heaven we will share the stories of the scars, the war-wounds we won on earth. Let me give you some examples to be more specific. The great saints, like the North American Martyrs will have their wounds in heaven. Next time you see a statue of a saint who was a martyr, you’ll notice he or she often holds the instrument of their torture in their hands. St. Paul carries a sword because he was beheaded by a sword, and so forth.

               Sometimes the war wounds are invisible because they’re inflicted on our hearts. When people speak hurtfully about you, when they ostracize you and ignore you, when they gossip about you and you refuse to retaliate: those are deep wounds and they hurt more than physical tortures. When you have suffered failure in a project or plan that you had poured your heart and soul into, but it all came to nothing.  Well, lick your wounds like the French Jesuits and come back again and try even harder next time, saying, “Hey, guys, I’m back! Did you miss me?” Maybe your heart has been broken into a thousand pieces because you’ve been rejected by someone you loved, that, too, leaves a wound we will always remember, maybe even in heaven. Because those will be the only man-made things in heaven: what we suffer for Christ and for each other.

               When a football team gathers in the locker room after a game what one thing does no player want to have? It’s a clean jersey. Why? Well because a dirty jersey, especially one with some blood on it, will be what you talk about in the locker room: how you fought and bled for each other. That’s also what we’ll talk about in heaven.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Last Newspaper Clipping

Taking time to know ourselves and examine our lives

10/16/2017

Romans 1:1-7 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an Apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God, which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, the Gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh, but established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

            Rare is the person who truly knows himself or herself. That is, to be able to treat your sins as well as your successes with an even hand, and not take either too seriously. Rudyard Kipling wrote in his poem called, “If,” these lovely lines: “If you can dream and not make dreams your master; / If you can think and not making thought your aim; / If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster / And treat those two imposters just the same.” In other words, we are usually not as bad as our blunders, nor as we as saintly as our successes suggest. We’re somewhere in the middle of those two imposters. Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the great Catholic communicator of the last century, cautioned us from collecting our newspaper clippings. He said: “The proud man counts his newspaper clippings, the humble man counts his blessings.”

              Of course, our last newspaper clipping will be our obituary, which usually shines a very forgiving spotlight on our life. Have you noticed? Mark Antony was being sarcastic and not serious in his eulogy for Julius Caesar, when he said: “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. / The evil that men do lives after them; / The good is oft interred with their bones” (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, III, 2). As a matter of fact, Antony had not come to bury Caesar, but rather he wanted to bury Brutus and the other conspirators of Caesar’s assassination. The Greek Temple at Delphi to the god Apollo had two simple words inscribed on the door as you enter: “Gnothi seauton,” meaning “Know thyself.” And that is what prompted the Greek philosopher Socrates to write: “The unexamined life is not worth living” (Plato, Apology, 38a 5-6). But how many people take time to examine their lives, really to “know thyself”?

            In the first reading today, we meet one of those rare men who knew himself well: St. Paul of Tarsus. He begins his great letter to the Romans with the line, “Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle.” If you were asked what one word best describes you, “slave” would not be the first word to pop into our heads! But Paul does. Paul is at the peak of his powers as an apostle and as an author. He’s almost 50 years old when he writes this epistle in the year 57 A.D., and he’s writing his magnum opus, his crowning work, and there he calls himself a “slave.” In other words, Paul has thrown away his newspaper clippings, he has treated Triumph and Disaster as imposters, he has thoroughly examined his life, he knows himself and he sees clearly he is both a slave and an apostle. Rare is the person who achieves that level of self-awareness in this life.

             Here are three suggestions on how to live a more “examined life.” First, listen to your spouse’s comments and criticisms, take him or her seriously and don’t brush them off. A friend of mine said “our spouse holds a mirror up to us so we can see ourselves as we really are.” That’s another good reason why priests shouldn’t get married! Our spouse sees us without our make-up, before we put in our dentures, and don our bow-tie and cumber-bun. I sometimes wonder if some divorces – of course not all – but some divorces occur because we cannot bear such self-examination. Secondly, go to confession. In humble confession, we don’t need our newspaper clippings (although some do drag in their clippings into confession!), and instead we see how we are slaves to our sins and vices. When asked for a one-word description of himself, Pope Francis answered, “I am a sinner.” Gnothi seauton. And third, spend time in quiet prayer. Besides Holy Mass, and the rosary, and spiritual reading and meditation – which are all good and necessary – also spend quality time in the quiet, in silence and stillness and solitude, and listen. You will be entering into the “interior castle,” which is how St. Teresa of Avila described the soul, where we find both God and ourselves.

            Rare is the person who can truly know himself or herself as they in the eyes of God. One day when we stand before God, maybe the two words we’ll use to describe ourselves will also be “slave” and “apostle.”  That will be our last newspaper clipping.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Hardness of Heaven

Making it hard on ourselves to enter heaven

10/15/2017

Matthew 22:1-10 Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those invited: "Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast."' Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.  The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.' The servants wen out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests."

             At Trinity Junior High I like to say that we prepare our students not only for Harvard but also for Heaven. But let me ask you: which one do you think is harder to get into, Harvard or Heaven? I bet most people would say, “Well, only the brightest bulbs in the box go to Harvard but hopefully everyone eventually goes to Heaven.” I sure hope the entrance exam for Heaven is a lot easier than the one for Harvard.

               Others might answer that getting into heaven is not a matter of I.Q. but a question of I.D. That is, you have to be a certain kind of person, or belong to a given group or religion. A man arrived at the gates of heaven. St. Peter asked him, “Religion?”  The man said: “Methodist.” St. Peter looked down on his list and said: “Go to Room 24, but be very quiet as you pass Room 8.” Another man arrived at the gates of paradise and was asked: “Religion?” He answered: “Lutheran.” St. Peter instructed him: “Go to Room 18, but be very quiet as you pass Room 8.” A third fellow makes it to the Pearly Gates and is asked, “Religion?” He says: “Presbyterian.” St. Peter tells him: “Go to Room 11, but be very quiet as you pass Room 8.” The man is curious and asks: “I can understand there being different rooms for different denominations, but why be quiet as I go by Room 8?” St. Peter answered: “Well, the Baptists are in Room 8, and they think they are the only ones here.”

              In all fairness, Room 8 could have been for Catholics, too. For the longest time the Church taught “extra ecclesiam nulla salus,” which means “outside the Church there is no salvation.” But now we’re a little more open minded about salvation. In other words, some say everyone will make it to heaven, while others say that only a chosen few will be saved. So, which will be harder to get into: Harvard to Heaven? Will everyone get in, or just a few, or no one?

           Today’s gospel weighs in on this question, and Jesus offers a parable to help the people understand his teaching. A king invites everyone to a wedding banquet for his son. He sends invitations at first to chosen guests, and then he sends in again, and finally he ends up inviting everyone. In other words, everyone is welcome into heaven, as it says in 1 Timothy 2:4: “God desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” But does everyone accept the invitation? Sadly, no. Jesus explains: “Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business,” and a third to take his entrance exam into Harvard. That is, the hardness of getting into heaven is not on God’s side but rather on our side. To be precise, the hardness is not in heaven at all, but only in our hard hearts that prefer other things to heaven. If someone doesn’t make it to heaven, it won’t be God’s fault; it will be our own choice, because we ignored the invitation.

               Today I want to give you three reasons to send your junior high students to Trinity. Basically, we teach them how to get to heaven (as well as Harvard) in three different ways. First, we teach them that there actually is a heaven. The existence of heaven may sound obvious to you sitting in Mass, but there is a rising tide of atheism sweeping across America. If you want to read a thorough analysis of modern atheism, I highly recommend the book, The Drama of Atheistic Humanism by Henry de Lubac. He argues that the thinking of philosophers like Fredrick Nietzsche and August Comte and Ludwig Feuerbach has filtered into American culture and caused God to be evicted not only from the courtroom, but also from the classroom. And because there is no prayer in public school, students only worry about getting into Harvard and forget about getting into Heaven. But that tide of atheism has not reached the steps of Trinity Junior High.  Our students know both Harvard and Heaven exist, and they prepare for both.

            The second way we prepare them for heaven is by holding them to a higher standard of behavior. We don’t expect them merely to do good and avoid evil; they must ask what would Jesus do? And then do likewise. Now, this is not very helpful when we play football, because we get killed. Some of our boys don’t tackle and say: “That’s not what Jesus would do!” I answer: “No, hit the guy first! Then you can apologize later.” To be sure our students get into trouble like all teens do, but then they realize they didn’t just break a rule, but they broke a Commandment, and ultimately, they broke a heart, namely, Jesus’ heart. At Trinity students aren’t expected to just be decent human beings; they must be disciples of Christ. Trinity students know God wants everyone to be saved, but we accept that invitation by the way we live.

              The third way Trinity teaches students the way to heaven is by helping them experience a deeper joy, namely, the joy of Jesus. The students go to Mass every Wednesday, they go to confession twice a year, they make an annual retreat, they do hours of community service, and every morning they pray the Lord’s Prayer in Latin, the “Pater Noster.” They’ve been doing that all year and now don’t need a cheat sheet. We don’t want Trinity students to be like the people C. S. Lewis wrote about when he said: “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by a holiday at the sea” (Essay, “The Weight of Glory”). At Trinity we teach students that heaven is like a holiday at the sea and Harvard, by comparison, is like making mud pies in a slum.

              Which is harder to enter: Harvard or Heaven? I never made it to Harvard, but I hope I still make it to Heaven. The only hard part of entering heaven is the hardness in our own hearts.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Faith or Football

Making the uncomfortable choice for Christianity

10/14/2017

Luke 11:27-28 While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed." He replied, "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it."

           In the course of our Christian lives, we are constantly presented with an uncomfortable choice: between earth and heaven, between the natural and the supernatural, between the temporal and the eternal. I say this choice is “uncomfortable” because we’d really like to have both – the best of both worlds – but sometimes we must choose one or the other. The fact that you are at 7 a.m. Mass on Saturday morning, especially on “college game day,” means you’re choosing faith over football, or at least faith first and football second. I mean, let’s not get carried away here.

             C. S. Lewis, the Christian writer and apologist, painted the picture more colorfully in his celebrated essay, “The Weight of Glory.” In 1941, he wrote these memorable lines: “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot image what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” That is, we are far too easily pleased by earthly things, because we’ll spend 30 minutes on faith but 3 hours on football.

            This is the point Jesus tries to teach in the gospel today: put supernatural goods over merely natural goods. A woman is clearly moved by Jesus’ holiness and wisdom and miracles, and she gushes about how wonderful it would be to be his mother, notice that’s a natural bond. She blurts out emotionally: “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts that nursed you.” But Jesus gently corrects her and invites her to higher and holier goods, saying: “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” In other words, natural, human family ties are good, but supernatural, spiritual ties are even better, because they last forever. To put it in modern language, Jesus was helping the woman to see that faith is better than football, and to desire heavenly goods over earthly ones.

             My friends, let me invite you – like Jesus invited the woman – to invest your time, talent and treasure into supernatural goods more than into natural goods. First, spent your time on spiritual growth: read the Bible daily, go on a retreat, pray the Rosary, go to Adoration, read spiritual authors. Just think of how much time we waste every day watching mindless T.V., or scrolling on our smart phones, or reading the tedious tabloids. This is the uncomfortable choice of Christianity. Second, talent. Have you ever encouraged your children (or grandchildren) to become a priest or a nun? Do you feel they might be wasting their talents in a religious vocation? Sometimes we call talented priests “Father-what-a-waste” because we feel he could have really been somebody successful in the world, but he wasted his life in religion. That’s the uncomfortable choice of Christianity. Third, treasure. Take out your checkbook or read your electronic bank statement and add up the money you spend on earthly pursuits and how much you spend on heavenly ones. By the way, here at Immaculate Conception, I’ve been blown away by the generosity of our parishioners. You truly put your money where your mouth is, your faith is not merely lip service. You happily make the uncomfortable choice of Christianity.

               Let me conclude with a quotation from Henri de Lubac, one of the most brilliant theologians of the last century, who saw that in the end it would take Christian heroes to make these uncomfortable choices. He wrote: “In the present state of the world, a virile, strong Christianity must become a heroic Christianity.” He went on to explain: “Gentleness and goodness, considerateness toward the lowly, pity for those who suffer, rejection of perverse methods, protection of the oppressed, unostentatious self-sacrifice, resistance to lies, the courage to call evil by its proper name, love of justice, the spirit of peace and concord, open-heartedness, mindfulness of heaven; these are the things that Christian heroism will rescue” (The Drama of Atheistic Humanism, 129).  In other words, it will take Christian heroes to choose faith over football.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Team Jesus

Learning that teams are stronger than individuals

10/13/2017

Luke 11:15-26 When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said: "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons." Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

             Today I want to talk to you about the difference between a team and an individual, and show you that the team is always stronger. Someone who believed very strongly in teams and teamwork was Coach John Wooden. He was the head basketball coach at UCLA and his team won 10 national championships and 7 of them in back to back. No one has ever done that. He was called “The Wizard of Westwood” because that’s the area Los Angeles that UCLA is located in. He had 3 rules for his players. (1) No profanity (that’s cussing). (2) Never criticize a teammate. And (3) never be late. Pretty simple rules, but also very important ones to build a strong team.

                Coach Wooden had a simple demonstration to prove that a team is always better than an individual, no matter how talented that individual might be. I would like to show you that demonstration now. I will need some volunteers. Who is the best of the best of the best of the 6th grade boys who plays basketball? Now, who are the two of the best of the best of the best girl basketball players in 6th grade? I have two basketballs here and will give one to the boy, and ask him to dribble the ball as fast as he can down the center aisle of the church. I have another basketball here and I’d like one girl to stand here at one end of the aisle and throw it to the girl at the other end of the aisle. When I say “Go!” the boy will dribble the basketball as fast as he can while the girl will throw the ball to her teammate. Let’s see who can get the ball to the other end of the aisle the fastest. Ready? Go! As you can see, a team is always more powerful than an individual, even if that individual were LeBron James.

                In the gospel today, Jesus tries to teach the people about the power of a team and teamwork. He says there are two great teams that play against each other in the universe. The team of Satan and the team of Jesus. And Jesus says that if either team doesn’t work together, they will be beaten by the other team. He says, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every house will fall against house.” In other words, Jesus would have the same three rules of Coach Wooden: “No profanity, never criticize a teammate, and never show up late.” Teams that criticize each other will be beaten. Jesus also says: “If you are not with me, you are against me.” Boys and girls, how many of you want to be on “Team Jesus”? Everyone raise your hands!

               Many of you already belong to many teams. Maybe you are on a basketball team, or perhaps you belong to a baseball team. Are any of you on a rugby team? Thank goodness! But I also want you to think of other teams we don’t usually call “teams.” But they are really far more important teams than sports teams. Your school is a team – look, you even wear the same uniforms like teams do. Don’t criticize your teammates. Your family is a team – you all have the same last name: Team Hernandez, Team Borengasser, Team Garcia, Team Caldarera, Team Alder. Never criticize your teammates. And this Church is a team, too. It’s not “Team Fr. John,” rather it’s “Team Jesus.” Never criticize your teammates. Try to follow Coach Wooden’s rule, and Jesus’ example, in all these teams: never criticize your teammates.

             One day I told a team I was coaching that there is no letter “I” in the word “Team.” One of the players was trying to be funny and said, “But Fr. John, there is a letter ‘I’ in the word ‘win’.” I answered: “You are correct, that there’s an ‘I’ in ‘win.’ But that’s because individuals win games, while teams win championships,” like 10 national championships.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

How Prayer Works

Praying with child-like faith and trust

10/12/2017

Luke 11:5-13 Jesus said to his disciples: "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

            Let me ask you an important and imperative question: Does prayer work? What I mean is when you’ve knelt down to ask God for some favor or make some request, did the Man Upstairs come through for you? Some people dedicate countless hours to prayer, like cloistered Carmelite nuns; they believe prayer works. However, others scoff at prayer as superstition, like the philosopher Fredrick Nietzsche, who said, “If they want me to believe in their Savior, they will have to sing me better hymns” (Thus Spoke Zarathustra, 99). He meant hymns of praise, like prayer, are fruitless and futile.  I am the spiritual director of several men studying to become deacons and the first order of business when we meet – and it’s really the only order of business – is prayer: what it is and how you do it, and how you don’t do it. Let me suggest to you three ways how not to prayer and finally a way on how to pray, which is just what Jesus says in the gospel.

              The first incorrect approach to pray is from a scientific mentality. Some answer the problem of prayer by doing a scientific, statistical study. Let’s take one hundred people, each from different religions, and have them pray to God for a specific item, and then see to whom God says “yes” and to whom God says “no.” Then we’ll discover which kind of prayer works. But prayer cannot be examined under a microscope any more than faith or hope or love can be.  Science is the wrong tool to experiment on prayer.

                 The second incorrect approach is by our over-zealous Christian friends who say you have to pray with great faith. If you didn’t get what you asked for – a mansion in Malibu or a Caribbean cruise – then you didn’t pray with enough faith. Some tele-evangelists – although not all of them – fall into this extreme view. This is sometimes called the “Health and Wealth Gospel.” God wants you to be healthy and wealthy, and if you’re not rich and famous, then you need to pray with more faith. Of course, the one unassailable answer to this view is Jesus himself, who died with no health or wealth on the Cross. The great Presbyterian preacher from Scotland, George MacDonald, said: “Jesus suffered and died on the cross, not so that we wouldn’t have to, but so that our suffering might be like his.” Simply praying with more zeal doesn’t necessarily make prayer work.

                The third error regarding prayer is to see it as a purely personal and private matter. And this is the great mistake of the modern American mentality. We have outlawed prayer in schools, and the only sign of public prayer is a few moment of silence. But when we fail to pray, to lift our hearts to God – both in public and in private – we lose our humanity. We become no better than the animals (who, by the way, actually pray and praise the Creator in their own way!). That is, we become less than the animals when we cut ourselves off from God by abandoning prayer. The Roman philosopher Cicero said public prayer, which he called “religio,” was the highest good of a society, its “summum bonum.” Making prayer a purely private affair is also wrong-headed.

                The best way to pray is as a small child speaking to his or her father, a father who loves him or her more than the child can fathom. Just like children ask to eat a second piece of chocolate cake and sometimes mom or dad says “yes” and sometimes “no,” so too our heavenly Father sometimes says “yes” and sometimes “no.” In the gospel Jesus explains: “If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” In other words, the best prayer is child-like prayer, not scientific prayer, not super-zealous prayer, not purely private prayer. That is the best way to pray and how to measure its efficacy.

               Let me conclude with a touching quotation on prayer by C. S. Lewis. The Oxford don wrote: “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time – waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God, it changes me.” That’s spoken like a child who’s finally figured out how prayer works.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Nobody to Blame

Taking full responsibility for our wrong-doings

10/11/2017

Jonah 4:1-11 Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry that God did not carry out the evil he threatened against Nineveh. He prayed, "I beseech you, LORD, is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I fled at first to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loath to punish. And now, LORD, please take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live." But the LORD asked, "Have you reason to be angry?"

             Boys and girls, the Trinity Junior High family has experienced a difficult few days. Did you hear about the fighting incident last Thursday? Several boys engaged in fighting while other boys taunted them, and still others stood around to videotape the fight. Dr. Hollenbeck, Mr. Edwards and I dealt with the misconduct with out of school suspensions, in school suspensions, no football for seventh graders for a week and revoking locker room privileges. We want the punishment to fit the crime. This incident has touched the whole Trinity family, and no one is left unaffected. Some people feel anger, others feel embarrassment, others disappointment, others surprise, and maybe others even confusion, as they try to make sense of it all. Some people are asking, “How could this happen in a Catholic school?”

              Today I want to give you three things to think about in dealing with this situation. But I also think this will come in handy in future situations, not necessarily with fighting, but whenever there’s serious wrong-doing by you or by someone else. I want you to know how to handle these tough times in life, especially how to handle them like Jesus would. The three things are: (1) everyone makes mistakes, (2) don’t play the blame game, and (3) take full responsibility for your actions. Let me elaborate a little on each of these.

               First of all, we all make mistakes, even adults make mistakes, do stupid things and sometimes even sinful things. Have you started to notice that your parents are not perfect? Duh! They don’t know everything, they can’t do everything, and they make mistakes. In other words, they are human beings just like me and you. That means you need to be patient with them, and you need to be patient with yourselves. My point is that we are all in the one big boat of broken humanity. Nobody is perfect and nobody can throw stones at another person for their sins. To be sure, this incident of fighting is a serious mistake (this is not a small thing), and that’s why the punishments are so severe. Nevertheless, I don’t want those involved to think they’re the worst people in the world (you’re not). And no one else should look down on them in judgment from some ivory tower of perceived perfection. We are all sinners in need of a Savior, and that includes this priest talking to you right now. That’s the first point: we are all sinners.

                The second point is don’t play the blame game. What is the blame game? That’s when you blame others for the mistakes you make. Have you noticed how people blame others for problems that occur? Husbands blame wives and wives blame husbands, boys blame girls and girls blame boys, people in Arkansas blame people in Oklahoma and Oklahomans blame Arkansans, and everyone blames Coach Bielema! But blaming someone else is just an easy excuse, instead of taking a hard look at ourselves. One of my favorite leadership quotations is: “Champions don’t make excuses, they make changes.” In other words, champions don’t play the blame game. They ask: what can I do differently so this doesn’t happen again? No easy excuses. Last year after a heart-breaking loss, Coach Vitale gathered together the coaches, the football players and cheerleaders, and humbly said: “Tonight’s loss is on me. This one is on me. But next Thursday is on you!” That’s a champion: don’t make easy excuses, make hard changes. That’s the second thing: don’t play the blame game.

                And thirdly, take full responsibility for your actions. William James, the Harvard professor once memorably said: “I would sin like David if I only could repent like David.” You remember how King David committed adultery with Bathsheba in the Old Testament, but then he wept bitterly over his sins and wrote the great psalm of repentance, Psalm 51, the “Miserere” (“Have Mercy, O Lord”). I have been very proud to see how the boys involved in the fighting have been a little like King David: they taken responsibility for their actions. They have not played the blame game. They know they made mistakes, like everyone else makes mistakes, and they are willing to make the hard changes. They are behaving like champions.

                  I’m going to leave you with a country music song. I love country music and it’s too bad if you don’t like country music. When you become a priest, you can play the music you like at Mass. It’s by Chris Stapleton and called, “Nobody to Blame.” It’s about a man whose wife leaves him and he takes full responsibility for the failed marriage. It’s kind of funny, too. The refrain goes: “I know right where I went wrong. I know just what got her gone. Turned my life into this country song, and I got nobody to blame but me. I got nobody to blame but me.” Listen and learn...Boys and girls, don’t turn your life into a country song, cowboy up and take responsibility for your actions. That’s what a champion would do; that’s what a Christian would do.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Brother from Another Mother

Overcoming stranger danger with love of neighbor

10/09/2017

Luke 10:25-37 There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, 'Take care of him.

            You have probably heard the familiar phrase, “stranger danger.” It’s often taught to children to warm them to be wary of adults who are both stranger and suspicious. It’s a healthy instinct to develop to avoid potential danger and harm.

            However, recently child psychologists are rethinking the phrase as being too far-reaching. Why? Well, because in some instances a child may need to approach a stranger for help. Callahan Walsh, an advocate at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said: “Oftentimes kids are in a situation where they will need to reach out to a stranger for help, whether they’re just being lost, or if there’s an actual abduction” (“Experts warn against teaching the phrase ‘stranger danger’,” ABC News, March 31, 2017). In other words, you can’t live your whole life avoiding stranger. Sometimes, a stranger may be the only one who can help you.

             Both Scripture readings today present examples of finding help from strangers. In the book of Jonah, Jonah has stowed himself on board a ship of strangers. When they find themselves in peril of their lives, Jonah says: “Pick me up and throw me into the sea, that it may quiet down for you.” That is, prefiguring how Jesus would offer himself to save humanity, Jonah sacrifices himself for perfect strangers. In the gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, who helped a man who had been robbed and beaten half to death. But the real crux of the parable is that the Samaritan was a stranger to the Jews, but he was the one who helped; while the very familiar priest and Levite failed to be a good neighbor. Today’s Scriptures are saying the same thing as Callahan Walsh: rethink “stranger danger” because sometimes the only one who can help you will be stranger.

              My friends, may I suggest to you that we replace the phrase “stranger danger” with two other catchy phrases, namely, “brother from another mother,” and “sister from another mister”? King of catchy, huh? Have you heard these phrases before? They redefine “stranger” from being someone we should fear to becoming someone we should befriend. Clearly Jonah and the Good Samaritan thought of those they helped as a “brother from another mother.”

             Here are a few more modern-day examples. Pope Francis’ love for the poor, the immigrants, the prisoners and the refugees paints a poignant picture of what it means to see others as a “brother from another mother” and a “sister from another mister.” The Holy Father is very much like Jonah and the Good Samaritan because he never met a stranger, certainly not one who was a danger. Last Friday, a lady stopped me in the parking lot to ask me for money. I told her that I don’t give people cash, but I did listen to her story and enjoyed her company. I would not arbitrarily give money to my brother or sister, if I felt it wouldn’t really help them; if I felt it would create greater dependency in them. I recently saw a picture of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and another current Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg vacationing together, and they were riding on the back of an elephant. And my cousin was the elephant driver! (Just kidding.) These two justices could not be more polar opposites in their legal opinions, but they still were friends. Scalia was a brother from another mother, and Ginsberg was a sister from another mister.

             Folks, stranger danger is still a good thing to teach your children. But that should be balanced by teaching them a healthy love of strangers, too; indeed, we should treat them to see strangers as brothers and sisters in Christ..

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Wrong War

Fighting in three theaters of war as the Church Militant

10/07/2017

Luke 10:17-24 The seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name." Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power 'to tread upon serpents' and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

            Catholics are always at war. But the hard part is figuring out who we are at war with. Catholic theology describes three states of the Church and each state has a war-time tenor to it. The Church on earth – those who are alive in space and time – are called the Church Militant (Ecclesia militans) because we’re organized as a “military” for battle against the forces of evil. The Church in purgatory – those who have died and out of space and time, but not yet in heaven – are called the Church Penitent (Ecclesia poenitans) because we’re healing and recovering from our war wounds suffered on earth. And third, the Church in heaven – those who celebrate ultimate victory over sin and death – are called the Church Triumphant (Ecclesia triumphans) because they have triumphed and the final foe has been vanquished. Let me give you three examples of the Church Militant, and we might call these three examples, “three theaters of war.”

               The first theater comes from today’s feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. This feast was formerly called Our Lady of Victory. Why? In 1571, the Muslims had grown powerful in Northern Africa, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe. Pope St. Pius V organized a Christian coalition navy to combat the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Lepanto. The pope knew the Christian forces were hopelessly outnumbered, so he called for all Europe to pray the Rosary on October 7, the day of the decisive battle. Surprisingly, the Christian navy was able to repel the Ottoman attack. The pope attributed the victory to the intercession of our Blessed Mother through the recitation of the Rosary. That is one theater of the war, where the Church Militant goes into battle.

                The second theater comes from today’s gospel. Jesus sends his disciples to engage the Enemy, who is Satan, and his legions of fallen angels. The seventy-two disciples return from this spiritual warfare saying: “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.” And Jesus, their Captain, answers: “Behold, I have given you the power ‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you.” Did you catch that “military language” Jesus employs to remind Christians that they are at war, and also what weapons will be effective against this eternal Enemy? This is the second theater of the war for the Church Militant.

             My friends, can you guess where the third theater of war is to be found? Many people miss it. Someone who is divorced might say, “The third theater of war is with my ex-spouse, because we battle over alimony checks and visitation rights.” Business people may say: “The third theater of war is the battle with my competitors who are trying to drive me out of business!” A politician might answer: “The third theater of war is in the halls of Congress where I fight with the other party!” A priest might say, “The third theater of war is dealing with my deacons!” (Not me, of course).

But the true third theater of war is the human heart, and your final foe is the man in the mirror. And I am convinced that we ourselves will be our greatest enemy, far more menacing than the Ottomans at Lepanto, and far more frightening than Satan who fell like lightning from the sky. We always have been and always will be our own worst enemy. The third theater of battle is so close we completely miss it, because it is under our own nose, in our hearts, where we battle our pride and prejudice, our egos and envy, our apathy and ambitions, our laziness and our lusts. How sad that so much of our lives we spend fighting the wrong war.

              The Buddhists have a wonderful maxim, and it’s my favorite. They say, “My enemy, my teacher.” In each one of these theaters of war, we encounter a different enemy, and each enemy has something to teach us. Perhaps the biggest lesson they teach us is how not to fight the wrong war.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Christian Casserole

Learning to feed the body and soul at Mass

10/05/2017

Luke 10:1-12 Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this household.' If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment.

             A kindergarten teacher gave her class a “show and tell” assignment. Each student was instructed to bring in an object to share with the class that represented their religion.  The first student got up in front of the class and said, “My name is Benjamin and I am Jewish, and this is a Star of David.” The second student got up in front of the class and said, “My name is Mary. I am a Catholic and this is a Rosary.” The third student got up in front of the class and said: “My name is Tommy. I am a Methodist, and this is a casserole.”

              I would suggest to you that any of those kindergarten students could have gotten up and held up a casserole dish. Why? Well, because the best way to get people to come to church is to feed them. Food and faith are a fitting combination. Since we are psychosomatic beings, that is, with both a body and a soul, it makes all the sense in the world that we should feed the body and also the soul. In other words, a Christian casserole would be a great symbol for any religion.

               Today’s Scriptures likewise suggest how feeding body and soul are both part of an authentic religious experience. We read in Nehemiah, “Ezra the priest-scribe and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all the people: ‘Today is holy to the Lord your God. Do not be sad and do not weep.’ He said further: ‘Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared; for today is holy to our Lord.” That is, one way the people experienced God’s holiness was by sharing a meal: enjoy both faithful fellowship but also a marvelous meal. Ezra told everyone to bring a casserole to share.

               In the gospel, Jesus tells his disciples to proclaim the Kingdom of God by entering homes and sharing the Good News. He instructs them: “Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment.” By the way, this is my favorite verse in the entire Bible! That’s why I never learned how to cook. But notice again: an authentic religious experience of sharing faith is not supposed to be purely spiritual; it should also be thoroughly bodily. Jesus told his disciples to enjoy casseroles in people’s homes.

                My friends, if I were to ask you to bring an object that represents your religion, what would you bring? Maybe you’d be like little Mary and bring a rosary. Perhaps you’d grab a painting of the Divine Mercy or the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Or you might have a little clear plastic bottle of Holy Water from Lourdes in the shape of the Blessed Mother. Those are all great symbols of faith. But I also hope you’d have the spiritual instincts of little Tommy, who brought a casserole. Why? Well, because feeding and faith always fit together.

                 That’s why the highest and holiest point, the source and summit of Christian life, is the liturgy of the Mass. Every Mass involves a psychosomatic experience that engages both the body and the soul. First, we feed on the Word of Sacred Scripture, and second we are fed by the Sacred Body and Blood of Christ. Listen to how the Catechism describes the Mass: “The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and the works of the apostolate are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it.” It goes on: “For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely, Christ himself” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1325). In other words, the Mass is the center of Christian life, because Christ is the center of the Mass. And it is here we feed body and soul; and it is here, above any other place, that the whole human person is nourished. Now, that’s what I call a “Christian casserole.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Brother Ass

Learning to live like St. Francis of Assisi

10/04/2017

Luke 9:57-62 As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head." And to another he said, "Follow me." But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father." But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God." And another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home." Jesus answered him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God."

            Boys and girls, a big reason why your parents send you to Trinity Junior High is to help you not only to be good pupils, but also be a good person, not only to learn about chemistry, but also to learn about Christianity, not only to make it to Harvard, but also to make it to Heaven. In short, they send you hear to learn not only how to be a scholar but also to be a saint. And there is no better student in this “classroom of Christ” than St. Francis of Assisi. In three surprising ways, St. Francis shows us how to be more like Jesus and a little less like everyone else: first, in that silence is louder than yelling; second, that poverty allows you to possess more than prosperity; and third, that discipline unleashes your desires better than debauchery (laziness and lust).

              How many of you like to read? Raise your hands. The best little book on St. Francis of Assisi was written by G.K. Chesterton. Here’s a quotation that sums up what I want to tell you today. Chesterton wrote: “The poet who praised his Lord the sun often hid himself in a dark cavern…the saint who was so gentle with his Brother the Wolf was so harsh to his Brother the Ass (as he nicknamed his own body)…the troubadour who said love set his heart on fire separated himself from women…the singer who rejoiced in the strength and gaiety of the fire deliberately rolled himself in the snow…the very song which cries with all the passion of a pagan, ‘Praised be God for our Sister, Mother Earth…ends almost with the words, ‘Praised be God for our Sister, the death of the body” (St. Francis of Assisi, 194). In other words, St. Francis was a sign of contradiction, just like Jesus was, you couldn’t put him into a box. Let’s learn a little silence, poverty and discipline from Brother Ass (St. Francis said it first, not me!).

              First, speaking softly, and even silence, are louder than yelling. Do you know how smart teachers get control of their class when everyone is talking? They start to speak more softly, like this, and students start to quiet down and listen. Mrs. Bedell does that to me all the time! Do you have parents who are “yellers” and yell at their kids to get their attention? Does that inspire you to listen, or turn you off? By the way, it’s completely okay for coaches to yell at you. When you’re in a group of friends and someone starts criticizing and gossiping about another person, just remaining silent and not sharing in the gossip sends a strong message that you disagree. I’m not sure St. Francis said this, but it’s popularly attributed to him: “Go to all the world and preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words.” In other words, actions speak louder than words. Silence and love speak louder than yelling.

             The second lesson from Brother Ass is to love poverty. No one wants to be involuntarily poor, but it is a great virtue to be voluntarily poor. St. Francis said he was in love with Lady Poverty, and she was a more beautiful bride than all his friends had. I heard of one student who, for her birthday, asked that all gifts be a donation to the Fort Smith Animal Shelter. She was falling in love with Poverty. I try to help some of our Trinity students with their tuition, and so do lots of other people in Fort Smith. There’s something very beautiful about Poverty. Teachers put money into a box to make sure every student gets to eat lunch. But notice what’s happening: by making ourselves “voluntarily poor,” we become “involuntarily rich.”

              And third, disciplining your body unleashes your deeper desires. Boys and girls, if you want to live life with passion, and drink from the well-spring of your deepest desires, then learn to discipline your own body, Brother Ass. Why does David Menjivar excel in football, why is Zander Lelemsis a man among boys in cross country, why are Zoe Hobson and Anna Anders and Julian Martinez always tops academically, why is Nicole Jeter fearless with her violin, why does Mary Alex Cole dominate on the tennis court? It’s not because they’re lazy or take the easy way, or watch T.V. and play video games all day. No, it’s because they have disciplined their own Brother Ass, and live life with passion and purpose. They say “no” to small desires, so they can say “yes” to greater goals, their deeper desires which lead them to their destiny.

             Boys and girls, every time you walk into this chapel you walk into another classroom. Here, Jesus is your Teacher, and his lessons will teach you about happiness and holiness. One of his best students was St. Francis of Assisi, who called his own body, “Brother Ass.” And this chapel better be the only place we hear that word.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Fine Feathered Friends

Learning to walk in the company of the angels

10/02/2017

Matthew 18:1-5, 10 The disciples approached Jesus and said, "Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?" He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. "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."

             A wonderful way to understand something is by comparing and contrasting it to its opposite. Nowhere is this more true than in the universe of angels, the spiritual world. If you like to visualize angels as having wings with feathers, you might say we’ll contrast our “fine feathered friends” (the angels) against the “fine feathered fiends” (the demons). You’ll recall that the devils are really fallen angels; they were all originally created good.

             A classic book on the catastrophe that befell the angels is John Milton’s Paradise Lost. He explains that God created the angelic hosts before making man and woman, and in the beginning God fashioned angels as beings of immense light and intelligence and power. Then God revealed his further plan to create human beings and additionally that the angels should serve man. For this reason, the brightest and most brilliant of the angels, named Lucifer (meaning light-bearer), said, “Non servium” (I will not serve), and was hurled into hell.

              Satan says: “Farewel happy fields / Where Joy for ever dwells: Hail horrors, hail / Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell / Receive thy new Possessor: One who brings / A mind not to be changed by Place or Time.” Next follows one of the most famous lines in Milton: “The mind is its own place, and in it self / Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.” A few verses later he explains why hell is preferable: “Here we may reign secure…Better to reign in Hell then serve in Heav’n” (Paradise Lost, Bk. 1, nn. 249-263). In other words, the crux of this angelic calamity was a refusal to serve, a lack of love, and that’s what created those fine feathered fiends.

               The good angels, our fine feathered friends, by contrast, are ready to serve, eager to love. We read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Angels have been present since creation…serving the accomplishment of the divine plan: they closed the earthly paradise; protected Lot; saved Hagar and her child; stayed Abraham’s hand; communicated the law by their ministry; led the People of God; announce births and callings; assisted the prophets…Finally, the angel Gabriel announced the birth of the Precursor (John the Baptist) and that of Jesus himself” (Catechism, 332). Now, notice in this description how eager the good angels are to serve, not only the Creator but also his creatures, and even lowly human beings. That takes holy humility and loads of love, and that’s the difference between the good angels (our fine feathered friends) and those fallen angels (the fine feathered fiends).

                My friends, who are your friends? Do you believe in angels? Are you like Indian Jones, who scoffed and laughing said: “Oh, Marcus. What are you trying to do scare me? You sound like my mother…I don’t believe in magic, a lot of superstitious hocus pocus” (“Raiders of the Lost Ark”, movie quotation). But I am convinced that every time we choose the path of virtue or choose the road of vice, we walk in the company of angelic friends or angelic fiends. When we choose the cardinal virtues of justice, temperance, courage and prudence and the theological virtues of faith, hope and love, our Guardian Angels guide us. However, when we pick the path of perdition, and embrace the seven capital vices of envy, gluttony, greed, sloth, lust, anger and pride, we accept the company of the fallen angels. But note this well: when we sin through these vices, the fallen angels do not serve us, we serve them. We become slaves to the one who said arrogantly, “Non servium!” “I will not serve!” This is not superstition; this is salvation.

              Folks, be careful of the company you keep. Do you walk with fine feathered friends, or with fine feathered fiends? They would both enjoy your company very much.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Writer’s Wife

Seeing below the surface where God’s grace works

10/1/2017

Matthew 21:28-32 Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: "What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' He said in reply, 'I will not, ' but afterwards changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, 'but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will?" They answered, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him."

              I want to tell you a story about an anonymous writer and his wife. A famous writer was in his study, and began writing: “(1) Last year, my gallbladder was removed. I was in bed for a long time. (2) The same year I reached the age of 60 and had to leave my favorite job. I spent 30 years with this publishing company. (3) The same year my father died. (4) The same year my son failed his medical exam because he had a car accident. He was hospitalized with a cast on his leg for several days. The destruction to the car was a second loss.” His concluding statement was: “Alas, it was a bad year!”

               When the writer’s wife entered the room, she found her husband looking dejected and sad. She read what he had written, left the room, and came back with another piece of paper. The writer read his wife’s version of the year’s events: “(1) Last year I finally got rid of my gallbladder which had given me many years of pain. (2) I turned 60 with sound health and retired from my job. Now, I can utilize my time to write with more focus and peace. (3) The same year my father died at the age of 95, without depending on anyone, without any critical conditions and met his Creator. (4) The same year, God blessed my son with life. My car was destroyed, but my son was alive and without permanent disability.” Her concluding statement was: “This year was an immense blessing.”

             What is the moral of the story? Simple: women are smarter than men! True as that may be, the real moral is not to scratch the surface of life. Rather, to dig deeper and discover the hidden undercurrents where God’s grace works wonders. The writer’s wife taught the writer that the surface doesn’t tell the whole story.

             In the gospel today, Jesus invites the Pharisees to stop scratching the surface, to see more than meets their eyes. Our Lord says shockingly: “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.” That would be shocking for even us to hear! But Jesus explains why this is so when you dig below the surface level, saying: “When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did.” In other words, on the surface it seems religious leaders will be saved before public sinners. I sure would like to think so, since I’m one of those religious leaders! But that misses the deeper reality of God’s grace touching and transforming the human heart. The surface doesn’t tell the whole story.

              Let me give you three examples where the surface doesn’t tell the whole story. The first was an act of vandalism at the prep school of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Racial slurs were scribbled on an African American student’s door. Lt. General Jay Silveria addressed the entire Air Force academy and in no uncertain terms laid down the law. The 3-star general said: “Just in case you’re unclear on where I stand on this topic, I’m going to leave you my most important thought today: If you can’t treat someone with dignity and respect, then you need to get out. If you can’t treat someone from another gender, whether that’s a man or a woman, with dignity and respect, then you need to get out. If you demean someone in any way, then you need to get out. And if you can’t treat someone from another race, of different skin color, with dignity and respect, then you need to get out.” In other words, the general, like Jesus, was demanding that the cadets look below the surface level of a person – below their gender, their race, or their language – and see a child of God. The surface of a person doesn’t tell the whole story.

               The second example is how to interpret the signs of the times, especially the earthquakes, the floods, and hurricanes we’ve been hearing about lately. Several people have asked me lately: “Fr. John, are these the signs of the end times? Is the world about to end?” My reply was: “I sure hope so! The sooner Jesus comes back the better! Let’s blow this taco stand!” But I always remind people what Jesus said in Mark 13:32-33, “But of that day or hour, not one knows; neither the angels in heaven, not the Son, but only the Father. Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” That is, don’t scratch the surface of these events, and thereby jump to conclusions, but be perpetually prepared. Even when all is prosperous and peaceful – Jesus may return. The surface of history doesn’t tell the whole story of salvation.

              The third example is a poem called “The Weaver” written by Corrie Ten Boom. Corrie survived World War II, was sent to a German concentration camp for hiding Jews in her attic, and after the war went to Germany and forgave her captors. She had to work hard to see below the surface of Jews and Germans. And what she see she wrote into a poem: “My life is but a weaving / Between my God and me. / I cannot choose the colors / He weaveth steadily. / Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow; / And I in foolish pride / Forget he sees the upper / and I the underside. / Not ‘til the loom is silent / And the shuttles cease to fly, / Will God unroll the canvas / And reveal the reason why. / The dark threads are as needful / In the weaver’s skillful hand / As the threads of gold and silver / In the pattern He has planned. / He knows, He loves, He cares; / Nothing this truth can dim. / He gives the very best to those / Who leave the choice to Him.”

             Folks, we usually only see the “underside” of God’s great weaving of our life. But it’s the upperside – hidden from our view – where we find beauty and blessing and beatitude. One day we will see that upperside, and then we will conclude like the writer’s wife, “This year was an immense blessing.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Magnificent Seven

Learning how art imitates life

09/29/2017

Revelation 12:7-12AB War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have salvation and power come, and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night.

             The great Russian novelist, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, once said that, “art imitates life.” That means what we watch in the movies, what we admire in paintings, what we read in poems, what we listen to in music, all artistically express some lived human experience. That’s how I justify going to the movies all the time.

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              Did you see the movie “The Magnificent Seven”? It’s about seven gunslingers who come to the aid of a town assaulted by outlaws. The 2016 remake starred Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Chris Pratt among the magnificent seven. What intrigued me about the film was the number seven and how each member of the seven had a unique skill set. One is a notorious gambler, another is a sharpshooter, another is an expert with wielding knives, another is a superb tracker, and still another is a Comanche warrior. I won’t spoil the movie by telling you the ending.

               But how does “art imitate life” in the case of this movie? Well, today is the feast of the archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. But according to Jewish tradition, which is accepted by Catholic theology, there are actually seven archangels total: Suruel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Gabriel, Remiel and Uriel. Notice that each name ends with the two letters, “el” which is the Hebrew word for “God,” like “El Shaddai” and “Elohim.” In other words, these archangels have been created by God and enlisted by God for the protection of human beings assaulted and attacked by Satan and his sidekicks, the fallen angels. I hope you can catch how “art imitates life,” and how the movie “The Magnificent Seven” gives us a glimpse into how the heavenly hosts come to aid helpless humanity. I know it seems rather coincidental, but I believe it is absolutely inescapable that behind every movie is a message, and that’s the same for all art.

              Let me say a word about the three main archangels we honor today: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Michael battled directly against Satan, as recounted in Revelation 12, and his name means “Who is like God?” The answer should be obvious – No one is like God – but it wasn’t obvious to Satan, who tried to seat himself on God’s throne, but thanks to Michael he was thrown down into hell. Secondly, the name “Gabriel” means “the strength of God.” Gabriel announced the coming of Jesus and John the Baptist, and also he was the angel who strengthened Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Third, Raphael’s name means “the healing of God.” Raphael was the angel who guided Tobias and healed his father in the Book of Tobit in the Old Testament. Each with his special skill set comes to the aid of human beings in their hour of need, when we are besieged by our ancient Enemy.

              My friends, we all stand in need of God’s Magnificent Seven, his mighty archangels, to succor us, but we are especially in need of God’s strength, God’s healing and God’s humility today. Let me explain. We need God’s strength (Gabriel) to live the Christian vocation today, to bear witness to Jesus in an increasingly pagan and un-Christian world. I am convinced it is only going to get harder to be a Catholic Christian, and we will need Gabriel’s strength, like Jesus in Gethsemane. We need God’s healing (Raphael) when we’re wounded by sin and seek the comfort of confession. How easy it is to avoid confession, but Raphael will guide us to true healing like he did Tobias. Third, we need God’s humility (Michael) to avoid the great sin of pride and an inflated ego, the desire to be like God and sit on his throne. And by the way, big egos are not only a problem for men, but also for women.

               In other words, we cannot make it through this life alone, like the poor people in the mining town of Rose Creek couldn’t go it alone. Just like they needed the magnificent seven gunslingers to protect them, so we need the magnificent seven archangels to protect us, because we are out-manned and out-muscled. That’s what Dostoevsky meant when he said, “art imitates life.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Sacred Secrets

Learning to love the mystery of Christ

09/28/2017

Luke 9:7-9 Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying, "John has been raised from the dead"; others were saying, "Elijah has appeared"; still others, "One of the ancient prophets has arisen." But Herod said, "John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?" And he kept trying to see him.

            Everyone loves a good secret. We like to know secrets and we love to be the first one to share them. Oh my goodness, let me tell you what Fr. Pius did before he left on his vacation yesterday! You’re not going to believe this! Did that get your attention? Everyone enjoys a good, juicy secret.

Secrets form a critical part of capital campaigns that hope to raise millions of dollars. All capital campaigns have two phases: the quiet phase and the public phase. During the quiet phase, you approach major donors who can make a substantial gift. The campaign is “secret” at this stage and major donors feel special because they know something no one else does, and hopefully they’ll give you a lot of money! Knowing the secret makes them feel special.

             Have you heard of “secret societies”? One of the most prominent secret societies on university campuses is at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, called “Skull and Bones.” Among its members are the well-known William F. Buckley and Senator John Kerry. Who wouldn’t want to be part of a secret society? It’s knowing the secret that makes you feel special.

             In the gospel today, we see there’s an aura of secrecy that surrounds Jesus. King Herod hears whisperings about Jesus, and apparently other people know something Herod does not know, and he can’t stand secrets being kept from him. When people say Jesus might be “John the Baptist raised from the dead,” Herod responds: “John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see him. In other words, Herod wanted to be part of the secret society around Jesus, to feel special because he knew the secret about Jesus. But, of course, not even Jesus’ closest companions really knew who he was. They followed on faith, unable to penetrate the depths of the secret of Jesus’ true identity and his destiny. The only Ones fully members of the secret society of Jesus are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Only God knows God.

             My friends, I hope you, too, have felt like Herod and wanted to share in Jesus’ secret society, as much as that’s humanly possible. I love that line in the gospel: “He kept trying to see him.” To draw close to Christ; to know Jesus and to be known by him. But no matter how close we get, there will always remain a secret that shrouds him from us; Jesus always remains just beyond our reach.

As Catholics we, too, believe in secrets, but we prefer to use the term “mystery.” Listen to the two key moments when we say “mystery” in the Mass. At the beginning, the priest says, “As we prepare to celebrate these sacred mysteries, let us call to mind our sins.” We are about to enter into the ocean of mystery. After the consecration of changing bread and wine into Jesus’ Body and Blood, the priest simply says: “The mystery of faith.” The consecration is a both a miracle and a mystery. In other words, the more we know about the Mass, the more we see it remains forever an unfathomable mystery of faith.

               The same is true for prayer. St. Teresa of Avila, the great Carmelite mystic who climbed to the heights of contemplation, said: “The soul understands that without the noise of words this divine Master [Jesus] is teaching it by suspending its faculties, for if they were to work they would do harm rather than being benefit.” Then she adds: “The soul is being kindled in love, and it doesn’t understand how it loves” (Way of Perfection, ch. 25, no. 2). That is, those who have plumbed deepest into the secret society of Jesus by contemplative prayer cease trying to understand the mystery of Christ, and instead they rest content simply in loving him. And they don’t even understand that love!

              Everyone loves to know a good secret, because we feel special when we know something others don’t. That’s why people belong to secret societies like the Skull and Bones. When you belong to the secret society called the Catholic Church, you learn that the greatest and most sacred secret was always love.

Praised be Jesus Christ!