Hitting the Sauce

Seeing our special sauce but not depending on it too much

05/24/2018

Mark 9:41-50 Jesus said to his disciples: "Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward. "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. "Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid, with what will you restore its flavor? Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another."

Everyone in the world is born with a special sauce they can add to give flavor to the banquet of humanity. I first learned about this special sauce business from my brother, Paul. Several years ago a headhunter (that’s a professional recruiter) wanted to talk to Paul about taking a job at another company. In the course of their conversation, the headhunter abruptly asked: “So, what’s your special sauce?” He went on to explain that Paul’s special sauce is what my bother adds to a company to make it more successful, and usually it’s something no one else can add (hence it is special). Ever since my brother told me that I’ve often wondered what my own special sauce is. I’ve concluded it’s my ability to schmooze meals at people’s homes so I don’t have to cook. I’m still waiting for my first call from a headhunter.

But I’ve also discovered that our special sauce can also be a weakness, not only a strength. That is, we can depend on it so much, it becomes a crutch and other parts of our personality fail to flourish. As an extreme example take Adolph Hitler. He was undoubtedly an electrifying speaker and a charismatic leader, whatever you may think of his politics and principles. But that special sauce of speaking and leading blinded him to other aspects of life and human nature. Did you know Hitler was born to a devout Catholic mother who baptized him as a Catholic, and in 1904 he was confirmed at the Cathedral in Linz, Austria, where the family lived? Hitler, however, sort of got drunk on his special sauce and rejected his faith and his family. When we depend too much on our special sauce, there can be devastating consequences.

In the gospel of Mark chapter 9, Jesus is also working like a headhunter recruiting his apostles, and helping them to discover their own special sauce. But Jesus also teaches them not to rely too heavily on it, not to hit the sauce too much and get drunk on it. In a somewhat cryptic passage, Jesus warns: “Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid, with what will you restore its flavor? Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another.” Jesus, too, knows each person is born with a special sauce – he refers to it as “salt” – to enrich the banquet of humanity. But he’s smart enough to see how sometimes we can rely too heavily on it and cause it to “become insipid,” lose its flavor. We become drunk on it and it becomes our downfall, like with Hitler. Be aware of your special sauce, but don’t let it blind you to the bigger picture of loving your neighbor and loving God.

May I suggest three ways you can discover your special sauce and deal with it in a non-destructive way? First, pray asking God to know what your gifts and talents are. Since God gave them to you, he will know what they are better than anyone else. It’s urgent you discover them because the banquet of humanity will be missing an essential ingredient until you do. Second, be careful not to lean too heavily on your special sauce once you discover it. Don’t get drunk on it like Hitler did. Take me as an example: now some people run the other way when they see me coming because they know I’m just looking for a free meal! Third, get to know people who are different from you – or maybe even people with whom you deeply disagree – and try to see their special sauce, too. It might be hard at first, and it requires a little humility, but because God created each person with some special sauce (some salt and flavor), no one walks around empty-handed. Each individual is an ingredient in the banquet of humanity.

By the way, all the talk about special sauces and banquets is making me really hungry! Anyone free for dinner tonight?

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Heavy Lifting

Acknowledging our dependence on our parents and on God

05/23/2018

James 4:13-17 Beloved: Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town, spend a year there doing business, and make a profit"– you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears. Instead you should say, "If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that." But now you are boasting in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is a sin.

There’s an old saying that goes: “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Do you know what that means? You can easily see in your mind’s eye how when an apple falls from a tree limb, it lands close to the tree that produced it. In the same way, children end up being strikingly similar to their parents. Some of you have your father’s eyes or your mother’s smile, or even your grandfather’s laugh. Thanks to my parents, my skin is brown and I can speak with an Indian accent while shaking my head. So much of who you are and who you will become originated with your mom and dad, just like apples depend on the trees they fall from.

But your parents are not responsible for everything you are, God the Father also has a hand in your life and personality. Your ability to be holy, your desire to pray, your capacity to believe in angels and heaven, your whole spiritual self comes from God. Just like the sunshine and rain from above are also needed for a tree to produce an apple, so God’s grace helps you to be who you are, not just a “good person,” but also a “holy person,” not just a good American but a good Christian.

Now, here’s the sad part of our story. We usually don’t realize how much we depend on our parents and on God. Sometimes we think we fell straight out of the sky being this smart and good-looking. Let me tell you when my dependence on God finally clicked for me. Scott Hahn tells the story of going jogging one morning. He ran by a house where a man was mowing his lawn, but his 3-year old son was playing with his toy lawn mower and disturbing the dad, crossing in front of him. Hahn was curious how the man would resolve the dilemma, so he circled around the block. When he came back around, he noticed now the father had picked up his son in one arm, and was pushing the mower with his other arm. The small boy, meanwhile, had both his hands on the real mower, and a huge, beaming smile on his face. Why? Well, the boy thought he was really mowing the lawn himself. Of course his father was doing all the real work, the heavy lifting, but the boy didn’t realize it. We are often like that small boy, too, thinking our accomplishments are our own, instead of giving thanks to our parents and to our God, the tree from which we apples fall. Perhaps humanity’s greatest failing is forgetting who does the heavy lifting.

The letter of James sharply reminds us whom we should thank for our blessings. St. James, one of the two Sons of Thunder, writes: “You should know better than to say: ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to the city. We will do business there and make a lot of money!...You should say, ‘If the Lord lets us live, we will do those things.’” In other words, don’t forget you are an apple that has fallen from a tree, that your talents were given to you by your parents.  Only because your parents have given you so much will you be able to make a lot of money one day. But furthermore, everything you have, and all you are, is a gift of God, especially the gift of faith and holiness. In a word, do not forget who does the heavy lifting in your life; indeed, it is always God who lifts you up high, like the father who lifted up his son so he could mow the grass.

Tonight, thirty-four students are graduating from Immaculate Conception School, and you have already accomplished some pretty amazing feats even in your fairly brief life. For instance, Asher Ellis won the Georgraphy Bee for the past two years, and placed 6th in state. Carson Lane was the School Spelling Bee Winner, and he beat me on a Quiz Bowl question.  (I’m not sore about that at all.) Our Quiz Bowl team placed second at the Trinity Invitational and Michael Freitheim was selected for the All-Star game. The coveted Covenant Awards went to Mary Albertson, Ella Pennington, Jose Manjarrez and Maxwell Martin. The girls basketball team has gone undefeated all four years at I.C. and the boys basketball team won the league championship this year. In the City Wide Track meet, the sixth grade boys placed 3rd and the girls placed 6th. But do you graduates realize how much these achievements have to do with your parents?  Those talents came from that tree.

But here are some abilities that come more directly from God. We had three new students join our class – Dorian Cordero, Eddy Rezindez and Ali Rodriguez – and the whole class made them feel comfortable and welcome and it seems they’ve been here since kindergarten. The sixth graders were responsible for organizing Christmas baskets for needy families. They love serving the poor. Our graduates serve at Mass and see it as a privilege and not a punishment. Holiness and helping others are hallmarks that you came from God, because you are like him. When you do these things you are God-like, because the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Boys and girls, in a few minutes you will come forward to receive these diplomas in your hands. As you grab hold of these diplomas, remember the little boy who grabbed hold of the lawn mower thinking he was mowing all by himself. You earned this diploma today, and you will achieve anything good in your life to come, only because Someone (God) is lifting you up and holding your in his arms. Someone else is always doing the heavy lifting. Be sure to give him the glory.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Humility’s Greatness

Seeing humility as the heartbeat of heaven

05/22/2018

Mark 9:30-37 Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples and telling them, "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men  and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise." But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him. They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" But they remained silent. For they had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all." Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me."

Sometimes I hesitate to tell people that I love country music; I say it sort of sheepishly, half-embarrassed. I am afraid people might look down on me or think I’m slow or simple or from the backwoods or a hillbilly. But I love it because the lyrics often touch themes of the everyday experiences of everyday people – people like you and me – and not just the rock-stars and the super-famous or the super-rich. But country music does more than that, I believe it even echoes some of the holiness of heaven, especially the virtue of humility. I really think humility is the heartbeat of heaven, and you can hear that beat in country music songs. Country music singers may not always be humble themselves, but they do sing songs that extol humility, and they probably secretly wish they were a little more humble, too.

One song that hit a homerun on humility was Tim McGraw’s recent hit, “Humble and Kind.” The refrain goes: “Hold the door say please say thank you / Don’t steal, don’t cheat, and don’t lie / I know you got mountains to climb but / Always stay humble and kind. / When the dreams you’re dreamin come to you / When the work you put in is realized / Let your self feel the pride but / Always stay humble and kind.” Anyone who hears that song immediately gets it: no matter how great you are, the humble person is somehow even greater, in an unrecognized sort of way. The humble person’s greatness will be recognized not on earth, but only in heaven, kind of like the humble people who listen to country music.

In the gospel of Mark 9, the apostles are arguing over who’s the greatest. They obviously listened to a lot of rock and roll, where people brag about how great they are. But Jesus must have listened to country music because he tells them: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” It’s as if Jesus were repeating Tim McGraw’s lyrics: “I know you got mountains to climb but always stay humble and kind.” Jesus didn’t want his apostles to be preoccupied with merely earthly success but much more so with heavenly greatness, and only the humble are great in heaven.  Jesus wanted the apostles’ hearts to beat with humility, which is the heartbeat of heaven.

Today we award diplomas to sixty-six ninth graders who’ve successfully completed Trinity Junior High School. On Sunday evening we enjoyed Awards Night where we congratulated our graduates on their achievements and accolades. This is undoubtedly a talented bunch of students! But this evening we want to stress the character and the heart of these students; what kind of persons they are becoming which rarely gets a medal or a certificate or a trophy. What I am most proud of about them is how humble they are growing; their hearts beat with humility. Humility doesn’t usually grab the headlines, therefore, I would like to say a word about how humble these graduates are.

Here are some examples their teachers shared with me. Kathryn Kaelin wrote a computer program to calculate the day of the week for a given day number. When the user of the program types in an error, Kathryn has enabled the program to carry on a 3-minute conversation with the user with phrases like “Come on! Work with me here!” That’ll help you feel more humble. Diego Zarate and Jaime Barroso wanted to learn how to fix computers and ended up fixing several Chromebooks for their classmates, who probably never knew it. That’s humble. Madelyn Eveld went on a field trip with the Earth Club to the Fort Smith Sanitary Landfill, and took pictures of the Trinity students in a giant dumpster. Madelyn is an excellent photographer and can see beauty everywhere! That takes a special kind of humility.

Lydia Reith has been carrying around a novel called “The Book Thief” all year. Every week Mrs. Hurst asks her what she thinks about it and if she’s finished yet. By the way, Lydia, you have to return the book or you don’t get a diploma. Lauren Redding is not afraid to ask for anything, like “Can we have an extra Tag Day?” or “Can we wear jeans during Spirit Week?” Or, she’ll go straight to Dr. Hollenbeck to ask. Clearly, Lauren needs to listen to more country music. Tommy Caldarera has never left Mrs. Hurst’s class for three years without saying, “Have a nice day, Mrs. Hurst.” Addy Plunkett is constantly performing her cheer moves, never disruptive, but you can see her mentally walking through the moves. She’s probably doing that right now!

The cheer and dance team helped with the Survivor’s Challenge Celebration Walk. They arrived early around 7 a.m. and excitedly supported the runners cheering them on the entire way. As they finished, the Trinity girls formed a tunnel and helped created a festive finish for the Survivors as they crossed the finish line. At cheer camp the 9th grade girls always remembered to come together and lead the team in prayer before meals and before each performance, asking Jesus to be with them and help them to do their best. The dance team helped to choreograph and perform a special dance in honor of the late Tara McCutchen, who had coached the dance team in previous years. It’s been inspiring to see how the graduates have surrounded Ben and Emily Forsgren and Josue Sanchez with love and support when they lost their mothers this past year. And I’m holding a cross made by Addison Sterling. The ninth graders gave hand-made crosses and beautifully designed cards by Madelyn Eveld, An Pham, and Mary Alex Cole to all the Trinity teachers at the last all-school Mass. All the ninth graders were living examples of being “givers” rather than “takers”, and that was a very humble thing to do.  Humility is beating in the heart of every Trinity graduate tonight.

Here at Trinity we are fond of saying that Trinity prepares you not only for Harvard but also for Heaven. The Awards Night Sunday showed that these graduates are well-prepared for Harvard. And receiving these diplomas tonight at the end of three years at Trinity says you’re well-prepared for heaven, because hopefully you have learned a little humility. We know you got mountains to climb, but always stay humble and kind.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

A Man, a Woman and a Tree

Following the Spirit’s lead in the pivotal points in life

05/21/2018

John 19:25-34 Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I thirst." There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, "It is finished." And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

The two most pivotal points in all human history occurred with a man, a woman, and a tree. The first was at the beginning of time with Adam and Eve and the Tree of Knowledge and power; the second was in the fullness of time with Jesus, Mary and the Tree of the Cross. I say these two events were “pivotal points” because everything that followed after them was fundamentally changed: after the first event in Eden, the world moved toward sin and death, and after the second scenario on Golgotha, the world moved toward forgiveness and life.

In each occasion humanity had come to a fork in the road of history, and like the poet Robert Frost reflected: “I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence: / Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference.” Frost’s lines are reminiscent of the opening of the medieval poet Dante’s Divine Comedy. The Florentine poet wrote: “In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself, in a dark wood, where the direct way was lost.” The pivotal points of the path of human history are always played out with a man, a woman and the wood of a tree.

The scripture readings from Genesis 3 and John 19 recount precisely these two pivotal points of history. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve reach out their hand to the Tree of Power, symbolized by the fruit promising to bestow knowledge and to make one god-like. In John 19, Jesus and Mary reach out their hand to the Tree of Penance, the fruit of which is obedience and humility, and which really makes one God-like. But noticed the presence of two spirits as well in the background of the story: the evil spirit of the serpent tempting Adam and Eve, and the Holy Spirit filling the hearts of Jesus and Mary, leading them to the Cross. After Jesus dies on the cross, what transpired? We read: “And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.” After Adam and Eve, humanity was like Dante, who regretted: “I came to myself in a dark wood, where the direct way was lost.” But after Jesus and Mary, humanity could repeat relieved with Robert Frost: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - / I took the one less traveled by, / And that was made all the difference.” Jesus and Mary chose the road less traveled by and saved the human race. In both instances, a man, a woman and a wood make all the difference in charting the course of history.

On March 6, 2018, Pope Francis inserted a new feast day into the Church’s liturgical calendar. He decreed that the Monday after Pentecost Sunday (hence, today) should be called the Memorial in honor of Mary, the Mother of the Church. Why did he do that? Well, because he’s just sitting around sipping cappuccino and didn’t have anything else to do.  No, it’s because the pope knows that sooner or later you and I will also come to pivotal points in our life, a fork in the road that will forever mark our destiny. And we basically have two role-models we can follow: the couple in Genesis or the couple in John, both of whom reached out their hands to a Tree: the first couple to the Tree of Power, while the second couple to the Tree of Penance. The pope placed this celebration strategically after Pentecost, the Feast of the Holy Spirit, so that Mother Mary, who flawlessly followed the Spirit’s lead, can show us how to do the same at pivotal points in our lives.

Indeed, today itself is a pivotal point in the liturgical year: we pivot from the fifty days of Easter (and wearing white) and turn toward the long march of Ordinary Time. (where we wear green). But this time will be anything but “ordinary”: it will be marked by pivotal points showcasing a man, a woman and a tree. When we too find ourselves facing two roads that diverge in a wood, may the Holy Spirit help us choose the Tree of Penance rather than the Tree of Power. That will make all the difference.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Phonetic Phenomenon

Hearing what the Spirit says to us and to others

05/20/2018

Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11 When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, "Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his native language?

Have you heard about this phonetic phenomenon that is sweeping the nation? People listen to a pre-recorded word and they surprisingly hear two different words. Some hear the word “Yanni” while others hear “Laurel.” I heard about this while watching the NBA playoffs last week and the commentators were arguing over what they each heard: some heard “Yanni” and others “Laurel.” Charles Barkeley said he heard the word “Doughnut.” When I first heard the recording myself, it was clear the word was “Laurel.” I actually found myself getting annoyed with the people who insisted it had to be “Yanni.” They just needed to listen more carefully! I thought.

I decided to watch a Youtube explanation about this social experiment. The expositor explained that when someone speaks their voice carries a certain pitch, some pitches are high and other pitches are low. Women generally have a higher pitch and men lower pitch. But as we grow older our ears become attuned to lower pitches and it’s harder to hear the higher ones. Younger people heard the word “Yanni” while older folks (like me!) heard “Laurel.” The same video also shared a poll conducted on Twitter that revealed that 47% of the people hear “Yanni” and 53% heard “Laurel.” See, I was right! This social experiment fascinated me because people can hear the same facts (words in this case) in different ways depending on the kinds of persons they are, and how angry and argumentative we can grow over them, quite unnecessarily.

But a very similar phonetic phenomenon has happened before, two thousand years ago, on the Sunday of Pentecost. Fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, and ten days after his ascension into heaven, the Holy Spirit descends like tongues of fire to touch the tongues of the apostles to speak as the Spirit prompts them. We read in Acts 2: “Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” And what did they say? Some said, “Yanni” and others said, “Laurel.” Not really. Acts 2 continues, “the Jews in that area each heard them speaking his own language.” In other words, even though we don’t know exactly what the apostles said, it is obvious it was like today’s phonetic phenomenon: the same sound was heard by different people as different words. When the Spirit speaks through the apostles his pitch is accommodated to the dialect or language of each person. This is how the faith is transmitted down the ages: it depends more on the speech of the Spirit than the words of men.

May I suggest three simple but also spiritual applications of seeing Pentecost as a phonetic phenomenon: how the Spirit speaks his Truth through the words of men and women? First of all, it may help build bridges over the chasms that divide our nation. Each evening on the news, we Americans in heated arguments over gun violence and gun control, the topic of immigration and border security, even abortion and women’s rights. Some people are so entrenched in their opinions they cannot tolerate hearing the other side’s argument. They shout: “It’s clearly Laurel!” while the other side retorts: “It’s obviously Yanni!” I personally don’t think anyone is crazy for holding a particular opinion, but may have a sliver of the truth of the Spirit. Etienne Gilson, the brilliant French philosopher concluded that Christianity and Greek philosophy owed a debt of thanks to each other, even though they were sometimes seen as enemies. He noted insightfully: “If it is due to Scripture that there is a philosophy that is Christian, it is due to the Greek tradition that Christianity possesses a philosophy” (The Spirit of Mediaeval Philosophy, 207). We have something to learn from everyone, even from those with whom we disagree, because the Spirit speaks through the words of men and women.

Secondly, be a little more patient and tolerant with how different cultures experience their faith and express it. It used to be prevalent to have “ethic parishes” – the Italian parish and the German parish and the Polish parish. Some believe Masses should be more bilingual while others believe all Masses should be in Latin again. I think they should all be in Hindi. We accepted the maxim that “good fences make good neighbors.” You stay on your spiritual side, and I’ll stay on mine. But remember the phonetic phenomenon of Pentecost. To some the Spirit says “Buenos dias!” to others “Bon jour!” to others he says “Laurel,” and to some “Yanni.” We each hear the Spirit through our own ears and our own hearts and through our own culture.

And thirdly, realize how you have evolved in your own faith journey with Jesus and how hopefully learned to hear the Holy Spirit better over the years, your ears have grown. Do you still feel you have the same faith you did ten years ago, or twenty years ago? I sure hope not! St. Paul reflected on his own experience in this regard 1 Corinthians 13:11, saying: “When I was a child, I used to talk like a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things.” A child hears “Yanni” (the higher pitch) and a man hears “Laurel” (the lower pitch). As make progress in the spiritual life, as we mature as Christians, we hear more of what the Spirit says. We can only hear what we are spiritual mature enough to hear.

My friends, at this Mass, or even in this homily, everyone will hear the same number of words and the same syllables. But hearing the pitch of these words, and the truth they contain, will depend on you: your age, your faith, your virtue, and your humility. Just like at that first Pentecost, so too today, the Spirit speaks through the words of men and women, but “each one hears in his own language.” We all hear what we are able to hear, and that’s why some will only hear “Doughnut.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Family and Friends

Loving our family as the friends God chooses for us

05/18/2018

John 21:15-19 After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them, he said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." He then said to Simon Peter a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me."

My favorite definition of a family is the following: a family is made up of the friends that God has chosen for us. We all like to choose our own friends; that’s what makes them so special. But what if our family were the friends that God chose for us?  That would make our family very special, too. We should love our family members – brothers and sisters, mother and father, uncle and aunts – as if they were our best friends, because God gave them to us as our friends.

But do you know who is in your family? Now, families are formed not only by being born into one, but also by marrying into one. Do you know your mother’s maiden name? That’s the family she was born into, but then she married into your dad’s family. For example, our principal is named Mrs. Blentlinger. But does anyone know her maiden name? It’s Sieter. So she belongs to both families, the Blentlingers and the Seiters.

Now, I’ve done a little research and discovered our students are related to one another as family more than they might realize. Let me demonstrate this by showing who’s related to whom. When I call your last name, would you please come up and stand in the sanctuary? The Harper’s, the Hadley’s, the Coleman’s, and the Burgerler’s. All these people are related to each other by birth or by the bonds of marriage. These are the friends God has chosen for you. Now, let me call up the members of the families with the last names of Manjarrez, Araujo, Benavides, Galvan, Jara, or Ramirez. These people are all related to each other by birth or by the bonds of marriage. These people are the friends that God has chosen for you. Finally, the big one, let me invite those who have the last name of Mondier, Ciulla, McMahon,  Caldarera, Jackson, Reith, Wewers, Adams, Dart, Jackson, and Meyers. All these people are related to each other by either birth or by the bonds of marriage! These are the friends God has chosen for you.

What does all this mean? It means you should never marry anyone from Fort Smith! Actually, it means that we are all related to each other far more than we realize. We are family and that means we should love one another like best friends love each other, because these are the people God has chosen to be our friends through life.

Today, we want to recognize our students with “Covenant Awards.” But do you know what the word “covenant” means? It is means creating a family bond by swearing an oath. Just like a man and woman swear to love each other in marriage and create a new family, so God makes a covenant with us and makes us part of his family, and he becomes a part of our family. This is just like how Mrs. B is both a Blentlinger and a Seiter; she belongs to both families, so we all belong to our human family but also to God’s divine family. When we give these “Covenant Awards” to certain students it’s because they see how we all belong to God’s family as brothers and sisters, and love others as if they were the special friends God has chosen for them.

We all belong to God’s family by covenant and so we should love each other like best friends. A family is made up of the friends God has chosen for us.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Welcoming Distractions

Seeing red herrings of distraction as part of God’s providence

05/17/2018

Acts of the Apostles 22:30; 23:6-11 Wishing to determine the truth about why Paul was being accused by the Jews, the commander freed him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to convene. Then he brought Paul down and made him stand before them. Paul was aware that some were Sadducees and some Pharisees, so he called out before the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees; I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead." When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the group became divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection or angels or spirits, while the Pharisees acknowledge all three. A great uproar occurred, and some scribes belonging to the Pharisee party stood up and sharply argued, "We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?" The dispute was so serious that the commander, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, ordered his troops to go down and rescue Paul from their midst and take him into the compound.

Much of our modern life is spent battling distractions. We find it hard to focus on one task because we’re pulled in a hundred different directions. For example, rarely have we gotten through an entire Mass without someone’s cell phone ringing and distracting us from Jesus. The reason why I get up at 4:30 in the morning to write homilies is because you are all asleep and won’t text or call me. We wish we could be like Henry David Thoreau, the American transcendental philosopher, who spent a year at Walden Pond, in order to live deliberately and less distractedly. We’d all like to transcend our distractions.

But when I was studying canon law, I learned that not all distractions have to be annoying or avoided; some can be used artfully and achieve great good. Have you ever heard of a legal distraction called the “red herring”? It’s not literally a fish but rather a legal technique used to distract the judge or jury from the main point of the argument. Some parents use red herrings all the time with their feuding families. One mother was tired of hearing her small children fighting and yelling the backseat of the car so she pointed out the side window and shouted: “Look, deer!” All the children immediately stopped to look. Even though there were no deer, the children were distracted enough to stop fighting, and even forgot the original argument. The family drove off in peace. Some distractions can be useful and help us get our focus back on track.

St. Paul uses a legal distraction – a red herring – in the Acts of the Apostles. He is on trial being judged by the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Knowing the two religious sects vehemently disagreed on the question of the resurrection of the dead, Paul shrewdly says: “My brother, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees; I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead.” When he said that, a huge argument erupted between the two groups and Paul was rescued from their midst. Paul was basically shouting like that mother chauffeuring the care of crazy kids, “Look, deer!” but in this case, “Look, the resurrection of the dead!” Paul successfully distracted the Jewish leaders from Paul’s own case. Paul used a legal distraction – a red herring – deliberately to achieve a great good, namely, his escape. Not all distractions are bad.

My friends, may I suggest to you how you can start to see distractions as helpful instead of harmful?  When people tell me they are distracted at prayer – while reciting the rosary, for example – I tell them to make the distraction the content of their contemplation. Tell God what you are distracted by and invite the distraction to be part of your prayer. Some parents see their children’s need for attention as an annoying distraction, but wise parents see such moments as golden opportunities to teach life lessons and spend precious time together. We may think an illness or a car accident or a financial set-back or marriage disputes are so many distractions from the tranquil life we are trying to live. But maybe they are not accidental at all, but as C.S. Lewis said, “the megaphones God uses to rouse a dead world.” God finally gets our full attention through so-called distractions. Man uses distractions to lead us away from the main point, but God uses them to bring us back to the main point, namely, his enduring love for us.

If we could reach the heights of holiness of the saints, we would realize that every moment is under the microscope of God’s perfect providence. There never were anything called “distractions” at all from his point of view, but all time and space is lovingly and wisely, slowly and gently, being orchestrated towards its final fulfillment in Christ. That’s why at the Easter Vigil Mass, the priest blessed the burning Easter Candle dispelling the darkness (and all distractions), saying: “Christ yesterday and today, the beginning and the end, Alpha and Omega, all time belongs to him, and all ages; to him be glory and power, through every age and forever. Amen.” In God there is no darkness or distractions (or red herrings), but only light and truth.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Givers and Takers

Learning the difference between happiness and joy

05/16/2018

Acts of the Apostles 20:28-38 At Miletus, Paul spoke to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus: “Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the Church of God that he acquired with his own Blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them. So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night and day, I unceasingly admonished each of you with tears. And now I commend you to God and to that gracious word of his that can build you up and give you the inheritance among all who are consecrated. I have never wanted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You know well that these very hands have served my needs and my companions. In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Today I would like to teach you the difference between two words that seem the same but are as different as night and day; indeed, they are a wide apart as heaven and earth. The two words are “happiness” and “joy.” Now, most people would say happiness and joy are basically the same, but I believe they are decidedly different. Happiness is what you feel when you receive something; joy is what you feel when you give something.  Happiness is short-lived and shallow, and what most people on earth pine for; but joy lasts longer is deeper, and what the saints and angels in heaven enjoy. Happiness makes you more human, joy makes you more divine.

I learned the difference between happiness and joy in eighth grade. That Christmas I received a bike from Santa Claus, and I was very happy, especially because my bike was faster than everyone else’s in our neighborhood. That same Christmas, I made straight A’s on my report card (for the first time and the last time!). Now, I didn’t study hard and make good grades for me – I could care less about grades back then – but I did that for my parents, to make them happy. That was my Christmas present to them. I’ll never forget the feeling of giving versus receiving: happiness is shallow and short-lived, joy is deeper and divine. Heck, I can still feel today the joy of giving my parents that report card so many years ago, and I’m a little embarrassed how giddy I got over that bike.

This difference really defines all people into two camps: givers and takers. There really are only two kinds of people in this world: givers (who feel enduring joy) and takers (who seek fleeting happiness). This distinguishes saints and sinners: saints seek joy, giving to others, whereas sinners seek happiness, taking from others. This distinguishes children and adults: children seek happiness (they want to receive Christmas presents) but adults seek joy (they want to give Christmas presents). This also differentiates immature Catholics from mature ones. Immature Catholics go to Mass seeking happiness and complain: “I didn’t get anything out of the Mass.” Mature Catholics go to Mass seeking joy and say: “I’m glad I got to give an hour of my time to Jesus.” Have you started noticing these two kinds of people in the world – givers and takers? Have you started noticing which of these two kinds of persons you are becoming?

The whole book of the Acts of the Apostles is the story of Paul who discovered this same difference between happiness and joy, and how he underwent the transformation from being a taker into a giver. As a Pharisees, he was a taker – he took the lives of men, women and children who professed Christianity. He believed that killing them would make him happy. But after his conversion to Christ, he became a giver and was ready to give his life for others and Jesus. He only wanted joy. He explains his attitude to the Ephesians in Acts 20, saying: “In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort (he was a tent-maker) we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’.” In other words, Christians should always seek joy not happiness, to be givers not takers.

As we come to the conclusion of another year at Trinity, the ninth graders demonstrate what they seek and what kind of persons they are becoming. They have prepared a gift for their teachers. That may seem like a small thing, but it hides a huge lesson. When they give this gift, I hope they feel what I discovered back in eighth grade: the profound difference between happiness and joy. One is shallow and short-lived, but the other is deeper and even divine. The same transformation that St. Paul experienced in the Acts of the Apostles, our ninth graders have hopefully experienced over their three years here at Trinity Junior High. You arrived here as takers and hopefully you leave as givers; you came here as children but hopefully you depart from here more like adults; you came here only knowing happiness but we hope you graduate from here having discovered joy.

By the way, I believe I misspoke early when I said the difference between joy and happiness is like that between heaven and earth. It’s actually more like the difference between heaven and hell. Heaven is filled with givers who only want joy, but hell is full of takers who think they will be happy. I’m very proud of our ninth graders who have chosen to be givers and feel joy of Jesus. This is why we say Trinity not only prepares you for Harvard, but for Heaven.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Focus on Water

Living our baptismal relationship focusing on Jesus

05/13/2018

Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11 In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for "the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." When they had gathered together they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He answered them, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

A man went to the pastor of his church and said, “I won’t be attending church anymore.” The pastor, puzzled, asked, “May I ask why?” The man answered, “I see people on their cell phones, texting and typing during the service, some are gossiping, some I know are not living right, some are sleeping, some are staring at me. They are all hypocrites!” The pastor was silent, but after a pause spoke: “Can I ask you to do something for me before you make your final decision?” The man replied, “Sure, what is that?” The minister continued: “Next Sunday, shortly before the service starts, take a glass full of water and walk around the church two times while carrying that glass of water. Take care not to let any water spill out of the glass.” The man said confidently: “Yes, I can do that!”

The following Sunday, he obediently came to church with a glass filled with water and, as instructed, walked around the church two times. He came back to the pastor and beamed proudly: “It’s done, and not a drop of water fell out!” The pastor asked him these questions: “Did you see anybody on their cell phones? Did you see anyone gossiping? Was anyone living wrong? Did you see anyone sleeping or staring at you?” The man answered a little annoyed, “Well, no, I didn’t see anything because I was so focused on this glass and trying not to let any water spill out.” The pastor concluded: “When you come to church you should be just that focused on God so you don’t fall yourself. You should come to church to look at God, not to look at others. Just like you focused on the water, so you should focus on God.

Right up to the moment of his Ascension, Jesus was trying to teach this same lesson to his apostles, with very little success by the way. Even after listening and learning from Jesus for three years, they were still more worried about what others were doing instead of focusing on their own discipleship. They were looking at others instead of looking at God. That’s what was behind their question to Jesus - how he was going to deal with all the evil-doers - when they asked: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” In other words, when will you rout those ruthless Romans and restore the Davidic Kingdom, so we can be the rulers and set things right? Jesus sounded a lot like that wise pastor dealing with his disgruntled parishioner when he answered: “It is not for you to know the times and seasons the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” That is, don’t worry about whether the Romans are texting or gossiping or sleeping or living right. Instead, worry about what you are doing to live your faith and share your faith. Keep your focus on God, not on others.

This Sunday we have four children receiving their first Holy Communion. If I asked them today: do you see people on their cell phones? Are the texting or gossiping? Are they living right? Are they hypocrites? What do you think they would probably answer? They would likely say: “I am not worried about them! I am happy for me! Today I get to receive Jesus in Communion for the first time!” They are laser focused on God, not on others. What a great example for all of us.

At the core of Christianity is a profound personal relationship with God. That relationship is born in water, the holy water of baptism that, in a sense, we carry around in our souls. We should not let even a drop of that spiritual water spill out of our hearts. In order to achieve that, we must be laser focused on that water, the sign of our rebirth in Christ, like that man walking around the church before the service. True disciples are always focused on their relationship with Jesus, living their faith and sharing their faith. When we focus on God, rather than worrying about others, that’s when we have the best chance to change the rest of the world.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Care and Correct

Practicing tough love avoiding the sledgehammer and soft serve ice cream

05/12/2018

Acts of the Apostles 18:23-28 After staying in Antioch some time, Paul left and traveled in orderly sequence through the Galatian country and Phrygia, bringing strength to all the disciples. A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus. He was an authority on the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and, with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the Way of God more accurately. And when he wanted to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. After his arrival he gave great assistance to those who had come to believe through grace. He vigorously refuted the Jews in public, establishing from the Scriptures that the Christ is Jesus.

One of the hardest things to do in human relationships is correct someone you love, but eventually everyone must. We priests are not immune from this interaction of tough love, even if we wish we were. Sometimes we correct others but sometimes others correct us. This past weekend I received a healthy dose of correction. I must have been pretty tired by the last Mass of the day at 5 p.m. and I misspoke a couple of times. During the announcements at the end of Mass I inadvertently said our Mother’s Day Novena will begin in “September.” Someone in the congregation shouted out loud, “May!” I said, “ Oh, yeah, right.” Then at the reception after Senior Mass, several people laughing said, “Fr. John, in your homily you said, ‘At Trinity, we eat students to beat their swords of war into ploughshares of peace.” Apparently, I was very hungry and ready to eat even a few students! I was embarrassed by my errors but also grateful that they pointed out those mistakes. When you love someone you help them to learn, you don’t leave them to flounder in their failures. John Maxwell, the leadership guru, often repeats: “Care enough to correct.”

The Acts of the Apostles describes the healthy interactions of the members of the early Christian community, and even how they loving helped each other to learn from their mistakes. An eloquent speaker named Apollos is preaching and teaching, but his theology is still underdeveloped. It’s as if he’s had a couple of years of seminary studies but he’s not yet ready to be ordained a priest; he has more to learn. When he preaches only the baptism of John – which was the “baptism of repentance” rather than baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – how do some people correct him? We read: “He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.” Notice how their correction was discreet, “they took him aside,” not shouting out loud in the middle of Mass. Priscilla and Aquila cared enough to correct but did it with wisdom, grace and perhaps a touch of good humor. When you love someone, you help them to learn from their mistakes, not leave them in their messes.

We all must demonstrate love for others by caring enough to correct them. In these tough love situations, I try to strike a balance between the sledgehammer and soft serve ice cream. The sledgehammer is too hard and comes down heavy, but the soft serve ice cream is too soft and does no good. We have to be firm but not unfeeling. May I suggest you ask yourself these nine questions in order to help you strike this balance? They are offered by John Maxwell and each answer should be “yes.” (1) Have I invested in the relationship enough to be candid with them? (2) Do I truly value them as people? (3) Am I sure this is their issue and not mine? (4) Am I sure I am not speaking up because I feel threatened? (5) Is the issue more important than the relationship? (6) Does this conversation clearly serve their interests and not just mine? (7) Am I willing to invest time and energy to help them change? (8) Am I willing to show them how to do something, and not just say what’s wrong? And (9) Am I willing and able to set clear, specific expectations? Only if you can answer yes to these questions can you be sure your attitude and approach to tough love will be productive and fruitful. Otherwise, it will basically backfire.

We’ve all seen samples of both the sledgehammer and the soft serve ice cream, and we know neither works well. But the Bible offers us a way to balance both: caring and correcting. Indeed, this is the way of Jesus himself. And by the way, thank you to all of you who have had enough courage to correct me. I promise I will not eat you.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Messing with Mothers

Appreciating the wonder of the womb of our mothers

05/11/2018

John 16:20-23 Jesus said to his disciples: "Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you."

It’s always a risky business for a man to talk about pregnancy and giving birth for the simple fact that he has no clue what he’s talking about. If that man is a celibate priest and not married moreover, he should be doubly careful not to rush in where angels fear to tread. But I would still like to say something about child birth.

Pregnancy serves as a great metaphor and analogy. Writers sometimes refer to a “pregnant pause” meaning even though no words are uttered, that silent space is filled with new life and its birth is imminent, about to burst forth. The school where priests study is called a “seminary” which comes from the Latin word “semen” meaning “seed.” Our last year in the seminary we were called “expectant fathers.” We commonly refer to newly ordained priests as “baby priests.” Keep that in mind when Fr. Stephen Elser arrives in a few weeks. My coach who trained me to run marathons warned me: “Don’t get a big head when you run a marathon. A woman who has given birth can always run circles around you.” Every man has met his match when he’s messing with a mother.

Only one Man in the history of the world could speak about pregnancy and giving birth from personal experience. That is the God-Man, Jesus Christ. You probably have to be a God-Man to give birth because no mortal man could handle it! The long tradition of the Church has seen Jesus’ crucifixion, and especially the moment when water and blood poured out of his pierced side on the Cross, as a spiritual birth, when the Church was born from the womb of Christ. The water symbolized Baptism and the blood the Eucharist, the two central sacraments that give life to and continuously nourish the Church.

In the gospel, therefore, Jesus can speak on his own authority when he talks about pregnancy. Our Lord taught: “When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.” I remember a mother once commenting that only a man could be so stupid as to say a woman forgets her labor pains as soon as a baby is born because he’s never had a baby. That’s true, unless the Man in question happens to be the God-Man, Jesus. The Messiah’s mission was not only to “marry” the Church as his Bride, but also, analogously-speaking, to give birth to the Church as its Mother. When Jesus referred to his disciples as his “children” he meant it both figuratively, but also very much literally. St. Paul echoed the same spiritual truth when he wrote in Galatians 4:19: “My children, for whom I am again in labor until Christ be formed in you.” Jesus rushes in where angels fear to tread because he is greater than the angels, and also because he has given birth to the Church.

There is another spiritual sense in which pregnancy can be seen as a metaphor, namely, our life on earth is like a womb and we are not truly born until we enter eternal life. Jimmy Stewart realized happily, “It’s a wonderful life” in Bedford Falls. But as good as Bedford Falls was, earthly life is only the Preface to the Book of Life that will be opened and read in Heaven. So I suggest that we not get too attached to the things of this world, like a baby shouldn’t grow too fond of her umbilical cord and the amniotic fluid. So much more is waiting outside of the womb of this world, a world of wonders that the unborn baby (you and I) can barely begin to fathom. Just like a baby is not born without shedding many tears and much travail, so we do not leave this world very willingly or very easily.

The Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas, urged his dying father to “rage, rage against the dying of the light.” But like a foolish man who should take care to talk about pregnancy, Thomas didn’t realize that the real light was only about to dawn for his dad.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Hidey Hole

Seeking Jesus in heaven the ultimate hiding place

05/10/2018

John 16:16-20 Jesus said to his disciples: "A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me." So some of his disciples said to one another, "What does this mean that he is saying to us, 'A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,' and 'Because I am going to the Father'?" So they said, "What is this 'little while' of which he speaks? We do not know what he means." Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, "Are you discussing with one another what I said, 'A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me'? Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy."

One of my favorite games growing up was hide and seek. Everyone knows how to play it, but let me rapidly review the rules. One person is designated as the seeker – he or she is “it” – while everyone else hides. And by the way, I hate to seek but always wanted to hide – that’s more fun! I sometimes use that skill today to hide from some parishioners! The person who seek must close their eyes and count to a certain number. For instance, they count to one hundred by increments of five: five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, etc. When I was “it” and had to seek others, I would zip through the numbers like machine gun fire: five, ten, fifteen, etc. barely enunciating each number, so I could catch the kids before they could find their clandestine hidey hole. I love this game so much, I still play it when I visit families in their home, but I can’t get into good hidey holes like I used to, or if I do, I can’t get out!

In the gospel of John, Jesus seems to invite his apostles to a game of hide and seek. He says cryptically: “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.” Clearly the apostles never played hide and seek because they are unnecessarily mystified by their Messiah’s meaning. But Jesus explains that like the game hide and seek, where one person is hidden out of sight momentarily but then found again, so too, Jesus’ death and resurrection will require him to be hidden in a tomb for three days and then be seen again. The apostles would have to seek and Jesus would get the fun part of hiding. In this case, the apostles would have to count for three days before they could find their Lord. On Resurrection Sunday, Jesus would let them find him.

But Jesus enjoyed playing this game so much, that would not be his final occasion. He played again at his Ascension into heaven – which we would normally celebrate today on “Ascension Thursday,” but the feast is transferred to Sunday. At the Ascension, Jesus finds the best “hidey hole” of all, namely, heaven. And this time the apostles must count for several years before they could find Jesus again. Could this be one reason why the apostles were unafraid and even anxious to die for Jesus, and the sooner the better? They knew Jesus’ hidey hole was heaven and martyrdom was the fastest way to find him there! In a sense, they were counting their remaining years fast, like I used to speed through the numbers when I had to do the seeking. Jesus’ Ascension reveals that the best hidey hole is heaven.

The longer I am a priest and the more people I meet, the more I discover how many people have lost a family member (even children) or a close friend prematurely, they died too early in life. Often the intentions for our Masses are offered for those deceased loved ones. I don’t want to sound uncaring or insensitive, but would it help a little to see their loss more like a game of hide and seek? Again, I don’t want to underestimate the pain of such loss, I’ve felt it too since my nephew died, but it gives me a little comfort and consolation to think he is hiding heaven (or purgatory) and I’ll see him again. The temptation, though, is to rush through the counting and try to see them again before they have had enough time to get into their hidey hole of heaven. Sometimes we refuse to let them hide by inordinately holding on to them.

But I’ve found that we don’t need to count fast at all; the years fly by like leaves in the wind (or maybe more like leaves in a tornado), and we soon come to the end of our own life. That’s the moment in which we too get to hide (that’s the fun part) and others have to seek us. Our whole Christian faith and our whole Christian life can be seen through the lens of the children’s game of hide and seek. Again we see why Jesus insisted: “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Athens and Jerusalem

Learning how the devil divides and Jesus joins

05/09/2018

Acts of the Apostles 17:15, 22—18:1 After Paul's escorts had taken him to Athens, they came away with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible. Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said: "You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed, 'To an Unknown God.' What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything. He made from one the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us.

Sooner or later in your studies you will come across a famous phrase uttered in the second century by the Church Father, Tertullian. He scoffed sarcastically: “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” Tertullian wasn’t just talking about two towns, but about two worlds and their fundamental incompatibility. Athens was the home of Greek philosophy and Jerusalem was the home of Christian faith. Tertullian believed Athens and Jerusalem were like two ships passing in the night, or more like two battleships trying to blow each other into oblivion. His famous dictum suggests that reason and religion, philosophy and faith, will never get along.

Even a quick and dirty survey of history reveals that Tertullian may have been right. In 1616, the Catholic Inquisition condemned Galileo for saying science proves the sun is at the center of the solar system instead of the earth (as people generally believed back then). That is, what does science have to do with the Scriptures; what does Athens have to do with Jerusalem? In 1925, the state of Tennessee was home to the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial. A high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was prosecuted (and found guilty) for teaching evolution in a public school. In those days in the Volunteer State, only creation was allowed to be taught, and evolution was illegal. That is, what does biology have to do with the Bible; what does Athens have to do with Jerusalem? Even today, controversies rage about monuments of the Ten Commandments in Courtrooms around the country. That is, what does the Constitution penned by men in Pennsylvania to have to do with the Covenant signed by God on Mt. Sinai; what does Athens have to do with Jerusalem? Are reason and religion forever doomed to be at war with one another?

In Acts 17, St. Paul gives an answer to Tertullian by going precisely to Athens. Paul, the former, fearless Pharisee, educated in Jerusalem, travels to Athens, the headquarters of human reason, not to condemn but to combine, not to tear asunder but to unite and join in Jesus. The Apostle to the Gentiles preached to the Greeks: “You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an unknown God.’ What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.” Paul then proceeded to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, who had come to save everyone, Jews and Gentiles. St. Paul was looking for common ground between Athens and Jerusalem, trying to build a bridge between two worlds. Why? So, that these two ships might not blow each other up, but turn their guns against their mutual enemies of ignorance and idolatry. St. Paul hoped that reason and religion, instead of arm-wrestling and trying to conquer each other, could walk arm-in-arm and raise humanity to new heights. St. Paul was convinced that the devil divides, but Jesus joins, and therefore, Athens and Jerusalem have a lot in common.  Indeed, they have everything in common because both reason and religion come ultimately from God.

Boys and girls, don’t be so foolish as to feel that Tertullian’s phrase has nothing to do with you. Athens and Jerusalem not only have a lot to do with each other, they have a lot to do with Fort Smith. Always remember what St. Paul argued: the devil divides, but Jesus joins. Have you experienced division in your life? I bet you have. This past weekend I heard about two groups of girls that were bitterly divided and resorted to name-calling. Some of those girls may have been tempted to think like Tertullian: “What does our group have to do with their group? Nothing!” We are tempted to try to destroy each other with a war of words. But St. Paul would answer: the devil divides, Jesus joins. Try to find a way to reconcile and be united, or at least respectful of your differences. Sometimes you form clicks or small groups based on where you live, or your ethnic heritage, or your primary language, or your physical appearance. You may be tempted to ask like Tertullian: “What do we have to do with them??” Cultural differences can tend to tear people apart. But St. Paul would answer: the devil divides, Jesus joins. Find common ground, like food and football, Sriracha and sports, to bring people together. Tertullian’s question also touches the heartbeat of Trinity Junior High, where we teach religion alongside science, the Bible next to biology, the Constitution right after a class on the Commandments, and why you come to Mass every Wednesday, even though not all students are Catholics or Christians?

Why do we keep pushing you together? We are convinced like St. Paul that Athens has everything to do with Jerusalem.  What unites us is far greater than what divides us, and what joins us is Jesus.  The Church will not fire her canons against the ship of science any more, but rather invite her to become part of the armada that wars against stupidity and segregation. In the end the devil divides and Jesus joins.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Partnership of the Paraclete

Sharing the Good News with the help of the Holy Spirit

05/08/2018

Acts of the apostles 16:11-15 We set sail from Troas, making a straight run for Samothrace, and on the next day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, a leading city in that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We spent some time in that city. On the sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river where we thought there would be a place of prayer. We sat and spoke with the women who had gathered there. One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened, and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying. After she and her household had been baptized, she offered us an invitation, "If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my home," and she prevailed on us.

The job of a priest can easily feel extremely overwhelming. Jesus gave us our basic “marching orders” at the end of the gospel of Matthew 28:19-20. Jesus commanded his first captains: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” And how are we supposed to accomplish this daunting duty? Basically, we are armed with Scriptures, the Sacraments and our good looks. The prospects of success are bleak at best.

But we see a glimmer of hope and encouragement when we remember we have Someone on the inside. That is, we priests preach the Good news and our words hit people’s ears. But the Holy Spirit resides inside people’s hearts and whispers words that echo and enlarge what we say. Sometimes when I feel I have delivered a sub-par homily, someone will come up to me afterwards and exclaim: “That’s exactly what I needed to hear today!” The real efficacy of evangelization depends not so much on my efforts, but on the work and the words of the Holy Spirit. That’s why the rest of Matthew 28:20 provides these comforting words: “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Priests always have a partner, Someone on the inside, the Holy Spirit.

This partnership with the Paraclete (the name sometimes attributed to the Spirit) is demonstrated again and again in the Acts of the Apostles; indeed, it is the source of all the confidence of the apostles. For instance, in Acts 16, St. Paul and companions arrive in Philippi. They share their good news with whomever they meet, utilizing all the persuasive power of the Scriptures, the sacraments and their good looks! And what happens? We read: “One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened, and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying.” She and her household were later baptized. Paul and the other apostles were undeterred and undaunted by Jesus’ commission to go to the whole world and convert everyone on earth to Christ. Why? Well, because they knew they had Someone on the inside, whispering to every heart, and so they marched forth cheerfully to meet the challenge.

My friends, every Christian must shoulder the struggle to share the Good News. Evangelization may be a priest’s “official job, “ but it is every Christian’s “unofficial job.” And your arena of evangelization begins with your family and friends, your immediate sphere of influence, your inner circle. But don’t feel discouraged by thinking all you have to rely on are the Scriptures, the sacraments and your good looks. Some of you may feel more discouraged than others. You also have Someone on the inside, a partner called the Paraclete. I know evangelization can seem impossible when we see so many people leave the Catholic Church, maybe even close family and friends.

But take heart in these words by Pope Francis from his recent exhortation called “Be Glad and Rejoice.” The pope reminds us: “Do not be dismayed, for the power of the Holy Spirit enables you to do this, and holiness, in the end, is the fruit of the Holy Spirit in your life” (Gaudate et exultate, 15).  Your partner, the Paraclete, will whisper in the heart of your spouse, in the heart of your children, in the heart of your neighbor. But most importantly he will whisper in your own heart how good the Good News is. When your partner is the Holy Spirit nothing feels impossible.

Praised be Jesus Christ!