The Church Today

Seeing the Church as perfect rather than pathetic

03/27/2019

Matthew 5:17-19 Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven."

How do you feel about the Catholic Church today? If we take off our rose-colored glasses, which help us to see with the eyes of faith, we begin to see an embattled Church instead of the Bride of Christ. The most recent bomb that has shaken the faith of many Catholics exploded in 2002 with the revelations of the clergy sexual abuse of minors. Many people left the Church and many still feel we have not adequately addressed the crisis or the abusing clergy.

On a more personal note, many Catholics’ faith in the Church is shattered when they get a divorce and struggle to get an annulment. Sometimes life is not “a box of chocolates” as Forrest Gump said, but rather you get lemons, a failed marriage. I describe our ministry in the tribunal as making lemonade, that is, changing a bad situation into a blessing situation. In other words, sometimes we feel the Church does not have enough rules and regulations, for instance when dealing with abusive priests, and at other times we feel the Church has far too many rules and regulations, like when someone seeks an annulment.

Probably one of the most famous French priests in modern times who argued the Church had too many rules and regulations was Alfred Loisy, a brilliant bible scholar. He sarcastically said: “Jesus preached the Kingdom of God, and what came was the church.” Pope Benedict explained what Loisy meant saying: “Instead of the great expectation of God’s own Kingdom, of a new world transformed by God himself, we got something quite different – and what a pathetic substitute it is: the Church” (Jesus of Nazareth, 48). In other words, Loisy increasingly began to see the Church’s rules and regulations as “pathetic” and be finally was excommunicated by Pope Pius X in 1907. Tragically, Loisy died on June 1, 1940, not only having lost his faith in the Church, but also his faith in Jesus Christ, and even his faith in God. He wrote in his Memoirs: “If I am anything in religion, it is more pantheistic-positivist humanitarian than Christian.” Loisy thought God was everything and everything was God, which is pantheism. How do you feel about the Church today? Is she something perfect, or is she something pathetic?

In the gospel today, Jesus insists that the Kingdom of God and the Church are inseparable and they both require rules and regulations in order for us to be happy and holy. Jesus boldly declared: “Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” Then he goes on to explain how the smallest part of the law must be obeyed. In other words, Catholics cannot be a Church without canon law, any more than the United States can be a country without a Constitution. Just like we Americans take pride in our Constitution because we know it protects our rights and promotes our liberties, so Catholics should be pleased with the provisions of our rules and regulations, both in the Ten Commandments, and in the 1,752 canons of the Code of Canon Law. I am convinced – and more importantly, Jesus is convinced – that the legal requirements of being an organized, universal, world-wide Church do not make the Church pathetic, but rather they help the Church to be more perfect.

How to do you feel about the Church today? If the recent events and the turbulent times are rocking your faith and love for the Church today, I recommend you read two books. First, I highly recommend you read the conversion story of Scott and Kimberly Hahn called Rome Sweet Home. That book and their journey will help you put your rose-colored glasses back on and see the Catholic Church as the Bride of Christ. In the Introduction they wrote: “In truth, the journey began as a detective story, but soon it became more like a horror story, until finally ended up as a great romance story – when Christ unveiled his Bride, the Church.” Sadly, some people’s experience of the Catholic Church is still a horror story, like that of the French priest Alfred Loisy, and some people struggling with an annulment. But it doesn’t have to be. With humility and grace, patience and perseverance, study and Scriptures, you can slowly start to see the Church as less pathetic and more perfect day after day.

The second great book is about another awesome convert to Catholicism called Apologia Pro Vita Sua, by Blessed John Henry Newman. He wrote these strong words: “There are but two alternatives, the way to Rome and the way to Atheism.” But you don’t have to believe John Henry Newman, just ask Alfred Loisy.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Match Made in Heaven

Appreciating the Annunciation in our own lives

03/25/2019

Luke 1:26-38 The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end." But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" And the angel said to her in reply, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

In the church business, we use a catchy little saying to capture the three peak points of pastoral care. It is: “hatch, match and dispatch.” Hatch refers to birth or baptism, match means marriage, and dispatch is death or funerals. Now, sadly, for some Catholics these are not only the peak points of their faith life, they are practically the only points because those are the only times they come to church. I only see some of our parishioners at baptisms, marriages and funerals. I do not mean to suggest they are not spiritual people or that they do not pray in their own way, but only that their sacramental life is somewhat shallow.

These three peak points also provide us with the proper ordering of natural life. First, we’re born, then we get married (you get married), and finally we die. In fact, this is how I remember how long my parents have been married. I take the age of my older brother, and add one year. My brother is two years older than me, so he’s fifty-two, plus one makes fifty-three. So, this year my parents are celebrating their fifty-third wedding anniversary. I don’t know why it works out that way; it’s just weird how it does. I say that with great compassion to those couples who have trouble conceiving a child or those children born out of wedlock. Nevertheless, the natural order of life is hatch, match and dispatch; birth, marriage and death.

On March 25 we celebrate the Annunciation, the day the Archangel Gabriel “announced” (annunciation) that Mary would conceive a Son who would save his people from their sins. Jesus himself, however, would not observe this natural or normal order of hatch, match and dispatch. Indeed, he had come to radically change that order. In other words, the apostles could not take Jesus’ age, add one, and figure out how long Mary and Joseph had been married. Why?  Well, because Jesus had been conceived before they were married in order to highlight that the Holy Spirit was operative and the Child would be the Son of God, not the son of Joseph.

Furthermore, Jesus’ own life would follow a different pattern: not hatch, match and dispatch, but rather, hatch, dispatch and then match. What do I mean? Well, most people believe that Jesus never got married, the match part. But that’s not true. Our Lord’s marriage would take place in heaven, the original “match made in heaven.” We read in Revelation 19:9, “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Jesus’ marriage takes place in heaven, and his Bride is the Church, you and me. That is, if we make it to heaven. In other words, Jesus has scrambled the natural order of earthly life and rearranged it according to the supernatural order of heavenly life, where the end is marriage not death, a match made in heaven, not the darkness of death. The Annunciation is what started the ball of the hatch, match and dispatch rolling in an entirely new direction.

My friends, the Annunciation has radical implications not only for Jesus’ life, but also for each of our own lives. That is, we should stop seeing our lives only in the order of birth, marriage and death. Rather, for a Christian, the order is almost the opposite, first death, then birth, and finally marriage. How so? We do not experience real living until after we die. Our earthly experiences are but a prelude to the symphony of eternity. That is why every funeral liturgy is filled with signs of baptism: the holy water, the pall (the white cloth covering the casket), and the Easter Candle. For a Christian, just like baptism is a spiritual death, so natural death becomes a supernatural birth. And once you get the dispatch and hatch parts out of the way, all that’s left is the match made in heaven, “the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

In Shakespeare’s most famous soliloquy, he juggles these three peak points of life, the hatch, match and dispatch. Hamlet wonders: “To die, to sleep - / No more – and by sleep to say we end / The heartache and the thousand natural shocks / that flesh is heir to – ‘tis a consummation / Devoutly to be wished!” In other words, what waits for us after death is not the grave, but glory, a glorious wedding and the eternal consummation. And that is not shallow sacramentality.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Hindu Bindi

Treating others with divine respect and love

03/24/2019

Exodus 3:1-8A Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There an angel of the LORD appeared to Moses in fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed. So Moses decided, “I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned.” When the LORD saw him coming over to look at it more closely, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Here I am.” God said, “Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your fathers, “he continued, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. But the LORD said, “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypta and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering. Therefore I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians and lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

One of the most common questions I get asked as an immigrant from India is: “What does the dot on a woman’s forehead mean?” Someone sent me this excellent explanation by email last week. It said: “Hindu women have worn a dot on their foreheads for centuries.  Most of us have naively thought this was connected with tradition or religion, but the Indian embassy in Ottowa has recently revealed the true story. When a Hindu woman gets married, she brings a dowry into the union. On her wedding night, the husband scratches off the dot to see whether he has won a convenience store, a gas station, a donut shop, a taxi cab, or a motel in the United States. If nothing is there, he must remain in India to answer telephones and provide us with Verizon technical support.” Now you finally know what the dot means. By the way, only an Indian can tell that joke; don’t you gringos even think about it.

But with all due respect to the opinions of the Indian embassy in Ottowa, I would like to say a word about our famous Indian dot. It is actually called the Hindu Bindi and carries profound cultic and cultural significance, not only for Indians but for countries all over southern Asia. Let me point out two principal purposes of the Bindi, the dot.  First, the Bindi is considered the pin-point at which creation begins, or the sacred symbol of the entire cosmos in its primordial, unmanifested state. Astrophysicists, like the late Stephen Hawking, tell us that the whole universe was originally condensed into a single point – a dot – right before the Big Bang exploded, bringing everything into existence. That’s one meaning of the Bindi. Indeed, isn’t every human person initially conceived as a single pin point – a dot called a fertilized egg – that explodes into life and leaves his or her own Big Bang in life? And a woman’s womb is the cradle of life, where we all began, and that’s the first meaning of the Bindi.

Secondly, the Bindi is also considered the seat of wisdom, hence it is placed on the brow of the head, indicating the brain, where we think. Since it is traditionally worn by women, think of it like woman’s intuition, or as Pope St. John Paul II coined the phrase, “the feminine genius.” One of my favorite titles for the Blessed Virgin Mary is “Seat of Wisdom.” The Bindi, therefore, is not some scratch off lottery for a husband to see if he won a convenience store. Far from it.  Rather, it is an alluring invitation for everyone to draw near, to the cradle of all life and the seat of womanly wisdom.

In the first reading from Exodus 3, Moses is also called to draw close to the God of creation and wisdom. Moses sees a surprising sight: a bush on fire but not consumed by the flames. But as Moses draws near the bush, an angel warns him: “Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” In other words, Moses sort of saunters up to the bush casually and with curiosity, like the Indian husband who wanted to treat the Bindi like a scratch off lottery ticket. But the angel sternly reminded him that he stood on holy ground, in the presence of the Creator of cosmos, and the ground of all wisdom. I hope this will not sound sacrilegious, but I believe the Burning Bush is the biblical equivalent to the Hindu Bindi. Why? Well, because both the bush and the bindi, through created things, invite us to come closer to the source of all creation and to the author of all wisdom, namely, God himself.

I am so grateful to Fr. Mario and to you, the parishioners of St. Boniface, for the opportunity to celebrate the Masses here at St. Boniface, preach about Trinity Junior High, and take up a second collection for Trinity. Let me thank you in advance. There are so many good things I could say about the academics, the extracurricular activities, and the spirituality of Trinity, all of which could just as easily be said about St. Boniface School. But I believe our biggest blessing is we help students come closer to God through our weekly school Mass. In the Trinity chapel students, like Moses, stand on holy ground, hearing the voice of God behind both the bible and the Bread of Communion. They hear and see more than what meets the ears or eyes, and they grow into people of faith.

One message we have hammered home from the pulpit at Trinity is our students must treat people with respect and love. I am very proud of Dr. Hollenbeck and Mr. Edwards and our teachers who are quick to deal with bullying in class, or even on social media, the so-called cyber-bullying. In a sense, each person is like the burning Bush and the Hindu Bindi, and carries an image of the Creator and is filled with their own unique wisdom. I pray that no Trinity student ever graduates without a profound sense of the breath-taking beauty and blessing that is every human person, regardless of their religion or race, their country or culture, their name or fame, their rags or riches, whether an Indian with a dot or an Indian with a feather. All are children of God, in whose presence we should remove our sandals.

By the way, speaking of Indian customs, did you know that when you enter an Indian home you should remove your shoes? I used to think it was so your dirty shoes would not soil the carpet. But I learned that it is a sign of respect for the family and that you see their home as holy ground. It also has the added benefit of whenever you step on each other’s toes, it does not hurt as much.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Unforgiving Son

Seeing our own sins instead of those of others

03/23/2019

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." So to them Jesus addressed this parable. "A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.' So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, 'Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, 'Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.' He said to him, 'My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.'"

Probably the most popular parable in the whole bible is today’s pericope from Luke 15 of the prodigal son. It is one of my personal favorites and even on the cover of my last book Oh, Lord, Have Mercy, the painting by the Dutch master Rembrandt. But I’m afraid most people miss the main point of the parable. That is, readers focus on the wrong son and the wrong sin. Now, that mistake is understandable and forgivable because in the parable Jesus devotes thirteen verses talking about the younger son, but only dedicates eight verses on the older son. So, naturally, most people think the parable is about the prodigal, younger son. But not so, not so at all.

I would suggest to you the parable is really about the older brother, who struggles to forgive his little brother. In other words, the parable should not be called “The Prodigal Son,” but rather a better title would be “The Unforgiving Son.” How do you figure out the main actor of a parable? You ask: who is the main audience of the parable, who was it intended for? Listen to the introduction to the parable, where St. Luke gives it all away. Luke writes: “Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and the scribes began to complain, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them,’ So to them Jesus addressed this parable.” Did you catch the intended audience? It was not the tax collectors and prostitutes (the prodigals), but rather the scribes and Pharisees (the self-righteous and arrogant).

You could almost assert that the first thirteen verses of the parable are all preparation, merely setting up the stage for the real drama, for the entrance of the main actor, the protagonist of the parable, the older brother and his dialogue with his dad. I believe the reason Jesus spends all those verses on the sinful young brother is in order to highlight the arrogance and the attitude of unforgiveness of the older brother. His sin is seen in greater relief by contrast to the mercy and tenderness of the father, who was a symbol of Jesus. Nevertheless, even with such a powerful, pointed parable, the scribes and Pharisees missed the point. They continued to maintain their innocence and, by contrast, the guilt of tax-collectors and prostitutes, and eventually even find Jesus guilty of sin and sacrilege, just like the older brother blamed his father’s merciful behavior as partial and playing favorites.

My friends, may I suggest two practical lessons Luke 15 offers each of us? First, just like we miss the main focus of the parable, so we often focus on other people’s sins and miss our own moral failings. It’s easy to see the sins of the prodigal (others’ sins), but that is only the prelude to the real story: the arrogance and unforgiveness of the older brother (our own sins). We miss seeing ourselves as we really are, just like the image in the mirror each morning is not our real image. If we wink our right eye in the mirror, the face that looks back blinks his left eye. It is as easy to see our sins as it is to see our own nose by crossing our eyes. In a sense, we have never really seen ourselves as we truly are. We are not the best judge in our own case, and that is why physicians are forbidden to prescribe medicines to themselves, and also why priests cannot go to confession by looking in the mirror and absolving their image. I would not be forgiving Fr. John of his sins, but only the ghost of Fr. John. Only another priest can forgive me because only another priest can see my sins as they really are; he can easily see my arrogance and my unforgiveness, which I sadly cannot.

The second practical consideration is this: next Tuesday, we have our parish reconciliation service. I think the best way to make a good confession – and I’ve suggested this before – is to let your wife make the list of your sins, and you write the list of her sins. Parents should write up a list of their children’s sins and children should write up a list of their parents’ sins. Pastors should compose a list of their church secretary’s sins, and church secretaries should definitely NOT write lists of their pastor’s sins – God help us! And how would we all react if we saw those lists? We would laugh and reply: “Of course, I don’t do any of those things!” We only prove our own blindness. And that is why we continue to confess the same sins over and over in confession, because we cannot see our own sins. What heroic humility it would take for anyone to confess the sins that others see in us.

The parable of the prodigal son is not really about the prodigal son. The younger son is only teeing up the real point and the real protagonist of the parable. So, too, we miss our own sins and failings. Indeed, what we do see of our sins are only teeing up the real sins we commit but miss, and that others see so easily.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Netherworld

Learning how our destiny affects daily life

03/22/2019

Luke 16:19-31 Jesus said to the Pharisees: "There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.' Abraham replied, 'My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.'

Did you know both the state of Arkansas and the country of the Netherlands can be found in the bible? Bishop Andrew McDonald (of happy memory) used to love quoting Genesis 8:13, where it says: “Noah then removed the covering of the ark and saw that the surface of the ground had dried.” Did you catch that the Natural State is mentioned in that verse: “ark and saw”? Keep that in mind the next time you are in a heated debate with someone from Texas: the Lone Star state is not mentioned in the bible.

Last week someone heard the country of “the Netherlands” suggested in a scripture verse. Several people, including me, were talking about today’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus. I said, “Well, the rich man was in the netherworld, while Lazarus was in heaven.” One person asked very puzzled: “Did you say the rich man was in the Netherlands?” I answered, “Well, some people may think the Netherlands could be the abode of the dead.” This also explains why people find it hard to locate the Netherlands on a map: it is in the underworld. That humorous exchange, however, sparked a serious conversation about the netherworld as Jesus used it in his parable today. What is it and what is it not; where is it and where is it not? Let me share three things about the netherworld and try to bring out some practical implications.

First of all, the Old Testament, the Hebrew scriptures, speaks of two places where the dead go.  One is called “Gehenna” and is hell, properly-speaking. Gehenna is the final destination of the damned, those who die in a state of unrepented mortal sin. You do not want to go there. But not everyone in the Old Testament took the train to hell. Why? Well, there were holy heroes prior to the coming of Christ, like Noah (who lived in Arkansas), Abraham, Enoch, Moses, David, and prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Elijah, to name but a few. Where did they land after death? Not in Gehenna, but in Sheol, or the abode of the dead. That would be the Catholic equivalent of purgatory, a place of purification and preparation for paradise, or heaven. So, when reading the bible, be careful not to conflate or confuse three distinct terms that refer to the three distinct destinies of the dead. (1) Gehenna is hell, (2) sheol or the netherworld is equivalent to purgatory, and (3) paradise is pure and simply heaven, those who enjoy eternal life and love, cradled in the bosom of Abraham.

Secondly, notice how the rich man dares to ask for mercy in the midst of his misery. He begs: “Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in these flames.” Even though Abraham rebuffs his request by citing the “great chasm” that prevents any contact, that abyss will soon be overcome by Christ’s death and resurrection. Indeed, that’s why Jesus came: not only to save the living but also those who had already died, like the Old Testament saints stuck in the netherworld, or as some call it, “The Netherlands.” In other words, even though Lazarus could not “dip the tip of his finger and cool the tongue” of the rich man, Jesus could do that and would do that. There is a powerfully moving altar of the poor souls in purgatory at St. Edward’s Church in Little Rock. It depicts angels catching drops of Jesus’ Blood from the cross in golden cups or chalices and cooling the tongues of those tormented in the netherworld of purgatory. The rich man, therefore, is not in Gehenna or hell, but he is in sheol/purgatory. The flames purge and purify, while the Cross of Christ cools and refreshes.

And thirdly, I am convinced that the netherworld was intended by God to be the place people powerfully feel God’s mercy. Just like Jesus’ Blood cooled and comforted those tormented in the flames, so the Church (you and I) carries on that “comfort care” down through the ages. How so? Well, every time a Mass is offered for someone who has died (the intention of the Mass), the parable in today’s gospel explodes into life; the parable comes true. A soul in purgatory is cooled and comforted by Christ’s Blood, which is consecrated at each Mass. At Immaculate Conception in Fort Smith, one lady left ten thousand dollars for Masses to be said for her after she died. She does not want a drop of water from the tip of Lazarus’ finger to cool her, she wants a water-tower to be splashed on her in purgatory. That’s a smart lady. Sometimes we feel out of touch with people after they have died, but this riveting parable and the reality of purgatory can rain down mercy on our beloved dead and on us who are left alive and mourning their loss.

You know, I have never been to the Netherlands, but I do hope I make it to the netherworld, that is, purgatory. But did you know the capital of the Netherlands is called The Hague, and that’s the home of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, a place where people plea for justice and mercy, like the rich man in the gospel? So, maybe the Netherlands and the Netherworld are not so different or distant from each other after all. Both places should be the home of mercy.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Foster Father

Raising up our children to seek God’s will

03/19/2019

Luke 2:41-51A Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.

I think every parent believes their baby will become a child prodigy, regardless of what potential they carry or what problems they cause. My parents no doubt think I will be the pope one day, and who can blame them? But the ironic thing is that when I was a baby, they tell me I was terrible trouble at Mass. I cried all the time and disrupted the divine liturgy and tormented many poor Indian priests. That is why I am so tolerant of troublesome toddlers at my Masses because I feel this is divine justice. What goes around comes around.

I recently read about a refugee family from Nigeria residing in New York who really are raising a child prodigy. Eight year old Tanitoluwa Adewumi just won the New York State chess championship for his age bracket. The remarkable thing is his family lives in a homeless shelter and little Tanitoluwa only learned how to play chess a year ago. His skills are off the charts and his coach believes Tanitoluwa could reach the level of “master status” in a year or two. The world’s youngest grandmaster qualified at the age of 12. All parents believe their children will grow up to do great things, like become the pope or the youngest grandmaster in chess. And parents spend their lives – and sacrifice their lives – trying to help their children pursue all their potential.

March 19 is the feast day of St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, and the Spouse of Mary. Joseph not only believed that Jesus had great potential; he beheld it day after day. Can you just imagine how hard it was for Joseph to sit down to breakfast every morning across the table from the woman who was immaculately conceived and the boy who was the Second Person of the Holy Trinity? What can you say: “Pass the cereal” or “Little more cream and sugar in the coffee”? No wonder Joseph never said one single word that is recorded in the scripture.

Luke 2 records the incident when Jesus’ potential was on display for the whole world to see. We read: “After three days they found him [Jesus] in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.” Incidentally, Jesus was only 12 and no doubt the rabbis and teachers in the temple felt he could be the “youngest grandmaster” spiritually speaking.

But Joseph also silently watched how Jesus hid all his powerful potential at home. Joseph presumably died before Jesus began his public ministry but Jesus did not raise him from the dead, like he did Lazarus. We can imagine Jesus mastered the trade of a carpenter faster than any boy in Nazareth, and yet he remained humble and hidden. In his silent daily contemplation of the Holy Family, Joseph, the faithful foster father, learned that Jesus’ real potential was not to the pope or the youngest grandmaster in chess. Rather, his highest hopes were for heaven, not this world.

My friends, for all of you who are parents (or grandparents) and see all your children’s potential to become child prodigies, St. Joseph offers you a little balance. First of all, try to see yourself as a foster father or foster mother to your child, strange as that sounds. On the day your children are baptized, they belong more to God the Father and to Mother Mary than they do to you. From that moment on, their purpose in life should be to discern, to discover and to do God’s will, not your will, and not even their own will. As spiritual foster parents, teach your children to seek first their heavenly Father’s will, just like Joseph taught Jesus.

Secondly, help them to have hopes and dreams as high as heaven. That’s one great reason to send your children to Catholic schools. I discovered my vocation to be a priest while attending Catholic schools, as do so many other future monks and nuns. Joseph taught Jesus the carpenter’s trade, but he also taught him that there’s more to life than making money.

Every parents hopes their child grows up to be the next pope or the youngest chess grandmaster. St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, helps parents to hope for even more than that for their children.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Moments of Mercy

Recognizing mercy and returning mercy to others

03/18/2019

Luke 6:36-38 Jesus said to his disciples: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you."

Recently I recognized a moment of mercy God had granted me, which was entirely unexpected and definitely undeserved. Isn’t that what mer

cy means: a gift that’s unexpected and undeserved? But first you will have to indulge me in a walk down memory lane. When I was in the seminary, I took a year off to make sure I really wanted to be a priest. I was wavering in my vocation. I lived in student apartments on the campus of the University of Dallas, with a close friend named Murray Blackman. One evening, we sat on the back porch and listened to an endless loop of Garth Brooks’ beautiful ballad called “The Dance.” Suddenly, Murray made me an offer I found hard to refuse. He promised: “John, if you become a priest, I will name my first-born son after you, ‘John Antony’.” And I agreed to the deal.

The following year I returned to the seminary and Murray courted a lovely young lady named Joan. I attended their wedding in Minneapolis-St. Paul on January 1st because they wanted to marry on a feast day of the Blessed Mother Mary. Not many people choose to marry in Minneapolis on January first, but my friends are not typical people. Among other children, Murray and Joan also had a son, whom they named “John Antony,” but they called him “Jack” at home. I was blessed to be his godfather at his baptism, so now he calls me “padrino” which is Spanish for “godfather.” A few months ago, Jack decided to enter the religious life as a Norbertine brother, and took the name Brother Titus, and I felt so proud of him. I mentioned a letter he sent me in a homily last week. Jack/Br. Titus is as close as I will ever come to having my own son and see him walk in my footsteps. I feel humbled and grateful beyond belief. My friend Murray was an instrument of God’s mercy for me, giving me a gift that was entirely unexpected and definitely undeserved.

Both Old and New Testament scriptures today speak loudly about God’s mercy toward his people when they were far from deserving it. In Daniel we read: “Lord, great and awesome God, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you and observe your commandments.” Remember Daniel was written during the Babylonian captivity, which was  caused by the people’s sins, and for which the people deserved punishment, not clemency or mercy. Nevertheless, God was merciful. And in the gospel of Luke, Jesus teaches: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” In other words, just as God the Father repeatedly shows the people in unexpected and underserving ways his mercy – most perfectly embodied in his son, Jesus – we must show such mercy to each other. My friend Murray’s promise to name his son after me was a moment of such mercy, and exactly what Jesus told us to do for each other.

My friends, may I share a few more examples of mercy so that you might be a little more merciful yourself? Sometimes people come to confession carrying the heavy burden of serious sins and expect the priest to scold them. But exactly the opposite often happens: we try to be gentle, loving and encouraging. In the seminary, they taught us: “Be as mighty as a lion in the pulpit, but as gentle as a lamb in the confessional.” In confession we receive God’s unexpected and undeserved mercy.

It seems to me that marriage presents endless daily opportunities to show little mercies to one’s spouse. Perhaps your husband has hurt you for the hundredth time in the same wounding way. But instead of berating or belittling him, you forgive him again. Perhaps your wife’s need to talk and share every detail of her day causes you impatience and makes you implode inside. But maybe you could smile and listen attentively anyway. Mercy may be small, but it is always significant.

Today, try to notice the many merciful moments you have experienced unexpectedly and undeservedly at the hands of others, and then turn around and do the same. In a word, like Jesus said: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” And by the way, please pray for my godson, Brother Titus. I am pretty proud of him.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Cloud and Darkness

Entering into the unknown in order to know God

03/17/2019

Luke 9:28B-36 Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." But he did not know what he was saying. While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my chosen Son; listen to him." After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen.

One of the most fascinating books I ever read in the seminary was called The Cloud of Unknowing. The basic argument of the book was that the best way to approach God was with the heart rather than with the head, with the longing of love instead of the light of learning. All intellectual ideas of God, therefore – that he is good, true and beautiful, for example – had to be unknown, unlearned and, in a sense, even forgotten. I loved that book because I answered every question on the test with the same answer: “I don’t know!” Wasn’t that the point of the book?

The author encourages his reader with this mysterious counsel: “When you first begin this work, you find only darkness, and as it were a cloud of unknowing… For if you are to feel him [God] or see him in this life, it must always be in this cloud, this darkness.” And as if to underscore his point about God being unknown, the author of the book himself or herself is also unknown. Amazingly, no one knows who wrote this classic on Christian contemplation. Sometimes the best way to know someone is to un-know what you think you know about them, that is, you approach them not in the “light” but sort of in the “dark.” I hope this won’t scandalize you, but maybe that’s why spouses make love in the dark and they get to know each other like no one else does. Indeed, “to know” and “to make love” are synonymous and interchangeable terms in Genesis 4:1, where we read: “Adam knew his wife Eve and she bore a son.” The dark cloud of love is where we know by unknowing.

Both in the book of Genesis (our first reading) and in the gospel of Luke, people encounter God in the clouds of unknowing. In Genesis 15 Abram – remember his name will not be changed to “Abraham” until Genesis 17 – makes a curious covenant with God. We read: “As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram, and a deep terrifying darkness enveloped him.” By “trance” the ancient author meant a suspension of Abram’s intellectual faculty; he could not think. But simultaneously his heart could hear the loving words of God, who promised: “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River, the Euphrates.”

The gospel of Luke recounts the event of the Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor, which also involved Peter, James and John entering into a dark cloud. Luke writes: “A cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud.  Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my beloved Son, listen to him’.” You might recall that right before that happened, Peter had blurted out: “’Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ But he did not know what he was saying.” Notice Peter experienced unknowing, a kind of trance, and thus he was perfectly poised to encounter God. Those who grow closest to God are not necessarily intellectual giants who can answer every question on Jeopardy. Rather, they are the ones who love the Lord with their whole mind, heart, soul and strength. You are closest to those who are in your heart more than with those who are merely in your mind.

My friends, I would suggest to you the whole season of Lent is designed as the spiritual equivalent of the cloud of unknowing to help us encounter God and hear his voice like Abram and the apostles. Why do we sacrifice thing like meat on Fridays, or make voluntary penances like giving up chocolate or TV or social media? We know these things will make us happy, and bring us pleasure, but we sacrifice them to enter into the unknown world of want. Will these sacrifices draw us closer to God? You may answer like I did in the seminary: “I don’t know!” Bingo: at that moment we find ourselves in a cloud of unknowing and may meet God and hear him.

I sometimes wonder if this is why the elderly sometimes experience diminished intellectual capacity: forgetfulness, Alzheimer, dementia. Are they entering into the cloud of unknowing? At the same time, however, their heart and their capacity to love seem to explode. One grandmother confessed to me: “I did not think I could love anyone more than I love my own children. And then I had grandchildren.” I have never met any grandparents who are an exception to that rule. What rule? When we question what we think we know, we begin to know by unknowing, and draw closer to God.

St. Thomas Aquinas is arguably the most brilliant theologian the Church has ever known, and probably ever will; it is said he could dictate to three secretaries at once. I cannot dictate to one; she usually dictates to me. But on December 6, 1273, he experienced a profound, personal revelation of God. Afterward he remarked to his secretary, Brother Reginald, “I can write no more. I have seen things that make all my writings like straw.” What Thomas touched with his heart in that cloud of unknowing was deeper and more lofty than anything he could conceive with his incredible intellect, which by comparison seemed like straw.

Folks, here’s the one main take-away from today’s scriptures I want to leave you with: access to God is available to anyone. Maybe you cannot memorize bible verses (because you’re Catholic); perhaps you cannot quote the Catechism; heck, maybe you cannot remember what you had for breakfast today! But you can still draw close to God, who waits for us in a dark cloud of unknowing, which you can only enter with much love, not with much learning.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Precious Prayer

Seeing how prayer slowly becomes life itself

03/14/2019

Matthew 7:7-12 Jesus said to his disciples: "Ask and it will be given to you; 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. Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asked for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asked for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. "Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets."

I was walking through the halls of Mercy Hospital recently and noticed an evocative saying by Catherine McAuley, the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy. The quotation simply said: “Many a precious prayer can be said in a second.” I immediately smiled because I realized how often I had whispered a prayer in a second for a patient I had visited. I also began to think of all the precious prayers that the hundreds of patients and nurses and doctors must say in a second every day in that hospital. Prayers for healing, prayers for strength, prayers for comfort, prayers for peace, and maybe even a prayer for a merciful death. Today I want to give you a little perspective on prayer and how to help our prayers to be a little more precious. Here are three pointers on prayer.

First, be careful not to look at prayer as a business transaction. I think we Americans are especially susceptible to the “business model” of prayer because we instinctively tend to treat all relationships with a business model. For instance, we judge a prayer by its efficacy, that is, we ask, “Did the prayer work? Did we get what we asked for?” We wonder what is the R.O.I. of prayer, the “return on the investment.” In the middle ages, the Catholic Church was accused of treating prayer, and even the sacraments, as a business transaction, and charging people for indulgences. To be clear, indulgences themselves are a part of authentic Christian piety, but treating them as a business transaction for profit is a sinful corruption. In other words, what makes prayer precious is not how much it costs, but how heart-felt it is. The business model can be useful for improving many relationships, but it does not make prayer precious, it makes it pernicious, harmful.

Second, Jesus gives us the perfect perspective for prayer as a father-son or parent-child relationship. God the Son, who did not always get what he asked for from God the Father, said: “Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asked for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asked for a fish?” You will remember Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane where he asked for the cup of suffering to pass him by, but then he accepted the Father’s will. That is, Jesus was speaking from personal experience when he talked about precious prayer. The right model for prayer, therefore, is the family model. Prayer is precious when it is a loving conversation between a parent and a child. Unfortunately, most of us only appreciate that model after we become parents ourselves and sometimes have to say “no” to the precious prayers of our children.

And thirdly, prayer is not a parachute for safety when the plane of our your life is going down in flames, but rather it is the oxygen tank for a scuba diver as he swims underwater. A friend of mine recently joined the Norbertine religious community in Orange, California, and took the name Brother Titus. His patron saint is Blessed Titus Brandsma, a Carmelite friar who died in the Dachau concentration camp. Brother Titus sent me a letter yesterday and ended it with a quotation from Blessed Titus, saying: “Prayer is life. Prayer is not an oasis in the desert of life.” As we grow and mature in the Christian life, we stop looking at prayer as a box to check every day – I said my rosary, I made it to Mass, I prayed the Angelus – so then we can run off to do more interesting things. Rather all those more interesting things start to feel like interruptions – however important and necessary – in our life of prayer and conversation with God. Prayer is not a parachute to be used in case of emergencies; it is the oxygen tank we need to breathe as we dive deeply into the mysterious depths of life.

What makes prayer precious? Precious prayer is not a business transaction where we seek a return on the investment. Precious prayer is a loving conversation between parent and child. And precious prayer is the oxygen we need to breathe. Catherine McAuley was right: “a precious prayer can be said in a second.” But in the end, prayer becomes synonymous with every second of life.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

A Plus Sign

Seeing Jesus’ presence as a gain not a loss

03/13/2019

Luke 11:29-32 While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here."

A ten year old public school boy was finding fifth grade math to be the challenge of his life. His parents did everything they could to help their son: private tutors, peer assistance, and even hypnosis, but nothing worked. Finally they enrolled him in a small Catholic school. At the end of the first day, the boy walked in with a stern expression on his face, went straight to his room, and closed the door. He spent the rest of the evening toiling away at math, and only emerged to eat and then returned to his room. He did they day after day, week after week, without any explanation.

After the first nine weeks, the boy brought home his report card, quietly laid it on the kitchen table, and as usual, went straight to his room to study. The parents opened it, were surprised to see an “A” next to the subject of math. They rushed overjoyed to the boy’s room and asked: “Was it the nuns that did it?” The boy shook his head “No.” The mother inquired, “Was it the small classes or the one-on-one tutoring?” Again he said, “No.” The boy finally explained: “It was all clear from the first day of school. When I walked into the lobby, and I saw the guy they nailed to the plus sign, I knew they meant business.”

But I would suggest to you that Jesus and his cross are always a “plus sign” and never a “minus sign.” Whenever Jesus enters our life he always brings us more not less; he always exceeds our expectations, never diminishing or disappointing them. I think that’s one reason parents pick Catholic schools for their children, who not only struggle with math, but struggle with life. The Guy we nailed to the plus sign inspires them to achieve more than they thought possible, not less.

In the gospel today, Jesus tries to teach the people he is the Guy nailed to the plus sign, and he has come to give them more than they could hope or dream, not less. His cross is a plus sign not a minus sign. He says, “There is a greater than Solomon here,” and a little later adds: “There is something greater than Jonah here.” You will recall that in the Old Testament no one possessed greater wisdom than Solomon, who even wrote the book of Wisdom. And few prophets were as persuasive as Jonah, who converted the hard-hearted Ninevites in one day. But Jesus says to them: “I am the plus sign, always greater, always wiser, always holier than your dreams and desires can imagine no matter how great they may be. The cross of Christ is always a plus sign, never a minus sign.

My friends, do you truly believe Jesus has come to give us more than we expect or imagine, or do you think he makes our lives less? I think there are many people who believe that Christianity is merely sacrifice and sadness, and less life, not more. Let me give you some examples where I see the cross of Christ as a plus sign rather than a minus sign. During Lent it certainly seems like we’re living less by giving up what we love: chocolate, T.V., social media, etc. But I believe what we’re really doing spiritually is like giving up junk food to enjoy a gourmet meal, or sacrificing heavy metal music to hear the subtle sounds of symphony. What at first feels like a minus in the end turns out to be a plus.

A friend of mine often asks: “Fr. John, why do you get up at 4:30 in the morning to write your sermons instead of working on them during the day?” I try to explain that what seems like unbearable sacrifice and silence is actually a golden opportunity for uninterrupted concentration to hear the Holy Spirit. What seems to all common sense to look like a minus sign is in reality, at least in my experience, a plus sign.

And lastly, everything we lose in this world momentarily – our loved ones like my nephew Noah, or our hair, or our hearing, or our eyesight, or our mobility, or our driver’s license, or our mental capacity, or our memory, or whatever – is but a small minus sign. And Jesus changes that minus sign into a plus sign by his cross and resurrection. In other words, we will get all those losses back in heaven in a way that will always exceed our expectations on earth.

Little boys in Catholic schools are inspired to study math because of the Guy nailed to the plus sign. That Guy, who is our God, always changes our minuses into pluses, and our earthly losses into eternal gains.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Profiling People

Perfectly profiling people like Jesus does

03/12/2019

Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus said to his disciples: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Is profiling people a good thing or a bad thing? First, let me share a common definition of profiling: “The recording and analysis of a person’s psychological and behavioral characteristics, so as to assess or predict their capabilities in a certain sphere or to assist in identifying a particular subgroup of people.” Profiling, therefore, is a kind of discrimination. There are all kinds of profiling, such as, DNA profiling, racial profiling, sexual orientation profiling, geographic profiling. Now, some profiling is bad, like racial profiling, when it merely disguises discrimination toward people of a certain race. Some people accuse police departments of racial profiling, which has become such a trend today that I wonder if some people do not profile police departments as being racist.

On the other hand, parents teach their children to profile people as either safe or dangerous. They say, “Don’t talk to strangers,” which means children must profile people into the subgroup of stranger. In today’s toxic atmosphere caused by the child sexual abuse scandal, I wonder if priests are not also subgrouped into the “stranger danger” category by some parents. Ironically, we priests can even profile ourselves into the category of the “untouchables” and hesitate to hug children because it looks bad. We profile people all the time; sometimes it is good and we should, but sometimes it’s bad and we better not.

The scripture readings also weigh in on this touchy topic of profiling people, and seem to stand on both sides of the debate. The book of Deuteronomy states: “Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty but judge your fellowman justly.” In other words, no profiling people or showing preferences. On the other hand, in the gospel Jesus seems to encourage profiling of the poor, that is, so we can see Jesus in them. Our Lord declares: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” In other words, we positively must profile people, especially the poor, so we can discriminate in their favor, that is, so we can love them more.

By the way, Jesus injunction to profile the poor in order to love them stands in the middle of Matthew 25, in the section called “The Judgment of the Nations,” where Jesus will separate all humanity into either sheep or goats, and seal our eternal destiny. In other words, the end of time will consist of the ultimate profiling of people into two subgroups by the One who knows us best. Only Jesus can profile people perfectly, without any prejudice.

Folks, I would suggest to you that profiling people is a part of life that forms and facilitates our interactions with others. We cannot avoid it. May I recommend three things we can do to harness this perpetual profiling and use it in a Christian way to build up the kingdom? First of all, become more aware of how we profile people all the time, often unconsciously. We go to the hospital and an Indian doctor sees us. We think: “Oh, all of those Indian doctors are smart!” And they are, of course. We went to Honduras and hundreds of people lined up to see our American doctors, because the Hondurans thought: “Oh, all those American doctors are smart!” And of course they are. But can you see the subtle profiling underlying those judgments?

Secondly, profile people so as to see the image and likeness of God in them. That is how each person is conceived and created, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, tall or short, smart or slow, fashionable or frumpy. Each person is a child of God, and that should never be omitted from a person’s profile. And thirdly, profile the poor because they are simply Jesus in disguise as we hear in Matthew 25.

Profiling people means looking closely at them, peering below the surface of their appearances, discovering a child of God and a brother or sister of the Lord, so we can love them intensely and unconditionally. Only then will we begin to profile people perfectly like Jesus does.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Trust and Tithe

Learning and living the golden rule of giving

03/10/2019

Deuteronomy 26:4-10 Moses spoke to the people, saying: "The priest shall receive the basket from you and shall set it in front of the altar of the LORD, your God. Then you shall declare before the Lord, your God, 'My father was a wandering Aramean who went down to Egypt with a small household and lived there as an alien. But there he became a nation great, strong, and numerous. When the Egyptians maltreated and oppressed us, imposing hard labor upon us, we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers,  and he heard our cry and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. He brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand and outstretched arm, with terrifying power, with signs and wonders; and bringing us into this country, he gave us this land flowing with milk and honey. Therefore, I have now brought you the firstfruits of the products of the soil  which you, O LORD, have given me.' And having set them before the Lord, your God, you shall bow down in his presence."

Over the course of twenty-three years as a priest, I have had to raise money for all kinds of programs and projects, for rectories and renovations, for buildings and even books. And I have learned there is one “golden rule of giving,” namely, people do not give to projects, they give to persons, persons they trust. That is why I so easily throw away those generic solicitations in the mail every day, and I hope you do too! If I don’t know the person who’s asking, I do not give to the project. And knowing the person who’s soliciting really requires building a relationship with that person, a relationship built on trust. In other words, no trust, no tithe.

A pastor fell out of favor with his church council over various church policies and procedures, including how the finances were handled. After bitter arguments and many nights of lost sleep, the pastor decided to leave the congregation to take a job as a prison chaplain. Before he departed, he preached his last sermon at the church on John 14:1, “Behold, I go to prepare a place for you.” So, if the bishop appoints me to prison ministry, you will know there is something seriously wrong here at the church: I’m going to prepare a place for you. I am convinced that no church in the world ever really has money problems, no matter how poor their congregations. Rather, churches do have pastor problems because of a loss of trust. When the people do not trust the pastor, they do not tithe to the parish.

In the first reading from Deuteronomy, Moses explains why people should give to support their religion. Moses, the great law-giver, was not unaware of the golden rule of giving. He commanded: “The priest shall receive the basket from you and shall set it in front of the altar of the Lord, your God.” But he also explained why they should give, namely, because they can trust God to take care of them. He went on: “He brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand and outstretched arm…he gave us this land flowing with milk and honey. Therefore, I have now brought you the firstfruits of the products of the soil, which you, O Lord, have given me.” In other words, people knew they could trust God, and so they gladly tithed their first fruits to the priests, who placed them before the altar.

This weekend I am preaching on the subject of stewardship, specifically, our financial stewardship to support the parish. You should have received a letter from me asking you to pray about how much you give, and if possible, to give a little more in the coming year. I personally signed each one, so you better not have thrown it away, like generic solicitations! I don’t like to ask others to do something I am unwilling to do, so I will increase my personal tithe by $50 a month. I am not above using a little Catholic guilt to get you to give. Would you please return your pledge card by Easter, April 21?

But I also know the golden rule of giving, like Moses: people give to persons rather than to projects. So you should know I am not the only person you trust to when you tithe to our church. You also give to Dc. Greg Pair, who conducts a tireless ministry to the poor. You support Sharon Blentlinger, who has increased our school’s enrollment over 270 students in K-6, and loves each students as her own child. You make possible the precise financial management provided by Cindy McNally and Linda Maestri. You finance fearless Surennah Werley who has taken over 90 confirmation candidates on weekend retreat thanks to your tithe. Cecilia Garcia keeps our presence on social media vibrant and our religious education on track because you underwrite her ministry. Loretta Collins carries on weekly youth ministry programs teaching trusting and tithing to the next generation of Catholics. Mariella Araujo oversees our growing Hispanic community, muchas gracias for your gifts!

Patty O’Brien and Doreen Williams make sure our church is decorated beautifully and truly glorifies God thanks to your gifts. George Post maintains our machines and motors that keep us comfortable because of your stewardship. Your money makes possible our music ministry let by Mat Burkepile and other talented musicians.  Pam Seiter’s smiling face greets everyone who walks into the church office. And I don’t want to forget Peggy Brandebura who gently guides like the Good Shepherd people who want to be Catholic. None of these ministries would be possible without your money, and I gladly place your gifts before the altar of God.

In 2002, the clergy sexual abuse scandal exploded in the Catholic Church like an atomic bomb, and church collections plummeted like never before. Why? Simple: because that is the golden rule of giving, whether in the book of Deuteronomy or in the twenty-first century: people do not give to programs; they give to persons they trust. Or, they don’t give. Only if you trust the leaders of this parish will you financially support our parish. Otherwise, I might have to start looking for a job in prison ministry.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Missing the Messiah

Replacing our great expectations with God’s expectations

03/08/2019

Luke 9:22-25 Jesus said to his disciples: "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised." Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?"

On our recent mission trip to Honduras we not only spent time with the poor, I also enjoyed my time with the missionaries. We had lots of great conversations, especially on the five hour bus ride from the airport to Tocoa, where we stayed. One thoughtful missionary named Chip surprisingly asked me a very spiritual question. He asked: “Fr. John, how did the Jews miss the Messiah, if that is who their whole religion was waiting for?” I said, “That’s such an easy question, I’ll let Deacon Cesar answer it.” Not really.

I answered: “I think the Jews’ expectations for the Messiah were very great, but they were also very earthly. They wanted the Messiah to save them with political power, military might, and bring them worldly wealth. But because Jesus did not promise or provide any of those fulfillments, they not only missed him, they even murdered him.” Today’s first reading seems to justify the Jews’ earthly expectations. We read in Deuteronomy: “Choose life…long life for you to live on the land that the Lord swore he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” In other words, the Jews had been educated to expect the Messiah to achieve two goals: (1) restore their lost land and (2) give them long life. But Jesus the Messiah did neither.

Have you read the classic novel called Great Expectations by Charles Dickens? It was published in 1861 and recounts the education and expectations of an orphan named Pip. I mention the novel because Pip slowly learns that his own great expectations are not always God’s expectations for his life. Through a long series of disappointments, dangers, and even deceptions, Pip discovers that God’s expectations always turn out better than his own. In a sense, we might say the whole bible – Old Testament and New Testament – should have served like the novel Great Expectations for the Jews. The experiences of the Jews in the bible should have taught them to relinquish their own expectations in favor of God’s, which always surpass anything they could have imagined.

In the gospel today, Jesus finally and fully unveils what God’s expectations are for the Chosen People. Jesus declares: “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” And he adds: “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?” In other words, Jesus is trying to raise the Jews’ expectations from earth to heaven, from their own great expectations to God’s even greater expectations. St. Paul will put a fine point on this in 1 Corinthians 15:19, where he writes: “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.” Jesus came to transform our own great expectations for us, into God’s expectations for us, which always exceed what we could hope for.

My friends, sooner or later our own hopes and dreams for our life fail to pan out as we planned. Maybe a marriage you hoped would bring you happiness turned sour and ended in divorce. Sometimes a career path we saw promising prosperity and even early retirement blundered into bankruptcy and dire debt. For some people chronic illness or persistent pain makes them give up on healing and health. We aspire to be a saint but moral mishaps and spiritual struggles leave us lethargic and lacking love for God or our neighbor. What parent doesn’t hope their child grows up to cure cancer, but sometimes they grow up and care barely treat their common cold. All our great expectations seem to shipwreck on the unseen reefs of real life.

May I suggest to you that is the perfect point to exchange our own great expectations for God’s much greater expectations? Just like the Jews and Pip endured disappointments and dangers and even deceptions, we need to realize our own struggles are all designed to help us let go of our expectations and learn to embrace God’s. In a certain sense, that is also the underlying lesson of Lent: we sacrifice our earthly expectations (our pleasures and our plans) so we can embrace God’s heavenly expectations (his providence and his peace).

If we do not undergo that transformation, we too may end up like the Jews: we may likewise miss the Messiah.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Chauffeur

Learning how to go from discipleship to apostleship

03/03/2019

Luke 6:39-45 Jesus told his disciples a parable, "Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher. "A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks."

Last week I went on a mission trip to Honduras and we had a driver who took us from place to place. At one point the driver had to run an errand and invited me to come along. He asked me to drive while he rode shotgun. He said: “Our trading places like this reminds of an old joke. One day a brilliant scientist was being driven by his usual chauffeur to a symposium. The scientist had shared so much of his life and work over the years that the chauffeur knew almost as much as he did. The scientist said, ‘What if we traded places, and you present the lecture and I’ll drive you around?’ The good-humored chauffeur gladly agreed.

The scientist briefed the chauffeur on his presentation as well as the questions people would probably ask. When they arrived the scientist opened the back door for the chauffeur and carried his bags inside. When it was time for the presentation, the chauffeur climbed on stage, adjusted his spectacles and delivered his speech. During the question and answer section, he easily replied to all the queries as he had rehearsed. But the very last question was completed unexpected and extremely hard and complicated. Thinking quickly, he calmly answered: “That is such a simple question, my friend, that I think I will let my chauffeur answer it.” That joke sounds funnier in Spanish.

In the gospel today, Jesus explains how one day his disciples would teach the nations and stand in his place. One Lord says: “No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained every disciple will be like his teacher.” The term “disciple” means learner or student, while the term “apostle” means one sent to teach and preach. Just like the chauffeur had learned much wisdom from his scientist friend so he could one day stand in his place, so the disciples spent three years in the company of Jesus, learning his wisdom so they could go to the four corners of the world and preach the Good News. Every week at I.C. we have a staff meeting where the priest leads the opening prayer. Lately, however, I’ve asked a staff member to lead the prayer. At first they were startled but now they look forward to it. At some point in the training, the disciple must become the teacher, like the chauffeur changed places with the scientist.

Today I’m here to talk about Trinity Junior High and to ask your help in a second collection. As you know registration has already begun, and I’m so pleased that many sixth graders from Christ the King School have registered at Trinity for this fall. If you’re still on the fence, let me share some reasons you might consider Trinity. Our academics are superior and students graduating from Trinity are typically ahead of their peers entering tenth grade at Northside or Southside. We have small classes with a 15 to 1 student-teacher ratio. Students receive individualized attention to enhance their strengths while overcoming their weaknesses. We now own the entire building we previously leased and have added another layer of safety with security cameras and access to only the school community. Being a small school community means students are not just anonymous faces in the crowd, but each one is known by name. Students cannot hide, even though some try to.  And everyone gets leadership opportunities. Why? Well, because we don’t have enough students to be followers!

Did you see this week’s Arkansas Catholic newspaper? The section called “Seeds of Faith” featured four Trinity students. They answered the question, “How will you grow spiritually this Lent?” I was so humbled and so proud of their answers. Grecia Gonzalez replied: “I hope to grow spiritually this Lent by not turning on my TV during the weekdays. Instead of watching TV, I will be responsible and do things I need to do and…I will take a moment to say a prayer.” Emily Harris said: “I am planning to give up social media which takes up a large amount of my time. Maybe without social media I could grow closer to God.” Juana Mora answered: “Every Lent I normally give up food but I don’t think that giving up food for 40 days is going to bring me closer to God. I think I should give up a bad habit instead, and that will get me closer to God.” I like how Juana thinks: I don’t want to give up food either! Finally, Marvin Chindasack promised: “I hope to grow spiritually during Lent by talking/praying to God.” He humbly added: “My relationship with him has gotten weaker, and I want to restore it even greater this year.” These are the thoughts running through the minds of Trinity students because those are the ideas our school inspires them to think. It’s easy to see today budding disciples and students who tomorrow will blossom into apostles and teachers of the faith. What Jesus said applies exactly to Trinity students: “No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.”

Let me conclude with a quotation I often see in Catholic schools that summarizes what I’m trying to say. It reads: “Let it be known to all who enter here that Jesus Christ is the reason for this school, the unseen but ever-present teacher in all its classes, the model of its faculty, and the inspiration for its students.” If that’s the kind of school you want for your junior high-aged student, then Trinity is the perfect place for you. At some point in our journey of faith, we must stop being the chauffeur and stand in the place of the scientist.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Be Kind for Lent

Cutting out the middle man of prayer, fasting and almsgiving

03/06/2019

Joel 2:12-18 Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing, Offerings and libations for the LORD, your God.

Today is March 6 and do you know why today is an important day? There are two reasons: first, this year March 6 is Ash Wednesday, but second, March 6 this year is also Fr. Stephen’s birthday. Now, you may think, “Oh, man, what a bummer to have you birthday on Ash Wednesday, when you can’t really celebrate it because you have to fast and abstain from eating meat.” But don’t feel too bad for the baby priest because he got at least three birthday parties yesterday, which was Mardi gras, and a perfect day to par-tay.

But ironically enough, I believe a birthday falling on Ash Wednesday is extremely proper and even profound. Why? Well, this year Fr. Stephen turns twenty-eight years old. But do you know how old I will be this year? I will turn the big 5-0; I like to call is “Hawaii 5-0.” When you’re relatively young like Fr. Stephen you still look forward to your birthdays. But when you get old like me, you wish people would forget your birthday or you tell little white lies like, “It’s just my 39th birthday.” Why do we do that? Well, at some age – usually around forty – we realize we are not going to live forever and that at some point we are going to die and eventually turn into ashes. After forty, you’re closer to your grave than you are to your cradle (where you were born). In other words, every birthday after forty is, in a sense, like Ash Wednesday because it’s a sober reminder that we will die someday. That’s why a birthday on Ash Wednesday presents a profound paradox: it reminds us not only of the day we’re born, but also of the day we’ll die.

As you come forward to receive blessed ashes on your forehead, therefore, try to imagine the end of your life. In fact, the minister of ashes will help you do that by saying: “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” When you come to the end of your life, I hope you will be able to say that you have lived without any regrets. The best way not to have any regrets at the end of your life is to “be kind” as Dr. Hollenbeck is encouraging everyone here at Trinity this Lent. That’s my Lenten practice this year – to be kind in my thoughts and in my words and in my attitudes and in my actions. And I’m not giving up anything else. Indeed, all our sacrifices and prayers and almsgiving are for the purpose of being more kind and more loving to others. The best Lenten resolution is simply to “be kind” because it sort of cuts out the middle man of prayer, sacrifice and almsgiving: that’s what those things are for.

Boys and girls, today you are 13, 14 and 15 years old, but you won’t always stay that age. One day you will turn twenty-eight like Fr. Stephen, and another day you will even reach Hawaii 5-0 like me. But no matter how old or young you are, every year you will have Ash Wednesday and the not-so-gentle reminder: “remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” These blessed ashes are a blessed reminder to be kind to everyone and to be kind every day, so that one day, you will die without any regrets. The world’s philosophy of life says: “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” The Christian’s philosophy of life says: “Be kind, for tomorrow we die.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!