The Bossman

Moving from a modest hope to a great hope

10/29/2019

Romans 8:18-25 Brothers and sisters: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees for itself is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance.

Of the three theological virtues of faith, hope and charity (love), it seems the virtue of hope tends to get short-shrift. We hear a lot more sermons and soundbites on faith and love, and hardly any ink is spilled on the virtue of hope. Maybe that’s one reason on November 30, 2007 Pope Benedict XVI felt the need to write a lengthy encyclical on the virtue of hope called “Spe salvi” which is Latin and means “in hope we are saved.” That’s a quotation from Romans 8:24, taken from our first reading today. The fundamental thesis of the pope’s letter on hope can be summed up in this one line: “the one who hopes lives differently” (no. 2). To illustrate the radical difference living with hope makes, Benedict related the story of a Sudanese saint canonized by his predecessor, Pope Saint John Paul II.

The pope emeritus wrote: “I am thinking of the African Josephine Bahkita, canonized by Pope John Paul II. She was born around 1869 – she herself did not know the precise date – in Darfur in Sudan. At the age of nine she was kidnapped by slave-traders, beaten till she bled, and sold five times in the slave-markets of Sudan. Eventually she found herself working as a slave for the mother and the wife of a general, and there she was flogged every day till she bled; as a result of this she bore 144 scars throughout her life.

“Finally, in 1882, she was bought by an Italian merchant for the Italian consul Callisto Legnani, who returned to Italy as the Mahdists advanced. Here, after terrifying ‘masters’ had owned her up to that point Bakhita came to know a totally different kind of ‘master’ – in Venetian dialect, which she was now learning, she used the name ‘paron’ for the living God, the God of Jesus Christ.” Think of the word “paron” as the equivalent of the Spanish word “patron” meaning “bossman.” Some Mexican restaurants are called “Patron.”

The pope continued: “Up to that time she had known only masters who despised and maltreated her, or at best considered her a useful slave. Now, however, she heard there is a ‘paron’ above all masters, the Lord of all lords, and that this Lord is good, goodness in person. She came to know that this Lord even knew her, that he created her – that he actually loved her. She, too, was loved, by none other than the supreme ‘Paron,’ before whom all other masters are themselves no more than lowly servants. She was known and loved and she was awaited…Now she had ‘hope’ – no longer simply the modest hope of finding a master who would be less cruel, but the great hope: ‘I am definitively loved and whatever happens to me, I am awaited by this Lord. And so my life is good.’

“On 9 January 1890, she was baptized and confirmed and received her first Holy Communion from the hands of the Patriarch of Venice. On 8 December 1896, in Verona, she took her vows in the Congregation of the Canossian Sisters and from that time onward, besides her work in the sacristy and in the porter’s lodge in the convent, she made several journeys around Italy in order to promote the missions: the liberation that she had received through her encounter with the God of Jesus Christ, she felt had to be extended, it had to be handed on to others, to the greatest possible number of people…this hope had to reach many, to reach everybody.” As I was reading the pope’s encyclical, it seemed the Holy Father, too, felt the same urgency to spread the spirit of hope in order to reach many, in order to reach everybody. Why? Well, when our hope is rooted in God, we live differently.

The phrase that jumped out at me in the pope’s writing was the contrast between a “modest hope” and a “great hope.” That’s what I would like you to take with you today and chew on. Ask yourself: do I live with merely a modest hope of meager happiness and fulfillment, or do I harbor a great hope in my heart for infinite happiness and satisfaction? Sometimes the difficulties of life beat us down like the blows of the masters beat down the spirit of Saint Bahkita. That is until she found a new Paron, namely, Jesus Christ, in whom Bakhita found a great hope.

My friends, I would suggest to you our hopes will only reach as high as the bossman, the paron, the patron, we are working for. What do I mean? If those you are trying to please are on earth, then your hope will be earthly. But if the One you are trying to please is in heaven, then your hope will reach as high as heaven, where the One who loves is in waiting for us. The greatness of our hope is always bound up with the greatness of our Bossman.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Rule of Thumb

Respecting our ancestors and successors

10/28/2019

Luke 6:12-16 Jesus went up to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

One of the first rules of thumb they teach new pastors is, “Don’t change anything for the first six months to a year in your new parish.” Recently, I was visiting with Fr. Stephen, the new pastor of Pocahontas, and we talked about that rule and why it’s good to remember. Why are new pastors taught that rule? Every new pastor faces a subtle temptation to succumb to the Messiah complex, to think he has come to save this parish instead of Jesus. That is, we priests are tempted to think the former pastor had left matters a disaster and thank goodness the bishop has sent me on my white horse to ride in and save the poor parishioners, like the damsel in distress.

The rule to not change anything (if possible) for at least six months to a year acknowledges that the Holy Spirit was at work in the ministry of holy priests long before I arrived. And just as importantly, the Holy Spirit will continue to inspire holy men long after I ride off into the sunset on my white horse. Another subtle temptation of some pastors is believing the next generation will undo and ruin all the good I have achieved here. That, too, is a failure to see the wondrous work the Spirit does in every age and through every pastor.

Today we celebrate the feast of two apostles, Simon and Jude. Not a lot is known about them. According to tradition, they both preached the good news in Persia (modern-day Iran). They both suffered martyrdom: Simon was sawn in half, and Jude was thrust through with a spear. In the gospel of Luke 6, Jesus selects 12 men to be his apostles. Now, why 12 rather than 7 or 10 or 20 or 1,000. Why not deputize all his followers to become apostles. Well, because Jesus is a good pastor, and he knows well the rule of thumb to build on the good work of those who came before him, and not change things arbitrarily.

In the book of Genesis, God has blessed Jacob with 12 sons who would become the Patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel. Each tribe named after each patriarch. Jesus knew the Holy Spirit had done good work before him. And what the preoccupation of the apostles after Judas betrays Jesus and hangs himself? Acts chapter 1 records the urgent need to restore the college of apostles to 12. They draw lots and elect Matthias. Jesus had predicted this at the Last Supper when he said to the Twelve in Luke 22:30: “You will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” In other words, there exists a continuity of collaboration between the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, the ministry of Jesus the Messiah in the 4 Gospels, and the apostolic activity of the Twelve in the New Testament, all the way down to the modern day pastors of Pope Francis, Bishop Taylor, Fr. John, and even to whomever succeeds us. To respect the role of each pastor, like an indispensable link in a long chain stretching back to Abraham and even Adam, is summed up in the rule of thumb, “Don’t change anything for six months to a year.”

The temptation of “Messiah complex” does not just afflict priests and pastors, it attacks all of us. When we become teenagers and young adults, what thought often crosses many young minds? We tend to think: “I’ll do things so much better than my parents did! I won’t make all the mistakes they did in raising us!” Like new pastors, so new parents, sometimes think they will ride in on their while horse and save the damsel in distress. But the sober reality is often the opposite. We make as many blunders as they did, and probably more. In order to resist that temptation, try to carry on the traditions of your elders: family get-togethers, church services, shared vacations, and even preserve the language of your ancestors, Polish, German, Italian, Indian, Spanish or Cajun! Remember the rule of thumb for new pastors and new parents: “Don’t change anything for six months to a year,” and maybe keep some family traditions forever, like your faith.

A friend of mine wanted to join the Cistercian monastery a few years ago, a very strict and austere religious order. They follow the rule of St. Benedict so rigorously, they say: “We don’t change the rule, the rule changes us.” That is how good rules of thumb really work.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Dogs or Dollars

Learning to appreciate the riches of poverty

10/27/2019

Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18 The LORD is a God of justice, who knows no favorites. Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed. The Lord is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint. The one who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens. The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right, and the Lord will not delay.

Did you ever think that being poor could actually make you rich? The two terms “poverty” and “riches” don’t usually go together. Yet, I am convinced there is a goldmine of wealth that lies hidden in the poor. How we do usua

lly determine who is rich? Sometimes we judge a person’s wealth by the size of the house they live in, or the brand of the car they drive (like my Chevy), or the fine quality of their clothes, etc. Sometimes, we even look at a person’s zip code. Remember that 90’s television show called “Beverly Hills 90210”? The zip code said it all. That’s how we typically tell the rich from the poor, the haves from the have-nots.

One day a wealthy man took his son on a trip to the country so his son could see first-hand how the poor country people lived, and by contrast, be impressed by their own mansion. They stayed one day and one night at the farm of a very humble farm family. When they returned home, the father asked the son, “What did you think of the trip?” The son replied: “Very nice, dad.” His dad probed further: “Did you notice how poor they were?” The son answered, “Yes, I did.” The father pushed a little further: “So, what did you learn from this trip?” The boy replied: “I learned that we have one dog in the house, and they had four dogs. We have a fountain and imported lamps in our garden, they have a stream with no end and all the stars to shed light on their garden. Our lawn goes to the edge of our property, they have the entire horizon as their backyard.” At the end of the son’s reply, the father was speechless. The son punctuated his answer by adding: “Thank you, dad, for showing me how poor we really are.” Children measure wealth by how many dogs you have rather than how many dollars.

The book of Sirach, our first reading, also notices certain “riches” in poverty. Sirach says poetically: “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right, and the Lord will not delay.” In other words, the poor and lowly have the Lord’s ear and his heart when they pray to him, and he does not hesitate to help them. God gives the poor dogs and endless streams and sparkling stars and the whole horizon for their home. Most especially he gives them his love, which is the greatest wealth in the world.

May I share a few of personal observations about the riches of poverty, the wealth that the poor possess? First of all, the poor possess a greater degree of freedom of movement. Have you ever noticed how the homeless do not reside in one place very long, but most freely about the country? Priests, too, are called to cultivate a spirit of detachment from material things. Why? Well, so we can move more easily from parish to parish. One priest joked that when we are ordained the bishop should buy us all a Winnebago, so we could drive up to a new parish, and plug in and pray. When it was time to leave, we just unplug and proceed to the next parish. In other words, poverty of spirit leads to a freedom of spirit.

Another wealth that proceeds from poverty is spiritual sight and vision. On the other hand, a surplus of possessions can cause spiritual blindness. Revelation 3:17 severely criticizes the prosperous city of Laodicea, saying: “For you say I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor blind and naked.” Helen Keller, who was born blind, once remarked very insightfully: “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” A surplus of materials goods can make us blind to spiritual goods, like faith. We have sight but no vision. Is that why atheism is one of the fastest growing groups in our country?

A third treasure of poverty is living for a transcendent purpose, that is, to discover a vocation to be a priest, a religious sister, a monk or a nun. That is, we live more for the next world than for this world. Materials goods are good (to be sure), but they can weigh us down and chain our feet to the floor of this world. Poverty, however, provides us with wings to soar to heaven and kiss the face of God. Have you ever wondered why your pastor is from India, or your associate pastor is from Mexico? Do we ever ask why our own children do not become priests or nuns? I think we can find the answer in Luke 18. Jesus invited the rich young man to follow him, to become a disciple, a priest, but he went away sad. Why? Luke 18:23 reads: “When he heard this he became very sad, for he was very rich.” Sometimes the good (material things) becomes the enemy of the best (spiritual things).

Folks, I hope you’re hearing this homily is the right spirit. I know we are all working hard to get ahead, to enjoy the fruits of our labors, and to give our kids a better life than we had. I am glad God has blessed many of you financially, and I’m really glad you share those blessing with the church! All that is very good. Yet, there is a certain downside of material prosperity, namely, spiritual poverty. On the other hand, material poverty can lead to a sort of spiritual prosperity. Some define wealth by dollars, but others define it by dogs.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Catholic Candy Store

Learning and loving the Bible and Catholicism

10/25/2019

Romans 7:18-25A Brothers and sisters: I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not. For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand. For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

I cannot tell you how much I am thoroughly enjoying leading the bible study on the gospel of Mark. As I prepare for each session and learn more ab

out the Bible, I feel like a kid in a candy store – and the best part is the candy is free! Let me share two discoveries I have made lately that might surprise most modern Catholics, at least they surprised me.

First, did you know the original books of the bible did not have chapters and verses? Imagine reading the gospel of Luke (which has 24 long chapters) without any chapters or verses, and that’s how people read the bible for the first millennium (1000 years). Only in 1205 did Cardinal Stephen Langton create chapter divisions that we see in modern Bibles. Furthermore, only in 1551 did Robert Estienne, a French scholar and printer, include the verses to further divide the chapters. In other words, before the 16th century, no one could quote the bible by chapter and verse, because there weren’t any. All Christian were like modern Catholics who say: “You know, where it says somewhere in the bible to love your neighbor…” This is also why when St. Augustine (in the 4th century) and St. Anselm (in the 11th century) quote the bible, they do not use chapter and verse, just like me and you.

Secondly, the original Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament were written in all capital letters called “uncials.” The miniscules (small letters) were not included until the Middle Ages. Even more striking is the fact that there were no spaces between words, and not even any punctuation marks in the original manuscripts. No commas, no semi-colons, no periods. The punctuations were added later by editors of the Greek texts. That’s why when our poor lectors come up to the ambo to read at Mass, they might find Ephesians 1:3-14 which is one long run-on sentence, and their knees knock, they break into a cold sweat, and start to hyperventilate. Just be glad you were not a lector in the first century of Christianity where there were no periods at all.

The upshot of these discoveries is that Jesus did not drop the Bible from heaven in its complete, modern form as he ascended into heaven. Rather, the bible has undergone a mysterious and even miraculous evolution guided by the Holy Spirit and the Magisterium of the Church. Christians simply could not read the Bible today without the work of the Spirit and the Church.

Now let me say a word about one of the most intriguing passage of Sacred Scripture, namely, Romans 7:24, from our first reading. We read Paul’s anguished cry: “Miserable one that I am! Who will save me from this mortal body?” Now remember, before the Middle Ages, I would have said: You know, somewhere it says in Romans…” But thanks to Langton and Estienne, I can say that’s in Romans 7:24. In chapter 6 Paul talked about baptism and how that makes us new men and new women, indeed, we live “in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). But St. Paul adds in chapter 7 that even though we are new in baptism, we still struggle with our old, fallen nature, with a tendency to sin called “concupiscence.” This is the constant battle of every Christian; we feel like the tug-of-war rope pulled between good and evil.

Therefore, Paul continues in chapter 8 to talk about the role of the Holy Spirit in Christian maturity. In other words, the Christian journey that began in baptism keeps hitting hurdles called concupiscence and sin, which can only be overcome by the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of Confirmation. Can you see how Romans 6 sets the spiritual stage for Romans 7, which in turn paves the way for Romans 8? In other words, don’t miss the forest by focusing too much on the trees. In the same way, don’t miss the bigger picture in Scripture by quoting chapter and verse, and overlooking the larger spiritual point the Holy Spirit is making in the whole Bible. Nothing less than our salvation is at stake when we read the Bible.

The more I study the Sacred Scriptures the more I love the Scriptures. Why? Well, I am discovering that the Bible is a thoroughly Catholic book. It could not exist without the efforts of the saints and scholars up and down the centuries. It was given to us as a gift from God, from the Holy Spirit, the principal Author of the Scriptures, for our happiness and our holiness. The more you love the bible, the more you will love being Catholic. Every time you open the bible, I hope you feel like a kid who just walked into a candy store.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Bless This Home

Holding on to our homes with a loose grip

10/21/2019

Luke 12:13-21 Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me." He replied to him, "Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?" Then he said to the crowd, "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions." Then he told them a parable. "There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, 'What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?' And he said, 'This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, "Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!"' But God said to him, 'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?' Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God."

Yesterday afternoon, I went to bless Bill and Karen Hollenbeck’s new home. Well, it was new to them but I knew the previous occupants very well, namely, Eddie and Betty Christian. Do you remember them? Eddie Christian was a highly sought-after defense attorney in Fort Smith, and Betty was a devout Catholic lady. The very first time I visited that house on Park Avenue was when I arrived here in December, 2013 and Eddie was lying in a hospice bed in his home. Shortly thereafter we had the funeral Mass for Eddie Christian Sr. here at Immaculate Conception. As the Hollenbecks moved into their new home, it suddenly hit me that someday, they, too, will move out of that beautiful Park Avenue home, and leave it for someone else.

Every time I drive down Cliff Drive and pass Dr. Marlin Hoge’s home, I think of the many times I visited him to give him Holy Communion and Anointing of the Sick. Dr. Hoge was usually eating cereal or watching the NFL football games on Sunday. But he was always clear-minded and said all the prayers even as his body grew weaker. Now someone else lives in that beautiful home and they have removed the wheelchair ramp that used to go up to the front door.

Occasionally, I give visitors a tour of our beautiful church, and someone compliments me by saying: “Father, you sure have a stunning church!” I reply, “Thank you,” but I feel a little like the Hollenbecks and the Hoges and know someone was the occupant as pastor of this house of God before me, and one day I will leave it for my successor after me. That is both a very sobering thought but I believe it is also a very spiritual thought. In other words, every home has a line of succession, no one person, no one family, gets to hold on to a home forever.

In the gospel today, Jesus tells a similar sober but spiritual parable of a rich man who thinks he will hang on to his possessions forever. The man’s overconfidence prompts him to say to himself: “Now, as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!” Jesus, however, points out God’s perspective, saying: “But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared to whom will they belong?’” In other words, learn the lesson of the Hollenbecks and the Hoges, and don’t grow too attached to worldly wealth like a beautiful home. Sooner or later you will leave it behind to your successors, like I will leave this parish to another pastor, hopefully a long time from now! Rather, make your true treasure your precious faith, which reminds you your true home is waiting for you in heaven.

Another thing I have witnessed since arriving in Fort Smith is people’s exceeding generosity. In the past six years I have conducted three major fundraising campaigns. The first was for the renovation of our church, called “Restoring to Glory,” the second was for I.C. School, called “Tomorrow’s Promise,” and the third was for Trinity Junior High, called “Strike a Match.” All three were wildly successful, not because I’m such a good salesman, far from it. Instead, their success depended entirely on the people of Fort Smith, who are extremely generous with their gifts. Why is that? Well, one reason is that people here instinctively “get it.” Like the Hollenbecks and the Hoges understand well, we are ultimately stewards rather than owners of what we have, and we will leave it all to others. In other words, people of faith have their treasure in heaven, not on earth.

Archbishop Peter Sartain described the three stages of learning to become stewards using the three words, “mine,” “ours,” and “yours.” He said toddlers tiny hands grasp toys and declare defiantly, “Mine!” When people marry, they say lovingly, “Ours.” And when we stand on the doorstep of eternity, we say with faith, “Yours,” and leave everything to others. The sooner we learn to say “Yours,” the happier and the holier we will be. And that, by the way, is what I am thinking when I come to bless your home.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Angie's List

Seeing how laity support priestly arms to bless

10/20/2019

Exodus 17:8-13 In those days, Amalek came and waged war against Israel. Moses, therefore, said to Joshua, "Pick out certain men, and tomorrow go out and engage Amalek in battle. I will be standing on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand." So Joshua did as Moses told him: he engaged Amalek in battle after Moses had climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and Hur. As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. Moses'hands, however, grew tired; so they put a rock in place for him to sit on. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset. And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

A fundamental fact of our faith is that lay persons help the ordained ministers to fulfill our sacred functions. For example, lay people’s financial donations pay the bills - keep it coming! The laity’s faith permeate the public square like leaven raising the bread of the world and making it more Christian. A Catholic lay person can be president, like John F. Kennedy, but a Catholic priest cannot, like John K Antony. Lay people invite me to bless their home and give me supper to fill my tank, so I can keep rolling down the road. There is no way I could run a parish alone, or oversee a Catholic a school alone, or be administrator of a mission church alone. An ancient proverb teaches: “He who thinks he is leading but has not followers is only going for a walk.” No one leads alone.

The book of

Exodus 17 describes how Moses, God’s chosen instrument to deliver the Jews from slavery in Egypt, also needed the help of two assistants, Aaron and Hur, to fulfill his intercessory/priestly role. During the Battle of Rephidim, where the Israelites fought the Amelekites Moses raised his arms in prayer and blessing, and the Israelites were victorious. Think of Moses’ raised arms like the University of Notre Dame’s “Touchdown Jesus.” But when Moses’ arms grew weary, and he lowered them, the Amalekites had the upper hand. They literally raised their hands in victory. Aaron and Hur stationed themselves on either side to support Moses’ arms and the Israelites won the day. A priest cannot run a parish alone, and Moses could not bless the people alone. Every leading actor is surrounded on stage by a supporting cast.

Today I am going to lean on a lay person, like Moses leaned on Aaron and Hur, to help me with this homily, namely, Ms. Angie Elser, the mother of Fr. Stephen Elser, now pastor of St. Paul’s in Pocahontas. She developed a catchy way to sanctify the whole week; it’s a spiritual version of “Angie’s List.” She wrote: “My children and I translated and reinvented the simplicity of the popular social media days (Man Crush Monday, Twin Tuesday, Woman Crush Wednesday, Throw-back Thursday and Flashback Friday) into acronyms with attainable resolutions that have helped us grow each day in holiness.”

She began with: “Sabbath Sunday” - We are to rest just as God rested on the 7th day of creation. He gave us this example- we simply should follow His lead and rest while honoring Him in His glory.

“Me Monday” - Mondays can be tough with the start of a new week. A moment on Monday is dedicated to me. I either exercise or take a walk, slowly enjoy a cup of coffee, or wrap myself in a warm towel fresh out of the dryer, take a power nap, sing while driving, skim a magazine, or indulge in chocolate. Mondays have built-in moments for me.

“Thoughtful Tuesday” - Tuesdays are dedicated to thinking of others- to see the good in others, to help others, to pray for others, to simply be selfless placing emphasis and focus on the needs of others.

“Worship Wednesday” - Wednesday is mid-week. Worshiping God in an extra way (a prayer, Mass, adoration hour, rosary, Bible study etc.) is important to help keep my mind centered and focused on Christ.” By the way, Angie didn’t mention this, but Protestants have sanctified Wednesday long before we Catholics did. Protestants can help Catholics raise our hands, too.

Angie continued: “Thankful Thursday” - Thanking others and most importantly God is key in growing in holiness. Be thankful on Thursdays.” By the way, may I add that Jesus gave us the Holy Eucharist on Holy Thursday, and “Eucharist” means “Thanksgiving.” What day does the national holiday of Thanksgiving fall on each year?

Angie went on: “Forgiving Friday” - Forgiveness is humbling. Fridays I think of those whom I have offended and ask for their forgiveness. I also accept forgiveness from those who have offended me.

“Silent Saturday” - Saturdays I try hard to hold my tongue- to not speak unkindly of another and to rein in any words that may insult or hurt another. It’s also a day to be silent on social media- no scrolling, no posting, no time wasting. Saturday is silent in order to get all my chores and errands done so that I can rest the following day and begin again with “Sabbath Sunday.” That’s the end of Angie’s list.

Folks, Moses could not defeat the Amelekites alone, and I could not write this homily alone. Whenever we feel we’re alone, we suffer from a sort of spiritual illusion. The truth is we are always surrounded by saints and angels, seen and unseen, who support us and hold us up. I hope Angie’s List will help us hold up our hands in prayer every day. Then, we can score spiritual touchdowns all week, not just on Sabbath Sundays.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Jesus' Marines

Venerating and imitating the North American Martyrs

10/19/2019

Luke 12:8-12 Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. "Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say."

I love reading books about the lives of the saints and their singular dedication to Jesus. But what I love even more is reading books about the lives of saints who were martyrs for their faith in Jesus. The holy martyrs not only lived for Jesus, they were eager to die for Jesus. If all the saints serve in the Lord’s Army, then the martyrs are like the Marines, “the few, the proud, the Martyrs.” In a sense, the martyrs are the elite saints of the Catholic Church, and they deserve our admiration, our veneration and our imitation, if possible.

October 19, we honor the North American Martyrs, eight Jesuit missionaries who came to share the Good News with the native Americans. By the way, Fr. Martin studied theology in Rome and the American seminarians had a soccer team that played against teams from other countries. The U.S. seminarians attended North American College, and called their team, the “North American Martyrs,” maybe because they got killed all the time. But in his office, Fr. Martin has a picture of all his teammates holding the championship trophy from 2018. The North American Martyrs won the Clericus Cup last year.

In 1625, a Jesuit missionary named Fr. Jean de Brebeuf arrived in modern-day Quebec, called New France back then, to start evangelizing the native peoples. He was eventually joined by Frs. Rene Goupil, Isaac Jogues, Jean de Lalande, Anthony Daniel, Gabriel Lalemant, Charles Garnier, and Noel Chabanel. They enjoyed great success in converting the Huron nation to the Catholic faith. After he baptized his first Huron baby, Fr. Jean de Brebeuf exclaimed: “I would travel halfway around the world to baptize one baby so he might become a child of God!”

But another native American people, the Iroquois, were not peaceful at all, and they captured and tortured the Jesuit missionaries. One of their more exquisite tortures was to cut-off the “canonical digits” of the Jesuit priests’ hands – the thumb and forefinger. Why? In those days, a priest could only touch the consecrated Host at Mass with those two fingers. Presumably, without them, a priest could not say Mass. The Iroquois knew enough theology so that it was not only a physical torture, it was intended to be a spiritual one as well. But the Iroquois had not learned about a Catholic loophole called a “dispensation.” The pope gave special permission for the Jesuits to celebrate Mass using their remaining fingers. From 1642-1649, one by one, these eight holy Jesuits, these Catholic Marines, gladly died for their Captain, Jesus.

Reading the life and death of the North American Martyrs reminds me of the bravery and bold faith of Blessed Stanley Rother of Oklahoma City. He went to Guatemala and shared the Good News of Jesus among the native people there. It finally cost him his life, too, when people hostile to the work of the Catholic Church broke into his home and murdered him. Did you know every year we conduct a week-long mission trip to Honduras to share the Catholic faith with the people in that beautiful country? We are not quite as eager as the Jesuits or Fr. Stanley Rother to die for Jesus, but we are at least willing to give up a week of our life and endure some discomfort and pain for the sake of the Kingdom of God. If I come back after one of those trips without my two canonical digits, you’ll know it was a little harder than we had expected. But no worries, we Catholics always have dispensations.

Today, take a little time to read about the North American Martyrs, and their faith and fortitude. The holy martyrs are the Marines in the Lord’s Army, and their life and death may inspire us at least to be better foot soldiers.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Man of Letters

Learning a lot from Ignatius’ letters

10/17/2019

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

Do people write letters anymore? Most contemporary correspondence can be found on blogspots, emails, texts and tweets, and not much of that is worth repeating or remembering. But some letters are. Some letters give us beautiful insights into people’s hearts, their heads and their highest hopes. Letters serve as windows that open up to reveal humanity’s highest ideals. I love reading the correspondence between John and Abigail Adams during the Continental Congress. Even though women were not formally delegates, Abigail’s ideas were present through her pen and paper, in the letters she sent to John, who would become the second president of the United States.

Pope St. John Paul II had a habit of writing annual Holy Thursday letters to the priests of the whole world, filled with his papal love and encouragement. I read those letters whenever I’m feeling down in the priesthood for a little papal pick-me-up. I was visiting a parishioner recently and after dinner she pulled out a letter I had written her five years ago. She was going through a hard time back then and the letter really touched her heart and renewed her hope. I was humbled by how she had held on to that letter like a treasured family heirloom. Do people write letters anymore, and if so, are they worth writing?

Today, October 17, we celebrate the feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch, a truly remarkable saint for a number of reasons. Perhaps his most memorable achievement – besides martyrdom – was writing seven letters on his way to being killed in Rome. These letters unveil the heart and the hopes and the holiness of St. Ignatius. They also reveal what life was like in the first century immediately after Jesus’ Ascension into heaven. In other words, what was the nascent Church like in those early days? Besides the Bible itself, the writings of the Apostolic Fathers – those who knew the Apostles themselves and talked with them – carry great authority. What I find fascinating is how similar Ignatius’ letters are in style and substance to St. Paul’s 13 letters in the New Testament. Ignatius’ letters were not technically inspired by the Holy Spirit like Sacred Scripture, but they were nonetheless very inspiring.

Ignatius lived from approximately 35 to 110 A.D. According to tradition, St. Ignatius was one of the babies Jesus took in his arms and blessed in Mark 10:16. Ignatius’ seven letters were addressed to the Ephesians, the Trallians, the Philadelphians, the Smyrneans, the Magnesians, the Romans and to his close friend and brother bishop, St. Polycarp. These seven letters give us an insight into life in the second generation of Christianity, like John and Abigail Adams’ letters tell us tons about the Continental Congress.

Let me mention three surprising subjects that Ignatius touches upon in his letters. By the way, he addresses these topics very matter-of-factly, as if there is no debate about them, that is, these topics enjoyed a wide consensus in the Christian community. First, Ignatius is explicit and emphatic that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ. Indeed, there would be no great controversy about the Real Presence until Protestant Reformers questioned it in the 16th century. Secondly, Ignatius urges Christians to be loyal to their bishops, together with their priests and deacons. In the early Church, therefore, we already had a clearly delineated hierarchy of bishop, priest and deacon, just like we do today. And third, Ignatius was the first to use the Greek term “katholikos” (Catholic) to describe the Church, meaning the Church is universal. In other words, where you have the Holy Eucharist and Holy Orders, you have the Holy Catholic Church that Jesus founded on Peter in Mt. 16:18. We can learn all that about the early Christian community through reading the seven letters of St. Ignatius of Antioch.

My friends, what kind of letters are you writing these days? Or, what do you post on social media or blogspots, tweets, texts and emails? If someone were to read our correspondence a hundred years from now, what would they learn about the life of the Christian community in the 21st century? Some of it would no doubt be inspiring, but sadly some of it might also be downright embarrassing. Today, ask for the intercession of St. Ignatius before you put pen to paper or your fingers touch the keyboard. Our words may not be technically inspired by the Holy Spirit like those of the authors of Scripture, but they should nonetheless be inspiring.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Signature Dish

Balancing obedience and faith with St. Paul

10/14/2019

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

Of the thirteen letters or epistles penned by St. Paul in the New Testament, arguably his crowning achievement is the Letter to the Romans. You know how people who enjoy cooking often have a “signature dish” which they always bring to potlucks because in that casserole or coconut cream pie all their culinary skills shine brightly? So, too, we might call the Epistle to the Romans St. Paul’s signature dish where all his skills as both apostle and evangelist are performing at their peak. No wonder, then, the Church invites us to feast on this great letter for almost a month: from October 14 (today) until November 8, with a few breaks for special celebrations like All Saints and All Souls. Folks, get out your best china, polish your grandma’s cutlery, and go ahead and use the cloth napkins instead of paper, for this feast of faith called the Epistle to the Romans.

Our first reading today only consists of the first seven verses of Romans chapter one, but it is already more than we can digest at one sitting. Let me say a word about one phrase that is extremely juicy and rich, namely, where St. Paul says, “the obedience of faith.” Paul employs that pregnant phrase at two critical junctures in his letter, at the beginning in 1:5, and at the end in 16:26. Think of the phrase, “obedience of faith,” like bookends to this great letter, both highlighting the central theme at the beginning and at the end. That reminds me of Bob Hope’s classic definition of a good sermon. He said: “A good sermon should have a great beginning and a great end, and the two should be as close together as possible.” Well, Paul certainly started and ended great, but he also included sixteen great chapters in between those two bookends.

The phrase “obedience of faith” beautifully balances the two sides of a healthy Christian life, namely, faith and works. When Paul writes the phrase “obedience of faith,” he makes it clear we are saved by faith in Christ Jesus. But he also adds that we must also do our part, we must obey Christ, we must have some skin in the game. In other words, we cannot sing and praise God on Sunday at Mass, full of faith, and then the rest of the week act like pagans. You remember what the acronym P.A.G.A.N. stands for, don’t you? The old television series “Dragnet” taught us it means “People Against Goodness And Normalcy.” In a sense, you could say “faith” is the Sunday part of Christianity while “obedience” to the Ten Commandments is the Monday through Saturday part of Christianity. Of course, you need faith and obedience everyday.

Today, ask yourself which side of that delicate balance of “obedience of faith” you tend to lean toward, or even use as a crutch. If we lean too far toward faith we can become lackadaisical and lazy in our Christian walk. We exaggerate how much God loves us, that he is merciful, and in the end we are all going to heaven. That attitude is actually the sin called “presumption,” where we presume upon God’s goodness and mercy and make no personal effort or sacrifice.

On the other hand, we can go too far toward “obedience” and become spiritual workaholics. We believe that what ultimately counts for salvation are our spiritual exercises and acts of piety. So we go through a lot of motions of holiness – we pray rosaries, novenas, attend Adoration, Masses, etc. – but without a lot of heart, without a lot of faith. That’s actually a heresy called Pelagianism which emphasized works to the detriment of faith. And by the way, I believe we are always swinging between these two poles, sometimes over-emphasizing faith and other times our own human effort.

It was precisely Martin Luther’s inability to find the delicate balance between both faith and obedience than led him to launch the Protestant Reformation. In a sense, St. Paul’s main concern in the sixteen chapters of Romans is to help us strike that beautiful balance. Keep that in mind as you enjoy every tasty morsel of St. Paul’s signature dish.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Freshness of Faith

Seeing through younger eyes of faith

10/13/2019

Luke 17:11-19 As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" And when he saw them, he said, "Go show yourselves to the priests." As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?" Then he said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you."

It always helps to look at things from a new perspective, from a different angle, through another person’s eyes. And a good joke often does exactly that: it gives us an unexpected and humorous way to see something, and it’s refreshing. I came across this joke recently. A Jesuit, a Dominican, and a Franciscan were walking along an old road, debating the greatness of their respective orders. Each insisting theirs was greater than the others. Suddenly, an apparition of the Holy Family appeared in front of them, with Jesus in a manger and Mary and Joseph praying over him. The Franciscan fell on his face, overcome with awe at the sight of God born in such poverty. The Dominican fell to his knees, adoring the beautiful reflection of the Holy Trinity embodied in the three persons of the Holy Family. The Jesuit walked up to Joseph, put his arms around his shoulder, and asked, “So, have you thought about where to send him to school?”

As you probably know Jesuits are famous for their schools of higher learning, like Georgetown, Boston College, Fordham, and Gonzaga, not to mention all the schools that have “Loyola” in their name. I share that joke about Jesuit schools because their ultimate goal is as an educational institution is to give students a new perspective namely, to see with the eyes of faith. Faith is really the highest kind of higher learning. Jesus said in Revelation 21:5, “Behold, I make all things new.” The perspective of faith is always fresh, unexpected, and therefore, heaven will never be old or boring but new and exciting. I also share that joke because I am sort of standing in the shoes of that Jesuit and am here to ask you the same question he posed to St. Joseph: “So, have you thought about where to send your child to school?” I would highly suggest sending your children to Trinity Junior High, as many of you already do. Thank you!

In the gospel today, we see another way to catch a different perspective, that is, through the eyes of foreigners or strangers, what natural born citizens often miss. Jesus is walking through Samaritan territory on his way from Galilee (which is in the north of Israel) to Judea (which is in the south of Israel). Ten lepers approach our Lord and beg him to heal them. They are all cleansed but only the Samaritan returns to say thanks. Jesus must have felt a deep pang of disappointment when he asked: “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Presumably, the other nine were Jews who had been healed and maybe even expected a miracle from their Messiah. God is supposed to heal his chosen people. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said very insightfully: “Jewelers get used to seeing fine diamonds,” and not only Jews but Christians can get used to the treasure of our faith and take it for granted. Sometimes, it takes a foreigner who comes to the faith later in life – a convert to Catholicism instead of a cradle Catholic – to open our eyes to the great gift sitting in our laps. We all need to see things with new eyes, especially with the eyes of faith that “makes all things new.”

Thank you for letting me celebrate the weekend Masses here at Jenny Lind and Barling and talk about Trinity and take up a second collection. One of the things I love about Catholic schools is how the students help me see with new eyes. At a recently school Mass at an elementary school, not Trinity, I heard this story. One of our first graders was at Mass and the homily was a little long and beyond his comprehension. Suddenly, he noticed the red lamp in the sanctuary next to the tabernacle. He was mesmerized by the warm, red glow and couldn’t take his eyes off it. He suddenly tugged his father’s sleeve and asked, “Daddy, when the light turns green, can we go?” See how a change of perspective can refresh our tired faith? Don’t expect the light to turn green anytime soon.

At the junior high level, our students surprise me with their questions about faith and morality and Christian living. They want clear and cogent answers to their tough questions about same-sex marriage, why euthanasia and abortion are wrong, is vaping and tattooing immoral, how to love and respect their parents while developing their own ideas and independence, how to hear God’s voice in this loud and proud world, and what is the ultimate meaning of their life or is there any meaning? No wonder the teen suicide rate continues to climb. They are not satisfied with the answers I learned in the seminary 25 years ago, before there were even smart phones or I-pads. They are searching for new answers to their new questions.

Jesus even told us such situations would arise in Mt. 9:17, teaching: “People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, the wine spills out and the skins are ruined. Rather, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” Our junior high students help me to see with new eyes, because their questions are like new wine that demand I provide them with answers that are like new wineskins. And that renews and refreshes my own faith because I begin to see through their eyes. Hopefully, they are not drinking any of that wine; but they are drinking of the kool-aid of the unchristian culture in which they live.

My friends, how does your faith feel these days? Has your spiritual eyesight grown tired or weary or dim or even dark? Maybe you need to hear a good joke about the Jesuits, or pray for a miracle of healing like the lepers, or talk to a recent convert to Catholicism, or help Catholic school students with bright young eyes full of faith. When you do those things you see things from a new angle, a different perspective and see through the ever-young eyes of faith. You feel what Isaiah prophesied at the beginning of his Book of Consolation, saying: “They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar on eagles’ wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint” (Is. 40:31). That feeling of soaring on eagle’s wings is the freshness of faith.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Perfect Prayer

Loving and living the Lord’s Prayer

10/09/19

Luke 11:1-4 Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test."

I love it when our daily Mass readings bring up the Our Father, or the Lord’s Prayer, as it is sometimes called. Jesus’ perfect prayer provides a fountain of meditation from which thirsty Christians – you and me – can drink deeply. The Lord’s Prayer can be found in both Mt. 6 and in today’s gospel from Luke 11. The prayer is at once both concise and pithy but also comprehensive and profound, a kind of Reader’s Digest compendium of Christianity. If you’d like a longer reflection on the Our Father, I highly recommend St. Teresa of Avila’s book The Way of Perfection, or more recently, Pope Benedict XVI’s book Jesus of Nazareth, both of which contain oceans of wisdom to go deep sea diving and find precious treasure.

Let me just make two quick points about this perfect prayer: one is “apologetic” but not in the sense of an apology. An “apologia” comes from Greek and means a defense, so this is a defense of the Catholic versus the Protestant versions of this prayer. The second comment concerns the hardest part of the prayer, forgiveness of others.

First, the apologia or defense of the Catholic version of the Lord’s Prayer. You may notice when we pray the Lord’s Prayer at a wedding or a funeral Mass, our Protestant brothers and sister add a conclusion to the Our Father called the “doxology,” namely, “for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.” Why do Catholics exclude that and Protestants include that in the perfect prayer? Put differently, which version is more “perfect”? The debate boils down to different versions of the bible and an argument over which manuscripts of the bible are the oldest and therefore most authentic. Incidentally, there are no original books of the bible in existence, only copies of copies of copies, called “manuscripts.”

There would be no need for debate if Jesus and his apostles were walking around Galilee with a copy of the King James Bible. As one Protestant friend joked: “If the King James Version was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me.” The KJV didn’t get published until 1611 under King James VI and I of England and Scotland. The earliest and most authentic manuscripts, called the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus, do not include the doxology in the Lord’s Prayer. So, Catholics stand on solid scriptural grounds when we exclude it from our translations of the Bible. But just to cover our bets, we make sure to include the doxology at the Mass, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. If you’d like to learn more about the origin and evolution of the bible – critical for every Catholic – please attend the study on the Gospel of Mark I’m facilitating where we will go into greater detail. Don’t worry, we will finish before Monday night Bingo. Bible and Bingo, what could be more Catholic than that?

Secondly, a more spiritual point. The Lord’s Prayer contains seven petitions or things we ask for from God. But I believe by far the hardest petition concerns forgiveness of others. We pray: “Forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us.” And here’s the hard part: sometimes it’s easy to forgive, and sometimes it’s not only hard, but superhuman to forgive. It’s easy to forgive when a child who’s playing baseball in his backyard accidentally hits the ball through my window. He apologies and I forgive him. That’s irritating but not impossible.

Once a month, however, I travel to Little Rock to work at the marriage tribunal with annulments for people who are divorced and remarried. If you think forgiveness is easy, I would love to introduce you to hundreds of ex-spouses who find forgiveness not just hard but impossible, superhuman, beyond human. Their testimonies come from hurting hearts, and they are trying to find peace by casting blame and derision on their former spouse. And in a sense, I don’t blame them; the hurt must go unimaginably deep. But the only hope for finding real and lasting peace is the path of forgiveness.

Where do we find the grace to do what is beyond our human capacity? We pray, we pray the perfect prayer Jesus taught us so we can be a little more perfect ourselves. We say: “Forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us.” The Our Father, in other words, is the perfect prayer because it helps us to be little more perfect and forgive like Jesus forgave those Roman soldiers who crucified him.

As we pray the Lord’s Prayer today at Mass, let us pray for our Protestant brothers and sisters, and for greater Christian unity. Let us pray also for those who struggle to forgive, especially those working on annulments, and of course, ourselves.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Simple as Doves

Bringing peace to the people around us

10/08/2019

Jonah 3:1-10 The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: "Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you." So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the LORD's bidding. Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day's walk announcing, "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed," when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.

Most people are familiar with the Old

Testament story of the reluctant prophet named Jonah. We recall from our children’s Bible books about how Jonah tried to flee from God’s call as s stowaway on a ship, how he was swallowed but also saved by a whale (it was Moby Dick), and finally had remarkable success preaching repentance in Nineveh, the capital city of one of Israel’s most feared enemies, the Assyrians. The Assyrians annihilated the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C. and scattered the Israelites all over the world in the “diaspora.” In one day of preaching Jonah converted the whole city of Nineveh, in six years of preaching I haven’t converted five people in Fort Smith. There are prophets and then there are prophets.

Most people do not know, however, that Jonah’s name means “Dove.” Just like a dove symbolizes peace, so Jonah takes God’s peace to other peoples, even foreign peoples. I would like to reference three other instances in the bible where doves are specifically mentioned and draw out some practical conclusions for us. The fist reference is found in Genesis 8, where Noah has been in the Ark for a long time and sends out a dove three times. The first time the dove returns empty-beaked, the second time he returns with an olive branch, and the third time, he does not return at all. The dove, like the symbolic rainbow in Genesis 9, promised peace between God and humanity. Like Jonah, so Noah brought God’s peace to the world after the devastating flood.

The second instance of the dove occurs at the baptism of Jesus at the Jordan River by St. John the Baptist. We read in Mt. 3:16: “After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him.” In other words, Jesus does not just bring God’s peace, he is God’s peace in the flesh. All who are joined to Jesus’s Flesh through Holy Communion likewise enjoy his peace. And in case you missed the Jesus-Jonah connection, Jesus makes it even more apparent in Mt. 12:39: “An evil and adulterous generation craves a sign. Yet not sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus makes it crystal clear he is the new Jonah, the new Dove, with the olive branch of peace in his mouth.

The third instance of the dove that is worth noting can be found in Mt. 10:16, where Jesus sends his apostles out to preach and share his peace. What symbolic image (among others) does he give them for their ministry? He says: “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.” The mission and ministry of the apostles, indeed of the whole Church, like that of Noah, and Jonah, and Jesus, is to bring God’s peace to a troubled world.

I hope you can already see the practical application of this reflection to our daily lives. Do we bring peace to the people around us? This is a lesson I am having to learn over and over again, as I realize that my words, my actions, and even my facial expressions have not always brought peace, but rather anxiety, fear or even revulsion to others. Sadly, I sometimes overemphasize the “shrewd as serpents” part of ministry and almost forget about the “simple as dove” part. Maybe that’s one reason why the preaching of Jonah, the Dove, in Nineveh was far more effective than my preaching in Fort Smith.

As you go throughout your day and run into various and sundry people, ask yourself: did I bring peace into that person’s life by a word, or a gesture, or by a look? Make peace your priority as you live your Christian life, and as you read the book of Jonah, the Dove.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Call Mom

Praying the rosary for our brothers and sisters

10/07/2019

Acts of Apostles 1:12-14 After Jesus had been taken up into heaven, the Apostles returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away. When they entered the city they went to the upper room where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

A funny thing happens every time I call my parents in Little Rock. Do you know who invariably answers the phone? I’ll give you one guess. It’s my mom. Is that just me, or does that happen to every household: the phone rings and the woman runs to answer the phone. I’m sorry if that sounds a little sexist, but it’s kind of true. And after talking to mom for ten or fifteen minutes she hands the phone to dad, who usually complains that he has nothing to add because mom already told me all the news! Can anyone else see a rather simple solution to my dad’s dilemma? Answer the phone first.

But as I visit with my mom she eventually asks the dreaded question: when was the last time I talked to my brother or sister? A pang of guilt shoots through my heart, when I have to confess it’s been days, maybe even weeks, since I texted or talked to them. I am sure a pang of hurt shoots through my mom’s heart when she hears my answer. Perhaps the only thing a parent desires more than their child’s individual happiness is their collective happiness, that is, that they love each other and take care of each other. Behind every question my mom asks about how well I am doing looms the other question – are you loving your brother and sister?

Today’s first reading is taken from a very significant spot in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. Jesus has ascended into heaven and the apostles gather with Mary, Jesus’ mother, in the upper room to pray. You might recall at the crucifixion that Jesus entrusted his mother Mary to John, the beloved disciple, which is to say to all of us, who are Jesus’ beloved disciples. Consequently, she is not just Jesus’ mother, or John’s spiritual mother, but she’s the mother of all of us, Jesus’ little brothers and sisters.

What results from prayer in union with Mary in the Upper Room? The following verses (which we did not read unfortunately), verses 15-26, describe the desire of Peter and the others to replace Judas, inspired by Mary. They elect Matthias by drawing lots, an answer to Mary’s prayers. In other words, Mary, like every good mother, not only cares about the happiness of the individual apostles, but also about the “college of apostles,” and completing their highly symbolic number at twelve. Mary cares deeply about the happiness and the holiness of the whole family of God, that brothers and sisters love each other.

October 7th every year is the feast of the Holy Rosary, and it is by far my favorite devotion to Mary. I try to pray the rosary daily. Spiritually-speaking, I look at the rosary as a chain that helps me hang on to Mother Mary and my heavenly destiny. Don’t let go of the rosary! The rosary guides my steps on earth because it teaches me how to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and Mary as I meditate on the mysteries of their holy lives and even their holy deaths – that is, Jesus’ death and Mary’s dormition.

But I also look at the rosary like a phone I can use to call Mother Mary. The rosary is my spiritual cell phone and my plan is “unlimited everything” (as people say). I love praying the rosary every day because it makes me feel like I am connecting with my spiritual mother, Mary. Just like my mom, Mary runs to pick up the phone and chat with me, and she runs faster than all the other saints combined. She is deeply interested in how I am doing, my happiness and my holiness.

But when I stop talking and start listening to Mary’s voice, I hear that dreaded question, almost the exact same question my mom in Little Rock asks me: when was the last time you talked to your brothers and sisters? In other words, how am I loving my neighbor, my brother and sister in Christ? And again, a pang of guilt shoots through my heart when I remember all the people I fail to love as I should. I am sure that doesn’t make Mother Mary feel great either.

On this feast of the Rosary, perhaps we can at least pray for the people we need to love a little more. And since charity begins at home, perhaps we should start by calling or texting our own natural siblings. That will make both moms smile, and get rid of that pang I feel in my heart.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

In God's Arms

Learning to be loved by the Father

10/06/2019

Luke 17:5-10 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. "Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here immediately and take your place at table'? Would he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'"

Many years ago I heard a story by Scott Hahn that completely changed my mind about the omnipotence of God and my own impotence. It was a sort of Copernican Revolution about how powerful God is and how powerless I am, putting God in the center of the universe instead of me. Hahn went for a jog around his neighborhood one afternoon and his custom was to do several laps around a few blocks. As a result, he ended up running by the same house two or three times. As he passed one house, he noticed a father outside mowing his front yard. But he was being hampered and harassed by his four year-old son. The little boy was pushing his own toy lawn mower and he was pretending to mow the grass: like father, like son. Hahn could tell the little boy was really exasperating his father, and wondered how the dad would deal with the dilemma.

Fifteen minutes later as he passed the house again, he saw the father’s solution: the man had picked up his son and was holding him in his right arm. With his left arm the man was pushing the mower. His son, meanwhile, had both his little hands on the mower and the biggest smile stretched across his beaming face. I’ll give you one guess why the toddler was so happy. The little guy thought he was actually mowing the yard himself! In that simple snapshot of the prudent father and the precocious son, Hahn saw a marvelous metaphor for our relationship with God, namely, our utter dependence on him. We are the son in the arms of the Father. In other words, no matter how old we get, we never stop being that little boy held in the arms of God, carried through life by him. Anything we think we are accomplishing – earning our doctorates, writing books, making millions of dollars, etc. – is nothing more than the mistaken joy of the little boy who thought he mowed the yard. God does all the work, and we foolishly try to take all the credit.

Jesus tells a parable in the gospel today that emphasizes that anything good we do – from beginning to end – is God’s work primarily, and we should be careful not to take too much credit. He asks: “Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’.” That would be equivalent to saying to the four year-old held in the arms of his father: “Amazing job mowing the yard today, little buddy! You must be exhausted from all that hard work. Please come inside and let me pour you a tall glass of cold chocolate milk (the recovery drink). Put your poor feet up and watch some cartoons. You really earned it!” On the other hand, Jesus goes on to clarify that the right attitude should sound more like this: “Say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do’.” That is, we just did what dad told us to do: sit still, hold the handle bar, and enjoy the ride. The Father does all the hard work, and we should not try to take all the credit.

Let me suggest three ways we can apply this principle of God’s omnipotence and our impotence in our daily lives. First of all, this should help us overcome jealousy or envy or others. We sometimes feel jealous of others when we think they have something or have achieved something we wanted. My co-worker got the promotion I was working on. Fr. Martin was made a bishop and not me. And this problem is especially pernicious in families called “sibling rivalry.” But if all I accomplish is really thanks to God’s grace, and all you achieve is the same, then what is there to be jealous about? You think you’re mowing the grass, but you’re not; I think I’m mowing the grass but I’m not. Only God is mowing the grass. We are feeling jealous over a figment of our imagination.

Secondly, this principle of God’s power should inspire a profound humility. Humility comes from the Latin word “humus” meaning earth. Humility, therefore, is being down to earth. St. Paul asks the Corinthians: “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you have received it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (1 Cor. 4:7). If that little toddler was going around the neighborhood boasting of mowing the grass, all the neighbors would smile politely and congratulate him, but they’d know it’s just the exuberance of a little boy. Of course, there’s a healthy sense of pride we can feel in our accomplishments, a healthy sense of self-esteem, and dignity and worth. Those are all good things. But the more and more we mature in the Christian life, I am convinced the more and more we realize how God’s arms have sustained us, and how his grace has made possible anything good we ever said or did.

Thirdly, what is the consequence of feeling no jealousy of others, coupled with a profound sense of humility? We spontaneously give God all the glory. We can’t take the glory, and we can’t give others the glory, so we give it to God. In the Old Testament book of Job, the wise man declares: “Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21). In other words, no matter what happens in our life: richer or poor, sickness or health, better or worse, give God the glory. When we see all we have and are were gifts from God and one day we will give them back to him, we take the first step of wisdom. God is clothed in glory and we are naked.

Here’s the take-home message of what God’s omnipotence and our impotence means: God loves us more than we can imagine, and our job is to let him love us. God’s powerful arms carry us throughout life. Our response to his love is not to jump out of his hands, but unfortunately, toddlers often do.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Picture Paradise

Spending eternity doing good on earth

10/01/2019

Matthew 18:1-4 The disciples approached Jesus and said, "Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?" He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven."

Do you spend much time thinking about heaven? Probably the older we get the more we ponder it because we feel we stand on the threshold of eternity, and any minute, someone may shove us into the house of heaven. We wonder what’s on the inside. When we try to picture paradise, most people probably think of a Sandals Resort commercial. We’re sitting on a sun-drenched beach, we have super-model bodies, and our favorite drink in hand, being waiting on hand and foot, and without a care in the world.

Now, that’s not a bad picture, but our faith offers us a much better picture, namely, the Beatific Vision. What is the Beatific Vision? Put simply, it is seeing God face to face and experiencing eternal beatitude, which is both blessing and happiness combined. If you are a mother or father, imagine how you felt looking into the face of your newborn baby. Didn’t you want to stay there forever and freeze that moment eternally? Now, multiply that feeling of joy and peace by a billion, and you’re starting to get close to the Beatific Vision. That’s what all the saints up and down the centuries have longed for: to get to heaven and behold God’s Face, the Beatific Vision.

Today is the Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as St. Therese of the Child Jesus, also known as “the Little Flower,” also known as the patron saint of missionaries, also known as a “doctor of the Church.” But when she entered the Carmelite convent in France at the age of 15, do you know what name she took as a professed religion nun? She took the rather lengthy name of “Sr. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.” In other words, St. Therese wanted to start contemplating the Beatific Vision, as much as humanly possible, while still here on earth. And she could see the Holy Face of God in her family, and in her sisters in the Carmelite convent, and even in her sufferings as she lie dying of tuberculosis at the age of 24. St. Therese of Lisieux’s picture of paradise was not being pampered with a full-body massage at a Sandals Resort but rather seeing the Beatific Vision, and she got to glimpse it even before she got to heaven.

One of St. Therese’s most famous dictums, or sayings, was she promised: “When I get to heaven, I will spend my eternity doing good on earth.” That is the net effect of the Beatific Vision: it makes you explode with love not only for God, but also for others. In other words, when you get to heaven, you don’t just forget all your family and friends, you won’t even forget your foes or your enemies on earth. On the contrary, you will love them even more perfectly than you ever could on while you were alive on earth, that is, free from all selfishness, jealousy, pride, ego, vanity and lust. The Church calls that perfect love of neighbor we experience in eternity by this great phrase: the Communion of Saints. The Communion of Saints is nothing other than the perfect fulfillment of the commandment to love your neighbor.

Do you know what was one of the “good things” that St. Therese did after she got to heaven? She inspired Pope Francis in 2015 to canonize her parents, Louis Martin and Marie Azelie Guerin as saints. That was the first time in the history of the Church that a pope has canonized spouses as a married couple at the same time. Canonization means St. Therese’s parents are in heaven, and all three – parents and daughter – are staring at the Face of God, the Beatific Vision.

How do you picture paradise? Sitting on a sandy beach with a Piña Colada in your hand, enjoying an eternal retirement? Or, as the Beatific Vision, beholding God Face to face, like staring into the face of your beautiful baby sleeping in your arms? How we think about heaven makes a big difference in how we live on earth. It will also make a big difference how we live in heaven.

Praised be Jesus Christ!