Different Strokes

Learning how God the Father loves us all

08/25/2021

Mt 23:27-32 Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’ Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets; now fill up what your ancestors measured out!”

All parents love their children equally but that does not mean they love all their children in exactly the same way. Like the old proverb teaches: “Different strokes for different folks.” So, for example, parents may be a little tougher and more demanding from their firstborns. Have you noticed that? Why? Well, they expect them to set a good example for their younger siblings to follow. Most firstborns, therefore, turn out to be super responsible persons later in life.

At the other end of the spectrum of siblings, parents tend to be gentler, milder and more lenient with the littlest child. Why? Well, parents may feel they could not give their full time and attention, love and energy to the youngest of the tribe (and because they’re exhausted), so they let them get away with more. Sadly, therefore, the youngest sibling sometimes turns out somewhat spoiled. Regardless of the results, though, there is no question about a parent’s love for all their children: they would lay down their life for their children.

In the gospel today, we hear Jesus using some very “different strokes for different folks,” namely, the Pharisees. Some of the toughest talk to come from our Lord’s lips is aimed at the Pharisees in Mt 23, when he says scathingly: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.”

Do you remember how different Jesus’ demeanor was in Jn 8 to the woman caught in adultery, whom the scribes and Pharisees wanted to stone? He was merciful and forgiving. Why, then, did Jesus not show the same mercy and forgiveness for the Pharisees? Well, for the same reason that parents tend to be tougher on their firstborns and a little more lenient to their last borns. They love all their children equally, but they do not love all their children the same. Why? Simple: different strokes for different folks, and some strokes are tough, while other strokes are tender.

My friends, this parenting prerogative may also provide a little window into why God seems to treat us, his children, so differently. Of course, the oldest question haunting humanity is why do the innocent suffer? The entire Old Testament book of Job was written to try and answer that question. And the answer we hear is: God is God and you are not, so stop asking such questions. Or, put plainly, it is like some frustrated fathers and mothers who say sharply, “Because I said so!”

But with the dawn of the New Testament, and the coming of Christ, we begin to see the face of the loving Father. Jesus answered Philip in Jn 14:9, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” And what human parents do imperfectly in loving their children, God the Father does perfectly. In other words, if human mothers and fathers apply different strokes for different folks, so, too, does God, but he does it flawlessly.

So, if you feel God is being tough and demanding of you and calling you to carry a heavy cross, then realize he loves you and has high hopes for you, like a father does for his firstborn child. After all, isn’t that exactly how God the Father treated his firstborn Son, Jesus? The different strokes of the Roman soldiers’ lashes were not tender.

On the other hand, if you feel overly blessed by God, that things keep going your way and turning up roses, that Someone is watching over every one of your steps and not letting you stumble, then thank God for the tender strokes of his gentle love. But also be careful you do not get spoiled. That is, do not take God’s grace for granted. You do not want those strokes to go from being tender to becoming tough.

The point in all this is simple: all parents love their children equally, but they do not love them the same. When we hear Jesus being so tough on the Pharisees – and maybe feel God is being tough on us – it does not mean he loves us any less, it just means he loves like like all his other children.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Sagging Skin

Learning how our weakness reflects God’s strength

08/24/2021

Jn 1:45-51 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Did you know that both St. Bartholomew and Michaelangelo, the great artist, have something in common? They were both skinned alive. How so? Well, St. Bartholomew was skinned alive and beheaded for preaching the Gospel in Armenia. And Michaelangelo felt like he had been “skinned alive” metaphorically by Pope Clement VII who commissioned the 61 year old painter to depict the scene of the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. In that fabulous frescoe – which I have a copy of hanging in my office – Michaelangelo shows St. Bartholomew holding his sagging skin in his hand.

And whose face is on the skin of the saint? It is a self-portrait of Michaelangelo himself. In other words, that is how he felt for being forced to pain the Last Judgment. The irony, of course, is that even though for Michaelangelo the Last Judgment was the last thing he wanted to do, it became one of his most famous frescoes, and his enduring legacy. Indeed, that is the fresco all the cardinals contemplate when they gather in the Sistine Chapel to elect the pope. Perhaps every newly elected pope should reflect on the spiritual lesson and legacy of Michaelangelo being skinned alive. St. Paul taught: “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Co 12:10).

Today, August 24, is the feast day of St. Bartholomew, one of my patron saints (and probably the patron saint of Michaelangelo) because he is said to have evangelized my home country of India. Many years ago I asked my father how long our family had been Catholic. After all, most people from India are either Hindu or Muslim. My father answered: “We have been Catholic since the time of St. Thomas the Apostle, who came to India.”

That means the Christian faith has been blossoming in India for 2,000 years, until it blossomed in the heart of this priest who is speaking to you. But Thomas was not alone in planting the seeds of faith in Indian soil and in Indian souls, he was helped by St. Bartholomew. So, India can count on two great apostolic patrons: two apostles of the Lamb spread the faith in India and all over the world. Ps. 19:5 prophesied this, predicting: “Their message goes out to all the earth.”

Let me also clear up a common confusion about Bartholomew’s name in the New Testament. The Synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all refer to St. Bartholomew but never to Nathanael, while John’s gospel only refers to Nathanael but never to Bartholomew. Well, are we talking about two different apostles? No, they are two names for the same apostle: one is his name in Latin, “Bartholomew,” and the other is his name in Hebrew, “Nathanael.”

Similarly, Peter is known as Peter but also as Simon, and Matthew is known as Matthew but also as Levi. That is why on the feast of St. Bartholomew we read from the gospel of John 1, where Jesus meets Nathanael. Why didn’t we read a scripture about Bartholomew? Well, we did! The liturgy is saying, “Listen up!” Bartholomew and Nathanael are one in the same, the saint who would be skinned alive.

My friends, what lessons can we learn from Bartholomew/Nathanael as Christians today? Well, I would suggest to you the same spiritual lesson that Michaelangelo mastered when he painted the Last Judgment. That is, when we are weak, it is then we are strong. Today, take a minute to think about the times when you seemed to fail at something, when all your perfect plans were ruined and nothing went right, when you felt like life had skinned you alive, and you wanted to paint your self-portrait on the sagging skin of St. Bartholomew.

The ironic lesson in the sagging skin of St. Bartholomew is that when we feel like we fail, it is then that God’s grace shines brightest. And we can echo the words of St. Paul and St. Bartholomew and Michaelangelo: “But Jesus said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.” That is the meaning of the sagging skin of St. Bartholomew.

Praised be Jesus Christ.

Will You Marry Me

Cherishing both sacraments and Scriptures

08/23/2021

1 Thes 1:1-5, 8b-10 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace. We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, knowing, brothers and sisters loved by God, how you were chosen. For our Gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction. You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake. In every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves openly declare about us what sort of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.

This morning I would like to test your bible literacy a little. Suddenly, all the Catholics are cringing, while all the Protestants are perking up. First question: which book of the New Testament was written first? Raise your hand if you think it is Matthew, which is first in order in the New Testament. Sorry, Charlie: the oldest book of the New Testament (meaning written first) is 1 Thessalonians, our first reading today.

Second question: which book of the New Testament was written last? Raise your hand if you think it is Revelation, which is placed at the end of the Bible. Sorry, Revelation is wrong. The book that was penned last was by Peter and obviously, second Peter comes after first Peter. So, Second Peter is the last book to be written in the Bible.

Okay, last question, so relax: what Bible was Jesus and the apostles using as they were preaching and teaching the Good News? How many think it was the King James Version of the Bible? After all, some Protestants say, “If the KJV was good enough for Jesus, it is good enough for me!” Again, sorry to disappoint you, but Jesus and his apostles had only the Old Testament to preach and teach from.

Interestingly enough, they used the Greek version of the Old Testament that included the seven books that Martin Luther later rejected. So, what was "good enough for Jesus” was precisely not the Protestant Bible, but rather the Catholic one. Sorry, Martin Luther, you need to work on your Bible literacy. But so do we Catholics, who didn’t do so great on that quiz.

Our first reading today is taken from the oldest book of the New Testament, which now you know is 1 Thessalonians. We read the very first words of the New Testament, ushering in a whole new era of written Christian history, when Paul put pen to paper and wrote: “Paul, Silvanus and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace.” Those are the very first words of the entire New Testament, even older than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

What great words! But why are they so important? Yesterday, two young people paid me a surprise visit to ask for my blessing. Earlier that morning, the young man had proposed to his girlfriend while standing (he was kneeling) on the scenic Hawksbill Crag overlook. The young girl was actually my goddaughter, Mary Blackman, and the words of the proposal were the first words of the rest of their lives together. That is what 1 Thes 1:1 represents: the proposal of the New Testament to live the rest of our lives together with Jesus.

We can carry this analogy a step further adding the New Testament invites us to see Jesus not only as our Savior but also as our Spouse. In other words, the first verses of the New Testament are like the proposal of all romantic relationships, asking: “Will you marry me?” And that is why 1 Thessalonians 1:1 is so important.

Would you mind if I draw out one more practical consideration from 1 Thes 1:1? Scripture scholars unanimously agree that Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians during his second missionary journey while in Corinth (for about a year) in the year 51 A.D. That year was two decades after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension. That means for 20 years Christians were living the Gospel message without one word of the New Testament to inspire and illuminate them. In other words, there were believers before there was a Bible.

And what inspired and illuminated the life of believers before the Bible? The sacraments did. Long before Paul penned 1 Thes 1:1, he was converted by Christ on the road to Damascus, and was baptized (Acts 9:18). That is, before there were Scriptures, there were sacraments. But of course we Christians need them both.

Catholics emphasize the sacraments and ignore the scriptures, while Protestants prioritize the Scriptures and give short shrift to the sacraments. But just like my goddaughter and her fiancé need not only words, but also ritual actions to cement a life lived together, so all Christians need the words of Scripture but also the ritual actions of the sacraments to cement our life of love with Jesus.

Today we hear from 1 Thes 1:1, the first words written in the New Testament. They are like the words, “Will you marry me?” of a young couple in love, but they are only the beginning. What happens next in their lives, like in ours, depends on both the Scriptures and the sacraments.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Kool-aid of Culture

How saints help us rise above our culture

08/20/2021

Mt 22:34-40 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

It is very easy to drink the kool-aid of our culture without knowing it. We all think like the world around us, and I would suggest to you that happens without exception. That is why we love the music we listened to growing up and think other music is mediocre. I love the rock and roll of the 80’s, which was the greatest of course, but a teenager told me recently when she heard it, “Why are they just screaming all the time?” And I have to admit 80’s rock is a lot of screaming. But notice how I drank the kool-aid of my culture without knowing it.

Do you find yourself criticizing the young people today saying how they are growing up in a Godless and pagan culture? We can clearly see how they are a product of their peers and what is popular today. They drink the kool-aid of their modern culture. By contrast, we self-righteously assert that we are immune to these cultural tidal waves and would never do what our kids do. But are we so impervious?

Those of you who grew up in the 1950’s, when the culture was carrying the flag of faith and family and freedom, are also the product of your peers and the popular culture that shaped you. You drank the kool-aid of the culture back then, just like the children of this age drink its koolaid. You like Elvis, I like John Cougar Mellencamp, and kids today like Taylor Swift. We all drink the kool-aid.

I am convinced one of the reasons God sends us saints is to help us rise a little above the cultural tidal waves of our times. Saints stop us from drinking the kool-aid down to the dregs. August 20 is the feast of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the great Cistercian monk who reformed the Benedictine order. Why? Well, the monks of his day were drinking the kool-aid of their culture and losing their faith.

St. Bernard lived from 1090 to 1153, and died at the age of 63. In 1953, on the 800th anniversary of his death, Pope Pius XII wrote an encyclical on St. Bernard called “Doctor Mellifluus,” meaning, the doctor whose “speech is like honey.” Listen to these lines where the pope describes the culture of the 1950’s, and it is not flattering. He wrote: “Wherefore, since love of God is gradually growing cold today in the hearts of many, or is completely extinguished,” – that was the 50’s – “we feel that these writings of the ‘Doctor Mellifluus’ should be carefully pondered.

“Because from their content, which in fact is taken from the gospels, a new and heavenly strength can flow both into individual and on into social life, to give moral guidance, bring it into line with Christian precepts, and thus be able to provide timely remedies for the many grave ills which afflict mankind.” In other words, the popular culture of the 1950’s was far from perfect. And the saints, like Bernard of Clairvaux, help us to accept the good and reject the bad. That is, the saints remind us not to drink all the kool-aid of our culture.

Folks, how to do the saints help us not to drink the cultural kool-aid? Well, I believe they constantly have one foot on earth, but the other foot in heaven. That is, even if they live in the 12th century (like St. Bernard) or in the 50’s, 80’s and today (like me and you), they are more interested in the culture of heaven than in the culture of their day. The saints would rather drink the wine of the Mass than the kool-aid of the masses. They would rather listen to Gregorian Chant than Elvis, John Cougar Mellencamp, or T. Swift.

My friends, be careful not to jump on your high horse and criticize the contemporary culture of your children and grandchildren. They are the products of their popular culture and think like their peers, just like you and I are and do. There is no “Golden Age” on earth, not even the 1950’s here in the United States, as Pope Pius XII pointed out. And God sends us saints to help us stop drinking the kool-aid of our culture, and start drinking from the fountain of salvation of the Scriptures and the sacraments. Although, I have to say, I do like me some T. Swift sometimes.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Seeing how Marriage unlocks all other sacraments

8/19/2021

Mt 22:1-14 Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and the elders of the people in parables saying, “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’ Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then the king said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.’ The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests.

If you had to choose, which of the seven sacraments would be your favorite? How many would pick confession? Not many, except priests who love to hear about people’s dirty laundry. No, actually, confession is one my favorites because I see people’s humility and God’s grace shine brightly in them. Everyone loves the sacrament of baptism except the poor baby who is nearly drowned.

Many are anxious to receive the anointing of the sick, but hate the illness that requires the extra grace. Confirmation probably would not make most people’s list of top seven sacraments, least of all the youth who receive it. It is the most underrated and misunderstood sacrament, and that I believe is very sad.

But do you know what Pope St. John Paul II’s favorite sacrament was? Hands down it had to be Holy Matrimony. He wrote a long book about marriage called “Man and Woman He Created Them.” In that book, he called marriage the “sacrament of sacraments” and the “primordial sacrament.” Why? Well, he believed that marriage held the key to unlocking the mysteries of all the other sacraments. In other words, each sacrament is a gift of Jesus, the Bridegroom, for the Church, his Bride. The whole Christian life, especially the seven sacraments, can be seen as a love affair between Jesus and his Bride, the Church.

This marriage motif is perfectly summed up by St. Paul in Ep 5:25-27, where he wrote: “Husbands love your wives even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” If you read those three verses with a sacramental lens you can catch shades of baptism, confession, confirmation, anointing, Eucharist, and Holy Orders. In the sacrament of marriage, therefore, we find a deeper understanding all the sacraments, and that is why it was John Paul's favorite.

It should not surprise us, then, that Jesus also loves the sacrament of marriage. In today’s gospel from Mt 20, Jesus uses a parable about a wedding banquet to describe the Kingdom of heaven. In Jn 2, Jesus performs his first miracle at the wedding in Cana in Galilee. In Mt 25, Jesus tells the parable of the 5 wise virgins and 5 foolish virgins and which ones had their lamps lit and ready for the return of the Bridegroom.

And the Bible builds on this betrothal backdrop, this marriage motif, where the prophets routinely saw Israel’s infidelity to Yahweh as “adultery.” The Song of Songs speaks of the relationship of Yahweh and Israel as romantic. And the last book of the Bible, in Rv 22:17, almost concludes with the lines: “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come [Lord Jesus]’.” In other words, the Bible begins with a married couple (Adam and Eve) and it ends with a married couple (Jesus and his Church). Why? Because I would suggest to you that the Bible’s favorite sacrament is also marriage.

My friends, let me invite you to think about your favorite sacrament and why you like it so much. How has that sacrament helped you to fall in love with Jesus more? On the other hand, which one is your least favorite sacrament – maybe confession or Confirmation – and why do you not care for them? There is a grace even in these least favorite sacraments that Jesus the Bridegroom is offering to us, his Bride, to make us “holy, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.”

And finally, pray for all married couples, who are living the primordial sacrament, the sacrament of sacraments, that they might be a living icon of the love of Jesus for his Church. Maybe in heaven, marriage will be everyone’s favorite sacrament, when the Bridegroom and the Bride become one.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Fighting Fair

Learning the higher fairness of Jesus

08/18/2021

Mt 20:1-16 Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’ So they went off. And he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o’clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’ When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’ He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

One of the great things about growing up with siblings (I have an older brother and a younger sister) is we always had someone to fight with. Boys and girls, do you ever fight with your brothers and sisters? Of course, I never fought: I always walked around with my hands folded in prayer. Just kidding. I was probably the worst and now I am doing penance as a priest! But what did we fight about: we fought about fairness.

We would say things like: “He got too much dessert and more than me! She got to play the video game longer than me. He gets to drive the car and I don’t. She got to spend the night at her friend’s house more than I do.” Have you ever fought about fairness? I really think that is what all fights are about, even after we become adults. Your parents fight about what’s fair, too.

In the gospel today, Jesus teaches his disciples a higher kind of fairness and helps them to stop fighting. He teaches them his own form of fairness, which will be on full display on the Cross. In the parable the people complain about not being treated fairly. Those who work the longest should get paid more. That sounds like just what my brother, sister and I would complain about to mom and dad.

The workers in the parable had a very strict sense of fairness and justice, summed up in the saying: “An eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth.” That was the fairness of the Old Testament. But Jesus wants to teach the fairness of the New Testament called “generosity,” where thing will not be exactly equal, but not because they are less than fair, but rather because they are more than fair. They are Jesus’ kind of fairness.

Jesus taught this in the Sermon on the Mount in Mt 5:38-39, saying: “You have heard it said, ‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn and offer the other one to him as well.” And isn’t that exactly what Jesus did when the Roman soldiers beat him brutally and crucified him? That is how Jesus would “fight fair,” that is, he would not fight back. Jesus desires generosity, much more than mere justice.

St. Mother Teresa put this higher form of fairness into a perfect prayer, saying: “People are often unreasonable, irrational and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.

“Create anyway. If you find security and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” I hope that prayer helped Mother Teresa’s sisters, the Missionaries of Charity, to not fight so much because they learned Jesus’ kind of fairness. She was trying to teach them generosity more than mere justice.

Boys and girls, you will learn a lot of new things this coming year here at Trinity Middle School. But I hope you also learn there are two kinds of fairness. One is “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” fairness, or strict justice. But the other is Jesus’ fairness, where we turn the other cheek, don’t fight back, and are generous and kind. Next time you hear someone scream: “That’s not fair!” like me and my siblings used to, remember Jesus’ fairness and seek generosity rather than justice. That’s the only way the fighting will stop.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Master Motivator

Moving others with patience, love and kindness

08/16/2021

Mt 19:16-22 A young man approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Sooner or later we all try to motivate people to do something they do not want to do. And it is always a delicate dance. This morning in Fort Smith many parents are begging their children to get out of bed because they have to go to school and cannot keep sleeping in like all summer. Coaches will push players to practice harder and tap all their potential as athletes. Public, private and church leaders are urging people to get vaccinated, but the anti-vaxers are adamantly against it.

I felt many motivations to become a priest, but do you know what was the strongest? It was something my brother said. When I first shared with my family I was going into the seminary, my brother sarcastically said: “Oh, John, after one year in college you will change your mind!” I decided right then I would stick it out in seminary no matter what. Maybe I am a priest today just so I can prove my brother wrong? My brother may not have known it at the time, but he was using something called “reverse psychology” on me. Sometimes the best way to make someone do something is to tell them they cannot do it.

In the gospel today, we see Jesus also trying to motivate a young man, in whom he see the potential for becoming a priest. The young man is clearly searching for something and hungry for more. So he asks, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” And like a master motivator, Jesus leads him incrementally, step by step, to higher levels of perfection.

First he asks him if he can keep the basic commandments. When he answers, “Yes,” our Lord invites him to leave behind what he loves and follow Jesus whole-heartedly and unreservedly. But he can’t because he is rich. Maybe Jesus should have used reverse psychology and told the young man, “Ah, after a year in college you’ll change your mind!” In a sense, the long history of the bible is about God trying to get people to do what they really don’t want to do, that is, trying to get them to heaven.

My friends, nowhere does motivating others get more muddled than in marriage. Even when couples are dating, they are trying to motivate the other to fall in love with them. I recently received a text from a high school student who asked: “I am still a young child and do not know much on how to have a good couple relationship which is why I am pretty nervous. Do you have any advice?” I was humbled he thought a celibate priest could give good dating advice, but I answered: “Be patient and look for a girl who is humble and kind. And I bet she will be looking for you, too.”

Sometimes dating couples begin to see flaws in their partner, which they find off-putting or even offensive. Occasionally, the girl thinks: “I will just love him so much he will give up his bad habits in order to be with me! My love will heal him of all his problems!” Indeed, that is why some women get married: to motivate men to overcome their flaws. If I had a dollar for every time a young girl thought that, I would be richer than the young man in the gospel today.

Folks, do you find yourself in the position of having to push your partner to do something he or she really does not want to do? Well, don’t feel bad: that is exactly how God feels with all of us. Since before we were born – and since the dawn of time – God has been trying to get us to do what we really do not want to do, just like Jesus was trying to motivate that young man in the gospel today.

But in the end, there is only one thing we need to help our spouse to see, and that is heaven. The number one job of married couples is to help their spouse get to heaven. And the best way to do that is by being patient, and humble and kind with them. And if that doesn’t work, maybe use a little reverse psychology and tell them they will never go to heaven.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Mary the Masterpiece

Loving Mother Mary like her Son Jesus does

08/15/2021

Responsorial Psalm 45:10, 11, 12, 16

R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.

The queen takes her place at your right hand in gold of Ophir.

R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.

Hear, O daughter, and see;

turn your ear, forget your people and your father’s house.

R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.

So shall the king desire your beauty; for he is your lord.

R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.

They are borne in with gladness and joy;

they enter the palace of the king.

R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.

Every conscientious Catholic should have a special place in his heart for the Blessed Virgin Mary. That is, no Catholic, indeed no Christian, should be devoid of devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our own spiritual mother. After all, love for Mary is how Jesus fulfilled the fourth commandment of the Decalogue, “Honor your father and your mother.” Jesus honored his Mother Mary and his foster father, St. Joseph.

All Christians must keep the Ten Commandments, too, and when we love Mary like her Son, Jesus, we also fulfill the fourth commandment. How so? Well, Mary is our spiritual mother, too. Indeed, Jesus created this maternal connection between Mary and every Christian when he told his beloved disciple at the foot of the Cross in Jn 19:27, “Behold your mother.” I am convinced that all true devotion to Mary can be summarized in Jesus’ words, “Behold your mother.” That is what it means to love Mary like Jesus did.

I will never forget how this maternal connection to Mary hit me hard while I was watching the movie “The Passion of the Christ.” Did you see that movie by Mel Gibson, especially the surreal scene of the scourging at the pillar? As the Roman soldiers were whipping Jesus, and ripping chunks of his sacred flesh off his body, I tried not to cry. I thought, Jesus is being tough and taking this torture like a man, so I will be tough too; because, of course, real men don’t cry.

But then without seeing the end of the scourging, the camera started to pan across the crowd and stopped at Mary, as she watched her Son bleed for me. And at that moment, I lost it and wept like a little baby in his mother’s arms. Suddenly, Mary was no longer consoling her natural Son, Jesus, she was comforting her supernatural son, Fr. John. I felt overwhelmed by that maternal connection every Christian feels for Mary, and I knew she held a special place in my heart.

Today we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven. The Assumption is the belief that Mary was taken up into heaven, body and soul, at the end of her natural life. That means Mary has already achieved the glory of the Resurrection in heaven and is seated next to her Son, Jesus, in glory.

That is why we repeated Psalm 45, saying: “The Queen stands at your right hand arrayed in gold.” When you are the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, you can do cool stuff like that for your mother. And Jesus fulfills the fourth commandment in heaven just like he did on earth by seating her at his right. By the way, that is why Jesus told the mother of James and john in Mt 20:23 they could not sit at his right and left. That seat was already reserved for Jesus’ Queen Mother.

Incidentally, be careful not to confuse the Assumption of Mary with the Ascension of Jesus. What’s the diff? Unthinking Catholics assume they both mean the same thing. But you know what happens when you “assume” – you make a “you-know-what” out of you and me. The Assumption is Mary being taken up into heaven by God’s power; it is not her work or her effort or her achievement. She is assumed purely by God’s power.

Jesus’ Ascension, on the other hand, is by his own power because he is God. It is entirely his work, his effort, and his achievement. Like every second in Mary’s life – from her Immaculate Conception to her immortal Coronation – all is the achievement of God’s grace, and the work, indeed the masterpiece of Jesus. Mary is Jesus’ masterpiece of grace, his “pièce de résistance,” and that is why he tells us, “Behold your mother.” All great artists want others to admire their masterpiece.

My friends, may I suggest a few ways you can fulfill the fourth commandment and Jesus’ personal commandment to “Behold your Mother” Mary? One custom in our church office is praying the Angelus at noon every day. The church bells ring at 12 o’clock every day and we stop what we are dong to “Behold our Mother.” During the Angelus, we behold our Mother on earth like the angels behold her in heaven.

My personal devotion is praying the rosary daily, meditating on the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries. The rosary helps me see Mary through the eyes of Jesus. When we see Mary like Jesus did, we behold his masterpiece. Thirdly, say a Hail Mary (and an Act of Contrition) as your final prayer before you go to bed. Mary may help you maintain a little more purity of heart as you lie in bed, since she is called “Virgin most pure.” We need to behold our Mother when we are in bed.

In the seminary, we all gathered for night prayers, and we concluded with the great Marian hymn, “Salve Regina,” or “Hail Holy Queen.” Imagine a chapel full of 150 young men, like 150 beloved disciples, fulfilling Jesus’ command to “Behold your Mother.” And this is what they sang: “Salve Regina, mater misericordiae, vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra salve. Ad te clamamus, exules filii Evae. Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes, in hac lacrimarum valle. Eia ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos, ad nos converte. Et Jesum, benedictum, fructum ventris tui, nobis, post hoc exilium, ostende. O clemens, o pia, o dulcis, Virgo Maria.” Real men don't cry, but real Christians do.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Cracks and Collapse

Learning how to build loving marriages

08/13/2021

Mt 19:3-12 Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?” He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.” They said to him, “Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?” He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.” His disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” He answered, “Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that is granted.”

The hardest part of my week is the work I do on the marriage tribunal with annulments. And my job, in a sense, is the hardest of the whole tribunal staff because I am the “Defensor Vinculi,” the Defender of the Bond. What bond do I defend? The marriage bond. In other words, my role is to root out all the reasons why someone should NOT get an annulment. Yes, everyone hates me. Still, my responsibility is critical because I make sure true justice is administered, we follow canon law, and everyone’s rights are respected. We dot our “i’s” and cross our “t’s.” After all, this office is the “marriage tribunal,” not the “divorce tribunal.”

One of the ways we decide to grant the annulment – or not grant it – is ask people to go back to the beginning. But we don’t ask them just to go back to the beginning of their marriage, their wedding day, but back to the beginning of their lives: their childhood, their family of origin, their adolescence. Why? Well, we are looking for cracks in their character that were caused early in life that eventually led to the collapse of the marriage, like the subtle cracks in the I-40 Memphis bridge that could have led to its collapse.

Do you remember that funny movie, “Back to the Future,” with Michael J. Fox? Marty FcFly had to go back to the day his parents met and make sure they kissed at a dance so they would eventually get married, and Marty would be born. Every annulment goes back into the past in order for the couple to have a future full of hope and happiness. Sometimes, you have to go backward in order to go forward.

In the gospel today, Jesus also plays the role of the defensor vinculi, the defender of the bond of marriage. The Pharisees ask on what grounds someone may get a divorce. And they add that Moses permitted divorce under some circumstances. Then Jesus does what all good defenders of the bond do: he goes back to the beginning. Our Lord answers: “It was not so from the beginning.” In other words, marriage was intended by the Creator in Genesis to be a life-long union between a man and a woman. And therefore, what God has joined no one must separate. That Genesis account forms the basis of all Church teaching on marriage because it goes back to the beginning.

Nonetheless, by going back to the beginning Jesus also uncovers the crack in the foundations of all humanity, namely, original sin, or as Jesus puts it, “your hardness of heart.” That is, the success or failure of marriage cannot be determined simply by studying the reasons why couple separated: infidelity, irreconcilable differences, verbal or physical abuse, etc. Rather, what cracks are in the character of the couple, fundamental fissures, that eventually cause catastrophe later in life?

Marty McFly should not have gone back to 1955 to fix his parents marriage; he needed to go back to the Garden of Eden and fix Adam and Eve’s marriage; that is the real root of his parents’ problems. And that healing of the crack in the character of humanity is exactly what Jesus did by his death and resurrection and what we receive in the sacraments. In a word, we receive the power to love like Jesus loves. The love of Christ is the basis of the success or failure of any marriage; otherwise, cracks will lead to collapse.

My friends, this going back to the beginning does not just make a good movie plot. It is also a very healthy spiritual exercise. How so? Well, have you ever reflected on your childhood, your family of origin, your adolescent years? It may help to talk about it with a trusted friend or wise counselor. Once we begin to see the cracks in our characters – the traumas, the hurts, the unresolved issues – we can ask for help to heal them and avoid major moral collapse later in life.

But do not forget the larger crack in the character of humanity herself: original sin or hardness of heart. That can only be healed by more people learning and living the love of Jesus poured out in the sacraments. That is where we must begin if we are going to build a “civilization of life and love” as John Paul II so often said. In the meantime, I have plenty of job security on the marriage tribunal.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Shepherding Shepherds

Praying Jesus leads and guides the Church

8/11/2021

Mt 18:15-20 Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

I need to ask your prayers today because I have been invited to give the annual retreat at my old seminary, Mt. St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, MD. I must admit I feel both honored but also intimidated. Why? Well, it is one thing to prepare a five minute daily Mass homily but it is an entirely different matter to prepare 9 talks over the course of five days. What’s more, I am not speaking to lay people but to the future leaders of the church.

This retreat is getting dangerously close to being a bishop. How so? Well, it is a lot easier to shepherd the sheep than to shepherd the shepherds; and that for one reason: the shepherds think they already know everything. It is a lot easier to teach students than to teachers. It is infinitely easier to doctor patients than to doctor doctors. By the way, I have been taking care of Fr. Daniel’s dog, Lola, this week while he is on retreat. She is a German shepherd. So, maybe shepherding seminarians will be as easy as shepherding this German shepherd. But I kind of doubt it.

One of the main themes of the gospel of Matthew is to make Jesus appear as the new Moses. And the life of Moses is a portrait of church leadership. If you want to be a good shepherd, just study the life of Moses. And Matthew’s main point is that Jesus walks in the footsteps of the meekest man on earth and is therefore the Good Shepherd par excellence. In other words, I should just tell the seminarians, if you want to be a good shepherd, just read the gospel of Matthew; that is the manual to be like Moses.

According to tradition –although modern scholars deny it – Moses is said to have authored the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Torah, from Genesis to Deuteronomy. In fact, the Torah (or Law) is often called “the five books of Moses.” Matthew structured his gospel, therefore, with five great discourses that Jesus delivers during his ministry, to parallel the five books of Moses.

And today, we hear from the fourth great discourse, or the Ecclesial Discourse or the Discourse on the Church. In other words, Jesus is offering his future pastors a “manual for shepherds,” and how to lead a church community. He teaches them how to settle disputes, how to manage indulgences, and how to pray together. Matthew is showing us how Jesus would shepherd the shepherds.

My friends, if you had to give a retreat to seminarians, what sort of advice would you give them about being a good priest and pastor? In the church office we often lament that new priests have very little administration ability, and thus they make mistakes. If you work with Catholic schools, you will want future priests to make Catholic school their priority. If you have a heart for the homeless, you want priests to dedicate themselves to the poor and social work.

If you worry about the moral decay of our society, you want priests to champion the moral law and punish politicians who get out of step with church teaching. If you love the liturgy and the sacraments, you want the priests to celebrate the Mass and hear confessions as if he were St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests. In short, we human priests can never live up to everyone’s expectations.

A parishioner recently gave me a book to read called “The Priests We Need to Save the Church.” I was not sure if that was intended to be a compliment or a criticism. Perhaps the person was saying, “Fr. John, why don’t you try to be a little more like this?” We all want to try our hand at shepherding the shepherds.

Folks, pray for our priests and pray for me as I try to think of something to say to those seminarians, who already think they know everything. May we all attentively keep our eyes on Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who alone knows how best to shepherd the shepherds.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

The American Adjective

Choosing our country or our Catholicism

08/09/2021

Mt 17:22-27 As Jesus and his disciples were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were overwhelmed with grief. When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes,” he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?” When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the subjects are exempt. But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you.”

What a blessing to live in this beautiful country where we enjoy so many freedoms, especially the freedom of faith, or religious liberty. But I have a sneaking suspicion – and I really hope I am wrong – that there is a growing tension between church and state. That is, religion and politics are becoming unhappy bedfellows. Perhaps we can put it this way: are you essentially an “American Catholic,” or are you a “Catholic American”? What’s the diff? Well, it is greater than grammar and more than simple semantics.

In other words, is being American an adjective and being Catholic a noun, or is being Catholic the adjective and being American the noun? If you had to choose between your country and your Catholicism, where would you land? I am afraid this question will quickly become critical when the bishops decide if Catholic politicians who promote non-Catholic issues, especially abortion, can come to Holy Communion. Those politicians will have to decide whether being American is an adjective, and adjectives can and do change.

In the gospel today, Jesus tries to help Peter understand the issue of paying the temple tax. But Jesus is also guiding Peter to grasp a deeper issue: the proper relationship between church and state, between religion and politics. Originally, during Jesus’ day, Jews paid a tax to support the Jerusalem Temple. But after the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., the Roman authorities demanded that Jews and Christians pay that same tax to support the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, the greatest of the Roman gods.

In other words, the Christians in the first few centuries of the Church had to decide if “Roman” was an adjective and “Catholicism” was a noun, or vice versa, that is, were they essentially “Catholic Romans.” Clearly, Jesus teaches Peter should pay the tax for the time-being, but he also suggests strongly the day will come when that tax will not be paid when the Roman Empire passes away. Jesus is saying basically that “Catholicism” is the noun and the Roman Empire is the adjective, and adjectives can and do change.

Bishop Robert Barron captured this question about church and state in his book, Catholicism. He recounted the story of Cardinal George of Chicago, who was on the balcony of St. Peter’s when Pope Benedict XVI was elected. He wore a “remarkably pensive expression” on his face. When asked by reporters what he was thinking, Cardinal George answered: “I was gazing toward the Circus Maximus, toward the Palatine Hill, where the Roman emperors once resided and reigned and looked down upon the persecution of Christians.

“And I thought, ‘Where are their successors? Where is the successor of Caesar Augustus? Where is the successor of Marcus Aurelius? And finally, who cares? But if you want to see the successor of St. Peter, he is right next to me, smiling and waving at the crowds.” That is, the Roman Empire, like the American Empire today, will come and go like so many “adjectives” to describe our Catholicism. But the Church herself is the “noun” that will endure for eternity.

My friends, let me return to what I said at the start of this homily, and how blessed we are to live in this beautiful country and enjoy so many freedoms. By the way, that is why we always pray for our country in the petitions of the Mass. May we never take these blessings for granted. We are indeed, “proud to be Americans.”

Nonetheless, be very careful with your nouns and adjectives, in preferring to be called a “Catholic American” instead of an “American Catholic.” Some people warn the Catholic Church that she will end up on the wrong side of history, especially because of her teaching on sexual ethics. But I would argue it is the adjectives that end up on the wrong side of history, like every empire that ever existed. Why? Because adjectives can and do change.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Motivated for Mass

Measuring the fervor of our faith

08/08/2021

Jn 6:41-51 The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven, ” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Every Catholic Christian’s relationship with Jesus can be measured by our motivation for Mass. That is, are you excited about the Eucharist or are you bored out of your gourd being here? There is a little framed sign in the sacristy where priests prepare for Mass that reads: “Priest of God, celebrate this Mass as if it were you first Mass, as if it were your last Mass, as if it were your only Mass.” I am convinced that sign should be seen by every Catholic who walks into Sunday Mass: celebrate this Mass as it were your first, last and only Mass. In other words, you can feel the fervor of your faith life by your enthusiasm for the Eucharist.

For the past several Sundays (as well as today), we have heard from John 6, the chapter about the miracle of the loaves and fish and also the explanation of the Eucharist as the “Bread of Life.” If you study the gospel of John closely, you will discover that he omits the “Institution Narrative,” during the Last Supper. What is the “Institution Narrative”? Well, unlike Matthew, Mark and Luke, John does not describe how Jesus took bread and wine and said this is my Body and Blood. Why is that not part of John’s Last Supper?

Well, because John’s “Institution Narrative” is actually to be found in chapter 6, long before the Last Supper. There, Jesus insists: “I am the Bread of life and he who eats of this bread will live forever.” In other words, we should not jump to judge John by saying he forgot the “Institution Narrative” at the Last Supper and so his faith in the Eucharist must be weak. Rather, like every Catholic Christian, so, too, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John’s faith life can be measured by their motivation for the Mass. Each Evangelist, in his own way, explained the Eucharist as if it were his “first, last, and only Mass.”

Here are three examples of how our relationship with Jesus can be measured by our motivation for the Mass. Perhaps this catalogue will help each Catholic evaluate his or her own faith-life. First, when I was in high school, I used to get up early and attend Mass at the local Carmelite monastery in Little Rock. That Mass was at 6:30 a.m. and I usually overslept like a typical teenager and arrived a few minutes late.

The priest, Fr. George Tribou, would glare at me over his glasses as I tried to slide into my pew without being noticed. I thought: “Man, there is not one other person here under 80 years old and here I am a teenager trying to make it to Mass and you are giving me the stink eye?” So, I swore I would never stare at people who come late for Mass, but I sometimes still do and give them the stink eye. As a teenager I tried to come to early morning Mass, and that says something about the fervor of my faith.

The second example is the strangest place I ever celebrated Mass. Many years ago my parents and I took a train trip across Canada, which lasted five days. One of those days was a Sunday, and I planned to say Mass in our little cabin for just the three of us. But I thought maybe there are other Catholics on the train, so I went up and down the train inviting any Catholics to come to Mass.

Someone even offered us their double cabin to say Mass so there would be more room. Do you know how many people attended that traveling “train Mass”? It was easily over 50 people, and many of them were standing down the corridor. That so many people were motivated to come to Mass on a moving train says a lot about their love for the Lord, the fervor of their faith.

The third example was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I had to celebrate Mass in the pope’s private chapel in 2003. On a visit to Rome, I was privileged to concelebrate with 6 other priests and about 20 lay persons in a small chapel inside the pope’s private residence. Pope St. John Paul II entered the chapel in a wheelchair and climbed into a chair facing the altar, and we all stood in order to begin the Mass.

I watched in awe as he made an enormous effort to kneel and stand at the proper parts of the Mass, even though he was extremely elderly and suffering severely from Parkinson’s. I promised myself that day I would never complain about the “calisthenics of the Mass” – all the standing, kneeling and sitting. I was watching a saint celebrate Mass if it were his first Mass, his last Mass, his only Mass. And that said a lot about the fervor of his faith.

My friends, there is a clear correlation between the fervor of our faith and our motivation for making it to Mass. They rise and fall together. By the way, there is another place in the Bible where John presents his “Institution Narrative” in a mysterious and marvelous way, namely, the Book of Revelation. In other words, what Revelation reveals is what the angels and saints are celebrating for eternity in heaven, namely, the Mass. In heaven the Eucharist will indeed be the first Mass, the last Mass and the only Mass. Folks, you better get motivated for the Mass on earth, because that is what we will be doing forever in heaven.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

The Bees Knees

Appreciating Adoration as a form of prayer

08/04/2021

Mt 14:22-36 Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to the other side of the sea, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

One of the most frequently asked questions of priests is about prayer. I recently received this text from a parishioner who asked about Adoration. She said: “Hey, my in-laws and husband insist that the Adoration Chapel is just the bees knees for prayer. I am not really understanding the point of going there just to pray. If you have a second to explain it to me like I’m five, I’d appreciate the help.” Of course, I was happy to try to explain the prayer of Adoration, but first I had to look up what “bees knees” meant. It means, by the way, “the best,” or “highest quality.”

I remembered that this parishioner had a baby boy named Henry, and so I answered her like this: “Adoration is like staring at Henry while he is sleeping and you do not say a word. He is a miracle and just perfection on two legs. You could watch him for hours and not get bored. Well, Adoration is like that, except we stare at Jesus, and don’t really want to be anywhere else.” That is, sometimes we think we have to say something special or do something extraordinary to pray better. But the best kind of prayer – the bees knees kind – only requires a lot of love, like the love a mom feels staring at her beautiful baby boy sleeping.

In the gospel today we see Jesus’ curious custom of going away by himself to pray. We read: “[Jesus] went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone.” Now, I call that custom “curious” because what could Jesus possibly have to pray about? After all, he is God. Was he just having a conversation with himself, asking his own advice about what he should do? “Let me see, I have already done the miracle of the loaves and fish in Mt 14, so maybe I will walk on water to finish out this chapter of the gospel.” Is that what he said? No.

I believe Jesus’ prayer consisted of the eternal Adoration – the bees knees – going on in the heart of the Holy Trinity. The Father and the Son gaze upon each other with infinite love, and they don’t have to say a word, and there is nowhere else they would rather be, a little like how that mom would never tire of staring at her baby boy.

Archbishop Fulton sheen compared Adoration to staring at the sunset for a long time. Our faces begin to glow with the same warm light emanating from the sun. In other words, we don’t stare at the sun so that we can change it; rather, we look at the sun, so it can change us, and make us more like itself. God the Son, Jesus, prayed by staring into the burning love of his Father so he always glowed with that same fire of love.

Let me give you a quick primer on prayer, and this is the rest of my answer to that parishioner who asked about Adoration. There are three basic kinds of prayer. The first is verbal prayer, where we talk and recite well-known prayers like Grace before Meals, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Hail Mary. The second is meditation, where we read some Scripture or spiritual book and then think about what we just read.

And the third is contemplation, where we sit silently in the presence of God, and we do not speak, and we do not think. We simply stare into his infinite Beauty and adore him. Again, Archbishop Fulton Sheen helps us catch the difference in these three forms of prayer, explaining colorfully: “In verbal prayer, we go to God on foot. In meditation, we go to God on horseback. In contemplation, we go to God in a jet.” Or, to put it like that parishioner: “Contemplation is the bees knees of prayer.” We say very little, but we love very much.

Folks, next time you go to pray, ask yourself this question: “Am I here to talk, or am I here to think, or am I here to look and love?” If you want to experience the bees knees kind of prayer, I highly recommend the Adoration Chapel at St. Boniface, where we experience a little of that eternal love between the Father and the Son, who simply stare at each other and glow with burning love.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Passing the Baton

Praying for the success of the next generation

08/03/2021

Mt 14:13-21 When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” He said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over – twelve wicker baskets full. Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.

Sooner or later we must all “pass the baton,” meaning we cannot be large and in charge all the time. We must relinquish our authority and allow another to don the mantle of leadership. But passing the baton is not that easy to execute. Just ask the U.S. Olympic 4x400 relay team. Did you hear about how they were almost disqualified for a bad baton pass from Elijah Godwin and Lynna Irby? Fortunately, the disqualification was overturned. Still, it illustrates how precarious that passing the baton can be.

My family is experiencing the passing of the baton – not in an Olympic sense, of course – as my parents move to Springdale. They are leaving behind a large home they have lived in for almost 40 years and moving into a smaller home that belongs to my brother. Paul, my brother, will take care of paying the bills, maintaining the home, etc. Now, that may seem like a sweet exchange for my parents, but it was not so easy to pass the baton and relinquish control over their own home to someone else. I am so proud of my parents for the humility they have shown in this handoff. It is never easy to pass the baton, and let someone else run the race.

Today’s gospel is primarily about Matthew’s account of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. Nonetheless, it is preceded by a brief verse about the baton being passed from John the Baptist to Jesus. We read in Mt 14:31, “When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.” That verse can easily escape our notice but it is supremely significant. Why?

Well, it comes right in the middle of Matthew’s gospel, in chapter 14, and we know Matthew has a total of 28 chapters. It is, therefore, a pivotal chapter where John has stopped running the race and passed the baton to Jesus, who is ready to take off. It would be no exaggeration to say the Old Testament has come to an end with the death of John the Baptist and passed the baton of the Good News to the New Testament. And passing the baton is never easy to execute; indeed, it cost John his life when he was executed by King Herod.

My friends, where are you right now in the relay race of your life? Are you carrying the baton of responsibility and feeling large and in charge of things? Well, good for you, but do so humbly and with a sense of doing God’s will more than your own. It helps to remember you were once not in charge of anything and one day will have to pass the baton to another. That is how I feel as pastor of this amazing parish. It was not long ago I was not carrying the baton of being pastor, and one day I will hand that baton to another priest. That is why I always say be nice to the associate priests here because they may come back one day and be your pastor.

Perhaps you are in the position of a young person who has never held the baton and cannot wait to carry it. Dc. Daniel who was here for the summer, cannot wait to be ordained and carry the baton of pastoral ministry, and someday be a pastor himself. I simply smile at his enthusiasm and think, “Son, that baton is heavier than it looks.” An out-going CEO of a major company advised the in-coming CEO: “95% of the decisions you make can be made by a relatively intelligent 17 year old. But you will be paid for the other 5%.” In other words, don’t be too ready to reach out to grab the baton of leadership.

Or perhaps you are like my parents and have already passed the baton to others, the younger generation. I pray you will find peace as you hand it off to others. Carrying the baton does not comprise the whole of your life, but only the middle section. Remember how Moses handed the baton on to Joshua his apprentice. David handed the royal baton to his son, Solomon. And Elijah handed the prophetic baton to his protégé Elisha. And in each case, the successor did more than his master. So, too, pray for the next generation, like my parents pray for their children, to do more than they did.

It is never very easy to pass the baton, as the U.S. Olympic relay team recently demonstrated. It is easy to be disqualified. May we not be disqualified as we pass the baton from one generation to the next. And may the next generation run faster than we did.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Sexist Sermon

Appreciating how women approach people

08/01/2021

Jn 6:24-35 When the crowd found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.”  So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” So they said to him, “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

I am sorry to say this but this is going to be a somewhat sexist sermon. What does that mean? Well, I am going to highlight one sex, namely women, and lowlight the other sex, that is, men. Sorry, gentlemen! Let me use myself, as a man, to illustrate what one sex sees and the other sex skips. Whenever I meet someone for the first time, I tend to ask questions about what that person does: their job, their hobbies, their vacations, etc.

But I have begun to notice that women, by and large, tend to ask questions about a new acquaintance’s relationships.  They ask about their parents, their children, their neighbors, and so forth. And this may explain why men remember someone’s salary but rarely remember their wedding anniversary. Women care about who you are and your emotional impact on others. Men mostly care about what you do and your economic impact on others. Women ask, “How are you feeling?” Men wonder, “How are you doing?” Men and women ask very different questions and thereby reveal two very different approaches to people.

Today we continue reading from John 6 and Jesus is about to begin his beautiful “Bread of Life Discourse.” Jesus has just performed the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish, but before he explains the Eucharist, there is a brief break and discussion about “being” versus “doing.” That is, we hear a sort of “sexist sermon” right in the middle of John 6. First, notice the question of the crowds. They ask Jesus: “What can you do?” In other words, the crowds were concerned, like I so often am as a man, with Jesus’ economic impact. What can Jesus produce to improve the Jewish GDP (gross domestic product)?

But Jesus shifts the discussion on to another plane, namely, the way women might approach it. He answers them: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger.” Did you catch what Christ did right there? He forced them to focus not on what he does, but on who he is; not on his doing but on his being, and the root of all being is relationships.

And that is why the taproot of all reality is the Holy Trinity, the eternal loving relationships of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Yes, Jesus is about to embark on his most expanded explanation of the Eucharist, but first he wants to make it clear that being the Bread of Life is more about who he is than what he does. In other words, the best approach the Eucharist with a female attitude rather than a male attitude. Maybe that is why more women make it to Mass than men normally do.

By the way, I am not the first to preach such a sexist sermon. Listen to these lines from Pope St. John Paul II’s Letter to Women back in 1995. He wrote: “Progress usually tends to be measured according to the criteria of science and technology.” That is how men typically think of progress. He continued: “Even so, this is not the only measure of progress, nor in fact is it the principal one. Much more important is the social and ethical dimension, which deals with human relations and spiritual values.”

And then the pope concludes: “In this area, which often develops in an inconspicuous way beginning with the daily relationships between people, especially within the family, society certainly owes much to the genius of women” (no. 9). Whew – the pope said a lot with a little! Basically, women catch the core of what it means to be a person quicker than men do. Why? Well, women focus on families and feelings, while men piddle around with productivity and politics. In the end, it’s not the economy, stupid.

My friends, how do you tend to think about other people? Or, put it another way, what kinds of questions do you ask when you first meet someone? May I suggest you adopt a little of the “genius of women” when you deal with others? That is, ask about their feelings, inquire about their family, learn about their hopes and dreams, and listen to them talk about their fears and failures. In other words, do not deal with others as an “economic unit” of productivity, like the Jews wanted to deal with Jesus. But rather, see them as an “emotional unit” that is a person with relationships that reveal their deepest identity.

And then I am convinced we will catch the connection between the Eucharist and everyone else, and how women have the best approach to both. Mother Teresa often said, “Unless we believe we see Jesus in the appearance of bread on the altar, we will not be able to see him in the distressing disguise of the poor.” That is, I must see my neighbor and my Savior in terms of personhood and not in terms of productivity, only then will we love both the poor and the Prince of Peace.

Whenever I go to the optometrist, I have to take an “eye test.” Do you remember which letter is the first one, and the biggest one, on the chart? It is the letter “E.” When we realize the biggest letter we see stands for the “Eucharist” and also for “Everyone,” we are finally beginning to learn the “genius of women.” And then maybe you will forgive me for this sexist sermon.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Cut the Strings

Learning the art of accompaniment

07/28/2021

Mt 13:36-43 Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

One of the hardest things for parents to do is watch their children make mistakes, and not try to stop them from falling on their face. Have you ever found yourself in that tricky situation? Why do wise parents do that? Well, because they know children learn as much (or more) from the school of hard knocks as from the school of soft taps. In other words, parents do not want their children to be forever like Pinocchio, a puppet on strings that they control, but rather real boys and girls, which means they make mistakes; their noses have to grow.

Parents sometimes ask me if they should attend the wedding of their Catholic children who get married outside the Church. I routinely reply: “Well, as long as you have made it clear to them that you disagree with their decision to marry without the sacrament, then I think it is safe to attend the wedding to show you love them.” In other words, just like you have disagreed with their bad decisions in the past but never stopped loving them, so too you now make it crystal clear where you stand morally but you nonetheless stand lovingly beside them.

This, I believe, is what Pope Francis means when he talked about “the art of accompaniment.” That is, we teach the world the truth, but we also accompany the world with love, and do not abandon it. Only if we cut the strings of control can Pinocchio become a real boy, and yes, he will inevitably make mistakes.

This tricky situation is what lies behind the parable of the weeds and the wheat that Jesus explains in the gospel today. Jesus says: “The good seed is the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One.” But then Jesus fast-forwards to the end of time and adds: “The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are the angels.”

Jesus is giving us a picture of people after all the accompaniment is finished, after everyone has graduated from the school of hard knocks, and each soul’s destiny is determined. In short, it is harvest time. But up until that time, what is God’s attitude and approach to us, his children? I am convinced it is one of “accompaniment,” like Pope Francis teaches. That is why this gospel passage ends with our Lord’s warning: “Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

Jesus, therefore, is in the position of so many parents who see their children making mistakes. He does not necessarily rush in to stop them, but rather, he cuts the strings of control, and lets poor Pinocchio decide his own destiny. Like loving parents who attend the wedding of their wayward children who marry outside the Church, so Jesus tell us the truth when we stray, but never stops lovingly accompanying us.

My friends, why did God create a world in which there is so much suffering and sin, so many problems and pains, such deep wounds and woes? If I knew the answer to that question, I would write a book and make millions of dollars! But, of course, such a book has already been written with an answer, and it is called the Holy Bible. And the basic answer the Bible gives to the existence of evil is that God did not make his people to remain puppets on a string, but to become real boys and girls.

But when God cuts the strings of control we enter into the school of hard knocks. And in that school, we sometimes make mistakes and fall flat on our face. And that can really hurt, especially if we have a long nose.

Praised be Jesus Christ!