The War Within

Finding peace on the inside and outside

11/29/2021

Is 2:1-5 This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In days to come, The mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills. All nations shall stream toward it; many peoples shall come and say: "Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD!

Have you ever wondered why there are wars? I mean why can’t we end all wars once and for all? Isn’t that what all beauty pageant contestants wish for: world peace? I am convinced there are wars on the outside (in the world) because first there are wars on the inside (in our hearts). We are not at peace in the world because we are not at peace within ourselves. We raise the sword to kill others when we should raise the sword to kill our own sins and selfishness. Perhaps a simple illustration will help.

During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln would visit the wounded soldiers in make-shift hospitals on the battlefield. In those days, people often did not know what the president looked like because photographic images were not as ubiquitous as they are today. As Lincoln was entering one such hospital, an orderly was running out in the opposite direction. The two men crashed into each other and went sprawling to the ground. The orderly, not recognizing his president, exclaimed: “Why don’t you look where you’re going, you lanky, long-legged buffoon!?” Lincoln stood up, dusted himself off, and asked the orderly: “Son, what’s bothering you on the inside?”

Lincoln knew where wars begin. The young orderly was ready to raise the sword on the outside (even against his own president) than wage war against his troubles on the inside – the worries, the fears, the sorrows, the anxieties in his own heart. Indeed, Lincoln likewise understood why we were waging the Civil War, brother against brother, because we had not waged the war against the sin of slavery on the inside, in our country’s soul. In other words, there will always be wars on the outside because first there is not peace on the inside.

Quickly becoming one of my favorite books of the Old Testament is Isaiah. Its sixty-six chapters can feel intimidating, but I find real “gold in them thar 66 hills” like in today’s first reading from Isaiah 2. We read about the prophet’s prospects for peace in the famous lines: “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” Isaiah goes on: “One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.”

But notice what has to happen before there is peace on the outside: there must be peace on the inside. That is, all the nations must listen to the voice of God in their hearts – that’s another name for conscience – and repent of their idolatry, sins and selfishness. Isaiah asks the nations like Lincoln asked the orderly: “What’s bothering you on the inside?” In other words, if there is not peace within the soul of each nation, there will never be peace among nations.

My friends, Advent is the period of preparation for the birthday of the Prince of Peace. How shall we prepare for peace? One way might be to ask like Isaiah: why are there wars among the nations? Another way might be to ask like Lincoln: what’s bothering you on the inside? For the next four weeks take serious time to ask yourself: what is robbing me of peace on the inside? And be careful not to blame other people for your lack of peace: your spouse, your neighbor, your president. That is the easy way out and does not lead to lasting peace.

The first step of peace is to turn the sword of war against ourselves: our sins, our selfishness, our ego, our pride, our laziness, our envy and jealousy, in a word, our disordered self-love. Once you have identified the cause of the war within, go to confession, and make your peace with God and with your conscience. And you will feel profound sense of peace.

Whenever someone gets really upset with me and blows up because I make some mistake, I wonder: “What’s bothering them on the inside?” And whenever I explode over some small error someone else makes, I ask myself: “What’s bothering me on the inside?” We will never find world peace until we have find peace for the war within.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Breakfast for Jesus

Christianity as commitment not contribution

11/27/2021

Lk 21:25-28, 34-36 Jesus said to his disciples: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand. “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”

A priest-friend of mine, Fr. Erik Pohlmeier, pastor of Christ the King, likes to say that breakfast is the most important meal of the morning. Did you hear about how the chicken and pig prepared breakfast one morning for the farmer and learned how important breakfast is? One day the chicken approached the pig and said, “I have a great idea for something we can do for the farmer! I think the farmer would be very happy if we made him breakfast.” The pig was intrigued, so he asked, “What do you suggest we make?”

The chicken knew he had little to offer, so he said, “I could provide some eggs.” The pig knew the farmer might want more for a meal, so he asked: “That’s a fine start. What else shall we make?” The chicken thought for a moment and answered: “Ham? The farmer loves eggs and ham!” The pig knew what that meant, and said: “Wait a minute! While you’re making a contribution, I am making a total commitment!” In other words, the pig could feel the level of importance of breakfast in the level of his commitment.

Today’s gospel is taken from Luke 21, a section called “The Olivet Discourse.” This is the spectacular speech that Jesus gives his apostles while they spend the night on Mt. Olivet and look across the Kidron Valley at the opposing hill toward Jerusalem, and Jesus foretells its destruction. Jesus describes his second-coming as a cataclysmic and even cosmic event: “People will die of fright of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”

And how are the apostles to prepare? Jesus does not ask them for a mere “contribution” but rather a total “commitment.” In other words, preparing for the Parousia (Jesus’ second-coming) is a lot like making breakfast for the farmer. You can be like the chicken and contribute some eggs, or you can be like the pig and sacrifice everything. And how exactly did the apostles make the supreme sacrifice? They gave up their former way of life in Judaism to embrace a new way of life in Christianity.

You see, Jerusalem, especially the towering Temple at the heart of the city, symbolized the whole world for the Jews. It stood at the center of their cultural universe like the sun in the center of our solar system keeps everything in its orbit. Its total destruction, therefore, which would occur 40 years after Jesus’ prediction, felt like the end of the world to all devout Jews. That was the total sacrifice and commitment Christ was calling the apostles to accept. That is what it means to make breakfast for Jesus; it is not a little contribution of an hour for Mass on Sunday, but a total sacrifice of your whole former way of life, the end of your former universe and the dawn of a new and better universe.

My friends, this Sunday we begin the season of Advent and the Church asks us to prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas. The four weeks of Advent are supposed to symbolize our whole life of faith, a waiting and watching for Jesus’ return not only at Christmas but at the end of time. And I would invite you to look at Advent and our Christian life in terms of preparing breakfast for Jesus. How so?

Well, we often begin our journey with Jesus like the chicken, trying to make a small contribution. We ask: what is the least I have to give of myself and still make it to heaven? But as we progress in faith we start to feel a desire to give more and more of ourselves to Christ, until he becomes the Lord and Ruler over every inch of our existence. Indeed, we feel like the saints and martyrs, like the pig, eager to lay down our life for our Lord.

Here are a few practical suggestions this Advent to move slowly from being a chicken to being a pig in preparing breakfast for Jesus. First, think of how much money you spend on gifts for family and friends, and try to give at least that much to church and charity. I start saving my stipends in October from baptisms, weddings and funerals to have some funds for Christmas presents. But I try to split that savings between my loved ones and the poor. I’m moving from contribution to commitment in my Christianity.

Another practical preparation is to spend as much time in prayer as you do at parties. Try to attend one daily Mass for each Christmas party you go to this season. If you go to five Christmas parties, then attend five additional daily Masses. The Mass is where the real party is going on. And third, when you watch the Razorbacks, or your favorite team, give up drinking your favorite adult beverage during the game. You may remember more of the game and yell less at the refs. Less contribution and more commitment.

Advent is a season of intense preparation for Christ’s coming not only at Christmas as a Baby, but also in glory at the end of time as a King. While we wait we have work to do: abandoning the attitude of the chicken who tries to get by with a small contribution and adopting the attitude of the pig who wants to give everything, even our own life, out of love for the Lord. This Advent try to be less like the chicken and more like the pig in preparing breakfast for Jesus when he returns in glory. Then, you, too, might start feeling why breakfast is the most important meal of the morning.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Holy Stupid Question

Learning from the dumb questions we ask

11/15/2021

Lk 18:35-43 As Jesus approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me!” Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord, please let me see.” Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.” He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.

Are there any such things as “stupid questions”? Some people argue the only dumb question is the one you did not ask. But I disagree. I have asked lots of stupid questions over the years. My life motto is now: “Keep your mouth shut and let people think you are stupid, rather than open your mouth and remove all doubt.” So, now I let other people ask the stupid questions.

I will never forget one teacher I had at the University of Dallas who asked all the stupid questions and took that pressure off us students. He taught us Russian Literature and almost his entire class was him asking us questions. For instance: Why did Raskolnikov kill his landlady? What made him fall in love with Sonia, a prostitute? Why did he finally kneel in the middle of a busy intersection and confess his crime to the world? I remember feeling so frustrated and wanting to ask: “Why don’t you just tell us the answers so we can move on to the next novel with unpronounceable names?”

Our professor, though, was actually teaching us more than Russian literature. He was demonstrating the “Socratic method” of education. That is, he was teaching by asking questions, and yes, sometimes even stupid questions. In the end, he was teaching us to be critical thinkers. Now, when I read a book, or the morning paper, or listen to a speaker, I ask in my mind: Why does he say that? What is his real message? Who is he trying to convince? My professor’s stupid questions taught his students how to think. In other words, stupid questions are the beginning of great wisdom.

I say the following with great reverence, but in the gospel today Jesus seems to be asking a stupid-sounding question. Just think about the scene. A blind beggar is brought before our Lord, and clearly Jesus can see his ailment. And yet Jesus has the audacity to ask: “What do you want me to do for you?” I mean if Robin had been standing nearby, he might have said: “Holy stupid question, Batman!” Does Jesus not know that this poor blind beggar would love to see?

But like my college professor, and the Greek philosopher Socrates, Jesus asked the apparently dumb question not for his own understanding, but for ours. That is, he has come to restore sight to the blind, but not just the physically blind, but more importantly, the spiritually blind, that is, those who walk in the dark without the light of faith. In other words, his supposedly stupid question was how Jesus solicited from the man an act of faith, which our Lord then rewarded with the miracle of physical sight. The far greater miracle of spiritual sight, though, had also occurred. The man could see physically and spiritually, and that is why he followed Jesus down the road.

Folks, have you ever asked a stupid question and wished you had kept your mouth shut? But I would invite you to be unafraid of asking all kinds of questions: those that make you look smart and those that make you look stupid. And I would really encourage you to ask questions in matters of faith: about Scripture, regarding prayer, about the Church, whether non-Christians will be saved, etc. One of the things I am proudest of here at I.C. is all the different groups that gather to do Bible study or just to talk about their faith.

If you do not belong to such a group, start your own. On our church website, you will find 4 on-line Bible study videos I produced during the pandemic. They cover the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Book of Revelation. Each session of the study ends with a list of 10 questions. In other words, don't worry, I will ask all the stupid questions, so you can stop stumbling around in the dark.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Forever 21

Preparing students for Heaven and Harvard

11/14/2021

Mk 13:24-32 Jesus said to his disciples: "In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. "And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds' with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky. "Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not  ass away. "But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

One of our mottos at Trinity Catholic School is, “We educate our students to get into Harvard and Heaven.” Now, of those two great destinations, which do you think it is harder to prepare students for? You might think it’s harder to get them into Harvard than to get into Heaven – Heaven should be easy, right? – but not necessarily. Why not? Well, because young people, especially teenagers, think they will never die, so it is not necessary to think about getting into Heaven because they will live forever. That is why they love to shop at stores called “Forever 21.”

Recently, I was preparing for Mass and the altar servers were putting on their vestments as well. I had celebrated my 52nd birthday and was feeling a little old. So, I asked one of the servers: “Do you think 52 is very old?” The server was trying to be diplomatic so he answered, “Not at all, 52 is not old.” Then I asked him, “Do you think you will ever be 52?” Without hesitation, he shot back, “No way!”

That answer was a little less diplomatic but a much more honest. It also revealed his real thinking about being 52: it was old, and by contrast he would stay young forever. If you will be “Forever 21” you want to get into Harvard, but if you are “Forever 21” you have no need for Heaven. And that is why it is harder to prepare students for Heaven than for Harvard.

In the gospel today, Jesus is also trying to prepare his apostles for Heaven more than for Harvard, because that is the harder lesson to learn. Our Lord uses some rather dramatic language to make his point. He says: “In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” In a sense, Jesus was trying to scare the hell out of them so he could scare the Heaven into them. Just like I was trying to help my little altar server see he would not always stay young, so Jesus was helping his little altar servers (also known as apostles) to realize both they and the world they inhabit would end one day.

And therefore, they should prepare for a better world, namely, Heaven. But Jesus had his work cut out for him because the Jews of the first century – like the Americans of the 21st century – were more interested in an earthly paradise rather than a heavenly one. In every age, therefore, people work a lot harder to go to Harvard then to go to Heaven. Jesus was the Headmaster and Teacher of the first Catholic school, where his apostles were the students, and his goal was exactly the same as that of Trinity Catholic School: to prepare his students for Harvard and Heaven, but more so for Heaven.

My friends, thank you for the opportunity to celebrate Masses here at Sacred Heart and share with you what a treasure we have in Trinity Catholic School, as well as at Christ the King and Immaculate Conception. Of course, our students have high achievements in academics, and I love to watch them in Quiz Bowl and Spelling Bee competitions. But other schools have smart students, too. And naturally, we emphasize being kind and loving your neighbor and doing community service. But other school love their neighbors and care about their community, too.

And we encourage our students to explore extracurricular activities like band and cheer and dance and choir and drama. Recently, Trinity students participated in a entrepreneur’s competition at UAFS, and Fr. Daniel, who has an MBA, helped interview and prepare them. I think they were more scared of Fr. Daniel than UAFS professors! But other schools have extracurricular activities, too.

But just as Jesus worried more about his apostles getting into Heaven than into Harvard, so, too, Trinity helps her students to prepare for Heaven even more than for Harvard. How so? Well, the students attend weekly Mass and receive Holy Communion. They go to confession at least twice a year in Advent and again in Lent. Fr. Daniel is available for confessions every week on Thursdays, and believe it or not, he gets some customers in the confessional! And once a year, they make a spiritual retreat, which your parish of Sacred Heart is hosting this year. Thank you so much!

My friends, my point in this sermon is pretty simple, namely, the spiritual side of the education of the whole child is what makes Trinity and other Catholic schools so unique but also so necessary. Otherwise, we leave our precious children only preparing for Harvard and never preparing for Heaven. Worse still, we leave them lumbering under the illusion that they will be “Forever 21” and will never turn 52.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Headless Chicken

Using terms of endearment for those we love

11/09/2021

1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17 Brothers and sisters: You are God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.

People love to use terms of endearment when they talk about people they love. For example, two people who are very much in love may simply call each other “my love.” You may have heard people call their loved ones “sweetheart,” or “honey,” or “sugar.” In Spanish the terms of endearment are even stronger and sometimes even spiritual. For instance, someone might say, “mi cielo,” meaning “my heaven,” or “mi corazon,” which means “my heart.”

Surprisingly, in Spanish parents sometimes address children as “mommy” and “poppy.” Since I have started playing tennis, I have also gotten a nickname, “headless chicken,” as in “he’s running around like a chicken with his head cut off.” I am not sure if that term is endearing or insulting, but it does accurately describe how I play tennis.

In the scriptures today for the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, we hear people referred to as “the temple of God.” We might think that is a term of endearment, but it isn't. For example, in 1 Co 3:16, St. Paul talks to the Corinthians affectionately saying: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” Even though St. Paul speaks with great love for the Corinthians, he was not using a typical “term of endearment.” Why not?

Well, because terms of endearment only catch the corners of our character, not our essence, not our soul and center. When St. Paul tells the Corinthian Christians they are “temples,” he is not using a metaphor or analogy, a term of endearment, but rather uncovering their deepest identity. They are truly and really temples of God, because the Spirit dwells in them. We see this deep truth again when Jesus says in Jn 2:19, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” He was speaking about his body that would be raised up in three days after its destruction on the Cross.

In other words, Jesus’ Body is the Temple of God, par excellence, because the Holy Spirit dwells in him. By comparison to Christ, the great Jerusalem Temple was merely a metaphor and analogy. That is, the phrase, “temple of God” would have been a term of endearment to mean the Jerusalem Temple. In the same way, Christians, who are other Christs, are truly “temples of God,” and by comparison our earthly church buildings, magnificent as they are, remain merely metaphorically temples.

One of the great blessings of being the pastor of Immaculate Conception Church is celebrating the sacraments inside this beautiful building. Last Saturday I heard confessions in our confessional boxes, Sunday I baptized Vivian Jane Meares at the baptismal font, each day we gather around the altar for the Eucharist, and on Friday we will have the funeral Mass of Mary Lynn Lawler. There is little doubt that the Spirit of God dwells inside these four walls, especially whenever the sacraments are celebrated.

But do you know where the Holy Spirit seeks to reside even more than inside this great temple? You guessed it: inside the true temple that is you and me. And that is something we have to strive to see because we can easily miss the true temples that are Christians. When we hear babies crying, when we hear cell phones going off, when we see people arriving late to Mass and see others leaving early after Communion, when we see toddlers running around church like chickens with their heads cut off, we must recall St. Paul’s words to the Corinthians, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God.”

And do not forget Jesus’ words, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” Both the Apostle and his Master meant that the true temples are individual Christians, and the material buildings, by contrast, are only temples metaphorically and secondarily. Someday, this magnificent church will be but dust and ashes, but all the little headless chickens will be raised in glory.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Hiding from God

Learning how God finds us and we find him

11/08/2021

Responsorial Psalm 139:1b-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-10 O LORD, you have probed me and you know me; you know when I sit and when I stand; you understand my thoughts from afar. My journeys and my rest you scrutinize, with all my ways you are familiar. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know the whole of it. Behind me and before, you hem me in and rest your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence where can I flee? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I sink to the nether world, you are present there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea, Even there your hand shall guide me, and your right hand hold me fast.

Last Thursday at school Mass, I told the students that one of my favorite childhood games was hide-and-seek. In fact, it is still one of my favorite games as I try to hide from you, my parishioners. I asked them if they had a favorite hiding place. One answered “his closet,” another said, “under the bed,” another answered, “the front porch.” One of the funniest ways small children try to hide from others, especially adults, is by covering their eyes with their hands. They childishly think that “if I cannot see you, you cannot see me.”

Then I asked them that if they were playing hide-and-seek with God, would God be able to find them? Could he find you in your closet? I asked. They all answered resoundingly, “Yes!” Could he find you under your bed? Again, all chimed in with, “Yes!” Could he find you on your front porch?” Again, all shouted, “Yes!” Could he find you if you covered your eyes with your hands and pretended God is not there? All said, half-laughing, “Yes!”

I added, more seriously, “Please remember your answers today. Because as you get older, and become teenagers and twenty-somethings, we try to hide from God, and pretend he is not there, but he will always find us.” By the way, that is my definition of atheism: people who cover their eyes with their hands and childishly believe that, “If I cannot see you, God, then you cannot see me.” If I don’t think about you, or believe in you, or love you, then you will no longer exist. In other words, hide-and-seek is not just a child’s game; lots of adults play it, too.

Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 139) is one of my favorites because it is all about playing hide-and-seek with God. Listen to one verse: “Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence where can I flee?” And then the Psalmist answers his own questions, saying: “If I go to the heavens, you are there; If I sink to the netherworld, you are present there.” The ancient Psalmist was asking and answering the same questions I put to the school children last week: where is your favorite hiding place? And can God find you there? In other words, in every age mankind has tried to play hide-and-seek with God.

Remember how Adam tried to hide after he ate the forbidden fruit? Gn 3:9-10 read: “The Lord God then called to the man and asked him, ‘Where are you?’ Adam answered, ‘I heard you in the garden, but I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid’.” But even our first graders at I.C. could have told Adam, “That’s silly, you can’t hide from God!” But since the beginning of time people have tried to hide from God, and we probably will keep trying until the end of time.

My friends, do you sometimes try to hide from God? Or maybe more likely, you feel like God is hiding from you. You are seeking him, but he has found a secret hiding place that no one knows. Let me give you an example of playing hide-and-seek with God. It comes from St. Augustine’s autobiography called Confessions. Augustine searched for God everywhere – like Psalm 139, he looked he looked in heaven and in the netherworld.

But do you know where he finally found him? God was hiding in Augustine’s heart, which is God’s favorite hiding place. The great Doctor of Grace wrote: “You were more inward to me than my most inward part” (Confessions, Bk. 3. Ch. 6) by which he means his heart. In other words, the reason we do not know God, is because we do not really know ourselves. The search for God also turns out to be a search for ourselves. The human heart is God’s favorite hiding place, and one of the last places we look to find him.

Folks, do you like to play hide-and-seek? You might reply, “Oh, I haven’t played that game since I was a small child!” But I would suggest to you that we are all still playing that game, with each other and with God. That is exactly, the game modern-day atheists are playing: covering their eyes and thinking that if I cannot see God, he cannot see me. But like in that commercial for Trix cereal, our first graders could tell us: “Silly rabbit, hide-and-seek is for kids!”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Chess or Checkers

Choosing to be wise rather than smart

11/07/2021

Mk 12:38-44 In the course of his teaching Jesus said to the crowds, "Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues,  and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation." He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, "Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood."

Which do you think is better: to be smart or to be wise? Or put it more personally: do you think you are smart or do you believe you are wise? Our modern culture puts a much high premium on smarts but not much value on wisdom. You will get into an Ivy League school like Harvard or Yale because you are really smart – you made all A’s on your high school report card.

On the other hand, if you are wise, you might only make C’s and D’s, but at least you will understand why you did. Smart people can answer the questions: what, where, how, and when, but only wise people can answer the question why? Google makes you feel smart; but only God will make you wise. Sadly, most people today trust Google far more than God.

Let me give you two examples of how wise people think and therefore live. Have you ever seen that “magic art” that at first looks like patterns of colors on a piece of paper? But if you stare at it long enough, a three-dimensional image appears. That is what wise people do: they stare at life long enough that they see how multi-dimensional life is. In other words, wise people perceive that life is more than what at first meets the eyes.

Have you ever hard the phrase, “He is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers”? Chess is far more complicated – and far more fun – than the simple game of checkers. Wise people, therefore, are playing chess in life – seeing moves and possibilities and opportunities – while smart people stick to checkers. So, would you rather be wise or smart? Do you prefer to play chess or checkers?

In the gospel today, we see Jesus display a wisdom that is given by God, and far surpassing the smarts of the scribes. First our Lord criticizes the scribes who wear long robes and are respected by others for all their smarts. They were like the Ivy League professors of their day, smart as a whip. But then Jesus observes – that is, he stares for a long time – how people put money into the treasury.

Suddenly, he notices a widow – whom most people missed – and Jesus shockingly says: “This poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury.” Like that magic 3-dimensional art, Jesus saw more deeply than others, and most especially he saw into people’s souls. Jesus never went to school and earned all A’s or graduated from Harvard or Yale. But he was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers.

Folks, let me give you three practical applications of how to think and live like Jesus today; how to be truly wise rather than simply smart. First, this is why the Catholic Church teaches both the value of marriage but also promotes priestly celibacy. I cannot count the number of times people ask me: “Fr. John, when will the Church stop forcing young men to be celibate and allow them to marry? It would solve so many problems!”

But Jesus said in Mt 22:30, “At the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels in heaven.” In other words, celibacy (or better virginity) is the heavenly condition, not marriage. Marriage is only half the picture of human life; the other half is celibacy. The Church is playing chess – seeing possibilities, moves and opportunities – but the world wants us to play checkers. Why? Because people settle for being smart rather than seek wisdom.

A second example is studying scripture. The great St. Augustine, when he first tried to read and study the sacred text, said: “Back then, when I scrutinized Holy Scripture, I did not feel the way I do now when I speak of it. Instead, it seemed to me unworthy of comparison with the merit of Cicero’s writings.” He adds insightfully: “My powers of perception could not penetrate its depths” (Confessions, Bk. 3, Ch. 5).

Just like people today prefer to read the morning paper or Harry Potter, so Augustine preferred Cicero and skipped the Scriptures. Studying the Bible is like that magic 3-d art: you have to stare at the scriptures with faith and love and you begin to see its deeper dimensions. The scriptures offer us the wisdom of God, not simply smarts of professors and pundits. Reading the Bible is playing chess while reading Harry Potter is playing checkers.

The third example is earth and heaven. Where do you feel is your true home, that is, where do you spend all your time, treasure and talent: in building an earthly home or in building a heavenly home? If you are really smart and know a lot of stuff, you can have a huge home on earth. And that is not a bad thing.

But if you are wise, you might be like that poor widow who gave all she had to the temple treasury. When we put our marbles in an earthly paradise, we are merely playing checkers, living a one-dimensional life. Whereas, when we turn our eyes to heaven, we start playing chess and living a richer, multi-dimensional life. We see deeper dimensions we never thought possible.

Now, I love to play checkers, too, like those old men sitting in the park. But if you ask me to choose between being smart and being wise, I would rather be wise. I would rather be celibate than married; I would rather read Scripture than any other book; I prefer to build a home in heaven than erect one on earth. In that spiritual sense, I would rather play chess than checkers.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Lion and Lamb

Learning how to have a come to Jesus talk

11/04/2021

Lk 14:25-33 Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”

Do you know what a “come to Jesus” talk is? The website “Dictionary.com” defines it like this: “Any moment or meeting in which a frank, often unpleasant, conversation is held so as to bring to light and/or resolve some issue at hand.” I was fortunate to attend Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock under the leadership of Fr. George Tribou.

We loved and admired him but we also feared him. If you were ever sent to his office, you knew it was for a “come to Jesus talk.” Fr. Tribou put the fear of God into us boys, and it was a very helpful and humbling thing for arrogant teenage boys who thought they knew it all. I am grateful for all the “come to Jesus talks” I have had from Fr. Tribou and others over the years.

In the gospel Jesus himself gives a “come to Jesus talk” to his followers. He says very sternly: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” And our Lord does not stop there. He adds that his disciples have to carry their cross, be ready to go into battle, endure the laughter and mockery of the crowds, and basically renounce all their possessions to be worthy to be called Christian. Wow, with friends like that who needs enemies? In other words, Jesus wants to make it crystal clear that discipleship is serious business, and not some Sunday, funday, walk in the park. Jesus himself had to give his disciples a “come to Jesus talk” about what it means to follow him.

But being “stern and serious” is not the only meaning of “come to Jesus.” For example, we hear Jesus say more softly in Mt 11:28-30, “Come to me, all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” He goes on: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for yourselves.” He concludes: “For my yolk is easy, and my burden is light.” What a contrast to the Christ we meet in today’s gospel from Lk 14. We may feel like asking: well, which is it, Jesus? Are you stern or are you soft? Do you want us to walk by fear or walk by faith? Are you the good cop or are you the bad cop?

Well, I would suggest to you Jesus is both, and our Lord always must be both. Why? Well, only then do you have a real and authentic relationship with someone. And our friendship with Jesus is the most real and genuine relationship we can ever have with anyone. In the seminary, they taught us to be a "lion" in the pulpit but a "lamb" in the confessional. In other words, priests have to give one kind of “come to Jesus talk” when they preach to the people. We should be somewhat stern.

But when people come to confession, we should have another “come to Jesus talk.” That is, we should be soft and kind, compassionate and merciful. That is how we help people have a more authentic relationship with the Lord: they see that Jesus is sometimes severe but also sometimes soft. He demands we walk by faith, but also with a healthy dose of fear. Anything less would not be our Lord.

My friends, keep this in mind in your own relationships with each other, as family, as friends, as brothers and sisters in Christ. Why? Well, because we all tend to emphasize either one side too much or the other side. Couples who first fall in love think they will never have to call each other out or correct each other’s mistakes. But that is unrealistic and leads to frustration or worse.

Some parents correct their child incessantly and forget to be the good cop sometimes. Some grandparents may feel: I am tired of being the bad cop, so I am going to give my grandkids whatever they want and spoil them rotten. But that, too, misses the mark. You have probably known pastors here at Immaculate Conception who have either been too permissive or too punishing with their parishioners. Of course, the pastors are perfect now.

All authentic relationships, on the other hand, must balance the two meanings of “come to Jesus.” We must all learn to be a lion in the pulpit and a lamb in the confessional.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Parading in Paradise

Remembering and praying for our beloved dead

11/02/2021

Jn 6:37-40 Jesus said to the crowds: “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.”

Every year on November 2, we pray for all those who have died. Here at Immaculate Conception, we go all out for them. We erect an altar to those who have died and place pictures of our beloved dead upon it. I was gazing at it recently and recognized many faces, some of whose funerals I did. How fitting that altar sits below the loving gaze of Mary, whom we ask to pray for us, “now at the hour of our death. Amen.” In addition, here at I.C., we also pray a novena of Masses – nine days of Masses – for those who have died, remembering specifically the names written on the envelopes placed on the main altar. Let me share with you three thoughts as we remember and pray for our beloved dead today.

The first thought comes from Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who memorably said: “In heaven there will be three surprises. First, there will be some people there we did not expect to make it to heaven. Second, there will be some people not there whom we did expect to see there. And third, we ourselves might make it to heaven, which will be the biggest surprise of all.” That is why we need to pray for the dead, and we need the dead to pray for us – yes, the souls in purgatory can pray for us on earth – because we do not know who will and who will not finally be parading around in Paradise. These prayers for the dead, therefore, are not negligible, they are necessary.

The second thought is about our pets going to heaven. And here I have to summon all my diplomatic skills because many people love their pets more than some of their family members. And if I say dogs do not go to heaven, then some people will assert that Fr. John will not go to heaven either. There is hope for our pets to be in Paradise because Rv 21:1 reads: “Then I saw a new heavens and a new earth.” So, why cannot your dog or cat be part of the “new earth”? But pets will not enjoy Paradise in the same way people do. Why not?

Well, because we do not baptize pets, and we do not give Holy Communion to pets, and we do not give the Last Rites to pets. There is a fundamental difference between people and pets and that will be reflected in Paradise. Brother Richard Sanker, who teaches at Catholic High School in Little Rock, captured this distinction well. He said: “If for you to be happy in heaven, you need your dog, then your dog will be in heaven.” Notice it is for your eternal happiness that pets are in heaven, not for theirs. Now all pet lovers will be surprised if I make it to heaven.

The third thought about the dead comes from a controversial book by Hans Urs Von Balthasar called “Dare We Hope All Men Be Saved.” Basically, Balthasar is inviting us to pray and hope that all people – absolutely all – will eventually be saved, meaning no one will end up in hell. After all, we read in 1 Tm 2:3-4, “This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.” Now when you hope and pray for something you do not know with absolute certainty that particular intention will happen.

For instance, before the Arkansas – Georgia football game we all hoped and prayed that the Razorbacks would defeat the Bulldogs. But that did not happen at all. Our prayer and hope for salvation is not based on skills and strength of Coach Pittman or KJ Jefferson, but on the love and grace of God the Father and his Son, Jesus. So we have higher hopes for better results at the Resurrection than we do on the gridiron. Thus we continue to hope and pray that all be saved because salvation lies more in God’s hands than in ours.

Let me leave you with this final thought. I love the old saying: “You know you’re getting old when you know more people in heaven than you do on earth.” When you look around, do you sometimes wonder: who are all these people? And then we ask: and where are my family and friends and pets I grew up with? And that is why we pray for our faithful departed on November 2, so that where they are, we, too, one day may be: parading in Paradise.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Homecoming Queen

Looking forward to our heavenly homecoming

11/01/2021

Mt 5:1-12a When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”

One of the great traditions about fall football is the homecoming game. Have you ever returned to your high school or college for homecoming? Besides the homecoming football game, there is usually a queen or king crowned, along with their “royal court." Did you know my sister, Mary, was the homecoming queen her senior year at Mt. St. Mary Academy? She got the beauty and the brains in our family, and my brother and I were happy to be her pages carrying the tail of her train. Some things never change.

Why do we look forward to homecoming games? Well, it is a chance for the alumni of an academic institution to return and relive a little of the glory days. Who does not look back on their high school and college years with a nudge of nostalgia? We know we cannot really return to our youth, but we can share with others their youth, and thereby rekindle a little of the glow of our own lost glory.

Today on November 1, we celebrate the feast of All Saints. And in a sense it is the ultimate “homecoming celebration.” But there is a decisive difference between the heavenly homecoming of the saints and the earthly one of fall football. With our heavenly homecoming, our glory days lie before us, not behind us. In other words, it is not until we get to heaven that true glory awaits us, where not only my sister will be crowned queen, but maybe even my brother and I will wear crowns. In the gospel Jesus summarizes his Beatitudes with the hope of this future glory, saying: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.” Our reward will be our glory days that are still ahead of us in that heavenly homecoming.

Today’s Office of Readings from the Liturgy of the Hours featured a reading from St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Listen to how he described heaven as a “homecoming,” almost like returning for a fall football game to your high school or college. He wrote: “Let us long for those who are longing for us, hasten to those who are waiting for us, and ask those who look for our coming to intercede for us.” He continued: “While we desire to be in their company, we must also earnestly seek to share in their glory. Do not imagine that there is anything harmful in such an ambition as this; there is no danger in setting our hearts on such glory.” Put simply, our glory days are ahead of us, not behind us.

My friends, what is one of the greatest challenges we face as we get older? We start to reminisce and relive our glory days of by-gone years. That is why homecoming football is so popular. We want to return to the days when we were young and beautiful and athletic and energetic, like those football jocks and smiling cheerleaders. And a little bit of nostalgia is not a bad thing necessarily.

But today’s feast of All Saints should help with us with a holy reorientation, so that we see our true homecoming awaits us in heaven, not at our old high school or college alma mater. In other words, real glory is not fading farther into the past, but drawing ever closer from the future and will soon touch our present. In the eternal glory days of heaven, it’s not merely one lucky boy or girl who will be crowned as king or queen, but we all will be kings and queens. May every earthly homecoming remind us of that heavenly one.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Voice Verification

Learning to hear the sound of our own voice

10/31/2021

Mk 12:28b-34 One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied, "The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than he.' And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Sooner or later we all have trouble with our hearing. For example, some of you… Could you hear what I mean? After some pressure from his family, an elderly man who was hard of hearing finally visited his doctor. After a lengthy exam the doctor identified the problem and prescribed a solution. The man took the prescription and the doctor told him to return in a week so he could check on his progress. A week later the man returned for his check-up. The doctor announced very pleased, “You hearing is perfect! Your family must be delighted.” The man replied: “Oh, I have not told them yet. I just sit around the house and listen to them talking. So far, I have changed my will three times!”

I am convinced, however, that the hardest people to hear is not someone else but ourselves. What do I mean? Well, I will never forget the advice Fr. Tom Elliot – while he was still Fr. Tom – gave someone who came to him for counseling many years ago. The person was very hysterical and going on and on about all their problems and how everyone else was to blame for causing them. Suddenly, Fr. Tom stopped them and said politely: “Can you hear yourself talking right now?”

The person became instantly self-aware and finally heard their own voice sounding very irrational and unrealistic. Have you ever noticed how your voice sounds so strange in a recording and not at all like you think it sounds? Well, the recording is your true voice and how you really sound, and you are hearing yourself perhaps for the very first time. In other words, when it comes to our own voice, we are all a little hard of hearing.

In the gospel today, Jesus does a little hearing check with one of the scribes. Jesus answers the scribe's question about which commandment is the greatest, and then our Lord, the divine audiologist, waits to see what the scribe heard. And the scribe is actually able to repeat what Jesus said because he heard and listened well. In other words, it was not enough for the scribe merely to hear Jesus’ answer and hear Jesus’ voice.

The scribe had to put the answer into his own words and utter his understanding with his own voice and his own vocal chords. Why? Well, the external commandment of love of God needed to be internalized and said with the scribe’s own voice. The mouth is the echo chamber of the heart. Thus Jesus said, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” Why? Well, because the scribe had overcome the hardness of hearing his own voice. His voice verified that the Kingdom of God was beating in his own heart.

Let me give you three examples where we, too, may be suffering from a little hardness of hearing, especially when it comes to hearing our own voice. Several years ago I was giving a presentation on one of my books, and I became very excited and exuberant. (I know you find that hard to believe.) Afterward I asked a friend, who had known me since childhood, how the presentation went.

She answered very kindly, “To be honest, you sounded a little arrogant.” I wanted to answer: “If you were not being honest, how did I sound?” I gotta tell you, her criticism was not easy to hear. But do you know what was even harder to hear? It was the sound of my own voice, which I confess did indeed come across as arrogant. I was hard of hearing my own voice.

Here is a second example. When I prepare young couples for marriage, I ask them a series of questions about how serious they are for marriage. For instance, I ask: Do you want to be married for life? Do you intend to be faithful to your spouse? Will you accept children from God? And sometimes the couple only nods their head in agreement.

But I tell them that is not good enough. They have to answer the questions out loud, so that they can hear the sound of their own voice uttering their vows. I want their voice to be echo chamber of their hearts and reflect what they really feel. Why? Well, as the years go by and the tears rain down, it becomes harder to hear the sound of our own voice and when you originally said those vows. Married couples can become hard of hearing to their own voice.

Here is a third example. I am so proud of all of our teachers and catechists who are sharing the faith in our school and religious education programs. They are like the scribe in the gospel today, who hear Jesus’ voice and then they translate the faith with their own voice and share it with the next generation. I hope they can hear the sound of their own voice when they teach the Gospel. I have no doubt Jesus is saying to our school teachers and PRE catechists, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” Like Fr. Tom Elliot said, “Can you hear yourself talking right now?”

My friends, Jesus listens to us speaking daily like that father who had his hearing healed even if we don’t think he hears us. But Jesus does not change his will and our inheritance based on what we blurt out, sometimes arrogantly. Rather, he helps us to hear our own voice with the help of his grace. Only if we can over overcome our hardness of hearing our own voices, will we also hear Jesus’ voice saying: “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Song and Sword

Learning the importance of music in the liturgy

10/28/2021

Lk 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.

Do you have trouble remembering things? One of the best ways to aid your memory is with music. For example, can you name the twelve apostles that Jesus picks in the gospel today? You might guess most of them, but you might also miss one or two. I recently heard the names of the apostles set to music and it made it a lot easier for my poor memory. It went with the tune of “Jesus loves me this I know.”

It goes: “Jesus called them one by one, / Peter, Andrew, James and John, / Next came Philip, Thomas too, Matthew and Bartholomew. / Yes, Jesus called them, / Yes, Jesus called them, / Yes, Jesus called them, / He called them one by one. / James the one they call the less, / Simon also Thaddeus, / Twelfth apostle Judas made, / Jesus was by him betrayed. / Yes, Jesus called them, / Yes, Jesus called them, / Yes, Jesus called them, / He called them one by one.” If you sing that song a few times you will never forget the names of the twelve apostles, especially Simon and Jude.

I believe the connection between music and memory goes much deeper than learning a few names. It serves a liturgical function, that is, music stands in service of prayer and praise at Mass. St. Augustine famously said, “He who sings prays twice.” We Catholics are notorious for not singing – although we love to complain about other people’s singing – and so our worship suffers from a severe deficit. If the person who sings “prays twice,” then most of us Catholics are only “praying once” as we recite our prayers without musical accompaniment.

Ever since the COVID pandemic started we have cut back on singing, and we even removed the hymnals from the pews for a while. Of course we did that with an abundance of caution for people’s health and not to spread the virus. But the missing music was painfully obvious. Several parishioners asked me, “Fr. John, when are we going to start singing at Mass again?” My sarcastic side wanted to reply: “I would love to know when we Catholics will ever start singing!”

Did you know that many of the parts the priest says at Mass should really be sung? That is why many of our associate priests – well trained in seminary – have sung the opening prayer, the Alleluia, the Preface, etc. They are not showing off, but rather they sing because they are truly praying and praising God. The priest who sings prays twice. In other words, music does not just help us remember the apostles’ names; music is the best way to invoke God’s name at Mass.

Did you know that music is also essential in the Bible? In today’s gospel we read: “Jesus went up the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God.” How did Jesus pray? He did not pray the rosary all night. Jesus, being a good Jew, had a prayer book: it was the Psalter, the 150 Psalms. But the Jews did not recite the psalms like we recite the Responsorial Psalm at Mass. Rather, they sang it. It probably helped them remember the 150 psalms like music helps us remember the twelve apostles. When Jesus spends the night in prayer, therefore, we should imagine him on the mountainside singing the psalms and praising his heavenly Father.

If you study the book of Revelation closely, you will discover it is punctuated with hymn after hymn after hymn. Indeed, in just three chapters, Rv 4, 5, and 7, we find seven hymns that the angels and saints sing to worship God. And we sing some of those hymns at Mass, like the Holy, Holy, Holy in Rv. 4, or at least we should sing them. That is why the army of angels is best called “choirs of angels” (Rv. 5:11). The angels know better than St. Augustine that "he who sings prays twice."

In other words, when we sing in the liturgy (at Mass), we join the army of angels who march in musical formation and defeat the Evil One, with both song and sword, much like the Marines march in musical rhythm and sing as they go to war. And if we look a little closer at the spiritual battle, we will see that the song is the sword.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

I Live Here

Seeing the church as our primary residence

10/26/2021

Lk 13:18-21 Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.” Again he said, To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened.”

When family or friends come to visit me here at Immaculate Conception, they inevitably ask, “Where do you live?” And I smile and say, “I live in the white house!” Then I point out the two-story white residence across Rogers Avenue from the church. People are always curious to know what the priest’s house, which Roman Catholics call a “rectory” and Protestants a “parsonage,” looks like. But I rarely take people inside because of how super-sensitive (perhaps paranoid?) we have become in the wake of the sexual abuse scandal. So, the rectory remains a mystery to most curious Catholics.

In fact, after Sunday Mass one morning, an inquisitive child looked toward the sacristy (the room where the priests prepare for Mass), and asked, “Do you have a bed in there?” In that little lad’s mind the priest must magically appear from that room and just as mysteriously disappear back into it, so he must have a bed in there to sleep. He wasn’t far from the truth. I do consider the church more my home than the rectory. Why?

Well because what we do here in church – celebrate the Mass and other sacraments (like baptisms, weddings and funerals), read and reflect on the Sunday Scriptures, pray for each other, and praise our Heavenly Father together – all that will last a lot longer than what I do in the white house, the rectory. In other words, this church is my real home, and the rectory is just where I sleep, shower and shave. To the question, “Where do you live?” my answer would be, “I live here.”

In the gospel today, Jesus presents a couple of his kingdom parables. In a sense, the kingdom parables are Jesus’ own answer to the question, “Where do you live?” Notice in these two parables in Luke 13, Jesus wants to highlight that the kingdom is both huge but also hidden. Like a small mustard seed that grows to be a home for all the birds of the sky, the kingdom is huge. But also like a little leaven that quietly raises the whole batch of dough, the kingdom is hidden.

Those two qualities of the Kingdom of God are also characteristics of the Church. The Catholic Church spreads her branches to the four corners of the earth for every bird to find a home, and she also grows quietly like the leaven of faith in the hearts of believers, like the people going through RCIA every year. To the question, “Where do you live?” Jesus would point to the Church – the people of God united in Word and sacrament – and say, “I live here.” But Jesus would also add, “And you should live here, too.” In other words, make the Kingdom of God  your primary residence.

My friends, we all love our own homes and try to make each one a little heaven on earth. I love to visit people in their homes and bless their homes so they will experience both peace and prosperity there. But do you know what will eventually happened to that home? You will leave it in someone else’s hands. When I arrived here in 2013, I visited Eddie and Betty Christian in their home on Park Avenue.

Since then I celebrated both their funerals and today, Bill and Karen Hollenbeck live in that house. And one day, they too will leave that house on Park Avenue in someone else’s hands. In a spiritual sense, that home on Park is where the Hollenbecks sleep, shower and shave. But it is here, inside these four walls of the church, where they experience real living, with Word and sacrament, prayer and praise, love and laughter.

I always ask young couples preparing for marriage, “Where is your spiritual home?” That is, where do you go to church? Sometimes, that is a hard question for them to answer because they may not go regularly to Mass anywhere. But over the years, and perhaps after shedding many tears, they, too, will learn where they merely sleep, shower and shave, and where they, too, might answer, “I live here.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Climb a Mountain

Scaling the sides of life’s mountains

10/25/2021

Rom 8:12-17 Brothers and sisters, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

Have you ever told someone: “Go climb a mountain!”? Do you know who loved to take that advice? Pope St. John Paul II. While archbishop of Krakow, he frequently took trips to climb the local Tatras Mountains. Later as pope, he ventured to the Val d’Acosta region of the Italian Alps to scale those shimmering peaks. The pope frequently compared mountain climbing to the challenges of the Christian life.

He once wrote to a group of climbers: “Mountain climbing requires rigorous virtues in those who practice it: strict discipline and self-control, prudence and a spirit of sacrifice and dedication, care and solidarity for others. Thus we can say that mountain climbing develops character.” And he concluded: “In contact with the beauties of the mountains…man enters into himself…and is lifted up to God on the breath of prayer and gratitude toward the Creator.” In other words, mountain climbing contributes to Christian maturity by building fortitude, teaching love of neighbor and inspiring contemplation. That is why you should tell someone, “Go climb a mountain!”

I love whenever we read from Romans 8 in the liturgy, our first reading. Why? Well, if all the letters of St. Paul were considered a huge mountain range, like the Himalayan Mountains, his epistle to the Romans would be Mt. Everest, the highest peak. And of the 16 chapters of Romans, chapter 8 clearly stands head and shoulders above the rest. The great New Testament scholar, N. T. Wright, wrote this about Romans: “It dwarfs most of his other writings, an Alpine peak towering over hills and villages.” He continued: “We are dealing here with a work of massive substance, presenting a formidable intellectual challenge while offering a breath-taking theological and spiritual vision.”

In Romans 8, the apex of the Apostle’s theological presentation, he speaks about the Holy Spirit. Paul preaches: “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” Seeing the spiritual landscape from the Alpine peak of Romans 8 and contemplating how the Spirit has made us sons and daughters, Paul sensed what John Paul predicted: “In contact with the beauties of the mountains…man enters into himself…and is lifted up to God on the breath of prayer and gratitude to the Creator.” That is, reading and studying the letters of St. Paul can be like climbing a mountain, whose peak is chapter 8 of Romans. With that metaphor in mind, you should tell someone: “Go climb a mountain!” In other words, study scripture!

My friends, what are the mountains you are climbing in your life lately? I don’t mean literally (necessarily), but also spiritually or morally or socially. I have recently been getting tennis lessons from Fr. Daniel, and it feels like climbing Mt. Everest to try to be as good as him. His game is definitely “an Alpine peak towering over my little hills and villages.” But I keep climbing with his help.

Perhaps your mountain is a moral challenge, a nagging sin like alcoholism or some sexual sin. I would urge you like John Paul, not to give up the climb but rather seek solidarity with others, and learn self-discipline, and climb with a spirit of contemplative prayer. Do not take your eyes off the mountain peak of sobriety and freedom, available and attainable to all God’s children. Cry out with the Holy Spirit when you feel like giving up the climb, “Abba, Father!” and the Father will throw down a rope and pull you up higher.

Or maybe your mountain is a physical challenge like a diagnosis of M.S. or the return of cancer, or the limitations of growing older and less physical freedom and activity. You feel like a prisoner in your own body and your own home. That, too, can feel like an impossible mountain to climb. Well my advice to you would be: “Go climb that mountain!” Why? Well, because as Jesus assured his apostles: “All things are possible with God” (Mt. 19:26).

You know, I look at my parents as great mountain climbers, too. Over their long life they have conquered many peaks: coming to a new country, raising a Catholic family, building successful careers, living the American dream. It is fitting that they have retired to the mountains of Northwest Arkansas and can survey the surrounding peaks. I hope they feel what Pope St. John Paul II said: “In contact with the beauties of the Mountains…man enters into himself…and is lifted up to God on the breath of prayer and gratitude to the Creator.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Looking Smart

Learning to see deeper with eyes of faith

10/24/2021

Mk 10:46-52 As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me." And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me." Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you." He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see." Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

Do you think people who wear glasses are smarter than people who do not wear glasses? If that is true, then I must be smarter than all of you here today with perfect eyes! That is what I believed in elementary school. My best friend, David, always made really good grades, while I struggled to squeeze out a C. I wondered: what made him so smart?

Then one day I realized he wore glasses and that must be his secret to smartness! I even feigned a little fuzziness in my vision and convinced my parents to get me glasses and be as smart as David. But sadly my grades stayed the same, even though I looked so smart! Of course, as the years went by and I entered my 40’s, I really did need glasses to help me read as my eyesight slowly started to fade.

And here is the funny thing: when I turned older and needed glasses for real, I did become sort of smarter. How so? Well, I finally began to see and understood what my parents and priests and teachers and coaches were trying to tell me as a teenager. I thought I was so smart as a teenager, walking around and being able to see everything clearly. But when I started wearing glasses, I could finally “see” what they were teaching me, and I saw they were right about many things. That is, sometimes the less you see physically, the more you see spiritually. That kind of seeing is what makes someone really smart.

The gospel today gives us a great example of a blind person who sees better than people with perfect eyesight. A blind man named Bartimaeus is begging by a roadside when he hears Jesus was passing by. He called out, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” And when Jesus asks him to come closer and state his request, Bartimaeus says: “Master, I want to see.” The fact that Bartimaeus addressed Jesus as “Son of David,” and as “Master,” showed that he already believed Jesus was the Messiah.

And notice how he did that before he got back his physical eyesight. Even though Bartimaeus was blind physically (before his healing), he had a kind of 20/20 spiritual vision, that helped him to see exactly who Jesus was. When our physical eyesight decreases, therefore, our spiritual eyesight increases. Why? Because we must see with the eyes of faith. And that kind of spiritual seeing is what really makes you smart.

My friends, I would suggest to you that this spiritual seeing with the eyes of faith helps us not only to identify who Jesus is as the Son of God, but also to identify who each other is as sons and daughters of God. What do I mean? Well, in 1 Jn 3:1 the Beloved Disciple writes: “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are.” Then he adds this crucial verse: “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

Notice how the verse begins with the word “see.” But the seeing St. John means is not the kind your optometrist would give you an “A+” for after you read every letter perfectly on the eye chart. Rather, it is the seeing of a blind man like Bartimaeus, who saw with blinding clarity who Jesus was. And John adds that same faith also allows us to see the spiritual depths of each person as a child of God. “Yet so we are.” Faith, in other words, helps us to perceive how everyone is a child of God, beginning with Jesus, the firstborn Son of God.

So, let me test your eyesight a little this morning. What do you see when you look around at the people in the world? For example, when you look at United States Congress, do you see merely Democrats and Republicans wrangling, do you see children of God? When you look toward our Southern border, do you see only immigrants and illegal aliens entering our country, or do you see children of God? When you look over at the troubled Middle East, do you see merely Muslims and Jews blowing each other up, or do you see children of God?

Closer to home, when you see a beautiful woman and, as Taylor Swift sang, “the fella over there with the hella good hair,” do you see an object of lust, or do you see children of God? And closest of all, when you look in the mirror each morning, do you see what the world sees (the wrinkles, the receding hairline, the glasses), or do you see a child of God?

In other words, we need faith to see who Jesus is, for sure; but we also need faith to see who others are, even to really see who we are. I need faith to really see you, and you need faith to really see me because our deepest identity is as a child of God. And sometimes those who are physically able to see less, are also those who are spiritually able to see more. And only when you look at the world through the eyes of faith are you really looking smart.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Millenarian Fantasies

Understanding the end of the world as we know it

10/20/2021

Lk 12:39-48 Jesus said to his disciples: “Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

Do you think the world is about to end? When you hear about floods, and earthquakes, wars and famines, does that sounds like signs of the end times? I get that question a lot. Well, Hal Lindsay thought so and why he wrote his best-seller, “The Late Great Planet Earth.” It was the best-selling nonfiction book of the 1970’s, almost as popular as my books.

Lindsay argued that current events in the 1970’s were foretold in the Bible and by the 1980’s, Jesus’ second coming would occur and he would establish his 1,000 year reign called “millennialism.” Lindsay insisted that “the decade of the 1980’s could very well be the last decade of history as we know it.” But the only thing that ended with the eighties was big hair bands (thank goodness).

A better way to look at history, both its beginning and its end, is through the eyes of Pope St. John Paul II. On January 6, 2001, he wrote an apostolic letter called “Novo Milennio Ineunte” meaning “on the beginning of the new millennium.” There he cautioned Christians, “the coincidence of this Jubilee with the opening of the new millennium (the year 2000) has helped people to become more aware of the mystery of Christ within the great horizon of the history of salvation, without any concession to millenarian fantasies” (NMI, n. 5).

Does that phrase “millenarian fantasies” sound like a shot across the bow to Hal Lindsay and his like? Instead, the pope-saint invited us “to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with enthusiasm, and to look forward to the future with confidence: ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever’ (Hb 13:8)” (NMI, n. 1).That, in other words, is how we Christian face the end of the world: with our confidence in Christ.

In the gospel today, Jesus also speaks about the end of time and his second coming. He urges his disciples: “You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” If you read the New Testament carefully, you will hear this sense that the early Christians believed Jesus would return in their life-time, kind of like Hal Lindsay did. And that hope and expectation was not entirely unfounded. Why not?

Well, when the Roman Army under General Titus marched on Jerusalem and destroyed the magnificent Temple, it truly felt like the “end of the world.” Indeed, it was the end of the Old Testament world whose religious, political, economic and cultural center was the Jerusalem Temple. The end of the Temple signaled the end of the world in their eyes. So, the early Christians and New Testament writers were not wrong that their world would end imminently, within their own generation.

And yet, in Hb 13:8, we hear the same bright-eyed confidence in Christ of Pope St. John Paul II, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.” And therefore, when we are rooted in him, it does not matter if this world passes away, we will enjoy the eternity of Christ. In other words, as the pope urged us, do not give “any concession to millenarian fantasies.” Our confidence – that is, our peace, joy, enthusiasm, and optimism – is in Christ.

My friends, there is another sense in which we must worry about the end of the world. I don’t mean the end of the whole world like Hal Lindsay falsely predicted, but the end of our individual world, the end of our personal life. This week I have two funerals. On Monday I had the funeral for a 22 year-old man who died in a tragic motorcycle accident. And Thursday I will have the funeral for a 77 year-old lady who died after a battle with cancer.

Their individual worlds have come to an end, even if no one will make millions of dollars writing a book about them. We pray they did what John Paul advised and kept their eyes on Jesus, who is the same yesterday, and today, and forever, no matter how long or short one’s life is. And that is how we, too, will enjoy eternity whenever this world comes to an end.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

If It Bleeds

Sharing more good news than bad news

10/19/2021

Rom 5:12, 15b, 17-19, 20b-21 Brothers and sisters: Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned. If by that one person’s transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many. For if, by the transgression of the one, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so, through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one the many will be made righteous. Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Have you noticed how bad news seems far more fascinating than good news? There is an old adage in the newspaper industry that goes: “If it bleeds, it leads.” That means the leading story will often be tragic and if possible involve bloodshed. What was the front-page headline story Monday morning here in Fort Smith? Three people died in a domestic dispute, where a Fort Smith man killed his wife, his fifteen year old son, and a police officer shot and killed the man who had attacked him with a knife. If it bleeds, it leads.

And what was the conversation at lunch yesterday at the church office? We talked about that sad story. My only contribution to the conversation was to mention that I heard that Gen. Colin Powell had died from cancer and complications from the COVID virus even though he had been vaccinated. Notice how we are far more fascinated by the bad news and seem somewhat uninterested in the good news. “If it bleeds, it leads” is a rule that applies not only in newspaper, but also in our table talk.

In the first reading today, we hear perhaps my favorite scripture passage of the whole Bible, namely, Rm 5:20. St. Paul tells the Romans, “Where sin abounds, there grace abounds all the more.” In other words, no matter how bad the bad news gets, the good news is bound to be better. St. Paul understood the human psyche and our fascination with bad news, and he knew the Romans were really into blood and battle. That is why they constructed the Colosseum and why they tortured and terrorized Christians in it. It was Roman soldiers, after all, who crucified and killed our Savior on the Cross. The Romans would raise a toast to that old adage, “If it bleeds, it leads.”

And yet, St. Paul could harness our fascination for the bad news and make it the springboard to preach about the greatness of the Good News. That is, no matter what the world throws at Jesus – and there is no sin worse the deicide, the attempted killing of God – three days later we hear the Good News of the Resurrection.

It is interesting how there are 46 books in the Old Testament, that tell the tale of how bad the bad news was. And only 27 books in the New Testament, where we hear how good the Good News of love and life is. Again, the bad news seems more savory than the good news. If it bleeds, it leads, and that is pretty much what we find in the Old Testament.

My friends, as you go throughout your day, try to pay attention to what you see more of, hear more of and share more of. Is it the bad news or the good news? Which adage dominates your discussions: “If it bleeds, it leads,” or “Where sin abounds, there grace abounds all the more”? We can even merely mull over how miserable my life is, instead of counting my blessings.

That is, when you hear the bad news – and you are likely to hear a lot more bad than good – try to inject a little grace into the mixture. One way is to pray for those involved in the bad news: we can pray for that family in Fort Smith, where three people died. We can pray for the peaceful repose of the soul of Gen. Colin Powell. That is how the Good News of grace abounds more than the bad news of sin and death.

We cannot be like those three monkeys who cover their eyes, their ears and their mouth, who try to see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. We cannot bury our heads in the sand and pretend there is not a lot of bad news in the world. Nevertheless, like St. Paul taught the Romans, we can open our eyes, ears and mouth, and know that no matter how bad the bad news gets, the Good News of grace is always greater.

Praised be Jesus Christ!