The Two Questions

Learning why our faith has to be put into action

08/30/2022

LK 4:31-37 Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm. They were all amazed and said to one another, “What is there about his word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.

A couple of weeks ago in a homily I mentioned that I missed two questions in my final, comprehensive exam in philosophy at the University of Dallas. Would you like to know what those two questions were, and see if you can figure out the answer? See if you are smarter than Fr. John! The first tough question was, “How would Plato determine what is good?” Basically, Plato would say that you figure out the good by using your mind. You think, you reason, you study, and finally you gain insight. In other words, the good is what you know to be good because you learned it in a book.

This is why we put such a high premium on education. We encourage our children to finish high school, and even go to college. This is why we respect and defer to people who have letters after their names: M.D., Ph.D., J.D. Who knows what is good for your bodily health? Ask the medical doctor who has studied about good health. Who knows where you should invest your money? Ask a financial planner with letters after his name, with the “credentials” to help you who don’t know such things. By the way, the word “credentials” comes from the Latin “credo” which means to believe. That is, we believe people who have studied stuff and have the know-how. You discover the good, in other words, by learning about the good in books. Knowledge is power.

The second question I missed was, “How would Aristotle determine the virtuous action, like justice, temperance, prudence, and courage?” Aristotle, unlike Plato, would not say “study more, go to school, crack open a lot of books.” Rather, Aristotle would say that it is hard to define courage because it is the “mean between two extreme.”

So, for example, courage is the middle ground between being foolhardy or reckless on the one hand (fools rush in where angels fear to tread), and being a coward on the other hand. That is, if you want to know what courage is, don’t study it first and foremost in a book, but practice it by erring on one side or the other till you finally hit the golden, happy medium. You learn by doing not by studying. Street smarts is better than book smarts.

By the way, do you know how I learned to speak Spanish? I went to Mexico for two months and was immersed in it. Every day I had to struggle to speak Spanish and that doing taught me a lot more than reading a book about Spanish. I studied French for four years in a classroom and I cannot order a croissant in a French bakery. If Plato is right all doctors should be the healthiest people in the world, but are they? All lawyers should be the most law-abiding people, but are they? All priests should be the holiest people, but are they? Aristotle would argue you learn by doing, not by studying. See why no one likes philosophy, and why I missed those two questions?

In the gospel today, Jesus heals a man with an unclean spirit. But did you notice what the evil spirit said when Jesus approach the man? He shrieked, “I know who you are – the Holy One of God!” Now, isn’t it interesting that an evil spirit would know who Jesus is, even though the people did not? We could ask ourselves: did that knowledge alone help the evil spirit to be good and holy? The answer is obvious as soon as I ask the question.

In a sense, the devils are a perfect argument against Plato. Knowledge alone does not make you good. Aristotle, in a sense, was right: you learn by doing and not just by studying. The evil spirit did not practice the good, but they knew all about it. This is why seminarians have to study philosophy, so they can understand the Scriptures. But that studying alone does not mean a smart seminarian will be a good priest.

Let me tack on a quick practical point. Every sacrament is a combination of both knowing and doing, of both the wisdom of Plato and Aristotle. At Mass, for instance, we read and study the Bible, but then we do Catholic calisthenics of standing, kneeling, sitting and coming forward for Holy Communion. We learn and then we do. In confession, we do not just say, “I’m sorry” in our minds, but we kneel before a priest and say our sins out loud. When we baptize a baby we do not just make an act of faith in our head and heart, but we almost drown the baby in holy water. A couple who married cannot just say the words of their vows and really mean them. They must consummate their marriage on their honeymoon night. And so forth.

This is why the devils do not celebrate the sacraments. They know sacramental theology better than the pope. But they do nothing about it. And this homily is the answer I should have given in my comprehensive exam in philosophy back in 1991.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Helping the Helpless

Getting to the heart of Christian charity and love

8/28/2022

Lk 14:1, 7-14 On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, 'Give your place to this man,' and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, 'My friend, move up to a higher position.' Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Then he said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

We have a tradition in my home country of India that most Americans have never heard of. It is called the 40 days Mass. After someone in the family dies, we have a Mass offered at our home. The priest comes and celebrates Mass, maybe in the living room. Then we have a dinner. Now, the curious thing about the dinner is we do not invite all our family and friends. Rather, we invite the poor people who live in our neighborhood. And there are plenty of poor people in India! Why do we say that Mass and serve that meal?

Well, there are two reasons. First, we celebrate the Mass for our deceased loved one. We know that Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after his death according to Acts 1. So, too, we pray the soul of our beloved dead might have finished his or her purgatory time and also go to heaven. Time is sort of “elastic” in purgatory, like it says in 2 Pt 3:8, “One day is like a thousand years.” And secondly, we serve the meal for the poor as an act of mercy (a corporal work of mercy) for the poor on behalf of the deceased person. But notice how in both instances, we are helping the helpless. The poor soul in purgatory cannot help himself, and the poor people in India cannot help themselves. And that is the heart of Christian charity and love: helping the helpless.

In the gospel today, Jesus tells a parable about helping the helpless, too, and is sounds a lot like our Indian tradition of the 40 days. Jesus teaches: “When you hold a banquet, invite the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Did you catch how Jesus tied together the corporal work of mercy – feeding the poor – with the resurrection of the dead? That is exactly what we do in India. When we say Mass and serve a meal for the poor, we hope to be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. Why? Because we are helping the helpless.

May I give you three examples of helping the helpless you can use in your own life, so you can also be repaid at the resurrection? First, did you see the Arkansas Catholic newspaper article last week with the story of how I became a school bus driver? I have been promoting the Catholic high school in Northwest Arkansas called Ozark Catholic Academy. One way we help students from Fort Smith choose OCA is providing daily transportation. We have 15 volunteer drivers and I am one of them. My shift is on Fridays. Why do we do this?

Because when you do “a solid” (that’s a favor) for a young person, he or she cannot repay you. In fact, your only repayment will probably be their moans and groans about how hard Catholic school is! When I get an earful of their complaints rather than their compliments, I smile and think: “Bingo! This is what Jesus meant when he said: ‘For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous’.” When we do something for children, we are helping the helpless.

The second example is about our church cat at I.C. in Fort Smith called “Callie”. She was a stray Calico cat that the parishioners all adopted, especially Ed Winklemann. Ed is like a walking St. Francis who loves all God’s creatures. Well, recently, Callie contracted cancer and died. Now, we did not offer any Masses for the repose of her soul, but we do miss her. When we take care of pets, and all God’s creation, we are also helping the helpless. Taking care of this world is also part and parcel of Christian charity and love.

And third, and perhaps the most obvious example of helping the helpless is our care and protection of the unborn. There is no one as helpless as an unborn baby, because he or she would immediately die outside the womb. Unborn babies are entirely dependent on their mothers for food, protection, and love. That is why the recent Supreme Court decision to make abortion illegal on a national level was so important. In my opinion that was an act of Christian charity and love: helping the helpless.

But we also need to apply this principle to those on death row. A friend of mine from seminary is now the bishop of Tulsa, Bishop David Konderla. He wrote recently: “There is no need to use the death penalty in a country with a modern penal system as we have in the U.S. Use of the death penalty coarsens our society and weakens our understanding of the dignity of every human life.” Now here’s the important part of what he said: “In Oklahoma, we have ended the killing of the unborn. I pray we will choose to stop using capital punishment in favor of life without parole for heinous cases.” In other words, when we have mercy on the men and women on death row, we are helping the helpless.

By the way, have you ever noticed this is exactly how God treats us as well? No matter how strong or smart or self-sufficient we think we are, the fact is we are really helpless without God’s grace. We cannot lift our pinky finger without God’s help. When God’s look at us, me and you, we appear to him like the poor people in India, like small children who go to school, like unborn babies in the womb, maybe we even look like Callie the cat, and we most definitely look like inmates on death row. But God does not hesitate to reach down from heaven and help the helpless. Why? Because that is the heart of Christian charity and love, which is the heart of Jesus.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Wit and Wisdom

Learning how ignorance is the first step of wisdom

08/26/2022

1 COR 1:17-25 Brothers and sisters: Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the learning of the learned I will set aside. Where is the wise one? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish? For since in the wisdom of God the world did not come to know God through wisdom, it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who have faith. For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Mark Twain is one of the easiest authors to quote because his writings are chocked full of wit and wisdom. One of my favorite Twainisms is a very subtle saying, so see if you can catch it. Listen now: “Keep your mouth shut and let people think you are stupid rather than open your mouth and remove all doubt.” Did you catch the drift? The older I get and the more I stick my foot in my mouth because of dumb things I say, the more I realize I should have kept my mouth shut.

May I share one of the stupidest things I have ever said? I was 18 years old and a senior at Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock. We were getting ready to graduate and we had all applied and been accepted at college. Combined, we had received millions of dollars in scholarships. We all thought we were hot stuff, and the best of the best of the best.

One day I was discussing college with a fellow senior and I remarked: “What could they possibly teach us in college?? I mean, we have already learned everything! I guess they will just keep rehashing the old stuff we already know.” Now, I did not have an ounce of arrogance or pride when I said that; I was being totally sincere. I wonder how many OCA seniors feel that way right now: "What could they possibly teach us in college??"

Here is another quotation from Mark Twain. He said: ‘I couldn’t believe how stupid my father was when I was 17 years old. When I turned 21, I was amazed how much my father had learned in four years!” Now, who had really changed and grown wiser: the father or the son? Clearly, the son was learning not how much his father knew, but how little the son really knew.

In other words, the first step of true wisdom is not to know a lot of stuff, but to realize how little you really know. As Hamlet said to his friend Horatio: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” There were far more things in heaven and earth that we Catholic High seniors could ever dream of. Wisdom is not thinking you know everything; real wisdom is knowing you know very little.

In the first reading today, St. Paul also addresses the idea of wisdom and foolishness. He writes to the Corinthians: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” That is, when we think we are really smart and know it all – like I did as a high school senior – we only seem foolish in God’s eyes, compared to his heavenly and divine wisdom.

In other words, the best attitude before God is what Mark Twain said: “Keep your mouth shut and let God think you are stupid rather than open your mouth and remove all doubt.” Real wisdom does not consist in knowing everything, but in knowing how little you really know, especially compared to God’s mind.

If the purpose of Ozark Catholic Academy is to teach you “wisdom” – which I certainly hope it is! – then the goal of every graduating senior should be simple. Every senior should leave this school not like I was at the end of high school, thinking I knew everything. Rather, you should leave here with a growing awareness that you do not know everything. And that humble ignorance is the first step of true wisdom.

Let me leave you with two examples of men who took that step of ignorance that made them incredibly wise. The first was the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato. He formulated his famous dictum thus: “The only thing I really know is that I do not know.” That conviction made his open to learning much more than those around him know thought they knew it all. Plato knew well why God gave us two eyes, two ears, and one mouth. We should listen and watch far more than we open our mouths to speak. And if we keep our mouth shut, we are less likely to stick our foot in it.

The second example is St. Thomas Aquinas. Here let me quote from G. K. Chesterton’s book on the Angelic Doctor: “And then something happened (it is said while he was celebrating Mass) the nature of which will never be known among mortal men. His friend Reginald asked him to return to his equally regular habits of reading and writing, and follow the controversies of the hour. [Aquinas] said with singular emphasis: ‘I can write no more.’ There seems to have been a silence; after which Reginald again ventured to approach the subject; and Thomas answered him with even greater vigor, ‘I can write no more. I have seen things which make all my writings like straw.’”

In other words, if St. Thomas Aquinas’ writings look like straw – and he is arguably the greatest mind that has ever lived – what do you think your writings must look like? That is what St. Paul meant when he wrote: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Nickname Nate

Sorting fact from fiction with our spiritual ancestors

08/24/2022

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.”

There is a growing fascination today with discovering ancient ancestors. Recently, my brother has put together a family tree of the Antony Family that stretches its roots deep into the soil of India. But the farther back we go in time the facts become fused with fiction. That is, instead of birth certificates and marriage licenses that give us cold hard facts, we have to decipher details from stories and legends, which are often embellished and exaggerated.

By the way, one of the most popular websites to conduct an ancestry search is called “Ancestry.com”. Have you ever used it? It is based out of Utah, which has a very strong Mormon presence. One of the tenets of Mormonism is baptizing of people who passed away many, many years ago. They believe it is not too late to be baptized even hundreds of years after you have died. Based on that belief, they have done some of the most extensive research available on tracing ancestry. They work hard to sort the fact from the fiction in the fog of history, so they can baptize people.

Today is the feast of St. Bartholomew, and we want to sift fact from fiction about one of the twelve apostles. We are not going to use anecestry.com but rather Scripture and Tradition, which I believe is even more reliable to reach reality. Let’s do a little ancestor research on our ancient forefather in the faith named St. Bartholomew.

First, we learn from the Bible that he had two names, Bartholomew and Nathaniel. One name is in Latin, “Bartholomeus”, and the other is in Hebrew, “Nathanael.” Can you think of other apostles who also had two names? The chief of the apostles had a Hebrew name, “Simon” and also a Latin name, “Petrus” (Peter). Another apostle who wrote a gospel had a Hebrew name “Levi” as well as a Latin name “Mattheus” (Matthew).

In other words, having two names was not uncommon in the first century where people spoke multiples languages. Here at Immaculate Conception, for example, I have two names in two different languages. In Spanish people call me “Padre Juan.” In English, they call me “the greatest priest on earth.” See how easy it is to sort the fact from fiction when it comes to people’s names?

The second thing we learn about St. Bartholomew comes from today’s gospel from John 1. There we see Bartholomew referred to as Nathanael and discover how brutally honest he could be. When Philip tells Nathanael that they had found the Messiah from Nazareth, Nathanael scoffs, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” You see, Nazareth was a small, insignificant back-water town in Palestine, and an unlikely hometown for the Savior of the world.

But Bartholomew’s brutal honesty would serve him well a few moments later when he met the Messiah face to face. Bartholomew would blurt out: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” By the way, I have a good friend who has a propensity for being brutally honest, and I gave them the nickname of “Nate.” So, the Scriptures help us sort the fact from the fiction regarding St. Bartholomew’s petulant personality.

The third thing we discover about St. Bartholomew comes from Sacred Tradition, and not Sacred Scripture. According to tradition St. Bartholomew was martyred by being skinned alive. If you ever visit me in my church office, I will show you a painting of the Last Judgment by Michelangelo. Very close to Jesus is St. Bartholomew, holding in one hand a knife, and in the other hand his sagging skin.

In fact, if you look closely and examine all the saints in heaven in Michelangelo’s fresco, they are all holding the instrument of their torture and death. Why? Because that is how they died and were martyred, and gave glory to God. In other words, our cross on earth will be our crown in heaven. What looks like failure and foolishness on earth will be our claim to fame and fortune in heaven. Remember that as you carry your crosses. So, too, with St. Bartholomew, or Nate.

Incidentally, I am intensely interested in St. Bartholomew because according to another tradition he came to India and spread the Gospel. So, we Indians can boast of two apostles who brought Christianity to India: St. Bartholomew and St. Thomas. They are our forefathers in the faith, and that is the best kind of ancestry research.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Three Brothers

Working on our salvation with fear and trembling

08/21/2022

Lk 13:22-30 Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" He answered them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, 'Lord, open the door for us.' He will say to you in reply, 'I do not know where you are from. And you will say, 'We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.' Then he will say to you, 'I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!' And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out. And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."

Most of us do not give much thought to whether or not we will be saved. We think salvation is easy and for everyone, so we don’t worry about it. We would be in the same boat as three brothers who all died on Easter Sunday. They arrived at the Pearly Gates and were met by St. Peter. Peter said: “Well, none of you have been that good, but none of you have been that bad either.” He quickly reviewed their life histories, and continued: “I tell you what. Since today is Easter if just one of you can tell me the true meaning of this holy day, all three can enter heaven. If not, then you will all go to the other place.

The first brother stepped up and said, “Yeah, Easter, that’s the holiday where the fat guy in red gives everyone presents.” Peter shook his head and said: “No, I’m afraid that’s not right.” The second brother answered, “Easter is when everyone gets together, lights fireworks, and eats barbeque.” Peter said again, “No, that’s not right at all.” Finally, the third brother steps forward, and Peter reminds him their salvation hangs on his next words. He says: “Okay, Easter. So, a long time ago there was a guy named Jesus. And he died for our sins. And anyway, after he died, he was buried in this cave.” Peter said very hopefully: “Yes…and then what happened?” The third brother continued: “So anyway, three days later Jesus rises from the dead. And if he sees his shadow that’s how we know if we have six more weeks of winter.” So, you see, salvation is not easy and not for everyone., at least not for the three brothers.

In the gospel today, someone else is wondering who all will be saved. He asks Jesus: “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” Now, wouldn’t it be nice if Jesus had answered: “Oh, what a ridiculous question! Not a few but everyone will be saved!” But sadly that is not what Jesus said. What Jesus really said in the gospel was: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.” In other words, Jesus suggests in no uncertain terms that salvation will not be easy and it will not be for everyone, like it was not for those three brothers who did not know the meaning of Easter.

Let me give you three ways of thinking about salvation so you can give a better answer than those three brothers when you arrive at the Pearly Gates. First, St. Augustine said, “Man is limited by the sacraments, but God is not.” What does the Doctor of Grace mean by that phrase? Well, as Catholic Christians we know the surest road to salvation is the seven stepping stones of the sacraments. We must be baptized, we must be confirmed, we must go to Mass, we must be married in the Church, we must seek God’s grace at the hands of ordained priests, we have to go to confession at least once a year, and we have to be anointed before we die.

If Roman Catholics do those seven things then we stand a good chance of being saved. But are we doing even those seven simple things? Do we skip Mass on Sunday? When was the last time we went to confession? How many Catholics are getting married outside the Church, or getting married at all? In other words, even for Roman Catholics salvation is not easy and not for everyone. We don’t need to worry about what God will do with non-Catholics, we have enough to worry about with what God will do with us.

Second, I love how Pope John Paul II understood the ancient adage, “Extra Ecclesiam, nulla salus.” Of course we all know that means “There is no salvation outside the Church.” In other words, we believed that only Catholics were going to heaven. Now, that is still true, but John Paul II sort of softened that saying, and put the burden back on Catholics. He said, we do not know if people outside the Church will be saved. But we do know that the people inside the Church will not be saved if we don’t share the Good News. Why?

Because Jesus said in Lk 12:48: “Everyone to whom much is given, of him will much be required.” And we Catholics have been given the fullness of the Christian faith, so we should generously share our faith with the world. We should not be greedy with God’s grace or hoarders of holiness. By the way, do you know the twelfth step of Alcoholics Anonymous? It is to share the sobriety you have discovered with others. What happens if you don’t complete the 12th step? You are still an alcoholic. The same is true for us Catholic Christians. If we do not share our salvation, then we are not saved.

And third, I love the humor of Archbishop Fulton Sheen when he described who would and would not be in heaven. He joked: “When we get to heaven, there will be three surprises. First, there will be people in heaven we did not expect to make it (maybe your mother-in-law might make it). Second, there will not be people there we fully expected to make it (maybe Fr. John will not make it). And third, the biggest surprise of all is that we ourselves might make it to heaven." In other words, salvation is not easy and it is not for everyone. Don’t take God’s grace for granted, like the three brothers who did not know the meaning of Easter.

By the way, did you notice the common thread in all three perspectives by St. Augustine, St. John Paul II, and Venerable Fulton Sheen? They all agreed that we should stop worrying about whether other people will be saved or not. Will the Russians be saved? Will the Muslims be saved? Will the Democrats be saved? Will the Republicans be saved? Will my parents be saved? Will my children be saved? Instead, we have enough to worry about with our own salvation. Why? Because salvation is not easy and not for everyone, maybe not even for us.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Spelling or Math

Tricks of the trade in order to survive Catholic schools

08/19/2022

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.”

Boys and girls, as you begin a new school year I want to share some school survival strategies. Catholic schools can be hard, so here are some tricks of the trade to help you make it to May, 2023, the finish-line of this school year. The three survival strategies are: (1) beware of false friends, (2) sometimes losing is winning, and (3) everyone gets different gifts and talents.

First, beware of false friends. When you learn another language, like Spanish, or French or German, you come across some words in those languages look and sound like English words, so they seem “friendly”. But their meaning is very different from their English counterpart, and so they are “false friends”. For instance, what does the Spanish word “embarazada” sound like? You may think it means “embarrassed” in English, but it really means “pregnant”! That is a false friend.

What does the French word “preservatif” sound like? You would likely say a “preservative” like we put in food to make it last longer. But that French word actually means “contraceptive” (you’ll have to look up what that means). That is a false French friend. Or take the word “gift” in German. That is not a Christmas present, as you might think at first sight and sound. Instead, “gift” really means “poison” in German. Gift is another false friend, who looks like he might help you but only ends up hurting you.

So, too, in school you will find true and false friends. You will meet all kinds of people at school this year. And of course, you should be kind and loving to everyone, because that is what Jesus would do. But you cannot be best friends with everyone. So, choose your friends carefully. You do not have to be best friends with the first person you meet. And the best test of a “true friend” versus a “false friend” is someone who wants to help you get to heaven, so that you can be friends forever. Someone who just wants to cause trouble, or get you to try smoking or vaping, or drinking alcohol, is a “false friend”. They might look like a “gift” in German, but they really turn out to be poison for you.

The second trick of the trade to survive Catholic school is how sometimes losing really turns out to be winning. What does that mean? No one likes to fail a test, or lose a volleyball game, or come in fourth in cross country, or get fired from a job. But years later when we look back on those tough experiences, we can see we learned great lessons from them.

I will never forget my final exam in philosophy at the University of Dallas. In order to graduate, you had to take a comprehensive exam in front of three professors. They could ask you anything you had studied in all four years in school! I answered all the questions right, but I missed two of them. Do you know which questions I still remember today from that final exam in 1991? You got it: the two I got wrong. So, which questions taught me the most the ones I got correct or the two I missed?

That is how losing sometimes turns out to be winning: what I got wrong is what I remembered best. So, don’t worry if you fail a test, or lose a basketball game, or have trouble later in life. I am not saying it is a good thing to go ahead and fail! But our failures – which inevitably come our way – can teach us lessons we will never forget. That is how losing can turn out to be winning. Keep that in mind as you go through this coming year.

And the third survival strategy for Catholic school students is to remember that everyone gets different gifts. No one is born empty handed. You coming into this world with at least some gifts and talents. In school, you will discover that you are good at some subjects but you really struggle in other subjects. For instance, I was always really good at spelling but terrible in math. On the other hand, my brother, Paul, was great at math but terrible at spelling. Today, though, he is the senior vice president of a global home improvement company, and I am a priest. So, forget about spelling and pay attention in math class!

But this discovery of your gifts and talents is part of the adventure of a Catholic school. You may still be finding out what you are gifted in: maybe you are a great athlete. Perhaps God has given you a brain for technology. Others love history and social studies, and excel in those fields. Still others gravitate to science, and chemistry and love to blow things up in the laboratory!

The point is, each one of us must discover and develop our God-given talents to make this world a better place. That is why God gave you those gifts in the first place. In other words, you are here for a purpose: to build up the Kingdom of God. You are not an accident. And you are not a mistake. And you will discover the meaning of your life when you find your gifts. I am a priest because I can spell “priest” in Latin – "s-a-c-e-r-d-o-s" – and my brother can’t.

Let me summarize these survival strategies and invite you to keep them in mind for the coming year: (1) beware of false friends in languages and in life, (2) sometimes losing is winning, and our defeats end up as some of our greatest victories, and (3) everyone possesses gifts and talents, and your gifts and talents are the keys to the meaning of your life. Discover your talents, and you will know what will make you jump of bed every morning.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Mountains of Mac

Praying for the break-through of faith

08/16/2022

MT 19:23-30 Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and aid, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Then Peter said to him in reply, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Last night I attended a very special event at St. Scholastica Monastery. It was the First Profession of Sr. Siena Fisk as a nun in the monastic way of life. The little chapel was not quite full, but the sisters were there as well as many family and friends to support Sr. Siena with lots of love. We all prayed Evening Prayer together, and then the Prioress, Sr. Kimberly, led a brief ceremony of Profession, in which Siena went from being called a “Novice” to being called a “Sister”. This step was a “temporary profession” which lasts for three years. At the end of those three years, Sr. Siena can make a Final Profession to be a nun for the rest of her life, or she can bow out gracefully, “no harm, no foul.”

I find it very sad that most people only talk about the old monastery being demolished and totally miss how the Holy Spirit and the Sisters are still building the new monastery with “living stones” as we read in 1 Pt 2:4-5: “Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings, but chosen and precious in the sight of God.” The first pope, St. Peter, continued: “And like living stones, let yourself be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Now, there were probably some people who thought Sr. Siena was “wasting her life” becoming a nun, and may even have rejected her. She is certainly a talented, attractive, and very able young woman, with great promise in any career she may have chosen. Why did she choose to a “living stone” instead of an “old stone” that made up the old monastery that was demolished?

I think to desire to be a living spiritual stone and not merely a material “old stone” requires the breakthrough of faith. What does that mean? Well, sometimes we think our true happiness consists in more and more of what we already enjoy: more cheesecake, cooler cars, larger houses, faster wifi! The breakthrough of faith occurs the minute we glimpse that happiness is not just “quantitatively” more but “qualitatively” more than what we have at present. That is what it takes to go from a novice to a sister.

It is like trying to convince a small child who only wants more Coca-Cola and macaroni and cheese that someday he will enjoy a small filet mignon and Cabernet Sauvignon. The child will think a "mountain of mac and cheese” and "rivers of Root Beer" are far better than a little 6 ounce filet and a half-empty glass of Cab. In other words, they still think quantity is better than quality, like people think the “old stones” of the crumbling monastery were better than the “living stones” of the new monastic community.

This breakthrough of faith may help us make more sense of Jesus’ teachings in the gospel today. First, our Lord says it will be very hard for the rich to enter heaven. Why? Well, because the pitfall of the worldly wealthy is to think happiness comes from quantity rather than quality: more material things rather than spiritual things. And second, when Peter asks Jesus what “reward” the apostles will receive for their sacrifices, Jesus answer they “will receive a hundred times more (lands, children, houses, etc.), and will inherit eternal life.”

Why did Jesus answer that way? Because Jesus knows Peter is not ready for the filet mignon and Cab of faith, but still desires mountains of mac and cheese. Peter’s breakthrough of faith will only happen, as it does for all of us, with Jesus’ Resurrection. Only then will Peter see the difference between “quantity” and “quality” in faith, and write a letter about being a “living stone.” After the Resurrection, Peter himself will take the step from being a “novice in the faith” to becoming a “father in the faith.”

My friends, pray for this breakthrough of faith for yourselves, for your children, for the whole world. Sadly, sometimes we only experience it when tragedy strikes and we lose the material things we pinned all our hopes for happiness on. Traumas can teach great truths. But the breakthrough can also unfold gradually, like after two years as a novice, and feeling ready to take the leap of faith and become a sister.

For some of us, that breakthrough will only occur on our deathbed, when we hope for our own resurrection. C. S. Lewis wrote: “But probably this will not, for most of us, happen in a day; poetry replaces grammar, gospel replaces law, longing transforms obedience, as gradually as a tide lifts a grounded ship” (“The Weight of Glory”).

Praised be Jesus Christ!

What Writers Read

Reading the writings that inspire great writers

08/13/2022

Mt 19:13-15 Children were brought to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." After he placed his hands on them, he went away.

My brother, Paul, works for one of the largest home-improvement companies in the world. He rubs shoulders regularly with the CEO, which means he is close to becoming one himself. He said recently there is a list of CEO books that people pay attention to that helps them understand the CEO’s thoughts and the thinker himself. Incidentally, by “CEO” I don’t mean “Christmas and Easter Only” – those Catholics who only come to Church twice a year. A “real CEO” shows up to work every day, and maybe even to daily Mass.

Just like my brother reads the books of his CEO, so I read the books of those people I admire. And the people I admire are those who write books. In other words, I wonder what are the writers themselves reading? One of my favorite authors is C. S. Lewis. And one of the writers he read was George MacDonald, a Scottish Presbyterian minister who lived in the 1800’s. So, like my brother, I bought one of George MacDonald’s books, called Unspoken Sermons.

If there is one recurring theme in MacDonald’s writing it is that Christianity is all about being a child of God. Is it any wonder that C. S. Lewis’ most popular books are a children’s fantasy series called The Chronicles of Narnia? That is, the student has learned well from the master. Here is how MacDonald describes being a child of God: “That such is the mercy of God that he will hold his children in the consuming fire of his distance until they pay the uttermost farthing, until they drop the purse of selfishness with all the dross that is in it, and rush home to the Father and the son, and the many brethren – rush inside the center of the life-giving fire whose outer circles burn.”

In other words, being a child of God is both easy and hard. How is it easy? Well, a child always enjoys his father or mother’s love. A good father would take a bullet for his son. A good mother would stand in front of a moving train for her daughter. But the best Father (God) would give his only obedient Son (Jesus) to save his other disobedient children (you and me). So being a child of God is easy because you never have to doubt your Father’s unconditional love.

On the other hand, being a child of God is extremely hard. Why’s that? Well, who do parents demand more from: their own children or the neighbor’s kids? Good parents expect better behavior from their own children. So, too, does God. And Jesus is Exhibit A of being a Child of God, who not only carried his cross, but also then died on the cross. George MacDonald also said: “The Son of God suffered and died, not so that men might not suffer and die, but so that our suffering might be like His.” In other words, so that we might be a better child of God, but it is hard to be one.

In the gospel today, Jesus touches the mystery of Christianity by touching little children. As people brought their children to be blessed by our Lord, and the disciples tried to discourage them. But Jesus said in Mt 19: “Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” And to that comment, George MacDonald would offer a hearty Scottish “Amen!” Who better than Jesus, the Son of God, would know that the kingdom of God belongs, first and foremost, to the children of God? And being a child of God is both easier and harder than being the neighbor’s kid.

Today ask yourself: what do the people I admire read for books? If you admire CEO’s, then check out the list of books they spend their valuable time reading. If you admire “old dead white men” like C. S. Lewis, then pick up the volumes that spoke volumes to them But if you really want to know what Christian writers read, then just pick up the Bible. Both MacDonald and Lewis were infinitely more inspired and influenced by the Sacred Scriptures than anyone else they read. Why? Well, because the Author of that book was the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit never read anyone else’s writings to inspire Him.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Retirement Planning

Investing for our eternal retirement in heaven

08/14/2022

Heb 11:1-2, 8-19 Brothers and sisters: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise; for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God. By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.” He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol.

Have you ever heard of this old saying: “Working for the Church does not pay much but the retirement plan is out of this world”? That means our retirement will be in heaven, because church employees will work till we die. But earthly retirement may not everything we hope it will be either. Here are some jokes about earthly retirement that may make you look forward to your eternal retirement. A woman came home to find her retired husband waving a rolled up newspaper round his head. She asked: “What are you doing, dear?” He said, “Swatting flies. So far, I got three males and two females.” The wife asked: “How on earth do you know which gender they were?” The man answered: “Easy, three were on the beer, and the other two were on the phone.”

A reporter was interviewing a 103-yeard old woman. He asked: “And what do you think is the best thing about being 103?” She simply replied: “No peer pressure.” Here’s another one: “I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more after they retire and get older. And then it dawned on me: they were cramming for their finals!” Okay, last one: “A retired man who volunteers to entertain patients in nursing homes and hospitals went to one local hospital in Brooklyn and took his portable keyboard along. He told some jokes and sang some funny songs at patient’ besides. When he finished he said in farewell, “I hope you get better!” An elderly gentleman shot back: “I hope you get better too!”

Our Scripture readings today invite us to think less about our earthly retirement and focus more on our eternal one. That is, stop swatting male and female flies and start thinking like an employee of the Catholic Church. For example, Jesus says in the gospel of Luke 12: “Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy.”

Ask yourself right now: how much do you put aside for your 401K plan, or how much do you put in savings or in an investment portfolio? We make those financial sacrifices today in order to reap the benefits after we turn 65 and retire. Something similar but spiritual happens when we give our money to help church or charity. We are making a spiritual deposit today into a fund that “thieves cannot steal and moths cannot destroy.” It will be the poor people in Paradise who will open the doors of heaven to us because of how much we helped them today. In other words, your charitable donations will give you a return on your investment that is far more than a million-fold. When I don’t take a salary from the parish, or give my money to help children to attend Catholic schools, some people thing I’m not very smart with my money. They don’t realize I am saving for my retirement.

The second reading from Hebrews 11 also helps us do a little eternal retirement planning. The whole of Hb 11 is a marvelous exposition on faith, but the focus of the chapter is undoubtedly Abraham, the father of faith. We read: “By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promise was ready to offer his only son of who it was said, ‘Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name’.”

Hebrews continues, this is the important part: “He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol. In other words, part of the retirement package of heaven is receiving back those we have lost by death. No 401K, or saving account, or investment portfolio can offer you that: reunion with your loved ones you have lost. I do some retirement planning like Abraham every time I pray the rosary. How so?

At the end of the rosary, you typically say the “Litany of Loretto”, which is a long list of the various titles of Mother Mary, like “Seat of Wisdom”, “Mystical Rose”, “Tower of Ivory”, “Morning Star”, and so forth. But instead of reciting that great litany, I have created my own personal litany of saints, comprised of my own family and friends that I hope to meet in heaven. Like Abraham hoped to receive Isaac, I also hope to “receive my family and friends back alive.”

For example, I mention my nephew, Noah, my high school principal, Fr. George Tribou, my seminary rector, Msgr. Ken Roeltgen, the priest who gave me his chalice that I use at Mass, Msgr. Joseph Mrocskowski, and many parishioners from my parishes who have gone to their eternal reward and retirement. They have not been canonized saints by the official Church, but I have canonized them in my heart. They are dear to me, and I miss them, and I hope to see them again in heaven. In other words, every time I pray the rosary, I do some retirement planning. I plan to see them again.

My friends, when is the best time to start planning for your earthly retirement? Well, the sooner the better. But what do some people do? They start planning for retirement the day they retire! So, do not wait to start planning for your eternal retirement, either, and the sooner the better. Have you heard the story of the 3 year-old girl, Brooklyn Andracke? Every day she stood at her window in awe of the huge garbage truck that came once a week.

She started waving at the driver, Delvar Dopson, and the driver waved and honked back. Then, one day, she stood by the street with a cupcake, and he stopped and took it from her. It was her birthday. Do you know what she was doing? Clearly: she was giving her garbage man a cupcake. But do you know what she was really doing? She was retirement planning.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Jesus' Grandparents Day

Appreciating the wisdom and love of grandparents

7/26/2022

Mt 13:16-17 Jesus said to his disciples: "Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

Every year we promote Catholic schools for a whole week, called “Catholic Schools Week”. One of the highlights of that week is the Monday we celebrate “Grandparents Day”. Have any of you attended that day? We begin in the Parish Center with a light breakfast for the grandparents, who meet their grandchildren coming from school. I say a prayer and Mrs. B gives a warm welcome. Then, some take pictures at a picture booth, others go to buy their grandchildren books at a book fair, and a fun time is had by all.

Grandparents are critical in promoting the Catholic education of grandchildren. Why? Well, because sometimes the parents cannot clearly see the importance of the faith in their lives. They are too busy with work, and raising a family, and saving for retirement. They are blind to the faith. But grandparents have time, and hindsight, and especially money, and they have no doubt about the crucial role that Catholic schools play in a young person’s life. In many cases, grandparents pay for their grandchildren to attend Catholic schools. Grandparents are the glue that hold Catholic schools together.

I mention Grandparents Day because, in a sense, today’s feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne is a liturgical grandparents day. How so?  Well, Sts. Joachim and Anne are the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, so that makes them the grandparents of Jesus. Even though the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John do not mention Sts. Joachim and Anne by name, it is not unreasonable to suppose they were involved in Jesus’ life. Why should we suppose that?

Well, traditionally, Mary most likely gave birth to Jesus while she was very young, perhaps still a teenager. Hence, it is altogether likely that Mary’s parents were still alive and even helped in raising Jesus to some extent, even though Mary and Joseph were his primary providers. In other words, besides Mary and Joseph, Sts. Joachim and Anne may have had a hand in the faith formation of Jesus, just like grandparents do in their grandchildren’s lives today.

It should not surprise us, then, that today’s gospel is taken from Mt 13:16-17. There, Jesus declares: “Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” When I hear those words of Jesus, my first thought is that our Lord means the holy people of Israel’s distant past, like Abraham, Moses, and David. And that is certainly true.

But Jesus could also have had in mind his holy and righteous grandparents, Sts. Joachim and Anne, who helped raise him. Jesus is saying these words around the age of 30, so it is probable that Joachim and Anne did not live to Jesus’ public ministry and saving death and resurrection. But they certainly longed to see this day. Why? Well, not only was their daughter, Mary, immaculately conceived (that is, without sin), but their grandson, Jesus, was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. All grandparents long to see what their grandchildren will grow up to be and do with their lives. And no grandparents longed to see that day more than Sts. Joachim and Anne.

Here’s another reason why we should treat the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne as a liturgical grandparents day. We need these elderly saints to teach us how to do a better job of taking care of our own grandparents or elderly parents. Quite often we, their children, get frustrated, angry, and impatient with their physical or mental weaknesses due to old age. But no one feels more frustrated, angry or impatient with those limitations than they do!

In all our busy-ness, we need to stop, listen, and try to learn from them. Grandparents teach their grandchildren very important life-lessons, and those lessons are every bit as important for their children to learn as for their grandchildren. And I know in this respect I am the proverbial pot calling the kettle “black” because I need to do a better job of being more loving and patient with my own parents. May Sts. Joachim and Anne come to our aid, and help us love our grandparents better, just like Jesus loved his grandparents.

I will never forget a mother who said to me once: “I never thought I could love anyone more than I love my own children. And then I had grandchildren.” Well, no one in the long, unfinished history of humanity will ever be able to mean those words more than Sts. Joachim and Anne.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Preferred Seating

Learning how to choose seats in the Kingdom

07/25/2022

MT 20:20-28 The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. He said to her, “What do you wish?” She answered him, “Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your Kingdom.” Jesus said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” He replied, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

We are all familiar with the phenomenon of preferred seating. That is, whenever we walk into a room, we look around to see not only where the most comfortable chair is, but also the one with the best view of the room and its occupants. When I was in the seminary our rector taught us how to deal with preferred seating when we go out to eat. First of all, the members of the group dining out have a natural hierarchy. Women rank higher than men, the elderly rank higher than women, and priests rank higher than women – move over, ladies!

When you arrive at your table, you should allow the higher ranking person in your party to have the most desirable seat. Now which seat is the best in a restaurant? Naturally, it is the one where the person sits with their back to the wall and can survey all the people in the restaurant. If the highest ranking person in your party is a woman, she should be seated so that not only can she see everyone else, but also so that everyone else can see her. I learned more about Christian love in that one class on social etiquette than in reading a hundred theology books.

In the gospel today, we see the apostles learning a lesson about preferred seating. The mother of two apostles, the Zebedee brothers James and John, asks Jesus to seat her sons in the best seats in the Lord’s Kingdom. Perhaps because she was a woman, she knew the advantages of getting the best seat. So, she asks that they get to sit at Jesus’ right and left. But she doesn’t know those seats are already assigned.

Do you know who is on our Lord’s right and left? Well, when Jesus ascends into heaven, we read in Mk 16:19, “Jesus…was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.” So, if Jesus is seated in glory at his Father’s right hand, who is on Jesus’ left side? God the Father is. So that seat is already assigned. What about on Jesus’ right? Ps 45:9 tells us that the queen stands at the right of the king, arrayed in gold. So, that seat is taken, too. In other words, God the Father is on Jesus’ left and Mary, the Queen Mother, is on Jesus right. Sorry, Mrs. Zebedee.

But that is not the end of Jesus’ lesson on preferred seating. He goes on to add, and this is the important part, that instead of seeking the best and highest seats, his followers should desire the worst and lowest seats. Jesus says: “Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.” In other words, not just in seeking seats, but in every aspect of discipleship they should seek less so that others can have more. This is the social etiquette of Christ’s Kingdom, which is always the opposite of whatever the world wishes.

How can we apply this lesson about preferred seating to Christian life today? Well, let’s start with seating at church. When you walk into Mass, we all have a pew we prefer to sit in. And God help the poor person who has the audacity to take my pew! Instead of huffing and puffing, perhaps we should find a less desirable pew and happily sit there. When I pull my car into a parking lot, I always try to find a spot closest to the entrance, or in the shade. But perhaps we should leave that spot for someone else, and park a little farther away. When we sit down to eat supper we know how we want our steak cooked and definitely want an unhealthy dose of dessert. But maybe we should not complain if we don’t get exactly what we want on our plate. Instead, smile and be content with what we are served.

In other words, where we sit is a sort of symbol of how we live. Do we live like kings and queens of this world, or do we desire to live (and die) like Christ the King? He said: “Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” That is, preferred seating is exactly what disciples of Jesus do not prefer.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Bishop’s Best Man

Witnessing the ordination of a new bishop

7/24/2022

Lk 11:1-13 Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him,"Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test."

Have you ever heard the old saying, “Always a bridesmaid and never the bride”? That is how I looked on Friday while attending Bishop Erik Pohlmeier’s ordination as the new bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine in Florida. Bishop Pohlmeier asked me to be one of his two “honorary chaplains” at the ordination Mass, which is basically like a best man at a wedding. Like a best man stands closest to the groom at the wedding, and usually carries the rings, so I sat right next to the new bishop and carry whatever he gave me. He handed me his program.

But I was not sad like the bridesmaid wishing she was the bride. My heart was bursting with pride and joy for my friend who was now a bishop. I felt like St. John the Baptist when he saw Jesus, and said: “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom, the best man, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete” (Jn 3:29).

One of the less-known, but no less significant, symbols of a bishop is his episcopal ring. Normally, we picture a bishop with his fancy tall hat (called a miter) and his cool stick (called a crosier). But most people forget all about his ring. That ring, I think, is as important an image of what a bishop is and does as his big hat and his cool stick. How so? Well, that ring means that Bishop Pohlmeier is a bridegroom, like Jesus. And on Friday, Bishop Pohlmeier married his new diocese, his new bride, because he got a ring.

Another cool custom about being a bishop is you get to design your own coat of arms. Have you heard of this? This tradition dates back to the medieval days when royal families had a coat of arms with symbols that spoke about their shared heritage and family values. Perhaps your family has one. Bishop Pohlmeier’s coat of arms expresses his deep faith and the spiritual convictions which he will share with his new bride, the Diocese of St. Augustine. Let me just touch on three symbols in his coat of arms.

At the bottom is an unrolled scroll with Bishop Pohlmeier’s motto, which reads: “Seek first the Kingdom of God.” Before Bishop Pohlmeier tells others to “go seek the Kingdom”, he has personally sought the Kingdom. Many years ago Bishop Pohlmeier – he was Fr. Erik back then – and I took a trip to Ireland. We visited old castles, drove down narrow Irish roads, climbed to the top of the Skellig Islands, and even visited a pub called “Dirty Nelly’s”. You have to say that with an Irish brogue: “Dirty Nelly’s”.

But before we did any of that, though, we said Mass every morning in our little bed and breakfast. Bishop Pohlmeier taught me to always seek first the Kingdom of God by insisting on Mass every morning. The Mass is where the King (Jesus) feeds his subjects. The rest of the day may be great while on vacation, but it was always just gravy in comparison to the the Mass. Bishop Pohlmeier will share that priority of the Mass as the Kingdom meal with his new bride. Be fed by the King first, because everything else is gravy compared to his Food.

Another image in the new bishop’s coat of arms is the crescent moon, one of the enduring symbols of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I entered the seminary a couple of years before the future bishop. One day we were talking about why we wanted to be priests and I asked him what made him want to go into the seminary? He answered that he had gone on a pilgrimage to a Marian shrine in Europe and fell in love with Mary. He felt Mary calling him to follow Jesus as a priest.

But my question was more than idle curiosity. I was really wondering what could possibly make such a young, handsome, intelligent, athletic, energetic, a born leader, who had the world by the tail, want to give all that up and become a priest? I thought I was the only one like that! The answer was simple: we both fell in love with the same woman, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Every priest is a man deeply in love, and the woman we love is Mary. Bishop Pohlmeier will share his devotion and love for Mary with his new bride, and I hope the Diocese of St. Augustine will not get too jealous.

The third feature of the coat of arms is the three tiers of tassels that hang on both sides of the shield. These tiers are shaped like a pyramid, with the bottom tier containing three tassels, the second level with two tassels, and the top tier with only one tassel. That represents the three orders of the sacrament of Holy Orders. The bottom rung is deacon, the middle level is priest, and the top level is bishop. Why are there different numbers of tassels at each level: three, two, and one?

Those tassels represent how Jesus’ one priesthood is divided in Holy Orders, and the graces distributed at three levels of ministry. A deacon receives one-third of the graces of Holy Orders, so it takes three tassels (or three deacons) to equal Jesus’ the High Priest. A priest (like me) only receives half of the graces of the sacrament, so it takes two tassels (or two priests) to equal Jesus the High Priest. But the top shelf – the highest level – has only one tassel because a bishop receives all the graces of the sacrament of Holy Orders. And that is why we pray for our bishop by name at every Mass: because he needs it.

A bishop alone represents Jesus the High Priest, because he is no mere blushing bridesmaid, or some stumbling, bumbling best man. He is a veritable personification of Jesus, the Bridegroom, who loves his Bride, the Church, with all his heart. That is why only a bishop is given a ring at his ordination ceremony, but not a priest, and not a deacon. You could say that I am only 50% a priest. But my friend, Bishop Erik Pohlmeier, is 100% priest; he is a top level, single tassel. Why? Because on Friday, July 22, he received ALL the graces of the sacrament of Holy Orders. And I got to sit next to him as his chaplain and be his best man. And I got to be in all the pictures.

Praised be Jesus Christ!