Yesterday’s Newspaper Headlines

Applying the insights of the book of Ecclesiastes

09/24/2022

ECCL 11:9—12:8 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come And the years approach of which you will say, I have no pleasure in them; Before the sun is darkened, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, while the clouds return after the rain; When one waits for the chirp of a bird, but all the daughters of song are suppressed; And one fears heights, and perils in the street; Because man goes to his lasting home, and mourners go about the streets; Before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken, And the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the broken pulley falls into the well, And the dust returns to the earth as it once was, and the life breath returns to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, all things are vanity!

One of the most fascinating but also frightening books of the Bible has to be Ecclesiastes, our first reading today. Its basic message is captured by a famous phrase used both at the beginning and at the end of the book. We read: “Vanity of vanities, all things are vanity.” In other words, this books goes to great lengths to teach us that everything we cling to so tightly end up but dust and ashes.

For example, the dream home we spend so much time and treasure to build eventually ends up in someone else’s hands. The company we shed blood and tears to create sooner or later is led by other CEO’s or sold in a hostile or friendly takeover. Even the books we write or the lives we lead become as interesting as yesterday’s newspaper headlines. This, I believe, is the point of Ecclesiastes: and it is summed up by the phrase “vanity of vanities.”

Now that is a frightening prospect, and even a little depressing, but it is also fascinating, I contend, because it can lead to faith. Only when we are convinced we eventually lose everything on earth will we seek the One we can never lose, namely, God. Let me give you three examples of how to apply the insights of Ecclesiastes to our modern Christian life.

The first application is something I said last Thursday at Trinity when all the students gathered at the flag pole. Once a year we recognize the symbolic significance of the American flag, and the nation for which it stands. We read about the history of this tradition, we say the Pledge of Allegiance, and the band plays patriotic songs. In my brief closing remarks I quoted Hb 13:14, which says: “Here we have no lasting city, but we await the city which is to come.”

In other words, as great as the United States of America is, and however much we love it, out true home is the heavenly city, the Kingdom of God. Our deepest allegiance should be directed there, not here. That is something Ecclesiastes would say about America: “Vanity of vanities; all things are vanity.” That is, even America will one day exist only in history books, and be yesterday’s newspaper headlines.

The second application is an article that Fr. Andrew Hart sent me a few days ago. It was written by Bishop Erik Varden, a 48 year-old bishop, who is also a monk of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, or OCSO for short. He wrote a letter to the general chapter meeting of Cistercians addressing the main challenges the order faces, among which was declining vocations. To remedy that he argued: “A monastery is not an end in itself. It is called to be a sign of God’s transcendent beauty and truth in love. ‘Look up, not down,' reads the shortest of the sayings of the Desert Fathers. It is a word for the present moment.”

In other words, a monastery’s purpose is the same as the sayings of Ecclesiastes: to teach the world how all things are a “vanity of vanities.” And when we learn that lesson we begin to “Look up, not down.” Why? Because whatever is down, whatever is on earth, eventually ends up as yesterday’s newspaper headlines (at best). And that is also the heartbeat of every religious vocation: Look up, not down.

And the third application is what I watched on television yesterday: the last tennis match of Roger Federer, my favorite tennis player. It was actually a doubles match he played alongside his long-time rival, Rafael Nadal. That dynamic duo of tennis ended up losing the match, but Roger Federer’s comments in the interview afterwards could have been him quoting Ecclesiastes.

Federer said, with tears running down his face: “It’s been an incredible day. I said to the guys [on the Laver Cup team from Europe]; I’m happy, not sad. It feels like a celebration to me. It was exactly as I hoped for.” Federer’s words are an apt summary of the wisdom of the book of Ecclesiastes. He acknowledged that life on earth, and even worldly accomplishments, are good things, and even give glory to God.

But his words also underscored that all things must end, that is, they are a "vanity". And that, too, is good, even better, because it means we await “a new heavens and a new earth” (Rv 21:1). “Meanwhile,” as C. S. Lewis wrote, “the cross comes before the crown, and tomorrow is a Monday morning.” And Monday morning, Roger Federer’s glorious career will be yesterday’s newspaper headlines.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Magic of Motivation

Trying to be motivated by the will of God

09/21/2022

Mt 9:9-13 As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

One of the great mysteries of life is motivation. We spend a great deal of our time, energy, and money trying to motivate others, and even motivate ourselves. For instance, why do girls try to look pretty? They are trying to motivate boys to look at them, to like them, and maybe even to love them. Why do boys try to have big muscles and buy big trucks? They are trying to motivate girls to like and love them. Why do we use bait – a worm or a cricket – when we go fishing? We are trying to motivate the fish to bite our hook, so later we can bite into them. In other words, the great mystery and the real magic of life is motivation. Motivation makes the world go round.

Now there are basically two types of motivation, and they are called the carrot and the stick. Can you guess what that means? The carrot kind of motivation is something delightful or delicious. For example, we give you a free dress day if you sell football fundraiser tickets. Or, you can be principal for a day if your parents buy that item at the silent auction at the Trinity Gala. Or, you get a big trophy if you win the volleyball or football championship at the end of the season.

Where I attended high school, the principal put our class rankings on his office door, so we could see our academic rank compared to our classmates. Can you guess what happened? That really motivated me to study harder and get ahead of others. I graduated from high school number 9 in a class of 177 boys at Catholic High. Not bad. In other words, all those things – free dress day, principal for a day, a trophy, class rankings – are all carrots to motivate you to do something.

The other means of motivation is the stick, which is basically a punishment. So, if you get into a fight in school, you will be suspended. If you use your phone when you should not have it, you will suffer another punishment. If you miss too many homework assignments, you will get a bad grade on your report card. If you drive too fast, you will get a speeding ticket. If a husband forgets his wedding anniversary, his wife gives him the silent treatment. You see, those are all sticks, or punishments, for bad behavior. But really they are a different kind of motivation to help people change and be better.

But there is a better motivation than the carrot and the stick, and that is love. And I am not talking about the love between a man and a woman. Rather, I am talking about loving something so much, you don’t need a carrot or a stick to motivate you. Love does. Recently, we started a soccer program here at Trinity, and the boys who want to play ask every day: “When are we going to practice? Can we practice today? Can we practice every day?” In other words, they are super motivated, and they don’t need a carrot or stick, but their motivation comes from their heart. Love for the game motivates them. When you do something you love, you will never work a day in your life. Love is a very high kind of motivation.

But did you know there is an even higher and better means of motivation? And that is when you do something because God wants you to. In other words, the highest and holiest motivation is the will of God. That’s why we pray in the Our Father, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” When a young man is thinking about being a priest, the worst question you can ask him is: “Do you want to be a priest?” Instead, you should ask him, “Do you think God wants you to be a priest?” Can you catch the difference? The difference is motivation: am I doing this for myself or am I doing this for God? The motivation of God’s will is better than a carrot or a stick, or even love, because it lasts forever.

Today is the feast of St. Matthew, one of the twelve apostles and one of the four gospel writers. Listen to this line from the gospel and see if you can tell what motivated him to follow Jesus. We read: “As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the custom’s post. He said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.” Did Jesus offer Matthew a delicious carrot? No. Did Jesus threaten him with a stick of punishment? No. Did Jesus offer him love? No, Matthew loved money.

Why did Matthew get up and follow Jesus? Matthew heard God’s voice and discovered God’s will, and felt the deepest motivation anyone can feel in life. Matthew felt the magic of the greatest motivation: doing God’s will. And that kind of motivation is what makes us really happy.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Use Your Words

Learning to harness the power of God’s Word

09/20/2022

Lk 9:23-26 Jesus said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself? Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."

I have always been fascinated by words. Whenever I come across a word while reading I underline it in the book. I stop reading and look up the meaning of the new word and then try to remember it, and use it. But beyond the immediate English definition of a word I also love to learn the origin of a word because most English words are derived from other languages. The origin of a word in another language opens the door to a whole world of meaning for the same, simple, English word.

Have you ever noticed how sometimes a small child will get upset about something and start crying and carrying on, throwing a temper-tantrum? And his mother will patiently say, “Honey, use your words.” (Some wives may like to say that to their husbands, too.) In other words, honey, unleash the power of words to express what is in your heart and you will find peace. I am convinced that words are the most powerful force in the world. That conviction lies behind the old saying, “the pen is mightier than the sword.” That is, a pen that writes words wields more power than a sword that can cut off your head.

Today’s feast of Sts. Andrew Kim Taegon and Paul Chong Hasang invites us to examine one word more closely, namely, martyr. In English the word martyr means someone who suffered and gave his or her life out of love for Jesus. But martyr is not originally an English word. Its etymology (another great word) is Greek, and the Greek word “martur” means “a witness” or “someone who testifies” and in this case with their blood. By the way, that origin is also where we get the English word “testament” as in Old Testament and New Testament. In other words, the Bible’s Old Testament and New Testament are really the two great witnesses to Jesus Christ. See how much fun you can have when you learn to “use your words”?

Who were these martyrs, these witnesses of blood, Andrew Kim Taegon, Paul Chong Hasang and their companions? First of all, they were Korean martyrs who died for their faith in Jesus. They lived in the 1800’s, when there was a severe persecution of Christians. It was dangerous to be a Christian in Korea. You know, I wonder if someday soon it will be dangerous to be a Catholic Christian in our own country. As our culture and our Catholic faith grow further apart, I wonder how long our beliefs will be tolerated? Our country is not immune from what happened in Korea.

In any case, the Christian beliefs of Koreans in the 19th century were intolerable to the government regime so they tried to destroy the Church by killing the Christians. In these Korean martyrs we see proof positive how the pen is mightier than the sword. How so? Well, the words of the gospels inspired them far more than the swords of their torturers intimidated them.

There is yet another beautiful way the Korean people bore witness to Christ through the power of words. Christians first arrived in the Korean peninsula in 1592 when some Koreans were baptized by Christian Japanese soldiers. Korea, though, had isolated itself from the rest of the world, so there were no priests in Korea for almost 200 years. In 1777 when a priest secretly entered Korea, he found 4,000 Catholics, all baptized, but none had seen a priest. In other words, they had lived on the sacrament of baptism and the word of faith passed on from parents to children. Talk about using your words well!

By the way, I have met several Korean Catholics over the years and I have always been impressed by their faith. They usually do not talk very much, but they let their actions do the talking for them by their devout practice of the faith. Like the 103 martyrs that Pope St. John Paul II canonized in 1984, Koreans today still bear witness to Jesus Christ by the lives they lead. Even though their words are few, they “use their words” well.

Today, I hope you have begun to see and feel the power of words. The words of the gospels changed many lives in Korea, and inspired some Christians to bear witness with their blood to Jesus. I love to learn new words and to learn their origin in other languages, and discover even deeper meanings.

But we should remember that God the Father uses his words so well that he only uttered one Word, and that Word was his Son, Jesus. When we learn to use our words well, we will always and ultimately return to the one Word, Jesus, who is our power and our peace. The gospel of John begins with these thunderous words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Our Last Location

Understanding why the Church chooses great locations

09/19/2022

Lk 8:16-18 Jesus said to the crowd: "No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care, then, how you hear. To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away."

What are the three most important things to remember when you are buying real estate? Everyone knows it’s location, location, location. Some people choose to live in certain areas of town because the rent is more affordable. Others choose another location because of who their neighbors will be. Still others buy property in order to invest and later sell it for a profit. Some people worry about their location in our columbarium. They say they don’t want a niche next to so-and-so for all eternity. Well, guess what: that is exactly the person they will be next to in purgatory.

Have you ever noticed how the Catholic Church also has an eye for location, location, location? Just think about the prominent location of our church of the Immaculate Conception, at the head of Garrison Avenue. Can you imagine what we could sell this property for today? Or think of the primo property where St. Scholastica is perched. The sisters could make a mint if they ever sold any of that real estate along Rogers Avenue. Or Subiaco Abbey’s lovely location, or St. Mary’s Church in Altus, both with commanding views of the countryside.

Why does the Catholic Church take pains to pick prime property? Well, we are not real estate investors trying to make a buck. Rather, we are following Jesus’ advice in the gospel today, where he taught this: “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.” In other words, the whole world is God’s house, and when we choose prime property for our churches, monasteries, and abbeys, we are looking for a lampstand in that house where we can shine the light of faith for the whole world to see. We worry about location, location, location so the light of faith can shine brightly and beautifully.

But there is another sense in which our concern for location has an ironic twist. That is, we are trying to tell people the really desirable location is not anywhere on earth but only in heaven. Heaven is the last location you want to end up, and really the only location where your heart should already be living. When St. Augustine’s mother, St. Monica, was dying, her two boys were debating where she should be buried (like people worry about who will be in the niche next to them in the columbarium). Monica scolded her two sons and said, “I don’t care if you bury my body in Italy or Africa, as long as you remember me at the altar during Mass.” In other words, the location, location, location that St. Monica desired most was at the altar at Mass. Why? Because there she felt she was already in heaven.

My friends, do you worry about the location where you will live? Some want to live by the beach so they can hear the sand and the surf. Others want to be secluded in the mountains and away from everyone. Still others desire the deep woods and the soft smells and sounds of nature. Yet others love the hustle and bustle of the big city and love its loudness. The city mouse is fascinated by the country, and the country mouse loves to vacation in the city. I love Fort Smith and hope I never leave, but others can’t wait to leave and shake the dust of this town from their sandals.

We all worry about where we will live and no one is quite one-hundred percent happy where they are. There is a reason for that restlessness. Heb 13:14 says: “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek a city which is to come.” In other words, the reason the Catholic Church worries about location, location, location is to try to teach people not to worry about where they will live here on earth. Why not? Because we will not be in any location here on earth for very long.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Your Children’s Catechism

Applauding the love and labors of our catechists

09/18/2022

Lk 16:10-13 Jesus said to his disciples: "The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon."

One of the most common words in a Christian’s vocabulary is also one of the least understood, namely, “catechism.” When we think of “catechism” we usually imagine a big book containing all our beliefs. And that is true. But there are many forms of this word, like “catechumen” (which is someone learning about the faith), or “catechist” (that is someone who teaches the faith), and "catechize” (which is the ability and skill to teach the faith). But most people do not know the literal meaning of this word.

Catechism originally comes from Greek, and literally means “oral teaching” or “to teach by word of mouth.” In other words, a catechism is spoken by the lips long before it is written on paper by pen. After all, isn’t this the way Jesus, the divine Catechist, himself taught? He never wrote one word in the gospels, unless you count writing in the sand with his finger in John 8 when our Lord was presented with the woman was caught in adultery.

Why is this important? Well, because you never really know your faith until you can put your faith into your own words and share it with someone else. Only when you can teach something publicly have you really learned something personally. In other words, a catechist can teach the Catholic faith because he or she has first put that faith into their own words, not simply regurgitating something written in a big book of beliefs.

Let me give you an example of what I mean by a true catechist. Nine-year-old Joey was asked by his mother what he learned in Sunday school. Joey answered: “Well, mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelite people out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he had his army build a pontoon bridge and all the people walked across safely. Then, he radioed headquarters to send jet fighters to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved.” His mother asked doubtfully, “Now, Joey, is that was your teacher really said?” Joey replied: “Well, no. But mom, if I told it the way the teacher did, you’d never believe it!” Can you see how Joey was becoming a real catechist? He was trying to put the faith in his own words, not just repeating what he read in a big book of beliefs.

This Sunday we celebrate Catechetical Sunday. Now, I hope you have a little better understanding of what word, “catechetical”, really means. That is, this Sunday we acknowledge all the catechists in our church, who try to put the faith into their own words and share it with others, hopefully a little better than Joey did. Did you know we have a small army of catechists here at Immaculate Conception? Let me give you a list of who they are and how many are involved in each group.

The baptismal preparation is provided by 5 people, First Communion classes are given by 12 people, religious education classes have 46 catechists, Confirmation preparation has 18 catechists, RCIA has 18 catechists, marriage preparation has 10 catechists (some are couples), youth ministry has 10 catechists, Scripture study classes are led by 10 catechists, the school teachers in our elementary school are all catechists and number 36, and the Hispanic prayer group has about 50 catechists.

That comes to a whopping total of 215 people who are catechists in our church. Our catechists may not have written any books about their beliefs. But they have taken the seed of faith God planted in their hearts and blossoming in their lives, and they gladly give that bouquet of faith flowers to others. In a sense, they don’t need a big book of beliefs because they have become that book themselves. In other words, a true catechist is a walking, talking catechism; he or she has become the book.

My friends, as much as we applaud the labors of our formal catechists today, we should not forget that each of us is called to be an informal catechist to those around us, especially parents to their children. I love to hear my parents talk about their faith. On one trip to India, we visited my home state of Kerala, and my mom very proudly told me how her family built their small, local church, just like some I.C. families talk about how their ancestors built this magnificent church. My dad never stops telling us how much they sacrificed to send us to Catholic schools, because there we would learn our faith. But his sacrifice taught me as much as the school.

By the way, this is why when your children ask you hard questions about the faith, you cannot just say, “I don’t know, ask Fr. John!” And this is why you cannot simply “Google” the answer. Why not? Well, because YOU are your children’s catechism: your life, your experiences, your tragedies, your triumphs, your love for Jesus and Jesus love for you. You yourself are the answer to your children’s tough questions about the faith; and you will not find that on the internet. Your autobiography is the first book of beliefs your children will ever read.

And once you learn the meaning of the word “catechism” you begin to see how easy and natural it is to share the faith. It is true that sometimes our explanations may not be exact, and then we should go back to our big books of beliefs and double-check, and correct, our answers. I always learn more about the faith whenever I talk to our parishioners and hear their stories and their love for the Lord. In those moments they are the “catechists” (those who teach) and I am the “catechumen” (one who learns). Every Christian is called to be a catechist and put the faith into their own words and share it. And when we do, each Christian becomes the book of faith.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Thinking and Drinking

Enjoying a portrait of three saints

09/13/2022

Lk 7:11-17 Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, "Do not weep." He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, "Young man, I tell you, arise!" The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, "A great prophet has arisen in our midst," and "God has visited his people." This report about him spread through the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region.

Today I want to tell you about three saints through the perspective and pen of G. K. Chesterton. Have you ever read any Chesterton? If you haven’t, you are missing out because his prose is better than most people’s poetry. Let me share his lengthy description of the meeting of three saints: St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Louis of France, and St. John Chrysostom, today’s feast day. This is a very long quotation taken from Chesterton’s book on St. Thomas Aquinas, so please be patient.

Chesterton wrote: “There is one casual anecdote about St. Thomas Aquinas which illuminates him like a lightning flash, not only without but within. For it not only shows him as a character, and even as a comedy character, and shows the colors of his period and social background; but also as if for an instant, makes a transparency of his mind. It is a trivial incident which occurred one day, when he was reluctantly dragged from his work, and we might say almost from his play. For both were for him found in the unusual hobby of thinking, which is for some men a thing much more intoxicating than mere drinking.” By the way, that is how I feel at 4:30 in the morning when I get up to write my homilies: thinking is more intoxicating than drinking.

Chesterton continues: “[Aquinas] had declined any number of society invitations, to the courts of kings and princes, not because he was unfriendly, for he was not; but because he was always glowing within with the really gigantic plans of exposition and argument which filled his life. On one occasion, however, he was invited to the court of King Louis IX of France, more famous as the great St. Louis; and for some reason or other, the Dominican authorities of his Order told him to accept; so he immediately did so, being an obedient friar even in his sleep; or rather in his permanent trance of reflection.” By the way, you may remember we celebrated the feast of St. Louis of France on August 25. He was the king who built my favorite church, Sainte Chapelle, to house the Crown of Thorns.

We pick up Chesterton a paragraph later, and get to the important part about St. John Chrysostom. Chesterton continues: “Pairs was truly at that time an aurora borealis; a Sunrise in the North. We must realize that lands much nearer to Rome had rotted with paganism and pessimism and Oriental influences of which the most respectable was that of [Mohammed]. Provence and all the South had been full of a fever of nihilism or negative mysticism, and from Northern France had come the spears and swords that swept away the unchristian thing.

“In Northern France also sprang up that splendor of building that shine like swords and spears: the first spires of the Gothic. We talk now of grey Gothic buildings; but they must have been very different when they went up white and gleaming into the northern skies, partly picked out by gold and bright colors; a new flight of architecture, as startling as flying ships. The new Paris ultimately left behind by St. Louis must have been a thing white like lilies and splendid as the oriflamme.” By the way, it is easy for us in Fort Smith to imagine Gothic architecture because I.C. church has a lot of Gothic touches and overtones.

Chesterton continues: “It was the beginning of the great new thing: the nation of France, which was to pierce and overpower the old quarrel of Pope and Emperor in the lands from which Thomas came (Italy). But Thomas came very unwillingly, and, if we may say it of so kindly a man, rather sulkily. As he entered Paris, they showed him from the hill that splendor of new spires beginning, and somebody said something like, ‘How grand it must be to own all this.’ And Thomas Aquinas only muttered, ‘I would rather have that Chrysostom [manuscript] I can’t get hold of.’” In other words, Chrysostom was patriarch of Constantinople and a prolific writer in the 4th century, but a lot of his writings were lost.

So, that is the portrait Chesterton paints with his pen of three saints: St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Louis of France, and St. John Chrysostom. Our take-away question for us today is this: which would you rather have: the aurora borealis, or the lost manuscript of Chrysostom? The answer to that question may be why they are saints and we are not.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Queen Mary

Understanding why we nod our heads at holy names

09/12/2022

Lk 1:39-47 Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled." And Mary said: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior."

The seminary I attended taught us how to celebrate Mass in a more traditional way. For example, they said priests should hold their hands in the “prayer position” instead of putting their hands in their pockets. We should sit with our hands on our knees, and stand erect at the altar, and move slowly and gracefully from altar to ambo, not race from place to place. We should utter the words of consecration thoughtfully and deliberately recognizing their supreme importance in the liturgy. And another thing they taught us at the Mount, but not taught in all seminaries, is to bow our heads at the holy names of Jesus and Mary.

Have you noticed how I do that and how other priests don’t? Well, that’s because I am holy and they are not. Just kidding. It is a pious practice that some priests do because we attended a more traditional seminary. It does not mean that we are right and everyone else is wrong. But some priests get pretty picky about the Mass. It’s like the old joke about what is the difference between a liturgist and a terrorist? You can negotiate with a terrorist. The liturgy should not be a war zone but a place of worship.

Today is the memorial of the holy Name of Mary, and I would like to say a word about why we honor the name of Mary so much, like bowing our heads at her holy name. The basic reason is because the Catholic Church is organized more like a monarchy than a democracy. Recently Queen Elizabeth II of England passed away, and all Great Britain, and indeed the whole world, is in mourning.

Why? Because being the queen, she was the ostensible head of the country, even though the country is effectively run by the British prime minister and the parliament. As queen, though, Elizabeth II exercised certain powers and possessed profound prestige. She was treated very special in high society, indeed, she was by definition “high society,” since she was the highest ranking person in society.

That is a little bit how we look at Mary, as well as Jesus. They are the king and queen of the Kingdom of Heaven, which has its earthly manifestation in the Catholic Church. And just like a prime minister runs the day-to-day operations of England, so the pope, the Catholic Church’s prime minister, runs the day-to-day operations of the Church. Nonetheless, Jesus is the eternal King and Mary sits at his right hand as his Queen Mother.

Just like in the next few days we will see countless people pay tribute and honor the late Queen Elizabeth of England, so when I bow my head at Mass at the holy name of Mary, I pay tribute to the Queen of Heaven. And if this isn’t too disrespectful to say, maybe today Queen Elizabeth herself is nodding her head to the true Queen of heaven and earth as she stands in the kingdom of heaven.

Now, I also think the idea of monarchs and nodding our heads goes against the grain of the American spirit. What do I mean? This nation was born when we threw off the yoke of tyranny of monarchies like Great Britain. We believe in democracy, and equality, and everyone is treated fairly under the law. We want no high society here. And that may be why some seminaries did not teach future priests to bow their heads at the names of Jesus and Mary. As Lord Acton said, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In other words, kings and queens may not be the best way to run a country.

And I believe there are good arguments on both sides of the political aisle whether monarchy or democracy, or a blend of the two, are really the best and most effective forms of government. But whatever the political reality on earth may be, it does not change what we will encounter in heaven. Like Queen Elizabeth knows now better than we do, in heaven we will stand in an eternal kingdom, ruled with love and wisdom by a king and a queen. And when the holy names of Jesus and Mary are pronounced there, all heads will bow, and, in the case of Jesus, every knee shall bend (Phil 2:10).

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Oasis of Love

Why bullying should never occur in a Catholic school

09/09/2022

LK 6:39-42 Jesus told his disciples a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.”

Today, with Mr. Rocha’s permission, I want to talk to you about the serious problem of bullying. I hope it is not a serious problem here at Ozark Catholic Academy. But you should know that we will not tolerate bullying, and if we hear about it, we will take immediate and decisive steps to address it. There is no place for bullying in a Catholic school, and it has absolutely no place here at OCA. In fact that expectation that a Catholic school is an oasis of love and respect may be the reason some of you decided to come to OCA. In other words, some students might have been bullied at other schools decided, “I will go to a Catholic school where I am sure there will be no bullying.” And that is a reasonable expectation in a Catholic school.

I think this is one of the reasons my parents always sent me, and my brother and sister, to Catholic schools. When I was growing up in New Delhi, India, my parents sent me to Sacred Heart School for first and second grades. When we moved to the United States, we didn’t have any money, so I went to public school for third and fourth grade. But then after my parents saved and sacrificed a lot, they sent me to Catholic school in fifth grade, and I went to Catholic schools all the way through college at the University of Dallas. I think my parents knew I would get a great education and learn my Catholic faith in a Catholic school. But they also believed the school was a safe place – an oasis of love – for me to grow up in. Why?

Well, because my family is different from most American families. How so? First of all, we are brown people. I love to ask people where they love to go for vacation. And most people usually say they love to go to the beach. And I reply: “Yes, everybody is trying to look like Fr. John because they want to have his deep-island tan!” Today I can joke about looking different from others. But when I was in school I was scared to look different. I wanted to fit in, and look like everyone else. And that is what bullies do: they pick on people who are different.

One of the ways we try to stop bullying here at OCA is by wearing uniforms. How does that work? Uniforms make people look the same by removing one of the reasons we look different, namely, street clothes. The word “uniform” comes from the Latin word “unus” which means “one”. Uniforms make us one, because they make us look the same.

Soldiers wear uniforms, police officers wear uniforms, doctors and nurses wear uniforms, and priests wear uniforms. Why? These professions wear uniforms to highlight their unity (unus) and their uniformity (oneness of purpose), and to diminish their differences. Uniform means “one,” one family, and we do not bully each other by picking on our differences. That uniform is one reason my parents sent me to Catholic schools, and why some of your parents send you to OCA.

Another reason there should be no bullying in a Catholic school is “religion”. And what does religion teach us? Well, it teaches us a lot of things, but perhaps its most important lesson we learn is that God is everywhere. That means that even though we cannot see him, he can see us all the time, and everywhere we may be. There is no privacy from God.

One of my favorite psalms is Psalm 139, which reads: “Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee? If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol (the netherworld), there you are. If I take the wings of dawn and dwell beyond the sea, your right hand holds me fast.” In other words, God loves us so much, he never wants to leave us. When you love someone you want to be with them all the time. But no one loves us as much as God, and so he wants to be with us all the time. And therefore he sees us all the time.

Here at OCA we are a small school, and that means our teachers can see all the students all the time. And we want you to know we are watching you because we love you. But we are also watching you because we do not want anyone to bully anyone else. But even if we don’t see you, guess who still does? Bingo: the Big Man upstairs, God. In other words, God sees you in public school, and he sees you in Catholic schools. But here the difference: in a Catholic school we know he sees us, because that is what religion teaches us. There should never be bullying in a Catholic school, because Someone (God) always sees it, even if you are hiding behind a social media profile, or think you are on “privacy mode”. Remember: there is no privacy from God.

Boys and girls, I hope you know what a blessing it is to be able to go to a Catholic school. I did not know that while I was in school, but I know it now. Lots of people are making lots of sacrifices for you to be here, just like my parents made lots of sacrifices to send me to a Catholic school. One big reason this school is such a blessing is because there should be no bullying.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Masters of Marketing

Learning the style but not substance of Protestants

09/06/2022

Lk 6:12-19 Jesus departed 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. And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.

If there is one area of the Christian faith where Catholics are behind the curve compared to our Protestant brothers and sisters, it is in Bible literacy. We have a hard time answering even the most basic questions about the Bible. Some Sunday mornings I have Mass at our mission church in Winslow called Our Lady of the Ozarks. When I drive back to I.C., I pass by a new church on I-540 and Kelley Highway called “Life Church”. And do you know what I see there? The large church parking lot is packed with cars.

These Bible churches do not have all the things the Catholic Church has – no Mass or sacraments, no rosary or Mary, no pope or pilgrimages, no statues of saints. But what do they have? They have a hunger and thirst to learn about the Bible and their pews are packed with ex-Catholics, and maybe even some ex-IC Catholics In other words, they do not have the fullness of the Christian faith like Catholicism does, but they do more with the little they have while we sit on our hands with the fullness of the faith that we have.

That is one reason I am always happy to hear when we start a new Bible study here in the parish. Surennah Werley, our Director of Faith Formation, was telling me she recently started a new study on the book of Hebrews, and we stood in the hallway and had a long discussion about whether St. Paul really wrote it. Imagine that: two Catholics talking intelligently about the Bible! After Mass on Sunday a young father holding his toddler said he had discovered my videos on our church website with four Bible studies.

He asked where he could get the notes to follow along better. He said he didn’t know much but wanted to learn more. His words were music to my ears. He will not need to go to Life Church to learn more about the Bible. Sometimes Ed Winkelman will come to the sacristy after Mass and share his beautiful thoughts about the Bible and what he is learning in our parish Bible studies. Ed is not going to leave I.C. for Life Church.

By the way, do you know who I learn a lot from about the Bible? It is Protestant pastors. Again, on my Sunday drive to Winslow, I listen to Protestant services on the radio (yes, I still have a radio in my car). Now, I am not interested in their substance, but I do want to mimic their style. They have mastered the art of communication, and use it to share the most important message of all: the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Protestants are masters of marketing but we Catholics are selling the best product. We need to learn how to market our product better.

And that brings me to the gospel today from Luke 6, and the list of the twelve apostles. Most Catholics can name one or two, at best three or four, apostles, but rare is the Roman Catholic who can rattle of all twelve and even tell you where to find that list in the Bible. This is where Marketing 101 comes in handy. I recently watched a video with a catchy tune listing the apostles and the Bible verse in the gospel of Matthew where they are also listed (besides Luke 6).

Listen now: “Jesus called them one by one, Peter, Andrew, James and John, next came Philip, Thomas, too, Matthew and Bartholomew. Oh, 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 and also Thaddeus, twelve apostles Judas made, Jesus was by him betrayed. But yes, Jesus called them, yes, Jesus called them. Oh yes, Jesus called them. He called them one by one.

Wait, there’s more, oh yes, it’s true. I am one and so are you. Jesus said, ‘Come follow me,’ in Matthew 4 and verse 19. Oh, yes, Jesus called them, yes, Jesus called them. Oh yes, Jesus called them, he called them one by one.” That is why Protestants are the masters of marketing and we are sitting here wondering, “Where did all the Catholics go?”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Work

Seeing worship as our highest form of work

09/05/2022

LK 6:6-11 On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him. But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up and stand before us.” And he rose and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” Looking around at them all, he then said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so and his hand was restored. But they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

Today is Labor Day and I want to say a few things about labor and work from a Christian perspective. Why? Well, because from a secular, worldly view, work sometimes gets a bad wrap. Business owners are suspicious of employees, who they think just want more pay and less hours. Employees don’t trust the owners thinking they only want employees to get less pay and work more hours. Capitalists don’t trust union bosses, and the union bosses distrust the entrepreneurs and executives.

That is why I decided to become a priest: I only have to work one day a week! I had a friend who worked to unionize different businesses, and he said one day he wanted to unionize Catholic priests who worked for the Church. I said that would be like unionizing children against their parents. And I swear I saw a twinkle in his eyes. Labor Day was started by the labor movement to give laborers a leg-up in the work world, and give labor a little love.

Let me say two things about labor from a Christian perspective. First, I learned the value of labor and honest work from a new movement in the Catholic Church called “Opus Dei”. That is Latin and it means “The Work of God”. The people who belong to this movement simply call themselves, “The Work”. It was started back in the 1920’s by St. Josemaria Escriva de Belaguer in Spain. He was a priest who felt deeply that God was calling everyone to be saint: that is the end-goal of the Christian life. But not everyone could become a priest or a nun, the usual path to holiness (people thought).

St. Josemaria, on the other hand, believed that the surest path to sainthood was labor and work. In other words, each person has a job to do, and when we do that job for God – and not for a promotion or a paycheck – we grow in holiness. Any honest employment – a ditch-digger, a corporate executive, a stay-at-home-mom, even a priest who only works one day – could become a saint. But notice the real magic is in the motivation: why you work. You do it for God and not just for yourself. Suddenly, sainthood was available for everyone, as long as you work and work for God.

I learned about Opus Dei while I was studying at the University of Dallas. On Friday nights some of the students would gather at a residence off-campus belonging to The Work. We entered an exquisitely decorated chapel for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. We listened to a reflection given by one of the priests of The Work. And then we sat at the dining room table for a modest meal. I learned a lot in those Friday evening conferences, but mostly I learned to love labor as a path to holiness, even for a guy who only works on Sundays. The take-home message of Opus Dei is that no one has an excuse not to be a saint.

The second Christian perspective comes from Sacred Scripture. Did you know that Adam and Even were commanded to work even before the Fall? We read in Gn 2:15: “The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.” That is, Adam was given a job to do, namely, care for and cultivate the garden. Sometimes we mistakenly think that work was the result of the first sin, and before that Adam and Eve just pranced around in their fig leaves and did a whole lot of nothing. But man and woman were created for work, and through our honest work we discover our gifts and talents and make the world a better place, a garden to live in. The Bible teaches that work is part and parcel of the human condition, and not a necessary evil.

The second Scripture passage is one of my favorites, Jn 5:17. Jesus has just cured a man who has been ill for 38 years, but he did it on the Sabbath, when devout Jews were not supposed to work. When the Jews ask Jesus why he cured on the Sabbath, our Lord replied: “My Father is at work, so I am at work.” But I believe the real point in Jesus curing on the Sabbath, and that being his own “work”, is to show that Jesus heals us so we can have the health and strength to worship.

Most people think we work for five days and get Saturday and Sunday off. But the truth of things is that our jobs and labor all week can become our daily worship when we offer it to God. Our office desk, our kitchen counter, our football field, is our “altar" where we offer our sacrifices to God five days a week. But that is all just a dress rehearsal, a practice. On Sunday, we take up our true work, which is worship. That is why Jesus cured the man on the Sabbath, so he could return to the Temple to worship.

And that healed man could say truly: "My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” Worship is our highest and best form of work. And in that sense, all Christians only work one day a week.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The War Zone

Seeing Christianity as a battle against sin and Satan

09/04/2022

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, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”

Recently, my nephew Isaac graduated from West Point and is serving in the U.S. Army as a “tanker” (servicemen in the tank division). So, someone sent me this joke. A cowboy, who just moved to Wyoming from Texas, walks into a bar and orders three mugs of beer. He sits in the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn. When he finishes them he comes back to the bar and orders three more. The bartender approaches and tells the cowboy: “You know, a mug goes flat after I draw it. It would taste better if you bought it one at a time.” The cowboy replies: “Well, you see, I have two brothers. One is an Airborne Ranger and the other is a Navy Seal, both serving overseas somewhere. When we all left our home in Texas, we promised that we would drink this way to remember the days we drank together.”

The cowboy becomes a regular in the bar, and always drinks the same way. One day, he comes in but only orders two mugs. All the regulars take notice and fall silent. When he comes back to the bar for the second round, the bartender says, “I don’t want to intrude on your grief, but I want to offer my condolences for your loss.” The cowboy looks puzzled at first, but suddenly smiles and says: “Oh, no, everything is fine. It’s just that my wife and I joined the Baptist Church, and I had to quit drinking. Hasn’t affected my brothers, though!”

I mention this military imagery not only because my nephew Isaac is in the Army, but also because Jesus uses a military analogy in the gospel today. Did you catch it? He says: “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.” In other words, the whole Christian enterprise can be envisioned as a great military campaign against sin and Satan, whose demonic legions basically outnumber us Christians twenty thousand to ten thousand.

Our enemies, therefore, are not worldly forces, or nuclear missiles, or drone attacks. Rather, St. Paul taught the Ephesians: “For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness.” And since that is the nature of this war, Paul lists the spiritual armor that Christians should rely on: the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit. That is, Paul, like Jesus, saw the Christian life as essentially a spiritual war zone. And while to be sure Jesus has won the war, the battle for each Christian soul still rages on.

My friends, I would suggest to you that not only the Scriptures but also the sacraments underscore this image of spiritual warfare. What does that mean? Well each of the seven sacrament can be given a military interpretation. Take, for example, Baptism: when a baby is baptized, he is first anointed with oil. Why? Well, in ancient times soldiers and warriors had their entire bodies anointed with oil before the next day’s battle. The oil symbolized divine strength, so they could have confidence of victory relying on God’s power.

In the sacrament of Confirmation, the bishop used to slightly slap the face of the person to be confirmed. Do some of you old timers remember that? That gesture was a test of readiness to suffer as a soldier in the coming contest of faith. The Holy Eucharist is essentially our “military rations” commonly called “MRE’s” that is, “Meal, Ready-to-Eat”. And Communion tastes about as good as an MRE! A couple who has received Holy Matrimony and been married more than a week knows that a wedding can feel like warfare! Ask any couple if a bed has ever become a battlefield.

The sacrament of Holy Orders puts a man in a rank as an officer in the Lord’s Army. The pope is a spiritual general and the altar servers are spiritual privates. I often compare the religious orders – the Carmelites, the Jesuits, the Benedictines, and Franciscans – to the special forces, the Airborne Rangers and Navy Seals. The whole Church is a spiritual army that has been mobilized for war.

The sacraments of the Anointing of the Sick and Confession are designed to heal us when we are wounded in battle. Pope Francis wrote that “the Church is a field hospital after battle.” Do you remember that popular television show called “M.A.S.H.”? MASH stands for “mobile Army surgical hospital”, and that is essentially what we priests do when we hear confessions and go to the hospital and homes to anoint the sick. We are doing spiritual surgery on wounded warriors. In other words, Christians don’t have to die on the battlefield, because there is a M.A.S.H. unit in the sacraments of healing to help you recover.

C. S. Lewis picked up on this “war zone” imagery when he wrote in his classic book called Mere Christianity: “When you go to church you are really listening-in to the secret wireless from our friends: that is why the enemy is so anxious to prevent us from going. He does it by playing on our conceit and laziness and intellectual snobbery.” My friends, that is why we go to Church. We put on spiritual armor, we are fed with military rations, we are tested for battle, and we are healed when we are wounded on the battlefield. If you don’t go to church, you are essentially walking onto the battlefield naked.

But when we put on the armor of God, our smaller Christian forces of only ten thousand troops can gain the victory over Satan’s imposing army of twenty thousand troops. The Christian life is a war zone, and my nephew Isaac is not the only soldier who is preparing for battle.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Burnt Toast

Showing love and kindness for others’ weaknesses

08/31/2022

LK 4:38-44 After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon. Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever, and they interceded with him about her. He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and waited on them. At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him. He laid his hands on each of them and cured them. And demons also came out from many, shouting, “You are the Son of God.” But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ. At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place. The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him, they tried to prevent him from leaving them. But he said to them, “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent.” And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Sometimes we see things about other people that they don’t think we see. This especially happens between parents and children. For example, children eat candy in bed and hide their wrappers under their pillows. They think their parents don’t know their sweet secret, but do they? Of course they do. Students make Tik-Tok videos in the school bathroom with phones they should not have and think parents don’t see that, but do they? Yes, they do. And some smart priests even talk about that in their homilies.

But parents also are guilty of doing things they think their children do not see. For example, they fight and argue behind closed doors. They think their children don’t see or hear that, but do they? Yes, they do. In other words, it goes both ways. Just like you see things your parents think you can’t see, so your parents see things that you think they can’t see.

This seeing the hidden also happens in sports. Last week I watched the Trinity girls defeat Van Buren. Trinity girls could see the weakness on the other side of the volleyball net and took full advantage of it. The same happened Monday at the football game. Our coaches, quarterbacks and receivers could see the holes in the Liberty defense, even though they tried to hide them from us. And we won 20—8.

By the way, that is how my little high school in Little Rock, called Catholic High School, beat the mighty powerhouse of Northside in 1985 during the state championship. One of their cornerbacks was not very good, so we kept throwing passes over his head and scoring. They gave that cornerback the nickname “Toast” because he kept getting “burnt”. Catholic High won the State Championship because we could see what they thought was hidden.

In the gospel today, the devils see what is hidden about Jesus, namely, he is the Son of God. St. Luke writes: “And demons also came out from many, shouting, ‘You are the Son of God.” But notice how Jesus was trying to keep that secret hidden, like children hide candy wrappers under their pillows. St. Luke continues: “But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak because they knew he was the Christ.” Of course, Jesus did want them whole world to know who he was eventually, but only after his Resurrection. The devils were trying to spoil his master plan. Nonetheless, here again is an example of seeing what seems hidden.

Boys and girls, sometimes we see weaknesses or idiosyncrasies in others that they don’t want the world to know about. And I want you to treat those small secrets with great care, and not make fun of people for them. A friend of mine once told me that you should never make fun of people’s hair or their weight. That could really hurt someone’s feelings, even if you say, “Oh, I was just joking.” It’s okay to take advantage of other people’s hidden weaknesses in volleyball and football, but not in everyday life.

Seeing other people’s weaknesses is an opportunity for us to show we love them by being kind and caring to them. I will never forget that lesson when I was first ordained a priest. I went to lunch with my pastor, Msgr. Hebert, a very formal priest but who was also deeply wise and loving. One day at lunch he spilled a little mustard on his impeccable black clerical shirt, and I noticed it. I wasn’t sure if I should tell him, so I said nothing.

When we stood up to leave, he saw it, and asked why I didn’t say anything. I answered sheepishly, “Sorry, Monsignor.” He replied, “John, we do not have a wife to take care of us, so we have to take care of each other.” I will never forget that lesson of taking care of others when we see their small mistakes. So, if you want to help someone who has some mustard on their face, here’s what you do. First, catch their eye and just touch your chin with your finger. They will know what you mean. They will smile as a way of saying, “Thank you.” And you can wink back at them as a way of saying, “You’re welcome.”

And that is what the demons should have done with Jesus in the gospel today. They should have quietly whispered into Jesus’ ear, “We know you are the Son of God.” And Jesus would have nodded and smiled in order to say “Thank you.” And the demons should have winked back at Jesus, as if to say, “You’re welcome.” When you see a hidden fault or weakness in someone else, it is a chance to show them you love them. Otherwise, they will feel like “burnt toast.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!