Richest Man on Earth

Seeing true wealth as doing the will of God

02/26/2023

Mt 4:1-11 At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread." He said in reply, ‘It is written: one does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God." Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone." Jesus answered him, "Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test." Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me." At this, Jesus said to him, "Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve."

Did you know that there are different ways to define wealth? That is, who is the richest person on earth? Now, most people probably think that wealth equals riches. That is, the richer you are in money and material assets, the wealthier you are. Do you remember the movie “Aladdin” and how evil Jafar defined wealth? He asked Aladdin: “You know what the golden rule is, don’t you? Whoever has the gold makes the rules.” And it might seem that international politics works according to this golden rule: whichever country has the gold, and is the materially richest, makes the rules the rest of the world has to live by. So, that is one way to define wealth: whoever is materially rich is wealthy.

But that is not the only way to think about wealth, nor is it necessarily the best way. My father often told us kids while growing up, “Your health is your greatest wealth.” And my parents are a perfect example. They are now in their 80’s and still able to live independently in their own home in Springdale. In other words, my parents are not rich with a lot of money, nonetheless, they are healthy and therefore wealthy in that sense.

Here’s another way to define wealth. In the movie “The Scarlet and the Black” (a great movie with Gregory Peck) there is a scene in which Pope Pius XII defines the wealth of the Catholic Church. The pope was giving Msgr. Hugh O’Flaherty a tour of the Vatican archives filled with priceless art. The pope suddenly asked him, “Hugh, do you know what the real wealth of the Catholic Church is?” And he answered his own question saying: “The people of God are our true wealth. And all this priceless art is nothing compared to one immortal soul.” Some people say the Church is rich with money, but we believe our real wealth is our people in the pews, all of ya’ll.

Still other people would define their true wealth as their reputation. What others think of them is what matters most, keeping up with the Joneses, and they would sacrifice anything for the wealth of the world’s approval. Yet still others believe their attractive appearance and bodily beauty is their greatest wealth. Someday you should read the book by Oscar Wilde called “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. It is chilling example of how vanity can become someone’s prized possession.

So, different people define wealth in a variety of ways: as gold the makes the rules, as health and physical fitness, as people in the pews, as one’s reputation and social status, or simply as good looks. Wealth is what turns other people’s heads. Well, I believe there is some truth in all those definitions of wealth, and hopefully we might enjoy a little of all those forms of wealth. But Jesus shows us a better, more precious, kind of wealth, that is, in doing his Father’s will. This is how Jesus is able to rebuff the temptations of the Devil in the desert when the Evil One offers our Lord, “all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence" that is, all worldly wealth.

Jesus answers: “Get away Satan! It is written, The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” In other words, Jesus is saying you cannot offer me any more wealth because I am already wealthy beyond your wildest imagination by doing my Father’s will, and serving him alone. That is, when we are wealthy with the will of God, all other definitions of wealth seem like trinkets and trifles for little children, and do not interest us. The highest and holiest definition of wealth is obedience to God’s will. That is why Jesus was the wealthiest man who ever lived.

I mention all these ways of defining wealth to provide a proper context to make some comments about our church’s finances. In the bulletin today, you will find a one-page summary of last year’s financials, from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022. I am very grateful to Cindy McNally and Linda Maestri for helping to manage our material resources. I am also very grateful to our church staff who are very frugal with our finances. Don’t worry, no one on our staff makes enough gold to make any rules!

The financial summary is provided in two different formats. One gives the total expenses and the total income, broken down into line items. The other format is two pie charts which also show the income and expenses but as percentages of the total income. Both formats are valuable, but I like the pie chart because I prefer pictures over numbers! In both formats, though, the bottom line is that, because we are so frugal, we ended the year in the black. And that is saying something since we just got out of a pandemic and are now in a recession.

But much more important than the actual numbers is that I hope you feel, like I certainly do, that we use these funds to do God’s will here in Fort Smith and to serve him alone, like Jesus did in the desert. In other words, doing God’s will is our true wealth as a Catholic parish, and every other kind of wealth is but trinkets and trifles for little children.

My friends, how do you define wealth? There are lots of ways to define it, and they are not all necessarily bad. But the best way to define wealth is to live by God’s will in your life. That is how Jesus would define true wealth, and it gave him great peace, joy, and strength in the face of temptations. How so? Because he could see that what the Devil was offering him instead was but trinkets and trifles for little children. Maybe redefining wealth like Jesus did is something we can learn this Lent.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Dot Not Feather

Entering the foreign lands of faith at Lent

02/23/2023

Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 Jesus said to his disciples: "Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. "When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. "When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”

I just returned from a week in India for my cousin’s wedding. Traveling to another country and entering another culture is always rewarding and enriching. Even though it is my native land and home country, I always learn a lot every time I visit. I would like to point out three ways traveling to a foreign country is like entering into the season of Lent. That is, they are both foreign lands, in a sense, with unusual and unfamiliar customs and traditions. And when we spend time there we come home better people because we have learned something new and grown and matured.

The first commonality between a foreign land and our faith during Lent is that in other countries people wear different clothes. In India the typical dress for women is called a sari, and for men it is a juba, or in the south of India men wear a mund, which is like an Irish kilt. Real men wear munds and kilts. In the Church the priests and deacons wear a different vestment with the color purple.

That color purple represents repentance and penance. Some of the saints, like St. Thomas More, even wore a hairshirt under their clothes to do additional penance. Such garments remind us we are not in a festive time but a time of conversion and deepening our faith. So we can live is more seriously and soberly.

Another unique aspect of a foreign land and our faith in Lent is hearing and trying to speak a foreign language. During my cousin’s wedding the entire Mass was in the language called Malayalam. And I had to give the homily, which I did in Malayalam and in English. My Malayalam isn’t great, so now I know how you feel when you come to a Mass and hear Spanish – like a ferener!

But we also try to learn and speak a new language during Lent, namely, the language of prayer, penance, and helping the poor. This language of love, is exactly what Jesus tries to tech the apostles in the gospel when he talks about prayer, almsgiving, and fasting. Most of us are unfamiliar with this new language. Why? Because most of the time, we are talking to each other (rather than to God in prayer), or we are making money for ourselves (not for Church or charity), and we eat what we enjoy and we like to eat a lot (not fasting).

In other words, like Malayalam sounds strange in my ears and on my tongue when I speak it, so prayer, almsgiving, and fasting sound strange to us, and definitely does not taste good! But how cool would it be to become fluent in a foreign language, and the saints were fluent in speaking this language of faith: prayer, almsgiving, and fasting.

And a third similarity between a foreign land and our faith in Lent is wearing jewelry or adornments. Now, I am definitely not someone who likes to wear jewelry. But one noticeable custom in India is that both men and women wear a mark on their forehead like a small dot. You have probably seen those. That is why some people jokingly distinguish between Indians from India and Native Americans by saying, “Dot not feather.” In the past, that beauty mark of a dot carried a religious significance. But today, it serves more as a beauty mark.

In the Church we begin the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday with our own beauty mark. We place blessed ashes on our forehead. Those blessed ashes on our foreheads are also a spiritual beauty mark. How so? Well, it may look ugly or silly to us, but to God it is a beautiful sign of humility. And humility is the most beautiful thing in the world, at least for the eyes of God. We humbly acknowledge that we are dust and ashes, and one day “to dust we shall return.”

Today, I would like to welcome you to this foreign land of our faith called “Lent”, like the immigration official welcome me to India a week ago. We may indeed feel like strangers in a strange land, where the people wear funny clothes, speak a foreign tongue, and wear unusual jewelry. But we will spend 40 days here in this foreign land of faith, and when we return home on Easter Sunday, we will have grown in our faith and become better Christians.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Where Loyalties Lie

Choosing between earthly and heavenly rulers

02/21/2023

1 Cor 2:6-10 Brothers and sisters: We speak a wisdom to those who are mature, not a wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away. Rather, we speak God's wisdom, mysterious, hidden, which God predetermined before the ages for our glory, and which none of the rulers of this age knew; for, if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him, this God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.

Most Americans cannot image living permanently anywhere except in the United States. With no little pride – and with due respect to other nation – we consider this land the greatest country on earth. We can understand, therefore, why people would want to immigrate here, but we would really never emigrate and leave this country.

Now, that is probably the same way most Catholics feels about our faith and Church; at least that is how I feel. We love being Catholic and cannot image leaving the Church and joining another denomination or another religion. And we warmly welcome religious immigrants who come to our spiritual shores. Like the Statue of Liberty raises the torch of freedom to welcome the world on Staten Island, so Mother Mary raises the true light of the world, Jesus Christ, “besides the golden door” which is heaven.

I would like to compare our beloved country to our beloved Church. No only by way of comparison and similarities, but also by way of contrast and dissimilarities. What does that mean? I have already pointed out one similarity: we love our country and we have love our Church. And we would never leaven either of them. We will die Americans, and we will die as Roman Catholics.

But here is a contrast between our country and our Christianity. One day this country will cease to exist, but the Church will endure forever. Jesus promised that in Mt 16:18, where he said the gates of hell will not prevail against his Church. Bishop Robert Barron illustrated this contrast in a startling way in his book, Catholicism. He wrote: “In April of 2005, the newly elected Pope Benedict XVI came on to the front loggio (front porch) of St. Peter’s Basilica to bless the crowds.”

“The news cameras caught the remarkably pensive expression on the face of Cardinal Francis George of Chicago (standing near the pope). When the Cardinal returned home, reporters asked him what he was thinking about at that moment. Here is what he said, ‘I was gazing over toward the Circus Maximus, toward the Palatine Hill where the Roman Emperors once resided and reigned and looked down on the persecutions of Christians.”

“And I thought: ‘Where are their successors? Where is the successor of Caesar Augustus? Where is the successor of Marcus Aurelius? And finally, who cares? But if you want to see the successor of St. Peter, he is right next to me, smiling and waving at the crowds.’” (Catholicism, 35). My friends, I make the following observation with all due respect and also as a red-blooded American who loves this country, and realizing I am sawing off the branch I am sitting on.

But one day, many years from now, people will ask the same questions of America. Where is the successor of George Washington? Where is the successor of Abraham Lincoln? And finally, who cares? But if you want to see the successor of St. Peter, he is still here smiling and waving at the crowds. That is what Jesus’ promise in Mt 16:18 ultimately means, a promise he made to no nation, but only to his Church.

In the second reading today, St. Paul seems to suggest this contrast of our country and our Christianity as well. And he encourages us to see and embrace the wisdom of the Church rather than the wisdom of the world. In 1 Corinthians 2, the Apostle to the Gentiles (St. Paul), writes: “We speak a wisdom to those who are mature, not a wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away” (1 Cor 2:6).

Did you catch that last part? St. Paul said: “the rulers of this age who are passing away.” That was the same sentiment that struck Cardinal George in 2005. And Heb. 13:14 hits the exact same note saying: “For here we do not have a lasting city (nation), but we see the city (kingdom) that is to come.” In other words, don’t put your citizenship eggs all in the American basket, (or any other earthly empire’s basket). Rather, put your citizenship eggs in the basket of the Catholic Church. And then on that last and glorious Easter Sunday of the Resurrection, you can collect those Easter eggs with eternal prizes inside!

My friends, every Sunday at Mass, we should ask ourselves where our deepest loyalties lie. Do your loyalties lie with the rulers of this age who are passing away? Or rather, do our loyalties lie with the successor of St. Peter, who most of the time we see smiling and waving at the crowds? And it doesn’t matter where you go to Mass: in Spain or France, Costa Rica or South Sudan. Every Catholic parish, like this one, is a little embassy of the Kingdom of God on earth.

We come to renew our visas, to stamp our passports, and to declare again our citizenship in heaven, when we recite the Creed, which is nothing other than a Pledge of Allegiance. We say, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, who created heaven and earth,” and so forth. To see that, to believe that, and to profess that takes “a wisdom of those who are mature, not a wisdom of this age.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Naked Newlyweds

Distinguishing among the different deaths

02/10/2023

Gn 3:1-8 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the LORD God had made. The serpent asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?" The woman answered the serpent: "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, 'You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman: "You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil." The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Boys and girls did you know there is more than one way to die? In fact, there are many ways that someone can die. For example, every Friday I drive a group of OCA students back and forth from Fort Smith. And sometimes, even though I am driving and they are sitting in the back, I eavesdrop on their conversations, even though they think I cannot hear them. But I can. One young lady in the bus has the habit of saying very dramatically at a certain point, “I’m dead!” And everyone else laughs when she does that.

Now, when she says that does she mean that she was literally dead, and that I should stop the shuttle bus and pull over to the side of the road and give her CPR, and call 911? Had she died physically and stopped breathing and her brainwave functions had ceased? No. She said, “I’m dead” in a figurative sense, that is, she meant it jokingly and dramatically, to emphasize some emotion that she was feeling. In other words, her feelings were are dramatic as death. And that is one kind of death.

In the first reading to day from Genesis, we hear about two more kinds of death. The two kinds of death revolve around the tree of the forbidden fruit. Even tells the serpent that God had warned that if they eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would die. But the serpent, which was the most cunning of all the animals, tells the naked newlyweds, if they eat of the fruit of that tree, they will not die. So, who’s telling the truth: Satan or God? Will Adam and Eve die if they eat the forbidden fruit or not die?

Well, in a sense, they are both right, but God is more right; he is a lot more right than the cunning serpent. How so? Well, just like the OCA student who says, “I’m dead” but does not mean she is physically dead but metaphorically dead, so the death God refers to is not physical death, but moral death. That is, God is not talking about the death of the body, but rather the death of the soul. And which death do you think is the worse? Spiritual death is worse, indeed, it is the worst form of death because it lasts forever. And that is why God is more right than Satan; a lot more right.

Boys and girls, we face death all around us, and it is important we distinguish between these different forms of death: physical death, metaphorical death, spiritual death, and so forth. Why? Well, because if we don’t, we will make the same mistake as Adam and Eve. And their ultimate mistake was sin. In other words, they mistakenly thought that spiritual death was no big deal. What they really worried about was physical death, just like me and you.

For instance, you may have heard of the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. The death toll has reached 21,000, and the number is still climbing. And that is truly terrible. Of course we are glad the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and stopped legalized abortion, at least for now. The death of unborn babies in the womb is truly tragic and reprehensible. Yesterday, I anointed a lady who’s body is filled with cancer, and she will die in a day or two. And her impending death is a great loss for our church community.

But, as bad and as lamentable as all these deaths are, did you know there is another form of death that is even worse than all of that, a lot worse? And that is the death of the soul when we commit a mortal sin. That is why Jesus died on the cross, not to save us from physical death, but to save us from spiritual death, because Jesus knows which is worse.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I don’t want to diminish how devastating physical death is, and the great suffering that is causes those who are left behind. Rather, I want to highlight how horrible spiritual death is, and why we should be far more concerned about dying spiritually through sin. There are different kinds of death, and it is imperative we distinguish them. Why? Because our eternal salvation depends on it.

The OCA student who likes to say “I’m dead!” does not die physically, but she sort of dies metaphorically. When we commit a mortal sin, we do not die physically, but we do die morally and spiritually. God tells Adam and Eve they will die if they break his commandment. The cunning serpent tells them they will not die. But both God and Satan are right, but one of them is much more right than the other. Why? Because there are different kinds of death, and one is worse than all the others. Indeed, it is worse than all the others combined.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

People We Meet

Learning to see the image of God in people

02/07/2023

Gn 1:20—2:4a God said, "Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky." God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying, "Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth." Evening came, and morning followed–the fifth day. Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds." and so it happened: God saw how good it was. Then God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground." God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them. God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed–the sixth day.

There are many powerful and pregnant verses in the Bible that you could spend an entire lifetime meditating on. But in the top ten of the most pregnant verses of the Bible, one has to include Gn 1:27. There it says, “God created man in his image, in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.” So much of what happens in the Bible – and even what happens in the book of Genesis – depends on that verse. In other words, Gn 1:27 is the linchpin, or the hinge, on which so much of creation and salvation turns.

The fact that we are created in God’s image and likeness is the very reason why God takes so much time and spends so much energy, and ultimately sends his own Son to save us. Why? Because we are created in his image and likeness. And that is why at the end of the sixth day, after created man and woman, God finds his creation “very good.” All the other days, God had looked at his handiwork and admired it thinking, “This is good.” But when God comes to the crown of creation, humanity, God realizes this is “very good”. This is the best of the best of what I have created.

I say all that because sometimes, even though it is very obvious in the Scripture that we are created in God’s image and likeness, it can be very hard to see that image in others. God clearly sees his image in us (and admires it!), but we struggle to see God’s image in one another. I will use myself as an example. Yesterday I was walking back from the church office to the rectory, and I was waiting to cross Rogers Avenue at this busy intersection.

And these two African-American men were walking up Garrison Avenue and talking very loudly, and laughing. And I immediately began thinking about them, since they were dressed rather less fashionably than you and I would like, rather slovenly. And they were carrying on and laughing, and I thought, “Oh gosh, maybe they are drunk or high on something.” Such were my worrisome thoughts as I was waiting for the light to change quickly, so I could cross before they reached me. But the darned light didn’t change.

And they came all the way up to me, and I was rather nervous. Why? Well, thoughts of what happened recently at Subiaco, people breaking into the church, and the FBI investigation of a house off Free Ferry Road full of drugs and implements for bombs, was raided. And I was having a hard time seeing the image of God in these two men. And they walked in front of them, I smiled and they smiled, and said “Hello.” And they kept going, and the darn light still hadn’t changed.

I stared at them as they were leaving, one of the men was wearing a black jacket with some bold white words on it. It read: “Be an organ donor. Give your heart to Jesus.” Now how do you think that made me feel? About two inches tall. "Be an organ donor: give your heart to Jesus." Those two men carried the image and likeness of God, but we miss it. And that is why it is so hard for us, or at least it is for me (hopefully not for you), to see the image of God in others.

Saint Mother Teresa, who worked with the poorest of the poor, would spend three hours every day in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. She was peering intently at that Holy Bread and trying to see Jesus in that white Wafer. She was training her eyesight because it is not easy to see Jesus in a small piece of white Bread. And she said to her nuns (and maybe also to herself) something very profound: “If you cannot see Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist, you will not see Jesus in the poorest of the poor.”

That is why she was able to pick up poor, dying people in the gutters of Calcutta. She had trained her eyes to see God in the poorest of the poor, as she sat in front of the Blessed Sacrament for hours and hours on end. As we come to Mass and we receive our Lord in the Most Blessed Host, let us ask him to give us the eyes of faith to see him there. That is why we say “Amen” when the priest or minister holds up the Host and says, “The Body of Christ.” But let us also be able to say “Amen” when we see one another, because the image of God and the likeness of God is hidden in every person. Because after all, you never know who might be an organ donor.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Joe Six Pack

Seeing the Mass as sacrifice more than supper

02/06/2023

Mk 6:53-56 After making the crossing to the other side of the sea, Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and tied up there. As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him. They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.

In this week’s Arkansas Catholic newspaper you will find a fascinating article about the trends in Catholics attending Mass. We are not talking about the CEO Catholics, who come on “Christmas and Easter Only”. Rather, these statistics are about Joe Six Pack in the pews, who comes every Sunday (you and me). The statistics start in 2010 and conclude in 2022 (last year).

The bad news is that the trend was gradually decreasing from 2010 to 2019, when the pandemic hit. In 2010, 59,581 Catholics attended Mass on Sunday in Arkansas and by 2019 it was down to 51,433. The good news (and it’s not great news) is that from the low attendance during the pandemic of 30,427, we have only returned to Mass attendance of 45,855. In other words, from 2010 to 2022, a total of 13,726 fewer Catholics are going to Mass every Sunday. Joe Six Pack has not come back.

I was asked to answer a few questions and in that way I contributed to that article. But I would also like to share a few thoughts about Joe Six Pack in the pews and why he should go to Mass. Fr. Tribou, the no-nonsense principal at Catholic High during my years there, taught us boys why we should go to Mass. I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. He said, “You go to Mass to give something, not to get something. You go to Mass to give some of your time, some of your love, some of your prayer and praise.”

In other words, Fr. Tribou was trying to teach us Joe Six Packs that Mass is essentially a sacrifice even more than it is a supper (which it certainly is). And we have lost the sense of sacrifice because since 1965 and Vatican II, we have emphasized the sense of supper, almost exclusively. What does the Mass feel more like to you: a sacrifice or a supper? Joe Six Pack would answer the Mass is obviously a supper. Sadly, we have all but lost the sense of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And this loss results in some radical implications.

For example, what would you say is the most important moment of the Mass? Well, Joe Six Pack would probably say it is when we receive Holy Communion; why else are we here? Now, that moment is extremely important, to be sure, but it is not the most important. Rather, the climax of the Mass is when the priest raises the Sacred Host and Chalice and intones the doxology, saying: “Through him, with him, and in him, o God almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all praise and glory for ever and ever.” And the people respond, “Amen!”

That doxology is the apex of the Eucharistic liturgy, when all mankind offers to God the Father the one and only pleasing sacrifice, namely, Jesus himself. Offering that sacrifice is why Catholics must go to Mass every Sunday, and we fulfill that obligation whether or not we receive Holy Communion at Sunday Mass. In other words, we go to Mass to give something (a sacrifice) not to get something (a supper).

Here is another example of how the supper side eclipses the sacrifice side of the Mass. Did you know that we prepare for Spanish Masses very differently than we prepare for English Masses? This is a running joke among the sacristans. The main difference is how many hosts we consecrate at Mass. At English Masses we need almost as many hosts are there are people. But at Spanish Masses we need less than half of the number of people present. Why?

Well, there are lots of reasons, but here is the one I think is paramount. Many English-speaking Catholics come to Mass because we are here to receive Holy Communion (the supper). But many Spanish-speaking are here to offer something to God: their time, their love, their prayer and praise (a sacrifice), even if they don’t receive Holy Communion. Jose Six Pack is still in the pew! Now, most Spanish-speaking Catholics might not put it that way, but deep-down they sense the sacrifice of the Mass is still more essential than the supper of the Mass.

Here is a last example of trying to see the sacrifice as superior to the supper. When non-Catholics come to Mass, what are they most disappointed about? They are deeply disappointed they cannot receive Holy Communion. They feel like we Catholics judge their faith and are saying in effect that they are second-class Christians. We usually try to help Joe Six Pack Protestant by saying something like, “Gosh, we sure wish we could give you Communion, but darn it, we just can’t! Because we all know getting Communion is the most important part of the Mass.” Right? Wrong.

But there again we emphasize the supper which eclipses the sacrifice. In other words, in the most critical and fundamental sense, a Protestant can participate in the Mass almost as much as a Catholic when he or she realizes the Mass is a sacrifice even more than it is a supper. That is, even if he cannot get Communion, he can still give a sacrifice. After the priest intones the doxology, all Protestants at Mass can respond “Amen!” every bit as much as Catholics can. Why? Because Joe Six Pack Protestant has come to give something more than to get something.

My friends, I am not happy about the downward trend in Mass attendance in Arkansas, and I hope and pray more Catholics will start going to Mass. But maybe this hiatus will help us to see why we go to Mass in the first place, namely, to offer to the Father the eternal and perfect sacrifice of his Son, Jesus, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

In Your Dreams

Being a good shepherd to others

02/04/2023

Mk 6:30-34 The Apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

I have some wonderful news to share with you today! I received a call from the Apostolic Nuncio tell me that I am going to become a bishop! And then I woke up from my dream. It’s like we might say as a small child, “I am going to become a bishop one day!” Another child replies sarcastically: “In your dreams!” Well that is exactly what happened. Last night I dreamt that the Apostolic Nuncio called me and said, “Fr. John, Pope Francis wants you to become a bishop.” And I was so excited.

As you know, in our dream things don’t unfold in logical or chronological order, and doesn’t make sense when we try to remember it. But the Apostolic Nuncio did not explain anything about my new assignment. So I decided to talk to Bishop Taylor about my new appointment and perhaps he would have some details. He was very happy for me and encouraged me, but he did not give me any details either.

Then I went to talk to Fr. John Connell, the vicar general of the diocese, who is like the vice president or second—in-command of the diocese. And he gave me a little more information. He said that would become not a full bishop but an auxiliary bishop. An auxiliary bishop would be like an associate pastor of a parish, not the full pastor. So I was a little disappointed about that: who wants to be a mere auxiliary bishop?

Then Fr. Connell added: “Since you’re from India, so you are doing to Indiana as a bishop.” Then I asked, “What am I going to do in Indiana?” He answered, “You’re going to be an auxiliary bishop in charge of an all-boys school in Indiana.” You see how in dreams nothing really makes much sense? So, that’s where I am going to be bishop in my dreams: an auxiliary bishop of an all-boys school in Indiana.

I mention all this business about becoming a bishop because a bishop really is a shepherd. The word pastor comes from the Latin word meaning to shepherd, and one who shepherds the sheep. All three of our Scripture readings today speak about a shepherd taking care of the sheep, namely, Jesus. We hear from the very last chapter Hebrews, “May the God of peace who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant.”

Hebrews is talking about Jesus, who shed his blood and died, in order to save us. That is one of the characteristics of a good shepherd. He lays down his life for the sheep. If someone is to be a good bishop, he should be ready to die for the people entrusted to his care. By the way, that does not just include the Catholics, but for all the people in his diocese. Every soul in the state of Arkansas – Catholic, non-Catholic, Christian, non-Christian – every living human being is entrusted to the care of Bishop Anthony Taylor. He should be ready to shed his blood, like Jesus the Good Shepherd, for his sheep. And so maybe it’s better to be a bishop in my dreams!

We also heard from Psalm 23, and who can forget Psalm 23, the masterful hymn about how “the Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want”? And the shepherd always leads the sheep into green pastures. There are not greener pastures than right here at the Eucharist, the greenest pasture of all. Recently, we received the statistics about Mass attendance, from 2010 to 2022. How many Catholics are going to Mass every Sunday?

From 2010 to 2019, that number was increasing and more Catholics were coming to the green pastures of the Eucharist. Then the pandemic hit, and many people stopped going to Mass, and those Sunday Mass attendance numbers have plummeted, since 2019. So, that is our job as shepherds, to bring the sheep to the green pastures of the Eucharist. For a while, the sheep were eager to come. But now the sheep are looking for greener pastures elsewhere to be fed. But here at the Eucharist are the greenest pastures of all.

And finally, from Mark 6, yet another instance in which the image of Jesus the shepherd is placed before our eyes. We read: “When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like a sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.” That is another way a shepherd, guide, nurtures and rears the sheep: by teaching, imparting the truth, communicating the richness of our faith. Never stop teaching the fullness of the Catholic faith. Why? Because that is what the sheep ultimately are hungry for.

Sometimes the sheep, like human beings, fill ourselves on junk food, what society gives us. And thus we lose our appetite for healthy food. The Eucharist is healthy food, and the fullness of the Catholic faith. And that is what Jesus the Good Shepherd never stops doing, even though he is tired. His heart is moved with pity for us, for he knows what we really need is the rich food of the Catholic faith.

In other words, our three Scriptures speak powerfully about Jesus the Good Shepherd. Of course the application to all of us is that we too have been entrusted with sheep: in our own families, in our own lives, that we are to be shepherds for. We, too, should sacrifice ourselves for our sheep, like Jesus in the letter to the Hebrews. We should lead them to green pastures, like to the Eucharist in Psalm 23. We should teach them like Jesus in Mark 6.

Who are the sheep entrusted to our care? Our families, our children, our grandchildren, they are the ones we sacrifice for, leading them to Mass, teaching them about the Catholic faith. Even all creation is entrusted to our care, like sheep entrusted to the care of shepherds. I think about this every time I take care of my dog Apollo. Taking care of creation, our pets, the world in which we live, is not an extra in our faith.

Caring for creation is part and parcel of what it means to be a Catholic Christian. Why? Because it says in 2 Peter 3 and then in Rev. 21, there will be a heavens and a new earth. When we take care of creation, when we care for our pets and care for nature, we are contributing that new heavens and earth that God will bring about in the end. And that, too, is a way of being a good shepherd. I will only be a bishop in my dreams, but we are all called to be good shepherds, and care for the sheep entrusted to our care.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Hope Does Not Disappoint

Celebrating the sixth anniversary Mass for Noah Antony

02/03/2023

Rom 5:1-5 Brothers and sisters: Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Today, February 3, 2023, marks the sixth anniversary of the passing of Noah Antony, my nephew. Now, the word “anniversary” comes from two Latin words “annus” meaning “year” and “vertere” meaning “to turn,” or better, “to return.” I’m sure Izzie knew that since she studies Latin at OCA. An anniversary like today, therefore, means to return (to go back) to the year when something memorable happened, and that’s why we are having this sixth anniversary Mass: to return and to remember.

But an anniversary means much more than simply to go back and relive those tragic events. We are not here merely to reopen old wounds. Rather, for Christians, an anniversary afford the opportunity to see those events through the eyes of faith, and feel some hope. Faith and hope go hand-in-hand. They are the twin lenses through which Christians gaze at the world. They are rose-colored glasses that allow us to love God and neighbor. Faith and hope.

At the moment something tragic happens the trauma clouds and obscures everything, especially the glimmers of hope and peace that are also present, but they are hidden and disguised. In other words, every year on the anniversary we can return and revisit that event and try to see them with new eyes, not full of tears and loss like in 2017, but maybe eyes a little more full of faith and hope like in 2023. Hindsight is 20/20, they say, and looking back at events has a way of sharpening our eyes of faith.

By the way, every year on February 3, we celebrate the feast of St. Blaise, a physician, a bishop and martyr who died in 316 AD. As a doctor, and finally a martyr, St. Blaise experienced what St. Paul meant in the first reading from Romans, where he said faith allows us to glimpse hope in the midst of suffering. That is exactly what St. Blaise experienced as a doctor and a martyr.

Listen again to what St. Paul wrote: “Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions (our sufferings), knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint.” In other words, as each anniversary goes by, our eyes of faith allow us to see what happened on February 3, 2017 was always in God’s hands. God is always present in our lives. That is how faith helps us to feel hope, and hope does not disappoint.

Would you mind if I shared some thoughts from my funeral homily from six years ago? Perhaps we can hear these stories a little differently than we did back then, and perhaps even smile and even laugh a little easier today. From an early age, Noah wanted to share God’s love with others. His maternal grandmother, Tessie Auntie, recalled that Noah loved to pretend playing priest at Mass at home. He would hand little potpourri to each family member seated on sofas as a form of Holy Communion. He invited Isaac to participate, as the deacon, of course. Isaac could be Dc. Chuck while Noah would be Msgr. Scott Friend. When you’re the director of the play, you can make yourself the leading role.

Here’s a story that Michael, Noah’s uncle, really appreciated from because I borrowed a scene from The Lord of the Rings movie: “Noah didn’t always pick on Isaac, though. My brother Paul recalled when Isaac was born he was in the NICU for several days. As the family was waiting to leave, a nurse came and said the doctor had ordered one last test. As she was about to wheel the cart carrying baby Isaac out of the room, Noah stood in front of the cart, put both his hands on the cart to stop it defiantly, and said in a voice with all the force of Gandalf confronting the Balrog on the Bridge of Khazad-dum, “You shall not pass!” And that is exactly how Noah said it.

Here is a story about Noah’s friends and their closeness: “It is true that Noah went through a “Justin Bieber stage” in styling his hair. That was something his uncle Michael called, “Bieber Fever.” Michael being a doctor, he knows a fever when he sees one. And Noah was not above a little friendly rivalry either. When he was first getting to know Pollo he said, “Hey, you should come over to my house more often because my dad likes you more than Chris.” Noah was always pushing his friends forward. Chris remembered Noah gave him the courage to speak in front of the youth group, something Chris was terrified of doing.”

Here’s a memory about Noah’s head and his heart: “Noah did well academically at Baylor, too. One professor, Dr. Richard Edward, wrote a recommendation letter in which he praised Noah’s leadership, saying, “I would place him among the top five percent of students I have taught over the past thirty years in terms of his ability to communicate effectively in public speaking, interviewing, and interpersonal situations.”

Noah was part of the BIC (Baylor Interdisciplinary Core of the Honors College). Now, that’s what Noah’s head was doing, but what about his heart doing? His heart was in a group called the “King’s Club,” a community service group, where Noah played with Hispanic kids after school like a big brother. He saw these Hispanic kids had bigger boulders to remove in their lives much bigger than Noah himself did. And he wanted to help.”

And this is probably my favorite Noah story because it includes his Catholic faith and devotion to the pope: “Two years ago in 2015, Noah went with the church group to see Pope Francis in Philadelphia. Noah hoisted Isaac on his shoulders and carried him for 20 minutes so Isaac could get a picture of the pope. He carried Izzie piggy-back style so she could see the Holy Father.

Noah’s own view of the pope was completely blocked, so he simply told Izzie: “Just tell me what he looks like and what he’s doing.” That was enough for Noah; he was happy that he had removed the obstacles for others to see the Vicar of Christ pass by.” Noah was a typical college kid at Baylor, but he was also a remarkable young man of faith.

What we want to do on this sixth anniversary of Noah’s death is not just return and remember the past. As if to reopen old wounds. We also want to see how faith helps us look to the future with hope. Faith and hope are the two lenses through which Christians look at the world, and we can see more than others can see. What hope are we talking about? The hope of seeing Noah again.

I love the lines in the funeral Mass that speak about this hope in the final prayer, which says: “Before we go our separate ways, let us take leave of our brother. May our farewell express our affection for him, may it ease our sadness and strengthen our hope.” Now comes the best part: “One day we shall joyfully greet him again when the love of Christ, which conquers all things, destroys even death itself.” And that is why hope does not disappoint.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Kings and Queens

Connecting poverty of spirit and richness in grace

01/31/2023

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

This past Friday Bishop Taylor assigned a new priest to I.C. and we warmly welcomed another Indian priest as our associate pastor. So, now there will be three Indian priests serving in Fort Smith. The Indians are taking over the Fort! The new priest’s name is Fr. Nalazala, and our current associate priest’s name is Fr. Bala.

So, I have decided to change my name to Fr. Jala, so our names can all rhyme like some parents do to torture their poor children by making their names rhyme. To be totally honest, though, you cannot really call me a true Indian priest because the only thing Indian left about me is this deep island tan. Otherwise, I’m just a Gringo, like all of ya’ll.

As Fr. Nalazala and I were talking Friday evening he told me something very surprising about his home diocese. He said that his home diocese of Nellore has so many young men who want to become priests that the bishop is limiting how many can enter the seminary. What a great problem to have! Why would he do such a thing? Well, because once they are ordained there are not enough parishes to assign them in the diocese. And that is why we now have two Indian priests in our parish. You see, Arkansas has the opposite problem: we have lots of parishes and not so many priests.

But I believe this seesaw scenario of priests and parishes also touches on the deeper truth that Jesus teaches in the gospel today. Our Lord’s very first beatitude to begin his magnificent Sermon on the Mount is: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for they will inherit the kingdom of heaven.” In other words, there is an intimate connection, a tight correlation, between poverty of spirit on the one hand, and richness in grace on the other hand, or as Jesus says, “an inheritance.”

I am convinced that when we are detached from earthly goods, we are freer to be attached to heavenly goods. We can more readily see the infinite value of God’s grace. That is at least one reason why there are so many priestly and religious vocations in India, where there is so much material poverty. Could that same dynamic also explain why here in a wealthy country like the United States we have fewer vocations? We sadly overvalue material things and sometimes undervalue spiritual things. Blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. And they shall inherit the parish of Immaculate Conception, too!

Now, I want to clarify one point so we do not jump to conclusions or misunderstand what Jesus really means by the first beatitude. Notice our Lord says “Blessed are the poor in spirit” and the key word in that phrase is “spirit.” That is, it is the spirit, the soul, the human heart, the inner man, that should be poor. If you carefully study the long history of the Church, you will discover that we have had many kings and queens who were great saints and obviously they were very wealthy as well.

Consider St. Louis IX, the king of France, or St. Margaret, the queen of Scotland. They did not abdicate their thrones nor did they sell all their property to become great saints. Why not? Well, they knew that what Jesus meant by being “poor in spirit’ was to be detached from worldly wealthy, to keep things at arm’s length sort of say, and to be more attached to heavenly things.

How did they practice poverty of spirit? They used their royal influence and their material resources to help the Church. They built cathedrals, convents, hospitals, schools, orphanages, and seminaries. In other words, even kings and queens can be “poor in spirit" and still inherit the kingdom of heaven.

This Sunday we kick off Catholic Schools Week, and we give God thanks for our great Catholic schools. One of the reasons we have such a strong and vibrant Catholic school here at Immaculate Conception is because our parishioners live the first beatitude. We are not a church filled with kings and queens, but we do have a lot of people who are poor in spirit and give very generously to support the church and school.

And where did these parishioners learn to be poor in spirit? Many of them also attended a Catholic school themselves. In other words, the reason Catholic schools exist is to teach our students the true meaning of the first beatitude: blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. You may have heard that our principal, Sharon Blentlinger, will be retiring at the end of the school year, on July 31. Sharon is a really talented leader for our school, and for 37 years as principal she embodied the first beatitude. We will miss you, Mrs. B! We will begin a search for a new principal immediately.

My friends, there is a crucial reason Jesus mentioned being poor in spirit as the first of his beatitudes. Why? It is the necessary condition, the sine que non, the key that unlocks the door, to the other seven beatitudes. Only those who are poor in spirit can truly mourn, and be meek, and merciful. Only the poor in spirit are pure in heart, and peacemakers, and endure persecutions. Only the poor in spirit, in other words, can be truly detached from earthly things so as to be fully attached to heavenly things. The first beatitude is the heartbeat of all the beatitudes. That’s what I learned talking to Fr. Nalazala.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Learning Our Lines

Getting in the game not sitting on the sidelines

01/28/2023

Mk 4:26-34 Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the Kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.” He said, “To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

Few things in the world are as powerful as good story-telling. This is why I love to go to the movies. What really lies at the heart of a romance or comedy, an action-adventure or sci-fi movie but a really good story: compelling characters, a plot and drama. And the power a story exerts over us is it helps us remember certain lines and important lessons. In other words, the power of story-telling is to persuade us of the truth of things while it entertains us. We learn while we are laughing, and learning lines that slowly become our own.

Here are my top five movies and lines and lessons I have learned from them. I am going to give you a quiz by repeating the lines and seeing if you can guess which famous movie it comes from. In what movie does an angel named Clarence tell George Bailey, “No man is a failure who has friends”? That is from the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” In what other movie does Admiral Josh Painter tell the CIA analyst Jack Ryan, “Russians don’t take a dump, son, without a plan”? Although the war in Ukraine might be an exception to Russians always having a plan. That is from “Hunt from Red October.”

Another favorite line is when the innocent inmate, Andy Dufresne tells Red, “Get busy living or get busy dying.” That was from “Shawshank Redemption.” Here’s one that you have to knonw. Wesley and Princess Buttercup are about to run into the fire swamp, and Princess Buttercup said fearfully, “We’ll never survive!” Wesley wisely replies: “Nonsense. You’re only saying never because no one ever has.” That is, someday someone might survive, and indeed they do.

Finally, who can forget when Don Corleone does a favor for a man and says: “Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as a gift on my daughter’s wedding day.” Obviously, that is from “The Godfather.” In other words, we learn lines and life lessons from movie, even while we laugh. And slowly, those lines become our own.

In the gospel today, Jesus harnesses the power of story-telling in the form of parables. You see, Jesus’ parables are simply powerful stories in miniature, condensed movies you might say, and they are meant to teach timeless life lessons. Today in Mark he tells the parable of the sower and the seeds. And then the gospel writer, St. Mark, adds: “With many such parable he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.”

In other words, Jesus knows that the best way for us to learn and remember important life lessons is through story-telling. And so Jesus tells mini-stories called parables so we will remember what he taught, like I remember the famous lines from the Godfather and Princess Bride and Shawshank Redemption. Jesus’ words and lines should become the lines we learn best.

One of the things I really admire about Ozark Catholic Academy is that all new students must take part in a Shakespearean play. This year, I believe, it will be “Taming of the Shrew.” Now, few people understood the power of story-telling better than the Bard (that’s Shakespeare’s nickname). And here at OCA students don’t just watch plays, like modern Americans go to watch movies. No, here you have to be in the play as a character.

That is, you cannot just be a spectator, but you must participate in the play. You have to learn the lines by heart so you will remember them, and not just for the play, but for life. Shakespeare does not want you sitting on the sidelines of life, but rather to be a full and active participant. Life is not a spectator sport. Get in the game. In the play Taming of the Shrew, like in Jesus’ parables, Shakespeare teaches us life lessons while he makes us laugh, and we learn our lines.

Have you ever noticed how the Mass is like a play and a parable? We have actors who take certain roles. I get to be Jesus, and you are the apostles at the Last Supper. And one of you is Judas! Just kidding, we are all Judas when we commit sins. We have lines we must learn and practice until we say them perfectly. Why do have to say these lines and learn them by heart?

Because salvation is not a spectator sport. You cannot sit on the sidelines and just watch the world go by. You have a part to play. In other words, Mass is not just Jesus’ story about what happened to him 2,000 years ago. It is our story and what is happening to us today. Like movies and parables and plays, the Mass harnesses the remarkable power of story-telling to teach life lessons. Only in this case, the lessons are about eternal life, and about eternal death. And that is why we have to learn our lines.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Part Pointer

Distinguishing between the literal and the literary

01/24/2023

Mk 3:31-35 The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house. Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, "Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you." But he said to them in reply, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Today I would like to try to explain the difference between the literal and the literary. Now the two words sound very similar but they are dramatically different. The literal is what is on the surface, what is on the page, what we immediately read. But what is literary is the deeper meaning, beyond what is on the surface. And it takes more effort to discern that deeper meaning.

And of course this is extremely important when the read the Scriptures, because sometimes we just stop at the literal level. After we have read what is on the page, we sometimes conclude we have understood all there is. But in fact there are great depths. Therefore we have to learn the read the Scriptures with a literary mindset, beyond the literal. Otherwise, the Bible will remain a closed book to us.

Now I enjoy a very simple example of this every day as I try to train my dog Apollo. He has a hard time moving beyond the literal and catch the literary. Sometimes I point and tell him where he should go and do his business. But instead of looking where I am pointing, Apollo comes and sniffs the tip of my finger. You see, he is stuck at the literal level, what is right in front of his nose. Poor Apollo cannot grasp that when I am pointing to something, I am indicating something beyond the literal, beyond my finger.

Incidentally, this is very surprising to me because part of his DNA is that he is a pointer, so he should readily understand when I am pointing at something. Right?? But unfortunately, he doesn’t (he cannot) because he is stuck at the literal level, understanding only what I say, and nothing beyond the actual words.

And this is essentially what is going on in the Scriptures today, and also why so many people have trouble understanding. When Jesus asks rhetorically who are my mother and brothers and sisters, some readers only hear what Jesus is saying on the literal level, and stop right there. They therefore conclude that Jesus had other brothers and sisters. As a result, Mary, his mother, must have had other children. And such readers think this is rather obvious, because that is what is on the literal level of the story.

In a sense, they are just sniffing my finger like my dog, but not moving beyond, that is, they are not seeing what the Scriptures are pointing at. That is why Jesus has to explain to them to think beyond the literal level. Who are my mother and brothers and sisters? They are the ones who do the will of God. In other words, there is another kind of family that I have come to establish, and so try to think beyond the literal level of a nuclear family, your own immediately family.

There is another kind of family that I belong to and that I want you to belong to, namely, the world-wide family called the Catholic Church. And hence, Christians beautifully refer to one another as brother and sisters in Christ. Catholics refer to their parish priests as father. That is more than what is happening on the surface, the literal level, there is also the deeper meaning, the literary level. And that literary meaning is the more important one.

I would encourage you to read the Scriptures like a murder mystery. Have you ever read a good murder mystery, that was a real page-turner, that keeps you on the edge of your seat? The reader is trying to figure out who dunnit? And there are many people who come across the scene, maybe so and so did it, or so and so did it. But the smart reader will move beyond the surface of the story, if he hopes to solve the murder. You must look deeper at people’s motivations, and why they did it. Thus you discover who is the really guilty party.

Now this is not such a strange analogy for the Scriptures, because the Bible in a sense is a great murder mystery. It is the murder of God. Jesus Christ, the Son of God was murdered. And it is not obvious on the surface, on the literal level, who dunnit. It was not just Pontius Pilate who gave the command to the Roman soldiers. It wasn't just the Pharisees and Sadducees, who put Jesus on trial, and found him guilty of blasphemy.

The real culprit is me, and you. We are the ones who crucified God because of our sins. But that is hard to understand if all you’re doing when you read the Bible is looking at the surface, the literal level. When we do that, the Bible remains a closed book to us, unless we learn to read it in a literary way.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

The Real Problem

Seeing how babies are the solution not the problem

01/23/2023

Lk 1:39-56 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, "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."

Today marks the tragic anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in 1973 establishing the legal right to an abortion. And last year, thank goodness, in a case by the Supreme Court that decision was overturned. And so now it is illegal to take the life of unborn children. And that is a good step in the right direction.

But I believe the deeper issue is still very much with us. And that is the question: are children a problem, or are children the solution to a problem. What problem are children the solution to? The problem of our selfishness. Children do many things, but one thing they do in spades is they help us to overcome our selfishness. And the more children you have the more they help you overcome your selfishness; they sort of squeeze all the self-love out of their parents. This question, therefore, has not been answered by our society: are children a problem or are they the solution to the real problem, which is our selfishness.

Over the course of human history, different peoples and different cultures have seen children as the problem. And so children need to be eliminated. Of course we can quickly peruse Sacred Scripture to see examples of this. Pharaoh, in the time of the slavery of the Israelite people in Egypt, saw Israelite boys as the problem, and so he had them killed. Boys two years old or younger were thrown into the Nile River and killed. The children are the problem, and so Pharaoh continued to be selfish because he didn’t allow the children to help him overcome his selfishness.

Of course the same thing happened at the time of Jesus’ birth, the time of Herod, another king who saw children as a problem. So, he was convinced he had to get rid of the children because they seemed like a threat to him, but really they were a threat to his selfishness, what he wanted. In other words, do we see children as the problem, or are they the solution to the real problem which is our selfishness?

This is the same dynamic at work in our society today. Do adults see children as a problem or as a solution. Here are Immaculate Conception Church, we have various agencies that we support. Every month we send hundreds of dollars of the weekly collection to these various agencies, and one of them is called the Clearinghouse. Perhaps you are not familiar with this agency, but this agency has a backpack lunch program. That means every Friday they prepare backpacks with meals to send home with public school children.

Do you know why the Clearinghouse sends home meals with public school children for the weekend? Because their parents do not provide food for them. You see, these parents have somehow begun to see their children as the problem, instead of the children as the solution to the real problem, which is their selfishness. You see, the children are here to help us overcome our selfishness. And the more children we have the more they help us overcome our selfishness, until there is none of it left. Because we have given it all to the children to raise them.

I have a very unusual theory that I would like to share with you this morning. I have lots of unusual theories. Today’s unusual theory is how the Catholic Church sees children as the solution and not as the problem. It used to be said that a good Catholic family (you’ve heard this before) has a ton of kids. That was the basic definition of a good Catholic family. And the reason that is good is on a number of different levels.

Mom and dad do not have any time for themselves because they are running around chasing their children. But in doing that, they are (perhaps unknowingly) overcoming their deepest problem, namely, their selfishness. But this having many children also has a pretty profound economic impact. Let’s say you have eight children. And often one or two of those children will feel a vocation to the priesthood or to the religious life.

Children from large families feel that since I have all these siblings, someone else can have grandkids for my parents, I will become a nun or a priest. As a result, the pressure is off to get married and have children. So, now you have this kind of pipeline for priests and nuns. And that is why this building behind me was filled with nuns back in the day, when we had good Catholic families with 8 or 9 kids. And the IC rectory would have 3 or 4 priests living there.

And the reason is that we saw children as the solution not as the problem. Because we could see that the real problem, my dear friends, is our selfishness. And that is why today we still need to pray for the protection of life, especially of unborn children and of all children. God is sending them to us, to help us overcome our selfishness, which is the real problem. And by the way, please don’t hear this homily as a criticism of those who only have a few children. I can barely take care of one dog, so who is the really selfish person here today?

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Boys to Men

Seeing the great value of Catholic high schools

01/22/2023

Mt 4:12-17 When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen. From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

This Sunday we enjoy a very happy coincidence, or as people of faith say, a God-incidence, because we see God’s hand clearly at work. Last year I started promoting a Catholic high school in Tontitown (in Northwest Arkansas) called Ozark Catholic Academy, or OCA. But here in the River Valley, we also have a strong and long tradition of supporting Subiaco Academy (another Catholic high school). So I decided that one Sunday every year we would have “Catholic High School Sunday.” Why?

Well, because in 1973 St. Anne High School closed here at IC, and five years earlier in 1968, St. Scholastica High School had closed. And I feel those closings were a tragedy for our community, and a terrible loss for our children. So, I want to help us see that we still have strong Catholic high school options available to us here in Fort Smith.

Now, why is this a coincidence or better a God-incidence? Well, because Pope Francis has declared this Sunday every year to be the Sunday of the Word of God, where we give God thanks for his Word both in the Scriptures but in how the Bible leads us to his Word in the sacraments. You see, God’s Word is not a book; it is really Jesus.

So how are these two - high schools and Holy Scriptures - related? Well, the one thing you find in Catholic high schools that you don’t find in other high schools is the Word of God in Scripture and sacraments. And the Word of God (Jesus) is the most crucial component of a young man and young women’s education.

When I was at Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock, my classmates and I often complained to our principal about the name of our school. We whined to Fr. Tribou: “Why is our school called ‘Catholic High School for Boys’? It should be called ‘Catholic High School for Men’!” Fr. Tribou calmly answered us: “While you are here you are boys. And when you graduate from here you some of you might become men.” And that is exactly what Catholic high schools, like Subiaco and OCA do: they take young boys and young girls and transform them into men and women.

But notice that the job of a Catholic high school is not merely to make you any kind of man or any kind of woman, but to make you the Christian-kind of man and the Christian-kind of woman. What’s the difference? The Word of God (Jesus) is the difference! When you graduate from a Catholic high school you should know, love, and be ready to live the Word of God (Jesus), that is, to be another Christ in the world.

In other words, graduating from a Catholic high school would be equivalent to a Jewish bar mitzva. Do you know the literal meaning of bar mitzva? It literally means “son of the law” or “son of the commandment”, or better “son of the Word of God”. A bar mitzva - or a bat mitzva for girls - is a rite of passage from being boys to becoming men. And the critical piece of becoming a man, especilly a Christian man, is the Word of God (Jesus), whom we find in the Scriptures and sacraments, in short we becomes a son of the law, a daughter of the law.

Let me share a few personal stories of how a Catholic high school taught me to become a son of the law. Our principal, as I said, was named Fr. George Tribou, who loved us as fiercely as he disciplined us. He taught us the best definition of a man, saying: “A man is he who controls the animal within which he lives.” I have never heard a better definition of a man. And by the way, that is exactly why our school was called “Catholic High School for Boys”. Teenage boys more often act like animals than men.

Another thing Fr. Tribou taught us was in sex education class. He said that French-kissing a girl was like using someone else’s toothbrush. No wonder I became a priest! Another lesson Fr. Tribou taught us was how to be comfortable. In the 1980’s Catholic High, like many Catholic high schools, did not have air-conditioning. But Fr. Tribou did install air-conditioning in two rooms: the chapel and the library. And that is how you inspire teenage boys to pray and read books. In his own way, Fr. Tribou was teaching us how to become sons of the law, sons of the Word of God. To go from boys to men.

My friends, you don’t have to look very far to see that we live in a society desperately in need of teaching young boys and young girls how to become men and women, especially Christian men and Christian women. Sadly, our culture does not have a clearly defined rite of passage from boyhood to manhood.

And that is why we see thirty years old and forty year olds and even fifty year olds still acting like adolescents. They have not learned how to become sons of the law, or daughters of the law. Perhaps if they had attended a strong Catholic high school they would have gone from being boys to men.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Favorite Arrow

Learning how marriage is key to unlock the Scriptures

01/16/2023

Mk 2:18-22 The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to Jesus and objected, "Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”

Jesus gives a very curious answer to the people who ask about his practice of not fasting. And he gives the answer from the perspective of a wedding, and shows himself to be the Bridegroom. Now, that is a very curious answer because Jesus has a quiver of many arrows that he could have used to answer that question. Notice how he gives all kinds of different answers on different occasions.

He talks about how a king going into battle should count if he has enough soldiers to defeat a king coming against him with more soldiers. He uses another arrow about constructing a tower and whether you have enough resources to complete it. On another occasion he speaks about a sower who goes out to sow. In other words, Jesus has all kinds of arrows in his quiver, but Jesus again and again returns to his favorite arrow, which is that of a wedding, and declares himself to be the Bridegroom.

It’s highly suggestive, this particular favorite arrow of Jesus, that he uses to explain who he is, what he is doing, and even who we are. Who is the Church, and what is the Kingdom? In many ways, it is a lot of things, but ultimately, we are the Bride, and the Church is the Bride of Christ. And Jesus declares himself the Bridegroom who wants to marry us. Now, this beautiful arrow explains why Jesus dies on the cross, and how he has come to save us, because ultimately he wants to marry us. A good husband dies for his wife.

A couple of weeks ago I got a phone call from Fr. Daniel Wendel. Some of you may remember him. He was Deacon Daniel Wendel while he was serving here at Immaculate Conception a couple of summers ago. Well, now he is the associate pastor of St. Raphael in Springdale. He called me and asked if I would come and give a retreat at St. Raphael on marriage to married couples. He asked that I especially talk about John Paul II’s theology of the body. And I was very happy to hear that because I’ve read the theology of the body.

Now, do you know what the theology of the body is all about? It is about Jesus’ favorite arrow in his quiver. That again, and again, and again, Jesus explains himself, he explains the mystery of salvation, and he explains the entire Bible in terms of marriage. That is, God’s purpose from the beginning to the end of time, the history of salvation from the book of Genesis to Revelation, can be understood best of all in terms of a marriage. Why?

Well, Genesis 2 recounts the marriage of Adam and Eve, and Revelation 22 concludes with the marriage of the Lamb and his bride, which is the Church. And so in Rv 22 it says: “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come’ [Lord Jesus]’.” The marriage is about to begin. The end of time is a great wedding banquet. And that is why Fr. Daniel Wendel and a group of people organizing this retreat on March 11 want me to speak about Jesus’ favorite arrow in his quiver, the arrow of the Bridegroom and his wedding feast.

We might also think of it like bread crumbs throughout the whole Scripture. If you are picking up the bread crumbs from Genesis to Revelation, this is where that trail of bread crumbs leads: to marriage with Christ. All of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament has been trying to direct us to Jesus, not just so he can forgive us for our sins, and not just so he can save us. But ultimately, so he can marry us! And we need to accept that marriage invitation, otherwise, we would indeed be a foolish virgin as in Matthew 25. Jesus is like the man down on one knee, holding out a ring to us and asking: “Will you marry me?” And he’s waiting for a response from us. Will we marry him?

That is why it is so critical that we get marriage right. That is why the Catholic Church is such a stickler about marriage and getting marriage right. Why she has so many teachings about why different things that attack marriage are wrong. Because if you cannot get marriage right, you won’t understand who Jesus is, you won’t get Jesus right.

You will miss all the bread crumbs in Scripture, if you are confused about marriage. You won’t pick up what the Holy Spirit is putting down throughout all the pages of the Bible. You will miss Jesus’ favorite arrow that he shoots from his quiver when he speaks about himself being the Bridegroom, and we are the bride. You will miss everything. Anyway, you might want to come to that retreat on March 11, and see why this is Jesus’ favorite arrow.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Handle the Truth

Understanding the divine condescension

01/14/2023

Mk 2:13-17 Jesus went out along the sea. All the crowd came to him and he taught them. As he passed by, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, sitting at the customs post. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed Jesus. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him. Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus heard this and said to them, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

Today I want to teach you a fancy theological term, and it is the divine condescension. That means that God’s ways are high above our ways as the sky is above the earth. And so we do not immediately understand what God wants to tell us. And so he has to lower himself and come down to our level. He has to humble himself and speak our language in a way that we can understand. Then he can slowly teach us and raise our thoughts above the earth to be more like his thoughts. But first he must come down and meet us where we are at.

And this is something parents do all the time with their children. Children cannot understand immediately how parents think and what they are trying to accomplish, and so the parents have to come down to the children’s level, and speak in such a way that their children can understand. I see this every time we celebrate a funeral Mass. A child cannot comprehend what it means for a person to die. For that matter, can an adult understand what it means for a person to die?

And so we try to help them understand at their level, at the child’s level, what has happened to this person in the casket. We have had quite a few funerals this past week, and I’ve watched parents speak to their little children and say so-and-so is just asleep. They are explaining things at the level of the child. And the child thinks happily: “Oh, okay, he’s just asleep. Maybe he’ll wake up soon.” And it’s okay because the child understands death as well as he can.

Well, we see Jesus in the gospel today practicing this divine condescension, coming down to the level of the scribes and Pharisees. Now you would think these folks would be at a much higher level. They are not the humble poor people, who don’t have any education or knowledge or understanding of the Scriptures. These are the scribes and the Pharisees after all! And yet Jesus has to come down to their level.

When they ask him, “Why do you eat with sinners and tax-collectors”, he answers in a way that they will understand, even though they do not yet understand. He says “I have come not to call the righteous but the sinners.” You see, that’s a way the Pharisees could understand. Why? Well, the Pharisees think like this: "We are righteous, we keep the law. But those people, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes, they are the sinners."

But let me ask you, did Jesus really think the Pharisees and the scribes were righteous and without any sins? Of course not, they too are sinners. We are all sinners. Oh, maybe not in some overt and obvious way, like prostitutes or dictators. But we have our own sins that we harbor in our hearts: jealousies, lack of forgiveness, grudges, greed, pride, lust and so forth. But Jesus is trying to help them by coming down to their level.

It is like Jesus is saying: "Let me explain this in a way that you (Pharisees) might understand: I have come to call the sinners, so it’s okay that I eat with prostitutes and tax-collectors." And the Pharisees can understand and agree to that. But Jesus is slowly trying to help them understand, gradually and gently, that he has come to call all sinners. And that not only tax-collectors and prostitutes, but even the self-righteous Pharisees, are sinners. We are all sinners.

My point is this. A lot of times, Jesus, and God, and the Scriptures, and the Church, have to come down to our level of understanding because we are not quite yet ready for the way things are in heaven. It is like that scene from the movie “A Few Good Men” where Jack Nicholson is on the stand and he is being tried, and he says very defiantly: “You cannot handle the truth.”

That’s very true for all of us, and that is what Jesus is saying to all of us, especially the Pharisees in the gospel: “You cannot handle the truth, that you, too, are sinners. You too need a savior.” That also makes me wonder about you and me, and how we speak to one another. We sometimes soften what we want to say, thinking: “He cannot handle what I have to say; she cannot handle what I have to say.”

We, too, exercise this divine condescension and we say things in a way that we hope the other person can get it. I wonder how often people do that with me. Poor Fr. John can’t quite get this, so let me explain it in a softer, gentler way, so he might catch on. I wonder how many times God does that with me. God might think: “John can’t quite get this, so I will come down to his level, so that maybe, little by little, one day, he will understand.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!