In Charge of Stuff

Celebrating Trinity’s 8th grade graduation class

05/24/2023

Jn 17:1-11a Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him. "I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you."

I will never forget what Archbishop Peter Sartain said when he came to Arkansas as our bishop. He was previously a priest in Memphis when the pope promoted him to be the bishop of Arkansas. He was talking to another priest-friend who had also just become a bishop. They were still in shock at their promotion, and Bishop Sartain said half-jokingly to his friend, “Hey, you know, we’re like in charge of stuff now!” Hey, check it out, we’re in charge!

In other words, they felt the weight of responsibility in being in charge of a whole diocese, not just a parish. And they were a little surprised that the pope trusted them with that much responsibility. They could have really messed things up. But they have both done well as bishops, and heck, one even became an archbishop. So, that is doing pretty good.

Boys and girls, as you graduate from eighth grade, I want you to think about what Archbishop Sartain said, “Hey, you know, we’re like in charge of stuff!” Why? Well, because one day you will be in charge of stuff. What do I mean? For example, It is not hard to picture Peter Hadley, or Sebastian Brockett, or Christian Benavides as a future U.S. president. Why couldn’t Nora Goebel, or Cate Randall, or Marlen Sanchez be CEO of Mercy Hospital? I could easily see Jonah Calderara or Ethan Hurst or Alexander Chavez as a 4-star general of the Army.

And there is nothing to keep Esperanza Cerda-Salas or Analia Guerra-Hernandez, or Jacquelin Chavez from being the future Secretary-General of the United Nations. In other words, some 8th grader going into 9th grade in some school somewhere will be in charge of these great organizations. Why not one of the 78 graduates of Trinity Catholic School Class of 2023? You might be surprised and even a little scared like Archbishop Sartain was, but one day, you, too, will be “in charge of stuff.”

In the gospel today from John 17, Jesus gives  his apostles his final instructions at the Last Supper. And his message is essentially, “You guys all will one day be in charge of stuff,” namely, you will be in charge of my Church. Listen to a little of what our Lord said: “And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you [Father].” That is, Jesus is Lord, Savior, and Master, and he is in charge of everything, especially his Church, but of the whole world, too.

But he leaves to return to heaven and appoints his apostles as leaders of his Church. Just like Archbishop Sartain got a call from the pope to become the bishop in charge of a diocese, so the apostles were appointed by Jesus to be his first bishops, and St. Peter was the first pope. Talk about being in charge of stuff! And Jesus blessed the apostles who continued the work of salvation that Jesus had just started.

Boys and girls, you do not have to wait to become adults to be “in charge of stuff.” Wherever you go to high school – Northside, Southside, Subiaco, OCA, Future School, Greenwood or Union Christian – you will discover that high school teachers love to have Trinity graduates in their classes. And you will find that Trinity graduates repeatedly get elected to leadership roles in high school.

And don’t be shocked when students from other schools – and we have great schools in Fort Smith! – look to you as examples and role-models. In other words, getting put “in charge of stuff” will happen sooner than you think, maybe even next year. But don’t worry, Jesus will be with you and give you the grace you need to succeed, like he blessed his apostles; and they succeeded.

You know, every graduation is a joyful event, especially for the graduating class. You are happy to get out of here! But every graduation is also a nervous event for the current generation of adults, who are shaking their heads, and thinking: “OMG, these kids are one day going to be in charge of stuff?!” But that is exactly what the former generation of adults thought about us when we were kids, and shook their heads in disbelief. And that is what an even earlier generation of adults thought about those adults when they were kids.

And that is what you Trinity graduates will one day think about the generation that follows you. But every generation inevitably produces the leaders who will shoulder the responsibility for themselves, for others, and for the world. And that next generation of leaders is usually graduating from a Catholic school somewhere. Why? Because here we teach you, like Jesus taught his apostles, how to be “in charge of stuff.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Unknown Gods

Seeing how we worship known and unknown gods

05/22/2023

Acts 1:1-11 In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.

Do you mind if I make this homily a commentary about culture and its effects on our faith? Don’t worry I am not going to get into the culture wars that are raging on all fronts today. That is, I am not interested in talking about abortion or climate change or racism, or white supremacy or not kneeling during the national anthem. Now, some of you may be disappointed thinking: those hot topics would have made a really spicy sermon. Sorry, this will be a very boring sermon, so you can go back to sleep.

Instead, I would like to look at culture like Josef Pieper did in his amazing little book called “Leisure, the Basis of Culture.” Pieper begins his book with this insightful statement: “Culture depends for its very existence on leisure, and leisure, in turn, is not possible unless it has a durable and consequently living link with the cultus, with divine worship” (p. 15).

Did you catch that? Pieper insists that there can be no culture without a cult. Indeed, if you look closely, you can see that the word “cult” is even hidden within the word “culture” like its beating heart. And just like removing a heart kills the human person, so removing the cult (or divine worship) from a culture will kill the body politic. Why is that? Why is cult or worship such an integral part of political and social life?

Well, that depends on how we understand the human person. Sometimes we define a human person as a homo sapiens, meaning a rational animal. Others, like Aristotle, called human beings “the laughing animal” because we humans get the gist of jokes but other animals do not get jokes. Although, I have to admit that every now and then I can almost hear my dog Apollo snickering at me from the back of his crate.

But I think the best definition of a human is “a worshipping animal.” Why? Well, because we are created to worship something or Someone, or perhaps even ourselves. Even atheists who say they do not believe in God worship someone or something. They just don’t know their deity’s name. That is, they worship an anonymous god, an unknown god.

Now, how do you figure out what someone worships? That is very easy to do: just look where people make the greatest sacrifices, that is, where people spend most of their money. In medieval Christendom, the tallest, most elaborate, and costly buildings were always the cathedral churches. That is where people spent most of their money because inside those walls we worshipped our God.

What are the tallest, most elaborate, and costly buildings in our cities today? In most American towns these days it is usually the sports complex: football, basketball, or soccer stadiums. There happily we hold hands with people we have never met before, and hug perfect strangers, and sing until we are hoarse: “Ole, ole, ole!”

And people say Catholics do not sing in church. And in those secular churches a collection is also taken up and we gladly give to the gods our sacrifices and tithes. There is no culture without a cult. We just don’t know the name of the gods we worship; we worship unknown gods.

Let me repeat again Pieper’s tight definition of culture, and see if it makes a little more sense now: “Culture depends for its very existence on leisure, and leisure, in turn, is not possible unless it has a durable and consequently living link with the cultus, with divine worship.” In other words, there never has been and there never will be a culture that does not worship their gods. That is the very meaning of culture.

Now, you might be asking yourself: what on earth does any of this culture commentary have to do with today’s feast of the Ascension? I am so glad you asked! In our first reading today from Acts, St. Luke explains that it was precisely “forty days” after his Resurrection that Jesus ascended into heaven. If you count forty days after Easter, you do not land on this Sunday; instead, you land on last Thursday.

That is why we used to call this feast “Ascension Thursday.” In other words, that timeframe of 40 days was our “living link” with the Bible, and with our Christian roots. But some dioceses have transferred the feast and its obligation to the following Sunday (today), and it is for a very good reason. That good reason is so that lots of Catholics would not miss Mass on a holy day of obligation if we had kept it on Thursday. And not missing Mass is a good thing.

Please do not misunderstand my point: I am not suggesting it is wrong to move Ascension Thursday to the following Sunday. The bishops of a province are well within their rights to do that, and they are far wiser men than me. Nonetheless, we cannot help but be creatures who worship the gods.

And if we did not go to Mass last Thursday to worship the living God whom we know by name, where did we go? And I am not talking about going to a Protestant church, or a Hindu temple, or a Jewish synagogue. There, they worship their God by name. And it’s easy to tell in what church we worship because that is where we gladly offer our sacrifices.

By the way, every month I get a summary statement from my credit card company that itemizes all my expenses. It shows me where I spent most of my money. Maybe you get one from your credit card company, too. And do you know where I spend most of my money every month? It is on Apollo, a Greek god. But, hey, at least I know his name.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Fella Over There

Learning how to have more realistic expectations

05/20/2023

Jn 16:20-23 Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.

Boys and girls, all true friendships, especially romantic relationships, have ups and downs, arguments and fights, good times and bad times. That is the nature of relationships. Sometimes we might think: I am only going to be friends with people who agree with me all the time, or with people who think just like I do, so we never fight. Or, we may think: I will only marry someone who I will never fight and argue with, like my parents fight and argue.

But such thinking is Pollyannish, that is, it is unrealistically optimistic. It ain’t going to happen. Why not? Well, because we are fallen creatures, and broken human beings. And we inevitably hurt one another, even our closest friends. This is where that old saying comes from: “It’s the looks that gets them but it’s the personality that keeps them.

In other words, when you’re looking for a true friend, a soulmate, it is not enough to look for what Taylor Swift sang: “He’s the fella over there with the hella good hair.” Because the fella over there with the hella good hair will also get into fights and arguments and disagreements with you.

Or, you may be thinking: my family is a mess. Why can’t we be more like that other family, that always looks so loving, and peaceful, and happy, and has lots of money? But the truth of the matter is we all belong to the Adam’s Family. Remember that old T.V. show? We are all just a bunch of lovable monsters. Maybe you’ve seen the latest spin-off called “Wednesday.” In other words, all friendships have frustrations, all romances have rough patches, and all families are far from perfect. And even the fella over there with the hella good hair ain’t necessarily “Mr. Right” for you.

In the gospel today, Jesus warns his disciples to get ready for a rough ride, if they want to be his friends and followers. He says very soberly: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn into joy.” Notice how Jesus does not sugarcoat what it takes to be a saint. There will be struggles and sacrifices.

But there will also be joy, which will likely have to wait for heaven. That is why we say: “Working for Jesus doesn’t pay much, but the retirement plan is out of this world!” Just ask any Catholic school teacher. In other words, we might not get the fella over there with the hella good hair as our priest at Mass, but just an old bald priest with a beard like Sean Connery.

But that is the true nature of good friendships, real romance, authentic family life, and faithful discipleship. It is never easy. Like the Rolling Stones sang so wisely: “You don’t always get what you want, but you get what you need.” And what the world really needs is God’s grace, to help us through the rough ride called life.

Let me leave you with one last application of this lesson about realistic expectations for ourselves and for others. When I was young, I always focused on all the mistakes my parents made. And I thought very defiantly – and very arrogantly – when I grow up I am not going to make all those stupid mistakes that my parents made. Have you ever thought that? And in some ways we do things better than our parents did.

But in other ways, I have made far worse mistakes than they did. As I get older and I look back, I see all that they accomplished, and I am in awe of them. They moved their family to another country, far from their own family and friends. They started life from scratch. And they made great sacrifices for their three children. They were poor immigrants who sent their children to Catholic schools. I seriously doubt I would have been so courageous or so bold or trust so much in God, like they have.

I used to be embarrassed by my mom and dad. But today, there is no doubt they are my heroes. So, have a little more patience and a little more perspective when you judge your parents. They are not perfect, but neither are you. But they are a lot better than you think they are. You are not as good as you think you are. Have a little more realistic expectations about others, and yourself.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Fish Out of Water

Seeing the Bible as a liturgical book not a library book

05/15/2023

Jn 15:26—16:4a Jesus said to his disciples: "When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. "I have told you this so that you may not fall away. They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me. I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you."

The more you read and study the Bible, the more you discover it is truly a very bewildering book. For example, it did not come into existence in the conventional way with one human author, who wrote it from cover to cover. Now, it did have one Author, the Holy Spirit, but the 73 books of the Bible were authored by well over a hundred human authors.

Another unconventional convention of the Bible is that it began without chapter and verse divisions. Those were added later: Bishop Stephen Langton added the chapters in the 13th century, and Robert Estienne, a printer, added the verses in 1551. So, when you read the Bible, keep in mind the chapters and verses are artificial and not intended by the original Divine and human authors. All authors today clearly and intentionally divide their books into various chapters. But that is not how the Bible was written, and so the Bible can seem bewildering.

One way to cut through the unconvention of the Scriptures is to recognize that the true habitat of the Bible is not in a library but in the liturgy. What does that mean? Well, for one thing, while it is great to study the Bible, read the Bible, memorize verses of the Bible by heart, that is like taking a fish out of water. It is nice to catch a fish, and eat the fish, or maybe mount the fish on a wall as a trophy.

But the fish’s natural habitat is in the water, not on your wall. That is where the fish is most itself and glorifies God with every fiber of its being. That is why we read in Daniel 3:79, “You sea creatures and all water creatures, bless the Lord.” When we treat the Bible like a library book we extract it from the water of its natural habitat. But when we look at the Bible in the liturgy – how and where it is used in the Mass – it sort of swims freely and glorifies God and teaches us how to glorify him, too.

Our gospel today is a good example of how to stop treating the Bible like a library book and to start treating it like a liturgical book. Jesus is at the Last Supper and giving his final instructions to his disciples before he suffers and dies for them. To encourage them when this happens, he promises to send them the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, to give them the same courage and conviction of Christ, so they, too, can suffer and die. So, they can be another Christ for other disciples.

But did you notice where this section of John is taken from? It is actually the end of chapter 15 and the beginning of chapter 16. Now, who reads a book taking the last sentence of a chapter and then reading only the first two sentences of the next chapter? That would make no sense in a modern book by John Grisham or Billy Graham. But the Bible, especially the New Testament, was not written originally with chapters or verses, which were artificially imposed on the text over a thousand years later.

And in a sense, that artificial division between chapter 15 and 16 inadvertently breaks up Jesus’ true thought about how the Holy Spirit would help the Apostles. In other words, if you stopped at chapter 15:27, and did not continue reading, you would miss Jesus’ real point. And what was Jesus’ real point? That the Apostles would suffer and die, but the Spirit would strengthen them.

If you read the bible like a library book – paying too much attention to the chapters and verses, breathing a sigh of relief when you come to end of a chapter, and pick up the next chapter later – you will miss that point. But if you read the Bible like a liturgical book – ignoring the chapters and verses, like we did in the gospel reading today – you will catch that point.

My friends, we have to reorient our thinking about the Bible, and how, where, when, and why we read it. What is the Bible’s natural habitat, where it is most at home? It is at home in the liturgy and not in the library. And by the way, the word “reorient” comes from “orient” which means “the east.” Traditionally, we have always faced east – ad orientem – when we gather to celebrate the liturgy (like you all are doing this morning). Why?

Well, because at Mass we are awaiting the return of Jesus, who will be like the rising Son. When we read and pray the Bible in the Mass, properly oriented - properly "east-ed" - as a liturgical text, the Bible becomes like a fish in water, and glorifies God with every letter of its being. And it teaches us how to glorify God, too.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

The Pelican Brief

Seeing how the Cross and Communion are connected

05/14/2023

Jn 14:15-21 Jesus said to his disciples: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him. But you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him."

We Catholics love lots of signs and symbols for Jesus in church. Why is that? Well, because we love Jesus! But also because they help us to know that he is here with us, even though we cannot see him. Jesus said in the gospel today that, “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me.” And we see Jesus in these signs and symbols. Can you think of some of the familiar and common symbols of Jesus we see in church?

One symbol would be the lamb. John the Baptist said in Jn 1:29, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” Another very familiar symbol of Jesus is the Cross. That is why many people have little crosses dangling from their necklaces: it reminds them of Jesus. They sort of see Jesus when they see their Cross.

Another really cool symbol for Jesus is the fish. Now, we all know how Jesus multiplied the five loaves and two fish in Jn 6:9. But the early Christians found another way to see Jesus in the fish as a symbol of Jesus, as well as the whole Christian faith in a nutshell. Would you like to learn a little Greek today? The word for fish in Greek is “ichthus.” And the early Christians made that little word into an acronym for the whole faith. How did they do it?

The first letter “i” stands for Jesus (j’s and i’s are basically the same letter). The “ch” stands for “Christ”. The “th” stands for “theou” which is God. And the “us” stands for the United States of America. No, not really. The “u” stands for “huios” which means “son.” And the “s” is for “soter” meaning “savior.” If you put it all together, what do you get? “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.” And that is how the fish is a super cool symbol for Jesus.

But my favorite symbol for Jesus is one that hardly anyone knows about. And that is the pelican. Raise your hand if you knew the pelican was a symbol for Jesus. Hey, don’t lie in church! Now, how is a pelican like Jesus? Well, when the pelican cannot find food to feed her little chicks – say during a drought or in a famine – she will actually peck her own breast and feed her babies with her own blood.

In other words, the mama pelican would sacrifice her own life to make sure her babies could live. And isn’t that what Jesus did for us? While he was hanging on the Cross a soldier pecked Jesus’ breast with a spear and water and blood flowed from Jesus heart (Jn 19:27). That water and blood signified the sacraments of Baptism (the water), and Holy Communion (the blood). That is, Jesus sacrificed his life to save us, just like the pelican does for her babies. That is why I love that symbol, and it is my favorite.

This weekend and next weekend, we have 125 young people who will receive their first Holy Communion. And I want those children, and all of us, to remember the symbol of the pelican for Jesus today. Why? Because even though it feels great to receive Jesus in Holy Communion (especially your first time), don’t forget where that Bread and Wine, the Body and Blood, came from.

A soldier pecked Jesus’ breast and the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist poured forth so we could life forever. Venerable Fulton Sheen said that God’s grace is free, but it is not cheap. It cost our Savior his life. So, too, and supremely so, the Eucharist is free, but it is not cheap. All the money in the world could not buy the Eucharist. That is why it has to be free: you cannot afford it. And the pelican helps us remember the price that Jesus paid so we could have Holy Communion.

This weekend also happens to be Mother’s Day. And I do not believe that is a coincidence. For people of faith like you and me, nothing is a coincidence, on the contrary, everything is a providence. Furthermore, the pelican is a perfect symbol not only of Jesus, but also for all mothers. How so? Well, for two reasons. First, your mom literally fed you from her own body, when she nursed you as a baby. So, in that way mothers are like pelicans: they feed their babies with themselves.

Secondly, mothers are also like pelicans because they would gladly give their life to save their child’s life. If you don’t believe me, just ask your mother today if she would sacrifice her life to save you. I bet she would only smile at such a question. And that smile would say: "Isn’t that answer already obvious in all that I have sacrificed for you? I love you more than life itself, dear!” And that is what the pelican would say to her baby chicks, too.

Whenever you walk into a Catholic church, you will see lots of signs and symbols of Jesus. Sometimes you will see a lamb, or maybe a fish, and almost always the Cross. But every now and then, you might also catch sight of a pelican pecking her breast and feeding her babies with her blood.

That is one of the richest symbols of Jesus. Why? Well, because it connects Holy Communion to the Cross. And it reminds us that this Supper is also and always a Sacrifice. And it convinces us that God’s grace may be free, but it is definitely not cheap. It cost our Lord his life. And that was the price the pelican paid too.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

A Great Kiss

Understanding Jesus’ love and kiss in Communion

05/12/2023

Jn 15:12-17 Jesus said to his disciples: "This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another."

What do you think is the greatest love story ever told? I mean besides your own love story, of course, which everyone thinks is the greatest of all time. Well, if you were to ask me, I would answer: The Princess Bride is the greatest love story ever told. Have you ever seen the movie The Princess Bride? You would love it, even if you do not have a romantic bone in your body. Now, why do I think it is the greatest love story? Well because Wesley and Buttercup exchange the greatest kiss of all time. Every great love comes with a great kiss.

At the end of the movie – sorry for the spoiler alert – Wesley saves Buttercup, and the two are seated on different horses in the final scene. As they reach over to kiss one another, the narrator says: “Since the invention of the kiss, there have been five that have been rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind.” So, this movie must be the greatest love story of all time because it showcases the greatest kiss of all time.

Now a kiss is a pretty good measure of love because it symbolizes what you are willing to do for another person, namely, you are willing to die for them. Wesley was willing and ready to die for Buttercup. So, his kiss carried all the strength of that self-sacrifice, which he demonstrated again and again in the movie.

In the gospel today, Jesus also touches the true depths of love as self-sacrifice by telling his disciples at the Last Supper, “No one has greater love than this, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” And that is exactly what Jesus did the next day on the Cross. That is, Jesus did not need a kiss to symbolize his love because he was love itself. Everything he did was a symbol and a sign and the reality of love; he was love incarnate. And that is why Jesus’ love for us is the greatest love story ever told.

I am so pleased that OCA has decided to have an annual Mass and tea with students’ moms. Because your mother’s love for you is another great love story. And your mom’s love for you is also symbolized by kisses, and confirmed by her self-sacrifice. Your moms love to kiss you, and that can get embarrassing as you get older. Your moms kissed you a lot when you were babies, and they would still kiss you a lot, if you let them.

Boys and girls, you may doubt this as a teenager, but your moms would lay down their lives for you. In fact, one mom told me, “I never thought I could love anyone more than I love my own children. And then I had grandchildren.” So, boys and girls, enjoy your mom’s kisses and love as long as you can, someday you’ll be playing second fiddle to your own kids, whom they will love more than you. Heck, my parents love my dog Apollo more than me. I know my place in my parents’ pecking order of love. Every great love comes with a great kiss, and your moms are living proof.

Have you ever noticed how priests do a lot of kissing at Mass (not kissing people)? We kiss the altar when we first come in. We kiss the book of the gospel, immediately after we read the gospel reading. We kiss the altar again at the end of Mass when we’re about to leave. Why all the kissing at Mass? Because we priests are also caught up in a great love story.

You know, we priests did not become priests because we could not find some hot girl to marry. On the contrary, we are caught up in Jesus’ love story. And because we feel Jesus’ love for us, we try to return that love for him. And our kisses at Mass are symbols of our love for the Lord. That we too are willing and ready to lay down our lives for him, like he did for us.

In a few minutes, when you come up for Holy Communion, the priest will place the Body of Christ on your hands. And, for some Catholics, he will even place Jesus on your tongue. That is a very intimate gesture. And I always think of it like Jesus giving us a kiss every time we come up for Holy Communion.

You know, some people who worry about their weight and eating too much sweet stuff, they say: “A minute on the lips and a lifetime on the hips.” Well, Jesus in Holy Communion is a minute on the lips, and a lifetime in your heart.” Why? Because Holy Communion is when Jesus gives you a kiss. You see, every great love comes with a great kiss.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Peace Be with You

Understanding Jesus’ peace as doing God’s will

05/09/2023

Jn 14:27-31a Jesus said to his disciples: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, 'I am going away and I will come back to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe. I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me, but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me."

Did you know that we have an archbishop residing in our diocese? Our former bishop, J. Peter Sartain, retired as the archbishop of Seattle in 2019 and decided to spend the rest of his life here in Heber Springs, AR. What an honor for our diocese. Now, the interesting thing is that he was only 67 years old when he retired, although bishops typically serve until they turn 75. The reason Archbishop Sartain retired early was for health issues. He had a series of surgeries on his back that has made it impossible for him to continue in that capacity because of chronic pain.

But that does not mean the good archbishop is sitting around watching the grass grow. He gives retreats to priests, helps with Masses and hears confessions, and provides spiritual direction to twenty priests in our diocese. And he also loves to get in some fly fishing on the White River. In other words, he may have retired from public ministry as an archbishop, but he is still very active in private ministry as a priest and bishop. Archbishop Sartain is living proof that there is no vacation from a vocation; once a priest, always a priest.

I am a big fan of Archbishop Sartain, and that is why I asked him to write the Foreword to my first book of homilies. By the way, those books are still available in the church office for $25, and make great Mother’s Day and graduation gifts – I’m just saying. He has a superhuman memory for names, and will remember you name years after you meet him. And I love that he always signs his letters with the one word “Peace.”

That he invariably writes “Peace” before signing his name has always struck me because it seems that is what we all hunger for: more peace in our life, more peace in our families, more peace in our marriage, more peace in the world. And I think Archbishop Sartain has been a man of peace because he knows peace does not ultimately come from an untroubled, easy life. Rather, peace comes from discovering and doing God’s will.

In other words, the closing of his letters with the word “Peace” is not some cheap, thoughtless, throw-away phrase to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Instead, it is a deep and even hard-fought conviction that the real road to peace is anything but easy street; indeed, it is almost always the way of the Cross. And I am convinced Archbishop Sartain can feel that peace even when his back pain becomes unbearable. Maybe that is when he most feels that peace.

In the gospel today we see where the good archbishop may have found his inspiration for signing off his letters with the word “Peace.” We read from Jn 14:27-28, part of Jesus supremely significant Last Supper Discourse. Our Lord assures his disciples, sounding a lot like the archbishop, saying: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.” But then Jesus adds this very important qualification: “Not as the world gives do I give it to you.”

Notice how Jesus draws a stark contrast between two different kinds of peace: worldly peace on the one hand and Jesus’ peace on the other hand. We might describe worldly peace as everyone sitting around in a circle singing cum-by-ya. Why can't we all just hold hands and get along? That is not bad, but that is not the best kind of peace.

Jesus’ peace, by contrast, is discovering and doing his Father’s will, which looks like chronic and unrelenting back pain, and it looks like suffering and death on the Cross. I am convinced that Jesus felt the most profound and all-pervading peace as he hung dying on the Cross. Why? Because that is where he fully and finally completed his Father’s will. Doing God’s will and feeling true peace are inseparable; you cannot have one without the other.

My friends, in a few minutes at Mass, we will turn to one another and say “Peace be with you,” and we will shake hands, or hug each other, or exchange a kiss as the sign of that peace. What do we mean when we wish each other “Peace”? Well, we can mean one of two things: we can either wish each other peace as the world wishes it. Or, we can offer each other the peace as Jesus gives it. And Jesus’ peace consists in doing God’s will, which always involves carrying the Cross. And I think that second option is what the good archbishop meant when he closed his letters with the word “Peace.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Home Away from Home

Seeing our earthly temples prepare us for the heavenly

05/02/2023

Jn 10:22-30 The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus answered them, "I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one."

One of the chief treasures we have in this parish is this magnificent Gothic church built in 1901. This past Saturday I celebrated the baptism of Harper Hanna, the daughter of Kathleen and Griffin Hanna. I celebrated Kathleen and Griffin’s wedding several years ago. And whenever I do the baptism of a baby of a couple that I married, I call that “service after the sale.”

Actually, this is the second service after the sale for the Hanna’s because I baptized their older daughter Sloan a couple of years ago. Harper’s grandmother complimented me on our stunningly beautiful church, and it was very humbling for me as the pastor. I cannot think of any priest who would not want to be pastor of Immaculate Conception, and exercise his priestly ministry within these walls.

Why is having an ornate, towering, traditional church so important? Well, because it should feel like our home away from home. That is, our true home is heaven, and every time we step foot inside these walls, we should feel transported to heaven. That is why the stained glass windows display images of the saints (who are in heaven). There are statues of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus (who are in heaven). There are statues of angels (who are in heaven). And finally there is the Tabernacle with Jesus himself truly present.

This weekend we will celebrate our annual Spring Festival, and not only Catholics but the entire River Valley community will stand in the shadow of this church, and that, too, is a foretaste of heaven. We read in Rv 7:9, “After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb.” And some of those people will not be standing, they will be riding steel horses. In other words, even if all those people do not exactly gather within these walls, at least they have come close, and they have drawn near to heaven. This church should remind them of their home away from home.

In the gospel today we learn that Jesus also loved to go to the great Temple in Jerusalem. We read: “The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon.” One thing we should remember about the Temple in Jerusalem in Jesus’ day is that it was not only a monolithic building but also had a larger “temple area” with other buildings, a courtyard, gates, and covered porticos. That is exactly how we have a church but also a parking lot, other offices, and entrances and exits off the property.

But the tragic thing about the Temple in Jerusalem is that it was utterly destroyed in the year 70 A.D. when the Roman general Titus marched in with the Tenth Roman Legion and leveled it, leaving only the West Wall of the temple area, also known as the Wailing Wall. Can you imagine how traumatic it would feel if someone marched in and leveled this beautiful church, and there was only one wall left standing? We, too, would wail and cry.

But that decisive and defining event in Jewish history in 70 A.D. was also charged with symbolic value. How so? That destruction was also a reminder that these earthly temples are merely our home away from home. That is, these edifices no matter how enormous or elegant will ultimately not endure. They are here to make us long for our heavenly home. Someday, all earthly temples will be destroyed, even this one. But don’t be sad; it will have served its purpose.

In the book of Revelation, St. John describes the heavenly Jerusalem, but also a heavenly temple in that celestial city. It is a curious temple. John writes in Rv 21:22, “I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb.” In Revelation there are many role reversals. The Lamb becomes the Shepherd who leads (Rv 7:17), the blood does not cause stains, it causes cleaning (Rv 7:14), the night is as bright as the day (Rv 22:5).

So, too, with the temple: on earth, we are God’s temple because he resides in us, but in heaven God becomes our temple, because we will reside in him. Our true and eternal home is the heart of God. And that is why this temple is only our home away from home.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Threshold Training

Learning to sit, stay, and wait for Jesus to lead us

05/01/2023

Jn 10:1-10 Jesus said: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers." Although Jesus used this figure of speech, the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them. So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."

People have been telling me to sign up my dog Apollo for obedience school. But nowadays you can find everything for free on Youtube so I watched a video on training your dog by Will Atherton, a canine behaviorist in Australia. He gives you five daily training techniques and guarantees that if you do these five things daily, you will have “the dream life with your dream canine companion.” Now to be honest I already knew four out of the five techniques, but the fifth one really surprised me.

This unusual training he called “threshold manners.” This is how he described it: “By threshold what we mean is the entrance or the exit that takes your dog from one environment to the next. It could be going in and out of his crate. It could be a doorway in your house, especially to the outside of the house. It could be gates while you are out on your walk.” Have you ever heard of this kind of threshold training?

Atherton went on to explain: “What threshold manners means is that when you come to a gate your dog should be happy to sit, stay, and wait. He should look to you for guidance and direction, and you go through that threshold first, welcoming them with you in a calm, relaxed state of mind.” And then Atherton concludes: “If you just do this one thing every day, you will be setting yourself up for huge amounts of success, that you wouldn’t believe were fathomable from something you might think is unimportant or trivial.” And by the way, I have tried threshold training with Apollo, but I am still waiting for those “huge amounts of success that are unfathomable.”

In the gospel today, Jesus seems to have watched that same Will Atherton video, too, because he wants to teach his disciples some “threshold manners.” How so? Well, listen to Jesus’ words in John 10, the great chapter on the Good Shepherd: “Whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The sheep hear his voice as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” Jesus goes on with exactly the same advice as Atherton: “he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.”

Now, what “gate” is Jesus talking about leading his sheep through? Well, primarily it is the gate of heaven. When we walk through the Pearly Gates we will finally find those eternally green pastures and that true rest our souls long for. And that is the ultimate threshold training because humanity, like an obedient canine, was “happy to sit, stay, and wait” while we “looked to Jesus for guidance and direction.” And what did our Lord do? Like a Good Shepherd, he walked through that threshold first, welcoming us in a calm, relaxed state of mind.” And what will we experience if we follow Jesus obediently? We will be setting ourselves up for “huge amounts of success that you wouldn’t believe fathomable.” That success is Paradise.

But there is a secondary sense in which we should learn threshold training from Jesus. Like Will Atherton said, any door we walk through is significant, and we should always follow the lead of our master, Jesus, and not wander off by ourselves. I will never forget the advice my mom gave me when I was first ordained. She told me sternly but lovingly: “Son, always wear your priestly collar. It will keep you out of trouble.” Moms know best!

And so I try to wear the collar all the time, even when it’s host and uncomfortable. And it reminds me: you don’t need to go into that bar; you don’t need to see that kind of movie. In other words, the Roman collar is like a spiritual shock collar for a dog, and it zaps me when I am about to walk into a place I should not enter. In other words, the Good Shepherd is telling me to “sit, stay, and wait” for him to lead me through another threshold.

Another form of threshold training is blessing the main door of your house with four crosses and the letters C, M, B and the current year. Have you ever seen this on a door? Catholics do this during Ephiphany. First they write the number of 20, then a cross, then the letter C, then a cross, then the letter M, then a cross, then the letter B, then a cross, and then the number 23, for the current year.

You see, these three letters CMB stand for the Latin words “Christus mansionem benedicat,” or “May Christ bless this home.” In other words, we want Jesus to bless and protect this house from all the evil goats who try to barge in. Jesus keeps them outside the gate of our front door. Bbut we also want him to warmly welcome into this home all the good sheep who patiently sit, stay, and wait for his lead. Jesus opens the gate of our home to people who help us on our journey with Jesus. In other words, we want Jesus to teach people threshold manners when they stand on the threshold of our house.

My friends, I don’t know about you, but I find it a little hard to relate to sheep. I have never seen up close or smelled sheep. I don’t know how they behave, or how they go through gate. But I can relate to my dog Apollo, and I know well what “threshold training” should look like for him. And I think that is precisely what Jesus is trying to teach us. Even though I may not have taught my dog Apollo very much about threshold training, Jesus has taught me a lot about it as I watch Apollo. So that I can have “the dream life with my dream divine Companion.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Always Change

Seeing how our thinking evolves over our lifetime

04/30/2023

Acts 9:1-20 Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains. On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" He said, "Who are you, sir?" The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do." The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could see no one. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. For three days he was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.

If there is one thing you can count on happening to you for the rest of your life it is that you will change. In fact, the moment you stop changing will be the moment you die (except for the decomposition part). Life is change. When I was in high school we used to say this catchy phrase: “Love ya! Mean it! Never change!” In other words, I love you just the way you are, and you don’t have to change for me to love you. But “never changing” is just wishful thinking, like a lot of thinking in high school is, because change is an integral part of your life.

Let me describe how your thinking changes over the course of your life. I remember when I graduated from Catholic High in Little Rock, thinking very distinctly: “Now, I finally understand everything! What could they possibly teach us in college? I guess they’ll just keep regurgitating the same old subjects!” Do any of you seniors feel that way? The funny thing is that when I turned 30, I thought the same thing again: “Ah, now, I finally get it! I was a moron when I was graduating from high school. But now I finally figured out what life is about!”

Strangely enough, the same thought hit me when I turned 40: “Now, I see! Gosh, I didn’t get anything and was deluded as a 30 year old, but my 40 year old self has finally found wisdom and insight!” And guess what happened 4 years ago when I turned 50? The same brilliant conclusion and utter conviction: “Now I get it! What an idiot I was when I turned 40!”

By the way, can you look back at yourself when you were 10 years old and see how much you have learned and grown in just a few years? So, the same thing will happen again and again. “Love ya! Mean it! Always change!” In other words, keep changing your thinking, so you don’t keep being a moron.

In the first reading today Saul the Pharisee experiences a profound change in his way of thinking. We hear of Saul’s dramatic conversion to Christ on his way to Damascus. Most scholars say Saul was about 30 years old at the time of this event. And I am sure after he was knocked off his high horse of Phariseeism, he thought: “What an idiot I was when I was 20 and believed Jesus was my enemy and I tried to destroy all his followers! Now, I finally get it!”

And Saul (now Paul) did get what life was really all about in one brilliant flash of light. Life is about knowing, love, and following Jesus Christ. But he would also continue to grow in faith and deepen his love for the Lord for the rest of his life. “Love ya! Mean it! Always change!”

Boys and girls, what is the take home message this morning? Well, I hope you catch two things. First, keep a loose grip on believing that you know everything and that your thinking will never change. When I was in high school I hated foreign languages. I studied French. When I went to the University of Dallas, I took intermediate level French so I could complete that requirement.

I thought: "I will never take another foreign language again in my life! I will just speak English!" But the bishop sent me to study Spanish 10 years later in seminary, and I discovered that I was pretty good with languages. And now I love to pray the rosary in French, Spanish, and Latin. That is why I love to celebrate this OCA Mass every Friday in Latin. My thinking had changed.

And secondly, take care when you think that this "Jesus business" of faith is all foolishness. “You Christians are a bunch of bozos, especially you Catholics. (Bozo was a clown by the way.) You actually believe that that Bread is the Body of Christ and that cup contains the Blood of Christ like Jesus said in the gospels? That’s bunk!” you may be thinking.

Indeed, like Saul the Pharisee we might believe Jesus is even our Enemy who only wants to stop us from having any fun. Saul was utterly convinced that he would always think that way. But his thinking changed dramatically. And your thinking about Jesus will change one day, too, either during life, or at your death, when you will meet Jesus face to face.

Boys and girls, the one thing you can count on in life is change, and your thinking will change. To paraphrase Wesley in the movie “The Princess Bride,” “Life is change, your highness. Anyone who tells you differently is selling something.” Expect things to change, and you may even enjoy the change.

Praised be Jesus Christ!