Came from a Kiss

Being born again by Baptism for a bright future

04/29/2025

John 3:1-8 There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born from above,he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother's womb and be born again, can he?" Jesus answered, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

One of the most clever movie titles of all time was “Back to the Future” starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. The premise of the movie is that Marty McFly (played by Fox) has to travel to the past – making sure his parents go on their first date and kiss – in order to restore the proper future, namely, his own existence.

Logically, if his parents never meet and marry, Marty would never exist. Every Friday when I visit my own parents in Springdale, I celebrate Mass for them. At the Sign of Peace, my mom and dad turn to each other and kiss. I always find that a little awkward and even a little gross (sorry mom and dad). But I try to remember like Marty: that kiss is where I came from.

This week our parish of Immaculate Conception will witness our own back to the future. How so? We will have our new back altar installed. And liturgically-speaking we will be traveling back in time to before 1965 when all altars were prominently placed in the center of the sanctuary.

In other words, we will go back to the past in order to have a more beautiful future for our church. Since we will technically have two altars in our sanctuary, let me teach you a little terminology today. The main altar where we celebrate Mass – where we place the bread and wine – is called “the altar of sacrifice.” There we offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

The new altar – or the back altar, more precisely, the reredos – is called “the altar of repose”. Why? Well, because there Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament rests, resides, and reigns as King of kings. That is, this week once we install our new altar of repose, our sanctuary will go back to the future.

How perfectly providential, then, that this morning’s gospel is taken from John 3 and Jesus’ famous conversation with nighttime Nicodemus. Why? Because Jesus, too, suggests to Nicodemus that he must also go back to his birth in order for the curtain to rise on his future of eternal life.

Listen to our Lord: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” Now, poor Nicodemus does not have the sacramental imagination he needs to understand Jesus’ words, and so he thinks he must literally crawl back into his mother’s womb and be born again. Maybe we should say poor Mrs. Nicodemus.

But Jesus means going back to the spiritual beginning and being born again through the sacrament of Baptism, which opens up for us the future of Paradise. In other words, the real kiss that Nicodemus comes from is when Jesus kissed his cross and died on it so that water and blood could flow from his side: the water of Baptism and the Blood of the Eucharist.

And by the way, that is why a priest kisses the altar of sacrifice at the beginning of Mass – have you noticed that? The priest represents Jesus and the altar of sacrifice stands for the Cross. At every Mass, Jesus kisses his cross before he dies on it. Just like my mom and dad's kiss marks the beginning of my existence, so Jesus kissing his Cross marks the beginning of the Church as well as of every Christian.

Incidentally, you might want to take a picture of the sanctuary today to remember the way it looks. Why? Because when we install the new altar, the reredos, our church sanctuary will be forever changed. Our sanctuary will have traveled back to the future. You guys really should watch more movies.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Dreaded Email

Praying for our priests and parishes during changes

04/26/2025

Mark 16:9-15 When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After this he appeared in another form to two of them walking along on their way to the country. They returned and told the others; but they did not believe them either. But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”

Yesterday all the priests and deacons of the diocese received “the dreaded email” from Bishop Taylor announcing the clergy changes for this year. And I have good news and bad news, which do you want to hear first?

Well, the bad news is that Fr. Samy will be leaving us to become the pastor of Our Lady of Fatima in Benton. And the good news is that I am not being moved. Or, then again, some may think the first is good news and the second is bad news. Take your pick.

Fr. Samy has been with us for such a short time – only 10 months – but he has been a huge blessing. He was sent here to get a little rest and recharge his pastoral batteries, but he jumped in with both feet and quickly became a fully engaged member of the parish.

He frequently visited the Ladies Auxiliary, the Hispanic Prayer Group, ate lunch with the school children, had coffee with the Men of Faith, blessed homes, celebrated funerals and weddings, and enjoyed going to families’ home for supper.

One of the tell-tale signs of effective pastoral care is when a priest is invited back to previous parishes to celebrate baptisms, weddings, and funerals – hatch, match, and dispatch, as we say in the business. Fr. Samy was frequently “on the road again” taking care of people not only here at I.C. but everywhere he had left a pastoral footprint.

In addition to Fr. Samy’s departure on June 6 – the effective date of most of the clergy changes – Fr. Jayraj Sure will arrive here at I.C. as our new associate pastor. Our revolving door of associate priests continue to spin steadily. I don’t know too much about Fr. Jayraj; I’ve only met him a couple of times at clergy gatherings.

But he is currently the associate pastor of St. Raphael Church in Springdale, the largest Catholic church in the entire state of Arkansas. So he comes with lots of pastoral experience under his Roman collar. My first impressions of him were that he is a humble, quiet man, and seems very prayerful.

Naturally, he can speak English and Spanish, besides his native language of Telagu from India. We may not always fully appreciate how challenging it is for foreign priests to learn not only a second but a third new language. That linguistic wherewithal demonstrates their heart is in the right place, and we should welcome them with open hearts, even if they speak with a heavy accent.

With the departure of Fr. Samy and the arrival of Fr. Jayraj, we get a good glimpse of what’s happening in the gospel today. Jesus says at the end of the second gospel: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” Notice Jesus did not say: “Stay in the country where you know the language, like the laws, enjoy the cuisine, and proclaim the gospel.”

Rather, Jesus makes it crystal clear that a priest’s real parish is not I.C. or Our Lady of Fatima, or St. Raphael, but the whole world. If you want to count how many parishioners I have, it’s not the 6,000 here at I.C. but the 6 billion all over the world. When we look at things in that light, Fr. Samy and Fr. Jayraj fulfill Jesus’ missionary mandate far better than me, sitting at home mixing my martini’s.

My friends, please pray for all the priests who will be moved and all the parishes who will get new priests. Such changes are not easy for anyone because we are all creatures of habit, and we get used to things, and we get used to people. And we all disdain the disruption of our daily routines.

But every new priest we meet helps us to know Jesus the true Priest, who ministers to us through him. And every new parish we are sent to helps us to know the Bride of Christ, the Church, for whom Jesus shed his Precious Blood. We should love every priest as Jesus’ beloved brother, and every parish as his beloved Bride. And both become possible thanks to “the dreaded email.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Vive le Roi!

Appreciating the interregnum between two popes

04/24/2025

Luke 24:35-48 The disciples of Jesus recounted what had takenp lace along the way, and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread. While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have." And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them.

My friends, we are living in a great time of transition: that awkward but amazing period between two popes. This papal gap is technically called an “interregnum” which literally means “between two reigns” like between the kingship of Henry IV and Henry V.

Unless, of course, you were in France in 1422, when Charles VII took over as king immediately upon the death of his father, Charles VI. He famously (and ironically) declared: “The king is dead! Long live the king!” Of course, Charles VII actually said, “Le roi est mort! Vive le roi!”

In the Catholic Church, the person who directs ecclesiastical traffic during this papal interregnum is called the Camerlengo, or in English, the Chamberlain. Today the Camerlengo is Cardinal Kevin Farrell. Interestingly, when I spent 3 months with the Carmelites in Dallas, Farrell was the bishop, and granted me faculties to celebrate the sacraments. So, our paths have crossed, at least on paper.

Cardinal Farrell will make sure the Church operates smoothly during the interregnum until the conclave elects a new pope. For example, he officially declared the death of Pope Francis. But he is not there to say: “The king is dead! Long live the king!” The Chamberlain is not the pope, although he could be in the conclave.

I was interviewed by 5News on Monday about this papal interregnum and asked how it affects the lives of ordinary Catholics. I answered: “First of all, we are saddened by Pope Francis’ passing and we promptly pray for him. He is not the CEO of some multinational company, but our Holy Father. And we mourn his loss.

“Secondly, we pray the Holy Spirit will guide the cardinals to elect another holy and humble pope like Francis was. And third, we will no longer mention the pope’s name at Mass, but only the name of the local bishop. Sometimes silence speaks louder than what we say.”

But I also added: “This period between two popes is also going to provide a lot of positive publicity for the Catholic Church. And it will afford us an opportunity to highlight what is attractive and exciting about Catholicism. In a word, this interregnum is a chance to evangelize, and invite the world to look at a 2,000 year-old institution with over 1.4 billion members and still going strong. People might want to be part of that organization.”

And even though the pope only passed three days ago, this interregnum is already bearing spiritual fruit. What do I mean? Well, several people have already texted or called me expressing an interest in joining the Church. And I am sure these are just the first few raindrops of a mighty deluge of conversions to Catholicism in the days ahead.

In other words, every time people turn on the television, look at their news feed on their phone, or talk to coworkers at the watercooler, the leader of the Catholic Church will be on their brains, either extolling the virtues of the previous pope, or speculating on who the next pope may be. They are saying in effect: “Le roi est mort! Vive le roi!”

Liturgically-speaking we are in an interregnum too, the transition between the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. That is, for 50 days from Easter until Pentecost, we are moving from the presence, power, and activity of the Second Person of the Trinity (Jesus), to the presence, power, and activity of the Third Person of the Trinity (the Spirit).

That is why during the Easter Season, the first reading is predominantly taken from the Acts of the Apostles. Acts begins with the Ascension of Jesus in ch. 1, then recounts the day of Pentecost in ch. 2, and then for 26 chapters highlights the work of the Holy Spirit in the early Church, especially through the towering figures of Sts. Peter and Paul.

A good way to spend this liturgical interregnum of 50 days would be to study the Acts of the Apostles and you can find my 10-part study on Acts on our church website. Charles VII said egotistically: “Le roi est mort! Vive le roi!” But the Apostles said evangelistically: “Le roi est mort! Vive le roi!” meaning “Jesus the King is dead, but he is risen – Vive le Roi!” Long live the King!

Praised be Jesus Christ!

An A+ Pope

Seeing that only Jesus is the perfect High Priest

04/22/2025

John 20:11-18 Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher.

In my lifetime I have been blessed to know three very holy popes: John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and now Francis. So I now consider myself an expert on popes – just kidding. But I do believe people will naturally begin to evaluate and assess – and even criticize – the papacy of Pope Francis. And I feel this can be a good exercise, not only academically but also spiritually. What do I mean?

Well, every priest, bishop, and pope is a representative of Jesus Christ, who is the only true High Priest. By contrast, we are all cheap imitations. Sometimes I ask people a trick question: how many priests are there in the diocese of Little Rock? The correct answer is “one.” Why? Because only Jesus is the perfect Priest and all human priests are flawed imitators. We act “in persona Christi,” to be sure, but we also act very much “in persona humana” with our human frailties and foolishness.

And the High Priesthood of Jesus provides three criteria by which to evaluate the efficacy of every human priest, including popes. That is, in Christ we find not only the priest, but also the prophet, as well as the king. In Jesus, therefore, we have rolled into one the three forms of Old Testament leadership.

Jesus is the full embodiment of priests like Aaron and Melichzedek, prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea, and kings like David and Josiah. In other words, Jesus fulfills the Old Testament by becoming the High Priest, the exemplar of all Christian priests, like Pope Francis.

So, what do these three pastoral metrics – priest, prophet, and king – mean? Well, first of all, a priest is someone who gives his energy and attention to the liturgy, to the sacraments, and the rich tradition of prayer, in a word, Christian worship. Of course, all popes do this to some degree, but some popes prioritize the liturgy, the Church’s worship.

Pope Benedict XVI excelled at this metric. You might remember all the changes he made to the Mass, like when we went from saying, “And also with you” to “And with your spirit” in 2011. I would give Benedict’s papacy an “A+” in the priestly category, but maybe a “B+” in being a prophet and a king. No pope is perfect.

To be a prophet, on the other hand, means not only to teach and preach the whole truth about the gospel, but especially the unpopular truth. We all wince when we hear certain gospel passages, and the prophet is the one who makes sure we don’t gloss over them. He proclaims the hard truth loud and clear, like the last prophet, John the Baptist.

In this category, I would give Pope Francis an “A+” because he never shied away from tough love. We were taught the goal of preaching was “to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.” And by the way, you and I are in the category of the “comfortable” who need to be afflicted. But I might give Francis a “B+” in terms of being a priest and king. No pope is perfect.

And thirdly, to be a king means to be an inspiring leader. John Maxwell had a short but sage definition of leadership: a leader is someone who has followers. He said, “Anyone who thinks he’s a leader but has no followers is just going for a walk.” And I would give Pope St. John Paul II high marks – an A+ - in the king/leader category. Why?

Well, because people would follow him anywhere. In fact, there is an entire generation of priests, myself included, who consider ourselves “JPII priests”. And yet, I believe John Paul II could have been a little stronger in his priestly role and as a prophet, where he might have been more of a “B+” pope. No pope is perfect.

Now, I don’t mean any of this evaluation of popes as a criticism. We all have gifts and strengths, and we have weaknesses and failures. We should give God thanks for the pope who sits at any given time in the Chair of St. Peter – like Francis did for 12 years – and enjoy his gifts and talents in building up the Church, and pray for his weaknesses and shortcomings.

At the same time we should pray for the next successor of St. Peter, the 267th man to slip his feet into the shoes of the Fisherman. And let’s be a little more sober in our expectations of the next pope. He will be an A+ pope in some ways, but not in all ways. Fortunately, the future of the Church does not depend on the pope, but on Jesus, the only A+ Priest, Prophet, and King.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Easter Connection

Appreciating the Resurrection through female eyes

04/20/2025

Luke 24:1-12 At daybreak on the first day of the week the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them. They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. They said to them, "Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day." And they remembered his words. Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others. The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles, but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone; then he went home amazed at what had happened.

Louis Bouyer, in his fascinating little book called Woman in the Church, makes an important point that is deeply and directly connected to Easter. See if you can catch the Easter connection. He writes: “A rabbi recently explained to me, with humor not devoid of meaning, that the Jewish law prescribes religious obligations for men, while it does not impose anything definite on women, and he observed that, far from supposing some superiority on the part of man (because he gets religious jobs], it implies quite the contrary.”

Then Bouyer adds: “[In other words], man would not serve God if God did not take the trouble to recall him constantly to the task, while woman does not need anyone to tell her to do these [religious] things” (pp. 65-66). Here is a Catholic example of that Jewish principle. Some of you may remember many years ago that only boys were allowed to be altar servers. But ever since we removed that requirement of boys serving guess who has flooded the sanctuary?

That’s right: beautiful little girls. “Men have to be constantly recalled to the task of serving God, but women do not need anyone to tell them to do these religious things.” By the way, loved to serve at Mass as a teenager. But do you know why? Because it made the Mass go by faster! That’s why God called me to be a priest to make up for all those fast Masses: now I have to say 3 Masses every Sunday!

In other words, women have a gift, an intuition, an instinct – Pope St. John Paul II called it a “feminine genius” – that keeps them connected to what is spiritual and supernatural. Now, don’t get wrong me, men have intuitions and instincts, too, but we are just keenly connected to sports, beer, and power tools. Now, both instincts are necessary for life, but one gift is of a higher order. Can you guess which one?

And if by chance you cannot guess, today’s gospel gives us a good hint. Who are the first to hear and believe in Jesus’ resurrection? It is the women, especially Mary Magdalene, whom Pope Francis dubbed as “the Apostle to the Apostles.” That is, before the apostles preached to the whole world, a woman had to preach to them. And by the way, do you remember how the men reacted when the women first shared the gospel – the Good News – with them? Luke writes: “Their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them.”

It’s funny how in the gospel of John after the women report the resurrection the men have gone back to fishing. Fishing was the first century equivalent of sports, beer, and power tools. How many men blow off their wives or girlfriends who try to tell them the importance of faith in Jesus? Or, how many men are here today because a woman – grandmother, mother, wife, girlfriend – invited you to come? Don’t raise your hand, gentlemen, I already know the answer.

By the way, would you like to know the deepest reason why women intuit the importance of faith in Jesus? Because the way the Church relates to Jesus is as the Bride to her Bridegroom. That is, when Christians – men and women taken together act corporately (as one body, one corpus), we discover our true corporate identity is feminine, you might even say bridal.

This corporate identity explains why babies are baptized wearing a long white gown. Have you noticed how both boys and girls wear a long, white gown, usually 20 sizes too big? You see, the gown’s length is meant to imitate the long train of a bride’s wedding dress. Baptismal gowns are so big and overflowing because the baby is supposed to resemble a bride. Why? because it becomes part of the Bride of Christ (the Church) at Baptism.

Even the white robes altar servers, deacons, and priests wear are called “albs” which means “white” (like albino) and are reminders that we’ve been baptized and are incorporated into the Bride of Christ. In other words, this is the feminine genius: to catch that how we relate to Jesus not as “bruh” but as a “bride.” And that is why women easily “get religion” – like they did at the first Easter Sunday – and sadly most men will “get religion” only at the last Easter Sunday.

Let me leave you with this intriguing thought from G. K. Chesterton. In his book with a great title, “What’s Wrong with the World.” He observed that men actually look like women when they hold the highest offices in society. He wrote: “When men wish to be impressive as judges, priests, or kings, they wear dresses, the long trailing robes of female dignity.”

He went on: “The whole world is under petticoat government; for even men wear dresses when they wish to govern.” In other words, men do “artificially” in the courtroom, in the royal palace, and in the church sanctuary what women do “naturally” all day long at home with their children. That is, men need to get in touch with their feminine side for the sake of society. And when we do get in touch with our feminine side, we might also get in touch with Jesus.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Highlight of My Highlight

Seeing how the Eucharist is at the center of everything

04/17/2025

Jn 13:1-15 Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’  and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

The highlight of my life as a priest is celebrating the Mass every week for you. That is why I work hard to prepare a decent homily so you don't doze off during Mass. One day before Mass I showed my hand-written homily to an altar server. He was surprised and said, “You write those? I thought you just got those out of a book!” I guess I do get them from a book, the book called the Bible.

In fact, the way I judge how good or effective a Mass is when people leave church thinking: “I would like to come back here next Sunday.” In a small way, that feeling means the Mass is not only the highlight of my life, but also the highlight of your week. That is why the Catechism says beautifully: “The Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life” (no. 1324). At Mass we should feel like saying, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

All four Scripture readings today highlight how the Eucharist is really the highlight of the whole Bible. The first reading from Exodus recalls the roots of Mass as the Passover meal of the Jews being freed from Egyptian slavery. The Responsorial Psalm 116 speaks of raising the cup of salvation in thanksgiving for God’s countless blessings. We come to Mass to say "Thank you!"

St. Paul teaches in First Corinthians that we truly eat the Lord’s Body and drink his Blood in Holy Communion. And in John’s gospel, Jesus washes his disciples’ feet because the Eucharistic banquet strengthens us for service of our neighbor. When we study the Bible carefully, we discover that the Eucharist is highlighted through the whole Bible. Every page rustles with eucharistic overtones.

But the highlight of my highlight – my favorite part of the whole Mass – is distributing Holy Communion to you, the holy people of God. At Communion, some Catholics prefer to receive Jesus on the hand, others wish to receive him on the tongue, and still others desire to kneel before the King of kings. Each person comes hungry for the Lord’s love, perceiving their own poverty and receiving his overwhelming plentitude.

But besides all these wonderful people, the people who really move my heart are those who cross their arms over their chests at Communion because although they desperately want to receive the Lord, they know they cannot. Maybe some need to go to confession first, or need to get an annulment, or are not Catholic. In their mind, they may feel like they are second-class Christians but in my eyes they are spiritual rock-stars. Why?

Well, because they come to Mass mainly to give something, not primarily to receive something. And therefore their unselfish love – because they don’t get Communion – is more divine because that is how Jesus loves us. What do I mean? Well, he pours out all his love for us, but he usually only receives a pittance of our love in return.

In other words, the Eucharist should be the highlight of the week not only for those who can receive Holy Communion, but in a very special way for those who cannot. Those who do not receive Communion imitate the love of Jesus in a very poignant, personal, and painful way. They give but do not get, just like our Lord does with us.

Does it come as any surprise, therefore, that Jesus would institute the two great sacraments of the Eucharist and Priesthood together on Holy Thursday? That is, the Eucharist and the priesthood are inextricably linked. They depend on each other and are made for each other. The ministerial priesthood (like mine) exists for the sake of making the Eucharist. The Eucharist is what priests are ordained for.

And at the Eucharistic celebration, lay persons (both those who do and don't receive Communion) exercise the common priesthood of the faithful by offering an acceptable sacrifice to the Father. At every Eucharist, ministerial priests (like me) and common priests (like all of ya’ll) offer perfect praise to the Father, in the Son, and through the Holy Spirit. And that is why the Eucharist is the highlight of my life, and should be the highlight of your life, too.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Super Bowl Week

Seeing how the most important Christian week begins

04/14/2025

John 12:1-11 Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, "Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days' wages and given to the poor?" He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. So Jesus said, "Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."

This morning I would like to share three random but hopefully relevant reflections as we launch upon Holy Week. Of course, you know this week is like the Super Bowl for Christians because we celebrate the central mysteries of our salvation. Just like the Super Bowl is a mighty contest of skill, brute force, and sheer determination, so our Lord goes tet-a-tet against the Evil One.

And in the end there will be a winner and a loser. In this supernatural Super Bowl of life versus death, the Lord of life wins precisely by first dying. And the Victor will not raise the Lombardi Trophy but the Cross as the symbol of his championship.

Monday of this Super Bowl week begins with all the priests of our diocese gathering at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock for a day of recollection. It will be led by Bishop Erik Pohlmeier, my old friend. You may remember Bishop Pohlmeier in his previous life was a priest of our diocese.

Today, he is the bishop of St. Augustine in Florida, a successor of the apostles, a prince of the Church, and he will preach to the shepherds (us priests), as we renew our priestly vows at Mass this evening. Pray for him, pray for all bishops.

This evening’s Mass at the Cathedral is called the Chrism Mass. Why? Well all the priests bring their old oil stocks to be filled with freshly blessed oils, which Bishop Taylor will do. You can see our ambry which holds the oils sits empty right now. We use three different oils throughout the year.

First, Oleo Sancto (Holy Oil) is used to anoint babies before Baptism, also called Oleo Catecumenorum (the oil of catechumens). Babies are miniature catechumens who go through a crash course in OCIA before Baptism, and that crash course is symbolized by the Oleo Sancto.

Second, Oleo Infirmorum (the oil of the sick) used to anoint those who are sick or dying. When I anoint you in the hospital or at home, or in hospice, the oil I use us blessed on Monday of Super Bowl week, because in illness (and death), you also enter that mighty contest of life versus death. And eventually, you and I must imitate our Savior and die in order to live. That is, this oil prepares us to die to this world so we can rise in the next.

Third, Sacrum Chrisma (Sacred Chrism), and this is the principal oil and from which the Chrism Mass derives its name. Chrism is also where we get the name of Christ: Chrism – Christ, and it means “Anointed One.” Therefore, we use this Sacred Chrism for Baptism, Confirmation, and of course, in Holy Orders, but only for priests and bishops, but not for deacons.

And my third random but relevant reflection this morning is how fitting the gospel is for this week and for this parish of I.C. What do I mean? Well, in John 12, Jesus beings the first holy week with a little rest and relaxation at the home of his good friends, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.

You may recall that Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead in the last chapter (Jn 11). And how perfect that an oil is introduced in this scene and used to anoint our Lord. It seems to be a precursor of the oleo infirmorum (oil of the sick and dying) because Jesus indicates: “Let [Mary] keep this oil for the day of my burial.”

In other words, our Captain Christ’s sacred Body is prepared for his stupendous contest of life versus death, where he will conquer death precisely by dying. And one day, please God, so will we and therefore we too must be anointed when our last holy week arrives.

And this gospel is also pertinent for our parish of I.C. because we have spent a lot of money to build a back altar – technically called an altar of repose – for Jesus. Some people may object like Judas and say that money could have been spent on the poor. Don't worry we generously care for the poor.

But let us listen attentively to Jesus who said, “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” We imitate Martha, Mary, and Lazarus by building an altar of repose and rest for Jesus to catch his breath as he begins Holy Week. Everyone needs a little rest before Super Bowl Sunday.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Final Stretch

Preparing to following Jesus to death and resurrection

04/13/2025

John 11:45-56 Many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to kill him.

Today we stand on the threshold of the last week of Lent, also known as Holy Week. Or, in horseracing, it would be called “the final stretch.” And so now is not the time to slack off but rather to raise our game another notch, like thoroughbred and jockey who give it their all as they come around the final bend of the track. So let me ask you: how are you doing on your Lenten sacrifices?

Maybe you planned on giving up alcohol or social media, or video games, or sacrificing time by an extra Mass during the week, or giving up treasure by helping the poor more. If you have been giving in (rather than giving up) to these temptations, now would be a good time to buckle down and at least finish strong. I love to encourage people by saying: “It’s never too late to hit the reset button on our faith”, and that goes for Lent, too.

Here is a thought to help you finish strong this last week of Lent: whenever we give up something for God, he always gives us something far greater in return. God is never out-done in generosity. For example, in return from my Lenten sacrifices this year – and I’m not going to tell you what they were because that silence is part of the sacrifice – I have dedicated time to teaching Pope St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, and I have fallen in love with this teaching.

In other words, a new love has expelled my old loves for those Lenten sacrifices. And our hearts – what we love – is really what needs to change every Lent. If we can trust Jesus enough to let go of the old loves – our attachments to worldly pleasures, thrills, and reputation – Jesus will fill our hearts to overflowing with a new love, namely, an infinite love for him.

In the gospel today, Jesus invites the Jewish leaders to finish strong in their last week of Lent, too. That is, our Lord asks them to give up something their sinful hearts are attached to in order to give them in exchange something infinitely greater and more glorious, namely, himself. What was the sacrifice – the inordinate love – of the chief priests and Pharisees?

They themselves confess it but do not see it as sinful: “If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.” In other words, the Jews were too attached to the land and their ethnic identity to see their own Messiah when he came. Could we not say that in many ways the Jews today are still overly attached to their land and nation?

But I do not just want to pick on the Jews this morning, I want to pick on everybody! That is, the Jews in Jesus’ day are only Exhibit A of what we all deal with in various other ways. Just like the Jews, we, too, are afraid that Jesus will ask too great a sacrifice from us, an attachment our hearts really do not want to relinquish. But also like the Jews, we forget Jesus will give us something far greater and more glorious than our sacrifices, namely, himself.

You see, what is really at the heart of Lent is actually our hearts. We all find ourselves attached to people or possessions or personal attributes more than we are attached to Jesus, just like the Jews were excessively attached to their land and nation. And that inordinate love is what we must crucify every Lent. Why? Well, because if we do not crucify our sins, we will end up crucifying our Lord again, just like the Jews did.

And by the way, I learned this by studying John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, namely, not only Lent but all of life is about the heart-work of learning to love the Lord more than we love other persons, places, or things. Why is the heart work so critical? Because our hearts are the only things in the universe that Jesus does not already possess. Everything else already belongs to him. And we can either freely give Jesus our hearts, or we can withhold it from him. That is the purpose of Lent and of life.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Going to the Movies

Understanding who Jesus is and who we are

04/08/2025

John 8:21-30 Jesus said to the Pharisees: "I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come." So the Jews said, "He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?" He said to them, "You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins." So they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "What I told you from the beginning. I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world." They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father. So Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him." Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.

On Sunday evening, Fr. Samy said he was going to Malco theater to watch the movie, “The Last Supper.” I asked if he was going with some friends, and he said he was going alone. I replied, “Whenever I see someone sitting alone in a movie theater I always feel so sorry for them because it looks like they have no friends.”

So, when Fr. Samy arrived at Malco, he saw an elderly couple seated close to the front, and decided he would sit right behind them, pretending like he was at the theater with them, and that he had friends. I am so glad that my associate priests take my advice and learn from me.

Fr. Samy shared later at lunch that the movie was very interesting because it showed two Last Suppers. Jesus and his apostles were in the upper room celebrating the Last Supper that would later become the Mass. But in the lower room (ground floor) the family who hosted Jesus were still celebrating the Seder Meal which would remain the old Passover meal.

In other words, the movie cinematically conveyed who Jesus was at the Last Supper by contrasting the old and the new Passovers. And that contrast was a powerful point to make. Why? Because if there is one burning question catching on fire all the pages of the New Testament, it is the question: “Who is Jesus?” The movie answered that question saying: You discover Jesus’ identity at the Last Supper.

In the gospel today, we see that this question is of utmost concern to the fourth gospel of John. In today’s pericope from John 8:21-30, Jesus uses the loaded phrase, “I AM” twice. Why is that particular pair of words – I AM – so significant? Because that was the name of God that Moses heard from the burning bush in Ex 3:14.

When Moses asked God’s name, the Lord replied, “This is what you will tell the Israelites [still in Egyptian slavery]: I AM has sent me to you.” So, when Jesus explicitly refers to himself as “I AM” it becomes abundantly clear how Jesus would answer the question, “Who is Jesus?” That is, he is equal to God, indeed, God himself.

In his popular book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis tackled this dilemma of Jesus’ true identity. He especially wanted to disabuse people of the common confusion that Jesus was “just another good moral teacher” like Buddah or Gandhi. Lewis argued that based on Jesus’ own words and actions in the gospel – like calling himself I AM – Jesus cannot be a good moral teacher. He was either a lunatic, a liar, or the Lord. But it is impossible for Jesus to simply be a good moral guru.

When the apostles arrived at Caesarea Philippi in Mt 16, Jesus asked them, “Who do people say that I am?” And for 2,000 years Christians and non-Christians alike have attempted to give an adequate answer to that question. The latest Hollywood answer to that question came in the movie “The Last Supper” that Fr. Samy went to watch by himself, although he pretended to be friends with an elderly couple.

The best answer I know to that consummate conundrum is what Pope St. John Paul II offered in his Theology of the Body. That is, Jesus is not only our Savior but our Spouse. He has come not only to save us from hell but to carry us off on his white stead to a shining city on a hill called the heavenly Jerusalem. There he will reign as King of kings and seat us beside him on a throne as his Bride, the Church.

You see, the question about Jesus’ identity invariably attempts to answer the unasked but implied question about our own identity. When we discover who Jesus is, we likewise learn who we are. If Jesus is a good moral teacher, then we are dim-witted disciples. If Jesus is a savior, then we are wretched sinners in need of salvation. If Jesus is a divine Spouse, then we are the damsel in distress.

In other words, the question, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” is not just a question Jesus aimlessly asked 2,000 years ago. It is a persistent, even nagging, question he puts to you and me today. And the answer we give says as much about us as it does about him. Or, then again, maybe we are just a guy going to a movie by ourselves.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

To Awaken Them

Overcoming the devil’s foolishness with faith in Christ

04/06/2025

John 11:1-45 Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. So the sisters sent word to him saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill,  he remained for two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” He said this, and then told them, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” So the disciples said to him, “Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.” But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe.

This past Tuesday was April 1 and April Fool’s Day. I had a big April Fool’s trick played on me. I was sure our new back altar would be delivered on Friday, April 4th. And I even delivered a homily Tuesday morning about not being an April Fool myself this time. Why not? I had been fooled before thinking the altar was going to arrive at the end of January, and at the end of February, and the end of March.

But when I returned to my office after Mass, I opened an email that informed me the altar was delayed again and sitting on a train between here at Chicago. You may recall our altar was built in Italy with Carrara marble, the same hallowed stone Michaelangelo used for the sculptures like the David and the Pieta.  So on Wednesday after Mass, Philip Hindman jokingly said: “Next time order through Amazon Prime and it’ll be here the next day.”

Now the altar is scheduled to arrive next week. When it does, we will store it here on church grounds, because it will take 12 days to actually install, and that will not be possible to complete before Easter. And of course we don’t want the church to be a mess and under construction when everyone comes home for Easter.

You know, all the CEO Catholics – the folks who attend Mass on Christmas and Easter Only. We will try to complete the construction as soon as possible after Easter. But I’m not in too much of a hurry. Why not? Well, because we really have until Christmas before everyone comes back to church again!

And I mention April Fools because it is an apt analogy for the famous gospel from John 11 about raising Lazarus from the dead. What do I mean? Well, the devil tries to play the oldest April Fools trick on us saying that death is the end and there is nothing after death. Are we foolish enough to believe that, like atheists, who don’t believe in God or the afterlife?

By the way, I saw a meme where an atheist and a Christian were talking. The atheist said, “You Christians have special days for you religion, like Christmas and Easter. It’s too bad we atheists don’t have one.” The Christian smiled and said, “Sure you do. It’s April Fools Day.” My apologies to all you atheists out there.

But Jesus foils the devil’s foolishness by saying to Martha and Mary: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live.” And then Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. In other words, faith in Jesus outwits the devil’s April Fool’s trick called death because that faith restores us to life. Faith keeps us from being fools.

Have I mentioned to you before how traditional church construction was always configured as an act of faith in the Risen Jesus? Older churches like I.C. were always built facing east. In fact, right now, you are all sitting in your pews facing east. Why? Well, the sun rises in the east and so it perfectly symbolizes Jesus, the Son of God, who rose from the dead.

Indeed, even the word orientation is built on the base word “orient” which comes from the Latin word “oriens” meaning east. In other words, to face the east – to be properly oriented, which is what our faith affords – and so sitting facing the east is no small gesture of faith.

And we not only face the rising Son, we worship him like Martha and Mary did when the two sisters said, “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world” and whose coming is seen in every sunrise. And incidentally this is why Christians are called an “East-er People.” Can you hear the word “east” buried in the word “Easter”?

And by the way, if you go visit a cemetery, I will give you one guess which direction all the headstones are usually facing. That’s right: they face the east or the orient. That is, if all those dead people in their graves were to sit up – and they will sit up one day, on the last, eternal East-er – they would all be facing east, properly orient-ed - toward the Rising Son coming in the glory of the morning.

In other words, even the direction someone is buried is an act of faith, like Lazarus in his tomb waiting for the coming of Christ. And at the end of days, Jesus will return gloriously on the clouds, and say to each one of us in our tombs, like Ezekiel prophesied in the first reading: “Thus says the Lord God: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them.” And then we, too, will be clothed with the glory of the Easter morn.

You see, both churches and cemeteries were built with one overarching purpose, namely, to elicit faith in their occupants, who are all facing the east, waiting for East-er morning. And both sets of occupants in churches and cemeteries are asleep, like Jesus said, “Lazarus is asleep.” And you’re sleeping through this homily. But what Jesus said to Lazarus he says to us: “I am going to awaken them.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Backhanded Blessing

Seeing how Jesus heals and helps us today

04/02/2025

John 4:43-54 At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. While the man was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe. Now this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.

Yesterday afternoon I went to the hospital to anoint Fr. Henry Mischowiuski. I was not sure what condition he would be in, so I was pleasantly surprised to find him sitting up in bed smiling and very alert. A friend, Helen Ann Whorton, was with him to keep him company, and in case Fr. Henry needed anything.

In fact, I had received several texts earlier Sunday from Julie Anderson and Jacqueline Phillips about Fr. Henry being in the hospital. Just like Jesus had a cadre of holy women that took care of his needs as he preached and healed and saved, so Fr. Henry has a gaggle of godly gals who take care of him so he can take care of others.

And I have to admit it is a very humbling thing to give the Anointing of the Sick to a brother priest, especially one as holy as Fr. Henry. Did you know he was a chaplain to Mother Teresa in Calcutta? If you close your eyes and listen to him, he sounds a lot like Mother Teresa.

So, I felt like John the Baptist when Jesus came to be baptized at the Jordan River. And I wanted to say, “Fr. Henry, it is I who should be anointed by you.” But like my patron saint, I did my duty, however humbling.

One thing I almost forgot about in anointing a priest – which Fr. Henry did not forget – was that a priest is not anointed on the palms of the hands, like lay people are. Rather he is anointed on the back of his hand. You might say it was a backhanded blessing. Can you guess why?

Helen Ann couldn’t guess either, so Fr. Henry told her: “A priest is already anointed on his palms on the day of his ordination.” In other words, on the day of a man’ ordination, the ordaining bishop smears Sacred Chrism on the palms of his hands. So that anointing at Mercy Hospital was not only a healing moment, it was also a teaching moment.

That way, when I impart a blessing I am not “firing blanks” but real bullets – real spiritual power shoots from my finger tips. And that spiritual/sacramental power has not diminished one drop even 29 years after my ordination nor has it for Fr. Henry. Indeed, that power grows more potent, especially in holy priests like Fr. Henry.

In the gospel today we see Jesus’ loving concern for the sick and how he heals them. Even though our Lord is a little perturbed because some people just want him to perform miracles like circus tricks, he still heals the royal official’s son on the verge of death.

And it is precisely Jesus’ desire for our health and wholeness that we priests communicate through the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick down the ages. In other words, when a priest comes to your home or visits you in the hospital, it is as if Jesus himself is coming to heal you.

I will never forget back in 2002, when I contracted viral meningitis and Archbishop Sartain came to anoint me at UAMS. That was when I learned about this backhanded blessing and priests being anointed on the back of the hand.

Now, after the anointing I did not jump out of the hospital bed and run home, miraculous cured. But I did feel great peace and I knew that Jesus was holding me in his arms, and that nothing could really harm or hurt me.

You know, it’s really sad how some people wait till their dying breath to call the priest for the Anointing of the Sick. It’s funny how every time I walk through the hospital halls I get those looks that seem to say, “Well, another poor bloke just bit the dust. There goes the Grim Reaper!”

And certainly priests should be present at the periculum mortis – the danger of death – but Jesus wants to be close to us at all the difficult moments of our life. Whether we are shouldering small crosses we barely feel, or large crosses that seem to crush us, Jesus loves us and wants to encourage us.

And Jesus imparts his divine power to heal and strengthen us both by a priest’s blessing and far more through a priest’s sacramental ministry of Anointing. And in that way every healing moment can turn into a teaching moment. And teaching itself is a uniquely powerful kind of healing.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Metrics of Measurement

Judging ourselves by the standard of Jesus Christ

03/29/2025

Luke 18:9-14 Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity —  greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Apollo and I went for our rosary walk early this morning and came across someone sleeping by the school. I hated to wake him up – he was completely covered in a blanket and looked like a Polish kolachi – but I couldn’t just let him sleep there. So I said softly but firmly: “Good morning, sir. I’m sorry to wake you up but you cannot sleep here.”

He slowly came out of his cocoon and asked groggily: “What time is it?” I said, “It’s 5:15.” And then I did my best Darby Bybee impersonation and added: “It’s not going to rain today and should be sunny and warm.” I hoped that cheerful forecast would get him moving along faster. Apollo was very polite to our guest and didn’t bark or growl at him. We lingered for a few moments to make sure he didn’t go back to sleep.

Since we had just started the rosary, I decided to pray the first Joyful Mystery for that man and that his day might be blessed. I don’t know about you but when I encounter the homeless like that it can be very tempting and easy to judge them and feel very superior by contrast. After all, they are just lazy and selfish and I am up early, walking my dog, and praying my rosary.

But that thinking would be exactly the wrong metric of measurement. That is, instead of comparing my life to a homeless man’s life, I should compare my life against the standard of Jesus’ life. And then suddenly things look very different, especially when I remember the story of the Good Samaritan and all he did to help the beaten man he found by the side of the road.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen once observed that if you take an old painting and look at it by candlelight, it looks pretty good: its colors, images and textures. But take that same painting and look at it under the noonday sun, and immediately you see all the cracks, flaws, and imperfections. So, too, with each of us. If we stand next to the homeless, we may look pretty good; if we stand next to the Holy One of God, Jesus, we look pretty pathetic.

This, I think, is the proper light in which we should consider Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax-collector in the temple. The mistake of the Pharisee was to use the wrong metric of measurement. He compared himself to the tax collector, saying: “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity – greedy, dishonest, adulterous – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.”

Gazing on the painting of his life by candlelight, the Pharisee felt pretty good about himself. The tax collector, on the other hand, did not raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast like we do at the beginning of Mass. Why? Because he used the right metric of measurement, the light of the Son of God in heaven.

And therefore, he immediately and clearly saw all his flaws and weaknesses. So we read: “He beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’” In other words, the tax collector gazed upon the painting of his life under the light of the noonday sun and saw matters clearly: we are all wretched sinners in need of mercy.

As you know, I work on the marriage tribunal with annulments. The final question after someone completes the long, probing and painful questionnaire is: “What have you learned from this annulment process?” It is an open-ended question and people can answer however they please. Some people write: “I learned that I married a jerk and I won’t do that again!”

But some petitioners humbly reply: “I learned that I was at fault for the failure of our marriage, too. And I hope I can learn from my mistakes and have a happier marriage to my next spouse.” Now who do you think the annulment process helped and who do you think it hardened? One petitioner used the right metric of measurement for his life and other was content to gaze upon the painting of his life by candlelight.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Finger of God

Seeing how Jesus’ humanity teaches us theology

03/27/2025

Luke 11:14-23 Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed. Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons." Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters."

This week is Spring Break for all schools in Arkansas and I have enjoyed seeing posts of people’s vacation pictures. Some are in San Antonio visiting the Alamo. Others have hit the beach and trying to get a tan to look more like Fr. John. Still others are hiking in the mountains and hitting the ski resorts. What have you been doing for Spring Break? Maybe enjoying that lots of people have left Fort Smith, and there is no school traffic in the morning – a staycation!

Let me share what I have been up to this week and my Spring Break plans. Last weekend I flew to San Antonio to give a retreat to a small Bible study group. They have watched my online Bible studies and somehow survived. They wanted me to come in person and share more. I felt like Darby Bybee the weatherman who jumps off the television to come to your house to predict the weather – a celebrity!

My show was not about the chance of rain or a cold front moving in but about Pope St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. I did not try to forecast the weather but just forecast the faith, that is, we explored how our bodies tell us about God, and surprisingly, can teach us theology. Hence, it is called the theology of the body. The group of participants was really engaged and had lots of questions and comments. But some I suspect would have probably enjoyed Darby Bybee more.

Then on  Thursday and Friday this week, I will go to Subiaco to give a retreat to the women participating in Project Rachel. Have you heard of Project Rachel? It is a support group for women recovering and healing from a past abortion. I have visited Project Rachel groups before and always been amazed at the courage, humility, and love of these ladies to face their past and ask God to heal their deep wounds.

Again, I will share my presentations on the Theology of the Body with these wonderful women. Why? Well, these brave women are facing the hard truth of what an abortion is, namely, the taking of an innocent human life. Of course, we do not condemn these ladies but rather help them to confront their past, humbly acknowledge their mistakes, and turn to God for healing, forgiveness, mercy, and strength. As Pope St. John Paul put it: there can be no love without truth, and no truth without love.

But my hope is that through this brief retreat on the Theology of the Body, these ladies will not feel more guilt but more grace. In other words, they will see their own beautiful bodies as a theology, and then within a family, bring more babies into the world whose bodies will also be a theology, a way for the world to get to know God. Would you please pray for the success of this retreat with Project Rachel today and tomorrow?

In the gospel today, Jesus drives out demons but is questioned by the people. So he says: “But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” In other words, there is more power in Jesus’ little finger than all the power of hell. And therefore there is likewise more theology in Jesus’ little finger than in all the theology books ever written. Why?

Because by virtue of his incarnation, Jesus took on a human body – in Latin famously said as “incarnatum factum est” and we genuflect at the words in the Creed at Christmas – and therefore as John Paul said, “the body entered theology by the main door.” That is, in Jesus’ finger we find the power of God to cast out demons but also the wisdom of God to tell us how much he loves us and wants us to love him in return.

Jesus became a man not only so God could love us in a way we could understand but also so we could love God in a way that we could understand. Indeed, Jesus becomes not just a Body, but in a few minutes he becomes Bread, again to show  his love for us, and allow us to show our love for him. And that is what I am doing for Spring Break: casting out demons by the finger of God, teaching the Theology of the Body.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Oreo Cookies on Mars

Learning to love our homeland of heaven

03/24/2025

Luke 4:24-30 Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth: “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

Everyone loves the land where they are born. Hence we feel a sense of patriotism for our fatherland. But what if the parents are born in one country while the children are born or grow up in another country? For instance, my parents grew up in India but my brother, sister, and I grew up here in the United States.

People call my brother, sister, and me Oreo cookies because we’re brown on the outside but white on the inside. In other words, there were essentially two nationalities in my home, but no one really noticed it. This bubbling ethic difference came to a boil when my family visited India when I was a teenager. Of course we traveled during the summer time because we were out of school.

But it was blistering hot in New Delhi in June, and there was no air-conditioning to speak of, the food was too spicy, we could not speak the language, and we really did not know anyone. My parents, on the other hand, were used to all of that and did not need those American creature comforts like we kids were accustomed to.

My parents were loving every minute of the vacation and felt like they were finally “home.” So they were surprised, even shocked, to hear us children complain, “We want to go home!” My folks thought “we are home,” but my brother, sister, and I felt like we were on Mars. The Oreo cookies wanted to go back to the land of the stars and stripes.

In the gospel today Jesus comes as a prophet to tell the people they are not truly home and their true fatherland is in heaven, where God the Father is waiting for them. With two startling examples of Old Testament prophets, he explains that earthly ethnicity is not what matters most. Both Elijah and Elisha are sent to heal non-Jews, a widow from Sidon and Naaman from Syria.

But they do not heal or help people in the homeland of Israel. In other words, Jesus knows full-well that everyone loves the land where they were born, and perhaps no one loves their homeland more than the Jews did. Why? Well, because God had promised Abraham and his descendants the land of Palestine as a perpetual inheritance.

But now Jesus (as a prophet) informs them the earthly land was just a down-payment on their true homeland of heaven. But just like my parents thought India was “home” and my siblings and I thought American was “home,” so the Jews react violently when Jesus tells them that Israel is not their true home. They want to kill him for such unpatriotic blasphemy.

One of my favorite texts from the 2nd century A.D. is called the “Letter to Diognetus” written by an anonymous author. It delivers the same prophetic message as Jesus in the gospel today, exhorting: “Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language, or customs."

The anonymous author continues: "They do not inhabit separate cities of their own or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life…Yet there is something extraordinary about their way of life. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through."

Then he concludes: "They play their full role as citizens but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their true homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others they marry and have children, but they do not expose their children. They share their meals, but not their wives.”

My friends, the challenge for us 21st century Americans is the same as for Jesus’ contemporaries in Nazareth, for Diognetus’ fellow Christians in the 2nd century, and as for me and my family in the 1980’s. That is, we all love the land where we are born. And we should because we cultivate the virtue of patriotism. But as Christians we have a higher citizenship, a heavenly citizenship. And sometimes, we may even feel a little like oreo cookies on Mars.

Praised be Jesus Christ!