Sniffing Jesus’ Finger

 

Seeing how the sacraments point to grace

04/13/2026

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."

I believe C. S. Lewis’ rather obscure essay, “Transposition” can shed considerable light on Nicodemus’ dilemma in the gospel today. You should read that essay one day before you die. At root Lewis’ explanation requires giving more than “one meaning” to some common experiences. For example, young people these days use the slang word “Bruh,” which originated from “Brother,” but now means a close friend or to express disbelief, frustration, or shock. You see easily enough with “Bruh” how one word can carry more than one meaning.

C. S. Lewis uses the better example of the art of drawing. He writes: “The problem here is to represent a three-dimensional world on a flat sheet of paper…we must give more than one value to a two-dimensional shape. Thus, in a drawing of a cube we use an acute angle to represent what is a right angle in the real world. The very same shape which you must draw to give the illusion of a straight line receding from the spectator [think of railroad tracks reaching the horizon] is also the shape you draw for a dunce’s cap.”

I hope this is not too much to ask of you at a 7 a.m. Mass before your second cup of coffee and a donut. But I trust you can detect that in some important instances we can find two meanings for the same experience. Lewis offer this additional humorous example: “You will have noticed that most dogs cannot understand pointing. You point to a bit of food on the floor: the dog, instead of looking at the floor, sniffs at your finger. A finger is a finger to him and that’s all.”

So, I’m praying that at this early morning Mass you are smarter than a dog or a dunce, because you need to be in order to catch precisely the difficulty in Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus. Jesus speaks of Baptism and says, “one must be born from above.” But Nicodemus hears the word “born” and immediately retreats to his simplistic understanding of natural birth and answers: “Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?” Nicodemus might just as well as have said, “Bruh, that’s impossible!” and sniffed Jesus’ finger.

And this exchange of a two-level conversation is not a one-off in the gospel of John, but is its veritable leitmotif, the golden thread that runs from the first to the last page. For example, here in John 3, the dual meaning revolves around being born as a pointer to Baptism. In John 4 Jesus discusses with the Samaritan woman how water is a pointer to the Holy Spirit. In John 9, Jesus helps the blind man understand the dual meaning of seeing as a pointer to faith.

In John 11, Jesus raises Lazarus and teaches the double meaning of sleep as a pointer to death and waking to eternal life. And finally in John 19 at his crucifixion, Jesus’ agony and death serves as a pointer to true glory. In each and every case, therefore, Jesus is pointing to a deeper meaning of earthly experiences – birth, water, sight, sleep, and suffering/death – and hopes we don’t just come and sniff his finger like a dog or a dunce.

My friends, dealing with dual meanings is not just a difficulty that C. S. Lewis and Nicodemus had to wrestle with, but one that confronts every Catholic Christian. How so? Every sacrament uses ordinary human experiences to point to an extraordinary supernatural reality. The washing of Baptism points to the removal of original sin. The anointing of Confirmation points to the anointing of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. The eating of bread at Mass points to the eternal banquet of heaven. The joining of the bodies of bride and groom point to the consummation of the world at the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

This difficulty might also explain why so many Catholics leave the Church, maybe your kids have. We become so obsessed with facts that we no longer care to look into their meaning. When moderns speak of Baptism as being born again, they (like Nicodemus) immediately retreat to the natural, normal experience of human birth, “just the facts, ma’am.” And fail to use their faith to see the deeper significance symbolized by the facts.

The modern mentality sniffs at the finger and doesn’t understand the notion of pointing. Too many modern Christians prefer to reside at the level of facts, or even on the level of feelings (attending churches that make them feel good), and refuse to rise to the level of faith. Like the dog and the dunce we cannot see how “The very shape which you must draw to give the illusion of a straight line receding from the spectator is also the shape you draw for a dunce’s cap.” In other words, come to the sacraments and stop sniffing Jesus’ finger.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Mercy In My Mouth

 

Learning how showing mercy blesses twice

04/12/2026

John 20:19-31 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

Today on Divine Mercy Sunday I want to share with you one of the most sublime speeches on the subject of mercy that’s found in Shakespeare’s play “The Merchant of Venice.” Maybe you have heard it? It begins beautifully: “The quality of mercy is not strained; / It droppeth as gentle rain from heaven / Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; / It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.”

I love the phrase “It is twice blest; / It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.” Why? Well, because when we deal with mercy, the world is no longer divided among “winners and losers,” the haves and the have-nots, which is how we usually think. Instead, mercy makes everyone a winner, and everyone has: blessing both he who metes out mercy as well as the one who receives it. We don’t lose anything when we show mercy, we become more God-like. As Shakespeare said later in that speech: “And earthly power doth then show likest God’s when mercy seasons justice.”

In the gospel today we see the risen Jesus demonstrating this twice-blest mercy. First, when Jesus appears to his apostles on Easter Sunday, Thomas is absent. Then when Jesus appears a week later on Divine Mercy Sunday, Thomas is present. And instead of reprimanding him for his lack of faith, Jesus shows mercy, saying “Peace be with you.” We see how mercy is always “twice blest” – Jesus of course can’t be more blessed because he is Blessing itself, and Thomas is blessed by receiving the Lord’s mercy. There are no winners and losers when we are merciful; everyone wins and everyone has.

This weekend we will witness two more examples of how mercy is “twice blest.” On Friday Bishop Taylor announced the clergy changes for this year. You’ll be happy to know I’m not leaving (at least I hope you’re happy about that). But the really good news is future Fr. Christopher Elser and another young, handsome priest named Fr. John Paul Hartnedy will be assigned as two new associates for I.C.

I am going to take a two-month vacation this summer after they arrive! And sadly, Fr. Savio will be leaving this summer to work in the Diocese of Shreveport. How blessed we priests are in being instruments of God’s mercy for his people. Every time we administer the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, we mete out God’s mercy and feel unbelievably blessed. “It blesseth him who gives…”

The second example of God’s twice blest mercy this weekend is that 52 young people will make their First Holy Communion spread out over 5 different Masses. Today when they come forward to receive the Eucharist, they will literally put mercy into their mouths, and taste God’s unconditional love for them, and they will never forget it.

I still remember vividly making my First Holy Communion in Hillsboro, TX. I was wearing a tight, hot suit that made me sweat and a tie that was choking me. I knelt in the first pew because my last name begins with an “A” so I was always the guinea pig and had to go first. I still go first for Communion as a priest at Mass, and I am happy about that. And the name of the church in Hillsoboro, TX is “Our Lady of Mercy.” In other words, I first tasted mercy on my tongue at Our Lady of Mercy.

You see, the moment of First Holy Communion is truly a moment of twice blest mercy, because it blesseth him that gives and him that takes.” What greater blessing of mercy is there in the lift of a priest than to feed God’s people with the Bread of Life? And what greater moment of mercy is there for a Christian than to receive the Author of Mercy on their tongue?

My friends, in a few moments we will all come forward to receive God’s mercy in his Son’s Body and Blood. But that Eucharistic mercy is not meant to stop with us, but we must pass that mercy on to others. In other words, Catholic Christians must become instruments of mercy for those we meet – our family, our friends, and especially our enemies – so we can again feel how mercy is “twice blest.”

Just as we priests are blessed to mete our mercy in Church at Mass, so Christians are blessed to mete out mercy because you are called to be priests in the midst of the world. That is where the word “Mass” comes from. The sending forth at the end of Mass in Latin is “Ite missa est,” which means “Go, you are sent forth,” into the world. Sent forth into the world for what?

You are sent to change the world of its fundamental dynamic, from a world of winners and losers to a world where everyone becomes a winner. From a world of haves and have-nots into a world where everyone has. Because when we are dealing with mercy, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Why? Because “earthly power doth then show likest God’s / When mercy seasons justice.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Be Better Than Me

 

Seeing how the Son ushers in a new creation and a new week

04/10/2026

Sequence – Victimae paschali laudes Christians, to the Paschal Victim Offer your thankful praises! A Lamb the sheep redeems; Christ, who only is sinless, Reconciles sinners to the Father. Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous: The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal. Speak, Mary, declaring What you saw, wayfaring. “The tomb of Christ, who is living, The glory of Jesus’ resurrection; bright angels attesting, The shroud and napkin resting. Yes, Christ my hope is arisen; to Galilee he goes before you.”Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining. Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning! Amen. Alleluia.

Have you ever heard or seen the internet meme called “6 or 7”, which was wildly popular in 2025? By the way, it’s no long popular, except to be used in homilies. It’s kind of an inside joke by Gen Alpha – the most recent generation – that really makes no sense, and therefore they call it “brainrot” – things that are funny but do little more than rot your brain. They have no practical value or intrinsic purpose than to be funny.

Today I don’t want to talk to you about the 6 or 7 meme but I want to say a word about the 7 or 8 meme. And that is not brainrot but a brain-revelation. How so? Well, we are currently in the Octave of Easter, which means the 8 days of Easter Sunday. The grand miracle of Jesus’ resurrection cannot be contained in a one 24-hour period, indeed, we need 8 days to celebrate it adequately. That is why every Mass from Easter to the following Sunday includes the Gloria: in effect, Easter Sunday spread over 8 days.

Now here is where the 7-8 meme comes in. In the Old Testament book of Genesis, how many days did God need to create the heavens and the earth? We read in Gn 2:2, “On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.” Hence, in the Jewish calculation of the week, the first day of the week is Sunday and the seventh day is Saturday, the Sabbath, the day of rest, when God, too, rested from creating.

Well, as we know from Jn 5:19, God the Son does what he sees God the Father doing but he sort of “one ups” him. That is, Jesus creates a new heavens and a new earth. And that new creation is symbolized not by the 7 days of the Old Testament week, but by the 8 days of the New Testament week. In other words, the Octave of Easter, the 8 days of Easter, means we not only think about "creation" differently, we think about "time" different. The Father introduced the 7-day week; the Son inaugurates an 8-day week called the Octave.

Here is another application of the 7-8 meme. If you look closely at our baptismal font in the sanctuary (located in front of Mary’s altar), you will notice it has 8 sides. And that is not by accident or simply artistic license; it is charged with significance. How so? Well, when we are baptized, we not only become a new creation, we are introduced into an new order of time. We leave behind the seven-day week of the Old Testament and are plunged into the 8-day week of the New Testament.

You see, every baptism is a reenactment of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Being plunged into the darkness of the water represents death. Rising out of the water into light signifies new birth, indeed, being born by water and the Spirit as Jesus taught Nicodemus in Jn 3:5. And what day did Jesus rise from the dead? Well, it was on Sunday. But if you calculate as a Jew using the original, Old Testament week, what day would Sunday be? It would be the day following the Sabbath, the day following the seventh day.

And what day follows the seventh day? Folks, I’m not very good at math but even an imbecile like me knows what comes after 7 is 8. In other words, we create baptismal fonts with 8 sides not because we didn’t have enough marble to make one with 10 sides. But because 8 – especially the 8th day – is no arbitrary number, but in fact, signifies not only a new creation, but a new week. Jesus’ resurrection has not only transformed matter, it transforms time. A Christian’s week has 8 days.

One last thought about the 7-8 meme. All good parents want their children to be better than them. That’s why my parents came to the United States from India, so their children would have more opportunities for education and careers, to live happier, healthier, and holier lives. That is what I wish for all the young associate priests who come to I.C. My prayer for them is: “Be better than me.” Learn from what I do well, and do it better. Watch my mistakes and avoid them. Be better than me.

I hope this doesn’t sound too sacrilegious but maybe that was God the Father’s desire for his divine Son: be better than me. If I create the old heavens and earth symbolized by 7 days, then you create a new heavens and earth symbolized by 8 days. If I create a 7-day week, then you create an 8-day week. Indeed, Jesus adds in Jn 5:20, “The Father will show the Son even greater works than these.” My friends, there’s an Old Testament and a New Testament, an old creation and a new creation, the old 6-7 meme that was brainrot, and the new 7-8 meme that is a brain-revelation. And all this suggests what every father wants for his son, namely, “Be better than me.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

An All Time Thing

 

Learning how Lent never really ends

04/03/2026

John 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. 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. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” 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? I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

At some point during Holy Week someone always asks me a question that I bet has crossed your mind, too. If Lent technically ends on Holy Thursday, does that mean you still have to keep making your Lenten sacrifices for the next three days? After all, if Lent is over then what need is there for the sacrifices? Have you ever wondered that?

Someone texted me that question last night, and here’s how I

answered her: “It’s true that Lent is over on Holy Thursday. But that doesn’t mean you should go back to enjoying whatever you gave up for Lent. Think about it like this: on Holy Thursday the regular season of Lent is over but the playoffs of the Triduum have now begun. The three days of Triduum are not less Lenten, they are more Lenten. Not a time to slack off, but to bring your A game!”

If you are a fan of college basketball’s March Madness, you know it’s down to the final four teams: Arizona, Michigan, UConn, and Illinois. Now, do you think their coaches said, “Hey, guys, the regular season is over, so for the playoffs, just kick back on the couch, watch Netflix, and stuff your face with Crispy Crème donuts!”? Of course not. It’s time to raise their game to the next level.

In the gospel today, we see Jesus encouraging his apostles, his team, to raise their game as well. In a sense, their regular season is over. That is, Jesus’ three years of teaching and preaching, healing and miracles. And the apostles not only witnessed these things, they actively participated by their own efforts at evangelization. And to one apostle Jesus dedicated extra time and attention because he would be the team captain, St. Peter.

So now that their regular season is over, does Jesus tell them: “Hey, guys, just relax and throw back all those macaroons and martinis you gave up because your Lent is over and it’s party time!”? No, quite the opposite. He humbly washes their feet and instructs them: “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should do also.” In other words, it’s not time to slack off but rather raise your game to the next level.

In fact, Jesus will deliver one heck of a play-off pep talk in John’s gospel, which last 5 full chapters, from chapters 13-18, and it even eclipses the sprawling Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, which lasted only 3 chapters. Jesus essentially teaches the apostles what Vince Lombardy told his players when he said: “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time.”

In other words, there is a real sense in which the regular season of Lent not only does not end at Holy Thursday – when the playoffs begin – but the season of Lent should continue all year long. Now, don’t misunderstand: of course, we should celebrate Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday, and all the other feasts throughout the liturgical year. But there is a splinter of the cross of Lent we should carry all year long. Why? Because “winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing.”

I will never forget Scott Hahn saying something that stopped me dead in my tracks. See if you can wrap your mind around this insight. He said: “Jesus did not do anything different when he came to earth to suffer and die on the Cross than what he had been doing for all eternity in heaven. Why not? Because the love of the Trinity that looks and feels like splendor, glory, and majesty in heaven, looks and feels like the crucifixion on earth."

Listen to Coach Lombardy again in the light of that eternity: “You don’t win once in a while you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time.” You see, Jesus’ washing his disciples’ feet looks lowly and disgusting on earth, but that is what Jesus does eternally in heaven where it shines in splendor and glory and majesty. That is why the second half of John’s gospel which is all about the crucifixion is called “The Book of Glory.” “Winning is not a some time thing, it’s an all time thing,” indeed, it is an eternal thing.

So, what’s the take-home message today? Well, Lent is not simply over on Holy Thursday, nor is it entirely over on Easter Sunday. But in a sense, Lent lasts our whole life, and even beyond this life. You see, Lent is not designed for a few temporary sacrifices that we endure for a few weeks and then say “Yay, back to debauchery!” Rather Lent is designed to change us into better Christians, who pray a little more, who give up a little more, and who love our neighbor a little more.

And doing those practices intensely for 40 days should create holy habits we continue all year long. Why? Because the purpose of Lent is to teach us how to love: to love ourselves (by fasting), to love our neighbor (by almsgiving), and to love our God (by prayer). Because what was true for Jesus will one day be true for us: the loving sacrifice we make on earth will exactly be what we do in heaven, except there our sacrifices will shine in splendor, and glory, and majesty. Because being a Christian is an all time thing.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Tie Goes to the Runner

 

Learning to pray for our unbeloved dead

04/01/2026

John 13:21-33, 36-38 Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, "Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus' side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus' chest and said to him, "Master, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it." So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." When he had left, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, 'Where I go you cannot come,' so now I say it to you." Simon Peter said to him, "Master, where are you going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later." Peter said to him, "Master, why can I not follow you now?  I will lay down my life for you." Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times."

In all your spare time you should someday read an enlightening little book by Hans Urs Von Balthasar called “Dare We Hope ‘That All Men Be Saved’?” Even if you don’t fully understand his theology – or entirely disagree with it – you may enjoy his editorial comments.

For example, he writes about how both liberals and conservatives despise him: “So be it; if I have been cast aside as a hopeless conservative by the tribe of the left, then I know what sort of dung-heap I have been dumped upon by the right. But back to matters of substance” (20). That is, it is when both the right and left castigate you that you are closest to Christ.

The gist of Balthasar’s book is that we can truly hope that all people be saved, even if in the end some people are not saved. That sounds contradictory, but it’s not. In other words, the future and final state of affairs – who ends up in heaven and who (if anyone) falls into hell – does not need to blunt the edge of our hope for all men to be saved. We can even translate that hope into prayer, not matter how wretched the sinner.

Have you noticed how we offer every Mass for a particular intention? I make a point to mention explicitly that intention during the Prayers of the Faithful, or more simply, the Petitions. Often, though not always, we pray for our beloved dead. And that is certainly a holy and pious practice. But that does not preclude us praying for our unbeloved dead, that is, people we consider our enemies on earth, people who may not make it to heaven.

When you think about it, who needs our prayers the most: clearly our foes more than our friends. And not only because our prayers may help them, but mainly because our prayers help us. That is, when we pray for our enemies, we love our enemies as Jesus taught us. In other words, when we pray for our “unbeloved dead” our hearts soften toward them, and then maybe we have hope that we will be saved.

Von Balthasar’s basic stance toward who will be saved and who will be lost is essentially to plead ignorance, or as we say, “to plead the fifth amendment.” He does not come down on the side of either salvation or condemnation. That is, he lists the many scriptural passages that teach the certainty of hell and the probability that many end up there.

But he also marshals an impressive list of Scriptures that teach how much God desires to save all men. That was Jesus’ deepest desire on the Cross, as we heard at Mass a few days ago Jesus say: “When I am lifted up I will draw all men to myself” in Jn 12:32. Then Balthasar concludes: “What we have here are two series of statements that, in the end, because we are under judgment, we neither can nor may bring into synthesis” (21).

In baseball there’s a curious rule called “tie goes to the runner,” meaning if it’s not clear if the runner was safe or out at first base, then he is safe. Similarly, the Scripture passages about salvation and damnation are sort of “tied” in the sense of how many we can list on both sides of the ledger. And so we may hope that all the runners – that is all humanity – will be saved.

In the gospel today we see another example of how the tie goes to the runner. The beloved disciple John asks Jesus who will betray him. And Jesus says watch for the signal of to whom I will give the morsel of bread. But the gesture of sharing bread is not only a sign of who will betray Jesus, but also a gesture of love, like when a bride and groom feed each other a piece of wedding cake. In other words, the morsel of bread is not only an indication of Judas, it was also an invitation to Judas to think again about his course of action.

And perhaps it was also a last ditch effort by Jesus that even after the betrayal Judas might remember our Lord’s love and not despair – that is, repent like Peter did after his betrayal. Even though Jesus knew what Judas planned to do – he knows everything – he still held out hope that Judas might repent in the end and be saved. When Jesus died on the Cross on Good Friday, he did not die only for our beloved dead, but also for our unbeloved dead, like Judas.

It is interesting, and highly instructive, that the Church has never declared that any individual person by name is in hell, not even Judas. We declare certain people by name are in heaven, the saints, because their miracles are proof of their presence in Paradise. But we have no rock-solid proof that anyone, not even Judas Iscariot, is in eternal hell. We have a lot of Scripture he might be, and we have an equal number of Scripture he might not be. And if that’s the case, “the tie goes to the runner.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!