Heavenly High Society

Welcoming the poor and persecuted into our hearts  

Matthew 22:1-14 

Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and the elders of the people in parables saying, “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. Then the king said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.’ The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests.   

          Every country, every culture and even every clan has a sort of high society that all strive to be part of. It’s not just my country of India that has a caste system, so does every country: upper, middle and lower classes. Now, for the longest time in America, Catholics always comprised the middle and lower rungs of this ladder. But do you know when we finally “arrived” and took a seat at the table of high society? It was when a Catholic first because president of the United States. In 1961, John F. Kennedy became the first Catholic president. He was the youngest man to ever be elected president – at only 46 years old – and also the youngest to die as president in 1963 in Dallas, TX, a day many of you will well remember. They called the White House “Camelot” in those days because JFK and Jacqueline were more like royalty – a handsome king and a beautiful queen – the Catholics had arrived in Camelot. Catholics were no longer the unimportant immigrants without a penny in their pocket, we were in high society.   

          In the gospel today, Jesus tells the parable about the high society of heaven, and what it takes to be a part of it, and who holds its privileged places. He describes a wedding feast in which the invited guests decline the invitation to come to the celebration. The king who throws the feast for his son then invites the lowly to the feast. He says, “The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main road and invite to the feast whomever you find.” And indeed they did, filling the feast with street people, the bad and the good alike. Like the Kennedys who found themselves in Camelot, so God wants to “cast down the mighty from their thrones and lift up the lowly” (Luke 1:52), as Mary sang in her Magnificat. In other words, heavenly high society will be filled with the lowly and the lonely, the humble and the homeless, the poor and the persecuted, the unimportant and the immigrants.   

          My friends have you noticed how Pope Francis has been talking about the privileged place of the poor ever since he moved into his humble hotel room as pope? He wrote in his first encyclical, “The Joy of the Gospel,” these stirring words: “I want a Church which is poor and for the poor. They [the poor] have much to teach us.” Just like poor Catholics have much to teach America. He goes on: “We need to be evangelized by them. The new evangelization is an invitation to acknowledge the saving power at work in their lives and to put them at the center of the Church’s pilgrim way.” The pope then gets even more personal, saying, “We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voice to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them” (Evangelii gaudium, 198).   

          In other words, we should see the poor as God’s privileged people, and those who are the high society not only of heaven, but also in our hearts. You see, the real “Camelot” is the heart of every Christian, and there every unimportant immigrant should feel like a king and a queen.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!

Not Created Equal

Giving God the glory for our gifts  

Matthew 20:1-16  

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’ He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?

          You know, God is great, but he’s also goofy. Now, I don’t mean any disrespect, but sometimes God doesn’t think like you and me; his behavior is not as logical, or reasonable, or common sensical as we would hope. For example, the Declaration of Independence says, “all men are created equal.” But are all men and women created equal? Does God give equal gifts to everyone? Have you ever heard of Joshua Bell? I bet Nicole Jeter knows who he is. He’s a world-renowned violinist, and he will actually be playing here in Fort Smith on September 11. How many of you have tried to play the violin? Do you play as well as Joshua Bell? Well, why not; after all, aren’t we all created equal? Is it just because you don’t practice enough? No. It’s also because God has given him a gift: the gift of making a piece of wood come to life and dance and sing, like Gepetto made the piece of wood called Pinocchio come to life. In other words, God has not created us equal or the same; he gives his gifts as it suits and serves his pleasure.   

          In the gospel today, Jesus teaches this truth to his apostles, that is, that all men are not created equal. He tells a parable in which a landowner pays his workers in a very illogical, unreasonable, and very non-common sensical way. He pays those who worked one hour as much as those who worked the whole day. The landowner explains his pay policy: “Am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?” You see, the “money” is a symbol of God’s gifts. In other words, God gives as it pleases him, not as it pleases us. That’s why Joshua Bell plays the violin a little better than Nicole Jeter, and why one day she may play the violin better than him.

          Boys and girls, one of the great blessings, but also a great burden of junior high school is that you’re starting to catch that we are not created equal. God gives you some gifts he does not give to others, and others get gifts that you do not. For instance, Salomon Amador runs with the football like a Mack truck; he’d run right through Mr. Plake. But Salamon can’t sing a song to save his life. Gracie Hollenbeck destroys people on the volleyball court, but don’t ask her about her algebra grade. Tommy Caldarera can easily be the captain of any Quiz Bowl team, but don’t expect him to hit the three-point shot. Teachers are not created equal either. At our first assembly, the students cheered a lot louder for Coach Meares than anyone else. I leaned over to Mr. Edwards and said, “I wonder if they’ll cheer that loudly at the end of the school year.” Some of you speak three languages, while some can barely speak one.   

          Here’s my point: God has not created us equal or the same; he’s free to do as he pleases with his gifts. We may not like it; that doesn’t look very logical, but it’s no use complaining like the workers in the vineyard. Here’s what you can do: find your gifts and use them for God’s glory, and praise God for the gifts he gives to others; don’t be jealous. Go to the Joshua Bell concert and give him a standing ovation, and someday maybe others will give you one, too.   

          Praised be Jesus Christ!

Casablanca Queen

Making our moves out of love for Mary

Revelation 11:19A; 12:1  

God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.   

          Do you like to play chess, or do you prefer checkers? You may know that chess is a lot harder and more complicated than checkers. But for that very reason it is far more enjoyable. I recently came across this saying; see if you can understand the gist of it. People say, “He’s playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.” Do you get it? That means the chess player grasps the gravity and grace in a given moment while the checker player only sees and skims the surface of things. The chess player sees a lot more of what’s going on. By the way, in the movie Casablanca, do you remember what Humphrey Bogart is doing in the opening scene when you first see him? He’s playing chess, and remarkably, he’s playing chess against himself. There’s no worthy opponent. In fact, throughout the whole movie, I believe Bogie is “playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers,” as he anticipates and moves people around the city of Casablanca, as if he were moving pieces on a chessboard.   

          Now, in chess, which piece is the most preeminent and powerful? It is obviously the queen. She can move in multiple directions and glide gracefully from one end of the chess board to the other. In the real-life chess game that Bogart played in Casablanca, who was his queen? It was Ingrid Bergman, and his love for her motivated every move that he made. You see, those who play chess rather than checkers always realize the role and respect that is given to the queen. She is immensely important.   

          Well, I believe we will understand the Scriptures today a little better if we played a little more chess rather than checkers. What do I mean? Well, throughout the Bible we hear about an institution called the “Gebirah” or the “Queen Mother.” In the Old Testament, after King David himself, the second most prominent and powerful person in the kingdom was Bathsheba, the Queen. No one had more influence in the royal court than the queen, just like on the chessboard. That’s why today Psalm 45 says, “The Queen stands are your right hand (at the king’s right hand) arrayed in gold.” In the first reading, Revelation 12:1, John sees what is happening in heaven: “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” She is obviously a queen because she’s wearing a crown! And in the gospel Elizabeth says, “And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” That is, she sees Mary as the Gebirah, the queen-mother of Jesus, the King of Kings. You see, just like Bogie in Casablanca, so too, King David and the Apostle John and Cousin Elizabeth all play chess while everyone else is playing checkers, because they know how important the queen is.   

          On this feast of the Assumption, the Church invites us to start playing more chess and less checkers, spiritually-speaking. That is, try to catch the complexity of Catholicism which is organized more like chess than checkers, and then you’ll realize the role and respect that Catholics accord to Mary, the Queen Mother, the Gebirah; why Catholics love and honor and show such devotion to her. Indeed, the whole of creation is laid out more like a chessboard, with kings and queens, knights and pawns and castles. And John sees this holds true in heaven as well as on earth. Those who play chess always grasp the gravity and grace in the moment because they can catch the complexity of creation, and especially the role of the queen.

          Few have understood how Catholicism is more like chess then checkers than G.K. Chesteron, mainly because he understood Mary. He attributed his own conversion to her intercession. He wrote: “The instant I remembered the Catholic Church, I remembered her (Mary); when I tried to forget the Catholic Church, I tried to forget her (he means Mary); when I finally saw what was nobler than my fate, the freest and the hardest of all my acts of freedom, it was in front of a gilded and very gaudy little image of her (meaning Mary) in the port of Brindisi, that I promised the thing that I would do, if I returned to my own land.” Chesterton promised Mary he would become Catholic. Chesterton loved to play chess while everyone else was playing checkers, especially in his spiritual life, and he couldn’t help but become Catholic. Why? Well because when you play chess, you know that no one can beat the queen.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!

Hold My Beer

Finding our courage and confidence in Christ  

Hebrews 12:1-4 

Brothers and sisters: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart.   

          Where do you get the guts and gumption, the courage and the confidence to do something great? Do you know what Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian of all time, eats every day? He consumes close to 12,000 calories per day. For breakfast he downs egg sandwiches, chocolate pancakes, French toast, grits, and a five-egg omelet. His lunch includes two ham and cheese sandwiches, energy drinks, and a pound of pasta. For dinner, it is a whole pizza and another pound of pasta. So, clearly all you have to do it eat all that and you, too, can win 22 gold medals. Or, maybe you lean more toward “liquid courage,” which is what rednecks calls alcohol. Liquid courage helps a redneck to do not so much heroic feats but definitely hilarious ones. If you want a good laugh, watch the Youtube video called, “Hold my beer, watch this!” Those are also the famous last words of a redneck, “Holy my beer, watch this!” Or maybe music gives you your “mojo,” and so you listen to your favorite playlist with Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen and Bon Jovi. Ask yourself: what makes your heart beat a little faster and makes you want to go do something great?   

          In the second reading today, the author of Hebrews gives us another motivation for greatness, namely, Jesus. So he says, “Brothers and sisters…keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” And why should we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus? He goes on, “In order that you may not grow weary and lose heart.” That is, better than gulping down 12,000 calories, or filling your belly with a bottle of liquid courage, or even listening to Rachel Platten sing, “This is my fight song,” keep your eyes on Jesus. Why? Well, because the greatness you will achieve in Jesus does not tarnish like a gold medal, or fade into history like a number one hit song. Rather, Jesus is the pioneer and perfecter of a greatness and glory that lasts into eternity, namely, the glory of the saints. In heaven the scene is more like this: Michael Phelps and Eddie Van Halen and John Bon Jovi will look in awe upon the saints and wonder: “What did they eat for breakfast and what was on their playlist??” You see, up and down the centuries those who achieve eternal greatness are the saints, those who kept their eyes fixed on Jesus.   

          Msgr. John O’Donnell, a former pastor of Immaculate Conception Church would greet the parishioners at the beginning of Mass by saying, “Good morning, Saints!” Now, technically, to be a saint you have to be dead, and I’m sure the good monsignor was not saying you all look like you’re dead. Nevertheless, Msgr. O’Donnell was right that everyone in church should strive for sainthood. May I mention a few saintly parishioners who strive more than most? Sharon Blentlinger, our school principal is one. She has been the principal for 30 years, and now she’s beginning her 31st year. She has educated thousands of students, seen boom times and bust times, and her biggest achievement is surviving 4 different pastors – she hasn’t survived me yet! You see, Sharon strives for sainthood by keeping her eyes fixed on Jesus.   

          Another saintly striver is Steven Werley. I didn’t ask his wife Surennah if I could mention Steve, and that’s why I am able to mention him. But Steve regularly comes to mow the grounds with me at Trinity Junior High, and he never utters a cross word or complaint. For full disclosure, Steve also brings a little liquid courage along, so he’s still got a little way to go to be a saint, and by the way, I do, too because I enjoy the liquid courage also.   

          Today, I’d like to point out Dianne and Andy Strecker, who are also striving to be saints and who are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary today. You know, you have to be a saint to be married for 50 years! In a moment they will renew their vows, and we’ll see if they can still remember them! I always wonder how people make it to 50 years being married to the same person, and I think Andy and Dianne’s secret is Jesus. You see, they have kept their eyes fixed on Jesus and they have not “grown weary or lost heart” like the Letter to the Hebrews said. You should know that Dianne is also one of our dedicated Eucharistic Ministers to the Sick, which means she takes Holy Communion to the hospital once a week. She helps the sick to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus, so they also will not “grow weary or lose heart.”   

          Folks do you feel a little weary, or have you lost a little heart lately? Do you need something to get you out of bed in the morning and to go for the gold every day? Well, don’t reach for the five-egg omelet or put liquid courage to your lips, or replay Katy Perry’s song “Roar.” Rather, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Only by following Jesus will you find a glory that echoes in eternity, and doesn’t just fade on earth. And then you, too, can say, “Hold my beer; watch this!” Why? Well, because then you won’t need the beer to do something great.   

          Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Bachelor

Embracing God’s plan for marriage and happiness  

Matthew 19:3-12  

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?” He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.” His disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” He answered, “Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”   

          What is the single toughest teaching of the Catholic religion? Some may say it’s Communion and our belief it is the Body and Blood of Jesus; hence, some people accuse Catholics of cannibalism. Others think it’s our respect and obedience to the pope; who some are certain is the Antichrist. Still others may mention Mary – whom Catholics clearly worship, kneeling before her statues like Superman knelt before Zod. These are truly tough teachings, but even harder to swallow and stomach is what we maintain about marriage, namely, it is a life-long, monogamous, heterosexual union for bringing up babies. Do you know anyone who has gotten a divorce and left the Catholic church because they felt unwelcome? Don’t worry, I have, too. Anyone who has been married more than five minutes quickly, realizes, “Oh man, this is going to be hard!” Now you know why I decided to become a celibate priest. In many ways, celibacy is the easier vocation while marriage is the harder one.   

          In the gospel today, the apostles catch on to this conundrum as well: Jesus’ tough teaching on marriage. Both the Pharisees and the apostles are trying to find an easier explanation on marriage than what Jesus proposes. But our Lord insists: “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery.” In fact, the apostles go so far as to say: “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” In other words, it’s better to be a bachelor. They were thinking like I was – take the easy way out. But even in the face of such criticism and complaint, Jesus doesn’t change his teaching or water-down the doctrine. He asserts that marriage is a life-long, monogamous, heterosexual union for bringing up babies.   

          My friends, still today many don’t like marriage as Jesus taught it, and try to challenge and change it. People parade marriage as entertainment with television programs like “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,” which weaken and water-down how meaningful marriage is. Some quarters of our culture are trying to redefine marriage so it is not necessarily between a man and a woman. A growing group of young people simply live together and don’t marry at all; they’ve given up on marriage. After all, you can’t get divorced if you never get married! That’s one way to avoid divorce.   

          But Jesus said two thousand years ago, and the Church continues to say today: “From the beginning it was not so.” That is, in the beginning God had a plan for our happiness, and that plan entailed marriage for the majority of us: life-long, monogamous, heterosexual union for bringing up babies. You see, true happiness is not found in bachelors, but in babies.    

          Praised be Jesus Christ!

Prayer to Prince of Peace

          Heavenly Father, look upon us, your children, and have mercy on us.  Our hearts are heavy as we pray for the repose of the soul of Cpl. Bill Cooper, the continued recovery of Police Chief Darrell Spells, and especially for Billy Monroe Jones, the shooter.  Your Son, Jesus, taught us to pray not only for our friends, but also for our enemies.  Reach into our hearts and heal the deep wounds of sin, the hurts of our history, and the pains and problems for which we have no one to blame but ourselves.  You see all.  You know all.  And you love all.  As our nation, and now our neighborhood, is touched by violence again, grant us the grace to see, and to know and to love like you.  We ask you this through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior, he who is the Prince of Peace.  Amen.

Good Wood

Embracing the struggle to become the best version of ourselves   

John 12:24-26  

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.”   

          I love how Matthew Kelly, the popular speaker and writer, describes personal growth. He calls it, “becoming the best version of yourself.” By the way, the reason he’s so popular is because he’s got this great Australian accent. What a great way to describe the journey of personal maturity – “becoming the best version of yourself.” But here’s the catch: it always involves some personal sacrifice, some struggle, and you could even say, a certain death to self. In other words, the “old you” must die before the “new you” can be born; that’s the only way you can become “the best version of yourself.”   

          Now, there is no better version of becoming the best version of yourself than the story of Pinocchio. He was originally created as a wooden puppet by Geppetto, but he always dreamed of being a real boy, that would be his “best version of himself.” He’s given that chance by the Blue Fairy, but who warns him, “Remember, a boy who won’t be good, might just as well be made of wood.” Thus begins his journey to boyhood. Pinocchio quickly learns, however, this is no cake-walk: he struggles with severe misfortune, he deals with deceptive enemies, and finally he gives his life trying to save his father from Monstro the whale. But notice that it is precisely at that moment, the moment of his death, that Pinocchio achieves the best version of himself, and the Blue Fairy rewards him with his dream to be a real boy. Pinocchio had to die to his “old self” before his “new self” could be born.   

          In the gospel today, Jesus insists that the same is true in the spiritual world: death precedes life, the old version of yourself must die before the best version of yourself can be born. Jesus says: “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” In other words, only when we achieve the “best version of ourselves” will we be the most fruitful, the most productive and a real blessing to others. When Pinocchio died and became the best version of himself, he bore great fruit: not only in saving his father, but also in being an example for everyone who reads the story. Heck, he also helped me write this homily!   

          You know, as educators – whether teachers or coaches or staff – our job is to help each student achieve the best version of himself or herself. From when they arrive here in 7th grade till they leave in 9th grade, we try to help them strive for that best version. But don’t forget the catch: there are no short-cuts to personal growth and maturity. There will also be struggle, and sacrifice and death to self: football practice in August heat, showing all the steps of the geometry proofs, reading the whole AR book and not just the Cliff Notes version, being punctual at Mass and to class, eating balanced meals, and proper hygiene. “Remember: a Trinity student who won’t be good, might just as well be made of wood.”   

          But the same applies to us educators: we, too, are on the same journey of personal growth. That journey never ends in this life.  Don’t forget the old Latin maxim: “nemo dat quod non habet” – you cannot give what you do not have. Our words and our wisdom will ring hollow in the ears of our students if we have not vigorously pursued the best version of ourselves, too. We must practice what we preach. So, we can also say: “Remember, a Trinity teacher who won’t be good, might just as well be made of wood.”   

          Praised be Jesus Christ!