Late Laborers

Appreciating when the Lord calls us to work in the vineyard

08/24/2023

Mt 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. Going out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.' So they went off. And he went out again around noon, and around three o'clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o'clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You too go into my 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? Are you envious because I am generous?' Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last."

I would like to share with you three practical applications of this beautiful parable of the late laborers and the generous land owner. The first is our experience of labor in the United States today. There is a shortage of laborers; people just don’t want to work here in our country these days. And lots of owners of businesses are looking for workers. But there is a kind of labor shortage, with all kinds of reasons for that I suppose, and I’m not smart enough to speculate on what those might be.

But I have also noticed that whenever there is a new wave of immigrants into our country, they bring a new kind of labor force. And I don’t just mean in terms of numbers – that there are more people to work – but I mean in terms of zeal, energy, an inexhaustible desire to work. And in a sense they give us as a country a shot in the arm, to get off the couch, and we begin to take labor seriously. We see people hungry to work.

But we also have to remember the generosity of the land owner, who kind of pays – in our calculation of things – unequally. And don’t we sometimes feel that way? We who have been here in this country for years and generations, well, here come these “Johnny-come-latelys” and they are getting all the same benefits that we have, who have been here from the beginning.

The Lord has a message for us today, to be generous to those who arrive most recently to work. So, that is one application to our labor market: some have worked longer, others more recently, and there is a healthy generosity that should be shown to everyone who is willing to work.

The second application concerns laborers in the Lord’s vineyard, that is, vocations to the priesthood and religious life. You know, some people discover their vocation to the priesthood or the religious life very early in life. You remember Fr. Greg Luyet. We used to joke with him in the seminary that he knew he was supposed to be a priest from the moment he was conceived in his mother’s womb. When we discover our vocation early in life, we are hired by the land owner at a very young age and spend their own life laboring in the Lord’s vineyard.

But we also have the experience of people who discover a priestly vocation much later in life. Of course we all know Fr. Jack Sidler at Christ the King. He decided to become a priest much later in life. And the land owner is generous, and says, “You too, come, work in my vineyard” no matter what time of day in your life you feel the call.

So we are blessed not only with early vocations but also with so-called delayed vocations, who hear the vineyard owner calling them at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, and only work for one hour in the Lord’s vineyard. So that is the second application in terms of religious vocations and when we get into the vineyard and start working, some early, some late.

And the third application is in our own spiritual life, when we start following the Lord. Some of us have discovered the joys of Catholic Christianity very early in life, so beginning with our childhood, and teenage years, college and work, we have always been in love with the Lord. We started hearing his voice, and working for him developing our spiritual life, and never deviating from that path. So he called us very early, and we stayed close to him.

But there are others who take the scenic route in their spirituality, and only take their faith life seriously later, maybe after they have retired from work. I was speaking with one man recently who said that after he retired, he realized that death was not just something theoretical but something that WAS going to happen to HIM. He wanted to start doing things in the church, and getting involved. Now he is involved in Bible studies and helping in different ministries, and just can’t get enough. He was hired at 5 o’clock.

And so maybe in our own lives we see people, or ourselves, some who started following the Lord very early in life because it was obvious and easy. And then other people who have been standing on the sidelines of their spiritual life, not quite seeing how important it is. And then, thanks be to God, the owner in his generosity calls us into the vineyard to work.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Check This Out

Appreciating Mary and adoring Jesus

08/23/2023

Lk 1:26-38 The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end." But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" And the angel said to her in reply, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God." Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."

I am always very happy when we get to celebrate a feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Just like I feel I can never compliment my own mother, Raichel, enough, so, too, I feel a filial love and desire to heap praises on my spiritual mother, Mary. But I know this also raises the eyebrows of some of our Protestant friends, who cringe thinking we Catholics pay more attention to Mary than to Jesus. Indeed, some would say we even worship Mary.

But to Catholic ears to say we worship Mary sounds ludicrous and laughable, because it sounds the same as saying I worship my mother, Raichel. I can praise my mother Raichel while never forgetting for an instant that all she has, does, or ever will be is all thanks to God’s grace in her. Anything good in my mother is entirely the work of Christ. So, too, with Mary: she is entirely the work of Christ’s grace. Indeed, Mary is God’s masterpiece.

So, today we gratefully and joyfully celebrate the Queenship of Mary. That is, she is queen of heaven and earth, obviously not in some god-like way or in any way rivaling her Son, Jesus, but in a creaturely and perfectly human way. Just like Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, is the main attraction in the Louvre Museum, and no one who visits the Louvre will ever miss seeing it, so too, Mary is the main attraction of all God’s masterpieces in heaven.

Hence, he displays her in a very prominent and public place, and there is no more prominent place than at Jesus’ right hand. That is why we read in Ps 45:10, “The queen [Mary] stands at your right hand arrayed in gold.” Again, let us repeat, everything Mary has, does, or ever will be is entirely the work of Christ. And Jesus wants everyone to see and admire his handiwork, so he displays her seated on his right hand. As if to say, “Hey, check this out!”

Our gospel from Lk 1 also highlights the queenship of Mary, but we cannot skim over it lightly. Rather, we have to examine it at close quarters. I believe this gospel passage demonstrates that Mary is the queen of the angels, that is, she ranks higher than the angelic hosts in heaven, even higher than the cherubim and seraphim, who are the angels closest to God.

The key to this interpretation is the interrogation of the Archangel Gabriel by Mary. When he arrives to announce that she will conceive and bear a son, Mary ask very reasonably, “How can this be since I have no relations with a man?” Now comes the critical part. Gabriel immediately explains himself, as if speaking to a superior officer, a lieutenant to a general. How do I squeeze that interpretation out of those verses?

Well, a little earlier in Lk 1, the same Gabriel had appeared to Zechariah, the priest offering incense in the Holy Place, and announced that his wife, Elizabeth, in her old age, would conceive a child. Zechariah, again quite naturally, inquires how this will be humanly possible. But in this case, Gabriel has no patience or tolerance for such insubordination. Do you recall his angelic reaction?

Lk 1:19-20 relate: “I am Gabriel who stand before God…But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place because you did not believe my words.” Did you catch that contrast? Mary can question Gabriel, but a priest cannot. The best explanation is that in the case of Mary, Gabriel is addressing a superior being, but in the case of Zechariah, Gabriel is addressing an inferior being, like the lieutenant talking to a private.

And with Gabriel’s contrasted reactions, we have moved from the Old Testament to the New Testament. How so? Zechariah represents the old dispensation, where angels ranked higher than humans. Mary, on the other hand, represents the new dispensation, where Jesus carries all humanity higher than the angels. Audacious as it sounds, we can command the angels, like I ask my Guardian Angel to wake me up at 4:30 every morning. And he does it.

That is why Jesus said in Mt 19:28, “You who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones.” But the throne on Jesus’ right hand belongs to Mary, Jesus’ masterpiece. After all, if I were Jesus, I would seat my mother on my right side, too.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Moses and Joshua

Seeing how others guide us but only Jesus saves us

08/21/2023

Jos 24:14-29 Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, and addressed them, saying: "Fear the LORD and serve him completely and sincerely. Cast out the gods your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." But the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD for the service of other gods. For it was the LORD, our God, who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, out of a state of slavery. He performed those great miracles before our very eyes and protected us along our entire journey and among all the peoples through whom we passed. At our approach the LORD drove out all the peoples, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God."

We hear one of the more popular verses of the Bible today from Joshua 24:15. Many people have this quotation hanging in their homes. It says: “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Have you ever seen that verse before? It comes from our first reading today.

That is a very important verse because the Chosen people have just made their journey from Egypt forty years in the desert under Moses’ leadership. Now, Moses has died, buried on Mt. Nebo, and it is Joshua who helps the people cross the Jordan River and conquer Jericho.

It wasn’t Moses, the great lawgiver, the meekest man on earth, the one who spoke to God face to face like a friend, and whose face glowed after conversing with God. And yet Moses was not the one who led them into the Promised Land, it was Joshua. And that is significant. Not only for the people of Israel, but for me and you.

There are many people in our lives who are like Moses, who help us in our journey in this desert called earth and during our earthly life. But they will not help us cross into the Promised Land of heaven. Joshua will, and Joshua is another way of writing the name Jesus. Many people help us, like Moses helped the people through the desert, but he didn’t help them cross into the Promised Land, only Joshua could do that. Only Jesus does that for us.

Today I invite you to think about all the people who have been like Moses in your life, who have helped you in your journey of life. But I also caution you not to think they are the ones who are going to save you, but rather only Jesus/Joshua will help you cross into the Promised Land.

You know, I am also mindful of all the many priests we have had here in Fort Smith that were very popular, like little Pied Pipers. Priests like Fr. Tom Elliott, Msgr. John O’Donnell, Msgr. Galvin. Wherever they went, all the people like little mice follow them to that parish. While Fr. Tom was here, everyone hurried to Christ the King. When Msgr. O’Donnell came everyone rushed to I.C.

These men are Moses, they are not Joshua. They will not save you. Jesus will save you. Sometimes we put a little too much faith in the people who are merely Moses in our lives. And what happens when Moses goes away, when Moses dies on Mt. Nebo, when Fr. Tom leaves the priesthood, when Msgr. O’Donnell passes away? What happens to our faith? I suppose some people stop going to church.

The same is true, of course, for our own family and our parents. Our mothers and fathers teach us the faith, they are like Moses, and they lead us for a certain distance in our life. But they are not Joshua, they are not Jesus. And we cannot put all our marbles of faith in their basket. Rather, we must put all our faith in Jesus, who alone can lead us into the Promised Land.

It works the other way, too. Sometimes we see religious leaders who have personal weaknesses, and we put too much faith in them and it becomes a struggle of faith for us. I know people these days are not very happy with Pope Francis. They think he is not conservative enough or he is not doing what they would like him to do.

Well, he is not Jesus. He is a Moses. He leads us for a certain distance. But he is not Joshua, the one who leads us into the Promised Land. So don’t worry about it. Our faith is not in a human being, no matter how wonderful, no matter how meek, no matter how many laws he gives, or whether he talks to God face to face, like Moses. Our faith is in Joshua, Jesus

That is why we go to church: Moses leads us to church, Joshua leads us to heaven. And this is how we try to walk by faith through this desert of earthly life, until Joshua leads us, across the Jordan River, into the Promised Land.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

I Warned You

Seeing the true nature and commitment of marriage

08/18/2023

Mt 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? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate." They said to him, "Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?" He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 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."

Nothing causes more happiness and holiness than falling in love and getting married. And nothing causes more headaches and heartburn than falling in love and getting married. Just as getting married will be the happiest day of your life, so the day you might divorce will be the most miserable day of your life.

Why do you think I decided to become a priest? I wanted to avoid all that drama and live a little more peaceful life. But I know most of you will not choose the path of peaceful priesthood but opt for marriage and mortgages and mother-in-laws. Good luck! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

In the gospel today, Jesus teaches his followers that marriage will not be the shortcut to happiness, but will be the hard road. Nonetheless, he adds that what God joins together no one should divide. To such high expectations for marriage, the disciples rightly respond like I did to marriage. They state: “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

And notice next how Jesus describes how some will renounce marriage for the kingdom of heaven. That is, they will choose the peaceful path of celibate priesthood. In other words, Jesus, too, wants to warn you before you launch into marriage, mortgages, and mother-in-laws. Don't think it will be easy street.

But since most of you will disregard Jesus and my warnings about marriage, let me offer you three counsels about marriage so you can at least numb the pain. The first council I give to couples who come to me with marriage problems, arguing over finances, and raising children, and where to spend Thanksgiving versus Christmas, is to ask them: “Is marriage for happiness or holiness?”

Now, hopefully marriage is for both happiness and holiness. But sooner or later the happiness runs out, like the wine ran out at the wedding at Cana. And when that happens, what do couples think? If we are not happy, why should we stay married? And the answer is for holiness. In other words, happiness does not exhaust the entire purpose and goal of marriage.

I will tell you a secret: the real aim of marriage is to make you a saint, and saints are forged in the crucible of suffering, just like US Marines are forged in the crucible of the suffering of boot-camp at Paris Island. Saints and spouses become holy when they suffer and don’t experience much happiness. Marriage is for holiness not just happiness.

The second counsel I give married couples is to pay attention to pronouns in your wedding vows. By the way, you do know what pronouns are, right: I, you, he, she, it, we, ya’ll, they? When couples get married, they use the first person singular in their wedding, “I do.” That is, they say: “I will be faithful to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, till death do us part.” I do.

But when couples come to me and complain about their spouse, what pronoun do they use? They say, “You!” “You don’t pick up the kids! You don’t change the laundry! You drink too much! You don’t spend enough time with me!” etc. But on the day you got married you did not say, “You do”, rather, you said, “I do.” Pay attention to the pronouns of marriage.

And the third counsel I give married couples is each of YOU, that is, their children. In other words, parents should stay married and work out their problems for their children's sake. Why? Well, because the real victims of divorce are the children. Why is that? Well, because every child is half mother and half father, each parent contributes 23 chromosomes to make you who you are.

But when parents get divorced how does that make the children feel? Like they have been torn down the middle. I say this with all tenderness and compassion for families that have experienced a divorce. I know sometimes divorce can seem like the lesser of two evils, and unavoidable. But it still affects the children in deep and irreparable ways.

Boys and girls, don’t misunderstand me. My point – and Jesus’ point – is not to dissuade you from getting married. But only to go into marriage with your eyes open. Remember three things: (1) marriage is for holiness and happiness, (2) pay attention to the pronouns in your vows, (3) divorce adversely affects the children. No wonder Jesus ends the gospel saying: “Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.” In other words, Good luck! I warned you.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

What If

Comparing the old and new Adam and Eve

08/15/2023

1 COR 15:20-27 Brothers and sisters: Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through man, the resurrection of the dead came also through man. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; then comes the end, when he hands over the Kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for “he subjected everything under his feet.”

After we reach a certain age, usually when we have more years behind us than before us, we start looking back at life and ask the question, “What if?” For example, I might ask myself, “What if I had decided to go to Harvard instead of the University of Dallas?” As if I could get into Harvard! Or, “what if I had married my high school sweetheart instead of going into the seminary?”

For the record, I did not have a high school sweetheart but let’s just pretend for the sake of argument. Or, “what if I had decided to become an astronaut and go to Mars instead of becoming a priest and coming to Fort Smith?” Have you ever looked back at life and asked yourself similar “What if…” questions? We all wonder how differently our life might have turned out.

Well, I am convinced that all our smaller, individual “What if…” questions can all be traced all the way back to the original and ultimate “What if…” question that carried cosmic consequences, namely, “What if Adam and Eve had not committed the original sin and had stood up to the Tempter who offered them the fruit of the tree of knowledge?” Have you ever wondered that?

In a sense, that ultimate “What if…” question lies behind and overshadows my much smaller and personal questions. What do I mean? Well, if our primordial parents Adam and Eve had not sinned, I wouldn’t have to wonder about college, or companion, or career. That is, we would all still be living in the Garden of Eden and munching on the fruit of the tree of life and living forever.

Now, how do I know that would be the case? Well, we don’t have to look any further than Jesus and Mary. They are Exhibit A and Exhibit B of what life would (and should be) like for all of us. If we carefully study both Scripture and Tradition, we discover that Mary is described as the New Eve and Jesus is considered the New Adam. In other words, what Mary and Jesus did is precisely what the old Eve and the old Adam should have done. They answer the question, what if Adam and Eve had not sinned? How so?

Well, old Eve should not have listened to or obeyed the Serpent (who by the way was a fallen angel named Lucifer) in the Garden of Eden. Mary, on the other hand, the new Eve listened to another angel (the Archangel Gabriel) and obeyed his invitation to become the Mother of God. Notice how both women were confronted by angels, and that is where a profound parallel lies.

And the old Adam should have been present and put himself between the Serpent and his wife, ready to suffer and die for her, but he was conspicuously absent and silent while Eve talked to the Serpent. Jesus, on the other hand, the new Adam, was fully present and ready to suffer and die on the Cross for his Bride, the Church, embodied in Mary. Jesus put himself between Satan and his Spouse and he paid the price. In other words, Jesus and Mary, the new Adam and new Eve, are the color photo of which the old Adam and old Eve are sort of the photo negative. Jesus and Mary did what Adam and Eve should have done.

Now with all that as preliminary background, we can understand a little better today’s Solemnity of the Assumption. How does that help us? Well, the Assumption is the doctrine that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the end of her earthly life, was assumed by the power of God – not her own power, mind you – body and soul into heaven. That is, our Mother Mary did not experience bodily death, the separation of body and soul. Rather, she was immediately taken up to heaven. By the way, that is why there is no tomb of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ephesus, where she spent her final years.

Now, why do we Catholics insist that Mary did not die? Well, because in 1 Co 15 (our second reading today), St. Paul notes how death is a consequence of sin, indeed, death came from original sin. But if you don’t sin, then you don’t die; sin and death are inextricably united. The Apostle Paul writes: “For since death came through man [Adam, because he sinned], the resurrection of the dead came also through man [Jesus, because he did not sin].”

And since Mary did not sin- thanks to Jesus’ grace – she was not subject to the consequence of sin, namely, death. That is why Ps 45:10 declares: “The queen [Mary] stands are your right hand arrayed in gold.” And she cannot “stand” unless she has legs and therefore a body. In other words, she stands body and soul in heaven, not just in her spirit.

Did you catch that? There is a tight correlation and connection between all the truths of faith. They are like the threads of a seamless garment. They all hold together and strengthen each other. If you were to tug and loosen even one thread – by throwing out the doctrine of the Assumption for instance – the whole garment of the Christian faith would come loose and unravel.

In 1950 Pope Pius XII promulgated the doctrine of the Assumption in a document called Munificentissimus Deus. He insisted that the Assumption was not something new or innovative, but rather intrinsic and inseparable from the Christian faith. He wrote: “The scholastic theologians…have always considered it worthy of note that this privilege of the Virgin Mary’s Assumption is wonderfully in accord with those divine truths given us in Holy Scripture” (no. 24). When we consider the Assumption of Mary together with everything else we believe: about Jesus, or the Church, or the Eucharist, it is all or nothing.

We all muse over our little “What if…” questions about our own lives. But every now and then, in our more prayerful moments, our minds ask the big "What if..." question about the whole human race. What if Adam and Eve had never sinned and had been entirely obedient to God’s commandments? What would life look like? The answer is: it would look like Jesus and Mary, the new Adam and new Eve. And we would look a lot more like Jesus and Mary, too, and then no longer need to ask questions like “What if…?”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

You Might Be Wrong

How we grow in faith but how faith does not grow

08/13/2023

Mt 14:22-33 Jesus went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. "It is a ghost," they said, and they cried out in fear. At once Jesus spoke to them, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." Peter said to him in reply, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come." Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, "Truly, you are the Son of God."

Last week a parishioner sent me a Peanuts cartoon strip. Snoopy (a spotted white beagle) is seated very studiously on top of his doghouse hammering away at a type writer. In the second frame, Charlie Brown approaches and inquires: “I hear you are writing a book on theology.” Charlie Brown continues: “I hope you have a good title.” Above Snoopy’s head in the third frame appears a thought-bubble which reads: “I have the perfect title…” And in the last frame of the cartoon, Snoopy types his title: “Has It Ever Occurred to You That You Might Be Wrong?”

Now, that is a perfect title for a theology book. Why? Well, because human language (theology) inevitably falls short of adequately describing and accurately defining the Divine Being (God). Perhaps St. Anselm said it best when he wrote in the 12th century rather cryptically: “God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived.” That is, God is the peak of the highest thoughts that the brightest human mind has climbed to reach God. But God is still higher than that.

C. S. Lewis put similar words on the lips of his mentor George MacDonald. In one of Lewis’ lesser known novels, “The Great Divorce”, Lewis meets MacDonald in heaven and his teacher tells him: “That’s what we all find when we reach this country (he means heaven). We’ve all been wrong!...There’s no need to go on pretending one was right! After that we can begin living” (p. 102).

MacDonald’s lines can also be applied to faith and theology. Faith, like everything else we learn, grows slowly and matures gradually. But unlike other forms of knowledge, faith will never exhaust its subject Matter, namely, God. Has it ever occurred to us that we might be wrong and always have more to learn about God? St. Augustine, four years before he died, reread and corrected everything he had written, called his “Retractions.” Augustine knew he might be wrong.

This growing in faith can shed light on today’s gospel of Jesus and Peter walking on the water. We are all familiar with the story. The part I want to draw to your attention is when Jesus criticizes Peter saying: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Now if Peter had little faith but he was willing to get out of the boat and walk on water, how much faith did the other 11 apostles have who didn’t even dare to get out of the boat? A lot less than little, meaning almost none. In other words, the apostles had a lot more growing to do in faith.

Even after Jesus rises from the dead, and the apostles receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, their faith is still far from perfect. St. Paul has to put St. Peter in his place as he says in Gal 2:11, “And when Cephas (Peter’s Hebrew name) came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he was clearly in the wrong.” St. Paul could have said like Snoopy: “Has it every occurred to you, Peter, that you might be wrong?”

And even though the brilliant mind of St. Paul himself would flow freely through his pen to write 13 New Testament letters, he, too, humbly acknowledges the limits of his theology. He exclaims in Rm 11:33: “Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable are his ways.” Paul’s faith still had room to grow; he admitted he might be wrong, too.

Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying faith is some vague science and that theologians are all wrong and wasting their time. Why not? Faith has specific content that comes to us from Scripture and Tradition, under the watchful guidance of the pope and bishops (the Magisterium). So even though Catholic theology doesn’t get everything right, there are some thing we never get wrong. Like what?

Well, there are four discernable pieces of the pie of faith. First, faith is professed in the Creed we recite every Sunday. You know, that moment at Mass when everyone yawns, wakes up after the homily, and stands up to recite this long prayer? That’s called the Creed, which means “I believe.” Second, faith is celebrated in the seven sacraments, especially the Eucharist each Sunday. Third, faith is lived in the 10 Commandments and 8 Beatitudes. Faith is not just for an hour on Sunday, but for every second of our lives.

And fourth, faith is prayed in the Our Father and the various forms of spirituality developed by the saints up and down the ages. In other words, Snoopy’s book title was not entirely correct: theology gets some things right. Even though God himself is utterly beyond us, and our theological language is imperfect, we do know some things about him. Why? Because God himself as revealed them to us in Jesus. Jesus takes the guess work out of theology.

Here’s my final point about faith. Even though we grow in faith in these four areas, did you know there will never be any new content to the faith? That is, we grow in faith but the faith itself never grows. How do we know that? Because public revelation – what we need to know to be saved – ended with the death of the last apostle, namely, St. John around 100 A.D. To paraphrase Ecclesiastes: “There is nothing new [in the faith] under the sun” after 100 A.D.

What Jesus and the apostles taught us is called the “deposit of faith”. Have you noticed how some people have a safety deposit box in a bank, where they keep their valuables and family heirlooms? The Church is the spiritual bank entrusted with the safe-keeping of our precious deposit of faith, so that it is available to each generation. Why? Because in every generation someone wants to step out of the boat and walk on the water, no matter how little faith they have.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Citizens of Heaven

Understanding one important job of Catholic school teachers

08/10/2023

Mt 25:1-13 Jesus told his disciples this parable: "The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell sleep. At midnight, there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise ones replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.' While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, 'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!' But he said in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.' Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

Do you know where I was before I came here to Immaculate Conception? The bishop let me take three months to live with the Carmelites and discern a religious vocation. A friend asked me: “So you’re thinking about becoming a Carmelite nun??” Actually, my uninformed friend did not know there are also Carmelite friars who are brothers and priests. Another friend asked, “Aren’t Carmelites supposed to keep silent most of the day? Are you going to be able to stop talking like that?” I answered: “You are right: being quiet would be much harder than becoming a Carmelite nun!”

But during those three months I learned a lot about the Carmelite order, and I also adopted some new patron saints. One of these heroic saints was Edith Stein, whose feast day we celebrate on August 9. She was raised Jewish but later became Catholic, and joined the Carmelites in 1934. Besides leading a life of prayer and penance, she was a brilliant philosopher and theologian. Her writings had a huge impact on Pope St. John Paul II, who canonized her a saint in 1998.

Because she was ethnically Jewish and living in Nazi Germany, she was rounded up by the Gestapo, and murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp on August 9, 1942. And that is why we celebrate the feast of Edith Stein on August 9, because how saints die is the true sign of how much they loved Jesus. And, of course, their death day is really their birth-day in heaven. So it is a cause of joy, not sadness.

I mention Edith Stein to you today because I invite you to adopt a patron saint for yourself as a Catholic school teacher. Why? Well, for two reasons. First, because when we read the lives of the saints and hear of their heroic actions and courageous sacrifices, we are inspired to do the same. We emulate them because they emulate Christ. If Jesus had lived in Nazi Germany in 1942, he would have behaved a lot like Edith Stein. Saints are how we answer the question: what would Jesus do (WWJD)?

Second, remember that one of the hallmarks of a Catholic school is holiness. That is, Catholic morality does not aim for the minimum – what do I have to do to avoid going to hell? – but for the maximum: how do I become a saint? So, pick a patron saint for yourself – maybe St. Francis of Assisi if you are fond of creation and God’s creatures. Or, you might like St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, who started Catholic schools in the United States. Learn about their life, share their stories with your students, and celebrate their feast day with a Sonic drink. Encourage your students to pick their own patron saints.

I had a friend in the seminary, who had a huge devotion to St. Agnes, an early martyr for Christ. Every January 21, her feast day, he would buy a huge sheet cake for everyone in the seminary (there were over a hundred seminarians). The cake was red velvet inside, to represent that Agnes was a martyr who shed her blood for Jesus. And the frosting was white to symbolize her purity because she remained a virgin. That is a simple but beautiful example of how we can adopt a patron saint and try to live more like them.

Chew on this thought this coming school year: our school is supposed to make little saints, and not just good citizens. Why? Well, because saints are another name for the citizens of the kingdom of heaven.

Praised be Jesus Christ!