Cat in the Cartoon

Honoring and praying for presidents past and present

02/17/2025

Mark 8:11-13 The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” Then he left them, got into the boat again, and went off to the other shore.

I saw a funny cartoon recently that seemed apropos for Presidents Day. A dog and a cat both arrived in heaven and are sitting on the floor looking at God who is seated on his glorious throne. God first turns to the dog and asks: “How did you live your life on earth?” The dog answers: “I fetched sticks, I obeyed my owner, and I barked at strangers who walked by.”

Then God turns to the cat and asks: “And how did you spend your life on earth?” The cat looks at God and says, “You’re sitting in my seat.” Anyone who owns a dog or a cat knows how true those two answers are. Dogs love to obey others while cats love to order others.

And this little cartoon is related to Presidents Day because in a sense every president feels a little like that cat. Obviously, no United States president is God. Still, the office of the president includes tremendous power – even if limited to the executive branch – and enormous respect (bordering on reverence) by the people, at least those who voted for him.

In other words, like the cat you have to have a pretty big ego to want to sit in the principal seat of the Oval Office. Like the cat in the cartoon the president is there to issue orders, like executive orders, and to run the country.

As you may know, Presidents Day was originally known as Washington’s Birthday, or simply celebrated in honor of George Washington, our first president. But later it was broadened to include all presidents, past and present. This date in February was chosen because it was the Monday closest to Washington’s real birthday on February 22, 1732.

But Presidents Day is also unlike the dog and cat cartoon because all the U.S. presidents have shown a healthy reluctance of serving too long. They tend to agree with the 19th century English historian Lord Acton, who believed: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” That is, too much power can go to your head and make you lose your sense of being a president.

Hence, after Franklin Delano Roosevelt served 4 terms, the office of president could only be occupied by the same person for two terms. After all, we had fought the Revolutionary War to win freedom from monarchy – the rule of a king – and we did not want to return to that potentially tyrannical form of government.

Perhaps on this Presidents Day it would be helpful to recall another story about animals, not just a dog and a cat, but an entire farm. Back when I was in elementary school, our 8th grade teacher, Nancy Govang (whom I had a huge crush on) read to us a small allegory book called Animal Farm by George Orwell, written in 1945.

It was about a farm in which the animals revolt against their human masters – again kind of like the cat in the cartoon. The animals are led by a pig named Napoleon, who eventually manages to rid the farm of humans and establishes the rule of animals. Their revolutionary motto is: “Four legs good, two legs bad.”

But little by little the pigs in charge start to imitate the humans whom they had evicted. First the animals start to trade crops with their human neighbors. Then the pigs move into the house where the humans lived. Then, they start wearing human clothes and eat at the table where the people had dinner.

Toward the end, two horses are looking through the dining room window where the pigs and people are sharing a meal together. And as the horses looked from the faces of the pigs to the faces of the people, they could not tell them apart. In other words, the pigs had become exactly like the people they had fought to overthrow.

The pigs, therefore, had illustrated the truth of Lord Acton’s proverb: “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Maybe we should hang a plaque with Lord Acton’s proverb over the doors to the Oval Office, and keep a copy of Animal Farm on the Resolute Desk.

In the gospel today, Jesus notices in the Pharisees a little of the spirit of the cat in the cartoon. They demand he perform a sign (a miracle) to prove his divine status. But Jesus refuses to reduce God’s miracles to the level of cheap parlor tricks to amuse dinner guests. You see, the Pharisees wanted to usurp God’s throne and his prerogatives. They wanted to order others, not to obey others, and they certainly did not want to obey Jesus.

Today on Presidents Day, we pray for the men – and perhaps one day the women – who occupy the Oval Office and serve as presidents of the United States of America. May each of them remember where we came from and the wars we fought to get here. And not get so comfortable sitting in the president’s chair that when they get to heaven, they say to God like the cat in the cartoon: “You’re sitting in my seat.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Music to My Ears

Sharing Bishop Taylor’s letter on immigration

02/16/2025

This weekend I want to share Bishop Taylor’s recent letter on immigration. To those who support our immigrants his letter will sound like “music to your ears”. To those who oppose our migrants, his letter may sound like “nails on a chalkboard”. So, for those of you for whom this letter will sound like nails, let me tell you what I do when I deal with people I don’t get along with.

I say a prayer for them, just one Hail Mary, when they’re really getting under my skin. And that Hail Mary does not just make me stop and take a deep breath. It helps me to see them as God sees them. And God see all of us – you and me, too – like small children who don’t know our right hand from our left. In other words, praying for someone fills my heart with compassion for that person.

The bishop addressed his letter “To all people of good will,” meaning to everyone, Catholics, non-Catholics, Republicans, Democrats, anyone with ears to hear. The bishop writes: “As you know, the contentious issue of immigration continues to dominate the public square, often without any serious consideration of what Jesus and our Christian faith has to say about this matter.” By the way, do we think about immigration as just a matter of politics or rather as a matter of faith? The bishop is saying immigration is very much a matter of faith.

The bishop continues: “It is my hope that our elected officials will have the courage and wisdom to do what is right, to do what Jesus would do – to do the loving thing. You may feel there is nothing you can do to change politicians’ minds. But the place to begin is with ourselves, our own hearts and our own parishes, and our own discomfort in dealing with another culture and immigrant group. And to not forget about the human dignity and the human rights of the other person.” You see, the bishop is trying to move the conversation from the political to the personal plane, and highlight our obligation to love each person.

He continues: “As you know, I’ve written a pastoral letter which you can download from the Diocese of Little Rock website. I have preached and taught on this issue throughout my time here as your bishop. And so, I don’t want to rehash all the Catholic principles that must be taken into account.

“Rather, I want to appeal to your hearts – to the reality that we are all brothers and sisters – including the 1/3 of Arkansas Catholics who worship in Spanish in 43 of our parishes. And right now, this Spanish speaking part of our body is hurting and living in fear.”

By the way, do you know that 50% of Immaculate Conception parish is Hispanic? There are as many people crammed into our two Spanish Masses as there are in the 4 English Masses every weekend. When we hear all the rhetoric about mass deportations, IC parishioners may be among the ones who might be deported. How can we not care what happens to them?

Bishop Taylor continues: “If you are living in fear today, I want you to know we stand in solidarity and in prayer with you. And if you’re not familiar with the parts of the body of Christ who are living in fear, I implore you to pray for them and try to find ways to get to know them. Find ways to help your fellow believers feel welcomed.” Hey, wait, the bishop just stole my line about praying for people you don’t get along with. I guess a bishop can do that.

Then the bishop quotes the parable of the sheep and goats: “In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us at the last judgment he will say to his chosen ones: ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me…As often as you did it for one of my least brothers and sisters, you did it for me.’ And to others he will say, ‘As often as you neglected to do it to one of these least ones, you neglected to do it to me.’”

The bishop continues: “I could go into all the theological reasons behind the Church’s teaching on the rights of migrants, and all the arguments as to why our current immigration system is deeply broken. For example, many of us are under the mistaken impression that people who want to migrate to the United States can easily do so by getting in line. But for most people there really is no line, which is why circumstances forced them to come here without papers.

Then bishop gets more specific: “And anyone who’s tried to navigate the system can tell you how bureaucratic, complex, inconsistent, and expensive it really is – and that’s for people who have financial means and family or highly skilled employment-based connections!” By the way, my family came from India to the United States in 1976, and it was not easy nor was it cheap.

The bishop continues: “But all those arguments aside, what Jesus is challenging us to do here regarding immigration is to let him share his heart and mind with us. All that I’ve said in the past really boils down to Jesus’ call for us to love as he loves, without fear, trusting in God’s providence.” In other words, the bishop is asking us: do we have the Heart of Christ for immigrants?

He continues: “One of the most distinguishing features of our Catholic faith is that we are called to be ‘universal’ in fact as well as in name. This means that there must be no dividing lines within our parishes, no second-class parishioners – all are welcome, no exceptions. But there’s more to it than that.

He goes on: “You and I are being offered a unique and privileged opportunity to share the mind and heart of Jesus Christ, the same Jesus whom we honor with so many images of the Sacred Heart, his heart visible, crowned with thorns and on fire with love. And that’s who he now invites us to be, Christ for others.

And then the bishop concludes with this, saying: “In this, God will use us to be not only a light to our nation (enlightening others about human rights, about truth, about life), but also more importantly a source of love, love that banishes fear, love that brings hope and healing, and in this way become a model for what all of American society is called to be. /s/ Anthony B. Taylor, Bishop of Little Rock.”

Let me end on a personal note. As I said my family emigrated to the U.S. because we had money and someone sponsored us. But if my family had been poor, I never would have come to the U.S. I would not have been raised in Little Rock and discover a priestly vocation in high school. And I would not have been your pastor for the last 11 years. To some of you that may sound like nails on a chalkboard, but to others, it might sound like music to their ears.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

A Family Affair

Loving God and loving our neighbor

02/11/2025

Mark 7:1-13 When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.) So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?" He responded, "Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition." He went on to say, "How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and Whoever curses father or mother shall die. Yet you say, 'If someone says to father or mother, "Any support you might have had from me is qorban"' (meaning, dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things.

In the Catholic Church we do lots of gestures at Mass that have a twofold purpose, both practical and spiritual. For example, we use incense at Mass because there are references to incense being offered by the angels in heaven in Ps 141 and Rv 8. That is the spiritual purpose of incense at Mass: we imitate on earth the angelic ministry in the heavenly liturgy.

But incense also serves a very practical purpose: its sweet aroma is not only appealing, it covers other not-so-pleasant odors. For instance, at the Basilica of Santiago de Compostela in Spain there is a huge, life-sized thurible that billows out incense filling the whole church with smoke. Why? Because the church is also filled with pilgrims who just walked 500 miles and had not taken a bath in weeks!

We see another spiritual/practical gesture when the priest washes his hands in the middle of Mass. Have you noticed that hand washing? Its spiritual side is captured by the words he whispers: “Lord, wash away my iniquities; cleanse me from my sins.” That ablution (washing), in other words, is a reminder of Baptism when water washed away our sins.

But it also served a practical purpose, at least in the past, when people offered not cash or checks (or Venmo) during the collection and at the presentation of the gifts, but brought forward eggs, and chickens, and other natural, farm products. The priest washed his hands because they were literally – and not just spiritually – dirty. I saw this little saying in a bathroom recently: “Wash your hands and say your prayer, Jesus and germs are everywhere.”

In the gospel today we see that Catholics inherited this twofold tradition from our Jewish ancestors. But Jesus teaches the Jews that they have so over-emphasized the spiritual meaning of liturgical gestures that they have all but forgotten the practical meaning. In a sense, the Jews have stressed the love of God (the spiritual) to the detriment of love of neighbor (the practical).

Jesus cites two examples: scrupulously washing hands, and the practice of qorban (giving to the Church while neglecting your parents). While these practices began with good intentions as reminders to balance both love of God and love of neighbor – they had deteriorated to an exclusively one-sided relevance. You could love God while ignoring your neighbor, or at its extreme application, you could love God even while hating your neighbor. That hypocrisy is what Jesus condemns.

We can see a family application of this delicate balance of love of God and love of neighbor, the spiritual and the practical sides of faith. That is, we often find it easy to love our parents but we fight bitterly with our brothers and sisters. But what do parents want more than anything in the world? They want their children to love each other.

How hypocritical it sounds in the ears of mom and dad when a son or daughter cozies up to them and says, “I love you mom and dad, but I cannot stand the sight of my sister!” That is exactly how the heart of our heavenly Father feels when we cozy up to him in prayer, at Mass, at Adoration, during the rosary, and whisper to God, “I love you Lord, but I cannot stand so-and-so.”

We cannot pit the love of God against the love of neighbor. They are two sides of the same coin of Christian faith. In other words, if you cannot love your neighbor, then you do not truly love God. Why? Because your neighbor is your brother and sister, and we are all children of God. Our faith is a family affair. And all good parents want their children to love each other.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Hearts in Sync

Adjusting our hearts to beat with Jesus’ Heart

02/09/2025

Mark 6:30-34 The Apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

I just want to share a few thoughts on a touching phrase in the gospel this morning. We read: “When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd.” The beautiful phrase I want to zero in on is “his heart was moved with pity.”

Last week I was visiting my parents on Friday and stopped to talk to their neighbor who was enjoying the warm weather to trim his trees. He shared his concern about immigrants and the mass deportations. He said these migrants are not here to do anything criminal but only feed their families and work hard.

And then I thought I saw tears welling up in his eyes when he shared, “My heart breaks for them.” Ron attends the Methodist Church and said he could tell his pastor was struggling the previous Sunday in his sermon to be more vocal in support of immigrants because he feared push-back from some of his congregation.

And I immediately thought: “Whew! Good thing I don’t have to worry about that in the Catholic Church!” But Ron’s loving heart beat with the same rhythm as Jesus’ tender heart because both hearts were moved with pity for the vast crowds.

But I believe this snapshot of our Savior’s heart is his basic disposition toward humanity at all times. What do I mean? Well, ever since Adam and Eve first disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, Jesus’ heart began to feel pity for humanity. At that moment onward we became spiritually like sheep without a shepherd because we wandered away from the Shepherd, God.

Then throughout the Old Testament and even after he comes in the New Testament, Jesus’ heart is moved with pity for us. Why? Because even though he has come to be our Good Shepherd, we prefer to be the lost sheep wandering away and live sinfully like sheep without a shepherd.

And so too throughout the 2,000 year history of the Church, while there are some saints who stay close to the Shepherd, like Ron, the vast majority of Christians prefer to be sheep without the Shepherd and Jesus’ heart is moved with pity for them.

By the way, if we kept reading in Mark 6, the next episode is Jesus feeding the vast crowd with the miraculous multiplication of loaves. That is a clear reference to the Eucharist, when Jesus will feed not 5,000 but all humanity with himself. And what is the Eucharist but Jesus giving us a taste of his own heart? You see, Jesus wants our hearts to beat in rhythm with his heart, like my parents’ neighbor, Ron’s heart does.

This coming Lent I want to offer you an opportunity to get your heart to beat in sync with our Savior’s heart. I will share five presentations on Pope St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body on Monday evenings at 6 p.m. The pope-saint’s teaching is vast and deep and rich, and we will hardly do it justice in five presentations. People are spending their lifetime studying it, and it will be well-worth our efforts.

The Theology of the Body was originally a book of 532 pages the pope wrote while he was still the cardinal-archbishop of Krakow, Poland. And I believe he is trying to update and modernize the language of faith so it makes more sense to our modern minds and feels more compelling and moving to our modern hearts.

But at the heart of the pope’s teaching is the human heart itself. How so? Well, first he explains why our hearts are out of sync with Jesus’ Sacred Heart, and second he shows us how to get our hearts back in sync with Jesus’ heart.

Basically, John Paul wants to give us a heart ablation by curing the irregular heartbeat we suffer from because of sin and help our hearts beat more like Jesus’ heart. The Theology of the Body is a spiritual heart ablation: it will hurt but then it will heal.

Talking with my parents’ neighbor Ron last week I saw a poignant example of a man whose heart beats in sync with Jesus’ Sacred Heart. If you are suffering from an irregular heartbeat – like most of us are – come learn to love with the Theology of the Body. Then our hearts, too, will more often be moved with pity when we behold the vast crowd who were like sheep without a shepherd.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Sandwiches

Seeing sandwiches in the gospel and in our lives

02/04/2025

Mark 5:21-43 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, “My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live.” He went off with him and a large crowd followed him. There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?” But his disciples said to him, “You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, Who touched me?” And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”

Are you hungry this morning? You know you should fast for an hour before Mass, so you would need to get up before 6 a.m. to eat anything. Apollo and I always eat breakfast together so he waits for me to come back from Mass so we can have our bacon and eggs together.

It used to be the rule that you should not eat anything from midnight on before you receive Holy Communion. In any case, the point is you should feel a little hungry when you arrive at Mass. Why? Because God alone can satisfy your greatest hunger, namely, for him, and fasting reinforces that theological point.

We are all in luck this morning because St. Mark has prepared a spiritual sandwich to satisfy our hunger in the rather long gospel from Mark 5:21-43. What do I mean? Well, the reason it is so long, and even looks like Mark got distracted in the middle of telling his story, is because the whole pericope is one piece called a chaism, or more commonly, a Marcan sandwich.

That is, just like a sandwich has two pieces of bread with the meat in the middle, so this passage begins with the story of Jairus’ daughter and ends with the same story, with the meat in the middle of the woman with the hemorrhages.

And the clue that connects the two seemingly distinct and disjointed stories is that Jairus’ daughter was 12 years old and the hemorrhaging woman suffered for 12 years. In other words, the chaism is intentional; the two stories are intimately interconnected.

But this episode is really a sandwich within a sandwich because the story of the hemorrhaging woman is itself a chaism or sandwich. How so? Well, if you study the story carefully, you will see the same elements are repeated at the beginning and at the end.

For instance, she suffers at the hands of doctors but is healed at the hands of Jesus. She approaches Jesus at both the beginning of the story and also at the end of the story. She says, “If I but touch his clothes,” and Jesus asks, “Who touched my clothes?” Her blood no longer flows out of her, but Jesus power flows out of him.

And again the meat is in the middle, namely, the verse, “She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.” In other words, Mark’s main point is that Jesus really can heal us and make us whole if we put our faith in him like this woman did.

By the way, you have heard a lot of my homilies in the past eleven years. This is my 12th year as your pastor, like the 12 years of Jairus’ daughter and the hemorrhaging woman! You have suffered for 12 years hearing my sermons! And have you noticed how many of my homilies are like a sandwich too?

That is, I begin with a joke or story, then talk about the Bible and faith, and usually return to the original story or joke at the end. My sermons, like a good sandwich, have the meat in the middle (although you only remember the joke!). I go to your house and you feed me steak, and you come to God’s house and I feed you a sermon sandwich. Who gets the better deal?

By the way, have you noticed that life is a lot like a sandwich, too? We begin life and end life in very similar circumstances; we depend on others to take us places, we can’t talk or think very well, we wear diapers, we cannot drive a car, we struggle to walk steadily on our feet.

And maybe that is as it should be because Jesus said, “Unless you become like a little child you cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Mt 18:3). But when it comes to eating the sandwich of life, what matters is not the meat in the middle but the dessert at the end, that is, heaven. Only then will we no longer be hungry.

Praised be Jesus Christ

Dogs and Tricks

Learning to cherish traditions and customs of faith

02/03/2025

Mark 16:15-20 Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

Yesterday I discovered that you are never too old to learn something new. Apollo smiled and said to me: “I guess old dogs can learn new tricks!” As you know, yesterday, February 2, was the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, also known as Candlemas. That is because people often bring candles to church to be blessed that day. They light the candles during storms to remind them that Jesus is present, in all the storms of their life.

Now, do you know how to say “Candlemas” in Spanish? It is “Candelaria.” Here is the Eureka moment for me. We have a deacon in our parish whose name is “Candelario” which is the masculine form of the word “Candelaria,” And do you know when Dc. Candelario’s birthday is? You guessed it: February 2, the feast of Candelaria or Candlemas. We have a deacon in our parish named Dc. Candlemas! I have been in this parish for 11 years and I just learned that. Old dog, new trick.

But there is also an intimate connection between yesterday’s feast of the Presentation, or Candlemas, and today’s feast of St. Blaise. The candles we blessed yesterday are used in blessing people’s throats today. Even though we blessed throats yesterday, I will also bless throats after Mass this morning, in case anyone missed it yesterday, or wants to be blessed on the actual feast of St. Blaise.

This connection between candles and cures can also be seen between the palms of Palm Sunday and the ashes of Ash Wednesday. People typically bring their dried palm branches to church in the weeks preceding Ash Wednesday to have them burned. Why? So they can become the ashes we place on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday.

We find yet another beautiful connection between brides and baptisms similar to the candles and palm branches. Even though it is uncommon today, in the past brides would cut off some material from their long wedding dress, usually the long train. From that white wedding dress they would sew the baptismal gowns for their babies.

Now, that was not just a practical consideration in order not to waste good material; there was also present a clear theological symbolism. When a baby is baptized it is sacramentally incorporated into the Church, which is the Bride of Christ. What better way to signify that a baby becomes a bride than by dressing it up in a wedding gown?

And that, too, is why the baptismal dress – which by the way boys and girls alike wear – is usually 20 sizes too big for the baby! Sometimes the baby gets lost in the dress and we can't find him for two days. It is supposed to mimic the wedding dress, which, when you include the train, is way oversized for the poor bride. Our faith is so rich, but we lose touch with that wealth when we forget our traditions and customs and feel instead that whatever is the latest must be the greatest.

And some of the latest stuff is pretty great. Still, we often suffer from a kind of chronological snobbery by which we look down our noses at our predecessors and the past and believe we moderns are obviously more enlightened. In some ways we are smarter, but in the most important matters, like faith and culture and morality, we are not. We are just new dogs trying to learn their old tricks.

Today’s gospel from Mark 16:15-20, the conclusion of the second gospel, gives us the scriptural basis of today’s feast of St. Blaise. The last line of the gospel reads: “But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.” The reason we bless throats on the feast of St. Blaise is because as a bishop Blaise preached the gospel and one day healed a small boy who had a fish bone caught in his throat.

That healing was the “accompanying sign” that the Lord worked to underscore Bishop Blaise’s words of preaching. Always remember: we don’t come to have our throats blessed because we think the candles possess some magical curative powers. We come to have our throats blessed because we believe we have a loving Savior who desires our health and happiness. Our faith is not in the candles, our faith is in Christ. And faith in Christ is the only trick that any dog – new or old – needs to learn.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

When Life Begins

Appreciating the value of Catholic high schools

2/02/2025

Luke 2:22-32 When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in  peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.”

One of the most vexing questions is when does life begins? Here is a humorous answer. A minister, a priest, and a rabbi were discussing when life begins. The minster argued eloquently that life begins at birth. The priest insisted that the teachings of the Church made it clear that life begins at conception. The rabbi replied: “You both have it wrong! Life begins when the last child moves out and the dog dies.” My apologies to Apollo for that joke!

But if you were to ask Bruce Springsteen when life begins he would tell you life begins, and probably ends, in high school. In his popular song “Glory Days” he describes the best times in life are enjoyed in high school. The Boss sings: “I had a friend was a big baseball player / Back in high school / He could throw that speed ball by you / Make you look like a fool. /

“Saw him the other night at this roadside bar / I was walking in he was walking out / We went back inside, sat down, had a few drinks/ But all he kept talking about was…Glory days / Well, they’ll pass you by / glory days / In the wink of a young girl’s eye, glory days / Glory days.”

Now, with all due respect to the minister, priest, and the rabbi, I have to agree with the Boss’s answer that life begins in high school. Why? Well, because in so many ways that is when a young person becomes awake and aware of themselves and the world around them.

For instance, in high school we begin to discover who we are – our talents and strengths, our weaknesses and failures, our interests and maybe our purpose in life. Moreover we relate to others on a whole new level, like falling in love with your high school sweet heart. In short we begin to really live on the natural level.

Now, what if, in addition to this beginning of life on a natural level, you also experienced a beginning of life on the spiritual level? What do I mean? I am talking about having a profound encounter with Christ. And that is exactly what can (and should) happen in a Catholic high school.

That is why I am so passionate – some would say obsessed – about promoting them, like designating this weekend “Catholic high school Sunday.” We will have representatives from Subiaco Academy and Ozark Catholic Academy speaking at the 10 a.m. and 12 noon Spanish Masses today. In other words, Catholic high schools exist to teach us that life does not begin until we know Jesus Christ.

As you know, we have not had a Catholic high school in Fort Smith since 1973. It was truly tragic when St. Scholastica Academy closed in 1968 and St. Anne’s High School was shuttered in 1973. But today we have safe and reliable transportation from Fort Smith to two outstanding Catholic high schools: Subicao Academy to the east and Ozark Catholic Academy to the north in Tontitown.

Both schools offer an excellent college preparatory education, a wide array of extracurricular activities and sports, and a strong “esprit de corps” of student life. But for my money, the real edge for these schools is that they introduce their students to the best Friend they will ever have, namely, Jesus Christ. And Jesus gradually teaches us that as great as the natural glory days of high school are – like throwing a fast-ball pitch – the supernatural glory days will be far greater.

One friend captured the immense value of Catholic high schools saying this: “A Catholic high school is essentially the Catholic Church’s youth ministry program.” In other words, just like Protestants pour millions of dollars into high-powered, high-technology youth ministry programs, so we Catholics pour millions of dollars into our high-powered, high-theology Catholic high schools. You see, all Christians agree that teens need to know Christ.

This weekend we celebrate the Presentation of the Lord also known as “Candlemas.” Why is it called that? Well, because today Jesus is presented in the Temple and righteous Simeon prophesies that Jesus is, “a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” We bless candles as symbols of Christ, the Light of the world, and Israel’s glory.

And today’s feast suggests a subtle but significant connect with Catholic high schools. How so? Well, in those 4 years many young men and women hear a call to the religious life, to be a priest or nun. Why do you think Subiaco monks run an all-boys high school? Why did the St. Scholastica nuns run an all-girls high school? They are recruiting the next generation of monks and nuns. They are not dumb; they know when life begins.

But Jesus is recruiting in every Catholic high school, too. And that is where he caught me. I felt called to priesthood in high school and entered the seminary after graduation. That is why they call me “a lifer.” You see, this too is part of celebrating the Presentation. Each Catholic high school shines the light of Christ into the heart of its students.

And every high school student who pursues a religious vocation in effect grabs that blazing Torch of Christ’s light and shines it on the world today. The Presentation, in other words, provides the highest raison d’être for why Catholic high schools exist: to teach that life only begins when we know Christ, and that our glory days are still to come.

Praised be Jesus Christ!