X Marks the Spot

Asking Andrew’s intercession for our children

11/30/2020

Matthew 4:18-22 As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them,

“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.

Recently, several moms have talked to me about their concerns regarding the faith of their children. This should be the chief concern of all conscientious Catholic parents: is my child practicing the faith? Have you worried about the faith your children? These particular parents had children over 18 years of age and several were no longer living at home, so that made it more challenging. Here are a few things I told them, and maybe they will give you some perspective and peace as well.

First of all, parents possess full freedom and authority over their children from their birth until they turn 18 years old. Why is that? Well, because during this time most children live at home until they move away for college or go to work and live on their own. They are entirely dependent on their parents. During these 18 years, therefore, parents should do their level best to cram as much Catholicism into their children as possible. They should send them to Catholic schools. They should attend Mass every Sunday. They should go to confession at least at Advent and Lent. They should pray together at home as a family. They should try to have priests and nuns as family friends, so their children see them as normal people rather than aliens from another planet.

Most of all, parents should make the faith their own priority: sharing with their children why it is important to them. Dads should be as excited to share their faith as to teach their sons how to hunt. Moms should be as excited to share the faith as to teach their daughters their signature recipe. What’s important to parents becomes important to children. At Terry Siebenmorgen’s funeral last week, his sons said their father was a man of towering faith, and now the boys are as well. And Terry’s wife converted to Catholicism. The faith is taught and caught first and foremost in family life.

Secondly, our journey with Jesus is never a smooth road; rather it is the way of the cross. That means we encounter peaks and valleys, spiritual mountain tops and religious dry deserts. One high point is when a child receives their first Holy Communion. It is a day no Catholic forgets and I still remember mine, kneeling in a church in Hillsboro, Texas as an 8 year old boy. But many hit rock bottom as teenagers and in their twenties. Their sense of self-sufficiency spills over into their spirituality. They feel they don’t need anyone, not even God. They are not only bullet-proof, they think they are belief-proof.

But God breaks into that false independence first by bringing a spouse into their life as a source of love, and then a baby into their life as source of joy. They begin to see that even if they do not need God, at least this baby needs God. As the baby grows physically, so the parents grow spiritually. Isaiah prophesied: “And a little child shall lead them” (Is. 11:6). Our spiritual life is full of peaks and valleys, and so don’t be alarmed if your children question or doubt their faith. We have all done the same at some point.

Third, pray for God to send people into your children’s life who will inspire their Catholic faith. Children learn as much, if not more, from their peers as they do their parents. For me attending the University of Dallas was a real turning point in my faith life. U.D. is a very Catholic college (even though it does not sound like it), and taught me the great Western Tradition in philosophy and literature, history and theology. We read Dante, Plato, Aristotle and Shakespeare. These ancient thinkers and writers shaped my mind as much as anyone living today.

It was at U.D. that I met my friend Murray Blackman. Late one night we stayed up and talked about our future. I said I was going to become a priest. He promised me: “John if you become a priest, I will name my first-born son after you.” They had a son whom they named “John Antony Blackman.” I am his godfather, and he has entered the seminary to become a priest himself. Our friends shape our faith and our future as much as we do ourselves. So, try to find good friends for your children.

Today is the feast of St. Andrew, the first called by Jesus, and therefore, he enjoys the title of “Protoclete.” That title is Greek for “first called.” Let us ask for the prayers of St. Andrew for all children whose faith may be frail. Andrew was the first to follow Jesus, and also to tell Peter about him and bring him to Jesus. May Jesus send many Andrews into the lives of our young people to inspire them to a deeper faith and to follow Jesus, too. As you may know, St. Andrew was crucified like Jesus, but not exactly. Andrew's cross was in the shape of an “X.” And “X” always marks the spot where you will find the buried treasure.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Work of Worship

Completing the work God has created us for

11/29/2020

Mark 13:33-37 Jesus said to his disciples: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”

Happy New Year! Yes, in the Catholic Church, the first Sunday of Advent is our equivalent of “January 1st.” That means Catholics can close out the dreaded year 2020 a whole month before everyone else can! Just one more reason to be Roman Catholic. I don’t know about you but I am very ready for 2020 to come to an end and a better year to begin. Now, 2020 itself began with great promise – the so-called year of perfect vision (2020) – but it ended with a perfect pandemic that caused us to cancel the public celebration of Easter. Even our CEO Catholics (Christmas and Easter Only) were bummed out.

If we were to weigh the year 2020 on spiritual scales, there would be no greater tragedy than the cancelation of Easter: the Lord’s resurrection is the very heart and hope of our faith. Of course, on a natural level nothing is worse than the loss of human life, but on the supernatural level nothing is worse than the loss of worship, our spiritual life.

The first Sunday of Advent, therefore, we Catholics spiritually put 2020 to bed and awaken a new liturgical year, namely, Year B, the Year of the gospel of St. Mark, symbolized by the Lion. For most of the Sunday’s of the coming year the gospel readings will be taken from Mark. Even though Mark’s gospel is the shortest of the four gospels – only containing sixteen chapters – it still packs a powerful practical punch.

Today’s gospel, for example, is taken from Mark 13, Jesus’ famous “Olivet Discourse,” which he delivered during Passion Week (from Palm Sunday to Good Friday) seated on the Mount of Olives, facing the city of Jerusalem from the east. Some scholars also call Jesus’ Olivet Discourse “the little apocalypse.” Why? Well, because our Lord is teaching his disciples how to prepare for the end of the world, the apocalypse. But Jesus gives his apostles very curious counsel, saying: “It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gate keeper to be on the watch.”

In other words, the best way to prepare for the apocalypse is not by hoarding canned goods and bottles of water in your basement. Instead, it is to complete the work which God made you for. And I would suggest to you that our principal work for a Catholic Christians is not our job or our occupation but rather “worship,” the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. To worship God is the work we were created for.

Did you ever see the movie “Chariots of Fire”? It is an incredibly inspiring movie about running in the Olympics, and why different athletes run. One runner name Eric Liddell runs for the glory of God, not for the fame and fortune, like so many other athletes. Eric eloquently explains his excitement about running to his sister Jenny, who wants Eric to quit running and go to the mission fields in China instead. He says: “I believe God made me for a purpose, for missionary work in China. But he also made me fast, and when I run, I feel his pleasure.”

Eric Liddell saw the work God had made him for not as some arbitrary occupation to bring home the bacon and retire rich. Rather, his missionary work and even his running was to glorify God and “to feel God’s pleasure.” This divine pleasure is precisely what Isaiah prophesied when he wrote in the first reading: “We are the clay and you are the potter: we are all the work of your hands.” To feel God’s pleasure is synonymous with being the work of his hands, because we feel his hands of the Potter on us when we do his work. And that is never more true than when we perform the work of worship.

My friends, as we turn the page to a new liturgical year, how will we make the coming year better than the previous year? Good Catholics should really make our new year’s resolution on the first Sunday of Advent, not waiting till January 1st. May I suggest that one resolution we make is to try to come to Mass whenever it is reasonable and safe every Sunday and holy day? Some Catholics have gotten into a habit this past year of staying home on Sundays and watching Mass on T.V. In some cases that was necessary because of the pandemic, but not in all cases. I fear some of the faithful have gotten used to “pajama Masses” on their couch with their favorite coffee. But you cannot “phone in” your faith. Why not? We have to be physically present to praise God, like you have to be physically present to make love to your spouse. That is why in both cases, in Mass as well as in marriage, we experience a “holy communion.”

Eric Liddell was known as the “Flying Scotsman” because of his speed. But his greatest talent was not his speed but his spirituality. Did you know he refused to run the one-hundred meters in the 1924 Paris Olympics, a race he was favored to win? He withdrew because the qualifying heat was on a Sunday, and he believed God did not want him to run on the Lord’s Day. Sunday is for the work of worship. If Eric Liddell put God first out of love for the Lord’s Day, then you and I can make a better effort in putting God first every Sunday in the coming year. Then, like Liddell, we too will “feel God’s pleasure,” and like Isaiah, we will be “clay in the hands of the Potter” because we will do the work we were created for. If 2020 was the year of perfect vision, then let us make 2021 the year of perfect faith.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

God Whispers

Seeing God’s presence through the eyes of faith

11/26/2020

Luke 17:11-19 As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten persons with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”

I recently received an email that I want to share with you. It was called “God Whispers.” It contained a series of slides with stunning pictures, melodramatic music and the following dialogue between a man and God. The first slide showed a lovely little bird and read: “The man whispered, ‘God speak to me’ and a meadowlark sang. But the man did not hear.” The second slide displayed a thunderstorm and lightning and continued: “So the man yelled, ‘God speak to me!’ and the thunder rolled across the sky. But the man did not listen.” The third slide showed a shimmering sunset and commented: “The man looked around and said, ‘God let me see you.’ And the sun shone brightly. But the man did not see.”

The fourth slide contained a crying, cuddly baby, and said, “And the man shouted, ‘God, show me a miracle!’ And a life was born. But the man did not notice.” The sixth and final slide displayed a delicate butterfly perched on a fine flower, saying: “So, the man cried out in despair, ‘Touch me, God, and let me know you are here.’ Whereupon God reached down and touched the man. But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.” And then the email concluded: “Don’t miss out on a blessing because it isn’t packaged the way you expect.” And then it asked me to pass it along to everyone in my email list I wanted to receive this unexpected blessing. I hate those emails that make you feel guilty in order to do good. That’s my job as a Catholic priest!

I wanted to share that email with all of you because God does indeed bless us in so many ways – even through cheesy emails – but we might miss them. Stuart Chase, the economist and philosopher, said: “For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don’t believe no proof is possible.” In other words, when you look at the world through the eyes of faith you see God’s hand everywhere. But without faith we are like that man who does not see, does not hear and does not feel God’s presence anywhere.

In the gospel from Luke 17, Jesus performs a miraculous cure for ten men suffering from leprosy. Amazingly, though, nine of them go on their merry way after having been healed, oblivious to Jesus’ miracle. These nine lepers are identical to the man in the email, begging God to touch them and when God does, they fail to notice. One man, however, does feel God’s touch and returns to give thanks. Stuart Chase nailed it about the nine lepers and the Samaritan: “For those who believe no proof is necessary. For those who don’t believe no proof is possible.” That is, the Samaritan looked through the eyes of faith and easily saw God’s presence everywhere; the nine could not see God’s presence anywhere.

My friends, this Thanksgiving I invite you to look around at the world with the eyes of faith and see God’s presence everywhere. It is easy to see God’s touch in the turkey and the tree and the time of year. But one place no one wants to find God is in the midst of suffering and illness. But that is exactly where the Samaritan found Jesus’ healing grace most powerfully and personally. I look back on my Covid quarantine and can see God’s hands all over my sickness. I was stuck like a prisoner in my room, but Fr. Daniel brought me three meals a day to my door. One day, the school children serenaded us from the parking lot. Parishioners prepared a parade of meals they put at our backdoor. It is easy to see God’s presence when you’re sick because you lie on your back looking up to heaven.

Yesterday I received an email from a parishioner who asked for my prayers after a devastating diagnosis of cancer. But she also surprisingly added: “I am convinced God has a plan and I am leaving it in his hands.” In other words, it may be a lot easier to see God in sunsets and storms, in butterflies and babies, in flowers and faces. But with the eyes of faith, we can even see him in our cancer and our crosses. Remember the poem “Footprints in the Sand”? During our illnesses we see only one set of footprints. Why? It’s not because we are walking alone and God has abandoned us, but rather, that is when God carries us.

Let me leave you with how C. S. Lewis learned to listen to God. The great Christian apologist looked around the world with the eyes of faith, and wrote: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pain. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world” (The Problem of Pain, 91). Let us listen when God whispers so he does not have to resort to shouting.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Battle Hymn

Preparing for the end with prayer, penance and almsgiving

11/24/2020

Revelation 14:14-19 I, John, looked and there was a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud one who looked like a son of man, with a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one sitting on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap the harvest, for the time to reap has come, because the earth’s harvest is fully ripe.” So the one who was sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven who also had a sharp sickle. Then another angel came from the altar, who was in charge of the fire, and cried out in a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and cut the clusters from the earth’s vines, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and cut the earth’s vintage. He threw it into the great wine press of God’s fury.

Our scripture readings today invite us to reflect on how things will end. Now, some things we are happy to see end, while other things we hate to see come to an end. For example, we will all be happy when this pandemic ends and we no longer have to wear masks at Mass. I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait for this Razorback football season to end because I am hoping for a better one next year. And all Catholics love to hear a homily come to an end! On the other hand, we hate to see other things end. Newly married couples don’t want their honeymoon to come to an end. We are sad when a great story or novel comes to a conclusion. And we all mourn and weep when someone’s life comes to an end. In fact I have two funerals this week. In other words, some ends we desire but other ends we dread.

Our scripture readings today also talk about the end times. Some scripture scholars call Luke 21 the “Little Apocalypse” while the Book of Revelation is referred to as the “Big Apocalypse.” Luke does in one chapter what it takes John twenty-two chapters to narrate. That is, both are talking about the end of the world. Now, is the end of the world a desirable thing or is it something to be dreaded? That all depends on our level of preparation. If you read carefully, you discover that Revelation ch. 14 speaks of wheat that is harvested, and that refers to the harvest of the just and the saved. But secondly, it also speaks of grapes being harvested which are subsequently thrown “into the great wine press of God’s fury.” These are the ones who will be condemned.

This passage of Revelation always reminds me of the famous Civil War song, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Do you remember it? The first stanza reads: “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword: His truth is marching on.” So, let me ask you: is seeing “the glory of the coming of the Lord” at the end of time a desirable thing or a dreadful thing? Well, that all depends on whether you are a golden stalk of wheat or a cluster of the grapes of wrath, that is, how well have you prepared for the end, the return of Christ.

The best way to prepare for the “Big Apocalypse” is the best way to live our everyday Christian lives, namely, with prayer, penance and almsgiving. And this pandemic provides ample opportunity to practice all three of those spiritual exercises. We have tons of time for serious prayer, if we can just stop binging on Netflix series. Penances are plentiful: wear those irritating masks, take the time to wash your hands, sacrifice the pleasure of hugs and handshakes. These are the modern-day equivalents of a hair shirt, fasting on bread and water, and sleeping on the floor. We don’t have to find penances, the penances have found us.

And almsgiving has become more urgent as people struggle to make ends meet. And I have to add that I am so edified by seeing you performing these spiritual exercises every day. People are constantly stopping by the church to pray at all hours of the day. You have been very religious about all our restrictions. And your generosity to the poor and needy is second to none. I have little doubt that at the great and last harvest, the Big Apocalypse, at the end of time, you will be among the wheat and not the grapes of wrath.

Let me end with the last lines of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Jane Ward Howe wrote: “In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea. With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me. As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, While God is marching on!”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

After the Apostles

Praying for the successors of the apostles

11/23/2020

Revelation 14:1-3, 4b-5 I, John, looked and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of rushing water or a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. They were singing what seemed to be a new hymn before the throne, before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn this hymn except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been ransomed from the earth. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been ransomed as the first fruits of the human race for God and the Lamb. On their lips no deceit has been found; they are unblemished.

The older I get the more I appreciate history, especially the history of the Catholic Church. I must confess, though, that history was one of my worst subjects in school. Back then history seemed to me little more than a long list of mind-numbing dates and disasters, places and people, wars and rumors of wars. But now that I have over fifty years of my own history, I see its value and purpose. I have begun to see that history is not arbitrary or haphazard, but guided by God’s hand, that is, we can see God’s providence in history. We begin to discover God’s will writ large over the millennia. To care about history, therefore, is to care about God’s will, and to perceive his plans for our happiness. In other words, our happiness is the hidden meaning of history.

The history of the Catholic Church begins, of course, with Jesus Christ and his apostles. But do you ever wonder who came after the Apostles? The three most prominent people in Church history, who knew the apostles themselves, learned the faith from their lips, and became leaders of the Church after the Apostles were martyred were St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Polycarp of Smyrna. St. Clement learned the faith from Sts. Peter and Paul, and Sts. Ignatius and Polycarp took their catechism classes from St. John, the Beloved Disciple. These three saints – St. Clement, St. Ignatius, and St. Polycarp – are designated as “Apostolic Fathers” because they received the faith directly from the Apostles themselves.

Do you recall the “telephone game” that small children play? One person whispers a message to another, and then he passes it on to another, and so forth. The farther down the line you go, the less reliably the original message is transmitted. The Apostolic Fathers were the third in line to hear the Gospel whispered originally by Jesus and the Apostles.

Today is the feast of one of these three Apostolic Fathers, namely, St. Clement of Rome. St. Clement lived from 30 to 100 A.D. and being raised in imperial Rome heard the teaching of St. Peter and St. Paul. Both Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome in the mid-60’s during the persecution of Emperor Nero. You will remember that Nero is the mad emperor who set fire to Rome in 64 A.D. and blamed the Christians, and then persecuted them. St. Paul mentions St. Clement in his letter to the Philippians. We read in Phil. 4:3: “They have struggled at my side in promoting the gospel, along with Clement, and my other coworkers, whose names are written in the book of life.”

According to tradition St. Peter consecrated Clement as bishop of Rome, and he was the third successor of Peter, after Linus and Cletus. Today, I will use Eucharistic Prayer One, or the Roman Canon, that mentions these original successors of St. Peter. Why do we mention these men and venerate them in Mass? Because they heard the original gospel message from the lips of Peter and Paul, James and John, in the long telephone game that has passed down the faith over 2,000 years to me and you. Catholics have a fancy name for the telephone game in the history of the Church, we call it “Sacred Tradition.” Sacred Tradition is nothing other than the gradual unfolding of God’s will century after century of human history, revealing his plans for our happiness. Studying history helps us see God’s plans for our happiness. That is what they are whispering in the Catholic telephone game.

St. Clement of Rome was the third successor of St. Peter. Pope Francis is St. Peter’s 256th successor, that is, he is pope number 266, if we include St. Peter. It is these men, the popes, the vicars of Christ, who have the special role and unique responsibility to hear the original whisper of Jesus in the telephone game of Church tradition, and pass it faithfully down to us. Let us pray that Pope Francis will listen carefully and then pass the message along accurately to the next Holy Father. That is why history is important: it is the telephone game that carries the secret to our happiness.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

No Soup for You

Seeing how we take care of Jesus in the poor

11/22/2020

Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus said to his disciples: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.’

I want to thank everyone for your prayers, letters, and dinners during my COVID quarantine. We received enough chicken soup to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool – please don’t send any more. That reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where the chef said: “No soup for you!” I was especially touched by the prayers of the school children and their hand-made cards. Let me share a few of the funny cards from Immaculate Conception’s fifth grade class. Little Madelyn wrote: “I am praying for you and thinking about you. I miss your homilies and you performing Mass. I hope you are well and not bored…I will say 2 Hail Holy Queen prayers for you. Love, Madelyn.” By the way, the Hail Holy Queen is not a short prayer, so that really counts for a lot! Sweet Stella wrote: “We are praying and thinking about you! We hope you get well soon because we love your homilies! Hopefully, Fr. Daniel will take over! Don’t rush to get well (although it would be nice if you did), but don’t. But in the meantime we will truly miss you and I will say 3 Hail Holy Queen’s for you! With much love, Stella.” Stella could not make up here mind how fast she wanted me to heal: “Don’t rush to get well.”

Little Linda sent somewhat more serious sentiments, writing: “We all get sick many times in our lives. But you have one that can possibly kill you. I am here to say I hope you survive so get well soon. Love, Linda.” Linda is a quite the realist. Morgan wrote: “We hope you get better and we miss you and we hope to do church again. Be safe because you do not want to give COVID 19 to someone else, but we still love you.”

A boy named Emmanuel wrote: “Dear Father John, I hope that you feel better. I hope that you like my art, I try my best and hope you like it…In class we did the rosary, it was hard but I did it for you. Love, Emmanuel.” Emmanuel is right: the rosary is hard! Fifi wrote this glowing letter: “Get well soon, Father John! I hope you feel better! You are such a great role model to everyone including me. You are strong and one of a kind. You are a great priest and one of the greatest of them all. I hope you feel a lot better! Love, Fifi.” After reading that card, at least my ego felt a lot better!

I wanted to share those cards with you to highlight what compassionate children we have in our school. But I believe these children also exemplify what Jesus is talking about in the gospel today, namely, loving others, especially those most in need like the sick. In Matthew 25, Jesus describes the scene of the Last Judgment, where our Lord returns to separate the saved from the lost, the sheep from the goats. Those who are saved are those who love the poor: those who are the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the ill (like me) and the imprisoned. And to their great surprise, the sheep discover they were really loving Jesus in loving the poor. That is what makes our children’s cards and prayers so powerful and purposeful: they are not just loving a priest who has COVID-19, they are loving Jesus in him.

I am convinced that the poor will have a privileged front row seat to the final judgment. How so? Well, they get to see the world through the eyes of Jesus, who is always disguised in the poorest of the poor. When I was in high school, I worked with the Missionaries of Charity, the order of nuns started by St. Mother Teresa. I learned that besides the three traditional vows all nuns take of poverty, chastity and obedience, the MC’s take a fourth vow which states: “I will give whole-hearted and free service to the poorest of the poor.” Why did she insist on this unique fourth vow? Well, because Mother Teresa was convinced she was loving Jesus himself in the poor. Mother Teresa often said: If you cannot see Jesus in the poor, you will not be able to see him in the Blessed Sacrament. Both require the eyes of faith.

I think it is part of God’s providence that today’s feast of Christ the King and reading Mt. 25:31-46 always falls close to our national celebration of Thanksgiving. Why is that providential? Well, Thanksgiving is not only about family gatherings, turkey and dressing, and tryptophan naps watching football. Much more importantly it’s about love of neighbor and especially love of our poor neighbors. Here at the church office, we took up a collection among the staff to buy Thanksgiving dinners for the poor in our community. Several parish families have sent donations to Dc. Greg to support the work of the Hope Campus for the Homeless to take care of the poor. Thanksgiving makes us thankful for what we have because we are acutely aware of how little others have.

Do you know I regularly receive requests from international agencies and outreach organizations to come and speak here at Immaculate Conception? Why do they want to come here to I.C. more than other places? Simple: they know you are extremely generous especially to the poor. Like the sheep in Mt. 25, you are eager and excited to help Jesus in the disguise of the poor. You come to Mass and see Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and then you leave Mass and see Jesus in the poorest of the poor. Both require the eyes of faith.

After having gone through COVID-19, I pray that no one else contracts the illness, especially since Morgan told me not to give it to anyone else. But there was one great blessing in this illness: for ten days, I got a front row seat at the Final Judgment. I too got to see the parable of the sheep and the goats come to life as I stood in the place of Christ and felt the love of our children and parishioners minister to me. “And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.’” In other words, if we say to Jesus in the poor, “No soup for you!” then Jesus will say to us at the end of time, “No soup for you!”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Economics of Eternal Life

Seeing our financial blessings as God’s gifts

11/20/2020

Luke 19:45-48 Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, “It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” And every day he was teaching in the temple area. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words.

One of the hardest things for priests to deal with is church finances. We might call it the economics of eternal life. Parishioners do not like to hear about money from the pulpit, and we priests do not like to talk about money from the pulpit. It is disagreeable to discuss dollars during Mass. I remember my father complaining about a sermon on stewardship many years ago after one Sunday Mass. He said: “That’s all the priest ever talks about is money!” Since I could not remember anything a priest ever said in a sermon, I figured my father was right.

Shortly after completing canon law studies, Bishop J. Peter Sartain asked me to write a brief explanation for increasing the stipends for a Mass from $5 to $10. Do you recall that change? I was responsible for it! I said I would of course, but I also lodged a concern. I objected: “I think we priests are paid too much as it is and we do not need the increase.” I am sure my brother priests were not happy to hear me say that. But Bishop Sartain wisely explained that the increased stipends would allow priests to use the money for charity, which is what most priests do with their money. I was learning that the economics of eternal life does not have to do with how much money you have but what you do with it. We are stewards of God’s gifts, including our financial blessings.

In the gospel today from Luke 19, Jesus drives out the money changers in the Jerusalem Temple. Our Lord complains quoting Isaiah 56:7: “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” It would seem Jesus is clearly taking my father’s side saying priests only worry about money, even the Old Testament priests. But that misses Jesus' point. Our Lord was not criticizing the legitimate sacrifices stipulated in the book of Leviticus chapter 1-7. Rather, he was against the abuse of such sacrifices to make the temple priests rich. In other words, in Jesus’ day the economics of eternal life had become a booming business, indeed, it was a “den of thieves.” They were not good stewards, they were greedy sharks preying on the people; that is, “preying” spelled with an “e” not with an “a.”

My friends, does economics figure into your eternal life? That is, how do you use God’s gift of your financial blessings? Everyone’s economics has been exaggerated during this pandemic. Many people have lost hours, or even lost their jobs, and money is tight. We are experiencing something similar here at the church, with collections down 10 to 15%. But we also reduced our offices hours, and our staff salaries to absorb that shortfall. And yes, I stopped taking a salary months ago so I could lead by example. Like I told Bishop Sartain many years ago, “We priests are paid too much as it is!” But I must admit I sure am glad the Mass stipend is $10 instead of $5! And I am very grateful to everyone who has given a little extra during this downturn.

My point is do not drive a deep wedge between your economics and your eternal life; between your stewardship and your salvation. In other words, see all your blessings as gifts from God and use them for his glory and not purely for personal profit. Take a moment today and thank about your time, your treasure and your talents, and place them all at the service of Jesus Christ, and to build up his kingdom. That’s the only kingdom that will last.

Jesus was not upset with the money changers being in the Temple; he was disgusted that the Temple had become a den of thieves. Sadly, eternal life was at the service of economics, instead of economics being at the service of eternal life. We too must learn the proper balance between economics and eternal life, and that goes for both priests and people. We should come to church to pray, and it all depends on how you spell “pray.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Facing East

Watching for Jesus the Son with his healing rays

11/19/2020

Revelation 5:1-10 I, John, saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who sat on the throne. It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a mighty angel who proclaimed in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to examine it. I shed many tears because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to examine it. One of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed, enabling him to open the scroll with its seven seals.” Then I saw standing in the midst of the throne
and the four living creatures and the elders a Lamb that seemed to have been slain. He had seven horns and seven eyes; these are the seven spirits of God sent out into the whole world. He came and received the scroll from the right hand of the one who sat on the throne. When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones. They sang a new hymn: “Worthy are you to receive the scroll and break open its seals, for you were slain and with your Blood you purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue, people and nation. You made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they will reign on earth.”

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, I decided to go for a walk and pray my rosary. My feet found their way to Calvary Cemetery, my favorite place to pray and walk. It is full of people and yet not one wants to talk to me – it’s very quiet and meditative. Have you heard the old joke about why they had to build a fence around the cemetery? Well, people were just dying to get inside. A funeral home director told me that years ago.

As I walked around the cemetery, the sun was setting in the west and I noticed something peculiar about all the headstones. They were all facing one direction. Can you guess which direction they were facing? They were facing east, and the headstones were casting longer shadows as the sun was setting. But do you know why they are facing east? East is the direction of the sunrise every morning. Why is that significant? We Christians believe that Jesus will return at the end of time, his Second Coming, like the eternal Sunrise, the Sun that will never set.

St. Jerome is quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church with this eloquent explanation of the importance of Sunday, and facing east. The great 5th century scripture scholar wrote: “The Lord’s day, the day of Resurrection, the day of Christians, is our day. It is called the Lord’s day because on it the Lord rose victorious to the Father.” Now here’s my favorite part of the quotation: “If pagans call it the ‘day of the sun,’ we willingly agree, for today the light of the world is raised, today is revealed the sun of justice with healing in his rays’” (Catechism, 1166). In other words, Jesus’ rising on the third day after he died, on Sunday, is why Christians celebrate Sunday more than Saturday, the Sabbath. Sunday is the first day of the new creation; Sunday we step into heaven.

I also noticed something else peculiar about the cemetery: the way people are planted in the cemetery is a lot like how parishioners are planted in their pews every Sunday, and whenever they come to Mass. For example, what direction are you all facing as you sit in church right now? You are all facing east, toward Jesus, the rising Sun coming “with healing in his rays.” And just like in the cemetery people have their particular plots (chosen carefully before they passed), where they like to sit and God help you if you try to take anyone’s plot, so too, in church. I have heard of arguments and fights over pews in church – not here, of course, in other crazy parishes. And like at Calvary where there was a special section for the Sisters of Mercy, so we had reserved rows here in church where the sisters sat.

My point in pointing out these similarities is to suggest that what the dead are doing in the cemetery is what the living are doing at Mass (you and me), and furthermore, it is what the angels and the saints are doing forever in heaven. In a word, it is called the “eternal liturgy.” Have you ever wondered what you will be doing for eternity in heaven: you will be doing to Mass. Scott Hahn offered that this is the rationale behind the book of Revelation. He said: “Remember that Israel’s tradition always had men worshiping in imitation of the angels. Now, as Revelation shows, both heaven and earth participate together in a single act of loving worship” (The Lamb’s Supper). All three levels or stages of the Church’s existence worship the Sun “with his healing rays” – the Church triumphant in heavenly glory (angels and saints), the Church suffering in purgatory (the people at Calvary cemetery), and the Church militant fighting sin and Satan (me and you). We all face east – both in time and eternity – to worship the Son with “healing in his rays.”

In the first reading today from Revelation 5:1-10, the Lamb breaks open the seals to reveal what is written on the scroll. The scroll is the Sacred Scriptures and the Lamb is of course Jesus, whose death and resurrection (on the Lord’s Day, Sunday) reveals all the mysteries of heaven and earth. When priests and deacons and bishops stand in this ambo and read the gospel at Mass and preach the homily, we carry out and continue the work of the Lamb to break open the seals and reveal the mysteries of heaven and earth. In other words, what happens here at Mass every day, especially every Sunday, is what is happening for those people planted at Calvary Cemetery, and what is happening eternally for the blessed souls in heaven. In a word, we are all at Mass. So, you better get used to coming to Church.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Faith and Fear

Walking by faith not fear during the pandemic

11/18/2020

Matthew 14:22-33 After the crowd had eaten their fill, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he 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 him, 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."

Even though I was quarantined in the rectory for the past ten days, I nevertheless enjoyed opportunities for occasional pastoral ministry. One phone call from a Christ the King parishioners was especially memorable. She apologized for calling me instead of her pastor, Fr. Juan Guido. I chuckled under my breath, and assured her, “Don’t worry at all, there’s probably some I.C. parishioner who is calling Fr. Juan right now rather than talking to me.” I look at it like getting a second opinion from another doctor. The important thing is not which priest you talk to, but that you feel like you are talking with Jesus whoever the human priest might be.

Her concern was the Church’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, and more exactly, she worried it was a reaction driven by fear rather than by faith. She explained: “If we truly believe that Jesus has risen from the dead and conquered sin and suffering and death, then should we not put our faith in that and trust that all will be well?” Let me add that she was not at all angry or argumentative, but genuinely wondered where the line was between faith and fear. I assured her that her question was a very good one, and not at all easy to untangle.

Perhaps one way to look at it is to see that when we use our intelligence and common sense, we are not abandoning our faith. When we buckle our seatbelts, when we purchase health and life insurance, when we stop at red lights (most of us), when we see doctors and take medicine, that does not mean God will not take care of us. Rather, that is how we share in his care of the world. So, too, when we wear masks or stay socially distanced or wash our hands, that does not mean we fail to have faith and live in fear. Those, too, are ways we share in God’s providential care and concern for the world.

I also added that sometimes we must show heroic acts of faith and not be overcome by fear. For example, we must be courageous in standing up for the protection of unborn babies and overturning abortion. In such cases we must choose faith rather than fear, and act in defense of innocent human life. We should take time to read the lives of the holy martyrs, especially those mentioned in the bible, to see where is that thin red line between fear and faith. That thin red line, of course, is colored by the blood that the martyrs shed for Jesus. There may come a time when we have to lay down our lives for Jesus, but such occasions are exceptional, rare, and heroic. It takes profound prayer and deep discernment, therefore, to know if you are living by faith or by fear.

Today’s feast of the Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul highlights how Peter and Paul discerned between faith and fear. In the gospel from Mark 14, Peter boldly steps out of the boat and walks on water, even if only briefly. Peter shows us that sometimes we must courageously walk by faith, even in the face of opposition. Paul, on the other hand, shrewdly remains under house arrest for two years in Rome, from 60 to 62 A.D., where he evangelizes the Romans and writes his four great “Captivity Epistles,” Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. In other words, Paul’s living under house arrest was not cowardly; rather it was calculating and produced great fruit. It can be a very thin red line between faith and fear.

My friends, as we continue to navigate this pandemic please use your good common sense as well as your God-given gift of faith. Sometimes we may think we have to choose one or the other, like the wonderful lady from Christ the King. We may feel like we live by fear not faith if we wear masks or wash hands or bump elbows. But we are not at all being cowardly, but rather calculating and sharing in God’s caring for creation and for one another. And if you have any questions about this homily, please call Fr. Juan Guido at Christ the King.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Election Day

Campaigning for our heavenly election day

10/31/2020

Matthew 5:1-12A When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”

Since we stand on the threshold of a presidential election, perhaps a little election humor will help ease some of the tension we all feel. A politician dies and upon his arrival at the pearly gates, he is told he has the choice of going to heaven or to hell, and that he will get to spend one day in each place to help him decide. Upon his visit to hell, he is greeted by some of his fellow politicians, who take him to a fancy golf club, where they spend their day golfing, drinking champagne and eating caviar. During his visit to heaven, on the other hand, he spends the day floating on clouds, playing harps and singing. When asked by St. Peter where he wants to spend eternity, the man answers: “Well, I hate to say this, but I would rather be in hell.” So, St. Peter escorts him down to the gates of hell.

When the doors open, he is shocked to see a bare, desert wasteland, where his fellow politicians are dressed in rags and they are slaving away for the devil. The politician is confused and asks the devil what happened; it was all so wonderful yesterday. The devil responds: “Yesterday we were campaigning. Today you voted.” The moral is be careful whom you vote for. That reminds me of the truism: you campaign in poetry, but you govern in prose. The campaigning, therefore, is like the honeymoon, but the governing is like the marriage.

It seems to me very providential that three days before the presidential election on November 3, we always celebrate the feast of All Saints on November 1. That is, before we see whom we will elect as the president, we get to see whom God has elected as his Chosen People, his saints. In a sense, you might say our lives here on earth are our campaign efforts to get God to vote for us, to be among his Elect. That election by God is the one that really matters.

Our Scripture readings today give us an idea of an effective campaign strategy when the Father, Son and Holy Spirit comprise the Electoral College. Revelation 7 say the Elect are “the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.” That is, the Elect stay faithful in the midst of trial and distress, and may even have to shed their blood.

In the gospel of Matthew ch. 5, Jesus delivers his Beatitudes, and teaches us the Elect are those who are “poor in spirit,” “they who mourn,” “the meek,” those “who hunger and thirst for holiness,” “the merciful,” “the clean of heart,” “the peacemakers,” and “those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.” In other words, when it comes to being elected by God, the campaigning is the hard part, the prose comes first; the post-election period is when we hear the poetry, where we take our seats on thrones and rule with Jesus. When it comes to the election where God casts the only ballot, the hard part of marriage is now, and the honeymoon awaits us in heaven.

May I tell you about a few people whose election campaigns are going very well? I am not talking about Trump and Biden. On Saturday, I had the funeral of a dear friend who died after a long battle with cancer. During treatment of chemotherapy and radiation, she remained cheerful, not complaining or moaning or groaning about her illness. She was even very hospitable and hosted bible studies and Thanksgiving dinners while she was sick. I am convinced that she was elected by God.

I was surprised when a gay man asked me to be his spiritual director. I am amazed by his honesty and sincerity in his desire to grow in the spiritual life. I don’t know if I am helping him, but he has not ceased to inspire me by his life, especially through his struggles. I have some friends who are avid supporters of Catholic schools. Once a year they come to Fort Smith, take me to lunch, and make a substantial contribution to the Catholic school of my choice. They do not ask for anything in return, just the opportunity to make someone else’s future a little better with a Catholic school education. These are the kind of people Rev. 7 and Mt. 5 are talking about, the kind of candidates God would vote for in the only election that matters.

My friends, there are only a few more days before the presidential election, and already over 86 million Americans have cast their ballots. More people have voted in Texas than the total number that voted in Texas in 2016. Obviously, a lot of Americans are worried about the outcome of this election. In fact, I have received several emails and texts about priests and bishops pushing Catholics to vote a certain way so that a particular candidate wins. They are convinced that catastrophic consequences will ensue if the wrong candidate wins.

I don’t want to minimize the importance of this presidential election, or any other presidential election. Nevertheless, I do want to underscore and emphasize the far more weighty consequences of the only election that ultimately matters, namely, our election by God when we die, so that we might be numbered among his elect.

Let me leave you with some lines from C. S. Lewis’ memorable essay called “Weight of Glory.” Lewis wrote: “In the end that Face (the Face of God) which is the delight or the terror of the universe must be turned upon each of us with either one expression or with the other, either conferring glory inexpressible or inflicting shame that can never be cured or disguised.”

Lewis continued: “I read in a periodical the other day that the fundamental thing is how we think of God. By God himself, it is not! How God thinks of us is not only more important, it is infinitely more important.” And if I might add: the reason why what God thinks of us is more important is that what he thinks of us determines if he will vote for us on election day. That is the election day we should really be worried about.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

No Place on Earth

Keeping our sights on the Jerusalem above

10/29/2020

Luke 13:31-35 Some Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you.” He replied, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I accomplish my purpose. Yet I must continue on my way today, tomorrow, and the following day, for it is impossible that a prophet should die outside of Jerusalem.’ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling! Behold, your house will be abandoned. But I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

If you could visit any city in the world, which one would definitely make your bucket list? Would you go to Paris, called the “City of Lights”? Maybe you would set your sights on Rome, “the Eternal City.” Perhaps you would stay in the United States and spend time in New York, the “City that never sleeps.” Or, maybe you agree with the late mayor of Fort Smith, Ray Baker, and stay put right here because as he said so often: “Life is worth living in Fort Smith, Arkansas!” Do you know which city my father always wanted to see? It was Jerusalem. After he took a pilgrimage there several years ago, he exclaimed in astonishment: “It’s like no place on earth!”

In the gospel of Luke (13:31-35), we see what city Jesus has set his sights on. Like my father, Jesus, too, deeply desires to get to Jerusalem. But unlike Mayor Baker said, Jerusalem I not where “life is worth living,” but rather for Jesus it is the place where one goes to die, especially if you are a prophet. Jesus declares: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen said we call come into this world to live, but Jesus alone came into this world to die, and the city of his death was Jerusalem. That is the one city Jesus was born to visit.

Now if you were to ask the main actors of the Bible what city they most wanted to visit, they, too, would answer “Jerusalem.” Let me trace briefly how Jerusalem is the most desirable city and the city of destiny in the Old and New Testament by looking at the travel itinerary of Abraham, David, St. Paul and St. John. Abraham wanted to go to Jerusalem even before a city was built on the site; it was just a bare mountaintop. In Gen. 22:2, we read: “Then God said, Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go up to the land of Moriah. There offer him up as a burnt offering on one of the heights I will point out to you.” And which height did God point out to Abraham? A little later in 2 Chron. 3:1 we are told Mt. Moriah is in Jerusalem. In other words, Abraham goes to the future site of Jerusalem, not because it is where “life is worth living” but because it is where his son’s “life is worth sacrificing.”

If we skip ahead 800 years after Abraham, roughly to the year 1000 B.C., we see what city David desires to visit most, it is even called “the city of David,” namely, Jerusalem. We read in 2 Sam. 6:13: “David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David with joy.” The ark of the covenant was David’s most prized possession, and he brought it into his own beloved city, just like we move our families, our most prized possession, into the city where we hope to find God’s blessing.

Moving from the Old Testament to the New Testament, St. Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians what city he desires to visit. The Apostle to the Gentiles explains that there are actually two Jerusalem’s, one on earth and one in heaven. See if you can follow St. Paul’s allegory. He writes: “The present Jerusalem…is in slavery along with her children. But the Jerusalem above is freeborn, and she is our mother.”

When my father visited Jerusalem on a pilgrimage he remarked, “It is like no place on earth.” Because my father is a man of faith, when he visited Jerusalem, I believe he had one foot on the earthly Jerusalem and the other foot in the “Jerusalem above” like Paul described. In the earthly Jerusalem we will experience slavery to our sins, and only in the Jerusalem above will we enjoy true freedom forever.

Finally, St. John gives us a glimpse of the city he wants to see, and you guessed it, it is Jerusalem. In the last book of the bible, Revelation 21, we read: “I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down our of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” John seems to mix his metaphors a little by calling Jerusalem both a “city” and a “bride.” Which is it? But I believe he wants to emphasize that the joy of being in Jerusalem is the joy of a bride on her wedding day. Have you noticed how a bride tries to pick the perfect venue for her wedding because she wants it to represent everything she’s living for? So, for John, Jerusalem is the city of the Bride, the Church, longing for the wedding of the Lamb, and being one with her Bridegroom, Jesus.

My friends, as you travel from city to city, here on earth – between Paris, Rome, the Big Apple, and Fort Smith – keep in mind the city of destiny for the people in the Scripture: Jerusalem, and ultimately, the Jerusalem above. Only in the Jerusalem above will life truly be worth living. And even Mayor Ray Baker would agree with that today.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Grave Politics

Praying for the beloved and not-so-beloved dead

11/01/2020

John 6:37-40 Jesus said to the crowds: “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.”

A man arrives at the gates of heaven and St. Peter asks, “Religion?” The man answers, “Methodist.” St. Peter looks down at the list and says: “Go to Room 24, but be very quiet as you pass Room 8.” Another man arrives at the gates of paradise, and Peter asks, “Religion?” The man replies: “Lutheran.” The first pope, Peter, tells him, “Go to Room 18, but be very quiet as you pass Room 8.” A third man arrives at the Pearly Gates and a similar exchange ensues: “Religion?” “Presbyterian.” “Go to Room 11, but be very quiet as you pass Room 8.” The man questions: “I can understand there being different rooms for different denominations, but why must I be quiet when I pass Room 8?” St. Peter explains: “Well, the Baptists are in Room 8, and they think they are the only ones here.”

I’m sorry for bashing the Baptists. Of course, you can insert pretty much any denomination in Room 8, including Catholics, because at one time or another, every religion and denomination has believed they alone would be in heaven, and consequently, no one else will be. That always reminds me of something surprising Archbishop Fulton Sheen often said. He joked: “When we get to heaven, there will be three surprises. First, there will be some people there that we did not think were going to make it, but they did. Second, there will not be people in heaven whom we thought would make it, but they didn’t. And third, the biggest surprise of all is that we ourselves might make it.” In other words, when it comes to who’s enrolled in the Book of Life in heaven, all bets are off. We should stop trying to guess or arrogantly assert that only my denomination will be saved. Rather, as St. Paul said, each should “work out your salvation in fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).

In the gospel today from John 6, Jesus speaks about the mystery of salvation, who will be saved, before he gives his beautiful “Bread of Life Discourse” on the Eucharist. Our Lord declares: “Everything the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.” It almost seems Jesus wishes he didn’t have to save everyone that the Father sends him, - maybe he didn’t want to save Judas who betrayed him? – but of course he does. Our Lord continues: “And this is the will of the one who sent me that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting Vatican II, insists on something similar to our Savior, adding: “Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience – those too may achieve eternal salvation” (Catechism, 847). In other words, both Jesus and his Church maintain there will be some surprises when we get to heaven, in terms of the happy faces we see smiling there, and hopefully our own faces will be smiling there. Therefore, we have to “work out our salvation in fear and trembling,” not assuming we are saved.

Today on the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, commonly called “All Souls,” we remember and pray for our beloved dead. We pray they are given a comfortable room, maybe with an ocean view, when they come to the gates of heaven and present themselves before St. Peter. I pray for my nephew Noah, and all those grieving parents who have had to bury their children. There are so many who have had to face the very untimely death of a loved one, especially a young person. Today’s feast gives us comfort knowing that they are comforted too.

I hope this feast may cast a more gentle light on our partisan politics and that we don’t carry it with us to the grave. That is, St. Peter doesn’t have to say to us, “You are in Room 14, but be very quiet as you go by Room 8, because the Republicans are in there and they think they are the only ones here.” Of course, you can put Democrats in Room 8, too. I rather love the fact that there are so many Catholics in prominent political positions today. The first lady, Melania Trump is Catholic, Joe Biden is Catholic, Nancy Pelosi is Catholic, and now 6 Supreme Court Justices are Catholic. Catholics are taking over this country!

While we disagree on our politics, let us nonetheless pray for each other, especially that we will all make it to heaven, both Democrats and Republicans alike. None of us is perfect, and none of us should “cast the first stone” (Jn. 8:7). But rather, each should “work out our salvation in fear and trembling.” In other words, don’t take your politics to the grave, you might be surprised who makes it to heaven.

Praised be Jesus Christ!