Finally Free

Seeking love rather than freedom

02/24/2021

Jonah 3:1-10 The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you.” So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the LORD’s bidding. Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.

One of the hardest things about junior high is having to do what other people tell you to do, rather than what you want to do. You have to do homework the teachers assign you; you have to practice basketball the way the coach directs; you have to come to school in-person rather than virtually like we did last week because Dr. Hollenbeck insists on it.

We dream of the day we will graduate from junior high and go to high school because then we will get to do what we want to do, and not obey other people. We will finally be free, we think. But we find the same “chains” on our freedom. Teachers who give more homework, coaches who demand harder practices, principals who expect more discipline and effort.

Then we hope for a future of freedom after high school when we can go to college or work, and no longer listen to others or do what they say. Then we think we will finally be free. But what happens in college? You fall in love with someone and they want to see different movies than you. She wants to watch "La La Land" but you want to see "John Wick 3," she wants to go shopping but you want to go fishing, she wants to talk for hours, but you want to take a nap for hours. And you do what she wants.

Or, you might think once I get a job, then I will finally be free to do what I want. But not so fast. Your boss will give you strange tasks and new responsibilities you do not want to do, like some of our teachers who had to learn how to do “virtual classes” this year. (And you all did a great job, by the way!). Or maybe you think you will just become a priest and so you only have to work one day a week on Sunday, and be free for six days to do anything you want. But the bishop makes you not only pastor of I.C. but Administrator of Trinity, and gives you the mission church in Winslow, and puts you on the marriage tribunal.

Then you think “getting married” and having a family brings me the freedom to do what I want. Then, I will be finally free. But again, we must obey others, rather than do what we want. We have to compromise to our spouse if we want a loving and lasting marriage. We have to give up our weekends to take our kids to basketball and baseball and volleyball tournaments. We have to watch the movie “Frozen” at least 100 times until we have memorized all the lines.

Then we think when I retire the kids will move out of the house and I will finally be free! Then I will only do what I want, and not what others tell me. But then come along the grandkids, and you chase them all over the world, and even move to live closer to them and spent time with them. You play legos with them, and you dress up and enjoy tea parties with them. And you do what they want.

Do you see what happens? At every step along the road of life, we think we will be “finally free” at the next step. But that freedom turns out to be an illusion, like a mirage of water in a desert that, when we get to it, is just more dry, hot sand. So, let me suggest to you that what your heart really longs for is not freedom but love. And when you love someone (or something), you are more than happy to forfeit your freedom.

You do not want to be finally free. If you love basketball, you gladly give up your freedom to get better and practice the way the coach says. Our teachers love you, so they give up their freedom and teach virtually. Your parents and grandparents love you, so they forego their plans to give you what you want. I love Jesus and his Church so I am happy to obey the bishop (most of the time).

This choice between freedom and love is the struggle that underlies the story of Jonah. At first, like you, Jonah wanted to be free to do what he wanted so he ran away from God (and was swallowed by a whale). But then he learned that to love and obey God was much better than chasing his freedom, so he went to a foreign land of Nineveh, just like your parents and grandparents will travel to the ends of the earth for love of you.

So, boys and girls, you can keep chasing freedom, but you will discover it is no more than a mirage of water in the desert; it disappears as soon as you run up to it. Or, you can fall in love and then freedom will not seem so sweet. Only when you sacrifice freedom for love will you find the happiness your heart desires.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Piano Man and Pope

Appreciating the role and responsibility of the pope

02/22/2021

Matthew 16:13-19 When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

One Sunday morning a mother went in to wake up her son and tell him it was time to get ready for church. The son grumbled in reply: “I am not going.” The mother asked, “Why not?” He answered, “I’ll give you two good reasons: (1) they don’t like me, and (2) I don’t like them.” His mother calmly responded: “I’ll give you two good reasons why you should go: (1) you are 59 years old, and (2) you are the pastor.” I am sure many Sunday mornings a very similar exchange unfolds between countless Catholic priests and their mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our Mother Mary urges us pastors to get out of bed and go celebrate Mass and it does not matter if the people like us, or we like the people. But don’t worry, I like most of you.

And yet, wanting to be liked is a very human desire and even a natural need. It’s like that line in Billy Joel’s song “Piano Man,” “It’s a pretty good crowd for a Saturday / And the manager gives me a smile / ‘Cause he knows it’s me they’ve been coming to see / To forget about life for a while.” That natural need for people’s praise, though, can easily turn into a cult of personality. Any profession in which public speaking is a premium job qualification – like the priesthood – is always susceptible to a cult of personality. It is hard to love the message if we do not care for the messenger. Therefore, it can be hard to get out of bed on Sunday and say Mass if we don’t like the people and the people don’t like us.

This perennial problem about personality is precisely why we celebrate today’s feast of the Chair of St. Peter. How strange to have a feast day for furniture! Why do we focus on furniture today? Because the chair of St. Peter reminds us that the “message” is more important that the “messenger.” In fact, that chair does not really belong to St. Peter as if it were his personal property. That is not what it means to call it the "Chair of St. Peter." Rather, it belongs to Jesus and to whomever Jesus seats in it. So far, Jesus has brought 266 men to be seated in that chair, starting with St. Peter, and down to our day with Pope Francis.

Being the pope should not devolve into a cult of personality, however. The pope should not sing like the Piano Man, “Cause Jesus knows it’s me they’ve been coming to see to forget about life for a while.” If a pope – indeed, any pastor – forgets that the message is really about the Messiah and not about the messenger, then this feast about furniture gently reminds us that being a pastor is not about being liked or praised.

St. Paul insisted to Timothy in his second letter: “Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient, convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching (2 Tm. 4:2). In other words, get out of bed and go say Mass and stop worrying about whether the people like you or you like the people. Go sit in the presider’s chair at Mass that belonged to another pastor long before you came along, and will be occupied by another pastor long after you are gone. That is the beauty of the Chair of St. Peter.

My friends, do you like the current pope? Are you fond of the Holy Father, Pope Francis? Some Catholics are wildly crazy about Pope Francis while others are wildly critical of him. Some praise his message of mercy to the marginalized as a breath of fresh air; others feel he has pushed the Church away from doctrinal purity and precision. There may be some truth in both perspectives. But I believe they miss the larger point, namely, the Chair of St. Peter. How so? When we take our eyes off the Chair of St. Peter, and focus too much on the fisherman from Galilee (or the archbishop from Argentina), we end up in a cult of personality. We want a piano man rather than the pope.

When we come to Mass do we want to hear a piano or stare at a chair? Do we seek entertainment or eternal life? Today, we pray for Pope Francis, the 266th occupant of the Chair of St. Peter. We pray he will get out of bed every morning and shepherd the Church, regardless of whether we like him or he likes us.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Let’s Talk Numbers

Seeing and supporting the blessing of our parish

02/21/2021

1 Peter 3:18-22 Beloved: Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit. In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.

Ever since Fr. Daniel arrived last September, I have watched a lot of Shark Tank – a lot. Are you familiar with that TV show? Five famous investors called “sharks” listen to sales pitches by potential entrepreneurs for their products. Sometimes, one or more of the sharks will “bite” and make a deal with them. The sharks give them money in exchange for a percentage of their company. The most shrewd shark of all the investors sits in the center, named Kevin O’Leary. He is clearly the “Alpha Shark.” His nickname is “Mr. Wonderful” and his famous line is: “Let’s talk numbers.” Before he makes a deal with anyone, he wants to know the number of sales, the number of orders, the number of inventory, the number of buyers, the number of their debt, and so forth.

Today, I am taking my cue from Mr. Wonderful, and I will talk some numbers with you about our parish. In other words, try to think of this church today as “shark tank,” where you get to be the sharks, and I am the potential entrepreneur trying to get you to buy a stake in the company I represent, called Immaculate Conception Church. This analogy is not as far-fetched as you might imagine.

Every day you listen to people who make sales pitches for your money: to buy this smart phone, to wear those shoes, to visit that vacation spot, to eat at this restaurant. And every day, like the sharks on the show, you either decide to give them your money, or you decline and say, “For that reason, I’m out.” So, today, you get to be Mr. Wonderful (or Mrs. Wonderful) and I will talk numbers, and see if you will bite and invest in this parish with your money.

You should have received a letter I sent on Ash Wednesday providing a panoramic overview of our parish finances for last year, 2020. Because of the pandemic, it was an economically challenging year for most people, except maybe the liquor stores. In response to lower collections, our staff reduced expenses as much as possible (even slashing some of our salaries), and we tried to live within our means. We also received the PPP loan to help with payroll and utilities. Still, it was a struggle. Let me just share three numbers with you from the financial report to show you what a great investment Immaculate Conception Church is for your money.

First, the overall church budget for last year was $1,900,000, and that does not include the school, whose budget is $2,400,000.  Folks, this church and school is a multi-million dollar organization, and I am the CEO! Just kidding, actually, the bishop is the CEO. That large budget number should not surprise you when you remember that I.C. is the fourth largest Catholic church in Arkansas. There are 130 churches and missions in our diocese, and we are the fourth largest in terms of membership, with about 1,800 families, which equates to roughly 6,000 individuals. If you always attend that same Sunday Mass, it may be hard to believe you have so many spiritual brothers and sisters in your parish family, but you do. Hence our budget is so big. So, the first number is our budget of over $4M (including church and school).

Secondly, under expenses, you will notice that we spend 33% of our income on Catholic schools for a total of over $550,000. Some of that 33% goes to I.C. School, and some of it goes to Trinity Junior High. Some people may be disappointed or even disagree with spending that much on Catholic schools, but not me. Why not? I am convinced my priestly vocation was deeply influenced by the Catholic schools I attended: the priests, the nuns, the lay teachers, the religion classes, the Masses I slept through, and confessions I made, and especially the friends I cherish to this day. In other words, Catholic schools sort of made me a “spiritual shark” who wanted to take a bite out of my faith, and so I invested everything I have for a percentage in the priesthood. Catholic schools try to make all our students "baby sharks," spiritually-speaking. The second number is the 33% (or $550,000) that we spend of Catholic schools, and this priest is proud of that number.

Third, you may notice an unusual category under expenses called “Diocesan Support” where we spent almost $150,000 last year. That is basically a “diocesan tax” that all parishes pay in order to support the bishop and the diocesan offices and ministries. Now no one likes to pay taxes, but this tax is not all bad. Why not? Our diocesan support tax is a very concrete sign that we belong to the Catholic – that is universal – Church.

You see, the bishop is a successor of the apostles. And therefore, supporting the bishop puts our money where our mouth is so we say at the end of the Creed with conviction: “I believe in one, holy, catholic and APOSTOLIC Church.” Bishop Taylor is our connection to the apostles. Paying our diocesan support, makes our parish a "shark" that takes a bite of the universal Church, and we get a percentage of the Church that Jesus established on his Apostles. So the third number is $150,000 without which, we could not really call ourselves a “Catholic Church.”

In the second reading today, St. Peter also “talks numbers” describing Noah’s Ark. St. Peter, the first pope said: “God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. This prefigured baptism, which saves you now.” The key number is 8. That is, Noah’s ark held 8 people who “were saved through water,” a symbol of baptism. Have you ever noticed how traditional Catholic churches looks a lot like “arks” in which we find safety from the “waves of the world,” and where, we, too, are saved by the waters of baptism?

In other words, the number 8 symbolized not only Noah’s family, but all those who are saved, meaning me and you, and that makes this church where we are baptized our ark. So, be a shark today, and take a bite of this ark by investing in this parish with your tithe. Why? Because in the end, the only number that will matter is the number of the people who are saved.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Choose or Lose

Choosing eternal life instead of earthly life

02/18/2021

Luke 9:22-25 Jesus said to his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” Then he said to all,  “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”

Today’s scriptures suggest an intriguing irony that revolves around the word “life.” In the Old Testament in Deut. 30:19, Moses says: “Choose life,” but in the New Testament, Lk. 9:24, Jesus says: “Lose life.” The Old Testament commands us to “choose life” while the New Testament asks us to “lose life.” Which Testament is right: Moses or Jesus? The answer hinges on which kind of "life" we want to choose or lose.

The Old Testament offers us earthly life: land, livestock and legacy. Moses urged the people on the verge of entering the Promised Land: “For that will mean life for you, a long life for you to live on the land.” The New Testament suggests we seek heavenly life: marriage to Jesus the Lamb (Rev. 19:9), being seated on heavenly thrones (Eph. 2:6), and enjoy the Father’s mansion with many rooms (Jn. 14:2). Ironically, the scriptures invite us to both “choose life” and then surprisingly, to “lose life.”

It took me a long time to understand how the Old and New Testaments relate to each other. Have you ever wondered about that relationship? On the one hand, they work in harmony and wholeness, like one book in two volumes, or two chapters of the same book. The Old and New Testaments cut cleanly like two blades of the same scissors or fly smoothly like the two wings of one plane. The Testaments work in tandem; they always go together. St. Augustine put it perfectly saying: “The New Testament is concealed in the Old and the Old Testament is revealed in the New.” In other words, the New Testament would not make sense without the Old; it would be like a tree without roots.

And yet, on the other hand, we find a very distinct and dark line drawn between the Old and the New Testament that demands a decision on our part. Christians are called to relinquish the hopes of the Old Testament in order to inherit the promises of the New Testament. That is, we must not only compare the Old and the New Testaments to see what they have in common; we must also contrast the Old and New Testaments to discover where they conflict.

Think of it like this: it helps to study Isaac Newton’s law of gravity but we should not stay stuck in Newtonian physics but move forward and discover Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, a better explanation of reality. Newton is like the Old Testament while Einstein is like the New Testament. Once you have learned the new physics (how the world really works), you would be foolish to go back to the old physics.

One theologian put this contrast in terms of the aphorism: “The good sometimes becomes the enemy of the best, if it keeps you from the best.” That is, don’t let the good (embodied in Moses) become the enemy of the best (incarnated in Christ), so we must let go of the good and grab hold of the best. In other words, the Old and the New Testaments have to be compared, but they also have to be contrasted. The two Testaments are both friends, but also foes.

My friends, how timely that we talk about the two Testaments at the beginning of Lent; indeed, on the second day of this sacred season. Why? Well, the very same dark dividing line between the Old and New Testaments is placed before us at Lent. On the one hand, we hear Moses command us to choose earthly life, while on the other hand, we hear our Lord beckon us to “lose earthly life” in order to gain eternal life. The day before Ash Wednesday (Mardi Gras) we "choose life," but the first day of Lent, we "lose life."

Maybe this contrast will help us make more sense of our Lenten sacrifices. When we perform extra prayer, when we give more money to church and charity, when we fast from food and drink in order to discipline our desires, we “lose life” like Jesus enjoined. But in the bargain we gain eternal life. And what’s more, we step out of the Old Testament into the New Testament, because sometimes the good can become the enemy of the best.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Long Lent

Learning to see life as a long Lent

02/17/2021

Joel 2:12-18 Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing, Offerings and libations for the LORD, your God. Blow the trumpet in Zion! proclaim a fast, call an assembly; Gather the people, notify the congregation; Assemble the elders, gather the children and the infants at the breast; Let the bridegroom quit his room and the bride her chamber. Between the porch and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep, And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people, and make not your heritage a reproach, with the nations ruling over them! Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land and took pity on his people.

The season of Lent usually runs from Ash Wednesday till Holy Thursday, minus the Sundays. But this year Lent started early with a massive snow storm that has shut down a large swath of the United States. Here at home in Fort Smith, people have lost electricity, their pipes have frozen, or worse, their pipes burst and flooded their home, and temperatures have dipped to record lows at 7 degrees below zero. But I would suggest to you that this Lent started long before this snow storm.

This Lent feels like a continuation of the Lent of last year – the yucky year 2020 – because we are still crippled by the coronavirus pandemic. Our churches still practice the precautions of wearing masks and sitting in every other pew for social distancing. Even the way we receive ashes today will be different, that is, the priest or minister will sprinkle the ashes on top of your head instead of make the customary cross of ashes on your forehead. Some Catholics will be disappointed not being able to show off their ashes to their Protestant friends. All the “cool kids” get ashes on Ash Wednesday.

Nevertheless, maybe this long Lent is helping us to see a little better what Lent is really all about. What do I mean? Lent is a season of sacrifice where we deliberately choose a cross to carry for forty days. For instance, we stop staring at social media, or we forego coffee or alcohol, or we may elect to eat no more desserts, etc. But authentic Christians do not carry our crosses just for forty days, but rather for our whole life. Jesus said in Mt. 16:24, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Jesus did not mean you carry your cross for forty days and then you can drop it and relax for the other 325 days of the year. This long Lent relentlessly reminds us that the cross should be a constant in a Christian’s life.

Secondly, this long Lent can teach us that the earthly Easter is not the end of the road of Lent. Of course, we look forward to Easter this year with great anticipation when we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection with joy. We will hide Easter eggs, and girls will don Easter dresses, and hopefully more can make it to Mass. But this Lent will not end at Easter. Why not? Well, this pandemic will likely continue for a while longer, stretching into summer. And I think of those who have lost a loved one to the COVID virus, for whom this Lent has left an indelible wound. That, however, may not be all bad. Why not?

All our losses during Lent underscore what we hear in Heb. 13:14, the last chapter of the stupendous sermon, where the anonymous ancient author says: “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the one that is to come.” He is referring to the “heavenly Jerusalem” described in Rev. 21:2, where St. John said: “I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” In other words, every Lent, especially this one, teaches us to long for our heavenly home, the last city of Jerusalem, which (changing metaphors) is the Bride of the Lamb. And the “bride” is a beautiful image of this Lent because every bride fasts and makes many sacrifices to fit into her wedding dress.

My friends, welcome to Lent, 2021. Strangely enough, this Lent started before Ash Wednesday and it promises to persist long after Easter Sunday. But that may be a blessing in disguise. How so? It gently reminds us every Christian must carry his or her cross daily. And the eternal Easter awaits us in heaven not here on earth. Maybe this long Lent will not feel so long if we look at it like a bride who longs for her wedding day.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Seven Heaven

Understanding the significance of seven

02/16/2021

Mark 8:14-21 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Jesus enjoined them, “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” They concluded among themselves that it was because they had no bread. When he became aware of this he said to them, “Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?” They answered him, “Twelve.” “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?” They answered him, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

Arguably, the most symbolic and significant number in scripture is the number seven. But seven was not chosen arbitrarily, nor is it significant only because “seven” rhymes with “heaven.” Its value and virtue goes much deeper than that. Here it helps to know a little Hebrew. The word “seven” in Hebrew is “shiva” or “sheva.” That is also the term used to swear an oath, or to enter into a covenant. Now, a covenant is much more than a promise because it is based on a solemn oath, like a marriage. At his 50th wedding anniversary two weeks ago, Bill Buergler could barely repeat his wedding vows because he understood how sacred they were.

When we take a loan from a bank, we sign a promissory note because we promise to payback the loan. But an oath – based on seven – is far greater than a promise. How so? Well, a promise creates a contract whereby we exchange goods and services, but an oath creates a covenant wherein we exchange persons. In an oath, we say: “I give you myself and you give me yourself.” A promise differs from an oath like prostitution differs from marriage.

When God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day, he was not just tired after six long, hard days, and feeling exhausted and needing a break to catch his breath and recharge his batteries. He rested on the seventh day because he was making a “covenant” with creation; indeed, he wanted to marry his creation. If that sounds preposterous, Isaiah would say the same thing in Isaiah 62:5 (one of the most sublime passages of the Old Testament): “For as a young man marries a virgin, so your Builder shall marry you; And as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so shall your God rejoice in you.” As audacious as that sounds, the number seven signifies marriage, and ultimately, it means marriage with God. That is the deepest dimension of the number seven, which means marriage.

We see the number seven in both scripture readings today. In Gn. 6, God orders Noah to take “seven pairs” of clean animals and “seven pairs” of clean birds into the Ark. Furthermore, God would wait seven days before sending rain upon the earth to cause the Flood. These sevens are not arbitrary or isolated numbers and time periods. They signify a covenant that God makes with Noah; indeed, God swears an oath to protect Noah and his Ark, the new creation, like a husband promises to provide and protect his bride and their future family.

In the gospel Jesus reminds his apostles how he broke “seven loaves” of bread and fed the four thousand. When he asks, “How many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?” they answer, “Seven.” Then our Lord asks exasperated: “Do you still not understand?” Jesus might ask us the same question, “Do we still not understand the significance of seven?” We answer: "Uh, no." In other words, just as God employed the number seven in the Old Testament to symbolize his desire to marry his people, so Jesus uses seven in the New Testament to signify that he, too, is the Bridegroom who wants to marry his bride, the Church, to provide bread aplenty (the Eucharist) and to protect her.

John the Baptist saw the significance of seven when he said about Jesus: “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom [meaning Jesus]; the best man [meaning John], who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete” (Jn. 3:29). The deepest dimension of the number seven in scripture is the desire of our loving God to marry us and to take us home to heaven. So, maybe seven and heaven do have a connection.

My friends, we experience the significance of the number seven in our work-week. We work for five days and rest for two days. That may seem like an arbitrary arrangement inherited from our Judeo-Christian history, and so it’s easily exchangeable. Why not adopt a 5-day week, or a 10-day week, and so forth? I suppose we could, and if atheism’s influence increases in our culture, we may well change the work-week. But we would also “divorce” ourselves (pun intended) from the deepest dimension of the significance of seven, namely, our marriage with God, and his desire to take us home to heaven. And what would happen if we did away with the significance of seven as marriage with God? We would be left only with promises. And promises are little more than prostitution.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Acceptable as Abel

Learning how to offer an acceptable sacrifice

02/15/2021

Genesis 4:1-15, 25 The man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the LORD.” Next she bore his brother Abel. Abel became a keeper of flocks, and Cain a tiller of the soil. In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the soil, while Abel, for his part, brought one of the best firstlings of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not. Cain greatly resented this and was crestfallen. So the LORD said to Cain: “Why are you so resentful and crestfallen. If you do well, you can hold up your head; but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door: his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master.”

Here is my personal definition for the word “sacrifice,” which you will not find in any dictionary. Sacrifice is some suffering willingly endured for the sake of love. For example, you made such a sacrifice this morning by coming to 7 a.m. Mass on Monday morning in a snow storm in 7 degree temperature! I really expected to celebrate Mass this morning with only my Guardian Angel in the congregation, and of course, Ed’s cat. Your suffering this morning is part of what makes the “Holy Sacrifice of the Mass” really a sacrifice.

One of my favorite Scripture verses is Col. 1:24, where St. Paul talks about his own definition of sacrifice, saying: “Now, I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church.” Now you know where I borrowed my own definition of sacrifice, from St. Paul. Right in the middle of the Mass – at the heart of the Eucharistic liturgy – the priest says: “Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Almighty Father.” Part of your sacrifice this morning was driving through snow to come to Mass, and it is indeed “acceptable to God the Almighty Father.” Why? Because your sacrifice shows how much you love God; that is, more than life and limb. Sacrifice is some suffering willingly endured for the sake of love. The key ingredient is love.

This definition of sacrifice may shed some light on the sacrifices of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, our first reading. First, we must recall that Cain was a farmer, “a tiller of the soil,” while Abel was a shepherd, “a keeper of the flocks.” They both have noble professions, and so in that respect they are equal. Furthermore, they both make sacrifices. Cain offers “the fruit of the soil,” and Abel offers “one of the best firstlings of his flock.” But did you catch a subtle difference in the two sacrifices? Cain brought “an offering from the fruit of the soil,” but Abel brought “one of the best firstlings of his flock.” In other words, Cain made a mediocre gift, while Abel brought his best.

What was missing between the two brothers? Love. When you love someone, especially God, you want to give them your best, not your least and not your leftovers. Listen to my definition of sacrifice again: “Sacrifice is some suffering willingly endured for the sake of love.” Mother Teresa often repeated: “Do small things with great love,” which is another way of saying, “Make small sacrifices with great love.” That is what made Abel’s sacrifice so acceptable, he sacrificed the firstlings of his flock with great love. Love is the key ingredient.

My friends, we may not be farmers or shepherds, but does that mean we have no sacrifice to offer to God? Not at all. The modern equivalent of Cain’s fruits and Abel’s flocks is our time, treasure and talent. We all have 24 hours in a day, and 7 days in a week that we can spend on all sorts of pursuits. But what if we took a little of that time and sacrificed it to God by coming to Mass at least on Sundays and holy days? But don’t do it begrudgingly but rather gladly, even lovingly, and then it will be an acceptable sacrifice to God. The key ingredient is love.

We all have treasure, and in this country we usually have much more than we need. What if we took a little of that treasure and sacrificed it to church and charity? Again, don’t do it reluctantly, or just for a tax deduction, but eagerly, even lovingly, and it will be a sacrifice as acceptable as that of Abel. And thirdly, we all have talents and abilities to do certain things easily and efficiently, like the person who came at 6 a.m. today with their snow blower and cleared off the sidewalks of the church. What if you took a little of your talent and offered it to God to build up his Kingdom on earth? If you shared your talents with love, I am convinced it will be an acceptable sacrifice to Almighty God.

The Genesis story of Cain and Abel is not some mythological fairytale about sibling rivalry that finally ends in fratricide. It is a story about sacrifice, and what kind of sacrifice is acceptable to God, namely, a sacrifice of love. And we find the highest expression of that acceptable sacrifice here at the Mass, where we receive, in the words of Hebrews 12:24, “the sprinkled Blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Seeing our Eyes

Seeing both the bad and the blessings

02/09/2021

Genesis 1:20—2:4a Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds.” And so it happened: God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle, and all kinds of creeping things of the earth. God saw how good it was. Then God said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.” God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them. God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed–the sixth day.

Can I just vent for a second about how much I hate the coronavirus and the pandemic it has caused? First and most tragically, it has cost the lives of close Trinity family and personal friends, like Dr. Kent Magrini, Betty Hennelly, Van Philaly, and yesterday we buried Enrique Galvan. All of them died of COVID. Second, it has created an enormous new workload for both teachers and students. Teachers had to learn a whole new method of teaching with students staying home and being virtual. Teacher’s workload basically doubled.

Dr. Hollenbeck and Mr. Edwards reinvented the whole school day with students staying safely distanced and wearing masks all day. Coaches and players struggled with seasons that were shortened or games canceled on a moment’s notice. Events were canceled or done virtually taking a financial toll, like the very popular Trinity Gala. Each of you has probably suffered your own share of inconveniences and irritations thanks to this pandemic.

Of course, we don’t need to mention that this year both 8th grade and 9th grade will graduate from Trinity. That means we will lose one year of Catholic school education in Fort Smith, namely, 9th grade. Think about it: Trinity 9th grade will be part of our past, like St. Scholastica Academy that closed its doors in 1968 and St. Anne’s Academy that saw its last students in 1973. This has been a tough year at Trinity. Whew, I just needed to get that off my chest!

But I cannot say it was all bad, that is, this COVID crisis cloud also has some silver linings. For example, we have learned a lot of new technology this year. Thank you, Mr. Hines, the Titan of Technology! Students have continued classes even while quarantined at home. These Trinity Masses are live-streamed now and can evangelize the world. The whole world has a window into Trinity. Even Pope Francis gave us a “thumbs up” recently (just kidding). I also think this COVID crisis has caused us to be closer as a Trinity family as we carry this cross together. I love the old saying: “A friend in need is a friend indeed.” A crisis has a way of sifting people: separating the wheat from the chaff, and we find our true friends.

And last but not least, I have watched proudly as each of you has risen to meet every challenge this crisis has thrown at us. You have made the changes we needed and dug deep into your own character and discovered you can do this. This crisis has taught us we are capable of more than we ever imagined, like St. Paul said in Phil. 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” In other words, if we look below the surface struggles of this year, we can find some golden nuggets of God’s grace. But we have to look for them.

These two ways of looking at things – seeing the bad or seeing the blessings – is highlighted by the scripture readings today. Genesis 1 tells the story of creation. Do you recall what God did at the end of each day of creation? We read about his reaction at the end of the sixth day: “God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.” In other words, God has an eye for the good, like teenage boys have an eye for pretty girls. God saw not only that everything he made was good, but he could see the good in everything.

But in the gospel, what are the Pharisees’ eyes trained on? They were quick to catch the bad, the mistakes, the sins. We read: “They observed that some of [Jesus’] disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed hands.” God looks at the world and sees blessings; the Pharisees open their eyes and can only see problems and pains; what’s bad and wrong with the world.

Boys and girls, with what kind of eyes do you gaze upon the world? With what kind of eyes do you peer at the people sitting around you? Some people only see the world’s problems and pandemics; others try to see more deeply and can catch the blessing below the surface. And maybe that is another unexpected and surprising blessing of this COVID crisis: maybe it has helped us to see our own eyes.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

That Fathering Feeling

Learning to imitate God the Father

02/08/2021

Mark 6:53-56 After making the crossing to the other side of the sea, Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and tied up there. As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him. They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.

I love scrolling on Facebook and seeing family life on full display. What often catches my eye is how fathers and mothers teach their sons and daughters to be more like them. Pictures pop up of fathers and sons going deer hunting or fishing, or depict the domestic life of mothers and grandmothers teaching their daughters to cook their signature recipes, like feather bed rolls and coconut cream pie.

This kaleidoscope of family life can be captured by that phrase “like father, like son,” or “like parent, like child” (to be more inclusive). Even I get a taste of this “fathering feeling” with the army of associate pastors who have paraded through our parish over the years. Although, in the case of Fr. Daniel, he is teaching me a lot more than I am teaching him. I am convinced that this “fathering feeling” lies at the heart of all family life; indeed, it is its very heartbeat.

The scripture readings today from Genesis 1 and Mark 6 show that the Trinitarian Family life of God is no different. That is, there is an eternal “Fathering feeling” beating in the heart of God, where we also find hidden that truth “like God the Father, like God the Son.” Gen. 1 recounts the story of creation. In Gen. 1:2 we read: “The earth was a formless wasteland and darkness covered the abyss.” Unfortunately, that English translation obscures the two distinctive and decisive Hebrew words “tuhu” and “bohu,” which mean “formless” and “void” respectively. In other words, when God the Father creates in Genesis he overcomes a deep disorder and deformity (namely, nonexistence) and brings forth the beauty of creation.

Did you notice what Jesus was doing in the gospel of Mark? It was like another picture from Facebook: “like Father, like Son.” We read: “They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard [Jesus] was.” In other words, Jesus’ healing ministry also overcomes a similar deep disorder and deformity in human beings, like what God the Father had overcome in creation as a whole. In every word and action, in each sigh and tear of our Savior, we find a “fathering feeling,” where God the Son copies God the Father. I love Jesus’ dramatic declaration in John 5:17, where he says: “My Father is at work until now, and I am at work.” Jesus asserts in no uncertain terms: my Father and I are one.

Let me point out two implications of today’s scriptures for you and me. First, the fathering feeling we experience in domestic life at home – hunting and fishing, baking and broiling – is only the beginning of the story. Christians are called not only to imitate our earthly fathers and mothers, but our heavenly Father. After all, we are Jesus’ little brothers and sisters, and God is also our Father by baptism. In other words, Facebook captures only a small part of the whole story; we might say it is only the “preface” of the book of our life. Our true life consists of “like Father, like son” but our true Father is divine. We, too, must be able to say like Jesus in Jn. 5:17, “My Father is at work until now, and I am at work.”

Second, the “tohu” and “bohu” we are called to overcome is the deep disorder and deformity caused by sin in our own lives. In other words, we, too, share in God’s work of creation, but our part is different from what God the Father and God the Son do. The little corner of creation we have to bring forth into beauty is our own soul. That new creation occurs every time we go to sacramental confession and the “formless” and “void” caused by sin is overcome. Every time we kneel in confession, we should whisper, “My Father is at work until now and I am at work.” You too will experience that “fathering feeling” in confession; indeed in all the sacraments.

You may know that I post these homilies on Facebook after I preach them at morning Mass. However, they are quickly buried under hundreds of pictures of fathers and sons hunting and fishing and mothers and daughters baking. And that is okay. If by chance someone should stop and read this homily, they might grasp the grace that is found in that "fathering feeling" where we teach our children to be a little more like us. And if you stop and listen very carefully, you will hear the heartbeat of God.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Crowds Gone Wild

Learning to listen to our inner shepherd

02/06/2021

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.

In the past few years we have seen two startling examples of the mob mentality, or crowds gone wild. First, we saw it in the Black Lives Matter protests where protestors got carried away and destroyed private property. Second, it reared its ugly head in the riots and raiding of public property, namely, the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6. In other words, people who otherwise might have remained peaceful protestors got swept up in the moment and went with the crowd or the mob.

These people switched off their personal navigating instruments, which we call our conscience, and rode the wave of crazy crowds. They did things that in more sane and solitary moments they would never have done because their conscience would have cautioned them. But we should not point fingers at protestors and rioters for switching off their conscience because we have done the same. We have gone along with crowds of friends when we drank too much one Friday night, or jumped on the bandwagon and criticized others on social media.

We see this “crowds gone wild” mentality in the gospel today. Jesus and the apostles cannot rest for the sheer number of people who follow them. Notice Jesus’ reaction to this mob mentality: “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.” Let me point out two things about this poignant passage.

First, they were like sheep without a shepherd because they had switched off their inner navigating system, their conscience, and were riding the wave of the crowds. Think of how “schools of fish” dart in one direction and then suddenly change course. Secondly, Jesus taught them many things in order to jump-start their consciences. To be sure, Jesus is the Good Shepherd as it says in John 10, and in Psalm 23. But our Lord also wanted them to heed their “inner shepherd,” their conscience, and not merely follow the mob mentality.

Let me suggest a few ways we can hear Jesus teaching us today so we do not get caught up in the “crowds gone wild.” This is one reason people who pursue higher education are told not to study in the same university for their masters and their doctorate. A truly educated person knows there are many ways to understand any given issue, his or her conscience is keen, and can see how all sides have something to contribute in the conversation. A friend of mine is politically conservative, but she regularly reads the left-leaning New York Times because she wants to hear other sides of the debate. After she hears both the conservative and liberal sides, her conscience decides which path to follow.

This may also calm some of the anxiety parents feel when their sons or daughters start to question or rebel or even reject their family values. In some cases, it truly may be a cause for concern. But in many cases, this is the normal course of development for an individual’s conscience. The “crowd,” in this case, is the family and the young person wants to think for himself or herself. The crucial thing to teach a young person, though, is that while it is good not to get swept up in the crowd gone wild, don’t’ substitute your “family crowd” just to be part of your “friends crowd.” In that case, your conscience, your inner shepherd, is still switched off.

Here is a last example. In my latest study on the Acts of the Apostles, I recommended reading a book by A. N. Wilson, who has a very anti-Catholic perspective on the Apostle Paul. Listen to these lines about Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 7 about celibacy: “Paul’s apparently grudging attitude to marriage provided celibate fanatics in later Christian generations with plenty of ammunition to support their body-hating, women-hating philosophies, their monkish despairs, their flagellations, their hairshirts, their cells and their vows” (Paul, 162). See, I read more than just Scott Hahn books! When we find a favorite author or politician or news anchor, we can easily switch off our inner shepherd, and let someone else do our thinking for us. We look down on those who follow the mob mentality walking down one street, but we miss how we are doing the same on another street.

At this Mass, let us listen to Jesus our true and good Shepherd, as “he teaches us many things,” for we are the people he looks upon with pity. And one of those things he teaches us is how to listen to our inner shepherd.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Doing the Dishes

Seeing how women stand in the center

02/02/2021

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 or revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.”

The modern world is very much in need of a women’s liberation movement. But not in the sense of trying to make women more like men, but in helping women to be more like who God intended them to be. That is, we need to help women be more authentically feminine not masculine, and capture what John Paul II loved to call “the feminine genius.” In other words, the world tragically loses that feminine genius when we reduce women to be just another man.

Many years ago I read a beautiful book by Louis Bouyer, the French theologian who died in 2004, called Woman in the Church. He made a comment that caused a spiritual Copernican Revolution in my mind and in my universe. That is, instead of seeing man at the center of society, we should see women more at the center, like a queen bee in a hive of bees or the queen ant in an ant hill. Bouyer was steeped in the Bible and observed that when women are considered “unclean” and need to be “purified,” it does not mean they are somehow less than men, but rather more than men.

Today’s gospel begins: “When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Many and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.” The reason for this purification of the mother was stipulated in Lev. 12:2-8. After giving birth to a male child a woman must be “purified” by waiting for 40 days and making a sacrifice before she could enter the Temple. Now, here comes the Copernican Revolution part. Bouyer suggested that we in the Church purify things that are holy, not things that are unholy.

For example, after the priest finishes distributing Holy Communion, have you ever noticed him “doing the dishes”? There is a liturgical term for doing the dishes after Communion, namely, “purifying the sacred vessels.” Some priests even take a long time to do that. Why? Well, because they know they are touching something very holy, the sacred vessels that contained the Body and Blood of Christ. Bouyer argued that when a woman is “purified” in the Bible, that cleansing carries more of the spiritual sense of “purifying the sacred vessels.”

Just like the blood that women lose when they give birth, as well as the blood they lose during their monthly period, is not a sign of their unholiness but rather of their closeness to the Sacred, to God. This helps us see the dramatic difference between men and women in the Church. Put it this way: men are priests who clean the sacred vessels, but women in a sense “are” the sacred vessels. Which would you rather be: the priest or the Communion Cup, the Queen bee or the worker bee, the Queen ant or the worker ant?

Let me go back to women in society for a second. A lot of progress has been made in the equality of the sexes in society, and that is a very good thing. Last week I visited the school’s 5th grade class and they were discussing the U.S. Constitution and the Amendments. I asked them if they knew which amendment gave women the right to vote? All the hands shot up and they answered it was the 19th Amendment and it was passed in 1920. Of course, more work remains to be done in helping us see men and women as truly of equal worth and value in society.

Nevertheless, I am convinced that if the goal of the women’s liberation movement is merely to make women more like men, then it will fall far short of its highest ideals. Rather, like Louis Bouyer, we should try to find the true dignity and destiny of women (as well as of men) in the Bible, and in the Church. And when we do we might discover something surprising; indeed, a king of Copernican Revolution as to who stands in the center. In the Church women are not called to “do the dishes” because, in a sense, they are the dishes. To ordain women as priests would be something below their dignity, not something that calls them to new heights.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

First Mission Field

Laboring in the vineyard of our own family

02/01/2021

Mark 5:1-20 Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the sea, to the territory of the Gerasenes. When he got out of the boat, at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him. Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him, crying out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!” And he pleaded earnestly with him not to drive them away from that territory. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside. And they pleaded with him, “Send us into the swine.  Let us enter them.” And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him. But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead, “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.

Do you know what parish I was first assigned to as a priest? Or, what my first mission field was? That first parish was not Christ the King which is where Bishop McDonald sent me immediately after ordination. Rather, it was my own family which is where Jesus sent me after he first called me to be a priest back in high school. In other words, my first parish assignment was given to me many years before I was ordained a priest, and that first mission field was my own family. My mom and dad, my brother and sister were my first parishioners – poor people!

I will never forget the evening at dinner when I shared my desire to be a priest. I remember where everyone was sitting at the table, and each person’s reaction. To put it mildly, they were not overjoyed at the news; indeed, they were surprised and even a little stunned. Why? Well, at that time we were practicing Catholics, but we did the minimum. We went to Sunday Mass but that was it. We did not go to regular confession, we were not involved in parish groups, we did not invite the priest for supper, and we did not even greet him after Mass. We did what all good Catholics should do: pray, pay and obey.

But after I shared my calling to be a priest, things started to change at home. My family’s faith life kicked into high gear. Today, my parents attend daily Mass and pray the rosary every evening; my sister teaches RCIA in her parish in Orlando, my sister-in-law leads her parish youth group in Springdale, my brother teaches the Confirmation class and he’s on the board of the new Catholic high school, and so forth. The first parish to receive the blessing of my priestly vocation, therefore, was my own family.

In the gospel today, Jesus heals a man possessed by a demon. But do you recall where Jesus sends him to share the news about his miraculous healing? The man was ready to leave everything and become one of Jesus’ followers, but Jesus “told him instead, ‘Go home to your family and announce to them all the Lord in his pity has done for you’.” In other words, Jesus sent him into the mission field of his own family to share how Jesus had touched and transformed his life. Notice, too, that rather than run home, the man went to the Decapolis (which means “ten cities”) to proclaim the good news of his miracle there. It always feels easier to talk to strangers about our faith than to our own family. But our first mission field is always our own home.

My friends, do you realize we are all called to be priests? You received a priestly anointing at your baptism similar to (but not the same as) the one I received when I was ordained. Sacred Chrism was poured on the top of your head at baptism, like Sacred Chrism was smeared on my hands at ordination. Both anointings conferred an indelible mark, making us “a kingdom of priests” or “a royal priesthood” as it says in 1 Pet. 2:9. And your first mission field after your baptism is your own home.

Sometimes it is easier to share the good news with strangers than with those living under the same roof. Many years ago I was counseling a man who was on the verge of getting a divorce. I was trying to help him save his marriage. One day he said to me: “But if I get a divorce, I would have more free time to volunteer in church.” Maybe he thought he would gain my sympathy because I would gain a volunteer in church. But the man had forgotten his first mission field was his own family, and his marriage. The job of spouses is to get each other to heaven, a very priestly purpose. More than the church needs lectors and Eucharistic ministers and ushers, we need Catholics who live their faith in their own homes. But it always feels sexier to share the faith with strangers.

Let me read the entire verse from 1 Pet. 2:9: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” That profound passage is a perfect summary of our entire Christian vocation. We are all called to be priests, and our first parish assignment is our own family.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Author of All

Seeing how Jesus’ authority is unique and universal

01/31/2021

Mark 1:21-28 Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are— the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet!  Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

This homily will hone in on just one word, namely, “authority.” Can you hear another little word hidden inside the bigger word “authority”? Of course, it is the word “author.” I am convinced that the most fundamental kind of “authority” is that which belongs to the one who is the “author,” like the author of a book. Only an author has full authority over his or her book, to change it as he chooses. Now, what is the opposite of being an author? Every high school student knows that is someone who plagiarizes; the person who copies someone else’s work and claims it as his own.

I have personally written three books of homilies (by the way, they are on sale in the church office). But I hesitate to label myself an “author” or "original creator" of those books Why?  Well, I cannot point to a single word, or sentence, or paragraph that was entirely original. I have learned everything I know from someone else, and so have you. I just assembled the words differently on the page, like taking legos someone used to build a plane but I used them to build a boat. But I did not make the legos. In the final analysis, there is only one Author of all, namely, God, and he has written the book called Creation. Compared to God the Author we are all in the position of plagiarists. C. S. Lewis said something similar about Satan. He wrote: “Evil is a parasite, not an original thing” (Mere Christianity, 45). The word “authority,” therefore, is intrinsically linked to the word “author.” And because God alone is the Author of all creation, he possesses authority over all creation. He wrote the book.

In the gospel today, Jesus’ authentic authority is on full display, and by contrast, everyone else is seen as a plagiarist, or worse, a parasite. We read: “The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” The people could immediately see that Jesus enjoyed the authority of an Author, that is, God’s authority, while the scribes were merely plagiarizing someone else’s work. Even a high school student could have seen that.

A little later an evil spirit senses Jesus’ audacious authority, and exclaims: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” As Lewis observed, the evil spirit was a parasite, and he was suddenly face to Face with the Original One, the Holy One of God. In other words, Jesus’ authority is unique and universal: he is the Author of all creation, and therefore he has authority over all creation.

Now, you might be wondering: what does any of this have to do with the price of eggs in China? What does this mean for us today? Let me share three examples where we may be tempted to usurp some of that authority that belongs uniquely and universally to Jesus and falsely claim it as our own. First, God alone is the Author of life, especially human life. That is why abortion and capital punishment are so wrong. When we abort a baby or execute an inmate, we attempt to exercise an authority that is not ours over human life in the womb or on death row. Only the Author of the Book of Life has the authority to begin life and to end life. When we practice such a prerogative, we are plagiarizing and pretending we have an authority that we don’t.

Second, Jesus is the Author of love, and therefore our Lord alone possesses the authority to define love as well as marriage. I say this with great care and compassion to those in the LGBTQ community. When we try to rewrite the rulebook on romance, redefining marriage, we attempt to exercise an authority that is above our pay grade. Jesus said in Mark 10: “From the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” Jesus was not expressing an opinion we can opt out of, but speaking with the same authority in Mark 10 as he had back in Mark 1 (today's gospel). How can he do that? Because only the Author of the Book of Love has the authority to define what love looks like.

And third, Jesus is the Author of liberty and therefore he alone enjoys full freedom. St. Paul said in Galatians 5:1, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” But freedom does not mean we can do whatever we feel like. When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously pronounced: “Free at last, free at least, thank God almighty, free at last!” he did not mean that we are free to act like fools. Liberty does not mean license. This temptation is especially strong for us Americans, who feel there should be no limits to our freedom. Freedom is almost our national religion. But Jesus, the Author of the Book of Liberty, has the authority to place limits to our liberty.

Our seminarian last summer was Dc. Ben Riley. He loved to say: “Good poets borrow; great poets steal.” I am not sure exactly what that means, but it is a lot nicer to be called a “poet that borrows” than a “plagiarist” or a “parasite.” But in the end they all mean the same thing: we are all “readers” and God alone is the “Author” especially of life, love and liberty. That is why the gospel of Matthew ends with Jesus declaring: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Mt. 28:18). Jesus has all authority because he alone is the Author.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Pony Rides

Understanding who the Word of God is

01/27/2021

Mark 4:1-20 On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land. And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, “Hear this!  A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”

It was Palm Sunday but because of a sore throat, 5-year-old Annie stayed at home from church with her mother. When the rest of the family returned home they were carrying palm fronds. Annie asked them what they were for. The father explained: “People held them over Jesus’ head as he rode by on a colt.” Annie fussed: “Wouldn’t you know it! The one Sunday I am sick and Jesus shows up and offers pony rides!” Well, we don’t miss pony rides when we stay home from church, but what do we really miss? We miss the Word of God, Jesus, proclaimed by the priest and acclaimed by all the people; the Word that is believed in the Bible and consumed in Communion. That is what we miss.

In the gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the seeds and the sower. He concludes the parable with this lesson: “But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundred fold.” In other words, the "seed" is the Word of God, Jesus, and the different kinds of “soils” are the different kinds of “souls” in the world, namely, you and me. What we miss when we stay home from church – although Annie’s case was excusable – is not palm fronds and pony rides, but the opportunity to hear the Word of God (Jesus) and then the ability to bear great fruit.

Today I want to say three things about the Word of God so that our souls might be suitable soil for the seed to take root and bear fruit. On Sept. 30, 2019, the feast of St. Jerome, the patron saint of Scripture students, Pope Francis declared the third Sunday in Ordinary Time (that was last Sunday) the “Sunday of the Word of God.” You may have seen how at each Mass we enthroned the Book of the Gospels in front of the ambo, between two burning candles. Why? It was a symbolic gesture to suggest we do the same at home and in our hearts.

The Bible should be one of our most prized possession. We should revere it and read it, love it and live it. But sadly in most Catholic homes it collects dust because we are more concerned about where the remote control is for the TV. My first point, then, is to urge you to enthrone the Word of God in your hearts, especially in Catholic hearts, because it is already enthroned in Protestant hearts.

Secondly, what do we mean by the term “Word of God”? First and foremost, it is not a book! The Bible itself tells us that the Word of God is not basically a book. We read in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In other words, in the beginning God was not walking around with his Bible under his arm. He was walking around with his Son under his arm. The Word of God, therefore, is primarily a Person, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity.

And just so we don’t miss his meaning, John will state his point more starkly 13 verses later, saying: “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (Jn. 1:14). That is, before we can call the Word of God a book, the Word became flesh, he became human. The first meaning of the term “Word of God,” then, is that “It” is really a “He.” The Word of God is Jesus himself; only subsequently and derivatively, do we say the Word of God is a book.

The third thing is a little more technical. How do we “hear” the Word of God today? We hear it echoed in both the Scripture and in Tradition. The Bible itself tells us about this twofold font of the Word of God in 2 Thessalonians 2:15. St. Paul explains: “Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught" - now comes the really important part - “either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.” Did you catch that? The Bible itself says the Bible alone is not enough to hear the Word of God. You need “oral statements” as well as “letters,” that is, you need Tradition as well as Scripture to know Jesus. Think of it like this: Scripture and Tradition are two “rivers” that pour forth from the same Spring, namely, the Word of God who is Jesus.

This morning at 7 a.m. in Fort Smith, Arkansas a sower went out to sow, and some of his seeds fell on rich soil that would bear great fruit. But other seeds fell on soil that was only looking for palms fronds and pony rides.

Praised be Jesus Christ!