Game Plan for Lent

Executing Jesus’ teachings for Lent and life

03/05/2025

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 Jesus said to his disciples: "Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

If you are the coach of a Division I college basketball program, you better have a game plan before your team gets on the court. Last week I had the funeral of Melanie Donaubauer, and the legendary Coach Nolan Richardson was here at Immaculate Conception for the funeral.

He is close friends with the Donaubauer family. Coach Richardson’s game plan for his team was simple, it was called “40 minutes of hell.” And it worked because the Arkansas Razorbacks won the national championship in 1994. When Coach Mike Anderson succeeded Coach Richardson, people asked him what his game plan was for the basketball Hogs.

He jokingly replied: “Coach Richardson had 40 minutes of hell. Now, our game plan is 20 minutes of hell and 20 minutes of I don’t know what the hell we’re doing.” It’s okay to say “hell” if you are a priest and in church. If you want to be able to say “hell” you should become a priest too.

In the gospel today, Jesus gives his disciples his game plan for Lent, which is really the best game plan for life. Jesus, the greatest coach who ever lived, taught his team a three-step game plan. First, almsgiving, which is helping the poor. Second prayer, especially praying in private, even in secret.

And third, fasting, which involves not eating as much and not looking like you’re fasting; you should look pretty. By the way, this year I am sending my almsgiving donation to Catholic Charities of Arkansas. Why? Well, because they lost their funding from the federal government to help migrants and for refugee resettlement.

Every year people ask me, “Fr. John what should I do for Lent this year?” My answer is always the same: “What did Jesus give us as our game plan for Lent and for life?” So, this Lent do three things: (1) find a way to help the poor, (2) take extra time for personal prayer, and (3) practice fasting from food and drink.

My friends, almsgiving, prayer, and fasting is our Christian game-plan for Lent and for life. It will not help you win a national championship in basketball, but it will help you win “an imperishable crown” (1 Cor 9:25) in heaven. Put differently, Jesus’ game plan is not about how to “give ‘em hell,” but about how to "stay out of hell.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Making Tuesday Fat Again

Recovering the meaning of Christian feasts and fasts

03/04/2025

Mark 10:28-31 Peter began to say to Jesus, 'We have given up everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first."

Do you have big plans for Fat Tuesday, or as today is known in New Orleans and France, “Mardi Gras”? Mardi Gras literally means “Fat Tuesday.” But today is traditionally also known as “Shrove Tuesday.” Shrove means going to confession and being forgiven or shriven of your sins. But sometimes people refer to this Tuesday as “carnevale” which literally means “good-bye to meat.”

“Carne” is Latin for meat, and “vale” means “farewell.” During the season of Lent we give up eating meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays. In other words, this Tuesday is “fat” not only because we pig out, but also because there are many layers of meaning for this day, like a many layered cake.

But I am afraid we are slowly losing all these spiritual meanings (these layers) of Fat Tuesday and are left with just another excuse to have a party. As you will witness if you watch the news this evening, you will see what the city of New Orleans dubs, “The Greatest Free Show on Earth.” But that anodyne name does not hide the fact that Nawlins becomes the capital of debauchery and decadence today.

On Mardi Gras, Nawlins steals the title of Sin City from Las Vegas.

That is, most of those folks celebrating Fat Tuesday will not be waking up on Wednesday to go to Mass and get ashes on their forehead, but only waking up with a pounding ache in their forehead, a hangover.

As Archbishop Fulton Sheen wisely observed even back in the 1970’s, “We are living at the end of Christendom.” For many modern Christians, including Catholics, our faith is just a shell of what it should be, as cheap and glittery as the beads we wear around our necks today.

The gospel from Mk 10:28-31 that we read today, therefore, is just perfect for Fat Tuesday. How so? It is as if St. Peter is standing on the threshold, the doorstep, of Lent, when he says: “We have given up everything and followed you.”

In other words, following Jesus by faith means living Lent all year long, not just for 40 days. We don’t just say farewell to meat (carne-vale) for a few days, but try to maintain a spirit of sacrifice, that is, carry our cross, all year long.

And how does Jesus answer the Prince of the Apostles? Our Lord replies: “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”

In other words, Peter and Jesus are injecting Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Lent, and the whole Christian life with layers of meaning – making Tuesday truly Fat again. That is, they shed the light of heaven and eternal life on our earthly sojourn.

In that heavenly light and glow we see we are pilgrims on earth journeying to our heavenly home, and along the way there will be sacrifices and set-backs like on every vacation these days where we struggle with delays and cancellations at the airport.

My friends, we no longer live in Christendom, because the world around us – like in New Orleans tonight – no longer remembers what today and tomorrow mean. Our society suffers from collective amnesia of our Christian roots and the meaning of our Christian celebrations.

Nonetheless, the light of the Gospel and the words of Christ never lose their luster. Indeed, they shine the brightest in the darkness, like the star that guided the three Wise Men during the night to the manger and the Messiah.

So today enjoy your Mardi Gras parties and all the festivities. But don’t forget what makes Fat Tuesday truly “fat” – it should be full to overflowing with the meaning of faith: that life is a journey to our heavenly homeland. Faith is what will make this Tuesday fat again.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Old Characters

Passing on responsibilities to the next generation

03/02/2025

Luke 6:39-45 Jesus told his disciples a parable, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite!  Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye. “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Sometimes when I get together with my brother priests, we ask ourselves: “Where are all the old priests who were the real characters back in the day?” For example, the church staff loves to tell the story of Msgr. John O’Donnell, former pastor of I.C. So often responsibilities and jobs in the Fort Smith Catholic community would fall to the church staff of I.C. Church because we are the oldest and largest parish in town.

Once when Msgr. O’Donnell was vacationing in New Orleans he brought back baseball caps for the whole staff. The caps just had four large letters on it: “NOPD” which stood for New Orleans Police Department.” But Msgr. O’Donnell explained that the staff should tell anyone who tries to give us new jobs that the letters really stand for “Not Our Problem Dear.” Msgr. O’Donnell was quite a character but also a class act.

This year I will turn 56 years old – I know I only look 25 – and I will have been a priest for 29 years. That means I have been a priest for more than half of my life. So maybe the younger priests these days are looking at me and my peers as the old characters of the priesthood, and making fun of our idiosyncrasies. I remember Archbishop Sartain sharing with us priest something insightful when he became bishop of Little Rock.

He looked around and commented to a brother priest, “Hey, you know, we’re the ones in charge of stuff.” And that is especially true when you are a bishop. Sooner or later, we all becomes the ones who look around and remark: “Hey, you know, we’re the ones in charge of stuff” which means we are now the old characters that the younger generation is probably making fun of.

In the gospel today, Jesus offers some advice to those who find themselves “in charge of stuff,” namely, to his apostles. He teaches his future shepherds: “Can a blind person lead a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?” And later he adds: “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit.”

That reminds me of that great line from the move Star Wars. Han Solo sarcastically says to Obi-Wan as they are about to do  what Ob-Won recommended: “You old fool, I knew you were going to say that.” But then Obi-Won replies: “Who’s the more foolish: the fool or the fool who follows him?” In other words, don’t follow a fool, or walk behind a blind person, spiritually-speaking.

One of the spiritual fruits that we priests should bear is new vocations, that is, future priests. A priest in seminary told us that every priest should inspire at least one vocation to take his place after he dies. We are blessed here at I.C. to have Ben Keating in the seminary studying to be a priest, and also Josie Nunez who is at Holy Angels Convent in Jonesboro, AR. When Ben is ordained I can retire!

Maybe Ben and Josie sit around with their friends and call me one of the old characters. But I hope they will judge me not by my character or anything I might have done in the priesthood, but rather by my spiritual fruits, my spiritual offspring, namely, Ben and Josie. They are my only claim to fame. “By their fruits you shall know them.”

My friends, it is not just bishops and priests who sooner or later find themselves in charge of stuff – the old characters who people talk about. But we all will, especially those who are called to be married with children. I will never forget what my brother said when in the delivery room he held his firstborn son.

He told me with tears in his eyes: “Two huge waves of emotion washed over me. First I felt a wave of love for this newborn child. I knew I could die for him. Second, I felt a tsunami of responsibility for this child. Everything he needed depended entirely on me.”

I think the second wave might have bowled him over more than the first one. In other words, new parents do not find themselves “in charge of stuff,” they are “in charge of someone”! And many years later they find themselves in the shoes of the old characters that their kids and grandkids sit around and talk about.

Folks, I know it can be a little depressing when we think about all the I.C. heroes of the past who are now gone. Just in my 11 years here we have lost Msgr. John O’Donnell and Msgr. Richard Oswald, Tom Caldarera, Gene Bruick, Bill and Peggy Wideman (which was a double funeral), David and Mary Ann McMahon, Dc. Bill Curry, Rita Helfrick, Rosemary Reith, Jean Shields, and so many more pillars of our parish.

But here’s the good news: I have also seen new faces and new pillars arriving to take their place and support this parish. That is, each generation passes the torch of faith, responsibility, and hope to the succeeding generation, even while they ask, “Where are all the old characters these days?” But then we catch a glimpse of ourselves in the mirror and realize, “Hey, you know, we’re the ones in charge of stuff around here.” And we pray, “God help the Church.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Fat or Skinny Pope

Praying for the successors of St. Peter

02/25/2025

Mark 9:30-37 Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" But they remained silent. For they had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all." Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me."

Have you been keeping up with Pope Francis and his critical health situation? I have been watching the news daily for updates and burning up my rosary beads for him. Every Sunday afternoon my family does a conference call – my parents, my brother and sister, any in-laws, and nieces and nephews (the outlaws) – and Pope Francis is one of our intentions of our family rosary. I hope you have been praying a little extra for our Holy Father as well lately.

This morning, Tuesday, February 25, I checked my phone to see if there had been any updates on his health and recovery. Newsweek published an article at 5:26 EST with an update straight from the Vatican. It said: “Pope Francis is continuing his recovery from pneumonia in hospital and has resumed some work, the Vatican announced Tuesday morning.”

As you know, Rome is 7 hours ahead of us here in Arkansas, so at 5:26 a.m. here in Fort Smith, it was already 12:26 p.m. in Rome, Italy and everyone there was sitting down to their big pasta meal and then going to hit their afternoon siesta.

As Pope Francis ails and approaches his eternal reward questions naturally start circling (like vultures around a cadaver) about who the next successor of St. Peter will be, who will wear the “shoes of the fisherman,” as the pope is figuratively referred to.

When a pope dies, all the cardinals 80 years old or younger gather in the Sistine Chapel to vote for the next pope. As of October, 2024, there are 141 Catholic cardinals under the age of 80, and that number will decrease – as cardinals age-out – to 126 by the end of 2025. So the number of cardinals who are “papabile” (eligible to be pope) is always a sliding scale.

As Americans living in a democracy polarized between conservatives and liberals, we cannot help but think of the next papal conclave except in terms of whether the next pope will lean left or right. Indeed, there is an old Italian proverb that says, “Seguite sempre un papa grasso con sottile,” meaning “Always follow a fat pope with a skinny one.” Or, follow a liberal pope with a conservative one.

And it will take 77 votes to get to the required 2/3 majority to be the next pope. Some of the names of “papabile” cardinals that have risen to recent prominence include conservative cardinals such as Peter Erdo from Hungary and Ambongo Besungu, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who, if he were elected would serve as the first black pope.

Among the frontrunners on the more liberal wing are cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines and Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, who by the way, is leading the evening rosary vigils in St. Peter’s Square every evening. So he’s getting some prime time TV coverage.

But a better way to think about the election of the next man who slips his feet into “the shoes of the fisherman” is to ask, “Who would Jesus want to be the next pope?” After all, this is his Church far more than it is our Church.

And ultimately, it is the Holy Spirit who not only decides who will be the next pope – through the human instruments of cardinal electors – but He is the One who guides the Barque of St. Peter down the ages. The Holy Spirit is really the One in charge of the Church.

And we get a good sense of whom Jesus would want to lead his Church in the gospel today. The first cardinal-electors, the apostles, are arguing about which of them is the greatest – perhaps echoing the conversations in the Sistine Chapel during the vacancy of a pope – and Jesus says: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”

In other words, Jesus does not want a conservative pope or a liberal pope, a fat pope or a skinny pope, but a humble pope, a holy  pope, a servant leader. And whatever you may think of Pope Francis, I believe Jesus would be very pleased and proud of his tenure so far in the shoes of the fisherman.

Yesterday, on February 24, the Vatican gave an update on the pope’s health, and added: “In the evening [Pope Francis] called the parish priest in the Gaza parish to express his paternal closeness.” That to me sounds like something Jesus would do. Francis is not a fat pope or a skinny pope, he’s just the right pope. And let’s pray the next one will be too.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Not Easy Being Green

Understanding the natural habitat of the Bible

02/24/2025

Mark 9:14-29 As Jesus came down from the mountain with Peter, James, John…Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit. Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so.” Then he questioned his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” He replied, “Since childhood. It has often thrown him into fire and into water to kill him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus, on seeing a crowd rapidly gathering, rebuked the unclean spirit and said to it, “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!” But Jesus took him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up. When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private, “Why could we not drive the spirit out?” He said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer.”

I love to study Scripture, but there is a danger of delving too deep. It can be compared to dissecting a frog in biology class. Did you ever do that back in high school? You may have loved looking at frogs in nature, jumping from lilly-pad to lilly-pad, maybe even sang along with Kermit the Frog, “It’s not easy being green.” Heck, you may have even eaten frog-legs.

But once you lay Kermit flat and spread-eagle on the dissecting table, and start to peel back skin and muscle, and probe his poor organs, you can never look at Kermit the Frog the same again. A little of the mystery and magic is lost, namely, frogness. When you treat Kermit as an object of scientific study, then it is definitely “not easy being green.”

The same experience of losing the mystery can happen when we treat Sacred Scripture as an object of study rather than a book of faith. For example, the last line of today’s gospel, Mk 9:29, reads: “Jesus said to them, ‘This kind can only come out through prayer’.” But most Bibles will have an asterisk at that verse, and explain, “A variant reading adds, ‘And through fasting’.”

Wait a minute, so which is the correct version of Mk 9:29: adding “and through fasting” or omitting “and through fasting”? But as soon as you ask that question of which version is correct, you have taken the Bible out of its natural habitat of the liturgy (being proclaimed at Mass) and placed it like poor Kermit on the dissecting table of scientific study.

You no longer gaze at the Bible full of mystery and magic (in the good sense) through the eyes of faith. But rather start pulling it apart and probing its innards, peering at it through a microscope. This more scientific study of Scripture has great value, of course, but also has an inherent danger, namely, we may lose our faith. This modern, scientific approach to Bible study is called the historical-critical method, and it is widely used and very popular.

And the branch of this tree that examines a verse like Mk 9:29 to answer which version of this verse is more original or authentic is called text criticism, or textual criticism. You see, the problem text critics grapple with is that there are no extant original copies of the 73 books of the Bible. What currently exist in museums and libraries (like the Vatican Library) are copies of copies of copies.

And not all copies agree or have the same verses. For example, some old copies have a longer ending for the gospel of Mark, others have a shorter ending. Some old copies have the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8, other old copies omit it from John altogether. But if we don’t have an original set of the 73 books of the Bible, how do we know which oldest copies are inspired, and therefore to be trusted?

But do you see what is happening now? We have examined the poor Bible spread-eagle on the dissecting table, like we did with poor Kermit, and now we want to put it all back together again and return it to its natural habitat of the liturgy, and ask, “Which version of the Bible can we trust?” Practicioners of the historical-critical method might answer, paraphrasing Tina Turner, “What’s trust got to do, got to do with it?”

It is tantamount to declawing a cat and then putting it back out on the street to fend for itself; it will not survive. That is the danger of delving too deep with such scientific study. But to answer your question about which version of Mk 9:29 (with or without the phrase “and through fasting”) is correct and we should use, we rely on the Church to tell us which version is the inspired text.

And the Church, in its turn, relies on the repeated and traditional use of a text in the liturgy to determine which version is inspired. In other words, it is because the Church has used the shorter version of Mk 9:29, without the phrase “and through fasting” in the liturgy at Mass over two millennia that we feel confident that this is the authentic and accurate, and oldest, version of that verse.

When a Scripture passage thrives in its natural habitat of the liturgy – like when Kermit thrives in his natural habitat jumping on lilly-pads, and trying to eat flies, and not trying to date a pig – that we regain the mystery and properly-speaking the magic of Sacred Scripture. But when we only treat Scripture like a sterile object of scientific study, although such study may have ancillary benefits, it loses its original purpose and splendor. And the Bible, too, may sing Kermit’s melancholy melody, “It’s not easy being green.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Listen to Leviticus

Seeing scriptural roots of the universal destination of goods

02/22/2025

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.”

As advertised at the end of yesterday’s homily, I would like to continue our reflection on a little-known Catholic social principle called “the universal destination of goods” especially as it is found in Scripture. And how providential that today is essentially the feast day of all the popes, the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter. It is analogous to Presidents’ Day, where we honor all the presidents, not just one.

The Chair of St. Peter literally refers to the seat of his authority, that is, the grace to teach with authority, and on some occasions even infallibly. Two popes in the last 25 years have lived during jubilee years: Pope St. John Paul II in the year 2000, and today, Pope Francis in 2025. Think of jubilee years like a wedding anniversary, where you should do something special for your beautiful bride.

Both John Paul II and Francis exercised their papal magisterium, the authority of the Chair of St. Peter, by asking first world nations (like the United States) to forgive the debts owed to them by third world or developing nations. Let me quote what Pope St. John Paul II wrote in his apostolic exhortation called Ecclesia in America (The Church in America) as we approached the year 2000.

The pope-saint urged: “In light of the imminent great Jubilee of the year 2000, and recalling the social significance that jubilees had in the Old Testament, I wrote: ‘In the spirit of the Book of Leviticus (25:8-12) Christians will have to raise their voice on behalf of all the poor in the world, proposing the Jubilee as an appropriate time to give thought, among other things, to reducing substantially, if not canceling outright, the international debt which seriously threatens the future of many nations.”

In other words, the notion of canceling debts during a jubilee – a wedding anniversary – year, goes back to the Bible, in Leviticus. If you consider yourself a Bible Christian, you should listen carefully to what the popes are proposing. The popes are recommending an economic system that is not exactly capitalism, nor is it precisely socialism. Rather it’s what Scott Hahn calls familism. The family should be the highest priority and goal of economics.

Leviticus 25 – easy to remember because 25 is a jubilee or anniversary year – is a future-oriented text. It is written during the people’s year-long stay on Mt. Sinai. But it looks forward to when they will inherit the Promised Land 40 years later. When they come into the Promised Land led by Joshua, each of the 12 tribes of Israel will be apportioned a section of the country, to be forever its ancestral land. For example, a portion was allotted to Judah, to Naphtali, to Ephraim, to Dan, and Benjamin, etc., all except the tribe of Levi.

But Leviticus 25:8-12 stipulates that even if you sold your ancestral land, or incurred an insurmountable debt, on the 50th year of jubilee your land would be restored to your family. As Scarlett O’Hara said in the movie “Gone with the Wind,” “We’ll always have the land!” This familism of the Bible does not allow anyone to be reduced to penury.

Listen to Leviticus 25:10, “You shall treat the fiftieth year as sacred. You shall proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to your own property, each of you to your own family.” This verse touches the heart of the ancient social principle of the universal destination of goods, that is, before property belongs to anyone by buying or selling, or even by the government bequeathing it on someone, it belongs to God, and thus, it belongs to all his children.

Listening to Leviticus 25, the Catechism of the Catholic Church has modernized and distilled its lessons in no. 2403. It says: “The right to private property, acquired by work or received by others from inheritance, does not do away with the original gift of the earth to the whole of mankind. The universal destination of goods remains primordial, even if the promotion of the common good requires respect for the right to private property and its exercise.

In other words, while we must carefully balance the right to private property and the universal destination of goods, the latter remains primordial and even preeminent. Put it this way: when people immigrate to another country because they find themselves in dire circumstances, they are not seeking a privilege, they are exercising a right.

A good friend of mine in San Antonio keeps reminding me how complicated the real-life application of these two moral principles are. As we often say, “the devil is in the details.” But at least now we know what principles we must try to balance. That is, the right to private property is not the highest law in the land, no matter what Ayn Rand wrote in Atlas Shrugged. We should listen to Leviticus instead.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Are We Communists?

Understanding the moral principles behind immigration

02/22/2025

Mark 8:34—9:1 Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? What could one give in exchange for his life? Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels." He also said to them, "Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the Kingdom of God has come in power."

Sometimes I think that my dog Apollo would be a better disciple of Jesus Christ than I am. How’s that? Well, he is never ashamed to be seen with me, even when I go to the bathroom. I saw a funny cartoon last week. A guy walks into the bathroom and looks over to one wall, and there are movie-theater seats with his three dogs sitting there watching him. He says, “So, you guys have installed seats, now?” Dog disciples are never ashamed of their masters.

In the gospel today, Jesus invites us to be a little more “dogged” in our discipleship following him. He teaches, “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s glory with his holy angels.”

And we can immediately think of at least two examples where his disciples ditched our Lord instead of doggedly following him. In John chapter 6, Jesus gives his scandalous teaching on eating his Body and drinking his Blood, the Eucharist, and many of his disciples abandoned him, feeling ashamed of his words.

And as our Lord approaches his passion and death, even his 12 apostles are ashamed to be associated with him. Peter goes so far as to exclaim, “I know not the man.” In such moments my dog Apollo would have been a better disciple of Jesus.

Today in our highly divided culture, certain issues can make us feel ashamed of Jesus and his gospel, and make us no longer stick close to his side. If you lean to the conservative side, then immigration, social justice, care for the environment may make you want to be a closet Catholic, and hide your faith.

If you lean left and liberal, then prolife, virtue ethics, the standards of justice and law may make you cringe and embarrassed to be with Jesus. In such moments, think of your dog, and watch his unflagging faithfulness to stick by your side, no matter where you go, even to the bathroom.

I want to add this morning another element in the dialogue – perhaps the debate – about immigration that has not been emphasized adequately, and is, perhaps, the most crucial point. In seminary, I learned about a Catholic moral principle called “the universal destination of goods.”

That is, there is a sense in which the goods of the world belong to everyone before they belong to anyone in particular. I remember turning to a seminary classmate when we learned this and said, “What are we Communists or something?”

Now, clearly the right to private property is a fundamental moral and social principle. There would be chaos without private property, and hence it serves as the basis of the 7th and 10th Commandments, “Thou shalt not steal, or covet thy neighbors goods.”

But the universal destination of goods is a necessary counter-point or balance to the right to private property. Both principles are necessary, but the universal destination of goods is primary, and can sometimes trump (pun intended) the right to private property.

Here’s an example. Take a man, a husband and a father of a family, who is facing starvation, because he has no means to support his family by honest work. And this is because he lives in a third-world country.

If he were to walk by a bakery, and saw and smelled the fresh baked bread inside, it would be morally permissible for him to take the bread even without paying for it. And this is in order to keep his children alive who are on the brink of death.

That suggestion may shock you, and make you feel like saying what I did in the seminary: “What are we Communists or something?” Now I don’t believe such a scenario exists within the United States. Indeed, here in Fort Smith, different agencies provide eight free meals a day.

But that scenario is exactly what is happening at the southern border. We are not just building a wall between two different countries and cultures. We are proposing a wall of separation between two fundamental moral principles: the universal destination of goods, and the right to private property.

So, when you see or hear of Catholic bishops championing the immigrant community, they are not just being flaming liberals or leftist Communists. They are very squarely Roman Catholic. And they are being more doggedly disciples of Jesus than you or I are. And my dog Apollo would agree with their stance.

Tomorrow morning I would like to share more about the Scriptural basis of this moral principle called “the universal destination of goods.” You are going to be really excited to hear that. Or, maybe that will make you feel ashamed of being Catholic. So ya’ll come back, hear?

Praised be Jesus Christ!