Super Bowl Week

Seeing how the most important Christian week begins

04/14/2025

John 12:1-11 Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, "Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days' wages and given to the poor?" He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. So Jesus said, "Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."

This morning I would like to share three random but hopefully relevant reflections as we launch upon Holy Week. Of course, you know this week is like the Super Bowl for Christians because we celebrate the central mysteries of our salvation. Just like the Super Bowl is a mighty contest of skill, brute force, and sheer determination, so our Lord goes tet-a-tet against the Evil One.

And in the end there will be a winner and a loser. In this supernatural Super Bowl of life versus death, the Lord of life wins precisely by first dying. And the Victor will not raise the Lombardi Trophy but the Cross as the symbol of his championship.

Monday of this Super Bowl week begins with all the priests of our diocese gathering at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock for a day of recollection. It will be led by Bishop Erik Pohlmeier, my old friend. You may remember Bishop Pohlmeier in his previous life was a priest of our diocese.

Today, he is the bishop of St. Augustine in Florida, a successor of the apostles, a prince of the Church, and he will preach to the shepherds (us priests), as we renew our priestly vows at Mass this evening. Pray for him, pray for all bishops.

This evening’s Mass at the Cathedral is called the Chrism Mass. Why? Well all the priests bring their old oil stocks to be filled with freshly blessed oils, which Bishop Taylor will do. You can see our ambry which holds the oils sits empty right now. We use three different oils throughout the year.

First, Oleo Sancto (Holy Oil) is used to anoint babies before Baptism, also called Oleo Catecumenorum (the oil of catechumens). Babies are miniature catechumens who go through a crash course in OCIA before Baptism, and that crash course is symbolized by the Oleo Sancto.

Second, Oleo Infirmorum (the oil of the sick) used to anoint those who are sick or dying. When I anoint you in the hospital or at home, or in hospice, the oil I use us blessed on Monday of Super Bowl week, because in illness (and death), you also enter that mighty contest of life versus death. And eventually, you and I must imitate our Savior and die in order to live. That is, this oil prepares us to die to this world so we can rise in the next.

Third, Sacrum Chrisma (Sacred Chrism), and this is the principal oil and from which the Chrism Mass derives its name. Chrism is also where we get the name of Christ: Chrism – Christ, and it means “Anointed One.” Therefore, we use this Sacred Chrism for Baptism, Confirmation, and of course, in Holy Orders, but only for priests and bishops, but not for deacons.

And my third random but relevant reflection this morning is how fitting the gospel is for this week and for this parish of I.C. What do I mean? Well, in John 12, Jesus beings the first holy week with a little rest and relaxation at the home of his good friends, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.

You may recall that Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead in the last chapter (Jn 11). And how perfect that an oil is introduced in this scene and used to anoint our Lord. It seems to be a precursor of the oleo infirmorum (oil of the sick and dying) because Jesus indicates: “Let [Mary] keep this oil for the day of my burial.”

In other words, our Captain Christ’s sacred Body is prepared for his stupendous contest of life versus death, where he will conquer death precisely by dying. And one day, please God, so will we and therefore we too must be anointed when our last holy week arrives.

And this gospel is also pertinent for our parish of I.C. because we have spent a lot of money to build a back altar – technically called an altar of repose – for Jesus. Some people may object like Judas and say that money could have been spent on the poor. Don't worry we generously care for the poor.

But let us listen attentively to Jesus who said, “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” We imitate Martha, Mary, and Lazarus by building an altar of repose and rest for Jesus to catch his breath as he begins Holy Week. Everyone needs a little rest before Super Bowl Sunday.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Final Stretch

Preparing to following Jesus to death and resurrection

04/13/2025

John 11:45-56 Many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to kill him.

Today we stand on the threshold of the last week of Lent, also known as Holy Week. Or, in horseracing, it would be called “the final stretch.” And so now is not the time to slack off but rather to raise our game another notch, like thoroughbred and jockey who give it their all as they come around the final bend of the track. So let me ask you: how are you doing on your Lenten sacrifices?

Maybe you planned on giving up alcohol or social media, or video games, or sacrificing time by an extra Mass during the week, or giving up treasure by helping the poor more. If you have been giving in (rather than giving up) to these temptations, now would be a good time to buckle down and at least finish strong. I love to encourage people by saying: “It’s never too late to hit the reset button on our faith”, and that goes for Lent, too.

Here is a thought to help you finish strong this last week of Lent: whenever we give up something for God, he always gives us something far greater in return. God is never out-done in generosity. For example, in return from my Lenten sacrifices this year – and I’m not going to tell you what they were because that silence is part of the sacrifice – I have dedicated time to teaching Pope St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, and I have fallen in love with this teaching.

In other words, a new love has expelled my old loves for those Lenten sacrifices. And our hearts – what we love – is really what needs to change every Lent. If we can trust Jesus enough to let go of the old loves – our attachments to worldly pleasures, thrills, and reputation – Jesus will fill our hearts to overflowing with a new love, namely, an infinite love for him.

In the gospel today, Jesus invites the Jewish leaders to finish strong in their last week of Lent, too. That is, our Lord asks them to give up something their sinful hearts are attached to in order to give them in exchange something infinitely greater and more glorious, namely, himself. What was the sacrifice – the inordinate love – of the chief priests and Pharisees?

They themselves confess it but do not see it as sinful: “If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.” In other words, the Jews were too attached to the land and their ethnic identity to see their own Messiah when he came. Could we not say that in many ways the Jews today are still overly attached to their land and nation?

But I do not just want to pick on the Jews this morning, I want to pick on everybody! That is, the Jews in Jesus’ day are only Exhibit A of what we all deal with in various other ways. Just like the Jews, we, too, are afraid that Jesus will ask too great a sacrifice from us, an attachment our hearts really do not want to relinquish. But also like the Jews, we forget Jesus will give us something far greater and more glorious than our sacrifices, namely, himself.

You see, what is really at the heart of Lent is actually our hearts. We all find ourselves attached to people or possessions or personal attributes more than we are attached to Jesus, just like the Jews were excessively attached to their land and nation. And that inordinate love is what we must crucify every Lent. Why? Well, because if we do not crucify our sins, we will end up crucifying our Lord again, just like the Jews did.

And by the way, I learned this by studying John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, namely, not only Lent but all of life is about the heart-work of learning to love the Lord more than we love other persons, places, or things. Why is the heart work so critical? Because our hearts are the only things in the universe that Jesus does not already possess. Everything else already belongs to him. And we can either freely give Jesus our hearts, or we can withhold it from him. That is the purpose of Lent and of life.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Going to the Movies

Understanding who Jesus is and who we are

04/08/2025

John 8:21-30 Jesus said to the Pharisees: "I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come." So the Jews said, "He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?" He said to them, "You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins." So they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "What I told you from the beginning. I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world." They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father. So Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him." Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.

On Sunday evening, Fr. Samy said he was going to Malco theater to watch the movie, “The Last Supper.” I asked if he was going with some friends, and he said he was going alone. I replied, “Whenever I see someone sitting alone in a movie theater I always feel so sorry for them because it looks like they have no friends.”

So, when Fr. Samy arrived at Malco, he saw an elderly couple seated close to the front, and decided he would sit right behind them, pretending like he was at the theater with them, and that he had friends. I am so glad that my associate priests take my advice and learn from me.

Fr. Samy shared later at lunch that the movie was very interesting because it showed two Last Suppers. Jesus and his apostles were in the upper room celebrating the Last Supper that would later become the Mass. But in the lower room (ground floor) the family who hosted Jesus were still celebrating the Seder Meal which would remain the old Passover meal.

In other words, the movie cinematically conveyed who Jesus was at the Last Supper by contrasting the old and the new Passovers. And that contrast was a powerful point to make. Why? Because if there is one burning question catching on fire all the pages of the New Testament, it is the question: “Who is Jesus?” The movie answered that question saying: You discover Jesus’ identity at the Last Supper.

In the gospel today, we see that this question is of utmost concern to the fourth gospel of John. In today’s pericope from John 8:21-30, Jesus uses the loaded phrase, “I AM” twice. Why is that particular pair of words – I AM – so significant? Because that was the name of God that Moses heard from the burning bush in Ex 3:14.

When Moses asked God’s name, the Lord replied, “This is what you will tell the Israelites [still in Egyptian slavery]: I AM has sent me to you.” So, when Jesus explicitly refers to himself as “I AM” it becomes abundantly clear how Jesus would answer the question, “Who is Jesus?” That is, he is equal to God, indeed, God himself.

In his popular book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis tackled this dilemma of Jesus’ true identity. He especially wanted to disabuse people of the common confusion that Jesus was “just another good moral teacher” like Buddah or Gandhi. Lewis argued that based on Jesus’ own words and actions in the gospel – like calling himself I AM – Jesus cannot be a good moral teacher. He was either a lunatic, a liar, or the Lord. But it is impossible for Jesus to simply be a good moral guru.

When the apostles arrived at Caesarea Philippi in Mt 16, Jesus asked them, “Who do people say that I am?” And for 2,000 years Christians and non-Christians alike have attempted to give an adequate answer to that question. The latest Hollywood answer to that question came in the movie “The Last Supper” that Fr. Samy went to watch by himself, although he pretended to be friends with an elderly couple.

The best answer I know to that consummate conundrum is what Pope St. John Paul II offered in his Theology of the Body. That is, Jesus is not only our Savior but our Spouse. He has come not only to save us from hell but to carry us off on his white stead to a shining city on a hill called the heavenly Jerusalem. There he will reign as King of kings and seat us beside him on a throne as his Bride, the Church.

You see, the question about Jesus’ identity invariably attempts to answer the unasked but implied question about our own identity. When we discover who Jesus is, we likewise learn who we are. If Jesus is a good moral teacher, then we are dim-witted disciples. If Jesus is a savior, then we are wretched sinners in need of salvation. If Jesus is a divine Spouse, then we are the damsel in distress.

In other words, the question, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” is not just a question Jesus aimlessly asked 2,000 years ago. It is a persistent, even nagging, question he puts to you and me today. And the answer we give says as much about us as it does about him. Or, then again, maybe we are just a guy going to a movie by ourselves.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

To Awaken Them

Overcoming the devil’s foolishness with faith in Christ

04/06/2025

John 11:1-45 Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. So the sisters sent word to him saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill,  he remained for two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” He said this, and then told them, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” So the disciples said to him, “Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.” But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe.

This past Tuesday was April 1 and April Fool’s Day. I had a big April Fool’s trick played on me. I was sure our new back altar would be delivered on Friday, April 4th. And I even delivered a homily Tuesday morning about not being an April Fool myself this time. Why not? I had been fooled before thinking the altar was going to arrive at the end of January, and at the end of February, and the end of March.

But when I returned to my office after Mass, I opened an email that informed me the altar was delayed again and sitting on a train between here at Chicago. You may recall our altar was built in Italy with Carrara marble, the same hallowed stone Michaelangelo used for the sculptures like the David and the Pieta.  So on Wednesday after Mass, Philip Hindman jokingly said: “Next time order through Amazon Prime and it’ll be here the next day.”

Now the altar is scheduled to arrive next week. When it does, we will store it here on church grounds, because it will take 12 days to actually install, and that will not be possible to complete before Easter. And of course we don’t want the church to be a mess and under construction when everyone comes home for Easter.

You know, all the CEO Catholics – the folks who attend Mass on Christmas and Easter Only. We will try to complete the construction as soon as possible after Easter. But I’m not in too much of a hurry. Why not? Well, because we really have until Christmas before everyone comes back to church again!

And I mention April Fools because it is an apt analogy for the famous gospel from John 11 about raising Lazarus from the dead. What do I mean? Well, the devil tries to play the oldest April Fools trick on us saying that death is the end and there is nothing after death. Are we foolish enough to believe that, like atheists, who don’t believe in God or the afterlife?

By the way, I saw a meme where an atheist and a Christian were talking. The atheist said, “You Christians have special days for you religion, like Christmas and Easter. It’s too bad we atheists don’t have one.” The Christian smiled and said, “Sure you do. It’s April Fools Day.” My apologies to all you atheists out there.

But Jesus foils the devil’s foolishness by saying to Martha and Mary: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live.” And then Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. In other words, faith in Jesus outwits the devil’s April Fool’s trick called death because that faith restores us to life. Faith keeps us from being fools.

Have I mentioned to you before how traditional church construction was always configured as an act of faith in the Risen Jesus? Older churches like I.C. were always built facing east. In fact, right now, you are all sitting in your pews facing east. Why? Well, the sun rises in the east and so it perfectly symbolizes Jesus, the Son of God, who rose from the dead.

Indeed, even the word orientation is built on the base word “orient” which comes from the Latin word “oriens” meaning east. In other words, to face the east – to be properly oriented, which is what our faith affords – and so sitting facing the east is no small gesture of faith.

And we not only face the rising Son, we worship him like Martha and Mary did when the two sisters said, “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world” and whose coming is seen in every sunrise. And incidentally this is why Christians are called an “East-er People.” Can you hear the word “east” buried in the word “Easter”?

And by the way, if you go visit a cemetery, I will give you one guess which direction all the headstones are usually facing. That’s right: they face the east or the orient. That is, if all those dead people in their graves were to sit up – and they will sit up one day, on the last, eternal East-er – they would all be facing east, properly orient-ed - toward the Rising Son coming in the glory of the morning.

In other words, even the direction someone is buried is an act of faith, like Lazarus in his tomb waiting for the coming of Christ. And at the end of days, Jesus will return gloriously on the clouds, and say to each one of us in our tombs, like Ezekiel prophesied in the first reading: “Thus says the Lord God: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them.” And then we, too, will be clothed with the glory of the Easter morn.

You see, both churches and cemeteries were built with one overarching purpose, namely, to elicit faith in their occupants, who are all facing the east, waiting for East-er morning. And both sets of occupants in churches and cemeteries are asleep, like Jesus said, “Lazarus is asleep.” And you’re sleeping through this homily. But what Jesus said to Lazarus he says to us: “I am going to awaken them.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Backhanded Blessing

Seeing how Jesus heals and helps us today

04/02/2025

John 4:43-54 At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. While the man was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe. Now this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.

Yesterday afternoon I went to the hospital to anoint Fr. Henry Mischowiuski. I was not sure what condition he would be in, so I was pleasantly surprised to find him sitting up in bed smiling and very alert. A friend, Helen Ann Whorton, was with him to keep him company, and in case Fr. Henry needed anything.

In fact, I had received several texts earlier Sunday from Julie Anderson and Jacqueline Phillips about Fr. Henry being in the hospital. Just like Jesus had a cadre of holy women that took care of his needs as he preached and healed and saved, so Fr. Henry has a gaggle of godly gals who take care of him so he can take care of others.

And I have to admit it is a very humbling thing to give the Anointing of the Sick to a brother priest, especially one as holy as Fr. Henry. Did you know he was a chaplain to Mother Teresa in Calcutta? If you close your eyes and listen to him, he sounds a lot like Mother Teresa.

So, I felt like John the Baptist when Jesus came to be baptized at the Jordan River. And I wanted to say, “Fr. Henry, it is I who should be anointed by you.” But like my patron saint, I did my duty, however humbling.

One thing I almost forgot about in anointing a priest – which Fr. Henry did not forget – was that a priest is not anointed on the palms of the hands, like lay people are. Rather he is anointed on the back of his hand. You might say it was a backhanded blessing. Can you guess why?

Helen Ann couldn’t guess either, so Fr. Henry told her: “A priest is already anointed on his palms on the day of his ordination.” In other words, on the day of a man’ ordination, the ordaining bishop smears Sacred Chrism on the palms of his hands. So that anointing at Mercy Hospital was not only a healing moment, it was also a teaching moment.

That way, when I impart a blessing I am not “firing blanks” but real bullets – real spiritual power shoots from my finger tips. And that spiritual/sacramental power has not diminished one drop even 29 years after my ordination nor has it for Fr. Henry. Indeed, that power grows more potent, especially in holy priests like Fr. Henry.

In the gospel today we see Jesus’ loving concern for the sick and how he heals them. Even though our Lord is a little perturbed because some people just want him to perform miracles like circus tricks, he still heals the royal official’s son on the verge of death.

And it is precisely Jesus’ desire for our health and wholeness that we priests communicate through the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick down the ages. In other words, when a priest comes to your home or visits you in the hospital, it is as if Jesus himself is coming to heal you.

I will never forget back in 2002, when I contracted viral meningitis and Archbishop Sartain came to anoint me at UAMS. That was when I learned about this backhanded blessing and priests being anointed on the back of the hand.

Now, after the anointing I did not jump out of the hospital bed and run home, miraculous cured. But I did feel great peace and I knew that Jesus was holding me in his arms, and that nothing could really harm or hurt me.

You know, it’s really sad how some people wait till their dying breath to call the priest for the Anointing of the Sick. It’s funny how every time I walk through the hospital halls I get those looks that seem to say, “Well, another poor bloke just bit the dust. There goes the Grim Reaper!”

And certainly priests should be present at the periculum mortis – the danger of death – but Jesus wants to be close to us at all the difficult moments of our life. Whether we are shouldering small crosses we barely feel, or large crosses that seem to crush us, Jesus loves us and wants to encourage us.

And Jesus imparts his divine power to heal and strengthen us both by a priest’s blessing and far more through a priest’s sacramental ministry of Anointing. And in that way every healing moment can turn into a teaching moment. And teaching itself is a uniquely powerful kind of healing.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Metrics of Measurement

Judging ourselves by the standard of Jesus Christ

03/29/2025

Luke 18:9-14 Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity —  greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Apollo and I went for our rosary walk early this morning and came across someone sleeping by the school. I hated to wake him up – he was completely covered in a blanket and looked like a Polish kolachi – but I couldn’t just let him sleep there. So I said softly but firmly: “Good morning, sir. I’m sorry to wake you up but you cannot sleep here.”

He slowly came out of his cocoon and asked groggily: “What time is it?” I said, “It’s 5:15.” And then I did my best Darby Bybee impersonation and added: “It’s not going to rain today and should be sunny and warm.” I hoped that cheerful forecast would get him moving along faster. Apollo was very polite to our guest and didn’t bark or growl at him. We lingered for a few moments to make sure he didn’t go back to sleep.

Since we had just started the rosary, I decided to pray the first Joyful Mystery for that man and that his day might be blessed. I don’t know about you but when I encounter the homeless like that it can be very tempting and easy to judge them and feel very superior by contrast. After all, they are just lazy and selfish and I am up early, walking my dog, and praying my rosary.

But that thinking would be exactly the wrong metric of measurement. That is, instead of comparing my life to a homeless man’s life, I should compare my life against the standard of Jesus’ life. And then suddenly things look very different, especially when I remember the story of the Good Samaritan and all he did to help the beaten man he found by the side of the road.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen once observed that if you take an old painting and look at it by candlelight, it looks pretty good: its colors, images and textures. But take that same painting and look at it under the noonday sun, and immediately you see all the cracks, flaws, and imperfections. So, too, with each of us. If we stand next to the homeless, we may look pretty good; if we stand next to the Holy One of God, Jesus, we look pretty pathetic.

This, I think, is the proper light in which we should consider Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax-collector in the temple. The mistake of the Pharisee was to use the wrong metric of measurement. He compared himself to the tax collector, saying: “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity – greedy, dishonest, adulterous – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.”

Gazing on the painting of his life by candlelight, the Pharisee felt pretty good about himself. The tax collector, on the other hand, did not raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast like we do at the beginning of Mass. Why? Because he used the right metric of measurement, the light of the Son of God in heaven.

And therefore, he immediately and clearly saw all his flaws and weaknesses. So we read: “He beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’” In other words, the tax collector gazed upon the painting of his life under the light of the noonday sun and saw matters clearly: we are all wretched sinners in need of mercy.

As you know, I work on the marriage tribunal with annulments. The final question after someone completes the long, probing and painful questionnaire is: “What have you learned from this annulment process?” It is an open-ended question and people can answer however they please. Some people write: “I learned that I married a jerk and I won’t do that again!”

But some petitioners humbly reply: “I learned that I was at fault for the failure of our marriage, too. And I hope I can learn from my mistakes and have a happier marriage to my next spouse.” Now who do you think the annulment process helped and who do you think it hardened? One petitioner used the right metric of measurement for his life and other was content to gaze upon the painting of his life by candlelight.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Finger of God

Seeing how Jesus’ humanity teaches us theology

03/27/2025

Luke 11:14-23 Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed. Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons." Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters."

This week is Spring Break for all schools in Arkansas and I have enjoyed seeing posts of people’s vacation pictures. Some are in San Antonio visiting the Alamo. Others have hit the beach and trying to get a tan to look more like Fr. John. Still others are hiking in the mountains and hitting the ski resorts. What have you been doing for Spring Break? Maybe enjoying that lots of people have left Fort Smith, and there is no school traffic in the morning – a staycation!

Let me share what I have been up to this week and my Spring Break plans. Last weekend I flew to San Antonio to give a retreat to a small Bible study group. They have watched my online Bible studies and somehow survived. They wanted me to come in person and share more. I felt like Darby Bybee the weatherman who jumps off the television to come to your house to predict the weather – a celebrity!

My show was not about the chance of rain or a cold front moving in but about Pope St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. I did not try to forecast the weather but just forecast the faith, that is, we explored how our bodies tell us about God, and surprisingly, can teach us theology. Hence, it is called the theology of the body. The group of participants was really engaged and had lots of questions and comments. But some I suspect would have probably enjoyed Darby Bybee more.

Then on  Thursday and Friday this week, I will go to Subiaco to give a retreat to the women participating in Project Rachel. Have you heard of Project Rachel? It is a support group for women recovering and healing from a past abortion. I have visited Project Rachel groups before and always been amazed at the courage, humility, and love of these ladies to face their past and ask God to heal their deep wounds.

Again, I will share my presentations on the Theology of the Body with these wonderful women. Why? Well, these brave women are facing the hard truth of what an abortion is, namely, the taking of an innocent human life. Of course, we do not condemn these ladies but rather help them to confront their past, humbly acknowledge their mistakes, and turn to God for healing, forgiveness, mercy, and strength. As Pope St. John Paul put it: there can be no love without truth, and no truth without love.

But my hope is that through this brief retreat on the Theology of the Body, these ladies will not feel more guilt but more grace. In other words, they will see their own beautiful bodies as a theology, and then within a family, bring more babies into the world whose bodies will also be a theology, a way for the world to get to know God. Would you please pray for the success of this retreat with Project Rachel today and tomorrow?

In the gospel today, Jesus drives out demons but is questioned by the people. So he says: “But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” In other words, there is more power in Jesus’ little finger than all the power of hell. And therefore there is likewise more theology in Jesus’ little finger than in all the theology books ever written. Why?

Because by virtue of his incarnation, Jesus took on a human body – in Latin famously said as “incarnatum factum est” and we genuflect at the words in the Creed at Christmas – and therefore as John Paul said, “the body entered theology by the main door.” That is, in Jesus’ finger we find the power of God to cast out demons but also the wisdom of God to tell us how much he loves us and wants us to love him in return.

Jesus became a man not only so God could love us in a way we could understand but also so we could love God in a way that we could understand. Indeed, Jesus becomes not just a Body, but in a few minutes he becomes Bread, again to show  his love for us, and allow us to show our love for him. And that is what I am doing for Spring Break: casting out demons by the finger of God, teaching the Theology of the Body.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Oreo Cookies on Mars

Learning to love our homeland of heaven

03/24/2025

Luke 4:24-30 Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth: “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

Everyone loves the land where they are born. Hence we feel a sense of patriotism for our fatherland. But what if the parents are born in one country while the children are born or grow up in another country? For instance, my parents grew up in India but my brother, sister, and I grew up here in the United States.

People call my brother, sister, and me Oreo cookies because we’re brown on the outside but white on the inside. In other words, there were essentially two nationalities in my home, but no one really noticed it. This bubbling ethic difference came to a boil when my family visited India when I was a teenager. Of course we traveled during the summer time because we were out of school.

But it was blistering hot in New Delhi in June, and there was no air-conditioning to speak of, the food was too spicy, we could not speak the language, and we really did not know anyone. My parents, on the other hand, were used to all of that and did not need those American creature comforts like we kids were accustomed to.

My parents were loving every minute of the vacation and felt like they were finally “home.” So they were surprised, even shocked, to hear us children complain, “We want to go home!” My folks thought “we are home,” but my brother, sister, and I felt like we were on Mars. The Oreo cookies wanted to go back to the land of the stars and stripes.

In the gospel today Jesus comes as a prophet to tell the people they are not truly home and their true fatherland is in heaven, where God the Father is waiting for them. With two startling examples of Old Testament prophets, he explains that earthly ethnicity is not what matters most. Both Elijah and Elisha are sent to heal non-Jews, a widow from Sidon and Naaman from Syria.

But they do not heal or help people in the homeland of Israel. In other words, Jesus knows full-well that everyone loves the land where they were born, and perhaps no one loves their homeland more than the Jews did. Why? Well, because God had promised Abraham and his descendants the land of Palestine as a perpetual inheritance.

But now Jesus (as a prophet) informs them the earthly land was just a down-payment on their true homeland of heaven. But just like my parents thought India was “home” and my siblings and I thought American was “home,” so the Jews react violently when Jesus tells them that Israel is not their true home. They want to kill him for such unpatriotic blasphemy.

One of my favorite texts from the 2nd century A.D. is called the “Letter to Diognetus” written by an anonymous author. It delivers the same prophetic message as Jesus in the gospel today, exhorting: “Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language, or customs."

The anonymous author continues: "They do not inhabit separate cities of their own or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life…Yet there is something extraordinary about their way of life. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through."

Then he concludes: "They play their full role as citizens but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their true homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others they marry and have children, but they do not expose their children. They share their meals, but not their wives.”

My friends, the challenge for us 21st century Americans is the same as for Jesus’ contemporaries in Nazareth, for Diognetus’ fellow Christians in the 2nd century, and as for me and my family in the 1980’s. That is, we all love the land where we are born. And we should because we cultivate the virtue of patriotism. But as Christians we have a higher citizenship, a heavenly citizenship. And sometimes, we may even feel a little like oreo cookies on Mars.

Praised be Jesus Christ!