Nickname Nate

Sorting fact from fiction with our spiritual ancestors

08/24/2022

Jn 1:45-51 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

There is a growing fascination today with discovering ancient ancestors. Recently, my brother has put together a family tree of the Antony Family that stretches its roots deep into the soil of India. But the farther back we go in time the facts become fused with fiction. That is, instead of birth certificates and marriage licenses that give us cold hard facts, we have to decipher details from stories and legends, which are often embellished and exaggerated.

By the way, one of the most popular websites to conduct an ancestry search is called “Ancestry.com”. Have you ever used it? It is based out of Utah, which has a very strong Mormon presence. One of the tenets of Mormonism is baptizing of people who passed away many, many years ago. They believe it is not too late to be baptized even hundreds of years after you have died. Based on that belief, they have done some of the most extensive research available on tracing ancestry. They work hard to sort the fact from the fiction in the fog of history, so they can baptize people.

Today is the feast of St. Bartholomew, and we want to sift fact from fiction about one of the twelve apostles. We are not going to use anecestry.com but rather Scripture and Tradition, which I believe is even more reliable to reach reality. Let’s do a little ancestor research on our ancient forefather in the faith named St. Bartholomew.

First, we learn from the Bible that he had two names, Bartholomew and Nathaniel. One name is in Latin, “Bartholomeus”, and the other is in Hebrew, “Nathanael.” Can you think of other apostles who also had two names? The chief of the apostles had a Hebrew name, “Simon” and also a Latin name, “Petrus” (Peter). Another apostle who wrote a gospel had a Hebrew name “Levi” as well as a Latin name “Mattheus” (Matthew).

In other words, having two names was not uncommon in the first century where people spoke multiples languages. Here at Immaculate Conception, for example, I have two names in two different languages. In Spanish people call me “Padre Juan.” In English, they call me “the greatest priest on earth.” See how easy it is to sort the fact from fiction when it comes to people’s names?

The second thing we learn about St. Bartholomew comes from today’s gospel from John 1. There we see Bartholomew referred to as Nathanael and discover how brutally honest he could be. When Philip tells Nathanael that they had found the Messiah from Nazareth, Nathanael scoffs, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” You see, Nazareth was a small, insignificant back-water town in Palestine, and an unlikely hometown for the Savior of the world.

But Bartholomew’s brutal honesty would serve him well a few moments later when he met the Messiah face to face. Bartholomew would blurt out: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” By the way, I have a good friend who has a propensity for being brutally honest, and I gave them the nickname of “Nate.” So, the Scriptures help us sort the fact from the fiction regarding St. Bartholomew’s petulant personality.

The third thing we discover about St. Bartholomew comes from Sacred Tradition, and not Sacred Scripture. According to tradition St. Bartholomew was martyred by being skinned alive. If you ever visit me in my church office, I will show you a painting of the Last Judgment by Michelangelo. Very close to Jesus is St. Bartholomew, holding in one hand a knife, and in the other hand his sagging skin.

In fact, if you look closely and examine all the saints in heaven in Michelangelo’s fresco, they are all holding the instrument of their torture and death. Why? Because that is how they died and were martyred, and gave glory to God. In other words, our cross on earth will be our crown in heaven. What looks like failure and foolishness on earth will be our claim to fame and fortune in heaven. Remember that as you carry your crosses. So, too, with St. Bartholomew, or Nate.

Incidentally, I am intensely interested in St. Bartholomew because according to another tradition he came to India and spread the Gospel. So, we Indians can boast of two apostles who brought Christianity to India: St. Bartholomew and St. Thomas. They are our forefathers in the faith, and that is the best kind of ancestry research.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The Three Brothers

Working on our salvation with fear and trembling

08/21/2022

Lk 13:22-30 Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" He answered them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, 'Lord, open the door for us.' He will say to you in reply, 'I do not know where you are from. And you will say, 'We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.' Then he will say to you, 'I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!' And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out. And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."

Most of us do not give much thought to whether or not we will be saved. We think salvation is easy and for everyone, so we don’t worry about it. We would be in the same boat as three brothers who all died on Easter Sunday. They arrived at the Pearly Gates and were met by St. Peter. Peter said: “Well, none of you have been that good, but none of you have been that bad either.” He quickly reviewed their life histories, and continued: “I tell you what. Since today is Easter if just one of you can tell me the true meaning of this holy day, all three can enter heaven. If not, then you will all go to the other place.

The first brother stepped up and said, “Yeah, Easter, that’s the holiday where the fat guy in red gives everyone presents.” Peter shook his head and said: “No, I’m afraid that’s not right.” The second brother answered, “Easter is when everyone gets together, lights fireworks, and eats barbeque.” Peter said again, “No, that’s not right at all.” Finally, the third brother steps forward, and Peter reminds him their salvation hangs on his next words. He says: “Okay, Easter. So, a long time ago there was a guy named Jesus. And he died for our sins. And anyway, after he died, he was buried in this cave.” Peter said very hopefully: “Yes…and then what happened?” The third brother continued: “So anyway, three days later Jesus rises from the dead. And if he sees his shadow that’s how we know if we have six more weeks of winter.” So, you see, salvation is not easy and not for everyone., at least not for the three brothers.

In the gospel today, someone else is wondering who all will be saved. He asks Jesus: “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” Now, wouldn’t it be nice if Jesus had answered: “Oh, what a ridiculous question! Not a few but everyone will be saved!” But sadly that is not what Jesus said. What Jesus really said in the gospel was: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.” In other words, Jesus suggests in no uncertain terms that salvation will not be easy and it will not be for everyone, like it was not for those three brothers who did not know the meaning of Easter.

Let me give you three ways of thinking about salvation so you can give a better answer than those three brothers when you arrive at the Pearly Gates. First, St. Augustine said, “Man is limited by the sacraments, but God is not.” What does the Doctor of Grace mean by that phrase? Well, as Catholic Christians we know the surest road to salvation is the seven stepping stones of the sacraments. We must be baptized, we must be confirmed, we must go to Mass, we must be married in the Church, we must seek God’s grace at the hands of ordained priests, we have to go to confession at least once a year, and we have to be anointed before we die.

If Roman Catholics do those seven things then we stand a good chance of being saved. But are we doing even those seven simple things? Do we skip Mass on Sunday? When was the last time we went to confession? How many Catholics are getting married outside the Church, or getting married at all? In other words, even for Roman Catholics salvation is not easy and not for everyone. We don’t need to worry about what God will do with non-Catholics, we have enough to worry about with what God will do with us.

Second, I love how Pope John Paul II understood the ancient adage, “Extra Ecclesiam, nulla salus.” Of course we all know that means “There is no salvation outside the Church.” In other words, we believed that only Catholics were going to heaven. Now, that is still true, but John Paul II sort of softened that saying, and put the burden back on Catholics. He said, we do not know if people outside the Church will be saved. But we do know that the people inside the Church will not be saved if we don’t share the Good News. Why?

Because Jesus said in Lk 12:48: “Everyone to whom much is given, of him will much be required.” And we Catholics have been given the fullness of the Christian faith, so we should generously share our faith with the world. We should not be greedy with God’s grace or hoarders of holiness. By the way, do you know the twelfth step of Alcoholics Anonymous? It is to share the sobriety you have discovered with others. What happens if you don’t complete the 12th step? You are still an alcoholic. The same is true for us Catholic Christians. If we do not share our salvation, then we are not saved.

And third, I love the humor of Archbishop Fulton Sheen when he described who would and would not be in heaven. He joked: “When we get to heaven, there will be three surprises. First, there will be people in heaven we did not expect to make it (maybe your mother-in-law might make it). Second, there will not be people there we fully expected to make it (maybe Fr. John will not make it). And third, the biggest surprise of all is that we ourselves might make it to heaven." In other words, salvation is not easy and it is not for everyone. Don’t take God’s grace for granted, like the three brothers who did not know the meaning of Easter.

By the way, did you notice the common thread in all three perspectives by St. Augustine, St. John Paul II, and Venerable Fulton Sheen? They all agreed that we should stop worrying about whether other people will be saved or not. Will the Russians be saved? Will the Muslims be saved? Will the Democrats be saved? Will the Republicans be saved? Will my parents be saved? Will my children be saved? Instead, we have enough to worry about with our own salvation. Why? Because salvation is not easy and not for everyone, maybe not even for us.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Spelling or Math

Tricks of the trade in order to survive Catholic schools

08/19/2022

MT 22:34-40 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Boys and girls, as you begin a new school year I want to share some school survival strategies. Catholic schools can be hard, so here are some tricks of the trade to help you make it to May, 2023, the finish-line of this school year. The three survival strategies are: (1) beware of false friends, (2) sometimes losing is winning, and (3) everyone gets different gifts and talents.

First, beware of false friends. When you learn another language, like Spanish, or French or German, you come across some words in those languages look and sound like English words, so they seem “friendly”. But their meaning is very different from their English counterpart, and so they are “false friends”. For instance, what does the Spanish word “embarazada” sound like? You may think it means “embarrassed” in English, but it really means “pregnant”! That is a false friend.

What does the French word “preservatif” sound like? You would likely say a “preservative” like we put in food to make it last longer. But that French word actually means “contraceptive” (you’ll have to look up what that means). That is a false French friend. Or take the word “gift” in German. That is not a Christmas present, as you might think at first sight and sound. Instead, “gift” really means “poison” in German. Gift is another false friend, who looks like he might help you but only ends up hurting you.

So, too, in school you will find true and false friends. You will meet all kinds of people at school this year. And of course, you should be kind and loving to everyone, because that is what Jesus would do. But you cannot be best friends with everyone. So, choose your friends carefully. You do not have to be best friends with the first person you meet. And the best test of a “true friend” versus a “false friend” is someone who wants to help you get to heaven, so that you can be friends forever. Someone who just wants to cause trouble, or get you to try smoking or vaping, or drinking alcohol, is a “false friend”. They might look like a “gift” in German, but they really turn out to be poison for you.

The second trick of the trade to survive Catholic school is how sometimes losing really turns out to be winning. What does that mean? No one likes to fail a test, or lose a volleyball game, or come in fourth in cross country, or get fired from a job. But years later when we look back on those tough experiences, we can see we learned great lessons from them.

I will never forget my final exam in philosophy at the University of Dallas. In order to graduate, you had to take a comprehensive exam in front of three professors. They could ask you anything you had studied in all four years in school! I answered all the questions right, but I missed two of them. Do you know which questions I still remember today from that final exam in 1991? You got it: the two I got wrong. So, which questions taught me the most the ones I got correct or the two I missed?

That is how losing sometimes turns out to be winning: what I got wrong is what I remembered best. So, don’t worry if you fail a test, or lose a basketball game, or have trouble later in life. I am not saying it is a good thing to go ahead and fail! But our failures – which inevitably come our way – can teach us lessons we will never forget. That is how losing can turn out to be winning. Keep that in mind as you go through this coming year.

And the third survival strategy for Catholic school students is to remember that everyone gets different gifts. No one is born empty handed. You coming into this world with at least some gifts and talents. In school, you will discover that you are good at some subjects but you really struggle in other subjects. For instance, I was always really good at spelling but terrible in math. On the other hand, my brother, Paul, was great at math but terrible at spelling. Today, though, he is the senior vice president of a global home improvement company, and I am a priest. So, forget about spelling and pay attention in math class!

But this discovery of your gifts and talents is part of the adventure of a Catholic school. You may still be finding out what you are gifted in: maybe you are a great athlete. Perhaps God has given you a brain for technology. Others love history and social studies, and excel in those fields. Still others gravitate to science, and chemistry and love to blow things up in the laboratory!

The point is, each one of us must discover and develop our God-given talents to make this world a better place. That is why God gave you those gifts in the first place. In other words, you are here for a purpose: to build up the Kingdom of God. You are not an accident. And you are not a mistake. And you will discover the meaning of your life when you find your gifts. I am a priest because I can spell “priest” in Latin – "s-a-c-e-r-d-o-s" – and my brother can’t.

Let me summarize these survival strategies and invite you to keep them in mind for the coming year: (1) beware of false friends in languages and in life, (2) sometimes losing is winning, and our defeats end up as some of our greatest victories, and (3) everyone possesses gifts and talents, and your gifts and talents are the keys to the meaning of your life. Discover your talents, and you will know what will make you jump of bed every morning.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Mountains of Mac

Praying for the break-through of faith

08/16/2022

MT 19:23-30 Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and aid, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Then Peter said to him in reply, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Last night I attended a very special event at St. Scholastica Monastery. It was the First Profession of Sr. Siena Fisk as a nun in the monastic way of life. The little chapel was not quite full, but the sisters were there as well as many family and friends to support Sr. Siena with lots of love. We all prayed Evening Prayer together, and then the Prioress, Sr. Kimberly, led a brief ceremony of Profession, in which Siena went from being called a “Novice” to being called a “Sister”. This step was a “temporary profession” which lasts for three years. At the end of those three years, Sr. Siena can make a Final Profession to be a nun for the rest of her life, or she can bow out gracefully, “no harm, no foul.”

I find it very sad that most people only talk about the old monastery being demolished and totally miss how the Holy Spirit and the Sisters are still building the new monastery with “living stones” as we read in 1 Pt 2:4-5: “Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings, but chosen and precious in the sight of God.” The first pope, St. Peter, continued: “And like living stones, let yourself be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Now, there were probably some people who thought Sr. Siena was “wasting her life” becoming a nun, and may even have rejected her. She is certainly a talented, attractive, and very able young woman, with great promise in any career she may have chosen. Why did she choose to a “living stone” instead of an “old stone” that made up the old monastery that was demolished?

I think to desire to be a living spiritual stone and not merely a material “old stone” requires the breakthrough of faith. What does that mean? Well, sometimes we think our true happiness consists in more and more of what we already enjoy: more cheesecake, cooler cars, larger houses, faster wifi! The breakthrough of faith occurs the minute we glimpse that happiness is not just “quantitatively” more but “qualitatively” more than what we have at present. That is what it takes to go from a novice to a sister.

It is like trying to convince a small child who only wants more Coca-Cola and macaroni and cheese that someday he will enjoy a small filet mignon and Cabernet Sauvignon. The child will think a "mountain of mac and cheese” and "rivers of Root Beer" are far better than a little 6 ounce filet and a half-empty glass of Cab. In other words, they still think quantity is better than quality, like people think the “old stones” of the crumbling monastery were better than the “living stones” of the new monastic community.

This breakthrough of faith may help us make more sense of Jesus’ teachings in the gospel today. First, our Lord says it will be very hard for the rich to enter heaven. Why? Well, because the pitfall of the worldly wealthy is to think happiness comes from quantity rather than quality: more material things rather than spiritual things. And second, when Peter asks Jesus what “reward” the apostles will receive for their sacrifices, Jesus answer they “will receive a hundred times more (lands, children, houses, etc.), and will inherit eternal life.”

Why did Jesus answer that way? Because Jesus knows Peter is not ready for the filet mignon and Cab of faith, but still desires mountains of mac and cheese. Peter’s breakthrough of faith will only happen, as it does for all of us, with Jesus’ Resurrection. Only then will Peter see the difference between “quantity” and “quality” in faith, and write a letter about being a “living stone.” After the Resurrection, Peter himself will take the step from being a “novice in the faith” to becoming a “father in the faith.”

My friends, pray for this breakthrough of faith for yourselves, for your children, for the whole world. Sadly, sometimes we only experience it when tragedy strikes and we lose the material things we pinned all our hopes for happiness on. Traumas can teach great truths. But the breakthrough can also unfold gradually, like after two years as a novice, and feeling ready to take the leap of faith and become a sister.

For some of us, that breakthrough will only occur on our deathbed, when we hope for our own resurrection. C. S. Lewis wrote: “But probably this will not, for most of us, happen in a day; poetry replaces grammar, gospel replaces law, longing transforms obedience, as gradually as a tide lifts a grounded ship” (“The Weight of Glory”).

Praised be Jesus Christ!

What Writers Read

Reading the writings that inspire great writers

08/13/2022

Mt 19:13-15 Children were brought to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." After he placed his hands on them, he went away.

My brother, Paul, works for one of the largest home-improvement companies in the world. He rubs shoulders regularly with the CEO, which means he is close to becoming one himself. He said recently there is a list of CEO books that people pay attention to that helps them understand the CEO’s thoughts and the thinker himself. Incidentally, by “CEO” I don’t mean “Christmas and Easter Only” – those Catholics who only come to Church twice a year. A “real CEO” shows up to work every day, and maybe even to daily Mass.

Just like my brother reads the books of his CEO, so I read the books of those people I admire. And the people I admire are those who write books. In other words, I wonder what are the writers themselves reading? One of my favorite authors is C. S. Lewis. And one of the writers he read was George MacDonald, a Scottish Presbyterian minister who lived in the 1800’s. So, like my brother, I bought one of George MacDonald’s books, called Unspoken Sermons.

If there is one recurring theme in MacDonald’s writing it is that Christianity is all about being a child of God. Is it any wonder that C. S. Lewis’ most popular books are a children’s fantasy series called The Chronicles of Narnia? That is, the student has learned well from the master. Here is how MacDonald describes being a child of God: “That such is the mercy of God that he will hold his children in the consuming fire of his distance until they pay the uttermost farthing, until they drop the purse of selfishness with all the dross that is in it, and rush home to the Father and the son, and the many brethren – rush inside the center of the life-giving fire whose outer circles burn.”

In other words, being a child of God is both easy and hard. How is it easy? Well, a child always enjoys his father or mother’s love. A good father would take a bullet for his son. A good mother would stand in front of a moving train for her daughter. But the best Father (God) would give his only obedient Son (Jesus) to save his other disobedient children (you and me). So being a child of God is easy because you never have to doubt your Father’s unconditional love.

On the other hand, being a child of God is extremely hard. Why’s that? Well, who do parents demand more from: their own children or the neighbor’s kids? Good parents expect better behavior from their own children. So, too, does God. And Jesus is Exhibit A of being a Child of God, who not only carried his cross, but also then died on the cross. George MacDonald also said: “The Son of God suffered and died, not so that men might not suffer and die, but so that our suffering might be like His.” In other words, so that we might be a better child of God, but it is hard to be one.

In the gospel today, Jesus touches the mystery of Christianity by touching little children. As people brought their children to be blessed by our Lord, and the disciples tried to discourage them. But Jesus said in Mt 19: “Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” And to that comment, George MacDonald would offer a hearty Scottish “Amen!” Who better than Jesus, the Son of God, would know that the kingdom of God belongs, first and foremost, to the children of God? And being a child of God is both easier and harder than being the neighbor’s kid.

Today ask yourself: what do the people I admire read for books? If you admire CEO’s, then check out the list of books they spend their valuable time reading. If you admire “old dead white men” like C. S. Lewis, then pick up the volumes that spoke volumes to them But if you really want to know what Christian writers read, then just pick up the Bible. Both MacDonald and Lewis were infinitely more inspired and influenced by the Sacred Scriptures than anyone else they read. Why? Well, because the Author of that book was the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit never read anyone else’s writings to inspire Him.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Retirement Planning

Investing for our eternal retirement in heaven

08/14/2022

Heb 11:1-2, 8-19 Brothers and sisters: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise; for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God. By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.” He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol.

Have you ever heard of this old saying: “Working for the Church does not pay much but the retirement plan is out of this world”? That means our retirement will be in heaven, because church employees will work till we die. But earthly retirement may not everything we hope it will be either. Here are some jokes about earthly retirement that may make you look forward to your eternal retirement. A woman came home to find her retired husband waving a rolled up newspaper round his head. She asked: “What are you doing, dear?” He said, “Swatting flies. So far, I got three males and two females.” The wife asked: “How on earth do you know which gender they were?” The man answered: “Easy, three were on the beer, and the other two were on the phone.”

A reporter was interviewing a 103-yeard old woman. He asked: “And what do you think is the best thing about being 103?” She simply replied: “No peer pressure.” Here’s another one: “I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more after they retire and get older. And then it dawned on me: they were cramming for their finals!” Okay, last one: “A retired man who volunteers to entertain patients in nursing homes and hospitals went to one local hospital in Brooklyn and took his portable keyboard along. He told some jokes and sang some funny songs at patient’ besides. When he finished he said in farewell, “I hope you get better!” An elderly gentleman shot back: “I hope you get better too!”

Our Scripture readings today invite us to think less about our earthly retirement and focus more on our eternal one. That is, stop swatting male and female flies and start thinking like an employee of the Catholic Church. For example, Jesus says in the gospel of Luke 12: “Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy.”

Ask yourself right now: how much do you put aside for your 401K plan, or how much do you put in savings or in an investment portfolio? We make those financial sacrifices today in order to reap the benefits after we turn 65 and retire. Something similar but spiritual happens when we give our money to help church or charity. We are making a spiritual deposit today into a fund that “thieves cannot steal and moths cannot destroy.” It will be the poor people in Paradise who will open the doors of heaven to us because of how much we helped them today. In other words, your charitable donations will give you a return on your investment that is far more than a million-fold. When I don’t take a salary from the parish, or give my money to help children to attend Catholic schools, some people thing I’m not very smart with my money. They don’t realize I am saving for my retirement.

The second reading from Hebrews 11 also helps us do a little eternal retirement planning. The whole of Hb 11 is a marvelous exposition on faith, but the focus of the chapter is undoubtedly Abraham, the father of faith. We read: “By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promise was ready to offer his only son of who it was said, ‘Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name’.”

Hebrews continues, this is the important part: “He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol. In other words, part of the retirement package of heaven is receiving back those we have lost by death. No 401K, or saving account, or investment portfolio can offer you that: reunion with your loved ones you have lost. I do some retirement planning like Abraham every time I pray the rosary. How so?

At the end of the rosary, you typically say the “Litany of Loretto”, which is a long list of the various titles of Mother Mary, like “Seat of Wisdom”, “Mystical Rose”, “Tower of Ivory”, “Morning Star”, and so forth. But instead of reciting that great litany, I have created my own personal litany of saints, comprised of my own family and friends that I hope to meet in heaven. Like Abraham hoped to receive Isaac, I also hope to “receive my family and friends back alive.”

For example, I mention my nephew, Noah, my high school principal, Fr. George Tribou, my seminary rector, Msgr. Ken Roeltgen, the priest who gave me his chalice that I use at Mass, Msgr. Joseph Mrocskowski, and many parishioners from my parishes who have gone to their eternal reward and retirement. They have not been canonized saints by the official Church, but I have canonized them in my heart. They are dear to me, and I miss them, and I hope to see them again in heaven. In other words, every time I pray the rosary, I do some retirement planning. I plan to see them again.

My friends, when is the best time to start planning for your earthly retirement? Well, the sooner the better. But what do some people do? They start planning for retirement the day they retire! So, do not wait to start planning for your eternal retirement, either, and the sooner the better. Have you heard the story of the 3 year-old girl, Brooklyn Andracke? Every day she stood at her window in awe of the huge garbage truck that came once a week.

She started waving at the driver, Delvar Dopson, and the driver waved and honked back. Then, one day, she stood by the street with a cupcake, and he stopped and took it from her. It was her birthday. Do you know what she was doing? Clearly: she was giving her garbage man a cupcake. But do you know what she was really doing? She was retirement planning.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Jesus' Grandparents Day

Appreciating the wisdom and love of grandparents

7/26/2022

Mt 13:16-17 Jesus said to his disciples: "Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

Every year we promote Catholic schools for a whole week, called “Catholic Schools Week”. One of the highlights of that week is the Monday we celebrate “Grandparents Day”. Have any of you attended that day? We begin in the Parish Center with a light breakfast for the grandparents, who meet their grandchildren coming from school. I say a prayer and Mrs. B gives a warm welcome. Then, some take pictures at a picture booth, others go to buy their grandchildren books at a book fair, and a fun time is had by all.

Grandparents are critical in promoting the Catholic education of grandchildren. Why? Well, because sometimes the parents cannot clearly see the importance of the faith in their lives. They are too busy with work, and raising a family, and saving for retirement. They are blind to the faith. But grandparents have time, and hindsight, and especially money, and they have no doubt about the crucial role that Catholic schools play in a young person’s life. In many cases, grandparents pay for their grandchildren to attend Catholic schools. Grandparents are the glue that hold Catholic schools together.

I mention Grandparents Day because, in a sense, today’s feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne is a liturgical grandparents day. How so?  Well, Sts. Joachim and Anne are the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, so that makes them the grandparents of Jesus. Even though the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John do not mention Sts. Joachim and Anne by name, it is not unreasonable to suppose they were involved in Jesus’ life. Why should we suppose that?

Well, traditionally, Mary most likely gave birth to Jesus while she was very young, perhaps still a teenager. Hence, it is altogether likely that Mary’s parents were still alive and even helped in raising Jesus to some extent, even though Mary and Joseph were his primary providers. In other words, besides Mary and Joseph, Sts. Joachim and Anne may have had a hand in the faith formation of Jesus, just like grandparents do in their grandchildren’s lives today.

It should not surprise us, then, that today’s gospel is taken from Mt 13:16-17. There, Jesus declares: “Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” When I hear those words of Jesus, my first thought is that our Lord means the holy people of Israel’s distant past, like Abraham, Moses, and David. And that is certainly true.

But Jesus could also have had in mind his holy and righteous grandparents, Sts. Joachim and Anne, who helped raise him. Jesus is saying these words around the age of 30, so it is probable that Joachim and Anne did not live to Jesus’ public ministry and saving death and resurrection. But they certainly longed to see this day. Why? Well, not only was their daughter, Mary, immaculately conceived (that is, without sin), but their grandson, Jesus, was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. All grandparents long to see what their grandchildren will grow up to be and do with their lives. And no grandparents longed to see that day more than Sts. Joachim and Anne.

Here’s another reason why we should treat the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne as a liturgical grandparents day. We need these elderly saints to teach us how to do a better job of taking care of our own grandparents or elderly parents. Quite often we, their children, get frustrated, angry, and impatient with their physical or mental weaknesses due to old age. But no one feels more frustrated, angry or impatient with those limitations than they do!

In all our busy-ness, we need to stop, listen, and try to learn from them. Grandparents teach their grandchildren very important life-lessons, and those lessons are every bit as important for their children to learn as for their grandchildren. And I know in this respect I am the proverbial pot calling the kettle “black” because I need to do a better job of being more loving and patient with my own parents. May Sts. Joachim and Anne come to our aid, and help us love our grandparents better, just like Jesus loved his grandparents.

I will never forget a mother who said to me once: “I never thought I could love anyone more than I love my own children. And then I had grandchildren.” Well, no one in the long, unfinished history of humanity will ever be able to mean those words more than Sts. Joachim and Anne.

Praised be Jesus Christ!