Conversion By Kindness (31st Sunday, Year C)

To listen to this homily, click here.

We have for our Gospel reading today the wonderful story of Zacchaeus the tax collector who was so short he had to climb a tree to get a better view of Jesus. This story is so bizarre, so drastic that it has to be true! Everyone, including Zacchaeus, is completely surprised when Jesus announces he intends to stay at Zacchaeus' house that day. They were all astonished because Zacchaeus was a tax collector and therefore someone who was widely despised. At the time Jericho, where he lived, was a very prosperous town at the center of the balsam trade. As the tax collector of this city Zacchaeus would have been a very wealthy man. Tax collectors were employed by the Roman occupiers under a kind of franchise system where they got a percentage of whatever taxes they could collect. This meant the better Zacchaeus was at his job, the wealthier he would be. This was also a reason why tax collectors were always disliked since it was in their interests to squeeze as much money out of everyone as they could. As far as the Jews were concerned, all tax collectors were public sinners because they were raising money for the Roman occupiers.

Talking to a tax collector might be unavoidable but eating with one gave the impression you approved of their behavior. At the beginning of the story it says that Zacchaeus ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus. There are all kinds of trees and some of them are much easier to climb than others. The sycamore tree is definitely one of the most difficult to climb since it has very few branches close to the ground and they tend to be smooth and difficult to grip. Somehow this small man gets up the tree because he wants to see the Lord. His effort was surely a measure of his desire to see Jesus who looks into his heart and recognizes that Zacchaeus is at a turning point in his life. 

We can only imagine the different terrible names and slurs that people had screamed at Zacchaeus as he collected taxes. This would have happened if he was just and fair in his duties. Even more so as he extorted people and lined his own pockets. Just the sight of him would have driven people crazy and brought out their rage. It makes me wonder if he climbed that tree simply because he was short or also to get some protection from those he had wronged. 

By expressing the wish to eat with Zacchaeus Jesus unlocks his heart and as a direct result Zacchaeus completely repents of his sins and offers to make quadruple restitution to those he has cheated. We don't get the reaction of the crowd to this extraordinary statement of Zacchaeus but they were not impressed since they would have regarded him as a sinner. I would imagine they would have treated his conversion with eye-rolls and a high level of skepticism. 

There is nothing else recorded in the Gospels about Zacchaeus and this indicates that his conversion was a sincere one. There are later Christian traditions which say he took the name Matthias and was the one chosen as an Apostle to replace Judas Iscariot. Another tradition says he became the first Bishop of Caesarea and his wife was Veronica, the woman who wiped Jesus’ face with her veil on his way to Calvary. 

Whatever the truth of these stories it seems likely that Zacchaeus did indeed make a sincere conversion and fulfilled his promises to make restitution to anyone he had cheated. The point is that it is a wonderful story of repentance. It shows once again how Jesus could look into a person's heart and draw out the very best in them. It also shows that the desire for repentance is something present in most people but that it often needs the right moment of kindness to bring it to the surface. 

Perhaps that is a lesson we can take away from today’s gospel: the power of kindness. In the course of our daily lives, we come across many people who are secretly wanting to see and hear the voice of Jesus. On the outside they may be living in ways that are sinful, unholy, and wrong. They might appear to be lost, hopeless cases that will never change. It can be easy to treat them like Zacchaeus, to label and look at them with disgust and judgement. But inside, God may be moving their heart towards him, towards a life without sin, guilt, and remorse. Because of fear, embarrassment, self-hatred or shame, they may not know how to move towards God. Our acts of Christian charity can be the pivotal moment that changes a heart and helps a person move towards Christ in a way that will transform their life forever.

This can seem intimidating to us because we can’t read a person’s heart and soul like Jesus. We might wonder when, what, and how to say the things that will help, heal, and inspire other people. Each situation is unique but one thing is always true. Each and every person, no matter how messed up or repulsive, is precious to God. Every human ever conceived is made in the image and likeness of God. He knows every one of us, He wants to save each of us, and he has placed a unique piece of his Divine life in every human soul. If we pray for the gift to see God’s reflection in every person we encounter, we will be God’s voice to the modern-day Zacchaeus. If we ask God to help us see his face, even in the most difficult or hateful people, we will be instruments of peace and conversion. Lastly, if we truly believe that Jesus sees us and wants to come into the house of our very own soul, we will want that for others and be willing to love them, even in their weaknesses. 

Today’s gospel contains a humbling truth: one kind word, one loving action can change a soul forever and be the difference between heaven or hell. May God help us to make our words and actions his own for the conversion of many!

Have Mercy on Me, A Sinner! (30th Sunday, Cycle C)

Over the past three weeks, the readings at Mass have centered around prayer and the lessons associated with this all-important activity. Today’s readings continue this theme as Jesus offers a parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector. It would be easy to over-simplify what is going in this story. The Pharisee is the bad guy because of his prideful prayer while the tax-collector is the good guy because of his simple, humble approach. While some of this is true, there is much more for us to consider as we apply this powerful parable to our own lives.

Right off the bat, the purpose of this parable is striking. Luke tells us that Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. Christ had the divine ability to read hearts, to see what was going on in the depths of the souls of those who were listening to his teachings. And as he was speaking, he could see many hearts were self-confident, to the point of being cocky, of their own righteousness. This prideful view caused them to look down on others whom they determined were not as as righteous as they. As we prepare to reflect on the  prayer of the Pharisee and tax collector, it would be good to first open our own hearts and intentions to the Lord. What does he see in your heart and mine? Aren’t most of us very similar to his listeners 2000 years ago, often secretly convinced of our own righteousness? Isn’t there a part of each of us that looks around the church or work or school and finds those who seem worse off than ourselves in some physical, material, or spiritual way? How easy it is to think less of the people who don’t have it together, who seem to wallow in their weakness and sinfulness? Even now, 2000 years later, Christ can see our hearts and help us to see that we need this parable just as much as his listeners did!

In the story, two people went into the temple to pray. One was a pharisee, which means he was a respectable person in Jewish society. This pharisee had a lot going for him! He was not greedy, dishonest, or impure. How many of us could say that honestly to the Lord? He fasted twice a week, prayed four times a day and even gave ten percent of everything he earned back to the temple! How many of us can boast of that?! In many ways, the pharisee was excellent, fulfilling the love of God and neighbor by his good deeds. I suspect if we had it all together like him, we might be tempted to say some of the very same things. But even with all of these good things he was doing, he went away unjustified.

On the other hand, there is a tax collector, who sneaks into the temple and stays in the back, at a distance Luke tells us. This was a man who made a living cheating others, overcharging them on taxes so that he could skim off the top. Tax collectors could do this because they constantly threatened people with extortion and would report them to the authorities as tax-evaders is they refused to pay their inflated fees. It is a sure bet that this guy was not giving a tenth of his income to the temple, nor was he darkening its doorways four times a day like the pharisee. In every way, he was the opposite of the pharisee, dishonest, greedy, and disliked by all who encountered him. And yet, Jesus tells us that he went away justified because of his prayer.

But why was this shady character justified while the much more pious and faithful Pharisee dismissed? Some care needs to be taken here so that we understand exactly what Jesus is saying and don’t lose the full power of the parable.

The Pharisee’s prayer is not rejected because he is pious in his religious practice, faithful in his external observance of the Law, or generous in returning God’s gifts. He is mostly a good guy, an admirable character. He is doing good things, things which the Lord still expects of each of us. However, he goes away unjustified because his prayer is scarcely a prayer at all. Instead of humbly praising God for all of the blessings he has received and acknowledging Him as the source of strength in keeping the Law and living a good life, the pharisee exults himself. Rather than praising God in his prayer or asking for mercy in the ways he falls short of the mark, he praises himself. He feels righteous because he compares himself to the tax collector. In doing so, he forgets that one is not justified by how good he looks compared to another person but by how he appears in the sight of God.

There are many things about the tax collector that we should never imitate. His dishonest way of life, his strong-arm tactics, his general lack of virtue. He is a bad man and Jesus is not holding up his life as an example. But the tax collector does one thing, the one thing that is most important in the eyes of God. He is humble before God, realizing he is not worthy to lift his eyes to heaven or to move to the front of the temple. His prayer to God is not an excuse for his actions rather, it is simply a prayer for mercy. When he prays that simple prayer: “O God, be merciful to me a sinner” he finds the key to justification and receives God’s forgiveness.

Both the Pharisee and the tax collector have something to teach us because we have elements of each in our lives. The pride and self-righteousness of the pharisee are dangers for all of us. The sinfulness of the tax-collector, his greed, selfishness, and evil lifestyle are things that most of us struggle with in some way, shape, or form. In light of this, we can take away three important lessons from the parable:

First, it was not the lifestyle of the pharisee that got him in trouble nor the life of the tax collector that made him admirable. Therefore, let us strive to imitate the Pharisee in his commendable practice of regular prayer, fasting, and generous almsgiving. Let us seek to eliminate sin, in all its forms from our lives and strive to be righteous in every way.

Secondly, we should never forget the simple prayer of the tax collector. God is not won over by smooth-talking or elaborate words but rather by the heartfelt and humble prayers. If we acknowledge our need for God and his mercy, we can be sure that he will grant us all that is necessary to be justified in his sight. Our prayers should always acknowledge that we are sinners in need of God’s mercy.

Lastly, we should remember that God simply wants us to place our trust in him. He is not impressed by how we stack up to others. It is not good enough to be better than others if we don’t place our complete trust in him. The parable shows us that God abandons those who believe they can exult themselves, and exults those who abandon themselves, if they abandon themselves to him.

So do not be proud! Let us humble ourselves in the sight of God and make the prayer of the tax-collector our own: “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

Your Prayers Matter! (29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C)

To listen to this homily, click here.

I watched a good movie this week on Netflix. It is called “The Siege of Jadotville” and it’s the true story of a ferocious battle between UN peacekeepers from Ireland and French mercenaries in an obscure town of the Congo in 1961. It was not a fair fight. A small force of 150 Irish troops who had never been in battle against several thousand battle-hardened former French Legionnaires and Congo Rebel militia fighters. The Irish had only small arms and mortars while the opposing forces had heavy weapons and air support. There was tremendous pressure on the UN troops to give up, to sneak away, to leave the problem to someone else since this was not their country and, seemingly, not their war. Despite these temptations and difficulties, they fought valiantly for days until they literally ran out of bullets. They did not give up, they conducted themselves with honor, and eventually, were recognized as heroes.

This theme of perseverance, of staying the course, of not giving up is running throughout our readings today. In the passage from Exodus, God’s people are in a battle. As long as Moses raises his arms in prayer to God, the Israelites are victorious and successful. Any of you who have held a heavy picture or mirror while someone else checks to see if it is level or in the right place, knows that this is not good for Moses. His arms get tired and when he lowers them to rest, the enemy starts getting the advantage. Hand-to-hand combat between armies in the ancient world was an all-day event. Moses must have been tempted to give up, to let the Israelite army duke it out without his supplication. Instead, the great prophet and leader gets his brother Aaron and a friend to hold up his arms so God’s people can be victorious and rule the day.

St. Paul, in a letter to Timothy, encourages Christians to remain faithful to everything they have learned and come to believe. He challenges them to proclaim the truth of God’s word persistently, whether it is convenient or inconvenient.

Finally, Jesus shares a parable with his disciples about never giving up in prayer. He tells the great story of a widow who is seeking a just decision from a dishonest judge. She is so persistent, so single-minded in her badgering of the judge that he decides to render the proper judgement, not because of justice but because he is sick of her bothering him and he is also afraid she might punch his lights out if he ignores her or rules against her. 

In all three readings, perseverance in prayer and witness to the truth of God is key. Like the defenders of Jadotville, we are called to be tenacious in our prayer and living out of the truths of our faith. Even when we get tired. Even when we seem to be ignored. Even when it feels like the world is stacked against us and we wonder if this battle is really ours to fight. 

Haven’t we all felt like Moses at some point, praying for God’s will to be done in our lives, our families and our world? Haven’t we prayed day after day for the same things, maybe to be delivered from some sinful fault, for the conversion of a family member, the end of abortion or the death penalty, or for a just and holy person to represent us in government? And yet, the battle is not over and we are getting tired. It is really tempting to want to put our arms down and stop praying, to let someone else handle it and just stop fighting. Our readings emphatically remind us not to give up, to never stop praying!

Maybe its not weariness that we are facing. Perhaps it is discouragement, feeling that we are insignificant, wondering what difference my little life can bring. Today’s readings point out that no life is insignificant or unimportant. Your prayers, your witness makes a difference! Even in a world of 7 billion people, your prayers and contribution are unique. Don’t underestimate the impact you can have in your faithfulness to the gospel and kind acts of charity. Can you imagine a world that never had Mother Teresa, Abraham Lincoln, Ghandi, St. Francis, or our own beloved Jane Corbett? Imagine how different and impoverished your life would be without your spouse, a sibling, a child, a parent, or a dear friend. Each of these are just one life among billions but what a tremendous and irreplaceable impact every one of them makes! That is why the Catholic Church has always been and will always be so protective of human life. That is why we want you to take your privilege of voting so seriously. Every life, every person, with their gifts, talents and prayers has an indispensable role for the salvation of the world and good of human history.

That purpose, that belief begins and ends with prayer. Please do not underestimate the power of your prayers for your family, for this parish, and for the world. Please do not stop praying each and every day for God to bless and guide you in following his plan for your life. If you are not praying at all or have stopped for some reason, imagine what you could do, more importantly, what God could do with your life if you renew your relationship with him. Imagine how differently the world would have looked if Moses stopped praying on the day of battle or St. Paul had ceased giving witness to the teachings he had learned. Our lives and even the history of the world would have been negatively affected! 

May we be people that pray always without becoming weary. Even when the world seems stacked against us, even when we wonder if our prayers and our lives make any difference. Scripture and history show us that they have real power, that they accomplish good things for ourselves and others, both in our lifetime and for generations to come. Believe; then pray accordingly!

Catholics and Voting, Part 2 (10/9/16)

To listen to this homily, click here.

Last week I began our discussion on the upcoming election by reflecting on the privilege of voting we enjoy as Catholics living in a free, democratic country. To briefly recap, voting is more than just a nice idea; it is actually one of the primary ways we exercise our faith in the civic arena to ensure a just and compassionate society. Catholics should not excuse themselves lightly of the responsibility to vote and we are obliged to take time to know the issues and candidates and prayerfully reflect on how we will cast our ballot. Last week’s readings centered on faith and hope, which was a very good place for us to begin. No matter what age we live in, no matter who our choices are for public office, our faith and hope must always be placed squarely in God. Not on a party platform, promises, or political candidate. It’s no secret that many people are troubled by the upcoming election, especially the candidates for president. Now, more than ever, there is the temptation to be cynical, despondent, or to try to isolate ourselves from society. Some have become apathetic, feeling that their vote has no importance, and refuse to participate in any way. None of these are healthy Christian responses. But they are certainly understandable. We live in a very morally-complicated world. Trying to sort through the many issues facing voters and evaluate them according to our Catholic values can seem overwhelming. 

Fortunately for us, the Catholic Church has been around a long time. Drawing on 2000 years of wisdom, revelation, Tradition, and Divine Guidance, she can help us prepare our consciences to vote on November 8. Today I want to share some of that insight for your consideration, especially in regards to evaluating the moral issues and policies at stake. For you and me, the teaching of the Church is a great blessing because it provides us with guidance in making our choices. We don’t have to fumble around on our own.  

The first teaching for us to keep in mind is that not all issues are of equal importance or weight. Some things are always right or always wrong, regardless of the circumstances or what religious tradition you come from. These are the issues that relate directly to who we are as human persons, living together in society. They follow the truth of natural law, that inherent sense of right and wrong, written on the heart of every human person. These matters have the highest importance and are in a class of their own. All other issues, as important as they are, need to defer to these. The issues or actions we can never do or support are: abortion, euthanasia, embryo-destructive research like cloning and embryonic stem cell lines, racism, treating the poor as disposable, and same-sex marriage. We call these intrinsically evil actions because they can never be morally justified. As an important clarification, we are not calling the people involved in these actions or who support these actions intrinsically evil. They are children of God, loved by Him in the same way as anyone else and deserve our compassion, respect, and kindness without exception. Knowing the importance of these fundamental issues is a great starting point for evaluating the candidates vying for our vote. We can score each of them according to their stance on these most important matters. 

After we have prayed and wrestled with these issues involving intrinsically evil acts, we can move on to the many other serious moral concerns that are at stake in the upcoming election. These matters are significant political issues like education, foreign policy, fiscal policy, healthcare, national security, nominating judges, green energy, and transportation, to name a few. Each of these political issues are open for debate and argument. You can make an argument for your position and the candidate who supports it and, unless your thinking is downright immoral, your position can be totally valid. However, there could be another person who disagrees with you and your candidate and could have another completely rational and morally acceptable viewpoint. These sort of things are true political “issues.” They are not hard truths and we are not required to hold any particular view but we simply cannot ignore them. These issues are of secondary importance to the matters involving intrinsically moral evils. They should not be given the same weight but can still be helpful in determining which candidate receives our vote. 

We might find it enlightening to rank or score each candidate depending on where he or she falls on both the intrinsically evil acts and the serious moral concerns. Giving each issue the proper weight, depending on which category it falls in, along with with prayer, can help us arrive at a decision. It is also possible that, after considering the candidates for certain offices and their stances on each of these topics, some people will conclude they cannot in good conscience vote for any of the candidates. This is also a morally acceptable decision, provided it has been reached with due diligence, prayer, and reflection. It would be important for someone who is reaching this decision to acknowledge that they will have to accept whatever outcome and consequences result from the election. In the end, each of us needs to vote according to our conscience and make sure that our conscience is properly formed and informed. We should be able to defend our decision before God. 

The difficult part about voting in this election and really, any election, is that there are no perfect candidates. More than ever, we are faced with the dilemma of choosing between candidates who each hold morally-problematic views and may support one or more intrinsically evil acts. In these cases, we should choose the candidate who will do the least amount of evil. It’s a pretty lousy choice to be left with but we still have some say in limiting the damage. Once again, it is very possible that we may decide we are unable to vote for any of the candidates. If this is our decision, after prayer and reflection, then we should be at peace withholding our vote.

My prayer for all of us is that we have the humble courage to vote in a way that reflects the beauty and holiness of our Catholic Faith. Our world, our nation, needs Christ more than ever! Let’s trust the wisdom of our Church to inform our decisions in the coming weeks, a holy wisdom which has been guaranteed the guidance of the Holy Spirit until the end of time. May God bless and protect our great nation and give us the leaders we need to establish our country in justice, peace, and compassion. 

Catholics and Voting, Part 1 (10/1/16)

To Listen to this homily, click here.

You might not realize it, but there is a major election just around the corner! Seriously, it has been impossible to escape the impending election for the past year as our nation contemplates its next commander in chief and various other national and local leaders. This election, more than ever, has seemed contentious, divisive and almost surreal. For many voters, there appear to be few, if any clear-cut, choices. More and more people seem to be thinking in terms of compromise and who or what might be the less awful choice.

It is not my place nor my job to say who or what you should vote for. And I am not just saying that because of the IRS rules for tax-exempt institutions. Each and every one of us is called, as Catholics and American citizens, to participate in the process of electing leaders for our country. We need to make those decisions with prayer and thoughtful reflection because our vote has an impact on many people for years to come. Each of us has to be able to stand before God and explain the choices we made. God, unlike any human person, knows the heart and also sees through our excuses and rationalizations. 

It is my job, as your priest, to make sure you have the tools necessary to make good and holy choices at the polls. I have to stand before the Lord and tell him that I helped his people build up the kingdom of God and form their consciences. This is not something I can do in one week or with one homily. So, I am going to spend the next several weeks, not speaking about any particular candidates, but about the principles we need to keep in mind when we vote as Catholic Americans and the hierarchy of issues in light of Church teaching. Each homily will build upon the others so remember they will be posted on my blog and the parish website in both written and audio format so you can revisit them, even if I was not preaching at the Mass you attended. 

The scriptures center on two fundamental christian virtues: faith and hope. In the first reading, the prophet Habakuk feels abandoned and forgotten by God. Everywhere he looks, he sees violence, division, chaos, and suffering. He wonders where God can be found in any of this? Doesn’t this sound familiar?! The lord answers the prophet and encourages him to be patient, that God has not forgotten his people or the promises he made to them. The salvation of God, even though it seems delayed, will come. The person of faith, who hopes in God shall live. 

In the gospel, the disciples realize their faith needs to be increased in order to truly follow after Christ. Perhaps they saw the miracles that were being worked and knew that their faith needed to be more like those who trusted in the healing power of Christ. Or perhaps they were starting to understand what it meant to follow Jesus and what it would cost them and they knew that their faith needed to be deepened. Whatever the case, they ask the Lord to refine and deepen their faith.

As we prepare to vote in a little over a month, it would serve us well to first contemplate where we put our faith and hope. Have we unconsciously placed it other people and institutions, rather than God? There never has and never will be a candidate for public office who will guarantee our safety, success, or the protection of all our civil rights and religious liberties. Is it possible the angst, anger, and division we see in our country and in the upcoming election is due in some part because we expect humans to solve problems that only God can handle? Are we making choices at the polls without prayerful reflection? Has our hope and faith in God been replaced by cynicism or apathy? In the past, if we have voted at all, has it been informed by faith and hope in God?

The practice of voting can and should be an exercise of faith and hope. We believe our Catholic faith has something worthwhile to contribute to the future of our nation and we shouldn’t turn it off when we go to vote. We believe, as followers of Christ that this world, as broken and messed up as it can be, is fundamentally good. God cared enough to send his Son to redeem humanity by dying on the cross. We should care enough to invest the time and effort to learn what we are about to vote on and what principles the different candidates operate on in making decisions. We cannot just shake our fist at the world, at the injustice or corruption we see and excuse ourselves from participating in legitimate government. Christians cannot put their heads in the sand or shake their heads in despair. We sincerely hope that the Lord can redeem our society, no matter how broken or crooked it may seem. If our faith and hope is in God, that can happen. If our faith and hope is in public officials, laws, or any other human institutions, there is no way it will.

It is true; there is no perfect candidate for any of the offices that are up for grabs in November. In fact, there never has and never will be. As followers of Christ, we don’t sit around and bemoan the problems of the world. We work with what is available and combine it with God’s grace to make the impossible happen. That is what God does with us! The vote we cast should be a reflection of our faith in God. It should not be a product of anger, cynicism, laziness, selfishness, or wanting to be on the winning side. 

As November 8 draws closer, let’s reflect on where we put our faith and hope for the future. Can we honestly say it is in God and God alone? Let’s make sure we begin prayerfully preparing to cast our vote, inviting God into the discernment process. May our faith and hope be reflected by the way we participate in the coming election and let us do our part as Catholics and citizens to make our nation more just, compassionate, and united under God.