Holy Family, Happy Family (Holy Family, 2017)

To listen to this homily, click here.

The feast we celebrate today, the feast of the Holy Family, is one of my personal favorites. It seems like a perfect companion to the Christmas festivities but it also reminds me of the many blessings and joys I have experienced in my own family growing up. I hope and pray you have similar sentiments as you think of your family and upbringing!

This feast is relatively new in the life of the Church. Founded in 1895 and declared universal in 1921, the celebration of the Holy Family was a reaction of the Catholic Church against the attacks of modern society towards the family. These dangers had their beginnings in the Industrial revolution when families were being broken up and overworked, sometimes becoming strangers to each other even while living in the same home.

The Church has always had the highest regard for the family; She calls it the domestic church and the building block of society. If you want to know how healthy a society is, look at the health of its families. Of course, it’s no secret that many of our families in this day and age are under attack from dangers like divorce, redefinition of marriage, cohabitation, non-stop sports and other activities, and the promotion of selfishness among our young people which discourages any sense of obligation or obedience to parents and other authority figures.

The family is under attack because the devil knows it is the most effective way to turn people away from God. If he can introduce fighting, anger, hatred, sadness, suffering, division, and dysfunction into our families, then he will have an easier time leading us away from God and make us feel alone. Without the family, a person is incredibly vulnerable to temptations of every kind. God intended our families to be a refuge, a place where we can go for support, safety, and love.

Our faith wants families to be healthy, happy, and secure. When our families are hurting, the Church is robbed of its vibrant spirit and its mission is compromised. 

This is why we celebrate the great feast of the Holy family, just a few days after the incredible miracle of Christ’s birth. Just as Jesus became one of us, he also was born into a family like us. He had a mom and a dad, he grew up learning from them how to eat, drink, clean, study, pray and countless other things that you and I picked up from our families. 

This celebration of Jesus’ family is also a celebration of our own. A time when we can reflect on the perfect example of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and apply the example of their lives to our own.

Pope Paul VI, in a beautiful reflection on the Holy Family, offers three main points that we can think about for ourselves:

1) Silence: Jesus time with his family was the majority of his life and also the most secret. 30 years of quiet learning, practicing, praying and loving; all preparing him for 3 years of public ministry. In the safety and quiet of the his family, he grew, learned and heard the voice of God. Would he be able to do the same today, in the typical American family where kids are being shuttled from one activity to another constantly? Where families rarely sit down to eat together, without a tv on or some other distraction? Parents, are you trying to do your best to protect your families from those dangers that attack the family? Is there time to be together and pray as a family? Are you watching out for the spiritual dangers that are often more subtle and dangerous? Vigilance and silence are possible and necessary for our families if we want them to be holy, nurturing places where each person is known and appreciated properly.

2) Family life: Even though there is little we know about the daily routine of the holy family, we know it would have been similar to ours in many ways. Imagine all the little lessons he learned from Mary as she prepared meals, cleaned the house, did the wash, mended clothes, and went shopping in the market. How constantly he was watching and soaking in everything that Joseph said and did as they worked together in the wood shop, and repaired the house, and helped out the neighbors. Everything he experienced in those 30 years of family life became part of his preaching and parables. What are the lessons that your children are learning from their family life? Is there an example of warmth and genuine care for them as they grow and develop? Is it clear that they are the number one priority, more so than careers, social lives, vacations, or personal comfort and possessions? Do they observe love, forgiveness, patience and mercy from their parents? Is your home a school of virtue and charity, a place where God is found and promoted? Children and young people, are you willing to become like Christ, humble and obedient to your parents? Are you grateful for the many sacrifices they make for you, many of them unknown and unappreciated? Do you realize that you owe them your respect and love, even when you disagree with them and they drive you crazy?

3) Finally, The holy family teaches us about work, its value and the discipline it requires. Work makes us holy and keeps us occupied. It develops our talents and helps us to contribute to our families and society. Honest work makes us responsible stewards of what we have and helps us to appreciate what God gives us. Work is part of God’s plan and any work, in the home, our studies, or our careers can all become a prayer and a proclamation of the good news.

       Let us find inspiration in the hidden life of Christ to live a virtuous life, developing our personal gifts, and contributing to society with our work. May this feast of the Holy Family always remind us that we are not just members of a human family but also members of God’s family, brothers and sisters in Christ by virtue of our baptism.  My prayer for each of you in this Christmas season is that you experience the peace and joy of the Holy Family in your own households by imitating their example. May your homes be little Nazareths that make the world a better place and bring the light of Christ to a world so often afflicted by sin and darkness. 

Giving and Receiving (Christmas, Cycle B)

First of all, I want to wish all of you a very merry Christmas! This is my favorite time of the year for the simple reason that, even though we live in a crazy world, most people are able to see the beauty and peace of Christmas and share that spirit with each other. A little taste of peace on earth is what makes this season so special. I hope you and your family experience this for yourselves in these holy days!

You may have heard the story about the husband who was in big trouble when he forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife told him, “this Christmas there better be something in the driveway for me that goes from zero to 200 in in the blink of an eye.” The husband took note of her words and on Christmas morning his wife found a small, beautifully wrapped package in the driveway. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale. Needless to say, funeral arrangements for this man are pending!

While this story is is funny for the reason that we can hardly imagine someone so foolish to actually give such a gift, the whole process of giving presents can be surprisingly stressful! Why? If you are the one buying and presenting a gift, there can be intense self-doubt and worry. What if they don’t like what I got them? What if it’s the wrong size and they are offended? What if this hatchimal or gigapet or Xbox game is so last year? What if someone else already got them the same thing? What if they hate my gift and throw it away once I leave? Did I just see a little eye-roll as they said “aw, thanks”?

Receiving a gift isn’t necessarily much easier. In fact, I personally find it the more stressful part, especially when you have to unwrap your gift in front of a whole crowd, which in my case, is the norm rather than the exception. As you are tearing that wrapping paper and sliding off the ribbons, subconsciously you are thinking, “what am I going to do if this box contains a fruitcake?” How excited should I be for this pair of socks so I can find the middle road between bumbling idiot and spoiled brat? Even when someone gets you an incredible gift, one that couldn’t be any more perfect, there is that nagging voice in the back of your head, worrying that the giver might not think you appreciate all the care and thought that went into your present. As a recipient you never want to disappoint the other person by appearing ungrateful or insincere. 

This is certainly something all of us have experienced at one time or another as both givers and receivers. Another priest shared how he found peace with the whole process of giving gifts through the wisdom of a friend from Africa. This friend told him, “You are trying to do someone else’s job. Do your own. Your task is to give the gift. Let them take care of receiving it.”

He gave two examples from his own experience. In Africa the women at the parish work for many days preparing a Christmas feast. All the food is beautiful, tasty, and set out perfectly. At last the day arrives, the doors open, and minutes later the whole presentation looks like a tornado blew through; the food has been devoured, the guests happy but oblivious to the hours and days that went into its preparation. This does not bother the women, he said. It is up to the people to receive it in whatever way seems right. The women’s part of the exchange is to make the gift ready, and they love doing it.

The second example came from a local custom to bring a present to the person you are visiting. He walked the long journey to visit his father, who happened to love roast beef. This son brought along a big chunk of roast and put it on the table when they got there. His father said, “no thank you, I do not eat that any more.” His son was not bothered. “I did my part,” he said, “and my father did his.” All was well.

If giving gifts stresses us out, we might keep this wisdom in mind. As we walk through the store or wander online to find a gift for that special someone, let’s offer them up to God in prayer and blessing. And then see what jumps out or makes us smile, or seems to be perfect for them. And then be at peace. Our job is to open our heart and give. We let the other person take care of receiving it.

God has already done this with us so many times. He keeps us in his eternal mind and infinitely loving heart every moment of every day from the beginning of the ages. And the gift that came to his mind for each and every one of us, the perfect gift that all of us needed was his Son, born helpless and innocent, wrapped in human flesh so we wouldn’t be afraid. So many people fail to receive God’s gift graciously and they say “No thanks” to the Christ child. But that doesn’t stop God from giving that gift over and over again to every human person. He wants everyone to have a chance to receive the perfect gift. The Christ Child is not born in order to be accepted. He is the gift of God’s immense love for us. God’s graciousness cannot be stopped by our ingratitude. This Christmas and every Christmas reminds us that God never stops giving that perfect gift of his Son. May we pause for moment tonight/today to receive that gift with humble gratitude and ask pardon for the times we have not. 

Ask Why but First Have Faith (4th Sunday of Advent, Cycle B)

There is a period in a child’s life that tests the patience of every parent, no matter how cute your kid might be or how mild-mannered you are as a parent. This stage begins when a youngster discovers the word “why” and begins to question everything. Even routine things become a topic of philosophic questioning. “I need you to brush your teeth right now.” “Why”? “Because if you don’t, you will get cavities.” “Why”? Because food and drinks can hurt your teeth if you don’t clean them twice a day.” “Why”? And this line of questioning usually ends with something like, “because that’s the way it is” or “that’s how things work”. Experienced parents will short-circuit this whole process by answering the first “why” with a definitive “because I said so”.

But not all questioning is bad. When a child truly wants to understand the “why” of a situation, it often becomes a moment of true learning and growth that parents and teachers are happy to provide. As a priest, there have been some incredible conversations and conversions that have started with someone respectfully asking why we Catholics believe or practice something. The same can be said about God. As an infinitely patient and loving father, he loves it when his children do what he asks and he is not threatened when we humbly ask “why” to grow in understanding his will. One important caveat; We first need to be willing to do what God wants regardless of whether or not we understand why. That is the prerequisite. The gift of understanding is a sort of bonus that builds on our faith and acceptance.  

There is a contrast of the right way and the wrong way to ask why written into Luke’s gospel. The Angel Gabriel makes two Annunciations in Luke’s Gospel, one right after the other. Each one is about a child to be born, and, strangely, each birth is completely impossible. At Mass this past Tuesday, the gospel told us that Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth was barren and could not have a child. Today we hear that Mary has no husband and has never had marital relations. In both cases, Gabriel announced two seeming absurdities. Mary’s and Zechariah’s responses to the angel seem the same.

Zechariah: “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”

Mary: “How can this be? I have no relations with a man.”

Ponder these responses for a moment. Can you spot the difference?

Both are responding to God’s steadfast love as announced by Gabriel. We could paraphrase Mary’s response as: “How in the world is this going to happen? I believe but please tell me more so I can understand.”

Zechariah answers with something much different and insulting, even though it sounds almost the same. He says, “How shall I know this?” Not Mary’s “I believe you, but how will it happen,” but “give me some reason to know the truth of your claim. Prove it.”

This kind of question would be understandable if he was dealing with a human person, but its offensive because he is doubting the Almighty. God’s voice had already spoken love deeply into Zechariah’s heart throughout his whole life. By this time, trust in God’s promise should have been woven into the fabric of Zechariah’s life.

His speech was taken away when he challenged the Angel. Which probably made his wife Elizabeth very happy for the duration of her pregnancy! While she was carrying the life of John the baptist inside of her, Zachariah was forced to carry the truth of God’s power and providence in silence for nine months.  

Mary on the other hand, simply asked for clarification. She already believed that “nothing is impossible for God,” so she listened with faith. As a result she was given the ability to “speak” the Word of God promised from the beginning of time. Her speaking the beautiful words, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.

May it be done to me according to your word”  is a confirmation of what she already believed. 

Do you and I listen to the voice of God’s promise, written in our hearts? Do we trust God as the default before we ask “why” or do we demand he prove himself to us first?  Let us ask humbly on this last day of Advent for the grace to trust God and His Plan always. Don’t be afraid to ask Him “why” but make sure that question is preceded by firm faith. The Fulfiller of promises will not fail!

Don't Be a Sad Christian! (3rd Sunday of Advent, Cycle B)

To listen to this homily, click here.

The Third Sunday of Advent is also known as Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is the Latin verb “to rejoice” and this is the central message of the readings and prayers for Mass today. In Isaiah we hear the prophet say; "I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul." Saint Paul wrote to the Thessalonians; "Rejoice always." While it’s nice to hear someone remind us to "rejoice" the reality is that in the world and in our lives there are times when it is seems almost impossible to find joy. On the news we hear of wars, terrorist attacks and senseless massacres as happened not long ago in Las Vegas. We hear about hurricanes, earthquakes and fires that result in so much death and suffering.  

Where is the joy in all of this? In our own lives we might be facing various trials of health, family tragedies, and relationships in distress. Ironically these times around the holidays often signify pain for many of us. Perhaps this will be the first Christmas without a parent, spouse, or loved one. Maybe we are quietly fighting depression and no one seems to notice. In this time of celebration and parties, those battling addiction encounter wave after wave of temptation. How can we be joyful with all these things going on around us? Is the biblical mandate to rejoice naive? Can it possibly be meant for those of us with real-life problems and worries?

When Saint Paul wrote this letter to the Thessalonians and told them to rejoice, he was not being entertained in the house of some wealthy Christian nor was he living the good life. It's easy to rejoice when everything goes right. But everything was not going well for Paul; he wrote this letter as he was being persecuted and fleeing from town to town. 

Throughout his ministry Paul suffered significantly many times including stoning, beatings, shipwrecks, and imprisonment. Yet Paul never stopped rejoicing and he constantly encouraged the Christian Communities to do the same. When Paul speaks of joy he is not referring to a nice, fleeting feeling that makes one feel good. He is not telling us to walk around in a naive way, acting as if everything was perfect and everyone gets along as best friends. In truth, joy is not something you or I do, put on, or make happen. Joy is a gift from God, a gift of the Holy Spirit that radiates out of us if our hearts and souls are in sync with the Lord. Joy is intimately connected to peace and it is not limited to the wealthy, healthy, or carefree. So how do we get it? Or better yet, how does joy find us?

Joy is the result of our heart being at peace. Our heart can only be at peace when it finds something to love. We were made for love and that search drives our lives. The danger is to settle for something less than what we were meant for. Society often encourages us to love and be loved by things like wealth, power, prestige, and technology. These are good things but they are not the best things. They change and can be taken away or lost. If our hearts find their purpose and fulfillment in something that can be bought or sold then our joy is conditional and limited; it can be lost in the blink of an eye by a change in the stock market or the whims and decisions of others.

What about other people? Can they be the ultimate source of our joy? Is our happiness tied to finding a spouse, discovering a soul mate, or experiencing the blessing of a child? Relationships are truly one of the greatest blessings this life has to offer. They can and should make us happy. To be loved by another person and give our heart to someone else as a parent, friend, spouse, or priest will be the one of the highlights of any life. But if my joy is tied only to my relationships, there will be problems. Friendships change and sometimes fade away. Families have arguments. We should nurture and celebrate the relationships and friendships in our life but they must be directed towards God. My family and friends have been given to me by God to help me grow in holiness and get each other to heaven. If my relationships are not guided by that goal, they will ultimately let me down.

The rejoicing we are pointed towards today is the result of setting our hearts on God. If He is our heart’s desire and the purpose of our life, then we experience a joy and peace that cannot be taken away by any person or situation. God doesn’t change, He doesn’t break up with us, disown us, get sick of us, or move. His gifts of joy and peace cannot be lost in a stock market crash or stolen by identity thieves. His joy can co-exist even in intense moments of loss, suffering, and hardship. To know the love of God and set our heart on Him first and foremost is what enabled St. Paul to rejoice while being persecuted. It’s what allows the people so many of you have served in Nicaragua to be joyful and wise even though they have nothing by our standards. It’s what enables the inspiring people we have met in our lives, even though they were sick, weak with age, or even terminally ill, to smile, to ask how we were doing, and even comfort us. And all the while, we were thinking, “shouldn’t I be doing that for them?!”

Christian joy is not just smiling at other people. It is knowing in my heart, in my bones, that God is my everything and the only thing that saves me and gives my life meaning. It is believing that He will never leave me and nothing this world throws at me will take away His love. Not a failed exam, not a bad breakup, not a huge mistake at work, not the bullying and criticism of others, not even my own sins and failures. If God’s love and friendship is my heart’s desire, then we can rejoice always and everywhere. We don’t have to make ourselves smile, it happens on its own. Our joy and peace will be authentic and people will notice.

Pay attention to your heart today and throughout this week. Is joy present there? Where does it come from? Is it dependent on getting something or keeping someone in our lives? Is there someone or something that can steal my joy? Where does God and His love rank on the list of things I want? Lastly, if I feel like God is my priority, that my heart is full of his joy, does it show on my face, in my words, and through my actions? 

Rejoicing is the surest sign of a faith that is alive and well. May we continue our Mass with grateful hearts and live this week with hearts set on Jesus, soon to be born in Bethlehem!

Prepare the Way of the Lord (2nd Sunday of Advent)

To listen to this homily, click here.

During my 6 months here at Incarnate Word, many of you have politely asked where I grew. In answering that question it has made me think of the cozy house where I was raised. It was a little 1800 sq. ft. ranch in Hazelwood, built like a fort in the post-war era. I used to think that our house was a wreck, but considering the fact that it housed 12 kids, 2 parents, a rabbit and a large dog, it was remarkably clean and intact. This was largely due to my mom’s system of chores and daily tasks that we were convinced she must have inherited from some Siberian Gulag.

But as orderly as my mom managed to keep this house, there was a whole new level of stress that took place when my parents decided to put it on the market. Any of you who have sold a home or lived in one while it’s for sale, know exactly what I mean. As kids, we were amazed at the amount of work that had to go into preparing our house to be sold. To us it seemed just fine. But the entire house had to be repainted inside and out, the tennis balls and baseballs removed from the gutters, knicks and scratches needed to be repaired, plumbing and light fixtures replaced, and new carpet had to be installed. Even after these large tasks were completed, a million little jobs had to be accomplished, like dusting, wiping down cabinets, staging furniture, sprucing up the yard, and so on.

But even this wasn’t the end. Perhaps the most difficult part of living in a listed house is that you must be prepared for a visit by the realtor and potential buyer at any time. This is the whole point for all of these preparations; when someone comes to look at your house, they will find a place that is displayed in the best possible light and up to its full potential. This was by far the most difficult part. It was pretty easy to do the big stuff: the major repairs and improvements in the weeks before the house was listed. But how much harder it was to keep the house clean, to avoid moving the chair or table that never used to be there, or to never make the mistake of denting a wall or scuffing some paint on a door!

Even though all these steps were stressful and difficult, they were worth it because of the final goal of selling the house. Because our family wanted to impress, some might say trick, a potential buyer, we were willing to endure some significant hardships and inconvenience. Can you imagine how much more preparation or work we would have done around the house if we had been expecting a visit from a king? How much more we would have been willing to endure? That very concept, the visit of a king, is what we reflect on today. A king is coming: not just any king, but the King of Kings!

Long before Jesus was born, about seven centuries in fact, the prophet Isaiah foretold that there would be a prophet to prepare the way of the Lord. This person’s name was John the Baptist and his role in preparing the world for the Savior was crucial. Scripture tells us that John was indeed a prophetic voice, crying in the wilderness, telling people that Jesus was coming and they needed to prepare for his arrival.

When John told people they needed to prepare for the coming of Jesus,

he clearly wasn't talking about a clean house. He was talking about something much more important, a clean heart. He told the people that they needed to confess their sins, repent, and be baptized so that they would be ready to meet the coming King.

Every year, the Church gives us this Advent season to remind us to prepare for the arrival of Christ. Every Advent, the Church holds up the person of John the Baptist for us to consider as we go about the business of preparing ourselves for the coming king. Like the preparations needed to get a house ready for listing, we must first attend to the big-ticket items, the glaring weaknesses in our spiritual lives. For example: Has it been months or years since my last good confession? Am I in the state of grace or am I stuck in a cycle of serious sin? Are there people who need my forgiveness? Unhealthy relationships I need to let go of?

But just as important is the need for attention to the finer details. Even after I have addressed the larger items that need cleaning and fixing in my soul, we must then focus on the smaller details that make our soul a hospitable place for Christ the king. Do I take time each day for quiet prayer? Am I focusing on the blessings God has given me or do I simply dwell on what I don’t have? Do I treat other people kindly, without selfishness, especially those I might take for granted like family, friends, and co-workers? Am I only trying to avoid sin, or am I also looking for opportunities to serve God and others, especially the poor, the lonely, and those everyone else ignores? 

As we journey towards Bethlehem this Advent season, we do so with determination and joy because we are preparing to celebrate the birth of the King of heaven and earth. He will bring comfort to God’s people and offer the possibility of salvation for all who believe in him. But in order to receive the benefits his birth offers us, we must be prepared to greet him with open arms and clean hearts. So where are you now? What part of John the Baptist’s message needs to be incorporated into your soul? Are you ready to meet the King? Will he find a heart that is hospitable and developed to its full potential? In asking God to change the world, have we first given Him permission to change our lives? What still needs to be done so that at Christmas, our King will feel welcome and at home in us? 

As we celebrate this second Sunday of Advent, may we heed those words of the prophet: “prepare the way of the LORD!”

Lord, Make Us Turn to You! (1st Sunday of Advent)

To listen to this homily, click here.

It is hard to believe we have just wrapped up another Church year and find ourselves once again beginning Advent. And while I am tempted to preach on the common Advent themes of waiting and watching, perhaps it is even more important to reflect on the spirit of Isaiah’s question to God in the first reading. He writes from the heart and his inspired words shed insight not only into the human heart and its yearnings but also the Divine Heart of God. Today’s reading starts with a question that many of us have asked before. “Why do you let us wander, O LORD, from your ways, and harden our hearts so that we fear you not?” In other words, Lord, why do you allow so much evil in the world? Can’t you just make it stop? Fix us so we cannot do the terrible things that happen every day around the world! Just make us do what you want. 

The prophet is longing for the love of God. But what he finds instead is what he cannot bear: God seems angry; God appears gone. The experience the prophet gives voice to might be familiar to us who hear about so much evil in the news each day. God is angry and has hidden his face; he is somewhere above the heavens, and we cannot find him. How can this be? Doesn’t God love us? Where is he? Why does he feel so far away? Why isn’t he here?

The prophet answers these questions, and in the saddest possible way. The reason for God’s apparent distance lies in our sinfulness. God is not gone from us nor has he forsaken us. Our sins—our weaknesses, our willfulness, our pride, our failure to love, our failure even to accept the love of others—all these things have made us wither and dry up. Hollow and unclean, we have been blown away from God by the winds of worldliness. God is here, where he has always been. We are the ones who have been swept away by sin and selfishness. We are the ones who have run away from Him; not he from us.

There are two types of sin in our world: original sin, passed down to us from Adam and Eve at the dawn of creation. This fundamental fault disposes us towards the things we ought not like or want and makes it hard to chose the things which are best for us and for others. Original sin which has put our world out of sync with God and his loving plan. But there is also actual sin, sin that I choose to commit. Deliberate thoughts, words and actions that drive me away from God and from other people and bring about hurt, selfishness, and destruction. If you boil down any bad thing in our world, any of the reasons for why they take place, you will eventually trace it back to both personal and original sin, which is nothing more than our wandering away from God.

And that is where the season of Advent and today’s readings tie in. We are reminded that God is near us at every moment of our lives. Our Faith reminds us that Christ wants to draw us back to him and put an end to our destructive wandering. He wants our freedom to be used for peace, service, worship, healing, and loving. That is the message for us on this first Sunday of Advent. Our gospel tells us to be watchful, to look for the Lord’s coming and return to him. Jesus makes it clear that we must be prepared if we are going to be ready to receive him when he comes. This is a test we do not want to fail as people that bear his name; when he returns, we want to be waiting and ready. 

But because of our sinful tendencies, because of our inclination towards chaos, we need this season of Advent. We need this time each year to examine our lives and ask ourselves if we are living in a way that puts Christ in the center of our hearts; have we wandered away?

The amazing thing about our faith is the trust that God puts in us. Especially when you consider how so many behave. Despite the risks, God entrusts us with his gifts, with building up a piece of his kingdom and all he asks is "do your best, behave well, and be alert for my return."

Christ is coming again, and we need him to come again; too many in the world have become unruly. But, while we long for his return, as Isaiah longed for his coming, while we long for the time when the world will be a place of harmony and peace, for the time when all things will be finally straightened out, the time when the wicked will get their just desserts and the faithful their reward,  --while we long for this time, we need not be overly concerned about when it will come, we need not worry because we have our work cut out for us and we can trust God to honor that work, and to keep his promise to be merciful and kind to those who have lived by faith in him.

The Lord will come, and the faithful and the unfaithful alike will see him coming. They will see him coming with his angels in the clouds with great power and glory, and the angels will be sent out to gather his elect from the four corners of the earth, and there will be justice, there will be peace. A peace greater than that which any earthly court can render, a justice more just than that which any law can guarantee.

This is our hope, this is our Christian faith, and this is the time in which we show our Lord that we indeed can be trusted and that we want to stay close to him.

During this advent, let us allow the words of Isaiah in the first reading to resonate in our hearts and in our lives: “You, LORD, are our father, our redeemer you are named forever. Return for the sake of your servants. Would that you might meet us doing right, that we were mindful of you in our ways!”

Will You Be With the Sheep or the Goats? (34th Sunday, Year A)

To listen to this homily, click here.

Every year, right before Advent, the Church invites us to reflect on the so-called last things. This term describes what happens when we die, what our options are, and, most importantly, how do we prepare for the best possible outcome. We’ve been preparing for this reflection over the past few weeks as we’ve listened to readings of judgment and parables of masters leaving and returning and holding their servants accountable. 

Today, St. Matthew gives us a glimpse of what is called the general judgment. The general judgment is the final judgment, where everyone who has ever lived will be brought together before Christ the King. Every thought, every word, every action ever committed by each person will be brought forward for all to see. After this is finished, each person will be reunited with their body and live forever the result of their life choices; those who loved God and kept his commandments and the teachings of his Church will enjoy eternal happiness and peace in heaven. Those who spent a lifetime living for themselves, thinking mainly of what they wanted and what made them comfortable and happy will spend eternity living that way with people of the same selfish mindset; that is the place we call hell.

But while the general judgement is the final judgment, it is isn’t the first. At the moment of our death, we will enter into something called the particular judgment, which is just between God and ourselves. Here, we will see our life and our choices in the light of Christ. We will be judged by the same standards as the final judgment but there are three possible outcomes: 

Possibility one: Jesus will look at our life and see we tried our best to live as he did. In other words, we made God the number one priority and we died in the state of grace. Also, he would see that we thought of others before ourself, we made sacrifices to feed the hungry, care for the sick and dying, clothe the naked, and so on. In this case he will see that we were faithful in prayer, kept the commandments, and stayed obedient to the Church’s teaching on faith and morals. After seeing all of this, God will recognize the life of his son within us and we will hear those saving words: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Possibility #2: Jesus will look at our life and see that we spent most of our time and energy on ourselves and our own interests. In other words, we gave God time only when it was convenient or we felt like it, and we did not die in the state of grace. As a result, he would see that we thought of ourselves first, that we were stingy in making sacrifices to feed the hungry, care for the sick and dying, clothe the naked, and so on. In this scenario, Jesus will see and know this soul but this person will ultimately have failed to recognize and care for Christ, especially in others, throughout his or her life. Christ will see someone who was disobedient or defiant of him, of his Church, and ultimately most concerned with themselves. To these, Jesus will say:Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Possibility #3: Jesus will look at our life and see that we did pretty well in living as he taught us. He will see that we died in the state of grace and we kept all of the major commandments and laws of the Church, or at least if we broke them, we confessed them in the sacrament of reconciliation. He will notice we have some vices and attachment to sin and things of this world but he will also notice that we consistently opened our hearts to his grace and mercy. As a result we often recognized him in others and tried to ease the sufferings of those around us. To be honest, most of will probably fit in this group. And since we aren’t completely free from sin and unholy attachments to people and things, we can’t enter into heaven. Only those who are perfect in their love of God can be in the presence of God and live. But on the other hand, we died in the state of grace and therefore won’t be sent to hell. This is where purgatory comes in. We still believe in Purgatory and we should be happy about it because it is another expression of God’s mercy. Here, we are purified from our sins, the temporal punishment due to them, and any unholy attachments we might have died with. When the person is completely purified, they go to heaven for an eternity of rest and happiness. 

Its not easy for us to think about this topic of the last things. It can be frightening to consider our meeting with Christ and the fact that nothing will be hidden from him or from humanity at the end of time. But the Church understands that we must be aware of what happens at the end of life, so we can know how to live right now. The choices we have made and will make, determine where we will end up for eternity. Getting to heaven is difficult. The good news is God gives us everything we need to avoid hell and make it to heaven. He promises to be with us every step of the way. He gives us saints and angels to strengthen and encourage us. Even purgatory will not last forever and everyone there will eventually reach heaven. The bad news is that there is a hell and people go there. They are there because they decided to reject God and put themselves first. And because God respects our free will, he allows us to live for eternity what we chose to live during our life. 

So what can we do now to make sure that we are on the side of the sheep rather than the goats? Which steps do we take to ensure that our judgment will be more of a vindication rather than a condemnation? Consider the following short list:

Make sure that you have a daily habit of prayer. This means more than asking God for what you need but also, and more importantly, listening to what he has to say to you and how he wants to transform your life. Reading the bible, going to Mass regularly, praying the rosary, and going to adoration are all tried and true practices that make saints out of sinners.

Immerse yourself in charitable works. Ask yourself what you can do for other people rather than simply wondering what you can get out of them. Remembering that each and every person is loved and created by God, helps us to recognize Jesus’ presence within them. Fostering an attitude of charity will help you to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the sick, and welcome the stranger.

Stay close to the Church and seek to be obedient to her. Realize that the Church is part of Christ promising to be with us always until the end of time. See her teachings as the very things that will help you get to heaven, not something oppressive, to be avoided. Stay close to the Church and the sacraments and you will stay close to Christ.

If we do these things, we will have nothing to fear from death and judgment. The last things will be the beginning of our new life in Christ ad we will hear those wonderful words: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” 

What Have you Done With God's Talent? (33rd Sunday, Year A)

To listen to this homily, click here.

I don’t know if you’ve been to Kenrick-Glennon Seminary since it was remodeled a few years ago. If you have, you may have noticed how clean, bright, and updated everything feels. Back in the old days, when I was a seminarian, the building had all of the characteristics of a structure dating back to 1930. It was unevenly heated by a massive boiler and an army of clanging radiators. Some doorways and stairwells led to classrooms and student rooms while others stopped abruptly, walled off to satisfy the fire marshal. The thing I picked up on right away as a new student was the chiaroscuro lighting. Because you were living in a building with 7 decades of different light fixtures and technologies, there were areas of light and darkness everywhere. Especially at night! As a prankster, one of my favorite activities as a new arrival was to hide in a dark hallway, behind a pillar or next to a life-size statue of Jesus and jump out as someone walked by. Endless laughs for me and near-cardiac arrest for my fellow seminarians. I quickly stopped this practice for two reasons: 1) My frightened comrades were saying things that would make a sailor blush, much less a future parishioner and I was directly responsible. 2) Fellow seminarians didn’t want to walk down the hallway if they thought I was anywhere nearby. I was the feared jerk who would keep people from relaxing on their way back to their room. Not exactly the reputation I wanted to earn!

  I thought of this memory listening to these parables and warnings from Jesus about the end of time and his return. Too often we’ve interpreted the Lord’s words as if he were the Divine Jerk, lurking in the shadows, just waiting to jump out and scare us at the worst possible time. For many, the end of the world and the return of Jesus are a nightmare, something to be dreaded and put out of our mind if possible. With this mindset, it would be easy to view today’s parable as unfair and awful. A poor servant, entrusted with one of the master’s talents, decides to play it safe and buries it in the ground. While it doesn’t gain anything, nothing is lost either. From this perspective, the master’s response of taking away the talent and throwing out the servant is harsh. But is there something we are missing in this picture? Is God really this vindictive and ruthless?

Let’s start by understanding what exactly a talent is in the sense Jesus uses. Today we hear that word and we think of a capacity or skill like playing a musical instrument, being able to paint, or some other gifted ability. The people of Jesus’ time would have heard something different. A talent was a unit of measurement of about 80 pounds of silver or gold. In today’s terms, one talent was worth about $1.25 million, far more than the lifetime earnings of a standard worker in Palestine. The master generously entrusts his treasures to his servants, not equally, but as Scripture tells us, according to their abilities. But even the servant who has one, has more than he could ever earn on his own throughout his lifetime. This is an important detail to keep in mind.

The first two servants get right to work with the master’s treasure. They are not afraid of losing anything and all they can think about is making him proud, making his riches grow even more. They are motivated by love. We don’t know how they accomplish the growth but that’s not the point. The important thing is that they take the gift they were given and they use it in loving service to produce even more riches for the generous and trusting master. There is no hesitating in their decision, nor are they nervously looking over their shoulders for the Lord’s return. They simply fulfill the obligations of an honorable servant and the rest falls into place.

Contrast this with the behavior of the third servant. He is terrified of the master. Even though he has been entrusted with a lifetime of wealth, which he could never earn himself, he wants nothing to do with it because of fear. Instead of thinking how he can make this fortune grow, even in the smallest of ways, he buries it. What an insult to the master’s trust and generosity! To take a lifetime of earnings and do nothing with it! This is what offends and enrages the master more than anything else. That his servant does not love him and squanders his generous opportunity is worse than any loss from a bad investment.

So what is Jesus saying to you and me in this story that is directed at us just as much as it was to his audience 2000 years ago? First and fundamental is the fact that we have all been entrusted with the talents, the treasures of God. Not in what we are able to do like speak many languages, play the piano, or design a perfect house. No, we hold the treasure of God in who we are, in his image and likeness which we could never earn for ourselves, even after a lifetime of the most clever, productive work. And the moment each and every one of us was baptized, God shared a piece of himself, his life, which we call sanctifying grace, to our care. That is the talent given to every Christian and it comes with a simple order to make it grow. God’s love is not meant to be used only for our benefit or buried out of fear. It is intended to be invested in the world around us to grow, to spread, to multiply many times over through works of service, sorrow for our sins, and genuine prayer. 

If we are terrified of God, if we are constantly looking over our shoulder for him to jump out and zap us, we will bury his gift of love. Fear will cause the treasure within us to become stale and lifeless. It will not grow or help anyone nor will it please the Lord. Today’s parable tells us, in no uncertain terms, how God feels about those who waste his gift of grace. 

On the other hand, those who love God, serve Him with everything at their disposal. They are his servants 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, Quite frankly, they don’t care when he comes back because they are always looking for ways to grow his love in their heart and in his world. 

So where are we? Has the gift of God’s love and life grown in us since our baptism? Are we actively seeking ways to grow that love in our life each and every day. If Jesus were to return tomorrow, would we be panicking and trying to hurry up and make it look like we were living for him? Or would we be ready, excited to share with him the growth we helped happen with the gifts given to us. Be that person! Be that servant who loves the Master every day so you can hear those beautiful words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Come, share your master's joy”!

Be Wise; Get Your Own Oil! (32nd Sunday, Year A)

To listen to this homily, click here.

Have you ever received one of those fraudulent emails, telling you that some prince or widow halfway around the world wants to put 13 million dollars into your bank account letting you keep most of it? I got this incredible news last week and all I had to do was send my bank account number, my social security number, date of birth, and a few other highly personal bits of info and I would be rich! Of course it was a scam and I would never think about responding. But imagine for a moment that something like this was real and you were the main beneficiary of a distant relative's will. This relative was quite eccentric as well as wealthy. A great deal of money was left for you to spend, but there were certain rules. Every day for a year, your bank account would be credited with $86,400 at 9am in the morning. If you wanted to spend any of this money, you had to produce bills showing why money was being withdrawn. You could not save the money and at the end of the banking day, whatever you did not spend would be removed from your account. The next day you would start with a fresh $86,400. I am sure you and I would find really creative things to do with the money. 

Now, let's return to reality. Every day we are given 86,400 seconds to make the best possible use of. Every night, God writes off as lost whatever portion of this time we have wasted or not used well. In the bank of time, there are no balances and no overdrafts. Each day a new account is opened for us. Each night, what remains is written off, closed, gone forever. 

Every day's 86,400 seconds has to be invested wisely in things that will hold their value from day to day, quarter to quarter, year to year and for eternity. Lasting values need to be found, values like justice, compassion, forgiveness, and love. There were five wise virgins and five foolish ones. The five foolish virgins squandered their time. The five wise virgins made the best use of every moment. The wise virgins entered into the banquet of the Master's love. The foolish virgins were too busy wasting time to be ready for their Master's return. How much time do you and I have left? We really don't know.

The proper Christian attitude is not to deny death, but to prepare for it. This is the wisdom behind the five bridesmaids who were prepared to enter the wedding reception. They didn't know when the bridegroom was coming, but they were ready. So how do we prepare? We don't prepare for the end by doing lots of stuff. We prepare by nurturing the proper disposition, a Christ-like attitude. Over and over again, Jesus emphasizes the need for inner transformation. His complaint against the Pharisees, as we heard last week, was that they were hypocrites. They appeared righteous when people were watching but it was only for show. On the outside, they looked nice and clean. On the inside they were rotten. The tax collectors and prostitutes who turned to Jesus transformed their lives and hearts. They were genuine and their devotion to the Lord was authentic in every part of their life, whether people were watching or not.

So, how do we form and nourish the Christian attitude of life? You and I have to fight against the forces both inside and outside of us that tempt us to only worry about the things of this world, the things that can be measured, saved, and collected. To be authentic and wise Christians, we have to be in constant communication with the Lord. We need to pray daily. Each of us gets the same amount of time each day. No one is too busy to carve out some time when we are with the Lord and freed of the distractions of life. If we have a family, then we have the additional responsibility to pray as a family every day. We should focus our prayer lives on our Sundays. On Sunday we celebrate the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord and receive the Eucharist. We should work to make that the main focus of our week. The presence of Christ within us in this sacrament gives us the strength to be who we claim to be, followers of Christ. Today's first reading speaks about wisdom. Wisdom is a way of life. The wise are always ready for the Lord because they are always watching for him. The gospel lesson is simple for this Sunday. Be like the wise virgins. Be ready to celebrate the banquet of the Lord’s love. Don’t waste a single second he has given you!

One of the questions people often ask when they hear this parable of Jesus is something like: “why didn’t those selfish virgins, who had extra oil, share it with the others? Weren’t they just watching out for themselves? Well, that depends. What does the oil represent? It stands for character and virtue and we cannot take someone else’s virtue or character. They couldn’t give it to us if they wanted to! No one, no matter how rich, can purchase character or virtue from an ATM or with a credit card, it can’t be downloaded; we must develop our own. We cannot live like freeloaders on someone else's friendship with God; we must develop our own. That is what the end of the parable teaches us. We must be ready for Christ when He comes knocking at the door at the end of our life. We have to put in the time and effort and live our faith, day in and day out. Jesus warns us today, "You know not the day nor the hour." So let us live each day to the fullest, not taking a single second for granted. May we be authentic in our Christianity so the lamps of our souls may be filled with the oil of virtue and goodness and shining brightly for the coming of the Lord!