Viva Christo Rey!! (Solemnity of Christ the King)

To listen to this homily, click here.

In 2006, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary began a program for the seminarians to learn Spanish. My classmates and I were the first participants in this program, which sent us to Mexico City to be immersed in the language and culture of that country. We spent five weeks of our summer learning the basics of Mexican culture and language. We discovered some crucial information very quickly: don't drink water from the tap, don't eat fruits or vegetables washed with tap water, and make sure that the water you buy has an unbroken seal around the top. Some of us found this out the hard way. But one of the most interesting things I learned during my time there was the popular devotion surrounding a young man named Blessed Miguel Pro.

Blessed Miguel was born in 1891 in the area of Guadalupe to a prosperous family. By all accounts he was the life of the party, often disposed to practical jokes, mischief, and dangerous stunts. He was a handsome young man, very intelligent and witty, and he enjoyed socializing with the senoritas as much as they liked spending time with him. As the eldest son in the family, he was in line to take over the profitable family business and live a comfortable life. 

But when he turned twenty, Blessed Miguel discovered God was calling him to the priesthood. He gave up everything he had and joined the Jesuit order. He had to study outside of his native Mexico because the country had become violently anti-catholic. He was finally ordained a priest in 1925, at the age of 34 and he returned home the following year. From this time on, Blessed Miguel Pro became something of a legend to both friends and enemies, because of his courage and cleverness.

The persecution of Catholics was in full-swing, churches were closed, and the only priests remaining were those who were hiding. Blessed Miguel used all of his cleverness to disguise his identity in order to carry out his priestly ministry. He dressed up as a beggar to do baptisms, he would disguise himself as a police officer to visit Catholics in jail, and he would wear a fancy suit to visit wealthy neighborhoods, appearing as a salesman while begging for the poor. 

Eventually he was captured by the government and sentenced to death by firing squad. Unafraid, he knelt down, a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other and prayed for the men who were about to shoot him. He refused a blindfold and faced his executioners bravely. In his final moments on this earth, he stretched out his hands, imitating Christ on the cross and exclaimed "Viva Christo Rey" - which means "Long live Christ the King." His death energized the Cristeros movement, which eventually forced the Mexican government to stop persecuting the Catholic Church and recognize the rights of the poor. This struggle was made into a movie, called For Greater Glory.

The life and witness of Blessed Miguel Pro points to the feast we celebrate today, the feast of Christ the King. His last words of "long live Christ the King" were the culmination of a life that loudly proclaimed that truth. Here was a man who was able to give up all he had, including his life, because his allegiance was first and foremost to Christ. This feast day invites us to do the same in our own lives. It should make us ask questions about what or who it is that we serve. 

Do we allow Christ to be Lord of our lives and king of our hearts? Or do we allow a desire for earthly power, personal autonomy, and worldly comfort to take hold of us? Do we choose Christ’s version of power, with its mandate to serve and sacrifice ourselves? Or do we seek the power of this world, which so often crushes and dominates?

At this time, we still enjoy religious liberty in our country. But anyone who is aware of the social climate knows that even now in our country some of the core values of our faith are under attack. In many corners of our culture, it is not Christ who is king but rather cash, power, prestige, comfort, convenience, and unlimited personal freedom. Sadly, we see people who call themselves Catholic who embrace these things rather than Christ. The same can happen to you and me, if we do not give Jesus pride of place in all that we think, do, and say.

So how, practically speaking, do we make Christ the king of our lives? How can we be sure that we are not just paying lip-service to the King of kings and the Lord of lords? Asking a few simple questions can put us on the right track. Do I give Christ some quality time each and every day in silent prayer? Do I allow him to speak to me and do I listen to what he says? Or, do I simply assault him with requests, demands, and complaints? Do I worship him at Mass, at least once a week on Sundays or am I counting the minutes until I am out of church? Do I know who Jesus is, both through reflective prayer and through the Scriptures, in which he reveals himself? Is my life about taking care of myself or is it centered on pleasing God and taking care of others? Am I investing the best of who I am, the best of what I have into the things of this world or do I give the best of everything to the greater honor and glory of God?

In some way, each of us can do better in most, if not all, of these areas. Celebrating Christ as King means letting him rule over us in our daily lives and not just in the times we find ourselves here in church. Jesus has promised wonderful things to those who love him and follow him during their time on earth. But he does require us to listen to him and to be led by his word. This is demonstrated not by what we say but by how we live. Through the grace of God and the example of Blessed Miguel Pro, may our lives daily proclaim, "Long Live Christ the King!" 

The Widows' Might (32nd Sunday of OT, Year B)

To listen to this homily, click here.

I am, by nature, a cautious person. Maybe that’s due to my place in the birth order; the oldest child is normally not a risk-taker. I like to have every scenario covered. I keep flashlights in my car and in the rectory. I have water filters in multiple locations in case of a natural disaster or zombie apocalypse. My car is a moving triage vehicle with a first-aid kit, jumper cables, air compressor, blanket, and fire-starter and tool set. This cautious approach can be helpful, except when I fall into it dealing with God. There are moments when I am cautious with God and his invitations. I rely on my own wisdom and preparation, I consider the earthly odds rather than going “all in” with what God offers.

Today we meet two widows who do not treat the Lord with caution. Both are everyday, hard working women. Both are poor. Both put their trust in God. Both are rewarded for their faith. 

The first widow is from Zarephath, a coastal city on the Mediterranean, northwest of the Kingdom of Israel. Elijah traveled through this land during a famine. This woman was poor. When Elijah met up with her, she was putting her last scraps together for a final meal before she and her son would die. Imagine her as one of the 1 billion starving people in the world today. Imagine her son as one of the 3 million children who die of starvation each year. Now a stranger, the prophet Elijah, goes up to this woman and asks for food in the name of the Lord. Hospitality to strangers was a law of God. Should the widow turn from God’s law or should she share the little she had? The woman put her total trust in God, and she received enough for her and her son to eat for a full year, when the famine finally ended. 

The second widow from the Gospel puts two small coins into the Temple treasury. Jesus was people-watching, observing the people’s giving. There were big shows as some of the wealthy came forward letting everyone know about their great generosity. After all, the money from the wealthy had paid for most of the rebuilding of the Temple. What value did the widow’s small coins have next to their thousands? But Jesus knew how much she was really giving. It was far more than two small coins. Her donation, although it seemed insignificant, was tremendous because she gave all she had. Her donation was an act of putting her faith in God to care for her. 

What these two widows did is extremely difficult for us. I know there are many of you with great faith, but I also know that no matter how great our faith, it is extremely difficult to put our total trust in God. There is something within us all that looks for solutions to our problems outside of the realm of faith. Perhaps as rugged individualists, we think we can solve our own problems, conquer obstacles ourselves. Certainly, we are all tempted to believe that enough money applied in the right places can heal all ills. 

The great lie of our time is that money and possessions can solve our problems and provide safety. It is the job of advertisers to convince us that we can buy happiness, and they have done their job well. The truth is, among those who have been blessed with material success, the happiest are those who trust in God, not in their wealth. All you have to do is look at the many sad examples of rich and famous people who spend their lives and fortunes looking for happiness everywhere but in God. It's important to note that being rich doesn’t make you sinful nor does being poor make you a saint but rather where you put your trust and hope.

The radical message of today's readings is that we must place our confidence in God rather than in material possessions. This is difficult because it demands our practicing the forgotten virtue of humility. Humble people recognize where they stand before God. Humble people recognize their profound need for God. Humble people are certain that the presence of God in their life is fundamental to happiness. 

The two widows gave from their substance. They put their trust in God, shouting with their actions that his presence in their lives was infinitely more important than any single thing they owned, even more important than everything they owned. They give us the example of ideal Christians, humbly trusting in God and generously returning the blessings they received from him.. 

These are not easy times to be Christian. Gospel values are ignored, or, at least, not given their proper priority. Many ignore life issues, from conception to natural death, and only worry about other, lesser issues. From grade school through college, our children are immersed in the glorification of secular values along with the subtle and not so subtle mocking of all who believe in the spiritual. We turn to the Church, but sometimes we find priests and bishops who are more concerned about careers or comfort than caring for the flock. Maybe that is a blessing in disguise because it forces us to choose Christ and be a deliberate disciple.

When we feel overwhelmed we need to put our trust in God. No where in scripture did He say that His followers would be in the majority. He never said that following him would make you wealthy, comfortable, or popular with everyone. But He did say that He would be with us every step of the way. Like the two widows, we need to give Him our all. We need to put our faith and our trust in Him, and we need to be assured that He sees us; He knows us, and He cares for us. This Divine Assistance stays with us always, no matter how rich or poor we are. 

I hope we can learn from the two widows in our readings and try not to be so cautious with God. I pray we can support each other in generosity and faith so, like these holy women, we will always know what is truly important and share freely with God and others.

Assume the Best (31st Sunday, Year B)

To listen to this homily, click here.

If you are a faithful, observant Jew, there is nothing more important to living a good life, than the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures. These inspired writings of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy lay a foundation for how to follow the Lord. In the Torah, 613 mosaic laws, including the 10 commandments, are laid out for the faithful to follow. Over the centuries, rabbis and scholars would build secondary laws around the 613 laws to keep people from breaking them. Think of them as a sort of fence, so you wouldn’t even come close to stepping on the sacred grass of the law. Over the centuries these became more and more complicated and technical, almost to the point of being ridiculous and distracting people from God rather than pointing them towards him. To be clear, I am talking about the laws of men, not the 613 laws given by God to Moses and the prophets. They started with good intentions but almost becoming an end in themselves. How many steps could you take on the sabbath? Were you carrying water? What constituted a step? etc…

It was this technical, legalistic mindset that motivated the enemies of Jesus. They would constantly propose scenarios with the law to try to trick him so they could discredit and kill him. For many of the scribes and pharisees, religion was all about legalism and ritual rather than relationship with God. It would have been very easy for Jesus to roll his eyes today, when this scribe asks which of the 613 laws is the greatest. He had been asked these questions many times before and he had shut down his critics. We would all understand if he assumed the worst in the scribe, especially since his experiences with them, over and over again, was negative because of their malice and lack of faith. 

But notice what Jesus does. He assumes the best in this scribe and instead of being cynical, believes he might actually want to learn something. Jesus listens to the question and answers with a thoughtfulness and wisdom which moves the scribe to exclaim that this answer is perfect, “That God is One and there is no other than he.’ And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Jesus sees that this scribe is different, that he is seeking understanding and to truly know how to follow the law in the way that will most satisfy God. And Jesus’ willingness to engage him respectfully, thoughtfully, and with a loving desire to lead him to the kingdom, leads the man to grow in faith and come to a greater understanding of the law. His act of faith moves Jesus to say, “ you are not far from the kingdom of God”!!

The reflection I offer you for today / tonight, is how Jesus does not assume this scribe is just like all the others he has debated with. He had every reason to assume he was. But Jesus engages him with respect and truth, and because of that, draws out faith and greater understanding, which may lead to this man discovering eternal life rather than just some legalistic following of religion.

Think about the times we live in. How easy it is to label people and place them into stereotypes that fit nicely with our lived experience. How quick you and I are to judge and pigeon-hole someone because of their appearance, political party, race, or some other quality. Jesus engages each and every person on their own merits as a unique and important child of God. He never clumps people together or dismisses them because he once met someone who acted or looked like they did. 

I believe people can sense when we treat them with respect for who they are as an individual person, created in the image and likeness of God, with their own merits. I think the dynamics of interpersonal relations are changed when we go into conversations and situations assuming the best in each other rather than looking for the negative and ulterior motives. We can learn something from others who are completely different than us, who even disagree with us, if we are open to learning from their perspective rather than winning and being right. If we pay attention to how Jesus treats the people who come to him, we cannot help but notice the consistent respect, patience, and concern he shows, without exception, even to his enemies, even when he is not given the same courtesy.

Our world needs this today and our faith demands it of us. We cannot be content to sit back and only love those who love us. Our Christianity is not alive and well if we assume the worst in others and look for negative motivations as a matter of habit. People should not have to earn our respect; they are entitled to it because they are made and loved by God just as we are. We should engage each person hoping and praying for their eternal good and happiness, not just for what they can do for us. This assumption of the good and hope for human flourishing should be our default way of thinking that informs how we act and treat each other.

The temptation is to sit back and say, “I will do this once those other people do.” Or to harden our hearts and put on our emotional armor because we are afraid of being wrong about someone or looking like a sucker when they act like a jerk in the face of our kindness. But it’s God’s job to sort that out. Think of all the people who received the love of Jesus and threw it back in his face or took it for themselves and never spread it to the people around them. That sad reality didn’t make Jesus cynical or cause him to stop offering the love and mercy of God. Through his prayer and closeness to the Father, he could continue, time after time, to see each person as a potential saint and disciple rather than a likely Judas and sinner. 

God is so patient with us! He constantly draws the good out of us and focusses on our potential good rather than the very real faults we so often commit. It’s time for us to go and do likewise with each other without exception or excuse. God made us all; he loves each of us as individuals. Let’s assume the best in one another and find the good in others. Let’s be the first to do so. Who knows, someone may find their way to greater faith and understanding of God if we follow the Master’s lead!