Easter (2022)

 To listen to this homily, click here.

One of the blessings I count in my life, is that I have been pastor of Incarnate Word Parish now for five years. It’s longest I’ve been assigned anywhere and it has been wonderful to have the time to get to know you, accompany you in your faith journey, and be a part of your lives and families. One of the drawbacks of being somewhere for more than a couple years is that, after a while, people have heard all your jokes. As I was preparing my Easter homily, I was looking over my favorite jokes and stories and realized, you’ve heard them all! So I had to dig deep and find something new for you to consider. 

A priest and a taxi driver both died and went to heaven. St. Peter was at the Pearly gates waiting for them. ‘Come with me,’ St. Peter said to the taxi driver. The taxi driver did as he was told and followed St Peter to a mansion. It had everything you could imagine from a bowling alley to an Olympic size pool. ‘Oh my word, thank you,’ said the taxi driver. Next, St. Peter led the priest to a rough old shack with a bunk bed and a little old television set. ‘Wait, I think you are a little mixed up,’ said the priest. ‘Shouldn’t I be the one who gets the mansion? After all, I was a priest, went to church every day, and preached God’s word.’ ‘Yes, that’s true.’ St Peter replied, ‘But during your Easter sermons people slept. When the taxi driver drove, everyone prayed.’

It is a wonderful thing to have laughter at Easter Mass! Not simply at a funny story or clever joke but more importantly, because of the fact that the worst things to befall the human race, namely sin and death, have been defeated by our Risen Savior. That is something that should never fail to put a smile on our face and hope in our hearts. But we would do a terrible disservice to these saving mysteries if we kept our reflection on a superficial level, only hoping to walk out of church today smiling and laughing. Easter Sunday only happened after a cosmic struggle for our souls between good and evil, an epic battle between God and Satan, with innocent Jesus standing in our place. To skip past all of this and remain on the surface would dishonor what God has done for us. It would also keep us from enjoying the full significance of what we have received from the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. With that in mind, I want to offer you a different take on Easter, another point of view. To do so, we must go back to last week, Palm Sunday, the day Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

On Palm Sunday, two processions entered Jerusalem for Passover. Protests against the Roman occupiers were strongest on holy days and for this reason, during this most holy feast, the Roman Governor Pilate rode up to Jerusalem. He would bring extra troops in case of trouble, to reinforce the local riot squad and remind people who was in charge. Picture it: Pilate’s procession arrived from the west bringing threats and fear. Jesus entered the city from the east, humbly, preaching forgiveness, mercy, and repentance.

Pilate rode into the city on a warhorse, Jesus on a donkey. He was fulfilling the words of the prophet Zechariah who foretold, “The King of Peace on a donkey will banish the warhorse and battle from the land.” Do we get a picture of what is going on here? The gauntlet has been thrown down and the contrast is clear. Jesus versus Pilate, the non-violence of the Kingdom of God versus the violence of the Roman Empire.

That was the contrast, two arrivals, two entrances, two processions, two ways of life, and two choices. On Friday, Jesus stands before Pilate, innocent; but gruesomely and wrongly executed. But three days later, the day known as Easter Sunday, everything changed forever. Jesus is raised from the dead by divine power and here we are at the heart of the matter. What does this raising of Jesus by God mean? It means that God said a resounding “yes” to Jesus and all He stood for and a firm “no” to the powers that killed Him.

Easter means that God is on a collision course with injustice, with violence, with exploitation. God is against the betrayal of Judas, the denial of Peter and the complicity and corruption of power in Pilate and Herod. He is against Jesus being beaten in jail. He is against the politically correct judgment of Pilate who judged Jesus innocent of a capital offense but had him killed to keep the mob happy.

Things have not changed today. Our God is still against betrayal, backstabbing, and cowardice. He is still against violence in a family and on the streets of our city. He is still against corruption in government and on Wall Street. God is against the unholy ways many are treated online and in the media. He is against the moral and physical abuse of spouses, children, the poor, the unborn and the misuse of social, political, and financial power.

The Easter story reminds us in no uncertain terms of where God stands. He raises up Jesus who told us to turn the other cheek. To go the extra mile, to bless those who curse us and pray for our enemies. He told us to go first and be reconciled with our brother or sister before we come and offer our gifts at the altar. He told us never to return evil for evil but cry out with Him on the cross. “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He said to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty and always remember it profits us nothing to gain the whole world but lose our soul. Jesus’ way of life and way of love, the Father raises up.

In other words, Easter is not simply a tremendous mystery; is also a statement. A divine statement of divine values. It is about life and death, right and wrong.

Last but not least, Easter asks a questions of each and every one of us: which side are we on? Which entrance do we take into the Holy City? The day Jesus entered Jerusalem from the east on a donkey and Pilate from the west on a warhorse, was the day you and I were confronted with the choice. Which entrance shall we take? Which procession shall we follow?

Easter is the day God announced His choice. By raising His Son from the dead and all He stood for, God made it clear that life and happiness will never come from brute force, violence, anger, worldly power, arrogance, envy, or betrayal. Easter is the day God announced His choice, what is left for you and me is to make ours.

Good Friday (2022)

 To listen to this homily, click here.

In July of 2020, a 6-year-old boy named Bridger Walker risked his life to save his younger sister from a dog attack. When Bridger saw a German Shepard charging at his sister, he stood between her and the dog. He kept his sister safe, but Bridger sustained extensive injuries to his face and head requiring 90 stitches and causing permanent scarring. When asked why he put himself in harm’s way, he replied, “If someone had to die, I thought it should be me.” In the two years since the attack, his parents asked the young boy if he wanted his scars to go away. With an insight wise beyond his years, he replied that he didn’t want the marks to disappear completely. To him, the scars are a reminder that his sister didn't get hurt and she is okay.

For the rest of his life, whenever someone sees Bridger’s scars and learns the story behind them, they will see the love, courage, and sacrifice his wounds represent. For his sister, those wounds will be an unforgettable sign of love. On this Good Friday, might a similar thing be true for each and every one of us, as we look upon our crucified savior, who stood between us and the ravages of sin and death? Might we see in every wound of Jesus, the ultimate sign of love, sacrifice, and courage? Are we constantly amazed at what he was willing to do for us, as our Lord and big brother?

Our Church, in her wisdom, recognizes that our love for Jesus must often be deepened and re-invigorated or it will fade. With this in mind, let us contemplate the wounds of Christ while the words of John’s gospel are still fresh in our minds. Let us meditate on the depth of his love, the extent of his suffering, so we may not take the price of salvation for granted. As we move through this meditation, I invite you to either close your eyes and picture Christ crucified or gaze upon our own beautiful crucifix, hanging above the altar.

Look first at his feet. These are the feet that walked countless miles to spread the saving gospel. These were the feet that Isaiah described when he wrote: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings.” These are the feet that were lovingly cleansed by the sinful woman with costly perfume and tears and dried with her hair. But now, these saving feet, the feet of God, they are shattered, swollen, bloody. They have been punctured by the rough iron nails carelessly driven by Roman soldiers to support the weight of Christ’s body so he won’t die too quickly on the cross. Sense the pain endured by the Savior for you and me and never doubt the evil of sin.

Look next at his knees; knees that spent so many hours in prayer to the Father. Prayer that gave him strength and insight and courage. Prayer that moved him to choose the twelve apostles and strengthened him to carry on his compassionate mission with endless patience and love. Prayer that asked for mercy for us and for the whole world. Prayer that helped him accept the fatal mission to die for our sins as he spoke to His heavenly Father: “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me, but not my will but your will be done.” Now those prayerful knees, look how they are gashed and torn from the weight of our sins as he fell three times on the way to Calvary. Look at the knees of Jesus and never underestimate the heaviness of sin.

Imagine now his back; it scarcely resembles human flesh anymore after being pulverized by the whips and scourges of mocking soldiers. As if this wasn’t enough punishment, the cross has made those wounds even worse, even deeper as its weight digs into the strong back of the Son of God and the Son of Mary, the carpenter’s Son. How destructive the effects of sin, which have completely disfigured the back and shoulders of Jesus! See how much pain they cause the One who has given every ounce of his strength to the human race! How humbling for us to notice that he has spared nothing, not a single piece of his flesh to rescue us from the condemnation of our sins. Can there be any doubt in our minds as to how far evil will go to try and destroy pure goodness, virtue, and love? 

Our eyes would naturally turn to the head of Jesus and his precious face. Those who would have seen him day after day would hardly recognize him now. He has been punched, slapped, and beaten. His eyes, which looked with love on so many who sought him, are swollen shut. Blood gushes from the crown of sharp thorns that are embedded in his sacred head in mockery of the king of kings. His appearance, as the prophet foretold, is so disfigured that we might wonder if we are looking at a human at all. And yet we are looking at the most perfect human who ever existed, perfect God and perfect man. If we ever thought our sins were harmless or only affected us, now is the time to look at the face of Christ, so broken and bloody, and realize that sin hates all which is good and beautiful and true.

We might then look up and see the hands of Jesus, outstretched on the cross. These are the beautiful hands that healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, raised the dead and cast out demons. These are the hands that spared the woman caught in adultery, saved St. Peter when he began to sink in the sea of Galilee, and which celebrated the first Eucharist on Holy Thursday. For all their kindness, how has Mankind repaid the hands of God? They are pierced with nails and torn by the weight of Christ hanging on the cross! On Good Friday, could we ever explain away our evil choices, seeing what they did to the gentle hands of our Savior?

Finally, to end our meditation, let us gaze upon the side of Jesus, pierced for our sins. When the centurion thrusts his spear through the side of our Lord, blood and water flow forth, symbolizing redemption and new life. Here, we see the heart of Christ, which has literally poured out every drop of blood for love of us. The heart of Christ longed for each and every soul that would ever live on this earth. And that Sacred Heart beat every moment of every day to bring salvation to you and me.

Had another person died for us, we would never forget it. Had a friend or family member been mauled to save us, we would never stop thanking them! But how often days go by where we don’t thank Jesus for laying his life down for our sins! Every wound, every drop of blood, was worth it to Christ crucified so we might be prisoners no longer! On this Good Friday, let us thank God for sparing nothing to break us out of our slavery to sin and death. May we never doubt the evil of sin nor the price that had to be paid for them. But above else, let us never doubt the infinite love of our savior displayed for all time in the wounds he bore as he hung upon the cross. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you; because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world. Amen.

Jesus Stands Up to Cancel Culture (5th Sunday of Lent, Year C)

To listen to this homily, click here.

One of the terms we’ve all heard of over the last decade or so, perhaps the point of exhaustion, is so-called cancel culture. Wikipedia defines it as "a contemporary phrase used to refer to a form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles - whether it be online, on social media, or in person." We have seen cancel culture employed in every aspect of life, applied to individuals and companies in response to words, opinions, or actions deemed offensive. Most often, the cancel movement happens online with social media and is the virtual version of a mob mentality with many people quickly jumping on the bandwagon to condemn someone or something, often without all the facts. In our time, we see cancel culture taking place in politics, entertainment, business, education, healthcare, and even within the Church.

While cancel culture seems to surround us because of the ease of worldwide communication, social media, and a 24-hr news cycle, it is nothing new. In today's Gospel we have a most serious form of cancel culture. "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" We can see the dilemma. We can almost hear the group snickering as they think, “We really got Jesus this time!” If Jesus takes the woman's side, they would accuse him of being soft on infidelity and dismissive of the Mosaic Law. So what does Jesus do? First, he writes something on the ground. There are many theories about what he wrote, perhaps it was the sins of the accusers. Maybe it was a word of hope and encouragement to the woman. Something like, “you are worth saving” or “The Lord is kind and merciful”. Whatever it was, it stung the consciences of the accusers. Perhaps Jesus pointed out the hypocrisy of their outrage by asking why they brought him the woman but failed to detain the man who was with her. Both were supposed to receive the same punishment. In any case, Jesus responds with perfect line, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."

They leave one by one, convicted by their pride, exposed in their hypocrisy. They might be able to fool others but they cannot fool the son of God. Jesus alone remains with the woman. He has every right to condemn her because he will die for her sins. But he chooses mercy. St. Augustine beautifully observes that when the scribes and pharisees left, "There remained only two, divine mercy and human misery." Pope Francis reflected on this scene in a letter he wrote for the year of mercy and said, "Once clothed in mercy, even if the inclination to sin remains, it is overcome by the love that makes it possible for her to look ahead and to live her life differently.” When we experience Jesus' mercy, we can move forward no matter what. We have the chance for a new beginning, not the cancellation and annihilation of sin. 

At this point I think it’s important to add a word of caution about how Jesus’ actions are sometimes interpreted. Some preachers use his approach toward the sinful woman to suggest that more tolerance of sin is called for and none of us can judge the sin of another. But this is not what Jesus does. He does not ignore the sin or trivialize it. He does not say, “go back to what you were doing” or “it’s really not a big deal.” Jesus acknowledges her sin but he does not condemn her for it. He tells her to go and sin no more or something worse than stoning will befall her, the death of her soul. Jesus forgives her and tells her to stay away from sin moving forward because he loves her. And the same is true for you and me. If we see someone caught in sin, we should never condemn them but we should lovingly help them see their sin for what it is so they can receive God’s forgiveness and sin no more. 

Today’s Gospel could also be called the Story of the People holding Stones. The scribes and pharisees thought they had righteous anger. They had the Law of Moses on their side. They had everything and everyone on their side justifying their actions. They had everything except love. They had everyone agreeing with them except the Lord. Like the Elder Brother of the Prodigal Son last week, their anger excluded them from the Banquet of the Father. They walked away from the Messiah rather than drop their outrage and hypocrisy. It was not righteous anger that was motivating them. It was hatred for Jesus and for God’s mercy. At the end of the story, the only person who calls Jesus ‘Lord’, is the sinful woman. The religious leaders walk away rather than accepting his teaching and following the Lord of life and goodness.

Like them, we often let hatred remove us from the presence of the Lord. We claim to have legitimate reasons to hate. We say we can justify our anger. We call for the cancellation of our enemies. We have been hurt. Someone whom we love very much has been attacked. Unless we let go of those stones we are holding, we cannot and will not stand before our loving, compassionate Lord. We have to let go and let God take control. The scribes and the pharisees refused to do this and walked away. How about us? Is our hatred more important than remaining in the presence of Divine Love? Do we accept God’s grace to conquer our anger or do we hold onto our grudges even tighter?

At times, we are the woman, caught in our sins. At times we feel overwhelmed by the weight of our wrongdoing. At times we feel surrounded by people who know what we have done and are sickened by it. At times we are so upset with ourselves that we cannot look others in the face. We are forced to look down. As we look at the ground we need to realize Jesus writes something in the dirt for us. It is the hand of Jesus, writing, “you are worth saving”,  “The Lord is kind and merciful” We must ask for his mercy and then listen to His voice saying to us, “Go, and sin no more.”

Today we recognize that cancel culture in some form has always been with us and we see how Jesus responded to those who literally wanted to destroy the woman caught in adultery. Jesus enables us to look beyond the sin and love the sinner, whether that is ourselves or others. Cancel culture always dehumanizes people because it seeks to erase and forget a person who has done wrong. But we are more than our worst moment. Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. That is why Jesus never gives up on us and God never cancels anyone. He tries, until the last moment of our lives, to bring us back and save us from our sins!

As we approach Holy Week, a good person to walk with is the woman rescued by Jesus. Our tradition teaches that she was one of the few people who stayed with him as hung on the cross. Saved from her sin, she never wanted to be separated from Him again. With her, we can pray the beautiful words of today’s Psalm, “The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.”

 

God Gives Up on No One! (4th Sunday of Lent, Year C)

 To listen to this homily, click here.

The beautiful thing about our gospel today, the story of prodigal son, is that it is such a human story. Many human emotions and desires we know so well are explored and explained. The so-called prodigal son wants to leave home, go his own way, and find independence from family and responsibility. Where the prodigal son goes wrong is by using his newfound independence to reject the values parents spend so much time and effort teaching. He chases a mirage, the illusion of a life with only pleasure, autonomy, and self-centeredness.

This desire to leave home and to be on one's own is absolutely normal, necessary, and good when it is based in virtue. But unfortunately it is often motivated by naive assumptions and short-term thinking. Frequently during teenage years, children feel their parents no longer love them and that they are unnecessarily strict, always finding new and terrible ways to afflict and torture them. Often young people don't recognize that the changes going on are within themselves and it may not be their parents who are acting differently at all.

Returning to our parable. It had all gone very wrong for the prodigal son. It seemed like a smart move to take his inheritance and move on with his life. Never mind that he still had a responsibility to work the land his father had given him and support his father. Never mind that the land was a sacred portion of the family's heritage, not to be sold; the son had his own life and desires; so he sold it and moved on to what he hoped were greener pastures. He had a wild time, and made a lot of friends, all of whom forgot who he was when the money ran out. He found himself in the worst situation of his life, dreaming of stealing food thrown to pigs. Eventually, after exhausting all other options, he decided to return home. He anticipated shame and disgrace; he knew he deserved nothing but was willing to beg for the life of a servant. His concept of mercy could not imagine a return to sonship. But he was wrong! His homecoming was more than he could ever have imagined. 

Each of us has moments in life where we make mistakes and become the prodigal son. We call these sins and it’s usually because we try to convince ourselves that something we know to be wrong, is, in this case, right. If we have the honesty to admit it, we soon realize we are no longer happy. We can't be at war with God and at peace with ourselves. We can try, but it won't work. In what areas of life are we still separated from God by our obsession with pleasure, independence, selfishness, and control? Where do we still live the life of the prodigal son, wandering away from responsibilities to God and neighbor, stuck in the misery of sin? As a priest who has the privilege of hearing confessions, I get to see many moments of transformation, when someone returns to the Father and experiences his embrace of forgiveness and peace. God wants that moment for each and every one of us!

The Forgiving Father runs out to meet his son. How many days he must have watched the road hoping to see his son coming back and yet saw nothing! But he never stopped watching, waiting, and hoping! He doesn’t even let the Prodigal to finish his little speech about how unworthy he is or why he should only be considered a slave. The Father is overwhelmed with joy and immediately starts to celebrate. How often do you and I try to love like the father? Are we people who welcome back those who are separated from God and others? Are we compassionate to the weak and sinful? Do we do everything we can to help them return to God’s family? Are we able to forgive the wrongs done to us and others or are we harsh christians who complain that Jesus welcomes sinners into his Church?

I think most of us sympathize with the elder son. He did the right thing his whole life by working his portion of the Father’s property. He suffered through his brother's insulting of their dad. There is nothing that gets us angrier than when someone we love is offended. But he let this anger control him. It seems that much of his service to the Father was served in resentment. It may have been quiet and unspoken but it was bubbling under the surface until this very moment. How many Christians, how many of us, serve God externally but in our heart, we are bitter, disappointed, and feel unrecognized by God? How many of us feel self-righteous and disgusted by the way God seems to welcome sinners and share his mercy those who don’t seem to deserve it? Shouldn’t they have to pay for what they have done? Are we secretly jealous of the prodigal son because he did what we wanted to do?

The end of the parable is tragic and ironic. A banquet is thrown, but the elder son refused to enter. The Father who had every reason to remain angry, is not. However, elder brother refuses to forgive his sibling and his father. His angry that his father’s heart is not as small as his! By refusing to participate, the Elder Son separated himself from the Father's love. At the conclusion of the parable, only the Elder Son is absent from the banquet. And he is absent by his own choice, he has excluded himself. 

We all have battle stories. We have all had people who have consciously and callously hurt us. But if we don't forgive those who have hurt us, we will be keeping ourselves out of the banquet of God's love. We have also hurt others and caused pain throughout our lives. If we want to receive God's forgiveness, we have to give God's forgiveness. If we don't forgive and ask to be forgiven, we will end up standing outside the banquet griping and grousing, separated from God's love.

"This man welcomes sinners and eats with them” is the criticism we hear of Jesus. It’s absolutely true, thank God! He welcomes us and eats with us here in the Eucharist. He shows us a better way to live, a way of life free from sin and misery. The Parable of the Prodigal Son, Forgiving Father and Elder Brother is a brilliant depiction of our human condition, our foibles, and the unlimited compassion God offers us if we are willing to turn from sin and hatred. May our parish family be defined by receiving and sharing this forgiveness and so we can enjoy the freedom and peace it brings!

Stop, Slow Down, Observe, Be Present! (3rd Sunday of Lent, Year C)

To listen to this homily, click here.

One of our struggles as modern people is the ability to be mindful of our surroundings and the people around us. Even though our bodies are in one place, very often, our minds and hearts are somewhere else because of multitasking, planning, or anxiety. Being engaged in the present moment is so difficult! For example, have you ever been so preoccupied as you drove somewhere that when you arrived, you didn’t even recall how you got there? It’s not that you were sleepy or distracted, it’s more like your mind was on autopilot. Think of all the food we’ve consumed in the last week; how much of it could we remember and describe? Or the people we encountered at the store, at a restaurant, on the phone, or in our everyday business? Even though they may have shared their name or some other information, do we remember anything about them? Let’s look at something that just happened; can we recall where our readings came from for Mass without checking the book or asking the person next to us? Would we say from Exodus, 1st Corinthians, the gospel of Luke? 

In general, the problem is not memory. Most of us can and do remember incredible amounts of information about things we are passionate about. Instead, the issue for most of us is the ability to maintain a sort of spiritual, emotional, and mental awareness of what is happening around us. We are so flustered and frantic that we miss much of what God and others are trying to share with us.

In today’s first reading from Exodus, consider how incredible it is that Moses’ life and vocation – not to mention salvation history – are changed forever because he was aware of what was happening around him; he took the time to investigate; he was open to God; and he was willing to engage and listen. We might think, “well easy for him, there was a burning bush as a sign.” But go back to the reading again and pay close attention to what we are told. Moses wasn’t surprised by the fact that a bush was on fire; apparently fiery shrubs weren’t all that unusual! What surprised him was that while he watched it burn, it didn’t change. That observation only happens when someone stops, watches, observes and is not running past to something else. If Moses had been wrapped up in his own problems or thoughts, in a hurry, or simply responding to a text message, he could have easily passed by, assuming the bush would soon burn up or that someone else would be along to tend to it. He would have missed the invitation by God to come closer and enter holy ground. Who knows, maybe this wasn’t the first sign he had been given but it may have been the first one he had noticed! Sometimes I wonder what signs we are missing as we fly from one thing to the next, as we rue the past or plan for the future instead of savoring the present moment where God is usually found. 

How often do we pass by someone or something that could transform us, if we were open to them? If we slowed down enough to observe, to engage, to listen, to notice? I think all of us ask God to give us signs of his love and we want him to show us the way but are we actually mindful enough in everyday life to slow down, watch, and listen? God has desires and plans for each of us, just as God had desires and plans for Moses. And he has been and will continue to reach out to us and provide signs of his love, care, and mercy. But they are easy to miss if we are not looking for them.

Far too often we explain away these signs as nothing more than coincidence, fate, or luck. Even worse, sometimes, we give ourselves the credit, we believe we can will something into existence as if we are gods ourselves. I remember a priest once telling me, “There is no such thing as luck, there are no coincidences. God always wants it or allows it for a reason.”

Each of us can think back to special people and positive events that have changed us forever and brought great blessings into our lives. How humbling to know that those are people and moments that God intended specifically for us, for our well-being and happiness. They are his signs to us; THEY ARE NOT ACCIDENTS! Even more mind-boggling is the thought that there are many other signs and wonders we have completely missed and walked past because of our preoccupation with ourselves, our busyness, and our desire to be in control. Some of the most powerful God-moments in my life were not on my calendar or part of my plan. 

Lent is a blessed time because it provides an opportunity to slow down, let go of what is not essential and be more mindful, more present to God and others, through acts of charity, fasting, and prayer. Even the simplest things can help us to be more aware of God and others. Saying a prayer each morning when I wake up reminds me that the day is a gift from God. Not everyone woke up today or had another day like you and me. So that first prayer causes us to be grateful and realize we are blessed. Praying before meals reminds us that we are fortunate to have food to eat. Many do not have enough or any food this day and yet we have more than we need and with so little effort. Mindful of that gift, we try not to be wasteful or gluttonous with what we eat and we work to make sure others have what they need to live and flourish. Finally, before we go to bed, we can thank God for helping us through another day. Setting aside a minute or two, we can review our day, calling to mind several of the blessings, the moments we saw God loving us and providing for our needs. We will also acknowledge the signs we missed, the opportunities we ignored, and the wrongs we committed so that we can learn and do better tomorrow, should we receive that gift. 

Mindfulness is really that simple and easy. It is already baked into our day and the little acts of faith we learned as small children. Take time in the coming weeks to get back to basics and believe that God is giving us signs every day. Learning to see and respond to them will make a big difference over time and will allow us to follow the path of Moses who himself became an important sign of God’s love, mercy, and salvation. May God bless our week and open our eyes to see him at work in our lives! 

No Excuses For Lent! Make Room for God (2nd Sunday of Lent, Year C)

To listen to this homily, click here. 

These lenten days and weeks are busy for all of us, I know! As a priest, this is like the playoffs with the added confessions here at IW and at our neighboring parishes and schools. There are also prayer breakfasts and days of recollection and retreats and bible studies to help out with, all leading to the big kahuna, we call Holy Week! During lent, there are times when I can barely keep my eyes open for the second half of the day! In those moments, I am reminded of something I read, called “The 5 best things to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk.” I am sharing them with you in case they might prove helpful down the road, hopefully not during this homily!

#5, “They told me at the blood bank that this might happen.”  #4,“This is just a 15-minute power nap they raved about in the time management course you sent me to.” #3, “Wow! I guess I left the top off the White-out. You got here just in time.” #2, “Did you ever notice sound coming out of these keyboards when you put your ear down real close?” And #1, if all else fails, raise your head slowly and say, In Jesus’ Name, Amen!”

We all tend to be masters of excuses and rationalization, especially when it comes to lent and our resolutions. We usually start off with a bang, with an impressive list of wills and will-nots that would make the pope sweat. After a day or two, we are pretty proud of ourselves and maybe even start designing the holy card they can use at our canonization. Then we hit the two-week mark and often the wheels start to fall off. Of course we mean well and have great intentions but we rarely emerge from these 40 days having kept our word to the Lord. One of the reasons for our failure is that we focus on the negative. “I won’t watch tv”, “I won’t eat sweets”, “I won’t …(you fill in the blank). This is all well and good but more often than not, in focusing so much on the negative, we don’t spend enough time reflecting on what comes next, what we are replacing it with. When we fall into this pattern, we are digging holes without ever planting anything in them. 

The point of our penance is not so much what we get rid of, although that is important; it’s really about what we want to replace it with, namely God and virtue. Take that principle and apply it to your resolutions this year. If you gave up ice cream, does that sacrifice make you think of God more often? If so, great! Keep up the good work! But if it just makes you fixate on the next time you have a huge bucket of Haagen Daas in front of you, move on to another penance!

Truth be told, the most profitable penances focus on the positive, on a greater good for ourselves and others, a goal that brings out the best version of ourselves for the glory of God. For example, “I want to cut down on screen time, so I can spend more time with God and be present to my family and friends around me.” “I am going to give away more of my time and money to help others and put them first.” “I am going to honesty evaluate my spending and consumption according to needs vs wants so my desires do not rule me and I can set my sights on the one thing, the one person who truly satisfies!” These are the sort of resolutions that really make a difference over the course of a lenten season.

So, with the positive in mind, let me suggest three creative and off-beat penances for Lent that you might consider, especially if your resolve has already begun to waver on the resolutions you chose 10 days ago.

First, release a secret from your past which weighs you down and causes you shame. All of us have a history, much of it good but some of it bad. Very often, the darkest moments of our life are known only to God and ourselves. We form habits of self-hatred for our mistakes and we even wonder if God can love that part of our past which hurt him and others. That secret festers and creates a wound that never quite heals. Use this lent to let go of whatever secret you carry. Bring it to God in the sacrament of confession. Let him take it from you and shine his light upon it. If you are nervous about sharing something like that with a priest you know, then find out where they are having a parish mission or extra confessions with a visiting priest who you will never see again. That’s what I would do!  Perhaps, after you receive absolution, you may feel called to share that secret with a close friend or counselor who will help you continue the healing process. Whatever the case, stop lugging it around. It’s dead weight. And remember, it’s not only a matter of unloading a dreaded secret. It’s a matter of making room for God’s presence and peace. That’s the goal!

Second, try your hand at restorative justice. You might have heard of this term before; we try to use it in our school when one student offends another. Restorative justice is actually a legal term that means setting up a meeting between perpetrators and victims so perpetrators can learn and see firsthand how their sins and crimes have damaged people’s lives, in the hope they would feel some remorse. It might seem extreme but it’s a good thought for us. Often we distance ourselves from the ones we hurt by our lies, greed, and selfishness and as a result, have little empathy for those affected by our sins. But to look into the eyes of our victims, to stand face to face, to perceive the hurt, see the wounds, to feel what they felt from our unkindness, helps us to stand in their shoes, empathize, and repent. This is not about fostering crushing guilt for our sins and mistakes; this makes room for compassion. If we cannot do this physically, and often we cannot, we can do this in prayer. Imagine the other person sitting across from you and read their face and heart. Get into their skin and weep. Restorative justice is a good lenten exercise that keeps our heart from becoming hardened and indifferent to sin.

Third, consider the wisdom of the 14 generations. The 14 generations is a practice of the Iroquois nation. It is the notion that we give thanks for the contributions and sacrifices of the seven generations that came before us and paved the way for our existence and flourishing. And we make decisions and live our lives in a way that will benefit the next seven generations that follow us. If we baptize this beautiful practice, we relate it to our spiritual lives and the gift of faith. Lent is an opportunity to give thanks for the many, untold sacrifices and spiritual gifts that have been handed on to us by previous generations. We are not here on earth or here in church because of our own efforts alone. So many others have sacrificed and given of themselves to form us, provide for us, patiently correct us, and teach us prayer, faith, and virtue. They deserve our prayers of gratitude, even if we do not fully know who did what for us. We also have responsibility to provide for the souls who will come after us, here at Incarnate Word and in our families. Lent is a wonderful time to be still and reflect on whether or not we are providing for the spiritual legacy of generations to come. Are we continuing that venerable practice of leaving the Church and the world better than we found them; making it possible for our descendants to flourish and thrive and become saints of God? This is a good and holy stance to take in life and certainly one worth deepening in lent.

 

So, consider these three, offbeat suggestions as food for thought, especially if you find yourself stalling already in your lenten resolutions: Release your secret, seek restorative justice, and become a part of the 14 generations, always with the grace of God and for the Glory of his name. Amen.  

Lessons from the Lord (8th Sunday, Year C)

 To listen to this homily, click here.

More often than not, the season of Lent hits long before we get to this Sunday. As a result, we often miss out on these wonderful readings, which read like a mashup of a farmer’s almanac, some advice from a wise old neighbor, and timeless truth that is passed down from a parent to a child. The result is a series of practical and relevant teachings any one of us could use in our life right now.

First up is the Book of Sirach. “When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do one’s faults when one speaks.” Translated: take care of the words you speak, and, in our case, the ones we text or post; they reveal who we really are, for good or for ill. Words are powerful things and we should be careful about how we use them. Our words express our thoughts and our thoughts show the type of person we are and the priorities we value most. In light of this heavenly truth-bomb, what do our words say about us?!

Next, we zoom in on the rapid-fire lessons Jesus is doling out in the gospel. The first one deals with teaching and being taught. “Can a blind man act as a guide to a blind man. Will they not both fall into a ditch?"  In other words, we cannot teach until we have learned. We accept this truth in many areas of life. We read the reviews of persons, products, and services online. We want the teachers in schools and universities to be qualified. When something important is on the line, we want it to be handled by a professional, a real expert. I don’t think anyone would take their car to a mechanic who boasted about having no “formal” training! No one wants a doctor or lawyer who learned everything they know by watching a few videos on Youtube! 

If this is true about matters of this world, how much more important for the things dealing with eternity?! We have a responsibility to carefully choose who teaches us about our faith and spiritual life. We need to take an active role in helping that aspect of our lives grow. It won’t happen by osmosis. Jesus promises his Holy Spirit to guide the Catholic Church with a teaching authority when it comes to matters of faith and morals. We don’t have to blindly figure out these things by ourselves. In fact, it is a really bad idea to try and be our own church and teacher. This divinely-guided authority is called the magisterium and it involves the Pope, Bishops, theologians and consultants. The duty of the magisterium is to make sure we can follow Jesus, our true teacher, in a time and culture that is very different than 2000 years ago. This teaching authority is a great gift but sometimes, out of pride, laziness or even scandal at the human weakness of our leaders, we rebel and try to make it on our own wisdom. Some questions to reflect on from this first lesson are: who is my teacher in spiritual matters? Am I teachable at all or do I always know best? Do I put in the effort to keep learning about my faith from reputable teachers or did my spiritual development stop in grade school, high school or college?

The second mini lesson deals with judgements. In one of his most well-known quips, Jesus says, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?” We are really good at seeing the imperfections of others while being completely blind to our own. Oftentimes our defects are far more serious but we obsess over someone’s much smaller fault. And, how little patience we have for the people who have the exact same imperfections as we do. Interestingly enough, Jesus doesn’t say we should stop caring about the splinter in our brother’s eye. But he demands we clean up our own vision first before we help them remove it. That way we can help others grow and improve in ways that are charitable, humble, and genuine.

The third lesson relates back to Sirach and teaches us not judge ourselves or others by appearance. "A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit.” Our thoughts, words, and actions show who we really are. When a person does good things, time after time, we know this is a good person. When a person is continually stirring up trouble, creating division, pain, and chaos, we know that person is troubled. The fruit reveals what is in the heart. In the same way, it is not enough for us to say we are Catholics and then live as pagans. In fact, it is not enough to say we are saved. What we need to say is that we are in the daily process of being saved. Our actions must reflect God's saving love to us. Of course, we always depend upon the mercy and grace of God, but we have to respond to this mercy and grace by doing our best to live the Christian life. If we don’t, then our fruits will demonstrate the insincerity of our conversion. This hypocrisy of Christians, whether it be the laity in the world or the clergy in the churches, is the biggest turn-off to those who don’t yet follow Jesus. Our thoughts, words, and actions must be consistent with what we believe because our example affects others, either by inspiring or scandalizing. 

This Wednesday Lent finally begins. I need this Lent to work on these powerful lessons of Jesus. Perhaps you do too. Lent is a time for us to grow in our faith and let the Holy Spirit guide us through the prayer and teaching of our Church. Lent is a time to look into ourselves and ask the tough questions. Lent is a time to consider our living of the Christian life. Do our actions demonstrate Christ's continuing conversion in our lives? Do our thoughts, words, and actions direct others towards God? How hard am I working to remove that beam from my eyeballs first? If we are honest, we all have some work to do. So let us ask the Lord for his patience, mercy, and grace!