Category: Homilies

Recordings of Recent Sunday Homilies

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Three Word Sermons

Greetings, Church fans! Below is the text of the homily. As always, you can pick up the whole Mass on the livestream on our Facebook page or just the homily on our YouTube Channel.

I was struck by something the Holy Father said recently:

“Lent is not a time for useless sermons, but for recognizing that our lowly ashes are loved by God.  It is a time of grace; a time for letting God gaze upon us with love and in this way change our lives.” 

Actually, it was the great social commentator, George Burns, who said,

“The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible.”

He may have had Jesus’ first sermon in mind when he said this. It’s a pretty short message in three parts:

       1. “This is the time of fulfillment.

       2. The kingdom of God is at hand.

       3. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

       This three part structure has pretty much been the norm for homiletics ever since. You may recall that the Holy Father always tries to leave us with “three words” in any of his addresses or sermons. So let’s look at each of these briefly.

       1.  It is a heady thing to realize that we are, in fact, living in the time of fulfillment. There are two aspects to what Jesus was talking about. First, Christ proclaims and the Church affirms that all Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. Second, all previous sacrifices, whether to establish covenants, to forgive sins, to remember or to give thanks, were fulfilled in the one perfect sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. This truly is the time of fulfillment.

       2. Precisely because this is the time of fulfillment, the Kingdom is at hand, both temporally and practically. Too often we look for God in the exotic and mysterious. But to be Catholic is to believe that through the sacraments, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, there is no part of our life, even our worst parts, to which God is not present.

       3. The gospel or “Good News” is that because of his sacrifice on the Cross and because that is so immediately accessible to us in the sacraments, the price for our sins has been paid. The only possible (and necessary) response is gratitude. Belief in the forgiveness of sins leads us to turn away from those very sins and live in the fullness of grace with Christ and each other. 

       This Lent, may we live as people of fulfillment who embrace the Kingdom and return to grace.  

Let us recognize that our lowly ashes are loved by God.  Let us allow God gaze upon us with love and in this way change our lives. 

       1. “This is the time of fulfillment.

       2. The kingdom of God is at hand.

       3. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

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Celebrating Marriage!

Hey, Church fans! Happy Valentine’s Day!

What could a celibate priest possibly know about marriage? Quite a bit more than you think. I’ve been watching you folks for 30 years now. Sort of like the Offensive Coordinator up in the press box. I can see things that may not be apparent on the field. Here is today’s musings. As always, you can catch the whole Mass here or just the homily on our YouTube Channel.

     Sometimes the readings match up with what is going on outside the liturgy and sometimes they don’t. This is a weekend when they don’t. In society and even in the Church is it Valentine’s Day and the culmination of Celebrate Marriage Week. It is important that we celebrate marriage, the union-body and soul–between one man and one woman, especially Christian Marriage.

A quick comment on the gospel

       Jesus enters into the reality of the leper

       Makes himself unclean

              The irony is that he now cannot move about freely.

       What Jesus touches, he transforms

       So it was for the leper

So it was when he went to the wedding of his friends in Cana

       So today, I’m going to talk about

              – the essential properties and the fruits of marriage,

              – the five stages of marriage

              – a bit about the reality of separation and divorce

Married love is different than other kinds of love

       I have six sisters, and I love them all.  I’m not going to marry one of them.

       I have  brother and I love him…like a brother.

       I love my mom, not going to marry her.

No, married love is unique and the sacrament of marriage is something special.

As understood by the Church, marriage has two essential properties and three characteristics or “fruits.” 

The essential properties of marriage are unity and indissolubility. The three fruits of marriage are permanence, fidelity and fecundity, i.e., it is “life-giving.”

       Unity: Marriage is the total gift of the self, body and soul, to one’s spouse.

       All that I am I give to you

              Without reservation, without condition.

       To do so, you have to know:

              1.  yourself, inside out and backwards. 

                      You can’t give away what you don’t have.

              2. your intended spouse, inside out and backwards. 

                      You should never give yourself away without great deliberation.

              3. the nature of the relationship in which your are giving yourselves to each other.

       Second essential property of marriage is Indissolubility:

     A a valid marriage is permanent, lasting until death. Jesus said, “What God has joined, let no one divide.” (Mk 10:9) It’s important to keep this in mind while preparing. Marriage is not something to do on a whim. But if a couple is well-prepared, then they can enjoy the fruits of marriage.

And then there are three characteristics of fruits of marriage. Permanence, fidelity, and fecundity. 

       Permanence—this gives the relationship the stability that allows the couple the freedom to love imperfectly. They do not have to fear that the relationship will end because they made a bone-headed mistake. Thus, it also allows them to love completely, without reservation or condition.

       Fidelity—gives the couple a sense of gratitude and reverence for the other. Reverence in this sense is to be ‘prayerfully attentive to the other.’ The faithful spouse looks to the good of the relationship and the needs of the other, even anticipating these needs. Eventually, they are so tuned into each other that they begin to finish each other’s sentences.

       Fecundity—Love by its very nature creates. So it is for God, and so it is for the couple who “co-create” with God. We are talking a love so intense in its physical expression that nine months later, you may have to give it a name! Every decision in marriage, no matter how seemingly mundane, can be discerned by asking whether or not it is life-giving physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

When we see how you love each other in good times and in bad in sickness and in health, we get just a little glimpse of what it means for God to love us.

       To often, I think we look for signs of God’s love in the strange, the exotic.

       But we don’t have to do that,
       I can look at any well-married couple and say, Look at them.  See how they love each other…That’s what’s I’m talking about.

It’s not easy. 

The fives stages of marriage:

       1.  Marital Bliss

       2.  Disillusionment

       When you realize that all of your shortcomings and character flaws,

       ….AND THOSE OF YOUR SPOUSE…

       Don’t suddenly go away just because you got married.

       The truth is sometimes a very sobering thing.

              But it is never a bad thing.

       3.  Sheer exhaustion – “kenosis“

              When one or both parties are physically, emotionally, or spiritually exhausted.

       It is not necessarily anybody’s fault,

       It could be an illness, a financial crisis, a natural disaster.

       Characterized by a lack of feeling.

       “I don’t feel like I love you.” 

       No kidding, you can’t feel  anything, let alone affection for your spouse. 

       4.  Reconciliation

              The rebuilding of the relationship in a way that you could not imagine before.

       5.  Deeper covenantal love.

In this way, we can see how a good marriage truly is a reflection of the paschal mystery. 

       1. Humanity was in a state of “original bliss.”

       2. The illusions were stripped away

       3. The relationship was in crisis

       4. in the fullness of time, Christ came and all creation was reconciled to the Father.

       5.  Our relationship with God now is much deeper and more intimate than it was in the Garden.

       Incidentally, this is where the Moonie’s theology falls flat.

       They wish to return to the Garden.

       Just like couples who are in crisis will often say, “I just want to go back to the way it was when we first got married.

       “I’ll always answer, “Why? That was unsustainable.  God has something much more profound in store for you.” 

In my experience, every relationship redefines itself about every 7 years through this process.

       Healthy relationships get deeper and more intimate

       Unhealthy relationships will either go into suspended animation for another seven or will fail at that point. 

Which brings me to a word about separation, divorce and declarations of nullity, commonly called annulments.

       The sad reality is that, often through no fault of their own, a person will find themselves separated or divorced.

       There are a number of reasons for this.

       There are no good divorces. 

              There are necessary divorces.

                      But no good ones.

              As mentioned before, in a good marriage, here is someone who knows all of your vulnerabilities and honors them.

              Too often in divorce, we see that here is someone who knows all of your vulnerabilities

       And is willing to exploit them.

There are not good divorces.

       There are necessary divorces, but no good ones.

       When this happens in our midst, we need to recognize the pain and the suffering that comes with such a state of affairs

       We, as Christian are called to accompany those who suffer such pain.

       It is at this time, that they and their children need their Church more than ever.

       Now, there is heresy out there that if someone is simply separated or divorced, they can’t come to communion. 

       All things being equal, nothing could be farther from the truth. 

       Do not believe this lie.

       The only time that becomes an issue is if someone enters into another relationship

       And is living with someone to whom they are not married

       Or has gotten married outside the Church. 

       If a divorced person does find someone special with whom they wish to get married.

       In order to be sure that they are free to do so, they can petition the Archbishop for a declaration of nullity.

       We will investigate previous attempted marriage to see if it was valid.  If not, then we issue a decree of Nullity and they are free to marry

       The Irish have a wonderful expression: “May the love of God warm your heart like a great fire, so that a friend may come and warm himself there.” A good marriage is life-giving well beyond the relationship of the couple and their family. It enlivens the neighborhood, the community and the whole of society. 

It is not easy

       And not every marriage succeeds.

But it is so worth it, even to try.

Society needs good marriages. 

We need to defend, preserve and celebrate marriage any way we can.               

For those of you who are married or have been married, thank you.  May your witness to God’s love inspire us all to strive for such self-sacrifice.

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Taking a Leap

       Try this little spiritual exercise. Sometime this week stand at the step of City Hall

       And for an hour, shout at the top of your lungs:

       “Forty-days more and this city will be destroyed!!!”

Then, come back next week and tell me how it went…

       The conversion of the city if Nineveh at the preaching of Jonah goes to show you that the only reason he was effective as that he was literally on a mission from God.

But with Jonah and with Paul and even with our Lord, we can see a certain urgency with which they go about their tasks. 

       “Forty days more…”

       “I tell you, brothers and sisters, that time is running out…”

       ““This is the time of fulfillment.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

       You can feel the urgency in their message.

       When I was younger, I was captivated by Peter, James, John and Andrew, who left everything, seemingly on the spur of the moment, to follow Jesus simply because he asked them.

“What faith!” I thought. “What fervor!” 

       Then, as I grew older and started adulting, I thought to myself, “Self!  Hold on a minute. Normal people don’t this that.  They don’t just up leave everything because some stranger says, ‘Follow me.’” In fact, we see several other places where Jesus give the same invitation and they don’t follow him, such as the rich, young man in Mark 10:17-31.

       There has to be more to the story.

       Fortunately, we get our insight in last week’s gospel from the call of Andrew and Peter in the Gospel of John 

(Jn 1:35-42). As you recall, once Andrew spent the rest of the day with Jesus he sought out his brother Simon and exclaimed, “We have found the Messiah!” If we keep reading, we see that the next day the scene is repeated with Philip and Nathaniel. In this case, Philip says, ““We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” (Jn 1:45) 

       What becomes abundantly clear in a reading of John is that, like everyone else at the time, those who would become the first disciples were primed and ready for his appearance. They were on the lookout, and when they found themselves in his presence, they recognized in him the long-expected Messiah.

       They didn’t know what following him would entail, of course, but really they didn’t have to. He was there. He asked them to be his disciples. That was enough for the moment. The rest would take care of itself.

       It’s a good lesson for all of us who choose to follow Jesus. Do we recognize in Jesus the fulfillment of all our hopes and deepest longings? Do we choose to follow him daily? If we do, then every other decision from then on will flow from that choice. The rest is just details.

       The problem is, human beings are naturally averse to the unknown. We like a bit of certainty before we take a leap of faith. 

       We like the road map, not just trail markers.

       In the morning I like to listen the local news radio. It seems that every news and talk radio station has at least one featured show on planning your financial future and setting a road map to success.

       And yes, we should plan prudently in this regard.

       But in the end, it is all an illusion.

              “The world in its present form is passing away.”

You never see a hearse with a U-Haul behind it. 

       In her essay, the Open Door, Helen Keller once said something that I greatly admire:

          “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”

                                           – Helen Keller, The Open Door

Still, we like a bit of certainty before we take a leap of faith. 

       If not in what we are getting ourselves into,

       then at least in the ONE who is asking us to do it. 

       This trust in the other is called faith.

This is not something esoteric or complicated.

       Anyone who has watched a child leap into the swimming pool at his father’s beckoning knows what I am talking about.  

       The water is deeper than the child’s head.

       The child knows this.

       The child also knows that it is only about chest deep on his father.

       And he knows that since his father is there, he will be safe.

       And so…he leaps.

Is it any different for you and me as we stand on the edge as Christ beckons us out of the kiddy pool and into the deep end of discipleship?

       It is Jesus who is calling us.    

       What could we possibly be afraid of? 

              What could possibly hold us back?

       He has gone all the way to the Cross for us.  

His arms are still outstretched to embrace us. 

       What could possibly make us hesitate any longer?  

       Yet, still.  Some of us do.

In 1958, Thomas Merton, prolific author and monk of Gethsemane Abbey in Louisville, KY, wrote a book called “Thoughts in Solitude.”  In this book is a short prayer about this very moment in the life of every Christian. 

       It is now called “The Merton Prayer.”

              It is often quoted, even today.

       So I will conclude with it in hopes that you will find it helpful:

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end,
         nor do I really know myself,
         and the fact that I think I am following your will
         does not mean that I am actually doing so.


But I believe that the desire to please you
         does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
         and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. 

Amen.

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Being Andrew

Howdy, Church fans! Hope your team wins this weekend! . Below is the column. As always, you can catch the livestream at our FB page:

“So how did you decide to be a priest?”  It’s a question I get a lot. The short answer is, I was invited by another person. It’s as simple as that.

Vocations are not rocket science, but it is important to realize that every person in the parish has an essential role to play in calling forth, from our own parish family, men and women to serve the Archdiocese as priests, deacons, and religious. Vocations are everybody’s responsibility. Think about it. What could be better than helping someone answer the calling that Jesus has wanted for that person since he or she was created?  How cool is that?!

I’m also painfully aware that as we approach our 50th anniversary as a parish, I can think of no one whom the parish has called to the holy priesthood for the Archdiocese. I think we are about due, don’t you?

So how does it work? How do you invite someone to follow Christ into the priesthood?  We can get an idea from call of Peter through Andrew in today’s Gospel. The encounter shows us six easy steps.

Step 1. Look for Jesus yourself. 

Step 2. Follow Jesus yourself.

Step 3. Spend time with Jesus. 

Step 4. Seek out the other.

Step 5. Invite the other to follow Jesus. 

Step 6. Keep praying and trust Jesus to do the rest.

Step 1. We see that Andrew (and presumably John) were already looking for the Messiah, that’s probably why they were disciples of John. 

Step 2. Once John points him out, off they go!

Step 3. They came. They saw and spent the rest of the day in the Lord’s presence. That’s essentially what prayer is. Spending time with the Lord. We spend time with Jesus in private prayer, in small group prayer, and most profoundly in the liturgical prayer of the Sacred Assembly at Holy Mass.

Step 4. Having come to know Jesus, Andrew seeks out his brother, who apparently was also looking for Jesus.

Step 5. Once he finds him, he says, “Simon! You gotta come with me! We found him! This is the guy! Come and see!”  Then he brought him to Jesus.

Step 6. Jesus receives Simon…and Simon’s name, and his life, are forever changed. And, we should note, so is Andrew’s.

Remember. No Andrew, no St. Peter.  So be Andrew! Follow steps 1-3 and when the time is right go up to that young man and say: “You know, I see the qualities in you that would make a good priest. Would you please consider it?  I’m going to be praying for you.”  Then keep praying and let Jesus do the rest.     

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In God We Trust

My Dear Friends in Christ in St. Patrick’s Parish:

I began this week much like the rest of you – thankful for the gifts of faith, the gift of family, of health, among others.

One of those things which I apparently took for granted was the freedom to celebrate these gifts by giving thanks to Almighty God in our parish church in the Christmas liturgies, including today’s celebration of the Baptism of the Lord.

And then on Wednesday, I watched with interest and then with disgust as our Nation’s capital building, the very seat of our republic and a primary, living symbol of that freedom, was overrun by an unruly mob. The lives of five people were lost tragically, and the people of our Nation, indeed, of the world, asked with one voice, “How could this happen?” 

How indeed? 

I offer to you, my dear friends, and to all those of goodwill, that roots of this tragedy and every other tragedy that befalls our nation and all humanity are sown in the soil of a misplaced sense of in what and in whom shall we put our hope. 

As a human institution based on principles of Enlightenment philosophy, no one has ever claimed that the American experiment is immune from error.  Even the second verse of the hymn, America the Beautiful pleads, “God mend thine every flaw.”

And as good as it is, not even the greatest defenders of freedom and democracy have upheld the infallibility of our system of government.  It was Sir Winston Churchill who once famously quipped:

“No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise.  Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

I agree with Sir Winston, but we must remember that democracy is not an end unto itself.  Rather, even as flawed as it is, it remains the best instrument at hand to uphold and defend the principles and freedoms upon which this nation was founded. These principles are articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the writings of the Founding Fathers.  They are given concrete expression in the Constitution of Unite States. 

The freedoms expressed therein have been given different articulations throughout the last 245 years.  One of the most poignant was given by Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his famous “Four Freedoms” speech.  It was given on January 6, 1941, almost 80 years ago to the day, at the president’s annual address to Congress.  At that time, Europe and Asia were firmly in the grip of Second World War. The totalitarian powers of Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, Mussolini’s Italy, and the Soviet Union continued to grow unabated.  The United States had remained essentially neutral in the conflict, but was growing ever more wary as the tides of war ebbed ever closer to its shores. In the shadow of this ominous threat, the President addressed the nation, saying:

       In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

 The first is freedom of speech and expression–everywhere in the world.

        The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way–everywhere in the world.

        The third is freedom from want–which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants-everywhere in the world.

        The fourth is freedom from fear–which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor–anywhere in the world.

Freedom of speech and expression; freedom of religion; freedom from want; freedom from fear – these are some of the essential freedoms upheld in the past century.  They have formed the cornerstone upon which much of our social discourse has been taken place for the past four generations. 

Yet even these are dependent on even more fundamental principles, not discerned by human reason alone, but revealed by Almighty God and passed on through the centuries by men and women of faith.

It was just such a man of faith who held the office of President at the conclusion that that exhaustive conflict just mentioned, who when faced with the mighty task of rebuilding a broken world, reminded the Nation once again that our strength and our hope must come from a deeper source.  In a radio address as Part of the Program ‘Religion in American Life’, 30 October 1949, President Harry Truman said:

“The United States has been a deeply religious Nation from its earliest beginnings. The need which the founders of our country felt–the need to be free to worship God, each man in his own way–was one of the strongest impulses that brought men from Europe to the New World. As the pioneers carved a civilization from the forest, they set a pattern which has lasted to our time. First, they built homes and then, knowing the need for religion in their daily lives, they built churches. When the United States was established, its coins bore witness to the American faith in a benevolent deity. The motto then was “In God We Trust.” That is still our motto and we, as a people, still place our firm trust in God.

“Building on this foundation of faith, the United States has grown from a small country in the wilderness to a position of great strength and great responsibility among the family of nations. Other countries look today to the United States for leadership in the ways of peace, and it is our task to meet that challenge.

“I am convinced that we are strong enough to meet the challenge. We are strong enough because we have a profound religious faith. The basic source of our strength as a nation is spiritual. We believe in the dignity of man. We believe that he is created in the image of God, who is the Father of us all.

“It is this faith that makes us determined that every citizen in our own land shall have an equal right and an equal opportunity to grow in wisdom and in stature, and to play his part in the affairs of our Nation.

“It is this faith that makes us respect the right of men everywhere to worship as they please and to live their own lives free from the fear of tyranny and strife.

“It is this faith that inspires us to work for a world in which life will be more worthwhile–a world of tolerance, unselfishness, and brotherhood–a world that lives according to the precepts of the Sermon on the Mount.

“I believe that every problem in the world today could be solved if men would only live by the principles of the ancient prophets and the Sermon on the Mount.

“Each one of us can do his part by a renewed devotion to his religion. If there is any danger to the religious life of our Nation, it lies in our taking our religious heritage too much for granted. Religion is not a static thing. It exists not in buildings, but in the minds and hearts of our people.

“Religion is like freedom. We cannot take it for granted. Man–to be free–must work at it. And man–to be truly religious–must work at that, too. Unless men live by their faith, and practice that faith in their daily lives, religion cannot be a living force in the world today.

“That is why each of us has a duty to participate-actively-in the religious life of his community and to support generously his own religious institutions.

“Just as an active faith sustained and guided the pioneers in conquering the wilderness, so today an active faith will sustain and guide us as we work for a just peace, freedom for all, and a world where human life is truly held sacred.

“Religious faith and religious work must be our reliance as we strive to fulfill our destiny in the world.”

In truth, any democratic society, even own great
Republic, cannot thrive or even survive apart from religious faith.

The dignity of the human person, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness all find their origins in

a reliance on Almighty God and the principles of sound religion. 

The farther we stray as individual citizens and as a nation from our religious faith and practice, the more perilous becomes the survival of our Great Republic, as the democratic principles on which it is founded and the freedoms which it defends are inexorably eroded.  

Our ultimate hope cannot, must not reside in any particular political figure or party.  

Nor ultimately can we place our trust even in the exceptional institutions of remarkable human governance.

The testimony of our own history is clear.  There is only one maxim by which our nation has endured the tribulations of our past and through which we will endure the trials of the future.

“In God we trust.” 

May it ever be so. 

May God bless America.    

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What is a ‘Magi’ Anyway? Thoughts on Epiphany.

Howdy, Church fans! Merry Christmas, Day 10! As always, you can catch the video of any our Sunday Masses at the St. Pat’s Facebook page. Click here to be whisked away!

I put out an outdoor Nativity Scene this year that for the neighborhood. Its kind of nice.

I’m reminded of a good friend of mine, a priest from England. He is one of those guys who have that deep basso voice and that incredible Oxford accent. With a combination like that, he can say the most inane things but they come across with a disproportionate amount of credibility. Truly, we may speak it, but it is their language.

Anyhoo, said friend loves to travel throughout America. He found himself in the deep
South, where they also have lovely accents. As he passed through a particular small town about this time of year, he noticed an nativity scene just outside the church in the town square. He noticed that all of the wise men were wearing custom-made classic red hats of a type worn by firefighters. Perplexed, he asked a woman coming out of the church what it was all about.

“Have you not read your Bible, young man?” she asked him in return.

“Well, yes, Madam,” he replied, “In fact, I am quite familiar with it, particularly the new testament. But I am sixes and sevens over the meaning of the firemen’s helmets.”

“Well, sonny, ” she replied, “Did you not read that the wise men came from a fahr?”

       Traditionally, the Epiphany is celebrated on the 12th day of Christmas, January 6th, but in this part of the world we celebrate it on the second Sunday after Christmas. The readings we have are from Matthew’s gospel which tell the story of the Magi from the East coming to pay the child Jesus homage as “the newborn King of the Jews.” 

       Who were these guys anyway? Magi were interesting characters. Just as in the present day, there was a fascination with the exotic, mystic arts of the East in Persia and India. These magi would have been court advisors or mystics who looked to the heavens for portents and omens. Incidentally, they did not become kings until 1863 when John H. Hopkins wrote his famous carol by that name. (I am unsure when the lyrics involving the exploding cigar originated.) But they would have been astute enough to notice at that time that Jupiter, the royal planet, moved into Aries, the constellation that represented Israel. The obvious conclusion was that a new king had been born to the Jews. At least that is one theory.

       What is important for Matthew is that they are important, exotic, and foreign. We know this for one reason because Astrology was forbidden in the Law of the Moses.  rust is in God alone.

       That the magi, who represent the wisdom of the nations, would come to pay homage to Christ shows for Matthew that even they recognize the universal impact that he will have. Even from his earliest days, Matthew says, Christ’s mission was not just for the house of Israel, but for all the nations.

       At that time, the nations came to Christ in the guise of the Magi.

       From that time until today, through the missionary efforts of the Church, Christ has been made known to all the nations. 

       This revealing of Christ, this manifestation, this Epiphany, is not a static phenomenon, but something that continues into the present day. We each have a role in making him known to that part of the world in which we live.

       When they look at us? Do they see Christ?

       When they listen to us, do they hear the good news?  When they watch us, will they learn what it means to         be redeemed by Christ?

       We have a message and a wisdom far beyond what the Magi possessed as they traveled. When they saw the Christ child, they left rejoicing.

       I pray that we may have the same impact on those who encounter us in our St. Patrick’s Parish family.

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When God Created the Blessed Virgin Mary

(With apologies to the memory of Erma Bombeck.)

[Greetings, Church fans! Here is the text of the homily. As always, you may see it on our Facebook Page at your leisure. Blessings – Fr. Leo]

I did something for the first time the other day.  I went to Fred Meyer and got a senior discount. I am officially middle aged. I kind of like it. Life is a little cheaper than it was a year or so ago. 

One of the wistful things about getting older is that so much of what you grew up with is virtually unknown to the generations that come after you. That’s okay, I guess, but there are some things worth sharing.  One of those things is wit and wisdom of one Erma Bombeck.  

Erma Louise Bombeck was an American humorist who achieved great popularity in the second half of the 20th century for her newspaper column that depicted suburban home life.

Beginning in 1965 until her death in 1996, she published 4,000 newspaper articles. By the 1970’s, her twice weekly columns were read by thirty million readers in 900 newspapers of USA and Canada. Her 15 books were all bestsellers. 

One of her finest pieces was entitled: “When God Created Mothers.” It originally ran on May 11, 1974, and appeared again in her book, Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession.  I’d like to share it with you now.

————

         When the Good Lord was creating mothers, He was into His sixth day of “overtime” when the angel appeared and said. “You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one.”

         And God said, “Have you read the specs on this order?” She has to be completely washable, but not plastic. Have 180 moveable parts…all replaceable. Run on black coffee and leftovers. Have a lap that disappears when she stands up. A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair. And six pairs of hands.”

         The angel shook her head slowly and said, “Six pairs of hands…. no way.”

         “It’s not the hands that are causing me problems,” God remarked, “it’s the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have.”

         “That’s on the standard model?” asked the angel. God nodded,   “One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, ‘What are you kids doing in there?’ when she already knows. Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn’t but what she has to know, and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say, ‘I understand and I love you’ without so much as uttering a word.”

         “God,” said the angel touching his sleeve gently, “Get some rest,  tomorrow….”

         “I can’t,” said God, “I’m so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick…can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger…and can get a nine year old to stand under a shower.”

         The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly. “It’s too soft,” she sighed.

         “But tough!” said God excitedly. “You can imagine what this mother can do or endure.”

         “Can it think?”

         “Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise,” said the Creator.

         Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek.

“There’s a leak,” she pronounced. “I told You that You were trying to put too much into this model.”

         “It’s not a leak,” said the Lord, “It’s a tear.”

         “What’s it for?”

         “It’s for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride.”

         “You are a genius, ” said the angel.

         Somberly, God said, “I didn’t put it there.”
——————

In case you were wondering, yes, Erma Bombeck was Catholic, She joined the Church when before marrying her husband Bill in 1949 at the age of 22.

So, I read Erma Bombeck’s insights about mothers and motherhood.  And then I look at today’s gospel.  And I wonder…was there a similar conversation in heaven before God created the Blessed Virgin Mary.  I can imagine the Archangel Gabriel walking by God’s workshop.

       “Hey, Gabe!” the Lord said, “Can you come in here for a second? I want to show you something.”  

       “Sure, Lord,” Gabriel says, “What can I do for…oh…oh my! That is something special.” 

       “What do you think?” God asked.

       “She’s beautiful. Like nothing I’ve ever seen. Is this the Mother of God project you’ve been working on?”

       “Absolutely,” God replied. “She has all the features of the standard model, but I made one big modification. Can you spot it?

       The Angel Gabriel looked intently at the model of the Mother of God. “It’s not obvious on the surface, you must have done something inside…Hello, what’s this?  What have you done to her heart?  It’s different somehow.”

       “You’ve a sharp eye, Gabe,” God replied. “That, my fair herald of the heavenly hosts, is the Immaculate Heart!”

       “Wow!” the angel replied.  

       God gushed on, “First, I applied a protective coating so that it is preserved from the stain of Original Sin and all other malware.”

       “Impressive.  That means she will have no barrier to perceive your will.” 

       “That’s just the beginning,” God said, “Remember, not only is she going to be the Mother of Christ, but also the Mother of the Church.”  Her Immaculate Conception allows me to give her a limitless capacity to love.  She can stream directly from Cloud in real time.”

       “Unlimited capacity for love,” the angel mused. “that does make her worthy for the Incarnation program. But have you allowed enough tolerance for free will? You can’t over-program these things, you know. It puts them into an endless causal loop.”

       “That’s the difficult part,” God said. “For the Incarnation program to work, her choice has to completely free. Love has no value if it is not free.  Her acceptance has to be a free act of love.  

       “That’s risky,” Gabriel replied. “What if she refuses.”

       “That’s a chance I’m willing to take,” God replied.

       “I don’ know,” Gabriel said. “You’ll overload it. Look! It’s already torn.”

       “It’s there on purpose,” God replied. “If she is going to love like I love, I can’t preserve her from the suffering that I’m going to go through.  This is a heart united to mine in every way. It can’t be avoided.”

       “Will she have any idea of this when you ask her?”

       “Perhaps,” God replied.

       “I don’t like it,” the angel said. “It’s too risky. She’ll need an infinite amount of help from the support desk.”

       “Yes,” said God, “I suppose she will.  That’s why I’m sending you.” 

————–

You know, I wrote this little mediation, and I began to ask myself, “What is the difference between the Immaculate Heart, which was preserved from the stain of Original Sin, and the heart of every Christian, where the stain of Original Sin, indeed all sin, is wiped away in the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ?

       Do our hearts have any less capacity to love?

              To create?

                      To forgive?

Leo the Great was right when he said, “Christian, remember your dignity.”

What a beautiful thing / that Almighty God in his loving plan, found a way to give us each a heart like hers.

God had a plan for the Blessed Virgin –

       With all her heart, Mary said, “Yes” to God.”

       Thus, the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us- and the world has never been the same.

Christian, God also has a plan for you.

Imagine what will happen when you say ‘Yes’ to God.

There is no limit to your capacity to love

to create,

to forgive.

       Christian, do not be afraid.  For you have found favor with God.

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We Need a Little Joy!

It’s fun to have a dog named Joy. She thinks every other Christmas carol is for her. She also thinks that the Third Sunday in Advent is dedicated just for her!                                                 

       That’s partly true, I guess, but it is even more so for the rest of us. In every penitential season, the Church lets us take a little break about two-thirds of the way through.  Like all things liturgical, there is a practical and a spiritual reason. This makes sense because as human beings, we are body and soul. 

The practical/corporeal reason is that psychologically and physically, we need to take a break every once in awhile. As the saying goes, “All work and no play” makes us pretty dreary people to be around. Quite frankly, I think the world has enough dreariness in it at the moment. Spiritually and liturgically, the Church is reminding us that as we continue to “make ready the way of the Lord,” and the end of the world, we should not do so in spirit of dread and doom, but of great rejoicing. For the believer, the second coming of Christ brings with it the fulfillment of all of our hopes and deepest desires. The resurrection of the dead and final judgment will bring with it the coming of “a new heaven and a new earth.” (Rev. 21:1) It will mean an end to all suffering and pain and eternal communion with the Trinity and all the Saints. So as St. Peter says, “There is great cause for rejoicing here.” (1 Pet 1:6)  The key is to be ready.

Did I mention that we will be having the opportunity for confessions three extra times this coming week. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:00 PM, we will start with Evening Prayer and then there will be at least two or three confessors on hand…most of whom have absolutely no idea who you are! 

Advent is a time for preparation and for rejoicing in as we prepare for the coming of the Lord in glory, even as we prepare to celebrate his first coming in humility.  Maranathá! Come, Lord Jesus!  Do not delay.

 – Fr. Leo

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Tu Solus Dominus

  It was fun to live in Rome for the better part of nine years off and on. The historic center of the city has been described by some as a “city of surprises.”  This was certainly true in my experience.  It’s a fun city to get lost in. After winding your way through twisting, narrow streets, hardly wider than an alleyway, suddenly you emerge into the open where something beautiful is waiting for you. 

       There are lots of little surprises as well. Once I was taking a shortcut through a back alley that I had taken many times before. Since the cobblestones were uneven there, I always tended to look down where I was going, but this morning I happened to look up and notice and inscription above one of the doors. Carved into the marble in three inch Roman script it simply said, “TU SOLUS DOMINUS.” In English it can be rendered “You alone are the Lord,” as it is in the Gloria that is sung at the beginning of Mass.

But as you Latin scholars out there know, it can also be rendered in a more personal way to read: “You alone, Lord.” or “Lord, only you.”

The fun thing is that ANY of these interpretations work as we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King this weekend. We can see this feast in its cosmic sense, where Jesus is indeed Lord of all Creation. He is the one who has dominion over all creation.  His is a sovereignty above all others. All nations, kingdoms, principalities, churches, parishes, corporations, co-ops, pinochle clubs, etc. will answer to him. There is nothing in the created order that will not be accountable to Christ, the King of the Universe.

In the more personal sense, the Christians acknowledge that Christ has dominion over every aspect our lives as well. There is no part of our life that is separated from God’s presence and God’s love as shown to us in Christ Jesus. If I acknowledge Jesus as Savior and Lord, that changes everything. Primarily, it will determine how I will organize my life; how I spend my time and resources and with whom.

As we celebrate the sovereignty of Christ over creation and over our lives, it’s a good time to reflect on whether or not he really is the center of our lives.  Here is a simple test to see if that is the case. Look at your calendar and your wallet. Do you organize your time and the time of the household around prayer and worship of Christ? Is it the priority to which everything else must defer? If so, great.  If not, then perhaps you need to make adjustments. Similarly, on what are you spending your money and other resources? Is Christ and his Church your first priority to which all other financial decisions defer?  If so, great! If not, then perhaps you need to make adjustments. 

It’s not rocket science. Christ is either Lord of the Universe and Lord of our lives or he is not. If we live our lives with him at the center, then everything else will be rightly ordered and no part of our lives will be separated from God.

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To be entrusted with much…

[A reminder, this is the text of the homily. To see the video go to our parish Facebook page: https://facebook.com/stpatsak/. Enjoy!

As most of you know, I was in business before I went into seminary.  In fact, on the seminary application, it asked, “If you don’t become a priest, what do you see yourself doing in five years?”

I wrote: “Working on the third million.”

But as we see in the gospel today, trade and investing were very much a part of life in Jesus’ day as well.  So much so that he could tell the parable of the talents.     

  • Of course, you know the most successful investor in the Bible was Noah.  He floated stock while everything around him went into liquidation.
  • The mother of Moses was also a pretty savvy investor, she went the Bank of the Nile and was able to float a little prophet.

So, what is a “talent” anyway?  In the Roman empire, when referring to money it was measure of weight in gold or silver.  Typically, it was about 72 pounds.  So in gold, at today’s market rate of $1889.20 an ounce , a talent would equal about $2,176, 358.40.  A pretty tidy sum.

So, one servant gets 5 talents, one gets 2 and the last gets 1. You do the math.  They each were entrusted with a huge amount.  And the master goes away, for a long time.

I was always curious for about how long. Well, it was certainly long enough for two of them to double their money. So how long would that be?

Actually, it’s not that hard to figure out. In finance, there is a thing called the rule of 72 which states that the amount of time required to double your money can be estimated by dividing 72 by your rate of return. 1 For example: If you invest money at a 10% return, you will double your money every 7.2 years. … If you invest at a 7% return, you will double your money every 10.2 years.

Even assuming a healthy rate of return of 10%. The master was gone for at least seven years.  That’s a long time.

So we there are two things that help us put the parable into context:

       1. They were each entrusted with a LOT of money.

       2.  They had at least 7 years to figure out what to do with it.

       That’s a lot of money, and a lot of time.

So what can we learn from the parable.

1.  God trusts us and he is not stingy.  If we think of the talents as representing our families or our parish, think about how much God trusts us!

       Those of you who are parents, think about how much God trusts you when he gives you your children? To be entrusted 18 years with another little human life of infinite worth to help him or her grow into a loving, giving adult is truly amazing. Look at how much God trusts you.

       And those of us in the St. Patrick’s Parish family, think about how much God has entrusted by giving us this part of the vineyard to tend.  All of the souls in 99504.  Look at how much God trusts us.

       God is not stingy.  Neither should we be.

Lesson #2 – Eventually, we will all be held accountable for what has been entrusted to us. 

       Remember, there is a very deliberate reason this parable is being offered to us as the Church asks us to contemplate the end of the age. 

        God has entrusted us with much.

              We will each be called to render an account of what we have done with it.

       To return to the Lord with increase, that with which we have end entrusted.

       In short, to leave this world, or at least our little part of it, just a little better than what we found it.

       Do a personal inventory. Is your family, your parish, your community, your world, better for having you had you in it?

       If we are faithful in small matters, like the first two servants in the parable, we will come to share the Master’s joy.

Lesson # 3:  Fear is the enemy.

       The last servant doesn’t fair very well.

       What was the problem?  Fear.

The opposite of love is not hate,

       The opposite of love is fear.

Why? Because fear paralyzes us and keeps us from doing the right thing.

       It can be fear of failure, fear of being embarrassed, even, ironically, fear of success.

       The point here is that this life is not just about asset preservation.

       It has everything to do with being about the Master’s business.

       As Hunter S. Thompson once said, “Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, “Wow what a ride!”

Three  lessons we can learn from the parable of the Talents.

       1.  God trusts us and he is not stingy.

       2.  It may take quite a while, but eventually, we will each be held accountable to God for what has been entrusted to us. 

       3.  Fear is the enemy, because it paralyzes us and keeps us from doing the right thing.

No, we cannot do everything, but we can and should do something with all that has been entrusted to us in this life. We may not be called to change the whole world, but we should have a profound effect upon that part of the world with which we come into contact. So that we leave this world a little better than what we found it.

Much of this is summed up in Bishop Ken Untner’s prayer on the occasion of the death of Oscar Romero.  Bishop Untner wrote:

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.