Advent Reflection, Fourth Sunday, 2016

Bishop Robert Barron recently wrote that if we take an honest look at the Biblical texts dealing with Christmas, we will find that they have precious little to do with sentimentality. Bishop Barron writes of the visiting Magi from the East looking for the newborn king. Their search was not met with excitement or enthusiasm. Matthew tells us: “When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”  King Herod saw this newborn baby as a threat to his position.  Herod asked the Magi to return to him with news of this newborn king, When the Magi returned home by a different route King Herod became furious. To protect his kingship, Herod ordered that every boy in Bethlehem the age of two and under be killed. Herod does not sound like someone excited about the Christmas season.

Why would a newborn be such a threat to King Herod?  The Gospel reading for this Fourth Sunday reminds us of the mission Jesus is given. The Angel of the Lord tells Joseph during a dream about the child Mary is carrying; "She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” This newborn king could be the messiah who liberates the Israelites from the Romans and thus from King Herod's rule.

We have to remember that the Incarnation was just the first part of God’s plan.  The Advent season allows us the time to look beyond the birth of Jesus and make the connection to his death and resurrection. It is through the death and resurrection of Jesus that we are redeemed.

The Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Advent helps us do this.  In the Collect we pray that God’s grace be put in our heart so that through his Passion (the suffering of Jesus Christ up to his death) we will move to the glory of his resurrection. The Collect reminds us the Incarnation is just the beginning of God’s plan for our redemption.

The birth of Jesus is a challenge to each of us. It is a call to conversion and a call for self examination.  Just as Herod did, some of us may not want to let go of those things that distance us from God. That distance can keep us from the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Use these final days of Advent as a time for reflecting on the life of Jesus.  Have we let go of everything that is keeping us from the saving power of his resurrection?

This Christmas celebrate the infant Jesus in the manger. Join the angels in giving glory to God. Give glory to his birth and give glory to his resurrection.

Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord,
your grace into our hearts,
that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son
was made known by the message of an Angel,
may by his Passion and Cross
be brought to the glory of his Resurrection.

Advent Reflection, Third Sunday, 2016

Today is Gaudete Sunday. We have passed the midpoint of Advent. The normal purple vestments of Advent are not worn. The vestments worn at the Mass today will be a rose color. This is a visual encouragement for us to continue our spiritual preparation for the coming birth of Jesus. This encouragement and joy is shown by the lighting of the pink candle on an Advent wreath and the Entrance Antiphon of today’s Mass.  The antiphon points us to the joy of the coming of our Lord when we sing “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed the Lord is near.”

Why do we rejoice? First, we rejoice because the Word became flesh. We see God in the baby Jesus. We take comfort in the fact that God has not abandoned us. We were created out of love and that love for us has lead to the birth of Christ. Jesus has come so we may know the Father through the Son and by this we may know the way for eternal salvation.

In every baby we see the possibility of great things that can be. We see a child growing and the richness that their life can have. We too are like babies in the eyes of God. We have such great possibilities but we are easily turned away from the richness God has prepared for us.  Jesus is our hope for salvation. He points us to the right path for salvation. We can read of Jesus as an adult.  He fulfilled all that our own human nature can be.  It is by his birth that our hope takes root.

So today we do rejoice! The Lord is near both in the celebration of his birth and through his salvation. His birth leads to his Passion and Death but we know it is not the end of the story. The story of Jesus continues with his Resurrection; our hope for a new life. Our story starts with our birth, continues through death and into what we hope is our eternal salvation, the salvation that Jesus won for us by his Passion, Death and Resurrection.

Today Collect (the opening prayer of the Mass) reminds us of this.  We celebrate the Lord's Nativity for we know of the joy of salvation that it offers.

O God, who see how your people
faithfully await the feast of the Lord’s Nativity,
enable us, we pray,
to attain the joys of so great a salvation
and to celebrate them always
with solemn worship and glad rejoicing.

The Heart of St. John Berchmans

On December 8 the Heart of St. John Berchmans will be at the Cathedral of St. John Berchmans for eleven days. This is a wonderful opportunity for parishioners to venerate a relic of the patron saint of our Cathedral as well for others to participate in this most reverent Catholic tradition.

Veneration has been part of our Catholic faith since almost the beginning of the Church. A letter written by members of the Church in Smyrna in the year 156 AD is about venerating the bones of St. Polycarp after he was burned at a stake. With the legalization of the Church by Rome in 312, the tombs of many saints were opened and the actual relics were venerated by the people.

Relics can include the physical remains of a saint (or of a person who is considered holy but not yet officially canonized) as well as other objects which have been by being touched to his body. Relics are divided into different classes. First class relics are the physical body parts, clothing or instruments connected with a Saint. There is also a third class of relics which are those things which the faithful have touched to the physical body parts (reliquary) or the grave of the saint.

St. Jerome reminds us to keep relics in perspective. In his Letter to Riparius, St. Jerome (d. 420) wrote in defense of relics: "We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the Creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore Him whose martyrs they are."

This means that when we venerate a relic we are paying honor to the saints who, by their intercession and example help us to grow in our Christian virtue. Venerating the saints does not detract from God’s glory since whatever goodness a saint possesses, we know is a gift from God.

St. John Berchmans died at the age of 22 on August 13, 1621. What I find fascinating about St. John Berchmans is that he was a young man still in the seminary when he died. He lived his life in such a way that everyone around him felt a deep holiness in him. They believed St. John Berchmans would one day be a saint. This was one reason his heart was removed at his death. People were already considering this as a relic for future veneration of a saint. His body is buried in Rome and his heart is in a reliquary in Belgium, where he was born. For more information on St. John Berchmans and the Heart visit the website: http://sjbdevotion.org/

Advent Reflection, Second Sunday, 2016

Have you been told that Christmas has become too commercialized? Have you been told to keep Christ in Christmas? You probably have.  Sadly this too has become part of our Christmas tradition just like using an Advent wreath, watching the Charlie Brown Christmas Special or mailing out Christmas cards. You may have been told Christmas is too commercialized or Christ has been lost in Christmas as an attempt by someone to help you get through this time of the year or out of their own feelings of frustration. My thought is that if you do feel this way; it is your own fault! The main focus of businesses, including the television industry, is to make money. They will only sell what people buy and watch.

We make the choices of how we prepare for Christmas. The Advent season is one of the many things I believe the Church got absolutely correct. Advent reminds us we are on a journey. The end of this journey should find us prepared to properly celebrate the birth of Christ. The buying of Christmas presents, the listening to Christmas music and the watching of Christmas specials are not inherently bad. It is how we let these commercialized things affect us that can lead us to the possibility of a bankrupted spirituality at Christmas.

The first week of Advent is over. Take a few minutes to reflect on this first week. Consider what you have done in preparing for Christmas. You may have brought some presents, attended a party or watched a few Christmas shows. Are you humming Christmas songs throughout the day?  You may have also been frustrated by traffic around the stores you shop or the lack of service you received at a busy eatery.  If you keep all these things in the proper perspective none of them should affect your preparations for the coming of Jesus.  The Collect for the Second Sunday of Advent reminds us to let “no earthly undertaking hinder those who set out in haste to meet your Son.” 

We should all know that traffic jams, busy stores, Christmas music and our own frustrations are just part of this time of the year. They will not go away.  So we must do as the Prayer after Communion tells us; we must “judge wisely things on earth”. We are to remain focused on those things that are important as an aid to our spiritual growth and let go of those things that are too distracting. We must seek the “heavenly wisdom” for making the right decisions during Advent.

Enjoy this time of the year but never forget that Christmas does not start until the birth of Jesus. Now it is Advent, the time to prepare. If you feel the distractions of the world are beginning to overwhelm you, sit with God in prayer for a few minutes. Recall the opening prayer of today’s Mass. It reminds us of the real reason for Christmas; the Word became flesh so that we may gain the heavenly kingdom.

Almighty and merciful God,
may no earthly undertaking hinder those
who set out in haste to meet your Son,
but may our learning of heavenly wisdom
gain us admittance to his company.

Advent Reflection, First Sunday, 2016

When you write a column for the Cathedral bulletin, it has to be submitted in advance for printing purposes. The good thing about posting that same column to a blog is the post is almost instantaneous. This gives you an opportunity to make any last minute changes to the post. After my adventures of yesterday, I have decided to amend my reflection for the first week of Advent before posting it to my blog.

Yesterday, I was with a group of Cathedral parishioners on a pilgrimage to Grand Coteau. After the early morning clouds burned off, the day ended up being a beautiful day of sunshine and cool air. Upon our arrival at Grand Coteau, we were able to see where St. John Berchmans appeared to a dying Mary Wilson. Mary was miraculously cured of her disease and this became the miracle used for the canonization of John Berchmans. Msgr. LaCaze celebrated the Mass for us at the Shrine.  We felt both the reverence of the shrine and the joy that comes from being with each other. All those on the pilgrimage agreed this would be a wonderful event to recall when the Heart of St. John Berchmans was at the Cathedral. (Click on Picture to right for more information)

We say and hear that Advent is a time of preparation. We are to focus on both the coming birth of Christ and his second coming. Grand sounding words but do we take them seriously?  Looking back on our pilgrimage, I will admit to a little pride in my calmness and clarity during an off-road adventure our bus took.  Visiting the shrine and the off-road adventure on the return trip caused me to wonder if I do take my Advent preparation seriously enough. Was I ready to be gathered at God's right hand as we hear in the Collect (Opening prayer of the Mass)?

The Collect from the first Sunday of Advent also tells us “to run forth to meet your Christ”.  We need to be running to the Lord. God is here just waiting for us to acknowledge his love for us. Once we wake up to God's love for us then we should have a deep desire for it. That desire will cause us to figuratively run to the Lord.

How do we figuratively “run forth” to our God? This is done by returning God's love and is shown by the righteous deeds we do for others. We give others the honor due as one created by God. We treat them with the respect that is deserved as sons and daughters of God's love. Our goal then should be to live each day of our life in such a way that if we knew today was to be our last day on this earth, we would not want to change anything about our day.  If we are truly running forth to the meet our Christ then we are running to the heavenly Kingdom.

Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God,
the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ
with righteous deeds at his coming,
so that, gathered at his right hand,
they may be worthy to possess the heavenly Kingdom.

Praying the Rosary

My Rugged Rosary

The rosary is a prayer that gives us the opportunity to reflect on Jesus and our own lives.  Last Friday I was reciting the Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosary when I came to the third Sorrowful Mystery; Crowning with the Thorns. I reflected on the Roman guard pushing that crown of thorns onto the head of Jesus and the pain it caused when suddenly I saw myself as the guard. I was the one pushing down the crown of thorns. It was a painful thought but I did not want to leave it as I knew it had meaning to me.  As I continued to pray the ten Hail Marys, I realized it was my sins that pushed down that crown of thorns.  These sins occur when I do not return the love God has shown to me.

I moved on to the next mystery; Carrying the Cross.  I continued to reflect on the pain caused by my sins but now I also thought of Jesus voluntarily taking up the cross.  I thought of the cross Jesus carried.  I began to see the cross not being made of wood but being made out of the sins of the world.

Finally I came to the last sorrowful mystery; The Crucifixion.  In my reflecting on the crucifixion, I saw Jesus the loving Son, sacrificing his life for my sins.  I realized it was my sins that made necessary the crucifixion.

The praying of the rosary opened up my eyes to a new way to look at the death of Jesus on the cross.  My sins do cause pain.  God knows my sins even if I do not recognize them.  My sins make the thorns cut deeper into Jesus.  My sins make the cross a little heavier.  My sins make the death of Jesus a little more painful.  I realized my sins have to do this!

The sacrifice of Jesus is for all mankind and for all of time. The pain of his sacrifice must include the sins that I commit today.  Understanding the sacrifice of Jesus in this way opened up a deep sense of love in me.  I felt God's love for me through the sacrifice his Son made for all.  The sins of mankind; past, present and future have been forgiven by this one sacrifice.

Can I come close to imagining a love this strong?  God allowed his Son to endure the suffering and pain caused by my sins of today so I could be forgiven by a sacrifice of love made two thousand years ago.

Our Hope in God

Sometimes the things we enjoy doing the most are pushed back for what we consider more important matters. This blog is one of those things. I enjoy writing for it but there always seems to be something to do with a higher priority.  I will try to do better in posting to this blog.

I have just returned from our annual diocese Diaconate retreat. This year it was at the Subiaco Abbey in Arkansas. It is a very beautiful place. If you have never visited the Abbey, it is definitely worth the drive.  Our very own Bishop Duca was the retreat master and I think this was one of the better retreats I have attended since being ordained a Deacon.

The Bishop had a different topic for each of our sessions but they all related to one common theme. That theme was that each and everyone of us has been called to a vocation.  The deacons at our retreat have been called to the Sacrament of Holy Orders, more specifically to the order of the Diaconate.

The Diaconate which we have been called to is a twenty four hour vocation. We cannot step away from it at any time of the day. As ordained clergy we represent both the Church and most importantly the hope we have in God.  We show our hope in God by the way we treat others. We must show and give that hope to everyone we meet regardless of the time of day or our own personal thoughts, attitude or feelings.

This same hope in God is something everyone can show. It is not just the domain of the clergy. Remember as a Christian, you represent the risen Lord to others. Your actions are a reflection of your hope in an eternal life with God that the risen Lord has given us. Think of the old cliché; actions speak louder than words.  Let us make sure that our actions express our hope in God to others.

There is a prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours that sums up my thoughts on this very good:

Father, creator of unfailing light, give that same light to those who call to you. May our lips praise you; our lives proclaim your goodness; our work give you honor, and our voices celebrate you for ever.

My thoughts on Praying, 1 of 2

We pray to God with the faith that he will hear our prayer. Part of our faith is that God will not only hear our prayer but will also answer our prayer. There are verses in the Bible that attest to God answering our prayers. We read in Matthew’s Gospel (21:22) that if a prayer is said in faith, then we will receive whatever is asked for. It is through our faith that there is the hope that God will answer our prayer.

I say hope because when we pray, our prayer usually includes the answer we desire. When sick, we ask for healing. When there is a problem, we ask God for a certain outcome. Our hope is that God will not only answer our prayer but in the way we feel it should be answered. We may not be able to see God’s answer to our prayer due to our own expectations. The outcome is not we are praying for. This may cause us to feel as if God has not answered our prayer.

God is love; he created us out of love and therefore can only act out of love. In the Gospel of Luke (11:11) we read of the father who would not give his son a snake when he asks for a fish. God our father can only answer our prayers in a loving way. God is active in our lives but we may not be aware of it at that moment. Sometimes we can only see the love of God when we look back in time, after we have stripped away all of our own expectations.

There will be times thought that we will never fully understand or recognize how God has answered our prayers. Know that it is given and is given out of love. It is up to us to accept God’s love in the form he desires, to grow with it spiritually and to respond accordingly.

Proclaiming Our Faith (Synopsis Of July 24, 2016 Homily)

The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray.  His response was to teach them the prayer we all know and say; The Our Father. Each of us are also called to be teachers.  We are to be more than just passive believers, we are to be active proclaimers of our faith.  This calling comes from the grace we receive at our baptism.

Through our Baptism we have become a people of God and as such we are united to Christ in a death like his.  Through baptism we pass from the death of Sin and are raised into a new life, enriched by the baptismal grace received from God.  By this grace from God we are appointed to the same apostolate or mission of the Catholic Church which is to proclaim and establish the Kingdom of God.

Our baptism, our rising to new life, calls us to a vocation.  Lumen Gentium states that the vocation of the laity is “to make the church present and fruitful in those places and circumstances where it is only through them that it can become the salt of the earth.”

Have you considered how to carry out your baptismal vocation?  There are many ways to make the Church present and fruitful to others.  You can testify to your faith by truthfully living out your faith. You can be fruitful to others by your daily actions towards them.  Just as Jesus taught his disciple to pray, you can catechize or teach your faith to others.

Ask God to help you discern if you are living out your baptismal vocation.  The Gospel of Luke reminds us that “For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds.”  Be persistent in your prayers.  Seek out your vocation for proclaiming God’s Kingdom to others.

To paraphrase one of the blessings used in the Rite of Baptism: May you be the best of teachers, bearing witness to faith by what you say and do.

We are reborn to Everlasting Life

Last weekend I had the opportunity to baptism my niece’s second child. This was indeed special because I had baptized their first child almost two years earlier.
(Go here for previous post on Baptism)

Part of my short homily during the baptism recalled the Gospel reading from that Sunday's Mass. The reading was about Jesus visiting the city of Nain. As Jesus drew near to the gates of the City, a funeral procession came out carrying the only son of a widowed mother. Jesus tells the mother not to weep and orders the man to rise. The man sits up and begins to speak. Though not mentioned in the Gospel, this man is given the opportunity to begin his life again. 

Baptism is our way to begin life again. It gives us the opportunity to die to old ways and to rise with Jesus to a new life. When we are baptized all our sins are forgiven, washed away by the waters of Baptism. We receive the saving grace that flows out of the sacrament of baptism. The grace Jesus won for us by his obedience to his Father's will.

 
Both baptism and the Sunday Gospel reading shows us how God offers us a new opportunity. Baptism is our chance for a new beginning but now as a child of God. In the Catholic sacrament of Baptism a child or adult is given a white garment to wear. They receive the garment after the pouring of the water under the Trinitarian formula. This white unblemished garment is a symbol of how we have been washed clean and are now pure and without sin.

The Sacrament of Baptism concludes with a blessing which includes the words: By God’s gift, through water and the Holy Spirit, we are reborn to everlasting life. Through Baptism we have been reborn. We are to keep that symbolic white garment unstained by sin. It is our symbol of hope for an everlasting life in heaven. Teach your children to do the same.

The Most Holy Trinity (Synopsis of May 22, 2016 Homily)

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states the mystery of the Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself and as a mystery that is hidden in God, it can never be known unless it is revealed by God.

The belief in the Trinity came about after the Resurrection of Jesus. The followers of Christ, who believed in one almighty God, began to struggle in their monotheistic faith. Their experience of God was different than others. It was more than more than just the relationship of God the Father as described in the Old Testament, it was also the relationship with Jesus, the person that walked the earth, who rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Then there was the third experience the people had of God.  His presence was still among the people even after the ascension of Jesus.  The people felt his presence guiding them by an advocate, the “the Spirit of truth”, which is called the Holy Spirit.

The three experiences of God created a dilemma, how to explain these three experiences of God. The answer was revealed to them by God. This revelation has come to be known as the Trinity.  One God as three Divine Persons.  This revelation is known as a Divine revelation and is beyond our mental capabilities. It is a mystery but not in the sense of something to be solved or worked out.  It is a mystery that is a truth but cannot be fully understood. It is known to be a truth though because it has been given to us by God through divine revelation.

Without divine revelation, we could not have imagined the existence of the Trinity.  We will not completely understand the Blessed Trinity.  God has revealed and shared with us something profound and beyond our knowledge. He is inviting us to share in this Trinitarian love. He is inviting us to love him and one another as He loves his Son.

Octave of Easter (Originally Posted on my Facebook page)

The celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord last eight days in the Catholic Church and is called the Octave of Easter.  Each day of the Octave is ranked as a Solemnity in the liturgical calendar of the Church and is of the highest ranking of the feasts days.  The idea of an Octave has its roots in the Old Testament. There are many Jewish feasts that lasted for eight days with the feast of the Passover being one example.  The Octave of Easter will end on the Second Sunday of Easter which is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday.  Each day during the Octave, we proclaim in the Gospel Acclamation:

This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it. 

Allow these eight days to be an opportunity to reflect on the salvation God is offering us.  Let the death and resurrection Jesus be our example of the unfailing love God has for us. May we show our gladness by our actions and prayers. Happy Easter.