Mary and Martha

Sisters and brothers in Christ, the familiar story of Mary and Martha, in today's Gospel, shows us what it entails to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Mary represents "being". Psalm 46:10 tells us: "Be still and know that I am God!" and, indeed, Mary "sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak." Martha represents "doing". When God approached his disciples, he called out to them and said, "follow me", and, indeed, they followed him.

Through our baptism, Jesus claims us as his and we become adopted sons and daughters of the Father through Christ. Our identity rests in "being" a child of God. However, through our baptism, Jesus also gives us a mission, the same mission that he gave his disciples - "go. . . and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."

"Being" and "doing", two arms of discipleship; however, as Jesus tells us: "Mary has chosen the better part." Mary, who is "being" in the presence of God, chose the better part because who we are and what we are called to do in life flows from one source - our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May we be like Mary and Martha because this world of ours needs to know that we are God's beloved and our purpose in life is to discern and do God's will.

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Gospel of the Day

Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord said to her in reply, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her."

Love for life did not deter them from death

Sisters and brothers in Christ, today's Gospel reminded me these verses from the Book of Revelation, which is prayed in Evening Prayer:

For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, Who night and day accused them before God. They defeated him by the blood of the Lamb And by the word of their testimony; Love for life did not deter them from death. So rejoice, you heavens, And you that dwell therein!

Even though the "Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death", even the threat of death did not deter our Lord from carrying out the mission that his Father in heaven gave him. Rather, Jesus continued to preach the kingdom of heaven and cure all those who followed him. We this is "heroic witness" through the history of the Catholic Church in her saints, many of whom were martyred for their faith and belief in God.

We are called to be "heroic witnesses" of God's love to those we encounter in our daily lives, by our words but, most of all, by what we do for our neighbors. How can we overcome our fear (whatever it may be) to help our fellow man in need? More importantly, how can we overcome whatever it is that is holding us back from following Jesus completely and loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind?

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Gospel of the Day

The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he cured them all, but he warned them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet: Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope.

Keep holy the sabbath.

Sisters and brothers in Christ, do we keep holy the sabbath? Do we go to Mass and give our Lord and our God praise and thanksgiving for the precious gift of our life - with its imperfections and all? Or do we allow the idols in our lives to distract us and lead us away from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

It would seem that way as more and more people have stopped going to Mass or their places of worship on Sundays. Shunning the Lord and telling him "No" when he asks: "could you not be with me for an hour?" In doing so, they have forgotten who they are - beloved sons and daughters of the Father - and their true purpose in life - to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and mind.

Therefore, over the next three years of the Eucharistic Revival in the U.S., it is up to us - the "remnant" - to share this message from the Lord with our sisters and brothers, who have strayed from their Father in heaven, that they may come back to Him:

"Thus says the LORD: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you. . ."

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Gospel of the Day

Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” He said to the them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”

Burdened? Jesus will give you rest.

Sisters and brothers in Christ, what weighs on our hearts. What burdens us? Is it feeling of unworthiness? Is it unforgiveness? What keeps us up at nights, tossing and turning? Despair?

Earlier this evening, I prayed over a young mother and she wept. As I prayed for her, I felt the weight of her world that she carries on her shoulders and it wears on her. I ask our Blessed Mother Mary to intercede for this young mother and wrap her in her mantle of love and keep her close to her Immaculate Heart. I prayed that this young mother always has the courage and strength to turn to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in her time of need and firmly believe. . . Jesus, I trust in you.

We turn to God in faith because He is our hope. He loves us. Jesus reminds us of this in today's Gospel, saying: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."

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Gospel of the Day

Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Deacon Phúc's Homily for the Ascension of the Lord (Year C - 5/29/2022)

One of my favorite movies is “Forrest Gump” and this scene from the movie came to mind as I reflected on today’s Gospel passage on the Ascension of the Lord. After Jenny, who was the love of his life, left him, Forrest decided to go for a “little run” and, you know what, he ended up running for “3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours”. Along the way, he gave people hope and inspired others, who were down on their luck, with brilliant business ideas. He even had a small band of people accompany him on his run across the country many times over. Then, one day, in the middle of the desert, Forrest stopped, turned to the group of people who had followed him, and said to them: “I'm pretty tired... I think I'll go home now.” And as he walked through the crowd, one of them exclaimed aloud: “Now what are we supposed to do?”

Interestingly enough, I believe something similar happened in today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles. While the apostles were “looking intently at the sky” as Jesus ascended into heaven, we hear the angels of the Lord ask them: “why are you standing there looking at the sky?” Well, I think we can all imagine the apostles wondering to themselves: “Now what are we supposed to do?” After all, they had spent three years with Jesus, journeying with him, learning from him, and being inspired by him, and now he has gone home to his Father in heaven. I am sure we have all had one of those “now what are we supposed to do?” moments at various points in our own lives.

For me personally, I had my “now what are we supposed to do?” moment this past Wednesday evening. It happened after I had found out about the school shooting at Robb Elementary School, in Uvalde, Texas, that extinguished the lives of 19 innocent children and 2 adults. I was kneeling right over there before Mass, praying for the repose of their souls, for consolation for the families and the community, and for God’s mercy on the perpetrator, whose soul was consumed by darkness. Most of all, in the aftermath of yet another devastating tragedy in our country, I was praying for answers from our Father in heaven. I know with all my heart that God loves each and every one of His children here on earth so dearly which was why I had a hard time understanding why? After Mass that evening, I shared with my Exodus90 brothers how much I was struggling with what had happened and how I demanded answers from God to my questions: “Why would you permit this atrocity to happen? What good can possibly come from such evil? We live in a time when many people choose not to believe that You even exist, why give them yet another reason not to believe in You, Lord?”

I truly believe God responded to my prayer later that night during Evening Prayer because this antiphon struck me - “Do not let your hearts be troubled; have faith in me” - followed by this reading from Psalm 62. As I read it to you, I would invite you all to allow these words from Psalm 62 to penetrate your heart:

“In God alone be at rest, my soul; for my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock, my stronghold, my fortress; I stand firm. In God is my safety and glory, the rock of my strength. Take refuge in God, all you people. Trust him at all times. Pour out your hearts before him for God is our refuge. . . For God has said only one thing; only two do I know: that to God alone belongs power and to you, Lord, love; and that you repay each man according to his deeds.”

I am not going to lie, except for the "you repay each man according to his deeds", it was not the answer that I wanted. I was like: “Really, God? This is your answer? Are you kidding me?” However, as I continued to pray with Psalm 62, these words from Scripture pierced me and consoled my heart - “Jesus wept” (John 11:35, Luke 19:41, Hebrews 5:7-9). In that moment, I had a brief glimpse into the heart of the Father that was broken as much as I was hurting. I also realized that while it was not the answer that I was searching for, it was the answer that I needed at that moment. God knew exactly what I needed because in the face of evil and darkness in this world, God reminded me of something that I had forgotten as I tried desperately to make sense of what had happened. God reminded me of the goodness and love that flows forth from Him who is goodness, love, and mercy. Moreover, God reminded me that the darkness that is so pervasive in this world cannot and will never overcome the light of Christ that burns within us unless we permit that flame to be snuffed out.

My sisters and brothers in Christ, this is the message that we can take to heart as we reflect on what the Ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into heaven means to us. That in the midst of a world fallen into darkness, when we feel so helpless, so desperate, so vulnerable, and so angry even, we must remind ourselves and others that only we - and not any external forces or influences - can allow the light of Christ to go dim in our hearts. That in those moments when we are wondering to ourselves - “Now what are we supposed to do?” - we must remind ourselves and others that, through sacramental grace, Jesus prepares and strengthens us to weather the tempests in our lives by remaining steadfast in our faith and trust in our Father in heaven. Indeed, our Lord prepares us now, as he prepared the apostles then, to withstand the trials and tribulations of this world with unceasing faith in Him, unfailing hope in his promises, and trust in his unconditional love for us. And although he has ascended into Heaven, Christ has not abandoned us, rather he is interceding for us as the eternal High Priest, seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. And, just as he had promised the apostles, saying “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you”, God sends his Spirit to dwell with us. Above all, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gives of himself to us in the Eucharist - his Body and Blood. We only need to recall the Sunday Gospel readings this Easter season to know this to be true.

Think about it. On the Sunday of Divine Mercy, Jesus appeared to the disciples in the upper and said to them: “Peace be with you. . . do not be unbelieving, but believe,” granting us his peace and helping us to believe in his glorious Resurrection. On the Third Sunday of Easter, our Lord appeared to the disciples on the shores of the Sea of Tiberias and, after having heard Peter’s confession and profession of love for him, Christ called on Peter (as he calls on us now) to “Follow me.” Then, on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Jesus made us this promise and we all know in our hearts that our Lord keeps his promises, so our hope is in his promise: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” Jesus followed that with the Great Commandment, on the Fifth Sunday of Easter, saying: “My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” Finally, as we heard last week, on the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Christ promises to send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to be with us and, as he did in the upper room after his Resurrection, Jesus grants us his peace, promising us: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” I have no doubt in my mind that Christ blessed me with supernatural peace that consoled and comforted me and kept me from losing faith when I easily could have lost myself to despair. 

After Jesus had blessed the apostles with his peace, they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.” However, the joy is not over what happened but a joy in the belief and knowledge that Jesus is with us to help us move forward with hope, peace, and, above all, love. A joy that gives us a renewed sense of purpose to do what we can to effect change in our society. My sisters and brothers in Christ, that was what Jesus called his apostles to do and, in fact, that was what they did as we all know. Our Lord calls on us to do the same, to be his “witnesses. . . to the ends of the earth.” Here at St. Albert the Great, we only need to look to the Prayer Blanket Ministry for inspiration because, in response to the tragedy in Robb Elementary, they sprung into action and sent thirty-three (33) prayer blankets to Uvalde for those most in need of faith, hope, and love. Therefore, the next time we wonder to ourselves - “Now what are we supposed to do?” - turn to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in prayer and believe that He will send his Spirit to guide our discernment but, most of all, to grant us his peace in our hearts and move us to act in faith and bring hope to others out of love for God and for our fellow sojourners in life.

Deacon Phúc's Homily for the Second (Divine Mercy) Sunday of Easter (Year C - 4/24/2022)

Good morning. Last Sunday’s Mass of the Resurrection of the Lord, we heard proclaimed in the Gospel how Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved ran to the tomb on that first Easter morning. Who remembers which of them ran faster and arrived at the tomb first? Yes! It was John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. And, you know what, John made sure that EVERYBODY knows that he outran the first pope to the tomb - just read the Gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 3-4. Not only that, as we just heard in today’s Gospel, he made sure that EVERYBODY knows about “doubting” Thomas. Now, I find it interesting that none of the other Gospels mentioned Peter losing a foot race to the tomb or about “doubting” Thomas, except in the Gospel of John. I bet the other disciples were probably unimpressed with John and gave him the “McKayla Maroney” look. No wonder John ended up in exile on “the rocky island of Patmos.”

Do you know what else is only found in the Gospel of John and not in another of the other Gospels? Let me read to you from John, chapter 19, verses 34-37: “. . .one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. . .  For this happened so that the scripture passage might be fulfilled: ‘They will look upon him whom they have pierced.’” My sisters and brothers in Christ, what image comes to mind when we hear this passage if not the image of Divine Mercy? I invite you to gaze intently at the image of Divine Mercy while I read to you what our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said to Saint Faustina: “The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross (299). . . I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature: ‘Jesus, I trust in You’ (328)” (Diary of St. Faustina).

“Jesus, I trust in you” -  as I reflected on this inscription in the context of today’s Gospel, particularly reflecting on Thomas, I believe it was not so much that he doubted what his brother disciples told him about Jesus appearing to them. I believe it was more that he was afraid - afraid to hope, afraid to trust in God's love, mercy, and forgiveness. Thomas could not allow himself to believe that Jesus would want to have anything to do with him (or any of his fellow disciples) after he had abandoned Jesus a few days earlier to be arrested, imprisoned, unjustly sentenced to be tortured and crucificied, and then died on the Cross - alone. In a way, Thomas reminds us of the prodigal son who said to his father: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son” (Luke 15:18, 21). Just as the prodigal son was afraid that his father might not forgive him for his wayward life and not accept him back as a son, Thomas did not trust in God's love, mercy, and forgiveness to allow himself to have hope that Christ had not (and would never) abandon him.

My sisters and brothers in Christ, Thomas is us; we are Thomas. Sometimes, we do not trust in God's love, mercy, and forgiveness as we ought and, therefore, we do not allow ourselves to have hope that Christ has not (and will never) abandon us. Personally, the most difficult sacrament for me to receive is the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or Penance, because I have a hard time trusting myself to hope that I am deserving of forgiveness, much less believe that God would forgive me for my waywardness. I do not know about you all, but when I sin and deny Jesus, I feel like how Peter must have felt after he denied Jesus three times: “. . .the Lord turned and looked at Peter; and Peter remembered the word of the Lord. . . He went out and began to weep bitterly” (Luke 22:60-62). I wonder to myself: “How can God forgive me?” In those moments when I have fallen for the umpteenth time and I cannot imagine that our Lord would ever forgive me, John Michael Talbot’s voice pops into my head and I imagine him singing “The Jesus Prayer”: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinful one” (Mark 10:48; Luke 18:13). “The Jesus Prayer” helps me to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation with a humble and contrite heart and, thanks be to God, Jesus does not condemn me. He heals me but he also tells me to sin no more (John 8:11).

I have always wondered what Thomas saw or felt when Jesus invited him to “[put] your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side” that caused him to proclaim - “MY LORD AND MY GOD!” - with such fervor and conviction. This is what the Holy Spirit revealed to me during my time in meditation. Let me share it with you. I invite you to look up at our beautiful Mercy Crucifix and keep gazing at our Lord on the Cross. Look at our Lord’s wounds - the crown of thorns on his head, the nails in his hands and feet, or his pierced side - as I read to you this passage from the Prophet Isaiah: “. . .he was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we [are] HEALED" (53:5-12). Every time we gaze upon our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross, we will find God pouring forth His love, mercy, and forgiveness abundantly on us. Because as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ hung on the Cross, he asked this of his Father in heaven on behalf of fallen man, on our behalf: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” This gives us reason to hope in God’s MERCY. It gives us reason to trust in God’s LOVE. This gives us reason to believe in God’s GOODNESS. Divine mercy filled Thomas’ heart and caused him to proclaim boldly “MY LORD AND MY GOD!” because, in the wounds of Christ, Thomas felt God’s love and received God’s forgiveness.

Now, do you know who else in today’s readings experienced Christ’s love, mercy, and forgiveness? Peter. Wait, what now?! That’s right! The person who Jesus said would be the rock upon which he would build his church (Matthew 16:18) was the same person who denied Jesus three times. And yet, as we heard in today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostle, Peter (and the apostles) were doing “signs and wonders” among the people. Not only that, but people “even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on one or another of them. . . and be cured.” How can this be, you might wonder? I think Fr. Mike Schmitz said it best. As you all may know, I am listening to “The Bible in the Year” podcast with Fr. Mike Schmitz. In a recent episode, Fr. Mike was reflecting on 1 Samuel, Chapter 12, and he had this to say: “We are not disqualified. The Lord continues to be present to us. He calls us forward.”

Peter was not disqualified for denying Jesus. Thomas, and the other apostles for that matter (except Judas because he betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver), were not disqualified for abandoning Jesus. And you know what, my sisters and brothers in Christ? We are not disqualified either. The Lord continues to be present to us. Jesus continues to call us forward, saying: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” That is Divine Mercy, and when we know this or, better yet, when we receive God’s mercy and peace into our hearts, we have faith, hope, and love that free us to answer God’s call to move forward and be his disciples and to do “signs and wonders” for all to see so that they, too, “may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief [they] may have life in his name.” This is what it means to be what Saint John Paul II calls an “Easter people” (with “Hallelujah” as our song), to live the joy of Easter every day of our lives, and to share the Good News of Divine Mercy to a world that is filled with darkness and desperately needs to hear the Good News of Divine Mercy. For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Jesus, I trust in you.

Deacon Phúc's Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year C - 3/27/2022)

Good afternoon. Today, just three days before my third anniversary as a deacon in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I celebrate a different kind of milestone: “coming full cycle.” Who here knows what I mean by “coming full cycle”? Here is a hint: I was ordained THREE years ago. Ready for the answer? I was ordained in Year C. . . Year A. . . Year B. . . and now we are in Year. . . C - “coming full cycle.” Specifically, I preached on these same readings at my Mass of Thanksgiving. Now, I know what you are thinking and the answers are “No” and “Yes”. No, I did not dust off my homily from three years ago and tweaked it for today. Yes, I will be handing out my Ordination prayer cards after Mass but. . . you will have to come and say “Hi” to me if you want a prayer card (perhaps even ask me a question about my 5-year experience in Diaconal Formation). Think about it.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us the parable of the prodigal son, a story that we are all familiar with and, depending on where we are in our own life and in our faith and spiritual journeys, we identify either with the father, the younger son, or the older son. Perhaps, we identify with one of the servants who witnessed the whole drama unfold before them. Or we might even identify with one of the unsung good samaritans who helped the younger son on his journey home because there is no way the younger son could have made it back home from the “distant country” if someone had not helped him along the way. As I reflected on this parable of the prodigal son, I am struck by two verses. The first is verse 18, in which the younger son thought to himself: “. . .I shall get up and go to my father. . .” I call this the “desire of the heart.” The second is verse 20, in which the younger son “got up and went back to his father. . .” I call this the “act of the will.” As we can see with the younger son, true conversion occurs in our lives when we move from the “desire of the heart” to the “act of the will.”

Now, who here, like me, has been following “The Bible in the Year” podcast, from Ascension Press, with Fr. Mike Schmitz? And who here, also like me, is trying to listen to the podcast daily but find yourselves playing catch-up and listening to multiple episodes in one day just to keep pace? I was stuck in the “Desert Wanderings” period of the timeline when Fr. Mike was already two days into the “Conquest & Judges” time period. More specifically, I was stuck on the Day 78 episode, titled “The Song of Moses”. The good news is, I finally finished listening to the “Day 78 - The Song of Moses” episode this past Wednesday and, get this, it was exactly what I needed to hear. Gosh, I tell you what, God’s plan is so much better than any of my plans will ever be and His timing is absolutely perfect! But we all know that already, am I right?

What struck me about Day 78 is Fr. Mike’s reflection on Psalm 118:18. Reflecting on verse 18 - “The LORD chastised me harshly, but did not hand me over to death.” - Fr. Mike said that God promises us this (and I am paraphrasing here): “I’ll let you have what you’ve chosen (something other than me). . . but I am not going to abandon you. . . [however] that something other than me will let you down. It will actually cause you pain, but I will allow you to experience that pain so that you can KNOW how good I am, so that you can know that you do not want this brokenness and that what you want is me.” When I heard this, it felt like a lance had pierced my heart. Let us reflect on this for a moment here - “I will allow you to experience that pain so that you can KNOW how good I am.” God desires us to be His. He does not want us to walk away from Him because He knows that we would eventually fall to the Evil One through temptations and sins. And yet, God allows all these things (including allowing us to choose something other than Him) because He loves us so much. He desires us to love Him but only of our own freewill - just as Christ, of his own freewill, chose to be obedient to his Father, even to death on the Cross for you and me, for our salvation, so that we might be reconciled with God.

My sisters and brothers in Christ, is this not what the father allows his younger son to do in today’s Gospel parable of the prodigal son? The father never wanted his younger son to “set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. . . [only to find] himself in dire need. . . [after] he had freely spent everything.” Yet, in his great love and mercy, the father allowed the younger son to do just that. The parable goes on to tell us that when the younger son hits rock bottom, he realizes how good he had it when he was living at home with his father. Just listen to what he thought to himself: “. . . [how] many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger.” In fact, “he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any.” But you know what the worst part of all is? The younger son believes in the lie of the Evil One - that his actions have caused him to lose his identity as a beloved son of the father, saying: “I no longer deserve to be called your son.” You see, my sisters and brothers in Christ, the world that the younger son desired so much to be a part of; the world that he was willing to hurt his father so that he can run off and be a part of it; that same world, in the end, stripped him of everything, including the one thing that is most precious of all: his dignity as a beloved son of his father, and then it casted him aside, far from the love of his father. 

Last Saturday, I attended the Ordination Mass where Bishop Joe Vasquez ordained sixteen (16) men to the Holy Order of the Diaconate for the Diocese of Austin. From the time I vested before Mass to the entrance procession to the Rite of Ordination to the fraternal hug to the recessional, followed by pictures with my fellow Vietnamese deacons after Mass, God reminded me once again that, despite all of my own weaknesses and shortcomings, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ not only calls me to serve him and his Church, he pours forth his grace upon me to strengthen me to be his deacon. Being at the Ordination Mass brought back memories of when I laid prostrate on the floor of St. William Catholic Church, three years ago, and wept during the Litany of Supplication. And, then, I heard God’s voice say: “Let’s get to work, my son.” You see, the world does not get to dictate our story. It cannot and must not. If it did, then I would not have become a Catholic fourteen (14) years ago; I would not have entered Diaconal Formation eight (8) years ago; and I would not have been ordained a deacon three (3) years ago. (A real quick side note : Men, the Diocese is currently accepting applications for the class of 2028 so come see me after Mass and let us chat about discerning God’s call to Diaconal Formation)

My sisters and brothers in Christ, it is God our Creator who is the author of our life’s story and, thanks be to God, like the prodigal son, our story does not have to end with us being cast aside by a world that has fallen into darkness because God is love and his mercy endures forever. This is reason enough for us to rejoice on this Fourth Sunday of Lent - or Laetare Sunday - because Jesus is the Paschal Lamb who died on the Cross for our salvation. Christ is “the light [that] shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). In faith and with conviction, we cry out and say, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” Thanks be to God, we have much to rejoice because, as Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians, our Father in heaven does not count our trespasses against us. Rather, He gives us many “second chances”, during our lifetime, to return to Him so that we may be reconciled to Him in Christ. Now, I want to emphasize “during our lifetime” because we will all stand in Judgment before the heavenly throne of Jesus Christ our Lord after we have passed on from this world to the next. Therefore, we must do our part and cooperate with Jesus - not later, but now.

Like the younger son in the parable, we must have courage to move from the “desire of the heart” to the “act of the will”. In other words, we must go from “. . .I shall get up and go to my father. . .” to “he got up and went back to his father. . .” For us to go from “desire of the heart” to “act of the will” requires belief, faith, and trust in God’s goodness; vulnerability; and our openness to receive His love, mercy, and forgiveness in our hearts. Most of all, we must not believe the lies of the Evil One because, the truth is, when we return to God with a humble and contrite heart, we will find our Father waiting for us. The younger son was filled with trepidation during his journey home, no doubt about it. But this was what awaited him upon his return home: “[while] he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.” Our loving and merciful Father yearns for the day when we would return to Him, to His love. Therefore, let us repent and believe in His love for us. This is the Good News that gives us reason to rejoice.