Lead others to salvation

The priests are at the Annual Convocation with Bishop. I had the opportunity once again to lead Communion Service this morning at Saint Mary Cathedral. Below is my homily for the Thursday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time (Year C - 10/13/2022):

“Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.” With these words, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, chastised the scholars of the law, as he did with the Pharisees, for forgetting who they are while burdening the people they lead with rules imposed on them. Rather than leading others to faith in God, they became a hindrance for others to come to know Jesus because, through their pride and envy, they forgot who they are and their story.

My sisters and brothers in Christ, have we forgotten who we are? Have we forgotten our story? In case we have forgotten, Saint Paul helps us remember that we are “the holy ones. . . faithful in Christ Jesus.” We are blessed by God in Christ with “every spiritual blessing in the heavens.” We are chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish.” God so loved us that He “destined us” to be His adopted sons and daughters through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This is who we are, let us not forget it.

What is our story? We are sinners redeemed by the Blood of Christ, the Crucified One, for the forgiveness of our sins, reconciling us to our Father in heaven. This is the story of our salvation and, while it is hard to imagine us ever forgetting such a hopeful story, we are not unlike the Pharisees and scholars of the law. We forget and have to be reminded over and over again of God’s faithfulness to us in the face of our unfaithfulness to Him. The question then becomes, how should we respond to the successors of the Apostles and the “prophets” of our time? Would we build “memorials” of them while never intending to heed what they say? By the grace of God, may that not be the case but rather that we respond with expectant faith and hope.

Then, let us go forth and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others in our words and actions. And, by the grace of God and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, may we never be a hindrance for others coming to knowledge of God and encounter with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Rather, let us serve the mission of the Church, proclaiming the kingdom of God so as to lead others to salvation.

. . .

Gospel of the Day

The Lord said:

“Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets 

whom your fathers killed.

Consequently, you bear witness and give consent

to the deeds of your ancestors,

for they killed them and you do the building.

Therefore, the wisdom of God said,

‘I will send to them prophets and Apostles;

some of them they will kill and persecute’

in order that this generation might be charged

with the blood of all the prophets

shed since the foundation of the world,

from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah

who died between the altar and the temple building.

Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!

Woe to you, scholars of the law!

You have taken away the key of knowledge.

You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.”

When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees

began to act with hostility toward him

and to interrogate him about many things,

for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.

Let us give the Holy Spirit permission to insult us

The priests are at the Annual Convocation with Bishop. I had the opportunity to lead Communion Service this morning at Saint Mary Cathedral. Below is my homily for the Wednesday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time (Year C - 10/12/2022):

Good morning. In yesterday’s Gospel, Jesus gives us a great image of a cup that is shiny and beautiful on the outside while, on the inside, it was in dire need of being cleansed. Also, as we heard in his homily yesterday morning, Deacon Ron said that we can be like that cup - squeaky clean on the outside but what about our interior, what lies beneath, in the depths of our heart. The image that comes to my mind is of an ornately-carved wooden trunk or  armoire, seemingly beautiful and solid on the outside but cluttered, messy, and dirty when we open it and peer inside.

My sisters and brothers in Christ, while others may not know what is going on in our head or heart, God knows; and when He “explore[s] the mind and test[s] the heart” (Jeremiah 17:10), what would He find? Would He find thoughts in our head and feelings in our hearts that would lead us to “immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry. . . hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness. . .”? Woe! to us if He does find these things in us because, as we all heard Saint Paul warns us, in his letter to the Galatians: “those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

Now that we know what is at stake here - our inheritance: the kingdom of God - what are we to do? Well, the answer is right there, at the foot of the Cross, my sisters and brothers in Christ. In the tabernacle, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ waits for us with love and in him and through his Real Presence in the Eucharist, the “source and summit” of our Christian faith, we have reason to hope. We know that Jesus did not leave us orphans when he ascended to heaven to take his rightful place with the Father because he sent us the Holy Spirit.

You all may recall this verse in today’s Gospel when the scholars said to Jesus; “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” Well, let us give the Holy Spirit permission to insult us because, in doing so, the Spirit convicts our hearts and moves us to conversion. And when we turn to the Spirit with humble and contrite hearts, the Spirit of God “[crucifies our] flesh with its passions and desires.” In other words, the Spirit removes from our hearts those things that prevent us from inheriting the Kingdom of God and fills us with “the fruit of the Spirit. . . love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. . .” so that we may “live in the Spirit” and “follow the Spirit” and, when our earthly pilgrim ends, we may inherit the Kingdom of God.

. . .

Gospel of the Day

The Lord said:

“Woe to you Pharisees!

You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb,

but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God.

These you should have done, without overlooking the others.

Woe to you Pharisees!

You love the seat of honor in synagogues

and greetings in marketplaces.  

Woe to you!

You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”

Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply,

“Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.”

And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law!

You impose on people burdens hard to carry,

but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”

Give alms

Sisters and brothers in Christ, today's (10/11) Gospel Acclamation spoke to me - "The word of God is living and effective, able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart" - because it is a reminder that God probes our minds and truly knows our hearts (Jeremiah 17:10).

This is what Jesus tells us about the heart: ". . .the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy" (Matthew 15: 18-19). Yikes 

However, in today's Gospel, Christ tells us how to purify our hearts. . . "give alms", because we when think of the needs of others, rather than our own, we have love (charity) in our hearts. 

This past Sunday, I shared with the engage couples that the Sacrament of Marriage is one of the sacraments of service. When husband and wife give of each other sacrificially and unconditionally, not accounting the costs, they overcome their own selfish egos for the good the marital covenant.

Love is an act of the will. When husband and wife choose to love each other, they become perfect witnesses of Jesus' love for his Bride - the Church (the Body of Christ which we are all members of). This is "faith working through love" as Saint Paul wrote to the Galatians.

. . .

Gospel of the Day

After Jesus had spoken,

a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home.

He entered and reclined at table to eat.

The Pharisee was amazed to see

that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.

The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees!

Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish,

inside you are filled with plunder and evil.

You fools!

Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?

But as to what is within, give alms,

and behold, everything will be clean for you.”

Your faith has saved you

Sisters and brothers in Christ, these two verses in Today's Gospel struck me. First, the ten lepers cried out to the Lord, say: "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!". And then, we read that "one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him."

As I reflected on these verses, I thought of myself and when I pray. I wonder to myself, do I pray with expectant confidence that God will answer my prayers, according to His will and plan? Or am I like Naaman, in today's first reading, who was skeptical under God healed him of his leprosy and then he believed?

I believe that I pray with expectant faith and hope in God's love and goodness. Most of all, I am mindful of giving God praise and glory for the many blessings and answered prayers in my life but, most all, I thank God for the gift of faith so I do not lose hope because I know that He loves me always.

Therefore, let us be like the Samaritan who asked God to heal him, believed with expectant faith that God would heal him, and then showed God gratitude for His mercy and goodness.

. . .

Gospel of the Day

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,

he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.

As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.

They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying,

"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"

And when he saw them, he said,

"Go show yourselves to the priests."

As they were going they were cleansed.

And one of them, realizing he had been healed,

returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;

and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.

He was a Samaritan.

Jesus said in reply,

"Ten were cleansed, were they not?

Where are the other nine?

Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"

Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;

your faith has saved you."

When you pray, say

Sisters and brothers in Christ, in today's Gospel, Jesus give us the perfect prayer - the "Our Father" or the Lord's Prayer. We pray it at every Mass, when we pray the Holy Rosary, and it is one of the big 3 Prayers that I pray daily. The other two are "Hail Mary" and "Glory Be".

However, since we pray this beautiful prayer that Jesus gave to us quite often in our prayer life, we have to be cautious and not to make it a rote prayer that we mindlessly recite. Rather, we must allow the words of the prayer to permeate our souls, so that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ's words can help us to order our lives according to his will.

We must give God praise and glory above all and honor the Holy Name of Jesus. We must ask that God's will be done in our lives, not our own will but His, because His will puts us on the path to salvation. We must rely on God's grace in our lives and turn to Him daily for guidance. We must learn to forgive others in the same way that God has shown us mercy. Finally, when we hear God's voice, let now not harden our hearts because that will lead us on the path to sin and temptation. Rather, let us ask for God's grace to overcome sin and temptation and deliver us from the bonds of evil.

Let us pray,

Our Father, Who art in heaven, 

Hallowed be Thy Name. 

Thy Kingdom come. 

Thy Will be done, 

on earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread. 

And forgive us our trespasses, 

as we forgive those who trespass against us. 

And lead us not into temptation, 

but deliver us from evil. Amen.

. . .

Gospel of the Day

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,

one of his disciples said to him,

"Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples."

He said to them, "When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name,

your Kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread

and forgive us our sins

for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,

and do not subject us to the final test."

Fellow sojourners

One of the joys and honor of being a deacon is being able to accompany individuals and families through challenging times in their lives. To be present and help them remember that our Lord and Jesus Christ has not abandoned them. He loves them and is right there with them, sharing in their joys but especially he is present in their sorrows. #diakonia

Sometimes, it can be challenging emotionally, mentally, and spiritually but I always recall what Fr. Charlie said, "activate the graces of the Sacraments you have received." For me, I am in the unique position to activate the graces of all 7 #Sacraments.

I pray for more vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and religious. However, Jesus invites ALL of us to be workers in his vineyard. May we all answer God's call to carry out the Church's corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

Please keep this parishioner and family in your prayers for healing and restoration of health, consolation and strength.

Be bothered, with compassion

Sisters and brothers in Christ, in today's Gospel parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus is challenging us to reflect on those times when we "can not be bothered" with someone or by something in our lives and to look at them anew with compassion.

The priest and the Levite saw the robbers' victim and could not be bothered by his situation and passed on the opposite side. However, the Samaritan was "moved with compassion" and not only took the man to an inn, but he cared for him the entire night 

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is moved with compassion for us, because we are sheep with a shepherd, and he died on the Cross for our salvation. If we are to live by the his commandment to love God and love of our neighbor as ourselves, we must be moved with compassion for our fellow sojourners on the pilgrim on earth.

It is tremendously important for parents to "be bothered" with things of their children. If parents take the time to listen to their children's little things, then their children will be more willing to approach their parents with big things in their lives. Let us all be moved with compassion and all ourselves to "be bothered" by others, especially our families and loved one.

. . .

Gospel of the Day

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,

“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law?

How do you read it?”

He said in reply,

“You shall love the Lord, your God,

with all your heart,

with all your being,

with all your strength,

and with all your mind,

and your neighbor as yourself.”

He replied to him, “You have answered correctly;

do this and you will live.”

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, 

“And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus replied, 

“A man fell victim to robbers

as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.

They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.

A priest happened to be going down that road,

but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.

Likewise a Levite came to the place,

and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.

But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him

was moved with compassion at the sight.

He approached the victim,

poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.

Then he lifted him up on his own animal,

took him to an inn, and cared for him.

The next day he took out two silver coins

and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,

‘Take care of him.

If you spend more than what I have given you,

I shall repay you on my way back.’

Which of these three, in your opinion,

was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”

He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.”

Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”