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.

Deacon Phúc's Homily for the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C - 2/27/2022)

Good afternoon/morning. I want to start my homily by taking a look at the words of dismissal at the end of Mass. There are four - the original and three alternative endings, which Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI personally chose after the 2005 Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist. The original is “Go forth, the Mass is ended.” I am going to give you all a few seconds before I tell you the three alternative endings, just to see if you can guess what they are for yourselves. . . Okay. The three alternative endings are: “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord”; “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.”; and “Go in peace.” The reason for these alternative endings is because the bishops “wanted the final words to reflect a more explicit connection between MASS and the CHURCH’S MISSION of EVANGELIZATION in the world.”

Now, here is an easy question. Which dismissal do I use all the time. . .? If you guessed - “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life” - then give yourselves a one-handed clap. My favorite dismissal is indeed “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” The reason this dismissal has a special place in my heart is because I am a servant of the “Suffering Servant born of a Lowly Servant”. Christ is the Suffering Servant and his Mother Mary is the Lowly Servant. The Scripture verse that stuck with me throughout five years of Diaconal Formation was Luke 1:46-48: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his Lowly Servant.” I love our Blessed Mother Mary and her Magnificat is how I strive to live out the gift of my diakonia with joy. You see, I did not choose the diaconate; rather it was God who called me to serve Him and His Church. Through daily prayer and discernment, I strive to do my best to be a good steward of God’s gifts of time, talents, and treasures, to cooperate with His will for my life, and to answer the Church’s UNIVERSAL CALL TO HOLINESS, so that I may glorify the Lord by my life.

Last Sunday, I started the 33-day “Total Consecration to Jesus Christ through Mary” according to St. Louis de Montfort. While this is the second time that I am doing this Consecration, the graces that I have received after just one week have blessed me in so many ways. Some of the readings for the first week of the Consecration really struck me and I want to share them with you in hopes that you are encouraged by the words of Saint Louis de Montfort to stay “firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain,” as we heard Saint Paul urged the Corinthians in today’s second reading. Just listen to what St. Louis de Montfort wrote for Day 2 of the Consecration: “Chosen soul, living image of God and redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. God wants you to be holy like him in this life, and glorious like him in the next. It is certain that growth in HOLINESS is your VOCATION” (St. Louis de Montfort, SM #3). Did you catch two important messages by the saint? First, God wants us to be “holy like him in this life” and, second, our vocation is growth in holiness. It sounds so simple yet so profound and even harder to live if not for the grace of God.

My sisters and brothers in Christ, the reality of our Christian lives is that we are called by God to different vocations in life and, through prayerful discernment, God reveals to us the vocation - or vocations - to which He has called each of us in life. Some of us are called to married and family life as husband and wife, others to single and chaste life, while still others to the priesthood, religious life, the diaconate, and the list goes on and on. Yet, regardless of the vocation that God has called us to in life, as “Christ's faithful, whatever be the conditions, duties and circumstances of [our] lives”, the UNIVERSAL VOCATION for all of us is to grow in HOLINESS (Lumen Gentium, 41). Saint Louis de Montfort tells us to let all our “thoughts, words, and actions, everything [we] suffer or undertake must lead [us] to that end [ - HOLINESS and SALVATION]. Otherwise, [we] are resisting God in not doing the work for which he created [us] and for which even now he is keeping [us] in being” (SM #3). In other words, remember the desire of the bishops to help us make the connection between Mass and the Church’s mission of evangelization in the world, that we may glorify the Lord by our lives.

Now here is the interesting part. Saint Louis de Montfort wrote that the “means of HOLINESS and SALVATION are known to everybody. . . since they are found in the gospel: . . . sincere humility, unceasing prayer, complete self-denial, abandonment to divine Providence, and obedience to the will of God” (St. Louis de Montfort, SM #4). Where have we heard this before, I wonder? That’s right! We heard about these “means of holiness and salvation” in the Gospel readings the past three Sundays - the Beatitudes (two Sundays ago), Jesus’ call to love our enemy and not to judge others (last Sunday), and the conclusion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain (today), in which Christ tells us that we need to cleanse, purify, and sanctify our hearts. When we read today’s Gospel with our mind and reason, Jesus’ teachings are quite straightforward and obvious. Of course, the blind cannot lead blind. No doubt that a student will one day surpass his or her teacher. It is true that a rotten tree can only bear rotten fruit. However, when we reflect on today’s Gospel through eyes of faith and with humble and contrite hearts, we realize that our hearts are the focus of Christ’s Sermon on the Plain.

I recently talked and prayed with a young man who felt God’s call to the priesthood. However, through prayerful discernment and time spent in Adoration of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, Christ revealed to this young man that he needed the Father’s healing power before he could serve others from the fullness and goodness of his heart. My sisters and brothers in Christ, ours are hearts that need to be cleansed through self-examination and forgiveness. Ours are hearts that need to be purified in the furnace of trials and tribulations through suffering and self-denial. Ours are hearts that need to be sanctified through mutual, self-giving, agape love. How else can we heal the blindness of our souls if not through the examination of our consciences daily, forgiving others and especially ourselves so that we can open our hearts to receive God’s blessings and be cleansed? Only then can we truly see each other with eyes unhindered by the “wooden beam” of our own woundedness, hurt, inadequacy, and weakness that oftentimes are hidden in the deepest recesses of our hearts.

The good news for us is, the period of cleansing, purification, and sanctification is upon us in a few days with Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. Praise be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! that the Catholic Church, in her Wisdom, has given us these readings to help us prepare ourselves mentally, emotionally, (for those of us doing Exodus90 and Magnify90 these past 40 days or so) physically, but most of all. . . spiritually, so that “[all] [our] thoughts, words, and actions, everything [we] suffer or undertake must lead [us]” to HOLINESS and SALVATION. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in today’s Gospel, is preparing us to embark on this Lenten journey through the desert where he will guide us in his ways of self-denial (through the discipline of fasting), self-giving (through the practice of almsgiving), and, most important of all, for us to experience a deep and personal encounter and relationship with love, mercy, and forgiveness Himself through prayer.

Finally, I want to address my fellow 8:00 Mass-goers. Ever since I was received into the Catholic Church in 2008, the 8:00 Mass was “our Mass.” I learned to be an usher from my friends and brother Knights, Jim Nichols & Jim Lynch, and made lasting friendships at the 8:00 Mass. It was hard to start serving at different Masses during Diaconal Formation but God helped me realize that He was calling me to serve ALL His faithful, not just the parishioners at the 8:00 Mass. I am reminded of a quote from Mr. Rogers, who said: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” Change is hard because, most of the time, it is beyond our control; however, what we can do is be “the helpers”, for ourselves and for others even if it is at a different Mass time now.

After all the Masses this weekend, you and your families will have the opportunity to explore the various liturgical ministries at our parish, to learn more about the important roles of these ministries in the celebration of the sacred liturgy, and how you can help our parish make the experience of Mass a beautiful one for all so that we may glorify our Lord Jesus Christ who comes to us in the Eucharistic species of bread and wine. With that said, at this time, I would like to invite Tracy Smith (5:00)/Karen Ochoa (8:00) to come up to the ambo. She will share with you her experience as a liturgical minister and the abundant blessings and graces she receives from serving God and His faithful people, and doing her part to help build God’s kingdom here on earth. She will tell you how you can “glorify the Lord by your life” as liturgical ministers serving at Mass.

Deacon Phúc's Homily for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C - 1/30/2022)

Good morning. We just heard this proclaimed from the Gospel of Luke: “And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, ‘Isn’t this the son of Joseph?’” Now, growing up, my parents were asked this question - “Isn’t he the son of Vinh & Mai?” - quite often and, depending on the situation, my mom would either reply with a “Yes, he is my son!” or a “Yes, he is my son. . .” followed by “What has he done now?” I am sure you all have experienced this, am I right? Last Saturday, at the Catholic Schools gala, the keynote speaker shared that when she was in Catholic School, there was a nun whose stare could send her “straight to hell”. [I am pretty sure my mom - and, perhaps all moms for that matter - are masters of said “stare”.]

My sisters and brothers in Christ, we go through life and our identity is so tied to our family of origin, especially our parents, that we work hard to break free of these connections. We want to go into the world and be our own person, to put our own mark in society and in history. We want to live our life like the Frank Sinatra song - I did it “My Way”. Now, there is nothing wrong with doing things our way. My parents, as I am sure all parents do with their children, raised me to be my own person. However, this “do it my way”, “pick myself up by my bootstrap”, “I am the master of my own destiny” mentality often leaves very little room for God in our lives, especially in our interior and spiritual life and in the practice of our Catholic faith. The truth of the matter is, we are too busy trying to establish who we are in this world and overcoming whose we were (our family of origin) that we forget who we are and Whose we are. I repeat: “We are too busy trying to establish who we are in this world and overcoming whose we were (our family of origin) that we forget who we are and Whose we are.” 

So the question is, who are we and Whose are we? The answer is, we are beloved sons and daughters of our Father in heaven. My wife and I lead the CALLED TO BE ONE Marriage Class ministry, as well as the Marriage Spiritual Guidance team, and young couples love to choose today’s second reading, from the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, as one of the readings for their wedding ceremony. I can see why because it is about love that they desire in marriage. However, what we fail to realize is, we love because God loves us first. When we replace “love” and “it” with “God” and “He”, we can see and come to know how much God loves us. Just listen: “[God] is patient, [God] is kind. [He] is not jealous, [He] is not pompous, [He] is not inflated, [He] is not rude, [He] does not seek [His] own interests, [He] is not quick-tempered, [He] does not brood over injury, [God] does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. [God] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. [God] never fails.” God is love.

My sisters and brothers in Christ, we are God’s beloved sons and daughters. That is who we are and Whose we are, and Jesus loves us so much. Perhaps this fact is so simple that we forget who we are and Whose we are or, worse yet, we take God’s love for granted. Hard to believe, right? Well, we only need to look at the empty pews around us to see and know the reality of this sad truth. I am not talking about Catholics who cannot join us at Mass because of health reasons during this time of global pandemic, but Catholics who choose (of their own God-given freewill) not to live out the precepts of their Catholic faith - first and foremost of which is: “Attendance at Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation”. And make no mistake about it, sisters and brothers in Christ, all Sundays are Holy Days of Obligation. Jesus wept for Jerusalem then; he weeps for us now. So many Catholics forsake eternal life for secular, temporal life and, worse of all, they are okay with that. Well, it is not okay for us, fellow pilgrims on this journey in life, to stand idly by as Satan picks off our loved ones and friends - one soul at a time - from the embrace of our Father in heaven and drops them into an abyss that is devoid of the Father’s love.

The reason why Catholic churches have crucifixes instead of crosses without the Body of Christ is to remind us of the great price that was ransomed for our salvation. The beloved Son of God, the Pierced One, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ spilled his Precious Blood for us because God loves us. Psalms 8:5-6: “What is man that you are mindful of him, and a son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than a god, crowned him with glory and honor,” and also these verses from today’s first reading: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you. . . I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.” Yet, only 32% of Catholics believe in the Real Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, meaning that the other 68% of Catholics do not know how much Jesus loves them. Yesterday, I officiated my 9th wedding as a deacon and this is what I shared with the newly-weds because I wanted them to know in their hearts how much Jesus loves them. I told them: “In a world where we sometimes have to hide a part of who we are to feel accepted, to fit in with the prevailing culture of society, God sees us for who we truly are and He hears the true voice that cries out from our hearts and He loves us and He blesses us because we are perfectly and beautifully made by our Creator.” We have Catholics who need to know that God loves them.

My sisters and brothers in Christ, the Catholic Church of our Lord Jesus Christ needs us to stop standing on the sidelines and go out into the world and carry out the mission that He has entrusted since the day of our Baptism: “Go, therefore, 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. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). Remember at the end of the movie “Saving Private Ryan”, when Captain Miller (played by Tom Hanks) pulls Private Ryan (played by Matt Damon) close to him and, with his dying breath, tells Private Ryan: “Earn this.” Jesus is not telling us “Earn this” because He died on the Cross in obedience to the Father for our salvation but my sisters and brothers in Christ. . . really: “Earn this” - out of our love for Jesus who loves us so much. How? It can be as simple as reaching out to an inactive Catholic in your family or circle of friends and letting them know how much Jesus loves them and how much the Church misses them. Then, invite them to attend Mass with you. If you do this, then you would have done your part to save their souls from the hands of Satan. The Holy Spirit will do the rest.

As I mentioned earlier, last Saturday, my wife and I attended the annual Catholic Schools gala and listened to an excellent presentation by the keynote speaker, Katie Prejean McGrady. I was struck by two things in her presentation. I share the first for the benefit of all parents and catechists who have the responsibility of forming our children in the Catholic faith: Proverbs 22:6. I would invite you to go home, look up Proverbs 22:6 in the Bible, and read and reflect on it as a family. The second thing she said that struck me, I will share to close my homily. I want to leave you with this image so, if you are comfortable, then I invite you to close your eyes. I find that the images in my imagination are more vivid and more focused when I close my eyes.

Imagine that you are standing just inside the gates of heaven and next to you is your guardian angel. The both of you are watching as others enter through the pearly gates and every now and then, your guardian angel points out this person to you, then another, and then another. After a while, you ask your guardian angel who are all the people that he is pointing out to you. Your guardian angel gives you a big smile and says to you, "Those are the people you helped get to Heaven because, through your faith in God and faithfulness to His Church, you led these people to an encounter with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and they came to know the love of their Father in heaven with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their mind." Then, from behind the two of you, you hear the Father say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Deacon Phúc's Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Year C - 12/26/2021)

Good morning and Merry Christmas to you all! Yes, it is still Christmas! For us Catholics, the Christmas season has only just begun with today being the Second Day in the Octave of Christmas. For some of us, we celebrate the Christmas season until The Epiphany of the Lord, while others (like myself), we continue to celebrate the Christmas season until the Baptism of the Lord. What does this mean and not mean? This means that we have a legitimate reason not to put away the Christmas tree, lights, and decorations quite yet. However, this does not mean that we get more Christmas presents!

Speaking of presents, Saint Paul gives parents one of the best gifts in today’s second reading. This is what he wrote in his letter to the Colossians: “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.” Parents, put your hands up like this and repeat after me: “Thank you, Saint Paul!” Kids, Saint Paul is right. Listen to Saint Paul and obey your parents for it is pleasing to God. Even Jesus, who is the Son of God and the Son of Man, obeyed his parents, Mary and Joseph. Let us listen to what the Bible tells us: “[Jesus] went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.”. Therefore, be like Jesus and obey your parents as he obeyed his parents.

Of course, there is more to what Saint Paul is telling us and we look to the first reading to help us understand its deeper meaning. The Wisdom of Ben Sira tells us about the relationship between parents and their children and the blessings that flow from family life that is lived to honor our Father in heaven. I would invite us to take a moment and reflect on these words as I read them again for us. “God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons. Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from them. When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother. . . Whoever reveres his father will live a long life; he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother.” Now, turn your attention to our beautiful creche (or Nativity) to my right and, as you gaze upon the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, ponder these two questions in your hearts. Children, do you honor your parents as God commands you? Parents, do you exercise your authority over your children with the heart of the Father, the tenderness of Mother Mary, and the faith of Saint Joseph?

Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and, for me, one of the most enduring images of the Holy Family is Saint Joseph holding Baby Jesus close to his chaste heart while Mary sleeps peacefully behind them. This image came to my mind on Christmas Eve as I watched my sister-in-law stood by her children - who are my goddaughter and nephew - while they prayed the Hail Mary, the Our Father, the Saint Andrew Christmas Novena Prayer and then read the Nativity story from their Precious Moments Advent Calendar. My nephew was so excited as he removed Baby Jesus from the box in the Advent calendar and, with great love and care, placed Baby Jesus between Mary and Joseph. As I watched him, I could imagine the same excitement in Mary and Joseph’s hearts when Jesus was born. It was such a special moment, such a tender moment, a moment that moved me to tears, and one that will forever remain in my heart. My goddaughter and nephew understood the true meaning of Christmas because their parents (as the leaders of their domestic church and the first formators of their children’s faith) taught them the reason for the season.

As a deacon, I am grateful to God for the many blessed opportunities to journey with families in the various stages of family life. I work with parents and godparents who are seeking the Sacrament of Baptism for their children. I prepare young couples to receive the Sacrament of Marriage and work with married couples experiencing difficulties in their marriages. I grieve with families who have lost loved ones and celebrate with families who are joined together when their children enter into the covenant of marriage with God. I accompany families with loved ones who have health problems, praying with them and praying for them. Recently, the day before Christmas Eve last week, my wife and I visited with a brave little girl who was in a fatal car accident, in which her father did not survive. Even as she faces a difficult recovery ahead of her, this little girl felt she needed to grow up fast and be strong so that she can take care of her mother. What these families shared is the peace of Christ, a peace that controlled their hearts. In sharing these moments of great joy and deep sorrow with these families, I am reminded of the joys and sorrows that the Holy Family experienced and how, through it all, Mary and Joseph each gave God their fiat - their “Yes” because the peace of God controlled their hearts.

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph also teaches us about our human condition and how it sometimes forms the way we respond to unexpected and challenging circumstances in our lives. Recall from the Gospel that this is what Mary asked Jesus upon finding him in the temple: “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” My sisters and brothers in Christ, do we not sometimes ask God, “why have you done this to me?” The truth of the matter is, nothing tests our faith or causes us to question God’s will and plan for us more than unexpected and challenging circumstances that arise in our lives. A dear friend of mine shared with me about how her children have fallen away from the Church and their Catholic faith after they lost their father to cancer. They felt that God abandoned their father and ignored their family’s prayers in their hour of need. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Even though they encountered many challenges, the Holy Family always trusted in God's goodness and faithfulness. In the example of Mary and Joseph, we are called not only to trust God’s will for us as they did and, in faith, follow the plan that He has for us as they did but, most of all, we believe that God is with us always - in times of joy but, especially, in times of sorrow.

Finally, in the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph - the first domestic church - we have the model of the family and family life as God intended. Saint Paul described so beautifully the virtues that all families should strive for in his letter to the Colossians. God desires families to be filled with “heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. . . [filled] with gratitude in [our] hearts to God. . . giving thanks to God the Father through [our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ].” We see all these virtues on display, in today’s Gospel, in the interaction between Mary and Joseph when they realized that twelve-year-old Jesus was missing from their caravan. Could you imagine the conversations that Mary and Joseph might have had during their day-long journey back to Jerusalem to look for Jesus - a difficult journey filled with anxiety and fear? However, I am sure they were not blaming each other for losing Jesus, saying, “I thought he was with you the entire time?” Nor would one of them make the other one feel even more guilty by saying, “Well, you should have kept a better watch of him,” Rather, I believe that Mary and Joseph would have treated each other with “heartfelt compassion, kindness. . . gentleness, and patience. . .” and, more importantly, “bearing [the burden of losing Jesus] with one another and forgiving one another.” And then, when they found Jesus safe and sound in the temple, they would have been “[filled] with gratitude in [their] hearts to God. . . giving thanks to God the Father.”

My sisters and brothers in Christ, in a few moments here, we will do the consecration prayer to the Holy Family. As we do, may we always know in our hearts that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is truly Emmanuel - “God with us.” - and his mother and father - Mary and Joseph - are our spiritual mother and father.