Wheat and Weeds - Plants can't Change, but People Can

Location: Holy Trinity Catholic Church (Luxemburg, IA) – 4 p.m. Saturday

                St. Joseph Catholic Church (Rickardsville, IA) – 6 p.m. Saturday

                Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church (Sherrill, IA) – 8 a.m. Sunday

                Holy Cross Catholic Church (Holy Cross, IA) – 10 a.m. Sunday

Date: Sunday July 20^th, 2014 (16^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A)

READINGS:

1^st Reading: Wisdom 12:13, 16-19

Resp. Psalm: Ps. 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16

2^nd Reading: Romans 8:26-27

Gospel: Matthew 12:24-43 (OR Matthew 13:24-30 {short form})

FOCUS: Human nature is not “static” – people can change, and we can help them.

FUNCTION: Share your faith with your friends; invite others to come with you to Church.

            Some things just are what they are.  A cup, for instance, will always be a cup – it might get used to hold pens and pencils, or to drink out of, or to put grease in after cooking, or to water flowers and plants, but no matter how it’s used, it will always be a cup.  You can’t change a cup’s nature, no matter what you do with it, even if you break it – then it’s a broken cup.  But it will always be a cup. 

          By way of contrast, the more I’ve reflected on human nature, the more I’m convinced that we are not so “static” – we can be other than what we’ve been; there are lots of stories in the history of Christianity of sinners who became saints, of hardened criminals who become upstanding citizens, of good people who became bad, and of bad people who became good. 

          St. Paul, before he became St. Paul, was a Pharisee who persecuted the Church, but became a devoted follower of Christ and the apostle to the gentiles after meeting the risen Lord on his way to Damascus.  St. Peter, before he became St. Peter, was probably a rough-and-tumble fisherman, who maybe swore a lot, was perhaps not particularly religious, but who heard the call of Christ, was converted in mind and heart, and eventually became the first Pope.  St. Augustine, before he became the Saint we know him as now, was a womanizer who struggled with chastity, but who came to know the Lord through the reading of the scriptures and became one of the Church’s greatest teachers. 

          Stories like these abound in the history of Christianity.  They’re stories of conversion – stories of people who became something other than what they were.  These stories point out the possibility that people can become something other than what they’ve been; a person’s nature can change – they can go from being bad to becoming good, or from being good to becoming bad.  Unlike cups, our nature is not “static” – it’s “dynamic.”  We can change – we can be more than what we think or imagine.  Everyone can be more than what they think or imagine.

          I think that’s an important principle to keep in mind when we think about the Gospel reading this weekend.  In Jesus’ interpretation, the wheat are the children of the kingdom, while the weeds are the children of the evil one.  And in some sense, it’s true, but these are not and cannot be “static” identifications; and this is where the analogy breaks down – while literal wheat and literal weeds cannot change their natures, such that wheat becomes weeds and weeds become wheat, human beings and human nature can change.  Children of the kingdom could potentially become children of the evil one, and children of the evil one could potentially become children of the kingdom.  Human life is dynamic.  The people we call evil have the potential to accomplish great good; and the people we call good have the potential to commit great evil.

          If we are children of the kingdom – children of God – we have a duty to share the good news of the kingdom with the so-called “weeds” among us – those who do not know the love of God, who do not have a relationship with God, who are seemingly outside the communion of the Church.  In one of Pope Francis’ recent “tweets” on Twitter, he said, “The Church, by her nature, is missionary.  She exists so that every man and woman may encounter Jesus.”  That’s a good reminder that our essential vocation as Christians is to share the good news of Jesus Christ with whoever has ears to listen. 

          By our word, by our example, it’s possible that “weeds” could become “wheat” – by our word, by our example, it’s possible that people who do not yet know God might come to know, love, and serve Him; it’s possible that we could become the conduits by which other people come to know the love of God.  And what an awesome and exciting responsibility that is!

          This is why the Church exists – to proclaim the presence of God’s kingdom in our midst, to proclaim that God is love, to proclaim that salvation is possible in and through the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world.  And truthfully, sometimes we are downright failing at our mission. 

          We don’t challenge young couples – in love, of course – to refrain from living together before they’re married so that their marriage can be pure and holy; we don’t invite friends, neighbors, and family members who are away from the Church to come back and build a relationship with God; we don’t talk about our faith and the ways in which God has worked in our lives.  We keep God a secret; we don’t share the message of the Gospel; we’re more interested in “maintaining” the Church than we are in “growing” the Church; we fail at living as God’s hands and feet in the world around us.

          We need to get better at this.  There are souls at stake.  People could get to heaven a little easier if we talked about heaven a little more.  People could find the pathway to the kingdom if we showed it to them.  People could grow in holiness if we challenged them to do so.

          So let’s do it.  Let’s share our faith with our friends.  Let’s invite others to come with us to Church to hear the message of the Gospel.  Let’s ask a non-Catholic if they’ve ever thought about joining the Church.  Let’s be God’s hands and feet in the world around us.  With God’s grace, everything is possible.                       

No Servant Can Serve Two Masters

Here's my homily for this weekend.  As always, comments, questions, and more are always welcome!

Location: Basilica of Saint Francis Xavier (Dyersville, IA) – 5 p.m. Sat., 8:30 & 10:30 a.m. Sun.

Date: Sunday September 22^nd, 2013 (25^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C; women’s CRHP retreat)

READINGS:

1^st Reading: Amos 8:4-7
Resp. Psalm: Ps. 113:1-2, 4-6, 7-8
2^nd Reading: 1^st Timothy 2:1-8
Gospel: Luke 16:1-13 (OR Luke 16:10-13 {short version})

FOCUS: Conversion of mind and hearts leads to honest stewardship of God’s gifts.  

FUNCTION: Examine your life; reprioritize if necessary; grow in the grace of conversion.  

          I’m convinced that life has become far too busy.  One article I read on our working habits here in America mentioned this – “Not only are Americans working longer hours than at any time since statistics have been kept, but now they are also working longer than anyone else in the industrialized world. And while workers in other countries have been seeing their hours cut back by legislation focused on preventing work from infringing on private life, Americans have been going in the other direction.  (…)  Road rage, workplace shootings, the rising number of children placed in day care and the increasing demand on schools to provide after-school activities to occupy children whose parents are too busy have all been pointed to as evidence that Americans are overstressed and overworked.”

          Some of this can’t be helped; but something needs to change if we’re actually going to live healthy, happy, and holy lives.  If we keep rushing around at the break-neck pace we’re going, we’re either going to burn out or die trying to keep up; we end up living to work rather than working to live.  All this constant busy-ness is not good for us spiritually, physically, emotionally, or intellectually.  When we’re overworked and overstressed, we’re deprived of peace and we begin to lose perspective; life begins to feel more like a vicious cycle of things to do rather than an adventure to be embraced; constant work makes us more like robots and less like human beings, when all we really want to do is live life to the full without having to constantly worry about having money to pay the bills.  We need to keep things in proper perspective.   

          Jesus tried to provide us with that much-needed perspective in this weekend’s Gospel – “No servant can serve two masters.  He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and mammon.”  And yet this is exactly what many of us are trying to do.  We’re constantly trying to serve two masters – on the one hand, here we are in Church, seeking to be in relationship with God; and on the other hand, we serve whatever “idol god” appeals to us most: maybe it’s drinking, or sports, or our social lives, or achievement, or popularity, or entertainment, or….whatever.  We’re all idolaters – we’re all worshipping something else other than God.  We’re all guilty of violating the first of the Ten Commandments – “I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before Me.”  And why did God ever give us such a commandment?  Because He created us; because He knows that we creatures can only find our fulfillment in God the Creator. 

          We need conversion – and I say this pointing to myself first of all.  I need conversion.  I need to know and firmly believe that only God will satisfy me, and that I can’t be satisfied by anything or anyone else; the weight of the human desire for happiness is so profound that nothing in this world can satisfy it except for God alone.  In the famous words of St. Augustine, “Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until they rest in You.”  When we begin to believe those words, then we start living as we should; then we regain some of the perspective that we so often lose when we get entangled in worldly pursuits. 

          God wants your heart – are you willing to give it to Him?  God wants to give you true fulfillment and peace – are you willing to receive?  We need the grace of interior, spiritual conversion; only when God is at the center of our lives will we be at peace and know true happiness; only then will we start achieving our true potential for greatness; only then will we become the kind of person that God wants us to be – the kind of person who can make a difference in the world.

          This life we live is a gift; God didn’t have to create us – but He did so out of sheer goodness.  The very first paragraph of the Catechism tells us the meaning of our lives – “God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life.  For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man.  He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength.  He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church.  To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior.  In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life,” (CCC, no. 1).

          How’s that for perspective?!  That’s why we exist!  That paragraph from the Catechism tells us the very purpose of our lives.  It’s not about work; it’s not about drinking and pleasure; it’s not about sports, or our social lives, or achievement, or popularity, or entertainment, or anything else.  We exist to know, love, and serve God in this life, so that we might enjoy eternity with Him in the next; that’s the purpose of our lives.  Are we living as good stewards of God’s many blessings?  Are we living with an eye on the prize?  Or have we gotten distracted by the busy-ness of life around us? 

          Every once in a while, we all need to step back and evaluate what we’re doing and how we’re living so that what we’re doing and how we’re living don’t simply become matters of routine but ways for us to live full and healthy lives.  Conversion of mind and heart – which happens when we realize God is our goal – helps us live as good stewards of God’s many blessings.

          This weekend, women from our cluster parishes have gathered together for their Christ Renews His Parish weekend retreat; they’ve realized the importance of stepping back and taking time to focus on their relationship with God so that they can live life to the full; they don’t have the answers, but they know the questions; and those questions will lead them to the only answer any of us need to hear: Jesus.  Knowing Him is the task of our lives; so how are we going to make that happen?  Examine what consumes your thoughts; reprioritize what’s important in your life; and ask God to help keep you focused on Him.  And then peace and fulfillment will be yours, along with the whole kingdom of heaven. 

2nd Sunday of Lent - Be Transformed in the Light of Christ!

Greetings!  Here's the homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent; it was preached in the Holy Rosary Cluster where I covered for the pastor who came to preach at our Spires of Faith Cluster 40 Hours Mission.  Let's all heed the call to be transfigured this Lent!

READINGS:

1^st Reading: Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
Resp. Psalm: Ps. 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14
2^nd Reading: Philippians 3:17-4:1 (OR Phil. 3:20-4:1)
Gospel: Luke 9:28b-36

 FOCUS: The transfiguration of Christ invites us to be transfigured and/or transformed, also. 

FUNCTION: Make a self-examination – where are you closed and where are you open to God?

          It’s a privilege to be with all of you this weekend!  Since I’m not up in this area very often, I appreciate the opportunity to visit your Church and see the area.  We’re very happy that Fr. Steve accepted our invitation to come and speak at our annual “40 Hours Mission” in the Spires of Faith Cluster.  Just to give you a hint of what the Cluster’s like, we’re situated on the western edge of Dubuque County and the eastern edge of Delaware County, and there are five parishes in the Cluster – the Basilica of St. Francis Xavier in Dyersville, Saint Joseph’s in Earlville, Saint Boniface in New Vienna, Ss. Peter & Paul in Petersburg, and Saint Paul’s in Worthington.  Fr. John O’Connor is the pastor of the parishes in Petersburg and New Vienna while Fr. Dennis Quint is the pastor of the parishes in Dyersville, Worthington, and Earlville.  Yours truly gets to be the Associate Pastor of all five.  If I ever write a sitcom for TV, I’m going to call it, “My Two Pastors.”  I’m sure it’ll be good for a couple of laughs J

          So, this weekend, I get to celebrate Mass here in your parish while Fr. Steve is covering the Masses in the Spires of Faith Cluster.  When Fr. Steve gets back, be sure to tell him all about how that the substitute priest was a much better preacher than he is J  I’m sure that will be good for a few laughs, too!  On second thought, you better not – maybe the homilies will only get longer J  Regardless, it’s a pleasure to be with you this weekend. 

          The Gospel reading this weekend presents us with the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus found in Saint Luke’s Gospel.  The First Sunday of Lent always presents us with the story of Our Lord’s temptation in the desert and this Second Sunday of Lent always presents us with the story of the Transfiguration.  But after these first two Sundays of Lent, the Gospel readings aren’t consistently themed from year to year.  So why should we hear about the Transfiguration on the Second Sunday of Lent every year?  I think the answer is probably quite obvious: Lent invites us to journey with Our Lord into the desert on the First Sunday and on the Second Sunday we’re invited to be transformed.  Lent invites us to grow in the grace of “conversion” – to become people who are willing to share and reflect the goodness and the light of the Lord to the people around us. 

          And so what do we often do during Lent?  We examine our consciences and go to the sacrament of Reconciliation; we pray the Stations of the Cross devotion; we try to observe the typical Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving; we give up something that we like in the hopes that we’ll become a better person; we abstain from eating meat on Fridays as an act of penance and self-denial; and we try to be more patient, more forgiving, more loving.  It’s all about preparing ourselves to celebrate the holiest days of the entire liturgical year – Holy Week.  We should probably think of Lent as a kind of pilgrimage; and we should think of ourselves as journeying towards a great destination – ultimately, heaven itself.  And as we make this great pilgrimage through life, we might ask ourselves, “Lord, am I living as You want me to live?  Am I living like I’m headed towards life in the kingdom of heaven?”  And if the answer to those questions is no, then it’s probably time to make a change.

          Lent is actually all about transformation; it’s all about living as we should.  Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, one of the Fathers of the early Church who lived in the early 2^nd century, once said, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.”  That’s an excellent quote for us to consider as we hear this story about Our Lord’s transfiguration this weekend.  Do you feel like you’re fully alive?  Do you feel like you’re living a full and abundant life?  And I’m not talking about what the world considers to be a so-called “full and abundant life” – lots of wealth, a nice house, or super-fast cars; I’m talking about the full and abundant life that Our Lord came to bring us.  In the tenth chapter of St. John’s Gospel, Jesus said, “I came so that they might have life, and have it more abundantly,” (see John 10:10b).  Jesus wants us to live a full and abundant life!  He wants us to be filled with joy and peace, and to be happy and fulfilled, and to be disciplined and directed towards Him; in short, He wants us to be “fully alive” to the glory of God.

          And Jesus shows us what that looks like – transfigured on the mountain top, bathed in glory, clothed all in white.  His transfiguration is a foreshadowing of the glory of the resurrection that He would receive from God the Father on the first Easter Sunday.  But it’s only this account of the transfiguration – only Saint Luke’s account – that tells us what Jesus was talking about with Moses and Elijah there on the mountain top.  This Gospel tells us that Moses and Elijah spoke with Him about the “exodus that He was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.”  An exodus?  That’s kind of odd.  Exodus is the name of the second book of the Bible, which tells the story of the Jewish departure from the land of Egypt.  This conversation between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah is kind of “code speak” for the passion and death that Jesus would endure so that He could lead us on our own “exodus” out of the land of Egypt – out of our slavery to sin and death – and into the land that God wants to lead us toward – ultimately, the kingdom of heaven.

          So Lent is about a desert experience – journeying with Jesus into the desert, just like the Jews journeyed into the desert when they departed the land of Egypt.  And that desert experience is supposed to lead us into the ultimate “promised land” – the kingdom of heaven.  The closer we come to that kingdom, the more we’re transformed by God’s grace.   So think for a moment – is your experience of Lent leading you towards transformation?  Is it helping you to become a better person?  Is it helping you become more disciplined and more directed towards God?  Are you experiencing the various “fruits” of Lent in your lives – more peace, more joy, more love, more patience? 

          Now’s the time for us to make an examination of conscience – where are we open to God’s grace in our lives, and where are we perhaps a little more closed?  Our goal in life as Christians is to be totally open to God, and to live in such a way that we come to know, love, and serve Him in this life so that we’re finally able to join Him forever in heaven.  So now’s the time for you to examine your lives and open your hearts more fully to the presence and activity of God; and then let Him transform you and fill you with new life.                                

 

 

Christ the Light Conquers the Darkness (Christmas Homily)

READINGS:

First Reading: Isaiah 52:7-10

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6

Second Reading: Hebrews 1:1-6

Gospel: John 1:1-18 (OR John 1:1-5, 9-14 – Shorter Version)

FOCUS: The birth of Christ is the beginning of the triumph of light over darkness. 

FUNCTION: Allow the light of Christ to illuminate the dark places of life. 

                                                                                                 

          Today, after four weeks of prayer and preparation during Advent, the time has finally come for us to celebrate the birth of Christ.  Everything we did during Advent has led us to this holy moment, to this sacred night/day. 

          Here and now, as we celebrate this Holy Mass, we discover the deepest meaning and purpose of Christmas.  Here and now, gathered together as the Body of Christ, Christmas expresses its vitality and power. 

          Today, God has revealed His salvation to us in the form of a seemingly ordinary Child lying in a manger.  But we believe that the Child of the manger is no ordinary Child.  The Gospel told us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was With God, and the Word was God.  (…)  And the Word was made flesh and made His dwelling among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.”  And we believe that Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh, the Child that we celebrate today, the only-begotten Son of God.  What a beautiful mystery!  The God of the ages has become one of us!       

          Because of Jesus Christ…the Word made flesh…Christmas is a celebration of the wisdom and the power and the victory of God.  It is the victory of light over darkness, of goodness over evil, of life over death.  The sacred event of Christmas is good news: God has not abandoned us!  He has not left us to our own devices!  He has chosen to be so close to us as to share our very nature, so that we might share in His divine life. 

          Our God is a God who cares about us, who loves us passionately, and who wants to be close to us.  He is not some far off Deity who sets the world in motion and then chooses to step back and let it spin out of control.  No, just the opposite!  When humanity had turned its back on God, God didn’t just dismiss them and let them fend for themselves.  From the very first pages of the Book of Genesis, God promised to send us a Savior, One who would save humanity from the darkness that it chose to embrace.  Endless ages rolled on, and God intervened in many ways during those ages, but only when time had reached its fullness did God send forth His promised Savior. 

          The Gospel tells us, “He was in the beginning with God.  All things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing came to be.  What came to be through Him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”  Today we celebrate God’s good news: there is darkness in the world, but it cannot overcome Christ the Light!  When Jesus Christ, the Light and the Word of God, was born in Bethlehem, humanity was given new hope. 

          No longer does darkness have to prevail over us.  No longer do we have to give in to its terrible and insidious ways.  Yes, we must admit that there is an awful darkness in our hearts that all of us have to confront.  Choosing to ignore it will not make it go away.  The more we try to ignore it and gloss it over, the more power it gains within us.  And if we never confront it, it will consume us from the inside.

          But thanks to be to God!  Christ has come as the true light which enlightens every heart and every mind.  In the light of Christ, we no longer have to be prisoners of the darkness within us.  If we step into the healing rays of Christ the Light, we can find healing and wholeness.  And there, in the warmth of the Light, God the Father will speak His Word into our hearts, and darkness will be scattered and the Light will make His home within us.

          And we can see lives changed around us.  Let me share with you my personal experience.  I don’t usually share personal stories, but I like to share this.  It’s a part of my vocation story.  When I was in high school, I liked what a lot of high school students liked: popularity, loud music, social parties, romantic relationships, and more.  Maybe it’s just part of being a teenager; I don’t know.  But interiorly, I yearned for something more.  Yes, those things were exhilarating, but they weren’t ultimately satisfying.  I couldn’t lay my head on my pillow at night and say I felt fulfilled. 

          Then, as a senior I was given an opportunity to go on a TEC retreat.  TEC stands for Teens Encounter Christ.  And I can honestly say that weekend retreat changed my life.  I had encountered Christ…in the team leaders, the stories they shared, the opportunities for prayer, and much more.  When I came home, my parents were rather astonished.  They used to hear some pretty loud, kind of dark music come out of my room before.  But after TEC they heard Christian music— the kind of music that would lift me up and make me feel more alive than any of those other activities.  Of course, Christian conversion is always a gradual process, but it was an encounter with Christ that had changed me for the better and put me on the path that would ultimately lead me to where I am today—a priest of Jesus Christ, happy to be able to celebrate this Christmas Mass with all of you.

          Allowing Christ to transform us from the inside doesn’t happen all at once.  It didn’t for me, and it won’t for you, either.  But for all of us gathered here and throughout the world, today’s Christmas celebration can be the beginning of the triumph of light over darkness, of good over evil, of life over death.  The birth of Jesus in our world changes everything. 

          No longer do we have to be defined by our past mistakes.  No longer do we have to feel bound by the chains that bind us.  No longer do we have to be slaves to the darkness.  Christ the Light has come, and the darkness has not overcome it!  God wants all of us to tell our own story of how an encounter with Christ the Light has scattered the darkness of our hearts.

          Christmas can’t only be a story about the birth of Christ; it must also be a story about how His birth and life has changed our lives.  Christ didn’t come into the world for His own sake.  He came into this world for ours.

          Maybe you’re here and you’re still not convinced that Christmas really makes a difference.  Maybe you don’t particularly believe in God.  Maybe you’ve experienced some hardship in life that makes faith difficult.  All of that is OK. 

          Today, Jesus wants to meet you where you are and take you to a new place.  Today, Jesus wants to help you celebrate Christmas with your heart.  So let Him, and you too will know the true and the deep meaning of those beautiful words, “Merry Christmas!”