How we Treat the Poor is How we Treat Christ

Here's this weekend's homily.  Questions, comments, thoughts, criticisms, corrections, etc. are all welcome!

Location: Basilica of Saint Francis Xavier (Dyersville, IA) – 5 p.m. Saturday

                 Saint Joseph Catholic Church (Earlville, IA) – 8 a.m. Sunday Mass

                 Saint Boniface Catholic Church (New Vienna, IA) – 10 a.m. Sunday Mass

Date: Sunday September 29^th, 2013 (26^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C)

READINGS:

1^st Reading: Amos 6:1a, 4-7
Resp. Psalm: Ps. 146:7, 8-9, 9-10
2^nd Reading: 1^st Timothy 6:11-16
Gospel: Luke 16:19-31

FOCUS: Especially as Christians, we are called to serve the poor in our midst.  

FUNCTION: Defend the lives of the unborn; get involved in outreach to Haiti.  

          Ever since his election as Pope on March 13^th, 2013, Pope Francis has been shaking things up in the Catholic world.  Many people praise him; some people criticize him; but everyone is captivated by what this Pope is doing and saying.  After his first appearance on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, taking the name Francis, many people wondered what inspired him to take the name; they wanted to know which “Francis” inspired him: was it St. Francis Xavier, the great Jesuit missionary; or was it St. Francis de Sales, the great Doctor of the Church and master of the spiritual life; or was it St. Francis of Assisi, the rich young man who chose poverty as a way to renew the Church?

          In an address given to journalists just three days after his election, the Pope himself offered the journalists an explanation for why he took the name Francis; these are the Pope’s own words: “During the election, I was seated next to the Archbishop Emeritus of São Paolo and Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Claudio Hummes: a good friend, a good friend!  When things were looking dangerous, he encouraged me.  And when the votes reached two thirds, there was the usual applause, because the Pope had been elected. And he gave me a hug and a kiss, and said: “Don’t forget the poor!”  And those words came to me: the poor, the poor.  Then, right away, thinking of the poor, I thought of Francis of Assisi.  Then I thought of all the wars, as the votes were still being counted, till the end.  Francis is also the man of peace.  That is how the name came into my heart: Francis of Assisi.”

          The Pope took the name Francis (a name never before chosen by a Pope) because of St. Francis of Assisi, who he says was “the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation…”  And in his short time as Pope, he has clearly acted on his initial inspiration.  He has spoken often of the need for us to be concerned about the poor, about peace, about welcoming strangers and offering hospitality to those who are marginalized by society.  The Pope speaks about these subjects quite regularly in his “tweets” on Twitter; on Sept. 21^st, Pope Francis tweeted, “True charity requires courage: let us overcome the fear of getting our hands dirty so as to help those in need.”  And on Sept. 24^th he tweeted, “Let us ask the Lord to give us the gentleness to look upon the poor with understanding and love, devoid of human calculation and fear.”  I think we can expect that this concern for the poor – in imitation of St. Francis of Assisi – will be a constant theme of Pope Francis’ pontificate.

          And truly, concern for the poor needs to be a constant concern for all of us as Christians; Jesus’ parable in today’s Gospel – addressed to the Pharisees – is a sobering message for all of us: we need to take care of the poor in our midst.  We can’t simply step around them or ignore them – as we might imagine the rich man did in Jesus’ parable; we need to acknowledge them at our door, go outside, and treat them like human beings.  The poor have names, faces, family, hopes, dreams, desires, and needs; the poor are human beings who have been made in the image and likeness of Almighty God. 

          In Matthew 25, Jesus even identifies Himself with the lowliest members of society; He says, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me,” (Matthew 25:35-36).  And the main point of Jesus’ teaching is this: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me,” (see Matthew 25:40).           

          And the poor are all around us.  Wherever we see the faces of the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the ill, and those in prison – there we find the poor and the most vulnerable; and there we find Christ.  It all comes down to this: how we treat the poor is how we treat Christ.  Are we generous with helping those in need?  Do we look on the poor and the less fortunate with love and empathy, or do we despise them, treat them harshly, and degrade them?  We need to examine our lives; because how we treat the poor is how we treat Christ.

          I’d like to recommend two ways we can help to serve the poor in our midst.  The first is the annual 40 Days for Life campaign that started this past Wednesday September 25^th and goes through Sunday November 3^rd.  The official mission and vision statement from their website, 40daysforlife.com, says that, “40 Days for Life is a focused pro-life campaign with a vision to access God’s power through prayer, fasting, and peaceful vigil to end abortion.  The mission of the campaign is to bring together the body of Christ in a spirit of unity during a focused 40 day campaign of prayer, fasting, and peaceful activism, with the purpose of repentance, to seek God’s favor to turn hearts and minds from a culture of death to a culture of life, thus bringing an end to abortion.”  Preborn babies in the womb are the most poor and vulnerable members of society; we can work to defend the right to life of these children through a witness of love for both mothers and their children by praying in front of the Planned Parenthood building in Dubuque.  Getting involved in this wonderful campaign is a good way to help poor and defenseless babies – and their mothers – choose life and get help.  

          Another way to help the poor is to help St. Francis Xavier’s sister parish, Holy Cross, in Fonds-Verettes, Haiti.  Every year, a team of 10-15 parishioners go down to Haiti to bring clothes, medical supplies, personal hygiene products, and much more to the people living in abject poverty in Haiti.  Reaching out to the people in Haiti helps you realize that each poor person has a face, a name, and a story.  St. Francis Xavier’s Haiti Fund is always in need of donations to help the people of Haiti have the basic necessities of life.  Offering a donation to the fund, volunteering to make the trip down to Haiti, or donating needed supplies is a good, concrete way to help the poor who are so in need of our assistance.

          The poor are all around us; we must not neglect them or turn a blind eye to their needs; because how we treat the poor is how we treat Christ.       

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. 

14th Sunday in OT - How's God Calling You?

Here is this Sunday's homily - sorry I've been so terrible about not adding them (tempus fugit).  I welcome any comments you might want to make or checking any of the ratings boxes immediately below the post.  God's blessings to each of you! 

 

 

Location: Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church (Earlville, IA) – 8 a.m. Sunday

                  Saint Boniface Catholic Church (New Vienna, IA) – 10 a.m. Sunday

Date: Sunday July 7^th, 2013 (14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C)

READINGS:

1^st Reading: Isaiah 66:10-14c
Resp. Psalm: Ps. 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
2^nd Reading: Galatians 6:14-18
Gospel: Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 (OR Luke 10:1-9 {short version})

 FOCUS: Promoting vocations is the work of the whole Church.

FUNCTION: Pray for vocations and support them within your own family and the community. 

          At the beginning of his ministry as a prophet, the Lord said to the Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you,” (Jeremiah 1:5).  This verse is a good reminder that God knows each of us from the first moment of our conception in our mother’s womb, and even before our conception since He is outside of time.  And it also reminds us that God has a plan for our lives.

          But what is God’s plan for our lives?  Does God really have a plan, I mean, for everyone?  Doesn’t it seem a little far-fetched?  We have to remember that He is God – He is not like us; He is perfect: all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-good.  And because He’s perfect, God has a wise and loving plan for each of us – a plan that respects our freedom: a plan we can say “yes” to (like the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Annunciation) or “no” to (like Judas Iscariot who betrayed the Lord for thirty pieces of silver).  And God gives us that freedom – the freedom to say “yes” to His plan, and the freedom to reject it. 

          God has a plan for each of us; each of us has a “vocation” or a calling in life – a plan that, if we say yes to it, will bring us an immense amount of joy and peace, perhaps in this world, but especially in the next.  And it’s up to us to say “yes” to that vocation in life – no one else can say “yes” for us.  We can’t “pass the buck” – we can’t say to ourselves, “Someone else will do what I feel called to do.”

          Have you ever heard of the idea of “diffused responsibility”?  It usually happens when you have a large group of people: each individual in that group believes that someone else is going to take action – for instance, helping someone in distress – which often results in no one taking any action at all.  So it could happen that someone on the streets of Chicago or New York falls down and has a seizure and no one in the crowd calls 911 or offers the person in distress any aid.  It’s a pretty scary thing when you stop and think about; it reminds me of a quote often attributed to Edmund Burke – “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”

          Sometimes the same thing happens in our spiritual life – God inspires us to perform a good work, but we brush it off, thinking that someone else can do it.  But the reality is often the opposite – God didn’t inspire someone else; He inspired YOU.  And in that moment, YOU have to respond.  Think of how much poorer our world would be if no one responded to the inspirations they felt – we wouldn’t have the Statue of Liberty or the Mona Lisa or the Declaration of Independence or the Panama Canal or automobiles or any of the other things – big and small – that we so often take for granted; these things wouldn’t exist if someone didn’t take the initiative and create them.

          My point is there’s important work to be done in the world; and part of that important work is the work of evangelization – the work of proclaiming the Gospel to the next generation and passing on the Catholic and Apostolic faith to the people of tomorrow.  In the Gospel, Jesus said, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”  Jesus is saying there’s a need – a need to gather in the harvest (a harvest of souls for the kingdom of God); He also points out that there aren’t that many laborers (priests, catechists, evangelists, etc.) to gather in the harvest, so we need to ask the master of the harvest (God) to send out laborers for His harvest.

          We often talk about vocations when we hear this passage, and rightly so.  The Church (and the whole world) needs priests, because without priests, there is no Mass; and without the Mass, there is no Eucharist; and without the Eucharist, there is no Church; and you cannot have the corporate Body of Christ, the Church, without the sacramental Body of Christ, the Eucharist.  We are the Church of the Eucharist – the Church founded upon faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the Church nourished and strengthened to live out her mission by the grace of the Eucharist, the Church who daily feeds on the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.

          We need priests; and we can no longer afford to think, “Someone else will answer the call.”  Unfortunately, the no. 1 obstacle to a person embracing a vocation to the priesthood or religious life, from what I understand, is often the disapproval of parents.  Do parents make a sacrifice if one of their children wants to become a priest or nun?  Yes – it means that they will never have grandchildren from that child, or that their child will have to move far from home, or that they might not get to speak to or see their child as often as they would like.  But it’s still a big deal to have a child say “yes” to a vocation to the priesthood or religious life.

          When I was ordained, there was a custom for new priests to give their parents something from their new priestly ministry – I gave my mom the cloth that was used to wipe the oil off my newly-anointed hands and I gave my dad the stole that I used to hear my first confession.  The tradition is that the parents of a priest are then buried with these things after death, and when they go before the Lord and the Lord asks them what they did for Him, they can respond by saying that they gave Him their son as a priest.  Now, we priests are not perfect – far, far from it; my parents can easily attest to that.  But, we live an awesome life – able to be with people at key moments in life: celebrating a baptism or a wedding or sending a soul home to God in a Funeral Mass; and there are other graces, too – being able to proclaim the Gospel and preach and celebrate Mass and absolve sins in the sacrament of reconciliation and lead people closer to heaven.  It’s a great life.

          As we know, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few...” Now’s the time to heed Jesus’ words – “…so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for His harvest.”  Promoting vocations is uniquely a priest’s job; but it’s also the work of the whole Church – we’re all responsible for promoting vocations.  And so let’s promote it – in our families, among our relatives, to our friends, and in our parish community; and one day our community can have the joy of saying, “We gave the Lord one of our own.” 

           

 

 

 

3rd Sunday of Lent - God Made You for More!

Greetings!  Here's the homily I preached for the 3rd Sunday of Lent - it was to the participants on the Teens Encounter Christ retreat #544 at Beckman Catholic High School.  Just remember - God made you for more! 

READINGS:

1^st Reading: Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15
Resp. Psalm: Ps. 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11
2^nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12
Gospel: Luke 13:1-9

FOCUS: God is relational; He cares about our wellbeing, and wants us to experience new life. 

FUNCTION: Grow in your relationship with God through regular times for prayer.

          It’s a blessing to have all of you here this weekend!  As we’ve said, none of you are here by accident.  You are here because God has a purpose for you and because He’s the One who called you here – because He wants to reveal His love to you; because He wants to draw you closer to Himself, and because He knew you before you were conceived and while you were still in your mother’s womb, and He has created you to be His beloved child.  You are not an accident – no one is an accident in God’s eyes – and you are not here on accident. 

          I know it sounds rather cliché, but God has a plan.  Do I know what that plan is for you?  Unfortunately, no, I don’t – I’m not God; I don’t know what God’s plan for your life is per se – but I do know it’s good!  It’s so good!  I know it’s better than anything you can possibly think of or imagine – because He knows us better than we know ourselves, because He created us.  The Bible even tells us that all the hairs on our head have been counted – God knows us that well!  And because He created us, He also has a plan for our lives – a plan for greatness.

          The world, however, would have us be mired in mediocrity – you only need to look at the contents of reality TV shows to understand that fact.  These shows don’t call us to be great and heroic and strong and virtuous; they just call us to be so-so or unique or odd or funny.  Think about it – is there anyone on these reality TV shows who’s a good role model?  I’m sorry if you like some of these shows, but I don’t think so.  A lot of the people on these shows are just – well – weird.  Sorry, no offense to Honey Boo Boo fans. J  When I see these shows, I often stop and think to myself, “Surely God made us for more than all the ridiculous stuff happening on here!”  And it’s so true – God has made us for more – for so much more than the ridiculousness of life as it’s depicted on reality TV. 

          What am I getting at?  I’m getting at the fact that God and the world have two very different visions for our lives.  God wants us to reach our full potential and become truly great people, but the world would have us settle for having fun and not really pursuing anything terribly worthwhile.  If we follow the voice of the world, we’ll end up in spiritual chains, like the Israelites ended up being slaves in Egypt.  But just like He did for the Israelites, God also wants to draw us out of our slavery to mediocrity – a spiritual slavery we allow ourselves to be drawn into by listening to the voice of the world instead of the voice of God – and lead us into spiritual freedom.  God wants to break the chains that bind us and lead us into a new and better life.

          In the first reading, God looked on the slavery that His chosen people had to endure while in Egypt and said, “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering.  Therefore, I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians and lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”  In so many ways, the Jewish story of the Exodus is also the Christian story of what God has done for us in Christ!

          Think about it, how did Jesus’ public life begin?  After He was baptized, He was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by Satan.  We hear that story on every First Sunday of Lent.  And after He returned, He started His public ministry.  The first words of Jesus’ public ministry were these – “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (See Matt. 4:17).  Did you know that the “promised land” that God led the Israelites to through the desert is a foreshadowing of the true Promised Land – the kingdom of heaven – where God wants to lead all people who are willing to follow and believe?  So the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry is practically a summary of the real meaning of the Book of Exodus – repent of your slavery to sin, because God wants to lead you to heaven!

          God did it back in the days of the Book of Exodus, He did it at the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, and He wants to do it again now.  He always wants to lead us out of spiritual slavery and into spiritual freedom, because He’s a God of relationships, a God of love.  God is intrinsically relational by His nature – He is a community of Persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: three divine Persons living in perfect unity as one God.  And because God is relational, He always calls us into relationship with Himself.        

          In the first reading, when Moses asked for God’s name, how did God identify Himself to Moses?  God said, ‘“I am the God of your fathers,” he continued, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.’”  The fact that God referred to Himself in relation to Moses’ forefathers means that God is a God who wants to establish relationships with the people He’s created.  And that’s exactly what God wants to do in our lives.  But in order to establish and grow in a relationship with God, we need to examine our other relationships; for instance, getting too wrapped up in the world doesn’t help us deepen our relationship with God and our relationships with others can keep us from growing.  And so now’s a good weekend to think about our relationships – which ones help us get closer to God and which ones keep are keeping us away?

          Trust me, I know that’s a tough examination.  But you have to know this: God loves you SO MUCH MORE than anyone else – more than your parents, more than your boyfriend or girlfriend, more than anyone.  And as much as you’re looking for fulfillment, the only one who will fulfill you is the One who made you.     Earlier this afternoon you signed the Book of the Covenant and made a profession of faith as a sign that you’re ready and willing to make a commitment to Christ.  I’m not saying that’s always going to be easy or fun; in fact, it may be one of the hardest things you’ve ever done.  But if we never did things that were hard, would we ever grow? 

          Dear friends, God wants to take you places!  God wants to lead you out of the chains of mediocrity and into spiritual freedom.  And so I encourage you to embrace the freedom the Lord wants to offer you.  I hope you’ll take the chance – starting here and now – to turn to God in prayer and grow in that relationship that God wants to form with you.  I know your life will be better for it.                

 

 

              

 

 

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.                                

 

 

1st Sunday of Lent - Remain Strong Against Temptation!

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent.  Feel free to share questions, comments, thoughts, etc. in the comments section.  God bless! 

READINGS:

1^st Reading: Deuteronomy 26:4-10

Resp. Psalm: Ps. 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15
2^nd Reading: Romans 10:8-13
Gospel: Luke 4:1-13

FOCUS: Our Christian pilgrimage through life is filled with “spiritual warfare.” 

FUNCTION: Practice the Lenten disciplines in order to be strong in moments of temptation. 
 

          The Gospel reading for this First Sunday of Lent is always the story of Jesus being driven by the Holy Spirit into the desert to be tempted by Satan.  It wasn’t quite a desert, but a group of parishioners and I recently made our annual mission trip to Haiti to visit and support St. Francis Xavier’s sister parish, Holy Cross, in Fonds-Verrettes, Haiti.  Being down there was like a desert experience – drinkable water is a precious commodity, there didn’t seem to be too many paved roads, and I only took 3 showers in 8 days.  It was a hard trip for several reasons, but we didn’t go there to relax, or to see the sights, or to sunbathe.  We went to Haiti in order to serve the needs of the people – to provide supplies and support and help with things that needed to get done. 

          One of the best things we did was help out at the clinic in Oriani – a small village about an hour’s drive away from Holy Cross parish in Fonds-Verrettes; there at the clinic, an energetic little 50-year-old religious sister – Sr. MaryAnn – sees approximately 60-70 patients a day.  While we were at the clinic, the doctor and the nurse on our team (and others, too) worked hard to see about 140 patients in the course of a 10 hour work day.  Those of us who weren’t involved in seeing patients accomplished others things like painting different parts of the clinic that needed painting, as well as visiting the school in order to deliver supplies and talk to the students, as well as taking the time to toss around the Frisbee and play soccer with some of the kids who also showed up at the clinic.

          During our time in Haiti, we were often stretched and challenged by our circumstances – whether it was the bus getting stuck in the water as we drove through a stream while driving from Port-au-Prince to Fonds-Verrettes (thanks be to God for the bulldozer that pushed us out!), or the lack of electricity at the clinic in Oriani, or the hike up to the waterfall for a “shower” in Fonds-Verrettes.  There were lots of things that were difficult, but it was all worth it.  I believe these kinds of experiences shape us and transform us; they give us perspective and make us appreciate the blessings of life here in America that we so often take for granted.  In short, I had a tremendous experience on the mission trip to Haiti – not only do people really benefit from our great generosity, but every person who goes on the trip is changed for the better by the experience; and as we became fond of saying, “It’s all a part of the experience.” J 

 

          In the same way, we need “desert experiences” like the experience Our Lord had of being in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights.  There’s a reason why this Gospel passage is always the first Gospel that we hear in Lent – our own experience of Lent is called to echo the experience of Our Lord in the desert.  When we fast, particularly on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, we’re supposed to experience hunger – it’s helps us appreciate the fact that millions and millions – if not billions – of people throughout the world experience hunger on a daily basis and regularly go to bed hungry; when we abstain from eating meat on Fridays, it’s supposed to be a sacrifice because meat is probably a staple in most of our diets; and when we give things up for Lent, it’s supposed to be a struggle to maintain that discipline, because we know there are plenty of things in our lives that don’t contribute to making us better people.  Lent is supposed to do all of this and more.  It’s our annual 40-day retreat every year – our annual time to examine our lives, repent of our sins, and try to become better people. 

          But, of course it’s not easy; in fact, it’s often anything but.  The typical disciplines of Lent – prayer, fasting, almsgiving, making sacrifices – they’re all supposed to help us become better people – people who are more humble, loving, compassionate, forgiving, patient, and generally more virtuous.  But just as Jesus was tempted in the desert, we, too, will be tempted during Lent.  That doesn’t mean that we should give in to temptation; just the opposite – it means we should fight all the more to resist and remain steadfast. 

          Our Lord experienced three temptations in the desert that were specifically designed for Him; likewise, we, too, will experience temptations this Lent that will be specifically designed for us – maybe it’s the temptation to eat meat on Fridays, or to indulge in the thing or activity we gave up for Lent, or to not observe the fasting that the Church asks us to observe specifically on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, or maybe it will be something altogether different – something that the Evil One has cooked up just for us.  And then we’ll have a choice to make – will we give into the temptation, or will we resist the temptation because we know it’s the right thing to do?

          Our Christian pilgrimage through life is filled with what’s often referred to as “spiritual warfare” – an invisible battle that we constantly face both against the dark spiritual forces known as demons (aka, fallen angels or evil spirits) and against our own disordered and sinful desires.  Saint John of the Cross, along with other great spiritual masters of the Church, have often identified three great enemies of the spiritual life – the world, the flesh, and the Devil.  The Gospel this weekend highlights the activity of the Devil (aka, the Evil One or Satan); just as he tempted Our Lord, he’ll also tempt us.  First of all, we need to remember that the Devil actually exists and that he continues to be active in the world.  The Church teaches that Satan is a real, personal being – a fallen angel, a being created by God, but who fell from grace and who led other angels to fall with him in their rebellion against God and His angelic army.

          Beware: temptations will come this Lent, whether from the world, the flesh, or the Devil, and we need to be prepared to fight the spiritual battle, to engage in “spiritual warfare” for our good and the good of others.  Lent gives us a few weapons in this warfare, the most powerful of which are the sacraments – namely, the Most Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  So stay close to the Real Presence of Jesus in Holy Communion – sign up for Eucharistic adoration during our 40 Hours devotion or make an effort to attend Mass during the week.  Likewise, receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation – give your sins over to God and God will show you His mercy and love.  Make more time for prayer and quiet, discipline yourself through fasting, if possible, try to be even more generous in the collection basket, and ask trusted friends to help keep you accountable to your Lenten sacrifice.  These practices will keep you strong on the spiritual battlefield, and will help you conquer both the Devil and all his temptations.  This Lent, may God strengthen you in the face of every temptation.