November 7, 2010 - 32nd Sunday of the Year

• There was no homily last Sunday
• The readings for this coming Sunday are at usccb.org->
• I will be presiding and preaching at 5:30 Saturday Mass and 12:30pm Sunday Mass

What are you hoping for?

The cause of our joy or the motivation behind our hope is what is lying at the heart of my reflection this week. St. Paul promotes 'encouragement' to the Thessalonians and he bases it upon a "good hope". "Good hope" was a mystery religion term for "afterlife". Paul is coopting the word and he means here "the coming of the Lord".

Resurrected Life is what Paul is pointing to - and it is not something for only those who have died. Rather, this Resurrected Life is a reality in which we now live - if we have died with Him.

As we come to the end of the liturgical year, it is typical that we would speak about the last things: heaven, hell, death, judgment. Heaven or Resurrected Life is something we ought to consider and see how it figures into our hope, our joy in daily life, our lack of anxiety, our peace.

Do you know the Resurrection from the dead? Does it impact your daily life?

In what are you hoping?

October 31, 2010 - 31st Sunday of the Year

Priesthood Sunday

-The homily for October 24 is in the library ->
-The Scriptures for this Sunday are at usccb.org ->
-Deacon Franz will be preaching for me at 8am Mass.

Jesus says to you, Zaccheus, come down quickly from your perch in your head and join me now in the house of your heart. I stand at the door and knock.

Sunday, October 24th Homily

The Dangerous Faith homily from Sunday is in the library ->

October 24, 2010 - 30th Sunday of the Year

• Homily from last Sunday is in the library ->
• The Scriptures for this Sunday are at usccb.org ->
• I am preaching at the 5:30pm on Saturday and 9:30am on Sunday

Dangerous Religion!

Just when I thought I didn't have anything more to say about faith, it appears God does. While last week's discussion about the nature of being faithful (remember the battle), this week's insight has to do with how one ought to think about the practice of the faith.

St. Paul's letter to Timothy is a beautiful reflection upon the state of his faith and the role or purpose that faith. He says, "I have kept the faith". He realizes that being faithful, running the race, fighting the fight of faith has resulted in himself being given away for the sake of God. "I am being poured out like a libation. What do you think your faith is suppose to be accomplishing in you?That question is answered in the Gospel text.

The pharisee in the gospel is a good religious man, he has done the good and honorable religious thing, but he has not allowed faith to accomplish its purpose - keeping him in communion with God. In contrast, the publican/tax collector is a bad guy, he does bad and terrible, sinful things. However Jesus endorses the tax collector because he is allowing faith to accomplish its purpose in his life - moving him into deeper communion with God. The purpose of believing is to be in communion with God.

I use the expression "cling to the hand of God" as my understanding of faith. It is the flip side of Jesus' promise to "be with you always." Faith, believing for me, is my being with God always...like that little kid walking down the street with his mom or dad...almost unconsciously clinging to that safe hand.

On the weekend of my ordination as a priest the church was celebrating the Baptism of the Lord. The reading from the prophet Isaiah said, "I the Lord have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand." I took that as the "motto" of my first Mass celebration (holy cards, etc). It is an image or a concept that has become much more important for me as I have grown into my faith and my priestly life....to be grasped by the hand of God. I love that. I live that (some of the time) and I preach that to others.

The danger with religion and religious people is that we become forgetful rather than faithful. We begin to see the practice of the faith as something we have done....as if it is about us. That's the pharisee. Sadly, in these cases our practice of the faith becomes the obstacle to "being full of faith". It's hard to see but it is deadly indeed. Self-satisfied feelings (Good thing I am not like other people) rather than God-appreciating thoughts (Lord, have mercy on me a sinner) is the danger of religion. The first separates us from God's loving embrace - the second draws us in.

Is faith accomplishing its purpose in you, namely, to keep your hand safely in the palm of God's hand? Or is your religious life and practice pulling your hand away from God's and pating you on the back? Dangerous Religion!

October 17th Homily

The homily from Sunday's Mass is in the library ->

October 17, 2010 - 29th Sunday of the Year

Whew!

• Last Sunday's "summary" of the homily is in the Library ->


• The Scriptures for this coming Sunday are at USCCB.org ->


• I am preaching at the 5:30pm Saturday Mass and 12:30pm Sunday Mass

I titled this "whew" because of my conclusion about these scriptures ...that is, that faith,believing is hard work! Please don't misunderstand - I know that faith is a gift but the living by faith takes a lot of work, effort, zeal, perseverance. The scriptures this week will not leave this topic of "faith" alone.

In the last two weeks I have been preaching on faith (because the scriptures demanded it). You may recall the first week it was "deficient, inefficient, sufficient and ultimately efficient faith". Then last week it was the "how" of growing in our faith with "humility, opportunity, obedience, and re-orientation of life." Well, this week it seems that the whole enterprise of "living in faith" is revealed as a lot of work. We are fighting an up hill battle in the world - which rejects faith (and God Himself)

The first reading clearly shows us that the effort of a community of faith is a battle and it'scomplicated. If we, like the people of God are to live our faith "efficiently" (meaning that it accomplishes through us what God desires in the world) then it is going to take the effort of all of us to win the battle. Some actually fight (soldiers) using the weapons of hope, love, justice, charity, kindness, mercy, compassion, generosity, etc. Some of us pray(Moses), supporting those in the daily battle. And then there are those who support those who pray (Aaron and Hur) by our social, material, enthusiastic support.

Prayer and the work of faith cannot be separated, but living faith in the world is a battle and it takes a lot of intention, a lot of effort, and a lot of cooperation among the members of the household of God. It is not about us individually - believing that we are lost. It is about us communally, organic interdependence, relying upon each person's role and gift (waon) to get the job done, win the battle, keep the faith. Whew!

October 10th Homily

The Homily (kind of) from October 10th is in the Library ->

October 10, 2010 - The 28th Sunday of the Year

• The Homily for October 3 is in the Library->
• The readings for this coming Sunday are at usccb.org ->
• I am presiding at 4:00pm (10/9) and 8:00am(10/10)

How do we get there from here?

Last week's homily concerned the quality or level of our faith (deficient, inefficient, sufficient) and the call to NOT be satisfied with our faith as it was but to grow our faith from an ember to a raging fire that it might be efficient for the mission - leading all people to the Kingdom.

After Mass someone asked me, "yes, but how?" I believe that the journey of the Samaritan and the Syrian lepers in our first and gospel readings shows us the steps necessary to "grow our faith".

The first step on the road to deeper faith is humility....one must know and acknowledge that something is wrong, broken, sick, incomplete, flawed. Like the leper we cannot deny and we cannot hide that we are afflicted.

The second step is that we must be teachable - we must desire the healing of our lack of faith. The slave girl in the first reading was the unsuspecting vehicle for leading her master to faith. Can we hear the Lord's Word or His invitation in the unlikely places (our children, our spouse, our enemy?)?

The third step is obedience to the instruction of those who can heal us, teach us, direct us, guide us....even when we don't understand or appreciate the instruction.

The fourth step is the re-orientation of our lives to the truth of our new-found faith - that is - the "true worship of God". Like the Syrian and the Samaritan, we have to go back to God "anew". This turn about demands a new level of commitment. This demand is probably what kept us away in the first place. So this fourth step is part of the next "first step" that we will eventually take. We are never done growing in faith!

If we want to increase our faith - we need to acknowledge our weakness, recognize the call from God, be obedient to those who can lead us, and be open to new levels of commitment to God in our lives. This will fan the flames of faith in our hearts into a raging fire to light up the world.

October 3rd Homily

The homily for this Sunday, Oct. 3, is in the library->

October 3, 2010 - 27th Sunday of the Year

-Sept. 26 Homily is in the library ->
-Scriptures for Oct. 3 are at USCCB.org ->
-I will celebrate Sunday Mass at 9:30 & 11:00

Rigor of the heart!

I can't think of anything more encouraging than St. Paul's words "stir into flame the gift ...". It is a common gesture to take a stick or piece of paper and turn the smoldering embers in a fireplace Into a living flame. Don't we need to do that with our faith?

Rusted gates, stroke victims' legs and hands, even our minds and hearts can be habituated into deadly posture. Simply over use in one direction with insufficient resources for healthy renewal causes us to static appearances. It is atrophy...hardens in position.

When this happens in our spiritual or religious life it can be so gradual that we neither know that we are dead or when it died. Suddenly we have dry, empty habits where we once had living gestures of faith. This can he the case for us as a Catholic community, as religious orders or ministries or as a parish. There's movement but no meaningful life.

Let us stir the embers of faith in our hearts, marriages, ministries, and church into a raging fire of life and love in the world!

Pleased to meet you!

This week's 9/26 homily is in the library ->

September 26, 2010 - 25th Sunday of the Year

• The September 19th homily is in the library ->
• The readings for this coming Sunday are at usccb.org ->
• I am presiding at the Sat 9/25 4:00pm and the Sun 9/26 9:30am Mass. I will also be celebrating in Spanish at Our Lady of Lourdes parish on e. 55th Street at 12:30pm

"Pleased to meet you"

Just as with last week's "how are you doing?" this Sunday the Scriptures challenge one of our social conventions or courtesies; "Pleased to meet you" as we say so often. "Pleased to meet you" is one of those things that we say when we meet someone and we can't think of anything else to say. It is too often an expression empty of meaning. Too often we are not pleased at all and in fact we are not really meeting "anyone".

What I mean is that the person being presented to us is not really "anyone" to us. Often we know we will never meet that person again so meeting them really doesn't even register with us. Even in the case of people we will have to spend a great deal of time with we often do not consider them to be very significant at this "meeting".

This "disregard" for the importance of another person is at the heart of the Gospel teaching today. The rich man's sin is not that he was rich or that he failed to give his wealth away - but rather that he did not regard Lazarus as a brother, a person with meaning, importance, as one for whom he was somehow responsible.

This disregard for the fundamental communion that we share with other human beings is what Jesus and the prophet Amos are teaching against. There is a warning here for all who disregard the bond of human dignity, the fellowship of the family of humanity, the responsibility that we have for the "human race" as manifest in each person.

The social teaching of the Catholic church encourages the virtue or principle of solidarity. Solidarity was made famous by Lech Walesa and Pope John Paul II and it is a call to act toward others as if you belong to one another. The other is NOT a burden, it is NOT a nuisance, he is NOT a possession, he is NOT disposable, she is not a servant. The other is a sharer in my human existence, my human life. The condition of the other ought to affect my sense of well being. We share a common life - we are called to a communion of life (in the image and likeness of divine life of God).

To what extent do I belong to all those I meet, especially those with whom I share church membership, neighborhood, workspace, citizenship? Should I not be sincerely "pleased" to make the acquaintance of my brother or sister, especially in the Lord? Solidarity calls me to take some responsibility for the quality of their living, their eternal salvation, their share in the bounty of the earth.

How about solidarity in our Catholic worship? Are you truly pleased to be met by all those people at Mass? Do you appreciate that you are entering into a communion of worshippers in order to receive Communion with the Lord? Without joining in the first communion, it is doubtful that we receive the second. Do we get this feature of our lives as God's children and brothers of the Lord?

Or do we just go through the required motions of "acting" like we're "pleased to meet you"?

Sunday Sepember 19th

The homily from September 19th is now in the library->

September 19th - 25th Sunday of the Year

• the homily for September 12th is in the library ->
• the readings for this Sunday, September 19th, in at usccb.org ->
• I will be presiding at the 4pm on 9/18 and the 11am on 9/19

How are you doing?

This quick greeting that most of us offer and respond to several times a day is at the heart of this week's Scriptures. In fact, more than a social convention, for those on the spiritual journey called to conversion of life this question is a perennial one; how are you doing? Really doing!

Our instinct is to answer the question by expressing our "feelings - "I am feeling fine, thank you." But the scriptures this weekend are not about our feelings or our state of mind but rather they inquire about our relationship to "what we are doing". The fuller expression of the scriptural question maybe "how are you doing what it is that you are doing?". It is a qualitative inquiry, meaning that it is aimed at discerning the quality of your presence in the activities of your daily life.

The Wily Manager (as we used to call him) is a tough parable to interpret because he seems to be commended for some pretty devious or self-centered behavior. Apparently, what the Lord is commending is not the activity that he was performing but his industriousness - his cleverness in using his daily activity for deeper purpose. Oh that we would be like him!

So the question comes to each of us as to "how" we are doing what we are doing? Are we using our daily activities, responsibilities, even burdens for a wider, deeper, Kingdom-oriented purpose? If not, even the ostensibly religious activities (see the first reading) are mis-directed.

For the children of the Kingdom of God, all things must work together for the sake of the Kingdom. Why? Because by God's grace and plan "they can". St. Paul says that for "those who love God all things work together for the good." He doesn't say "only good things will happen to those who love God," rather he says that every situation has the potential for being used to further the Kingdom of God. Wow, that's different.

So, how are you doing....the laundry, the yardwork, the marriage, the soccer team driving, or coaching, the daily mass, the serving the poor, your daily prayers....all of it? Are you alive to what you are doing? Are you consciously "using" your efforts in the world to build up the Kingdom within you and among you?

How are you doing?

Third Thursday Theology

For those who are interested in the theology/spirituality adult education process at St. Albert parish - the September edition of TT-n-T is in the library. It was another robust experience of the faith.

September 12th Homily

This Sunday's September 12th Homily is in the library ->

September 12, 2010 - 24th Sunday of the Year

• the homily from September 5th is in the library ->
• the scriptures for this coming Sunday are at usccb.org ->
• I will be presiding at the 8am and 9:30am Mass on Sunday Sept. 12th

Not What We're Used To....

The parables of Jesus in this week's gospel reveal to us the "mind" of God. And it's not what we're used to. In fact, the mind of God is a mind of Grace and our mind (corporately and personally) is so much the mind of the law - the law of the land!

The shepherd and the sheep, the woman and the coin, and the father and his sons are examples of "irrational" behavior based upon the "law of the land". God's way of grace and mercy, compassion and healing, doesn't make sense to the mind of man. Our minds are rooted in what's fair, what's the entitlement, what's my "just desserts". God's mind is "crazy" and irrational in love.

The gospel has to portray God as "over the top" in pursuit of his beloved. In the marriage preparation questionnaire we give identifies a "rose-colored glasses" effect in the engaged couples. No kidding...they are almost all guilty idealistic distortion. They're in love.

God's love and desire for us is this crazy, this irrational, this other-worldly, this "unlike" us. We really would like to create God in our own image, make God the "just and angry God" who is out to get vengence. Not so, says Jesus. He is so different than we are...He is Holy.

Does this impact your religious thinking?

September 5th Homily

The Homily for September 5th is in the library -->

September 5 - 23rd of the Year

-The August 29 Homily is in the library>>>

-The scriptures for this Sunday are at USCCB.org>>>

-I am presiding Sat 9/4 at 5:30pm and on Sunday 9/5 at 12:30pm

If only....then I'd be happy!

The scriptures this week really challenge us with harsh words about the call and the path to happiness. If you are serious about being happy - then get real about holiness.

Most of us have been programmed by life in the world and broken by original sin to believe that possessing is the only way to happiness. Even possessing yourself, your relationships, your ministry - all commodities intended to make you happy. Wrong. The painful truth for us today is that loving (do not read being loved) is the only source of true happiness.

Being free to love in the present moment/ reality is the only path to happiness. We also call it holiness. This is what it means to love,says Jesus, to lay down your life for the sake of love.

Wadayathink about your plan for happiness?

August 29th Homily

This Sunday's homily is in the Library>>>