Mother of God Prep 2012

-Christmas Homily didn't get recorded.
-scriptures for MMOG January 1 are at USCCB.org
-I am preaching at 9:30 and 12:30 Mass on Sunday

Salve Regina

This advent I started wondering about personhood and asking if we see the "personhood" of self and each individual. Personhood is the soul, the God-likeness of each one. Failing to see one as a person, like God, is to be blind to the truth and then we can think, feel, speak, and act crazy.

Failure to see personhood makes us inhuman....we wander off or we are dragged off by this blindness into exile. Jesus' birth is the healing of that blindness. Our humanity is the dwelling place of God. Even that humanity that it rough, wild, wilderness.

This feast of MMOG expresses at least twice in the readings that it is all about "looking, seeing, knowing". God looks upon us, His gracious face shines upon us, the virgin looks at her child, the shepherds look and see him, she shows him to them (and the world) and they see and rejoice.

Christmas is the loving gaze of God upon the human race that reveals the godliness of human life.

The Hail, Holy Queen Prayer summarizes these thoughts perfectly. Say this prayer slowly and think about it.

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,
our life, our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
to thee do we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us;
and after this our exile,
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

How brilliant is our Catholic faith?!?!

Christmas 2011

-last weeks homily is available by email
-scriptures for Christmas masses available at USCCB.org
-I am preaching at 4:00 (up), 10pm and 9:30am Masses

He "tented" among us

I am using the Gospel of John at all the Masses I'm preaching. I am planning to raise the question as to whether or not we have shown up where God has come to dwell -at home in our most human living. God has come to inhabit our lives no matter where we choose to live them. The tent was a shelter that the people of God used in the desert as the wandered. God came and found them in the worst of circumstances. He not only found them but he joined them "in a tent". God is not afraid to get down and inhabit our human lives. Wherever we might be.

But we don't believe God will do it for us. Let's face it, so much of life in the world is lived on a base, material, empty level. Preachers like me can even be heard to say that we walk away from God in choosing such lives. However, God's message to us is that he has come as savior, redeemer, one born into our empty lives...and he comes to find us there, where we've walked away. He is mercy incarnate: Hesed in Hebrew.

Do you think that most people are feeling distant from God because of the complications of their lives? Do you think they would be challenged to see with faith that God has come "there" to get them? God would stoop to my level? ....oh yes He does. God behind enemy lines, stealing captives in exiles and carrying them back home!

Advent 4 Prep -12/18/2011

-Last week's homily is available by email request
-This week's Scriptures are at USCCB.org>
-I am preaching at the 5:30 and 8:00am Masses

A House: our humanity

The entire first reading centers upon the notion of house. It begins with the consideration of the physical shelter of house as in tent or temple and it moves to the consideration of "dynasty" ...house of David. This is an interesting connection to the Christmas mystery we are preparing to celebrate.

John's gospel uses the term "pitched his tent among us" which we translate as "dwelt". Mary is often considered the tabernacle or arc of the covenant, the container or house of Jesus' incarnation. While Jesus is known to us in the Eucharist as "bread of life" he is said to have been born in Bethlehem, which means literally "house of bread". And of course he was "laid in a manger (feeding trough) because there was no room for them at the inn." Jesus in John's Gospel promises that the Holy Spirit will make a dwelling place for the Father and the Son "with you".

Mary conceives of Jesus in her womb as a member of the household of David and she does so as a member of the household of God, the human creatures made in God's likeness.. She stands at that moment with her "fiat" as the gatekeeper on the household of humanity, God's house...human life!

God does not simply "enter the world" for a temporary journey through the pure womb of the Virgin Mary, God re-unites Divinity with humanity once again my and establishes my humanity as His household, a dwelling place secure. Or is it?

I am thinking that, from the beginning we have wandered away from that humanity and from God. We're not very good at sticking close to home(cfr: Adam and Eve). In our "material self-fullment" misunderstanding of what it means to be human, we are far from home. That's where God is -Emmanuel.

How human are you? How human is your family life? How human is your work life? How human is your experience of healthcare, for example? The economy? The church? How inhuman? How ungodly!

To find Jesus this Christmas...maybe we need to get back home....living our human lives. That's where HE is, Emmanuel!

Advent 3 Prep 12/11/11

-Last week's homily is available by email
-The Scriptures for this week are available at USCCB.org
-I am preaching at 4:00, 9:30am at St. Albert and 12:15 at the cathedral

You have to be Free to have Joy

Our hearts must be free in order to rejoice.  The biblical witness of the prophet Isaiah is that of returning exiles. The effect of the prophecy is liberation. One cannot truly rejoice when he or she is captive. This is true of our Christian hearts and spirituality as well. Joy requires freedom from selfish pursuits.

We must be liberated from self in order to cling to God and God's will.  There is no true happiness outside of God's will.  In our world and culture this is strange proposal indeed. Those who rejoice in the Lord are exiles in the foreign land of our self-satisfying cultures.

To what is your heart enslaved that is stifling your joy? Does your joy make you feel like you are a prisoner in a foreign land? Wadayathink?

Advent 2 Prep - 12/4/11

-Last weeks homily is available by e-mail
-The Scriptures for this Sunday are available at USCCB.org
-I am preaching at the 9:30 AM and the 12:30 PM mass


Here is your God!

I am most inspired by the line in the first reading from today that tells us that "here is your God". I am a realized eschatologist. What that means is that I am convinced of the real, ALREADY presence of God in our lives; the kingdom of God. Already, but not yet.

I was discussing the word Advent with the eighth-graders this past week it is best defined as "arriving or appearing". Because we see advent as a preparation season, we have a tendency to interpret those words as future tense. What our scriptures and church tell us is that this appearance of Jesus, Emmanuel, is in history, mystery, and in majesty (past, present, and future).

So, are we distracted by the Lord's future coming or past appearing from seeing his mysterious appearance now? It takes faith.

What do you say?

. 

Advent I Prep - November 27

-The homily of last week is available by email
-The Scriptures are available at USCCB.org>
-I am preaching at 5:30 and 8:00 Mass

The Good as Enemy of the Perfect

I know that the saying is usually stated "the perfect should not become the enemy of the good". However, I sense that the scriptures and the new church year in advent are inviting us to see it the opposite way. Yes, indeed it seems that even for us religious people that rather than the the good leading us into communion with the perfect love of God, the good stuff from God can cause us to wander away from Him. .

The first reading wonders "why do you permit us to wander from your ways, O God?". Well, the freedom to wander away is precisely the godlikeness of our human nature. God made us like Himself and that means we are completely free....like Him. Free to love. God's hope was that we would use that freedom to love Him as He loves us. But, noooooooo. We go and fall for every good but lesser thing that falls in our path. Even the religious stuff can be chosen by us and loved in a way that does NOT lead us to God but leads us away...hardened hearts..

The parable of the final judgment reinforces the point that even the good stuff that the master gives us to be "busy about" can draw us into hard heartedness. So...do you see it? Marriage, ministry, children, material possessions, studies, creative work, athletics, beauty, joy in life.....all of it can - if handled poorly - can draw us away from the Kingdom of God and into the dead center of self. That would put us to sleep...not awake.

Christ the King Prep - November 20th

-Last week's Homily available by email
-This week's scriptures available at USCCB.org
-I'm preaching at 4:00pm and 11:00am Masses

How did we end up so far from here?

Exile is the condition of one's heart in relationship to God...who is here. I'd like to suggest that we have been dragged off into exile. We refuse to live "here" where God has come to find us. We are carried off by our sad strategies for happiness, our childish ploys for success and approval. We end up living life far away from where God is.

The church is the embassy/presence of the Kingdom of Christ. Can we recognize our homeland present in the ambassador's compound? Can we scurry to get on the turf where we are safely home...even though we may be far away from home?

Wow, my metaphor is getting too complex. To what extent are you regularly "away from home"? What choice of your life has "carried you off"? How can you get back to "here"?

November 13 Homily Prep

-The homily from 11/6 is available by email
-The Scriptures for 11/13 are available at USCCB.org >
-I am preaching at the 9:30am and 12:30pm Masses on Sunday

Living the Light?!

The Word this week and the feast of St. Albert (that we celebrate this weekend) invite me to consider all the "increase" that we at St. Albert have produced with God's gift of salvation - Light. The story of the talents and the warnings of the coming "day of the Lord" go together to challenge me.

The "talent" or "resource" that the Master has entrusted to me is "salvation" in the Kingdom. The story plays out with a couple of challenging questions.
1. Have I multiplied the gift that I have received?
2. Is there more of God's Kingdom present because of what I have done with God's gift?
3. If not, isn't it possible that I never really received it?
4. Am I not worse off than before the original offer?

My conclusion (which I would like you to test in your life), is that many of us are believers in the Kingdom "in general"., in our hearts, in a way that is "personal". We believe we have received the knowledge and love of God - in general. But we are not "productive" of the Kingdom in particular, in the world, in the concrete lives that we live (in prayer, morality, loving, marriage, ministry) where the Lord wants to see the growth.

The gift was not given for our personal satisfaction, it was given for God's glory. But we are not productive.

Isn't it fair then to see and to say that I have not truly received the gift that I like to claim I have? Maybe we really DON'T believe in God as we claim on surveys. Isn't it possible to religiously claim to be a "child of the light" while at the same time refuse to surrender certain aspects of my life to the Kingdom and thus dwell in darkness?

If it is a fact that I am not being productive for the Kingdom in concrete and real, observable ways then maybe I have not really recieved the gift of salvation/kingdom at all. "take away from Him the little he has"! Ouch.

Being saved is way more than a satisfying feeling in your heart, right? As long as one has life and breath it's never too late to start being productive. It's about on-going, never-ending conversion, right?

Nov. 6 Homily Prep

-Last week's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures are at USCCB.org>
-I am preaching at 5:30 and 8:00am Masses

Wait for the Lord!

We often speak at this time of the liturgical year about our waiting for the Lord. I am thinking that the Scripture texts this week invite us to not only wait but to check the quality of the waiting. What I mean is that I think many Catholics are legitimately "waiting" for the Lord, but not desiring His life. Many have made an act of faith and sincerely believe in Jesus' resurrection and they are waiting for the Lord's return. But they are not desiring His Kingdom, his Life. What's the difference?

I believe the relationship that we have with God is deeply affected by what we desire and it is revealed by the quality of our waiting. If one believes in the love, mercy, and compassion of the Lord....one's waiting for Him will have a certain characteristic. In contrast, if one believes in the judgment and retribution of the Lord....that's a different demeanor in waiting. If one truly longs for and desires communion with God, one waits differently, believes differently, lives differently!

How are you waiting for the Lord? There are different types of waiting:
We can be waiting for a report from the medical test? That is dread, not desire.  
We can be waiting for a surgery to be completed.  That is anxiety, not desire.  
We can be waiting for the dentist to stop drilling on our tooth. That is endurance, not desire.
We can be waiting for the line to move at the grocery store.  That is impatience, not desire.
We can be wishing that our son or daughter would call or visit.  That is loneliness, not desire
We can be keeping vigil at the hospice waiting for our loved one to die.  That is agony not desire.

What is the quality of our faith? Does it have something to do with what we are waiting for? Do we truly desire the one we claim to be waiting for?

Dread
Anxiety
Endurance
Impatience
Agony
Loneliness

You?

October 30, 2011 - 31st Sunday of the Year

-Homily's available by email at frete@saint-allbert.org
-scriptures for this Sunday at USCCB.org >
-I will be preaching at 4:00 Mass and 11:00 Mass.

Religious blindness to personhood is the worst

I am thinking that religious blindness (read: pharisaicalism) is the most damaging of all such blindnesses that plague our culture with disrespect. We usually are blinded to the Personhood and thus dignity of others because of their disturbing disguise. Others take things on themselves that we find offensive, disturbing and that distract or blind us to their dignity as persons. This has been my theme throughout Respect Life month.

The Pharisees however come up with a dangerous twist to this operation. They discover or design a difficult profile of religiosity that they can abide by. They are "able" religiously. They then impose this standard or profile or costume or disguise upon others. These others don't wear the disguise very well and then the pharisee disregards or disrespects the other because they are not living up to HIS standard. It's frightening and fierce. And it works very well.

I say it works well because it makes the broken, frail and imperfect Pharisee feel good about him/herself. The costume of perfect religious observance hides, consoles, and blinds the "unloved and unlovable Pharisee" even from her/himself. Self-hatred, the beginning of all disrespect for persons and life, is the devil's gift to the human family created in the Divine Image. Self-hatred is the blindness underlying all others that drives us to all manner of hateful thinking, speaking, acting, and choosing.

I propose that this pharisee's blindness to persons is worse than all the others because It is a misuse of God's gift of religion. It is using the most powerful force for Good in the world and twisting it into evil. This pharisaical blindness is a favorite weapon of the enemies of God. When the enemies of God see pharisaicalism they use it not only to hate but to get religion and God out of our social and political life. It is a very effective and powerful weapon in the culture wars between Good and evil of every age. Notice, for example, that whenever an insane or criminal person appears on the scene who has religious motives or associations, true religion becomes the "evil" that must be irradiated from society. Clever devil!

Being religiously motivated people ourselves, we have to beware of the temptation of the pharisee - fascination with our version of religious righteousness that allows us to judge others and blinds us to their value as dignified human persons. That is amazingly easy to do when you are living "right". It is, however, always wrong.

Is this temptation real in your life? Let me know if I'm just being pharisaical! :)

Sunday, October 23 - homily Prep

-Last week's homily is available by email: frete@saint-Albert.org
-This Sunday's scriptures are available at USCCB.org >
-I am presiding at 12:30 Mass on Sunday

Jesus On Loving Neighborliness

In our multi-cultural world we are often pushed to the "one God" political correctness. We try to make all the religions of the world to be fundamentally about the same thing..."there's only one God, afterall". As Christians we can be challenged to wonder "what was or is the impact of Jesus?"

Today's gospel is an experience of this wondering and an answer to it. Jesus gives us the greatest commandment for religious followers and he seems to be just quoting the Hebrew Scriptures....love God(Deut 6) and your neighbor as yourself(Lev 19). So, nothing new with Jesus?! Right? ,Wrong.

Rule #1: Jesus is not a prophet teaching about God's commands to love, he IS the God who commands AND loves. In fact Jesus re-defines and models what it means to "love" - give self away unto death. That is news and it is new.

Rule #2: Hidden in Jesus' use of the word "neighbor" is another revolutionary bit of news: your neighbor is "everyone" near you (not just your kinsman or fellow Israelite of Leviticus law that he cites). It gets bigger and better becuase as we come to discover, our neighbor (one who is near you) in distress is not cursed, to be feared, or ignored but IS Jesus Himself (Mt 25.... "the least of these are ME"). Now, with this piece of startling news, re-read Rule #1.

Jesus is not your grandmother's Rabbi. He is not only teacher but TEACHING, not just revealing but REVELATION! This is NEW, in fact it is NEWS, in fact it is GOOD NEWS and that's why we call it the life changing Gospel. Does Jesus make enough difference in your religious life?

Homily Prep for October 16th

-Last Sunday's homily is available by email request at frete@saint-albert.org
-this Sunday's scriptures are at USCCB.org>
-I am preaching at Saturday 5:30, 8:00 and 11:00am Sunday

Status

Jesus Christ knows how to treat other people...like persons. Jesus sees every person not according to their status but as they are: as persons in the image of the divine person, His Abba. Even we believing Christians have a hard time seeing people for what they are: persons.

This is respect life month. We can expel a fetus from the womb (read: kill) because we don't see it as a person - but an unwanted pregnancy. We can ask our kids to suffocate us when we get "Alzheimer's" because we don't see Alzheimer's victims as persons - but as a burden. We can tell our spouses that we want to be cremated or don't want any funeral services because we don't want people standing around looking at us when we're dead because we see ourselves not as beloved person, but disgusting dead bodies.

We have a problem in how we treat people - even ourselves because unlike Jesus we forget or try to ignore that we are persons in the image of God. We need to stop that if we can hope to stop abortion.

Do you show any symptoms of this trend to not see personhood in those around you? In you?

October 9 Homily Prep

-The homily from October 2 is available by email request
-The readings from October 9 are at USCCB.org >
-I am preaching at the 4:00pm at SAG and the 11:30 at St John Bosco

"It's Do-able"

St. Paul to the Philippians says "I can do all things in Christ...". I am reminded of the first anniversary of my father's death. My mom and sister and I went to St. Rita (where he was buried) and I had the Mass being offered for him. After Mass we went to the cemetery and stood at the grave, praying. I said, "well, Ma, how are you feeling?" She responded in the way only my mother could.."well, a lot better than I was a year ago."

Her admission that she was healing was a sign to me that while undesireable, widowhood and orphan-hood is do-able. Life still has meaning even when you think your purpose for living is taken away. This life in Christ is do-able. In fact, that experience of losing my dad at a "young" age was the first real suffering I had to endure, my first test of faith. On that first anniversary day, I realized with my mom, that with faith - it's do-able.

Too many of us live in the fear of life's difficulties and challenges believing that we couldn't "do it". How many things do you believe you could not survive? St. Paul encourages us to give up those small-souled thoughts and fears. Be strong, believe that in Christ we can "do it" - whatever it is. As long as we are in Christ, we are choosing with Christ, we are living and loving in Christ - then we can do"all things in him who strengthens me."

So, whose afraid of the big bad wolf? Not me. I might not be happy about it, I might prefer a hundred other things, I might even whine, kick, scream and cry over it - but I can "do it" if I remain in Him.

How about you?

anx·i·ety \aŋ-ˈzī-ə-tē\ - is it fear?

anx·i·ety \aŋ-ˈzī-ə-tē\
noun
1 a : painful or apprehensive uneasiness of mind usually over an impending or anticipated ill
b : fearful concern or interest
c : a cause of anxiety
2 : an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by physiological signs (as sweating, tension, and increased pulse), by doubt concerning the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about one's capacity to cope with it

Trouble Posting

A couple of people had a hard time posting a comment last week. Others did not. Anybody notice what the problem might be? Let me know. BTW, I have removed the word verification feature for leaving a comment so maybe that will help. Matador!

The 27th Sunday of the Year - October 2

-Last week's homily is available by request at .. frete@saint-albert.org
-The Scriptures for this Sunday are at USCCB.org >
-I am preaching at the 9:30 and 11:00am Masses

Are you INTO Jesus?

In the 80's maybe there was an expression among the really hip people that went something like this..."I am really into....blank."  Whatever the blank is was the thing that someone was really enthusiastic about, really interested in, or really preoccupied with.  What are you INTO?

Girls really used to be "INTO" their boyfriend.  Guys were really "INTO" drag racing.  Young professionals were INTO herb tea, vegetarianism, or jogging.  Being "INTO" something denotes more than simple interest or a casual hobby.  So, while the word "into" would be a preposition indicating location or action - the use of "into" in this way was meant to indicate "devotion or dedication" of a more serious kind.

St. Paul calls us to get "INTO" Christ Jesus.  Not in a casual or human interest way, but "INTO" Him.  His call indicates an intensity and a participation IN Christ Jesus to the extent that it is not accidental but substantial commitment, involvement, purpose.

Anxiety, or fear, is the enemy of "INTO".  For people of faith, fear is the killer of relationship with God.  I know that our first answer ew might give to the question "what kills your relationship with God?" is sin.  And that is true.  But fear is the innocent opposition to God.

Do you see fear/anxiety/worry as separating you from the love of God?  Tell me about that.

September 25 Homily Prep

-Last week's homily didn't make it into recording
-This week's scriptures are at USCCB.org

-I am preaching at the 4:00pm on Saturday and the 11am on Sunday

 

September 18th Homily Lost

The techno-challenged Matador didn't push the right button. Next time

September 18th Homily Preview

-last week's homily available below on video
-the Sunday scriptures are at USCCB.org>
-I am preaching at 5:30pm and 9:30am Masses

Click "here" for Sept 11th Homily Video