More on Religious Liberty

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The news has been covering the continuing controversy over the issue of religious liberty as it pertains to the new rules issued by the Federal Department of Health & Human Services requiring insurance to cover contraceptives.  Our bishops have been attempting to dialogue with our government on this issue.  It should be made clear that our bishops are not lobbying to make contraception illegal.  They simply ask that religious organizations (with a much broader definition of religious organization than set by the government) not be mandated to provide coverage for anything that violates the religious beliefs of the organization.

This is certainly an important issue but there are other areas where religious liberty is being threatened.  With this in mind, the United States Bishops have issued a new document entitled Our First, Most Cherished Liberty: A Statement on Religious Liberty on April 12, 2012.  It is only about thirteen pages.  I encourage you to read it and think about what religious liberty means today.

On page 11 of the document, they call for a special time of prayer and focus from the evening of June 21st to July 4th to focus on religious liberty.  July 4th is, of course, the founding of our country with the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  The Declaration recognizes the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  It also sees these rights as coming from God.

June 22nd is the Feast of St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher who were martyred because they followed their faith over their country.  During this time period we will also celebrate a feast of John the Baptist on June 24th who was beheaded because he held to his faith.  On June 30th, we will celebrate the first Roman Martyrs.  All these people died standing up for their faith.  Do we have the courage to stand up for our faith?

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

For further reading check out our articles

Now What?

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Easter Sunday was four days ago.  For many, life has already gone back to exactly whatever it was before.  Life goes on without change.

First, let me say that Easter is not over.  For Catholics, Easter is not a single day.  I began by saying “Easter Sunday was four days ago.”  I emphasis the Sunday because we celebrate Easter for 50 days until Pentecost.  Even more so, we are still in the octave of Easter.  “Octave” refers to eight days.  The Octave begins with Easter Sunday and continues until this coming Sunday (April 15th).    During the octave the Gloria is said even at Daily Mass as we celebrate the Resurrection.  Easter (seeing the Triduum as one event) is the most important time of the year.  It deserves not just a day but a season.  The Crucifixion and Resurrection are crucial to understanding our Catholic faith.

From the Crucifixion and Resurrection comes hope.  Hope that comes knowing that Jesus died so that our sins might be forgiven.  Hope that comes from knowing of the Resurrection to see that there is much more to life than what we know in this world.

What strikes you during this Easter Season?  For me, two things come to mind.  First, during the readings at the Easter Vigil I became very much aware of how God was present to all his people in the events from Salvation History that we heard in the readings.  It wasn’t any one reading.  (See my homily from the Easter Vigil).

The other moment of grace was celebrating the Sacraments with our RCIA participants that I had been working with over the last few months.  It was my privilege to preside as two were baptized, one received into the Church, and two completing their sacraments.  Our faith is not a dead faith.  It still speaks everyday to what is going on in our lives.

What difference does faith make in your life?  It might be a particular moment of grace during Lent, the Triduum, or Easter.  Has your life been changed by your faith?  Sometimes the change happens quickly and sometimes we barely notice any change because it happens over months or years.

Faith is not static.  We are called to deepen our relationship with Jesus throughout our entire lives.  Open your hearts and turn them over to Jesus.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

 

Jesus Christ is Risen Today

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It is mid-afternoon on Easter Sunday.  Over the last three days, we have celebrated Holy Thursday where Jesus celebrated the First Eucharist and calls us to do the same.  On Good Friday, we celebrated the Crucifixion but we can only celebrate the Crucifixion in light of the Resurrection.  Each time we celebrate the Eucharist, we celebrate Jesus’ sacrificing of his life for us but again, we can only celebrate in light of the Resurrection.

Here is my homily for the Easter Vigil.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

Easter Vigil, Year B – April 7, 2012
Genesis 1:1-2:2
Genesis 22:1-18
Exodus 14:15-15:1
Isaiah 54:5-14
Isaiah 55:1-11
Ezekiel 36:16-17a, 18-28
Romans 6:3-11
Mark 16:1-7

Our celebration began in the dark outside with the Blessing of the Easter Fire.  Then, we blessed and lit the Paschal Candle and entered into the church.  As we move into the church, we are carrying candles which we lit from the Paschal Candle.  All this reminds us how Jesus brought light to the world.

We have just heard eight readings.  Why do listen to so many readings?  These are not just a bunch of isolated stories.  They serve a purpose to tell us how God has been present to his people since the beginning of time.  It is the story of Salvation History.  There was never a time when God did not exist and God is the creator of all and so all belongs to him.  A literal interpretation of our first reading from the first creation story in Genesis might be taken as an attempt to explain how God created us.  The point is not how.  The point is that God is creator of all.  God is the one who brings order to all.  In that order, God has created us in his image and given us dominion over the world.

Our second reading is familiar to many as the story of God telling Abraham to sacrifice his son.  If this is all we hear, then it seems impossible.  Why do we listen to this story?  Because it tells us of how much Abraham trusted in God.  Because Abraham trusted in God, he was richly blessed.  Abraham serves as an example of faith and trust in God to us.

Our reading from Exodus tells of a pivotal moment in Salvation History.  God was leading his people out of Egypt.  The Egyptians were chasing them down.  It seemed like they would not be freed after all but then God saved them in a way that only God could, by parting the Red Sea.  Note that the pivotal event involved crossing through the waters to a new life.

Our readings from Isaiah come from the time around the end of the Babylonian Exile.  When they were defeated and many were taken into exile, they felt God had abandoned them.  But then, in his mercy (the mercy we count on) he takes them back.

This is an important part of Salvation History – the Israelites sin and God forgives.  What is the price of God’s forgiveness?  Well, God invites them to “come, without paying, and without cost.”

God’s forgiveness is a gift.  There is nothing we can do to earn it.  It is God’s to give but to open ourselves to that gift, we must acknowledge our sins and seek to do better.      We must also believe in Jesus and that he died and rose for us.  In our humanness, it can be difficult to understand how Jesus’ death on a Cross can be for the forgiveness of our sins.       But we don’t have to understand.  We just have to believe.  We just need to believe in what God has written in our hearts in the new covenant, the covenant formed in baptism through Jesus.

Remember before when I pointed out how the Israelites entered into new life by crossing the waters of the Red Sea?  It is through the waters of baptism that we enter into new life in Christ.  In a few minutes we will celebrate the baptism of Olivia and Stephen.  We will receive Heather into the Catholic Church, and Anthony and Steven will complete their sacraments.  Tonight is a major event in their lives.

What they do tonight, we have already done in some way.  After Olivia and Stephen are baptized, we will all renew our baptismal promises.      We do this acknowledging that we are not perfect, that we are all in need of constant renewal and forgiveness.  Our celebrations of the last couple of days remind us of that.  Thursday night we celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the gift of the Eucharist where we are constantly renewed in God’s grace.  Yesterday, we celebrated the Passion of Jesus, believing that our sins are indeed forgiven through Jesus death on a Cross.      Jesus’ Crucifixion can only be understood by what we just heard in the gospel.  After Jesus’ death, his body was laid in the tomb.      But the women have just found the tomb empty.

When we hear that the tomb is empty, we rejoice because we know that Jesus is risen.  But we must realize it wasn’t so clear for the women.  In fact, if you read the line that follows this gospel passage, we are told that the women were afraid.  They didn’t know why the tomb was empty.  They did not yet understand.

Ultimately, the Risen Jesus appears to them so that they might believe in the Resurrection and eternal life.      This changes our whole view of the world.  Things of this world don’t seem so important when we believe in the gift of eternal life.  We can’t always understand what eternal life is but we can believe.  In our belief, we have hope and that hope changes everything.

With this in mind, we have some sacraments to celebrate so let us continue by first calling up Olivia and Stephen with their godparents so that we help them cross the waters.

 

Chrism Mass

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I attended our Chrism Mass last night at the Cathedral.  For anyone who is unfamiliar with the Chrism Mass, it is a diocesan celebration that always occurs during Holy Week.  It is a Mass so there is the celebration of the Eucharist which is the “Source and Summit of the Catholic Church.”

Two other principal things happen at the Chrism Mass.  First, the priests gather with the bishop and renew their priestly promises.  Ultimately, everything we do as priests flows from God but in renewing our priestly promises, we show our resolve to serve according to God’s will.

The second thing is the blessing of the oils that will be used in the parishes throughout the diocese.  The bishop blesses the oils which are taken back to each parish for the celebration of the sacraments for the coming year.

Both of these are important events in their own rights.  Part of what I like in the Chrism Mass is the sign of unity it provides.  Parishioners and clergy from across the diocese gather together for this celebration.  The priests coming together and the oils going out to the parishes are a sign of unity to me.  We are not a bunch of individual churches, each in our own towns.  We are one church, united in faith.

May God bring us together in unity to follow His Will in all things.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

More Change

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Well, if you have been reading my blog for a while, you may know that I was ordained a priest in June 2007.  My first assignment was St. Mary’s on the south side of Elmira.  I served there for three years but after two years the pastor’s term was up and a new pastor came.  The following year, my three-year term was up and I moved to Our Lady of the Lakes for a different experience.  One year after I arrived at Our Lady of the Lakes, the pastor left to take a new parish.  So, a new pastor came.

This June will be the fifth anniversary of my ordination as a priest.  I will have served in two different parishes with four different pastors.  One might think that I might be doing something to wear out pastors!  I hope not!

Well, this week Bishop Clark to give me a new assignment.  At the end of June, I will be moving to Ithaca to serve at Immaculate Conception.  You might wonder if I will wear out the pastor there too.  I hope not because I will be the pastor!

All kidding aside, through a lot of prayer and discernment, I do believe this is where God is calling me to be.  That is what is most important.  Before I received the call from the bishop, people sometimes asked if I felt ready to be a pastor.  My answer was ‘how do you know if you are ready to do something you haven’t done before?’

I didn’t feel ‘not ready’ but what does it mean to be ready?  Of course, in the years when there were a lot more priests, a priest may be ordained 20 years before they became a pastor.  Of course, in those days, most priests were ordained at 26 years of age and had never had another job.  I spent several years in engineering and was almost 38 years old when I was ordained.

The two parishes I have served in certainly have given my very different experience.  The first being a single church serving a portion of one county while the second covered an area spanning three counties (and three area codes) with four churches currently celebrating Sunday Mass.

Every parish has its pro’s and con’s.  Every parish can have its challenges.  What is most important is that it be where God is leading me.  As long as I go where God leads me and I remain open to His will, God will give me (often through the people around me) what I need to accomplish what He asks of me.

Please pray for me as I prepare to take this new assignment.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

 

Holy Week

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Here is the article I wrote for the cover of today’s (Passion Sunday) Bulletin

The Most Important Time of the Year

Today is Passion Sunday, aka Palm Sunday.  These two names identify what we do today.  We begin Mass with the Blessing of the Palms.  We read the gospel story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem for his hour where he is greeted with praise by people waving “leafy branches.”  Then, our gospel of the Mass is the story of Jesus’ Passion where he celebrates the Eucharist with his disciples, is arrested, and crucified.  He gives up his life not because he has done something wrong but for the forgiveness of our sins.

Next Sunday we will celebrate Easter Sunday and the Resurrection but we do not view the Resurrection as a singular event.  Rather, it is part of one event spread over three days known as the Easter Triduum.

The Easter Triduum begins with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday.  It is the night when Jesus celebrated the first Eucharist with his disciples and washed their feet.  He did this at the time of the Jewish Passover.  The Passover was no ordinary meal.  It was the celebration of God freeing the Israelites from the Egyptians.  There was nothing more important to the Jews than the Passover and there is nothing more important than the Eucharist for us as Catholics.

Then, on Good Friday, we again recall Jesus’ Passion.  On Passion Sunday, we read from Mark’s Gospel and on Good Friday we read from John’s Gospel.  We hear the Passion on Sunday as we begin Holy Week to bring into focus what this week is all about.  We hear the Passion again on Good Friday as the day when Jesus actually gave up his life for us.

His Crucifixion is not an isolated event.  When he celebrated the Eucharist with his disciples he declared the bread to be his Body, ‘which will be given up for you’ and the wine to be his Blood ‘which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.”  In this Jesus, unites the sacrifice of his Crucifixion to the Eucharist.  That is why we call the Eucharist a sacrifice.

The Crucifixion is followed by the Resurrection.  The Resurrection shows us the give of eternal life.  The Resurrection is also crucial to understanding the Crucifixion.  Through the Resurrection, we come to understand that the Crucifixion is not a defeat of Jesus but a triumph over sin and death.  So, we see the Lord’s Supper, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection as one central event.

Because of all this Easter, not Christmas, is the most important time of the year.  Our Easter Vigil is the most important liturgy of the year.  We begin at 8 p.m. with the Blessing of the Easter Fire where we are reminded of how Jesus is the Light of the World.  Then the singing of the Exsultet and readings remind us of how God always watched over his people throughout the ages.  Easter marks a new beginning for us as Christians.

This year, at the Vigil, we will baptize two people, receive one into the church, and have to others completing their initiation in our Catholic Faith.

I encourage you to join us for as much of the Easter Triduum as you can.  Words cannot do these liturgies justice for they truly are grace-filled celebrations.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

Stations of the Cross

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One of the common devotions of the Catholic Church, especially in Lent, is the Stations of the Cross.  In praying the Stations of the Cross, we remember what Jesus went through during his final hours for us.  Some of the Stations have specific scriptural origins (click here for a table) and some come from tradition.

Generally, the Stations of the Cross can be found hanging on the side walls in most Catholic Churches.  They may be portrayed by simple Crosses or elegant artwork.  When praying the Stations, one walks from station to station as they pray, meditating on the final steps of Jesus.  I am especially fond of outdoor Stations of the Cross.  I like the outdoor Stations for two reasons.  First, simply I like to be outdoors in the beauty of God’s Creation.  Secondly, when found outside, the Stations are generally spread out over a much greater distance than in church.  So, the symbolizes of walking those final steps of Jesus is much greater.

Today, I would like to offer some brief thoughts on each of the Stations.

The First Station – Jesus is Condemned to Death

Jesus was arrested and sentenced to death.  He had not done anything wrong.  Those who had him arrested simply didn’t like what he was saying because it wasn’t what they wanted to hear.  Jesus willing gave up his life so that our sins would be forgiven.  Are we willing to really listen to what Jesus has to say?

The Second Station – Jesus Accepts His Cross

Jesus willingly accepted his Cross but not just the literal Cross but the suffering he endured on the Cross.  When suffering comes our way, do we willing accept it (and seek God’s help) or do we do everything we can to avoid a cross?

The Third Station – Jesus Falls the First Time

That wooden Cross was a very heavy burden to carry, especially for Jesus because he had already been beaten and scourged. So, he falls.  When we are given a cross to bear, how often do we fall under the weight of the cross?

The Fourth Station – Jesus Meets His Mother

The disciples all abandoned Jesus when he was arrested.  But Mary, his mother, never abandoned him.  Do we feel abandoned by others when we need help?  Do we abandon others when they most need our help?

The Fifth Station – Simon Helps Jesus Carry the Cross

Jesus could not carry the Cross alone.  Simon was forced to help him.  Who do we know that is bearing a cross and needs help?  Are we willing to be the one to help?  Or do we run away?

The Sixth Station – Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

Jesus suffered greatly during his final hours.  There was nothing Veronica could do to change that.  She could not take his suffering away.  She could not suffer for him.  She couldn’t fix everything.  The one thing she could do was be there for Jesus and wipe his tears away in compassion.  When we know someone who is suffering we might feel like there is nothing we can do to help.  It is in that hour that all we can do is be there in compassion.

The Seventh Station – Jesus Falls a Second Time

Jesus falls again under the weight of the Cross but he does not give up.  He continues to his hour when he will be crucified.  When we face suffering, do we kept going in faith or do we give up?  Jesus never gives up on us.

The Eighth Station – Jesus Consoles the Women of Jerusalem

As Jesus carried his Cross, there were women along the way who were weeping and mourning.  Jesus stops to console them.  Jesus knows that he must be crucified but the women could not understand why.  Do we understand why Jesus had to die for us?

The Ninth Station – Jesus Falls the Third Time

How many times do we fall?  How often do we sin, falling into temptation and sin?  When we do, it is Jesus who helps us back up when we repent and seek his forgiveness.

The Tenth Station – Jesus is Stripped of His Garments

Jesus is stripped naked in humiliation.  Jesus was completely exposed to the people.  Do we hide our sinfulness?  Do we think God doesn’t see our sins if we cover them up somehow?  We stand naked before God, all our sins and weaknesses exposed.  We cannot hide from God.

The Eleventh Station – Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

Such a painful death.  Imagine the pain of the nails driven into his hands.  It must have been awful.  Imagine hanging on the cross and how difficult it would be to breathe.  That’s how crucifixion kills – it is difficult to breathe, leaving one gasping for breath.  It is not a quick death.  Jesus was willing to endure this because he loves us.

The Twelfth Station – Jesus Dies on the Cross

It seems like utter defeat!  How could this happen to the Messiah?  But it is a victory over sin and death, paid at a great price.  Jesus loves us.

The Thirteenth Station – Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross

The body is dead but it is does not became a meaningless lump of tissue.  The body must be respected.  So, Jesus is taken down from the Cross.

The Fourteenth Station – Jesus is Laid in the Tomb

Recognizing that Jesus’ body must be respected because of the soul that had dwelled there, it must be given a proper burial.  It is not just left to rot away.  Out of respect, it is given a proper burial.  Do we try the bodies of loved ones with love and respect after they die?

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

Whose Job is It?

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There seems to be an attitude today among some people that the government should fix all the problems.  Does the government serve a key role in solutions to many problems?  Yes, but that doesn’t mean it is the government’s job to fix everything.

I am reminded of a quote from President John F. Kennedy inaugural address, “ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” (http://www.ushistory.org/documents/ask-not.htm).

Is there something you can do?

One area of concern for the Catholic Church is the growing wage separation between the rich and the poor.  The government could raise the minimum wage.  It is always a concern that everyone be paid a “just wage” defined as what is necessary for a person to earn enough to provide for the basic needs of their family.

However, if the government were to drastically raise the minimum wage all at once, it could be detrimental to the economy.  I am not saying not to raise the minimum wage at all.  We just need to be prudent in how fast it is raised.

Of course, there is the other end of the wage scale.  There are high level company executives making millions of dollars each year.  There are sports stars also making millions of dollars.  I think these salaries are nothing short of ridiculous.  Those executives may play a crucial role for the their companies but so does the average worker.  Should the government set a maximum wage for the company executives and sports stars?  I am not sure that would work.

What we need to do is change the attitude of such people  so that people are not demanding such high salaries.

Should the government administer programs to help the poor and the vulnerable?  Yes.  Catholic Social Teaching follows a principle known as subsidiarity.  Subsidiarity means that issues are addressed at the lowest level possible.  This starts with a local community and works its way up.  Poverty, homelessness, and health care are national problems that require the involvement of the national government but with the involvement of the local communities.  The local communities are the ones who know the problems of their specific communities but do not have the resources that our national government has.

Government needs to be involved but so do individual people.  What can you do using your time, talents, and treasures to help those in need?  It isn’t just a job for the government or the Church.  It requires each of us to be involved to bring about the necessary and lasting changes.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

Rejoice in the Cross

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Here is my homily for this Sunday.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

4th Sunday in Lent, Year B
2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23
Ephesians 2:4-10
John 3:14-21
March 18, 2012

The Book of Chronicles speaks of the infidelities, the abominations of the Israelites, and how they are polluting the Lord’s Temple.  These verses can be discouraging but it is the reality of how the Israelites have been acting. 

Today is the Fourth Sunday of Lent.  It is Laetare Sunday.  Laetare means to rejoice.  But these few verses from Chronicles don’t lead us to rejoice.  They can be pretty discouraging but if we read further we see a reason to rejoice.

What was God’s reaction when the Israelites failed to follow the Lord’s way? 

In the days of Noah God had caused the Great Flood to destroy the sin in the world.  Since his promise to Noah, God has not destroyed the people for their sins.  What is God’s reaction in today’s reading?  When the people fail to follow him, he sends messengers (prophets) to speak God’s word, showing mercy, to help them see the error of their ways and to encourage them to change their ways.

When they still don’t change, he allows the Babylonians to defeat them but they are not destroyed.

Giving all this, what reason would there be to rejoice?  We rejoice because, as Paul says, God is rich in mercy because of the great love he had for us.

God never gives us on us.  We must always try to live as Jesus teaches us but we when we make mistakes, when we screw up and sin, we can rejoice that we have a God who is merciful and forgives us.

God’s mercy is a great gift to us!

Jesus speaks of God’s love.  We see people holding posters at events that read John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

All we have to do is believe.

Note, I do not say that we just have to say “I believe.”  I said all we have to do is believe.  The word ‘believe’ is a verb.  So, to believe requires an action.

In a few moments, we will say our Creed where we say, I believe in God the Father, I believe in Jesus Christ, I believe in the Holy Spirit, and I believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life of the world to come.

You can find much more about what we believe in the Bible and the teachings of the Church.

But in this season of Lent we can ask ourselves what does it mean to say we believe in light of our sins?  How do we know that our sins are truly forgiven?

Let’s go back to the beginning of today’s gospel.  Jesus makes reference to how Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert.  If you go back and look at that whole story, the people had been sinning.  To punish them, God sent poisonous serpents to bite them but then when Moses (as God commanded) took one of those serpents, mounted it on a pole, and lifted it up for all to see, when they looked upon it they were healed (see Numbers 21:4-9).

Jesus says the Son of Man must be lifted must be lifted up in the same way so that all who believe in him might have eternal life.

Jesus is lifted up twice.  First, on the Cross, which by itself could look like a defeat, but then he is lifted up a second time in the Resurrection so that we might know the power of the Cross.

So, when we look upon the Cross, we see it as the instrument of our salvation but we are not saved by a piece of wood.  No earthly thing can save us.  It is Jesus himself hanging on the Cross because of his great love for us that we are saved.

That is why as Catholics we don’t just have Crosses in our churches, we don’t just have images of Jesus.  We have Crucifixes to remind us of what Jesus did for us.  We don’t despair looking at the Crucifix.  We rejoice because of the love that Jesus showed for us hanging on the Cross.  

It is that love in which we believe.  It is in that love we rejoice today on Laetare Sunday.

But it is not enough just to see Jesus crucified.  We must be transformed by it.  We must want to become more like Jesus.  We must want to move from the darkness to light.  

Because of the love that Jesus has shown for us we can trust in him and all that he teaches us.  We must strive to live according to what Jesus teaches.

Change doesn’t come easy.  We struggle.  We fail, we repent and God keeps forgiving us.  In God’s mercy, we rejoice.

Thinking Beyond Ourselves

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In Western New York where I live we have been having one of the mildest winters ever.  The temperatures have been warmer than normal and the snowfall is much less than normal.  Many people have been talking how wonderful it is.

It is much more pleasant than many winters but, looking at the bigger picture, I hesitate to see it as wonderful for two reasons.  First, I keep wondering if the water table is really low which would not be good for the farmers that raise our food.  The lakes are definitely lower than normal but I am not sure how much lower. 

The second reason I am not sure that the mild winter here is wonderful is the tornadoes in the southern part of the United States.  I can’t help but think that the same weather patterns keeping the northeast in a mild winter is the cause of the devastating tornadoes in the south that are not normal for this time of year.  Thinking worldwide, how do our weather patterns relate to all the snow and unusual cold in Europe?

You might be wondering about why I am blogging  about the weather.  You might be wondering if I am going to talk about global warming.  First, let me say I prefer the term global climate change because I am not sure how much the temperature has changed but in my own lifetime I know weather patterns have changed.  However, my point in writing today is not such much global climate change as it is to remind us to ‘think beyond ourselves.’

We are each unique individuals with our own needs but we also need to be concerned about others.  When we make decisions, it isn’t just about what we want or need.  We need to think about the effect it has on others.  Jesus wasn’t thinking about himself when he hung on the Cross.  He was thinking of us.  May we also think of the common good for all.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff