Choosing a Moral, Immoral, or an Amoral Life

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God gave his people commandments as a gift. The Ten Commandments are given to us to help us live a good life (cf. “God’s Commandments”). However, that does not mean they are easy to follow. Good, God-loving people struggle at times to keep the Commandments. The Law can seem like a burden at times.

Thus, when Paul says in today’s first reading (10/14/20 – Wednesday, 28th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2), “If you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law,” it might have felt to the people like a burden had been lifted. They no longer had to follow the law. Or did they?

Paul continues by listing “works of the flesh“, including immorality, impurity, and acts of selfishness. Those who commit such “works of the flesh” are not living in the Spirit.

Today some people seem to want to separate morality from life in Christ. At the very least, they want to change what is considered immoral. On the more extreme side, they seem to want to live an “amoral” life, a life that says the acts we do are neither good or bad.

While Paul says, “If you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law,” he never says we can live immoral lives. In fact, after he lists the “works of the flesh,” he says, “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.“

Is not the Kingdom of God precisely what we seek?

If we follow the Holy Spirit, then we enjoy the fruits of the Spirit that are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Is not love, joy, and peace what we ultimately seek? They come patience, kindness, and generosity.

The law of the Lord is good. The Holy Spirit guides us to fulfill the Law that we may know the Kingdom of God.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

Moving Forward

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The first reading in yesterday’s (28th Sunday in Ordinary Time) Office of Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours led me to think about where we are at as a Church with regards to the number of people who practice the faith.

The reading was from Haggai 1:1-2:10. To provide the setting, it comes after God has brought the Babylonian Exile to an end. The Lord has returned his people to their homeland. They have been rebuilding their homes and their lives but they have not rebuilt the house of the Lord.

They say, “Not now has the time come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” You might remember that in the days of King David, when David made plans to build a temple for the Lord, that, in 2 Samuel 7, the Lord said it was not for David to do this. That would come later, at the time appointed by God.

Now, in the days of Haggai, the Israelites think it is not time. This has not come from the Lord. It is their choice. However, the Lord says it is time. The problem is they are not wholly following the Lord. They are more interested in earthly pursuits.

I now quote from verses 5 and 6 as found in the Liturgy of the Hours:

“Now thus says the Lord of hosts:
Consider your ways!
You have sown much, but have brought in little;
you have eaten, but have not been satisfied:
You have drunk, but have not been exhilarated;
have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed;
And he who earned wages
earned them for a bag with holes in it.

They have worked hard, “sown much, but have brought in little.” Why? Because they are pursing earthly ways instead of the Lord’s way. Earthly ways may bring us some pleasure in the short term but they are not what we are created for. They cannot fulfill us. They cannot satisfy us.

They have “drunk, but have not been exhilarated.” The New American Bible Revised Edition translation (Haggai 1:1-2:10) translates “exhilarated” as “intoxicated.” How many people get drunk to forget their problems while intoxicated? The intoxication might bring a short time of forgetting our problems, leaving us feeling exhilarated but it does not last. On the other hand, if we follow the ways of the Lord, we begin to transcend the things of this world. With the Lord’s peace in our lives, we do not need alcohol to forget our problems. The Lord’s peace endures as long as we follow Jesus.

In this passage, the Lord also speaks of how they have clothed themselves but are not warmed. How do we clothe ourselves? Do we spend a lot of money on clothing to make us look great in earthly terms? How long do we feel “great” based on the earthly clothing we wear? What we need to do is remember how the Lord has clothed us in Baptism. We clothe ourselves with God’s grace that endures forever.

How much do we focus on earning earthly wages? The reality is we need money to be able to provide food, clothing, and shelter for our families. However, we need to remember, as Paul says, “For the love of money is the root of all evils” (1 Timothy 6:10). We must not love money. It will not fulfill us. Only God’s love can truly fulfill us.

The Lord goes on to offer prosperity to those who follow him. The Lord’s call to build a house for him is not based on the Lord needing an earthly dwelling. He doesn’t. The call to build a house for the Lord is to give the people a place dedicated to the Lord where they can focus on the Lord.

We live in a time when fewer and fewer people are coming to church. The downward trend in church attendance has been going on for a long time.

In March of this year (2020), the Coronavirus led to the shutdown of public Masses. Where I serve, we went without public in-person Masses for three months. In June, we were able to reopen for in-person Masses. However, we gather under restrictions for capacity based on practicing good social distancing and wearing face masks. People are returning but in diminished numbers. Of course, there are those with preexisting health concerns who continue to need to remain home to protect their health. We pray for them. We offer livestreaming Masses for them.

What about the rest? I wonder how many people have chosen not to return to church. Some of those who have not returned may have already been on the verge of not coming to church. The current situation simply gives them reason not to come. How do we invite them back? We need to help them understand the treasures we receive at Mass (see my current series, Uncovering the Treasures of the Mass). We need to rebuild our Church.

When the Babylonian Exile ended, the Israelites had no temple building. The Lord called them through the prophet Haggai to build a new temple. We have the church buildings we need. At least where I serve, we do not need to build more church buildings. However, we do need to rebuild our churches as the Lord called St. Francis of Assisi to do. At first, St. Francis thought the words he received from the Lord telling him to “rebuild my church” meant to make the needed physical repairs to the local church building. Francis came to realize the Lord meant much more.

Why have people stopped coming to church? What do we need to do to lead them back to church? Some feel that what the church teaches is no longer relevant. It is. The Lord’s Word is a living word. We pray for good preachers and teachers to help us see how God’s Word is still relevant today.

Some people think we need to focus only on spirituality in the church. They have separated morality from faith. Reading God’s Word, we see that morality is an important part of how we live out our faith. It is not just a legal code. It is a way of life.

Some speak of the need for new music as the old music is old and boring. The church does call for composers to compose new music. However, think about what we need in music at church. We should not look for music that is only a matter of personal taste. Such music may help us feel good for one hour while we are in church. What we need is music that draws us into a lasting and deep relationship with the Lord. The two are not mutually exclusive. Music can both uplift us in the moment and lead us into a deeper relationship. May the Lord lead us to the music that does both.

We need to change the way we look at faith formation. For a long time, we looking at faith formation (learning about our faith) as something for children. Our children’s programs are important. They are necessary. However, good faith formation extends beyond childhood. As children we learn to memorize prayers and the commandments. This is important religious education. However, please note that I did not call our children’s religion classes just that. It needs to be more than religion class. I called it faith formation, “formation” referring not just to instruction to memorize prayers and commandments. “Formation” is about a way of life. It is only as we move into adulthood and continue to learn about our faith that we truly come to see how our faith is relevant.

To rebuild our church, we also need to find new ways to reach out to the people who used to come to church but no longer do as well as those who have never come to church. This is fundamental to the mission of the Church. As St. Pope Paul VI wrote in Evangelii Nuntiandi, “Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize, that is to say, in order to preach and teach, to be the channel of the gift of grace, to reconcile sinners with God, and to perpetuate Christ’s sacrifice in the Mass, which is the memorial of His death and glorious resurrection” (14).

We all are vital members of the Church. We are all called to share in the mission of the Church. Perhaps you see a way you can help rebuild our Church in what I have written here. Perhaps you see another way you can help. Listen to the Lord guiding you in your part. Consult with others. Then do it.

For more on what we need to do as a church, please see my article, “What Sort of Church Should We Be?” and my video What It Means to be a Church.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily

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28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Isaiah 25:6-10a
Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 (6cd)
Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20
Matthew 22:1-14
October 11, 2020

Isaiah speaks of “a feast of rich food and choice wines.”  The Lord will provide a great banquet to which He invites his people.  It will be greater than any banquet you can imagine.  This banquet will be celebrated in the Kingdom of Heaven.

To bring about this banquet the Lord “will destroy the veil that veils all peoples…he will destroy death forever.”  When physical death no longer has its grip over us, it changes the way we look at things.

God invites all to this banquet.

A few centuries later Jesus picks up the theme of invitation and banquet.  He says, “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.”  The servants are dispatched to “summon the invited guests.”  They knew the banquet was coming.  The servants tell them the time is now.

What is the reaction of the invited guests?  “They refused to come.”  They turn down an incredible invitation.  Why?

We are told “some ignored the invitation” to tend to other things.  What could be more important?  Before answering this question let me say that I don’t think they understand what is really being offered.  It is not a simple earthly wedding banquet that Jesus speaks of.  It is Heaven.

That being said, Jesus says in the parable that one went to his farm.  Maybe there was an immediate task that the farmer thought needed to be tended, missing what the banquet offered.  Another went to his business.  Was this person too interested in material wealth to understand what was being offered in the banquet?

Jesus then tells us that “The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.”  Wow!  The servants that God sends to deliver his invitation are the prophets.  Why did the Israelites mistreat and kill them?  Perhaps they didn’t understand the message of the prophets.  Was this from a real lack of understanding or was it because they chose not to accept the terms of the invitation.

Do we really understand what God offers us in his invitation to the heavenly banquet?

Are we willing to accept the invitation on God’s terms, meaning following his commandments, following Jesus as the way and the truth and the life or do we want to set the terms, thinking we can live however we want?

Returning to the parable, when the original invited guests turn down the invitation, the king sends his servant out to invite whomever they find, “bad and good alike.”

The newly invited did not know they would be invited.  Thus, one might expect they would not be ready.  With that in mind, one person showed up “not dressed in a wedding garment.” 

When the king sees the man he says, “My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?”  The man could have simply said he did not have one ready.  He didn’t.

Instead, “he was reduced to silence.”  I think the man’s silence indicates that he knows he is not ready for what has been offered to him. 

Are we ready?  Are we ready for the Kingdom of Heaven? (Remember, ultimately we cannot save ourselves.  It is Jesus who makes us ready.)

Do we understand what the Kingdom of Heaven offers?

The Twenty-third Psalm tells us that with the Lord as our shepherd, we shall not want.  The Lord will provide what we truly need.  He will give us repose.  He will refresh our souls.  He will guide us in right paths.  This will happen if we accept his gracious invitation. 

Have you accepted the Lord’s invitation?

It would be easy enough sitting here in church to say, “I’m here, aren’t I?” but it is possible to come to church without truly accepting the invitation.

It’s important to come to church.  It is how we celebrate the Sabbath.  It is where we hear God’s Word and celebrate the Eucharist.  The Eucharist is the source and summit of who we are.

Are we transformed by what we receive?  When you go out the doors after Mass, do you live like you believe?  Are you keeping God’s commandments?  Are you living according to God’s Truth?

As Mass ends, I offer the dismissal, “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your lives.”  Do you glorify the Lord in the way you live your life?  Accepting the Lord’s invitation means coming to Mass, it means praying.  It means living as the Lord teaches. 

When we accept the invitation, God will give us the grace we need.

What Was the Worst Part of Jesus’ Suffering?

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Jesus underwent great suffering for us during his Passion. The gospel readings on both Palm (Passion) Sunday and Good Friday tell the story of Jesus’ suffering from his entry into Jerusalem at the start of his final days through his Crucifixion. Knowing of Jesus’ suffering is key to us understanding his love for us and how He saves us. Because it is so important for us, the story of Jesus’ suffering is included in all four gospels.

I invite you to think about what the worst part (hardest) part of his suffering was.

He was beaten. Could you have endured the blows that Jesus took? He was scourged. Could you have enduring the number of whips that Jesus took to save us? As foretold in the fourth Suffering Servant prophecy in Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Jesus was marred beyond human appearance.

After He was beaten and scourged, He was forced to carry the cross. The weight was so much that He fell three times.

His suffering was not just physical. He was stripped naked on the Cross. How would you have felt naked on the Cross as people looked at you?

Nails were driven through his hands and feet. Could you endure the pain?

While all this was going on, He was mocked. They placed a crown of thorns on him mocking him as a king. There would have been physical pain from the thorns pressing into his flesh. What about the verbal mocking? How hurt was Jesus by the fact they had refused to listen to him and could not understand what it means for Jesus to be our king?

Could you endure the pain of the Crucifixion itself? He was nailed to the Cross and left there. The weight of his body pulling down against the nails. As He tried to breathe, raising his lungs, gravity was pulling against him. It was very difficult to breathe. That is how crucifixion killed a person.

All of this would be difficult for anyone to bear. Yet, I am not sure it was the worst of it. In his book, The Passion and the Cross, Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, OMI (Cincinnati: Franciscan Media. 2015), discusses how Jesus was left “alone, misunderstood, lonely, isolated, without support” (the quote is from page 4, theme is discussed extensively over several pages).

How was Jesus’ Passion set into motion? He was betrayed by Judas, who was one of the Twelve Apostles. Have you ever being betrayed? Was it someone close to you? How awful did it make you feel? Was it worse than physical suffering?

During the Passion, Jesus was denied by Peter three times. Peter had been the one who identified Jesus as the Christ. Peter was chosen to lead the Apostles. Yet, even he denied Jesus in the face of trial. Jesus was abandoned by so many who had been his disciples until his arrest. How would you feel being denied three times?

Jesus was an innocent man who was condemned to death by those who misunderstood him. How do you feel when you are misunderstood?

Jesus suffered greatly for our sins. His suffering was so great that He cried out, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Mocked by many, betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, and abandoned by many, Jesus suffered for us.

Jesus, I thank you for what you went through for me.

What do you think the hardest part of Jesus’ suffering was?

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

Reflecting on the Prayer of St. Francis

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October 4th is the feast day for St. Francis of Assisi.  He is one of the most popular saints and is known as the patron saint of animals.  So, it is a custom for some parishes to offer a pet blessing at this time of year.  We concluded our pet blessing this year by reciting the Prayer of St. Francis.  It might be a familiar prayer to you.  I offer it in its entirety here.

Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

Now, I would like to offer some line by line reflection on this prayer.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
In this, I do not ask the Lord to make me great.  I do not ask for anything selfish.  Instead, following Jesus’ example of emptying himself (Philippians 2:7), I ask God to use me (“instrument”) to accomplish his will.  I see this as following what Jesus says in Matthew 16:24, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” 

This is not easy.  It was not easy for Jesus when He prayed in the garden three times, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39 – see full passage at Matthew 26:36-46).  Lord, give me the strength to do Your Will.

(For a reflection on his peace, see my article “The Sign of Peace.”)

Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Someone has to be the first to love.  Hatred only breeds hatred.  Lord, please give me the strength to let go of any hatred I might have so that I might respond with love.  Help me to let go of the hatred to make room for the love You wish to fill my heart with.  (See a new initiative by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops called CivilizeIt at www.civilizeit.org.)

Where there is injury, pardon
Lord, when I am hurt by the actions of others, it would be easy to hold onto the hurt and judge them.  That would be the same as holding onto hatred.  Love leads us to forgiveness.  Help me to be an instrument of reconciliation, handing my hurt over to you, as I seek the conversion of the one who has hurt me.  Help me to realize that forgiving them is not only good for them but that it is also necessary for me to make room for your love where the hurt dwells within me. 

Let us especially pray for those in prison to receive what they need to experience conversion to become good and loving members of society.

Where there is doubt, faith
When we think of doubt, we often think of St. Thomas the Apostle, sometimes called “Doubting Thomas” because he doubted the other Apostles when they told him they had seen the risen Jesus” (John 20:24-29).  He did not doubt Jesus.  He doubted what the other Apostles said because nothing like that had ever happened before and, thus, he couldn’t understand it.  When he saw the risen Jesus for himself, he immediately believed.

When one reads the Book of Job, one sees a strong faith by Job when he loses all his material goods as well as his family.  However, he begins to “doubt” why God allowed the terrible things that happened to him.  At the end, he realizes that he is only human so he can’t expect to understand everything.  He must simply trust God.  Lord, help me to have that same trust in you.

Where there is despair, hope
Despair is the utter loss of believing that something good will happen whereas hope is the expectation of something difficult to attain.  Despair is a human feeling when everything seems to be going badly.  Hope is based on faith in God.  If all we see is what happens in this world, we can despair in suffering.  However, in faith, seeing the suffering of Jesus on the Cross and knowing that it is followed by the Resurrection, we have hope, hope knowing God is with us in our suffering.

Where there is darkness, light
It is not for us to create the light we bring to the darkness.  Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).  In Baptism we receive the Light of Christ.  We are called to let the Light of Christ that is within us shine in the darkness.

Where there is sadness, joy
There is sadness in this world.  Even Jesus wept at the death of his friend Lazarus.  Our faith does not ask us to deny that things that make us sad happen.  What our faith does do is call us to look beyond the sad things, look beyond death to see the joy of eternal life, life with God.  There is our joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
Lord, help me to move from being concerned only about myself to caring for others. 

To be consoled as to console
It is true there are times when we need consolation for things in our own lives.  We don’t feel we have it within us to console others without first receiving consolation ourselves.  Lord, when I feel like this, help me to remember the times when I offered consolation and/or advice to others and realized the words you gave me to say to them were exactly the words I needed to hear myself.  Thus, in consoling them, I received the consolation I needed.

To be understood as to understand
Lord, this is a difficult one for me.  I have often felt that it is hard for me to “get others” to understand my perspective.  Two things I ask for here.  First, please give me the words You want me to say for Your Will to be done.  Secondly, help me to always be sure and listen to them that I might understand their perspective.  Together, let us all come to do Your Will.

To be loved as to love
At times we struggle to feel loved.  Here I think of Mother Teresa and how it only came to be known after her death of the long periods she experienced without feeling your divine love.  Yet, she never stopped loving others.  Lord, help me to always love others, caring for them as she did.

For it is in giving that we receive
Lord, I seek the gift of your joy.  Help me to realize how I can receive that joy through giving to others.  Jesus gave his life that we might receive forgiveness.  Help me to give with a generous heart.  Then, I may know your generous love.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
Jesus taught us that if we wish to be forgiven, we must be willing to forgive others.  Lord, help me to sincerely pray the words in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life
What keeps us from experiencing life as God offers us?  Our attachment to the things of this world.  Lord, help me to “die” by letting go of worldly things that distract me from you.  Help me to hand my life over to you that I may know your eternal joy.

Amen.
Yes, I believe, I believe Lord that You love me.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily

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27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20 (Isaiah 5:7a)
Philippians 4:6-9
Matthew 21:33-43
October 4, 2020

Is the Lord with us in our struggles?  The Lord is always with us.  Everything that is good comes from the Lord. 

The Lord is like the vineyard owner described by Isaiah.  The Lord established a vineyard.  “He spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted the choicest vines; within it he built a watchtower, and hewed out a wine press.”  The Lord did everything a good vineyard owner should do.  The Lord’s vineyard is the House of Israel.

What did the efforts of the vineyard owner get him?  Wild grapes.

So it was with the house of Israel in the days of Isaiah.  They had become like “wild grapes” in living sinful lives.

Just as the vineyard owner wondered, “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done?,” we might wonder if there was anything more the Lord could do for the House of Israel, and for us today.

The problem was not that the Lord was not doing enough.  The problem was the Israelites turning away from the Lord.  Just as the vineyard owner let his vineyard be trampled, so does the Lord allow the House of Israel to suffer the consequences of its sins.

The vineyard owner speaks of commanding the clouds not to send the rain.  So too does God limit his grace to his people when they sin.  (I say “limit” because God is eager to give us grace when we turn back to him with contrite hearts.)

The Israelites wanted to have their cake and eat it too.  They wanted to receive God’s graces without having to follow God’s commandments.

A few centuries later Jesus tells a similar parable.  A landowner planted a vineyard and did everything that was expected of a good landowner.  Then, he leased the vineyard to tenants. 

At harvest time, he sent his servants to “obtain his produce.”  This was his due in accordance with the lease.  The tenants worked the vineyard and gave the landowner his share of the produce in payment of the lease.

However, the tenants got greedy.  They wanted to keep all the produce for themselves.  So, they beat, killed, and stoned the owner’s servants. 

So, the landowner sent more servants but the tenants did the same to them.  When the landowner sent his son, the tenants killed him too to “acquire his inheritance.”

The servants sent by the landowner are like the prophets sent by God who the Israelites persecuted and killed.  Then, God sent his Son.  Jesus came to share with the people the gift of salvation.  The Israelites didn’t understand that. 

Do we accept the Lord’s gift of salvation or do we want to live our own ways?  We think we can have both.  We make ourselves the authors of life, determining when it begins and when it ends.

We fall short of respecting and cherishing what God has given us in creation.

Today is Respect Life Sunday.  Do we see life as a gift from God?  This life is much more than just the physical life we experience in this world.  The life God offers us is for eternity.  Jesus is the way and the truth and the life.  If we want to receive eternal life, we must choose to follow Jesus as the way, embracing the truth He offers us.

I would guess that when many people hear the term “respect life”, their thoughts turn to life in the womb and the topic of abortion. 

When does life begin?  When a male and female come together in sexual intimacy and the egg and the sperm unite, a unique physical individual is formed with a unique genetic makeup that will never be repeated.  This is biology.  However, there is more than just biology at work here.  God bestows life at conception.

In respecting life, we should also think of life as one’s physical life draws to a close in this world.  There is an appointed time for everything…a time to be born and a time to die.”  We do not choose when it is our time to die.  God is the author of life.

A person is not just what they can do.  So, when a person grows old or ill and cannot do the things they used to, their value to the rest of us is not over.  They are still a human person with dignity given by God.  Rather than hastening death, we are called to accompany them with love in their sufferings.

There is still more to respecting life.  If we truly value life, then we must respect life in the womb and at the end as the time for a person to enter the tomb comes.  We must also respect life at all stages in between.

This includes the Corporal Works of Mercy to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, and visit the sick.

It also means also treating people with respect.  The tenants of the landowner in the gospel did not treat the landowner’s servants with respect.  In fact, they attacked them to get what they wanted.

They beat and stoned the servants.  I hope and pray you would not kill someone for your own benefit.  However, how do you treat other people?  Do you ever take advantage of other people to get what you want?  Do you steal their ideas and take the credit for yourself?  Do you moderate what you consume yourself, mindful of the needs of others, or do you take as much as you want without any concern for others?

If you realize you have sinned, always know that God is ready to forgive you when you confess your sins.

Human beings are more than just biological machines.  When machines don’t work the way we want and cannot be fixed, we get rid of them.  We cannot treat human beings the same way.  We are given life by God.  We must respect life in the womb, at the tomb, and everywhere in between.

Trust: Both Necessary and Difficult

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The Eighth Commandment is “You Shall Not Bear False Witness Against Your Neighbor.” How is society to function if we cannot trust others to tell the truth? Likewise, we need to be able to trust others not to steal, commit adultery, or covet what is ours.

Each of us likely know some people we trust without thinking about it. While not always the case, hopefully we have family, friends, co-workers, and fellow parishioners we trust.

Do we trust individuals to do their part? It might be as simple as counting on someone to take out the trash. At work, we often need to trust someone else to do their part so that we can do our part. With the Coronavirus we trust others to make wise choices regarding face masks and social distancing to mitigate the spread of the virus.

We should also be able to trust government leaders to tell the truth and make good choices. We count on police and legislatures to develop new policies against racism. We count on the government to help us deal with the Coronavirus.

Sometimes, we are let down. We find at times both individuals and government aren’t always trustworthy. Unfortunately, the church as a human institution also sometimes makes bad choices like with how the sexual abuse scandal was handled in the past.

Is there anyone we can trust?

We can trust God.

Is it always easy to trust God? No. I offer two reasons for this. The first is based on how much others have broken trust with us. (We should include in this the fact that we may remember times when we have broken the trust of others). If we have a history of not being able to trust other people, we might project that onto God. We are created in the image of God. We tend to project our ways onto God. We should not for as we read in Isaiah 55:8, the Lord says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways.” God’s way is the way of truth. We can trust God.

The second reason we might find it hard to trust God is because we don’t get what we want when we want it.

Do you really think you should get everything you want? Yes, Jesus tells us to ask and we will receive but do we really expect God to give us something that is not good for us? We might ask for it thinking it is good when it is not. In Luke 11:9-13, Jesus speaks of asking for an egg, only to discover it is a scorpion. (Scholars say there was a scorpion then that could curl into a ball, thus looking like an egg. Looks can be deceiving).

How about when we want it? We live in a world that expects instant gratification. We want results now. Promises for tomorrow don’t mean much today (especially from anyone who has broken our trust before).

Sometimes, now is not the time. Remember God sees everything. Sometimes something else needs to happen first. Maybe God is waiting for us to do something first.

Trusting can be hard. Jesus knows this. I point to his agony in the garden (Matthew 26:36-46). He knew God’s plan for his Crucifixion. Jesus did not want to be crucified. Jesus prayed three times, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Jesus surrendered to the Father’s Will at the appointed time. Good things came, our salvation, when Jesus surrendered to the Father’s Will. Good things will come when we surrender to the Father’s Will.

We need to patient.

What do we need to do to persevere? Prayer is essential. God is everywhere. So we can pray anywhere but sometimes we are more aware of God’s presence in certain settings. Jesus often went out alone to pray.  

Here I suggest Eucharistic Adoration. We know that Jesus is present in the Blessed Sacrament. It started as bread but as Jesus’ command, the bread is transubstantiated into the Body of Christ. When we pray before the Blessed Sacrament, we know that Jesus is there. Here I provide this link to a homily I offered once on adoration and finding Jesus.

We need patience. We need to trust God. I end with the words on every Divine Mercy image, “Jesus, I trust in You.“

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

A “re-post” on the Archangels

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I find myself doing something I have never done before. I am “re-posting” a homily I posted here on this blog from the Feast of the Archangels on September 29th in 2017.

Why am I “re-posting” an old post? There are two reasons. Honestly, the first one is that I don’t currently have any ideas to write on (I’m open to suggestions). The second reason is that apparently this homily is coming up on a lot of Google searches. I have limited ability to tell what brings people to this blog and what articles they are reading. This article has been read more than any other in the last two weeks.

Here is the link to the original post in 2017. Please note that at that time, I was assigned to St. Michael’s Church in Newark so the homily focuses mostly on St. Michael but does include some information on Sts. Gabriel and Raphael.

I was at St. Michael’s for three years. Each year we celebrated the feast day with a Mass and dinner. Here is a link to the homily that I preached in 2016 that offers different information on saints and angels.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily

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26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Ezekiel 18:25-28
Psalm 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 (6a)
Philippians 2:1-11
Matthew 21:28-32
September 27, 2020

Today Jesus poses a question to the chief priests and the elders.  They have been asking him questions.  They often asked Jesus questions to try to trap him to get rid of him.

Jesus has a different motive in asking the chief priests and the elders a question.  He wants to get them thinking about what they should actually be doing versus what they have been doing.

He speaks to them about a man who had two sons.  He told the first son to go out and work in the vineyard that day.  The first son replied, “’I will not,’ but afterwards changed his mind and went.”

The man said the same thing to his second son.  This son replied, “‘Yes, sir.’ But did not go.”

What question did Jesus ask?  “Which of the two did his father’s will?”

Jesus did not ask which son claimed he would do what his father said.  That would be the second son.  Jesus asked who actually did it.  That would be the first son who had said no.

The first son was like the tax collectors and prostitutes who, in their sins, had been refusing to do God’s Will.  However, upon hearing Jesus’ preaching the Kingdom of God, they repeated and came to do what the Father asked of them.  They surrendered to the Father’s Will.

The second son is like the chief priests and elders who claimed to do God’s Will.  They even taught others what God commanded but they did not do it themselves.  They did not truly surrender themselves to the Father’s Will.

I wonder how the chief priests and the elders felt when “Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.”

How would you feel if Jesus said this to you?

This was not a new problem in Jesus’ days on Earth.  Some 600 years before, God spoke through Ezekiel about those who had been following God’s ways, living a virtuous life but then turn away from virtue to sin.  Even though they had been leading virtuous lives in the past, they will suffer for their sins because they turned away from God.  Being a Christian is not simply about doing more good than bad.  To be Christian is to have God in your heart in the here and now. 

On the other hand, God speaks about those who had been leading a wicked life but turn from the wickedness to do “what is right and just.” They will be saved.  They may have spent many years in sin but they realize the error of their ways and repent.  When they repent, God forgives because He loves us.

This gives us hope.

We could live in fear and dread of the consequences of our sins.  God wants us to turn from sin but not simply out of fear.  God wants us to turn from sin based on the hope of his love.  God wants us to see how we need to consistently follow him. 

Paul calls the Philippians to be “of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing.” 

Whose mind?  Whose love?  Thinking what one thing?

Paul continues, “Have in you the same attitude, that is also in Christ Jesus.”  The mind and heart we seek is that of Jesus Christ.  It is a path of humility.

Jesus is the Son of God but He is a humble person.  Jesus did not seek special status as the Son of God. 

Rather than hold onto his divinity for his own glory, Jesus “did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.  Rather, he emptied himself.” 

He did not do this for his own glory.  He emptied himself for us.  He did this because it was the Father’s Will.  He does this because He loves us. 

He was obedient even to the point of death.  It is his obedience that saves us from our own disobedience in sin.  Thank you Jesus!

What are we to do? 

Repent!  Go to confession!  Ask the Lord’s help!  We do well to repeat the words of the psalmist, “Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; teach me your paths, guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior.”

Never Forget the Cross

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As I have begun to write articles explicitly on morality, I acknowledge that discussion on the morality of specific behaviors can be difficult. I pray that nothing I will write be interpreted as judgment on anyone. My goal is always to lead people to Christ.

With this in mind, I have titled this article, “Never Forget the Cross.” The Cross is an instrument of God’s mercy. It reveals God’s absolute love for us for as Jesus said, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13).

God desires that we do not sin. God sent the prophets to lead people from sin. Many repented but still struggled with sin. God knows we are weak. We repent when we acknowledge our sins, “Thoroughly wash away my guilt; and from my sin cleanse me” (Psalm 51:4).

We ask God, “Turn away your face from my sins; blot out all my iniquities. A clean heart create for me, God; renew within me a steadfast spirit” (Psalm 51:11-12). In the Old Testament the people offered sacrifices seeking forgiveness. The sacrifice that God seeks is “a contrite spirit; a contrite, humbled heart.”

Jesus came knowing we are sinners. Why? “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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17).

Jesus himself identifies his purpose as ““Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (Matthew 9:12-13).

Likewise, to the woman caught in adultery, Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more“ (John 8:11b). I cannot emphasis enough how much God wants to forgive us when we repent and come to him with a humble and contrite heart. God is a god of mercy and forgiveness.

God wants to create a clean heart in us (see Psalm 51). God wants to lead us in conversion from sin to grace. In doing so, God teaches us how to lead the moral and virtuous life. We need to listen to what God has to say. Everything I say or write about morality is never about judgment. The goal is always to help people turn from sin to virtue.

Please pray that I always listen to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit with the gifts of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom to help people become better Christian disciples.

Why do we struggle to feel forgiven? I’ve written before (“Does God Change?”) regarding those who see God in the Old Testament as a punishing God while we see God as a forgiving God in the New Testament because of Jesus’ death on the Cross. Our struggle to feel forgiven is also influenced by what we experienced growing up. If we were disciplined harshly, we might be more likely to struggle with feeling forgiven. On the other hand, if we were treated with forgiveness growing up, we are more likely to believe God forgives us. We need to be disciplined with love.

While we may struggle to forgive ourselves and others (See my video presentation, Why Is It So Hard to Forgive Myself (and others), know that God stands ready like the father in the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) to forgive. Jesus gives us the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that we can confess our sins and receive forgiveness.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff