31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily

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31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Deuteronomy 6:2-6
Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51 (2)
Hebrews 7:23-28
Mark 12:28-34
November 4, 2018

God is love!

God loves us.  We see this in Jesus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  God’s love for us has no limits.

In return we are called to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, mind, and strength.  We are called to love God with our whole being.  As part of this we are called to love what God has created.  That means loving our neighbor for all people are God’s creation.

God loves us at the moment when we are conceived in our mother’s womb and for eternity.  It is our choice to respond in love.  This weekend we have who seek God’s love in a new way in their lives.  At both our 4:30 and 10:30 Masses we have young children we are baptizing.  At our 8:15 Mass we have four people who have begun our RCIA process to receive their sacraments at the Easter Vigil.

At baptism we asked six questions.  The first three ask if we “reject Satan” and “his empty promises.”  Then we are asked if we believe in God the Father as our creator.  Do we believe in Jesus his Son who was crucified for us?  Do we believe in the Holy Spirit?

When we hear these questions we respond “I do” but how much do you think about what it means to say I do?  Are there ways in which we fail to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength?  Do we always love our neighbor?

Let’s face it.  It is not easy to love at this level.  Sometimes I wonder if we even know what it means to “love”?

Is “love” a noun or a verb?

As a noun we can think of the love that God gives us.  We can think of the love that we share with each other.

Then, is love just a thing?

No, if we have love, then we are going to love not just in saying we love but to show our love in our actions.  In this sense, love is a verb.  Love is something we do.

Love means caring about people.  We see God’s love in giving his Son Jesus for us.  God also loves us in giving us commandments.  God does not give us commandments to get us to do things for him.  God gives us commandments that are good for us, that will lead us to have a “long life” and to “grow and prosper.”

God’s commandments are good for us.  Are we willing to listen?  Do we strive to follow them, knowing we can trust in God’s perfect love?

The first three of the Ten Commandments point us to know what it means to love God, to have no other gods and to keep the Sabbath holy.  The remaining seven Commandments point us to know what it means to love our neighbor.  If we love our neighbor, we respect what they have to say.  We do not steal from them or look at them as objects of lust.  We don’t kill or hurt them.  We do not covet their property or family.

God loves us.  Knowing this we need let go of trying to be our own saviors in this material world and recognize God as the source of true strength and to make him our rock and fortress knowing that He is our deliverer.

 

 

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily

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30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Jeremiah 31:7-9
Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6 (3)
Hebrews 5:1-6
Mark 10:46-52
October 28, 2018

The Bible is the story of God’s people.  It is not just history.  It does not just tell us what happened a couple of thousand of years ago.  It does tell us what happened with the people in the stories we read in the Bible but it is not just their story.  It is our story.

It is our story because it tells us how God has cared for his people when they followed him and when they chose to stray and sin.  It is the story of God’s love for his people, the love that He offers us today.  The story of sin and God’s forgiving love continues today.

Our first reading today comes the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah.  Jeremiah lived 600 years before Christ.  As the book begins, the northern kingdom has fallen and the southern kingdom is about to fall.  Jeremiah preaches a call to repentance to those in the south (a call we still need to hear today) but the people do not listen.  They even plot to kill Jeremiah because they don’t like what he is saying.

Since they do not repent, God allows them to be defeated by the Babylonians.  Jerusalem is destroyed and many of them are taken away in exile.  This is where our passage today comes in.

The Exile had only recently begun.  It will last for 70 years but through Jeremiah, God is already promising an end to the Exile.  They will “shout for joy” when it happens.  The Lord will deliver his people from sin, bringing them back, gathering them “from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst.”

I think it is important to recognize the significance that the prophesy includes the blind and lame.  In ancient time, the blind and the lame were helpless and left to beg like Bartimaeus into today’s gospel.

God does not leave the blind and the lame on their own.  They too are God’s children.  After all, in our sin do we all not become blind to God.  In sin, we are lame in our ability to follow God’s ways.

Often, we think of sin as purely individual and we fail to recognize how our sins impact other people.  Sin involves how we treat people.  Thus, it affects how we relate to other people.  We become distant and unloving.

Is this not what is happening in our world today?  As individuals we are becoming more self-centered.  We fail to value life.  We see it in the womb when life is not received as a gift.    We see it when we fail to recognize the needs of the hungry, thirsty, sick, dying, and migrants.

Then we wonder why there are shootings in schools, malls, and restaurants.  It is because we have turned away from God.  We do not follow Jesus as the way and the truth and the life.

God gave the Israelites free will just as we have free will today.  The Israelites chose poorly and God allowed them to suffer the consequences of their sin in exile.  Only after being defeated by the Babylonians did they come to repent.  What is it going to take before we repent today as individuals and as a society?

When people sinned in the Old Testament, they went to the priest to ask the priest to offer a sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins.  As Hebrews states, the priests were called from among the people.  That means they too were sinners.  God called, and still does today, men who were sinners to be priests.  In being sinners themselves, they “deal patiently with the ignorant and erring.”  The priests know what it is like to struggle with temptation.

The sacrifices offered by the Old Testament priests were the sacrifices of animals in accord with what we read in the Book of Leviticus.  These sacrifices were not perfect and thus had to be offered over and over.

Then Jesus came and offered a perfect sacrifice as only He could offer.  His sacrifice is perfect because He is perfect as He is consubstantial with the Father.  Since his sacrifice is perfect, it does not need to be repeated.  Since the primary role of a priest is to offer sacrifice, one might think we would no longer need priests today but here I am as your priest.

Priests today do offer sacrifice but it is not a NEW sacrifice.  The sacrifice offered by the priest today is the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, giving his life for the forgiveness of our sins.  However, again, it is not a new sacrifice.  It is the sacrifice that Jesus offered in his Crucifixion for the forgiveness of our sins made present for us today at the altar in a way that only God can do, transcending time and place.

As priests are ones who preside at our celebration of the sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins, priests are also the ones who offer absolution in the Sacrament of Reconciliation where our sins are taken away.  Sin blinds us to God’s way and God restores our sight.

Two of my favorite things to do as a priest is celebrate the Eucharist and hear confessions and absolving people.  My third favorite thing to do as a priest is teach (the second Spiritual Work of Mercy).  By teaching I mean helping people understand what it means to follow Jesus.  This begins in homilies.  It goes deeper when I offer presentations on topics of faith.  It also continues in my website.

Priests are also called to be present to people in the difficult moments of life (Spiritual Works of Mercy #’s 1 and 4) like funerals and illness, helping people to know God is present in the moment.

Priests are also called to a role of leadership in the parish as the bishop’s representative.

We are all called to follow Jesus.  We need forgiveness for the times when we sin and so let us be grateful, “filled with joy,” and embrace the gift of forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation made possible by Jesus’ sacrificing his life for us.  I truly believe it is a gift when we have sinned.  That’s why I just went to confessional myself while I was on retreat.

We need instruction in God’s ways so that we can better follow him.

What do you need forgiveness for?  What is going on in your life where you need God’s guidance to live as his disciple?

 

 

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily

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29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Isaiah 53:10-11
Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22 (22)
Hebrews 4:14-16
Mark 10:35-45
October 21, 2018

When I talked last week about attachments and things we might need to let go of, I mentioned awards.  There is nothing wrong with awards themselves but if we do something just to get an award, we might be prideful.

Today we have James and John seeking places of honor, and not just any honor but to sit on Jesus’ right and left in his glory.  They seek the highest places of honor.  This is a bold request on their part.

“When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.”   Of course, one might ask if the ten “became indignant” because they realize this is pride, and, thus, sin or are they are upset because they want the places of honor for themselves?

What would make James and John so bold to make this request?  For one, they do seem to have a “special” status with Jesus.  It was Peter, James, and John who were the only ones to see Jesus’ transfigured.  This would still be pride.

One might ask if they really know what they are asking.  Remember, they were expecting a messiah who would be a great political king and restore the earthly kingdom of Israel.  They see Jesus as that king.

Knowing this is what they are thinking, Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking.  Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”  Still not understanding, they respond “We can.”

When Jesus speaks of his baptism, they are probably thinking of his baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist.  They also probably just take Jesus’ question about drinking the cup at face value.  However, when Jesus speaks of drinking the cup, he is speaking of the cup of his blood of his sacrifice at his Crucifixion.  His act of dying in his Crucifixion is the baptism to which Jesus is referring.

So, in effect, Jesus is asking James and John are they willing to suffer as he will suffer in his Passion.  He has told them about his coming Passion three things but they have yet to understand.

They look for places of honor where others might serve them.  That is not the way Jesus means for it to be.  “Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant.”  Jesus himself is the perfect example of this, “For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

We too are called to conform our will to God’s.  This means being willing to make sacrifices in serving others.

This Sunday we celebrate “World Mission Sunday.”  When we think of missions, we might tend to think of people going to other places.  We are invited to support the young mission dioceses in Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands, and beyond through our prayers and our second collection today.

Our Catholic Church has a long history of missions including to our own United States before we were a nation of our own.  Our Catholic Church was also a major player in the development of the early hospitals and universities.  These are just some of the ways we are called as Catholics to serve the needs of others.

Notice I said, “we are called.”  While we might think of missions to foreign lands and the work of hospitals and universities is for those with the proper training, we are all called to serve others and lead them to Christ.

It can be the parents who put their lives on hold to be there for their children’s activities and to teach them to be good people.  It can be the people who work the Community Food Closet to serve the hungry.  There are those help women in pregnancy and caring for the child after it is born.

It might even require real sacrifice on our part.  How might some suffering on our part help others?  The suffering might be not taking as much vacation.  Instead we give the money we would have spent to charity and use the vacation time to volunteer in serving others.

Accepting suffering can also be an opportunity to be a good Christian witness to the suffering Jesus went through for us on the Cross.

James and John looked for places of honor at Jesus’ side.  He called them to serve.  What are you looking for?

God Our Help and Our Hope – Homily for October 2018 Holy Hour

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Homily for October 2018 Holy Hour
Ezekiel 34:1-6, 11-12a
Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17
1 John 1:5-2:2
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

In the days of Ezekiel many shepherds were more concerned about their own wants than taking care of the flock that God had entrusted to them.  They were doing nothing to strengthen the weak or heal the sick.  They did not nothing to gather the lost.  They were not doing the very task that God appointed them to.

God’s response was to shepherd his people himself.

This wasn’t the first time those appointed to shepherd the Lord’s people didn’t live up the task and it certainly wasn’t the last.  Sometimes it was out of greed, power, or self-righteousness.

Today we face a crisis involving leadership in the church.  Certainly, it is centered on the clergy abuse scandal.  For those who did the abusing, they followed their earthly desires instead of seeking chastity.

For those involved in the coverup, some were following the advice of psychologists of the time.  Others were trying to avoid scandal.  Unfortunately, they may have been more concerned with image than truly dealing with the problem.

Nothing excuses the abuse in any way and the coverup but how do we move forward today?

Certainly, policies on how to handle accusations of abuse need to change and in many ways they have.  There is still work to be done on the bishops’ level.

It’s going to require God’s help to move forward.  God has been “our help in ages past” and God is “our hope for years to come.”

To receive God’s help, we need to acknowledge our sin.  We see this is Psalm 51, “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.”  To be cleansed of our sins we must first admit our sins.

God is perfect.  Human beings are not.  In tonight’s second reading John writes, “If we say, “We have fellowship with God,” while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth.”  We need to bring light to the situation.  Hence the call for transparency in the handling of abuse.

Only then can we move forward.  The other part of moving forward is forgiveness.  Some of you attended the hour-long presentation on forgiveness I did recently.  I won’t go into all that I said that night.  Forgiveness does not mean we forget or deny what has happened.  It doesn’t take away consequences of sin.  It is about mercy.

Here I turn to the story of the prodigal son.  Interpretations of this story often center on the younger son’s sins.  We need to recognize there are three people in this story.

There is the younger son who takes his inheritance and lives a life of dissipation until he hits bottom.  After he hit bottom, he realizes his “sin” and goes back to his father, not expecting to be forgiving.  He only seeks a job with a just wage.

The second person is the father who forgives.  Even when his younger son is still far off, he runs to him as soon as he begins to return.  (When we repent, God comes running to our side).

The third person is the older son.  When he sees his brother has returned and their father is throwing a party, he is jealous.

God wants to help the Church.  After all, it is his Church.

God wants to help us as individuals.  After all, we are his children.

Who are you in the story?

Are you the younger son who has sinned?  Have you confessed your sins and asked God to help you change?

Are you the one who is forgiving?

Are you the older son who is jealous when someone else is forgiven?

The reality is probably that at different times in our lives, we have been each of the three.  At times, we are in need of forgiveness.  At other times, we offer forgiveness.  At still other times, there might be someone we think shouldn’t be forgiven.

You might be wondering where I am going with this in terms of the clergy abuse scandal.  I am too.  I’m not quite sure myself.  I know that we need to admit our sins and ask God to lead us to be where we are supposed to be as individuals and as a Church.

For now, we pray for God’s help.  Our prayers might include asking for the intercession of the saints, like St. Maria Goretti who died rather than give up her chastity.  There is St. Augustine who lived with a woman without marrying her and had a son but underwent conversion.  I just learned about a 19th century saint, St. Mary MacKillop, from Australia who reported allegations of abuse of a child by a priest.  In controversy with the local bishop, she was excommunicated but he lifted that excommunication before his death.  Now she is a saint.

God is “our help in ages past” and “our hope for years to come.”

 

 

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily

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28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Wisdom 7:7-11
Psalm 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17 (14)
Hebrews 4:12-13
Mark 10:17-30
October 14, 2018

A man came to Jesus and “knelt down before him” to ask him a question.  His act of kneeling indicates that he recognized the greatness of Jesus in the same way we kneel during the Eucharistic Prayer as Jesus becomes present in the bread and wine.

The man asked a question that we all want to know the answer to, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  We want to spend eternity with God in Heaven.

Jesus began his answer by listing some of the Ten Commandments.  God first delivered the commandments through Moses during the Exodus.  Some 1,500 years later, Jesus repeats these commandments throughout the gospels and helps us understand what they mean.  “Indeed the word of God is living and effective.”  The Commandments were written not just for the people at the time of the Exodus but for all people.  They still hold true even today.  We just need for the wisdom and prudence to apply them to our lives today.  For example, the Commandment “You shall not kill” has added relevance today in choices we face about life that didn’t exist at the time of the Exodus.  Or we might ask ourselves what it means to “honor your father and your mother” in a world where people live longer and might live far apart.

To Jesus listing of the Commandments, the man replied, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.”  Impressive!  When we don’t observe the Commandments, we call it sin.

Jesus then told him there is one more thing the man needed to do, “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor.”  We are told the man “went away sad, for he had many possessions.”  Here, the biblical scholars say that the man was not willing to give up his possessions.  The passage doesn’t literally say that.  I like to think the man went away sad because, while his possessions were important to him, he was willingly to give them all up yet it was difficult.

This is not the only time Jesus refers to not holding onto our possessions.  For instance, when he sends his disciples out on mission, he told them to take no money bag or walking stick.  Here, the poverty is to show their trust in God to take care of them.

Today Jesus says, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.”  How does “wealth” make it hard for us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven?

“Wealth,” aka material things are neither good or bad.  It is our attachment to them that gets in the way of our salvation.  That’s why we need to pay attention to what Jesus is saying here whether we are wealthy or not.  In the same way we can become too attached to material things, we can become attached to power, prestige, or just needing to be right.

The things of this world along with earthly power, prestige, or just what we like to do don’t mean anything in the world to come.

This is why Jesus then said, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

To understand what Jesus is talking about here, we need to know what He means by the “eye of the needle.”  It might seem obvious that He is not talking about a sewing needle.  I have a hard time getting thread through the eye of a sewing needle.  There is no way for a camel to pass through it.

In Jesus’ day, cities were often surrounded by walls for protection.  There would be main gate that would be wide and easy to pass through when it was open.  When the main gate was shut, people could enter through a smaller entrance known as the eye of the needle.  This was a small opening in the wall, just wide enough for a person to pass through.  If the person had a camel with them, it would be carrying their possessions.  With the possessions, there was no way for the camel to pass through.

When we talk about Heaven, sometimes we refer to the “pearly gates.”  The Bible itself refers to the gates of Heaven.  If we want to pass through these gates, we need to be willing to let go not just of our possessions but our attachments.

What possessions do you have that hold too much importance to you?

Do you hold a position that gives you power that you cling to?  It might be being the boss at work, government position, captain of the team, or just being in charge of your home.  There is nothing wrong with holding these positions.  Just don’t let it control you.

Maybe your attachment is to your ego, having to be the best at something (or everything).  Do you do something just to get an award to look good?

Parents and teens sometimes give too much importance to sports or other activities, hoping they lead to a college scholarship and a great job.  The scholarship and great job can be important.  Just make sure you aren’t motivated for earthly things and power and lose your soul in the process.

Again, things are neither good or bad on their own.  It is our attachment to them that can lead us away from God.  What attachments do you have that you should give up?

Sin and Division

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We live in a world where there is sin and division.  We see it in the moral (or lack thereof) behavior of people.  We see it in violent acts and terrorism.  We see in the political divisions within government that no longer seem to be “just different viewpoints” but taking sides for political reasons.  We also see sin and corruption in our Church with the clergy abuse scandal.

Is there hope?  Yes!  Conversion is possible!

We see it in today’s first reading (Tuesday, 27th Week in Ordinary Time, Year II) in Paul speaking of his conversion.  He was a very zealous Jew.  His ancestral Jewish heritage was very important to him.  So, since he believed Jesus to be a false messiah, he persecuted the Christians not to be mean but to correct them in their error.  That is, until the Risen Jesus appeared to Paul one day on the road to Damascus.  Paul underwent a total conversion to Christ and became a zealous Christian, an Apostle to the Gentiles.

Conversion is possible!

What got Paul to change?  Of course, it was direct divine intervention by Jesus himself.  Until then, I imagine there were a lot of Christians who saw the persecution by Paul praying for his conversion, for that divine intervention.  The Church was persecuted by the government for the first three centuries after Christ.  I am sure there were a lot of prayers for the end to the persecution.  At times since then, the Church has endured sin and corruption.  God has always rescued the Church, in part by the intercession of saints before their death like St. Catherine of Siena.

What is wrong with the world today?  People aren’t listening to God.  In today’s gospel, we hear the story of Martha and Mary.  Martha was caught in the work of making dinner.  She was trying to be a good host but let that take precedence over the fact that Jesus was right there in her house.  We need to do the work that God calls us but only after we follow the example of Martha’s sister Mary and listen to Jesus.

We are each called to different roles in this world.  We are all called to pray for the conversion of sinners.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily (Respect Life Sunday)

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27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Genesis 2:18-24
Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6 (5)
Hebrews 2:9-11
Mark 10:2-16
October 7, 2018

“It is not good for the man to be alone.”

These are God’s own words as He brought order to the world in creation.  God did not create the man to dominate other creatures.  Humans are created in God’s love and to love.  That means we are not meant to be alone.

This is true on a large level.  We are meant to be around people.  It is also true on a one-on-one level.  This points us to marriage and what it is meant to be.

Marriage is not just a contract between two people.  Marriage is meant to be a covenant between two equals.  A contract would set rules for the interaction between those named in the contract.  For example, one spouse takes out the garbage, the other vacuums the floors.  That might be a “contract” that people sharing an apartment might have.

Marriage, including sharing chores but it is meant to be much more than that.  It is a relationship of love.  It is a relationship of being there for each other.  A contract can be ended when it no longer suits those in the contract.  Marriage as a covenant is meant to last a lifetime.

Do marriages end in divorce?  The answer is obviously yes.  I myself have multiple relatives who are divorced.  My own parents divorced when I was a child.  I know how divorce affects families.  Divorce happens but it is not what God intends.  I think part of the problem is that people don’t look at marriage as necessarily a lifetime commitment when they first get together.  They get married because they are happy together and if they become unhappy, they walk away.

God set marriage as a relationship of equals, signified by how the woman was made from the rib of the man, made of the same substance, “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.”  When you are dating, do you look for someone who makes you feel good in the moment or are you looking for someone who helps you feel loved and become who you are supposed to be?  Are you better disciples together than apart?  When you find this person, there will still be challenges but you will choose to work through the challenges because of your love for each other.

It involves how we look at the other person as a “person,” as a child of God rather than just someone who makes us happy.  We discover ourselves in discovering who they are.

I began with God’s words at the time of creation, “It is not good for the man to be alone.”  Our understanding of marriage has its roots in this line.  Marriage as a covenant involves a deep respect for the spouse as a person.

We are called to respect all life.  We are called to cherish all life.  The love we find in a good marriage leads us to a love and respect for all persons.

Who else might be alone?

Here, I first think of the homebound in a parish.  Because of health problems, they are not able to get out.  Some of them have family and friends who regularly visit them but others don’t.  They might feel “alone” in the world.  Sometimes when I make a home visit, the person is just happy to have someone to talk to.  Is there a homebound person who you might visit so they don’t feel alone?

I think this understanding of people feeling “alone” is very important when people are facing end of life issues.  When making decisions for medical treatment when we face terminal medical conditions people often talk about the physically suffering the person faces but I think there can be a deeper pain that might not even have anything to do with their physical illness if they feel alone.  If they feel alone, they might feel like no one cares.  We need to let them know we care.  In doing so, we give them a reason to live.

Moving from the end of life in this world to the beginning, there are women who choose abortion because they feel alone in the world and without hope.  They might think no one cares and feel like it would be impossible for them to care for the child.  What might you do to show you care so they know they are not alone?

What about a murderer?  Those who advocate for the death penalty use the crime to justify the death penalty.  I would suggest that having the death penalty might say to the person that life is not precious.  We need to show them that life is precious.  How many people who commit murder come from situations where they feel alone, that no one cares?

A marriage between is meant to be a deep love between a man and a woman.  This love that has its origins in God should lead us to love all.  God is love.

 

 

My Latest Presentation on Video – “Why Is It So Hard to Forgive Myself (and others)?”

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I just finished uploading my latest presentation.  This one is on forgiveness.  Here’s the description:

We know we need forgiveness, yet it can be hard to think that God will forgive us.  We think we are not worthy.  We might think that because we keep committing the same sins over and over that God will stop forgiving us.  When someone offends us over and over, we might want to stop forgiving them.  Fortunately for us, God is not like that.  What other reasons do we have to think we shouldn’t be forgiven?  Why else might we not want to forgive someone else?

It is 1 hour 7 minutes long.  You can view it on my website and get the handouts at http://www.renewaloffaith.org/video—why-is-it-so-hard-to-forgive.html.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily

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26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Numbers 11:25-29
Psalm 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14 (9a)
James 5:1-6
Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
September 30, 2018

Jesus speaks to his disciples about what causes them to sin.  His direction to cut our hand or foot off or to cut our eye out if they cause us to sin might seem extreme, perhaps even crazy.  He’s directing us that we need to be strong when dealing with sin but if you think about it, never do our eyes, hands, or feet cause us to sin.  We might use them in committing sin but they do not cause us to sin.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t sin today.  One doesn’t have to pay attention to the news long to hear about horrible things.  Sin is real.  The devil is always at work putting temptation before us.

It is clear that we need help in the battle against sin.  Ultimately, the help comes from God.  One of the ways that God offers us help in the battle against sin is with angels, in particular our guardian angels (we celebrate the memorial of the Guardian Angels on October 2nd) and St. Michael the Archangel.

St. Michael is known in the Bible (ex. Revelation chapter 12) as the one leading the angels of Heaven in battle against the devil.  God’s side won and the devil and those who joined him were cast out of Heaven.

Sin is real.  Evil is real.  Near the end of the 19th century, Pope Leo XIII was inspired to write the prayer we know as the St. Michael Prayer.  For several decades it was said at the end of Mass to ask for intercession in the battle against evil.  Last week we resumed the custom of saying this prayer.

Any parish can say this prayer but it can have a special significance to us as our parish is named for St. Michael.  That means he is the patron saint of our parish.  We can ask for the intercession of any saint but naming St. Michael as our patron means we entrust our parish to his intercession in a special way.

Our parish is normally the primary way in which we experience our church.  Thus, the name “St. Michael’s” serves to identify who we are but we are not defined by this alone.

The parish is the people of God gathered together for faith and fellowship in a local area.  We can break the parish down even more.  For example, one might say I go to the 4:30, 8:15, or 10:30 Mass.  However, regardless of which Mass we go to, we belong to something more than just the community at that Mass.  We belong to the parish.

In the same way that we do not belong to just one particular Mass, we actually belong to something bigger than any one parish.  We belong not just to St. Michael’s parish but to the Diocese of Rochester and the worldwide Roman Catholic Church.

We are all called to work together as one church to be who Jesus calls us to be.  There is nothing wrong with seeing ourselves as a particular parish but we should not limit ourselves by the parish.

With number of parishioners who attend Mass decreasing it is all the more important that we find ways to work together with our neighboring Catholic parishes to strengthen us so that we can continue to proclaim the gospel.

Hopefully you have heard about the regional planning efforts between all the Catholic parishes in Wayne County.  It is not about closing churches.  The whole point is to strengthen our parishes.  If you have been reading the updates in the bulletin, then you know that the planning group recommended a plan that would put all of the parishes into two clusters.  Our bishop has approved this plan.  We would remain separate parishes but share things like staffing to build up our ministries.  We do not know when the plan will go into effect.  It might be next year or it might not be for a couple of years.  That depends on when priests retire or are no longer able to serve in full-time ministry.

Now, the planning group is working on possible Mass schedules.  Nothing has been set yet.  There will be public meetings before any final recommendation is made to the bishop.  Of course, people want to know what will happen at St. Michael’s.

We will probably lose one Mass.  No one likes that but in terms of space we can easily fit everyone into two Masses.  Other churches will lose Masses or face significant changes of what time their Mass is.  We are working on a schedule that tries to keep all the churches open with the least amount of change.

We don’t like change.  We like multiple Masses to choose from.  Yet, we must acknowledge the reality of the continual decline in the number of priests and number of parishioners.  The latter means fewer people at Mass, fewer volunteers for ministries, and fewer people giving financially.

There will still be 12 Masses in the county.  There will be Saturday evening Masses.  There will be Masses early on Sunday.  There will be Masses later on Sunday morning.  One might have to drive a little.  We recognize this might be more difficult for our older parishioners who can’t drive far.  We are trying to take that into account.  For our younger families, maybe you will have to drive a small distance sometimes for church.  It will be no farther than some drive for work, sports, or shopping.

The bottom line is we need to look beyond our parish to be all that God asks us to be.  Please pray for the intercession of St. Michael as the patron saint of our parish, for us to be the parish God calls us to be.  Pray for the intercession of St. John Fisher, the patron saint of our diocese, that we be the diocese God calls us to be.  Pray for the intercession of Mary that we be the Church that her son Jesus founded and calls us to be.

(For more on our regional pastoral planning goto http://oprp.dor.org/active-pastoral-planning-groups/wayne-county-pastoral-planning-information/)

To One Who Has

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The gospel for today’s (9-24-18, Monday of 25th Week in Ordinary Time) is a fairly short gospel but I would like to break it into three parts.

Part One
“Jesus said to the crowd:  “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.”

When one turns a lamp on, no one then covers it up.  That would defeat the very purpose of turning the lamp on, to bring light to the situation.  Jesus is the light of the world, a light to be shared.  Unfortunately, the Light of Christ is hidden from many.  Today there are people who tell us not to share the Light of Christ.

Part Two
“For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.  Take care, then, how you hear.”

The good news is that the Light of Christ will not remain hidden.  God will see to that (thanks be to God).  Here I will say that because of what has been in the news recently, I see this line from the gospel in a different way and this is what prompted me to write this blog article this morning.  My heart has been hurting over the news in the last two to three months regarding the clergy abuse scandal.  The sin of clergy sexual abuse was hidden for a long time until the scandal broke in 2002.  The cover-up was also hidden for years.  One might try to hide sin but sooner or later it comes to light.

Things changed a lot (thanks be to God) when the scandal broke in 2002.  The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) put a new policy into place (often referred to as the “Charter) on how allegations were handled and requirements for training for the protection of children and vulnerable adults.  Since then, most cases of clergy abuse that come forward date back to incidents before the Charter.  Unfortunately, recent news shows elements of a “cover-up” continue.  This hurts me.  We need to stop the cover-up so that our church can be a credible witness of caring for children and to the Light of Christ.

Part Three
“To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away.”

This verse might seem backwards to what we normally hear Jesus say.  Elsewhere we hear Jesus speak of how it is difficult for the rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  We cannot love God and mammon.  One of the prevailing themes in Luke’s Gospel is the “reversal of fortune” where God lifts up the lowly and sends the rich away empty.  How does this verse today correspond to that?

When Jesus speaks of more being given, he is not speaking about material wealth.  He is speaking about faith.  God plants a seed of faith in each one of us.  When we open ourselves to that faith, God will help it grow within us.  In today’s world, the numbers who actively live out our Christian faith are dwindling.  For people whose faith is weak, the scandal and the cover-up are leading some to question their faith more.  It grieves me that people are leaving the church because of the scandal.

There is hope.  There are those in the church who have fallen short of fulfilling their role as shepherds.  As one can read in the Bible (see chapter 34 of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel for an example.) this, unfortunately, is not the first time this has happened.  Is there hope?  Of course!  We can count of God for the Lord is our shepherd (Psalm 23) and Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10).  God will get through this.  We just need to listen and follow his will.  Embrace the faith you have been given and more will be given.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff