Homily 11-25-2012 Christ's Kingdom and Our Lives

 Before he was martyred in 1927 in Mexico because he was a priest who administered the sacraments to the people of God against the will of the anti-religious government, the last words of Blessed Miguel Pro were, “Viva Cristo Rey! Long Live Christ the King!” This phrase was made more popular by the establishment of today's solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Pope Pius XI established it to remind the faithful that, despite the growing nationalism that demanded supreme authority and faithfulness to the state, it was indeed God alone who deserved our full service. It is a reminder that we obey God, and not man, even if, like Blessed Miguel Pro, we must suffer for it. (Miguel, by the way, held out his arms in the sign of the cross before the firing squad to remind us that his suffering was one with Christ's crucifixion).

We give total obedience to God alone because He alone is the one that will save us. It won't be educational systems, it won't be government programs, it won't be Woodstock, and it won't be saving the environment. The person on the cross alone saves us, so don't put your trust in anyone or anything else. Not only can He save us, He will. He already does, if we are open to the life of the Spirit.

No, in the end, Christ the King will reign over the entire universe. The power struggle that we all know so well will be no more. My Kingdom is not of this world means that it is not governed as this world governs. Herod, the tetrarch during Christ's birth had three of his own children put to death, whereas Pontius Pilate would not bat an eye to administer mass crucifixions in order to stop potential uprisings in the territory. This constant fight for domination will no longer be the state of affairs. God alone will rule, and his reign is of service and peace. This is why He distances himself from Pilate's questions.

When we say Thy Kingdom come, the fact is it will come, no matter what. We pray to conform our hearts to it now so that, when it comes, it is a joy for us and not a suffering. For that kingdom means freedom from selfishness, freedom from sin, freedom from the pain that sin brings upon us all; it means fullness of peace in our hearts and in our communities, fullness of joy, fulness of communion with God and with others. If we don't let go of our sins, our selfishness, the passing things of this world that never satisfy our deepest longings, then we will not be glad when the Lord returns and establishes his reign.

“Thy Kingdom Come!” means more than “please return and fix all this,” but also is a promise that we will do our part (and a plea for help in doing it). Baptism in the threefold office of Christ. Under the office of king, we order our world under the kingship of Christ. Bringing this about requires religious freedom: which means not freedom from religion in the public sphere, but freedom for its genuine and full expression. The saints show us clearly, time and again, that religion is not against society, but indeed promotes it. What caused the creation of the hospital system, the various outreaches begun by St. Vincent de Paul, St. Marianne Cope, St. Katherine Drexel, St. Elizabeth Anne Seton, and so many others? It was clearly their deep conviction in their religious beliefs that God demands justice and love for every human being, no matter how small, weak, or different. Indeed, the saints show us that when Christ is King in our hearts and in our world, then we truly begin to experience the love and peace that He promises us.

Let us pray “Thy Kingdom Come!” every day in everything we do. With every breath may our lives exclaim “Viva Cristo Rey! Long Live Christ the King!” And as we prepare for his future kingdom, we make a throne in our souls for the Lord Jesus to reign this day, when we receive Him in Holy Communion.

Homily 11-18-2012 Prophecy of the End Times

Today we begin that part of every year when we as a Church recall the end. This is a statement of faith that the end (which is the end of the world, not of us) is not foreign to us, not unimportant for our lives right now. We have to live in a way that conforms to the end that, one way or another, we will all participate in. We don't know when, but we know for sure it is our common fate.

I just spent four days this week beginning a 1½ year process of continuing formation in the priesthood, and we spent these days mostly growing in self-understanding and self-growth so that I can be a better priest. No promises yet on that! But I can say that I saw somethings more clearly about myself. I don't like change, I don't like interruptions, I don't like taking huge risks. I can handle these things, but they are a little harder for me to do. Well, imagine that I was receiving phone calls and e-mails or text messages from my parents asking if they can visit a couple days up here before Thanksgiving. What would happen if I never responded to those calls or messages? How would I feel when I have to go see them on Thursday? I'd feel bad, embarrassed, ashamed for not giving them the time of day. They may even pull out the old wooden spoon again!

Well that is what God is calling us to now as we look forward to the end of our days. If we prepare for it, there is nothing to fear. If we ignore it, we will be embarrassed and ashamed.

The prophets we so often hear from are individuals whose main goal is to save us from that kind of shame in our relationship with God. Others may suffer from the terror of cosmic aloneness, but the prophet is overwhelmed by the grandeur of divine presence. He is incapable of isolating the world. There is an interaction between man and God which to disregard is an act of insolence. Isolation is a fairy tale. ...God came first, and the task is how to live in a way compatible with His presence. Man's coexistence with God determines the course of history. The prophet disdains those for whom God's presence is comfort and security; to him it is a challenge, an incessant demand. God is compassion, not compromise; justice, though not without clemency. The prophet's predictions can always be proved wrong by a change in man's conduct, but never the certainty that God is full of compassion. The prophet's word is a scream in the night. While the world is at ease and asleep, the prophet feels the blast from heaven. (The Prophets, vol I. A. J. Heschel, Hendrickson, 17)

That scream in the night at the world's injustice is supposed to be a wake-up call, a spark that ignites a blaze of transformation. If it doesn't, we can be sure our hearts are hard, our ears are deaf.

We hear today the various uses of apocalyptic language – which speaks of cosmic warfare and the intervention of God to set things right, even the acts of decreation like the stars falling from the sky in the Gospel. Although these extreme images are meant to be shocking, they need not be all that frightening for us. As we said, if (like the scenario with my parents) we respond to the wake-up call, and are in right relationship with God, there is nothing to fear. Because the great battle of heaven and earth has indeed already been fought on Calvary Hill; God has intervened in the world and conquered sin through the Resurrection; and we are baptized into that mystery, we are the body of Christ. Moreover, the archangel Michael is still with us to defend us in this battle for our salvation.

Furthermore, as scary as the end might seem, let us not forget that the end is not foreign to us, because the End is already here. Every Mass we see the last battle and the great victory of God's love. And in the Confessional we experience the judge whose mercy is great for those with sorrowful hearts and the resolve to change. May the Eucharistic Lord prepare our hearts anew to live in the present with the heaven always in our minds and hearts.

Homily 11-11-2012 Giving All for God - Zarephath and Lisieux

 How much does God ask of you to give? The answer is simple: everything; your entire self.

Today's story of the widow of Zarephath shows us the beauty of Jewish spirituality, which is so fully human: it is tragic and honest, it is comical, it is deeply spiritual at the same time. First, it's a human tragedy – a woman without anyone to provide for her and apparently without any help from her wider community is starving to death with her son. Yet, there is also a sort of comedy here, if the story itself wasn't such a terrible thing. Because into this scene comes the prophet who has caused the drought in the first place, and he asks for water and some piece of bread. Yet after he hears she is awaiting death, he only ups the ante: “Before you do that, please go make me a small cake!”

But this is more than just that, because the story is not about entertainment, it is a lesson about the ways of God. And this third level of the story is the most important: on a deeply spiritual level, God is teaching us something here. The Lord God meets these characters in a seemingly ordinary exchange. He tests this woman's faithfulness and her trust, and he rewards her for her generous response to His invitation. She doesn't starve; rather, she survives on the same oil and flour for a year.

So here we see the theme that I started with. How much does God ask you to give? Everything; your entire self.

The same thing is present in the Gospel today. God invites us to give and give until we feel like we cannot give any more, and then, to give whatever is still left. The widow today places her two small coins, her entire livelihood, all that she had, in the temple treasury. This is a symbolic act of giving everything over to God. And only when we give everything over to God does our faith truly manifest itself. When, in the end, we have nothing left to trust in, not our government or our job or our individual gifts and talents, but only God alone, then we can show our faith. Then, even the smallest actions like making a cake or giving 50 cents away, really are transformed into something beautiful and become a powerful act of faith in God. Therese of Lisieux affirms the important of these small acts of giving in her Little Way to Heaven, which simply says, by doing small things with great love, we are giving everything to God because we are placing ourselves in the gift, just like the two widows put themselves in their gifts today.

Why does God ask us to give, and give, and give? We give everything because God gives everything. (CCC) In the Cross, in this Eucharist which makes that Cross present to us, we see God give. Let us ask our Lord to help us give Him all, to put ourselves in our giving by the love we place in it, especially when it is difficult!

CCC 2011 – The charity of Christ is the source in us of all our merits before God. Grace, by uniting us to Christ in active love, ensure the supernatural quality of our acts and consequently their merits before God and before men.

Homily 10-28-2012 Bartimaeus and Us!

Homily 10-28-2012 Bartimaeus and Us!

The very basic foundations of the life are presented before us in today's readings. Jeremiah reminds us of the Lord's restoration to Israel after they were captives in Babylon on account of their sins. Hebrews reminds us how important it is to have humility, especially as priests, since even Christ did not exalt Himself. However, I want to focus on the Gospel. Last week I spoke about how we should pray with Sacred Scripture, particularly through the ancient form of Lectio Divina. One of the best ways for making scripture prayerful is to follow the teaching of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits, and simply put ourselves in the story either as a bystander or as one of the characters. We see in the story of Bartimaeus a summary of our journey on earth, and this is perhaps why his story is remembered so vividly by the evangelist, Mark. And in this story, all of us are Bartimaeus. Here we see a fallen humanity left broken on the side of the road, unable to see and therefore incapable of moving forward, always stumbling along.

And into this sorrowful scene comes God Himself, God become man for us, a living image of the wholeness that our human nature was made for, the new Adam who will father a new people restored in Him. And the new Adam passes by the fallen, blind one, so close he is within reach, all that is required is a shout of faith! “Jesus, Son of David, Eleeyson me!” This same word which we cry three times at the beginning of Mass, modeling Bartimaeus' constant shouting even as other forces try to stifle him. What stifles our shouts to the Lord? The constant noise of a busy-body lifestyle; a sense of self-sufficiency and pride; our past sins which we feel are too grave to be forgiven; the allurements of wealth, success, worldly fame, or pleasure. Whatever they are, we all have them, and we all must name them for what they are: walls between us and Jesus whom we will miss if we don't shout through them. That is the first step of conversion – shouting out to God to be healed – and it can only be accomplished if we are humble enough to admit the fact that we are not whole, that we need help from God.

Then the Lord stops and summons the man, who is brought to Jesus with the help of the Church. As the man rises, he throws away his cloak and jumps to his feet, which symbolizes abandoning his former way of life. This is the second step of conversion – changing our ways and losing worldly things for higher gifts. Then through the help of the Church, Bartimaeus meets Jesus, expresses is deepest desires to Him, and receives from Him the healing he needs. Fallen humanity is restored into the image of the Redeemer; the son of the flesh made from clay is now changed into an adopted child of God born-again from water and the spirit.

And since he has encountered the fullness of truth in Christ, he can now see the truth of the both this life and the next. And even as the New Adam tells him, “Go on your way,” this new child of God can do nothing but follow Christ, saying through his deeds, “Lord, having been restored into Your image, my way is now your way.” This is the third step of conversion, and it takes our entire life to affirm it. Following Jesus all of our days, moving right into our crosses and embracing them in the faith of the Lord's Resurrection.

Homily 10-21-2012 Lectio Divina - To Know Christ and Pray in Him

 From today's readings we are reminded that like James and John, we can be so easily drawn into thinking that the way to get ahead in this life is through power, through domination. We see from Isaiah and from Christ Himself, that His absolute power and dominion is used to serve, is given freely and manifest in a form of apparent weakness. This apparent weakness unto a shameful death is turned into power and glory by the mysterious plan of the Father, who justifies many by the Cross.

From the Cross our loving God draws us to Himself, and we are transformed through our baptism into that mystery of salvation, which makes us confident as Hebrews says, to approach the throne of Grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help. Christ has taken our humanity to heaven, so we have courage to pray. However, courage is not. We must also know how to pray: with the mind of Christ. This is where James and John failed: They don't seem to know what the Messiah's mission is to be. When Jesus says He came “to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many,” those last words should echo in their hearts and remind them of what we heard today in Isaiah, the last of the four poetic sections that speak of the “Suffering Servant,” which the Church reads every year on Good Friday. The disciples will hear Christ allude to these again in the Last Supper, in the words that the priest prays at every Mass when holding the chalice: “poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ, says St. Jerome. We must be readers of the Word of God, who is Jesus, in order to pray with His heart and mind.

So today I encourage us all to pray with Sacred Scripture, particularly through the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, Latin for “Sacred Reading” or “Divine Reading.” Pope Benedict XVI spoke of this in his Exhortation Verbum Domini, written two years ago, after the closing of the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God. I wish to conclude with his summary of this practice, quoting at length from that text.

The reading of the word of God sustains us on our journey of penance and conversion, enables us to deepen our sense of belonging to the Church, and helps us to grow in familiarity with God. As Saint Ambrose puts it, “When we take up the sacred Scriptures in faith and read them with the Church, we walk once more with God in the Garden” ... the greatest [during the Synod] attention was paid to lectio divina, which is truly “capable of opening up to the faithful the treasures of God’s word, but also of bringing about an encounter with Christ, the living word of God”. I would like here to review the [four] basic steps of this procedure. It opens with the reading (lectio) of a text, which leads to a desire to understand its true content: what does the biblical text say in itself? Without this, there is always a risk that the text will become a pretext for never moving beyond our own ideas. Next comes meditation (meditatio), which asks: what does the biblical text say to us? Here, each person, individually but also as a member of the community, must let himself or herself be moved and challenged. Following this comes prayer (oratio), which asks the question: what do we say to the Lord in response to his word? Prayer, as petition, intercession, thanksgiving and praise, is the primary way by which the word transforms us. Finally, lectio divina concludes with contemplation (contemplatio), during which we take up, as a gift from God, his own way of seeing and judging reality, and ask ourselves what conversion of mind, heart and life is the Lord asking of us? In the Letter to the Romans, Saint Paul tells us: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (12:2). Contemplation aims at creating within us a truly wise and discerning vision of reality, as God sees it, and at forming within us “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16). The word of God appears here as a criterion for discernment: it is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12). We do well also to remember that the process of lectio divina is not concluded until it arrives at action (actio), which moves the believer to make his or her life a gift for others in charity. (Verbum Domini, #87)

Thus Lectio Divina not only draws us into prayer with God who speaks to us in Scripture, but it also unites us to Christ the Word of God, who is our great high priest pleading before God on our behalf. And as we are absorbed into His mind and heart and will, our prayers are ever more effective and pleasing to God. Let us pray that as people of the New Evangelization in the midst of the Year of Faith, we may draw close to God through is Sacred Word and so be prepared for the transformation and renewal we encounter in the Mass and in the Eucharist.

Homily 10-14-2012 The Rich Young Man: New Evangelization and Circumcision of the Heart

 Today our first reading reminds us that Wisdom is the highest of things we can possess in this life. And since our fallen nature so often leads us astray, we only get wisdom if we know where to look: God is its source, and the cross shows that, as we hear in Corinthians, His folly is greater than our wisdom. To accept that kind of wisdom, we need to make a radical change. Not an external change, but an even harder one: a change in our heart.

Take, for example, our young man today. He has many, many external signs as he is introduced to us: he shows real enthusiasm by running to Christ as asking about eternal life, he has manifest righteousness in keeping the law, which is only emphasized by the abundant blessings God has given him in this life (for Jews, wealth was generally viewed as God blessing the righteous). But in his heart do we find any Wisdom? no. The Virtues? Not really, since his pious practices are only a soul-less exercise of habit.

“All of these [commandments] I have done since my youth,” he says. First, this is like me saying “I've been doing that since I was 25!” to which you “wiser” members of the parish might say, Fr. Terry, that was three years ago; are you kidding?!” Talk about a lack of perspective! Second, Pride? he is blithely saying he has perfected all 600+ commands in the Jewish tradition. Nonsense.

The Lord Jesus, the Word of God that Hebrews mentions is “living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword,” cuts between the soul and the spirit of this young man. His soul is laid bare to Christ, who knows exactly what the man needs to hear. Like a good doctor, he goes right to the core problem, not playing around with addressing only manifest symptoms, and finds the deep issue: his heart is in the wrong place: he only wants perfection, superiority, etc. Jesus offers him the wisdom of God, where power is made perfect in weakness and the self is fulfilled in self-gift (the Cross). He invites the man to the “Circumcision of the heart” that Hebrews alludes to.

When Hebrews mentions a two-edged sword, it is referring to the sword of circumcision which is the core of Jewish identity, an intensely radical physical sign that the people and their descendants belong to God and God alone! However, it is meant to be paralleled by a posture of the heart. This old testament theme is taken up by St. Paul in Romans 2:18-29, concluding that: “True circumcision is not outward, in the flesh. Rather one is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, not the letter.” This image, then, is seen the core of the Christian life. It is conversion, which summarizes the Gospel that Christ came to preach: “Repent and believe the Gospel!” Unfortunately, the young man is not ready to accept that. He lowers his head, he takes his eyes off Christ, closing off the ability to see that Jesus is looking upon him with absolute, genuine love. It is no wonder, then, that he ends up going away sad.

Right now over 200 bishops are gathered with the Holy Father in Rome for a two-week Synod on the New Evangelization. Just like the Second Vatican Council which we celebrate 50 years ago by opening this Year of Faith, The are working together to discover how to best read the signs of our time and bring the Gospel message to us in a new way through a renewal of the Church. They are searching for how to, like Christ, speak to man's heart and call him to be perfect. And since the New Evangelization is particularly oriented toward baptized Christians who have already “heard all about Jesus,” the bishops are working on how best to reach the “lost sheep” of the house of Israel, of the Church. How can they foster the encounter of Christ with His people?

From what I have followed in their discussions so far, I have gathered two important points, both oriented towards conversion, towards this sort of “circumcision of the heart” that we all need so desparately: first, Timothy Cardinal Dolan has said that the sacrament of confession is the sacrament of the New Evangelization. The fact is, Catholics receive Communion way more frequently than they prepare for it by regularly making a sincere confession, which endangers turning the holiest of external acts into a soul-less exercise of habit. Secondly, the witness of a humble church of repentant sinners will certainly open hearts to the Gospel, because Christ came to find and redeem the lost and fallen, not congratulate those who were self-made and only in need of affirmation. The New Evangelization needs witnesses who have put aside everything in this life so as to have Christ.

As true Christians, we must put aside all our human wisdom, allow Christ to speak the Gospel to us even when it hurts, and “circumcise our hearts” for the renewal of the Church, which is only accomplished in a renewal of individuals within that Church.

Homily 10-7-2012 Marital Fidelity: A Witness to Something Greater

 Today I want to speak about the focus of our first and second reading, that is, the institution of Marriage and fidelity in it. However, I would like to start from our second reading, the letter to the Hebrews, which says that Christ was made lower than the angels according to the Father's Will so that he could be “made perfect through suffering.” In His faithfulness to the Cross, we see that Suffering is the path to perfection for Our Lord, and thus also the same path for all of us.

On Friday I was bringing Holy Communion to the homebound, and visited a couple celebrating sixty years of marital fidelity. “Thanks be to God! Congratulations!” I said to them. “I hope I can say the same about my own priesthood in 59 years!” Then they said, “Well, it wasn't always easy!” Then we discussed how as priests and married couples we have crosses of different types, but they are all exactly that: suffering which makes us perfect. If the cross is the Lord's instrument for our salvation, then how can we reject it in our own lives? Rejecting the Cross would be to reject our path to salvation.

This is what makes the permanence of the institution of marriage (and also priesthood) so beautiful. They are beautiful because they reflect God who is love, who shows us the fulness of love from the Cross, who loves us while we are still sinners so that we can love Him in return, and others for His sake. The cross, the Eucharist, marriage, and the priesthood are meant to witness by their permanence that God will never abandon us, no matter what. No matter what, God is there.

“Made perfect through suffering,” Hebrews says. For the Christian, whether married or dedicated to the Lord and service of the Bride of Christ, the Church, we can translate this simply as: “made holy through self-giving love!” This is the path to holiness, and anything that helps us to do that is going to lead to our salvation. Whatever fails to do so weakens that in our lives.

In our world, the institution of marriage is suffering some serious challenges under the shifting sands of our culture. Many are attempting to re-define it so that it no longer has the the crosses that come with it, those crosses that stretch our self, that turn our focus from our needs toward that of another. If we fail to learn to love here, where will it be taught? If children are raised without the witness of the loving fidelity between husband and wife, how can they prepare themselves for the same vocation as adults? Where will the faithfulness of God be modeled for them?

Yes, marriage isn't always easy. Priesthood isn't always easy. Being Christian and standing up for your faith isn't always easy, because loving God and following His Will is not always easy. Look at the Cross where our Lord was made perfect through suffering, where we are made holy through self-giving love. He has loved you so that you can do the same. Let us pray that in the Eucharist, where the love of the Cross comes into our world, we may be strengthened by God's faithfulness, so that we may never abandon Him in carrying the cross shaped for us and receiving the gift of eternal life.

Homily 9-30-2012

 Everything a Christian does should be able to answer the question, “What is your goal in doing that?,” with the resounding answer of “To Build up the Body of Christ.” There are various ways to do that, and Jesus focuses on two of them today: sin and scandal.

If you love someone, you tell them the hard truth they need to hear even when they will be unsettled by it. Parents know that very well, because they have to do this often to their children. This is what Jesus says to us today. He reminds us both of the ugliness of sin, and of the reality of eternal punishment for obstinate sin which is unrepented.

We see how ugly sin is through the intensity of the words Christ uses to encourage us to avoid it: it is better to chop off your hand or gouge out your eye than to be stuck with sin. Those aren't very pretty images, because sin is not pretty.

By the way, it is probably a good thing we don't take this literally (even the fundamentalists don't seem to do so), otherwise we would have lots of us walking around in pretty miserable state! But seriously, Jesus is speaking symbolically: it is never our members that cause us to sin, because sin always requires a human choice, a free rejection of God's Will for My Will. Every sin repeats the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden. And that is why our sins were redeemed by Christ's obedience to the Father's Will in going to the Cross and his death. The Cross shows us two things at the same time: how ugly sin is, and how much love God has for us.

If sin is ugly, then holiness is beautiful. To be Holy is to be like God, to be full of God who is Love. We resonate with that beauty. When we see love, we are drawn to it, we are enlivened by it, we are strengthened to do the same in our lives. Love encourages love, and selfishness or sin encourages the same spiritual atrocities.

This brings us to the next topic Jesus mentions, which is the problem of scandal. As Jesus has to address those who do some good while not being perfectly in communion with Him as His followers, he also has to speak out against the leaders (including teachers, parents, etc.) who draw others into sin. Now I am certain that God glorifies His Name even through weak, fallen instruments, such as myself and Fr. Bill, but we need to be on vigil to help each other live holy lives!

Where are we focusing our energy? Better to focus on removing SIN and SCANDAL than on JEALOUSY for "God's" (our) Will.

2284 - Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. The person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor's tempter. He damages virtue and integrity; he may even draw his brother into spiritual death. Scandal is a grave offense if by deed or omission another is deliberately led into a grave offense.

Homily 9-16-2012 // Sacrificial Love & Stewards of Treasure

Today, the Gospel of Mark reminds of Christ's clear-minded focus on doing God's Will no matter the difficulties, on despising the world for the greater treasure of the Love of the Heavenly Father, on going to the Cross to die and then be raised. This cross is the core of our parish's sense of stewardship.

What is this “Stewardship” stuff we always talk about? Why do we pray this stewardship prayer every week? Well, Stewardship is simply a part of the concrete response of Discipleship. We practice stewardship because we, like Peter today, say to that man on the cross, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” and that changes all we do. We follow Him, even to the Cross, because His words are life.

A steward is someone entrusted with a treasure of some kind, and along with that treasure they have been charged with a responsibility to use it wisely & well.

The Christian steward realizes that everything they have is a gift from God, never earned even if we cooperate in producing it. This encompasses one's entire life: whether it is time, talents & skills, or financial “treasures.”

Today we focus on renewing our commitment to discipleship in regards to those worldly treasures, in “Stewardship of sacrificial giving. We call it sacrificial giving because it returns our focus to the center of the Gospel, the Cross, where God made the ultimate Sacrificial Gift for our salvation. And as reconsider how we are to give to the Lord from what we have received, please hear to Scott N.'s story.

Homily 9-2-2012 Externals and Internals

Externals vs. Internals??

Today there is presented before us one of the oldest dilemmas in the Christian faith: How do the Law and God's Grace coincide with each other. The Church has long stressed that holding these two in opposition is in fact a false dichotomy. Here's an example of a false dichotomy that will make sense to us all: when presented with the question of having pie or ice cream, I always take them both. Who says I can't, right? They really aren't mutually exclusive, and, in fact, they sure do complement each other quite nicely! The same thing with the Law and Grace. Just like pie is made perfect with ice cream, so God's Law supports His Grace, even bears Grace.

So it is a good thing that the Jews treasured the Law. They were proud of it, they held it up as their pride and joy! And Jesus does not abolish even one letter of the Law. What He does, however, is challenge his listeners to remember what is more important, what the reason for the Law's existence is: the Human person, the Human soul. The Law is meant to make us holy, not miserly. The Law is meant to teach us to relate to God as He desires us, out of love made concrete in action.

This is why Jesus takes the focus off of the external rituals meant to shape our heart and onto the internal workings of the soul that end up driving our actions. Both are good, in one way or another, and if we have one without the other, our life becomes a contradiction. Rituals devoid of true religion is an empty show, and religion without action is worth nothing, as St. James says, “faith without works is dead.”

The Catechism defines true religion as the virtue of justice with respect towards God, or giving to God what is His due. So in par. 2135, the CCC states “Adoring God, praying to him, offering him the worship that belongs to him, fulfilling the promises and vows made to him are acts of the virtue of religion which fall under obedience to the first commandment.” However, we should also notice that James does not mention these things at all when he describes religion to his audience: For James, True Religion means 1)care for orphans and widows in their affliction (aka the poor) and 2) to keep oneself unstained by the world. Religion is action, because we need both external and internal.

So both Law and Grace are good, and are needed by us to order our lives properly toward God and neighbor. Indeed we can have our cake, and our ice cream too!

So here, today, as we pray externally in this the highest of all rituals, the Mass, we beg God through these actions purify our hearts. As we carry out the Law, offering Justice to God (by true religion) and to neighbor, may we receive an abundance of Grace so that our hearts bring forth the fruits of the Spirit and not the defilement of wickedness.

Homily 8/26/2012 Marriage and the Eucharist

 Joshua places before the people of Israel the honest dilemma they must address: they have to make a choice whether it is the Lord whom they will serve, or another.

This is exactly what Christ does is the Gospel today, he has check-mated those followers who wished to make him into a political hero or a wise teacher and commentator of Jewish Tradition. He leaves them to make a statement of faith in who He is, as the living God who has “the words of everlasting life.” Jesus turns and asks us, “Do you also go away?”

St. Pius X, with his papal motto of “to renew all things in Christ” made that choice for The Lord. Besides his dedication to the Sacred Liturgy and Sacred Music, one of the things St. Pius X is most well-known for is lowering the required age of reception of Holy Communion to children at the age of reason. If they know the Lord, they can choose the Lord, and can thus start to receive Him in Holy Communion.

Today, however, I would like to talk about our second reading and its connection to the Eucharist. In the second reading, we hear Saint Paul talk about marriage, telling wives to be subordinate to their husbands, and husbands to love their wives both as their own selves, and in the same way that Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her. Here Saint Paul makes clear that the Lord defines love for us, the Lord initiates love for us, the Lord teaches love to us. Love is not what we feel; it is not what the world says; not what the movies tell us. No; God is love and he defines it, and that definition is made public on Calvary. Love is defined by the cross.

The relationship between Christ and the Church is often expounded throughout Scripture as the love of Bridegroom and Bride. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, directly quoting a Vatican II document, summarizes this in paragraph 757: "The Church, further, which is called 'that Jerusalem which is above' and 'our mother', is described as the spotless spouse of the spotless lamb. It is she whom Christ 'loved and for whom he delivered himself up that he might sanctify her.' It is she whom he unites to himself by an unbreakable alliance, and whom he constantly 'nourishes and cherishes.'"(LG 6)

This is why the new edition of the Roman Missal prays after the Our Father for Christ to “look of upon the faith of [his] Church and be pleased to grant her peace and unity in accordance with [his] will.”

The great mystery of our life as a Christian people united in Christ is found in the mystery of marriage, of the love of bridegroom and bride. What a great and high calling! Husbands and wives are called to love with the radical love of the cross, they are meant to be an open book of the Gospel, making visible in our day and age the love of Christ for his people.

Could we ever love that intensely and perfectly on our own?? No way! Luckily, husbands and wives, God will not abandon you. In fact, He comes so close in the Eucharist precisely because He wants to strengthen us to love like this, whether we are married or not. And in fact, we must rely on God in our daily prayer and in reception of the Eucharist, which makes the cross present in our lives, which makes the source of all love, God Himself, present in our time and place and in our very souls when we receive him.

On this feast of our patron, let us pray for families to love like this, for people to be strengthened by the Eucharist, the source of love.

8-19-2012 Faith in Christ is the key to unlocking eternal life

T. Coonan Homily 8-19-2012 Faith in Christ is the key to unlocking eternal life.

Jesus does not explain the entire theology of the Eucharist to the Jews. He is inviting them to faith - Faith in who He is. In fact, He is forcing them to make a choice about Him. Either He is crazy, or He's malicious and intending to lead them astray, or He is exactly who He says He is. If they have Faith who Christ is, they will believe what He is teaching (even without fully comprehending it) and will find the gift of eternal life. Faith in Christ is the key to unlocking eternal life.

Last week I went on retreat to a monastery near Dubuque, Iowa. The place was surrounded by endless fields of corn, with some occassional soybeans. Every day I went for a jog out in those open spaces, and longed to run in those fields along the winding trails. However, the corn was like almost 8-feet tall, too high for me to see out - it was like a maze, and going in would be foolishness. So, since I didn't want you all to mourn the loss of your beloved parochial vicar who managed to starved to death in a corn field, I did what any Generation-X'er would do: I got on a computer, opened Google Earth and studied those corn fields from an aerial view. Then, although I still couldn't see anything more while I was in those trails, I knew where I was headed because I had seen the whole truth of that field. Simple solution: yes. Wise solution: definitely.

That is a small example of the wisdom that we hear about in the first and second readings today.

The first reading, although we only hear one side of it, presents us with a sort of competition between Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly or Foolishness. Both set up a banquet before us and both invite us to freely come forward and take what they wish to give us. One generously offers to our fragile simplicity the gift of truth, goodness, and beauty, summed up as “life”. The other takes advantage of our ignorance by deceptively offering a cheap meal “stolen bread” founded lies, which (unawares to the misguided) veils is true reality: chains and death.

Wisdom is not easy to come by, because it means knowing deeply and intimately, by our own personal experiences, what is true, what is good and just, what is beautiful – and thus knowing Who is God, since He is the fulness of all these things. However, it is not beyond the grasp of anyone – we are all invited to partake from her table. The key to making that journey towards Wisdom is Faith in Christ. It is like having a map for that corn-field. Faith doesn't make us 10-feet tall so that we can always see exactly what is happening. No, faith lets us know where we will end up, because we see things from above, we look up and trust that God is there.

As we have said, it is Faith in Christ is the key to unlocking eternal life. We know this best here in the Mass. Trusting in Christ as God, as setting up a table for us that is full of truth, goodness, and beauty, we are thus filled with God Himself, given to us in this sacrament. And this is the foretaste of eternal life. May our Faith in the Son of God bring us to our goal as we share even now in a foretaste of that gift.

Homily 8-12-2012 Be Transformed in order to Bring others to the Eucharist

Homily 8-12-2012 Be Transformed in order to Bring others to the Eucharist

 The Jews are absolutely scandalized by what Christ was saying about the gift of the Eucharist. They cannot not believe it. This is present here in our own world: it is difficult for non-believers to understand this great mystery. In fact, we ourselves never fully comprehend what the Eucharist is, because it is the living God, and God in himself is absolutely inexhaustible to our minds. It's like looking at the sun, our eyes simply cannot take it all in. This doesn't mean we run from contemplating this gift; rather, we adore and honor the host and chalice even more as Our Lord reveals Himself to us slowly, as He makes our eyes more and more able to see Him.

However, like Christ, we need to help others where they are at, to meet them where they are, so that we can bring them closer to Jesus.

The first way of teaching others about the Eucharist is holding the Eucharist in the highest reverence, in our actions, our words, and our thoughts. Since actions speak louder than words, if we do not have reverence for the Eucharist, how can we expect others to understand what this great sacrament is?

The Jews could not believe what Jesus was telling them, because they didn't know who it was that was speaking to them. We have to know Jesus in order to understand the promises he makes for us, in order to share this great Gift.

The three theological virtues that are directly related to our relationship with God are faith, hope, and love. And virtues are like muscles, they need to be used or they will slowly weaken and disappear.
So, every day we should pray to God for an increase in these virtues and exercise them, saying: “Lord I love you so much; Lord I believe in you. Lord I hope in you!” We can also pray in reparation, or in intercession, for those who do not love the Lord, do not believe in the Lord, do not hope in the Lord and his promises.
Next, these prayers for ourselves and for others need to be backed up with real, concrete exercises and practices in our life! Faith is shown by coming to mass every Sunday; by setting time aside daily for prayer, and especially praying devoutly while we are here at mass for ourselves our families and everyone who is in need. Our Hope needs to show itself, also: if we truly trust that God has a home for us in heaven, we should show that by the way we live in this world, by how we treat each other and how we we use the goods that God has given us. Most importantly, our Love for God needs to be shown in our love for others, no matter who they are, as Saint John has said: “How can we love the God whom we cannot see, if we cannot love our brothers and sisters whom we can see?”

And if we persevere in these virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love, this will open us up to the greatest way to show others what and who this Eucharist is: by being transformed, by allowing others to see Jesus in our actions, by truly becoming “Christians,” little Christs.

The greatest vessel of God's transforming Grace is this Eucharist. If we come to Him and are open to what the Lord wants to do in our hearts we will be renewed just as Elijah was strengthened to journey for 40 days.

If someone we know, or we ourselves, are unable to receive the Eucharist for any reason, we can also pray a prayer of spiritual communion, asking our Lord Jesus, who knows our longing, to come and fill us with his Grace as if we had received him in the Sacrament of Communion. And this can be prayed many times daily!

As we continue our prayer, we give reverence to our God for this greatest of gifts, we pray for Faith Hope and Love, and we beg to be consumed and transformed into Our Lord.

Homily 8-5-2012 God Gives what we need for our Renewal in Christ

Fr. T. Coonan Homily 8-5-2012 God Gives what we need for our Renewal in Christ

The focus of today's readings is simple: God supplies our need for our Renewal in Christ. Yesterday I walked through our rectory's vegetable garden and was affirmed again in the truth that God is a giving God: after I gathered in the huge cucumbers and numerous tomatoes, I remembered that all we had to do was plant the seeds, pull the weeds, and water the soil (sometimes God did that for me). God provides the rest, and I reap his generous gifts.

The one need of ours that is the greatest is found in the second reading today from the letter to the Ephesians. We are all longing for Transformation in Christ, both for ourselves and for the world: we need, for our own good and the good of others, to put off the 'old self' in Adam and put on the 'new man' in Christ Jesus. Sin beats us up more than anything, it makes us who we never were created to be. In order for us to “accomplish the works of God” like the Jews ask of Jesus, we have to rely on Him and on His gifts. We have to become like Jesus. He will always provide.

As Jesus tells the Jews that He Himself is the Bread of Life, He is begging them: “Don't come to me for your physical needs alone...nor even primarily; come to me for eternal food, spiritual food which never perishes.” Pray for holiness: theological virtues, moral virtues, (strength of character), promptings of the Holy Spirit.

We must cooperate with God's grace. We must choose. We must show our devotion – choosing God for His own sake. Lastly, we must never grumble! The Israelites are believing the lie of the world – so easy to believe because of the ability of the physical realm to overcome our senses and absorb our attention. “Don't seek me for what I can give you, seek me for who I am myself.”

Eucharist is the pinnacle of God's gifts to provide our needs. In God's gifts of Himself to us He is essentially saying: “See, I am holding nothing back from you; I give you everything.” Indeed God is showing us that in God we have everything we need. May the Eucharist, the gift of Jesus Himself, transform us that we may have the Grace to put off the 'old self' and become a new creation in our Lord.

Fr. T. Coonan Homily 7-29-2012 Eucharist: Sacrament of True Unity

Fr. T. Coonan Homily 7-29-2012 Unity in Communion with Christ

As I was praying this week with today's readings, I was reflecting on how Unity is so important in life, whether it is with our families, friends, co-workers, etc.

Friday night I was watching the opening ceremonies for the London Olympics, and I was moved by the Torch lighting ceremony – over 200 flames forming one great fire – a powerful symbol of unity between cultures, though truly more of an aspiration than a reality. If only they were completely united! Yet we know that the current state of affairs cannot be as good as it gets; there's a lot to be desired.

This is because as long as there is sin, there is disunity, since sin always says me over and against God and against others. Sin destroys relationships because it destroys our ability to love.

True unity is only fulfilled in the church, in God. Because God, who is a unity of persons, calls us to the same type of communion. This is what St. Paul describes in our second reading today from Ephesians: one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one hope, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. God is the source of our unity. Saint Paul also describes, in the great image of the body with many parts, a difference among the members, as we hear from CCC 814:

From the beginning, this one Church has been marked by a great diversity which comes from both the variety of God's gifts and the diversity of those who receive them. Within the unity of the People of God, a multiplicity of peoples and cultures is gathered together. Among the Church's members, there are different gifts, offices, conditions, and ways of life.

Thus the unity of God, who is a communion of persons, is seen also in the church in the unity of her different members as they become the one Body of Christ. And nothing shows this to us more clearly than the Eucharist, which we hear of in the Gospel. It is our Eucharistic Lord Jesus that draws us together as one.

This is described Didache, an ancient writing of the early church written about the same time as the last books of the New Testament. This text, which we will use in our hymn after communion (Father, We Thank Thee Who Hast Planted), prays that just as the grains of the field are united in the broken bread that is offered in the Mass, so also may the peoples of the world be gathered into one in the Church of Jesus Christ.

Miracle of the Mass – greater than miracle of bread. Listen to what happens in the words of consecration at Mass: for 2000 years, the same actions of Christ at the Last Supper were foreshadowed in this miracle of the multiplication of the loaves: he takes, blesses, breaks, and gives the bread. This is what the Eucharist symbolizes in the Cross, when Christ took, blessed, broke, and gave his body to us on Calvary! May the Eucharist, the great Sacrament of Unity, draw our hearts into one.

Homily 7-22-2012 Staying Close to the Source of Life

Fr. T. Coonan Homily: 7-22-2012 Staying Close to the Source of Life

On the Fourth of July, after things were done in the parish, I went to spend the rest of the day with my family at a lake in northeast Indiana. When I arrived, my family warned me immediately: “don't dive off the dock, or at least be ready for very shallow water.” The lake had lost its depth this summer, being about a foot and a half lower than it normally is, and we all know why: there wasn't any rain, and the high temperatures made it much worse. The lake was giving and not being replenished.

Our Lord today commands his apostles to be replenished, saying “come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” Rest here means what happens next: time alone with God. Even if it isn't for long before they get back into the swing of things, the apostles cannot survive without that time. They will run themselves dry, they will have nothing left to offer, if they are not replenished from the source of their life.

We ourselves are also God's messengers, baptized into Christ the great Priest, Prophet, and King, and we are to bring the message of Christ to the world as the apostles have done. However, if we don't stay close to the Lord, the message we carry will end up being more of our own than of His.

“Come away and rest a while.” Even though God sends us out on our mission to bring the Gospel to the world through our lives and relationships, we have to continually return to Him in order to fulfill that vocation properly.

Take Mother Teresa for an example: She said the only reason she and her sisters were able to serve the poor for 10-14 hours/day was because they first spent an hour with God in prayer before the tabernacle and the crucifix. This “rest” where they were taught in the classroom of silence by being with Christ was what kept them from running dry.

It is sometimes surprising how we often make God's will some difficult, harsh thing that is hard to follow, even if it's the right thing for us. Well, here's one of the many examples where God's will is easy, refreshing, and agreeable to us.

So why don't we do it enough? Why do we fail to rest in God through our prayer? Why do we fill up our Sundays with unnecessary activities that fill us with stress instead of with peace?

If God is our Shepherd, let us prove it by resting with him, listening to His voice, and following His lead. Whatever works for you, do it: whether it is the rosary, the Bible (esp. the Gospels), reading the lives or writings of the saints, meditating with Sacred Art or Music, or coming to the Chapel to be with the Lord Jesus present in the Eucharist. God isn't picky about how you pray, how you obey his command to “rest” with Him; He is picky about you in fact doing it!

Lastly, I beg you to spend some time praying for your pastors, your shepherds: Fr. Bill, Bishop Kevin Rhoades, Pope Benedict XVI. Beg God to help them stay close to the heart of Christ, so that we may always remain close to Christ by their faithful care of His Flock. May they always be replenished by God, the Source of all Goodness, so that they may bring His message to us and never run dry.

Homily 7-15-2012

 Last week we heard Saint Paul say, I am content with weaknesses and persecutions for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” Today we see once again that God does not call those who are equipped for the task at hand; He rather equips those whom he calls. We see this in the characters from today.

The prophet Amos had nothing to do whatsoever with prophecy, but was called by God to go from the Southern part of the promised land and preach a hard message to the northerners. Beyond inconveniences, He clearly suffered insults and spurns for doing God's will.

The Apostles in the Gospel today are, like Amos, what the world would consider to be nobodies. However, God equips them to bring the message of the Gospel to the world on this their first mission. And in the instruction we see what style this work of evangelization takes: it is focused, it is unwavering, it is life-giving.

The mission of the Twelve is focused because they are not to concern themselves with amenities: they are told not to “shop around” for the best host they can find. Also, they take no extra clothes, no cash, nothing except sandals and walking stick: symbols that they are on the move – not to be relaxing on their laurels.

Their mission is unwavering because they are told to shake off the dust of towns that do not accept them. They are not interested with immediate results. Their task is to sow the seed; God is the one who sees to its growth. They must keep moving, keep sharing the news, and not be discouraged by what does or does not happen in the midst of it all.

The mission is life-giving because we see that their ministry is essentially focused on healing the sick and driving out demons. This seems to go hand-in-hand with their message of preaching repentance. Since sin is death, then repentance is life. The work of evangelization always gives life to those who receive it, because it echoes Jesus' opening words: “Turn away from sin, believe in the Gospel.”

The life-giving nature of the Gospel is found in the beautiful hymn of St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians that we hear today. I encourage you to reflect on this text over the next week, to discover how in Christ we have received every spiritual blessing in the heavens. This encounter with the Good News is what equips us to spread the Gospel. God does not call the equipped, he equips the called. May he strengthen us today by this Eucharist, this gift of all gifts, to be messengers of his Good News who are focused, unwavering, and life-giving.

Homily 7-1-2012

Today Christ shows us servant leadership: He who was rich in what really counts becomes poor so that we, the poor, may become rich. The cross shows us that self-emptying love is the only true love. There, on Calvary, God has done everything He can to not only reveal his great love for us, but to give us every good gift possible, especially His Grace and the gift of everlasting life for which we are destined.

"God did not make death," Wisdom tells us. "He formed man to be imperishable." It is sin that brings death, which is why those who accompany the devil are the ones who experience it.

Not all sin is equal, but their effects are the same. Whether they are great sins or small ones, our actions bring about death into our lives and into those around us. Even little venial sins, committed regularly with little or no attempt to change, even these injure the body of Christ, they cause it to bleed in pain like the woman with the hemmhorage of 12 years.

That twelve years connects this story with the greater story it is found in, where Jairus' daughter is 12 years old. Thus the evangelist makes clear that these two stories are meant to be taken together. The truth they teach is unlocked with the help of the other.

Two women show us two ways to be healed by God: in one, the sinner goes to God who draws near and passes by; in the other, one waits as the Lord comes to her and seeks her out. In one, the prayers and faith of others bring the healing and salvation of God; in the other, it is her own faith in action that has made her well.

"Do not be afraid; only have faith." So many people trudge through life under the burdens of fear: Fear of loss. Fear of failure. Fear of changing your plans. Fear of what others may think. Only Faith in a loving, all-powerful God who has a plan for our lives will free us from this.

Do you know of someone you love who has been bleeding in pain for years? Family fight? Harsh words? Running from God or others? Have you yourself been living with great hurt either from your own sin or the sins of others? Whether it is you or another who is in need, let your faith in the power of Christ, the loving healer, bring the peace and salvation that our hearts long for. Run to Him, reach out in faith through extra prayer, through new works of charity, through random acts of kindness, through running to confession if needed. "God does not delight in the destruction of the living." Jesus tells us that He came that you may have life, and have it to the full. What are you waiting for?

Today, on this altar, Our Lord passes by, and we have the opportunity to reach out to Him. Today he comes to us to make us well. May our Eucharistic Lord bring His power and save us from the death of sin and evil, and fill us with His love.

7-8-2012 Homily - The Messenger and the Message

We have just heard how Our Lord received a terribly cold welcome into his hometown of Nazareth. They are all bent out of shape because they have heard of Jesus doing wonderful signs everywhere else, gaining some worldly fame among the people, and they seem neglected and this fills them with contempt. Because of this, they are unable to hear what Jesus has to say, their faith is weak, and they are unable to receive similar great signs. And Jesus, after doing what little He can, moves on to other towns.

In the first reading we hear a similar story: Ezekiel must preach the Word of the Lord to His People whether they want to hear it or not, so that at least this rebellious lot will know that there was a prophet in their midst. So today, let us remember, and pray for, our Pope, our Bishop Kevin and all bishops and priests, that when they preach they do not shy away from the truth that the Lord wishes to speak through them, because whether it is easy to hear or not, it is truly for our good.

I bet the people of Nazareth and the Jews of Ezekiel's time had the same struggle: they did not want to hear what the Lord had to say. And one of the easiest ways to disregard the message, and something that people still do today, is to throw out the messenger by pointing out their faults. For example, let's look at myself and Father Bill. One easy thing that could be said of Father Terry, and I hear it a lot, is that I am so young! This can be used to mean I don't have enough experience or knowledge of life, etc. Well, don't worry, I agree with that quite a bit! Turning to Father Bill, what could we say? Ah, only too easy to say, especially for me, is that, even if he doesn't look it, he is so old!

What we need to remember is that when someone is speaking the Word of the Lord, The message is not their own. They are sharing God's message to you. We can tell this difference when something turns our heart and reaches our soul. Because people can speak to our ears and minds, but only the Holy Spirit can reach to our heart and soul and demand that we “turn away of from sin and be faithful to the Gospel!”

And so, in these messages, The real messenger is God, not the person bringing it, because God alone speaks to us in this deep and powerful way. No one else is able.

Lest we forget this mission is not only for our priests, bishops, and pope, we need to recall that all of us are baptized into the prophetic mission of Christ. We share in the Universal call to proclaim the Gospel to our world.

CCC 851 Missionary motivation. It is from God's love for all men that the Church in every age receives both the obligation and the vigor of her missionary dynamism, "for the love of Christ urges us on." Indeed, God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth"; that is, God wills the salvation of everyone through the knowledge of the truth. Salvation is found in the truth. Those who obey the prompting of the Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation. But the Church, to whom this truth has been entrusted, must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them the truth. Because she believes in God's universal plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary.

What ways should a Christian manifest his concern for those who don't believe? What does it look like? Should we be nagging, antagonistic, prodding, provoking? Are we completely silent? Do we speak around it? Do we let our actions speak? The Holy Spirit will guide us in how we are to proclaim the Gospel, but let us do so after the example of Christ our Leader and Brother. Following His example in today's gospel, let us not be discouraged when sometimes people do not listen. If Jesus didn't convert every heart, why should we be discouraged if we cannot?

Let us pray to Our Lord as we receive this Holy Communion that we will not only be good listeners to the Lord when he speaks to us, but also good bearers of His message, proclaiming it in season and out.

5/27/2012 Homily (Pentecost)

Our Cathedral in Fort Wayne is in Honor of Mary, The Immaculate Conception. Every window shows a scene of Mary's life, and the largest and greatest window is found behind the altar and beautiful wooden raredos in the sanctuary. Picture of Dove (Holy Spirit) is directly above that window, to show that without the Holy Spirit, Mary' slife would have been ordinary and unimportant, since every event of her life, including her own conception without sin and her later consent to bear Christ in her womb, was overshadowed with the blessing of His Grace.

As He was the source of her holiness, so today we see that The Holy Spirit is the source of the Church's life and mission. The dynamic of life in the Church is from the top-down, not from the ground-up, just like the Cathedral shows us.

As the Church first prayed nine days for the coming of the Spirit, so do we unwaveringly beg from God the gifts that we need for our life.

And those prayers are always answered. Any studying of Church History will show you in hundreds of ways how the Holy Spirit knows what we need and gives us the Grace to carry out His Mission, indeed Christ's mission entrusted to us: to be witnesses to the Resurrection in our own time and place.

Today, Deacon Jacob Meyer became a priest. He is now called (and I know this will sound a little frightening), Father Jacob Meyer! This new priest who grew from our own parish community, especially over the past six years of his time in seminary formation, is a concrete sign that the Holy Spirit can work and is indeed working in the lives and hearts of the faithful here in this parish. If we open our hearts to God's plan, we will find God doing wondrous things in our hearts, too. They won't necessarily have all the flare of tongues of flame, speaking in new languages, or administering the sacraments in the person of Christ the High Priest, but they are not for that reason any less real, nor less remarkable, nor less important. A father or mother who loves his or her children so perfectly that he gives up his own hobbies and plans that they may have time with mom or dad and know they are cherished and fostered, they are just as critical to the life of the Church. A teenager who prays daily that God will help him or her to be a saint and prepare their hearts to make a gift in their later vocation, they are exactly what the Holy Spirit needs to work with to change our world. A faithful Christian whose life of constant prayer becomes a source of intercession for the Church in her mission to be a light to our world, that is the most important part of the Church's future - for if we are to have any future at all, it has to come from above. We cannot fulfill this mission on our own. We need God. We need the Holy Spirit, the one gift that bears all others unto us. With Him, all things are possible.

That Holy Spirit comes to us through prayer and the sacraments, particularly Sunday Mass. And where would we receive the sacraments if we have no priests? Where would priests come from without a seminary formation? As I also celebrate my own ordination to the priesthood and my first Holy Mass last year on Pentecost Sunday, I give thanks to God for my years in seminary where I grew in the Holy Spirit's Graces so that I could one day be a vessel, as unworthy as I am, of Christ's priestly power for His Church. As we recall how The Holy Spirit is the source of the Church's life and mission, I beg you to pray for priests and to consider generously donating to the Pentecost Sunday Collection for seminarians.

May the Holy Spirit of Fire, of Courage, and of Love, continue to strengthen the Church for its mission by uniting us more deeply to Christ, Our Head and Shepherd!