SJB-lastHomily -- Remember what you are!

The theme I see in this weekend's readings is pretty simply stated: "don't forget who you are!" (And the flip side of that is: “Don't forget who you are not!”) Amos clearly condemns the complacently rich of Zion (Jerusalem), and foretells their downfall.  Jesus shoes us a parallel image of the anonymous "rich man" who has lost his identity into his wealth: all he is now is just his stuff - Lazarus is not even as dehumanized as him. He doesn't reflect that he is a beggar before God like all of us, and that he is not immortal. Do not forget who you are, nor who you are not.

We see this also in the second reading.  The first letter to Timothy is full of Saint Paul's advice for the young leader who, due to his age, needs reassurance that he is on the right track for where he should be leading the Christian community, as well as reminders of who he is and what he is about.  It may seem a bit of a hodgepodge, but truly is more like a potluck of delicious little dishes like the nice parish picnic we had about a month ago. In fact, this letter follows the typical style of the day when kings/emperors would send instruction to their local governors for how they ought to carry out their duties. Sometimes local Greco-Roman magistrates would even post copies of these letters on the outside of the main buildings for everyone to read, and thus the emperor would write in a way that, while speaking to the governor, truly also spoke to everyone.  This letter of St. Paul is summarized by Luke Timothy Johnson as follows: As in Ephesians, the Christian household and community are witnesses to the world of "faith and truth" (2:7).  But only a community that is orderly and harmonious - displaying the best of the values and virtues of the larger Greco-Roman culture - can truly be the "household of God." Indeed, only as an orderly "household" can the community stand as a witness among the Gentiles  to the great mystery in Christ (3:16).

Saint Paul encourages Timothy in what he knows is God's Will for him as a leader of the Christian community, as well as outlining the vocation of the entire "household of God:" But you, man of God, pursue righteousness,

devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.  Compete well for the faith.  Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called...

This is certainly good advice for Timothy, but it is also good advice for all of us.  It is a reminder that the pastor (myself) is at best a good leader when he is simply trying to live as a good child of God like the rest of the "household."  As Saint Augustine put it, "For you I am a bishop, but with you I am a Christian; the first names a danger, but the latter names a salvation."

I have tried to be a good leader by being a good Christian here, and have not been perfect at that but have also never given up.  I pray that the Merciful Lord may look kindly upon me and help me in the future.  Ultimately any priest who sows good seeds for the kingdom is doing it for the future, not the present, and I am grateful for the generous hearts of the pastors who have been here in the past decades of this parish.  Ironically as well, the best priests put not themselves at the center, but Jesus, who alone is the way, the truth, and the life.  You need Him, and you need a priest to bring Him to you in the Eucharist, but that is all. 

Paul indirectly stresses that Timothy needs to remember the primacy of Jesus, by mentioning him three times in this short passage, including the poetic prayer of praise that finishes the reading.  That focus is essential for the pastor, which is why I am at peace with the road ahead for myself and for you.  Father Glenn is a great priest and pastor who will care for this household of God with wisdom and compassion and a deep love for Jesus Christ. You will be in good hands, and I am grateful to pass on to him this family that shows a real love for priests.

May God bless us all as we continue our journey of faith, and may we never forget who we are: children of our heavenly Father, whom He deems worthy of His love!

Make the turn-around, ASAP!

Audio: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1r8CMMH17Y0VEE2bURvZjdfWGc

While the first reading should have a clear message for you, this Gospel should probably confuse you at first.

Amos: was a prophet who spoke to the northern half of the promised people (commonly called Israel) even though he came from the southern half (commonly called Judah).  He is sent to remind the people that their prim & proper worship rituals don't mean a thing if at the same time they are committing or allowing grave injustices to humanity - which indeed they are.  The Lord will not forget the crimes that are committed to the poor.  He will lift them up, Psalm 113 tells us.  We must not let the lures of mammon (which means money and possessions) cloud our mind from what really matters.

Mammon leads us to our Gospel reading, where we are given this interesting parable by Jesus of an unjust steward.  This man is caught cheating, like Amos warns the people of his own day.  Perhaps getting caught is the best thing that ever happened to the steward in this parable, because it forces him to face the facts that he must render an account of his actions.  And the earlier we change our wicked ways, all the better... and if we never change our wicked ways, all the worse.

So there is the first lesson we get from this dishonest man: knowing our position and responding.  The Catholic word for this is simple: repentance! (or conversion)   This is a very “John the Baptist” kind of word, and he himself used fiery images to wake up the people of his own day.  Repent in Hebrew shoov means to turn around, to do a 180, and that's exactly what this man does today.  He knows that he needs to make quick changes if he is going to fix the situation, and he takes the drastic measures he needs.

The Greek word for repentance or conversion is METANOIA, and this will lead us to our next lesson from this Gospel.  Metanoia means to transform our way of thinking, and this dishonest steward spent his time thinking always about money and profit: how can I get ahead of others, get them to be literally indebted to me.  The funny thing is he turns this thought process on its head when he realizes he is up a creek, since his leverage on the locals is about to completely disappear.  So what does he do?  He flips to forgiveness, to mercy, to cutting the debts of the people he used.  By helping them out of their tough times, they will love him and help him out when his come around.  Talk about a true metanoia, a transformation of mind.  This man shows us how to realize our situation and respond.

Often we are temped to think, like in the time of Amos, that we are on top of the world and nothing can bring us down, but this parable reminds us that there will be an accounting for all of us.
In fact, this parable may be the best example of the prayer we pray at every single Mass: “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
Let us ask the Lord Jesus to help us to realize our sinfulness, our debts toward God and others, and make up for them by forgiving others ourselves.

Triumph of the cross

Triumph - victory. Found in a torture device of capital punishment? That is the mystery of providence, that is the sign of God's great love.

Pilgrimage: hike
Auschwitz - St. Maximillian Kolbe: love is stronger than hatred, light it stronger than darkness, good is stronger than evil.

Because every one of us is overrun with concupiscence (our selfish tendency toward sin), the world hates the Cross. I mean, who looks at that and says "gimme gimme gimme!" No one. But today in a more powerful way because our western culture has tried to throw out the idea of universal truth. And when we do that we are left with the two options of today: whatever the crowd says (aka "the herd mentality") or "whatever feels good", or both.

Emotivism: my emotions = true & good. This is clearly the antithesis of the cross.

"Do what feels good" equals idolatry of the ego

Christ wasn't feeling good on the cross. Feelings were far below where his heart and mind were at the time. They were in the sky.

"Thy Will be done" as we pray in the Our Father

Embrace the Cross if you wish to experience it's triumph. 

How? Daily holiness in the small things: family, friends, work (student). John of Cross:  "in the end we are judged by our love."

Confession. Essential for us because we are all sinners. Let the Cross triumph.  Sin only wins if we stay on the ground and don't get back up.

Homily Notes - False Idols

Audio from 9am Mass: click here!

False idols are tricky things nowadays.  In the ancient cultures it was, sometimes, very easy to spot idolatry: there was a golden calf, or a statue of another creature (real or not), or a deity in human form.  There was ritual surrounding it: incense, offering, prayers, vestments, priests or priestesses.  This kind of idolatry was easy to avoid.  But nowadays?  Is it still there?
Yes, and it's harder to see it, because while people in our day and age worship all kinds of things, we pretend we don't.  We certainly don't have golden calves lying around our house.  We might have crucifixes on our walls, paintings of saints all around.  We can go to church on Sundays, but idolatry can still be present in our lives, and certainly is present in our world today, if not in our own hearts.
Jesus' parables of mercy are culminated in what has been called the greatest literary masterpiece of all time: the story of the prodigal son.  This amazing parable perfectly shows us God's mercy in the face of the idolatry of the younger son (and older son).  Idols are common because we were created for worship. Idols are problems because, like in this parable, we worship a lower good at the expense of the highest good, namely, our relationship with The Lord: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
So what do we worship? I think we can use this quote from St. John of the Cross as a guide: "O souls created for such grandeurs and called to them, what are you doing? How are you spending your time?" The way we spend our time is a huge sign of what we give ourselves to. Some of our time is partly our own, some of it completely ours to control, but all of it should really be the Lord's. I say this to my own condemnation as well, since for years I was more likely found wasting time and not praying, and even now still have days where I mess up.
Another guide for testing our hearts is: how do I make decisions? What upsets me? What do I often think about or worry about? These lead us to possible idols we need I give over regularly to the Lord.
And the main step to this is His merciful love. If we experience that we are loved, we are more ready to drop the things we hope might fill that void but never do.
Let us ask the Lord to enlighten our hearts so we may give them more completely to Him. Amen.

"I really appreciate it!"

Audio (Sat eve.): Click here!
Jesus tells us today that when it comes down to it, we need to follow Him and Him alone.  Our loyalty cannot be with political parties before Jesus, nor can we say "blood is thicker than water" if it means losing Jesus.  We cannot have other things share the throne of our heart.  We can only have one altar in our souls, reserved only for Christ.  This is the cost of discipleship: everything is His because He is sharing His everything with us.  The cost is real, and the cost is worth it.
A common phrase we hear in conversations: "I really appreciate it."  We have heard and said this a lot when thanking someone.  The word appreciate means to know the price of something, to be aware of the cost.  So when we are thanking someone, we are saying, "I know what it cost you to do what you have done."  It means we are aware of the sacrifices someone made for us.
Sometimes we say we appreciate things without truly noting the cost of something, without registering the price another person paid.  Instead, I think we often use it in a different way, simply to say something like "it means a lot to me" instead of the original meaning, "it meant a lot to you."
We can only truly appreciate something when we realize that we needed something, that we couldn't do it on our own, and that it was done by another at great cost to them.  We got something we didn't deserve but needed, and it was a sacrifice for someone to make that happen.  And when we really appreciate something, we don't just say it - we show it by living differently.
Ultimately, the greatest act of appreciation should be in our spiritual life: we should appreciate what God has done for us.  We should register in our minds what it costs God to make it possible that we, slaves of sin, can be welcomed into God's family and attain heaven.  We need to look at that cross and let it sink in.  We need to think about the story of God's faithfulness in the Bible to a people that are so stubborn in their old ways that it must break God's heart.  Then we need to think about how we so often spurn God's love again and again, about how we reject His invitations to come deeper, and how easy it would be for us to give up on someone if they rejected us that many times.  Yet God doesn't give up on us.  If we think of these things, then we will begin to appreciate the gift of His Love, the miracle of His Mercy, the blessing of prayer.
Saint Paul asks Philemon for forgiveness to Onesimus.  Brother needs to forgive brother, Paul encourages, because he should appreciate the great forgiveness we have all received in Christ Jesus.  If we think of what we have been forgiven, and we sincerely realize all that God has done and still does for us every day, then forgiveness is easy, acts of mercy and charity are easy.  It's simply paying it forward.
This is the challenge for us this week: who have I failed to forgive at all, or only forgiven partially?  Who or what is it that the Holy Spirit, God Himself present in my soul by baptism, is asking me to graciously get past so that I can share in my part of the forgiveness he has shown me.  How do I show my appreciation for what He has done?  May the Lord speak to our hearts today in this Mass with a name, a face, or a situation that needs His healing, and inspire us with the grace to bring His Merciful Love into that part of our life.  Amen.

Humility - Saint Therese of Lisieux

Audio: click here!

We are Christians.  We believe that Jesus died for us and rose from the dead to bring us with Him into the eternal life of heaven.  We profess that Jesus is alive in heaven, and in His Church on earth.  We profess that He is so closely united to us that we call the Church His Body – the Body of Christ – as He told saint Paul.  We as Catholics furthermore proclaim that He was not kidding around when He said “this is My Body... this is my Blood.”  Jesus is here, he is alive, and He gives Himself to us in the Eucharist.  

Why?  So that we can become like Him.  And what is the most important way to become like Jesus?

Do we need to be miracle workers?  No.  Do we need to go turning over tables and calling out the Pharisees?  Not necessarily.  Do we need to love?  Definitely.  But what is the first step?  The first step is humility.  What we hear in the Gospel and the first reading today is the first step of the Christian life.

Humility is not beating ourselves up and denying that we can and should strive for greatness.  Rather, humility is a gut-check, a reality-check, a down-to-earth quality of being in-touch with the way things are.  And the way things are is this: God is God, and I am a creature.  I do not exist on my own.  I did not  bring myself into this world, nor can I keep myself here.  Furthermore, I cannot fulfill myself – I need others, especially God, in order to be happy.  I cannot control this world, I cannot even control myself at times, and (speaking for myself) there are some things I will never be able to control, like my hair.

That is humility.  Not bad hair, but that real acknowledgment of “c'est la vie” “such is life” and accepting the facts for the facts.  This does not mean we do not hope for a better world, a just society, personal holiness, or any other good dream we should shoot for.  But it does mean admitting where we are at this point.

We can become saints.  We should become saints.  We, God willing, will be saints one day.  Are you saints yet?  No.  That's humility.

And that is where true power comes from.  Yes, humility is the source of strength.  Since we all are weak, unable to conquer ourselves or even to exist apart from God's grace, humility is the first step toward holiness.  Saint Therese of Lisieux is a great example of this.  I'm reading a book about her called “33 Days to Merciful Love,” and I am finding the little two-page sections each day to be very powerful.  She wrote: “I do not grieve in seeing that I am weakness itself. On the contrary, it is in this I glory; and I expect each day to discover new imperfections; and I acknowledge that these lights concerning my nothingness do me more good than the lights concerning the Faith.”

How many of you see weakness as a gift?  Perhaps we need to start, because this little saint has done more good on earth that many “high and mighty” lives combined.

Therese saw weakness (what she often called being “little”) as a gift, saying: “What pleases Jesus in my little soul is to see me love my littleness.”

If we cannot love our own littleness before God, who chose to make us with the limitations that we have, then we too need to grow in humility.

Finally, she tells us: “It is my weakness that makes all my strength. Jesus did everything in me. I did nothing but remain little and weak.”

If we want to do great things, we need look no further than this saint and the Blessed Mother Mary, who was the first person in the Gospel to show us that in order to do great good for God and for the world, we need not boast of ourselves and puff ourselves up, but on the contrary we should become little and be an instrument for God to work in us.  Mother Teresa, who will be named a saint in just a few weeks, said the same in her own way: “God did not ask me to be successful.  He asked me to be faithful.”

I have printed off a handout with two prayers for humility.  You can find them in your pews and in the back of church.  Please use these prayers as a help toward growing in that first step in the spiritual life, and that greatest of all gifts: the gift of our littleness and humbly receiving God's Mercy.

Litany of Humility

by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930), Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed...

Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved...

From the desire of being extolled ...

From the desire of being honored ...

From the desire of being praised ...

From the desire of being preferred to others...

From the desire of being consulted ...

From the desire of being approved ...

From the fear of being humiliated ...

From the fear of being despised...

From the fear of suffering rebukes ...

From the fear of being calumniated ...

From the fear of being forgotten ...

From the fear of being ridiculed ...

From the fear of being wronged ...

From the fear of being suspected ...

That others may be loved more than I...

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I ...

That, in the opinion of the world,

others may increase and I may decrease ...

That others may be chosen and I set aside ...

That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...

That others may be preferred to me in everything...

That others may become holier than I,

provided that I may become as holy as I should…

O Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, make my heart like yours!

St. Therese's "Prayer to obtain humility" (Prayer 20) written July 16, 1897.

O Jesus! when you were a Pilgrim on earth, you said: "Learn of Me for I am gentle and humble of heart and you will find rest for your souls." O Mighty Monarch of Heaven, yes, my soul finds rest in seeing you, clothed in the form and nature of a slave, humbling yourself to wash the feet of your apostles. I recall your words that teach me how to practice humility: "I have given you an example so that you may do what I have done. The disciple is not greater than the Master.... If you understand this, happy are you if you put them into practice." Lord, I do understand these words that came from your gentle and humble Heart and I want to practice them with the help of your grace. want truly to humble myself and to submit my will to that of my sisters. I do not wish to contradict them nor seek to see whether or not they have the right to command me. O my Beloved, no one had this right over you and yet you obeyed not only the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph but even your executioners. Now in the Sacred Host I see you at the height of your annihilations. How humble you are, O divine King of Glory, to subject yourself to all your priests without making any distinction between those who love you and those who are, alas! lukewarm or cold in your service... At their word you come down from heaven. Whether they advance or delay the hour of the Holy Sacrifice, you are always ready O my Beloved, how gentle and humble of heart You seem under the veil of the white Host! To teach me humility you cannot humble yourself further. Therefore, to respond to your love, I desire that my sisters always put me in the lowest place and I want to convince myself that this place is indeed mine.

I beg you, my Divine Jesus, to send me a humiliation whenever I try to set myself above others. I know, o my God, that you humble the proud soul but to the one who humbles herself you give an eternity of glory. So I want to put myself in the last rank and to share your humiliations so as "to have a share with you" in the kingdom of Heaven. But, you know my weakness, Lord. Every morning I make a resolution to practice humility and in the evening I recognize that I have committed again many faults of pride. At this I am tempted to become discouraged but I know that discouragement is also pride. Therefore, O my God, I want to base my hope in You alone. Since you can do everything, deign to bring to birth in my soul the virtue I desire. To obtain this grace of your infinite mercy I will very often repeat: "O Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, make my heart like yours!"

Entering the narrow gate: on never giving up

Audio: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx8IQkJZZ39KN2U2Y2hOZk9DcHM

I've been to WYD three times: once in high school (Toronto), five years ago in Madrid, and the last month to Poland. The trip to world youth day always culminates in an excursion or hike that leads us into a bit of "Mother Nature."  This past event in Kraków was a nine-mile hike to an huge open park with a couple retention ponds and lots of flat green space. Bushes and shrubs and tall grass were all cut down for the crowd of about 2-million.  The hike is never easy. In Toronto and Madrid I recall intense heat.  Kraków had temperatures in the 80's, which was comparatively not too bad.  But it was certainly not easy.

Pilgrimage is a symbol for the Christian life. It's not easy -- but it's worth it.  In some ways that can be said of a lot of things in life: it's not easy -- but it's worth it.  Learning a new language is not easy -- but it's worth it.  Making new friends is not easy -- but it's worth it.  Forgiving someone who hurt you is not easy -- but it's worth it.  Making time for prayer every day is not easy -- but it's worth it.  Taking care of your physical health is not easy -- but it's worth it.  Persevering in marriage and parenthood is not easy -- but it's worth it.

Like all these things, following Jesus is not easy -- but it's worth it.

That is the point of today's Gospel. Jesus says "strive to enter through the narrow gate!" It's not easy, he is saying. Work hard at it. Don't be a pushover.  If you fall, get back up.  If you get distracted, refocus.  Whatever you do, don't follow the easy road.

When it comes down to it, life is about one thing: heaven.  In fact, experiencing heaven means to be a saint - there are only saints in heaven. So you could say that life is really all about being a saint, and if you are a saint on this earth, then the journey to heaven is already heaven.  A poet of the last century said, "There is really only one tragedy in life: to not be a saint."  That is what life is all about. That is our narrow gate.  How many of us wake up every day and say, "Lord, help me to live like a saint today!" Or at least we should pray, "Lord, help me to want to live like a saint today!"

The problem is, our world indeed leads many away from the narrow gate. We go in the wrong direction so easily due to the  various distractions that are present: electronics, media, books, movies, sports, 

One thing that helps us is not doing it alone.

The pilgrimage hike was easier because we weren't alone - we helped each other along the way, picking each other up when it was tough, sharing the burdens of those who were struggling.  The challenges of the trip gave us opportunities to show love for each other in concrete ways - and they increased our love. 

That is the beauty of family, including the parish family. We help each other along the way.

I thank God for my family, and for the family here at Saint Johns. It has been a joy and I'm happy to keep striving for the narrow gate with you. Let us keep helping each other every day to pray in our hearts: "Lord, make me a saint today."