HOMILY – 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

For the next several weeks, we will be reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians. This letter was written about 20-25 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection and was written to a community of Christians in modern day Turkey. This community of Christians were Gentiles – non-Jews – whom St. Paul had converted to Christianity. The tone of this letter is highly charged, even defensive because Jewish-Christian missionaries who had come after Paul were requiring the people Paul converted - his friends - to follow Jewish laws, such as circumcision. For Paul, we are saved not by following laws (because in our human weakness we will never be able to follow either the spirit or letter of the law perfectly), but we are saved through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And, as Paul stresses, the Gospel he proclaims was not something he invented, but it is from God and it was by God that Paul was called to proclaim it. I appreciate St. Paul’s strong conviction, his risk-taking to admit his own failings AND his great trust in God. It is with this same approach that I address the fourth in my series of homilies during this Year of Faith. Following Dr. Christopher Kazcor’s book, The Seven Big Myths of the Catholic Church, I have been using the Sunday readings to tackle some of the biggest misunderstandings of our Roman Catholic Church and the faith with which she is entrusted by Jesus Christ. Dr. Kazcor’s fourth myth goes something like this: the Church’s opposition to contraception shows that the Church is not only disconnected from modern society, but especially disconnected from the realities of love and married life. As Dr. Kazcor points out, most people, including most Catholics, view the use of contraception as not only NOT wrong, but in many cases a positive duty. In fact, a recent Pew study found that 64% of Catholics sampled said that the Pope Francis should relax the Church’s ban on contraception. I don’t anticipate that happening anytime soon and I will explain why. Before going further, I want to say that I am not trying to be controversial or provocative by standing here at this pulpit and talking about contraception or any other hot-button issue. However, like St. Paul in writing to the Galatians, I speak to you with a great love and also a strong desire that you know God’s love, which I believe is uniquely found and guarded by the Church. So, I am willing to risk embarrassment, being made fun of, or that you will just tune me out, if there is the possibility that I might bring you or your loved ones to reconsider your position on contraception, if you are part of that 64%. So, on the issue of birth control, let me first say that the Church teaches that any action either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, which is specifically intended to prevent procreation is immoral and not permissible in the eyes of the Church. Contraception is immoral and wrong when it frustrates or prevents the unitive and procreative nature of the act, as God designed. Proponents of contraception contend that contraception will transform society for the better – this is the bill of goods sold to so many when the pill first started being mass produced over 50 years ago and still today. Their argument goes something like this: contraception will make marriages better, reduce sexually transmitted diseases, allow greater sexual freedom and happiness, reduce unplanned pregnancies and abortions and help control alleged global over-population. In reality, contraception has been harmful to marriages, and has failed to stop increases in STDs, unwanted pregnancies and abortions. We are only now beginning to understand the very serious physical, emotional and spiritual side effects and environmental impacts of contraception. And, as foretold over 40 years ago in the 1968 encyclical Humane Vitae, we are now more clearly seeing how contraception has “opened wide the way for marital infidelity, a general lowering of moral standards, and the objectifying of women. Contraception fits well into a world view that I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, with whomever. As Catholics, our world view is much different – it is about being a love relationship with a triune God - a God who created us out of love; who suffered and died for us out of love; and, who out of love, continually gives us whatever we need to stay in relationship with him. As Catholics we are called to love God and in turn share that same love with others. In the first reading and Gospel, we are reminded that our God is also a God of life. God works through the prophet Elijah, who prayed to let the life breath return to the body of the widow’s son. And it is Jesus who restored life to the widow’s son in today’s Gospel. These stories tell us of God’s great power to restore life, the importance and value God places on life, and the love and compassion God has for each of us, especially those in need. When couples use contraception to suppress their fertility, they assert that they alone have ultimate power and control to create new life - not God. And this is why the efforts to promote contraception as a matter of women’s health are problematic. Among other things, it is offensive to treat life that we hold so sacred as a disease that needs to be prevented or destroyed. And the irony is that the “treatments” being advanced in the name of women’s health are not improving women’s lives or health, but making them much worse. Many point to the Church’s teaching on contraception and say that the Church just does not get the realities of love and married life. The Church does get it and we can point to its teaching on marriage to prove this. In marriage, spouses seal their love and commitment through their sexual union. Many today find it difficult to understand how profound and meaningful this union is, how it embodies these promises of marriage that: “We will love and honor each other as man and wife for the rest of our lives? We will accept children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?” In other words, the married couple is saying: We are ready to accept this person, and all that may come from our union, completely and forever! Only in marriage can we find meaning and purpose, as well as lasting joy, in this most intimate act between a man and woman. Our culture often presents sex as merely recreational, not as a deeply personal or even important encounter between spouses - an encounter that mirrors the total self-giving of Jesus on the Cross. In our culture, being responsible about sex simply means limiting its consequences—avoiding disease and using contraceptives to prevent pregnancy. This cultural view is impoverished, even sad. It fails to account for the true needs and deepest desires of men and women. Living in accord with this view has caused much loneliness and many broken hearts - and ultimately distances us from the most important relationship: the one with God. God’s plan for married life and love is far richer and more fulfilling. In marriage, intimacy between a husband and wife is the source of a joy and pleasure that helps the spouses give themselves to each other completely and for their entire lives. And as couples turn away from contraception they will certainly share greater honesty, openness, and intimacy in their marriage. I just wish I heard this message 15-20 years ago! In married life, the Church also gets that serious circumstances—financial, physical, psychological, or those involving responsibilities to other family members—may arise to make an increase in family size untimely. The Church understands this. At such times, a married couple can engage in marital intimacy during the naturally infertile times or after child-bearing years, without violating the meaning of marital intercourse in any way. This is the principle behind natural family planning (NFP). Natural methods of family planning enable couples to use the very best understanding of our bodies to cooperate with the body as God designed it. We are blessed to have an NFP-trained and certified couple in our parish - Greg and Dorie France. I would encourage you to talk to them or me about this. NFP combined with self-restraint, self-discipline, mutual respect, and shared responsibility are the the most effective and responsible ways to plan a family and to experience a truly healthy and happy marriage. In today’s first reading and Gospel, we hear beautiful responses of faith when the gift of life is restored. What is our response to life? Is it something we contracept? Or is it something we honor and celebrate?

HOMILY – ASCENSION SUNDAY (Year C)

Edith Stein, also known as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, was a Jewish convert to Catholicism; she was a philosopher and nun; she died in the gas chambers of Nazi Germany in 1942, and was canonized a saint in 1998. Edith Stein once said of Original Sin that it was a very deliberate act of the devil to targeted Eve (and not Adam) to create the first doubt in God, which would lead to Original Sin and all the sin and evil that followed. Edith Stein, I think correctly, thought that the devil had the foresight and even the cunning to know the true power and influence women would have over humanity – both men and other women – and that the devil hoped that such feminine power and influence would help the devil in his battle with God. While the devil was correct in knowing the power and influence women would have; the devil was so wrong that feminine power and influence would align with him and defeat God. And we can thank the countless mothers and spiritual mothers for their teaching and prayers. This story sets up well the third in my series of homilies during this Year of Faith on the Seven Big Myths About the Catholic Church. Following Dr. Christopher Kazcor’s book of the same title, the third big myth is that “the Church hates women” - or at least holds them as second-class citizens. It is an unplanned yet nice coincidence that I tackle this myth on Mother’s Day weekend, during the month of May, which the Church holds as a month in special devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and on the Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord. The short response to this myth is that the Church does not hate women or consider them second-class citizens, but in fact the Church loves and honors women. To this point, Dr. Kazcor responds that the Catholic Church has done more than any other institution in the world and throughout history to promote the well-being of women in providing food, shelter, clothing, health care, and education. Dr. Kazcor further argues that the time, resources, and money expended by the Catholic Church as an institution to improve the well-being of women is impossible to reconcile with the belief that the Church is “anti-woman.” The great dignity of women that Church holds is found clearly in the life and teachings of the Church’s founder, Jesus Christ. Like no one else before him, Jesus affirmed the value of women, bestowed his friendship on them, and protected them. Women were among his followers, and Jesus highly valued their faith. Moreover, the first witness to the Resurrection was a woman. We can also look to what Jesus taught to understand the value and worth that he saw in women. We see this specifically in Christ’s teaching on the sanctity of marriage and the prohibition against divorce. Jesus’ teaching protected women, who especially in the ancient world, were typically put at tremendous economic and social disadvantage in cases of divorce. Furthering this teaching, the Church today upholds the dignity of women by promoting the sanctity of marriage and championing the idea that women are free to marry or not, and if called to married life they must enter into marriage freely and with full consent. Some who hear this may be quick counter by pointing to the “subordination” passages in the Scripture – you the know the ones that always trigger the elbow in the side and chuckles when read. The most popular is Ephesians Chapter 5: “let wives be subject in everything to their husbands.” Much could be said of this passage, but let me just point out two things. First, when we read anything in Scripture, we can’t just pick and chose words or passages, but we must read and understand them in their entirety – and when we do this, we read that the call to be subordinate to your spouse is placed on BOTH husband and wife. And, second, St. Paul is using this passage to call married Christians to a strong mutual love and respect for each other, which is just the opposite of making women inferior to and objects of domination by their husbands. As Dr. Kazcor points out, the reservation of priestly ordination to men is perhaps the sorest spot among critics of the Catholic Church’s treatment of women. Many people understandably believe that this teaching of the Church holds women less holy, less intellectually capable, less pastorally sensitive, or less capable of leadership than men. This is false on two counts: first, the Church does not teach this, and second it is false that woman are less smart, caring, or capable of leading than men. However, the Church is bound by the fact that Jesus – in a completely free and sovereign manner, consistent with God’s eternal plan, and after having spent the night in prayer – chose men exclusively at the Last Supper for the institution of the priesthood. In the male priest, we see the man Jesus, who is called to a life of service, love and sacrifice – not domination, power or exultation. The fact that the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church, was not called to the priesthood clearly shows that a male-only priesthood does not mean that women are of a lesser dignity, nor can it be construed as discrimination against them. Just as Christ’s selection of only men to be his apostles did not exhibit or imply in any way the inferiority of women or superiority of men, so too the continuation of this particular apostolic ministry by men does not manifest the belief that women as inferior. Unfortunately, as Dr. Kazcor notes, the Church and its members have not always followed Christ and his teachings as closely as they should with respect to the treatment of women. Blessed John Paul II acknowledged as much when he confessed that many members of the Church, including some in the hierarchy, have acted – and sometimes still act – in ways that fail to express the equality of man and woman. But, such shortcomings do not reflect what the Church and its members are called to be! In God’s sight, men and women share a common dignity that comes from being created by God, in his image and likeness, and made good. Men and women also share a common goal: eternal happiness. It is Christ who leads and proceeds us by His Ascent into Heaven in achieving this goal. This is the joy we celebrate today with the Ascension our Lord – who as we read in the second reading: “seats at the right hand of our Father in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come.” In today’s first reading and Gospel, we read from two different books the same story by the same author. It is a story worth repeating because the Ascension matters to us. Our Lord now sits at the right-hand of the Father and constantly intercedes for us before the Father. Our Lord’s Ascension also matters because it reminds us that our human bodies are significant and important. Jesus rose from the dead body and soul; and he ascended to Heaven body and soul. However equal we are in the eyes of God, we were also created as man and woman – not gender-neutral robots, but as uniquely man and woman - – biologically, emotionally, and spiritually – each gender is different but with complimentary roles and gifts in our vocation of love and service. It is through this lens, that we begin to see the full and true dignity of women. And this is what I suspect Edith Stein was referring to when she spoke of the power and influence of women that the devil so coveted in the garden of Eden. In our shared vocation to love and serve, women truly have a unique capacity and ability. Some refer to this as the feminine genius - this receptivity (among other qualities) - to love and for life. We see this most profoundly in a woman’s capacity and ability to love and receive new life as a mother – a total self-sacrifice and self-donation for the life growing inside of her. And especially in her ability to then endure the pain of pregnancy and labor to bring new this life and joy into the world. It is this same capacity and ability to love and serve that makes women great wives, teachers & principals, nurses & doctors, lawyers & judges, police officers & lawmakers; secretaries & CEOs; and saints & doctors of the Church. I honor and thank the women in my life – my wife, my mom, my sister – who have so wonderfully exercised their God given capacity to love and serve. I know that I have not always been so respectful or grateful. My prayer for them and every woman is that, filled with the Holy Spirit promised to each of us in today’s readings, they may know always their dignity and value as a woman and the unique joy of God’s plan for them. May God bless you.

HOMILY 3rd Sunday of Easter (Year C)

One thing that I don’t feel that I always do well as a father and husband is to ensure that my family knows and experiences the great joy and happiness of our faith. I want them to always know that our Catholic Church is a Church of great joy and happiness. The same joy that we celebrate in a special way this Easter season; the same joy that the Apostles, in the first reading, must have felt as they rejoiced in the face of the same people who had just killed their friend and their Lord; the same joy with which the Psalmist confidently and joyfully praises the Lord, who has rescued us; and the same joy, echoed in our second reading, which is sung by every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, by everything in the universe. I wish to do this more/better because too often (and too easily) our Catholic Church is characterized as being just the opposite. So, in the second in my series of homilies during this Year of Faith, I will return Dr. Christopher Kaczor’s book – the Seven Big Myths of the Catholic Church – to address the myth that our Catholic Church opposes freedom and happiness. This myth goes something like this: The “Church” always says “no” to anything that might make us happy or be of any fun, and even further the “Church” is controlling and suppresses our personal freedom. The short answer is that the Catholic Church is actually a great advocate and support of personal freedom and happiness – that is TRUE freedom and TRUE happiness. In fact, the Church’s primary goal and purpose is to get you, me (and as many others as we can) to Heaven, where there is eternal peace, joy and happiness. In his chapter on this myth, Dr. Kaczor spends a lot of time defining what happiness is, relying on science, philosophy and psychology – which I will not repeat in detail now. I will only summarize by saying that we can understand objectively what happiness is and that we experience different levels of happiness. For me, also, it is important to also understand that there exists a natural desire for happiness, which is of divine origin. Because man is created by God and for God and out of love, only in God will we find true happiness. So, does the Church oppose happiness? No, let me explain why this is true. If one level happiness is found in bodily pleasure, then we can say that the Church does not oppose such happiness. The pleasure that comes from good activities – like drinking water when thirsty, eating when hungry, or even the intimacy between a husband and wife – are good things, which the Church would say should be experienced and even enjoyed. However, as Dr. Kaczor reminds us, when the use of alcohol, food or sex undermines our own well-being and the well-being of others, we reduce our ability to be happy and to have even greater happiness. And so, the Church cautions us to temper such pleasures and avoid abuse. This is often the “no” we hear from the Church – and the “no” society obsesses over. Just as the Church does not oppose pleasure that comes from good things, the Church also does not oppose a higher level of happiness that comes from achieving a competitive advantage as measured by money, fame, power, popularity. There is nothing wrong with money, power, fame, or prestige, or even just wanting them. However, like the pursuit of pleasure, the problem comes when our pursuit for competitive advantage becomes disordered and trumps a greater happiness – the love for God and others. In fact, much has been written recently by our Popes and Bishops on how we as Catholics can participate morally, ethically, and successfully in today’s market place – always upholding the dignity of the human person in the pursuit of happiness. Again, there is nothing inherently wrong with money, worldly success, or bodily pleasures. The problem comes when we think that these are the ultimate goals of life or when we seek these things exclusively and never seek higher or greater levels of happiness. The Church teaches that: even if we had all the money, fame, and power in the world, all the bodily pleasure we could handle, and the worldly success possible, we would not be truly happy if we did not know and experience the love of God and others. Jesus made this point very clear when he taught us the two greatest commandments: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Happiness ultimately consists in a rightly ordered love: love for God - first, love for others - second, and the love of things - last. To be clear about what the Church opposes – the Church opposes a false happiness that places greater value on wealth, fame, power, and pleasure over love. As Dr. Kaczor states: All the prohibitions taught by the Church – all the times the Church says “no” – are in service to an overriding “yes” to a love for God and neighbor. The Ten Commandments, for example, are the loving “no” of the Church, pointing us to a “yes” to a love of God and neighbor. We find great happiness in loving and serving others. And I agree with Dr. Kaczor when he says some of the happiest people have meaningful work or volunteer experiences in service of others, and who also have strong, loving relationships with family, friends, and God. Few activities are more meaningful, significant, and joyful than teaching, helping and caring for others. I see that joy in the face of parents helping their children. I see that in the faces of Father Kavanagh and Sister Barbara who serve our parish needs so well. I see it in the faces of our parishioners when the serve a monthly meal to the homeless through the Open Shelter. And I know that I will see it in your and the faces of the Knights of Columbus who will be collecting after this Mass any loose change you might have to support our seminarians studying for the priesthood. Ultimately, as Dr. Kaczor points out, the primary mission of the Church is to “reconcile all people to God the Father,” which happens to also be the greatest longing for happiness we have and also the greatest source of happiness we can have. So, to this point, there is lots of research to show that people who practice their faith are happier in all aspects of their life. Certainly, we can attribute these benefits in part to belonging to a community – I know that I am happier because I am a member of the OLP community. However, there is also something more to our Catholic faith and practice that brings us even greater happiness – and that is the eternal teachings of Jesus, echoed liturgically by the Church, which promote happiness. For example, the trait of forgiveness is strongly linked to happiness. As Dr. Kaczor notes: those who forgive and let go of their resentments, cease mulling over pain and hurt, and therefore live fuller and happier lives. A second trait that is beautifully promoted by our Church to bring us happiness is the virtue of hope. With hope, we can endure current suffering and trials, trusting that with God’s help perfect happiness is attainable in the life to come. And, finally, the emphasis of gratitude and thanksgiving in the spiritual practices of the Church lead us to greater happiness. Those who are grateful and practice giving thanks to others have significantly higher levels of happiness than those who do not. In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks Peter three times if he, Peter, loves him. There is a lot to this passage, but one thing that Jesus is stressing to Peter is that he has a choice – to follow Jesus or not. Our loving Creator gives us the gift of free will. So, the choice presented to Peter is also presented to each of us. Do we want true happiness now and eternally? Do we want to be part of a Church whose mission it is to teach and encourage true happiness? Then say yes to Jesus! Say yes, of course I love you and will follow you and your Church so that I may know your true happiness now and eternally.

HOMILY – 4th Sunday in Lent (Year C)

In today’s second reading, St. Paul urges the Corinthians to be reconciled to God. Father Kavanagh made this same appeal this past Thursday to our RCIA candidates who will soon make their First Reconciliation, as they prepare to enter the Church this Easter vigil. Father also urged our candidates as they approach this Sacrament, and as St. Paul did the church in Corinth, to be ambassadors for Christ. Father urged them to speak favorably of the Sacrament and for them to invite others to experience the joy and peace that comes in receiving God’s forgiveness and mercy in this Sacrament. So, echoing both Father and St. Paul, I invite you to be reconciled to God this Lent by experiencing the Sacrament of Reconciliation – whether at our Penance Service tomorrow/this evening, or at another parish – AND to be an ambassador for the Sacrament by speaking favorably of it with your spouse, your children, and friends. In this Year of Faith, I urge you to not only be ambassadors for Christ present in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but also for Christ present in the Church. I think that one of the biggest challenges we have has as Catholics is to be not only an ambassador for Christ, but to also be an ambassador for the body of Christ - the Catholic Church. Many people call themselves Catholic and work hard to be Christ-like, and are even willing and able to share their faith in Jesus. But some believe that they don’t need the Church, or they dislike and are suspicious of the Church, or worse, they reject the Church. The author Dr. Christopher Kaczor, in his book The Seven Big Myths about the Catholic Church, argues that there is a deep unity between Jesus and his body, the Church, and that we need both – Jesus and his Church - to obtain the fullness of the Father’s love, mercy, peace and joy. Dr. Kaczor states that the way to God is through Christ and his Church, but it is sometimes blocked by various misunderstandings people have about what the Church believes and does. And so, his book sets out to examine and clarify seven of the most controversial and common myths about the Catholic Church – thus the full title: The Seven Big Myths about the Catholic Church, Distinguishing Fact from Fiction about Catholicism. Over the next several months of this Year of Faith – God and pastor willing - I hope to use my homilies and the readings for those Sundays to tackle each of the myths presented by Dr. Kaczor. In doing so, I hope to debunk myths or misunderstandings you and admittedly I at times may have about our Church, while at the same time empowering us with the knowledge and love of our Church to be ambassadors for the Church in our homes, places of work and really everywhere. The first myth is that the “Church opposes Science.” The argument for this position goes something like this: one must choose to be a person of learning, science, and reason, or choose to embrace religion, dogma, and faith alone. The argument continues that the Church opposes science, that it does not sponsor or support scientific research, and it has an explicit distrust of reason in general and scientific reasoning in particular. The short answer is that nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, as a Church we pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit – wisdom, understanding, knowledge – and that these gifts will be working in each of us to know God’s will and love in our life. And more specific to the anti-science claims, Dr. Kaczor details in his book that Catholics are numbered among the most important scientists of all time - many of whom were and are clergy and religious - and the Catholic Church, as an institution, has a long history of funding and supporting scientific research and instruction. Dr. Kaczor goes on to address several reasons why this myth persists today, such as erroneous perception that the Church holds a very literal interpretation of the Biblical accounts of creation and Adam and Eve, that science can not support the miracles performed by Jesus in the Gospels, the Galileo controversy – when the teaching role of the Church collided with science, and finally the Church’s opposition to stem cell research that involves the intentionally killing of human embryos. I will leave a discussion of these reasons to Dr. Kaczor and get to the heart of the matter. The real tension is between faith and reason – that is, between believing in a God who is beyond our human understanding AND believing only in what you can experience with your senses or prove by scientific methods. Our culture often pits faith against reason – that the more faith-filled you are, the less reasonable you are. Some go as far as to hold that the two can never be combine or reconciled. Rather than choosing between faith and reason, the Church invites us to harmonize our faith and reason. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI calls for us to have a reasonable faith and a faithful reason. I also like the words of St. Augustine: “I believe in order to understand, and I understand, to better believe.” Our goal is to bring both faith and reason into a more fruitful collaboration. Faith and reason working together, for example, help us to begin to understand our Loving creator who made us, made us in his image and likeness, made us good, and at the same time creates all that is visible and invisible in such a way that we can begin to understand using reason and science. Reason in fruitful collaboration with faith also help us to answer some of the most important questions facing mankind: What should I do? Whom should I love? Why do I suffer? Reason and science help to begin to know what is happening. Faith helps to give us understanding, meaning and purpose. In today’s Gospel story of the Prodigal Son, the primary point is the father’s love and mercy for each of his son’s that mirrors the even greater love and mercy that God, our Father in Heaven, has for each one of us! But it is the bothers’ thoughts and actions that illustrate well the Church’s teaching on faith and reason. Both brothers are not lacking in their use of their reasoning skills – both use logic and critical thinking to assess their situations, however, one stopped there, while the other also had faith. The younger brother coming to his senses is aware of how horrible his situation is and objectively and critically knows that he would be would be better off returning to his father. It is his faith in something more and greater than what he can sense, which moves him to action. It is his trust and hope in a loving and merciful father that gives him the courage and humility to return home. And his reward? A great celebration filled with forgiveness, joy and peace! The older brother also using his senses and critical thinking assesses his situation, but he did not have the same hope and trust in his loving father. And, so he would have been shocked to hear his father say: “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.” With reason alone he could never know that he was part of something greater or that joy and peace that follows. Like the younger son, even if it takes a lifetime or much trial and tribulation, we need both faith and reason to truly know the love God has for us. My friends, we are called to be ambassadors for Christ and his Church. A Church that does NOT oppose reason and science. Rather a Church that embraces the use of science and reason to help us to know God’s will for us and to experience His love and mercy. May you know and have faith in our God.

HOMILY - 5TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR C)

I have enjoyed watching my oldest son and his teammates play basketball this season. I have especially enjoyed watching them mature as a team by winning very competitive games and as players in moving from uncertainty and doubt on the court to playing with confidence in their ability to consistently play aggressive defense, make a lay-up on a fast break, and even make multiple 3-point shots. This is how our faith life should be too: moving from doubt, fear and uncertainty to a pattern of strong and unconditional confidence, trust and hope in our God. As I often say, this is what we are called to do and what we do best. However, too often doubt and uncertainty leaves us feeling not worthy, not willing, and maybe not able to be or grow in relationship with God. This is true for us now, as it has been since the beginning of time, when doubt and uncertainty crept into the hearts and minds of Adam and Eve. They doubted in the power and love of God, which led them to reject God. And we see the presence of doubt and uncertainty in today’s readings. The Prophet Isaiah recognizing his sinfulness bemoans: “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips.” Last week we read from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah, who in trying to avoid God’s call, says “Ah, Lord GOD! I do not know how to speak. I am too young!” The Apostle Paul in today’s second reading is quick to own up to his faults and failings, describing himself: “as one born abnormally,” and as “the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle.” And Simon Peter, falling to his knees before Jesus says: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” And as we know, this is not the last time that Peter shows doubt and a lack of confidence in his faith in Jesus. And for me too, I know my own weaknesses and failures. And, not only am I embarrassed by them, I am also often left unable to do what I need to do as a father, a husband, a deacon, a friend, a co-worker because of doubt, fear, and uncertainty. Fortunately, for us (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Paul, Peter, me AND you), the story does not end with us wallowing in doubt, fear, uncertainty, and despair.   Instead, our story continues with a personal encounter with a loving and merciful God, by which we are transformed. Going back to today’s readings: Isaiah’s eyes saw the King, the LORD of hosts! And his wickedness was removed, his sin purged. Paul’s personal encounter with Christ transforms him from one who persecuted Christians, to one who toiled harder than any other Apostle. And it was Peter, upon seeing Christ do miracles, left everything and followed him. And certainly, my experience of God, especially in the Sacraments, has changed me forever! Just as our loving God does not want us to wallow in darkness; we also can’t remain fixed in a single moment. Like Isaiah, Paul and Peter we go forward from our encounter with Christ more confident and certain in our knowledge and love of God and in our commitment to serve him and others. God in his great love for us, gives us his Spirit to protect us and guide us as we go forward. This is the prayer Father/Monsignor offered at the beginning of Mass: “Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heaven grace, [we] may be defended always by your protection.” It is the gift of this heavenly grace that also helps to sustain us and even grow as Christian men and women. It is God’s gift of wisdom, courage, patience, or whatever we might need to overcome doubt, fear and uncertainty in order to live lives with purpose, meaning, hope and joy. In fact, in today’s second reading, St. Paul states that “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.” We need this grace working with and through us! Let’s pray that as we fed by God’s Word and His Body and Blood, we may be filled with this heavenly grace. And as we enter this season of Lent, let our acts of prayer, fasting and almsgiving allow us to be more open and receptive to God’s gift of grace so that may overcome doubt, fear and uncertainty in order to live lives with purpose, meaning, hope and joy. May God bless you.

Nikki and Tony Wedding Homily

The Lord be with you. R./ And with your Spirit. A reading from the holy Gospel according to John. Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. “I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.” The Gospel of the Lord. My brother and sister-in-law just celebrated their 15 wedding anniversary a couple of days ago. We laugh now about their wedding day only because they wanted a cold, white Christmas wedding and it ended up being one of the warmest Christmas’ on record – no such worries for you guys today. I actually like that you chose to be married during the Christmas season, because there is so much joy that surrounds us at this time and it sets the right tone to celebrate what you are doing today – that of love and joy. In the first reading, we are reminded that we are not simply robots, machines or computers, but we are made uniquely by God in His image and likeness, we are made good! This means that we possess a dignity and holiness above any other creature. It is our loving God-Creator who continues to draw us into an intimate, personal love relationship. This Christmas we celebrate that God so loved us that he sent his Son to restore our broken relationship with Him and to teach us how to love God and each other. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus commands us to love one another as he loves us. How did Jesus love? He cared for the sick and dying. He showed great compassion and mercy to all. He forgave those who hurt him and insulted him. He fed the hungry. He protected the weak, those persecuted and marginalized. And in the end, he suffered great embarrassment and physical pain, and even death, out of love for us. This is how we are to love each other. And Tony and Nikki, this is how you are to love your spouse! And Jesus promises us that if we do this, if we love like he did, our joy will be complete. So the joy you two have experienced as a couple leading up to today and even experienced today is just the beginning. This is not to say that you will be free from problems and difficulties – you can just ask your married grandparents, parents, and other relatives and friends about that. It will be your job as spouses to help each other to love, especially when it may be difficult to love. And, it is in the Sacrament of Marriage that you also receive the grace from God to sustain and grow your love for each other. This is what St. Paul alludes to in the second reading. God, because he wants us to love, will give you the grace to be patient and kind to your spouse, to NOT be jealous or pompous, to NOT be inflated or rude, to NOT be selfish, quick-tempered, to brood over injury, or rejoice over wrongdoing. I pray that your marriage may be filled with God’s grace, love and complete joy! Nikki and Tony, I commend you for your decision to marry and more specifically to make this public statement of your desire and commitment to enter into a permanent, faithful, and fruitful union with each other. You could have easily avoided making such an act – certainly popular culture does not appear to value or reward such decisions, plus with so much tragedy and despair in our country and world you could have simply lost hope in the future together. But instead you have great courage to live out this what is becoming almost counter-cultural and you likely with continue to face opposition in living as a Christian married couple. AND instead of doubt or discouragement, you also have hope and trust that a life together – in a permanent, faithful and fruitful union – will bring you true and lasting happiness. I promise you it will. So, again, thank you, on behalf of married couples gathered here – for affirming and renewing our decision as married couples – and thank you for being a wonderful example and inspiration to your single family and friends of the great joy that awaits them if they are willing to take the risk you take today. After all that, are you still ready to make this vow of married life to each other? If so, then I invite you with your wedding party to stand before the Altar.

HOMILY - Second Sunday in Advent (Year C)

Last Sunday was my second in a series of talks with our 7th & 8th grade Parish School Religion students as they prepare for Confirmation this April. I have been sharing with them Blessed John Paul II Theology of the Body, which is based on the wonderful truth that we are made by a loving God, in His image and likeness, made good, made to experience God’s love – body and soul – now and eternally. I am eager to share this beautiful truth because I believe that it is not only good and true, but because I share it with the wisdom of hindsight, wanting to share with them what I wish that I had heard as a teenager and young adult – it would have saved a lot of anxiety, confusion, hurt, embarrassment, and insecurity – although there would still be some angst – it was the teenage years! It is with a similar motive that the author of today’s first reading writes the Book of Baruch. Baruch is the main character of the Book and was the prophet Jeremiah’s esteemed secretary, who lived during Israel’s exile in Babylon. The actual author (or group of authors) of the book lived 4-5 centuries later – at a time in which the Jewish people experience great persecution. And so the authors wrote in the face of adversity and hopelessness, with the wisdom of hindsight, to offer encouragement and hope. The Book of Baruch reminded the Israelites then and us today that we are loved by a God of great power who can and will make every “lofty mountain low” and fill-in the age-old depths and gorges, so that we might know his security, joy, mercy and justice. It is also a reminder that God wants us to remove our robe of mourning and misery; to be transformed in his glory and to be one with him forever in the “peace of justice.” We only read from the Book of Baruch a few times in the entire three-year lectionary cycle – this Sunday and the Easter Vigil liturgy – and has a very contentious history. The Book of Baruch and six other books of the Catholic Old Testament are not contained in the Protestant Bible. Catholics refer to these seven books as deutrocanocial, while Protestants often refer to them with the title Apocrypha. The Catholic Old Testament follows the Alexandrian canon of the Septuagint, which is contains 46 books of the Old Testament and was translated into Greek around 250 BC. These books were used by Jesus and the Apostles, the early Church Fathers, and was infallibly reaffirm at the Council of Trent as divinely inspired. Protestants follow the Palestinian canon of Scripture, which was not officially recognized by Jews until 100 AD. It was this set of Scripture that Protestant reformers, including Martin Luther, relied on to support their their reform doctrine. Much more can be said on this, but I did not want to miss the opportunity to briefly say something about this often controversial issue, when talking about the Book of Baruch. As Catholics, it is good that we look back on the books of the Bible – all 73 of them! - to learn of God’s great love revealed to us in these writings. But we must not stop there, we must also look forward. And this is what we do during the Advent season. We celebrate the past when God became man to teach us how to love by what he said and did. And we anticipate the future celebration of Jesus’ Second Coming, at which time God’s love will defeat once and for all death so that we may have eternal life. This Advent we stand between our own past and future. Between our doubt, brokenness, pain, weakness, and adversity AND our loving, merciful God who has truly done great things for us. And so, I say to you, echoing today’s Responsorial Psalm: be filled with joy! Be like St. Paul who was transformed by God’s love and has this great joy, love, confidence and hope for his friends in Phillippi, of which we read in today’s second reading – which by the way was written as Paul sat in jail awaiting his execution. Be like St. John the Baptist in today’s Gospel whose trust in God allows him to fearlessly call people to a baptism of repentance and a forgiveness of sins, so as to prepare the way for Jesus – and he continued to do so even when threatened with death. Be like Holy Mary, whose Immaculate Conception we celebrate today/yesterday and who was full of grace and without hesitation said yes to God, even if that meant that she would have to watch her own son suffer and die on the cross. Make this Advent your time to remove your robe of mourning and misery and to be transformed in his glory. I invite you to attend tomorrow’s/tonight’s parish penance service and be transformed by God’s love and mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation – be sorrowful for your sins, seek forgiveness, and commit to avoid sin in the future. May God bless you.