Religious Persecution Homily

“Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name.”  These are words from our Lord in today’s gospel.  Persecution is guaranteed for the Christian.  Regarding persecution, the U.S. Bishops have issued a “Special Message” which they rarely do.  Furthermore, it has unanimous passage of the bishops.  I’m not sure how many but we have 265 active and 180 retired bishops in this country.  Archbishop Schnurr has asked priests to spread it far and wide.  It can be found in its entirety at www.catholiccincinnati.org or at http://www.thecatholictelegraph.com/american-bishops-issue-statement-on-hhs-contraceptive-mandate/16365

I read part of it at Mass today: “[T]he government is refusing to uphold its obligation to respect the rights of religious believers. Beginning in March 2012, in United for Religious Freedom, we identified three basic problems with the HHS mandate: it establishes a false architecture of religious liberty that excludes our ministries and so reduces freedom of religion to freedom of worship; it compels our ministries to participate in providing employees with abortifacient drugs and devices, sterilization, and contraception, which violates our deeply-held beliefs; and it compels our faithful people in business to act against our teachings, failing to provide them any exemption at all.  Despite our repeated efforts to work and dialogue toward a solution, those problems remain. Not only does the mandate undermine our ministries’ ability to witness to our faith, which is their core mission, but the penalties it imposes also lay a great burden on those ministries, threatening their very ability to survive and to serve the many who rely on their care.”

The ministries that suffer are feeding the poor, healing the sick, educating the young.  If all the bishops of this country are correct—and I’d like to think they are—it brings to mind several questions:  What is the hold up? Why has this persecution been happening for over an year and a half?  Are we in denial that a persecution is actually happening?  Maybe this is why about a year ago Francis Cardinal George of Chicago said: “I will die in my bed. My successor will die in prison. His successor will be martyred.”  Back to the questions that come to mind: Is religious freedom not important any more?  It was important to our founding fathers.

We have had a major election since March of 2012 when all this started.  If Catholics are such a large voting block, why are the persecuting politicians still in office?  Have we willingly forfeited the very basic human right of religious freedom in exchange for a promise of handouts of temporal goods?  Is it too abstract?  I hope not.  It forces people to pay for the killing of human beings.  It forces people to pay for the very things that have been proven to destroy families over the last 50 years.

There is Good News:  Christ has a plan that works.  The challenge is the same:  Christ has a plan that works.  The evil one and the culture of death do not want us to bring about his plan.  The Lord tells us in today’s Gospel: “It will lead you to giving testimony.”  The message is countercultural, and Catholic Christians will have to act in a countercultural way.

I wanted to preach on vocations today.  The Archdiocese is celebrating Vocation Awareness Week.  I love preaching on vocations.  However, the more time I spent with this Gospel, the more I kept coming back to the Special Message of the Bishops.  It reminds me of the thing the bishops have been saying over the past year and a half:  We didn't ask for this fight.  We would rather not be in it.  We would rather be in the business of teaching, healing, feeding.

Are we up to the challenge of the Cross?  Are we up to giving the Christian testimony to the next generation by our example?  Christ has set the example for us.  Now we are to set the example.  Hopefully, the Lord’s words at the end of the Gospel will be consoling: “By your perseverance, you will secure your lives.”

Catholics: Get active in politics.

It looks like there are currently three opportunities for faithful Catholics to participate in the political process right now.  We must get active.  Our voices must be heard in the public arena.  If our voices for the culture of life are not heard, only those of the culture of death will be heard.

1.  The United States House of Representatives has passed the Pain-Capable Abortion Ban.  This would make abortion illegal after 20 weeks, which is when scientific evidence shows babies in the womb are able to feel pain.  The bill has been introduced in the Senate.  One source reports that it would save about 18,000 lives per year.  This would be a nice incremental step in the right direction.  We would still have another million lives per year to save in this country.  We should contact our senators asking them to support the ban.

2. The Senate has passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act which has been hanging around Washington for about the last 20 years.  The last news I heard was that John Boehner, Speaker of the House, was not going to allow it for a vote.  This is good news!  The Catholic Bishops of the United States oppose the bill because it would punish those who disapprove of sexual conduct outside of marriage.  We should contact Speaker Boehner asking him to hold firm in his decision not to allow the vote.  We should also contact our own representatives asking them to oppose the bill.

Be forewarned: One thing we will continue to hear from those in the culture of death is that the Church should not be concerned because churches, their offices, and parochial schools will be exempt.  This drives me crazy.  What about the Catholic business owner who wants to live his or her faith in the workplace?  Freedom of religion goes well beyond the 50 minutes we spend in church on Sundays.  We are called to have Christ as Dominus of our lives.  I use the Latin "Dominus" instead of the English "Lord" to show we should let Him dominate our lives.  I cannot take credit for that.  Fr. Robert Barron just said it about an hour ago in a speech in Philadelphia.

3. Cardinal Dolan recently sent a letter to John Boehner asking him for swift action on immigration reform.  We should support the efforts of the bishops as they strive to protect human dignity.  With our broken system the way it is, we end up with an unjust arrangement that makes it easy for human beings, made in God's image, to be exploited.  They deserve protection of the law from exploitation because they are made in God's image.  Then there are the issues of destruction and separation that happen to the family because of the current broken system.  We need policies for strong families because families are the building blocks of society.

Respect Life Sunday

“Destruction and violence are before me.” These are the words of the prophet Habakkuk in today’s first reading.  On this Respect Life Sunday, we draw attention to the destruction and violence that continues against innocent human life, especially the unborn.  And sometimes we may feel like the prophet Habakkuk as he cries out:  “How long , O Lord?”  As Christians, our actions are to show the unique and priceless value of every human life.

Perhaps one of the ways we can support the unborn is by supporting their mothers who are afraid, scared and worried about the unknown.  We can do this in many ways.  One of these is through crisis pregnancy centers.  These women and girls should know that we will help make life as easy as possible for them during this temporary situation.  We are called to Christian generosity to give them everything they need so they can choose life.

And sometimes the obvious needs to be pointed out:  Nobody stays pregnant forever.  It’s only temporary.  And the death of an innocent person is a little too permanent a “solution” for a temporary inconvenience.  But people overcome by fear and anxiety make such rash decisions every day.  For those who have made these decisions in the past, there is great hope for healing.  There is no longer any need to carry around these secrets that cause overwhelming regret and emotional pain.  All people who have been complicit in abortion can get the healing they need in Project Rachel or any number of apostolates for healing the Church offers.  These apostolates reflect the compassionate heart of Christ.  And of course, they are confidential.  There is a loving God who desires to forgive and heal all who turn to him.  His offer of forgiveness and healing remains constant no matter what we have done.

There is a culture of death.  It’s not mysterious.  It shows itself whenever someone has to die in order to make the life of another person more comfortable or convenient.  That’s it.  And our bishops have pointed out for over a year that the HHS mandate from our federal government is immoral.

We Christians have an important role to play as citizens.  Last year, Pope Benedict challenged all the faithful to move beyond mere collaboration to a shared responsibility in the Church.  Our responsibility is to engage the culture as Christians.  It’s not just the job of the clergy, but of all the faithful.  No matter how we decide to get engaged, let’s remember the words of St. Paul that we heard today:  “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather or power and love and self-control.  Do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord.  Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.”  Our bishops continually remind us that we must express our Catholic faith and morals in the public square whether it’s done in the voting booth, contacting elected officials, raising awareness, organizing events or whatever.  Voting is a moral act, so we are not to participate in evil with our vote.

The other thing we have to do as a Christian people is pray.  October is the month of the Rosary.  This is great opportunity to reinvigorate our prayer lives and beg the Lord to change hearts in the culture.  Pray for our country.  Pray for our world.  Pray for all who have chosen abortion in the past that they will seek God’s forgiveness, healing and loving embrace.  As we pray for the conversion of hearts, we recognize more and more the awesome dignity of all human beings at every stage of development, the pinnacle of creation, wonderfully made in God’s image.

Tattoos and abortion

Two articles comparing tattoos to abortion in Washington D.C.
You'll be amazed to find out which one may require a 24-hour waiting period.

http://www.lifeissues.org/thelatestnews.html

http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/2013/09/24-hour-waiting-periods-ok-for-tattoos-but-not-for-women-contemplating-an-abortion/

Take 'em to task

One thing that drives me crazy is when people hang out with a bad crowd and they justify it by saying: “Jesus hung out with sinners and ate at the homes of the Pharisees.”

Notice in every one of these instances in the Gospels, Jesus is either taking the Pharisees or sinners to task, or it is a person who is ready for repentance and conversion.  The Lord had the power to read their souls.  The Lord knew the hearts of Zacchaeus, the woman at the well, and the woman caught in adultery.  Never once do we see Jesus becoming chummy with hardened sinners and leave them in their sin.  That would not be loving.  And He is the most loving of all.  He takes people to task or approaches those who are ready to leave sin behind and see what God has to offer.  So, if we hang out with the bad crowd, we better be ready to take them to task lest we become hardened in our sins.

NFP Awareness Week

The following is my homily from this past Sunday, July 21, 2013.

“I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son.”  This was good news for Abraham and Sarah.  Children were seen as a blessing.  Sterility was seen as a curse.  But notice how this has flip-flopped in our culture.  The opposite is often the case.  Human fertility is seen as a curse rather than a blessing.  Fertility is seen as a liability.  The culture says something must be done about the fertility monster.

Today begins Natural Family Planning awareness week.  So, in this week we are given the opportunity to remind ourselves that new human life is a blessing, not a curse.  Fertility is a gift from God, not a liability.  He invites husbands and wives to be co-creators with him; what an awesome responsibility and privilege.  Nobody denies the fact that sacrifices will have to be made for each new life.  But sacrifice is the Christian way.  The cross is our reminder.  Christian history is 2,000 years of sacrifice and generosity.  But notice how it has deep roots in the Jewish faith.  In our first reading from Genesis, we heard that Abraham and Sarah were extremely generous and hospitable with three complete strangers.  Later they were credited for having entertained angels.  We are called to no less.  We are reminded today that we are to be extremely generous and hospitable as well.  We also will be recognized as having cared for God’s little angels.  If everything is a gift from God, how could we not be generous gift givers ourselves?

Now, why NFP awareness this week?  We are commemorating the 45^th anniversary of the encyclical of Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae.  In this encyclical in 1968, Pope Paul VI made some predictions on what would happen if the use of artificial contraception became widespread.

All of his predictions came true.  In these 45 years, we have seen a general lowering of morality with the destruction of youth and family.  We have seen a proliferation of out-of-wedlock births, and single-parent families.  We have seen a great increase in venereal diseases.  And we have seen an increase in marital infidelity, divorce, and spousal abuse.

Finally, what’s further repulsive is that our government is now forcing organizations to pay for the very things that help bring about the decline of our society and calling it healthcare.  I was recently talking to an elderly gentleman who was a child during the Second World War  He told me he remembers hearing about Hitler promoting the sterilization of certain groups of people, and how he just can’t believe that our own government has gotten in that business.

Yes contraception is a problem because it’s unhealthy for the human body, but it’s especially problematic because of the harm it can do to relationships.  Human biology shows us that the conjugal embrace brings about two physical things: new life, and unity of the couple: procreative and unitive dimensions, if you will.  It’s procreative because it’s God’s way of bringing new human life into the world.  And it’s unitive because it’s God’s way of bonding a man and woman in married love for the rest of their lives.  People who are open to both unitive and procreative meanings of the conjugal embrace are presumably giving themselves fully to each other.  There is a full self-giving for the benefit of the other.  Sounds like love, doesn’t it?  Nothing is held back, not even fertility.

When a barrier is placed in the way, there is no longer a full self-giving.  Now something is held back.  We would never say to a spouse, “I love you except for your fertility.  Hold back that part of you.”  So we shouldn’t say it in our actions either.

So we see that in diminishing the procreative meaning will take the risk of diminishing the unitive meaning of the conjugal embrace as well.  Imposing barriers in this most intimate of settings can quite often manifest itself in emotional ways too.  If the physical barriers are in the way, it becomes easier to put up emotional barriers or communication barriers as well.

As human beings, we are designed to have a very powerful unitive bond, but we can do things to diminish it.  The worst thing about contraception and sterilization is that they reject God and his plan for our happiness.  Furthermore the contraceptive mentality feeds the despair of the culture that new life is a curse.  But life is a gift and a blessing.  Natural Family Planning keeps the unitive and procreative meanings of the conjugal embrace intact while effectively helping married couples space children if they prayerfully discern they have a grave reasons to do so.  NFP is more effective than contraception but without the destructive side-effects.  And it has proven to enhance marital love rather than diminish it.  It forces the husband and wife to communicate, thus building their relationship, rather than taking the risk of using the other for selfish reasons.  I just heard new data on statistic this week that reinforced what I heard several years ago:  Married couples who are not contracepting have the most satisfying sex lives.  Of course; it’s God’s plan.  It makes sense.

Today’s gospel tells us Mary sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.  Martha was anxious and worried.  Martha is busy working her own agenda.  Her trivial distractions take her away from his presence.  Obviously something is a little off in her soul.  She even tells God what to do, saying to the Lord:  “Tell her to help me.”  We are called to be Mary and sit beside the Lord at his feet and listen to him speak.  He is still speaking to us through his Church, and his way is the way that works.  Jesus says, “There is need of only one thing.”  We hear what that one thing is in the Psalm today: to live I the presence of the Lord.

Christ is still trying to teach us something very good through his Church.  Will we sit beside him at his feet and listen, or will we reject him?  The invitation is here for us to learn what the Church teaches and why.  And we all know people who need to learn it as well.  Let’s have the courage to trust in the Lord and invite others to the happiness that only he can bring.

Fortnight for Freedom

The following was my Sunday homily on June 30, 2013:

Jesus is making it unmistakably clear that nothing is more important or more compelling than our participation in the Kingdom of God, but very often, we hesitate.  Elisha hesitated in the account we heard in our first reading.  Other people hesitate in the Gospel we just heard from St. Luke.  One guy in the gospel wants to go and bury his father.  This seems like a good thing. It’s a corporal work of mercy to bury the dead.  But evidently, it will delay his participation in the Kingdom of God and that participation is much more urgent.  Another guy wants to say goodbye to his family at home.  This seems like a good thing.  It’s even socially considerate to let them know so they don’t wonder what happened to him.  But this delays his participation in the Kingdom of God.  Hopefully we are picking up on the urgency.

Jesus talks about the Kingdom more than any other subject in the Gospels.  And we can see from today’s Gospel that not even the world’s most sacred values are more important than our participation in the Kingdom of God.  Is the Kingdom our ultimate concern? Or is it something else like wealth? Pleasure? Power? Being liked by others?  Or are we ready today to get fully engaged in participating in the Kingdom of God? 

You may have noticed some “Preserve Religious Freedom” signs in the church yard.  Our bishops have recently been pointing out that the Kingdom of God is starting to take second place to the earthly kingdom here in our country.  The bishops of our country have led us into the midst of the second Fortnight for Freedom which will continue until we celebrate the anniversary of our independence this coming Thursday.  This is a great opportunity for us to remind ourselves from exactly what we were gaining independence.  Wasn’t it a tyrannical government that did not allow people to live their lives in accord with the beliefs they held sacred?  So the new nation, the United States of America, put in its bill of rights the freedom of religion.  Notice that it is not merely the freedom to worship.  It is the freedom to put beliefs into practice every minute of every day, not just for an hour on Sunday.  The bishops have been pointing out that these are the freedoms that are currently under attack by our own government.  It is not O.K. that our government is forcing people to pay for things that are objectively immoral.

Archbishop Schnurr has given all priests permission to use different Mass prayers today.  This is a big deal, not something that is done willie nillie.  We are permitted to use the “Mass for the Nation”, or the “Mass for Persecuted Christians”.  Every Sunday is a solemnity and the Mass prayers may not be changed without the bishop’s permission.  Sometimes the reason is so great that permission is given. So we can see the gravity of the state in which we find ourselves. 

It is very likely that the subject of “freedom” will be discussed at family gatherings this coming week over the Independence Day holiday.  St. Paul talks about freedom in his letter to the Galatians that we just heard:  “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”  We would be fools to allow ourselves to repeat history and become enslaved to anyone except almighty God himself. 

This is a timely topic in the wake of this week's Supreme Court decisions.  It is disappointing, but I am not surprised because we have the exact government we deserve.  We have the exact government we have put in place.  Our culture is in need of a major conversion.  When the people are sanctified the government will be sanctified.  In Daytime Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours today we pray Psalm 118 which reminds us “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.”  But we have placed too much trust in the human princes that govern.  Human beings will always fall short.  And they have fallen short this week by failing to defend marriage as the unbreakable union of one man and one woman.

In Marriage We Imitate the Trinity

Even though Trinity Sunday was a week ago, I thought I would publish this to support everyone living the holy vocation of Marriage:

The celebration of the Most Holy Trinity is a celebration of love.  The important thing is not that we try to understand the Mystery of God as Trinity.  We don’t have the capacity to grasp the fullness of the Mystery.  As the Lord continually draws us in more and more, the important thing is that we are open to what God is trying to show us.  What is God modeling for us to imitate?  When we enter into the Mystery of the Trinity, we notice that God is a communion of persons.  And the principle characteristic of this communion of persons is love.

We imitate the Trinity when we participate in a communion of love.  A very good example of this is the communion of husband and wife.  In the communion of marriage, husband and wife are imitating God as a communion of persons.  Living out the sacrament of marriage gives praise to God as it is lived out because it follows his pattern of self-giving love.  Those of you who are married would agree that it is a self-giving, sacrificial love.  We see the sacrificial love of the Son for the Father every time we look at the crucifix.  It’s not a love of emotion, or a romantic feeling, but one of full self-giving.  God has revealed himself as an eternal exchange of love.  We are called to imitate that exchange of love in sacrificial ways carrying our crosses for the good of others.  Jesus did that for love of the Father.

Because it is a self-giving love, it is a fruitful love.  Some say that the love of the Father and Son is so fruitful that the love between them is the person of the Holy Spirit.  Notice how married love is also a fruitful love, bringing about new life.  That love becomes incarnate.  It is a generative love.  New human life becomes the symbol of the fruitful love of husband and wife.

Of course we know that the evil one will not miss any chance to attack our loving God.  So the evil one attacks married love because it so well represents God himself, a communion of persons.  It is difficult to pass a single hour, let alone an entire day, without seeing an attack on married love, the great symbol of God himself.  Pornography is an industry of several billion dollars, perfect for weakening married love.  Crude humor distorts the beauty of the human body in order to boost ratings for the radio station during their morning drive time.  State governments redefine marriage into something it cannot possibly be.  This list of attacks on married love could go on and on.

 

The Christian does not give in to afflictions but boasts in them as St. Paul says in his letter to the Romans.  He points out that these afflictions yield endurance.  Endurance leads to proven character which leads to hope; and hope does not disappoint.

These are not only attacks on God himself but on his entire plan for humanity.  Without strong, sacrificial, fruitful married love, the family dissolves.  As families dissolve and crumble, so society as a whole dissolves and crumbles.  Without the family, there is little chance of hearing the good news of Christ and being formed in light of it.

 A 14^th century theologian once pointed out that we experience the sweetness of the Trinity within us in proportion as we are conformed to it.  If the essence of the Trinity is sacrificial love, we must love sacrificially.  We must cherish the divine image in each of us most attentively.

What else is there?  That means we strive for purity of heart.  In purity of heart, we make room for the Trinity to be active in our lives.

The Trinity is active love.  We are called to imitate that active love.  We are designed to share ourselves.  As we share ourselves, we build up the Kingdom of God.

I’ll close with a quote I heard on Catholic radio just the other day:  The essential thing about family is not that parents have children, but that children have parents.

Corpus Christi - Sunday Homily

The Gospel sets up for us a real nice contrast between what we can do on our own without God and what we can do with Him.  In the Gospel, the apostles can do very little to feed the crowd.  When Jesus commands, “Give them some food yourselves,” they notice all they have are five loaves and two fish.  This wouldn’t be enough for a dozen people.  But with the supernatural power of God, they are able to feed 5,000.

Even as cool as this miracle was, it’s not the real miracle the Lord would eventually do.  These people would be hungry again the next day.  This miracle was good, but was still of finite value.  The real miracle would come at the Last Supper when the Lord would give his own body, blood, soul and divinity for the salvation of the world.  He would give a divine, supernatural food that lasts.  He would give his disciples liquid love to change their hearts that would set them on a path for eternal life.  What we do on our own does not even compare with what God can do. 

Without God, we can have a nice little memorial meal with bread and wine.  With God, the sacrifice of his Son on the Cross is made present for us.  We eat the body and drink the blood of the God-Man who saves us.

Without God we can get a maximum of about 100 years of life.  And one of the psalms tells us most of these are emptiness and pain.  With God, we get eternal life of complete fulfillment that we can’t even imagine.  John Paul II reminds us that the sacrifice of the Body and Blood is what brings about our destiny for eternal life.  With God we share the life of Christ now, and we share in his life forever.

Without God, we eat food that nourishes the body.  And since the body doesn’t last, this food is of finite value.  With God, the Eucharistic food of his body and blood nourishes the soul.  And since the soul is immortal, this Eucharistic food is of infinite value.

Without God, the food we eat becomes part of us.  We started out as small babies, and as we were nourished with food, we became larger.  With God, we become what we receive.  We become divinized.  We become more and more like him by feeding on Him.

Let’s imagine two rivers coming together.  One river is crystal clear, and the other river is muddy.  In the natural world, the two rivers come together and of course, the new river they form is muddy.  Imagine though the crystal clear river making the water of the muddy river crystal clear also.

Without God, the body decays.  With God, we are destined for the resurrection.

Our Eucharistic roots can be traced way back to the Old Testament.  We hear about Melchizedek in our first reading and Psalm today.  He brought out bread and wine and blessed Abram.  Like Christ, he had a priesthood that would last forever.

Also in the Old Testament, we know the story of the first Passover.  We may recall that God asked Moses to have the Israelites put lamb’s blood on their doorposts.  Without God, this is blood of an irrational beast making the doorposts kind of nasty and stinky, probably drawing lots of flies.  With God’s power, that lamb’s blood was used as His means to free His people from slavery.  With God, it’s a sign of the Lord’s blood that will be shed for us to save us and free us from our slavery to sin.

St. John Chrysostom asks, if the angel of death saw the lamb’s blood on those doors and did not dare to enter, how much less will the devil approach us now that he sees not a figurative blood on our doors, but the true blood of the Son of God on our lips?

As we enter into these sacred mysteries, we receive an abundance of grace.  Let’s participate with that grace so that we may appreciate the gift of the Eucharist that it truly is, the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus.  And may our lives conform to the mysteries that we receive.

Homily - Sixth Sunday of Easter

The Lord gives us two mandates in these readings today.  Mandate may seem like a dirty word in our day and age.  However, when we look at the mandates of Christ, we see they give us true freedom, peace, and eternal life.

In our first reading from Acts of the Apostles, doctrinal and disciplinary questions came up in the early Church.  Paul and Barnabas go to the Apostles and elders for clarification.  Jesus set up His Church the way He did with her hierarchical structure to do just that.  He knew questions would arise, and it would take a Church with structure and authority to clarify things.  It happened then, and it happens now.  When questions come up, we can go to our bishop who is a successor of the Apostles in union with the successor of St. Peter, the Holy Father.

The reading tells us the Apostles and elders chose representatives and sent them.  It happened then, and it happens now.  Later this month, two men will be ordained priests for the Archdiocese.  The bishop will choose them, and send them to their places of ministry with full confidence that they will teach the authentic Faith they learned under his guidance at the seminary.

In the reading, the Apostles sent out a letter that read: “Some of our number, who went out without any mandate from us, have upset you.” There’s the first mandate of the Lord, that of being sent.  It happened then, and it happens now.  There is no shortage of people, who may have the best of intentions, who come up with their own interpretation of the teachings of Christ.  Note that the reading says: Some of our number – not some crazy outsider trying to destroy us.  These were baptized Christian believers.  This still happens today.  Baptized Christian believers, who are of our number but separated nonetheless, do this all the time.  That’s why there are over 30,000 Christian denominations in our country alone.  Christ started one Church, not 30,000.  Next Sunday, in this diocese, we won’t hear the readings from the 7^th Sunday of Easter because the Ascension of the Lord is transferred to Sunday.  One of the things we won’t hear is Jesus’ prayer to the Father that we may be one as he and the Father are one.

In our reading today, we also notice the letter the apostles sent said they went out without any mandate from us.  Yes, we need a mandate to teach in the name of the Church.  At the ordination of every new bishop, there is a document read from the Holy Father called the mandate.  However, there have been times when bishops have gone out on their own and ordained new bishops without the mandate.  This creates a schism in the Church.  This harms her unity.

Then in the Gospel, we get the second mandate of the Lord,  He gives us the mandate to keep His commandments and love him.  It is by way of this Church that we are able to hear the words of Christ that he promises us in the Gospel.  He says: “Whoever loves me will keep my word.”  How can we know what his word is unless someone tells us?

What is the mandate of love to which Christ calls us?  We are to let go of the false center of ourselves.  We are to be more self-giving.  We are called to be life-giving in our relationships with God and each other.  The sign of our love is obedience to Jesus’ word.  Jesus talks about sending the Holy Spirit and then returning himself.  We know that he returned to some of his disciples briefly after his death when he appeared to them after his resurrection.  Then he would be with us in the Holy Eucharist that we celebrate today.  He is made present here for us.  Finally he will be made present to us at the end of time.  But before that happens, it’s our job to participate with the grace that we receive from this Holy Eucharist.  We respond by following the mandate of the Lord.  We go out to the world and make Him present to each other through the loving acts we accomplish.  Jesus offers us his peace in this Gospel reading.  It is only in his name that the true peace he offered his disciples 2000 years ago can be present to us. 

The world desires peace and talks about it constantly.  However, without the love of Christ, we cannot achieve peace on our own.  The world will continue to undermine and destroy its own efforts toward peace.  It can only happen through Christ.  Peace comes about through acceptance of truth.  Only in truth can we acknowledge our brokenness and accept Christ into our lives.  A peacemaker is one who declares the truth of God and the truth of his creation.  A peacemaker announces to a fallen world that it can be remade.

The worldly way doesn’t seem to work so well.  Let’s be the ones who trust in the Lord that his mandates of love and obedience will bring the true peace we seek.  We are called to be like those Apostles in the first reading who dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Only then will our names be inscribed in the New Heavenly Jerusalem.

Excellent article on youth sports

http://www.catholiccincinnati.org/52338/who-do-you-play-for/

"Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me..."

At Mass yesterday, Palm Sunday, we heard St. Luke's version of the Passion of our Lord.  In that Gospel reading Jesus says to the women on the way to Calvary: "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, 'Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.'" 

Throughout the vast majority of biblical time, a woman was considered blessed who had many children, and the barren were considered cursed.  From that mindset, it must have sounded very strange to the women of Jerusalem to hear our Blessed Lord's prediction of a cultural flip-flop of such epic proportions.  And I can't help but wonder if those days the Lord predicted have arrived.  We certainly have some of the cultural signs.

"Blessed are the barren," is the mindset of the culture that has itself sterilized.  "Planned Barrenhood" is the name of the chapter on sterilization in Patrick Coffin's book, Sex Au Natural.  If you are looking for a current and concise treatment of Humanae Vitae 45 years out, I highly recommend it.

It makes me wonder what kind of despair we are headed toward as a culture when spouses have good functioning bodily organs mutilated in order to reduce the sexual act to mere pleasure, thus taking the risk of using each other as objects of said pleasure.  As counter-cultural Christians, we have the task of supporting those spouses who are heroically generous by today's standards in being open to life. What a holy vocation to which they have responded! 

The Lord predicted in the next sentence, the people of that future culture would "say to the mountains, 'Fall upon us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!'"  We Christians also have the task of showing the culture that life is worth living.  There is no need to despair. 

What about the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed?  There is no shortage of products on the drugstore shelves to keep wombs from bearing, once again increasing the risk of using another person as an object.  In our culture, there is also no shortage of attention payed to breasts.  And culturally, they aint talking about nursing as the Lord predicted.  All we have to do is turn on morning radio or evening television to get a small glimpse of corrupt cultural breast humor.  Then there are the immodest magazines in the supermarket checkout lanes lending to cultural immodesty once again objectifying the human body.  What are they telling adolescent girls on how they should dress?  Dare we even mention the rampant pornography industry?  This blog would go on and on.

I think it's time for heroic Catholicism.  Lukewarm will not get it done but only make the problems worse.  It's time for the faithful to combat these issues with everything we've got.  Only then will the dignity of the human body be restored and life promoted.

Missed Opportunities for Senator Portman

United States Senator Rob Portman from Ohio missed at least two opportunities in my estimation.  He could have taught us about marriage, and he could have loved his son.  The senator, upon learning that his son is gay flip-flopped his stance on gay "marriage" as a legislator.  Marriage is a very real, physical thing.  It is not some imaginary, made up state in which we pretend to be.  The male and female bodies fit together.  That's marriage!  In Christian traditions, after consent between spouses is exchanged, the marriage must be consummated by their bodies fitting together.  The bolt and nut from the hardware store are in a marriage of sorts, be it one of much less importance.  The electrical cord and wall outlet coupled together could be said to be in a sort of physical marriage.  The bolt and bolt can never marry.
Natural Law reasoning shows us that as the male and female human bodies fit together, two very important things happen on a biological level.  Bonding hormones are activated to bond the couple for life, and new life can be transmitted.  Attempting to separate the bonding from the transmission of new life is taking the huge chance of using the body of another.  Using the body or body parts of another for one's own gratification goes against Natural Law reasoning and is therefore not in the best interest of the other.  Many people who feel they are "in love" are actually using the other.  This is especially prominent in sexual relationships outside of marriage where there is not a full self-giving of one to the other for the good of the other that is open to new life, whether they are straight or gay.
I'm sure this was a very emotional time for the senator, but I'm afraid he made his flip-flop based on that emotion rather than on intellect.  We should be careful making decisions based on emotion rather than intellect lest they bring on other problems.  Certainly, the senator wants to show compassion for his son, which is a good thing.  But sometimes, we can misplace our compassion.
The culture at large tells people with same-sex attraction that they have two possibilities: repress it, or embrace it flamboyantly "coming out of the closet" as they say.  Natural Law reasoning shows us that neither of these two are good or healthy options. 
We human beings are much more than our sexuality.  We are complex, wise creatures made in God's image with an intellect and a will, which set us apart from all other creatures.  Repressing anything is never a good idea.  Continued repression eventually leads to explosion.  Since we have been created so beautifully, with the ability to reason, will, and heal, we should deal with issues rather than repress them.  Sweeping things under the rug is another good analogy.  Eventually, you trip over the lump.
Flamboyantly embracing one's same-sex attraction is unhealthy because the dignity of the human person demands more.  "It's who you are." is the mantra uttered by the culture.  The truth is, it's not who you are.  We human beings are much more than our sexuality.  And one's sexual urge is not his or her identity.  The father of a family does not go around identifying himself as a heterosexual.  His heterosexuality is not "who he is", only part of who he is.  He is much more that than his sexuality and way much more that his sexual urges toward his wife.  His sexual urges are not his identity, nor should it be so for a person with same-sex attraction.
Natural Law reasoning shows us there is a third option that is also embraced by the Catholic Church. One should acknowledge the same-sex attraction and get the support of loving people to help the person with same-sex attraction live a chaste life.
Chaste?  Isn't that the same as repression?  No.  Repression always says "no".  But chastity is saying "yes" to one's sexuality in the context of one's state in life.  All human beings are called to live in chastity in accord with our state in life.  Married people live in chastity by saying yes to sex as a married couple.  They are open to life.  They are open to union with each other, and the full self-giving and receiving of each other.  They don't invite others into the marital union.  They don't invite other things into the marital union that would block or thwart the full self-giving of one spouse to another, or the transmission of new life.  Those who have promised celibacy or vowed chastity say yes to sex as celibates.  We live our lives as sexual people male and female, interacting with all other persons as they are male and female.  Celibate chastity points to the next life to which all of us are called to be united to God for eternity.
This third option is counter-cultural because it takes some sacrifice.  But the loving option always does.  We must define the often misused word "love".  As a person acknowledges his or her same-sex attraction, it is important to get support from loving people.  To love someone is to will the good of that person.  All parents, including Senator Portman are called to will the good of their children.  Can it ever be good that one person uses the body of another person for sexual gratification?  No, not in a marriage, straight, gay or any kind of relationship.  Our dignity as human persons demands that we never use another or allow another to use us.  Statistically, those in the gay lifestyle have a shorter live expectancy.  Biology and Natural Law show us the lifestyle is dangerous for the human body.
I would ask the senator to reorient his misplaced compassion for his son and to will his ultimate good.  I would ask the senator to flip-flop back to supporting real physical marriage instead of an imaginary pretend version of it.

Laetare Sunday

In our readings today, we notice a parallel of several contrasts: light vs. darkness; life vs. death; day vs. night. We also notice John’s Gospel has a teardrop thrust to it. God swoops down into our lives and calls us to follow him in the upswing.  And we notice this happens to the blind man in the Gospel. Jesus comes into his world, swoops down and invites him to follow.  When we look at our own lives, we notice the same thing.  God swoops down into our world and invites us to follow Him.

In the Gospel, we see the development of one man’s faith unfolding.  The chapter is framed on both ends by Jesus talking about sin and blindness.  In the beginning he tells His disciples that blindness is not a result of sin, but reveals God’s work.  At the end, he points out the sin of the Pharisees remains because they choose to be blind to God’s work.

Notice as the story unfolds, the man’s faith is on a continual increase.  As his faith in Jesus grows, the Pharisees become more and more dejected.  They seem to be on the decrease.  At first, the blind man does not hesitate when Jesus tells him to wash.  How often do we hesitate before acting on what is right?  Then the man, who was cured of his blindness, acknowledges Jesus as a prophet.  Hearing the passage with faith, we realize this is a gross understatement.  His faith is contrasted with the refusal of the Pharisees to believe.  When the Pharisees accuse the man of being a disciple of Jesus, he does not deny it.  This shows increasing faith.  They say: We do not know where this one if from.  The man’s faith continues to unfold as he reminds the Pharisees that we can’t do anything remarkable without God.  He is confessing that Jesus is from God.  In their refusal to believe, the Pharisees get frustrated and throw him out.  Finally, he says, I do believe, and he worships him.  We see his faith deepen in this short encounter. Lent is a time for us to deepen our faith as well.

Today is Laetare Sunday.  We acknowledge we are half way through Lent.  It’s time to rejoice in our destination ahead.  We get caught up in the austerities of Lent. So we may have to remind ourselves of our joyful and glorious goal.  Our short term goal is the celebration of Easter.  Our long term goal is eternal life in Heaven.  All of our focus should be there.  This is a nice half way reminder that we gave up some of the distractions of this world in order to remind ourselves of what is truly important: the goal of eternal life.  How well am I doing in this time of grace?  Do I acknowledge it as a gift and an opportunity to grow closer to the Lord?  It is time to nourish our faith. As Christians we are called to actually live what we believe in our everyday lives.  How am I answering the Lord’s call to holiness? All of us are called to holiness, the universal vocation. How am I living out my particular vocation which is a gift from God? Are we authentically living as husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, single people, students?

Notice how our first reading illustrates that we do not think as God thinks or judge as God judges.  David did not seem qualified, but he was the one.  God knew his heart.  Even though David was a sinner, he stayed close to the Lord.  We get tempted to make excuses like they did in the time of David: I’m too young.  I’m too old.  I’m a sinner.  It’s time to stop making excuses and start letting God use us as his instruments in the world.  We have the opportunity to ask ourselves: How am I benefitting society in my job?  How am I using my talents God has given me?

 

 

First Sunday of Lent

There was a story being passed around on e-mail a few years ago.  One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside the human person.  He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.”  "One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.  "The other is Good -  It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."  The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"  The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

This is a great analogy for explaining the season of Lent.  During Lent we feed the good inside us and starve the bad.  The Lenten practice of fasting is one way to starve the evil wolf.  Prayer and almsgiving are ways we feed the good wolf.  If we put this analogy of the wolves into Christian terms, our example is Christ himself.  Jesus always fed the good wolf, so to speak.  Thus, he was filled with the Holy Spirit as we hear in today’s Gospel.  And he was able to fight the temptations of the devil.  We also are to strive to be filled with the Holy Spirit so we will be able to fight against temptation.  What are some of the ways we can feed the good wolf?  How are we filled with the Holy Spirit?  We are by living the life of Christ; by living the virtues; by participating fully in the Sacramental life of the Church.  If we are avoiding any of these, we are not full of the grace of the Holy Spirit.  If we are not filled with the Holy Spirit, we will not be able to fight against temptation.  If we give in to temptation, we are that much further from the crown of victory.  So we can see how it snowballs.

That sacramental life of the Church is huge: especially the Eucharist.  We are fed with the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord.  That’s the perfect food for feeding the good wolf of joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.  Many people in this season of Lent attend daily Mass a few times a week, making the goodness inside themselves that much stronger.

And there’s much more that Christ does for us.  Whenever we are tempted and think we are alone in our struggle, this Gospel tells us that we are not alone.  Jesus was there first.  He lived through this struggle.  He appreciates how difficult it is for us when we are tempted.  God took on human flesh and endured temptation out of love for us.

St. Augustine points out: Our pilgrimage on earth cannot be exempt from trial.  We progress by means of trial.  We come to know ourselves through trial.  We can only receive the crown of victory after the victory over the trial.  But notice how often we want the crown of victory without having gone through the trial.  Christ was tempted and victorious in that temptation.  We follow in his footsteps.  In Christ we are tempted.  In Him we overcome the evil one.  If he were not tempted he could not teach us how to triumph over temptation.

Why do we give in to temptation in the first place?  This is the age old question.  St. Paul asked, “Why do I continue to do the evil that I don’t want to do?”  The old Cherokee illustrated it as a fight between two wolves.  No matter how we discuss it, we give in because God seems secondary.  We buy into the lie that giving in to the temptation will give us some kind of fulfillment.

As we go through this season of Lent, feeding the good inside us and starving the bad, we go through a transformation.  God is really good at transforming our lives if we let him.  We notice in the first reading that God transforms a small household into a great nation.  In their generosity of offering God the first fruits of their produce, He transforms their slavery into deliverance.  He who did great things will continue to do great things.

Growing the good in our lives and decreasing the bad will produce good fruit.  We will then be able to follow St. Paul’s command to not only believe, but say what we believe.  And we know that we say it not only in words but also in our actions.  This season of Lent helps us build conviction of heart which is of utmost importance.  Conviction of heart allows me to witness to the Lord.

Pilgrimage to Honduras

I spent last weekend in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, on a pilgrimage to celebrate Our Lady of Suyapa, the national feast of the country.  The apex of the pilgrimage was offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, concelebrating with his eminence Oscar Cardinal Rodriquez, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa.  The Basilica of Our Lady of Suyapa was packed with thousands of pilgrims.  Officials estimate that three million people filter through the basilica grounds during the days surrounding the feast.  I have no trouble believing it.  There were several times as many people outside the packed basilica as inside.  Hundreds were camping in tents on the basilica grounds.  Some set up booths to sell things, others set up restaurants in tents.  Many were walking around enjoying the festivities.
Seeing the crowds around the basilica gave me great hope.  Many of the Honduran people have abandoned their Catholic faith to become Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Mormons, etc.  The country is still about 80% Catholic, but these other sects are in a full-court press to get the Honduran Catholics "saved".  Each of the four times I have traveled to Honduras, I noticed groups of people from the United States on mission trips in the airplane.  Some are Catholic, but most are well-meaning evangelicals heading there to do mission work, set up churches, or build things for a couple of weeks.  At times it can seem overwhelming that so many people have to be catechized on such limited resources in the poor country.  But the crowds at the basilica showed me that Honduras is still a Catholic country that loves the Blessed Mother and her Son's Church.
I am trying to think of a comparison with something that we do here in the United States.  We don't really celebrate our national patron like they do in Honduras.  Our national feast is the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but the December day seems to come and go without much mention of her as our national patron.  Perhaps it's because our country has never been recognized as a Catholic country like Honduras has.


Fr. Javier Martinez, Deacon Francis Wagner, Fr. Jason Bedel, Archbishop Schnurr, Fr. Jan Schmidt

Cardinal Rodriguez, President Lobo, the First Lady

Finally, it's worth mentioning that about 40 people from the Archdioces of Cincinnati participated in the pilgrimage including the Most Reverend Dennis Schnurr, our own Archbishop.  It was a privilege to spend time with him, the Cardinal, my fellow pilgrims and people I had met in Honduras in years past.  On Saturday night, there was a big concert celebration.  I met Mr. Lobo, the President of Honduras, his wife, and the President of the Congress.  Interestingly enough, my front row seat was in front of the Supreme Court and other government dignitaries. Not sure how that happened...

Pro-life Homily

"For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet…"

This coming Friday, I plan to travel to Washington DC with students from Fenwick and Badin high schools.  About half a million people will visit Washington to witness and speak out that the killing of the unborn is an outrageous and heinous crime.  It is unacceptable that it happens in the first place, and it is unacceptable that we are forced to pay for the killing of the unborn with our tax dollars and insurance premiums.  This will be the 40^th anniversary of the Supreme Court cases that legalized abortion for all 50 states during all 9 months of pregnancy.  40 years, 55 million deaths.  It’s time to end this thing.

Here’s an example of how intellectually dishonest our government is in regard to the unborn:  I was probably conceived sometime in late 1972.  And it would have been illegal to kill me.  The Roe v. Wade decision came in January of 1973, now making it legal to kill me.  But then after I took the 8-inch ride through the birth canal, it became illegal to kill me once again.  After birth, I was once again protected by law.  Same person, same crime.

A few years ago, my brother-in-law went to the March for Life.  He is adopted, and lucky to be alive.  He could just as easily have been another statistic among the millions who have been killed in legalized abortion since 1973.  When he was putting in for the time off work, a guy at work said to him:  “I didn’t know you were an activist.”  Perhaps this is why there is so much more to be done if we are going to save the lives of the unborn.  Many of us are afraid of being labeled “activists.”  At the judgment on the last day, when Jesus asks me why I didn’t stand up for the most innocent, will it be enough to say:  "Well, I was afraid of being labeled an activist”?  If a nation kills its own children, how long before it be called forsaken or desolate like in the first reading?  It is the government’s job in this country to serve the public, not to kill the public.  How can the Lord make our land his spouse, and rejoice in our land, when we allow the killing of the most innocent?

In our second reading, St. Paul tells us that there are different kinds of spiritual gifts.  We have all been given different gifts.  But all are called to put those gifts to good use complementing each other.  In the same way, we all have gifts we can use in the struggle to establish the right to life for all people, born and unborn.  We could assist the Church's excellent healing ministries for post abortive parents.  We must always promote these when we discuss abortion.  There are millions of women out there who are hurting and in need of healing.  They need to know that the Church offers many confidential healing ministries to help them.  Some of us can be activists. Some can be counselors.  Some can write letters.  Some can make phone calls.  Some can lobby congress.  Some can donate resources.  Some can make sacrifices.  And all of us can pray.

In the Gospel we hear the Blessed Mother tell the servers at the wedding feast in Cana:  “Do whatever he tells you.”  That’s good advice.  What is Jesus telling us?  How do we hear him tell us what to do?  Jesus speaks to us through the Sacred Scriptures, sometimes through prayer when we have a well-formed conscience, and he speaks to us through his Church.  The bishops of this country are united in saving the unborn.  Christ is speaking with their voice.  He is calling us to action through them. 

Vocation Awareness Week

Several truths should be pointed out.  Perhaps these truths should be more obvious than they are.  The Christian believer probably holds these truths but sometimes forgets.
First, we all have a common, or universal, call to holiness.  This is the primary vocation of all Christians.  We are all called to return to our Creator.  It's no secret that we will all die.  And then what?  Eternal life is the goal.  The believer acknowledges that a life of holiness is necessary for attaining the ultimate goal of eternal life.
Secondly, the Church recognizes four paths we can take to attain this goal.  There are four "roads" we can take as we live the universal call to holiness.  Some are less traveled than others, but all four are counter cultural in our own time.  Even Christian marriage is counter cultural in our hedonistic society, not to mention the vocations of holy orders, religious life and the chaste single life.
Since all four vocations are counter cultural and difficult, we need God's help. 
In his wisdom, the Archbishop of Cincinnati has asked all parishes to pray a prayer for vocations.  In the prayer the Archbishop composed, we beg God to make four areas fruitful ground for vocations: our Archdiocese, parishes, homes, and hearts.  It is pretty easy to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life from the Archdiocese and parishes.  In our laziness, we think that priest and religious come from somewhere else.  It takes much more trust in God to pray for these vocations from the home and heart.  Parents want grandchildren--and that's a good thing.  But sometimes we give up one good thing for another good thing.  Plus, it's no secret that families are getting smaller and smaller.
Several years ago a certain parish formed a vocations committee and composed a prayer for vocations.  It would have been a great prayer except for one flaw.  In the prayer, the people asked God something like: "Send into your Church men and women who will answer the call to priesthood and religious life."  These people are already in the Church.  These vocations just need to be fostered.  Of course there are exceptions to this such as St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, who was outside the Catholic Church and later became Catholic and did a saint's work.
Other truths, that are not so obvious, should also be kept in mind, not only this week but always.  All vocations are gifts from God, and God does not give any lousy gifts.  God knows what is best for us better than we do.  God loves us better that we love ourselves.  This is difficult for parents who love their children fully.  God loves them more.  He is able to love perfectly. 
Finally, most Christians are called to the vocation of marriage. But let's not lose sight of the fact that some are not.  Some of the greatest saints had parents who tried to dissuade them from religious life: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Thomas Aquinas.  Let's not be those forgotten souls who tried to stifle God's plan.