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...