Father Robert T. Cooper

April 22, 2018

           The first Letter of Peter features prominently in the Church’s liturgy during Easter. It is read in the Office of Readings during the Octave of Easter. It provides the Second Readings for the Easter Season every third year in the three-year cycle of readings, and three of the Easter season Epistles in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass are from First Peter. The Church’s reflection on the Scriptures, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has led to the attention given this short Epistle in this season.

         The First Epistle of Peter emphasizes faithful living under the stress of hostility and persecution.  It ties the Church’s sufferings to those of her Lord. It urges a stance of fidelity and of high moral seriousness no matter what the circumstances. St. Peter thus is not endorsing slavery when he urges slaves to be submissive to their masters; he is urging Christian witness. Christians are to be prepared to suffer for doing good just as Christ innocently suffered. Christian living is to be on a high moral level as a testimony to the Lord.

         Some scholars think that the epistle or at least parts of it originated as a Baptismal homily, calling on the newly baptized to be prepared to live out their faith in dedicated discipleship and if necessary in suffering and to live out their faith by continuing to grow in it. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word” is one of the best-known quotes from First Peter – and it supports the idea that at least parts of the letter are addressed to the newly baptized. 

          That phrase is the introit for the Sunday after Easter, the day when in ancient Rome the newly baptized laid aside their white baptismal garments. (In Latin it is Quasimodo geniti and gave the name to the Hunchback of Notre Dame who was deposited on that day at the steps of the great Cathedral.) In any case, we see in First Peter a call to live out our Baptism in faithful discipleship in all circumstances. We are, as St. Paul says in the Letter to the Romans, buried with Christ by Baptism into his death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live a new life. Resurrection, Baptism, Faithful discipleship – these critical Easter themes meet again and again in First Peter.

          I have begun this reflection with references to First Peter rather than to the Gospel of the Good Shepherd because I want to lay a foundation for reflection on this World Day of Prayer for Vocations. This day has that designation because on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, the Gospel is always from John 10, where Jesus speaks of Himself as the Good Shepherd. The Church has accordingly set this day aside as a time to give particular attention to prayer for vocations to the priesthood, so that there will be adequate and able priests to shepherd the people of God, to help them to live out the baptismal vocation to which the First Epistle of Peter calls our attention repeatedly.

          There is no question of the need. A shortage of priests diminishes the opportunities for the Sacraments and it dilutes the critical opportunities for teaching. The problem is not limited to the Catholic Church and cannot simply be laid at the door of the requirement for celibacy. And it is this situation that, I believe, makes First Peter so important on this World Day of Prayer for Vocations. For the key to robust vocations is not a recruitment program – nor even the marriage of the clergy. The key to vocations as to every other problem that faces the Church is faithfulness. The key is discipleship. If we live out our baptismal calling, if we are prepared to suffer rejection or even persecution for the sake of the truth, if we imbibe the sincere milk of the Word by striving ever more to know and understand our faith, if we avail ourselves of confession and examine our consciences, if we see our material gifts as gifts from God and generously share them for the ministry of the Church and the service of those in need, if we are prepared to say no to the madness of the world around us, if we are joyful because we remember that Jesus wins in the end, if we are people of prayer, study and contemplation, if we endeavor to die with Christ each day to sin and to rise with Him to newness of life, then we will have a healthy vibrant Church that will produce ample vocations to the priesthood and to the religious life, which is also such an important leaven in the Church’s life.

           So we should pray for vocations and we should do so daily. We should not hesitate to suggest the possibility to the young or to weigh it for ourselves. But first of all, we must be the kind of disciple that First Peter urges us to be. For you see, we are not only sheep; we are all in some measure shepherds – shepherds for ourselves, for those who are near and dear, and for those whose lives intersect with ours.

          I’m not making that up. The Church has always understood that it is the function of the bishop – with his priests – to ‘teach, govern, and sanctify’ the Church. It is a magnificent summary. The faith and morals of the Church need to be taught. The Church needs to be governed lest we become a random collection of lost sheep. Moreover, the Church needs to be sanctified by constant closeness to Christ – through the Sacrament and through imitating him. This is the role of the bishop for it is his calling as ‘episcopos’ which in Greek simply means overseer. But as the Epistle of Peter reminds us – echoing the Old Testament, especially the Book of Exodus – the whole Church is “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light

          Through the Sacrament of Baptism we all have a share in the priesthood of Christ. And I am reminded of that every time I baptize. After the Baptism, the child is anointed on the crown of the head. The only other time that happens in a Sacrament is when a bishop is ordained! It is a powerful reminder that we are called to exercise the royal priesthood, so that we may announce the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light.

          He has called us out of darkness – out of the darkness of death, sin, and ignorance. He has called us out of the darkness of an angry, confused, self-indulgent culture. He has called us to teach by word and example that following Christ is the better path. He has called us to govern in the Church – first by governing ourselves and listening to the teaching of the Church, especially when it is uncomfortable – and then by contributing to its ongoing life. Moreover, He has called us to sanctify ourselves in a quest for a holier life and to sanctify others by our word and example.

          When the people of God strives thus to live, their prayer for vocations will yield fruit.

April 15, 2018

           In the Fall of last year, I had the joy to attend the Erasmus Lecture in New York sponsored annually by First Things magazine. It has a rich history, starting in 1988 when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger inaugurated the tradition. This year the Lecture was given by Bishop Robert Barron, auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, creator of the Catholicism Series, founder of Word on Fire ministries, and the country’s leading Catholic evangelist.

          Before a record crowd jammed into the Union League Club, Bishop Barron spoke on a theme on which all Catholics need to be thinking … and thinking a lot: the transmission of the Gospel at a time in which one quarter of the country, and one half of Catholics under 30, self-identify as “nones.” The 25 percent who claim no religious affiliation has risen from 3 percent in 1970 and only 14 percent a decade ago. Despite the powerful words and work of the popes over the last 50 years to summon the Church to a new evangelization, “nones” are growing much faster than converts. It is a problem that Bishop Barron aptly calls a crisis and a clarion “wake-up call” for parents, teachers, catechists, priests, bishops and the whole Church. How should we effectively respond to it? Bishop Barron proposed five ways. I would like to spend time on three of his suggestions.

          The first is evangelizing through the beauty of our faith, since the transmission of the true and good today are far more challenging because of prevalent epistemological and ethical relativism. The Church, Bishop Barron said, has much to offer in this regard, from the great Cathedrals, composers, painters, sculptors and writers. What he did not state but we all know is that the rise of the “nones” has coincided with a choice on the part of many in the Church toward uglification in the name of creativity: bland, asymmetrical Churches that are not just devoid of beauty but often are downright hideous; cartoonish missalette covers; banners that look like they were made by first graders during recess; saccharine liturgical music more fit for smoky lounges; unisex stick-figures instead of manly crucifixes; and the general loss of the basic art of rhetoric in our pulpits.

          In 1985, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, said words I have never forgotten: “The only really effective apologia for Christianity comes down to two arguments, namely the saints the Church has produced and the art which has grown in her womb.” The genuine encounter with God generates beauty, both moral and aesthetic, which becomes the living proof of faith. Beauty manifests something of the divine pulchritude and attracts us toward love and truth, eventually helping us to discover the God who is Love and Truth. Evangelization today needs to begin with helping people to encounter the beauty of faith working through love and seen in the deeds of inspired artists and inspired saintly actors. Beauty (not architectural functionalism, artistic infantilism, or liturgical and moral minimalism) must become an evangelical priority.

          The second thing that Bishop Barron said we must urgently do is “stop dumbing down the faith.” After the Second Vatican Council, he argued, “a debilitating anti-intellectualism came to hold sway in the Church, at least in the west,” and this has been a “a pastoral disaster, significantly contributing to the mass exodus of two generations from the Church,” because a “childish, intellectually shallow religion simply cannot stand in the face of the trials of life and the questions of a skeptical mind.” He is absolutely right.

          We have dumbed down our catechetical textbooks so that some series are little more than coloring and comic books that assuage the emotions rather than solidly form the mind and heart. Clergy dumb down their homilies both in time as well as in content out of the mistaken assumption that people cannot handle more than 8-12 minutes of back-patting encouragement, even though evangelical Protestants—who go to the same schools and live in the same culture—are somehow capable of listening to their ministers for 45 minutes. We’ve dumbed down the moral challenge of living the Gospel to both young and old alike, seldom hearing about the hard teachings with regard to the Cross, sexual morality, forgiving our enemies, spreading the faith, and loving God not with some but with all our mind, heart, soul and strength.

          Bishop Barron said that justly recovering the necessary intellectual side of passing on the faith will involve a “new apologetics” that focuses on who God is in a context in which so many have false notions of a God who is just one being among many rather than the one who is Being Himself who holds us in being; the proper interpretation of the Bible, responding to those who try to debunk or debate it out of relevance; theodicy, or the defense of God’s goodness and providence in the face of evil, which is ever the most powerful challenge to the existence of a good, all-powerful Deity; the connection between religion and violence at a time when terrorists scandalously justify their evil on the basis of religion; and the link between religion and science, in an age of scientism that often teaches the young that if we cannot know something via the scientific method, it does not exist.

          In calling for a new apologetics, Bishop Barron is not trying merely to summon a few superstar Catholic intellects to get to work. In response to the dumbing down of the faith, we all need to get to know our faith better, especially in those areas where it is most challenged. God has given each of us minds and their foremost purpose is to use them to know Him and help others to come to know Him. None of us should accept knowing our faith—the most important subject of our life, and the greatest gift we can pass on to others—less than doctors and nurses know medicine, or engineers know math, or sports fans know players’ numbers and statistics. We are happily living at a time of unprecedented resources available to Catholic young people and adults to grow in their understanding of the faith and their capacity to pass it on, but we cannot bury those gifts.

          The third thing I will mention that Bishop Barron emphasized is that we must engage in radical witness: “Especially in light of the sex abuse scandals of recent years and the emergence of an aggressive new atheism, the recovery of a radical form of the Christian life is essential to the task of evangelization. We must regain our moral and spiritual credibility.”

          It short-circuits the proclamation of the faith when Christians proclaim the Beatitudes but then do not seek to live them. It undermines evangelization all the more when Christians do not even know or try to live the commandments, pretending as if keeping holy the Lord’s Day, not killing the unborn or seniors, not lying, stealing, coveting or engaging in sexual immorality, were all optional parts of the faith. Perhaps more than anything it subverts the faith when Christians proclaim that God is real, that He listens to us in prayer, that He comes to feed us with Himself on the altars, that He forgives us our sins in Sacrament of Reconciliation, that He joins a man and a woman in one flesh for the rest of their lives in marriage, and then do not live in accordance with those literally awesome gifts.

          On the other hand, what an extraordinary thing it is when we find radical Christian witness. We see it in the saints and martyrs. We also see it in daily life in so many unheralded disciples and apostles. They proclaim the faith by their body language in a way that forces others to question their own way of living. They give witness to a love, to a friendship, to a beauty that the world cannot give or rob.

          In the face of the “nones,” and of so many others who still believe but are only partially living by faith, Bishop Barron is prophetically challenging all of us to respond to the signs of the times with a recommitment to letting the beauty of our faith radiate, to learning and teaching it in its fullness, and living it in such a compelling, magnetic way that people can eventually be led to come to meet Christ in all His beauty, truth and holiness.

April 8, 201            Catholics are not obliged to believe “private revelations,” even approved ones, with the faithful assent we give to the “definitive public Revelation” of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Rather we evaluate private revelations on whether they are probable, credible and prudent. The Church teaches that private revelations — like the appearances of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary or of the Blessed Virgin in Guadalupe, Lourdes or Fatima — help us to live Christ’s definitive Revelation in Scripture and Tradition “more fully in a certain period of history” (CCC 67): to interpret the signs of the times, understand the fuller significance of the Gospel and live it with greater faith, hope and love at a particular time. They are meant prophetically to make more explicit, actualize and lead us back to the definitive Revelation.

          When the Church approves a private revelation as worthy of belief, it does so acknowledging that it is a help offered, and while one is not obliged to follow it, one should not totally disregard it either. After all, if Jesus Christ has appeared with a message for us on how to live with greater faith, hope, and love, or if the Blessed Mother has been allowed to come as a missionary calling us to conversion, prayer and charity, or even to build a place of worship where God will pour out His graces, we should not easily dismiss the summons, because in doing so, we might really be turning a deaf ear to God.

          That provides context to what is happening this weekend. If Jesus’ revelations to St. Faustina Kowalska are to be believed, then this Sunday is truly all about God’s Divine Mercy! St. Faustina, a Polish nun in Krakow, says that Jesus appeared regularly to her in the 1930s asking her to become his “secretary” and write down the revelations of His Divine Mercy. The Church has evaluated these revelations and found them worthy of belief. The basis of the Divine Mercy devotion is Jesus’ own guidance as to how to live by the three essential truths about His mercy that He revealed in Sacred Scripture: that we are sinners in need of His forgiveness; that we must trust in, ask for and come to receive His mercy; and that we must share His mercy, forgiving others as God has forgiven us.

          The five ways that Jesus indicated to St. Faustina that we can grow in living out the Gospel of Mercy today is through stopping everything at 3 pm each day for a moment to unite ourselves to His saving death and offer to Him our prayers for mercy; praying a Chaplet of Divine Mercy in which we unite ourselves to Him and offer what He did on Holy Thursday and Good Friday — His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity — to the Father in atonement for ours and others’ sins; venerating Him in an image He asked St. Faustina to have painted in which He blesses us with His mercy flowing from His wounded side; praying a novena starting Good Friday, asking His mercy to be poured out on nine specific groups of people ever in need of forgiveness; and finally celebrating His mercy on the Sunday after Easter as the exclamation point of everything the Church celebrates during the Easter Octave.

          About Divine Mercy Sunday, Jesus revealed to St. Faustina, “I want… the first Sunday after Easter … to be the Feast of Mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day, the very depths of my tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of my mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day are open all the divine floodgates through which graces flow.” St. John Paul II acted on this message during St. Faustina’s canonization Mass in 2000, when he announced in his homily, “It is important that we accept in its entirety the message that comes to us from God’s Word on this second Sunday of Easter. From now on, throughout the whole Church, this day will take the name of ‘Divine Mercy Sunday.’”

          Through St. Faustina, Jesus made a particular appeal to priests. “My daughter,” he said, “speak to priests about this inconceivable mercy of mine” because “I desire that priests proclaim this great mercy of mine towards souls of sinners.” He added, “No soul will be justified until it turns with confidence to my mercy, and this is why the first Sunday after Easter is to be the Feast of Mercy. On that day, priests are to tell everyone about my great and unfathomable mercy.” Moreover, He promised extraordinary fruits if they heeded His appeal, a promise I have seen repeatedly validated: “Tell my priests that hardened sinners will repent on hearing their words when they speak about my unfathomable mercy, about the compassion I have for them in my heart. To priests who will proclaim and extol my mercy, I will give wondrous power; I will anoint their words and touch the hearts of those to whom they will speak.”

          In an instruction on the indulgences associated with Divine Mercy Sunday, the Church has said to priests, “Priests who exercise pastoral ministry, especially parish priests, should inform the faithful in the most suitable way of the Church’s salutary provision. They should promptly and generously be willing to hear their confessions. On Divine Mercy Sunday, after celebrating Mass or Vespers, or during devotions in honor of Divine Mercy, … they should lead the recitation of the prayers [of Divine Mercy] … [and] should gently encourage the faithful to practice works of charity or mercy as often as they can.”

          Thankfully, there are many priests, lay faithful and parishes who have acted on the Church’s clear indications and the strong encouragement of the Divine Mercy devotion and Divine Mercy Sunday by St. John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

April 1, 2018

          In ancient Christian cultures, disciples greet each other with the words: "Christ is risen! He is truly risen. Alleluia!" Those words express the great fact that has energized Christians for two thousand years. "Christ is risen! He is truly risen."

          The readings of the Easter Vigil recount the long story of creation, of sin and rebellion, and above all of the provident hand of God sustaining His people as they stumbled down through history, sinning and repenting, and so often feeling lost in an alien world. Finally, after the prophets had prepared the way, God came into this world Himself, to live as we are meant to live during our brief time on earth, so that we might learn not just how to live here as children of God, but so that we might become fully alive. These past days of Holy Week we have pondered the rejection of Christ, and have recognized in the figures of the Passion our own vulnerability to the power of evil in the great drama of life and death.

          Mortal death is inescapable to humans, but Jesus was brought to the Cross by people who had already died what the Apocalypse calls the "second death;" and His torture and brutal death were caused by them. The first death is natural death, to which we are all subject. However, the second death is the death of the soul; it is death that is chosen when we willingly succumb to the power of evil. It is mortal sin. So often in life the second death in one person brings physical death to others, and that happened on Calvary, as the betrayal of Judas, and the cowardice of Pilate, and the hatred of the religious authorities, and the fury of the mob, all led to the death of Jesus on the cross.

          We recognize every day, in the world around us, the power of the second death which we see revealed in the Passion of Our Lord and, if we are honest, we can sense its gravitational pull in our own souls.

          But just when evil seemed to triumph even over the Holy One of God, and His disciples were distraught with grief, and had lost all hope, the full plan of God was revealed, foreshadowed through His provident hand lifting up His people throughout the ages. Those first disciples were the first to realize, "Christ is Risen. He is truly Risen. Alleluia," when the Risen Lord broke into their lives and utterly changed them.

          Astonished, they found the tomb where they had placed His body to be empty. That simply proves that the resurrection is a fact of history. Much more importantly, repeatedly, they encountered the Risen Lord, not simply risen to earthly life, as Lazarus was, and as was the son of the widow of Nain, but radiant in glory.

          The disciples on the road to Emmaus find a stranger walking with them, who revealed to them the meaning of the Scriptures; when they came to Emmaus He took bread, blessed it and broke it, and they recognized Him in the breaking of the bread. They raced back through the night to Jerusalem to spread the Good News of the resurrection. Thomas doubts what the others have experienced, but then he too encounters the Risen Lord, and the skeptic is on fire with faith which he will share in distant lands for the rest of his life. This transformation has happened repeatedly through the centuries.

          Peter and the others are back at their work of fishing, and the beloved disciple recognizes the one who awaits them on the shore: "It is the Lord!" Jesus invites Peter to a profession of love to match His faith, and entrusts the Church to him. This is glorious. It is the experience of the Risen Lord down through the ages that has made the Church a beacon in a world of darkness, and does so to this day. In the service of our Risen Lord, the monasteries brought peace and hope wherever they were established. In the service of the Risen Lord, the Church invented universities, so that the light of faith and reason might illuminate our path, and to this day that light shines.

          I wish people could come with me, as I daily travel through this community of faith, on every side experiencing the signs of the resurrection manifest in the loving service of those who know and serve Our Risen Savior, and show it through their lives. As I travel constantly throughout our parish, it is my special privilege and joy as priest to experience personally the power of the resurrection that enlivens our people through word and sacrament, seeking to draw close to Jesus, the Lord of the Universe, who lifts them up in their struggles and sends them out to bring His light to this world, just as at the Easter Vigil when the darkened church became radiant with light as the solitary flame of the Easter Candle, the sign of the Jesus risen in glory, was shared from person to person. As we give His light away, it becomes brighter in this world. That which we celebrate in symbol, we must celebrate through action in daily life, sharing the Light of Christ by what we do and by who we are.

           There is an old story told of a missionary who had given her life to caring for the most destitute, those suffering in the most terrible ways, a person not much different from so many disciples of the Risen Lord who serve unnoticed throughout our parish family. A worldly visitor, who could see so much and yet saw nothing, remarked: "I wouldn't do that for a million dollars." She replied: "Neither would I."

          This is the immense spiritual strength of the Church, the community of the servants of the Risen Lord Jesus. It continues to baffle the worldly. This is glorious, this experience of the Risen Lord manifest in the lives of His disciples.This is the greatest sign of the resurrection: those dispirited first disciples, who believed that the death of Jesus on the Cross had proven the triumph of evil, those disciples were suddenly transformed by the powerful, unexpected, direct experience of the Jesus they loved, and whom they had mourned, now risen in glory. They themselves were given new life, filled with joy, and energized with the power of the Holy Spirit to spend the rest of their earthly journey proclaiming the triumph of their Risen Lord.

          So it was. So it is. So it shall always be.

           The Church is not just an organization, though some are under the illusion that it is. It is not just a place where we can support one another in living a good life, or in learning an ancient spiritual wisdom. It is the community of the disciples of the Risen Lord. It is the Mystical Body of Christ on earth. The Church is radiant with the divine power of the Risen Lord. It is the heavenly Jerusalem, and in the lives of faithful Christians, it is to some degree already made present in the midst of Babylon the Great. Through Baptism, the disciples of the Lord wash their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. Nevertheless, they will be tested on their journey, and must resist the power of the "second death." Life is a spiritual combat. Christians who have received the light of Christ are free to blow it out, but in the Easter Sacrament of Reconciliation, that extension through time of the healing power of Baptism, the Risen Lord gives them His Light again.

          No generation of disciples is given a free pass any more than was the first one; each generation must humbly and repentantly encounter the Risen Lord, and live for Him alone. Theirs must be the words of Thomas, the doubter, when he encountered the Jesus, risen in glory, the week after Easter: "My Lord and my God!" We say this with are lips, but we must say it with our lives.

          In the Resurrection of our glorious Savior, the Lamb that was slain but now rules the universe from the heavenly throne, Satan and the powers of evil are cast down, for the evils of this world hold no ultimate power over us, though we still are free to refuse to live as faithful disciples of Christ, and to choose the second death. We are always free. But the second death is not for us: in Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist, and in all of the Sacraments, and in His living Word in Scripture, we encounter Our Risen Lord, as did those first disciples.

          He invites us to be fully alive in faith, in hope, and in charity, as citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, now, at this moment, and in each moment of our earthly journey, until this world drops away at our own mortal death and we see Him face to face.

March 25, 2018

          With Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week, the beginning of Christ’s Paschal mystery – His death and Resurrection. This should be a day of great mystery and deep reflection as we contemplate the great things Christ did for us and our salvation. Jesus humbly enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey. He knows that many of the same people who welcome Him with great joy will in a few days be crying out for His crucifixion and death – but He also knows that He is doing His Father’s will and nothing will impede His faithful fulfilling of it.

            It was not easy for Jesus to enter the place of His death but He did it with courage and confidence – with His head held high – because He knows His Father will ultimately save Him from evil men. He bravely moves forward facing whatever lies ahead and we are no different from Jesus in this respect – we don’t know for sure what lies ahead in this life for us; it may be illness, or major health or family problems, financial difficulties, uncertainties of all kinds. But Jesus is an example to us on how to move ahead and to bravely face whatever comes – knowing and trusting the Father is with us too.

             Sure it is difficult to be strong and courageous in a world that is telling us to take the easy road and indulge our disordered appetites, immoral passions and self centered feelings. Sure it is difficult to be a good example of Christian values; to stand and defend life, liberty and marriage and then to be made fun of – or completely ignored – or considered irrelevant, irrational, and unreasonable because of them. Sure it is difficult to stand against the culture of death that surrounds us and to stand for life unconditionally like the Church asks of us. Sure it is difficult to have a moral conscience in a world that has lost its ability to know right from wrong or the courage to stand firm in its own moral convictions. Sure it would be much easier if the Church would stop preaching against the tide of evil that is overwhelming us and our culture and just give in and give up and embrace sin and vice.

                These are all excellent arguments, why the Church should compromise with the world and its evil; why the Church should give up and give in, go with the tide.  But, the fact remains that, when it does – when the Church or . . . you or I . . . as its members chooses the world over that which is right, good, or true – Christ is sadly betrayed again!!!  Take a deep look at our 2000 year history as a Church; the Christians of the first through the fifth century could not refuse to worship the Roman Emperor as a god. If they did, they were punished with death and martyrdom and even if their life was spared by some miracle, they would be ruined financially. Since this time (it has been the case century after century) that Christians had to make a real choice between material success and loyalty to Jesus Christ. But chose Christ anyway! Remember the words of Jesus and let them sink into your hearts and give you hope – “If they did it to me, they will do it to you also.”

              What a great gift that Christ’s gives to us to allow us to suffer like Him, to imitate Him, to be abused by the world like our Savior was. How excellent a thing to be treated like the thousands of saints and martyrs that have gone before us, our mothers and fathers, our brothers and sisters in the faith, whose blood and example are the seeds for the future, fruitful, lasting growth of the Church. How wonderful a thing it is to be a Catholic, always be proud of it and learn it, live it, love it! It’s your salvation and the greatest joy in this life.

              If we get right down to the heart of the matter, wouldn’t we rather stand for something, to be holy, than to fall for everything that lacks any real lasting value? Don’t we want to gain a crown of glory and have eternal life with God? Well, heaven comes with a price. It cost Christ everything to save us. The reading of the Passion of Christ shows us just how important our salvation is to Jesus Christ and exactly what He did to obtain it. Now, it is our turn to show Christ by our actions, prayers, and example to others that His Passion and Death does mean something to us.

March 18, 2018

          “Why do we empathize with Pilate?” Because Pontius Pilate is the character in the Passion who is most like us.

          Pilate is educated, Western, professional; he is not a sociopath, not some oriental despot, neither particularly poor nor fantastically rich; above all, he is no religious fanatic. The purity laws of the Jews, their concerns about idolatry, seem as foreign and irrational to him as they do to us. His concern is not for God’s honor but for, to borrow a phrase from the Constitution, domestic tranquility. He wishes the Jews would disagree without being so violently disagreeable.

           Pilate is not bloodthirsty. Nor is he indifferent to justice. If given the choice, he would prefer that the innocent not die, but neither truth nor justice are his highest priorities. He is more concerned with keeping the peace and keeping his job. Pilate fears the passions of the crowd and the opinions of his superiors. He is a canny enough politician to know that it is best to stay the middle course. Even if the middle course is immoral—having Jesus beaten before He is released (Lk 23:13)—it is still moderate and centrist.

          Pilate’s actions in the Gospels even have a way of bridging differences. He becomes friends with his onetime rival, Herod. In Luke’s Gospel, Herod is spiritual but not religious. He is curious about Jesus, not wishing Him any harm at first, even eager to see Him. However, when he realizes that there is no religious novelty in Jesus, no quick fix, no sign; when the spiritual exoticism has worn off and Herod sees in Jesus only the prospect of unpopular moral commitment, he has no use for Him.

          Pilate recognizes no absolute standard of truth. “What is truth?” he asks (Jn 18:38), a question repeated in our own day often in such a tone as to imply that to answer would be offensive. Pilate, like so many of us, faced with perplexing truth claims and passionate religious differences, weighed down with a history of violence and error, takes refuge in a relativism that seeks simply to tolerate. Pilate has a COEXIST bumper sticker on his car.

          The problem with coexistence, however, is that it occasionally means sacrificing those who step too far out of the social order, those whose existence threatens our coexistence, whether they be innocent or not. Coexistence cannot tolerate one who says that coexistence is not enough, that there is a right and a wrong way of existing. Tolerance cannot bear one who says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (Jn 14:6). Jesus came preaching love, not tolerance. The Gospels would have had a very different ending if His command had been, “Tolerate one another as I have tolerated you” (Jn 13:34).

           We are like Pilate. We all desire to be thought of as moderates; we do not like our religion too extreme; we get nervous at words like “truth.” We know that such words have a way of stirring conflict, and we want peace. I once had a conversation with a well-educated Catholic gentleman about what it takes to get into heaven, and he kept coming back to the idea that all it really takes is being a “decent” person. Such a belief is one of the tenets of “moralistic therapeutic deism,” America’s default interdenominational creed. We are mostly decent people, which means we are mostly capable of functioning in society without doing each other more than average harm. I would bet, however, that the crowds that cheered Jesus on Palm Sunday and turned against Him on Good Friday were mostly decent people. Holy Week reminds us of just how awful the no-more-than-average-harm decent people do really is. Pontius Pilate was no monster; he was an average man, faced with an impossible dilemma: allow an innocent man to die or risk insurrection. Yet, it is Pontius Pilate who orders Jesus to be killed.

          We can sympathize with Pilate because he looks for compromise, because he is the Gospel’s most pragmatic character. We fear absolutes, and on Good Friday Jesus offers only the absolute. On Good Friday the prospects of a harmonious earthly kingdom are stripped away, like Jesus’ garments at the tenth station. All that remains is God, all that remains is the truth, and everything else is gone. If Pilate were to side with Jesus, he would be choosing the truth—and that is it. Nothing more. In fact, he would be surrendering happiness and harmony, prosperity and peace.

          But, surely, God wants us to have all those things, we say. Surely, God would not ask us to give up what we think we need for happiness. On Good Friday, Pilate meets a God who offers us nothing but God. And he balks. Moreover, we too are so in the habit of balking that we no longer see doing so as evil; in fact, we dress it up with names like tolerance and moderation and decency. Pilate’s actions in the Gospel are no less blameworthy than those of Caiaphas or Judas or the crowd, but we empathize with him because we ourselves would mostly prefer to send Jesus out of sight to be crucified and then post guards around the tomb.

March 11, 2018

          If the Prophet Isaiah were alive today, I don’t think God’s message through him would be much different in our times. First, we are instructed to “observe what is right.” This means we take notice of the things around us, that we see and perceive not just the surface but what are the motives of our actions. We must discern and judge the moral weight of the situation we find ourselves in, and then we seek what is proper and moral, ethical and honorable; we honestly seek what is right, good, and true. So that, by our actions, we execute, accomplish, and achieve the goal of our human existence – namely salvation in Christ Jesus, Our Lord. To be just like God means that we are virtuous, impartial, loving all equally, so that before men we are fair-minded in our attitudes, disciplined in our behavior, and give to others what they are due – namely dignity and respect . . . and to love as Christ loves.

           And why do we do these things? “Because our salvation is about to come . . .” Our means of deliverance from sins, is based solely on our willingness to forgive others, our means of escaping hell is based on our ability to love and show mercy. If we ever hope to receive love and mercy from God, St. Teresa of Avila, the great Doctor of the Church on the spiritual life, firmly taught her sisters, that it would be most beneficial to your souls to learn and understand what Christ saved you from . . . namely eternal damnation in hell. The Prophet warns us, “God’s justice is about to be revealed . . .” which means God is coming to give each person what they are due for a good or bad life. What we think or what the world thinks no longer matters (if it ever did). Now what God thinks is our due is about to be revealed. Moreover, we already know the standard of judgment that will be used against us. Did we treat others the way Christ would have treated them? Have we given to others as if they were Christ Himself? Have we loved like God with the limited time we have been given? This is the standard. Did we live our lives like Jesus’ lived His, as a complete gift of self in service for others? Therefore, we come to the conclusion that we need prayer. God leads us there by saying to the Prophet, “For my house shall be called “a House of Prayer” for all people . . .”

          When we come before this great and almighty Lord, who is our God, present here in the Tabernacle, is there a certain way we should conduct ourselves? Yes! Yes, there is! The Prophet Habakkuk taught, “The Lord is in His Holy Temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.” The prophet Zephaniah taught, “Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign Lord, for the awesome day of the Lord’s judgment is near. The Lord has prepared His people for a great slaughter and has chosen their executioners.” Even the book of Psalms makes reference to this, “Be silent in the Lord’s presence and wait patiently for Him.” If the Old Testament was not enough guidance to tell us how we should act in the presence of God, we even receive similar advice from the Saints. St. Faustina wrote in her diary, “A soul that has never tasted the sweetness of inner silence is a restless spirit which disturbs the silence of others,” or St. Mother Teresa who taught her sisters, “God speaks in the silence of the heart,” or even the great Father, St. Ambrose, who taught, “What ought we to learn before everything else, but to be silent; so that then we might be able to speak.”

          The correct posture before Our Lord is one of silence, because God does not raise His voice to be heard. He only speaks in whispers. Therefore, we must be patiently silent and carefully wait for Him to speak. In the meantime, we observe and seek after the good, the true, and the beautiful. These things make life on earth much more fulfilling, far happier, and rewarding. Try and remember the famous, but forgotten, words of Robert Frost, “I took the road less traveled and it made all the difference.”

          St. Paul gives us a great insight into the mind of God, “For God delivered all to disobedience, that He might have mercy upon all.” As St. Paul also taught, in the Letter to the Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Therefore, all humanity is in need of His mercy. We all need His love. He is ever ready to give to us His forgiveness, but the process (at times) may not be so easy. Look at the Gospel of St. Matthew (15:21-28). A woman, a Gentile woman, comes begging our Lord’s help to cure her daughter. She does not ask for anything for herself, but her love for her daughter gives her the courage and the hope to approach Our Lord and get a favorable response. What happens next? “Jesus didn’t say a word in answer to her.” She is completely ignored by Jesus. Ouch! That should hurt us a little, to hear our Lord treated her this way. But, that does not stop her. She persists in her calling out to Our Lord for assistance.

          Now, even the Apostles are tired of her and say to Our Lord, “Get rid of her.” No compassion or intercession even from Our Lord’s followers. Finally, Jesus somewhat acknowledges her by
speaking about her to the Apostles, a clear indication that Jesus still does not want to speak to her directly, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel . . .” Feeling somewhat acknowledged by our Lord, even though indirectly, she cries out, “Lord help me!” And instead of helping her, He appears to insult her, refers to her as a dog. Is this a misprint? Our Lord refers to someone as a DOG, no human dignity or respect in those words. Oh, but this woman is not done. Her love for her daughter moves her to even take Jesus’ insults and name-calling. The woman must have thought to herself, “Insult me, I don’t care, just as long as you help me.” And so she suffers it, to which our Lord responds, “. . . your great faith . . . let it be done as YOU wish. . .”

          Here we see again the great kindness and mercy of our Lord to help even when He clearly does not want to. But, He does the will of the other, for the sake of the other. Every week we come here
and hear of such great faith from those who were around Jesus when He lived on earth. These events in the life of Jesus are meant to inspire us to great faith, to perform great acts of love in our lives. The late Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman, shortly before becoming a Catholic said, “I believe that the Roman Catholic Church is the true Church of Jesus Christ, but where is the mark of holiness? Where are the Saints?” Fantastic question! Where are they? A priest friend of mine often says, “I entered the seminary for five years and when I came out, I could no longer find the Catholic Church.” Where is the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church? Where are Her saints? Why and where are they hiding?

          To be able to persevere in right judgment, just thinking, to be silent and have a reverential fear before God … to be humble and contrite, this is the path of holiness, the way of the Saints. Because God will have mercy on our human weakness, as long as we are faithful and persevere. We do this because this is what will win us salvation. It may not be the popular or the most rewarding or even the easiest way.  But, out of love for our God, we persevere in His ways if they are easy or not; if they cause us difficulty or not. We do not hide as Catholics. We do not run in fear. But, we fight for a better world for those we love. We can no longer sit on our hands when faced with such evils that are in this world today.

          Therefore, what do Catholics do? We fight, as Pope Leo XIII, reminds us, “Catholics are made for combat.” We were confirmed by the Holy Spirit to be soldiers. Our best weapons are our Rosary and Eucharistic Adoration. But, these are not, and should not be, the only weapons at our disposal. We need to learn our faith so we can defend it. In 1972, Bishop Fulton Sheen asked a very important question, that as Catholics we better wake up and listen to: “Who is going to save our Church?” he asked. His answer: “not our bishops, not our priests, and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, the ears to save the Church. Your mission,” he continued, “is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like a bishops, and your religious act like religious.” This is why Bishop Sheen also said, “To save souls we must be holy, for God does not use dirty tools.” It would do us good to wake up quickly to God’s call to holiness, before the Church is completely gone from our society. Therefore, listen carefully to the words Our Lord gives to us, words of great wisdom, power, and love. Let us aspire to the greatness that is ours as Catholics and with great joy open our hearts to God’s call to authentic holiness, not only in our words and in our prayers, but most especially in our actions.

March 4, 2018

            “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Matthew 10: 28). What is Gehenna? The word Gehenna is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew ge-hinnom, meaning “Valley of Hinnom.” This valley, south of Jerusalem was where some of the ancient Israelites sacrificed their children to the Canaanite false god Molech. In later years, Gehenna continued to be an unclean place used for burning trash from the city of Jerusalem. The Gehenna Valley was thus a place of burning sewage, burning flesh, and garbage. Maggots and worms crept through the garbage and sewage. The smell from the smoke was strong and nauseating. It was a place that was utterly filthy, disgusting, and repulsive to the senses. Gehenna presented such a vivid image, that Jesus used it as a depiction of hell: a place of eternal torment where the fires never ended and the worms never stopped crawling.

          “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” Who are the people that are not afraid to die so that they do not lose their soul in hell for all eternity? These are the martyrs. There are millions of them throughout the history of Catholicism. Some are very young and some are older. They all died under cruel and terrifying circumstances. Here is the story of a young girl, a child, who preferred to die rather than to commit a mortal sin. She was only eleven years old. 

          Maria Goretti (October 16, 1890 – July 6, 1902) is an Italian virgin-martyr, and she is one of the youngest canonized saints. She was born on the eastern side of Italy to a farming family, but increased poverty forced the family to move to the western side of the country when she was only six. Her father died from malaria when she was nine, and they had to share a house with another family, the Serenellis, in order to survive. The Serenelli family was what we would call today a very dysfunctional family. Alessandro Serenelli, the young man who attacked Maria was part of a terrible mess.

          Giovanni, his father, was an alcoholic and his mother died in a psychiatric hospital when he was only a few months old, apparently after trying to drown Alessandro when he was a newborn. Alessandro’s brother was interned in a psychiatric hospital where he died. On July 5, 1902, eleven-year-old Maria was sitting on the outside steps of her home, sewing one of Alessandro’s shirts and watching Teresa, her baby sister, while Alessandro was threshing beans in the barnyard. Knowing she would be alone, he returned to the house and threatened her with a knife if she did not do what he said; he was intending to rape her.

          She would not submit, however, protesting that what he wanted to do was a mortal sin and warning him that he would go to hell. She desperately fought to stop him. She kept screaming, “No! It is a sin! God does not want it!” He first choked her, but when she insisted she would rather die than submit to him, he stabbed her eleven times. She tried to reach the door, but he stopped her by stabbing her three more times before running away. Teresa, the little baby, awoke with the noise and started crying, and when her mother and Alessandro’s father came to check on her, they found Maria on the floor bleeding and took her to the nearest hospital. She underwent surgery, but her injuries were beyond anything that the doctors could do.

          Halfway through the surgery, she woke up. She insisted that it stay that way. The pharmacist said to her, “Maria, think of me in Paradise.” She looked at him and said, “Well, who knows, which of us is going to be there first?” “You, Maria,” he replied. “Then I will gladly think of you,” she said. She also expressed concern for her mother’s welfare. The following day, 24 hours after the attack, having expressed forgiveness for Alessandro and stating that she wanted to have him in Heaven with her, she died of her injuries, while looking at a picture of the Virgin Mary and clutching a cross to her chest.

           The wounds penetrated the throat, with lesions of the pericardium, the heart, the lungs, and the diaphragm. Surgeons were surprised that the girl was still alive. In a dying deposition, in the presence of the Chief of Police, Maria told her mother of Serenelli’s sexual harassment, and of two previous attempts made to rape her. She was afraid to reveal this earlier since she was threatened with death.

             Alessandro was promptly arrested, convicted, and jailed. After three years, he repented, and when eventually released from prison, he visited her mother begging forgiveness, which she readily granted. He later became a lay brother in a monastery, eventually dying peacefully in 1970. Maria Goretti was beatified by Pope Pius XII in 1947, and canonized in 1950 by the same Pope. Maria’s mother and Alessandro were present at both ceremonies.

            My dear friends, we live in a culture where we have lost the sense of sin. We have lost the horror of sin. This is true because we have lost the sense of who God is. These tragic loses has caused many Catholics to neglect or even forget about the importance of the Sacrament of Confession. Let us, once again, remember some basic teachings of our Catholic Faith.

          What is sin? The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives us a concise definition. “Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law” (CCC 1849). Scripture tells us that actual sin is divided into two classifications: mortal sin and venial sin. “There is a sin that leads to death…” (1 John 5:16). “Every kind of wickedness is sin, but not all sin leads to death” (1 John 5:17). Mortal sin is forgiven through the Sacrament of Confession. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance. All mortal sins of which penitents after a diligent self-examination are conscious must be recounted by them in confession…” (CCC 1456). Just like all the other sacraments of the Church, Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Confession. The Church has always understood the Scriptural reference for the Sacrament of Confession to be John 20:22-23: “Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.”

          What an immense gift we have been given! The Sacrament of Confession is an enormous source of interior peace. The priest raises his hand, and then with a blessing pronounces those amazing words: I absolve you from your sins. At that moment, we know that God has heard our cry for forgiveness, and we have been pardoned of our sins. “God, who is rich in mercy…” (Ephesians 2: 4). There is a direct relationship between the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Confession. St. Paul speaks to us about this essential relationship in his First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 23-32. Let us consider the entire text.

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying. If we discerned ourselves, we would not be under judgment; but since we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

          The Sacrament of the Eucharist is one of the sacraments of the living. We need to be free from mortal sin before we receive Holy Communion. If we receive the Eucharist while we are in the state of mortal sin, we are committing a sacrilege. “For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.” That act of receiving the Eucharist with a bad conscience has a direct influence on our physical health. “That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying.” Sexual sin is not the only sin, but like for the Corinthians of old, it is certainly the battle of our times. Adultery, fornication, masturbation, addiction to pornography, contraception, sterilization, and abortion are real life struggles for many Catholics. Relativism has convinced many of Catholics that there is no longer any need to go to confession for these sins before they receive the Eucharist. It is possible to live the virtue of chastity in an unchaste world. We have to make a decision to change and to live the Gospel with greater authenticity.

         “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (John 3: 16-17). We experience God’s mercy through the Sacrament of Confession. It is there that we acknowledge who we are: limited, weak, and sinful creatures in need of redemption. It is there that God forgives us of any and all of our sins. Everyone is welcome to the Catholic Church, but let Jesus liberate you from sin. No one who has ever met Jesus has remained the same.

February 25, 2018

            One day, a father brought his son to Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen for advice. The boy was conceited, a young lawbreaker, who had given up living by faith, was angry with himself, and very bitter toward other people in the world. Following the meeting, the son ran away for a year; he returned home just as rebellious and reckless as before. The father asked the archbishop, “What should I do with my son?” Archbishop Sheen advised sending the son to a school outside of the United States. The father followed the archbishop’s counsel.

          About a year later, the young man returned home. He met with Archbishop Sheen, and made this request: “Would you support me in an enterprise I have undertaken recently in Mexico? There is a group of young men in the college where I study, who have built a little school. With them, I have gone around the neighborhood and brought children into the school to teach them the Catechism. Also, we have brought in a doctor from the United States, for one month, to take care of the sick people in the neighborhood.” The archbishop was stunned by the young man’s information and his transformation. Then, he inquired what had happened. The boy responded, “I discovered my neighbor.” In other words, through his neighbor’s need, the boy learned to love. This response is very different from the philosopher Jean Paul Sartre, who said, “My neighbor is hell.”

          Every person acts according to one of these two principles: he lives for his neighbor, or he lives for himself. Our Holy Father, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, wrote in one of his Lenten messages: “Look at Christ pierced on the cross.” When we look at Christ on the cross, we discover the true meaning of love: self-sacrifice. Christ Himself taught, “No greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Indeed, when St. John describes the lance that pierced deeply into our Lord’s heart, he reports, “Immediately blood and water flowed out” (John 19:34). This report impresses upon each one of us the free and limitless gift of Christ’s love, a gift that is given without reservation, qualification or recompense.

          Pope Benedict goes on to instruct us that, “(Christ) is the un-surpassing revelation of God’s love. On the cross, it is God himself who begs the love of his creatures.” Until Christ’s birth, the human person had wandered about with only a capacity to love and to be loved; yet, he or she did not know how to truly love. Due to sin, human love became distorted and self-serving. Separated from God, for the many, the human person chooses the second principle: the neighbor is an obstacle to my self-fulfillment.

          The love we are created to give cannot begin with ourselves; as human beings, we cannot generate within our hearts sacrificial love for another person. That kind of love must flow into our hearts from Jesus Christ. St. John tells us, “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins” (John 4:19). Christ alone gives us the power to love. He does so by our participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which is called the Sacred Liturgy. We are reminded of the merciful love of Jesus Christ on the Cross every time we participate in the Sacred Liturgy. The Liturgy is the act of sacrificial love when Christ allows Himself to be broken and given as a gift. The Lenten message of Pope Benedict teaches that, “The Eucharist draws us into Jesus’ act of self-oblation … we enter into the very dynamic of his self-giving.”

          Our primary focus during Lent, then, should not be on prayer, fasting or almsgiving. These are the means that dispose us for the primary Lenten focus. The primary focus should be on the sacrificial love of the crucified Christ and the self-giving Eucharistic Christ, two entities of love, which can never be separated. That integrated, Christ opens for us what our Holy Father calls, “a renewed experience of God’s love that we can then give to others.”

          May this year’s Lenten journey renew us as lovers of God first, through a love for the Crucifixion and the Eucharist so that we will go forward to love our neighbor without limit.

February 18, 2018

          I want to begin this article with a brief prayer. “Lord Jesus Christ, we pray that You would cover us, our families, and all of our possessions with Your love and the power of Your Most Precious Blood. Bind and drive out from among us any spirits who are opposed to Your Kingdom. Soften our hearts and heal our wounds so that we may receive Your Word today. Surround all of us with Your heavenly Angels, Saints, the strong arms of St. Joseph, and the mantle of Our Blessed Mother. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.”

          Consider this hypothetical situation: What if we all knew that some defect in the water pipes of this church was resulting in harmful exposure to a high percentage of parishioners and running the high likelihood of serious physical health risks and even death … and we did nothing? We said nothing. I take it you would think that is crazy and irresponsible. You might even demand the Pastor and other parish staff be replaced. We have basically that very situation, but in the area of spiritual health. And most people hear nothing about it from pulpits or read nothing about it in the parish bulletin. Little is said or done to battle the crisis which is at epidemic proportions.

          Today, I want to discuss a topic that impacts many men and women across many age categories. While the impact is broad, it does seem true that this spiritual health risk seems to have a more significant hold on men and boys. I think it is necessary to speak on the topic of the pervasive presence and use of pornography in our society.

          All indications are that this is a widespread problem in our society, made ever broader by easy access and free content through the internet. I have made some general reference to this topic in other bulletin articles and homilies but this is, I believe, the first time in ten years as a priest that I have given this topic direct focus. Thus, I first want to apologize to you for failing to devote attention to this earlier in a clear, courageous, and manly way as your spiritual father. That is a failure and a weakness on my part because I should have been more resolved to protect my flock. Today that failure ends.

The statistics are alarming.

• Studies indicate that 73% of kids are exposed to explicit material before the age of 18 and 42% of kids first view it before the age of 13.
• The average age of first exposure to explicit images on the internet is 11 years old.
• The largest consumers of this material on the internet are kids ages 12 to 17.
• 50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women say they are regular users of this material.
• In addition, with access to the digital world on our smartphones it is alarming that 1 in 5 mobile phone searches is for explicit material.

          At younger and younger ages, kids are spending significant amounts of time online daily. One study found that nearly 70% of kchildren ages 2 to 5 can operate a computer mouse, but only 11% could tie their own shoes. Together with this, studies show that only 1/3 of parents set up parental controls and monitor their children’s online activity. In addition, 41% of American teens agree that their parents have no idea what they are doing online. No one is immune from this invasion and the problem exists in Christian homes as it does in other homes. I do not want to be misunderstood as if the problem does not exist among girls and women too. However, boys and men fall prey to this at significantly higher rates. In all categories of statistics measuring things like type of content viewed, age of first exposure, and frequency of use, boys and men outpace girls and women by large percentage margins. One study indicated that the strongest predictor of use of explicit material is simply being male.

          One of the realities of this topic is that a person, through no fault of his or her own, can be exposed to this material quite innocently. A misspelled word in a search engine can lead to exposure and that can place a hook in a person. If we are not careful, first exposure develops into repeated curiosity and that develops into habitual use that impedes healthy human development and spiritual development. First exposure happened easily enough in my generation, but we must admit that with the dawn of the internet, it happens much more easily and frequently now, and it comes directly into your home. First exposure to explicit material now happens in our homes, right in the room where your child is on the computer, tablet, or smartphone.

          This is a matter that cannot be ignored in the parish, in your family life, or in each person’s examination of conscience. We cannot be silent while souls are being ensnared and the risk of hell increases. Use of this explicit material makes its users spiritually crippled and deadened. It is serious sin that needs to be confessed immediately, and especially before coming forward to receive Holy Communion. It becomes enslaving. It negatively impacts personal discipline, dating, marriage, and even the ability of a young person to trust a call from God to priesthood or to a religious vocation.

          I hope I do not cause rash judgment or awkward situations here, but given the statistics on use of explicit material: Parents, you should likely just assume that your child has been exposed, and that your middle school and high school aged child may already have a habit of use. You must speak with them. You must first treat this issue in your own life with serious resolve. You must take measures to control and eliminate the entry points for this material into your home. Use internet locks and filters and even have everyone in the house turn in all cellular and internet devices each evening where they remain locked in the parents’ bedroom until morning. Men, dear brothers in the faith: You especially need to take such measures to protect yourselves, your wives, and your children. We need to live courageously this aspect of fatherhood as protector in our homes.

            As your spiritual father, I want to set the tone for our response to this moral epidemic by saying that in the spiritual family of this parish, no one is permitted to shame anyone else about this struggle. The devil knows what he is doing in trafficking this filth. Anyone who is struggling needs to know they are loved, they are supported, and that they are called to true and authentic human relationships. Jesus gives us the example from the woman caught in adultery who easily could have been shamed. Instead, He says: “Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again” (Jn. 8:11). Therefore, in this parish, I am opening this topic for conversation, and I am asking you to continue it in your home and with your family. Opening this to conversation can allow healing to take place.

            This is because in talking openly and honestly we will draw each other, spouses and children, into more authentic relationships that, together with confession, prayer, struggle, and acts of penance, will result in lessening the grip of false virtual “relationships”. Anyone struggling needs to be prudent, but opening this matter – not to everyone – but to a trusted friend can offer accountability in the battle. I want you to know that there are in fact people who do not use explicit material. The battle is possible. Victory is already won with Christ Jesus. Moreover, others in this parish will be ready to stand with you as you engage in battle. It is time to reject the devil’s message that tells you to keep this matter hidden. Kept hidden in the darkness, he increases his power over you. In the light, he flees.

            Furthermore, we are also going to confess this matter with humility and honesty each and every time there is a fall and a sin. God is ready to meet you in this struggle and He already loves you as you hear this invitation to confession. He loves you and He wants you to have a deeper relationship with Him.

          To fight against the evil of pornography in our lives and the lives of our families, I am going to suggest a few important spiritual weapons.

• I want every person in this parish to learn how to pray the Rosary to invoke Mary in this battle. She brought us her Son who crushed the serpent’s head. Her intercession is powerful. Pray it in your home with your family.
• Reverent worship is a weapon in the battle and so, in addition to faithful attention at Holy Mass, I ask each of you to sign up for a Holy Hour of Adoration in our Divine Mercy Perpetual Adoration Chapel, or to share an hour with your family, or with another friend. Come receive blessing in the Lord’s Real Presence and train your eyes to look upon the Holy One in our midst.
• Men, I encourage you to invoke St. Joseph in this battle and to ask his help to see in him a great example of what it means to be a man of faith, a man of strength, and a man of purity in the family.
• Don’t forget the value of using Sacred Scripture, taking on practices like fasting, and using blessed objects like Holy Water or religious medals.
• Finally, make regular use of confession and take the steps necessary to find an accountability partner.

          Today, the First Sunday of Lent, our Archdiocese celebrates Safe Haven Sunday–an opportunity to appropriately spread awareness about the issue of pornography. Pornography is a grave offense against God and His gifts to men and women. God created men and women "in His image" to share in His divine life. Rather than respecting and cherishing this image of God, pornography promotes a harmful and destructive anthropology. It teaches people to use others as "objects” – in this case, a means of selfish, lustful gratification. In addition, since pornography attacks sexual desire and the conjugal act itself, it wages war on marriage. Let us be strong men and women of purity, chaste and holy, and fighting to preserve the garment of salvation we have received in Holy Baptism. May God help us to do so against the snares of the pornography epidemic!

February 11, 2018

         Today the Church celebrates World Marriage Day in which we recall the great grace of married life, and in which we witness to the value and the goodness of marriage. From its earliest beginnings, the Church has viewed marriage both as a fundamental human reality and as something that is caught up into the saving mystery of Jesus Christ. Marriage and the family are as old as humanity. The fact that we are made as male and female is obviously related to the continuance and survival of the human race. The book of Genesis suggests that marriage also had from the beginning a deeply personal dimension. Men and women are drawn to one another in order to escape from their loneliness and to find in one another the spouse of their hopes and fears, of their joys and struggles. The first line of poetry we find in the Bible was provoked by the sight of a woman. "This, at last," Adam says, "is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh."

         The Church believes that at its deepest level marriage of its very nature always involves certain values and commitments. It entails, for example, an intimate sharing of life and love that is meant to be exclusive and lifelong; it is open to the possibility of children, open not only to having them but to helping them grow and develop into decent and virtuous adults. It is this human reality in all its complexity and variety, which, the Church affirms, has taken on a new dimension in Christ. While recognizing the goodness of creation and the unique dignity of human beings, Christianity knows that human life has been undermined by sin and self-destructiveness. It believes, however, that in Christ we have a source of forgiveness and healing. He enables us to become the kind of creatures that God intended us to be from the beginning. In saying that marriage is a sacrament, the Church is affirming that a couple's love and mutual commitment can be strengthened and deepened by being rooted in Christ. It is also saying that their relationship can be for them and for their children a means and instrument of God's healing love.

          World Marriage Day is a happy occasion, but we must be aware of the sad and serious fact that marriage is in decline in our country and sadly, in decline in the Catholic and wider Christian community. In many parts of our culture, we seem to have just accepted that people will talk about their “partners.” This is a development in our society that must be challenged and resisted. The institution of marriage is precious: it is sanctioned by the teaching of Christ and by centuries of Christian tradition, and it is given such a special place in life and in the life of the Church for a reason. Marriage and family life is the basic unit of human society. It expresses the public and permanent commitment that gives strength and security to the very fabric of our society; it gives confidence and stability to men, women and their children. I would suggest that two things militate against marriage today. One is the idea of a permanent commitment and the other is radical individualism.

          The idea of a permanent commitment is hard today. Very little is permanent in our society. Particularly at this moment in history, jobs are likely to be insecure and people may not be secure in the ownership of their individual homes. However, long before the present economic crisis, the idea of permanence and commitment has been under threat. It has certainly affected vocations to the priesthood and religious life. I want to say that the loss of a sense of permanent commitment is the loss of a deep spiritual and human value. And that is related to the culture of radical individualism. To understand this, let us remember the very first people who had a Christian calling or sense of vocation, those who were called by Christ Himself. I am thinking of the Apostles who left their boats and went to follow Christ. They did not know what the future would hold; they did not really know who Jesus was. Nevertheless, they left everything and followed Him and gave their lives to Him. Moreover, Jesus Himself in His teaching on marriage said that a man who is marrying will leave father and mother and cleave to his wife. In other words, a Christian vocation, whether to priesthood/religious life or to marriage, will always involve letting go, leaving something or some people behind and giving yourself to a new situation, giving yourself to a situation which has a strong element of the unknown. Seeing things in this way involves an act of faith: faith in God’s call and faith in the future. As far as marriage is concerned, it means belief that this man or this woman is intended for me. That this person is the one with whom I will have a relationship that is like no other relationship in my life. Believing that this relationship is the framework in which, within God’s purposes, I am to find my stability, my security and my identity as a person. That is the grace and gift of marriage. Of course, we must always have the greatest compassion and understanding for those whose marriages are wounded – sometimes through circumstances that are outside the control of either party. But that does not mean that we should give up on the ideal of marriage. The fact that there can be problems in marriage, disagreements, misunderstandings, coldness, jealousy, sometimes even infidelity should not discourage us from continuing to aspire to all that marriage can be; indeed we must give thanks for all the positive things, all the blessings that come specifically from marriage. 

          Among the many things that undermine marriage and family life, one of the most powerful is the radical individualism that permeates our culture. Everything encourages us to focus on ourselves, to worry about our concerns and feelings, to do whatever we have to do to get ahead. Marriage, on the other hand, presupposes an ability to give and receive, an ability to go beyond the self and enter into relationships involving others; it demands a capacity for love and friendship. I recently read in an article: “Today we are faced with a new absolutism which goes under the name of equality.” Now equality is obviously, on the face value, a good thing, but it is a word that suggests a way of looking at life that is all about me, and my rights, and what I want. In this way of thinking, no one has the right to question my choices unless my choices interfere with the freedom of another. There is little sense of the common good, of what is good for society. This is perhaps best explained by an example, and I will take the example of contraception. If you give primacy to individual choice, then the choice of contraception seems logical: a sensible way of controlling fertility in the context of your life choices as a whole. But if we ask the question: “Has contraception been a profound benefit to society?” Then, it is hard to say that it has. It has been a major factor in creating a culture in which sex is about personal gratification, and personal recreation. It has isolated sexual activity. It has undermined the crucial connection between the sexual act and procreation, a connection that is vital for the flourishing of family life and society. 

           The perceived wisdom of our culture is that the Church is against sexuality. However, it is probably closer to the truth to say that it is one of the few institutions in our society that takes sexuality seriously. It sees it, within marriage, as a sign and expression of a sacred reality. The way in which the sexual act is portrayed in much of contemporary, popular culture has little to do with intimacy and respect, sharing and love. It reduces people to objects rather than affirming them as persons; it turns them into instruments of pleasure rather than seeing them as spouses in a mutually enriching relationship.

          At the heart of marriage is fidelity. It is threatened not only by the way that sex permeates our culture and by our radical individualism; it is also undermined by the tendency today to sacrifice honesty and truthfulness for personal gain. What we are seeing in the worlds of business and politics, we see in some of the young people at the university. A depressing number of them have no hesitation to plagiarize, to download substantial parts of their papers from the Internet or to buy them from one of the numerous sources available to them. What is most bothersome about this is that it seems to reflect a rather staunch “bottom line mentality.” The only thing that matters is the end result. Lying and cheating are not recognized for what they are – sinful! In this kind of environment, truth and honesty become causalities and with them, fidelity.

            Our families are not perfect. They suffer from the inadequacies and failures of their individual members, and from the pressures to which they are subjected in our culture. Although imperfect, they remain enormously important. It is in the family more than anywhere else that we first get a sense of ourselves and of our dignity and that we begin to learn how to be decent and loving human beings. The grace and the challenge of the Gospel have much to offer to our families. If baptism and the Eucharist, for example, free us from selfishness and self-centeredness, if they free us for a life of love and service, surely the first place in which we should try to live this is the family. The Catholic Church believes in marriage and the family, believes in their dignity and value. In spite of their vulnerability, they are precious realities which are meant to be for the individuals who live in them a source of life and strength, of affirmation and love. They merit our support and commitment and our prayers.

          Let today be a day of thanksgiving for all we can be grateful for as individuals, as couples, and as the Church. “Home is a holy place!” This is a phrase we often hear in the context of the Church’s work to build up and support the institution of marriage. It is in the home that the faith is taught and that children learn to pray as something natural, normal and spontaneous. There is a special spirituality of marriage and of family life which has been part of the very fabric of our lives. We must share with others the Good News about marriage and family life. There is a special task of evangelization in bearing witness to the values of Christian marriage. That is a task that can be yours at any age and any circumstance. 

February 4, 2018

         Praised be Jesus Christ! On the fifth day of February in the year 251, Saint Agatha, a young Christian virgin of Catania, gave her life in faithful and enduring love of her Divine Spouse, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Called into trial by the Roman Emperor Decius because of her profession of the Catholic faith, she, together with many young Christians of Sicily, resisted the pressure to apostasy. She gave the supreme witness, suffering a cruel passion and death.

          Agatha, whose name in Greek signifies participation in the infinite goodness of God, resisted, by her virtue and constant prayer, the gravely immoral life of the woman to whom she was given over by the officials of the Roman government, who made her appear before the judge. The judge accused her of leading a life of slavery, notwithstanding her origin in a free and noble family. To this accusation, she replied: “I am a servant of Christ and, therefore, of a servile condition…. The highest nobility consists in being slaves of Christ.” The judge then condemned her, subjecting her to the cruelest tortures, including the amputation of her breasts. Resisting the abandonment of the Christian faith, right up to the end, Saint Agatha, after the final torture, thanked our Lord for having saved her body and died in the fame of heroic sanctity. After her death and until today, the Lord has granted so many favors to His flock through the intercession of Saint Agatha.

           In accord with the words of the Song of Songs, the Lord set Saint Agatha “as a seal on [His most Sacred] heart,” and thus the union of their hearts in pure and selfless love proved itself to be “strong as death;” the “many waters” were not able to quench it and “floods” did not drown it. Notwithstanding her young age, she was courageous before those who were able to violate and destroy her body, fearing only those who were able to violate and corrupt her soul. The Lord, for His part, as He promises us in the Gospel, faithfully acknowledged Agatha before the Eternal Father, asking every grace for her, also the most beautiful grace of giving her life in martyrdom for the faith. In the face of the cruelest sufferings, she was a sign of the Church herself, the mystical spouse of Christ, whom the Apostle has betrothed “to Christ to present [her] as a pure bride to her one husband.”

          In the life of Saint Agatha, we see the fulfillment of the promise of unceasing and immeasurable love of the Lord for every person, without boundary or limit, that divine love in which we partake in the fullest and most perfect manner by means of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. “In the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth,” we truly find “our help.” It is in the union of our hearts with the glorious pierced Heart of Jesus that we find the true freedom which leads us to eternal life. The Lord called Saint Agatha to espousal, to offer to Him her virginity, her entire being. Saint Agatha responded with all her heart, placing her heart fully into the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the Heart of Jesus, her love was purified and strengthened, so that her witness of virginal love reached its crowning in the ultimate witness of martyrdom. The white of her love as a virgin was consummated in the courageous red of her love as a martyr for the faith.

          The life and martyrdom of Saint Agatha, like the life of every consecrated virgin, teaches all of us the reality of the love of Christ in our life, a love which invites us to give our hearts to Him, to be one in heart with Him, loving our neighbor as He loves us, that is, with pure and selfless love, right up to the end. Saint Agatha, with her virginal consecration exalted in martyrdom, shows us the way on which the Lord invites us to give ourselves to Him and to His Mystical Body, the Church, and to all men, in accord with our vocation and our particular gifts. We implore Saint Agatha, as we celebrate her feast tomorrow: pray for us, so that each of us may remain faithful in the response to our vocation, so that the Lord will find us always ready to give our hearts to Him.

January 28, 2018

          This week we celebrate Catholic Schools Week, which is an opportunity to acknowledge, appreciate, and support the remarkable ministry of our Catholic schools that provide opportunities for our children to grow and succeed during their formative years. Like no other ministry of the Church, Catholic schools provide for its students a daily encounter with Christ. Catholic schools have been producing successful graduates for more than 200 years –graduates who carry the practice of their faith out into the world, distinguishing themselves through higher academic achievement, community engagement and generosity. Like generations of Catholic school graduates before them, they become prepared in our schools for the tests of life. Catholic schools not only transform those who are its students but, by their witness, the culture itself is changed to conform to the Gospel message.

          This week allows us to reflect on one important question: Why do Catholic Schools matter? Some believe that it does not matter where a student goes to school. Please allow me to articulate four reasons why a Catholic education at St. Benilde matters to the future of our children.

          First, learning matters. I can tell you all the statistics you would like to hear about how products of Catholic schools have higher test scores, or their near-perfect high school graduation rate, or the growing number of those with a Catholic education going to four-year colleges or universities (all of which are true), but it is not about statistics. It is about learning. At St. Benilde School, we do not simply deliver information to children; we teach children, and we teach them how to learn. We teach to the child, not to the book, not to the class, and certainly, not to the standardized test. St. Benilde School has high standards that push children to reach their potential and beyond. The only way this is possible is because our teachers know your child. This type of care and personal attention for your child is immeasurable. We spend over numerous hours a week helping them grow in faith and knowledge. We know them and we do what it takes for them succeed.

          The second reason why St. Benilde School matters is one very close to my heart, and that is safety. Plain and simple: Safety matters. Over the past few years, we have invested in locks, security cameras to ensure your child’s safety. However, safety is more than just locks; it is about community. We look after each other. Just about every teacher knows every student. We know who is who and where they should be. Our teachers work as a team to make sure each child is safe.

          Third, we whole-heartily believe that Character matters. At St. Benilde School, we feel that one of our major roles is to provide an education that goes beyond the classroom. We teach each child how to be a good person; we teach integrity and provide them with a moral compass to make good decisions. We teach them that having manners and being courteous is important, and we teach them to look people in the eye when they firmly shake someone’s hand. As a Catholic school, we are able to do all of these things in any class, at any time. Many schools do not have the luxury to teach character and even those that do, simply do not. We do! It is fundamentally part of who we are, and I would not have it any other way.

          Finally, Faith Matters. This is the most important aspect of our school. Each child is different, that was God’s intention, which is why we treat each one as individual gifts from God, even when they are sent to my office. I often speak of forming the foundations of a child and faith is where it stems from. To me, the bottom line is that: Faith is the cornerstone of life. Without it, personal successes and achievements have little relevance. With it, you realize that your successes and achievements are not only for you, but should be shared with others; with your family, friends, teachers, homeless, and homebound, just as Jesus taught us. We teach this type of stewardship in every grade. St. Benilde School takes the role of faith formation very seriously. We are not a private school; we are a Catholic school. A private school’s job is to get you into Harvard; a Catholic school’s job is to get you into heaven.

          Parents, no matter where you are with you own faith, the opportunity to give your child the cornerstone they need for life is one that should not be passed up. Overall, we prepare students very well to face all the challenges that will come their way in the future. I realize that our education is a sacrifice, but by attending St. Benilde School, your child will establish a foundation of moral structure and develop integrity that cannot always be achieved in other schools. Your sacrifice should be looked at as an investment in your child. It is an investment that is not only well worth it, but one that will last a lifetime.

          As we begin Catholic Schools Week, let us spend this time celebrating Catholic schools, but recognize what matters to us: Learning, Safety, Character, and Faith. These foundations of a faith-filled, successful child start right here at St. Benilde School.

January 21, 2018

           Like the two disciples in the Gospel (John 1: 35-42), we too are challenged by Christ’s question “What are you looking for?” As a people of faith we know that the person of Christ lies at the root of our answer. And if we wish to experience to the fullest our own capacity for love and well being, then we must be willing to either accept in good conscience or reject with conviction what the culture is offering. “Come and See” is Christ’s invitation to each and every person who seeks a better way, who truly desires to know the truth and who deeply hopes to do good. This invitation asks that we become more aware of Christ Himself in order to see up close the meaning of His own life and sacrifice. What are we looking for? We seek to live rightly, to grow in compassion, to love completely.

          Like Andrew and the other disciple we find ourselves, still, at a crossroads where we must choose between accepting Christ’s rather simple invitation to faith or to instead go in the opposite direction. Two ways of thinking; one leads to great happiness joy, the other to great suffering. One way claims that happiness is found when our personal wants and desires are a person’s first priority and come before the legitimate needs of others. The other way is harder because it demands that we first acknowledge that each human person is entitled to his full and natural life and then we must act accordingly, in all that that entails. It is the second way, the harder of the two that Christ is inviting us to take.

          In writing his encyclical, The Gospel of Life, St. John Paul II made it clear that when we are confused about the true value of any human life, we also lose all sense of meaning in our own. Any society which intentionally distorts the meaning human life in order to deny its value will eventually but surely destroy itself. At the core of man’s highest calling is the obligation to choose whether or not he will be a servant to himself or to someone else. If he chooses wrongly, the damage to self and society can be overwhelming and not easily corrected. But when he gets it right, when a person with faith and in good conscience acts according to his own true, best nature then the doorway to a real and lasting happiness is opened up for all.

              “The good we seek,” St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “is one and the same as existence itself.” The desire to do good, therefore, is not some lofty intellectual exercise, but is instead normal and natural. To seek what is good in every human life is to defend the innocent and the weak in our own lives as well as in the public square, especially the public square. It is impossible to remain ambivalent on the question of the value of human life because the desire to protect life is built right into our DNA. To act otherwise is a nothing less than a conscious decision to cause harm. “Come and see” is also the gentle instruction of St. John Paul II when he urged us so often not to be afraid. To follow Christ means that we are also willing to accept the struggles that an active faith in Him will surely bring when we stand up for the weakest and the most innocent, but when we also experience real joy and we find real meaning in our own lives. “Man affirms himself most completely,” John Paul wrote “by giving himself.” Every mother and every father knows this to be true.

            Forty-Five years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court heard legal arguments in the case of Roe v. Wade. The decision of that court and the harm that has been done since is what we pray will come to an end as tomorrow, January 22^nd, we observe a special day of penance and reparation for sins against the dignity of the human person through acts of abortion. Since that tragic decision, more than 60 million children's lives have been lost to abortion, and the lives of millions of their parents have been shattered. That single legal opinion, and the subsequent millions upon millions of individual and societal decisions that have been made in its wake, not only have taken the lives of countless human beings in the womb, but have also taken an unimaginable toll on those who have turned to abortion, those who have performed abortions, those who have encouraged abortions, and on our society as a whole as we have witnessed a steady desensitization regarding all forms of assaults on human dignity and life at all its stages.  

              The two ways of thinking which separate the purpose and the trajectory of the Catholic Church from the direction this nation has taken on the question of the basic human right to live could not be any greater. Consistent abortions levels for 45 years in this country have resulted in a future workforce that will not and cannot meet the obligations that this governing generation has already claimed for itself. Schools are closing for lack families with some now asking if gender, the very means by which human beings can relate to each other, should have a place in the training of our children. This way of thinking has also taken hold all over the world. In barely 25 years the one child per family policy in China is already causing enormous suffering and horrible consequences in the form of unnatural gender imbalances, which is leading to the wholesale destruction of the culture which for thousands of years has depended primarily on the family. At the same time increases in child prostitution are on the rise and fatherless children living outside of the social network are nearly forgotten altogether.

            You and I have seen the consequences of selfishness and the lack of protection for the unborn, and we cannot ever be afraid to oppose its practice. So, what should a faithful people do? How should those who choose to seek what is good in every person respond when the society exhibits what St. John Paul II termed a Culture of Death? Our very presence in public marches, even if only for a day, will remind those that suffer from a lack of hope that there is an alternative to the kind of thinking that has resulted in an average household that statistically contains barely two people. Young and old, pushed in wheelchairs and strollers, married and single, coming together to march for life will be the evidence that a nation that has devalued the lives of some in the name of the common good needs most to see.

              By inviting each of us to come and see for ourselves where He is going, Christ promises to reveal the good that lives in every soul when sacrifice and care are the rule and not the exception. By virtue of our faith, we have already accepted Christ’s invitation, and now that we have witnessed and can compare between the two ways — the pain and the needless damage to women and families and society of one, as well as the great joys and deeply felt gratitude we experience of the other — we are now ready, ready to turn our attention towards those who may still be confused and lost.

              “Come and see” must now become our appeal to any and all who wish to find a better way and who hope that they themselves are valued and are worthy of our care. By our prayers and our witness, we give encouragement to each other and we increase the likelihood that one day each child will be received into the loving and protective arms of his parents. To those who have yet to take their first breath, we again affirm our deep commitment to their protection. And to those who wish for greater and deeper meaning in their own lives, we now offer the same invitation that Jesus has given to us which we have accepted; to show them what we now know, to point out the direction we have chosen, to them especially we say …“Come, come and see,” for yourselves the true joys that a life lived in faith has to offer.

January 14, 2018

          Why is the beginning of a new year marked with so much noise? All across the world the standard way of marking the end of the old and the beginning of the new year is for people to set off fireworks, tearing apart the night sky with a blaze of light and an explosion of noise. The Romans have been at this for a long time, believing that the turning of the year was a vulnerable moment, a changeover that had to be watched carefully lest witches, ghosts and demons slip through the gap between the years and start all kinds of mischief. The antidote, they believed, was to make as much noise as possible, to scare away any wandering demon, ghost or witch who might think of trying to slip through that gap. To this day Rome, at the end of the year, is the noisiest place on earth. The only ghosts who could possibly slip through there are the ones who are profoundly deaf!

             It is often strange to think that most major cities continue to mark the turn of the year in this primitive way. Eighteen years ago, we passed not just from one year or decade or century to another, but from one millennium to another. Remember how, as the year 2000 approached, there were so many articles, programs and films on ‘apocalyptic,’ end-of-the-world themes. The feared catastrophe of the Y2K computer superbug was perhaps a secularized version of the fear the ancient Romans knew: something mysterious may slip through at the changeover and wreak all kinds of mischief. A number of films appeared at that time about demons insinuating their way into our world and its affairs. And there were some groups and individuals who felt that the world itself might come to an end with the great cosmic battle of Armageddon getting under way.

             The origins of ‘apocalyptic’ thinking are in the Bible. The ten plagues of Egypt recounted in the Book of Exodus as well as the later prophecies which we still value and read — for example Ezekiel, Daniel and Zechariah — are the sources of apocalyptic imagery: horsemen, chariots, fire, floods, the world being turned upside down and inside out, the earth disappearing beneath our feet, the stars falling from the sky, strange beasts appearing — and much more. Jesus Himself preached in apocalyptic terms about the destruction of Jerusalem, the meaning of His own death, the breaking in of the Kingdom of God and the return of the Son of Man on the clouds of heaven surrounded by the angels.

             It seems natural that our response to this kind of imagery should be a mixture of fear and hope. On the one hand, we will want to keep it at bay, fingers crossed that if the ‘great and terrible day of the Lord’ is to come — as we believe it is — that maybe it won’t be for a while. On the other hand, why are we not simply filled with that ‘joyful hope,’ for which we pray at every Eucharist, at the prospect of the return of our Lord?

           There is one very striking change in apocalyptic imagery as used by Christians. The Book of Revelation, the ‘Apocalypse,’ places at the center of the great battles and disturbances of the end time, the figure of a lamb, “a lamb that seemed to have been sacrificed” (Revelation 5:6). This Lamb unlocks the secrets of the future of the world (Revelation 6:1). The Lamb stands on Mount Zion at the head of those who have been faithful to Him (Revelation 14:1-5). The final battle with evil, sin and death is followed by the wedding feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) and heaven is described as the new Jerusalem, a city whose only light is the glory of God and the Lamb (Revelation 21:23). It is a strange contrast, between the violent, aggressive and seemingly powerful armies of wickedness and the gentle creature who in fact holds the key to human history and whose sacrifice is the victory of God and of God’s people.

            The smoke of fireworks drifts away and the memory of their brightness and loudness fades. But the primitive fears, which they help us forget for a moment, remain. By contrast, we continue in hope to follow the Lamb, a creature infinitely gentle, not aggressive, not violent, and yet infinitely more powerful than weapons with all their noise and clamor. The sacrifice of the Lamb — His death for love — is the most powerful moment in human history and the key to its meaning. In the Church, we keep the memory of that moment alive each day, knowing that it is the source of any real strength we may have. With John the Baptist we continue to “watch” Jesus Christ and to say “Behold the lamb of God” (John 1:35). 

January 7, 2018

          There is something special about the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. We are reminded on this day as we celebrate this solemnity within the context of the divine liturgy that the Son of God came for all people, Jew and Gentile alike. His saving love is available to everyone, everywhere, in whatever state of life they may find themselves. There is no one outside of God's thirst for love.

            The first sentence of this Sunday's gospel (Mt 2:1-12) presents us with a contrast between three figures: Jesus, Herod the Great, and the magi who search the night for the focal point of a star's light, the newborn king of the Jews. Herod stands in between, not as a bridge but as an obstruction whose evil intent is to destroy the Child the magi seek. Herod represents the opposite of the divine mission of Jesus as well as the goal the magi have in mind in seeking out the Son of God made man. In comparing and contrasting these three figures, we can learn an important lesson about how to live our life.

           Let's begin with Jesus. What was He about? Why did the Son of God appear in time? Why did the Son of God become man? Articles of the Catechism of the Catholic Church explain why the Word was made flesh: “The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God…The Word became flesh so that thus we might know God's love…The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness…The Word became flesh to make us partakers of the divine nature . . . so that we might become sons and daughters of God” (CCC 456-460). The Word became flesh out of boundless love for humanity, that we may have life and have it abundantly (cf. Jn 10:10).

           Herod, on the other hand, displayed by his actions something of an entirely different sort. When we think of Herod, we think of tyrants who left terrifying scars on human history--men such as Stalin, Hitler, Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung), and Ivan IV "the Terrible," to name only a few. Herod the Great was part of a non-Jewish (Edomite) family that held political favor with Rome. He first ruled Galilee and then all of Palestine. He took power in Jerusalem in 37 B.C., and was later appointed "king of the Jews" by the Roman Senate in 40 B.C. to replace the collapsing dynasty of Jewish priestly rulers. He held on to his throne until death. He is credited with initiating and completing extensive building projects, of which the renovation of the Jerusalem Temple, which he rebuilt and expanded, is the most well known.

          Herod was disturbed by the "star" the magi followed because it recalled Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah. In Numbers 24:17, we read Balaam's prediction: "a star shall come forth out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel." Herod was troubled by this prophecy, since he was an Edomite and knew the same oracle foretold disaster for his family: "Edom shall be dispossessed" (Num 24:18). Herod's unrelenting fear was the loss of his power. That a newborn king had been born was an intolerable threat. With typical worldly maneuvering, Herod seeks to stamp out Jesus and thus yet again secure his political position. As we know, he ordered the death of the Holy Innocents in an attempt to rid himself of this perceived threat. However, Jesus was not the least interested in temporal thrones, worldly power or amassing perishable riches. He wishes not to take anything from Herod. On the contrary, Jesus wants to give something to Herod, something Herod cannot possibly win in any political power-play. Jesus came to give Himself and His kingdom to others. But this is a type of kingdom Herod apparently could not fathom. This kingdom is not of the world. It cannot be taken by force, coercion or political intrigue.

          Herod is infamous for his ruthlessness and single-minded devotion to wiping out his enemies, whether friends or family or anyone else who threatened his throne. History records that Herod murdered his favorite wife and three of his sons. By worldly standards, Herod was the accomplished political survivor - the powerful ruler who would do whatever it takes to maintain his high seat in his own country. Given his building projects, the restoration of the Temple, and his ability to outmaneuver his opponents, some in his time likely saw him as a visionary. But he was not.

          The magi were likely astrologers from Persia who were interested in an extraordinary "star" that appeared shining over the location of the infant king of the Jews. However, it was not merely the "star" that caught their eye. For someone had first caught their hearts. While Herod was murderously holding on, the magi were wisely letting go. They were watching and waiting not with intent to murder, but intent on finding new hope and new life. They were surveying the night sky not to insulate themselves but to open themselves to the Divine Other who is Himself the source of life. The magi were looking not merely for a sign from God, but rather for Christ Himself, who is the Word made flesh and the perfect image of the Father. Moved by the promise of what they perceived in the heavens, they left their country behind in search of not merely a star, but THE STAR.

           Herod is looking for the wrong things, searching in the wrong places, destroying to shore-up his political position, conspiring to annihilate perceived opponents. But the magi take the humble, submissive and wise approach. They seek what is right and true and beautiful. They journey in search of the good, the wondrous and the ultimate. They head out into the dangerous night, risking their lives in search of Divine Light. The magi are the visionaries. The star they saw was a sign for all people. It is high and in full view. Its light shines down upon the real Star, Jesus Christ, who came to heal, elevate and restore humanity. The light of Jesus Christ, represented by the star over Bethlehem, illuminates the mystery of man, points the way, and reveals the path to salvation and eternal life. While one day the Star will give up its life for many, its Light will never fade.

          It is important to ask yourself, "What type of journey am I on?" Who or what do I pursue? What am I willing to leave behind, what am I willing to risk to find God? Am I surveying the night sky to gain power, or to survive in a fallen world, or to live forever in eternal communion with God, held securely in His loving embrace? Perhaps you once sought but no longer. Perhaps the evanescent lure of the world has deflected you from the journey of illumination in Christ, and forced you off course by your own consent toward the path of darkness. Perhaps your vision has become clouded. If so, turn to the Newborn King, whose vision heals and clarifies and restores; turn to Christ whose love heals and gives sight to the blind, bringing light to those who before could not see.

           Jesus Christ is THE VISIONARY. His journey is the one to follow. Christ is the Star whose divine light gives meaning to our lives and completes our journey. In Jesus' vision, there is eternal life for humanity; within this divine vision of love, we will be made like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 Jn 3:2). The Son of God became man that we might become like God. There is no greater vision. St. Leo the Great wrote: "Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God's own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning. Remember who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Never forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of the Kingdom of God."

           After the magi visited Jesus, they are warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and "departed for their country by another way" (Mt 2:12). An encounter with the true King of the Jews changes us forever. We might travel back to our country, but it is no longer the familiar home. We might again inhabit old places, but we no longer truly live there. Perhaps we go back to work, to school or to college, but we are different and things are different. The old self is left behind, the new self journeys onward into the new night devoid of darkness. The illumination of the Star guides our every step and movement; the way is no longer uncertain; we are no longer alone. Life is new. We have found an unwavering and certain security in the Light who is Jesus Christ and the Star who infinitely loves. Life becomes lively, exhilarating and joyful even in the midst of suffering. We become truly free. In an encounter with the true Visionary, we do not simply embrace His vision but become part of it. We become one with Him. 

December 31, 2017

           The most abrupt and shocking transition in the Church’s liturgical calendar occurs from December 25th to 26th, when the Church pivots from celebrating the birth of Jesus and with it “joy to the world” and “peace on earth to those of good will” to marking the brutal stoning of St. Stephen and, at least at first glance, the ugly and unsettling refutation of joy and peace. This liturgical mood swing between “mercy mild” and monstrous martyrdom is reinforced by the Church’s memorial of the Holy Innocents massacred by Herod on December 28 and the murder in the Cathedral of the 12th century St. Thomas Becket on December 29.

          Nothing seems more distant from “God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay” than the hatred and homicidal savagery directed against those who resemble or revere the Babe in swaddling in clothes. But we know that the same prophets who foretold that the “Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall name him Emmanuel” also prophesied that that Messiah would be a Suffering Servant who would be pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities; the One who would inaugurate a kairos when the wolf would lie down with the lamb would also be the Lamb of God, slain to take away the sins of the world. As Simeon would declare on Jesus’ fortieth day, He who was a “light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory for your people Israel” would simultaneously be a “sign of contradiction” destined for the “ruin and resurrection” of many. It is nevertheless disconcerting to come to realize, through daily life and Christian history, that this contradiction is more the rule than the exception.

          That’s why it was both superficially strange and profoundly fitting that Martin Scorsese’s long-awaited and critically-acclaimed movie Silence was released the Friday before Christmas last year. This cinematic depiction of Shusaku Endo’s 1966 historical novel about the Japanese Martyrs helps us to enter the experience of another group of Holy Innocents, the 35,000 heroic Japanese neophytes who, in the century after St. Francis Xavier brought the Gospel to the Land of the Rising Sun, faithfully gave their lives for the One who had given His life for them. Endo’s novel and Scorsese’s film show us the types of torture to which the Japanese Christians were subjected: scorched slowly by drops of condensed volcanic steam, crucified in the ocean by days of incessant waves of salt water, enveloped in straw mats and tossed overboard into the sea, bled to death through incisions behind the ear while hung upside down by one’s Achilles over a pit of dung.

          The story also shows us their faith. Many could have totally avoided their fate simply by stepping on an image of Jesus, spitting on a Crucifix, calling the Blessed Virgin a whore, or revealing for enormous compensation the identity of “hidden Christians” or priests. Some capitulated under the pressure; multitudes refused. One of the work’s most gripping themes is betrayal and forgiveness, the recapitulation in time of the choice of Judas and whether Judas can become a Peter through the exodus from remorse to repentance, from treachery to rediscovered faith.

          There are other themes, worthy of watching or re-watching the movie again this year. The movie gives us a glimpse into the Missionary zeal of the Portuguese Jesuits, who would travel around the world and confront torture and death threats to plant and water the seeds of faith among those who were previously total strangers. It explores the theme of enculturation and whether a tree that flourished in Europe can grow in the swampy soil of Japan or whether Christian evangelization is nothing but the “persistent love of an ugly woman” who cannot bear children. It scrutinizes the mystery of God’s supposed silence as His faithful suffer, something that the Church has pondered since Christ on Golgotha queried aloud, “My God, why have your forsaken me?” It introduces how lay people systematically passed on the faith after all of the priests had been physically or spiritually assassinated, which is one of the most amazing stories in Church history, and a model for familial and community catechesis in every age.

          What I would like to focus on most, however, is what may leave many viewers the most challenged and confused, the theme of what could be called “loving apostasy.” The sadists of the Shogunate eventually realized that while priests were prepared personally to endure every form of torture faithfully until the end, their one point of vulnerability was when their love for Christ was put into direct competition with their love for others: how the Japanese faithful would be tortured to death until and unless the priest apostatized. The work abounds in this psychological torture: The priest protagonist is told: “The price for your glory is their suffering…It all depends on you whether they are set free…If you are a priest possessed of true Christian mercy, you must have pity for them. You cannot stand by while they die with your eyes on heaven…Think about the suffering you have inflicted on these people just because of your selfish dream of a Christian Japan…Show God you love Him. Save the lives of the people he loves…If Christ were here, he would have acted. Apostatized. For their sake. Christ would certainly have done at least that to help men.”

          In the climactic scene of the work, the priest is tempted to “fulfill the most painful act of love that has ever been performed” by stepping on an image of Christ, whom the missionary in his moment of distress seems to hear breaking the divine silence and crying out, “Trample! Trample! … It was to be trampled on by men that I was born into this world.” The unspoken question of the work is whether that voice, and the whole logic of denying Christ to fulfill His will and imitate His saving love, comes from Christ or from the one Christ dubbed the “father of lies.”

          Would the same Christ who told us that what happened to Him would happen to us, who promised that we would be hated, persecuted, and even some put to death, who told us that we who acknowledge Him before others He would acknowledge before the Father, say “Step on me” to save others from martyrdom? And if one would be willing to step on an image of Christ to save others’ lives, would the same principle of compromise then be able to be applied to save others from pain or even from hurt feelings? Is apostasy an intrinsically evil breaking of our covenant with God, or merely a venial sin, or even a virtuous act under some circumstances? These are the questions that echo loudly in Silence and make the novel and the movie so gripping.

          Those in search of answers are urged to find them, like the wise men, the shepherds and the Japanese martyrs, in the Babe of Bethlehem and throughout the liturgical celebrations of the Christmas Octave.

December 24, 2017

          At Christmas Vigil Masses, Catholics will hear St. Matthew’s account of the Nativity in which the boy to be born of Mary is given two names: Emmanuel, from Isaiah’s prophecy (Is 7:14) which means “God-with-us” and Jesus, from the angel’s instructions, which means “God saves” (Mt 1:21). These are not just random sounds or empty monikers, but point to the way God wants us to understand and relate to Him in His Incarnation. God is with us in order to save us from our sins. He has come as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. He has come, in short, on a life-saving mission of mercy. As Pope Francis once remarked, “Christmas is truly the feast of God’s infinite mercy.”

          This is a reality of which we will sing heartily on Christmas. So many of our great Christmas hymns are theology in poetry, but we have become so used to them that sometimes the words have lost their impact. It is fitting this year that we pay attention to the way they mark the real reason for the season.

          “‘Hark!’ The Herald Angels sing glory to the newborn King!,” we will bellow in our homes, Churches and Christmas parties. “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.” The sweet little boy wrapped in swaddling clothes, being held by Mary and Joseph, is “Mercy mild,” the incarnate reconciliation of God and sinners. “O Holy Child of Bethlehem,” we will melodically pray to Jesus before crèches, actualizing the Christmas mystery, “descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.” Jesus indeed comes to cleanse us from the inside out and make us His dwelling place, His manger. He comes not merely to be born in the world but in each of us, lifting us by His birth to true spiritual rebirth.

           My favorite Christmas hymn is Minuit Chrétien, from which the English “O Holy Night” derives. In the English, we ponder, “Long lay the world in sin and error pining till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.” As beautiful as the loose translation is, the original French lyrics are so much richer. Instead of the focus on the “O Night Divine,” there is a concentration on Jesus the Savior: in the chills inducing climax we sing, “Noël! Noël! Voici le Rédempteur!” (“Christmas! Christmas! Behold the Redeemer!”) and rejoice that our Redeemer has broken all our shackles, liberating the earth and opening for us the doors of heaven. The word “Redeemer” means the one who has “paid the price,” “bought us back,” “ransomed us,” from slavery — real slavery to sin — and set us free.

           With the Shepherds, Magi, and Mary and Joseph, we behold our Rescuer. When we adore Christ in the presepio and on the altar, we are worshipping the one who took on our nature so that He might take our place on death row, who loved us so much that He came to die so that we might live forever. For our soul to feel its worth, we have to grasp that God loved us so much that He Himself came to deliver us. He did not even send a legion of archangels. He came personally, taking on our nature to pay the price of our sins and liberate us from the enslavement to which they led. There is no greater manifestation of who God is and what our dignity is in His eyes.

              The whole purpose of Advent is to prepare us anew to meet Christ as Emmanuel and Savior. John the Baptist’s Advent mission is to help us to prepare the way by calling us to profound conversion, lowering the mountains and hills of our pride and vanity, filling in the valleys of a shallow prayer or moral life, straightening the tortuous roads that distract and delay us from growth in holiness, and smoothing those paths that remain rough and inconsistent.

            Our Advent hymns have announced this need for conversion and divine mercy. We have prayerfully sung, “Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free, from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee.” We have chanted, “Then cleansed be every heart from sin, make straight the way of God within, prepare we in our hearts a home, where such a mighty Guest may come.” We have turned to Him, in the original Latin lyrics of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” and implored, “O Come, O Come, King of the Nations, Come Redeemer of all, to save your servants conscious of their sins against you.” We have intoned, “O Flower whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air, dispel with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere; true man yet very God, from sin and death now save us and share our every load!”

          The long-expected Jesus born to set His people free is coming to cleanse our hearts from sin. The King of the Nations is coming to dispel with glorious splendor the darkness of sin and death. The Fruit of Mary’s womb is coming to change the world, to change our world, by His mercy and charity. Let us, therefore, behold and adore our Redeemer, Mercy mild, who wants that mercy to be born in us on Christmas day. Let us come to receive that Mercy. And filled with the forgiving love that restores our true dignity, let us go out to sing and share in all its depth this Joy to the World!

December 17, 2017

          The all-glorious reality which captures our attention and inspires our wonder during the Season of Advent is the coming of Jesus Christ, God the Son Incarnate, into the world. This reality is greater than we can ever fully comprehend. Our annual observance of Advent keeps our eyes fixed on the truth which is fundamental to our everyday life in Christ, the truth that God the Son has come into the world and remains with us always in the Church, above all, in the Sacraments.

          Advent is, first of all, a Eucharistic season. When we recall, with wonder, Christ's coming into the world by His birth of Mary at Bethlehem, our hearts understand immediately the oneness of the manger, in which the Blessed Virgin Mary placed her Infant Son to rest, with the altar upon which our Lord comes down to be with us and the tabernacle in which He remains with us always. The glorious Body and Blood of Christ which we receive in Holy Communion and adore in the Most Blessed Sacrament, first came into being in the womb of Mary and were first visible to the world in the manger at Bethlehem. Even as the neighborhood shepherds and kings from the various parts of the inhabited world came to worship the Infant Jesus at His Birth, so we, too, hasten to visit and adore our Lord Jesus, really present with us in the Most Blessed Sacrament. We should come before His Eucharistic Presence with the wonder of those who first beheld the Savior at His Birth.

         The Advent Season is a special time for us to grow in faith in the Real Presence of Christ and, thereby, in faith in the Church which is His Mystical Body. How often we take for granted or, worse yet, neglect and ignore the manifold ways in which Christ who, was born in time at Christmas, remains with us in the Church. May Advent be a time for us to be with our Lord Jesus through Eucharistic adoration and visits to Him in the tabernacle; through meeting Him regularly in the Sacrament of Penance, in which He receives the confession of our sins and absolves us; through the study of His Word given to us in the Holy Scriptures and the Magisterium; and through His presence with us in His "least brethren," the hungry and those in need of the basic requirements of life, the lonely and the imprisoned (cf. Mt 25:31-46).

         Advent is clearly also a time in which we grow in appreciation of our true destiny, the inheritance which is ours in Christ Who, by His Coming, has made us His true brothers and sisters. God the Son has loved us so much that He wishes to share with us the eternal glory, joy and peace which are always His with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. As we contemplate the Coming of Christ at Christmas and His abiding coming to us in the Church, above all, in the Holy Eucharist, we are filled with wonder at the great dignity which is ours, namely, to be truly, in Christ, sons and daughters of God, and, therefore, to share in Christ's destiny – eternal glory in the Kingdom of Heaven.

          The Advent Season brings us strong grace to view everything in our lives under the aspect of our final destiny, eternal life, that is, sub specie aeternitatis. With what greater care we approach even the simplest matters of our daily living, when we recognize that everything in our lives is meant to prepare us to welcome Christ at His Final Coming, His return to us in glory on the Last Day. With what greater wonder we will look upon the world, of which we are the stewards, when we are looking forward to its final transformation into "a new heaven and a new earth," at the end of time (Rev 21:1).

          If we have been tempted to discouragement or to doubt our own dignity, the Advent Season opens our eyes to see ourselves as we truly are. Yes, we are sinners and make mistakes, even big mistakes, in our lives but, through it all, God never ceases to look upon us with the immense love with which He always looks upon His only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. If we have betrayed our destiny, as surely we sometimes have done, God has never ceased to love us and to draw us to Himself and to our final destiny which is eternal life with Him. May Advent open our eyes to see how much God loves us and, therefore, with what humility and confidence we should meet the challenges of our daily life in Christ.

          So often, I am filled with deepest gratitude for the ways in which our Lord instructs our minds and captures our hearts throughout the days of our life. Our life in the Church is truly life in Christ, that is, hearing Christ's call and following Him along the daily path which brings us home to Heaven. Through the observance of Advent, we recognize more clearly Christ's presence in our midst and His calling us to follow Him, to be one with Him. Our Lord gives us the Season of Advent to open our eyes anew to His Coming at Christmas, His Coming in the Church, and His Coming on the Last Day. He gives us the Season of Advent to inspire and strengthen our hearts to welcome Him with love and to remain in His company always, until we are perfectly with Him forever in Heaven.

          May the Season of Advent be strong in grace for you, filling you with wonder and gratitude before the mystery of God's unceasing and immeasurably great love for you in Jesus Christ!