Bread of Life Discourse-Part I

(17th Sunday in Ordinary Time-Year B; This homily was given on 25 & 26 July, 2009 at St. Mary's Church, Cranston, R.I.; See John Chapter 6)

This weekend we listen to St. John’s Gospel and although we are in Ordinary Time to hear from St. John is a little extra-ordinary. During the Sundays of Ordinary Time we usually hear from Matthew, Mark and Luke; John is proclaimed during the Christmas and Easter seasons and on special feast days.

Nonetheless, every three years the Church, in Her wisdom, gives us the entire sixth chapter of St. John-what is called the Bread of Life Discourse-to meditate on and delve more deeply into. Today, and for the next four weeks which follow, we will read through and listen to this remarkable chapter in which Christ announces that He is the Bread of Life; how His body and blood are God’s gift to nourish and strengthen us on our way home to Heaven. It is a beautiful reflection on the mystery of the Eucharist, something so central to our lives as Catholics.

Our discourse begins with the miracle of the Feeding of the 5,000. This miracle is found in all four Gospels but there are details provided by St. John that move us purposefully in two directions. Firstly, St. John wants his audience to recognize the connection with the past: the history of Israel and the significance of this miracle with all that God has already done in the lives of His chosen people. At the same time John draws their attention—and ours—to the significance of the miracle of the Feeding of the 5,000 and to what Christ will do as He founds His Church gives us the Eucharistic celebration which we experience even now, some 2,000 years later.

We begin with the past. St. John tells us there were 5,000 people there and that Christ had them all sit down on the grass; there was plenty of it in that place. As they reclined on that grassy meadow, Jesus fed them physically and nourished them. It is not difficult to see the connection with Psalm 23, so familiar to us and even more so to them:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul…

Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of my enemies…my cup overflows…

And so there they are, seated like lambs in a green pasture, being fed by the Good Shepherd who cares for their every need. St. John wants his audience to realize that the God who cared so well for Israel in the Old Testament is still with them to nourish their bodies and restore their souls.

But more importantly, John also tells us that this miracle of the Feeding of the 5,000 took place around the time of the Passover (only John mentions this; Matthew, Mark and Luke do not). Why is this important?

The celebration of the Passover was the most important meal—indeed a Feast of utmost significance—for the Jewish people. It was a feast which recollected all that God had done and which celebrated their very identity as the people God had chosen and saved from slavery in the land of Egypt. Remember that first Passover where God commanded Moses to have each family slaughter a lamb and sprinkle its blood on the doorpost. The Angel of Death would then go through the land but would pass over each of the houses where the blood of the lamb was sprinkled.

Thus God spared Israel and saved that nation from slavery and oppression. He commanded them to celebrate that Passover Meal each year as an everlasting remembrance of how they were saved by God. That celebration was still taking place in the time of Christ, and St. John is making sure that the people understand that this is the context for the miracle of the Feeding of the 5,000.

At the very time Israel is remembering that moment of their salvation and the meal that commemorated their freedom and new life with God, Christ is providing for them another meal. He whom St. John has already told us is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), is present among them to nourish them in a miraculous way.

But at the same time John also wants to move us in the other direction, not only to recognize the connection with the past but also to see how this miracle leads us ever more deeply into the mystery of Christ which we will come to know as the Eucharist. He does that by describing for us the actions of Christ in detail.

As the people reclined, Christ took the bread, gave thanks and then distributed it among them. Does that sound familiar? It is the very same thing He will do at the Last Supper, something we recall at every Mass: that He took the bread, blessed and thanked God, broke it and then gave it to the disciples.

It is the miracle of the Eucharist that has feed not 5,000 people but countless millions since the foundation of the Church. Christ is preparing the people for that Eucharistic miracle even as they recline on the green grass and watch in wonder this Good Shepherd who gives His very life for the sheep. Imagine, this is only the beginning of this five-week discourse on the Holy Eucharist!

But what I would call your attention to this weekend is the amazing fact that Christ does not perform this miracle by Himself. He could have. He has no need to rely on help from anyone in performing mighty deeds among the people. Nonetheless chooses to rely upon the apostles in accomplishing the Feeding of the 5,000.

Remember, Christ begins by asking Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” (John 6:5), a question to which He already knows the answer. It is the apostles who bring to Him that offering of 5 loaves and a few fish from that small boy. The apostles are the ones who assist Christ in distributing the food to the people, and they are the ones who collect the fragments left over: 12 baskets full, one for each of them.

Why is that important? Because these are the same twelve men who will be present at the Last Supper when Christ will once again take the bread, bless it and thank God, then give it to them, saying: “Take this all of you and eat it. This is my body.” At that Last Supper He will command them, “Do this in remembrance of me.”

They will be the ones who will take the bread and wine, consecrate it and offer that sacrificial gift of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. They will provide the Eucharist for the nascent Church in fulfillment of the promises of Christ. These are the first priests of Jesus Christ, and in this Year for Priests which Pope Benedict XVI has initiated we thank God for the gift of the priesthood, because without the priesthood there is no Eucharist. Without the priesthood there is no sacrifice of the Mass.

In closing I would like to ask you to pray for two things that are essential as we celebrate this Year for Priests. In his homily on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, when he began this Year for Priests, our Holy Father Pope Benedict spoke about the importance of the holiness of the priest. If the priest is not holy, how can he help the people he serves to grow closer to our Lord? If the priest is not holy, how can he lead others in the path of holiness?

Yet there are some challenges when it comes to recognizing this need for the prayers of the church that Her priests will be holy. The first one is that many people simply assume that the priest is holy already. Surely there is nothing our prayers can add; anyone who says yes to God in that vocation must already be holy. Unfortunately that is not the case! Priests struggle with the same difficulties as everyone else, and in this secular world priests have the same temptations that all the faithful have; they strive just as much as anyone else to be faithful to God in thought, word and deed. So please, pray for your priests! Pray that God will make your priests holy and that they will stay holy!

On the other side of the spectrum is a much smaller group, thankfully, and we all know people who make up this group. They are the ones who will say that we should not bother to pray for priests because none of them are any good to begin with! They are quick to point out how "Fr. So ’n So" did this ten years ago, or that other priest said that fifteen years ago. Therefore none of the priests are holy. This is a very negative and cynical position to say the least (not to mention illogical, for that matter) and one that God would have all of us avoid. So please pray for priests, that they will indeed be holy.

Secondly please pray that God will continue to call more priests and that the men He is presently calling will have the courage to say, “Yes.” We are very blessed to have three priests living at St. Mary’s. There are many parishes in our diocese that do not even have one full-time priest. In some places, when the pastor takes a vacation it is a major task to locate priests who will be able to celebrate the Eucharist there that week. We need to ask the Lord to continue the work that is already taking place in abundance in many parts of our diocese, and ask Him to bless those who are being called to this fruitful and life-giving vocation.

May our prayers to God be answered for more priests and holy priests as we continue to draw closer to Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life.

Two Women and a "muy determinada determinación"

(13th Sunday in Ordinary Time-Year B; This homily was given on 28 June, 2009 at the Chapel of The American College of the Immaculate Conception in Louvain, Belgium; See Mark 5:21-43)

Our Gospel this weekend is a compelling and intriguing passage from St. Mark. He provides us with two very different situations, two separate story lines that collide in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

The first one—the story of Jairus and his daughter—is a powerful tale in its own right and could quite easily stand alone as the central plot (the short version of this weekend’s Gospel allows for exactly that option). Jairus, we are told, is a synagogue official; he was a man of considerable importance among the people of Israel. Nonetheless he is in dire straits as we discover his daughter is at the point of death.

Jairus is a man of faith, and he truly believes that if Jesus lays His hands on this little girl that she will be healed. Christ agrees to come to the man’s house, and we are perhaps almost as eager as Jairus is to see her cured. But then, seemingly from out of nowhere, the forward motion of that scene is interrupted!

A woman sneaks up behind Jesus and intentionally touches his cloak. St. Mark says that she was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages; to be clear, she suffered from a difficult menstrual problem. Obviously she would have been through a great deal of physical pain from that condition. But to grasp the gravity of her situation we have to understand that for a Jewish woman at the time of Christ, this condition would have set her apart from the rest of the community.

A woman, according to the Mosaic Law, could not participate in the communal worship during the time of her period (Leviticus 15:25-30). It was not a moral judgment, but certainly it would have been an inconvenience. Nonetheless, for this woman it would have been much more than that. With her specific condition she would have been indefinitely separated from gathering together with the community. She no doubt suffered physically, spiritually, and emotionally. She, too, is desperate to be healed.

Both these stories are filled with pathos and emotion, and although they are distinct and separate scenarios, they also have a lot in common. Firstly, both stories have at their very core the dignity of woman. If ever we wanted to know what Christ thinks about women, and how very loving, compassionate and involved He is in the lives of women, we do well to pay attention to these details. Secondly, in both situations the women encounter Jesus Christ physically; He speaks directly to them but in each case He also touches them (or they touch Him, as in the case of the woman afflicted with hemorrhages). Thirdly, and this follows directly from the second, they are healed and made whole from that encounter.

But there is one more important point these two stories have in common; St. Mark is telling us much more here than the fact that two women were healed. If he wanted he could have told us that in two sentences. Instead he goes on and on—for nearly two pages—about all the details that led up to those healings. The point he is making is that these events did not just happen. These people did not simply sit back and wait for something to occur that would change their lot. They persisted, they persevered, they had a holy determination despite tremendous obstacles, and in the end they experienced the healing power of Jesus Christ.

It has been said before that the road to healing is always blocked; there are always obstacles. These two situations this weekend show us that a holy determination can open the way for the power of God to work deeply in our lives and touch us in places we could not have imagined possible.

The woman afflicted with hemorrhages had suffered for twelve years. She had been to doctor after doctor and instead of healing she had only gotten worse! Why not just give up? But still she seeks healing and wholeness; she reaches out for Jesus Christ not with blind faith but with her eyes and heart wide open. That is holy determination! We get the impression that if she had not been able to take hold of Him there, perhaps she would have followed Him to the next town. Maybe she would have sought Him for weeks, months or even years. This woman had an indomitable spirit!

And so did Jairus. He was a man of faith who believed that Jesus Christ could heal his little girl. He sought out Christ; he was ready for almost anything. But then the worse thing imaginable had happened. He discovers that his daughter is not merely sick, but that she is dead. He could only have been devastated, ready to simply give up. But Christ must have sensed that, for He immediately says to Jairus: “Do not be afraid; just have faith” (Mark 5:36).

It is as if Christ is saying to him: You believed that I could heal her, now believe that I can raise her from the dead. You have come this far, do not give up! See this thing through! Believe in me! Jairus presses on and experiences something beyond what he could have possibly imagined when he left his house earlier that day.

Holy determination. Where is God calling us to have that same holy determination in our own lives at this time? I would answer that question and say—first and foremost—God is challenging us to have a holy determination in the foundational relationship we share with Him in prayer. Prayer is the foundation of our lives, the essential core of our existence in God. Through the intimate relationship we share with God in prayer we draw close in fellowship and communion with the one who St. Augustine says is “more intimate to me than I am to myself.” But that kind of intimacy is by no means automatic!

St. Teresa of Avila, who is amazing, wrote to her sisters that God has so much in store for us in prayer, but we will never arrive there unless we have a muy determinada determinación, “a very determined determination” (The Way of Perfection, Chapter 21, #2). We come to the chapel to pray and what we feel is...nothing. We sense that we are spiritually in the dark or that we are not praying properly, and we are tempted to give up. Don’t! The saints, and especially the mystics, tell us that is exactly where God is: in the silence, near; He is very, very near to us.

How is God calling us to a “very determined determination” in our prayer lives right now? We ask our seminarians here to pray for one hour minimum each day. For you, maybe that time is different. Maybe God is asking you to pray a little less than that…or maybe more. Whatever He is asking of us, we need to have a muy determinada determinación, a very determined determination in our daily prayer lives, knowing that here, perhaps more than in any other place, God can reach us, transform us and set our hearts on fire.

Secondly I would suggest that God is calling us to a very determined determination in our relationship with Him in the sacraments. In the sacraments of the Church we encounter Christ in a spiritual and physical way, and it is the touch of Christ that we truly long for. Both Jairus’ daughter and the woman afflicted with hemorrhages encountered Christ physically in our Gospel today, and they were healed. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that He has not relinquished that role! We are told that “in the sacraments Christ continues to ‘touch’ us in order to heal us” (CCC, #1504).

When we receive the Eucharist we touch and encounter the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. When we celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation we hear the voice of Jesus Christ speaking through the priest, saying, “I absolve you from your sins…” But we have to be determined to place ourselves in an openness and receptivity to fully embrace Christ when He comes to us in these encounters. Do we seek out reconciliation with a very determined determination? Do we prepare well for that encounter with Christ in the Eucharist, by praying before, obviously during, and also after we receive Him here?

Finally, do we have a muy determinada determinación when it comes to the relationships God has brought into our lives? Whether we are here today as seminarians, priests and religious, married couples or single persons, God has brought various relationships into our lives, but those relationships do not just happen. They require effort, sacrifice, and forgiveness. We need to have a very determined determination to see them through, to be faithful when we can be and to be sorry when we’re not.

May God give us all a muy determinada determinación in our lives of prayer, in our encounter with Him in the sacraments, and in the relationships we have been given, so that we might also experience His healing power and the fruits of determination in the life of grace.

Horton and the Dignity of Human Life

(Saturday of the of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time-Year B; This homily was given on 13 June, 2009 at the Chapel of The American College of the Immaculate Conception in Louvain, Belgium; See Matthew 5:33-37)

I do not know if you are a Dr. Seuss fan or not, if you have perhaps read the “classics,” like The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, or How the Grinch Stole Christmas. But there is a movie that came out about a year and a half ago called Horton Hears a Who, and it is based upon the Dr. Seuss book with that same title.

It is the story of Horton, the Elephant. Like all elephants, Horton has great big ears and so he is able to hear things that most people cannot; he can tune into all kinds of sounds. Towards the beginning of the story he stumbles upon a small clover and suddenly hears something…In fact, that something is more like someone as Horton soon discovers a whole world which exists upon that little flower! There are thousands of tiny, little people, called Whos, that live on that clover.

From the very start Horton commits himself to protecting those people and to guiding them to a safe place where they can thrive and flourish (and not get stepped on!). Unfortunately he quickly runs into opposition as the other characters in the story begin to become suspicious of his strange new endeavor. They think he is either lying or delusional. They cannot hear any Whos, and they certainly cannot see any little people living on that clover. It must be a farce!

Undeterred, Horton devotes himself to safeguarding and protecting that clover and the tiny people that exist on it. He states, emphatically, that “a person’s a person, no matter how small,” and repeats many times throughout that movie and in the book:

“I meant what I said and I said what I meant,
an elephant’s faithful one hundred percent.”

No matter what happens, and regardless of the opposition, he has vowed to watch over those little people and he means to follow through on that promise. Horton is crystal clear about what he intends to do and to carrying out this new found responsibility.

“I meant what I said and I said what I meant,
an elephant’s faithful one hundred percent.”

It is a delightful children’s story, but that same attitude is what Christ is highlighting in the Gospel this morning. He says:

Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
Anything more is from the Evil One.
—Matthew 5:37

In essence, Jesus is saying, “Be clear! Say what you mean and mean what you say. Be clear about your intentions, your will, your desires. Don’t waffle!”

That kind of clarity is desperately needed in the world today, and especially in the area of expertise that our friend Horton was a specialist in: the protection of life in its most minute form. Each one of us began as a tiny embryo. Before even your own mother knew it, you were an embryo inside her body, and God brought that new life into being with the cooperation of your parents. Life is sacred to Him, and to everyone of us, as well.

Today that sacred gift of life at its beginning is more vulnerable than at any other time in the history of civilization. Through embryonic stem-cell research, the human embryo is regarded as a means of experimentation and a mere instrument for scientific and medical progress. But every scientist will tell you that every time embryonic stem-cell research is undertaken—every time and without exception—the human embryo is destroyed. Human life comes to an end.

Abortion is being practiced legally in almost every country today, where the human embryo is intentionally destroyed in the name of human freedom and under the banner of “Choice.” Even artificial contraception, which is considered by some to be a perfectly acceptable and normal practice, often acts as an abortafacient. That means that, perhaps completely unknown to the person using it, the newly conceived human life is suddenly snuffed out and destroyed before he or she had the chance to be born. Is it any wonder that the Church has been fundamentally opposed to these practices and will consistently remain opposed to them?

But the culture we live in needs clarity on these issues, a clarity that is not always present even among the members of the Church. Catholic politicians will sometimes say, “No, I am personally opposed to abortion, but my constituents want to have a right to it, so I will say, 'Yes,' on this issue.” They say one thing, and then choose something else. Christ is clear in the Gospel:

Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
Anything more is from the Evil One.
—Matthew 5:37

And so, my brothers, as we continue the work of formation for the priesthood we are reminded of how very important it is to be clear and decisive when it comes to these essential areas of human life. We are the ones who study these important questions, and spend years learning the theology regarding the dignity of the human person. We are called to articulate—in the parish and in all the places God sends us to after ordination—the great value and dignity of human life from conception until natural death.

Let us ask God for the grace to do that; to study well, learn well, and teach well the beauty and dignity of life in the face of so much opposition. No matter what, let us protect, safeguard and celebrate human life by our preaching, teaching and way of life, so that we can say, along with Horton: “A person’s a person, no matter how small,” and

“I meant what I said and I said what I meant,
a Christian is faithful one hundred percent.”

Sancta Maria, Omnibus et Singulis

(Wednesday of the 5th Week of Easter, Our Lady of Fatima-Year B; This homily was given on 13 May, 2009 at the Chapel of The American College of the Immaculate Conception in Louvain, Belgium; See Acts 15:1-6)

What do you need to do to go to heaven? What has to happen for a person to be saved?

Those are the questions being asked in our first reading this morning from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 15:1-ff). Apparently some believers from Judea had come to the Church where Paul and Barnabas were teaching the Gospel, and had insisted on circumcision as a necessary part of being saved and going to heaven.

Now, before we judge these people too hastily, let us look first at the context of that situation. These were Jewish believers. They had already been circumcised and so they had already met the “requirement” that they were proposing. They were seeking to resolve that question about salvation not for themselves but for the others in that Church who had just come to believe in the Gospel.

Of course, they were wrong! Paul and Barnabas are adamant about that from the beginning. The decision which will come from Jerusalem (this coming Friday’s reading) will clarify the matter for good. But we have every indication that at least some of these Jewish believers were genuinely concerned, and perhaps even deeply so, for the salvation of those around them. Are we?

Jesus says to us in the Gospel this morning: “Remain in me,” and “Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.”

It is the same beautiful Gospel we heard this past weekend. When we listen to those words, “Remain in me,” it is as if Jesus is speaking them directly to each one of us. Remarkably, God’s word to us is that personal, that intimate.

But the word Christ uses when he offers that invitation is addressed in the second person, plural! He is saying “You, all of you, remain in me!” He is concerned for the salvation of each individual soul, but He offers the promise of salvation and the invitation to eternal life to all of us. There is a wonderful saying that if you were the only one in the world, then Jesus still would have come to suffer and die on the cross to save you. I believe that. But, of course, you are not the only one in the world! Jesus did not come to suffer and die for you alone, nor for just me. He came for us all.

The sacrifice of Calvary-and the sacrifice of the Mass, for that matter-is offered for each individual, and also for all of us collectively. As we say in the sacristy at the end of each Mass, referring to that great sacrifice of Christ:

Priest: Pro sit (May it—this sacrifice—be to your benefit)
Acolyte: Omnibus et singulis (For all and for each one)

We should be concerned for our own salvation, by all means. We should prayerfully consider if we are in the right place before God and being made fit for heaven by a living faith in Christ. But we should also be concerned for the salvation of those around us. For omnibus as well as for singulis.

This morning we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, remembering the appearances of Our Lady—the Patroness of this College—to three children in a small village in Portugal. Our Lady visited them and they—so much like little children—were fascinated by her! They asked her two important questions, one after the other: “Are you really from heaven?”, and then, with childlike wonder and innocence, “Will we be in heaven some day, too?”

Our Lady responded in the affirmative, but then became more serious and made it clear that little Francisco would make it there only after a great many rosaries (apparently Francisco was a tough little customer)! Nonetheless, they were encouraged by that good news. Then she went on to ask them to pray, offer sacrifices and consecrate themselves to her Immaculate Heart. They were to love the hearts of Jesus and Mary with deep devotion and make reparation for the love that was so often neglected and even out rightly refused to God.

You might ask yourself: why would they ever bother to do that? Were they not just told about their place in heaven? What would be the point of prayer, sacrifice and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary?

But of course they did not ask those questions. Like children, they trusted and gladly offered their lives and prayers for the salvation of those around them. And that is the point of Fatima. It is the point of our readings this morning, and it is the reason why Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross: not just for my salvation, but for our salvation. Omnibus et singulis.

Today, on this Feast of Our lady of Fatima, may we heed well Our Lady’s request to those three small children, and to all of us:

1. To pray for souls and pray for peace; especially to pray the rosary.
2. To offer sacrifices, fasting in particular.
3. To consecrate ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and seek to love deeply the hearts of Jesus and Mary.


May we offer ourselves lovingly to God today, not just for our own salvation, but for the salvation of those around us: omnibus et singulis.

Blessed Damien and the Call to Holiness

(5th Sunday of Easter-Year B; This homily was given on 10 May, 2009 at the Chapel of The American College of the Immaculate Conception in Louvain, Belgium; See John 15:1-8)

Five months from now, on October 11, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI will canonize Blessed Damien of Molokai, acknowledging him as a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church. This morning, May 10, the Feast day of Blessed Damien, as we celebrate Mass only a few blocks away from Damien’s tomb, I would like to reflect on one simple question: Why?

Why is Blessed Damien being recognized as a Saint? The answer to that question is not as obvious as it may seem. If you asked ten people why Father Damien is being recognized as a Saint I would be willing to bet that many would say something like this: “He was a courageous and generous person who gave his life to serve the lepers on the Island of Molokai.” While those things are certainly true they are not the entire reason why he is being canonized on October 11. A lot of courageous and generous people served the lepers on Molokai. They are not being canonized this fall. Maybe some of them should be. Maybe someday they will be, but on October 11 it will be Father Damien. Why?

There is really only one reason why Blessed Damien will become Saint Damien, and it is the same reason why all the Saints receive that singular distinction: because he was holy.

The word saint, literally, means holy. Sanctus in Latin. Hagios (αγιος) in the Greek. Those words are used—in the Liturgy and in the Scriptures—to describe God Himself. In the Eastern Church they proclaim: Hagios O Theos, Holy is God! Here at this Mass this morning we cry out, “Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus! Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord!”

God is holy, and we as believers and followers of Christ are also called to that same holiness. It is the goal of each and every baptized Christian: to be holy. That is what it means to be a saint. That is why the church recognizes men and women as saints; because they were holy.

This past week, the General Superiors of Blessed Damien’s order, the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, sent a letter to their community in preparation for Father Damien’s canonization. In it they acknowledged:

“Holiness is the work of the Lord. His love is what justifies us. From this perspective, the canonization becomes a confession of hope-filled faith. The love of God is at work among us, as it was active in the life of Damien. The love of God can continue to transform us in spite of our weakness and our shadow side.”

There is tremendous hope in that reality for every one of us. Blessed Damien was a courageous and generous man who did great things for God and other people, but he also had a “shadow side,” like the rest of us. Father Damien did not get along well with everyone all the time, and perhaps at times that was not only their fault, but his as well. He had the same struggles that you and I have, but at the very foundation of his life he was holy, and “holiness is the work of the Lord.” He allowed God to work in and through him, in spite of his “shadow side,” and throughout his life the holiness of God shone through. Father Damien was holy.

In our Gospel this morning Jesus teaches us how that happens. He says it happens when we remain in Him:

Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.
—John 15:4-5

Nothing? What a remarkable statement! Do we truly believe that? Without God we can do nothing. How’s that for a reality check! Without Christ we can never be saints. Without Him we cannot accomplish anything of lasting value for the Kingdom of God. Jesus is the vine, not us! We are the branches, called to remain in Him. We become holy when we remain with Christ, when we dwell with Christ, when Christ dwells in us and lives in us. We become holy because He is holy, and when we remain in Him, we become like Him and then we bear fruit. That is when we bear much fruit.

Pope John Paul II, in a homily he gave here in Belgium in 1995 on the day Father Damien was beatified (the stage just before one is canonized a saint) said that Damien “lived a particular form of holiness in the course of his ministry; he was at the same time a priest, a religious and a missionary. Through these three qualities he revealed the face of Christ, indicating the way of salvation, teaching the Gospel and being a tireless instrument of development. He organized the religious, social and communal life of Molokai, an island banned from society at that time; yet with him everyone had a place, everyone came to be recognized and loved as his brothers and sisters.”

This is the fruit that Damien de Veuster bore on the Island of Molokai. He surrendered his own will to God over and over again, and became an instrument through which the holiness of God shone through; he was able to do so because he remained in Jesus Christ. He bore great fruit because he was holy.

Pope John Paul II went on to say that we are all called to that same holiness. We are all called to place ourselves before God and at the service of the Church, at the service of our brothers and sisters, like Blessed Damien did. He said:

“Holiness is not perfection according to human criteria. It is not reserved for a select number of exceptional individuals. It is for everyone. It is the Lord who gives us the ability to enter a life of holiness, when we accept that collaboration for the Glory of God and the salvation of the world, in spite of our sin and—at times—our rebellious temperament.”

We all have a “shadow side,” and at times we all have “a rebellious temperament.” But we also have the ability to cooperate with God and to remain in Him. We all have the desire and the capacity to be holy, and to bear much fruit for God and to make a difference in this world we live in. The people of this world are crying out for the kind of holiness that Blessed Damien lived and the way he allowed the love and mercy of God to shine through him. God is calling each one of us to this, and inviting us this morning: Remain in me. Remain in me. And if you do, “you will bear much fruit.”

Dynamic Duo: Barnabas and Paul

(Wednesday of the 4th Week of Easter-Year B; This homily was given on 6 May, 2009 at the Chapel of The American College of the Immaculate Conception in Louvain, Belgium; See Acts 12:44-50)

Batman and Robin. Bert and Ernie. Laverne and Shirley. Siskel and Ebert. Sonny and Cher.

Why do we remember these dynamic duos so well, and why were they able to entertain thousands of people for so many years? It was because they were able to work together and had what it takes to stand the test of time (OK, maybe not Sonny and Cher, but the rest of them did!).

In our first reading this morning, from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear of another dynamic duo that far exceeds them all. They were a pair that God Himself had brought together right at the outset of the early Church.

We read in the Acts of the Apostles that the Church in Antioch had gathered together to praise and worship God. Suddenly, right in the middle of their assembly, the Holy Spirit spoke to them and said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2).

We find that combination repeated time and time again in Acts: Paul and Barnabas, Barnabas and Paul. They proclaimed the Gospel to thousands and brought the Christian message to the ends of the earth.

But why were they able to work together so well? We are never really told, exactly, but I think we are given a clue in the fourth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, when Barnabas is first introduced to us. We are told of this generous man who owned a field which he sold, and that he brought the proceeds to the apostles and donated it to the Church. Acts tells us that his name was Joseph, “to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’).”—Acts 4:36

That was the kind of person Barnabas was: a man who encouraged those around him. He was able to build up the community; he knew what to say and when to say it. All throughout the Acts of the Apostles we find him doing just that.

Yesterday we heard about the foundations of the Church at Antioch, a new community that was on fire with love for Jesus Christ. But, like any new community, there were bound to be challenges and difficulties. We are told that Barnabas was sent to Antioch by the Church of Jerusalem, and when he arrived there he did two things: He rejoiced in all that God was doing among them, and he encouraged them!

Therefore it is no wonder the Holy Spirit places Barnabas and Paul together in our first reading today. Who would have needed more encouragement than St. Paul, who proclaimed the Gospel message tirelessly, without reservation and with heartfelt conviction; Paul, who was rejected by many of the Jews, and more than a few Christians. Paul, who was rejected time and time again by the Greeks and the Pagans; Paul, who was dragged out of cities, stoned and left for dead; Paul, who was dragged before governors and kings, beaten with rods, and scourged. This man would have encountered overwhelming discouragement on a regular basis! So God sends him Barnabas, son of encouragement. Barnabas knew how to support Paul and help him in the difficult task of founding Churches and spreading the Gospel.

Nowhere in the Acts of the Apostles do we find that Barnabas resented that aspect of his ministry. He was a remarkably gifted man, but undoubtedly he would have stood in the shadow of St. Paul (like everyone else that ever worked with that great Apostle). Nowhere do we find that Barnabas felt the need to compete with St. Paul. He would have understood that the gifts given to Paul were not in competition with his own gifts; they were given to build him up, and Barnabas’ gifts were given to build up those around him.

Competition—while great on the sports field and intrinsic to the business world—is the death of relationships and fruitful ministry in the Church. Competition among followers Christ, whether it be in the seminary, in the parish, or in the domestic Church of the family, sets up walls and barriers that even inhibit the work of God among His people. It can be that damaging.

So what is the antidote to such poison? Encouragement!

The Church desperately needs men and women who are able to grow in this skill of encouragement so masterfully taken up by St. Barnabas. Our seminary, our communities and parishes, are in great need of Barnabites, sons and daughters of encouragement, who are able and willing to build up and encourage the people around them.

Barnabas and Paul, Paul and Barnabas. The dynamic duo of the early Church. Who’s to say that God cannot still work in that way even now, when we are open to this gift of encouragement and willing to use it for the greater glory of God?

The Witness of the Empty Tomb

(Easter Sunday-Year B; This homily was given on 12 April, 2009, at St. Mary's Church, Cranston, R.I.; See Colossians 3:1-4 and John 20:1-9)

Each Sunday, week after week, we gather together in this Church to listen to the Gospel. That word, Gospel, literally means “Good News,” and it is the expression of all that we have received from God in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.

We hear that good news announced from St. Paul in the epistles, and in various way through the Apostles of the early Church. We listen to the Gospel especially from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—the Four Evangelists—who relate everything we long to hear about Jesus Christ, for He Himself is the Gospel, He is the good news of our life and our salvation.

So, isn’t it a little odd that in the Gospel passage we just listened to, on one of the greatest feasts of the entire liturgical year, He is not even there at all? We do not listen to His life-giving words or see His saving actions, because the greatest witness to the good news that God provides for us this Easter morning is the empty tomb itself. That empty tomb proclaims a powerful message indeed, if we are open and able to hear what God is trying to communicate to us through it.

You may have seen the movie Good Will Hunting. It came out several years ago, and won all kinds of awards. This young man named Will is a born genius, a brilliant child prodigy, but he has grown up in the streets of South Boston, so he is constantly getting into trouble with the law, constantly in and out of the courts. Some influential people discover his incredible gifts and talents and they try to give him an opportunity to get out of “Southy” and offer him a whole new lease on life.

At one point in the movie, Will is working construction with his best friend, who suddenly realizes that Will, despite the opportunities he has been given, has no intentions of leaving South Boston. The friend, recognizing that Will has the ability to accomplish things that they could never even dream of, becomes quite serious and says to him:

“Every day I come by to pick you up, and we go out together, we have a few laughs. But you know what the best part of my day is? The ten seconds before I knock on the door, ‘cause I let myself think I might get there, and you’d be gone. I’d knock on the door and you wouldn’t be there. You just left.”

***Spoiler Alert***

And if you have seen the movie then you know that is exactly what happens at the end. His friend goes to pick him up, but he finds an empty house instead. Good Will Hunting is gone. He had made it out of South Boston and, in a certain sense, had taken all of his friends with him.

Mary Magdalene and the other disciples come to an empty tomb this morning and, without realizing it yet, they stand before the greatest event that has ever taken place. The empty tomb is the doorway, the entrance through which all of us now have access to eternity. Jesus’ resurrection affects us all.

Christ came and destroyed sin and death by rising from the dead, just as he said he would. That fact changes everything . . . or at least it should. It should move us to look at death, and even at life, in a whole new way.

That is the good news of the Gospel: that all the economic problems of this world, all the financial and familial difficulties, all the injustices and sufferings of this present life WILL NOT LAST. We can live in this world and have hope even in the midst of trials and difficulties, for we belong to Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord. That changes everything!

St. Paul, in our second reading this morning, reminds us of the focus we must have as followers of Jesus Christ and those who have understood the witness of the empty tomb. He says:

If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.
—Colossians 3:1-4

The empty tomb challenges us to see everything in that eternal perspective. It challenges us to seek reconciliation with those we are in conflict with; challenges us to evaluate our lives and be willing to change anything that is incompatible with this heavenly calling, because this world is not all there is and heaven simply cannot wait.

Just a few days ago I was able to visit my grandparents in St. Anne’s Cemetery just a few feet from where we celebrate this Mass this morning. I knelt down in the grass before that stone which marks so many of the people who have passed on the faith that I live and profess today. I am a priest of Jesus Christ today because of them, and because of all those faithful souls in my family who have passed the faith down to my parents, who taught that faith to me. It was a privilege and a joy to be able to pray there and to spend some time remembering them. I know that so many of you have loved ones in the very same place, and in cemeteries throughout this state and beyond.

But the witness of the empty tomb reminds us today that those graves will not always be places of remembrance; they are not the final resting place for the ones who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. At the heart of our Christian faith is the belief that those graves will one day all be empty! Have you ever thought about that?

When Jesus Christ returns—and He will, because He said He would—this cemetery here will be the busiest and liveliest place in the State of Rhode Island! The place of greatest activity and abundant life will not be Fenway Park or Gillette Stadium; it will not be the Providence Place Mall or Showcase Cinema. It will be right here, in St. Anne’s Cemetery, where thousands of souls and bodies will suddenly be raised from the dead to be joined to Christ forever. That is what the witness of the empty tomb challenges us to acknowledge this morning.

There’s a very moving passage in the Confessions of St. Augustine in which Augustine’s mother, St. Monica, is about to die. They are in a foreign country, far from home. Augustine and his brother are standing by the bedside, and the brother says to Monica that he would like her to be brought back home so that she might not die in a strange country. Monica—who was a tough woman, even on her deathbed—reproaches him, and says to both him and St. Augustine:

“Bury my body wherever you will. One thing only do I ask: that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be.”

Monica understood the meaning of the resurrection; she listened well to the witness of the empty tomb. This is not our home; it is not our final destination. This is just a stop along the way and the greatest thing that we can do while we are on our way home to God is to remember each other “at the altar of the Lord.”

That is what we are doing here this morning. We gather around this altar because we have the answer to Mary Magdalene’s dilemma: she thought that someone had taken the Lord and she did not know where they had put Him. We know where He is: He is in that tabernacle, and in a moment He will be here on this altar.

We are never closer to our deceased loved ones, and to each other, and to our Lord, than when we gather together here at the altar of the Lord. We come here today as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and we are strengthened in the Holy Eucharist so that we can say, with St. Paul and all those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith, that we “seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.”

We are called to “think of what is above, not of what is on earth.” For we have died, and our life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ our life appears, then we too will appear with him in glory (see Colossians 3:1-4).

Good Friday, Gethsemane and the Garden of Paradise

(Good Friday-Year A; This homily was given on 10 April, 2009, at St. Mary's Church, Cranston, R.I.; See John 18:1-19:42)

If you go all the way back to the beginning of the Scriptures, to the opening pages of the Book of Genesis, you will find there God’s dream for the entire human family. It is God’s one great desire for the whole created world, presented to us in the image of a garden.

In that garden we discover a man and a woman, and they are in love; they are in love with each other, and in love with God. There is perfect harmony between the man and the woman; between them and our Lord, and there is a deep harmony between them and all creation.

But we need only look a few pages further, and in the pages of the Scriptures after that, to see God’s dream shattered and broken by selfishness and sin (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #400).

Suddenly Adam and Eve are cast out of that lush and fertile garden and introduced to a very different landscape. It is one marked by resistance and toil; there is pain and sorrow and the ground is stained with blood as Cain kills his brother Abel. Soon nations rise up against nations; there is destruction, devastation, division. It is a very dark place indeed compared to that Garden of Eden where it all began.

That is where our story picks up this evening as we read St. John’s account of the Passion of Christ. John begins by saying “Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to where there was a garden” (John 18:1).

Matthew, Mark and Luke have already told us how Christ knelt down in that garden, called Gethsemane. He knelt down in the dark and in great anguish and surrendered Himself to the will of His Father in order to regain all that had been lost by sin.

Recall back in Genesis how Adam and Eve had been told that they could eat from any of the trees in the garden, except one. God forbade them to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but they had defied Him and done so anyway. In essence they had said, “No, this is what we want, and we will do what we have chosen, not what you want.”

Now Jesus Christ kneels down in the Garden of Gethsemane and expresses from the depths of His being that He does not want to suffer and die…but, He says to His heavenly Father, “nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).

We gather together on this Good Friday night to kneel down with Christ in that garden and recommit ourselves to Him. There is a beautiful poem written by Ella Wheeler Wilcox that describes the unavoidable encounter with the will of God that we must all face in that garden. The poem is called Gethsemane, and Wilcox begins:

Down shadowy lanes, across strange streams
Bridged over by our broken dreams;
Behind the misty caps of years,
Beyond the great salt font of tears,
The garden lies. Strive as you may,
You cannot miss it on your way.
All paths that have been or shall be,
Pass somewhere through Gethsemane.

All those who journey, soon or late,
Must pass within the garden’s gate;
Must kneel alone in darkness there,
And battle with some fierce despair.
God pity those who cannot say,
“Not mine but thine,” who only pray,
“Let this cup pass,” and cannot see
The purpose of Gethsemane.

—Ella Wheeler Wilcox

We are here tonight to recognize and acknowledge the purpose of Gethsemane and to recommit ourselves to that beautiful plan and dream of God that began so long ago. We are here to do what we could never have done before, but now have the power to do as baptized Christians: to say most completely, “Yes,” to the plan of God for our lives. We come here to be strengthened by Christ in the Eucharist and to echo His words to the Father: “Thy will be done.”

We must be careful, however, not to think that this is a one-time effort. God challenges us to constantly recommit ourselves to Him and to be open to His will every moment of each day in our lives.

About a year and a half ago I had one of the greatest opportunities of my priesthood, to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land with a group of very dear friends, the Franciscan Sisters and Brothers of the Eucharist. At one point in the pilgrimage we were able to go inside the very Garden of Gethsemane, and it was there that I chose to kneel down and pray, wide open to whatever the Lord wanted to say to me in that moment.

What a privilege, I thought, to kneel right here in this place and say those same words of Christ. And do you know what I felt at that exact moment? Nothing! I did not have a supernatural experience or an overwhelming emotional sensation.

Surrendering ourselves to the will of God is not about feelings and emotions, nor is it a one-time event that we can go through, and then be done with it. No, we must repeat to God, thousands of times throughout our lives, “Thy will be done.” It is within a lifetime of surrender, in particular situations and across many years, that we submit ourselves to the grace of God and allow Him to regain in us all that has been lost by selfishness and sin.

Nor should be surprised when things do not immediately get better when we do so! We may not experience the fruits of our surrender to God in a quick and obvious way. Surrendering to God’s will is sometimes difficult and challenging. Sometimes it may seem that things have become worse.

Look at Christ in the Gospels. No sooner has he spoken the words, “Thy will be done,” then Judas enters to betray Him. He is dragged out of the garden, beaten, mocked and scourged. Finally, they crucify Him between two thieves. And just when things could not possibly seem worse, we are told by St. Matthew that the thieves themselves began to revile Christ, even as they were dying next to Him!

But suddenly, in that darkest moment, hope springs eternal. One of the thieves has a change of heart. He turns to Christ in a moment of faith and says, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). And Jesus’ response, of course, is both breathtaking and life-giving: “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

That word, paradise, comes from the ancient Persian culture (modern day Iran) and means, literally, a walled-in garden or enclosed park.

It was customary for the Persian King to allow only a select few subjects of the kingdom to walk with him in that enclosed garden; such intimacy was reserved for only those closest to him. It was a great honor to walk with the king in paradise.

Jesus Christ is inviting that thief into the garden of eternal life, to an eternal relationship of love with Him. It is the same invitation that He is extending to us this evening, and one that He desired for all of those at the foot of the cross that Good Friday afternoon.

But, sadly, they missed it. They did not understand what He was doing or all the things He had told them about His suffering and death. So they did the very best thing they could do; in great sorrow they took His dead body down from the cross, and because it was late, they laid Him in a tomb nearby.

St. John tells us, at the very end of that passion narrative, that the tomb where they laid Him was located in, of all places, a garden. There they placed Him, in the ground, in the midst of a garden…

But of course, that is not the end of the story. There is so much more to the story than that, and if we want to hear the rest of it, we have only to wait three days.

Palm Sunday and Baptismal Grace

(Palm Sunday-Year B; This homily was given on 4 & 5 April, 2009 at St. Mary's Church, Cranston, R.I.; See Mark 14:1-17:47)

Each year we gather together on Palm Sunday—known traditionally as Passion Sunday—to read and listen to the Passion of Jesus Christ, how He suffered and died for our salvation. Of course, it is not the same one Gospel account that we listen to. We follow a three-year cycle that allows us to hear The Passion according to Saints Matthew, Mark and Luke, a separate one each year.

This year we hear St. Mark’s account, and Mark provides a detail for us that none of the other Evangelists include. It happens right after Christ is taken in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Matthew, Mark and Luke describe the arrest of Christ on that dark night. They all tell us how the disciples abandoned Jesus. But Mark alone tells us of a young man who still followed Christ, perhaps at a distance. He says that this young man, oddly, was “wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body” (Mark 14:51).

Apparently those arresting Jesus also recognized this young man as a disciple because they tried to take hold of him. St. Mark tells us how the young man escaped, “but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked” (Mark 14:52). It is a rather embarrassing event in the Gospel.

But we could ask ourselves this Palm Sunday, “Why does St. Mark include that detail and find it so important to describe for us that scene?” Some scholars say that he is trying to communicate something to his audience about the great dignity of Baptism.

In the early Church, when a person was baptized, he or she would often be fully immersed in water. Obviously they would go down into the water without clothing, and when they came up again they were newly baptized and had become “a new creation in Christ.” Immediately they would be clothed in a white, linen cloth to symbolize that they had put on Christ and now shared this new life of holiness with Him (we still do this today, when a child is “Christened” and dons a sparkling new baptismal gown).

What St. Mark is trying to communicate with the story of that young man is that he has tragically lost that connection, that holiness he once had as a follower of Christ. His newness of life and purpose for living—symbolized by that linen cloth—has been left behind as he flees naked in the opposite direction.

But the power of the Passion is that even while this is taking place, even as the disciples are fleeing and this young man is running, naked, away from Christ, even at that instant, Jesus Christ is pouring Himself out in love to suffer and die…so that they can come BACK!

Now that is why we never grow tired of coming here, every Palm Sunday, year after year, to listen to the account of the Passion of Jesus Christ! It is the central message of the Gospel and the incomprehensible, unfathomable mercy of God: that even knowing all along that we would sin and fall away from Him, even though we would sometimes move in the opposite direction of Christ, He pours Himself out in love for us anyway…so that, time and time again, we will come BACK!

I would suggest this Palm Sunday that God is calling all of us, more and more deeply within and perhaps even physically so, to come back. To come back to Christ, as He seeks to become the center of our life; to come back here to Jesus Christ in the Eucharist as He nourishes us and strengthens us in love.

This week, among all the other weeks of the year, is the time par excellence when God calls us to come back, and to come here to this Church. It is this week, the holiest week of the year, when we gather together to celebrate the Sacred Triduum:

God calls us this week to come back here, on Holy Thursday night to celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, remembering anew that night before Christ died, when He gave to His disciples—and to us—His sacred body and blood in the Eucharist.

God calls us to come back here, on Good Friday, to recall our Lord’s cross and the price He paid for our salvation.

God calls us back here, for the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, when two members of our parish will be baptized and receive that baptismal garment for the first time; others will receive their first Eucharist and become fully initiated in the Catholic faith through Confirmation. God calls us back to celebrate these great mysteries, and to renew our own baptismal promises once again, just as we do every Easter.

God is calling each of us back, to be united more closely to Jesus Christ than ever before, because He is the One who poured Himself out in love for us all, so that we could draw close to Him and remain with Him forever.

Fides et Ratio and the Heights of Contemplation

(Wednesday of the 5th Week of Lent-Year B; This homily was given on 1 April, 2009 at the Chapel of The American College of the Immaculate Conception in Louvain, Belgium; See John 8:31-42)

In the introduction to his encyclical letter on faith and reason—Fides et Ratio—our late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, mentions the temple at Delphi. Across the portal of that ancient Greek temple was the famous admonition “Know yourself.”

That axiom is at the very foundation of philosophy, for to know ourselves is to know our strengths and our weaknesses; it allows us to gain insight about our vices and deepen our understanding of the virtues. To know ourselves means to know how we relate to the world around us and how we relate, personally, to the people in our lives. “Know yourself” is the starting point for growing in wisdom and in all the knowledge that this world has to offer.

But John Paul II goes on to talk about how self-knowledge is only the minimum of what it means to be human. Deep within our hearts we long not only for knowledge regarding the truth about ourselves and the truth about the world we live in; we also yearn and long for the truth about God.

In fact, says John Paul II, God “has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth-in a word, to know Himself-so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves” (Fides et Ratio, Introduction).

When we know the truth about who we are in the image and likeness of God, then we begin to live and love in a whole new way. When we discover the love God has for us in Christ, then we are free to love like Him and become the men and women we were always created to be.

That is at the heart of what Christ is communicating in St. John's Gospel this morning when He says:

“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
—John 8:31-32

If you remain in my word...

If you stay close to me…

If you do not allow obstacles to get in your way…

If you continue in this message of the gospel that I am making known to you…then “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

The more we come to know the truth about God, the more completely free we become, and all the more joyful in the Christian life. We are no longer slaves to sin, as Christ mentions in that Gospel, because we have come to know the truth about the forgiveness we have in Him.

There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ (Romans 8:39). We are given the grace to let go of the obstacles of sin and selfishness that had so easily beset us, and to persevere in the virtues that draw us closer to God and one another with our eyes and hearts set on Christ (see Hebrews 12:1). That truth changes us and allows us to grow in freedom like never before.

We can ask ourselves today:

Am I growing in knowledge of the truth, both the truth about myself and the world I live in, as well as the truth about the love of God in Christ?

Am I able to grow in wisdom and experience, in a philosophical sense, always open to the faith that God gives to all who seek Him?

If the answer is “Yes,” then we have what it takes to soar today to the very heights of heaven; John Paul II begins that encyclical, Fides et Ratio, with the following words:

Faith and reason are like two wings on which

the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.

May we reach those heights in our own lives today, and grasping that truth, may we experience the freedom of the sons and daughters of God (Romans 8:21).

New Website for the American College!

Check out our new website (under "Links" on this webpage) for the American College of the Immaculate Conception, where Jesus Christ, our Eucharistic Lord, is at the center of our lives and formation. The website is still a work in progress, but you can check out some of the things that God is doing in the lives of our seminarians as they prepare to serve the Church as priests of Jesus Christ.

Please pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and for those who are currently in formation for the priesthood at the American College in Belgium.

April Fools

(5th Sunday of Lent-Year B; This homily was given on 29 March, 2009 at the Chapel of The American College of the Immaculate Conception in Louvain, Belgium; See Letter to the Hebrews 5:7-9 and John 12:20-33)

We are about to enter the month of April in just a few short days; this Wednesday will be April 1st, a day commonly known as “April Fools’ Day.” April Fools’ is the day when many people will play games or jokes on those around them to “fool” them; hence the name. Now, some April Fools’ jokes are funny, and some are not so funny, depending upon the circumstances.

It was back in April of 1998 that Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of their latest product: the “Left-Handed Whopper.” That ad spoke about how the lettuce, tomatoes, onion, all the condiments, had been rotated 180 degrees under the bun so that millions of left-handed customers could now enjoy that great burger even more!

Do you know what happened? Thousands of customers that April came to Burger King and requested the Left-Handed Whopper! Many other customers also asked for Whoppers, but they clarified that they were right-handed, and wanted to make sure they received the correct one. It was a hoax, an April Fools’ joke, and thousands of people were fooled by it.

On April Fools’ Day in Copenhagen in 1965, a bit closer to where we are this morning, a local newspaper reported that parliament had passed a new law requiring all dogs to be painted white. The reason, that article clarified, was so that motorists could spot them easier and the animals would be safer near the roadways. Obviously, it was a joke, but many people hid their dogs in basements or the garage, fearful that the government wanted to paint their dog white! Many were fooled by that prank.

But as I mentioned a moment ago, not all April Fools’ jokes are funny. Some of them, in fact, can be quite awful. In April of 2000, in the country of Romania, the newspaper Opinia announced that political prisoners were going to be released from the Baia Mare prison. About 60 people made the long journey to the prison and waited anxiously outside the gates, only to learn that the paper had played an April Fool's joke on them. Opinia later apologized but by that time the damage had already been done. There is nothing funny about that April Fools’ joke.

But even worse than that, on April 1, 2002 in the Netherlands a law came into effect for the legalization of a practice that had already been happening for years: Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. The legislation had already been proposed on 28 November, 2000, but on 1 April, 2002 the “Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide Act” finally came into force.

Of course, it was never meant to be an April Fools’ joke, but it fooled many people, and still does today. Many people were—and still are—fooled about the misplaced meaning of suffering and death and its consequences for eternal life. Many people were—and still are—fooled about the loss of meaning and inherent value of every human life created in the image and likeness of God.

Some argued that the practice of Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide in the Netherlands had been going on for years already. What harm could be done in making it “officially” legal? Certainly that would only help to regulate it better. No harm there.

Yet less than two months later, on 28 May, 2002 here in Belgium the “Act Concerning Euthanasia” was passed by the Belgian House of Representatives and within four months it came into force. Belgium, which at one time had been one of the most Catholic countries in the world, became the second country in the world to legalize Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide.

Just two weeks ago, on 17 March, 2009, Luxembourg became the third. If you look at that geographically, it is quite startling: the Netherlands is due north of Belgium. Bordering Belgium on the south east is Luxembourg. They are falling like dominoes, and it is not just here.

Switzerland and the State of Oregon in the U.S. do not allow Euthanasia. Yet Physician Assisted Suicide has been accepted and practiced in those places for years. And you may ask, “What is the difference between the two practices? What is the difference between a physician taking the life of a patient upon that person’s request and the physician who prescribes a lethal dose of drugs with the intention of taking the person’s life?” The answer, sadly, is the same as the question: what’s the difference!

Both actions are contrary to the moral law and violate the dignity of the human person created by God. They both hold to a radical autonomy which considers suffering something to be eliminated at all costs, even the cost of taking one’s life. And there are many who are fooled by that mentality. There are many who come to believe such a practice is a fundamental right.

But God would not have us become April Fools, believing such a lie about the human life He gave us. He would not have us be fooled by the Culture of Death that is so radically vocal and successfully active in the world around us. God challenges us to be wise and faithful followers of Jesus Christ who understand what He has taught and revealed about suffering and death, and about so much more than that.

This is the time of the year in a particular way that we focus on suffering and death and, ultimately, on the resurrection. God has something to say—especially in this time of the year—about those things.

Next weekend, with Passion Sunday, and throughout Holy Week, culminating with Easter, we meditate on and thank God for the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Our readings this weekend allow us a deeper insight into those mysteries as we enter more deeply into this holiest of seasons in the Church’s liturgical year.

In our second reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews, we hear about Christ that:

Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.
—Hebrews 5:8

What an odd thing to say about the Son of God! Yet we know that there were things in Jesus’ human nature that He had to learn as He grew “in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).

For instance, the Divine Son of God did not know—immediately in His human nature—what it was like to be rejected. But He learned it; over and over again he would learn that. He did not know, in His human nature, what it was like to be misunderstood, or not be loved and accepted as He should have been, but he learned all those things, and painfully so.

In the same way he also “learned obedience.” Now to understand that requires that we know the full meaning of the biblical word for “obedience.” That word, in the Greek language, as well as in Latin, means more than merely “following the rules.” The Letter to the Hebrews is not saying that Christ was rebellious and needed to be taught a lesson. The word obedience means literally “to have an open ear to.” In Latin it is ab-audire, to listen to.

In other words, in His suffering Jesus Christ learned all the more keenly how to listen to the voice of the Father. When He was rejected, and misunderstood, and not loved or accepted the way He should have been, Christ learned—even and especially in those places—how to listen to the Father and follow more intimately the Father’s will for Him and for our salvation. In the moment of His agony in Gethsemane, Christ kneels in the garden with his heart and ears wide open, and He cries out “Father…not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). That is what it means to say that Christ “learned obedience from what He suffered.”

The question is, “Do we?” Are we able, when we are rejected, or misunderstood, or not loved and accepted the way that we should be; are we able, when we are frustrated or struggling or going through difficulties great or small, are we able to learn obedience, to have an “open ear” to God the Father? Are we able to listen to Him saying to us:

I would never abandon you. I would never leave you. I will help you and assist you and guide you to an eternal home with me. Follow me, and let me guide you in the way you should go.

Are we able to do that?


In the Gospel of St. John we come to discover that not only is God able to teach us and lead us in our suffering, but also that our suffering and even our death can bear fruit. That is the exact opposite message of those who advocate for Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. They say that there is no meaning in suffering and it should be avoided at almost any cost. But Christ tells us:

Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
—John 12:24

He is talking, of course, about His own suffering death, and how that gift of Himself in love will bear fruit in His resurrection from the dead; it will bear fruit also in our eternal salvation. The redemption of the world comes through the love of God in the midst of suffering and death.

We who are united to Him by Baptism and place our faith and trust in Him also share in those same fruits. We share in His resurrection and life. That is an entirely hopeful and meaningful understanding of suffering, especially for those who face the prospect of death.

And finally Christ teaches us how to live right here in this world so that we can share that eternal life with Him. He says:

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.
—John 12:25

Like so many of the paradoxes in the Christian life, this one forces us to see things from God’s perspective, and to be docile to a way of living and acting that is open to learning the things that please God and lead us to eternal happiness.

Such a docility and openness is completely the opposite of what we find in the Culture of Death regarding the issue of Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. Instead what is argued for is a radical autonomy which sets itself up against everyone and everything. The person says, “I will determine how and how long I will suffer, or even if I will suffer; not God; not the Church; not a member of my family. I will die on my own terms, and in my own way.”

To live like that is to fall short of the very life God is offering to us, to separate ourselves from the people who love us most, from the community and even from God. It is to love our lives on our own terms, and to risk the prospect of losing them because we have isolated ourselves from the very source of life, who is God.

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.
—John 12:25

I would like to close this homily by illustrating this point with a quote from a Christian missionary named Jim Elliot. He came from Portland, Oregon many years before Oregon legalized Physician Assisted Suicide. Jim’s passion was to bring the Gospel message to those who had never heard of Christ. He and several companions died doing exactly that, trying to proclaim the Gospel to the native people of Ecuador.

Years before his death, in a journal entry he had written as he reflected on the call of God to give his life as a missionary, he wrote the following:

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep
to gain that which he cannot lose.”

God is challenging all of us this Lent and Easter not to become April Fools. He is calling us to be wise and faithful followers of Christ who have an open ear to Him, even in the midst of the challenges and difficulties we face in our daily lives. He is asking us to trust in Him and to never forget that all who put their hope and faith in Christ—even though they fall to the ground and die—will be raised up again to eternal life in Him.

The Annunciation: God at the Center of Our Lives

(Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary-Year B; This homily was given on 25 March, 2009 at the Chapel of The American College of the Immaculate Conception in Louvain, Belgium; See Luke 1:26-38)

The Blessed Virgin Mary is a woman who placed God at the very center of her life.

All the gospels, everything we learn about our Blessed Mother from the teachings of our faith, and every aspect of a true devotion to Mary emphasize that same central reality: Mary placed God at the very center of her life.

That is also the reason why she is able to respond the way she does in St. Luke’s Gospel this morning. When greeted by the Angel Gabriel with the most remarkable and amazing news, even amidst the fear and questions that she would have had and in spite of all the obstacles in her way, so many events that she could never foresee, Mary is able to say: Yes.

Fiat voluntas tua.

Let it be done unto me
according to your word.
—Luke 1:38

If this is God's plan then this is what I want, because God is at the very center of my life.

This reality in the life of the Virgin Mary is the key to understanding why we celebrate this Solemnity of the Annunciation today, on March 25. This calendar date has absolutely no historical significance to the Blessed Virgin Mary whatsoever. The traditional months dedicated to Our Lady are October and May, not March (but let's be honest: how could there be a month in any calendar that does not honor her).

But in celebrating this feast today, we turn immediately not to Mary but to her Son, and our Lord, Jesus Christ. We look to the incarnation of the eternal Son of God and the celebration of that feast on December 25, and then we simply turn the calendar back 9 months to the moment He is conceived.

Jesus Christ is the source, center and point of reference for the feast we celebrate today, just as He was the source, the center and the point of reference for everything else in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That is precisely the way she wanted it, because Mary placed God at the very center of her life.

And because she placed Him at the center, and completely surrendered herself to His perfect plan and desire for her life, Mary comes to experience God even physically as the center of her life. The Son of God is conceived within her, and suddenly God is growing physically in the center of her body.

Mary nurtures and loves the Author of Life within her, and her greatest desire is to bring Him into the world so that He can be made manifest as the center of the entire universe, that He may be the center of our own redemption, our own salvation and eternal life with God.

Now, if God can do that—bring about so great a salvation through one woman who willingly, knowingly and with great love placed God at the center of her life—imagine what he can do in your life and mine today, and every day, if only we place God at the very center of our lives.

Forgiveness, Mercy and Grace-A Christian Story

(Wednesday of the 2nd Week of Lent-Year B; This homily was given on 11 March, 2009 at the Chapel of The American College of the Immaculate Conception in Louvain, Belgium; See Jeremiah 18:18-20 and Matthew 20:17-28)

There is a movie that came out a number of years ago starring Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt called The Devil’s Own. Harrison Ford plays New York City police officer Tom O’Meara who agrees to welcome an exchange student from Ireland to live with him and his family.

That is where Frankie Maguire (played by Brad Pitt) comes in. In truth, Frankie is not an exchange student at all. He is a soldier in the Irish Republican Army and has come to the United States with a lot of money to purchase weapons so that he can return to Ireland and continue to fight for the cause.

As the film develops there is a very revealing dialogue in which Frankie suddenly shares a terrible and tragic moment from his childhood in Ireland. He tells Tom how people came in and shot his dad right in front of their family. Tom can hardly believe it and just looks at him, stunned and speechless.

Eventually the police officer within him starts to question and he asks about the people who committed that horrible crime. Did they get caught? Were they brought to justice? Frankie turns to him and replies with what could very well be the theme of the entire movie. He says:

“Don’t go looking for happy endings, Tom.
It’s not an American story.
It’s an Irish one.”

American stories are inherently focused on the happy ending; the good guys always come out on top and the bad guys get what they have coming; all the wrongs are set right and everything is packaged up neatly in the end.

Frankie Maguire is saying, “Don’t go looking for that in my story, because you will not find it. My story is a different story.”

We would do well to have that same caution when we read the Scriptures. If we are trying to force an American story into our reading of the Scriptures we will inevitably end up frustrated.

Look at the story of Jeremiah that we listen to this morning. Jeremiah is being denounced by the people around him, who are focused on his demise. They have come out against an innocent man to destroy him. As we listen to this story we may be tempted to wish that God would do to them what they are trying to do to Jeremiah!

The same could be said for our gospel. Christ talks about how the Son of Man will be mocked and scourged and crucified. We all know the story: how the Roman soldiers spat in His face, tied Him up and beat Him; how the Pharisees and Scribes derided Him while He suffered and died on the cross. A part of us would like to see Almighty God bring down the hammer on those people!

But that is an American story. Here the hammer comes down upon the hands and feet of Christ instead, because the story of the gospel is not an American story, nor is it an Irish one. The story of the gospel is a Christian story, and at the heart of that story we discover the mercy, forgiveness and overwhelming grace of Almighty God.

If we fail to understand this essential point then we will never understand the message of the gospel. Worse still, if we fail to recognize this core plot in the story of God and His plan for our salvation then we will never really understand ourselves and the purpose of our lives here on earth.

But it is possible to hear and discern that story and that message on almost every page of the Scriptures, if we tune in and listen. Listen to Jeremiah this morning, as he says:

Heed me, O Lord, and listen to what my adversaries say. Must good be repaid with evil that they should dig a pit to take my life? Remember that I stood before you to speak in their behalf, to turn away your wrath from them.
—Jeremiah 18:19-20

All the while they were speaking about Jeremiah and plotting his destruction, Jeremiah had been speaking about them, “behind their backs,” asking God to spare them and grant them His mercy. There was an internal dialogue going on, a conversation between Jeremiah and God, for their well being.

The same is true for the gospel. Christ describes His own suffering and death, yet even while those terrible events will take place, Christ will continue that internal dialogue with God for them: Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34).

Is it possible that the conflicts, trials and difficulties that we are experiencing in our own lives right now, have been allowed by God not only for our own sanctification, for that strengthening of the relationship we share with Him, but perhaps also for the people around us, as well?

Is it possible that God is calling us more deeply into that internal dialogue with Him, to speak with Him about the people in our lives that cause us sorrow and pain by their words and actions and what they have failed to do to help us?

I believe that it is entirely possible because the life we are called to in Christ—at its very core—is not merely an American story, nor an Irish one. It is a Christian story and has the forgiveness, mercy and overwhelming grace of God at its very foundation.

Might we allow Christ to continue writing that story in our lives this Lent as we become more docile and open to all that he wants to say to us—and through us—in the days ahead.

Salvifici Doloris and the Question: “Why Suffering?”

(5th Sunday in Ordinary Time-Year B; This homily was given on 8 February, 2009 at the Chapel of The American College of the Immaculate Conception in Louvain, Belgium; See Job 7:1-7 and Mark 1:29-39)

It was a beautiful spring day in 1981 when our late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, was riding through St. Peter’s Square, just as he had done a hundred times before, and as he would do—thanks be to God—hundreds of times after that. But on that particular day, May 13, 1981, as you may well remember, John Paul was shot at nearly point blank range by an assassin. He would later say that “one hand fired the gun, but another one guided the bullet,” for it was on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, to whom the Holy Father attributed his miraculous survival, that the assassination attempt occurred (see George Weigel, Witness to Hope).

But it was more than just the bullet that nearly took the life of John Paul II. He also received a tainted blood transfusion in the hospital, which did considerable damage to his already weakened body. It would be several long weeks of recovery and many long months of physical and even emotional suffering, as well, before he was finally able to return to a sense of “normalcy.”

A few years later he met with his attacker, face to face, and forgave him. A few weeks after that encounter, on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, Pope John Paul II released what was perhaps his most personal Apostolic Letter ever written, Salvifici Doloris, On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering.

In that letter, John Paul reflects on the problem of evil and the question of suffering. He ponders a question which every one of us has asked at one point or another; perhaps we are even asking it now. That question, of course, is: Why?

Why, if God is all good and all powerful, is there evil in the world we live in?

Why is there suffering in my life and in the lives of those close to me?

Why do the people I love suffer?

Of course, one of the best known persons in all of Scripture to ask that question is the one we hear from in our first reading this morning: Job. Job has encountered unspeakable suffering. He has lost members of his family, his property, his own physical health; he experiences the spiritual suffering of one who has lost the sense of God in his life. He feels alone and in the dark and simply wants to know where God is through all of this sorrow. He laments in that first reading:

Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery?...I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me…the night drags on; I am filled with restlessness until the dawn…I shall not see happiness again.
—Job 7:1-7

We are probably all familiar with the complete story of Job, how his friends come to comfort him in his suffering. They had very good intentions; initially they were so overwhelmed by the suffering of their friend that none of them said a single word for seven days. They sat with him in solidarity and silence…and then they figured it all out!

Their basic conclusion was that suffering comes as a result of sin. Job was suffering, so he must have done something to offend God. Therefore, he simply needed to repent and that would clear things up. Books have been written critiquing their counsel, but we would do well not to dismiss their logic too quickly. Job’s friends stand on solid theological ground when they connect suffering with sin.

All throughout the Old Testament, and right on into the New Testament, we find stories of men and women who suffer because of the sins that they have committed. We can look at our own lives and see the times we have said or done something we knew was wrong, we knew was a sin, and then suffered the consequences of that decision. Perhaps we have done nothing wrong, but we suffer because of the sins of those around us who have made terrible decisions. There is no solid reason for us to say that suffering and sin are not connected.

But the problem with Job’s friends, of course, is that when they make that connection in Job’s case, they’re wrong! We know that he is innocent. We have already been told that in the prologue, before all his suffering occurs. So that connection between suffering and sin, while certainly a credible and understandable one, cannot be applied across the board. It is, of itself, inadequate to explain all the suffering in the world we live in.

Ultimately, says John Paul II, suffering remains a mystery. We will not be able to answer all our questions about suffering here in this life. But to say something is a mystery is not to say that we cannot find meaning in it.

God is a mystery. We can never completely “figure out” God or find all the answers to our questions about Him on this side of heaven. But we can know Him. We can love Him and be loved by Him, and that is the context in which Pope John Paul II situates his reflection in the mystery of human suffering:

In order to perceive the true answer to the “why” of suffering, we must look to the revelation of divine love, the ultimate source of meaning of everything that exists.
—John Paul II, Salvifici Doloris, #13

God saw the suffering and the pain in the world He created, and He chose to come to us in the midst of it. Think about how different that is from the choices so many people make, especially in our present culture. They look at all that is wrong with the world, and all the suffering, and say, “I would never want to bring a child into this world.” God looks at all the suffering and everything that is wrong around us and says, “I must be born into that world. I must come and respond to those who are suffering and who find themselves in sorrow and distress. I will come to them.”

This is what we find in the gospel this morning. Jesus Christ comes among His own people and begins to respond to all the needs of the sick and suffering at St. Peter’s house. We are told that, after healing St. Peter’s mother-in-law, “they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door” (Mark 1:32-34). Christ was healing all those who came to Him; he cured body and soul. But at one point, we discover, He ceased to do so. He withdrew, by Himself, to a quiet place and prayed.

The disciples seek Him out, for there were many more in need of healing, and suddenly Jesus shocks them all: we’re leaving! There was something even more important, more pressing, than healing the physical and spiritual diseases of the people at St. Peter’s house. Christ tells us what it is: “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come” (Mark 1:38).

The ultimate reason Christ has come is not merely to heal the deficiencies and diseases of this earthly life. He comes also because there is an even greater sickness and suffering that we all share: the possibility of a life eternally separated from God. Christ has come to restore the most fundamental and devastating disease of humanity: the loss of eternal life.

To heal that rift—caused by our first parents, Adam and Eve, and perpetuated by our own personal sins—Christ will willingly suffer and die on the cross. Now we can have a new life with God once again. We can be healed of that eternal loss and come to share eternity with the God who redeems us. That is the purpose for which Christ has come. That is the message that he takes with Him to all the surrounding towns and villages. It is the message he teaches to His disciples, and the message of the gospel proclaimed in the Church for 2,000 years.

This truth of our redemption, says John Paul II, is also the key to understanding the mystery of suffering. He says “in the cross of Christ not only is the Redemption accomplished through suffering, but also human suffering itself has been redeemed” (Salvifici Doloris, #19). Our suffering, which had always been“drudgery,” a burden only, and a meaningless “misery,” can now find meaning in light of the sufferings of Christ.

Christ comes into our lives to help us carry our crosses, and He in turn allows us a share in His own cross, His own redemptive act of love that transforms the world we live in. This is not automatic; it is not something that happens in an instant or through one decision or one circumstance in life. It happens over the course of our lives, and through consciously sharing in a living relationship with God.

But we who share in the sufferings of Christ, and who participate in His redemption, will also share His resurrection (Philippians 3:10-11; Colossians 1:24). How has that message changed our lives and the way we look at the world around us? How has the message of the gospel, which Christ held to be the most important task and the purpose for his coming among us, changed us and transformed the way live?

May we come to understand our own lives, and even our own sufferings, more completely in the light of the mystery of divine love that God has revealed among us, and may we proclaim with Job the words of hope that were spoken by him in anticipation of the saving grace of God, who never forgets the ones He has created and loves:

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth.
—Job 19:25