Guilty by Identification: Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time (Philippians 1:1-11; Psalm 111:1-2, 3-4, 5-6; Luke 14:1-6)

Once again, Jesus is exposing the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He heals a man with dropsy on the Sabbath, right before their eyes, knowing they believe such an act violates the law of God. Then He challenges them with a simple question: Who among them would not violate the Sabbath to rescue their own child if that child had fallen into a cistern?

We see this pattern repeated throughout the Gospels, alongside Jesus’s command: “Stop judging, that you may not be judged.”

I suspect many of us recognize that the mentality Jesus confronts in the Pharisees is alive and well in parts of our Church today. If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it must be a duck—and ducks cannot receive the Eucharist. Too often we do not take a moment to see whether it actually walks like a duck?

We have to remember, for intents and purposes, sin involves actions. Simply having a condition or inclination associated with a particular sin does not, in itself, constitute a sin.

Consider Sally Jo, who struggles with alcoholism. Willful drunkenness is mortally sinful, and deliberately choosing to become intoxicated can constitute mortal sin. But Sally Jo is in recovery. She still has the condition of alcoholism.  She still identifies as an alcoholic. She may occasionally fall to the temptation to drink.  When she does, she repents and received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. By the grace of God, she fights against the temptation to drink and works to avoid sin.

Should Sally Jo be denied the Eucharist simply because she has an inclination toward sinful behavior? Or can she receive the healing grace of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist because she strives to turn away from sin and is desires to live faithfully?

I think most of us would agree that Sally Jo should not be denied the Eucharist simply because she struggles with alcoholism.

This is where I believe the Church could benefit from speaking with greater clarity and precision about other areas of sin.

Consider Ben, who experiences gender dysphoria. He may look or sound a little different from what we expect, or something about his mannerisms may strike us as different. Should Ben receive the Eucharist?

Obviously we cannot determine his spiritual state simply by looking at him. If he is engaging in actions contrary to Church teaching, those actions must be evaluated in light of that teaching. Our role is not to make assumptions about his soul based on his appearance or circumstances.

Our role is to get to know Ben, to love him, to be the light of Christ to him, and to support him in his journey of faith. We should encourage him to make life affirming choices and help him avoid sin so that he can receive our Blessed Lord in the Eucharist worthily.

Let me preface my next point by saying that I am not a fan of Father James Martin. I often find his commentary confusing and, in general, not particularly helpful. At the same time, when hear of Father Martin controversy brewing, sometimes I’ll read what he actually said (as opposed to what someone on the Internet told me he said).  I often find he raises a valid point or two.

I try to give Father James Martin the benefit of the doubt believing he—much as Pope Francis was—is ultimately trying to draw attention to the mentality of the Pharisees that can shape our attitudes toward the LGBTQ community.

First, let's establish the moral question. There are several issues we could discuss, but I am sure one of the first that comes to our mind is sexual activity outside of marriage. As you know, Catholic teaching is clear that sexual relations belong within a valid Sacramental marriage, no exceptions. This teaching applies to all of us, heterosexual and homosexual alike. 

That being said, the distinction matters: Simply identifying as LGBTQ is not a sin. Meaning that experiencing same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria, in itself, does not constitute a sin. Actions must be evaluated on their own merits. Sexual activity outside a valid marriage is mortal a sin; in fact, a sin committed by heterosexual and homosexual people every day. That is an objective moral reality.

We have to stop judging members of the LGBTQ community based on the condition in which they live. We need to welcome them, get to know them, love them, and be the light of Christ to them.

We need to see them as we would see a child of God who has fallen into a cistern—not as someone to reject and condemn from a distance, but as someone in need of our compassion and help. Through us, God wants to bring healing, just as Jesus healed the man with dropsy.

That healing does not necessarily mean a person will no longer experience same-sex attraction, gender dysphoria, or identify as LGBTQ. It simply means that, like every one of us, that person can strive to live as a child of God, avoid sin, grow in holiness, carry their cross, and participate in the sacramental life of the Church.  We are called, not to judge them, but to help them in that journey.

Through each of us, how great are the works of the Lord!

Thanks be to God!

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Community of Love: Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time (Ephesians 4:1-6; Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6; Luke 12:54-59)

Today is a conclusion, of sorts, of what turned into a series of reflections on Faithful Citizenship, which we have discussed throughout October.

Saint Paul gives us a fitting conclusion as he reminds us how to build a community capable of loving our neighbors just as Jesus commanded.  He describes virtues that are helpful in discerning how to love the child in the womb, love the individual struggling with their identity, love the immigrant in a foreign land, and love the person whose life is deemed to no longer hold value by the standards of our society.

He calls us to embrace what it truly means to belong to one another. As we have been discussing, the ultimate foundation of our life is not found in political ideologies, alignments, or divisions. There is one God and Father of all, who cares deeply for the most vulnerable among us. As Christians, we are called to defend the dignity of those who cannot speak for themselves, an obligation that extends directly to the ballot box.

Our faith is not meant to be a private matter; it should carry profound, real-world consequences. We are called to actively transform society and extend the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart into the world around us. For nearly 2,000 years, the Catholic Church has consistently taught that all human life is sacred from the very moment of conception through natural death…no exceptions. 

The Church also teaches that certain actions are intrinsically evil—meaning they are a radical contradiction to the good of the person.  These actions are always wrong, regardless of the intentions or the circumstances surrounding them.  A full list of intrinsic evils would be quite lengthy, but of the intrinsic evils that are more common in our political dialogue are Abortion, Human Cloning, Invitro Fertilization, Euthanasia (and really all forms of suicide), Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Homosexual "Marriage", and Transgenderism.

Because intrinsic evils directly attack human dignity and oppose the will of God, we must form our consciences in alignment with Church teaching and vote accordingly. We are called to vote in a manner that firmly opposes these evils and promotes human dignity at every stage of life.

As we cast our ballots, we can take Saint Paul’s words to heart. We have an opportunity to carefully evaluate candidates and amendments, weighing whether they align with life-affirming positions or support intrinsic evils. By voting "Yes" on Amendment 3, we can fulfill our responsibility to vote with a properly formed Catholic conscience. By choosing candidates who will work to build a genuine culture of life, who will work against the spread of all forms of intrinsic evil, we cooperate in transforming our society for the glory of God.

To lift these intentions up in prayer, we will hold a special Holy Hour for the election on Monday, November 2nd, at 6:00 p.m. here at the church. Please consider joining us that evening to surrender the outcome of the election to our Blessed Lord, praying that His will is made manifest in the election and that the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ may be spread throughout the world.

As the hour of our election is upon us, answer us Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

Thanks be to God!

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Magnifica Humanitas: Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Isaiah 45:1, 4-6; Psalm 96:1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b; Matthew 22:15-21)

If you follow the media, you have likely seen coverage of the tension between Pope Leo XIV and President Trump. We must always approach headlines with healthy discernment—media outlets thrive on sensationalism and conflict, to say nothing of the deepfakes and AI-generated fabrications that increasingly pollute the narrative.

At the same time, beneath the media noise lies a profound papal warning that demands our urgent attention.

In May 2026, Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, explicitly marking the 135th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s seminal 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum.

Rerum Novarum was a prophetic alarm sounded at the volatile collision point of three monumental forces: unbridled capitalism, revolutionary socialism, and the Industrial Revolution. Pope Leo XIII foresaw that a society ignoring the moral boundaries of these movements was heading for catastrophe. The ruling elites refused to listen, choosing instead to give to Caesar what belonged strictly to God. The result? The accumulated pressure of these unheeded warnings erupted in 1914, tearing Europe apart in the global slaughter of World War I, and setting off a chain reaction that fueled the Great Depression and World War II.

Today, history may be repeating itself—and the stakes might be even higher.

Our Holy Father sees a terrifying parallel between 1891 and our present moment. Once again, we are mixing a lethal cultural cocktail: political polarization spiraling into ideological extremes, capitalism characterized by unrestrained corporate greed on one side, radical collectivism through socialism on the other, and now, the Artificial Intelligence Revolution.

Like the Industrial Revolution before it, Artificial Intelligence promises staggering economic growth and unprecedented capability. But like any mindless machine, Artificial Intelligence possesses no soul, no conscience, and no inherent respect for human dignity. From a certain perspective, it bears its own cold image and inscription.

Echoing the warnings of his predecessor, Pope Leo XIV raises three vital alarms in Magnifica Humanitas:

First, erasure of the soul.  Artificial Intelligence threatens to reduce human beings to mere economic data points, attempting to replace love, empathy, and moral conscience with cold calculations of optimization algorithms in a data center.

Second, dehumanized warfare. The proliferation of autonomous weapon systems risks stripping the last remnants of human restraint from military decisions, entrusting life-and-death choices to machines operating beyond moral conscience and moral accountability.

Third, digital servitude. Unchecked technological displacement threatens to strip millions of their livelihood, widening the gulf between the ultra-wealthy elite and the vulnerable, creating modern forms of economic slavery.

This is not distant science fiction; it is the urgent reality of the twenty-first century.

Here is another example to illustrate the point. In 1968, Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae, warning of the societal decay that would follow if the world abandoned Catholic moral teaching on human dignity and sexuality. 

Society laughed, ignored the Vicar of Christ, and embraced the Sexual Revolution. Today, we live amid the ruins of that decision: rampant divorce, fornication, adultery, dysfunctional families, a below-replacement birth rate, abortion, pornography, sexual deviancy, and infanticide.  And all of that is becoming increasingly celebrated by our society to the detriment of our civilization and the loss of many, many souls.

The tragic pattern of human history is clear: whenever human dignity is sacrificed on the altar of progress, it is a sin and there will be consequences.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus very clearly indicates that we are to listen to His Church.  This is because, as we read in the Gospel of John, Jesus told the first bishops of the Catholic Church at the Last Supper that “the holy Spirit…will teach you everything” and “will guide you to all truth”.

I am sure society will continue to ignore the teachings of the Church just as they increasingly have since the Protestant Reformation.  I am sure the warnings of Pope Leo XIV will be ignored just as the warnings Pope Leo XIII and Pope Paul VI were ignored.  Society will continue to give to Caesar what belongs to God; i.e., our allegiance.

Will the consequences be as dire?  Time will tell.

When Our Lady appeared at Fatima in 1917, she seemingly provided Heaven's exclamation point to the warnings of Rerum Novarum. She warned that when nations systematically reject God, moral law, and spiritual truth, they descend into war, persecution, and self-destruction.

We cannot render to God what is God’s if we permit technological power to strip away the sacred value of the human soul. The solution will not be found in better algorithms, but in deep internal conversion, prayer, penance, and unyielding fidelity to the Gospel and the Holy Catholic Church.

Let us pray for the conversion of the ruling elites that they will heed the voice of our Holy Father before the warnings of today become the tragedies of tomorrow.

Through obedience to the Catholic Church we give the Lord glory and honor.

Thanks be to God!

Actively Transform Society: Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time (Ephesians 1:11-14; Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5, 12-13; Luke 12:1-7)

Last week, we discussed a vital role of the Catholic Church: to actively transform society. 

As Pope Leo XIV reminds us, "the Church exists in the world as a sign of unity for the human family, participating in the processes by which society grows and offering her contribution to build a more just and fraternal world". 

This mission carries profound responsibilities, especially for Catholic politicians. Every single act of legislation and governance must be filtered through the lens of our Catholic faith. 

The shifting “will of the people” is never a valid excuse to compromise or deny Church teaching through legislative or executive action. Catholic politicians are called to be primary instruments of societal transformation—helping to recognize and promote whatever safeguards human dignity, strengthens communities, and serves the common good. By being a true champion of justice, peace, and reconciliation, Catholic politicians should act as true agents of God’s sovereign order. 

This responsibility extends directly to the faithful, challenging us to vote with a fully formed Catholic conscience. Voting with a fully formed Catholic conscience enables us “to accomplish all things according to the intention of His will, so that we might exist for the praise of His glory”.  As such, we are called to support candidates, policies, and initiatives that align with the Truth of Jesus Christ. 

In doing so, we vote for a transformed society for the glory of God. We champion integrity, humility, and selfless love, holding fast to the Gospel message that exposes “the leaven” and "hypocrisy" of worldly governments and offers a healing alternative to the brokenness that leads to societal decay. 

Because it is through Christ and His Holy Catholic Church that we receive the fullness of truth and salvation, our choices on election day carry eternal and social weight. 

Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois put it like this: “I am saying that you need to think and pray very carefully about your vote, because a vote for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil and gravely sinful makes you morally complicit and places the eternal salvation of your own soul in serious jeopardy.”

That is a powerful statement that also applies to how we vote on amendments and other ballot initiatives.

Fortunately, we have the Church.

We can listen to how leaders of the Church are guiding us in this election cycle. What statements have been issued by Archbishop Rozanski, the Missouri Conference of Bishops, or the United States College of Catholic Bishops? What messaging has been provided by our parish? These are essential resources for forming our consciences so that our votes truly transform society and spread the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart. 

Built on the rock by Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church is anchored in divine purpose, marked by hope, guided by truth, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Through the moral courage of Catholic politicians and the votes of the faithful with properly formed consciences, the Church actively transforms society by bringing the values of heaven to bear on the realities of earth. 

As we cast our ballots with a clear and faithful conscience, blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Thanks be to God!

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Faith Before Politics: Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time (Galatians 3:7-14; Psalm 111:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6; Luke 11:15-26)

Saint Paul reminds us today that our primary allegiance is to the Church established by Jesus Christ. Every other allegiance—including our political affiliations—is secondary to the Truth of Jesus Christ, which has been preserved and faithfully taught by the Catholic Church for nearly 2,000 years.

Our political landscape today is ripe with tribalism. All around us, we see lines drawn between competing interest groups, each defining who is “in” and who is “out.”

Identity politics versus culture-war politics. Globalism versus Americanism. One extreme versus the other.  I could go on. But beneath so many of these divisions is a political system in which competing elites seek to secure our support and, ultimately, our votes.

As Catholics, however, we are called to place our trust not in competing political ideologies, but in Christ alone.

History reminds us that placing our faith in political ideologies can ultimately lead to division and condemnation. How often do we hear people judge one another based on whether they faithfully “tow the party line”? When we cling to a political party as our source of hope, we risk allowing that allegiance to become a source of bondage and division. Faith in Jesus Christ, however, leads us toward true freedom, peace, and salvation.

We must always put faith before politics.

That does not mean withdrawing from political life. Quite the contrary. We are called to engage in politics through the lens of our Catholic faith—a faith that does not align itself exclusively with any earthly government, political party, or ideology.

We are called to form our consciences according to the teachings of the Catholic Church and to vote according to the Truth of Jesus Christ. We are called to keep the love of neighbor at the center of our political decisions, with particular concern for the most vulnerable, especially the unborn. And we are called to consider how our political participation can contribute to the mission of the Church: the sanctification of society.

In other words, we are called to work toward transforming society—not according to the brokenness of man-made governments and ideologies, but according to the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.

G.K. Chesterton famously wrote, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.”

That might resonate in our personal lives for some of us, but perhaps it is even more evident in our political lives and in the way we govern.

Imagine how different our society might be if our laws and institutions more fully reflected the Truth of Jesus Christ: if we consistently respected the inherent dignity of every human person; if we placed people before profit; if we pursued the common good through solidarity; if we strengthened families and communities through subsidiarity; and if we embraced our responsibility as stewards of creation.

We can become frustrated by the state of our world, but much of what we see is the natural consequence of a society that has continued to drift away from the Truth of Jesus Christ—including in its governments, institutions, and political ideologies.

As Catholics, we are called to something better.

We are called to put faith before politics. We are called to form our consciences according to the teachings of the Church. We are called to understand the moral principles at stake in the issues before us and to bring those moral principles with us into the voting booth.

As we prepare to exercise our civic responsibility on Election Day, let us remember that our ultimate hope does not rest in political parties, candidates, governments, or ideologies. Our hope rests solely in Jesus Christ.

Let us rest in the heart of the Lord knowing He remembers His covenant for ever.

Thanks be to God!

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Good Catholics or Good Citizens: Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time (Galatians 3:1-5; Luke 1:69-70, 71-72, 73-75; Luke 11:5-13)

Are we called to be good Catholics or good citizens?

I have a feeling the “stupid Galatians” were being neither of these when Saint Paul wrote the letter from which our First Reading is taken.

In his rebuke of the Galatians, Saint Paul asks a question that each of us should consider: “Who has bewitched you?” In other words, who or what has influenced us to place our politics above the Truth of Jesus Christ—the Truth preserved and taught by His Holy Catholic Church? Who has inspired us to put our personal beliefs, desires, and preferences above that same Truth?

We live in a time when both ends of the political spectrum continue to drift further and further from the Truth of Jesus Christ. We live in a time when we are increasingly encouraged to trust government rather than God, to place corporations and special interests above people, and to value money over love.

Some might call this patriotism. Others might call it sin.

Ultimately, the Lord calls us to find the proper balance of faithful citizenship: to recognize our legitimate obligations to civil government while always maintaining the primacy of our duties to our Blessed Lord and His Holy Catholic Church.

At the heart of the Knights of Columbus is the understanding that faithful Catholics are faithful citizens. We need to internalize that truth, believe it, and live it out in every aspect of our lives.

In his monthly challenge, Archbishop Lori says:

“I challenge you to study how the Knights of Columbus, at the time of its founding and throughout its history, has combated anti-Catholic bigotry and shown there is no conflict between love of God and love of country.”

He then points to The Knights of Columbus: An Illustrated History as an excellent resource for doing so.

Archbishop Lori then asks several questions that are worth considering. “Do we obey civil law and legitimate authority, even in smaller matters, or do we tend to rationalize our infractions? Do we fulfill our civic duties, such as voting? And when we vote, do we consider moral issues beyond our own personal self-interest?”

These are important questions because we are ultimately called to live every aspect of our lives as faithful Catholics. That means living out the teachings of the Church at all times—even when doing so is inconvenient, even when it is difficult, and especially when our pride tempts us to believe or behave differently.

Our Catholic faith does not end when we walk out of Mass. It should shape how we live as husbands, fathers, neighbors, workers, Knights—and citizens.

So, are we to be good Catholics or good citizens?

The answer is that we are called to be faithful Catholics who are faithful citizens. Our love of country should never compete with our love of God. Rather, our love of God should guide and purify the way we love our country and serve our fellow citizens.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; He has come to His people…those who are faithful citizens through the lens of His Holy Catholic Church.

Thanks be to God!