Stephen and the Two-Edged Sword

Celebrating the martyrdom of Saint Stephen on the second day of the Christmas octave serves as a reminder that the Christmas message is like a two-edged sword.  On the one side is consolation and liberation.  On the other side is challenge and conviction.

To truly receive the ultimate Christmas gift, the true gift of Jesus Christ, we have to surrender our entire life and our entire will to both edges of the Christmas message.

Saint Stephen did this.  As a result, the Lord was able to perform great wonders and signs among the people through him.

Saint Stephen received the joy of Christmas because he did not seek to just receive the grace of Jesus Christ but instead sought to allow the grace of Jesus Christ to flow through him to the community around him…as Jesus willed it, not as he willed it.

Saint Stephen sought to serve the community and to make God’s love visible in that service.  He spread the joy of the Christmas message out into the community around him.  He was a source of consolation and liberation to those he served.

But with that joy, also came challenge and conviction.  He upheld the Truth of Jesus Christ, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of who would be angry, and regardless of what society wanted to believe was true.

I love what Saint Fulgentius said in a homily called “The Armament of Love”:   “Yesterday we celebrated the birth in time of our eternal King. Today we celebrate the triumphant suffering of his soldier. Yesterday our king, clothed in his robe of flesh, left his place in the virgin’s womb and graciously visited the world. Today his soldier leaves the tabernacle of his body and goes triumphantly to heaven.  And so the love that brought Christ from heaven to earth raised Stephen from earth to heaven; shown first in the king, it later shone forth in his soldier. Love was Stephen’s weapon by which he gained every battle, and so won the crown signified by his name. His love of God kept him from yielding to the ferocious mob; his love for his neighbor made him pray for those who were stoning him. Love inspired him to reprove those who erred, to make them amend; love led him to pray for those who stoned him, to save them from punishment. Strengthened by the power of his love, he overcame the raging cruelty of Saul and won his persecutor on earth as his companion in heaven. In his holy and tireless love he longed to gain by prayer those whom he could not convert by admonition.”

Brothers and sisters, Christ is born!  Alleluia! Alleluia!  Embrace both edges of the Christmas message.   Be the Love of Christ to the world around you.  Be the Love that dissipates the darkness of the world with its brightness of Truth.  Be the Love that heals others with the warmth of grace.  Allow the Love of Jesus Christ to initiate every motive and animate every action, just as Saint Stephen did.  For you too are called to do great wonders and signs among the people for the glory of God.

Today, and always, into your hands, O Lord, we commend our spirits through the Mass.

Thanks be to God!

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A Joseph Christmas: Fourth Sunday of Advent (Isaiah 7:10-14; Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-24)

There are two very powerful prophetical moments presented to us in our readings today.

First is Ahaz. His statement, “I will not tempt the Lord!” seems so humble and righteous at first glance. However, if we look through the entire context of the story of Ahaz, we quickly see his statement was not humble at all. In fact, his statement is one of pride as he intended to do what he wanted without regard to the will of God.

In contrast to Ahaz is Joseph.  Joseph humbly did what the Lord commanded as opposed to what he wanted to do. Joseph surrendered his life and his will to the will of God.

Both men received messages that the Virgin Mary would give birth to Emmanuel. What each man did with that message is drastically different.

As we continue through these final days of Advent, preparing for the coming of Emmanuel at Christmas, we have to decide if we are going to be an Ahaz or a Joseph.

One of the great opportunities of the Advent season is to reflect on those parts of our lives that Jesus is not currently Lord over. 

Oftentimes, these are the parts of our lives that are marked with hurts and pains. Oftentimes, these are the parts of our lives that are marked with remorse and regret. Oftentimes, these are the parts of our lives that are marked with anger, resentment, and perhaps unforgiveness. Oftentimes, these are the parts of our lives that we do not let anyone see.

On top of that, it is easy to get caught up in the busyness and chaos of consumerism and all the other distractions that seem to take over during this time of the year. 

As a result, we do not give ourselves the proper time and space that is the ultimate purpose of Advent. We do not give ourselves the proper time and space to prepare ourselves for the ultimate gift of grace that God wants to give to us on Christmas day.

In fact, most of us have likely already had several secular Christmas celebrations. It is no wonder that, for many of us, Christmas day has lost its joy and charisma considering we have already been secularly celebrating Christmas for a month or more.

It becomes easy to focus solely on these celebrations as they can temporarily anesthetize us of the hurts and pains in our lives....the very hurts and pains that the Child Jesus seeks to be born into this Christmas season...the very hurts and pains that can be transformed by the Christmas message.

For those of you who follow my homilies on Facebook, you may recall what I said at the beginning of Advent: Advent is a time for us to join Isaiah as we mystically enter into the Davidic expectancy of the coming Messiah, and in the process, allow ourselves to spiritually reset.  Advent is a time to reflect on the fact that the Child Jesus wants to be born anew in each one of us.  Advent is a time of preparation for us to make sure we have room in the inn of our hearts when He comes this Christmas.

At the same time,  we must realize that all of us have a little bit of Ahaz and a little bit of Joseph in each of us.   We must also remember that the Christmas message is like a two-edged sword.  On the one side is consolation and liberation.  On the other side is challenge and conviction.

Ahaz wanted to embrace just the one side.  Joseph surrendered himself to both sides.

That is our invitation today, to make a conscious effort to approach Christmas like Joseph as opposed to Ahaz. 

Take time to reflect on those hurts and pains that we continue to carry around and are in need of spiritual reset.  

Take time to ask the Child Jesus to be born anew in those situations.

Take time for peace, reflection, and expectant silence during these waning days of the Advent season. 

Our own healing can occur when we prepare for, surrender to, and embrace both edges of the Christmas message. 

Our own healing can occur when we surrender whatever it is in our heart and instead trust in Divine Providence. 

Our own healing can occur when we embrace humility and vulnerability, and allow ourselves to be truly open to Divine Love. 

Our own healing can occur when we allow our hearts to be the empty manger on which the Child Jesus will lay His head.

We can also be a source of healing for others.  Just as Jesus was physically born into the world through Mary, we can allow the Lord to be spiritually born into the life of another person through us.  Consider how we have been a source of hurt and pain to someone else in our lives.   Regardless of fault or motive, how can we help bring the Child Jesus into another person's life through those hurts and pains.  What amends can we make now to open the stable door for the Christmas message.

In these waning days of Advent, the challenge is to ignore the distractions of the world around us, just enough to focus instead on where the Child Jesus needs to be born anew in your life and the lives of those around you.  Whatever aspects of your life you are holding back from the Lord, surrender those aspects of your life to Him now. Offer it up to Him through the Mass. Surrender your entire life and your entire will over to His care.

The true gift this Christmas is Jesus Christ, and He comes to you through, with, and in the Eucharist….if you will let Him.

This Christmas, let the Lord enter; Emmanuel, truly present with us in the Eucharist, is king of glory.

Thanks be to God!

The Life of Zachariah: Friday of the Third Week of Advent (Judges 13:2-7, 24-25a; Psalm 71:3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17; Luke 1:5-25)

It has become a popular trend in the entertainment industry to create stories to fill the gaps between (or perhaps prior to) previous successful installments of their franchise.  We’ve seen it with Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel, Yellowstone, and even Lord of the Rings.  

Even though we know how the story ends, we often jump on these offerings to engage more fully in the story line.  The overall story arc hasn’t changed, but our anticipation, preparation, and appreciation for moments that we already know and love can often be enhanced by these stories.

In a not so dissimilar sense, there is a silent period of time between the Old Testament scripture and the New Testament scripture where the plan of salvation continued to move forward.  During this silent period between the Old Testament and the New Testament, time continued to march forward to the birth of the Messiah.  This period of time where anticipation and preparation continued to build.

If God were to provide another story during this silent period of time through a modern-day visionary, I cannot help but think the life of Zachariah would be an incredible gift.   Imagine the glimpse we would get in terms of the spiritual life of the Jewish people around the time of our Savior’s birth and the continuity we could see between Judaism and its fulfillment in Catholicism.

We know Zachariah was a priest in the Temple.  In fact, tradition (small “t” tradition) tells us he was one of the two priests I mentioned a few weeks ago that received Mary into the Temple when she dedicated her life to the Lord at her Presentation.

We know he was no stranger to encounters with God.  He worked in the threshold of the Holy of Holies where the expectation to encounter the presence of God was the norm.

We know he and his wife were righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly.

We know he was no stranger to miracle pregnancies.  Certainly he was very familiar with the stories of the Old Testament, like the one about Samson in our first reading.  More than that, his wife’s mother was likely sister to Saint Anne, the mother of Mary.  Anne, according to tradition, was childless for many, many years before an angel announced she would become pregnant with Mary. Just as Mary was familiar with the miraculous pregnancy experienced by Elizabeth, Zachariah would have been familiar with the miraculous pregnancy experienced by Anne.

Even with all this, Zachariah still struggled to believe God would work miracles in his life.  Perhaps some of us have that same struggle.  There is much we can learn from Zachariah.

The life of Zachariah reminds us that simply being religious is no guarantee of having a personal relationship with God; however, diligently living the sacramental life in sincere faith conditions us to be open to the presence of God when the opportunity avails itself.

The life of Zachariah reminds us that busyness and distractions can prevent us from having a true encounter with Jesus Christ.  This is a good time of the year to identify and eliminate these things in our lives and in turn, be more diligent about seeking Him out in adoration, prayer, and works of mercy.

The life of Zachariah reminds us that God has a story for each and every one of us ...a story of love and mercy.  The only question is whether we will hold on to our own story, or will we let go and let God.

The life of Zachariah reminds us that every day is an opportunity to be in awe of God.  Every day is an opportunity to recognize how He is at work in our lives and to give Him thanks.  Every day is a day to be joyful of those gifts and to spread that joy to the world around us.

Today, and always, allow your mouth to be filled with His praise, and sing of His glory!

Thanks be to God!

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The Vision of John: Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab; Judith 13:18bcde, 19; Luke 1:26-38)

I love that the Church has prescribed our reading from the Book of Revelation to be our first reading on this feast day.  This vision John the Apostle had seems to have been a vision of none other than Our Lady of Guadalupe.  A woman that appears clothed with the sun.  A woman with the moon under her feet.  A woman with a crown of twelve stars.  A women with child.  When we begin to understand the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we understand how all of these elements from the Book of Revelation are present in the apparition.  I’ll highlight just a few important aspects of the apparition.

First the cloth of the tilma itself.  It is cloth made from the agave plant, which typically has a very short shelf life.  Replica tilmas created for an 18th century scientific study only lasted 10 years.  Somehow the tilma of Juan Diego has survived nearly 500 years and counting.

The image itself contains no brushstrokes. There is no evidence of any artistic process to create the image.   Scientists and artists have been unable to duplicate it.  Further, the origin of the coloration has never been determined.

The image is not on the tilma (as you might expect if it were painted on), but rather actually impregnated into the agave fiber.

Our Lady’s hair is parted in the middle and is hanging loosely, which is how the Aztec women wore their hair when they were virgin maidens.

At the same time, the dark ribbon above her womb, indicated to the Aztec people that she is pregnant.

Over the womb, there is a unique four peddle flower that marks an X indicating the importance of her child.  To the Aztec people, the symbol would have indicated divinity.  It would have also indicated that the prophesied fifth-age (the Age of Peace) had begun.  Fitting considering our Lord and Savior is the Prince of Peace.

An interesting fact of the human cornea of the eye is that it is always reflecting the image it is observing.  Microscopic photos of Our Lady’s eyes on the tilma both reflect the same image.  The image in Our Lady’s eyes contains the people that were witness to the miracle, including the bishop.

Next time you see the image, notice the blue-green color of our Lady’s mantel.  The Aztec people would have seen her as royalty since in their culture, only emperors were allowed to wear cloaks of that color.

The stars on the mantel are in the exact arrangement of how the actual constellations appeared in the sky before dawn on the morning of December 12, 1531.

Based on the arrangement of the stars on the mantle, we notice some amazing things regarding constellations that are not visible on the mantle.  We can extrapolate from the constellations on the mantel to look for constellations that were not on the mantle.  Here are some examples:

The constellation coronea borealis (which means northern crown) would appear exactly where Our Lady would wear a crown…the crown of stars from our reading.  Virgo (or the virgin) would appear right where Our Lady’s heart is.  

Leo the Lion appears right where Jesus (the Lion of Judah) would be in Our Lady’s womb.  The brightest star of the constellation Leo is called Regulus, which means king.

Our Lady of Guadalupe stands on the moon, which was considered one of the Aztec gods.  This would have been a clear sign that she conquered him.

She is also standing in front of the rising Sun, which gives the appearance that she is clothed with the Sun….she is eclipsing the Sun.  The Aztec people offered human sacrifice to appease the gods, particularlty the sun-god.  She is heralding in the true worship of the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist in order to eclipse their pagan sacrifice.

The apparition occurred on the exact day of the great Aztec feast that was essentially as important to the Aztec faith as Easter is to the Catholic faith. 

The Lord used Our Lady of Guadalupe to defeat a culture of death with a culture of life, replacing the Aztec faith with the Catholic faith.  The Lord continues to call to us through Our Lady of Guadalupe as she reminds us of enduring hope, enduring faith, and enduring love.  Through her cooperation with grace, millions have been converted to Jesus Christ and the sacramental life of His Church.  Today, we can renew our consecration to the Lord through her and inspire others to do the same.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, you are the highest honor of our race.

Thanks be to God!

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Faithful and Fruitful: Thursday of the Second Week of Advent (Isaiah 41:13-20; Psalm 145:1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13ab; Matthew 11:11-15)

This month, Archbishop Lori reminds us of the importance of our faith bearing fruit in good works.   Particularly during Advent, when we reflect not only on Christ coming in the incarnation, but also his second coming in judgment at the end of the world. He asks that we pray and work to ensure we lead truly faithful and fruitful lives as disciples of Jesus.

Our first reading at Mass today reminds us that we are not alone in this effort to lead faithful and fruitful lives.  The Lord says, “I will help you.”  

If we truly surrender to Him, He will work through us to make His will manifest in the world around us.

This is good news as we reflect on our lives through the lens of Advent, and in particular, His second coming in judgement.  

When we meet Jesus on the judgement seat, will there be ample evidence to show that we indeed led faithful and fruitful lives filled with the good works that God has prepared for us in advance of our lives.  Or, will the evidence lean toward the contrary?

When we meet Jesus on the judgement seat, which statement will we hear:  “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”  Or will we hear, “Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angel.”

This month, Archbishop Lori challenges us to spend some time reflecting on the four last things — death, judgment, heaven and hell — to better prepare ourselves for eternity.  In doing so, he asks the following questions.  Do I live with my sights set on heaven? Am I aware of the reality of hell? Do I live my life so as to be prepared for my death and judgment?

In some ways, there should be some similarities between preparing for Christmas and preparing for our death and judgement.  We should root out those areas in our lives where we are self-centered and self-obsorbed as opposed to living a Christ-centric life.  In those areas where we cannot find Christ, invite the Lord in.  Allow Him to do the works of God through us.

When we do our own thing, concerned only with self, we have a pitiful existence.  Only through the Lord can our existence become glorious.

Through our choices and actions, we will determine if we will be celebrating Christmas or simply the secular holidays.  Through our choices and actions, we will determine if we will welcome the Christ of Christmas into the manger of our hearts, or if we will simply miss the true Christ of Christmas.  Missing the Christ of Christmas is truly tragic.  However, not nearly as tragic as that cold judgment, “Depart from me!”

Use this Advent to deepen your relationship with Christ through the sacramental life of the Catholic Church and through practicing the works of mercy.

Through our participation in grace, the Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.

Thanks be to God!

Why Do I Need The Church?: Second Sunday of Advent (Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12)

In the first reading at Mass today, we hear of the shoot that sprouts from the stump of Jesse, and that it is from his roots that a bud blossoms.

As I reflected on that, I could not help but think of the Catholic tradition of the Jesse Tree.  The Jesse Tree devotion developed as a way to meditate on the relationship of Jesus Christ to the various people, rituals, and institutions of the Old Testament that God used in His plan for salvation. 

Each day throughout Advent, an ornament is added to the tree.  Each ornament is a symbol of a person from the Old Testament that has had an important role in salvation history.  The namesake, Jesse, is often represented by a crimson robe or a shepherd’s staff.  His ornament will be added to trees all over the world on Thursday.  Today, the ornament for Jacob is generally added to the tree.  He is often represented by a ladder or a kettle.

I think the Jesse tree is a neat devotion that can help us mystically enter into the sense of Messianic anticipation of the Advent season.  That said, all of these elements of salvation really come down to one concept: covenant.

Throughout history, the establishment of a covenant required two things: an initiation by one party and a response by the other party.  God initiated a covenant with Adam, and Adam responded imperfectly.  God initiated a covenant with Noah, and Noah responded imperfectly.  God then initiated a covenant with Abraham, and Abraham also responded imperfectly.  God initiated a covenant with Moses, and Moses (as you can probably guess) responded imperfectly.  And, so one and so forth throughout the history of Israel in the Old Testament....until we get to the Last Supper.

At the Last Supper, in the context of the Jewish Passover, Jesus Christ through His divine nature initiated the new and everlasting covenant.  Then, on the cross, Jesus Christ through His human nature offered the perfect response.  

I am often asked why Catholics keep Jesus on the Cross.  Well, it is very simple.  It was on the cross that Jesus Christ drank from the fourth and final Passover cup (which is known as the Chalice of Hallel).  It was on the cross that Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself as the true Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world.  It was on the cross that Jesus Christ declared the consummation of the new covenant finished.

This transaction between initiation of and response to the new and everlasting covenant is the authentic context of Jesus's role as our one and true mediator with God.  Only Jesus Christ in His divinity could initiate an eternal covenant.  Only Jesus Christ in His humanity could offer a perfect response, on the cross

At the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the Eucharist, the Bread of Life, to be our Passover Feast.  The Eucharist is the way Jesus desires us to worship Him.  But more than that:  The Eucharist is the mechanism Jesus gave us that allows us to substantially participate in His once-and-for-all sacrifice on the cross.  The Eucharist is the mechanism Jesus gave us that allows us to efficaciously (effectively) participate in His perfect response to the new covenant on the cross.

This is why the Mass (and by extension, the Catholic Church) is so incredibly important.  Without our active participation in the Mass, our personal response to the new covenant is imperfect at best, and quite possibly not efficacious.  We need the Mass.  We need the Eucharist.  We need to drink from the chalice from which Jesus drank (namely, the Chalice of Hallel that is offered at every single Mass through the host).  As Jesus said in the Gospel of John, we need to eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood in order to have salvation and eternal life.

For us, it all starts with our baptism.  When I minister a baptism, I like to invite those in attendance to reflect on the Good Samaritan from the Gospel of Luke.  I believe the parable of the Good Samaritan enables us to spiritually enter into the full mystery of what we experience as we are baptized.

Each of us have been in the role of the victim, prior to our baptism.  We had been robbed of original dignity by the father of lies and left to live a life without grace.  Baptism restores this dignity and births us into the life of grace, which is the sacramental life of the Catholic Church.  During the Rite of Baptism, the person about to be baptized is the victim.

The good Samaritan, as you might imagine, is Jesus.  He anoints the victim with oil and wine (the oil and wine representing the Sacraments of Initiation which are Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist).  He bandages the wounds of the victim (the bandages representing the Christian dignity that comes with sacramental birth).  

In the parable, the Good Samaritan takes the victim to the Inn and asks the Innkeeper to take care of the victim until He returns.  Many do not realize this, but the Inn is the Catholic Church and the Innkeeper is the Pope, echoing the three-fold instruction of Jesus to Peter in the Gospel of John to tend to and feed His sheep until He returns at His second coming.  This is the Catholic Church fortifying us with the sacraments in this life so we can live with Jesus forever in the next.

Every well designed church has the baptismal font at the main entrance of the church.  The idea is that it is through baptism that we are born into the sacramental life of the Catholic Church.  Baptism is the prerequisite for all the other Sacraments.  As the Catechism says, “through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as children of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission.”  Or as Jesus simply says in the Gospel of John, we enter into the Kingdom of God (the Church He started) as we are born of water and Spirit.

From there, we see the human and divine natures of the Church as we continue to live the sacramental life.  

As we said, through the Sacrament of Baptism that Jesus Christ instituted in the Catholic Church, we have been brought to the Inn of the Catholic Church to be spiritually fed by the Eucharist and the other sacraments.  However, living in the Inn means that we are living by everything Jesus teaches through His Holy Catholic Church.  

There are certainly times in our lives when we are tempted to think we know better than the Catholic Church.  That temptation may lead us to choose to break one of the Ten Commandments or choose to not follow one of the Precepts of the Church.  

Objectively speaking, when we make that choice, we have committed a mortal sin.  At that point, we are no longer in a state of grace.  At that point, we are no longer living in the Inn but we are once again wandering in the dark wilderness.  Because we are no longer in a state of grace, we have been effectively cut off from the grace of God.  We are no longer in a relationship with Father, until that relationship has been repaired in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

This is why Jesus instituted the Sacrament of  Reconciliation when he breathed the Holy Spirit on the Apostles in the Gospel of John and said, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”  This sacramental authority has been passed down solely through the Apostolic Succession of the bishops of the Catholic Church.

Sure, we can go straight to God and pray for forgiveness, but that ignores (and perhaps even outright rejects) the full revelation of Jesus Christ.  Ultimately, God can forgive whoever He wants.  But, it is very clear that Jesus built a visible Church to be His authority on earth to administer the sacraments for our salvation.  This responsibility to administer the sacraments belong solely to the bishops and those ordained to assist them.  

This remains true to the very last breath we take in our mortal life.  I know you will cover the sacraments in other sessions, so I won’t deep dive into the sacramental theology of any of them today.  Still, when we discuss the importance of the Catholic Church, we have to at least mention the sacraments.  I cannot stress enough the importance of the Catholic Church, the sacramental life, and the sacraments that Jesus Christ instituted for our salvation.

The lives of the saints repeatedly and consistently attest to the truth of the sacramental life and the truth of the Catholic faith.  The end of our mortal life on earth (which is in the womb of the Catholic Church), is not the end; but rather, is our birth into eternity.

At the same time, the importance of the Catholic Church goes beyond the sacramental life into the world around us.

Our society seeks to define their own subjective truth based on their own desires as opposed to simply allowing the ultimate Truth of Jesus Christ to inform them.  Ultimately, society seeks a world without the true God.

Particularly since the protestant reformation, there has been a continually widening gap between what society believes and the actual Truth.  Sadly, that gap continues to widen with each subsequent generation.  

As each generation grows further from the Truth, an increasing number of people get to the point where they can no longer recognize the Truth, even when it is plainly in front of them.

Where society is today is simply the natural progression of a society that has abandoned God.

The amount of violence and evil that we are bombarded with in the news seems to continually increase and the number of people celebrating the evil is shocking, though (to be honest) not entirely surprising when we come to realize this is the natural conclusion to a worldview where God does not matter...a worldview where objective truth (the Truth of Jesus Christ) does not exist.

Our society suffers from a total disregard for the value of life…total disregard for human dignity.  Somehow, to our society at large, it has become okay to kill someone just because they disagree or because they have become an inconvenience.

Sadly, I do not believe it is going to get any better.  In fact, I think it will only get worse as society continues to progress further away from the Truth.

Think about it, if you can make up your own version of truth based on what you want to believe, you can do whatever you want.   You get to say what is good and what is evil.  You get to judge others based on what you say is true.

Saint Paul tells us in his second letter to Timothy that “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

Indeed this is true, but Paul never said only scripture is good for these things.  In fact, he said in his second letter to the Thessalonians, to hold fast to both written and oral tradition.  The inspired author of the letter to the Hebrews said to “obey and submit to” those that are ordained to be your spiritual leaders.

Jesus said it best when He told the Jews in the Gospel of John, “You search the scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf.   But you do not want to come to me to have life.” Jesus never gave us a book, He gave us a Church and He sternly warned against not listening to the Church in the Gospel of Matthew.

It was the authority of the Catholic Church that determined the role of Mosaic Law in the life of a Christian in the Acts of the Apostles.  It was the authority of the Catholic Church that definitively settled the matter on gnosticism, arianism, montanism, and all the other early Church heresies…many of which surfaced as a product of appealing to Scripture separate from the Church.

In short, the historic theme is that when society listens to the Catholic Church, we see peace and unity.  When society does not listen to the Catholic Church, we see conflict and division.

The protestant reformation began the process of removing the Catholic Church, the pillar and foundation of Truth, from influencing society.  That, in turn, opened the door to the French Revolution; which began the process of removing God, particularly the Truth of Jesus Christ, from influencing society.  

Our society has been systemically separated from Jesus Christ over time through the onslaught of intellectualism, socialism, moral relativism, human secularism, and the like.  

There are tens of thousands of non-Catholic ecclesial communities that all claim to believe the Truth, but teach unique and conflicting doctrines of faith that reflect their version of truth…many of these doctrines of faith were invented in the last two or three hundred years.

Fortunately, for you and for me, we have the Catholic Church, the pillar and foundation of Truth as exclaimed by Saint Paul in his first letter to Timothy.  The Catholic Church has the seat of Saint Peter, whose successor holds the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, as we hear in the Gospel of Matthew.  The Catholic Church has a continuity of teaching that goes back to the Apostles…a continuity of teaching with no conflicts…a continuity of teaching with no inconsistencies.

Think of all the new circumstances that have come into existence that did not exist 2,000 years ago.  We can clearly know what the will of God is in these matters.  Think of all the complex issues that we have today that did not exist when Jesus walked the earth:  in vitro fertilization, cloning and DNA resequencing, artificial intelligence, and the list is seemingly ad inifinitum.    Unlike most of our separated brothers and sisters, we do not have to guess about the morality of these issues.  We can know the will of God through the teachings of His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

When we come to Mass, we hear the voice of Truth during the Liturgy of the Word, and then we sacramentally receive the Truth during the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  

If we diligently follow the teachings of the Catholic Church and diligently live the sacramental life Jesus instituted in the Catholic Church, then we are securely anchored to the Truth…the Truth that the rest of society is in desperate need of.

A lot of this comes down to perspective  For the first century Jew, the Temple was the center of the universe… very presence of God in their midst.  As you know, Jesus (and therefore the Eucharist) is the fulfillment of the Temple (as He indicated in the Gospel of John).  We must remember that the new covenant fulfillment can never be less than the old covenant prototype.  Therefore, the Eucharist (and by extension the Catholic Church) must be the center of our universe.

To the first century Christian, the Eucharist was absolutely the center of the universe.  Saint Ignatius of Antioch, who was a disciple of the Apostle John said, “I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible”.

Saint Ignatius also said regarding the Eucharist, “They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes”.  That should sound very familiar when we look out at the world around us.

Everyday, the news is filled with conflict, violence, and death, which more and more people seemingly celebrate.  Even our government cannot function due to conflict.  We cannot ignore the correlation of this reality to the rejection of the Eucharist by our society and the fact that the Eucharist is not the center of our universe….even for many Catholics.

Our recourse in the strife of this chaotic world is solely in the Eucharist. We must turn completely to Jesus Christ, who is truly present in the Eucharist, for strength and sanity during these troubling times. The Eucharist is our lifeline and refuge from the chaos of the world.  The Eucharist is ultimately our source and summit of faith, and our only means for eternal life.  

One other important aspect of the Catholic Church is that it is the household, or family, of God as declared by Saint Paul in his first letter to Timothy.  Unfortunately, I am running short of time, and cannot discuss the details of this aspect today.  I invite you to come to either the 5PM Mass or the 6PM Mass on the weekend of the 28th.  I am the scheduled homilist for those Masses on the Feast of the Holy Family, and I plan to talk more about the Catholic Church as the family of God.

If we are to believe in Jesus and trust in the Word of God, then we must believe and trust in everything that He said.  This includes the authority of the Church He started.  This includes His true presence in the Eucharist, the movement of grace through the sacraments, and the reality of the sacramental life.  This includes His warning that those who reject these things reject Him.  If we do not have an intimate, covenantal relationship with Him through the Catholic Church and the sacramental life, then (on our judgement day), we will risk hearing the dreadful words, “I never knew you. Depart from me.”

The whole aim of the sacramental life of the Catholic Church is to enable us to interact with the Divine through the world around us, to conform us into Christ, to purify us of those things that are not compatible with the true image of God, and to make us part of the whole Christ…essentially, to help us truly and intimately know Him.  

There is one moment mentioned in the Catechism that every Catholic should all look forward to participating in:  “The Father's power 'raised up' Christ his Son and by doing so perfectly introduced his Son's humanity, including His Body into the Trinity.”  

Think about that for a moment.  His Body, the Body of Christ, consisting of those who diligently live the sacramental life of the Catholic Church, introduced perfectly into the Holy Trinity.  

I think we can all agree, that is no mere personal relationship.  The mechanism for this ultimately happens through the Eucharist and through authentically living the sacramental life of the Catholic Church.  

As the Jesse Tree, and the stump of Jesse, reminds us of all the people, rituals, and institutions God has used to reveal to us the plan of salvation and to make the Kingdom of God manifest on earth, we realize Jesus brings all things to their ultimate fulfillment through His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. 

Through the Catholic Church, justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

Thanks be to God!

Expect Miracles: Friday of the First Week of Advent (Isaiah 29:17-24; Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14; Matthew 9:27-3)

Advent is a time for us to challenge our expectations.  Advent is a time to challenge what we think we know.  Advent is a time to challenge what we think we believe.  Advent is a time to challenge ourselves in a way that will ensure that we truly have eyes and ears of faith that will enable us to find joy in the Lord and rejoice solely in His grace.

Advent is a time for us to join Isaiah as we mystically enter into the Davidic expectancy of the coming Messiah, and in the process, allow ourselves to spiritually reset.  Advent is a time to reflect on the fact that the Child Jesus wants to be born anew in each one of us.  Advent is a time of preparation for us to make sure we have room in the inn of our hearts when He comes this Christmas.

Advent is a time for us to be born again, not in a protestant manner, but rather in a manner reminiscent of Pope Benedict XVI when he said, “The Child Jesus points us to this primal truth of human existence: we must be born again. We must be accepted, and we must let ourselves be accepted. We must transform our dependency into love and become free therein. We must be born again, laying aside our pride and becoming a child. In the Child Jesus we must recognize and receive the fruit of life. This is what Christmas brings to us: new life!”

In Pope Benedict’s words: “We must transform.”  We must be conduits of healing, love, peace, and tranquility into the world around us.  

Instead of simply celebrating the secular holidays, let us allow the holy days to truly transform us.  Let us truly enter into the mystery of what we celebrate in the holy days as opposed to focusing only on the superficial aspects of the holidays.

As situations and problems surface in the world and in our lives, search within them the reason why the Child Jesus came among us.  How does the Child Jesus want to be born anew in that problem or situation?

When we enter into Ordinary time again in January, will we be able to look back and see at least one way that peace and love increased between ourselves and someone else?  Or will we simply put our decorations away and chalk it up to another holiday passed…while we carry forward the same anxieties, hurts, and pains?

We have been given a beautiful gift in the holy days in that God can use them to transform us and heal us.  We must truly enter into the mystery of the holy days with eyes and ears of faith. 

The Child Jesus will be here before you know it.  What will He find your heart full of?  Pride?  Envy?  Fear?  Contempt?  Unforgiveness?  Resentment?  Selfishness?

What is that woundedness in your heart that needs to be offered up to the Child Jesus through the Mass?  What is that hurt or pain that you do not let anyone see?  How does that woundedness impact your relationship with God, yourself, and others?

Our own healing can occur when we pursue our own spiritual childhood.  Our own healing can occur when we surrender whatever it is in our heart and instead trust in Divine Providence.  Our own healing can occur when we embrace humility and vulnerability, and allow ourselves to be truly open to Divine Love.  Our own healing can occur when we allow our hearts to be the empty manger on which the Child Jesus will lay His head.

As we approach Christmas this year, expect a new spirit, expect joy, expect faith, expect hope, expect love, expect transformation, expect renewal, expect spiritual freedom, expect healing, expect holy surprises, expect miracles and then let it be done for you according to your faith for the Lord is our light and our salvation.

Thanks be to God!

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