What parts need to go?

Tuesday of the 22 Week

Ordinary Time

I Corinthians 2:10-16

Luke 4:31-37

In our Gospel, Jesus does something amazing! He is preaching and teaching in the synagogue and is confronted by a man who possesses an evil spirit. Surprisingly Jesus does not throw the man out of the synagogue. If one of you were to get up and begin screaming, I would hope one of you would escort you outside. Jesus doesn’t have the guy thrown out of the synagogue. He only has the part of the man that is evil thrown out of the synagogue.

We are like the man. We have some evil within us, and parts of us do not belong in this chapel, yet we still came to church today. There is a lack of patience, anger, and our lack of forgiveness that is in all of us. It is in us because the evil one is never going to stop trying to get us to come back to him. The evil one is so cunning and crafty that he will use anything to get us back.

There is no way to love God and hold onto evil in our lives. We must believe God is not done creating us in his image and likeness.

In our first reading, St. Paul says, “We have the mind of God.” But do we always use ‘the mind of God’ to grow in holiness?

Let us now ask God to rid ourselves of what needs to be gone in our lives.

Let us be humble!

Twenty Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sirach 3: 17-18, 20, 28-29

Hebrews 12: 18-19, 22-24

Luke 14: 1, 7-14

Quickly, go through the middle of the church saying, “Oh, you must be the humble ones. Thank you for coming!”

Say to those in the front sections, “oh, you are the ones who are closer to heaven; they just don’t know it yet!” Our readings bring us face to face with the true meaning of humility. 

Humility is not thinking less of ourselves. Humility is thinking of ourselves less. Humility is not putting ourselves down, or when someone pays us a compliment, we turn it into a negative. Humility is thinking of the other person more than ourselves.

A good test of humility is simply paying attention to the other. The most basic form of love is paying attention to the other person. How often do we look past them or think of our response when we talk to someone? Here is a test! See how many times this week we catch ourselves saying from the other room, “What?” Yelling from the other room is not being attentive to the person and is not being humble.

In our Gospel, Jesus is at a dinner party, and much like our social norms when attending a formal dinner, there are norms of where the guest of honor would sit. This was also the case in the times of Jesus and was strictly adhered to at any gathering. Jesus is watching the people come in. By these social norms, they know beforehand where they are to sit, but they clamor over each other to get to the places of honor. To make his point about humility, Jesus says, “When you are invited, go to the lowest place, and be comfortable there, and when the host sees you, they will bring you forward.”

When Jesus ate with people, he always had the gift of paying attention to who was with him and who needed his attention.

Homework: Pay attention to yourself, paying attention to the person in front of you and be humble.

May we turn to Christ, who is truly humble?      

Be wise! Light your light!

Friday of the 21st Week

I Corinthians 1:17-25

Matthew 25:1-13

First All School Mass of the Year!

Put one of the server’s candles on my chair with a lighter. The two servers process each holding their glass candle holders, but only one will have a light candle in it. Have a baptismal candle by the front pew.

Did anyone notice anything different about Mass today? What is not correct?

Yes! The two servers came in carrying their candle holders, but only one had a light candle. To celebrate Mass properly, we need two light candles at the altar.

In our Gospel, we heard of five women who were wise as they had enough oil to keep their lamps burning brightly when the bridegroom came and five foolish women who did not bring enough oil to keep their lamps burning brightly.

It is the same in our lives. To be wise, we need the fullness of God’s light in our lives. At the time of our baptism, our godparents/parents were given a candle and told that they had to do everything in their power to keep that candle burning brightly.

We come to our Catholic School to learn what it means to have the light of Christ in our lives. We have the best teachers and administrators to help us with that light, to help us pray, and learn about Jesus.

We can’t have Mass with only one light, so we need to have the second candle put in its stand and be light.

My friends in Christ, may we be wise and keep our light of Christ burning brightly.

Stay Awake!

Thursday of the 21st Week Ordinary

I Corinthians 1:1-9

Matthew 24:42-51

Would we do anything differently if we knew that Jesus was coming today? Would you act differently? Most likely, we all would. We’d probably contact as many people as we could and inform them of the imminent return of the Lord, go to confession and then spend the day in prayer. If we knew that Jesus was coming today, would we do anything differently?

In our first reading, Paul is trying to get the people of Corinth ready for Christ’s coming, reminding the people that God has chosen them to lead holy lives. He thanks God for all He is doing and will do in their lives, and finally, he tells them they have been given every spiritual gift they will ever need to get through whatever life will bring. 

In our Gospel, Jesus is trying to get the people ready for return by telling them to “Stay awake!” Jesus says, “Blessed is the servant whom the master on his arrival finds doing what is supposed to do.” Notice the servant is not blessed for sitting around, peering out the window, looking at the horizon, and waiting for the master to return. To be ready means that we have been doing the work of the Lord all along.

If Jesus is coming today, would we do anything differently? Well! If we are doing what we are supposed to do, and if we believe that God has given us everything we need to live a holy and faith-filled life, then we can go on and do what we have planned to do and not change a thing. So, if you are nervous, then look busy!  

Head and Heart!

Tuesday of the 21st Week

I Thessalonians 2:1-3, 14-17

Matthew 23:23-26

When my head and heart are not in the same place, I can struggle to be what God has called me to be! So what do you do when our head and heart do not come together? Our readings speak about staying together so we can move together to Christ.

The letters to the Thessalonians are some of the earliest written texts, written in 50-51 A.D. At this time, the people have been told that Jesus is coming back, so some of them are listening just to their heads and doing nothing except sitting around doing nothing, just waiting for it to happen. The apostles are dying, and the people do not know what to do because their heads and hearts are not together. So St. Paul encourages them to keep going, listen to their hearts, hold on to what they know to be true, and live.

In our Gospel, Jesus chastises the scribes and Pharisees who follow every letter of the law but fail to care for others and help the poor. Jesus tells them, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, for looking so holy on the outside. You are filled with darkness and sin inside because your head and your hearts are not in the same place.”   

What do we do when our heads and our hearts are not together? I like to make the sign of the cross because when we begin with our head and down to our hearts, and when we cross our chests, we bound them together.

It is not about the victory, it is about finishing the race!

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 66: 18-21

Hebrews 12: 5-7, 11-13

Luke 13: 22-30

What do we do when we work hard at something, and it does not turn out the way we wanted? I work out five days a week and still look like this. Maybe you are doing everything right in your spiritual life, you pray, do works of charity, attend Mass, and things do not turn out the way you wanted. We may ask God. “If I am your child and you love me, then why do I not know your victory?”

The Hebrews writer gives us an insight into what we are to do when we hear, “Endure every kind of trail, for God disciplines his children.” The writer continues, “The trail may bring pain, but joy will come. So strengthen your drooping hands and weak knees and keep walking straight to Jesus.” When I look back upon my life, the darkest days have also been the biggest growth in faith. I look back on those days and know that God will help me get through my struggles now.

In our Gospel, a man asks, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” Great question! Jesus says, “Strive to enter the narrow gate, for many will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”

How many of us are in a tailspin in our lives, even though we have been doing all our training and doing everything right to be strong? We may think when I gave my life to you, I thought, I will know the victory when I came to you? But, sometimes God gives us the victory, and sometimes God gives us just enough to finish the race. We all are going to struggle from time to time, and we want to win, but sometimes, we are given just enough to finish.

My friends in Christ, walking down the narrow path does not always mean we will gain the victory, but we will always be given the strength to finish the race. When we do not give up when we do not quit, is when we are on the narrow path, and we will finish the race.

Our homework is do not give up, just finish what God has started.

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 38: 4-6, 8-10

Hebrews 12: 1-4

Luke 12: 49-53

About 8 or 9 years ago, after the 5:00 pm Mass, a young man came to me and asked me if I believed in Jesus Christ. In addition, he asked me if I was saved. He continued with his questions about the Catholic faith, which I do not remember, but the one statement that I remember is when he said, “The Catholic Church is led by the anti-Christ, and you are going to hell.” After that comment, our conversation escalated to me telling him to get off parish property, or I would call the police. He turned and walked away, but as he turned away, he suddenly turned back my way and looked at me. I did not know what he would do, and he continued walking.

This encounter bothered me, and I preached about it the following Tuesday at Mass. I said, “I am not happy with how I handled the situation. I needed to defend my Catholic faith, but if given another try, I would do some things differently.”

What do we do when we have to defend our faith? Chance encounters with people we may never see again are one thing, but how do we defend our Catholic faith with family members, friends, and relatives? We are being persecuted all the time for our Catholic faith! How many of you heard before Mass, “I do not want to go to Mass. Why do I have to go?”

In our first reading from Jeremiah, he teaches us that we do not always win with God, but we are given enough to finish the race. Jeremiah is put into a dry cistern for standing up and speaking the Word of God. Jeremiah would be rescued only to face more persecution but would continue preaching God’s Word to a rebellious people.

Our reading from Hebrews gives us hope because when we stand and defend our faith, it may feel like we are standing alone. Our writer says, “We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who stand beside us, to help us.”

In our Gospel, Jesus says, “I have come to set the world on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing.” Jesus is not saying this to add to any divisions in our families; there are already divisions in families. Instead, Jesus says that when we commit ourselves to Christ, we must speak God’s truth in love, which might cause a division in some families.  

Surprisingly, the young man returned to the parish the following week. He knocked on the rectory door, and I invited him in. He apologized for the way he handled himself, and I apologized to him. He said he is a falling away Catholic and is struggling with his Catholic faith. The conversation ended with us praising Jesus Christ for being in our lives but disagreed on how we would get to heaven.

My friends in Christ, we need to be ready to defend our faith. Here are the steps to getting there. 1.) Know Jesus Christ. 2.) Know your Catholic faith and be ready when someone asks a question. If all you are doing is coming to Mass once a week for an hour, you are not doing enough. We need to be people of prayer, reading devotions, and watching the enormous amount of information available to us about our faith on the internet. 3.) Know there will be consequences to being a Catholic and living our faith. If it is of God, knowing can stop us.

Thursday of the 19th Week

Our need to forgive!

Ezekiel 12:1-12

Matthew 18: 21-19:1

St. Clare

Every Mass begins with a greeting where we acknowledge God, and then we have the penitential rite where we ask God to forgive us of our sins. I know for the sake of time, we keep moving and do not pause very long, but what if we did pause and become still and quiet and think about our sinfulness and ask God to forgive us, and then think about who we have to forgive? What if we only continued with Mass after everyone raised their hands, letting me know when you are ready to move to the opening prayer? Our readings have us reflect on how we need to be forgiven and, in turn, forgive others.

In our first reading, Ezekiel gives a perfect visual of how the people need to ask God to forgive them for their sinfulness and forgive others. The example Ezekiel gives is he packs his belongings in the bright daylight and begins digging a hole through the clay walls of the city. During the evening, he crawls through the hole with his belongings as if escaping from someone overtaking the city. Ezekiel is warning the people to turn away from their sinfulness and forgive others, or this is what will happen to them.  

In our Gospel, Peter asks a good question, “Lord, how often must I forgive someone? As many as seven times? Jesus responds, “Peter, not seven times, but seven times seventy times!?

My friends in Christ, forgiveness is a lifestyle we need to accept and master. Forgiveness and mercy are not just choices we make but an absolute requirement for discipleship.

In this moment of silence, let forgive those who need our forgiveness.

Today, we celebrate the life of St. Clare. Clare belonged to one of the wealthiest families in Assisi. When she was eighteen, she heard Francis deliver a series of Lenten sermons, and afterward, she met him and asked if he could help her “live a manner in keeping with the gospel.”

One night, she stole away from her parents, cut her hair, changed her clothes, and assumed a penitential habit.

It has been said that of all the followers of St. Francis, Clare was the most faithful.

May we learn what Clare learned, “Go forth without fear, for God, who created you has made you holy, and he has always protected you, and will always love you.”     

Who will be the greatest of lovers?

Tuesday, Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time

Ezekiel 2:8-3:4

Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

How are we loving today?

In our Gospel, the disciples ask Jesus, “Who will be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” I believe what Jesus hears is, “How can I be more loving?” So in response to the disciples, a small child is put in front of the disciples, and Jesus tells them to love, be open, humble, and forgiving as this child.

To reinforce his point about true love, Jesus tells a parable. Jesus asks, “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray. Will the man leave the ninety-nine in the hills and search for the stray?” The best answer is “NO!” because it is too risky to leave the ninety-nine. But that is how Jesus wants us to love, knowing no boundaries. We are to love in a radical and almost crazy way, we are to love even those who do not love us, and we are to love we find hard to love.

I do not think it is too bold to say that we are the 99 under God’s protection and have not gone astray. If we are not able to go with the man in search of the one lost sheep, what are we doing to help the man to go out and search for the one lost sheep? How do we spend our time in prayer and penance to support the man while he is away? How do we treat the rest of the sheep waiting for the man to return?

The prophecy told Ezekiel is one thing we are to do: devour God’s word and all that he gives us.  

God gives us the greatest gift by sharing his word and precious body with us. May we, in turn, learn to love as he loves us?

Put your foot on the brake or eyes on God?

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wisdom 18: 6- 9

Hebrews 11: 1-2, 8-9

Luke 12: 32-48

Let’s talk about faith and what it is. Question: Do we have more faith in God or the brakes on our car or bike?

(Put verse on screens) In our second reading, we hear from the writer of Hebrews, “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” But how do we get there?

Let’s begin by defining what faith is not. Faith is not a set of things we believe in and check off a list. Faith is not an intellectual assent to something. The opposite of faith is not doubt. In doubt, we are still searching. The opposite of faith is complacency.

Faith is God speaks his word, and then there is a response to that word. So if you want to have faith, we must hear God’s word, and then there needs to be a response from us in some form of action. Faith without action is dead, says St. James.

The writer of Hebrews gives us beautiful examples of faith in Abraham and Sarah. Each of them heard the word of God spoken to them, and in faith, they acted on what God asked them to do. Abraham had a good life, but God wanted to make it great! We are told that Abraham was as good as dead when he heard the word of God calling him to pack all of his belongings and go where God was calling him. Abraham does this because God is calling him to do so. Let’s put ourselves in Abraham and Sarah’s position for a moment. How would we feel if God told all of us to leave right now and pack our belongings and move to a place we do not know where? I would be freaking out! We love our control! Faith is putting more control in the hands of God and not ours.

My friends in Christ, we are being called to live in faith. I believe God is calling daily to do something, and it is up to us to respond to that word. Most of what God’s word is asking is not a total makeover of our lives but a step forward.

Our homework for this week is this! Each time we put our foot on the brake of our car or bike, let it remind us, “Do I have more faith in God or this brake?” 

When we gather in the Eucharist, God gives us his word, and he manifests himself in each of us and his Body and Blood.