Si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos

2^nd Sunday Lent 2012:

    If God is for us, who can be against us. Si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos. This was the motto of my seminary, the Pontifical College Josephinum. So over my years there I had many opportunities to reflect on these words: If God is for us, who can be against. Truly, God is for us. Sometimes people get the mistaken notion that God is out to get us, that he is waiting to condemn us. Nothing could be farther from the truth. God is for us, and the cross is the proof.

    Our readings today help us to understand more fully the great mystery of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Today's transfiguration story shows forth the glory of Christ, the son of God. In the presence of his disciples he is changed, he shines forth in his glory appearing with Elijah and Moses, God's heavenly prophets. The voice of the Father can be heard: this is my beloved Son. This passage of Mark's gospel helps to set the stage for what is to follow: this is Christ, the son of God, the beloved. And, it is precisely this son who will be persecuted, it is this son who will be arrested, mocked, scourged, tortured, and crucified. The son of God, who today is arrayed in glory, will soon be covered in sweat and blood. The son of God who today shines forth on the mountain top will be buried in a tomb. We should see a great tension in all of this: there is a huge disparity between who Christ is and the death he suffers. He is the source of life, and he was put to death.

Yet, this is how we know that God is for us. Jesus is his only beloved Son, but just like Abraham, he does not withhold his son, but rather is willing to sacrifice him. Abraham showed his love for God in his offering of Isaac, and God shows his love for us in the sacrifice of Christ. This is why Paul can say what he does: if God is for us, who can be against us. God does not look to condemn us; rather, he sent his son to save us. The cross shows the lengths that God is willing to go in order to bring us salvation. So, if we ever wonder if God can forgive our sins, look at the Cross. Perhaps we think that there isn't enough mercy for us, look at the Cross. Because today as we ponder the transfiguration of Jesus we get a glimpse into who Christ is: the beloved son of God. And we remember that it is precisely this son who was given for us. God's love and mercy is more amazing than we can possible imagine, for he sent his son Jesus to suffer and die so that we might live.

As we contemplate this great love, aren't we moved to respond? How do we love God in return for such a great love? Listen again to the voice of the Father: this is my beloved Son, listen to him. Listen to Jesus. Do we hear his voice? Are we attentive to the ways Christ speaks to us? It is certainly true that we have many "Transfiguration" type moments in our lives. I'm sure we can remember some time when God seemed to break through and reveal himself to us. Those are great times to listen to Christ.

But we do not stay on that mountain, we cannot build those booths, tempting as it may be. Rather, we come down the mountain, we return to our normal lives, with Jesus walking beside us in more hidden ways. But that doesn't mean that Jesus stops speaking to us. Jesus speaks to us through Holy Scripture, through the voice of the Magisterium of the Church, he speaks to us in our hearts and minds in our prayer. Here at this Mass Jesus speaks to us in the liturgy of the Word, and he comes to us in His Blessed Sacrament. As we draw closer to the Cross of Christ during this season of Lent, we listen to the voice of Christ. His message is always the same: God loves you, and wants to bring you salvation, life, hope, and peace. For truly, if God is for us, who can be against us.

Repent and Believe in the Gospel

1st Sunday of Lent:

 

    Today in the gospel we hear the rallying cry of the whole season of Lent: repent and believe in the gospel. Today we hear the very first words from the mouth of Jesus. These are the first words he speaks as he begins his ministry in Mark's gospel. So I cannot help but believe that they must have formed the heart of his message. In a sense these words are the core of the Christian message. Repent and believe.

    I don't think it is accidental that these two commands are given together: repent and believe. I don't think it is possible to do one without the other. First, repent is certainly on our minds during the season of Lent. While it is important to move away from sin all year long, Lent seems like a perfect opportunity to do some real soul-searching. I truly believe that God pours grace upon his church in the season of Lent like no other time of year. It is truly a season of conversion, of repentance. I find it inspiring that the whole church is doing the same thing. Right now all of us are supposed to be looking into our hearts and acknowledging our faults. This can be a painful and humbling thing to do, but I take comfort in the fact that we are all doing it together. And, what do we find when we search our hearts and examine our consciences? We find that we are all sinners. Sorry, but we are all weak and we are all fragile, we all commit sin, we all have need for repentance. If you searched your heart and conscience and found no sin you either need to look harder, or you are a canonizable saint. Although one thing the saints seem to have in common is that they all recognized themselves as sinners. For example, St. John Vianney, who is the patron saint of priests, was renowned for his holiness and simplicity of life. He was also known to spend 14 hours per day hearing confessions. Another priest once asked him why he was so popular: why are you such a great confessor? St. John Vianney said if he was a great confessor it was only because he was a great sinner. We are all sinners. So, we recognize that we are sinners, now what? Repentance means that we need to turn away from our sins, but this is easier said than done. Haven't I just been saying that we are all sinners; we are all weak and frail. Don't you think if we could move away from sin on our own, we would do it?

    This is where the second part of Jesus' message comes in. Repent, yes, but believe in the gospel. And what is the gospel: God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son so that all those who believe in him might not perish, but might have eternal life. Or as our reading from St. Peter's letter today puts it: Christ suffered for sins so that he might lead you to God. Jesus came to help us, to heal us. He knows we are sinners, he knows we are weak and frail. But, Jesus was not sent to condemn the world, Jesus came to save the world. But, he never takes away our freedom. Salvation is certainly a free gift from Christ, but he gives it to those who look for it.

    So, repentance and faith go hand in hand. By repentance we realize we need a savior. In faith, we recognize that Christ is that savior. By faith we realize that sin is an obstacle to our relationship with Christ, by repentance we identify these obstacles and seek their removal. Repentance without faith seems hopeless, but faith without repentance seems empty. The two must always go together in our lives because they came together from Christ. 2000 years ago Jesus preached the good news and today as we come forward to receive Christ in this Holy Eucharist on this first Sunday of Lent he tells us the same thing: repent and believe in the gospel.

Ash Wednesday at Marian High School:

Ash Wednesday 2012:

Today we begin Lent. Ash Wednesday: we receive ashes and hear: remember you are dust and to dust you shall return. Kind of depressing isn't it? Why this focus on ashes? I think ashes are a great way to describe life without God. Because without God in our lives we are nothing, without God we come from nothing and we head toward nothing. But, with God there is life, with God there is hope, with God there is love. We start Lent with ashes because we should have a desire to have more than ashes. These ashes remind us that we should desire new life. But, Lent is a time of penance. The Church tells us that if we want new life, it will come through penance.

This shouldn't really surprise us if we think about it. Lent is a season where we prepare to celebrate the great triduum, where we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. Lent prepares us for Easter. So, if this is a season to prepare ourselves to celebrate the resurrection, it should look like the cross of Jesus. Because the resurrection is only possible after the crucifixion. Jesus is our model in all things, and the new life of the resurrection could only happen by way of the cross. In a similar manner, the new life that God wants to spring up within us this Lenten season will come about if we embrace this season of penance. Lent is not supposed to be fun, Lent can and probably should be a difficult season of suffering. But this suffering leads to new life.

Jesus describes for us today the three components of penance: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Every single one of you should make a resolution in each one of these three camps. And, remember my rule that I tell you every year: it should be difficult enough to be a sacrifice, but simple enough that you can do it for 40 days.

    Prayer: make a commitment to giving time to prayer. Make it concrete. Don't say: I want to pray more this year... That is not concrete enough. But, don't say: I'm going to pray 10 rosaries everyday... You will never get that done. A good commitment for High School kids is 10 minutes. Make a commitment this year to spend 10 minutes per day in the Chapel here at Marian. You could make it before school, after school, during lunch. Try to make a concrete commitment to a chunk of time and stick to it. Or go to Mass: we offer Mass after school every Tuesday and before school every Thursday: one great spiritual practice for Lent would be to go to Mass an extra day every week. I know it is a big sacrifice to stay after school or to get here early, but remember that the new life God wants to give you will grow through penance and self-sacrifice.

Fasting: we all know that this is where we give stuff up for Lent. But I once heard someone say: this year I'm not giving up anything for Lent, I'm going to be more loving. Great! You should love all the time: give something up for Lent! Fasting teaches us something that we rarely learn anywhere else: self-denial. Self-denial is something that we struggle with as human beings. In fact, if we were better at self-denial we would still be in the Garden of Eden. If you can give up sweets, or soda, or Facebook, or texting during Lent you will exercise that self-denial muscle which can be quite weak in all of us. With that muscle to help you, you can be more loving and more charitable the rest of the year.

Finally, giving of alms. Alms are money. Some of you have jobs, consider giving a portion of your paycheck each week to the poor. But, many of you don't have jobs. Consider supporting Eric's promise. This is a great way to live a simpler life, help the poor, and deepen your relationship with God.

I am absolutely convinced that God wants to do something amazing in your life. Let this be the year you make a commitment to Lent. Let this be the year you allow Christ into your life. No matter how you feel about your relationship with God right now, give Lent a chance. I guarantee that after 40 days of penance you will know yourself better and, more importantly, you will know God better. We are about to receive ashes, which are a powerful reminder that we are dust and to dust we shall return. But with God in our lives we have something more.

Behold I am doing something new… for Lent

7^th Sunday OT 2012:

    In today's first reading we hear something quite interesting: forget the events of the past, behold I am doing something new. This would have sounded quite radical at the time it was first spoken. As best we can tell, this passage was first written at the time of the Babylonian exile. Remember that the people were forcibly removed from their homeland, and Jerusalem was in ashes. This was the darkest period of the people's existence. So, the prophet is here to give them a message of hope. But, he tells them to forget the past. The past to which the prophet refers would have been the Exodus, when God saved his people from slavery in Egypt. It would have been impossible for a Jew during the time of the Exile to forget about the Exodus, any more than we would forget about the Resurrection. The Exodus made them who they were. Just as the Resurrection is the historical event that causes Christianity, so the Exodus was the historical event that made the nation of Israel.

    But, God says I am doing something new! Christianity and Judaism are historical religions. We do not base our faith on some enlightened notions of good or evil. We did not invent our religion. Rather, we are rooted in time. We believe in a person, Jesus Christ. We believe that he rose from the dead. We believe that he sent his disciples into the world to teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Ours is a concrete, historical faith. It is rooted in time, in real events. But, there can be a pitfall in a religious faith like ours. Because we base our faith on the real person of Jesus, who did real things many years ago, it is easy for us to let our faith seem distant and remote. We believe in Jesus, but he lived a long time ago. All the sudden our faith, based in concrete reality, can seem like a story in a book. Our faith is historical, but it is not simply stuck in the past. Behold, I am doing something new. In fact, God did something new. He brought his people out of exile and back into Jerusalem. So while their faith was certainly based on the action of God in the time of the Exodus, God asked them to be ready for his new action in their lives. The same is true for us as well.

    Think about the gospel passage today. It is easy to think of it simply as a story set in the past. But, Christ wants to make this happen even today. We hear of healing and of forgiveness. Christ certainly continues to bring us healing and forgiveness. Put yourself in this story, allow it to come alive for you. Jesus did not just want to bring healing and forgiveness 2000 years ago, but he continues he be present to us throughout history. Jesus wants to do something new.

    I think this is a great way to think about Lent. As you all know Lent starts on Wednesday. And while it is certainly important to celebrate one of my personal favorites (Fat Tuesday), it is not too early to begin thinking about our commitment to Lent. Lent is a time of renewal, a time of preparation. We spend 40 days preparing to celebrate the feast of the Resurrection. I think Lent is a particularly beautiful way to be sure that the Resurrection is not simply an event in the past. Every year we put ourselves through the desert of Lent so as to celebrate the springtime of Easter. God wants to do something new in your life this year. The people in today's Gospel had to tear through the roof to get to Jesus in order to find healing and forgiveness. I think this is a good way to think about our Lenten activities of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, because they allow Christ into our lives. Lent is a time to open up to Christ, for behold, he wants to do something new our lives.

The compassion of Christ

6^th Sunday OT 2012:

    In today's gospel we get an insight into the person of Jesus Christ. We see in him compassion for the suffering of the leper. There are a couple of features of today's gospel that really highlight Jesus' compassion.

    First, it says that when Jesus sees the leper he is moved with pity. Jesus is not impartial to human suffering. John Paul II once said that although God allows suffering, he does not enjoy it. God doesn't cause suffering, he didn't create suffering. He allows it but he is not impassive; rather Christ is God's response to human suffering, he overcomes suffering and death by his own passion, death, and resurrection. The word Mark uses in the gospel today is particularly powerful. Our English translation says that Jesus was moved with pity, but the Greek word says something like: Jesus' bowels shook. In other words, in the presence of suffering Jesus is moved on a very deep level.

    Second comes the exchange with the leper. Again we see the compassion of Jesus. We hear in the first reading that lepers had to dwell apart, that they had to shout unclean and that they had to keep others at a distance. Notice that Jesus is not afraid to reach out. He is not afraid to bridge the gap between himself and this leper; rather, Jesus reaches out and touches the leper with great love. Then their conversation is quite beautiful. Unfortunately, our translation limps along a little bit here. What we hear is: if you wish you can make me clean, Jesus responds I do will it, be made clean. But if we were to put it into more modern English we might translate it: If you want to, and Jesus replies: I do want to, be made clean. This is why Jesus is here: he wants to heal this man. Jesus has a great desire to restore humanity to its original purity. Jesus has a great desire to heal human suffering. He has a great desire to overcome sin and death. In fact, this desire is so strong that it causes him to reach out and touch this leper, and it is this same desire that even takes Christ to the Cross. If we ever wonder about the love and compassion of Jesus, if we are ever curious about his desire to bring healing to the world we need look no farther than the cross, which is the love Christ has for us.

    Our story in the gospel today shows us the love and compassion of Jesus, who is moved with pity at human suffering, who reaches out to touch the leper because he has a strong desire to bring health and salvation to the world. But, of course, Jesus compassion has not ended. Jesus still desires to reach out and touch each one of us. He is still moved with pity at the sight of human suffering. He wants to bring this healing to every one of us. So, I think we need to emulate this man in the gospel. The first thing we hear is that he came to Jesus, kneeled down, and begged him. What a beautiful description of the spiritual life! First, come to Jesus. Find him. Spend time with him. We know for sure he is right here in the holy Eucharist, spend time with him. Kneel down, which is an image of worship. We come here to holy Mass to worship and adore Christ. Beg him, share with him our needs and desires: Lord I need healing from sickness, weakness, sin, suffering, you name it: beg Christ to reach out and touch you. Christ literally died for you because his love is so strong, we should keep this in mind as we come into his presence to experience his love and compassion.

    Once we experience the love and compassion of Christ, it has to change us. After we approach Jesus like the leper in the story, we have to become like Christ. Paul says imitate me as I imitate Christ. This is a tall order. Here in the Eucharist Christ gives us everything, even his very body and blood. After we receive this love, we are called to imitate it. After we have been touched by Christ, it is our job to go out and touch the lives of others.

Our hearts are restless…

5^th Sunday OT 2012:

Humans are passionate animals. In fact, this might be one of the many features that separate us from the rest of creation. We are full of desires, passions, and interests. We desire family, health, success, pleasure, happiness, etc. Very often people interpret the Church as being against desire. But, this is certainly not true. Rather, as Christians we believe that at the root of every human being is a desire for God. That while our desires and longings probably need to be purified and directed to their ultimate goal, that Goal is union with God. St. Augustine said it so well when he said: you have made us for yourself O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.

This is why I think we have an inkling in our hearts that there is more than just what we see in this world. There is more to life than simply desiring wealth and prosperity. There has to be something more. Of course, that something more is Christ. Even if a person does not recognize it, we are all searching for Christ. The words of St Peter are as true today as they were when he first spoke them, Lord, everyone is looking for you. From hardened atheists to non-Christians to the pope, we all have one thing in common, we all have a desire for union with God. We were made for communion with God and we will never be happy without it.

This is precisely why Jesus came among us. Christ has a longing for us. He knows that we are looking for him. He knows that we are incomplete without communion with God. He knew that because of Original Sin there was a separation between God and man, but in Jesus, God came in search of us. Jesus says today: to the other towns I must go. Christ is filled with compassion for us, he has a longing desire for communion with us. Christ has come to look for each one of us. He knows that there are many of us here who feel like Job at times, because of the pain and suffering we sometimes experience in this life we might feel like we will never be happy again. Yet in Christ we can find life and peace even in the midst of suffering. Even if we don't recognize it, in Christ we find the fulfillment of our desires.

This desire is what brings us together today. It's why we come here to Mass. Hopefully we don't come here simply to fulfill some obligation, not simply because if we don't we are afraid we might go to hell. Rather, we come here because we have a longing for Christ. We come here because we have found, in Jesus, the fulfillment of all our desires. Here in this Holy Eucharist Christ continues his rescue mission. Here at this Holy Mass Christ is looking for us. Here at this Mass Jesus finds us in Holy Communion. Here at this Mass we find Jesus, who is that eternal spring that satisfies our deepest longings.

And, with this encounter comes a responsibility. Listen again to the words of St. Paul: an obligation has been imposed upon me and woe to me if I do not preach the word. Once we have found Christ, once Christ has found us, once we recognize in him the amazing fulfillment of our desires, we realize that this is too good to keep to ourselves. As Christians, as men and women who have been found by Christ, we want to help others find Christ. Jesus came on a rescue mission, he was a missionary sent from the Father. But, his mission has not ended; rather, he entrusts it to us. This is not an easy task. Paul says: I became all things to all people, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible. This is not simply something for St. Paul, this is not simply something for religious or missionaries, but this is the vocation of every Christian.

Jesus continues his work among us

4^th Week OT 2012:

For the last few weeks we have been off and running. We heard of the baptism of Jesus. Next, Jesus is selecting disciples. Now, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue, driving out demons, and his fame is spreading throughout the whole world. What an amazing time it must have been to be alive! Sometimes a great way to pray would be to imagine yourself there with Jesus. What does it look like when Jesus comes out of the water and the voice from heaven can be heard? Would I have followed Jesus when he passed by? What did Jesus say in the synagogue? What would it have been like to see him drive out demons? This can be great way to pray.

But, we might be tempted to think that these were events that simply happened a long time ago. We might be tempted to imagine that these sorts of things certainly do not happen today. Today Christianity is much different than being with Christ in the gospels. But, this is false. It is certainly true that we might experience Christ differently, but that is not to say that we don't have experience Christ.

First we hear that Jesus was teaching in the synagogue. Jesus came with a mission to teach. He came to impart to us the gospel, the good news, the message of Salvation. Jesus was a good teacher, he taught us to love God above all things, to love our neighbor as ourselves. He taught us a great many things. And he continues to teach us when we read the Bible. The words of the Bible are not simply historical record. Rather, when we read and study the Bible Jesus truly teaches us. Further, he left his disciples with a clear command: go and teach all nations. When the Church teaches the message of salvation, it is Jesus who teaches. So, Jesus is teaching right now: anytime someone reads the Bible, Jesus is teaching, anytime someone goes to Catholic schools or CCD, Jesus is teaching. When parents pass the faith on to their children, Jesus is teaching. Jesus has never stopped teaching us the gospel, it just comes to us in different form.

What about the driving out of the demon? Well it is certainly true that the Church continues to perform the work of exorcism, but it doesn't seem as common as it did with Jesus. But, I would argue that what Jesus does in the gospel is to drive out the power of darkness, the power of evil. He did this in today's gospel, but even more in his death and resurrection. Jesus conquers the devil, conquers sin, evil, darkness by his death and resurrection. But, Jesus continues to conquer evil in all of us. Every time we turn away from sin by the power of grace, Jesus is driving out the demons of this world. Every time someone who is despairing finds hope in Christ, Jesus is driving out the demons of this world. Again it might not always happen as it does in our story today, but Jesus is continually driving out the demons of our world.

His fame spread throughout the world, and his fame continues to be spread. We tell the story of Jesus every day. There are over a billion Catholics worldwide, truly his fame has spread throughout the whole world.

I think this gospel story happens at every Mass. Here at the Mass Jesus teaches us, not in the synagogue, but in this house of prayer. He fills us with his life, his grace, which drives out the darkness in our lives. And at the end of Mass we are told: go in peace, which is nothing less than telling us to spread the good news about Jesus. While the events of today might seem a bit different than those of the gospel, it is the same Jesus who continues to teach us, he continues to drive out the power of darkness, especially here through the power of the holy Eucharist.

Pro Life 2012

3^rd Sunday OT 2012:

I'm sure that at the time January 22, 1973 seemed like just any other day. I'm sure people were going to work, going about their lives. However, America would change forever that day. A day that has cost more American lives than 9/11 or Pearl Harbor. Of course, I'm talking about the Roe vs. Wade decision. This is the 39^th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. For 39 years abortion has been legal in America. If you will bear with me, I would like to speak about abortion, an unpopular subject, to be sure, but one that is too important to leave undiscussed.

Abortion brings great sadness. I hope that at some point in the future, Roe vs. Wade is overturned. I long for the day when abortion ends. For many people abortion is a political issue, it's liberal versus conservatives, etc. But, abortion is not about politics, it's about those babies, it's about those mothers, it's about the pain and suffering that abortion causes. If we think of it as a political issue, we will forget why we should all want abortion to stop. We should want abortion to stop because it kills children and hurts women on an emotional and physical level.

What can we do? Our readings today give us some insight into the process of conversion. And it is precisely conversion that is necessary. I certainly think that we should all hope that the Supreme Court would overturn Roe vs. Wade at some point. But, in the meantime, all of us should pray for the conversion those who supports abortion and what John Paul II called the culture of death. We should pray for peace and healing for anyone who has ever been involved in an abortion. But, how can we help facilitate conversion? What can we do? I think we need to see ourselves as prophets. We need to take up the cause, and do what we can. I think every prophet needs two basic things. First, a prophet needs motivation; second, a prophet needs a content.

First, our motivation: abortion is just wrong. There is just no way to argue that the person in the womb is not a person, they just happen to be small and silent. But, it might take some convincing for us to become prophets of this truth. We might be a bit daunted by this task. Doesn't it sometimes feel impossible to change? I think it can be easy to become a bit hopeless when we think about the uphill battle we have in front of us. For 39 years abortion has been legal. Millions of people in America support abortion, many of our elected officials support abortion. How can we make a change? I think we need to keep Jonah in mind. He was one man, one prophet. His preaching caused the huge city of Nineveh to repent, to change. What might seem impossible by human standards is possible for God. Let's use the example of Jonah as our motivation, knowing that great things are possible by the grace of God.

But what to preach? The gospel can really help us here. Have you ever stopped to think about what happens in the gospel story? Here is Jesus walking by these people who were busy at work, carrying on the normal course of their lives. He says something to them: come follow me, and they drop everything to spend the rest of their lives with Jesus. Isn't that amazing! Christ offered them something so beautiful, so compelling, so wonderful, that they dropped everything and followed him. What does he offer? Himself! Come follow me, be with me, live with me, I will make you fishers of men, I will change you, I will make you better people. Notice that Jesus doesn't criticize, ostracize, or condemn. Jesus doesn't start by saying: hey there, you are all a bunch of sinners. Jesus does not move their hearts by drawing their attention to what is wrong with them. Rather, he offers them something compelling: he offers them the beauty of his own truth.

As pro-life prophets we need to do the same thing. It is so easy to get caught up in the negative side of abortion. It is easy to get angry when we hear numbers and statistics. But, shouting and criticizing will not bring about conversion. If all we use in the debate about abortion is the darkness of abortion, we just end up spreading more darkness and our prophecy ends up quite negative. Rather, our message must be about Christ, the beauty of human life, the goodness of human sexuality, the joys of family life, and the happiness that comes from Christian discipleship. Our message must be a message of love, forgiveness, healing, and mercy. In short our message must be Christ.

As pro-life prophets we need to keep the image of Jonah before us. We need to keep hope alive. We need to participate in this great work, even in the face of long odds. But, as we do so, we should always remember the lesson Christ teaches us, that only the beauty of the truth can change the heart. Only Christ and his truth can cause people to leave behind their former way of life and follow him. This might seem like a daunting task, we might never see the end of abortion in America, how can we keep up this mission? The words of Jesus speak to us as well: come to me. Here in the Eucharist we come to Jesus and ask him for the strength to make us fishers of men and women, to make us prophets who work for the healing of our land.

We meet Christ at Mass!!!

2^nd Sunday OT 2012:

Our readings today give us a message about discipleship. Last week we celebrated the feast of the Epiphany, which was the end of the Christmas season. For about a month we celebrated the birth of our savior, today we meet him, not as a baby, but we meet him as our leader, our Savior. It is an objective fact that Jesus was born in that small town all those years ago. But, if Jesus remains a historical oddity, a character from a book, a child in the manger, then our faith will always remain a peripheral affair. If we never meet Jesus, faith won't be central in our lives and we will always find ourselves struggling to follow the commandments, struggling to love one another. If our faith is not central our sufferings and difficulties will feel like burdens impossible to bear. Faith is our source of peace, it is our comfort in distress, and our strength in times of weakness. But, very often we have the wrong idea about faith. Many people think about faith as something mental, a belief with the mind. Rather, faith is a relationship with a person.

Christian faith certainly has a mental component, but faith is not so much a belief in something. Christianity is not a system, we don't believe in Jesusness… Faith is a relationship with a person, Jesus Christ. If we don't meet Jesus, we might end up believing in Christianity, but that is not the same thing as having faith in Christ.

Our gospel today recounts for us an encounter between Christ and those first disciples. This meeting is a model for us. It shows us how we can grow in faith, how we can establish a relationship with Christ.

John the Baptist points the people to Jesus. The same is often true for all of us. I didn't find Jesus on my own, my parents and teachers pointed me toward Jesus. Many people still point us toward Christ, if we are open and attentive.

The disciples met Jesus. Now here we might feel a bit jealous. I wish I had the chance to meet Jesus as did those early disciples. They saw Jesus, heard him speak, and spent time with him. Don't we wish we had that same opportunity? Of course, we do, if we have the eyes to see it. We have the same opportunity, but in a different form. Listen again to what John the Baptist says: Behold the Lamb of God. Sound familiar? In the new translation of the Roman Missal these words are spoken at every Mass right before we receive communion: behold the Lamb of God… This is the same Jesus, the same Lamb of God. Here at the Mass we see Jesus, in the Eucharist, we hear Jesus, in the Scriptures, we spend time with Jesus, present here in the tabernacle. While it does not take place in the same manner as it happened in the gospel, every mass is an encounter with Christ, every Mass is a chance to meet Jesus. It doesn't matter who the priest is, it doesn't matter how bad the homily is, it doesn't matter if there is music or not, we meet Christ at every mass. And he asks us the same questions: what are you looking for? But, what do we do with the encounter?

Again, the disciples are our model. I notice 2 things. First, they were curious. Where are you staying? Are we curious about Christ, are we curious about the Mass? Are we enthusiastic about coming here and do we try our best to be open and attentive? If so, we meet Christ. If not, Mass can seem a struggle and a burden. Secondly, they followed Christ. For the disciples the meeting was not the end of the relationship. For us, Mass cannot be the only time we have a relationship with Christ.

Holy Mass is an essential component in our faith. At every Mass we encounter Christ. We see him, we hear him, we spend time with him. Here at this Holy Mass he asks us: what are you looking for? It is up to us to be open to meeting Jesus, to renew our curiosity and enthusiasm for this encounter. And, finally, to follow Jesus the rest of our lives. Faith is important in our lives. But, faith has to be a living relationship with Christ, a relationship that grows and is strengthened by our participation here at Holy Mass where we: Behold the Lamb of God, Behold Him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.

Epiphany

Epiphany 2012:

Today we celebrate the Epiphany of Jesus. The word epiphany means manifestation of God, the revelation of Jesus to the Magi from the East. I have very fond memories of this feast from my childhood. I always love to sing We Three Kings, but also I have been fascinated with the statues of the kings. In my parish when I was growing up, the kings would be placed at various places throughout the church during the time after Christmas. This was to symbolize their journey from the East. As kids, we would always be on the lookout for the kings whenever we went to Mass wondering where they would be this time, we were looking for these mysterious travelers.

And these people are truly mysterious. You probably noticed that the gospel actually tells us very little about the Magi. Even their name, Magi, is mysterious. It probably means that they were of the Persian priestly caste. We call them the three kings, but we realize that in the gospel they are simply called the magi. We don't know their names, we don't know who came with them, we don't know how far they travelled, we don't even know how many of them there were. We usually say there were three magi, but we say this because there are three gifts mentioned. Maybe there were dozens of magi bearing these three gifts as a collective gift to the new born king. The details escape us, from one angle this can be quite frustrating.

If the gospel is simply a retelling of historical fact, then this story is not very valuable, since it contains little detail. But, the gospel is not simply a retelling of historical facts. Rather it is the good news of salvation meant to inspire faith and train disciples. So, this passage is meant to inspire and instruct, I believe it is very valuable since it does this well.

First, this is the manifestation of God to the nations. These mysterious travelers are certainly not Jewish, certainly not from the little town of Bethlehem. But to them is revealed this Child, the great King, the Son of God. In other words, Jesus came as the fulfillment of the prophets, to fulfill the promise made to King David. But, these magi remind us that this savior has a universal mission. He came for all of us. These foreigners represent all of us who are not descendants of Israel—If Christ was not revealed to the nations, we would not be here. St. Matt's parish is a great example of the universal mission of Christ, who was revealed to all peoples. We come from various backgrounds and locations, but we are drawn together the by manifestation of Christ. We are drawn here by our common faith that this little baby is truly the Son of God.

As Christians, every time we gather to celebrate the Holy Mass we live out this passage of the Bible. We are called here, not by the light of a star, but by the light of faith. We no longer find Christ as the infant lying in the manger, we find him in his Body and Blood, the Holy Eucharist. Like the magi we arrive from many different backgrounds and locales. Also, we come bearing gifts, not the gold, frankincense, and myrrh; but, we come offering our minds, hearts, and souls in worship. I see the Mass as a living out of this story of the magi, hopefully this helps inspire our faith and our devotion to the Holy Mass, and as I said the Bible is meant to inspire our faith. But, it also instructs us as disciples. What do we learn about discipleship here?

Notice that after they meet Jesus the magi return home, but they go by a different route. When we finish celebrating this Mass we all return home, but do we walk by a different path, does the Mass change our lives? There is a catchy slogan out there you often seen in Churches: come as you are. Which is great, we all come from different places in our lives. But, hopefully we don't leave as we are. Every time we gather here God reveals his beloved Son to us, the Light shining upon us. And when we go forth from this great Epiphany we are to shine this light to all the world. We come as we are, but hopefully we go home by a different route.

Names…

Mary Mother of God 2012:

    What's in a name? All you parents out there know the burden of naming your children. You want to make sure you pick a good name because it will stay with your child for all time. Names were quite important in the ancient world as well. Names and titles were great ways to pass along deep truths. Today we complete the octave of Christmas by venerating Mary, the mother of Jesus, under her title of the Mother of God, Theotokos in Greek. And, in the old calendar this day was celebrated as the holy name of Jesus, since on at his circumcision he received his name. I think both of these names can teach us something important.

    Of all the teachings of the Church, Marian doctrines are often misunderstood. It is easy to recognize that Mary is important in the Catholic Church. Whenever you walk into most Catholic churches you will see statues of Mary, pictures of Mary, perhaps the Church is even dedicated to Mary, there are great Marian shrines throughout the world. We teach some pretty amazing things about Mary: she is the ever-virgin Mother of God, conceived without sin, who was assumed into heaven. Non-Catholics are often confused and even scandalized by the attention we pay to this virgin of Nazareth. And it is certainly true that Marian devotion can go to extremes, but this does not mean that we should cast out devotion altogether. This is why I think the title of Mother of God can be quite helpful for us.

    The first thing it implies is a relationship: mother. A woman is a mother to a child. The child in this case, of course, is Christ. So if we venerate Mary as the Mother of God, this veneration will always lead us to her child. If we venerate Mary by herself, we go astray: Mary always points to Jesus. And who is Jesus? Mother of God reminds us of our belief in the son of God: this child of Nazareth is no ordinary child, he is God made manifest. Mother of God is a title that teaches us the truth about who Jesus is. Mary is his mother, this could not be if he were not fully human, but she is the Mother of God, which teaches us that Jesus is fully divine. So, if we renew our devotion to Mary under the title of the Mother of God, she will lead us to her divine son, who is fully God and fully human.

    Today we hear that the Mother of God took Jesus to the temple where he was circumcised and receives his name. Jesus is united with us in that he went through a human childhood. His name also tells us something important about his unity with humanity. The name Jesus, Yeshua, means "Yahweh Saves." This baby in the manger is on a rescue mission. His very name implies this fact. Every time we invoke the name of Jesus it gives us a powerful reminder that God saves us. This can be quite helpful when we are in trouble. In our times of need there is perhaps nothing better we can do than simply call on the name of Jesus: God saves, God saves, Jesus, Jesus.

    I don't think we often stop to ponder the two names we venerate today. But, if we were to do so I think it would strengthen our faith. When we remember that Mary is the Mother of God it reminds us that Jesus took from Mary our human nature. He has a human mother, just as we do. Yet, she is the Mother of God; Jesus is the son of God. In his humanity, we are all united to Christ, but in his divinity he unites us to God. Just by invoking the title Mother of God we are reminded of this great mystery. And, why did Jesus come to make this marvelous unity: Yeshua, God saves. God so desired to save the world that he sent his Son into the world, who took the name "God Saves" so that we might remember God's love for all time.