August 31, 2008
Posted in Homilies
at 9:00 am
Twenty-second Sunday, Year A, August 31st, 2008
Can you imagine an Olympic coach giving a pep talk to an athlete before a race by quoting Jesus Christ? “The first shall be last and the last shall be first,” and “those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose . . . those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” Unheard of in the Olympics, or any sport, or in our contemporary culture, which is all about winning, not losing.
What kind of losing is it that Jesus recommends in today’s Gospel? It’s a kind that all Catholics are supposed to practice in our daily lives – in the Mass, in marriage, in other sacraments like confession. What kind of losing is that? Generally, losing means failure and possibly embarrassment, which we strive to avoid at all costs – to fail a test, to fail to get a job or promotion, to fail in a relationship, to fail to win the expected gold medal.
Canadian paddler Adam van Koeverden was expected to win 2 gold medals (he won one silver). When he lost the 1000-metre Kayak final he was in shock; he came in eighth, almost dead last. “What have I done?” he wondered. “Was I hypnotized for three and a half minutes? That’s what it felt like . . . I’ve never come in ninth (meaning last). I’m not talking the last four years, the last two – I mean ever.” Here is a man who is not accustomed to failure and loss.
But Jesus is talking about another kind of losing. It’s not about “bad luck” or other circumstances beyond our control, since the Lord suggests that we must make an actual effort to “lose”: “those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” He means “those who give their life for my sake will find it,” but he uses the word “lose,” suggesting that we can learn from our losses and failures, to make a virtue of necessity, turn “bad luck” into a conscious choice, and learn to give our lives.
After I graduated from university with a degree in English, I thought I might become a writer, but I failed, because I was seeking my will, not God’s will. Whatever your failures in life might be, stop and ask, “What is God trying to teach me through this?” or talk to God directly, “Lord, what do you want me to do?”
Eric Lamaze failed twice to get into the Olympics, because he tested positive for cocaine. Perhaps God was sending him a message: “Stop doing cocaine! Change your life.” He did, and two weeks ago he won Canada’s first gold medal in individual show jumping. I failed to become a writer, so I . . . stopped doing cocaine . . . no, but I did stop committing some other sins, and I eventually became a priest! I knew I would continue to lose and fail until I learned to lose my life for Christ’s sake, to give my life to him in order to find my true self and the meaning of my life. So remember: in all your losses and failures, Christ is ultimately inviting you to lose your life for his sake, as Christ lost his life for your sake; he is asking you to return love for love; the gift of your self in response to the gift of himself to you.
In our daily lives as Christians, we are losing our lives all the time. Consider what Paul told the Catholics of Rome: “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice . . . your spiritual worship” (Rom 12: ). We are meant to do this in each Mass – to “lose” ourselves, to give our lives. We not only offer bread and wine and our monetary gifts, but we are also meant to offer our lives – spiritually and symbolically to the Father through the sacrifice of Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, in preparation for the moment of death, when we will truly, totally, finally, physically and spiritually lose our life, and make a gift of our life to God, so that he can raise us up to eternal life.
In the Eucharist and all the sacraments, we live out this mystery of losing in order to find; we participate in the death and Resurrection of Christ. Consider marriage. On your wedding day, when you exchanged your vows – overflowing with love, joy, and happiness – you were willing to lose your life, to give of yourself. And look at the results! You’ve become a better person, haven’t you? A more whole and complete person; you’ve found more of your true self! And look what abundant life gushed forth from the fountain of your sacrifice – all your beautiful children! Just like the fragrant blossoms of spring, on our tree in front of the Church: the blossoms died, but bore fruit on sturdy branches heavy with bright red apples, so the “loss” of your life has borne abundant fruit.
In all the sacraments, we live out this mystery of losing and finding, of death and Resurrection. Consider confession: we accuse ourselves because we want to lose our old self and die to our sinfulness, so that we can rise again as a new creation. A regular celebration of the sacrament of Reconciliation will help us better live the other sacraments such as the Eucharist and Marriage. Everybody knows that a refusal to say “I’m sorry” is poison to any marriage. If we ask forgiveness in marriage, should we not also ask forgiveness of God? Regular confession will help you develop a more sensitive conscience, so that you can also be more sensitive to your spouse and family.
Confession can also help us transform loss into gain, failure into success. Sometimes when we fail, we can see a connection with a personal sin; other times, we feel we are victims of “bad luck,” and if the failure is severe, we may be tempted toward self-pity or depression. Confession delivers us from this kind of obsessive self-centeredness by helping us to see everything that happens to us in relation to God who loves us, and permits our failures for a greater good.
Confession also helps make Mass meaningful. A constant danger for Catholics is to attend Mass as mere ritual and routine, empty of a real personal relationship with Jesus Christ. A good confession – not a shopping list of sins rattled off without emotion, but a sincere apology for having offended one who loves us – this kind of confession is necessary for a meaningful celebration of the Eucharist. And those who rarely if ever go to confession – I worry about you, that you are missing out on the whole meaning of being a Christian, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Even priests have to make an effort to go to confession. There are no other priests in Russell to hear my confession. I have to waste gas and drive somewhere else, and “bug” one of my brother priests to do me a “sacramental favour” by hearing my confession. I have to humble myself too, and lose my pride, so that I can continually find and become the person God created me to be.
I received some very good advice in my last confession, from Fr. Larry McCormick at St. Patrick’s. (If we actually pray that God will enlighten the priest hearing our confession, we will be amazed how God himself will speak to us). So Fr. Larry said to me, using an Olympic analogy, “Remember you are running a marathon, not the 100 meter dash. Learn to pace yourself.” That’s exactly what I needed to hear as I begin a new year with a new job as vocations director. I want to lose my life for Christ’s sake, but I don’t want to kill myself. So I have to learn to pace myself.
The Holy Spirit also has a word for you: to enlighten your mind, touch your heart and lift up your spirits. But to hear this word, you just might have to lose your pride and go to confession.
For most of us Christians, we lose and find our lives over a whole lifetime of little crosses and little sacrifices in marriage, family, priesthood, religious life. We are not running a 100 meter dash that’s over in 10 seconds; we are not martyrs beheaded for our faith and flying straight to heaven. No, we are running a marathon to a distant finish line, requiring frequent rests to fuel up on God’s grace, overflowing for us in our regular reception of the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.
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August 24, 2008
Posted in Homilies
at 9:00 am
Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, August 24th
This is a picture (#1) of the first road in North America, built in Ferryland, Newfoundland, (formerly called Avalon) around 1621. I was privileged to visit this archeological site last month, where I was informed of this interesting fact. You may wonder why I am showing you this photo. It’s summer, and I was too lazy to prepare a homily, so I decided just to show you photos from my holiday . . .
No, this photo is actually related to the theme of today’s Gospel on the Church: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”
This road was built by a persecuted Catholic from England named Lord Baltimore, whose son later founded Baltimore, Maryland. This is a picture (#2) of the foundation of the house in which he lived from 1627-1628. When he came to visit the colony for the first time in 1627, he brought with him two Catholic priests, who celebrated the first Roman Catholic Mass in a British possession in North America, perhaps in this very building! (See Ferryland: The Colony of Avalonia by F.D. Fardy, Flanker Press, St. John’s). It’s the beginning of the Catholic Church in English Canada on the “Rock” called Newfoundland, the same Church that Jesus Christ founded on the rock of Peter.
Lord Baltimore was one of the trusted advisors and close friends of King James I of England, but he risked it all in 1624 when he came out of the closet and publicly proclaimed his Catholic faith. We have to remember that in England at the time it was essentially illegal to be Catholic; in Elizabethan England, Catholic priests were routinely tortured and killed by the government. Baltimore was forced to resign his position as the King’s secretary of state, to surrender his estate in Ireland, and to endure years of persecution from former friends and colleagues – all because he believed in the Catholic Church, and he wanted to found a colony and create a space in the New World where Catholics would be free to practice their faith.
I mention Lord Baltimore because his faith, self-sacrifice, courage and perseverance in founding a small outpost of the Catholic Church in Newfoundland back in 1621 is also a model for us today as we try to create a space for the Church in our secular society. Almost four hundred years later, we have religious freedom in Canada, but the space that God occupies in our daily consciousness, and the space that the Church occupies in our secular society is shrinking, shrinking, shrinking, almost as if secular society wants to squeeze the Church into a little corner where it is neither seen nor heard.
Pope Benedict addresses these issues in many of his homilies, most recently at World Youth Day in Australia. Since today’s Gospel focuses on Peter as the first Pope, I thought it appropriate to quote from our current Pope, the successor of St. Peter. (If you would like to learn more about the Biblical origins of the Papacy, I highly recommend that you listen to one of our new CD’s by Scott Hahn, entitled “Why do we have a Pope” in which he delves deeply into today’s Gospel and the first reading).
In his closing homily on World Youth Day in Sydney, the Pope asked the youth, “are you living in a way that opens up space for the Spirit in the midst of a world that wants to forget God, or even rejects him in the name of a falsely-conceived freedom?” (July 20th, 2008) In another homily, he remarked, “in the name of human freedom and autonomy, God’s name is passed over in silence, religion is reduced to private devotion, and faith is shunned in the public square” (Eucharist with Bishops, Seminarians and Novices, July 19th, 2008).
Isn’t this last quote a fair description of the quandary of religion in 21st century Canada? “God’s name is passed over in silence, religion is reduced to private devotion, and faith is shunned in the public square.” In this year of St. Paul, I pray that we Canadian Catholics will come to understand that religion is not mere private devotion, that our faith is personal, but not private – it is meant to be shared, like St. Paul and Lord Baltimore who shared their faith! As one bishop put it, “I am convinced that one of the goals of Pope Benedict XVI in proclaiming the Year of Saint Paul is to have every Catholic hold up a mirror to his or her life and to ask: ‘am I as determined and as energetic about spreading the Catholic faith as St. Paul was? Is spreading the faith both by example and by our conversation with our friends even a concern?’” (Pastoral Letter by Bishop Michael Saltarelli, January 25th, 2008).
Why do we always let others set the agenda in conversation, talking about everything but God?: weather, sports, news headlines, work, gossip, but God’s name is passed over in silence. We need to create a space for God in our conversations and our public life, in our consciousness, in our country. “The task of witness is not easy,” as our Pope reminds us (WYD address, July 17th, 2008), but that is what we are called to do. Jesus founded the Church on Peter and his confession of faith. In every age we must renew this profession of faith and not be afraid to publicly proclaim and share it.
Even for a priest it is not easy, especially with his own family (part of my extended family are unbelievers, some are non-practicing); during our reunion in Nova Scotia, they were all forced to listen to me preach for 10 minutes as I baptized one of my Catholic cousins first baby. That created a little bit of space for God during the conversation afterwards, over beer and hamburgers at the barbecue.
When we are surrounded by friends or family members or co-workers who act like God is non-existent or irrelevant, it can be hard to be the Jesus freak, the closet Christian, the Catholic pariah. St. Paul was sometimes beaten for his faith, and Lord Baltimore mocked as Papist by his Anglican colleagues. To bear witness in today’s secular world, we need the same kind of courage that comes from a personal relationship with Jesus in prayer and in the Eucharist.
This picture (#3) has nothing to do with my homily. It’s Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia, with our “family” house in the distance, formerly my grandfather’s, now belonging to my uncle and his wife. I’m showing it to you because it’s beautiful! The following picture is more relevant – the cabin (#4), right next the house, where they invited me to stay because of my strange customs and bizarre habits (I like to pray); so here I was able to celebrate Mass the days I could not go to the local Catholic Church. I was able to maintain some space for God during my holidays through Mass and personal prayer. (In this part of Canada, Mass was probably first celebrated by French priests at Port-Royal in 1605 or shortly thereafter).
In Pope Benedict’s commentary on today’s Gospel in his book Jesus of Nazareth, he remarks that in Luke’s version, the disciples witnessed Jesus praying to the Father just before he asked them, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Mt ). The Pope writes, “(the disciples) are privileged to see (Jesus) as the one who . . . speaks face-to-face with the Father, person to person . . . They are privileged to see what the ‘people’ do not see, and this seeing gives rise to a recognition that goes beyond the ‘opinion’ of the people. This seeing is the wellspring of their faith, their confession; it provides the foundation of the Church. (291).
Interesting comment: this “seeing” of Jesus provides the foundation of the Church. The Church was founded by Jesus Christ on the rock of St. Peter, and has stood firm for 2000 years, and in Canada for about 400 years. But the Church’s vitality depends so much on the people in this building (picture #5 of OLMM), on you and me, and our “seeing” of Jesus, our looking at him in adoration, our listening to him in the Scripture, our speaking with him in personal prayer, our willingness to talk about him with our friends and neighbours, to invite them to experience his presence, grace and love in the family of the Church and the celebration of the Eucharist.
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August 17, 2008
Posted in Homilies
at 9:00 am
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, August 17, 2008
Our Archbishop visited our parish yesterday for Mass and a reception. We are very blessed in our diocese to have such an energetic and enthusiastic bishop who loves the people of God and is constantly touring around the parishes to personally meet the people. Like St. Paul, he is a model of one who “spends” himself for the Gospel of Christ.
He also has a real vision for our diocese, with a special emphasis on the youth and the promotion of vocations (as he mentioned yesterday). In the past, our diocese did not have a specific vocations director; it was simply one of the many roles fulfilled by our episcopal vicar. Our bishop is sending a message that he is serious about promoting vocations by appointing a priest as part-time vocations director. I was not looking for more work. I was half-hoping I could hide out here in Russell and enjoy a quiet life in the country. But that is not God’s will. So when the bishop asked me to be vocations director, I said yes.
Practically speaking, this means I will be absent from the parish probably one day a week, working at the diocesan center. I will also be away at times for vocations conferences – a provincial one in Niagara Falls September 2-4, and a National one in the States Sept. 26th – Oct. 2nd. More importantly, in my role as vocations director, I will need the help of your prayers.
I think there are two keys to promoting vocations to the priesthood:
1) healthy and happy priests who are vocation directors in their own parishes, and who invite young men to consider the call (I have to do more of this!)
2) your prayers, the prayers of the people of God, families praying for vocations — even from their own families.
Whenever we pray for seemingly very difficult cases – such as promoting vocations to priesthood AND marriage in our selfish, individualistic culture, we must persevere like the Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel. When she prayed the first time, asking Jesus to heal her daughter, “he did not answer her at all” (Mt 15: 23) Do we ever feel that way in prayer? God doesn’t answer the first time so we give up? No! We must persevere like this brave woman who humbly knelt before Jesus and asked again, “Lord, help me,” and finally he did hear her prayer.
Let’s . . . go for the gold in our prayers! Like Chinese athletes, not Canadian ones! (I’m just joking – China has a billion people don’t forget. Canadians are competing quite well). Speaking of the pressure of competition, a Canadian team’s sport psychologist did comment on trying to “find that delicate balance between being calm and focused but staying driven” (Ottawa Citizen, Aug. 14th, A11). In our prayer also, let us be calm and focused, but stay hungry and driven.
On the subject of prayer, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage the praying of the Rosary – for our families, for vocations, for our bishop . . . for the persecuted Christians in China! . . . for peace in the world. In the Church calendar, we are in the middle of the octave of the Assumption, a special time to honour Mary. The Church, having celebrated the Assumption of Mary on August 15th, is still living in the spirit of this feast for 8 days, ending with the feast of the Queenship of Mary on August 22nd. The Mass is the greatest prayer, the second is the Rosary. Pray it daily if you can. If not, pray at least one decade with your family before dinner or while driving to and from work.
Interestingly, Pope Pius XII, who had consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on October 31st, 1942, commanded that this consecration be renewed every year on the feast of Mary’s Queenship (Ad Caeli Reginam, #47), celebrated in the old calendar on May 31st, now celebrated on August 22nd (at the end of the octave we are currently celebrating). When Mary appeared at Fatima in 1917, she asked people to pray the Rosary, and she requested that the world be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart. According to the visionary Sister Lucia, this was finally done in accordance with our Lady’s wishes (the Pope acting in union with the bishops of the world) by John Paul II on March 25, 1984 (The Last Secret of Fatima, p. 82).
People may wonder if it had any effect. Our Lady had promised that when the consecration was made, Russia would be converted. Remember during the Cold War some people predicted that Communism in Russia could last a hundred years, but a mere 5 years after the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Communism fell (in the Soviet Union; we should still pray for the same in China). There is real power in this consecration, IF individual Christians live it out.
Why did it take the Church 67 years to comply with our Lady’s request? There are many reasons, but one of them is the lack of individual consecrations to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. If you recall, our parish was publicly consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the first Saturday of May, 2007. But how many individuals in our parish live out this Consecration? I hope it won’t take 67 years to see some results . . . maybe 5 years? . . .
I went through the consecration to Jesus through Mary, as recommended by John Paul II , and taught by St. Louis de Montfort, back in 1997. I must say that our Blessed Mother has been a tremendous help to me in my priesthood, and I wonder if, without the graces she obtains for me, I would stumble and fall, and become discouraged . . . or worse.
On my holiday down East, I thoroughly enjoyed our family reunion, the ocean and the majesty of God reflected in creation, and some time with my brother priests. But I also found that I felt a little emotionally drained, perhaps a cumulative effect of this last year of ministry. I realized from talking with my brother priests in St. John’s and Halifax that this is a not uncommon issue.
And I also realized that the greatest disaster that could ever befall a priest . . .any guess what is the greatest disaster that could ever befall a priest (or a bishop for that matter. . . or any human soul when I come to think about it) ? . . . is that he would stop praying and fall out of love with Jesus Christ. Another great misfortune for a priest or bishop would be the lack of support of his people. The first tragedy can only be prevented by the priest himself, by his daily decision to pray, to cling to Jesus through Mary. The second tragedy can be prevented by you, the people of God, by your prayers and support.
This coming year I am going to be praying a lot of Rosaries, and I also need your help more than before (as the bishop explained) because of my added work as vocations director. I am counting on your prayers and your practical support. The parish is still my priority, but I need your help. Projects proposed for this coming year will not come to fruition without your assistance. For example, we are proposing an 8 week course called “Catholicism 201,” a sort of Catholic alpha. I have previewed most of the videos and they are excellent. In the Church, this is the year of St. Paul: how fitting that we celebrate this year dedicated one of the Church’s great evangelists by offering a course to deepen our Catholic faith! But unless a few key people come forward to assist with this ministry, it’s not going to happen, because I cannot do it all by myself.
Yesterday was a beautiful example of the whole parish working together to welcome our archbishop. For me, it was an occasion of real joy as pastor of the parish. I pray that this entire coming year will be like that – priest and people working and praying together so that great things will happen.
As we continue to celebrate this Mass during this octave of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us ask our Mother to teach us to pray and work as one family and to approach her Son with ever growing faith, love, and joy.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus mentions bread. Unfortunately, in our version, it is not translated as “food”; the original Greek (arton) specifically means bread. The Canaanite woman gathered up the crumbs of the bread Jesus offers, and her daughter was healed instantly. There’s real power in these little pieces of bread! As children of God, (not dogs under the table) we receive from the hands of our heavenly Father, through the intercession of Mary, the true bread that has come down from heaven, the source of our strength, the satisfaction of our hunger, the answer to all our prayers.
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August 10, 2008
Posted in Homilies
at 9:00 am
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 10, 2008
It was a dark & stormy night – sounds like the beginning of a mystery novel. But that is the situation the disciples find themselves in, out on the sea, battling howling winds and fierce waves, in virtually absolute darkness. And, why are they out there? Because Jesus insisted that they go across the sea; He made them get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side.
The Sea of Galilee is relatively small – about 13 km wide and 21 km long. So, it’s more like a large lake, not nearly as large as Lake Ontario, but still pretty daunting for even a group of experienced fishermen to begin to cross at the end of the day. The sea is also almost completely surrounded by hills, which can often intensify storms and cause the winds to constantly shift. By the time Jesus comes to them, it is early in the morning, before dawn, so it is very dark out on the water. If there was ever a circumstance for the disciples to have their faith tested – and strengthened – this is it.
Don’t we sometimes find that it is in the storms of our lives, the darkest hours, that our own faith is tested? Maybe it is in sickness, unemployment, the loss of a loved one…or it may even be in dealing with the difficulties of life in our current culture. For whatever reason, it is often when events cause our faith to be challenged that it is strengthened.
I always love reading about Peter. He’s not this perfect, totally holy, courageous leader. He can be so much like many of us, so human. Commenting on this passage, St Augustine wrote: “As we contemplate this member of the Church, Peter, we can distinguish those things in him which are from God, and those which are ours as human beings. In this way, we shall learn not to be doubters, but we shall be founded on the rock, which is immoveable and constant against winds, rains and torrents—that is, against the temptations of this world. Observe Peter, therefore, who symbolized all of us: at one moment, he believes; at another moment, he doubts; at one moment, he believes himself to be indestructible, at the next moment, he is afraid of dying. Since Christ’s Church is made up of people who are both strong and weak, it is inevitable that there be both types of people in the Church.” And, I would add, at various times each of us can be one or the other, strong or weak, faithful or doubting.
It was because of his faith in Jesus that Peter was able to walk on water, and it was his faith in Jesus that saved him. Peter would have drowned out in the stormy sea if his faith was only in…himself. We may sometimes be distracted by the winds and waves of our culture, which try to take our eyes off the truth. The truth is not a secret to be found in ourselves, nor is it taught by someone trying to lead us to a new earth. Portions of truth may be found in many belief systems, but the fullness of the truth is only found in our Catholic faith.
In a few minutes, we will say the Apostle’s Creed, our profession of faith. In the section on the Creed at the beginning of the Catechism, we read: “Faith is man’s response to God, who reveals Himself and gives Himself to man.” Through scripture and Sacred Tradition, God has revealed to us knowledge of himself, and of how we are to live if we love Him and are not to lose the gift of salvation His Son earned for us. Our responsibility is to pray and work to understand the truth more deeply.
St. Thomas Aquinas says: “ To extract the truths of faith from sacred scripture requires long study and practice, something not possible for everyone who need to know such truths; many people are too occupied with other business to find the time to study.” And he tells us: “The creed proposes for our faith the hidden depths of the Godhead which we shall see when we enter bliss…This is eternal life: to know you, true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
Our faith must be based on solid teaching. Our conscience must be formed in light of this teaching so that we can rely on it to help keep us from accepting false ideas. Our opinions, or our emotions, or our feelings can mislead us. We cannot make our decisions based on whether something feels right at the time. When we say the creed, we are giving our assent to some of the fundamental, solid teachings of the Church. Teachings that don’t change based on the culture, or someone’s opinion. We are proclaiming that these teachings, these truths, form the basis for our faith, not just in our minds, but in our hearts and in our souls.
Jesus says “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me”. It is our own strong faith in Jesus, who commands us to come to Him, that will keep us on the road to eternal life.
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Homilies