November 30, 2008

Keep Busy or Keep Awake?

Posted in Homilies at 6:01 pm

First Sunday of Advent, Year A, November 30th, 2008

One day in Rome, the Pope was meeting with Vatican officials, when suddenly, a Cardinal burst into the chamber and yelled, “Your Holiness, the Lord has returned! He’s in St. Peter’s Square!” The Pope responded, “Quick, everybody, look busy.” My Jewish uncle in NY once told me this joke. I share it with you because it actually relates to today’s homily, as we reflect on how we should prepare for the Lord’s Coming, and observe this holy season of Advent.

What does Jesus tell us in today’s Gospel? “Quick everybody, look busy, keep busy?” No! Not “keep busy” but “keep alert; be on the watch; keep awake” (Mark 13:32-37). “Keep busy” or “Keep awake” – two phrases that reveal two completely different philosophies of life. The way of the world is to “keep busy.” That’s how many people fail to prepare for the Lord’s coming; that’s how many people in our culture neglect to observe Advent, and thus miss out on the meaning of Christmas, by keeping busy, much too busy. But we in the Church must resist the cultural pressures and instead “keep awake.”

In the Scriptures, there is a parallel between keeping busy and being spiritually asleep. Jesus warns that people will not be ready for the coming of the Son of Man because they are asleep, or because they are too busy with other things, as in the days of Noah or Lot; people were eating and drinking, buying and selling (Lk 17:28), (Christmas shopping!), then suddenly the flood came, fire and brimstone fell from the sky and destroyed them all.

Elsewhere, Jesus warns us against three ways that we can fall asleep spiritually. He says, “beware that your hearts do not become drowsy (bareo – can also be translated “heavy, depressed”) from 1) excess (kraipale – carousing, debauchery, dissipation), 2) drunkenness or 3) the anxieties of daily life (Lk 21:34). I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a description of our secular culture in the pre-Christmas season: the excesses of our consumer culture, drunkenness at so-called “Christmas” parties, and the anxieties of daily life, the financial pressures of a materialist Christmas, and so on.

The spirit of Advent in the Church, and the spirit of the pre-Christmas season in the secular world are complete opposites. And my question is, “why do we Catholics insist on living like unbelievers, following the example of the secular world?” Jesus says we should prepare for his coming (both his Second Coming and the memorial of his first coming at Christmas) not by keeping busy, but by keeping awake, not by marching to the beat of the secular world, but by guarding against it, by guarding our hearts against becoming drowsy and depressed through excess, drunkenness, anxiety, and so on.

I would like to read you some words of Jesus to Blessed Dina Belanger, spoken during Advent, 1927. (This is private revelation, but in beatifying her, the Church is confirming that these are the words of Jesus): “During my thanksgiving after Communion (the Lord) said: ‘How many Catholics make no attempt to do penance during this holy season of Advent! How may Catholics do not think of preparing for my coming at Christmas!” (Autobiography, p. 318).

Another concern of mine is that on top of our regular schedule in December, we have Christmas shopping, and our Christmas preparation, and on top of that, we have all these Christmas social gatherings before Christmas, so that by the time the birth of Christ arrives, some people are exhausted, burnt out, and Christmas is over for them. Whereas for Catholics, it is meant to be the opposite – we prayerfully prepare for Christmas during Advent (some delayed gratification) and begin celebrating Christmas on Christmas eve and day, then continue through the Octave until January 1st, and on until Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord.

On the positive side, when Jesus urges us to “keep awake” He is speaking about a form of prayer, without using the word “pray.” In other places, he speaks of the need to pray without growing weary (Lk 18:1) and he encourages the disciples to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into his harvest (Lk 10:2). But in this case he doesn’t use the word “pray” but rather phrases like “keep alert; be on the watch; keep awake.” I would describe it as this kind of prayer . . . (long pause . . . say nothing . . .) It’s a difficult kind of prayer, isn’t it? The prayer of the doorkeeper from the Gospel (Mk 13:34) who is on the watch, who stays awake, sits still, watching, waiting, listening. We might call it the prayer of meditation or contemplation. Jesus simply says, “keep awake.”

Dietrich Von Hildebrand, one of the great Catholic thinkers and writers of the 20th century, in his very readable masterpiece, Transformation in Christ, wrote about the modern world as a “period of perpetual unrest . . . (and) shallow hyperactivity” (138). “All our actions,” he writes, “even those with a religious or moral importance . . . we tend to perform in the manner of discharging a duty or of acquitting ourselves of a task” (138-9). (Do you know anyone like that, who would attend Mass with this mentality of discharging yourself of a duty or acquitting yourself of a task?).

He continues, “we live in uninterrupted tension, never ceasing to be concerned about what has next to be settled; and many of us no longer know any alternative to work except recreation and amusement” (139), when what we really need, in order to “keep awake” is contemplation. As Von Hildebrand puts it, (and this is not a monk writing to other monks, but a married man with children writing to all Christians): “The true Christian must at any cost conquer (italics mine) a place for contemplation” (138). Especially in Advent and in preparation for Christmas: “The true Christian must at any cost conquer a place for contemplation.”

You may think that with your hectic schedule, it’s impossible for you to find time for contemplation. OK. Here’s a proposal. If you could allow your house to be 5% less clean, giving you 5 more minutes of spare time, you could devote 5 minutes to “keeping awake” to the silence and stillness of contemplation. Then you would discover something miraculous: a task that would have taken you 15 minutes, will only take you 5-10 minutes with God’s help! So you would actually gain time through contemplation! Try it out!

People may wonder, “what are we supposed to contemplate, or what are we supposed to do while contemplating?” Well, one example is to look at . . . snow. This is a painting of a snowy field done by a friend of mine, Mike Hales (please say a prayer for him). As an aside, I have three other paintings of his in the rectory, to which you are all invited for a Christmas social on the Saturday of Epiphany. When we take time to really look at a painting, or a real-life snowy field, we are contemplating. Gazing in reflective silence. (Children, you have to teach us adults how to re-discover, contemplate and appreciate snow). After all, you know what the Bible says about snow? “The eye is dazzled by the beauty of its whiteness and the mind is amazed as it falls” (Sirach 43:18). (I found that quote from Sirach by typing in “snow” into my Bible search engine).

So after a new snow fall, before rushing off to work, revving up the engine and staining all that immaculate white snow and turning it into brown slush, why can’t we take a moment to sip our coffee and gaze out the back window in contemplation at the wonder of snow?

Let’s practice the “doorkeeper’s prayer”: to stay awake, to sit still, watching, waiting, listening. St. John Vianney told the story of the old man who used to sit in the Church. When the saint asked him what he was doing, he said, “I look at Him and He looks at me.” Isn’t that what lovers do, isn’t that part of married life? It’s not all about work, busy-ness, finance. There are moments of communication through silence, and contemplation of the beauty of the beloved. There are lots of opportunities for contemplation!

If we need a model of contemplation, and proper preparation for the Lord’s Coming and a lesson on how to observe the spirit of Advent, let us look to Mary the Mother of Christ and our Mother. She is one of the central figures of Advent, hidden at the moment, but in the coming weeks, the liturgy Church will bring her to the foreground. But if we listen to today’s readings, we can hear an echo of the prayer of the Blessed Virgin. In the first reading, the prophet prays to God, “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down” (Isaiah 64:1). This was also the prayer of Mary in her silent contemplation and her ardent longing for the coming of the Messiah: “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down.” God did just that in the Incarnation: He tore open the heavens and came down into the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The pregnancy of Mary is a good model for our contemplation during Advent. The prayer of Mary is like that of the doorkeeper: she stays awake, quietly sits still, waiting, listening, contemplating the mystery of God unfolding and growing within her. If there are any pregnant women here, they don’t observe the holy season of their pregnancy by getting drunk! Pregnant women, and above all, the pregnant Mother of God, are good examples for us about how to observe Advent. Watching what we eat and drink so that we can keep awake. Avoiding excess, drunkenness and anxiety, and instead making that effort to conquer a place for contemplation.

I’ll end with this: In today’s parable, the “man going on a journey,” a symbol of Christ, “commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch” (Mark 13:34). There is only one doorkeeper to your heart who can open the door to Christ. That’s you. Christ came once as a little child. The Son of Man will come again on the clouds with power and great glory. He comes to us regularly through grace and in Holy Communion. But without the intimacy that comes from contemplation, Holy Communion will not be communion with Christ, but rather a mere duty to be discharged or a task to be completed.

“Behold I stand at the door and knock,” says the Lord. But who is awake? Who is listening? Who opens the door? Jesus wept over Jerusalem because it did not recognize the time of its visitation from God (Lk 19:41-44). Jesus weeps when he passes by our door and knocks, but he gets no answer; if you are asleep, you will not recognize the time of your visitation from God. You may be so busy preparing for Christmas (or celebrating Christmas in the Advent season) that you miss out on Christ. So instead of keeping busy this Advent season, let us keep awake, so that when the Lord comes, we will welcome him with joy.

November 23, 2008

Viva Cristo Rey!

Posted in Homilies at 9:00 am

Christ the King, November 23rd, 2008

“Viva Cristo Rey!” With these famous last words, with his arms extended in the form of a cross, Blessed Miguel Pro was killed by firing squad on November 23rd, 1927 for the crime of publicly practicing as a Catholic priest. “Viva Cristo Rey!” Long live Christ the King! The context of this exclamation gives us a clue to the meaning of today’s feast. In Mexico in the 1920’s, the Catholic Church was being violently persecuted by a socialist-atheistic regime. Many people were martyred – up to 300 000 people (see The Catholic Martys of the Twentieth Century by Robert Royal, pp. 15-42). The slogan of the Catholic resistance was “Viva Cristo Rey!” They believed that Christ the King should reign not only in the hearts of believers, but that He should also be publicly acknowledged as King, or in the very least, that His Church have freedom to worship him publicly as King.

We also learn about the meaning of this feast by recalling the time and purpose for its institution. By way of comparison, Christmas became an official liturgical celebration around 380 A.D. in Rome. Any guess when the feast of Christ the King began? Which century? I only found this out last week; I happened to be reading a book that mentioned in passing how Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in 1925. Really? I didn’t know that. But thanks to the Internet age, I typed in Vatican.va and clicked on Pius XI and printed off the 9 page encyclical on this feast and my homily for Sunday was done – with a click of the mouse, so I could go back to watching TV!

When Pope’s “create” a new feast day in the Church, they don’t do it because they’re sitting around bored thinking, “November is such a bleak month. We need to add a feast to November. We’ll call it . . . Christ the King!” As the Pope explains in his encyclical, he actually wished to “accede to the wish of many of the Cardinals, Bishops, and faithful” who requested of him the introduction of this feast. But why? What is the deeper meaning and purpose of such a feast? In all honesty, up until last week I really had no idea. I didn’t learn everything in the Seminary. I continue to learn every day; I’m just like other Catholics who are eager to learn more about their faith every day!

First, in his encyclical, Pius XI wished to establish that Jesus is indeed a King. He quotes from Scripture; he quotes from today’s Gospel, in which Jesus “took the opportunity to call himself king” (Quas Primas, #11). In today’s Gospel Jesus says, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory . . . then he will sit on the throne . . . then the king will say to those at his right hand . . . “ (Mt 25: 31-46). Jesus calls himself a king. There are numerous other references: the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that her Son will rule on the throne of his father David and of his kingdom there will be no end (Lk 1:32-33), Jesus admits to Pilate that he is a king (Jn 18:37) but that his kingdom is not of this world (Jn 18:36), and so on.

Christ is King by virtue of his divinity; as the God-man, Christ has power over all creatures. He is also our King as our Redeemer, and we belong to him; “we are no longer our own property, for Christ has purchased us” with the ‘great price’ of his blood (Quas Primas #13, cf 1 Cor 5:20). Therefore, all people and not just Christians – are “under the dominion of Christ” the King (#18).

Christ is indeed, by natural and acquired right, the King of all peoples and all nations, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But do all peoples and nations recognize and honour Christ as King? Sadly not. Pius XI laments:“With God and Jesus Christ . . . excluded from political life, with authority derived not from God but from man, the very basis of that authority has been taken away . . . the result is that human society is tottering to its fall, because it has no longer a secure and solid foundation” (#18).

However, the Pope is confident that society will receive the blessings of peace and harmony when men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King (# 19). So now we come to the deeper reason for the proclamation of this feast in 1925. Pius XI hopes that “the institution of a special feast in honor of the kingship of Christ” (#21) will help Catholics bear witness to Christ in private and public life, and that this feast “may hasten the return of society to our loving Savior” (#24)

Simply put, this feast was instituted to combat secularism – back in 1925! How much more do we need this feast today! The feast of Christ the King proclaims that Christ is not only my own private belief that I keep hidden in my heart or among a small circle of like-minded people in Church on Sunday. Christ is also the God of all peoples, the King of the universe, and the original foundation of Canadian society. As our Founder, our God, our Saviour, our King, He deserves public recognition, public respect, and public veneration.

He deserves it, but He will not demand it. “His kingdom is spiritual and is concerned with spiritual things” (#15), and “during his life on earth he refrained from the exercise of (civil) authority” (#17). He will never use his royal power to force anyone to bow down to him. If you want to see what kind of King Christ is, simply look at the Cross where He is crowned with thorns. Christ is a God of love, and he wants his people to respond with love.
As the Church, we cannot enforce public veneration for Christ, nor would we want to. But we must demand religious freedom for the Church, and constantly defend our right to worship Christ our King in freedom, and the right to publicly proclaim our faith.

Recently in Canada, there have been cases before the human rights tribunals in which the judges have decreed that Christians and Catholics have a right to believe whatever we want, but we don’t have a right to publicly act on these beliefs. Increasingly, our secular society is becoming intolerant of Christians and Catholics who dare to publicly express our faith on sex and morals in particular. They won’t put you in front of a firing squad, like the Mexican government did to Blessed Miguel Pro, but they will attempt to silence you by fear and intimidate you by threats of costly legal action if you dare to publicly proclaim your politically incorrect faith.

As Pius XI put it way back in 1925: “While nations insult the beloved name of our Redeemer by suppressing all mention of it in their conferences and parliaments,(italics mine) we must all the more loudly proclaim his kingly dignity and power, all the more universally affirm his rights” (#25).

As an everyday example, what do you do when you hear people “insult the beloved name of our Redeemer” by taking his name in vain? What do you do when you hear co-workers swear, blaspheming the name of Christ? Why can’t we stand up for his rights? The next time we hear someone say without reverence, “Jesus Christ . . . this or that . . .” we can respond “Blessed be the name of Jesus.”

There are signs of hope that Christians and Catholics are waking up and rousing ourselves to action. I think for example of the movement promoted by the Knights of Columbus to “keep Christ in Christmas.” Paul Beaupre of the Knights will be making signs available for $10 for your front lawn reading “Keep Christ in Christmas.” When you think about, it’s the same inspiration behind this campaign to keep Christ in Christmas as in Pope Pius XI’s decision to institute the feast of Christ the King – to keep Christ in society and in public life.

Believing and practicing Christians are getting so annoyed that our secular society has hijacked Christmas, eliminating all mention of Christ, and turning a religious feast into a pagan festival centered on materialism and consumerism. So we are starting to fight back to keep Christ in Christmas, after all, it is His feast day: Christ’s Mass! Let us also work to keep Christ in Canada, by being vigilant – defending our religious freedoms, and publicly bearing witness to our faith.

Pius XI mentions some specific ways that we can publicly proclaim our faith. He writes that “much has been done for the recognition of Christ’s authority over society by . . . frequent Eucharistic Congresses” (#26). Anyone who attended the Eucharistic Congress in Quebec in June will testify to its powerful effect on that city and province. He also praises the practice of Corpus Christi processions in which “the people of Christ bring forth Jesus from his silent hiding-place in the church, and carry him in triumph through the streets of the city” (#26). In our times, we also have pro-life rallies to publicly witness to Christ the King: Life-Chain, held here in October, the 40 days for life vigil, (that ended November 2nd), held outside the abortuary on Bank Street, and the March for Life in May. It is so important for us as Christians to participate in these public events to bear witness to our faith in Christ.

Finally, Pius XI also mentions families. “The kingship and empire of Christ have been recognized in the pious custom, practiced by many families, of dedicating themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus” (#26). I have run out of time to speak about this in detail, but there are many ways we can honour Christ the King in our homes: with a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a crucifix, a Bible on display, by praying part of the Rosary as a family, and so on. The path that carries Christ from our hearts to our work, from the Church to the world, passes by way of the family. If families do not publicly proclaim Christ as King in their own homes, it is doubtful if the members of the same family will proclaim Christ as King among their friends, co-workers or their fellow students.

The feast of Christ the King, at the end of the liturgical year, launches us into the Advent-Christmas season with renewed energy and inspiration to keep Christ in Advent, to keep Christ in Christmas, to keep Christ in Canada. Perhaps it was in part the feast of Christ the King that gave courage to Blessed Miguel Pro and the Mexican martyrs to cry out: “Viva Cristo Rey” even in the face of death! May this feast give us courage to publicly bear witness to Christ the King. Through this Holy Communion that we are about to receive, may Christ our King reign in our minds, our hearts, our wills and our bodies, so that we can carry him from his silent hiding-place in the church to our homes, our work and the streets and public places of our city.

November 16, 2008

Parable of the Talents and the Miraculous Medal

Posted in Homilies at 9:00 am

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, November 15/16

(Special Mass for Grade 2 Children preparing for the Sacraments)

Once upon a time there were three painters hired by the Pope at the Vatican to paint a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Each painter had real talent and each one was given a canvas and different sizes of cans of gold paint – one each — with real gold shavings in it. They could paint whatever version of Mary they liked, but they only had one night to do it.

The first one prayed, and then decided to paint the front of the Miraculous Medal, using the gold pain for the light streaming from Mary’s hands (by the way, I will be giving a Miraculous Medal to the Grade 2 children after Communion). The second painter prayed, and then decided to paint the back of the Miraculous Medal, using the gold to paint the Cross and the “M” and the stars. The third one didn’t pray; instead, he talked to himself. He was a perfectionist, and he was famous for making very realistic paintings down to the last detail. But he also worried so much and second-guessed himself so much . . .

The next morning, when the Pope and Cardinals came by to look at the painters’ work, they were very impressed with the first two paintings, and they paid the painters and gave them an award. But when they came to the third painter, and look at his canvas, they were shocked . . . this is what they saw . . . a blank canvas! The third painter was too scared to even try! He wasted his talent because he didn’t even begin to use it! One of the cardinals took his little can of gold paint and gave to one of the other painters.

What is the meaning of talents? Well, in the Gospel parable, talents mean money. But in English, this same word has come to mean a natural gift or skill. There’s another meaning. In today’s parable, the man summoned his slaves and “entrusted his property” to them (Mt 25:14). The word for “entrust” is the same word in the Bible used for passing on tradition, for passing on our faith (paradidomi cf. Rom 6:17, 1 Cor 11:2, 1 Cor 15:3).

The good slaves “traded” with their talents and made more – one made five more, the other two more. The other buried his talent. (I think this kind of ingratitude to God truly pierces the Heart of Jesus with sorrow). Part of the talents and “property” that God entrusts to us is our faith in Jesus and the Church and all the traditions handed on to us. We cannot hide our faith in the ground. We are meant to “trade” with it, to share it with others, so that our own faith will grow. If we never talk about our faith with others, it will die; if we share our faith with others, it will grow. The faith of parents grows as they talk to their children about God and help prepare them to receive the Sacraments. And children, one of the gifts you receive from the Holy Spirit in Confirmation is the gift to better understand, defend and share your faith in Jesus and the Church.

You don’t have to be an expert in sharing any of your gifts and talents. Just don’t leave a blank canvas! Even if you are not a good artist, don’t worry – even your finger paintings still make your parents happy, and so it is with God – he is happy when we use the talents he has given us and we do our best.

If we look at the man in the parable as a symbol of God, we see an even deeper meaning of talents. The man entrusted his property to the slaves. Well, what has God entrusted to us? He has created us; he has given us our lives. And then, like the man in the parable, God sort of “went away” for a “long time.” We know God is always close to those who call upon him in their hearts and who seek his Presence here in the Church in the tabernacle and in Holy Communion. But God is not in our face every day; he “goes away” far enough to give us freedom to live our lives: to choose to believe in him or not, to choose to love him or not, to choose to use our talents for the good of others and God’s glory, or to misuse and abuse them for our own selfish desires.

In today’s first reading on the ideal wife and mother, the Church offers us an example of a person who used her talents for others: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all” (Proverbs 31:29). When we think about it, the truly perfect wife and mother is Mary the Mother of God. She is the perfect example of using her gifts and talents for the good of others and the glory of God. God gave to her something far more valuable than gold – he gave her the fullness of his grace (so we pray: “Hail Mary, full of grace”). But Mary did not keep God’s grace for herself. Look at the front of the Miraculous Medal.

Quoting from the Book of Proverbs, consider the “fruit of her hands” (31:16) and how Mary “opens her hands to the poor” (31:20) – that’s us! The light streaming from Mary’s hands symbolizes the grace of God that is poured out for us through her.

Children, Mary the Mother of Jesus teaches us by her example what it means to be a human being. A human being is a child of God who has been given many gifts, graces and talents from God not to keep to ourselves, to hoard them and bury them in the ground, no: but to share them with others and give them back to God with interest.

And where do all these graces come from? Look at the back of the Miraculous Medal. The Cross. Jesus’ death on the Cross is the source of the grace that takes away our sins and makes us children of God. The “M” under the Cross stands for “Mary.” And can you see the two hearts under the Cross? Do you know whose is whose? The Heart with the crown of thorns is the Heart of Jesus, and the Heart pierced with a sword is the Heart of Mary. Each one has a flame on top, to show us that the Hearts of Jesus and Mary are on fire with love for us, but they are hearts that have suffered terribly because of our sins.

Jesus and Mary suffered out of love so that other people could have life. I think all parents here know what that means: to suffer out of love so that other people can have life. Parents, your hands, like the hands of Mary, are full of gifts and graces for your children; but also like Mary and Jesus, you suffer at times because of your children (not when they are in grade 2 of course, but only later, when they become rebellious teenagers!)

The Miraculous Medal teaches us that as long as we suffer with love, then we become a source of grace for others. But we must stand firm, forgive continually, and persevere in love. If we refuse to forgive, then our hearts are hardened and all those graces will stop flowing.

One forgotten gift and talent in our culture is that of simply standing firm. (as Mary did at the foot of the Cross – Stabat Mater: “At the Cross her station keeping”). Mary did not try to escape suffering; out of love she stood firm by the Cross of her Son. One way you bear witness to our faith, that you pass on your faith, that your faith grows is by standing firm. Because you love. Because you love you do not run away from pain.

You are like a good soldier of Jesus Christ (2 Tim 2:3). Tuesday we celebrated Remembrance Day. Well, let’s not only remember our soldiers with a tear once a year, let’s follow their example. If you are a good soldier of Christ, you do not abandon your post when the enemy attacks. You do not run away because you are scared. You stand firm. You are willing to suffer because you love. You are even willing to have your heart pierced because you love.

The Heart of Jesus is pierced with thorns and the Heart of Mary by a sword because of sin – your sins and my sins. We can remove those thorns one at a time whenever we confess our sins. You Grade 2 children will be celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Thursday. There will also be an extra priest here in the confessional to hear adults only confessions. It is mostly we adults with big sins that have pierced the heart of Jesus with thorns. You children are closer to God than we are; you trust God more and sin less. Your sins are more like the prickles on raspberry bushes: they still displease Jesus, but they don’t wound his heart like adult sins.

Finally, to all of you, as your spiritual father, I would like to share with you something I may not have told you before: your sins also pierce my heart. Pope Benedict has written, “no one sins alone. No one is saved alone.” (Spe Salvi, 48). After all, we are one family and one body in Christ. If your sins in some mysterious way pierce my heart, think what your sins are doing to your own heart, to your spouse, children, family. I don’t say this about sins that are confessed; remember, there is joy in heaven over one repentant sinner. I say this about sins that are not confessed. I have to say this because it’s true: there is a burden of unconfessed sin in this parish, and sometimes it feels like a crushing weight — offenses against love: pride, self-justification, judgement of others, gossip, complaining, lack of love, lack of charity. I beg of you, in the words of St. Paul, chosen for the theme of this pastoral year, “be reconciled to God!” (2 Cor 5:20).

Children, you are still young and your life is like a blank canvas. It’s up to you what picture you want to paint with God’s help; it’s up to you how you will use your talents to make something beautiful of your life. Through the Sacraments you will receive – Reconciliation, Confirmation and Holy Communion — Jesus will fill you with his own life and love, so that you can follow the example of Mary and share all your gifts with others, for God’s glory and your own happiness.

November 9, 2008

Our Father’s House

Posted in Homilies at 9:00 am

Homily for the Feast of The Dedication of St. John Lateran

November 09, 2008

As we reflect on today’s gospel, we might be tempted to ask: What has gotten into Jesus? Is this the same Jesus who is usually depicted as being so patient and understanding? Why is He so upset at these merchants, who are just providing a service to the people who have come to worship in the temple?

One thing that we need to remember is that, at that time, Jewish law required animal sacrifice. Most of those coming to the temple did not live close enough to bring their own animals for sacrifice. This was especially true at times, such as around Passover, when there were large numbers of pilgrims from distant areas. These animals were supposed to be healthy, not have any impurities or imperfections. Even if you did bring your own animal, you ran the risk of having it rejected as not being good enough. But the ones these merchants were selling had the temple “seal of approval”. So they did serve a necessary purpose. As well, the temple taxes had to be paid with a specific type of coin, so the moneychangers enabled people to trade their own money for the acceptable type – for a small profit, of course.

So, if the merchants and moneychangers were just helping the people fulfil their obligations, why did Jesus react the way He did? It wasn’t so much what they were doing, but where they were doing it. We interpret Jesus’ behaviour as anger, but there is more to it than that. He is passionate, zealous, about keeping the temple, His Father’s house, a place of worship, and a place of reverence. But, is He angry in the way we understand it? Is He in a rage? There are many paintings that have been done over the centuries depicting these events. In most of them, you will see people cowering, animals fleeing, and doves flying away. But the Gospel tells us that He said to those who were selling doves, “Take these things out of here!” He didn’t upset or break their cages. So there were probably not any doves released by His actions, and He was certainly well in control of Himself. Wouldn’t it be great if we all could only get angry when it’s justified, and with that same self-control?

We, too, must be passionate about maintaining a proper reverence in, and for, our temple, our church. By this, I don’t just mean this building that we are in, but let’s start there. Even more so than the temple in Jerusalem, this is the Father’s house. Our Father’s house. Our church is a sacred space, consecrated to God. In the tabernacle, the real substantial presence of Jesus resides. It is here that we come together to worship, to pray, and to give praise to the Almighty God of the universe. We don’t come here just because it is good for us. We don’t come here just to enjoy the music. We don’t come here just to see the people that we haven’t seen since last Sunday. We come to church to get closer to God, to increase in holiness. We come to the church to be The Church, the body of Christ.
Our church is a relatively small building, which is a blessing, because it fosters a sense of closeness to one another, and to the liturgy. It also presents us with some difficulties, especially in regard to maintaining a sense of reverence after Mass, when people want to socialize. I think that, in this parish, that socializing goes deeper than just exchanging pleasantries and truly is a part of building our community of faith. This is one the great things about this parish, that almost no one leaves early, and so many people are still here talking even 15 or 20 minutes after Mass ends. And because of size constraints, our options are limited. It’s not really practical to ask everyone to silently process downstairs or go outside before beginning their conversations. And neither Father Tim nor I are going to fashion a scourge from cords and chase noisy people out. But it is good to really keep in mind that whenever we are in the church proper, and especially in the Sanctuary or in front of the tabernacle, we are in our Father’s house.

There is another church, another house that we need to keep clean of things that don’t belong there. Our homes, our families are the first church, so to speak. This is the primary place for us to learn about God and deepen our relationship with Him. And there are merchants that want to set up shop in our house, to sell us things and ideas that lead us and our children to false gods. If Jesus was moved to passionately drive the merchants from the temple, how much more passionate should we be about making our homes free of unhealthy influences? Of course Father Tim has spoken recently about the poison of pornography, which is an obvious problem but still needs to be mentioned. But there are also many more insidious threats that we need to keep our guard against. A study was published Monday in the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. It followed 2,000 teens in the US from 2001 to 2004, and found that of those teens that watched popular network shows such as Frends, Sex and the City, and others, 25% either became pregnant or got someone pregnant. The ideas and behaviour we allow into our homes via the television affects us and our children. It could be daytime soap operas, or talk shows that promote false ideas about God and faith; it could be evening dramas or sitcoms, or maybe music videos, or even commercials – we need to be discerning and not worry about whether we will be considered uncool or out-of-touch if we don’t allow these things into our homes. Our culture is full of ideas of violence and hostility, materialism and greed. Be careful of what your children watch, the video games they play, the friends they associate with. Do the same for yourself. We never seem to have enough time in our lives these days – just think what enjoyable things you could do with the time you would otherwise spend on less worthwhile activities. Be discerning, and be zealous for the house that God has blessed you with.
One other house that I should at least say a few word about is the Basilica of St. John Lateran, as today we celberate it’s dedication. This church was built on property originally belonging to the Laterani family, hence the “Lateran” part of the basilica’s name. This was donated to the church by the Emporer Constantine, and the church was built in 324 and called the Church of the Saviour. Over the centuries it has been repeatedly looted and burned by invaders, and rebuilt many times. The foundation wall are almost all that is still intact from the original building. After one of the reconstructions, in the 10th century, Pope Sergius III named St. John the Baptist as its co-patron, and later Pope Lucius added St. John the Evangelist.
This church is actually the home church of the Pope – no St. Peter’s. Over it’s doors is inscribed (in Latin) “Mother and head of all the churches of this city and of the world”. This was also the papal residence until the 1300s. So for almost 1,700 years, through wars, trials and tribulations, this church has continued to exist. During that time, the Catholic Church, has also gone through many difficult times, but it still endures. This church is a powerful reminder of that endurance.

I’ll close with a few words from a sermon by Saint Caesarius of Arles, which is the second reading from today’s Office of Readings. “God does not dwell only in structures fashioned by human hands, in homes of wood and stone, but rather He dwells principally in the soul made according to His own image and fashioned by His own hand. Therefore, the apostle Paul says: ‘The temple of God is holy, and you are that temple’. Just as you enter this church building, God wishes to enter your soul, for He promised: I shall live in them, and I shall walk the corridors of their hearts.”

So let us show reverence, cleanse our homes and our hearts, remembering always that each of these places is our Father’s house.

November 2, 2008

All Souls

Posted in Homilies at 9:00 am

November 2nd, 2008

It’s November now, probably the “bleakest” month of the year! (For 2008, the title of “craziest” month belongs to October, with summer shorts weather on Thanksgiving, and on Tuesday night a winter snowstorm – on October 28th! That was fun).

Now it’s November. The harvest is in, the flowers and plants have died, and the brilliant fall foliage of October is giving way to the grey, dreary, bleak landscape of November. Have you ever heard anyone say, “My favourite month is November”? At least in December we have Advent, then Christmas; in November the Americans have Thanksgiving, but what do we have to look forward to? Nothing – grey, dreary, bleak. Like today’s psalm reminds us: “we are dust” and our days are “like grass,” and fade quickly, “like the flower of the field” (Ps 103). It’s the month of death.

But there’s good news. What does Mother Church teach us about November? It is a month of many blessings for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, for people of faith. It is the month of All Souls. November 1st is All Saints Day, when we celebrate all the saints in heaven (and we had an All Saint’s Eve party here on Friday). November 2nd is All Souls day, and during the whole month we pray for all souls, for all our deceased loved ones, for all our ancestors, for all the souls in Purgatory, and they pray for us in our lesser “purgatories” here on earth. November is a month of many blessings because it is a month to remember death, and pray for the dead. You can write the names of deceased loved ones in our Book of Remembrance. And perhaps in our families we could mark the month of November by praying one “Our Father” and one “Hail Mary” before dinner each night, praying for all souls.

When we pray for “all souls,” we are praying specifically for souls in Purgatory. We don’t hear much talk of Purgatory nowadays, partly because everyone who dies is instantly canonized, that is, declared to be in heaven. Haven’t you heard any eulogies lately? In our secular culture, eulogies instantly canonize people: “Grandma or Mom is in heaven.” These “canonizing” eulogies are very harmful, because they amount to saying, “Don’t bother praying for Grandma or Mom, or have Masses celebrated for her, because she’s already in heaven.”

Eulogies have no proper place in the funeral liturgy. “Canonizing” eulogies may be comforting, but they are harmful and almost always untrue. Our Pope, in his encyclical, “supposes” that most souls go to Purgatory. Most do not go immediately to either heaven or hell. “For the great majority of people” he writes, “there remains in the depths of their being an ultimate interior openness to truth, to love, to God. In the concrete choices of life, however, it is covered over by ever new compromises with evil – much filth covers purity” (Spe Salvi #46), filth that must be burned away by the fire of Purgatory.

And what exactly is purgatory? The Catechism states, “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven” (#1030). The Catechism quotes two biblical sources for this teaching, the first from Jesus himself when he warns us that “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Mt 12:32). From this sentence we can conclude that “certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come” (CCC #1031). Certain sins can and must be forgiven in purgatory. The Catechism also quotes from 2 Maccabbees 12:46, where we read that “Judas Maccabeus made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin” (CCC #1032).

In his encyclical on Christian hope (excerpts of which are in the bulletin), our Holy Father refers to the parable told by Jesus in Lk 16 in which, in the next life, the rich man is being tormented and poor Lazarus comforted. The Pope explains Jesus is taking up a notion found in early Judaism of an intermediate state between death and resurrection. Over time, this concept of an intermediate state developed into the doctrine of Purgatory (Spe Salvi #44-45).

Then the Holy Father adds another scriptural references for Purgatory not referenced by the Catechism when he quotes St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians where he speaks of someone being saved, “but only as through fire” (1 Cor 3:12-15). Our Pope writes, “in this text, it is in any case evident that our salvation can take different forms . . . that in order to be saved we personally have to pass through ‘fire’ so as to become fully open to receiving God” (#46).

I once heard this insightful comment on the fire or suffering of Purgatory: “While the soul is enshrined or enclosed in the body, it is so distracted by the desires and pleasures of this world that its desire for God is dulled. But once the soul is freed from the body, nothing in this world can attract it. It has only one desire, and that is to be with God and to see Him face to face. And to be deprived of this, even for a time, is a far greater agony than any suffering that can be imagined in this life” (Fr. Ted Colleton, Catholic Insight, November 2006)

The fire of Purgatory “is a far greater agony than any suffering that can be imagined in this life.” Wow! Then all of us should pray to have our Purgatory here on earth. And we should not be afraid, thinking that such a prayer will instantly trigger a landslide of suffering to crash down upon us. No. We will suffer less. And the more we are purified here on earth, the more fully human we become, the more fully alive – already, here on earth, and we begin to experience that peace and rest that Jesus promises in today’s Gospel.

This November, as we pray for all the holy souls in Purgatory, let us pray that we will cooperate with our own purification in our lesser “purgatories” here on earth. We waste so much of our sufferings by complaining, instead of accepting the grace of purification. All our temptations, trials and sufferings can serve to purify our faith, purify our hope, purify our love.

Consider the purification of hope in the first reading from Lamentations: “My soul is deprived of peace . . . but this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (Lam 3:17, 21-22)

And consider St Peter’s writing on the purification of faith: “In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ”. (1 Peter 1:6-7). The sufferings of this life can serve as a fire to purify our faith, hope and love, burning away all the filth that covers the purity, leaving behind pure gold.

One particular purification that I would like to mention is simply enduring temptation without giving in. I want to encourage anyone who is going through particularly horrible temptations at this time, whatever they might be: temptations to discouragement or depression, to anger or unforgiveness, to lust or other deceitful desires – whatever it might be. Keep on fighting the good fight! God is with you! He never lets us be tempted beyond our strength, and gives us a sharing in his own strength with every Confession and every Holy Communion. And remember also the words of St. James, “Blessed is the man (or woman) who perseveres in temptation, for when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).

When he has been proved, the Lord will give him rest. As the Lord promises in today’s Gospel, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11: ). Let us pray for this rest, for all those troubled in temptation, and for all the souls in Purgatory longing to see God’s face and to enjoy that perfect and eternal rest. As it is sung in the Requiem Mass, set to music by Mozart, Faure and others: “Pie Jesu, Domine, dona eis requiem.” : “Gentle Lord Jesus, grant them rest, eternal rest.”

In the First Eucharistic Prayer, we pray that those who have died marked with the sign of faith will also find in God’s presence “light, happiness, and peace.” “Happiness” is a translation of the Latin “refrigerii” meaning comfort, coolness. Heaven is seen as a place of light, peace and . . . coolness?! We can tell that this prayer was not written by someone from a northern climate! I personally hope that heaven will be better than Canada – a place of light, peace, palm trees and warmth all year round. It’s November now, and things will only get colder, but that’s OK, because I want to appreciate the special gifts that God offers us through the Church’s liturgical calendar every month of the year.

And I’m really going to try to pray . . . “In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit . . . Lord, thank you for . . . I don’t know if I can say it . . . Thank you for November, this month in which we remember death and pray for All Souls. And thank you also for . . . for all our lesser “purgatories” here on earth, for your gentle mercy in allowing us to suffer only the bare minimum necessary to purify our faith, our hope and our love. Thank you for the rest you offer to each one of us, the gift of your peace and your strength in every Holy Communion we receive. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”