Monthly Archives: March 2015

And the Word was made Flesh…

25 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by in Incarnation, Pro-Life

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Today we celebrate one of the most significant, if not the most significant, holy day of the year. Why do I say such a thing? What about Easter? What about Christmas? The fact is that without today, those two events would have never taken place.

We should never forget the full importance of today because this is the day that God became Man. In a way it is strange that we put so much emphasis of the Incarnation on Christmas, the day of our Lord’s birth. But in another way it makes sense. Think about it: whenever a friend tells us they are having a baby we say “Congratulations!” The real celebration, though, doesn’t take place until after the baby is born when we can see and hold the baby. But I think this type of behavior really needs to change for the following reason: our society no longer values the life of the unborn.

There really should be a new emphasis on the importance of today’s Solemnity by the Church, or at least by her members, in order to counteract the misunderstanding of our society. Society claims that the unborn are not truly people, and therefore do not have any right to life, until they are born. But on this, the day that our Lord became one of us, we know that is not true. Jesus did not become a Man only after He was born, or after Mary could feel Him moving in her womb, or when He reached any other stage of development. Instead, He was fully Man and fully God, and truly a Person, at the very moment of His conception.

So how can we mark this day’s importance, even though it is not a Holy Day of Obligation. Theologically, you can let this ‘sink in’ by reflecting today on the fact of our Lord’s Incarnation taking place today. Perhaps go to Mass or spend time praying at your local parish – in Adoration if possible. But I also have some ideas on the practical side to mark the importance of this day. When a friend tells us that they are expecting a new child, then don’t wait until the birth to buy the baby a gift. Instead, go get something special to mark the occasion right then. By so doing you would be making a significant point – that the unborn child is a full member of the family of mankind. You could even tell them that you are doing it in recognition of the fact that Jesus became Man at the moment of His conception. Next, maybe we should start giving gifts to family and friends on this day to mark the occasion like we do on Christmas. It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant to still mark the supreme importance of this day. Or another idea would just be to have a party. Uh oh, I hear someone saying, “But it is Lent.” Yes, but it is a Solemnity, and even if this day fell on a Friday in Lent there would be no abstinence or penance required. We should mark the special significance of this day and proclaim to the whole world the coming of our Savior as Man.

The Path of Obedience

24 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by in Free Will, God's Will, Sermons, Submission to God

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Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 22, 2015

On March 20, which was Friday of last week, I celebrated my fifth anniversary of ordination as a Catholic priest. And so I stand before you today, a priest, but not because I wanted to be, but because I was called by God to do so. You see, no one becomes a priest because they want to, but because they are called into it by God. Now, it is not that I don’t want to be a priest, I do, and I am very happy to be a Catholic priest serving here at Our Lady of the Atonement. (And may it please God to let me stay here for the rest of my life.) But this does not change the fact that I am here as a priest not because I decided to become one, but because God called me to do it – and I, in obedience, followed His calling. And it is this idea of obedience about which I want to speak with you today.

We tend to think of obedience as something negative – like it is an intrusion upon our freedom to do what we want to do. “Oh man, Mom told me to clean my room, so that means I can’t play video games.” This kind of thinking, though, betrays a wrong understanding of freedom. We tend to think in this country that we are free to do whatever we want, but that is not true, because to deliberately choose to do something that is wrong is to misuse our freedom. That is not the reason God gave us freedom. He gave us freedom in order to choose to do that which is good and morally right. In fact, it is necessary for us to be free in order to choose our ultimate good, which is God Himself. And it is in choosing God that obedience comes into play.

Before going on with our reflection on the positive nature of obedience, let us first reflect on its opposite: disobedience. It would be good for us to call to mind the first person that disobeyed God and that would be Lucifer. It was he who was the first to refuse to recognize God as his Creator. It was he who was first to refuse to return God’s love for him. It was he who was first to fail to be grateful to God for all the gifts he had been given. As a result, every act of disobedience thereafter is an emulation of Lucifer’s disobedience of God. And if his is the path that we choose by being disobedient to God in this life then God will let us have what we have chosen – eternal separation from Him as the only source of anything good.

In considering this hopefully obedience no longer sounds like such a bad thing. After all, the path of obedience is the path that Christ walked before us and it is the only path that leads us to Him. We are told today that Christ “learned obedience through what He suffered; and being made perfect He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” Christ was obedient to the will of His Father by accepting the Cross and dying for us. And we must follow His example if we want to obtain the salvation that He won for us. Emulating Christ’s obedience is the only way to be saved. And He tells us this plainly in the Gospel today, “If any one serves me, he must follow me.” There is no other path open to us if we want reach our ultimate Goal.

Now certainly, by being obedient, we will have to give up certain things that we desire because they are in fact bad for us. And that can be hard to do. But, shouldn’t we want to give up things that are bad for us? Is the momentary pleasure we receive from such things really worth the price of our eternal soul? If we think critically and honestly about that question then the only reasonable answer would be no. We know that God made us and that the happiness that He wants for us is more important than any other thing we could possibly want or desire. All too often, though, we settle for something much less.

But, if we want to reach that which we truly desire, then we must follow the path of obedience that Christ walked before us. Yes, we know that such a path will lead us to suffering on this earth, but it does not end there. Christ was abused, beaten, and killed but that is not the end of the story. It is through the suffering and death of Jesus that the Resurrection came about and that the gates of Heaven were opened to all who truly believe in Him.

And so, we have two paths that are set before us: the path of obedience and the path of disobedience. We know who established each of these paths and we know where each path leads. But there is one thing that no one knows except you and that is this: which path will you choose?

Time Flies…

20 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by in Update

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As the saying goes, time flies when you’re having fun. Today marks for me five years as a Catholic priest and I cannot believe it has gone so quickly. At this time I should really be writing my sermon for Sunday but wanted to take a moment and post the following picture.

That is my son, Jack, vested and ready to serve for the first time – at my first Mass as a Catholic priest. Isn’t he cute?!

 

A Prayer against Discouragement

18 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by in Thought for the Day

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I went to confession yesterday. The priest is a friend of mine but it is the first time I have been to confession with him so I found his penance interesting (and that is why I am posting it). As my penance he instructed me to compose a prayer against discouragement and to pray it. Below is the result of my effort, although I wish I could say it like Aquinas or Newman.

O God our times are in your hands. Ever mindful that we can do nothing without your help, we ask that you grant us the grace to not lose heart amidst the constant storms of this mortal life. You have given us your Son as our guide, and even though He stumbled and fell on the way to the Cross, He did not turn back and did not give up. It is your grace that we need to do the same. We ask this you this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Fear of Death can lead to Life

16 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by in Eternal Life, Repentance, Sacraments

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I have had many failed attempts at making regular posts to my blog. There are many reasons for this, which amount to a pile of excuses. Recently I have been thinking that a regular post of my morning homily might be possible for the to keep up with. But I am going to try to keep it at 200 words or less so that I can actually get it done without spending a great deal of time on it. As a result, I may not explain things as well as I would like. So if you have questions about what I have written it would be an excellent opportunity to post a comment and I will answer.

Today’s Gospel reading for Mass can be found here. It is the story of the healing of the Official’s son.

The distance between Capernaum and Cana was approximately 20-25 miles. And it must be remembered that this distance had to be covered without benefit of modern conveniences such as buses, trains, planes, or cars. Therefore it would have taken a great deal of time for the Official in the Gospel to come to where Jesus was. We all know why he went to see Jesus – to ask for healing of his son. What we need to ask, though, is what motivated him to go to Jesus? His motivation, it seems to me, must have been the fear of losing his son.

Most parents would have a similar motivation for saving their children and other loved ones. That is why people spend billions and billions of dollars every year seeking cures to their various diseases. Therefore, if a doctor or miracle worker was able to guarantee healing for any disease then the line to see that person would never end.

And yet, healing for every spiritual infirmity is offered to us by Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of Penance. So why don’t the lines for Confession stretch out the door and down the street of every Catholic parish? It seems to me that one answer could be a lack of fear. That being, the fear of losing our soul for all eternity. Fear of losing his son drove the Official in today’s to Jesus. In a similar manner a fear of eternal death should drive us to Christ in the confessional. With a word He was able to heal the Official’s son and with a word – I absolve you – He is able to bring healing to whatever ails our souls. It is true that the fear of Hell is not the perfect contrition that God wants from us, but at least it is a start.