Tag Archives: Becoming like Christ

Towards Unity

24 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by in Christian Unity, Forgiveness, Love

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Sermon for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany
January 21, 2018

We are currently in the midst of the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity. This yearly prayer for the unification of all Christians is much more, though, than just a pious practice. Indeed, to pray and work towards the unification of all those who believe in Christ is our duty as Christians.

We begin each day in this octave of prayer by quoting the words of our Lord, “That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in me and I in Thee; that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me.” I would say that through these words we should be able to see that Christ not only desires unity amongst His followers – He even demands it. Our unity is to be a sign to the world of the truth of the Gospel, so that all the people of the world may come to believe in and follow Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

Now while it is true that the unity Christ prayed for is a reality within the Church and will never be lost, we, the sinful creatures that we are, can – and do – continue to cause division amongst ourselves. And when we do this the people of the world see it, and it leads to their disbelief and rejection of the Truth. We need to understand that in these self-sustained divisions we are not just hurting ourselves, we are in addition leading others away from Christ. Christ came that all mankind might be brought to a saving knowledge of the Truth. He came that all people might come into communion with the divine life of the Trinity. It should therefore be a very sobering thought that our actions towards one another could keep someone off that path to God.

Now when we observe the actual state of all those who believe in Christ, what do we see? We see division upon division of Christians all over the world; even here at our own parish we can see division. This division causes our Lord pain and it should be painful for us as well, and especially during this Octave of Prayer. And while we may not be able to single-handedly heal all the rifts amongst Christians around the world, we can most certainly do what is necessary to heal the divisions within our own parish and begin to heal the division between this parish and the Archdiocese.

Over this past year we have suffered a great deal of trauma from circumstances we know all too well. This has caused anger and outrage for many of us. And while we may have a right to be upset about all that happened last year we do not have a right to hate.

In today’s Gospel our Lord says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the Gospel.” This repentance of which He speaks is not just a turning away from doing wrong. Instead, it indicates a change of heart – a rejection of our fallen nature and a continual becoming more like Christ. And the only way that is possible is by conforming our wills to the will of God. But this will never be possible if we continue to hold onto hatred and refuse to forgive.

And yet, we continue to hang on to anger and unforgiveness in at least one form that I want to discuss today: that of grumbling and murmuring. To give this a name we might call it a spirit of discontent. Now in one sense I can understand this attitude. What happened last year to this parish caught us off guard. When something like that happens we can become defensive. And from that defensive position people can easily give in to the spirit of discontent. But truly we have nothing to be discontent about.

Through God’s grace and wonderful blessing, the Pope put this parish where it belonged – in the Ordinariate, which is what we as a parish were praying for by the way. As a result we’ve been blessed with a new bishop that understands and appreciates who we are as a parish; in addition, we have also received a new pastor. So there are three things that happened very close together: a new diocese, a new bishop, and a new pastor. Any one of these would lead to changes – changes that perhaps some of you don’t like. But these three things happened almost at once and so with it there have been many changes. But instead of a spirit of gratitude at God answering our prayer for entry into the Ordinariate, what do you suppose that I am hearing? “Well, I don’t like this or that. All these changes are ruining the parish.” This is the spirit of discontent and it comes from the evil one. Therefore, when we speak this way we are sinning.

The Church teaches that sin by itself injures the unity of the Church. How much more so when the sin is directed against our fellow Christian? And if our own personal sin leads to division in the Church, then why are we constantly blaming someone else as the source of all our perceived problems?

Christ has called us to unity, but that is only possible through love and forgiveness. In other words, we must be like Christ who from the Cross forgave those who crucified Him. And we must love others as He did by wanting what is best for all people, even those who hurt us, or do things we don’t agree with, and by putting their needs above our own.

In the Gospel today our Lord called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow Him. “Follow me,” as followers of Christ, these are words He addresses to us everyday. But to be a follower of Christ you must heed the words I’ve said today about rejecting the spirit of discontent, and about forgiveness and love. Our Lord calls you to follow Him. No one can answer the call for you, you must do it on your own.

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The Victory of our Lady

07 Wednesday Oct 2015

Posted by in Marian Feasts

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Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, which is also known by the name Our Lady of Victory. This feast is a commemoration of the naval victory at the Battle of Lepanto of Catholic forces against Muslim forces on October 7, 1576. The Pope at the time, Pius V, had asked all Catholics to pray the Rosary for success in battle and therefore instituted the feast in honor of the victory.

The victory of this battle was decisive and halted the further expansion of Islamic Turks into the European side of the Mediterranean Sea. However, this battle has been over for a very long time. But there is another battle being waged right now in which we still need Mary’s prayers, and that is the battle for each of our souls.

In this battle for our soul from where does our ultimate victory come? It is from Christ because He is the one who has definitively defeated Satan. And those of us who have been baptized into Christ’s death and Resurrection can share with Him in His voctory, if we allow Him to work through us. And how do we cooperate with Him in this way? By saying, in union with our Blessed Mother, “let it be to me according to your word.”

 

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.

Sharing Christ’s Life

12 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by in C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Theosis, Thought for the Day, Transformation in Christ

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Now the whole offer which Christianity makes is this: that we can, if we let God have His way, come to share in the life of Christ. If we do, we shall then be sharing a life which was begotten, not made, which always has existed and always will exist. Christ is the Son of God. If we share in this kind of life we also shall be sons of God. We shall love the Father as He does and the Holy Ghost will arise in us. He came to this world and became a man in order to spread to other men the kind of life He has—by what I call ‘good infection’. Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.

Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis

Virtue and Grace

10 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by in Free Will, Theosis, Virtue

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The virtuous agent (person) shows the excellence that is possible in human behavior, just as a superior athlete shows what can be done in a particular game. Virtuous behavior shows how human nature is capable of acting, and it shows thereby what human nature is, since the nature of a thing is most truly displayed when the thing is working at its best.

The God of Faith & Reason, by Robert Sokolowski, p. 64

The Catechism tells us that virtue “is a habitual and firm disposition to do good.” (CCC §1833) In addition it says the “moral virtues grow through education, deliberate acts, and perseverance in struggle. Divine grace purifies and elevates them.” (CCC §1839) The quote above gives us an excellent analogy to help us understand even better what virtue is. Comparing the virtuous person to a superior athlete we see first of all that we ‘learn the game’ of being virtuous through ‘education’ – by being taught by someone who already knows how the game is played. You may have all the talent in the world, but if you don’t know the rules of the game then you will never succeed. Likewise, we should all learn how to be virtuous.

Next, there must be the ‘deliberate acts’ of practicing what you have learned. Just because you have the talent and have been taught the rules does not mean you will succeed. If you stay in the bleachers and watch everyone else practice you will never become great. Likewise, we should all put into practice what we have learned about virtuous behavior.

Lastly, there must be ‘perseverance in struggle’. Even if defeat seems imminent you can never give up. Although I am not happy about the outcome of the game, the latest Super Bowl is wonderful example of this point. Let’s be honest: Seattle should have won that game on the final drive; but, that one player for the Patriots did not give up, caught an interception, and saved the game for his team. Likewise, we should never give up in our struggle against sin. Even if we have fallen into a particular sin a million times before that does not mean it will continue. Therefore, we must struggle against it.

But this is where the analogy breaks down because, unlike the world of professional sports, we have God’s grace on our side. We must remember that we are called not just to be virtuous; as Christians we are called to become like Christ. It is primarily through the Sacraments of the Church that we receive the grace that we need in order to become like Christ. In fact, without grace, becoming like Christ is not even possible because we, as creatures, cannot participate in the life of God unless He gives it to us. And thanks be to God He does give it to us. But there is a catch; even though He freely gives us His grace to help us become more like Christ, He does not force us to use it. Instead, we must decide to cooperate with God’s grace if it is to do us any good.

…and the Word became Flesh

25 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by in Eternal Life, Salvation, Sermons

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Sermon for the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ

December 25, 2014

What is a word? This is not a question we would normally ask ourselves because we take words for granted. When we use words to communicate with someone we assume that they will understand what we mean. But with today’s Gospel reading we must come to an understanding of what a word really is if we are to understand what St. John means when he tells us, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

So, what is a word? To answer this question let us begin by saying what it is not. A word is not just letters on a page. And it is not merely a sound coming from someone’s mouth. The written and spoken words that we use can only be understood if the person we are trying to communicate with speaks the same language. For instance, if English is your language then you know what I mean when I say the word ‘dog’. But if your language is Chinese, then the same word would be only a meaningless sound. The word ‘dog’ still means the same thing but without knowledge of the language it is unintelligible. From this we can see that a word is a sign that means something specific. Or as St. John of Damascus describes it: a word is “the messenger of intelligence.” Therefore we can say that words are interior concepts which come from our mind to convey knowledge to another person.

But what does this tell us about the Word of God? First of all, take notice of what we heard from the letter to the Hebrews, “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets.” After sin entered the world and man lost his original connection to God, which was really his ability to communicate directly with God, God did not leave mankind without hope. The letter to the Hebrews tells us that God was always trying to communicate to us through various prophets in order to bring mankind back to a correct knowledge of Himself. He did this because He originally created us to know and love Him. And out of God’s infinite love for us, He desired to bring us back to a proper knowledge and love of Him. But there was a problem because the messages of the prophets He sent could only bring us so far in our understanding of God; and why, because there was an infinite gap between the language of man and a complete knowledge of God. There is, however, one Word that can close that gap: the Infinite Word of God.

But there is a language barrier between God and ourselves. How could we, who are finite, possibly understand a direct message from the One who is Infinite? Because of the infinite gap between man’s word and the knowledge of God only the Infinite Word could bring God’s message to us. But, in order for the message to be intelligible, He first had to become Man. And that is the very reason that the Word became Flesh and dwelt amongst us. And if, as I said earlier, words are concepts which come from our mind to convey knowledge to another, then the Word that comes to us from God brings us true knowledge of God and bridges that infinite gap that came about through the sin of Adam.

But even when the Infinite Word became Flesh, He had to speak to us through our own limited and finite language. And that was simply insufficient for us to truly understand the message of salvation that He came to deliver. Therefore, He spoke to us not only in word, but in deed. And the culmination of all that He said and did among us is found in His ultimate action, which speaks louder than any human word: His Eternal Word spoken to us from the Cross.

God has spoken His saving Word to us and if we want to understand the message it contains then we must learn the language of the Cross. Because if we don’t learn this language, then this day, the day of the birth of our Lord, and every other festival of the Church becomes just meaningless noise. On this day, and every day, God is trying to communicate salvation to us through His eternal Word. But if we do not understand what it is that He is saying then the message will not be effective. If you want to receive this message and come to fully know and love God and receive that salvation He is offering then learn the language that He is speaking.

How, then, do we learn this language of the Cross? There are only three simple things we need to know to learn this language, although it does take a lifetime to master it: they are dying to self, loving God above all things, and loving our neighbor as ourselves. This is the language of the Cross; this is the language of the Word made Flesh who was born for us on Christmas Day.

The Four Last Things – Heaven

16 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by in Salvation, Sermons

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Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent

December 14, 2014

In continuing our Advent reflections on the Four Last Things our topic today is Heaven. And here is the summary of what I have to say about Heaven: unless there is a God, and a Heaven in which to dwell with Him, our lives are absolutely meaningless.

This is a bold claim to make:
-many would scoff at such an idea, saying that it is childish to believe in such things;
-some would call it wishful thinking;
-others, an archaic idea that is only believed by superstitious societies;

-while many others would say they believe in God and Heaven and yet live like this life is all there is.

And yet all of these people, and in fact all of mankind, have something in common which shows the truth of what I have said – unless there is a God and a Heaven, our lives are meaningless. This thing that is common to us all is that we all want to be happy.

Mankind’s desire for happiness is evidenced by the fact that we are always looking for the thing that will make us happy – the thing that will give our lives meaning. We constantly search amongst the finite things of creation to no avail. When we obtain some thing that we desire we eventually come to realize it does not fulfill us. This is because once we have obtained it we see that it is lacking in some way, and then we notice something better that we do not have. And so we pursue it, whatever it is, over and over in a never-ending cycle. But, if every finite thing keeps pointing us to something better, then we must finally come to realize that our need to be happy can be fulfilled by nothing, at least no thing in this world. In this world of finite things you can always go beyond to something better.

Before we go on let me explain what I mean by ‘finite thing’. To all you children, and even the adults, everything that you are hoping to receive for Christmas is a finite thing that cannot bring you the ultimate happiness you truly desire. It is true that the things we receive at Christmas can bring us momentary pleasure but it never lasts, does it? Therefore, we can see that this desire we have within us for happiness cannot be fulfilled through any finite thing, but only through that which is infinite.

This leaves us with two options. The first option is that there is something, or rather some One, that can fulfill this insatiable desire we find within ourselves. If this is true and this desire can be fulfilled, then our lives and the world around us begin to make sense.

The second option is that there is nothing in the universe but finite matter and therefore, nothing that can ever fulfill the infinite desire that we have within us. But if that is the case, then from where does this desire come? If it can never be fulfilled, then this desire within us has no meaning. Our lives would be reduced to a cruel cosmic joke because the universe holds out to us the promise of happiness and yet never fulfills it. The whole universe would then become absurd and unintelligible.

Of these two options the one I choose to believe is the first, obviously. It would be nonsensical to have a Catholic priest – or even a Catholic layman – that did not believe in a God that can fulfill this infinite longing that we find within ourselves. After all, the first option makes the most sense, doesn’t it? And this is where faith comes in – we cannot prove scientifically that God exists, but we can see that without Him nothing makes sense. And it is with God in our lives that we can finally find the fulfillment of the happiness that we desire.

But, there is a problem with our use of the word ‘happy’. Because, when we use this word, it immediately conjures up the idea of something that is only temporary. That is because this word does not define that which we are truly searching for; instead, we are looking for beatitude, or perfect happiness. This is the blessed state for which God created us. That is why we say that the Saints in Heaven have received the Beatific Vision. In seeing God face to face they have received that perfect happiness that mankind constantly tries to find on this earth.

This leads us to our celebration today. Gaudete! Rejoice! This is the first word uttered at the beginning of Mass today. It is joy that we truly desire and not mere happiness. Today’s topic is Heaven and some tend to think of Heaven as the fulfillment of all our desires. But this is not accurate. Instead, Heaven is the fulfillment of the God-given desire that is within you because all of our various ‘desires’ are summed up in that one desire to be with God. But, if we want to receive that beatitude, that perfect happiness that we all desire, then we cannot pursue it as our ultimate goal, because it is not. Our ultimate goal, the reason that we have been created, is to know and love God.

If we would receive the beatitude that He is offering to us, which is nothing less than the fullness of His love, then we must first learn how to fully love Him. How do we do this? The answer is right there: Jesus on the Cross. Our Lord has shown us how to fully love God and others – it is by giving of ourselves completely. This is the path to Heaven and if we walk this path with Christ then our lives will truly have meaning – only then will we have that perfect beatitude that we all desire.

The Difference between Need and Want

05 Friday Dec 2014

Posted by in Eternal Life, Free Will, God's Will, Pope Francis, Salvation, Submission to God, Thought for the Day

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People…have become used to an image of God handed down to them as very conerned, even jealous, about receiving the honor and glory due him, as though he somehow needed this for his own sake. But this is a serious misunderstanding, both philosophically and religiously. God does not need anything from us to maintain his own happiness. His only wish is to share his own happiness with us as richly as possible. But on our part, for our own sake, we must honor and glorify him as the best way to turn ourselves toward him and render us open and attentive to receive his gifts.

The One and the Many, W. Norris Clarke, S.J. (p.238)

I will write only briefly in order to explain my title. As Fr. Clarke expresses so well above, God does not need us for His own happiness. But, out of His infinite love, He sincerely wants us to be with Him. And of course to be with God is what we were created for – it is our end, our goal. But in order to reach that goal we must turn away from our selves and turn towards Him. “We must honor and glorify him” and the only way to do that is by willingly doing as He has asked us to do. And what is that ultimately? We see the answer in the words spoken by God’s own Son, “not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42)

Christ the King

25 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by in Loving our Neighbor, Salvation, Sermons, Submission to God, Update

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(Editorial note: the comment below by Dr. Delaney is worth noting and, as he suggests, would have fit into my sermon very well. In addition, it was pointed out by one of the deacons at the parish that we in America do not actually have a true democracy but instead a democratic republic. Both of these mistakes find their origin in my own ignorance, which can be attributed to my always taking the easy way out in my studies earlier in my life. I am now trying to remedy that problem. I have left the sermon as is, though, because this is how I delivered it.)

Sermon for Christ the King Sunday

November 23, 2014

What is a king? This is the question posed to us by our celebration today. But secondly, and more importantly, what does it mean for Christ to be our King? Regarding the first question, in an absolute monarchy, the king is one who exercises complete political power over a specific group of people. And if these people are good subjects then they will obey the king’s decisions and follow where he leads. But, of course, this kind of monarchy only works if the king is good and has the good of his subjects always in mind. And this is why earthly kingdoms which have absolute monarchies do not work – because the concerns of an earthly king often devolves into either a concern for what is good for himself or other petty concerns that hurt his subjects. Because of this, when this country was founded, we chose not to have a king, but instead established a democratic system with elected officials. And even though at this time many of our elected officials act more like dictators rather than ordinary citizens who have been elected to represent the people, nevertheless, our choice of government seems to be the best model for a planet of fallen and sinful people. We are all sinful and selfish and therefore, no single one of us should have absolute power over the rest.

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The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

21 Friday Nov 2014

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

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No time to write anything original today. Therefore I commend to you a wonderful article from EWTN found here. The thing that really caught my attention was the following:

By the consecration which the Blessed Virgin made of herself to God in the first use which she made of her reason, we are admonished of the most important and strict obligation which all persons lie under, of an early dedication of themselves to the divine love and service.