The nuptial meaning of the Eucharist; the eucharistic meaning of marriage (Sunday homily)

Note: this homily, with some adjustments, was given at a Mass marking a couple's 25 years of marriage, as well as the First Communion Mass.

This week I was reading an article entitled, 
“The Cosmic and Eucharistic Meaning of the Openness to Life.” 
That’s a mouthful! But the point it made is fairly straightforward. 

That there is a likeness between God’s plan for creation – 
how he made people and families – and God’s plan for salvation – 
how he came to be with us, and he died on the cross, 
and he gives himself to us in the Holy Mass and the Eucharist.

In the second reading, from the Book of Revelation, 
we heard about a “new heaven and a new earth,” and in that new creation, 
there is a city; but it’s also called “ bride,” 
prepared and “adorned for her husband.”

Think about any weddings you have been to. 
The bride is always beautifully adorned. 
The groom is usually standing up front, and in the back, the doors open, and wow! 

I’m usually standing near the groom, 
and I can usually get a good view of both the groom’s face, as he sees his bride, 
and the bride’s face as well. It’s a wonderful moment.

So this city, that’s also a bride, who is that? In fact, that is us. 
Jesus many times called himself the “Bridegroom” – 
and the bride he came for is us. We are his Church; we are the one he loves.

A man who seeks a bride has to do many things. 
He has to focus all his attention on her. 
He’s not going to win his lady if he doesn’t treat her as the most important thing. 
And he, himself, has to be the best he can be. 
Perhaps I’m old fashioned in this, and maybe things have changed, but – 
before I was a priest, when I was still thinking about marriage, 
if I asked a girl out, I dressed up. I put my best foot forward.

When a groom wins his bride – when she says “yes, I’ll marry you,” 
the groom has to be ready: he has to be able to provide for her; 
they have to have a home together. 
After they are married, they begin a new life. 
And everything that belonged to the groom, he gives and shares with his beloved.

The point is, all this is what Jesus has done for us. 
Has Jesus given us his best? Has he given us his all? How do we know?

You see, this is why we have the Cross. And it’s why we have the Eucharist. 
If ever we wonder, does Jesus really love us? Really? How can I be sure? 
Look at the Cross. He did that for only one reason – to win his people; to win us.

And, as if that were not enough, he gives us a constant reminder. 
He gives us his Body as often as we want in the Holy Eucharist.

There are some parallels here I want to hint at, 
but for delicacy’s sake, not spell out. 

But we know that the marriage of a man and a woman is ratified 
when they say “yes” to each other at the altar; 
yet there is a special moment that comes later. 
And I want you to notice that Jesus came, 
Jesus spoke to us, his beloved, many words; 
but the consummation of the marriage came when? On the cross. 
When he gave absolutely everything, holding nothing back. 
He poured himself out completely.

Husbands and wives can, and do, renew their covenant 
in a thousand different ways. 
And, if you don’t mind me saying so, it is a very foolish husband and wife 
who do not look for ways, day in and day out, to show each other, 
and tell each other, they love each other. 

I have many memories of my parents, but one I always treasure 
is the many times I saw my father come home from work, 
and my mom and dad would kiss and hug. 

Still, there is one special way that a husband and wife renew their covenant. 
It is God’s design; and what’s especially wonderful about this design 
is the wonderful gift that parents are sometimes given: and that is children!

It is a strange thing that something so basic 
that even a child can understand, should be forgotten, today, by so many. 
Namely, that married love, by its very nature, longs to bear fruit. 

Or, to put it in very basic terms, when you have a husband and a wife, 
the very nature of that relationship is that they want, and hope, to be, what? 
A father and a mother. A family. 

Not all are blessed with children, but when they are, 
and they see their own eyes and ears and nose, their body and blood – 
they know this is the best thing they have ever done, 
and nothing they will ever do will be more important, and more special. 
This is what the love God gave them – 
built into their hearts and bodies and souls – aimed for.

Notice, this design shows up in other ways. 
Some couples go and find a child to adopt, just as Jesus came to seek us out. 
When children grow up, the parents are still life-givers in other ways, 
with their grandchildren, their neighbors, everyone they meet. 
Not everyone marries; not everyone has children of their own; 
but every one of us has built into us a design to be a life-giver, 
which, if we choose, will be the most costly and thrilling thing we ever do 
with our lives: to be a man or a woman for others.

Isn’t that what priests and religious brothers and sisters do?

Jesus loves his Church. He gives himself totally to us; 
and we give ourselves entirely to Him. 
That love bears fruit. It is all of us. 

And just as spouses need a special way to renew their love, 
so we have that special way in the Holy Mass, and the Eucharist. 
Jesus gives us his Body and Blood. 

This is how you know I love you, he says. Not only because I tell you, 
but I show you. I give myself completely to you. 
I hold nothing back, Jesus tells us.

How to hear the Shepherd's Voice (Sunday homily)

(What follows are notes. When I delivered this homily, I filled in a fair amount.)

How can we be sure the voice we are listening to is really Jesus’?

First, I want to make a distinction between the voices we hear from outside, and the voice we hear within. One aspect of that “voice within” is our conscience. We hear a lot about conscience, but let’s be clear. Our conscience can be deformed – if we silence it, if we torture our conscience by rationalizing wrong into right, and if we seek voices that will tell us what we want to hear.

So that makes it all the more important to know: what are the resources where we can be sure we’re hearing Jesus’ voice “from the outside”?

Let’s talk about the voices that are outside us, that we can be sure about:

- The Scriptures
- The teaching of the Church
- The way we pray as Catholics – meaning, the Mass, as well as devotions such as the Rosary, the Sacred Heart devotion, the Divine Mercy.
- The lives of the saints are the best commentary on the Gospels.

Let me call attention to what I didn’t cite:

- Blogs and websites where people are arguing and attacking and complaining.
- Angry groups that have agendas they want the Church to pursue.
- People who are pessimistic and worriers.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying any of these people are bad people, or that you shouldn’t be friends with them, or talk to them, or hear what they have to say. What I am saying is that all these points of view can only give us a part of the truth. And I do think that we can become a little “hardened” in our point of view.

And part of the reason why some of these voices can be a problem is that we take all that fury and worry into our own hearts and minds, and the noise from without is turned into noise within. I’ve told this story before, but I recall my mother – when she was a young woman during World War II – she came home from work, and her mother was frantic. “What’s wrong?” “There were seven ships sunk today – I heard it on the radio!” In fact, my grandmother had heard the same report, of one ship sunk, over and over, all day long. If we tune into those voices that are telling us how terrible things are, over and over, where will that leave us?

The world has trouble. We want to be well informed. But some people think they are supposed to carry the weight of the whole world’s troubles on their backs. Who says?

OK, now I want to talk more about the voice within, and how we hear that. Conscience is only part of that voice within. The most important voice we hear in our hearts is Jesus himself – and we can hear his voice within ourselves if we want to; but it seldom just comes out of the blue.

So how do we hear his voice in our hearts?

If I am sitting with you, and you are speaking – and if you are, let us say, soft-spoken, do you think I’m going to hear you very well, if:

- The windows and doors are open and there’s noise from outside
- The TV is on with a Reds game I’m keeping one eye on
- I have a computer or a phone in my hand, and I’m checking emails and writing texts.

If you want to hear Jesus speak to you, you’re going to have to close the door, turn off the TV, and shut off the technology. I don’t mean never use them; I mean, give yourself some real silence.

I realize for many, especially when you have children to care for, this can be hard. Do what you can. But I believe for many of us, it’s not that we can’t do it, as much as we don’t especially want to. We always find reasons to put it off.

But remember, we’re not just tuning into silence or gazing into an empty sky. Jesus is clear: he wants us to hear him. He is speaking! The great enemy of our conversation with Jesus is noise and distraction, not just from outside, but within our own hearts and minds. We need silence; if only for a few minutes

'Hate speech' strikes Russia Ohio!

I'm shocked beyond words. I'm just going to post the pictures so you can see them for yourselves.

No doubt you've heard about the terrible incidents of "hate speech" erupting in so many places, particularly on college campuses in which...

I have to pause, I'm so full of emotion right now...

...in which the perpetrators use chalk -- on sidewalks!--to commit violence!

And now, it's happened here! In peaceful Russia, Ohio, right on the property of Saint Remy Church.

Here is the evidence; see for yourselves:

I know who the culprits are; they claim to be "pre-schoolers," but I'm sure it's just a ruse.

Pope Francis -- like Peter -- isn't perfect, yet Christ builds his Church (Sunday homily)

The readings have a lot to say about Peter, 
and on Friday, the successor of Peter, 
Pope Francis, issued a long-awaited document 
on questions of family life. 
So let’s talk about what Pope Francis said, and did not say. 
And let’s see what we can learn about his office as the Bishop of Rome 
and the successor of Saint Peter.

But I have to explain a lot of things, so this will take time. 
Some might think I’m going into too much detail; 
but lots of people really don’t understand these things. 
So it’s necessary to spell things out.

Three or so years ago, Pope Francis invited bishops 
from around the world to meet with him 
to discuss various questions about family life. 
They met for several weeks in the fall of 2014 and again in 2015. 
In the context of these meetings – and all that surrounded them – 
there were people raising very specific questions. 

What about people who are divorced and enter into new marriages? 
What about people who are living together, 
and perhaps have children, but are not married? 
What about people who are attracted to the same sex? 
And people were asking – including some prominent bishops – 
should the Church change her teaching, or her approach, 
to all these situations? 

And, of course, these questions were what got almost all the attention 
during the past two years, especially in the news media, 
that don’t really understand what the Catholic Church is, 
or what dogma is. 

They think it’s all up to the pope – he can do whatever he wants. 
And, of course, they are wrong.

One question in particular came up. 
What about people who now can’t receive Holy Communion at Mass 
because they are living in a situation that contradicts Church teaching? 
And very specifically, people who are divorced and have married again.

So let’s ask the question: 
why can’t some people receive communion at Mass? 
Why shouldn’t everyone come to communion whenever they wish?

The answer is found in what Saint Paul said. 
He explained that when we eat and drink 
the Body and Blood of the Lord, we must examine ourselves, 
to see if we are living as Jesus taught. 
If not, we have to repent and turn back to the Lord – 
which we do in the sacrament of confession. 

And Paul said something we cannot ignore: 
“whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily…
eats and drinks judgment on himself.” 

What Paul said applies to everyone, regarding all the commandments. 
If I am stealing at work, and I go to confession,
if I am not willing to change my ways, 
can the priest absolve me of my sins, 
when I admit that I’m going to continue stealing? 

The answer, of course, is no, he cannot. 
And the same is true if someone is violating any other commandment. 
We can always be forgiven, if we are willing to repent of the sin; 
and that means to turn from it.
Of course, there are special complications 
when we’re talking about a second marriage, we all understand that.

Nevertheless, what Jesus said about remarriage, 
in Matthew, chapter 19, could not be clearer. 
He said absolutely no to it.

Now, there’s a lot more that needs to be said, but time is limited. 

So all this is the focus, even as the Holy Father 
is trying to give attention to broader questions about the family. 
And now he issued a letter – which is lengthy, over 250 pages – 
that has a lot of things to say about God’s plan for the family, 
for marriage, for children, 
and about how important it is for the Church 
to help people prepare for marriage and to support them in marriage.

I haven’t had a chance to read the whole thing, 
but I’ve been looking through it. 
It has beautiful and powerful things to say. 
The pope could not be clearer when he reaffirms Church teaching – 
Jesus Christ’s own teachings, I might add! – 
when it comes to all these issues.

So keep that in mind when you hear various media reports.
Contrary to what you may hear, 
the pope has completely reaffirmed 
what we believe about marriage being permanent, 
and being always open to the gift of life. 
And he was completely clear about marriage being a man and a woman, 
and he explained why.

Of course, folks who have an agenda will ignore all this. 
They want to look for something new. 
And they think they found it, 
when the pope emphasizes compassion, and understanding, 
of accompanying people who aren’t where God wants them to be. 
These are good things to say, but they aren’t new. 
Pope John Paul said the same, and so have many before him. 

You’re going to see that some people are criticizing Pope Francis 
for being less clear than he might have been. 
They are saying that the pope may have given people some loopholes 
to ignore what the Church teaches. 
And already, there are “progressive” folks looking those loopholes. 
So it may be that the pope, or someone else, 
will have to come back and clarify some things.

This is a good time to explain, again, 
just what we believe about the pope. 
He has many titles, but the one that matters most – 
in terms of Scripture – is that he is the successor to Peter. 

In the Scriptures, we see how Peter was at his best and at his worst. 
In the Book of Acts, he could not be bolder 
or more solid in standing up for what is right. 

Meanwhile, in the Gospel, we see the uncertain side of Peter. 
This episode comes a few days after Jesus’ resurrection. 
Peter is fishing again. Is it because he’s hungry; 
or is it because – after denying the Lord – he’s going backward in his life? 

And then Jesus asks him, three times, “Do you love me?”
In the Greek, the word for love Jesus uses is much stronger 
than the word Peter uses in response. 
It is as if Jesus said, Peter, 
do you love me completely, unreservedly and totally? 
And Peter said, I love you in the usual sort of way. 
When Jesus asks the third time, 
he uses the same word Peter did. 
What does this mean? 
I think it means this: that Jesus knows Peter’s frailty, 
but that won’t stop him, the Lord, from building his Church on Peter.

This pope, any pope, is just as frail and limited as Peter was. 
What we believe is not that the pope is a kind of divine oracle, 
and every word he speaks will be divine. 

In the letter that Pope Francis issued, as good as it is, 
even he acknowledged that he was not attempting 
to do anything but reiterate the Church’s constant teaching, 
and to propose some ways to be more effective in our times. 

Is it possible the pope didn’t get it exactly right? Of course it is. 
We believe that God will protect the pope from teaching error. 
That doesn’t mean we believe God will ensure 
that every decision of the pope will be perfect.

The other thing it might be good to remember 
is that what has changed the world isn’t Peter by himself, 
or any of his successors – whether Sylvester, or Leo, or Gregory, 
or Boniface or Clement or Celestine or Adrian or Pius 
or John or John Paul or Francis. 

It is Christ who acts, Christ who reigns. 
That’s what the Book of Revelation was written to convey 
to early Christians who faced perils we cannot imagine. 

If you are troubled by our times – and they are troubling! – 
remember the Book of Revelation. 
It was written to reassure Christians in bad times.

Pray for the pope. Listen to the pope. 
Read what he said; I certainly shall. 
He is calling us to support people and help them 
find the purpose of their life in Jesus Christ. 
That sounds exactly right to me. 

Divine Mercy especially happens in confession (Sunday homily)

Today has become known as “Divine Mercy Sunday,” which is a recent tradition: 
it was only a few years ago that Pope Saint John Paul II gave it that name, 
inspired as he was by the message of Divine Mercy 
which Saint Faustina Kawalska received from Jesus himself in the 1920s and 30s.

And the thing that stands out from the Gospel, which connects to Divine Mercy, 
is what the Lord Jesus said to the Apostles about forgiving sins. 
This is an opportunity to go back and look at something 
in the Gospel we heard on Holy Thursday, that ties into this.

On Holy Thursday, the Gospel reading describes 
Jesus washing the feet of the apostles. 
And we know that on the same evening, he instituted the Holy Eucharist, 
and said to the Apostles, “Do this in memory of me.”

What you may not realize is the deeper meaning of Jesus washing their feet. 
And I want to say that some of the details I will share 
come from two Biblical scholars, John Bergsma and Brant Pitre. 

The foot washing is an echo of the ordination ritual 
which the priests of the Old Testament took part in; 
they were washed before they became priests, 
and they washed their hands and feet before they entered the sanctuary. 
Also on that same occasion, when Peter resisted having his feet washed, 
Jesus said, “you will have no part” or portion with me. 
This too harks back to what God said of the Levites, 
the priests of the Old Testament – 
that their “portion,” or inheritance, was the Lord himself.

So, understand that when Jesus was with the Apostles on Holy Thursday, 
this was – to use a modern term – their “ordination.” 
On that occasion, they became priests of Jesus Christ, his new priesthood.

Now we come back to today’s Gospel, which happens only three days later, 
in the same place, with all the same people, except for Judas the betrayer, 
and Thomas, who is absent. 
And Jesus “breathes on them,” 
and gives them the authority and power to forgive sins in his name. 
In other words, what we call the sacrament of reconciliation, or confession.

Now, the image of Jesus “breathing” on them is very vivid. 
And, honestly, it might seem a little odd. 
It may well have seemed so when it happened. 

It makes me think of when the Archbishop consecrates the sacred chrism 
during Holy Week, which is used for baptisms, confirmations and ordinations. 
There is a point when the bishop leans over the container of oil, and breathes on it.

It also recalls another moment, which happens at every Mass. 
When the priest is at the altar, and he takes the bread and the wine, 
what does he do?
He leans over, and speaks the words of Christ “to” the bread and the wine. 

All this recalls the Book of Genesis, 
when God created the world through the Spirit, 
by “speaking” it into existence: “Let there be light,” God said, and there was. 
But when Jesus breathes on the Apostles, this is not the beginning of Creation, 
but the beginning of the redemption of all Creation.

So let’s not underestimate the power at work in the sacrament of confession. 
When the priest is at the altar,
 and he speaks the words of Christ over the bread and wine, what happens? 
It becomes Jesus’ own Body and Blood. We kneel and we adore. 
We are filled with wonder and love, and we push all doubt out of our minds: 
yes, that truly is Jesus!

So what about when we hear the words of absolution, in confession? 
Sometimes people wonder, oh, were all my sins forgiven? 
Does God really forgive? 
You just heard the priest say it: ALL your sins are forgiven.* All of them! 
Why doubt that is true? 
To doubt that you are forgiven is like doubting that the Eucharist really is Jesus. 
It’s the same power, the same Lord.

Just as Jesus said to Thomas, he says to us: do not be unbelieving, but believe!

Now, what makes the sacrament of confession most effective is two things: 
First, we have to make frequent use of it. I think monthly is a good rule of thumb; 
but that’s a “rule of thumb.” It’s not my place to say anyone “must” go that often. 

That said, if you don’t see much fruit of the sacrament in your life, 
maybe take advantage of it more often.

And the second thing that makes this sacrament fruitful is a good follow up. 
I often say in the confessional that the best thing to do, after leaving, 
is to ask the Holy Spirit’s help in writing a spiritual to-do list. It’s not that hard. 
If we have been treating our family badly, or neglecting our spouse, 
or been lazy at work, 
or spending too much time with the wrong sorts of things on the Internet, 
or drinking too much—whatever it is, there’s your spiritual to-do list.

But when we have a very general resolution, 
have you noticed, nothing much comes of that? 
“Someday I’ll start getting up earlier.” It’ll never happen! 
We have to make very specific resolutions. “Tomorrow,” or, 
“Today, I’m going to stop cursing.”

In addition to a resolution, make a plan. If you’re going to go on a diet, 
you make a plan. If you’re going to learn Spanish, you make a plan.

If it’s too hard to get started – I know what that feels like! – 
then do what I’ve done many times over the years. 
Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the motivation. 
Just say, “Holy Spirit, help me to…” and fill in whatever it is. 
Pray that prayer every day, even several times a day. 
The Apostles needed Jesus to breathe the Holy Spirit on them, and so do we!

* OK, this is embarrassing...After the third time I delivered this homily, I realized I'd made a mistake. The words of absolution do not, actually, include the word "all," as in, "all your sins"! How could I make such a mistake? Because the "all" is clearly implied; and I have many, many times in confession made this very point. That said, in the last time I gave this homily, I had to clarify this, and I will do so in the parish bulletin.

Just one question... (Easter homily)

One question: Did Jesus rise from the dead? That’s all the matters.

If he did not – which is entirely reasonable – 
people do not rise from the dead, 
especially after such a violent death, and being sealed in a tomb …

…Then this is just a pleasant spring morning, 
and what are we doing here?

But what if Jesus really did rise from the dead?

Let me be as clear as possible.

I don’t mean, what if we Christians imagine he rose from the dead…
Or, what if we feel he rose “in our hearts”…
Or, he “rose spiritually” for believers.

No, I mean, his broken, dead body coming back to life. Reanimated.
He left that tomb under his own power. 
He appeared to many people – Saint Paul tells us, 
elsewhere in Scripture, 
that he appeared to at least 500 people at one time.

What if that happened? What then?

Perhaps you would like to know some details of what happened…

- Jesus certainly died. He took a horrible beating, 
and was nailed to the cross. 
The job of the Romans was to make sure he died. 
Who thinks they didn’t do their job well?

- He was buried in haste, because the Sabbath was about to begin. 
That means his grave was near the place of execution, 
which is what Scripture says. 

- People knew where the tomb was. 
The Romans knew, because Roman guards were placed there. 
The Jewish leaders who sought Jesus’ death knew – 
they asked for the Roman guard. 
And the disciples knew. Scripture tells us that Mary Magdalene, among others, 
was there when the tomb was sealed.

- When Peter and John came back very early on Sunday morning, 
they looked in, and saw no body, but they did see the cloths in which Jesus’ body was wrapped. What’s not entirely clear in the English translation, 
but what the Greek suggests, 
was that the cloths were in the exact position 
they’d been in when Jesus was laid on the stone. 
That is to say, the cloths themselves hadn’t moved; 
the body had simply left them! 
That’s what Peter and John and the others saw 
when they looked in the tomb.

- Sometimes people suppose the followers of Jesus 
were inclined to believe. But what do you think? 
If you believed he was the Messiah, the conquering king,
 and then he gets arrested, 
and executed in the most humiliating way possible, 
and then someone comes and tells you, oh, he’s alive, 
would you really be all that ready to believe such a story?

In any case, what the Gospels tell us is that they didn’t believe. 
Peter doubted. Thomas doubted. 
The two who were walking on the road to Emmaus doubted. 

What made them believe? Why should they have believed?

And even more confounding, why, would Peter, James, and John, 
the other James, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, 
Thomas, Matthew, Simon and Jude 
all spend the rest of their lives telling everyone 
Jesus rose from the dead – at the cost of everything they had, 
with all but one of them dying terrible deaths? 

Peter himself was crucified in Rome – 
we know this, because we have his bones, buried in Rome, 
under the Vatican, found again in the 1940s, 
precisely where ancient tradition said they were, 
they were found in Rome, 
and his bones had absolutely no reason being in Rome 
unless he went there to preach Jesus Christ.

Did Jesus rise from the dead?

What changes for you if he did?

The long road to the Covenant (Easter Vigil homily)

I want you to use your imagination. 
Imagine you were standing on a mountain. 
You got there by a very long journey. What an ordeal! 
Now you are catching your breath, and taking in the breathtaking view. 
Your gaze follows the slope of the mountain, 
down to the table-land below. 
Your eyes trace out the path you came, across valleys and rivers, 
until they spy out the far horizon, hazy in the distance.

And now, imagine that – in taking in this scene, 
you aren’t just looking at your own journey, 
but you are recalling a journey through time. 
And not just your own journey, but the journey of humanity; 
you are able to cast your gaze all the way back to man’s beginning.

You see, that’s what the readings tonight are helping us to do. 
Yes, these readings were an ordeal! 
Some parishes will cut out some of the readings, 
and try to make it “brief,” 
but that defeats the whole point of this Mass, 
which is unlike any other Mass all year long. 
This Mass is about the journey of man; 
or, more precisely, God’s journey with man, 
from the Creation to Redemption.

Two scholars I respect – Scott Hahn and John Bergsma – 
have aptly identified the theme that links all these passages, 
indeed, all the Old Testament, together: 
and that is the theme of covenant.

What is a covenant?
We can understand a covenant better 
when we contrast it with a contract. 
If you need someone to cut the grass, maybe you put out a sign, 
and a young person comes and knocks at your door, 
and you offer him the job. 
“Show up twice a week, here’s the mower, and I’ll pay you each week.”
If that college kid gets a better job, he’ll quit; 
and if he doesn’t show up reliably, you’ll let him go. 
That’s how a contract works.

But with a covenant, there’s no “quitting” or being fired. 
A covenant is forever. 

And a covenant is total. 
With a contract, all that student owes you 
is a few hours a week of work; the rest of the time is his own.
All you owe is the money you promised, and nothing more.

But with a covenant, each gives all to the other. 
Employment isn’t a covenant, but family is; and so is marriage. 
I belong to you, you belong to me, all in all, 
and we belong to each other forever. That’s a covenant.

And the first covenant began with creation. 
As Pope Benedict pointed out, 
the climax of Creation is the Sabbath;
later in the Book of Exodus, we read, 
“the Israelites [shall] observe the Sabbath 
throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant” (31:16-17). 

Also, notice God makes man in his “image” and likeness.” 
What does this sound like? 
It doesn’t sound like employer-to-employee, 
or even Creator to creature. But it does sound like father to child. 
Family. Family is a covenant.
After this we have the story of Abraham and Isaac, 
foreshadowing the Cross. 
Then the exodus from Egypt, 
which is also about the rejection of the false gods of Egypt, 
passing through the waters of the Red Sea to communion with God at Mount Sinai – 
another covenant.

And did you notice? We also heard Isaiah prophesy this:

All you who are thirsty, come to the water!
You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat…
Heed me, and you shall eat well,
you shall delight in rich fare.

Why is God talking about food? 
What does that have to do with covenant? 
Notice he says, “I will renew with you the everlasting covenant…” 
What could he mean? Stay tuned…

As I said at the outset, 
we’re retracing our steps along a long, winding path. 
That path winds its way upward, up a hill – to Calvary. To Good Friday.

But the story of salvation doesn’t just lead from Creation to the Cross; 
it leads all the way to us. It leads to our own baptism, 
when we passed through the waters 
and were adopted as God’s children. 
To our confirmation, when we received the Holy Spirit 
promised by Ezekiel; 
and to the new and everlasting covenant, 
which we share in the grain that becomes the Body of Christ, 
the wine that becomes his true Blood. “Rich fare” indeed!

See that? The story of salvation leads right to this place, 
to this altar, to tonight!

This Mass tonight is not like any other Mass we celebrate. 
It is the culmination of this Holy Week, 
and the Holy Three Nights we’ve kept together. 
Thursday night when Jesus began his Passover, 
offering himself as the Lamb on the cross 
the next evening, Good Friday.

And there was a detail I meant to mention yesterday. 
Do you know that when Jesus died on the Cross, 
the evening sacrifice was taking place in the Temple? 
And do you know what they were praying for? 
We actually have some idea about this from ancient writings. 
Among the things they prayed for were:

- Redemption
- Forgiveness of Sins
- The coming of the Messiah, and
- The resurrection from the dead

And that brings us to this night. 
All the promises made, all the sacrifices offered; 
all the repentance and all the hope, 
all mean nothing if that tomb is not empty!

I began by proposing we are on a journey, 
but of course that journey does not end on this night. 
The empty tomb, the Risen Lamb, the Risen Lord, leads us on. 
He will lead us to the Father. That was the promise at the beginning.

That was what Adam lost, and which the New Adam brought back to us.
Humanity wandered a long way from the Garden to the Cross.

You and I have spent 40 days of penance and sacrifice. 
Tonight we return to the font and source of our Faith, 
which is Jesus, the slain Lamb, the victorious Lamb, 
who conquered death and hell 
and returned from the dead to lead us on. 
Tonight ends our mourning and begins our rejoicing. 

We are not at heaven yet, but this night, this Easter, 
and this Holy Mass is our taste of heaven. 
God has created us, claimed us, redeemed us, and called us. 
We’re headed home!

This is our Passover (Holy Thursday homily)

It’s important to peel back the centuries of our own tradition 
to reveal what lies at the root of what we do tonight.

The first reading describes the Passover, 
celebrated by the Jewish People. 
It speaks of the “the fourteenth day of the month” – 
that is, fourteen days after a new moon, which means, a full moon. 
Did you see what is overhead? A full moon.

The lamb was one year old and “without blemish”; 
and notice, the lamb was obtained several days before, 
and lived with the family until the day of sacrifice? 
Why is this important? 
Because it symbolized the lamb being part of the household. 

Then, with the whole assembly present, the lamb was slaughtered. 
Elsewhere in Scripture, it makes clear, not a bone is to be broken.

The blood of the lamb is then spread over the doorposts, 
to symbolize protection from divine judgment. 
Scripture scholar Brant Pitre – 
whose work I draw on for these details – 
points out that when the blood was spread on the doorposts, 
it would stain the wood, providing a permanent sign.

And then, finally, the flesh of the lamb was eaten. 
This completed the sacrifice.

At the same meal, there were “bitter herbs” recalling slavery in Egypt, 
and unleavened bread and wine.

On Sunday, we recalled how Jesus entered Jerusalem, 
along with probably a million other faithful to keep the Passover. 
The ancient Jewish historian, Josephus, 
says there may have been as many as two million. 
With such numbers, that means quite a lot of lambs were sacrificed: 
perhaps two hundred thousand or more. 

History records that 
all the thousands of priests of Israel were present, 
and they had a well-practiced system of doing this. 
Without being too graphic, just stop and realize: 
there would have been a lot of blood. 
It would have been powerfully present.

Now, I want to compare all that with what happened 
when Jesus gathered with his apostles. 
In all that Jesus said and did at the supper, 
he never mentions the lamb. 
Instead, he takes the bread, and says, 
“this is my body, given up for you.” 

If you were listening closely to the Passion of Luke on Sunday, 
you heard mention of Jesus taking a cup of wine not once, but twice. 
In fact, in the Passover meal, there were four cups of wine shared.

The first cup that was prepared: I say, “prepared,” 
because it was mixed with water. Does that ring a bell? 
Watch what I do at the altar in a few minutes. 
This was called the “cup of sanctification,” 
and the father began the meal with a prayer, over this cup, 
and the food is brought to the table.

The second was the cup of “proclamation” – it was prepared, 
but not drunk right away; because then the account 
of what God did for his people in Egypt, in the exodus, was recounted, 
and the father would explain the meaning of what they did. 
And isn’t that what I’m doing now?

After this, the meal would be eaten. 
And then when the meal was finished, the father would share the “cup of blessing.” 
Then those present would sing several psalms, 
and then the Passover was concluded with the fourth cup, 
called the “cup of praise,” and it completed the sacrificial meal.

If you noticed what Paul just told us, 
Jesus took the cup “after supper” – 
meaning, this was the third cup. 
Which raises a question that scholars wrestle with:  
what about the fourth and final cup?

Well, if you are here tomorrow, Good Friday, 
you will hear these words in the Passion we will all read together:

After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine.
So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth.
When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.”
And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

I want you to notice that tonight, we will not finish this Mass. 
There will be no final blessing. 
We will go on a procession – recalling Jesus and the Apostles leaving the Upper Room, 
and going to the Garden of Gethsemane. 
In turns, we will keep watch with the Lord all night. 
Tomorrow, we will recall how the Lamb of God was slain.

Oh, I meant to give you one more detail. 
In Jesus’ time, when the lamb was prepared for the meal, 
in order to roast it, do you know how they did it? 
They took two skewers, made of wood. 
One was speared through the torso, from head to tail. 
The other was speared through both shoulders. A cross.

Tomorrow we will worship the Cross on which our Savior, 
our Lamb of God, was slain. This is our Passover. It begins tonight. 

Entering the Holy of Holies of our Faith (Palm Sunday homily)

With the long readings for Palm Sunday,
it behooves me to keep my homily brief. 
So, I will just point out a few details.

Let’s begin with the entrance into Jerusalem. 
First, you should know that huge numbers of people 
were present for the Passover. At least a million people! 
And second, because this was a sacred pilgrimage, 
it was a strong tradition 
that you did not approach the city except on foot. 

Add to that, the Prophet Zechariah had described 
the Messiah entering Jerusalem on a donkey.
So what Jesus did wasn’t just a curiosity; 
it would have caused tremendous excitement. 
It would have turned the city upside down.

Next, notice that the passage from Isaiah, 
and the psalm we prayed, are also prophecies. 
You do realize that what we heard from Isaiah 
was written probably 600 or so years before Jesus was born? 
And the words from the psalm might be from a thousand years before? 
Just stop and think about that. 
The details of Jesus’ life, his miracles, and his suffering and death, 
were all foretold centuries before!

I want to share something from Scripture scholar John Bergsma
about what we heard from Saint Paul. 
He says that “St. Paul probably has in mind here 
the ancient ritual of the Day of Atonement,” or Yom Kippur. 

And what happened was that, like the Passover, 
huge numbers of worshippers would be gathered in Jerusalem. 
The High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies 
and make atonement for the nation. 
And when he exited, he would give a blessing; 
and in that blessing, he would do what otherwise no Jew would ever do: 
he would pronounce the Divine Name of God over all the people. 
And when he did that, the entire assembly, as one man, 
would fall to their faces to hear the Name of God.

For us, that is the name of Jesus! 
And notice what we did a moment ago, 
as we heard the account of Jesus’s death: we fell to our knees.

This week, and especially the Three Nights 
of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, 
are the Holy of Holies for us. 
Let us pray for one another, 
especially for those who may need a boost of faith, during this week. 

And never forget what happened for the criminal beside Jesus: 
all he had to do was ask for mercy, and Jesus said, 
“This day you will be with me in Paradise”! 
Jesus is always ready to give complete mercy and restoration 
to anyone. All we have to do is ask!

Confession is necessary if we want the Promised Land (Sunday homily)

Maybe you’re wondering just why the first reading was included – 
what it means for us. 

The point of the first reading is that it is about us, and our journey. 
We are the people who are wandering in the wilderness. 
God wants to bring us to the Promised Land of heaven. 
Those who cooperate with his grace will get there. 
Those who are stiff-necked and hard-hearted and stubborn 
are those who fell along the way. 

As we make our way, we are sustained by the sacraments, 
like the Manna; in heaven, we will have God himself.

When the Children of Israel were in the desert,
God kept confronting them about being stiff-necked and stubborn. 
Am I stiff-necked? Are you? 
It occurred to me that the real problem 
isn’t the stubbornness I know about; it’s the things I don’t even see! 

Do we want to get to the Promised Land? 
Will we do anything to get there? Will we sacrifice? 
Will we change our lives? 
Will we let go of anything that holds us back?

This is why frequent confession is so critical. 
Because we don’t see what we need to see right away; 
we don’t recognize what we need to let go of all at once. 
And when we do see it, 
it can take awhile before we finally peel each finger away and let it go. 
Change comes slowly.

Father Amberger, from time to time, 
would take homily time to review the examination of conscience. 
That’s what I’m going to do today. 
You can take out the books with the readings – 
the booklet is in the back – and follow along, beginning on page 29. 
I will be delicate about certain matters; 
there are some grown-up words in this examination. 

Father Amberger also created these purple booklets; 
many of you have it. 
There are some in the front entrance, near the baptismal font, 
and some at the side entrance. 
This is very good at answering all the questions you may have.

Let me talk about mortal and venial sins. 
It’s a good idea to bring all sins to confession, 
but we must bring mortal sins. 
“Mortal” means they deal a deadly blow to our relationship with God. 
It’s a lot like a couple, or a friendship. 
There are little annoyances and slights that don’t help, 
but they don’t wreck the relationship. 

But some things we say or do can’t be overlooked. 
And they have to be spoken out loud, and repented of, 
before restoration takes place. 
The prodigal son understood that; and the Father, did too. 
So when we confess mortal sins, 
we also specify the number as best we can. 
That’s part of being truly honest with God and ourselves.

The First Commandment is God comes first. 
There are lots of ways we treat other things 
as more important than God, such as work or the cares of the world. 

When we openly and explicitly deny a teaching of the Church, 
doing so is a mortal sin; as is any false worship, 
which is what the occult and fortune telling and astrology are. 
Receiving holy communion while in a state of mortal sin 
is itself a mortal sin. 
Lying or concealing mortal sins in confession is a mortal sin.

The second commandment: not taking God’s name in vain. 
This sin becomes mortal when the harm we cause is grave: 
when our insult to God or what is sacred is deliberate. 

The third commandment is about the Lord’s Day. 
Missing Mass for no good reason – 
let me say that again, for no good reason – is a mortal sin. 
Some people misunderstand this. 
If you are sick or don’t have a ride or the weather is bad 
or you have someone at home to care for: these are good reasons. 
That said, it is disrespectful of Mass to leave early, 
again, without a good reason. 
And one way we trust our Father, rather than disdain him, 
is by setting aside Sunday as a day of rest and spiritual renewal – 
trusting that the other six days will be enough for what we need to do.

The fourth commandment is about respect, humility and gratitude. 
If you have trouble obeying your parents, 
or doing your part to help the family, ask yourself: 
what are you grateful for regarding your family? 
The flaws and failures of our family are easy to see.
Our own? Not so much! 

The fifth commandment: you shall not kill. 
Obviously this is about destroying human life – including in the womb. 
It also includes when we injure other people. 
These become mortal sins when the injury is serious. 
But don’t forget the way we hate and “kill” each other 
with words and in our hearts. God sees these, too. 

The sixth commandment is about honoring marriage. 
Sex is for husbands and wives; that’s where it belongs. 
Not because it’s bad, but because it’s so good and sacred. 
Before marriage? No. Outside marriage? No. Alone? No. 
With the lifegiving part deliberately left out? No. 
Seeking to create life in a laboratory, rather than in an act of love? No. 
Pictures I won’t describe or the wrong sort of entertainment? No. 
All these are mortal sins because they do grave harm. 

The seventh commandment: you shall not steal. 
Not paying our taxes – no, I don’t like it either – is stealing. 
Not paying employees a fair wage – 
and I think that includes tipping waiters and waitresses, 
because that’s part of their wage – is a sin. 
Not doing our own work is stealing. 
So is destroying someone’s property. 
Neglecting to help the needy is stealing from the poor. 
When what we steal is a significant amount, that makes it a mortal sin.

The eighth commandment: you shall not lie. 
Anytime we misuse our words and harm others – 
even with the truth, if we didn’t have a good reason – that is a sin. 
If the harm is great, that’s a mortal sin.

The ninth and tenth commandments are about coveting – 
which means they are about being content with what we have. 
This was the sin that led the prodigal son away from his Father.
And one way to combat this sin – which is also the sin of envy – 
is to remind ourselves of what we have, instead of what we lack. 

Sometimes it seems so hard to go to confession, but it really is easy. 
You don’t have to come to me, if that’s an issue; 
you can go to any priest. Remember you can go anonymously. 

The prodigal son took a long time to come to his senses. 
And, I suspect, as he trudged home, 
he reproached himself over and over; 
he worried about what Father would say, 
and how bad it might be. 
Maybe even he thought about turning around.

But he did come home – 
and his Father caught sight of him “a long way off.” 
God sees us a long way off – and rushes to embrace us. 
When God’s mercy surrounds us – that’s what happens in confession – 
that is a taste of the Promised Land.

The hole in our soul (Sunday homily)

What if you and I were not here in church, in Russia, 
but we were walking in downtown Columbus or Dayton or Cincinnati? 
And a man runs up to us and asks to know your name? 
What would be your reaction? Your immediate reaction?

Are you entirely comfortable giving him your name? Your full name?

I’m guessing not. I’m guessing that you would, like me, 
find that uncomfortable and awkward.  
If someone asked me that, my first question would be, why do you ask?

The point is, sharing my name with someone is a kind of intimacy. 
It opens up unknown possibilities. There’s a risk involved.  

In the first reading, Moses asks to know God’s Name. 
He wants to draw closer to God. 
After all, Moses and God’s People had been in slavery 
for over 400 years. 

The stories of what God did in Abraham’s life, 
in the lives of Isaac and Jacob and Joseph, were all distant memories. 
Perhaps even God himself seemed very distant. 

So notice, God tells Moses, “I am the God of your fathers, 
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.” 
Remember them?
Then Moses asks, but the people will want to know your name.

In Hebrew – the language in which this was written – 
names far more significance than just what something is called. 
As scholar John Bergsma explains, 
“in Hebrew culture, the “name” designated the essence or being 
of the person” – it’s not just what someone is called. 
So what God tells Moses – when he says, “I AM WHO AM” – 
he is revealing his true nature: he is the One who truly and fully exists; 
he is being and existence in himself. 
He is the Source; everything depends on him for existence and life.

Think about what was happening to God’s People in Egypt. 
They were slaves. Their lives didn’t belong to themselves; 
they belonged to Pharaoh. 
As far as Pharaoh was concerned, he was their existence; 
he was their god.

This is a challenge and temptation we all face: 
what is the real purpose and center of my life? 
What things in my life are too important? 
What shapes my life, other than God?

Of course we all need to make a living; 
so we need our jobs, our farms, our businesses. 
But that doesn’t mean they have to become our Pharaoh. 
One of the most important things we can do is to consecrate our work, 
our farms, our businesses, to God. 

The Morning Offering prayer is an easy way to do that; 
as well as pausing during our work day to remember that God is our god, 
not our job, and not anything else on this earth. 
A lot of us have consecrated our homes to the Sacred Heart. 
If you haven’t done this, and you want to know how, let me know.

By the way, this is one of the reasons the Sabbath is important. 
The slaves in Egypt didn’t get any Sabbath, any day off. 
Every day, they belonged to Pharaoh. 
When they left Egypt, they began to have a day of rest, 
which means they were free. 
It’s interesting that today, something similar happens. 
People have debts, or are struggling to make a living, 
and what’s the result? 
They have to work an extra job, or two, 
and then they are back in Egypt: no Sabbath, no day of rest. 

We can understand those who work on Sunday because they have to. 
But not everyone has to. Sometimes we choose to. 
What god are we serving when we do that?

But I want to go back to this encounter Moses had with God. 
God revealed his name – his true nature – to Moses, 
that he is Life, Existence, Being-in-itself. 

Now, go back with me to the very beginning, Adam and Eve. 
God gives them existence. They have everything.
Then they sin; they fail to trust God, and turn from him. 
And if you will recall, 
Genesis says that they tried to hide themselves from God.

Do you realize what happened at that moment? 
They lost the center of themselves. 
That’s what turning from God did to them. 
One moment they were united to Existence, to Life; and bam! 
They lost it. Can we even imagine what that might have been like? 
It must have been staggering.

This is what we call Original Sin. 
We all “inherit” that same poverty, that hole in our chests, 
where God belongs. 

And what do we do? We find ways to fill it. 
Work; sports; sex; food, alcohol, money; friends. There’s a long list.
That loss of God is the problem we all have in common. 
It’s why we need to be baptized; 
it’s why parents do well to bring their children for baptism 
soon after birth. 
Baptism isn’t the last step, but the first. 
This is why we need to learn who Jesus is, 
and why it’s so important we help one another find him. 
We need his friendship. 
He fills that hole in our lives.

That’s why Jesus said: do you think those folks the tower fell on 
were worse than you? We’re all in the same boat. 

We all have that hole in our soul. Only Jesus will fill it. 
If you’re not sure what Lent is for, 
and what you’re trying to accomplish, then there’s your task. 
Forget the other stuff that isn’t filling that need. 
Seek friendship with Jesus. Talk to him. 
Seek him in the sacrament of confession. 
Let him accompany you in your day. 
Let him make your life fruitful. 
He will fill that hole.

What more can God do? What more do we want? (Sunday homily)

Let’s begin with this strange scene in the first reading. 

Before I explain the passage, recall some facts about Abram. 
God has called him from his homeland – 
the city of Ur, in what is today Iraq – 
to travel a long distance to what is now Israel and Palestine. 
Abram is already an old man, and he has no children – 
so he has a lot of reasons to doubt his future, 
and to doubt the promises God has made.

So notice how the passage begins. God “took him outside and said: 
Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. 
Just so, he added, will your descendants be.”

Now, I wonder how many of you noticed something. 
The passage, a few lines later, describes the sun going down – 
meaning, it’s daytime when God does this!

Why would God do that? Well, because it fit Abram’s situation. 
God said, look up at the stars; Abram is thinking, but I can’t see them. 
That’s right, Abram, just as you can’t see your offspring. 
But those stars are up there, whether you can see them or not.
And your future is real, even if you can’t see it.

Then God promises Abram would have all the land.
And when Abram says, how do I know? 
That’s when we have this strange ritual.

At God’s command, Abram cuts up several animals 
and lays them on the ground. Then he waits. 
As he waits, darkness falls and is terrified.

And in the dark, he sees a “smoking fire pot and a flaming torch, 
which passed between those pieces” of animal carcasses.

This ritual was intended to work like this: 
after the animals are laid out, 
the people forming the covenant would walk between them, 
in effect saying to each other, may what happened to the animals, 
happen to me, if I do not honor my promises to you.

And who walked between the pieces of the animals? 
Abram did not; he watched. But God did. 
That’s what the torch and the firepot signify.

A covenant goes beyond a contract or a business agreement.
I have a business relationship with my insurance company. 
I haven’t given my whole life to them. If I like another company better, 
I can cancel that contract and make a new one. 

But a covenant binds one whole person to another; and it’s forever. 
By the way, here is the whole misunderstanding about marriage. 
Lots of people think it’s a contract; but God says it’s a covenant – 
which is what the Catholic Church teaches.

But the truly amazing thing to notice 
is that God made a covenant with a human being – with his creature. 

As I said to the folks at Mass Saturday morning, 
a parent might make a covenant with your children. 
But those of you who have livestock, 
I’m certain you don’t make covenants with them. 
When they get fat enough, off to market they go! 

We are God’s creatures. And yet he made a covenant with Abram; 
and then, at Sinai, with the Children of Israel. 
And then, at the Cross, 
he made a “new and eternal covenant” with all of us.

This is what connects the first reading with the Gospel. 
In each case, God is giving a reassurance. 
To Abram, he performs a familiar ritual. 
To the Apostles, Jesus shows the fullness of his glory as God. 
He’s on the way to Jerusalem, to the Cross – 
he’s told the Apostles this, 
and that’s what he and Moses and Elijah were discussing. 
This revelation of his glory lets them know: you can believe Me.

The other connection is even more astounding. 
When God made this covenant with Abram, 
he said, in effect, death will come to me if I do not keep my promises.
In fact, God did keep his promises to Abraham. 
And yet – what happened with the Cross? 
Jesus, the God-Man, surrendered himself, and was killed!

What more can God do?

Do you have trouble trusting God? Abram did. The Apostles did. 
That’s what these signs were about:
letting them know he would keep his promises.

OK, so what is God going to do for me? Where’s my sign?
What do you think the Holy Mass is? 
Before your very eyes, Jesus Christ executes his covenant – 
here, on this altar. 
He lays himself out; he gives himself, totally.
What more do we want?

Go to confession! (Sunday homily)

Jesus spent 40 days in the desert; we have 40 days of Lent. 
The connection is obvious. Our Lord, 
who became man to be in solidarity with us – 
to fight not just for us, but side-by-side with us – leads us into battle. 
And the three temptations from the devil sum up all that tempts us. 
Like Jesus, we are tempted by the flesh, by worldly greed, 
and by the arrogance of power. 

One way to understand the temptations 
the devil presents to Jesus is this. 
The devil appeals to that part of us that says, 
take the shortcut; go ahead and cheat to get ahead; 
win through power. 

The devil tells Jesus: you can have all the kingdoms of the world – 
meaning, all the souls they contain – 
and you only need to do one, little thing: just worship me.

This is how a lot of temptation works out for us. Take the shortcut. 
We have candidates for public office saying, sure, let’s use torture. 
Others say, sure, we take unborn children, at the early stage of life, 
and destroy them for “research,” but they justify it, 
because it’ll go for a good cause. 
The state of California recently legalized killing sick people – 
so called “assisted suicide.” After all, it’ll save money.

A lot of this is also about the arrogance of power. 
We are unwilling to let God be God. We want to be God. 
The whole movement today, not only for redefining marriage; 
it’s moved now to redefining what male and female mean. 

The bottom line is arrogance of power. 

Who cares what God has designed? We are god. 
We make our own design. 
And so you have scientists who want to manipulate human life 
at the genetic level, and “edit” the genetic structure of life. 
They want to create babies on order; 
and they want to mix human and non-human genes together.

But let’s come back to where you and I are.

The main battlefield most of us will face 
is not 1,000 miles away, not 100, not even one mile away. 
It’s inside us: our own heart. 
It’s in the choices we make 
from when the alarm clock buzzes in the morning 
until we return to bed each night. 
It’s in what we do at work each day, 
and on the Internet each afternoon and evening. 
In the words we share with our families – 
and in the refusal to share ourselves with one another.

Our hearts are the battlefield. 
And this Lent is our time to enter into desert silence, 
so that we’re alone with ourselves.

Who among us can say, I don’t need this? 
I have no temptations; I have no weaknesses to overcome? 
The one man who really could say that was Jesus Christ. 
And he went into the desert. 
He went there to say, you’re kidding yourself 
if you think you can win these battles 
without prayer, without cost, without Me! 

There are lots of tools that help us. 
We know three of them: fasting and self denial. Prayer. 
Giving generously to others, especially the poor.

Under the rubric of prayer, let me highlight 
the most powerful weapon of all. The sacrament of confession.

I go to confession about every 2-3 weeks; although, at present, 
I’m overdue. So I promise, I’m going to go this week if I possibly can. 

What do I confess? Like a lot of people, 
I tend to confess the same sins again and again. 

That said, I can tell you: 
there are some sins I don’t confess very often anymore. 

Over the years, with help from God prompting my conscience, 
and the priest giving counsel, 
and my own desire to make something happen, 
and going back to confession again, and again, and again,
I have beaten down some of my sins. 
I don’t know that anyone is ever cured, this side of Purgatory. 

But, we can learn – 
with the help of the Holy Spirit and frequent confession – 
to silence our tongues a little more; 
to avoid certain sections of the Internet 
and to refuse certain pleasures; 
to trust that our business will be OK 
even without cheating and cutting corners. 
We can learn to tame our anger and cool our passions. 
And, we can learn to forgive.

But none of these things will ever happen 
if we cannot humble ourselves and go to confession. 

And, while I’m on the subject, I want to make an announcement: 
starting this week, I’ll be here an hour earlier on Thursdays, 
hearing confessions from 6 pm, before Stations.

In the first reading, when God’s People would come into the temple, 
to offer the first-fruits of their harvest, 
they were bowing down and acknowledging: 
they didn’t do it themselves, they needed God. 

My soul is my battlefield; your soul is yours. 
Can you become who you want to be without God? I cannot. 
That’s why we go to confession. 

God doesn't think about your sin the way you think he does (Sunday homily)

Here are notes from Sunday. The last week or so I've been under the weather to some degree, and really didn't have much energy. I'm feeling better.

The first reading and the Gospel have a lot of similarities. God reveals himself in both; and both times, the human being reacts by becoming deeply aware of his sinfulness.That’s often what happens when we draw close to God. We instinctively recognize sin as something that separates us from God, which it does.

But notice how God reacts – that is, how he does NOT react. God does not recoil from Isaiah in horror. Jesus does not turn away from Peter.

Think about that. 

How many times when we fall into sin, one of the things we may come to believe is that God is against us, God is offended, God is angry, God is going to punish us. The truth is, when we face the reality of sin, we’re projecting onto God our own horror and disgust. We’re right to be disgusted by sin. Would that we all had a true horror of sin, as Saint Louis urged his son.

Sin is indeed horrible, but God does not think you and I are horrible.

The next time you are in a situation wondering whether God can forgive you, remember what Jesus said to Peter: “Do not be afraid!” Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid!

As we go into Lent – Ash Wednesday is this week – what great things might God do in our lives if we can these two things:
a) Not let our sins discourage us;
b) And not be afraid of where God might lead us?

Always say what needs to be said, and always with love (Sunday homily)

Lent is about 2 weeks away. 
Are you thinking about what you will do with this Lent? 

Now, after listening to the readings, one theme is clear enough: 
when we live our faith and proclaim our faith, 
we won’t always get a good response. 
As obvious as that is, it’s striking to me 
how often people will fall for the counter-argument: 
that you can measure what’s true and good by what’s popular.

I can give you a few examples. 
One is the debate that occurred a year or so ago in Indiana, 
over a law to protect religious freedom. 
A lot of the big corporations came out against it. 

Their position was that if there came a conflict 
between, say, a same-sex wedding, and a baker or a florist 
whose religious beliefs meant they couldn’t participate in that, 
the chamber of commerce thought conscience should lose. 
And why? 
Because other organizations has threatened to boycott Indiana, 
and so it all came down to dollars. 

Another example, which could be told many times over: 
a priest comes into a parish, he shakes things up, 
he gives tough homilies, he tightens up some things; 
and before long, someone writes a letter to the bishop. 
And in the second or third paragraph, 
that letter will say something like, 
“X number of people who used to come to this parish 
don’t come here anymore.”


I don’t know if anyone has ever done it, 
but it could be a really funny bit 
if some comedian did a sketch telling today’s Gospel story 
as if it were a CNN broadcast. 

Wolf Blitzer would come on and say, 
“well, this once-promising rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth, 
seems to be off to a rocky start, 
given the reaction of his own relatives and neighbors.” 
And then they’d interview someone from the synagogue, 
who’d say, “This smart-alecky kid thinks he’s the Messiah? 
Well, this is no way to start a movement, by insulting everyone! 
He really needs to be more positive and uplifting!” 

I started out by asking about Lent. 
Maybe one of the things we will do with our Lent 
is to ask God to help us purify ourselves 
of caring whether we’re “winning” or not. 
To stop caring what others think about us.

Not that this is permission for any of us to be jerks about it.
The words we heard from Saint Paul are so beautiful 
we might miss the practical application. 

Notice what Paul said: 
no matter what great things I might be able to do for God, 
if there is not love, they are—I am—nothing. 

Which means, if we have a difficult message to deliver, 
if we have a tough decision to make, are we sure it’s grounded in love? 
Jeremiah’s tough message was always about love: 
his nation was on the road to destruction, 
and he was working night and day to turn them back. 

I recently saw something Penn Jillette said. 
He’s the magician from the team, Penn and Teller, 
and you’ve probably seen them do their act. 
You may not know that Mr. Jillette is an atheist. 

And in the video, Mr. Jillette told the story of a man 
who came up to him, after his show, 
and gave him a copy of the New Testament. 
And Mr. Jillette was impressed. Here’s what he said:

“I’ve always said that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. 
I don’t respect that at all. 
If you believe that there’s a heaven and a hell, 
and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, 
and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this 
because it would make it socially awkward…
how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? 
How much do you have to hate somebody 
to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”

But let’s keep St. Paul’s words in the picture. 
If we do have a tough message to deliver, 
what effort have we made to purify our motives, 
to be sure that love is our motive? 

Here’s a practical suggestion: 
if you expect you will have to say something hard to say: 
whether it’s coworkers, brothers and sisters, children or spouse; 
make sure you are praying for that person, 
in addition to whatever things you say to that person. 

More than that, just to remove all doubt, 
why not go ahead and tell that person, straight out: 
I’m saying this because I love you?

Awkward? Probably. But if we can’t manage 
to communicate God’s love to people, 
then don’t even claim you’re speaking God’s message.
And if you’re not sure just how to explain 
some of the things we believe, in terms of God’s love, 
then we have more work to do ourselves 
to understand what God teaches and asks of us.

For example, perhaps we're not sure how to explain why marriage is a man and a woman, 
not two men or two women. 
And the answer is, because God designed humanity in a particular way--
the union of man and woman, in marriage, open to life, completes the divine image. 
And any alternative is a counterfeit, 
and while they may give us some measure of earthly happiness, 
they actually distort us, and if we persist in them, 
we will be unable to enjoy happiness with God forever.*

Which gives me the opportunity to remind you 
that in a couple of weeks, we’ll have “Symbolon, Part II,” 
and this is a chance to explore and understand our faith better. 
You’ll see the cards in the pews. 
The white card shows you the topics; 
the ivory card is what you use to sign up.

Look at the topics. Why do we need to be baptized? 
Why do we need to go to Mass? And confession? 
Why is marriage so important, 
and why did God design it the way he did? 
You can see that some of the subjects 
we have the most trouble talking about, are in this series.

Remember, this is all free, all available online. 
The white card tells you how to find the materials online. 
This weekend and next, you are invited to fill out the ivory card. 
The office staff will link you up with discussion groups.

To return to my opening question. Lent is coming. 
What will you do with it? 

* This paragraph was improvised several different ways.

The three (faithless) ways people respond to Christ -- how will you respond? (Sunday homily)

In the first reading, we hear how Ezra was reading the Covenant – 
which was given at Mount Sinai to Moses and to God’s People. 
And they fell to their faces, did you notice? 
We might wonder? Why did they respond the way they did?

Then, in the Gospel, Jesus himself is reading from the Scriptures. 
This time, from Isaiah, from a passage describing the Messiah 
who will set free those imprisoned by sin and guilt. 
And Jesus tells them: this passage is fulfilled in your hearing—
it is fulfilled…in Me!

While this reading ends without telling us how people responded, 
that’s what interested me, about both these readings: 
how people reacted, and why.

In fact, next Sunday’s Gospel will give us the people’s response. 
There were three ways they responded. 
Some said, in effect, oh, isn’t he nice? 
Others said, he’s Joseph and Mary’s boy, 
there’s nothing special about him. 
And still others reacted by seeking to throw him off a cliff.

And of all those reactions, the one that makes the most sense? 
Those who tried to throw him off the cliff!

To this day, these are still the responses people give to Jesus. 
Lots of people today will say, oh, isn’t he nice? 
But I’m not sure that if people spent a day with Jesus, 
they would say that. 
Yes, he was nice when he healed people – 
but when he called the Pharisees a brood of vipers, 
and he turned over the tables? That was not so nice.

And there are lots of people who, likewise, 
claim that Jesus has nothing special to say. 
We all know the sort: gruff people, who think everything’s a con, 
it’s all bosh, and they aren’t going to be taken in! 

But I can’t help thinking of something 
the great English writer, C.S. Lewis, said: 
the person who sees through everything, in fact sees nothing at all.

So those folks who went to throw him off the cliff? 
That response made sense. 
Because if you don’t believe he’s the Messiah, 
then you realize, this fellow is trouble. Big trouble.
And someone who makes such big claims, but is false, 
is also anything but a good man. In fact, he’s a very bad man.

But no matter what, you can’t just pass on by, nodding amiably.
Whatever or whoever Jesus is, he’s not the same old thing. 

He’s Jehovah God, the One who separated the light from darkness, 
who breathed life into dirt to create Adam, 
the God of Abraham, Moses and Elijah, 
the God of fire and judgment, 
the one who divided the Red Sea and gave manna from heaven – 
and he’s come down to earth, 
and he’s standing right in front of you.

“Oh how nice!” is not a proper response!

One response we might have to Jesus is to want to know him better. 

The people in the first reading were filled with sorrow 
because they heard the words of the Covenant 
God made with his people at Sinai, 
and they realized they’d lost so much. 
Ezra and Nehemiah were telling them, don’t despair, rise up, 
and reclaim what is yours.

Many Catholics today are discouraged 
because they don’t know their Faith as well as they might. 
I’m here to say, one more time, rise up, claim what is yours.
We e have opportunities to learn our Faith – 
let’s seize those opportunities.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, 
we had a lot of folks take advantage of the Symbolon program, 
available online, and also the discussion groups. 
It all seemed to work: it was free, it was accessible, 
and a lot of people seemed to enjoy getting together with others 
to share their faith.

So—we’re doing it again. Believe it or not, 
Lent starts in about three weeks. 
So we’re gearing up Symbolon, Part 2. 
It’ll work the same way, but the materials we will look at 
are about the Seven Sacraments.

Now, to be clear, if you didn’t join in part 1, don’t let that stop you. 
Just jump in. If you don’t know how to sign up, 
see the cover of the bulletin today, or look for a mailing. 
It’s easy and it’s free. 

Also, while we’ll focus on the next part of the Symbolon program, remember the website, Formed.org, has lots of options.
It’s all free, and it’s all for you. 

Another way we might respond to Jesus 
is to help him bring good news to the poor, and to set captives free.

This time of year, we talk about the Catholic Ministry Appeal, 
which is the Archdiocese’s annual fund drive 
to support six important missions of the local Church. 

They are: our seminary and the vocations programs; 
Catholic Charities and social services; campus, 
hospital and prison ministries; 
the fund for retired Archdiocesan priests; 
St. Rita School for the Deaf; 
and the Archdiocese’s programs for sharing the Catholic Faith. 

There are envelopes in the pews, 
and many of us will get mailings as well. 
Our parish has always responded generously. 
In fact, when we exceed the goal set, 
the parish actually gets a bit of money back, 
and that helps with our religious education programs.

These are all worthy causes. 
Personally, I write my check each year for the seminary. 
I give $500, which is a lot of money, but I don’t have any children, 
so I can afford it. You do what you can afford. 
Some can afford a lot more; others nothing close to that. 
Do what you can. 
Giving to help share Christ with others 
is a very good response to Jesus coming close.

Like the people in the Scriptures, you and I have heard God’s Word. 
In a few minutes, I’ll go to the altar, and once again, 
Through me, Jesus will offer the Sacrifice 
that makes him, the Messiah, the Deliverer, 
present right here, on this altar.

All this is fulfilled in your hearing, and before our eyes. 
How will we respond?