The power of the Son overcomes the darkness of sin, Homily 3rd Week of Easter

 The past week we had the incredible experience of viewing the total eclipse of the sun. I hope you were able to take a few minutes to see the incredible phenomenon. Many people traveled from around the world to see the eclipse. I even heard about one young man named Evan that traveled from Wales in the United Kingdom to Evansville, Indiana to view the eclipse, to celebrate his birthday was April 8. There were all kind of parties and special events throughout central Indiana leading up to this once in a lifetime event. A friend of mine from Cincinnati invited me months ago to meet him in Greensburg, Indiana, as he thought it would be cool to

play golf during the eclipse. We finished the last hole when the totality approached with temperature cooling and sunlight dimming. We were next to the county fairgrounds where large crowds of people were cheering and blowing horns as the darkness appeared and the streetlights turned on. It was a much more memorable experience than I had anticipated and was something that I could witness to others of how impactful it was. I was amazed at how quickly the sky brightened and temperature increased after the moon passed to allow powerful rays of the sun to shine again.  The immense power of the sun is something that we can take for granted, without an event like the eclipse to remind us of its ever-present power to bring us warmth and light. In the same way, we can take for granted the ever-present power of the Son of God, to bring us peace through the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, without the experience of the Lord’s resurrection, which really and truly happened 2000 years ago. 

         In today’s Gospel we hear about the disciples who encountered the risen Jesus on their way to Emmaus and had returned to Jerusalem to share their experience. They were telling other disciples how they finally recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread, when he shared the Eucharist with them.As they were telling their story, Jesus appears to the other disciples. They were probably a bit anxious and afraid to see Jesus. They had abandoned him in the garden of Gethsemane and left him with the guards to be taken prisoner, put on trial, tortured, and then crucified to death.  They bailed out on Jesus and left him alone.  What they did would be hard for anyone to forgive.  Also, it must have been frightening to have someone who they thought was dead appear to them.  Jesus recognizes that the disciples are troubled and speaks these words of comfort to them: “Peace be with you.” He knows they are troubled and puts them at ease by offering them his peace.   It’s probably not what the disciple’s expected to hear, but what they needed. To show them that he is alive and not a ghost, he shows them his hands and feet and invites them to touch him.   He even asks them for something that any person who is truly alive needs: food to nourish their bodies!  So, the disciples, give him some baked fish which he eats in front of them. Jesus is showing them he is fully alive in a glorified body.  Jesus then explains to them how his resurrection was foretold in Scriptures said that he would suffer, die, and rise from the dead after three days. Finally, Jesus gives the disciples’ get their mission: You are witness of these things to go and preach repentance for forgiveness of sins in His name. 

 

Jesus’ encounter with the disciples in Jerusalem is a model of our encounter with the Lord each time we come to Mass. We bring our own struggles, anxieties, and stresses just like the disciples.  We have broken relationships that need mending. Health concerns for ourselves and our loved ones.  Many other challenges that seem impossible to overcome. To add more fuel to the fire we have sinned against God, others, and ourselves.  We, like the disciples, may be troubled, and question whether we can be forgiven by Jesus.  But each week as we come to Mass, we experience the same encounter with Jesus as the disciples did in Jerusalem.  The Mass begins with priest, in the person of Jesus, offering the greeting of “Peace be with you”.  We are welcomed with the peace of Jesus.  

We are then given the opportunity to recall our sins, not to be condemned, but to ask forgiveness, where the priest says: “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.”  Our minds are opened to the Scripture in the homily to make sense of what Jesus’ resurrection means in the context of our lives.  We are then nourished in a meal where Jesus’s body and blood is truly present under the appearance of the bread and wine in the Eucharistic. Our bodies are nourished so we can become what we eat: The presence of Jesus to others, so we can love God and our neighbor. We are finally sent out to witness like the disciples by the priest or deacon to “Go announce the Gospel of the Lord.”  

It can be easy to take for granted the incredible gift that Jesus has given us: the forgiveness of sins through the sacrifice of his life for each of us and the whole world. This should fill us with great joy so we can be witnesses to our families, friends, and co-workers!  If we let our minds be opened to the true gift of all that is offered at Mass, that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist and through his sacrifice he can forgive our sins, it should bring us peace to help us through our troubles.  Our troubles may still be there, but with Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist it gives us grace and peace to help us through any challenging time.  

With the recent experience we all shared with the eclipse, it can be a reminder that the power of the sun, can’t be overcome by darkness.   It may be dark for a time, but the light of the sun soon overcomes the darkness.  Let this experience remind us that power of the Son of God, who overcame the darkness of sin by his death, and shines his redeeming light of mercy on us through his resurrection, if we ask his forgiveness, so that we can live with him for eternity. Let us not take this gift of grace and mercy for granted but seek to be witnesses as his disciples to all the nations.

 

The spiritual healing we need in our suffering: The peace of Jesus - Homily, 5th Sunday, Cycle B

 

The first reading from the Book of Job resonated with me, because there have been quite a few people that I’ve personally known recently that have been going through illness and suffering. Good people and it’s really hard to understand. If you are not familiar with the story of Job, you may want to read it. There is a recent modern day adaption of this story in the movie “The Shift”, if you prefer watching a movie. In a nutshell, The Book of Job is a story about a man whose life was going pretty well, but then had tremendous misfortune that would shake the faith of anyone. He was blessed with a large family, an abundance of livestock and land, and was faithful to God. Then Satan enters the scene, and contends with God that Job would lose his faith if he lost his family and fortune. God allows Satan to have power over the life of Job and puts him to the test. Job then loses everything, his family and livestock, are all gone, and he is afflicted with an illness. The story continues on, with Job’s friends coming to console and help him understand the reason for his suffering. They try to convince Job that he must have offended God which brought misfortune upon himself. But Job is persistent with them that there is nothing he has done to cause his plight.

The reading we heard paints the picture of Job’s heartfelt despair about his suffering. “Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery?”, “I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights allotted me”, and “I shall not see happiness again” Job did not sound hopeful at all. But throughout his plight, Job sustains his faith in God. In the end, Job is restored, over twice what he previously had. Why Job was allowed to suffer, remained a mystery that only God knew. Job appealed to God to know the cause of this suffering, but was only given the insight of God’s almighty power. Job was content with this answer, and put his trust in God. A purpose of Job’s story was that even people faithful to God may endure suffering.

When we listen to scripture, it can sound like our own story. Job’s words may be the reality of what you may be going through yourself. Or it can be the story of someone that’s close to us, like Eric Schommer, from the Criterion this last week.  When he was in the first grade, Eric had Perthes’ disease, a rare condition that disrupts the flow of blood to the head of the thigh bone, causing the bone to deteriorate and often leaving a child with pain, a limp and limited movement of the hip joint. “I wore a full leg brace for the duration of the diagnosis,” recalls Schommer, the principal of St. Monica School in Indianapolis. “This impacted my activities after school while running and riding bikes. It was also the focus of issues on the playground because we always played kickball.” It is difficult to understand why innocent people suffer, like Eric when he was in the first grade, but they do.

But our Gospel reminds us that we have a God who is always present and cares so much for us, that he became one of us enduring suffering himself to put an end to sin which is the ultimate cause our suffering. We hear today about healing that Jesus performed curing

Simon’s mother-in-law, and many who were sick with diseases, and possessed by demons, which may have been those with mental illness.  As a result of these healings, many people pursued Jesus, because they wanted relief as well. There were not doctors and medications like we have today. So in his divine power, Jesus miraculously healed the people, to relieve their physical and mental illness, so they could be spiritually healed as well, which they greatly longed for. It was thought by people at the time that those who had diseases and illness, were being punished by God due to their sinfulness. So they were not allowed into the synagogue to worship God. Healed of their illness and diseases they would be welcomed to join once again to worship God in the synagogue.

Jesus gives us a good model to follow, so we can help people heal physically, mentally, and spiritually as the Body of Christ. Before Jesus goes out to heal, he is in prayer with God.  He was in prayer in the synagogue, prior to healing Simon’s mother-in-law and went off to a deserted place to pray early in the morning before going out. Prayer is such as important aspect of Jesus’ healing ministry. He spends time in relationship with the Father, which gives him spiritual strength to be able to physically and mentally heal the people.   He was also being prepared to preach the Kingdom of God to overcome the power of sin. Jesus’ mission was to heal and preach, empowered by prayer with His Father.

We have been greatly blessed by modern medicine healing many illness, diseases, and injuries. God has provided us with the human ingenuity to develop medications, treatments, and surgeries to heal through these modern wonders. Even though we have these advances in modern medicine, people still need the peace of Jesus to ease their anxieties and fears as they go through in the healing process. Today the physical healing is addressed, but the spiritual healing is forgotten. Prayer and preaching about the Kingdom of God is something we can do to help the healing of the whole person, body, mind, and soul. If someone is going through a serious illness, they can receive the Sacrament of anointing of the Sick, administered by one of our priests. Too often this sacrament is only considered, when someone is terminally ill and near death.  This sacrament can be a tremendous blessing providing the grace and peace of Jesus for someone who is struggling with a chronic illness or major surgery as well as their caregivers. This sacrament is offered on a monthly basis after one of the weekday Masses and can also be scheduled with one of the priests. During the anointing of the sick, prayer and preaching is part of the rite to provide to support the spiritual healing of the person receiving the sacrament.  

As members of the Body of Christ, we can also provide prayer to help those going through these struggles.  When you hear about someone having surgery or a serious illness, ask them if it would be ok for you to pray for them.   You can do so privately in your own personal prayer time, or ask them if you can say a prayer with them.  I used to tell people I would prayer for them, but more recently have been praying with them at the time they tell me about their illness.  It can be a simple prayer such as, “Dear Lord, please be with Mary as she undergoes surgery tomorrow, so she can be healed, and guide the doctors and nurses who are caring for her, in Jesus name we pray. Amen.” If they are Catholic, why not invite with them to consider to ask their priest to receive the anointing of the sick.  And if they don’t have a particular faith, it can be a time to share your belief in the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus and your hope of eternal life.

        Returning to the story about Eric Schommer, he found a refuge while visiting his uncle who lived at the Little Sisters of the Poor’s St. Augustine Home for the Aged in Indianapolis. He would visit his uncle every week to hang out, play chess, eat in the dining room with the Little Sisters, and go to church.  When his uncle found out what was happening to Eric, he started praying for him intently while also attending daily Mass and multiple prayer services, with his healing intentions for me.“Before second grade, I no longer required a brace, and X-rays showed that I no longer had Perthes. The following two years, my doctor would have me walk down the hall every time I came in for weekly allergy shots so he could show other doctors and nurses how I no longer had a limp. He cited it as a miracle, as there was an expectation of a need for a brace for several years.”

Even though we have modern medicine, Jesus is still healing people today. May we always keep in mind those who are ill and offer our presence in caring for them and prayers to be healed in body, mind, and spirit and receive the peace of Christ.

 

 

 

 

Epiphany of the Lord: What is the greatest gift of all?

Today we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord. This is a sign that our Christmas season will soon be ending. Many of us have given and received gifts in celebration of Jesus’ birth. We’ve had a few weeks to enjoy them. What’s the best gift that you received this Christmas.  Was it a toy, video game, clothing or jewelry?  Why was this your favorite gift?   What did the gift mean or do for you?  I think the greatest gift we’ve received this Christmas is God humbling himself to become one of us, being born as a little baby to Mary and his stepfather Joseph.  He came to us a gave the greatest gift or all, Eternal life, to those who come to believe in him. We have special gift that we can give to Jesus in celebration of his birth: our faith that he is the Son of God.    

The Magi we hear about today give us an example of this faith and honoring Jesus with their best gifts. The Magi were a special priestly class who were thought to have supernatural knowledge by interpreting the stars.   They were a people seeking something greater.  The Magi, who were Gentiles, those outside of the Jewish faith, came to Jerusalem to find a newborn king of the Jews.  They were people far from God, but were led to the people who were supposed to be close to God, to find Jesus. When King Herod, the King of the Jews, heard this, it was a threat to his power.  To deter this threat, he turned to the scribes and priests to ascertain where the new king was to be born.  He told this to magi so they could lead Herod to him.  Herod told them to return once they found him so he could pay homage, but he really wanted to kill him. This was the first instance of Jewish authorities seeking to harm Jesus and will continue throughout his life.  It’s interesting that the people far from God were led to seek out Jesus, but those close to God wanted to do him harm. The star directing the Magi to find the newborn king was a sign that Jesus came for all people.   He came for all of us!

 The Magi traveled to Bethlehem and were led by the star directly to the place where Jesus was.  This

was the divine action of God seeking out the Magi.  When the Magi encountered Jesus, they prostrated in homage before him.  This is an action of humility, by lying face down on the ground in reverence.There must have been something very powerful in the presence of Jesus that overcame the Magi to evoke such an action.  These Magi saw an ordinary little baby with his parents in very humble surroundings, but by faith they were compelled to worship him as a divine king.  In response their faith led them to give Jesus their best gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  After this encounter they were warned not to return to Herod.  Their faith in Jesus opened the eyes of their heart, and they were led to go another way to proclaim the newborn Messiah to the Gentiles.  

 Our response to Jesus, can be like the Magi, through our faith in him as our Lord and Savior.   We encounter Jesus each time we come to Mass.  We see ordinary bread and wine.   In faith we believe that Jesus’ Real Presence is contained in the Eucharist.   Like the Magi, Jesus seeks us out, to be with us. He comes in the Eucharist so we can receive him as food to nourish us spiritually.  Like the Magi, we show our reverence bowing to receive him. Our Catholic faith professes that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.  He truly came in time to become one of us and offered his life in sacrifice to give us eternal life.   He continues to be with us through his Real Presence in the Eucharist.  

Like the star that guided the Magi, we have a light in every Catholic Church that guides us to Jesus. This light perpetually burns as a sign of Christ’s presence and is like the star that led the Magi to Jesus. We can be present with the Lord in any of our churches by seeking out the tabernacle and kneeling in humble adoration of Jesus. There are some people, even those who are Catholic, who struggle with faith in Jesus and his Real Presence in the Eucharist.   If you know of anyone like this, please share your own faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. There is nothing better than personal testimony from someone you are close to. Also consider inviting them to activities we have planned to prepare for the Eucharistic Revival being held in Indianapolis this summer. We have three Eucharistic revival small groups that will be meeting for seven weeks starting in January. There are also weekly and monthly holy hours to spend time with Jesus in Eucharistic adoration other parishes throughout the South Deanery.  Consider attending one of those holy hours and invite a friend to join you. When Jesus’ Eucharistic presence is exposed in adoration, it does something to you, eliciting a response of reverence and awe that the God of the universe is with you. These are great opportunities to develop and strengthen our faith in Jesus. So as the Christmas season comes to an end, let’s remember to be thankful for greatest gift we’ve received, the gift of Jesus, and to share that gift with others to bring them the light of faith.   

The Joy of the light and life of the world, enters our world, so we can join His family as children of God. Christmas Day Homily

         On behalf of our Pastor, Father Steve Giannini, and myself, Deacon Ron Pirau, I’d like to welcome everyone who have come to celebrate Christmas with us, especially family and friends who are visiting. If you are a parish member, please make sure to extend a welcome to those who have come to celebrate with us.  

We should also be very excited because we’ve been anticipating something special.   I’m sure many children are looking forward to gifts they will receive from Santa, family and friends to celebrate Christmas.   But the gift we should be most excited about is the birth Jesus as a humble little baby.  God, who created the universe, chose to enter our world as helpless little child, dependent on Mary and Joseph to care for him.  How incredible is it that God came into the world as each one of us has. To recapture that feeling of excited anticipation of Jesus’ birth, think about the birth of you own child, grandchild, brother, or sister, or that of a family or friend.  I’m sure you anxiously waited for the new little baby to arrive and were overjoyed when they finally were born. That’s the same joy we can experience in the birth of Jesus.

The Gospel we hear today from John focuses on two things, the light that is coming into the world and the source of the light. At this darkest time of the year, we have the source of life that has entered our world. John takes us through a history of the world from a different perspective than heard in the other Gospels. It’s much shorter and focuses on the divinity of Jesus, the Word who was with God and is God, was there from the beginning. Jesus is God and in choosing to enter the world in human form, becoming one of us, he manifests a new beginning for humanity We heard from John:

 

What came to be through him was life,
        and this life was the light of the human race;
    the light shines in the darkness,
        and the darkness has not overcome it.

 

Jesus chose to enter the messiness of humanity, which can be rather dark, with its pain and suffering, to be a light of hope, the hope to become one of God’s family through belief in him as God’s Son. We also heard from John:

 

But to those who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God, 
to those who believe in his name, 
who were born not by natural generation 
nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision 
but of God.
    And the Word became flesh
        and made his dwelling among us,
        and we saw his glory,
        the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
        full of grace and truth.

 

We can enter the God’s family as his children, by believing in his only Son.Jesus belonged to a family like each of us.   

 

    The geologies in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke connects Jesus to the messiness human family he has entered.  These genealogies are a little different to serve the intended hearers, the People of Israel, and Gentiles, the whole of humanity. to help them understand salvation through prophecies that relate to them. Luke recounts the birth of Jesus coming to us as a helpless little baby lying in a manger, dependent on Mary and Joseph to care for him. He came into the world as each one of us did, sharing in our humanity. But he left our world in a different way.  At his resurrection, the tomb was empty.  Christ had taken on human form, and when he rose from the dead his human body was still with him. He still stayed one of us and is still part of our human family today. The child who was in the manager, lives on, and we can live on with him.

Jesus’ birth is something we can be extremely joyful about because his coming restored humanity’s relationship with God, because he came to save us from our sins. As a vulnerable little baby, we can humbly approach him in wonder and awe that he became one of us, so we could be saved by him. In knowing that Jesus had a human family likes us, with all its messiness, we realize that we don’t need to be perfect, to become members of his family.  He invites us to be part of his family by being faithful, believing He is God’s Son who came to save all of us from our sins.  In Jesus public’ ministry he purposely invited people who were much less than perfect to be part of his family: the Samaritan women at the well, Zacchaeus the tax collector whom he dined at his house, and Mary Magdalene whom he cast out seven demons. Jesus came to these people to restore their relationship with God.   He comes as a little baby into our world to do the same for us. Sin breaks our relationship with God, but Jesus can restore that relationship through the gift of Baptism to become God’s adopted children. When we sin again, God can restore that relationship through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And to sustain our relationship with God, the gift of the Eucharist, God with us, in the presence of his Body and Blood, He gives us the grace to do so.   Let us be joyful, that God came to be us as a little baby, and continues to be with us in the Eucharist, until he returns in glory.

Be joyful in Jesus' birth into our human family, so we can join His family as children of God. Homily for the Christmas Vigil

On behalf of our Pastor, Father Steve Giannini, and myself, Deacon Ron Pirau, I’d like to welcome everyone who have come to celebrate Christmas with us, especially family and friends who are visiting.  This is a time of year when many of us have family and friends who come to join us for this joyful celebration.  If you are a parish member, please make sure to extend a welcome to those who have come to celebrate with us.  

Who here is excited about having family and friends to be with you at Christmas? We should also be very excited because we’ve been anticipating something special.    I’m sure many children are looking forward to gifts they will receive from Santa, family and friends to celebrate Christmas.   But the gift we should be most excited about is the birth Jesus as a humble little baby.  God, who created the universe, chose to enter our world as helpless little child, dependent on Mary and Joseph to care for him.  How incredible is it that God came into the world as each one of us has. To recapture that feeling of excited anticipation of Jesus’ birth, think about the birth of you own child, grandchild, brother, or sister, or that of a family or friend.  I’m sure you anxiously waited for the new little baby to arrive and were overjoyed when they finally were born. That’s the same joy we can experience in the birth of Jesus.

Jesus belonged to a family like each of us.  We heard about his human family in the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew.  You may have zoned out hearing this long list of strange sounding names. A few may have been familiar, such as Abraham and David, but most were quite different, such as Aminadab and Zerubbabel.   Who are all these names, and why did Matthew include them? 

He did so because Jesus’ lineage was very important to the people of Israel.  

Family heritage is very important to many of us as well.   How many of you have researched you own family lineage?  When we learn about our family, we may discover some interesting people in our lineage.  My wife has roots that go back to the civil war with relations to General George Pickett from the Union side and General Robert E. Lee on the Confederate side.   We may also learn about some people who have a bit of a checkered past, and many others who are just very ordinary.

Mathew recounts the genealogy of Jesus to fulfill prophecy and show us that Jesus family is much like ours. Some in Jesus’ family line have questionable backgrounds that may not have been considered appropriate for the Jewish Messiah.   The five women listed in the family line were all Gentile, except Mary, were powerless and marginalized. There were several kings mentioned, but most were known of not being faithful to God.  The most significant was that of King David, which is important in the prophecy of the Davidic Kingdom enduring forever.   When Joseph says yes to God in taking Mary into his home, he formally adopts Jesus by naming him and fulfills the prophecy of the Messiah coming from David’s line. Jesus’ human family includes those who are famous, infamous, and many ordinary people, much like each of us.

While Jesus has a human family, he is divine as well because he is also the Son of God.    We hear that Joseph is distressed about Mary being with child, before they formally

came together as a married couple, so God sends an angel in a dream to reveal the conception was by the divine power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph also learns the child is to be named Jesus and he will save the his people from their sins.   This was important to the Jewish people fulfilling the prophecy from Malachi,

 

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
        and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “Go is with us”.

 

Jesus’ birth is something we can be extremely joyful about because his coming restored humanity’s relationship with God, because he came to save us from our sins. As a vulnerable little baby, we can humbly approach him in wonder and awe that he became one of us, so we could be saved by him.  In hearing about Jesus family line, we realize that we don’t need to be perfect, to become members of his family. He invites us to be part of his family by being faithful, believing He is God’s Son who came to save all of us from our sins. In Jesus public’ ministry he purposely invited people who were much less than perfect to be part of his family: the Samaritan women at the well, Zacchaeus the tax collector whom he dined at his house, and Mary Magdalene whom he cast out seven demons. Jesus came to these people to restore their relationship with God.  He comes as a little baby into our world to do the same for us. Sin breaks our relationship with God, but Jesus can restore that relationship through the gift of Baptism to become God’s adopted children. When we sin again, and in our imperfect humanity we will, God can restore that relationship through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And to sustain our relationship with God, the gift of the Eucharist, God with us, in the presence of his Body and Blood, He gives us the grace to do so.   Let us be joyful, that God came to be us as a little baby, and continues to be with us in the Eucharist, until he returns in glory.

Be a humble servant to be greatest in God's Kingdom - Homily for 31st Sunday, Cycle A

The closing words in today’s Gospel is how Jesus defines greatness in the Kingdom of God: The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled,  but whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Being humble or a servant may not define greatness by the world’s standards, but Jesus teaches us how greatness is achieved in the eyes of God.

The Scribes and Pharisees practices were quite contrary to the way of greatness that Jesus described. They may preach God’s word, but their actions don’t show it. The essence of what Jesus was telling the crowds and disciples about these religious leaders was:  Do what they say, but not what they do.  

    The Scribes and the Pharisees were the so called “Proclaimers of the Word of God and keepers of the Law.” They were in positions of religious authority to lead the people, but their hearts were far from God. They were all about seeking honor, praise and reaping the benefits from their positions of authority. Jesus admonished these leaders for being self-serving rather than serving the people of God. The Pharisees wore religious garb to remind people of their special positions. The phylacteries were boxes that contained God’s word worn on their foreheads and their upper left arm. They would enlarge these to be more noticeable. Their outer cloaks had tassels on four corners of the garment. They lengthened these to appear more pious. They added complexity to the Law of Moses adding many additional rules which numbered 613. This was a constant burden for the people to keep track of all these rules. They also relished prestigious titles such as rabbi so people would take notice of them. This was totally contrary to what these leaders were called to do.  Their role was to foster a relationship between the people and God, but they hindered it and were only concerned about honor for themselves. Jesus taught the people that the Father in heaven and the Christ, were the ones to be given honor, not to the Scribes and Pharisees.

       It can be disappointing when we have leaders who don’t practice what they preach. We see this all the time in business and political leaders. We’ve sadly experienced it in some of our own religious leaders. To keep from being discouraged, we need to keep in mind that most of our bishops, priest, deacons and religious, truly desire to humbly serve God’s people in the model of Christ the servant. They desire to help bring people to a loving relationship with Jesus, to administer the sacraments to bestow God’s graces, and to lead the people in loving their neighbor by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless and visiting those in prisons.

I’ve personally had some disappointments over the past few years with some Church leaders.  There have been a few things that have helped me to keep from being discouraged. Saint Paul words from the second reading summed up very well what has helped me:We too give thanks to God unceasingly, that in receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received not a human word but the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe. By daily giving thanks to God in prayer for his Church and praying with God’s Word daily has helped me to give me encouragement. Our bishops, priests, deacons, and religious need our prayers of gratitude to support them in their lives of humble service to bring people the gospel of Christ.

Another thing that has helped to encourage me are countless stories of humble service through the lives of the Saints.  This past week we celebrated All Saints Day where children dressed up as their favorite saints and processed into Mass. This reminded me of

one of my favorite saints, Saint Lawerence. He was a Roman deacon under Pope Saint Sixtus II. Four days after this pope was put to death, Lawrence suffered martyrdom. As deacon in Rome, Lawrence was charged with the responsibility for the material goods of the Church, and the distribution of alms to the poor.  When Lawrence knew he would be arrested like the pope, he sought out the poor, widows, and orphans of Rome and gave them all the money he had on hand, selling even the sacred vessels of the altar to increase the sum.  When the prefect of Rome heard of this, he imagined that the Christians must have considerable treasure, and he summoned Lawrence asking that these treasures brought to him. Lawrence replied to the prefect, “The Church was indeed rich. I will show you the valuable part. But give me time to set everything in order and make an inventory.” After three days he gathered a great number of blind, lame, maimed, leprous, orphaned, and widowed persons and put them in rows. When the prefect arrived, Lawrence simply said, “These are the treasure of the Church.” The prefect was so angry he told Lawrence that he would suffer martyrdom. He had a great gridiron prepared with coals beneath it, and had Lawrence’s body placed on it.  After the martyr had suffered the pain for a long time, legend has it the Lawrence made his famous cheerful remark, “It is well done. Turn me over!”

The work of St. Lawrence continues even to this day. Last weekend my wife and I went up to our hometown of Griffith, Indiana and had dinner at a restaurant owned by a friend from

high school. I had not seen my friend in years, and it was good catching up with him. He shared with me that he had been really stressed out over the last few years finding employees to work for his business. The next day he sent me a text which said. “It was good to see you and Linda last night.  Remember to ask God to help your old buddy and send me several good cooks so I don’t have a heart attack.  In response to his text message, I did an internet search to find out who the patron saint of restaurant owners was.  It was Saint Lawrence.   

I took a picture of St. Lawrence that was hung on the wall in my office and sent a novena prayer to my friend to request for St. Lawrence’s intercession in prayer to help with

this business. I received the following text from him last night:I have to tell you what happened after you sent me the prayer.  All this happened shortly after you texted me the prayer.  We needed a dishwasher and at 9am a guy that just moved in down the street asked if we were still looking for a dishwasher. The night before he came in to pick up a pizza and saw my help wanted sign on the door.  He came in and I hired him on the spot. He’s been working out well so far.  Then the same day I had a cook who had worked for us previously and was a good worker at one time but started to slip at work when he got into heavy drinking.  He texted me and said he went away for a while to get help and said he has stopped drinking.  We hired him back and so far, so good. The Power of Prayer. Thank you, Ron!

St. Lawrence’s story, and many other Saints stories serve as models to encourage us, to be humble servants so we can be greatest in the eyes of God. As we continue today in being strengthened through the Eucharist let us strive for greatness as Jesus taught us, in being humble servants.   Let us also pray in gratitude in support of our religious leaders to be models of humble service for us in word and deed to help lead us in doing the same.

 

As faithful citizen's learn and take action to make the Heavenly Kingdom present among us

Jesus said to them "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." This may be a familiar saying of Jesus, but what point was he trying to make?  Some background on the situation may be helpful to provide some insight. The Pharisees were the Jewish religious leaders who would act pious, but in their hearts were far from God.  They

were constantly trying to accuse Jesus of violating the Jewish laws. The Pharisees were also in opposition to Roman’s whose emperor Caesar, claimed to be divine.  Roman currency had Caesar’s image stamped on one side and his claim divinity on the other.  The Pharisees would not permit Jews to use the coins, as Caesar’s image was a form of idolatry.  Moneychangers exchanged Roman coin for unmarked copper coins for trade in the Jewish community. The Herodian’s were a group of Jews who supported the Romans, so they could receive favored treatment.  They would inform the Romans of anyone who opposed them.  Herodian’s did not have anything in common with Pharisees. 

Why would these two opposing groups come together? So, Jesus could be trapped and put him to shame, to get rid of him. They thought that by asking Jesus if it were lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, he would be in a no-win situation. If Jesus said it was ok to pay the taxes the Pharisees would turn the Jewish people against him.  If Jesus said paying taxes was unlawful the Herodian’s would report him to the Roman authorities and have him hauled off to prison. The Pharisee’s had it all worked out to get rid of Jesus.

But Jesus knew their hearts were up to no good. True to form Jesus catches them in hypocrisy by asking for a coin used to pay the census taxes. The Pharisees produced a Roman coin, but if they were practiced what they preach, they would not have any.  The answer Jesus gave them is not what they expected: to pay what’s due to both Caesar and to God.  The Jews were living under Roman occupation and had to coexist with them.  If they did not pay the tax, they would be subject to punishment or even death by the Romans.  So, paying the census tax to peacefully coexist was a necessity.

Jesus was trying to make a point to his adversaries: God is the one they owe their greatest debt.  The Herodian’s and Pharisees were both Jews. As Jews they were to give their all to God: to love him with all their heart, mind, and soul and to love their neighbor as their self. They owed everything to God because he is author of life.  The Herodian’s and Pharisees were only concerned about themselves and all the privileges they received, rather than being the selfless servant as Jesus was. They weren’t open to Jesus as being the Messiah and his message of making present the Kingdom of Heaven by loving God and neighbor.  

We are blessed to live in the United States where we are free to worship God and have the right to vote for those who govern us. Unfortunately, some of our elected leaders and government policies and laws do not follow the ways our faith teaches.  God has allowed these leaders to be in power. We are called to pray for them to govern justly, respecting human life and dignity, family and education, social justice, and religious liberty. As Catholics, we live in the world, but we are not of the world. While we are citizens of the United States, our ultimate citizenship is the Kingdom of Heaven. If there is something contrary to God’s ways in our government, we can promote changes to help make the Kingdom of Heaven present. 

How can we do this? By learning about what our Catholic faith teaches about social issues that affect the common good. The Indiana Catholic Conference is an organization that can

help us learn about these teachings. The Indiana Catholic Conference is the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Indiana. They advocate for policies that promote social teaching of the Catholic faith in our government. School choice vouchers which has benefited many of our school families is one of the policies advocated by the Indiana Catholic Conference. Their website has a wealth of information to learn and stay informed about social issues and what the Church teaches at a state and national level. 

Actively getting involved to support change is another way we can make a difference.  A model for promoting change through peaceful ways on social issues was Dorothy Day.  In her younger days in the 1920’s, Dorothy was involved in movements to protest unjust labor

practices, joining in on picket lines and writing for labor newspapers about injustices. She was not Catholic but would spend time in church praying in the presence of the Eucharist, while being involved in these movements.  After the birth of her first child and deciding to have her baptized, she finally decided to become Catholic herself. She intensively lived her faith, attending Mass daily, which shaped the rest of her life. Shortly after becoming Catholic Dorothy started the Catholic Worker Movement remained actively involved in peaceful movement throughout her life, being jailed when she was protesting nuclear weapons, and again at the age of 75 in support of conditions for migrant farm workers.  Pope Francis said about her during a speech to Congress in 2015, "Her social activism, her passion for justice and for the cause of the oppressed, were inspired by the Gospel, her faith, and the example of the saints,"  Dorothy Day’s cause for Sainthood is currently in the final phases.

As citizens of the United States, we are subject to taxes just like the Jews were to the Romans.  As citizens of heaven, we’re called to help bring about the Kingdom of Heaven. We can actively do this by promoting social issues consistent with our faith, through our participation as citizens of our country.  The currency we use has an important reminder on it: “In God we trust.”  This is a reminder for us that God is the one we really owe everything:  our country, homes, families, and our own lives.  As we come forward for the Eucharist today let’s thank God for all he has given us and ask for the grace to enable us to give Him all our heart, mind, and soul.