SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING

26 NOVEMBER 2017

          During November, as the farmers are harvesting their crops, we have been praying for our loved ones whom the Lord has harvested through death.  But in remembering them, the Lord has also been speaking to us through the Sunday readings.  He has reminded us that sooner or later, that same harvest awaits us.

            Jesus has been using parables to prepare us for that unknown time in the future when he will come for us, not only at the end of our lives, but also at the end of time.  These parables are not intended to frighten us or to fill us with dread.  They express the Lord’s loving concern for us.  He wants us to be like the five wise bridesmaids, making sure that we have enough oil to accomplish the works of righteousness and invited to the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb.  Like the first two servants in last Sunday’s parable, we need to take risks and invest the talents entrusted to us to build up the Kingdom of God here, and participate in it fully after he comes.

Today, we hear the parable of the risen Christ separating sheep from goats at the end of time.  The image of the Good Shepherd seated on his throne on our Triumphal Arch helps us understand.  The Good Shepherd is drawing all of his sheep from Bethlehem on the left and Jerusalem on the right, and not a select few.  However, unlike sheep, we can make choice.  We are sheep when we choose to respond to those in need:  when we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit those in prison.  We are goats when we fail to respond to those in need.

            When George Lucas first produced Star Wars, he gave an interesting interview about a common theme in so many accounts of good defeating evil.  In those classic tales, the hero encounters someone who appears to be the least.  However, the person who appears to be least is the powerful one who helps the hero to succeed.  In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker encounters Yoda.  That small, quirky character helps Luke to become a true hero. In a sense, this is the point of today’s parable.  Jesus wants all of us to be heroes by recognizing in those least ones who come to us in need the Good Shepherd inviting us to be seated on his right side for eternity.

            If we are to be the heroes of this parable, then we need to become more aware of Christ’s presence in those who come to us in need.  To be honest, both the sheep and the goats were unaware that they were serving Christ.  Like the sheep, we may not recognize Christ in those people who need our assistance.  But, if we respond to them, we respond to Christ.

            If we are to be heroes, then we need to be generous.  The parable calls us to stop worrying about ourselves, our own comfort, and our own needs.  Jesus calls us to be generous in sharing those gifts he has generously given us.  He invites us to trust his example to seek out the lost, to bring back the strays, to bind up the injured, and to heal the sick.  He invites us to trust that we can accomplish these tasks in small ways and in daily efforts.

            If we are to be heroes, we will also know the joy of serving those in need.  Charles Dickens reminds us that Scrooge was a miserable miser who dwelt in the darkness of tending to his own needs.  It was only in responding to a poor, crippled boy that he found the joy of sharing himself.  There is a definite joy in being good and humble servants.  You know that joy when you take a meal to a sick neighbor or prepare a casserole for the Homeless Shelter.  You know that joy when you deliver gifts from the giving tree or welcome a family to safety when they have escaped persecution in another country.  You know that joy when you made sacrifices to build this new church.  The Lord does not want sour superheroes.  He wants joyful heroes who recognize him in the ordinary situations of life.      

THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

19 NOVEMBER 2017

          When we hear this parable, we tend to sympathize with the third servant.  He only received one talent, unlike the seven other talents given to the first two servants.  We become even more sympathetic when the master calls him “useless” and throws him into the darkness outside.  But before we begin to feel too sorry for this guy, we need to take a closer look at the parable.  In the ancient world, a talent weighed between 57-74 pounds in pure silver.  That one talent would have afforded him a comfortable existence for the rest of his life.

            A closer look also reveals that the parable is not about money or material possessions.  The parable is about how to maintain a relationship in faith.  Saint Matthew uses the word kyrios for the master.  In the Liturgy, we use that Greek word at the beginning of Mass during Lent to ask the Lord to have mercy on us.  Our Lord Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead and has ascended to the right hand of the Father.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, he shares his life with us and invites us to be humble servants in sharing that life with others.  He will come again, both at the end of our lives and at the end of the world.  He wants us to share fully in the richness of his risen life, not only in this world, but in the new and eternal Jerusalem.

            The first two servants understand that the master is the Incarnation of the love of the Trinitarian God – three Divine Persons giving themselves totally out of love to one another.  They also understand that he has given himself totally in love for them when he died on the cross.  To use the words from the Gospel of Saint Matthew that we have been hearing all year, they accept the paradox of the cross.  If we want to truly live with Christ, we must die to ourselves and our own selfish interests.  That is what those two servants do when they take the risk of investing the divine life they have been given.  When their Lord returns, he calls each of them “my good and faithful servant” and doubles the life he shares with them.

            The third servant does not understand the intense love of the master.  He sees his master’s example of giving himself to others as too demanding.  He is afraid of the master.  In fear, he refuses to take any risk and buries the life that has been shared with him.  Upon his return, the master refers to him as “you wicked, lazy servant” and casts him into the darkness outside.  The Lord is not being cruel or unfair.  The servant has refused to enter into a relationship of love.  In being afraid to die to himself, he has enclosed himself in the darkness of living only for himself.

            As we approach the end of this liturgical year, Jesus addresses this parable to us.  When we were baptized, we became servants of the humble Lord who washed the feet of his disciples and died for them.  We already share in the richness of that love.  The parable challenges us to be good, faithful servants and to trust that dying to ourselves will increase the love relationship we have with the Lord and with others.  If anything keeps us from dying to ourselves, it is fear.  Fear can keep a couple from honestly confronting the problems in their marriage.  What if we fail and end up living miserable lives?  Fear causes a parent from spending more time with the family.  What might happen to my career?  Fear keeps us from giving our gifts of time, talent, and treasure to the parish.  What if my investment in the parish depletes what I already have?

            Saint Paul reminds us that we do not know on what day the Lord will come for us, either at the end of our lives or at the end of the world.  So, he reprises the message of the parable.  We do not live in darkness.  We know the Mystery of the Lord’s dying and rising.  We can best prepare for his coming by embracing that Mystery and die to ourselves on a daily basis, without fear and with a great amount of love.

THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

12 NOVEMBER 2017

          When Saint Paul brought the Gospel to the Thessalonians, they responded well.  Many were baptized and trusted Paul’s words that the Lord had died, that he had been raised from the dead, and that he would come again.  They had expected the Lord’s Second Coming to occur in their lifetimes.  Many had quit their day jobs.  But, because the Lord had not come back again, they worried about their loved ones had died.  They wanted to know what would happen to them.  What we heard in the second reading is Paul’s response.  He tells them to trust in the Mystery of the Lord’s death and resurrection.  Because of that Mystery, they could illumine the darkness of their lives and world with the bright light they received at their Baptism, especially if they got back to work and stopped gossiping.  That same Mystery applied to those who had died in Christ.  Using standard apocalyptic terms involving angels and clouds, Saint Paul assures them that they can grieve with hope, because their loved ones are in the presence of that light.

            Thirty years later, Saint Matthew recorded this parable of Jesus to his community of believers.  By this time, it had become clear that the Second Coming of the Lord would be delayed.  So, this parable helps them to understand how they are to wait for the coming of the Lord, while allowing his light to shine through them at the present moment.

            In his parable, Jesus borrows details from the wedding customs of his time.  When the time of being espoused was ended, the groom would go to the home of the family of the bride.  After negotiating the final details, the bridesmaids would lead the procession through dark streets with bright torches to the home of his parents, where the wedding would be held.  Jesus’ point is clear.  He is the faithful bridegroom.  We, the Church, are his bride.  Even though he has delayed his coming, he will come at some time to invite us to the eternal wedding banquet.  He expects us to use our oil to allow the light of our baptism to shine in our darkened lives and worlds now.

            When we received the Sacrament of Confirmation, we were anointed with Chrism, the sacred oil blessed by the Bishop, to give us the Holy Spirit to strengthen us to keep the flame of faith alive in our lives.  Our acts of righteousness are primary ingredients of the oil as we wait for the Lord’s coming.  Our light shines brightly when we participate in the spiritual and corporal acts of mercy.  We have plenty of oil when we participate in the Sacramental life of the Church, especially when we refuel ourselves at Sunday Mass.  When the oil supply runs low, we can refill it in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  We keep our oil ready when we spend time in personal and family prayer, when we involve ourselves in study, and when we actively pursue anything that will help us grow in faith.  With the oil of these spiritual activities, we allow the light of Christ’s presence to shine through us.  Whenever he comes, we will be ready.

            In the parable, the wise virgins seem to be selfish when they refuse to share their oil with the foolish virgins.  In truth, developing those spiritual habits is a deeply personal activity that cannot be shared.  That is why we need to do everything in our power to continue these habits, so that those who do not regard these activities as important might take a step in faith.  I am convinced that the Lord is calling us to be evangelists, especially now that we are becoming more accustomed to our new church and improved facilities.  We do not always live that light.  Even the wise virgins fell asleep.  We sometimes put off the Lord’s invitation to take a step in faith.  “I can go on Christ Renews His Parish” next year.  Or I can get involved when I have more time.  And the list goes on.  The Lord calls us to keep our oil strong, so that his light can shine through us.  There is still time for conversion, for real change for us and for those we love now.  The parable is pretty clear.  When the Lord comes, it will be too late.

THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

5 NOVEMBER 2017

          Jesus tells those of us who are religious leaders that we cannot bring attention to ourselves.  Our efforts have to focus on God our heavenly Father.  During my recent trip to Poland and Italy with Fathers Dan Scheidt and Andy Budzinski, we visited many beautiful churches and shrines built for the glory of God.  As we marveled at their beauty, we also called to mind the many sacrifices made by countless people to build them. 

            On Sunday morning, we went to a beautiful church in Venice for Sunday Mass.  Unlike so many other beautiful churches, this church is an active parish run by the Franciscans.  We concelebrated with the pastor and marveled at the active participation of the congregation.  There were at least ten boys and girls serving.  One little boy sitting next to Father Andy kept admiring his stole.  When he caught Father Andy’s attention, he gave him “thumbs up”.  Then he noticed two boys in the first pew messing around.  So, he snapped his fingers at them to stop them.

            Concelebrating in that church in Venice reminded me of Saint Pius.  Thanks to the incredible sacrifice of so many, we now celebrate Mass in a beautiful church.  All your sacrifices have been made for the benefit of our parish community.  We have come a long way, and now we are in the home stretch of our campaign, Behold I Make All Things New.  All that needs to be done is to expand our Parish Education Center on the south side of our campus.  We need six new classrooms, two new sets of bathrooms, a multi-purpose room, and permanent space for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.  This added space will complete our project and allow so many to continue their work in ministries, faith formation, and service to those in need.

            Today we share three stories with you.  These are just three families, representing hundreds of stories of faith and dedication to our parish.  These stories will show how our community and the work of this parish directly impacted their lives.

            Video:  https://notredame.box.com/s/tp2ss83gasannennd8vu4r61auxsgep7

            As Jack Rodriquez pointed out, you represent the beauty and love of this parish.  We agree with Theresa Vasquez that children are so important in our faith.  They are our future.  This final stretch of the campaign will allow us to serve them better with programs like Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a flourishing Catholic School and Religious Education Programs for children attending public schools, and the Saint Angela Merici Religious Education Program for families like the Mannors.  So, please take time to reacquaint yourself with the details of our plan.  You can find them in today’s bulletin and on our project website.  Please join us in the Parish Life Center after Mass for a reception, where we can answer your questions.

            This is the concluding stretch of our campaign.  Please prayerfully consider giving a gift.  You can extend your pledge for one more year (or longer).  Or you can make a new pledge.  This invitation is for all members of the parish, both new and old, both with and without children at this time.  With this project completed, I am convinced that Saint Pius X will more adequately provide outreach opportunities through our faith formation programs.  Your gift to the campaign is a tangible expression of what our patron saint dedicated himself to do at the beginning of the 20^th century:  to renew all things in Christ in the 21^st century.

            Thank you for considering this special request and all your sacrifices for the good of our parish community.  I am grateful for you, our parish formed out of living stones.

THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

29 OCTOBER 2017

          The commandments given by the Lord in the first reading from the Book of Genesis reflect the experience of God’s chosen people.  They had been aliens in the land of Egypt.  Like widows and orphans, they had no one to protect them, and the Egyptians enslaved them and took advantage of their helplessness.  As they traveled through the desert in their forty day trek to the Promised Land, they were completely stripped of everything.  Unlike extortionists who took advantage of desperately poor people, God had embraced them and clothed them with his Covenant at Mount Sinai as his own chosen people.

            Because God had compassion on their ancestors in their distress, the Lord tells his people that they must do the same.  They must treat the aliens in their midst with compassion and care.  They must be attentive to the most vulnerable people of their society – widows and orphans who had not social nets to protect them.  They must not take advantage of desperately poor people who need their help.  If they take their cloaks as a pledge of repayment, they must take care to return those cloaks at night, so that the poor will not freeze at night without protection. 

            When the Pharisees test Jesus in today’s Gospel, they know that they had developed 613 commandments of the Law.  If he really is an authentic teacher, which commandment would be the greatest?  In response, Jesus quotes Scripture:  Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”  He quoted the “Shema,” which our Jewish brothers and sisters recited every day.  But then he immediately quotes Leviticus 19:18:  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Like the commandments in the first reading, neither of these commandments is new.  However, Jesus joins them so radically that they can never be separated. 

            That is the real challenge for us, as disciples of Jesus Christ.  Like the Israelites in their exodus in the desert from Egypt to the Promised Land, we sometimes experience the love of God when we are at the lowest point in our lives.  We have just lost a loved one, or we have been diagnosed with a life threatening disease, or we have made some catastrophic choices.  In those moments, God searches us out, not as a warm feeling, but as presence that accompanies us in the darkness.  It is in those moments that we realize that we are created in the image of God.  Thomas Merton once wrote:  “To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love.  Love is my true identity.  Selflessness is my true self.  Love is my true character.  Love is my name.”

            That is why Jesus links love of God so intimately with love of neighbor.  Once I am convinced that God loves me, I can reach out to love my neighbor.  Loving a neighbor does not necessary mean that I have warm feelings about my neighbor.  Love means that I want the best for that person, no matter how I feel about that person.

            During this month of October, we have been focusing the ways in which these commandments affect the most vulnerable of our society.  The most vulnerable include babies within their mothers’ wombs, the poor who depend on our generosity, the disabled and the elderly, and the aliens in our midst.  During this month, we have explored specific ways in which we can love those most vulnerable in our society.  We have also been praying for refugees and immigrants.  In our politically divided culture, there is much controversy on this issue.  It is complicated with no easy solution.  But, it is also important that we consider the Word of God, commanding us to love our neighbor as ourselves.

TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

15 OCTOBER 2017

          Jesus tells this parable to the religious leaders in Jerusalem during the last few weeks of his life, just before they bring him to Pontius Pilate and have him executed.  So, there is a certain sense of urgency and a great deal of violence.  By the time Saint Matthew had recorded this parable in his Gospel, the Romans had destroyed the holy city, set on Mount Zion.  The original readers of this parable would have read it in the light of the prophecy of Isaiah.  Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the veil that had veiled all peoples had been removed.  Death was destroyed by the death of the Son of God.  Clothed with a white garment as they had emerged from the waters of Baptism, they feasted on the rich food of the Eucharist on the holy mountain of faith in Jesus Christ.  Even though their Jewish brothers and sisters had all been invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb, many had ignored the invitation.  With Jerusalem and the temple destroyed, the Gentiles had responded and had taken the seats at the table of the Lord.

            In hearing this parable today, we might be tempted to judge those who had rejected the message of Jesus Christ.  We can become smug and brag that we have not made the same mistake. We have responded to the Lord’s invitation and have passed through the waters of Baptism.  We are seated here on God’s Holy Mountain, sharing in the Supper of the Lamb who was slain (pictured on the front of our Altar).  However, this is the living Word of God addressed to us today.  That web of death has certainly been destroyed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  In telling this parable to us, the Lord invites us to take a good look at the veils that we place around ourselves, and the webs that we weave in our lives.

            The parable says that the king went out and invited everyone, both good and bad, to his son’s wedding feast.  The Lord has chosen us, not because we have been better than anyone else, or not because we have earned his invitation.  He called us to faith because he loves us and wants us to join him in the heavenly banquet.  Jesus Christ may have destroyed the ultimate veil of death.  We have to remove the veil that convinces us that there is no need to share in his dying on a daily basis.  We have to die to ourselves, to our own selfish interests, to our own destructive habits, so that we can share in rising to be one with Christ and with our brothers and sisters.  The warning is clear.  If we do not share in his dying, then we will not share in his rising.

            That is how we can understand what happened to the man who is kicked out of the wedding banquet.  There is no secret dress code in the Kingdom of God!  Instead, we were clothed with a white garment on the day we were baptized.  That exterior garment signified that the internal relationship we have in Jesus Christ.  We continue to wear that garment when we participate in the daily task of dying to ourselves.  Just calling ourselves Catholics and sitting here at Mass will not suffice.  The Lord calls us to stop making excuses and take steps to remove those veils and webs that separate us from him and each other. 

            In hearing this parable, we have to be careful not to interpret it too literally.  God is not an angry king who destroys people who do not respond.  God does not get angry in the same sense that king in the parable becomes angry.  God’s invites everyone and wants everyone to share in his banquet.  But he respects our fee will to refuse and walk away from his banquet.  His “anger” represents his passionate desire for everyone to respond.  That is why we held our 8^th graders “captive” all day today.  We want to help them to understand God’s desire for them to be part of his Kingdom.  We want to do everything possible to help them prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation.  We want to help them to dust off the white garment given to them at their Baptism and wear it proudly today.  In helping them, we must respond ourselves.

TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

8 OCTOBER 2017

          Because Saint Matthew wrote his Gospel to Christians who had been converts from Judaism, his earliest readers would have immediately understood the imagery he uses.  As the Responsorial Psalm proclaims, the people of ancient Israel saw themselves as a vine transplanted by God from Egypt into the Promised Land.  With this image, Isaiah reminds his people that they had become his vineyard not because of their own efforts, but because of God’s choosing them as his people.  It was God had terraced the fertile hillside, spaded it and removed the stones, planted the choicest wines, and set up a watchtower to protect the vineyard from animals and thieves.  He had even hewed out a wine press, to transform the grapes into the choicest wine.

            Isaiah tried to warn God’s Chosen People that they would be overrun, not because of any defect on God’s part, but because they had chosen to ignore the terms of the Covenant made through Moses.  But they did not listen, and the Assyrians destroyed their kingdom.  Jesus speaks a similar warning to the religious leaders of his day.  His Father had sent prophets to warn their ancestors to remain faithful to the Covenant.  They had rejected them.  Now they are about to take God’s Only Son outside the city walls and kill him.  They think that the produce belongs to them, instead of God.  Like the brothers of Joseph who sell him into slavery out of greed and jealousy, they resort to violence. 

            It is easy to judge the mistakes of the religious leaders and congratulate ourselves for being the new tenants of the Kingdom of God.  This parable of Jesus is not only directed to them.  It is directed to us.  As the current tenants of God’s vineyard, we cannot make the same mistake and think that everything belongs to us.  That happens when a young man makes his final car payment and thinks, “Now it’s all mine.”  He forgets that his father had cosigned for the car loan and made the first payments when he was in college.  A mother asks her two year old to share his cookie with his younger brother.  The child forgets that his mother had given him the cookie in the first place.  A football player is enshrined in the Hall of Fame and talks about how hard work got him this far.  He forgot all the unsung linemen who opened the way for him to run for touchdowns.  A man looks at his huge portfolio and boasts that he has worked hard to become wealthy.  He forgot the blessings he enjoyed being born into a family of means and intelligence.

            Whenever we forget that we are tenants of the Kingdom of God and not the owners, we can easily fall into the violence of the tenants in the parable.  In thinking everything is ours, we can become very greedy and go to any lengths to protect what we think is ours.  However, when we recognize that everything is a gift from God, we give thanks for the abilities that God has given us and work together with the Lord to produce much fruit in our world.

            When the Lord comes to claim the produce of the vineyard, he will not care about wealth or fame or pleasure or any of those things that we define as success.  The Lord will be looking for fruit.  Saint Paul makes a list of the fruits which are part of the Kingdom of God.:  peace, truth, honor, justice, purity, loveliness, graciousness, and union with God.  He writes to the Philippians (and to us) from his prison cell.  As the Apostle to the Gentiles and a faithful tenant, he has worked tirelessly for God’s Kingdom.  In facing his own execution, he encourages the Philippians to have no anxiety, knowing that they face persecution from the Romans and hatred from their Jewish brothers and sisters.  They can be free of any anxiety, because God is in charge, and they are the tenants.  The same is true of us, if we take today’s parable to heart and work as faithful tenants of God’s Kingdom in our midst.