FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

30 NOVEMBER 2014

            The prophet Isaiah gives voice to the frustrations of his people.  Living some 600 years before Christ, They had seen the Babylonians destroy Jerusalem, demolish their sacred temple, and murder their king.  Worse, they had been in exile in Babylon for almost fifty years.  They had come to realize that the prophet Jeremiah had been correct in telling them to turn back to their Covenant with God and had seen their exile as God's punishment for not listening.  Now, completely dispirited, they beg God to rend the heavens and come down and save them.

            As we begin this new Liturgical Year, we enter into the Season of Advent to consider how God saves us.  God answered the prayers of the exiles in Babylon by rending the heavens with a pagan King, Cyrus of Persia, who issued a decree allowing the refugees to return home.  In a few weeks, we will celebrate the Christmas, when the Father sent his only begotten Son to rend the heavens and come down to save us as a tiny child born into poverty.  This Season of Advent has the potential to teach us valuable lessons about how we can prepare for the ways that God rends the heavens to come down to save us.

            The first lesson is countercultural.  We live in a culture of  immediate results.  In our world of instant communication, we can be in touch with everyone at the tap of the "send" button.  That means that we can send angry and hurtful emotions without looking into the face of the one who receives our messages.  One of my nieces assumed that we are all against her when she got married last summer and "unfriended" all of us, even those of us who do not have a clue about using Facebook.  Our culture has been observing the "Holiday Season" since the first of November, and the voice of consumerism promises instant gratification to those who shop.

            In contrast, Advent invites us to wait.  Advent tells us that there is value in backing off from the glare of lights and holiday gatherings to spend time in prayer and contemplation.  In prayer and contemplation, we can hear the ways in which we have not listened to the authentic prophets of our day and have strayed from the Lord's Covenant of love.  The more contemplative style of our Advent liturgies sets the tone for the season.  Take one of the resources at the doors of  church to help in daily prayer and contemplation at home.  Come to the devotional prayers on Tuesday nights during Advent, including the communal Penance Service on the last Tuesday before Christmas.  We will offer many opportunities for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, allowing us to look at the ways in which we have ignored the Lord's presence and to begin again.

            The second lesson comes from today's Gospel.  As we prepare to celebrate the way the Lord has rent the heavens and come down to save us a child, we are aware that he will rend the heavens at the end of time to bring to completion his work of salvation.  None of us knows when the Lord will rend the heavens to come to us at the moment of our death or at the end of the world.  For that reason, we are to be watchful and alert.  Prayer and contemplation can help us understand that being watchful and alert does not mean that we cower in fear, worrying that we will be caught doing something wrong.  It means that we are actively engaged in living our Baptismal promises, being awake to the ways in which we connect with other people to make our world a more welcoming place for the coming of the Lord.

            Finally, when we combine prayer and contemplation with watching and being alert, we will be much more conscious of the ways that the Lord rends the heavens and comes to us now.  To use Isaiah's image, we are the clay, and the Lord is the potter who is forming us.  The Lord does that in the sacramental life of the Church.  With our eyes, ears, hearts, and minds opened by these real encounters, we become more aware of the ways in which he is forming us now.

OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE

23 NOVEMBER 2014

          When we began November with the Solemnity of All Saints, we heard the Sermon on the Mount from Saint Matthew's Gospel.  Jesus spoke to his disciples and told us eight ways in which we can be blessed, or happy.  True happiness, he says, lies in becoming detached.  We can be poor in spirit, when we are detached from material things.  We can mourn, when we are not addicted to “feeling good” all the time.  We can be meek, when we are not self centered.  We can thirst for righteousness, when we are detached from sin.  We can be merciful, when we are detached from revenge.  We can be clean of heart, when we are detached from evil thoughts.  We can be peacemakers, when we are free from hatred.  We can endure insult and persecution, when we don’t care what other people think.  With the saints as our models, these are the standards for us as we continue our mission to live and proclaim the Kingdom of God.

            Today, we hear another familiar passage from the Gospel of Matthew.  On this last day of the Liturgical Year, it is addressed to all the nations gathered at the end of time.  Even though Jesus avoids using the title of “king” for himself in his earthly ministry, he clearly is the King seated on his glorious throne.  He is the loving shepherd who knows each of us by name, and he will bring justice to his sheep at the end of time.  He addresses this parable to those whom he has sent out on mission to proclaim the presence of the Kingdom of God.  He knows that it is a difficult mission.  In living detachment, they will have to depend on the kindness of others.  That is why those who provide them with food, water, shelter, clothing, care in sickness, and concern when they are thrown into prison will be judged as sheep.  Those who treat them with kindness are caring for Christ, even if they do not recognize him.

            He also addresses this parable to us, entrusted with the task of living and proclaiming God's Kingdom.  As we live the beatitudes, our efforts to become more detached will lead us to treat those who come to us in need with greater respect.  The six acts of mercy mentioned in the parable form the basis for our seven corporal works of mercy (with burying the dead being the seventh).  These corporal works of mercy are very specific ways in which we continue to live the detachment of the Beatitudes.  Most importantly, Jesus reminds us of the reason why we should treat others in this fashion.  In treating them with respect, we are recognizing Christ in them.

            It is never comfortable to think about the end.  We have been praying in a special way during November for those who have already died.  In doing so, we remember that the end will come for each of us also, not only at the end of the world, but at the end of our lives.  That is why Saint Paul’s words in the second reading can be so comforting.  Christ has already died and been raised from the dead.  Using a metaphor from the ancient Temple Sacrifice, he is the first fruits.  He is already leading us on the way to the Father.  He tells us to focus on the present and the ways in which sharing in Christ's dying is already a sharing in his resurrection.

            So, instead of fretting and worrying about what will happen at the end, the best way to prepare is to practice the corporal works of mercy now.  Practicing those corporal works of mercy keeps us out of the goat department and squarely into the flock of Jesus Christ.  It takes a lot of faith to recognize Christ in those who come to us in need.  Our Saint Vincent de Paul Society does that all the time.  We have to look beyond appearances and not make judgments.  We look into their eyes to see the face of Jesus Christ through our eyes of faith.  In serving them, we serve Christ.  In serving Christ, we serve the Shepherd and King who will not forget our works, who knows that we are sheep, and who will put us on his right hand as long as we act as members of his flock now.

FEAST OF THE DEDICATION OF THE LATERAN BASILICA

9 NOVEMBER 2014

          In his letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul is not talking about physical buildings.  He reminds us that we are a living Temple, formed of living stones, and that God dwells in our midst.  Nor does Jesus talk about a physical temple in the Gospel.  Standing in the magnificent Temple undergoing a fifty-year renovation, Jesus is referring to his own body.  As he drives the money changers and animals out of the Temple, he will become the ultimate sacrifice acceptable to the Father, not within the sacred Temple, but outside the city walls in a hill of execution.

            As living stones of the Temple of God, we gather today to celebrate the dedication of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome.  It is a truly magnificent church.  The Emperor Constantine built the original church on land that had belonged to the Laterani family.  Pope Sylvester I consecrated it on this day in 324.  Since then, the physical church has been destroyed by earthquakes, fires, and invasions of Vandals.  It has been rebuilt and renovated many times.  Even though Popes have lived at the Vatican since the 14^th century, the Basilica of Saint John Lateran has remained the Cathedral Church of the Pope as Bishop of Rome.  It has remained a powerful sign of the living stones of God's Temple in union with the Bishop of Rome.

            Our physical church has something in common with the Baptismal font of Saint John.  Around the top of the octagonal baptismal font at the Lateran Basilica is inscribed a meditation about Baptism written in Latin by Pope Saint Leo the Great in the 5^th century.  Those same words are inscribed around the base of our Baptismal font.  Through Baptism, we are formed into a living Temple.  Through Baptism, we share communion each other, and ultimately with the Pope, who serves as bond of unity for Catholic Churches throughout the world.

            As you may have heard, we are planning to build a new church for our parish!  In our Capital Campaign, we have emphasized the need for more space.  Our physical structures are too small for the size of our growing congregation.  Just as renovations and adjustments had to be made on the Lateran Basilica over the centuries, we are adjusting to changing needs here.

            As much as these physical limitations are true, we have not spoken enough of building a beautiful structure.  This feast gives us a chance to reflect on the importance of a physical church. We, the living stones who worship in spirit and in truth, need a beautiful sacred space in which we can praise God.  That is why we have been careful with our present sacred church.  It will be repurposed to provide a new Baptismal Font, with the meditation of Pope Saint Leo the Great inscribed on.  It will also provide a sacred place for gathering as a community before and after Mass, for meetings, funeral dinners, and the work of building our spiritual temple.

            We are also being very careful with the design of the new church.  The new church is Romanesque, which preserves the beauty of a church like Saint Monica.  Yet, it will also be built in a cruciform shape, which will allow the living stones to be gathered around the Altar.  We have been very careful in planning the iconography and the images which will remind us that we are living stones being formed into a great Temple built upon the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

            All beautiful church buildings require sacrifice.  As Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice to become the foundation of our living Temple, many parishioners have responded by making sacrificial gifts to build a beautiful and sacred church.  We have already raised $11.2 million in pledges, and we continue to work toward our goal of $15 million.  But, we are not done yet, and we continue to seek help as we go to the Diocesan Finance Council to receive permission to move ahead.

            We are not building grand a basilica to attract the attention of the universal Church, as the Lateran Basilica does.  We are building a beautiful church that will serve the living stones of the Temple of Saint Pius X for many years.  It is a daunting task, just as the maintenance and rebuilding of the Lateran Basilica has been a daunting task, just as the building of our present church had been a daunting task.  But many have sacrificed to give us these gifts.  Now it is our turn to continue the work of building a proper physical church for the living stones who will worship God in it.

ALL SOUL'S DAY

2 NOVEMBER 2014

          As we gather with the living members at Saint Pius today, the first two days of November remind us that the communion of the Body of Christ goes beyond what we experience with our senses.  Yesterday, the Solemnity of All Saints reminded us that countless men and women surround the throne of God and intercede for us.  Today, the Feast of All Souls reminds us of another dimension of that community:  the reality of those who have died and who are being purified by the fire of God's love to be united completely with God and the saints.  Because we have no idea of God's judgment, we pray for them.

            As we reflect on this communion which goes beyond our senses, an example from history might help.  On April 14, 1912, the radio operator on the ocean liner Californian in the North Atlantic turned off his set and went to bed.  That was standard practice in those days.  Mariners had navigated the seas for centuries without radio communication, and there seemed to be no need to keep this relatively new form of communication on 24/7.

            However, that was the night when the Titanic sank, and over 1,500 passengers and crew perished.  The doomed liner was only a few miles away from the Californian, and lookouts on the Titanic had spotted it.  Even thought the radio operator on the Titanic desperately tried to contact the Californian, no one on board that ship was listening.  No one could respond to save what likely would have been hundreds of people.

            In a similar way, praying for our beloved dead keeps alive our communion with those who have gone before us.  Saint Paul reminds us that when we keep our baptismal commitments, when we die to ourselves, we share in Christ's resurrection.  That is the promise of the one who assures us that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life.  But we know that our loved ones have not always died to themselves.  We know that there were times when they took their eyes off him.  We pray for them, trusting that our prayers have an effect.

            We often misunderstand the concept of Purgatory.  Purgatory is not a place, because there is no time and place in eternity.  Purgatory describes the process by which God purifies them.  In our iconography, we place haloes around those who are saints.  They have become so completely transparent that the fire of God's love shines through them.  For those deceased who have failed to die to themselves in living their baptismal promises, the fire of God's love burns away whatever separates them from the saints.  Just as their prayers for us when they were alive have helped and supported us in ways that we do not know, so do our prayers for them.

            When we pray for the dead, we keep our communication open with them.  They are not forgotten.  That prayer is 24/7, because Christians around the world today are praying for them today.  We can also learn lessons from the Titanic.  The loss of life went beyond a radio operator who was asleep.  There should have been more lifeboats on the Titanic.  The life boats that were launched  were not filled, because the arrogance of the owners thought there was no need for drills on an unsinkable ship.  There should have been as much concern for the lives of the poor as there was for the rich.  As the ship sank, the half full life boats could have gone back to save drowning people. 

            We can learn these and similar lessons and make changes in our lives now, just as changes in the law about radio communication were changed 100 years ago.  They remind us to   keep our eyes on Christ and live our baptismal promises more faithfully.  The Saints intercede for us as we make these changes, giving the love of God a chance to purify us.  We pray for the dead who cannot make changes, as they are being purified by the love of God in eternity.    

THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

26 OCTOBER 2014

          Toward the end of his earthly ministry, the opposition to Jesus begins to increase.  The shadows of the coming darkness of his passion and death surround Jesus and his followers.  By the time Jesus enters Jerusalem for his final climactic week, his enemies swirl around him like bullies in a school playground.  It is during this week that Jesus goes to the Temple every day to face his bullies as they gang up on him and fire questions to try to trip him up.  They ask, "Do we pay taxes to Caesar or not."  "By whose authority do you act and teach?"  Whose wife will a woman be at the resurrection if she has had seven husbands?"  Jesus is artful in answering all of these trick questions.  In his answers, he does not allow the bullies to push him around.  In standing his ground, he also teaches his followers valuable lessons.

            This scholar of the law tries to trap Jesus again.  The scholar knows that his fellow Pharisees have taken the Law of Moses and listed 613 laws that must be followed.  They had made observance of the Law so complicated that ordinary believers had to consult their wisdom in following the law, just as we have to consult tax experts to navigate through our complicated tax system or skilled mechanics to fix our cars loaded with so many complicated systems.  The scholar of the law wants to put the final nails into the hands and feet of Jesus.

            Jesus stands up to this bully by quoting Scripture.  He quotes a passage from the Book of Deuteronomy:  "You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."  All faithful Jews pray that passage every morning.  Then Jesus quotes a passage from the Book of Leviticus:  "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  In quoting these two passages, Jesus is not teaching anything new.  However he links love of God and love of neighbor in such a radical way that they can never be separated.  We cannot love God without loving our neighbor, and we cannot love our neighbor without loving God.

            At one level, these two commandments are very simple.  We do not need to consult experts to understand them.  At another level, they challenge us to love in a way that goes well beyond the feelings we usually associate with the word "love."  At the end of this climactic week, Jesus will give a vivid example of what the love of God and neighbor will look like.  As the Incarnate Word of God, he will give his entire life on the cross for everyone, friend and foe alike.  He will demonstrate in action what he had been teaching in words.  By his sacrificial death, he will broaden the understanding of "neighbor" well beyond the bonds of national or family kinship.  Everyone is a neighbor, and the love of Jesus extends to all.

            Today at the 8:45 and 10:30 Masses, we welcome those who have never been baptized as Catechumens.  We also accept others who have been baptized in another Christian denomination as Candidates for Full Communion.  These people have joined us at Mass for some time.  They have been gathering on Tuesday nights to pray with us, to study the teachings of the Church, and to share with each other their journeys of faith.  As they take this step in faith today, they are committing themselves to continued formation in the faith.  We will do our best to teach them what it means to be Catholic as we prepare them for the Sacraments of Initiation at Easter. 

            Today, the Lord teaches us the foundation of everything we are teaching Catechumens and Candidates.  God has loved us in some incredible ways.  We return that love to others.  We still need specific commandments that guide us in loving God and neighbor, especially those neighbors who are most vulnerable.  That is why the Book of Exodus commands care of aliens, widows, and orphans, the most vulnerable in that society.  All commandments flesh out the ultimate command:  love God with our entire being and our neighbors as we love ourselves. 

TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

19 OCTOBER 2014

          First words are very important.  We listen carefully to the first words of a newly elected Pope, or the first words at the inauguration of a new president, or the first homily given by a new pastor.  We pay attention to these first words, because they often set the tone and give some indication of what will follow.

            In today's second reading, we hear first words.  Saint Paul wrote this Letter to the Thessalonians around the year 50, making it the first written piece of the New Testament.  In these first words, he sets the tone for all who have become disciples of Jesus Christ.  He greets us with two significant words:  the Greek word Charis (grace), reminding us that the Lord has extended an invitation that we did not earn; and the Hebrew word Shalom (peace), reminding us of a relationship we enjoy through Jesus Christ to other members of the Body of Christ.  Then he affirms our work to be faithful witnesses.  He mentions the three theological virtues which will appear many times in his later letters.  He says that our work must be rooted in faith.  He reminds us that working to be a disciple is a labor of love.  When things get tough, we need an endurance of hope. Finally, he reminds us that we have been chosen.  Just as God had chosen a pagan king (Cyrus) to deliver his Chosen People from their Exile in Babylon, so God has chosen us through the waters of Baptism to become agents of transformation in a world filled with darkness.

            It is within the context of these words from Saint Paul that we can apply to our lives what Jesus says in the Gospel.  When the Pharisees join ranks with the Herodians, they are eager to trap Jesus in a dangerous question about taxation.  The Pharisees strongly object to the yoke of Roman rule and object to the image of Caesar on the coins they must use.  They know that there is only one God, and that is not Caesar.  The Herodians work with the occupying forces and use those coins to increase their wealth.  If Jesus would have answered that it is not lawful to pay the census tax, the Herodians would have arrested him for sedition.  If Jesus would have answered that it is lawful, the Pharisees would have accused him of making Caesar a false god.  Instead, Jesus makes his famous statement:  "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."

            That principle has guided Christians in discerning our relationship between church and state for centuries.  Christians have always understood that governments are necessary to bring order to society and to provide services for people to live in harmony with one another.  But we have also understood that everything belongs to God, even Caesar who was made in God’s image.  That is why many Christians in the earliest centuries gave up their lives.  They refused to burn incense to an emperor who claimed that he is god, knowing that there is only one God.  That is why Christians today are being martyred in the Islamic takeover in Syria and Iraq.

            In many ways, we are fortunate to live in a country built on the principle of separation of church and state.  In many ways, we can practice our faith in freedom.  But we also know the current threats to our religious freedom.  We do not ask ourselves, "What would Jesus do"?  Instead, we rely on the wisdom of the teaching authority of the Church to guide us as we sort out these challenges.  We can consult the Church’s teaching by reading Today’s Catholic, by going to the website of the United States Catholic Bishops, and other sources of authentic Church teaching.  In the end, that teaching finds its foundation in Saint Paul's first words.  The Lord has invited us into a relationship that offers profound grace and peace.  The difficult work we undertake must be rooted in faith, love, and hope.  We have been chosen by Christ, not to put ourselves above the culture, but to be instruments of transforming love in our culture.

TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

12 OCTOBER 2014

          Saint Paul was in prison awaiting execution when he wrote to his favorite Church:  the Christian community at Philippi.  The Philippians had sent money to support him, and he thanks them for it.  But, looking back over his life and ministry, he responds that he has lived in all kinds of circumstances.  There had been times when he had enjoyed an abundance of food, drink, and material goods.  There had been other times when he had nothing.  He had learned how to achieve tranquility, even in the worst of situations.  While the pagan philosophers taught that this satisfaction and self sufficiency could be achieved through a willful training to eliminate all desire, Saint Paul knew otherwise.  He knew that his satisfaction and self sufficiency was a result of his intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

            Saint Paul had entered into that relationship when he accepted the Lord's invitation to be part of the rich wedding banquet of God's Kingdom.  Once he had recovered from that dramatic invitation to be part of Christ's Body on the road to Damascus, he came to understand that Christ the bridegroom had given his life for his bride, the Church.  Paul knew that being incorporated into Christ's Body through baptism was just the first step.  He had been given a white baptismal garment signifying his identity in Christ.  In order to fit into the wedding banquet of the Lamb, he needed to continue to wear that garment, that outward sign of his willingness to change his life and conform himself to Christ.

            That is exactly the point of Jesus' parable.  By the time Matthew had recorded this parable, Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Romans.  Matthew looks at that historical event and interprets the parable to identify those who had refused the invitation to the banquet as the residents of Judea and Jerusalem.  As a result of their refusal, the invitation has been extended through Saint Paul's ministry to the Gentiles.  But this living Word of God does not give us an excuse to make judgments on the refusal of others to accept his invitation to be part of the banquet.  Rather, the parable tells us that simply being at the table is not enough.  The man who is not wearing his wedding garment is reduced to silence, because he knows that his actions are not in conformity with the values of the King and his banquet. 

            We need to pay close attention to our baptismal garments, seeing them as visible images which reflect the ways we must change our lives to fit into the great banquet.  If we don't begin to cooperate with God's grace, then we are not fitting in.  If we do not work at loving others and forgiving others as God has loves and forgives us, we do not fit in.  If we are not working on controlling our temper or other habits that can tear apart the fabric of our lives of faith, we do not fit in.  As Saint Paul had reminded the Colossians in another of his letters, we need to "clothe (ourselves) with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience."  These are the garments which help us fit into the Kingdom of God, and cooperating with the grace of our Baptism enables us to wear those garments with humility.

            As baptized members of the Body of Christ, we have accepted the Lord's invitation to join him at this Eucharist.  There can be as many lame excuses for coming to Mass as those who had refused to come to the wedding feast in the parable gave.  Our presence here indicates that we have a place at the table.  At this Mass, we receive a foretaste of the eternal Banquet of the Lamb.  Receiving the Lord's Body and Blood has the power to transform us more perfectly into the Body of Christ.  As we prepare ourselves for this Banquet of the Lamb, we can renew our efforts to wear those wedding garments given to us on the day we were baptized, making sure that they help us fit into the Kingdom of God.