Author Archives: Father L
Your time is Up!
Beloved in Christ, as we begin this season of Lent, We read of the Prophet Jonah going through Nineveh urging them to repent of their sins. The people of Nineveh were given a time limit – 40 days to repent, or their city would be destroyed. The King of Nineveh did not waste any time, he proclaimed a fast – to try to save the city from God’s wrath.
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We can learn an important lesson from this King: we have limited time in this life. Each of us is given a certain number of years and minutes, to please God. St. Francis was once asked, ‘if you knew today was your last day on earth, what would you do? ‘I would keep on doing just what I am doing,’ he said.
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Can we say that? That what we are doing today is exactly what God would want me to be doing at this moment? It might be a good idea to watch carefully, for one full day, whether and how much we waste time. Hours before the television, or speaking about useless things. If we listen to our conscience, it tells us each moment what the Lord would prefer us to do, now.
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St. Josemaria says: ‘don’t waste your time throwing stones at dogs that bark at you along the way’. We should ignore the useless distractions of life, and do God’s will.
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A good day is begun well: that means, getting up on the dot. The saints call this the heroic minute: rising at the prescribed time. Ok, we like the snooze button. Then use it only once, and get up immediately. This could be a Lenten resolution.
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Many tell me that if they lounge in bed for even ten minutes, there is a sense that it throws off the whole day, and there can be dangerous temptations in the morning. You may have noticed, that if the night goes well, we get to bed on time, the morning seems to be much better. But using our time well, getting to bed – these things require renunciation of self. Turning off the television or the computer, closing the book in mid-chapter, saying ‘no’ to our will, ‘yes’ to God’s will.
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When we face our Master on the day of judgment, we will realize: ‘I have no more time.’ I remember in school, if I was not so prepared for a test – taking the test, there are still 10 more questions to go, but the teacher suddenly says: ‘TIMES UP! HAND IN YOUR PAPER. -Aghh, a feeling of dread.
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On that day of Eternity, when the Judge says, ‘Your time is up,’ how will we see today, and tomorrow? How have I used my time in this short life?
Forgiveness
Friends in the Lord,
St. Maria Goretti was a very young martyr, we had her traveling relics here not long back. When she was being attacked by that man Alessandro, she did not cry out as a typical child would; she was more worried about the danger to Alessandro’s soul: ‘Alessandro, what are you doing?, she asked. ‘You’ll lose your soul!’ In fact, days later, as she neared death, she said to the priest: ‘I forgive Alessandro and I want him to be with me in paradise.’
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Friends, we see in the gospel today, that as Jesus teaches us to pray the Our Father, he particularly emphasizes one thing: forgiveness. In the prayer we say: ‘forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.’ Some translations: ‘forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’
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Then Our Lord reiterates this point again: “If you forgive men, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father forgive you.”
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Our present world is not interested in forgiveness; the newspapers are all about ‘gotcha,’ trying to find faults or mistakes with people, and condemn them. This is the role of the devil, who is called ‘The Accuser.’
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Fr. Jacque Felipe says, when we refuse to forgiven someone, we are adding another wrong to the first. It solves nothing. We are increasing the quantity of evil in the world. St. Paul says ‘Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.’
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Forgiving someone does not mean we are pretending they have done nothing wrong. Forgiveness means, ‘this person has wronged me, but I don’t want to condemn him.’
Sometimes people say, ‘I just can’t forgive him.’ Well, can you at least pray for him, and say ‘Lord, have mercy on him, don’t let him go to hell.’ Forgiveness means, I don’t want to condemn him, I don’t want him in hell.
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When we forgive someone, we are canceling their debt, but we are also doing much good to ourselves. If we don’t forgive, if we keep stoking resentment, then we are binding ourself to the person we resent. It diminishes our freedom, we become dependent on the person we hate; when we have resentment, we can’t stop thinking about that person. We are enslaved by our passion.
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By keeping the resentment alive in our memory, it is like we are writing a bill, that they will owe us in due time, that person has a debt to us, and we will demand payment!
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Christ is telling us however, that to be free, and to bring healing into the world and in our lives, we need to cancel the debt.
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
The demons’ 3 methods
1st Sunday of Lent
Friends in Christ.
One day a while back, I was looking on-line for a priest alb – that’s the white vestment we wear under the chasuble – so I checked out some at an on-line store for priests; later that week, I was looking up the weather online, and in the advertisements to the right, there was an alb ! I was quite surprised. Speaking to someone about this, they tell me that the advertisers collect information on what you are looking at, to keep track of what interests you, so that they can tempt you with just the right product.
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Well, thinking about this, this is exactly what the devil does with us. He collects, over the years, a record of our past actions and interests; and so he knows which temptations might work on us. He has different types of temptations for different people.
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In the devil’s army, there are three groups of demons who fight on the front lines.[i] One group is composed of specialists, who tempt us with sensual desires; another group tempts us to greed; and the others are specialists in pride. These are the three leading attacks of the demons, all the others follow after these.
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Today in the Gospel, we see the temptations that Jesus underwent in the desert. Why did Jesus undergo this? He wanted to show us that we can also be victorious over the devil’s temptations.
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Christ is fasting in the desert, and so the devil tempts him: ‘turn these stones into bread,’ then you can eat all you want! He could easily do it if he wanted to. And he is soooo hungry from fasting – but instead, he shoos away the devil by saying, ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’
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So that was a sensual temptation; sensual temptations are those of the body: we wish to eat too much, gluttony; we are tempted to sexual desire or impure thoughts; laziness, lying around, oversleeping; or to drink too much, get drunk. (By the way, it is a mortal sin to get drunk [ii])
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So, sensual temptations, of the body – this is one of the 3 main types of temptation. Our Lord shows us by his example, that we should immediately shoo away such things and tell the devil to get lost! As the saints tell us, in the area of sensual temptation, the victor, – the winner – is the one who runs away. If we have an impure thought for example, we must not ponder it at all, but immediately pray, and turn our mind to something else.
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Overeating, oversleeping, wasting our time – all of this leads to many other sins, including impure sins. Christ shows us that an important way to fight sensual sins is by fasting – by eating less, which we do during Lent.
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In the 2nd temptation of Christ, the devil shows Our Lord all the kingdoms of the world; the vast wealth of the world. ‘All this can be yours,’ he says.
It is true: if Christ had wished, he could have made himself a king with any riches he wanted: diamonds, rubies, luxury palaces, beautiful clothes – Here is the temptation of greed. We are tempted to fill our heart with created things, with material things, and this is an endless program.
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If you meet people who live in the 3rd world, in poverty, you will find they are often very happy. The suicide rate among young people is very high in the US and Europe – but very low in poor countries. The more we try to fill our heart with material things, the less happy we are, they leave us empty, because what we need, is God.
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Some people are obsessed with material things; those shoes that she wants – she can’t stop thinking about them – ‘I must have them!!’ This is to make them into a god. Then we have bowed down to Satan. But this is why it is good to give up something for Lent, it strengthens us.
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The 3rd temptation of Christ is pride. ‘Then the devil led him up high, to the parapet of the temple, and said, jump off of here and have the angels save you. It will impress everyone to see this amazing event.’ Pride tempts us to show off, to think we are better than others.
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Pride can be interior, as in those who act as victims and are always seeking pity or attention; or pride can be exterior, like those who are pompous or braggarts.
You know, I don’t understand people who put a bumper sticker ’26.2’ on their car, maybe you’ve seen them. It means they’ve run a marathon, which is 26.2 miles. So, what is all this bragging about? Nothing against marathoners, but I never see bumper stickers that say ‘I earned a PhD, or I bench-pressed 500 pounds.’ It all seems rather vain.
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Garrigou-Lagrange says, we must not praise ourselves; by so doing, we soil ourselves. People praise themselves, when they think they are not sufficiently praised by others, but this makes us look ridiculous, and we lose the merit of our good actions. The antidote to pride is humility. Humility today is one of the rarest, but most beautiful virtues.
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We see therefore that there are three chief groups of demons against us, and after them follow the whole army of the Enemy with their temptations. They have studied us, and they use their methods – but as Jesus demonstrates, with his strength, united to him, we can easily conquer the Enemy.
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We are beginning Lent; we do some self-denial, we go to confession; it is the time to battle our demons and go against our weaknesses and desires. But we should do it with confidence. St. Paul tells us that if we do it with the Lord, ‘God will speedily crush Satan under our feet.’
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May the Blessed Virgin help us this Lent, to obtain many victories over the Enemy for the glory and praise of God.
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[Entrusted to the prayers of Venerable Mother Duzdik]
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[i] Philokalia, p. 38
[ii] Thomas Aquinas says: ‘To take more meat or drink than is necessary belongs to the vice of gluttony, which is not always a mortal sin, but knowingly to take too much drink to the point of being drunk, is a mortal sin. Summa theological, Q. 150 a2. Also, scripture says that drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. 1 Cor 6:10
Which Road are you On?
Ash Wednesday
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it…. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done…. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.’
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Friends in Christ, Judgment day will lead to two results: those saved – and those thrown into the fire. There are only two ways for us: the road to heaven, or the road to hell. The road to heaven is described as narrow; this is a path that winds through the dark woods, sometimes steep hills along mountains, not always easy.
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Many people however, choose the wide and easy road. It is easy to walk along, with pleasant views, few hills, and places to rest. But this road does not lead to the mountain top. It is sloped downward.
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Jesus says, the road that leads to destruction is wide, and many go that way. Narrow is the road that leads to life, only a few find it.
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We are all here today because we wish to stay on, or else get onto, that narrow road, that leads to life, and that is what Lent is for; a time to reassess: what road are we on? How are we going? Where are we going to?
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In reality, there are two roads that lead to hell. One road is the road of presumption. This is the road in which we say, ‘Everything is fine in life, I do what I want, I follow the crowd. It’s normal to cheat in business or live with my boyfriend or hate my neighbor – hey, everybody does it, at least I haven’t murdered anyone, God will let me into heaven.’
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This is the road of presumption, presuming on God’s mercy, and such persons are many; they will have a shock at the end of their life. As Jesus said, ‘They will knock at the door and say, ‘Lord, Lord! I’m here.’ But he will say to them, I never knew you. Depart from me you evildoers into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
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Many are on that road of presumption. They never pray, happily walking on the wide path, simply following the world, without noticing that the road is always going – downhill.
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The other road to hell, is the road of despair. There are people who say, ‘I know that how I am living is wrong. What I do is sinful; but I can’t seem to stop these sins, I feel that I will probably end in hell. What’s the use?’
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These people are giving up, and have not listened to the Son of God who has come down from heaven. They have not listened to him tell, about the man who wasted his life in many great sins, and who was starving. So he says, ‘I will at least go back to my father’s estate, and see if I can be one of his servants. But actually, the father had been praying for his return. As long as this son was sorry and wanted to try to change, his Father welcomed him with great joy, and even threw a party because he had returned.
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So, the person who is walking that road to hell, who is giving up, has not listened to the Son of God, who came into the world and who has died for your sins and mine.
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As we begin Lent, the Lord is calling us to return to the true path; the path that will lead us to life. As the Lord says to us in the 1st reading: ‘return to me with your whole heart, return to the LORD, your God.’
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Today is a day of fasting and abstinence. We eat no meat, we eat less than 2 meals. On Fridays we eat no meat as a little sacrifice. We will confess our sins this Lent. But all of Lent should have a spirit of self-denial; we give up something, some good deeds, pray more.
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This is what Jesus is asking for; he is asking us to return to the narrow but safe path. It takes discipline to stay on that path. But on the narrow way, let us notice as we walk: it is always going up. That means, that we are going in the right direction.
Where is God?
5th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Friends in Christ, I was recently at a recollection for priests, and after lunch we watched a clip from a movie that had been out recently, called ‘God is not dead.’ What happens in it is, on the first day of a college class on philosophy, a professor, who is an atheist, tells all the students to write on a sheet of paper, ‘God is dead,’ and sign it. This means, he says, that God does not exist, it was only an idea that once was in people’s minds. If they sign it, he says, they will not have to cover that subject in class, which means students will get a higher grade.
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Student after student immediately begin signing the paper; every one of them, signing their name to ‘atheism’ in order to get an easier grade; except for one young man, Josh. The teacher asks him: why haven’t you signed it? With the class looking at him, he says, ‘Because I’m a Christian.’ The teacher tries to intimidate and embarrass him, but he won’t budge; so he is told that he will then have to get up in front of the class over the next weeks, and defend the idea that there is a God. ‘However, says the professor, You will fail.’
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Friends in Christ, this was only a movie, but nevertheless, in schools and in many places, there IS intimidation of we Christians; I have heard of this even in a local high school; unbelievers will often use their position of authority to push an agenda. I showed this part of the movie to our 8th grade, and it was agreed, that in that situation, all of us would have to do what Josh did, even if it would mean a poor grade in an important class.
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I don’t know how many students would sign on to atheism in order to get a grade, but it is true that today, a large number of young people are full of doubts about their faith.
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Alexis de Tocqueville said, that people who live in a democracy resist complex ideas; we are so busy, we are most interested in that ‘things work’- results; we have little time to think about big ideas, like the meaning of life, like theology, or who is God – Modern society is about what will get results.
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And so when we see various religions out there, and big moral questions of the day – many people do not want to wrestle with learning more about their faith, or think about hard questions; we resist thinking about why Christ is different from other religious leaders – we resist thinking deeply, because this will create tension in our lifestyle and our relations with others.
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With so many things going on, it is far easier to push God out and just keep on with our romantic relationship, our entertainment, our day-to-day activities. It’s kind of interesting: little kids will sometimes admit in confession: ‘Father, I spend too much time with technology.’ But this we adults do too! We are busy with so many things, today, now; and we want to feel comfortable and ‘at home’ in this world with our activities; but God complicates that.
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To admit God into our heart means that we have to re-think whether I am living according to His will; it would mean that we would have to sometimes be unpopular, or take a stand, like the student in the movie. If we considered ourself a Christian, we would stand out, and this would be uncomfortable; we would have to take time away from the things we enjoy – to pray; and finally, by pushing God from our mind, we avoid being reminded that our true home is in the next life, not this life; we wish to avoid facing the fact that this life will end, just as it has for every other person. ‘Well, we say, it’s just a lot easier to live without God.’
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Friends, we can play this mind-game that so many are playing; rationalizing, busying ourselves so much in order to keep those inconvenient ideas of God far away. But unfortunately, a voice continues to speak from inside. We try to push that voice out, but the voice keeps prodding us. That voice is Jesus. That voice still loves us, and is calling.
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It is no coincidence that among many young people there is a despair – a despair of finding real happiness. It is directly related to this distancing of ourselves from God.
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We see in the gospel today, these fishermen who were going about their lives – their work was their life.
Then they encounter this Man, who is speaking differently than others; there is something about him;
out of nowhere he says, ‘Go out and try for a catch of fish.’
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Now these guys had fished all night, with no luck at all;
and they were fishermen, they knew that the worst time to fish is during the daytime.
But they did go out. And what a catch they made! Nets were jammed, they were breaking, they needed help from other fishermen.
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Peter sees this. Only God could do this.
Only God could call those fish from all over the lake, to be in that place, for the net to fall on them; Peter senses God’s presence in Jesus, there before him.
What is his reaction?
He falls down on his knees, ‘Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.’
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Friends, our faith cannot come alive – we cannot encounter the Living God and see how he will change our life into joy – without humility and an admission of our sinfulness and our need for the Lord.
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This Wednesday we will begin the season of Lent. These weeks will be a time for us to seek that voice of God who even we ourselves have sometimes stifled. Lent is a time to say ‘no’ to the distractions and to ‘gods’ that have taken over our heart. But really, Lent is a time to find God.
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How do we find him? Like St. Peter; like so many sinners who met Christ: on our knees; we must have humility, we must admit that we are sinners. When we recognize our littleness, then our eyes will see God’s greatness and his goodness.
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May the Blessed Virgin guide us in these days ahead; Mary, pray for us, that this Lent, we will find the great treasure: the joy of following Jesus Christ.
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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Alphonsus]
Where is God? (Latin Mass)
Quinquagesima Sunday
Friends in Christ, I was recently at a recollection for priests, and after lunch we watched a clip from a movie that had been out recently, called ‘God is not dead.’ What happens in it is, on the first day of a college class on philosophy, a professor, who is an atheist, tells all the students to write on a sheet of paper, ‘God is dead,’ and sign it. This means, he says, that God does not exist, it was only an idea that once was in people’s minds. If they sign it, he says, they will not have to cover that subject in class, which means students will get a higher grade.
.
Student after student immediately begin signing the paper; every one of them, signing their name to ‘atheism’ in order to get an easier grade; except for one young man, Josh. The teacher asks him: why haven’t you signed it? With the class looking at him, he says, ‘Because I’m a Christian.’ The teacher tries to intimidate and embarrass him, but he won’t budge; so he is told that he will then have to get up in front of the class over the next weeks, and defend the idea that there is a God. ‘However, says the professor, You will fail.’
.
Friends in Christ, this was only a movie, but nevertheless, in schools and in many places, there IS intimidation of we Christians; I have heard of this even in a local high school; unbelievers will often use their position of authority to push an agenda. I showed this part of the movie to our 8th grade, and it was agreed, that in that situation, all of us would have to do what Josh did, even if it would mean a poor grade in an important class.
.
I don’t know how many students would sign on to atheism in order to get a grade, but it is true that today, a large number of young people are full of doubts about their faith.
.
Alexis de Tocqueville said, that people who live in a democracy resist complex ideas; we are so busy, we are most interested in that ‘things work’- results; we have little time to think about big ideas, like the meaning of life, like theology, or who is God – Modern society is about what will get results.
.
And so when we see various religions out there, and big moral questions of the day – many people do not want to wrestle with learning more about their faith, or think about hard questions; we resist thinking about why Christ is different from other religious leaders – we resist thinking deeply, because this will create tension in our lifestyle and our relations with others.
.
With so many things going on, it is far easier to push God out and just keep on with our romantic relationship, our entertainment, our day-to-day activities. It’s kind of interesting: little kids will sometimes admit in confession: ‘Father, I spend too much time with technology.’ But this we adults do too! We are busy with so many things, today, now; and we want to feel comfortable and ‘at home’ in this world with our activities; but God complicates that.
.
To admit God into our heart means that we have to re-think whether I am living according to His will; it would mean that we would have to sometimes be unpopular, or take a stand, like the student in the movie. If we considered ourself a Christian, we would stand out, and this would be uncomfortable; we would have to take time away from the things we enjoy – to pray; and finally, by pushing God from our mind, we avoid being reminded that our true home is in the next life, not this life; we wish to avoid facing the fact that this life will end, just as it has for every other person. ‘Well, we say, it’s just a lot easier to live without God.’
.
Friends, we can play this mind-game that so many are playing; rationalizing, busying ourselves so much in order to keep those inconvenient ideas of God far away. But unfortunately, a voice continues to speak from inside. We try to push that voice out, but the voice keeps prodding us. That voice is Jesus. That voice still loves us, and is calling.
.
It is no coincidence that among many young people there is a despair – a despair of finding real happiness. It is directly related to this distancing of ourselves from God.
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We see in the gospel today this blind man seeking out Jesus; this man is a sign of the blind of the world who are groping in the darkness, unable to see Christ, unable to find God. But this man, he cries out: ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.’ The man’s heart was full of humility, aware of his misery; and with this outlook, he calls on the Lord, ‘Have mercy.’
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In some ways, this reminds us of St. Peter’s response when he recognized the Divine nature of Christ: ‘Falling on his knees he said, depart from me, for I am a sinner.’
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Friends, our faith cannot come alive – we cannot encounter the Living God and see how he will change our life into joy – without humility and an admission of our sinfulness and our need for the Lord.
.
This Wednesday we will begin the season of Lent. These weeks will be a time for us to seek that voice of God who even we ourselves have sometimes stifled. Lent is a time to say ‘no’ to the distractions and to ‘gods’ that have taken over our heart. But really, Lent is a time to find God.
.
How do we find him? Like so many sinners who met Christ: on our knees; we must have humility, we must admit that we are sinners. When we recognize our littleness, then our eyes will see God’s greatness and his goodness.
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May the Blessed Virgin guide us in these days ahead; Mary, pray for us, that this Lent, we will find the great treasure: the joy of following Jesus Christ.
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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Alphonsus]
