Category Archives: Sundays

29th Week in Ordinary Time

Beloved in the Lord, today in the Gospel we see these two brothers James and John who have gotten it into their heads, that they want to be at places of honor when Jesus arrives in his kingdom. They are obsessed with this: ‘We want you to do for us whatever we ask.” Our Lord says, “What do you wish?” “That in your glory, we may sit, one at your right and the other at your left.” Jesus said, “You do not know what you are asking. These brothers had latched onto this idea, and they WANTED it.

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Now James and John had a nickname, they were called ‘Sons ofThunder.’ We might say they were brash and bull-headed. ‘Do for us what we ask!,’ they say to Christ.

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In the course of our life, we meet people who are stubborn, bull-headed, and inflexible. Certain people think that being stubborn – sticking immovably to what they want – they think this is a virtue, a sign of strength. But is this strength? Is it virtuous to be stubborn?

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If we look in the Holy Scriptures, and the writings of the saints, we will not find stubbornness to be a virtue; The Bible refers to those who are ‘stiff-necked, stubborn, and hard-hearted, always as a negative. ‘Stubborn as a mule,’ – is not a compliment!

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But there are some virtues that seem similar. The virtue of fortitude for example, which means the courage to do something good, no matter how much we have to suffer. There is the virtue of perseverance. This means, that when we do something difficult, we keep going, we ‘persevere’ even when others might be against us. It sounds kind of like stubborn. And then there is the virtue of faithfulness. Remaining faithful to God, to our spouse, to the Church, no matter who or what is trying to oppose us or tempt us.

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St. Joan of Arc needed to have courage to keep following what the Lord was asking of her. She needed ‘perseverance’ when everyone was against her; and she showed the virtue of faithfulness to God even when they burned her at the stake. She was unmovable, she was faithful through it all, and became a great martyr. But this was not stubbornness.

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The strong, virtuous person is striving for what is good, for what God wants. But this is not what a stubborn person is doing. Acts 7:51 says: ‘You stubborn people, you are always resisting the Holy Spirit.’ So a stubborn person holds tightly to his OWN will, not God’s will. A stubborn person insists on his own preferences, and won’t give in to another’s ideas or what God wants.

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Normally, a virtuous person will accept decisions that are not easy for him; he will accept what his boss asks him to do, even if he does not like it; and in many small matters in the course of a day, he will accede to the other person’s preferences out of humility. For a virtuous person – he will accept many things that go against his own will, because he wants to do God’s will.

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Sometimes, a virtuous person must stand up against popular opinion; if a teen finds that his friends are speaking or acting against the moral law of Christ, he will stand firm in the Truth. He will be immovable, in standing for what is right, even if the whole world is against him. They may call him stubborn, but this is not stubbornness, it is faithfulness, because he is following God. But the stubborn person holds onto his own preferences and his own will, even in silly, insignificant things.

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A stubborn person get’s his mind fixated on one way of doing things – his own way – and will listen to nothing else. He may insist that the quickest way to Franklin Park is through Bensenville, because that’s all he knows, and that’s that! Reasoning with him or showing him maps will not change his mind. Some people are so bull-headed, that even if all the evidence shows that they are wrong, they will not change their mind. The stubborn person in-effect, does not live in the real world. He has his own world; it is very simple and very clear, but it must be protected.

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And this is because he has to protect his ego; feeling insecure, he says to himself, ‘If I am not stubborn, if I give in, people will walk all over me; it will appear that I am weak, so I must never back down.’ Such obstinate persons are described as having too much ego, unwilling to be wrong; hot-tempered, self-centered, fearful of the unknown, controlling, or defensive.

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The stubborn person creates an entire world around his ego, in order to protect himself, lest he appear weak. And he therefore doesn’t trust anyone. St. John Cassian tells[i] of an ancient monk of the desert who decided that he would not eat any food unless God gave it to him in a miraculous way. As he wandered in the desert, starved with hunger, he encountered some savage people who felt sorry for him, and offered him some bread. But he was so bull-headed that he would not accept it, and instead died of starvation.

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Stubborn people are very good at making decisions; they make the decision and act, full steam ahead! They don’t wait around for advice or other ideas, and they don’t consider the possibility that they might be wrong. A bull-headed person can be a strong leader and get things done, but he might go down a wrong path, because he is not careful.

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To the stubborn person, the worst thing that could happen to him, is to appear weak. St. Thomas Aquinas says[ii] that the stubborn person is too attached to his own opinion and unwilling to give up his own will; this is due to pride, the person wants to appear to be great, and not weak, and therefore fears that any weakness might be discovered in him.

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Some people do not have the courage to be openly bull-headed, and so they have learned to get their own way by more subtle methods: doing a job begrudgingly, slowing down their work as a statement of protest, excuse-making to avoid what they don’t accept, or manipulating the situation in defiance.

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Dr. Allers, in his famous book on Psychology[iii] says (that) serious problems with obstinacy are often due to mistakes in a child’s upbringing. If a child has feelings of worthlessness or inferiority, and is not shown understanding, but is criticized, the reaction can become anti-social behavior: he sets himself against the world and doesn’t trust anyone.

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Obstinate children are generally very unhappy, and will spend their life protecting their self-esteem. If they have a choleric temperament, they will be openly bull-headed and confrontational; if their temperament is melancholic, their stubbornness will be seen by passive methods of defiance. Diaries of such children show that they are full of complaints of loneliness, thoughts of running away, and longings for affection.

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But obstinate children are easily helped. A 12 year old girl who at home was stubborn and obstinate, and who went away to a school run by some Religious Sisters – she changed completely. The first nun to meet with the girl spoke to her with affection and understanding, and that was the end of her obstinacy.

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If our co-worker or family member is stubborn and bull-headed, we might just try telling him that one of his ideas is very good, and showing him some real affection. What the stubborn person does not realize, is that if he would trust a little, and open his heart, people would not hurt him; if he would not be so insistent on his own way, and even admit sometimes that he is wrong, people would respect him more, not less.

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Stubbornness is not a natural virtue, nor a Christian virtue; it is not a virtue. But courage, perseverance, and faithfulness to God – these are virtues. Living them means dying to our own will, and embracing God’s will, especially if it is not what we prefer.

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May the Blessed Virgin intercede for us; Mary, pray for us, that despite our failings, we may become virtuous, and configure ourselves more to Jesus Christ.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Thomas Aquinas]

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[i] Philokalia(1), p. 101.

[ii] Summa Theologica, Q. 132 a5, under Vainglory.

[iii] The Psychology of Character, pp. 162-170

28th Week of Ordinary Time

Beloved in Christ,

A while back, I was asked to go to a Youth Rally in order to hear confessions for the young people there. I wasn’t sure what this would be, but upon arriving, I saw that the school gym was packed, and the speaker was a young man in blue-jeans named Jason. I noticed, that the young people were totally focused on what he was saying.

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In his talk, he described a young woman who grew up in a sad household; her father had left them, life was hard. He said, this attractive young woman was asked out on a date by the captain of the football team. He told her he loved her. She heard words she had never heard. She wanted to be loved. So she got very involved with him, allowing affections to become sins. Her friends told her, as long as you are in a “committed relationship,” that’s what matters. So she gave away a gift that HE had no right to – her purity. It didn’t take long for him to lose interest, because he no longer respected her.

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She then had to find “love” again; she jumped from “committed relationship” to “committed relationship;” from boy, to boy, to boy, seeking to fill an inner sadness. Did those boys want to be her husband? No. or a father of her children? No. or her protector? No.

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The gym that day felt electrically charged: every single young person there knew EXACTLY what Jason was talking about, with a truth not found in People Magazine or Youtube or Vogue. ‘That young woman, he said, found herself in a despair. That is – until she met Jesus. Until she met the mercy of God. She went to confession and confessed it all. She learned what it means to be pure, and chaste, and self-controlled; she learned a new way to be happy. And she learned that it wasn’t too late for her.

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From then on, every weekend, when her ‘friends’ asked her to go out partying, she said ‘no;’ instead she wrote letters to her future husband. Every time she felt sad, she wrote a letter to her future husband. ‘Oh my beloved, I have done many bad things with my body and my life. But now I am saving myself for you. I am living in the Lord, because he loves me, and wants me to be happy. I know that my sexuality is made by God for love, for family, and for children. I am now waiting for you, my beloved.’ Such letters she wrote.

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From those late high school days, and into college, whenever she felt sad, she wrote a letter. Jason said, ‘eventually, she had a large stack of letters to her future husband. ‘And how do I know that,’ he asked? Because she is now my wife. And she gave them to me on our wedding night.

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Friends, our young people are under attack today with perhaps the greatest evil ever unleashed. They are in the midst of a war against goodness, against love, and against life itself. There is a mind-set almost everywhere that we call the ‘culture of death.’ It is a view that says: do whatever you want. This is freedom. Your sexuality is yours, for your fun. Before marriage – fine. Within marriage, no limits; no need for children, just have fun. And if you get pregnant, we can fix that too. We have the Plan B drug. We have abortion. We will kill your baby for you, and everything will be fine. —— No. It won’t be just fine; I have met many wounded people, and they tell me that it was not ‘just fine.’ It is a lie.

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October is Respect Life Month. The bishops ask us to speak about these subjects, we have to speak about what is going on. Last month the Holy Father, on a satellite meeting with youth, broadcast around the country – he told a young woman ‘You are courageous because you brought your daughter into the world. ‘You could have killed her in your womb,’ he said, ‘but you respected life.’ He spoke very clearly on this, but the newspapers did not report what he said. Time magazine even changed his words.

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You may have seen in the news the abortion-giant Planned Parenthood, that runs abortion clinics – they have been caught on secret video selling body parts of little babies, sitting at expensive dinners and laughing, while they negotiated the best price for a little child’s body parts, for money. This is demonic. This whole thing is demonic.

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Jesus has a totally different plan for our lives. He wants us to live a pure life, a wholesome life, and never be connected with this culture of death. In that rally I was at, Jason told those young people, when you give your body to another, you are saying: I give myself – my whole self to you. But this is meant for marriage. Without vows, without a life-long promise, this is not a giving of self, it is using another person, and this wounds countless hearts and lives.

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‘I have come, says the Lord, that you may have life. And have it more abundantly. What happens when sexual love is trivialized, and made into a recreational sport? Ask those kids in that high school gym. They know. Broken hearts. Venereal disease. Depression. Fear. Despair. These are the fruits of this culture of death. The world does not believe our kids can live in chastity and holiness – instead it tells them, here is your freedom: pills and diaphragms, and gels, and abortions and death and suicide. That’s freedom.

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NO! Our bodies are not machines to be manipulated. Our body is intimately connected to our soul, and to God. St. Paul says: “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you.” ‘And you have NOT authority over your own body, he says, but rather the husband. Whose the husband he speaks of? It’s Jesus. It is Christ who has authority over our body, our soul – he has authority over our whole selves; Jesus is Lord. We must teach this. We must live this. ‘Jesus, you are Lord of my life, let me live for you!

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Many have not protected their virginity or they have taken someone’s purity from them. You may know someone who felt panicked or trapped and had an abortion or cooperated in it. But Jesus has not given up on them. The Lord says, it is not too late. I love you. I LOVE YOU. ‘Come to me, all you who are burdened, and I will give you rest.

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That day at the gym, I heard many amazing confessions, of young people who had made mistakes, but who decided to choose Jesus and follow the path of joy. And not only them, but hundreds of people every week here in confessions at our parish on Fridays and Saturdays or when they call – many are leaving their sins behind and are choosing to follow Jesus.

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We see in the gospel today this young man who could not leave what he had, in order to follow Christ.

He could not leave it.

And then it says, ‘he went away sad.’

The ways of sin are sadness, God’s way is joy. St. Paul says: God did not give us a spirit of fear, but rather of power and love and self-control, so do not be ashamed of your testimony of our Lord.

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Some young people today are giving testimony; they are making bold promises. Promising to be virgins until marriage, or to regain their spiritual virginity until marriage. I’ve seen young men and women wearing purity rings; ‘What is that ring for?’ I ask. ‘It’s a purity ring Father, until I’m married.’ Men and women.

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Some young people are taking a stand, and they are not sad at all, but happy. It takes guts to take a stand. But that is the advantage of being a Christian.

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May the blessed Virgin help us to be great persons; Mary, pray for us to be pure and faithful and courageous, that we will be true followers of Jesus Christ.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of Mother Cabrini]

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Beloved in the Lord,

St. Teresa of Avila always carried a statue of the child Jesus with her when she traveled. Her devotion to the Child Jesus began, when one day, as she was coming down the steps of her convent, she saw a beautiful young boy. The Child spoke to her and said: ‘Who are you?’ She said: ‘I am Teresa of Jesus, who are you?’ He answered: ‘I am Jesus of Teresa!’ and then he disappeared. But she would see him many more times.

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Friends in Christ, Our Lord has appeared to many saints over the years in the form of a child: St. Rose, St. Anthony, St. Gemma, St. Teresa, and others.

There are many ways that we personally relate to Our Lord: in his Passion, in his strength, or in his glory; but we can also relate to Christ as a child, and this can help us in an important way, because we ourselves are children of God.

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Christ has taught us to call God ‘Our Father,’ and in numerous cases he has urged us to be like little children. In today’s Gospel we see that the Apostles are arguing with each other about who is the greatest among them. Our Lord corrects their attitude beginning with one symbolic action: He sets a child in their midst, and puts his arms around him. His message: ‘Be as this child.’

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It has been said that this is really our central vocation: to be a child of God. In theology it is called ‘Divine Filiation.’ ‘Filial’ meaning son (or daughter). According to John Paul II, divine filiation is the deepest mystery of the Christian vocation and ‘the culminating point of our Christian life.’ 

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Jesus as Son of God, became Man so that we might also become adopted sons of God. St. Irenaus said this back in the 2^nd century: He says, ‘There are those who do not accept the gift of adoption,’ and they scorn the Incarnation of the Word. Then he says: ‘The Son of God became the Son of man, in order that Man might become sons of God.’ So this is how we can rightly say that being children of God is our central vocation. It’s how the Lord wants us to be.

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Jesus demonstrated this for us. Although Christ sometimes spoke with sternness, or warned about the judgment or of the fire of hell, in the end, the mothers were won over to him, and the children trusted him. Pharisees stood at a distance, but the children came close to him, and parents knew that with Jesus, their children were safe.

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Fr. Goodier says, all of this was because the heart of Christ had something of a child in it. And this must have been felt by those who were attracted to him; by the simple love he showed his Mother, by the trust he placed in others, his delight in the birds of the air and the flowers of the field; this Son of God watched the laborers in the field and the shepherd with his sheep; and we saw the ease with which he told charming stories about royal banquets and sheep gone astray – only a Man with the imagination of a child could speak in such a way.

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Christ demonstrates for us the child-heart that each of us should have. Our child-heart should have a simple love, not complicated; trusting others, trusting God, and delighting in the world. Children are not worried if they make mistakes. A child-heart knows that holiness doesn’t mean never making mistakes, it means to keep trying. It is not a matter of compiling a spotless record, but of beginning again, and trying to do God’s will. Once forgiven, a child simply tries again.

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Sincerity: here is another virtue called for, by divine sonship. Children make very poor liars and deceivers, you can see right through them, why? Because they do not have the practice of deceiving, of conniving, or scheming. A child-heart is sincere and honest. Trusting, not suspicious.

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‘He came unto his own and his own received him not; but to as many as received him, he gave the power of becoming sons of God.’ – That’s what St. John says: ‘He gave us the power of becoming sons of God.’ If we receive him, live for him, we will have a child-like trust. This abandonment to the will of God should always be part of our interior life; this humble recognition of our littleness.

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Faced with a very difficult task, the child has confidence that with his Father, he can do it. Father Fernandez says that by abandoning ourself into God’s hands, we become confident and are never prey to anxiety.

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When St. Thomas More was facing his execution, he wrote to his daughter: ‘Keep your spirits high, my daughter. Nothing can happen to me that God doesn’t want, and all that he wants is really for the best.’

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Trusting God without any conditions brings an unbreakable peace. St. Augustine said, ‘I am only a small child; but my Father lives forever and is my greatest protector.’  Our Father is one who has created galaxies and makes planets for goodness sakes; he is All Powerful. We can trust him.

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Spiritual childhood does not lead to immaturity or childishness. Some people spend their whole life a slave to their fluctuating desires and emotions, acting only for their self-interest. We’ve seen these people – self-centered and pathetic. St. Josemaria said, each of us has a choice: to be children of God or slaves to pride. The child of God is concerned not with his own self-interest, but with pleasing his Father in heaven, living as Jesus would live.

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To refer to the Christian as a child of God is not a mere figure of speech. It is true in the strictest sense, because we are sharing in his divine nature.

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There is a great scene in the Holy Gospels, in which Christ is speaking about the end of the world, and judgment; he is teaching the elders and his disciples; and in the midst of this serious teaching of the adults, children start flocking around him, climbing on him – his apostles try to stop this, but Jesus says: ‘Let the children come to me, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Whoever does not accept the kingdom of God as a little child will not enter it.’

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At the 2^nd Coming of Christ, at the end of the world, it will be the children of the Kingdom who will approach him with confidence. ‘Let the children come to me, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.’

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Let us ask Mary to pray for us; Mary help us to live as true children of God, and be worthy to approach him on the Last Day.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Paul]

24th Sunday in ordinary time

Beloved in the Lord,

back in the 2^nd century, there lived a beautiful young girl named Cecilia. In those days, most people were pagans, accepting the false gods of the Empire. But Cecilia was a Catholic, and not only that, she had secretly consecrated her virginity to Christ, desiring to live only for him.

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But through the course of events, she was arrested, and ordered to give up her Catholic Faith. She refused, and was given the sentence of death. Seeing this beautiful girl’s courage, over 400 persons that day, decided to become Catholic.

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So the authorities went to Cecilia’s home, and there they locked her inside of a steam room, and turned up the heat to suffocate her; but she called out to them saying, ‘it’s cool in here!’ They therefore decreed that she would be beheaded.

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So there, in her own home, an executioner three times tried to decapitate her with his sword, but he could not get her head cut all the way off. Cecilia lived for three more days, all the time urging those around her to be faithful to Christ; at the end of three days she fell asleep in the Lord, and the Pope made her house into a Church, which it is to this very day.

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Friends in Christ, The martyrs endured many challenges, yet they remained faithful to the Catholic Faith, faithful to Jesus. In this they possessed great courage.

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Courage is a virtue that everyone of us should seek; we need courage not only if we are one day called to be a martyr, but if we really think about it, we need courage almost every day, because things come up which make us fearful, or nervous, but we need to overcome our fears, with courage.

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There can only be courage where there is fear. Some people say: ‘Oh, he’s very brave, he’s never afraid.’ But if someone is courageous, it is because there is something to be afraid of. St. Theresa said: ‘If we are never afraid, how could we ever show courage?!’

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Many things can cause us fear: we can be afraid of pain, of getting hurt, or from a medical procedure; little children can be afraid of the dark, or of bad dreams, of dogs, or thunderstorms. Some people fear loneliness or being abandoned.

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Young people might fear auditioning for a play, fear of failure, or fear of tests. Others feel afraid to talk to their parents about a personal problem; young couples can be afraid of commitment, afraid of the unknown. There are many things, even in one day, that can cause us fear. But every fear is a signal to us for courage.

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Fear makes us want to push away from some threat, from something difficult. Courage comes from the hope that we can overcome the threat, or that we can endure it.

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Today in the gospel, Jesus predicts for the apostles that he will suffer and be crucified. St. Peter is horrified. ‘No Lord!, he says, this can’t be.’ But Jesus is strong with him, and says that it must be. Then Christ tells them, anyone who wants to be his disciple – and that would mean us – that we must take up our cross – carry our cross too, like him. So the Lord wants us to have courage. But this kind of courage is special, because he will be helping us.

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For Example: We have a very difficult test in school; we feel fear; but we remember to call on the Lord: ‘Jesus, help me, I know that I am not alone in this test. Holy Spirit, enlighten me to do my best, and then what will be will be.’ Then with our courage alive, we begin – one question at a time, not worrying about the outcome, just doing our best. It’s not that the fear is gone, but we haven’t allowed it to overwhelm us; this is courage: going against our fears.

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Roberta Vinci beat Serna Williams in the U.S. Tennis Open; she was a 300:1 odds to lose! She had no chance. They asked her how she felt during the match: ‘As I got closer to the end, she said, I felt enormous pressure, but I just focused on what I had to do, I said, ‘just put the ball on the court and keep going.’

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Our courage only comes alive, when we feel the pressure. But this is how we can accomplish great things, even if the odds are 300:1 against us.

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I need to get a job; a friend tells me they might be hiring at a certain company. I drive there, but I’m nervous about going in. What if I don’t get the job? I might feel like a failure if it doesn’t work out. What if I don’t know what to say? So we pray: ‘Lord, help me in what I will do.’ And then we put our feelings aside, we go against our fears, and go in. And we don’t worry about the result. This is to act with courage.

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St. Paul says, ‘I can do all things in he who strengthens me.’ In other words, if we do things with the Lord, asking him to be with us, we will have the courage we need.

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‘But I am often kind of a coward, I don’t have the courage to do things that I should. How do I get courage.’ Well, two things to remember: First, as we have said, we have to pray for it, asking the Lord to give us the strength to do this thing. His grace is important. And the second is: courage is a virtue that grows with practice.

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Do we think St. Cecilia only acted with courage for the first time, when she was a martyr? No way! During her time growing up, she certainly practiced doing what was kind of difficult, going against her fears in smaller things. In this way, she developed a habit, an instinct for courage. For this reason we should ‘step-up’ to challenging things even though we have some fear. Then little by little, it gets easier!

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Some people are very afraid of being embarrassed or of saying the wrong thing. I had a friend in college who was afraid of public speaking in front of big groups of people, but his career would require it. So, going against his fears, he spoke to small groups at first, then bigger groups. By going against his fears, he got used to it, and now is comfortable speaking, but it took acts of courage.

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If the risk for us is pain, or embarrassment, or failure – so be it. We recall the Lord’s promise: ‘Be strong and courageous, do not be frightened, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’ Josh 1:9 If it is the right thing to do, then we summon up the courage, and just do it – come what may.

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A woman with great courage was Mary. She agreed to be the Mother of the Savior, having no idea what lay ahead; she just said ‘yes’.

Mary, pray for us, that even in our fears, we will have the courage to do what is best, and act always for the glory of God.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of Venerable Antonietta Meo]

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Friends in Christ, we see in the gospel today, that people brought to Our Lord this man who had a speech impediment, the Greek word is, μογιλάλος, it means he did not speak correctly. But in an instant, Christ cures him. In a moment he was able to speak correctly.

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Physical healings in scripture can always be seen as signs of the spiritual healing that Christ desires for us. Now we may say that our speech is just fine, we don’t need any healing there. But let us ask if this is really true?

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A common lament by people who come to confession, is that they have put-down or criticized someone, a family member or other, and they feel bad about it. Let us speak today of how we can overcome this ‘critical spirit’ that can so easily poison the goodness of our life.

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Fr. Faber says that there are very many moderately good people who think it is just fine to sit around and criticize others; they regard it as evidence of their own superior wisdom. This attitude comes from pride and conceit. The person acts, as if their great knowledge gives them some kind of special duty to analyze everyone else.

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We find fault in others to prove that we are smarter, or that we are better looking, holier, or wealthier than the other. We often want to feel better about ourselves at someone else’s expense. We can also criticize when our expectations are not being met. If people fail to do what we ask, or are not doing what is right. If our own life is not going the way we desire and we are frustrated, we can hide our sadness by finding fault with others.

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The rationalization is always there: ‘But I must say this for the good of his soul.’ ‘’He has to be taught a lesson, or he just won’t learn.’ ‘Don’t you see, I am working for the good of the Church.’

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Those are great rationalizations, but the question is: Is what is being said REALLY going to help the other person? Everyone can notice the difference between kindly advice, and an attack.

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A number of years ago, Dr. David Fink, a psychiatrist, wrote an article called, “Release from Nervous Tension.” From over 10,000 case studies, he discovered that there was a common trait with all his patients who suffered from severe tension. They were habitual fault-finders, constant critics of people around them. Those who did not have this stress in their life, were the least critical. His conclusions were that the habit of fault-finding is a mark of the nervous or the mentally unbalanced. Those who wish to retain good emotional and mental health, should learn to free themselves from a critical attitude.

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People who have the critical spirit are never happy. The reason is, that while we are looking at so many evils in our neighbor, the source of the rot is inside ourselves. St. Josemaria, in his pithy way says: ‘Your own will; your own judgment: that’s what upsets you!’ The critical heart is obsessed with it’s own will, it’s own way, and that is a very lonely position to be in. Scripture says: What causes quarrels and the fights among the brethren? Is it not this: that your passions are at war inside you?

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St. Francis de Sales tells us that if we have a strong opinion on something, we can be critical of those who do not think like us. If we have a dislike for an employee, he can do nothing right, and we never cease finding fault with him; while on the contrary, if we have taken a liking to someone, there is nothing that we will not excuse.

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Some parents cannot tolerate an ugly child no matter how good he may be, but they spoil a beautiful child even when he is behaving badly. Those who are fault-finders, and notice every mistake of others, cannot themselves tolerate a single smidgeon of criticism. They insist on their own rights or opinion, yet they want to see others humble and deferential. We are prepared to complain about our neighbors, but the neighbor must never complain about us.

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I read that some animals have more than one heart. There are people who seem to be the same: a kind and merciful heart for themselves, and a strict and severe heart for others.

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A man felt very bad that he was always criticizing others, he wanted to change. So I suggested: ‘At the end of the day, when you make your examination of conscience, try writing down how many times you criticize each day, keep a record, to see if you can improve. He said, ‘Father, I don’t have that much paper!’

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The person who has spent most of his life criticizing others has done great injury to God’s glory – an endless fountain of putrid discouragement, there to crush anyone who may have thought of seeking God.

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One spiritual writer says, people love to be ‘popes;’ even the dumbest of persons can carve out a tiny papacy for himself. And if he can mix in a little arrogance, he can reign gloriously, with his own little ecumenical council.

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A person who is not very bright criticizes rashly, without even knowing the facts. If on the other hand, the person is highly intelligent, he DOES see the true faults of others, but even more than the truth. He puts things together that have no real connection in the conduct of his neighbor, thinking the worst. He suspects bad motives in others because he has bad motives himself As it is said, ‘For clever men, charity is almost impossible.

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Although anyone can lapse into a critical spirit, the person who has a morose, brooding temperament is raw material for this. The melancholic person will brood over a small incident for weeks, imagining endless devious motives in the other person, finally erupting one day in a flurry of crushing words.

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So how do we fight this bad spirit of fault-finding? St. Francis says, always put yourself in your neighbor’s place and then your comments will be fair; ‘remember,’ he says, we lose nothing by being generous, noble, and courteous.

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The root of critical thoughts is pride. A great aid to pounding down this pride is to convince ourselves that everyone else is better than us. Yes, there are gifts and talents God has given us that he has not given to others, but if we think of our hard heart and crummy thoughts, it is not hard to see that our neighbor is better.

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Christ wants us to see that we are really in this together, not against one another.

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote about a special virtue that should govern how people relate to each other. He says: ‘It behooves man to maintain a becoming order towards others in both deeds and words. Hence the need of a special virtue, and this virtue is called friendliness. Every man, he says, is naturally every man’s friend by a certain general love; this love is signified by signs of friendship, which we show outwardly, even to those who are strangers.

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Jesus Christ expects us to think well of our neighbor. Let us estimate the amount of evil in the world way too low; let us be naive; naively holy, and presume that even the worst sins are done in ignorance, or with a confused desire for some good; this is the genius of the saints, oblivious to horrors of the world, they were always looking for the good in others.

This is the radiant, energetic faith, that believes that the darkness will always be overcome by the Light.

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The Holy Nun, Mother Maria Kaupas, used to say: ‘Let us leave judging and fault-finding to small minds; be angels of peace, stilling through your gentle words the rancor in another’s heart; what will gain results is only gentleness, so then, why not use it!

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May the Blessed Virgin pray and intercede for us, that our words will always be those worthy of children of God.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Luke]

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Friends in Christ, in the year 180 BC, the Greeks heard that a lot of money was stored at the Temple in Jerusalem, and so in their greed, they sent a man named Heliodorus to steal the money that was kept there. Upon his arrival, Heliodorus was told by the priest that the money in the temple was a care-fund for the needy; nevertheless, Heliodorus said that the next day he and his soldiers would go into the Holy Temple to take the money. The high priest was sickened by this, and so all the people and the priests began to pray.

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The next day, Heliodorus marched with his men into the Holy Temple, but as he was approaching the treasury, there suddenly appeared a dazzling horse, ridden by a fearsome rider, whose armor and weapons were of gold, and two other young men at his side. The horse rushed Heliodorus and struck at him with its front hoofs. The two men scourged him until he fell wounded to the ground. His soldiers put him on a stretcher and took the nearly-dead man out. He only was able to recover from his terror only because the priest prayed for him. But he vowed to never take their money again.

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Friends in Christ, greed and the thirst for money has led people to theft, robbery, and to even gamble away their lives. Today we wish to discuss for our lesson, the 7^th commandment.

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The 7^th commandment is, ‘Thou shall not steal.’ Today in the Gospel, Our Lord says, that it is from the heart that comes bad thoughts, greed, and theft. Stealing therefore, originates in thoughts of greed.

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Stealing is the unjust taking of what belongs to another; and so it goes directly against love of neighbor.

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When I was young, in our town, no one ever locked their doors, even at night. Life was very peaceful. Then I remember one day, when our mother told us, that someone had gone into Mrs. Frank’s house, and taken her purse. She was very sad. We were in shock, that someone would take something from someone who was so nice. Then we had to begin locking our doors. Everything was different.

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Stealing wounds our neighbor, and it is against the law of God. Think of how you feel if you come home, and someone has been in your house, and taken things. It feels very bad. Jesus says, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ And so it is forbidden to ever steal something.

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In the days of St. Francis of Assisi, birds sometimes would gather to hear him teach; one day, during the planting of the corn, a Raven swooped down to pick up a planted seed, and flew to a nearby tree. But Francis scolded him, ‘Raven, did I not teach you not to steal?!’ And in a moment, the Raven replaced the seed in the farmers field. If a bird will even listen to the commandments, then we certainly must!!

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People think that they are being sneaky when they steal from a store, or put a lower price tag on a dress; but God sees it all. God sees that we are being bad. Let us rather follow St. Paul’s advice: ‘Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work, so that he may have something to share with those in need.’

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The 7^th Commandment is for the good of everyone, young and old. Children must never take money from their siblings or their mother’s purse, and adults must not falsify expense accounts, pirate software, or cheat on taxes.

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If Joe is walking along and sees a wallet on the ground, what should he do? He could see if anyone nearby may have dropped it. He can look inside to find the person’s ID, and call them. I know a boy who did that, and he got a nice reward!! If we find some money, we have to make the best effort to discover whose it is, and return it. If after our best effort nothing can be done, then may we keep it.

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Stealing is a mortal sin if it involves something that is of significant value, or if it’s theft hurts the person a great deal. If Thomas steals $50 from Andrew, that would be a mortal sin, because it’s a big amount of money. If he steals gum from his brother, it’s venial sin; but if he steals a writing pen from his neighbor, and it is a cherished pen from his grandfather, it is serious, because the pen has important sentimental value.

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Now theft requires us to try to make up for what was done, returning what was stolen if we can. Sometimes that is not possible, but we may never keep what we stole, we can give to charity. Scripture says that those who steal and do not repent, will not enter the kingdom of heaven. So it is important to repent, and go to Confession.

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Bribery, vandalism, and excessive gambling are all sins against the 7^th commandment. Sure, a little gambling is ok; it can make a game more exciting; but it becomes a sin if we waste money that is needed for our family, or if we violate the law, or waste a lot of time on it, or especially, if we become addicted. Gambling addiction has ruined many families.

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As Christ has said, stealing money or things, always has it’s origin with bad desires in the heart. A person feels that he is lacking something, and must take it from his neighbor – instead we must teach ourselves to be satisfied with what we have, and to respect the possessions of others.

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Regarding use of money, it is good to teach children to manage their money. If a child has an allowance of a dollar, show them that they must set aside 40 cents for savings, 10 cents to give to the church or the poor, and the rest they can spend. Kids who learn how to save their money for something are learning how to obtain something in an honest way, and so are not prone to crave other people’s things.

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Instead of wanting what others have, we should thank God for what we DO have. Jesus says, do not be anxious for your life, or worried about what you don’t have. Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap, yet their heavenly Father feeds them. Be not worried about other things, for your Father in heaven knows what you need.

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I told our school children that when I was young we never had to lock our doors, no one stole things. A little boy asked: ‘How can we get it to be like that again?’ I said, we have to start following Jesus, then it will be like that again.

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O Lord, help us – Mary, pray for us. That by our own uprightness and honesty, the world will become more like the Kingdom of God.

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Entrusted to the prayers of Venerable Mother Maria Kaupas

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

‘I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.’

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Friends in Christ, these Sundays of August we are reading Our Lord’s ‘Bread of Life’ discourse. Christ multiplies the few loaves to feed thousands – miraculous bread – today he calls himself the ‘Bread of Life.’ He says that we must eat this bread. And next week he will insist that his followers must ‘eat his flesh,’ – which shocked many; some even left him, because they could not accept this teaching.

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Our Lord is really speaking here of the holy Mass, which he would give us at the Last Supper. The Holy Mass is the very center of our Christian life. When a person in Confession says that he missed Sunday Mass (and not because of illness) – I will often say, ‘Well let’s make sure that we get to Mass even if it kills us! The early Christians risked their life to get to Mass, and sometimes were arrested, and put to death for it.

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At Mass, we are offering up Jesus, his Blood, for our sins, and in thanksgiving for his mercy, and seeking help in our needs. And in praise too. This sacrifice is the price of our salvation. The Mass is how Jesus applies his salvation to us today, so that we can come and say, ‘Father, have mercy me in the blood of Christ.’

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When we come here, even if we are tired, or don’t feel like it, or the homily is boring, or the music isn’t our style – when we come here, we are saying to Jesus, ‘Lord, I am here; I am still one of your disciples.’ It’s like a test of our loyalty.

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The mother of a boy told me recently, that she wanted to sign him up for CCD, but she was afraid he would miss some of his sports games. Her little son said to her, ‘Mom, if I have a game on that day, I just won’t play, I’ll go to CCD because God comes first.’ I was so proud of that little boy.

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Of course if we are able, at Mass, if we have confessed our sins and are living right, we also can receive Jesus in Holy Communion – become one with him, this Bread of Life. The Eucharist is a memorial of Christ’s Sacrifice on the Cross, and so we call it the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

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A sacrifice is the offering to God of some good thing; each Christmas season, my sister has her children choose some of their many toys, to give away to poor children. It is a sacrifice, to take one and give it away. But to take your FAVORITE toy, and give it away, out of love of God – this is a great sacrifice. Or if a boy sleeps on the floor during Lent, as an offering to God, this is a real sacrifice.

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Every sacrifice expresses our desire to be united to God. By giving up something good, and offering it, we really give ourself to the Lord. Sacrifice means love.

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In the Old Testament times, we see sacrifice very clearly. A lamb for example would be taken from the flock; here is something very valuable, to people trying to survive. To take the best lamb and kill it, and burn part of it as an offering – this is a real sacrifice. And these offerings to God were sometimes in thanksgiving for something, but also in atonement for sins.

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Since the fall of Adam and Eve, all people know, deep down inside, that we have to make up for our sins, somehow. Because they offend the greatest Good, our Creator. We deserve the supreme penalty, death. But this we are unable or unwilling to do, and so we make vicarious atonement.

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The ancients took a living animal, offering it’s life to God, and placing upon it the guilt of their sins, and prayed that God would accept it. The offerer laid his hands on the animal. This took place in the Court of the Temple. If it was an offering for a specific sin, he confessed his sins as he laid his hands, saying ‘I have done this and that, may it bring me forgiveness.’ Notice by-the-way, that at Mass, the priest puts his hands out over the sacrifice – placing our sins onto the Victim: Jesus.

In ancient times, after the animal was killed, part was burned as an offering to God, part was eaten by the offerer. And so true sacrifice had these two parts: the offering to God, and the sacrificial meal, by which the offerer felt united to God. But can the life of an animal or even several animals make atonement for our sins? When we think of the infinite goodness of God that our sins offend, it is clear that these measly sacrifices can really do nothing. St. Paul will say this. But all these sacrifices were an expression of man’s desire for atonement, to make up to the Lord for his failings.

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In the fullness of time, such a sacrifice came, that of the Lamb of God: Jesus Christ. No animal can atone for man, but God himself can. A human being can be put to death, but God cannot die. Therefore, the Son of God took on human nature. As the perfect, sinless man, Jesus could die, and as God, he was able to make full reparation for us. It is as if all of humanity looked for the Perfect Man, the most innocent and sinless human being, and offered Him to God on behalf of us all. And let us not forget, that Jesus WANTED to do this.

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If we sin against the infinite love of God, there is only one way that we can pay back, or make up for what we have done, we have to offer Jesus, and that is what we are doing here. There is a nice little movie out there about the Mass, called The Greatest Miracle – you should watch it. It’s animated, but it’s for adults as well as kids. The story revolves around the lives of three different people who find themselves at the same Catholic Mass; they each have a crisis in their life. But at this Mass, their guardian angels help them to see the true meaning.

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We come here and offer Jesus, but also his whole Mystical Body, ourselves. We are offered up, and lifted up to Our Heavenly Father. Father, I thank thee. Father, I love thee. Father, help me. In the Blood of Jesus, have mercy on me. This is the Holy Mass. It is the Perfect Sacrifice.

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In the first part of Mass we go up to God, and offer his Divine Blood. In the second part of Mass, God comes down to us, and we can partake in this sacrificial meal. At every Mass, we are actually linked to heaven, surrounded by the saints and the angels, and Mary is with us too.

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Oh dear good Mother, help us to offer ourselves worthily at Mass with Jesus. Help us Mary, to know that no matter the troubles or joys or sins we have, here is the place to offer everything with Jesus to our Father in heaven.

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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. John Vianney]