14 SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

One of our most primitive human needs is to feel accepted by our peers. From our earliest years we feel the need to measure up to what society expects of us. In fact, psychologists tell us that children fear being rejected and ridiculed by their peers even more than they fear their own death or the death of their parents. Whether we admit it or not, the need to fit in colors many of the choices we make including what clothes we wear, what job we choose and even whom we decide to marry. Society uses our fear of rejection to induce us to accept its rules and values.

On the other hand, we are a people who have come to know Jesus Christ in a personal way. Our lives are guided not by society's values but by the word of God. Alive with the Spirit of God which was given us at our baptism, we reject much of what the culture around us holds up as good and valuable so that we can follow Christ. At the same time, we have to live and work among people who are not yet convinced of the power of God's love and the truth of his word. Because we have one foot in the world and the other foot in the Kingdom of God, there are times when we are confronted with a co-worker who ridicules a teaching of the Church or a friend who questions why we no longer want to gossip.

When we have the opportunity to witness to and defend our faith, do we let our fear of rejection silence us or, in the Spirit, do we stand up for the beliefs we hold dear? It is a question that all Christians who seek to live their faith with integrity must ask themselves. It is a question that all those who have come to accept the word of God have been faced with throughout the centuries. And as always, the Scriptures give us insight and inspiration in dealing with this question in our own lives.

The first reading is taken from the book of the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel lived in a time when the people of Israel were tempted to worship the idols of other nations. They saw the political power and great prosperity of the nations around them and wondered whether by worshiping the gods of those peoples they too could become mighty. It was at that time that the Babylonians invaded Israel, destroyed much of Jerusalem and took thousands of Israelites into exile in what is now Iraq. The people were under great pressure to accept the pagan values of the Babylonian society that surrounded them. But God sent the prophet Ezekiel to speak his word that they should remain faithful to the Lord and to his commandments. God warned Ezekiel that his message would be rejected by many, yet he should continue to proclaim the word with boldness. The confidence of the prophet would come because he understood that it was not his own message he was delivering but God's. Ezekiel understood that it was not him they were rejecting but God himself. Though Ezekiel was killed for preaching God's word, the people did recognize that a prophet had been among them as God said, and his words continue to be proclaimed throughout the world today.

The prophet Ezekiel teaches us to be bold in witnessing to and defending our faith because it comes from God himself. It is not our opinion, but the truth of God which has been passed down through the centuries. And that truth endures forever. Societies and their values come and go, but the truth of the gospel message remains the same. Only historians of the ancient near east could tell us about the gods and values of the Babylonian society which seemed so powerful in Ezekiel's day. They did not last. But we know what Ezekiel taught, and we draw inspiration and courage from it to this day. In the same way, the values of the society around us - the lack of respect for human life, the blind pursuit of wealth and pleasure, the worship of celebrities - will not last. We have been entrusted with something that has stood the test of time - the gospel of Jesus Christ - and we must be bold in proclaiming it and living it even if it means being rejected and ridiculed by our family, friends and neighbors.

If the prophet Ezekiel teaches us to be bold in proclaiming the truths of our faith, Saint Paul teaches us to be humble. No one besides Jesus himself had as much success spreading the good news as Saint Paul did. Yet he knew his share of failure, persecution and suffering because of the gospel. Nonetheless, as we see in the second reading, he accepted the failures along with the successes to make it clear that it was God at work in him.

Most of us would admit that what often keeps us from witnessing to our faith is not just our fear of rejection but our fear of failure. We worry that we do not know enough to counter another person's argument or to convince others about the truths of the faith. But faith is a gift from God. Only God can change the human heart and enlighten the mind to receive it. If God places someone in our lives we must believe that he will use us somehow to plant a seed of faith. When it looks as though we are failing, God very likely is hard at work. We may never know what effect we may have on a person by witnessing to our experience of Jesus. But if we choose faith over fear and speak up with boldness and humility about Jesus to others, God will make something incredible happen.

Jesus faced rejection and ridicule from the people he cared about most, his family and friends. If we want to follow him, we can expect the same. But we are not alone. There is a community of the faithful - the Church - which is always there to support us and welcome us even when the world rejects us. The Church is our real home where we encounter Jesus and celebrate the mysteries of our faith. Until we reach our eternal home in heaven, let us ask the Father to give us the boldness and humility to witness to his word both when it is convenient and when it is difficult so that all people can receive the gift of faith which we hold so dear.

More on Saints Peter and Paul

More belated words on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul


A man gave his life over to Christ. Almost immediately, he was filled with a dread that God would call him to be a missionary in Africa. The fear consumed him to the point that it threatened to make him abandon his new found faith. But, in prayer, he felt assured that God would not put him in Africa without first putting Africa in his heart. With time, the man not only stopped fearing that God would send him to Africa, he began desiring to spread God's word there. He did eventually decide to go to Africa as a Christian missionary and was later martyred there. God kept his promise. He first planted the desire in the man's heart and then equipped him to serve in the missions event to the point of giving his life.

Today, we celebrate two of the great missionaries of our faith, Saints Peter and Paul.

Saint Peter was one of the original twelve apostles called by Jesus. Because of his profession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Savior of the World, Peter was called by Jesus to be the rock on which he would build his Church. Since that day, a pope has served as the successor to Peter and as the visible sign of the unity of the Church.

Saint Paul, on the other hand, was not one of the original apostles. In fact, in the days following Pentecost, he sought to crush the fledgling Church through an intense persecution which culminated with the stoning of Saint Stephen, the first to give his life for Christ. On the way to the city of Damascus, Saint Paul would be overwhelmed by a vision of the Risen Lord and converted from a persecutor of the Church to one of its most fervent missionaries. Though he wasn't one of the original twelve apostles, we call Saint Paul an apostle, nonetheless, because of his experience of the Risen Lord. He would be the Church's first theologian helping to formulate the basics of the new Christian faith and spreading that faith throughout much of the Greek speaking world.

God gave great success to the missionary work of Saints Peter and Paul. But, like the man in our story, neither of them was ready to spread the word from day one. Rather, each needed to spend time with the Lord before setting out to preach to others. Saint Peter spent three years following Jesus and learning from him up to the time of Jesus' death. Then, Peter sat at Jesus' feet after the resurrection, as we read in today's gospel when Jesus called Peter to tend his lambs. Saint Paul, likewise, spent three years praying and reflecting in the deserts of Arabia before finally meeting with Peter in Jerusalem, as we read in the second reading, and setting out on his missionary journeys around Asia Minor and eventually to Rome.

Like the man in our story, Jesus placed a burning love into the hearts of Saints Peter and Paul which expressed itself in a desire to spread the word of Jesus' death and resurrection. Because Saints Peter and Paul desired nothing else than to be faithful to their master, they would eventually give the ultimate witness to their faith by both being martyred in Rome. Saint Peter would be crucified upside down, and Saint Paul would be beheaded.

Today, in this place, Jesus is asking each of us if we love him. And, if we do love him, will we feed and tend his sheep? And, if we will tend his sheep, are we willing to go where we'd rather not go? Are we willing to follow Jesus to where the poor are? Are we willing to follow Jesus to where the hungry beg for bread? Are we willing to follow Jesus to where the sick are seeking treatment? Are we willing to stretch out our hands to tend Jesus' lambs wherever they may wander?

Jesus understands if we find his questions unsettling or even disturbing. Jesus understands if we hesitate or if we aren't ready to answer. Jesus even understands if our answer to him is "not yet". It very often takes time for us to understand what God wants of us. And, it takes even longer for us to be equipped by God with what we need for the mission. Jesus is a gentle master. He will place within our heart a desire for whatever mission he is calling us to. He will work on us until our fear gives way to love and our love shows itself in service to Jesus' sheep.

In every age, God has provided us, his sheep, with women and men of faith who witness powerfully to his love. It began with Saints Peter and Paul. The task now falls to each of us. In this place Jesus invites us to a meal and asks each of us if we do indeed love him and will serve him. If we are not ready to answer yet, we must pray that God will place in our heart a desire to serve him and the opportunity to know his will for us. That is a prayer that God will certainly answer. We will be both surprised and delighted by where our "yes" to him will take us.

Feast of Saints Peter and Paul

On May 13, 1981, four shots rang out in Saint Peter's Square. A gunman, Mehmet Ali Agca, had made an assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II as he greeted the crowds gathered there for his weekly audience. The gunman was apprehended immediately after being wrestled to the ground by a nun. As it turned out, he was a Turkish national whom many believe was contracted by the Soviet KGB to silence the Pope who had given a voice to the suffering of people living under communist rule. Despite the seriousness of his injuries, Pope John Paul II survived the attack and credited the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary for both protecting him and restoring him to health. And, in just eight short years following the attack, the countries of Eastern Europe living behind the Iron Curtain including Poland, Yugoslavia, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania, would be liberated from their communist governments almost overnight, and the Soviet Union would crumble under the weight of its corruption and godlessness. Many historians credit Pope John Paul II with helping to bring an end to the communist superpower which had murdered millions and had spread fear throughout the world.

In today's first reading, Peter - the first pope - was under a similar threat. He had been arrested by Herod who planned to execute him after Passover. However, the people of God had been praying incessantly for Peter. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in prison loosening his chains and leading him out past the guards to freedom. Just as all the powers of the Soviet Union were no match for the powerful intercession of the Mother of God on behalf of John Paul II, the power of Herod backed by the force of the Roman guards and legions were no match for the prayers of God's holy people.

In the gospel, Peter professes his faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus rejoices in Peter's bold profession of faith because he recognizes that it wasn't the result of Peter's intelligence or powers of observation, but that it was a gift of insight given him directly by God himself. It was this faith that Jesus used to build his Church. And, Jesus promised that all the powers of hell itself would be no match for the faith that this simple fisherman professed. Peter would find this to be true in his own life up to the time that he was martyred in Rome. Jesus' promise would continue to hold true through the centuries up to the present day as we witnessed with the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II.

We see the same scene played out day after day in our world. The powers of hell strive to silence the good news which we live and proclaim as a Church. In China, Catholics are routinely imprisoned and tortured. In Pakistan, Christian churches are targeted for bombings and other acts of violence. And, in the United States, the followers of Jesus are routinely ridiculed in the media. Yet, the Church has survived every threat whether it be from the Roman Empire or the Soviet Union. Christians have courageously professed and lived their faith whether the persecutions originated with Nero or with Hitler.

How is it that for over two thousand years believers have never failed to pass on the good news of Jesus Christ to a world so hostile to the message and despite powers so opposed to it? It is for the same reason that Herod could not keep Peter chained to a prison wall in Jerusalem. It is for the same reason that an assassin's bullet could not silence the witness of Pope John Paul II. Very simply, God has willed that his Son, Jesus Christ, be proclaimed to all generations as Lord and Savior until the end of the world. No earthly power nor any power in hell will frustrate God's plan to bring salvation to the world he created in love.

Today, we gather in this place to celebrate the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. We celebrate Saint Peter's profession of faith upon which Jesus built his Church. We also celebrate Saint Paul who tirelessly preached the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection. We are here today because of them. And, not just them, but because of millions of believers who throughout the centuries sacrificed their lives to bear witness to Jesus Christ. The Church is still here two thousand years later, and - if Christ does not come in his glory in the meanwhile - the Church will be here two thousand years from now preaching the same gospel that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and the Savior of the World.

In every age, God provides the world with women and men of faith who witness powerfully to his love. It began with Saints Peter and Paul. The task now falls to each of us. In this place, Jesus invites us to a meal and asks each of us, "Who do you say that I am?". Thanks to the witness of Saints Peter and Paul, we already know the answer - Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God! Thanks to the witness of Pope John Paul II, we know that this truth has the power to change the course of history. What's to stop us, then, from leaving this place to proclaim to everyone we meet the joyful message of a God who loves us and has saved us in Jesus Christ?

Your Faith Has Healed You

A young girl was terminally ill with cancer and close to death. Her mother sat by her bedside crying and pleading with God to perform a miracle and heal her daughter.

After several weeks, the cancer ran its course and the young girl died.

The mother, in her grief, was angry at God for not answering her prayer for her daughter. Eventually, she sought comfort by talking to the deacon in her parish. She asked him, "Why didn't God heal my daughter?" The deacon, at first, felt at a loss as to what answer to give this woman who was in so much pain. As she cried, he put his head down and said a silent prayer to the Holy Spirit to help him give her a word of comfort. Finally, the deacon raised his head and said to the mother, "Your daughter is healed now." At those words, the mother stopped crying and looked out the window to think about what he had said. She thanked him and left with the comforting thought that her daughter was now in God's hands safe from all harm.

Each of us at one time or another has been faced with a desperate situation and have begged God for a miracle. It might have been for a loved one who was sick or in trouble. It might have been for ourselves. But chances are that the miracle we asked for didn't take place. We might have been left wondering why God didn't seem to answer us. We probably thought that miracles were just something that happened in Jesus' time and not in modern times. Or we may have wondered if we had too little faith to ask so much of God. It could be that most of us have given up on asking for or expecting miracles. And so gospel stories like today's in which Jesus raises a little girl from the dead sometimes hold little meaning for us.

It is true that Jesus did perform many miracles while he walked the earth. He healed the sick, he drove out demons, he turned water into wine, he walked on the water, and he raised the dead. They were all powerful works demonstrating his mastery over nature, over sin and over death. Those mighty deeds proved to all who witnessed them that Jesus was no ordinary preacher but the Son of God. Nonetheless, no matter how marvelous his show of power was, Jesus always told those who were healed by him that the miracle was the easy part. What was truly amazing was not the healing, but the faith in the heart of the person who asked for his help. What impressed Jesus more than anything else was the simple faith he encountered in the people he met. And it was because of it that he was moved to perform mighty acts of power and compassion on their behalf.

It is important for us to remember that everyone whom Jesus healed and raised from the dead eventually got sick again and died. The healing was only temporary. What was permanent was the faith in the heart of those who were touched by him. That faith leads to the ultimate healing - everlasting life with God in heaven. We must never lose sight of the fact that any answers to our prayers which we receive during our lives on earth are only partial solutions. Problems and difficulties come and go. We probably don't remember today what we were asking God for last week. What endures - what has lasting value - is our relationship with God. And that relationship is based on faith - the faith that God loves us, that he has power over whatever trials we are facing, and that he can make all things work for our good and for our salvation.

All this being said, we must never stop going to Jesus for help whenever we are faced with problems. Those difficulties are an opportunity for us to exercise our faith. By bringing our concerns to our heavenly Father we grow in the trust that he does love and care for us. And our eyes are opened to the way in which he is acting in our lives already making our faith grow and perfecting the gifts of his grace within us. Faith is not only about getting God to do something for us. It is also about being able to recognize how God is answering our prayers in ways we could never imagine. And that is the real miracle.

Miracles do continue to happen in our day. By the power of faith, people experience healings that defy medical explanations. In those cases, it served God's glory to show forth his power in a virtually undeniable way so that others could be brought to faith in him. For most of us, however, God will work in subtle and hidden ways. It will go unnoticed at first or seem like a coincidence, but it will eventually be made clear to us that it was Almighty God who was working to bring us the healing we needed. We should witness to how God has worked in our lives in small ways with as much joy and wonder as we would if he had worked in miraculous ways. What is most important is not the mighty deed but the mighty faith alive in our hearts unlocking God's power for the salvation of the world.

In His Hands

Our first reading today comes form the book of Job which is one of the most fascinating stories of the Old Testament. It tackles the most primitive question of the human heart, "Why do the innocent suffer?"

As the story begins, Job is a very wealthy tribal leader with many children and a great number of animals. He is also a very just and holy man who observes God's law without fault. God wants to see just how good Job is and so he decides to put him to the test by allowing everything to be taken away from him. While Job is at his brother's house, a servant arrives to tell him that his oxen, camels and donkeys have been taken away by a rival tribe. Before he could finish speaking, another servant arrives announcing that a fire fell from the sky which burned up all his sheep. As if that were not bad enough, Job learns that his children were all killed when the house they were in collapsed on top of them.

Job is devastated by the news. In his grief he tears his clothes, shaves his head and falls to the ground. Despite his suffering, Job does not blame or curse God.

In the meantime, to make matters worse, Job becomes sick. His body is covered with unsightly and painful sores. Still, he does not blame God or ask him why such suffering has been visited upon him.

Then, Job is visited by some friends who come to comfort him in his sorrow. They tell him that he must have commited some sin for God to be punishing him so miserably. Job insists that he is innocent, that he has done nothing to offend God and that he does not deserve to be punished. His friends, however, keep encouraging him to ask God for forgiveness.

Finally, Job can stand it no longer. He turns to God and asks him what he has done to deserve so much misery.

Our first reading is taken from God's response to Job's question. God appears to Job out of a thunderous storm and assures him that he himself created the heavens, the earth and all that is in them. Nothing happens without his willing it. Everything takes place according to God's plan. No woman or man is wise enough to fully comprehend all that God does.

At God's words, Job falls silent affirming that he is not wise enough to understand all that God does and that he has no other choice but to accept his will.

No matter what we have experienced in our lives, we can all relate to the story of Job. In times of suffering, all of us have at one time wondered whether or not we were being punished by God. And how many of us have ever told God that we deserve a better deal in life because we are so good and because we go to church every week? Or how many of us, upon hearing that someone we know has suffered a tragedy, has ever said to ourselves that they deserve their bad fortune or wondered what they must have done to be punished so terribly? We say such things because we want to believe that if we are good we will somehow be magically protected from misery and hardship. In reality, many times we have little control over what our fate will be.

This would be depressing news if we were people without faith. Instead we have the assurance that the one who is in control - the Almighty God - knows us and loves us. Even though events in our lives can seem to be spinning out of control, God has us and our lives in his hands. No matter what tragedy may befall us, God will make good come from it if we only trust him. Though we cannot fully understand it, God has a plan. He has the whole world in his hands. And he holds each one of us in his hands.

The gospel reading from Mark picks up on this theme. The disciples find themselves in the middle of a storm in the Sea of Galilee. The waves are crashing into the boat, and it is filling up with water. All the while, Jesus is fast asleep. Fearing that they will drown, the disciples wake Jesus up and tell him what's happening. Jesus seems surprised that they are in such a state of panic. He rebukes the wind and the waves and they fall silent at his command. The storm clouds clear away, and the sea becomes calm. Jesus reassures the disciples - Jesus reassures us - that no matter what we may be experiencing, he has power over it. He might not always use that control the way we would like him to, but he knows what he is doing. And what he is doing is ultimately for our good.

The childrens song, "He Has the Whole World in His Hands", says it all. Whatever tragedies, fears or sorrows we are dealing with today, God has control of it. Our faith assures us that, though he seems silent and asleep, he will calm the storm. Though we can often feel that our lives will never return to normal - that we will never experience serenity again - God has a plan to get us through our present circumstances and bring us to an even better place. At this Mass, let us place our concerns on the altar and let God know that we do trust him. Then our minds will be at ease, and we can watch the miracles take place.

Not on schedule, but right on time

Arieh Czeislah, a native of Kosice in what is now Slovakia, was learning from his grandfather how to read from the Torah in preparation for his Bar Mitzvah when he was carried off along with forty-two other members of his family to the infamous Nazi concentration camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

He was one of only four members of his family to survive the Holocaust.

Four years ago, he returned to the concentration camps as part of a tour organized by the Israeli armed forces. And he has returned several times since out of a sense of duty to share with the citizens of his nation the horrors he experienced so that they will never be forgotten.

A group of officers who had accompanied Arieh on a trip learned that he never was able to make his Bar Mitzvah 66 years ago. With his family, they arranged a belated celebration for the 79-year-old man this past September 22 in the village in Northern Israel where he has been living since 1950. Though the festivities come much later than the customary age of 13, there is no doubt that they were any less heartfelt. He witnesses to the fact that it is never too late to become a son of the Law and the Covenant.

God's ways are not our ways, and God's sense of timing is wholly different from our own. We like to stick to a schedule: For Jews, Bar Mitzvah by 13 years old; for Christians, baptism shortly after birth, first communion by second grade, and confirmation in high school. But, God visits us when he wills. Each sacrament is a "yes" to God's invitation to a life of grace, but it may be many years before it matures into a whole-hearted commitment to God's word. And, we know how frequently that initial "yes" gets lost in the demands of everyday life. Like the religious leaders whom Jesus so often challenged, we can say "yes" right on schedule but fail to recognize the gift of salvation visiting us in the "fullness of time".

As a community, we are blessed by those who, like Arieh, go through the sacramental rites of passage "out of order", whether it be the catechumens in our RCIA programs or those who come to be married in the Church after many years of civil marriage. They remind us both of the gravity and the joy of taking those first steps toward full communion with God's People. They challenge us to take the "yes" we spoke many years ago out of our trophy case, polish it up and put it back on display. We should take every opportunity to recognize and celebrate them as instances of God's saving timing.

Daily Morning Prayer

I received this as palanca on a retreat I was recently on and wanted to share it with you. I am told that the author is Tana Boags. Enjoy!


Good morning, Father! Good morning, Jesus! Good morning, Holy Spirit!

Rom 12:1 - Heavenly Father, according to your Word, I present my body - a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable in thy sight.

Eph 6: 14-17 - Now Father, I gird my loins about with truth, I put on the breastplate of righteousness, I shod my feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all I take the shield of faith where with I shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

Is 58:8 - And according to your Word, the glory of the Lord is my rear guard.

Now, Heavenly Father, I praise you and thank you for the armor you have provided for me to dress in this day. I am completely covered now, in the name of Jesus, according to your Word, Father.

Matt 16:18 - Upon Jesus I have built my life and my home, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.

Ps 23:1 - You are my shepherd, I shall not want.

Phil 4: 19,13 - For you have supplied all my needs according to your riches in glory, and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

2 Cor 10:5 - I cast down all imaginations and bring into captivity every evil thought.

1 Peter 5:7 - And cast all my cares upon you, for you careth for me.

Ps. 103:3 - I praise you for walking in divine health.

Is 53:5 - For you are my God who healeth all my diseases and by your stripes I am healed.

III John 2 - I just praise you and thank you for my prosperity and good health, even as my soul prospers.

Neh 8: 10 - For the joy of the Lord is my strength.

Jer 1: 12 - Father, I have prayed according to your Word, and you have said you would watch over your Word to perform it.

Father, just rise up and live large within me today. For I am yours, in the name of Jesus. Amen.