The Holy Family

Jesus was human in every way that we are. Like each of us, he needed food to nourish his body. He needed a good night's sleep for his work as a carpenter. He needed tunics to clothe his body and a roof to cover his head. Like all human beings, Jesus sought out other people to be his friends. He knew the joy of playing games with other boys and felt the pain of being left out or ridiculed.

And, like all of us, Jesus needed a family.

God chose Mary and Joseph to be Jesus' mother and father. He gave them the responsibility of teaching Jesus how to speak, how to read the Bible and how to pray. At Joseph's side, he learned the carpenter's trade and how to be a man.

Though the gospels don't tell us anything about them, we can imagine that Jesus had a larger family of grandparents who spoiled him and cousins who came over to play with him. On holidays, we can imagine Jesus, Mary and Joseph getting together with their family to eat, share stories and play games.

Under the care and supervision of this family, Jesus was able to grow in wisdom, strength and grace as Saint Luke tells us in the gospel.

Except that their son happened to be the Son of God, the Holy Family of Nazareth was just like any other family. Like all families, the Holy Family of Nazareth faced many trials and difficulties. Despite traditional images of them, they did not always lead a tranquil life. Jesus was born homeless and into poverty. Shortly after his birth, they had to flee their country under the threat of execution to live as refugees in Egypt. It was a family born into tremendous exterior pressures.

Families today know pressures as well. For economic reasons, both parents frequently have to work outside of the home making meals together on a regular basis difficult. The price of real estate makes longer commutes necessary further limiting time with the family. And those are just some of the pressures on traditional, two parent families. We haven't mentioned single family homes where these pressures are doubled. And then there are "blended" families where step-parents and step-children are constantly testing the boundaries of their relationship adding to the tension within the home.

The status of the family today causes a lot of hand wringing, especially in the Church. There are fewer and fewer traditional families. We are right as Christians and as good citizens to promote the welfare of the traditional, two parent family. Children born in such families are no doubt better off economically and psychologically. The family is the cornerstone of the Church and of society. Our world is only as strong as the families which make it up. At the same time, we must recognize that in today's society when bodies mature more rapidly and adolescence lasts well into the 20's, people are going to make mistakes resulting in out-of-wedlock births and divorce.

A wise spiritual director once said that God is not found in the "ideal", but in the "real". The traditional family is an important ideal. However, God is not found in ideal families or in ideal people, but in real families and in real people. As painful as our past may have been and as much as we may wish we could go back and fix our mistakes, God doesn't give us the option of turning back the clock. God is spending His grace on us in our real lives and in our real families as we find ourselves today. God's grace happens in families that are "blended" and those that need to be mended.

Once we realize that families, as long as they are made of human beings, can never be perfect, then it has important implications for our lives as individuals and as a Church.

First, as individuals each of us can look back on our lives and find fault with our parents. It could be that they were never around or that they were never supportive. It could be that they were abusive in some way. Those scars can stay with us a long time. We know how resentments and grudges can ruin families. Can each of us today bring our hearts before the Lord and ask for the grace to forgive our parents or any other family member who ever hurt us? Can we leave our resentments at the foot of the altar and ask God to relieve us of that burden? Can we recognize that our parents were probably doing the best they could and let go of the anger we have been shouldering all these years? Once we are able to do that, then we can live together in "heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" as Saint Paul calls us to.

Secondly, for us as a parish, we have to recognize the pressures that families face and ask ourselves, how can we be a more family-friendly community? Are the times we schedule for catechism and worship burdensome to families? In our worship and our hospitality, are we sensitive to the different types of families in our parish and careful not to stigmatize anyone, especially children? What can we as a parish community do to support families with all the challenges they face?

Families are never perfect, even when they are the ideal, traditional family. They are all marked by joy and pain, mistakes and good choices. The Holy Family - Jesus, Mary and Joseph - knew the pressures of family life. The difference was that they experienced God's presence even in those difficulties. Even with all the challenges of daily life in today's society, we can experience God's presence with us and teach our children to recognize Him as well. Then we have fulfilled our mission as a family, no matter what our family may look like.

Christmas Mysteries of the Rosary

1. The Birth of Jesus (Mt.1:18-25; Lk.2:1-7)

2. The Angels’ Proclamation to the Shepherds (Lk. 2: 8-20)

3. The Magi (Mt. 2: 1-10)

4. The Flight to Egypt (Mt.2: 13-15)

5. The Death of the Holy Innocents (Mt.2: 16-18)

Christmas Day

God created the world out of nothing through the power of his word. He spoke and it came to be. He said, "Let there be light", and there was light. He caused the mountains to rise up from the sea. He filled the sea with fish and the land with animals. Finally, by the power of his word, he created man and woman to be the crowning achievement of his great work. He created in us hearts to hear his word and mouths to proclaim it.

When he called Israel out from among the nations to be a people peculiarly his own, he sent them prophets to proclaim his word among them. Such was the prophet Isaiah who speaks to us in today's first reading. He proclaimed to the people of Israel - and to us today - the good news of peace and salvation from God. Through the prophets, God promised Israel a mighty savior who would forgive them their sins and lead them in the ways of peace. Not only would this great Messiah lead Israel to freedom, but all the nations would witness the great power of God at work through this Savior.

When Isaiah first spoke these words, it was unclear what his meaning was. Who would this great king be? How would he lead Israel to freedom and peace? We who gather here this morning know exactly what Isaiah meant. We are celebrating this great mystery today. The boy born this day to Mary and Joseph fulfills all the promises and prophesies of the Old Testament. Jesus is the Savior of the World.

In the second reading from the letter to the Hebrews we read: "In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son..." God who so powerfully created the world by his word, and then called the nation of Israel into being by his word, now speaks one last time in the person of Jesus. Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus is the Word made Flesh dwelling among us.

What does the birth of Jesus tells us about this mighty God?

Very simply, God wants us to know him. He sent Jesus, a man like us, so that we could hear from his very mouth how much he loves us and how he longs for our friendship. Jesus is Truth and Love. Whoever hears him, hears the Father. Whoever sees him, sees the Father. We do not need to look anywhere else to find God but in the person of Jesus.

When Pope John Paul II made his first trip to the United States, he preached a beautiful homily to the rain-soaked crowds who had gathered in the Boston Common. In short, he said that all those who want to know the truth should turn to Jesus. He is the Truth. All those who seek meaning in their lives should turn to Jesus. He is the source of all meaning. All those who seek love should turn to Jesus. He is the love of God made flesh among us. These words of the pope make clear to us the meaning of Christmas: Jesus is born to bring God into our world and into our lives.

And so, this child born today is a lifeline to all those who are lost and don't know how to find their way. This child is God's hand stretched out to all those who looked for success, happiness and fulfillment in what the world offers, but couldn't find it. Jesus is God's peace extended to all those who have become bitter or enraged by life's unfairness. This child is hope born to those who have grown weary and have given up on ever finding meaning and purpose in their lives.

Whatever it is our hearts ache for - whether it be love, peace, truth or meaning - all of it can be found in the person of Jesus.

This has been a very difficult year for most of us. Many people are out of work. We feel poorer and less secure these days. If anything, we have learned that the security and happiness money promises to give us is an illusion. The future can look dark. However, in the darkness of these days, hope is born for us. If Jesus is our light, we can never lose our way, and the darkness of despair can never totally consume us. Jesus is the Light of the World.

For those of us who have already welcomed this child into our hearts and made him the center of our lives, we should rejoice! We have come to know the meaning and purpose of our lives. We know the truth and are given the power to live in the love of God. It is now up to us not only to celebrate it but to share it with everyone we meet. This light cannot remain hidden. We must bring it into our homes, into our places of work and into our classrooms.

For those of us who are still searching, God is offering us another opportunity to welcome him into our lives. God never grows tired of stretching his hand out to us when we are lost or confused. Whatever it is that we are struggling with, whatever it is that is keeping us from experiencing the fullness of joy, God has the answer for it. We need only turn to the baby born this day, take him into our arms and promise to love him. When the first step of our searching becomes love rather than doubt, then we are back on the path to truth. When love rather than knowledge is our driving force, then everything suddenly becomes a little clearer.

God wants to move in with us. He wants to be in our lives. Like any baby, he simply wants our love and attention. Who would deny a baby affection and care? Who wouldn't want to share their homes and their lives with a newborn child?

Just such a child is born for us today. He is Jesus!

Christmas Eve Homily

It would have been a night very much like tonight - dark, cold and quiet.

A child was born. But he had no home. There was no place for him to stay. So his mother and father took shelter in a stable among cows, donkeys and lambs.

No doctors or nurses attended him. There were no sterile instruments to cut his umbilical cord. No anesthetics to soothe Mary's labor pains. No bottles of formula to fill his empty belly. We can only imagine Joseph's concern as he watched on, doing what he could to ease Mary's discomfort. We can only imagine their anxiety as they delivered alone their first-born son, the only Son of God, our brother.

However, God would not allow the appearance of his Son on earth to go unnoticed, without anyone to worship him. Certainly Joseph and Mary sat in awe as they held God made flesh in their arms. But just as he has gathered us here in the middle of the night, God sent angels to nearby shepherds watching their flocks at night. They were alone keeping watch when the angels announced to them tidings of great joy. At first, the appearance of the angels and their strange message gripped them with fear. Then, as the news began to sink in that they were the first to learn of the birth of their Savior, they made haste to find the place where he was staying.

Where were they to find the newborn King of the Jews? The angels gave them two clues. First, he was to be found in David's city, Bethlehem. Second, he would be lying in a manger.

David was the storied king of Israel's past. He was also born in Bethlehem. Jesus would inherit David's throne as prophesied by Isaiah to establish a rule which would never end.

The word, "Bethlehem", means "house of bread". This child would not only rule over his people, but he would be their food. He would meet the deep pang of every human heart - friendship with God. For this reason, his resting place was a manger, where straw and hay are placed for the beasts of the stable to feed on. Just so, Jesus would be food for the lowliest among us.

It is also significant that our Almighty God appears among us as a baby. When we hold a baby in our arms, something happens to us. We are moved by the child's innocence, warmth and beauty. We want nothing else but to love and protect the baby. In Jesus, God comes among us as one who is small, vulnerable and beautiful asking nothing else than that we love him. All the demands of the Christian life and all the teachings of the Church have no other purpose than to show us how to the love the God who is born to us in a manger.

We gather here at this late hour to hear the glad tidings pronounced to us once again: "A child is born to us; a son is given to us!" We receive the news with joy for it is truly good news of a God who lives among us. But where are we to find such a God this evening? He is not where we would expect. He is with the homeless woman protecting herself from the cold with only a cardboard box. He is with the child who is too poor to have presents. He is with the single mother who has to leave her children with others as she works third shift. He is with the elderly man who has no other friend tonight except the television. Jesus was born as just such an outcast and outsider.

When we leave this church tonight, we will be different because Christ is born anew in our hearts. We cannot meet Jesus, we cannot take him into our arms, and fail to be changed by him. Let us, then, not only worship him there in the stable, but pick him up and take him with us into the dark places of the world. Let us not only feed ourselves with the bread of life but take food to others. The Savior of the world was born not to leave the world as he found it but to transform it through love.

Nothing Is Impossible With God

"The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee named Nazareth..."

Along with Michael and Raphael, Gabriel is one of the great archangels serving the throne of God. His name means, "God is mighty", and he is called upon to make it clear that God is about to perform a "mission impossible" in someone's life.

He first makes his appearance in the Old Testament book of the prophet Daniel. Daniel has just had a vision of a ram and a goat, and Gabriel is sent to interpret it for him. The horrifying vision foretells the rise of a great political power which will wreak devastation throughout the world. Gabriel tells Daniel that eventually this great political power will be defeated but "not by human power". That is, the hand of God will work in a mighty way to save his people from the tyrant. Though it would seem impossible that Israel, a country which at the time was in exile, could defend itself against such a mighty power, Gabriel arrives on the scene to announce that all things are possible with God.

In today's gospel reading, Gabriel now appears to Mary to declare to her that God has chosen her to be the mother of the Messiah. She is startled, and cannot comprehend at first the meaning of the angel's greeting and message. As the angel reveals God's plan to her, it becomes evident that there's a hitch. How can she become pregnant if she is a virgin? Gabriel explains to her that it will be by the power of the Holy Spirit that she is to conceive. And so, the child will not be the son of a human father but of God himself. Gabriel ends his message with these words: "...for nothing will be impossible for God." God sends Gabriel to announce to Mary that he is about to do the impossible in her life.

The Scriptures are full of stories of those whom God chooses to do the impossible. In the first reading, God tells David that his dynasty will be without end. David had been a simple shepherd boy. Alone, David could never have expected to be anything more than that. Yet, called and empowered by God, he became king of his people, and he is remembered forever because from his line Jesus, the Messiah was born. God did the impossible in the life of King David.

The twelve apostles chosen by Jesus to carry on his message were also simple fisherman, tax collectors and political idealists. By themselves they didn't amount to much. Yet God used them to spread the message of the gospel to all the nations. It wasn't because of a good business plan or effective marketing strategy that we still remember them two-thousand years later. It was because of the work of the Holy Spirit who emboldened them to witness to Jesus' love even in the face of persecution and death. The message of Jesus has reached us here in this place so many centuries later because God did the impossible in the lives of twelve simple men who said "yes" and followed Jesus.

God is great. It is the nature of God to work wonders. When we say "yes" to God, the impossible happens.

As we look in our own lives, what wonders do we want God to perform? Are there people in our lives struggling with addiction? Do we have children who have drifted away from the Church and no longer believe? Are we struggling in our marriages or other relationships? Has the ecomony placed a strain on our jobs? If we entrust all those cares to the Lord, we can expect him to do a miracle.

As a parish community, what do we want to achieve? Do we want to reach out to more young people? Do we want to bring back to Church those who have stopped coming? Do we want to make our catechism classes more compelling and our worship more joyful? What is holding us back?

We are rational and practical people. But, too often, we settle for the merely possible when God wants to do the impossible. Sometimes we approach God with a false humility, thinking that it would be arrogant or unreasonable of us to ask too much of him. But God loves us as his children and will spare nothing to bring us closer to him. There is nothing that we could ever ask him that would be impossible for him to do. All things are possible with God.

We are here today because God did the impossible in the life of Mary. We are here today because God did the impossible by becoming man in the person of Jesus Christ. And God will do the impossible before our very eyes turning simple bread and water into the very body and blood of Jesus to nourish and strengthen us. To unleash this mighty power of God, all Mary did was tell Gabriel, "Yes, let it be done to me as you say". To witness the impossible in our lives all we have to do as we receive the bread of angels is tell Jesus, "Yes, let your will be done in me as you say."

Third Sunday of Advent

There is a different feel to today's liturgy. We see it in the rose-colored vestments and the rose-colored candle on the Advent wreath. We hear it in the upbeat music and joy-filled readings. Over the past two weeks, the mood has been sombre and penitential as we have reflected on the end of the world and our need for repentance in preparation for the birth of Jesus. Now, as that happy day of Christmas draws near, a sense of joy pervades our worship. Christ our Savior is near! The Church today calls us to rejoice and give thanks!

But very often that call to be joyful can fall on deaf ears. For many, these weeks leading up to Christmas are among the most tiring and stressful of the year. There is shopping to do, parties to attend, presents to wrap and dinners to cook. Sadly, many people feel relieved when the holidays end, and life can return to normal.

For others, the Christmas season can be the loneliest time of the year. The shorter days and cold weather leave many people depressed. Over this difficult year, many have lost their jobs or their homes and are not able to provide for their families. And for those who are alone or who have recently lost a loved one, the festivities of the season only deepen their sense of bereavement and grief.

Christmas is not always a joyful time for everyone.

The great Catholic preacher, Archbishop Fulton Sheen, once described his loneliest Christmas. He was a young theology student studying in Belgium. Unable to fly home for the holidays, he had to spend Christmas day alone, and it left him feeling empty inside. At first, he was tempted to spend the week of vacation alone pitying himself. Then, the thought came to him to ask a local pastor whether there was a poor family in town he could help. He was given the address of a family with several children. After making their acquaintance, he visited them on Christmas day with food for the table and presents for the children. Rather than feel sorry for himself and let his circumstances dictate how he would spend the holiday, he decided to reach out to someone even needier than himself and so experience the true joy of Christmas. What would have otherwise been his saddest Christmas was now transformed into one of his happiest through the joy of giving.

Archbishop Sheen's experience holds a very important lesson for us. Life isn't always fair. We experience the loss of loved ones. Our families are not always as supportive and attentive as we would like them to be. Our jobs don't always leave us feeling fulfilled. No matter what the circumstances of our life are, we can always find fault. But, when we focus on the negative, we become bitter. We start to close in on ourselves and lose our appreciation for what is good in the world. We end up imprisoning ourselves in depression and loneliness.

Saint Paul gives us the remedy for such bitterness in today's second reading. He tells us that we are to "rejoice always" and to give thanks "in all circumstances." Gratitude is not only appropriate for the times when we are glad or when things are going our way. Rather, gratitude is most necessary when we feel overwhelmed and joyless. By giving thanks, we are empowered to look beyond ourselves and our situation. By rejoicing even in the midst of difficulty, we take the focus off what is lacking in our lives and put it on the abundance of good things we enjoy. It might be as simple as being thankful for a warm shower or that our car starts. It might be as basic as being thankful that we are still breathing and able to roll out of bed in the morning. No matter how poor,alone or sick we may be, there is always a reason to rejoice.

Today's responsorial psalm is taken from the gospel of Saint Luke. It is the beautiful song of Mary called the Magnificat. "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." Mary had just learned from the angel Gabriel that God had chosen her to be the mother of Jesus, the Messiah. Though not yet married, she was to become pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. It was the most important responsibility given to any person since the creation of the world. Mary found herself in a difficult situation, but rather than be overcome with fear, she overflowed with praise at the favor God had shown her. By saying "yes" to God and putting his will at the center of her life, Mary came to know the joy that is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. When we say "no" to ourselves and "yes" to God, we experience that same joy and overflow with that same gratitude for a God who has loved us enough to send Jesus to save us.

Gratitude is at the heart of Christian spirituality. When we are grateful, we recognize that all we have and all we are is a gift from a loving Father. By being joyful in all circumstances we demonstrate that our world doesn't revolve around our own comfort and well-being but around Jesus and his plan for our lives.

The word "Eucharist" is taken from the Greek word meaning "to give thanks". Every Mass is a thanksgiving to the God who has created and saved us. Every Sunday we become a joy-filled community. No matter what our circumstances may be - whether we are poor, tired, sad, or bitter - we gather around this table to give thanks. God has richly provided for us. And so, today is a day to set aside the holiday plans and preparations and to focus on what is really important and what is really worth celebrating - Jesus, who comes to us as a child and who wants nothing else than that we love him back.

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

This homily first appeared in Connect! magazine



The Scriptures offer us two women to reflect upon today.

The first woman, Eve, is created by God free from all sin. She enjoyed all the pleasures of paradise, including an intimate friendship with God. She saw him face to face and spoke with him as directly as we speak to each other. Yet with all those blessings, she allowed the serpent to place the suspicion in her heart that God was holding something back from her. Why would God tell her not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? He must be hiding something from her. With all the abundance that nature could provide surrounding her, she became fascinated with what she could not have. She lost trust in the God who created her and disobeyed him. Then she lured her husband, Adam, to do the same.

We know what the tragic consequences were. Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden of Paradise. The fruits of the earth which had been in Paradise in abundance could now only be harvested by the intense labor of plowing the ground, planting the seeds and waiting for the harvest. We lost our ability to see God and speak to him face to face. It became difficult to know his will and to choose to do good. As a result, every type of evil entered our world - sickness, natural disasters, hatred and death.

To this day we suffer the consequences of Eve's fatal choice. Our first mother's sin left its mark on all of us. Most especially, we carry within ourselves the same disobedience. Despite all the blessings God showers upon us, we still find it difficult to trust him. We still are tempted to believe that our plan is better than God's plan and that our will is superior to his. Consequently, we continue to hurt one another, to poison our environment and to suffer from the despair caused by our separation from God.

Happily the disobedience of Eve is not the end of the story. For another woman comes upon the scene, a woman like Eve whom God created free from all sin. This woman did not have the pleasures of Paradise around her. She did not see God face to face nor did she talk to him directly as Eve did. Yet she awaited the salvation he promised with a lively faith and hope. When the angel Gabriel appears to her, she becomes troubled and confused. She is full of questions. Although she does not fully understand God's plan for her and although it would mean a big change in her own plans, she says "yes" to becoming the mother of the Savior. Unlike Eve who was suspicious of God's plan, Mary entrusted herself fully to him. And, as a result, Jesus our Lord and God was born to us.

Just as Eve's disobedience brought evil into the world, Mary's "yes" ushered in untold blessings. Because Mary offered her body to God, Jesus could take on our human nature, becoming a man like us. It was because of her obedience that Jesus could suffer and die to save us from our sins. It was because of her trust in the Father's plan that Jesus could entrust himself to that same plan, even when it meant a cruel death, and so rise from the dead for our salvation. While we must never forget that it is Jesus alone who saves and sanctifies us, none of it would have been possible without Mary's cooperation. And so we rightly call her not only the mother of Jesus, but the mother of all believers because she was the first to believe in him and the first to offer herself in service to the gospel.

Eve, our first mother, brought despair into our world. Mary, our mother by faith, brought new hope.

The feast of the Immaculate Conception is one of the few times during the year when the Church requires us to gather for Mass on a day other than Sunday. We interrupt our regular schedules because this truth of faith is so important to us as followers of Christ. Mary, as the first disciple of Jesus, is the first to receive the benefits of Jesus' saving work. She is the first to taste the victory over sin by being herself exempted from its stain at her conception. She is the first to celebrate the resurrection of the body through her assumption into heaven.

What she has received is also what God holds in store for us. Like Mary, he wants to restore us to the sinless, pure creatures he intended us to be. We, like Mary, will one day know victory over sin when all the scars of sinfulness will be healed. Like Mary, we will know God's victory over death when our bodies are raised on the last day. Saint Paul tells us as much in today's second reading from the letter to the Ephesians: God has chosen us in Christ from the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before him. For our part, we must strive everyday with God's grace to make our lives mirror the goodness he has restored in us through faith.

God chose Mary from the beginning of time to be the mother of Jesus. From the moment of her conception, he purified her from the stain which Eve's disobedience left on all our souls. In that way, her body would be a worthy temple for the Son of God. Though we have not been given the tremendous gifts of grace which God showered upon Mary, we can still hold on to the hope she offers us. God has chosen each of us from the beginning of time to provide a service for him that no one else can offer. From the moment of our conception, he gave us all we could ever need to fulfill his plan for our lives. Like Mary, all we need do is entrust ourselves to him with complete faith and confidence. Then the strength to do his will and the grace to follow his plan will be ours in abundance. And we can be sure that our mother, Mary, will be praying for us every step of the way as she points us to her Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Advent Mysteries of the Rosary

Consider pondering these mysteries of the rosary in preparation for our celebration of the birth of Christ



1. The Annunciation to Zechariah (Lk 1: 5-24)

2. The Annunciation to Joseph (Mt 1: 18-25)

3. The Annunciation to Mary (Lk 1: 26-38)

4. The Birth of John the Baptist (Lk 2: 57 -80)

5. The Preaching of John the Baptist (Lk 3: 1-19 & Jn 1: 19-34)


(painting by William Blake)

Second Sunday of Advent

John the Baptist is one of the key figures in the drama of Advent unfolding in these weeks leading up to Christmas.

The New Testament tells us that he was born around the same time as Jesus. His parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, were very old and had never had children. One day, while Zechariah was ministering in the temple, the angel Gabriel appeared to him to announce that he would have a son whom he was to name John. As we can imagine, Zechariah found it hard to believe that he and his wife could have a child at such an advanced age. Because of his lack of belief, Gabriel told him that he would be unable to speak until the birth of the child. And so it was. Zechariah's inability to speak when he left the sanctuary made it evident to the people that he had seen a vision. And Elizabeth's pregnancy at such an old age made it clear that the child was to be great, that God's mighty hand would be upon him.

Many centuries earlier, the prophet Isaiah spoke about John the Baptist. We hear it in today's first reading. He would be a voice crying out in the desert to make straight a way for the Lord. He would call the people to clear out of their lives all the obstacles that kept God from being able to reach them. John preached a baptism of repentance, and the people flocked to receive it. They sensed that, in John, God was doing a mighty work. They didn't know all the details, but they did know that if they failed to listen, they would be missing out on God's offer of salvation.

Two-thousand years later, we still find the Baptist's call to repentance gripping and compelling. We have a sense that God has worked in our lives and called us to this place. We enjoy a lively sense of his presence and love around us. Yet, we must acknowledge that we so seldom live up to the great call he has given us to be light for the world and salt for the earth. The concerns of daily life crowd out the voice of God. The striving to earn more and to have more keeps our hearts from attuning themselves to their one great desire - to be united in intimacy with God.

Saint Peter warns us of this in the second reading. The earth will pass away. Nothing we have accumulated will have lasting value. Our true treasure is our soul and its relationship with God. Only that will survive our personal death and the end of the world. Knowing this, we must then strive to live "...in holiness and devotion, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of the Lord."

And so, we come here today, not unlike the throngs that lined the banks of the Jordan River, heeding the cry of the Baptist to make our crooked ways straight. We want to change. We want God to have more access to our hearts and to our minds. We want to put him at the center of our lives so that we can receive the mighty works he wants to accomplish in them.

We know how weak our resolve can be. We know how willing we can be on Sunday, but how distracted we can get on Monday. The source of our hope, then, is not our own will power and self-discipline. Rather, the source of our hope is the desire of God to have an intimate friendship with us. God's desire for us is so much deeper than our desire for him. And so he doesn't rest until he has straightened out our crooked ways. He labors to penetrate the defenses we have built around our hearts and the darkness that veils our minds.

John the Baptist made his appearance in Galilee to announce the arrival of someone greater than he, someone whose sandals he was not worthy to loosen. John came to baptize with water which can only give a superficial cleansing leaving us capable of getting dirty again. The one who was to come - Jesus - would baptize with the Holy Spirit. Matthew, in his gospel, tells us that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Unlike water, fire changes what it touches. After something has been burned, it can never go back to what it was before. It is marked forever by the flames.

And so, we who have been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit and have been lit with the fire of the Holy Spirit through the anointing of our Confirmation, have been changed forever. There is no going back. We can't be unbaptized or unconfirmed. The gift we received through those sacraments can be tarnished and disfigured by sin and neglect, but they can never be lost. Our souls are permanently marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit giving us the foretaste and the promise of everlasting life. We belong to God, and he will never forget or abandon us.

The God who created us is coming to visit. He desires to sit down at a meal with us. Are we prepared? Have we confessed our sins sincerely and thoroughly? Are we determined with God's help to change the way we live, the way we treat others and the way we spend our time? God wants to do something great in our lives. If we can set our sin aside, we will witness it, and it will leave us speechless.

First Sunday of Advent

The prophet Isaiah in today's first reading offers us one of Scripture's most beautiful images of God. God is the potter, and we are the clay. Like an artist, God is busy molding and shaping us. He is not some distant, impersonal force watching over the world the way a little boy might look at an ant farm. Rather, God is involved in our lives, calling us to recognize his great love and inspiring us to show it to the world.

The question we might naturally ask is, "If God is so active in the world, why is it such a mess?" Isaiah himself asks this question when he writes, "Why do you let us wander, O Lord, from your ways and harden our hearts so that we fear you not?" It is a question that mankind has been asking for thousands of years.

One simple answer is that God is not done with the world yet. Before the potter gets his hands on it, clay is just a lump of wet mud. The potter has to place it on the spinning wheel and then form it gently but firmly into whatever shape is pleasing to him. Then, the clay must be baked in a kiln, and once it is removed, the paint can be applied. It is a long process to go from a lump of clay to a beautiful vase. And, it is a long process to lead humanity out of its selfishness into the wisdom of God.

If there's one thing we can say about God it is that he is in no rush. God takes the time he needs to get things right. He has all the time in the world! He took millions of years to form the universe and eventually to form the earth. He took millions more years to make the earth suitable for life and to sustain humans. Then, he took many centuries to form the people of Israel. Over the course of several more centuries, he taught them to hope for a Messiah. Then, in the fullness of time, Jesus was born to save us from our sins. Now, God is preparing the world for the time in which Jesus will come again to create a new heaven and a new earth.

We don't know how long it will be until the world comes to an end. But, it will come to an end. And, when it does, Christ will be revealed as the King of Creation, and those who have believed in him will reign with him in glory. As Saint Paul tells us in the second reading, "He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." God's masterpiece, which he fashioned patiently with his own hands, will then be complete.

There's another reason why the world can be such a mess. Very simply, we don't give God permission to work on us. We keep trying to get in the way of God's plan. Clay does not have a mind of its own. It cannot jump out of the potters hand or out of the kiln. But, human beings are always running away from God. We'd rather stay a wet lump of cold mud than be transformed into something beautiful by him. Even believers very often find it difficult to trust God enough to let him take control of their lives. It is a basic human tendency to believe that we know better than God what's good for us and how we should live.

But, God never gives up on us. Like an artist consumed with his work, God is intent on making each of us into the woman or man he dreams we can be. He doesn't see a cold, hard lump of clay when he looks at any of us. God sees something beautiful made in his own image. No matter how we may have tarnished our beauty through sin, God never fails to see the good he has placed within us. And, God will never stop working to bring the good out of us.

The early Fathers of the Church had a beautiful way of describing how God works in the world. They described Jesus and the Holy Spirit as the two hands God the Father uses to shape us. Jesus reveals the truth of the Father's love while the Holy Spirit works within our hearts to inspire us to do good. All this takes place within the course of our lives. When things are going well, the Son and the Spirit work together to make us grateful and generous. In bad times when we are suffering or struggling, the Son and the Spirit teach us to place our trust in God and to allow him to carry us through it. Therefore, whatever situation we may be facing, God is with us, using the circumstances in our lives to help us grow in holiness. With the Son and the Spirit, the Father shapes and molds us into something beautiful.

Today, we begin the season of Advent - four weeks of preparation for the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We wear purple during this time as we do during Lent because it is a season of penance. We are to spend these weeks searching our hearts for the ways in which we fail to let God work in our lives. We are to invite God back, asking him to take us into his hands and mold us into the image of his Son, Jesus Christ. The gospel warns us to be on the look out for the God who approaches us with tenderness and mercy. May he find us ready to welcome him and ready to abandon our lives into his gentle yet firm hands.

Christ the King

Saint Francis of Assisi is one of the Church's most popular saints. With good reason he is considered the one saint whose life most resembled that of Christ. Of all the good works he performed, one kind deed especially stands out. Shortly after he decided to dedicate his life to God, he came upon a leper in the street. It was customary at the time for lepers to ring a bell to warn people that they were approaching. When the young Francis saw the leper's twisted body and open sores, he felt disgusted and revolted. But, just as suddenly, another feeling came over him. His heart was filled with compassion for the man's suffering. Overcoming his feelings of disgust, he rushed over to him and embraced him as a brother. Inspired by today's gospel reading, Saint Francis understood that it was Jesus he was holding in his arms.

Jesus tells us in today's gospel that we will be judged by how we treat the poor and needy in our midst. He does not tell us this story to scare us, but to encourage us. For, when we find the courage to reach our hand out to another in need, something incredible happens. We discover Jesus. As he says, "Whenever you did it for the least of these, you did it for me." Jesus still walks the earth in the form of the neediest among us.

In the first reading, the prophet Ezekiel blasts the "shepherds of Israel." They are both the political and spiritual leaders of the people who have used their authority and power to enrich themselves rather than to protect the sheep. God will not leave the sheep of his flock scattered, terrorized by predators and hungry. If the princes and priests of Israel will not lead, then God himself will come down to tend his sheep. God himself will protect them, feed them and heal them.

This prophecy finds its fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is God himself come down from heaven to guide his sheep to everlasting life. His message was not just that a better life was waiting for us in heaven. Rather, Jesus came to show us how even now we could experience the saving love of God. As he told the disciples of John the Baptist, "The blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them." With Jesus, the destructive effects of sin and death are being undone and the foundations of a new heaven and a new earth are being laid. It becomes real in the world today by the love which Christians show to those in need.

On this feast day, we proclaim the bold truth that Christ is King! As Saint Paul describes it for us in the second reading, Jesus by his death and resurrection has already won the victory over sin and death. Evil has already been defeated. That victory has been revealed to us through faith. It is hidden to give the world time to repent and to be saved. But the day is coming when Jesus' victory will be revealed once and for all. Then there will be no doubt. All people will have to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Until he comes again in glory, Jesus has left it to us to seek out and find those who are lost. Who in our life needs an encouraging word? Who in our life needs a friendly ear? Who in our life could use a visit? Who in our own home needs to know that they are loved and cared for? Like lost sheep, they will not come to us. If we are to live up to the challenge Jesus is giving us, we must go out to them.

For Christians, salvation is not just a future event awaiting us after death or at the end of the world. Salvation and eternal life are here, today and now. What we as Christians seek to do is bring heaven and its promises down to earth. Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," and so we seek in everything we do to bring the love of Christ to those we meet.

Christ now reigns in heaven above. He has come to earth to bring hope and comfort to those who suffer. That same Christ is still among us hidden in the weak, the poor, the outcast and the sick. Saint John of the Cross said, "At the end of our lives, we will be judged on love." If we serve the suffering Christ in those we meet, we can be assured of reigning with Christ the King in his heavenly glory.

Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Antiques Roadshow has been one of the most popular programs on public television over the past several years. The show follows experts as they go around the country appraising the antiques people have in their homes. It is a delight to watch the shock and surprise registering on people's faces when they learn that an item which they may have purchased for a few dollars at a yard sale or at the corner store is really worth thousands. Their small investment increased significantly in value. It makes one wonder what treasures we may have stored in our attics or basements.

In today's gospel, Jesus tells the story of three men who are entrusted with a treasure by their king who is going on a journey. Jesus calls the treasure they are given "talents", which was an ancient measure of silver roughly equivalent to 90 pounds. The English word "talent" meaning a special ability is taken from this ancient word. Though the king is gone only a short period of time, two of the men are able to double their money by investing it. How were these men able to be so successful? First of all, they recognized the value of the treasure which had been entrusted to them and knew that the best use of it was to invest it. Secondly, they understood that the treasure belonged to the king and not to them, and that they would have to give it back some day. They were convinced that the king would want his treasure back with interest. They were not willing to let the treasure gather dust, unlike the third man who buried his talent in the ground out of fear.

Jesus' meaning could not be clearer. Each of us has been entrusted with a treasure by God, and God expects us to make good use of it. During this week, each of us will have to examine our own conscience to determine what that treasure is and how we can multiply it for the glory of God. Today's readings, however, suggest to us two treasures which all of us share and which we can so often take for granted like valuable antiques gathering dust in our attics. They are, namely, our family and our time.

The first reading from the book of Proverbs is a poem praising a good wife whose "value is beyond pearls". Pearls were among the scarcest and most valuable items in the ancient world. In essence, the poem is saying that there is nothing more valuable than a good wife. By extension, our families are the most valuable treasure entrusted to us by God.

We see how true this is throughout Scripture. In the ten commandments, the first three spell out our obligations to God. The very next commandment, the fourth, commands that we honor our father and mother. Except for our obligations to Almighty God, our obligation to our family is first and foremost.

It is often said that charity begins at home. And, Pope John Paul II often wrote that the home is a school where children are taught to love and serve God. Whether we are parents or children, the home is the place where we learn to become holy. In fact, homes in which families eat at least one meal together daily, pray and go to Mass together have practically a zero percent divorce rate. Our homes must be places where God is honored if our marriages are to be strong and our children are to grow in virtue. And that means our homes must be more than just the place we eat and sleep in between our jobs, our classes and our other activities. Our homes must be the place where we pray, where we come to love and understand each other, and where we practice kindness and generosity.

The second treasure we have all been entrusted with is our time. In today's second reading, Saint Paul warns us that the time is short. The day of the Lord is coming at a time we cannot know. Whether the "day of the Lord" is the end of the world or our own death, it is closer today than it was yesterday. All of us would agree that time is something we all take for granted. We assume that we have plenty of it. And yet, we are shocked by how quickly it passes and that Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away.

So, if we were to turn off the television, what could we do with the extra hours we would have in our day? We could go for a walk with our spouse. We could go to the park with our children or grandchildren. We could spend time marveling at the beauty of God's creation. We could read the Bible and pray. We could go out for ice cream. We could go to daily Mass.

The Danish author, Karen Blixen, once wrote: "Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before, how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever..." The world is full of much beauty for us to discover and our families full of much love for us to share.

Our family and our time are among the treasures God has given us for our enjoyment and for his glory. The way a valuable antique can get lost in the clutter of our attics, they can get overlooked because of the hectic pace of modern life. How our lives would be blessed if our families were to continually grow in love and faith! How rich we would be if we used our time to be continually mindful of God's presence! How glorious it would be to stand before God and hear him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant", because we were able to recognize the value of all the gifts he has given us and to return them to him with interest!

29th Sunday of Ordinary Time

The oldest political trick in the book is to get your opponent to talk about anything else except the issues. We have seen this many times over the past year. They bring up something a candidate's pastor once said. They question a candidate's commitment to his or her family. Rumors are started about possible shady business dealings. All this in hopes of getting the opponent to be on the defensive. Then the press will focus on the candidate's weaknesses rather than his or her strengths. Little by little, support for the candidate begins to diminish as he or she is required to talk about everything else except the issues.

This is a tactic which the enemies of Jesus tried often. In one famous episode from the gospel recorded by Matthew, Jesus is asked whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. By asking him whether or not Jews should pay taxes, they hoped to catch him in a trap. If Jesus said they should pay taxes, he would lose support among his followers who opposed the Roman occupation of Israel. If he said they shouldn't pay taxes, then the religious leaders would have cause to report him to the Roman authorities as an insurrectionist. Whichever way Jesus answered, his enemies hoped that he would have to keep explaining himself, digging himself into a deeper hole and losing support among the people.

As usual, though, Jesus is far more clever than his adversaries. His answer has become one of the most quoted verses from the Bible: "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar; but give to God what belongs to God."

When we hear Jesus' words, we have to ask ourselves: What exactly belongs to Caesar? What do we owe to our government and to our fellow citizens? We have a responsibility to pay taxes and follow the laws. Being blessed to live in a democracy, we also have a responsibility to vote and to voice our opinion. Along with that, we must study the issues facing our society and form our consciences so that our opinions are based on sound logic and good moral principles. All these elements go into being good and responsible citizens. God expects that of us, especially as he has blessed us with a country which values freedom so highly.

Too often, however, Jesus' words, "give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's", are quoted by adversaries of the Church who try to tell us that religion has no place in political life. They are using that old political tactic of trying to keep us from talking about the issues. When they claim a wall of separation between Church and State, they hope that people of faith won't become involved in the national debate about abortion, homosexual marriage, the death penalty or stem cell research. They tell us that people of faith should keep their opinions to themselves. They dare to say that we have no right to voice our opinion because it is informed and motivated by faith. Sad to say, too often Christians have taken that criticism to heart and left their faith at the door when they entered the voting booth.

But, it is absolutely un-American to believe that someone has less of a freedom of speech because his or her ideas are informed and motivated by religious faith. As a country, we have fought to guarantee that each person have the freedom to voice their opinions no matter what their source or what their content. Should a person's beliefs and opinions be excluded because that person is a Catholic Christian? Why are the opinions of Catholics any different from the ideas proposed by environmentalists, animal rights supporters or business people? Like every other American, we have a right and a duty to witness to our faith even in the political arena.

And, the fact is that people of faith have always been a part of the political process in our country. In the last century, it was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a man of faith, who led the fight to guarantee civil rights for all people regardless of race. In the nineteenth century, people of faith were among those who stirred the conscience of our nation to recognize the evil of slavery. And, many of the drafters of the constitution and forefathers of the country were informed and motivated by their faith to make America a place of freedom and opportunity. In this century, it is up to us now to take up the cause of justice and to witness to the dignity of every human person no matter how weak or how vulnerable.

As a church, we must never endorse a political candidate or a political party. We can never fall into the trap of partisan politics. But, we do have a right and a duty to speak to the issues facing the society in which we live, work and raise our children. Because of our faith, we have much to offer. We have insights regarding the dignity of the human person, the sacredness of human life, the importance of the family and the role of government in protecting the most vulnerable of our citizens. As Pope John Paul II said so often, as a Church we do not seek to impose our views but to propose them to society, to enrich the debate through the witness of our faith.

Governments come and go. Political leaders come and go. But, God's word endures forever. The Church has survived numerous governments, both good and bad, from the Roman Empire, through the Middle Ages, through Nazism and Communism to the present day. As a community of faith we have a treasury of wisdom built up over those many centuries which we must share with the people of our day and use to strengthen our society. Let us pray that we will have the courage to speak the truth of the gospel even in the public arena and pray also for our leaders that they may be inspired by a vision of justice that will lead us to true peace.

27th Sunday of Ordinary Time

A man was dying. When he sensed that his life on earth was close to its end, he called his oldest son to his bedside. From a bag on the end table, he pulled out a simple wooden box with a carving of a rose on it. He handed it to his son explaining that it had been given to him by his father and that he wanted him now to keep it. He promised his son that, if he took good care of it, the box would change his life. The son wasn't quite sure what his father was talking about, but took the box anyway and brought it home.

In a few weeks, the father died. After the funeral, the son took the box intending to put it on the mantel above the fireplace in his living room. He cleared the pictures off the mantel and placed the box right in the middle. Standing back to look at it, he felt that something wasn't quite right. He noticed that the pictures hanging on the wall really didn't match the box on the mantel. So, he took down all the pictures and rearranged them. Things still didn't seem quite right. So, he decided to rearrange the furniture. He pushed the couch, the love seat and the recliner in different positions around the room until he found an arrangement that matched the box and the pictures on the wall. Looking back on all the work he had done, he thought about his father's words that, if he took good care of the box, it would change his life. He laughed to himself as he thought that, to make room for that little box, he had already changed his whole living room around. He wondered to himself in what other ways that little box which he had come to treasure would change his life.

We have all been given a gift by our God, a gift that will change us if we take good care of it. That gift is the gift of life. Each of us was created by God. Each of us belongs to him. And, God expects each of us to do great things with this gift of life.

Our life is the first gift that God gives us. Everything else God wants to give us depends on it. What good would all the treasures of earth be if we didn't have our life to enjoy it? What good would even faith, hope or love be if we weren't alive to receive them? Before God can give us anything else, he must first give us the gift of life.

That is why, as believers in Christ, we must always work to guarantee a right to life for all people from the time they are conceived until the time of their natural death. We never look at any human being - no matter how sick, no matter how deformed, no matter how needy - as a burden. Rather, we look at each person as a gift, a gift from God. And, if we take care of the most vulnerable among us - if we cherish their lives as a precious gift - it will surely change us for the better. Like the man in the story found out when he put the box in a prominent place in his home, we discover that caring for the lives of the needy will force us to clear away the things which don't really matter, like anxieties about our appearance or our status. It will help us to place the gift of life and the right to life at the center of our families and our society where it belongs.

In today's gospel, the people who are put in charge of the vineyard forget that it doesn't belong to them. They want to keep the vineyard and its produce for themselves. They want to do with it whatever they want without respecting the demands of its true owner. They eventually go so far as to kill the owner's son. They took the gift they were given - the vineyard - and forgot to whom it belonged. Instead of honoring and protecting the gift, they squandered it, and it resulted in their ruin.

Can we see a parallel with today's society? How have we treated the gift of life which has been entrusted to us? How have we taken care of the weak and needy in our society? Every year on this day - Respect Life Sunday - we ask these hard questions of ourselves and of our country. As we look to next year's election, these questions become even more pressing. Once we recognize life as a gift of God and every human life as made in God's own image and likeness, we can no longer fool ourselves that whether the unborn live or die is a personal choice. We can no longer kid ourselves that the lives of the innocent are ours to do with as we please. Otherwise, as a society, we risk the calamity that befell the men in today's gospel.

Each of us knows how precious our own lives are. We treasure the lives of our family members, our children and our friends. We strive to make of our lives something worthwhile and beautiful. And, we want to help enrich the lives of those we love and make our world a better place. Like the man in the story, we have embraced the gift of life, and it has changed us. On this day - Respect Life Sunday - let us renew our commitment to life, especially the lives of the most vulnerable members of our society.

26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Imagine a man coming home to his wife and saying, "Honey, we have been married a long time, and I have been faithful to you all these years. Now, I think I've earned the right to cheat on you and have an affair."

How do you think the wife would take that? Do you think she'd agree that he had a right to cheat on her because he'd been a good husband for so long? What would she think about his commitment to their marriage?

Imagine, on the other hand, a man coming home to his wife in tears. They also have been married a long time, but he hasn't always been faithful. He tells her that he wants to change, that he wants to work at having a strong marriage. He asks her to forgive him and to take him back.

Which man do you think got a better reception from his wife? Which marriage do you think had the better chance of surviving?

In the first reading from the prophet Ezechiel, God is describing much the same situation. The man who has been good all his life and then decides to fall into sin will die because of it. And, the man who has lived an evil life and then decides to change will save his life. The good man cannot count on all his past deeds to save him when he sins. Neither will the sins of an evil man weigh him down when he approaches God for mercy and forgiveness.

To look at an example from our own lives, we can say to ourselves, "I have gone to so many Masses in my life, it's okay if I miss Mass this one time." Or we could just as easily say, "I have missed so many Masses, I could never start to go back now." None of us has been so good in our lives that we can afford to cheat on God by sinning. On the other hand, none of us has been so evil that we cannot change our ways and turn to God for mercy. God, more than anything else, wants to save us - both the good and the bad alike. We, for our part, must seek his will every day of our lives. Like a marriage, we must renew our commitment to God daily. Each day, we must be striving for holiness.

It is often said that in the life of faith there are no plateaus. We are either going forward or sliding back. We never get to a point at which we can just take it easy and coast. Rather, we must always strive to be faithful to Jesus and to his word. We can never say that we have done enough. We can never take a vacation from our vocation to live a holy life and be a light to others. Neither can we rely so much on our perfect Mass attendance and other religious observances that, like the Pharisees, we miss the reason that we have religion and spirituality in the first place - to help us to know, love and serve Jesus the Lord.

Jesus takes this idea to a deeper level in the gospel reading. In the parable, it is the son who actually does his father's will that is pleasing to him, not the one who pays him lip service saying "yes" but ignoring his father's wishes. The son who appears to be rebelling against his father has a change of heart and obeys. The son who appears to be obedient at first, later rebels. Jesus uses this parable both to criticize the Pharisees and to encourage those sinners in the crowd who were mesmerized by his words and wanted to follow him.

We hear Jesus criticize the Pharisees often in the gospel. They were not bad men. In fact, Jesus could find no fault with their observance of the law and their moral lives. They lived the law perfectly. The criticism Jesus had of them was that they simply failed to believe in him. They said "yes" to all the commandments of the law, to all the ordinances of Scripture, but they said "no" to Jesus who came to bring the law and prophets to fulfillment. Because they trusted in their own goodness and perfect religious observance, they missed the opportunity of salvation which God was offering them in the person of Jesus.

On the other hand, it was the tax collectors, prostitutes and other sinners who came to Jesus in droves, drawn by his powerful words and the authority with which he cast out demons and healed the sick. Despite their past lives of debauchery, they were able to recognize God visiting his people in the person of Jesus. They were able to recognize the gift of salvation which came to them. They found the grace to change their lives and to believe in the good news of salvation.

When it comes down to it, Christianity is not only about following rules and observing commandments. Rather, it is a living relationship with the Lord Jesus. Like a marriage, we can't boil it all down to rules that we must follow. Like parenting, there is never a time when it is over, when we punch the clock and go home for the day. Faith is a commitment of love between people, a commitment of love between ourselves and Jesus. When we are in love, we never just try to do what is expected of us. Rather, we are always going out of our way for the other person. We never just want to spend a few minutes with our loved one, but a whole day and even a whole lifetime. We never want to give our loved one just a candy bar for Valentine's Day, but a whole box of chocolates! Love always goes beyond what is necessary, beyond what is expected, to serve the other person.

That is the way Jesus loves us. As Saint Paul tells us in the second reading, Jesus did not cling to his likeness to God but rather emptied himself to become one of us so that he could save us. Jesus went above and beyond the call of duty and the call of justice. Jesus responded to us out of his abundant love. And so, Jesus deserves our love in return. Jesus deserves us to say both "yes" to him with our lips and "yes" to him with the gift of our very lives.

Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time

This is a difficult gospel reading to hear. We relate immediately with the workers who toiled all day in the hot sun. We relate to their disappointment and anger when they are paid no more than those who worked only an hour. It brings to mind all the times we have been short-changed, the times when we were denied our fair share. That Jesus would compare God and his kingdom to such an arbitrary landowner as the one in the gospel challenges our sense of fairness.

Let's take a few minutes, however, to look at the gospel in a different way. Instead of putting ourselves in the place of the laborers who worked all day, let's put ourselves in the place of the workers who were in the field only part of the day.

All these men were day-laborers. They would gather in the market place every morning in hopes that someone would hire them for the day. If they were called upon to work in the fields, they would be able to return to their families with some money. If, however, they were overlooked and not chosen, they would have to go home empty-handed.

When the landowner first arrives, all of them wanted to be in the first group picked to work in the vineyard. Imagine the disappointment of those men the landowner didn't choose as they saw the others jump on the back of the carriage to get carted off to their jobs. The fear that they would go another day without work would have been eating them up inside. They had no choice but to wait and hope that someone else would arrive with work for them.

Just when it looked as if the day would be a total waste, the landowner shows up again and hires the rest of the men to work the remaining hours of daylight. They go along happy to at least bring some money home to their families. And, at the end of the day, when they get in line to receive their pay, they must have expected to receive only a fraction of what they would normally make because of the few hours they worked. Imagine their surprise and delight when they are handed a full day's wage! The day is saved! They will not have to go home empty-handed. Their families will not have to go one more day without the food and clothing they need. Excited and thankful for the pay they received, they would have hurried home and probably had no idea that the laborers who worked a full day earned no more than they did. They were just happy to have something to bring home.

As much as we may tend to identify ourselves with the first group that worked all day, we are really much more similar to the group that is called last, especially when it comes to our relationship with God.

All that we have and are is a gift from God. From the moment we are born until the moment we die, we are utterly dependent on God. No matter how much or how little we have, it has all come from the generous hand of God. None of us can make a claim on God that we deserve more from him than we have. It is up to him to decide for he is our Creator and Lord. Like the landowner in the gospel, God will give to each one as he sees fit, according to his infinite generosity.

It is in our spiritual life, however, that we see just how generous God is to us. All of us, even if we were baptized as infants and raised in the faith, are late-comers to God's vineyard. There are many millions of believers who have gone before us. There are believers who have given their lives to preach the good news. There are those who spent their whole lives laboring to teach and live their faith. When we read the lives of the saints, we realize just how little we have contributed. Nonetheless, God holds out to us the same promise of salvation. God willing, we will stand in the same assembly of the saints in heaven, looking upon the same God with our holy mother, Mary, with Saint Peter, with Saint Mary Magdalene, with Saint Francis of Assisi and with Jesus himself. None of us can claim to have given as much as they gave in service of the gospel. Nonetheless, God desires that we enter into the same everlasting life. And we can expect a warm welcome from the saints when we enter into our heavenly homeland. They will not be like the laborers in the gospel who complained that they didn't receive more for their labors. Instead, they will rejoice that God in his infinite mercy was so generous to us poor sinners.

As we gather in this church today, we are all different. Some of us have great faith, and some of us are just beginning to grow in our faith. Some of us give of our time and talents regularly, and some of us are still learning how to use our talents in God's service. Some of us have been coming to church all our lives. Some of us are just coming back to church after a long absence. Some of us believe to the depth of our being. Some of us are struggling with confusion and doubts. No matter where we are on our journey, no matter how much we have been given, we will all be called to get in line to receive the same pay - the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist. Jesus gives of himself to each of us in the same way. He comes to the sinner in the same humble form of bread and wine as he comes to the saint.

God is calling each of us to labor in his vineyard. Some of us will give more than others. Some will respond more generously than others. Nonetheless, all of us are called in the same way and by the same God. Let us pray that we will be generous when God calls upon us, no matter how early or how late in the day it is. And, let us pray that all of us will receive God's abundant gifts with gratitude and awe.

Jesus Among Us

The legendary quarterback of the San Francisco '49'ers, Joe Montana, ended his football career in Kansas City playing for the Kansas City Chiefs. One Sunday, he attended Mass at a local parish. After the Mass, a parishioner breathlessly ran up to the pastor and asked him, "Father, Father, did you know that Joe Montana was here?!" The pastor wryly replied, "Well, did you know that Jesus was here?"

We are gathered here today for one reason - to meet Jesus. Jesus is here. We encounter Jesus here in a way that is more real and more profound than if we had stayed home to pray alone. Jesus promised us that whenever two or three are gathered in his name that he is present among them. And so, Jesus is present in this assembly of believers gathered here today.

Jesus is also present in the Scriptures we proclaim. The Bible is inspired by God to such a degree that we can rightly call God its author. Whenever the Scripture readings are proclaimed at Mass, it is God who is speaking to us. Likewise, whenever the gospel readings are proclaimed, it is Jesus who is speaking to us. We have heard God speak to us today in a real way through the Scriptures.

And, finally, the most real way - indeed the most miraculous way - that Jesus makes himself present to us today is through the Eucharist, the gift of his body and blood. The bread and wine we receive at communion is not just a symbol of Jesus' body and blood. Rather, it is actually his body and blood. When we receive the bread in our hands or on our tongue and when we bring the chalice to our lips, it is the very body and blood of Jesus our Savior who comes to meet us and to dwell in us.

If someone famous were to show up here today - like Joe Montana or some other sports personality - we would get very excited. We would be staring at him, taking note of what he was wearing, how he was praying and trying to see with whom he was sitting. We might even try to meet him and get his autograph. Can we be just as excited about Jesus' presence here today? Do we get a lump in our throat knowing that he is speaking to each of us personally? Does our heart start to race knowing that we will touch him in the Eucharist? Do we get short of breath when we realize that Jesus is sitting right next to us in the person of our neighbor?

As we grow in the awareness of the presence of Christ among us, it becomes obvious to us that we are called to mirror the love and mercy we have encountered in Jesus. Since Jesus is present when we gather together, we have to be more like him in our everyday lives. And, because of Jesus' presence in each of us, we must love each other. As Saint Paul tells us in the second reading: "Owe no debt to anyone except the debt that binds us to love one another."

Brothers and sisters, we owe it to each other to love one another. Since we are the presence of Christ in the world, we must prove it through our willingness to love. When we love, Christ shines forth in us. When we love, Christ is real in us and in our world. And so, when we fail to love as we should - when we sin - it is never a personal failure. It is never just something between ourselves and God. When we fail to live up to the gospel message of love, we let each other down. When any one of us sins, all of us are affected because it makes it harder for us to show to the world the image and likeness of Jesus Christ. Because of this we begin every Mass by calling to mind our sins and praying: "I confess to Almighty God AND TO YOU MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS that I have sinned through my own fault." We can pray those words because we recognize that we are responsible to each other to live as Jesus taught us.

It is also for this reason that, in today's gospel, Jesus doesn't tell us to mind our own business when we see our brothers and sisters sinning. Rather, he tells us that we are to speak with them and to try to correct them. Jesus teaches us that we have a real responsibility to each other and for each other to ensure that we are all living the gospel message. It is not because anyone of us is better than another nor because any one of us is worthy to judge another. Rather, we correct each other precisely because of our love for our brothers and sisters and because we want each other to experience the presence of Christ. But, we must not only be willing to correct others, we must also be willing to be corrected. And, out of love, we must also be willing to forgive each other. No matter what the situation may be, we must always correct each other lovingly and respectfully because our goal is one and the same - to make the Church a place where Jesus is made present and where the love and mercy of Christ shine with a light which is as brilliant as the sun.

My brothers and sisters, the Risen Jesus is truly here today. We have heard him speak and met him in each other. We will touch him through the miracle of the Eucharist. And, we are each called to carry the light of Christ out into the world - to our families, to our workplaces and to our schools. It is by our love that we show the face of Christ to the world. It is through love that we will draw more people to this place so they too can meet and experience Jesus for themselves.

Thomas a Kempis on the Cross

"Renounce yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus." There are many to whom that seems a hard saying; but how much harder will it be to hear that word of final judgment: Go far from me, you that are accursed, into eternal fire. Those who now gladly hear the word of the cross and keep what it commands will not be afraid then when they hear the doom of everlasting loss. It is this sign of the cross that will appear in the sky when the Lord comes to judge us. Then all the servants of the cross, who during their lifetime made the Crucified the pattern of their deeds, will come with great confidence before Christ who is to judge them.

Why then are you afraid to take up your cross? It is your road to the kingdom of Christ. In the cross lies our salvation, our life; in the cross we have defense against our foes. In the cross we have a pouring-in of heavenly sweetness, a strengthening of our minds and spiritual joy. In the cross is the peak of virtue, the perfection of holiness. There is no salvation for our souls, no hope of life everlasting, but in the cross. Take up your cross then, and follow Jesus; and you will go into life that has no end. He has gone ahead of you, bearing his own cross; on that cross he has died for you, that you may bear your own cross and on that cross yearn to die. If you have died together with him, together with him you will have life; if you have shared his suffering you will also share his glory.

From The Imitation of Christ

Jesus and His Cross

There is a saying: "Don't seek Christ without his cross. You might find a cross without Christ."

Jesus cannot be separated from his cross. The whole purpose of his life was to bring us back to God through his death on the cross. The cross is the fulfillment of Jesus' mission on earth and the realization of God's promises. Without the cross, Jesus is just another good man who said some nice things but who has no power to forgive sins. With the cross, Jesus is the Savior of the World holding out to us the promise of everlasting life.

Jesus makes this very clear to his disciples. To save the world, he will have to be rejected, will have to suffer and will have to die. In so doing, Jesus will take upon himself the punishment we deserve for our sins.

Peter, however, would have none of it. He didn't want to hear that Jesus, whom he loved dearly, will have to suffer. I have no doubt that Peter would gladly have suffered and died for Jesus. But it is often more painful for us to see the suffering of those we love than to go through the suffering ourselves. Peter loved Jesus so much that he couldn't bear the thought of him suffering and dying. And so he cried out: "God forbid that any such thing happen to you!" However, Jesus rebuked Peter in the strongest possible terms, going so far as to call him "Satan". For Jesus, there was no other way for him to save the world and gain for us the forgiveness of our sins except by embracing the suffering of the cross.

Peter did what we are so often tempted to do. He tried to separate Jesus from his cross.

If Jesus and his cross come as a package, then we cannot welcome Jesus into our lives without also welcoming his cross. We cannot follow Jesus without picking up our own cross. We cannot love Jesus without also loving the cross.

Each of us has a different cross to bear. For some, it is illness. For others, it is financial hardship. Most of us struggle under the weight of a cross made up of many smaller crosses. Whatever form it may take, we can often stumble under its weight. We can feel alone and isolated because of the pain we feel. We can become bitter and let suffering harden us and close us off from others.

But, when we welcome Jesus into our lives and choose to live as his disciples, our cross is transformed from a burden into a source of life and even joy. We begin to experience that we are not alone in our pain, but that Jesus is carrying our cross with us. Our suffering no longer closes us off from others, but helps us to become more sensitive to the pain that others experience in their lives. And, instead of making us bitter, our pain begins to open our heart to the love and mercy of Jesus. We even begin to inspire others by persevering through difficulty. Suffering, then, takes on a whole new meaning in our lives. We begin to love the cross because it is the means by which we come to know Jesus in a profound and personal way.

We can begin to experience the transforming power of the cross in our lives by following the advice many of us received from our parents whenever we complained about something - by "offering it up". It is as simple as saying, "Jesus, I offer this suffering up to you for my sins and for the sins of the world." Or, "Jesus, I offer this pain to you for my friend who is also in pain." We can offer up our suffering for our own sins, for the souls in purgatory or for others who are also suffering. When we offer up to Jesus whatever difficulties, inconveniences and hardships we experience, they are transformed from sources of anger and frustration into opportunities to give Jesus more of our heart and more of our lives. Eventually, we even become grateful for the struggles we encounter in our daily life because they bring us closer to Jesus. We come to love the cross because we understand that it is the way to Jesus.

There is a still deeper meaning of the cross in our lives. If we decide to live according to the gospel message, we are going to experience difficulties. We are going to be ridiculed for our beliefs which seem out of touch to many people. We are going to be rejected by our friends, co-workers and classmates because we live differently than they do. We are going to be accused of being close-minded and judgmental. We are going to feel left out of the crowd. It is the same rejection and ridicule that Jesus experienced in his life. When we have the courage to stand up for what we believe, to go out of our way to help the poor and the needy and to defend the rights of the weak against the powerful, we will know the real power of the cross not only to transform us but to transform the world.

Jesus cannot be separated from his cross. But, just as importantly, the cross cannot be separated from the Resurrection! The power of the cross comes from the fact that it leads us to the Resurrection. The Resurrection is Jesus' victory over sin and death. It is the Resurrection that we celebrate when we gather every Sunday. We come to this place with our cross on our shoulders to proclaim boldly that there is no suffering, no persecution, no difficulty which God cannot transform. And, we reaffirm our commitment to embrace the cross by overcoming evil with good through the power that Jesus gives us in his Body and Blood.

No Matter What You Say..."I AM"

With politicians positioning themselves to run for president in the coming year, the media will treat us to a steady diet of daily polls. The latest Rasmussen poll, Gallup poll, ABC News poll, or Zogby poll will be leading the evening news informing us about the opinions of the American public, especially about who should be president. And, it will all be broken down by race, by economic status and by age. We will learn which candidate middle class voters prefer, which candidate young voters prefer and who has the best chance of winning the so-called "swing states". When election day is finally over, the polling will still go on. We'll learn from the pollsters why people voted the way they did and how happy they were with their choice. Chances are most of us will never get a call from a pollster, but somehow they manage to figure out what we think and how we'll vote.

In today's gospel reading, Jesus takes a poll of his disciples. He wants to know what the people are saying about him, who they say he is. He wants to know if the authority of his teaching and the power of his miracles had convinced the people that he was the Messiah. But, from what the disciples could tell him, the people believed that he was no more than a prophet, no greater than Elijah, Jeremiah or John the Baptist.

Then, Jesus shocks them by turning the question on them: "Who do YOU say that I am?" We can imagine that some of the disciples were taken off guard and may have hung their heads, avoiding eye contact with Jesus because they weren't quite sure how to answer. It may have hurt Jesus to see many of his disciples not able to understand yet who he was. But, Simon, son of John, does not miss a beat. He boldly stands up and answers Jesus in front of everyone: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!" Simon Peter's profession of faith is bold because not only does he recognize Jesus to be the Messiah, the one who would save Israel, but because he also recognizes Jesus to be God himself - God made man.

Jesus, for his part, recognizes that Simon Peter's profession of faith was not something he had thought up on his own. It wasn't a result of Peter's thinking through the evidence and coming to a rational conclusion about who Jesus was. Rather, Jesus recognizes that Peter's profession of faith was a gift from God. God himself revealed to Peter who Jesus was: the Messiah and the Son of the Living God.

We wouldn't need to take a poll to tell us who the world thinks Jesus is. To the world, Jesus is just another good man. He is just another voice in the history of humanity, no different than Confucius, Mohammad or maybe even Nostradamus. In the world's eyes, it doesn't really matter if you believe in Jesus or believe in something or someone else. As they say, "It's all good." If you decide that Jesus isn't the one for you, you can find salvation somewhere else. To the world, it's all relative.

We know well what the world says about Jesus. But, the gospel turns the question on us. Who do WE say Jesus is? Who do I say Jesus is? Who do YOU say Jesus is? Is Jesus just another voice among many others throughout history; or, is Jesus THE voice of God the Father? Is Jesus just one way to salvation and everlasting life; or is Jesus THE way, the only way? Do we pick and choose the teachings of Jesus which we understand and agree with and ignore the rest; or do we believe that every word Jesus speaks is THE word of God which we must struggle to understand, to accept and to obey? And, do we believe that the Church Jesus built on Peter's profession of faith is necessary for our salvation; or do we think we can do it on our own.

What separated the disciples from the crowds of people who were merely interested in Jesus was ultimately the belief in Jesus as the Savior and the Son of God. What separates us from the world is the belief that Jesus is the only way to the Father, the only way to salvation and the only way to everlasting life. Like Simon Peter, our belief is a gift from the Father, a gift of faith. It was first given to us in our baptism and strengthened by our confirmation. It continues to be nourished through the Eucharist. Our faith is a precious gift because it makes our Lord and Savior Jesus alive in our hearts and active in our lives.

In his book, Mere Christianity, the great Christian author, C.S. Lewis writes that when it comes to Jesus there can be no middle ground. If Jesus is God as he claimed to be, then we must believe everything he said and obey everything he commanded us to do since it all comes from God himself. If Jesus is not God, then he is a blasphemer and a lunatic whom we must reject altogether. The gospel calls us to a decision today. If we believe that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God, will we love him with all our heart, all our mind and all our strength? Will we commit our lives to him and live as he commanded?

As we approach the body and blood of Christ in this Mass today, let us join with Saint Peter in professing our faith and reaffirming our commitment to Jesus by saying: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!"