A Priest Forever

Today there are more than 400,000 men serving as priests throughout the world. Most of them are assigned to parishes celebrating Masses, hearing confessions, preparing young couples for marriage and serving the poor. Many others work as teachers in high schools or as college professors. Of those priest who teach, hundreds have the responsibility of training young men to one day be priests themselves. Other priests serve the Church by administering charitable organizations or managing offices in their dioceses or in the Vatican. Of course, we can never forget the many thousands who are sick and in nursing homes. Though they are no longer able to carry out physically the demands of priestly ministry, they offer up their prayers and suffering for us so that God’s graces can be showered down on the whole Church.

Those of us who have been blessed to know priests and to be touched by their ministry understand that it is more than a job. It is even more than a career. Instead, priesthood is a relationship of love that a man is called to have with the People of God. It is a vocation that is not unlike marriage. Just as a man leaves everything behind to start a new family with a woman, just so a man leaves everything behind to commit himself to a journey of love with God’s people. Just as a man denies himself to serve his family, so a man called to the priesthood must deny himself to serve God’s people. It is because we understand the priesthood to be more than a job that we call our priests “Father”. They are our fathers in faith, sacrificing themselves to serve us and creating a family wherein we can come to know more intimately our Heavenly Father.

Because we understand the priesthood to be more than a job, we call it a “vocation”. The word “vocation” comes from a Latin word meaning “to call”. In essence, the priesthood is a calling by God to serve His People. In today’s second reading we hear, “No one takes this honor upon himself, but only when called by God.” Every priest has a story about how God called him to ministry. Some knew when they were very young that God wanted them to be priests. From the time they were small they felt within their heart the desire to dedicate their lives to Jesus. Others received the call later in life, many times after they were already established in a career. They had the sense that there had to be more to life than earning a paycheck. God was stirring in their soul calling them to something more. Everyone who serves us as a priest does so because he was been chosen especially by God. That should give all of us a deep sense of respect and reverence for those who serve us in this ministry.

At the same time, priests are human beings who have the same needs,  limitations and weaknesses that all of us have. They need intimate friendships and loving contact with others. They need to feel wanted and appreciated for the sacrifices they make. They need to feel accepted, and when they fail, they need our forgiveness and compassion. When they are criticized or made fun of, they need us to defend them. Most especially, they need our prayers. There is no other vocation which runs more against the materialistic values of our society today than the priesthood. So that they can remain firm in their commitment to God and His Church, we must keep them constantly in our prayers.

It is because of the priest’s weakness and failings that they are able to serve us. Because they struggle to live the gospel in a fallen world, they understand the temptations we face. As today’s second reading goes on to say, “He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, for he himself is beset by weakness…” For this reason, we should never be afraid to approach a priest to share with him our doubts, our struggles or our temptations. This is especially true in the Sacrament of Confession. Though they seem to lead a much different lifestyle, they understand what we are dealing with better than we know. They have much spiritual insight and wisdom to share with us if we are humble enough to reveal our failings and sins to them. Most especially, in the Sacrament of Penance, they have God’s power to forgive those sins and to grant us the grace of a fresh start and renewed strength.

The best definition of who a priest is comes to us from a Latin phrase. The priest is alter Christus , or, “another Christ.” We see this especially in the sacraments. When the priest celebrates Mass, it is Jesus Himself who offers the bread and wine on our behalf and changes them into His Body and Blood. When the priest says, “I forgive you of your sins”, it is Christ Himself who offers us His pardon. In the Anointing of the Sick, it is Christ Himself who comes to heal us. It is because so many men generously accept God’s call to sacrifice themselves for us that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross can be made present to us every day in the Mass. For that, we should truly be grateful to every man who has served us as a priest.

The priesthood is certainly a life of sacrifice but it is also filled with blessings and joy. Like all fathers, they take delight in seeing us grow in our faith. Their spirits overflow when they baptize babies, teach children and lead adults into a deeper love and commitment to Christ. They enjoy the relationships they build with their parishioners and with other priests. And their daily prayer and celebration of the sacraments builds up their spirits. It is a life of great joy because it is a life of love that is centered on Jesus and His People.

If there are any men here today who have considered priesthood, I encourage you strongly to speak to a priest about it. If there is any man here today who has felt God tugging at his heart to serve His People, I encourage you not to be afraid to take the steps to making Jesus’ dream for you a reality. When we say “yes” to God, He promises to take us on an adventure that is beyond our imagination. Great things happen to us and we meet the most extraordinary people. And in the process, we find joy and happiness in the most unexpected of places.

We are certainly blessed by the ministry of the priests who have served us. Let us pray for them that they continue to experience joy as they serve us. Let us also pray that more men will follow their example in leading us to know and love our Heavenly Father more deeply.

Run To Jesus

Who do you turn to when you are in trouble? Who helps you when everything else you have tried fails? Who comforts you when nothing seems to be going right?

How often is it Jesus that you turn to? Is it your first thought to lift up your hands in prayer at the moment you find yourself in need? If not, why not?

Over the past few Sundays, we have been reading from the letter to the Hebrews. In this beautiful book of the New Testament, Jesus is described as the High Priest who has ascended into Heaven and is offering prayers for us constantly at the throne of God.

What a comforting thought it is that Jesus is in Heaven praying for us. As He promised His disciples at the Last Supper, He has not left us orphans. Rather He has us constantly in mind as He enjoys the glory of His heavenly kingdom. Therefore, He is the first one we should turn to in our need.

Sometimes we are tempted to think that because Jesus is God and never sinned He could not possibly understand our human situation. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus is human in every way that we are. He lived a totally human life including having a body with needs and temptations. The fact that He never sinned does not make Him less sympathetic to our weakness but more so. What does sin do? It makes us selfish. It makes us center on ourselves and forget the needs of others. Because Jesus never sinned, He is free to concern Himself with us and our needs. As we see in the gospels, no one who ever lived was as sensitive to the stigma of the outcast, the pain of the sick and the anguish of the sinner. Therefore, however small or insignificant our needs may seem, we can be sure that He knows what we need before we even ask. We can approach Him with confidence knowing that He cares for us.

Also, the fact that Jesus is the eternal Son of God does not keep Him from caring about our needs. We may be tempted to think that with the state of the world He has more important concerns than ours. Again, nothing could be further from the truth. Because Jesus is God, there is no limit to what He is able to do. He is everywhere. At every moment, He is aware of each and every one of the seven billion people on earth. He does not have to stop thinking about one person to pay attention to someone else. He keeps all of us in mind constantly. He is never too busy for us, even though so often we are too busy for Him. We can be confident that when we turn to Him He will be waiting for us saying, “What took you so long?”

This was the experience of so many people in the gospels who sought Jesus out for healing. When they saw the huge crowds that were always pressing in on Jesus, they could have felt discouraged. They could have thought that there was no way that they could possibly reach Him through so many people. Or they may have thought that there were so many others in need of healing that Jesus could not possibly concern Himself with them. But they knew they had nowhere else to turn and so they did whatever was necessary to reach Him.

Today’s gospel - the healing of Bartimaeus - is a beautiful example. When this blind beggar hears that it is Jesus who is passing by, he wastes no time crying out to Him. The crowds tell Him to be quiet, that Jesus does not care about a worthless beggar like Him, but He refuses to listen. He cries out even louder over the rebukes of the crowd. Jesus hears Him - in fact, He already knew Him - and grants the desire of his heart, to be able to see.

We can be assured that Jesus hears us when we call out to Him and that He will grant us the desires of our heart.

After Jesus heals Bartimaeus, He tells him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” In the next sentence we read that the way he chose was the way of Jesus: “Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.” Bartimaeus had a choice to make. He could choose his own way, remaining in Jericho and maybe even continuing to beg. Or he could follow Jesus. He chose to follow Jesus on the way leading to Jerusalem and to Calvary.

When Jesus answers our prayers it is for one reason - so that we may be freer to follow Him on the way, so that we can see more clearly the steps we need to take to follow in His footsteps. If Jesus hears us, then we need to hear the cries of the poor around us. If Jesus reaches out to pick us up, then we need to pick up the weak who surround us. If He gives us new life, it is so that we can share in His suffering and death. We are always to free to “go our way”, but we will never be so free or so happy as we are when we decide to follow Jesus on His way.

We have a great High Priest, Jesus Christ, who stands before the Father’s throne pleading for each of us. He knows our needs. He sees them even more clearly than we do. Therefore, we can always approach Him with confidence knowing that we are heard and that He will answer. We approach Him today at this altar where He offers us His Body and Blood to strengthen us and heal us. Let us reach out to him, ignoring the crowd of voices in our heads telling us that we are not worthy, that our concerns are not important or that it is all too good to be true. Jesus is here. Let us do whatever is necessary to call out to Him and experience all that He has to offer us.

A Song For The Pope

In preparation for his visit to the United States, Pope Francis held a televised video conference with young people from three cities in the United States. During that time, he listened to the stories of students, immigrants and young families and answered their questions about the Catholic faith.

Perhaps one of the most moving testimonies was that of Valerie Herrera, a student at Cristo Re High School in Chicago. As a child, she developed a rare skin condition called “vitiligo” which causes white blotches on the face. Since then, she was called names and made fun of for her appearance. Valerie fought back her tears as she explained to the Holy Father how she felt excluded and different from everyone. Her only consolation was music. Singing made her feel special and helped her to forget her struggles.

Pope Francis listened compassionately to her. Then he surprised everyone by saying to Valerie, “May I ask you to sing for me? Would you sing me a song?” A look of shock came over her face. She didn’t know what she would sing and was overcome with nerves at the thought of performing not only for the Holy Father but for the millions of people who were tuned into the broadcast on national television. To support her, the crowd broke into applause. Then the Holy Father said to her, “Be courageous!” Finally, she gathered up the courage to sing a hymn to Mary in Spanish. The crowd along with the Holy Father erupted in applause when she was finished and a look of relief and joy came over Valerie’s face.

The Holy Father then began to speak with her. After telling her that she sang beautifully, he told her to always have courage in the face of life’s difficulties. He reminded her of how nervous she felt when he asked her to sing. However, when she found the courage to rise to the challenge, she not only felt relief that it was over but joy that she had conquered her fear. He ended his words to her saying, “Courage leads to joy!”

Valerie was interviewed several days later about her experience of speaking with Pope Francis. She described the range of emotions she felt as she described what life had been like for her dealing with her rare skin condition. Her face radiated with joy as she told the reporter how glad she was that she had become an inspiration for other young people who experienced the same struggles that she had.

“Courage leads to joy.” Young Valerie came to understand the truth of Pope Francis’ words when she found the courage to sing for him. She can now take his words and put them into practice as she faces all the other challenges life has in store for her. We can also learn from the Holy Father’s words. Facing difficulties with courage will make our lives more joyful.

We hear an echo of Pope Francis’ words in today’s gospel. When James and John ask to share in the glory of God’s Kingdom, Jesus has some pointed words for them. “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” He makes it clear to them - and to us - that the only path to glory is through suffering. Only by embracing the cross can we share in His resurrection. We might say, the only way to joy is through courage.

In today’s society, experiencing pleasure and feeling good are the top priorities. We go to great lengths to find short cuts through difficulties and avoid anything that might be painful. Of course, we should avoid suffering whenever possible. However, our obsession with convenience and comfort means that we become self-centered and individualistic. We do not see our responsibility to the poor and to those who suffer. If someone gets in the way of our comfortable life or inconveniences us, we avoid them. This attitude leads to nursing homes and hospitals full of sick people who have no one to visit them. It leads to prisons full of young men and women who have been neglected and abandoned. It leads to violence against the unborn and scorn for immigrants.

The one thing it does not lead to is joy.

Joy comes only from serving others. It takes courage to put the needs of others before our own, to reach out to those whom society rejects and to take the risk of going into areas which might seem dangerous to seek out those who live on the outskirts of our cities. However, when we overcome our fears and selfishness, we learn that the poor and the suffering are no different than we are. We experience the joy of truly making a difference in the lives of others. When pleasure and comfort are not the center of our lives we find our true purpose in helping others. In fact, our joy becomes so deep and leads to such a change in us that we begin to feel that it is the poor who are serving us rather than the other way around. As it turns out, we are the ones who are being helped to see ourselves and our world as Jesus sees it. In doing so, we find a joy that no amount of material goods or worldly pleasures can match.

Jesus tells us, “...whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” Jesus not only spoke those words but lived them, offering His life on the cross so that we could know the victory of the resurrection and the glory of everlasting life. During our time on earth, it will only be by embracing our cross, by reaching out to the poor and by accepting whatever sufferings will come our way that we will achieve glory and lasting joy. It takes courage. However, God is willing to help anyone who calls on Him. If we accept the challenge with faith, we will never be the same and we will serve as an inspiration to others which will make our joy even more complete.

A Powerless Savior

We were created for one purpose - to know, love and serve God in this life and to live with Him in glory forever in the life to come.

Last week, the story of the rich young man reminded us of one of the things that keeps us from fulfilling that purpose, namely, love of wealth. Today’s gospel points out yet another thing that inhibits us from reaching the glory that God has prepared for us in heaven, namely, the desire for power.

Just as Jesus lived a life of poverty and called His followers to do the same, so he embraced the path of powerlessness. While He could heal any illness, drive out any demon and command the powers of nature, nonetheless He chose to serve others rather than to be served. Though He is All-Powerful, He comes to conquer us not by force of arms but by the power of love and forgiveness.

So when James and John, two of His closest apostles, approach Him asking for places of prominence in His Kingdom, Jesus is quick to point out that anyone who would follow Him would also have to leave behind any desire for power and glory. Unlike the world which values status, the Kingdom of God values service. Anyone who would follow Jesus should not be ambitious for honors but rather should strive for the meekest and most menial of positions possible. Then such a person will find favor with God.

It is difficult to overestimate how radical Jesus’ teaching about powerlessness is. When we look at our own lives, how much energy do we spend trying to get noticed by others? How much attention do we give to those who are attractive and  charismatic even though they get more attention than they need? On the other hand, how often do we overlook those who are needy and could use a kind word? Jesus made it very clear to us that whatever we do to the least of our brothers and sisters, we do to Him. If we are overlooking the meek, then we are overlooking Jesus. Until we can learn to value them as human beings with as much dignity as the rich and the beautiful, we can never discover the presence of Jesus in our world. Even more importantly, until we can learn to serve them no matter how inconvenient it may be, we can never claim a place in the Kingdom of God.

To embrace such an attitude requires from us the virtue of humility. Without humility, real holiness and knowledge of God is not possible. Saint John Vianney compares humility to the chain that holds together the beads of the rosary. Humility helps us to see ourselves as we really are. It teaches us that we are no better than anyone else. Without humility, we place ourselves at the center of the universe and claim that we are entitled to every convenience and pleasure the world has to offer. Without humility, we cannot recognize that we have a responsibility to care for others. Without humility, we cannot be grateful because we believe the world owes us. Without humility we cannot love or serve God because we claim to take His place as the end all and be all.

However, with humility we see ourselves not as competitors for status with others but as brothers and sisters. With humility, we are free to put aside our ambitions and interests to serve others. We are not focused on our misfortunes but on those who have even less than we do. We do not obsess over what we deserve but on whom we should serve. When we experience sickness or other setbacks, we do not shake our fists at God and ask why, but accept all things with grace trusting that our Heavenly Father has a plan and that He will not abandon us. Only those who are humble, who are able to accept suffering and who put ambition aside to serve others can reach the glory of Heaven.

When James and John ask to sit at the right and left hand of Jesus in His Kingdom, He tells them that those places are already reserved for those God has prepared. Who is it that sits at the right hand of Jesus in Heaven? It is His Mother and Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary. When she was assumed into Heaven, God made her Queen of Heaven and Earth. Unlike any other person who ever lived, she perfectly embodies the humility that pleases God and for that reason she attained a place of glory at Jesus’ right hand. She is the perfect model for us of what it means to follow Jesus and how we are to attain the glory of heaven which God has prepared for us.

When the angel Gabriel appeared to her inviting her to be the mother of our Lord, she put aside her own plans to accept the call of God. For most of her life, she was content to live in obscurity and poverty. When Jesus began His ministry, she remained in the background, never calling attention to herself. When she did prevail on Jesus at the wedding feast at Cana, she did not ask for favors for herself but for others. The one place she did figure prominently was at the foot of the cross when Jesus had been abandoned by most of His followers. At the most shameful time of His life, she was willing to share in His suffering. For that reason, she also shared in the glory of His resurrection. We should never cease asking her to teach us the secrets of her humility and to pray for us to model it in our own lives.

Brothers and sisters, we should be ambitious not for the things of this world but for the glory of heaven where Jesus reigns. As today’s second reading tells us, we can approach Him with confidence. Unlike earthly rulers, He is not offended by our weakness or frailty. Rather that is precisely why He loves us. We can bring Him our sin, our failings and our fears for it was for just such a reason that He suffered and died for us. And it is for the hope of sharing His glory that we accept whatever sufferings may come our way knowing that they are preparing for us a seat of honor at the Heavenly banquet.

Young, Rich But Not Free

We are all more like the rich young man in today’s gospel than we may realize.

First of all, we are basically decent people. We do the best we can not to hurt people and even to help them when we can. For the most part, we go to Mass on Sundays and pray for others. Though we are sinners and often fall short of what God expects of us, we keep the commandments. Despite our best efforts, however, we long for something more. Like the rich young man, our hearts are restless. We are not content with just meeting expectations. We are not happy with living our faith as if it were a set of hoops to jump through. From the bottom of our soul, we long for heartfelt communion with our Heavenly Father. We always want to go deeper.

Secondly, we are all rich. Though we may not live in mansions, have a yacht or take lavish vacations, we all have more than we need. By biblical standards if you have more than two coats, more than two pairs of shoes and eat more than two meals a day, you are rich. And when we consider that how many people in our world do not even eat one meal a day, it is clear just how rich we are. Also, for most of us, like the rich young man,  our possessions distract us from living our faith. For example, how many of us sit through Mass on Sunday with our minds focused not on the word of God nor on Jesus’ presence in the tabernacle but on what we need to get done at work this week or on how we are going to pay our bills? And, because we have more than enough, we are tempted to think that we don’t need God. We use our possessions and wealth to cover up that yearning within us that only God can fill.

Thirdly, like the rich young man, we all have something in our lives that is keeping us from following Jesus and living His word with all our heart, mind and strength. For the rich young man, it was his wealth that kept him from taking the path of perfection. For many of us, it may be indulging in pleasures that drag our spirits down. It may be unhealthy or sinful relationships that keep us off the path to holiness. Many of us are holding on to resentment, anger and bitterness which poisons the soil of our heart and makes it impossible for God’s word to grow within us.

We hold on to those possessions, attitudes or sinful relationships mostly out of fear. We do not walk away from unhealthy relationships because we are afraid that no one else will love us. We do not let go of our possessions because we think they give us security or because our identity is somehow bound up in what neighborhood we live in or what kind of car we drive. And we hold on to bitterness and anger out of fear that, if we let people too close, they will hurt us.

And so, like the rich young man, we walk away sad. Though we have more than we need, none of it ultimately satisfies us. We are looking to possessions and relationships to save us, and yet we are finding ourselves as lost and as empty as ever. In today’s world, we see the signs of this all over. The high levels of stress and anxiety common among people today comes from the sense that what we have is never enough. The depression that breaks the spirit of so many of the people we care about often has its roots in a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. No matter how hard we strive, we can never find what we need and so our spirits fall into despair. And the cynicism and skepticism that scars the souls of so many of our young people is really a cry for help. They can see no real sense of meaning and purpose anywhere in today’s world and so they can only lash out.

Because we are so much like the rich young man, he also has something to teach us. Like him, we should run to Jesus. We can expect Him to look on us with love just as He did to the rich young man. No matter what type of life we have been living to this point, Jesus will never reject us. In fact, He assures us that there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than in a just person who has no need of repenting. Jesus accepts us as we are. He knows us better than we know ourselves. All it takes is the humility to turn to Him in our need, to allow Him to see us as we really are and to be open to letting Him guide us.

There is no need to be afraid. Jesus will be gentle with us. Just as He did not force the young man to follow Him, He will not force us to do anything we are not ready to do. He loves us as we are. All He asks is that we let Him into our lives and that we allow Him to lead us step by step along the way. There will be times when we are so tired of the life we have been living that we are willing to go anywhere with Jesus. There will be other times when we will need Him to carry us.
And there will be moments when we are stopped dead in our tracks out of fear. However, if we keep our eyes fixed on Him, we can be sure that He will gently guide us along. Somewhere along the way we will realize that the dissatisfaction, anxiety and fear we have lived with for so long has melted away. We will realize that we are living with real joy, conviction and a sense of purpose. That is because what our possessions and friendships could not give us, we are finding in our walk with Jesus.

There is no better day to begin this journey then today. We gather here today in this church because we are looking for that “something more”  that the world cannot give. That “something more” can only be found in Jesus. Give your heart to Him today in total trust that He will lead you into a more fulfilling and happier life in this world and an eternity of bliss in the world to come.

To Have But Not To Possess

In his book, Parables, Fr. Anthony De Mello tells the following story.

A wise man had been wandering the countryside of India. One night, outside a small village, he lay down under a tree and began to fall asleep. Just then, a villager ran up to him, shouting, “The stone! The stone! Give me the stone!”.  The wise man asked the villager what he was talking about. He replied that he was told in a dream that a wise man outside the town would give him a stone that would make him wealthy beyond his wildest imagination. “Oh”, the wise man answered, “You must mean this stone.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a diamond as big as a man’s head. “I found it on the side of the road a few days ago”, he explained. “You can have it.” The man’s eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw it. He took it from the wise man and ran home as fast as he could.

However, that night, the man tossed and turned all night, unable to rest. First thing in the morning, he ran back out to the tree where the wise man was sleeping, and shook him awake. “What else can I do for you?”, the wise man asked. The man answered him, “Give me the freedom you have to be able to give away that stone so easily.”

We associate being wealthy with being free. When we are young, we cannot wait to get a job so that we can move out of our parents’ house, get our own place and be able to make our own choices. However, we realize fairly quickly that with work comes responsibility. The things we think will make us free - our own place, a car, credit cards - come with a steep price. To pay for all these things, we have to work more hours and find ourselves with less free time. Later on as we have a family and others begin to depend on us for their livelihood, we have to invest even more time and energy into our jobs. When we do have free time, all we want to do is rest before we have to go back to work again. What we thought would make us freer to enjoy ourselves actually begins to take over our lives.

In fact, wealth and the hoarding of material goods is probably the one thing keeping most people from experiencing the fullness of life that God wants for them. It is not that material possessions are bad. Rather, they are all gifts of God and integral to our well-being and happiness. However, we tend to treat money as the only reason for living. It crowds out every other good thing we could otherwise be enjoying. And it gives us a false sense of security. We think that as long as we have a job and enough money in the bank, everything will turn out fine. Then we get sick or experience some other tragedy, and we find that our money does not solve all our problems. Then we have no idea where to turn for answers.

Today’s gospel is a perfect example of how wealth can keep us from being the people God dreams we can be.

The young man who runs up to Jesus is a very good person. He keeps all the commandments but he is not satisfied. He wants to make a deeper commitment to his faith. He wants to live his religion at a more profound level. Jesus is certainly impressed by this young man’s sincerity and zeal. But there was something holding him back. Jesus could sense it and puts his finger on it. He was a rich man unable to part with his possessions. Because of his wealth, he was not free to follow Jesus.

Many people throughout the past two thousand years have heard these words of Jesus and taken them literally. They have sold all they had, given it to the poor and dedicated their lives to serving God. Like the wise man in Fr.de Mello’s parable, they are the freest people who ever lived. Now, it could be that there are some people in this church today who are also called to take Jesus’ words literally and experience such total freedom. However, most of us have responsibilities that keep us from being able to leave our jobs, sell our homes and give away our possessions. How can we answer Jesus’ radical call in our everyday lives?

A first step for us would be not to give everything away but to give something away. A good question to ask ourselves would be, what do I have that I do not absolutely need but would still be hard for me to give away? Is there someone who needs it more than I do? Could I sell it and give the proceeds to a worthy charity? If not, what is keeping me from doing so?

I would make a bet that, if we did find it within us to give away that material possession that we think means so much to us, we would not feel regret or sadness. Rather, we would feel elated and maybe even relieved. We would know the joy that comes from being able to help another human being. And we would have a taste of the freedom that Jesus offers.

Something else would happen. We would begin to see that making money and having nice things is not all that life is about. We would begin to take notice of all those who have less than we do, who are looking for work or who are not able to feed their families. Rather than feel superior to them or blame them for their misfortune, we will begin to feel a sense of responsibility and concern for them. We will want to help.

Then we will be richer than we ever could imagine. 

Mary, Undoer Of Knots

Wolfgang did not know where else to turn.

After several years of marriage, he and his wife, Sophie, were heading for divorce. In a last ditch effort to save his marriage, he began visiting father Jakob Rem, a priest who was widely known for his intelligence and holiness.

Wolfgang took much comfort from the wisdom and advice that Father Rem provided. However, it was their prayer time together that really made a difference. Father Rem encouraged Wolfgang to seek Our Lady's intercession in hopes for a breakthrough in his marriage.

On the last day they met together, September 28, 1615, Wolfgang brought along the wedding ribbon from his marriage mass. It was a custom in Germany at the time that, during the wedding ceremony, the bride and groom would have their hands wrapped together in a ribbon symbolizing their sacramental union as husband and wife. Over the years, it had become soiled and was tied in knots because of the way it had been stored.

As was their custom, they met in the chapel of our Lady of Snows at the monastery where Father Rem lived. As they prayed, the holy priest lifted up the ribbon and begin undoing the knots asking all the while that,  through Mary's intercession, the knots which kept Wolfgang and Sophie from living a holy and loving marriage would be undone. Miraculously, the ribbon was transformed from its dull, yellow color into a brilliant white. Soon after,  Wolfgang and Sophie were able to work past their differences, reconcile and avoid divorce.

The loving couple passed on the story of their miraculous reconciliation to their children and grandchildren. In the year 1700, one of the grandchildren, Hieronymus, who became a priest, wanted to commemorate the event which made his life possible. To do so, he commissioned an artist, Johann Schmittdner, to paint a portrait of Mary whose intercession had saved his grandparents’ marriage. That painting which has come to be known as, “Our Lady, Undoer of Knots”, portrays Mary untying knots from a long ribbon. She is assisted by two angels. One is receiving the ribbon with knots from us and giving it to Our Lady. The other is receiving the ribbon from Our Lady now free from knots and handing it back to us.

Since then, the devotion of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, has been popular with people who struggle in their marriage or who otherwise have difficulties with their families. The devotion spread to Argentina in the 1980’s when Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, whom we know today as Pope Francis, brought it to his diocese after discovering it during a trip to the church of St. Peter in Augsburg, Germany where it hangs today.

Marriage is a beautiful gift of God. It serves men and women by providing them with love and companionship throughout their lives. When Adam in today's first reading rejoices over Eve whom he calls, “bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh”, we get a glimpse into God's plan for marriage - that a man and a woman take real joy and pleasure in each other. Jesus teaches us in the gospel that the union of a man and woman in the Sacrament of Marriage is meant to last a lifetime." What God has joined, no human being must separate." When a couple marries, they vow to love each other "in good times and in bad times, in sickness and health, for richer or for poorer until death do they part." Marriage aids a man and a woman in reaching holiness by giving them the grace to endure all the trials and tribulations that come with married life, including raising children. The bodily union which is the hallmark of marriage teaches us that this sacrament is not just about the man and the woman, but about children. Marriage is the means God provides us to cooperate with him in creation by bringing new life into the world. Only the marriage of a man and a woman can guarantee that children will live with and be raised by both their biological parents. Creating a loving home in which children can be nurtured and learn to be good citizens of the country and holy saints in the kingdom of God is at the heart of the Sacrament of Matrimony.

We are all painfully aware of how difficult it is in today's world to live a loving, happy marriage for a lifetime. Many of us, for whatever reason, have not been able to. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have an obligation to welcome all people with love and mercy and to accept them wherever they are in their journey of faith. For those who carry emotional pain because of divorce, healing is possible through Confession, prayer,  fellowship with other Christians and regular Mass attendance. God understands how difficult marriage and life in general are. No matter what mistakes we've made in the past we can always turn to Him to find forgiveness and healing.

At the same time, it is imperative that we support married couples in living this sacrament of marriage. There are many ways of doing that, but, as Wolfgang and Sophie learned, the most powerful means is through prayer. The Census Bureau tells us that one out of every two marriages ends in divorce. However, for couples who are married in the church and continue to attend Mass, that number drops to one out of 50. And, when married couples who attend Mass regularly also pray together at home, divorces decrease to one in 1150. This gives powerful witness to the power of prayer in the lives of married people. Devotion to our Lady, such as Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, can help a couple find strength and consolation as they work through the daily challenges of married life. We should never underestimate the power of prayer to heal and strengthen us.

Gathered here today, as a people of faith, let us pray for all married couples and those preparing for marriage. Let us also remember those who live with the pain of divorce that they may find healing. The prayer of God's people is powerful and when combined with the intercession of our Lady can bring about miracles. Let us continue to turn to our Heavenly Father in all our needs with faith and confidence that, in Him,  all things are possible.

Marriage And Family - Nature's First Institution

Before there were countries, before there were churches, before there were colleges or universities, there were families. Before there were languages or cultures, human beings bound themselves in relationships based on kinship and blood. From the beginning, the family has been the place where the young are born and raised, where individuals share responsibilities and resources and where the sick and elderly are taken care of.

And at the root of families is the sacred institution of marriage. Men and women, out of love for one another, unite in an unbreakable bond from which children are born and raised. The yearning that a man has for a woman and a woman for a man comes from our human nature. God placed it in us from the very beginning. We were not created to be alone. We were created for companionship, intimacy and partnership. The fullest and most beautiful expression of that desire is the institution of marriage.

From marriage and the family arose other structures of communal life - tribes, nations and churches. These other institutions came about not to replace the family but to strengthen it - to protect it in time of war, to provide education and to ensure sufficient jobs. Throughout the history of civilization it has been clear that the stronger the family was, the stronger the society would be.

No government and no church created the institutions of marriage and family. They have been with us from the beginning. Just so, no government or church can change the definition of marriage. Under normal circumstances, no government or church can claim to have more of a say in how a child is raised than parents and family members do. And because governments and churches are made up of families, undermining marriage and families damages society as a whole. It would be like sawing off the branch that you are sitting on.

Jesus makes it very clear to us just how important marriage is. His first miracle took place at a wedding feast. He often described Himself as a “bridegroom” who was sent to consummate the union of God with His people. When Jesus speaks of marriage, it is always in reference to how we as human beings were created. When He instructs the Pharisees in today’s gospel, He makes it clear that, “From the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.” And He teaches them that marriage did not come from Moses but from God Himself.  The result is that no one has the right to end a lawful marriage - not even the couple themselves. As He tells us, “Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”

From the beginning, then, marriage was meant to be a permanent union of a man and a woman. The permanence of marriage is a sign of God’s faithful love for His people. Just as a man and a woman love each other for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, so God perseveres in His love for us no matter what.

God put this desire to live a faithful, life-long love in each of our hearts. We know the truth of Jesus’ teaching instinctively because it is written into our very nature. Whenever we see couples who are celebrating forty, fifty or even sixty years of marriage, we cannot help but rejoice with them. We see that faithfulness in marriage is a beautiful thing and we naturally desire it for ourselves.

The permanence of marriage is not only a good for the couple themselves, it is good because it is necessary for the raising of healthy, happy children. It is clear from our personal experience and from scientific research, that children thrive when they are raised by their biological fathers and mothers. Each child has a right to be conceived in love and raised by his or her biological parents. To intentionally take a child away from his or her parents is a grave injustice. Sadly, this happens frequently in our culture through reproductive technologies such as surrogate motherhood, in vitro fertilization and artificial insemination.

Children are a precious gift of God. They give us much joy and hope for the future. All married couples should embrace children and be generous in giving them life. There are many reasons couples may choose to limit the number of children they have. However, before making a decision to stop having children, a couple should go to God in prayer and ask if there are any other young lives that our Heavenly Father would like them to bring into the world. Through prayer, we may find that our reasons for not having children are not as serious as we think. We may discover that whatever we think we may be able to afford or achieve by not having children pales in comparison to the joy and happiness a baby would bring into our lives.

As followers of Christ and as good citizens, we are called to promote and defend marriage as the most basic institution of our Church and our society. By our own honest efforts to live as good and holy husbands and wives and to raise our children in the values of our faith, we do much to build up a more just and peaceful world. By welcoming children, we witness to the value of each human life no matter how weak, how vulnerable or how unproductive it may be. More than ever in human history, our world needs such a witness.

It is true that many times we fail. Not every marriage lives up to what God calls it to be. Many fathers and mothers fail to be good examples to their children. As a Church, we have to not only support traditional marriages, but we have to reach out to help those whose marriages are struggling or have failed. We have to stand beside single parents and those who are suffering because of circumstances beyond their control or choices they made in the past. No matter where we may find ourselves, we can all find a place in the family of the Church. In it we have a faithful father who is God, a loving brother who is Jesus and many children all longing for the ultimate wedding feast - the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Rich Diversity of God's People

The world used to be a much larger place. At one time, people of different ethnic backgrounds and religions lived very separate lives. If they did not live in separate countries, there were different neighborhoods and ghettos for each class of people. No one ever strayed outside of his or her neighborhood or spoke with people of a different race or nationality. Even our churches were separated by language and ethnic backgrounds. There was the Polish parish on one corner, the Irish parish three houses down and the Italian parish across the street. Everyone lived in his or her own bubble, isolated from those who spoke different languages, worshiped differently and had different beliefs.

Today, the world is much smaller. People of different backgrounds live, work and go to school together. We shop at the same stores and eat in the same restaurants. People of different religions, nationalities and political beliefs are no longer strangers. They are our neighbors, co-workers and fellow parishioners. Their children are friends with our children. We are no longer able to isolate ourselves in ghettos to avoid mixing with those who are different from us.

Sadly, however, some of the same suspicion and hostility that existed when we lived separate lives continues to spill into life in the modern world. All over the world we see racial, ethnic and religious tensions. Immigrant and refugee populations are scapegoated for all the problems in society. There is an ongoing tendency instilled deep within us, often below our consciousness, to consider the person who is different as a threat to our livelihood. They are “strangers”. Their ways are strange to us and we would just as soon keep them at arm’s length if not avoid them altogether. When this is not possible, tensions become high often leading to violence.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to rise above our differences. As Saint Paul teaches us in his letters to the Galatians, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). All of us are created in God’s image and likeness. All of us have been redeemed by Jesus. Differences in language, skin color and diet do not change the fact that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. There is never any just reason to exclude others because they are different from us. As Christians, we embrace all people as our brothers and sisters.

This also extends to people of different faiths. Our world is made up of people of many diverse belief systems and styles of worship. There are even many variations of Christian belief. Sadly, though we all preach the power of love, we have often let our differences become an excuse for intolerance and persecution. As Christians, we should be ready to admit that too often people have used religion as a pretense for violence and war. We should always be ready to condemn acts of violence perpetrated in the name of religion. Most importantly, we should be eager to work together with people of other faiths to build a world that is more welcoming, tolerate, peaceful and just.

As Catholics, we have historic reasons for believing that Jesus Christ founded the Church and that, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we have preserved His teaching faithfully over the centuries. However, that does not mean that we believe that there is no truth to be found in other Christian denominations or faith traditions. That does not mean that we believe that the Holy Spirit only acts through Catholics. We see in today’s first reading and gospel that God has His own agenda. He works in and through whomever He pleases to ensure that His will is accomplished. While we would not go so far as saying that all religions are the same, it does mean that we have something to learn from Protestants, Buddhists, Muslims and, especially our elder brothers in the faith, the Jewish people.

In his apostolic exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis challenges all people to embrace a “culture of encounter”. He wants us to transform our current culture of hostility, suspicion and isolation into a culture which seeks cooperation, dialogue and friendship with people of different races, nationalities, political affiliations and religions. This is why we so often see Pope Francis reaching out to people of other faiths and people of no faith. He understands that if we do not work together our world will continue its descent into chaos. The “culture of encounter” he is calling us to build goes beyond merely co-existing. It means more than tolerating one another. Rather, it begins with recognizing the image and likeness of God in all our fellow human beings, loving them as our brothers and sisters and working together to build a truly just and peaceful society.

This culture of encounter is not something that governments can create and regulate through laws. Rather, it is up to us as individual believers to build it. It requires all of us going outside of our comfort zones to reach out a hand of friendship to those who are different from us. It means taking the risk of being rejected. It means looking the other way when others offend us. It means being quick both to apologize and to forgive. It means taking the risk of speaking honestly and openly. Though it is not comfortable, it is our duty as Christians to live out the gospel by reaching out to all people and working together for justice.

Jesus teaches us in today’s gospel, “Whoever is not against us is for us.” It is time for us to stop looking upon those who are different from us as enemies whether they be immigrants, people of different races or those of other faiths. It is time for us to stop considering them strangers and begin to embrace them as brothers and sisters. Then, as believers, we will be a model to all of society of how this world which is getting increasingly smaller can live peacefully through faith in God who created all of us in His image and likeness.

The God Of Surprises

Our God is a God of surprises. He can be found in the most unexpected places and circumstances.

No one knows this better than a young woman named Kate.

Since she was young, Kate always felt a close relationship with God. However, in her late 20’s, she found herself working a high-pressure job and planning her wedding. There was just not as much time for prayer and spiritual reading which at one time had been a priority for her. Little by little, she felt herself losing her connection to her Heavenly Father. In fact, the only time she prayed was when the stress from work and wedding planning got to be too much for her. She would simply cry out, “Where are you, God, and why aren’t you helping me?”

One day, while rushing to catch the subway to work, a homeless person stopped her and asked her for change. She just did not have the time to stop and blurted out to him, “Please leave me alone!” Though he was startled, he calmly replied, “That’s okay, ma’am. I’ll still pray for you.”

Kate was struck to her core by his response. It helped her to realize how selfish she had been. She had allowed the pressures of life to squeeze out what had always been important to her, namely, being attentive to the needy. This man had helped her realize that God had not abandoned her, but she had abandoned God. She had been wondering where God was but it turned out that He had never left her. And she discovered this truth in the most unexpected of places and in the most surprising of ways - on a subway platform from a homeless person.

Today’s scripture readings speak to us of this God of surprises who reveals Himself in the most unexpected of ways.

In the first reading, God takes some of the Spirit which is on Moses and bestows it on seventy elders to assist him in leading the people of Israel through the desert. Though, two of the elders are outside of the meeting place, they too receive the Spirit and begin prophesying. Moses’ closest assistant, Joshua, is offended by what he sees and urges Moses to stop them. But Moses recognizes the work of the Spirit and understands that he cannot control it. He was used to God working in unexpected ways. It was a lesson that his young assistant would also need to learn.

In the gospel, Jesus’ closest friend, John, witnesses some people casting out a demon in Christ’s name. Like Joshua, he is offended by it and urges Jesus to stop them. It must have been an especially stinging event to witness since only a few chapters earlier, the disciples themselves were unable to exorcise a man who had come to them possessed with a demon. Like Moses, Jesus assures His disciples that they should welcome any good works done in His name no matter who does it. The Spirit of God does not follow our rules or limit Himself to our expectations. He is a God of surprises who always does what is unexpected. Soon enough, the disciples would discover how true Jesus’ words are when He is unexpectedly raised from the dead and when they finally receive the fullness of the Spirit themselves empowering them to preach the good news.

If God seems distant to us, if we feel as though we have lost touch with our Heavenly Father, could it be that we are looking in the wrong places? If we are unsure what God expects from us, if the direction of our lives is unclear, could it be that He is working in an unexpected way to bring about our sanctification and salvation? Are we so expecting God to work in a certain way and to reveal Himself in a certain place that we are not open to His surprising us from time to time? And if He is working in mysterious ways, how can we discover it and become aware of it.

The great spiritual master, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, can help us. Unlike many of the Church’s other spiritual masters, Saint Ignatius developed a spirituality for people with busy lives. It is not necessary to quit one’s job and spend hours in prayer to follow the way he proposed. One of his spiritual exercises which is especially helpful is called the examen. Like the examination of conscience, Ignatius has us spend a few minutes in the evening reviewing our day. However, the examen is not just concerned with how we may have sinned. It is also focused on how God revealed Himself to us that day.

We begin by taking a few moments to quiet ourselves down and to thank God for everything that happened during the day, both the good and the bad. Then we ask for the grace to review our day, hour by hour or period by period, looking for the ways that God may have been revealing Himself to us and how we responded. Like Kate in the subway, it might be through a homeless person we encounter. It could be at a moment when we look out a window and are struck by how beautiful the world is. As we remember those moments throughout the day, we thank God for revealing Himself and ask Him to give us the grace to recognize Him the following day. If we have failed, we ask for forgiveness and the grace to do better.

Taking that time at the end of every day will not only help us to see how God has been at work in our past but will prepare us to recognize Him when He does appear to us in so many unexpected and surprising ways. It will also give us confidence that no matter how chaotic our lives may seem, God is in the midst of it with us and we can be assured that He will manifest Himself to us in it and lead us through.

We worship a hidden God who can manifest Himself to us in infinitely various ways. Through prayer, we can learn to recognize Him and can allow ourselves to be surprised by Him. Now He comes to us in the most glorious of ways, through the Body and Blood of His Son. Nourished by the bread from heaven, we can now show the God we have discovered to others so that all the world can be charged by the glory of this God of surprises.