There is a story of a father and a son who collected rare works of art. Later, the son went to War and lost his life trying the save the life of another soldier. The father was crestfallen. Just before Christmas that year, the young soldier whose life the son saved, came to the door and presented to the grieving man a portrait of his son that he had painted. The man kept the portrait on his mantel and often admired its realism. When he died, an auction was held for all the rare works of art and among them was the portrait of the son by an unknown artist. At the auction, everybody’s eyes were on the rare paintings but there were no takers for the portrait of the son. The family gardener had fond memories of the son and he was the only one to bid ten dollars for the son’s portrait. That was all he could afford. At once the auctioneer announced that the auction was over. He told the puzzled gathering that there was a secret stipulation in the old man’s will. “The son! The son!” the auctioneer cried out, “Whoever gets the son takes everything.”
Fourth Sunday of Advent
I saw Frozen 2 the other day! It is a good movie. I went to see it after strong recommendations, and I must say, it did not disappoint. For those who have not seen it, there are no spoilers in this homily. There is a line from Elsa’s sister Anna’s song, “Do the next right thing,” that I would like to focus on for this homily. She sings, “You are lost, hope is gone. But you must, go on. And do the next right thing!” Her song ends with the words: “Then I'll make the choice, to hear that voice, and do the next right thing!”
Third Sunday of Advent
I know a six-month-old baby who has spent that last ten weeks in the hospital awaiting a liver transplant. On Friday, I visited with elderly parishioners who lost their daughter and son-in-law within a span of two weeks. The daughter took her own life. Last week I spoke with a mother whose son just got out of jail and is trying to make it work again. I know a young immigrant mother and her son who are trying to find safety and sustenance. I know a man chronically addicted to pornography and is trying to break free. I have a friend who is doing everything to stop the cancer from returning. There is only one thing that keeps them all going – hope!
Second Sunday of Advent
Last weekend, I preached a homily titled, “Don’t Settle for Cheap!” To further help me reflect on this, a parishioner sent me a New York Times article by Tish Harrison, an Anglican priest, titled, “Want to Get into the Christmas Spirit? Face the Darkness.” Let me begin this homily with a quote from her article. Contrasting the mood outside versus the Church’s more subdued Advent sentiments, she says, “I think Advent offers wisdom to the wider world. It reminds us that joy is trivialized if we do not first intentionally acknowledge the pain and wreckage of the world.” She continues, “… inside many church buildings, this time of year looks different. There, we find a countercultural sparseness. The altar is covered in purple, the color of both royalty and repentance. There’s a slowing down, a silent stillness. The music turns to minor keys and becomes contemplative, even mournful. The Scripture readings are apocalyptic and trippy, strikingly short on sweet tales of babies, little lambs and Christmas stars. In this small space, Christmas season has not yet begun. The church waits in Advent.”
First Sunday of Advent
For avid and sensible shoppers, this is the quintessential weekend! This is the weekend for cheap deals! Everybody tries to get the best for the cheapest! In fact, this weekend many in the nation will settle for the cheapest. This weekend we also begin Advent. And I hope that when it comes to Advent, we do not settle for the cheapest. Advent does not come cheap. The scripture readings for this weekend have a very simple message for us – “Don’t settle for cheap!”
The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ
I love Christmas. I hate Christmas commercials. I hate them for many reasons. They have ruined many Christmas melodies for me. But more importantly, I hate them because they have nothing to do with Christ or Christmas. They cheapen Christmas and everything Christmas represents. This is only an analogy. What Christmas commercials do to Christ and Christmas, we can easily do to Christ the King. We can make “Christ the King” what Christ is not, and celebrate that, which he himself rejected.
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
At our parish staff meetings, we always begin by reading the gospel reading for the upcoming week and sharing our thoughts about the passage. Last week read the gospel reading that was just read for us. My instinctive reaction was fatigue. I said to everybody in the room, “I don’t want to deal with it!” I did not want to hear more about wars and insurrections, death and destruction. There was a lot of silence in the room that day. The reflection time ended rather quickly.
It’s not that I do not understand the significance of apocalyptic readings. As we reach the end of the liturgical and calendar year, the liturgical readings lead us to reflect on reality of the end. Whether we like it or not, someday, either on a personal or cosmic scale, we will have to face our end. It will not matter whether we are fatigued or not. When it does happen, scripture says to us today, “By your perseverance you will secure your lives” (Lk 21:19).
“By your perseverance you will secure your lives!” I have chosen to reflect on perseverance. Here are my three points for today.
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
One of the topics we study in our moral theology course in the seminary is titled, “Death and Dying.” As an aside, the professor who taught us this course, died of pancreatic cancer last year. He taught us something which remains fresh in my mind even to this day. He said, for a Christian, ‘death is an act’. What he meant was that, we are all moving toward our death. We should make that movement an intentional movement, an intentional act. In other words, that death should not be something that happens to us, but rather, that we make death a free and intentional event.
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Perhaps you have heard about the recent Amazon Synod of Bishops. The Synod met in Rome from 6 to 27 October 2019. On 15 October 2017, Pope Francis had announced that the Synod would work "to identify new paths for the evangelization of God's people in Amazon region. His focus was on the indigenous peoples who are often forgotten and without the prospect of a sustainable social and religious future. The obstacles to evangelization of this region are many. It includes the difficult terrain, the great variety of languages spoken, and most importantly the vested interest of landowners and business interests who exploit the land and the indigenous peoples, most of whom are Roman Catholic.
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
At first glance, today’s gospel reading might seems to be about pride versus humility, about self-righteousness versus trusting God’s mercy. In reality, though, Luke is continuing his reflection on prayer. Last week, his emphasis was on “the necessity to pray always without becoming weary.” This week, his focus is on prayer as an extension of life.
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I was talking to someone this past week and I said to them, “I would like to take 2019 and just throw it somewhere.” Beginning with dad’s death, and then the tornadoes in Dayton, the gun violence in Dayton, the death of two children in a senseless tragedy, Fr. Dave’s death, and the number of unexpected serious illnesses of people close to me, I cannot wait for 2019 to end. To whomever I have share my feeling, they have agreed with me. “It’s been a hard year.”
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
There are two very powerful stories in today’s scripture readings. The first story is the healing of Naaman the Syrian and the other is the healing of the ten lepers. As powerful as these stories are in themselves, I would like to reflect on them from the perspective of a sentence from today’s second reading. Paul writes to Timothy, “But the word of God is not chained.”
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
There is something that I have preached about in passing which today I want to make the theme of my homily. Don't live a good and holy life because you want to get to heaven; live a good and holy life because you already belong in heaven." “Don’t live a good and holy life because you want to be saved; live a good and holy life because you ARE saved!” The theme is inspired by today’s gospel reading where Jesus says, “When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do'" (Lk 17:10).
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
For a second week in a row, the scripture readings at Mass are going to invite us to reflect on a Christian’s relationship with wealth. Last week we reflected on Jesus’ words, “You cannot serve God and mammon!” I had suggested that our relationship with wealth has implications for eternity. This week we focus the people who chose to serve mammon. Mammon made some people inhuman. Today’s readings warn us about the kind of people we should not become. On the contrary, today’s readings invite us to develop a Christian character.
Today’s readings are replete with imageries. I would like to use these imageries to draw out the three practical implications. So, let us unleash the power of our imagination.
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I’m found.
Was blind, but now, I see.
This is one of the most popular hymns in Catholic and Protestant churches alike. It is sung at most reconciliation services, funerals, and anytime we reflect on repentance. Perhaps, the context of the song is less popular that the song itself. John Newton, the author, was a slave trader. During his 1748 voyage, a destructive storm struck his ship. This was the moment he reached out for God’s mercy. The storm spared the ship and he survived. This began a process of conversion that ultimately led him to become an abolitionist. Just before his death he was fortunate enough to see the abolition of the African slave trade in the United Kingdom in 1807.