Fr. JC Maximilian

 If you read the Gospels regularly, one thing that you notice is that the Apostles most of the time just do not “get it.”  Most of the time they do not understand what Jesus is teaching them.  They see how good Jesus is, and all the good works that He does, and they see that they are not that good, and that they do not help people as much as Jesus does.  They had to have known that they were not very good disciples of Jesus.  It would have been very tempting for them, maybe even understandable, to just become completely discouraged and give up.

In today’s Gospel reading the disciples have been living with Jesus for about a year, hearing Him preach, watching Him perform miracles, and changing people’s lives.  Instead of becoming discouraged, however, the Apostles did the right thing.  They asked Jesus to “Increase our faith.”

While the Gospel account does not say this, I have to believe that Jesus smiled when the Apostles asked for this increase of faith.  He must have been glad that they asked for help instead of abandoning Him and the mission that He was entrusting to them.  Yet, Jesus’ response is mysterious.  He says that they do not need more faith, rather they just need to use the faith that they already have.

Faith is so basic to being a Christian, yet it is something that is so often misunderstood.  Sometimes it is equated with “wishful thinking,” so some type of problem-free philosophy.  It is when people express Faith in this superficial way that we leave ourselves open to the criticism of atheism – whether it be formally declared atheism, or the more common “practical” atheism in which people may proclaim that they believe in God, but then does not allow their belief in God to have any real impact on how they live their lives.  This is cartoon “faith” and it is not going to move anything.

It is because so many people have such a cartoon-faith that there has been such an public and media shock at the recently published letters of Blessed Mother Teresa.  For those who do not know the book that I am talking about, it was published about a month ago and is entitled, Mother Teresa:  Come Be My Light.  The book is composed mostly of letters that Mother Teresa wrote to her spiritual directors, and what has been found shocking to so many people is that for fifty years Mother Teresa struggled with an interior darkness of feeling abandoned by God.  Most people’s pictures of Mother Teresa is that of one of the happiest people in the world, and that her faith was so strong that nothing bothered her.  To read her write things such as, “The child of your Love, and now [I have] become as the most hated one, the one You have thrown away as unwanted, unloved . . . .” or “Where is my Faith?  Even deep down right in there is nothing but emptiness and darkness,” is shocking for those with a superficial, cartoon-faith.

Such statements, such a “dark night of the soul,” is not a sign that Mother Teresa lacked faith, but rather that she had a mature, strong and contagious faith – it did move mountains, and is still doing so today through her sisters.  Yet her faith did not take away her crosses.  Her faith was so strong that she fulfilled her promise never to deny God anything that He asked, not even suffering.  For her, Faith was strength with length.  It was the power to persevere through difficulties because of the power that comes from knowing that God is in charge.

One philosophical atheist defined faith as “belief in the impossible.”  In other words, believing in something that is not real.  Real Faith, however, is based on the FACT of the Resurrection, on the FACT that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  It is an act of the will.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines it as, “Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God.  At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed.” (#150; emphasis is in the original).

Another cartoon of faith is that it is just “positive thinking,” that if you just trust in God and obey His commands everything will be OK.  While it is true that God loves us, and we are only saved through Jesus, we are called to use the intellect that God has given us.  Reason is a gift from God, and we are called to use it.  While God could miraculously heal us from a serious illness, God usually acts through doctors and their knowledge of medicine.  This is all part of what St. Paul writes to the Philippians when he says, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (2:12).  We recognize that the gifts that we have, the talents that we have, are from God above, and with thankfulness and humility we use them in the service of others for the greater glory of God.

At our baptism, the seeds of Faith, of divine life, was planted in our souls.  Now it is up to us to exercise that Faith, so that it will grow.  This means recognizing, as the Apostles did, that we are capable of doing much more, and we are created for greater things.  It means recognizing that God gives us everything to achieve the great things for which He has made us.  That by deliberately clinging to Him, we make room for Him to work great things in us and through us.

Let us “stir into flame the gift of God,” (Tim. 1:6) namely our Faith so that will will not be ashamed of giving testimony to our Lord Jesus Christ, and in hardship let us bear everything with the strength that comes from God.

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[Lazarus and Dives, illumination from the Codex Aureus of Echternach
Top panel: Lazarus at the rich man’s door.  Middle panel: Lazarus’ soul is carried to Paradise by two angels; Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom.  Bottom panel: Dives’ soul is carried off by two devils to Hell; Dives is tortured in Hell]

One of the current Honda commercials has reminded me of one of my favorite music groups when I was growing up; Electric Light Orchestra, or simply, ELO.  As the commercial talks about Honda’s lastest line of cars, you hear ELO’s 1982 hit, “Hang on Tight to Your Dreams” play in the background.  In their classic rock sound, ELO reminds us, “When you get so down that you can’t get up, and you want so much but you’re all out of luck, when you’re so downhearted and misunderstood, just over and over and over you could, Hold on Tight to Your Dreams” (© EMI April Music, Inc.).

Now I think ELO probably had more materialistic dreams, but a line in today’s reading from St. Paul’s first letter to Timothy also reminded me of that ELO song.  St. Paul strongly urges St. Timothy, to “Lay hold of eternal life, ….”  That is the real dream of every Christian, who like St. Timothy, “made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses.”  When we were baptized, we were claimed by Christ, and we expressed our desire to be with Jesus Christ forever.  Even if we were an infant, like most of us were, when we were baptized, when we received the sacrament of Confirmation we renewed that “noble confession” of Faith.  In fact we renew our baptismal promise each week at Mass when we recite the Creed, and receive Holy Communion – proclaiming ourselves one with Christ Jesus as we receive His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity.  Or have we become complacent in our faith, like those to whom the Prophet Amos address his words which we heard in today’s first reading?

There are, of course, many themes from this weekend’s reading which I could preach on today, but the one that came most strongly to me in prayer was what we call in theology eschatology, or more simply, “The Last Things.”

What are the “Last Things”?  They are Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell.  Besides Heaven, none of these “Last Things” seem particularly pleasant to think about, so I fear that many of us pretty much ignore them.  We go about our lives without giving much thought to our eternal destiny.  It is because of this tendency to ignore this part of our Faith that St. Paul reminds us today to “Lay hold of eternal life.”

Death is the consequence of sin.  The Catechism teaching us that even though God created us mortal, God had not destined us to die, it was not part of the Divine plan.  However, because of our First Parents disobedience, in which we all share, sin entered the world, and with sin, so entered death.  Death became the end of earthly life.  Death reminds all of us that we are mortal, and that we only have a limited amount of time to bring our lives to fulfillment.  However, God in His infinite goodness, did not leave us conquered by this last enemy, Death.  Rather through His Passion and Death Jesus has transformed death from a curse to a blessing.  For all of us who call ourselves Christian, death should now have a positive meaning.  “What is essentially new about Christian death is this:  through Baptism, the Christian has already ‘died with Christ’ sacramentally, in order to live a new life; and if we die in Christ’s grace, physical death completes this ‘dying with Christ’ and so completes our incorporation into him in his redeeming act” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1010).  In death God calls us to Himself, so that Death becomes nothing to be feared if we live our lives in obedience and love towards God.

At the moment of death, each of us will then experience what the Church calls the “particular judgment.”  At that time we will stand before Christ Jesus and receive our eternal retribution in our immortal soul.  As St. John of the Cross describes it, “At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love” (Dichos #64).  Jesus will judge us on whether or not, during our earthly life, we lived a life that accepted the divine grace that He offered us.  If we did, we will enter into the blessedness of heaven; either through purification or immediately.  If we did not, we will enter immediate and everlasting damnation.  At the end of time, all the dead shall be raised, and the outcome of each person’s particular judgment will be made known.  The Church calls this the General Judgment.

What is heaven like?  I am sure it is a question that all of us have pondered at sometime in our lives.  In today’s Gospel parable, Lazarus in heaven is described as resting in the bosom of Abraham.  Sacred Scripture has also described heaven as a wedding party, a banquet, and a state of unending happiness.  Yet the reality of heaven is far beyond any picture that we can imagine.  “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).  To see the unveiled face of God, what the Church calls the beatific vision, will be an indescribable joy.  “In the glory of heaven the blessed continue joyfully to fulfill God’s will in relation to other men and to all creation” (CCC #1029).

Purgatory is the place where those who die in God’s grace and friendship, but are imperfectly purified will go at the time of death.  Those in Purgatory are assured of their eternal salvation, however they still need to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.  Our sins do damage to the whole world, especially to the Mystical Body of Christ, because sin is basically saying “no” to the grace that God wants to offer us.  While God is Merciful, He is also just.  We will need to “make up” for the damage our sins caused.  The good works that we do in this life, when offered for the greater glory of God, not only gives witness to our Faith in God but also contribute to this “making up” for the damage our sins have caused.  If there is still some of this stain, due to our sins, which have been forgiven, then the final purification occurs in Purgatory.  We can help the souls in Purgatory by offering prayers for them and by offering some good work for them.

Hell – it is a reality that our modern culture seems to want to ignore or even deny.  Yet Hell is not something we can deny, for it is a very real possibility, and one that we should fear.  Often Hell is ignored or denied by saying things like “God loves us” or “Jesus is my friend.”  Without a doubt God loves us, He loved us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to suffer and die for us.  Jesus does desire all of us to be His friend, and to share in His new life.  However, “we cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him” (CCC #1033).  Love cannot be forced on anyone; so while God does offer everyone His love, He does not force it on us.  We can, and must, decide to be either for God or against Him.  We cannot say that we love God if we sin gravely against Him, against our neighbor, or against ourselves.  “He who does not love remains in death.  Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:14-15).  “To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice.  This state of definitive self-exclusion for communion with God and the blessed is called ‘hell’” (CCC #1033).

“Lay hold to eternal life.”  We all need to keep in mind these Last Things, so to enflame our hearts with the desire for heaven.  We should be willing to sacrifice all in this life for heaven.  Recently I read Peter Ackroyd’s marvelous biography, The Life of Thomas More.  When St. Thomas More was imprisoned in the Tower of London, awaiting death, his wife Louisa visited him, and with prayers and tears begged him yield to King Henry VIII, assured that due to More’s many years of faithful service to the King his life would be spared.  St. Thomas said to his wife, “Louisa, how many years could I, who am an old man, expect to live?”  She answered him, “You might live for as many as twenty years.”  St. Thomas replied, “Oh, foolish woman, and do you want me for twenty years of this miserable life on earth to forfeit an eternity of happiness, and condemn myself to an eternity of torment?”

Despite being all out of luck, so brokenhearted and misunderstood, St. Thomas More held on tight to his dream – Heaven.  He laid hold to eternal life.  Will we do the same?

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“And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.” The dishonest steward in the parable in today’s Gospel may have been called “prudent,” but I think most of us might choose a different word to describe his behavior; like enterprising, sneaky, or even sly. However, he certainly was not truthful, so how could Jesus hold this, dare we say swindler, up as an example for His followers?

To understand today’s Gospel reading we must keep in mind that the modern bookkeeping systems that we have today were unknown in Jesus’ day. A steward was a person who managed the day to day affairs of a wealthy person, which included keeping record of the owner’s possessions. He was suppose to make money for his employer by loaning people some of his employer’s goods and to get something more in return. The main way that the steward would earn his money would be to add a commission onto the bill. If the steward was dishonest he would also demand a kickback from his suppliers and customers, or charge too much of a commission.

Have you ever been on a cruise? As you know, I was just on one, and the waiters/waitresses, room stewards, and crew were just so wonderful. They quickly learned to anticipate what I liked, and they were always willing to get whatever you might want, and always with a smile. One thing that I learned on this past cruise was that in addition to their room & board, they might only be paid $50/month. That’s for working 6 days/week and 16-hour days. Of course their real income is not from their salary, it is from the gratuities that they receive. If they started to ask for more than the standard gratuity rate, they would be like the dishonest steward in today’s parable.

The wealthy owner in today’s parable probably became aware that his steward was acting dishonestly, which would have also effected his good-name since the steward acted in his name. He lets the dishonest steward know that he is going to be fired.  The steward knows that he needs to do something to secure his future, so he shows mercy to his master’s debtors by changing their promissory notes, hoping that they would remember his kindness when he finds himself in need. Now do not misunderstand the steward’s motive. He did not suddenly have a conversion to honesty. He is a child of the world, and is motivated by purely selfish reasons.

So what is praiseworthy of the steward’s dishonest behavior? Why does Jesus hold him up as an example? Obviously the man’s dishonesty is not praiseworthy. What Jesus notes as praiseworthy is the man’s prudence; he recognized that his situation demanded a decision. If he hesitates, he is ruined.

Jesus tells this parable to shake people out of their complacency. Through His preaching, Jesus has shown people a new way of living life. He has proclaimed the Kingdom of God, and Jesus is confronting His listeners with the need to decide: for Him, or against Him. To postpone this decision is to continue to live one’s life with an attitude of “business as usual,” as if nothing has happened since encountering Jesus. This postponement is in fact deciding AGAINST Jesus, and such a decision is disastrous.

Christ Jesus continues to confront us in the same way. What difference has our encounter with Jesus made in our lives? He is asking us, right now, to make the same decision: Are we for Him, or against Him? It is easy to think that our presence here today at Mass shows that we have already made that decision, and that we are FOR Jesus Christ. However, today’s first reading from the Prophet Amos warns that the decision Jesus demands of us is not complete when we have been to Mass on Sunday.

Amos the prophet was address people who were a lot like many Catholics today. They were very aware of their religious obligations, and they were careful to fulfill them, but after they had fulfilled their religious obligations they considered the rest of their lives their own, to live pretty much however they pleased. Once the Sabbath was over, they were back to business as usual, and this often meant cheating the poor and the gullible if they could get away with it. The prophet Amos condemns these outwardly religious but deeply dishonest people; “The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob; Never will I forget a thing they have done.”

The reading from the Prophet Amos is a stern warning against an over-spiritualized, superficial religion, that puts going to church into a separate compartment from what we do the rest of the week. Our second reading from St. Paul’s letter to Timothy extends this lesson. His command “that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority,” seems rather routine for us today. We need to keep in mind that at the time St. Paul wrote to Timothy the Christian Faith could not be practiced in the open. Many of the first Christians were of the lowest classes of society, and were oppressed, yet St. Paul tells them to pray for all in authority, “that we lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity.” Our prayers must be for Christians and non-Christians, friends and foes.

The message that these three readings share is that the Good News confronts us with the need to make a decision. We are either for Jesus or we are against Him. Simply going to church on Holy Days of Obligations is not enough. If our decision to be FOR Jesus Christ makes no difference in how we live our lives Monday through Saturday, then all the Masses, prayers and almsgiving is in vain. It is all a mockery that cries out to heaven for vengeance. Jesus wants our undivided hearts.

In high school I read a truly amazing book, which was also turned into an excellent movie starring Gregory Peck, called To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. The story takes place in a small town in Alabama in the 1930s. Remember, this was long before the civil rights movement, so there was still a lot of racism and separation of blacks and whites. The story centers on Atticus Finch, played by Gregory Peck. Atticus is a lawyer, and a widower with two school-age children. The county judge assigns Atticus the unpopular task of defending Tom Robinson, a black man who has been falsely accused of crimes against a white woman. The whole town thinks it is terrible that an upstanding white citizen like Atticus Finch would defend a black man accused of such terrible crimes. Atticus is threatened, and both he and his children suffer because of his decision to defend Tom. Near the end of the book Atticus gives a profound reason for doing what he is convinced is the right thing regardless of the risks. He says, “I can’t live one way in town and another way in my home.” Atticus Finch had an undivided heart which was the secret to his integrity, strength of soul, and peace of mind.

Are we convinced that following Jesus, living according to His will, is the right thing? If so we should live our Christian Faith 24/7. Jesus wants us to have an undivided heart so that we too can have strength of soul and peace of mind. He tells us that we can only serve one master, and we must decide who it will be, God or mammon.

If you are thinking that this sounds like a pretty tall order, you are right. It is difficult to make a total decision for Jesus Christ. Often it is difficult to know what He is asking us to do, and often it is even harder to do it.

That is why Jesus gives us the Mass. By listening to the guiding light of Sacred Scripture, and by being strengthened by the power of His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, Jesus enlightens and strengthens us before sending us back to our everyday lives. It is outside the church walls that our decision to live completely for Jesus Christ is put to the test. It is in our everyday life that we encounter Jesus afresh; in the people and circumstances of our lives. It is there, in those everyday moments and circumstances that we are called to live with undivided hearts.
[I am grateful to Fr. John Jay Hughes, Proclaiming the Good News: Homilies for the ‘C’ Cycle, Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, Inc, 1985, pp.223-226, from which I used the main themes for this homily.]

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One of the joys of priesthood, at least for me, is the sacrament of Reconciliation.  I guess I have been lucky, since I have always been at parishes that have promoted this wonderful sacrament.  At St. James in Red Bank, we heard Confessions everyday, except Sunday, and there almost always were people seeking the Lord’s Mercy.  At my current assignment, while we do not offer the sacrament as often as St. James, we always have a good number of people on Saturday.

Greg and Jennifer Willits has produced another wonderful episode of That Catholic Show, and this episode is about Confession.  There is only one thing that I would add to what they say about the sacrament (and maybe they did but I missed it), in addition to the principle effect of forgiving sins, the sacrament also gives us the grace to grow in holiness.  This is why the confession of things that we regularly struggle with, even if they are not mortal sins, is valuable.  We need to overcome even the “small” vices.  One of the prayers that the priest may say, after giving absolution, with I think is very beautiful and brings out the effects of the sacrament goes, “May the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and of all the saints, whatever good you do and suffering you endure, heal your sins, help you to grow in holiness, and reward you with eternal life.  Go in Peace.”

Enjoy That Catholic Show, Episode #8, “I Confess”

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[The Baptismal fount at which I was baptized; St. Anthony’s Church in Trenton, NJ]

November 28, 1964.  In case you are wondering, that’s the day that I was baptized, here in St. Anthony’s Church, at that baptismal fount (OK, the fount was back in what is now the rest rooms).

How many of you remember the date of your baptism?  Do you consider it a special day?  Have you ever reflected on just what a difference your baptism has made in your life?  What does it mean to be a baptized Christian?  I am sure that many of us can give the description of the effects of baptism that we learned in catechism class.  It leaves an indelible mark on our soul, it cleanses us from all sin, it makes us members of the Church, it makes us part of God’s family, and makes us followers of Christ.

A follower of Christ… just what does that mean for us?  In today’s Gospel reading we hear that “Great crowds were traveling with Jesus.”  We should not confuse this “great crowd” as all being disciples of Jesus.  Many of them were probably merely curious about the “latest” big thing, while others were just hoping to get something out of Jesus.  Jesus knows that many who are following Him are not really disciples, and that is why He turns to address the crowd.  Jesus wants to make two things perfectly clear to those who are thinking about following Him as a disciple.

First He wants us to have no illusions about following Him.  His path is hard.  The Cross is NOT an option for the Christian.  Our human nature is fallen, and even though through baptism the stain of Original Sin is cleansed, our nature remains wounded.  The fancy theological word for this is “concupiscence”, and it has three primary effects – a disordering of the passions, a dimming of the intellect, and a weakening of the will.  Due to this wounded human nature, getting back up from the fall is going to be hard, even with the grace of God helping us.  Jesus tells us that it involves self-sacrifice and suffering; “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”  As the famous German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer noted in his book, The Cost of Discipleship, there is no such thing as “cheap grace.”

Yet there is another, equally important, lesson in today’s Gospel passage.  Jesus is teaching us that following Him involves more than just feelings and vague inspirations.  We are also called to use our minds, to put our intelligence and creativity to work in the adventure of following Christ Jesus.  This is evident from the examples that Jesus used in today’s Gospel.  Both the builder and the king had to channel their enthusiasm through the cool filter of reason.  As Christians, as followers of Jesus, we must do the same thing.

Maybe you have felt the emotional excitement that comes from some special grace-filled encounter with the Lord.  Maybe it was a retreat or a pilgrimage.  They can leave us on an emotional high.  Jesus teaches us that these “highs” are like the blossom on a cherry tree; they bloom quickly and fill our souls with a sweet aroma, but then the long, hot summer comes, and we have to persevere patiently.  The cherry blossom is the not fruit, just as the emotional and spiritual “high” is not the fruit of faith.  For the fruit to mature we must persevere in following an intelligent plan of spiritual and apostolic work.  Love, even the lasting love that comes from friendship with Jesus, is often born amidst intense emotions, but it only matures through sweat and suffering, which can only be endured with the aid of reason and conviction.  Following Christ Jesus is more than follow the whim of mere passing emotion; it is a long-term project that deserves and engages the whole person.

Why does such a notion of discipleship seem so alien to many of us?  We accept the fact that success in other walks of life takes hard work, but we think that we can be a faithful disciple of Christ without making any effort.

Like so many of my generation, one of the “great” movies of my youth was “Star Wars.”  George Lucas in an interview once described the work ethic that went into writing the original “Star Wars” screenplay; I guess the younger generation would call it “episode four”.  Lucas said that he grew up in a middle-class Midwestern-style American town, that taught him to put in a full 8-hour day of work, so for 8 hours he would sit at his desk, no matter what happened.  He had to force himself to write by saying that he could not get out of his chair until 5 o’clock.  He even put a big calendar on the wall above his desk, with notes saying that he needed to be at 25 pages by Tuesday, and at page 30 by Wednesday.  He gave himself a five page a day quota, and did not leave “work” until he was done.

“Star Wars” certainly turned out to be a fantastic movie – and for one of my college roommates it even seemed to be a life altering event.  Yet it cannot compare to eternal life with Jesus in Heaven.  In His parables about the builder planning to build a tower and the king planning to go to war, Jesus is trying to telling us that we need to DECIDE to take our Christianity seriously enough that we are willing to work at it, every day, and not just for about an hour a week on Sunday.  We need to put our whole selves into being a disciple of Jesus.

Jesus tells us that if we let family obligations or loyalties mean more to us than what discipleship requires, then we should not bother to follow Him.  He tell us that if we choose to follow Him we must be prepared to share in His rejection, persecution, and perhaps even His death.  Obviously He wants us to weight this decision carefully.  Baptism is more than just a “naming” ceremony, and Confirmation is more than just an excuse to have a party.  They are serious commitments that requires a radical turnabout in our lives so that NOTHING takes precedence over Christ Jesus.

One of the simplest things that we can do to help our spiritual lives become more stable and robust, and to grow in spiritual maturity is to follow through on our spiritual commitments.  We must move beyond the fuzzy feeling spirituality that is so popular today, and develop a mature faith in Jesus our Savior.  Maybe we could commit to daily recitation of the Rosary, or a Holy Hour in our Adoration Chapel.  Maybe we could renew our confidence in Christ’s love through the First Friday devotion of receiving Holy Communion in a spirit of gratitude on nine consecutive First Fridays of the month.  Whatever spiritual commitment that we make does not have to be large.  It can be small, as long as it is substantial, so to move us beyond the fuzzy feelings, into the real, costly grace of being a Disciple of Jesus Christ.

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That’s right my friends, I am leaving on a jet plane tonight, and will not be back for about two weeks.  It’s called R&R.  I am heading to Rome for a couple of days, and then next Friday I will board the SS. Galaxy for a 10-day cruise of the Mediterranean.  I am actually “working” the cruise as the chaplain.  I have to put that in quotes because it is not usually all that strenuous duty; I say Mass everyday, on Sunday in addition to Mass I lead a prayer service for the non-Catholic Christians, say Mass for the crew, visit any one who might end up in the sickbay.  Largely I get to relax, catch up on some reading, and go sight-seeing.  We have stops at Messina, Mykonos, Ephesus, Santorini, Rhodes, Athens, Naples, and back to Rome.  I am bringing my mother along, and plan to take lots of pictures.  I’ll tell you about the trip when I get back.  God Bless.

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[Bernardo Daddi, The Assumption of the Virgin, ca. 1340] 

Two men went fishing.  One man was an experienced fisherman, and the other wasn’t.  Every time the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh.  Whenever the inexperienced fisherman caught a big fish, he threw it back.  The experienced fisherman watched this go on all day and finally got tired of seeing this other man waste good fish.  “Why do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?” he asked.  The inexperienced fisherman replied, “I only have a small frying pan” (Adapted from Hot Illustrations, copyrighted 2001, Youth Specialities, Inc.).

Sometimes, like that fisherman, we throw back the big plans, big dreams, and big opportunities that God sends us, because our faith is too small.  We laugh at the inexperienced fisherman for not figuring out that all he needed was a bigger frying pan, yet how ready are we to increase the size of our faith?  God has big hopes for us – Assumption-sized hopes.

The foundation of Christ’s Kingdom has already been laid, but Jesus has not finished building it up yet.  He is still extending the borders of the Kingdom and gathering more and more people into it.  This is the work of the Church Militant, the Church on earth; to build up Christ’s Kingdom by bringing more people into His friendship so that follow Him and find the meaning of their lives.

But what will happen at the end of history?  What will the Church become when the building of the Kingdom of God is complete?  One of the important lessons of the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary is precisely the answer to that question.  As Christians, we have always seen the Blessed Virgin Mary as an image of the Church.  Mary brought the Infant Jesus into the world, took care of Him as He matured into adulthood, and accompanied Him as He fulfilled His mission.  The Church has a similar relationship with the Mystical Body of Christ.  The Church continually brings Christ into the world through her many works of charity and apostolate, and through bringing more Christians into the world through Baptism.  With her teaching and the Sacraments, the Church cares for and accompanies her members as they grow to maturity and carry out their missions.  And so, just as God assumed Mary into heaven, body and soul, at the end of her earthly mission, so God will lift the whole Church into perfect communion with Himself in heaven at the end of history.  Mary’s Assumption is God’s promise to us.  Every Christian who follows Mary’s path of humility and fidelity to God’s will can look forward to following her into the joys and glories of heaven.  Seeing how God’s hopes for the Blessed Virgin Mary were so wonderfully fulfilled should help us increase our faith; it should stretch out our frying pan.

One of the practical repercussions of this truth is given special attention by today’s liturgical prayers.  In the Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer for today’s Solemnity we hear, “Today the virgin Mother of God was taken up into heaven to be the beginning and the pattern of the Church in its perfection, and a sign of hope and comfort for your people on their pilgrim way.”

Why is it a sign of hope and comfort?  Because earth is NOT heaven.  Our lives on earth are often full of doubts, difficulties, pain and suffering.  We often encounter obstacle after obstacle as we try to follow Jesus.  At times we do not understand why God does not just fix things so that everything would go smoothly.  We are traveling through life in the midst of problems, frustrations and troubles, and sometimes we cannot see the way out.

This is life in a fallen world.  Our faith in Jesus Christ does not take away the cross, just as it did not take away the cross from Mary’s life.  As Simeon prophesied, her heart was pierced by a sword.  Yet the Mother of all Christians was snatched up into heaven at the end of her earthly journey.

When we lift our gaze to her, standing at the right hand of our Lord, we are given the assurance that our God is faithful.  If we stay true to Him, He will be true to us.  Mary’s Assumption gives us comfort and hope as we stumble through the hardships of life, enabling us to persevere through our trials, as she did.  Like Mary, Assumed into heaven, let us rejoice in the Lord even when the world gives us trouble.  [Inspired by “Your Homily for the Solemnity: The Assumption (C),” ePriest.com, 2007]

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Greg and Jennifer Willits released another episode of their YouTude/video podcast, That Catholic Show, last week. This episode is called “Water, Water everywhere”. Enjoy.

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[Fresco of the “Last Judgment” painted by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel]

How many of us have a safety deposit box?  What treasures do you put in it?  I am sure that all of us have made some careful preparations for our retirement; setting up 401b’s and IRAs.  What is your most prized possession?  What special care to you take to protect that prized possession?

“For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”  In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that we need to ask ourselves, “What is my treasure?  What do I value most in my life?”  The famed Russian writer Anton Chekhov once wrote, “When I wanted to understand someone or myself, I considered not actions but desires.  Tell me what you want and I will tell you who your are” (A. Chekhov, “Storia noiosa,” in Racconti, vol. 1.  Milan, Italy:  Oscar Mondadori, 1996, p. 351).

We who call ourselves Christians should desire Christ Jesus above all other things.  Faith is what we should desire above all else.  By faith Abraham sojourned in a foreign land, and in the Letter to the Hebrews, from which we heard in today’s second reading, we hear that Christians are to continue that journey of faith that Abraham started, “as strangers and aliens on earth…seeking a homeland.”  The better homeland that Abraham, and all of us who call ourselves Christians, desire is a heavenly one.

Faith is what we should treasure more than anything else.  But what is faith?  God gives us His own definition of faith in the Letter to the Hebrews, “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.”  Faith is a supernatural knowledge; we know with complete certainty that all the things that God has revealed to us are true.  Faith is not just belief in a set of dogmas.  Rather faith is belief in a person, namely Jesus Christ.  The essence of faith is accepting something as true, not because our own senses assure us of it, but because the person who tells it to us is trustworthy.

Many of today’s intellectuals and cultural elites consider faith to be childish.  They say that mature people do not depend on faith, rather they depend on science and reason.  For them the only way of knowing is through empirical, scientific knowledge.  Because they are so boastful of their opinion, many of us who still value faith are sometimes embarrassed about it.  We cover up our faith in conversations around the water cooler because we do not want people looking down at us.  But we should not be embarrassed by our faith, for faith is a necessary part of any fully human life.  In fact everyone lives by faith, even the intellectuals and cultural elites, to some extent.

What is this?   It is a can of Campbell’s soup right?  Are you sure?  How do you know that it is not a can of poison, or paint, or ink, or manure?  Because it says that it is a can of Campbell’s soup, and most of us have come to trust in this label.  But did any of us see what was put into this can?  We believe that it is tomato soup because we have faith in the label.

Msgr. Luigi Giussani defines faith as a type of knowledge about reality that comes to us through the testimony of a witness.  Just stop and think about how often we believe something because someone has told us it is so.  I read that a friend of mine mother has died and the obituary tells me when and where the wake is going to be, so I go and offer my prayers and support to my friend.  But why do I believe the obituary?  I wasn’t there when my friend’s mother died, nor was I there when my friend made the arrangements with the funeral director.  I have faith that the newspaper is telling me the correct information.  How do we know that any of the history that we learned about in school ever happened?  Without faith there would be no civilization, for each and everyone of us would need to re-invent fire, the wheel, everything on our own because we would not be able to take as true what was handed down to us.  Most of our knowledge comes through faith.  Human society is built on faith.  We could never eliminate faith, but even if we could, it would not make us more mature.  Rather it would make us less human.

The most important criterion of knowledge through faith is the witness.  The witness needs to be someone who knows what they are saying, and has no desire to deceive us.  It is here that we have good reasons to support our faith in God.  We were not eye witnesses to the creation of the universe, but the order and beauty of the cosmos makes it quite reasonable to believe that there was indeed an intelligent creator.  We were not eye witnesses to Christ’s resurrection, but there were eye witnesses who saw the risen Christ, and those eye witnesses founded the Church, which has endured longer than any merely human organization.

Abraham walked by faith, because “he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy.”  Do we find God trustworthy?  To we trust in Jesus?  This cannot be a mere expression of our lips.  It must be a commitment of our heart; we must put our whole mind, our whole heart, and our whole soul into our faith in Jesus.  Even when things do not go the way we would like them to go, we must live by faith, trusting in the one who made us the promise.

This means that we must have an encounter with Jesus Christ.  It is not enough to know things about Jesus, and to fulfill the external obligations of the Church.  We must encounter the risen presence of Jesus in all the moments and situations of our lives.  We must desire Him.  This year, the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, which I and some others in the parish are involved in, will be reflecting on this simple phrase, “Christ in His Beauty draws me to Him.”  It is a call to notice the beauty around us and see in it Christ’s presence speaking to us.  It is a call to develop a true poverty of heart, which is an irrepressible desire for the ultimate and definitive truth that constitutes the human heart.  That truth is Christ.

Does the beauty of Christ Jesus draw you to Him?  Do you trust in Jesus?  Do you desire His kingdom more than anything else?  “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”

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I ran across this neat little take off of the “PC vs Mac” commercials. It is by two seminarians (actually there are three of these videos and one has a young woman in it). The videos compare Natural Family Planning (NFP) and contraception. Check it out.

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