The Impossible Dream

The Scripture readings for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/073116.cfm

What is the most important thing in your life? Is it Christ that is the center of all you do? Or is it the things that St. Paul speaks of in his letter to the Colossians: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry? (Colossians 3:5) Paul calls us to put these things to death, and to turn our lives over to God, we are to put on a "new self." Put on Christ who is all and in all.

We learn from Jesus in the parable about the rich fool who has made his possessions more important than his relationship with God. This is not what God expects of us! The rich man thinks he'll have an easy life with no cares and worries now that he has an abundant crop. He fails to realize that God is the center of all who we are. We are not to store up treasure here on earth without realizing that our true home will be in heaven. Yes, belongings and blessings here in this life are nice to have, but only in the sense that we use them in service of others and in deepening our relationship with God. Belongings are not the end all of our lives.

The readings for today's Holy Mass reminds me of the 1960's play "Man of La Mancha" which is based on the novel by Cervantes, "Don Quixote". The main character, Don Quixote is out to make the world a better place and is considered crazy by all who surround him, both family, and those he encounters during his quest to make the world a better place. Dulcinea, the prostitute that Don Quixote falls in love with, much to her dismay, asks, "Why do you do the things you do?" He responds with the classic song, "The Impossible Dream". Some of the phrases that Don Quixote sings in response to Dulcinea's question is, "to right the unrightable wrong. To love pure and chaste from afar," "To fight for the right. Without question or pause. To be willing to march into Hell for a heavenly cause."

This is what St. Paul is calling us to do in his writing the Colossians by inviting us to put on a "new self", that of service to others and love of Christ. By doing these things for others, in the name of Christ, we will be storing up treasure in heaven.

How do we set our sights on the things of God and the treasures of heaven? We do it when we come to Mass on the weekend rather than skip Mass in order to sleep in late on a Sunday. We do it when we take the time  from a busy day to be with the Lord in prayer and discern His will for our life, with the Sacrament of Penance where we repent the wrong we've done and renew what is good in our life.  We do it when we receive Holy Communion to strengthen our relationship with Jesus Christ as the most enduring thing we can have in this world. We do it when we use money and resources  we have to advance the Kingdom of God, to help others along the way.

Build up your spiritual assets in your life. This way, when we meet the Lord, we leave behind everything we have and take with us everything we are and have become.

What are the spiritual assets, the spiritual wealth, we are acquiring to bring before the Lord? If, as the man in Jesus' parable, an accounting were required tonight, what would we bring to the Lord?

Ask and You Will Receive

Readings for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/072416.cfm

In many societies around the world, bargaining for a good price is the customary way of doing things. You are never expected to pay the price that is written on the price tag. You are expected to haggle over the price to bring it down. The merchant knows what you are doing because he or she knows that this is a normal way of doing business. Only in the United States, and perhaps a few other countries, are you expected to pay the list price. Bargaining isn't the US way of doing business.

When Abraham began bargaining  with God, he wasn't haggling over the price of a piece of merchandise. There was something far more serious involved. God was preparing to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Although Abraham knew that and the sins of the city, Sodom was also the home of his nephew, Lot, and his wife and family.

At this point of time and history, Abraham did not yet fully trust God. Abraham didn't fully know him in the way he would later on. So he is a little insecure in his attempts to talk to God out of his intended destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

As we heard in our first reading Abraham begins negotiating with God with a question: "Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty?" In essence, Abraham is playing with the idea that God wouldn't destroy the innocent. So Abraham appeals to God's sense of fairness.

As the story continues, Abraham almost sheepishly, yet boldly whittles the number of innocent from 50 down to 10. And God agrees, if there are ten innocent people, he will not punish these two cities.

The irony is that there are less than 10 people in Sodom, for Lot and his small family are the only innocent people living there. But God is greater and more generous than Abraham imagined.

Today's Gospel from Luke makes much the same point: God is greater and better than we can imagine. I know if a friend came to me in the middle of the night to give him food for his friends arriving from a journey, I'd be pretty upset. But I know with persistence from my friend, I'd give him what he needs just to get rid of him. In effect, persistence wins out in the end.

Jesus turns this story into a lesson about perseverance in prayer. He draws on human kindness and goodness and points out that even we who are sinners know how to care for one another and be good to one another. How much more will our heavenly Father care for us and willingly do good? God is always there for us in all our needs and knows our needs before we even ask.

Because God doesn't need us to tell him what we need, prayer is not about informing God of our needs. Prayer is more for us than for God. God knows our condition better than we know it ourselves, but wants us to express our faith and confidence in Him through persistent prayer.

Like Abraham, we are to approach God with a degree of confidence and trust -even when our our confidence and trust leaves much to be desired. God can use whatever little trust we have to bring us to greater faith and confidence. God is better than our wildest imagining. He will not be outdone in generosity and goodness.

When we approach the altar for the Eucharist, we confidently express our faith in the goodness of God who laid down his life so that we might have eternal life. There is no greater gift than the Eucharist. We are receiving the Body & Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. It is God's generosity and goodness at it's very best. May we use this opportunity to increase our faith and confidence in God as we make known our needs and petitions to him.

Hospitality

Mass readings for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/071716.cfm

Who do you relate to in today's gospel from Luke? Martha or Mary? In our society of busyness and activity, many people would relate to Martha. Always active, and getting upset at those that we consider lazy. We get upset at those who we feel aren't doing enough of their fair share of things when we have company.

When we see Martha and Mary, what we should be seeing is the two sides of relating to God in our lives and in the life of the Church. Martha, with all her busyness, is important in getting things done in our lives of service to the Lord. We're busy doing things for the family, paying bills, getting to work and dealing with the boss and those in our work place, etc, etc. When we finally pray, we tend to be still busy. We rattle off our rosary or pray from scripture or do our other prayers that we feel a need to do. All these things are important, but we need the "Mary factor" in order to put balance in our lives! We need to be able to sit at the feet of Jesus, with open ears and open minds to hear Him respond to our cares and concerns that we place before him.

In our first reading from Genesis, we see Abraham, who at this point is about 99 years old. Abraham lived a long life being "busy for the Lord". He's sitting in front of tent, being quiet and prayerful, probably thinking of his relationship with God. His patience is paid off by a visit by "three men standing nearby." (Genesis 18:2) According to tradition, these three men represent the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Abraham responds by being generous to them, and in his hospitality, offers them food and drink. In return to his generosity, the Lord promises that the elderly Sarah will have a son by the following year. This son to be born of Sarah is Isaac. It is through Isaac that the Lord promises: "I will maintain my covenant as an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him." (Genesis 17:19) It is through Abraham's active and prayerful service that God blesses him and Sarah.
 
In our readings from Genesis with Abraham, and our reading from Luke with Martha and Mary, we learn that the being quiet with the Lord is necessary for a mature and strong spiritual life. Being in the quiet presence of Christ gives u a chance to pull all the separate strands of our life together. It's much like stopping and looking at a road map (or GPS) to compare where we are with our eternal destination.

It is through this prayer of listening, we begin to recognize the presence of God who comes in all kinds of unexpected ways, as the Lord does to Abraham. The Lord is present to us in good times and in bad times. Everything that happens to us is seeded with grace. Quiet prayer, listening to the Lord, helps these seeds grow.

Further, this quiet prayer allows us to gain spiritual wisdom. It's where we take the word of the Lord and make it truly our own.. Such a time of prayer, listening to the Lord, enables us to discover the particular way we follow Christ as spouse, parent, child of elderly parent, government worker, professional, student, parish priest or deacon. It gives us the kind of wisdom that doesn't come prepackaged out of books but is born in the presence of the Lord.

This kind of prayer, listening to the Lord, is different from "saying prayers" when we so often don't take the time to listen to the Lord because we're so busy speaking.

In our culture we are more into "doing things" than in taking time to reflect. This work ethic can infiltrate our prayer life so that we think that the only kind of prayer worth doing is "saying prayers," working prayers where we feel we're doing something.

But the "prayer of listening" takes its own kind of discipline and strength. The prayer of listening to the Lord takes work but it makes our time with Christ a source of energy and power and vision. Further, this kind of prayer is open to everyone. It has nothing to do with age, income level, IQ, family size, whether someone is male or female, single or married, priest or deacon, or lay person. The Lord touches each of us where we are.

Taking this quiet time is most important in our call as Christians. Take the time necessary to be alone with the Lord. This prayer will bring us closer to Christ, our spiritual center.

Give Peace a Chance

"Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred." Martin Luther King from "I Have a Dream"

"He said in reply, 'You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. '"(Luke 10:27)

 "All we are saying is give peace a chance." John Lennon

Will this killing ever stop? Five police officer killed who were just doing their jobs in Dallas. Innocent men trying to make their world a safer place by protecting it!

Blacks being killed by the police that are called to protect them!

Innocent people in a gay dance club, there just to have a good time, gunned down due to hatred towards them and their life style!

When will this hatred and violence stop?

We're living in a country where the culture of death has been growing, growing and growing. We live in a country that, since the 1973 disastrous Supreme Court decision, Roe v Wade, made the killing of innocent children in the womb legal. Violence in this country seems to have grown and gotten worse since 1973.  Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, "We must not be surprised when we hear of murders, of killings, of wars, of hatred. If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other."

We are all called to bring peace into the world, as John Lennon says, "Give peace a chance." Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ calls us to not only love God, but to love our neighbor as ourselves. Our neighbors are those around us. Our neighbors are the police officers called to protect us, our neighbors are those who "look" different than us: they are the blacks, the whites, all those who call America home. Our neighbors are those who are in the LGBTQ community. We must love and respect all people regardless of who they are and how they choose to live their lives!

We are called, as Dr. King tells us, to not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. Dr. King is teaching us to love and respect all people, and to make the world a better place through this mutual love and respect..   

Further, we are called to end the violence of abortion, and realize that what we are killing is a human being. Once this is done, maybe we can move on to make this world a better and safer place for all people.

Black lives matter, white lives matter, police lives matter, LGBTQ lives matter! And human lives in the mother's womb matter!

Give peace a chance!

The Christ of God

Scripture readings for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/061916.cfm

Who do people say that the candidates for president are? The last primary was last Tuesday in Washington, D.C., but while we know who the candidates with the most delegates are, who are these people? Some say that one is a threat to the economy, world peace, and our lives as Ameicans. The other, for some, is the hope of the future, the leader with strength, and the one who will rescue the country from all that ails us. People say a lot of things. Only one thing is certain: no candidate is the Messiah.

During the time of Jesus, the Jewish people were under the control of Roman occupation. They longed for a political leader that will rescue them from these brutal oppressors. Many saw Jesus as one of the candidates for their eventual savior. Was he a John the Baptist (a popular outsider with a new and exciting message), Elijah, one of the "old faithful" (who was promised by the prophet Malachi to return) or was he an ancient prophet from the dead - because the only heroes are in the past, right?

God's vindication in the "Christ" would be the final defeat of and retribution of their enemies. Instead of fulfilling the people's dream that God's Anointed one would inflict great suffering on the Romans, this Messiah would suffer at the hands of their own leadership

This Messiah is not good at winning baseball games, picking the right lottery numbers, paying off mortgages, finding a cure for cancer, or getting our grandchildren to church. This Messiah does not guarantee that the best person for any country will win an election. The Jesus of the New Testement will always prove to be a disappointment to the expectations of victory and triumph.

Rather, Jesus leads us to places we've never dreamed of and, if we're honest, never really hoped for. The Messiah leads us to self-denial. Rather than a simple denial of certain things in our lives, the Messiah mandates a rejection of a life based on self-interest and self-fulfillment. The Messiah leads us to the cross. Struggling to love and serve our communities and our families can be a heavy burden to bear. Caring for an imperfect Church, a loved one in difficulty, or the sick and mentally challenged who have nothing to offer in return is a yeoman's task.

The Messiah asks us to follow Him. Our job is not to manipulate God into doing what we want. As Christians, we cannot believe that things happen by chance; each moment of conflict and of compassion is the place where Christ invites us to die and rise with Him for the cost of love. He goes before us.

Jesus is the Christ. He really does bring salvation to humanity, but He leads us to all that God hopes humanity to become. We have been created in grace to live and love beyond ourselves and to follow  Christ's lead. That path leads to the "other" who needs our death to self so that they might know the compassion and mercy of God. No candidate for election could ever win on that kind of platform - but then again, neither did Jesus.

What do people say the Eucharist is? Some say a symbol; some say a ritual meal. Others know that it is the Paschal Mystery - the dying and rising of Jesus again for us: the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. Only in a love born of sacrifice  can we have communion with Him and with one another. Today, we say "Amen" to the Body of Christ and to anywhere He leads us when we walk out of the church doors.

Anniversary of my Ordination to the Diaconate

It was six years ago, June 19th, 2010, that I and my classmates were ordained to the Holy Order of Deacon at the Cathedral of St. Patrick in New York City by His Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan. After years of preparation at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, New York, me and my classmates finally made it to this special day. I remember the day well. It felt like we were all walking on a cloud as we processed from the the rear of the Cathedral to the Sanctuary to the beautiful music of "All Creatures of our God & King." From that day forward that music and hymn brings me back to that beautiful day.

As the mass moved along, we were called by the bishop to come forward, each of us found acceptable to be ordained, and we promised our obedience to the bishop and his successors. Then, lying prostrate in the sanctuary, the Litany of the Saints were beautifully sung by the choir of St. Patrick's.

Then, one after another, my classmates and I knelt before Cardinal Dolan who laid his hands on each of us to confer the Holy Order of Deacon. It's hard to explain the emotions that were going through each one of us! Joy, but more than joy! We were overjoyed!! It felt, to me, as if this is what heaven must be like.

Then the Cardinal gave to each one of us the Book of the Gospels, saying to each one of us as he did so, "Receive the Gospel of Christ,  whose herald you now are. Believe what you read,  teach what you believe,  and practice what you teach."

Since being ordained, I have attempted to live out these words in every act that I do for Christ, whether assisting at Holy Mass, performing a baptism, performing a marriage, or going to the funeral home to help families deal with the loss of a loved one. In each of these experiences, I was feeling the presence of Christ. I was teaching and practicing my belief that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, and that He's present to all of us in whatever situation we face.

Pray for me and my 12 classmates as we continue to serve God in His Holy Catholic Church. Know that you will be in my prayers as well.

Immaculate Heart of Mary

The scripture readings for today can be found at www.usccb.org/bible/readings/060416.cfm

As I write this I am on retreat at the Most Precious Blood Monastery in Brooklyn, New York. At morning mass as I read the gospel from St. Luke,  chapter 2, where the account of the finding of the Child Jesus can be found,  the phrase that struck me most is Jesus responding to Mary, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

We search for Jesus in many different places in our lives,  or we don't search for him at all. It's important that we keep Jesus at the center of all we do. Place Jesus in the center and heart of all your cares and worries. If you have cares and anxiety like the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph in search of the Child Jesus,  know you can find him in his Father's house and he'll help you through your cares and worries.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the loving presence of St. Joseph pray for us and help us in all our cares and troubles.