February 23, 2018 – Friday of First week of Lent – Ezekiel 18:21-28

       Ezekiel brings forth the message of the Lord this afternoon, telling us that the Lord does not delight when a wicked man stays in his wickedness and earns punishment, but rather the Lord delights when the wicked man turns his back on his evil ways and changes his heart. We have so many in our world today who turn their backs on both God’s and man’s laws, who want to stay on those evil paths, who do not want to hear the Lord’s voice calling out to them. We may say that God’s laws and man’s laws are unfair, but what about the ways that we break those laws, that we give into temptation and into sin?

       We hear this message during the first week of Lent. Lent in about changing our ways and turning back to God.  It is usually hard to break old habits and to reform our lives. It is usually very hard to break out of the chains of addictions, out of our laziness and complacency. But that is what the Lord is calling us to do.  And he will rejoice when we are able to do so.   

2/22/2018 - Homily for the Chair of Peter - Matthew 16:13-19

     Today, we celebrate the feast of the Chair of Peter, the Apostle, a celebration which links us to the universal Church and to the faith of the apostles that has been passed down to us.   This feast has been celebrated in Rome since the 4th century. The principal diocese of the Catholic Church is Rome and the Pope is its bishop.  Many of the faithful may think that the Pope’s cathedral is St Peter’s in Vatican City, but it is actually the Church of St John Lateran. In the Gospel today, we hear how Christ builds his Church upon Peter, the rock. The unity of our Church is expressed by the solidarity and unity that each diocese and each Bishop has with the Diocese of Rome and with each other.  In an age when many churches try to distance themselves from denominations and a central authority, priding themselves on their independence and their ability to speak for themselves, we Catholics pride ourselves in the universality of our faith, for the rituals we have practiced for centuries, and for our rich history and traditions.  When the Pope speaks formally from the Chair of Peter, it is the faith of the whole Church that he proclaims, not just the personal faith of one person.  As Jesus gives Peter a mission in today’s Gospel, it is a mission we all share in as disciples of Christ. Today, as we celebrate the Chair of Peter, may we pray in solidarity with Pope Francis, and with our Pope Emeritus, Pope Benedict XVI, giving thanks for the leadership we have in our universal faith. 

February 21 2018 - Wednesday of the 1st week of Lent – Jonah 3:1-10

      The tale of Jonah is often thought of as a children's story complete with a whale and a great adventure. As a college student in North Carolina, I recall attending a Sunday morning service in a Baptist church in which there was a tent fashioned into a whale at the front of the church in order to re-enact the story of Jonah.  All of the children entered it in order to simulate the fantastic journey that Jonah took; they seemed absolutely thrilled to do so.  Yet, the real message of the book of Jonah is very serious, giving us an opportunity to stretch our understanding of God and his salvation. 

     Today’s first reading tells of God's second call to Jonah and his less than enthusiastic response.  He tells Jonah to go to the great city of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, the nation that had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and that held the southern kingdom as a vassal state for almost one hundred years.  Assyria was a brutal occupying force that forever changed Israel's future. Jonah is called out by God to go and prophesy to the capital city of Israel’s enemy.

       We could berate Jonah for his little faith, but, instead, we would try to identify with Jonah rather than to criticize him, to empathize with the seemingly impossible mission to which God has called him.  With the tasks we are called to in our modern world, we could consider Jonah a patron saint who struggled with the same things.  We may think that we cannot make a big difference in the world, that we might as well just fall in line and make the best living we can for ourselves and our family.  Our calling from God and our values may tell us we need to head East to Nineveh, but we all too often turn around, walk away, and get on the boat with Jonah as a means of escape.  Perhaps we find it too difficult or too lonely to walk the way of faith, to choose the path of faith over the ways of our secular world.  And by running away, perhaps we find ourselves in the belly of the whale, or out of touch with our calling from God, or very distant from a sense of meaning and purpose.  We are called to think about those things that we try to flee in our life of faith, things that we are being called to do by God, but we are scared or uninterested or just don’t have the inclination to do what God is asking us to do.  This story of Jonah’s calling gives us pause to think and reflect, doesn’t it? 

2/20/2018 - homily for Tuesday of the 1st week of Lent - Matthew 6:7-15

    When I was serving as pastor of St James Catholic Church in Tupelo, the city of Tupelo was going through some difficult times.  There were some moments of violence and tension that we felt needed to be addressed.  Some of the ministers in the city wanted to get together to specifically address these concerns.  A small group of minsters spent most of the meeting telling us what their concerns were and the way they felt those concerned should be addressed.  We sat there very patiently and listening, knowing that it was important for them to be heard.  Yet, when they were finished talking, I thought it would be the time for the rest of us to respond and to give our own opinions.  However, I was in shock when the meeting abruptly ended and the rest of us were not given the opportunity to speak.  This small group wanted us to listen and to hear them out, but, the message I received in that meeting was that they did not care what the rest of us were thinking or what we felt.  To them, it was not a conversation, but rather them lecturing us and telling us the way they wanted things to be.  And then there is anger and hurt feelings when the results they expect don’t occur.  

       I guess that is what Jesus is talking about today in the way we pray.  We want God to listen to us.  We want to pour out our hearts to him.  But are we willing to listen to what God has to say to us?  Or are we too impatient and too arrogant, wanting our own will to be, rather than his will. 
        This Lenten season, let us try to foster a relationship with the Lord.  Let us try to discern his will, and then submit to his will.  Yes, may his kingdom come.  May his will be done.

14 de febrero de 2018 – Miércoles de cenizas – 2 corintios 5, 20 - 6, 2; Mateo 6, 1-6, 16-18

     La Cuaresma comienza hoy con el Miércoles de Ceniza.  La Cuaresma es un tiempo de oración, penitencia y ayuno.  Es cuarenta días que marca para la conversión de nuestros corazones.  Las palabras que se usamos para la imposición de cenizas son: “Arrepiéntete y cree en el Evangelio”.  De nuestros pecados, de nuestros culpas, de nuestros errores, necesitamos el arrepentimiento.  En Israel, los judíos acostumbraban cubrirse de ceniza cuando hacían algún sacrificio y como signo de su deseo de conversión de su mala vida a una vida con Dios.  En los primeros siglos de la Iglesia, las personas que querían recibir el Sacramento de la Reconciliación el Jueves Santo, se ponían ceniza en la cabeza y se presentaban ante la comunidad vestidos con un hábito penitencial,  representando la voluntad de convertirse.

     En sus enseñanzas en el Evangelio de hoy sobre las obras de piedad y la manera de orar, Jesús nos enseña sobre el reino de Dios.  ¿Qué es el Reino de Dios?  Es decir que la voluntad de Dios se realice en la vida de cada uno de nosotros, viviendo como Dios quiere que vivamos.  El Reino de Dios se nos manifiesta y se hace presente en el mundo a través de Cristo.  El Reino de Dios es hacer en todo momento lo que agrada a Dios y hacer siempre lo que Dios nos manda.  Este Miércoles de Ceniza, Jesús nos invita a hacer presente en nuestra vida el Reino de Dios.  El nos invita a abrir nuestros corazones a lo que Dios quiere y espera de nosotros.  Jesús quiere que nuestra vida se realice de acuerdo a los planes de Dios; por eso, necesitamos vivir una conversión.  En la conversión, necesitamos tener cambios en la vida - cambios en el modo de vivir en nuestras relaciones con nosotros mismos - cambios en el modo de vivir nuestra relación con nuestro prójimo y con Dios.

         “Arrepiéntete y cree en el Evangelio”.   Creer en el Evangelio no significa simplemente estar de acuerdo con lo que nos dice la Palabra de Dios.  Significa ponerlo en práctica; vivirlo; hacerlo vida.  El camino que nos lleva a vivir el Reino de Dios, por lo tanto, es la conversión.  No hay otro camino.  Todos nosotros somos responsables del mal y del pecado que llena actualmente el mundo.  Si queremos que las cosas cambien, necesitamos empezar a cambiar nuestra propia vida.

         La Cuaresma es una temporada de gracia, una temporada de salvación.  Dios nos da la oportunidad y los medios que necesitamos para emprender un cambio y una renovación en nuestra vida personal y nuestra vida comunitaria.  Aprovechemos la ocasión que se nos presenta.  San Pablo nos decía hoy en su segunda carta a los corintios: “En nombre de Cristo les pedimos que se reconcilien con Dios.”  Cristo entregó su vida por nosotros.   El nos quiere como verdaderos hijos de Dios. Eso es nuestro papel como discípulos de Cristo cada día de nuestro camino de fe.

2/18/2018 – Homily for the First Sunday in Lent – Mark 1:12-15

      We start off the first Sunday of Lent with Jesus being thrown into the desert, where he is tempted and tested.  Temptation: that is something all of us have to deal with in our lives of faith, isn’t it?  In fact, doesn’t it seem like we are tempted in a special way during Lent?  We can give up something like chocolate during Lent, and during other times of the year, we can go for weeks and weeks without eating chocolate or thinking about it, but then Lent comes around, and it seems like what we give up is everywhere we turn, calling our name and leading us into temptation. 

       What I find interesting, is that it is God’s Holy Spirit that drives Jesus into the desert as recounted in Mark’s Gospel. It is the Spirit that puts Jesus there, where he is tempted by Satan.  Yet, we know that Jesus is not alone in the desert wilderness.  Unfortunately, the wild beasts are also there, threatening to destroy him. However, the angels are also there, ministering to him.  We all have wild beasts or demons in our lives that threaten to destroy us, don’t we?  And we all have angels who help us and minister to us as well.   From today’s Gospel of Jesus being tempted in the desert, we can take away this message: Lent is to be a time of transformation and renewal.  

         In Mark’s Gospel, it states that Jesus is driven into the desert right after his baptism in the Jordan River.  Jesus was called to this time of trial and testing and transformation before he started his earthly ministry.   And we need to be driven into a time of conversion, transformation, and renewal as well.  All human institutions are in need of transformation, change, and renewal, because by its very definition, anything human is flawed and not perfect.  Our Church, our society, our lives – they are all in need of change and renewal.  We gave you these promise cards to fill out for Lent.  We asked you to turn them in because we wanted you to make a commitment to God and to our faith community that you are using this time of Lent for renewal, that you are serious about your commitment to God.  Several parishioners commented to me that they thought it would take a few minutes to fill those cards out, but it took a lot of time and thought, didn’t it?  Anything we take seriously in life takes a lot of time and thought and commitment, doesn’t it?

       When I was walking the Camino in Spain for three weeks these in January of last year, I heard someone say this: If you do not carry St James in your heart as you walking the Camino each day, if you do not bring him into your heart and in your mind, then you will not find him when you arrive in his Cathedral at the end of the pilgrimage route.   I found that to be so true. The minute I landed in Spain for my pilgrimage, I really felt that I had entered the land of St James.  I prayed with him each day on the Camino. I lifted up all my parishioners, my family and friends, and all my prayer intentions to the intercessions of St James as I hiked on his pilgrimage. And when I entered his Cathedral at the end of the hike, when I went up to hug his statue and thank him for helping me arrive safely, I felt so much emotion and joy.  Tears streamed down my face. I really felt his presence and his welcome.  And that is how we are to approach Lent as a special time in our liturgical year.  In our prayers, our fasting, and our works of charity; in our time during Lent at mass, in the sacrament of reconciliation, and in praying the stations of the cross; we are to feel God’s presence and are to walk with Jesus on our Lenten journey, to accompany him on his way to the cross. If we take Lent seriously and try to honor our Lent promises, then we will truly feel the joy of the resurrection at Easter.
          Mary Oliver is one of my favorite American poets.  Her poems are filled with honesty and a sense of a spiritual journey.  A few years back, I heard Mary Oliver recite this short prose poem in an interview with Krista Tippett on the radio program ON BEING on NPR:  “Things take the time they take. Don’t worry. How many roads did St. Augustine follow before he became St. Augustine?"  What a wonderful quote!  We all need patience on our Lenten journey.  We need commitment, steadfastness, and courage as we travel these 40 days.  Like St Augustine, we may need to purge, change, and transform a lot in our lives in order to become the person God calls us to become.  Catholic author Matthew Kelly calls this “becoming the best version of yourself.”  We may need to take a lot of radical steps to become that best version of ourselves.  Indeed, being in the desert with Jesus in not easy.  Being tempted and attacked by those demons and wild animals will not be easy.  But let us take courage.  Let us have faith.  God is with us during these 40 days. 

2/16/2018 – homily for Friday after Ash Wednesday – Isaiah 58:1-9A, Matthew 9:14-15

       Our readings today address the topic of fasting.  The disciples of John the Baptist wondered why they and the Pharisees fast, but Jesus' disciples do not fast at all.  Through the Prophet Isaiah, the Lord tells us that some types of fasts are false – those that are trumpeted before others and those that are put on for show. Instead, God wants a quiet, private fast that comes out of our humility and out of our desire for a closer relationship with God. 

        Pope Francis often has a way with words that get us to think about things. In a Lenten message he delivered a couple of years ago, the Pope spoke about a fast from indifference, stating that we are often tempted out of indifference in our daily lives.  On the evening news and in the newspapers, we are bombarded with stories of human suffering and war, violence and terrorism, which can overwhelm us and make us feel helpless and numb.  We often respond with apathy, indifference, and withdrawal. Pope Francis asserts that we can avoid this indifference by praying in union with the Church, by helping others in works of charity and mercy, by responding to a call to renewal and conversion, and through an awareness of the suffering of others and standing in solidarity with them.  Our Lenten disciplines of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving are not to be empty gestures or exterior motions.  Our fasting is to make a difference on our journey of faith.  May our Lenten disciplines draw us closer to God.