For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/051308.shtml
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us!
Baccalaureate Mass for 2008 Graduates of St. Thomas Aquinas High School
Jesus gives better advice, as you might expect, than anything I could think to tell you, the Class of 2008, at your final Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. In the Gospel proclaimed by the Church throughout the world today, Jesus says to His disciples: Watch out! Guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. As astute graduates of an esteemed high school through which you have pursued theological study, you should all immediately know what Jesus is talking about here. The leaven of the Pharisees consists in their overemphasis on religious law, to the exclusion of heartfelt love of God and of neighbor. The leaven of Herod is an overemphasis on the things of the world, to the exclusion of love of God and neighbor. From both of these leavens Jesus asks you, the class of 2008, to be on guard. Your advice, class of 2008, from Jesus is simple: Watch out!
As we learn from Jesus' instructions to his disciples in today's Gospel, Jesus has a really, really hard time softening the hearts of his disciples. He has a really hard time opening their eyes and ears and getting them to truly contemplate the things of heaven. The reason there were twelve baskets of bread left over after Jesus fed the 5000, and 7 baskets of bread left over after Jesus fed the 4000, was to point to the superabundance of life and love awaiting all of us in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus came to earth, not to feed us for a day, but to point us all to heaven, to a place so far beyond our imagining, a place so much better than anything Adam and Eve experienced in the garden of Eden. For in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve did not see the face of God, nor were they invited to participate completely in the love of the Holy Trinity, nor were they invited to have all of their millions of desires, and to have their greatest desire, to speak to God face to face as a friend, fulfilled in a single instant. No, Adam and Eve were offered none of these things in the garden, but all of these things are offered to the disciples of Jesus who are willing to follow Him through His paschal mystery. Yet Jesus has a dickens of a time getting the disciples to realize what heaven is really like. He has a hard time getting them to soften their hearts, to open their eyes and ears, and to realize the superabundance of life and love to which He is inviting them. After feeding the 5000, He said to them that whoever eats that bread will be hungry again, and will eventually die, but whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood will never die, but will inherit everlasting life! Yet here He is again, after the fact, teaching disciples who are worried about whose fault it was that they only remembered to bring one loaf of bread on the boat!
Jesus asks you, the class of 2008, to not fall into this trap of basing your lives on the leaven of Herod or the leaven of the Pharisees. He asks you to guard against the leaven of Herod, and to not fall into the temptations and traps of materialism and secularism that lie before you. As St. James says in our first reading, the idolatry that trusts more in things and in human esteem than in God leads to patterns of sin in your life, and these patterns of sin lead to the death of your soul and to the death of your relationship with God. We are all sinners, and there is no shame in this because we have a Savior, Jesus, who loves us at the point of our weakness, and is always there to heal and strengthen us, and to free us so that we may start again on the path of goodness. Dear seniors, whatever you do, do not fall away from the sacrament of reconciliation in the years ahead, and if you have already fallen away from it, return as quickly as you can. Go to confession every month when you are in college. We are all sinners, and we all give in to the things of this world, and we are always tempted to form addictions to things that are less than what God desires for us. This is the leaven of Herod. Jesus asks us however, to keep fighting for the gifts of God that last forever, and not to be too prideful to ignore the gift of His mercy or too wimpy to give in and to give ourselves over to a life of sin. Dear seniors, continue to be humble and courageous in your pursuit of virtue and holiness. Do not let your hearts become hardened, your eyes and ears closed to the reality of how much God loves you and desires you to have life and happiness in great abundance! Let your sinfulness not bring you despair or cause you to lower your expectations of yourelf, but let those sins lead you back to Jesus. May they only serve increase your dependence upon the unique love Jesus has for you, and may it deepen your conversation and friendship with Him who is always ready to forgive your sins!
As your courageously battle against the leaven of Herod, guard also against the more invidious leaven of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were indicted by Jesus for trying to control the gifts of God, and to define who was worthy of salvation. By trying to ration the gifts of God, they showed that their hearts were far from the kingdom of heaven. We can be guilty of the same thing, especially when we view heaven as a distant reality, as a place where we might want to go after squeezing every ounce of happiness out of our earthly lives. We can see heaven as a place we might like to go someday, but not today since we don't know much about it, and as a place for people who didn't mess up too badly while on this earth. This is not the heaven to which Jesus invites us, however. Jesus begs his disciples to be people who are ready for the things of heaven right here, right now. In the Eucharist you are about to share for the last time as a St. Thomas Aquinas community, Jesus invites you, the class of 2008, to pray with the angels and with the saints from all of human history, and to enter into the reality of heaven made possible by His Resurrection and Ascension. Too often, like the Pharisees, we are too concerned with micro-managing our lives here below without ever thinking about heaven, and we are guilty of thinking about God as something we can add to our lives here on earth to make our lives a little better. My dear friends, the kingdom of heaven to which Jesus invites us is not something we can make a bigger part of our lives, it is an altogether new reality to which we must abandon ourselves. You've heard me say to you while I was your chaplain - the leaven of the Pharisees is their thinking that they can control the salvation of God, their thinking that they can move the Grand Canyon into their living room. Jesus came that we may have more life, and have it in abundance (Jn 2:5) but to realize his promises, we cannot approach going to Mass the same way we approach shopping, giving it a relative value within the context of our lives. Yes, Jesus wants us to get something out of Mass, he wants to make our lives better, but first we must recognize that He is through the Mass offering us a bigger and better life than anything we can imagine or hope for, and we must resist every temptation to fit Him in when it is convenient for us!
So go to Mass and go to confession in college. Go as often as you can. Be disciples, class of 2008, who keep your hearts and minds fixed on the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. It is from heaven that every perfect gift comes, as St. James says to us today. Never stop pursuing the perfection that God has marked out for you and wants to accomplish within you. Never settle for anything less. Ask Mary, your Mother, to guide you in knowing your vocation, and in responding to that vocation with generosity and with a soul that magnifies the Lord. Ask Mary to be close to you in your struggle for chastity, for in trying to keep this virtue you will distinguish yourselves from your peers, give a convincing witness to the truth of the Gospel, and experience a freedom to recognize a call to sacramental marriage or to religious life. Do not be like others who when asked what Jesus wants them to do with their lives, say 'Uh, I don't know!' You know Jesus' voice. It has been with you from your baptism. He asks you to follow Him as exactly as you can, and so I challenge this class of 2008 to do everything you can to not throw away your vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Jesus will not let you down - do not be afraid to follow Him and to imitate Him as exactly as you can, and so give witness to to the faith and hope that is within you.
Finally, dear class of 2008, remember your identity as Saints. Remember the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to you at your Confirmation, and go out and make the love of Christ more real in the world around you. If you desire holiness only for yourself, your faith will easily be taken away from by others. If however, you desire holiness and the kingdom of heaven out of love for your neighbor, then you will persevere to the end. Know that God is counting on you to make disciples, and to bring many people with you to the kingdom of heaven. Know that there are people out there who will only get to heaven if you are willing to make great sacrifices that give witness to them of the strength of your faith. As you leave your final Mass, and go your separate ways after graduation, may you, the class of 2008, be able to look each other in the eyes, and promise to one another to do everything you can to arrive together one day in the kingdom of heaven that Christ has marked out for each one of you. May the song that you have heard a thousand times over within the walls of St. Thomas Aquinas high school continue to echo in your hearts and keep those hearts set on the things of heaven. When the Saints go marching in, oh when the saints go marching in, oh let us all arrive there together, when the saints go marching in!
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us!
Baccalaureate Mass for 2008 Graduates of St. Thomas Aquinas High School
Jesus gives better advice, as you might expect, than anything I could think to tell you, the Class of 2008, at your final Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. In the Gospel proclaimed by the Church throughout the world today, Jesus says to His disciples: Watch out! Guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. As astute graduates of an esteemed high school through which you have pursued theological study, you should all immediately know what Jesus is talking about here. The leaven of the Pharisees consists in their overemphasis on religious law, to the exclusion of heartfelt love of God and of neighbor. The leaven of Herod is an overemphasis on the things of the world, to the exclusion of love of God and neighbor. From both of these leavens Jesus asks you, the class of 2008, to be on guard. Your advice, class of 2008, from Jesus is simple: Watch out!
As we learn from Jesus' instructions to his disciples in today's Gospel, Jesus has a really, really hard time softening the hearts of his disciples. He has a really hard time opening their eyes and ears and getting them to truly contemplate the things of heaven. The reason there were twelve baskets of bread left over after Jesus fed the 5000, and 7 baskets of bread left over after Jesus fed the 4000, was to point to the superabundance of life and love awaiting all of us in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus came to earth, not to feed us for a day, but to point us all to heaven, to a place so far beyond our imagining, a place so much better than anything Adam and Eve experienced in the garden of Eden. For in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve did not see the face of God, nor were they invited to participate completely in the love of the Holy Trinity, nor were they invited to have all of their millions of desires, and to have their greatest desire, to speak to God face to face as a friend, fulfilled in a single instant. No, Adam and Eve were offered none of these things in the garden, but all of these things are offered to the disciples of Jesus who are willing to follow Him through His paschal mystery. Yet Jesus has a dickens of a time getting the disciples to realize what heaven is really like. He has a hard time getting them to soften their hearts, to open their eyes and ears, and to realize the superabundance of life and love to which He is inviting them. After feeding the 5000, He said to them that whoever eats that bread will be hungry again, and will eventually die, but whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood will never die, but will inherit everlasting life! Yet here He is again, after the fact, teaching disciples who are worried about whose fault it was that they only remembered to bring one loaf of bread on the boat!
Jesus asks you, the class of 2008, to not fall into this trap of basing your lives on the leaven of Herod or the leaven of the Pharisees. He asks you to guard against the leaven of Herod, and to not fall into the temptations and traps of materialism and secularism that lie before you. As St. James says in our first reading, the idolatry that trusts more in things and in human esteem than in God leads to patterns of sin in your life, and these patterns of sin lead to the death of your soul and to the death of your relationship with God. We are all sinners, and there is no shame in this because we have a Savior, Jesus, who loves us at the point of our weakness, and is always there to heal and strengthen us, and to free us so that we may start again on the path of goodness. Dear seniors, whatever you do, do not fall away from the sacrament of reconciliation in the years ahead, and if you have already fallen away from it, return as quickly as you can. Go to confession every month when you are in college. We are all sinners, and we all give in to the things of this world, and we are always tempted to form addictions to things that are less than what God desires for us. This is the leaven of Herod. Jesus asks us however, to keep fighting for the gifts of God that last forever, and not to be too prideful to ignore the gift of His mercy or too wimpy to give in and to give ourselves over to a life of sin. Dear seniors, continue to be humble and courageous in your pursuit of virtue and holiness. Do not let your hearts become hardened, your eyes and ears closed to the reality of how much God loves you and desires you to have life and happiness in great abundance! Let your sinfulness not bring you despair or cause you to lower your expectations of yourelf, but let those sins lead you back to Jesus. May they only serve increase your dependence upon the unique love Jesus has for you, and may it deepen your conversation and friendship with Him who is always ready to forgive your sins!
As your courageously battle against the leaven of Herod, guard also against the more invidious leaven of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were indicted by Jesus for trying to control the gifts of God, and to define who was worthy of salvation. By trying to ration the gifts of God, they showed that their hearts were far from the kingdom of heaven. We can be guilty of the same thing, especially when we view heaven as a distant reality, as a place where we might want to go after squeezing every ounce of happiness out of our earthly lives. We can see heaven as a place we might like to go someday, but not today since we don't know much about it, and as a place for people who didn't mess up too badly while on this earth. This is not the heaven to which Jesus invites us, however. Jesus begs his disciples to be people who are ready for the things of heaven right here, right now. In the Eucharist you are about to share for the last time as a St. Thomas Aquinas community, Jesus invites you, the class of 2008, to pray with the angels and with the saints from all of human history, and to enter into the reality of heaven made possible by His Resurrection and Ascension. Too often, like the Pharisees, we are too concerned with micro-managing our lives here below without ever thinking about heaven, and we are guilty of thinking about God as something we can add to our lives here on earth to make our lives a little better. My dear friends, the kingdom of heaven to which Jesus invites us is not something we can make a bigger part of our lives, it is an altogether new reality to which we must abandon ourselves. You've heard me say to you while I was your chaplain - the leaven of the Pharisees is their thinking that they can control the salvation of God, their thinking that they can move the Grand Canyon into their living room. Jesus came that we may have more life, and have it in abundance (Jn 2:5) but to realize his promises, we cannot approach going to Mass the same way we approach shopping, giving it a relative value within the context of our lives. Yes, Jesus wants us to get something out of Mass, he wants to make our lives better, but first we must recognize that He is through the Mass offering us a bigger and better life than anything we can imagine or hope for, and we must resist every temptation to fit Him in when it is convenient for us!
So go to Mass and go to confession in college. Go as often as you can. Be disciples, class of 2008, who keep your hearts and minds fixed on the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. It is from heaven that every perfect gift comes, as St. James says to us today. Never stop pursuing the perfection that God has marked out for you and wants to accomplish within you. Never settle for anything less. Ask Mary, your Mother, to guide you in knowing your vocation, and in responding to that vocation with generosity and with a soul that magnifies the Lord. Ask Mary to be close to you in your struggle for chastity, for in trying to keep this virtue you will distinguish yourselves from your peers, give a convincing witness to the truth of the Gospel, and experience a freedom to recognize a call to sacramental marriage or to religious life. Do not be like others who when asked what Jesus wants them to do with their lives, say 'Uh, I don't know!' You know Jesus' voice. It has been with you from your baptism. He asks you to follow Him as exactly as you can, and so I challenge this class of 2008 to do everything you can to not throw away your vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Jesus will not let you down - do not be afraid to follow Him and to imitate Him as exactly as you can, and so give witness to to the faith and hope that is within you.
Finally, dear class of 2008, remember your identity as Saints. Remember the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to you at your Confirmation, and go out and make the love of Christ more real in the world around you. If you desire holiness only for yourself, your faith will easily be taken away from by others. If however, you desire holiness and the kingdom of heaven out of love for your neighbor, then you will persevere to the end. Know that God is counting on you to make disciples, and to bring many people with you to the kingdom of heaven. Know that there are people out there who will only get to heaven if you are willing to make great sacrifices that give witness to them of the strength of your faith. As you leave your final Mass, and go your separate ways after graduation, may you, the class of 2008, be able to look each other in the eyes, and promise to one another to do everything you can to arrive together one day in the kingdom of heaven that Christ has marked out for each one of you. May the song that you have heard a thousand times over within the walls of St. Thomas Aquinas high school continue to echo in your hearts and keep those hearts set on the things of heaven. When the Saints go marching in, oh when the saints go marching in, oh let us all arrive there together, when the saints go marching in!
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