Championship Game!

OK, I admit it, I wanted Roy to lose almost as much as I wanted KU to win. This is pathetic and small of me, but I'm just one of those people who was disappointed that Roy left KU before winning a national title, but more importantly, he allowed a KU alum (Dean Smith) to convince him that North Carolina was a better place to coach basketball than Kansas. I never understood why Roy would want to coach in the shadow of Dean Smith at UNC rather than staying and becoming the all-time greatest coach at Kansas. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I haven't forgiven Roy, and boy am I glad that Bill Self is our coach now, and I would have said that even before KU's win last night. But since Dean Smith converted from being a Jayhawk to being a Tar Heel, I have a hard time believing that it was impossible for Roy to make the same conversion. Maybe North Carolina is a supremely better place than Kansas, but I'm from Kansas, so I wouldn't know. Now, admittedly, there are probably a hundred other circumstances that led into Roy's decision, and in the long run, his leaving could be the best thing that ever happened to KU. Still, I wanted to beat him last night, and I'm not proud of how badly I wanted to beat him. But we don't have to worry about that anymore, do we? Invite Roy back to the Fieldhouse now, if he'll come! I'm sure he is looking forward to his next chance to get us, and we'll be ready! Rock Chalk!

Regarding the game, I really can't believe what I saw. The rest of the nation is calling the semifinals a big letdown, and maybe they're right. I have a hard time believing that we are really than must 'stronger' than North Carolina, but who, after watching last night, thinks that the Jayhawks wouldn't beat North Carolina at least 6 or 7 times out of 10? Our defense is that much better than theirs. I can't believe how easy our buckets were the last 8 minutes of the game, and what is more, how badly the Tar Heels trapped us at half court those last 8 minutes. The traps were a joke and led to so many easy layups and dunks.

Anyhow, after watching last night, I have a great feeling that we are going to play tough against a great Memphis team. We will defend them, and who knows, maybe we will take them out of their game as well! Go Jayhawks! We can all taste it now!

P.S. Who is going to be the next coach at Oklahoma State???

Homily for Monday of the 3rd Week of Easter

For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/040708.shtml

+JMJ
Jean Baptiste de la Salle, pray for us!

Well, it is hard to write a homily when all I can think about is the Jayhawk game vs. Memphis tonight for the national championship. Actually, I can think about a lot of other things, but living in Lawrence, it is on the front of everyone's minds. Stephen in today's readings from Acts shares intimately with Christ his Lord, and as we will hear soon, becomes the protomartyr of the first Christian community. Stephen's name is remembered in the Roman Canon of Eucharist Prayer I, used most often during the highest solemnities of the Church year. Stephen is given the grace of martyrdom because He is ready to testify to his belief that Jesus is truly the Savior of the world. This is the very thing that Jesus says can be done to accomplish the works of God (Jn 6:29). The first and most important work of God is to believe in the one whom God has sent. Before we can be as ready as Stephen to make the ultimate witness of our faith, we must begin by meditating on the last beatitude - Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great (Mt 5:11)! Meditating on this beatitude will help us to lose our fear of professing our faith, and will encourage us to make the sacrifices necessary to let the light of our faith in Jesus' resurrection to shine brightly before our brothers and sisters (Mt 5:15).

+m
Mary, Queen of Vocations, pray for us!

Homily for Saturday of the 4th Week of Lent

For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/030808.shtml

Familiarity breeds contempt. How hard it is to accept the teachings of those that we know so well and have put in a box. How hard it is to continue to love and to see new things in those with whom we work and live. Although moral judgment is necessary if we are to do good and to avoid evil, we are usually more adept at judging people and labeling them as good or evil than we are at judging our own actions. During this Lenten season, we are to become better at one thing – examining our consciences – so that we can become worse at something else – judging others. Even if we must make some judgments about people so as to be sure to surround ourselves with good habits and to limit our exposure to those with bad habits, part of our seeking and saving what is lost in this world means making our judgment of sinners less certain. Just as we have been forgiven for our many sins, so we should look forward to sinners around us making real changes in our lives, buoyed by our help and our example and our forgiveness of them. We should not be putting people in harsh categories, locking the door on them and throwing away the key.

Nicodemus accuses the Pharisees of pre-judging Jesus before really questioning him and knowing him. He is from Bethlehem, and probably would have been willing to tell the Pharisees this, had the bothered to ask him. Instead they judge his being from Galilee as a sure indication that He is not the Messiah. Because they rushed to judgment, they lost their chance to recognize the Christ and to profess faith in Him. We should expect the same thing to happen to us, unless we allow his forgiveness to effect real changes in our lives, and unless we each forgive our brothers and sisters from the heart!

+m

Homily for Friday of the 4th Week of Lent

For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/030708.shtml

Jesus is a real pain in the neck. His very presence is a constant reminder to us of our wickedness, pride and self-absorption. His presence is a reminder to us of how fallen we have become. His presence reminds us that we are more the children of Adam and Eve than we are the children of our heavenly Father. In order to feel good about our mediocrity, we must get rid of him.

The beautiful reading we have from Wisdom today shows the mistake of the wicked. The wicked believe that because of their freedom, they can put away definitively anything that accuses them of not living a good life. The children of Adam and Eve get to play the role of God. They get to determine good and evil for themselves. The presence of a just one like Jesus challenges this fallen version of humanity, and calls the wicked to return to obedience to the one who alone determines what is good and what is evil. Convinced that they have the freedom to become like God, however, the wicked are willing to test this just one. If they are able to destroy Him, then they will retain their status as gods. If not, then only reluctantly will they submit to his authority.

God, however, does not want to overwhelm those He has created in His image and likeness. He wants to love and to serve them and to invite them to respond in kind, without ever forcing their freedom. These wicked ones cannot fathom the hidden counsels of God. They cannot imagine that God would place himself into their hands and yes, let himself be destroyed by them, and yet retain his authority over them. They could not imagine that this just one could rise from the dead. They did indeed put the just one to the test, but because of his love for his enemies, the just one passed the test. He let himself be reviled and tortured so that even the most wicked could be saved, and become children no longer of Adam and Even, but through his forgiveness of their sins, children able to call God their Father.

Homily for Thursday of the 4th Week of Lent

For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/030608.shtml


Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you, and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven! Jesus says we are blessed when we are persecuted, not when we are praised. He says this because he does not wish for us to become self-absorbed like those to whom He is speaking in today’s Gospel. For them, human praise is the greatest good. Human praise is more important to them than listening to the words of Jesus or of John or of Moses or of Jesus’ heavenly Father. It cannot be this way, however for us who are disciples of Jesus. We all feel a strong need to be liked by others. We oftentimes sense our need to enjoy a good reputation more than we sense our need for God. Our need for God, however, must win out in the end. If the only praise we receive is the praise of our fellow men, and if we even need to lie and to boast in order to win this praise, then it is better to be persecuted by men. If persecuted by men, we can be more certain that we will be able to recognize the works of God, and be able to listen to his words, which are spirit and life!

Homily for Wednesday of the 4th Week of Lent

For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/030508.shtml

The time is coming when the dead will hear the voice of God, and those who hear will live. The Gospel is clear. True life, everlasting life, depends on learning to recognize the voice of Jesus, and then following that voice wherever it calls us to go. In answering the question of what one should do with his life, it is rare to hear someone say that they should simply follow the voice of Jesus wherever it leads them. Usually we hear something different. I do not know what God wants me to do with my life. I want to do many different things, or I want to do something that is not possible. Today’s Gospel points us all in the right direction in our discernment of how to live a truly meaningful life. We are to work on recognizing the voice of Jesus. We are to learn to follow that voice wherever it may lead us.

Meditation on the sacred scriptures is almost always the most fruitful way of letting the voice of Jesus penetrate our minds and our hearts. I am a firm believer that we should always be reading the Gospels. We should read not only in preparation for Mass. We should read the Gospels also continuously, as stories, so as to become so familiar with the way Jesus speaks. In our conversations with one another, the words of Jesus should come to mind readily. We should be able to think and to speak in the language of scriptures, especially the language of the Gospels. Becoming familiar with the voice of Jesus increases the likelihood that when we have to discern an important decision, it will be his voice that guides us. Learning to recognize his voice in this life will also help us at the moment of our death. It is Jesus’ promise that his voice will call us to everlasting life after all other voices, including our own have finished speaking.

Runnin' Revs coming at you!

The big game is on Monday, March 10th at 7pm at Bishop Miege High School. Priests of the Archdiocese vs. the Serra All-Stars (8th grade and high school all-stars). I think the priests are undefeated at Miege, so we are putting our streak on the line. All are welcome to come see us play! I'm pictured here with the newest member of the Revs - Fr. Brian List, SOLT, chaplain of the St. Lawrence Center. He is going to be awesome!