Presidential Inauguration/March for Life Departure Mass Homily

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood.

At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and
virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Can it be true that the very words that President Obama used today to inspire Americans to move forward with hope and virtue can also be used, without addition, subtraction, or deletion, to define what it means for us to go on this religious pilgrimage in defense of life? Remarkably the answer is yes! The president's words, even though he does not share our moral view and will not be on our side when we march on Thursday, are perfect for us!

How appropriate is that night when George Washington and the small revolutionary army faced almost certain defeat, not only for the political situation that confronts our country today, but even more importantly, for the moral situation of our country that no longer guarantees the right to life. Allow me now to paraphrase for our current condition.

On a day when the threats to life are as great as ever, when our capital seems more devoid than ever of those who stand for the right to life, when it seems like the enemy is advancing and our cause retreating, when the snow is stained with blood, at a moment when it seems there is no way our cause can win, when nothing but hope and virtue can survive, we leave to March for Life!

Those of us born after 1973 in a country that did not guarantee our right to be born go to our nation’s capital with righteous anger that so many of our brothers and sisters have been lost to the sin of abortion. We go also with hope and virtue and against great odds, because we refuse to let the story end as it now reads We refuse to let the American conscience be dulled anymore than it already is. We will not turn back, until we carry forth and deliver safely to our children the most fundamental right of every human person, the right to be born. The right to life!

There are many who consider the events of today to be a great miracle. Where there was once moral blindness, there is now light, and a person of African-American heritage is now the president of the United States. For those who worked to make this day a reality, for those who marched and suffered to end the dehumanization of persons, this day is understandably a great joy! Barack Obama is a person! Barack Obama is the president! We rejoice with them! It is good that 2 million people descended upon Washington DC today. We rejoice as a nation for the hope that President Obama represents, and for the possibility of change through his great gift of leadership. We pray for him and his family!

We pray as well, however, that our new President and our Congress will listen to our pleas for conversion of heart and mind! Tomorrow night we will wear purple, the liturgical color of repentance, to give witness, that although change is possible, and moral blindness can give way to light, that in our country since 1973, an even greater moral blindness has come upon us. The sin of abortion is the greatest sin in our country’s history because its victims, the unborn, are even more defenseless than any group of persons who have been persecuted within these borders. They are invisible. They are without a voice. We leave tonight to March for them. We leave tonight to make them visible and to be their voice. We march and suffer so that this greatest of moral blindnesses can one day be replaced by the light of truth and love. We march so that we can grow in virtue and holiness by this spiritual pilgrimage, so that we can change even when the laws of our land do not change, so that we will continue the struggle for life with hope and virtue no matter how long it takes. It is good that 2 million people descended upon Washington today. We will be a small group, maybe 100,000, maybe more. Yet we march with confidence that on the day Roe v. Wade is no longer the law of the land, tens of millions will join us in Washington to celebrate that great victory! In the meantime, do not lose hope because our numbers are not greater. Look with faith and see who is marching with us! If you look with faith, can you not see the invisible army marching by our side! 53 million children lost to abortion. They march with us. The great cloud of witnesses, led by the apostles and martyrs, who gave their lives so that we might believe in the Gospel of Life, and have life in abundance, march with us! Mary, who gave birth in the most challenging of circumstances, who is the mother of all who have eternal life, marches with us! Jesus, our Lord, who gave His life so that our sins, including the sin of abortion, may be forgiven, marches with us! Now that, my dear friends, is reason to hope. We are on the side that cannot lose, because in Christ the victory over sin and death has been won forever! Let us proclaim that not just in eternity, but also in time, and within the borders of this great country of ours, life will be victorious! Let us march with faith, hope and love! +m

Fun Friday!

Friday included a delayed Christmas luncheon with the Vocation Office staff and going out with friends to the Wheel and Free State Brewery for great conversation! Saturday is the Catholic Charities Snowball in Kansas City, Missouri. Also, pray for the TEC 216 taking place at Savior Pastoral Center this weekend! Jayhawks on the road at CU - easy win??? I hope so!

Homily for Thursday of the 1st Week of Ordinary Time

Sin produces either contrition, or hardness of heart. Sin 'tests' the subjective good we disorderedly desire versus the objective good. When we realize there is a disparity between these two goods, one being greater than the other, we respond in one of two ways. Either we pretend we are the final judge of what is good and what is evil, or we feel contrition for our sin. Our hearts are either hardened, or they are softened.

If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts. It could be the voice of your conscience awakening you to the presence of God within you. It could be the voice calling you toward your perfect vocation. Harden not your hearts. Do not pretend you do not hear this voice. Do not rationalize away this voice. Do not ignore it. It is the voice of love. It is the voice of meaning. It is a voice sharpening your ability to distinguish between being merely subjectively good, versus hearing the call of the Lord to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect! +m

Was at the game!

Kind of seemed more like an Iowa State game than a K-State game. No Beasley to hate. The crowd was loud in small spurts, but that was all it needed to be. Those guards from KSU are really fast but ours are more effective. More lobs to Cole - he catches almost all of them and will finish more of them as he gets more opportunities. I see KU getting better but it is hard to know if they will be good this year. They learn some lessons and get better and then seem to forget them. We have a favorable schedule so we should be NCAA eligible. I'm in Mexico City for the first couple of rounds so I will miss us play - any chance we will make the sweet 16 with this team? Well, it was a good game - people got their $55 worth, except the smattering of KSU fans that found their way into the Phog.

National Vocations Awareness Week

Two full days at St. James Academy (getting some prayer in early in the morning before Day 1) and then a morning Mass and visit to St. Agnes in Roeland Park today. More phone calls coming in from guys interested in seminary - keep praying for them! Most of the crew was back at the St. Lawrence Center today for evening Mass and then we had a very inspiring speaker Sherri Bickley who told us of her conversion and her work in the pro-life movement. The KU/St. Lawrence contingent is ready to March proudly and strongly in DC on January 22nd! Rock Chalk Pro-Life Hawks!

Homily for Monday of the 1st Week in Ordinary Time

For daily readings, click here

Nice Gospel for the 2nd day of National Vocations Awareness Week. The calling of the first apostles. Nice. Notice that Jesus called the first apostles two by two. He called two sets of brothers. Too often we try to figure out our vocations as individuals. We should be asking our best friends about our vocation. We should be asking our brothers and sisters. What do you think Jesus is calling me to do. When the Lord calls us, there is a good chance he is calling our best friends as well. How much less scary is it to answer your vocation from God if your best friend answers at the same time. These kind of conversations should be taking place between friends and siblings all the time. Let's be priests together. Let's be sisters together. Wouldn't that be cool?

Does Jesus thinking fishing is a lame job? Not really. It's just that a vocation to follow Him more precisely is more than a job. Jesus is offering the chance to get to know God as an intimate friend. He is offering a chance to be a part of the mission to redeem the world. So he has every right to ask the apostles to leave their nets. And they do. In the same way, we should not compare any career, no matter how cool, to the chance to be a priest or a sister. Being religious is in a different category and is something we have to seriously consider before moving on to pursue some other career. Being a priest or a sister, as Jesus shows, should be our first option, not our back-up plan.

Everyone should give Jesus every opportunity to call them to be a priest or a sister. We should be ready to go as soon as possible, as ready as were the first apostles. Too many people try to hide their vocations or they end up throwing them away because they are not ready to answer. But it is true that Jesus does not call everyone to be a priest or a sister. He is calling more than are able to answer, but He does not call everyone. We see this in Zebedee and in the hired men whom Jesus did not call. In the end, we can't be a priest or a sister unless Jesus invites us and calls us by name. But to hear His call, we must pray, or we will never hear it. +m

Pope Baptizes in Sistine Chapel

The feast of the Baptism of the Lord marking the end of the Christmas season usually finds the Pope celebrating Mass in the Sistine Chapel and performing baptisms. Here is a great shot from this year.

KU finally starts conference basketball play Tuesday versus K-State. The fieldhouse better be rockin, because the 'Hawks need to win all their home games this year to challenge for the conference title and to be NCAA tournament eligible. Here's hoping Tyshawn Taylor gets it going again soon.

This week in National Vocations Awareness Week. Among other things, I'll be visiting St. James Academy in Lenexa and St. Agnes school in Roeland Park. We have a few good men interested in seminary for the Archdiocese this year. Please continue to pray for them.

I'll be headed to DC on the 20th of January for the annual March for Life - we'll arrive just one day after the Obama inauguration. What a time to be in DC and to be standing up for life! Rock Chalk Pro-Life Hawks! Remember KU fans how much fun parades are to celebrate life?

My pictures on this blog post are all messed up but I'm not going to take the time to fix them - you all know what you are seeing, don't you?