not seeing but believing (at Christmas)

Homily
3rd Day in the Octave of Christmas
Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
27 December 2018
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas

Strange, isn't it, that the Church celebrates not a Feast of St. Joseph, but a Feast of St. John, during the days of Christmas.  St. Joseph, poor guy, who was not afraid to take Mary under his roof and who busted his tail to provide us the Christmas mystery, gets lumped in with his Holy Family this Sunday.  Yet St. John, who was nowhere to be seen at Bethlehem, gets day number three all to himself.  Why celebrate an apostle or evangelist at all during Christmas? The dudes were not around.  Only St. Joseph and mangy beasts and shepherds.

The Church begs us to recall by this Feast that every Mass, while perhaps highlighting a particular mystery, always contains all the mysteries of Christ.  Bethlehem is always joined to Calvary and the empty tomb, and vice versa, with the mysteries always interpenetrating during the Mass.  Was John physically and historically present at Bethlehem?  No, of course not.  Was Bethlehem present in the upper room, when John rested his head on the breast of the Word Incarnate?  Absolutely.  Was Bethlehem present at Calvary, the wood of the manger and the wood of the cross informing each other, with John alone among the apostles standing with Mary?  Yes, for sure.  Was Bethlehem present when Jesus himself asked John to replace Joseph, and take her into his home?  I dare say so.

St. Joseph is necessary for the best Christmas contemplation for sure, but so is St. John.  Why? Because when we say Merry Christmas, we can translate this popular phrase piously as - to Christ in the Mass through Mary. Mary-Christ-Mass as it were.  Since the Mass always joins all mysteries, the Church gives us not only the eyes of St. Joseph but also the eyes of St. John.  Yes, even during Christmas, and especially so. 

It is no accident that John gives the Church her deepest spiritual expression and contemplation of the Incarnation in the prologue to his Gospel, read on Christmas day.  John the evangelist writes from , from the unique vantage point given in today's Gospel, from the empty tomb.  Looking at the manger from the tomb and with Mary disposes us all for the deepest receptivity for the Eucharist as we say Mary-Christ-Mass.  That's why we need St. John today.

So John is like us.  He wasn't there, but Bethlehem came under his roof and deeply into his heart, his family and his Church.  Is it any wonder that John alone among the evangelists records the words of the incarnate and resurrected Jesus that we most need to hear, not only at Easter but too at Christmas - Blessed are those who have not seen but have believed!

adoration

Homily
Christmas Mass at Night IC
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
25 December 2018

O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

Have we come to adore tonight?  What does it mean to adore?  I hope you will agree it means the deepest form of love and affection.  It means a ridiculous and uncontrollable falling for another person.  When we are invited at Christmas to adore the Lord, we are invited to an experience that is strong enough to break through any fear, doubt and indifference that is in our hearts.  Is this what you came for at Christmas?  If so, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

For the scene we celebrate and contemplate at Christmas is much too absurd to do anything less.  The author of the universe, the one whose almighty power is beyond comprehension, and the one who does need any one of us for anything whatsoever - that one - shows his ultimate power in making himself small.  Irresistibly small.  Helplessly small.  Ridiculously small.

So well does Jesus know our capacity to resist love and fall out of love, to resist God and fall out of love with God, that tonight he does everything he can to break through our indifference and defenses.  I know he needs to break through my pride and selfishness and stubbornness.  How about yours?  Will this be a night when God breaks through your fear of loving?

Do not be afraid, the angel says first to Mary.  Do not be afraid, the angel says next to Joseph.  Do not be afraid, the angels say next to the shepherds.  Do not be afraid, they say finally to you and to me.  Do not be afraid of this baby.

Jesus cannot make himself any smaller or irresistible than in the ridiculous scene of Bethlehem.  Born in perfect vulnerability and humility and poverty at the darkest hour of the darkest night, recognized at first only by the mangiest of beasts and shepherds, Jesus shows how ridiculously he is in love with everything that makes up a human life, beginning with weakness. 

Yet it is precisely where loneliness, fear, doubt, complacency, addiction, poverty, insignificance, selfishness, rejection and humiliation have touched our story that we have fallen out of love.  But why?  All these things that destroy our love are in play at Bethlehem. It is into these real human circumstances that Jesus came, and where He so desperately wants to come again.  Jesus wants to visit me where I have fallen out of love. That's what makes this Christmas the most dramatic and exciting Christmas ever, in all of history.  Jesus wants to be born precisely there, in the Bethlehem that is my story and my heart.

So let's put the Mass in Christ-Mass this year, and admit that Christmas takes it's name not from the scene of Bethlehem that sets the stage for tonight, but from the stage that is this altar. It is on this stage that Jesus will be born even more humbly and beautifully than He was 2000 years ago.  It is from this stage that Jesus will fall ridiculously and hopelessly in love with you again, and ask you not to be afraid of your place in the greatest love story ever told.

Is that what you want for Christmas this year?  It's what I want.

If so, let's come, each one of us, and together. Come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

be an outsider

Homily
Monday of the 1st Week in Advent IC
3 December 2018
+St. Francis Xavier
AMDG +JMJ +m

St. Francis Xavier was the very first Jesuit missionary, having been sent by the founder himself, St. Ignatius of Loyola, to evangelize the Far East.  A fearless missionary he was, traversing the Asian continent for 10 years, risking everything, all the while lamenting those in Europe who risked nothing for their faith.  St. Francis Xavier was irked by complacency, and by those who had no zeal, whose faith was surely dying behind the facades of cozy libraries and cafes.  He sought instead to fill up Jesus' prophecy in today's Gospel, that many will come from the East and the West to recline at the same table as the patriarchs of Israel - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - in the kingdom of God, whereas those already reclining at table will one day be shut out.

The Gospels are ripe with stories and example of outsiders shaming the faith of insiders.  So how about you - do you want to be an outsider or an insider?  Today's story is that of the Roman centurion, presumably, an enemy of Israel.  But the Roman centurion, like St. Francis Xavier's converts, is the one who will one day dine with the patriarchs.  This Roman shames the faith of all Israel by trusting that only a word or thought from Jesus is enough to cure his servamt, and he is worthy of nothing more.

Each Gospel story like today's is a powerful reminder of why we must evangelize.  If we do not, our faith will very quickly get stale, and be taken from us.  The only things we have in life are the things that we have given away.  To live the law of the gift then, is to evangelize, for the law is especially true when it comes to the gift of faith.

Shame on us for assuming that we need to evangelize because others need to be saved.  This is true enough, but it doesn't get to the heart of the matter.  The Gospel demonstrates that we must evangelize because we need this encounter with outsiders much more than they need us.  The kingdom of God always belongs to outsiders, not insiders.  Even if you don't believe that, believe that the kingdom belongs to those who do not consider themselves worthy.  So as soon as we consider ourselves insiders, our faith becomes an entitlement and thus stale.  Our faith must constantly be renewed by outsiders if it is to be saved from complacency.  So we evangelize more because we have something we need to receive, rather than having something we must give.

notice the little things

Homily
Monday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time IIB
St. Lawrence Catholic Center at the University of Kansas
26 November 2018
AMDG +JMJ +m

I get more excited for big gifts than for small ones.  Boy am I wrong.  Jesus notices small gifts, and says that they are more than the large ones.  Smaller gifts are usually given from poverty, whereas large ones come from surplus.  So the small gifts are almost always more generous.

St. Therese of Lisieux had a heart of zeal for the missions, yet she was confined to a cloister her entire life as a Carmelite.  I marvel at how she was able to make more converts than those missionaries who risked life and limb and traveled tens of thousands of miles in search of converts.  How did she do it?  By doing small things with great love.  She did what the widow did. She gave herself without reserve, and this small gift became worth more than any large ones.

Shame on us for thinking only big things matter.  Even moreso, if we think nothing happened today that was very big.  Jesus sees small things.  He prefers small things.  He will make himself smaller and an even more complete gift, than the 2 cents offered by the widow, by placing his entire self in the Blessed Sacrament.  Will we dare to ask for his eyes in place of ours, that we might see His completeness in something so small?

art of invitation

Homily
Tuesday of the 31st Week in Ordinary Time
Election Day 2018
6 November 2018
St. Lawrence Catholic Center at the University of Kansas
Votive Mass of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Patroness of the USA
AMDG +JMJ +m

What invitations do you accept and which do you reject?  Specifically, what is the Lord inviting you to right now?  Whatever it is, we have to make time in our schedules for these invitations.

If we avoid invitations because we are busy, or we bail on our commitments because we don't feel like it or something better comes up, we are not preparing ourselves for accepting the invitation we have from God to be with him forever in heaven.

When is the last time your bailed on somebody or something important, when they were counting on you to come and your presence meant a lot?  It is true the plans can change, but as much as we can, we should make commitments according to God's will, and hold fast to those commitments.  It is good practice for accepting the invitation to eternal life that comes to each of us most personally from Jesus Himself.

When is the last time you rejected or bailed on an invitation that you received directly from God?  Now is a good day to repent and to get ready for the next invitation that will surely come.

compete for last

Homily
Saturday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time IIB
3 November 2018
St. Lawrence Catholic Center at the University of Kansas
Koinonia Retreat 28
AMDG JMJ +m

Chad was my archnemesis as I grew up.  Many of you are familiar with sibling rivalries.  I have 4 brothers and one sister.  My competition was always with the first-born of our family - Chad - who is 11 months older than me.

I shared a room with Chad until he left for college.  It was 17 years of constant competition.  I wanted so badly to beat Chad in things that I even tested out of freshman algebra so I could jump into into my brother's sophomore math class.  I am sure I was super annoying to Chad, the younger brother always nipping at his heels.

My brother Chad is great at almost everything.  I couldn't really beat him in anything.  Most of all, he could always kick my butt physically.

I hope the sibling rivalry brought out some good in both of us.  My calling to the priesthood might be explained by my trying to win the sibling rivalry once and for all. I found something that my brother couldn't do.  In fact I found something that few guys could do - become a priest.  So I did it.  It is part of the competition for a place of honor that Jesus warns about in today's Gospel.

I pray there was also a call from Jesus in the equation as well.  My calling was inspired too though, by my fascination with St. John Paul II, and my wanting to be more like him.  After meeting John Paul II I remember thinking the priesthood is the greatest thing I could do with my life.  Since becoming a priest I find myself comparing my priesthood to superstar priests like Bishop Robert Barron or Fr. Mike Schmitz.  I am competitive to the core, and unfortunately, very attracted to ranking and places of honor.

Jesus says clearly in the Gospel that if we are going to get into comparisons, only one competition matters - taking the lowest place.  While we may never be the best in the universe at any one particular skill, we can and should be the best in the universe at giving our precise life away, a life that will only uniquely exist once in the history of the universe.

I might not be the next St. John Paul II or Bishop Barron or Fr. Mike, but I can give my life away in a place and manner that none of them could.  So Jesus reminds me to quit worrying about comparisons, and to compete in the only thing that matters - taking the lowest place.

St. John Paul II referred often to a passage in Gaudium et Spes.  It says simply that man only finds himself through a sincere gift of himself.  So if you want to be unique and to have honor, then make yourself last, and God will exalt you more than you could ever exalt yourself.  

give your merits away

Homily
Friday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time
2 November 2018
Commemoration of All Souls
AMDG JMJ +m


I've wrecked my Ford Fusion twice in the last 3 years.  Both times I hit an animal.  The first time it was a deer.  This last time a couple weeks ago it was a dog.  Both accidents were at high speed.  The car survived both times.  God's creatures did not, unfortunately.

This last time the accident happened as I was leaving a tour of a maximum security prison in El Dorado, Kansas.  Fortunately, my classmates from Leadership Kansas were right behind me.  Six cars stopped to help me . . and the dog if they could.  It was a flood of instantaneous support.  As I needed a 80 mile tow to Topeka since my radiator was punctured, I was grateful that one of my classmates offered me a ride home to Lawrence, and my delay back home was only 20 minutes at the most.

You're probably like me . . pretty independent and reluctant to ask for help.  But we all know that when unpredictable things happen, and we're in a bind and need help, it stinks when no one is there for us.

Our dear Church reminds us on All Souls Day, and throughout November, that the most important thing we can do for our Catholic family is pray for the dead.  Of all the people in our family who need help right now, our friends making their final journeys to heaven, and unable to help themselves, are most in need.  Our focus on helping our neighbor next to us must never come to the detriment of neglecting those most in need of God's mercy.

Yesterday we celebrated the Church triumphant - the saints in heaven, who are rooting us the Church militant on to victory.  Today the Church militant is urged to do the same for the Church penitent . .the souls in purgatory, and not only today, but everyday, and especially throughout the book of November.  You are invited to place the names of your beloved that you are especially praying for in our Chapel Book of the Dead.

I hope you die a saint.  I hope I do too.  Let's keep working on that.  But in case we one day find ourselves in trouble, and unable to help ourselves, let us remember that we will be completely dependent upon the prayers of the Church that comes after us.  The Church in her piety recommends that we offer any and all merits and graces that we have to the souls in purgatory, or even the most forgotten souls, or to our Blessed Mother, who may dispense these merits to her children most in need.

Only if we give all our merits away to those in need, should we hope that someday a member of the Church militant family will do the same for us.