Excessive Mercy - Homily for April 7

Readings for Sunday, April 7 / 5th Sunday of Lent:  Isaiah 43:16-21  |  Psalm 126  |  Philippians 3:8-14  |  John 8:1-11

Cut It Down - Homily for March 24

Readings for Sunday, March 24 / 3rd Sunday of Lent:  Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15  |  Psalm 103  |  1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12  |  Luke 13:1-9

The readings this weekend both encourage and challenge us - God is with us, but He wants to see fruit from our lives.

Becoming Heavenly - Homily for February 24

Readings for Sunday, February 24 / 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time:  1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23  |  Psalm 103  |  1 Corinthians 15:45-49  |  Luke 6:27-38

Within every baptized person's heart is a battle taking place between the Earthly and the Heavenly parts. Which one is winning in you?

Easter: The Sin and the Savior - Homily for April 8

Readings for Sunday, April 8 / Divine Mercy Sunday: Acts 4:32-35  |  Psalm 118  |  1 John 5:1-6  |  John 20:19-31

The key to salvation is accepting the message of Mercy: turn from sin and live the Life of Grace.

Lent: God is Fierce and Merciful - Homily for March 4

Readings for Sunday, March 4 / 3rd Sunday of Lent (Year B):  Exodus 20:1-17  |  Psalm 19  |  1 Corinthians 1:22-25  |  John 2:13-25

Today the Lord shows us in the Scripture that He is not 'fierce or merciful' but both fierce AND merciful. Let us draw close to this fierce Heart of Christ and allow His passion for us to increase our passion for Him.

Mass: The Entrance - Homily for August 20

Readings for Sunday, August 20 / 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Isaiah 56:1, 6-7  |  Psalm 67  |  Romans 11:13-15, 29-32  |  Matthew 15:21-28

The Holy Mass is the place where the "house of prayer for all peoples" comes to life right in our midst. The house of God is here for us to come to worship. Every word and action has a meaning. As we begin this series of reflections on the Mass, we discuss the movement from the Entrance Procession up to the Gloria. May the Lord grant us the grace always to continue to draw close to Him as we do each week in the Liturgy.

Easter: The Limits of Mercy - Homily for April 23

Readings for Sunday, April 23 / Divine Mercy Sunday: Acts 2:42-47  |  Psalm 118  |  1 Peter 1:3-9  |  John 20:19-31

This weekend we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. The readings tell us how the Early Church shared all things in common, giving without limits in the service of the larger community. Do we believe in mercy without limits? Even more importantly, are we willing to BE merciful without limits?

The full statement of the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops on the Death Penalty can be found here.

Lent: How to go to Confession - Homily for April 2

Readings for Sunday, April 2 / 5th Sunday of Lent: Ezekiel 37:12-14  |  Psalm 130  |  Romans 8:8-11  |  John 11:1-45

Sometimes it's the lack of comfort with the words and structure of Confession that the devil uses to keep us away from the Sacrament. So let's hit the nuts and bolts on how to celebrate the Sacrament. Then put it into practice.

Where is Lazarus - Homily for September 25

Readings for Sunday, September 25 / 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Amos 6:1, 4-7 | Psalm 146 | 1 Timothy 6:11-16 | Luke 16:19-31

This weekend we have the uncomfortable reminder that our salvation is not just based off of me and Jesus, but it's me, Jesus and every person I come in contact with through the course of my life - which again should be a little scary for us.

The reading from the prophet Amos and the psalm are a study of contrast to help us get primed for that reflection. The prophet Amos is the type of person that likes to point people out and call attention to the things they are doing and go about the litany of their hard heartedness. And we hear more of that today - how he looks at Israel as the whole entire people, and says "Look, you're sitting on your ivory beds, your nice linens and fancy couches, and you eat all the finest things. You're so self-concerned and complacent. There is nothing really in your heart, except that." It's a very strong rebuke he gives to them.

In contrast to that we have the example of God, who comes in Psalm 146 and describes ways that are entirely unselfish, ways that He pours Himself out simply for the love of others. How the Lord comes to set captives free and give sight to the blind, raise the lowly, protect strangers, help widows and orphans, and certainly we could add to the list. It's interesting - these two: to be self-concerned or to be selfless. That's what it is when it comes down to it.

A lot of time whenever we think about ourselves as sinners, whenever we think about our sins, it seems that we consider most the sins of commission - the words, deeds, thoughts, the actions that are actively done, we know they are bad, and yet we do them anyway. How many times have we said in the confessional, "I thought bad things.  I said something negative about someone. I gossiped. Cursed at the TV last night during the game. Cursed the coach. I drank or ate a little too much .." We think about the things that we do and we think that stuff is bad - and it is - but are we mindful of the things we failed to do that we should've done? That's what the Gospel calls us to reflect upon - the sins of omission, that we have omitted something we ought to have done out of love for Christ.

We see that the Lord gives us the example of, a presumably fictional account, a rich man and Lazarus with Abraham acting there in the midst. The rich in the end, much like that of Israel, has all the fine things: a purple robe, a sign of royalty and richness; his fancy linens; he dines sumptuously each day. It shows the extent to which he is taking care of himself. It's not bad to take care of oneself, but in the midst of it, we have to be concerned about others as well. The rich man passes Lazarus each day as Lazarus sits on his doorstep. As Jesus describes the story, He doesn't say that the rich man actually did anything sinful. He didn't walk outside the door and curse Lazarus. he didn't call him names, kick him or spit at him on the way out. He didn't even think bad thoughts about him necessarily. He didn't do anything - and that's exactly the problem. Lazarus was there, day by day, right outside his doorstep, and the man knows it. And he knows Lazarus - and that's the catch. Whenever he sees Abraham far off, he sees Lazarus and he asked Abraham to send Lazarus - not that guy at the doorstep - send Lazarus. He knows his name. And yet still the hardness of his heart was so much that he didn't do anything for him. A grievous sin of omission, and it is because he failed to do something he ought to have done and thus finds himself in the torments. Again, so often we focus on what we've actually done that was bad. But remember when we fail to do what is good, also bears great weight in the story of our salvation.

One wanted to come up with a little jingle for it, but I didn't because I wanted to get it stuck in your head and get frustrated that you wouldn't get it out. I want a question to roll around in your mind through the course of this week, and if anyone wants to make up a jingle and let me know afterward, by all means, I won't be upset. I want you to think of one question over and over, throughout the day and the course of this week; maybe put a sign in your house or in your car. The question I want you to think over and over again is: Where is Lazarus? As you go to work, to school, on the road, to the store, in your home ... All through the course of our week we encounter many Lazaruses. It doesn't have to be the extreme example of the Lazarus in the story where he is sick, wounded and hungry at our doorstep dying in a sense. It doesn't have to be to that extreme, but sometimes it is. More often that not it's some small needs - someone who is need in a little way - a little word of encouragement or a small deed of kindness, a simple act of love. Those little things, that unlike the rich man, we can crucify our hearts to be able to let Christ come forth from us and show love, to allow my self-concern be set aside, my comfort to be set aside so that Christ can come forth and love.

That's the main piece: Jesus calls us to love, which is a positive action. When asked what was the greatest commandment, He had the 10 Commandments which were all "Thou shalt not's" and He opted for something different that was more basic: love God and love neighbor - positive things. Not just to avoid something pad, but to choose to do something good because it's harder. It's harder to reach outside of ourselves and do good. It's easy to shrink back from doing bad - you just don't do it. But to go the extra step to do something good is a different story.

So we ask the Lord to be with us this week, the grace of this Mass, the grace of our time of prayer - that the Lord may give us new eyes, in a sense, to see as we go through the course of this week "Where is Lazarus?".

Treasures in Filth - Homily for September 11

Readings for Sunday, September 11/ 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Exodus 31:7-11, 13-14  |  Psalm 51  |  1 Timothy 1:12-17  |  Luke 15:1-32

A couple weeks ago I was over at mom's house and we were going through the storage unit where a lot of our stuff was that had been affected by the flood. As we were going through and tossing a lot of stuff that couldn't be saved we came across one big plastic tote and it was full of two-week-old floodwater. Floating in that disgusting water were my keepsakes - my first baseball cap with my name written on the bill, my Baptismal garment and a few other little things from my childhood that mom had been treasuring for many years. We looked at it, and honestly it was disgusting; I didn't want to touch it, but mom was digging through it, trying to find what she could. I said, "Mom it's ok, it's just stuff, I'll put it out." She responded," No you won't! It may not mean much to you, but it means a lot to me. Give me a minute." And so she dug through it, found a hand full of things she wanted to keep and passed them off to my sister to get her to take care of them.

It was interesting because that is the basic idea of the Gospel this. It starts with the scribes and the Pharisees and they are looking at Jesus who welcomes sinners and even eats with them. They imply in their words to Him a sense of ‘don't you know that they are filthy, don't you know that this is not worthy keeping, just put them to the road, just be rid of them, cut your losses and be done.’ But it's the Lord God who looks and says, "No no no ... these are ones that are very valuable to me. They have great value. They may not have any value to you, you may not see or understand it, but they mean a great deal to me." And that's the scriptures - it's the love that God has for every single one of us as children, and to be able to receive that love.

The reading from Exodus shows us in a sense the patience of God. The passage we heard comes directly after they have sealed the covenant and received the law. Moses had gone up on the mountain and the cloud had consumed the mountain. All the people were praying during this time and Moses comes down with the law - the Ten Commandments - that God Himself has written on the tablets for the people. Moses gives them to the people sayings these are the things God has asked us to do, will you enter into the covenant? Will you enter into the family bond that we want to set? The people of God respond saying, "All of these things we will do - every one of them, we will be faithful to our God." And they were sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice as a way of saying, "If I fail to keep my side of the covenant, may death come upon me. It's rightly mine. I choose it." A couple of days later, we find the people of God have already shrunk to their depravity. Rather than turning to the Lord, in their impatience they make a the golden calf from bracelets and other things saying that this is the god who has saved us, not that God on the mountain, this god that we have created with our own hands, this is what has saved us. And the Lord God says, ‘How quickly you have gone away. So quickly you have abandoned the covenant we formed a few days ago.’

It would have been right for God to kill them all; it was part of the judgment, part of the covenant, that every single one of them who said they would do all these things, it would have been part of the deal to rightly deserve to be killed because they asked for it, really. If I don't keep my end, let me die. But the Lord looks upon them with mercy and says, "No no. We will keep them. We will keep trying to bring forth that which is holy which I desire for them. We will keep the promise in store for them." And He shows His patience. He showed His patience for many years as the people of God continued to break the covenant over and over again. Every single generation, every single human heart. We make our promise to God saying, "Lord I will follow you, I will do all of these things," and ten minutes later we have sunk to our depravity once more. How many times have I heard, "Father, I feel like I need to go to confession again after I just walked out of confession because someone did something that upset me."

How quick our hearts can turn, and yet the Lord is always patient with us. He is patient with us and He goes to great lengths to try and save us. A lot of times we feel like we have to try and save ourselves, that we have to try and convince God of our goodness, convince God of my holiness and worthiness of being saved, but it's the Lord who wants it even more than I do. God wants to save you more than you want to be saved. And we see a glimpse of that in the Gospel.

Jesus gives three separate parables all of which show the stupidity of God - the foolishness of God - and His love for you and I. "Who among you," the Lord says, "having a hundred sheep, and losing one wouldn't leave the 99 sheep to go and search far and wide for the one sheep until you find it." And every one of the people there would say that the only shepherd that would leave 99 perfect good sheep to leave in search of the one who has already strayed, no matter how long it takes, is a stupid shepherd because you never know what could happen. The job of the shepherd was to keep safe the flock, and so yea "I'm going to leave 99 perfectly good sheep, so I can go and search - I don't know how long - to find that one. And when I find that one and I come back and 50 others of my 99 have already scattered." It's foolishness. You cut your loses. One sheep - it's unfortunate - but we can't abandon the 99 for the sake of the one, we'll just let it go. That seems like a reasonable thing for a shepherd, it would have been reasonable at the time to do that. But that's not the heart of God when it comes to us. It would be like a family of 12 going to a theme park, and coming out with 11 and going, "Well ... close enough .... get in the car." It doesn't happen, right? If you're missing a kid you say, "Y'all get in the car, but I'm going back to find them." And the same thing with our God. He doesn't look upon us as sheep, He looks upon us as children. He's our Father. He says, "One of my children is out there. I need to go find them." To great lengths He goes, to foolish lengths He goes.

The second parable shows that even more of the absurdity of it all - the lady with the 10 coins who loses one. We lose something in the translation, as always, from the ancient language to the contemporary language, and by the coin they essentially mean the equivalent of a penny or nickel. She loses a penny in her house ... and so in response, she tears up everything; she's pulling out the couches, flipping over the beds, searching the cabinets, sweeping the entire dirt floor, cleaning everything and searching entirely for…a penny. How many times have you gone to the grocery store and while walking to your car, you look on the ground, see a penny, and keep walking because it's just a penny. It's not worth your time to pick up the penny in a sense sometimes. And yet she goes and turns over her entire house looking for it. And then when she finds it, she invites all the neighbors to come celebrate. Imagine if you were sitting at your house and you got a phone call from your neighbor saying, "Come to the house, come to the house! We got some great news! The whole street, the whole neighborhood is coming, I got something awesome to tell you." And you all get there like, "What, what, what?!" you ask and they excitedly inform you, "I found the penny I've been looking for."  "You invited us over for that? You're crazy .. you're a fool." It's a penny! And yet that's the Lord. How often whenever we are lost and we don't even know we are lost, we think everything is fine, and yet we're lost. It would've been easy for the world to look upon us, as the scriptures describe the Pharisees, and say "It's just a penny ... it's just one person. There's what, 5 billion people in the world, what's one? Just let them go." But the Lord says no.

Those are two examples of things that were "not able to go back;" the coin doesn't have a mind of its own; the coin can't seek to be found. If the sheep goes in a place or gets lost in a hole or falls off a cliff and needs help, it can cry out but it doesn't have the sensibilities to go back exactly where it was…he can't reason it that way. He simple cries out in hopes of being found. But the lost son who goes away, it makes it more personable.

The last one is the son who goes off, and he receives the father's inheritance first. Basically he says, "Father I wish you were dead, so I could have my part of your stuff." What a great son, huh? Everybody wants a son like that. And so the son takes it and immediately leaves. Imagine the sorrow in the father's heart. The son goes off and he spends it on prostitutes and all these sorts of things. He's working among the pigs which would have been completely contrary to the faith, they didn't touch pork or deal with pigs - it was "unholy" and "unfitting", and yet he was longing to eat pig food. That tells you the lengths to which he had gone in his faith, and he realizes it and decided to go back, thinking he'd at least be a hired hand at the house. And when he goes back, the father does - again - the most foolish of things. Who among us would take the son - who took half of our belongings, went and spent it on sin, and wants to come back - who among us would give him the finest robe, put a ring on his finger, sandals on his feet, and slaughter the best animal we have, and throw a party? The fool. Instead, at best, you would welcome him back as a hired hand; at worst, you would slap him in the face and tell him to get out of here. That would've been normal, the normal response of the days ... "You wanted me dead? I'm dead. Go away." That would've been acceptable, socially reasonable, and yet the father does the exact opposite. He gives him even more riches on top of what he has already wasted.

And its the Father who does the same for us. No matter what filth we may find ourselves in, no matter what it is that we are "floating in" in a sense, God our Father looks at us and goes, "This is one that I treasure. This is one that I created Myself and love, that I want to keep. I know how bad it looks, how disgusting it looks, how useless it may seem, but this is one that I treasure." Every single one of us. The person that we think is the easiest to dismiss, who ever that person might be for you, that person is so deeply loved by God that He is willing to go to any lengths to save him. All the people that we meet, every person we see - today, tomorrow, and for the rest of our lives - God longs for them to be sitting right next to you in the pews. He longs to have His children to come to Him. It's not that He will accept us back reluctantly - He is actively seeking every single person. Every single one of us. Some of us respond and come back. Sometimes we don't know that we are lost - we're like the coin that's just there, it doesn't know. But every single one of us, God calls. Every person - treasured, loved, valued and longed for.

Brothers and sisters we are much more than coins and we are much more than sheep. God calls us to Himself. We are the sons and daughters of His who can turn away or can draw close, and we can bring the same with others. We can bring others close to Christ and let them know that no matter what, they are loved, because there are many people around us who don't know they are loved, who don't know they are worth saving, who don't know they are worth anything. They have never been told that, but it's we who can share the good news. It's we who can share the gospel of the love of our God which is so powerful that He calls every one of us to Himself. He seeks that all might be saved, and it is for us to respond, to be willing to be found. And so we pray through the course of this Mass, pray for the grace of the Lord Jesus to be with us, especially in this Eucharist, to help us to become even more deeply aware of our sinfulness so that we can become aware of the gift of our Savior and the gift of the God who loves us, who longs for us, who has come to seek and to save sinners.

We see Paul as the perfect witness who says, "I am a blasphemers, a persecutor." He tried to actively killed Christ and stands here as a witness. How much can we say the same for others? We are all sinners, and there is place for more here in the Church of Jesus Christ. And so we pray for His grace to be with us again, to help us become aware of our sinfulness, but also the joy of a Savior. That we might be able to experience the joy of this Mass, the peace of His mercy, and the grace of coming to rest in the heart of Christ that comes to seek us out and to save us.

Why Confess My Sins to a Priest?

Readings for Sunday, June 12 / 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13
Psalm 32
Galatians 2:16, 19-21
Luke 7:36-8:3

This week I was listening to a podcast on health and the podcaster was discussing scientific studies that showed that subjecting oneself to extreme heat and cold had notable health benefits. He noted how much of western culture likes to keep our temperature at a consistent level at home, in the car, at work, in stores and restaurants and more. It would seem that would be healthy but research indicated that having stresses on the body - heat and cold, specifically - made the body more versatile and adaptable, and thus healthier. He then posited such things as cold baths and going to the sauna (in Louisiana we call that simply going outside in the summer). But it intrigued me that the discomfort actually brought about health. 

In the letter to the Galatians, St. Paul addressed something that was causing some discomfort in the early Church. Some of the Jewish converts to Christianity continued to hold that one must follow the Jewish works of the law in addition to the mandates of Christ, causing much confusion to the Gentile (non-Jewish) converts who thought it unnecessary to practice the Jewish laws since Christ came to give a 'new law' in the Spirit. St. Paul acknowledges the conflict and affirms that it was not necessary to follow the Jewish works of the law, such as the ritual washings and such, because such things do not bring about justification or salvation. Those who remained attached to the works of the law were placing their trust in the actions they were doing and St. Paul unambiguously points out that if those actions were enough, then Christ died in vain. If it were possible to get to heaven simply by the works of the Jewish law, it is foolishness to have Christ come among us to die because there was an easier way. But that was not the case. Justification is not through works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, and the conflict helped to clarify that fundamental teaching of the Church.

A question that I've often heard posed is another that arises from an experience of discomfort: Why do I have to confess my sins to a priest? It's a question that is raised frequently and with much firmness in the conviction that 'I can go straight to Jesus without needing a priest.' The scriptures help us to make a bit of sense on the question. First, it's to recall that Jesus' first act after the Resurrection was to appear to the Twelve and to breath the Holy Spirit upon them, telling them "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven, who sins you retain are retained." The fact that it was the first thing He did is significant. Acts of the Apostles shows us that the disciples took the Lord at His word and went forth to preach the Gospel, forgive sins, and to health. One point not often given much reflection is that our sins affect not only 'me and Jesus' but also 'me and everyone else'. The impact of personal sin cannot be underestimated in our dealing with others, especially given the fact that the majority of our sins are in direct connection with another person or group of people. At Holy Mass, the priest acts on behalf of God for the people, nourishing them with the Eucharist, and also on behalf of the people to God, to whom we offer the sacrifice of Jesus and our sacrifice of praise. He acts in both ways, as well, during confession, imparting forgiveness on behalf of both God and the community. We can call to mind also the epistle of St. James (5:16) which calls for the confession of sins to one another. These can be helpful in giving strength to the argument, but only one argument was really enough to personally convince me when I was younger: Jesus set it up that way.

When it comes to confessing our sins to a priest, many conveniently forget just how physical was the ministry of Jesus and the worship of our Jewish ancestors before Him. It was eminently physical because we aren't angels. We're not purely spiritual beings. We are human, which means we are composed of both spirit and body. Both are important and the Lord's connection to us honors that point. In the first reading from 2nd Samuel we hear how it was a prophet of God who proclaimed the mercy of God. Prophets weren't just good preachers, they were men chosen by God and anointed with holy oil as a sign of consecration to be the voice of God. When they spoke they began "Thus says the Lord..." because they spoke on behalf of God to the people because the Lord knew the needed to hear it. The priests of the Jewish faith were anointed with holy oil as well and integral to the spiritual life of the people. The ritual washings and purifications were done by the priests to make people 'clean' who had become 'ritual unclean' in some way. Jesus affirms this practice when the 10 lepers come to Him to be healed and He commands them to go show themselves to the priest. He acknowledges the physical need we have to connect to God in the many accounts of His ministry. Today we hear Him speak to the woman at His feet to tell her that her sins were forgiven and to go in peace. He didn't have to say it for it to become reality; as God He could have simply willed it to be and it would be. But for her sake and for the sake of those others at table, it was spoken aloud. Other times in His ministry He was even more clear, saying to the Father in John 11:42 'I know that you always hear me, but I say this for the benefit of those standing here with me, that they might believe.' The One who knit us together in our mother's womb and knows us better than we know ourselves over and again drives home the point that our faith is not simply spiritual or invisible, but is necessarily physical and tangible. That's part of the beauty of the sacrament - we can hear and receive the touch of mercy that we need. 

As I was reflecting on the letter to the Galatians in light of this question, though, it helped me to clarify why I feel a bit of sting when the need for a priest to receive forgiveness is rejected. And it comes down to this: if justification and salvation were possible by the works of the law, then Jesus died in vain. And if the forgiveness of sins can happen anytime with no need for a priest, what am I doing here? Why have I given up 12 years of life already and consecrated the rest of my life for the service of God, giving up wife, children, my own home, certain freedoms, and ability to shape my own future if you can just as easily receive mercy without my presence? The whole mission of the consecrated priest has one single goal: to remove the one thing that separates us from heaven, that thing being sin. The mission of Jesus was to reconcile the world to the Father by the destruction of sin. The priest follows the same path. Is it uncomfortable to confess one's sins to a priest? Absolutely! There have been many times where I intentionally went out of my way to go to a different priest simply so that I wouldn't have to confess to the priest the same things I confessed to him the week before - and I was a priest then! Being a priest doesn't make it easier to humble myself and admit my sins, unfortunately.  I, too, need that verbal assurance that brings about the tangible lifting of the weight on my heart that sin brings, to be told "I absolve you from your sins" and to be able to say it to others in the same manner as Jesus - I absolve you, I forgive you, your faith has saved you, go in pace. So, while it might be comfortable to think that we can simply go 'straight to Jesus', it is when we become a bit uncomfortable we become healthier - and that doesn't apply only to the body.

Papal Intentions for December 2015

Papal Intentions for December 2015

Universal Intention: That all may experience the mercy of God, who never tires of forgiving.

Mission Intention: That families, especially those who suffer, may find in the birth of Jesus a sign of certain hope.

Prayer for the Pope

V. Let us pray for Francis, our Pope.

R. May the Lord preserve him, give him life, 

and make him blessed upon the earth, 

and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.

Our Father... Hail Mary...

O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, look mercifully upon Thy servant Francis, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church. Grant him, we beseech Thee, that by his word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life. 

Through Christ our Lord. 

Amen.

Healing Encounters

Readings for Sunday, September 6/ 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time:

Isaiah 35:4-7

Psalm 146

James 2:1-5

Mark 7:31-37

Some things never change. The Gospel passage we just heard recounted one of the many instances in which the Lord Jesus worked a miraculous healing. This particular one is one that while public is such that it is meant to take the man off to the side to foster a personal encounter with the Lord and bring about the healing of his hearing and speech. This miracle performed, the Lord goes back and tries to have it not spread around everywhere, but the people immediately misunderstand the intention of the Lord and like a wildfire, news spreads all over the countryside about the miracle worker who has come to town.

I say ‘some things never change’ because a similar story happened this week. Pope Francis wrote a letter regarding the upcoming Year of Faith and sought in that letter to address certain issues that sometimes make it burdensome or impossible for certain persons to receive the grace that is held out. He addressed the SSPX, a religious community that broke away from the Church some 25+ years back and has not come into full communion yet, but who minister to a number of Catholics who tend to find greater nourishment in their community; he permitted their priests to validly absolve from sins during the Jubilee Year, a wonderful gift to them and to the faithful who might not otherwise celebrate the sacrament in union with the Church. He addressed those who cannot make it to the Holy Doors of the Vatican or even of the local Cathedral on account of infirmity or imprisonment. He spoke of their ability to unite themselves to the Lord in prayer and seek the grace, and specifically for inmates to contemplate the mercy of God as they cross the threshold of their cell, recalling the Holy Doors they long to enter. To this he added one more instance that caught the media’s attention: the granting of faculties to all Catholic priests to absolve from the sin of abortion and lift the penalty of excommunication. In response I saw headlines to the effect of “Catholic Church radically changes teaching on abortion” and “Catholic Church offers forgiveness for abortion” and the like. Much like the Gospel, Pope Francis sought to make possible a personal encounter with Jesus Christ that would bring about healing and peace, and a wildfire of misunderstanding and confusion spread through the countryside.

So what was actually said and what does it mean?

Pope Francis gave all Catholic priests the faculty to forgive the sin of abortion and lift the penalty of excommunication. The problem is that it can seem as if both of those are new ideas, when in fact they are not. Every priest who has faculties, that is the ability granted by his bishop, to hear confessions is able to absolve an individual of the sin of abortion. That was never even a question. There has not been a time recently when a person was unable to receive absolution and forgiveness. The Church’s teaching hasn’t changed on that; God’s mercy is infinite and open. The thing that was a bit new was that during the Jubilee Year of Mercy all priests will also be able to lift the penalty of excommunication.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says in paragraph 2272: “The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life [abortion]…. The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society.”

The statement from the Catechism shows us that excommunication is something that still exists in the life of the Church and that it may be applied to a person participating in the sin of abortion. As it says, this is not a limiting of mercy in any way but rather a ‘penalty’ that highlights the serious nature of the act. In normal scenarios the lifting of the penalty of excommunication is reserved to the bishop. In layman’s terms that means it would require an individual to go to the bishop of the diocese to be release from the penalty. That can sounds like being sent to the principal’s office to get ‘a good talking to’ but is it really? Let’s take a closer look.

There are other events in the life of the Church that are reserved to the Bishop of a diocese. The consecration of churches, receiving the vows of religious brothers and sisters, and the blessing of certain religious objects for use in churches comes to mind. But another might be more applicable in this instance: the Sacrament of Confirmation. Technically every priest has the ability to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation – I’ve done it myself on three occasions in connection to RCIA and Easter Vigils – but the norm is that it would be reserved to the Bishop. This is so that the bishop has the joy of meeting face to face with those on whom the Holy Spirit is given in His fullness and to ensure that every member of the flock will have the opportunity at least once in their life to meet the Bishop, the successor of the Apostles. It is essentially to make possible the individual encounter that is spoken of in the Gospel with the Bishop at least once for every Catholic. Rather than a slap on the wrist, the mandate for a person to visit the bishop to be released from the penalty of excommunication is simply to hear from the representative of Christ Himself that they are not only forgiven but that they are in full communion with the Church, not someone on the outside but someone who is important and vital in the Church’s life.

Excommunication literally means ‘out of communion’ and highlights that something so serious has taken place that union between the individual and the larger community has been ruptured. Point this out is not meant to be a sign of public shaming so much as a call for healing. It’s not a punishment to browbeat people but a medicine to bring forth repentance and reunion. What Pope Francis did is that he recognized in many places throughout the world, individuals have a very hard time getting to their bishop. They may get Mass only once every month or so, let alone have the privilege of the being in the Bishop’s presence. Recognizing this reality, Pope Francis said that for the Year of Mercy, every parish priest will be able to lift the penalty of excommunication, since getting to the bishop may be impossible. In effect, he made it possible for countless people to more easily obtain not just the forgiveness they desire but the assurance that they are in the life of the Church and able to participate in the sacraments fully and without fear of being shamed. He enabled that personal encounter with Christ that brings about healing in the life of the Church. Admittedly, this doesn’t really change much in practice in the U.S., since most dioceses, including our own, have already had the policy that all priests could forgive and lift the penalty. But for the larger Church, this is quite a gift to bestow.

What’s the takeaway from all of this? If we haven’t had any connection to abortion, there is still something profoundly important for us to realize in this moment and it is the fact that Jesus Christ wants to have a personal encounter with each and every one of us. In every one of our hearts He can look as see a sin we struggle with, a relationship that’s wounded, a hurt that won’t go away, a regret or fear that needs to be addressed. Not one person in this Church today is perfect, so the invitation is extended not just to a certain group of people but to all people: come aside with the Lord for a moment and let Him lay hands upon us and bring about some healing. He wants to heal us, but we have to be willing to go off to the side and let Him do the work. I encourage you. I urge you. I beg you. If it works, I command you! Go to Confession! There’s no such thing as receiving ‘too much grace’ from God. There’s no such thing as being ‘too healed’ from past wounds. Don’t think that it has to be major things. Just like little kids that often get a little bump or ‘boo-boo’ on their hands and arms and cry up a storm; parents know you don’t have to administer drugs or get stitches or take x-rays. More often than not a parents’ gentle kiss makes it all better. Jesus wants our big stuff, but he also wants our ‘boo-boos’ to make everything better. Go to Confession. Ephphatha! Be opened. Be healed.

1931

Readings for Sunday, April 12/ Divine Mercy Sunday:

Acts 4:32-35

Psalm 118

1 John 5:1-6

John 20:19-31

In 1931, entertainers: James Dean and Leonard Nemoy were born. So too were Raul Castor, Mickey Mantle, and Willie Mays. The Star-Spangled Banner was adopted as the National Anthem, Alka Seltzer was introduced and began to be distributed. Spain’s monarchy was overthrown and a republic put in place. Austria’s largest bank failed, signaling the financial collapse of central Europe during the Great Depression. The 1^st cartoon of Donald Duck was show and rear-projected movies began to be shown. The Scottsboro Case in Alabama exposed the injustices present in the American legal system and Jane Addams won the Nobel Peace Prize, the first American woman to do so. Also that year, Al Capone was indicted on 5000 counts of perjury and prohibition. 5000; that’s just impressive.

In the midst of those and many other events in 1931 there is one that has probably an even greater effect upon the world as we know it today, though many are unaware of the fact. That event took place on February 22 in Poland, when a simple religious sister, Sr. Faustina, was spending her regular time before the Blessed Sacrament in the convent chapel. Though the time in prayer was a well-established part of her routine, this day was unique in that during her time of prayer the Lord Jesus appeared to her in a vision. He stood before her with a hand raised in blessing, the other pointing to His heart, which was not hidden but plainly visible. From his heart shown forth two rays, one red and one white. Seeing this vision, the Lord Jesus then spoke to Sr. Faustina, saying: “Paint an image according to the model you see, with the motto below: Jesus I trust in You. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and then throughout the world. I promise that the soul that venerates this image will not perish.”

That image, as you may recognize, hangs prominently in our church – as it does in many churches these days – a sign that the desire of the Lord Jesus has been fulfilled to some extent. The image that began in the little chapel has made itself known in churches all across the world, but this is not the main point. The message of Jesus to Sr. Faustina was not simply for people to come honor an image, but ultimately to receive what the image shows: Divine Mercy. The two rays, Jesus later explained, symbolized the complete washing away of sin (white ray) and the life of Christ that comes to live in us (red ray). The simple invitation that Jesus desired was that Sr. Faustina spread the good news of the immensity of the Mercy of God and the desire of God to pour it out upon us.

In a later vision, as they lasted in all for 7 years, Jesus would also express a desire for a feast of Mercy. He told her: “I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, especially poor sinners. On that day, the very depths of My tender mercy will be opened. I will pour out an entire ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the Fount of My Mercy. The soul that goes to Confession and receives Holy Communion will obtain complete forgiveness of sins and a remission of all punishment. (...) Let no soul fear to approach Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. (...) Humanity will not enjoy peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.”

Humanity will not enjoy peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy. In the Gospel we just heard, the Lord shows us where the Fount of Mercy is: His glorious wounds. When He appears to the Apostles they are filled with fear, anxiety, and surely many other things in their hearts. And coming to them, He shows them His hands and feet and says, “Peace be with you.” The wounds themselves bring peace because they are the sure signs that Christ, who had been crucified, has been raised up. They are signs to the Apostles that the most terrible thing that life brings at us is trampled underfoot by their Lord. They need not worry about sin or death, but simply trust in the Lord. Thomas misses this first appearance and, upon seeing and touching the wounds of Jesus, is also granted the gift of peace and the certainty of knowing Christ’s victory. In witnessing the wounds of Christ, the disciples are then sent out to proclaim the Good News, they go out to proclaim the Mercy of God for humanity, calling all to seek forgiveness of sins and be baptized in Christ Jesus. They are even given the gift of forgiving sins themselves when the Lord breathed upon them the gift of the Spirit. Peace begins with the encounter with the Resurrected Lord, but then it must necessarily go out to others, that they too might experience peace.

So we stand here on this Divine Mercy Sunday, the feast desired by the Lord, and hear the invitation to come seek peace in Him. Come to confession. Come experience the peace that the wounds of Jesus won for us. And receiving that peace, show it to others.

Here, I think, is an important point. Mercy doesn’t just come to me and stop. It requires that I show it to others. Two instances this week really gave me pause about how I do that. We all know that the Boston Marathon Bomber was found guilty on all 30 charges this past week. What struck me was looking at facebook later only to find that many people who are ‘strong, traditional Catholics’ were calling for his death, posting how he needs to get what’s coming to him, and all sorts of mean-spirited reactions. And the first thought in my mind was ‘What about mercy?’ In no way am I defending his actions, but what in us causes the occasional joy of seeing someone else suffer? Why not pray for conversion of heart and a powerful witness to the Gospel, much like St. Paul and many others? Another thing, much more practical and of lesser importance, was as I was walking into the market. I overheard someone saying ‘why are you putting the buggy behind that person’s car?’ to which the other person said, ‘It’s not my car. I’m not gonna hit it.’ This little thing also spoke to me of the need to show mercy to others, as I had bad thoughts come to mind myself, but also the question of how are we showing mercy and love to others? How are we manifesting God’s concern for us by showing concern for others? They are necessarily connected, as Jesus reminds us in the scriptures.

To these events we can also add the events last night in Rome, as Pope Francis officially announced a Jubilee Year of Mercy for the Church starting in December on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Mercy, he says, is what the world needs most right now and we must spend a special time to focus upon it. Let’s not wait until December, though. Let it begin today in our hearts as we come to honor this feast of Divine Mercy. Let us turn to the Lord and find peace.

Jesus, I Trust In You.