From Our Pastor's Desk
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From Our Pastor's Desk
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BAPTIZED TO TRANSFORM THE WORLD
The Epiphany was the manifestation of Christ's divinity before the world, and his baptism is a new “epiphany”; God himself reveals to his people that Jesus Christ is his Son. When the Father's voice was heard, heaven opened for all of us. With Christ, we too celebrate our baptism, which is our birth to the life of grace. Sisters and brothers: 1. St. Luke tells us that when all the people were being baptized by John, Jesus also went to be baptized. Is this not what he had already done through the mystery of his Incarnation: to mingle with men and enter into the current of their history? He had come to be in solidarity with men in everything; not in sin, but in the consequences of sin. This is the novelty of his doctrine. Jesus approaches sinners as a friend; not as a moralist who seeks out those to blame, nor as a judge who passes sentences, but as a brother who preaches forgiveness. How often people who have fallen and whom we easily condemn need more than our light criticism, understanding, and help that gives them strength to renew their lives! 2. Jesus' baptism was like his presentation to society by God. God breaks his silence, bursts in publicly to take him out of his anonymity at the beginning of his public life, and to present him to everyone as his messenger, as the expected Messiah, as the definitive Messiah. This Jesus, who lets himself be baptized by John, anonymously mixed among the people, is not just any man, he is the "Son, the beloved, the chosen one." We too have been baptized. Contemplating Jesus' baptism, we also remember our own. 3. On the day of our baptism something has been kindled within our hearts. It is the fire of the Holy Spirit that comes through us to transform the world. The Letter to Diognetus said: “What the soul is to the body, so are Christians to the world.” The Christian is an apostle by vocation. How the world would change if we were faithful to this requirement! In baptism we become children of God, we receive the gifts of the Spirit. The laity of today must be able to offer new solutions to new problems, inspired by the faith of always. We are integrated into the world, in school, in art, in politics, in work and there we must sow the seed of Christ without becoming prisoners of its false myths. Brothers and sisters: We are Christians by baptism but do we live as Christians? Some are added to the statistics because they are registered in the parish registers but they do not know Christ or follow the commandments; it is understood that apostasy is fashionable among them. Confirm your faith and that of your brothers! Value the gifts you have received, take care of them, and thank God for them. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests THE CRIB IS READY
Let us focus our attention on the mystery of Bethlehem and contemplate the Child who comes to save us. Let us dare to enter into the soul of Jesus into the womb of Mary and listen to his offering to the Father: “Here I am, I come to do your will.” His mission is clear. The scene of Mary’s visitation to her cousin Saint Elizabeth should prepare our hearts so that we may live this Christmas with a spirit of gratitude and admiration. Sisters and brothers: 1. In our Christian homes today there is an air of expectation that is typical of great events. The wait becomes warm and an aura of poetry begins to envelop everything. However, this is not the case everywhere. For some, unfortunately, everything will remain as it is: blinking colored lights, artificial pine trees loaded with gifts, tambourines and fan-fares. Many will live these last hours distracted by the nervousness of the rush for the purchases that still need to be made. 2. Christmas will always be the celebration of the simple and the rescue of the poor. This Child who is born in Bethlehem is the same one who will later give himself for the salvation of humanity. It is a divine gesture that can only be perceived in prayer and inner contemplation. The Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem has only one entrance door, so low that one cannot pass through it without bending deeply. This contains a spiritual truth: reminding pilgrims that in order to penetrate the profound meaning of Christmas it is necessary to make oneself small. 3. This Sunday is eminently Marian. We contemplate the position of Mary, who becomes the slave of the Lord in the Incarnation and the servant of men in the Visitation. Through her faith, the Virgin of Nazareth has become blessed and all generations recognize her as the Mother of believers. St. Augustine does not hesitate to affirm that Mary, through her faith, conceived Jesus first in her heart than in her virginal womb. Through faith, God also enters our lives and is with us. 4. Today Christ accomplishes the mystery of the Incarnation in all those who, like Mary, open their hearts to him without putting obstacles in the way of his grace. The more we act as slaves of the Lord, the more fruitful will be the redemption accomplished in us and by us. Mary, one of the most relevant figures of Advent, is the path that God has chosen to draw near to us and may very well be the path that brings us closer to God. May the flares or the hustle and bustle of our streets not distract us from contemplating the mystery of the birth of the Son of God. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests THE WORD IN THE DESERT
The Church continues to prepare the way of Our Lord for His Coming. The road of conversion that we travel through is sown with signs of joy and hope. The order is the same: conversion and pardon for our sins. The desert is a place of solitude and silence, where a Christian is purified while traveling as a pilgrim. It is necessary to preach and live the principles and practices of the Gospel message so that the men of our time will come to see Salvation. Sisters and brothers: 1. The desert is a place of solitude, hardships of life, and temptation. The desert educates one that an essential part of life will require renunciations, detachments, and a radical change of the soul. The desert educates us through a test, where one must make room for the love of God. Salvation always comes from the Word. The Word enlightens us when we are responsible when we are willing to listen, and when we do not abandon the place that is meant for us. Upon reflecting on its value, Paul Claudel exclaimed: "It is not enough to approach the Word with our eyes or with our lips: one must become fond of the Word, one must stop to think of the Word, and one must soak in the Word. One must live under its cover, we must store it in our soul, we must rest in the Word, dream of the Word, and be awoken with the Word; one must be persuaded that the Word alone is bread, and that, in the last analysis, we are only hungry for the Word." 2. St. John has received a mission to carry out: With his word, he sows a message in our souls, one that few understand; this message waters the sterile sands through the waters of Baptism, through his sweat of penitence, and through the blood of his martyrdom. Thus, each man, in small or large things, is the author of a fragment of history, whose meaning results in all humanity. Each minute of our life has a decisive weight. Those that respond to God, collaborate in His project of Salvation. Yet those that are opposed, build a world of perdition. 3. Advent is an opportune time to immerse ourselves in the wealth of the Mystery of the Incarnation, the maximum test of God's love for man. God in person enters at a precise point of history and makes the duration of time impregnated with eternity. St. Francis de Sales interprets it this way: "Every single moment of time comes toward you with a task to complete, and also with the grace to complete it well; it then returns to eternity to remain eternally, just as you have left it." To some, Advent arrives as a crisis of exhaustion or disillusionment. To another, as a moment of elation and serenity. The Incarnation is a mystery of love and one can only enter into this mystery if one lives in continuous contemplation as Mary has. She teaches us to discover behind each person, each circumstance, and each difficulty - the most Holy Will of God. We must put our entire life on the altar, all our love and our liberty. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD
Final results can leave us all anxious: competitive sports, the end of a school year, a business enterprise in which all is waged, and the end of the world. The first Christian community believed that the second coming of Christ was close and that He would come as the great inquisitor. Today's liturgy looks at the end of life and to what will occur later, with a clear recommendation: to be prepared. The end times will be difficult times: "For some, the verdict will be that of salvation, but for others - it will be condemnation". Sisters and brothers: 1. When we suddenly find ourselves in difficult times, due to the mysterious or to the unknown, these times may provoke a mixture of fear and hope. This occurs to us when we glimpse the imminence of death. Death is not the end of life. We do not live to die, as the philosophers sentence us; but we live and die to live in fullness, as our faith implies and as hope manifests. Jesus speaks to us today about the world's end and our final judgment. The Lord will come as a judge. In light of this truth, we can face our human existence in two ways: that of the follower of Christ who renounces all - in order to live love without measure; or we may choose to live life enjoying all the pleasures of the present time - as if there was nothing to follow after death. 2. In light of faith, the end of the world is the triumph of life over death. So what will happen to us? How will our life's efforts end, our struggles, our aspirations? Someone dared to affirm that - life is just a brief parenthesis between two nothings, if all we expect from life is nothing. So what final meaning do all our struggles, efforts, and confrontations make? If we see all in the light of faith,a ray of hope will ignite. Thus life, history, and our world - are not just a useless passion; we are not trapped, nor are we yoked to an endless well where an eternal repayment is due. There is salvation. 3. When will this all occur? Revelation speaks of an imminent event, that "is already at the door". It could occur at any moment. For the time is brief. The end of the world is not its destruction, but its destiny. In light of the final event, all the values of life appear in their just dimension. We look with bravery at this destiny that expects us to understand how it is imminent. We decide our future every day, and that is why we should prepare ourselves as of now. When will that end be? When we want it to come, when we are ready and willing to make it a reality when we live as Jesus taught us, in accordance with the beatitudes. Brothers and sisters: From today’s Gospel, we must retain in us the invitation to walk according to the Gospel, supported by the saving Word of Jesus Christ, without seeking to know the day or the hour. Our actual call is a call to faithfulness; like the first Christians, we are called to be faithful in the hour of persecution, and then the fullness will come, but it will come when Our Father wills it. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests Thirty - second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B
Readings: 1 Kings 17:10-16, Psalm 146 “Praise the Lord, my soul!”, Hebrew 9:24-28, Mark 12:38-44 or 12:41-44 THE POOR WIDOW Today we speak a lot about solidarity; it is an article that will sell. It is preached in homilies, it is the theme of Lent, and a convincing argument the stars use to entice the multitudes: Charitable Concerts, Campaigns against the Hunger in our world. Yet, is there one that will take the bread from his mouth to feed the hungry? Even the widow from the Gospel understood this, how one must love in times of hunger: she gave her all and thus, she remains without eating. God is not the Lord of "quantities", but of qualities. He knows how to multiply the two coins and how to make sure that "the pot of flour and the flask of oil are never empty". Sisters and brothers: 1. To be a widow is a symbol of solitude and of emptiness. Elías went to a widow and with her - a miracle was produced. Elías asked her for something to eat and she gave him everything that she had without reserving anything for herself. So God became an excellent provider for her, to see that she never lacked food for nourishment. All the power of God - in the service of a poor, weak, abandoned and ignored woman! The other woman is also poor and insignificant. We don't know her name. She was also a widow and she went to the temple. Her two small coins clinked with a special sound. Here we have two histories with a very clear lesson: To be sure that the heart of God is touched, one does not have to be important, nor know a lot, nor be educated, nor be prestigious with resplendent clothing. It only matters that we give what we have, and believe in His promises without holding back anything. 2. The greatness of the humble little lady of the town contrasts with the misery of the Pharisees that criticize her. When she silently deposits her coins, she is praying and loving. Her material contribution is insignificant, yet her gift is total. Jesus admired this gesture and he praised her, because he does not measure our human acts with our scale. We generally remain at the level of appearances, but the Lord searches the heart. The one that gives of his/her excess, does not give life. The one that gives from their own sustenance, of what that person needs to live, then that person gives something of their life; they give of their utmost for others. 3. "One gives a lot when he gives his all, even though that all - may be just a little bit". One gives a lot when one loves a lot. Christian charity is authentic when it is practiced in accordance with God's values, and as consequence, life then acquires a marvelous fruitfulness. "There is more happiness in giving, than in receiving". We are beginning to forget what compassion is. It is to be able "to suffer with" the needy and radiate compassion with another one's suffering. We look at people from the surface, as if they were objects, without being able to approach their pain. When one is already sufficiently satisfied with their small world of well-being and comfort, it is difficult to understand the suffering of others. Brothers and sisters: The example of the widow that gave everything that she had, should stimulate our generosity. However, it should be done simply and discreetly. When we begin to think beyond material goods, we will find in numerous situations where our Christian charity can become a reality. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests WITH ALL YOUR HEART
“One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied, ‘The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Love is a very serious matter; that is why it is natural to take it on fully and totally: “You shall love with all your heart”. Why with “all”? Because love cannot bear limits or be measured. You cannot love “a little”. That’s why St Bernard insisted that “The measure of love is to love without measure.” Brothers and Sisters, 1. This totality is what measures our happiness and the value of our life; only in love can man rescue his life from capsizing. Jesus speaks of the heart, soul, and strength because it implies all our capacity of understanding, all our emotional strength, all our dynamism of acting. When love for God and neighbor is like this, it alone is enough for us. As Saint Augustine says: “Love and do as you will.” Love is total in another sense: it embraces all of Christian morality and Christian spirituality. The other virtues are only aspects of charity; if we practice them without charity, they become sterile. Self-giving, generosity, obedience, and poverty become authentic values only when they are ways of loving. 2. The greatest and most consequential word a father can speak to his son is: “I love you”. Love is beyond what is human or terrestrial; it is God’s initiative. C.S. Lewis, in Four Loves, writes, speaking of charity, “natural Gift-love is always directed to objects which the lover finds in some way intrinsically lovable …. But Divine Gift-love in the man enables him to love what is not naturally lovable; lepers, criminals, enemies, morons, the sulky, the superior, and the sneering.” 3. Today, Christians ask about their identity: What does it really mean to be Christian? What is most important? Jesus did not respond with the first commandment, but rather with the first two, which together form but one commandment. This is the novelty. It’s not about two commandments in a hierarchical order, but one sole commandment. What’s important is not the order, but the logic: The love God has for us is the source of our love for him and our neighbor. We want to be loved for our intelligence, beauty, generosity, honesty, and efficiency. When we see someone offering us supreme love and charity, this produces an incredible impact. Receiving is harder and perhaps more meritorious than giving. Just like the scribe of the Gospel, we must ask ourselves again, “What is most important? What truly saves our lives, gives true peace to our conscience, remains after the fleetingness of human life?” With this, being brothers and sisters is not difficult. Is it so difficult to leave in each brother or sister that crosses our path a token of love, kindness, respect, appreciation for their dignity, encouragement, and commitment, to the construction of a more human and fraternal world? It will be difficult, but it is essential, primary, first, because “to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests A COVENANT WITH NO CRACKS
Man and woman have been created to love and help each other. They are at once similar and complementary. Their union flourishes in fruitfulness. They are no longer two individuals but one flesh until death. “What God has united, let no one put asunder.” Nevertheless, married love is threatened by divorce. And if one adds a new union to the separation it becomes adultery. Jesus reminds us that God’s plan has always been the happiness of man and woman, united and faithful till the end. Brothers and Sisters, 1. The union between a man and a woman is the model of all human relationships. This adventure is undertaken only by those with a vocation. God intervenes to put his seal upon the free choice of the spouses: It is a consecration that divinizes human love through the sacrament of marriage. This is a divine reality that no man or institution may break. To touch this reality would be sacrilege. Our generation urgently needs marriages forcefully shouts to men and women around them: “Love exists!” This is the same as saying “God exists”. 2. God wants indissoluble marriage; The Second Vatican Council states: “As a mutual gift of two persons, this intimate union and the good of the children impose total fidelity on the spouses and argue for an unbreakable oneness¨between them.” However, this pact of love is continuously threatened by death. When man separates what God has united he is plunged into a deep failure. The spouses suffer, and the children are hurt. It would be naïve to think that divorce solves repugnance. If it is real, it needs to be faithful: It excludes any other love that could come to overshadow it. Love risks it all, forever! There is no “bargaining” in love, you either take it or leave it! It has a definitive seal. You cannot enter into love watching the clock, as if stingily calculating something provisional. 3. Society needs marriages that are “one heart and one soul”. Marriages that are open, caring, generous, and happy. Christian marriage lived according to the Gospel, is a fountain of personal maturity, generosity, peace, and happiness. The vow of love made at the altar is irreversible – “all the days of my life, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer” – it is not guaranteed by two wills in love, but by God who makes it into a gift for the spouses and a sacrament for the world. As a gift, it needs to be received with joy and humility; as a sacrament, it is announced to the world. Brothers and Sisters: Let us promise to strengthen these convictions and proclaim them without shame. Let us be on the side of those marriages that live a complete love, committed in each and every circumstance of life and forever, marriages that strive to make their love progress more each day, marriages that value the Christian celebration of marriage as a sacrament of God’s love, and that assist younger Christians to understand and discover this value. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests AMBITIONS
Climbing positions of power will always be the greatest temptation for those who are “too human:” Looking for position, being corrupted by money, influencing the masses. Who can resist the seduction? Following Christ is trans-forming the world, not from positions of power but from the humble service of the lowest positions. This is the Christian’s strength. Brothers and sisters, 1. There are three things that many people place at the top of their values’ scale: wealth, power and pleasure. And to get them they sacrifice everything else. For us, important people are prestigious men and women, who stand out above the others and are applauded by the public. They are the faces we see on TV: political leaders, singers, athletes. Jesus Christ turns this scale of values upside-down: At the top he places humility, poverty and the cross – anonymous men and women, unknown faces who go out of their way in the selfless service to others. They may seem to be the least, but their life is truly great. 2. Among those closest to the Master, a discussion arose about “who was the greatest.” Jesus took advantage of the occasion to teach us that he who governs the community commits him to the hardest tasks. “Ministrare” means to serve. Ministry is a radical and real “service”. A minister must be available with all he has and all he is to those he serves. How often do we let ourselves be guided by a human mentality – being greater than others, “getting the spot-light!” This can happen in politics and social arenas, and even in our families and in the Church community. 3. Jesus teaches us that we should be the least, available for others, servers and not masters. St Paul took this up as the program for his apostolate: “I have become all things to all” (1 Corinthians 9:21). This includes time, strength, talents and capabilities. Moreover, giving it “to all” means that he adapts himself to the needs of each one, without excluding anyone. It is what Tagore pronounced with true evangelical zeal: “I fell asleep and dreamed that life was joy; I awoke and found that life was service; I served and found that service is joy.” Jesus put it like this, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). God’s Law is a true internal rule and lifestyle. Fidelity is what gives the just person the ability to resist the seductions of fads and pagan customs. On the one hand, the presence of a good person gives testimony to others, edifying and encouraging them to do the good. On the other hand, it can also be a silent indictment of contrary lifestyles: for example, materialistic, apathetic to spiritual matters, superficial, unjust and selfish. Brothers and sisters, today when we arrive home, let us exercise our authority with the spirit of service. There are so many small details of service that would make our children happy! From us, they will learn the virtues of living together with humility, generosity, respect, and kindness. Let us give it a try, and we will be amazed at the results. Amen. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH
Our fidelity to God begins with fidelity to our commitments. Among Jesus’ followers, some began to question his way of speaking about fidelity to God’s plans. There were even those who considered leaving for good. No doubt, Christ demands a well-defined and radical position. “Do you also want to leave?” he asks. Today he asks us the same question, but our answer can only be Peter’s: ““Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Brothers and sisters, 1. We need to recognize that fidelity is a value that is in crisis. In emergency situations, we don’t lack bouts of enthusiasm, but afterwards, do we persevere in our purpose? Are we capable of risking it all forever, as in a marriage or priestly vocation? You have to be generous to take risks! What is virtuous always seems difficult; we feel a mysterious force that pulls us down. Only with great effort can we succeed in being faithful. Euripides confesses his bewilderment: “Frequently, I have reflected upon mankind’s vices – he says. We see the good, and we do what is bad; we learn virtue and give into vice. Life is sown with diverse pitfalls towards which we are drawn by a dangerous current”. Giovanni Papini adds, “Man, however great he may be, is never all of one piece; alongside generous acts we can find lapses of weakness”. 2. Jesus speaks of the Eucharist, but we can also understand the fidelity he expects in marriage. Both have much in common. Christ gives himself in body and soul. The same occurs between spouses through their total surrender. Both imply a limitless generosity. Through the sacrament of marriage God gives security, fruitfulness and harmony to the spouses. God does not act as a safety net, nor as protective umbrella; instead he works within theme to give them strength, hope and comfort even in the most painful circumstances. 3. Only strong spirits can take on serious commitments. Deserters tend to be weak people. Jesus knew human psychology well. After the discourse on the bread of life, he sees that some of his followers begin to doubt. “Do you also want to leave?” he says, and he lays out the dilemma of following him or leaving him. When the master’s demands become radical and the cross in our life emerges, some disciples leave and others turn him off. But not all. There is also a group that stays. To choose means to commit all of one’s life. Brothers and Sisters: Do not postpone your decision to be faithful. When you are faced with the temptation to abandon everything, pray like the disciples: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” You will always find Christ in the Eucharist. Receive him frequently in communion. There lies the secret to fidelity to the things of faith, but also to matrimonial fidelity. Amen. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests BREAD THAT RAISES THE DEAD
God’s Word, as well as the Eucharist, is the repast that feeds our soul. It would be reckless not to take part in the banquet that God’s Wisdom has prepared for us: Bread and the Word. The Gospel enlightens our mind; the Eucharist moves our will. Christ’s promise makes a new light shine within us on the horizon of our hope: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.” Brothers and Sisters, 1. In the Eucharist Jesus instills in us an immense desire to live, to be simple and authentic. Jesus, before consummating his bloody sacrifice on the cross, wanted to invite us to a banquet that he himself had prepared with a surprising and almost disconcerting type of food: his body and blood. What is the meaning of a banquet in which we are offered food and drink that can only be present through the sacrifice of a victim? There is a lot to understand here, much to adore, much to believe and much to love. The Eucharistic banquet nourishes us and at the same time drives us to solidarity with others so that everyone may take part in the feast. It teaches us to embrace the little ones, foster friendship, and lead our brothers and sisters to the banquet a “common union” where what is “mine” becomes “ours”, and God changes it into “his”, God’s. 2. Holy Communion not only nourishes the soul but also gives us strength and makes our spirit enjoy the sweetness of divine things. It is not the sacrament that becomes, like the bread and wine, part of our substance, but rather we who mysteriously become like Christ. The Jews argued, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” We can no longer argue as they did; we must adore, thank and commit ourselves. He left us a last memory, beating and warm throughout the ages, to remind us of that night when he promised to remain upon the altars until the end of time, insensitive to the pain of loneliness he would experience in so many tabernacles. 3. The Eucharist is not only strength and food for the road; the Eucharist is not only for the present. It is also a pledge of future glory. What does “Whoever eats this bread will live forever” mean? Already from the present moment, the Eucharist plants a little “heaven” inside us, because in the Eucharist we receive the suffering and glorious Christ. We are pilgrims of this land, yet citizens of another country towards which we journey and where we will dwell eternally. Our final destiny cannot be this world. God opens our poor existence on to the horizon of eternal life. His promise must inspire us. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood already has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.” How do we nourish our hope and yearning for the final feast? Let us ask the Lord to welcome us into heaven because we have fed on the bread that raises us to true life. Amen. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests |
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