The PadreCast - Faithful Catholic Homilies

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray. Hail Mary full of Grace. The Lord is with the Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy wound. Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Good morning, brothers and sisters. Something that's been on my mind, uh, quite a bit recently. Uh, a topic on which to preach has to do with proper Catholic guilt. It's something that especially we older Catholics know about. You know, Catholics have that good Catholic guilt when you commit a sin, right? You feel shame and and you know, you regret what you've done.  So as Catholics, we're raised with all of the teachings of Christ and the church. Right. We know what sin and what's not sin. And when we break those commands of God, when we sit in that way, then that that feeling of shame and guilt comes up in us. Right? And this should be, we think, a good thing, right?  You know. Well, I don't know how many of you notice, but I was using a few different words there, and you might not realize that they don't all go together. I certainly talked about Catholic guilt, sorrow for sin, but I use the word shame. Most people, who are trying to be holy and good think that they should feel ashamed after they fall into a sin.  When you're in sin, you should feel ashamed. And yet this is completely false. That has nothing to do with Catholic guilt or sorrow for sin. In fact, that kind of shame that we feel after we sin is it’s a sin ultimately in and of itself, not necessarily a deadly one, but it's based on pride.  And the best way to understand it is, is how we see it in children. Right? When you catch a child doing something they know they're not supposed to do. Right. And you've told them many times not to do what's there. Normal response. Don't look at me. Right. That's shame. The idea is I've done something wrong and I'm embarrassed.  I'm ashamed. And I want to hide from that shame. I don't want you to see me. That's what shame does.

Many of us may have even been raised. Or maybe you've said this to your own children. After they've done something wrong. You should be ashamed of yourself.This is a terrible, terrible thing to say. None of us should ever feel shame after we sin. And I can prove it to you very easily when I am in sin. What does God want of me? He wants me to admit that I've done wrong. Repent of my sin and make up for it by doing some type of penance.

Right. That's what the Lord wants. That's what Catholic guilt or Catholic sorrow for sin is supposed to be. But when I feel ashamed, the last thing I want to do is go to confession and admit I did wrong because I'm embarrassed. I want to hide. I want to run away. I don't want anybody to see it. Our Lord would never want you to feel shame after you've fallen into a sin, because that shame actually keeps you away from his mercy and forgiveness.

I mean, he died in the cross 2000 years ago to forgive you. He wants you to bring your son to him, to ask for forgiveness and to receive his mercy. That's why he went through everything. And yet, when we feel shame, we're disinclined to do that, because that's what shame does. By its very nature, this feeling that we get.  It makes us want to hide and stay away from anyone that could see our reason for shame. Now, that's the opposite of repentance, right? That's the opposite of repentance. Because if I'm feeling ashamed, I don't want to admit to you I did wrong. I don't want to admit to God I did wrong. I don't want to go to confession. I don't want anybody to know. I don't even want to know about it.  And that's exactly why our Lord would never want his children to feel ashamed. What he wants you to do is feel sorrow for your sins and guilt or remorse. The nice thing about sorrow for sin and guilt and remorse is that actually draws you to repentance. You want to fix what you just did. You want to go to confession and make it right, and you want to do some type of penance.  That's the purpose of guilt and sorrow. It actually draws us towards reconciliation, whereas shame pushes us away. Now the world again is the one. The world, the flesh and the devil are the ones who tell us that we should be ashamed when we sin. Do you really think God is surprised by your sin? Oh. Oh, my goodness. Look what he did.  Look what she did. I never even thought they could do something like that. Do you think the priest is surprised by the sins that you confess? Oh, no one has ever confessed that before.  I mean, this is what we do for a living, right? We hear confessions most of the time. There is. I've said this before. The only thing you can say that I've never heard before is cannibalism. But honestly, if I heard that, I wouldn't be surprised. I know that's kind of sad, but, you know, that's human sinfulness that you can't surprise a priest if he's been a priest more than three months.

You're not going to surprise him. The only thing keeping us from this reconciliation with God is this inappropriate sense of shame. It does nothing. In fact, it keeps us from his mercy and his peace, which is why he rejects it, why he doesn't want you to feel it. Do you know what the real purpose of shame was? Why God created it?  Shame was supposed to be felt before you send when you're tempted. If shame inclines you to hide or push away from something, then if I'm tempted to a sin and I feel shame, I'm going to hide from the temptation. I'm going to leave. I'm going to push away from it. Right. That's actually the proper use of shame. But once I fall into a sense that it's useless, in fact, it gets in the way. You have to learn to reject that temptation. And that's what I'm calling it, a temptation to be ashamed after you've sent. I mean, you did it right? It is what it is. It's already done. How do we fix it? That's what matters. And that's what proper Catholic guilt and sorrow for sin is meant to do, is to draw us to repentance, reconciliation so that we can be at peace with God and He can be at peace with us.  That's what he wants. And so, a meditation, a good meditation that can help you remember not to give in to this temptation of shame after you've fallen into a sin. Is this 2000 years ago when Jesus was dying on the cross, He thought of you. He thought of you by name. Now, in his human nature, with his human intellect, he couldn't have done that.  There are too many of us throughout space and time. But remember is God also. And so, in his divine intellect there on the cross for those hours, he thought of every human being who would be in need of his forgiveness. And by name, he thought of you, and he said to his Heavenly Father, I die for him. I die for her.  Every sin you've ever committed up to this point and the ones you will commit in the future, he's already died for. He wants to forgive you If your shame gets in the way of that and you need to get rid of it. It doesn't help you at all. It doesn't help him. Ultimately, this love of Christ is the pearl of great price that we hear about in the Gospel.  It's the treasure buried in the field. When you find this kind of love, you'll give up anything for it. That's what the merchant did, right? He sold all his possessions just to own this pearl. This great love that our Lord has for us. Anything that gets in the way of you receiving that love, it needs to be cast aside and needs to be removed from your mind and heart.  So, I encourage you all to meditate upon this. Love that when he was dying on the cross for you, he thought of you by name.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:55

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray. Hail Mary, full of Grace. The Lord is with the blessed heart among women, and blessed is the fruit of Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Good morning, brothers and sisters. In our first reading today from the prophet of Isaiah, there's a very important phrase that helps us understand the nature of grace and the will of God in the world. It's the final line of that. The Lord is speaking through Isaiah to us. He says, my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will achieving the end for which I sent it.

The church teaches that when God wants something to happen on Earth, He provides all the graces necessary for it. He rains these graces down upon the earth and it is accomplished. His will is accomplished. Why? Because nobody can thwart the will of God. Whenever God wants something that happens when your will is omnipotent, all powerful, then who can stop you?

One of your own creation? Certainly not. No human, no demon, no angel could force the will of God when he wants something to happen. Now, how does this work? However, when God wants to use us, and we may be resistant to His will? Well, what the church says is God's grace flows down upon a land of people because he wants something to happen.And if the people to whom he sends the grace initially reject the grace, it simply flows like a stream to somebody else who's open and willing. If for some reason the ground is rocky and hard, then that water is going to flow elsewhere to fertile soil. Right? And then the fruit will be born in that fertile soil. This is one of the reasons why we have saints. You know, if everybody was a saint, there wouldn't be any saints. What do I mean by that? Because the saints stand out from the crowd. They're almost extremists in grace and in holiness. But you wouldn't need anyone to be that extreme if everybody was as holy as they were supposed to be. If everybody were receiving the grace that God poured out upon the earth. You wouldn't have these exceptionally virtuous and holy people. They were created because the rest of us didn't accept the grace since they were opened. All of the excess grace simply flowed into them, and God's will was still accomplished. He just did it through one person instead of many. Now, knowing this, we can be and should be to a certain extent, a little concerned, because that. Does that mean I'm losing grace? Well, it's certainly possible. Right. God is constantly pouring out. His grace is upon us. And if I'm not open, if I'm not fertile soil, then the grace simply runs off or it doesn't bear the fruit in me that it was supposed to bear, and they bear to someone else. The saints talk about the graces that the Blessed Mother distributes.

They said that in heaven, oftentimes when she's appeared, she has ten shining rings on her fingers and each ring is a separate grace. And when people ask her, obviously, it's all from her son. But when people ask her for intercession, she pours out, you know, these rays of grace upon them. Now, if people don't receive this grace, then other people can scoop it up and there have been saints who say to the Blessed Mother, I want all of the graces that other people reject. I'll take them. Give them to me. I'll use them. Please don't let them be wasted. Send them my way. It's something that you need to consider praying for. But again, if you're not that fertile soil, are you going to be using those graces? Just because you asked for grace. Doesn't mean you absorb the grace. The church teaches that grace builds on nature. Grace builds on nature in a simple way. To understand that is obviously, you know, I will never have the grace to fly like an eagle. Sorry, I don't have wings. It's not my nature. It's not natural to me. But if my nature, which is human, is tainted or corrupted because of sin or vice in various ways, again, grace is prevented from working. Not because grace isn't powerful. Isn't God because I'm blocking it. That's why conversion is so necessary. That's why the ground that Jesus describes in the Gospel today needs to be renewed right there. Roxanne, you need to get those big rocks of sin out. If there are thorns in it, you need to uproot those weeds, Get rid of those, too.

Right. If it's if you're really packed down soil like a pathway that need to, you know, what's it called till, till very go till the soil. Right. Loosen up the dirt so that the grace can penetrate and bear fruit. That's our response. We want to be open to as much of the grace as that God is pouring out upon us each and every day and yet so many things, primarily our sins. But it doesn't even have to be sin. It could just be some area of ignorance, something you need to learn, or some lie you're believing that you need to reject that's blocking the life of God from flowing within you. Now there is a consolation to a certain extent, because Isaiah clearly tells us that God's grace is is like water right at the beginning of the passage. He says, Justice from the heavens. The rain and snow come down, the rain and snow. It's not just rain. That is the analogy for God's grace. It's snow, too. You may say, Well, okay, fine, it's frozen rain. What's the big deal? This is a very important distinction that if you're not a farmer, you might not appreciate. So when I was in seminary, some of the guys were from Nebraska and a lot of farmland out there and they would tell me that if they didn't get a good snowfall that winter, then their crops would not grow as well in the summer. The reason is because as the rain is falling and the air is so cold, it's crystallizing. When it becomes a crystal, it actually traps nitrogen inside the crystal framework. And then when you have, you know, 30 feet of snow piled up on these fields as it's been snowing all winter long, when the spring comes in, that snow begins to melt. All that nitrogen that was trapped in the crystals is now saturating the soil. And plants need nitrogen. They need a lot of it. And so what these farmers have to do when there's not a good snowfall is they have to buy nitrogen and soak their land in it, which is very expensive. So snow has a purpose even in bearing fruit. But there's something fascinating about snow, which makes it quite distinct from rain, is that snow can't run off. Snow stays where it falls until it melts. Oftentimes when we're praying and asking grace is for ourselves or asking grace is for someone else. You know, we might worry, well, if God's pouring out the grace and they're not open to it, maybe it's just flowing off to somebody else and my prayers are wasted. I shouldn't have been praying for them. Well, God can send grace like snow to somebody who has a cold heart, so to speak. And when that grace falls upon him, it simply waits. It sits there and it piles up like the snow and winter. And the moment the thaw comes, and that person begins to open their heart to God's grace, suddenly what happens? Boom. Just this rush of of life flows into them. So, you don't have to worry when you are uncertain whether a person is receiving the grace or open to the grace. That's that's not within our power to know necessarily. But either way, God gives grace as rain or as snow. Right. Ultimately, the desire is to bring about holiness in our lives.

Now, again, as Jesus says in the gospel, we're the ground that needs to receive the rain and the snow. That's that's what we are. But there are many things in our lives that prevent us from bearing fruit, from allowing that rain to really transform us and nourish the seeds that Christ has planted. So, the main way that we remove those problematic areas of our soil is kind of summed up in part in what Saint Paul is saying in the second reading. You know, he begins by saying that I consider the sufferings of this present time or as nothing compared to the glory to be revealed in us. If you know anything about Saint Paul, you know, he brags about the suffering he goes through for Christ and the kingdom. He glories in it. It's his share in the cross of Christ and it was through his suffering that God brought about His conversion and His Holiness, Paul realizes that suffering is the key to transformation, right? Christ suffering can transform us from sinners to saints. Our suffering is also part of that sense we share in the life of Christ. That doesn't mean we only get the good stuff from Jesus. No, we get all the stuff.

Yes. The greatness and the glory, the divinity, but also the broken humanity and the cross. All that suffering is the key that God will use in your life to help make you richer soil. But if you constantly run away from the cross and run away from the suffering, it's never going to work, right? If you're the path on which the seed cannot penetrate, the rain simply flows off. To break up that soil is going to, in a sense, harm the soil, at least its current state of being. One of the problems in the spiritual life for somebody who's open to grace is the fact that a person who's that open more easily suffers. Somebody who's hard hearted doesn't suffer as much. That's why a lot of times we like to be hard hearted. We actually do it to ourselves because we have suffered, and we reject it and we can't handle it. So, in our hearts, problem is a hard heart can't receive the word, can receive the seed. They understand what I'm talking about. It's not easy, by the way. Always think that that's what all of our adult prayers sound like to God. It really doesn't matter how you say it. He just hears a little child crying and screaming. So, but that hardness of heart. Right. We do that because we don't want to suffer because we're afraid. Because we know if we soften our hearts, you can wound again. But without a soft heart, there is no salvation. Right. Jesus Christ became in fleshed so that he could suffer and die. We need that same courage. We have to be open and willing to suffer. It doesn't mean we rush to the cross. If you know anything about Saint Francis of Assisi, I always love him. A lot of people don't realize this, but he really wanted to be a martyr. Obviously, he wasn't. But he really, really, really wanted to be a martyr.

So, he got permission from the pope to go to the Middle East. Again, this was like, you know, 15th century to go to the Middle East because he wanted to try to convert the Muslim sultan, basically the king of Islam at the time. So, Pope gave him permission. He goes there and he finally gets an audience with the sultan, which is quite impressive.

Some Catholic monk from another country has come to talk to him about Jesus. You know, he's not convinced. And Francis says, look, I can prove to you that my God is the true God, but yours isn't so, and says, okay, how? He goes, I want you to build a giant bonfire and I want you to choose a representative from your highest priestly class and both of us will walk into the fire and whoever walks out alive, their God is the true God. And the Sultan was like, okay, sounds like a good plan. Let's do it. So, he got his, you know, a priestly class together, and they built a giant bonfire. And, you know, everybody was gathered around, and Francis was standing there ready to walk in, and none of the sultan's imams would go in.

 

They were all so terrified. They refused. The sultan even threatened them, but they wouldn't go in. And so Francis said, Don't worry, Sultan, I'll just go in by myself. My God, I'll still prove himself. And he starts walking into the fire, and the Sultan sends his soldiers to tackle him. So, they tackle Francis. And don't let him walk into the fire.

Francis says, why are you stopping me? He goes, because what will happen if you walk out is I'll have to become Christian. And he sent him back home out of the country. The point with somebody like that is they weren't afraid of suffering or death. They weren't afraid of anything. If it brought them closer to the Lord, if it served the kingdom of Heaven. No. Yes. Saint Francis kind of ran towards suffering God doesn't ask that of you. Okay. It's okay. But he does say you should not run from suffering. You know, when you have a toothache, go to the dentist. But until you can get that Novocain. Offer it up. Offer it up. Right When you're struggling with a problem at home or at work in society and you're doing everything you can to fix it, that's fine. But until then, offer it up and ask the Lord to use this suffering to make you fertile soil. We don't have to be afraid of suffering, not with the grace of God to strengthen us and to heal us regardless of the thing we must endure. And so, lastly, I'll end by sharing another story from Saint John Vianney. He's the patron saint of parish priest, the French priest. Hundreds of years ago, he would often have the devil, like certain other saints, appear to him and physically beat him up. Don't worry, God doesn't normally let this happen to people usually have to be really, holy to get this. You're not going to get it. I'm not going to get it.

Don't worry about it. So. So the devil would appear to him and beat him up. You know, and he would offer up that suffering and the devil would do this because John Vianney was such a great saint. He was bringing so many souls to Christ, and the devil just wouldn't go into a rage and, like, physically beat him up.

But obviously God was letting the devil do this. The devil couldn't do it if God didn't allow it. John Vianney knew this, and so he would offer up all the suffering that he was getting directly from the hands of the enemy. But he gave a name to the devil. And whenever the devil would appear, he'd call him the grape and he's like, oh, you've come the grape and now you might not know what that word is. I don't know if they even use it in French anymore, but are you familiar with that three-tooth prong you use for gardening? Right. To break up the soil if you're pulling up weeds or anything. Right. You know, you've seen those little handled things with three prongs on it and French. That was a grappling Do you see John Vianney would call the devil this because he says you're just making me fertile soil, soil for the grace of God. All the suffering you're giving me is just sanctifying me. Thank you. He was grateful to the devil for doing this. Now, you might not be there yet, right? You might not be ready to be grateful for the sufferings that you endure. But you should be. If they are doing that much good in our lives, not only should we be grateful for them, but we should also ask for them now, in zeal. Sometimes people ask for suffering, but it's imprudent because they're not ready. So I usually don't recommend you just ask for suffering because God will give it to you and you probably don't know what you're asking for. So, you always want to go through the Blessed Mother. So Blessed Mother. I know I'm going to have to bear some cross to receive this grace for virtue, whatever it may be, or grow in holiness. In this way, I put it in your hands. You talk to Jesus between the two of you, you decide how this is going to happen. She always does a better job of praying on our behalf than we do on our own. But if the devil himself, as John Vianney teaches us, can be a tool in the hand of God for sanctifying me, then why should I be afraid of any suffering? But it takes profound faith, profound trust in the Lord to accept that and to see in and through the suffering the hand of God sanctifying me and opening me up to even more life and grace in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:54

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray. Hail Mary, full of Grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of the womb. Jesus, Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Those of you who don't know Deacon Martin is one of the deacons of the diocese. He and his family are visiting today. So we're very to have you served with us at the altar. So you can tell my voice is not exactly all present. This is kind of normal after such a good retreat. So the retreat just went so well on so many levels.

A lot of spiritual healing for a lot of families and couples. And so normally, this is the price I have to pay for it. So gets sick afterward. I'm not feeling great, but I'll be fine in a couple of days. I just won't be chanting today and this retreat in particular, even though I got so much from it, was what we call a domestic church retreat.

You've heard me speak of them before. It's a lay group where couples meet in what they call circles, usually five, six, seven couples in a group. They follow this program to help them grow in the relationship with God and the relationship with one another. Again, it's just to help improve their marriage and therefore their family and ultimately all of society through that.

It's really a great, great group. And one of their obligations is to do a weeklong retreat each year with their whole family. So there were a dozen or more families at this retreat of all different sizes, and they were all there just again, trying to continue to grow in holiness and to get to know the Lord and his will in their lives better.

And I was the priest on the retreat again, very beautiful retreat and a lot of graces for myself and for all of the couples and kids who were present. I thought it was appropriate then to talk about something that's been on my mind recently. A Catholic, but from this parish had been sharing with me a program that they had learned that was going on in the diocese in Texas.

This program is made for couples, engaged couples who are getting ready to receive the sacrament of matrimony. Usually here at Saint Dorothy's, obviously when a couple comes forward saying, Hey, we're engaged, we'd like to get married, I just do all of the meetings with them, you know, all of the preparation work. And they fill out paperwork and all of that stuff has to be done.

But this is a slightly different model that's been used in that diocese and to great success and instead of the priest or the deacon or whomever doing all of their classes, the couple chooses a married couple as their sponsor, basically their mentors. And then we give them the material, write the books and whatever they need. And this married couple helps guide them and prepare them for matrimony.

I still meet with them, but, you know, the couple does a lot of the work with the engaged couple. And one of the beautiful things about this is when young people are engaged to get married, they always have a couple that they admire. It's kind of like this image of perfect marriage in their mind. And it honestly might not be their mom and dad's marriage.

Sadly, ladies and gentlemen, you know, that's the case. So, I mean, maybe it is fantastic, but if it's not, they still have kind of a quote unquote, model marriage in their mind. They can think of a married couple that they want to emulate. And so wouldn't that be a great benefit if that married couple, God willing, were open to helping mentor them, to share with them what they've learned in their own married life and in a sense, what's helped them succeed.

So I really want to implement this here at Saint Dorothy, and obviously I can't do it if you're not willing. So, you know, I want each of you couples to really pray and think about this. You know, if a engaged couple approached you and said, you know, I would really like you to be our mentor through our marriage preparation, obviously that would be a great honor.

But it's a responsibility to you know, you have to have quite a few meetings with them and go through the material. And my hopes is not just that will benefit this newly engaged couple in their married life and family life, but I think it will benefit you because honestly, even if we have a good marriage, at least externally, it looks like we have a good marriage, Right.

Going over these church teachings and going over these things with young couples is going to help renew your relationship as husband and wife. It's actually going to benefit you greatly. Now, some of you may think, well, I just don't have time for that. You know, work, kids, school, sports, church, everything. Fair enough. I completely understand. But there's an easy way to do this without really overly burdening yourself with all of the responsibilities you already have as a married couple with family and that's having the engaged couple simply come to your home, have dinner with you and your kids.

You don't even have to clean the house because this is life. They need to know that this is reality. You know, whatever you're feeding the kids hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, they get to eat, too, right? Because you want to dispel this idealized version of marriage and family life. They usually have. Oh, yeah, It's going to be, you know, roses all, you know, for the rest of your life.

That's just ludicrous. Everyone knows who's been married for any length of time. That marriage is a battle. It's a war, basically. Sadly, sometimes it's a war between husband and wife. That's  not what it should be, right? It should be husband and wife against the evil one with the help of God. The battle is this. So Satan does everything in his power to try to separate husband and wife.

Why? Because unity, true unity is the hallmark of our God. Because he is a perfect trinity, a perfect unity of multiple persons. So anything that reflects unity is of God. So when a husband and a wife and children and parents are close, when they have good relationships, the devil and the demons hate that and do everything in their power to break up that unity.

So the war should be between the devil and his minions and each couple and family. Sadly, he convinces us that the war is between husband and wife or parents and kids or children and siblings, you know. So being able to witness to this not only for your own benefit, but for these couples who are preparing for this holy sacrament in this holy life is going to be good for everybody.

And even, God willing, not just in anticipation of their vows, their wedding, but even after their wedding, having meetings with them, you know, every couple of months. Invite them over. How you guys doing? You know, have you had your first fight yet? How did it go? You know, just continuing to share with them. Now, I wasn't really planning this, but it occurred to me this morning there is a couple that I'm going to point out in our parish today that is really a great model and could potentially be a mentor.

And I normally never do this in homilies, but this is an exceptional one. And they're going to be gone next weekend when they celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. And that's the color voters. Georgian roads. Calaveras, 60 years. I'm sure they've never fought once. And if they have, George was always wrong. But obviously they're doing something right. They're doing something right.  And we can all learn from them. One of the beautiful things that George himself takes great pride on and as he should, is that all of his children and grandchildren are still practicing Catholics. Sadly, in this day and age, that's amazing. You want to make sure your kids stay Catholic? I'm sure George and Rose can give you some pointers there and may have them give you a talk one day just for the parish.

But there are other couples here, many of them. You might not be married 60 plus years yet, but you have things to share. You have your experiences. And again, it's not just for the benefit of these potentially engaged couples, but it's for your benefit. As spouses, you get to go over and renew the very things that brought you together as husband and wife.

Sadly, so often after many years of marriage, just because of the chaos of life and kids and everything, you forget why you married that person. Now there is one added benefit that honestly is not the reason I would like to implement this program at Saint Dorothy's. I just think it's kind of an icing on the cake. And that's if you the couples are really helping and participating in so much of this marriage prep for these engaged couples.

I don't have to do it anymore. Makes my job much easier. In some way, this is an extension of that group, the domestic church, because the idea is that couples helping couples, you see, it's all about unity and working together. Sadly, we live in a culture, predominant culture, in regards to first world countries in general, where we become so fixated on our own little families and our own little lives that we really don't have good unity or relationships with other families, which means we have to go out of our way to make it happen.

Another desire of the demonic is to give us so much to do in our lives. We don't have time to have good relationships. That's evil. If you study church history, well, you'll find over the last 500 years or more that every time there's a new invention that makes life easier. I remember reading the paper Papal Bull when the train was first invented, you know, a couple of hundred years ago, out of the wind.

And the Pope said at the time, this invention, the steam locomotive that can transport people and goods across countries in such a quick amount of time is obviously going to be a blessing for the culture, but it's going to transform how we live our lives. And we need to be very careful how we use it. Every time a new technology, regardless of its benefits, is created, it speeds up our lives and that's not a good thing.

That's not a good thing. It's okay to have these technologies and to use them, but that just means we have to willfully slow ourselves down. How difficult is it for us to put down our phones and turn off the TV and the radio and just sit outside and watch the sunrise? We struggle with prayer so much in our own lives, let alone in our families again, because of that frenetic nature of life.

This is not of God. Do you know why? When you pray, it takes forever for God to answer. He moves slowly for a reason. He's trying to teach us. Take your time. Slow down. You get frustrated parents with your children when they want a response right away. But I need it, whatever it is. And you're like, No, you don't. You don't need it yet. You'll survive. Do you think your prayers are any different to God? You're I need it now. God, it has to change now. God, Really? Last time you thought that it didn't happen. Why should it be different this time? God has blessed us here at Saint Dorothy's. Really? Has in so many ways, an important, I'd say responsibility we have is to do our best than to tear those blessings with others.

And it's one thing to go out and serve others outside of our parish. That's fine. That's good. We should be doing that. But it's always more important to take care of our own first. That's our primary responsibility and then go out and help those in need for yourselves. You need to feed your children before you go out and feed the poor.

Find where you can thrive in community with your brothers and sisters in Christ and support one another. There's only one of me. I can't do it all. And so again, I just ask you couples to pray and consider this. If a couple and engaged couple approached you and said, Would you guys mentor us? Be open. Invite them to your home.

Just let them see family life. Talk to them again. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. I'll give you a book that'll kind of guide you through all of the talks you're supposed to give. And ultimately more conversation than anything. Helping prepare them for. Yes, the struggles, but also the rewards of marriage. In the name of the Father and of the Son.  And of the Holy Spirit.

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 19:04

My Loss is My Gain | PadreCast Twelfth Sunday Ordinary Time

John's words should ultimately become our own. In what ways can I decrease, so that Christ can increase in me?

Saint Paul got to a place in his life in which this had totally taken place. Saint Paul said very beautifully: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me." Paul had decreased to such an extent that there was very little of Paul left. It was just Jesus.

One of the fears that we have in the spiritual life is if I really die to myself in this way then what am I? Who am I? I lose myself. Psychologically, this causes people angst and they don't want to let go of that self-identity. "This is who I am! How could God ask me to give this up?"

Most people have no idea what human nature is all about. Let alone, true identity. They don't realize that one of the basic designs God has placed in the whole world is that through death, comes life.

The perfect example of this has always been the seed. A seed is a very specific thing. But in order for it to become what it was meant to be, you have to bury it in the ground (that's interesting, we do that with dead things) and it has to die to being a seed. Once it starts to grow, it's no longer a seed anymore. It's a plant. It's what it was meant to be, but it has transformed. It had to give up its current mode of existence and become what it was ultimately designed to be.

For each of us, there's no difference. We get confused about what it means to be human, to be alive, and be an individual. We don't realize until we die to these obsessions we have in regards to our own identity and personality, and start to live for Christ, then we'll never find ourselves truly.

Just consider for a moment five saints you know about. All of them sought total death to self and conformity to Jesus Christ. And yet all of them are so unique. No two are alike. Yes in virtue they're alike, but in personality they are all so very different. You don't lose yourself when you decrease in this way as John tells us.

In fact you begin to find your true self in Christ.

Pray for the grace to die to yourself. Start in just small ways. Usually when we think about the things we could give up our initial reaction is: "Uh, but. . . it's mine!! But. . . I like it!" See how easily we find this attachment to something so physical and truly unnecessary.

If I can't detach from earthly things, then how am I going to be ready to die when the Lord asks me to detach from life itself?

This is why so many Christians, sadly, struggle with death. At the end of their life, there they are. They're grasping. Grasping onto life. They don't want to let go. I'm not saying you should throw your life away. But what are you afraid of?

Do you believe that Christ is the resurrection and the life? What are you afraid of?

I'm afraid because I have not yet died to myself. Because I have not yet decreased in the right way. . . .

In our own lives, certainly there are things we are aware of that we are attached to. But, trust me. there is so much more that we can't even perceive it. Now, our Lord is not going to ask every person to give up every last little thing. But are you willing to give it up if He asks for it? That's the question.

 

Jer 20:10-13; Ps 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35; Rom 5:12-15; Mt 10:26-33

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:03

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Tithing to the church - do you know what it has to do with theologically and according to the Scriptures? It has to do with your keeping 90%.

The Bible says if you do not tithe to the Lord, the 90% He lets you keep will not be enough to meet your needs. The imagery the Bible uses, is that you carry your coins around in a purse, a little drawstring bag. The Lords says, "If you do not give my tithe to Me, to the temple of God, the house of God, then it's like walking around with a hole in your purse." You're going to lose the coins you thought you were protecting. So you won't have 90% to take care of your needs. You'll have much less and therefore, you're going to struggle. Basically, our Lord is saying, "If you give me 10% - since everything you have is Mine - I'm letting you keep 90. You give Me My 10% and I will make sure that the 90% I let you keep takes care of everything you need. You don't give Me My tithe, and I give you no promises. You're on your own."

This is a challenge in faith for each one of us. Do I trust the Lord enough to give Him 10% ? . . .

 

We need to entrust our financial status to the Lord. The way we do that is by following his financial recommendation....

What's interesting about all this teaching is that in the New Testament there are no teachings about tithing, about how much you should give. In the New Testament, the expectation is you're going to give most of your money. Now, there's no command on this, there's no teaching on this. But that's the expectation. God has just given you everything - salvation! - you owe Him your very lives. . . .

 

So, test God's Word. Work towards giving that tithe, that 10%. If you can give more, fine, give more. If you can't give 10%, fine, just give what you can give. But put God to the test and see whether His Word is proved true. That when you strive to do His will, to follow His commands and teachings, see if He doesn't reward and bless you and help take care of all your needs.

 

 

Ex 19:2-6a; Ps 100:1-2, 3, 5; Rom 5:6-11; Mt 9:36—10:8

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 18:37

Do What I Say | PadreCast Solemnity of Corpus Christi

The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith. Of course "source and summit" means our faith flows from the Eucharist - from the Body of Christ - and it goes back to the Body of Christ. It begins and ends with Jesus. . . .

Since the Eucharist is His real presence, and Jesus is the source and the summit, then the Eucharist is the source and the summit. All other Sacraments lead from the Eucharist and to the Eucharist because it is the Real Presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. We know this to be true because this is what He taught.

The Church gives us a small segment of this teaching from the Gospel of John today. If you want to focus on that, read chapter six where Jesus clearly lays out His Real Presence. The fact that we - if we're going to be His disciples - we need to eat His Body and drink His Blood. Many Christians think He's just speaking metaphorically. Or analogously. Or symbolically. "Jesus didn't literally mean eat My Body and Blood!"

The problem is, the language of the text in its earliest sources, the word Jesus uses to these Jews is mastacare which means to physically chew and swallow. Jesus was telling the Jews: you have to physically eat My Body and Blood if you want to have life in you. That's why at the end of this passage, many of the Jews, and many of His disciples, turn their back on Him.

Jesus turned to Peter and the other eleven and said, "Are you going to leave Me too?

Peter put up his hands and said: "Lord, where else can we go? Only You have the words of everlasting life." Meaning: I don't really know what You're talking about, but I trust You. The Apostles themselves did not understand this teaching until the Last Supper, when Jesus took the bread, and He took the wine, and with His power as God He said: "This is My Body. This is My Blood." The first consecration.

Now, if Jesus wasn't God, then that's just symbolic.

But since He's God, every good Jew knows that when He says something, it happens. When He created the universe, He simply spoke, and it came into being. He is the creative force.

So if He takes bread and says, "This is My Body", guess what? It's not bread anymore. If He takes wine and says, "This is My Blood", it's not wine. It has been transformed. Or transubstantiated as we say. The substance has changed.

That's why we as Christians have always believed in the real presence of Jesus in the holy Eucharist. The scriptures are clear on this and the tradition has always maintained it.

But Jesus says very clearly in the gospel, "If you don't eat My Body and drink My Blood, then you don't have any life in you." Why is this so essential for our lives? . . .

There are probably many, many people throughout the world who never receive holy communion, and they're still alive, right? They're not dropping dead like flies.

What is Jesus talking about?

He was obviously not talking about physical life which is maintained by merely physical food.

Jesus is talking about the divine life He has given you in baptism. That divine life, that spark of divinity, that now lives in you - the Holy Spirit - will die in you if you don't feed it. And the only food that nourishes that divine life is His Body and Blood. . . .

 

Our fidelity to the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament makes or breaks someone's faith. The Lord says to you, "If you're not eating My Body and drinking My Blood, you have no life in you. You will spiritually die because you'll spiritually starve." That's why this teaching is so important. The Eucharist is our life. 

 

 

Dt 8:2-3, 14b-16a; Ps 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20; 1 Cor 10:16-17; Jn 6:51-58

 

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 21:21

These Three Things | PadreCast Trinity Sunday

This weekend, we welcome Fr. William Lesak, USN (Ret); State Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus

 

So there are the three. Those are the things you and I must do everything we make the sign of the cross.

To see Thee more clearly Lord in the world in which I live. To love Thee more dearly in all the things that are broken out there in the world. And to follow Thee more nearly as Your disciple walking together in solidarity with others.

That's what you do. That's what I do.

So when someone asks you why you do the sign of the cross? Now you know.

 

Ex 34:4b-6, 8-9; (Ps) Dn 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56; 2 Cor 13:11-13; Jn 3:16-18

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begns at 15:52

A Recipe for Salvation | PadreCast Pentecost Sunday

Bread. It's the easiest way to understand these mysteries of salvation.

Today - Pentecost - the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and the Virgin Mary and appeared as tongues of fire.

So, why is bread the perfect analogy, the perfect example that God has given us to understand all of these great mysteries?

It's because Jesus chose bread to be the main symbol to be used in the Eucharist, which is His Body, His Real Presence among us.

Jesus is the One Who chose bread to be used at the Last Supper, and that we've used ever since. But remember, He's God, which means He designed bread. He knew that once He created humans, they'd harvest wheat and grind it up, mix it with some water, and bake it. And voila: this great substance that everybody all over the world has eaten since the beginning of time. This most basic form of nourishment was the main tool He wanted to use in nourishing of His Body, and in making Himself present for the rest of time.

There's a basic rule about Eucharistic bread - and it comes from the Last Supper: there can only be two ingredients to this bread. Flour and water. It's forbidden to use any other elements. Because at the Last Supper, that's what Jesus used. Unleavened bread. This is the same bread the Israelites used at Passover right before their Exodus from Egypt - they had to flee quickly and didn't have time to let their bread rise. They didn't use yeast, they just baked it and ran.

Now, this isn't an accident, it's not a coincidence. Our Lord designs these things. . . . There's got to be a reason why He wanted this very simple form of bread to be used in His Real Presence.

It's because of what each of the elements of bread symbolizes. There are three main elements to this bread, even though there are only two ingredients.

The first element of course is the grain. But it's not just grain - you don't take the grain, mix with water and bake. You have to grind up the grain first, that's an essential aspect. Grind it into flour. The Fathers of the Church tell us that Our Lord, knowing - designing - the way to make bread this way, did so because He was going to use bread to symbolize His presence (I mean "symbol" in the sense that it looks like bread but it's actually His Body). And His Body was ground up in His Passion, was it not? The grinding of the grain was to symbolize the death that our Lord would have to endure to redeem us. Not just grain picked off the ear. It has to be crushed into powder. Like His own Body. This new flour symbolizes for us our Lord's redeeming act. What He endured in order to nourish us and give us everlasting life. But grinding the flour, that's just the first part of making bread isn't it?

You need water. If you don't have water, I'm sorry, you can bake that flour as much as you want. It's not going to turn into bread. So you mix in water. . . . Why would our Lord have designed it that way? Because for us to share in the Passion of Christ Who wants to redeem us, what do we need? We need to be baptized. What's the main element in baptism? It's water! That's not a coincidence! That's not an accident. These aren't just interesting connections, our Lord designed it to be the way.

So, His saving act: the grinding of the wheat into flour.

Our participation in that act - the water that washes away our sin and unites us with the Body of Christ.

But again, flour and water doesn't make bread. There's still one essential element that is required.

And that's fire. . . . .

 

You see the last gift given - the Spirit - to complete the work of Christ and to form the Church in the world, was fire.

 

 

Acts 2:1-11; Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34; 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13; Jn 20:19-23

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 25:33

Call out in Confidence | PadreCast Ascension Sunday

So many people nowadays think they can just talk to God on their own and He's gong to listen? None of us - none of us - deserves to be heard by the Father. Yes, He hears everything because He's God. But do you think for a moment He's going to grant any favor that you've asked? What have you done for Him? How many times have you failed Him? And suddenly, because you're in need now, you want something. Why would He listen to you?

 

That's what today's feast is all about.

 

Because we have and Advocate Who sits before Him interceding on our behalf. Every day.

Not just the Advocate Who was sent, that's the Holy Spirit. But Christ Himself - our Mediator. He stands before his Father - in His human nature - pleading on our behalf. And the sacrifice, the sweet smelling oblation He offers, is His own Body. He's the unblemished Lamb that was slain. He is the High Priest of the New Covenant. Now forever before the throne of His Father, interceding.

If I pray on my own, my prayers are not heard. But if I pray with, in, and through the Body of Christ then they must be heard. Because: where is Jesus? He's at the right hand of the Father. I have no fear, no concern at all. I know my prayers are heard by the Father because Christ is praying on my behalf.

That's the beauty of the nature of Christ's Body. We know that the Church is His Body. We all, members of that same Body. . . . as long as I'm connected with that Body, when I pray, the Head prays. If the Head prays - the head is with the Father, and the Father hears the prayer. Not because of any merit of my own. The Father hears the prayers because the Head merited the grace for me. The Head was worthy. The rest of us body, well, we deserve what we get.

As long as I am praying with, in, and through the Body of Christ, I have no doubt, no fear, no concerns that my prayers are not heard and favorably answered.

Jesus says: Whatever you ask the Father in My Name, He will give you. Not on a whim, but in union with Me. Meaning if you have the mind and heart of Christ and you ask the Father for anything, He's going to grant it.

This is why our Lord had to ascend. He's never left us. He's still here in the Eucharist. But He's also at the right hand of the Father constantly interceding for us.

When we pray as a body, it is the prayer of Christ. When I offer this Holy Sacrifice, it is the sacrifice of Christ. The Father looks down on His Son's Body and He grants Her this grace, these blessings, this mercy that She asks for.

 

Acts 1:1-11; Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9; Eph 1:17-23; Mt 28:16-20

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 25:41

Explain Yourself | PadreCast Sixth Sunday of Easter

 

Without faith you cannot believe. Without faith you cannot hope. There is no hope without faith and belief: in Christ, in what He has done for us, in the gifts He has given us.

Without faith and hope, you can't love. You'll be so filled with anxieties and stresses and the problems of the world.

It is precisely faith and hope that empower Christian love to manifest in the world.

As St Peter says in our second reading today: Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.

What does he mean by this? He mans that we who are filled with God, with the Holy Spirit, should stand out from the rest of society to such a degree that people will approach us and say, "Hey, you're a little different, what's going on? Where is this hope coming from?" Some might walk away, but some will be curious. They'll think: "I want what you have. Where did you get it? How can I get it too?"

You need to be prepared to explain to them where this hope comes from.

Yet many Christians don't have hope. How is that possible? Why aren't you constantly, at least by your life, testifying to this hope? You look around; friends, family, coworkers, where ever you happen to be; you look around and there isn't much hope. This is a problem. Hope is an essential Christian virtue. . . . why doesn't it shine out in the world?

This world is in darkness compared to what we are offered as disciples of the Lord. Yet it doesn't seem to contrast that greatly when we are out amongst others in society.

Yes, we have hope in Christ. But we don't have enough hope in Christ. Not yet. . . .

The test to know whether all of your hope is in Christ, or only some of it, is: can you ever lose hope?

Everything will fail you in this world at some point. Everything. Your gifts, attributes, possessions, skills, relationships. Everything will fail you in this world at some point. If your hope in in those people, those relationships, or those things, when it fails, you will lose it. You'll lose hope.

But if my hope is in Christ, nothing effects that hope. If God is actually living in me, in reality living in me, then how can any of these worldly problems affect me? . . .

 

The moment hope is lost, you begin to doubt faith. . . . the reason you lose hope when you fall back into sin - even after leaving the confessional is this: your hope wasn't in Christ, it was in you.

If your hope is in Jesus Christ you can't lose it. No one can take that from you. No one.

 

If my hope is solidly rooted in Christ, His love for me, and His Church and her Sacraments, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, then the loss of anything in this world cannot take that hope from me. And that hope will manifest anytime someone sees me. It'll be even stronger light in the darkness when they know you are suffering. When something tragic or bad is happening, and you still have a smile on your face. . . . Peter tells us all: Be ready to give an explanation for this hope.

 

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20; 1 Pt 3:15-18; Jn 14:15-21

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:56

The early Church created this ministry | PadreCast Fifth Sunday of Easter

The word "deacon" means servant. That's their job. They are there to serve. To serve the needs of the Bishops and the priests. And there to serve the needs of the faithful.

Deacons are ordained to "Christ the Servant". Priests and Bishops are ordained to "Christ the Head".

A deacon's role first and foremost is to serve in those areas of the Church where the Bishops and the priests just don't have the time and energy. . . .

So what does the Church look for when we interview candidates for the diaconate formation? We look for someone who is

• reputable / respectable
• wise / holy
• filled with the Spirit and faith
• already serving his local community in some way, has a service-minded heart
• has raised his children well

The primary role of the deacon is to proclaim the Gospel - he has that right. Because of that he can also preach with the permission of the priest celebrant. If Holy Eucharist is being distributed under the form of the Precious Blood, that is also his by right according to a deacon's role in the liturgy.

Deacons also teach; faith formation, catechism, they help prepare couples for marriage and their child's baptism. There are any number of things they do.

For any men discerning the diaconate, if you get accepted to the program, there are many years of formation - intellectual and spiritual. You want to make sure you're properly formed and prepared to be ordained to minister in the name of Christ.

There is another thing any man getting ordained to the diaconate must promise when he gets ordained. That is: if he is married, and his spouse dies, he is forbidden from ever remarrying. If he is not married when he becomes a permanent deacon, he takes a vow of celibacy like a priest and he's never allowed to get married.

Another thing to consider is that a man cannot be ordained to the diaconate - even if the Bishop wants him, even if he wants it - without his wife's permission. She must consent to it. One of the things expected of the wives in the diaconate formation program is that they - in so far as they are able - participate in their husband's formation. The role of the deacon's wife - though it is not liturgical - because of the husband's elevation in this official capacity in the Church, is elevated in the eyes of the people. What we find is that because of this, other women and people in the parish seek them for advice and direction. So we want to see that the wives of the candidate not only encourage and support their husband's calling, but are willing and able to accept the responsibilities of being the wife of a deacon.

Because the formation is so time-consuming, generally we're looking for someone who has already raised his children. If he has kids, for the most part they are out of the home, or almost. We wouldn't want him to be take away from his primary vocation which is his family. The scriptures attest to this. If a man is called, one of the signs you look for is: has he raised his children well?

The role of deacons in the Church is apostolic. Christ did not Himself create deacons. The Apostles did. The early Church created this ministry. They recognized a need and were guided by the Holy Spirit in doing this.

 

If any of you men have considered or may potentially consider this vocation one day, think about it, pray about it. And what you'll do as a community, if you see a man who could serve the Lord in this capacity, certainly pray for them. Maybe ask if them: Have you ever thought about being a deacon?

Pray for our deacons in the Diocese, for their wives and families. For them men and their families who are in formation.

And pray for a deacon for our parish too.

 

 

Acts 6:1-7; Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19; 1 Pt 2:4-9; Jn 14:1-12

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 24:03

AI, Masters of the Universe, and the Good Shepherd | PadreCast Fourth Sunday of Easter

Spiritual beings have no power to create anything spiritual at all. That power only exists in the physical universe by what we believe as God's design.

Why is this important?

Because it helps us to understand in our attempts to create AI (artificial intelligence) something simple should be clear: it will never become self-aware. That's impossible. Dogs aren't self-aware. Trees aren't self-aware. Only human beings are self-aware. Now, in the rejection of Judeo-Christian philosophy and theology, there is this heresy of "materialism" that believes that everything in the universe is the only thing that actually exists, and that human beings are just evolved monkeys. This is the lie.

But you have to understand something about human beings - something we know by revelation, but even philosophically, it makes perfect sense - that human beings can't create new persons. Did you know that? You mothers and fathers? You've never created a new person. . . .

You have to understand how you participate in creation. You see, since humans beings are not just animals, like dogs and whales, you're not just creating a material copy. That's all matter can do.

As mothers and fathers all you're doing is participating in the natural order according to material beings in the physical universe, to recreate a body. That's what the egg and the sperm do. They recreate a human body. But they can't make a soul, right? No spiritual being has the power to recreate spirits. God reserves that to Himself alone. Even the angels can't do this. . . . That's why to create another human being you need three beings. A mother, a father, and God.

God steps in at the moment the egg and sperm come together . . . and creates - out of nothing - a new soul and infuses it into that new body. Now there's a person.

But God made the person. You helped Him by making the body.

Let's assume for argument's sake, that we have the ability to create something in regards to artificial intelligence, that's incredibly advanced. Incredibly advanced. It can think like a human. And seem to make decisions like a human. Ok. Fair enough. But it will only be mimicry, because it will never have a soul.

We can't create souls. It won't gain sentience some day. That is actually impossible. So don't be afraid of the "terminators" taking over. It will only have so much power and control as we choose to give it since we - humans - are the greatest thing in the physical universe. We're the only thing in the physical universe that is not just physical.

We have this soul - this intellect and will - that is superior to anything else. Which is why we were given mastery over the universe. . . .

What is the thing we should fear about artificial intelligence? It's not that it'll become aware and who knows what will happen after that. That will never happen, you don't have to worry about that. The fear should be, one: who is programming it? And two: how do they plan to use it. But that's the same with any scientific advancement like the internet, or splitting the atom. It's just another human creation. Artificial intelligence will just be a very, very impressive hammer. . . . That's all it will ever be. What you should fear is human's use of it. . . .

So we need to pray for the people who are programming AI. Because it will simply mimic their views. Their philosophies. Their convictions. And it'll make decisions based on those premises. . . .

 

But we all said together in the responsorial psalm: "The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want." Our Lord Jesus Christ is enough. Is that true for you? Regardless of what happens in the world around us. He is our Shepherd. He will take care of His sheep. All I need to do to be assured of my own safety and well-being in the grand scheme of things is: follow the Shepherd. That's my job. I seek to follow the Shepherd, wherever He may lead me, and I leave the rest up to Him.

 

 

Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Ps 23: 1-3a, 3b4, 5, 6; 1 Pt 2:20b-25; Jn 10:1-10

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 18:37

Lawless Men | PadreCast Third Sunday of Easter

The Jews saw this gift of Law as the greatest gift that God bestowed upon them. He did it through His prophets, through Moses, by speaking His Word to them. As Catholics, we understand that Jesus Christ is the Word of God.

What the old law symbolized, Jesus Christ is.

The difference between the Old Testament law, and the New Testament Christ is that one is verbal and the other, Incarnate. An actual living law. That's Who Jesus Christ is. He is the living Law of God. . . .

Jesus Christ is the completion of everything that was taught to the Israelites before. Remember what Jesus said: "Not a single letter or dot on a letter will pass away from the law. I did not come to remove the law, but to fulfill it." That's what He does. He is the fulfillment of the Law, and as we know, that law in Christ is love.

Saint Paul tells us that the summary of all of the law and the prophets as revealed in Christ is love.

He manifests that love most perfectly through His Death and Resurrection. . . .

Laws - rules - enable relationships. Without rules, there are no relationships. Some rules restrict the relationship, and some require action in the relationship. ultimately, that's the purpose of law and rules. And that's what Christ has come to give us. . . .

You need Divine Laws and rules to have a relationship with God. That's where we as Catholics have the greatest gift. In a sense - like the Jews of old - we can take great pride that we have been given God's own Law - His teachings, His life - so that we can have a relationship with Him.

And through that bring others - the rest of the "lawless" people of the world - to Christ.

 

These aren't just the Ten Commandments and the moral code. Yes, those are some of the laws, some of the rules. But first and foremost, the laws that enable us to have a relationship with God, with our Father, are the Sacramental laws. The Sacraments. . . . . they are the means by which we offer love and adoration to God.

 

Father proceeds to "break open the Scriptures" and explain how

the road to Emmaus resurrection account is

so important for us and how the Mass is celebrated.

 

 

 

Acts 2:14, 22-33; Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11; 1 Pt 1:17-21; Lk 24:13-35

 

Due to technical issues, we were unable to stream the Mass this Sunday.

Jesus is the Man | PadreCast Divine Mercy Sunday

If the Pharisees and Sadducees knew it was the Lord, then of course He'd have the power to forgive sins, He's God. But their objection was legitimate. Honestly, it's the same objection that Catholics and Christians in general have about priests hearing confessions and forgiving sins: How can a man forgive sins? Why do I need to go to a man to get my sins forgiven?

Jesus says you do.

Jesus is the man. The human through which our sins are forgiven. He is the only one through Whom our sins can be forgiven.

He has determined the mode by which we, His disciples, come to Him to have our sins forgiven. . . .

There is no doubt that Jesus Christ Himself has given this Sacrament - reconciliation, confession - to the Church as the "ordinary" means of the forgiveness of sins. . . .

Not only do we know that a man can forgive sins - because Jesus Christ is that Man - and not only do we know that Jesus Himself gave that power to other men, but we also know, even psychologically, why Jesus created that sacrament the way He did. . . . as a human, a personal, connection in order to restore a broken relationship. . . .

He created the sacrament of Confession, and He gave the Church this power because you need it. I need it! Because I'm human! It's my nature, it's how He made me.

 

You cannot receive all of the graces that you need if you do not go to Confession to the priest. You can't.

 

A Letter from Bishop Jugis:

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Christ, our hope, has risen. Peace be with you.

Like Thomas in today’s Gospel, surrounded by a world of doubts and uncertainties, we have experienced the Lord in our midst, and proclaim with Easter joy, “My Lord and my God!”

This past year Pope Francis invited us to participate in a global synodal process in which we shared our faith, fears, hopes, and concerns. Although the national Catholic participation rate was only slightly above 1%, the Diocese of Charlotte exceeded the national average. After prayerful discernment and having listened to the lay faithful and the clergy of the diocese, I would like to share with you six pastoral priorities moving forward.

• First and foremost, I earnestly desire all to renew and anchor their lives in the Most Holy Eucharist. Busy lives bombarded by distracting and worldly messages can only truly find the peace for which they yearn in the paschal mystery.
• Second, while strengthening our communion with Christ, we must in turn allow Him to strengthen the communion within our families and the Church. Unlike the secular world in which we live, the Church cannot allow herself to be fractured by partisanship. The forces that seek to divide are not greater than the Holy Spirit who unites. We must follow Our Lord who prayed at the Last Supper, “that they may be one, as we are one.”
• Third, as a family of faith we must inspire the youth to find their home in the Church. Inherently drawn to authenticity, it is our responsibility to speak to the meaning of a true Christian life.
• Fourth, in a time of moral confusion, we must inspire lives of personal holiness highlighting the beauty of chaste love.
• Fifth, we must learn to proclaim the faith in a digital age, that we may better evangelize a culture teeming with secular and contrary messages.
• Sixth, we must meet the challenges of an ever-growing diocese. In just 50 years the Diocese of Charlotte has grown from 34,000 Catholics in 75 parishes to more than 500,000 Catholics in 92 parishes and missions spread across 46 counties.

As a diocesan family, relying upon the grace and mercy of God, I ask for your help as I shepherd the diocese to meet the challenges of our day. Finally, I entrust these pastoral priorities to the maternal care of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of God, our diocesan patroness.

May the peace and joy of Easter be with you all.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis Bishop of Charlotte

April 16, 2023

 

Acts 2:14, 22-33; Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11; 1 Pt 1:17-21; Lk 24:13-35

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 24:47

God is devoted to you. How devoted are you to God? | PadreCast Easter Sunday of the Lord’s Resurrection

The words that the angel spoke to Abraham are quite profound. He says: "I know now how devoted you are to God since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son."

 

God chose Abraham because he was most like Him, like God the Father. We know this because God the Father perfectly offered His own Son in sacrifice. For love.

So if the angel says to Abraham: "You are clearly devoted to God because you are willing to sacrifice your own beloved son", then that means God is devoted to you.

Because he did offer his only begotten Son.

Think about that for a moment.

God is devoted to you.

That's the love that the Father has for us. So devoted He did not even hold back that which was most precious to Him.

That's the whole message of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That God loves us this much. He is this devoted to us.

How devoted are you to God?

Are there things in your life that you withhold from Him?

 

 

Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; 1 Cor 5:6b-8; Jn 20:1-9

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 27:05

You’re Going to be Tested. Pray. | PadreCast Holy Thursday

You'll recall that it was on this night that our Lord warned the Apostles to stay awake and pray. Stay awake and pray.

Every time He went off a little distance to pray, He'd come back, and there were Peter, James and John. Fast asleep. They were just so exhausted they could not stay awake.

He warns them: "Get up. Pray. You're going to be tested, you need strength. I've already given you My Body and Blood in the Eucharist. I've washed your feet as a sign of spiritual cleansing. But now it is time to pray."

He chides Peter: "Could you not stay awake one hour with Me?"

One hour. See, that's our Lord's teaching on the first holy hour. That's why it's been a long standing tradition at the Church - that's why we have a formal holy hour on Thursday nights. That's the night the apostles should have stayed awake and prayed. It's the night Jesus asked for an hour of prayer in His presence. . . .

It's not Jesus Who needs your time. It's not Jesus Who needs your prayers. He's the Lord. He doesn't need anything from us.

It's we who need to spend this time in prayer.

Prayer - like the Sacraments - is not a magic bullet. It doesn't take care of all your problems. But the graces that we receive in the Sacraments are actually strengthened and flower through our prayer.

When we're not praying enough, when we're not spending enough time in prayer, then all those grace we've received go unused. And eventually, leave us.

 

Especially this night. Take advantage of the opportunity you have. Spend at least some time with our Lord. Though He needs nothing from us, spend some time with Him trying to console His grieving Heart.

 

Ex 12:1-8, 11-14; Ps 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 24:24

You must follow Me | PadreCast Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

Men, as the heads of our homes we have a moral obligation to speak the truth to our wives and our children whether they want to hear it or not. Regardless of the consequences. Now, we should do it in love, but we have to remember that obligation. So often, like Adam in the garden, we let things go on because we don't want to rock the boat. We don't want Eve to get upset with us. That was Adam's first sin.

Adam's second sin, after not speaking up when he should have, after not defending the Lord's teaching, the Lord's laws when he should have; was following his wife.

Think about that ladies, for just a second. Why did Adam eat of the fruit of the tree? because Eve ate it first and offered it to him. Even thought Eve was first to eat of the fruit, it's still called "Adam's sin", not "Eve's sin". Why?

Because Adam was the head of the family, not Eve. . . .

One of the mistakes we men often make is, we'll talk with our wife about what we should do in a situation, and the wife will say: you need to do this, this is the best way, or this is my recommendation. Husband says, good idea, let's do that. And he does it. And it all falls apart. He says: It's not my fault. It was her idea. I was just going along with the plan!

The fact of the matter is, as the heads of our homes, we decided to go along with the plan.

If Eve makes a good choice, it's perfectly fine that Adam take her example. But Adam must lead her in the choice. Never follow her.

There's an order here to things. Adam is always to lead, even when he's leading based on Eve's advice.

 

What would have happened - think for a moment - what would have happened if Adam didn't eat the fruit but Eve did?

What should have happened if that was the case? You see, Adam became the example of all sinful men. But he should have been, even at that time, a type of Christ.

Jesus is the perfect "Adam". The sinless one. The perfect husband. His bride - His people, the Church - always sins, always does wrong (Ladies, I'm not picking on you, I'm using a metaphor).

The Church - we, the Body of Christ - we always sin. We're the guilty party here. He's the innocent one. He never goes along with our sin. Never. . . . How often does He say: hey, you should be following Me, not Me following you.

It's precisely because of His outspokenness that the Jews hated Him and wanted Him dead.

His own people who should have followed Him, rebelled against Him.

They gave Jesus an option. They said: look if you follow us, we'll let You live. Everything will continue status quo.

And Jesus said to them: I cannot do that. You must follow Me.

They said: Look, if you insist upon this, we're going to kill you.

He said: You must follow Me.

And they crucified Him.

 

Love inclines one to suffer for the beloved. Even when you are innocent.

 

 

 

Mt 21:1-11; Is 50:4-7; Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24; Phil 2:6-11; Mt 26:14—27:66

 

Homily begins at 39:15 . You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel.

Submission to a rightly ordered reality always precedes love | PadreCast Fifth Sunday of Lent

The Church has maintained this tradition of veiling because of what is symbolizes. Women, you are a "type" of the Church. Because the Church is the Bride of Christ, every bride represents the Church - especially every Catholic bride. To symbolize the Church's own desire for modesty, for chastity, and for submission to Christ, women wore veils.

That's why whenever you see a picture or a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, She's got a veil on. Even over the last two thousand years when She has appeared in mystical ways to people, She's always veiled. Always. Why?

Because of the theological significance. Mary isn't just a "type" of the Church. Mary, the Blessed Virgin, is the archetype of the Church. An archetype is much greater than a type. Mary, she is the perfect type. She perfectly models the Church. She was perfectly chaste. She was perfectly humble. She was perfectly submissive and obedient to Christ in all things.

That's why She said "yes" to the will of God. God had authority over Her and She submitted to Him in everything.

That veil was a symbol of that obedience, that submission, that humility, and that chastity. It's precisely those virtues that drew God to Her. That lead Him to want Her to be the Mother of His Son.

One of the things even Catholic women who wear veils don't know is what Paul specifically mentions in First Corinthians as to why Catholic women at Church should wear veils - why he required it. Again, it's not an official teaching of the Church today. . . . but the reason Paul says God wants you women to wear veils in Church is to be a sign of submission to your husbands. Their authority over you.

Paul is speaking on behalf of God through the Holy Spirit. The truth of what Paul is saying remains whether you wear a veil or not. That's the rub isn't it?

Whether or not you wear a veil, God expects you wives, you mothers, to be submissive to your husbands in all things as to God Himself.

 

 

Ez 37:12-14; Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8; Rom 8:8-11, Jn 11:1-45

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 22:50

Open Your Eyes | PadreCast Fourth Week of Lent / Laetare Sunday

We know He is the Light of the world. Those that live in sin, live in darkness - they are the blind ones. Those who have been forgiven of sin, set free, have their sight restored to them. Now we know Jesus is not referring to physical sight. Yes, in the Gospel He performed a physical miracle, but that wasn't the point of the miracle. He even said to His apostles before He performed it: the reason this man was born blind is so I could do the will of God here. So I can reveal the Truth.

And what is the Truth? Jesus is the Truth. He's revealing Himself by performing this miracle, revealing that He is the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. If you put your faith in Him, He can open your eyes.

These eyes are the eyes of your soul. This is why He was ridiculing the Pharisees in the Gospel. They claim to be able to see - and of course, they have physical vision - but they were spiritually blind because of their sin. They wouldn't open their minds and hearts to God, to Jesus, because they were closed off inside and rejected Him, they remained blind.

It's impossible for someone who is spiritually blind to find happiness or joy. How can you rejoice in the darkness?

I thought it appropriate today that we talk about happiness from the Church's teaching. . . .

 

Those who have sight - those who our Lord has healed and given spiritual vision - they see and pursue those things in this life those things which will help them obtain not only perfect happiness in the next, but even a taste of perfect happiness here on earth. And what are those things? . . .

There are 14 of them: the works of mercy. The works of mercy are the works that Jesus Christ Himself performs. And since He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, we who follow Him do not walk in darkness.

Whenever we perform these works, we are beginning to live and love like Christ, and we begin to experience the love and life of Christ in Heaven even here on earth.

 

The Corporal Works of Mercy

• To feed the hungry;
• To give drink to the thirsty;
• To clothe the naked;
• To harbour the harbourless;
• To visit the sick;
• To ransom the captive;
• To bury the dead.

The Spiritual Works of Mercy

• To instruct the ignorant;
• To counsel the doubtful;
• To admonish sinners;
• To bear wrongs patiently;
• To forgive offences willingly;
• To comfort the afflicted;
• To pray for the living and the dead.

I recommend each family have the works of mercy printed out, large, and posted somewhere; on the fridge, a bulletin board, where you can see it each day. Challenge yourself, your spouse, even your children, to look at that list and say: Which one am I going to try to do today?

 

 

1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Ps 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6; Eph 5:8-14; Jn 9:1-41

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 22:20

Water from a Stone | PadreCast Third Sunday of Lent

You see, hardness of heart is the main problem in our relationship with God and in salvation. But it's also the main problem in our relationships with one another.

It's most clearly experienced in marriage, when you harden your heart against your spouse. Why do you do this? Well, for several seemingly justified reasons: they keep hurting you, over and over again, in the same way. You try to get over it, you try to love, you try to forgive, you try to be patient. But after a while you say: I can't do this anymore. It's too painful, I'm done.

So even before you end the relationship officially, you close off your heart.

The heart is like a light switch - it's either on or off. You can't have your heart open to some and closed to others. It is either open to all, and God. Or closed to all, and God. The moment you close your heart off to anyone - especially a spouse - guess what? It's now hard. Like a rock. Nothing flows from a rock. At least not naturally. So your heart dries up, it dies.

It ceases to love the Lord. It ceases to love your spouse. It even ceases to love your neighbor and your children. All of it.

You can delude yourself for a time thinking "Oh, I still love some of these people." No. At that point it's all corrupted, tainted and perverted. None of it is true love. That's not how the heart works.

So how do you overcome that hardness of heart?

Well, in the Old Testament, what did God do? He struck the rock to break it open.

Is that what Jesus did with the Samaritan woman? Did he just walk up and slap her: "Repent you sinner!" No! No. So gently. He carefully won her over.

That's what He wants to do with each of you. . . .

 

There is a way our Lord can win over your heart. He does it in the same way He won over the Samaritan woman. He always does it gently. He doesn't come outright and demand repentance from you even though that's what He needs. He has the ability to change your hard heart into a fleshly heart.

But He won't do it against your will.

 

Ex 17:3-7; Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9; Rom 5:1-2, 5-8; Jn 4:5-42

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 24:30