22nd Sunday OT @ St. Vincent de Paul

HOMILY - 22ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
SEPTEMBER 1, 2019
7:30 AM, 9:00 AM, 10:30 AM (SUN) ORDINARY FORM MASSES

Extending forty miles – from the south side of the Swiss Alps and dividing the Italian regions of Lombardy and Piedmont, Lago Maggiore, literally the “Greater Lake” is the second largest lake in Italy and the largest lake in Switzerland. In the western arm of the lake there are three small islands which were acquired by the Borromeo family in the 16th century, and are still owned by their descendants to this day.

The family motto, Humilitas, is Latin for “Humility.”

Perhaps the most famous, and most humble, member of the Borromeo family was Saint Charles Borromeo – whose feast day is coming up on November 4 – and who was the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan in the 16th century, as well as a leading figure in the Counter-Reformation. 

Yet it is a not-so-subtle irony to see the family motto (“Humility”) spelled out in enormous letters in gardens, across lawns, and even as topiary hedges. 

I suppose it’s hard to be humble when your family motto can be photographed from space – you can find it on Google Earth … bigger than life … on Isola Bella – the “Beautiful Island” – spelled out in flowers on one of the expansive lawns.

The island is, indeed, quite beautiful … whether or not the immense Lombard Baroque Palazzo – whose construction began in 1632 – and which contains countless ballrooms, chandeliers, tapestries, and balconies – can truly stake any claim on humility. Perhaps that all depends on just what you mean by “humility.”

Today is the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Our readings this morning revolve around a theme of Humility.

And while Humility may be difficult to find in a dazzling palace garden on your private island; it also has very little – actually nothing – to do with being a door mat.

Rather, Humility is the moral virtue – that is, the practice – that allows a person to remain within their proper and appropriate boundaries. Calling us to an ordered love of self; while still recognizing our total dependence on God, as well as our equal dignity with each other. Humility also opposes an immoderate abasement of one’s own self or one’s own abilities.

St. Benedict, who lived in the 6th century – 1,000 years before St. Charles Borromeo – has an entire chapter in his Rule dedicated to humility … often called “The Ladder of Humility” or perhaps it could be called Benedict’s 12 Steps to Humility.

An exhaustive exploration of the 12 rungs or steps of Humility is perhaps outside of the boundaries of a Sunday Homily. 

I do recommend the contemporary treatment of this subject in an easy-to-read book titled: Humility Rules by Benedictine Father J. Augustine Wetta.

Nonetheless, to summarize briefly, the twelve steps are: 

1. Fear of the Lord
2. Self-denial
3. Obedience
4. Perseverance
5. Repentance
6. Serenity
7. Self-abasement
8. Prudence
9. Silence
10. Dignity
11. Discretion
12. Reverence

Keeping in mind that all of these are to be balanced and none are to be taken to excess. They are meant to define our boundaries with God and neighbor. 

At its most basic, Humility is opposed to Pride. But it also opposed to Immoderation.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us pray for the grace to grow in the virtue of Humility – that we might not fall into sinful Pride, but rather know and maintain our spiritual and human boundaries and live them with balance and moderation.

21st Sunday OT @ St. Vincent de Paul Parish

HOMILY - 21ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
AUGUST 24-25, 2019
5:00 PM (SAT),9:00 AM, 10:30 AM (SUN) ORDINARY FORM MASSES




Born in 1895 on the Keweenaw Peninsula in the northernmost reaches of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Notre Dame halfback, George “the Gipper” Gipp, (number 66) was the university’s first Walter Camp All-American.

He originally intended to play baseball, but was recruited by the legendary Knute Rockne, despite having zero experience playing football. 

“The Gipper” led the Fighting Irish in rushing and passing for each of his last three seasons, and his career rushing yards (2,341 yds) remained a record for over half a century. Gipp remains Notre Dame’s all-time leader in average yards per rush for one season, career average yards per play of total offense, and career average yards per game of total offense. 

Two weeks after being named All-American, he died from pneumonia and strep throat. Penicillin wouldn’t be discovered for another eight years, and what are now simple infections were often fatal, even in the cases of healthy, young adults.

Rockne used the story of “the Gipper” to motivate his team to beat Army in a 1928 upset. 




According to the 1940s movie, Knute Rockne: All-American, the famous deathbed quote of George Gipp was,

I've got to go, Rock. It's all right. I'm not afraid. Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, ask them to go in there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper. I don't know where I'll be then, Rock. But I'll know about it, and I'll be happy.

Today is the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time. 

At the end of the second reading, from the end of the Letter to the Hebrews, the author gives a spiritual pep-talk of sorts:

discipline … brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it. So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.

In the Gospel, Jesus answers a question with a parable. When asked,

Lord, will only a few people be saved?

Jesus responds with:

Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. 

The Greek word, translated here as “strive” is agōnizomai (ἀγωνίζομαι) – which is where we get the English word “agonize” or “agony.” The Greek word means to enter a contest, to contend with opponents or difficulties and dangers, to endeavor with strenuous zeal, to compete for a prize.

Considering His choice of words, one might posit that Our Lord is addressing acedia – that is, spiritual sloth. It is often too easy for us to approach the spiritual life on cruise control … treating it as some sort of an afterthought … certainly not as important as … well, any number of things that seem to get in the way.

Yet, Salvation requires a certain fight against temptations and sin. Elsewhere, St. Paul reminds us to “work out [our] salvation with fear and trembling.”

We should be zealously straining toward the prize – the eternal prize – of Salvation in Christ. 

And like any training, we must be vigilant. And as we heard in the first reading from Isaiah 66, we are likewise called to “proclaim [God’s] glory among the nations … [and] bring all [our] brothers and sisters from all [the ends of the earth.]”

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ – let us heed the words of the opening Collect of todays’ Mass and “love what [God] command[s] and to desire what [God] promise[s], that, amid the uncertainties of this [passing] world, our hearts may be fixed on that [eternal] place where true gladness [and joy] is [ever] found.”

20th Sunday OT @ St. Vincent de Paul

HOMILY - 20TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME
AUGUST 18, 2019
7:30 AM,  10:30 AM ORDINARY FORM MASSES



Clare Boothe Luce was the first American woman appointed to a major ambassador posting abroad.
She was an incredibly flexible writer ... composing everything from drama and screenplays to fiction, journalism, and even war reporting. She was known as a charismatic and forceful public speaker.

Clare was born in 1903, in New York City. Her parents never married, and they eventually separated. Sadly, she recalled her childhood as “unusually unhappy and bitter.”



She became a Catholic in 1946 following the tragic death of her only daughter two years prior. Archbishop Fulton Sheen gave her instructions, and guided her into the Catholic Faith.

Her politics became increasingly conservative as time went on; and she campaigned for every Republican presidential candidate from Wendell Wilke to Ronald Reagan.

She served in the United States House of Representatives from 1943-1947; was ambassador to Italy from 1953-1958; and she was ambassador to Brazil for 4 days in 1959. She was a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 1973-1977; was the first woman to receive the Sylvanus Thayer Award from West Point; and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1983.



She died in 1987 of cancer in Washington, D.C.

In today’s Gospel, Our Lord speaks on having come to bring about division. And we are reminded in the Letter to the Hebrews that we “have not yet resisted [sin] to the point of shedding [our own] blood.”

And while all of this may sound quite nasty and perhaps even gruesome ... while it is most certainly not politically correct ... at least in polite society ... to speak of division - that’s today’s Gospel message.



Yet there is something to be gained by realizing that our relationship to God in Jesus Christ ... brought about by our own Baptism ... recognizing that this grace divides us from sin ... and as such separates us from the world ... and it’s burdens ... inasmuch as it unites us to Christ.

Clare Boothe Luce relates a spiritual experience from her teenage years where first she first felt “a sensation of utter aloneness” ... which was followed by a feeling that “Something [greater] Was [with her.]”

She goes on to say that her “whole soul was cleft clean by it, as a silk veil slit by a shining sword.” She felt, as it were, a division ... a separation.

She goes on, next, to say that “joy abounded in all of [her]. Or rather, [she] abounded in joy ... adrift in this immense joy, as a speck of dust ... in a great golden shaft of sunlight.”

This is the division Our Lord is speaking of ... a division which separates us from “every burden and sin that clings to us”.



The Letter to the Hebrews goes on to speak of Christ’s cross - or as He calls it in the Gospel today, “[the] baptism with which I must be baptized” ... all of which he endured “[f]or the sake of the joy that lay before Him.”

Baptism brings us into relationship with the Most Holy Trinity ... a divine relationship ... a joy beyond our understanding and comprehension ... which bestows on us the Supernatural virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love.

Baptism, is a free gift, which brings us into communion with the Saints ... who are the “great ... cloud of witnesses” that surround us.



In writing about the Saints, Clare Boothe Luce says: “the saints give little thought to changing the world around them. They are too busy changing the world within them. They are not out to reform Caesar, but to conform themselves to Christ.”

Yet while the division Christ brings - the separation from sin and suffering - that we experience in the Sacraments ... we are reminded by St. Paul elsewhere in Scripture that “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, ... and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

As we continue with this liturgy, may we ... through Word and Sacrament come to better know Christ ... both in our separation from the “burden[s] and sin” ... and by experiencing the “joy that lay before [us]” in our a Christian life ... in which we are entrusted with “the message of reconciliation” ... that is, the message of the Gospel.



We will shortly join together as one body ... the Body of Christ ... and with one voice ... we will profess our common Faith.

May we not only be reminded of our own Baptism ... but also experience in a new and powerful way ... the graces of Baptism ... the joys that lay before us ... in our lives and in our hearts.

19th Sunday OT @ St. Vincent de Paul Parish

HOMILY - 19TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
AUGUST 10-11, 2019
5:00 PM (SAT), 7:30 AM, 9:00 AM (SUN) ORDINARY FORM MASSES



Born in 1913 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Albert Ellis studied psychology in the 1940s, and in 1953 broke with classical psychoanalysis to put forward his own theories that became known as Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy.

Taking a cue from the ancient Greek Stoic philosophers, he emphasized a philosophy of personal ethics informed by logic and reason.



Although slow to be accepted by other therapists, Ellis founded the Rational Living Institute in the 1960s; and twenty years later he was considered to be one of the top three influential psychotherapists in history, ranking second between Carl Rogers and Sigmund Freud.

In addressing anxiety or worry, Ellis classified three types of worry. (1) Worrying about yourself – which he called ego anxiety, (2) Worrying about things outside of yourself – which he called discomfort anxiety, and (3) Worrying about worrying – which he saw as an amplifier of internal tension.



In all three of these, the anxiety or worrying acts as an obstacle to moving forward. In most things, Ellis’ therapy involved examining and evaluating the situation rationally and reasonably. … breaking down the situation into bite-sized pieces … and examining things in the light of logic.

Until his death in 2007 at the age of 93, Ellis worked 16 hour days writing books, meeting with clients, and teaching. He has left behind an enormous legacy of books, talks, and papers.



Today is the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

In the first line of the Gospel, Jesus tells us:

Do not be afraid any longer …For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

The Letter to the Hebrews and the reading from the Book of Wisdom both provide examples of Faith taken from various historical figures and events in Scripture.

In the pericope from the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, the author points out several ancient heroes of Faith who worshipped God, walked with God, worked with God, and waited with God.



That chapter begins with a beautiful definition of Faith as:

the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.

We are called to go beyond a mere natural or human faith. In Baptism Christians are given Supernatural Faith … a spiritual gift … a theological virtue … indeed, infused at Baptism and strengthened by all the Sacraments.

Supernatural Faith, as well as Supernatural Hope, and Supernatural Love allow a Christian to transcend human limitations – but requires us to exercise these virtues in order to receive the divine treasure … the gifts and the fruits of the Holy Spirit.



Pope St. John Paul called Faith and Reason the

two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth … [that is] to know …and lov[e] God

Let us, in Faith, ascend to that divine truth in confidence and hope, knowing that God who “deliver[s] … and preserve[s]” us … is, indeed, “our help and our shield.”



As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ – let us put aside any worry or anxiety, and place our trust in God … Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let us engage our Supernatural gifts of Faith, Hope, and Love … realizing the unseen evidence of God’s power in our lives.

18th Sunday OT @ St. Vincent de Paul Parish

HOMILY - 18TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
AUGUST 3-4, 2019
5:00 PM (SAT), 7:30 AM, 9:00 AM (SUN) ORDINARY FORM MASSES

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, more commonly known by the pen name Mark Twain, was a writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He has been called “the father of American literature” and praised as the "greatest humorist this country has produced.”

Clemens began his career writing light, humorous verse, and later became a chronicler of the vanities, hypocrisies, and cruel acts of mankind. He combined rich humor, sturdy narrative, and social criticism in his books; and was a master of transcribing colloquial speech into print creating a uniquely American literature emphasizing American themes and language.

He was in great demand as a speaker, performing solo humorous talks similar to modern stand-up comedy. In this, he travelled throughout the United States and Canada, Great Britain, Europe, and even Australia.

Some of his one-liners include:

Civilization is a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessaries.We ought never to do wrong when people are looking.What, then is the true Gospel of consistency? Change.

He was born shortly after the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1835, and predicted that he would "go out with it" as well; dying the day after the comet returned in 1910.

For the record, Halley’s Comet has an orbital period of 75 years, 3 months, 26 days, 19 hours, and 12 minutes.

Today is the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Our first reading comes from the Book of Ecclesiastes – one of the 24 books of the Hebrew Tanakh, which dates from about the 5th century before the time of Christ. The word “vanity” is used 38 times in it’s 12 chapters.



Ecclesiastes has been quoted by politicians (Abraham Lincoln), writers (William Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, Ernest Hemingway, Ray Bradbury), and musicians (Pete Seeger).

The section we heard read today at Mass is actually short snippets from the beginning and the end of the first segment of the book which seems to pose the question:

Is life really worth living?

St. Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, admonishes us to put aside those things that separate us from God – that is, the many sins he enumerates; as well as what might separate us from one another – such as social or national distinctions … and to allow Christ to become our “all in all” … to be “renewed” in “the new self” … since, having died with Christ – in Baptism – we are now raised with Him, and must “seek what is above”.

In the continuation of chapter 12 of St. Luke’s Gospel, Jesus admonishes us “to guard against all greed, for … life does not consist of possessions.” Calling us to be “rich in what matters to God.”

Which begs an additional question:

What matters to God?

An answer can be found at the end of Ecclesiastes, in the twelfth chapter, the last line (vv. 13-14) of that final chapter reads:

The last word, when all is heard: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this concerns all humankind; because God will bring to judgment every work, with all its hidden qualities, whether good or bad.

Despite the cries of “vanity” and the admonitions to “fear God” and the calls for “judgment,” five times throughout those twelve chapters, like exclamation points scattered through the entire book are also admonitions to enjoy life – not mindlessly for its own sake – but rather by praising God for the the things He has given us, and receiving them with joy – recognizing that while all things are passing, God Himself alone is eternal.



For we are called – ultimately – to eternal life with God. And the joys of this passing world, are but shadows and reflections of the joys to come.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ; let us aspire – in our daily life, to always give thanks to God for everything. In the midst of the many good and bad things that make up any given moment of any given life – let us continue to praise Him, thank Him, and love Him … knowing that we are called to live our lives – not here, but in Eternity – as God’s beloved children; through, with, and in Christ Jesus; and renewed in the power of the Holy Spirit.