Ash Wednesday @ St. Vincent de Paul

HOMILY - ASH WEDNESDAY
FEBRUARY 26, 2020
8:00 AM, 10:30 AM, 6:00 PM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES



Organizing consultant Marie Kondo has her own particular organizational method she calls the “KonMari” method.

She refers to what she does as “tidying up,” as opposed to “cleaning up.”

“Cleaning up,” she says, is something that you do to your surroundings. “Tidying up” is not so much about getting rid of things, but about making a choice … or deciding how to live … and what you want to keep in your life.



Marie Kondo stresses that we should only hold onto the things that “spark joy.”

The first step, she says, is to make an enormous pile of all the things you have, and then when you see all of this in one place, you can choose the things that truly “spark joy” … and let go of the rest as not essential to your life.

We find ourselves this morning at the cusp of Holy Lent.

Today is Ash Wednesday.

Marie Kondo’s “Tidying Up” can give us a way to apply Lent to our daily lives.

Just as “tidying up” differed from “cleaning up” – where one was externally focused and the other internally focused … Lent should be less a period of “self-improvement” and more of a time of “self-reflection” and “self-discovery.”



Over these next 40 days, we can take an assessment of our heart, mind, and soul – looking at all that we are and all that we do. And instead of looking at Lent as a time of “giving things up,” we can approach Lent from the perspective of what do we want to hold on to … and what do we want to get rid of … keeping only the things that “spark joy” and letting go of what doesn’t.

When the 40 days are over, we will hopefully find ourselves in a better place … as better people … living a better life. But even more so: in a holier place ... as holier people ... living a holier life.

We have 6 weeks to examine the enormous pile of experiences, memories, attitudes, and ideas that make up our life. And we can choose, not only those things that “spark joy,” but the things that also “spark” love, peace, perseverance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.



These are the 12 gifts of the Holy Spirit, and these are all given to us as a foretaste of heaven on earth.

Let us take this season of Lent to “tidy up” our hearts, minds, and souls … in order to draw closer to God … taking it as a time of “self-reflection” and “self-discovery” … to learn who we are, and to gain a clearer vision of who God is. Let us choose to live the life of heaven here on earth, holding onto only those things which “spark” love, joy, peace, perseverance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control … and living that way each day … in everything we say … and everything we do.

6th Sunday OT @ St. Vincent de Paul

HOMILY - SIXTH SUNDAY OF IN ORDINARY TIME
FEBRUARY 15/16, 2019
5:00 PM (SAT), 9:00 AM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES

There is a story, a bit of a subtle joke – but hopefully not too subtle:

Someone once asked a wise Guru: “What is the secret to eternal happiness?” The wise Guru answered: “Do not argue with a fool.” The person replied: “I disagree.” To which the wise Guru responded: “OK. You are right.”

Today is the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time. 

We are ten days away from the beginning of the holy season of Lent.

Today’s readings have a dual theme: wisdom and righteousness.

Righteousness, or justice, when spoken of in the Bible, comes from the Greek work “δικαιοσύνη” – which according to the philosopher Plato was “the general virtue, which lies in the proper operation of all parts of the soul.”

In Christian theology, righteousness can be said to have five elements: (1) honoring God, (2) resulting in eternal life in Christ Jesus, (3) through the mercy of God, (4) by faith in Christ, (5) through God’s grace. 

In this sense, everything depends on God and Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

To the second point, wisdom is, “the intellectual virtue concerning the first or highest causes of all things.”

 

In other words, wisdom is being smart enough to know that God is in charge.

Wisdom and justice are two of the four cardinal virtues. Cardinal, not because they have anything to do with birds or the color red, but from the Latin word, “cardo” meaning hinge.

The two we’ve just focused on today are wisdom and justice (or righteousness.)

The remaining two are courage and temperance – to do what is right in the face of obstacles (both external and internal); and to moderate the desire for pleasure (both physical and mental.)

And the three supernatural virtues are Faith, Hope, and Love – giving us seven total virtues to build up ourselves spiritually.

And so, in recognizing that God is in charge (wisdom), following Him unreservedly in Christ Jesus by the power of the Spirit (justice); persevering through difficulties (courage); and moderating our passions (temperance) – while leveraging the baptismal virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love … we can grow in spiritual strength and avoid the shortfalls of our human condition.

The point, of course, in our Lenten practices is to put God first – and not ourselves; and to persevere through, with, and in Christ Jesus – and set aside our weak and sinful flesh. Whatever we do for those 46 days – prayer, fasting, almsgiving – should be done for God’s sake and with our eyes fixed on Jesus.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ – and as we move closer to the beginning of Lent 2020 – let us engage the graces we receive in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the altar today to engage the strengths provided us in the graces we receive.

So that we might follow Christ – who is our Way, our Truth, and our Life – in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit – and in all things, todo the Will of God … always and everywhere.

5th Sunday OT @ St. Vincent de Paul

HOMILY - FIFTH SUNDAY OF IN ORDINARY TIME
FEBRUARY 9, 2019
7:30 AM, 10:30 AM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES



Along the side walls of the church – that is, along the left and right arcade walls; and up along the right and left clerestory, are … eight, sixteen, twenty-four, thirty-two … stained glass windows of saints.

Peter, Paul, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon, Jude, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, and Cecilia … 16 of the 40 saints mentioned in the First Eucharistic Prayer – the Roman Canon.

The rest include Blaise, Augustine, Patrick, Francis of Assisi, Aloysius Gonzanga, John Vianney, Anne, Mary Magdalene, Helena, Monica, Joan of Arc, and Rose of Lima – as well as two angels: St. Michael the Archangel, and a Guardian Angel.



So, surrounding all of you – who are sitting in the nave of the church – there are 32 saints. Which is kind of interesting. If you consider that “you’re surrounded” by saints … that is an interesting way for us to think about the Communion of Saints.

If you come to church in the early morning … when it’s still dark outside. Or if you come in the later evening … again, when it’s dark outside … all of our beautiful stained glass windows appear to be sort of “blah.”

You can make out something … maybe a sort of human shape ... maybe a head or a hat. But without the sunlight coming in from outside, the windows lose a bit of their charm … there’s just not much to look when it’s dark.



Today is the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Our readings have a common theme of “light.”

The prophet Isaiah encourages the people of Israel to practice what we might consider the “Corporal Works of Mercy” in order that their “light shall break forth like the dawn ... and the glory of the LORD [will] be [their] guard.”

And the prophet goes even further, encouraging the practice of the virtues so that “light shall rise ... in the darkness, and the gloom shall become ... like midday.”

That is, being merciful and virtuous ... has a positive outcome … and brings an illuminating brilliance to a dark and gloomy world.



The psalm speaks how those who are “just” – that is, those in right-relationship with God and others – are “a light in darkness.”

And Jesus tells His disciples – and us as well – in the Gospel that we “are the light of the world,” and that our light “cannot be hidden,” nor should we “put it under a bushel basket;” but rather, that it “must shine before others” for the glory of God the Father.

St. Paul, in the Epistle, talks about how the Gospel shows forth the “power of God” without any need for embellishment or addition ... and that the power of the Holy Spirit shows forth in the message of Jesus Christ, and in His Sacrifice for our redemption. That when our Faith is rooted in the Cross of Christ ... that nothing more is needed.

And so for ourselves, we should learn from the example of the saints ... and from their images in stained glass … and from the stories of their lives. And like the windows, without sunlight are not much more than a darkened wall … the beauty of the saints requires the light of Christ to shine forth as well.

It’s sometimes too easy for us to relegate our Faith to 45 minutes a week. But the light of God ... the light of Christ ... and the power of the Holy Spirit ... is in us ... through Baptism, Confirmation, and Matrimony or Holy Orders. And we shouldn’t try to hide it ... or hide from it ... the rest of the week.
Because it is only when we allow Christ’s light to shine through us ... in our lives ... in what we say ... and in what we do ... that we are able to manifest the glory of God in our lives ... and the power of the Holy Spirit in our actions ... and in our words.



As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ ... let us recognize that light within us. And let us realize that we “are the light of the world.” May the manifold graces of the Eucharist we receive today allow us to show forth in our lives this week ... the brightness of God’s glory ... and the light of Jesus Christ ... in our daily lives ... at home ... at work or school ... and in the world ... a world that desperately needs the light of the Gospel ... the light of our Savior ... Jesus Christ ... the Lord.

Candlemas @ St. Vincent de Paul

HOMILY - PRESENTATION OF OUR LORD
FEBRUARY 1 / 2, 2020
5:00 PM (SAT), 7:30 AM (SUN) ORDINARY FORM MASS



In 1976, a decade after the close of the Second Vatican Council,  Pope Paul VI invited Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla to lead the annual Vatican Lenten retreat attended by the Pope and the members of his Curia.

The twenty-two reflections from this retreat were published in 1977 under the title of “Sign of Contradiction.” The entire book is barely over 200 pages – not very long at all.



Who would have guessed that two and a half years later, Cardinal Wojtyla would be elected Pope John Paul II; or that 35 years later he would be canonized as a saint.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. This feast is 40 days after Christmas, and marks the end of the traditional Christmas season.

The Gospel recounts how, in fulfillment of the Law of Moses, Mary and Joseph bring the infant Jesus to the Temple to consecrate him to the Lord – to “redeem” Him – as was required of all firstborn sons – at the cost of two turtledoves.



In a sense, this was the discount rate for poor couples – as the regular rate was to sacrifice a lamb.

How strange – the Redeemer is redeemed?

The Lamb of God cannot afford a lamb?

Or that the Son would need any further consecration to the Father from whose heart He was begotten?

Perhaps this is what Simeon was alluding to by calling the Christ child “a sign that will be contradicted” … among many other things.

Equally contradictory is that God the Son – incarnate as a human infant – enters the Temple built to worship Him … and almost nobody seems to notice. Nobody, except a elderly man and an elderly woman.



In today’s Gospel, Simeon prophesies that “a sword will pierce” Mary’s heart, “so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Similarly, in ending his Lenten reflections, Cardinal Wojtyla – Saint John Paul II – juxtaposes the “sign of contradiction” … that is, Jesus – Our Lord; and the “sign that appears in the heavens” in Revelation 12 … that is, Mary – Our Lady.



Today, the nativity scene in the Vatican will be taken down. And in three weeks and three days, we will begin the 40 days of Lent. Followed by Holy Week and Easter; and the 40 days of the Easter season.

40 days, symbolic of the 40 weeks from conception to birth for a human baby. 40 days, symbolic of spiritual rebirth.



In the fifth reflection from that 1976 retreat, on the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary – and the fourth Joyful Mystery is the Presentation in the Temple, today's feast – John Paul says:

[Christ’s] reign begins when [this] temple sacrifice is offered in accordance with the [Mosaic] Law, and it attains full realization through [His] sacrifice on the cross, offered in accordance with an eternal plan of love.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ; let us pray that we might engage more deeply the graces of our own redemption in Christ Jesus … poured out from this altar … in the perpetual remembrance of that eternal plan of love.