5th Resumed Sunday after Epiphany @ Holy Family

HOMILY - FIFTH RESUMED SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
NOVEMBER 11, 2018
12:00 NOON EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASS
HOLY FAMILY CHAPEL, RUTHERFORD, CA



Howard William Osterkamp from Dent, Ohio served for nine months of his two-years of service on the 38th parallel in Korea with C Company, 5th Regimental Combat Team.

About half-way through those nine months, he was wounded in the leg with schrapnel, and suffered two breaks in his leg, but this was misdiagnosed by Army doctors, and he was returned to the front lines for four more months.

Osterkamp is credited with the phrase: “All gave some; some gave all.”



Today, is Veteran’s Day – which originated as Armistice Day 99 years ago at the end of the First World War. It took 19 years for Congress to declare it a national holiday.

It is also the memorial of St. Martin of Tours, who originally was a military man from a military family, and lived in the fourth century.

Pious legend tells us that Martin, seeing a poor beggar in the cold, took his sword and cut his own military cloak in half – sharing it with the shivering man. That night he had a dream where Christ appeared and repeated that well-known phrase “what you did for this the least of my brethren, you did for me.” And upon waking up, Martin saw that his cloak was no longer half, but 100%.



This led to his conversion, and eventually becoming a bishop in France.

Interestingly, the words “chapel” and “chaplain” supposedly arise from the French word for cloak or cape … and refer to the buildings where St. Martin’s cloak was displayed for prayer, and to the clergy who attended to the cloak as it moved from place to place.

In today’s Epistle from St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians, we hear: “But above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfection.” Also of interest is that this is the Scripture that gives rise to the prayer all priests pray when they assume the chasuble – the outer cloak of the sacred vestments used for Mass.



In the Gospel, we hear one of the parables of weeds and the wheat. When the good seed came up as weeds, the servants are puzzled, while the master knows: “An enemy hath done this.”

In our own time, there is much bad fruit to be found in business, politics, and just about everywhere. There are weeds among the clergy – among those who have claimed to serve the Church. Yet, those men  no longer seek to serve Holy Mother Church, but rather viciously now seek to be served by the Church. This has caused much damage to souls, and indeed “An enemy hath done this.”



Our solution is a call to arms – but not with swords or troops or calvary. Rather, our weapons against the Enemy of our souls are virtue, prayer, and charity … as St. Paul has told us in today’s Epistle.
In order to know this Enemy, we must examine the fruits. And where the fruit is rotten and weeds grow in place of wheat – we know what has happened, and we know what it is we must do.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ … let us never forget that He, and He alone has given everything. And indeed, while “all gave some, and some gave all” Yet we know that it is God alone Who has given us every good thing. Let us, in following Christ – Who gave His Life for our salvation – and those good examples of service – both to country and to Church – seek to return to God all the good He has given us … for the Greater Glory of the Almighty.

14th Sunday after Pentecost @ Holy Family Rutherford

HOMILY - FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

AUGUST 26, 2018

12:00 NOON EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASS

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.



Todays Gospel give us a simple admonition. Easy to say, yet perhaps more difficult to implement.
St. Paul tells us the Fruits of the Holy Ghost.

charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, 
mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity

Yet prior to this enumerates seventeen “works of the flesh” which snuff out the spark of the Holy Ghost within us; and encourages us to crucify the flesh and snuff out vice and concupiscence.



In other news, the Church is receiving a black eye for the actions of a few … well, let’s just call it what it is … criminal idiots. The abuse scandal is back in the press, and this time its at the top of the hierarchy.

My personal take on this, is that is comes from what Pope St. John Paul II called “the mystery of iniquity.”

I guess the official response appears to be to point out that it was “sinful,” and that . . . well . . . we’re all sinners. Sure. Whatever.

It is indeed sinful. But it is also horrific, corrupt, reprehensible, and criminal. And while we all may be sinners, I hope that we aren’t all horrific, corrupt, reprehensible, criminal sinners.



At it’s root, it involves entitlement. A person thinking they can do whatever they want despite the appropriate moral and legal boundaries that help us live in a civilized society.

It also involves exploitation. We’re seeing exploitation of children, people, assets, power, and just about anything and everything that there is that can be exploited.

The worst part, is that these people are priests, bishops, archbishops, and cardinals.

Priests take vows, but the vow that’s being broken isn’t only chaste celibacy … rather, priests also promise to celebrate “the mysteries of Christ faithfully and religiously” as well as to “hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience” … to care for “the Lord’s flock,” to sanctify “Christ’s people,” and to unite ourselves “to Christ the High Priest . . . [in offering] to the Father . . . a perfect sacrifice.”



On May 18, 1986, Pope St. John Paul II uses the phrase “mystery of iniquity” three times in his Encyclical “Dominum et Vivificantem: On the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church and the World.”

In the first mention, he points out that sin is more than breaking a rule. Sin reveals “the evil that sin contains.” That is, evil is real. And sin is evil. Second, he points out that sin is opposed, not by a stasis of not sinning or avoiding sin, but by embracing piety and holiness; to love God to the point of forgetting oneself. And finally, he points out that the end-game is conversion, in which we are to destroy “every fetter by which sin binds [us] to the whole of the mystery of iniquity.”



In the Gospel, Our Blessed Lord tells us:

No man can serve two masters. 
For either he will hate the one, and love the other: 
or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. 
You cannot serve God and mammon.

And that is the choice we all must make each and every day. Whom will we serve?

Certainly not the horrific, corrupt, criminal sinners … the entitled idiots who have exploited the treasures of our Faith.



Rather, Our Lord also tells us:

Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, 
and all these things shall be added unto you. 

Let us choose to serve Christ . . . and Christ alone. He Who came to us in the Magnum Mysterium – the Great Mystery – of His incarnation, and He Who left us the “mystírio ton mystiríon” – the Sacrament of Sacraments – the Most Blessed Sacrament – His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity.



Pray for me, as I pray for you. And let us resolve to sever every connection which would bind us to the mystery of iniquity. And let us continue to choose Christ . . . embracing the Great Mystery . . . and despite the darkness of sin . . . let us bring that light of Christ to the World.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

4th Sunday after Pentecost @ Holy Family Rutherford

HOMILY - FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
JUNE 17, 2018
12:00 PM EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASS



Pretty much every American school kid knows that July 4, 1776 was the day the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia.

Perhaps less known is that on June 15, 1215 in Runnymede, England the Magna Carta was signed. And last Friday – besides being payday –  marked the 803rd anniversary of that fateful day.

Prior to the signing of the Magna Carta, English kings were somewhat at liberty to act as they saw fit, for good or for ill. Enormous burdens through taxes and levies were common; as were arbitrary seizures of people, property, and cash by the Crown. The unchecked power of the monarchy led to widespread corruption.



Enter the Magna Carta – the Great Charter of Liberties – that ensured the right to own and inherit property, and protection from excessive taxation. Things we take for granted 803 years later – such as, the consent of the governed, due process, equal protection, and separation of church and state – find their origins in the Magna Carta.

Today is the 4th Sunday after Pentecost.

In St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, he speaks about the “expectation of the creature waiteth” Pointing out “the creature also itself shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.”



While this sounds awkward, the Greek word used for “the creature” – κτίσις – is a word used by rabbis to mean someone who had converted from idolatry … and so, perhaps a better rendering would be “convert from idolatry” or alternately “idolater” or “convert” depending on the context.

In the Gospel, we hear Our Lord’s admonition to St. Peter to “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” While Peter protests – after all, it was the end of long hard day of work, and the fishermen had caught nothing at all.



Yet God has a plan. Despite what we may think. The result of Peter going against his own will and fulfilling Christ’s command is a miracle: “a very great multitude of fishes.” So great, that “their net broke.”

Indeed, regardless of how we may weigh our own circumstances, God remains in control. God’s law, and God’s plan overshadow our own plan. And no matter what we may consider as “liberty” . . . unrestrained liberty rapidly descends into license … what we often see played out in the world.
We must be reminded over and over … that true freedom … true liberty … comes through Jesus Christ.



Yet are we fully convinced of this? Are we totally committed to living our lives through, with, and in Jesus Christ? When we think we have a better idea … or perhaps when things don’t go our way … do we cast aside fidelity to Christ and instead pursue our own whims? Or even, perhaps, wade into the corruption of the world?

Saint Paul reminds at the start of todays reading “that we are the [children] of God … heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ”  but not through force of will, but rather “if we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him.”



As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us put out into the deep. Let us step out in fatih, setting aside any fears or misgivings … and place ourselves in the hands of Our Savior. Let us remember that all Creation – ourselves included – is subject to the Laws of God and Reign of God … and as members of the Body of Christ, we are called to be citizens of the Kingdom of God, and reign with Christ in eternity.

23rd Sunday After Pentecost @ St. Matthew Church

HOMILY - TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
NOVEMBER 12, 2017
3:00 PM EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASS

Oh why is heaven built so far,
Oh why is earth set so remote?

I cannot reach the nearest star
That hangs afloat.

Thus begins the four-stanza poem by the Victorian era poet Christina Rosetti, who died six years before the end of the nineteenth century. This poem is titled De Profundis – Latin for "Out of the depths."



Twice in today’s liturgy, the first lines of the De Profundis – more properly Psalm 129 (130) – are intoned: during the Alleluia verse, and in the Offertorio.

Many poets and authors have paraphrased or interpreted this text – more often than not in a spirit of despair … during a period of personal darkness or loss.

Yet today’s Mass texts and readings call us to greater perseverance and increased hope.



The Introit is from Jeremiah 29, a verse often misused and misinterpreted. The gist being that God has banished Israel to captivity in Bablyon for 70 years, and yet the Almighty proclaims that this shall pass. Awkwardly, this verse pops up on graduation cards as a declaration of a bright future. Yet the context here is of a lengthy exile … followed by a return.

In the Epistle, St. Paul gives the Christians in Philipi a choice between the Spirit or the Flesh. One is freedom, one is exile. Yet the world often portrays the license of the Flesh to be a type of freedom. But this is deceptive. True freedom is found in Christ Jesus … in the joy and the victory of heaven. We must be careful not to treat this “vale of tears” as our final destination.



The Gospel from St. Matthew chapter 9, gives us two images of our salvation. In the first, a woman with a hemorrhage is healed by the mere touch of Our Lord. For the ancients, blood was life; and the loss of blood was the loss of life. The disease that plagued this poor soul for twelve years was a slow leaking out of life … a rather graphic image of the loss of grace – when one may ignore its divine benefits and allow it to be depleted by dis-ease … either through sin or neglect.

And in the raising of the young girl, Our Lord shows Himself as Master of both life and death – being first mocked by the mourners, whose disdain turns to amazement at the restoration of life to the dead child.

Out of the depths … Out of the depths … we cry out to God for Salvation … in the midst of our earthly exile God hears our cries … and reaches out with salvation.



No matter ones condition – saint, or sinner – Our Lord Jesus Christ has conquered death, both spiritual and physical. We must never tire of crying out to Him for the graces we need for salvation … for saving … from sin … from the world … from ourselves.

Rosetti’s poem ends:

For I am bound with fleshly bands,
Joy, beauty, lie beyond my scope;

I strain my heart, I stretch my hands,
And catch at hope.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us call out to Christ to save us. Let us recognize the limitations of our earthly existence, and by the manifold graces of Holy Baptism and all the Sacraments let us “catch at hope.” For it is through perseverance in Faith, Hope, and Charity that we can rise out of the depths … and imitate both Christ and the Saints … to be transformed from the despair of the flesh into the glory of salvation … and eternity … in heaven.

8th Sunday after Pentecost @ Holy Family Mission

HOMILY - SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
JULY 30, 2017
12:00 NOON EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASS



From 1970 to 1977, the TV sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show aired on CBS. The protagonist was the aforementioned actress who play the first never-married, independent career woman as the central character.

It is one of the most acclaimed US TV shows, having been praised by critics while it was on the air, as well as still ranking #6 out of the top 100 shows.

The show revolves around the social and work life of Mary Richards who works as associate producer of the Six O’Clock New in Minneapolis, MN. The anchorman, played by Ted Knight, is a buffoonish, idiot ... who can barely read his copy … yet is vain and arrogant despite being inarticulate and untalented.



In one scene, the bumbling news anchor Ted is unable to solve a simple arithmetic problem. That is, until someone quips: "Put a dollar sign in front of it, Ted", at which point the idiot-savant instantly arrives at the a answer.

In today’s Gospel from St. Luke’s 16th Chapter, we hear the story of the unjust but shrewd steward. Who, when caught stealing from his master, quickly steals even more in an effort to make himself allies among his master’s debtors.



At the end of the parable, the master commends the steward giving as the moral of the story:

[F]or the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light.

In the early 19th century, the Russian saint, Seraphim of Sarov, gave an interview with the nobleman Nikolay Motovilov, to whom he admonished:

Acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit also by practicing all the other virtues for Christ's sake. Trade spiritually with them; trade with those which give you the greatest profit. Accumulate capital from the superabundance of God's grace, deposit it in God's eternal bank which will bring you immaterial interest, not four or six percent, but one hundred percent for one spiritual ruble, and even infinitely more than that.

In other words, for those of us who live in the world, and perhaps struggle to see the value in prayer and sacraments … or the benefit of grace and virtue … maybe it would help us to put a dollar sign in front of it.



We would do well to approach the dispensations of grace and mercy poured out on us in superabundance, and invest them frugally in a life of virtue and holiness.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ let us receive this superabundant grace for our salvation with a willing and ready heart. May the graces we receive this day be treated as the valuable assets that they are, and may we not squander them … but rather invest them for our eternal future.

7th Sunday after Pentecost @ Holy Family Mission

HOMILY - SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
JULY 23, 2017
12:00 NOON EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASS



In middle of the 19th century, individuals in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana created what has now been called the “Underground Railroad.” Sites are still remembered on those secret lines of freedom. Where “freedom seekers,” or escaped slaves, would be moved from “depot” to “depot” by “conductors.”

It was dangerous work. Slaves who were caught would be severely beaten. Those who helped them to hide and eventually escape could be forced to pay the cost of replacing an escaped slave to Southern plantation owners.

The Federal Government even passed stricter laws to try to discourage this lawless sort of behavior on the part of abolitionists and sympathetic whites in the north. Regardless of the law, the Underground Railroad continued.



In that era, one could have safely declared that the “law of the land” was established, and doing nothing was certainly easier than risking injury and financial loss.

A good number of the freedom seekers eventually settled in Michigan. Others fled across the Detroit and St. Clair rivers into Canada.

It is unknown exactly how many escaped slavery through the Underground Railroad. Estimates range upwards of 100,000 … with 30,000 relocating to Canada.

In today’s Epistle from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, he speaks to us of slavery to sin, and freedom in Christ. In the first several century, believing in Christ was a substantial risk. Christians were called “atheists” – in that they refused to worship the Roman pantheon of gods and goddesses. There were fines, and prison … and also gruesome deaths.



What is the point of risking an easy life to believe in and follow Christ?

We hear in the Gospel that the end result will be either eternal citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven, or else being cast into the everlasting fires of Hell.



What, then, is the “risk?”



If individuals were willing to risk everything for temporal freedom, how much more should we be willing to risk for eternal freedom?

True freedom is found in Christ Jesus, Our Lord. True freedom is found in casting off the slavery to sin, and living our lives according to God’s law, and the Gospel of Christ.

As we approach this altar to receive the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ … let us reflect on the “long game.” Let us view the “big picture” of eternity vs. the here-and-now. For indeed, “the wages of sin is death. But the grace of God is life everlasting; in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

3rd Sunday after Pentecost @ Holy Family Mission

HOMILY - THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
JUNE 25, 2017
12:00 NOON EXTRAORDINARY FORM MASS



The "Groat" is an English silver coin, first minted sometime around the late 13th or early 14th century. It was originally valued at fourpence. Strictly speaking, that would have meant it should have contained 6.2 grams of silver, but only weighed 5.8, and eventually decreased in weight to 4.7 … 3.9 … 3.1 … until two hundred years later, groats were weighing in at 2.1 grams. They fell out of circulation for a couple of centuries, but were re-minted irregularly during the late colonial era, and by then they weighed 1.9 grams!



We hear about “groats” in today’s Gospel. Jesus first talks about the man who searches high and low for his lost sheep. Considering how stupid sheep usually are, and that leaving 99 alone might mean that if he finds this one he very well may have lost a couple during his searching … should demonstrate that this is perhaps not the most practical thing to do. 

Similarly, the groat lost by the woman is all-but-worthless. Yet she goes to great lengths to find it.



The lesson for us, is that such is the “prodigality” of God’s mercy.

Now “prodigal” means “wasteful.” And from a worldly perspective, God should probably be evaluating everyone on a cost-benefit-analysis … but instead the least of persons is valued infinitely by our Loving God and Father.
This knowledge should cause us awe … and in our right mind, bring us to be humbled that the Infinite, Almighty, and Omnipotent God would care for any one of us.



Unfortunately, in many cases it has the opposite effect … that of causing people to presume upon God’s mercy … and failing to show the proper awe and reverence at His super-abundant mercy, love, and grace for us … and indeed for all humanity.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us approach with humility and due reverence. Knowing the infinite Sacrifice of Our Lord in order to bring to one poor soul this Sacrament of overflowing goodness.




Let us also pray to persevere in our Faith. That we might never presume upon God’s mercy, but rather always give thanks to Almighty God, through Jesus Christ, in the grace of the Holy Spirit.