2nd Sunday of Lent @ Holy Family Rutherford

HOMILY - SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT
FEBRUARY 25, 2018
12:00 NOON EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASSES



Today is the 2nd Sunday of Lent, in which today’s Gospel is the Transfiguration from St. Matthew.
In the eastern Church tradition, the Transfiguration is one of the Twelve Great Feasts. And in traditional iconography – that is the prayerfully produced images if the eastern Church – Christ is front and center, surrounded by a mandorla – that is encircled in Divine light; as well as bathed in light from above – symbolizing the voice of God the Father.

To the left and right of Our Lord are presented Moses – the Lawgiver; and Elijah – the greatest of the prophets.

The three apostles are shown either lying down, kneeling, or reeling – that is, blown away … staggering … by what they are witnessing.



St. Paul, in his first Epistle to the Thessalonians, presents succinctly God’s will for us.

For this is the will of God, your sanctification.

Please consider this single line deeply. God’s will is not your comfort, or your temporal happiness, or even that you do what you will – as the world often presents.



God’s will is that we be made holy … that we be glorified … through the grace and mercy poured forth on us through the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church … for our sanctification.



This is the point of our various penitential exercises in the Holy Season of Lent – our sanctification. We give up those things that stand in the way of God … the things we love (with a small “L”) so that we might devote a larger portion of our personal efforts focusing on the Person whom we should Love (with a capital “L”) above all things – namely the Most Holy Trinity … God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ … let us pray that we might cooperate with God’s efforts to bring us to sanctification … let us put aside self-will, as well as the things that may overexcite our passion to the detriment of our relationship with Almighty God.



And let us persevere in our practices of penance as we progress through this Holy Lent. Drawing ever closer to the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

2nd Sunday of Lent @ St. Apollinaris Church

HOMILY - SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT
FEBRUARY 24-25, 2018
4:30 PM, 7:00 AM, 9:00 AM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES



Test Anxiety is a physiological condition in which people experience extreme stress and discomfort before or during the taking of a test. It has been argued that it has a direct correlation to reduced academic performance; as well as a student’s development and feelings about themselves and education in general. It has only been formally studied since the early 1950s, and research suggests that between 25 and 40 percent of students experience some form of test anxiety.

Today is the Second Sunday of Lent.



Last week we heard about the temptation of Our Lord in the desert.



This week, we hear about the test of Abraham – what is known as the akedah or the binding of Isaac.
I think it is important that we are clear in regards to what is a temptation; and what is a test.



The Catechism tells us that “[t]emptation is an attraction, either from outside oneself or from within, to act contrary to right reason and the commandments of God. “



Whereas a test is “a procedure to establish a person's proficiency or knowledge” in order to “[reveal] [one's] strength or quality”.

In other words, a temptation has a malicious aim – to turn us away from God; while a test can demonstrate where we are in regards to our relationship with God – not only providing a measure of who we are, but encouraging us to grow in some way or another.



And so, in the first reading, following the testing of Abraham, God tells him,

“I know now how devoted you are to [Me.]”

St. Paul, in the letter to the Romans asks the rhetorical question,

“If God is for us, who can be against us?”

With this in mind, every devout Christian should have confidence that through God’s grace acting in our lives, we can be assured that no test … no temptation can separate us from God in Christ.



In the Gospel, we hear the account of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, on Mount Tabor in the presence of Ss. Peter, James, and John.

Yet this pericope is part of a larger section of Mark’s Gospel.

In the wider view, towards the end of Mark, chapter 8 … Jesus asks his disciples a question:

“Who do people say that I am?”

He receives a variety of answers, yet Peter gives the right answer:

“You are the Messiah.”

Peter gets an “A+” for a correct answer.

But then, Jesus begins to reveal how His earthly mission will end, telling them:

“the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days.”

And then, bold as ever, Peter tries to correct Jesus on this. Peter is, in turn, rebuked by Our Lord for applying human reasoning to Divine plans.



Peter gets an “F-“ for an incorrect answer.



Then Jesus explains the cost of discipleship:

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me”.

Which opens into chapter 9, and today’s Gospel.



In the revelation of the glory of Christ shown in the Transfiguration, the disciples are “terrified” and Peter gets all confused … and wants to start a construction project so they can hang around for a while at the top of the mountain.

St. Mark makes it clear that Peter and the disciples “hardly knew what to say”.

Yet more than a disorienting test, some authors see in the Transfiguration a liturgical foreshadowing. On Mount Tabor, we have the entirety of the Old Testament – the Law and the Prophets – embodied in the persons of Moses and Elijah. We have the Gospel in the Word of God made flesh – embodied in the Person of Jesus Christ – in all His Glory … revealed to three of His disciples.



Today, we have heard from the Old and New Testaments … Christ will come into our midst – Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity – and we will dare to receive him.

Will this be for us an opportunity to allow the infinite, sanctifying, and transforming grace of Almighty God present in the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist to change us? Or will we be stumped? And hardly know what to do?



As we approach this altar to receive Him – Jesus Christ – in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar – Holy Communion … let us pray that we may indeed be transformed … and transfigured … from who we are; into the person that God is calling us to become. May we, who through sin fall short of the surpassing Glory of Christ, be raised through “eager expectation” of God’s manifold graces to the “glory to be revealed for us” as the “children of God.” (cf. Rom 8:18,19 RNAB)

End-of-Life Issues - Sacrament of the Sick @ Diocese of Oakland, CA

END-OF-LIFE ISSUES WORKSHOP
FEBRUARY 21, 22, 24, 2018
1:00 PM, 7:00 PM, 10:00 AM TALKS



PRESENTATION ON ANOINTING OF THE SICK

First Sunday of Lent @ St. Apollinaris Church

HOMILY - FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT
FEBRUARY 18, 2018
7:00 AM, 5:30 PM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES

In her 2013 book titled, “ROY G. BIV,” Jude Stewart explores the history and mystery of colors. 

For instance, that blue wasn’t always for boys … and pink wasn’t always for girls. That phenomenon is roughly 50 or so years old. Prior to that babies with blue eyes wore blue, and babies with brown eyes wore pink. Or else in some more Catholic countries, girl babies wore blue in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and boys wore pink to honor a particular martyr who shed his blood in a heroic imitation of Christ.

Throughout the 176 pages, Stewart explores colors and their meanings in various cultures and times. While not an exhaustive text, it at least makes you think about what and why.

And for the record, Roy G. Biv is not a person, but is a mnemonic for the seven primary colors of the rainbow; namely, red, orange, yellow, green, blue indigo and violet.

Today is the first Sunday of Lent.

Four down, thirty-six to go. And just for the record, the Sundays don’t count.

Have you given something up? Have you taken something on?

In today’s First Reading from Genesis, we hear the end of the story of Noah … and how God created a “covenant” with him. A covenant in the Hebrew understanding of the word is less of a legal document and more like adoption papers.

In the Old Testament, we hear of six covenants between God and humanity. The first being the Garden of Eden … after those seven days of creation … and the promise of a future redemption through the offspring of the woman. The covenant with Noah … signified in the rainbow … made up of seven primary colors … to remind us of our relationship with God and creation. The covenant with Abraham – how one man would become the father of many nations, and bless the nations of the world. The Mosaic covenant – the Ten Commandments and the dietary (and other cultural) laws of the Hebrews … and their 40 years of preparation in the desert. The covenant with Kind David … who was chosen above his seven brothers to be king … and the promise of a future king of his line who would be “God’s son.” The covenant described by the seven major prophets – that if the people would only return to God … God would return them from whatever exile they were experiencing. 

But the covenant we should be most  interested in is the one we’re living under now. The one where God has fulfilled the promises of those first six covenants in Jesus Christ.

And in the covenant – that is relationship, or adoption – that we are living under, there are seven sacraments … literally seven oaths or promises … that we take in order to enter … and to live out this life of grace … in a family relationship to God the Father, as members of His Son, in order to be filled with … and exercise in our lives … the power of the Holy Spirit.

You see, all of these “churchy” things that we do are not just made up last week so that we can sit on hard seats and put more money in the collection basket. Rather, they are the fulfillment of almost six thousand years of relationship between God and creation and the entire human race.

These seven signs: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist; Confession, Anointing; Marriage and Holy Orders … these establish and maintain the covenant between us and God … as well as relationships … a covenant … between ourselves … and how we are to relate to the world.

It all starts with Baptism, which opens for us the other six. And which St. Peter gives an excellent explanation of the operations of grace between us and God.

And while seven is a particular number tied in with covenants in both the Old and New Testament … the number 40 plays a role in birth and rebirth.

40 days of flooding … 40 days of fasting … 40 years in the desert … 40 comes from the 40 weeks it takes to make a baby. The number 40 is intimately tied to a very specific biological process … that while in itself a beautiful and wonderful and miraculous thing … also brings with it morning sickness, cramps, swollen ankles, and later on … the occasional “I hate you mom,” and slammed doors.

And so, we are moving along our own 40 days of rebirth. It’s not easy, but it’s meant to remind us of who we are in relationship to God and in relationship to each other. Also during this time, we prepare those who will join us through Baptism and the other Sacraments in this unique family of God. We accompany them in prayer and sacrifice as they prepare to be born again through water and the Spirit … and become our brothers and sisters in Christ.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us remember what we are about … and who we are called to be. May our efforts as we proceed through the holy season of Lent help us to strengthen our relationships with God and with one another. May these 40 days of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving draw us ever more deeply into the life of grace and the family of God … reminding us of the divine power we have at our disposal through these seven sacraments which establish, strengthen, and restore our covenant with God and one another.

Ash Wednesday @ St. Apollinaris Church

HOMILY - ASH WEDNESDAY
FEBRUARY 14, 2018
7:00 AM, 8:45 AM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES



Archimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician and scientist during the third century before Christ. He is credited with many scientific, mathematical, and engineering discoveries. Perhaps most famous among them – although apocryphal (that is, not verifiable) – is the following story.

King Hiero II of Syracuse had a crown made out of pure gold. However, he thought he had been cheated, and lesser materials had been used to make the crown. The king charged Archimedes with determining whether the crown was pure gold or not … without melting the crown down to see what made it tick.



While sitting in his bath, Archimedes noticed that his body displaced a certain volume of water. In an instant, he realized that by comparing the amount of water displaced by the crown to the amount of water displaced by a similar weight of pure gold he could determine the composition of the crown without destroying it in the process.

In his enthusiasm, Archimedes leapt from the bathtub – buck naked – and ran for his laboratory shouting “εὕρηκα," (phonetically heúrēka”) – that is, in Greek, “I have found it!”



Thus giving rise to the common phrase, “a eureka moment.”

Today is Ash Wednesday. 73 years ago, as best as I can figure, was the last time Ash Wednesday fell on Valentine’s Day. Of course, in 1945, today really _was_ St. Valentine’s Day.



The 1969 calendar revisions of the new liturgy having decided that St. Valentine wasn’t universal enough and replaced him with the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius. Much to the chagrin of many Slavic Catholics, who were accustomed to summertime mountain pilgrimages on the customary feast day of July 5. This being precluded due to February snowstorms.

Nonetheless, if you so desire – and haven’t given up sweets for Lent, and are fasting – you may have one large meal of cookies, chocolate, candy hearts, and cake; as well as two small snacks … not equal to the amount of the large meal.



The whole theme of Lent is repentance. Which comes from a Greek word for “change your mind.” We spend our time in Lent focusing on sin and its consequences. The original word in Hebrew for sin means “to miss the mark.”

Too often, we allow the world to convince us to replace our own precious crown of glory for the tinfoil hat of religious speculation … or a paper hat of impassioned partying. In either case, we trade the glory of the children of God for mere dust and ashes.



Today we will have ashes placed on our foreheads as a sign of our desire to repent – to turn back – to our divine inheritance … to admit to the world that we have sinned – that is, missed the target of who God has revealed us to be through His Son Jesus Christ … our Savior and our Lord.

And if I might, I would like to borrow an idea from Kyle Idleman, a Kentucky pastor, who uses the parable of the prodigal son and the acronym A.H.A. to help his readers to engage in God-inspired “Aha! moments.”



We all know the parable of the prodigal son. Son goes away, son figures out he’s screwed up, son comes back with a plan, father blows son out of the water with his generous mercy. Other son screws up by being a jerk.

We all screw up. We are all, at one time or another the prodigal younger son – who loses his spiritual way through material things; or the prodigal older son – who loses his spiritual way through bad thinking. And so, on to “AHA.”



The first “A” is for “AWAKENING” … the younger son in the parable had a sudden awakening that what he had done and how he was now living were not where he was supposed to be.



The “H” is for “HONESTY” … the son was brutally honest with himself. He didn’t blame anybody. He didn’t make excuses. He figured it it with bold and honest clarity.



The final “A” is for “ACTION” … immediate action. The son didn’t schedule his trip home for when it was convenient for the pigs or OK with his new master. He went. He just went.

Pastor Idleman points out that we may hit on one of the three at any given moment – but when we hit on all three, and engage the grace of Almighty God … those are the AHA moments of TRUE REPENTANCE – returning to God’s fullness of grace, and mercy, and love. Drawing closer to our divine inheritance as the children of the kingdom.



As we continue our morning liturgy … and as we receive ashes on our foreheads shortly … and as we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ … let us pray for that grace – the AHA moment of divine grace to wake up to what we have done, or are doing; to be brutally honest in recognizing the “big T” Truth of God’s revelation; and to – without delay – take that moment for action.

In other words: let us REPENT, AND BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL.

February Trip Letter @ St. Apollinaris School

LETTER TO FAMILIES
JANUARY 31, 2018
TRIP TO MICHIGAN


Dear Friends,
I know it’s only been three months, but I will be heading out for a couple of weeks to visit my family in Michigan. I figure if I don’t do it now, I won’t be able to visit until the summer. This way, I got to be at the School Gala  and I will be back in time for Ash Wednesday. Can I tell you a bit about Michigan? If you use your imagination, it looks like a mitten. Which is sort of appropriate, since theweather forecast says the temperature  will be below freezing! The part of Michigan above the mitten is called the Upper Peninsula, or the U.P. for short. The people who live there are called Yoopers. While the people in the mitten part are called Trolls  since we live under the bridge that connects  the two peninsulas. My parents live on the  Saint Clair River, which right now is full of ice. Canada is  right across the river. The Saint Clair River is part of the  St. Lawrence Seaway that flows from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to Chicago. Maybe you can trace it on a map. Michigan is surrounded by 4 of the 5 Great Lakes. Do you know the names of all 5 of the Great Lakes? Study hard and be good while I’m away. I’ll see you soon!
—Fr. David

4th Sunday OT @ St. Apollinaris Parish

HOMILY - FOURTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B)
JANUARY 28, 2017
7:30 AM, 5:30 PM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES

Born in 1864, Maximilian Karl Emil Weber – or just “Max” Weber – was a German sociologist and philosopher. He was a mover and shaker in the field of methodological antipositivism – which means (as best as I can break it down) that when studying social settings, you don’t know what you think you know because you think you know what you see but it may not be what you think you’re seeing because of what you’re thinking.

I know. Somewhere, there is a very . . . very . . . long . . . single German compound word for that.

Another area he wrote on is authority. 

Weber described three types of authority. 

1. Charismatic Authority – this would be what we might call the “popularity contest.” 
2. Traditional Authority – this would be something like an “hereditary monarchy.” 
3. Rational-Legal Authority – this would be a “rule of law” as set down in a constitution.

He indicates that what distinguishes authority from coercion,  force and power on the one hand, and leadership, persuasion and influence on the other hand, is legitimacy – which is more of a “nesting” of these three types of authority. 

So, for example, no matter how reasonable someone may be, people don’t vote for someone they do not like. And sometimes voters have been known to vote on name recognition alone.

I suppose we can agree with Weber that authority, while apparently a simple concept, is multi-layered, and not always easy to explain.

Today is the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. In today’s Gospel, we hear that

The people were astonished at [Jesus’] teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority . . .

And after Jesus drives out the demon,

All were amazed and asked one another,
"What is this?
A new teaching with authority.

But in a way very different from the authority people were used to: that is, the coercive authority of the Romans; or the traditional authority of the Scribes and Pharisees.

And although the Gospel writer goes on to tell us that

His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region,

Jesus’ authority is more than just based on popularity.

If you examine the word “authority” you see that the first six letters spell “author.”

And as the Son of God, Jesus’ authority comes not from learning or from hearsay – but when He speaks, it is because He is directly connected to the Author of all creation. 

Jesus doesn’t just know the truth. Jesus is the Truth – as He says elsewhere in Scripture:

I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.

And so while Jesus has gained renown among the people – that is, charisma; and while He holds the title “Son of David” – in a sense having claim to the traditional throne of Israel. His authority is deeper and more intense than any sort of human authority.

What we may miss in regards to the entire Gospel message is that God has come to rule his people – that is, set up the Kingdom of God – with an authority that transcends our own understanding of authority – in a way that we are just not able to explain, define, or realize fully.

St. Paul continues to explain the difficult task we hold as citizens of the Kingdom of God who still are living in the world. And I think he’s having trouble getting it into words.

Even Moses tries to tell the people that God will rule over the People of Israel – respecting their fear of direct contact with the Almighty – through a prophet. But, if we look through Scripture, it is clear that Israel struggled with how to apply God’s rule in their own midst and did not listen to the prophets.

For ourselves, God desires to reign in our hearts, in our lives, and in everything we do. The challenge for us – as it has been for all people of all times – is to not fear God’s authority, but to realize that the Gospel brings us true freedom: a freedom from sin; a freedom from fear; and a freedom from death. But only God holds the authority in this; and He has set things up for us to succeed, if only we would let Him in.

We hold the key in that we have to choose to be for or against God. We belong to heaven, but live in the world. We have a sort of dual citizenship – heaven and earth – and God is not only a respecter of persons . . . He respects our choices – even if that choice means eternal separation from Him.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ – let us pray that we might be open to the authority of God . . . allowing ourselves to truly live as citizens of His Kingdom. Let us surrender ourselves – heart and mind, body and soul – to the author of all things … letting go, and letting God – so that He, and He alone might truly reign in us.