33rd Sunday in OT: The Emperor Has No Clothes

I want to start with a familiar story. Two con men came into the court of an emperor and profess that they are weavers who have found a thread that is only invisible to the stupid and incompetent. They succeed in gaining funds to make magnificent new robes from this invisible thread and supposedly work on it, each time fooling one official or another into thinking that the clothes must be there. The day comes when the con men finish and dress the emperor in his new clothes so that he may parade through town for all to see. Even the townsfolk go along with the ruse so as to avoid appearing dumb, until one lone child begins to cry, “He hasn’t got anything on.” The townsfolk eventually agree with the child, but the emperor continues his parade of folly.

There are many ways this old tale has been applied but it seems to resonate with me this past week in recognizing something we never wish to acknowledge: we have no tolerance for truth in this age. As much as we may profess ourselves to be truth seekers or haters of false news, we cannot stand to hear the truth. Why is that? Because the knowledge of the truth requires us to act contrary to our passions and feelings, and we will not stand for this.

What other answer is possible in the face of not one but two pro-life amendments not passing in this country? In two states that are supposedly deeply conservative-our state of Kentucky and the state of Montana,-neither could muster enough votes for an amendment to be introduced into the state constitutions. Despite the fact that both states elected so-called conservative leaders in big proportions-in our state, almost a million people voted for the incumbent Republican senator-yet many of those same voters did not think it important to grant protection to the unborn here at home. If only one hundred thousand voters had switched their votes, the amendment would have passed here.

We have no tolerance for truth in this age. We cannot tolerate truth, because truth does not give us rights, but obligations. We cannot tolerate truth because it requires that I acknowledge my faults and correct my ways. We cannot tolerate truth because truth is above and beyond the self, but the self is the only frame of reference most of us have anymore. How many who profess themselves as Catholics went and voted in favor of the murder of the innocent and the helpless? How many call themselves champions of women’s rights but lock them in to the subjugation of evil men and a world that hates their femininity? How many were too cowardly to stand up for the truth?

Why does persecution happen? Because we have no tolerance for the truth. In particular, we have no tolerance for He who is Truth in the flesh: Jesus the Son of God. Why did so many of the Jews hate Him? Because He preached the truth. Why did the Pharisees seek to kill Him? Because He is the Truth. Why did He have to die? Because we don’t want the truth. Our blessed Lord, the Word Incarnate, stands before Pontius Pilate and tells him at the end of his life, as the crowd screams for His blood, “‘For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice.’ Pilate said to him, ‘What is truth?’”

The history of the world has been a consistent battle against truth. The demons fell from Heaven because they rejected the truth. Adam and Eve hid because the truth of their sin shamed them before God. Cain lied about killing Abel: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” he dares to say to God with blood on his hands. The Israelites built a false idol in the golden calf rather than wait and hear the truth come from God through Moses. David tried to deceive people when he took the wife of Uriah in adultery. Judas dares to lie to Truth Himself when he kisses Him as a sign of his betrayal.

There can be no rest for the few who seek truth and wish to possess it, or rather to be possessed by Him who is Truth. They are the little child crying out the truth against the conformists surrounding the emperors of this world. They cry out and are hushed, told to remain quiet, because they don’t actually understand how things work. If they persist, they are punished. Many of them have even been killed, the blood of martyrs who would not stop crying out the truths that the world does not want to hear.

What is this truth? It is summarized in one simple phrase: “Jesus is Lord”. If Jesus of Nazareth is truly the Son of God, then He is also the Lord who reigns above all, the true King of the Universe. If this is true, then all of the truths of the Catholic faith must be true, which means that so much of what the world professes is wrong and untrue. But too many do not wish to hear it. They profess themselves wise and knowledgeable about many things, yet are dumb themselves and unable to see the truth which is Jesus Christ. They will hate the truth and hate any who shout it out for others to hear.

This world is truly falling apart. The signs are there for people to see, who have eyes to see. Is this the end of all things? It’s possible, but it is at least the end of an age. This nation continues to fall headfirst into degeneracy and degradation. Nothing is sacred for the average American except themselves and their ego. But it is not restricted to the United States, nor is it limited to the West. Everywhere, the cracks grow in the modern structures and institutions. The time is coming when they shall finally break and all shall be washed away in the collapse. But before that day, they shall persecute those who cry out that the emperor has no clothes.

Dear brethren, the hour is at hand: the hour when Satan tries to claim victory over our Lord. There is no room for accommodation with the world. We cannot serve two masters, but must pick one. Shall you follow Christ in the way of truth or shall you follow the crowd who conforms with the world and its dark prince? We cannot be both Catholics and good members of society any more, but must be the voice of truth in an age of falsity. The end of the Temple which Christ prophesizes in today’s Gospel is not just the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, reduced now to only its foundations. It is the temple of the world, which must also fall and be destroyed before it can be reborn.

The prophecy of Malachi we hear in the first reading is a frightening one, but it shall come true: a day of fire and wrath that will envelope everything. For the wicked, for those who choose falsehood, that fire shall continue forever. But for the faithful, for those who fear the name of the Lord and seek He who is truth, that fire will turn into the sun, and they shall see the truth and rejoice in that truth forever. The choice is ours: shall we walk with the emperor of the age as he struts around pretending to be in control, or shall we be the little child who declares the truth behind all truths: “Jesus is Lord”? May we have the grace to make the true choice and to bear witness to the truth, even at the cost of our lives, hopeful in the words of the Lord: “By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” 

27th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C - Belief in Spite of All

It should be asked whether the invention of the Internet was actually a good thing. We could honestly ask that question of most media, as has been a constant complaint for millennia. The Greek philosopher Socrates, living almost 500 years before our Lord, complained that writing would cause people to stop using their memory. Yet the modern media, in particular the Internet and social media, does more than cause us to forget things, but exposes far more of our society to us. While television can be regulated or controlled by various authorities, the Internet is truly equal in that anyone can share anything. And what is shared concerning the state of affairs of our age is quite frightening.

Perhaps you have heard these things, but if you have not, they should give you pause. The consistent promotion of anti-Christian degenerate values such as sodomy, transgenderism, and the exaltation of the state above the family is consistently on display. We don’t even need to look far to see this happen. This past week, the Kentucky Department of Education issued a document on students who suffer from the mental disorder of transgenderism in favor of the student against their families. The department said that it is not always necessary to inform parents and guardians of any name changes or gender identification or sexual orientation. This is not from New York or California. This is in our state. It is here.

What is happening? What we are seeing is the complete dismantling of everything oriented to God: not just church or religion but even family and the identity of the human person as having both a body and a soul. Every aspect of society is being upended and turned towards the degradation of the human person from one created in the image and likeness of God into a unit only fit for whatever the elites or those in power think they should be. They have pushed God out of the public square, they continue to promote the slaughter of the innocent in abortion and contraception, they continue to unravel everything in the quest to tear down all that good Christians and those in pursuit of the true and the good and the beautiful have sought to build up and elevate over the course of human history.

Are we at the end? It is perhaps possible, though none of us knows the hour or the day. One could rightly argue we are seeing an end of an age, a time similar to the calamitous fall of Rome in the fifth century, signaling an immense transition into a period of further uncertainty, struggle, and woe. It is not getting better. They are striving to label you as fascists, as racists, as enemies of the state. They seek to steal your children and groom them into mindless consumers, only able to enjoy the sensual as the highest good. And it seems as if they are winning.

Yet, as Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ, we know that all this has happened before. We see it in the Passion of our Lord as He is mocked, jeered, derided, spat upon, and hated by the crowds. We see it in the indifference of Pontius Pilate, knowing this to be wrong yet desirous of pleasing the people so politics pushes on. We see it in the cruelness of the Jewish elders who scoff at the Messiah manifested before them. We see it above all in the agony of the Cross, where it seems even the Lord Himself suffers a feeling of the absence and alienation of God, crying out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned Me?”

We know the rest of the story. We know of the triumph of the risen Savior, victorious through His sufferings and death over all the enemies of God. We know that the tomb is empty, that the promise has been fulfilled, that we are not abandoned or lost forever. We know this, yet do we believe?

The disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith in today’s Gospel. The Apostles are very real men in the sense that they seem extremely weak in comparison to the Lord who towers over everyone whenever we read or hear the Gospels. The passage ahead of this says that the disciples struggled to dispel a demon from a possessed person. So it seems natural for them to ask for more faith in order to perform more works. Jesus rebukes them for asking for more faith, as if it is only magic. We do not need more faith for the performance of works, but we need to live the faith which we have received from God towards the works He calls us to do.

Faith is not a feeling, nor is it a mere intellectual apprehension of reality. Faith is our assent to the truth which comes from God. We believe because it is true but also because God has given us the grace to believe. The small mustard seed of faith has already been planted within us, through our baptism. We must let it grow through His grace and through our works. Hence our Savior tells us to label ourselves as unprofitable servants who did what they were called to do. The response to faith is works: the living out of the truth and reality that there is one God, that Jesus is Lord, that the Church is the only means of salvation, that we are called to more than the glitter of the world and the wiles of the devil but that we are called to eternal life.

We may cry out like the prophet Habakkuk in the first reading, wondering where God is in these dark times, where it seems that everything is turned to evil and all seems but lost. Yet God assures the prophet when He declares, “The rash one has no integrity; but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.” Our task is not to give in to the despair and nihilism that washes over all, but to remain steadfast in faith, steadfast in the Lord. We must do the task God has given us and not grow slack or weary. We will be hated, we will be mocked, we will suffer in one form or another, but if we remain the servants of God, we shall live.

Dear brethren, do not lose heart at the chaos of the world. Do not struggle even when it seems that the smoke of Satan seeps into the Church, when clergy willingly abandon the faith to accommodate the age rather than proclaim the Gospel. We are not called to an age of ease but to the labor of salvation. God still speaks to us, and we must not harden our hearts either by joining the world or by despairing over how quiet God seems. As the last king of Narnia said before entering his last battle, “We are all in the paws of the true Aslan.” God is still in control.

St. Paul, writing near the end of his life, writes to his beloved Timothy, “bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.” Let us be strengthened for the battles that lie ahead. Let us live out the faith of the mustard seed which God has planted within us, to stand up for God, for truth, for goodness, and for beauty. Let us oppose all who make themselves the enemies of God with the weapons of prayer and charity. Let us turn also to the help of blessed Mary and all the saints, asking their continued support as we fight the good fight. May we continue to have faith in God, in the entire Trinity, in the one Church of Christ, that we may bear our share of hardships so that we may be worthy of the rest and the joy that awaits in eternal life. 

Fourth Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday and Mother's Day 2022)

It is remarkable how much can change within a week. We should know this truth as Christians who have borne witness to the death and resurrection of the Lord, a truth which we still celebrate in this Easter season. Yet it can still be quite surprising to see this happen in real life. Standing up here last week, I did not imagine that I would return to this pulpit to declare that the mood against Christians has increased ten-fold within such a short span of time. And why has this happened? Why this increase in vitriol? You can probably guess, but it has to do with the leak from the Supreme Court over the potential of overturning Roe v Wade.

The amount of rage and anger that has exploded from liberals this week at the possibility that abortion will no longer be protected on a federal level has indeed been a marvel to behold. From politicians calling for impeachment of justices to the media types expressing anger at any barely to the right of them to numerous online people making threats and calling for riots and revolution, the anger has been beyond palpable. This last point about threats has been so great that many dioceses and parishes are on high alert due to threats of storming churches and protesting during Mass. It may feel like the situation we encounter in the first reading.

Paul and Barnabas are preaching  to both Jew and Gentile the Good News of Jesus, His resurrection, and His gift of salvation to all. Many received this news with joy and were converted, joining the Church in the way of Christ. But St. Luke writes how the disbelieving Jews worked up a persecution of Paul and Barnabas to get them expelled from the territory in which they worked. Yet the passage does not conclude with the disciples feeling bitter or angry, but overjoyed that they suffered for the name of Jesus. Why would they rejoice when people have risen up against them? They rejoice because they are the sheep of the flock of the Lamb who suffered the same anger and was killed because of it, yet rose from the dead in triumph against His enemies.

The way of the Christian is not one of ease and comfort, but one of struggle. Struggle against sin from within ourselves as well as from without. Struggle against the wiles of the devil who prowls about the world, seeking the ruin of souls. And struggle against a world that has always been against Christ and His Church. We should not be surprised that the rage of the world exists or that it increases; we should instead be surprised that we are still in an easy position to live our faith without earthly consequences.

There is no victory without struggle; there is no triumph without conflict; there is no winning without fighting. As much as it is true in every other realm, it is most true in the life of the Christian. We will be hated for saying that there is only one God, that Jesus is the Word incarnate who died and rose from the dead, and that there is one Church filled with the Holy Spirit through which we receive salvation. We will be mocked for rejecting the ways of the world which pursue lust, greed, and hatred in rejecting God in the multitude of manners we see today. We will be pressured to conform, to join in with the flock of Satan who gleefully give in to every form of sin so that they may be satiated here without knowing the consequences that will come when they plummet into eternal damnation.

Yet the Good Shepherd calls to us: the few who listen, the few who have the opportunity to hear, the few who have hearts open to hearing. While it is true that the Good News is meant for all, we know that so many reject it each day in favor of following the wicked pastors of this age. This is why we hear Jesus pray over the chalice, declaring it to be the Precious Blood spilled out “for many” instead of “for all”. Not all will conclude their lives being sheep in the one flock of the Redeemer, but will remain outside forever when the Shepherd returns to gather His flock for the last time.

This is the vision which St. John beholds in the second reading: the great multitude who are clothed in white and wave palm branches in honor of the true King of the universe. They have survived the “time of great distress” which is every age of persecution and wickedness brought upon faithful souls. Purified by the blood of the Lamb, they have entered into everlasting glory to be freed of sorrow-hence why the elder says that “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” This could only happen because they were the faithful sheep of the Good Shepherd, because they heard His voice and followed Him no matter the difficulties, because no one can take them from His hand.

But we should not act as if we have already obtained this victory in union with Christ. We are still here below, surrounded by enemies who hate us, who wish to corrupt us and our children, who even desire our deaths if it satisfies their lust for sin. We must be strengthened by the grace of eternal life given us by our Good Shepherd to fight for Him and win the victory over sin, over Satan, over all His enemies and ours. There can be no compromise for we are all ultimately sheep, sheep who need a pastor. Either we shall follow the Good Shepherd who leads us to eternal life, or we shall obey the wicked pastors who draw us away from God and plunge us into eternal perdition.

Brethren, heed the voice of the Good Shepherd calling you to follow Him. Do not be afraid to bear witness to your fellowship in the flock of Christ to all you meet, even to those who reject and despise Him. Pray for the grace to remain united with Him in times of trouble or tribulation, and be close to Him in the sacraments He gives us through His one Church. If you want an example of how to do so, look no further than she whom we crown this Sunday in our parish: the blessed Virgin Mary.

I call upon her in particular for the women of our parish, especially the young women who are still growing up. Do not look to the ways of the world, which tries to subvert femininity to make women to be nothing more than pleasure seekers and birthing objects. Look to Mary to find the true model of femininity and discipleship: not rejecting of life, but open to the God who is life and desires life for us. She is the most faithful follower of the Good Shepherd and we should learn by her example. May the holy Mother of God pray for all of us to be true sheep who belong to the Good Shepherd in this life of tribulation and distress so that, with the Shepherd who is also the Lamb victorious over all, we may remain in the flock which shall not perish but shall rejoice for ever. 

Preoccupations - Second Sunday of Lent C

What are you concerned about? What worries or occupies your mind? What causes fretting and preoccupation over your actions? There are numerous things happening which can weigh upon our minds. They can be the world events such as the war in the Ukraine or the pandemic; they can be closer to home such as concern over the weather or what our elected officials are doing wrong; they can be even closer, with anxiety over how we shall pay for things as prices continue to increase and our wages remain stagnant or perhaps even decrease. There is so much to weigh our minds and our hearts down in this age.

We may also feel the weight of the season upon us as well. We have finished one entire week of Lent. How many are still doing their fasting? How many have kept up with or increased their prayers? How many have indeed given alms of some sort? How many of us have struggled to do what we resolved to do? We may feel weary of our Lenten penances and sacrifices, already eager for Easter to come and things to return to normal. Yet we still have so many weeks of Lent remaining.

How might this compare to our earthly worries? We seem to labor tirelessly for the minimal things we and our families need to get by or to try to live better. Even if we have some saved up, we know in the back of our minds that everything could be turned upside down. We saw that two years ago when we panicked and locked ourselves in our homes for the supposed benefit of “flattening the curve”. How much things have changed and for the worse for so many people since then. How they continue to get worse for so many around the world; not just in the Ukraine or in Africa or in Asia, but even here at home.

With all of that in mind: how do we persevere? How do we overcome all this worry and do what we need to do? How can we sacrifice and give and work until the end? So many people just give up and do the minimum needed to get by. The anxiety is too much and they give in to despair or hedonism: despair in thinking they’ll never be able to do enough, or hedonism in thinking that the only thing to work for is to be satisfied here and now. Despair seems to grip so many young people, while hedonism grips so many of every age. They are satiated with what they get even if it isn’t much.

Holy Mother Church, in her perennial wisdom, seeks to motivate us not only to persevere in our Lenten sacrifices, but to persevere in our earthly life. After entering into the desert with Jesus last week, we hear a different sort of Gospel today in the account of the Transfiguration. We see the full divine glory of God the Son radiating through Jesus on the mountaintop. We should note that this happens not in the midst of the crowds and noise of the valley and flatlands, but above it all, removed from everything by ascending the mountain. Only when we rise above the clamor of the crowds can we begin to see Jesus for who He really is.

Why do we hear this Gospel on this Sunday? Why is it read every second Sunday of Lent? Our loving mother the Church has us hear this Gospel to spur us on towards that which we are meant to pursue wholeheartedly: eternal life and eternal glory shared with God. Why did God create you? God created you not to be miserable but to join Him in the glory of His goodness and joy. But we can be too clouded over by the preoccupations of this world, or the anxieties that come with those preoccupations. Jesus takes His closest disciples, and reveals Himself, so that they may be ready for what is to come.

Tradition tells us that the event of the Transfiguration of Jesus which we hear today occurred forty days before His passion, crucifixion, and death. Many of the ancient commentators saw in this revealed glory and majesty a strengthening of the apostles for what Jesus would endure so very soon. They might lose hope if they do not know that God is with them, that He will suffer with them, and that He will triumph for them. This glory is not just a revelation but a reminder of what awaits those who walk with the Lord in sharing the Cross with Him. The Transfiguration holds the greatest prize before us: to receive a share in that divine and eternal glory if we walk up to Calvary with Christ.

But how are we to make this journey? How are we to walk with Jesus in this life to share His glory in the next life? Saint Paul directs us how to do this: imitation of the saints. The holy apostle calls his readers to follow his own example of holiness given not only in his letters but when he was present to them in his journeys across the ancient world. He calls us to avoid being “enemies of the cross of Christ” in focusing ourselves too much on the pleasures of this age or the anxieties of this world. There is no salvation without suffering: suffering not just in the person of the Lamb of God who takes away our sins, but our own suffering as well. We either pursue comfort in this life or delay it for the life to come.

Why must we suffer? We suffer because of sin, and we suffer to overcome sin. In an age of comfort and pleasure, we must be reminded that our true happiness cannot be found in this life. The hedonistic soul which seeks only its own pleasure will always fret about looking for more pleasure or working to maintain the pleasure it has. But the soul who loves God and desires to share the glory of Christ accepts whatever comes, whether pleasurable or painful. We even willingly renounce some of those temporary goods in pursuit of the good which shall persist forever. This is how we “stand firm in the Lord”, in imitation of all the saints throughout the ages who toiled and suffered in union with the Lord.

There is no class division in the Church: there are not holy people and then those below them. There are either those pursuing Jesus or those who are His enemies, even if they are in our ranks, even if they occupy the most sacred offices. “Our citizenship is in heaven”, Saint Paul affirms, and if we wish to remain citizens, then we must be united to our King who calls us to fight, to pray, to suffer, all for His glory and ours as well.

Brethren, let us marvel at the God who dwells among us and joins us in our suffering. Let us not preoccupy our minds with the anxieties of the age but place our trust in Him and carry our crosses with Him. Let us continue our Lenten penances-our prayer, our fasting, our almsgiving-so that we may fight the good fight and imitate the saints who imitate Jesus. Let us open ourselves to His healing grace so that He may conform us to His glorified body, which has already won the victory for us and calls us to fight for our share. Let us not be enemies of the Lord by despairing of God or giving up for pleasure, but believing, hoping, and loving the God whose glory is not lost even in suffering and death. May we receive the grace to stand firm in the Lord in all times, especially in the difficult days that are to come, so that we may receive the full citizenship that awaits the faithful, the saints who persevere unto eternal life. 

The Desert - First Sunday of Lent C

Once more we enter into the desert of Lent. Once more we begin these forty days. Holy Mother Church, in her perennial wisdom and tradition, has us hear the Gospel passage of Jesus journeying in the desert before His public ministry. This is meant to be a reminder of the reality of this sacred season even if we did not assist at the liturgy of Ash Wednesday. We are walking with Jesus in the desert.

What is the desert? It is an inhospitable place to live. There is no water or so little as to support regular plants and trees. It is barren, extremely hot, and extremely lonely. The desert is an assault on our bodies; unless we take precautions against the heat and the sun and the lack of water, we will die. Not only that, but one can be tempted to think there is water there due to the mirages which make it seem like water is just over the next sand dune or hill. It is a harsh place to be.

Why does Jesus enter the desert? Why spend so long in a place so inhospitable? We should see this as Jesus entering into our weakness. We celebrated the Incarnation of the divine Word on Christmas, when God the Son joined us in receiving flesh and becoming man along with us. But we might be tempted to think that Jesus knows nothing of our struggles or weaknesses since He is still divine while becoming a man. Hence, His journey in the desert shows that He is truly compassionate with us in our frailty.

Not only that, but we ought to see in this time in the desert as an analogy for our lives in this world. For the desert is a metaphor for the sinful world in which we live. The world is an inhospitable place for a Christian to live. The temptations which surround us and even exist within us can leave us feeling spiritually parched. We can be tempted by the mirages of pleasure and comfort around us to think that we are satisfied, when our souls are thirsting for the living God who alone can satisfy us. We are in a spiritual desert, and we must not forget how Jesus walks through the real desert as we daily walk through our own deserts.

At the end of the forty days, Jesus is tempted by the devil. The Lord receives three temptations that summarize every type of temptation we receive in our lives. The first and most basic is the temptation of satisfying the flesh. Jesus is hungry, and the devil calls Him to make bread from the stones. We should note that the rebukes of Jesus are not some divine power exercised through His humanity, but His recollection of what God has revealed in the Scriptures to believe and live out. Jesus thus recalls the word of God that says, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from God.”

The devil then shows the Lord all the kingdoms of the world and tempts Jesus to adore the devil in exchange for those kingdoms. How easily we can form false idols in this world in the place of the true and living God who rules above all and in all. Whether it is the false idols of the false religions which have obscured the Gospel, or things of this world, or the ideas which run counter to the revelation of God, we can all too easily give in to devising a god we want to worship instead of the true God who calls us to something greater and better. Jesus rebukes the devil with the simple words of Scripture: “You shall worship the Lord, your God, and Him alone shall you serve.”

The last temptation Jesus receives is for the devil to take Him to the highest point in Jerusalem-the parapet or very top of the temple-and tempt Him to make a fantastical display of His divinity by throwing Himself off the temple and being caught by the angels. This gets to the root of our sinfulness, which is pride. We think we know better. We think we can do better than God. We work and toil at doing what we want to do instead of exercising humility. But Jesus rebukes this last temptation with the simple command of the Scriptures, “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” With the trials of temptation finished, the devil departs for a time.

We may be tempted to say that it is easy for Jesus to overcome all these temptations. However, we should recall how it is He achieves victory: not in great displays of power and authority, but simple recollection of the word of God and living it out simply. It is not impossible for us to do any of this. The witness of the saints throughout the ages show us it can be done as well. All that holds us back is our pride, our arrogance, our unwillingness to hear the Word before us and live it out. Do you want to be saved? Then you must confess with your mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe that He is risen from the dead in your whole heart, as Saint Paul commands in the letter to the Romans. This is not merely an external act, but the result of a full interior conversion from sin and temptation. Unless you do this, you will not be saved, and you will perish forever.

Brethren, let us willingly enter the desert with the Lord in beginning this Lent. Let us ponder our weakness and our frailty, and call out to the God who is with us in our times of trouble. Let us beseech Jesus for every grace we need to be able to overcome temptation in our spiritual journey so that we may survive the spiritual desert of our lives. Let us not forget that we too are on a journey while we are alive, that we will not remain here forever, but that we shall return to dust all too soon and be accountable for all our actions. Let us not tremble in the face of the devil and his hellish legions seeking our ruin, but exercise simple trust in the Lord who walks with us in our desert journey and shows us the way to overcome all enemies, so that we may fight well with Him and be worthy of the endless victory banquet which He prepares for all of His faithful soldiers. 

Lenten Practices III - Fasting & Abstinence (8th Sunday per annum/Quinquagesima Sunday)

Before the industrialization of education, the main means of learning was by finding a master who would teach you. Most masters or teachers in history did not have massive classes with multiple subjects but had a core group whom they instructed in those subjects they knew by heart: whether martial arts or philosophy or religion. The student would spend years with the teacher, going through the various exercises and rigors necessary, until he was acknowledged as an equal by the master. This is not just something that happened long ago with the knights or the samurai or whatever group you may think of; it still happens and must happen now for all who follow Christ the divine Master.

We must not regard Jesus as some historical figure who has some wisdom to hand down to us through the ages. Rather, Jesus is the divine Master really alive and still teaching us how to live our lives, and what our priority should be. Jesus teaches us not merely by His words but by the supreme example He gives in His earthly life, demonstrating His teachings so that we can follow and be equal to Him. He is the good tree which produces much fruit, and we must be grafted on to Him if we are to be good as well.

What is the greatest example which our Master or our Teacher gives to us? He shows us how and why to suffer. If the latest news about the war in the Ukraine should awaken us to anything, it is that suffering is not so far away from us who live in the comforts of the modern world. If anything, we are increasing that suffering or switching it from the merely physical to the psychological or spiritual, which can have a far deeper impact and hurt worse than anything physical. God the Son opens Himself up to this suffering by taking on our flesh, by becoming Jesus, by joining us in this valley of tears. He teaches us that we must suffer well if we are to share in His victory over sin, over Satan, and over death. Only through suffering may we become capable of bearing good fruit.

But how can we suffer well? We do it first by embracing the sufferings that come our way in our daily lives. We do not have to go far to experience this, even if we may not be suffering physically like so many in the war-torn or impoverished places of the world. We will suffer because we are hated by people who hate Christ or His Church; we will suffer from the sins of others; we will suffer even from our own sins. It is in the acceptance of these sufferings that we will begin to see the beam removed from our eye so that we may begin to be capable of pulling the splinter from our brother’s eye.

Yet we must follow the divine Master’s example by not only accepting the sufferings that come to us just as the Cross came to Him. We must also embrace some sufferings of our own. We will hear in next week’s Gospel the account of the journey of Jesus in the desert for 40 days and nights. In that time, He willingly fasted and prayed. Not only that, but Jesus often accepted additional fasts or times of prayer and penance. How can we say we are above the Master when He willingly fasted so much or prayed so often and we do not do the same?

Our age is an age of comfort and luxury, far more than any other age before it. Our country has one of the highest rates of obesity and sickness from obesity in the entire world, and it does not affect merely the rich. Even with the sharp rates of inflation in the past few months, we can still find food all too easily and cheaply. If there is great danger of damaging our bodies from all this excess, is it not so surprising that our souls would be just as damaged in our gluttony? When our stomachs are too full, our hearts are too congested to rise up to God in prayer and thanksgiving.

This is why the Church calls us to fast in the holy season of Lent. Beginning with our mandatory fast and abstinence this Wednesday, we are meant to join ourselves in voluntary suffering with Christ in order to follow the teachings and example of our good Master. We are required as Catholics to fast from food on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, along with abstaining from meat on every Friday of Lent. This is the minimum we are mandated to do, but we should willing do more than that. If Jesus gave everything on the Cross for us, then we can give up some more food beyond those two days. If the Master suffered so much in being scourged and whipped and cursed at and crucified, then we too can suffer in giving up meat on more days than Fridays.

“From the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks,” says the Lord. He also says, “By their fruits, you will know them.” Shall we embrace the path of the Master and accept the sufferings of Lent in union with Him, or shall we grumble that we must do so little? Shall we open our hearts to be transformed not just by fasting but also prayer and almsgiving so as to become the good trees producing good fruit, or shall we remain the rotten tree that remains fruitless and only worth being thrown into the fire? May the divine Master help us to remove the beam of sin from our eyes so that we may see and follow His holy example, not just through this Lent, but through the Lent of life, so that we may be worthy of joining Him in that eternal Easter where suffering shall be no more, and where we shall celebrate the victory of Christ over death, knowing that our labor here below was not in vain.

BONUS: BULLETIN ARTICLE

FROM THE PASTOR – FASTING & ABSTINENCE

   This coming week sees the start of Lent with Ash Wednesday. “Again we keep this solemn fast,” as the famous hymn begins. We begin this solemn season with the usual fasting and abstinence (see the table below). Yet this is not the only way that we can fast or abstain in this penitential time. Here are some other ideas to help you more properly observe this season.

· ADDITIONAL DAYS—Besides the mandated days of fasting and abstinence (see below), we ought to willing practice these acts on other days. The traditional days of penance are Wednesdays and Fridays. We could do more fasting on those days or more abstinence.

· SWEETS—While this has been the classic example done by children, we can and should seriously abstain from sweets in Lent. The intentional self-denial of that which is pleasing to us reminds us that our true sweetness and joy are found in God and not in the things of this life. Not only ought we to give up sweets, but we should even be willing to take on some more bitter or less pleasing foods, or not use as many spices or condiments to make something tasteful to our tongue.

· ENTERTAINMENT—We should abstain from the multitude of media which entertains us, and give that time instead to growing closer to God. Instead of the TV or the computer or the devices, spend that time in prayer or sacred reading, or go out and do some act of almsgiving.

· MATERIAL GOODS—This is the time of year for spring cleaning. We should clean out our closets not merely with the mindset of what haven’t I worn or used in a while, but whether I can get along without this thing. Let’s be honest: most of us have more than we need, and we can afford to give to others.

   This is the time to grow in God and to become holy. Let us take up the practices of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting to increase in the Lord. Let us not merely complete the minimum but strive to become all we can be, so that our earthly Lent may prepare us for the eternal Easter.

  

Lenten Practices II - Almsgiving (7th Sunday per annum/Sexagesima Sunday)

The complete message of the Gospel is founded on one primary principle: the principle of love. Everything proceeds from this love because God is love. The teachings of Jesus can be reduced to love, and we see that in the two great commandments He gives us: love of God and love of neighbor. But how do we love? Jesus teaches us this in today’s Gospel passage by reminding us that we are to love everyone.

It is very easy for us to love those around us who please us. But we are not only called to love them, but to love all of our neighbors. Jesus begins His instructions by commanding love of enemies. Yes, we must love our enemies. We must not hold ourselves back from loving just because they do not please us or we do not like them. To love is not the same thing as to like: to love is an action which must come from our whole being. How can we love our enemies? We do it just as God does, for God loves all of His enemies, all of those who go against His will; in other words, God loves all of us.

The great sign of the love of God is the sign of the Cross. Jesus gives everything He has for love of us even as we demand He be crucified and reject Him to embrace sin. But His love is so immense as to destroy the earthly man of sin and recreate us to love as we were meant to love. We must grow in the practice of this love especially in the upcoming season of Lent. Lent is the sacred time dedicated to acknowledging our sins and growing in God, and we must grow in love as well. We grow in the practice of love through the Lenten practice of almsgiving.

To give alms is not to give and expect repayment or to give and receive a favor in return; to give alms is to give without any consideration for a return except perhaps the eternal reward God desires for us. We are called to share ourselves with our neighbor not just in thoughts or words but in real actions. We not only give to the Church or to the poor, we also give to our enemies. We not only give cash but we give our sweat and blood and tears. We not only give what we have but even go beyond that to give when it hurts. This is the real demonstration of love, because love is not easy.

As we prepare for the holy season of Lent, each one of us must ask: How do I love as Jesus commands me to love? How do I love God more? Do I actually love my neighbor, whoever he may be? All of us are meant to be witnesses of God’s love to the world, to a world that increases in hatred and division and animosity. We cannot wait for someone else to do it; we must be the hands of God that give and show His love to all. If we only love when it is easy, why should we expect anything from the Lord who loved us unto death?

Let us pray, brethren, for an increase in love within us. Let us pray to see Christ in our neighbor and to love Him in them. Let us grow in love during Lent so that we may be the true children of the Father who is compassionate and merciful towards all. Let us draw others to God by our acts of love so that they may also be transformed from earthly children of sin to spiritual sons of God. Let us love in the example of love we see from Christ on the Cross, so that we may be able to enter into the fullness of love that awaits the true lovers of God in eternal life.

BONUS: BULLETIN ARTICLE

FROM THE PASTOR—PRACTICING ALMSGIVING 

   Continuing our preparation for Lent, we see how it is we ought to practice almsgiving. It is one thing to talk about giving of ourselves, but another to know how it is we can do it. What first comes to mind is, “Where can I give my money?” Yet we should remember that we can and must give more than cash in giving alms. The worn-out phrase “time, talent, and treasure” does have an echo of truth within it. Here are some ways we can offer alms not just in Lent but throughout the entire year.

· OUR PARISH—Charity begins at home. The only way any parish church stays open is by the charity of the people who live there and come to its help. The numerous ways that you all have helped out throughout the years are greatly appreciated, as will be your continued help in whatever way you can give.

· ST. VINCENT DE PAUL—The Society of St. Vincent de Paul works to help the poor and unfortunate who are in need not merely around the world, but in our own back yard. Our parish helps the Saint Cecilia chapter, but we can help the entire diocesan conference in its work of sharing the love of Christ to all. You can see what opportunities are available at svdpnky.org or calling (859)341-1212.

· CATHOLIC CHARITIES—The diocese operates a chapter of Catholic Charities which is involved in a variety of works: from homeless outreach (including Parish Kitchen which offers meals) to child & family services to housing services. See how you can help on their website at covingtoncharities.org or call (859)581-8974

· AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED—We should not only help out in our local area but also as much as we can around the world. The organization Aid to the Church in Need provides a means of supporting various projects throughout the world: from giving Mass stipends to foreign priests as their primary source of income to funding a variety of projects for religious orders or dioceses in need. You can see for yourself what they do and how you can help at churchinneed.org.

   Above all, we must not forget the neighbor before us. Do we pray for those who we meet? Are we willing to give when someone asks, even if they seem sketchy? Do I foster charity in all my actions? The ultimate purpose of almsgiving is not self-promotion or self-aggrandizement, but for the increase in charity within us. Let us pray about how we can give of ourselves just as Christ gave Himself completely on the Cross for our salvation, then let us give without counting the cost, hopeful that our reward will be great in eternal life.