Homily for Sunday September 30, 2012 (26th Sunday B)

May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.

Today we bring to conclusion our encounter with the Letter of James.  For five weeks we have heard the counsel of this servant of the Lord Jesus and shepherd of the flock of the early church.  We have been challenged to be transformed by our worship of God, authentically living the Amen we speak in the Church.  James has invited us to live in a spirit of reverence.  Three weeks ago we were encouraged to reject the distinctions of earth, especially between the poor and the rich, when we gather to participate in the banquet of heaven.  James has invited us to live with a spirit of welcome.  Two weeks ago we pondered the relationship between the faith we profess with our lips and the works of faith we accomplish with our hands.  James, again, has invited us to live in a spirit of integrity.  Last week, brothers and sisters, we were invited to examine our motives and our goals.  We were challenged to make union with Christ the ultimate goal of our lives.  James has invited us to live in a spirit of single minded devotion.  Today, as we hear the final counsel of the letter of James, we are invited to live in a spirit of justice and generosity.

“Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries.  Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying aloud; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.”  It would seem, brothers and sisters, that the warning of the letter of James only applies to those who are rich in the goods of the world.  It would seem that only those who have mistreated their workers need to be concerned about the judgment of God.  It would seem that this final counsel of the Letter of James would not apply to us.

And yet, whenever the Sacred Scriptures are proclaimed in the Sacred Liturgy, God is speaking to his people.  Whether or not we possess an abundance of the riches of earth, God is speaking to us, this day, through the passage.  The charge that James levels against the materially rich of his community is that they have kept for themselves that which rightly belongs to another.  They withheld wages that had been earned for work that had been accomplished.  They failed to give to another that which was owed to them.  They had failed to live in a spirit of justice.

To live in a spirit of justice is to give to others that which is owed to them.  We live in a spirit of justice when we fulfill the obligations that we have toward others.  We fail to live in a spirit of justice when we keep as our own possession those gifts and graces that God has entrusted to our care.  That means, dear brothers and sisters, that the spiritual gifts that were entrusted to each of us in the Sacrament of Baptism and stirred up in the Sacrament of Confirmation, have been entrusted to us for the building up of the community of faith.  Each of us is a steward of the gifts of God, and the people of God have a right to benefit from that which God has entrusted to our care.

So it is dear brothers and sisters, that God who is the author of all time, has a claim on our time.  We owe to God our worship for he is worthy of our praise.  We owe to his Church a share of our resources, both of our time and of our goods.  We owe to our society a consistent and convincing witness to the sanctity of life and dignity of the family.  We owe to each other the prayers of intercession, the counsel of the Gospel, and the compassion of the heart of Christ.

For these past few weeks, the letter of James has called us to a deeper understanding of the meaning of Christian discipleship.  We have asked the Lord to transform our voices, our minds, our hearts, our motives, and the conduct of our lives.  As we celebrate this Eucharist today, let us ask for the grace to live in a spirit of justice toward God and toward our brothers and sisters.  Let us seek to place the gifts entrusted to our care at the service of the whole community of faith.  And let us ask for the strength of the Holy Spirit to live our lives as witnesses to the gospel of Jesus Christ.    

Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC

Homily for Sunday, September 23, 2012 (25th Sunday B)

May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.

Today we are continuing our journey through the Letter of James.  This is our fourth Sunday reading through this letter from Sacred Scripture.  Three weeks ago we heard the proclamation of the goodness and love of God who has loved us and has called us to be the first fruits of all creation.  Precious in the sight of the Lord, we asked for the Lord to transform our voices so that we could live fully the Amen that we proclaim when we gather for worship.  Two weeks ago we heard the challenging words that called us to reject the distinctions of earth, especially between the rich and the poor, when we are gathered to celebrate the banquet of heaven.  We asked the Lord to transform our eyes so that we could recognize the face of Christ in the faces of our brothers and sisters.  Last week we meditated upon the connection between the faith we profess with our lips and the works of faith we accomplish with our hands.  We asked the Lord to transform our lives so that we could be recognized as companions of the Lord Jesus.  Today, in both the Letter of James and our reading from the Gospel, we are challenged to examine our motives and our goals.  In these past weeks we have begged to have the eyes of Christ so that we could be the hands of Christ.  Today we ask to put on the mind of Christ and ask that our hearts may be configured to the heart of Christ.

“Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.”  This counsel from the Letter of James is not a call to change our external behavior.  Each week we have responded to that call.  This counsel from the Letter of James invites us to an interior transformation.  Claiming as our own the dignity of our baptismal vocation as the first fruits of creation, as a pleasing and acceptable sacrifice to the Father in Christ Jesus, today we invite the Lord to take possession of the minds and the hearts that we have lifted up to Him.  We ask to be filled with the wisdom from above that is pure, peaceable, gentle, full of mercy and good fruits, that is constant and sincere.  We ask for a mind and a heart that is focused on Christ alone.  We ask to live as children in the household of God.

To live as children in the household of God is the message of the Gospel today.  The disciples, having briefly taken their eyes off of Christ, began to focus on their status on behalf of Christ rather than on their relationship with Christ.  Worldly ambition and status, disconnected from humble service and childlike trust, are poisons to the disciples of Jesus Christ.  They harm us from within.  It is true, brothers and sisters, that we have a responsibility to perform our work well.  We have a responsibility to grow in Christ, with the grace of Christ, into those persons that we were created to be.  The counsel of the Letter of James and the command of the Lord Jesus invite us to purify our motives.  We are called today to examine the goal toward which we focus our lives.

For the life of the Christian, there can be only one goal.  There can only be one focus in which all other activities are included.  Christ Jesus calls us to single minded devotion with an undivided heart.  For the life of the Christian, the only goal, the ultimate goal, is union with Christ.  

As we have asked the Lord to transform our voices, eyes, and actions, so today we ask the Lord to transform our minds and our motives.  We ask in this Eucharist for the grace of single minded devotion so that we may keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.  We ask for the grace of childlike trust as we live in the household of God.  And we ask for the grace to seek as the ultimate goal of our lives true and eternal union with Christ Jesus.

Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC

Homily for Sunday, September 16, 2012 (24th Sunday B)

May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.

This Sunday we are continuing our encounter with the Letter of James.  Two weeks ago we reflected on the goodness of God and the virtue of humility.  We meditated upon the consequences of our worship and our desire to fully live the Amen that we proclaim in the Church.  Two weeks ago we asked the Lord to transform our voices.  Last Sunday James invited us to reflect on our conduct when we gather for worship as the assembly of the baptized.  We heard the counsel of James not to allow the distinctions of earth to enter into our participation in the banquet of heaven.  We asked the Lord to transform our eyes so that we could look upon the face of Jesus Christ when we encounter our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.  Today, we ask the Lord to transform our lives so that we can be recognized as companions of Jesus.

In our brief reading from the Letter of James we hear about the relationship between faith and works.  James asks the question, “What good is it if someone has faith but does not have works?  Can that faith save him?”  James continues, declaring that “faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”  We are again reminded, as we have been each week in the Letter of James, that we have a responsibility to care for the poor, because we are disciples of the Christ who was born in a manger.  Now we know, dear brothers and sisters, that work of salvation has been accomplished by Jesus Christ, and that he has invited us to cooperate with him in the redemption of the world.  Therefore as believers in the Good News and followers of the one who was crucified and now lives forever, we know that faith and works are not opposed to each other.  What the Letter of James cautions against is the thought that faith is simply the response of our minds to a set of propositions.  The Letter of James rejects the belief that faith is the acceptance of an idea.  Faith, for James, for Paul, for you and for me, is not the acceptance of an idea.  In faith, we embrace a person.  In faith, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we profess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  

And dear brothers and sisters, the faith that we profess, just like the worship in which we participate, has consequences.  There are consequences in our lives to the faith that we profess.  So if we are to claim that Jesus Christ is Lord in the Church, then we must proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord in the world.  And if Jesus Christ is Lord of the Church and of the world and of each of our lives, then we must proclaim that he is Lord of every aspect of our lives.  That means that Jesus is Lord of my priesthood and every part of it.  It means that Jesus is Lord of your marriage, and Lord of your family life.  It means that Jesus Christ is Lord when you go to work and Lord when you seek to rest.  It means that Jesus Christ is Lord of every conversation and Lord of every activity.  And it means that Jesus Christ is Lord even when we go to cast our vote.  That is the consequence of our faith because our faith is living and active.  We do not profess an idea.  We profess and we proclaim a person, and He is living and active.

As we celebrate this Eucharist today, we ask for the grace to recognize the consequences of our faith.  We seek with the humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to receive the Lord Jesus as Lord and Redeemer of every aspect of our lives.  And we ask for the grace that by the faith we profess and the witness of our lives, we may be recognized as companions of the Lord Jesus.

Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC

Perpetual Novena for Healing at Our Lady of Lourdes

Today in the Gospel the Lord Jesus performs a miracle of healing.  This miracle of healing is accomplished by the Lord Jesus after the people presented to him one who was in need of miracle of healing.

I want to make you aware that in the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes we will begin a special devotion of prayer in order to present to the Lord those in need of healing.  Having consulted the staff, the deacons, the parish council and the Friday morning Mass crowd, I am announcing that we will begin a Perpetual Novena for Healing this Friday, September 14^th, after the 830 Mass.  This Novena for Healing will be prayed every Friday of the year, with the exception of Good Friday.

 In this perpetual novena, we will seek the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes for those in need of physical healing.  Lourdes has always been known as a place for physical healing.  We will seek the intercession of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who is the patron saint of those who suffer from addictions.  Under his patronage we will pray for all who are suffering from addictions of various kinds.   We will seek the intercession of St. Dymphna, without whose intercession I doubt that I would be a priest.  St. Dymphna is the patroness of those who suffer from depression, mental illness, neurological disorders, and Alzheimer’s disease.  We will entrust to her intercession all those who suffer from these diseases.

I have placed images of St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Dymphna along with our statue of Our Lady of Lourdes on a small shrine in our Chapel.  The chapel will be open for the hours of the day when the office is open (8am-4pm).  Petitions to be included in the novena can be brought to the office or mailed to:

Novena for Healing

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church

725 Deese Street

Monroe, NC 28112

We have also created an email address:

NovenaforHealing@ollmonroe.org

where petitions can be sent as well.

All petitions will be placed in the shrine for the praying of the novena. 

I hope that you will join in this prayer, either by joining us after Mass each Friday or joining us in prayer, as we present to the Lord those who are in need of a miracle of healing. 

Homily for Sunday September 9, 2012 (23rd Sunday B)

May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.

Last Sunday we began reading through the letter of Saint James in our second reading.  We heard about the gifts of God that we have received and we heard about the gift of God that each of us is called to be.  We reflected on the virtue of humility.  We begged the Lord for grace to live in the midst of the world, the Amen that we speak in the Church.  Last week the Letter of James counseled us about the consequences of our worship as we are sent out to proclaim the good news of the redemption of the world.  Today in the Letter of James, we hear the counsel of this early follower of the Lord and pastor of the early Church regarding how we are to conduct ourselves when we gather to worship.

“Show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.”  James instructs the early Christians and he speaks down through the ages to you and to me, that when the Church gathers for worship, we are to leave behind the distinctions of earth so as to enter the banquet of heaven.  James reminds us that we are not to show distinctions between the rich and the poor.  When we gather as the assembly of the baptized, as the first fruits of all creation, whatever distinctions exist among us are at the service of the communion of the Church.  The roles of service, as St Paul refers to them, are given and appointed for the building up of the faithful.  Those who exercise the roles of service were called from among the baptized, set apart by the will of Christ through the prayer of the Church, and then sent to live as living sacrifices for the care of his people and for the greater glory of God.  What that means, brothers and sisters, is that all ministry and service in the Church is rooted in the Sacrament of Baptism.  The white garment that the clergy wear is a symbolic reminder of the white garment given in baptism.  Every office and ministry builds upon the baptismal dignity.  I am able to be your father in God only because I am first a child of God.  The stole that I wear around my neck symbolizes the yoke of Christ and the authority to preach the word, to offer sacrifice, and to shepherd the flock.  The chasuble, which is the outer garment of the priest, signifies the charity of Christ which covers all things.  Notice, dear brothers and sisters, that the symbol of authority is covered by the symbol of charity.  What that means is that all authority, while necessary, is always subject to love.  The life and the authority of the shepherd are always subject to the love of Christ.  So too, the life of the Christian is always subject to the law of love.  

When we gather as the people of God, we are particularly subject to the law of love.  We are invited to leave behind us all that may divide us.  We are called to lift up our hearts in union with Christ Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit to praise the glory of the Father.   We are called, in fact brothers and sisters we are bound, to welcome all persons as an expression of the compassionate and merciful love of God.  We are called to see, in face of every baptized child of God, an image of the face of Jesus Christ.  Last week we asked the Lord to transform our voices so that we could speak our sacred Amen in spirit and in truth.  This week we ask the Lord to transform our eyes so that we can recognize Him in each other.  We ask to see with the eyes of Christ so that we can love with the heart of Christ.

As we celebrate this Eucharist today, we ask for the grace to welcome each person to our worship as we wish to welcome Christ into our hearts.  We pray today that Christ the Lord would raise up from among his flock more shepherds after his own heart.  And we ask the Lord to transform our eyes so that we can see Him face to face.   

Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC

Homily for Sunday September 2, 2012 (22nd Sunday B)

May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.

In the organization of the readings for the celebration of Mass, the Gospels are organized in a three year cycle.  The readings from the Old Testament are chosen because of their connection to the Gospel.  In the second reading, however, we read almost continuously each Sunday through one of the letters of the New Testament.  In the second reading we encounter the many letters of the apostle Paul, the three letters of John, the letter to the Hebrews, the letter of Jude, and today, we begin to hear from the letter of James.  For the next month, each Sunday we will hear the counsel of James, the servant and slave of the Lord Jesus Christ, given to the early Church.  For the next month, each Sunday we will hear the counsel of James, our elder brother in the faith, now radiant in the glory of the kingdom of heaven, given to you and to me.

In the letter of James, we hear the proclamation that “all good giving and every perfect gift is from above.”  We hear that the source of all gifts is the Father of lights and that he has “willed to give us birth by the word of truth so that we may be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.”  In this opening passage of the letter of James we are told of the identity of our God who has desired to share his very life with us.  We have been created as a gift of the love of the Father, and he has called us and equipped us to be received as the first fruits of his creation.  Revealed to us in the language of worship, the Father has created us to be a gift for himself.  That, my brothers and sisters, is who we are, and who we are called to be.  God has made us to be, in Christ Jesus, the acceptable sacrifice.

In response to the love of the Father, and in response to the invitation to be the first fruits of creation, James counsels us to receive in humility the word that has been planted in us.  Recognizing our own need and receiving with thanksgiving the saving word of Christ, James reminds us that our encounter with the word of God invites a response.  The Word of God is not simply something that we hear.  The Word of God calls us to transformation and calls us to action. 

When we gather to worship the Father in spirit and in truth, the Lord gathers us to transform us and gathers us to send us out.  James reminds us that “religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”  What the letter of James professes and what the Church has proclaimed in every generation is that our worship has consequences.  There are, dear brothers and sisters, consequences to our worship.  There are consequences to our Amen.

In every celebration of Mass we respond Amen many times.  We do this so often that it can almost become a reflex.  How often do we say Amen without even realizing it?  This response does not simply mean that the prayer is concluded or the Sacrament has been received.  The Amen is the way that you make the prayer of the Church your own.  With your Amen you demonstrate that you believe, and not only with your mind but with our whole heart and soul.  Your Amen is to be an expression of your total conviction to the truths of our faith.  With your Amen you express your participation in the Sacrifice of the Mass and your reception of the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Holy Communion.  That however, is not the only consequence to our worship.  It is not the only consequence of our Amen: because the Amen that we say in here must be lived out there.  So, dear brothers and sisters, if we are going to raise our voices in prayer begging the Lord to build up our lives and the lives of our families with his grace, then we cannot use that same voice to tear down the reputation of another.  We cannot allow the hand that touches Holy Water to make the sign of the cross to be raised in violence.  And we cannot use people as if they were things, and show affection for things as if they were people.  The letter of James reminds us that Christ has called us to a life of faith.  The witness of our lives is our ultimate Amen.