March 15, 2009 - III Sunday of Lent - B

 

Ex 20:1-17 or 20:1-3, 7-8, 12-17; 1 Cor 1:22-25; Jn 2:13-25

 

Few days ago I got a letter from one of these corporations sending different type of advertisements, bulletins and booklets. In the letter I read:

 

“There is no doubt you feel the increasing encroachment of godlessness in every aspect of public life: godlessness in governments; godlessness in economics; godlessness in the universities; godlessness in the courts; godlessness in the sciences; godlessness in the news media; and even godlessness in once-Catholic families.

 

It is a godlessness that quickly turns into a tangible hostility to religion.

 

This godlessness has come about due to a loss of belief in the one true Catholic Faith. Central tenets of the faith have been undermined, ridiculed and denied, perhaps as never before in history.

 

The average Catholic, immersed in the worldwide media of television, radio and the internet, is constantly bombarded with direct or indirect assaults on his Faith.

 

And how can one live a good moral life if one’s Faith has been decimated? The collapse of the Faith is the cause of the unprecedented rise in immorality of our time.”

 

At first I was rather astonished and ready to rebuke this kind of negativistic vision of the world. It cannot be so bad. We have still some good examples of faith and morality. We cannot see all in such a black and dark colours, such a negativistic way.

 

But a day or so later, I read today’s readings and I did a simple verification and comparison of the readings with the contemporary reality.

 

In the first reading we have the Ten Commandments, the law of God, about what one of the philosophers said, that there is no possibility of denying the ultimate value of this law.

 

1.  You shall not have other gods besides me.

2.  You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain.

3.  Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.

4.  Honour your father and your mother,

5.  You shall not kill.

6.  You shall not commit adultery.

7.  You shall not steal.

8.  You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

9.  You shall not covet your neighbour’s house.

10.  You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or anything else that belongs to him.

 

And yet if I verify these instructions with our contemporary life...?

 

How many people live their lives worshipping money, comfort, extravagance, pleasure, success, satisfaction, wealth? Where in all this is God the Father?

 

How often even among Catholics especially politicians the name of the Lord is taken only for the political and unfair ways and purposes?

 

How many people keep the day of rest holy?

 

“Honour your father and your mother” and I thought about the persistent agenda on euthanasia?

 

“You shall not kill” and I thought about the pro-choice lows and abortion ...

 

“You shall not commit adultery” – and immediately click out the pornographic industry ...

 

And we can continue with this comparision  ... and it will be no end. All commandments are constantly neglected, denied, rejected and contradicted in the name of human rights, in the name of human dignity, human freedom, in the name of civil liberties ...

 

And then I read the Gospel, where I see Jesus Christ in rage and how the “zeal for the house of God is consuming Him” and I realised that most probably He will react in the same way seeing what is going on with His Church, the Temple of God today. How often this Temple of God became only the marketplace of the personal opinions, private convictions, individualistic statements, the place of business and commerce where no more God and His worship is present but ME and MY personality, the worship of myself?

 

“godlessness in governments; godlessness in economics; godlessness in the universities; godlessness in the courts; godlessness in the sciences; godlessness in the news media; and even (I will dare to say) godlessness in once-Catholic Church. Central tenets of the faith have been undermined, ridiculed and denied, perhaps as never before in history.”

 

Should we fell in desperation and anxiety, hopelessness and despair? Should we be depressive and sad?

Is it really so bad?

 

And then I read the short passage from the letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, our second reading today:

 

“Brothers and sisters:

when Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom

we proclaim Christ crucified,"

Yes also in the contemporary world some a searching for miracles and signs, others for human wisdom, but we proclaim Jesus Christ crucified.

He is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

but to those who are called, the power of God and the wisdom of God.

 

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,

and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”

 

“Jesus Christ crucified is the power of God and the wisdom of God” and He will certainly take care of His Temple, and will cleanse His Church.

 

As long as we believe Jesus Christ crucified we don’t need to be afraid, hopeless and depressive.

March, 8 2009 - II Sunday in Lent

 Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18; Rom 8:31b-34; Mk 9:2-10

 

In the Creed at the end of the Liturgy of the Word we firmly profess:

“I believe in God the Father almighty ...

I believe in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord ...

I believe in the Holy Spirit ...

I believe in the Holy Catholic Church ...”

 

But the question is:

 

“Believing in God, do I believe God, do I trust Him?”

“Believing in Jesus Christ, do I believe and trust Jesus Christ?”

“Believing in the Holy Spirit, do I believe and trust Holy Spirit?”

“Believing in the Catholic Church, do I believe and trust this Holy Church?”

Do I really believe that God will never defile or disappoint me? Do I believe that Jesus Christ is always present in His Church and that this Church is guiding me to the eternal life?

 

All three readings today are just about these questions.

 

Abraham asked by God to sacrifice to God his only son says readily and unhesitatingly “YES”. And because of his trust he is reworded:

“since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son, I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing — all this because you obeyed my command.”

 

St Paul in his letter to the Romans reminds us strongly:

 

“If God is for us, who can be against us? Who will condemn us? Who will separate us from the love of God?” If only we believe Him and trust Him ....

I can be against myself, I can condemn myself, I can separate myself from the love of God if I don’t believe and if I don’t trust Him!

 

And finally in today’s Gospel the Father confirms and authorizes the messianic mission of Jesus Christ:

 

“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Do I really listen to Jesus Christ? He is the One who founded and create the Church. If Jesus Christ is really the Son of God, why do I not believe Him, why do I not trust Him?

 

He is the One who said:

 

“On this rock of Peter I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” (Mt 16,18). Why do I not believe Church, why do I not trust Church?

 

God did all to authenticate and certify Himself. God did all by sending His only Son to save us and to show us His love. The only one thing I have to do is to believe Him, to trust Him like Abraham even against the common sense, against my human pride and very often against arrogance.

 

Fr. Kazimierz Kubat SDS

March 01, 2009 - First Sunday in Lent

 

Let the Power of Christ Beat Temptation

Gn 9:8-15; 1 Pt 3:18-22; Mk 1:12-15

The First Sunday of Lent always presents the story of the temptation of the Lord. Usually on this Sunday we hear about three different temptations the Lord endured:

-       turn rocks into bread

-       demand that your Father work a miracle to save you

-       and trade His love for all the power of the world.

 

We don’t come upon these this year because they are in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Mark. Mark just states that Jesus went into the desert for 40 days, was confronted with temptations, beat off the devil and then began his mission. And what is interesting, the very first sentence of Christ in the Gospel is not: “Love each other”, but “Repent and believe the Good News”.

Temptations are always there and are difficult to overcome. The day we feel that we are no longer subject to temptation; we really should take our pulse because we will probably be dead.

1

 

 One of these temptations we endure is the temptation to make Gospel and the God’s commandments gentler, milder, and more comfortable. This is the temptation of changing the stones and rocks into bred. I will be the disciple of Christ, I will follow Him but He has to adjust and be more human more understandable, and more realistic. He is the Son of God and He has to admit that I am weak and not perfect and He has to accept me as I am.

 

“We used to speak a lot about ‘meeting people where they are at,’ which is fine. But we forget that “Christ does that, but he calls us to break from sin and to live a new Life in Him.” We forget that He finally refused to change the rocks into bred, that He refused to make His own life milder and gentler. We forget that He accepting the person doesn’t accept the sins and perversion. We forget that He said also: “whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 10, 38-39).

 

Temptations are difficult to overcome. It is so easy for us to say to others, “Just say no,” but it is difficult when we are the ones who are tempted. The complex aspect of temptations is that they all contain an element of attractiveness, an element of good. All of God’s creation contains beauty. We human beings pervert that beauty and turn something that is good into bad. For example, the human body is beautiful; pornography is a perversion of the beauty. Another, example, there are wonderful medications to help people who suffer from anxiety attacks, depression, etc. The same medications are used by addicts to destroy their lives and the lives of those around them.

 

All sin is attractive; if it weren’t attractive we wouldn’t be tempted by it. When someone says, “If you feel good, do it,” what they are saying is that sin is acceptable as long as you are getting selfish pleasure from it. That is the way of the world. That is not the way of Jesus. Nor can it be our way.

 

 2 this is the second temptation, to feel good. And if I don’t feel good it means that God has to change for me the commandments, the Gospel, the Church, the whole moral law, because I feel not good, because I am offended. God has to make for me the miracles to make me feel good, to satisfy my needs, my desires, my requests and my pleasure. And if not, I will not follow Him. He has to save me even if I refuse to follow His commandments and His law. This is what the contemporary world tries to tell us. This is what the devil tries to tell us: “throw yourself down into your pleasures, into your satisfaction, into your direct and immediate gratification. For it is written: 'God will command his angels and with their hands they will support you, and save you, because God loves you.”

Jesus is the conqueror of sin. But the battle was not a simple task. Jesus was tempted to save His own life and to give up and not go along with the Father’s plan. But His love for the Father and His love for us were more powerful than anything the devil or the world could muster up.

 

He beat off temptation, and then told us: “entrust your pain, your temptation and even your sin to me. I have conquered and will continue to conquer evil.” But don’t tell me that I have to follow your orders and accept your sins and perversities, your laws and your ways life, because accepting it will be a disaster for you. I am your Creator and I really know what is good for you and what is not. And believe me that not all that makes you feel good; is good for you, as well as not all that makes you feel bad is bad for you.

 

When we choose Christ, the devil really doesn’t stand a chance. In the Battle for the Kingdom, Jesus fights with us, finding a way for us to win, even though we are weak and often sinful.

 

3 And finally the last, the third temptation, temptation of being politically correct. The Satan constantly tries to persuade us: “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” Only be politically correct, only don’t protest, don’t say no, be permissive, accept the freedom of doing wrong, don’t show your disapproval,

God refuses to give up on us, even when evil makes inroads into our lives. “See I have set my bow in the skies as a sign that I will never destroy my people.” That was the promise made to seal the covenant with Noah after the flood. The bow, by the way, is the rainbow. For people of faith, the rainbow is not just a beautiful natural occurrence. It is a sign of our hope in God. When we are overwhelmed with our own human weakness, our own continual sinfulness, the rainbow reminds us: God refuses to give up on us. We can’t give up on ourselves. Look at the rainbow. God is the Compassionate, the Merciful One.

 

The 40 days of Lent are really about loving Jesus but not about loving our vices and sins, not about permissive acceptance of evil. We spend this time looking for ways to grow in our love for our Saviour, Who is our Creator and Redeemer. We fight off temptation with Him. We give Him our sins in confession. We unite ourselves to Him through the Eucharist and all forms of prayer. We do everything possible to allow His grace into our lives. And we recognize, as the praise and worship song goes, “His grace is enough for us.”

 

On this First Sunday of Lent we pray that for the courage to live Christocentric lives, lives which are Christ centered. With Him in the center of our lives, nothing that the world throws at us will defeat us. He is the conqueror of temptation. He is the Victor over sin. 

 

In the desert we can place ourselves in God’s hands relying trustfully upon him. When we are tested we remember those hidden Angels who are not so far away. When we experience these trials we unite ourselves with Christ and ask him to endure the Temptation with us.

We then recognise that all these sufferings and difficulties we must endure are part and parcel of the life of a Christian and we know that they are only a sign of the victory that is to come.

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22.02.2009 - 7 Ordinary Time - Healing Forgiveness

Today’s Gospel reading is taken from the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark. After the extensive healings of the first chapter--the man with the unclean spirit, Peter’s mother in law, the many people who crowded Jesus looking for some sort of cure, and even the healing of a leper--we come upon this wonderful story of the paralytic and his friends. The story is a lot deeper than a miracle story; it is a story of healing forgiveness, the power of the Lord, and the power of Christian friends.

Jesus’ response to the incident is to commend the friends for their faith and then to forgive the paralytic. When the scribes complain that only God can forgive, Jesus notes that according to Isaiah a sign of the Messiah would be that sins would be forgiven and that, among other healings, the lame would walk. The man is forgiven and healed.

I want to focus in today on this poor man and on his friends, and on the Healing Messiah.

In the case of this healing, the man is paralyzed by sin. And so are we all. Sin can exercise such force over us that we feel incapable of movement. A person’s self worth can be so torn down, that the person feels incapable of approaching healing. “How can I go to confession?” someone asks. “I’ve destroyed a life, destroyed a marriage, destroyed my family?” Many times a person will say, “I want forgiveness, but I just can’t get up the courage to seek it. I can’t control temptations. I probably will sin again.” When we feel that way, and at times all of us do feel that way, we are paralyzed by sin. We need healing. Physical healing, perhaps. Spiritual healing, certainly. In fact, if we were lowered before the Lord and He offered us a choice: physical healing or spiritual healing, will we all take the latter?

But He doesn’t offer the man in the Gospel a choice. He gives him both physical and spiritual healing. Why? Because He is God’s Love come down to earth. He loves the man too much to allow him to continue suffering both spiritually and physically. He loves us too much to allow us to stay in pain. The sacrament of reconciliation, the sacrament of penance is the sacrament of joy, the joy of healing received. The scribes couldn’t understand how Jesus could forgive and heal because they refused to expose themselves to the presence of God’s Love on earth.

The scribes learned their catechism very well: "Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

Alas, today many people have no problem believing that they can forgive their own sins. And they do so. Any Catholic who goes for years without benefit of the sacrament of Confession must believe so, for as John teaches, "he who says he is without sin is a liar." Catholics at Mass go to Communion in large numbers without first discerning through an examination of conscience whether or not they are spiritually prepared to do so. To receive the Body and Blood of Christ while conscious of serious sin is a sacrilege. The Sacrament of Confession is the means commanded by Christ for the forgiving of serious sins. To reject the Sacrament of Confession is to reject the divinity of Christ and Christ Himself. Christ has been revealed that we may believe totally in him, that we may totally follow him. Salvation comes to us through the acceptance of love of the whole Christ, in all His Sacraments, in the whole Gospel, not just those parts that we find personally appealing.

The Eucharist and Confession together work toward the salvation of souls.

By the same charity that it enkindles in us, the Eucharist preserves us from future mortal sins. The more we share the life of Christ and progress in his friendship, the more difficult it is to break away from him by mortal sin. The Eucharist is not ordered to the forgiveness of mortal sins -- that is proper to the sacrament of Reconciliation. The Eucharist is properly the sacrament of those who are in full communion with the Church. (CCC 1395)

And now we come to the real heroes of the story, at least the heroes this side of Jesus. We come to the paralytic man’s four friends. These four would do whatever it took to bring their friend to the Lord. Certainly they were pushed aside when they tried to enter the door. They probably were yelled at, insulted and mocked for climbing onto the roof and destroying it. But their determination to do what was the best for their friend, their determination to bring him to the Lord, was all that mattered.

This is what Christian friendship is. A true friend is willing to do whatever it takes to bring someone to the Lord. It is a huge blessing to have friends like that. It takes great courage to be a friend like that. How many times we come upon people wandering aimlessly in life. How many times we come upon people who are mired in their own self deprecation, mired in the effects of sin, whether they caused the sin or are suffering from the sin of others. It takes a courageous friend to say to someone, “Look, your killing yourself with drugs, with alcohol, with the way you treat other people. You don’t like who you’ve become. But you don’t have to stay suffering like this. Come to Jesus. Start new again and be happy.” It takes a lot of courage to be a friend like that. It takes a lot of courage to be a Christian.

The gospel story for today tells us about the responsibility and the opportunity we have for one another within our faith community and within the community of mankind. There are times that we are paralyzed by selfishness, fear, pride, greed or whatever. We might not realize the extent of our need. We might be unable or unwilling to do anything on our own behalf. We depend upon others to carry us to the Lord.

And there are times that we come upon others that need our strength and our faith to help them to see the Light of Christ in the middle of their darkness. There are many times that others need the power of our faith to sustain them and to carry them. And when Jesus saw their faith, the faith of the four friends, he healed the paralytic.

We pray today that we might not just have friends like that, but that we might be friends like that.

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time - February 15, 2009

The first reading from Leviticus talks about Leprosy and prepares us for the Gospel reading. In Old Testament Society, the unfortunate leper must be removed from the community and live outside the camp, that is outside the city. Furthermore, he is supposed to give notice of his impurity by rending his garments and by shouting “Unclean, Unclean”.

The leper here is supposed to represent sinners as human failures. The leper symbolizes the man disgusted with his sins, but wanting to admit and then have these blemishes of the heart cured.

That’s why it says in the responsorial psalm, “Happy are those who transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquities and in whose spirit is no deceit.”

I acknowledged my sin to you and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

In the Gospel, the Leper came to Jesus begging “If you choose, you can make me clean. Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out His hand, touched him and said, I will do it. Be cured…. Go and present yourself to the priest and offer for your cure what Moses prescribed.

The leper recognizes Jesus as someone who can make him whole, clean and completely free from leprosy. The leper comes and kneels before Jesus. In doing this he acknowledges Jesus as someone who is divine and powerful.

Jesus not only heals physical illnesses, but at the same time He frees us from sin.
Each one of us here has an area in their life that they wish to be made clean. Jesus the healer comes to us to free us from our leprosy of sin, our leprosy of unbelief, our leprosy of hate, our leprosy of sorrow.

Jesus who heals, and cures the leprosy, also performs great signs. He casts out demons, he raises the dead. These signs serve to show and confirm God’s power in the face of illness, in the face of sin.

Today’s second reading from 1Corinthians is the foundation on which we build our Christian life, once we repent and experience this healing from Jesus.

The eating and drinking refer to the problem some Christians had about food offered to pagan idols. St. Paul takes the position that Christians are free and can eat anything. Still, they must respect the conscience of each of the weaker members. Everything we do has an effect on others, whether inside or outside the Christian community.

We must not put stumbling blocks in the way of the conversion of others.

Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Give no offense to anyone, try to please everyone in everything you do, do not seek your own advantage so that others may be saved. In other words, St. Paul says, be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Each of us needs to look to Christ as our help our guide and our teacher.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church sums it up very beautifully with these words:

“The whole of Christ’s life was a continual teaching; His silences, His miracles, His gestures, His prayer, His love for people, His special affection for the little and the poor. (CCC561)

Seeing ourselves in the leper we can ask whether we are willing to let our spiritual leprosy, the ugly blotches of pride and self concern, die in our encounter with Christ the healer.

From the standpoint of Christ, we can ask if we are prepared to take the risk of touching and embracing the lepers around us – the unborn, the aged, the chronically and terminally ill, friends who have betrayed us, brothers and sisters we have never forgiven.

Christ never hesitated to reject society’s taboos and compassionately reach out to help others. With his touch and reassuring word, he cures and purifies.

To be imitators of Christ we are called to do the same – to reach out to those rejected by society – to touch with compassion those most in need.

To sum it up then, The leper in the old testament went to the priest to show him his disease, the pries declared him unclean. The leper in the Gospel recognizing Jesus as a holy man who could heal him, went before Him, knelt and ask for healing. Jesus healed him. So we too today recognize our uncleanliness, our sin, our hurt. We do this by reflecting on our lives and by examining ourselves. We ask Jesus to forgive us and to take away our hurt, our leprosy of sin. Jesus says I will do it. We then show ourselves to the priest in the confessional, our sins are forgiven.

After we are forgiven we are to go out and be imitators of Christ. To spread His compassionate healing touch to those around us most in need. In our families, in our church, in our community.

God Bless You

Deacon Bernie Ouellette

Ordinary Time - Fourth Sunday of Year B

Homily from Father Alex McAllister SDS
http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/

Deuteronomy 18, 15-20; Psalm 95; 1 Corinthians 7:32-35; Mark 1:21-28

“His teaching made a deep impression on them because he taught them with authority.” So we read in today’s Gospel.

We are not very happy with authority today. We aren’t keen on trusting someone’s judgement just because of the role they have. Whether it be the police, the medical profession, law makers, teachers or clergy –all have to justify themselves.

People don’t accept anything today just because they are told it. They want to know why. I suppose this is because those in authority have abused their power. They have taken short-cuts and caused hurt and harm

The police have been caught out rigging evidence, doctors have been found to have made wrong diagnoses, law makers have shown themselves to be corrupt, teachers have just lectured us without ensuring we really understood, and priests have looked after themselves and failed to go after the lost sheep.

It is understandable that we resent those who have exercised their authority badly. We feel let down, we feel that our trust has been abused; we feel we can’t rely on anything any more. Those who fail to carry out their responsibilities let us all down; they give everyone a bad name.

But what about Jesus and the way he exercised authority? Here is the Son of God; the Lord of Creation, the one with all the power that ever could be vested in one individual, so it is important that we look to see how he exercises it? And the short answer is that he exercises authority with gentleness.

He who could rule all, doesn’t. He who could destroy even the evil spirits doesn’t, he simply rebukes them. He who could call armies of angels to defend him doesn’t, instead he allows himself to be taken into custody, tried, tortured and executed.

It is what Jesus doesn’t do that is more astonishing than what he does do. You will notice from the Gospel, it wasn’t the casting out of the evil spirits that astonished the people it was his teaching. Not his actions but his words.

It is no wonder that the people were astonished. Jesus truly is the prophet foretold by Moses who speaks the words God has put into his mouth. And these words are words of love, words of truth, words of peace, words of gentleness.

And in his words he reveals the mysteries of the Kingdom to us, mere children. And does not our heart burn within us as he talks to us on the road through life. We hear his words and we are astonished and filled with joy.

Jesus was no prophet in the ordinary sense of the word. Although on occasion he used harsh language to certain groups with vested interests, he did not lambaste the ordinary people in the way that some of the prophets felt they had to.

The prophets of old were faced with a stubborn people who could not see God’s will, and, for the most part, they were fiery preachers who used strong language and threats to put across their message.

Jesus doesn’t do this. He is far better than a prophet. He doesn’t threaten, he doesn’t shout and bawl, he doesn’t really ever get angry with the people. His message is Blessed are the poor; Love your neighbour; Do go to those who persecute you; Pray for the coming of the Kingdom. And his message is all the more powerful for the fact that he has all the authority that has ever existed or will ever exist—but doesn’t use it.

We don’t call him a prophet, or even the prophet. We call him Emmanuel –God with us, Jesus –one who saves.

Here is real authority; here is the authority of God himself. Here is an authority figure who respects us more than we respect ourselves. Here is an authority figure who goes so far as to give his life for our sake.

While we distrust the authority figures of our world today, we must, of course, acknowledge that each of us somewhere or other also exercises authority; whether it be as a parent, an elder brother or sister, or in some aspect of our work. And in our exercise of authority we are guilty of the very things we accuse our oppressors. We too are open to question and to accusation.

So let us take Jesus for our example and guide in the way we exercise our responsibilities. Let us teach our children as he would. Let us treat our younger brothers and sisters as he would. Let us treat our subordinates at work as he would. Let us treat all those we have power over, however insignificant that might be, just as he would.

We will then find that people accord us an authority not based on any power we hold but based on the credibility and consistency of our lives.

The effect of doing this is that society itself will change and become better. We Christians will have become an active leaven in the world. Our patience, tolerance and gentleness will have become infectious and will have spread from the top to the bottom of our society. We will wake up one day and discover that we have built up the Kingdom of God here on earth.

Through the efforts of the Dalai Lama we have heard what the Chinese Communist Government has done in Tibet since it invaded in 1949. We have heard how even now they have systematically attempted to eradicate every vestige of Tibetan religion and culture.

There was a certain army commander who was particularly brutal towards the Buddhist monks and nuns of Tibet. He revelled in the reputation he had gained as a persecutor and destroyer of monasteries. His reputation had grown to such an extent that he only had to approach a monastery with his soldiers and the monks fled.

One day he arrived at the gates of a well-known monastery and when the gates were battered down he was again pleased to hear that the monks had fled. He very quickly flew into a rage, however, when one of his officers reported that in the inner courtyard there remained one solitary monk. He strode off into the cloister and went right up to the monk who was standing there peacefully before him.

‘Don’t you know who I am?’ he yelled into the monk’s face. ‘Without blinking an eye, I can run you right through with my sword.’ The monk quietly responded: ‘Don’t you know who I am? Without blinking an eye, I can let you run me through with that sword.’

Do you think that your life is difficult ???

See this:

3 Sunday Ordinary Time - B
The Conversion of St. Paul–His and Ours


Reading 1
Jon 3:1-5, 10

The word of the LORD came to Jonah, saying:
"Set out for the great city of Nineveh,
and announce to it the message that I will tell you."
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,
according to the LORD'S bidding.
Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;
it took three days to go through it.
Jonah began his journey through the city,
and had gone but a single day's walk announcing,
"Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,"
when the people of Nineveh believed God;
they proclaimed a fast
and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,
he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;
he did not carry it out.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (4a) Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice
and teaches the humble his way.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.

Reading 2
Acts 22:3-16

Paul addressed the people in these words:
"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city.
At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law
and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.
I persecuted this Way to death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.
Even the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify on my behalf.
For from them I even received letters to the brothers
and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem
in chains for punishment those there as well.
"On that journey as I drew near to Damascus,
about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me.
I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me,
'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'
I replied, 'Who are you, sir?' And he said to me,
'I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.'
My companions saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me. I asked, 'What shall I do, sir?'
The Lord answered me, 'Get up and go into Damascus,
and there you will be told about everything appointed for you to do.'
Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light,
I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus.
"A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law,
and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
came to me and stood there and said,
'Saul, my brother, regain your sight.'
And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him.
Then he said, 'The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will,
to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice;
for you will be his witness before all to what you have seen and heard.
Now, why delay? Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away, calling upon his name.'"

Gospel
Mk 1:14-20

After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
"This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel."
As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
"Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Then they abandoned their nets and followed him.
He walked along a little farther
and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They too were in a boat mending their nets.
Then he called them.
So they left their father Zebedee in the boat
along with the hired men and followed him.


Today we celebrate the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. Usually this feast would not be celebrated when it occurs on a Sunday, but we celebrate it here in our Diocese, the Diocese of St. Petersburg, as it will be celebrated in many other archdioceses and dioceses throughout the world because our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, declared a Jubilee Year of St. Paul from June 29, 2008 to June 29, 2009, celebrating the 2,000 years since his birth.

After Jesus, St. Paul is the most significant figure in the New Testament. Of its 27 Books, 13 are letters attributed to St. Paul. More than half of the Acts of the Apostles is devoted to the apostolic activities of St. Paul as he sought to spread the Gospel. Indeed the story of his conversion is recorded there three times. (Acts 9:1-20, Acts 22:1-22, Acts 26:1-24)

We all know the scene of St. Paul’s conversion. There is the road to Damascus as Saul of Tarsus led a group of fervent Pharisees to go and cleanse that city of its followers of Christ. We have seen the paintings of the bright light with Christ in the middle, of the horse throwing Saul, and of his companions falling in fear. Actually, there is no horse in the scripture, Saul probably couldn’t afford one, but that is beside the point. The point is that Jesus appears to Saul and asks him, “Why are you persecuting me?” Not persecuting the Christians, but me. Jesus identifies with His Church, with us. Saul, as you know, is blinded. Fitting. He had been blind to God’s presence among the Christians. It would take one of these Christians Ananais, to help Saul receive his sight and recognize God in the Messiah.

But even what we get right only begins to tell the story. The conversion story is a tremendous one - but of course it is only the beginning. Conversion is one thing - what you make of it is another. AS Jesus said ‘By After his conversion, Paul travelled extensively through the Roman empire, preaching in synagogues and market places, setting up networks of small Christian communities, moving on rapidly to the next town, keeping in touch with these new Churches by letters of such eloquence and beauty that the Churches read them again and again. In his letters he did not repeat the parables of Christ, and gave few references to his words, but explained carefully the meaning of Him who came as the promised One for the Jews but also the Saviour of all humanity. He dealt with controversies in the young Churches; he encouraged and he reprimanded; he inspired by philosophy and poetry.

Paul, more than anyone else, has shown us what man really is, and in what our nobility consists, and of what virtue this particular animal is capable. Each day he aimed ever higher; each day he rose up with greater ardor and faced with new eagerness the dangers that threatened him. He summed up his attitude in the words: "I forget what is behind me and push on to what lies ahead." When he saw death imminent, he bade others share his joy: "Rejoice and be glad with me!" And when danger, injustice and abuse threatened, he said: "I am content with weakness, mistreatment and persecution." These he called the weapons of righteousness, thus telling us that he derived immense profit from them.

And we take him so much for granted that even though we hear his words at almost every Mass we celebrate, we rarely give him the significance which is his due: yet it is he who took the Gospel out of his own country, he who founded so many Christian Churches, he who expounded and clarified this new faith.

Although this feast celebrates that event, Paul’s conversion did not end on that road. It began on the road. He would go on to suffer for the faith. In Second Corinthians Paul states that five times he received forty lashes less one, three times he was beaten with rods, once he was stoned, three times he was shipwrecked along with all sorts of other persecutions. Far more difficult than these persecutions was “the thorn in the flesh” he speaks of in 2 Corinthians 12. What was this, exactly? Was the thorn his temper? He often lost his temper, even with Peter in Jerusalem. Was it some sort of temptation to sin? Was it physical ailments? We don’t know. But we do know that Paul realized his complete dependence on Jesus, whose “power was made perfect in my weakness, (2 Corinthians 12:19.) One thing is for sure, Paul’s conversion began on the road to Damascus, but was not completed until his final moments before his execution in Rome. Nor is ours.

We may be cradle Catholics or we may have come into the faith through the RCIA. We may have always been united to God, or we may have strayed away and then come back. Our decision to embrace our baptism, perhaps to return to the Lord, is certainly a conversion, but it is only the beginning of the conversion. Through the Grace of God, our entire lives are consecutive moments of conversion, deepening conversions. Our entire liturgical year leads us to deepen our union with the Lord. Advent and Lent help us look at our lives and call upon the Lord to pick us up after we fall. Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, call us to a deeper commitment to the Presence of God as one of us, to the Grace of our Baptism, to the work of the Spirit.

Can we do it? Can each of us be the person that God created us to be? Alone, no. We cannot. But we are not alone. St. Paul tells us in what is perhaps the most assuring sentence for all of us who join him in the process of conversion: “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13).


Homily basing on: Homily from Father Joseph Pellegrino

January 18, 2009 - 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Evangelization and Ecumenism as a means to achieve Christian Unity

This week is the week of prayer for Christian unity in which we pray that the unity of believers which graced the early church will become a reality in our modern world.

Today’s readings are sometimes used to promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life because they show God calling people to “Come follow Him”. However, they can also be used to promote evangelization because they show people being used as instruments in bringing the Gospel to the world and people to Christ. It is this second theme that I wish to explore today.

You’ve all heard of the 2nd Vatican Council which was a great gathering of all the world’s Bishops in Rome in 1962. It was called by Pope John 23rd. In its document Lumen Gentium or Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, the Council taught that all baptized are consecrated as the “common priesthood of the faithful”. This differs essentially from the ordained ministry but is in fact a real participation in Christ’s own priesthood.

According to the Council the faithful exercise their priesthood by active participation in the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, by celebrating the Sacraments, by prayer but most especially by the witness of a Holy Life.

We don’t seem to have a problem in exercising the priesthood of the laity when it comes to the Mass and Sacraments nor even in prayer – where there seems to be a bit of confusion though is in the 3rd part – by the witness of a Holy Life.

What do we mean by this? Witness of a Holy Life and why is it so important?

The priesthood of the faithful as witness of a holy life means that Christ depends upon the laity to carry on His priestly mission by witness of their lives in the world, by ecumenism and by evangelization.

Calling it the Apostolate of the Laity, the 2nd Vatican Council teaches what the Laity are to do in the world and how they are to serve the Lord as faithful Lay people.

First of all, in talking about the church the Council wanted the lay people to understand the church better because if we are to understand our relationship to non-catholic Christian Faiths we need to understand our own better.

Among the first things the Council said is that everyone is called to participate in the work of Ecumenism – not just the pope, not just the Theologians, not just the Clergy but the laity as well. Everyone is called to Ecumenism. And Ecumenism does not mean leaving people where they are.

Secondly, everyone is called to Christian unity. We are all called to do what we can to mend the fences. We are all called to pray together for Christian unity.

We have to remember that the lay people are most often the source of information about Catholicism to our non-Catholic Christian friends. The lay people often are the only image of Catholicism that our non-Catholic friends have.

Therefore, we need to be renewed and live our Catholic faith well. We need to be able to speak and explain our faith and inform people as to what Catholics really believe.

There seems to be a tremendous amount of misconception – not so much on our non-Catholic brothers and sisters – but rather amongst ourselves. Do we really know our faith? Do we really know what Catholics believe? Can we teach our faith to others? And why is that important? Why not just leave them where they are?

The 2nd Vatican Council taught that the heart of ecumenism is conversion. It is pride that separates. It is humility and holiness that unites.

We need to repent of our pride and seek conversion of heart – continual conversion – both Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

The Council called all of us to make certain that the fullness of Christ is preached – not just a little bit – but the whole truth – the fullness of truth. Many of our non-Catholic Christian brothers and sisters only share part of that truth – The Council says that we need to offer them the fullness of truth. Why?

Because it is the birthright of every human being to have the fullness of truth. And because it is their right, the Council says that it is our duty – in fact we are obliged to bring it to them. Not in a spirit of triumphalism but in a spirit of deep humility.

To those who do not know God – we must bring God.

To those who know God but do not know Christ – we must bring Christ.

To those who know Christ but do not know the fullness of the means of Grace, we share these humbly – not as our possession – but rather as a gift that has been entrusted to us for their sake.

We should be prepared to stop at nothing to humbly share the fullness of Christ with everyone because that is the right thing to do and that is what the Council calls us to do.

Every Christian is called to the highest state of holiness – laity and clergy alike.

Holiness is the perfection of Love.

What this means for lay people is that the very participation in the everyday life, working in the oil patch, teaching, raising a family, stocking the shelves, cooking and changing diapers (hopefully not at the same time!) are the very means that God uses to make us holy and to raise us to the heights of holiness.

The council reminds us that lay people from the very beginning of the church are involved in the Apostolate of the Church – to proclaim the Gospel – the laity are to preach the Gospel with the witness of their lives – the laity are also called to evangelize – to tell people why they are joyful and what Jesus means to them.

The clergy are primarily called to minister to the lay faithful, to serve them by teaching, by exhorting, by ministering the sacraments to them and otherwise leading them to follow Christ – and thereby achieve holiness.

If this is so then who is going to bring the Gospel to the world? Who is going to transform the secular order? Who is going to inject the Christian voice in Parliament, in our Legislatures, in our Councils, in the marketplace, in the workplace and in the classroom?

Christ has given this special vocation to the majority of the People of God – the laity because only the laity can do that effectively. When Paul says “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel”, he’s not just referring to Clergy. Everyone has that duty.

The role of the laity is to get into the nitty gritty of human life and transform it through the Gospel. Vatican 2 says that this is properly the call of the lay people – their apostolate – their ministry. That is part of their priesthood of the laity. The priesthood of the clergy should not invade the turf of the laity – nor vice versa. Rather, their various ministries should be collaborative and enabling. Clergy and Religious are most often not accepted in the areas that the laity can go.

That’s why clergy should stay out of political office – they don’t belong there. That’s the role of the laity.

In today’s readings we can see that from the very beginning of the Church we see lay people leading others to Christ.

First, we have John the Baptist who evangelizes two of his own disciples by telling them about Jesus using the title “Lamb of God”. (John 1: 35-39). As a result these two disciples decide to follow Jesus. One of these is Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. When Andrew finds the Lord what does he do? Stay with Him? No, rather he goes to evangelize his brother Simon Peter telling him about Jesus and using the title “Messiah”. Andrew, the lay evangelizer, leads Simon to Jesus who looks at Simon and changes his name to Kepha (Peter). (John 1: 40-43)

There are many other examples in the New Testament also where lay people evangelize others leading them to Jesus.

Phillip evangelizes Nathanial describing Jesus as “the one whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote”. (John 1: 45-50)

This missionary pattern is also present in the story of the Samaritan woman as well. After being evangelized by Jesus, she in turn evangelizes the people of Sychar. (John 4:29)

I’m sure you can think of many more.

The point is if the laity don’t do it – who will – who can do it better?

If we can say that the teachings of the 2nd Vatican Council have not yet been fully implemented I think we can agree that here is an area in which we need improvement – ecumenism and evangelization. How are we personally doing in this area? If our churches are not full or if we are not viewed as a welcoming community perhaps it’s time all of us, clergy and laity alike, looked in a mirror. What are we doing about unity, ecumenism and especially evangelization in our own lives?

And this week we have a great opportunity to teach others about the Plenary Indulgence which is being offered at next Sunday’s Mass to celebrate the Conversion of St. Paul.

Here is one who came to the fullness of truth by Divine intervention – however, he went on to evangelize and convert thousands of others and has had a great affect on Christianity today.

What exactly is an indulgence? An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church, which as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of satisfactions of Christ and the saints”.

What does that mean – well, let me use a small example. When we sin, we need to ask for forgiveness. If we sin mortally then this sin is forgiven through sacramental confession. Even after the sin has been forgiven – there remains temporal punishment – the effects of our sin. These are removed through prayer, works of mercy, etc. Or through indulgences.

As an analogy let’s say that we have a malignant tumour in our body. The surgeon says it must come out or we will die. We agree to have the operation. The surgeon removes the tumour and afterwards she stitches you up. The tumour is gone but what remains is the scar and the stitches. Everytime we sin and go to confession, our sins are forgiven but there remains the temporal punishment (scar and stitches). A plenary indulgence removes completely any temporal punishment. We are now squeaky clean. The scar and stitches are gone.

To gain an indulgence, whether partial or plenary (full) it is necessary that the faithful be in a state of grace at least at the time the indulgenced work is completed.

You must therefore have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin.

You must have sacramentally confessed your sins.

You must receive the Holy Eucharist.

You must pray for the intentions of the Holy Father.

There you have it. Now it’s our job to go out and tell everybody that next Sunday we have the opportunity to gain a plenary indulgence.

My brothers and sisters, this is what we are called to do then. Having found the fullness of truth – having found the Messiah, we are to go out after we leave here and evangelize. The Council calls us to lead others to the Body of Christ - by the witness of our lives and by humbly sharing with them the fullness of the truth of our faith and inviting them all to “Come Home”.

This week is the week of prayer for Christian unity in which we pray that the unity of believers which graced the early church will become a reality in our modern world and we need to do our part in fully implementing the teachings of the 2nd Vatican Council especially in this most important area.

God Bless you.

Deacon Bernie Ouellette