(School Mass): Friday, September 24, 2004

"The Hugging Prayer"

This morning, Kevin just read us one of the Bible’s most beautiful poems—and one that really makes you think. It comes from one of the wisdom books called “Ecclesiastes.” Some Bibles call this book by the author’s name, Qoheleth. In fact, a folk singer named Pete Seeger made it into a song called There Is a Season—Turn, Turn, Turn. Other musical groups like The Byrds also recorded it. You may have heard this song; it’s very pretty.

If you paid attention to the words, you heard how this poem celebrates life: it says that there’s a time to be born and a time to die… a time to build and a time to tear down… a time to cry and a time to laugh… a time to keep quiet and a time to speak up… a time to love and a time to hate… a time of war and a time of peace.

We all know that it’s true. These things all happen in life. Sometimes we feel happy; sometimes we feel sad. Sometimes we’re healthy; other times we’re sick. Some people do rotten things and seem to have everything go their way, while even when I try to be really, really good, I might get yelled at or laughed at or fall on my face in some other way.

Why?

Well, part of it is that life is just plain mysterious. We know that God loves us, but we don’t always understand why He lets things happen the way they do. Why did my best friend have to move away? Why did my parents have to get divorced? Why did my cat have to die? Why did my brother have to get sick and ruin our vacation? Why? Why? Why?


Qoheleth says: there is an appointed time for everything. In other words, God has His reasons—very good reasons.

Because He loves us, God’s reason is always to love us more… to bring us closer to Himself. Why did His Son, Jesus, have to suffer so much and die on the cross? We all know it was a way to take our sins away and help us get into heaven… even though our poor Lord had a very miserable time.

God knows that we don’t always understand why things in life happen the way they do, but He asks us something very important. He asks us to have faith. He asks us to trust Him and believe that in the end, we’ll see that everything will be OK. There is an appointed time for everything under heaven—most especially, a time for tons and tons of blessings!

Well, if we happen to be going through one of the bad or sad times of life, what are we supposed to do? Lots of things. We can dust off our Bible and reread the sections like the one we heard today—or listen to the song with the same words! Praying is always a great comfort.

Another way to get through the down times is by reaching out to other people. Look around. There’s always someone else who’s having a worse time than you are, and you can help them—by visiting with them, sharing a smile and a kind word, doing someone a favor, inviting them to play with you, sharing your dessert, or in so many other ways.

And if nothing else works, you might try the good ol’ “hugging prayer.” Did you ever hear of that?

A friend of mine told me a story that when she was a little girl—maybe 6 years old or so—she was sitting outside crying. She didn’t even know why she was crying. She just felt sad about things and was crying. Her Mom came out and couldn’t really help her to stop. Finally, her mother said she was going to teach her a special prayer for the times when she was crying and didn’t know why. She made my friend stand up. She said, “Now put your arms around yourself.”

My friend did that, but it wasn’t good enough for her. Her mother said, “You’re just folding your arms. Put them all the way around yourself. Cuddle your body. Hold yourself the way you would hold a baby in your arms.”

Then her mother went on, “Now, after you have a real good hold of yourself, close your eyes and begin to rock yourself. Rock yourself real good, the way you would a baby, and just keep doing it. When you grow up, no matter how old you are, and you find yourself crying and you don’t know why, I want you to rock yourself just like this. And as you do it, remember that you are God’s little girl, and that God understands why you are crying even if no one else does. And remember, too, that God holds you close just the way you are holding yourself, because God loves you very much. Then just keep rocking yourself and be comforted.”

Isn’t that a good prayer? And of course, boys can use it, too—and it works for kids in any grade: even high school or college… even adults, too! I recommend it for you, too. Just stand wherever you are—in the kitchen, in the bathroom, in your bedroom, outdoors—and wrap your arms around yourself as tightly as you can. Rock yourself. Before long, you will be able to feel God holding you and comforting you. You will find peace for anything and everything that happens under heaven, whether it makes sense at the time or not. And without you even realizing it, God will be helping you to grow in Christ and become a saint.

September 19, 2004: Plotting & Planning to Do Good

The Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time




Today, the prophet Amos expresses his amazement at how ingenious some people are when it comes to carrying out evil. They plot and plan and connive and leave nothing to chance.

“Hear this!” shouts Amos. “You crush the poor and take advantage of the weak. And not only that! You have the nerve to ask when the Sabbath and the feasts will be over so you can go back to work crushing the poor and taking advantage of the weak! You demand more, give less, and shamelessly even fix your scales for cheating!”

Yes, even back in ancient times, there were people who tried so hard to give the impression that they were upstanding citizens—they made a great show of observing all the religious holidays and customs and traditions of their time—but they really cared only about themselves and their pocketbook. They schemed and worked hard and paid bribes so they’d always come out ahead. Amos is convinced that it took quite a bit of time and effort to make all that happen without getting caught! Why, these people even paid off the authorities… so if they were ever called to account for their actions, no judge would ever convict them. Air tight.

Of course, we see the same kinds of things in modern life. We hear of intricately planned schemes and crimes—major swindles and frauds… and even the terrorist plots of our day involve tremendous planning and duplicity. Evil doesn’t happen by accident; it takes forethought, creativity and audacity.

Jesus tells us the same thing in His story of the unjust steward in the Gospel today.

“What shall I do?” asks the employee caught red-handed, “now that my master is going to fire me? I know!” he says—and you can just see the Grinch’s evil grin!—“I’ll doctor the amounts on the books that my boss’ customers owe, so they’ll be grateful to me for saving them money… and they’ll owe me.”

Even the ripped-off master congratulates this scoundrel for being so clever. He’s one smart cookie.

And then Jesus delivers a great punch line: “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.”

The message is pretty clear—and equally biting: if good people worked as intensely to bring about the good as evil people do to accomplish evil, we’d be living in one incredible world!

Christ reminds us, “You cannot serve both God and mammon.” In other words, if we are not working actively to do the good, then we’re turning over the store to folks who are plotting evil. There is no middle ground. You can’t be neutral. You have to choose a side… and not choosing is actually choosing evil.

This is the message that St. Paul tries to explain to Timothy. He writes that we should be able to live a “quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity,” so we can live the kind of life God wants for us; He “wills everyone to be saved to come to knowledge of the truth.” Faith cannot be a part-time endeavor… not even an every Sunday endeavor. Because while we’re sitting back, the evil is going on with all due speed.

I think a lot of people don’t see any need to plan, much less schedule, doing good. That would make it too rigid… or artificial… or structured. Yuck. Bad. Rigid.

But isn’t that exactly what we need to do? Here’s how I’m going to be good today… and you make your checklist: I’m going to do A, B, C and D.

The bank robber does it. The terrorist does it. The tax-cheat does it. The murderer does it.

But the good person—the man or woman or teenager or child striving to be a saint—simply coasts along in mindless bliss? No. Doing the good takes every bit as much effort and attention… with one small difference: those doing good can call confidently upon the Holy Spirit for guidance and assistance. And that, my friends, is one pretty big plus.

Today, as we are able to relax and picnic and enjoy the company of the Body of Christ, let us remember that Jesus who is among us teaches that faith and goodness are the most important dimension of our existence. While spontaneous good works are great, our Lord expects us not just to avoid evil, but to replace it with deliberate, thought-out good. May we take this message to heart today and always.

Amen!




Today’s Readings:
Amos 8, 4–7
Psalm 113
1 Timothy 2, 1–8
Luke 16, 1–13

(School Mass): Friday, September 17, 2004

Many years ago, there was a very famous magician by the name of Harry Houdini. One of Houdini’s amazing talents was that he was an excellent escape artist. Let me give you a couple of examples.

Houdini had a special act with handcuffs. He told his audience that he would give anyone $100 who could lock him in a set of handcuffs that he couldn’t get out of. Never once did he have to pay.

Then, Houdini came up with another act called the Chinese Water Torture Cell. It was a big metal box that was sealed up with chains and locks. Harry was tied up in a strait jacket, and hung upside down by his feet inside the chamber. They filled it up with water. Every single time, Houdini managed to escape very quickly.

As Houdini’s fame grew, so did his stories. He told people that there was nothing he couldn’t escape from—not even death! In fact, he promised that even after he died, he’d come back to life.

Well, on Halloween in the year 1926—it will be 78 years in just a few weeks—poor Harry Houdini died when someone punched him in the stomach and his appendix burst. And ever since, Houdini’s fans have been waiting for him to come back to life. But of course, he never has; we all know that that just doesn’t happen.

Or does it?

There is one proven case where a person who was dead actually came back to life on his own. It’s a very remarkable and unique story.

This man was very mysterious. He was supposed to be born in an inn where travelers stay, but his parents couldn’t get a room there. So they had him in the only place they could find shelter—a stable. Not very glamorous, but he didn’t seem to mind very much.

All through his life, this fellow seemed to be able to do very unusual and incredible things. One time he needed money so he told his friend to go fishing and to cut open the first fish he caught; there would be money inside. Sure enough, it happened!

Another time, he wanted to feed a lot of people and he didn’t have much food—but he told his friends not to worry about it; just start serving the food and there would be enough. And there was!

When he came across people who were sick, he could just touch them and they’d get better.

And he did tons of other amazing things like that.

But there was one thing he said he was going to do that not very many people believed. Not very many at all.

Like Harry Houdini, he said that after he died, he would be back. Many people shook their heads and laughed at him. “Yeah, right,” they said. “Everybody knows that people don’t come back from the dead.”

Well, you may not believe this, but three days after he died… he came back! He was just as alive as we are right here and now. And there were tons of witnesses.

Who was that? I think you all know that I’m talking about Jesus Christ: the only man who ever died and came back to life again. Never happened before. Never happened since.

Did you ever wonder how or why such a thing could happen? There is only one possible explanation.

The explanation is this: Jesus has to be God. Who else but God has the power to bring himself back to life after dying? No one else in the whole wide world could do that. Not even Harry Houdini, the greatest magician of all time.

And you know, the most amazing thing about Jesus is not just that He came back alive after being dead—even though that is pretty amazing in itself!

No, I think the most amazing thing is all the other promises that Jesus made—like the promise that we, too, will come back to life after we die. We will have a “resurrection” just like He did! You mean: someday I’m going to die, and then I’ll be alive again?

Should we really believe Him? I’d like to believe it’s true; but is it?

I say we should believe Him. You know why? Because you’re smart; I think you can generally tell when people are reliable. If I keep promising you things, and I always do the things I promise, then you’re going to believe me if I tell you something else, right? Now look at Jesus. He always did the things He promised—even the one thing that we would have thought impossible: coming back from the dead. So if He really, really did that, why shouldn’t we believe everything else He tells us? — including the promise that He’ll raise us back up, too! He already proved that He can do the most difficult thing; everything else is pretty easy!

So when Jesus talks about being with Him forever in heaven, He really means it! When He talks about how great heaven is, He really means it! And when He tells us that He will bring us there with Him if we’re good, He really means that, too.

All He asks in return is that we love Him back… that we try to be good and loving towards each other… that we believe in Him and trust Him and follow Him always. That’s not so hard to do.

Today, I ask you to really think about Jesus’ wonderful promises. They’re promises just for you. Thank Him for His special blessings and love, and remember that He is with you always.

Amen!

September 12, 2004: God Left the Lights On For You

The Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time



I want to start today by asking you to imagine a hypothetical situation; at least I hope and pray it’s hypothetical for you! Imagine that someone close to you betrayed you big time — really stabbed you in the back. Maybe it’s a wife who cheated, or a so-called best friend who blabbed some big secret to someone else, or a brother who turned you into the IRS… something along those lines. My question to you is this: what would it take to forgive this person so completely that not even the slightest trace or memory of the hurt and betrayal remains?

I think I’d be safe in saying that there’s not one of us here today who could do that with human power alone. With our sinful human nature, we tend to hold onto painful memories and experiences.

But God, on the other hand, does just that: He is willing and eager to forget all the terrible things we’ve ever done to Him, to others, and to ourselves… and I mean really forget them — as if they never occurred. This kind of forgiveness is so unlike our own, that I think most of us don’t even begin to understand what God’s mercy is like.

Jesus spent His earthly ministry trying to convince people of this — and a lot of the time, it was like talking to a doorpost. Folks just didn’t get it.

In today’s Gospel, we listen in as the Lord uses a couple of amazing examples to illustrate for us what God’s mercy is like. We hear that God will track and hunt down a single lost sheep from his sizeable flock until He finds it. Then we learn that God will turn the house upside down searching for a single coin from his vast treasure until He retrieves it. How many sheep does God have? Yet He still cares about the missing one. How much wealth does God have? Yet He won’t give up on one tiny coin.

Until He finds it. Until He retrieves it. Do you hear this incredible promise? God will never, ever, ever give up on you or any of His children as long as they walk this earth. We may push Him away — at times violently — but He is so patient with us, as St. Paul says today. In His pursuit of the lost sheep or lost coin, God will wait and keep trying.

Sometimes you hear about some fellow in love who gets rejected. In an attempt to win back the one he loves, he may humiliate himself and stoop to any depth to prove his love and reconquer her heart. No personal sacrifice is too great, and no embarrassment too difficult to bear, because of his persistent love.

God is exactly like that, too — even more so, in fact! We may have rejected Him by using our free will so stupidly, but the Lord eagerly tries every approach to win us back to Himself.

In the Old Testament days, God’s special people, the Jews, were headstrong and out of control. Despite God’s love and blessings, the children of Israel often responded like spoiled brats. Look at the event that the Book of Exodus describes today. God commanded Moses to go back down Mount Sinai, because the people had built themselves a golden calf idol to worship — the ultimate act of unfaithfulness and betrayal to God. The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to destroy this people and start over!”

Do you think God would really have carried out His threat? We’ll never know, of course, but it makes you wonder whether God was acting like any parent who sometimes uses threats to give kids a jolt and bring them back into line.

That time, Moses interceded for his people, and God backed off on his threats. But over the centuries, God’s chosen people continued to fall again and again. With unimaginable patience and mercy, God put up with it all, biding His time.

And when the time was full, as Scripture puts it, God sent His Son to the world as the culmination of His plan to draw us back. Through His suffering and death, Christ won for us an absolute guarantee of forgiveness for anything and everything we’ve done… IF only we ask for it. Can you imagine? The slate wiped clean! That sounds too good to be true, but it isn’t. They don’t call this the “Good News” for nothing!

Well, how do we ask for God’s mercy? We’re still a stiff-necked people so set in our sinful ways! Look what St. Paul says today: “I was once a blasphemer, a persecutor, a man filled with arrogance…”

We have to make the same kind of admission! We have to sit down in front of the Lord — someplace where it’s quiet and there’s no TV or radio blaring, no people trying to have a conversation — and examine our life and our conscience to see the sinful and offensive things we have done or failed to do. And we need to bring them before God with remorse and courage and say, like St. Paul: “Lord, I am so sorry, because I was once a …..” — you have to fill in the blank. And no matter how wicked you once were, God will forgive you. Just bring it all to confession.

The longer we let things pile up on our soul, the heavier the burden becomes and the more likely we are to despair of God’s mercy. We think, “Oh, God would never forgive me for everything I’ve done!” It reminds me of an old story you may have heard.

There was a teenager who was always having terrible fights with his parents over the usual things that parents and teenagers squabble about. Well, the arguments escalated and finally the boy walked out… ran away. For weeks he hitchhiked around, doing odd jobs here and there to earn a few bucks or a meal, sleeping wherever he could. He finally wound up in the city in some fleabag hotel. And that’s where the reality hit him of what he gave up. Like the prodigal son, he decided that he would swallow his pride and ask to come home — even though he feared that his parents wouldn’t have him back.

So he wrote his parents a letter, telling them that he wanted to come home. But very bravely he added that if they wouldn’t have him, he would understand. He wrote that he would be coming through on Tuesday night. He told them if they wanted him to come back home, they should leave the front porch light on as a signal. On the other hand, if they left the light off, he would just keep on going and never bother them again. Fighting back a tear, he dropped the letter in the mail.

On Tuesday, he hitchhiked back to his home town. He asked the fellow who was giving him a ride if he’d mind driving past a certain address, and the driver agreed. As they approached his street, the boy had to turn away; he couldn’t look. He said to the driver, “Please, do something for me. When we pass the blue house on the right, number 318, just tell me if there’s a light on on the porch.”

As the car approached, the driver said, “You better look at this.” But the teenager said, “Please just tell me.”

“No, you better look yourself,” said the driver. And when the boy turned, he saw a sight he never expected. Not only was the front porch light on, but there were bright lights burning in every single window of the house! With tears streaming down his face, he ran up the steps, assured of the love he now wanted so desperately.

That feeling of relief, of ecstatic joy and peace… you can have that, too! That’s the merciful love God offers you today. Open up your heart to Him. Go to confession and let out all the old poison. It will be easy to find your way. You see, God left all the lights on for you.




Today’s Readings:
Exodus 32, 7–14
Psalm 51
1 Timothy 1, 12–17
Luke 5, 1–32

(School Mass): Grandparents’ Day (Fri., Sept. 10, 2004)

It’s a special joy for us all to come together this afternoon to honor our grandparents. Now I think everybody knows that grandparents are your parents’ parents—your Mom’s mom and dad, and your Dad’s mom and dad.

If you are lucky enough to have grandparents who live close by and spend time with you, then you know how wonderful grandparents are.

In third grade one time, the children were asked to write an essay about a special person in their life. One 8-year-old decided to write about his grandma. This is what he wrote:

“A grandmother is a lady who has no children of her own, so she likes other people’s boys and girls. Grandmas don’t have anything to do except be there. If they take us for walks, they slow down past pretty leaves and caterpillars. They never say ‘Hurry up.’ Usually they are fat but not too fat to tie shoes. They wear glasses, and sometimes they can take their teeth out. They can answer questions like why dogs hate cats and why God isn’t married. They don’t talk like visitors do which is hard to understand. When they read to us, they don’t skip words or mind if it is the same story again. Everybody should try to have a grandma, especially if you don’t have TV, because grandmas are the only grownups who always have time.”

When I was a little boy, my grandparents were my favorite people in the whole world. I especially liked to be with my grandfather. I called him Papa. We would take long walks together. He taught me how to catch tadpoles—baby frogs—in the pond. We walked through the woods looking for the Seven Dwarfs. He told me funny stories and sang me happy songs. He loved to do crossword puzzles, and so he got me interested in learning new words. He was a coin collector, and he got me interested in that hobby, too—and taught me how to love history so I could learn about the kings and queens and presidents and countries stamped on the coins.

Papa also taught me a lot of things without ever using words. He showed me how to love people and treat them well, especially the family. He showed me how to be honest and truthful and responsible. He showed me how to turn to God in prayer. He taught me to see God’s beauty and love all around us.

And even though he didn’t live to see the day that I became a priest, maybe he did a lot to help me to become one! And I think that’s pretty special! And do you know that I never, ever say a Mass without praying for him. Maybe that’s just my little way to help pay him back.

I bet you have lots of stories like mine also. I hope you do.

Grandparents: a few thoughts for you, too:

You have a unique chance—an unbelievable opportunity, really—to influence several generations… because the example you give your grandchildren will stay with them throughout their lives and have an impact on how they relate to their own children and grandchildren. That’s pretty heady stuff!

Your special bond with your grandchildren lets you play so many wonderful roles! You can be a caretaker, storyteller, family historian, mentor, wizard, confidant, negotiator between child and parent, and even a model for your grandchild’s own old age! And when a child has a strong emotional tie to a grandparent, he enjoys a kind of immunity—he doesn’t have to perform for grandparents the way he must for his parents, peers and teachers. The love of grandparents comes with no strings attached.

And because of your special and unique relationship, you have an opportunity like no one else to lead your precious grandchildren to God.

Jesus told His disciples a story in the Gospel today that began this way: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?”

You are leading your grandchildren. If you are blind to the things of the faith, you will both fall into the pit! But if you are seeing, you will lead them with you to heaven. And that should be—must be—your goal.

Make sure your grandchildren learn the true faith. Not the “feel good” foolishness that says no more than God loves everybody and we’re all going to heaven some day—but the truth about choosing the good, avoiding evil, and knowing the difference. Teach them with your words, but even more by your examples.

Teach them how to pray.

Teach them to love the Church and the things of the Church—and why they should!—: the Mass, the Pope, the Bishop, the Priests and Sisters.

Teach them to go to Mass every Sunday… and to go often to confession.

Teach them to be proud to be Catholic and what that means.

In other words, share with them the wisdom that earned you your grey hairs and is now leading you to holiness.

That is why God entrusted grandchildren to you!

And children, ask your grandparents good questions. Say, “Grandma, tell me about Jesus.” Or “Grandpa, are the angels really real?” Ask them anything you want to know.

Boys and girls… dear grandparents… Jesus tells us today, “I chose you that you may go and bear fruit that will last.” Let us pray that His words will touch our heart and our spirit and always bring us closer to Him.

Amen! God bless you!

September 6, 2004: Labor Day

It’s a wonderful thing for our two parishes — Holy Family and St. Paul’s — to join together this morning for this joint Labor Day Mass. Sometimes we forget that we’re all members of the same Mystical Body of Christ. There’s no dotted line through Our Lord’s belly button, separating the northern part of Danville from the south! We’re all the sons and daughters of God, so it’s great to be able to worship together on this national holiday.

When you think about it, we also shouldn’t draw a dotted line to separate our lives into the times we work and the times we have off. Work and leisure both come from the hand of God, and both, therefore, are good.

That means that work is not something bad… not a “necessary evil.” Our labor is actually a gift from God which allows us to become co-creators with God of our world. Work is a precious means to let us be productive and creative. What’s more, it is also a road to holiness.

But like all things in our world, work easily becomes corrupted and oppressive. After all, there is plenty of sin and evil in the world. Why should we be surprised to find it in the workplace, too?

Throughout history, people have tried many different approaches to work.

The world found out, for example, that there is no workers’ paradise under Communism. We learned that the classic version of socialism doesn’t work either. And we’ve also found out that unrestrained capitalism is also an evil. Just look around. You and I know what happens when people max out their credit cards… when couples have to work two and three jobs to pay for all the toys and possessions they can’t live without. And we remember how famous businesses like Enron or Arthur Andersen — or famous businesspeople like Martha Stewart — fell hard when they were caught in unbridled greed.

Another evil in our world of labor has to do with so much imbalance. Here in the United States, the CEOs and other top managers and Board members of large corporations are paid obscenely large salaries in comparison to the wages of workers. No one begrudges corporate management excellent compensation. But there has to be a relationship between workers’ wages, productivity and job security — or the whole thing begins to unwind. I’m sure you heard the news recently that something like 34 million Americans in the work force have no health insurance. That is a national scandal.

As Christian people, we cry out for social justice for all. We believe that social justice is more important than any particular economic system, and in fact, it must be one of the main motivating factors of any nation’s economy.

Today, on this Labor Day, as we celebrate the working persons of our country, it is an excellent time for us to renew our dedication to social justice, to the rights of every person to a decent standard of living and pay; to peace and harmony among management, labor and capital; and to a passionate concern for the dignity of every precious human being.

For sure, we can and must pray for these things. We also pray that employers will look with compassion and empathy on the men and women who work for them so faithfully and diligently — and to take to heart their true needs and dignity. We must also remember all those who are out of work but who have a lot to offer and want to work. May our good and gracious God guide them to new and fulfilling opportunities.

Those of us who are the employers also have a deeper responsibility: not just to pray, but also to find practical ways to put these ideals into practice. We are brothers and sisters in Christ, and we’ve got to treat our family members better!

On this national day of celebration and rest, may God bless you and fill you with His peace and joy. Amen!

September 5, 2004: Putting Christ First

The Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 5, 2004



The Book of Wisdom opens with a mysterious question today: “Who can know what the will of God is, and who can figure out what the Lord means?”

It’s pretty clear that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. His thoughts aren’t even close to our thoughts!

We’re thinking: keep my body beautiful and healthy. He’s thinking: save the soul.
We dream of a pay raise. He dreams of raising the dead.

We do everything to avoid pain and seek peace. God uses pain to bring peace.

We promise ourselves: I’m going to live before I die. But God commands us: Die, so you can live.

We love the things that rust. He loves what endures.

We rejoice at our successes. He rejoices at our confessions.

We show our children the rich and famous — the pro athletes, the movie and TV stars, the most famous politicians and business executives — and say: Be like them. God points to His broken, bleeding Son on the cross and says: No, be like Him.

OK. We’re supposed to listen to Jesus and watch what He does so we can copy Him. So what’s this business in the Gospel today what we’re supposed to hate our parents, our husband or wife, our children, our brothers and sisters? How very odd! I guess it’s clear that God’s thoughts aren’t our thoughts.

We’ve all heard the Christmas carol, “Good King Wenceslaus.” The song is all about Wenceslaus, the patron saint of the Czech people, who lived 1100 years ago. In fact, his feast day is coming up at the end of this month — on September 28. His father, the Duke of Bohemia, was a Christian who was killed in battle when Wenceslaus was a young boy. His mother became a Christian in name only, just to please her husband, but she didn’t practice her faith. Fortunately, Wenceslaus had a saintly grandmother named Ludmilla who brought up the young prince to be a true follower of Christ.

There was a lot of rivalry and intrigue in Wenceslaus’ family, especially when he became king. His mother was jealous of his grandmother’s influence. And his own brother, Boleslas, schemed to take over the throne. One night Wenceslaus went to pray in front of the tabernacle, as he often did. Right before the altar, his own brother stabbed him to death.

Does this sound like your family? People upset and angry and jealous and unforgiving — maybe downright mean — towards one another?

This is not the kind of hate that Our Lord is speaking of in the Gospel.

In the Hebrew — or more accurately, the Aramaic — language of Jesus’ day, if someone wanted to say, “I prefer this and not that” — he would actually say, “I like this and I hate that.” To hate something meant to like something less than something else. St. Matthew records the meaning of Christ’s words more clearly to our way of speaking when he says, “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” (Mt. 10, 37).

In other words, Jesus says that everyone who wants to follow Him must love Him more than anybody or anything else — even more than our parents and family. Thank God, most parents, unlike the mother and brother of Wenceslaus, are the very ones who inspire us to love Our Lord above everyone else.

So now comes the moment when we have to examine ourselves about this. Are we followers of Christ in that sense? What comes first in our lives?

For lots of people these days, it’s money. To the drunkard, it’s his bottle or beer can. To the impure, it’s the body of his companion or his pornography. To the Mass-misser, it’s a few more hours of sleep, or a fishing trip, a camping trip, a shopping trip. To the proud, it’s honors and praise. Seeking justice for all people — whatever their race, religion, ability, status in life, gender or sexual orientation, wealth, education, cleanliness, you name it! — is way down the list of what many people want. But that’s precisely what Jesus meant: His example, His commands must come first.

St. Wenceslaus had a special, personal love for Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. He built churches and repaired them. He visited Our Lord many times every day. He even planted with his own hands the wheat and grapes for the bread and wine of the Mass. He not only reached up to Christ in prayer, he reached out to the needy with help — all for the sake of Christ.

This is what Christ is asking of us today. Prefer Christ, choose Christ, think of Christ, follow Christ — before everything else. Absolutely everything else.

In a few moments, at this very altar, we will raise up Our Lord as an offering to His heavenly Father. With great love and humility and trust, let us unite ourselves to Him. Promise to put Him first in all things. Your presence here today is one proof that you put Christ before a lot of other things. Ask St. Wenceslaus, the Blessed Mother, and your own patron saint to help you put Jesus first every day… every minute. Do this and you are on your way to being a true follower of Jesus.

God bless you!



Today’s Readings:
Wisdom 9, 13–18
Psalm 90
Philemon 9–17
Luke 14, 25–33

(School Mass): Feast of St. Gregory the Great (Fri., Sept. 3, 2004)

Pope St. Gregory the Great


Did you ever stop and wonder what Jesus might have been like when he was a kid your age? What did He do for fun? What games did He like to play? What did He and His friends talk about when they were by themselves? What kind of music did He like?

I bet you never thought about that! Well, of course Jesus liked music—just like you do! There were no CD players or radios or iPods 2000 years ago… but Jesus and His friends would have liked to sing, and maybe play some instruments like flutes and drums and lyres. Lyres were string instruments like ancient guitars. And they would have liked to listen to music, too. Not rock or rap or country, but the sweet music of their own day.

Today the Church around the world is celebrating the feast day of a special saint named Gregory. He lived almost 1500 years ago and he became pope… a great pope… so great, in fact, that he earned the title, “St. Gregory the Great.”

Poor Gregory didn’t want to be the pope. He didn’t think he was worthy of such an honor and such an important position. In fact, when Gregory found out that they wanted to make him the pope, he ran away and hid in a cave. Can you imagine? But they found him, dragged him out, and made him agree.

But back to the music. Gregory loved Jesus very much and he wanted to know a lot about Him. He especially wanted to know how Jesus prayed, because Gregory wanted to copy Him. He knew that Jesus gave us the words to the Our Father, so he also wondered if maybe he could see if Jesus left us any music, too.

A lot of the praying that Jesus Himself did was the psalms. Even today we pray a psalm at every single Mass. You know that we have a “responsorial psalm” after the First Reading. Priests and nuns and lots of lay people also pray something called the “Divine Office.” This consists of lots of psalms, too. So the psalms are an important part of Catholic worship, even today.

Psalms are actually songs. They were meant to be sung—and in fact, if you look carefully at your bible, you’ll find that there is little tiny print at the beginning of several of the psalms that give directions to the musicians!

So anyway, St. Gregory was clever, and he reasoned that Jesus must have sung those psalms! And that means there had to have been music! So Gregory set to work to see if he could find it.

Sure enough, Gregory “rediscovered” Jesus’ music! So he wrote it down in musical notation and taught some of the ancient monks how to sing it, too. The style of music is known as “Gregorian Chant”—and we still use it today! This kind of music is very, very special and quite different from most of the songs we know—even Church songs. But the Church tells us that everybody should try to learn a little of this music not only because it’s so beautiful but also because we think it can connect us a little bit more with Jesus. After all, what brings people together more than singing together?

Pope St. Gregory wasn’t called “Great” just because of the music. He led the Church for 14 years and wrote many books and was a great preacher and teacher. He loved all people and treated them with love and kindness. He was the first pope to give himself the title “Servant of the Servants of God.” All the popes since him have used this beautiful title.

St. Gregory especially loved the poor and strangers. Every day he fed them a good dinner. He was also concerned about bad treatment that people suffered. Once, before he became pope, he saw a group of blond boys up for sale in the slave market of Rome. He asked where they were from and was told that they were from England. Gregory felt a great desire to go to England to bring the love of Jesus to the people there who didn’t know about Jesus—and when he became pope, one of the first things he did was to send some of his best monks to convert the English to Christ.

In the last years of his life, poor St. Gregory suffered a lot because of very poor health. But that didn’t stop him from working hard for the Church until God took him home in the year 604.

So that’s the story of St. Gregory the Great! Whenever you sing in Church, think of St. Gregory. Remember that you’re singing for Jesus. Also promise Jesus that you will try to be as kind and loving to everyone just the way St. Gregory was. With a happy song on our lips and good deeds on our soul, we will definitely be on the right path to please Our Lord very much and make our way to heaven!

Amen.