Year-In-Review 2020

Homily #189: Mary as Essential in Following Jesus as a Christian: “Totus Tuus, Mary (I Am All Yours, My Queen & My Mother)

There is a somewhat unknown story told about the former Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Jaime Sin.  Among other things, he was known for his sense of humor during tense moments.  On one occasion, the Cardinal Archbishop spoke of a incident report he received during the bloodless 1986 EDSA Revolution.  The story goes like this: When a group of soldiers were ordered to fire on some Filipino protestors who were fighting against corruption and election fraud, a report emerged that a mysterious woman stood between the soldiers and the protesters.  The woman said, “Do not fire on this people.  I am the Queen of this land.” 

Reflecting on the report of this incident later, the Cardinal Archbishop insisted that this was none other that the Mother of Jesus looking out for the Philippines which has a profound love for her.  However, someone skeptically said to him, “Your Eminence, I’m sure that woman was probably one of the many nuns or Religious Sisters that were protesting that day.”  Cardinal Sin reply, “Oh no!  It definitely was not just a nun or Religious Sister because it was reported that that woman’s beauty far surpassed any nun.”  He joked that even the holiness nun was not as beautiful as this woman.

The Filipino Cardinal’s story about the mysterious beautiful woman leads us to ponder today’s Gospel on the Woman of the Annunciation and even on today’s First Reading on the Ark of the Covenant.  As part of our preparation for the birth of our Newborn King on Christmas this Friday, let us reflect on our special love and reverence for the Mother of the Newborn King who will be born in a few days.  I offer two main points of reflection: 

The first is that Mary is our model of Christian faith.  She is an icon of us, the Church, or image of the Church.  In Luke Chapter 1 today, Mary eventually gives her “yes” to God’s invitation to be the Mother of God’s Son.  Her PERFECT “yes” is heard in her words, “Let it be”.  This is one thing that John Lennon got right in his classic song, “Let it be.”  John Lennon writes, “When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom: Let it be.  / And in my hour of darkness, she is standing right in front of me, speaking words of wisdom: Let it be.”  She is first mother before she is disciple; she is our mother first before she is our fellow sister [as Benedict XVI wrote].  “I am the handmaid of the Lord.  Let it be done to me according to your word.” 

The Second Vatican Council in its Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium (no. 66), taught: “Mary has by grace been exalted above all angels and humans to a place second only to her Son, as the most holy Mother of God who was involved in the mysteries of Christ: She is rightly honored….”  Vatican II also reminds us, “From earliest times the Blessed Virgin is honored under the title of Mother of God, whose protection the faithful take refuge together in prayer in all their perils and needs.”

And that’s the second main point: Mary isn’t just a model of faith and trust, Mary has been at the heart of what it means to follow Jesus as a Christian.  Mary, Mother of God, is an essential worker.  [God does not treat Mary like a broom he puts in the closet when he’s done with it.  Rather, Mary continues to assist the Church today.]  The first Christians turned to Mary for protection, during danger or national distress and emergencies.  During plagues, social upheavals, fires and threats of invasion, for 2,000 years,

Anyone who loves the Bible and the Word of God should honor Mary. According to the Church Fathers, she was foretold in the Old Testament, along with Jesus, since the Book of Genesis, Chapter 3, when God announced to the serpent after the fall of Adam and Eve into Original Sin, “I will put enmity between you and woman…”  At the end of the Bible in Revelation Chapter 12, the Woman is given wings of a great eagle to protect her from evil.  She is the Woman at Cana in Jn. 2 and at the foot of the Cross in Jn. 19.  She guided the early Christian community at Pentecost in Acts Ch. 2. 

The tradition of the Church is that Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant.  Jesus is the New Covenant itself, but Mary is the Ark or the tent or the boat or the tabernacle or the container of the New Covenant.  As it is written in the Second Book of Samuel from today’s First Reading, “I will fix a place for my people Israel; I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place without further disturbance.”  [Just as King David danced before the Ark of the Covenant when it entered Jerusalem, so too John the Baptist danced the dance of the joy in Elizabeth’s womb during the Visitation of Mary’s cousin Elizabeth.

And just as the Archangel Gabriel announced to Mary: Do. Not. Be Afraid!  This same message from the Word of God applies to us today. Do not be afraid!  “Do not be afraid” appears 365 days in the Bible.  You know, there are a lot of fads today. F.A.D.S.  F for fear.  A for anxiety.  D for depression.  And S for stress.  F.A.D.S.  Do not be afraid of these F.A.D.S.  As humans, our knees will shake in fear that paralyzes.  Let us have the confidence in the heart of our heavenly Mother.  St. John Paul’s Latin motto as Pope was “Totus Tuus.”  This papal motto comes from St. Louis Marie de Monfort and means “All Yours.”  I am all yours, my Queen and my Mother, and all that I have is yours. Totus tuus ego sum.

In closing, as we prepare these final days before the birth of the Prince of Peace, “let it be” are our words of wisdom.  It’s said that Christmas is that time of the year when non-Catholics and Protestants and secular society acknowledge Mary.  However, let’s not just entrust our crises today once a year but every moment of joy and sorrow.  Mary isn’t just a model of faith and trust, Mary has been at the heart of what it means to follow Jesus as a Christian.  too, as we heard in John Lennon and Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila during EDSA or the Epifinos de los Santos Avenue, or the Way of the Manifestation of the Saints.  May we all have a true joyful and faith-filled Merry Christmas during these difficult times for the Church and the world. 

“I am the handmaid of the Lord.  Let it be done to me according to your word.”

some thank you's

Dec. 5, 2020

I have learned over the years to accept gratitude from God's people.

This was first mentioned during diaconate formation.  I didn't understand it then, but I am starting to see the wisdom behind having an accepting heart now.

50th Priest Anniversary of Fr. Jess Soriano (pastor who signed my diaconate application in 2008)

Baptism (Homily #188 on God's Message of Love Through Baptism)

Welcome to the Church!

Godmother Christine read the readings. S said that God loves us "this much" with our arms outstretched like Jesus on the Cross.

I spoke about the Prophet Malachi whose name means "God's messenger" or "my messenger".

(139th baptism) 

“Spiritual Preparation For Our Own Particular Judgment: Stay Awake!” (Homily 187b)

“Spiritual Preparation For Our Own Particular Judgment: Stay Awake!” (Homily 187b)

By Deacon Dennis Purificacion

32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Nov. 8, 2020)

In a recent interview with legendary quarterback Joe Montana, Montana was asked his secret for success.  After crediting his dad, Montana replied his secret was in preparing.  He said, “Every time my dad came home, I’d have a ball in my hand, and we’d go over sports.”  Montana practiced throwing a football with his dad, then later prepared under Head Coach Bill Walsh, and later rehearsed with wide receiver Jerry Rice over and over until near perfection.  Joe Montana was wise and prudent enough to prepare before the big events that led the SF 49ers to victory after victory.

Today, we too prepare for many things in our lives: On a global scale, we are constantly asked to be prepared.  Be ready for natural disasters.  Be prepared for man-made problems. 

And if this is true for our earthly lives, then even more preparation is needed for our spiritual lives.  That’s why in today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us to be prepared.  Be prepared because we do not know the day nor hour for the coming of the Son of Man.  Stay awake!  Stay vigilant; keep watch.

Jesus is foretelling his Second Coming at the end of human history.  This is the return of the King who will, as the Second Vatican Council taught, restore the Kingdom of God in its fullness and perfection (Lumen Gentium, Ch.7)!  The Greek word for the Second Coming of Christ is “Par-Ousia”.  This PAROUSIA event is also called Judgment Day.  In the Mass, after the Lord’s Prayer, the priest prays that we be filled with the expectation of Jesus’ return [in glory].  As St. Paul wrote in his First Letter to the Thessolonians from today’s Second Reading, at the sound of a trumpet, the dead shall be raised and those living at the time of the Second Coming will be caught up in the air to be with Jesus.  And all of us must prepare by being like the 5 prudent and wise virgins.

Our lamps and oils are our souls ready when the Bridegroom knocks at the door.  We will experience our own “particular” Judgment Day at the end of our journey or pilgrimage on Earth.  At the moment of our deaths, our souls will separate from our bodies and stand before Jesus.  And while our physical earthly remains are placed in the earth from which it came, our spiritual souls enter into one of three states: One possibility is directly into Heaven; another possibility it is condemned to Hell (like the 5 foolish virgins); and the third temporary possibility is what St. Paul calls a burning fire of purgation or Purgatory.  (The 4 Last Things are Death, Judgment, Heaven or Hell.)

During this month of November, we especially pray for the happy repose of the souls of Purgatory.  These souls do not want anything else other than your prayers and sacrifices of charity.  They want to be with God fully but still need to be purified of venial sins and imperfections.  The beautiful flowers and caring for tombstones or beautiful words we post online [for the dead] are really meant more for us and our healing, not them, because it is our prayers and sacrifices provide them relief in Purgatory.  The highest prayer for them is the Mass.  They cannot pray for themselves; only we can on Earth.  They are grateful when we remember them in our prayers, and they in turn assist us with their prayers.  The names of our departed are listed this month.  The Bible says, “It is good and wholesome to pray for the dead” (Macc.).  Those in Purgatory eventually go to Heaven.  But, dear brothers and sisters, let us aim to go directly to Heaven, not just be satisfied for Purgatory and then Heaven.  We don’t want a mediocre Catholic faith but a fervent and zealous Catholic faith!

In the First Reading, the author of the Book of Wisdom calls us to be prudent.  “Wisdom is the perfection of prudence.”  When we pass from this life, we must be prudent, ready, and prepared.  This happens when our souls are in right relationship with God, in the state of grace, and not the state of deadly mortal sin. We do this with reception of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Penance.  Remove serious or mortal sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation by going to Confession. 

Let me ask: Are you ready right now?  Are we one of the foolish virgins or one of the wise virgins?  Remember, we know neither the day or hour of the end of our lives.

If you answered an honest yes without flinching, that you are ready, then please continue that route.  However, if you couldn’t answer yes to the question, “Are you ready right now to stand before God?” then let this be an invitation to be prepared.   Yes, the Son of Man comes at the end of the world in some unknown future for a general Judgment Day of all humanity.  But the Son of Man comes to us at the moment of our deaths for our particular Judgment Day.  So let’s be ready!

We can best prepare ourselves by completing our Sacraments, if we have not done so already.  And if we have already received our Sacraments; then, we can continuously prepare by receiving the Eucharist and going to Confession as frequently as possible, such as going to daily Mass or devotional monthly or even weekly Confession.  Our Lord gave us the Sacraments to help us on our journey to Heaven; let us avail ourselves of them as much as we can while there is still time.

Also, practicing works of mercy, like the corporal or spiritual works of mercy, help us to be like the 5 wise and prudent virgins.  [Bring example of elderly person alone without access to the Mass and doesn’t know how to use technology to access Mass.]  So we can prepare and stay awake not just with the corporal works of mercy (like giving drink to the thirsty or visiting prisoners) but with the spiritual works of mercy, too.  Some examples of the spiritual works of mercy are instructing the ignorant or people who don’t know any better, admonishing sinners with fraternal correction, comforting the sorrowful, bearing wrongs patiently or forgiving offences. 

As we begin the process of ending the liturgical year and beginning a new Church calendar year Advent 2021, the parish is offering a free virtual Advent retreat starting this Nov. 30.  This will help us not just as individually but as a parish community to prepare for the great mysteries of Christmas, the First Coming of Christ.

In closing, while we cannot all be like Joe Montana or Coach Bill Walsh or Jerry Rice, all of us can, like them spiritually, prepare, prepare, prepare.  Let us be prepared every moment of our lives by avoiding sin and living a life of divine friendship with God.  Are you ready?  No?  Well, let’s get ready then!

"Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day not the hour."

Photo credit: Gustavo Dure, Triumph of Christianity Over Paganism

(not exactly the Second Coming but some images convey foreshadow of Christ's Second Coming)

 

Marriage Prep (Armando & Lucero)

Here is one of the engaged couples I'm blessed to prepare for the Sacrament of Matrimony.

Their family was taking pictures after Mass, so I asked them to take one for me, too.

May the Woman of Cana in Galilee, present with her Son at a wedding, be with this couple from the beginning to the end of their married lives.

Baptism (Baby of a Couple I Prepared for the Sacrament of Matrimony)

I spoke about heavenly light for the baptism for the child of a couple I prepared for marriage.

Protecting the New Orphans & New Widows in Our Time as Fundamental, Basic, Essential, Non-Negotiable, and the First Priority: God & Caesar (Homily #185)

video credit: St. Catherine's Church (Mr. Manuzon)

“Protecting the New Orphans & New Widows of our Time as Fundamental, Basic, Essential, Non-Negotiable & the First Priority: God & Caesar”

(Homily #185)

By Deacon Dennis Purificacion

October 18, 2020

(29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

 10 a.m. & 12 p.m. Masses

I
 
According to the Cambridge English dictionary, the word “fundamental” is defined as “the base from which everything else develops” (repeat).
 
If one has a long list of important tasks to do, there are simply more basic and fundamental tasks to do first.  Everything else comes later.
 
In our daily finances for home or work, there are more essential and fundamental items to buy and shop before everything else.  We simply don’t have the time, money and energy to buy and shop for everything except for what is fundamental to our families.
 
Fundamental is the priority.

 
II
 
In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us that God is fundamental.  Everything else is secondary.  God is fundamental, the base, essential, the non-negotiable, the first priority.  
 
Caesar then is secondary. Ceasar is negotiable. Caesar has to wait in line.  Caesar represents all those things in our lives that are important, but they are not the priority.  
 
What is fundamental comes first.  “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and repay to God what belongs to God.”
 
Additionally, whenever we discern what is fundamental in our lives, we will be tempted or distracted with other things to lead us away from what is fundamental.  According to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, there is a saying that the devil won’t [always] distract us with things that are evil, but the devil will distract us with things that are good.
 
It is like the hypocritical Pharisees that plotted to entrap Jesus [with a list of good things].  They put Jesus, as the saying goes, between a rock and a hard place.
Had Jesus said, “Don’t pay taxes,” then he would have been in trouble.  Had Jesus said, “Pay taxes,” then he too would have been in trouble [with the Jews].  They even set it up it in a mocking and sarcastic way:
 
(sarcastic tone:) “Teacher…”
(sarcastic tone:) “We know that you are a truthful man.”
(sarcastic tone:) “You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth”
(sarcastic tone:) “And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion”
(change to serious tone:) “Oh and BTW, do we pay the taxes or not?”
 
You see, knowing their malice, Jesus said, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?  Show me the coin to pay taxes.”  Jesus then says what is fundamental.  “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and repay to God what belongs to God.”
 
In the First Reading, it is written in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah about God first, “People may know that there is none besides me.  I am the Lord, there is no other” (Is. 45).  God is more important that Cyrus, an image of Caesar and a worldly ruler.  Cyrus was mentioned over 30 times in the Bible.  Cyrus was a pagan ruler yet he was chosen to lead God’s people into freedom after 70 years of captivity.
 

III
 
Today, in a sense, we are also being tested by those who wish to entrap us or entrap the Church [between a rock and hard place].  

We are not going to be distracted against doing evil necessarily.  But rather we will be overwhelmed with doing all this good in the world.  There is simply a long list of good to do, issues to choose from, candidates to select that determine our laws. 

But we simply can’t do everything.  Given the long list of important tasks, issues and candidates, we must determine what is basic, essential, non-negotiable, the first priority, and fundamental.
 
What is the base, what is essential, non-negotiable, what is the priority from which everything else flows [or is built]?  In both the natural law tradition and in the Catholic religious tradition, the dignity of innocent human life from natural beginning to natural end is fundamental.[1]  Life is the basis from which everything else flows.  The 5^th Commandment on protecting innocent human life comes before the 7^th Commandment on protecting material property’ the 5^th Commandment comes before the 8^th Commandment on protecting truth and speech. 
 
In the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, the Church teaches “When – concerning areas or realities that involve fundamental ethical duties – legislative or political choices contrary to Christian principles and values are proposed or made, the Magisterium teaches that ‘a well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals” (#590).[2]  In other words, the first non-negotiable is do not formally cooperate with intrinsic evil of killing innocent human life.[3]  Intrinsic evil is defined as acts that are 100% wrong regardless of the circumstances.  The other negotiable, prudential judgment issues come later.
 
Let us remember as Catholics in the public forum: God first and Caesar second.  The Lord first before Cyrus.  Faith first, party second.  We must have the conviction of bringing our faith in the public forum, to defend the innocent and defenseless.  As St. Paul wrote in his First Letter to the Thessalonians in today’s Second Reading, “For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.”  A well-formed Catholic conscience must be formed by the Word of God and the authoritative teaching of the Church, rather than mere opinions or the new fads of the day.[4]
 

IV
 
In closing, please allow me to briefly reflect on a liturgical vestment I am wearing.  A deacon wears what is called a “dalmatic” while the priest wears what is called a “chasuble.”  The deacon’s dalmatic has sleeves while the priest’s chasuble does not.  
 
There is a traditional prayer that I try to say before putting it on.  It goes like this: “Lord, endow me with the garment of salvation, the vestment of joy, and with the dalmatic of justice ever encompass me.”  The dalmatic of justice reminds all of us to work for justice, just like the first seven deacons ordained 2,000 years ago.  The job of the first seven deacons was to bring up any neglected in the community to the busy Apostles.  As deacons, we remind people to serve everyone, but even those first seven deacons identified widows and orphans of their day as the priority.  
 
In our day, I too want to remind the world and the Church of the neglected in the womb and the single mothers who raise their children.  We may not be registered voters or taxpayers, but all of us can still care for our families and the less fortunate.  May these marginalized new orphans and forgotten new widows today be our priority, our base, our essential non-negotiables, our fundamental, so that as the Responsorial Psalm says, we may “Give the Lord glory and honor.” 
 
“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and repay to God what belongs to God.”
 

---

[1] See, for example, St. John Paul the Great, Evangelium Vitae, no. 71.

[2] See also Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life” (24 November 2002), 4.

 

[3] See Catechism of the Catholic Church ##1749-1761; see also St. John Paul the Great, Veritatis Splendor, 79-83.

[4] See Catechism of the Catholic Church ##1783-1785.

 

“America, Let Us Return to God’s Mercy & He Will Grant Us Peace” (Homily #184)

 

“America, Let Us Return to God’s Mercy & He Will Grant Us Peace”

@20:25

This year, 2020, will definitely go down in history as a very different year.

For us in California, I need not list all our crises and tragedies here.  They are almost like the 10 plagues of Egypt but here in California.  Someone recently semi-joked, “So what chapter of the Book of Revelation are we in now?”  Or California skies look more like Mars than Earth.  But with all this somewhat light-hearted joking aside during our serious public situation, we cannot but help ponder what message God is bringing to us through all the death, destruction and bad news.

That is where the Good News of today’s Gospel is relevant for our fears and concerns.  Let the Good News keep our spirits up to persevere and endure these trials.  [America, Let Us Return to God’s Mercy & He Will Grant Us Peace.] 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us the Parable of the Workers.  Some workers were hired at 9am in the morning, but some workers were hired later in the day around 3pm in the afternoon or even 5 pm in the evening.  At the end of the day, when it came time to pay everyone for their labor, the workers that were hired around 9am complained that those hired at 5pm received the same salary.

Here, Jesus once again exaggerates his message, not as a businessman or commenting on labor and management standards in the workplace, but rather Jesus is teaching us about God’s mercy.  “Am I not free to do what I want with my own money?”  That money is the treasure of mercy and grace.

For many of us here at Mass, for many you who have taken time this Sunday to attend in person or join us via livestream, you and I are the workers called early at 9am by God at this time.  You are I have made many sacrifices for love of God for many, many years.  You are faithful, you know the importance of the Eucharist, you know how it is important to stay connected to Sunday Mass.  You and I are the faithful workers in God’s vineyard hired early in the morning.  God’s graces are working in you in a way that it is not working in others.

I have sometimes wondered why God asked me to serve him in my youth, while others were called to follow Him as adults later in life.  In a way, humanly speaking, it’s not fair.  But in today’s Good News, divinely speaking, Jesus reveals how God dispenses his mercy, his graces, how he calls even great sinners.  As it is written in the First Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, “Seek the Lord?”  How?  “While he may be found.”  “Let the scoundrel forsake his ways.”  The first is last and the last is first because God calls even great sinners to be great saints.

St. Augustine, after his later conversion in life, said, “Late have I loved Thee, O Lord, ancient Beauty ever New, late have I loved Thee. … You called, you shouted, you broke through my deafness.”  In addition to this, there is a saying attributed to the Protestant minister John Bradford who saw a man condemned to death.  The condemned man was on his way to his execution.  John Bradford, realizing that that very man could have been him, exclaimed, “There, but the grace of God, go I.”  “There, but the grace of God, go I.”  In other words, if it was not for the grace and mercy of God, that condemned man… would have been me.  We too should be grateful that God has given us the grace of conversion now to follow him, to serve him, to love him at this point in our life.  We should be grateful that we are the workers called by God so early in the morning to labor for him and not compare ourselves with the others.   It is not a matter of when God calls us to mercy but rather that God calls us to mercy.  It is not a matter that I am late loving God but rather that I love and serve God now.

[???To drive the point home, St. Teresa of Avila once had a mystical vision about God’s mercy.  She said that one time, Jesus allowed her to see a vision of what it would be like if she did not end up in Heaven.  St. Teresa of Avila saw where she would be in Hell.  She gave thanks to God that she was given the grace of conversion early on in life; she thanked God for mercy.]

Dear brothers and sisters, during these trying times for the Church, let us in the midst of our tribulation ask, beg, intercede and pray that God shortens these times.  Let us plead for God’s infinite mercy upon those have not been given the graces to accept God’s mercy, especially here in America, in California, in our city.  Let us ask God to shorted these scourges for the sake of the Elect, to grant mercy upon us.  Pray the rosary every day for world peace and to stop the spread of many errors.

“America, Let Us Return to God’s Mercy & He Will Grant Us Peace”.  Like we sang or recited in the Responsorial Psalm, “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him.”  Let us return to the commandments of God in our land, beginning with the first to respect innocent human life in the womb from conception to natural death, to respect the dignity of every human person in between conception and death, and to love our neighbor as ourselves, to forgive how we have hurt each other, to love justice and righteousness, to bend our knees only to God Almighty and ask his divine mercy for America.  Like St. Paul wrote to the Philippians in today’s Second Reading, let us act as worthy ministers of the Gospel.

In closing dear brothers and sisters, let us not wait on our deathbeds to return to God.  …because it may be too late by then.  Let us be the workers called early in the morning of our lives by God.  [And let us be grateful for this early call.]  Let us not wait until later in the evening of our lives, but let us accept God’s mercy now.  May we love Him and serve Him all our days in this life, so that we can love Him serve Him in the next life forever.  Amen.  

Homily #183: Persevere! Overcoming Personal & Societal Divisions Through Boldness of Persistent Faith Even When God Seems Silent [Jesus & Canaanite Woman]

 

[10am Mass]

[12pm Mass livestreamed here]

Homily #183

Persevere! 

Overcoming Personal & Societal Divisions Through Boldness of Persistent Faith

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Aug. 16, 2020

 

A father and his teenage son worked on a car engine with a dead battery for the first time.  At times, the father oddly remained silent to his son’s questions.  Other times, the father showed the son what to do.  “Here’s how to connect the red cable to the battery,” the father says.  After many frustrating moments, the car engine is eventually fixed.  The son says to his mom, “Hey Mom, Pop and I fixed the car!”  Of course, the father was the one who mainly jump-started the car engine, but through his silence or actions showed his son how to fix problems together.

Like the teenager in this story, we too experience God leading us, so that together with God – God and humans together – we eventually address the problems on our earthly journey.  When approaching our personal fears, our family problems and societal evils, do not forget the Lord, even when God does not seem to answer our persistent faith.  We cannot fix the dead battery of personal or society’s car engine by ourselves without God.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus and the Canaanite woman are like the father and son working together to jump start the dead battery.  According to Catholic biblical writer, Gayle Somers from St. Thomas Parish in Arizona, who has led parish Bible studies for many decades, to understand the story of today’s Gospel with the Canaanite woman and Jesus’ apparent cold shoulder treatment, we must first look at the entire context of the chapter in which we find the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15.

Prior to the verses on the Canaanite woman, Jesus had just confronted the Pharisees who opposed his mission.  It was after this that Jesus then entered into deep pagan or Gentile territory of Tyre and Sidon where he encountered this woman.  But notice: Whereas the Jewish Pharisees reject Jesus, the pagan Canaanite woman on the other hand boldly and persistently declares her faith in Jesus to solve her personal, family and social demons. 

In her faith, she calls Jesus “Lord” and “Son of David.”  She also brings her problems to Jesus: “My daughter is tormented by a demon.”  Contrary to our expectation, Jesus’ first response to her faith…. is to “not say a word to her.”  Jesus is silent.  (This is awkward; after all, I thought Jesus wanted people to come to faith in him.)

However, she is so vocally bothersome and annoyingly loud that even the disciples ask Jesus to send her away.  Jesus, aware of the deep racial divisions between the Canaanites tribe and the Jewish tribe of Israel, acknowledges the historical hurts. We are uncomfortable that Jesus replied that he was only sent to the lost sheep of the house or the tribe or the race of Israel & that Jesus gives her faith the cold treatment.  Yet she presses on, and Jesus gives her more cold shoulder treatment that all Jews would have understood: The Canaanite were treated like dogs.  Feed the children first before feeding the family pets, the Jews say.  This is the fourth rejection.  BUT she still goes to Jesus to solve her demons with this act of faith: “Even the dogs eat scraps that fall from the table.”

Like the boy who was shown how to fix a dead battery after painful effort, step by step, the persistent Canaanite woman problems were eventually healed.  In our personal, family and societal demons today, are we bold and persistent with our faith?  Or do we forget our faith when it seems that God does not reply to it? Take, for instance, the case of our current battles: the COVID pandemic.  Health studies show that people are experiencing higher rates of depression, anxiety, fears, substance abuse, financial meltdowns, mental health issues, loneliness, and many other personal and family demons.  The message from the “filial boldness” (Catechism 261) of the Canaanite woman for her and her sick daughter is that even when our faith seems like it is not doing anything in our lives, persevere!  Persevere in not just faith, but bold faith, with the audacity to believe, even when God is silent in his response to your faith.  In the Book of Revelation, endurance is the virtue of the saints during tribulation. 

I should mention a word about keeping your faith alive not just in your personal and family life during this sheltering-in-place process, but also as a parish community.  While we may be dispensed from Sunday Mass under certain conditions, we are not dispensed from keeping holy the Sabbath day.  Do not forget the Sabbath and honor it as best as you can by supporting your parish in whatever way you can.  Like the Canaanite woman, the stewardship of your time, talent and treasure expresses your faith.  We need volunteers who can safely help the parish, either as lay ministers to help us social distance at outdoor Masses, as catechists in our parish religious ed programs, or as parents helping our parish school with enrollment or keeping our school running.  Your time and talents and treasure are ways to keep a bold persistent faith during this difficult time.  Parishes across the country are experiencing lower donations.  When you hear the pastor’s parish finance report later, please keep your faith in mind. 

Also, keep the faith alive in your homes.  If you are by yourself watching this from home through livestreaming, remember that the Church is your home, the Church is your family, and you are not alone.  If you have others in your family, keep the Christian faith alive.  Parents all the more should continue to educate their children in faith.  Be persistent in raising your children in the Catholic faith [from home].

And finally, concerning our societal demons, the Canaanite woman teaches us that there are non-material ways to address the social evil of racism.  Just as we heard in today’s Gospel about the Canaanite woman, Jesus overcomes deeply rooted racial hatred and divisions through faith.  Thus, we cannot solve systemic racism just on reason alone.  We will not heal racial divisions with just the law alone.  We cannot overcome historical discrimination on just material and human wisdom alone.  As the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., taught violence is not the response to violence.  Something – or rather Someone – higher is needed to heal our land.  Faith is needed, and not just faith, but a filial and bold faith.  Even if it seems that Christian social principles are not leading us in progress, the bold, persistent and continual faith of the Canaanite woman is a model for us.  Humanity will not solve problems without God. 

According to the Pontifical Council Commission Iusticia et Pax (Justice & Peace) document The Church and Racism: Toward a More Fraternal Society, the Church contributes to promoting the peaceful coexistence of all peoples by having us realize the “unity of humankind over and above any ethnic, cultural, national, social or other divisions” as having been “abolished by the cross of Christ” (no. 22).  Today, we hear through the Canaanite woman, Jesus foreshadows his mission even outside his own race and culture.  Jesus is not tribal but his mission is universal.  Jesus’ mission is katolicos!  It is not just within the tribe or one race or one people, but applicable to the entire world.  He shows us that there is one race, the human race, to love.  Like the Second Reading in Paul’s letter to the Romans, Paul describes his katilocos mission, not just to the Jewish race, but also as the “Apostle to the Gentiles.”

In closing, dear brothers and sisters, the Canaanite woman teaches us to not just have faith but to have a bold and persistent and enduring faith in Jesus Christ as the way to reply to our personal, family, and societal evils.  May we too have this faith.  May all nations, not just one race or people, always praise God.  As we proclaimed in today’s Responsorial Psalm, “O God, let all the nations praise you.”

 

Homily #166: A Heartfelt Message For My Former Students -- "I Know You're Busy, But Do Not Forget the Lord"

On the occasion of my baptizing the child of my former student from SP-SV High School Class of 2001.  I remember Fr.

 Gary Sumpter for saying this.


A Heartfelt Homily Message For My Former Students -- I Know You're Busy, But Do Not Forget the Lord" (Homily #166)



125th baptism

Conditional (Emergency) Baptism

A Diocesan Tribunal outside my Diocese granted permission for a conditional baptism for a new resident in their Diocese.  There are more unusual circumstances that wouldn't be appropriate to mention on this blog, but I am grateful for the clearance from that Diocesan Tribunal and the local pastor.

137th Baptism

“Wheat (Good) & Weeds (Evil) Co-Exist Until Harvest (Judgment Day): Spiritual Battles & Persecutions of the Church” (Homily #182)

9am Mass

[Homily #182b]

 Video Credit: St. Catherine's Church

Homily 182

“Wheat (Good) & Weeds (Evil) Co-Exist Until Harvest (Judgment Day):

Spiritual Battles & Persecutions of the Church”

16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

July 19, 2020

The Church seems to be entering into a more intensified phase of global persecution.  The world, too, is living in a time of distress.  At the beginning of 2020, we were threatened with nuclear war in the Pacific and rumors of conventional war in the Middle East in January.  Following this, a plague called COVID-19 struck humanity and hit close to home in February along with panic-shoppers in March.  Uncertainties about the economy and employment for workers, businesses and families abound, compounding poverty and home school education in April and May.  Beginning In June, more social unrest and racial injustice trouble the land.  And to top these all off throughout, human life remains disrespected affecting many elderly in nursing homes who have died lonely.

In a sense, the Church is in no better condition.  The fact that we are out here instead of inside the church building is not the norm.  Other Christians have it worse without the comfort of the Word of God & Sacraments where they are isolated and persecuted.  Churches [around] Europe are being burned.  Priests are not respected, especially on social media, through vitriol and insults.  Internally, we are still trying to reform and clean our own house and purify the Church.

But even in such a situation for both Church and state, we can’t help but wonder: What is a Christian expected to believe about God with such evils?  Evil seems to have the upper hand, and the Church seems abandoned.  One way to prepare our hearts is to take courage from Jesus in today’s Gospel.  In the Parable of the Sower [Wheat & Weeds], Jesus reminds us how the Kingdom of Heaven works in the face of overwhelming evil.

I.

In Matthew Ch. 13, Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a sower who planted wheat.  In a way, it is a follow up to last week’s Gospel on how a mustard seed bears fruit.  But the focus today is not so much on the seed that bears good fruit but rather on the bad weeds that choke the good fruit.  “An enemy has done this,” the sower says.  Here, we hear about the wheat of goodness and the weeds of evil. 

During our temporary pilgrimage here on Earth, Jesus reminds us that good and evil co-exist.  As much as we want to think well of humanity and its redemption, the reality remains that even redeemed humanity still experiences the consequences or concupiscence of the first Original Sin.  From the time of Adam to the last sin at the end of the world, evil and fallen spirits are part of our pilgrimage.  We are in an invisible spiritual war.  And note: We are not fighting against each other so much, but we are fighting against the weeds of fallen spirits in their rebellion against God.  They recruit us humans to be weeds.  They want us so badly to join them.  [They want us to hate each other.]  They hate us more than you can imagine, somewhat similar to how God loves us beyond comprehension.  St. Augustine once said, “How blessed are those Christians of the future latter days.  We fight the devil [here in the 5^th Century] while he is chained, but those Christians of the future latter days will fight the devil when he is unchained.”

II.

This point about the great spiritual battle between good and evil, between wheat and weeds, leads us to this next mind-boggling point from Jesus.  Amazingly, the sower does not pull up the weeds.  When the servants of the sower asked, “Do you want us to go and pull them up?” the sower replied, “No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them.”  Well, any good gardener knows that one should pull out weeds.  It is my own first instinct when I see weeds.

One interpretation [of not pulling up weeds] is that even the weeds, those in the state of sin, need a chance to repent.  God gives us sinner time so that we are not weeds but are the good wheat instead.  This makes sense if we see why the First Reading from the Book of Wisdom is chosen for today.  The last line says, “And you taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; and you gave your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.”  And even today’s Responsorial Psalm focuses on God’s forgiveness: Lord, you are good and forgiving, slow to anger, abounding in kindness.  God is slow dealing with weeds.

III.

Now for this last of three main points, let’s summarize the two points made so far:  First, there is a great spiritual war between good and evil, where wheat and weeds co-exist.  Second, even the weeds are not plucked yet; evildoers are given time to repent through God’s mercy and forgiveness.  They are given chance after chance after chance.  And for us who have family members or close friends who are away from God, we don’t want to pluck them just yet.  Don’t we want our loved ones, too, to have chances to turn away from evil?  So here’s the last point: Good and evil may exist side by side, and evil has a chance to change, but evil eventually ends.  Evil eventually ends.  As Benedict XVI once said, “In the end, God wins!”  Or as Fr. Frank Pavone once said, “We are not fighting FOR victory; we are fighting FROM victory.”  Victory over evil has already been won.  It’s been foretold.  Evil was already defeated in the crucifixion, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  The sower said, “Let them grow together until the harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, ‘First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.”

May we always be the repentant wheat destined for the Barn of Heaven!  May we not be the unrepentant weeds that refused God’s mercy in this life that are tied in bundles for burning are the unrepented sinners.  The choice has been made at harvest.  The harvest is Judgment Day.  No mas!  That’s it after that.  We have defined our souls for all eternity. 

IV.

So, dear brothers and sisters, [during out time when anxiety, depression and mental health issues are on the rise], don’t get discouraged when evil has the upper hand in the world or seems to have the upper hand in the Church or even in our personal lives.  Yes, fight evil with all your might.  Yet remember, the spiritual battle cannot be won on our own.  That’s why in the Second Reading, St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought.”  Here, the Apostle reminds us that the Holy Spirit helps us.  Let us trust the graces that we received in the Sacrament of Confirmation to always be the good wheat. 

In summary, first, let the wheat and weeds grow together in this spiritual struggle; second, don’t uproot the weeds just yet and give those doing evil a chance to change; and third, goodness wins in the end.

The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.