Prepare for First Coming of Christ By Preparing for Second Coming of Christ with End of Life Care Issues (Homily #168)

Video of Homily #168b for 5pm Mass HERE

Audio of Homily #168a for 12pm Mass HERE

Prepare.  Prepare and stay awake!  Rejoice!

These themes to prepare, stay awake, and rejoice constantly appear in the Word of God today.  On this First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the new liturgical calendar 2020, the Church as a wise mother reminds us to prepare, prepare, prepare.  Just as we prepared a meal this Thanksgiving Weekend and will now prepare for the holiday season of Christmas over these next 4 weeks, we are also reminded to spiritually prepare for the end of our lives. It is not just a preparation for the First Coming of Christ at Christmas, but it is also to prepare for His Second Coming beyond Christmas for our ultimate and final destiny in our journey home to God in Heaven. 

If you were like me hearing the readings today, you may have wondered why the very first Gospel reading of the three-year cycle of readings had to do with the end times.  I mean, come on now, I thought we were preparing for the arrival of cute little Baby Jesus! But instead, we hear of the glorious coming of Jesus at the end of the world.  The readings don’t seem to fit.

However, if we meditate further, we can ponder and hear that the best way to prepare for the First Coming of Christ this Christmas is to prepare also for His Second Coming at the end of time.  These two great events of human history are related.  And that’s the first main point: Prepare for the First Coming of Christ by preparing for the Second Coming of Christ.

In today’s Gospel from Matthew 24, Jesus over and over and over emphasizes the need to prepare.   As it was in the days of Noah before the flood, people were spiritually asleep and were not prepared for the flood.  “So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.”  Jesus also talks about the men in the field and the women grinding at the mill and says “stay awake.”  And also, had the master of the house “stayed awake” he would have not been broken into.  So, too, Jesus will come at an unexpected time in our lives.  Therefore, prepare and stay awake.

This leads to the second main point: Prepare for our own individual, particular judgment at the moment of our death by remaining in the state of grace.  The Second Coming of Christ in the future may or may not happen during our lifetime.  We do not know.  But what we do know is that when our life comes to an end with death, Jesus will come to us at that moment.  That is why we must prepare and stay awake.  As it is written in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah from today’s First Reading, “He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples.”  Because of this coming particular judgment, we must prepare and stay spiritually awake.  In St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans today, Paul writes that “it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep….for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”  So how do we prepare?  Prepare and stay awake by throwing off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.  In our world today, too many people are spiritually asleep and are not prepared for their judgment.  Prepare by living virtue over sin.  That’s what it means to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Sacrament of Confession will help to put on the armor of light.

Finally, and this is the third and last main point: There are some other really practical ways to prepare this Christmas with our neighbors.  The other month, the deacons and I attended a workshop sponsored by the Diocese on addressing end of life issues.  There were about a hundred deacons and their wives with them meeting with medical ethicists.  We talked about the need to prepare for end of life care, especially those in advanced age.  Perhaps I can flesh this out further in another homily in more detail, but for now, to stay on this theme of preparing during Advent, generally speaking, for example, we not only talked about the need to advise our parishioners to consider advanced medical directives, but we also talked about the need to prepare for a good and holy death.  We talked about preparing parishioners while they are conscious and alert, to express their wishes in writing, especially for the Last Rites (Confession, Anointing of Sick, and Holy Communion) when one is in danger of death.  One critical area emphasized to prepare our families is communication.  Communicate with family about, say for example, your will, beforehand.  Do not wait until after your death to let the surviving family deal with it during their time of mourning.  For this Advent, perhaps repair broken relationships with family and heal wounds with forgiveness.  The hour is now.  Also, the bishops are noticing that patient’s rights are being violated against their wills.  By putting your medical decisions in writing beforehand and even designating in writing your power of attorney, so someone can speak on your behalf, this helps prepare.  Another way is with Catholic Funeral Services.  There are some people who, if they can afford it now, purchase their plots before their deaths.  All Souls Cemetery has a program that will take any cremated remains of loved ones into their mausoleum which is consecrated grounds and sacred space instead of keeping remains at home.  [John Collins]  Finally, if one can afford life insurance, do it soon to prepare for surviving family and peace of mind as a matter of prudence.  The Knights of Columbus was founded, in part, to help widows or women who lose their husbands by providing life insurance.  All of these are important and concrete practical ways to prepare.

So, to summarize: (1) First, prepare for the First Coming of Jesus Christ at Christmas by preparing for the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the world; (2) Second, prepare for our own individual Particular Judgment by remaining in the state of grace; (3) Third, take practical steps with our loved ones to prepare for end of life care.

Prepare.  Stay awake.  Rejoice!  Preparing for things to come may be an uncomfortable topic, but God through his Church helps us to prepare for our journey at this moment and for the ultimate journey to him in Heaven which is the house of the Lord.  And in the meantime, on our pilgrimage this Advent season, let us rejoice!  The Word of God is calling us to prepare and stay awake, which ironically gives us cause to rejoice.  We rejoice because we are not alone in our preparation.  Our God is with us always, leading us home, guiding us ever gently, holding us in the ways of salvation.  

Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain.  As we sang in today’s Responsorial Psalm, “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.”   

Homily #167 on "4 Last Things" in Presence of Bishop Socrates Mesiona, MSP

Homily #165: Baptism of Several Babies Into the Story of Salvation

I have been blessed to baptize a total of 125 souls to date.

Please remember in prayer those who were recently baptized:

Olivia Eve

Anton Rogel

Zaidyn

Malikai Enzo

Kahealani Jade

Alexandra

Jerry

Jada Charisse

The Homily Without Words

under construction

Go Beyond Minimum Requirements of Faith: Parable of the Unprofitable Servant (Homily #164)

#164b (12pm)

#164c (5pm)

Many of us have heard people say comments like, “Well, I’m good person; I don’t kill; I don’t do drugs; I’m not an ax murderer; I don’t tell big lies; I don’t do this…I don’t do that.  You know, I’m not religious but I’m spiritual.  I’m a good person.  I even go to Mass…. sometimes.”  However, in today’s Gospel, Jesus invites us to go beyond these minimum, bare-bones standards of having Faith.  He calls us to go beyond what I can get away with spiritually and being good.  For, after all, as Jesus said elsewhere, only God is good.  


At the very beginning of today’s Gospel, he heard proclaimed something that we modern people understandably say.  We hear how the Apostles asked Jesus, “Lord, increase our faith.”  It’s a sincere request.


And so Jesus in response tells the parable story of the unprofitable servant.  Now imagine this: A worker wakes up at 4am, goes to work, and comes home at 11pm at night.  That’s a 19-hour day.  But after coming home dead-tired and ready to go to sleep to work the next day, the boss calls this hard-working servant, “Come here and make me some dinner.”


Jesus of course is not saying do abusive work relations, if that’s what we think then we are missing the point.  Wisdom, let us be attentive!  Rather, Jesus is teaching us how this hard worker represents our faith in God.  Let those who have ears, listen!  In order to grow our faith, we have to work hard ourselves to increase our faith.  We have to constantly exercise faith in God, to form a habit of faith.  We have to, like this unprofitable servant who worked 19 hours and then some, begin our belief in God from the very beginning to the very end of our spiritual lives.


The Dominican theologian Fr. Garagou-Lagrange, says, “If we are not progressing forward in our spiritual life, we are actually going backwards.”  Ask ourselves right now in our deepest conscience and in our hearts, “Have I honestly progressed forward in my faith?”  “Have I moved beyond the minimum?”  If no, then we know what to do.  If we said yes, we are actually not done!  And here’s why: While faith is a gift and requires our best human effort, while Faith is a free divine grace, but faith requires constant practice.  It’s not enough to say, “Well, I’m done with Confirmation, I graduated, (which is a silly statement btw), or I’ve been baptized and go to Mass…sometimes…or “I’ve been saved”. 


Rather, just like the unprofitable servant who works the whole day and night and more yet still says, “I am a useless worker.”  So too after spending all our efforts to believe in God, we too should say, “I am not done with increasing my Faith.”


The unprofitable servant does not say, “Ahhh, what a good worker I am.”  So too with our faith, we cannot say, “Ahhh, I’m a good person, I don’t kill, I do this or that, I’m spiritual, I’m not religious or dogmatic.  I’m such a good person and don’t need to go to Confession.  I don’t kill, so I’m going to heaven.”  On the contrary, the person of faith says, “My faith constantly needs to increase.”  The unprofitable servant says, “The POWER of the name of Jesus is more powerful than any evil in my life.”  The unprofitable servant says, “Sunday Mass and Holy Days of Obligation are just the bare minimum.  Confession at least once a year is just the bare minimum.  Loving God and neighbor and the less fortunate are just the bare minimum.  Even the Seven Sacraments of the Church are just the bare minimum.”  The person of faith says, “My faith needs constant growth.  I am doing only what I am supposed to be doing.  It is my duty to do this minimum thing anyways.”  A person of faith goes beyond these minimum requirements of what you’re being asked to do to increase your faith.


Finally, here are some practical, centuries-tested, saint-making, beyond-the- minimum ways to increase our faith.  First, there is difference between a Sacrament and a sacramental.  A sacrament was divinely instituted by Christ.  But a sacramental was instituted or approved by His Church.  While a sacrament is required as the bare-bones minimum, a sacramental while not strictly-speaking required but highly recommended to grow in holiness.  For example, after the Mass and the Sacraments, the holy rosary is a powerful sacramental.  This month of October is the month of the rosary.  It is also Respect Life Month, where we honor the new poor, the new orphans, those in the womb that do not have anyone to speak for them except us.  “It’s not enough to say, ‘I don’t kill’  Well that’s great, but let’s go beyond that and protect life.  Another sacramental is Holy Water.  I would encourage us to have Holy Water at home and use it.  Another sacramental is the brown scapular.  A scapular goes around the shoulders and is meant to show that someone is consecrated to Mary.  The Miraculous Medal is another powerful sacramental and has a record of bringing about conversions, healings and even miracles.


In closing, we have heard in the Word of God how our Faith is represented the Parable of the Unprofitable Servant who, “I am a useless servant.  I have done only what I was obliged to do.”  May our faith, too, go beyond the bare minimum crawling so that we can run and fly in the heights of sanctity.  As St. Paul in his Second Letter to Timothy in today’s Second Reading wrote, “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self control, so do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord.”

A Message for Former Catholics to Return Home to the Flock of the Church (Homily #162): Our Lord Rejoices When He Finds You Returning!

Video (5pm Mass)

Audio (12pm Mass)

(My schedule: 2 homilies,  2 follow-up mtgs. for marriage prep & 1 house blessing)

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A Message to Former Catholics to Return Home to the Flock of the Church:

Rescuing the One & Strengthening the 99 Sheep

(Homily #162)

24^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sept. 15, 2019

According to data from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) and also the Pew Research Center, 1 out of 10 Americans is a former Catholic.  There is even a story that while the American Association of Retired People (AARP) is largest group of people in the U.S., with the 3^rd largest group being the Catholic Church, do you know what the 2^nd largest group is?  The 2^nd largest group is former Catholics!

From the number’s perspective, this situation in the Church in the United States is called “disengagement.”  Disengagement [disaffiliation] means that there are members of the flock that are leaving the Church at an alarming rate.  Many of these are identifying as “nones” (meaning either no religion or atheism).  

This reflection on concrete numbers on the declining state of the Church in the U.S. leads us to today’s Gospel on the Parable of the Lost Sheep.  There are 2 simple parts to this homily.  First, there is a message from the Word of God for former Catholics (disengaging from the Church as the “one lost sheep”).  Second, there is a message from the Word of God for active Catholics, the 99, to find them.  Christ reaches out to the lost sheep and Christ strengthens and equips the 99 to outreach to the one.  This hits very close to home and is not just statistics because, after all, how many of us have family members that either practice their Faith lukewarmly or half-heartedly or who have either left the Church?  

I.

In today’s Gospel, Christ gives a message to former Catholics to return home to the flock of the Church.  To those who have left the practice of the Faith after they were baptized and even confirmed, the Word of God proclaims this message to you: Our Lord rejoices when he finds you!  “And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep’” (Luke 15).  

Jesus also calls his friends and neighbors over one lost sheep.  Jesus is showing us the dignity of one soul.  With all the people that you see around you, he is focusing on just you.  He calls one person by name.  Jesus does something very illogical and against human wisdom: He leaves 99 to search for YOU.  St. Thomas Aquinas said that everything in the created world is not equal to just one immortal soul.  It was also said that when you were in the presence of St. John Paul II, he was just focused on you.

And even family members or friends who love us dearly treat us like we are not a number.  If that is true for us humans who love imperfectly, how much more true is it in the spiritual world of God who loves perfectly?  You, the one, are so wonderful to Jesus that when he finds you, he places you on his shoulders with great joy.  He delights that you, and just you, are on his gentle shoulders.  He focuses on just you.  He has a unique mission for you, and no one else can ever take your place in his Sacred Heart.

II.

Now let us turn to those of us in the 99 that Jesus apparently leaves behind in this second part of this homily.  For us who come to Mass regularly, the 99, the message of the Word of God today is this: Rejoice with Our Lord!  Rejoice when a fallen brother or sister has returned to the Flock of the Church!  What did the man with the found sheep do upon his arrival home?  He called together his friends and neighbors and says, “Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.”  What does the woman who lost one coin do when she found it?  She called together her friends and neighbors and also said, “Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.”  

So, the first way to strengthen and equip us, the 99, if you will, the so-called regular churchgoers, to search for the one, is to have strong hearts and attitudes.  Our hearts are one of happiness and delight and welcome.  St. Jacinta was the youngest of the 3 shepherd children that Mary appeared to at Fatima.  Even at her young age of 10, she was ready to offer all she had for the value of just one soul, that one lost sheep.  And St. Faustina, the Secretary of Divine Mercy, wrote of Jesus’s love for souls.  She wrote that Jesus showed her that love for the salvation of souls is measured by the willingness to suffer for these souls.  The more one loves the more he is willing to suffer for those he loves.  St. John Bosco, the great priests who serve youth, said, “Souls, souls, souls…give me souls…take away the rest!”  Our hearts, our labors, our sufferings for love of souls— all of these come from the foundation of prayer especially the Holy Mass.  We rejoice best at Mass.  The Mass is the great feast of heaven where angels rejoice in those that were lost but have now been found.  Let us come frequently to Mass and for those whose state in life allows it consider daily Mass.  

Finally, as important as the numbers are, as alarming as the numbers may show, today’s Gospel reminds us of the dignity and significance of that one soul that is faithful.  Even Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has referred to what is a called the Benedict Option.  The Benedict Option is where even though we are experiencing a smaller Church, it is more important that we be a more faithful Church.  We may be smaller, but we are faithful.  As St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said to her novices, “I don’t want numbers.”  She wanted fidelity.  

In closing, again, Our Lord rejoices when he finds a lost soul that returns to the Church.  And we too rejoice with Our Lord and strengthen our hearts.  So be faithful, even when the rest of our family or friends or neighbors are not faithful.  Be faithful and be the woman who turns her house upside to find one little lost coin, be faithful and be the man who rejoices and places the one lost sheep on his shoulders.  Be faithful like Moses in today’s First Reading from the Book of Exodus, who intercedes for God’s lost people.  

Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord to them, go and invite others to Mass, go and welcome back others to the practice of the Sacraments, go and invite lukewarm or inactive or former Catholics home to the Flock of the Church.  "Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord!"  As the Responsorial Psalm today says, “I will rise and go to my father.”  Let us too go and rejoice.  Let us rejoice go labor with Christ, the Good Shepherd, for that one lost soul.

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Comment:

An Amazing Homily by Deacon Dennis. Absolutely brilliant, inspirational, and heartfelt. I feel privilege to have studied under Deacon Dennis and the friendship and privilege of knowing him and his beautiful family. We miss you dearly

 

"Practice Humility & Avoid Pride" (Homily #161)

(incorrupt body of St. John M. Vianney)

Video of Homily #161a @ 12pm Mass

5pm Mass [audio only]

There is a true story told about a parish priest named Fr. John Vianney.  He barely passed his classes in the seminary.  His grades were even less than average, and he wasn’t all that popular or talented.  Eventually, his bishop assigned him to a small parish in the remote part of his Diocese.  However, in time, Father John was so successful bringing souls to God that even the devil himself directly harassed this priest.  You see, Fr. John did many prayers and sacrifices for those entrusted to his spiritual care, even hearing Confessions up to 16 hours a day. 

At night, the devil tried to bully and intimidate Father John.  Father just joked and said, “Oh, that’s just the devil upset.  He lost 10,000 souls today.”  The story here ends with Satan eventually saying to the priest, “I can imitate everything about you, except your humility.  I cannot imitate humility.”  “I cannot imitate humility.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us about the necessary virtue of humility.  Jesus said, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”  In this homily, I will make two simple points: First, practice humility as seen in the lives of Christ and the saints.  Second, avoid pride, the opposite of humility.

I

So first point: Christ and the saints teach us to be humble.  Christ himself is our model of true humility.  In the Gospel acclamation, we hear of Jesus’s Sacred Heart, “Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart.”  The word ‘humility’ comes from the Latin word “humus” which means the earth.  In the Bible, humility means to be “poor in spirit,” the 1^st Beatitude.  Blessed are the humble, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. 

Humility means the truth.  Humility means know yourself.  St. Bernard said humility is a “virtue where a someone knows himself as he truly is” or someone knows herself as she is.  St. Thomas Aquinas said humility is part of temperance or “keeping oneself within one’s bounds.”  St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “If you are humble, nothing will touch you; neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.”  Here, we don’t think more of ourselves, but at the same time, we do not think less of ourselves.  Here are some very practical ways of living this: When someone gives you a complement, like you’re pretty or you are skilled at this or you have a beautiful house, simple say thank you or acknowledge in your mind or words that it is God who made you this way.

The Protestant writer, C.S. Lewis, said that humility doesn’t mean thinking less of yourself, but it means thinking of your self less.  I’ll repeat that.  In other words, don’t think more of yourself and don’t think less of yourself.  Rather, think of your self less.  We moderate or temper our self-worth.  Who are we in God’s eyes?  This is the true of the dignity of the human person. 

The world misunderstands the power of humility and think it’s a weak thing.  But the Word of God shows us that a humble person is an attractive person.  In the First Reading from the Book of Sirach, it is written, “My child, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts.  Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God.”  Christ and his saints teach us to be humus, the salt of the earth.  So yes, it is very possible to be in a powerful state of life in the world and be humble, as the saints show us.  The greater we rise in the world with material blessings, or even with spiritual blessings in the Church, the humbler we should be.

II

Having looked at the virtue and power of humility in Christ and His saints, let’s look at the second main point: Avoid the opposite of humility—sinful pride.  Like in the story of Father John Vianney, evil does not know how to be humble.  The pride here is the sin of pride.  It does not mean something like taking pride in your school or taking pride in your kids or grandkids.  Even St. Paul talks about the good pride of following Christ, and when we recite the Creed, the Church says, “We are proud to profess it in Christ Jesus Our Lord.”  Rather, the sin of pride is defined as the “undue self-esteem or self-love, which seeks attention and honor and sets oneself in competition with God” (CCC 1866).  It is one of the seven capital sins because it leads to other sins and vices. 

[CUT OUT, IF NO TIME:] BTW, if you want a practical way to remember the 7 deadly sins or the 7 capital sins, you can think of the term: SEAL GAP or PALE GAS.  I got these from Jesse Romero and Dr. Taylor Marshall.  Pride, Anger, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Avarice, and Sloth.  Or Sloth, Envy, Avarice, Lust, Gluttony, Anger, and Pride.]  

[Pride is the worst of all sins, and was the downfall of Lucifer, who was at first a good angel, made by God, but because evil by his own free choice.  They wanted to put themselves above God with pride and envy.  But while there is no repentance possible for the fallen angels, the demons, there is repentance for us humans while still alive, because of God’s love and mercy.]  A very first practical way to avoid pride is to remain in the state of sanctifying grace, to have the friendship of God in the soul, and avoid deadly or mortal sin which destroys the life of grace in the soul.  Just as God is drawn to humility, pride repels God away from the soul.  If we fall into the sin of pride, get back up and return to Confession. 

Also, another way of practically avoiding pride is to accept all of the teachings of the Church on matters of faith and morality (and even of disciple).  Pride rejects the Church’s teaching, especially her moral teachings.  It says, “I know better than God” in my moral life.  Rejecting the Church’s teaching is a form of sinful pride actually puts our salvation in jeopardy.  But let this be a moment of sincere change or sincere.  Humility says, “I don’t entirely understand why the Church’s teaches this, but I ask for the grace to accept.”  Pride is arrogant.  But like the Second Reading, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews gives us a glimpse of the need of the Body of Christ, the Church, the New Israel, of which you and I are members by baptism.  “You have approached Mount Zion, and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.”  May we have the humility to accept all the teachings of the Church and avoid the pride of rejecting the teachings of Jesus Christ which have come to us through His Church.

III

In closing, we saw two main points and how to practically live the Gospel: Practice humility & avoid sinful pride.  

[CUT OUT, IF NO TIME: Let the words of our parish patroness, St. Catherine of Siena, help us: “If we know who we are, we will set the whole world ablaze.”  As we receive the Holy Eucharist in the few minutes, if we know who we are in the Eucharist, let us thank God for all the gifts He has given to us; and then let us set the world ablaze through the virtues of love, prayer and humility.]  

And may the Mother of Humility, Mary, help us to be humble so that everything we do, say or think may be pleasing to God, the Father of Love. 

“Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”