Ordinary Can Become Extraordinary: Holy Family Spirituality (Homily #171)

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“Ordinary, Mundane & Messy Daily Life Can Make Extraordinary Saints!: A Holy Family Spirituality For All, But With Preferential Option of the Church’s Care For Struggling Families” (Homily #171)

by Deacon Dennis Purificacion

Dec. 29, 2019 (5^th Day of Christmas)

Feast of the Holy Family

In the popular family movie “The Incredibles.” a family of superheroes finds a remote island called Nomanisan.  This fictious No-man-isan island is [a play on words and] based off the popular saying that “No man is an island’ – Nomanisan.  “No man is an island” means that every human person was made to be in communion or relationship with other human beings.

On this 5^th Day of Christmas, our true love, God, gave to us the Holy Family.  Today’s feast is relevant to every person here because all of us, without exception, were born into a human family.  Nobody is an island separate from other islands. 

The mystery of “Hidden Life” of the Holy Family reveals that the ordinary, mundane and even messy events of daily life actually are what may make us into extraordinary saints.  The ordinary can become extraordinary!

Just as the fall of Adam and Eve and the entire human family fell from grace by way of the family, so too God reveals that salvation comes through a family.  The great Dr. Scott Hahn, a Protestant minister who became Catholic by studying the Bible, said that God redeems the world through the family.

For the 3 main parts of this homily, then, I’m going to briefly reflect on lessons from each of the 3 members of the Holy Family for all of us.  For each of these three, I will offer practical spiritual encouragement and support for Christian families, especially struggling families.  The Church should be present in the margins of not just ideal family life but with those in troubled marriages or broken relationships.

I.

In today’s Gospel, after a brief stay in Egypt, the Holy Family returns to Nazareth to raise the Child Jesus.  We don’t hear much about the Boy Jesus’s hidden upbringing in the Scriptures other than that he was obedient to Mary and Joseph.  As a devout Jew, he was raised in the commandment to honor his parents in Nazareth, according to the prophets.  This is the first main lesson, not just for those of us who are children.  Even now, as adults, we can honor those that raised us when they are in advanced age or we honor them if they are deceased through constant prayer for the repose of their soul, if our parents are still in purgatory.  We also honor those in legitimate authority, so long as there is nothing sinful about them.  We honor our fathers and mothers who have failed us by forgiving them.  Forgive especially any father wounds experienced.  By forgiving others, we in reality are freed of bondages that weigh us down and enslave us.  In today’s First Reading from the Book of Sirach, it is written: God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother's authority he confirms over her sons.  Whoever honors his father atones for sins and whoever reveres his mother stores up riches.

And now, I turn to children and teenagers with a special message.  Dear young people, the rules of your family are like rules of a good game, whether it is a football game, a video game, or any fun club.  The rules exist so that you can enjoy the game and excel.  The same is true of your family household rules.  The rules are there to help you grow.  So, like the Child Jesus, honor your parents and guardians by honoring their rules.  As long as those rules are not sinful, obeying them is being like Jesus who was also your age.  So when you’re told to reduce the television or the video games or be careful around certain friends or the internet or doing something with school or driving or work, the rules show how much your parents love you and protect you.  Like the superhero kids in The Incredibles, learn from mistakes and get back up.  But be real superheroes for God and your family!  Be extraordinary saints!  This ends the first main point: The Child Jesus is our model for all of us through his obedience to his parents.

II.

For the second reflection on the second member of the Holy Family, Mary, Pope St. Paul VI taught, “The home of Nazareth is the school where we begin to understand the life of Jesus—the school of the Gospel.  First, then, a lesson of silence.  May esteem for silence, that admirable and indispensable condition of mind, revive in us…a lesson on family life” (St. Paul VI; CCC 533).  Silence leads to prayer.  Mary herself did not entirely understand what was happening, but she accepted in faith.  She silently “kept all these things in her heart”.  Oh what wonders did Mary’s Immaculate Heart ponder in silence!  Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright.  Contemplative, silent prayer is the foundation of Christian family life!  Entrust ourselves to Mary’s Heart.

You know, St. Gemma Galgani’s mother died when St. Gemma was 8 years old.  St. Gemma often said, “If God has taken away my mother, he left me His own.”  And her prayer to the Mother of Jesus was, “Holy Virgin, make me a saint!”  Those closest to Mary will eventually be closest to Jesus.  Like any child going to their mother to fix something, so too our heavenly Mother Mary will be there to help us.  So while Jesus teaches us about obedience to God by honoring our parents, Mary teaches us contemplation in prayer through her Immaculate Heart

III. 

Finally, there’s St. Joseph.  Joseph teaches all of us how to rely on God’s love and providence in the messiness of family life.  Joseph teaches us how to be truly devoted to Mary and Jesus.  Joseph teaches us about authentic manhood means serving others and laying down our lives for them.  Joseph shows us that parents are the first teachers of the faith to their children, even when they are older.  As St. Josemaria Escriva said, “The greatest male saint that ever lived was not clergy but he was a family man and a worker.”  Like any good father, Joseph too was worried about how things would turn out, but he trusted that God would provide.  In Matthew Chapter 2 right here, Joseph was afraid to return to Israel because of Herod’s son.  But like him, we too can trust God’s providence during the ups and downs of life.

In closing, most of us are aware that the fragile family today is under attack.  But even in our woundedness, fight for the family!  The world is in crisis because the family, which is the foundation of society, is in crisis.  The Catholic family living the Gospel IS the New Evangelization!  Let us not do this on our own, without spiritual help.  No one is an island.  And let us consider entrusting or consecrating ourselves to the Holy Family.  It can be something as simple as, “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give you this matter to take care of.”  May the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, reveal to us today that ordinary life makes us into extraordinary saints.

Notes for "Preparing For Immanuel with Mary: A Guided Meditation": Parish Advent Reflections Evening w/Clergy

Advent Reflections (Deacon Dennis)

I.                     Given the Old Testament (Deacon Juan) & the Challenges of Our Time (Deacon Bobby), let us reflect on the coming of the Messiah Child.

II.                   Isaiah 7:14 “”Therefore, the Lord himself will give you this sign: The Virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.”

III.                 Immanuel: God Is With Us – the divine presence with us

IV.                Close eyes.  Matthew 1:23 – All this came to be to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Behold, the Virgin shall be with child…”  Imagine a pregnant Mary.  How does she look?  What do you see?  What do you feel in your heart?

V.                  Luke 1:39-45: Visitation. What do you see?  Like a movie?  Where are you standing?  Who is there?Are you in doors?  Outdoors?  Do you interact with Elizabeth?

VI.                John the Baptist in the womb.  What is Elizabeth’s reaction?  How does this greeting of joy make you feel?  What does it mean?

VII.               Jesus the Immanuel is born.  Mt. 2:4.  Meditation.  Mary.  Joseph. What is happening.  How does the Newborn look in saddling clothes.  A manger is along open box for horses or cattle to eat.  The King is placed here.

VIII.             Place your hands out, as if to hold a newborn.  Finally, Mary and Joseph turn toward you.  Do not be afraid.  How does it look to hold Newborn Jesus?  What are you feeling?  What does it mean?   What is God’s message for you.

IX.                 Now you give Newborn back to Mary.  She smiles at you.  And now it is time to go.    Open your opens. 

X.                   Thank God for encountering Immanuel.  Transition to Fr. Glenn on the Incarnation

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

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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.”