15 March 2020
"OK, God, So You Got Our Attention w/the Coronavirus. What Do You Ask of Us?" (Homily #176 on "God Thirsts For Our Faith")
3rd Sunday of Lent
“Okay,
God. So you got our attention with this
coronavirus. What do you ask of us?”
Homily #176: God thirsts for our faith”
“Okay, God. OK. So you got our attention. You got our attention with this coronavirus. What do you ask of us? How do you want us as People of Faith to reply to this?” These are common statements made or questions asked in recent weeks. While I am neither a public health expert nor a scientist nor a doctor, I am a deacon of the Church. And it is in that spiritual capacity that I will speak. People expect a moment of comfort and hope from the Word of God during this difficult time.
I
In today’s Gospel, Jesus had a long conversation with the woman at the well. You noticed how we stood for a very long time for a very long Gospel. [I actually read from the shorter form instead of the longer form.] Today’s Gospel is long because there is a conversation. This is also a lengthy back-and-forth conversation to show how God constantly thirsts in calling us, starting with Jesus describing himself as tired and thirsty.
And in the conversation, the woman at the well represents all of us who can bring a certain resistant tone to the conversation with God. When the deacon reads the Gospel, it is proclaimed in a calm liturgical tone. However, one may not pick up on the tone of voice in the dialogue, just like one may not pick up the tone of voice in a cell phone text or the tone of voice reading an email. It’s almost like pulling teeth from the woman at the well [in a sense in today’s Gospel]. As you know, sometimes, our own tone of voice is harsh or gentle. Sometimes, it is resistant or open. Sometimes it can be gentle or sarcastic. After Jesus tells her about the living water, I can imagine that she started with an almost rude tone of voice: Sir, you have nothing to draw the water? Are you really greater than our father Jacob?
We too can have an attitude with God: “Oh really, then give me this living water.” But nevertheless, God still pursues us, even with our resistant attitudes and tones and talking back to him. During Lent, we can easily slip into this complaining tone of voice. Oh, really, God, do I have to deny myself some legitimate pleasure like eating meat or doing acts of charity to my neighbor or to the less fortunate? Oh really, God, do I have to pray and exercise self-control with sacrifices to tame my anger or harsh words to others. Oh, really, God? We are like the Israelites in today’s First Reading who murmured against Moses after being thirsty. After God works the miracle of saving them from slavery, the people still complain at Meriba and Messa in the desert. It’s like someone who pays off your credit card debt, gets you food and shelter, and yet we still complains with sarcastic backtalking.
But God still leads the conversation. Jesus pursues us like a thirsty man, by contrast with the thirsty Israelites in today’s First Reading. God thirsts for our faith! But we, like the woman, still stubbornly mock God, “Oh really, give me this living water.” And after more quarrelling, Jesus reveals that the woman had five husbands and the man that she is with now [in the longer form of the Gospel]. This represents that the woman is searching for love, a love which can only be quenched by God’s love. And yet she still pushes back almost mockingly, “Sir, I see that you’re a prophet.” At the end of day, however, the woman at the well accepts Jesus as the Living Water. And then she tells others who believe, and they in turn believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world. The divine and human conversation appears here.
II
Now given our public situation, there are two responses as well: the human and the divine. We respond as best as we can to the best of human science to this virus, to the best of public health research, to common sense and basic human hygiene. Wash your hands, avoid physical contact, it’s okay if people do social distancing or don’t shake hands, self-quarantine, [strengthen our immune system], etc. I’m reminded of the cathedral deacon for the Cardinal Archbishop of New York. During Mass with the cardinal, the deacon forget to leave out “Let us offer each other the Sign of Peace.” So when the deacon forgetfully said, “Let us offer each other the Sign of Peace,” the cardinal interjected and said, “Let’s not!” These human measures are important.
But in addition to these human responses, let’s not forget our faith. Our response then is both a human response and a spiritual response to this outbreak. It’s not enough to just say “Only science and no faith” so too it is not enough to say “Just pray and no science.” It is both. So how do we, as People of Faith, respond? Exactly that: As people of faith. God thirsts for our faith. He wants our faith to move to divine love. So don’t lose your faith through this. Like the Israelites, let us remember how God brought us through every trial. As today’s Second Reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans says, “Being justified therefore by faith, let us have peace with God…” Let us have hope that God brings us through ups and downs, even with this coronavirus.
Additionally, Pope Francis in Rome called on the Blessed Virgin Mary to stop this virus. [After the Prayers of the Faithful in a few minutes, we will turn to our Mama for help.] She is a good Mama who knows how to take care of us when we are sick or in trouble. Jesus in the Bible in John 19 said, “Behold your mother.” Our own Bishop Jaime Soto asked us to pray the rosary. [Fr. Glenn will say more about this in the announcements after the Post-Communion Prayer.] In the 2,000 history of the Church, whenever a crisis or a plague occurred, the Church turned to Mary for protection. In the 3rd Century, there is a prayer from the first Christians turning to Mary for help, “We fly to patronage, O Holy Mother of God, despite not our prayers and our necessities, but ever deliver us from all danger, O glorious and Blessed Virgin Mary.”
Like Francis of Rome and Bishop Soto, I too call for greater devotion, greater consecration, grater entrustment to the Mother of God during this time. Turn to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I also raise awareness of the need for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary (or re-consecration of Russia, depending on how you look at it). [With the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, great disasters in the Church and in the world are averted.] I wish to promote devotion to the first 5 Saturdays where we receive Holy Communion in the state of grace. The family rosary is a response to the coronavirus.
Also, during this time of Lent, let us fall on our knees, do penance, and beg God to remove this virus from us. Make sure that we are in the state of grace. Get to Confession as soon as we can. If we can’t get to Confession right away, then make a Perfect Act of Contrition. A Perfect Act of Contrition is where we tell God we are sorry for our sins because they have offended God’s love, instead of being sorry because we are afraid of Hell. Make a Perfect Act of Contrition.
[If time allows, use personal story: God you got me through life, no matter what. She gave me confidence no matter what happens. I remember reading reports of when this virus was starting to happen. I asked Jesus why he was allowing this. What was he expecting of us? My sense was that God got us through our life up to this point, and God isn’t going to change that. No matter what, God will see us through crises. God is trustworthy and more than worthy of our trust. Jesus, I trust in you.]
In closing, let us reply with Faith to God who thirsts for our faith. OK, God. OK, you got our attention? What do you ask of us? We give you our faith in Jesus the Living Water. We believe and trust in you. As we sang in today’s Responsorial Psalm, “If today we hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”
16 February 2020
"Kobe Bryant's Catholic Faith & Living Our Moral Life in Christ" (Homily #175)
A few weeks ago, Kobe Bryant, a
legendary basketball player, died in a helicopter accident with his teenage
daughter. He was 41 years old. Few people realize that Kobe Bryant was a
devout Catholic when he died. As the
Archbishop of Los Angeles said after attending one of his Laker practices, Kobe
was a good Catholic when he died. Even
with his busy sports schedule, Kobe Bryant attended Sunday Mass every weekend. He even supported works of charity and attended
Mass during the week as his schedule allowed.
According to Kobe’s pastor, Fr. Steve Sallot, of Our Lady Queen of
Angels Parish in Newport Beach, CA, Kobe attended the 7 a.m. Mass before the
crash happened at 9 a.m. [He received
Holy Communion which was his Last Holy Communion.] Father Steve said that Kobe had Holy Water on
his forehead when they last shook hands and saw each other.
But Kobe didn’t always have this stellar
public life before living his Faith. Before
he gave his life to the Lord, Kobe ran into trouble with the law, he had
professional ethics violations on the basketball court, and he also had a
strained marriage that he tried to hold together. With all this going on in his life, Kobe said
that it was then that he spoke to his parish priest. And that was the big turning point in his
life. The priest told him that God would
not give him a Cross more than he could handle.
So Kobe eventually publicly admitted his mistakes, apologized, he said
sorry, and he made reparation to all these.
And this turning point, this moment of redemption, this new Christian
life is the point of today’s Gospel about living a moral life in Christ.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus taught us: I
tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and
Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. In living our Christian faith every day, we
must exceed the world’s expectations in our turning away from sin and living a
new life of grace. Whether it is Jesus’ homily
or sermon in today’s Gospel to respect life in our actions and tempers,
relationships with others through our thoughts, or our manner of speech, we as
followers of Jesus should surpass the legalism of the world. Sure, Kobe could have continued the way of stubborn
pride, as many public persons of power do, but instead he repented. He had a conversion moment. In just the same way, so too God wants you to
come as you are, but God does not want you to stay as you are. He wants us to come away from this church
today, this Mass today, a changed person, someone who is better than when we first
came here, even if it’s just a step at a time.
As we heard proclaimed in today’s First Reading from Sirach, “If you choose you can keep the
commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live.”
While we
live in the world, our moral lives should stand out from the standards of the
world. This means, first, following the
10 Commandments as the minimum. But,
second, it means surpassing the letter of the law of the 10 Commandments. So while that’s great that “You shall not do
this” or “You shall not do that,” to turn away from sin. But what do we do in our moral life that
surpasses this in the new law of grace? How
does our life surpass the rigid moralism of the scribes and Pharisees? After all, even in the Code of Canon Law, the
last line of church canon law is that “The salvation of souls is the supreme
law of the Church” to remind us that even with all our rules in the Church the
most important law is to save souls.
You know,
this weekend, I baptized several babies.
I’m holding here the “Rite of Baptism For Children.” I told the parents and godparents: It’s fine
and good to say that Original Sin is removed, which is true, but that’s not all
that happens. What replaces and
surpasses evil? Sanctifying grace,
friendship with God, a new adopted sonship, a new adopted daughterhood, the life
of holiness, royalty in God’s kingdom, and this Sermon on the Mount from Jesus
we heard today. These surpass the
scribes and Pharisees. St. Augustine
called the Sermon on the Mount the “constitution of Christian morality.”
Now here,
even in the very opening of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on Christian
moral teaching, it is not just our “moral life” and that’s it, but rather it is
our “moral life in Christ”. It is not
just ethics, which any human being can do, but it is about “Christian ethics,”
a distinctive Christian morality unique to those who are baptized. The Second Vatican Council, in its decree on
the life of the priesthood, stated that moral theology should be renewed with
Sacred Scripture, not just be a mere philosophical system. Christianity then isn’t just about only following
a moral code or even a book, but Christianity is about following a person,
Jesus Christ, who loved us so much that he died and rose from the dead for our
salvation (cf. Benedict XVI). And this following
of Christ (sequela Christi) should change our moral life, on whatever
moral issue that may be, fill in the blank on any controversial morality issue,
but Jesus should change us to think like Christ on all our moral living, and
this starts with baptism!
There’s a
saying: “Lex orandi, lex credendi” which means the law of prayer is the law of
belief. How we pray is how we believe. But there’s also an additional line to this: “Lex
orandi, lex credendi, and lex vivendi.”
How we pray affects how we believe, but it also affects how we live our
moral life. In other words, our belief,
our prayer, and our mora life should not be separated. They should move us to go beyond the minimum
of morality, they should change our moral life in Christ.
And in
our moment when we do fail, out of weakness, our distinct moral life in Christ
means getting back up. Kobe Bryant didn’t
just give up when his chips were down, he got back up after failing in his
responsibilities. He realized that the
correct ordering of priorities is first God, then family, then work and then
basketball. Our following Christ will
mean ups and downs, growth and decline, maturity and setbacks, but in these
moments drawn on the passion of Christ who fell and dropped his Cross time and
time again but got back up. In Kobe’s
moment of Confession, he was not only forgiven by Christ through the priest and
the authority of the Church to forgive sins, but even the public forgave him.
In
closing, let’s return to my opening story.
Kobe Bryant’s pastor, Father Steve, said that he saw Holy Water on
Kobe’s forehead. Just as we started our
moral life with baptism, may we too continue our baptismal promises throughout
our life, promises that we renew every time we recite the Creed after the
homily, AND until the end of our life may the cleansing waters of baptism and
penance remain with us. Let the Creed
(which represents Lex Credendi or the law of belief), let the Body of Christ in
the Eucharist (which represents Lex Orandi or the law of how we pray), let these
affect our Lex Vivendi (how we live our moral lives). May they always be united; may they never be
separated. May what we do on Sunday at
Mass never be separated from our moral choices the rest of the week on Monday
thru Saturday. Let our Creed and our Eucharist
help us to surpass the scribes and Pharisees.
May we too join the ranks of the blessed in Heaven and follow the law of
the Lord, as we sang in today’s Responsorial Psalm: Blessed are they who follow
the law of the Lord.
Jesus
said: I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the
scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. May we surpass the moral righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees of our world. And
may Mary, the mother of Jesus, help us follow the law of the Lord all the days
of our lives.
_____
Please remember in prayer the seven babies and the families and friends of these babies that I baptized on Sat. morning, Feb. 15, 2020.
I was blessed to have baptized the son of my former student, John Salangsang (St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School Class of 2002).
128 - Liam
129 - Sabine May
130 - Jandrey
131 - Lauryn Melinda
132 - Winter
133 - Alexis Neil
134 - Matthew
(Homily #174 for infant baptisms were recorded but not posted on YouTube due to low audio quality.)
02 February 2020
Rite For Blessing of Child in the Womb Outside Mass; Family Consecration Renewal & Daughter's Baptism Anniversary Renewal
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| Baby Michael Joachim Catubig Purificacion in the womb |
Rite of Blessing of a Child in the Womb Outside Mass
Renewal of Family Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Daughter Renews Her Baptismal Vows on Baptism Anniversary
21 January 2020
Homily #173: God's Specific Mission, Just For You (Catholic Social Teaching, Christian Unity & the Walk For Life)
[10am Mass Recording of Homily #173a]
[12pm Mass Recording of Homily #173b]
[5pm Mass Video of Homily #173c]
“God’s Specific Mission, Just For You
(w/References to Catholic Social
Teaching, Christian Unity & SF Walk For Life)”
Homily #173 by Deacon Dennis
Purificacion
Jan. 19, 2020 (2nd Sun. in
Ordinary Time)
There’s a popular saying in human wisdom: If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. In other words, in divine wisdom: “Man proposes but God disposes” (Prov. 19). Sure, we can plan all we want, but our plans do not always take us where we want to go. But perhaps that’s because God has something bigger – and even better – planned just for you.
In all the readings from the Word of God today, the common theme is this: You have a specific mission just for you. No one else can complete it for you. Just as every snowflake is unique, just as every angel is a unique species unto itself, so too you are so unique to God’s masterpiece of creation and plan of redemption of the human race that God has a specific mission just for you.
I.
In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God…he existed before me….” Then John explained God’s mission just for him: “[T]he reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.”
And in today’s very short Second Reading, St. Paul wrote in his First Letter to the Corinthians also about God’s own specific mission just for him: “Paul, called to be an apostle by the will of God…”
Paul next described God’s specific mission to the Corinthians just for them: “To the church of God that is in Corinth, called to be holy.”
And then, in the First Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, the Prophet Isaiah described God’s specific mission just for him: “The Lord said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel…. Now the Lord has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb.”
The Prophet Isaiah is like the Prophet Jeremiah who wrote about God’s own specific mission just for him: “Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you” (Jer. 1:5).
And even in today’s Gospel acclamation, we hear of Jesus’ specific mission just for Him: “The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. To those who accepted him, he gave power to become children of God.”
So, thus far, we heard of specific missions for Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Paul, the Corinthians, and Jesus just for them. Now, we hear the specific mission just for you.
II
We sang in today’s Responsorial Psalm, “And he put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God. Here, am I, Lord. I come to do your will.” I come to do your will (your purpose, your plan, your mission) specifically just for me that no one else has been given.
Notice, it’s not just about a general, collective mission for all of us. (I will get to that later.) Rather, I’m talking about the specific individual mission God has just for you. To discern your own specific mission, trust that God will not ask something impossible of you. He will give you the help, the charism, and the actual graces to complete that specific mission, even in the most difficult situations, just for you.
St. Thomas Aquinas taught that God will not give you more than you can handle; if God gives you a difficult mission, he will also give you a way out of it. [If time allows quote from “Way of the Lord Jesus”: Thomist theologian Germain Grisez said that each Christian fulfills the mission differently. So don’t compare. As St. Ignatius of Loyola said, comparing isn’t from God.]
To illustrate this, St. Therese wrote that she wondered why God has preferences, why all souls don’t receive an equal amount of graces, and how God showers favors on saints who had offended Him, like Paul and Augustine, great sinners who became great saints. St. Therese then wrote, “Jesus taught me this mystery. He set before me the book of nature.” She realized that there were different flowers in a garden: the rose, the lily, the violet, the daisy. She wrote, “I understood that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her beauty…And so it is with the world of souls, Jesus’s garden. Jesus willed to create great souls like lilies and roses, but He has created smaller little flowers destined to give joy to God’s glances when He looks at His feet.” And then she who describes herself as the Little Flower gathered by Jesus, writes, “Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be.” [Repeat if needed.] “Here am I, Lord. I come to do your will.” The Little Flower reminds us that to fulfill our own individual missions God has entrusted to us to fulfill, all we have to do is do His will.
III.
God has a specific mission to fulfill just for you. Here are some examples: The universal Church is called to spread the Gospel, but you have a specific mission just for you to do this in your own unique way with your family and friends. Also, the universal Church this week prays for Christian unity, but you have a specific mission to promote Christian unity in a way just for you. [If time permits, explain the Great Schism of 1054, the Protestant Reformation/Revolution around 1520, and the Second Vatican Council’s efforts to restore full unity. For the Orthodox Churches, the Catholic Church wants the Church to breathe with two lungs. Also, the universal Church is called to spread the Gospel of Life and protect innocent human life in the womb and to help women who are hurting and who’ve lost their babies, but you have a specific mission just for you to build a civilization of love and life. Perhaps it is through prayer by word or by deed. Next Sat. is Walk For Life, where both Catholics and Protestants work together. Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. martin Luther King, called this the greatest civil rights issue of our generation. The Diocese also has a program called Project Rachel to assist women heal from abortion. Finally, the universal Church is called to serve those in need through a body of teaching called Catholic Social Doctrine, among families and even strangers, but you have a specific mission to help those in need in a way that is just for you. [Omit if irrelevant: As one of the wives of the deacons told me during diaconate formation, “Your ministry will take on a different form” just for you.] I invite you to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what specific mission God has given you, and then to trust that He will help you accomplish it, no matter how difficult.
In closing, while we all have a common mission as members of the universal Church, you have a specific mission of how to complete this common task just for you. So yes, tell God your plans. Make him laugh. I’m sure He won’t mind if you do. But when you do tell Him your plans, be sure to tell him, “Here am I, Lord. I come to do your will,” your plan, your mission.
And one day, may God make you laugh in Heaven, make you rejoice, make you smile with a joy that can never be taken away. May God and you laugh together because you fulfilled God’s specific plan just for you.
“Here am I, Lord. I come to do Your will” just for You.
11 January 2020
Text Message Prayer I Sent to a High School Friend Going Into Surgery
For you:
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.
Let us pray.
Dear God, heavenly Father, I praise and thank you for sending ... to me. Not only is she a woman of strength and blessing now, but she has been a young woman of virtue and love with a deep tender heart those many years ago. What joy! How profound are Your marvels! What precious time you have given to us, from our youth to our adulthood! How magnificent the communion we share! Thank you, Lord, for my sister … . I know I havent been the best of spiritual companionship to her during our youth. And for this I ask not only Your but her forgiveness as well. May she know how much she is cherished. But just as we were apostles sent two by two with you present w us then, so too now, Lord, at this hour, this hour of prayer, be w us now as she prepares for surgery. In the name of Your Son, I beseech You Lord grant her heart peace & serenity. May she know your loving presence, your calming presence through her family and friends, &may she know that she is not alone. Be Lord the love of her heart, her delight, her source of consolation even during her darkest hours in life, you who are Mercy itself. I ask esp that our great common bonds w St. Dominic Savio and St. Francis Xavier, companions ... and I shared in our youth together, be our intercessors now & throughout life. Through their intercession, guide the hands of the doctors, nurses &other medical staff. As they place her under general anesthesia, may she be always aware that You are always w her, throughout her life, &that never for one moment has she been alone. May the Mother of Your Son hold her close to her Immaculate Heart so pierced. Thank you, God, for … amicus usque ad aras (companion on the journey). All this we ask in the name of Jesus your Son. Amen.
+ And may Almighty God bless you, the Father,the Son & the Holy Spirit.Amen.
04 January 2020
"Unless You Become Like This Child...": Homily 172 for Infant Baptism of Meliza's Baby and Her Brother's Baby
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| photos courtesy of Mike Huttula |
For baby of former student, Meliza, SP-SV 2002, and her brother's baby
I baptized her first baby so today baptized her second.
I also saw former students Rachel (2002), Justin (2002), and Venus (2001).
Thank you!
126 - Andy
127 - Mika
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