Homily: 29th Sunday in ordinary time cycle B

If you were to talk with my mother she might tell you that the only time in my life were I was a trouble-maker was when I started hanging out with a classmate of mine when I was in the 7th grade. My friend, Brad, was always finding new ways to cause trouble and be disobedient.

I'll never forget when he shared with me his motto and motivation for causing trouble.  He said, "It is better to reign in hell than serve in heaven."* 

There's also another example that I think is worth considering.  Right now there is a movie in theaters called Atlas Shrugged II.  I'm not too familiar with the movie but I am familiar with the author of the book that the movie is based on.  Her name is Ayn Rand and in teaching (she was a philosopher) she claimed that one of the greatest human virtues is selfishness.  She claimed that altruism was not only wrong but evil.

In regards to Christianity she held the view that the idea of the ideal man [Jesus Christ], the perfect man, the one with perfect virtue who suffered and was killed to save those who were sinners, the weak, and the non-perfect people "is a monstrous idea."**

I share these two thoughts with you because they are not random and unrelated ideas but because these two sentiments are very common today.  Our world generally dislikes the idea of "serving others" and our world does exalt the virtue of selfishness.

For many people in our culture the notion of Christianity is completely absurd and ridiculous.  The idea of willingly humbling yourself, nor striving for authority and power, the idea of self-sacrifice, and suffering for love of others is beyond offensive to many.

Yet this is exactly what our faith is about.  It is certainly what our readings are about today.

Notice what we see in the Gospel.  Jesus has told his apostles that He is bringing about God's Kingdom on earth.  He is going to Jerusalem to complete the work of building this Kingdom on earth.  He is going to suffer and die but James and John just didn't get it. 

The first thing that they ask for is power, authority, and importance. They ask if they can be the second and third in command in the new kingdom.  They want to be great and powerful like so many in our world.


Jesus says in reply, "You don't know what you are asking for."  Then he immediately asks them if they are willing to suffer.  That is the key to greatness in God's Kingdom.  A willingness to serve the least and suffer for love of others is the real mark of greatness in the Kingdom of God.  

Jesus commands them never to use their power to "lord it over others" and never to "make their authority felt" but rather to serve because He came to serve and not to be served.

We see in the first reading that this is precisely what Jesus' entire mission here on earth was about.  He came to serve us, to suffer for us, to die for us to save us and to carry our guilt.  Ayn Rand had it right... this is exactly what Christianity is about.  God, the holy and perfect one, came to suffer and die for us sinners.


He came to embrace your suffer and pain.  The only way that God can do this is if you are willing to make yourself vulnerable to God.  

We all have pain and suffering weakness and shame.  We all carry the burden of guilt and sin... I know that I do.  We all have hidden shame and those emotional wounds that we dare not ever mention to anyone.  We all carry this burden.  Yet God knows our burden because He became human to suffer with us and thus be able to heal us.

The second reading says that we do have a High Priest [Jesus] who is able to sympathize with our sufferings and weaknesses because He has shared them with us.  He can heal you... all you need to do is face you weakness, admit guilt, and share the shame and He can and will heal you.

So many people suffer courageously in such silence and it does not need to be that way! Please know that there is healing and peace available through Jesus.  I know because I've experienced it!

Jesus came to heal us and if we want to be great in His Kingdom then we must be willing to serve others.  We cannot buy into the idea that "reigning in hell" is better than "serving in heaven."  

The invitation that Jesus offered to James and John, and to us today, is to drink from the cup that Jesus drank.  This same cup, of suffering, love, service to others, and self-sacrifice, is the cup that we offer and share on the altar.  When we receive the Eucharist we are sharing in His sacrifice, we are seeking His healing, and we are committing ourselves to serving others.




* "It is better to reign in hell than serve in heaven" is a quote from John Milton's poem Paradise Lost

** I paraphrased Ayn Rand's ideas from many places but you can see the exact quote's here.  That site is a political blog and by linking to it I am not supporting their views.  I am simply using it as a good source of Ayn Rand's ideas and quotes.  You can find out more about her and her work at The Ayn Rand institute website.

A life changing perspective

Hello all,

I was chatting with someone the other day and in our chat I suggested that this person really look into the ideas and work of Brene Brown.  

I first came across her ideas and work through watching a few of her videos on YouTube.  She gave two talks that I watched that moved me deeply.

The first talk was on her study of emotional vulnerability.  She claims that it is the source of meaningful connection and also the source of joy and happiness.


The second talk is on listening to shame and the lies that it tells and how it compels us to live with a tremendous burden.




I am thinking that the central truth that she is sharing is the secret to the challenge of the Gospel and also the readings that he will hear this weekend at mass.

I'm still wrestling with the message/homily but I really wanted to share these videos with you because I truly believe that what she is sharing is life changing, liberating, and spiritually empowering.

They are not short videos but well worth the time to watch and even take notes.  Re-watch them, pray with them, share them and I think it will help to make the lives of other much better.

Let me know what you think. God bless

No homily today

Hello all,

I did not preach at mass today because our deacon (Deacon Carmen) gave the homily. 

He did a wonderful job.

Well... since I don't have anything really worthwhile on my mind I'll post one of my favorite funny pictures.

I really like bacon ;-)

I hope you have a wonderful week.

God bless!

The afterlife

Hello all,

Often scientists are very skeptical (if not downright opposed) to the idea of life after death.

Well I just read an article about a neuroscientist who had an experience that made him change his mind about the afterlife.

Dr. Eben Alexander fell into a coma in 2008 which is when he had his experience that convinced him of the reality of the afterlife.  He is now publishing an essay and sharing his experiences for the October 15th issue of Newsweek.

Personally I believe in life after death... I think all Christians do.  I'm also a big fan of science and I'm constantly wrestling with where science and religion meet or disagree.  So, I'll be reading this article with interest.

Check it out if you are interested in this type of thing as well.

Homily: 27th Sunday in Ordinary time, cycle B

One of my favorite movie stars is Clint Eastwood.  I really enjoy most of his movies and he has many memorible quotes.  One of his movie lines that I think of from time-to-time is, "A man's got to know his limitations."



When it comes to our readings today  about marriage I can say that I've reached my limitations.

I can not tell you how to be happily married.  I can't tell you what to do to make marriage work.  I can't even tell you how to go about trying to find someone who would be a good person to marry.  I just don't know this type of information.  I have no experience of being married, I'm not married, and I won't ever be married.  So here it is.  This is one of my limitations.

But... I can tell you the "why" about marriage.  I can tell you why it is so important.  Why marriage is the central theme in our readings today.  And why Jesus was so uncompromising on His teachings against divorce.

Our first reading comes from the second chapter of Genesis.  If we want to understand why marriage is so important it is good to start "In the beginning" with the chapter just before.  In Genesis chapter one we read that all humans are created in the image and likeness of God. 

That means, that in some real way, if you look into the mirror you will see the reflection of God.  You are in God's very own image and likeness.  

Even as Adam was in the image and likeness of God he was still incomplete and was lacking something.  So God made for him a suitable partner.  It wasn't any animal but finally a woman (Eve).  She was like him, she complimented him, and she completed him. It was with her that he united and joined her as "one flesh."

In that moment, in that embrace, in that union of two into one flesh we can see the human person being most fully in the image and likeness of God... let me explain.

God is a Trinity of three persons and yet just one God.  This is hard to understand but allow me to try to explain it.

God the Father (the first person of the Trinity) speaks one Word.

Before time and eternity became the Father spoke one Word... that Word is the second person of the Trinity.  It was that second person who took on our human nature and we call him Jesus.

I'm so lo-tech that I literally drew this on a piece of paper and then
took a picture of it on my phone to post it here

The Father spoke one Word and the Word then loves the Father.  The love that they share is the Holy Spirit.  The love and the union between the Word and the Father is the Holy Spirit... the third person of the Trinity.  The Holy Spirit is the bond of love between the Father and the Word.

Marriage is the domestic trinity!

In the bond and union of marriage humans most completely and totally show forth the inner life of the Holy Trinity.  In the bond of marriage human beings are most perfectly in the image and likeness of the Trinity.

I hope you can see how marriage is in the image and likeness of the Holy Trinity.
Sorry again for the lo-tech graphics.

Just as in the Holy Trinity the bond of love between the Father and the Word is the Holy Spirit so too in the domestic trinity the bond of love between a husband and a wife is open to the new life of a child.

The bond of marriage is the most perfect image and likeness of God that there is.  From the altar we, weekly, receive the physical presence of the Lord.  In the Eucharist we are physically united to God.  So too, in marriage, does a man and a woman physically imitate God.

This is why we believe what we do about Marriage.  This is why the Church teaches what it does in regards to the many moral issues surrounding marriage.

So often when it comes to morality, especially these types of issues, people think of the teaching of the Church as nothing more than a long list of: Don't do this... don't do that... don't... no, No, NO!



That is most certainly not what we believe at all!

When the Holy Trinity loves creation always springs forth.

So to in the domestic trinity of marriage the physical gift of one's self to another should always be open to new life.  This is why we are opposed to artificial contraception.

In His plan God has shared with the married couple the task of continuing the work of creation.  There is nothing that God loves more that new life and so it takes the complementarity of one woman and one man to create life.  There is no other arrangement were life can come about.  This is why we are opposed to redefining marriage as something other than one man and one woman.

Certainly the work of co-creating new life is a precious gift that God shares freely and there is nothing that God loves more than the physical union that brings about new life.  This is why it is so wonderful, so powerful, so exciting, and so pleasurable. The physical union of two people is so incredible because God wanted it to be that way!  He chose to make that physical union so wonderful.  The experience of the ecstasy of this union is a direct sharing in the joy that God has in creating new life. 

We must never end this new human life.  That is why we are apposed to abortion.

The gift of one's whole self in marriage must always be a complete gift.  But we believe that the openness to new life should come after the vows of two people to share their lives for life.  That is why we believe that the giving of someone's body to another should always come after their marriage vows... and never before.
That is why we teach that people should wait for marriage to give their bodies to each other.

In the Gospel we hear Jesus speak very strongly against divorce.  He clearly teachings that it is God's will that a man and a woman be joined in marriage and that that union cannot be "divorced."

This makes perfect sense if we believe that marriage is the domestic trinity.  The union and relationships within the Holy Trinity are not temporary nor are they ever going to be ended.  So for us, as Christians, we believe that marriage imitates this permanence and thus marriage lasts "till death do us part!"

Please understand that these teachings and beliefs are not easy.  They are especially difficult in today's world where point-by-point popular culture seems to oppose our faith.  Many people don't even like it when this is preached from the pulpit.  

The domestic trinity

I understand the difficulty but Jesus is uncompromising.  Our faith is challenging.  The plan of God calls us to live up to a lofty ideal. Our being in the image and likeness of God is a tremendous challenge.  For us marriage is not just "another life option" nor it is a quaint arrangement.  Marriage is nothing short of a physical and life-long imitation of the Holy Trinity.  For the Christian marriage is the "Domestic Trinity." This is why we believe what we do about it.  This is why we consider it such a treasure.  This is why Jesus was so uncompromising on His teachings about the bond of marriage.