Saul didn't deserve to become Paul

Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul
Celebrated at the Altar of St. Benedict
in the Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls
on Jan 25, 2009 during the year of St. Paul
and on the occasion of a pilgrimage to the Basilica and the Monastary of Tre Fontagne

Today we celebrate a great mystery The mystery of vocation.

Jesus reminds us today: that we did not choose Him but rather He us. And He did not choose us because of our righteousness but rather, inspite of,in fact, because of our sinfulness He chose to save those in need of saving! As He says: the healthy have no need of a doctor we need our divine physician because all of us struggle in one way or another wnder the weight of sin.

Why did Jesus choose and call Saul of Tarus? Our prideful intellect wants us to say it was because…
Because He had great plans for Him—God did.

Or because of the great sign of hope that the conversion of one of their chief persecuters would be to the early Church—it was.

Others might even argue that that Paul’s was not a true conversion, because for Paul Jesus was simply the fulfillment of his Judaism. They argue that unlike the other pharasees, Paul was truly zealous for the Lord, for truth, persecuting the church out of ignorance, not pride—he was

In truth Saul of Tarsu was many things, like all of us, he had his virtues and vices, and while his conversion was a blessing for the early Church and clearly a central part of God’s providential plan for salvation The reason God called Saul, is the reason God calls and saves each of us. Nothing Paul did or said, or would do or say, merited Pauls call and conversion. Rather God calls us and saves us, primarily because HE LOVES US.

Sure He has a plan for the world, after all He made it, and the world continues in existence only because He remains interested in it. He has a plan for each of us, too, but our cooperation in His plan is at the same time essential and trivial. Essential because God made the world for this reason so that Man would be His image and likeness in the world. And Trivial because man’s contribution alone could never bring about the consumation of the world.

Brothers on this feast of St. Paul’s conversion we must contemplate this mystery and come to understand this reality. God who is all powerful, and all-knowing never acts, except out of freely given Love. I think we understand this conceptually but too often our way of acting betrays that our hearts have still not grasped it.

Like St. Paul we have been called by God not because of what we might do for Him or the Church but because He loves us; and while, please God, our vocation, like that of Paul, may be the occasion for the salvation of many souls, primarily, we have received our vocation from God for the good of of our own

I think that this is esp. hard for men to accept. To understand this—to understand our own uselessness is to begin to understand the economy of what God did for us, the gratitude that we owe to God for doing it,and the type of love that we should try to mimic in our relationship with our neighbors. This love is possible, for us, as for Paul because of the light of Jesus Christ which in the mystery of the altar we are about to receive.

Ecce Agnus Dei: Ecce qui tolit peccata mundi

Homily for the Sisters at the Domus Guadalupe
On Jan 22, 2009

This mass was offered for all the young people from the Diocese of Fall River and their adult leaders who were attending the March for Life in Washington, DC, and for the souls of all those hurt by the sin of abortion.

God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son...

Such is the love of our high priest, who takes away the sins of the world that for Him no sin is unfogiveable!

As we remember today the innocents, whose lives were taken in the name of expediency and comfort, in the name of power and control or in the name of reason and science— taken by the culture of death; we are tempted in our hearts to curse those who procure abortions and those who preform them. To judge those who support abortion
and ridicule those whose personal opposition does not result in public commitment.

But today as we remember our brothers and sisters friends and neighbors who were never born, in honor of their memory and of the innocent lamb of God its important to remember the sinners—who suffer too—and our Christian responsibility, in love, to them.

Like all sinners, those involved with the crime of abortion have tasted the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and having done so they have lost confidence
in the providential plan of God. And so, having rejected the way all that they do leads them further astray from the path.

Alone in the darkness they seek the happiness that they have rejected, and not finding it, they groan in sorrow, and if per chance they consider for a moment
that maybe they were wrong, they can’t imagine the possibility of forgiveness—so foreign is love to their heart!

Sisters, as Christians, as sinners who have discovered the truth about of the prodigal son, or rather the truth about the Father of the prodigal son.

Who have discovered that a good and loving Father never forgets his children, no matter how they offend Him. We must share this gospel: reminding people of their sinfulness because it is only faced with this reality that they can begin to imagine
the love that God has for them.

Woe to the man who says good is bad and bad is good Because in such a state, adrift on the sea of life—without a compass—he doesn’t really that he’s going in circles.

Calling attention to sins and sinfulness, rather than being judgemental or a form of hypocracy is an act of kindness because made aware that we are lost we can begin to look for the way home and made aware of injury we can seek out a physician.

But reminding men of their sinfulness we must also show them God’s mercy—lest realizing they loose hope and give up on life, and on God. Too often this second step gets forgotten!

Such is the love of our high priest, that for Him no sin is unfogiveable, other than that sin against the spirit, by which we choose to cut ourselves off from the mercy of God.

The sin of Despair: despair over wanting to be what we are not or over not wanting to be what we are, is a sickness unto death that leaves us bitter and angry with God,
afraid that we are unlovable, and eventually, if left untreated, it is a sickness which separates us forever from God.

Because we love the sinner we must show at every moment that there is hope, that despite their actions they are loveable!

By the joy of our lives and by our own willness to forgive we must become icons of God’s mercy—a glimps of God’s healing love. Because there is nothing more damaging to the Christian message than a moralism without mercy.

Jesus is always able to save those who approach God through him, every demon we carry with us, accusing us of past sins falls down before the healing mercy of Christ confessing: Jesus, You are the Son of God, as they are driven out of us.

In the end it is trust in God’s mercy and love for us that will win over our adversaries more than any slogan, argument, or shame.

So as you remember and pray for the unborn today work to make your life an icon of Christ’s mercy and remember all those who suffer from the sin of Abortion.

Starting Fires

A Homily given to the Priests, Deacons, and Seminarians at the Pontifical North American College on Friday during the second week of time throughout the year.

Being a priest is a lot like being a fireman
Trained to carry even the most helpless people to safety

Firemen are experts at saving lives and putting out fires,
And yet, while they have many skills,
meant to save lives and keep them safe

too often, because they work so close to danger,
while attempting to save lives, they loose their own.

The scriptures reminds us of this danger today:

Jesus came home, to Peter’s house,
and hearing of His return, the people flocked to Him,
and He taught them. And in the midst of the crowds,
the scribes were sitting there

The scribes were experts in the law
who had an important role to play in Jewish society:
safegaurding and administering not just civic life
but the Jewish faith and the souls tied to it.

And there they were, sitting in the presence of the Word—
the very law that they had spent their lives learning about

The Word—who like a refiners fire, was slowly purifying
the hearts of all those who heard Him
and pondered Him in their hearts.

All their training should have prepared them for this moment
and made them docile to this Word,

They were the ones carrying the people to Jesus
but instead they became obstacles blocking the way.
Crash! Through Peter’s roof came believers
Carrying their friend to safety,
into the midst of the house on fire
buring with the living Word of God.

These were simple men without
And yet they saw in the burning fire of Christ’s words
the love of God, and the possibility of healing for their friend

And so they brought him to Jesus:
All they wanted was a physical cure
But as always Jesus purifies our intentions
and gives us what we all really need.
Saying: Child, your sins are forgiven.

reminding them, and us,
that while the life of the flesh is a relative good
there is another life that must be our primary concern!
Pausa brevis
My brothers it is dangerous to approach Jesus,
To approach, with Moses, the burning fire of God’s Word.

Because approaching Him we are confronted by a choice
A choice between life and death—
When we come into His presence,
all the training in the world
Can not replace trust in Jesus
As we choose between our life and the true life He offers.

We priests and deacons, acolytes, and even new lectors
Who are meant to be experts in the faith.
Must be ever vigilant watching and waiting
Not just for danger but also for the source of life.

So that when we see Him at the distance
we can run to Him not letting anything stand in our way
lest we ourselves block the way for others.

WE MUST Be on guard! For as St. Paul warns
we have received the Gospel just as our ancestors did.
But the word that they heard did not profit them,
for they were not united in faith with those who listened.

we like the scribes may have a vocation
in the administration of God’s chosen people
but God can and will work through us, even without us.
And having received the word,
we too can loose the very promise that we administer.

During your time here in seminary
Don’t let yourself become the type of expert or professional who, like the scribes, sits in the presence of the Word
without being united in faith with those who listen.

Instead, each and every day,
Let what you learn about Christ
become an opportunity to come into His presence
so that you can learn from Him.

Our training is important,
but faith, hope, and love are even more important!

Because while being a priest is like being a fireman
The life we risk if we live our vocation poorly
is unimaginably more important

So if there is one thing you learn during your time here
Learn from the Romans  to be shameless
breaking down any barriers,
pushing aside any obstacles,
and ignoring all cultural niceties
in order to come into the healing presence of Jesus Christ.

May Jesus Christ be Praised…

The Jewish Jesus

Today on the tenth day of Christmas
the readings for the extraordinary form of the Mass
Are taken from the Octave of Christmas
the feast of the Circumcision of the Lord.

As we hear in the Gospel of Luke:
On the eight day after His Birth our Lord and Savior
Was taken to be circumcised as was prescribed by the Law

It seems like a odd thing to think about, and to celebrate
The circumcision of the Christ,
But it is important for two reasons

First Jesus’ circumcision marks his entry
into a particular cultural reality.

Salvation is from the Jews because the Son of God
Became a Jew, not just the son of Mary
But a son of Adam, and of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob
A son and descendent of David, who was destined to rule on the throne of His father David forever.

The Feast of Jesus’ circumcision
is the celebration of Jesus’ jewishness

A fact that we Catholics can not afford to forget.

Because it demonstrates the fact
that contrary to the heretic Marcion—
the Jewish Old Testament
and all the promises made to the Children of Israel
refer to Jesus and to us, his Church.
It also demonstrates our fraternity with the Jewish people
Who in Christ, are our brothers,
and even though they did not recognize Him when He came
they too wait for and expect the final coming
of the same Messiah, who we know is Jesus Christ.

Thus while we ought to pray for them,
as we should for all people, including ourselves!
that they come to a great realization
of the truth of Jesus Christ.

We must always remember that we share a bond of friendship and fraternity with them,
And therefore that anti-semiticism has no place
in the mystical body of the Jewish Christ—the Chruch

But most importantly,
we must remember and celebrate the Jewishness of Jesus
because it is only in this context that we fully realize
who Jesus of Nazareth is and what He is doing in the world

As Pope Benedict points out in his recent book on Jesus
It is precisely in dialogue with the old testament
and our Jewish brothers,
that we can come to a clearer understanding,
of who Jesus was and what He taught.

And its only in the context of the Israelite and Jewish
Forms of worship and prayer
That we can understand Jesus’ prayer and worship
Jesus’ Liturgy, which here at the Altar of God
We participate in each day.
Incense, Altars, vessels, and the sacrificial lamb
Not to mention all the rich liturgical psalms and canticals
That are so intergral to the traditional Mass
All come from the Jewish millieu and culture
Into which Jesus was born.

In order for us to understand and engage,
To fully and actually participate in the Liturgy
Not just saying the Mass, but at Pope Pius the tenth insisted,
Praying the Mass—we must be aware of the fact that
Jesus was a Jew, and that we too
are part of that same chosen people.

The second reason why it is important to celebrate
Jesus’ Circumcision is because it prefigures our own.

Jesus was circumcised according to the Law
Because for the Jew, circumcision was the only way
For a male to enter into the chosen people
With all its duties and priveledges.

Our Lord was circumcised, for it
"became him to fulfil all righteousness,"
as of the seed of Abraham, according to the flesh.

It was to use the words of Trent
and outward sign of an inward reality
of membership in God’s chosen people

By His circumcison the God who became man
And who was born as the son of Mary
Became in law and in truth a Jew
And a legal heir to the promises made
to the Patriarchs and Prophets,
which Jesus Himself was destined to fulfill.

However more important than the physical reality
of circumcision—was the spiritual reality!

As we hear in the book of Deuteronomy
the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

Although physical circumcision was still practiced
and in fact required of Jews in Jesus’ day
many had forgotten the inward reality that it symbolized.

Jesus acused the pharasees of scrupulosity over outward signs
Not because he begrudged them these signs,
But because they had forgotten their reality.

And the practice of circumcision,
was not required of the gentiles,
because this sign began to get in the way of the reality.

However, Jesus the Jew, gave us a new symbol
of the reality of a circumcised heart,
when he entered the waters of the Jordan,
united his perfectly circumcised heart
with the hearts of so many sinners who had entered the waters
of the baptism of repentence
only to be transformed by the baptism of the spirit.

Jesus’ circumcision into the House of Juda
and the Children of Israel today
prefigures the reality of our baptism into Christ
and thus into His chosen people the Church.

The Jewishness of Jesus, which we celebrate today
Links us intimately by means of the waters of baptism
To the entire history of Salvation,
and makes us heirs of the promises
God made to his friends and servants Abarham, Issac, and Jacob

Like Jesus we too have been circumcised into this same family
And called by a name known by God before our birth
to an awesome vocation in it.

Let us pray that our faith might grow through our understanding of the Jewish Jesus
who has made known and accessible to the nations
the saving power of God.