Month: November 2022

A few years ago, my brother David went with a friend to South Africa for a short visit. In fact, it was his friend’s birthday and on the spur of the moment they took off for an adventure. They were staying in a very nice and safe tourist resort. Because they were adventurous, both are very gregarious (and idiots), they wanted to get out of the resort and experience the “real” South Africa. They “broke out” of the resort and went to a local bar. While there, after, a few drinks, they took up a pool game with a couple of black South African chaps. After a while, my brother went to the bar to buy a round of drinks. While he was there a white guy sidled up to him and said: “You know, you should be careful who you hang out with here.” To which my brother replied: “We are careful who we hang out with; that’s why we are over there with those guys.”

John the Baptist was a man who could not, and would not, be silenced. No matter who the audience was he was going to speak for God. That’s what prophets do; they speak for God, in the midst of the community. John is both a defiant and a heroic figure. In fact, there is something scary about John. Like Herod, we are drawn to him and at the same time afraid that he might catch us in his eye and speak to us. As a priest, right now, I wonder, if John was standing before me, looking into my eyes, and knowing my heart, what would he say? What would his message to me say? How would he challenge me?

As an exercise for Advent, reflecting on John the Baptist, I would suggest that we do three things or ask three questions:

1. We are all called by God to be like John the Baptist, a prophet. In fact, at baptism we are anointed “prophets.” A prophet speaks for God in the world. Is that something I do or is that something I am afraid to do? Is the world any better for my presence, for my voice? Do I stand up for what is right, just, compassionate, and merciful? Or am I a silent, useless dumb bell (making no sound). Do I raise my voice, lend my support, and join in the fight for what is right, for what God wants despite the obstacles?

2. In the midst of my family and friends do I speak for God or am I afraid to be the voice crying in the wilderness because I don’t want to be in the wilderness. Am I afraid to lead my family? Or am I willing to be an inspiration for my children? If John was speaking to your heart how would he challenge you? What would he say?

3. John was a heroic figure because he did what was right even in the face of what was difficult, in the face of danger and persecution. He was willing to fight and suffer for what he believed. As a parent, am I a heroic figure for my children? Do they learn from me what is right, just, fair, and courageous? Do they see in me a heroic figure who is a leader worth following or someone they want to be like? As a father or mother am I courageous, heroic, adventurous and brave? 

The world needs heroes, our families need heroes, our country needs heroes, our Church needs heroes. Today that call is addressed to us. There is still a brood of vipers out there willing to poison every heart with their own venom. We should ask if we are one of them, or do we stand up to them!

As you all know I am an impatient priest and I hate waiting for anything. I’ve always been that way. Some years ago, it was popular to say that Advent was a time of waiting. We are waiting for the coming of the Lord at Christmas, we are waiting for Christ to come at the end of time and, of course, we are waiting for the Lord to come to each of us at the end of our life.  You would think that Advent, the season of waiting, would be my least favorite time of the Church’s year. But I love Advent. Why?

Because Advent is not a time of waiting at all, it is rather, a time of preparation. That’s why the expectant Virgin Mary, Our Lady, is the image and model of Advent. I’m the oldest of my siblings and so I can remember my mother being pregnant with my twin sisters who are five years younger than me. I can certainly recall my sisters being pregnant not to mention cousins and friends. Now, while they were expecting they weren’t passively sitting by “waiting.” Advent is like the time when we are waiting for a baby to arrive – how about that – and that’s just what we are doing in waiting for the baby Jesus at Christmas.

When my sisters were expecting they didn’t sit by passively waiting for the stork to turn up. They were very actively preparing for the arrival of their child (between them seven children actually). As well as constant doctors’ visits, prenatal checks, ultra sound photos, rooms must be made ready, cots bought, prams, bedding, feeding utensils, food, diapers, clothes, and on, and on. Names must be considered; some people already enroll their children in the schools they hope they will attend. 

Interestingly, family and friends get together and hold “showers” and provide presents in preparation for the arrival of the new child. We get ready for the coming of a child, we prepare, we are “expectant,” hopeful, we are full of energy, and we are actively waiting. This is what Advent is supposed to be like for all of us. It is a time of spiritual preparation as we wait to receive Jesus. We prepare to meet Jesus in three ways: first at Christmas when we remember He came to save us. Secondly, we turn our minds to the end of time, and we remember He will come again not as a child but as the judge, so we need to get ready. We remind ourselves to prepare for Him because soon we will face Him as our days on earth come to an end. Most of all we remember to make a place for Him in our own hearts now, we open our hearts to receive His grace, His life, His presence. All new born children change the lives of their parents as they no longer live for themselves but for their child. This Sacred Baby, Jesus, is entering our lives, maybe that should change our lives also. Advent reminds us to be ready, to prepare, because Jesus is coming to us.

The Virgin Mary was prepared to receive the Lord into Her body because she had already prepared Her heart to receive Him. That’s what Hail, Full of Grace means. If grace is God’s life in us and Mary was already full of grace, she had no room for sin. And He came to her. She was waiting for Him by preparing for Him. She gave herself to Him completely so that even His flesh is made from Her body, her blood flows through His heart. We are called to do the same. To wait for Jesus by preparing for Him. 

12/11/22: Bring your grandchildren to mass and visit the Nutcracker exhibit in the Parish Center (aka “the convent”).

2/19/23: History Photo exhibit in Wolfer Hall (aka “school library)

4/23/23: History tour of the church

8/6/23: Photo exhibit in Wolfer Hall (aka “school library)

9/9/23: Homecoming/Alumni picnic in The Hollow

10/29/23: Anniversary Mass/11:00 a.m., banquet to follow (location TBD)

The old prior of the monastery I belonged to in Ireland was fond of saying: “After all is said and done more is said than done!” Fr. Oliver was from a long line of Irish revolutionaries, and he would tell the story of the night the Black and Tans came to kill his father. The Royal Irish Constabulary Special Reserve was formed in 1920 by British Secretary of State Winston Churchill and was the official name for the Black & Tans. Former British soldiers were mostly recruited to join the Black & Tans to provide reinforcements to the police force called the Royal Irish Constabulary. A mix up in the shipping of their uniforms meant that they wore a mixture of kaki military and police black. They considered themselves extrajudicial, above the law (actually lawless), and they were responsible for may atrocities in Ireland. The crowns forces dispensing the king’s justice. Anyway, Fr. Oliver’s father was an Irish Volunteer, a member of the Irish Republican Army, fighting for Irish freedom. In his daily life he was a tailor. At the local pub a neighbor overheard a group of Tan’s talking: “Tonight we hit the tailor, Martin.” After being informed Mr. Martin took his family to safety and sure enough, that very night the Tan’s raided and shot up their home. Fr. Oliver always ended the story with a sad sigh as he exclaimed “and they shot the poor dog.”

In Ireland we don’t have a happy memory or experiences of kings, queens, monarchs of any type. Most came to plunder, the others were indifferent to the plight of the poor, and all came to impose a foreign rule. Much of the rest of the world have similar experiences. So, a feast like Christ the King can be jarring for us. Is it really about the kings of this world? Was Pope Pius XI bolstering a decaying and corrupt form of governance? Of course not. Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King in 1925, in response to growing secularism, secular ultra-nationalism, and totalitarianism. In the face of growing calls by governments for people to give them total and unreserved obedience and unquestioned loyalty, where governments were claiming the right to make immoral, unethical, and unjust laws, the Holy Father reminded Catholics, Christians, and in fact all people, that only God can claim our total and absolute obedience. He reminded the faithful that all governments should be subject to God’s law and the peoples of the nations had the right to be protected by government (as it says in the United States Constitution, we are endowed with unalienable rights given by God, not by man, and government is subject to the people not the other way around).

For Catholics Christ is the one who is supreme, and we conform our will, our lives, and our vision according to His teaching. This is true of our lives in the world, in our relationships, our families and within our own being. A king/queen should order things according to love and justice, charity, and hope, and we are all called to make this order present everywhere. We are all to be kings of our own lives and hearts. Pope Benedict XI wrote: “The faithful, moreover, by meditating upon these truths, will gain much strength and courage, enabling them to form their lives after the true Christian ideal. If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; [if] all peoples, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all people, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire.

He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. [He] must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things and cleave to him alone. [He] must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God.”

When we want to know what is right, good, just, charitable, we look to the supreme authority, the one who rules overall, Christ, our King. We have the opportunity to order our own lives, our homes, our relationships and even our society. We do this every day, in one way or another. We reign in our own hearts and lives, in our relationships and families, business, and parishes. We should ask ourselves: What kind of king/queen am I? What kind of rule do the people in my life experience?

Another interesting point about this feast is that in November 1926, Pope Pius, established the first church dedicated to Christ under the title of King. The Church of Our Lord, Christ the King, Mount Lookout, here in Cincinnati.

When I was a child growing up in Dublin, I can recall that almost every year we had a visit from Jehovah Witness missionaries. These were usually young men who were carrying out their missionary commitment which is part of their obligation as a Jehovah Witness. I guess they take the “witness” part of their belonging very seriously. It was also not unusual, when I was a child, to have the Jehovah Witnesses predict the imminent end of the world. The predictions were usually published in their newsletter “The Watchtower” and the years that the Biblical Armageddon was to happen included: 1878, 1881, 1918, 1925, 1975 and a number of years around the AD 2000 Millennium. I guess predicting the end is not a precise science. 

Of course, we don’t have to look to the Jehovah Witnesses for a preoccupation with the end times. There was a great deal of concern about the imminent end of the world, or civilization as we know it, around the year 2000 AD and the millennium. Much of the concern was around the inability of computers to compute the date 2000 resulting in the crash of the economic and banking infrastructure which had become dependent on computers. Also included in the imminent crash was such as flight?, the power grid, land ownership information, security information, government files and so forth. At the parish where I lived at the time a group of Catholic people moved into the neighboring rural areas, bought a farm, and dug a “shelter.” This shelter was filled with durable food stocks, beds, living areas, generators, fresh air supply equipment and the necessities of life. This was to be a safe shelter that would provide temporary life support in case civilization collapsed. I’m pretty sure that a number of people entered this shelter on the eve of the millennium and came out a few days later only to find that the world was as it was before. 

Further back around 1000 AD there were also concern for the end of the world and the Second Coming of Christ. Many Christians expected the end of the world, and some Catholic preachers predicted the end was coming. The same was true of many protestant reformers from the sixteenth century and beyond. The truth is that almost every age and every religion have a similar fixation with the “end times.” 

We can see in the Gospel today that this same concern is present at the time of Our Lord. The people ask Him when the end will come and what will be the signs that indicate its arrival. Jesus Himself predicts the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the persecution of His followers. They will be thrown out of the synagogues, brought up on charges, will have to face false witness, be stoned, and killed. Nevertheless, Jesus tells His disciples that even though all these things will happen, they are not to lose focus. Instead of wondering if this is the end, or the beginning of the end, His followers are to remain steadfast in living the life He has called them to live. The disciples of Jesus are not to waste their time in speculation but in carrying out His mission to bring salvation, not destruction, to the world. Their time should not be wasted on what might happen, but it is to be spentd in making things happen. And what is it they are to make happen? The building of the Kingdom of God. Anything else , falls short of our calling, our mission, and is a waste of valuable time and resources.  

Let’s face it, we all are living in the last times. I’m fifty-eight years old and have been a priest for almost thirty years. That means I have about ten to twenty years of life left, possibly longer, but more likely, shorter. I’m living in the last times as far as my life is concerned. Soon, I will face God. Soon, I will have to give an account of my mission. I have no time to spare. For me, as Saint , Pope John Paul II said: “The future starts today not tomorrow.” 

Building the Kingdom is about love, loving God, and loving our neighbor. That love will be the only thing we carry into God’s presence and that love will exist for all eternity. Love is the only treasure that will matter to God, and love will be the only treasure . we will take with us to God. Focus on building the Kingdom.  tThe rest is just something that is left behind to turn into dust. 

A few years ago, a friend of mine in another diocese received a change of assignment and he moved to a rural part of his Kentucky diocese. He invited me to come and visit the church and rectory and I asked him how rural the place was. He said it was not far from some major town, but it was pretty rural. He said the roads were hilly, narrow with lots of winding bends. When he was giving me directions he said: You will know you are about a half a mile from the church, when to the right side as you travel you will see a derelict car, on a mound, sitting in the middle of a field, and on top of the car there will probably be standing two goats. One on the roof and one on the hood. Sure enough, as I drove by the field, here was a car with two goats standing on it. This is an absolutely true story.

If you ask people here in the States for directions, they usually answer with road numbers and compass directions. If I was asking the way to Columbus for example a person is likely to tell me that I take the I 75 North to Exit 42 to I 675 to Exit 26A to I 70 East. Simple! Right? In the States we give directions according to numbers, map directions, and compass points.

If you ask for the same directions in Ireland, it might go something like this: “Do you see that road over there? You don’t take that one.” And it begins! “You take that road over there and when you pass Murphy’s pub on the left, you turn right and go for about half a mile. You will know you have gone half a mile because you will pass a yellow house. After you turn right you travel until you see a big fine house, standing in a field, all alone, and you’ll think to yourself, what on God’s earth does a fine house like that have any reason to be in such a lonely field? You turn left at the big house and that will lead you to O’Connor’s Barn. It’s called O’Connor’s Barn, which is really a pub but because they don’t want the tax man to know it’s a pub, they call it a barn.” In Ireland we give directions according to landmarks.

The Church’s year does not end on the 31^st of December but on the Feast of Christ the King which is the Sunday after the 33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. So, we are moving toward the end of the Church Year. As we move toward the end of the year the readings in the Scripture typically begin to reflect on what is called the Last Things, Death, Judgement, Hell, and Heaven. Most of all we focus on how we get to heaven or hell. So, the Gospel today is not really about marriage but about the resurrection of the dead. Unlike the Pharisees, the Sadducees, did not believe in the resurrection of the dead and so they are asking Jesus a cheeky question to make fun of belief in resurrection.

Jesus draws them back, however, to the real issue: How we live here will determine where we go after death. For the righteous, those who lived a good life here on earth, death will bring resurrection and life in heaven. Jesus is telling them that what we should be concerned about is how we get there. There is a map, directions, for getting to heaven and that map shows us the way, and that way is a person, Jesus. Jesus said: I am the Way. As we move toward the end of the year the readings remind us that we have a purpose in life and a destiny. Living as God wants us to live, caring for those God wants us to care for, being who God sent us into the world to be, these are the things that will bring us to the place God wants us to be – with Him, in Heaven.