Homily for Election 2016: The Maximum Determination Approach and the Character Approach

These last few months have been agonizing, haven't they? We've finally come to the end of the election season. I've read so many statements and articles, and listened to so much news that I've often felt just as frustrated near the end of this election as I did at the beginning. But I have prayed about it and talked with friends that I know are faithful, prayerful Catholics and serious thinkers. I've come to some clarity and I hope that I can help you, even here at the 11th hour.

 

Many of you may be thinking, "What's your problem Father, it's a no-brainer! Trump is a buffoon; I'm voting for Hillary! Hillary is a crook, I'm voting for Trump! No, no Father, I'm voting for a 3rd party, the American Solidarity Party, their whole platform is Catholic Social Teaching!" I'm sorry, it's not that easy.

I want to challenge us all today to go a little deeper. A presidential election is too significant to be waved off or dismissed as an easy problem. We're electing a person that will have great power over the well-being of millions of God's people, born and unborn. The president can lead the country to powerful good or powerful evil. This makes the casting of a vote much more than a simple political act, but also a serious moral act.

We first need to step back and establish what it means to have a well-formed conscience and what that allows and disallows. Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman called the conscience the "primordial vicar of Christ." It is the voice of God's divine law in our hearts and it helps us know right from wrong in the concrete situations of life.

There are certain things we can do to form our consciences well. We can receive the grace of the sacraments and nurture ourselves with all that is genuinely true, good, and beautiful. We can also pray and fast; study the Scriptures, the Church's teaching, and the issues at hand; and seek the advice of wise friends and mentors. A person who does these things can be confident that he will make a moral decision. This is within each one of our grasp. On the other hand, if our conscience is ignored or malformed, it becomes not a servant, but a slave, remaining deathly quiet or telling us only what we want to hear.

When I think back to when I turned 18 and could vote for the first time, I realize that my conscience was not well-formed. All I did was ask my dad who to vote for, he told me, and I pulled the lever. But, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways” (1 Cor 13:11). As adults, we need to be more thoughtful and more prayerful. No longer can we vote a certain way simply because "that's what I've always done” or “that’s what my parents and grandparents always did or what all my coworkers do." Neither can it be simply about whether a candidate is black or white, a woman or a man, an insider or an outsider, or even from the Republican, Democrat, or American Solidarity Party.

A well-formed conscience knows that the morality of the vote, of the issues, and even of the candidates is what is most important. A well-formed conscience also speaks with the Church even in the most challenging situations, like, for example, when then-Cardinal Ratzinger taught in 2004 that a particular vote could even be a mortal sin. He said: 

A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favour of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons... [this] can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons (footnote).

This begs the question: Are there other reasons or issues as serious or as urgent as abortion which kills 4000 people every day in our country? That is the equivalent of a 9-11 every day. It adds up to more than 50 million since 1973, more than the Jewish Holocaust.

It is a scandal that so many Catholics vote for candidates that not only permit, but support, advance, and enrich the abortion industry. Even when local politicians don't press the abortion issue, they still provide the votes themselves and the grassroots support that higher level politicians need. If it were four-year-olds we were talking about... if we could take our toddlers to abortion clinics, everyone would be beside themselves to make that illegal tomorrow! But instead, because they aren't born yet, so many Catholics feel free to say, "eh... that doesn't concern me." Where is our moral outrage, our righteous indignation!?

This is a good place to pause and see what the Church teaches about the other reasons one may have for voting for a pro-abortion candidate. We've already concluded that reasons of family custom, peer pressure, color, gender, and even party are too superficial to be taken seriously.

The bishops of North America, in a 1998 statement called, “Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics,” helped us put all of this in context. They said:

Adopting a consistent ethic of life, the Catholic Church promotes a broad spectrum of issues... Opposition to abortion and euthanasia does not excuse indifference to those who suffer from poverty, violence and injustice… But being 'right' in such matters can never excuse a wrong choice regarding direct attacks on innocent human life.   Indeed, the failure to protect and defend life in its most vulnerable stages renders suspect any claims to the 'rightness' of positions in other matters... (L.G.L. #22)

Ten years before this teaching, in 1988, our beloved Holy Father, Pope St. John Paul II, writing about the vocation and mission of the laity, made a similar point. He said, 

Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights… is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition of all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination. (C.L. #38)

From this teaching, we understand that the absence of any other proportionately serious reasons or issues effectively eliminates the most egregious pro-abortion candidate as an option for a faithful, well-formed Catholic.

Many more questions follow from this:

• What is a faithful Catholic to do if the other major party candidate is only partially right on abortion, for example? Suppose he supports other grave moral evils like torture, which the Church teaches is also a serious offense against human dignity?
• Are we morally obligated - is it morally possible - to vote for the so-called "lesser of two evils”?
• Is it acceptable for character to enter the equation for either candidate?
• Can one morally vote for a pro-life third party candidate of worthy character but no electability?

This is where the rubber hits the road. Let's look at these questions in a summary fashion.

For this election, here’s how I see the process. First, one must identify the morally disqualified candidate – the one who most egregiously supports the grave moral evils that Catholics are obligated to oppose. These are, for example, abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, torture, the targeting of non-combatants in war, the abuse of the poor, the worker, and minorities, and the redefinition of marriage. Once this candidate has been disqualified then one can in good conscience choose between two approaches. I call these the "Maximum Determination Approach" and the "Character Approach."

First, the "Maximum Determination Approach." This approach comes from what St. John Paul II taught in 1988, that the common outcry for human rights is false and illusory if the right to life is not defended with maximum determination. This approach leads a voter to put a lower priority on a candidate’s character flaws or imperfect compliance with the Church’s teachings, because this voter rightly holds that the issues that directly affect the sanctity of life are most important and he has “maximum determination” to defend life by choosing the candidate most likely to advance this priority. For this voter, electability and the defense of life are the high priorities. Let's look at what the Church teaches.

Every four years the bishops of North America produce a teaching document called "Faithful Citizenship" that helps Catholics to live out their faith in the political sphere. They said:

When all candidates hold a position that promotes an intrinsically evil act, the conscientious voter faces a dilemma. The voter… after careful deliberation, may decide to vote for the candidate deemed less likely to advance such a morally flawed position and more likely to pursue other authentic human goods… The moral obligation to oppose policies promoting intrinsically evil acts has a special claim on our consciences and our actions. (F.C. #36-37).

So this is not a question of voting for the “lesser of two evils”; one may never choose evil. Rather, one is choosing the candidate that is more likely to limit intrinsic moral evils. This is choosing a good. [See deleted section 1]

Before we move on, we should note that the Maximum Determination Approach is also supported by Scripture. The Book of Proverbs says,

Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work? (Prov 24:11-12)

And the Prophet Nehemiah said, “Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” (Neh 4:14)

We now can look at the Character Approach, which, again, like the Maximum Determination Approach, can also be chosen in good conscience. The Character Approach answers our remaining questions. It reasons that it is indeed acceptable to allow character to enter the equation. After all, the bishops also taught that, "These decisions should take into account a candidate's commitments, character, integrity, and ability to influence a given issue" (F.C. #36-37). Therefore, this voter would be inclined to vote for a pro-life third party candidate of worthy character if both major party candidates had deplorable character.

Scripture also supports this approach:

The Book of Proverbs again says, "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people groan” (Prov 29:2).

In Matthew's Gospel, our Lord said,

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit... (Mt 7: 15-17)

A voter could have a well-formed conscience in which character is a high priority. This doesn't mean he is careless about the magnitude and urgency of issues like abortion. This voter would reason that he has been put into a terrible dilemma outside of his making or control. He didn't vote for these candidates in the primaries, but he's stuck with them now.

He understands though that he is not responsible for other people's votes. When he receives a lot of venom from his fellows who say, "We have to defeat the other candidate! A vote for a third party candidate, even a pro-life one of worthy character, is worthless and equivalent to voting for the other candidate!" he calmly replies, "No, that's not on me. All those people shouldn't have put forward that candidate to begin with. A vote is a moral act, not only a political one. I'm only responsible for the morality of my vote and for the consequences of it that can be reasonably foreseen. It is certainly acceptable to make a moral act even if it is deemed a failure in the political sphere." [See deleted section 2]

To ridicule him for this is to commit the same evil that secular politicians do when, for example, they insist that the Little Sisters of the Poor should set aside their silly conscience and provide coverage for abortion-inducing drugs to their employees. [See deleted section 3]

Let us not fall into political despair with this election. There is a way to vote morally and with a good and clear conscience. St. Paul in our second reading reassures us:

Brothers and sisters: May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word (see 2 Thes 2:16-3:5).

God willing, if we form our consciences well, do good, and avoid evil, perhaps even one of the Prophet Isaiah can come true. Perhaps with God’s help, we can even come to a day when:

Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice. Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land. Then… the fool will no more be called noble, nor the scoundrel said to be honorable (Is 32:1-2, 5).

Sources:

“Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion: General Principles,” Memorandum from Cardinal Ratzinger to Cardinal McCarrick, online: https://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/cdfworthycom.HTM

“Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics,” USCCB, online: http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/abortion/living-the-gospel-of-life.cfm

Christifideles Laici, On the Vocation and Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World, Pope St. John Paul II, online: http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_30121988_christifideles-laici.html

“Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility,” USCCB, online: http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/

Further Reading:

“Explaining Ratzinger’s Proportionate Reasons,” by Jimmy Akin, online: http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/explaining-ratzingers-proportionate-reasons

“Is Voting Third Party or a Write-In a Sin of Omission?” by Anthony S. Layne, online: http://impracticalcatholic.blogspot.com/2016/10/ask-tony-is-voting-third-party-or-write.html

“In Response to Fr. Frank Pavone” by Anthony S. Layne, online: http://impracticalcatholic.blogspot.com/2016/10/in-response-to-fr-frank-pavone.html

“Voting and Living As Good Citizens,” by Bishop Conley, online: http://www.lincolndiocese.org/op-ed/bishop-s-column/6841-voting-and-living-as-good-citizens

“Dirty Hands and Political Despair,” by Brandon McGinley, First Things, online: https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2016/10/dirty-hands-and-political-despair

“Changing the Game,” by George Weigel, First Things, online: https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2016/10/changing-the-game

Sections Removed in the Interest of Time:

1. The Maximum Determination voter must be careful though to make sure his motives are pure. He must care more about his morality than his party. He should not vote with the intention of showing support for a candidate’s bad character or problematic views. He must remember that he can only in good conscience support this candidate because he is more right on the non-negotiable issues than the morally disqualified candidate and he is the only viable option left.

This voter must also be sensitive to the fact that character means a lot to a lot of people. This voter must be diligent to be of high moral character himself. He should be involved in restoring the credibility of his convictions in the eyes of the public wherever it has been wounded and in promoting politicians of upstanding character. We must not usher in a new era of politics in which character is of no concern.

2. For the Character voter, credibility and integrity are important. He is loathe to hitch the chariot of his most noble convictions to the wildest horse in the stable, even if that means he loses the race. He’ll love to race another day.

3. To disobey a well-formed conscience is to suffer spiritually what we saw suffered physically in this weekend’s first reading. The seven Jewish brothers and their mother would rather accept physical violence from their pagan persecutors than inflict spiritual violence on their own souls by violating their consciences and the laws of their ancestors (cf. 2 Mac 7). Would that we had such resolve!

Where the “Character” voter should be careful is in not rashly judging his “Maximum Determination” brother as one who doesn’t care about character or who is going against his better judgment and getting his hands dirty by voting the way he is. Both of them, with proper intention, can vote the way they are with good and clear conscience.

Ascension Sunday, Year A: The Cause of Our Hope

6th Sunday of Easter, Year A: The Zeal of Neophytes

5th Sunday of Easter, Year A: God Dwells Among His Priestly People

4th Sunday of Easter, Year A: The Father and the Fold

Abridged version:
This Sunday is the fourth Sunday of the Easter Season, but we also call it “Good Shepherd” Sunday after the image of the Good Shepherd presented in our readings today. Typically we devote this particular Sunday to fervent prayers for Priestly and Religious Vocations and we should certainly do that today. But we also pray for your current shepherds, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, our bishop, Archbishop Kurtz, and the priests and deacons who serve us every day. With the pressures on the Church from the world around us, it is not easy to be a shepherd.

St. Luke tells us in the Acts of the Apostles that St. Peter stood up boldly to the Jews of his day, exhorting them to repent for their cooperation in the crucifixion of Jesus. And in his own letter, Peter described how he often suffered for doing what is good. But, he persevered, he followed the Lord’s example in suffering for the truth with humility and courage. Many people responded well to his courage – three thousand persons in one day were baptized! This great shepherd of the early Church, St. Peter, out of love for the flock made up of Jews and Gentiles, called them to faithfulness. Those who heard his voice responded because they heard in Peter the voice of Jesus Christ. What set Peter apart from other shepherds, from other voices calling for the attention of the people? It was his willingness to truly love the flock. And true love always involves some degree of sacrifice, even suffering.

When a husband cares for his dying wife, this may not always bring the most pleasant feelings, but he does this because he loves her. When a son cares for his ailing father, this brings difficulty and disruption, but he does this because he loves him. When parents sacrifice their own goals, or wants, or needs in order to provide for their children, this can bring difficulties and disappointment, but they do this because they love them. Similarly, we can recognize a true shepherd by his love for his sheep, by what he is willing to endure for them.

True shepherds are those who lead their flock with self-sacrificial love, who boldly preach the truth with love despite the pressures or ridicule. When the wolves come among them, true shepherds do not run away, afraid for their own welfare, neglecting that of his sheep. No, they stay, throwing themselves among them, standing guard and confronting the wolves in order to protect the sheep. This can be a test for anything or anyone trying to shepherd your life. What does that shepherd do when you are in danger, a danger that could envelope the shepherd too?

The account of the good shepherd that we hear from the Gospel, about the shepherd who calls his sheep by name and leads them out to pasture, illustrates God’s great love for us. Jesus, the Good Shepherd walks ahead of us, periodically calling us forward, reassuring us in the chaotic world around us with the gentleness and familiarity of his voice. Jesus said, “the sheep follow the shepherd because they recognize his voice… they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers… whoever enters through me will be saved…I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Through all the voices crying out to lead us, can we hear and recognize the voice of Jesus?

Through some time each day in prayer and Scripture reading, by challenging ourselves and each other to remain faithful to the Church, by coming to Mass every Sunday and making a monthly confession, we will be able to hear and follow Jesus’ voice above all others. And when you bring your children to Mass and to confession then you ensure that they too will be able to hear His voice above all others. Politicians, Universities, the Media are all clamoring to shepherd us and our children. Only by consistently hearing the voice of the truth will their hearts and ears be attuned to that voice so that it pierces through all others. And only by experiencing the nourishment within the sheepfold, will their grow to love it rather than resent it.

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3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A: Christ Beside Us

Divine Mercy Sunday, Year A: Sinners, Sacraments, and Saints

Easter Vigil, Year A: Captivating Joy and Healing Light

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Welcome! I welcome all of you today, especially friends and family of our parishioners who are visiting this morning. Whether you are a daily Mass-goer or only occasionally go to Mass, you are Welcome here. We have good people here to pray alongside and support you, to answer any questions you may have and to help you build a more regular practice of your faith. I know that some people remember having a priest that they did not feel like they could go directly to with a question or concern or need. They felt like they had to send someone else to speak for them. They didn’t feel like they could knock on the door or call their priest. I am not that kind of priest. I have a formal way of celebrating Mass but that does not mean that my personality is always like that or that I want to be distant from you. You can always come to me directly with anything at all.

It is such a great joy for me to be celebrating with you this Easter Vigil, my first Easter Vigil as a pastor and as the main celebrant. Tonight’s celebration in which four adults, four candidates, will be Received into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church, will be a beautiful experience. After their own special profession of faith, and reception into the Church, they will be immediately confirmed. They will be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit who enhances and completes the graces they received in Baptism when they were younger. Finally, they will receive their first Holy Communion, in which Christ feeds them with his glorified Body and Blood under the appearance of bread and wine. What a miraculous night! In one continuous celebration, will be made members of the Church, soldiers for Christ, and share fully in Holy Communion!

The power of this day reaches all of our hearts wherever and whoever we are… just as it reached the hearts of St. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary at the tomb; and the hearts of St. Peter and St. John, causing them to run to announce the Resurrection to the disciples. Even Catholics who rarely attend Mass, find their way back to this Easter day. Each one of us, from the daily Mass-goer, to the Christmas-and-Easter Catholic, have carried some darkness, some obstacle that Christ today wants to illuminate with his glorious Light. Today, darkness is no more; it yields to and is conquered by, the Risen Son. No matter what it is that keeps us from a deeper, more personal friendship with Christ, today He conquers it with his healing light: whether it be a doubt about our faith, or a lack of zeal or devotion, or a memory of an offense in the past that has kept you away, or the darkness of a tragedy in the family or of frustration with yourself – no matter the darkness, the healing Light of Christ shines on it today.

Have you all ever been to Mammoth Cave in south central Kentucky? I remember going on a field trip there in high school. One of the shticks they do is to lead a group of people into the heart of the cave and then turn out all the lights. Then the tour guide asks the group to put their hands in front of their faces and try to see them. It’s no use, in the heart of that cave, there is no light to get used too. Our eyes will never adjust, he says, not matter how long we sit there. The moment you can start to feel the tension in the cave, the tour guide slowly turns the lights back on much to everyone’s great relief. We got a sense of this earlier, when all of the lights of the Church were off, representing the individual and collective darkness that mankind suffers without the Light of Christ. Soon though the Easter Candle, lit from the Easter fire, showed us the way.

The temptation for each of us, though, is to just get used to the darkness rather than let the Light of Christ illuminate it. We become acclimated to bumping around in the night – it becomes our new normal. And I’m speaking for all of us here today, myself included. We get used to the same bad habit, guilty pleasure, personality quirk, or weakness and we forget that the Light of Christ is much stronger than those things. We forget that the Light of Christ has actually already won. We tend to think of ourselves as downtrodden and hoping for victory, rather than victorious and hoping to maintain the victory

Don’t let the devil rob you of your joy. Again, everyone from the daily Mass-goer to the Christmas-and-Easter Catholic has something holding them back. Today, no matter what it is, let Christ’s Light heal and conquer it. Today is a day of joy and gladness – a joy and gladness that lasts for 50 days, and God-willing well beyond. This is the day when Christ works in our hearts with His grace, getting us more used to him, the Light of the World, than to the darkness and making new, or deepened, faithfulness to Him and to His Church our new normal. Today he leads us and he not only turns on the light, but walks us out of the cave, and he not only keeps the Easter fire burning, but leads us into the Church and into the center of the divine life of the Trinity.

In that great movie, The Mission, Mendoza, a slave hunter on the cusp of conversion, says to the Spanish Jesuit, Fr. Gabriel: “For me there is no redemption, no penance great enough.” Fr. Gabriel replies, “There is. But do you dare to try it?” That is our Lord’s challenge to you and me: Do we dare try to let His Light, His Joy, His Redemption change and transform our lives?

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Good Friday, Year A: The Passion of the Lord Comforts the Afflicted and Afflicts the Comfortable

As I have examined my own spiritual life and interacted with others at many different parishes throughout the years, one thing most evident to me is that a true concept of sin is quite hard to find. I think we all, myself included, at different times in our lives vacillate between a lack of a sense of sin on one hand and a scrupulosity or shame on the other hand. But, it is when we are not vacillating, when we are not moving from one to the other as we seek with God’s help to find the truth about sin in the middle, then we are really in trouble.

When the lack of the sense of sin becomes concrete and determines our way of life then we have started down a troubling path indeed. Often this isn’t a consciously chosen path, though. It simply happens when a person coasts through each day, one after the next, unaware of the minor sins he commits that often add up to unnoticed serious sins. This person may not go to confession in years but when he does it is very difficult for him to think of specific sins he has committed. An equally troubling path is the scrupulous person. Once scrupulosity becomes a concrete way of life it settles from the soul into the psyche and begins to resemble obsessive compulsive disorder. Minor sins become serious sins and not even God’s mercy in Confession or the Eucharist is enough. Then shame builds, keeping this person from the sacraments entirely.

Thank God for Good Friday. Good Friday is one of the most powerful days for comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. One of the reasons it is “Good,” I think, is because it helps us to apprehend the truth of sin and forgiveness. For one who has lost or is losing a sense of sin in his life, Good Friday is a yearly reminder that it was not only the sins of the Romans and Jews of Jesus’ time that nailed him to the cross, but each one of our sins too. Recently I was reading a spiritual commentary on the liturgical year that vividly described the role our sins had to play in the drama of the passion and death of Jesus. The following excerpt definitely afflicts the comfortable:

“Imagine that divine face: swollen by blows, covered in spittle, torn by thorns, furrowed with blood, here fresh blood, there ugly dried blood. And, since the sacred Lamb had his hands tied, he could not use them to wipe away the blood running into his eyes, and so those two luminaries of heaven were eclipsed and almost blinded… Finally, so disfigured was he that one could not make out who he was; he scarcely seemed human; he had become an altarpiece depicting suffering, painted by those cruel artists, producing this pitiful figure to plead his case before his enemies… Therefore, sins – yours and mine – were the executioners who bound him and lashed him and crowned him with thorns and put him on the cross. So you can see how right it is for you to feel the enormity and malice of yours sins, for it was these which really caused so much suffering” (Navarre Commentary, Jn 19:1-3)

Such a reflection is a reality check isn’t it? The minor sins that we commit each day, that we don’t give much thought too – when seen in that perspective, cause us to take them more seriously and to turn to God more often for his mercy and help. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin,” the Letter to the Hebrews explains. “So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help” (Heb 4:15-16). Receiving this mercy and help frequently in Confession is the best way to avoid one of the most clever tricks that the evil one plays on us: the attitude that sin doesn’t really matter and that I never really ever do anything wrong. A monthly examination of conscience and confession will help us become more astute observers of sins in our lives and give us continual grace to avoid these sins and grow in holiness. This more examined life brings comfort to our Lord’s pierced Heart.

In Christ’s Passion and Death, there is not only gruesome reminders of the gravity of sin but also much comfort for the afflicted. Those who are scrupulous or filled with shame are also corrected. We find St. Peter, the head of the apostles, falling asleep three times rather than praying and later denying him three times. But we also see him express repentance and upon Jesus’ Resurrection, state three times his love – a love that brings him forgiveness and makes him a pillar of the Church. Throughout our lives, “In this adventure of love,” St. Josemaria Escriva writes, “we should not be depressed by our falls, not even by serious falls, if we go to God in the sacrament of Penance contrite and resolved to improve. A Christian is not a neurotic collector of good behavior reports. Jesus Christ our Lord was moved as much by Peter’s repentance after his fall as by John’s innocence and faithfulness. Jesus understands our weakness and draws us to himself on an inclined plane. He wants us to make an effort to climb a little each day” (Navarre, Jn 18:27). Again, Confession is helpful for the scrupulous person too if it can be seen for what it really is – as the way in which Christ’s victory over sin is shared and applied to each one of us. With God’s grace we can be victorious over sin too! Then when victory brings confidence and mercy softens the heart, harshness with oneself can be relieved. Then guilt can be seen as a good thing that motivates one to renewed union with God and the Church rather than as shame that causes isolation and alienation.

The grace of Reconciliation that Christ won for us today helps us settle into the middle, into the truth of sin and forgiveness. We thank God that we have a heavenly mother to help us with this also. After Christ, we should have a deep, personal friendship with his Mother as well. Jesus from the cross gave her to his beloved disciple and so to all of us. When John took her into his own home, he took her into everything that makes up his inner life. “Mary certainly wants us to invoke her, to approach her confidently, to appeal to her as our mother” (Navarre, Jn 19:26-27) – whether we’re feeling lax or harsh – so that she can teach us about her Son and how to take sin seriously while still living a life of joy.

Palm Sunday, Year A: Living A Deep and Meaningful Life

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Homily after the Commemoration of the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem

This morning, like the children who cheered in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” when they saw Jesus healing the blind and lame (Mt 21:14-15) – we too shout out with unbridled joy, “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Mt 21:9) And just as on Christmas morning when a multitude of angels praised the Eternal Word who processed into our lives as a child, singing, “Glory to God in the highest,” (Lk 2:14) so too does a multitude today sing out, “hosanna in the highest!” (Mt 21:9) as our Lord processes among us. From the beginning of Jesus’ life, toward the end, all people from children to adults, sing his praises and bless his Name. But, recently our Lord has been cautioning those he healed to not tell anyone, and he has been hiding from persecution, because his hour had not yet come. But now it is nearly here. Having seen his miracles ourselves and in our own lives, we cannot hold back our cheers. Neither does he desire to hide any more. It has begun. Nothing can stop him now.

Homily After the Gospel

The time from the beginning of Lent through Easter Sunday is marked with a rapid succession of external rituals in the life of a Catholic. We remember Ash Wednesday when we received the blessed ashes on our foreheads. Today we receive palm branches and we fold them into neat little crosses. On Holy Thursday we have the foot-washing. On Good Friday we kneel and kiss the Cross. And Saturday night, the Easter Vigil, is filled with incense, chants, exclamations, water, oil, and light. All of these, even the deadening silence and emptiness of the altar on Good Friday, are rich experiences that flood our senses.

It somehow makes sense that we come in such larger numbers to these liturgies than to the common Sunday obligation. Our Lord made us to be sensing beings and uses our senses to help us know him. But what will we do when Easter is over and the rest of the liturgical year marches on? What will we do when all the sensational things give way to the sobriety and noble simplicity that most often marks the Holy Mass?

We have been re-examining our Faith throughout this season of Lent, but now we are called to do so in light of these rich symbols. We must remember that all of the external rituals of our faith are not ends in and of themselves; rather they remind us of the deeper spiritual realities that they signify. Religious sentiments are good and appropriate in response to these beautiful things for they often serve as invitations to more fully enter into our faith. But our experiences of these things must not stop at the external level or the level of sentiment. We must consider the underlying spiritual effect that is taking place: what the ashes mean, what the palm branches mean, what the foot-washing, the cross, the water, oil and light mean – what difference they make for our faith.

We are made for deeper realities, for solemnity, for transcendence. Deep down we are longing for something greater than ourselves. Some of the Jews of Jesus time, though, were only caught up with the spectacle of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem; they had not let Him enter into their hearts. St. Matthew describes how his persecutors spat in his face and struck him while some slapped him saying “Prophesy for us, Christ: who is it that struck you?” Later they jeered at him, “Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.” Of course they have no faith him and have no deeper interest in prophecy or miracles – they are only concerned with external signs and wonders.

Today our Lord processes triumphantly into Jerusalem not upon a team of warhorses along a path of gold but upon a peaceful colt and donkey along a path of cloaks and palm branches. This he did to the shouts of praise of a “very large crowd” (Mt 21:8). But, only a few days later, this same group, riled up by the high priests, will shout for his crucifixion. Pilate said to them, “What shall I do with Jesus called Christ?
Why [crucify him]? What evil has he done?” “They only shouted the louder, ‘Let him be crucified!’” (Mt 27:22-23).

It’s easy to shout with praise and acclamation to Jesus when everyone around us is shouting praises too. But when people disperse enough ill will, are we quick to condemn him? Do I preach Christ, and Him Crucified only when I am surrounded by attentive parishioners or brother priests? What do I say to those who disagree with Church teaching or try to persecute the Church? What about when I’m with friends or family and my guard is down? Do I praise him still?

How can we live differently today because of the scenario that has unfolded before us? You and I have to make sure that our faith doesn’t stop at the externals. If we live our lives no deeper than the surface level, then we are easily swayed by those who have the loudest voice. But when we allow the external signs of our faith to take us deeper then we come to know the truth of our faith and come to know Christ for who He really is. Then Christ can begin to mold and transform us into Catholics who are always faithful, always at His right hand, even if we are the only ones standing up for Him, even when there is “darkness… over the whole land” (Mt 27:45).

If we can go deeper, we can be Catholics who wear ashes to show contrition; who wash feet to honor the commandment to Love; who are sprinkled with water to reclaim our Baptism; who receive oil to be sanctified, healed, and strengthened; and who light candles to show the world that Christ is the Light. We never use symbols because “that’s just what we’ve always done” – we use them because their deep and underlying meanings make us holy and glorify God. We use them because they flow from our faith and stir up our faith. We use symbols in order to be empowered to stay true to Him.

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5th Sunday of Lent, Year A: Answering Common Concerns with Confession

4th Sunday of Lent, Year A: Joy and Insight in the Midst of Suffering and Sacrifice

3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A: The Rock & Wellspring of Life-Giving Water

2nd Sunday of Lent, Year A: Bear Your Share of Hardship for the Gospel, with the Strength That Comes from God

1st Sunday of Lent, Year A: Do Good, Avoid Evil

At first glance we may ask, “What good could possibly come from Jesus’ actions today? He fasted for forty days and forty nights but then he was hungry. And why must we hear about Satan tempting him? It is so unpleasant for us to imagine. But, out of his great humility, Jesus submitted himself to these things to illuminate one of the most basic aspects of human life, one with which we are all painfully aware: the temptation to sin. He doesn’t just exhort us to do good and avoid evil from an ivory tower, unfamiliar with how difficult this can be. He enters this crucible himself, to show us how to pass the test. Only if we are willing to share in his suffering with him through Lent will we be able to share in his glory through Easter.

Every year at this time, the Church instructs us to pray more, to fast on certain days, to give up meat on others, to be more charitable in our support of the Church, and so forth. But equally important is the renewed commitment to avoid sin in our lives. It is a topic we don’t like to talk much about, but we must double our efforts to conquer the temptations to sin, which now more than ever assail us from every side because our sights are set on the Cross and the salvation that it brings. The devil hates to see us with our eyes fixed on the Cross and we can be sure he too will be doubling his efforts in order to turn us away from it. Indeed his temptations are quite horrible.

Let us not despair over being tempted, tempted to eat too much food, to spend too much money, to waste too much time, to love too little; no one is alone in these, and no one is immune from them. Even Jesus the Son of God, was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Mark’s Gospel says that “the Spirit immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness.” The Holy Spirit threw him right into the middle of temptation so that he could begin, in earnest, his life’s mission and so that we could one day see The Way through and out of temptation.

In our case, God allows us to be tempted out of compassion for us, so that we might grow in faith. God learns nothing by the trials he allows us to face. He is not sitting up in heaven waiting to see the results. But we certainly learn something, of the level of our commitment, our progress in the spiritual life, where our true affections lie, the nature of our desires, and the depth of our love for God and our brothers and sisters. Every temptation poses the question, “Am I for God or against Him? Will I say ‘Yes’ to Him or ‘No’?” Every Yes exercises our faith and makes it stronger. Every single choice for God rather than ourselves steeps us deeper in virtue and his gifts and burns away our affections for sin.[1]
 
Even though we are constantly tempted by the devil, by other people, by unfortunate circumstances in life that are outside of ourselves, God’s will is never thwarted by these occasions. Rather, he wills that every temptation be an occasion for grace. And with every temptation God always provides the way out, but we must have the courage to take it rather than rely on ourselves or give in. And we must build ourselves up with spiritual tools so that we will be able to choose the way out. We often choose sin time and time again, unable to bear the trial, because we come to the occasion crippled by our not being spiritually prepared.

My advice to you today would be that when you are tempted to sin, no matter what it is, great or small, turn the devil on his head! You can foil the devil, just like Jesus did in the desert. After every time Satan tempted our Lord he always replied with Scripture, the Word of God. Even when Satan tried to manipulate Scripture and quote it himself, to fool Jesus, Jesus quoted it right back at him, accurately and truthfully. The devil didn’t have a chance in the face of the Truth and he was forced to leave. Any time the devil’s temptation becomes an occasion for prayer or Scripture his knees are chopped out right from under him.

In the end, it is often not really about the object of the temptation at all. It is never about infidelity, or food, or alcohol or whatever, it is about something much deeper. What we often really want is simply intimacy, intimacy with God and the ones we love. What we really want is just to give and receive love. What we really want is to belong or to be happy, especially to be happy. But sometimes it is the case that we have chosen wrongly so many times that we forget how to properly satisfy these deepest desires (which are good and true). This Satisfaction is only Our Lord, Jesus Christ who never abandons us, especially in our times of greatest need. He truly can fulfill us, infinitely better than any act of lust, overeating, or overdrinking can.

This Lent, enter the desert with our Lord bravely, yet trusting that “He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you” and “With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Enter Lent bravely and courageously, because you are humble and reliant on him. Enter Lent believing that this year, with His help, we can overcome our temptations, we can do better, we can be purified. Through our prayer, acts of charity, and penances, we will sacrifice and suffer with Him so that we can, even in this life, experience a share in his victory and his glory.

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[1] Cf. Scott Hahn, Understanding “Our Father: Biblical Reflections on the Lord’s Prayer, p. 56, 58, 60.

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