I’m very competitive.  I may or may not “talk smack” if you try to take me on in card games or sports…especially when I’m good at them—that includes bowling, by the way, so watch out OLM bowling league.  As I reflect, I can see that this competitive spirit began in grade school, carried into high school, and has even continued into college and priestly ministry!

Competition is a good thing (and I’m not just saying that because I’m biased).  It is something that reminds us of the need to put in the necessary effort and discipline if we want to succeed.  St. Paul writes, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize!” (1 Cor 9:24)  St. Paul desires that people put the same effort they put into sports into growing their faith.

Still, there is one area of our lives where competition should have no place: our relationship with God.  This is because God is not in competition with us.  What we learn as children and adults—namely, “if somebody else wins, I lose”—doesn’t translate in our relationship with God.  When God wins, we win.  He’s on our side, and He’s one heck of a teammate!

When my nephew was a tiny infant, it was a joy just to be able to hold him. I didn’t challenge him to a competition, or question who was winning out the most in our relationship.  I just wanted to be with him—to hold him and to rejoice in him. The Lord desires the same kind of relationship with us.  He wants to be with us! He wants to be held close to our hearts, just as He holds us close to His own heart.

This shows us one of the reasons why God chose to become an infant.  He wants to break through our imagined competition with Him, and show us that fighting against Him is just about as unreasonable as fighting against a helpless infant. When God wins, we win. Let’s be thankful this Christmas for our God who is so powerful and majestic that He’s not afraid to become a helpless tiny infant, showing us just how much He wants to be with us, and just how far He is willing to go for us!

Father Michael

 

Have you ever had a dream for yourself or family and saw it realized; whether it be personal, spiritual, or vocational?  It’s usually an unforgettable moment filled with great joy.  I have been blessed to be able experience this in my own life on various occasions: from running a marathon with my sister two years after my last chemo, to desiring to hear the Lord’s voice in prayer, to responding to the Lord’s calling in my ordination to the priesthood.  All were unforgettable and joyful moments where dreams were fulfilled!

St. Matthew’s Gospel is known as the fulfillment Gospel.  Throughout his Gospel, St. Matthew writes, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet…”  St. Matthew is preparing his readers to receive the dream given to all of humanity—the dream to be once again reunited with our God and creator.

For St. Joseph, this dream was literally his own. An angel of the Lord explained to St. Joseph in his dreams what was soon to come and the role that he was invited to play.  Although it took great courage, St. Joseph answered the call to participate in this dream. He knew that the very same God who freed Israel from slavery in Egypt, who fed His people in the desert, and who promised to once again deliver His people from bondage, was reaching out him in this dream.

That dream can be ours as well—and not only a dream, but the fulfillment of that dream! It takes great courage to follow God’s lead, even if His promises seem hard to believe, but for those who follow it, they will know the greatest dream of all to come true in their own lives. Let us unite ourselves with St. Joseph this week as prepare for Christmas. For on Christmas day, we receive Emmanuel anew—God with us—the greatest dream to ever come true!

Father Michael

 

“What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?” One has to wonder why everyone who met Jesus didn’t immediately fall down at His feet and exclaim, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Matt 27:54) Rather, He was hidden in ordinary human flesh. John the Baptist himself, who according to Jesus is greater than all those born of women, has to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Our expectations can severely limit our capacity to see, and Jesus’ response to John is thus to refix his expectations.

It should therefore be no wonder that everyone who encounters the Eucharist doesn’t immediately fall down at His feet and exclaim, “Truly this is the Son of God!” We can really only see the Eucharist for what it is, if we see Jesus for who He is, and adjust our expectations accordingly.

So, what would we expect? What has Jesus shown us about Himself? Jesus is humble. He’s not afraid to be a helpless little baby. He is generous—He does not withhold His Body and Blood from being poured out for the world on the cross. He wants to be with us—so much so that He left the glory of heaven to visit His people. And He is radically in love with us—He is “the bridegroom”, we are the bride, and He therefore wants to become “one flesh” with us.

Knowing this—knowing Jesus for who He truly is—it is no wonder that God gives Himself to us in the Eucharist: His Presence, His Sacrifice, and His Communion. Just as He was hidden in human flesh to give us this threefold gift, so too now He is doubly hidden, both His divinity and humanity, so as to give all of humanity these gifts until the end of time.

Jesus provides us with something irrefutably stable in his words, deeds, and person to show us who God is—in a word, He teaches us to see God. Although this doesn’t come immediately to those who meet Our Lord, remember that “the blind regain their sight” because of Him. Thus, just as Jesus revealed how much God loves us on the cross, may we allow Him to heal our blindness and show us just how much God loves us in the Eucharist.

Father James

 

When I was growing up, my family would often host the various holiday gatherings. Inevitably, when Thanksgiving or Christmas rolled around and we were on to host, the family would go into an all-out cleanup mode. Suddenly, everyone had extra chores, and I still remember that my job was to Windex the tabletops and vacuum the carpets. The family went full court press on cleanup and our hope was to prepare a home worthy of receiving our extended family and honored guests.

We can make the same connection with the season of Advent. This Liturgical season is meant to prepare our hearts to receive Jesus Christ on Christmas day. St. John the Baptist proclaims, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” His mission was much the same: to prepare people to receive Jesus through the gift of repentance. Hence, if we’re wondering how to prepare for Christmas, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is always a beautiful way to prepare to receive Jesus.

It is important to note that, although St. John the Baptist’s message was proclaimed in the desert of all places, people still traveled great distances to receive his message of repentance. I truly believe that these travels themselves were even part of the preparation of repentance—showing they were willing to go out of their way to ask God for forgiveness. Likewise, any good confession needs preparation and effort. I would suggest taking the time to read through a good examination, whether it’s the ones in the narthex, on our MyParish app, online by searching for the “Knights of Columbus examination of conscience” or on our website under Sacraments and select Reconciliation (where you can find an Examination of Conscience for Children, Teens, Singles, Married and one in Spanish).

Now in all honesty, I have to acknowledge that when we had to prepare the house for our visitors, I didn’t always respond in the most enthusiastic way. I sometimes would only begrudgingly finish my tasks. However, the one thing that never changed was the joy that we all had in celebrating the holidays with family and friends. This can happen with the Sacrament of Reconciliation too! It might not be an enjoyable experience to have to acknowledge our brokenness and sins, but it will allow us all the more to celebrate the welcoming of Jesus into our hearts this Christmas!

In this spirit, Fr. James and I will be offering six straight days of confession this year. Starting Monday December 12th, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, through Friday the 16th, 7-8:30 PM, followed by our normal Saturday confession times. Our hope is to give an ample amount of time for people to prepare their hearts to receive Jesus.

Father Michael

 

Our need for the humility of Jesus—found firstly in the manger—is a great place to begin our Advent. Allow me to share with you a little excerpt from one of my favorite novelists, Michael O’Brien, in his book Plague Journal:

“There are ways of dealing with trouble in an affluent age. If you have enough money or influence, health and power, you can stave off trouble for a long time. You can pad and buffer and distract yourself until the illusion of mastery is complete. The only weakness in this seemingly perfect method is that your life must then be preoccupied with padding, buffering, and distracting. Most of us do it to some degree. We can’t help it really. Pain just isn’t fun; helplessness is scary. But suffering finds us all sooner or later. There is no hiding place, and, when raising a family, you are especially exposed to the dangers of human existence.

     I didn’t know it then, but the cost of a happy family is the death of selfishness. The father must die if he is to give life to his spouse and children. Not a pleasant thought but a true one. An entire lifetime can be spent avoiding it. It’s simply not enough to provide and protect. In themselves, of course, providing and protecting are good and necessary things. That is our responsibility.

     But a father can provide a mountain of material goods for his family and defend it against all kinds of inconveniences, thinking he can rest easy, having done his part, and still have missed the essential point: he is called to be an image of love and truth. The house he provides, be it a cabin, a mansion, or a barge painted Christmas colors, must have at its core a heart that is willing to look at its poverty. As long as we’re convinced of our own strengths, our cleverness, and our cagey ability to endure, we still think we’re in charge. We construct a life-style of eliminating difficulties at any cost. It takes a lot of padding if you’re to avoid the unexplainable, unjust blows of suffering. There will come a time, however, when this elaborate defense system crumbles.”

If we don’t see our need for Jesus, our own poverties, then Advent isn’t very exciting. If, on the other hand, we know that we are nothing without Jesus, and if Jesus becomes the deepest desire of our hearts, then we won’t be able to help but echo the ancient, eager cry of Advent, “Maranatha!” Come Lord Jesus! …into my heart, into my life, into my family, into my sufferings, into my joys, and into my poverty! You alone give perfect peace. You alone give  perfect joy.

Father James

 

I have to say, I enjoyed growing up in the 80s and 90s! I still remember going to the movie theater with my family and friends to see great movies that our culture continues to try to recapture today.  One movie in particular that I remember seeing was the Lion King. The music and cinematography were absolutely beautiful.  As I was leaving the theater, one of the songs in particular was stuck in my head: “I Can’t Wait to be King.”  The lyrics went on, “No one say ‘do this’, no one say ‘be there’, no one say ‘stop that’, no one say ‘see here’…”  It’s quite a catchy song with an adolescent concept of freedom.  The main character began the movie by thinking that kingship was all about having it my way.  However, as the movie progresses and the main character comes of age, it becomes clear that kingship is best wielded at the service and love of others.

Based on my time forming future priests in the seminary, I can say that this misunderstanding often arises in many young seminarians today who may sing, “I can’t wait to be pastor! No one say do this, no one say be there… free to do it all my way!”  However, that too would be a misunderstanding of what it means to be a pastor.  Lucky for myself, the Church is very clear about how pastors are to lead their parishes. The scriptures used in the celebration of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, are a perfect example.

Our first reading brings it all together: kingship and shepherding (pastoring) belong together!

“And the LORD said to you,

‘You shall shepherd my people Israel

and shall be commander of Israel.'”

The great King David in the Old Testament, prior to being Israel’s great king, was first a shepherd willing to lay down his life for his flock.  David was only made king when he first served and fought for his people.  Jesus, who is the ultimate David, is both King and Shepherd.  Christ makes it clear in His ministry, with the heart of a good shepherd, that He desires not only to serve and love his people, but even to suffer and die for them.  What a beautiful King and Shepherd we have in Christ.  Please pray that Fr. James and I may have the same heart of Christ the King and that we may continue to entrust our very lives to our Lord and King!

Father Michael

 

(Queue dramatic voice.) “If you had one week to live, what would you do?”  This was a frequent conversation starter among my high school friends.  The responses varied from traveling the world seeing the seven wonders, to spending time with family before our untimely demise.  As much as it was a morbid question to ask in high school, it was meant to remove all distractions and point us to desires of the heart.

Every year as we approach the end of the liturgical season of Ordinary Time and move toward Advent, our Sunday readings turn toward the end of days or end times.  In our Gospel we read, “All that you see here, the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another…” This points to the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple which itself represents the cosmos.  What is even more striking, however, is Jesus’ response as to when this will occur: “Nation will rise against nation…there will be…famines, and plagues.”  According to Christ’s description, it may seem that we are fast approaching the second coming of Christ and the end of time.

However, the reason the Church has selected these readings is no different than the question we asked in high school.  The Church is desiring for us to remove any and all distractions and have us turn to that which is most important – Our Lord.

Certainly, there are few who help us to do this very thing, like our seminarians—young men who show us that God is still very much alive and very much calling us to lay down our lives in service to God and our brothers and sisters. That’s why this weekend we are hearing a testimony from our seminarian, Jonathan Hernandez, in collaboration with our Diocesan Seminary Endowment Weekend.  I truly believe that those who pursue religious vocations have the ability to point us past this world and point us to the Lord.  Please continue to pray for our priests and religious, but also for more young men to answer the call to the priesthood. May we support them as they prepare to spiritually support us, our families, and our future generations.

Father Michael

 

 

In the Gospel Jesus tells us that in heaven we “neither marry nor are given in marriage.” That’s very surprising given how much emphasis Jesus places on the indissolubility of marriage, but it also reminds us of what marriage is all about.

For one thing, in heaven we “can no longer die” but are “like angels” (we don’t become angels). Now, angels don’t have babies (they’re each their own species and don’t die). Yet, humans would cease to exist if we stopped having children (because we do die). Thus we can see the nod to the fact that marriage is built around the unique capacity of a man and a woman to procreate. Nothing better explains the need for marital fidelity, longevity, exclusivity, and totality than the good of children. Nothing better explains why a government should regulate marriages and incentivize healthy marriages than children (the future citizens!). Plus, as we know, psychology and sociology unequivocally support the value of healthy traditional marriages for both children and couples. So (nuances like infertility and NFP aside), we can see that it’s self-contradictory to take procreation out of the definition of marriage. That being said, marriage offers much more than cute little look-a-like humans who push us to our limits. In fact, it takes us to the depths of love.

Couples promise a love that is full, faithful, fruitful, and freely given “until death do us part.” This doesn’t mean that marriage won’t have repercussions in heaven, quite the contrary! Marriage prepares us for heaven, and heaven fulfills marriage. That’s why marriage is God’s favorite analogy for His relationship with us and why Jesus elevated marriage to a sacrament. Like baptism, marriage is meant to be the place where we selflessly die with Christ so that we might rise with Him. Like confession, marriage is meant to be the place where the worst parts of us will surface, but are greeted with healing love and mercy. And like Communion, marriage is meant to be the place where two individuals—hearts, minds, bodies, and souls—mystically become “one flesh.”

As Peter Kreeft simply put it, while “civil marriage is made by man, sacramental marriage is made by God.” May all married couples look to heaven, face their brokenness together in Christ, and thereby reach the depths of love which is fulfilled in heaven. If you’d like to have your marriage blessed in the Church, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Father James

 

We are in the midst of a highly televised sporting season, from the World Series of Baseball to College and Professional Football.  It is funny to think of the conversations I have with those who love sports as much as I do; the conversation usually revolves around a simple question, “Did you see that game?”  As human beings, there is always a longing to see.  Not only in the things of this world like sports, but more importantly, we long to see in our faith.

In our Gospel this weekend, Zacchaeus longed to see the Lord by climbing a tree.  Zacchaeus was a powerful, wealthy man.  He could have used his stature and authority to push his way to the front. However, Zacchaeus instead chose to climb a tree, and this show of humility and poverty of spirit moved our Lord to respond, “Tonight I must stay at your house!”  In seeing the Lord, Zacchaeus found Jesus entering his heart and home!

With this in mind, I would like to share in humility a desire I have for Our Lady of Mercy.  Just as Jesus blessed and changed Zacchaeus’ life forever, I would like to have more opportunities for that same encounter for our parishioners. I would like to have a beautiful, dedicated Adoration Chapel at our parish under the patronage of Divine Mercy.

There are many reasons for this, but allow me to share just a few. You may already be aware that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) recently called for a Eucharistic Revival in our country. More adoration would follow this call while also spiritually supporting our many beautiful ministries and families. What is more, this would fulfill the original building plans for our Church! If you enjoyed our week of adoration earlier in October, then you’ll be happy to hear that I have already taken steps in making this desire a reality by seeking approval from the bishop, staff, volunteers and some parishioners.

I would like to humbly ask for your support.  As things develop, from design, to contracting, cost, and God-willing construction, I’ll be keeping you informed every step of the way.  As seen in the example of Zacchaeus, I believe that allowing more parishioners to see the Lord in adoration will bear tremendous fruit for our parish. May our desire to see the Lord be fulfilled in this effort, so that we might receive the Lord ever more deeply into our hearts and homes.

Father Michael

 

 

I’m happy to report that I received over 150 email responses to my bulletin survey, accounting for over 200 people! I was also surprised by the fact that I even got several emails before the weekend since the bulletins are published online ahead of time (quite the eager crowd!). If you have any questions or topics that you’d like me to address (in 350 words or less), don’t hesitate to send me an email with your ideas.

In the meantime, you may have noticed that I don’t regularly offer confession face-to-face. Likewise, I purposefully avoid looking at the people waiting in line for confession whenever I walk into “the sin bin”. (If you haven’t noticed this, then get yourself to confession!)  Anyways, I do these things because the penitent and the priest both have a right to anonymity in confession. Sometimes this isn’t possible because of circumstances and that’s fine. I have absolutely no problem with face-to-face.

Still, I don’t want to remember your sins as much as you don’t want me to remember them! Even if I were to recognize your voice, having fewer senses attached to the experience makes it easier for me to forget about it (remember my little memory knight homily?). It’s also not as if your sins scare me. I hear face-to-face confessions of people in jail on trial for heinous crimes. Furthermore, while face-to-face is a very courageous practice, I don’t want people to feel guilty for not going face-to-face. Hopefully this helps make it as easy as possible for everyone to be brutally honest in confession.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I prefer anonymous confession because I think it’s more fitting. While I appreciate the ‘humanness’ of face-to-face, it makes clearer as you stare at the crucifix (and not at my wonderful face) that the priest is himself a sacrament (Holy Orders makes it so!). Confession reconciles us to God and His Church, not just Father Y. The priest, regardless of whether he’s Padre Pio or Padre James has the same authority to forgive sins, and at the end of the day, that’s what we’re there for!

Father James