The Need For You to Decide to Repent and Change

Having been on over 10 college campuses for school and missionary work; it never failed that during certain parts of the year the soap box preacher would come onto campus preaching fire and brimstone, yelling with their Bible in hand at the college students that they should repent of their sin and come to the Lord!  Now I’m not disagreeing that sinners, including myself, need to repent. But I do believe the soap box preacher was taking the wrong approach, if anything, he was pushing people away from the Lord, not drawing them closer to Him!

And yet, in the Gospel today we hear about St. John the Baptist preaching like the soap box preacher!  “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand!” But there is a different between the two!  John the Baptist lived in the desert of Judea.  Do you know how many people live in the desert?  Not many, it’s a place of solitude and isolation.  The fact was people from all over Judea and Jerusalem were going out to see the saint and listen to his message.  They, except the Pharisees and Sadducees, had already made the realization that they wanted and needed to change their life and St. John the Baptist was extending the invitation to come back to the Lord.  We see it also in the life of Jesus Christ as well. Jesus goes out, yes! But it’s the sick, the lepers, the blind that call out to the Lord for healing!  Again, the healing begins with their decision to seek repentance and turn back to the Lord.

In a same sense, I can’t force you to repent.  I can’t force you to grow in your faith.  This can only be done by your decision to seek out and cooperate with God’s Grace.  So, I encourage, better yet, I’m inviting all of us, including myself, to prepare our hearts by repenting and turning back to the Lord! 

Cleaning the House Up for the Holidays! A Reflection on Advent!

It is truly a holiday season.  From Thanksgiving jumping right into preparing for the Christmas season, I have many memories of the following situation; the house was in disarray and we were soon expecting the arrival of our relatives!  The entire household would go into full clean up mode.  My mom ran the show, while my dad steam cleaned the floors and organized the garage. My job was usually dusting, vacuuming the hallways and stairs, while also cleaning my room grudgingly.  The reason for all this cleaning?  We had been caught up in our own daily schedules up until this point and forgot to maintain our very house we lived in.

In certain way, I believe this is why the Church has the Advent Liturgical Season.  In a way it is to prepare us to celebrate the birth of Christ!  But like our house before the holidays, we too have strayed in our faith in some way or another.  Caught up in the business of our lives from work, school, sports, relationships, etc. that leaves us internally a mess and a necessary cleaning of our own interior house is in order.  The Church is asking of us to once again prepare our hearts to receive Christ in our lives.  In a way that’s what the Scriptures our saying.  The Lord is coming, make your preparations, don’t get caught off guard.

So, I encourage you during this Advent season, make some time to prepare our hearts to receive Christ; from the Sacrament of Reconciliation, to coming to daily Mass, to spending some time before the Blessed Sacrament in our chapel.  The Lord so desires to come into our hearts.  Let’s not have our house in such a mess that we will not have any room when He arrives. 

Desiring for Someone to Fight for Me!

When I was growing up we had a forest preserve close to my house.  My friends and I would pull out some hammer & nails, blocks of wood, and build some forts and cause trouble.  One day my dad curiously asked to see where I was spending all my time.  So I took my dad down into the forest preserve.  The one day I decided to show my dad where I was spending all my time was the same day, and only day I could ever recall, when there was a failed bank robbery and a police chase that ended up near our house. 

As we were in the woods, we could hear the sirens from a distance.  Soon those sirens ended up right outside the tree line of the forest preserve.  I told my dad that we should leave/run, but my dad not wanting to be confused with the chase told me to stand still.  All of a sudden the bank robber came running into the woods.  Actually he was running right toward us without seeing us.  All of sudden as he got close, my dad placed himself between me and the bank robber. When the bank robber saw my dad and I, he turned and ran in a different direction.

It was confirmed, that which I already known, my dad was willing to fight for me!  I think this longing, this desire for someone to fight for us, can be found in all our aspects of life!  We seek it from our teachers when we were kids; if we are struggling we wanted a teacher that would work with us to succeed.  We seek it in our coaches; if we are struggling we want a coach to stick by our side even when we aren't playing our best game.   We desire it in our friends; that they would stick up for us when others are saying bad things about us.  We desire it from are bosses; that they will defend our work.  We desire it from our family and close loved ones.  And we even desire it from our politicians.  If we looked at how people voted in this past election, we can see why people voted for their candidate!  Their vote was based on their belief that the candidate would best fight for their rights!

It's no difference in our faith.  We desire for a God who will fight for us!  And yet, how many people out there, including ourselves, may feel that God is distant?  From a loss of a loved one, to a possible terminal diagnosis, to a loss of a job, or even brokenness within our family.  Do we acknowledge God's presence in our life?  Do we see God fighting for us? 

This is why it is so important that the Church celebrates every year, which we celebrated this past weekend, the Solemnity of Christ the King!  Getting past our own misconceptions of modern day monarchies; the role of the king was not to be separated from the people, but someone who fought for his people!  King Saul and King David, after they were anointed by Samuel as king of Israel, they went off to battle to fight Israel's enemy.  We too have a King willing to fight for us.  All we need to do is look at Jesus Christ on the Cross.  Christ enters into our battles of loneliness, doubt, despair, and even death to bring us into his Kingdom.  How great it is that we have a King who is willing to fight for you and me!

We Are an Anxious People!

It’s amazing how anxious and fearful we can become!  Specifically, in the past few weeks, I heard from numerous people about how concerned, anxious, and afraid prior and post presidential election.  In the previous weeks, I also heard from many people on how anxious they were about Game 7 of the world series, and how they couldn’t even watch the game because it was so intense.  And that’s just from politics and sports, this doesn’t even begin to account for the anxiety and fears that come from our daily lives and responsibilities from family, work, school, our own health and well being. 

If were to just take a step back and look at our lives, we could say that humanity overall seems to be anxious and fearful!  The funny thing if you read the Bible which has stories that go as far back as 5,000 + years, not much has changed.  It’s no wonder, the main message from God throughout the Scriptures is “Do not be Afraid” and “Peace, be with you!” We need to be constantly comforted, constantly reassured that everything is going to be ok. 

From the Gospel, this weekend, you can sense the anxiety and fear rise once again.  Jesus begins to tell the Jews about the upcoming destruction of their temple; that which is the center of their worship, faith, and life!  And yet, Jesus seems un-phased as he proclaims the future collapses of kingdoms and nations.  Why? 

I think because Christ is trying to reveal something deeper about our faith.  Our life is more than buildings, more than politics, or even sports!  Our life is about relationship with the Lord and that can be never taken away!  Jesus came into the world to take on our greatest fear and greatest anxiety, which can be found in death.  He doesn’t run away from it, but transforms it!  So, if you are finding yourself in fear or anxiety, do not put your hopes in worldly things that will fail us and fade away.  Place your hopes in the one who will never leave us, even on the cross; place your hopes in Jesus Christ!

What We Can Learn From Airplanes!

It has been reported that commercial airplanes, like those that fly from Chicago to Los Angeles, are off their flight plan over 90% of the time.  You can easily see why: from cross winds, jet steams, to various weather conditions and storms.  But, even though they are constantly off course, they still make it to their destination.  How?  The airplanes are constantly being corrected by computer instruments to correct the airplane's bearings. 

Our Spiritual lives can be very similar.  If we acknowledge that God has a specific plan for us, then we can also acknowledge that we too are off the path over 90% of the time as well.  Just like airplanes, we encounter the cross winds of sin, we encounter the crazy storms of life.  We too need to constantly make self-corrections, we need to constantly turn back to the Lord!

We see this in the Gospel from this past weekend in the story of Zacchaeus.  Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector in Jericho.  Two things needed to be pointed out; first the town of Jericho and second the position of chief-tax collector.  Jericho was seen as a place of sin.  It was the town the Israelites had to overcome to enter into the Holy Land.  Unlike the holy city of Jerusalem built 1800 feet above sea level, Jericho was found 1200 feet below sea level.  Within 18 miles that separate the two towns, one would have to descend from Jerusalem, the holy city, to get to the town of Jericho.  The descent was not only a sign of physical descent, but spiritual fall.  Next, Zacchaeus was a chief tax collect.  He worked for the Roman Empire, the very oppressors of the Jewish people and faith.  So, not only was Zacchaeus in a town known for sin, but he held a position that was the worst of all!

Scripture says Zacchaeus was short in stature and so he didn't approach the Lord, but he had the full authority of the Roman guard at his disposal.  He could of went directly up to the Lord because of his authority.  But instead he climbed a tree, because he only wanted to see Jesus at a distance. He had strayed from God's plan and you can see how he felt unworthy to see God face to face.  But Zacchaeus small action to see Jesus led to something powerful.  And just like the prodigal Son, God runs out to Zacchaeus.  Jesus tells Zacchaeus to come down quickly for he must stay in his house.  Well what happens, when people enter another person's house?  They share a meal!

God continues to work the same way in our lives and we can see this in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Eucharist.  In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, there is always a hesitation to go!  We, like Zacchaeus, don't jump to go to the Sacrament.  We know we have strayed from our path, and may sometimes feel unworthy to be in God's presence.  Yet once we enter, it is God who comes to us.  He forgives us our sins and tells us that He must stay with us!  And this is where the Sacrament of the Eucharist follows.  He invites us to share a meal!  He comes into our house, our hearts and feeds us with himself in the Eucharist! 

It is clear that we don't always follow the Lord and we fall of the path God planned for us, but it doesn't mean that the Lord doesn't stop calling us back to himself.  It's time to correct our bearings once again and set our hearts on our ultimate destination: to be with the Lord!

The Need to Acknowledge Our Own Brokenness, Our Need for a Savior

In October 2005 I started to notice a growth in my neck.  By November, it had continued to grow and I remember asking my sister, as she was finishing her residency program in Family Medicine, to examine it while we were driving back from Tennessee from our Thanksgiving break.  She could feel the growth, but without exams, she felt it was something that needed to be drained.  As I went from internal medicine; to a neck, throat, and ear specialist; they finally got me to a surgeon and then an oncologist. I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  It was amazing how quickly we went from diagnosis to treatment.  It cancer had spread from my neck to my abdomen, which eventually led to 12 chemo treatments over 6 months. 

What is clear in medicine is also clear in the spiritual life.  We can't seek treatment, until we know what is wrong, or until we even identify that something is wrong!  That's the struggle with our culture today.  We are not willing to say something is wrong with ourselves.  Our culture, society will say everything is fine, everything is okay!  Yet, I only have to point to our political candidates to prove that statement as false!  Our culture, our society is not okay! We, ourselves need the Lord more then ever.

When I was on a college campus doing my missionary work, I encountered a student who encompasses exactly what we are facing today!  The college student was not Catholic, but was attending Catholic retreats.  He had been living the college life he wanted by partying hard on the weekends.  He had a girlfriend, was studying business, and had an internship all lined up for the summer.  I remember asking/challenging him to consider going deeper into the Catholic faith, but he knew what that would involve: change!  He flat out told me that his life was great and there was no need to change!  (Again, you can't seek the great physician if you don't know if anything is wrong).  That following week the Lord pierced through his false reality.  His girlfriend broke up with him, his internship fell through, and things were seeming to fall apart!  It was then, we were able to have deeper conversations, about loneliness, brokenness and the need for the Lord!

This weekend's Gospel is challenging us just like I had challenged that college student.  The Gospel was the contrast of  prayer between the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14).  The Pharisee relied solely on his works and felt justified by how he lived his live, while the tax collector knew he needed to rely solely on God.  The Lord is asking us to seek him and to rely solely on him!  Let us not be like the Pharisee, who couldn't not see his own brokenness and illness.  Let us be like the tax collector, acknowledge our need for a savior and call upon him; Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner!

What's with Moses and Amalek, Can We Get back to Me?

This weekend the Catholic Church proclaimed in their first reading the story of Moses and Joshua fighting Amalek.  Of course we know this story right?  If you are like me, you didn't learn about this battle in history class.  So the answer to that question is No!  But then, why is it so important that it be proclaimed in every Catholic Church around they entire world reaching to over 1 billion Catholics?!  Moses and Joshua, representing Israel, was called to fight not only for their existence, but for their very faith.  The question we need to ask ourselves is, "Are we willing to fight for our faith?"  Even Jesus asked that to his disciples, "But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8).

Now, living in the United States we are truly blessed with Freedom of Religion.  We have the right to assemble and practice our faith and we are not killed for our Catholic/Christian faith unlike other places throughout the world.  In Saudi Arabia, a US and Western ally, will not let anyone practice Christianity openly and freely.  You will be jailed.  If you are Kurd in Iraq, you are persecuted by Turkey, ISIS and Iran.  If you are Coptic Egyptian, one of the Oldest Christian rites, you can be beheaded on the shores of Libya.  In Yemen, 4 Missionaries of Charity were killed for serving the poor and dying in that country.  We may feel that those things are isolated events and will never become our problem, but just a couple of months ago a Catholic Priest was killed in France for offering Mass; for being Catholic.  There may come a time in the US, where we will need to stand for our faith that will cost us our lives, but that's not the fighting I want to talk about.

Another battle we could discuss is the need to fight for our faith within the political spheres of our country.  This is an election season, which has the ability to direct our politicians, and hence our future actions within our country.  My parish has over 3,800 crosses in our front lawn, representing the number abortions that happen every day in the United States.  This is something that is very saddening because we know that each person, from the moment of conception is uniquely made.  We know this from experience.  If my parents had 1,000 kids, there would not be another me!  There are 7.2 billion people in the world.  Can you account for anyone being exactly identical or a replica of another human being that has ever been, ever is, or ever will be?  The answer is NO!  Each life is sacred and uniquely made, divinely inspired, and therefore has a place in this world! 

But again that's not the fight I think is the most important.  What I want to ask is, are we willing to fight for God in our own lives?  In our job, families, friends, and more importantly in our sacred schedule!  If we are truly honest with ourselves, we constantly downplay the significance of putting God in our daily lives.  How much easier is it for me to find time to watch the entire Cubs game than heading over to the chapel to pray or opening the Scriptures.  How easier it is to turn on Netflix after a long day, then actually taking the time to give thanks to God for the day He had given me?  As a priest, I can tell you that the struggle is real!  How much more then do we need to be encouraged to fight this day! That's the importance of the first reading  and why it being proclaimed through the world.  Let us fight to make our faith a priority!