St. Thomas the Apostle Parish

Homily for the Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe

It was 79 years ago today that Franciscan Friar Maximilian Kolbe was put to death in Auschwitz, some two weeks after he and nine other prisoners were put in a cell to be starved to death in retaliation for a prisoner escape. The amazing thing is that he wasn’t chosen by the guards for this fate; he volunteered to take the place of a man who had a wife and family.

For two weeks, Maximilian led his fellow prisoners in prayer with no food. One by one, the prisoners died, until Maximilian alone was still alive and praying. The guards injected him with carbolic acid. The next day his body was cremated.

St. Maximilian Kolbe is an example of one who emulated Christ in His death, dying like Jesus, for others. He also did it by the way he lived his life, helping those in need, hiding more than 2,000 Jewish people during the first years of the Holocaust, and refusing favorable treatment from the Nazis that was offered because of his German heritage.

Let us pray that we may be willing to make sacrifices for the needs of others and for the courage to stand up for our Christian principles.+

Homily for Thursday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time

Peter was a prominent figure in the community in which Matthew lived. It is only in Matthew’s gospel that Jesus calls Simon Peter the “rock” on which He will build His Church; it is only in Matthew’s gospel that Peter asks, “LORD, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?”

 

In their culture, the number seven symbolized fullness and completion. If one were to forgive someone seven times, it would be seen as forgiving someone as much as possible. But Jesus says to Peter and to us, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. What Jesus is telling us is that there should be no limit to our willingness to forgive one another.

 

Jesus knows that is a part of human nature to put harsh limits on our willingness to forgive, but He wants us to use God’s infinite mercy as an example of how we are to forgive.

 

In today’s parable, Jesus stresses how forgiving God is. Setting a high standard, He calls on us to emulate the mercy of God in our readiness to forgive those who have wronged us: In other words, as we hear in Chapter 5 of Matthew’s gospel, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”+

Homily for Wednesday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time

There is a devout tradition that when two Jewish people sit together to discuss the words of the Torah, God’s presence is with them. Jesus makes a related but different claim. He declares that where two or three are gathered in His name, He is there among them. Matthew has already presented Jesus as Emmanuel, “God-is-with-us.”[1] He is God’s presence among us. Whenever His followers gather in His name, worshipfully aware of Him, He is there as Emmanuel, “God-is-with-us.”

 

Only two followers are needed to ensure the presence of Emmanuel. When we gather in the LORD’S name to pray, whether it is the prayer of the Eucharist or some other form of prayer, the LORD is always present with us. We don’t just enter into the LORD’S presence on such occasions, we are already in it. We only have to become aware of the One who is present among us. That is why attention, consciousness, is always at the heart of all our prayer, whether we are praying privately or communally.+

 

[1] Matthew 1:23

Homily for the Memorial of St. Clare

The questions people ask often uncover their values, their priorities, and what they think is most important in life. When His disciples asked Jesus the question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” it shows their interest in personal status and reputation. In His reply, Jesus both did something and said something. First, He placed the child in front of them and said they needed to become like children just to enter the kingdom of heaven, never mind become the greatest in the kingdom.

 

Jesus’ disciples are to become child-like not childish. There’s an important difference. They will be child-like in the sense of totally trusting in a loving Father, and demanding nothing else, including status and standing. Greatness comes to those who make themselves as dependent on God as children are dependent on adults for their care and well-being. Jesus’ answer to His disciples’ question is like a commentary on the first beatitude: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”+

Homily for the Memorial of St. Lawrence, Deacon & Martyr

Back in the year 258, Saint Lawrence offered the wealth of the Church to those who had nothing of their own. Lawrence was the chief deacon—the archdeacon—of the Diocese of Rome. Part of the responsibility of a deacon is to proclaim the Word of God, to look after the material goods of the Church, and to care for the poor, and so, as the chief deacon of a diocese as large as Rome, Lawrence held a great deal of responsibility.

 

He was called to act upon all these roles one day when Pope Sixtus II was put under civil arrest (keep in mind that Christianity was an illegal religion at the time). Not long after, the pope was martyred, and Lawrence knew that he would be one of the next Christians the Empire would come after. So, Lawrence sought out the poor, the widows, and the orphans of Rome, and gave them all the money he held, even selling the sacred vessels of the Church.

 

The Prefect of Rome called Lawrence before him and demanded that he produce the treasure of the Church. Lawrence then gathered together the blind and the lame, the leprous, the widows and orphans, and lined them up before the Prefect’s villa. When the Prefect arrived, Lawrence simply said, “Here is the treasure of the Church.” The Prefect not only did not understand Lawrence’s words, he also did not understand Lawrence spending his life in the service of such people. It’s unlikely, in fact, that the Prefect cared one way or the other, since four days after the death of the Pope, Lawrence was martyred as well, on August 10^th.

 

Saint Lawrence understood that the true wealth of the Church lays in the manner in which our lives touch the lives of others. In our own lives as Christians, one of the most important challenges we face is to realize to what extent—both for good and evil—our lives are connected to the lives of others.+

Homily for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Many years ago, Roger Bannister was a track star at Oxford University. He was such a good runner that his coach believed he could break the four-minute mile, an accomplishment unattained by anyone to that point in recorded sports history. Roger wasn’t so sure, but because his coach believed in him, he, too, began to believe in himself.

 

On May 8, 1954, Roger woke up, looked out the window, and saw that it was cold and windy. Roger telephoned his parents who were planning to drive up that day for the meet. He told them to stay home, that it was a bad day and he wouldn’t run fast. They came anyway, as did a small crowd.

 

The runners lined up, the gun went off and three minutes, fifty-nine seconds later, Roger crossed the finish line making him the first person to break the four-minute mile. Nineteen days later an Australian runner named John Landy did the same. A few months later,  both Bannister and Landy were entered in a race in Canada.

 

Landy led the race all the way right into the final straightaway. But then he glanced over his shoulder to see how far behind Bannister was. That brief loss of momentum was all Bannister needed. He shot past Landy to win the race.

 

In our Gospel reading today, Jesus called out to Peter to come to him across the water. Because Peter believed in Jesus, he stepped out of the boat onto the water. Peter found himself doing the impossible because he believed in Jesus. If Jesus believed Peter could walk on water, then Peter believed it as well.

 

As Peter walked across the water, he suddenly grew alarmed. For a brief moment, he took his eyes off Jesus and looked down at the turbulent water. That was his mistake. He doubted and he began to sink. It was the same mistake the runner made.

 

Our stories contain an important, practical message for all of us. It’s a two-fold message. First, is the importance of faith in our lives. We are a lot like Peter in today’s Gospel. Jesus has called us to be his followers. Trying to follow Jesus often feels like trying to walk on water. It sometimes feels impossible, but Jesus believes we can do it. So, like Peter, we should believe we can do it.

 

Second, is the importance of keeping our eyes on the goal. As Peter walked toward Jesus, he suddenly became alarmed at the high winds and the waves. He briefly took his eyes off Jesus. He began to focus on the impossibility of what he was doing. We, too, can be overcome by the difficulty of following Jesus in a world and society that is constantly tugging at us and giving us reasons why we cannot do this. We must stay focused on Jesus.

 

So, what do we do when our focus shifts and we begin to falter and sink? Like Peter, we cry out to Jesus for help. We ask Jesus to free us from the spiritual sinking that mirrors the physical sinking of Peter in our Gospel. When we turn to Jesus in prayer, Jesus will be reaching his hand out to us too. We must be careful, however, to reach in the right direction, which often is not in the direction in which we want to be pulled.

 

We pray for the grace to always focus on Jesus and believe in the gifts God gives us. We pray for the grace to cry for help when we falter, and we pray for the grace to reach for the hand of Jesus to pull us up so that we may share in the glory he promised.+

Homily for the Memorial of St. Dominic

In today’s Gospel passage, three people express interest in becoming followers of Jesus, but they seem unaware of what is involved or any sense of its importance. Two of them claim they have important duties that hold them back from really following Jesus. We may indeed agree that burying one’s father and saying goodbye to people at home were vitally important. But Jesus insists, to these men at least, that following him immediately is their vital duty. This is a point that most of us find difficult to accept. Jesus seems so demanding, and following Him, becoming and remaining His disciple, is a tough challenge. It is never going to be a comfortable or soft option.

 

Yes, Jesus does ask for a level of allegiance to Himself that is greater than the loyalty owed to family, even though it is not in any sense incompatible with our family allegiances. There may be times when our fidelity to the values of the gospel puts us at odds with those closest to us. Walking in the way of the LORD is a serious business, asking for everything we’ve got.+

Homily for Friday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus often spoke paradoxically. One of the most noticeable paradoxes occurred when Jesus said, “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” In other words, if we are concerned only with ourselves and our own needs and desires, we will lose ourselves. However, if we look beyond ourselves toward the LORD and to the lives and needs of those around us, we will find our true selves. 

 

Jesus expressed this fundamental paradox of his teaching in another way when he said, “Give, and gifts will be given to you.” In other words, it is in giving that we receive. 

 

Hopefully, our own experience has taught us that, indeed, it is when we look beyond ourselves to others, to the LORD present in others, that we experience the LORD’S own joy, the LORD’S own life, which is an indication of the joy and life of the kingdom of heaven.+

Homily for the Transfiguration of the LORD (Deacon Matt)

Peter, James, and John are privileged to go with Jesus atop the mountain where he is transfigured in front of them. What an amazing sight it must have been: Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah right before their very eyes. They are overwhelmed and are in awe at what is happening. This is the way Jesus is with each of us. When we least expect it, he gives us a wonderful dose of his grace to strengthen us in our walk with him. This is a privilege; however, it isn’t simply for us to look at and admire; it is a call to respond to his invitation of love. Jesus was calling these three apostles to a deeper level of love and trust in him; he is doing so with us, too.

 

Seeing all of this, the apostles are in awe and don’t know what to say. Peter feels the need to say something, although it seems he really didn’t know what he was saying. Often in our spiritual life, we can struggle with the temptation to say too much. In this Gospel passage, we hear the words of the Father: “This is my son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!” Christ is calling us to listen attentively to his words and not to feel that we need to have to say something. He is looking for a response in action more than in words.

 

When his Transfiguration is over, Jesus gets the three apostles up. This experience was beyond them. Yet Jesus is teaching them about his true nature, his divine nature. They don’t have to be able to explain it or understand it fully; they need to act in faith. This is what we are called to do: act in faith. There is no time for us to be afraid of what the future will bring. We must get up out of our comfort zones and listen to Christ, in faith. There is so much for us to do and so little time in which to do it. We need to make use of every instant to learn from the Lord himself through prayer and the sacraments and to make a real difference in the world by bringing Christ’s love to others so that they can know, love, and live for Christ.

Homily for the Memorial of St. John Vianney

Once again, we have witnessed an encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees. They came to Jesus complaining about how poorly His disciples were keeping the rituals of cleanliness that they believed are essential to religious faithfulness. Indeed, the Pharisees performed all kinds of rituals in the name of being pure. In some ways, they were pure, but their motivations often lacked that purity.

 

The Pharisees believed that the appearance of doing God's will was the same as actually doing it. They were far more concerned with human-made rules, rationalizations, and the appearance of purity rather than having a heart that is good and pure.

 

As we know, Jesus didn't see it that way. He knew that God looks deep into our hearts and that He knows what is inside of a person.

 

Let us pray that we may work for that true purity of heart that keeps our actions and attitudes closer in line with the will of God.+