Homilies from St. Anthony, Allston, MA

Bear Fruit for the Kingdom

 

Today's Gospel is somewhat puzzling and, therefore, challenging. First, we have Jesus warning people if they do not repent, then they will also perish. But will not all people in fact perish? I am reminded of the joke about the priest who began his homily by saying that everyone in this parish will one day die. One man in the back of the church began to laugh. The priest called out to him and asked him why he was laughing. “Because,” he responded. “I am not from this parish.”

So, Jesus says that if they do not repent, then they will perish. But if they do repent, they will perish, so what does he mean here?

 

The answer may be found in the parable that follows and it also gives us an important lesson.

 

The tree was not bearing fruit. Why? Because it was not fully alive. Something was wrong and, ultimately, it was dying because a tree that does not bear fruit is dying.

 

He gives the tree more time after he cares more for it. He does all he can to make sure the tree bears fruit, giving it three years.

 

He does what he can to make it more alive. Notice if it is an apple tree, it will not just bear apples, it will grow more healthy leaves, limbs and seeds. It will be stronger, healthier, and more alive.

 

Catholicism is not just about doing the right thing, it is about being fully alive. We can only be fully alive if we are in Christ, because he is the source of our life.

 

If we fill ourselves with anything else, we may appear alive, but, we may actually be closer to being half dead. That is because we are not following the right path to being fully alive.

 

Following the right path, may not mean living a pristine life. It means actually more relying on Jesus and bringing our lives closer to him every moment.

 

It means to take risks in the name of our faith and to live in such a way that others are attracted to our faith.

 

One exercise I teach confirmation students is from St. John Bosco who was greatly involved with youth. He used to teach them do what you want, just don’t sin.

 

So, I would ask the confirmation students to give a list of things they can do that are not sins. I am always amazed by the answers:

Brush your teeth, do your homework, go to school.

I always explain that this is a bad list for the list of things you can do—and not sin—is huge.

 

Skydiving, at which I suggest that they have someone take them to watch the skydivers at Jumptown in Orange Massachusetts.

 

Mountain climbing at which I remind them that Pior Giorgi, who is a blessed, was a young Italian Mountain Climber. He also was a pool hustler. He would play someone in pool and wager that if he won then his opponent would join him in a holy hour.

 

Guido Schäffer was a surfer, but he was also a doctor and would care for the homeless, especially those near Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro. He had money, so he would do it for free.

 

Dorothy Day was a journalist and a writer.

 

If they had something in common, it was each of them had a deep relationship with Christ and allowed that relationship to affect every aspect of their being.

 

St. Paul tells us to do all for Christ. When we do that, we become dynamic people who lead others to know Christ. That is despite the fact that we are sinners, so we have confession which is to help us turn from sin so that we may grow in grace and bear fruit for the kingdom.

 

When the Vatican is studying whether someone should be a saint, the investigators always check to see if the person had a sense of humor. Not having a sense of humor is a sign that one did not reach heroic sanctity. It does not mean that they are in Hell, but they are not model saints.

 

The opposite is also true. Occasionally, you meet someone who takes themselves so seriously, they grow into great despair when they sin. The Saints always warned against this explaining that such attitude is a sign of pride.

 

            As we see in the parable—through confession, we trust in the Lord to help us in grow in grace and in doing His will. We grow in our ability to bear fruit. We trust in him to convert us more and more daily and help us continue. We trust in his mercy and his grace.

 

So, our call as Christians is to bear fruit by becoming fully human and fully alive. (St. Irenaeus). Like the tree that becomes more alive, a good Catholic is not morose, but alive in the knowledge that he is living in Christ, surrounded by his grace.

 

Those destined to perish were dying because they sought life where it could not be found. Christ calls us to the fullness of life which can only come when we allow Him daily to transform us and make us more holy and alive through our cooperation with his grace.

 

The final note here is that often you hear about the need to remain in a state of grace to ensure that you go to Heaven. However, that is an individualistic understanding that is a misunderstanding of Catholic teaching. We need to remain in a state of grace that we may bear fruit for the kingdom as we journey to heaven.

 

If our sole focus is to make sure we are in a state of grace that we may go to Heaven, we miss the point of the need to bear fruit. We become like the tree that looks alive but never bears fruit. We need to remain in a state of grace not only to journey to Heaven, but also to make sure others get there as well.

 

 

 

Choose Your Path Well

One of the most famous poems here in the United States is of course based in the New England. The Road Not Taken, written by Robert Frost. Although, he was born in San Francisco, he lived a part of his life in New England. He was also our nation’s poet laureate during the Kennedy Administration.

The poem ends with those famous words:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

It is to take the road that is different than the world is taking and that is the road that leads to the greatest prize, but it is the harder road and less traveled road.  

 

This is a theme we see even in the Bible. Jesus instructs us to take the narrow road. Why is the road narrow? Because it is the one less used.

We also see the same thing in today’s second reading. St. Paul gives a strong warning against following those who embrace the ways of the world instead of the ways of Christ.

Notice something: They were once of their number. This means that they were strong members of the Christian community in Philippi. They may have led prayer, they may have done miracles, but ultimately  they abandoned their faith to embrace all the worldly honors and pleasures they could find in Philippi.

St. Paul warns that they were following a road that would lead to their own destruction. Why? Because the worldly road offers worldly promises which end at our death.

St. Paul is reminding everyone that if they stay the course that he is leading, then the promise of eternal life is theirs. The glory that the world promises is nothing compared to the glory that God promises.

I often remind you that it is our role to be prophets of that message to those around us. It is an essential role that you and I receive at our baptism, not at my ordination.

Why is it so important to seek that road? so that we may experience eternal life Of course, but remember we lead others on to the road by our lives.

What happens when we don’t?

Then we have nothing to offer the world around us but the same message that they live by which is seek whatever this world can give you by any means necessary.

If you have no sense of the eternal, you will do anything to get what the world has to offer for that is all you believe exists. Dietrich Von

Hildebrand who was the famous Germany Catholic philosopher and critic of the NAZI regime, lamented that he knew his country was in trouble when it lost the sense of the eternal. Our country is walking down the same path. What happens when our nation has no sense of the eternal? Elements within it will sell their integrity and even their own souls because there is nothing else. Jesus said it well: Where your treasure is, there your heart is also.

In the inner city such nihilism leads to gangs that will do what they want, for there is nothing else.

What does that look like on the opposite end of the strata, well, it looks like many things, but one thing it looks like is what you saw this week that has so many people upset. The college entrance scandal, which as you notice none of our local universities were cited in it.

 

Now those who followed the honest path are angry that they were passed over for those who bought their way into those schools.

What would be the values of those who do such a thing? Do whatever you must to get what this world can give you because there is nothing else. Look out for number one and let everyone else fend for themselves. What does the world promise ultimately in the long run? Nothing. The worldly road offers worldly promises which end at our death.

What does Paul offer? That which the world cannot promise: eternal life in the true glory which is in Christ.

We are the called to be the lights to the world and the salt of the Earth. It is our mandate as Catholics to live in a way that proclaims the road less taken, the narrow road, the road that leads to the Glory of Christ. When we don’t do this, then people seek their own road to glory which many times is self-centered and lacking in any decent form of true wisdom and most importantly: supernatural charity.

It is important that we do not seek our own glory, but Christ’s promise. Then our focus is not on what we can get out of the world, but what we can do to help others in their journey through the world. Christ calls for our greatest desire to be that we hear him say: Well done my good and faithful servant.

This means, we seek not to live our career, but our vocation. We seek not to do what is best for me, but what is best for you. We seek to do what serves Christ through serving others not what benefits ourselves by exploiting others. This is what it all means. Live your vocation and live the message of Christ.

Remember, the worldly road offers worldly promises which end at our death. When we live the call of Christ we find not only the road to our glory, as we see in the Gospel, but we also see the reason why the road more traveled is really nothing more than a fancy dead end. Remember, you are prophets of the other way, the way less traveled.

Lent is a great time to go to confession and remove those elements obstacles that stand in our way of living this witness. Let us live that witness.

Let Christ Lead You to Holiness

 

When I first preached here at St. Anthony’s I said that you would hear me say often the idea that good people go to Heaven and bad people to Hell is false.

Granted there is a Heaven and a Hell, but we do not earn our way there by being good or bad. That is a pagan concept. Go to the Museum of Fine Arts and read some of the inscriptions on the mummy tombs and you will see how the long deceased expected some form of reward for their good work which were listed there. They were pagans by virtue of the fact they lived prior to Christ and were not Hebrews, obviously.

So, who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell? That answer can be found by understanding our second reading.

The second reading for today and next week is from The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians chapter 15. This is the oldest eyewitness account of the resurrection of Jesus.

St. Paul testifies that he is the last of five hundred people who saw Jesus resurrected from the dead. The reason he is writing this is obvious, there are countless people, just like today, saying that Jesus’ resurrection is false or that we do not have to believe it. Paul is adamant. Remember, he went to his death refusing to deny that Jesus resurrected from the dead. Why?

Paul teaches that since Jesus resurrected from the dead then so do his followers and his disciples. Who are his disciples? People who do good things and get rewarded with the resurrection? No!

His followers are those who understand that Jesus is the first born from the dead and that he bestows on them the greatest treasure they can possibly receive—eternal life. They need only follow him, be transformed by Him in this life so that they can be with him in the next.

So picture this: Jesus resurrects from the dead and shows himself to you. From that point on what is your greatest desire? Resurrection from the dead. Therefore, all your values, priorities, actions, desires are all going to be influenced by this moment. This is behind every action of St. Paul from the moment he fell from the horse. This is why he endured being shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned and eventually executed. That understanding that if Jesus resurrected from the dead then those who embrace him as second person of the trinity will also resurrect from the dead completely changed Paul.

St. Paul also names Cephas, who is Peter, as the eyewitness to the resurrection. In fact, he is the first in his list and you can see the same attitude in him. What does Peter say?

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.1 Peter 3-4

Again, the resurrection is central and it transforms Peter who calls us to be transformed now that we know it is real.

Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, live soberly, and set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Like obedient children, do not act in compliance with the desires of your former ignorance but, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, for it is written, “Be holy because I [am] holy.” 1 Peter 1:13-16)

Notice therefore the message is not to be good, but holy. They are not the same thing.

But, there is a caveat.

Those who experience Jesus’ resurrection from the dead are those who understand the promise and form their lives around it. This does not mean that they then go live in a mountain somewhere, but it does mean that their entire focus on life changes, completely and as they embrace Christ as Lord and God. They become his subjects as they continue the journey to His kingdom and to His promise. They live for Christ and see all that Christ does for them every day. Saints Peter and Paul both encourage us to be thankful and to let go of everything that leads us off the path to eternal life. So it is not trying to be good, but letting go of everything that leads us away from the pursuit of holiness is what we do. However, the main focus is that we recognize we have eternal life in Christ and we focus everything around this.

Those who reject Christ embrace the authority of whatever force they serve in the name of their desires and priorities.

When the pharisees rejected Christ, they embraced another authority in order to protect their nation and their temple and they became subject to that authority. We can call that authority the world, but, it manifested itself through the Roman Empire. So, when they said: “We have no king but Caesar.” They took upon themselves to be subjects exclusively of that authority and were destroyed by it. Remember, Masada, the destruction of the Temple. What recourse did they have once they embraced this worldly authority? None.

This is the other side of the same coin. If you embrace Christ, you will form your life around his promise which is eternal life. If you reject Christ, you embrace the promises of whatever force you embrace in his place. Repentance is rejecting that force of sin and embracing Christ.

This past week, we saw some disturbing news, which obviously had nothing to do with the New England Patriots. Two states support infanticide in the name of “rights”, although it is actually about money. They embrace abortion right up to birth in the situations when the life of mother or baby is in danger or the baby has a serious handicap.  Vermont, however, which is a third state, embraces the same infanticide with no restrictions of any type, that is not yet law.

How can this happen? Simple, which authority do they embrace? Christ or a worldly authority? The answer is obviously the latter. Therefore, they embrace the promises of that worldly authority which ultimately is death and does not include eternal life in Christ.

It is a scary thought. They do not choose the way of Christ; they reject Christ and, clearly, they embrace that which is not Christ. Since they embrace that authority, they become subject to it. We see the same thing in Jeremiah 32 when the prophet speaks an oracle that condemns those that obey this worldly authority and even sacrifice their children to its deity Molek, not much different to today. They embrace that authority and they become subject to it, all that authority can promise is death and in 587 they became victims of that choice and were carried off to Babylon.

So Paul’s words for us are important. If you understand the resurrection of the Christ. Embrace it, be transformed by it and prepare for your own resurrection as well seek As the writer in Hebrews says to “Strive . . . for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12). The sacraments are the tools that the Lord gives us to do exactly that as we journey through life to our own resurrection.

 

On Teaching about Catholic Marriage

Today, we hear from Jesus about the physical and ontological nature of marriage. It is where man and woman leave father and mother and the two become one.

 

This teaching is controversial because in this country we also have what is known as same-sex marriage. In some places people have been persecuted or even lost their jobs when they defended the concept of marriage that Jesus explains in today’s gospel.

 

So let’s look at the whole picture and understand it. This is because your understanding of this teaching is essential to your role as laity.

 

When Jesus speaks, he speaks as the second person of the Trinity. He is God and communicates as God to His people. Everything is based on one thing: You are children of God and called to experience the indwelling of the Holy Trinity in your life to which we respond in gratefulness for this gift. The way to the Father is through imitating the Son’s obedience and seeking to grow in the wisdom that He promises us. Our union to the Father is our destiny, what ultimately will fulfill us completely.

 

Therefore, we hear Jesus’ words and we obey them because this leads us to the destiny to which Jesus calls us: union with the Father. If we reject Jesus’ words obstinately to our death that leads to permanent separation from the Father.

 

If we take this understanding out of Jesus' teachings, then we reduce everything that Jesus teaches and promises to nothing more than a system of morality. The next question in that case is "On what do you base your understanding?" If we do not address the issue in light of the whole message of the Gospel we have no answer to that question. Then it is rule that has no foundation.

 

Further, if we are basing our morality in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and others reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ then the positions of where we stand on the nature of marriage are rooted in two totally different foundations: for example we stand on the Gospel and the teachings of Christ and the teachings of the Church. Others stand on secular values and reject the teachings of Jesus. We cannot resolve the difference on those positions because the foundations are not united. They have to be addressed on the foundation level.

 

Some may say that this country was rooted in Christian values. That is not exactly true. It was rooted in enlightenment values shared by men who were for the most part Christian. The early citizens were quite Christian, but not Catholic. For example, Thomas Jefferson may not have supported same sex marriage, I do not know, but probably not. I strongly suspect that Thomas Paine would have because he believed that the government that governs least governs best and would simply ask why is that a government question at all. I also believe that if atheism existed in Thomas Paine’s time, he would have been one. He even stated that his creed was his own and not of any other religion or church.

 

Therefore, in our country, when we define marriage in terms of what the Constitution teaches or what the founding fathers would support, we take it out of the realm of the Gospel and the teachings of Jesus. But we also root our ideas on this world and focus on this world only, which is what Jesus told us not to do.

 

However, that also brings up another element of the discussion. It is useless to argue about same sex marriage if we do not first ground the discussion in the anthropology of the Gospel. It is useless to teach someone who does not believe in God the finer points of our Catholic morality because without the right foundation, they will not understand the connection. Further, if we do not lay the groundwork of our understanding of the Gospel teaching on marriage by evangelizing charitably what the gospel teaches then we may be more the cause of the anger than the solution.

 

What is more essential is that we first teach people about the truth of the Gospel which is in the ontological reality, meaning it goes to the definition of our souls. They need to first understand and know Christ before they can understand and know what He taught about marriage.

 

They must first understand and know the true love of Christ and his call to the fulfillment of our destiny in order to understand why we do not embrace same sex marriage. If we do not first teach that, then every argument about same-sex marriage will end up in frustration and anger because the issue is not whether or not we are for it, it is who we are as human beings. Jesus teaches us the fullness of truth in that arena. Thomas Paine did not, nor did Jefferson, nor does the Kennedy School of Government.

 

So as Catholics we understand that those men and women who have the vocation to marriage will seek it in light of the call of Christ to that vocation. Those who feel they do not have the call for a variety of reasons including those who do not have that attraction, have a calling not to enter into marriage. This is not because they can follow a rule, but it is not their vocation. Instead, as in the vocation to marriage, they will experience the deepest fulfillment of their being by instead living in obedience to the Father through Christ. However, that also means that the fruit of that call is deepening their relationship to Christ to its most profound and awesome levels. It is central to the call of Catholic chastity in and out of marriage.

 

Those who reject Christ for their philosophical ideas may find some form of happiness but not the ultimate happiness. That lack of finding the ultimate happiness will become an eternal frustration if they cannot fulfill their destiny. Our role is to show people that Christ is teaching them what will lead them to the fulfillment of all their desires and we can only do that when we also understand St Augustine’s admonition: In all things charity.

 

In the meantime, when we are humble to the teachings of Christ we find his destiny. Therefore, two people of the same or different gender who enter a relationship with another, will find their most deepest form of love expressed not in marriage but in their mutual communion with Christ and that is the destiny to which Christ calls each of us at all times.