(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

“The desire to see God is what urges us to love solitude and silence.  For silence is where God dwells.  He drapes Himself in silence.” ~ Robert Cardinal Sarah in Power of Silence

In our Gospel this weekend Jesus challenges his disciples “to pray without becoming weary.”  He uses an example of a widow appealing to a dishonest judge to give right judgement.  It seems like nagging but Jesus is asking his disciples to have the same perseverance as the widow.  Now this example could be easily misunderstood because the widow’s actions are all external.  However, prayer which may have external actions, begins with an internal movement of the heart.  It is where the Lord resides, hence, silence is a necessity to prayer!

The problem is that we have come to find comfort in the noise and the chaos.  Even though God is draped in silence, as shared by Cardinal Sarah, we choose to turn away from silence because we are afraid what it might reveal.  We have been forming our lives on things other than God.  From our phones, computers, TVs, we bombard ourselves with distractions from entertainment to work.   Even I, as a priest, struggle to separate myself from screen time.  Currently, I have my laptop open typing the bulletin, I have my iPad pro open with the Sunday readings, and my phone playing music!  And let’s not talk about the feelings when I don’t know where my phone is. Lord, have Mercy!

When asked about what virtues are needed to help grow in silence and prayer, Cardinal Sarah suggests that we ask for the virtues of hope and courage.  With hope we can trust that the Lord will satisfy in silence and with courage we can overcome our fears and have the strength to turn away from things not from the Lord.

If I can offer a challenge to myself and you, let us make a substantial effort through the week to take a morning or afternoon away from our phones, computers and TVs, and when the desire strikes to avoid silence, let us actually enter into a conversation with the Lord.

Father Michael