Embrace your cross

Viktor Frankl, a prominent Jewish neurologist and psychologist, was invited to emigrate from Vienna to the US in 1941.  His parents were overjoyed but Viktor hesitated.  He wondered if he could leave his parents in Vienna where they would likely be sent to a concentration camp.  Should he work on his research and write his books?  Or should he concentrate on his duties as a child, and do whatever he could to protect his parents?

Then, Victor found a piece of marble lying on a table at his house.  This marble was from the site where the National Socialists had burned down the largest Viennese synagogue.  His father had taken the piece home because it was a part of the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed.  One gilded Hebrew letter was inscribed on this broken piece of marble.  The letter stood for the commandment “Honor your father and your mother.”  Then, Viktor knew that he must stay with his parents in Vienna.

Jesus knew perfectly well what was awaiting him.  As the Son of God, he knew of his upcoming suffering and death.  As a man who is like us in every way except sin, Jesus was troubled.  He realized that this painful death was his destiny.  The cross was awaiting him.  He was about to give glory to his Father through a humiliating and excruciating death.  And, knowing what was coming made his task even more difficult.  Jesus had to choose the cross.  He needed to be obedient to the will of his Father even unto death.  Jesus told his disciples the kind of death that he would die.  He told them that he would be lifted up and would draw everyone to him.  His disciples could feel his anguish and pain but they didn’t have a clue what he was talking about.  Jesus would go into this difficult time without the support of his closest friends.  They would betray him, deny him, and most would just abandon him.  Jesus knew all of this and yet he chose the cross.

Because he honored his parents and stayed in Vienna, Viktor Frankl spent over two and a half years in Nazi concentration camps. While he was interred, his wife, his mother, and his father all died in concentration camps.  He suffered unbelievable cruelty and stared death in the face many times.  Viktor found out first-hand what suffering was all about.   Viktor tells us:  “The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity – even under the most difficult circumstances – to add a deeper meaning to his life.  He may remain brave, dignified and unselfish.  Or in the bitter fight for self-preservation, he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal.”

As the Son of God, Jesus was not spared from suffering.  St Paul tells us that Jesus found obedience through suffering.   There is a Greek proverb:  “Sufferings are lessons.”  Jesus, in his human nature, learned from his experiences.  He chose to obey, even unto death, atoning for Adam and Eve’s sin of disobedience.  Jesus knew what obedience was, but he learned obedience in practice through his passion and death.

Probably none of us will ever experience suffering which can approach that of Jesus or Viktor Frankl.  But, during our lives, all of us have the opportunity, and the need, on many occasions, to carry our cross.  It may be the cross of raising children, dealing with the loss of a job, financial problems, elderly parents,  sickness, marital difficulties, or something else.  Whatever our cross is, we can either run from it or embrace it.  When we embrace our cross, we find obedience to the Father’s will through our suffering.  And, mysteriously, we find hope.   Through the cross, we follow Jesus and serve others.  Through the cross, we die to ourselves and gain everlasting life.  Through the cross, we turn away from our secular culture and we embrace our loving God and our neighbor.

I have been a member of this parish for forty years.  I have come to know many of you.  I am aware of some of your crosses as some of you are aware of mine.  When I look out at all of you on Sunday, I don’t see pain and suffering as a result of these crosses.  Instead, I see hope, faith, love, and even joy.  I see many who lean on the cross of Christ and on each other as they persevere in carrying their cross.  I see a community of faith coming to mass and to the Eucharist for the grace of God which carries them through their tough times.    

As we approach Good Friday, we remember and give thanks for the cross of Jesus.  And we also give thanks for the cross which we carry.  Embrace that cross! Share it with others!  Help others with their cross!  Let our cross lead us to our resurrection.          

Our Church wrestles with evil

The Spirit drove Jesus into the desert for forty days.  It is there that he encountered Satan—Jesus did not avoid the devil or underestimate him, but he contended with him and wrestled with him. Jesus battled against evil. In that worst of places; in that harshest of environments; among wild beasts.  He was not spared from the human situation, from temptation, from struggle. He confronted it all.

Today, our Church finds itself in the desert wrestling with evil.  Our government has told our Church to include coverage in its health insurance for pills which either prevent conception or abort the newly-conceived human embryo.  In the interest of providing what it describes as women’s reproductive services, it is trying to force our Church into violating its conscience by paying for these drugs and thereby participating in this evil.  This issue has divided our Church and our nation by pitting those who are for religious liberty or support the teachings of our Church against those who support our governments’ definition of women’s health.  And the media and many of our nation’s politicians would have us believe that this is an issue about contraception and the extent to which these teachings are or are not being followed.  But it’s not.  This is about religious liberty and the mandate to follow one’s conscience, either as an individual or as an organization.

Our bishops, the shepherds of the Church, find themselves in the middle of this controversy.    They have courageously said that they will not comply with this mandate.  Can our Church stand strong as it is being attacked?  Will some Church leaders choose to go to jail rather than complying?  What impact will this issue have on Church attendance and financial support? 

And what about each of us?  We find ourselves in the middle of this mess.  Are we standing with our Church leaders in the desert? Do we believe that our government has the right to impose this mandate?  Or are we indifferent and simply don’t care one way or the other?

During his time in the desert, Jesus became more detached from the things of day-to-day living.  He was not intimidated by the devil.  His time in the desert was a time of fulfillment as he prepared for his mission and a time of separation from the culture of the world. 

When he emerged from the desert, Jesus proclaimed the good news by saying:  “The Kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent and believe in the gospel.”  He preached the kingdom of God to a world which was hungry for the truth.  Jesus began his public ministry by teaching, healing, and eventually dying on the cross.  His mission was a battle against the power of sin in the world.  By separating himself for forty days in the desert, He detached himself from the things of earth so that he could better proclaim the heavenly kingdom.  In the desert, Jesus met the devil and defeated him.  He saw the devil’s tricks and remained faithful to his Father’s will.  Jesus, with his death and resurrection, forever guaranteed his victory and his Church’s victory over the devil.   

When our Church emerges from this time of testing, it will be better able to minister to our broken world.   Our Church, and we as members, will always be foreigners in this secular world, for we are meant to be citizens of heaven. We are meant to contribute to our country in ways which don’t conflict with our loyalty to God.  Our loyalty to the teachings of Christ and His Church should always take priority over our loyalty to our country or to any political party.

Like the season of Lent, our current time of testing is a blessing for us and for our Church.  It encourages us to pray and to sacrifice not just for ourselves but for our Church and our nation.  Our response to this threat will shape the future for our children and our grandchildren.  Never before have we wondered what our country stands for as much as we do right now.  Do we stand for religious liberty, support of life, and concern for the poor?   Will this be marked as a moment in history when good men and women respond and redirect their nation toward God and His culture of life?  

Our response should include calls and letters to our government leaders.  But even more important is our response to our heavenly Father.  If ever there were a time to rattle the gates of heaven with our prayers, now is that time.  And there is no better time than this Lent to offer sacrifices to change the outcome of what is happening in our country.    We can each make a profound difference.

The demon of abortion

While Abby Johnson was attending Texas A&M, she volunteered at the local Planned Parenthood clinic.  During this time, Abby had two abortions.  She had the first one when she was twenty years’ old.  She agreed with Mark, the father of the baby, that they weren’t ready for the responsibility of raising a child.  So, he took her to the Planned Parenthood clinic in Houston to get rid of their problem.  After the abortion, Abby was relieved that she could get on with her life. 

Her second abortion occurred a few years’ later.  This time, she was eight weeks’ pregnant and opted for a medical abortion using RU-486, the abortion pill.  Abby thought that for early abortions, this medication abortion was the more private and comfortable way to go.  The days that followed were sheer agony for her.  She couldn’t bear the thought of going to an emergency clinic and just suffered alone.    Abby was surprised that the pill caused her some genuine physical suffering and that it wasn’t a comfortable way to have an abortion after all.  After about eight weeks of feeling ill, Abby was able to return to her volunteer work at the clinic. 

Upon graduation, Abby accepted a job from Planned Parenthood.  She worked her way up through the ranks over several years and found herself in the important but morally-challenging job of director of the clinic in Bryan, Texas.

One day, due to a staff shortage, Abby was called into the exam room to help the medical team during an abortion.  As she took the ultrasound probe, Abby argued with herself thinking: “I don’t want to be here.  I don’t want to take part in an abortion.”  Abby could not have imagined how the next ten minutes would shake the foundation of her values and change the course of her life. 

The man with the unclean spirit cried out asking Jesus what he had to do with them and if he had come to destroy them.  The man shocked the crowd when he said that Jesus was the Holy One of God.  This man knew that Jesus was the Messiah.  The other people in the synagogue didn’t know this.  So, we know that this person was possessed by the devil.  The devil is trying to counteract the teaching of Jesus.  He always opposes truth and the work of grace.   

How would Jesus respond to this possessed person?  Would Jesus or his disciples physically throw him out of the synagogue?   Or, would Jesus just ignore him and talk over him?  Clearly this man, the devil in disguise, represents a threat to Jesus’ authority.

After witnessing the abortion, Abby’s life wasn’t the same.  She decided to quit working at the clinic before the next Saturday when they performed abortions again. She saw an old note on her desk from Elizabeth, a Coalition for Life volunteer who often was outside the clinic fence on the sidewalk.  The note said:  “The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with JOY.  I am praying for you, Elizabeth.” A light broke through the darkness and Abby saw with simple clarity that she was on the wrong side of the fence.

Abby knew what she had to do.  She drove over to the Coalition for Life office several blocks away.  When she got inside, Abby told the confused volunteers:  “I want out.  I just can’t do this anymore.”   And, so Abby’s new life, her life of grace, her life as a pro-life advocate began.  To spread her pro-life message, she wrote a book, titled Unplanned, which describes her journey from pro-choice to pro-life. 

When Jesus was confronted with the man who challenged him in the synagogue, his response to the evil in his midst was quick and effective.  Jesus said, “Quiet, come out of him!”  Immediately, the unclean spirit came out and the man made a loud cry.  With this victory, Jesus shows us that He is the Messiah, the Savior, and is more powerful than the devil.  

The people were amazed by Jesus’ teaching and by his victory over the devil.  They didn’t know what to make of Jesus.  His fame spread throughout the whole region.  Jesus victory over the devil is a sign to all of us of God’s salvation which comes to us through Jesus. Jesus’ power over evil assures us that, with his help and grace, we can throw off any demons that we may have.

The unclean man was freed from the devil after a miracle, a direct intervention of God in his life.  Abby was freed from the demon and evil of abortion through the grace of God and the prayers of many, especially the Coalition for Life volunteers who picketed outside the gate. 

In these troubled and confusing times, our world is crying out in pain, like the possessed man in the Gospel and like Abby who could no longer take part in an abortion.  People around us are hungry to hear the message of Jesus who brings us healing, life, and peace.  The world is suffering because it is under the grip of the devil who offers pain, death, and turmoil. We need a change, a transformation, a healing.     

When we look at our own lives, where do we find ourselves in these two stories?  Are we like Abby and the man with the unclean spirit?  Are we struggling with demons in our lives?   Are we like Elizabeth, the Coalition for Life volunteer?  Are we helping others, through our prayers, our actions, and our example, in our daily struggles against the forces of evil?   Or do we sometimes see ourselves in both places, struggling with demons while we pray for ourselves and for others?  Today, may all of us resolve to support and defend the culture of life and to condemn the culture of death in our community and in our world.  And may we with God’s grace throw off any demons which we may have invaded our life and  embrace the healing and peace of Jesus Christ. 

David's sin against Uriah is similar to our sins of abortion

Our first reading today is the famous story of David and Bathsheba.  In this story, one sin leads to another.  And the third sin is even worse than the first one.  After getting Bathsheba pregnant, David makes every effort to assure that his good name is not harmed as he twice tries to get Uriah to go to his house.  When he sees that he cannot make Uriah responsible for Bathsheba’s pregnancy, he decides to arrange for him to die in battle.  This is the worst sort of thing that he, the king, could do.  Uriah is one of the best and most loyal soldiers in the army.  He is killed to protect the good name of King David.  It is no wonder that the Lord is displeased with David, who he chose to be king.

One example today of sins that occur often as a result of earlier sins is abortion.  Like in the story, often this sin is a cover up for an earlier sin such as a young couple who aren’t ready to accept the child which they conceived out of wedlock.  And, like the case of David killing Uriah, this subsequent sin is even worse than the first one.  Instead of reconciling the earlier sin, this act compounds the earlier sin.

In the next chapter of the book of Samuel, David pays for his sin.  The prophet Nathan, speaking for the Lord, tells him: “Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?    Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.”  

How will our nation pay for its sin of over 54 million abortions?   Will it pay for its sins by the destruction of the family?  Will it pay for its sins by a general acceptance of immorality?  Will it pay for its sins by introducing its children to immorality at a very early age?  Will it pay for its sins by discrediting its ethical anchor, the Catholic Church?

Last Monday, a busload of us from St Francis De Sales attended the Right to Life march in Washington DC with about 300,000 others.  It was inspiring to see so many young people at this march.  Clearly, many of our young people have embraced this issue.  But, it was also discouraging to think that on this, the 39^th anniversary of the Roe versus Wade decision, about one in four babies are aborted in the womb.  How long will our Lord let our nation pretend to be great while it permits this atrocity?  How do each of us respond to this atrocity?    

Mother Angelica can teach us to obey even when it seems unreasonable

In the first reading today, we heard the story about how Saul disobeyed the Lord by not destroying all of the sheep and oxen as the Lord had commanded.  The Lord said:  “Obedience is better than sacrifice and submission than the fat of rams.” 

Mother Angelica is a modern-day saint who, unlike Saul, did God’s will no matter how difficult or unreasonable it might have seemed.  Mother Angelica had a dream to build a monastery.  After raising some money by selling fishing lures, Mother Angelica and a few others went to Birmingham, Alabama and purchased the land.  They began construction almost immediately but had many problems.  One time, they had a large hole in the middle of the area where they intended to build.  The foreman complained that the area wasn’t suitable for building.  Mother responded:  “We just need someone with a hill they don’t need to fill in this hole.”  The next day a man came to Mother and said:  “You know, I’ve got this hill in my backyard.  Every time it rains it dumps a ton of water in my basement.  You want it.”  So, the construction of the monastery continued. 

One businessman donated all the blocks and concrete required.  Another gave his services to blast rock and move earth.  Two women provided the bricks for the exterior.   Shortly after completion of the work, a series of unexpected donations came in which were just enough to pay off the workers.  Once the monastery opened, Mother realized that she didn’t have any money for food.  Then, a local grocer came to her and agreed to donate all the food they needed for their first year of operation.

Then, Mother Angelica made a critical but difficult decision.  She decided that the sisters would no longer engage in commercial projects to meet their material needs.  She said that their work was to communicate the gospel.  They would trust God for all of their needs.   Mother Angelica told her sisters:  “Faith is having one foot on the ground and the other up in the air for the Lord to put the ground under it.” 

Mother Angelica began communicating the Gospel message on TV.  Soon, she realized that she needed to have her own broadcasting facility so that she could reach a broad audience with her orthodox Catholic message. She said:  “This is the really exciting part of any new ministry, just plunging in out of obedience without the full knowledge of where to begin – it’s wonderful!”  So they began working on the TV studio.  Sister Raphael, her right-hand person, said:  “Jesus never gives us more than we need – He demands faith week by week.  When God gives us an opportunity to do something for Him, and we have agreed that it is His apparent will, we must act in faith or the opportunity is lost.  It is better to appear foolish before men than to answer God for being afraid to step out and trust Him.  And God has always provided – just in time.”  Then, they ordered a satellite dish and applied for an FCC license to broadcast. 

Mother Angelica succeeded with her television network, EWTN, just as she succeeded in her publishing business.  She overcame continual obstacles to become the largest Catholic broadcasting network in the world.  Mother Angelica observes:  “I don’t know why God chose me.  I’m a nobody.  God just uses me to move ahead in stubborn, obstinate obedience.  It’s like David and Goliath – we’re taking on a major media world with a slingshot and a few stones, but we’re making it happen.” 

Occasionally, all of us find ourselves in a position where God calls us to build his kingdom.  I doubt that any of us will be asked to build a monastery or a TV station.  But, as children of God, we are asked to spread the faith to an unbelieving world.  I pray that we will follow the example of Mother Angelica and will faithfully do God’s will no matter how difficult it may be.    

Listen and then surrender

When she was visited by the angel Gabriel, Mary was a young teenager.  She was betrothed to Joseph, a much older man, but was not yet living with him.  Imagine how she might have felt when the angel told her that she would conceive and bear a son, Jesus, the son of God.  Mary questioned how she could bear a son since she had no relations with a man.  Then, the angel gave her a real shocker.  He told her that the Holy Spirit would come on her and that nothing was impossible for God. 

Mary surely realized that her life would never be the same.  She, a simple Jewish girl, had been chosen by God to conceive and raise Jesus, the son of God.  What an awesome responsibility!  And yet, God was not commanding her to become the Mother of Jesus.  He was asking for her consent to participate in the most important event in human history.  How would she respond to this incredible call?

I have friend named Chris.  When I first met him, Chris hadn’t been baptized and didn’t attend Church.   Then, a few years’ ago, one of Chris’s friends asked him to participate on a Christ Renews His Parish, or CFHP, weekend at St Francis.  This religious retreat was well outside of Chris’s comfort zone, but he decided to go anyway because he was looking for direction in his life. 

The CRHP weekend was very emotional for Chris.  It filled a void and was a life-changing experience.  Chris found Jesus in a group of guys who showed their love for him on the weekend.  Chris was determined to learn more.  He wondered if the Lord was calling him to a closer relationship. 

Mary quickly responded to the Lord’s call with her fiat, her acceptance.  She said: “May it be done to me according to your word.”  Mary placed her complete trust in the Lord.  She surrendered to his will.  In faith, she accepted his word that nothing is impossible for God.  With her simple “yes”, the son of God became man in the womb of Mary.  The world would never be the same.  This young Jewish girl had accepted the role that she was created for. 

The angel Gabriel spoke and Mary listened.  The angel told Mary of her role in salvation history and Mary accepted it.  She surrendered to the will of God for her.

Chris decided to attend RCIA classes to learn about the Catholic faith.  Then, several years ago, at the Easter vigil, he accepted the Catholic faith as he received the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist.  Chris was home.  Chris still had a lot to learn about his Catholic faith, but he was confident that he was following God’s will for him. 

I talked to Chris about his conversion to the Catholic faith several months ago.  I asked him if he struggled with any of the Church’s teachings.  I thought that I might be able to strengthen Chris’s faith.  Chris taught me what faith was all about.  Chris told me that while he didn’t fully understand all the teachings of the Catholic faith, he didn’t question them.  He didn’t have the time or the background to challenge these teachings.  He chose, in faith, to accept the Church’s teachings, lock, stock and barrel.    He didn’t need me to prove any of these teachings to him.  Just like Mary, Chris was given the grace, in faith, to accept what he didn’t fully understand.  He surrendered, in faith, to the will of the Father for him when he became a Catholic and accepted the teachings of Jesus Christ.

These two stories have a simple message for us.  The message is to listen so that we can discern God’s will and then to surrender to His will.  Of course, most of us won’t be visited by an angel who will tell us God’s will for us.  But, God is constantly trying to get through the noise and clutter of our lives to give us the direction to follow which leads to Him.  He may be whispering to us or maybe even shouting his will for us.  We should slow down our lives, take regular quiet time to pray, and spend time listening.  It may take a week, a month, or even a year before we get the message, but eventually God will speak to us.  And, when we get a message which we think may be from God, we should test that message to make sure that it isn’t from the great deceiver.  God’s will for us always bears good fruit and never contradicts the teachings of His Church. 

Once we discern that the message is from God, our task is straightforward.  We surrender to God’s will for us.  As Jesus tells us in the prayer he gave us, the Our Father: My kingdom come, my will be done.  If we want the peace and joy of building his kingdom, we follow his will.

When I reflect upon Mary’s willingness to become the mother of Jesus and Chris’s acceptance of the Catholic faith and its teachings, I hear two clear messages for all of us.   These are our call to action.  Listen.  Then, surrender to God’s will.  Do not be afraid.  For nothing is impossible for God.    

Will we get a two minute warning from God?

Quite a few years ago, my older sister and I used to chase each other around the house.  We especially did this when our parents were out.  There was a circular route thru my bedroom, the kitchen, the living and dining room, and the hallway.  When our parents left, we often chased each other around this circle.  We would mess up the rugs, move some furniture, and generally scatter things.  When we saw our parents pulling in the driveway, we had to run around the house and get things in order before they came in.  We were very good at this and usually managed to cover up our horseplay.

One time, when my sister was running through my bedroom, I threw a pillow at her.  But I hit the glass shade on the ceiling light which began spinning around and around.  We watched it spin until the nut which held the shade in place came off.  The shade crashed into the bedpost and broke.  Then, we realized that we wouldn’t be able to fix this before our parents returned.  I can still remember how afraid I was waiting for them to return.  I was relieved when my parents just made us pay for the new shade.  And I resolved that I wouldn’t throw a pillow at my sister again.  

My sister and I didn’t know when our parents would return.  But, we did our best when we saw them coming to make sure that the house was in order.   We got a two minute warning, if you will, to get the house in order.  But, life isn’t a football game; so we cannot rely on a warning that it is about to end.   Jesus says that we don’t know the day or the time for his return. 

When we broke the shade, the anticipation of punishment was very hard for me to bear.  This is familiar to some of us who wait for the coming of the Lord in a state of serious sin.  If we aren’t following his commandments, we will dread his coming and the anticipated judgment for our sins.   If any of us think that we might be in a state of serious sin today, we should go to confession and unburden our mind and our soul.  And after we confess our sins and receive absolution from a priest, we return to a state of grace and are ready for the end time, whenever it may occur.

The focus of the Gospel is the end times, either our end time after our short time on earth when we will each be judged, or the end time when Jesus returns for the final judgment and the elect are taken body and soul into heaven.  This is a scary topic for most of us and we deal with this in different ways.  Some strive to stay in a state of grace so that they will be prepared when he returns.  Some ignore the time of judgment and assume that in his mercy, Jesus wouldn’t condemn anyone, especially them, to hell.  Others despair that they aren’t worth saving so they ignore his return.  And some try to predict exactly when Jesus will return so that they can prepare just before it happens.  In the Gospel, Jesus tells us to be watchful and to be alert for we don’t know the time when He will return.  So, it would be foolish to either ignore his return or to try to predict it.

The Gospel parable is about a man who leaves home to travel abroad.  This traveler is Jesus who was here short time, was crucified, resurrected from the dead, and ascended into heaven with his Father.  The home in the parable is the Church, Christ’s house.  Its servants are all of us, who he places in charge.  This parable reminds us that the present situation, building Christ’s kingdom, his Church on earth, won’t last forever.  When the master, Christ returns, he expects all of us to be working hard at whatever task we have been assigned.

This world is not our home; it’s just our temporary residence.  That should be evident to all of us as we witness the passing of those close to us.  So, while we don’t know when Jesus will return at the end of time, we do know that our time on earth will be a short stay of at most eighty or ninety years.  We need to be watchful and vigilant during our short time as the gatekeeper of our souls.

Arturo Nogueira, a twenty one year old rugby player who didn’t believe in God, was a passenger on a plane which crashed in the Andes in 1972.  After over one month in cold, cramped quarters with little food, he died from injuries sustained in the crash.   Arturo wrote a letter to his parents and his girlfriend just one day before he died.   He wrote:

“In situations such as this, even reason cannot understand the infinite and absolute power of God over men.  I have never suffered such as I do now- physically and morally- though I have never believed in him so much.  Strength.  Life is hard but is worth living.  Even suffering.  Courage.”    

Arturo got a warning before his end time and found a new relationship with God.  Some of us will get this warning and some will not.  Some who do have an opportunity to set things right with God will squander their last opportunity.  Today, Jesus urges us to watch and to be alert for we don’t know if he will be coming in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.  May he not find any of us asleep.