Some Labor Day Theology

There are some striking differences in the way that the world views work and the way that God, and the Church, view work. To highlight these differences do any of these sound familiar? 

"I can't wait till the weekend when I get to be myself."

"Even though it's Wednesday... today is my Friday."

"Just waiting on the weekend when I can do some real drinking."

If you have heard or said, these or similar phrases you have encountered the world's way of thinking about work. This way of thinking holds that work takes us away from who we truly are and in response we must suffer through work in anticipation for a time when we can 'be ourselves' namely the weekend. This is not the way that the Church views work. The Church holds that to work is part of what it means to be human and that our work should uphold, and stem from, our human dignity and not an activity that somehow keeps us from being who we truly are. In this way we are who we are just as much as when we are at work as when we are at rest - we are not divided, we are a single human person who enjoys the same dignity throughout the week. 

This fixation on the weekend goes deeper than a mere anticipation for time to relax. To declare another day of the week 'your Friday' or 'your Saturday' is to insist that the ordering of the days and weeks must realign so as to fit your schedule. If you work on the weekends you deserve time off work, you deserve the opportunity to relax and recoup, but this doesn't have to take the form of some calendar struggle to declare when your 'weekend is.' You are who you are whether or not you have your rest day on a Saturday or a Thursday - there is nothing magical about the weekend. 

This fixation on the weekend and on 'having time to be yourself' in spite of work takes a dangerous turn with the introduction of alcohol. This line of thinking concludes that one cannot drink as much as they would like when they have to get up for work in the morning, and for some drinking gets associated with having fun, relaxing, and 'being who you truly are.' Therefore, people wait on the weekend so that they can drink and be themselves. I have personally experienced this way of thinking, and it is dangerous because it holds that not only are we, not our real selves while at work, but we're also not our real selves when we are sober. The Church again offers us the reality that we are always called to be who we truly are without the need to wait for time off or the weekend to realize our true selves. 

One final difference between the way we in the United States often view work and the way that the Church views work is seen in the holiday of Labor Day itself. Much of the world, as can be seen in the blue shaded portion of the map, celebrates May Day instead of Labor Day. One reason that the United Sates has a different day to celebrate workers is that May Day has Communist origins, but it cannot go without noting that May Day, the first of May, is also the feast day of Saint Joseph the Worker, the patron of all who labor. As Catholics do we imagine that Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior spent his time waiting for the weekend so that he could be himself and drink heavily with Mary? Certainly not! As a Saint Joseph lived his life always striving for oneness with God and assurance that he was called 24/7, 365 days a week to be a disciple of God. That is how the Church views labor - as an integral part of our call to sainthood, not a burden, not a distraction from our true selves, but as part of the road that leads us to God.

Source: Wikipedia article 'Labour Day'

Have a happy Labor Day and use this day to grow closer to the one for whom we all work towards.

Build Bigger Hearts

Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Saint Patrick Parish

July 30/31, 2016

Link to the Sunday Readings ~ Link to Listen to the 11AM Homily

There has been a lot of bad news lately. Terror attacks, death, uncertainty in the recent day and weeks seems to have multiplied. If you're like me, you try and avoid it a little for fear that it might become too much. It was, however, personally impossible to ignore the recent killing of a priest while he celebrated Mass. The world may seem like it is in chaos, and probably growing worse every day. 

The longer I have looked at it, prayed about it, and studied it; it seems that the world focuses on two things: fear and emptiness. I encourage you to test this idea, see if you find it true in your lives. The idea is that the world, and the things of the world, leave us afraid, fearful of being hurt, fearful of being taken advantage of, fearful of losing our stuff, our good name, our pride. In this way, the world leaves us afraid of others. This fear of others leaves us empty, always searching to fill this void within us with something, anything. The world leaves us constantly searching for meaning, for love, for comfort from the fear or worse yet it leaves us without hope of that emptiness ever being filled. The world it seems leaves us feeling afraid and empty. In short, the world says to us “build bigger barns” take your stuff, all of that which you try to fill that void within you and keep it safe behind strong walls. Build bigger barns, the world says, isolate yourself behind walls and find a fleeting sense of comfort in material things The rich man in our Gospel built bigger barns, larger structures to keep his stuff his and others out. We know, however, that that man was a fool, as soon as he tore down his perfectly good barns and built bigger ones God tells him that he is going to die. Not only is he going to die but in all likelihood, he is going to die alone. Our Gospel makes it seem that he has no one to share his riches with - he only talks about himself and the question is asked of him “who will enjoy all these good things once you are gone?” How lonely and empty that man must have felt? There all alone, afraid of his mortality and having wasted his remaining energy building barns that hold everything he cannot take with him. 

‘You fool,
this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared,
to whom will they belong?’

The world says 'build bigger barns', but I say the answer is to build bigger hearts. Build bigger hearts and become more like these children we are about to baptize, live by their innocent witness to the power that Christ can have in our lives if we recognize that we are all like children before our Almighty Father in heaven. 

Now there is a rather profound theological concept that I’d like to share with you all: it’s the distinction, the difference, between the I and the me. The me is that worldly part of us that is attracted to the fear and the emptiness. The me is always trying to do more for the me, me, me , me - trying to satisfy itself, trying to comfort itself. The I is the part of us that God draws to himself, the part of us that is the child of God. The I may fear, but it never gives into that fear, for the I knows that it can find comfort and satisfaction in God. With God the I is not empty, the I is not a slave to fear. 

'Love' by Alexander Milov

I placed out in the gathering space a picture of a sculpture and below it I have written ‘build bigger hearts.’ Many of you walked right past it, but I encourage you, as you are leaving, to take a good look at that sculpture because I believe it helps to clarify this idea of the I and the me. The main part of the sculpture is two wire figures, sitting back to back, and the viewer gets the sense that these two people are in an argument, but they are fed up with one another. They are back to back but world’s apart. These figures signify the me; this is the part of us that is in constant competition with one another and because of this they remain fearful and empty. Inside these wire figures, however, are solid figures of children, and these children are trying to reach out to the other, but the wire figures prevent them from reaching one another. These children are the I, the child of God that calls out from each of us to be in communion with one another and with God. 

The world will tell us that it is foolish to live as a child of God, to live out of the I, but isn’t that just the kind of fear that the world throws at us? I say you are going to be a fool either way, either a fool of the world, the kind of fool that builds bigger barns, or a fool for Christ, the kind of fool that builds bigger hearts. You may be asking: ‘how do I build a bigger heart?’ I cannot answer that because it is not something as simple as giving more money, or volunteering more - a person who builds a bigger heart will want to do that naturally. Instead, I leave it up to you. What does your heart say? What does the inner child of God say you should do to build a bigger heart? I want you to listen to that voice, listen to what your heart has to tell you and join me in building bigger hearts by being fools for Christ.

Set Free For Christ

Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Introduction Homily ~ Saint Patrick Parish

June 25/26, 2016

Link to the Sunday Readings ~ Link to Listen to the 11AM Homily

I feel as if I should apologize; it seems that my face is everywhere. I'm really sorry. I have seen my face on the website; it's on Facebook, there’s a Fathead - that one took me by surprise, as well as a poster out there in the narthex, the gathering space. On that poster, besides my face, there is my favorite Scripture verse which is: Jesus said to them ‘unbind him and set him free.’ This verse is from the Gospel of John, and it is the scene where Lazarus has been raised from the dead. Even though Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, he was still bound by the bandages, the wrapping that they used to lay him in the tomb. He was alive, but he still needed to find freedom, so Christ ordered those who were around to do just that - to set him free.

We as a society are obsessed with freedom. We are in the season of freedom, we have our fortnight for freedom, here in a week we will celebrate our freedom. Our freedom is certainly not far from our minds these days. I find that when, as Americans, we think of freedom we think in terms of what we are free from: tyranny, oppression, over taxation, regulation... for the school kids they are currently free from school, during the weekend many of us are free from work - when we are free we don't have to worry about any intrusion that takes away our freedom. When the Church, when Christ, talks about Freedom, however, we hear about freedom regarding what we are free for. When we are freed from something we are often left there, perhaps wondering what to do with this freedom. But when we are freed for we know for what purpose we are set free. In our second readings today we hear Saint Paul tell the Galatians about freedom. He declares that it is for Freedom that Christ set us free and that we are brothers and sisters called to the freedom of Christ. To be a disciple of Christ is to be free. I try and live a life example as an example of that freedom, an example of what it means to be set free from the things that bind but also an example of what I am free for. It is with this in mind that I'll tell you a bit about myself.

First I know that schools are vital to us, you have to go through the list, so I went to Saint Aloysius in Pewee Valley for grade school, I graduated from St. X in ‘01, and I studied history at UofL- this last affiliation will make things interesting at the rectory... we’ll suffer together, or more likely I’ll suffer, and he’ll do his thing... It was after I graduated from college that I really began seriously discerning a vocation to the priesthood. That’s when I first meet Fr. Jeff. In fact, we were sitting in a restaurant about nine years ago now and I kept wondering why he insisted on talking so loud about the priesthood - I was worried people would look at us weird. One milestone lead to another and eventually I began studies at Saint Meinrad Seminary where I graduated last spring.

The path to priesthood is rarely an easy or straightforward path and a few difficulties stood in my way. I have shared these struggles elsewhere, and I want to make sure that you hear about these struggles from me. I have, for most of my life, struggled with depression and anxiety. These are maladies that affect many people and often they can go hidden and untreated. My brother too suffered from similar difficulties and three and a half years ago the pressure of those ailments became too much, and he took his life. I had, even before my brother’s suicide, self-medicated with alcohol. That nasty habit only got worse after my brother’s death. It almost cost me my life and possibly the life of a faultless bystander when, after my first wedding as a deacon, I drank too much and drove. I am ashamed that I did this but thank God that I hit a telephone pole and not a person or another vehicle. It was from there that my life could have either gone further from God by giving into self-pity by listening to all those thoughts of ‘why God has this happened to me!?’ Instead, I chose the freedom that God called me to; freedom to let go of all the things which I held onto and move closer to God - the source of true freedom. Fr. Jeff was one of the first phone calls I made, and I began surrendering a lot of my freedoms with the hope of gaining true freedom. I went away for six months and got some much-needed help; I came back, and even though it was difficult I returned to seminary and was eventually ordained to the priesthood this past December. I was freed for ministry as a priest, I was freed to minister to your spiritual needs, I was freed to be an example for the school kids and a living witness for the girls at Sacred Heart. I was freed to be present to and offer the sacraments for, all those who approach the Church through me. I have been freed for a life of discipleship. I look forward to walking alongside each one of you as we together find the freedom to which Christ calls each of us - the freedom to live in the Kingdom of God.

Yes to Christ, Yes to One Another

Solemnity of the Most Holy 

Body and Blood of Christ

Saint Gabriel the Archangel Parish

May 29, 2016

Link to Sunday's Scripture Readings

I have two stories that I wish to share with you. Both took place while I was studying to become a priest and both have to do with the Eucharist. The first story is the earlier of the two. I was on the way to a friend’s house, having already picked up another friend. I was thinking I had already done a good deed by driving her and all. I should mention that she is a very devout member of another Christian denomination. As we are driving along, I could tell she wanted to talk about religion, and so I thought "alright, I’m a seminarian now, sure we can talk about our shared faith." So she asks me “you Catholics don’t actually believe that communion is the actual body and blood of Jesus do you?” I replied, “well, yes, it’s kind’a what we do.” And without missing a beat, seemingly without taking a moment to process, she says “no it’s not.” I was, needless to say, taken aback and I began to wonder rather sarcastically ‘well yeah, I guess since you’re so confident, I'll give up everything that I have felt the entirety of my life had directed me towards because I was mistaken.’ That is why we have priests, to call down the Holy Spirit and consecrate the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and bring that presence to the people of God. I have since realized that she was simultaneously saying ‘no’ to me, and what I was giving my life to, and ‘no’ to the Eucharist itself. 

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

Second story. I was in my CPE summer, which stands for Clinical Pastoral Experience but what it should be called is Trial by Fire. This assignment is one in which seminarians spend their time serving as a chaplain at a hospital along with other members of different denominations, and it is meant to be a mentally, physically, and emotionally challenging experience. One of the reasons is the other chaplains and their ideas of what Catholic do and do not believe. One day one of the chaplains, in reference to the Gospel of the feeding of the five thousand which we just heard, asks “what’s with you Catholics anyway? All those who showed up were fed by Christ, and it’s not like they had to have their Catholic membership card or anything!” What he was getting at was his tradition’s practice of open communion - meaning anyone who attends their services are welcome to partake of communion, and he was proud of this fact. In addition to that pride, this chaplain seemed to get offended when I would talk about the importance of what we Catholics call the Eucharist. He was saying ‘yes,’ or at least thought he was saying ‘yes,’ to the people, by welcoming all to communion, while simultaneously saying ‘no’ to the Eucharist. As he’d tell you, he doesn’t believe what we believe about the Eucharist. He was also, in the end, advocating the possibility of someone coming in off the street, ‘taking’ Holy Communion, and walking out without opening themselves up to being transformed by the Eucharist AND the Body of Christ present in the assembly. 

It is through these experiences, as well as my seminary education, that I have come to tell people that we must, at the same time, say ‘yes’ to the Eucharist and all that it truly is, and ‘yes’ to one another, to the mystical body of Christ. Both ‘yes’s’ must be present for either ‘yes’ to be true. One cannot say ‘yes’ to the Eucharist and insult a brother or sister in Christ nor can we say ‘yes’ to the people of God and say ‘no, the Eucharist isn’t really what you say it is.’ 

Our Gospel reading shows a group of people that have said ‘yes’ to God, a group that has gone out of their way - into the desert - to follow him, and they did this without receiving the Eucharist! Christ had not died on the cross yet; Christ did not say the words “this is my body” and “this is my blood, the blood of the new covenant.” Christ fed them, which is good, but they gathered together as one before they were made ready to receive the Eucharist. We often forget, in our modern society, how important food is. I could leave this church and within a mile get enough food to eat my fill and then some! Food for the ancient people meant life and to share it showed that you trusted. The people showed their trust in Christ, in God’s ability to care for them, as well as their trust in each other. They also did what the Apostles asked them to do. They didn’t take the food and leave to eat in the safety of those familiar to them; instead, they sat down in grounds of about fifty, and they all ate together. They said ‘yes’ to Christ and ‘yes’ to the people. 

As Catholics, we know that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, as difficult as it is to believe at times we hold to the truth that Christ came as a human being and returns time and again through the Holy Eucharist. We believe that he meant it when he said “this is my body, take it” and that he meant it for all people, throughout all time, but we cannot fully respond without becoming what we eat, becoming Christ for one another, to become Church for the world. We have to be able to go into the desert with Christ, and his followers, sit as we are told - he told them to sit, and they did, and we are called to do the same and receive even more than they received. 

That ‘yes’ to one another, that is not a simple or half-hearted yes, that is not an immediate yes to “hey give me that” or “just let me do what I want” it is a profound yes to the very core of what it means to be human, and a follower of Christ. This is a ‘yes’ that sees the other through the eyes of the Eucharist, the way in which I see you as I say “the Body of Christ” and you respond Amen - which means yes. This great yes is the kind of yes you will give to the other Eucharistic ministers as well when they present the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ to you - when you see each other through the Eucharist. When I see you through the Eucharist, I am saying yes to you through the Body of Christ, and I pray you are willing to say yes to me. 

We do not take the Eucharist, we receive the Eucharist, and we say yes to Christ and yes to one another and then we don’t leave, we stay with one another we remain with one another, and we trust in one another which allows God the chance to work on our hearts. Today, when you receive the Eucharist, say ‘yes’ to Christ and say ‘yes’ to your sisters and your brothers.

Called Out of Mystery

The Solemnity of the Holy Trinity
Saint Gabriel the Archangel Parish
May 21/22, 2016

Link to Sunday's Scripture Readings
Listen to the Gospel ~ Listen to the 5PM Homily

We are often confronted with mystery; I do think we rather enjoy it, though. The thrill, the suspense, the unknown, the possibilities; all of these frequently captivate our imagination. Whether or not it's the TV shows we watch, the movies that interest us, politics, books, or simply where did that matching sock go to? Mystery surrounds us all the time. Even our music has a bit of mystery, like what does that artist mean when they sing that, or is Taylor Swift singing about this guy or that guy, and will they stay together this time? All of these mysteries have one thing in common, however; that an effort is made to keep the mystery a mystery. Where's Waldo would not be much of a mystery if Waldo jumped out of a page waving his arms! Likewise, a good government conspiracy would not be much of a mystery if they advertised in the local newspaper. A mystery, or at least the people behind the mystery, try to maintain the mystery.

The Christian faith has a lot of mysteries, mysteries that confound the modern world and these are a different kind of mystery altogether. We are in the season of mystery, one might say. We just finished up the season of Easter, a season in which we celebrate the mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ. Two weeks ago we had the Feast of the Ascension, Christ rising to heaven. Last week we celebrated Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, a mystery in and of itself. This week we are celebrating the great solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity - three persons one nature - about as deep a mystery as we can go? Finally, next week we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the Eucharist, a mystery to be thankful for! At the beginning of Mass, we often hear the words “brothers and sisters let us called to mind our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate these sacred mysteries.” Christians know that they celebrate some of the, if not the most, mysterious of mysteries. Nevertheless, these are mysteries that reaches out to help us understand what is otherwise mysterious. Let that sink in for a moment, we celebrate a mystery that reaches out, and itself tries to make itself known. What kind of mystery would do this? What kind of mystery attempts to make itself known? The kind of mystery that is based in love, pure, selfless love. 

There are two images of the Trinity that I wish to expand upon today. The first is Holy Scripture itself, the word of God, the Bible. Christ said in the Gospel that we heard today that “there is much more to tell us but that we cannot bear it now.” Christ knew that there was much more left to teach, that the mystery had not come to a fulfillment within his life on Earth. It has been said that the Old Testament represents the age of the Father, the age of coming to understand that God has created us, sustains us, and calls us to be his chosen people. The Old Testament, the age of the Father. The Gospels then represent the age of the Son, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His teaching, his preaching, his miracles; his life. The Gospels, the age of the Son. Finally, the rest of the New Testament, up until our current day, represents the age of the Holy Spirit. An age of growing understanding of how the church is to be in the world, an understanding of that which Christ wanted to teach but left for the Holy Spirit to guide us to. The New Testament, the age of the Holy Spirit. Just by looking at the way in which Holy Scripture is gathered we get a sense of the Trinity even though it is not distinctly mentioned in Holy Scripture.

The other image of the Trinity that may be helpful is that of an overflowing fountain. The love of the Father, at the top of the fountain overflows, and the Son is called into being; and likewise, the love of the Father and the Son overflows and the Holy Spirit is called into being. We read in Proverbs, in our first reading, that “the Lord possessed me, the beginning of his ways, the Forerunner of his prodigies of long ago; from of old I was poured forth, at the first, before the Earth.” We can see this image of the outpouring of the Father's love, and then looking at the second reading we see that in Paul's letter to the Romans he says that “the love of God has been poured out into our hearts.” In this way, we see that the love of the Father overflows into the Son, and the love of the Father and the Son overflows into the Holy Spirit, which in turn overflows and fills our hearts. We are, therefore, provided for by the love that overflows from all three, for the love that exists between them sustains us, and calls us back to the source.

So what then does the knowledge of God as Trinity do for us? A perfectly timed question from one of our first graders right before the 5 p.m. Saturday Mass helps to clarify the significance of this important day. She asked me who created God? And I told her that nothing created God, God always has been, if something had created God, then that thing would be God. It means a lot for our faith that God decided, for no other reason than a desire for relationship, to be more than one, to be Trinity. God would have been perfectly all right being one, but God decided to be Trinity, and then God decided to extend that desire for a relationship with Creation itself. It may come as quite a shock for some, but God has no need for any of us, God would have been perfectly fine without us. In light of God's love, poured out into the Trinity, and overflowing into our hearts, we are called to share that relationship with one another. The very fact that God calls us into his mystery tells us that we are not meant to be a mystery for one another. We are called to be known by God and to reveal ourselves to one another. It is easy for the world to tell us that we are a mystery, that no one else can understand us, can get us, because of our particular circumstances. The world tells us that we are a mystery and will remain a mystery but our God, who is Trinity, tells us that we do not have to be a mystery. Today we celebrate the mystery of the Trinity, we celebrate by revealing ourselves to one another. It is important that our God is Trinity who we worship here today.

ARE YOU SAVED???

Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C
Saint Gabriel the Archangel Parish
April 24, 2016

Link to the Sunday's Scripture Readings

Have you ever been asked the simple question: are you saved? It can be a strange question to hear as a Catholic. If you were anything like me when first asked that question, I was 16 or 17 at the time, you probably felt a bit awkward, and weren’t certain how to respond. The man who asked me this question wasn’t asking, he was more demanding an answer as he cornered me at my first job. I think the first time he asked - he repeatedly asked at that time and in the days to come - my response was ‘what do you mean?’ That interaction has stuck with me for years mainly because of the way that the simplicity of the question didn’t seem to rise to the complexity of the subject matter; plus the man who asked me was known to be consistently defaulting on his child support. How is he, I often wondered, so sure of his salvation while failing to support his children?

It wasn’t until years later, when I went to seminary, that my inability to answer this question was laid to rest. In conversation with professors and other students the answer was given: yes, of course, you are saved (but here comes the fuller - more Catholic response) yes I was saved, yes I am saved, and yes I will be saved. I was, I am, I will be saved. At the moment Jesus died on the cross, he died for all sins both past, current, and future and I was saved. When I receive the Eucharist, when I am Baptized, when I am Confirmed, when I am Anointed or receive Reconciliation, when I gather together with the body of Christ and worship our God - I am saved. In the second coming, when Christ returns to make all things new - I will be saved. As Catholics, simple answers rarely do justice to the complexity of the question, and we do not believe that a particular moment in our lives seals the fate of our soul, for either good or ill. 

The Lamb of God

The Book of Revelation, which we heard from in our second reading, uses a lot of the same concepts in its account of the coming of the Kingdom of God which already is present and not yet fully present. The imagery speaks to what has happened to the early Christians, everything between then and now, as well as what will happen. It is unwise, and honestly a bit conceited, to think that all that the Book of Revelation contains is meant to show our generation, or perhaps me personally, what will happen in our lifetime. Instead of being only future driven The Book of Revelation incorporates the entire experience of the community – a community that is expected to live and work, rest and grow old- together. The Book of Revelation is telling us that the Kingdom if God is being made real and the Lamb of God declares “Behold, I make all things new.” In this way, salvation is a process, a process of being made new in Christ; both for the individual and the community. 

Our Gospel tells us that just as Jesus loves us, so we also should love one another. Judas had just gotten up and walked out before Jesus said this. We are to love those who are like him just as we are to love those who are like us. Christ tells us to love one another, just as he loves us – until death, and from that others will know that we are his disciples – and the community will grow and the Kingdom of God will become more visible on Earth. We are told to love one another, not to love only when we are loved, not to love only when the person deserves our love, we are told to love. Perhaps we will lose our lives to love, or hurt by love, but we are told to love all the same. Sometimes love means holding tightly to another, and sometimes love means letting go and respecting one’s self and the other by parting ways. We must not lose sight of Christ’s love for us inorder to try and love another. 

So are you saved? Yes - you were saved, yes - you are being saved, and yes - you will be saved – all because you loved one another.

Celebrate THIS Eucharist

The Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C 
First Communion Liturgy ~ Saint Gabriel the Archangel Parish
April 17, 2016

Link to the Sunday's Scripture Readings
Hear the Gospel ~ Hear the Homily

We are here to celebrate with these young people who have gathered together after lots of preparation. You’ve talked long and hard in class about First Communion haven’t you? Learned about how the Eucharist is the true presence of Christ. That’s really important isn’t it? It is a wonderful event that has brought us here and it is good that we are here. [Asked one of the First Communion girls to read a prayer card]

This prayer is a traditional gift for priest when there are ordained. It is a helpful reminder that as many times as a priest celebrates Mass it must never become a routine; the priest cannot serve God worthily and well by becoming complacent in his prayer at Mass. It may often be basically the same, but it’s never just a routine. I think something similar can be, and perhaps should be said by all who come to Mass:

It is easy for anyone to become complacent even when faced time and again with the miracle of the Eucharist. I hope that keeping this in mind might change one’s perspective for many of us. I think it's not just the priests who have to make sure that they do not lose their zeal for the Mass; to not make it just a routine, just a bunch of words to be said. It's important for all of us to remember that we are all essentially like these wonderful children coming before the Lord's Table for the very first time. It is important that we gather together as a community and see these children together, to recognize them for having prepared to receive the Eucharist. I have often heard it said, and it may be the case with you as well, ‘oh to have the faith of a child, if I could just believe like they did, like they do, if I had that kind of faith life would be so much simpler!’ So I asked you: why not? Why not have faith like a child? In our Gospel for today we are called to be like sheep, we are called to listen to the voice of the Lord and to follow him. We do this not to be ignorant, or complacent, but to see through the eyes of a child. We hear at other places in the Gospel that to enter into heaven we must be like little children. We question it's true, and natural, we all will grow in our faith, grow in our desire to understand. Nevertheless, in the end, we return time and time again to receive our Lord from this altar, to receive our Lord as often and as best as possible.

The children all wear these wonderful white garments, particularly the girls are all dressed in white. In baptism we are told to:

See in this white garment the outward sign of your Christian dignity. With your family and friends to help you by word and example, bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of Heaven.

We help one another to do that, we help one another to maintain the purity of Innocence that was there at the moment of our baptism when all of our sins, even original sin itself, is washed away. The priests, deacons, and servers all wear white garments to celebrate Mass. In fact all of us could come wearing white every time we celebrate the Eucharist together; but on the first occasion these children especially have the honor of dressing up in their suits and white dresses to receive that which sustains us through our entire lives and helps us bring our dignity unstained to heaven.

I had the privilege and honor recently of assisting one of our elderly into the arms of God. When you're at that stage, when a person is almost ready to give up their hold on life, it can be difficult to receive the Eucharist. So there with that man in his final days I broke the Eucharistic host in half and showed the half to him and asked ‘would this be okay?’ He just kind of glared at me, so I broke it into quarter pieces. ‘Is this okay’ I asked again, but he maintained his look of uncertainty. Finally I broke a small bit off the corner and I placed it on the back of his lips so that it could simply dissolve. That little bit of Eucharist was exactly what he needed in those moments. That little bit contained the entirety of God’s love for him and us all. We call the rite of giving the Eucharist to the dying viaticum, which means food for the journey, it's not only the end of life journey but our journey through life that Christ sustains us for. We all, at our baptism receive our vocational calling from God. God may call us by name to the married life, to the priesthood, to the religious life, to the single life; all of us are called by God to follow him in our own way. This call is maintained through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Sacrament of Confirmation strengths our understanding of that call, but that calling is kept alive by the Sacrament of the Eucharist. We hear that call from God throughout our lives and we return to the Sacrament of the Eucharist time and time again; we can be more like these little children who will receive our Lord for the first time today.

Saint Gabriel, First Communion 2016

Children, if you are anything like me you'll go home and start taking a tally: I received the Eucharist twice, I received Eucharist three times... I've heard it often from people when they reflect on their First Communion and I did the same. I got a couple months in and then forgot where the paper was, but I came back to it later and put a bunch of marks on it figuring ‘that's about right.’ Christmas came and I realized that I had and would continue to receive the Eucharist countless times. The tally was important for a while but the living out the mystery of the Eucharist became more important the older I got.

We receive our Lord over and over again, and each time we receive this tiny bit of the Body of Christ it has the ability, and the promise, to change our entire lives. Celebrate this Eucharist like it is your first Eucharist, your last Eucharist, you're only Eucharist.