Liberal Catholicism is slavery to mammon, Sermon of February 27th

And he saith to him: Follow me. And he rose up and followed him.

8^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

February 20^th, 2011

Matthew 6:24-34

You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.

It is not uncommon to hear people today – both those who are outside the Church and even, most regrettably, some of those who are within the Church – it is not uncommon to hear people today say something like this: “Why doesn’t the Church allow married priests?”, or “When is the Church going to get with the times and allow priests to have a wife and kids and a more normal life?” Such persons will likewise often be baffled at the thought of traditional religious life: “How can anyone be happy as a monk or nun?”, “Why does the Church still require monks and nuns to live such austere lives of poverty, chastity, and obedience?”, “Wouldn’t they be much happier if they lived more like the rest of society?”, “Didn’t the Church do away with the habits for monks and nuns after Vatican II?”

To persons such as these, it seems impossible that a man could be happy living the life of a celibate. They cannot believe that a life, separated from the world and from worldly pursuits, could be fulfilling. They are shocked – or even saddened – at the thought that some young men and women today still are willing to leave the world and enter religious life.

And what shall we say to such persons? There are, of course, many things we could say, but this alone will suffice: Persons who think such things have not yet begun to live in the freedom of the children of God, but are yet slaves of mammon. Such persons cannot believe that a man or woman could ever be happy without mammon, that is, without worldly possessions and secular pursuits. These people approach the Church from an incredibly worldly and secular perspective – they judge things according to the ways of human beings, not the ways of God.

When they desire that priests and religious should be more like ordinary people, what they really are asking is that those consecrated to the Lord should find their consolation not so much in the hope of heaven, but in the vanities of the world.

Christ tells us, “You cannot serve both God and mammon. You cannot both love God and love money, honors, and luxuries.” Therefore, our Savior commands us, “Do not worry.” How challenging this teaching is! How radically contrary to the mentality of the secular world.

The Lord does not merely say, “Do not worry about luxuries – that is, do not worry about special vacations or fancy cars and homes.” Rather, Christ tells us not to worry even about the necessities of life! We are not to be anxious about even what we will eat or what we will wear.

But the Good Jesus does not want us to be discouraged. He does not want us to despair. Therefore, he gives us three reasons why we ought not to worry, why we ought not to be anxious.

First, he points out that our worrying doesn’t do any good anyways – We cannot add a single moment to our lives through worrying. Why then should we worry? It leads only to evil.

Second, the Savior gives us an example – He directs our thoughts to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, which do not worry and are not anxious but are yet well provided for by the Almighty. And here we point out that Christ did not say, “Do not work.” He said, “Do not worry.” For, of course we are to work! The birds of the air work, and even St. Paul worked as a tentmaker during his apostolic missions. We most certainly must work, but we ought not to be anxious about our work. We ought to entrust our work to the Lord, knowing that he will make it profitable in his good time. After all, God takes care of the sparrows, and you are worth more than many sparrows.

This, then, brings our Lord to his third point – Your Father in heaven knows what you need. Why then do you worry? For God is all-powerful, and he loves you very much. Don’t you know what that means? It means that you win! If God so loves you as to give you eternal life, will he not provide you with all your necessities – but persevere, seek first his kingdom and all the rest will be given you besides.

And here I recall the words of Mother Teresa: “God is so good. If only we remembered that more often, we would be much more joyful!”

The happiest and most perfect vocation? To be a monk or a nun!, Sermon of September 5th

23^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.

September 5^th, 2010

Luke 14:25-33, The cost of discipleship

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, “If anyone comes after me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple … Anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”

Of all the saints of the Church’s history, excepting the Blessed Virgin Mary, perhaps none is more beloved than St. Francis of Assisi. The joy of this great Saint was a light to the world in his day, and has shown through these 800 years even to illumine our own times. St. Francis may well be the happiest and most joyful man of the past millennium.

And yet, if we ask from where this joy came, we must affirm that St. Francis found his joy in hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life … in renouncing all his possessions and following Christ!

When still a young man, Francis renounced his father and mother, his brothers and sisters, his family inheritance, and followed Christ. He would no longer be bound to his earthly family, but to God above. In this he embraced the vow of obedience, by which all other relations are subjected to our relationship with God.

Moreover, Francis took upon himself the vow of poverty, renouncing all his possessions in order to imitate Christ who became poor for our sakes. Francis became known as the poor man of Assisi.

Finally, we must recognize that St. Francis can be said to have hated wife and children, when he vowed himself to perpetual chastity – becoming celibate for the sake of the kingdom of God.

It was these three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience which made St. Francis to be the happiest man of his age – through living out these vows, Francis followed Christ in the most perfect vocation.

We may be a bit surprised by the words of today’s Gospel, which speak of “hating” father and mother, wife and children, and even one’s own life. There is a great cost to being a disciple of Christ, there is a real sacrifice which must be made. Now I am sure that you have head in past homilies of how this word “hate” does not mean hate in the usual modern sense – our Lord, of course, is advocating that we love God above all and that all our other loves must be ordered to this love of God. We do not hate anyone, but our love for others must always be seen in relation to our love for God

Yet, you have probably also heard that Jesus is speaking in a hyperbole here, that he is exaggerating. In fact, it is true that most of us are not called to renounce all human relations and follow the words of Christ to the letter, but we must never forget that there some who are so called – this is not a case of pure exaggeration.

Consecrated religious– that is, monks and nuns – do take the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. And, just like St. Francis, monks and nuns really do live out the radical discipleship of which Christ speaks in the Gospel today.

Now you might wonder, “Can anyone really be happy, living such a life?” We need only look to St. Francis for our answer – there was none more happy, more full of joy than he, and yet he found his joy precisely in these vows. We affirm not only that one can be happy as a monk or a nun, but (what is more) there is no life happier! There is no life more joyful than consecrated life – the life of poverty, chastity and obedience.

Do you doubt the truth of this? Even statistically it can be proven! It is a very sad fact that about 50% of marriages today end in divorce – but I assure you that not nearly 50% of priests, monks, or nuns leave their vocations. If it is true that some particular monks or nuns have been unhappy; it is also true that, on the whole, they are among the happiest people in our country. I am speaking scientifically now: Those who have consecrated their lives to God through these three vows are, on the whole, far happier than married persons. Statistically, the happiest life in the United States right now is religious life!

And so, to you young people here, I ask: Have you thought about religious life? Have you thought of becoming a priest or a monk or a nun? There is no happier life. If you are called to be a religious, there is no life greater! Why, the life you live on earth will become a foretaste of heaven!

And to you here who are parents and grandparents, I ask: Have you encouraged your children and grandchildren to consider religious life? If they mention the thought to you, have you supported them? What are you afraid of? If you want your sons and daughters to be happy, help them to discern a call to become a monk or a nun, or perhaps a priest – there is no life happier, there is no surer road to joy!

But how can young people even consider the possibility of religious life, if they are never given an opportunity to see monks or nuns? It is a bit easier for them to have some encounters with diocesan priests, but you must work to give your children an opportunity to meet consecrated religious. There are a few monasteries and convents in the area – there are Carmelite monks in Wyoming, and Benedictines in North Dakota. Why not take a family trip some time? Especially, as your children come into their high school years, it will be important to give them some exposure to religious life – how else will they be able to discern if God could be calling them to this most precious and most joyful vocation?

May the joy and the love of Christ dwell in our hearts this day and, as we come into a more intimate union with his Most Sacred Heart, may we be drawn away from the cares of this world and begin to rejoice in the foretaste of life everlasting.

Sermon on Martha and Mary, July 18th

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. July 18th, 2010.
Gospel: Luke 10:38-42, Martha and Mary.

The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

As we listen to the proclamation of this Gospel text, we are probably all asking ourselves whether we are a Martha or a Mary. Well, I have some tough news for you…we are all Martha!
Martha is the symbol of the active life, the life in the world. This is the ordinary life, the life which we are all living – myself and all diocesan priests included! Mary is a symbol of the contemplative life, the life removed from the world, the life wholly and entirely consecrated to God through the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. In our world, religious monks and nuns are Mary.

We are all Martha’s. We live in the world, we have not taken vows, we are not consecrated religious. But that is nothing to be ashamed of! The active life is a good life, it can be a very holy life, it is a great vocation. Notice that Martha was doing just fine, until she began to reject the vocation of her sister Mary. So too, the active life is good and holy, until it begins to reject or downplay the importance of the contemplative life.
There is a problem in the modern world: we tend to look for external and visible results, “productivity.” We do not see this in the monasteries and convents, and so there is a temptation to think that the contemplative life doesn’t really matter, that it doesn’t add anything to society, that it is a waste. It is as though we say to our Savior, “Tell them [the monks and nuns in the cloister], tell them to help us!” We make Martha’s words our own…and this is our fatal error.

The active life is good, it is holy; but the contemplative life is better. We must develop a love and respect for the contemplative vocation, because this is the life which is most close to the Sacred Heart of our Lord. Precisely because he loves his religious so much, we too love and support them! Perhaps even in our midst there may be some young people here called to that most precious and hidden life of contemplation.
For the rest of us, however, we must remain in the world. It is the good vocation to which God has called us! We must sanctify the world, by sanctifying our daily lives. We have a great task entrusted to us – to make the Kingdom present in the midst of the secular world!
How shall we ever accomplish this good work? It will only be through a deep commitment to the life of prayer. Our love and respect for the contemplative life will lead us to develop a sharing in that hidden life of prayer, even in the midst of our busy days. The heart of any vocation is prayer. The secular world will only be sanctified through prayer. We ourselves will only be saved through prayer.

Having entered into that interior castle, that cloister of the heart, that hidden place within the soul where we enjoy communion with our Creator; we will then be strengthened to go out and to share the riches of the divine life with others.