The gift of time, Sermon of September 18th

25^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Matthew 20:1-16a

And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner saying, “These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.”

As we hear the Savior’s parable in today’s Gospel, we might have a tendency to sympathize with the complaints of those workers who labored for whole day and yet received only the same payment as those who came in the final hour. Something within us says, “Well, if that’s the case, why work for the whole day? It would be better to just wait till the last minute and make a deathbed conversion!”

This is obviously not the way that we are supposed to think! The Lord is challenging us with this parable. He is trying to help us to see things from a different perspective.

When we consider this parable we generally tend to interpret it according to a much more personal model: We think of the various hours of the day as symbolizing the various ages of human life.

According to this interpretation, the laborers who came at dawn would be the cradle-Catholics while those who came at the end of the day would be the sinners who have a great death-bed conversion.

If we think of the parable in this way, then the message of our Lord is to tell us that there is only one task which we simply must accomplish in this life. Beyond all else, the one objective of our life on earth must be to die in the state of grace. If we die in the state of grace, our life is a great and even an heroic success. If we die in mortal sin, then our life has been a terrible terrible failure.

And yet, we also know that the best way to die in the state of grace, is to live in the state of grace! In any case, a Christian life is far more fulfilling and joyful than a materialistic life which searches only after worldly gains and vain delights.

The simple truth is that laboring in the Lord’s vineyard is its own reward. It is far better to spend our life in union with Christ, than to be separated from him. Far better to live out our days in the grace of Jesus, than to stand idle in the marketplace!

However, there is another meaning to this parable: The hours of the day and the various laborers represent the ages of the history of salvation. When Jesus spoke this parable, the original message had much more to do with this interpretation of the ages of salvation history.

The parable of the laborers in the vineyard is really all about the relationship between the Jews (who had been called first) and the Gentiles (who were called last). The workers who came at dawn and through till noon represent Adam and Abel, Abraham and Moses, Elijah and all the prophets. Those who came at 3 o’clock in the afternoon are, perhaps, John the Baptist, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Apostles. Finally, those who come at 5 o’clock, at the very end of the history of salvation, in the final hours, these are the Gentile Christians who have been converted through the preaching of the Apostles.

The eleventh hour is the time of the Church, it is the time which we are now in! All of us, we are those laborers who come at the very end of the day.

Now this is the meaning of the parable: If we follow Christ, we will receive the same reward which was promised to Adam, to Abraham, to Moses and to the prophets. Indeed, if we are faithful, we will be included in the same Church which was founded upon the Apostles – we will even share in the glory which has been given to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

How encouraging the parable is for us when we read it in this perspective!

And this is Christ’s point: We are to recognize how generous and gracious God is in giving us the gift of time. Time is a most precious gift! Time gives us the opportunity either to convert from sin and to follow God or, if we have already begun our spiritual journey, to strive forward in grace and to merit greater glory in heaven.

What a gift time truly is! And yet, how often do we squander this gift! Far too often we say that we are just “passing the time”, or we “kill time”. What ingratitude!

St. Alphonsus Liguori makes use of a helpful analogy. He has us imagine that we are in a bank and that the owner of the bank has opened the vault which is filled with money. The bank-owner tells us that we can have however much money we are able to count in one hour.

Now, what would we do? Would we simply sit back, idle, “killing time”? No! Of course not! We would rush into the vault and start counting the money as quickly as possible. Why, we would have so much zeal and energy!

And, it tell you truly, we wouldn’t waste our time on the little bills (the ones and the fives); no, we would rush for the hundreds and the other big bills! J

If only we would make the same good use of the time which God has given us earth. Here we are, with so much time – time to make acts of charity and to store up a greater treasure in heaven. These acts of charity, whether great or small, will be of great value if only we do them all with great love!

Why then do we waste our time holding on to grudges and anger? What good does it do? Nothing!

How generous God has been! He has given us time!

Remember, the history of the world did not have to continue to today. The Savior could have come to judge the world one hundred years ago, and then none of us would have even been conceived, none of us would have existed.

You and I, we did not have to exist; but God, in his love and generous mercy, willed that there should be time in history for all of us to come into existence.

This time given us on earth is the great gift of the opportunity to come to eternity with Christ, in life everlasting.

A sermon on Christian meditation from Father Ryan Erlenbush. August 7th

Elijah, praying alone on Mount Horeb

19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

August 7^th, 2011

1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a; Matthew 14:22-33

At the mountain of God, Horeb, Elijah came to a cave where he took shelter. […] There was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.

Jesus went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone.

Beginning to sink, Peter cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Today’s readings, especially the first reading and the Gospel, teach us the fundamentals of prayer. We see the two essential movements of prayer: First, there is mediation and contemplation – which is shown in Elijah and, most perfectly, in our Savior; it is the example of going up the mountain alone to prayer – and, second, there is supplication or petition – this we see (albeit in an imperfect way) in St. Peter, when he cries out “Lord, save me!”.
These are the two movements: Meditation, which is that mental prayer where we quiet ourselves and enter into loving union with God; and petition, the prayer where we ask the good God to give us all the graces we need for today, for tomorrow, and at the moment of our death.

First, there is mental prayer, that meditation which leads to contemplation. St. John Chrysostom tells us that two things are necessary for true mental prayer – a quiet place, and time. Notice the example of Elijah, the great prophet of the Old Testament. First, he heard the wind which crushed the rocks, but God wasn’t in the wind. Then there was the earthquake and finally also the fire, but God was not in these either. Rather, God came to Elijah in the tine whisper – this is the gentle and often very subtle movement of the Holy Spirit.

If the Holy Spirit is so gentle and often speaks to us through a little whisper, then it is obvious that we will have to listen attentively in order to hear him. We need to quiet ourselves in order to hear his voice and to follow his inspirations.

Today’s world is so busy and loud, we need a quiet place to pray. Of course, the church is a very special place for prayer, but also in our homes we need to take time to step away from the daily duties of life, to retreat to a quiet room, to shut the door, to quiet ourselves and to seek God.

We must point out that every family has not only the right but also the obligation to set aside time for daily meditation or mental prayer. Husbands and wives have a duty to provide each other with time for prayer – and parents with young children should be teaching them how to pray as well.

Of course the family should pray together – we mention especially the family Rosary. If your family is not in the practice of saying the Rosary together every day, the month of August (which is the month dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary) is a great time to start. Perhaps five decades seems like too much at first … fine, we can start with one decade, or at least three Hail Mary’s. Then, we can build from this starting place. Little by little we will grow as a family.

Still, in addition to that common family prayer, the couple must allow each other – and their children as well, once they are old enough – the time for quiet personal prayer and meditation in a separate room apart from the business of the family life.

Now the next question is about time. How much time should we give over to prayer every day? The saints recommend at least fifteen minutes, though twenty would be better. Yes, twenty minutes of quiet reflective meditation every day is so important for us! How can we expect to fulfill all the duties of our daily lives if we are not praying?

Moreover, when we think about how many minutes we should pray, we ought to remember that prayer is all about developing a relationship with the Lord. Could we have a loving intimate relationship with any human being if we only spoke for two or three minutes a day? What if the only time we spoke to our husband was to ask for things, never to simply speak words of Love? Likewise, what if a man only spoke to his wife in a distracted and disinterested manner, perhaps for a few minutes a day or not even every day? This would never work among human being! Why should we think that such little prayer would work with God?

We will say this: If fifteen minutes of prayer every day seems too long, I reply in the spirit of St. Josemaria Escriva – the prayer is not too long, but your love is too short!

Still, we must not be discouraged. If all we can do in the beginning is five minutes, that is fine, it is a place to start. We begin wherever we are and we try to build from there. Sometimes I think that if we only got a little bit better at prayer every day, we would be saints in no time!

And what is this meditation supposed to be about? What are we supposed to do for those twenty minutes every day? We can consider the Rosary – the Rosary will teach us much about the nature of mental prayer and meditation.

When we meditate, we are to consider the mysteries especially of Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection, as well as the other mysteries of our Faith – the Trinity, creation, the final judgment. We think upon these mysteries and we consider the great love that Almighty God has shown us through these events.

Christian meditation is all about love, thinking upon God’s love for us and how he has shown us this love in Christ Jesus – and, filled with the divine love, making small acts of love for God in return. To say, “Jesus, how you have loved me! You love me so much that you have died for me! In turn, let me love you!”

Notice how different Christian meditation is from Eastern forms of prayer. Eastern meditation is all about emptying ourselves, dissolving into the “power” of the Universe, clearing our minds to become nothing. Eastern prayer is self-annihilation, but Christian mediation is focused primarily on being filled! Christian prayer is about being filled with God’s love. Far from clearing our minds and entering into nothingness, Christian meditation is focused on thinking about Jesus, about the mysteries of the Faith, about the love of God; and then making acts of love in return. Finally, Christian meditation culminates in the simple loving gaze of the creature upon his Creator.

How far we are from Eastern prayer, and from such practices as “centering prayer” or “yoga”. Centering prayer and yoga are focused on emptying the self, on clearing the mind so as to think of nothing – this is the opposite of Christian mediation. If we are practicing centering prayer or yoga, we need to cut that out immediately – it has nothing at all to do with the Gospel!

Remember, “Mother Earth” does not love you. I hope you know that “Mother Earth” does not love you – she cannot love you because she is not a person. God, the Most Holy Trinity, is three Persons who love you intensely, who want to be united with you, to dwell in you, to elevate you and glorify you by a share in their own life.

And then, finally and very briefly, we come to the very necessary second movement of prayer: Supplication, the prayer of petition. When we see just how much Jesus loves us, we are then filled with a confidence to ask of him all the graces we need to fulfill our vocation in life.

St. Peter, when he was walking on the water, became troubled and fearful seeing the storm and the waves – we too will have many storms to weather, but like St. Peter will be saved if only we cry to the good Jesus, Lord, save me! This is the prayer of petition – asking for the graces needed in the moment and, especially, for the grace to be united to God at the moment of death.

More than anything else, every day we must ask God to bring us to heaven when we die. We must ask God for the grace of final perseverance, which is the grace to turn to him in the last moment of life and to give ourselves completely over to his love.

Be sure of this, if we do not pray and ask to go to Heaven, we won’t. If we do not beg the Lord for the grace to be faithful to the end, we will certainly be damned. All the saints in Heaven are there for this one reason, they prayed and asked for the grace of salvation. Conversely, all the damned in Hell are there for this one reason, they did not pray and they did not ask for the grace of perseverance.

Do you see? Prayer is everything! Our good God loves us so much and he has so many good things that he wants to give us, if only we would pray, if only we would ask for his benefits. Indeed, if we are filled with the love of God and if we persevere in asking the good Lord to bring us to union with himself, we can be sure that he will give us the great glory of life everlasting.

Sermon on hell, August 22nd

21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.

August 22^nd, 2010

Luke 13:22-30, Strive to enter through the narrow gate

Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”

A recent movie tells the story of a family in which the grandfather passes away unexpectedly. The granddaughter, who is only a little girl, asks her uncle if there is a heaven. He responds that he doesn’t know for sure, but the little girl adds that she believes in it. Then both the uncle and the little girl decide that, if there is a heaven, certainly everybody gets to go there after death.

It really is a very sweet, cute little scene … quite sentimental. And like many things which are cute and sweet, and like all things which are sentimental, it is inimical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and contrary to the doctrine of our Faith.

We live in a world which denies the existence of hell. The very thought of hell is repulsive to many secular people and, unfortunately, even some Catholics refuse to believe that hell is real – and that people really can go there.

But we must be sure of this: Jesus Christ has very clearly affirmed the reality and the existence of hell. In fact, in all of Sacred Scripture, no single person speaks about hell more often than Christ our Savior. Almost everything we know about hell was revealed to us by the Lord himself. Thus, to deny hell is to deny Christ’s own teaching. To reject hell is to reject Christ.

And if we ask, “Lord, will only a few be saved?”; we must accept our Savior’s answer, “Yes, very few.” Very few indeed will come to eternal life. It is the common opinion of theologians throughout the Church’s history that most people go to hell after death. And so, we can say with reasonable confidence that most people probably go to hell.

Does this upset us? Are we troubled by this thought? Certainly, the world rejects the idea of hell – but why? Is it because the world is so convinced of the Love of God and the Grace of Christ working through the Sacraments of his Church? Is this why so many people believe that everyone goes to heaven? No, I tell you, the world denies hell because the world denies sin! It is not a confidence in God’s Love, but an acceptance of sin which blinds the intellect to the existence of hell.

Perhaps we have a hard time accepting Jesus’ words, perhaps we do not like to hear about hell. Be sure of this: It gave Christ no pleasure to speak of hell – and yet, so long as there was sin, he was driven to speak of it; so long as people turn away from God, the Church and her priests must speak of the reality and the real possibility of eternal damnation.

But be sure of this, it was Love which compelled Christ to speak of hell. It is Love which leads the Church to teach about hell today. It is not wrath or anger or judgment, but Love!

Consider this parable: A man, walking through a forest, fell into a very deep hole out of which he could not climb. Another came upon him and said, “My dear friend, my beloved, you have fallen, you are in danger, let me help you!” Then, lowering down a ladder, he implored the man who had fallen to climb out.

What would we say if the one in the hole replied, “How dare you tell me I have fallen into a hole! Who are you to judge me?” What could be done for that man, if he refused to make use of the ladder to climb out? Why, he would be a fool and all hope for him would be lost!

We, each of us individually and all of us together, have fallen into sin. Christ our Savior has come upon us and spoken to us words of love, “My beloved, you have sinned, you are in danger, you will parish without my grace. Here, I give you a ladder, that is, I offer you my Church and her Sacraments. Do not reject me, but take courage!”

What shall happen to the one who refuses Christ? What would happen if any should refuse to admit the danger of hell, and the reality of sin? He would be lost!

My friends, do not think it was hatred or anger which created hell. It was Love, omnipotent and divine Love!

Hear the words of the theologian Fr. Lacordaire: “Had justice alone created the abyss, there might be remedy. But it is love, the first love sempiternal, which made hell. This it is which banishes hope. Were I condemned by justice, I might flee to love. But if I am condemned by love, whither can I turn? Such is the fate of the damned, Love, that gave his blood for them – this Love, this same Love, must now curse them. […] Love is not a farce. It is God’s love which punishes, God’s crucified love. Love is life or death. And if that love is God’s love, then love is either eternal life or eternal death.”

Sermon on the rich man and Lazarus, September 26th

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. September 26th, 2010.
Gospel. Luke 16:19-31, The rich man and Lazarus.

Abraham replied, “My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.”

Hell is not a topic many people today are comfortable hearing about. In fact, of all the doctrines of the Catholic faith, hell is certainly one of the most neglected. Perhaps we have never, or hardly ever, heard a homily about hell.
Indeed, we live in a world which denies the existence of hell, a world which refuses to believe that eternal punishment is a real possibility. Perhaps we ourselves can fall to this temptation at times. Even if we do admit the reality of hell, we might be inclined to reserve damnation to a select few, to those particularly horrible sinners – terrible murderers, war criminals, and the like. Hell is for people like them, hell is for monsters.
In doing this we separate ourselves from sinners, we save ourselves from having to confront the judgment of God, we make hell a place for “them” not a reality which has anything to do with “us”. But then we are confronted with a passage like the parable of today’s Gospel.


We hear that there was a rich man and a poor man, and the rich man did not help the poor man. For this sin alone, the rich man was condemned to hell; but the poor man was saved. It strikes me that we know almost nothing at all about the rich man…we do not even know his name. He may have been married, perhaps he was a good father and a good husband. He was most likely an active member of his community. He was certainly a fun guy to be around. We might note with some surprise that he might have even been fairly generous to some poor people – we have no reason to think that he wouldn’t have given to the food bank (or the 1st century equivalent thereof).
All we know about him is that, whatever else he did in his life, he did not help Lazarus. And for this one sin – a sin which cries out to heaven for vengeance – for this one sin he was condemned to the everlasting punishments of hell. He was rich and he refused to relieve the poor man who begged from him. This cost him his salvation.

And I ask, my brothers and sisters, has anything changed in 2000 years? Perhaps this: if the rich man ignored the poor man’s cry, he at least allowed Lazarus to sit and beg at the door. I think it likely that, if a poor man was begging outside our homes day and night, we would probably call the police and have him taken away. If the rich man ignored Lazarus’ cry, we live in a society which systematically suffocates the cry of the poor!
Some day we will all come to understand what our Savior meant when he said, “Blessed are you poor, but woe to you who are rich.”

The poor are God’s gift to us. It is through mercy and charity toward them that we will work out our salvation. Pope John Paul II has said, “It will be necessary above all to abandon a mentality in which the poor – as individuals and as a people – are considered a burden, as irksome intruders trying to consume what others have produced.” Whatever we do to the poor, we do to Christ. And whatever we do not do to the poor, we do not do to Christ.

And so I ask: Without almsgiving, how should we ever inherit life everlasting?