Seventy Times Seven

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 17, 2023 — Year A
Readings: Sir 27:30-28:7 / Ps 103 / Rom 14:7-9 / Mt 18:21-35
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

A 99-year-old woman, pushing on in years, boasted to her pastor that she didn’t have an enemy in the world. He was very impressed. What a wonderful thing to be able to say after all those years! And then she added, “I have outlived them all!” If we live long enough, we’ll also be able to make the same statement.

“What goes around comes around” is a common expression. Its familiarity springs from the truth. When we offer words of kindness and love to others, that invites words of kindness and love in return. On the other hand, isn’t it true that words of anger only produce more anger on each side? The harsh judgement we pass on others easily could apply to us as well. In the final analysis, we will be judged by how we treat others, not how they may have treated us.

So what is it that we want to go around and come around? The reply that we offer should not be merely words, but also deeds. The wise man Sirach in our first reading says, “Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.” These words in many ways echo the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” We have indicated that we want the same treatment as we give others.

The problem is, if we treat others in an unkind manner, we are asking that God treat us the same way. For example; if the young people here do not cooperate with their elders by loving them and obeying them, it means that they are saying to God: My parents shouldn’t love me and shouldn’t respond to my wishes. Jesus is saying that if we treat others poorly, then it’s only natural that they will treat us the same way. You are in command. Treat others well, including parents, and they will treat you well.

There is a story of a six-year-old, John. During night prayer he paused before his brother’s name and said to his mother, “I will not ask God to bless Paul. He gave me a big blow on the nose today.” The mother said to John, “But Jesus asked you to forgive your enemies.” Little John responded, “That’s the main problem. Paul is not my enemy, and that’s the reason I cannot forgive him.”

The reaction of little John tells us that forgiveness is hard, and that forgiving family and friends is even tougher. Forgiveness and reconciliation are twin virtues that hold a relationship whether it is an interpersonal or interethnic or interreligious relationship.

One of the hardest things to do is to forgive those who are mean to us. To forgive those who have done or said terrible things against us, or even to forgive those who contribute, or those who continue to put us down and those who hate us with disdain.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where it was difficult to forgive someone who offended you? Yes, forgiveness can be very hard in certain situations, and for this reason it takes such a long time before we train ourselves to forgive our offenders, especially when they are people we trusted so much.

The first step towards forgiveness is the ability to say, Yes, I forgive. It really takes a lot of courage to forgive. The second step is to ask for the help of God by admitting, God, I really want to forgive, but I do not know how to forgive. Help me to forgive totally and completely from the depth of my heart.

Too often we wait for others to make the first move. We hesitate because we might face rejection, or we don’t want to seem too weak or eager for reconciliation. That’s not how Jesus treated us. He made the first move. He loves us so much that He died for us. We can show the same love by having His courage to treat our family and our friends in the same loving manner, not waiting for them to display their love but to offer our love first. Each of us must be Christ-like: We must take the initiative.

Our Lord gives this gospel as a warning that we must be constantly on our guard. God has forgiven us for things we could not possibly hope to repay. And we are duty bound in gratitude and compassion to share the graciousness, forgiveness, and charity that God gives to us and others around us.

In the gospel, Peter is asking about the limits of forgiveness. Isn’t it true that if we just grant forgiveness to someone who’s treated us in an unloving manner that they will continue to take advantage of us? Jesus says, “No, don’t forgive friends or members of your family seven times, but seven times seventy times.” Unlimited.

Jesus willingly gave His life for us because He loves us. We show our love in the same manner and, if we do, that love will be returned, whether it be from our child, our parents, our friend, or even from someone we don’t like. We do it not because we are weak, but because Jesus has asked us to do it, and He has promised we will be blessed for our actions.

Also, we must learn to forgive ourselves. Imagine you’re responsible for something very serious; you are driving a car while under the influence of alcohol, there is an accident and a young person is killed. That life cannot be brought back. For more and more people, there is something in their background, some skeleton in the closet, as we say. A broken marriage, an abortion, a pregnancy outside marriage, a broken relationship, or a serious mistake. And for many of us we do not believe that there is another chance, much less seven times seventy chances.

This is not the teaching of Jesus. God doesn’t just give us another chance, but every time we close a door, He opens another one for us. The Lord challenges us not to make serious, damaging mistakes. But He also tells us that our mistakes are not forever. They are not even for a lifetime, and time and grace wash us clean. Nothing is irrevocable.

The words of Sirach in the first reading say it all. “Think of the commandments. Hate not your families and friends, remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.” And so, as each of us takes a few minutes coming to Communion, think of what we can do for our families, our children, our siblings, and all of our friends so that we will love one another as Jesus has loved us. Let us continue to promote that awareness that we are all in communion with one another and with the one God. What we do to others we are taken as doing to God himself. May Jesus Christ be praised.

No Cross, No Crown

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 3, 2023 — Year A
Readings: Jer 20:7-9 / Ps 63 / Rom 12:1-2 / Mt 16:21-27
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

A nun was explaining the Stations of the Cross to her class.  They got to the fourth station where Jesus, on the road to Calvary, meets His mother.  The nun explained that even though they could not talk to each other, the mother and son spoke to each other just using their eyes. “What do you think they said to each other?” she asked the pupils.  The class gave many answers.  One said that Mary said, “This isn’t fair.”  Another said that she said, “Why me?”  Finally, a sick little girl raised her thin hand, got up, and said, “Sister, I know what the Blessed Mother told Jesus.  She said to Him, ‘Keep on going, Jesus.’  Why would a mother encourage her only son on the way to crucifixion, to keep on going?  Because she understood the Christian principle of no cross, no crown.”

The image of Jesus Christ crucified is so important for our liturgical life that the Church requires that the crucifix be on or close to the altar at every Mass.  It should be the focal point of the Christian life.  All three of today’s scripture readings, with their emphasis on suffering and sacrifice, help us regain a proper appreciation of the crucified Christ and of the place of the cross in our Christian lives.

Jesus Christ proves to us how much God loves us by suffering and dying on the cross, that we may have eternal life.  The greatest expression of Christ’s love is the laying down of His life on the cross.  The very center of His mission is His death and resurrection for the life of the world.  We can recall that St. Paul declared, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world (Gal 6:14).”

Peter, James, and John have just left the sweet, reassuring, hallowed experience of the Transfiguration.  How thrilling religion can be!  How comforting for the heart.  Just when the apostles are wallowing in pleasant religious feelings, Jesus grows stern and tells them about His forthcoming cross.  Peter will have none of it and tells Jesus that this is for others, not Him and them.  Jesus, without missing a beat, cuts Peter with quickness by saying, “Get behind Me, Satan!”

Peter needed divine intervention to know that Jesus was divine at Caesarea Philippi.  Now he needs divine illumination again to understand that the nice feelings at Tabor are only bought with the dreadful feelings of Calvary.  You can sense the fire in Jesus’ heart as He speaks in glowing terms about the cost of following Him.  Of course, He knows where everything is heading:  Jerusalem and Golgotha, the grave and beyond.  His disciples are not as clear about the direction they are headed, but not for lack of hearing about it.  Peter actually takes Jesus aside and tells Him that this talk of suffering and death is inappropriate.  This should be the hour of victory, but Jesus insists on making the opportunity in front of them strangely grim.

Following Jesus is not a walk in the park.  It will not lead to a comfortable position sitting on His right or His left, but rather a taste of the cup from which He is to drink.  If we believe in Jesus and are willing to risk a love like His, then we have to be prepared for what the world does to truth-speakers like Him.

Perhaps, like Peter, we may be losing sight of our purpose in life. It is not to live totally for pleasure and avoid as many crosses as possible.  Rather, it is to live it in such a way so as to merit the reward of eternal life.  It is about living our few years in this life in a way that will reap for us the reward of eternal life in the next life.  More concretely, it is about picking up our crosses daily and accepting them in the same spirit that Jesus accepted His own cross.  The remarkable part is that once we begin living as Jesus taught us to live, everything will turn upside down.  Suddenly, what seemed to be an enormous cross, will turn out to be, in the light of this world and the next world, an enormous blessing.

Suffering then, is not an end in itself.  It is a pathway to glory.  Jesus has taken on the full weight of human suffering and has transformed it, giving it life-giving value.  This is why we willingly display the crucifix instead of rejecting it.  While we try to alleviate suffering through legitimate means, at the same time we strive to see it from God’s perspective to find its deeper meaning.  When we look at a crucifix, we are reminded that God does not see suffering as something to be avoided at all costs.  He knows how to bring good out of suffering.

St. Paul knows that the idea of sacrifice, which is voluntary suffering, does not fit the world’s way of thinking.  We are no longer to think as the world does or judge by the world’s standards.  Rather, we are called to be transformed by the renewal of our minds so that we may discern what is the will of God: what is good, pleasing, and perfect.

To be able to do this, we need to fix our gaze on Jesus Christ or the crucified Christ.  He is risen, but His cross and His passion are our strength.  The way of perfection passes by way of the cross.  Living by God’s will, no matter what form the cross may take in our lives, is what leads to our glory with Him.

Do Not Be Afraid

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 25, 2023 — Year A
Readings: Jer 20:10-13 / Ps 69 / Rom 5:12-15 / Mt 10:26-33
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

In case you missed it, on June 16 we celebrated the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the day after that, the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This past Thursday we celebrated the Memorial of St. Thomas More, and just yesterday, the Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist.  I see in that sequence of celebrations the love of Jesus’ Sacred Heart burning in Mary’s, Thomas More’s, and John’s hearts, enabling their great victories. We receive His Sacred Heart at every Mass in the Eucharist! Keep this truth and these spiritual heroes in mind during this homily on trusting in God’s grace when the world persecutes us for witnessing to His truth and love.

The LA Dodgers major league baseball organization recently held a public event in their stadium to give a “Community Hero Award” to a group of men who dress as nuns and mock the Catholic Church, which is to say they mock Christ (CNA). Now pray today’s Psalm 69 again, “For your sake I bear insult…I have become an outcast to my brothers…the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.”

Washington Nationals pitcher and Catholic, Trevor Williams, responded to the Dodgers’ celebration of mockery by becoming the first major league player to denounce the Dodgers’ award ceremony for an organization the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has called “blasphemous (CNA).” His Twitter comments denouncing this attack on the Catholic faith have been retweeted thousands of times. He has been criticized, yes, but Williams said he wanted to show his four children that if they are ever tested, it is ok to stand up for their faith. By the way, Trevor’s own faith took off after going to Adoration as a teenager.

In today’s first reading, the prophet Jeremiah is lamenting how those “who WERE [his] friends” denounce him, watching for “any misstep” so they can trap and “take vengeance on him (Jer 20:10).”  However, Jeremiah doesn’t worry about being “canceled” for his faith in God. He defiantly writes, “But the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion. (Jer 20:11-13)!”

St. Thomas More can relate to Jeremiah’s lamenting about friends turning on him. More was King Henry VIII’s chancellor, and the King wanted More to sanction his illegitimate second marriage in addition to his self-proclaimed position of head of the Catholic Church in England.  More refused to sanction either, and King Henry VIII began to cancel More’s job, his status, money, and reputation. But More’s faith did not break. The King was frustrated and finally ordered More’s beheading.

More’s last words exemplify Jesus’ exhortation in today’s gospel. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna (Mt 10:28).” Likewise, More said, “I die his majesty’s good servant, but God’s first.” This is called holy fear, which Bishop Barron describes as fearing “losing intimacy and friendship with God (Barron 72).”

St. Paul, in the second reading, wrote to the Roman Church, “But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many.”  Living the hope of these words in prison before his execution, Thomas More wrote, “His grace has strengthened me until now and made me content to lose goods, land, and life as well, rather than to swear against my conscience.”  In doing so, More also echoed today’s Psalm “See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, may your hearts revive!  For the Lord hears the poor, and his own who are in bonds he spurns not (Ps 69:33).”

Like the baseball player Trevor Williams, More also wanted to teach his child through his actions. In his letter from prison to his daughter, Margaret he wrote, “Do not let your mind be troubled over anything that shall happen to me in this world. Nothing can come but what God wills. And I am very sure that whatever that be, however bad it may seem, it shall indeed be the best.”

What of the people who mock the Church and try to teach our children to do the same? Jeremiah called the mockers “evildoers” and spoke of God “putting them to shame.”  These strong words can be difficult for us, because as Christ’s followers, we look at our persecutors like the first deacon, Stephen. As he was being stoned to death for sharing his faith, he said in imitation of Jesus on the Cross, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

When we read the Bible, it is important that we read it in light of the gospels which rightly order our thoughts.  To better understand this difficult challenge, it is illuminating to look at Jeremiah’s words through the lens of today’s gospel reading. Jesus said to the Twelve: “Fear no one…And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul (Mt 10:28).” What is Jesus doing here? He is, in His perfect love, “casting out all fear (Jn 4:18)!!” What causes the cycle of accusations, mockery, and violence? Fear. However, if my heart is fed by and enfolded in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, then I fear no one, nowhere. Free from fear, I can respond with Christ’s love and break the chains of conflict and discord. I can even pray for God to forgive those men mocking our Lord, “to not hold their sin against them.”

Sound unreasonable or naive? Thomas More, like all the great saints, shows us the way. In his letter to Margaret, he did not mock Henry VIII, nor point out his sin of adultery. He, with an eye on eternity instead of the here and now, wrote this about Henry: “His Majesty has done me such great good with respect to spiritual profit that I trust that among all the great benefits he has heaped so abundantly upon me I count my imprisonment the very greatest.” Like the bold hymn, Faith of our Fathers, More was “chained in prison dark, but was still in heart and conscience free.”

Is there no justice or accountability, then, for those who persecute and mock us? Do we just let them walk all over us? A wise priest once told an angry man, “You cannot do worse to that person than God will.” Jesus said, “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father (Mt 10:33).”  That is a polite way of saying not everyone goes to heaven. God commands us to forgive our enemies. Justice is His domain.

Do not be afraid to speak the truth. Remember that there is no love without it. It is a spiritual oxymoron to say I want someone to be happy while suppressing the truth when I am with them. Could speaking the truth cause me pain and suffering? Yes. No doubt some of you have experienced this in your own families and at work and school.  So, I ask myself a question: Do I fear the Lord who can cast body and soul into Gehenna, as much as I fear acknowledging Him when it might cause me discomfort?  We must keep an eternal perspective of our life. Psalm 85 says, “Salvation is near for those who fear Him.” But take heart! God does not abandon us when we testify to His truth, love, and good news.  Remember Jeremiah’s words, “My persecutors will stumble; they will not triumph.”

We see this truth in the rest of the story of the heroes we just heard about. Trevor Williams says many players and stadium employees have secretly thanked him. And on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, Trevor Williams was given the honor of leading the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for tens of thousands on the Hallow app. As for the British Catholic Church, seemingly taken over by Henry VIII, it is now the leading religion in Thomas More’s beloved London.  John the Baptist was beheaded, but Jesus called him the greatest born of woman, and the Church honors his birth two thousand years later with its highest-ranking feast, a Solemnity!

And what about our awesome mother, Mary? She stayed at her son’s side, throughout His persecution and Crucifixion, despite extraordinary personal pain, her Immaculate Heart enfolded in His Sacred Heart. For her fidelity was she abandoned by God to poverty and loneliness with no husband and no son? No. Jesus, with one of His last seven utterances on the Cross, gave her a new son who went on to write of her victorious coronation as Queen of Heaven (Rev 12:1).

Let’s close with God’s word, which gives us hope and helps us to be bold in the Spirit despite our failings, inadequacies, and fears. The next time you need to proclaim His truth “from the housetops,” remember these words exchanged between Jesus and St. Paul.  Jesus said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” And Paul responded, “Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor 12:9-10).” Amen.

Citations

Bishop Robert Barron. The Word on Fire Bible-The Gospels. Word on Fire Ministries 2020.

Filip Mazurczak. Is a re-Catholicization of Britain underway?  The Catholic World Report, July 14, 2020.

Peter Pinedo. Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams speaks out on Dodgers controversy. Catholic News Agency (CNA), June 14, 2023.

A Very Good Friday

Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion
April 7, 2023 – Year A
Readings: Is 52:13-53:12 / Ps 31 / Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9 / Jn 18:1-19:42
by Rev. Jay Biber, Guest Celebrant

There is a dimension to our faith that allows us to see and experience things in a way that’s deeper and contrary to the initial impression.  For instance, the very name that we have for this day is Good Friday. How can that be? How can that be, this greatest chaos, the unimaginable? The unimaginable is not that God rose from the dead, the unimaginable part is God in Christ died. He really did, that’s the unimaginable. How could this happen? This absolute chaos, and we call it good.

The letter to the Hebrews was written late enough in the first and second generations of Christians, for them to have had some time to reflect as a community, to absorb this trauma, and to reflect on it and then begin to develop a vision.

In the reading we just heard, “Son though He was.” When we are called son or daughter in baptism, it means you’re an inheritor, you’re in the will. I guess we would say everyone is conceived a child of God from that moment on. This familial relationship, this being a son, this being an inheritor of God, comes with baptism. God willing, it doesn’t end there, but begins a long journey, a great adventure of life.

Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered and when He was made perfect. But wasn’t He perfect the whole time? In His mission and role as the Son of the Father, the first begotten of the Father, the mission becomes perfected in the obedience to the Father’s plan. The Father says this is what has to be done.

These people I love are yelling at me right now, are shouting insults at me right now, are denying they know me right now.  To bring these people whom I’ve loved from the beginning, to bring these people back up on the rails, back on track: This is the perfection. John even uses the word glory.

When I hear the word glory, I assume he must be talking about the Resurrection or maybe the Ascension. That’s the glory.  But no, when John writes about glory – “I will draw all people to me” — that’s not at the Ascension, that’s on the cross, the perfection of obedience. When He was made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.

How unusual is this faith? We can’t really wish anyone a “Happy Good Friday.” Yet this is the day the work gets done. It’s a work that gets done not only so that we can benefit from it, so that we can take the fruits of it and be nourished and grow up in it and become an adult in it and become mature in it and go through a whole life with it as the mysteries continuously unfold and more will be revealed, always more will be revealed.

It’s not just so that we can benefit from it. The strange part is the work gets done so we can do it. We become perfected by that openness, by that obedience to the will of God. Accomplish in me, Lord, what You will. Accomplish in me, Lord, what You will, and let me get out of the way so You’re free to do what needs to be done.

What is so good about this day is of course we see disaster; we see the emptiness of it. Did you notice in the liturgy that there was no singing when we came in today? There was no singing because of the day. You realize something different is going on right now, and it is. But it’s a great gift.

I believe that if you can imagine it, you just say, Lord, I haven’t got this figured out now, and I’ll never get it completely figured out. But somehow, I’m looking at You and Your suffering. I’m thinking of the scourges, I’m thinking of the crown of thorns, I’m thinking of Peter’s denial, I’m thinking of the apostles running away. No illusions, but in that is Your glory. and when my heart becomes shaped over the years along Your lines, maybe I’ll be able to do something like that. because I will have morphed through Your grace into You.

I was talking to a parent up in Lexington a couple of days ago, and one of the kids is having a hard time and just feels that it’s impossible to be good enough for God. It’s funny how conscience works. I suspect parents can identify with this. With one child something happens, and it goes right by. With the other one, the same word is said, and it sinks in deep, and it alters things.

Similarly, I’ve seen over the years people who have a particularly keen conscience. We use the word scrupulosity when it really goes to the far end and becomes a serious problem. But some have a greater conscience than others and have a deeper sense that whatever their sin is, it is so serious and irredeemable that not even God can touch it.

This is what happened to Judas, as we hear in Matthew’s gospel. He felt that somehow his sin was greater than God’s grace could ever be. His sin was greater than the divine mercy could ever be, and so, he acted accordingly in his hopelessness.

Remember that God didn’t wait until you’re perfect to love you. That’s what we learned today. God didn’t wait for you to be perfect to love you. Yes, Good Friday is very good, because, as St. Paul says, nothing can keep us from the love of God.

Love Extra

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 19, 2023 — Year A
Readings: Lv 19:1-2, 17-18 / Ps 103 / 1 Cor 3:16-23 / Mt 5:38-48
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

Late one night, a cheerful truck driver pulled up to a roadside café for some refreshment.  As he was eating, three wild-looking motorcyclists rode up to the café’s entrance.  The atmosphere became tense as they walked in wearing dirty leather jackets and tattoos.

Immediately they picked out the truck driver as the target of their meanness.  One poured salt and pepper into his coffee.  Another took his apple pie, placed it on the floor, and squeezed it under his dirty boot.  The third overturned his coffee, causing it to spill into his lap.  The truck driver said not a word.  He merely stood up, walked slowly to the cashier, calmly paid his check, and left.

“That guy isn’t much of a fighter, is he?” sneered one of the motorcyclists.  The waiter behind the counter peered out into the night and replied, “Yeah, he doesn’t seem to be much of a driver either.  He just ran his truck over three motorcycles.”

Brothers and sisters, in today’s gospel, Jesus says, “Offer no assistance to one who is evil.” (Mt 5:39).  He is really a good teacher, because He goes on to give an example of what He means.  He says, “Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles.”

During the time of Jesus, Roman soldiers controlled Palestine, and they had life and death power over Jewish citizens.  In other words, Roman officers could commandeer Jewish citizens and could order them to carry some objects for a distance – one mile for example.  In other words, as Christians, we are expected to do more, to do extra, to go beyond our human transactions.

The Code of Hammurabi that existed between 1793 and 1750 BC, expressed the law of retaliation which we heard a while ago, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” the very first verse of our gospel, Matthew 5:38, which was not a command to do violence, but to set limits on giving vengeance for an offense.  The debtor must pay his debts, but the creditor must never ask for more than the amount involved.  Payment for one’s misdeeds must be in the same measure – no more, no less.  In other words, before Jesus Christ, this precept was a law of mercy.

For example, if one of your friends knocked out one of your teeth, you could retaliate by knocking out one of his.  If someone struck you in the eye, you could return the strike, but no more than one eye.  But Jesus did not like this law and presents a real challenge – love your enemies and pray for your persecutors.

Why?  It is because Christians are expected to do more.  A bishop once said:  To love those who you know as friends is not extra.  To give to those who have given you in return is not more.  To work because you are paid a salary is not beyond.  To give in order to be given in return in the form of honor, praise, or promotion is not extra.  All this – friendship, salary, honor, praise, and promotion, are ordinary human grounds of transactions.  Everybody, even pagans and bad people, do this.

Jesus also adds to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Mt 5:44).  Whether we like it or not, we like to return evil for evil.  We are like a rubber band; you stretch it hard and once it snaps, it stings.  Gandhi said that if we take an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, then the world would be filled with blind and toothless people.  In Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, it is said that if the moneylender Shylock were to be allowed to cut a pound of flesh from the body of Antonio, who failed to repay him, what would become of us, but a walking bone.

The Divine Counsel, however, tells us to return good for evil.  In fact, St. Paul reminds us to conquer evil by our good deeds.

Just like what a mother said to a priest after Mass, “Father, we were late for Mass because on our way to church, we were robbed inside the bus.  There were six of us, and four young robbers pulled knives on us.”  Expressing concern, the priest asked, “Are you all right?  What can I do to be a help to you?  Do you still have money for your fare back to your home?”  She replied, “We are a bit shaken, but we are OK, Father.  I was able to hide enough money for our fare.

“But I want to make a request.  You see, I was touched by your gospel reflections about the man who was robbed, and a Good Samaritan came to help.  If you really want to be of help, in your next Mass, please pray for the young men who held us up.”  The priest was shocked because he was praying for kind and loving people most of the time, for sick persons, etc., but never in his life had the priest prayed for robbers.  If he would not pray, who would pray for them?

What Jesus said is a challenge to all of us.  But why do we have to love even our enemies and not hate them instead?  It is because first and foremost it is extra and more.  To love those who are not lovable, to give to those who cannot give in return, to serve those who cannot serve in return, and to forgive even our enemies.

The other reason is that we are created in the image and likeness of God.  Our vocation as humans is to resemble our Father in Heaven.

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

True Happiness

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 29, 2023 — Year A
Readings: Zep 2:3; 3:12-13 / Ps 146 / 1 Cor 1:26-31 / Mt 5:1-12a
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

A newspaper in England once asked this question of its readers: Who are the happiest people on earth?  The four prize-winning answers were: a little child building sandcastles; a craftsman or artist with a job well done; a mother bathing her baby after a busy day; and a doctor who has finished a difficult and dangerous operation to save a human life.

The editors of the newspaper were surprised to find that virtually no one submitted kings, emperors, millionaires, or others of wealth and rank as the happiest people on earth.  Even W. Béran Wolfe, a psychiatrist and author, said, “If you observe a really happy man, and you find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his son, growing double dahlias in his garden, or looking for dinosaur eggs in the Gobi Desert, he will not be searching for happiness as if it were a collar button that has rolled under a radiator.   He will not be striving for it as a goal in itself.  He will have become aware that he is happy in the course of living twenty-four crowded hours of the day.”

In our gospel today according to St. Matthew, Jesus is talking about this popular heavenly constitution – the Beatitudes.  In Greek, the word beatitude is makarios, which means happiness.  So the meaning of the word “blessed,” as Jesus told it, is that this is happiness.  All that Jesus wants is for us to be happy, not according to the understand of the world of what happiness is all about, but according to what God meant by this word.

“Happiness is that which all men seek,” so says the great philosopher Aristotle.  Aristotle also observed that everything people do twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, is what they believe will bring them happiness in one form or another.  But the problem is that what people think will bring them happiness does not, in fact, always bring them true and lasting happiness.

Think of the drunkard who believes that happiness is found in a beer bottle – one bottle too much and he is driving home, runs the red light, hits a car, and wakes up the following morning in a hospital with plaster and stitches all over his body.  Then it begins to dawn on him that the happiness promised by alcohol may be too short lived.

Or take the man who frequents the casinos to deal with excitement – by the end of the month he finds that his account is in the red, and that he can no longer pay his mortgage.  Creditors go after him until he loses his house and his car.  Then it dawns on him that the happiness promised by the casino is fake.

So, Aristotle says that the ethical person is the person who knows and does what can truly bring them not just excitement or pleasure, but true and lasting happiness.

Another word for true and lasting happiness is blessedness, or beatitude.  In today’s gospel, Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, shows that He wants His followers to have true and lasting happiness – the happiness that the world and everything in it cannot give.  This is the state of blessedness that Jesus calls being in the Kingdom of God or being in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The beatitudes that we have in today’s gospel constitute a road map for anyone who seeks to obtain the happiness of the Kingdom.  So why does Jesus deem it necessary to establish this guidepost to the Kingdom from the very first teaching that he gives the disciples?  It is because of the importance of this teaching.  Everyone seeks happiness, but often we look for it in all the wrong places.

Ask people around you what makes them happy and compare the answers you get with the answers Jesus gave.  We see that the values prescribed by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount are in fact countercultural.  We cannot accept these teachings of Jesus and at the same time accept all the values of the society in which we live.

Of course, Jesus does not demand that we abandon the world, but He does demand that we put God first in our lives, because only God can guarantee the true happiness and peace that our hearts long for.  Nothing in the world can give this peace, and nothing in the world can take it away.  Our God wills us to be happy.

It is interesting to note that the first miracle of Jesus happened in the wedding party at Cana, where everyone was enjoying the occasion, the wine, and the food.  He chose such an occasion of joy to make His first miracle in order to show that He was a happy person who could love and enjoy Himself.  He wanted to show that each of us has a right to happiness.

Happiness is not wrong or a sin.  Since joy is one of the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit, a happy person does not fall into sin very easily.  Satan stays away from happy and joyful people; they are too hard to tempt.

The eight beatitudes do not describe eight different people such that we need to ask which of the eight suits us personally.  No, they are eight different snapshots taken from different angles of the same godly person.  The question for us today, therefore, is this – do we live our lives following the values of the world as a way of obtaining happiness or do we live by the teachings of Jesus?

If we live by the teachings of Jesus, then we may rejoice and be glad, for the reward in Heaven is great.

The Narrow Gate

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 21, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Is 66:18-21 / Ps 117 / Heb 12:5-7, 11-13 / Lk 13:22-30
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

An open-air evangelist, preaching on today’s gospel text, was warning his congregation about eternal damnation. He said, “There will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” But an old woman in the crowd asked, “Look, preacher, I’ve got no teeth.” “Never mind,” the evangelist said. “The teeth will be provided.”

Brothers and sisters, in today’s gospel, somebody in the crowd asked Jesus this question: “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” We can hear in the gospel that Jesus would not give the number of those who would be saved. He did not even really answer the man’s question. He just said, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.” In other words, He’s answering a more important question: How can I be saved?

There are questions that have a special appeal to the mass media and to popular imagination. For example, when will the world come to an end? When is Armageddon coming? Who is the antichrist? What is 666? Is it the mark of the antichrist? What about the three days of darkness? These are questions that Jesus does not want to answer. I’m sure of that.

Today I invite you to reflect on this gospel, which is about salvation in Jesus Christ and therefore, entering God’s kingdom. Many of our problems in life come from our bad practice of asking the wrong questions. We ask the wrong questions; therefore, we also get the wrong answers.

The first wrong question is: How many will be saved? It is like the question of the person in the gospel. It is wrong to ask this question, because the right question is: How will we be saved? The Lord does not give us numbers of those who will be saved. The Lord shows us the way.  We will be saved by entering through the narrow gate.

For us Catholics, the possession of our baptismal certificate and regular Mass attendance do not guarantee our salvation. We must go through, like Jesus said, the narrow gate.  So now the question is, what exactly is the narrow gate?

The narrow gate is every moral decision that we make. Do we choose for God, or do we choose against God?

The second reading tells us that the trials and tribulations of life are not signs of the absence of God, but they are signs of His presence. It tells us that God is allowing challenges to come into our lives, so that we can grow closer to Him. In other words, following Christ is not an easy way.

The second wrong question is: Where is the gate? It is wrong to ask this question because the question is not where is the gate.  There is no gate. The proper question to ask is not where is the gate, but who is the gate. The gate is not a place; the gate is a person. Jesus Christ Himself is the gate.

The last wrong question is: What must I do?  It is wrong to ask this question because the Lord wants us to ask: What must I continue doing? It is because we are people who are good at the start of an activity but sometimes fail to sustain it through and through. Sometimes we are good at the beginning, but when it comes to sustaining it, that is where we falter.

So let us not ask how many will be saved, but rather how will we be saved. Let us not ask where is the gate, but rather who is the gate? Let us not ask what must I do, but rather what must I continue doing?

Brothers and sisters, what are the questions in our hearts right now that remain unanswered? Maybe the source of our pain is that we are asking the wrong question in life.

There was a very well-known and wealthy man who visited a nursing home. He was welcomed by everyone except by an old man in a corner, sitting in his wheelchair. The visitor stopped and asked him, “Don’t you know who I am?” The old man just stared at him. For the second time he asked him, “Don’t you know who I am?” This time the old man looked at him and said, “No, but you can ask the nurses. They have a file on each one of us.”

The narrow door, besides being the making of correct moral decisions, is patient endurance of all the difficult things that confront us in our lives. Jesus will be there with us all of the way.  He invites us to walk the same road that He walked. He strengthens us for this journey with His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. He invites us to make our own way to Jerusalem, there to pass through the narrow door to Calvary. But we must remember: beyond Calvary is the resurrection and the joy of eternal life with God.

Make the correct choice. If you do, you will not be disappointed when you meet Jesus face to face. Guaranteed. In the end, it is not who we think we are or who others think we are, but who we are to God that truly matters. He has the final say; He has the final file on each one of us.

May Jesus Christ be praised.

Obedience and Trust

Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 22, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29 / Ps 67 / Rev 21:10-14, 22-23 / Jn 14:23-29
by Rev. Mr. Mark De La Hunt, Permanent Deacon

I’ll always remember when my wife and I learned the Church’s teachings on birth control. We were newly married and living in Austin, Texas, while I attended the university there. We were a sharing couple on Engaged Encounter weekends and needed to learn about Natural Family Planning, so that we could answer couples’ questions on the retreat weekends. But as we were driving home down I-35 in our Chevy Luv pickup, with no AC and no radio, after the Natural Family Planning class, we were somewhat in a state of shock at what we had learned. We drove in silence for a time, and then I looked over at Catherine, and said, “We are going to do this, aren’t we?”  She said, “Yes.” And I remember a feeling of excitement and rightness.

And when we conceived a child a few months later, we were a little frustrated. But the Church proved wiser than us. That child is our oldest son. He has given us much joy over the years. Some angst too, to be sure. But when I needed help at the drop of a hat, when my brother died in New Orleans a few years ago, he dropped everything and flew there to help. And he has helped us on our property, when my health gets me behind. And he and his wife have blessed us with five grandchildren. None of those blessings would have come to us if we had not taken a leap of faith and submitted to the authority of the Church, trusting that the Holy Spirit guides her to all truth (Jn 16:13).

We should have the same feeling about submitting to the Church’s authority as we do to Jesus’, because He gave His moral and teaching authority to the Catholic Church.  A great proof of this is the apostle Paul, who received a powerful, life-changing personal revelation from Jesus that no one received. Despite that supernatural moment in his life, he submitted himself to the Church’s authority when a dispute over matters of morals and faith arose (Acts 15:1).

To understand why St. Paul did this, it helps to read the readings in reverse order. In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells the apostles, “Whoever loves me will keep my word… and the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you” (Jn 14: 15, 26). He expands this teaching a little later, telling them that “I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (Jn 16: 12-13). The Church is led to and bound to the truth by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus’ words about the Holy Spirit are fulfilled by the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. In the first reading, which comes from Acts, we heard that there was a heated debate about whether circumcision was required in order to be saved (Acts 15: 1). To resolve it they each read the scripture and prayed to the Holy Spirit and came to their own personal conclusions. Not! What the reading said was, “It was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders (same Greek word used for presbyters and bishops elsewhere in the Bible) about this question” (Acts 15:2). The apostles discussed the question and made a proposal, which Peter then announced. This was the first Church Council.

In the second reading, from Revelation, we hear of twelve courses of stone with the names of the twelve apostles on them (Rev 21:14). Here is the thing about foundation stones. They do not sit there passively. They transmit their power to the stone above them, and those stones to the stone above them and on and on. Thus, this analogy gives us a powerful image of Apostolic Succession.

According to Apostolic Succession, today’s bishops are the successors to the apostles, and the bishop of Rome is the successor to Peter who had primacy among them. The bishops in communion with each other and the Pope form the magisterium, which is the teaching arm of the Church. It was to this body that Jesus gave His authority and the promise of the Holy Spirit to guide them to all truth. Therefore, we should be obedient to that authority.

Obedience is not a popular topic. There is a lot of talk about freedom in our world, but lately, it is increasingly focused on personal beliefs and choices. However, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, and the truth will set us free” (Jn 8:32; 14:6). Our personal opinions will not make us free when they conflict with the Church’s teaching. Through the Holy Spirit, the Church’s teaching is the same as Christ’s teaching. St. Joan of Arc said, “About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they’re just one thing, and we shouldn’t complicate the matter.”

To be truly free, we must obey Christ who speaks to us through His Church by the Holy Spirit. To speak and to do things contrary to Christ’s teaching is a sin, and sin always enslaves us. Sin is a cruel master that entices us with attractive packaging and then snares us. Sin always has strings or chains attached that latch on to us and pull us away from our brother, Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ. It dulls our intellect, mutes our creativity, corrupts our charity, and just plain makes us miserable.

What do I mean by “corrupt charity?”  One of the best examples is the belief that killing someone is an act of mercy. One example of this is physician-assisted suicide. A Holy Name of Mary parishioner named Bill shared a story that highlights this corrupt charity and contrasts it with the Church’s divinely inspired wisdom.

His brother Joe was dying from COPD, so Bill traveled to see him in the hospital, which was in another state. He asked the nurse what the plan was. She described a process where they would give him morphine and slowly turn down his oxygen until he died. Bill said, “You are going to euthanize him!” The nurse shrugged her shoulders. Bill demanded an alternative plan. They came up with one, and it worked. As a result, they were able to stabilize Joe’s oxygen level so that he could be transported safely back to his home. This gave Joe his final wish to die in his home. God blessed Bill for taking a leap of faith and obeying the Church’s teaching by blessing him and his brother with six more weeks together, and Joe, God bless him, died in the peace and comfort of his own bed, next to his wife.

We can see from both the stories I’ve shared that the Catholic Church has wisdom, but does she claim too much authority? No. I think Peter Kreeft defends her authority well, writing, “Her teachings on matters of morals and faith are non-negotiable, not because she claims too much authority, but because she claims she has none…but Christ’s.” (Kreeft 309)

To help us understand the need to obey and the good that obedience brings, Jesus used the image of Himself as our Good Shepherd (Jn 10). The Good Shepherd calls his sheep by name, and they know Him and follow Him. And if the sheep get into trouble, He lays down His life for them to save them. The sheep obey their shepherd because they know Him. By praying, reading our Bible, and going to Mass we come to know Him. They obey Him because they trust Him to lead them to safe pastures where they will live life abundantly (Jn 10:10). We learn to trust Him by taking leaps of faith and experiencing the good it brings. He calls us by our name, not by a label like Satan does when he calls us by the name of our sin to shame us.

When we, the sheep, disobey, we stray away from the Good Shepherd; this is sin. This is a dangerous time for us. Mind, body, and soul are in danger away from the shepherd. When one sheep strays, it can lead another into danger; sin is contagious. We see this in the world today. Isaiah described this dangerous situation like this, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way” (Is 53:6). Interestingly, this dire warning is in the middle of Isaiah’s passage about the suffering servant, our Good Shepherd and Savior.

When “every one goes his own way,” individuals, communities, cities, states, and nations become unstable and unhappy. This state of affairs was captured beautifully in Psalm 42, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?” (Ps 42:5). Jeff Cavins points out that when a sheep is cast down, it means it has fallen over and cannot get up. Cast down sheep are unstable and unhappy, and if the shepherd does not right them, they will die. (Jeff Cavins; Hallow App)

I will close by addressing an issue that may be on your mind when speaking of being obedient to the Catholic Church. The Church consist of laity, consecrated religious, deacons, priests, and bishops, and all are sinners. Some have committed horrific, criminal acts. No human institution is free from sin. However, only the Church is One, Holy, catholic, and Apostolic. It is One through Christ, Holy through the Holy Spirit and catholic (meaning universal) through all of us in communion with all the believers around the world. Finally, it is Apostolic by Jesus’s decree to his disciples. “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Lk 10:16)” Lord Jesus, who were perfected through obedience, may we choose happiness and abundant life by following and obeying only you, our Good Shepherd, through our Mother Church, Amen.

Citation for Peter Kreeft: “Food for the Soul – Reflections on the Mass Readings for Cycle C.”  Published by Word on Fire in 2021.

Christ’s Presence

Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 15, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Acts 14:21-27 / Ps 145 / Rev 21:1-5a / Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

Today is the Fifth Sunday of Easter.  Each Sunday after Easter, God’s messages through the readings help us in living our everyday lives.  The main theme of today’s readings is that Jesus’ disciples are recognized by the people around Him because they follow His commandment of love. 

There are four elements through which Jesus wants to make His presence among His disciples during His lifetime and after His resurrection.  These four elements are:  the cross, prayer, Eucharist, and love. 

The first element is the cross.  Jesus says, “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow after Me, is not worthy of Me.”  (Mt 10:38, Lk 14:27) Crucifixion was a form of Roman punishment during Jesus’ time, especially for criminals and rebels.  When persons were condemned to be crucified, a part of the sentence was that they should carry the cross on which they were to die, to the place of execution. 

For us, to carry the cross is a figurative expression which means that we must endure whatever is burdensome, trying, or is considered disgraceful in following our Lord, Jesus Christ.  The cross is the symbol of doing our Christian duty, even at the cost of the most painful death, just like Jesus Christ, who obeyed God and carried out His work for the salvation of all, though it required Him to die upon the cross in order to do it. 

The second element is prayer.  Jesus says, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.”  (Mt 18:20) The best secret to unanswered prayer for whatever we need, is asking it in Jesus’ name, and not in the name of revenge, of consolation or pleasure, of an easy way out, of fame or shame, of good works or recompense for charitable donations. 

First and foremost, our prayer must never be selfish.  Selfish prayer cannot find an answer.  We are not meant to pray only for our own needs, thinking of nothing and no one but ourselves.  We are meant to pray as members of a Christian community.  When prayer is unselfish, it is always answered.   Let us always remember that the answer to our prayers is not according to our wish, but the will of the Father through Jesus Christ.  That is why we should not separate ourselves from His Son. 

The third element is the Eucharist.  Matthew 26:26 says, “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take and eat.  This is My body.’”  At the Last Supper, Jesus eats a Passover meal with His disciples in view of His passion, death, and resurrection.  The bread now is Jesus’ body, being broken and given to His disciples and to all of us.  The wine is now Jesus’ blood, poured out for the redemption of the world.  At Mass, the bread and wine are substantially changed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the body and blood of Jesus.  The bread that we eat is not a symbol of Christ’s body, but really is His body. 

The last element is love.  Jesus says in today’s gospel, “I give you a new commandment:  love one another.  As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”  (Jn 13:34) Jesus gives us this new commandment that we should love one another because He loves us.  This teaching of Jesus about loving one another takes different forms. 

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  (Mt 22:39) Ordinarily, for Jewish people, a neighbor is only a fellow Jew.  But for Jesus, the term neighbor includes any individual who is in need of help.  That is what we understand in the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Every person in need, whether he lives next door or a town away, whether she is beautiful or ugly, is a neighbor. 

Jesus asks His disciples to use as a measure in loving other people, the love they have for themselves.  They are to treat another person as their own flesh and bone.  That is not an easy thing to do.  We normally have different standards for ourselves as compared to others.  The natural tendency is to give ourselves first priority or utmost care and to provide others with less or even no attention.  By asking us to love a neighbor as our own self, the Lord simply is helping us overcome what we call narcissistic tendencies.  We all belong to the one body of Christ, and we need to behave like we really are part of one another. 

In today’s gospel, Jesus presents an even more demanding version of the commandment to love.  He says, “I give you a new commandment:  love one another as I have loved you.”  (Jn 13:34-35) The Lord teaches His disciples to use as their standard for loving, not only their love for themselves, but His love for them. He knows that our way of loving can easily be tainted with selfish motivations.  Hence, He challenges us to love one another according to the way He has loved us.  

But the question is, what is this Christ-like love?  It is a love that is agape.  A love in spite of and not “love if” or “love because.”  Agape is unconditional love:  a love that is not motivated by how lovable the other person is.  It does not say, I’ll love you if you become valedictorian of your class, or very successful.  Or I’ll love you if you can afford to buy me a beautiful car, etc.  It is love for even the unlovable, including the poor and one’s enemies.  His love is self-sacrificing, unselfish, unselective.  The love of Jesus is also not merited love which is bestowed on those who possess adorable qualities.  It never says:  I love you because you are considerate.  I love you because you are faithful.

We are all called by Jesus to do the same thing:  to love each one not because he or she is lovable, but in spite of the fact that he or she may not be lovable.  We are to love even our enemies and sinners also.

There was a little girl who was born without an ear.  She became a shy and introverted person.  There were times when she would go home crying because her classmates made fun of her.  When she became a teenager, her mother took her to a surgeon who performed an ear transplant on her.  The operation was successful, and she became a normal and happy person.  Not long after, she had a boyfriend.  After several years, they decided to get married.  On the eve of her wedding day, she went inside her mother’s room to thank her.  As she embraced her, she noticed something strange, something absent.  She realized that beneath the long hair of her mother was a missing ear.  She cried and said, “It was you!  All these years you didn’t tell me it was you.”  The mother replied, “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to be sad for me.  I did it because I want you to be happy, to see you happy with your life.  You don’t lose something when you give it to someone you love.”

I recently received a text message from a friend that will make us reflect about life and love.  It says, “LIFE is a four-letter word that is very meaningful.  L stands for love.  I stands for inspiration.  F stands for forgiveness.  E stands for everlasting.  No matter who, what, where, and when you found life, always remember, only God can satisfy your life.” 

Good Shepherds

Fourth Sunday of Easter
May 8, 2022 — Year C
Readings: Acts 13:14, 43-52 / Ps 100 / Rev 7:9, 14b-17 / Jn 10:27-30
by Rev. Nixon Negparanon, Pastor

Four clergymen, taking a short break from their heavy schedules, were on a park bench chatting and enjoying an early Spring day.

“You know, since all of us are such good friends,” said one, “this might be a good time to discuss personal problems.”  They all agreed.

“Well, I would like to share with you the fact that I drink to excess,” said one.  There was a gasp from the other three.

Then another spoke up.  “Since you were so honest, I’d like to say that my big problem is gambling.  It’s terrible, I know, but I can’t quit.  I’ve even been tempted to take money from the collection plate.”  Another gasp was heard.

The third clergyman spoke.  “I’m really troubled, brothers, because I’m growing fond of a woman in my church, a married woman.”  More gasps.

But the fourth remained silent.  After a few minutes, the others coaxed him to open up.  “The fact is that I just don’t know how to tell you about my problem.”

“It’s all right, brother, your secret is safe with us,” said the others.

“Well, it’s this way,” he said, “You see, I’m an incurable gossip.”

Brothers and Sisters, jokes like this have shaped our view of priests, as if there is no difference between the life and work of a priest and that of other Christians.  That is true only up to a point.  We see another dimension to the life and work of priests when we consider it from the aspect of vocations, or the Call of God.  This is the aspect that the Church wants us to dwell on today, as we observe the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.  Today the Church invites us to reflect on the meaning of God’s call, and to pray for an increase in vocations.

To help us reflect on the meaning of the priestly vocation, let us not only pray for religious vocations, but also encourage and support young men and women who have the inclination to walk the less-travelled road.  If you feel you are called, or have the desire, to serve God and His people in a more meaningful way, and without having a family, a wife or children, then you are called to become a priest and to grab that opportunity given by God.  You should inquire further and discern God’s will.  You can consult me or some other priest regarding your desire, or call our Vocation Director.

One way of showing our love for God, especially for parents, is by supporting and encouraging our children to enter the priesthood.  The family is the seedbed of vocations; a fertile ground for more vocations.  Parents can demonstrate their faith in the way they encourage their children.

In last Sunday’s gospel, we heard Jesus three times give Peter the charge to “feed my sheep.”  In that way, He made Peter a shepherd, a pastor, a priest.  In today’s gospel, the Church presents to us the figure of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.  Our Lord continues His work of shepherding His people through Peter and his co-workers, the apostles and the disciples, and through their successors, the Pope, the bishops, priests, deacons, catechists, laypeople, and others.

Today is also known as Good Shepherd Sunday.  In today’s gospel, Jesus tells us what a good shepherd is.  A good shepherd is present, knows, directs, tends, and protects the sheep.

We who are in involved in shepherding others in one way or another, would do well to ask ourselves today if we are good or bad shepherds or shepherdesses, in the light of today’s gospel.

First of all, a shepherd must be present to the sheep.  How can the sheep hear someone who is absent, or is not accessible, or is hard to reach?  We can say anything we want, or put up numerous excuses and reasons, but being present and being with the sheep are very basic and important.

Second, a good shepherd knows the sheep, or at least takes time and gives effort to get to know the sheep.  We want shepherds who are genuinely interested and who genuinely care.  A text message says it beautifully:  People don’t care about what you know, as long as they know you care.

Third, a good shepherd leads and directs the sheep.  He or she must have an idea, a direction, of where to lead the sheep.  The good shepherd or shepherdess must have a clear vision and a strong sense of mission for the sheep.

Fourth, a good shepherd gives.  He or she must have a sense of sacrifice.  We need shepherds and shepherdesses who can also give us our sense of dignity, freedom, respect, and personhood.

Finally, a good shepherd protects the sheep.  He or she must be aware and must protect us from all that would harm us.  When push comes to shove, he or she must be ready to sacrifice life and limb for the good of the sheep.

So, Brothers and Sisters, on Good Shepherd Sunday, let us pray for more good shepherds of the church.  Let us also pray for a better understanding and appreciation of the life and work of ordained ministers, so that more and more people avail themselves of the grace which God makes available through them.  Let us also pray that more young people will be drawn to follow in their footsteps and generously answer the call of God.