1st Sunday Advent - Stay Awake!

Today is a special day, and not just a day, but the beginning of a special season, Advent. During Advent, we focus on waiting, we wait to celebrate the birth of Jesus,

we wait for the Second Coming of Jesus, and we wait for the day we leave this world and go to our judgment.

The words of Jesus in the Gospel today express the mood of this early part of the Advent season: Be on your guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come.

In the first reading today, the Jewish people expressed hope in God even when going through a difficult time, and so we heard glimpses of hope in that reading: “Return for the sake of your servants . . .Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, with the mountains quaking before you.” This is what Jesus would do, at His first coming. He would rend the heavens and by the Holy Spirit, He came down in the womb of the Virgin Mary and was born in Bethlehem. But, also at His second coming, He will rend the heavens and come down on a cloud, just as He had originally went to heaven on a cloud.

Jesus said, ”May He not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: Watch” These words are also good for all of us to hear as we begin Advent. From what sleep are we to awake?

We are to be awake from being asleep in sin, and sleep of failing to care for our self and our family spiritually. In other words, to take a look at our lives and see how we are doing. We do not know when our lives will end and that is why Jesus said, “Watch, therefore, you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or in the morning.”

We need to always be in a state of grace, awake, says Jesus because we do not know when He will call us from this life. You do not want to be like the people who were not ready at the time of Noah when the flood came. In our time, we have the impression that many are asleep to sin.

I recently did the funeral of my cousin, Jendee. She was 45 years old. I witnessed their wedding 18 years ago. She and her husband had two boys, a senior in high school, and a 7th grader. She found out she had pancreatic cancer in June, and died 5 months later just before Thanksgiving. She never made it to Christmas. Instead, Jesus came to Jendee in her hospital room. Within 5 minutes after her two boys came to see her, Jesus came. Praise God, she had received the last sacraments and Holy Communion, a few days before she died. She and her family were not attending Mass, and her boys had not been going to PSR. She never expected to die so young, and at the funeral, I reminded the people Jesus died at the age of 33.

I am sure, she wished she would have been better prepared, by being taking care of the spiritual needs of her boys, by bringing them to church and taking them to religious education classes, and by taking care of her own spiritual needs before she died.

Not everyone is able to prepare for death. Father Mark Beard, is a Youtube priest who preached on preparing for our personal judgment, and the next day after he gave that homily, he was killed in a car accident, and went to his judgment. Some people die instantly from a car accident, a heart attack, an aneurysm, a stroke.

When I went to Medjugorje last year, I was confronted with the possibility of death. I wasn’t afraid to die, but I told the Lord, I wanted to do more things for Him. When we die, we have to be ready to let go of everything, our family, our desires, our dreams. We have to be detached from the things of the world, because ultimately, we can’t take them with us. All of our hopes, dreams, and desires are fulfilled in heaven.

Yesterday, I was visiting with a woman from a nursing home. And she said something to me that was very beautiful. She said every time she thinks of someone, she prays for them. She said I think that is God’s way of reminding me to pray for others.

We need to live every moment of the day, as though it was our last. Not in fear, but to be ready spiritually, so that we have no regrets. Do we make family prayer a priority? Do we value our children’s religious education. What we learn about God and His Church helps us get to heaven, but our worldly honors will not. What do we place first above everything? Is it school activities? Is it our job? Is it our money? God should be first above everything, and allow Him to be involved in everything.

Matthew 25 tells us that we will be judged on love by doing deeds of mercy. Jesus said what you do unto the least of others, you do unto Me. Is there some poor person or family, you can help during Advent. Is there some organization you would like to donate?

There is what is called the principle of subsidiarity, which states that we first are to take care of our immediate family, then our extended family, then our parish, then our community, then those in our state, then our country, and lastly to take care people in other countries.

Is there some relative or someone in the community that you could help?

Advent is a time to prepare to celebrate the first coming of Jesus as a baby. It’s also a time to prepare for our own personal judgment, but also to prepare for His 2nd coming.

What better way to prepare, than to wake from sin. In other words, to prepare our hearts for Jesus which we can do with a good, sincere, and honest Confession this Advent. There is someone you need to be reconciled, to forgive?

In the alleged apparitions of Mary at Medjugorje, She asks for monthly confession. I would like to encourage you to go to Confession at least twice, once at the beginning of Advent and just before Christmas.

Mary asked us to daily read a small paragraph from the bible, to daily pray the Rosary, to fast on Wed and Friday, to attend Mass during the week. Many of you have the opportunity to come to daily Mass.

Just after college and I began to attend daily Mass. I was absolutely shocked at how the German Catholics practiced their faith. Before Advent there was a good number who attended daily Mass, but when Advent started, the church was packed with those who attended daily Mass. They saw the importance of coming to Mass to prepare for Christmas.

I encourage you to come to daily Mass if you are able. Many of you are able to come to Mass on Wed. evening. Come and receive Jesus in Holy Communion.

How beautiful it is, 90% of our families have a weekly Holy Hour. Bring your children with you, so they too can experience Jesus in adoration. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them.” You can come anytime there is Adoration and you can come also to pray to Jesus in the tabernacle. That’s why its continuous adoration, so anyone may come and pray during the 46 hours of Adoration that we have every week. It’s not just your hour, the time of Adoration is for anyone who want to come and pray. The church is big enough for people to spread out and pray.

At home, pray the Rosary as a family, perhaps on a Sunday evening before going to bed. Father Peyton, used to say, the family that prays together, stays together.

Make time for Jesus in your life every day. Turn off the TV, get away from the phone, the video games, the internet, have some silence in your life, so Jesus can speak to you. Pray together as a family and pray alone. Pray, pray, pray.

Make Christ be with you every day and at all times. How can we be all wrapped up in Christ and have Christ behind us, before us, beside us, beneath us, above us and so prepared for when He comes?

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in the mouth of a friend and stranger. Amen.

Mostly taken from Fr. Tommy Lane

Christ the King - End of Life

 

The Gospel today is the last judgment. Our Lord’s coming on the clouds of heaven will be when all His enemies will be put under His feet. When everything will be subject to Him, as King of heaven and earth.

When Jesus comes the second time, He will hand over the kingdom to God His Father. The sheep, who are the righteous will be placed on the right and the goats, who are the wicked will be placed on the left. Jesus goes on to say what each person will be judged on, which is love in the form of acts of mercy. Much of the corporal works of mercy are practiced daily by hospital staff and nursing home workers. This is what Jesus will say to those at the last judgment who practiced works of mercy, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepare for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I as thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.”

By these words, Jesus explains when we care for the ill, we care for Him. When we feed the hungry, we nourish Him. When we give drink to the thirsty, we give Jesus hydration. Due to doctor’s orders, nursing staff give medicine and take vitals (blood pressure, temperature, pulse). They make sure each patient eats food and drinks water. They have a moral responsibility to care for them when they come to the hosptials when they are sick and suffering.

At times when a patient is unable to eat or drink orally, the patient will have an IV and if unable to eat for a number days, can receive a feeding tube.

Patients can be treated with ordinary care or extraordinary care, which is their choice. Ordinary care includes food, water, medicine & oxygen. Extraordinary care can involve a ventilator, being in ICU, significant surgical operations or CPR, etc…

In this past year, I had 5 surgeries that could be considered extraordinary medical care and I could have morally refused to do them. If I didn’t had some of them, perhaps I would be seriously impaired and unable to do things I had before, or perhaps without them, they could have caused my death. Poor people don’t have insurance like I do and some of them would not have had the choice to do these surgeries. I am happy to be able to continue to be alive.

Sometimes, a person can benefit from extraordinary care to temporarily help them through a difficult illness, until the health crisis subsides.

There is a new document by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, called “Good Samaritan, on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phases of life”. The document was originally created to help prevent euthanasia, but it also speaks about the dignity of life and ethical considerations for the terminally ill and dying.

The document says, “A fundamental and inescapable principle of the assistance of the critically or terminally ill person is the continuity of care for the essential physiological functions. In particular, required basic care for each person includes the administration of the nourishment and fluids needed to maintain bodily homeostasis, insofar as and until this demonstrably attains the purpose of providing hydration and nutrition for the patient. When the provision of nutrition and hydration no longer benefits the patient, because the patient’s organism either cannot absorb them or cannot metabolize them, their administration should be suspended. In this way, one does not unlawfully hasten death through the deprivation of the hydration and nutrition vital for bodily function, but nonetheless respects the natural course of the critical or terminal illness.

The withdrawal of this sustenance is an unjust action that can cause great suffering to the one who has to endure it. Nutrition and hydration do not constitute medical therapy in a proper sense, which is intended to counteract the pathology that afflicts the patient. They are instead forms of obligatory care of the patient, representing both a primary clinical and an unavoidable human response to the sick person. Obligatory nutrition and hydration can at times be administered artificially, provided that it does not cause harm or intolerable suffering to the patient.”

In the hospital we are used to seeing IVs and feeding tubes removed when a patient is placed on “Comfort Care”. But this should only be done if death is imminent (within a few days). If the patient’s dying process is such the patient can continue to live for days or weeks, and if they can benefit from and IV and feeding tube, it is obligatory unless it would cause an excessive burden to the patient. It is an exception for it to become an excessive burden to have a feeding tube and IV. Today, many try to make the exception the rule and so deprive the dying person of something that can help them. Some patients are even purposely overdosed on pain medicine, at the request of the family, when they have little or no pain for the sake of helping them to die quicker.

I witnessed one time a nurse came into the room of a patient and she asked him if he was in any pain, and he said no. She then asked him if he wanted pain medicine, and he said no. She then forcibly stuck a syringe filled with roxenal (morphine) into his mouth and injected it. Within 30 min the man became unconscious. Where is the respect for the patient and his desires? It seemed as though the family just wanted him to die quicker to relieve the agony of themselves watching a loved one die.

However, a doctor or nurse may not do anything unethical even if the family of the patient or the patient wants them to because it goes against their conscience.

The totality of the patient's condition should be taken into consideration and whatever most benefits the person. Not every patient dies the same way or from the same illness. For example, when a person is dying, one person’s kidneys may fail quickly, while another person’s kidneys may not be a problem.

If someone has a stroke and is unable to swallow, and the rest of their health is good, then they should receive a feeding tube.

In this past year I had difficulty swallowing and needed to have my esophagus dilated. There were times food would get stuck in my esophagus and I would choke. If the dilation wouldn’t have worked, I could very well been on a feeding tube.

For others with multiple serious health issues which may be causing death, the patient may prefer to not have a feeding tube, because perhaps then it would become excessively burdensome.

I have heard people say, “I don’t want to be a vegetable.” But this phrase dehumanizes people. We have human dignity. If we need a feeding tube and an IV, we may not have the quality of life we would prefer, but life is worth living. But that does not mean we should do every thing possible to live as long as we can, when it may be excessively burdensome to stay alive. Rather, we should attempt to understand what benefits the person the most and what God is wanting for him or her.

Every hospital and nursing home should have some dying patients who are on a feeding tube and an IV, but not every dying patient should have these.

DNR’s (Do not resuscitate) are often used, but they don’t take into consideration all the factors a person may undergo. For example, a person may temporarily use a vent, to help them through an infection, until the antibiotic can get rid of it and allow the person to breath on their own again.

When a patient is unable to make his or her own decisions, it’s often better to have a Catholic Power of Attorney for healthcare, so someone who will follow Catholic principles will do so, rather than to do a DNR.

I had a tube in my belly twice this past year each time for a month. I know what It's like to have a tube in the abdomen. For the first several days its uncomfortable, but after that you don’t even hardly notice it. I didn’t need any pain medicine for it. For me, it would be difficult to see how it could be an excessive burden for myself.

However, for those with severe dementia, it may not be possible, because they may try to pull out the tubes.

The document is saying, when a feeding tube or an IV no longer benefits the patient due to the inability to absorb them or metabolize them, or if it were to be an excessive burden, then it respects the natural course of the terminal illness.

However, when the patient can benefit from an IV and a feeding tube, then they are obligatory, because they are not medical therapy, rather ordinary care which can benefit the human person. In other words, we all need food and water even when we are dying when we can benefit from them.

What we are really doing is providing food and water to Jesus in patient, as Jesus said, “What you do to the least of my brothers, you do to me.” For when I was hungry, you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, when I was ill you cared for me….”

Likewise, oxygen should also not be removed when a patient is dying, because that too is ordinary care. We don’t want to remove oxygen for the purpose of causing the patient to die quicker. Rather, the patient has right to oxygen to be able to take breaths as easy as possible when dying. Receiving the supply of oxygen helps them to be more comfortable.

Jesus, the King of heaven and earth is the author of life and no one but Him determines life and death. We cooperate with Him in understanding His will, by documents of the Church which give us principles on how to respect the human person from the moment of life until natural death. When we see a loved one going through agony, it’s difficult for us, but especially them.

In the bulletin are two documents. One document by the Kansas Conference of Bishops, is the Catholic Declaration for End of Life, which is a statement that can be signed requesting how a Catholic should be treated.

The other document is the Directives for Catholics Concerning Artificially Administered Nutrition and Hydration by Bishop Olmsted which explains how food and water are ordinary medical means and should not be withdrawn when a person can benefit from them. It also explains that a person’s death should be caused by an illness or disease and not by a lack of food and water.

When they are dying, we should never deprive them of ordinary care, food or water, unless it would be futile such the inability to assimilate food or water, such as when the kidneys no longer work or the colon is blocked.

We need to be careful to avoid false mercy, which seeks to alleviate pain and suffering at all cost, even to more quickly cause death, for the sake of our own needs, rather than for what is best for the person. This is really euthanasia in disguise. We may also forget about the value of redemptive suffering and the dignity of each person.

It is up to us to be sure they receive the Last Rites, confession, anointing of the sick, the Apostolic Pardon, which washes away all punishment due to sin and also Viaticum, which is Holy Communion one last time.

We should support them by our prayers, most especially the Holy Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I have seen patients die immediately after the family gathered around their bed and finished the Rosary. I also seen the same for the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, just after the family finishes the Chaplet, the patient dies. These are truly beautiful deaths. To die surrounded by family is consoling the patient.

We should also pray to St. Joseph, the patron of a happy death because its believed Jesus and Mary were present when he departed this life.

Jesus told Saint Faustina, "My daughter, ... Write that when they say this chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as the just Judge but as the merciful Savior (Diary, 1541). Jesus also said, “Say unceasingly the chaplet that I have taught you. Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy." (#687)

On this solemnity of Christ the King, we pray every terminally ill or dying patient who can benefit from artificial nutrition and hydration, will be able to receive them and die a holy death in union with the death of Jesus on the Cross. We pray that we will be prepared before we go to the judgment seat of Christ, the King.

For those who care for them and who do their best to follow the Church's teachings on death and dying, will hear the words of Jesus at the Last Judgment, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepare for you from the foundation of the world.”

May the Queen of Heaven, help us to care for others in their dying days with dignity and respect always providing ordinary care when it can benefit our loved ones.

Thanksgiving Day

 

Thanksgiving Day helps Americans discover the importance of thanking God for every gift and see His hands in providentially taking care of them.

This national holiday of giving Thanks to God for all His gifts and benefits is important for our American culture. While many are discovering the beauty of thanksgiving, others fail to remember God and continue to attribute their own successes and material achievements to themselves.

Thanksgiving Day is a reminder for all Americans that God in His providence-- takes care of all our needs. It is also a reminder that we is not self-sufficient, but rather depend totally upon God our creator and that we is the steward of God’s gifts.

Many pastors attempt to help people understand the meaning of thanksgiving and that all they have is a gift from God and that they are merely the stewards of these gifts.

We know from Sacred Scripture Jesus, as our model, constantly gave thanks to God. Before raising Lazarus from the dead, He said, “Father I give you thanks that you have heard me.” When He multiplied the loaves, He took the loaves, and after giving thanks, distributed them and the fishes to those who were reclining. At the institution of the Eucharist, Our Lord gave thanks before blessing the bread and wine which truly became His body and blood at the Last Supper.

The letters of St. Paul often begin and end with thanksgiving. St. Paul also urged the Church in his letter to the Thessalonians, “In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ, Jesus.”

The Gospel of the ten lepers helps us to understand the importance of being thankful, but is also reveals our failure to thank God for His gifts and blessings. After the lepers had departed because Jesus had told them to show themselves to the priests, they realized Our Lord healed them. However, only one returned to thank Our Divine Savior. In a loud voice, he fell on his face at the feet of Jesus, glorifying God. He thanked Our Lord for healing Him, while the others continued on their way to the priests. And so, that is why Our Blessed Lord said, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Have not but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God.”

Perhaps, most know that our first president, George Washington established Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Many of us were taught in school-- the history of Thanksgiving. We were told Puritan pilgrims, from Britain came over on the ship, the Mayflower, and that they gathered with the American Indians at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts, in the fall of 1621. We were told these pilgrims and Indians gave thanks to God for surviving the hard winter, and for the many blessings-- God had bestowed upon them. We are told that they ate wild turkey and deer meat.

Although this event actually happened, perhaps most are unaware-- the very first Thanksgiving occurred 56 years earlier in 1565 at St. Augustine, Florida. The first settlers were not British Puritans, but rather, Spanish settlers, many of whom were Catholic.

It was on Sept. 8^th, 1565 a Catholic priest by the name of Fr. Francisco Lopez Grjalas, offered a Mass of Thanksgiving and invited all 800 European settlers and the native Indians, for a communal meal, which consisted of wild turkey, deer meat, pork stew, and vegetables.

Today, on Thanksgiving many families pray their prayer before meal-- each family member will go around the table and name at least one thing they are thankful. Naturally, many will thank God for their family, their job, their food, their home, and their health. Some thank God for their talents and for the gift of their life. Others may thank God for His creation, such as the stars, the moon, the sun, the trees, snow and the animals. Those of us who live here can thank God for our wonderful little community. And we are thankful for living sort of out in the country where there is wild life, deer, turkeys, foxes, coyotes and owls.

God loves us and desires that we love our self, love our neighbor and show our love for Him, by using the gifts He has given us in the proper way.

Perhaps with the following words we can thank Our Lord: Thank you Jesus, for your suffering and death on the Cross, by which you came to save us and by which you opened the gates of paradise, so that we may be forever with you in heaven. Thank you Jesus for all the sacraments, most especially yourself in the Holy Eucharist, the Holy Mass and Holy Communion. Thank you Jesus for my baptism, in which You washed away original sin, and the Trinity came to dwell within me. Thank you Jesus for Confession where you forgive our personal sins. Thank you Jesus for the Last Rites whereby you forgive our sins, give us grace to perservere through suffering and You prepare us for eternal life in heaven.

Thank you Jesus for the Church, you established and promised that the gates of hell will not prevail. Thank you Jesus for the deposit of faith. Thank you Jesus for the pope, cardinals, bishops and priests You give to us as shepherds.

Thank you Jesus for all the martyrs and saints, who give us an example of how to grow in holiness and virtue. Thank you Jesus for humbling yourself to come down from heaven into the Immaculate womb of the Virgin Mary, in which you took upon our human nature, so beneath Your dignity. Thank you Jesus for being born in a cold stable-- with no lay place to lay Your head, but upon the straw- in a manger in the little town of Bethlehem.

Thank you Jesus for Your life, your miracles, your teachings, and for revealing the Blessed Trinity to us The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three persons in one God! Thank you Jesus for Your agony in the Garden, Your scourging, Your crowning with thorns, Your carrying of the Cross, and for shedding Your blood-- during Your three hours of agony on the Cross. Thank you Jesus for showing us the value of suffering. Thank you Jesus for making suffering redemptive. Thank you for every suffering I have ever endured in my life, because by suffering I am like you, who suffered so much for me. And thank you Jesus for rising from the dead, conquering sin and death and opening the gates of paradise.

My friends, let us give thanks to Jesus for all He done for us and give thanks to God for your every gift and use your gifts for the glory and honor of God and for the good of your neighbor, by doing so, you will be true disciples of Jesus and when that day in the future comes, when you will be called to that eternal home, when you arrive with a grateful heart you will cry out, Thank Jesus, my God, for the greatest gift of all—the gift of heaven—the gift of being with you forever!

33rd Sunday - Stewardship - A Way of Life

 

The Gospel today speaks about the parable of the master, who trusts three stewards, with his money and possessions, as he plans to go on a journey. When returning from his journey, the master discovers, two of the three stewards were wise, and so increased his wealth. He told them, “Well done, my good and faithful servant(s). Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come share your master’s joy!”

However, one steward did nothing with the one talent he received, and so the master told the unfaithful steward, “You wicked lazy servant! Throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

This parable, reminds us of stewardship. God entrusts each and everyone one of with time, talent, and treasure in order to glorify Him, and His kingdom. Some receive greater and some lesser talents than others, yet all are called to use their gifts for God and neighbor.

Msgr. McGread, who founded Stewardship at St. Francis of Assisi parish in Wichita, and throughout the diocese of Wichita said, “Stewardship is about giving back to God the first and best we have in thanksgiving for all He’s given us.” He said, “The biggest mistake people make is that they think stewardship is a finance program. It’s not. It’s a spirituality program.” It’s not about asking for money. It’s about getting people to come to church, to practice their faith, and to be disciples of Christ.

The diocese of Wichita is known nationally for its practice of stewardship and many other dioceses, including the Archdiocese of Chicago, have asked us to help them with stewardship. Bishop Robert Morneau, the bishop of the diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, said, “The core of stewardship is gratitude, a gratitude that overflows into giving as a way of thankfulness for all that God has given us.”

A parishioner from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Wichita said, “When you realize that everything you have and everything you do is from God, then you have a completely different reason for giving—your giving back to God in thanksgiving.”

If we examine all that we have, we can see everything that we have, comes from God. God gave us a job in order to provide an income for our family. God has given us the gift of an education, which some societies do not have as an opportunity. God has given us freedom to live our faith. He has given us our Catholic faith, our family and our heritage. God has given us talents to hold down a job, so that we use money to buy clothes, food, and a home. He has given us transportation to travel by way cars, boats, trains and airplanes, to see His wonderful creation including the flint hills, and also the mountains of Colorado, the seas, rivers, animals, plants, and the sky, stars and the moon—all to remind us of our creator and are gifts from Him to us.

He has given us technology for healthcare, televisions, computers, gas and electricity to help us live securely and in comfort. He has also given us gifts to play sports and activities. He given us taking care of livestock and 4-H which demonstrates our care for them. There are singers, musicians, artists, nurses, woodworkers, accountants, lawyers, doctors, and about any kind of field you can imagine, God has given so many people with such a wide variety of gifts and talents.

Some might say I don’t have any of these gifts, but they fail to understand that prayer, suffering, and sacrifices are gifts as well. Spiritually God has given us the wonderful 7 sacraments, especially Himself in the Eucharist.

It doesn’t matter how many or how great our gifts are, what matters is that we attempt to discover what they are and give them back to God by way of our time, talent, and treasure.

At some parishes nurses give blood pressure checks after Mass and visit the home bound. I know of doctors, who freely see poor patients, even though they know they will never be paid. I know of a married couple, who was about to lose their home. They had no money for a lawyer, but a Catholic lawyer volunteered to give them free advice, which helped them save their home. I spoke to the lawyer and said I would help pay for the advice given to the couple, and he looked at me with a smile and said, “Oh no father, I do it all the time, it’s my stewardship. I give back to God what He has given to me.”

In one parish, I was humbled by a man who called and said he wanted to give me something. When he came, he had black bag in his hand and said, “This is for you”. I said, “What is it?” He said it’s a computer. I was overjoyed because back then I needed one. He had recently bought himself a new computer and wanted to give his old computer away.

Back when our parish hall was built many of you gave your time and talent to build it.

Today, we have parishioners are sacristans, lectors, altar servers, organists and choir, youth leaders, ushers, greeters, the Altar Society, those who help with Totus Tuus every year. Some decorate the church. We had parishioners make a Corpus Christi canopy and an altar cloth. One parishioner made the wooden lecturn for Mass. Someone takes care of Mass stipends and does the weekly schedule for the bulletin. We have the Knights of Columbus, PSR teachers and a Religious education director- all of whom give their time and talent for people and children of the parish. Some mow the churchyard, do snow removal and others who take care of the flower bed. We have parishioners who volunteer to clean the basement of the church once a week. Some bring me meals and other foods, such as peaches.

In addition these things, many parishioners do not charge the church labor, such as maintenance, when they do work for the church and some have saved the church thousands of dollars by donating their time and talent. There are many goodhearted people here in our parish.

Isn’t there something about doing things for the church, which makes us feel good? When we volunteer our time and talent especially for the church-- it causes unity among parishioners, and gives us a sense of healthy pride in our parish. First and foremost, we are doing it for God, in thanksgiving for what He has given us, but we also do it because we love and care for our neighbor.

Msgr. McGread said, everything comes from prayer and the success of stewardship in our diocese is due to Eucharistic Adoration. He said, “By giving an effective amount of time to God—time at home in prayer, time with their families in prayer—people get closer to God. They come to understand their individual obligation to God, and they come to church because that is where they experience Christ in the Eucharist”.

If we heed the words of Msgr. McGread, we can see how important Eucharistic Adoration is and how it causes a blossoming of stewardship.

To spend an hour with Jesus every week in Eucharistic Adoration is the stewardship of prayer, which is the backbone of every form of stewardship. Before Mass on Sunday, Saturday morning and on Wednesday and after Mass on other days, there are people who lead the Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

Stewardship is not about asking for money. Rather, it involves a way of life. It’s living the Gospel, as witness by word and deed. We give back to God, by way of our time, talent and treasure.

To those who would like to give their treasure by tithing, Msgr. McGread used to say that it is better to tithe smaller at first, such as 3% or 4%. The more we trust, many will enjoy giving 10%. He also said it’s important to tithe regularly even if it’s a small amount.

Due to the generous tithing of the people in many parishes, and the diocese, Catholic schools in our diocese are tuition-free, but they are expected to use their time and talents for God and neighbor.

Our gifts and talents are not to buried, or kept for our self, but rather, to be given away to glorify God, by increasing the wealth of His kingdom, on earth, and in heaven. When we use wisely, that which belongs to God, which we are entrusted, as His stewards, we earn for our selves, the sharing our Master’s joy, and His glory in heaven.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, help us to live the stewardship way of life, by giving our time, talent, treasure, and our very self, to the service of Christ and His Church, as a true witness in word and deed to help bring about His kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven.

32nd Sunday - Near Death Experiences

  

Doesn’t it make you wonder what is going on with the ten virgins (the bridesmaids) and why did they have lamps?

In Jewish tradition, when the groom went to the bride’s house to pick her up for the wedding, he would negotiate with her relatives the gifts he would give to her parents for the privilege of being able to marry her. The negotiating went on so long, that the bridesmaids back at the groom’s house, grew so tired of waiting that they fell asleep. When the bride and groom arrived in the groom’s house the parents pronounced a blessing over the happy couple and the singing and dancing lasted for a week.

The bridesmaids in the parable were given an opportunity to be ready for the wedding in the groom’s house later that evening. But five of them did not bring enough oil. They had an opportunity during the day to get a supply of it, but they didn’t bother. Then when the couple arrived for the wedding it was too late, and those who had oil had only enough for themselves and were unable to share it.

This parable reminds us that we make choices as we go through life, and afterwards we live with the consequences of those choices. Some of the bridesmaids in the parable squandered the opportunity during the day to get oil. Like them, we have choices and decisions. We want to choose well because we pass this way only once.

When Jesus calls us from this life whenever that will be, we will face consequences of all our decisions. “So stay awake because you do not know either the day or the hour.”

The book The Imitation of Christ, says, “Every action of yours, every thought, should be those of one who expects to die before the day is out. Death would have no great terrors for you if you had a quiet conscience.. Then why not keep clear of sin instead of running away from death? If you aren’t fit to face death today, it’s very unlikely you will be tomorrow.”

The Church encourages us to prepare for the hour of our death. In the Litany of the Saints, we pray: “From a sudden and foreseen death, deliver us, O Lord.”

When we pray the Hail Mary, we ask the Mother of God to intercede for us now and at the hour of our death.

Two of my sisters and I present when my father died. I told my sisters, “Let’s pray three Hail Marys.” When we finished the last Hail Mary, just as we prayed, “Now and at the hour of our death”, my father opened his eyes, looked at my sister, then closed his eyes and died. Although it was difficult to go through, we knew the Virgin Mary was praying for Dad at the moment of his death.

We also entrust ourselves and our death to St. Joseph, the patron of a happy death. It is believed Jesus and Mary were at his bedside when he died. You can’t get a happier death than that!

When St. Francis of Assisi knew his death was approaching he said, “Praise are you, Lord, for our sister bodily Death, from whom no living man can escape. Woe to those who will die in mortal sin! Blessed are they who will be found in Your most holy will, for the second death will not harm them.”

Over the years and especially while doing hospital ministry, I prayed and spoke with people before they died.

Unbeknownst to each other, people have described similar experiences. For example, some said they left their body and began to walk into a tunnel toward a brilliant warm and peaceful light. But, then they when they got a glimpse of heaven, they had to return to earth.

The most common experience people told me is that they are visited by deceased relatives. I don’t know how many people have described this, but a good number of them did. Even when their health didn’t seem to be in danger, if they were visited by relatives who have died, almost always they would die soon, even when it seemed like they weren’t going to die.

An elderly woman once told me her deceased husband would come to her at night and put his arm around her. But, she didn’t like him doing that. She said it scared her. I suggested we offer three Masses for her deceased husband. Three weeks later, on the day, that we offered the last Mass for her husband, within an hour after that Mass was offered, she died suddenly of a heart attack. I told her family I thought the three Masses helped her husband get out of purgatory, so that when his wife would die, they could be together in heaven.

There’s a documentary playing in theaters now called “After Death”. It explains experiences people have had when they were clinically dead, but then later brought back to life.

No matter their religion, even atheists, experience the same near-death experiences. Many see their soul leave their body and having a heightened awareness of their surroundings.

For example, a 5 yr. old girl, blind from birth, drowned and was declared clinically dead. After being resuscitated, the girl explained in detail her surroundings including light poles, birds and what other people were doing when her soul left her body, yet she was completely blind.

Other people who died on the operating room table described in detail what was happening when they died. They were looking down and could see their body and everyone in the room. They explained how the doctor told a nurse to grab the defibrillator and how many times the machine was used.

Others, who had near-death experiences, could hear conversations people were having in the waiting room and see them and what they were doing.

Some describe walking into a brilliant light and then seeing Jesus. Then their whole life in detail is played before them like a movie. (most likely this is their judgment). They experience a peace and joy they never had before. None ever want to return to earth, because all of them would rather be in heaven. But Jesus always told them, he has something more for them to do. Then they suddenly return to their body when the doctors revive them.

A few years ago, my cousin’s husband was in the hospital and having severe abdominal pain. He said while he was alone in his room, suddenly he saw beautiful colors of light that filled his room. Little did he know, his daughter who lives in Manhattan, Kansas, at that exact moment, lit a candle for her dad, and she said she saw brilliant colors come from the candle.

When my aunt, Vernita, was dying, she exclaimed, “Mom” and told her daughter that her mother and some of her sisters were in the room. She died shortly after that.

Recently, a woman was upset that her cousin was dying, and when she lit a candle at the church, she told Jesus, “Lord please at least let me know, she is seeing angels.” She then went to see her at the hospital, and when she came in the room, the dying made the sign of the cross with her eyes closed. She said she was seeing angels and the angels were talking to her. She said the angels were very beautiful. She said one angel told her that it would happen when everyone would step out of the room, and it would be three days before it would happen.

As Catholics, we believe when we die, our soul leaves our body, and then our soul goes to its judgment. Our judgment is permanent. If we die with a mortal sin, we choose to go to hell to suffer eternal punishment forever. Jesus does not send us there. Rather, we choose to depart from Him and go there because we realize we do not belong in heaven or purgatory.

If our soul is in the state of grace, but not fully purified of its faults, or haven’t made up for its sins, we go to purgatory, where our soul is cleansed, until its fully pure, and then we enter heaven.

It often times happens that when we are dying, the devil makes one last attempt to get us commit a mortal sin. When St. Martin of Tours was dying, he saw the devil standing near. He said, “Why do you stand there, you bloodthirsty brute? Murderer, you will not have me for your prey. Abraham is welcoming me into his embrace.” With these words, he gave up his spirit to heaven.

We believe prayers, Masses, good deeds, indulgences, and our sacrifices can help poor souls to get out purgatory quicker so they can go to heaven.

If our soul was purified in this life by suffering and accepting all the crosses God sent us, and if we lived a virtuous life, and if we made up for all our sins, those holy souls will go straight to heaven.

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity helps us to understand that every moment of our life should be done out of love for God and neighbor.

She said, “In light of eternity, the soul sees things as they really are. Oh how empty is all that has not been done for God and with God. I beg you, mark everything with the seal of love. It alone endures. How serious life is. Each moment is given us in order to root us deeper in God.”

Are you ready for death? Let us ask the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, to help us choose to live every day, as though it was our last, so that we are ready for Jesus, the bridegroom, who will take our soul to its judgment, and this way, we will be prepared for the wedding feast of heaven. May our lamps be always ready for His coming!

31st Sunday Year A Priesthood

  

The readings today are about what religious leaders should Not be like.

The first reading from the prophet Malachi, condemns religious leaders, who do not give glory to God. He said, they have turned aside from their way, and have caused many to falter by their instruction. They show partiality in their decisions. They have broken the faith and violated the covenant.

The Gospel continues with this same condemnation of religious leaders who do not do, what the Lord desires. Jesus said, they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they won’t lift a finger to move them. They widen their phylacteries, and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor in the synagogues, which were places of worship. And all of these performed, to be seen, by others.

Cardinals, bishops and Priests are human, but they are held to a high standard because they represent Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Recently it's been notable how some of them have caused confusion among the lay faithful about their attempt to change Church teachings and others have lived lives of hypocrisy and scandal.

When I was a child our family very rarely went out to eat at a restaurant because we were poor, and if we would go to eat, my parents ordered the same food for each of their 8 children, a hamburger, fries and a coke. We were elated to go to a restaurant.

One time, I can remember seeing a priest eating in a restaurant and thinking, he must be rich to be able to go out to eat. While that obviously wasn’t true, as I later became a priest, I understand there are people who can’t afford to eat out at a restaurant, and so shouldn’t a priest live the same poverty which the poor live?

People are exceptionally kind to priests. I’m not a very good cook, so I am always very happy to receive a meal or a dessert from a parishioner. Or leftovers from funerals.

Despite the weaknesses of priests, God has called and chosen them to act in union with His Son Jesus Christ. Priests are called to be holy, to be faithful, to do penance, to fast, to sacrifice themselves, to become a real and true victim, for God’s people.

Priests are called to lay down their lives for Our Lord’s Sheep, and His Church. Priests are called to intercede for God’s people, and so act as a mediator between God and His people. He does this through prayer, and in offering sacrifices—especially his own sacrifices with the sacrifices of the people, in union with the one sacrifice of Jesus, to the Father, here on the altar.

Pope John Paul II used to encourage priests to make a daily Holy Hour with Jesus in the Eucharist, which is what I have done every day for the last 19 years as a priest.

Priests act in “persona Christi” which means they act in the “person of Christ”. In other words, Jesus acts through the priest. It is Jesus, who baptizes through the priest. In confession, Our Lord sits behind the confessional screen, listening to our sins, giving us advice, and a penance, and then absolves our sins. Who can forgive mortal sins, but Jesus, in the priest?

Our Lord, uses the lips of the priest, to utter His words, at the Last Supper, which make His body and blood present upon the altar, and gives us Holy Communion, through the hands of the priest. Every time I say the words, “This is my body to be given up for you.”, it is very humbling to know Jesus is acting through me to work the greatest miracle of changing bread into His body.

When we hear the words of the Gospel, proclaimed by the priest, do we hear the voice of Jesus speak to us? When the homily is given, do we hear Jesus speak the truth and the doctrines of the Church, as proclaimed and explained by the priest?

In some parishes, priests are ridiculed behind closed doors, because they preach the truth. Today, there are what’s called “canceled priests”, who preached the truth of the Gospel, but due to the complaints of those who disagree with Church teaching, their bishop doesn’t support the priest, but rather cancels him, meaning he is no longer assigned to any parish. Some bishops tell priests to not preach on abortion, or contraception, homosexual marriage, or to avoid hot topics for fear offending people, who would then discontinue giving money in the collection.

Yet, the priest is supposed proclaim the truth, in season and out of season, out of love, for the people, so as to guide them toward heaven, no matter the consequences.

Yes, the priest is human. Yes, the priest makes mistakes. Yes, the priest is a sinner. But clothed beneath his sinful human flesh, is the sacred character of ordination. And it is through the Sacrament of Holy Orders; Christ is present in the world. St. John Vianney, patron of parish priests, made this statement about the priesthood, “The priest continues the work of redemption on earth…If we really understood the priest on earth, we would die not of fright but of love…. The Priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus.”

Pope John Paul II called the priesthood, Gift and Mystery. He said the priest is a steward of the mysteries of God. And said, we can’t have the Eucharist, without the priesthood. Pope Benedict XVI said, we can’t live without the Eucharist. Therefore, we cannot live without the priesthood, because it is the priesthood, which gives us the Eucharist.

The priest is not a staff member of the church. The priest is not an employee of the church. The priesthood is not a job. The priesthood is a way of life, and a way of love. The priest is Christ sacramentally present within a man.

Yet, there are some, who frustrate the ministry of Christ by fail to reverence the priest, as their spiritual father. They ignore the priest’s suggestions, encouraging them to live a deeper Christian life. In the end, each person is responsible for their own judgment and whether or not they heeded the priest’s words to help them to grow in holiness.

So many think, priests just offer Mass, and hear confessions, and go play golf. I know of one pastor, who gets up at 4 or 5 am, and works non-stop everyday until 11 or 12 at night. How many lay people do this? Do lay people work from 5am until 11pm --6 days a week?

St. Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians speaks about his ministry, which was a ministry of priesthood. He said, ““With such affection for you, we are determined to share with you not only the Gospel of God, but our very selves as well.” You recall, brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery. Working night and day, in order not to burden any of you, we proclaimed the Gospel to you.”

Here at Holy Trinity the word of God is truly at work in you, who believe. What reverence and faith do you receive Our Lord in Holy Communion! How many of you come night and day to make your Holy Hour with Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration? How many show so much warmth and friendship to the priests, welcoming priests and new pastors, who come to give themselves to you? How many have given encouraging words, and have forgiven the mistakes of the priests, so readily.

This past year, I had 5 surgeries and 9 procedures and was overwhelmed by so many how came to my aid. I appreciate those who made meals, who checked on me and especially am very grateful for all your prayers.

Thank you for opening your heart to me, inviting me into your homes, overlooking my weaknesses, forgiving my failings, and allowing me to be a spiritual father to you.

I am sure there are young men, who God is calling to be a priest. Its a most glorious life, but also a life of sacrifice and love.

Let us now offer this prayer for priests:

O Jesus, I pray for your faithful priests and fervent priests;

For Your unfaithful and tepid priests;

For Your priests laboring at home, or abroad in distant mission fields;

For Your tempted priests;

For Your lonely and desolate priests;

For Your young priests;

For Your dying priests;

For the souls of Your priests in purgatory.

But above all I recommend to You the priests dearest to me;

The priest who baptized me;

The priest who absolved me from my sins;

The priests at whose Masses I participated, and who gave me Your Body and Blood in Holy Communion;

The priests who taught and instructed me;

All the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way;

O Jesus, keep them all close to Your Heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity.

And may Mary, Your Mother, the Mother of Priests, keep them safe under Her mantel and within Her Immaculate Heart. Amen.