Pray for the Dead!

Homily for the Mass of Remembrance, Nov 3, 2019, http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110319.cfm 
The first reading from Wisdom tells us that before God the whole universe is like a grain from a balance or morning dew, something small, seemingly insignificant. Now imagine us, we are like a grain to the earth, which is like a grain to the universe which is like a grain to God. Sounds like we are very insignificant so I think we need to hear this quote from the great Star Wars Jedi master Yoda:

“Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm? And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is.”

Our ally isn’t the Force, our ally is God who has mercy on us all and will overlook our sins if we repent. There is significant hope in those verses from Wisdom, hope in our own salvation and also for those that have gone before us. In our second reading, Paul is writing to Thessalonians and it begins with such an important line.

Brothers and sisters: We always pray for you that our God may make you worthy of his calling.

Paul’s words are so very true for us and for those who have gone before us. We must always pray for them to help them reach that final destination, that final calling of God and that is to spend eternity with God in Heaven. He wants nothing less of us than all to be saints with him at the end of our earthly journey. Even today’s gospel from Luke is about salvation. Zacchaeus and I don’t have a lot in common, he was a wealthy man who extorted money from his subjects, a thief, a cheat and short of stature. I, however, am tall. Yet, Zacchaeus knew there was something about Jesus worth climbing a tree for. Zacchaeus didn’t know what he needed or what Jesus could offer at that time, he probably had just heard some amazing stories about a man named Jesus. What Jesus would give Zacchaeus that day was so much more than he could have imagined. Zacchaeus received Jesus with great joy and furthermore repented, offering to give half of his possessions to the poor, repay the money he stole from others with four times interest and Jesus, who cannot be outdone in generosity, gives Zacchaeus the best gift ever when He says to him:

"Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost."

Do we believe that? Do we believe that Jesus was sent for our salvation? Do we believe that Jesus came to save all of our friends and relatives who have died before us? I certainly do! A wise Directory of Religious Education who was very ill once replied, when I asked if she needed anything replied: "yes, prayers, and pray for me when I am gone, don't assume I'm in Heaven". I thought about that a lot. It made me realize that our job now is to pray for our friends, neighbors, fellow parishioners, and beloved family who have gone on before us and the greatest thing is that these prayers will never be wasted. God doesn’t get our prayers, look at them and think, “Oh this person is in Heaven already” and then throws the prayer in the trash, no, that prayer will be used for somebody else who needs it. Perhaps, that prayer will be what one soul needed to get them into the gates of heaven that same day. When it comes to praying for the departed souls my wife Allison was the one who taught me the necessity of this devotion. Quite a few years ago she started dragging me along to the cemetery visits she does annually. I initially thought this was an odd devotion, cemeteries didn’t scare me, I worked in one for 8 years, but going there for a devotion, well, I have to be honest, it struck me as odd but a lot of things Allison does strike me that way so I just went along. Boy was I wrong! What a powerful devotion this is and it’s so great to know that we can help our departed loved one’s spirits attain eternal glory with God if they have not achieved that yet! The holy souls that were not fully ready for Heaven now reside in Purgatory and they also cannot earn their own way out of Purgatory and that’s where we come in! I’m stealing this directly from Allison now, it’s ok, I have her permission, but here are some ways we can help: ● Attend Mass, as often as you can, from Nov.1-8 to pray for the Holy Souls. ● Visit a cemetery, as often as you can, from Nov. 1-8. My family makes field trips out of this devotion, visiting a different cemetery each day. We will travel (usually on the days that fall during the weekend) to cemeteries uncommon in our area such that honor the military, primarily serve non-Catholics, or just because we thought it was architecturally fascinating. ● Attend Mass Nov. 2, the Feast of All Souls’ to pray for deceased family members, for those who have no one to pray for them, and for all of those who have died this year. ● Pray the rosary during the entire month of November for the Holy Souls. ● Pray the novena for the Holy Souls, written by St. Alphonsus Liguori, followed by the Prayer to Our Suffering Saviour for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Allison also found a prayer she likes to pray while visiting cemeteries as she walks up and down the rows, looking prayerfully at each name while reciting: ● Five Apostle’s Creeds ● One Hail, Holy Queen ● One Our Father (Lord’s Prayer), Hail Mary and Glory Be ● Conclude with the Requiem: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them, and may they rest in peace. Amen. Not only are you praying for the Holy Souls but you might just hit your step goal while you are at it!

St. Augustine said “One of the holiest works, one of the best exercises of piety that we can practice in this world is to offer sacrifices, alms, and prayer for the dead”

 Confused by Purgatory? Fr. Mike Schmitz Explains All!

Lost and Found

Homily for September 15, 2019, Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/091519.cfm As Saint Paul said in his letter to Timothy:

Indeed the grace of our Lord has been abundant, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

At this point in my life, I want to stay inside that circle of faith and love that Christ Jesus radiates but it wasn’t always so. The Gospel today presents three different ways that we might stray from that circle of faith and love. First, we hear of the lost coin. To me, this represents when we strayed only a little, maybe momentarily turning away from God but our sorrow for that comes soon and we repent quickly. Perhaps it’s partaking in the water cooler gossip at work or losing your temper at others while driving. Whatever the occasion for sin, our return to Christ is fast, we are a lost coin quickly found. Next up is the lost sheep. The lost sheep strayed for a bit longer, days or even weeks. Some become the lost sheep every week, right after Mass ends while leaving the parking lot up until the next Mass. We must remember God has given us everything we have during the week as well, our houses, our cars, our jobs, and our families, not just the Church where we attend Mass each weekend. When we wonder how we can separate ourselves from God so quickly all we need to do is read the first reading from Exodus. The people have witnessed first-hand many miracles that God provided for them yet when Moses goes up to the mountain for a while the people decide to become depraved, make a golden calf, and worship that instead of the one true God. Moses intercedes for the people, just as Jesus has done for us, and God’s mercy shows through. He relents in his punishment. They had become the lost sheep while Moses was on the mountain. Finally, we hear of the Prodigal son. This parable represents when we have strayed for a long time, years or even decades! I was the prodigal son once myself. I left the faith for about 7 years through college and into my young adulthood so I can echo what St. Paul tells Timothy in his letter:

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I was mercifully treated so that in me, Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example for those who would come to believe in Him for everlasting life.

I paraphrased here, leaving out the parts that make me look like I a complete heretic but you get the idea! I was separated from God but even then God still loved me and sought me out. I was totally ignorant of the fact that God was looking for me, well, I should say us because my wife was a prodigal daughter as well. Even though we were still newly married with new careers and a bit of money in our pockets our lives felt empty and we weren’t able to fill that void with what society was teaching us. With a nudge from the Holy Spirit, and also the nudge of my wife, we decided to go back to Church. A few weeks, later the nudge came again, and we decided to go to Confession so we could return to receiving the Eucharist. Once that happened there was no looking back, God wrapped us in the finest robe of his love and there we have stayed and grown in our faith to this very day. We are still far from perfect but our aim is perfection and as long as we grow closer to the target each day we are headed in the right direction. We all have somebody we know as a 'Prodigal Son or Daughter'. They must know that no matter how far away from God they are He will look for them but when He finds them, they must play an active role in their salvation, it is up to them to follow Him back regardless of how far or long they have strayed. If a lost sheep hides in a crag in a cliff silently you won’t find it, but that’s not what a lost sheep does. It will fearfully bleat until the shepherd finds it. The prodigal son needed to hit rock bottom, desiring to eat the food fed to the pigs to finally allow the nudge of the Holy Spirit to work in him. Only then did he return home to his loving father who was constantly on the lookout for his return. It’s so easy today to stray from God when we are not within the walls of a sacred Church building. Much of what society teaches is contrary to our faith. We need the tools that our Catholic Church gives us. We need the sacraments first and foremost. Receive the Eucharist as often as possible and when you do be in a state of grace! The Catechism of the Catholic Church stresses this in Paragraph 1415:

Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace.

To get back in that state we need to receive the graces that the sacrament of Confession gives us. Personally, I find this the sacrament I dislike the most before receiving it but love it the most once the prayer of absolution is said. The more you go the easier it gets! When I’m preparing to go I contemplate Psalm 65:

To you, all flesh will come, with its burden of sin. Too heavy for us, our offenses, but you wipe them away

I imagine all my sins, written on a big...a very big whiteboard. The priest, who represents Jesus in persona Christi, that is, in the person of Christ, takes a big eraser and clears the whiteboard, all that sin is gone just like that. It’s a very refreshing feeling! We can also use the tools that our very own Church offers us. For the men look to see if your parish has TMIY, for the women some parishes offer WINE - Women In the New Evangelization. Check to see if you have a Bible study. Faith is important for your children too, make your children's Religious Education classes a priority. Look to see if the is a local adoration chapel, and that’s for all ages, children too. Try bringing your kids and go for only 15 minutes to start, you don’t need to sign up, just show up. Take the time to pray, in the presence of Jesus, for all those who have strayed. While there, ask Jesus for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the words to say to those who have strayed to invite them back into the Church where they can find healing and a home. Tell those you know the good news of these stories; that no matter how far away from God we may go, He cares about each and every one of us VERY intensely whether you are a lost coin, a lost sheep, or a prodigal son. God will search for you. All we need to do is let God find us. What better saint to quote then probably the most famous prodigal son of them all, St. Augustine, who said:

Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost again.