October 30, 2016: 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

God loves us so passionately, even seeking after us when we were lost, to bring us back to Him and the vibrant life He grants us.  Even in the midst of the vast universe, He cares about us, as the reading from Sirach states so eloquently, because He has placed in us His "imperishable spirit".  And He loves us because He made us good.  That's why He seeks after us, helping us turn from ways of sin to righteousness.

In the final line of the Gospel reading, Jesus declares His mission is about seeking what is lost.  A commentary I read on this story suggests that God was seeking after Zacchaeus just as much as Zacchaeus was seeking after Jesus.  May His Love fill our hearts so that we seek after those who are lost, having our perspective transformed to see their need as God sees them.

Before the God who loves us so much, we strive to be faithful to His calling to us, that He be glorified.

October 23, 2016: 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

I went to St. Matthias Parish in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago's North Side to visit dear Father Larry, former pastor of Ascension--and also to check in on how he's faring in Cubs-headed-to-the-World Series fever ;-).

There is scaffolding in the front part of the sanctuary there because of a painting project.  So whenever I stepped out of my pew, I had to duck down under the metal beams.  It seems a fitting gesture with the theme of humility in this Sunday's readings.

God is great because He is attentive to the cries of the poor.  As Sirach puts it, He's not impartial to the poor, but nevertheless regards the lowly in a particular way.  It is them He desires to raise up, that they may truly praise Him, because they know He truly satisfies.  That is what distinguishes the tax collector from the Pharisee in the Gospel story:  The tax collector humbly acknowledges how He stands in relationship with God, and doesn't presume anything righteous about Himself as he pleads for God's mercy.  For Him, God alone serves as a source of righteousness for him.

As St. Paul senses the imminent end of his life, he reflects on how God has strengthened Him to face great troubles, so that he could persevere in fighting the good fight, finishing the race, and keeping the faith, to earn the reward of Eternal Life, that God may be praised.  Those stirring words bring to mind the tribute my family offered to my Grandpa Martin when he passed to Eternal Life, receiving his reward for fighting the good fight.  It is an inspiring encouragement we have from the saints of old, who are cheering for us in Heavenly glory.  What an inspiration for the young people of Ascension who were just confirmed, and for me as I live out my Confirmation in guiding them.

October 16, 2016: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Living out faith requires persistence.  At Mass at the Holy Fire Gathering for 6th-9th graders on Saturday, Father Ron Hicks, Vicar General for the Archdiocese of Chicago, urged the young people to be steadfast in prayer, because that is part of growing in a relationship with God, by constantly putting ourselves in His presence, which we were able to do so marvelously before Mass in a time of Eucharistic adoration.

We must persist in seeking after God, Who will make all things right, demonstrating faith so that we are ready when He comes.  God will deliver, and we are called to believe, which necessarily involves persistence in adhering to the truths of God's Word, which provide a strong foundation living out faith.

In such grounding, we go forth to do amazing things, which I recognize in my own life as I celebrated the 11-year anniversary of my Confirmation on Saturday of this past weekend, and thought back upon all the amazing things that have happened in my life,  by faith, in those years.

October 9, 2016: 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

There's something about healing and faith that brings them together so much throughout the Bible.

As amazing as physical healings are, what's more amazing is how they summon forth faith, especially from those who were not considered to be the people of God, like Naaman and the Samaritan leper.  Truly God is doing great deeds before all the earth, as written in Psalm 98.

Indeed, Jesus speaks to this when He tells the Samaritan leper who returns to thank Him that his faith has saved Him.  He has been healed fully in his whole being and spirit.

This healing comes because of the power of God to bring us salvation in Jesus Christ.  So no matter what difficulties we face in life, God's power in stronger, and is never "chained", as St. Paul writes.  So we endure, because we know God's power is already at work healing us, as we advance toward His Glory.

This was so beautifully represented in the anointing of the sick that fittingly happened at Ascension Parish's Masses this weekend.  We see God's working us to comfort us in ailments, which gives us a foretaste of the Glory in Heaven, where there will be no more sickness or ailments, and all will be made whole.

October 2, 2016: 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

There's a lot pressing in on us in this world, enough to make us despair.  But in faith, we turn to God, even crying out to Him to save us.  Father Hurlbert noted in his homily that crying out to God is enough to demonstrate that we have faith that we can be rescued.  And so it becomes not about increasing in the amount of faith we have, but increasing in our ability to use it.

We know He has given us a "Spirit of power, love, and self-control", as in the words of St. Paul, so that we can keep strong in faith, being good stewards of it by living it out, so that we may have the abundant Life God desires us to have now, unto Eternity.  So we live our faith ultimately not for our own, but to serve and glorify God.