One topic I have found myself discussing a lot recently is marriage. Marriage is one of the seven sacraments, but it is actually the only one to predate (in a sense) the ministry of Jesus. It goes all the way back to the beginning, when in Gen. 2:24 we are told: “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.” But in John 2, at the Wedding at Cana, Jesus’ changing of water into wine is meant to signify his taking marriage (something already present and good in itself) and changes it into something new and of the highest quality, a sacrament. 

We know that Jesus’ mission is to call us to repentance and conversion, to save us from

our sin. But what is the means by which we receive that salvation? Is it just through faith, belief?

Or is there something more? The Bible is actually quite clear.

In Matthew 28, Jesus tells the Apostles to go out and make disciples of all nations

through baptism and teaching them His commandments. In John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that

whoever is not born of water and Spirit cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. This and many

other passages tells us that baptism is the means of being initially brought into that salvation

from sin.

In the first few months of my priesthood, I had virtually the same experience with three different people on three different occasions. The first was when I went to the hospital to visit a patient there who turned out to be a lifelong Protestant and, while I was there, I half-jokingly suggested that if he should want to come into the Church, I could make that happen. The second was, upon hearing about this, another parishioner came to visit me and told me that that was essentially how she had come into the Church herself: through a simple invitation. Later that day, I came across an article on Facebook suggesting that, as modern evangelizers, the goal should be to invite people rather than try to outright persuade them of the truth.

This weekend is Priesthood Sunday. So let’s ask the question: what is a priest? From a sacramental perspective, a priest is a living sacrament where the man is united to Jesus in a unique way. When the priest acts as priest (celebrating Mass, hearing confessions, etc.), he acts “in persona Christi” or “in the person of Christ.” This means that in the Mass or in the confessional, it is not Fr. So-and-so who is praying or speaking, it is Jesus Himself. Every sacrament serves as a sign pointing to some higher, spiritual reality; the priest is a living sacrament in that he serves as the sign of Jesus’ presence within the Church. 

Often times with these reflections, I try to offer something people have not come across before. Sometimes, though, it is good to go back to the basics. With that in mind, let’s look at some basics about receiving Communion.

Often times, when I am teaching the Mass, I will start by asking the person to define the word sacred. Almost every time, I get the response “holy” or “blessed.” These are not necessarily wrong but they are too broad. A rosary is holy and blessed, but a rosary is not sacred. All sacred items are holy but not all holy items are sacred. Instead, for something to be sacred, it means that that item is reserved specifically for the purpose of worship. 

During Confirmation prep, many of us probably had to memorize the list of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts are what we receive from the Holy Spirit who is poured out in full into our hearts in the sacrament of Confirmation. But how many of us know what each individual gift is, what they do for us? Well, St. Thomas Aquinas gives us the answer:

This past week, the Church celebrated the feast of St. Monica. For those who may not be familiar with Monica, she is the mother of St. Augustine. Augustine walked away from the Faith at a young age, and he spent many years devoted to a pseudo-religion called Manichaeism. Monica was distraught at her son’s turning away from Christ, and spent all of those years in prayer, offering even her tears for her son’s conversion. Eventually, as Augustine himself puts it, “[God] flashed and shone, and broke through [his] blindness;” God got through to Augustine and led him back to the Faith. Both Augustine and the Church attribute her prayers as one of the chief influences that eventually brought him to the Faith, even if in a behind-the-scenes manner.

One question that comes up in discussions between Catholics and Protestants is: “Why do you Catholics worship statues?” Whether it is a crucifix or a statue of Mary or another saint, the question seems to be the same across the board. To back this argument, they will often cite a portion of the First Commandment that forbids the making of statues and other images. So are we actually breaking the First Commandment by having statues in our churches?

There are some topics of the Faith which, for one reason or another, few ever seem to talk about. The Anointing of the Sick is one such topic, and even though I have talked about it a lot in recent years, it continues to be misunderstood or forgotten. So let’s review.

A couple of years ago, I helped lead a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Naturally, one of our stops was the Mount of the Transfiguration. A church was built on this holy site that is meant to reflect the beauty and splendor of that moment. It is uniquely built facing north-south, rather than east-west. This is so that the sunlight can enter the church fully and illuminate the mosaics and other artwork throughout the interior. Centermost of these mosaics is a mosaic depicting the Transfiguration as well, which is positioned perfectly to catch the sun at certain times of day. At those times of day, Jesus’ body in the picture shines just as brilliantly as it did in that moment!

As you may have noticed, some of the parts of Phase 2 have begun in the last couple of weeks. Here is the latest update on the timetable for Phase 2 of our Restoration Project:

Have you ever heard the voice of God? What did it sound like? Often times, when we think of prayer, we think of it just in terms of talking at God: praying devotional prayers like the rosary or novenas, telling God what we need or what we want, etc. But when you read through the saints and their prayer lives, or when you look through the stories of people coming to Jesus with various needs, you see that it is more conversational than that. We talk to God, but how often do we actually listen?

Today we hear a rather famous and also heavily debated passage from the Gospel. Martha is busy serving at table while her sister Mary is listening attentively to Jesus teaching. Martha complains to Jesus about Mary not helping, and Jesus responds that Mary has chosen the better part and that it would not be taken from her. 

A priest one time had a wedding and was invited to the reception afterward. For once, he actually had time to go to the reception so he accepted the invitation. While there, a guy sat next to him who clearly had a myriad of questions he wanted to ask. He started by asking the priest, “Father, if you could have preached the wedding at Cana, what would you have said?” The priest responded by saying, “Well, that would be tough as Mary actually gave the perfect homily and it would be hard to follow that.” The man asked, “What do you mean?” The priest quoted Mary, “Do whatever He tells you.” The man didn’t ask any more questions after that.

One phrase I have been hearing tossed around more and more over the last few years is “my truth.” I keep hearing people say things like, “I need to speak my truth,” or, “That person is speaking their truth.” I have even had discussions with people who outright deny that there is anything true; everything is subjective (up to me to decide), there is no objective truth. However you phrase it, the debate comes down to a simple question, one that was famously asked 2000 years ago: What is truth? (see Pontius Pilate)

A couple of weeks ago, we had a parish town hall to present the plan for what will be accomplished in Phase 2 of our Restoration Project. For the benefit of those who were not able to join for it, I wanted to be sure everyone had a chance to find out what we will be doing. Phase 2 will basically be accomplishing those parts of the restoration that could not be accomplished in Phase 1 for one reason or another.

Unless you have been to a weekday Mass here, you may not have had a chance to see our sanctuary gates. If you do get the chance, you will see that they are each decorated with a bird. Most people immediately think the bird is an eagle, but the second you look more closely, you will see that this is not the case. The bird’s neck is too long to be an eagle. It is actually a pelican. 

Earlier this week, we celebrated the Feast of Mary, Mother of the Church. This may seem like an odd title for Mary: how can she be mother of an organization? The first thing that this title calls us to remember is that the Church is more than a mere organization. The Church is not some non-governmental organization or charity group; the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ. Just as the human body is compiled of many individual cells united together by a single soul, so too the Church is compiled of many individual persons united together by the one Holy Spirit and united to Jesus Christ her Head. What is it that Mary gave birth to? Jesus. Therefore, Mary is the mother of the Church Universal. 

This weekend, the Church celebrates the great solemnity of Pentecost. This feast is traditionally held to be the birthday of the Church inasmuch as the Holy Spirit is poured out onto the disciples. Just as God breathed the Spirit into Adam to bring him to life, so now God sends forth the Spirit into the Church (the gathered disciples) to bring her to life!