Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

My parents recently completed some interior renovation work on their home. The house I grew up in looks very different as a result. As the renovation began, walls came down, floors were torn up, ceilings replaced. For a few months, my folks had no kitchen and could barely use the first floor. Along the way, they discovered places where insulation should have been, but had been missing for decades (explaining why one particular room always felt colder than others), a car exhaust pipe that had been rigged by a plumber to serve as a water pipe in a wall, and many other interesting things. They “suffered” through the construction (only in America could we call voluntary home renovation suffering), and the house looks great today.

In the Gospel Jesus tells us to remove the beam from our own eye if we want to help our brothers and sisters take the splinters out of their eyes. The truth is that the removal of a beam is no easy process, and it certainly is not without labor, pain, and adjustment. When we remove the beam from our own eyes, what will we find? We may find that insulation is missing – that something in our spiritual lives is lacking, that our moral life leaves something to be desired, that we need to do something to fix our relationship with the Lord. We may find that something is in a place it doesn’t belong, like an exhaust-pipe-turned-plumbing-apparatus. These are our mislabeled priorities, our assumptions, the false idols that take the place of God in our lives, whether it be work, power, money, addiction, or any other in a long list of vices and sins. Jesus challenges us to remove it. We will have to suffer when we do this because change is hard. Conversion of life and heart is a challenge because we must let go of what makes us most comfortable, what we have always done. Worst of all, we have to acknowledge that what we were doing or the way we were living was inadequate.

As I write this, I see the appointment on my calendar for my meeting with my spiritual director later this week. It is a chance for me to remove the beam from my eye, by seeking his counsel and guidance in my spiritual life, and by celebrating the sacrament of confession. As we prepare to begin the holy season of Lent, I encourage you to remove the beam from your eye, too. Go to confession! What a gift to have God’s mercy so abundantly available!

If the point of home renovation was to make a mess and deprive a family of part of their house, no one would do it. Likewise, if the point of the beam removal commanded by Jesus was just to cause us guilt and spiritual pain, we would never remove those beams. But of course that’s not the point. Rather, Jesus tells us that once we have removed the beam, we will be able to see clearly, and seeing clearly, we will be able to help our neighbor remove the splinter from their eye. We are called to help others reform their lives, too. The call to discipleship never stops at the individual, but sends the disciple out on a mission to others, to build up a community of believers, a community of saints.

While we seek to be a community of saints, we are painfully aware that we are also a community of sinners. Even sinners, though, can recognize sin when they see it. As we look at the scandals plaguing our Church, may today’s Gospel message resound for us. Yes, we must remove the beams from our own eyes. Having done so, Jesus asks us to help remove the splinters from the eyes of others, or, in this case, from the Church. That removal will be painful – we are going to hear and see things that shock and hurt. We have learned that this scandal includes the abuse of minors, abuse by priests or bishops in a position of authority, consensual relationships of a homo or heterosexual nature, and more. The transparency necessary to eradicate the scourge of sexual abuse and misconduct will be agonizing, but cannot be delayed. In addition to transparency and accountability, a whole-hearted recommitment to the promise of celibacy and the virtue of chastity is necessary for every priest and bishop. Just as infidelity in marriage wounds deeply, so infidelity to celibacy wounds the whole community of the Church, never more than in those situations when the word “infidelity” fails utterly to describe the horror of abuse or assault. This is a moment when all of us, priests and laity alike, can say firmly “Enough. We are taking the beam out of our eye, we see the splinter that is destroying our Church, and we will not rest until it is taken out.”

Peace

Fr. Sam

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Jesus is an extremist. Unfortunately, our modern civilized ears hear a statement like that and immediately become offended, though we can’t quite name the reason for offense. Extremism conjures images of violence inspired by hatred. But in the person of Jesus Christ, we find an extremist of an entirely different kind. Jesus not only exhorts His followers to an extreme life of holiness, piety, virtue, mercy and justice, but also demonstrates by His own Passion on the Cross the full meaning of the extremism of His teachings.

There are no half measures with Jesus Christ. What He says in the Gospel today, He really means. Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, turn the other cheek and so on. These are not easy platitudes! On the contrary, these are radical propositions for living a life entirely different than the world around us, even, it would seem, a life contrary to every natural instinct we possess. This extreme way of living love for God and neighbor leads to the next part of what Jesus teaches. “Stop judging and you will not be judged.” How easily we pull this one line and read it as justification for never calling a sin a sin, or refusing to correct someone for their immoral behavior. But Jesus teaches this in a big context: we can only stop judging if we first love our enemies and do good to those who hate us, if we have first turned the other cheek. If we continue reading the Gospel, we see that Jesus immediately teaches us to forgive and give generously. There is more to being a disciple of Jesus Christ than simply not judging. That particular teaching of our Lord follows from and leads to so much more!

What would happen if we, as individuals, as a parish, as a Church, became extremists according to the image of Jesus Christ? What if I took Jesus at His word and truly sought to live holiness and virtue as Jesus asks? There are no half measures with Jesus, and so there should be no half measures for any of us when it comes to living these virtues in pursuit of holiness! Too often, though, in the life of the Church, we have come to  accept half measures. If we reduce everything to “don’t judge” there is no moral force to anything we say or do because the supreme virtue becomes silence about virtue and morality. If we are silent about virtue and morality, moral license creeps in. What then? Moral scandal! Think of the horror of scandal and crime we have seen in the Church since 2002, and highlighted once again in the summer of 2018 and this past week in the laicization of former-Cardinal McCarrick. But if we call it scandal and crime are we violating Jesus’ teaching not to judge? Of course not! I cannot judge the souls of others, but I can say that their behavior and action is wrong, sinful, horrific. Where does this scandal come from? The root of this lies in our collective failure as a Church to heroically live the extremism Jesus calls for! Be an extremist for virtue! Be an extremist for holiness! Be an extremist for love of God and neighbor! If we follow Jesus as He asks, we will uproot every scandal and sin that plagues our Church and our community, and our own lives will be transformed into living testimonies of the love and mercy of God.

Remember this, too: Jesus calls us to an extreme life of love and virtue, this is true. But as I wrote a few weeks ago, perfection is not a prerequisite. The call to this extreme way of living is meant to help us grow in perfection, to be more perfect, more loving, more virtuous, more holy. The reason we follow Jesus Christ as disciples is precisely because we want to live like Him. The reason we need Jesus Christ, especially in the sacraments, is because we live like Him only imperfectly while on earth, but we hope to live in perfect unity with Him forever in Heaven. Jesus is an extremist and He calls us to the same radical life of love and holiness.

Peace

Fr. Sam

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I am away this weekend on a fact-finding mission to examine the palms we will use for Passion Sunday at the end of Lent. It is hard work, but someone has to do it. In my absence, I know that you are well cared for by Fr. Tim and our parish staff!

Though we still have a few weeks, I would like to plant a seed in your minds and hearts regarding the great and holy season of Lent. During these forty days, the Church invites us to a time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, spiritual tools meant to help us prepare for the Paschal mystery of our faith. There can often be an overemphasis on fasting—what are you giving up?—that leads to the neglect of prayer and almsgiving. At the same time, in recent years, there is a tendency to say things like “You can give something up or you can do something.” But the Church’s wisdom handed down through the centuries has never suggested that the Lenten discipline is an “or” proposition. On the contrary, it is all about and. A successful Lenten season is built on the strong foundation of all three disciplines—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

It is easy enough to come up with a sacrifice of food or drink that we will undertake. It can be much harder to think through ways we can give alms, serve the poor, or engage in regular works of charity. Likewise, it can be challenging to increase our prayer…we start a devotion or prayer practice, but then schedules get in the way, we forget, and soon we have unintentionally given up the commitment to deeper prayer. Still, the Church proposes all three as pillars of a healthy and fruitful Lenten season.

As we prepare for Lent, then, I would like to suggest a few things. First, let us remove “or” from our Lenten preparations. Instead, let us embrace “and,” aware that prayer, fasting, and almsgiving all contribute to the fruitfulness of the season. Second, don’t worry about failing. The whole purpose of the Lenten disciplines is to help us practice and get better. When practicing, we are bound to fail, but that’s the whole point…failure teaches us how to succeed, how to learn from our mistakes, how to do better next time. Third, even though we can’t worry about failing in the Lenten discipline, we can make plans. Ash Wednesday is March 6, meaning we have about two weeks to carefully consider how we will live out the holy season of Lent, two weeks in which we can examine our own hearts and consciences, two weeks in which to lay out a spiritual road map for the forty days of Lent. Reflect on the ways in which you need to grow in your relationship with God, virtues you need to shore up. Invite the Holy Spirit to enlighten you, to help you hear the voice of God, to listen for the ways Jesus is asking you to follow Him and grow in holiness.

Peace,

Fr. Sam

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Perfection is not a prerequisite. “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man,” says the first pope, St. Peter, in today’s Gospel. The prophet Isaiah proclaims himself a “man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips,” while St. Paul describes his being called “last of all” to serve and preach the Gospel. At no time does the Lord require our perfection as prerequisite for calling us to serve.

This radical method is entirely contrary to our first instinct, to successful business best practices, to almost everything we would anticipate. Under any ordinary circumstance, we seek out the most qualified candidates. We hide our flaws and share the best part of our resumes. On social media, only our best photos are shared, and if ever we share a bad photo, it comes with a caption meant to inspire. In so many areas of our lives, perfection is a prerequisite, though it is virtually impossible to attain. In society, we expect perfection from public figures such that when one fails, we virtually erase them from our collective memory. How often we find ourselves paralyzed by our own imperfections, wishing we could make a difference while convinced that our flaws, sins, or failures are an insurmountable obstacle.

God never sees it that way. He chooses Isaiah even though he is imperfect. He chooses Paul who once persecuted His Church! Jesus chooses the simple fisherman Peter, a sinful man, and gives a great mission. When God calls us it is not because of our qualifications but rather because of what He desires to do in and through our lives. The simple fact is that God has created each of us with some purpose in mind and He sends us out into the world to accomplish it, to bring His light to the world. We are all entrusted with a mission to share the story of His love and mercy. When we look at our lives and fear that our flaws take away our ability to be witnesses, we need to be reminded that Paul was the greatest of sinners, Peter begged Jesus to depart from him, Isaiah did not believe himself to be capable…yet they all allowed God to work in their hearts and so bring His message to the world. The Lord desires to do the same in you. What is more, when we allow God to call us in spite of our imperfection, He begins the merciful labor of bringing us closer to perfection. When we say yes to the Lord who calls, He makes us more than we could ask or imagine. That Isaiah, Paul, and Peter became such effective witnesses says nothing about their goodness, but rather demonstrates the greatness, mercy, and glory of our Heavenly Father who wills to do so much through the weak vessels that we are!

A family in our parish recently suffered a terrible tragedy. Last Sunday, they attended Mass. Throughout the liturgy, they struggled to hold their emotions in. As Mass ended, a woman seated behind them, not knowing anything of the reason for their great sorrow but sensing that they were in pain, tapped them on the shoulder to offer a hug. It was a simple gesture that brought great comfort to a family in need. This woman was attentive to God at work in her own heart. Her imperfect knowledge of the situation, the New England instinct to keep a respectful distance, and the natural social hesitation to approach total strangers served as no obstacle to what Jesus wanted to accomplish in that moment. For it was there, in the back pews of St. Pius X Church, that Jesus wanted to show what can happen when we say yes to Him. Her “yes” helped a family continue on, and reminded them that they are part of a parish family that loves them. The truth is that every day we are presented with similar invitations and opportunities – people in need who we can serve, a prompting from Christ in prayer that we can answer. He does not prompt us because we are perfect, nor does he give us these opportunities because of our skills. Rather, our God chooses to be glorified in our humble works. Never be afraid to place your gifts and talents, your imperfections and flaws, at the service of our Lord, for through them He is calling you to be part of His eternal work of love. Perfection is not a prerequisite.

Peace,

Fr. Sam

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The readings from Scripture this weekend present some powerful ideas. The prophet Jeremiah is called from the womb to be a witness to the nations and to preach without fear, even when powers stand against him. St. Paul speaks of the fundamental need for the virtue of charity in all things – we can have any number of gifts or talents, but without love, we are nothing. Jesus passes through the midst of the mob and goes away when they want to kill him for speaking truthfully about their history.

We live in an era that desperately needs courage and truth. As Jeremiah was called from the womb to be a witness to the truth and to courageously bring God’s presence to his people, so the Church is called to witness the truth of the Gospel in every time and place. In a world that so often rejects the truth of the Gospel – or selects the parts of the Gospel that are most palatable and least challenging – it can be difficult to share the Gospel in a meaningful, integrated way. This is made harder when leaders in the Church struggle with courage themselves. Too often we see bishops trying to pacify everyone…and in the end saying (or doing) nothing. Too often the Church has remained silent, or insisted on silence, when what we need is the thundering voice of Jeremiah to speak the truth and bring the nation to conversion.

This is not just about the Church at the macro level. This is not an accusative finger pointed just at bishops. This is not a limited critique of a few priests. To write any of this, I must hold a mirror up to myself. How often I lack courage to say challenging things because I do not relish the negative feedback it might generate. How often I avoid certain situations because they are uncomfortable. How often I run from speaking frankly with brother priests or Diocesan offices because I am worried about my reputation or making waves. Jeremiah, known by God even before the womb, sent as a prophet to the nations, called to courageous speech no matter the opposition, must be part of the inspiration for every priest.

St. Paul’s law of charity is the complement to courage. Charity, love given and poured out unconditionally, must speak to courage. For a bishop to privately (or, if necessary, publicly) correct a Catholic politician who has supported legislation contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church (as ought to happen with Gov. Cuomo and the bishops of New York) is not only an act of courage, but an act of charity. To truly love someone is to will the absolute best for them, the ultimate good. The ultimate good is eternal salvation and our words and actions in this life can impede our progress toward heaven. It is the role of bishops to courageously and charitably guide us to our ultimate good. It is a spiritual work of mercy to correct the sinner. It is a demand of justice to protect the innocent, to help victims heal. Do our bishops have the courage and charity to correct, protect, and heal? Do I? Do you?

In a world that needs courage, charity, and truth, we are all called – every baptized person – to proclaim the truth, to be fearless in the face of opposition, to do all things with the love of Christ as our measure, and to trust that God will deliver us from every evil. Let us pray this week that as a Church, locally and universally, we would have the courage of Jeremiah and the charity of Paul so that we can bring the name, grace, and salvation of Jesus Christ into our world.

Peace,

Fr. Sam