Humility...true greatness

Recently we celebrated the feast day of St. Joseph. A descendant of David and husband of Mary, Joseph was chosen by God as the trustworthy guardian, protector and foster-father of our Savior, Jesus.

Scripture says little about Joseph. We remember the story in Matthew's gospel of how Joseph was instructed by an angel to take Mary as his wife, that the child she carried was the Messiah and had been conceived by the Holy Spirit. Later, an angel warns Joseph to take his wife and child and flee to Egypt to avoid the wrath of Herod. Both texts reveal Joseph's obedience to God and his great devotion to Mary and Jesus. But of the other events in his life we know little....he lived the simple life of a carpenter in Nazareth.
Joseph provides us with an example to follow. Of obedience to God's will. Of courage in the midst of difficulty. Of a simple life lived faithfully. Of profound humility. Though he remained in the background, his life resounds through the centuries in the glory of the Church he helped nurture. For in nurturing Christ, he nurtured His Body, the Church - you and me.

Another humble follower of Christ is Saint Andre Bessette, the first Canadian born male saint and a man who emulated Saint Joseph througout his life.

Born in Quebec in 1845 and the ninth of thirteen children, Andre was sick throughout much of his early years and then lost his parents to early deaths. Moving in with his aunt and uncle, Andre joined the Congregation of the Holy Cross in Montreal. Given his lack of formal education he was assigned to the role of doorman for the college. As a doorman, Brother Andre often received visitors, including many sick people seeking solace and help. Andre began praying for each one, anointing them with holy oil and asking Saint Joseph for his special intercession on their behalf. As word spread of the miraculous healings that occurred, more and more visitors began coming - as many as 300 a day. The healings continued as well.

Brother Andre always attributed the healings to Christ, shunning any recognition or notariety for himself. He refused to be photographed or interviewed and spent the rest of his life at the Congregation, serving at various times as a nurse, barber, caretaker and gravedigger. He died in 1937 at the age of 92. He was beatified in 1982 and canonized earlier this year.

In today's society we are encouraged to seek the limelight, to draw attention to ourselves. Saints Joseph and Andre however, focused their lives on Christ, not themselves. They lived humbly, simply, obediently, prayerfully. And in doing so, both were used by Christ to build up His Body, the Church.

May both of these men inspire us this Lent to reorder our lives. To live lives that resemble theirs: lives that are humble, simple, obedient, prayerful. History likely will not record the events of our lives either. But, through baptism, we, like Joseph and Andre have been called by God to be guardians and protectors of Christ's Body, the Church. Can you imagine a greater calling than that?!

Now go be a saint!

Wow, you've changed!

Earlier this month, the Church celebrated the feast of theTransfiguration, commemorating that special mountain top experience when Peter, James and John saw Jesus "transfigured" before them, his face shining like the sun and his clothes white as light. (Matthew 17:2).

Not only were they seeing a glimpse of their Lord in his glorified deity, the three disciples also were seeing a glimpse of their own future sharing in His glory! And ours too! In the book of Revelation, chapter 21: 22-23, we read John's account of our heavenly home: "I saw no temple in the city, for its temple was the Lord God almighty and the Lamb. The city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb." Wow - what a future awaits us!

But this transfiguration that awaits us is not meant only for our heavenly life. No, in this life too we are to allow Christ to change us more and more into His likeness. We call it sanctification. In the verses immediately preceding Matthew's account of the Transfiguration, we read Jesus' charge to his disciples: "whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it....for the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct..." (Matthew 16:24-25, 27).

The Transfiguration is all about change - our change once we're in heaven and our change NOW! Father Peter John Cameron writes that the Transfiguration is a gift of hope to all followers of Christ - that we can change. And often it is through the most wounded part of us, the part that we think we never will be able to overcome, it is through that gateway that we experience our own earthly transfiguration. For it is in our woundedness that Christ meets us, changing us not through our own strength but precisely through our weakness - more and more into His likeness... into His glory.

Do you remember the story of Father Damien? Born to a Flemish merchant and his wife, Father Damien felt a call to missionary life and in 1864 was sent by his religious order to Hawaii to minister on the main island of Oahu.

But he soon became aware of the tragic plight of a growing group of Hawaiians who were afflicted with numerous diseases brought to their islands by the merchants and sailors coming into their ports: syphillis, influenza, and worst of all, leprosy. To avoid the spread of that dreaded disease, the king of Hawaii ordered that all lepers be quarantined to the small remote island of Molokai, there to live out their earthly life in sickness, fear and poverty. Damien immediately asked his bishop if he could transfer to that island to tend to the spiritual and physical needs of the lepers - a sure fire death sentence. His wish was granted.

Damien arrived at the secluded settlement of Kalaupapa where 600 lepers lived. His first step was to build a church so that the people there could begin to worship again. But his daily life went well beyond priestly duties. He dressed the sores of the sick, helped them build their homes and beds, and even built their coffins and dug their graves. He grew to love these people and they grew to love him.

What at first was a morally deprived lawless colony of death was changed under Father Damine's leadership into a colony of life as grass shacks became painted houses and flourishing farms were organized and run. He restored faith and beauty to his flock and showed them that despite what the outside world told them, they were valuable. He restored their dignity and reminded them of God's love for them.

On a cold December evening in 1884, Damien soaked his feet in boiling water and noticed that he felt nothing. Self diagnosing that he now too had leprosy, he thanked God for allowing him to become like the people he loved - and he pushed himself even harder to build and organize his little community so that his parishioners could fend for themselves after his death.

Three years later, disfigured terribly, but loved immensely, Father Damien passed from this life to the next. Over 100 years later he was beatified by Pope John Paul II and canonized by Pope Benedict. For in giving up his own life for love of Christ and love of others, Father Damien had experienced his own earthly transfiguration. Through self giving love he had been changed into the beautiful man that you see in this picture. In fact, he had changed so much that he looked like... Jesus.

Can the world say the same of you and me - that we've changed, that we look like - well, like Jesus? If not, it's not too late - the island of Molakai is all around us with people that need our love and our care. In loving them, we will look less and like our old selves and more and more like Jesus.

Wow, you've changed...

Are You Irresistible?

Paul Schoonover, a buddy and a great brother-in-Christ, shared with me recently a sermon series entitled "The Irresistible Church" that is being preached by Rich Nathan of the Vineyard Church. Using the book of Acts, the series is examining the early Church which, filled with the Holy Spirit, exercised an influence that was irresistible. In other words, the signs and wonders performed by the apostles and the transformed nature of the newly baptized believers was so compelling that the Church began transforming the culture around it - despite considerable opposition and persecution. And among the most visible signs of the Church's influence was its care for the poor.

It prompted Paul and me to wonder if the Church twenty centuries later is irresistible to the rest of the world? Are we (the Church) transforming the culture around us - despite opposition and persecution? And is our care for the poor one of the most visible signs of our influence?

Monsignor Nelson Baker, Servant of God, (1841-1936) certainly was irresistible. Known in his hometown of Buffalo, NY as the "Apostle of Charity", Monsignor Baker came to the priesthood late, after first serving in the Union army during the Civil War and then running a successful grain and feed business.

He focused his ministry on the poor and abandoned, and built what later became known as a "city of charity" to serve the sick and orphans. These works of charity grew to include a home for unwed mothers and their infants when the local dredging of the Erie Canal produced thousands of baby skeletons, the result of abortions. He also opened trade schools to educate orphan boys in virtue and responsibility.

With so many programs in place to serve the needs of the poor, Monsignor Baker undertook one last building project late in his life - the Basilica of Our Lady of Victory - as a special tribute to the Blessed
Mother for the many intercessory prayers he sought from her throughout his decades of ministry.

Monsignor Baker's programs are estimated to have served close to two million people during the Great Depression. He died penniless on today's date (July 29th), 1936, at the age of 94 in a room of a hospital he had built for the poor. More than 300,000 people attended his funeral.

Now there's a life that was irresistible - one that transformed culture. It's a life for which we can thank God. And it's a life we can strive to emulate.

Now go be a saint - an irresistible saint!

"Saint" Woody and Blessed Kateri

I took my family to see Toy Story 3 the other day. If you haven't seen it yet, go.



I'm a real fan of Woody. Woody knows who he is but more importantly he knows whose he is. And he is quick to remind all his other toy friends whose they are as well. He does that by holding up his foot and showing the other toys the bottom of his boot - where it says, "Andy". And with that single action, the other toys are reminded of something very special - that they, like Woody, belong to someone.

You have the name of someone written on you as well. His name is Jesus and I can see His name on you...look, right there it is, on your forehead...Jesus...written with water...at your baptism.


Sometimes we need to be reminded of whose we are. Woody does that for his fellow toys. Saints do that for us. With their lives they remind us of whose they are and whose we are.

For those of you who've seen Toy Story 3, did you notice how Woody's goal was to keep his friends together and get them back home to Andy? Their journey wasn't easy. Woody's family of toys faced a formidable foe, Lotso the bear, who tempted them with promises of a beautiful home at Sunnyside. But Woody knew that their real home was with Andy and nothing could replace that.


Saints do that in our lives. Whether already in heaven or still on earth, saints - by their words and by their lives - help keep us together and on our way home...to heaven...to Jesus.


Later this week, we will celebrate the life of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American declared "Blessed" by the Church. Kateri was born in 1656 near the town of Auriesville, New York, the daughter of a Mohawk warrior. She was baptized by a Jesuit missionary at the age of 20 and devoted the rest of her life to Christ through her love of the Eucharist, through prayer and through the care of the sick and aged in Caughnawaga near Montreal. Called the Lily of the Mohawks, she incurred the hostility of her own tribe because of her faith. She died in 1680. Through her obedience to God's call, she has inspired many young men and women to follow Christ, even when following Him may lead them away from familiar surroundings.

St. Paul wrote: "Whatever gains I had, these I consider a loss because of Christ. More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For this sake, I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God, depending on faith to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the sharing of His sufferings by being conformed to His death." (Philippians 3: 7-10).

Go see Toy Story 3. And when you do, think of all the saints, that have led people back to the One they belong to.

And now go be a saint!

Love of Country....and "More"

As we celebrate the 4th of July this weekend, we remember with thanksgiving the many blessings God has bestowed upon this nation. We think of the freedoms we enjoy - freedoms that Americans have been willing to fight for....freedoms that Americans have been willing to die for. Their great sacrifice begs the question...just what are you and I willing to die for?

Earlier this week we celebrated the feast day of Sir Thomas More, a man willing to die, but for a cause greater even than love of country. Born in England in 1477, More was educated at Oxford. A devout Christian, he initially considered a vocation to the priesthood or a monastic life. But the Lord led him into politics - beginning with his election to Parliament in 1501 and rising in time to the position of Chancellor. His devotion to England and the King were known throughout the land but when King Henry VIII divorced his wife and married Ann Boleyn - in strict defiance of the Catholic Church - More refused to approve the marriage. Pitted against his beloved King, Henry ordered him to prison and sentenced him to die unless he recanted.

But his love for Christ and His Church was far greater love than his love for his country; More was ready for this test. For years he had awakened each morning at 2:00 a.m. to pray for four hours before beginning his day. He attended Mass daily and was known throughout the country as a man of integrity, faith and devotion - first to God, then to his family, then to his king.

With a strong personal faith in his savior, Jesus Christ, More knew he would not recant. Instead, he used his final weeks in prison writing love letters to his wife and children, urging them to reamain steadfast in their faith. Tried and found guilty of treason, the Chancellor of England, Sir Thomas More, was beheaded. He was 58 years old.

Named a saint of the Church in 1935, Thomas More is a vivid reminder that true love of country is best expressed by love of Christ. As we follow His commandments, instituted by His Church, we embrace what is best for our nation.

As in More's day, the sacredness of marriage and family life is under attack in our culture as well. A rampant divorce rate, the legalization of so-called "same sex marriage" and the legal right to abortion all tear at the very fabric of our society and at life itself. More made his view clear - he stood with Christ and His Church in defending marriage, the family and life. How about you and me - as Christians, are we strong enough to stand with Christ and His Church on these issues? We can be if we prepare ourselves for the battle - through prayer and the Sacraments.

As all of us celebrate this 4th of July, let's remember that we have an even higher calling than love of country...love of Christ and fidelity to Christ.

And now go be a saint!

Calling All Dads...

Attention all dads...

As you open your cards this weekend and ooh and aah over the new grilling tongs you just received or the omelet and bacon your kids just made and brought to you in bed, remember to thank God for making you a father. That's right - while our families are thanking us for being great dads, we need to thank God for calling us to be fathers.

What an awesome vocation we have - that of fathers. Just what is a father? Remember in the Old Testament how we read that Abraham begat Isaac and Issac begat Jacob and Jacob begat Joseph and all his brothers. What is the essence of all that "begatting!?" Yes, at a very basic level, it's to bring forth life - and that is a miraculous thing to be sure.

But to be a Christian father is much more than having and raising children. No to be a Christian father is to lead our children in their journey towards God; to help them know Him, love Him and serve Him in this life so that they might enjoy Him - not only in this life - but in the eternal life to come. And that my brothers in fatherhood, is an incredible task.

For to be successful in that task, our fatherhood must resemble the very fatherhood of God, the true Father. And when we ask Christ to "show us the Father", so that we can resemble Him, He responds by reminding us that when we have seen Him, we have seen the Father.

Now the rubber is hitting the road. Does your and my fathering resemble Christ?! In our fathering and in our husbanding, do we show the same sacrificial love that Christ showed when on earth? The same kind of self-giving that He gave to the Church?

If the answers is no, and surely that is the answer for all of us, we need not despair. For the very essence of fatherhood, that of leading our children on a journey towards God, means that we are on that same journey towards God too. And when one is on a journey, it is never too late to change direction. In the Christian faith, to change direction is to repent.

We change direction by acknowledging our desire to be more Christlike while also admitting how far we fall short. For Catholic dads, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is the perfect first step to take in that regard.

We then strive to resemble Christ by inviting Christ into our life in a new and deeper way. A renewed commitment to Eucharist and to prayer is essential in this regard. A new commitment to time with Christ and time with our family also will be key. Our calendars will reflect the depth and quality of our change in direction so let's be rigorously honest with ourselves - otherwise we'll find ourselves back on the same road we were on.

Remember that we can gain much from example of those who have gone before us. A great Father's Day saint to reflect on is Blessed Franz Jaegerstaetter (1907-1943), who was beatified by Pope Benedict in 2007. A father of two daughters, Jaegerstaetter refused to fight as a solider for the Third Reich. For this decision, he was judged and condemned to death. While in prison, he was pressured by his friends and family to yield to the Nazis. Did not his children need a father? Was it not necessary for him to save his life,in order to raise them up? Jaegerstaetter refused to give in however, believing that his daughters needed above all a father who was a witness to faith, a father who would remind them always that there is a path to follow beyond oneself. And while he died for that stand, his daughters in fact grew up with his fatherly presence - that is, in the memory of someone who pointed out to them the way to God. In this way, Jaegerstaetter experienced in fullness what true Fatherhood was all about.

Becoming a father is not all that hard. But being a father who reflects the true Father - and who leads our children in their journey toward God, now that is a vocation that will consume us dads for the rest of our earthly lives. It is Christ who we must resemble - let's get busy.

Now go be a saint!

Celebrating The Sacred Heart of Jesus

On June 11 the Catholic Church celebrates the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Many Protestants and even many Catholics may not understand the meaning of this special devotion.

Simply put, the reference to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a reference to His incredible mercy, revealed to the world in His passion, death and resurrection. Speaking on this subject two years ago, Pope Benedict said, "In biblical language, heart indicates the center of the person where his sentiments and intentions dwell. In the Heart of the Redeemer we adore God's love for humanity, His will for universal salvation, and His infinite mercy. Practicing devotion to the Sacred Heart of Christ therefore means adoring that Heart, which, after having loved us to the end, was pierced by a spear and from high on the cross poured out blood and water, an inexhaustible source of new life."

How much our modern world needs to understand the very heart of Christ...His deepest longing is that we discover how much He loves us and that we respond to that love with our love. Over the centuries many popes have reminded humanity that without Christ as Lord, life has no real meaning - man merely gropes in the dark to find himself. Pope John Paul II introduced the Church into its third millennium with a mandate to become "Apostles of Divine Mercy" and Pope Benedict constantly reminds us of the necessity of discovering the merciful heart of Christ who reveals Himself to us if we open ourselves to Him.
Central to receiving Christ is receiving Him in Eucharist, where He is present - body, blood, soul and divinity. Sadly, Protestantism long ago broke with the Church on this essential truth.

Remember that biblical support for Christ's presence in the Eucharist is widespread in both the Old and New Testament. Certainly John 6: 48-59 is a central passage in understanding this early teaching of the Church:

"I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh...Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them...This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever."

Six times, Christ states that we must "eat his flesh" - the Greek word that is used four of those six times is a very graphic word that means to chew - it is never used elsewhere in scripture symbolically. In fact, a few verses later, you can read that some followers found Jesus' words on this subject so difficult that they chose not to follow Him. Christ could have restated His words at that point so that they would stay. But He did not.

Or consider Paul's admonition in 1st Corinthians 11: "Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord easts and drinks judgment on himself." Clearly, Paul is charging the church at Corinth to recognize the bread for what it truly is.

Read especially 1st Corinthians 11: 24-25: "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." The word re-member actually means to re-constitute something - our culture has lost that meaning to a more general concept of thinking about a past event, etc. In fact, the Greek word for "remembrance" in this passage is a very technical word and rarely used in Scripture: outside of its use in the Last Supper admonition, it is used only once other time in the New Testament - in Hebrews 10:3, where the remembrance there is defined as "carrying out a sacrifice." The word's meaning is along the lines of "re-constitute something by participating in a sacrifice."

Aside from biblical support, consider early church history. Everything written about the Eucharist in those early centuries accepted the real presence of Christ in the elements of Communion. Ignatius was the second bishop of Antioch and died a martyr at about the same time the Apostle John died. In speaking about the Docetist heretics, who denied the humanity of Jesus, he wrote, "they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ.." Another Church Father, Irenaeus, was a disciple of Polycarp, who himself studied under John. Irenaeus used the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist to prove the resurrection of the Christian dead: "The Eucharist becomes the body of Christ. How can they say that the flesh which is nourished with the body of the Lord and with His blood passes into corruption and partakes not of life?"

For the first 1500 years of the Church, there were no exceptions to this belief - it was a universal teahing of the entire Church. Not until rationalism started to transform the thinking of Europe would the reformation call into question the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

May all Christians (Protestant and Catholic) celebrate this beautiful notion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a special devotion to His love and mercy for each of us. And to our dear Protestant brothers and sisters, may Christ's real presence in the Eucharist become a source of truth and love that transforms lives and leads to real unity.

Now go be a saint!