Burning Strength Homilies

How do you pray? Do you pray? Do you try to better your relationship with God? The Temple area was a holy place for the Israelites It was not only a place of pilgrimage, but it was a testament to their faith. The hulking temple stood at the city center… everything else was built around it. People from all over the world would come here to marvel at its size and beauty. Jesus, too, was a visitor here from time to time. And he used this great monument of faith as the place of His parable for this week. Two people went to the Temple to pray… one a Pharisee and one a Tax Collector The Pharisee marveled at himself in God's house. "I do this…and that… and I'm glad I'm not like the rest of creation" And off to the distance was the tax collector "Have mercy on me, a sinner"

In those days, Amalek came and waged war against Israel. Moses, therefore, said to Joshua, "Pick out certain men, and tomorrow go out and engage Amalek in battle. I will be standing on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand." So Joshua did as Moses told him: he engaged Amalek in battle after Moses had climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and Hur. As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. Moses'hands, however, grew tired; so they put a rock in place for him to sit on. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset. And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

The unique quality of a Saint is recognizing when they have an authentic encounter with Christ, but I think there's something else there as well. Like the Leper in today's Gospel, they are able to recognize the fingerprints of God in their midst. And because of this, there's only one proper response: thanks and praise.

It is pretty obvious that the Apostles have no idea what faith is by their proposition to Jesus: "Increase our faith." By this question, it almost sounds like they want Jesus to zap them with faith, but by Jesus's response, we know that faith is a virtue… something we have to choose and work at in order to grow.

How far can encouragement go? St. Paul's encouragement in His letters helped to shape the Church into what it is today. Despite the odds or what obstacles the early followers of Jesus had in front of them, the words of St. Paul echoed in their minds in order to help give them the strength to travel uphill in an upwards battle of faith. His words ring true even to this day.

On a daily basis, we are making choices whether we're aware of it or not. Most of these choices are simple choices; however, some of these choices carry a bit more weight. What does this have to do with the spiritual life? Simply put: God gave us a gift of free-will and the way that we spend our time either is in service to Him or in service of "the world" (or ourselves).

As difficult as it may be to hear at first, Jesus gives us His list of criteria for discipleship. This isn't just any criteria, but this is a list of criteria that is very off putting if we don't put His message in the proper context. What does he tell us to do? 1 - Hate your Family, 2 - Hate yourself, 3 - Carry Your Cross, 4 - Give up your possessions. What's the gist here?  We must love the person, and hate the sin. He shows us what this all means through his own cross. What was the ultimate destination? It wasn't just death... it was love.

It is sometimes said that the root of all sin is pride because in the moment of sin, we pridefully say by our words or actions that we know better than God. We try to exult ourselves in these moments, which is why Jesus focused so much on teaching humility through both His words and His actions. Think for a moment that the God of the Universe was not born to some royal family in some mega metropolis; rather, Jesus had some of the most humble of beginnings. His life teaches us that we're able to do the same regardless of our station in life. And while some are called to help the poorest of the poor in 3rd world countries or even our inner cities, some are called to act in humility for our neighbors, friends, and families.  

Someone asked Him, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" He answered: "Strive to enter through the narrow gave, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough." This Gospel may seem to be confusing at first, but context helps us to understand it a little bit better. At first it almost sounds like Heaven is nearly impossible to enter, but Jesus gives a glimmer of hope.

"Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen." As young children, we experience these words of St. Paul best through our family and friends. We trust that our parents will be there waiting for us after a sporting event We trust that our siblings will be there when you want to go on an adventure We trust that our grandparents will most likely spoil us with treats - And if not them, then usually that role is for our aunts and uncles. And we also trust the secrets of our hearts to our friends. We are limited by what our 5 senses can experience and what the mind can come up with. But there are some things in life we have to leave to trust. We put faith in people. Sometimes that faith is honored when they come through for us. Sometimes that faith is shaken when things don't go according to plan  

How can one person help transform the world? This has been a question that has been asked for many generations. Sometimes you look at the world around you and you feel helpless to do anything. That is, until you read a story or see someone actually do something. We were so fortunate here in Cleveland this past week to be not only on America's center stage, but the world's center stage. Everyone was just waiting for the violence, but we had many like-minded individuals who came together and thought and believed that they could truly change the world. Everything from handing out water and food to people; to offering to pray with or give hugs to some of those who might have initially desired something different out of anger. But you see, there was something else at work in Cleveland over this past week. It was something that we were part of, yet could not see. It might have been the most effective tool that we had in propelling against anger, hatred, and violence. What is this tool? Hopefully you do it every day

There are many difficult choices we make as human beings, and one of those decisions I made in my youth would revisit me 20 years later. With so many distractions in life, it is sometimes difficult to find time for silence. The new Pokemon Go game as well as other things in life provide us with some unexpected time for thought, conversation, and perhaps even prayer.

My brothers and sisters, the most worthwhile things in life are often the ones that are not easy, especially for tasks that are difficult, we need our coaches. We don't like them in the moment they are pushing us to our limits, but we know in the back of our minds that they have our growth in mind. Growth often requires sacrifice just as love requires sacrifice. I ran all of those miles in high school as a soccer player for my coach because I knew it would make me a better athlete somehow, even if I didn't see it at the time. When I was in seminary, I prayed even when it was hard to pray because my spiritual director told me that you spend time with what and who you love. So pray hard.In your life, have you surrounded yourself with people who challenge you to become the best version of yourself? Do you challenge others to be their best… encourage their growth out of love?

"The Harvest is abundant, but the Laborers are few." While we will hear stories this weekend certainly about people like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Betsy Ross, and other founding and contributing members to our nation, we most likely won't hear names like Junipero Serra, Kateri Tekakiwitha, Elizabeth Ann Seton, or Damien of Molokai. These are early American Saints who took the words of the Gospel and applied it to their everyday life. "The Harvest is abundant, but the Laborers are few."  The Church's history goes back about 2000 years, and her history books are filled with stories of people who not only transformed the Church,  but also transformed the world.

I think Jesus's point in this Sunday's Gospel speaks very highly to our culture today and to where we are at today. "The Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head," He says to an aspiring disciple. If we're distracted by the many things of life, even when our schedules are not so busy, how can we create a resting place for Christ in our lives? Christ so longs for us to spend time with Him, but we can get so distracted sometimes that we never spend time with Him. The truth is that we give time to who and what we love. And if we clutter our lives with so many other things, we don't have enough room for Him

If viral videos existed during the time of Jesus, I have no doubt that today's Gospel would be one of them. An unnamed woman visits the house of Simon the Pharisee in order to see Jesus She doesn't care what people say or what people think She just wants to do something kind for this man she's heard so many great things about She washes his feet and anoints them with oil She doesn't expect anything in return, she just does it – love truly compels her What Jesus says and does is truly profound As the crowds are talking about this woman amongst themselves And thinking terrible things within their hearts She is the only one acting out of love Jesus uses this great deed as an example to all The great desire of his heart has always been to love His people To have His people allow him to love them He desires relationship The others have closed themselves off But she has opened herself up, despite all she has done "Your sins are forgiven", He tells her "Go in peace"

 We have two resurrection accounts happening in our set of readings for today Elijah raises up the son of a widow in Zarephath And Jesus raises up the son of a widow in Nain We're not given the name of either of the widows Only that these seem to be the last living male relatives that they have Culturally, Jewish women at this time needed to have a male to accompany them through town – the males were also the owners of property So life was very difficult for women Especially Widows And these two widows were not only sadden by the loss of their sons But also by the fact that they'll soon be cast aside by society But God does not let that happen, does He? Elijah's prayer is answered as God raises up one son Jesus, who is God incarnate, has pity on the widow in Nain and raises up her son In both cases God brought joy for what he did in the life of His people But what's the bigger miracle here? We often fixate on the resurrections Which is truly a great miracle But we know from the history of Jesus, that He

Today, the Church all around the world celebrates Corpus Christi It is the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. Our second reading is what we know to be the first written story of what happened at the Last Supper St. Paul wrote his letters before the Gospels were even written He took the bread… He took the cup… Offered thanks And gave it to his disciples This is my body… this is my blood… Do this in remembrance of me.   We hear these words so often at Mass that sometimes our minds overlook the significance Jesus gave us a command to "do this in remembrance of me" It wasn't a suggestion, it was a command. As Saint Paul puts it, as often as we do this, we remember him – we put him first But do you notice there is another word that we hear and read in what Jesus said… He gave "thanks" The turned the focus from what was out there in the world, to what was happening presently To what he already had He gave thanks to the Father for what he was doing in this Eucharistic meal Eucharist is truly an act of thank

The Gospel takes place shortly after Jesus's resurrection The Apostles were scared that they also would be put to death So they lock themselves in a room and hide from the Jews and Romans Jesus appears to give them their mission He promises to send the Holy Spirit to them to help them with this mission And in the 1st reading, it doesn't look like too much has changed They saw the risen Jesus They saw Him ascend into heaven Yet they still haven't started Jesus's mission to "go make disciples of all nations" by "teaching them" His "commands" The Holy Spirit realizes this and enters into them in a new way The Spirit stirs in them the gifts that were in them all along Most of them became courageous to the point of martyrdom, dying for Christ   My friends, on that Pentecost day, the fire of the Spirit did not just descend on the disciples and not move When you read the Acts of the Apostles, you hear that it spread It wasn't a destructive force like a wild fire But it was something new, it was a consoling/heal

The Disciples witness Jesus ascending into the heavens, but it takes the appearance of Angels to remind them that their work is not finished. Jesus has given them a mission, and now is the time for them to go out into the world. We're the descendants of those disciples who share the same mission. The torch has been passed to us.