The Gospel reading for today is from St. Luke 21:1-4. We all know the story: the rich giving their gifts and the poor widow who puts in only two copper coins into the treasury. After witnessing this Jesus says, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had."

Until recently, when I had one of those "Aha!" moments, I always assumed that part of the lesson in what Jesus is teaching us in this Gospel reading was that those who were rich were in some way doing something wrong: that they were bad for not giving more. I think I always assumed this because Jesus had many hard things to say against the rich and the ruling class of His day. But, if we take the story as it is, we see that He isn't saying anything of the sort. Instead of tearing down the rich He is actually commending the actions of the poor widow. The rich were doing what they were required to do by giving back to God from what He had first given to them. And this is a good thing. But, the widow went a step further and gave all she had. It may not amount to much in the eyes of man but to God it is of great value.

When we give everything that we have and everything we are back to God then we are emulating our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus gave everything for us by becoming a man, teaching us the Truth, dying for our sins and conquering death for us by rising from the grave. We can do good by giving back to Him from what He has given us; like those who are rich in the Gospel story. But, we can do so much more for Him if we, like the poor widow, give Him everything. Therefore, the next time you are at Mass and about to receive Our Lord Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist, remember that through that Sacrament Jesus is once again giving you all of Himself. And then ask yourself, shouldn't you do the same for Him?

This post is in response to comments on one of my sermons. You can find the entire comments under the Sermons tab and scroll down to the 'Sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity'. I will address what I feel are the most important concerns in chronological order. When I first read his comments I must admit I was a little suprised because he doesn't seem to be addressing what I actually say in my sermon but instead seems to be jumping to his own conclusions of what he thinks that I meant. I will quote directly from the comment and include all typos.

He states that I am "violating us law by talking about issues that conflict between church and state." Here he must be referring to the supposed separation of church and state that various people want to claim is the law of the land. But, according to what I have been taught, the US has no such law that says I cannot let my religious faith influence how I think in regards to politics. And, as a Catholic priest, I am obligated to preach the Truth on teachings of the Church, which is what I tried to do in this sermon and in all of my sermons.

He states that I "judge and then condemn people because they don't think like" me. He seems to be inferring something that I did not say. Nevertheless, I was doing no such thing in my sermon. Instead, I was trying to explain the Truth of the Church's teaching so that people did not commit a serious sin in how the voted.

He states "christ said first remove the beam in your eye" but I am not sure which beam he wants me to remove. Perhaps he does not like what I had to say in the sermon and therefore thinks that I sinned in saying it. But, I was not expounding my own opinion in the sermon but the teachings of the Church so how did I sin in what I said?

He states, "you condemn gay people because they want some form of union" but again, I didn't say anything that is out of line with the teaching of the Catholic Church. Also, to say that I condemned anyone in my sermon would be a stretch.

Next, he asks a question, "what would you say if your child is gay"? This question is so loaded that it really requires a separate post but let me try to answer briefly. If one of my children were to think they were homosexual and tell me about it I would love them just like I do now. But, (and I cannot stress this enough) I would not support them in their behavior if they acted on those misguided homosexual feelings. The teaching of the Catholic Church is quite clear in regards to homosexual acts: "Under no circumstances can they be approved." (Catechism of the Catholic Church §2357)

He then goes on to state, "you condemn pro choice people". Yet again, I simply spoke the Truth of what the Church teaches. The Church teaches in a definitive manner that abortion is wrong! Look it up in the Catechism: §2270-2275.

Then, in regards to the sin of abortion he writes, "in any case it is just a sin and god forgives all sins." Yes, God does forgive all sins, as long as we repent of them. But you should never deliberately sin while thinking to yourself, "God will forgive me. I can just go to confession." To do so is to commit the serious sin of presumption.

In speaking of Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal in the country, he says that it is the "will of the people". Well, so what! Just because abortion is the "will of the people" (which is debatable) does not make it moral or acceptable. And, as I have said before in this post, as a Catholic priest I must stand up for the lives of the unborn. So his apparent desire for me to be silent on this point boggles the mind.

Lastly, he writes, "think of all the parishoners feelings you hurt because of your belief and political party preaching". First of all let me address his comment of "your belief". My belief, sir, is in the fullness of the teachings of Jesus Christ that He has entrusted to His Holy Catholic Church. And my duty as a Catholic priest is to protect those teachings by giving my very life if I have to do so. At no point in my sermon that you disagree with have I contradicted Catholic teaching. And yes, because of my willingness to proclaim the Truth of the Gospel someone might get their feelings hurt, as you say. Hurting someone's feelings isn't my goal in my sermons but instead preaching the Truth. And I will not withhold the Truth just because someone might disagree with it. In fact, that is all the more reason to proclaim it. If I don't proclaim the Truth to them and they go on sinning then their sin falls on my head and the sinner my be eternally lost. (See Ezekiel 33:8). Whereas, if I preach the Truth and the sinner repents then I have saved his life and my own. (See James 5:19-20)

In closing, it seems to me that the person who left these comments doesn't really want to hear the Truth, at least not the parts that he happens to disagree with. In a second set of comments he states that he will now be attending another parish, but why? Is it just to hear what he wants to hear? Whether or not another priest preaches against abortion or homosexuality does not change the fact that the Church teaches that both of these things are completely and always wrong. Out of concern for his salvation I hope he reads this post and asks himself these questions: am I Catholic; if so, do I believe everything the Church teaches as the Truth of Jesus Christ; if I do then well and good but if I do not, then why am I Catholic?

Dear sir, you closed your initial comments by saying "may god forgive you because i will not." Why are you so angry with me? I do not feel sinned against in what you have said but if there is anything done against me by you then I forgive it. My only concern for you, and for all I meet, is your eternal salvation. I pray that if I have done you any real wrong you will forgive me as well, remembering that Christ Himself taught us to say, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trepass against us." (Matthew 6:12)

By Denise M. Burke, Esq.

Like so many, I am praying, reflecting, and trying to come to terms with the results of last week's election.   As a Catholic and a senior attorney with a national pro-life group, I certainly see many challenges and difficulties on the horizon.

George Weigel, of whom I am a huge fan, has published an article at First Things laying out what he views as the impending "crisis" -- both in terms of a "grave threat" and a "great moment of opportunity" -- for the American Catholic Church.

I wholeheartedly agree with his conclusion:

"As for the opportunity embedded in this crisis, it is nothing less than to be the Church of the New Evangelization, full-throttle. Shallow, tribal, institutional-maintenance Catholicism is utterly incapable of meeting the challenges that will now come at the Catholic Church from the most aggressively secular administration in American history. Only a robustly, unapologetically evangelical Catholicism, winsomely proposing and nobly living the truths about the human condition the Church teaches, will see us through the next four years.
Radically converted Christian disciples, not one-hour-a-week Catholics whipsawed by an ever more toxic culture, are what this hour of crisis, in both senses of the term, demands."

You can read the remainder of the article at The Crisis of a Second Obama Administration.

"Knowledge of the content of faith is essential for giving one's own assent, that is to say for adhering fully with intellect and will to what the Church proposes." (Porta Fidei §10.5) By writing this is the Pope saying that we need to understand the entire deposit of the Faith before we can give our assent to it? Not at all. He goes on to say, "The giving of assent implies that, when we believe, we freely accept the whole mystery of faith, because the guarantor of its truth is God who reveals himself and allows us to know the mystery of love." (Ibid.) What this means is that when we give our own assent of faith, of believing in the Truth revealed to us by the Son of God, we can do so because God Himself guarantees that the Faith we have received through the Church is true. We don't have to understand it completely we simply have to trust in God.

On the other hand, there are those parts of the Faith that people can't accept because of their own ignorance or won't accept because of their own sinful stubbornness and pride. Therefore, all Catholics must strive to understand the content of their Faith in a more complete manner, especially if there is something that they do not agree with. To say that we don't agree with a part of the Truth that the Church teaches us is to say that we don't trust God, because it is God Himself who guarantees the Truth that we question.

To correct this problem we need to understand our Faith in a more perfect manner and therefore, we must study our Faith. The Pope points out, "In order to arrive at a systematic knowledge of the content of the faith, all can find in the Catechism of the Catholic Church a precious and indispensable tool." (§11.1) And he goes on to say, "...the Year of Faith will have to see a concerted effort to rediscover and study the fundamental content of the faith that receives its systematic and organic synthesis in the Cathechism of the Catholic Church." (§11.2)

No matter where a given Catholic may be on his journey of faith we could all benefit from studying the content of our Faith because we can never competely exhaust what it has to teach us. We can most certainly give our assent of faith  but the deeper our knowledge of the Faith goes the deeper will be our faith in it. 

The Most Reverend Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, the Bishop of Peoria, has issued a very strong letter to his flock and has also required that it be read at all Masses for this coming Sunday by each celebrating priest. The letter is very succinct and would not take very long to read the whole thing by clicking the link above. Nevertheless I include here in this blog the Bishop's strongest point.

Today, Catholic politicians, bureaucrats, and their electoral supporters who callously enable the destruction of innocent human life in the womb also thereby reject Jesus as their Lord. They are objectively guilty of grave sin. For those who hope for salvation, no political loyalty can ever take precedence over loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his Gospel of Life. God is not mocked, and as the Bible clearly teaches, after this passing instant of life on earth, God’s great mercy in time will give way to God’s perfect judgment in eternity.

So here we have yet another Bishop who is most certainly not namby-pamby. God willing, this courageousness will continue to spread like wildfire to all the Bishops of the United States and the world. May none of them fear death or the condemnation of this world for speaking the Truth, but only fear God and His judgment if they do not speak the Truth with boldness.