Homily for 3d Sunday of Lent

Homily for the
3d Sunday of Lent

Feb 26, 1989

1 Cor 10: 1-6, 10-12
Ex 3: 1-8, 13-15
St. Theresa, Bronx, N.Y.

“Our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed thru the sea; . . . all were baptized into Moses.  All ate the same spiritual food” (1 Cor 10: 1-3).

In the 1st reading we heard God speak from the burning bush and commission Moses to return to Egypt and rescue the Hebrews from the slavery.  Maybe you remember the scene from the Ten Commandments.

Moses leading the Hebrews to cross the Red Sea (Nicolas Poussin)

As you know, God used Moses to liberate his people.  Under Moses, the Hebrew people were formed into God’s very own people.  God led them thru the Red Sea and the Sinai desert, miraculously fed them, and gave them the Law.  God defeated their enemies and brought them to the promised land, “a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex 3:8).

All of this history is recounted in the books of Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  All of this history Paul evokes when he reminds the Christians of Corinth about Moses and the people who followed Moses out of Egypt toward the Promised Land.  Paul reminds the Corinthians that, despite all God’s care and his miracles, despite the leadership and example of Moses, “God was not pleased with most of them, for ‘they were struck down in the desert’” (10:5).

Why were they struck down?  After being saved from Egyptian slavery, after being baptized—figuratively—in the Red Sea, after being fed with manna and water from the rock, and after accepting the covenant of the Law, they rebelled.  They rebelled repeatedly, worshipping the golden calf, grumbling and complaining constantly, and finally not trusting God to lead them in battle against the inhabitants of the land.  They were saved, and then they relapsed.

So, Paul says, watch out, my dear Corinthians.  “These things that happened to them serve as an example” (10:6).

The Corinthian Christians lived in a major city, the Manhattan of the times:  port, markets, sports, theater, politics, religious temples, and vice of every sort.  By accepting Christ, a Corinthian stepped away morally from that world of corruption, consumerism, and pleasure.  He followed Christ, the New Moses; ate a new spiritual food, the Eucharist; and looked for a new promised land of milk and honey, eternal life in Christ.

But the Corinthian Christian was physically still in the desert with all its dangers.  It was easy for him or her to meet old pagan acquaintances, go to old haunts, take part in former pastimes.  If he got smug about salvation, he would be in serious trouble.  “Let anyone who thinks he is standing upright watch out lest he fall” (10:12).

When we look around us we certainly see plenty that could make us feel upright.  Let me make a distinction here between the moral and the political orders.  I don’t know how many times I’ve heard someone say of politicians, “They’re all a bunch of crooks.”  Whether that refers to NYC or to Washington, such skepticism is healthy and prudent.  It’s the same skepticism that our Founding Fathers had; it’s why they set up a system of checks and balances and wanted frequent elections, limited federal government, and a free press.  If such political skepticism makes us keep mayors and school boards, judges and congressmen and even presidents on a tight leash, then we’re wise and are following the best American political tradition.

But in the moral order it’s too easy for us to look around and condemn:  those crooked politicians, those drug dealers, those homosexuals, those adulterers, those child beaters, those TV evangelists, those lazy bums, those thugs.  And so on.

St. Philip Neri used to see plenty of crime and misery in the streets of Rome.  He always condemned sin, but of the people he said, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”  In today’s gospel, Jesus says much the same thing:  The misfortune of others isn’t an occasion for us to feel good about ourselves.  It’s a reminder of our common mortality and our common sinfulness.  “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3,5).

Having repented once, or twice, or three times before; having given our lives to Christ in the past—all that’s no guarantee for the future.  Not one of us can be sure of tomorrow, much less of final perseverance in God’s grace.  If we dare not trust the rascals in city hall, we dare not trust the rascal within us either.  And the stakes are infinitely greater.

“Let anyone who thinks he’s standing upright watch out lest he fall.”  Let us take a look at our spiritual ancestors who followed Moses out of Egypt, and profit from their example.  We must repent daily, never grow smug, and always keep turning to Jesus our Savior.

New Rochelle Province Holds Chapter

New Rochelle Province Holds Chapter

The 2019 Provincial Chapter of the St. Philip Province opened on Tuesday, March 19, with a morning of recollection and Mass of St. Joseph, the latter celebrated by Fr. Tim Ploch, member of the SDB general council, who is at present conducting an extraordinary visitation of the province in the name of the Rector Major. (Every province in the Congregation is so visited every 6 years; it's "extraordinary" in that ordinarily the provincial carries out the annual visitation of the houses and the works of the province.)

On Tuesday morning the chapter members observed a half day of recollection.  Bro. Tom Dion, a member of the provincial council who represented our province at the 26th General Chapter, gave a conference based on the lead articles of the Constitutions concerning the provincial and general chapters, stressing their importance for the communion that they foster among the capitulars and in the communities they represent.  

Fr. Ploch presided at the Mass of St. Joseph on the 19th.  His homily spoke of St. Joseph's virtues as models for our SDB imitation.

Chapter members discussing one of the documents that will go to Rome.

Chapter sessions began on Tuesday afternoon with the provincial's report on the state of the province and discussion thereof, followed by committee meetings on the five topics of next year's general chapter.

On Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning the chapter members discussed three of those five topics:  what young people think of the Salesians; what Salesians think young people expect of them; and the profile and formation of today's Salesian.  On Wednesday afternoon they took up the other two topics: the collaboration of lay people and Salesians in the shared Salesian mission; and various juridical concerns.  In the evening there was a discussion of safe environment concerns (for the protection of young people in our works).

Most of Thursday was given to various sections of the Province Handbook (policy statements), such as finances, formation, care for senior SDBs, and general administration. There was also a presentation on the province's youth ministry plan, part of which involves policy.

Fr. Tim Zak guiding discussion of one part of the Province Handbook.

Two of the 5 documents that will be sent to SDB headquarters in Rome for GC28 were given final approval on Thursday. The other 3, after various revisions, were approved on Friday, as were the separate components of the Handbook.

Finally, on Friday the chapter elected our province delegate to GC28 (which will meet in Turin from the end of February next year until early April). It was a surprise to your humble blogger, a veteran of about half a dozen chapters (usually as a humble secretary), that it took just 2 ballots to elect the delegate: Fr. Mike Conway, director of the "Washington" community, who received 24 of the 40 votes. And it took only 1 ballot to elect a substitute delegate (in case Fr. Mike will be unable to attend): Fr. Abe Feliciano, the province's delegate for youth ministry.  Fr. Abe got 22 votes out of 40.

Frs. Abe Feliciano, Tim Ploch, Tim Zak, and Mike Conway

The chapter's 4 days were marked by a great spirit of fraternity among the 40 capitulars (and 2 secretaries), who came from all over the province:  Canadians, Americans, foreign confreres on loan from their home provinces, and immigrant members of our province.  We prayed together, ate together, laughed together, and shared together common concerns both personal and pastoral.

World Council of Salesian Cooperators Meets

World Council of Salesian Cooperators: “Reflections on programmatic guidelines for 2018-2024 unite us”

(ANS – Rome – March 15) – The world council of the Salesian Cooperators gathered from March 13 to 17 in Rome. The council, made up of the leaders of the world’s 11 Cooperator regions. Accompanying this group of the Salesian Family in their work were Fr. Eusebio Muñoz, the Rector Major’s delegate for the Salesian Family, and the Salesians’ and Salesian Sisters’ delegates for the Cooperators, Fr. Giuseppe Casti and Sr. Lesley Sandigo.

The Cooperators world coordinator, Antonio Boccia, commented beforehand, “We meet with the objective of reflecting and initiating implementation processes in the daily tasks of our lay mission, and above all with the aim of deepening the programmatic guidelines of the six-year 2018-2024 period.”

The objective of this meeting was “to review and plan the mission of the Salesian Cooperators starting from the programmatic guidelines elaborated in the world congress for the six-year 2018-2024 period,” said Fr. Casti.

On March 14, Fr. Angel Fernandez visited the participants and greeted each of them. Fr. Casti asked him, “What pointers can the Rector Major offer us Salesian Cooperators from different parts of the world?”

Fr. Fernandez replied: “What I ask of you Salesian Cooperators is to live the guidelines you have for your six-year term, but I would like to add a further, topical element. Today, our world needs witnesses, needs to see credible witnesses. Live your identity as Salesian Cooperators wherever you are, and be authentic witnesses there.”

The Rector Major also insisted on a fundamental element of the Salesian Family. “So that it is possible to walk together, Salesians and Salesian Cooperators, I ask you to make a reality of the mission among the young. Always remember that we are born to serve boys and girls, and all our actions must be directed to work for the neediest young people.”

“Furthermore,” Fr. Fernandez added, “I ask you to refer to the Church and a charismatic union with the Pope. Today we live in difficult times for the Church. It is true that the Holy Spirit guides the Church, but our presence with prayer and in harmony with the Pope must show our communion and our adhesion to the Pope.”

Homily for Thursday, Week 1 of Lent

Homily for Thursday
of the 1st Week of Lent

March 14, 2017

Matt 7: 7-12
Esth C: 12, 14-16, 23-25
Nativity, Washington, D.C.

“Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Ask and it will be given to you’” (Matt 7: 7).

This week our gospel readings have been about prayer:  praying simply, praying the way that Jesus teaches, praying confidently.

Today, for example, Jesus reminds us that our heavenly Father loves and cares for us even more than our earthly parents and wants very much to give us good gifts.  And what is the ultimate good gift, that one thing that will be given us if we ask, if we seek it, if we knock at the Father’s door?  Life, eternal life.           

The reading from the Book of Esther foreshadows this.  Esther, queen of Persia—which really means she has 1st place in the royal harem—prays that God will guide her when she goes to the king—“the lion,” she calls him (v. 24)—to plead for the lives of her people, who are threatened with extermination by an enemy at court.

God will hear her prayer, and the Jews will be saved.  (This is the background for the Jewish feast of Purim, observed next week.)

The Feast of Esther

By Jan Lievens - Google Art Project, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41035398

We’re dealing with another enemy, one more ferocious than a Persian official and one intending deadlier consequences.  I mean, of course, the universal enemy of the human race, the foe of our eternal happiness, the one against whom Jesus warned us not to “be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more”; rather, “Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna” (Luke 12:4-5).

It’s for Satan’s defeat that the Son of God became man, and it’s for a closer union with the Son that we ask, seek, and knock.  So we prayed in the Collect, “Bestow on us, O Lord, a spirit of always pondering on what is right and of hastening to carry it out.”  So we come to the Holy Eucharist, seeking a closer union with God’s Son, a bond that strengthens us for knowing and carrying out God’s will, as Jesus did, a bond that promises us eternal life with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Homily for 1st Sunday of Lent

Homily for the
1st Sunday of Lent

March 10, 2019

Deut 26: 4-10
Psalm 91
Rom 10: 8-13
Luke 4: 1-13
Nativity, Washington, D.C.

 “He brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand and outstretched arm … and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey” (Deut 26: 8-9).

The Exodus (source unknown)

The 1st reading this morning is a Jewish profession of faith, a summary of their story of salvation, a testimony of what God has done for them.  Israel went down from Canaan to Egypt, became slaves, was rescued by the power of God, and led by God into the Promised Land.  Now they give thanks to him with sacrificial offerings, the 1st part of the annual harvest (the “firstfruits”).  And they worship him:  “having set them before the Lord, your God, you shall bow down in his presence” (26:10).

That final line from the Deuteronomy reading is probably the reason for this passage’s linkage with the gospel, in which Jesus refuses to worship the Devil, reserving his reverence for the Lord alone (Luke 4:7-8).

But the main thrust of the 1st reading is Israelite faith, the recollection of and identification with what God has done to save them.  That’s also the thrust of the 2d reading:  our salvation comes from our faith in Jesus Christ.  “If you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9).  “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (10:13).

We invoke the power of God to save us thru Jesus Christ because, like the Hebrews enslaved in Egypt, we’re powerless to save ourselves.  God the Father raised his son Jesus from the dead.  We have no power to rise from our graves except that we attach ourselves to Jesus.  In today’s psalm, it’s Jesus who says to us:  “Because he clings to me, I will deliver him; I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name” (Ps 91:14).

Death—which awaits you and me alike—is the penalty of sin.  God told our 1st parents that on the day of their disobedience they would forfeit their immortality (Gen 2:17), and St. Paul says bluntly in his letter to the Romans, “The wages of sin is death” (6:23).  As Adam and Eve sinned by listening to the serpent—symbol of Satan—so do we sin by listening to the enticements of the Evil One, his appeals to our pride, our anger, our envy, our lust; to his promises that we can have whatever we want, we’re entitled to it, we deserve it; to his assurances that we have lots of time to get our act together and repent; to his suggestions that God’s commandments don’t apply to us in this or that circumstance (in effect, we’re above the law—doesn’t it make us really mad when some politician or some clergyman conveys that message?  Yet we do it ourselves when it suits us).

We’ve given in to what the baptismal rite calls all the Devil’s “works” and “empty promises” so often that we might want to cry out in anguish with St. Paul—still in his letter to the Romans—“Who will deliver me from this mortal body” that so rebels against my desire to do what’s right? (7:24).  He answers his own question:  “Thanks be to God thru Jesus Christ our Lord” (7:25).  Jesus has the power to forgive our sins because, altho innocent of any sin, he’s already paid the penalty of death for us; and with our sins forgiven because we believe in him and so are justified—put right with God, made holy by the holiness of Jesus—we will be saved; we will be raised to eternal life.

For catechumens and others preparing to enter the Catholic Church, Christ’s Church, this Easter, these 40 days of Lent are the final preparation for their commitment to God in Christ, to their full immersion in Christ.  For those like us who made that commitment long ago, each Lent is a call to continuing conversion, to a renewal of our commitment—which is why all of us renew our baptismal promises on Easter Sunday.

The story of the temptations of Christ that we read each year on the 1st Sunday of Lent reminds us of that commitment:  to renounce all the enticements of Satan, all his empty promises, all our sinful ways, and to be faithful to God’s ways, as Jesus was.  As Ps 91 promises, no evil shall befall those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High; God will be with them in distress, even beyond the grave, and he will deliver them and glorify them; with length of days he will gratify them and will show them his salvation (91:1,10,15-16).  So we re-commit ourselves to be faithful like Jesus, that we might be saved thru him.

Fewer Priests Worldwide

Fewer Priests Worldwide

The Vatican press office announced on March 6 the Catholic Church's official statistics as reported at the end of 2017.  (Yeah, always a little behind.)  The information comes from the 2019 edition of the Annuario Pontificio, just published.

The number of Catholics worldwide continues to grow, and there were increases in the numbers of bishops, deacons, lay missionaries, and catechists, but for the 1st time since 2010 the number of priests declined:  from 414,969 in 2016 to 414,582 in 2017.  The total number of seminarians likewise went down, by about 800.

The number of religious brothers also decreased, from 52,625 in 2016 to 51,535 in 2017. The number of women religious has also continued its downward trend, now about 649,000 worldwide.

Read more: https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/03/06/number-of-priests-declined-for-first-time-in-decade-vatican-says/

Homily for Ash Wednesday

Homily for Ash Wednesday

March 6, 2019

Collect
St. Mary, Landover Hills, Md.

As we prayed the Collect at the beginning of this most solemn liturgy, did you notice its warlike tone?  On Ash Wednesday we “begin this campaign of Christian service,” “we take up battle against spiritual evils,” we are “armed with weapons of self-restraint.”

The 40 days of Lent highlight for us an ancient Christian perspective, one that goes back to Jesus himself, viz. that the Christian life is warfare.  Our 40 days are modeled on the 40 days that Jesus spent fasting and praying in the desert after his baptism, being tempted by the Devil.  This story is always the gospel reading for the 1st Sunday of Lent.  So Jesus did spiritual battle with Satan, and he was victorious.     

During his public ministry, Jesus continued waging war against the Devil—healing the sick and disabled, driving out demons, and finally rising from the grave.  All of these were signs that the power of God in Jesus is more powerful than any weapon the Devil possesses.  One of Jesus’ little parables speaks of “a strong man fully armed [who] guards his palace” and keeps his possessions safe; but “one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him” and claims the spoils.  The strong man is the Devil, claiming humanity as his possession; the stronger man is Jesus Christ, who overcomes him and claims us as his own (cf. Luke 11:21-22).

Thru the ages this spiritual combat continues.  Pope Francis reminds us often that the Devil is real, and he uses many tricks to lure us away from God and keep us under his own control:  witchcraft, various superstitions, Satanic cults, pornography and the worship of sex, the lust for power and fame, a consumer culture, the discouragement that affects us when we experience our own sinfulness or witness the terrible sins of others, including the clergy.   

Lent reminds us of the battle.  We’re at war, and we need Christ, the Devil’s powerful conqueror, if we’re to be victorious.  The sin in our own lives is the mark of Satan’s attempt to claim us and keep us as his trophies.  So today we arm ourselves with self-restraint, as the Collect says, taking up the weapons of Christ, particularly prayer, fasting, and care for the poor.  We battle evil by connecting ourselves to Jesus, by doing good to others as he did, by saying NO to ourselves in some way so as to be free to say YES to Christ.

We might engage in traditional bodily fasting.  Or we might fast from some of the TV we constantly watch, or from other screens, and spend more time with spouse or children or parents, or with the Bible.  We might practice the self-restraint of safer driving habits or of getting out of bed promptly when the alarm goes off so as to begin our day calmly—and maybe with a moment of prayer.  We might find a way to serve the needy thru a parish or diocesan program; if a justice of the Supreme Court—Bret Kavanaugh—can continue to take a monthly turn at a Catholic Charities soup kitchen, it’s hard for us to say we’re too busy to do some form of service.

I’ll conclude by quoting a passage from Pope Francis’s message for Lent wherein he speaks of the traditional practices of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving:

Fasting, that is, learning to change our attitude toward others and all of creation, turning away from the temptation to ‘devour’ everything to satisfy our voracity and being ready to suffer for love, which can fill the emptiness of our hearts. Prayer, which teaches us to abandon idolatry and the self-sufficiency of our ego, and to acknowledge our need of the Lord and his mercy. Almsgiving, whereby we escape from the insanity of hoarding everything for ourselves in the illusory belief that we can secure a future that does not belong to us. And thus to rediscover the joy of God’s plan for creation and for each of us, which is to love him, our brothers and sisters, and the entire world, and to find in this love our true happiness.

Homily for 8th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
8th Sunday of Ordinary Time

March 3, 2019

Sir 27: 4-7
Nativity, Washington, D.C.

“A man’s speech discloses the bent of his mind” (Sir 27: 6).

How many times have you thought to yourself—even said out loud—“Me and my big, fat mouth!”  For myself, I can’t count that high, altho—thanks be to God!—I don’t need to do so quite as often now as I used to.  (A German proverb my father used to quote laments, “Too soon we get old, and too late we get smart.”)

Both Sirach and Jesus refer to the quality of a tree’s fruit as a revelation of the quality of the tree itself.  In the agricultural society of their times, everyone would understand that metaphor, and so do any of you who’ve done some gardening.  The metaphor, of course, refers to the quality of one’s moral character, of one’s relationship with God, as revealed by our actions and our words.  Jesus adds, “A good person out of a store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).  Along a similar line, St. Paul describes the fruits of the Holy Spirit as an abundance of virtues (Gal 5:22-23) in contrast to what he calls “the works of the flesh” (5:19-21).

One particular fruit in our 4 verses from Sirach today is our speech; the author mentions it 3 times in those 4 verses.  It’s a theme he returns to in his next chapter, as well (28:12-26), foreshadowing what St. James writes in his letter to 1st-century Christians, comparing our tongues to a spark that can ignite a forest fire, to the little tiller that can steer a great ship at sea, and to the reins that govern a horse’s path (3:3-5).

Me and my big, fat mouth!  How often we offend our neighbor by gossip, rash judgment, lies, angry words, insults, a careless choice of words, petty faultfinding, constant criticism.  Nowadays we don’t even need our tongues—we have Facebook, Twitter, and comment sections on news sites and blogs.  Cyberbullying is a serious problem for kids, but adults do it too.  We claim a 1st Amendment right to offend others on the basis of their politics, religious belief, race, immigration status, gender, age, orientation, grooming, and driving habits.

I haven’t even mentioned our misuse of God’s holy name in our everyday conversations.

I could go on, and you probably could contribute some thoughts too. 

Our speech may reveal a troubled heart, a soul in need of God’s healing.  But it should also reveal God.  Jesus tells us to let our light shine upon the world (Matt 5:16).  That may be thru our actions, obviously, but also thru our speech.  We use our tongues to praise God in song and word in our worship—at least we’re supposed to, but a times our church is awful quiet.  We may use our tongues to speak encouragement, comfort, reassurance to others; or to teach them to pray and to love their neighbors; or to prepare them for life’s challenges.  Think of the power of a sincere “I love you,” “Thank you,” “You’ve been very helpful,” “What a great job you’ve done!” and so on.  Our speech may be a concrete act of virtue, may reveal the love of God deeply seated in our souls.

If we fail so often in how we speak, yet is there room to change, to improve.  We begin by making an effort to convert our interior attitudes, by asking our Lord Jesus to help us to be kinder, gentler, more patient, more understanding—and then to guide our speech or at least to control our rash impulses to say the 1st dumb thing that comes into our heads.  If we need to apologize, we do that.  We keep practicing the fine art of biting our tongues, and the finer art of speaking well of others and to others.  With hard work on our part and generous grace from  God, we can master our tongues.  “Too soon we grow old, and too late we get smart.”  But it’s not too late to give our hearts—and our tongues—to our Lord Jesus.

Homily for 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
7th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Feb. 24, 2019 

Luke 6: 27-38

Nativity, Washington, D.C.                  

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6: 36).

We’re all familiar with the teaching of Genesis ch. 1 that men and women are created in the image of God (1:27).  Jesus teaches us today that we’re supposed to think and act like images of God; we are to be reflections of God’s mercy.

All of us, I think, are guilty sometimes of talking and acting like we think we’re God.  That, of course, isn’t the same thing, not at all.

Pope Francis has been trying to teach us that the name of God is mercy.  That’s what Jesus is saying today, even if not in so many words.  That’s what Jesus’ entire life was about, showing us in his words and actions how merciful God is.

The point of that mercy isn’t that we deserve it.  Hardly.  If God treated us as we deserve, most of us, if not all of us, would end up in a very bad place.  God sent us his Son precisely because need mercy, need forgiveness, need redemption.  And all we have to do is admit that and ask humbly for it.

Oh, there is one more thing.  That’s what Jesus is telling us today:  we must offer to others the same mercy that we hope to receive from God thru him.  Jesus doesn’t say, “This is my hope,” or “This is my suggestion”; but “This you must do.”  He commands us to imitate his Father’s mercy—his Father whom he calls also our Father.  He commands us to love our enemies, bless them, do good to them; to be generous with those who ask for our help, without regard for what they might be able to do for us in return; not to pass harsh judgments on the actions of others.

Return of the Prodigal Son -- an illustration of God's mercy -- by Pompeo Batoni

All of which we find hard to do, very hard.  When it comes to others, we want justice, not mercy!  Give ’em what they deserve—or what we think they deserve.

Only when we pause long enuf to reflect on how God treats us does our attitude start to change; only when we hear our Lord Jesus forgive his own executioners (Luke 23:34).  Then our own genuine conversion can begin.

It begins with a desire to be like Jesus, to be forgiving, generous, kind, patient.  It begins with prayer that our Father will help us come to that place in our spiritual lives, our attitudes, even our behavior:  not to wish evil on those who’ve offended us, not to retaliate or seek vengeance—but to ask God to give them the graces they need just as we pray he’ll give us the graces we need; and to treat everyone, even offensive relatives or co-workers courteously, whether they deserve it or not.

I suppose most of us find it a bit of a relief that Jesus doesn’t command us to like our enemies, those who hate us, those who curse us, those who mistreat us.  Nor does he tell us to desire their company.  Instead:  “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (6:31).  Be kind and patient around them, look for good interpretations for their sins or mistakes (as we judge them, in our not-so-humble opinion) as far as possible, don’t speak ill of them.  (Didn’t your mother tell you over and over again, “If you can’t say anything good about so-and-so, don’t say anything”?)  “Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked” (6:35)—which too often includes us, too.

All of this is hard, maybe the hardest thing that Jesus asks of us.  Undoubtedly we need his help.  Learning to forgive, as I said, begins with a desire; and with prayer.  And then it takes time and effort and practice.  It takes letting go of our own pride and stubbornness (oh, how we hang on to those!—and not to our benefit, as we admit in our more lucid moments).  It takes turning our eyes and our wills toward Jesus—every day, and the more often each day, the better.  We could well pray daily today’s Collect:  “Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, always pondering spiritual things, we may carry out in both word and deed what is pleasing to you.”  And we pray that, as we do almost all our liturgical prayers, thru Jesus Christ, in the name of Jesus Christ, who alone is our Savior, the one who delivers us from our pride, our selfishness, our hardness of heart, our sins.  To him be glory, forever and ever!

Eyewitness Account of Murder of Fr. Cesar Fernandez

Eyewitness Account of the Murder 

of Fr. Antonio Cesar Fernandez

(ANS – Lomé, Togo – February 22) – One of the Salesians who was traveling with the late Fr. Antonio Cesar Fernandez told us in detail all the painful events of that Friday, February 15. Below, his account:

It isn’t easy to narrate such an event after having lived it so closely. For the memory of Fr. Cesar, however, for the mission that has been entrusted us and in which [his memory] encourages us, I want to try to speak. We left from here [ed.: Lomé] Friday, February 15, in the direction of Ouaga [ed.: abbreviation of Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso]. In Cinkassé [ed: Togo city on the border with Burkina Faso], we left the confreres who work in this city. With a certain serenity, we continued along the road. After the border formalities, we began the journey in Burkinabé territory.

After 30 minutes of travel we arrived at a border checkpoint. From there, we could see trucks from afar that were along the way. And while we were wondering what was happening, we saw a man who asked us to park the car and then asked us to get out of the vehicle, which we did. We weren’t physically assaulted. We were subjected to an interrogation. They asked us to identify ourselves: “What are you doing? Where are you going?” We said that we were priests, that we had just finished a meeting and were returning to Ouaga.

Then one of them asked the priest who was driving to search the vehicle, which he did with him, while the others started to break the windows of the three parked vehicles, probably the customs officers’ vehicles. After smashing them, they took gasoline from a nearby fuel vendor and set these vehicles on fire. As they did so, Fr. Cesar asked why they were burning them. The one in front of him, naturally well-armed, didn’t give an answer. He whispered some answers, but we didn’t catch his words.

Later, they asked me and Fr. Cesar to move on through the bush. From the checkpoint to the bush it is about 500 meters. Once there, we saw other individuals of that group. In that bush, we weren’t subjected to a violent interrogation. Suddenly, we saw that they were loading on their motorbikes all they had taken from the attacked station. We also saw the confrere who was driving being ordered to move the vehicle forward. In the vehicle they had loaded our computers and the money we had with us, as well as phones, external disks, USB sticks; in short, everything they could take. Then he pulled the vehicle out of the tarry ground and headed towards us. He couldn’t go any further with the car, because there was a ditch on the road.

He then got out of the car and came to us on foot. The one [ed.: one of the terrorists] who was following our brother left him and approached me and Fr. Cesar. The others had already left; only two of them remained. One of them told me, “You, turn around and go!” As soon as I turned around, I heard the shot. I turned my head back and saw Fr. Cesar already on the ground. I thought it was my turn. I raised my hands to the level of the nape; I heard still other shots, but they weren’t for me, and I understood that they were still for Fr. Cesar.

I would have wanted to go back to the body, but something told me to move on. I advanced to the confrere who was driving, and he asked me, “Where is Fr. Cesar?” I replied, “They shot him.” So I told him we would take the body back, and he told me to wait a bit for the terrorists to go away. After they left, we approached the body of Fr. Cesar. I closed my eyes. I made a sign of the Cross on his forehead and we took him. He was soaked with blood. Then we returned to the border.

A New Salesian Martyr?

A New SDB Martyr?

Fr. Antonio Cesar Fernandez Murdered in Burkina Faso

(ANS – Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso – February 16) – Alas, the time of martyrs is hardly over. A tragic death has struck the Salesian Congregation in Africa. Our confrere Fr. Antonio Cesar Fernandez, of the Francophone West Africa Province, was shot dead in an ambush by jihadist assassins on Friday, February 15, around 3:00 p.m.

It remains to be determined whether Fr. Fernandez was murdered in odium fidei, the classical definition of martyrdom, or for some other motive.

At the time, Fr. Fernandez was director of the SDB community of Ouagadougou. He and two other confreres were returning home from Lomé, Togo, where they had just taken part in a session of the provincial chapter.

According to reports, before the attack on the Salesians, the jihadist militiamen had already attacked a customs post and killed four customs officers. When Fr. Fernandez and the two Salesians accompanying him arrived on the scene, they thought they were being stopped for a routine border check. Instead, they were surrounded by armed men, who separated them, then shot Fr. Antonio Cesar and fled the scene.

Fr. Fernandez, 72, had offered his life for Africa, and his offer was fully accepted. He arrived with the first group of missionaries in Lomé, was also the founder of the parish of Mary Help of Christians, and was the province’s first master of novices, a responsibility he carried out for 10 years.

This attack is part of the wave of violence that has been afflicting Burkina Faso since 2015; terrorist threats have surged in the past few weeks.

We pray for his eternal rest. May the Risen Lord welcome our brother Cesar with tenderness alongside all those who have given their lives to the Salesian mission, and may Mary Help of Christians, whom he so loved, welcome him with the affection of the Good Mother of Heaven.

At SDB headquarters in Rome, Fr. Fernández, left behind many good memories among the confreres and the ANS editorial staff.

Fr. Eusebio Muñoz, delegate of the Rector Major for the Salesian Family, was one of his closest friends and collaborators. Born in the same city, Pozoblanco, Spain, he attended the same high school and completed his novitiate one year later than Fr. Fernandez. Fr. Muñoz helped his friend discern his missionary call in the early 1980s. A few years later, as provincial, it was Fr. Muñoz who assigned him the office of master of novices.

“He was a man of exceptional goodness and great intelligence, convinced of his vocation,” recalls Fr. Muñoz. “When we were studying in the community of Ronda, our classmates said that it took him only a week to do what they needed a year for.”

“He was aware of the risks involved,” continues Fr. Muñoz. “Once while I was visiting the African communities, we were stopped by militia, who threatened and attacked us. But he wanted to stay [in Africa] and would repeat to me: ‘I won't go back to Europe.’ And he shared everything with the young Africans: he slept on the ground, drank water from the streams.... There was no way to make him change. He wanted to testify to the young people his complete donation.”

Fr. Martin Lasarte, from the Missions Department, also had the chance to collaborate with Fr. Fernandez on several occasions, to organize several events in the Africa Region. “He transmitted the Salesian charism to the Africans; as master of novices for 10 years he a formed generation of African Salesians. And today it is no coincidence that the provincial of Francophone West Africa is indigenous.”

“He was happy; his was a life in the service of young people,” continues Fr. Lasarte. “Service and availability were his hallmarks. If we asked him for translations, he was always ready, to organize, to prepare.... He had already said yes to the request to accompany the orientation program for the missionaries of the 150th Missionary Expedition, next September.”

In 2011 he released an interview with ANS talking about the social difficulties in the Ivory Coast. Again on that occasion he evidenced his concrete attention to the needy population, the refugees, the most fragile people. He also spoke to us about his personal and Salesian commitment to promoting interreligious dialog.

“Working with him was a joy,” concludes Fr. Muñoz. “As other people who knew him also wrote to me, I am convinced that he has also forgiven his murderers.”

Fr. Fernandez’s funeral is being celebrated in Lomé over several days. Despite his personal wishes, his family has requested that his remains be sent to Spain for burial.

Soon after receiving the news of Fr. Fernandez’s assassination, the Rector Major wrote to all the SDBs:

Rome, February 16, 2019

To my Salesian confreres, to the worldwide Salesian Family:

My dear brothers and sisters, I arrived in Rome, at our Sacred Heart community, just a few minutes ago, on my return from Ireland, where I was visiting to the province of St. Patrick, whose headquarters are in Dublin, and right away I am getting in touch with all of you.

The reason for this is the sad and painful news that came a few hours ago, during the night, which informed me that our Salesian confrere Fr. Antonio Cesar Fernandez, missionary in Africa since 1982,was assassinated yesterday, at 3:00 p.m. local time, shots three times during a jihadist attack perpetrated about 25 miles from the border of Burkina Faso [with Togo]. Fortunately, two other confreres managed to survive the attack. They were coming from Lomé, after taking part in the first session of the provincial chapter of the Francophone West Africa Province.

Dear brothers and sisters, there are many days during the year in which I receive the news of the passing of Salesian confreres from natural causes. This is the law of life, and it will come for us as well. In such cases, however, we give thanks to the Lord for so many beautiful lives generously offered. 

But our confrere Antonio Cesar war deprived of his life; they killed him without any reason. He was a good man, a man of God who, like the Lord, spent his life “doing good,” especially among his beloved African people. Antonio Cesar was 72 years old, with 55 years of religious profession and 46 of priestly life. We had met a few months ago in Burkina Faso, precisely in his community of Ouagadougou, where he was director and pastor.

Antonio Cesar adds to the number of many other martyrs of the Church in today’s world (some of whom are Salesians and members of our Salesian Family).

I invite you to thank the Lord for the beautiful life of our Fr. Antonio César. And also to ask God the Father to help mankind to put an end to this escalation of violence, which only causes damage. May the Lord grant that Cesar’s blood, shed on African land, be the seed of Christians, faithful followers of Jesus, and of young vocations at the service of the Kingdom.

Rest in peace, dear Cesar.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us proceed more united than ever in the service of the People of God, and of the poorest youths. Evil never has the last word. The resurrection of the Lord clearly shows this to us, and it follows that, even in suffering, it is becoming a reality that the Lord transforms everything. 

I embrace  you all, and all of us utter a prayer for the eternal rest of Fr. Antonio Cesar. We affirm our affection to his family in Pozoblanco, Spain, and wherever they are, for the beloved Francophone West Africa Province to which he belonged, and for the Seville Province of Spain, where he learned to love Don Bosco and to live like him.

With true affection,

Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime, SDB

Homily for 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
6th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Feb. 11, 2001

Jer 17: 5-8
Ps 1
Luke 6: 17, 20-26
St. Joseph, Passaic, N.J.

“Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the Lord” (Jer 17: 5).

Jeremiah certainly knew not to trust human beings—at least not kings, nobles, courtiers, and priests:  people of power, influence, and wealth, the people who accused him of treason, flogged him, put him in stocks, imprisoned him, threw him into a dry well, and constantly threatened his life.  He could have been speaking for himself instead of the Lord.

But he was speaking for the Lord.  With all that he endured for the Lord, you have to wonder that he persevered, continued to prophesy.  He did say he couldn’t help it, the Lord’s word burned like fire inside him (20:9).  Even so, he must have been convinced of what he preached:  that the Lord is the only source of blessing, and if we put our trust in human beings we’re very foolish, cursed even.

The Lord’s curse is not on the wealthy and the powerful as such, but on those who trust in wealth and power and turn away from the Lord, those “who follow the counsel of the wicked, walk in the way of sinners, and sit in the company of the insolent” (Ps 1:1).

In the gospel we have St. Luke’s version of the Beatitudes.  In contrast with St. Matthew’s edition of these blessings, Luke’s blessing of the poor is absolute, without qualification:  “Blessed are you who are poor” (6:20).  Matthew recorded, instead, the more familiar “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (5:3), allowing that the wealthy and powerful could be humble and lowly—which experience shows us is possible but unusual; and that the really poor could be as greedy and corrupt as anyone else—which, also, sadly, experience confirms for us.

Joshua tree: Joshua Tree National Forest

Even more noteworthy is that with Jesus’ blessings Luke records a set of curses lacking in Matthew’s version—one curse or “woe” for each blessing:  woe to the rich, woe to the satisfied, woe to those who laugh, woe to those who are praised (6:24-26).  We are meant to connect these woes with the curse uttered by Jeremiah:  “Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the Lord.”  If those who are high and mighty in this world are not “barren bushes in the desert” or “salt and empty wastes” in human eyes, it may be that they are so in divine eyes, and their eternity will be barren and empty.  One example:  When certain retired justices of the Supreme Court have died in the last five years, the media have sung their praises as champions of our civil liberties; the major newspapers and the news magazine gave their passing multi-page coverage and lavished them with glory.  I don’t know their heart of hearts; I don’t know how their consciences stood before God.  But God the author of life looks upon their championship of “a woman’s right to choose” to kill her baby in the womb rather differently than the media do.  We can only pray that their eternity isn’t being spent reflecting upon Jesus’ words:  “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way” (Luke 6:26).  “Cursed is the one … whose heart turns away from the Lord,” whether in the name of power or of greed or of ideological fashion, whether we are people of power and influence, or ordinary folks.

An example from the lives of the saints:  One day Don Bosco went to the priest responsible for the house’s financial matters, Fr. Rua, with some urgent bills and asked what was on hand to pay them.  Fr. Rua said there wasn’t much because in 2 weeks a really big debt had to be paid, and he was holding his little cash for that.  Don Bosco rejoined:  “It is sheer folly to neglect debts which we can pay today so as to meet those which will fall due two weeks from now….  Earmarking money for future needs closes the door to Divine Providence.”  When we rely on ourselves, “God holds back” (BM 14:80-81).  Don Bosco taught us to trust in the Lord, to hope in the Lord; and the Lord will water us, keep us green, make us fruitful (cf. Jer 17:8).  So Fr. Rua paid the immediate bills and left the later one to Providence.  The biographers don’t tell us how Providence came thru on that later one, but there are so many anecdotes about other financial crises to suggest we needn’t worry about it.

Or about the assorted decisions and crises in our own lives, whether they’re material or spiritual or moral.  Do I waste psychic energy on matters I have no control over?  Do I bring all my concerns—material, spiritual, or moral—to the Lord, completely open to whatever he wants?  How do I plan for my family—the number of children, their education, our retirement?  How involved should I be with my community? in the local, state, or national political process, in decisions being made for me and all of us about health care, education, child care, care for the elderly, public safety, crime and punishment, public housing and other welfare issues, abortion, the environment, arms control, investment in the Third World, refugees from war and famine?  How do I spend or invest money?  How do I handle serious illness, face possible death?  Do I do what is right today, and not worry about tomorrow?

The message from Jeremiah, Ps 1, Luke and everywhere else in Scripture is not to trust in human resources, human ways of weighing the balances, human wisdom, human power—but in God.  When we’re reviewing the general direction of our lives; when we’re faced with a major decision of any kind—we’re not to ask ourselves only what Pres. Bush or Alan Greenspan thinks about the subject; or the academic community or a Gallup poll; or Wall St. or 9 out of 10 doctors.  We must also ask, and weigh in especially, what our sacred scriptures say, what the long Christian tradition says, what our heavenly Father is speaking to our hearts at prayer.

Like Jeremiah, are we willing to speak what God tells us to speak, to do what God tells us to do, regardless of what other people think or say?  “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man” (Luke 6:22).  Last month a magazine published by a New York homosexual organization included in its review of 2000 cheers for the passing of Card. O’Connor.  But when the cardinal died, God didn’t judge his soul on the basis of editorials for or against him in The New York Times or the opinions of NARAL or various homosexual organizations, or, for that matter, of our military services or the unions or the police department—groups that were very friendly to the cardinal.  The cardinal was judged, as you and I will be, on how he preached and lived out the Gospel of Jesus Christ, according to his and our respective vocations.

Are we willing to hear what Jesus says about wealth, and share what we have with the less fortunate:  our material resources, our time, our talent, ourselves?  Do we delight in God’s law, in his scriptures, in time spent with him in prayer?  “The Lord watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes” (Ps 1:6).  Our hope is not in this life, but in eternal life:  “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all” (1 Cor 15:19).  So we live in this life and use this world’s goods and treat our brothers and sisters with our eyes, and our hearts, on a greater prize:  eternal life in Christ Jesus.  “Behold, your reward will be great in heaven” (Luke 6:23).

Homily for Friday, Week 5 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Friday
Week 5 of Ordinary Time

February 15, 2019

Gen 3: 1-8
Don Bosco Cristo Rey Staff Retreat, Washington Retreat House

The Greek myth of Pandora’s box explains how all the evils known to humanity got loosed upon us, perhaps in spite of the intentions of the gods.  That unleashing of evil was the result of a deliberate human choice.

Genesis ch. 3, the infamous story of “the Fall,” presents a similar myth—this one faulting members of both sexes, again by a deliberate choice.  Unlike the Greek myth, the story in Genesis is divine revelation—not merely a human explanation for the presence of evil, both natural evils and moral evils, but also a truth that the Holy Spirit lays before us concerning the presence of evil in the world.

The Fall of Humanity (Michelangelo)

The Book of Wisdom says:  “God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.  For he fashioned all things that they might have being” (1:13-14).  Genesis shows us a perfectly ordered universe, with men and beasts and all the created world in harmony—until humans invite evil by, literally, tasting the fruit of the tree of knowing good and evil.  They sample this knowledge, symbolized by fruit “good for food, pleasing to the eyes, desirable for gaining wisdom” (Gen 3:6).  And both the man and the woman bite, like a computer user clicking on a link he knows he shouldn’t open.  Not all knowledge is genuine wisdom.

And the eyes of both are opened (3:7).  Unlike the ears and the mouth of the man Jesus cures in the gospel (Mark 7:31-37), opening his ears to the wisdom of God’s word, his mouth for the praise of the good things Christ does for us, the eyes of the man and the woman in the garden are opened to their own shame, i.e., to their sin, and by implication, to a new world of disorder, chaos, and ruin in creation—which will be spoken of in the following verses of ch. 3 and, indeed, in subsequent chapters of Genesis until God begins his saving intervention by calling Abraham out of Chaldea and into the Promised Land (Gen 12:1)—Abraham, the man of faith who believes in God’s promise, acts in obedience to God’s word, and cooperates in God’s plan to begin our redemption.

Some of us—I won’t call anyone out—are old enuf to remember Flip Wilson, a comedian whose famous line about his failings was, “The devil made me do it.”  In the next verses of Genesis, which we’ll read at Mass tomorrow, that’s mankind’s excuse when God confronts them in the garden:  the snake tricked me into eating the fruit (3:13).  God, of course, doesn’t bite—doesn’t fall for the excuse but holds them responsible for their free choice.

On a day of recollection like ours, one of our tasks—it’s a challenge—is to look into our choices; or, more specifically, into our relationship with God as revealed in our choices.  There are words, actions, and omissions that shame us, or ought to.  We may be tempted into bad choices by other people:  pressure from family, friends, TV ads, or poll numbers, which is the oldest excuse known to humanity:  “The woman whom you put here with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it” (Gen 3:12); or tempted by those passions we all know well—pride, sloth, lust, gluttony, envy, anger, and avarice; or tempted by the devil speaking to our hearts as he tempted Jesus himself.  The choice of doing good or evil, of speaking good or evil, of failing to speak or act when we ought to—this is our choice.  We can’t use Flip Wilson’s excuse that the devil made us do it.  When I do wrong, it’s because I choose to, like the woman and the man in Eden.

But I can also choose good.  I can be a person of faith like Abraham, who set in motion more good for the universe than he could ever have dreamed of.  More than Abraham, Christian teaching has always held up to our gaze the woman called the “new Eve,” the woman who said to God’s messenger, “I’m the Lord’s humble servant.  Let it be done to me as you say.” (Luke 1:38)  That was a redeeming moment for the human race, as the 1st Eve’s choice to seek knowledge of evil was a damning moment.  Each of us has the power to imitate the obedience and humility of the Virgin Mary as a servant of the Lord.  And when we do that as people of faith, we allow Jesus into our hearts as surely as she allowed him into her womb, and we can give birth to Jesus, in a manner of speaking—more than a manner of speaking, for it’s a mystery of our faith too—by making him present in our attitudes, words, and deeds.  The choice is ours.

God bless you.