Father Greg

Only Pockets

A homily for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Got a message through Facebook. When I opened it, it said “your page is in violation of Facebook’s standards and will be deleted unless you click here”. So I clicked here and it took me to a site and log in to your Facebook page. And I realized, oh, it’s a phishing expedition. It’s a scam. But boy was it well crafted.

Beautiful logo, Facebook logo, everything. And I admired it. Even though it was nefarious. I admired it because it was so well crafted. And this is what I think is going on in today’s gospel. In this parable of the man, you’re about to be fired. So he takes, invoices to the creditors and changes the number so people are indebted to him and will take him into their houses.

And Jesus says, you got to admire the crafty manager. You got to admire him. But don’t be like him because his life is just way too narrow. There’s an Italian saying A pickpocket only sees pockets, and that’s true. But life is more than pocket. You can put together a great crafty way of finding pockets. That could be admirable, but the invitation for life is not just more pockets, more money, more something narrow.

Jesus is inviting us to life and fullness of life and love and deep relationship and a relationship with God and redemption. This is the invitation, not pockets. And that’s what I think Teresa of Avila say when she says

“There are more tears shed over answered prayers than unanswered prayers”, because oftentimes our prayers are like, I want bigger pockets, more pockets. I want more money. I want more attention. I want more tiny stuff that I think will make me happy. And it doesn’t. And Jesus wants us to be praying for life and relationships and love and big hearts, and not to settle on pockets.

So when our prayer is pocket, yeah, we’re going to cry over it when we realize how narrow that is. Today’s gospel is don’t settle on narrow. Don’t settle on small. Don’t settle on beauty. Don’t settle on pockets. Because you’ve been invited to the immensity.

Move there.

To Build a Tower, Build a Tower

A homily for the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

When I was a seminarian they constantly talked about the spirituality of priesthood and the spirituality of priesthood. Yeah, spirituality is like Christian spirituality. Human spirituality. There is no spirituality, no priesthood. Until I was ordained as a priest. Then, wow. There is a spirituality of priesthood. And I found it was because every day I had to ponder the scriptures.

What am I going to say that day? Preach that day. Every day I celebrate the sacraments and sacraments. Are these powerful like deep, intuitive of ceremonies that have lots of power. And so it was powerful spirituality. And I said, it’s based on the practice to do the spirituality. Priesthood means to do the work of priest. And the more you do the work of priest, the deeper the spirituality.

And I extended that then to other other vocations like the vocation of marriage. I think the spirituality of marriage is doing the work of being married, saying, I love you. Let’s dialog about this. I forgive you just to kiss the person just to day by day, just like pure spirituality. The priesthood is everyday practice. Being a priest every day.

Practice being a spouse and it will change you. And so that’s what I think Jesus is getting at with his. You have to to be his follower. You have to turn your back on brother, sister, house mother, you know, etc. etc. it’s because these things can keep us from the practice of being good, holy Christians, good, holy people, good, holy transform from human beings to humane beings, transformed to being Christian beings.

And then the second part of today’s gospel is about what, builder would build and then run out of materials, or what army came, would go against that army that’s superior. I will extend his metaphors to say you learn by doing. You learn how to build towers, by building towers, you learn how to be a soldier by being a soldier.

And I think you learn how to be human by being human. And you learn how to be Christian by being Christian. I think that’s the bottom line of today’s gospel is day by day, be mindful and determined to be a priest, or to be a spouse, or to be a Christian, and that will change you deeply.

Getting the Last Word

A homily for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

I was on a seminary board and one of the members said, we’re not in compliance. And I said, what does that mean? And he says, canon law says we should have one novitiate with one novice master, and we have one division with two novice masters, one from the New York province, one from the Chicago province. That’s not in compliance.

And so I thought for a while, you know, what we could say is we really have like two divisions, said one for New York Province, one for Chicago Province in the same building, we’ll call it co-institutional. And he looked at me and said, that’s so stupid. I hate being called stupid. I got, man. But I said, well, let’s refer it to Rome.

Let’s see what Rome says. And he says, okay, all right. So he wrote, because he’s afraid I would leave the letter. Rome wrote back like three months later and said, you can consider it constitutional. A New York province and its Chicago Province division in the same building. I was right, and so, of course, could I be a gracious winner?

No, not at all. I’d have the last word. So I said, hey, I’m right. Rome. You know how the Latin goes. Rome, Roma lucuta set, causa finita est Rome has spoken. The cause is done. And the guy said, Rome is wrong and you’re wrong. So there and so, I guess no cause of beneath us. No. You’re wrong. Then it became union.

Yes yes yes yes. No no no. It was ugly and stupid. Each of us had to have the last word. But silly. Well, today the gospel is about when you go to a wedding, take the least seat. That way, if you’re your bigger guest, they’ll take you to the front. Don’t take the front. They’ll push you to the back.

Who does that anymore? I think, but what we do do is the same thing. But with this last word, I going to add the last word. I’ve got to be right. I’m going to finish your sentences. It’s all about my opinion. I’m going to say it till you know, till everybody agrees. I think it’s the same thing. It’s a little bit different.

And that’s not the call to be right all the time. To get the last word to be number one. That’s what Jesus is after. Say to when we are misunderstood and judged unfavorably, what good does it do to defend or explain ourselves? It is so much better to say nothing and allow others to judge us as they please.

Boy, is that difficult. But I think that sums up today’s gospel. Boy, is it difficult because I really have trouble doing that myself. Boy, is that difficult. So difficult. I keep that quotation on my desk.

Radical Horizontality

A homily for the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

We know the names King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella because they sent Columbus to America. But what they’d also done is they conquered the Muslims, drove them out of Spain, reunite reuniting the kingdom, and told all the remaining Muslims and Jews become Catholic or, leave. And they instituted purity of blood law that you had to show you didn’t have any Jewish ancestry, Muslim ancestry, to work in the government to be an aristocrat, to become a religious, to become a priest, anything you had to prove purity of bloodline.

It was a very vertical law. Judging you are not worthy because you don’t have pure blood. Here comes Teresa of Avila, founding these new convents of hers. And she. Everyone was welcome. It didn’t matter what their ancestry was. Indigenous from the Americas. Welcome, former Muslims. Welcome people of Jewish blood. Welcome. And you get a lot of trouble. He said there’s a purity of blood law.

She said it doesn’t matter. All are welcome here. She took this vertical law, that was too vertical. And because she was radically horizontal. And I think that’s what today’s gospel is about, being radically horizontal. And Jesus says, try to come in through the narrow key or take the narrow road. Teresa of Avila says, “I don’t see how, Lord, nor do I know how the road that leads to you is narrow.” Because she could see that there are people in all directions who want to be part of the community, want to be united, want to love one another.

Radical horizontality. And that’s why Jesus will say, you will be surprised if you’re rejected. Because if you see the world vertically and of course, positioning yourself, then at the top of the heap superior to all of them. That’s not what Jesus is here for. He says people will come from the east, west, north and south, horizontal directions not coming from the kingdom to the mountaintops, from the summits, from the sky.

No, from the east, west, north. To the banquet. I think that’s the key. That’s why Teresa of Avila cannot see how that’s a narrow road, because that’s how she saw everything. And that’s the call for us to see everything. Not judging, not superior, them inferior, but horizontal. Brothers and sisters. All.

When You Can’t Let it Go

A homily for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Father Roy tells the story that when he was a new priest. So this is a few years ago, because Father Roy has been 60 years a priest. When he was a new priest, an older priest then in the house was dying. So they were taking turns through the night so the priest wouldn’t die alone. And it was Father Roy’s turn.

So he’s in the easy chair, and he falls asleep. And he wakes up because the guy is calling out to him. And. But the guy is, you know, asks for something, but Roy can’t understand. So he leans. What do you want, father? Another blanket? No, no, no. I fluff up your pillow. No no no. Something to eat?. No, no no.

No water? No. And then the priest, reaches, behind him. Points behind his. Under his pillow. So, Roy reaches under there and there’s a checkbook, and he hands the checkbook to this priest. And the priest takes the checkbook and is holding it like this, and he’s holding the checkbook and dies with it in his hand. And, I’m thinking that’s a terrible story.

But in many ways, we’re all that priest. There’s something that isn’t what we should be holding on to, that we hold on to old grudges or old vanities, or old memories or old hurts or things that that the Lord is constantly saying, let go, let those go, and we don’t want to. We’re going to clutch on to them. It could be our accomplishments, our degrees, our family, all sorts of things that we think are us, and we’re going to hold on to it.

Saint Teresa of Avila says, “Lord, I do not think I can give you everything that you ask.” Even the great Saint Teresa can’t give up everything. She has her checkbook, so she has a checkbook. You have a checkbook. But she is a great saint, she continues the prayer, “but I will allow you to take it.” That is sanctity. That we can’t give up everything. There’s something that’s just too dear to us could be for the positive or the negative. But ask the Lord to take it. In today’s gospel, Jesus says, where your treasure is, there your heart will be. I think that’s the call. Give the Lord all of your treasures. Give the Lord all your words, whatever it is that keeps you from fullness of life and living, and the fullness of this gift, and give that to the Lord. And then the Lord will have your heart. Lord, I do not think I can give you everything that you ask, but I will allow you to take it. Tough prayer, but I think we can do it.

You Get What You Expect

A Homily for the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time

I was driven to the brand new diocesan retreat center. And as we get up there, there’s no one around but just some dogs. So you step out of the car and the driver says, oh those are mean guard dogs. I’m petting these dogs and they’re wagging their tails. And I said, no, they’re friendly dogs. They’re pussycat dogs. Come on out of the car.

He opens his door and the dogs run around the car. He slams the door. He said, I told you. So I took the dogs, put them in the chapel and closed the door. So he could get out of the car. Those two? I was expecting friendly dogs. The dogs gave me friendly dogs. He was expecting mean guard dogs. The dogs gave him mean guard dogs.

I think that’s how life works. And that’s how we work with one another. When I was a schoolteacher. I always expected my students to do great work and great job and get good grades. And you know, they never disappointed me. They always rose to it. I expected good. They gave me good.

And so we extend this to today’s gospel of Jesus. Just knock. It will be opened ask you’ll be given. It’ll be abundant. If dogs deliver. If people deliver, I think God delivers. Just expect God, the universe, creation, everything to deliver. And it will deliver. The door will be opened. The, requests will not be denied. They’ll be answered.

The fullness will be given. It’s the whole universe. From dogs to people and students to God himself, gives what you expect, Saint Teresa of Avila says, “never cease to believe that even in this life, God gives the hundredfold.” That’s what today’s gospel is all about.

Martha and Mary Must Combine

A homily for the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Last Thursday, we celebrated a memorial. The Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne. Compiegne is a cloister in northern France, and during the French Revolution, they were ordered to disband. And they did. They came to Paris, but they formed a community in Paris, and they were found out still living religious life. So they were arrested and ordered executed. And if executions back then were like a big social events where people selling food and jugglers and all sorts of things, people loved executions.

And in come the martyrs. These nuns. And the crowd got silent. What’s going on? Are we executing nuns now? And it’s just was dramatic. They started to sing the song. And as each one was guillotined, there was one less voice until finally the Mother Superior was guillotined and she was killed mid-line. The crowd went home in silence.

And that was the end of the Reign of Terror after the French Revolution. People said, have we come to this? What are we doing? We’re killing nuns now? And they just thought the whole thing out. And I think that’s what we have to do. That’s always the call, is to think our actions out. And is this is really what we want to be doing? To give it deep thought, deep prayer.

In today’s gospel, we have Martha and Mary. Traditionally, they’ve been, seen as Martha is the active one. She’s the one doing ministry. She’s serving Jesus food, and Mary is the contemplative one. She’s sitting at his feet and they’re kind of, Mary is a little upset. And so Jesus says, oh, Mary’s chosen the better part. And oftentimes that’s traditionally said the contemplative life is superior to the active life.

But Teresa of Avila says, no, that actually it’s both. Both have to be operative because we do so much on autopilot or so much without thought. We have to bring our actions into contemplation and contemplation. Then into action. It’s this dynamic going back and forth. And so she looks at this story of Martha, and Mary and says, “To give our Lord perfect hospitality, Martha and Mary must combine.” I think that’s what was happening with that crowd when they said, what are we doing? They thought it out, they prayed it out and they changed. I think that’s the call of today’s gospel. We have to be both contemplative and active. Not one, not the other. Both to give the Lord perfect hospitality, but to give ourselves a good and rich and wonderful life, to give our Lord a perfect hospitality, Martha and Mary must combine.

Bridesmaids, Please Sit Down!

A homily for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

It was the Friday and Father Ron retired to the parish, said to me, can you do tonight’s rehearsal? I got a wedding tomorrow. Rehearsal tonight. I don’t have the energy for it. I said, sure, I’ll do it. Well, it turned out it was a little chaotic. Get them all seated for a 6:00 rehearsal and the doors of the church open, and they all jump up.

Bridesmaids, bride and groom to greet. Uncle Fred let’s say. Because they had invited everybody to the rehearsal. I get them seated again. I get on the microphone. Please sit down. They ignored me, I had to go back there, bring them back. Sit them about to start the rehearsal a second time. The doors of the church open aunt Mabel, and they all go running back. There to greet and, please sit down. Bridesmaids sit down. They ignored me, I had to go back there, bring them to the front, about to start the rehearsal. It happens a third time and I’m getting married. And I said I can’t get married because all theyll remember is the Priest got mad. So I’m thinking, what can I do? And I said, I have to reprogram myself.

What I think I did was I, allocated an hour and a half for the rehearsal. That’s what it normally takes. I’m going to give these people to 10 p.m., and if they’re still not rehearsing, then I’ll get mad because that’s four hours instead of an hour and a half. Well, we got the rehearsal done and before 10 p.m., but I realized then it’s not out there that anxiety comes from. It’s not out there that anger, it’s in here or it’s in here. And by Reprograming, everything worked up because as soon as I said till 10 p.m., peace fell upon me, calm washed over me. Today in the gospel, Jesus sent out the 72 and he tells them, when you enter some place, say, peace upon this household. He’s sending them out on a peace mission, but he’s telling them how to do this.

Don’t take all this extra stuff you’re going to worry about. Don’t take food. Don’t take knapsack. Don’t take staff. Don’t take extra sandals. Just go. Don’t worry about that stuff. And then if they’re not peaceable people, they’re just leave. Don’t worry about them. He’s teaching them how to be at peace themselves. So that they then can bestow peace upon these households in this peace mission of today’s gospel.

St. Teresa of Avila says, and it’s her her grasp of peace, “for a soul surrendered into God’s hands doesn’t care whether they say good or evil about it”. That’s the key of today’s gospel. Surrender yourself. Surrender all that stuff you worry about. Surrender what your people are going to say about you, or think about you or laugh at you. Surrender that all into God’s hands and then you won’t care. You will be at peace. That’s the call of today’s gospel.

Who Do You Say I Am?

A homily for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul

In my previous parish, the rectory there had a big mouse problem. Couldn’t get on top of it. The exterminators couldn’t. So finally my associate brought in two kittens from the shelter and I said, hey, but I live here. Should I have had a voice? He says, well, you can name them. And so I named the Abishag or Abbey, and Ezekiel, Zeke. Because they should have, rectory cats should have Bible names. And after they cleaned up the house, these two little kittens, they grew up and they became house cats. Well, eventually we moved and his parents retired. They wanted cats. So now they have the cats. And it’s been a while since I visited them. But I went to LA for an ordination and I stopped to have dinner with my associate parents, and I said, down before dinner and I’m just talking to them

The cats ignore me completely, ignored me completely. I was just there until I said, Abby, Zeke. And they straighten up and they look at me and they come running across the house, and Zeke jumped on my chest and Abby was there by my knees. And I think they recognize their names and they’re their endearing names. And that’s what they responded to, was their name. In today’s gospel, Jesus says, who do they say that I am? Who do people say that I am? And they give dry answers. Some say you are Elijah, some say you’re John the Baptist, some say you’re one of the prophets. And even Peter says you are the Christ, the son of the living God. These are all dry answers, and I’m wondering if that’s what Jesus is really asking for, like in the John’s Gospel towards the end when he says, Simon, do you love me more than these?

And he says, yes, Lord, you know I love you. I’m wondering if that’s the name he wants, if that’s the name he’s looking for, and that’s the name he’s preached. And that’s what his message to us is; love. This comes from Saint Teresa of Avila, from her like Book of Reflection. It’s called the soliloquies, “Since my beloved is for me and I for my beloved, who will be able to separate two fires so enkindled? For the two fires have become one.

I think that’s Teresa’s term for who do people say that I am? Teresa of Avila says my beloved. I think that’s what Jesus is looking for. From us, this loving relationship of hearts enkindled, hearts joined, hearts inseparable, had cannot be separated because the two have become one.

Journeying from Here to There

A homily for Corpus Christi Sunday

Today we are celebrating Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi means the body of Christ. Oftentimes, the feast is called the Body and blood of Christ. We celebrate the Eucharist today. And oftentimes when I hear the words Corpus Christi, I think of Corpus Christi procession. It’s the day for processions where after mass. Oftentimes the Eucharist is put into a monstrance, and the monstrance is walked around inside the church or outside the church, or through the neighborhood or through the parking lot.

It’s a day of processions, and I think that’s a great thing. It’s the first thing that comes to mind, and it’s a great thing because oftentimes we want to make the Eucharist like something static out there, separate to be awed and to be, worshipped out there. And no, it’s meant to be dynamic and changing. And so to have a procession is exactly what the Eucharist is about, from going from one place to another place.

And even when we receive, at mass. We always start in the pew and we head towards the altar. We don’t head towards the back or towards the side, or the Eucharist doesn’t come to us. We walk to the altar representing our journey to fullness or our journey to heaven.

Saint Edith Stein, also called Saint Teresa Benedict of the Cross, was a critic of Naziism and the political conditions of Europe. She was a Jewish convert to Catholicism, became a Carmelite nun. And so she was rounded up and sent to Auschwitz eventually to die there. And she’s a martyr, considered a martyr in the church today. Here’s what she has to say about the Eucharist. Living in the Eucharistic way means coming out of one cell, out of the narrowness of one’s life, and growing into the immensity of life in Christ. That’s why I like this image of procession, of coming out of the narrowness of one’s life and growing into the immensity of life in Christ.

I don’t think we should be celebrating processions, that kind of procession only today. This feast of Corpus Christi. But every day, to grow more and more out of my narrowness and into the immensity of Christ.