Saint + Elizabeth + Ann + Seton + Parish

We need a deep, pervasive, transformational conversion in the hearts and minds of people. We have the antidote for the strife and suspicion and mutual recriminations here before us tonight in the example of the saints.

 We need to know that prayer is not merely “asking God for something.” Prayer is not a formula to learn and master. Prayer and true desire are intimately connected. How often do we really ask Jesus for our heart’s desire? When we ask for something half-heartedly, we are not asking out of desire. When we ask, but do not continue to ask, are we not showing that we are not desperate? And if we are passionate, is it for the right things? Download Transcript

Here we are at Mass. Each of us has voices that speak to us through the day—voices that may tell us of our sins and remind us of our failings, voices that may keep us small and hobbled, voices that tell us we’re not worthy or fill us with fears, voices that keep us from voicing the desire of our heart. But here, here at Mass, every voice in our prayers and our singing says to the people around us, “Have no fear, the Master is calling you.” 

 We cannot know our hearts by ourselves. We rationalize too easily for our own advantage. So the Hebrews reading tells us that God gives us his Word, which is able to discern reflections and thought of the heart. That is one reason the Scriptures are read and proclaimed when Christians gather. We need to be taken beyond our own limited perspectives. Only in going beyond ourselves will we inherit eternal life.Download Transcript

If Wisdom is the practical application of Knowledge, then what is it that we know? Well, there’s a Scripture in the book of Proverbs that says that the knowledge of God is the beginning of wisdom. The first thing that we know is that God will not disappoint us. Where God is, there is ultimate goodness. And so we begin with that knowledge. Our trust is in God and not in structures that are under the guidance of human beings. 

 Today the readings would like us to reflect on and appreciate all the gifts of love and marriage that God has placed in our lives. The readings would like us to be grateful to God for the gift of your spouses, the gift of family, the gift of your brothers and sisters, of your children, your grandchildren. And so this is a special day that we reflect and also show gratitude to God for all the beautiful things that happen in our families. 

 I know that the issue of our sexuality has been a cause of major struggle and guilt for many, many people––especially in the Church. I remind us all of something John declares in his Gospel: God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him (3:17). What God tells us about something so basic as our sexuality is always for our good. Knowing that we fall short and need his mercy and grace, we have forgiveness through God’s Son. We should always remember: God forgives us so he can heal us and make us holy. Salvation is a whole package!Download Transcript

God’s gift is abundant, and He gives it to whoever He wills. Joshua and John forgot to realize that God’s gift is inviolable; God’s gift is immeasurable; God’s gift is incalculable. In other words, we cannot use the metrics of supply-and-demand to calculate the value of what God has put in your heart and put in my heart. Because only God has it, and He gives it to you and gives it to me freely. 

Jesus was preparing the disciples for his coming death, and all the while they were selfishly discussing among themselves who was the greatest…. It’s easier to be like the disciples that day than to be like Jesus. We are too easily aware of our status with one another. We can too easily keep record of how many times we have been asked to do the dirty work. We can too easily gravitate towards those who are most like us. We can too easily use our opinions selfishly. It is popular opinion—not Jesus—that says, “Take care of Number One.” Download Transcript

The word of God is that power that makes even the wilderness to blossom. And that’s the message that all of the readings want us to hold onto this morning: the message of hope, the message of healing, the message of restoration in Christ Jesus. 

All the faithful share in understanding and handing on revealed truth. They have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who instructs them and guides them into all truth. Catholicism is in and with the Faithful, who have received the Holy Spirit. Catholicism hasn’t been lost, stolen, broken, or hidden away. It is alive and well in the People of God!Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church citations online HERE.Download Homily Transcript

The work of our hands is where we are called to be Christ-like. And one mark of being Christ-like through the work of our hands is to be Messianic—just like Jesus, who was sent to bring freedom to those who are captured, to bring sight to those who are blind, to bring liberty to those who have been held down by burdens. So you and I, through the labors of our hands, are called to be agents of freedom, agents of joy, agents of gladness. 

What is religion? To have pure and undefiled religion is to recognize the dignity of every person and to cherish all our relationships—not striving and competing and trying to one-up the other, and trying to crawl or grab your way to the top. Instead, you’re just living as a pure person in relationship to God and with others. And this is who the widows and orphans teach us to be—to have that kind of simplicity in our experience as a human person. 

You as Christians, you as Catholics, can indeed flourish in the wounded body of Christ because, fundamentally, our journey as Christians is an interior life with Christ. We all can flourish regardless of the woundedness, because our life with Christ is deeply and fundamentally interior. And it is that interior life that the Holy Spirit revives again and again. 

Imagination is a gift from God. We can use our imagination to see something better, and then, in ourselves, we can respond so that we can move, in hope, toward something better. 

If we are honest, too often we want God to come to us on our terms rather than us continually coming to God on his terms. We come up to something hard; our weak humanity cries out and we are tempted to turn away.So Jesus asked the Twelve, Do you also want to leave? Forever the leading spokesman, Simon Peter answered him, Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”Download Transcript

Mary is the epitome of what it is to be human in the world. Her respect and esteem for everyone she came into contact with is the model for all humanity. Mary was, in a word, the first Christian. When we need to see a true Christian, to know what a Christian ought to be, and have a model to follow, Mary is that exemplar—that superlative example of how we ought to be and act toward one another. Then, assumed into Heaven, Mary points the way to eternal life.Download Transcript

Mary, in her exaltation as mother of our Lord, was given the privilege of being the first to enter fully into all that her Son has won for us. The Assumption of Mary is a sign of the fullness of salvation that is ahead for all who belong to Jesus Christ.Pray for us, most holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.Download Transcript

"You and I are on a journey. We want to get to the mountain of God: eternal life. How do we know that we are believing and listening and learning (which is another way of saying 'obeying')? What results can we expect? What should be the effect in us when we eat the living bread? We find that answer in the Epistle reading: our faith affects us in basic, tangible ways."Download transcript

When we’re facing these kinds of difficulties in our own lives, these painful periods when we feel like we just want to give up and throw in the towel and forget about it, God sends a messenger our way: Maybe just the smile of a little child, maybe a friend, maybe someone offering a prayer for us. We don’t even know it’s happening, and suddenly we feel a little strength coming on, and we can persevere and move forward in the promise that we will reach the mountain.