A Prayer of Repentance

Friends,

I, like all of you, have been appalled at the violent and senseless attack that occurred in Las Vegas on Sunday.  I can't imagine the fear and the horror that was experienced by those attending that concert and, for those who will survive, the traumatic memories that will scar their minds and hearts for many years to come.

I suppose that I was surprised, however, that one of my first thoughts after first hearing about this attack was "So what?  People are being shot and killed in the streets of Chicago every day!"  I quickly looked up to see where this tragedy in Las Vegas ranked aside the violence that happened in Chicago that same weekend.  4 persons killed (killed!) and 29 injured by gun violence in Chicago alone last weekend.  Over 470 people have been murdered in Chicago since January 1, 2017.  No national headlines, though, because (sadly) this has become normal in Chicago.

Because our hearts can't handle daily grieving of the sort demanded by the daily losses being suffered in Chicago (and many other cities), it takes violence of grand proportion to get our attention.  This is an emotional defense mechanism that allows us to get on with our lives, which is normal; and so I'm not blaming anyone (myself included) for not reacting to these daily tragedies.  The contrast in our reactions, however, should give us pause to ask ourselves whether we are insulating our hearts from being overwhelmed or intentionally ignoring an uncomfortable truth, one that demands something of us.  If I had to guess, I'd say that we all began in the former, but have found ourselves in the latter.

Friends, what happened in Las Vegas was not an isolated incident.  I have no data to prove a direct connection to any other influences that the shooter may have had, of course, but I know that this violent act was not isolated from the thousands of other violent acts (of lesser proportion) that are perpetrated day-in and day-out in cities and towns throughout our country and our world.  This, because all violence is a result of unrepented sin in our lives.  When we tolerate even small sin in our own lives, we give sin a place to extend its roots and be nourished, which then allows it to spring forth in thousands of violent ways each and every day; and sometimes in incomprehensibly grand ways, like it did in Las Vegas this past Sunday.

So what do we do?  Well, I hope that you can already see the (decidedly uncomfortable) answer: we must each cry out to our Lord Jesus for mercy and then work to purge sin from our own lives and help those closest to us to do the same.  Perhaps we can begin by praying this prayer of repentance today (see below) and making a commitment to seriously examining our lives so as to purge sin completely from them.  Then, I'd suggest getting to know your neighbors (the persons who, literally, live on either side of you), if you don't know them already.  No one goes on a violent rampage because their neighbors were "too kind" to him/her.  We are our brothers' keepers.  Let's make sure that we are fulfilling this important responsibility.

May the Precious Blood of Jesus wash over us and cleanse us, so that we might enter the life that his shed Blood won for us: the life of light, happiness, and peace with him eternally in heaven.

Prayer of Repentance

LORD, WHO ARE WE AS A PEOPLE, having been given blessings in portions as no other nation before us?  What has become of us, Father?  We have spoiled your spacious skies with buildings and cities breathing with sin.  The amber waves of grain are no longer viewed as our blessing but as our due.  The awe and reverence due You when we gaze upon the purple mountains and their majesty is no longer held; rather, how much pleasure they can give us.  Father, we have spurned You.  We’ve blamed our problems on those who promote darkness, but You have revealed yourself to us through Your Son.  Now our eyes have been opened by Him.  Our lack of holiness, our not being light has allowed darkness to prevail.  Indeed, our sins which we wrongly view as small have allowed those in darkness to commit great sins without shame.  We now realize that it is because of our failings as Christians.  Father, Samuel told your people, “It is true you have committed all this evil, still you must not turn from the Lord, but worship Him with your whole heart. For the sake of His own great name, the Lord will not abandon his own people.”  Father, we come before You with our whole hearts and ask You to grant us the pardon won for us by your Son.

Jesus, we do not deserve to even be heard, yet we know Your passion merits that we are.  Lord Jesus, we call You as You have called us.  Please, intercede before God to forgive us, to heal us, to heal our families, and to heal our nation.

Father, grant Your Son’s intentions and hear His pleas for us. We know you are justly irritated with us but we beg and plead for forgiveness through our repentance from our hearts.  We realize our nation is headed toward disaster by so many signs You have given us.  Holy, Holy, Holy God, grant Your Son His requests that we may again be your people, not a nation above God but one nation humbled and under God.  Amen.

Adapted from the “Prayer to Heal America” by A Friend of Medjugorje

Knowing Jesus in the Eucharist

Homily: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus

Cycle C

          As most of you know, I grew up near Chicago, in Joliet, Illinois.  This was (and still is) close enough that “Chicago” culture permeates Joliet, too.  I’m always a little surprised when I go home to visit at some of the stark contrasts between “Chicago” culture and our more rural “Indiana” culture.  One of those aspects that usually sticks out is the “I know a guy…” syndrome.  You see, in Chicago culture, one establishes his or her authority on a subject by proclaiming to “know a guy” that says something authoritative about it or who can do something in regards to it.  For example: “I know a guy who says that the bishop keeps forty or fifty gold bars buried under the Cathedral in case of emergency.”  Or (and this is more common), in the case that you need something done: “That storm ripped some siding off?  I know a guy who can fix that up for you.  He’ll do a great job and it won’t cost that much.  Let me call him right now for you…”

          This could be a great asset, if you were looking for someone and were hoping to find a good reference.  It could also be very annoying.  Perhaps you already had your own “guy” for the job, but now you have to talk to this other “guy”.  Nevertheless, in its own weird way, this aspect of the “Chicago” culture is very “priestly”.  In other words, the guy who knows a guy that can get you what you need and is willing to get it from him for you is actually acting—again in a weird analogical sense—like a priest.  Let me try to explain, taking a look at today’s Scriptures.

          You see, the role of the priest is to mediate between God and man.  The primary way that he does this is by offering sacrifices to God on behalf of man.  This is evidenced throughout history: one brings his or her offering to God and hands it to the priest who then offers it to God according to the ritual ascribed for it.   The other way that the priest mediates between God and man is to bring God’s blessings down to man.  That could be in sharing the physical offerings from the altar of sacrifice (such as when a portion of the sacrifice was returned to the one who offered it as a sign that his offering was received positively by God) or simply by imparting the blessings of God on the people.  Case in point: the priest Melchizedek.

          In our first reading today, we hear the short episode of when Abram returned victorious from a battle against an enemy attacker.  On his return he is met by the priest-king Melchizedek who brings out bread and wine for a thanksgiving offering to “God Most High”.  Melchizedek makes the offering and also imparts a blessing from “God Most High” onto Abram.  Then Abram gives a tenth of everything to Melchizedek in thanksgiving for the many spoils he brought back from his victory.  As a mediator for God, Melchizedek will make the appropriate offering on Abram’s behalf.  Through these actions, we see that the priest is a mediator between God and man: a mediation that goes in both directions.

          In the Gospel, we also see a model of priesthood.  After Jesus had been teaching the crowds all day, his disciples approach him on behalf of the people to ask that they be dismissed so they can go find food and lodging for the night.  After instructing them to “give them some food yourselves”, to which they object since they have so little food, Jesus works a miracle so that they can provide them all with food.  In other words, Jesus, who is God, pours out blessings upon the people (the multiplication of loaves and fish) through the hands of his disciples, which makes them “priests”.  Thus we see that, in a sense, the priest is a “guy who knows a guy” who can take care of what we need.

          Jesus, however, is the Eternal High Priest—that is, the priest above all other priests—who eternally intercedes on our behalf before God our Father, offering all of our prayers and praises to him while sending down to us grace for every need in our lives.  We know that this is true because of two things that Jesus did before he ascended into heaven: 1) he instituted the ministerial priesthood and 2) he instituted the Eucharist.  In the Eucharist, he made sure that his Body and Blood—which he told us is the very substance of life when he said: “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you do not have life within you”—would be available to all.  And in the ministerial priesthood, he made sure that his Body and Blood would always be available to all, down through the generations, until he returned on the day of judgment.

          To make present his Body and Blood was a task that was given to a select few—not because of their exceptional worthiness, but simply because they were chosen.  It continues to this day to be given to those whom God has chosen for this task so that his divine life may continually be poured out for his faithful people to consume.  This is the role of the priest today, to offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to God on your behalf and to be generous distributors of God’s many blessings through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist: in which the Body and Blood of Jesus is made really present to us in the form of bread and wine.  In other words, the priest is to be the “guy who knows a guy” who can bring God’s divine life to us.

          In a special way today we honor the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus as a way of honoring Jesus, the Eternal High Priest, who made of himself a sacrifice to God on our behalf and who continually pours out God’s blessings to us through this most holy sacrament; and as a reminder to honor him always in his real presence that remains with us in the tabernacle.  This truly is both the source and the summit of our faith.

          Let us, then, honor him worthily today by pouring ourselves out in praise and thanksgiving for this great gift; and by embracing the share in Christ’s priesthood that we all have received in baptism and go forth from here to be that “guy who knows a guy” who can intercede before God on behalf of others and bring others to the abundant blessings that God pours out for all when the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus is made present here in this Holy Eucharist.

Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – May 29^th, 2016