Homily for 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A: God's Silence in Prayer
​Readings here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082017.cfm

What do we do when God is silent to our prayers?
 
In the short time that I have been at San Jose, I have already known several who could relate to the woman in the Gospel today. Whether it be sick children or children who have left the faith, they plead to the Lord with many prayers, but God responds with silence.
 
Perhaps it’s not your kids that cause you to call upon the Lord like the woman in the Gospel today. Perhaps it’s for your friend, or for yourself. Perhaps times are tough and jobs are scarce. Perhaps patterns of sin continue getting the best of you. You call upon the Lord, but nothing changes.
 
What do we do when God is silent to our prayers?
 
The woman in the Gospel today made a good request. Her daughter was being oppressed by a demon, and she wanted Jesus to spare her of that suffering. That is a good desire; she’s not asking for anything evil. Yet Scripture tells us, “But he did not say a word in answer to her.”
 
This is Jesus we are talking about. Jesus, who went to the lengths of a torturous death so that we might be saved from our sins. There is no measuring his love for each one of us. There is no measuring his love for the woman in the Gospel, and yet, he did not say a word in answer to her.
 
What do we do when God is silent to our prayers?
 
The Gospel relates that the woman kept calling after Jesus. She kept making her prayer known. She was persistent. When God is silent to our prayers, we keep praying. Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus tells us, “Ask and you will receive. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.” Jesus encourages us to have persistence in prayer. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking.
 
But why? Jesus knows we are asking for something good. Why go through the trouble of asking over and over again?
 
Let me propose a possible response to this hard question.
 
The Gospel shows us that two good things come from persistence in prayer. Humility and faith. By asking, and seeking, and knocking, we grow in humility and faith.
 
The woman responds to Jesus, “Even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” She recognizes that Jesus does not owe her anything, and she’s willing to compare herself to a dog who begs. This is great humility.
 
Without humility, we can’t receive any of the other good things that God wants to give us. We can think of God’s grace, what He wants to give us, like the rain that falls from the sky. Rain slides right down a steep hill, but it fills up a deep valley. In a similar way, God’s grace slides right down the person puffed up with pride, but it fills the heart of one who lowers himself in humility.
 
Without having to persist in humble prayer, we might think that God simply owes us what we want, and in our pride, we would never receive what we truly need.
 
And what do we truly need? Faith. The second good thing. Persistence in prayer strengthens our faith.
 
Jesus responds to the woman, “O woman, great is your faith!” The silence of Jesus not only revealed the woman’s humility, it strengthened her faith. And what could be more valuable than faith? Faith is the path to salvation, to eternal communion with God, to perfect happiness.
 
Elsewhere in the Gospel, when four friends lowered a paralytic through the roof so that Jesus would heal him, Jesus responded, “Your sins are forgiven.” … That’s probably not what his friends were expecting, but THAT IS why Jesus came. He wants to give us something more valuable than earthly health; He wants to give us eternal health. He wants to give us salvation.
 
Many around Jesus balked at him when He claimed to forgive the man’s sins, and Jesus knew their thoughts. So in order to help them believe that He can forgive sins, in order to give them faith, Jesus worked a miracle. The Scripture reads: 
 
Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”—he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.”


The miracle was for the sake of faith. He used the miracle to arouse faith. Faith is Jesus’ goal. It’s more valuable than even our physical health because it is our path to heaven, to communion with God, to perfect happiness.
 
In a similar way to the miracle that Jesus used to arouse the faith of those around him, He can also use silence to build up our faith. When God’s response to our prayers is silence, we turn to him with greater need, with greater fervor, and doing so strengthens our faith – strengthens the greatest gift he could ever give us. Silence is not a break in God’s love for us; it is another moment of his love for us. 
 
His love is never-ending. The cross shows us that in every moment, God wants to give Himself to us.
 
So what do we do when God is silent to our prayers?
 
We trust that silence is not a break in His love for us; it is another moment of his love for us. And we keep praying. Through humility and faith, God is working the unseen miracle that is more valuable than even a physical healing. He is working our salvation.

Homily for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Review of Faith
​Readings here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081517-mass-during-day.cfm​

Today’s Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother into heaven gives us a chance to remember three critical and beautiful teachings of our Faith: the resurrection of the body, the office of the pope, and the role of Mary.
 
1. The resurrection of the body
 
We say this at the end of the Creed. “I believe in the resurrection of the body.” But what does it mean?
 
When I was working in the hospital as a chaplain a few years ago, I would hear of families grieving the loss of a loved one trying to comfort one another with sentiments like, “Now we have an angel watching over us in heaven.”
 
There is something true about this sentiment. Although we can never know for sure whether our loved ones are in heaven, our loved ones who are in heaven do watch out for us. They pray for us, and in that way, they are kind of like guardian angels.
 
But when we die, we do not become angels. Like Mary, we remain human beings. Mary is not an angel. In today’s solemnity, we celebrate the day she was assumed, body and soul, into heaven. This was a unique grace and gift that Jesus gave His mom. Her body suffered no decay. God brought her, body and soul, straight to heaven.
 
For us, it is a little different. When we die, our loved ones bury our body while our soul goes to meet God, and there, though already experiencing the joys of heaven or the pains of hell, it awaits the last day when Jesus will come to earth again. On the last day, all will rise. Scripture tells us so; all will rise: "those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment." Our bodies will be reunited with our souls either in heaven or in hell. Pray God, may it be in Heaven, where Mary, our mother, already awaits us.
 
2. The pope
 
The doctrine of the Assumption of Mary, body and soul, into heaven was defined as a dogma – that is, divinely revealed and requiring our belief – by Pope Pius XII in 1950.
 
In all the history of the Church, only two doctrines have been defined this way: the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception. So, if the pope has only defined two dogmas, what else has he been doing in the past 2,000 years?
 
He has been serving as the foundation of unity for all in Christ’s Church. The office of the pope was instituted by Christ Himself. We read this in the Gospel of Matthew: “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail over it.” Jesus willed that His Church would have a visible head to serve as a foundation for unity for all his followers. When you’re in communion with the pope, you’re in communion with the very Church that Jesus Himself founded, the very Church that hell cannot overcome.
 
One only need to look at history to see what happens when you lose communion with the pope. In the past 500 years, thousands of denominations have arisen, all rejecting the authority of the pope and all interpreting the Bible in different ways. Without the pope, without the authority established by Christ, how can anyone claim to have the right interpretation? We are in a sad state of disunity and confusion. Pray God, may our separated brothers and sisters return to the Church that Christ founded on the rock of Peter, to the Church that has never ceased to honor the day of Mary’s Assumption into Heaven.
 
3. The role of Mary
 
One could talk for days and days about Mary’s role in the plan of salvation, but I would like to focus on one aspect. We are generally very familiar with Mary’s role as our mother. I think, though, we are less familiar with Mary’s role as our oldest sister.
 
Unlike Jesus, her Son, Mary is not God. She was created about 2,000 years ago. Everything special about Mary comes from God’s gift. Her Assumption into Heaven was God’s gift; it was not by her own power. She herself recognizes this as we heard in her prayer from the Gospel: “For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant… the Almighty has done great things for me.”
 
Mary is our Mother, but she is also our oldest sister. Older siblings go through the same things before we do. They show us a kind of preview of what is to come. Mary is our oldest sister because she shows us what is waiting for us. A simple human being, just like the rest of us, Mary was perfected by God’s grace and now enjoys the glory of Heaven forever.
 
God, too, wants to perfect us in His grace. He wants us to enjoy the glory of Heaven forever. Jesus says in the Gospels, “Who is my mother? Whoever does the will of my Father.” Mary did the will of the Father by saying yes to his plan, and she became the mother of God.
 
God has a plan for us, too. And if we say yes to it, just like our older sister, then we will be perfected by his grace. We will become the mother of God – not by bearing Jesus in our body. Mary already did that. When we say yes to God’s plan, we bear Jesus in our hearts. This is no less real than Mary’s role of bearing Jesus in her body; indeed, Jesus Himself says it’s more important: “Who is my mother? Whoever does the will of my Father.”
 
Mary, our oldest sister, did that more fully than anyone else in history. That’s why we honor her. Pray God, may we too say yes to His plan and follow in our big sister’s footsteps.
 
The resurrection of the body, the office of the pope, and the role of Mary – these three teachings of our Faith come together in a beautiful way in today’s Solemnity of the Assumption. Thanks be to God for our Catholic Faith.

Homily for 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A: Who is your God?
​Readings here: www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081317.cfm

The Lord is God. The Lord is God.
 
That is what Elijah’s name means. Eliahu. From the first reading. The Lord is God. But for you, who is your God?
 
We can think of the word, "God," in at least two different ways. One way is simply the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving being who created and sustains the world. In this way, when we say that the Lord is God, we’re saying that the Lord – the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit – is the reason we’re alive.
 
We can also think of the word, "God," as what is of greatest value, what matters the most. In this way, when we say that the Lord is God, we’re saying that the Lord – the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit – is what we value the most, is who matters the most. He’s not only the reason we’re alive; He is the reason why we live.
 
If we look around, watch TV, or check the internet, we’ll see that there are many gods in this second sense. For some, money is of the greatest value. It’s the reason why many people live, why they get up in the morning, why they work long hours, why they choose the friends they have, and why they do the things they do. For others, pleasure matters the most. It’s the reason why many people live, why they get up, work, choose friends, and do the things they do. And for still others, power matters the most. It’s the reason behind everything they do.
 
But for you, who is your God?
 
Money, pleasure, and power. These are the most impressive forces in the world. Much like a strong wind, earthquake, or fire grabs our attention, we can’t help but take notice of money, pleasure, and power, and if we’re not careful, they can become our god.
 
There is nothing wrong with money, pleasure, and power in themselves, but if they become the reason why we live, then we’re in trouble. Then, the Lord is not our God. We may know that the Lord is the reason we’re alive, but that is not enough for salvation. The Lord must be our God. He must be the reason why we live.
 
Who is your God?
 
One way to start answering this question is asking, "What are you most afraid of?” If you can answer this question, then you are well on your way in the spiritual life. And if your answer is sin, then you are well on your way to being a Saint. The person who fears sin more than anything else is the person whose God is the Lord.
 
What are you afraid of the most? Are you afraid of financial insecurity more than anything else? What about pain, loneliness, or embarrassment? Does losing your good name, title, or position keep you up at night? All of these fears are connected in some way to money, pleasure, and power. They are the most impressive forces in the world, and if we’re not careful, they, and not the Lord, can become our God.
 
A great image for this struggle of the spiritual life is the Gospel that we heard today. Peter and the disciples are in the boat, struggling against the storm. The storm, like the wind, fire, and earthquake, is an impressive sight. We can’t help but take notice.
 
The Gospel story is an event that really happened. Storms still brew on Lake Genesaret in the Holy Land today, putting boats in real danger. But I want to say that this event that really happened also has a spiritual meaning. Imagine that the storm represents money, pleasure, and power, the most impressive forces in our world. These forces are so impressive, that they are dangerous. They can overwhelm us – we see it in the thief who steals to get rich only to go to jail; the addict that ruins his life to get his next fix; or the leader in a business or government that has no friends because he trampled everyone down on his way up.
 
Money, pleasure, and power. They are the most impressive forces in the world, but Jesus walks right over them. They have no power over Him because He is God – God in the first sense: the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving being who is the reason why we and the storm exists at all. He is God.
 
But is He your God?
 
If He is your God, then you too will walk right over the storm, right over the most impressive forces in the world. You are not in danger of being overwhelmed because your God is the Lord. The only thing you fear is taking your eyes off of Him. The only thing you fear is sin.
 
At first, Peter walked right over the storm. As long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, he had nothing to fear. Even the most impressive forces of the world could not overwhelm him. But the moment he took his eyes off of Jesus and began to look at the storm, he became afraid, and he got overwhelmed. He started to drown.
 
Money, pleasure, and power remain powerful forces today – more powerful than we are by ourselves. They present us with real concerns: How will I pay for my children’s education? When will this pain go away? Why can’t I get a promotion? You don’t have to be a criminal or addicted to pleasure and power to be overwhelmed. But if we keep our eyes on Jesus, then we can walk right over any storm that assaults us.
 
Who is your God? What do you value most, and what are you most afraid of? These are questions to ponder in the silence of prayer, in the silence that allows us to hear the whisper of God, the whisper of God telling us, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”