Nov. 30, 2008: First Sunday of Advent (B)

There are many things in life that repeat itself—for example, birthdays and anniversaries. Although we dislike these anniversaries because they remind us that we are getting older, each time it’s repeated we learn something new. Some time ago, I spent my off-day with a priest-friend of mine whose parents live in Henderson, Louisiana; his house is near the exit before the Breaux Bridge exit. At the seminary, he was our official Cajun cultural ambassador. All of us seminarians whether we were Ugandans, Puertorican, Mexican, Vietnamese, or Korean, we all learned few important Cajun vocabulary such as, mais yeah and mais no. His parents are retired, so all of us sat around the big TV on our easy rockers in the den. We talked about this and that, and glanced now and then at the TV. And I noticed that The Young and the Restless soap opera was on. And I nearly fell off the rocker. There they were—John Abbott, Ashley Abbott, Victor Newman, and Nikki Newman. Twenty-four years ago, my sister and I spent the whole summer vacation watching that show. I could not believe that these four actors and actresses were still playing the same role after twenty-four years. I wondered out loud, “How could you possibly keep the story line fresh all these years with these same characters?” 

Are you wondering, ‘Fr. Paul, what does the First Sunday of Advent has anything to do with The Young and the Restless?’ There is a connection, a rather weak one. The producers of that soap opera spend $1.5 million dollars each weak paying the writers, actors, and camera crew to tweak the basic story line to keep it engaging and fresh to draw the audience back to the show year after year. In the same way, God in his wisdom keeps fresh and engaging the mystery of the birth, ministry, passion, death, and resurrection of His Son Jesus by placing it in a yearly cycle. Today is the beginning of the new liturgical year, with new colors, new attitude, new anticipation, and new hope for the arrival of the Christ the King.  

The purple chasuble that I’m wearing is a signal that this is a time of penance and fasting, a time of preparation for the coming or the ‘advent’ of the King. In the ancient times, purple garment was costly and was reserved for the royalty. Yet at the same time, you remember that Jesus was draped in purple robe as mockery after he was scourged and crowned with thorns. 

It is unfortunate that the Advent falls on the weeks of frenzied shopping for Christmas. The Advent is not about shopping but temperance of appetite and preparation of our conscience to open wide the doors of our heart to Jesus. But what can you do if Christmas advertising is so in-your-face? It wasn’t even November when first signs of Christmas were already showing up in local stores. The jingles were already playing on the radio. Our local newspaper was thick with advertising inserts to draw our credit cards to the stores. This Friday, as known as Black Friday, there were thousands people out early in the morning to get their hands on doorbuster deals. The New York Times made the following observation. "All those people were there, because of sophisticated marketing forces...American business has long excelled at creating a sense of shortage amid abundance, an anxiety that one must act now or miss out...In a sense, the American economy has become a kind of piñata--lots of treats in there, but no gurantee that you will get any, making people prone to frenzy and sending some home bruised." (NY Times, 11/29/08 Week In Review section) On Thanksgiving Day I watched a show on TV where it featured clips of past Black Friday shopping madness. One clip showed a TV news reporter interviewing a lady shopping at Toys R Us the day after Thanksgiving, 5am in the morning. Five feet away was a child who was crying because someone snatched away from her the hottest toy of the season. The shopper remarked, ”I can’t believe that someone would snatch away Tickle-Me-Elmo- from that little child. What’s the world coming to?” The irony was that she had underneath her arm a Tickle-Me-Elmo which she could have given to that child. 

Perhaps the greatest gift that we could give our children this Advent is to help them focus on whom we are waiting for. No, it’s not the doorbuster deal or the hottest toy of the season that children should be waiting for.   Everyday, Jesus instructs us to be watchful and preparing for his coming. With Advent Our Lord attracts us with fresh and engaging re-presentation of his birth, passion, and resurrection. Our prayer and desire during this Advent should be, “Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.” 

Nov. 23, 2008: The Feast of the Christ the King

It takes a lot to be elected as a leader these days, it’s not enough to blanket the airwave and print media. Last year around this time of the year, South Korea had its presidential election. The winner goes to the "Blue House" as opposed to our White House. To show that they understand the challenge and struggle of the ordinary folks, the candidates joined the blue-collar workers at the factories early in the morning, helping them carry construction materials. They hit the soup lines for the poor, handing out bowls of rice and soup. Their wives also had their share of work. They joined other ordinary wives, helping them prepare Kimchi, a Korean version of German sauerkraut except it’s more fermented, funkier smelling, and red-cayenne pepper hot. South Koreans, like Americans, are attracted to leaders who seek the office to serve and not for personal gain. In other words we want servant-leaders.

Is it conceivable these days to find a leader who governs with truth and charity, to be compassionate to the needy, to be faithful to prayer life, to be a good husband and a father? We would call him or her, a saint. And we have an example--St. Louis King of France, the only French king to be canonized as a saint. He was well known to have fed daily and personally over one hundred poor--many of whom he fed from his own table. He was known to wash the feet of the beggars and to minister to the wants of the lepers. He founded many hospitals and houses for the unfortunate. The leaders that truly attract us are those who despite the great authority and privilege given to them, choose freely to humble themselves to that of a servant.

Today in the gospel, Jesus calls himself a king, and at the same time he identifies himself with the hungry, the thirsty, the lonely, the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned. He describes himself as a shepherd who will look after his scattered sheep. He says, "I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest. The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, and the sick I will heal." Jesus is not the kind of king who gets into a sleek limo, wave his hands, kisses a baby, and then returns to his palace the rest of the day. Jesus is called Emmanuel, 'God with us.' I want to give you an image to make this point hit home.

This week, I spent four days in Mexico City at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This is something that I do every year as a renewal of dedication of my priesthood to the Blessed Mother. This Marian shrine is not the easiest one to travel to on your own. I took another Korean priest with me to introduce him to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Earlier this year this priest took a trip to Cancun, and perhaps that is what he had in mind about Mexico City. I did warn him that it is nothing like Cancun. I told him that it is a city of 19 million people. There are no palm trees or clear blue skies; there are still plenty of 1964 version of Volkswagen Bugs on the road to help contribute to the thick smog that lay seige over the skies of the city. And the divide between the rich and the poor are very pronounced. Yet their fervor for their faith is unmatched anywhere.

Take for example the statues of Jesus that are in their churches. Unlike most American Catholic Churches where you have what I call 'Clean Jesus' who is free of blood and scourging marks, their Jesus are downright realistic if not over-realistic. Statues have lots of blood, wounds, and even have wigs on them. They will likely shock us because they are beyond our sensibilities. Yet that is how they want their Jesus the King to be portrayed. It reminds me of that scene from Mel Gibson's Passion of Christ where Pilate shows off the bloodied and tortured Jesus to the crowd crying out, "Ecce homo"--'Behold the man." The statues are usually behind a glass case because people like to kiss, to touch, and to place their hands near Jesus as if to ask Jesus to hold their hand through their suffering. Often times, I see the person crying as they suspend their hands over Jesus' heart and gives him a kiss.

There is something about Christ the King who suffered a great deal, that attracts us. On one hand, we are impressed by human leaders who humble themselves and go beyond the confines of their job description. Yet Christ the King goes even further; he is so intimately involved and intertwined with our personal lives. He personally walks with us from our conception through our baptism, confirmation, marriage, illness, and death. When we suffer, we know he walks with us and understands us because he himself underwent suffering. We know he is present here and now to our distress because daily at mass, Jesus says, "Take this all of you and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood...it will be shed for you"..." And at communion, we can touch this King, kiss him, and personally invite him into our heart. There are not that many heads of state whom you can attempt touch with your hand without first getting several body guards sitting on top of you. Christ the King humbled himself and bent down to wash the feet of his disciples. And he left us with this instruction:
"Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do."

Nov 16, 2008: 33rdSunday-Ordinay-A

Few weeks ago on Halloween, our children at school were treated to some famous movie characters. No, it wasn’t Spiderman or Incredible Hulk. On that Friday morning at the school assembly, children saw their teachers dressed up as the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, the Wicked Witch, and Dorothy. Which movie am I talking about? The Wizard of Oz. All of the characters, except one, were so much alike the real characters of the movie. Then there was the most beloved character of the movie, Dorothy. When she came out of the stage, the children shouted and screamed with delight. It wasn’t exactly Judy Garland who originally played the character in that 1939 movie. This person was a little taller, robust, and muscular; it was none other than our own principal. The adjective, ’cute’ would not exactly describe the outfit, but he was definitely the steal of the show. What a good sport! How fortunate we are to have him as our principal. 

If you remember from that movie, each of the character had something missing that they wished they had. What was Scarecrow missing that he wished he had? A brain. He wanted to be smart. What was the Tin Man missing? He felt he was missing a heart; he felt he was unable to feel and to have emotions. How about the Cowardly Lion? I think his name says it all. In the movie, he says: “Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? What puts the "ape" in apricot? What have they got that I ain't got? Courage!” This brings to the question, what did Dorothy feel that she was missing? We see a clue when Tin Man, after receiving a heart made of velvet filled with sawdust, asks, “What have you learned, Dorothy? 
Dorothy replied, “Well, I - I think that it - it wasn't enough to just want to see Uncle Henry and Auntie Em - and it's that - if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with!”

We can find the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and Dorothy in all of us. We feel something is missing in our backyard, and we start looking for it everywhere else. Some students say I’m not smart enough or never good enough. Some young ladies say I’m not pretty enough or thin enough. Some elderly say that they are useless and feel like they’re burden to everyone. Some feel like they are unlovable despite their best efforts.

I want to give you an image to hold onto to explain why this happens. Those of you with little children know how important your presence is. Whether they are in the playground or in our case this weekend at our parish fair, they always check or glance back to see if their mom or dad is watching. Occasionally, they run back to momma or daddy, get a quick hug or a kiss, and run back to whatever they were doing. There is in us this innate need to affirm that we are loved. And this need is not only in the little ones, but applies for all ages. Husbands and wives, you know how many times you verbally affirm your love by telling each other how much you love each other. This is also true for those who are at nursing homes waiting for their families to visit them. Let's make a spiritual parallel here. Why is it that we come to church at least weekly? It's not only to keep our Sabbath holy, but God in His wisdom has allowed us weekly to receive that affirmation of hug or a kiss from Him. Think about this. Who is God? Pope Benedict XVI wrote his first encyclical on this topic. "Deus Caritas Est"--God is Love, the Perfect Love. 

Human love, is in many ways lacking and limited. And sometimes due to that limitation, we have fear of getting hurt. We put up our guard or take the wait and see approach. When we trust or love someone, we gladly do anything for them. But when we have fear of them, we become paralyzed. Although we may have the gifts and talents to do what's being asked, fear keeps us from using those gifts and talents. In our Gospel, how does the servant who receives one talent from his master respond? 'Master, I knew you were a demanding person...so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground.' Master is upset that the servant would distrust and fear him to the point that the servant would not use his given gifts. This is imperfect love. And we see it in all of us--our relationship with others and especially with God. 

What is the remedy? To run back to the Perfect Love for a quick kiss or a hug so that our fear will be driven out. In the First Letter of St. John, he says the following: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:18-19) What we experience as the weekly obligation for us Catholics to attend mass is really Heavenly Father's reminder for us to fill up on His Perfect Love so that we can go about our activities for the week. How else are we going to accomplish all that's on our plate demanded by our various roles? With fear cast out, we're not going to look everywhere else like Dorothy and her gang did for the gifts and talents they already had in their back yard. 

Nov. 9, 2008: Feast of Dedication of St. John Lateran

If you had to look around your house, what would be the oldest thing that you own? In my room at my parents’ home in Plano, Texas, the oldest thing I owned used to be a photo of myself when I was only a year old. That photo would have been taken 1974; at the photo studio, my mom thought that I looked cute in my birthday suit. So now I have hidden that photo so that she won’t show it to people saying, "Oh look what Fr. Paul looked like when he was only one." Photos and religious objects are some of the oldest things that we brought to U.S. when my family immigrated from Korea. Even when we were thousands of miles away from our original home, these photos and religious objects gave us a sense of connection and history as to where we came from.

For some of us in the pews today, St. Aloysius is not the original home parish. Some have moved to our area since Katrina. What have you brought from your original home to help to give a sense of connection with your roots? Unfortunately, those who grew up in St. Bernard parish such as Chalmette in particular, have lost everything—not even photos were salvageable. What gives them a sense of connection and roots, is the Church. Although St. Aloysius is not Our Lady of Prompt Succor in Chalmette, our welcoming community and the presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist give them that sense of home.

Half away around the globe in Rome, there is a church that serves as the original root and connection to all of our Catholic churches in the world. Its name is St. John Lateran. And today we celebrate the dedication of that church. It is the oldest, and ranks first among the four great basilicas of Rome. The four principal basilicas of Rome are St. Peters, St. Mary Majors, St. Paul’s, and St. John Lateran. And St. John Lateran is more important than St. Peter’s Basilica. If you remember in history, Christians were heavily persecuted in Rome by various Roman emperors. It was only with Constantine becoming emperor and declaring the edict of Milan in 313, that Christians began to enjoy freedom from persecution. Emperor Constantine gave as a gift to the pope at that time, a palace formerly owned by Laterani family. And that palace became the very first cathedral of the Catholic church.

Those who visit the Basilica on pilgrimage, visit it not just because it is the head of all churches and the Pope’s cathedral. In side the main altar is believed to be the wooden altar on which St. Peter celebrated Mass while in Rome. This may sound gruesome, but the heads of Sts Peter and Paul were once believed to be inside busts above the main altar. Part of the table on which the Last Supper was celebrated is said to be behind a bronze depiction of the Last Supper. At one time the stairs in Pilate's house on which Jesus is said to have walked during his trial was inside this church. It is a marble stairs and is now covered with wood to protect it and is now relocated in an adjacent church. Pilgrims ascend the stairs on their knees contemplating Jesus’ Passion and on the way up drops of blood may be seen on the marble stairs beneath protective glass. The stairs was brought to Rome by Constantine’s mother St. Helena.

It is from these roots that Baton Rouge Diocese and St. Aloysius derive their existence. It wasn’t too long ago that Baton Rouge Diocese was carved out of the Diocese of New Orleans. This happened on July 20, 1961 by Pope John XXIII. He named then St. Joseph Church as the new cathedral of the new Baton Rouge Diocese. And it wasn’t too long ago that St. Aloysius was formed by Archbishop Rummel in the year 1955 with 625 families and Fr. Daniel Becnel as the pastor. St. Aloysius school was formed from Sacred Heart and St. Agnes parishes. And the first masses were celebrated at Southdowns Elementary School. Only a couple of years later, seven sisters of Daughters of Jesus from Spain arrived to serve the parish. At that time Sr. Rosary was made the principal. In 1967, St. Aloysius became large enough that St. Jude parish was carved out of St. Aloysius. No church just springs up on its own. They build upon the foundation.

In the same way that the visible church like this one just does not exist apart from the first cathedral St. John Lateran, we don’t just become Body of Christ apart from those who built it up before us. Think about why you chose St. Aloysius as your parish. People often tell me that they feel like there is a community here. Much gratitude goes to those 625 founding families back in 1955 who built not only the physical bricks of this church but spiritual bricks to make this place where people feel community. We stand on the shoulders of those who built this spiritual temple. We also are called to let our shoulders become the living foundation for others.

Nov. 2, 2008: Feast of All Souls

Many of you have taken MRI or Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans. It's a powerful tool to look inside the body without invasive techniques. Unlike an X-Ray which penetrates the body, MRI utilizes powerful magnetic field to align Hydrogen atoms in water molecules in the body. Since protons in different parts of the body--such as fats and mucles--align at different frequency, you can reveal different structures. Even with such a powerful tool, you still cannot see one very important aspect about our body--the soul. The Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle said soul as the essence of being which decides how we behave. For them, the soul is transcendent essence of being, thus eternal.

Where does the soul come from? The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church says the following: "The spritual soul does not come from one's parents but is created immediately by God and is immortal. It does not perish at the moment when it is separated from the body in death and it will be once again reunited with the body at the moment of the final resurrection." (#70) So what does our parents provide us? From our parents we get 23 chromosomes that dictate how our body will look and function. According to the Human Genome Project, mom's or dad's haploid contribution amounts to 3 billion DNA base pairs which fill up 750 megabytes of data on a disk. It is miracle in itself that these 3 billion base pairs find right places to go. Since we know that soul is not bodily or material, the soul's formation is not dictated by the 23 chrmosomes from our parents. This means that the soul is created out of nothing by God--creatio ex nihilo. Let me put this in another way. Before our soul was created, nothing ever like it ever existed. The moment God creates our soul out of nothing, it is the most unique creation the universe has ever seen.

There are beautiful verses from scripture that talks about this. "You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. I praise you, so wonderfully you made me...Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be." (Psalm 139:13-16). Job says the following, "Your hands fashioned and made me...Remember that you have made me like clay...You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit." And in our Gospel today, Jesus says that it is the will of the Father that everyone that Father gives to Jesus will come to Jesus, and he will not reject them so to be lost.

In real life, we experience this as well. A case in point is Bernadette Kim. She was conceived around December 19, 2007, and she was carried in my sister's womb for nine weeks. Then somewhere around February 11th, something went wrong. And on 14th, my sister went in to have a check up, and there was no heart beat. The child was only 2-3mm or less than 1/8 of an inch, yet the loss for both the mother and the father was great as if they lost a fully grown child. I suggested to my sister to name the child and to have a burial service. She named her child Bernadette, after St. Bernadette of Lourdes. She did not realize at the time of naming the child that February 11th was the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, honoring Blessed Mother who appeared to St. Bernadette. It's a reminder that we are not clump of flesh in our mother's womb. We are unique God's creation who did not exist before.

Sometimes I meet people young and old who tell me that they feel like their life is worthless. They say that God doesn't care about them. At the time of our suffering, it is difficult to realize that God created this very soul out of nothing because He loved, and He sent His only Son to guide back this beautiful soul made in His image and likeness. I had to remind this to the group of men couple of nights ago at the prison chapel of Dixon Correctional Institute. I told the men the following words that Jesus gave to St. Faustina in 1930.

Jesus said, "Be not afraid of your Savior...I make the first move to come to you, for I know that by yourself you are unable to lift yourself to me. Child, do not run away from your Father; be willing to talk openly with your God of mercy who wants to speak words of pardon and lavish his graces on you. How dear your soul is to Me! I have inscribed your name upon My hand; you are engraved as a deep wound in My Heart."