Feb. 1, 2009: 4th Sunday Ordinary (B)

(NOTE: Fr. Paul will be out of the country leading a pilgrimage to the Holy Land this week. No homily will be posted for Sunday, Feb. 8th.)

Few days ago, I was saying mass for St. George school. They were celebrating the Catholic Schools Week and Catholic Education. I looked up some information and found that there were three Catholic scientists who were instrumental in discovering laws related with electricity. So that was the topic for my homily. I began the homily by asking the students there if anyone had Nintendo at home. Every hand went up. I asked them if anyone had computer at home. All hands stayed up. Then I asked if anyone had iPod. Surely I thought, at least the little ones would put their hands down. Only few did. I tell you, even our little ones are tech-savvy. Then I asked, what is the one thing common among the three. All the hands went down. Then I gave them a hint. 'Last year due to the hurricane, we did not have this for over a week so that we could not recharge our Nintendo or iPod.' Then I saw few hands go up. "Electricity," they said.

Do you still remember last year during that time? How frustrating it was the first few days of blackout. We were anxious then, apprehensive or worried about what's going to happen. As we sat in the dark, we watched our well stocked freezer slowly melt and go bad. We waited in lines at gas stations, at Home Depot and at Albertsons. After a week of not having all the amenities, we kinda got used to it, although we were inconvenienced. The older generation told the younger generation, "I remember when...we had no A/C at home or school...we had no TVs...our sugar was rationed during the war." Once we go through hardships like the Great Depression, World War II, or hurricanes, we become hardier people, able to take it as it comes. We begin to take things into perspective rather than be anxious about what will happen to us. As Mother Teresa said, "If today you are placed in a palace and it wasn't your choice but God's, then accept it. But three days later, everything is taken away from you and you are put out in the streets and it wasn't your choice but God's, accept it. That's total surrender." It's a very hard saying, yet we surprise ourselves by rising to the challenge.

Few days ago, I watched a documentary on the "Lost Boys of Sudan." These are the boys who were orphaned by civil war that destroyed entire communities and families. Thousands of young orphaned boys who survived the destruction walked a thousand miles south to the border between Sudan and Ethiopia by themselves to a UN refugee camp. There the boys sometimes got food, but often food truck did not arrive for days or weeks. When the food wasn't available, all the boys gathered under a tree to entertain themselves so that they didn't have to think about their hunger. One of the boys said, "It is as if God grew tired of us." And hence the movie's title was "God grew tired of us." Some of the boys who were now 18 were granted asylum in America, and the movie followed four of these young men's journey to America. Before they left the camp, the movie director asked them, "Do you know what electricity is?" "What's that," the young men replied. The next scene showed them bewildered by modern airplane ride. They turned on and off the cabin lights, fascinated by electricity. When meals were served, they were as confused. Many of them opened packages of butter and ate it like any other food. One of them said, "It tasted like soap."

We can be anxious about many things. It's especially difficult not to pay attention to all the negative economic news, of all the number of people being laid off from work. In our Second Reading, St. Paul tells the Corinthians, "Brothers and sisters: I should like you to be free of anxieties...a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided...A married woman...is anxious about the things of the world, how she may please her husband."(1 Corinthians 7:32-34) It's easy to say to someone, "Don't worry about that." But unless we're in their shoes, we don't know how difficult it is NOT to worry. Likewise, is St. Paul just brushing us off by saying, "Don't worry about it?" He tells Philippians the following: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7) Jesus tells us the same: "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" (Matt 6:25)

We worry when we believe that things will run out, future is uncertain and impending ill will happen. It does no good telling us, then, simply "Don't worry about it." Therefore, Jesus instead of using cheap words, gives us a beautiful prayer. "Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hollowed be Thy Name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." The 13 year-olds at St. George certainly knew much about electricity in comparison to the 13 year-old Lost Boys of Sudan. But whether we live in the land of plenty or in the land of famine, we find confidence in the prayer that Jesus taught us. It is Jesus' way of saying, Heavenly Father watches over you and cares for you. He did NOT grow tired of you.

Jan28,2009: St. George School Mass Homily (Catholic Schools Week)

Introduction to mass:
What is this that I'm holding in my hand? [an iPhone]

Did you know that Catholic education made iPhone possible? You're probably saying, 'huh?' Hold all your questions because I'm going to explain it during my homily.

Homily:
How many of you have Nintendo at home? iPod? Computer? In order to play Nintendo, listen to iPod, and to email on computer, you need this one thing. What is this thing? (Let me give you a hint. Last year, when we had the hurricane, we could not play Nintendo, iPod or computer because we did not have this for a whole week). [Electricity]

Now where do we get electricity from? From the wall plug? From the electric lines? Where do they all lead to? We get it from power plants far from where we live. How about electricity that runs our Nintendo and iPod? From batteries right? But in order to generate electricity from power plant or from batteries, we need to understand laws of nature. We need to understand things like: why do lightnings strike? How does light bulb work? In order to answer these questions, we have to study. There are men and women who have gone before us who have learned how these things work, and they have left us instructions on how to understand it. I'm going to introduce to you three men who helped us understand how electricity work. Two are from France--André Marie Ampere, Charles Coulomb. And one is from Italy--Alessandro Volta. From these three men, we get the words, 'Amp,' 'Coulomb,' and 'Volt.' All three men were Catholic, and they received Catholic education.

Why is Catholic education important in being a scientist, for example? Well, we say every Sunday the following, "I believe in God, the Father the Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth." We believe that Heavenly Father created the universe with order and harmony. Things in the universe do not happen by chance or by accident. And God gave us brain and intelligence to learn about how the universe works. And we quickly discover that God placed laws to govern how the world operates. André Ampere discovered a law between electricity and magnetic field. He said, the magnetic field in space around an electric current is proportional to the electric current which serves as its source. Huh? It's hard for us to understand what he discovered right now. But this law he discovered goes into designing power lines, electronic equipment, batteries, and light bulbs. So without this law, Nintendo and iPod would not be possible.

But there is even more important reason why Catholic education is important. It's one thing to know these laws and formulas. For what purpose are we going to use this knowledge? Jesus taught us that there are two laws in the bible. First, love God. Second, love your neighbor. Everything that we learn should be for the service of others. The law of electricity that Andre Ampere discovered was for making our lives easier. Can you imagine, at home you click on the switch on the wall, and there is no light?

It's important not only putting our learning for service of others. It is equally important to strive to live a holy life. Have you heard of St. Vincent de Paul Society? It was Andre Ampere’s devotion at daily Mass that inspired a young Frédéric Ozanam to devote himself more earnestly to his Catholic Faith. Ozanam was going through a period of doubt and, while visiting a church in Paris, he saw the great scientist, Andre Ampere, praying fervently before the altar. He found Ampere there again the next day. Soon he struck up a friendship with the scientist and even lived with his family for over a year. When he was only twenty years old Ozanam founded the St. Vincent de Paul Society. He was beatified by John Paul II in 1997.

So what's the lesson that Andre Ampere teaches us? What we learn and how we pray are all for serving others and for the greater glory of God.

Jan 27,2009: Peace Mass at Our Lady of Mercy

In the winter of 2005, Ivan Dragicevic, one of the visionaries of Medjugorje was here at Our Lady of Mercy. Some of you may have been present here. We had mass, rosary, and apparition of Our Lady right here at the sanctuary. Also present at that night were about 20 plus seminarians from Notre Dame Seminary who were being temporarily housed at St. Joseph Abbey in Covington due to Hurricane Katrina damaging our seminary severely. It was after that night that several of us seminarians decided to plan a pilgrimage to Medjugorje in the summer of 2006. It was to be my second trip to Medjugorje; my first trip was in 2001. It was in my first trip that I received the call to priesthood from Blessed Mother. It was after that trip that I told my boss that I was going to leave in six months to enter seminary somewhere. Going back to that second trip: Fortunately for the 8 of us seminarians who went, we were able to stay at Ivan's house. This meant that we witnessed everyday his daily apparition right around 6PM. After one of the apparition, Ivan was taking a walk outside. I followed behind him, and asked him a question. Looking at his eyes, I could tell that he had been crying. I asked, "Ivan, it must be difficult to part from Our Lady." He replied, "After seeing Gospa ['Our Lady' in Croatian] I don't want to come back to earth."


For most of us who are not privileged to meet Our Lady in such a way probably cannot fathom what it is like meeting her and being separated from her. As I prepared for tonight's homily, I asked Blessed Mother if she could give me an image or a metaphor to help describe why there is such joy in seeing her and suffering in parting from her. First, she pointed me to a document of Vatican II called Lumen Gentium. The chapter 8 of this document is dedicated to the Blessed Mother, and it quotes St. Augustine: "[Mary] is clearly the mother of the members of Christ . . . since she has by her charity joined in bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of its head." The image that sticks out is a mother giving birth to children; and St. Augustine is saying that Blessed Mother, in some mysterious way, helped give birth to all Christians.


Another image that she gave me to ponder was an article that I read when I was a sophomore in college. In our UT Austin paper was an article about a local Korean woman adopted at infancy and now in her twenties traveling to South Korea in search of her birth mother. Let me give you a little background. In 1980s, almost 40% of the children adopted by American couples came from South Korea. You can understand the child's desire; it's readily apparent to the adopted Korean child that she does not look anything like her adoptive parents. So there is this great desire for the child to find her mom who looks like her. In her is a desire to know what her mother looks like, where she lives, and even why she put her up for adoption. Really, it's a deep question about "Who am I, and where do I come from?"


In Chapter 3 of the Book of Genesis, there is a curious line: "The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living." (Gen 3:20) The Fathers of the Church would give the title of New Adam to Christ and New Eve to Mary. In doing so, the Fathers of the Church is equating Our Lady as the mother of all those who are born anew in Christ; so she is the spiritual mother of all Christians. So why did Blessed Mother give me two images to explain why there is joy in seeing her and suffering in parting from her? We are like that adopted Korean child. On one hand, we are born to an earthly home by earthly mother. On the other hand, we have been spiritualy reborn by another mother who belongs to the heavenly realm, and we have this discomfort in someway that we don't belong to this world. Thus in all of us who bear heavenly destination, there is a great desire to seek this heavenly mother. When Ivan and the rest of the visionaries of Medjugorje encountered Blessed Mother, their soul recognized the spiritual mother they've been seeking for a long time. There was great joy in reunion. But there was much tears shed when they were torn away from their heavenly birth mother.


I often wondered why there were so many vocations, including mine, resulting from Medjugorje. Cardinal Schonborn, the Archbishop of Viena, Austria some years ago remarked to then Cardinal Ratzinger that if Medjugorje were to be closed, he would have to close his seminary in Viena because the majority of men entering seminary in Viena heard their call to priesthood from Medjugorje. We are quite familiar with what Blessed Mother says to the servants at the Wedding at Cana. She said, "Do whatever he tells you." (John 2:5) Now if this was some lady telling me to give up my career and enter seminary, then I would say, "Ummmm, no thanks." But in Medjugorje, it was my spiritual birth mother who spoke to me. "My dear Paul, my dearly beloved son whom I gave you birth spiritually, I ask you to do what Jesus tells you to do." How can I refuse my own mother? How can we refuse our own Mother Mary?


St. Therese of Lisieux had such love for Blessed Mother as her own mother. “How I love the Blessed Virgin! ... She is more Mother than Queen" ... “At the moment of Communion, I sometimes imagine my soul is a child of three or four years, who has just come from play, hair disheveled, and clothes disorderly and soiled. These are the injuries that I meet in combating with souls…. Then comes the Blessed Virgin and in a moment makes me respectable looking and fit to assist at the Banquet of the Angels without shame.” (St. Therese of Lisieux, Autobiography, 254)

Blessed Mother speaks so tenderly to us as our own mother in Medjugorje. "Dear children! I have told you already that I have chosen you in a special way, just the way you are. I, the Mother, love you all. And in any moment that is difficult for you, do not be afraid! Because I love you even then when you are far from me and my Son. (Our Lady of Medjugorje, May 24, 1984) ... I love you, dear children, with a special love and I desire to bring you all to Heaven unto God. (November 27, 1986)"

Jan 25, 2009: 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

One of the blessings of being a priest is that I receive lots of letters of encouragement from our St. Aloysius School students. Children have a way of expressing their thoughts that really touch the heart. One of the second grader drew a stick figure representing me standing in front of a crayon drawn altar and wrote, "Fr. Paul thanks for being my best preest."

How many of you parents have kept your children's refrigerator artwork? There is a reason why we scotch tape our children's artwork to our refrigerator doors. There is something irresistable about a stick figure drawn with Crayola with the words, "To my best mom." To a mom, that's worth more than a professionally painted and framed artwork that costs more than a thousand dollars. We are able to see beyond their talent (or lack thereof) for drawing and spelling. In some way, those thick crayola lines reveal something about the giver of the gift. We sense immediately the immense love our children have for us as they drew those lines. In other words, we see the heart that gave the gift, and that's all we look at--a heart burning with love.

St. Therese of Lisieux, who is also known as the "Little Flower" summarizes this beautifully.
"If the Church was a body composed of different members, it couldn't lack the noblest of all; it must have a Heart, and Heart BURNING WITH LOVE. And I realized that this love alone was the true motive force which enabled the other members of the Church to act; if it ceased to function, the Apostles would forget to preach the Gospel, the Martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. LOVE, IN FACT, IS THE VOCATION WHICH INCLUDES ALL OTHERS." (Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 826)

At every Sunday mass right about now as I'm in the middle of the homily, a discouraging thought goes through my head. "Lord, I'm losing people's interest. I can see them looking elsewhere. You know you could have preached this yourself rather than asking me to do it for you." It is a great mystery why Jesus asks us to do his work, to delegate his work to us when he fully knows our weaknesses and limitations. Look at Jonah in our First Reading. You know what happened when God first asked Jonah to preach to the Ninevites. He ran the other way. Look at what Jesus does in the Gospel. Knowing the limitation of both Simon Peter and Andrew, Jesus still invites them, "Come after me, I'll make you fishers of men." Jesus saw the love in their heart, and that's all he looked at. As someone said, "God is not looking for our capability, He is looking for the availability of our heart."

It's amazing who God calls and what kind of work God delegates to us. Few months ago, when I was short on time to prepare a homily, I begged the Lord early in the day for him to give me an image or a metaphor to preach on. Nothing came in my prayer, and as the evening mass time drew near, I got antsy. Then when I came back to the office, I found this drawing laying on top of my desk [a drawing of Blessed Mother with the word 'Mary']. A niece of one of the volunteers at the office while she waited for her aunt to finish work drew this with Crayola as a gift to me. At first I said to myself, "How nice for her to draw a picture for me!" Then it dawned on me that this was the answer to my prayer. The reason why this was a divinely inspired picture is that this child did not know that I had a great love for Blessed Mother. That night at mass at another church, I preached on 'Mary.' This child did not realize that she answered God's call and cooperated with His work to assist this poor priest who needed a topic to preach on that night! And sometimes this is how we co-operate with God, unbeknownst to us that we are actually doing work delegated to us by God. Sometimes the work that God delegates to us is prayer, somtimes, it's ministry, and sometimes it's our offerings.

After this homily, we will hear a presentation on how we can cooperate with God's work for St. Aloysius. As with parents who look only at the affection and love in their children's heart as they present their parents with refrigerator artwork, God sees the affection and love in our heart for him, through our prayers, ministry, and offerings.

St. Therese, the Little Flower says it best: "After earth's exile, I hope to go and enjoy you in the father-land, but I do not lay up merits for heaven. I want to work for your love alone...In the evening of this life, I shall appear before you with empty hands, for I do not ask you, Lord, to count my works." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2011)

Jan. 18, 2009: 2nd Sunday Ordinary Time

Few days ago, a friend of mine sent a link to Youtube of a man by the name of Nick Vujicic. When I clicked on it, I saw a man who did not have any arms or legs, for he was born without them. If you want to see what he looks like, go to my homily website. [Just Google, 'homilies of Father Paul Yi'] Nick is an Australian, born in 1982. His father was a protestant pastor, so Nick grew up learning about how Jesus loved him and how he was wonderfully and fearfully made. But that did not stop Nick from thinking about his future. He got angry at God. On one hand he learned from Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." So Nick complained, "God what kind of hope and future do I have? I'm teased at school for being so different. How would I ever get married? God, even if I got married, I can't even hold my wife's hands. If we have children, how would I ever put my arms around my children when they cry? How would I ever get a job?" He even thought about ending his life, for it seemed so hopeless, alone, and pointless.


In the video clip, Nick is telling this to a gymnasium full of high school students whose eyes were fixated intently on Nick. Nick stands less than 4 feet with only torso and hips, and he proceeds to fall to the ground to demonstrate a point. He said, "Along the life you may fall. And what do you do when you fall? You get back up. But there are times in your life you don't feel like you have the strength to get back up. For me it seems impossible to get back up, but it's not. But if I try 100 times and fail and give up, do you think that I'll ever get up? No. It matters not how many times you try, it matters how you finish. Are you going to finish strong? Then you'll receive the strength to get back up." As Nick said this, he got up laboriously only using his head and torso. In the audience, high school students began to cry. In all those teary eyes, you could read what was going inside them. “Nick, I felt alone and hopeless because of my circumstances. But you’ve shown me that I can overcome those circumstances with God’s help.” Nick told the crowd why he thought God created him—to be a prophet of God’s hope. He was a living testament to Jeremiah’s prophecy: "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."


This coming week, many young people from our own parish and our diocese will be taking a long bus trek up to Washington DC. No, they are not going there for the presidential inauguration. Our high school students from St. Joseph Academy, Catholic High, Redemptorist, St. Michaels, and others will march with estimate half-million people from all over U.S. to March for Life. Our children going on this trip are answering God’s call as Samuel in our First Reading. “Here I am. You called. Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” And what is God calling these young people to? ‘My dear children help the adults to understand that I send children into the world not to harm the adults, but to prosper them, to give them hope for the future. Help remind the adults that they were once vulnerable in their mother’s womb. I sent them parents who understood the beauty and sanctity of life. I sent them parents who protected life from the beginning.’


St. Paul reminds us, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price.” Once conceived, a child—who may be invisible to the eye, who may not even have all his limbs like Nick Vujicic, who may be born to a single mother, or even born through a tragic circumstance—has received something that cannot be taken away by any human being. That something is human dignity—created by God, sustained by God, redeemed by God, graced by God, and destined by God. Human dignity is not an achievement but an endowment from God from the very beginning.


I know there are some of us here who may share Nick Vujicic’s sentiments when he felt like giving up because of impossible circumstances. Nick still this day wakes up every day looking at his limbs to see if God has answered his request—that God would miraculously grow his arms and legs while he was sleeping. Yet he is not disappointed at God for not answering his request. And some of us here, we hope that when we wake up we hope that our circumstances would have changed miraculously. Jesus asks us today, “What are you looking for?” When we reply, “Jesus, I’m looking for your plans for me, the plans that which you said will be future full of hope.” Jesus replies, “Come, and you will see.” ‘Come, I’ll show you how your impossible circumstances will be my instrument for your victory.’

January 11, 2009: Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord

Did you know that a baby cannot recognize its own mother and father when she is newly born? At the hospital nursery you have moms and dads waiting on the other side of the window trying to see which one is theirs. The infant does not raise its hands and say, "Hey mom and dad, I'm here!" That's because for the first two months, a baby can only see as far as 8 to 10 inches. That is enough distance for a nursing baby to begin to recognize what her mother's face look like. This is a time of bonding between an infant and her mother. As the baby's vision sharpens, then she begin to recognize her dad. Around how many months old does the baby recognize her own name? Some mothers report that around 5 months, their child turn their head when called by their name. Around 8 to 9 months, she'll begin to say 'mama' or 'dada,' but it will be another few months before she says it to the right person.

In her early infant years, when the baby does not recognize her own mom and dad, do you think she is loved any less by her mom and dad? The baby may not have been aware, but the loving gaze of her parents were on her since her conception. During the day mom spends all her time with her infant, nursing her, changing her diapers, and puttin her to sleep. By evening, daddy returns from work giving mom some break, and as the night sets in, he listens intently to the baby monitor as his daughter sleeps. Mom and dad are still happy even when their child does not respond to her own name being called. The parents know that each child is unique and different; for each child there will be the right time when he or she responds when being called by name.

Was Heavenly Father disappointed with me not having responded to His call earlier in my life? I think the answer is no. Even if He had called in my high school years, I would not have responded because I did not know that I was a child of God. Did Heavenly Father love me less because I did not recognize His voice? Once again, no. As a human mother and father recognizes the unique development of each child, while I was taking my own time growing in my learning of Him, He never left His gaze upon me.

Have you ever wondered why Heavenly Father called Jesus into active ministry at the age of 30 beginning with his baptism by John the Baptist? Why not call Jesus in his teenage years like King David who had to face Goliath? Then instead of three short years of ministry, he would have had more than 15 years of ministry. That is a great mystery isn't it? Why did Heavenly Father call Fr. Burns, Fr. Blanchard, Sr. Rosary, and Sr. Carmen early in their life so that they could give more than 40 years of service toward ministry? Why did Heavenly Father call me at the age of 29 rather than 14 like many of our dedicated priests who went to high school seminary, when I was allowed to graduate college and work as an engineer for several years?

The point is that it is never too early or too late when we begin to recognize that our name is being called by Heavenly Father. He recognizes that each of us is unique, and our call is unique. In my case, Heavenly Father waited for me to grow spiritually before entering the seminary. Whereas in high school I denied Heavenly Father's existence, I had to be nursed in Blessed Mother's arms to nourish myself with the Word, Jesus her Son so that all the darkness and fear that were in my heart had to be vanquished. Jesus led me to the Blessed Mother, and she led me to her spouse, the Holy Spirit through the Charismatic Renewal, and finally, the Holy Spirit revealed to me the Heavenly Father as a real person, whom I call "Daddy" or "Papa." As St. Paul reminds us in Letter to the Romans, "[We] received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, 'Abba, Father!' The [Holy] Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." (Romans 8:15-16) When we are called, and when we recognize that we are 'Called by Name,' you know it is the right time, for Heavenly Father waited for the right time to call us as He waited for the right time to call Jesus into public ministry with his baptism. We need not worry about whether we are well equipped to do what He calls us for, for He has prepared us already. And He gives us great assurance today to answer His call, "You are my beloved son and daughter, with you I'm well pleased."

Jan. 4, 2009: Feast of the Epiphany

This past week things have been quiet [‘knock on wood’]. The school was out, the parish office was closed, and there were no funerals. When things quiet down we tend to get reflective. The New Year naturally makes you think about what happened in the past year and makes you hope about what will happen this coming year. As I was washing dishes on the New Years day, I noticed a small dish on the window sill with inscription on it. It reads, ‘Faith makes things possible, but not always easy.’ 

For those of you who have heard bits here and there of my vocation story heard me say that I believed I would be the least likely person to become a priest. First of all, not too long ago I was a person who disavowed religion altogether. Secondly, I believed I didn’t have the temperament or the gifts to become a priest. A priest is a very public person; he is a person whose daily work is to interact with people and to address large crowds. A person who is energized by interaction with people would be well suited for this; there is a technical word for this type of personality—an extrovert. Will it surprise you that I do not become energized through interaction with people? Instead, spending time alone energizes me. The technical word for this is an introvert. In the business world, we would say I do not qualify for the job or that my talents do not match the job I’m applying for. In the middle of the seminary, I almost joined a contemplative religious order where I thought interaction with the public will be minimal; it was an option that was within my comfort zone. Before entering the seminary, I was an engineer living in a cubicle; I enjoyed the lifestyle of Dilbert, the comic strip character. My spiritual director had a couple of questions for me when I was about to join the order, however. First, he asked me, “What are you afraid of?” Second, “What does Jesus say about fear?” I remembered how Jesus reacted to Peter when Peter began to sink in the sea in his attempt to walk on water. “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matt 14:31) I was afraid of facing my own weakness and afraid of exposing that weakness to the people.  

‘Faith makes things possible, but not always easy.’ Typically when we decide to give something to the Lord or say ‘yes’ to His call, we usually require God to abide by our terms and conditions. And if God does not abide by our conditions, we change what we decide to give. For example, when Jesus called me to be a priest I told him, “I’m really not good with public speaking so I only want to be a hermit priest in some monastery.” But we learn very quickly that Jesus operates very differently. JESUS DOES NOT CALL THE QUALIFIED, JESUS QUALIFIES THE CALLED. Either Jesus will stretch the gifts that you already have, or He will bring out the gift that you never possessed through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In this way, Jesus humbles us; we realize that Jesus accomplished great things through us despite our limitations. We know we didn’t do it. It was His actions through us.  

Let’s take the example of the magi in today’s gospel. The magi were wise men who knew the signs of the stars. They were not Jews, so they did not know the whole Old Testament history of the longing for the arrival of the Messiah (unlike the Jewish chief priests and scribes). All they knew was that there rose a star in the sky, and it signaled rise of a new king of the Jews. How they chose the gifts they brought remains a mystery. But in hind sight, they brought gifts that revealed correctly who the infant Jesus really was. Gold was a symbol of royalty and thus revealed Jesus as the king. Frankincense was used by priests in sacrifice thus revealed Jesus as the divine priest. Myrrh was a spice used to bury the dead, and it revealed Jesus as one who is to die to redeem us. The magi did not know exactly why they picked gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They were inspired by the Holy Spirit to bear these gifts and forever be etched into the history of the New Testament. Likewise when we say ‘yes’ to God’s call, we do not know what kind of gifts God will draw out from us and what kind of results God will accomplish through us. We will look back with wonder, “How did I ever do that? It must be God.”  

Does it surprise you when I say that all of you here, without exception, is called by Jesus? Have you said, ‘yes’ to Him? Have you opened yourself to the possibility that Jesus wants to accomplish great things through you? Are you prepared to be surprised by the gifts that Jesus will draw out from you that you thought you never had? 

Some of you here are undoubtedly called to the life of priesthood and religious. Do not be afraid of that possibility. Some of you here are called to build up St. Aloysius parish as a co-worker of Jesus. Next few weeks, we’re going to ask you to go one step further by answering ‘yes’ to be formed as a “Co-worker in the Vineyard.” If doubts still remain, I want to ask you two questions. What are you afraid of? What does Jesus say about fear?  

Jan 3, 2009: Epiphany of the Lord

Most of the Christmas shopping is finished here in the United States, but elsewhere in the world, Christmas shopping is just starting. In Spain and Latin America, Christmas presents are not delivered by a big man in a red suit with white beard. On January 6, most of the Hispanic world celebrates El Dia De Reyes, the Epiphany, remembering the day when the Three Wise Men following the star to Bethlehem, arrived bearing their treasured gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for the Baby Jesus. A couple of days before January 6th, the children write their letters to the Wise Men, or to their favorite Rey Mago: Melchor, Gaspar, or Baltasar, asking for the presents they would like to receive. On the night, of January 5, the figurines of the Three Wise Men are added to the nativity scene. Before going to bed the children place their old shoes under their bed or in the living room, where the Wise Men will leave them their presents. Some also place outside the house, some hay and a bucket with water for the animals, and even some cookies and milk for Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar. Reluctantly children go off to bed. As soon as they wake up, which is earlier than any other day, they run to see the gifts that the Three Magi left for them. This is also the day when king cakes are baked and sold in the bakeries.

The Greek word Epiphany means manifestation or