June 28, 2009: 13th Week Ordinary (B)

(Mary Ellen Heibel, a parishioner of St. Mary in Annapolis, sits next to a statue of Blessed Francis X. Seelos. Heibel believes her cancer was cured through Blessed Seelos’ intercession.)
http://www.catholicreview.org/subpages/storyworldnew-new.aspx?action=6236

What would you do if you heard the following words from your doctor?

"Go home and prepare to die."

On May 2004, a 71-year old parishioner named Mary Ellen Heibel of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Annapolis was told that by doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. The doctors discovered cancer in her esophagus and lymph node, then later that year it spread throughout her body. She was given six months. But she was not about to quit. So she received a new form of chemotherapy at The Johns Hopkins Hospital to extend her life. But prognosis was that it only would postpone the inevitable.

At the suggestion of a Pittsburgh priest, Heibel began praying a novena in 2005 to Blessed Francis X. Seelos – a 19th-century Redemptorist pastor of her parish who died of yellow fever in 1867 in New Orleans. If you go down Magazine Street toward downtown you'll hit St. Andrews St. on which you turn right. You take a right at Constance St. and the Shrine of Blessed Seelos is on the left. (for more info: www.seelos.org) The shrine is located at historic St. Mary's Assumption Catholic Church. An interesting tidbit is that the novelist Anne Rice grew up going to this church and wrote about it in her latest autobiography, "Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession."

One week after she began the novena at her parish, Heibel’s cancer disappeared. Gone were tumors in both lungs, her liver, back and sternum. Her doctor could not believe it. And her doctors also told her that unexplained healing could not be the result of her chemotherapy. She was convinced that Blessed Seelos interceded on her behalf. Praise God!

Sometimes from our families and friends we hear miraculous stories like this where God interevenes powerfully. Hearing such stories, we are even more convinced that God can do all things and further convinces us that Jesus did powerful miracles as shown in today's Gospel. We read from the Gospel of Mark that Jesus performed two miracles: a woman who suffered years of internal hemorrhage was healed after she touched the clothes of Jesus and a dead child was brought back to life. Does it seem too far fetched for God to do this? Today our medical sciences is far more advanced than what they had in the time of Jesus, but those of you who had cancer know that even science is limited. When we face the stark reality that science has done all it can do for us, we then acknowledge that we need to implore the Divine Physician. So in humility we offer prayers like this. "Lord, you are all powerful yet compassionate. Look kindly upon your servant. If it is Your Will, You can heal me. Although I would like to spend more time here on earth, I submit to Your Will alone."

In all of us is a great desire to live. If we had our way, we would like to live forever. Our First Reading from the Book of Wisdom speaks of this desire that is in us.

God did not make death,
nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living...
For God formed man to be imperishable;
the image of his own nature he made him.

It is God's own design that we are to be imperishable. Yet why do we die? The Book of Wisdom says, "But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who belong to his company experience it." Here we see another kind of death. We may be alive in the eyes of the world, but in God's eyes we may be already dead spiritually through our sin. In comparison to physical death, spiritual death is far more grave, for it means that our life is severed from God who is our Way, the Truth, and the Life.

When you visit Blessed Seelos Shrine in New Orleans, you'll see an interesting statue in the museum. There sitting on a bronze bench is a statue of Blessed Seelos sitting as if he is waiting for someone to sit next to him and to begin conversation. In fact when he was alive, he frequently sat in the bench outside his rectory all throughout the night, often sleeping on that bench. Back then there were many of his parishioners who worked night shifts at the shipyard. Fr. Seelos wanted to be available to them for confession and counseling. He wanted to help people reconcile with God through reconciliation. Lack of sleep and comfort were his way of sacrificing for the sake of his parishioners receiving spiritual healing and eternal life. What a great man he was! We know all of us, even Mary Heibel who received healing through the intercession of Fr. Seelos, have to die physically one day. Jesus performed healing and continues to heal today not so that we may only live physically a little while longer. What's at stake is eternal life. Jesus heals in order that we may believe what He told us: repent and reconcile with God in order to enjoy eternal life with Him in the next. That's the kind of healing and transformation that Jesus would like to see in us.

June 21, 2009: 12th Sunday Ordinary (B)

Recently I was at a conference down in New Orleans listening to a talk by Sr. Briege McKenna, telling a story about her encounter at a grocery store. The checkout counter lady asked her, "I'm so afraid about all this Swine Flu, aren't you?" Sr. Briege replied, "Why? Why should we afraid to die? We're going to die one way or another, sooner or later." The checkout counter lady returned a puzzled look. And Sr. Briege replied, "We shouldn't be worried about whether we're going to die. We should be worried about where we are going to spend our eternal life--eternal life with God or eternal life without God." Sr. Briege summed up well what our preoccupation should be here on earth. (Note: Sr. Briege wrote a wonderful book called, Miracles Do Happen)

I remember back in August last year, I watched my 401K retirement savings take a nosedive. I know many fathers here worried about the same thing. By the end of the month, it was half what it was at the beginning of the year. I didn't have that much to begin with because I worked only three years with that company. Nevertheless to see your savings evaporate like that stirs all sorts of fears inside. I can't imagine, then, what went on in your minds--all of you who have families, young children still in Catholic schools, and all of you who were ready to retire--to see your savings evaporate into thin air. What kind of storms were brewing inside of you?

I'm sure it was something similar to what the disciples faced in today's Gospel. After teaching the crowd, Jesus instructed the disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee in a boat. He was with them in the boat but fell asleep on a cushion. A squall of wind churned the waves to the point that water began to come into the boat. And the disciples cried out to Jesus, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" He woke up and silenced the storm. Then he asked them, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?"

Back in my seminary days, Jesus questioned me numerous times with the same question whenever I fell in doubt and fear. Some days I was confident about the direction that I was taking. But other days, I was full of doubt. I said to myself, "Jesus I really don't think I can be a good priest. I just lack the talent and skills. Are you sure that you want me to be a priest?" Picture a grown man who left what he thought was a secure ground--his career, his dream of having a family. Upon Jesus' urging, "Let us cross to the other side," this man gets into a boat with Jesus. But upon a slightest storm, this man panics. He tries to fix the problem himself--dropping the anchor, rolling up the sail, rowing frantically. He concludes that his talent and skills are no match for the storm that he is facing. So as a last resort, he goes to Jesus. "Do you not care, Jesus? You're the one who got me on this boat in the first place." And after Jesus calms the storm asks the question, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith, in Me?" This struggle between doubt and faith in Jesus we all face don't we? Although I'm disappointed again that I let Him down, every struggle is a lesson well learned. Later on, I'll go back to this experience as an encouragement to face new struggles. It was the same for those disciples who were in the boat that day. They recalled later on after Pentecost experience and facing waves of persecution that Jesus calmed the storms. Once we go through boat in the storm experience with Jesus, somehow we are convinced that things are in His control. For those of us who have experienced the boat in the storm with Jesus, no Swine Flu, financial crisis, personal weakness, or even fear of death should stir us to panic.

St. Paul addressed one of our deepest fears--death--in our Second Reading today, "The love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that [Jesus] died for all; therefore, all have died. He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised." We shouldn't be worried about whether we're going to die. We should be worried about where we are going to spend our eternal life--eternal life with Jesus or eternal life without Jesus. Since we have died with Christ, we will rise with Christ. So our psalmist today in Psalm 107 encourages us when we face earthly storms to do something else than panic.

[We] cried to the LORD in [our] distress;
from [our] straits he rescued [us],
He hushed the storm to a gentle breeze,
and the billows of the sea were stilled.

[We] rejoiced that they were calmed,
and he brought [us] to [our] desired haven.
Let [us] give thanks to the LORD for his kindness
and his wondrous deeds to the children of men.

June 14, 2009: Solemnity of Corpus Christi (Body and Blood of the Lord)

(A photo of Corpus Christi procession in South Korea, 1955)

Has anyone participated in any kind of religious procession through the streets? Here in Independence on the feast day of St. Joseph, a group of men carry a carriage on which is mounted a statue of St. Joseph. Walking behind the statue are parishioners praying the rosary. In front of the procession is a police car where the priest leads the rosary over the megaphone; while the priest is not sweating sitting in a cool air-conditioned car, the men carrying the statue and those trailing them are definitely sweating. They stop at houses where parishioners approach the statue and pin money to the drapery attached to the statue. The whole scene is quite impressive. Along the route, you have homes of both Catholics and non-Catholics. Any non-Catholics watching all this spectacle, they have to be impressed. Here are Catholics, proudly professing their faith throughout the streets.

Last week I mentioned during homily that our small gesture of making the Sign of the Cross is a powerful profession of our faith in the public. As we make the sign, we praise the Father who created us out of love, we praise the Son who sacrificed his very life to redeem us, and we praise the Holy Spirit who sanctified us, worthy to be called sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father. But we know how difficult is it for us sometimes to even make this small gesture in the public. If you have lived a long time here in Independence (I mean long time!), you'll remember that in the 'old days,' people used to do Corpus Christi procession every year. On my homily website, I put some photos of people in various countries (including Korea) having Corpus Christi procession. In the front of the procession typically you have altar servers leading the procession with incense, cross, and candles. Behind are lots of kids dressed up in white. Trailing behind them several people carry a canopy. And underneath the canopy you have a priest carrying the monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. This procession could go throughout the town. In Rome, the Pope leads this annual procession going from St. Peter's Basilica to St. Mary Major's Basilica. Some say that this tradition goes way back to the middle of 400's. The feast itself was accepted in universal Church in the year 1264. This feast is one time when Jesus in the Eucharist is exposed not just to faithful Catholics but to all the world. This is a time when Catholics can show their love for Jesus by honoring Him in a very public way. We hear of healing and conversions that come from Eucharistic Adoration. Can you imagine the kind of healing and conversion resulting from taking the Lord to the streets?

The Israelites in the Old Testament also did public processions similar to Corpus Christi. Can you guess on which occasion they did this? Those of you who heard my homily several weeks ago, I told you that when Israelites went into battle, they carried this thing in front...the Ark of the Covenant! And I said what three things were in the Ark? The Ten Commandment tablets, rod of Aaron, and manna. And the Israelites did this because they knew that victory was theirs knowing that God was marching with them. I said those three items inside the Ark were analogous to whom in the New Testament? Jesus who is the Word of God, Eternal Priest, and the Bread of Life come down from Heaven. And the Ark of the New Covenant is...Blessed Mother.

Let's go a little deeper. In our First Reading, we see Moses at the foot of the Mount Sinai doing something very similar to what we do at Sunday mass. Listen to these details: Moses erected an altar, erected twelve pillars for twelve tribes of Israel, sacrificed a bull, set aside flesh and blood, and sprinkled blood on the altar and the people. All these action was performed to ratify a covenant between God and Israelites. A covenant is a family bond, entered into freely, binding perpetually, and sealed in blood. God promised to be the God of Israel; Israel promised to keep all the commands of the Lord. In today's Gospel, look at what Jesus does. He has an altar there with twelve disciples. He offered up Himself in unbloody sacrifice of unleavened bread and wine. Notice how striking the similarity between the words of Moses and Jesus.

"Then [Moses] took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words of his." (Exod 24:8)

"[Jesus] said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many." (Mk 14:23)





So what is it mean for us Catholics when we extend our hands out to receive the Holy Communion when the priest says "Body of Christ" and we say "Amen"? Jesus is saying to us, "I'm making a covenant with you through my own blood. Will you be faithful to your end of the covenant?" And we reply, "Yes, Lord." So each time we receive communion, we are ratifying our covenant with Him. That's pretty serious.  Non-Catholics often ask why they cannot receive communion at Catholic weddings and funerals. If we understood whose body and blood we are receiving and to what we are actually saying "Amen" or "Yes Lord" to, we cannot casually get up in the communion line just because everyone is doing it. 

Likewise, when we participate in a Corpus Christi procession, we are doing much more than going through the streets saying visibly that Jesus is marching with us, just as Israelites proclaimed that God was marching with them when they carried the Ark into a battle. A covenant means family bond sealed with blood. When we are processing with the Body and Blood of Christ through the streets, we proclaim out loud that our lives have been purchased at a great price by the Blood of Christ. We in turn proclaim that we belong completely to Him in this New Covenant.

June 7, 2009: Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Many intersting things happen to me at Walmart. Few days ago, I went into Amite Walmart to get a haircut. I took my white-tab out of my clerical collar, so the lady did not know that I was a Catholic priest. I'm sure the first question on her mind was, 'Why would an Asian guy be up here in Amite?' So she asked diplomatically, "Where are you from?" I replied, "Dallas." "Oh. Where do you work?" I replied, "I'm a Catholic priest in Independence." "Oh. How many children do you have?" I replied, "Catholic priest do not get married." "Oh. I don't know anything about Catholic religion." That's about all that I revealed about myself. I'm sure she was quite curious and wanted to ask more personal questions. But I chose not to reveal. After all, I'm in Walmart where every other second over the speakers you hear, "Shoppers, come over to the deli section where we have a great deal on delicious ham."

Few days later, I was in Walmart again shopping and a young man asked me, "What are you?" I replied, "Why don't you guess?" "A priest?" "Yes." He said, "Can I ask you about something?" Then for next 15 minutes, in the soda pop isle, I answered questions about why Jesus cried out aloud at the cross, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me." (Matt 27:46) His question was, if Jesus was part of the Holy Trinity (one God in unity), how could Jesus say that he was separated or abandoned from the Trinity? Doesn't this put to question whether Jesus is God? Now I challenge you to be in that same isle with me to answer a profound mystery of our faith when slew of people are reaching over you to grab six-packs of diet coke.

Here at a Walmart soda isle, a young man was asking a profound question: who is God? If God as the Church teaches is Trinity, what does that have to do with my life? One observation that I made about that young man was that he was curious and was not indifferent. If he was indifferent about faith, he would not have engaged me. But his mind and his heart thirst to know. And many of you who are sitting in the pews, you have the same thirst as well. Why is there curiosity in us to know who God is? Why was there curiosity in that Walmart hairstylist to know more about this enigmatic Korean priest who showed up in a remote town of Amite, Louisiana? Mystery draws us to know more. Hence St. John the Baptist's disciples left him to go over to Jesus out of that mystery. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi, where are you staying?" He said to them,"Come, and you will see." (Jn 1:38-39)

Whenever I'm at a new parish, my appearance (as an Asian) draws questions. Where are you from, how did you get here, where is your family, etc... So I give my standard spiel: from Texas, came to Baton Rouge because of work as an engineer, my parents live in Dallas, and my sister is in Maryland. Really, the questions center on my family story. Every one of us here has a family story about how we came to live in Independence or Husser. Our family story tells others about our roots, to whom we are related to, what our forefathers did for the community. Each of us is not solitude; we belong to a family, a family with a history. Depending on to whom we talk to we are open to tell our story.

Likewise, "God in His deepest mystery is not a solitude, but a family, since He has in Himself fatherhood, sonship, and the essence of the family, which is love." (Pope John Paul II) We don't get the full picture of God as family in the Old Testament. In our First Reading from the Book of Deuteronomy Moses recounts what God has done for the people of Israel--God created them, spoke to them, and led them out of Egypt. And Moses exhorted his people to keep God's commandments so that they will prosper and be blessed. As you read the Old Testament, you learn that God is one; there is not much clue about the inner life of God. Yet there is a curious verse from the Book of Genesis that reveal something more. In Genesis 1, we hear God say, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." The word 'us' hints that there is more to God.

With the Gospel, Jesus reveals God as a family. In today's reading, Jesus himself mentions all three of God's family members in one sentence. "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." (Matt 28:18-20) The Apostles and disciples at first had difficulty understanding this. Philip asked Jesus, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."" (Jn 14:8) It will take further teaching and finally the Pentecost experience for the disciples to 'get it.' They will remember what Jesus said to them, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." (Jn 14:15-18)

How is the Holy Trinity relevant for me? It is as relevant as making the Sign of the Cross, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." In this short prayer, we tell ourselve and others the story of God's family to whom now we belong as sons and daughters. We praise the Father who has created us, the Son who gave up his life to redeem us, and the Holy Spirit who made us sons and daughters of God. And as St. Paul tells us in our Second Reading, it is by the Holy Spirit that we no longer fear God but we cry aloud and say, "Abba, Father!" "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him." (Rom 18:14-17)