June 27, 2010: 13th Sunday Ordinary

(I'm still out of town, so I'm posting a small homilette)

Sometimes I'm asked, "Father, do you ever regret becoming a priest?" It's a good question. This question is in someway related to asking a father and a husband, "Do you ever regret getting married?" If I asked this question to a man who has been married over 30 years, he would most likely answer, 'No.' Now, I hear much confessions of husbands and fathers. And with what I have heard so far, I sometimes say to myself, 'How hard it is to be married, to be a husband and a father!' Yet these husbands and fathers come to confession asking for forgiveness for in any way they have neglected their whole hearted love for their wives and kids. It is tough being married. And it is tough being a priest and being called 'Father.' But it is the joy of being a priest--the daily ups and downs--that I cannot imaging looking back while my hands are on the plow and moving forward. As St. Paul beautifully said,

"Brothers and sisters:
For freedom Christ set us free;
so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.

For you were called for freedom, brothers and sisters.
But do not use this freedom
as an opportunity for the flesh;
rather, serve one another through love."