Never Enough

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
    There is never enough.  Our Lord tells the disciples, “‘The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.’”  That’s when there were 72 disciples, perhaps including, perhaps excluding, the 12 Apostles.  Too few for what Christ had in mind, which was the conquering by grace of the whole world, and the salvation of every man, woman, and child.  Catholicism spread like wildfire after Pentecost and into the first three hundred years of the Church.  By the end of the first millennium, most of the western world had received baptism.  But still, too few; not enough.  In what many consider the golden age of Catholicism in the US, the post-World War II years, many parishes had multiple priests, Catholic schools were full, and all seemed right.  Yet, the harvest was still abundant; there were many who were not Catholic, and even that great number was not enough; too few laborers, not only for the US, but for the spread of the Gospel around the world.
    Or perhaps, as we think about our own gifts and talents, we feel like we don’t have enough.  We look forward to a time when prosperity will flow over us like a river, and we would be like babies nursing who suckle until they’re full.  That could be true for the Church, to a time we look to when the Catholic faith would flourish and spread like wildfire again, like after Pentecost.  Or it could be true for us as individuals, who want to more fully live our faith and live for Christ.

7 priests ordained in 2025

   That phrase, “never enough,” can also be taken two ways: from the perspective of scarcity or from knowing that we can never exhaust what God desires for us.  In the first sense, we think about vocations to the priesthood.  Yes, we had seven ordinations to the priesthood this year, and we expect to have four more next year, based upon how many transitional deacons Bishop Boyea ordained in May.  But we need more priests.  And so, to the young men here who are not married, I would encourage you to at least think and pray about whether God is calling you to the priesthood.  He’s not calling all of you, but some of you He certainly is.  Marriage is also a beautiful vocation, and a way to serve God, but priests are the only ones who bring us forgiveness of sins through the Sacrament of Penance and nourish us with the Body and Blood of Christ through the Eucharist.  
    But we can also look at it from our own perspective, no matter what our vocation.  God always calls us beyond what we think we can do.  We probably all feel like we don’t have enough for the Lord.  But He will equip us for the mission to which He calls us.  We need only respond.  When I work out, sometimes I feel like I can’t give any more.  But my workout partner will push me to finish the workout, even if I need to take a little break before finishing.  God will push us to go beyond our comfort zone to live as saints and to spread His Gospel.  And if Jesus can make more than enough bread and fish for over 5,000 people from 5 loaves and 3 fish, He can work with whatever we have.  He will make our “never enough” enough for Him and His work.
    The second sense of never enough, from the perspective of never exhausting God’s goodness, is also a good reminder for us all.  For too long, families (though maybe not in this parish, but maybe so), have treated growing in the faith like completing K-12 education.  Sometimes it’s the kids, but often it’s also the parents.  After confirmation, too many take the approach that they have exhausted all they really need to know about Christ, and that faith formation is now optional.  Hopefully you can recognize how ludicrous that is.  God is an infinite spring to which He invites us each day, week, month, and year to drink from the streams of His wisdom.  The spring will never run dry, and we can always draw more from Him.  I was enrolled in an institute of Catholic education from 1989 until 2015, from kindergarten to my second Master’s Degree.  But each week I continue to learn more in my head and my heart about God, His Church, and how I can grow in holiness.
    We are never done growing in our faith.  Some times in our life may be more purposeful or more directed towards learning, but we should always try to grow in our knowledge and love of Christ.  That’s why we offer Bible studies, faith sharing groups, book clubs, men’s group, and more.  And, this September, I will begin, once a month, to offer sessions that can help remind us of things we learned, or teach us something knew, with what I’m calling Alpha and Omega.  It’s meant either for non-Catholics to learn some basics about the Catholic faith, or for Catholics to learn or re-learn important aspects of their Catholic faith.  Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to September.  But the point is, no matter how we do it, we should make efforts to grow as disciples throughout our life, no matter how longer we have lived as a Catholic.
    There is never enough.  There are never enough priests; there are never enough lay people on fire with love for Christ; there are never enough people to spread the Gospel; we can always use more.  There is never enough.  We can never exhaust the good things God has in store for us if we return to Him again and again.  No time, no circumstances will ever be enough, until Christ returns in glory, and all is made right in the new heavens and the new earth, when Christ will be all in all.  May we take seriously the many ways of realizing there is never enough. 

Not About Me

Memorial of St. Barnabas-15th Anniversary of Ordination Mass

    Before I begin my homily, I want to thank all of you for coming here this evening to celebrate my 15th Anniversary of priesthood.  At the risk of leaving people out, I do want to try to mention the different groups here today.  First, my parents and one of my two sisters, Amanda, and her family; secondly, my brother priests and deacons, including one of my classmates from Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Fr. Craig Giera from the Archdiocese of Detroit; third, my current parishioners from St. Matthew parish, who are graciously putting on this dinner, as well as former parishioners from other parishes going back to when I was a seminarian; fourth, priests of the Orthodox Church here in Genesee County and their wives; fifth, Knights and Dames of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, who are papal knights and dames and who bring great honor by their presence; sixth, members of the Michigan State Police, including command officers, troopers, and fellow chaplains; I appreciate the friendship of all of you and your presence here tonight.  Five years ago I had planned a celebration of my 10th Anniversary, perhaps a more normal number to celebrate, but that was June of 2020, and I didn’t want to put my Troopers in the odd spot of having to arrest me for violating executive orders, so we just cancelled it.
    There’s a lot of focus on me today.  Some may question celebrating an anniversary with others.  After all, we’re celebrating doing what I am supposed to do: be a priest and continue with my commitment to those promises.  And, in that sense, there’s not much noteworthy in doing what we’re supposed to do.  Our Lord Himself tells his disciples: “When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’”  When we do what we say we will do, that should be normal, whether it’s the promise a priest makes at his ordination, the promise a couple makes to each other and to God when they get married, or the promise a Trooper makes when he or she takes the oath upon graduation from Trooper Recruit School.
    But, lest we pack up and just go home, rather than enjoying a tasty dinner after Mass, there must be something more.  Otherwise we’re just patting ourselves on the back.  And I think the something more is that we rejoice at God providing for His Church.  Christ promised His Apostles that He would not leave them orphaned; Christ promised His disciples that He would remain with them always, even to the end of the age, as they made disciples of all nations.  And in celebrating St. Barnabas, “a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith,” we celebrate God fulfilling His promise.  And St. Barnabas took under his wing this guy named Saul, who, after his conversion, also went by the name Paul, and proclaimed the Gospel not only to Jews but also to non-Jews, Gentiles.  “And a large number of people was added to the Lord.”  

    Throughout the centuries God remains active in His Church through the power of the Holy Spirit.  God chooses people to continue His work, especially choosing certain men to share in His ministry, as we will hear in the preface of the Eucharistic Prayer tonight.  Men like Ignatius of Antioch; Basil the Great; Martin of Tours; Dominic; Jordan of Saxony; Anthony of Padua; Thomas Aquinas; Pius V; Antoninus of Florence; Charles Borromeo; John Henry Cardinal Newman; Emil Kapaun; Solanus Casey; Vincent Capodanno; John Paul II; Benedict XVI; and many others who have made Christ Himself present by their preaching and their sacramental ministry and service to the poor.  They didn’t just remind people about what Jesus did some 2,000 years ago, though they did that, too.  They acted in His Name and with His power to bring people into relationship with God through Holy Baptism; to forgive their sins through Penance; to give a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit through Confirmation; to join a couple as a icon of the Trinity in Holy Matrimony; to anoint and heal through the Sacrament of the Sick; and especially to make Jesus’ Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity present in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist through their sharing in Christ’s priestly ministry which they received in the Sacrament of Holy Order.  
    They did so as the person God made them, with all the ease and challenges that came with it.  They did it in their time, adjusting, not the teaching, but the method of proclamation to the cultures in which they lived.  They did so with joy at serving so loving a Father; they did so with tears knowing their own sinfulness and unworthiness to exercise so great an office.  They were set apart, like Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which God called them.  And we celebrate them today because they were faithful to that work and never gave up, even when it meant, for some, giving up their lives.
    And so today, God reminds me that I’m not done yet, at least not today (we are never promised tomorrow).  Today, you remind me that I have a high bar for which to strive.  My name is not in that litany of saints that I just enumerated, but it’s supposed to be after I die, and it gives me something for which I can strive.  
    And your name is also supposed to be in the litany of saints, those holy men and women who, throughout the centuries, heard the Gospel and conformed their lives, whatever their vocation, to Jesus Christ, so that they could say with St. Paul, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”  The good news for you, and the good news for me, is that Christ does the heavy lifting.  His grace makes it all possible.  All we have to do is cooperate, not get in the way, and let God do the brunt of the work.  
    Today is not about me.  It’s about what God has done and what God wants to still accomplish through me, with me, and in me, not so much for me, but for the People He redeemed by the Death of His Son.  Pray that I will continue to know that I am an unprofitable servant, doing only what I was obliged to do out of the love I have for Christ.  Pray that I will help you to hear, even as I myself hope to hear, these words at the end of my life: “Well done, good and faithful servant….Come, share your master’s joy.”   

Department of Redundancy Department

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sometimes hearing something a second time is just annoying.  How many times has a parent responded to a nagging or whining child who keeps bringing up the same issue, “I heard you the first time”?  Or sometimes we might hear deja vu all over again, which is saying the same thing twice, since deja vu colloquially means all over again.  Or, in seminary, if someone said something redundant, we would snarkily ask if he was from the Department of Redundancy Department.  

Today we hear a very similar parable twice: from Isaiah in the first reading and from Jesus in the Gospel.  But this is not Jesus being redundant; this is one of those times when someone says something twice in order to stress its importance.  And the chief priests and the elders of the people would have recognized the parable as Jesus told it.  They would know what it means.  

And for us, who have heard this story numerous times, we can probably intuit the meaning fairly easily.  But one point that is the basis for the entire parable, is to whom the vineyard belongs.  In Isaiah’s version, Isaiah talks about a friend who has a vineyard, who does all the work, but the fruit of his work is not what he expected.  In Jesus’ version, it is still a vineyard, but he talks about the people working it, rather than the fruit that is produced.  But in both cases, God is the clear owner of the vineyard.  It does not belong to Isaiah; it does not belong even to the tenants or the servants.  God owns the vineyard, and he expects it to produce proper fruit.

So often we can think of the Church, the Body of Christ, as ours.  In the proper context, we rightfully say that we, the People of God, are the Church.  But the body cannot do anything without a head; and Jesus is the head of the Church, while we are the other members.  We cannot do anything without Jesus.  Sometimes we think that the Church can teach whatever she wants.  But that’s only true if we are the owners of the vineyard.  If, instead, we are merely tenants, or those housed in the vineyard, than we don’t get to make decisions about the structure of the property, or what fruit we want to grow.  We only get to work in the vineyard.

Right now it is very popular to say that the Church needs to change her teaching to keep up with the times.  We should allow women to be priests; we should stop talking about homosexual acts as sinful; we should recognize homosexual marriage; we should let people get divorced and remarried without an annulment.  But that very approach betrays a lack of understanding about who owns the vineyard.  God has revealed to us, through Sacred Scripture and by the Holy Spirit guiding the Pope and the bishops in what they teach as to what we are to believe and how we are to live, what is His will for His vineyard, the Church.  We cannot change it, because the vineyard is not ours.  The Pope and the bishops cannot simply make up what we are to believe or how we are to live.  If they teach something contrary to what we call the Deposit of Faith, the body of beliefs that have been handed on to us from the apostles and their successors, then they can either be reprimanded, or sometimes even lose communion with the Church.  

But God doesn’t expect us to only guess what His plan is for His vineyard.  He has given us the prophets to tell us His will; He has given us Jesus who is the full revelation of the Father, who leads us into all truth; and He has given us the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, to help us to know what to believe and how we are to live.  Certainly there have been some bad tenants: there have been bad laypeople, bad priests, bad bishops, and even a few bad popes!  But God’s vineyard has remained intact.  And we have an unbroken line of consistent teaching from Old Testament through the New Testament right down to 2017.  

Sometimes that has put the Church against what is common or what is popular.  The Romans certainly didn’t want us to claim there is only one God, and that the emperor was not God; certainly there have been cases for over 2,000 years where it would have been much easier not to follow Jesus’ teaching on marriage and family life; Turkish and Arab Armies during different empires tried to invade Europe and supplant Christianity by force with Islam; France, the so-called eldest daughter of the Church tried to destroy the Church and supplant it during the French Revolution; the Mexican federal government and local American governments tried to make Catholicism illegal or irrelevant; Joseph Stalin famously wondered how many military divisions the pope has; and recently our own government has sought to make Catholic institutions provide services that are contrary to our faith.  And it would be easy to capitulate, to give up, and to simply go along with the culture.  But then we would be betraying the mandate of the owner of the vineyard, and we would risk having the vineyard leased to other tenants who will produce the right fruit.  Will we listen to the parables of the Lord’s vineyard?  Will we, as tenants, listen to the ones the Lord sends us so we know how to tend his vineyard?