Standing at the feet of Father Tolton

As the Diocese of Peoria and the Archdiocese of New York continue in their public disagreement over the transfer of the mortal remains of the Venerable Fulton John Sheen, the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois worked together yesterday to exhume the mortal remains of the Servant of God Father Augustus Tolton in St. Peter Cemetery in Quincy, Illinois.

A tent was erected over Father Tolton's grave to shield the workers from the elements/

The exhumation took place as part of the ongoing process for his eventual - may it please God! - beatification and canonization. I was deeply honored to have been asked to have a role in yesterday's work and will treasure the memories of that day for a very long time.

Though I cannot as yet share the details of what was done and found yesterday, I can say the exhumation was carried out for reasons historical: to be absolutely certain Father Tolton lived and died, and is not simply the creation of someone's imagination. The exhumed proved Father Tolton did indeed live and die.

The two local television stations in the Gem City aired apparently hastily prepared news reports concerning the exhumation.

Inaccurate News Reports

KHQA erroneously reported that "while the canonization process typically takes ten years, Father Tolton has passed the first stage, having been declared Blessed." This is not true. Father Tolton has not been inscribed among the Blessed, but has instead been named a Servant of God; this is, if you will, the first stage of the canonization process.

If the Holy Father judges him to have lived a life of heroic virtue, Father Tolton will be declared Venerable, the second stage. If, after being declared Venerable, the Holy Father recognizes a miraculous healing to have occurred through Father Tolton's intercession, he will be inscribed among the Blessed, the third stage. If, after being declared a Blessed, a second miraculous healing occurs after his beatification, Father Tolton will be inscribed among the Saints, the fourth and final stage.

KHQA also erroneously reported that Father Tolton's writings must still be examined as part of the canonization process. However, his known writings have already been examined and submitted to the Holy See. In addition to his writings, the KHQA report also said the "heroic virtue and miracles during Father Tolton's life will be examined so Tolton can officially be canonized." This part is correct, though the Holy See is more interested in miracles after his death than before.

KHQA correctly reported that "anthropologists, forensic pathologists and archaeologists" were on hand yesterday and conducted the exhumation and that Father Tolton's mortal remains were placed inside a casket and reinterred in his grave.

WGEM's report inaccurately named the Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois as "John Paprocki." His name, of course, is Bishop Thomas John Paprocki. This is a sign of poor editing of the article, as can be deduced from another portion of WGEM's report:

Father Tolton was the first African-American priest to work in Quincy, and Bauer says that his legacy adds to the great history of the area.  

Bauer says that his legacy adds to the great history of the area. 

I'm not sure the repetition is needed so soon.

The WGEM report also incorrectly stated, "The Vatican now needs to confirm if Tolton performed three miracles." The Holy See is actually seeking confirmation of two miracles, one for beatification and a second for canonization.

These two reports show the wisdom of Treebeard when he cautions the young Hobbits, "Don't be hasty."

A Brief Account of the Day

After everyone involved in the exhumation gathered at the grave, we sang "Blest Be the Everlasting God" and listened to the words Father Tolton spoke before he left Quincy for Chicago in November of 1889:

My gratitude to those people of the Gem City is threefold. Some of the white friends and benefactors of St. Joseph’s church did not forget their colored priest Father Tolton. They did not let him go away empty handed from the Gem City, but as a token of respect they have made him a suitable donation, asking him to remember them in his prayers, and promised to do three times more if he would only remain with them. Catholics will love and respect a priest regardless of nationality; at least that is the spirit of those people in the Gem City who knew me for twenty-nine years or more. Never will I forget the happy hours spent in the little St. Joseph church. I wish them all the blessings that can be bestowed upon them, for that charitable spirit that they have always shown toward me and the colored children.

We then heard Leviticus 19:17-18 read aloud and then prayed to God asking him to guide the work of our hands as we exhumed the remains of this holy priest. Then the work of the day began.

Workers at St. Peter Cemetery in Quincy exhume Fr. Tolton's grave this morning as part of the canonization process..@archchicago pic.twitter.com/UpVtuyZSPf

— Catholic New World (@CathNewWorld) December 10, 2016

As the notary of the day's proceedings, it was my happy duty to record what happened and when it happened throughout the course of the exhumation. This provided me the unexpected privilege - and the sublime joy - of standing at the feet of Father Tolton as his remains were lifted from his grave and clothed again in the sacred vestments of a priest.

Once the forensic pathologist and anthropologist concluded their investigation, Father Tolton's remains were transferred to a new casket, which was then placed inside a vault and lowered into his original grave. There the remains of this Servant of God will rest, until we he is raised by the Holy Father to the dignity of the altars.

Once he was returned to his grave, those present gathered again to pray. We sang Father Tolton's favorite hymn, the hymn with which he was welcomed back to Quincy 130 years ago, "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name." We then heard the following passage from Sr. Caroline Hemesath,'s From Slave to Priest:

Detail of a work by Isabel Armengol

Father Tolton won the hearts of old and young alike. The secret of his success lay in his innate simplicity and genuine love for all with whom he came into contact. He never tired of telling his people that God cared for each one of them and that he had a deep concern for the welfare of every one of his children. To prove his statements he invariably referred to the Gospel. By means of a clear explanation or simple dramatization, Father Tolton was able to recreate scenes of Christ’s life on earth and his mission among mankind; he repeated the words of the Master with such profound reverence that his hearers sensed the presence of the living Christ. No prelate ever received higher praise than that accorded to Father Tolton by a very young pupil of Saint Joseph’s School. Seeing the priest on the street, the child said to its mother, “See, there goes Jesus” (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006, pages 179-180).

We heard next a reading of I John 3:14-16 and gave thanks to God for the work he guided and prayed the Prayer for the Canonization of Father Augustus Tolton.

Those involved in the proceedings then enjoyed a warm meal together and parted company, now bound together by a common friendship with Father Tolton.

A Few Personal Reflections

Despite the cold temperatures, I cannot recall hearing any grumbling or complaints of being uncomfortable (though some of us did stand in front of heaters from time to time to warm our toes). Nor do I remember hearing that demonstrate a great reverence for the task at hand. The day was marked by tranquility, amicability, and a reverence for the sacred. I will attempt to put it better into words in the days ahead, though I am not sure I will able to do so.

For years I have walked where Father Tolton's feet have trod, both in Quincy and in Rome; yesterday I stood beside him and gazed with love upon his mortal remains in these days as we look to the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus who will raise our mortal bodies from the dust of the earth. Though I do not follow it as well as I should like, Father Tolton's life of quiet humility and long-suffering is an inspiration to me. Some people dream of standing on the shoulders of giants; I hope merely to walk in the shadow of this humble man who never lashed out against his enemies.

Bishop Paprocki was right when he said, "To have someone from your own hometown to be a saint, to be a role model, to show other people how to be as a Christian, that's a great thing to have." All of Quincy should rejoice as Father Tolton's cause for beatification and canonization continues to advance, one step at a time. Quincyans know Father Gus as one our our bright gems, as one of our citizens who represent the best of our beloved city; Catholics, we pray, will soon know him as a Saint, one of those who, in the words of Pope Benedict XVI, "shine with [Jesus'] light and so guide us along our way" (Spe salvi, 49). May Father Tolton soon be as a heavenly gem, drawing all who look to him toward the merciful love of Jesus!

The Reverend Landry Genosky, O.F.M. (who baptized and confirmed me) once wrote in reference to Father Tolton's original burial in Quincy, "They brought the remains back to Quincy as he had requested. It was as it should be. His heart had never left it." These words kept resonating in my heart as I gazed upon Father Tolton's remains as I repeatedly him that the hearts of Quincyans will never leave him. Many Quincyans had endured extremely hot temperatures to be with me at Father Tolton's grave this past July and many more would have been with me yesterday in freezing temperatures had they been permitted.

My only regret is that I somehow did not think beforehand to bring a kukui nut lei to place inside Father Tolton's new casket as a token of my aloha for him. I should have liked to have laid one at his feet. I hope instead he will now accept the aloha of my heart and intercede for me so that I might follow his priestly heart more closely.

The drama of the village drunk in the crèche at St. Peter's

Two of my friends are currently visiting the Eternal City and were surprised by the presence of what appears to be the local village drunk passed out among the sheep in the crèche (the Nativity scene) displayed this year in St. Peter's Square:

When asked to explain his presence in the Nativity scene, my first reaction was one of renewed gratitude for being back in the United States of America, even with the bitter temperatures, where such scenes are absent from our Nativity scenes.

As a general rule, Americans tend to prefer their Nativity scenes to be quaint, pleasant, and charming, almost absent of any real discomfort the Holy Family would certainly have experienced. We have sanitized, if you will, our imagining of Christmas morning to fit nicely with the lyrics of "Silent Night" (a song I've never really liked).

When Saint Francis of Assisi first requested permission of Pope Honorius III to re-present the Birth of Jesus, his biographer, Tomaso di Celano, tells us the Poverello wanted "to portray the Child born in Bethlehem and to see somehow with my bodily eyes the hardship he underwent because he lacked all a newborn’s needs, the way he was placed in a manger and how he lay on the hay between the ox and the ass" (First Life, XXX.84). While we have tended to shy away from these hardships, the Italians have taken to displaying the Birth of Jesus in the context of everyday life in all of its normalcy.

Certainly it might be argued the Italians sometimes take this too far (as they do with many things), but nobody likes drama as much as an Italian, and what could be more dramatic than the village drunk in the Nativity?

This dramatization of the early hours of Christmas morning, while distasteful to American sensibilities, may be intended as a stark reminder of the reality of our sin and the very reason the Father sent his Son to be born of the Virgin. As I preached yesterday, "the message of our sinful condition, then, and of our salvation from it in Christ, lies at the heart of the Advent message; to ignore this salvation from sin and death, is to rob Christmas of its beauty, of its wonder, and of its joy."

Perhaps the presence of the village drunk can help us appreciate anew our fallen and sinful condition and our sheer dependence upon the merciful love of God.

Homily - 8 December 2016 - The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Dear brothers and sisters,

Every good parent or teacher makes use – from time to time – of an uncomfortable question to point out the wrongdoing of a child or pupil. Is this not what the Lord God did today when he “called out to the man and asked him, ‘Where are you’” (Genesis 3:9)? It cannot be held that God did not know Adam’s physical location; to make such a claim of the omniscient Creator would be absurd. It is, rather, as Saint Ambrose says: the Lord poses “not a question, but a reproof.”[1] It is as if God asks of Adam, “From what condition of goodness, beatitude and grace … have you fallen into this state of misery? You have forsaken eternal life. You have entombed yourself in the ways of sin and death.”

The Church’s tradition calls this forsaking of eternal life the original sin by which

man preferred himself to God and by that very act scorned him. He chose himself over and against God, against the requirements of his creaturely status and therefore against his own good. Constituted in a state of original holiness, man was destined to be fully “divinized” by God in glory. Seduced by the devil, he wanted to “be like God,” but “without God, before God, and not in accordance with God.”[2]

It is this same forsaking of eternal life, this same original sin, that each one of us has inherited from Adam and Eve, our first parents. This is why Saint Paul says that “sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men have sinned” (Romans 5:12).

If we spend even a small amount of time considering our own sinfulness, we know the effects of this original sin all too well. “It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it; subject to ignorance, suffering, and the dominion of death; and inclined to sin.”[3] It is this inclination toward sin from which each of us suffers and why Saint Augustine famously called us walking fomes peccati, walking tinderboxes of sin.[4]

This seems to us a strange message to hear as we find ourselves in the midst of our preparations for Christmas. We expect to hear a more hopeful and joyful message, forgetting that “oft hope is born, when all is forlorn.”[5] The truth of our fallen and sinful condition lies at the heart of the Archangel Gabriel’s announcement to the Blessed Virgin Mary: “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus” (Luke 1:31). When Gabriel spoke to Saint Joseph, he told the husband of Mary to name her child Jesus “for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

The Archangel’s announcements to both Saint Joseph and to Holy Mary come as the great and long-awaited prophecy which the Lord God said that vile and wicked serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers” (Genesis 3:15). Christ Jesus, the offspring of Mary, the second Eve and whose Birth we celebrate at Christmas, struck at the serpent and defeated him with the weapon of the Cross. This is why Saint Paul says “as one man’s trespass led to the condemnation for all men, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men” (Romans 5:18). The message of our sinful condition, then, and of our salvation from it in Christ, lies at the heart of the Advent message; to ignore this salvation from sin and death, is to rob Christmas of its beauty, of its wonder, and of its joy.

Today we celebrate a foundational aspect in the life of one of those whom Jesus saved from sin as we give thanks to God for the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was not until 1854 that Mother Church finally defined what had long been held and believed by the faithful when Pope Pius IX solemnly declared, “the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, was, by a unique grace and privilege of Almighty God in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, preserved exempt from all stain of original sin.”[6] Because of her role as the Mother of God and in order to prepare a worthy ark for the Word made Flesh, “Mary benefited first of all and uniquely from Christ’s victory over sin: she was persevered from all stain of original sin and by a special grace committed no sin of any kind during her whole earthly life.”[7] It is this preservation from original sin and from its effects that the Church calls Mary’s “previent grace,” the grace given to Mary before her acceptance of the divine plan because she accepted the divine plan.[8] Mary, then, “is not merely the greatest of the saints but something altogether different and unique.”[9]

You and I, of course, have not been so graced. The Lord still calls out to us, asking, “Are you trapped in the imagined godlikeness that the serpent falsely promised you?”[10] His simple question, “Where are you?” is really an invitation for us “to make admission of [our] faults” and be reconciled to God so we might lift our eyes towards him and gaze upon the beauty of his face.[11]

Like Adam and Eve, we are often hesitant to admit our sin to the Lord; we hide from him and so deprive ourselves of his presence. But the Lord, in his infinite mercy, does not abandon us; rather, he sent his Son, born of the Virgin Mary, to call out to us, “From what condition of goodness, beatitude and grace … have you fallen into this state of misery? You have forsaken eternal life. You have entombed yourself in the ways of sin and death. Let me lead you forth into the kingdom of light” (cf. Colossians 1:13).

Mary shows us how to listen to the call of the Lord, how to give a generous response to him, and how to entrust ourselves entirely to the Lord’s loving mercy so that we might no longer live in a miserable condition. In these days of Advent, she calls us to place ourselves “within the orbit of her holy life.”[12] She desires to enfold us within the mantle of her love and to look upon us as our Mother (cf. John 19:27). It is within the orbit of Mary’s holy life that the disciple of Jesus wishes to enter; “here he wants to dwell, to breathe, to become quiet, and to receive comfort and strength to continue his life with renewed courage.”[13] Let each of us strive to wait with Mary so that we might welcome her Child when he comes and say with her, “May it be done to me according to your word” and live a life “holy and without blemish before him” (Luke 1:38; Ephesians 1:4). Amen.

---

[1] Saint Ambrose of Milan, De Paradiso, 14.70. In Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Vol. I: Genesis 1-11. Andrew Louth, ed. (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter Varsity Press, 2001), 84.

[2] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 398. Emphasis original.

[3] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 405.

[4] Saint Augustine of Hippo, De Continentia, 3.

[5] J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings, 5.9, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994), 859.

[6] Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus.

[7] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 411.

[8] Roman Missal, Prayer Over the Offerings of the Mass for Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

[9] Romano Guardini, The Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer. Leopold of Loewenstein-Wertheim, trans. (Manchester, New Hampshire: Sophia Institute Press), 155.

[10] Saint Ephrem the Syrian, Commentary on Genesis, 2.26.1. In Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Vol. I, 84.

[11] Saint John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis, 17.22. In ibid., 85.

[12] Romano Guardini, The Art of Praying, 159.

[13] Ibid.

The forgotten winter weakness

Because of my studies in Rome, this winter is effectively the first winter I have known in two years and eleven months. I cannot say that I have missed winter. There were, of course, times I was chilly in Rome, but never a time I was cold enough for my eyes or ears to hurt when I stepped outside.

A good part of my dislike of winter, though not all of it, stems from my arthritis which is mostly aggravated by the cold and damp. Aside from keeping the joints warm, there is not much that can be done about this.

When I popped over into the church this morning to unlock the doors and prepare for the 6:30 a.m. Mass, I had to laugh at my own frailty and my slow adjusting back to life in winter.

I awoke this morning feeling well-rested (thanks to a new space heater that keeps my bedroom toasty at night) without any joint pain or soreness, for which I was grateful. You can imagine my surprise, then, when I nearly collapsed straight down as I genuflected to the Eucharistic Lord. Though my joints this morning are not sore, my body is weaker than I realized, a result of what I call the winter weakness, something I had apparently forgotten about. As my right knee went down, requiring my left knee to bear my weight, my left knee decided to go down, as well. Fortunately, I realized what was happening quickly enough and was able to use my arms to slow my descent, making for a somewhat graceful collapse as I laughed aloud.

As you go about your day and encounter people who might be moving more slowly than you would like, try to be patient with them; they might have the winter weakness and their bodies may not be moving as quickly as they would like (this is something I have to remind myself of in the summer months when I feel mostly well). I find that my body is not quite ready to move the way I would like it to until about 10:00 a.m. now, when the winter weakness wears off. Being an early riser, this gives me some five hours to move about with greater care and at a slower pace than normal, and more opportunities to laugh at my own frailty while pondering the Lord's goodness to me.

Why is Saint Nicholas the patron of children?

As part of my ministry as Parochial Vicar of St. Agnes Parish, I try to visit each of the grade school classes at least once each month. Sometimes I can do so, and sometimes I cannot.

This afternoon, I had the pleasure of visiting with one of the third grade classes who asked me to talk to them about Saint Nicholas, today being his feast day.

I began, of course, with the biographical basics, that he was Bishop of Myra and how he gave generously to women so they could have dowries. I then told them about Saint Nicholas' presence at the Council of Nicea, which the St. Nicholas Center describes as follows:

Arius, from Egypt, was teaching that Jesus the Son was not equal to God the Father. Arius forcefully argued his position at length. The bishops listened respectfully.

As Arius vigorously continued, Nicholas became more and more agitated. Finally, he could no longer bear what he believed was essential being attacked. The outraged Nicholas got up, crossed the room, and slapped Arius across the face! The bishops were shocked. It was unbelievable that a bishop would lose control and be so hotheaded in such a solemn assembly. They brought Nicholas to Constantine. Constantine said even though it was illegal for anyone to strike another in his presence, in this case, the bishops themselves must determine the punishment.

The bishops stripped Nicholas of his bishop's garments, chained him, and threw him into jail. That would keep Nicholas away from the meeting. When the Council ended a final decision would be made about his future.

Nicholas was ashamed and prayed for forgiveness, though he did not waver in his belief. During the night, Jesus and Mary his Mother, appeared,* asking, "Why are you in jail?" "Because of my love for you," Nicholas replied. Jesus then gave the Book of the Gospels to Nicholas. Mary gave him an omophorion, so Nicholas would again be dressed as a bishop. Now at peace, Nicholas studied the Scriptures for the rest of the night.

When the jailer came in the morning, he found the chains loose on the floor and Nicholas dressed in bishop's robes, quietly reading the Scriptures. When Constantine was told of this, the emperor asked that Nicholas be freed. Nicholas was then fully reinstated as the Bishop of Myra.

The children, of course, were surprised when I told them that Nicholas hit Arius in the face, but they seemed more surprised at what Arius taught.

Arius famously spread his heresy with something of a jingle that sang, "There was a time when he [Jesus] was not." The surprise - and even shock - of the children at this line surprised me.

I asked them why Arius' words bothered them so much and they told me it meant that Jesus could not be with us all of the time. When I pressed them a bit further, they told me that if what Arius said was true, it meant that Jesus is not the Son of God. These third-graders are right, of course, and have greater theological sense than most adults today. Perhaps this is also why Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of children, among others.

Islamic State Ongoing Updates - December 2016

Previous Updates: November 2016 | September 2016 | August 2016 | July 2016 | June 2016 | May 2016 | April 2016 | March 2016 | February 2016| January 2016 | December 2015 | November 2015 | October 2015 | September 2015 | August 2015 | July 2015| June 2015 | May 2015 | April 2015 | March 2015 | February 2015 | January 2015 | December 2014 | November 2014 | October 2014 | April - November 2014

31 December 2016

• UPDATE (01-01-17): IS claims Baghdad blasts that killed at least 28
• UPDATE (01-01-17): Inside the economic war against the Islamic State

30 December 2016

• UPDATE (01-01-17): I'm being forgotten because I'm not European, says Indian priest kidnapped by ISIS
• UPDATE (01-01-17): 2017 Warning: ISIS call on 'Western sons' to launch brutal attacks on New Year's revellers
• UPDATE (01-01-17): Spanish ISIS Widows Arrested While Trying to Return to Europe
• The tragedy of the sex slaves of the Islamic State
• Iraqi forces face Islamic State car bombs, fierce resistance in south Mosul

29 December 2016

• UPDATE (01-01-17): Disguised as refugees and able to cross borders without being identified: ISIS general who blew up a hostage with a rocket and decapitated another prisoner is 'back in Europe with 400 soldiers' after fleeing Syria

27 December 2016

• The American Leader in the Islamic State

26 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-28-16): Islamic State arrests reveal jihadi threat threat near seat of U.S. government

25 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-28-16): Police uncover ISIS plot to set off phone bomb on UK streets in the run up to Christmas after two people appear in court charged with terror offense 

24 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-28-16): Christmas reborn in Iraqi town freed from ISIS
• Christmas Terror: Vatican braces for growing ISIS threat in Midnight Mass warning

23 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-28-16): Feds warn of ISIS threats to churches, holiday events
• For Liberated Iraqi Christians, Still a Bleak Christmas
• Anis Amri, Suspect in Berlin Truck Attack, Is Shot Dead Near Milan

22 December 2016

• Australian police say they thwarted planned Christmas bombings
• Turkey bans Twitter, Facebook and YouTube after ISIS savages upload a video of themselves burning two soldiers alive in a sick execution
• Berlin massacre suspect offered himself as a suicide bomber in months before Christmas market attack as chilling footage emerges of him patrolling the city

21 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-22-16): IS 'indiscriminately' attacking civilians in Mosul: HRW
• UPDATE (12-22-16): Berlin Truck Attacker Was No Lone Wolf, German Authorities Say

20 December 2016

• ISIS: We Did Berlin Truck Attack

19 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-21-16): Italian Muslim convert found guilty of helping Islamic State
• UPDATE (12-20-16): Syrian army vehicles seized by Islamic State seen in Anbar

17 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-20-16): U.S. offers $25 million reward for information on Islamic State leader

16 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-20-16): ISIS shows no sign of weakening as Mosul battle enters third month
• UPDATE (12-20-16): 'Have mercy on ISIS': The shocking prayer of a young Iraqi

15 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-16-16): Terror-stricken France deploys thousands more troops to streets amid Christmas threat

13 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-20-16): ISIS claims responsibility for Egypt church bombing that killed 25

10 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-11-16): Iraq sends reinforcements to eastern Mosul after ISIS attack
• UPDATE (12-11-16): House to House: The painstaking process of sweeping ISIS from Mosul
• UPDATE (12-11-16): US to send troops to help seize Raqqa from IS
• UPDATE (12-11-16): Spotlight turns to US forces' role as IS fight continues
• UPDATE (12-11-16): ISIS Retakes UNESCO Heritage Palmyra - So Where Is Putin's Army Now?

9 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-11-16): Islamic State treatens Egypt Sufis after claiming cleric murdershttp://zeenews.india.com/news/world/islamic-state-threatens-egypt-sufis-after-claiming-cleric-murders_1957103.html
• UPDATE (12-11-16): No home for the holidays: Assyrian Christians unable to return to villages destroyed by ISIS
• UPDATE (12-11-16): Rotterdam terrorist arrested with loaded AK-47 and Islamic State flag
• U.S.-led warplanes destroy fleet of Islamic State oil tankers in Syria

8 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-20-16): ISIS in the Caribbean: Trinidad has the highest rate of Islamic State recruitment in the Western hemisphere. How did this happen?
• UPDATE (12-11-16): ISIS may be on the run, but Iraqi Christians 'are still afraid'
• UPDATE (12-11-16): Islamic State Mag Praises Ohio State Jihadi, Doubles Down on Knife Attacks
• UPDATE (12-09-16): ISIS Remains Threat in Libya Despite Defeat in Surt, U.S. Officials Say

7 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-11-16): Bishop helped broker ransom of 226 hostages from ISIS
• UPDATE (12-11-16): 'Thousands of pounds in British benefits used to fund ISIS terror cells' expert claims
• UPDATE (12-11-16): ISIS rise surprised Obama, US intelligence
• UPDATE (12-09-16): Italy Departs Moroccan Jihadist Planning Bomb Attack in Vatican
• UPDATE (12-09-16): Up to 1,750 ISIS jihadists have returned to Europe with orders to carry out attacks, EU report warns

6 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-11-16): Syrian migrant, 16 who had links to ISIS charged with plotting bomb attack in Cologne

5 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-11-16): ISIS declares Trump inauguration day 'Bloody Friday'
  
• UPDATE (12-11-16): Creve Coeur worker told coworkers he was in ISIS, could blow them with one call, authorities say
• UPDATE (12-09-16): Civilians fleeing rebel-held east Aleppo 'detained and conscripted' by Syrian forces
• ISIS thugs hurl prisoner off roof before a baying mob of fanatics pet his corpse with rocks for the 'crime' of being gay

4 December 2016

• Islamic State strikes back to slow Iraqi forces in Mosul

3 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-04-16): IS jihadist linked to French plot arrested in Morocco
• UPDATE (12-04-16): ISIS pounds Iraqi fighters near Mosul

2 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-11-16): Holiday Warning: Hundreds of jihadi cells found in tourist hotspot after ISIS massacre

1 December 2016

• UPDATE (12-11-16): Iraqi military using militia groups to secure territory recaptured from Islamic State
• UPDATE (12-09-16): Terrorist threats may suspend Masses in Philippines capital

Homily - The Second Sunday of Advent - 4 December 2016

The Second Sunday of Advent (A)

Dear brothers and sisters,

In these days, we make use of the color violet – which we usually call purple – because of its long association with a spirit of repentance and royal majesty. Advent is marked by a joyful penitence because we await with eager expectation the coming of Christ our King. Our hearts are joyful because we know the Lord is coming again in his glory, yet our hearts are also filled with trepidation because “with the breath of his mouth he shall slay the wicked” (Isaiah 11:4).

The Lord will not judge us as we so often judge others, which is cause for joy; he will not judge us on our appearance or on what others say about us, but on the measure of our love, which is cause for trepidation (cf. Isaiah 11:3). Justice shall indeed flourish in his days because he is himself the Sun of Justice, the Radiant Dawn to whom we look, “his dwelling shall be glorious,” and in his light all things will be revealed (cf. Malachi 3:20; Isaiah 11:3-10). This is why we must heed the words of the prophets Isaiah and Saint John the Baptist to “prepare the way of the Lord [and] make straight his paths” (Isaiah 40:3; Matthew 3:3).

We prepare his way when we repent, when we turn from our sins and turn again toward Christ. This is the very message of the Baptist: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2)! The Baptizer does not make a mere suggestion, but speaks a word of command; he speaks in the imperative, saying, metanoeite, a word that means “to change one’s mind or perspective.” John “is calling for a complete change in thinking and conduct – [a] decisive, fundamental change of direction in one’s life.”[1]

Saint Bonaventure tells us John the Baptist “admonished us to prepare ourselves according to the threefold excellence of [Jesus’] qualities,” saying:

First because [Jesus] is the wisest master, we prepare ourselves as disciples longing to believe the master, who teaches through the submission of the intellect. Second, because he is the most powerful king we prepare ourselves as dutiful servants to obey the commander in carrying out actions. Third, because he is the most just judge we prepare us as penitent men to respond to the judge by correcting shortcomings.[2]

This is the proper task of these days of preparation for the great solemnity of Christmas; everything else is secondary.

The people responded in great numbers to John’s call to a complete turnaround in life because they recognized him not simply as a prophet, but as the prophet – indeed, the last of the prophets – who heralded the coming of God himself. They recognized this in three ways: in his preaching, in his clothing, and in his location.

In that passage gloriously rendered in Handel’s Messiah, Isaiah said, “Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah: ‘Behold your God’” (Isaiah 40:9)! When he pointed to the Lord Jesus near Bethany, John the Baptist cried out, saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29)! He went on to say, “And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34). The people also recognized the great prophet had come in Saint John’s clothing. They knew the great prophet Elijah “wore a garment of haircloth, with a belt of leather about his waist” (II Kings 1:8). The Lord God also revealed through his prophet Malachi, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes” (Malachi 4:5 [3:23]). Even the location of John’s preaching signaled a moment of great importance, for it was at the River Jordan that the Lord healed Naaman of his leprosy, where Elijah was taken up to heaven in the fiery chariot, and through which the Lord led his people after their wandering of forty years into the Promised Land (cf. II Kings 5:1-4, 2:1-11, and Joshua 3:1-17). Later in his ministry, Jesus made the connection between John the Baptist and the return of Elijah explicit when he said, “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John; and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come” (Matthew 11:13-14; cf. Matthew 17:10-13).

Recognizing the truth of John’s words, they streamed toward him to receive his baptism “as they acknowledged their sins” (Matthew 3:6). We, too, need to hear the call of the Baptist to acknowledge our sins and confess them to the Lord; we, too, need to repent and reorient our lives toward Jesus; we, too, need to make the decisive, fundamental change to believe, to serve, and to follow Jesus in all things. By doing so, we prepare the way for him and make our hearts worthy of becoming glorious dwellings for the Lord. We must remember that “if the way of interior dwelling is not prepared well, Christ will not come to us nor will we be able to meet Christ.”[3] We spend so much time and energy preparing to receive and welcome our family and friends into our homes, and rightly so; but how much more time and energy ought we spend preparing our souls to receive the Divine Guest!

We best prepare the home of our hearts for him by hastening to the confessional to make a good confession of our sins. When we do so, he removes whatever keeps us from him. In the honest and humble confession of sins, the Lord’s justice flourishes, his peace is felt, and we are strengthened by his love to “produce good fruit as evidence of [our] repentance” (cf. Psalm 72:7; Matthew 3:8). Beg the Holy Spirit, then, to help you examine your conscience, to reveal your sins to you, your failures to love, and to help you make a worthy confession of your sins; if you open your heart to his promptings, he will lead you to be reconciled to the Lord and to his Church so you can look with wonder upon the Face of him who is love together with all who are his friends. It is only when we are reconciled to the Lord and to one another that can we truly await the coming of the Lord with the joy and eagerness proper to this season of Advent.

A few days ago, I met with a young couple to begin preparing them for their marriage. At one point in our conversation, they asked if I would hear confessions after their wedding rehearsal. They asked this because they want to enter the sacrament of marriage cleansed of their sins to be able to reflect the love of Jesus to each other and to the world. It was a beautiful and humble request, one I will be very happy to honor. How I wish we would all imitate their example in these days of Advent to prepare our hearts to be worthy dwellings for the Lord when he comes!

Saint John warns us today that “even now the ax lies at the root of the trees” and that “every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down” (Matthew 3:10). A great error has emerged today and is present in the minds of too many people. This error says something like this: “God is great. He knows us, so sin does not count; in the end God will be kind to us all. It is a beautiful hope,” but it misses something rather important. It forgets that “both justice and true guilt exist. Those who have destroyed man and the earth cannot suddenly sit down at God’s table together with their victims. God creates justice. We must keep this in mind.”[4] We must remember that, as Pope Francis reminds us, “everyone, sooner or later, will be subject to God’s judgment, from which no one can escape.”[5] This is why Saint John warns us today that the Lord’s “winnowing fan is in his hand” (Matthew 3:12) and why he calls us to repent. His call to repentance is one of hope, because the same Lord who comes to “strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth” also comes with “faithfulness [as] a belt upon his hips” (Isaiah 11:5).

Let each of us, then, prepare the way of the Lord by entering the confessional to cast off all that is unworthy of Christ and so live fully, truly, and joyfully as we await the blessed coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, of him who is our only true and lasting hope. Amen.

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[1] Curtis Mitch and Edward Sri, Catholic Commentary on Scripture: The Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2010), 62.

[2] Saint Bonaventure, Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, 7. In Works of St. Bonaventure: The Sunday Sermons of St. Bonaventure. Timothy J. Johnston, trans. (Saint Bonaventure, New York: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2008), 104.

[3] Saint Bonaventure, Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, 11.

[4] Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Clergy of the Diocese of Rome, 7 February 2008.

[5] Pope Francis, Misericordiae vultus, 19.