ARCHIVE III
MONSIGNOR FRANZINELLI'S HOMILIES & REFLECTIONS
August - October 2000
Are We So Blind? ... || The Ambitious Duo || I Prayed for Wisdom and ... || Vive La Difference! || I Cannot Escape It! || Be Careful How You Live! || A Shepherd, An Apostle
ARE WE SO BLIND?
Sunday, October 29, 2000
(Jer 31:7-9; Heb 5: 1-6; Mk 10:46-52)
Book of Jeremiah: Jeremiah offered hope to his generation in the days before Christ; God says I am a Father to Israel. I suspect God, our Father, is not pleased with the Israel of our own day, as He was so often in Israel’s history.
Our hope for peace in the Near East must be based on our prayers, that all things are possible to God who believe and have hope in the Entrustment of our Holy Father to our Lady of Fatima.
The Second Reading pertains to myself and my brother priest. We are indeed representatives of God before men. The role of the Priest is awesome and especially when we realize that this choice does not come from any achievement or design of our own. It was God who chose us, called us, and persevered us despite all our weaknesses, despite failures and unfaithfulness. I am because God made it possible. And that, for the most part, is so of my brother priests and bishops too.
We have been chosen by God to offer sacrifices and thanksgiving for the forgiveness of sin and for the Glory of God - keeping the memory of Christ’s redemption of mankind, especially by the Sacrifice of the Mass. In the person of Christ, we offer the same unbloody sacrifice of the Mass, according to the order of Melchizedek, using the same bread and wine prescribed by Christ at the Last Supper, namely the Eucharist for the people and for ourselves. We are called from among men to be representatives of Christ in humility, in patience, and to empathize with the sufferings and frailties of others. And especially, to do all ministries in faith, conducting them with enthusiasm and confirming with credibility, through His Word and Sacraments, that God is indeed our Father, Christ is our Saviour, and the Holy Spirit - the living breath of our hope.
In today's reading of the Gospel, the famous account of the blind man, Bartimaeus, it is not difficult to imagine a person causing a commotion in the path of a celebrity. He, being blind, was sitting alongside on the road, shouting as he wanted to get the attention of Jesus. The more they tried to quiet Bartimaeus, the louder and more persistent his cry for help. Finally, Jesus turned toward him and acknowledged his appeal. Jesus responded to his loud cry for mercy. Can you identify that blind man today among ourselves? Perhaps in yourself and others as well. Who could be that blind man? Perhaps the ignorant, who cannot understand “why” and/or the spiritual “blind” in despair and frustration because of sinful habits they have a hard time controlling. And, add too, the Catholic who has not been Christian and the lapsed Catholic - those who feel God will never forgive them or have been victims of divorce, alienation and failed commitments ... whatever and whomever... your persistent cry for mercy and desire for healing and forgiveness shall be heard.
Hope is a confident expectation of what is hoped. God is our Father, personally. No less than the Israelites of the past, your cries shall be heard. When heard and after you have received the healing gifts you asked, like Bartimaeus, be prompt to follow Christ, stick with His Truth, His Way - listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, speaking through our Church, our Holy Father - Pope John Paul II, his Bishops and priests. And listen to our Blessed Mother.
The AMBITIOUS DUO
Sunday, October 22, 2000
The Gospel story is simple enough, James and John were ambitious. They had the ambition to be important in the Kingdom of God. Jesus tried to explain His Kingdom was different - if you want to be first, you must be willing to suffer, take up your cross and follow me - be the servant of all!
Understand that there is nothing wrong with ambition. Our Lord calls us over to Him, and makes it quite clear what the different standards of greatness are in His Kingdom. It is to be willing to accept suffering, sacrificing yourself for others, enduring the the crosses in life with patience.
In this world the standard of greatness is money power and lording it over others. It can not be that way with those who seek to follow Christ. The trouble in our human situation is our generation wishes to do as little as possible and to get as much as possible: Immediate gratification - I want it now - or - I have a right and God has an obligation to grant me my wish. And, of course, it's God's fault if I don't succeed or my prayers are not answered.
I would like to take the viture of Patience as an example. Patience for the sake of others could be our suffering and that could bring a reward in itself. The stumbling blocks are presumption and ingratitude - someone has to pay a price for your well being.
I PRAYED FOR WISDOM AND ...
Sunday Homily, October 15th
THE FIRST READING ... I PRAYED FOR WISDOM AND IT WAS GIVEN TO ME.
TO SINCERELY ASK GOD FOR PRUDENCE CAUSES ME TO RECALL TO MIND, THE SERENITY PRAYER - "GOD GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE, THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE." GOD GRANT ME SERENITY MEANS TO ASK GOD FOR THE CALMNESS AND QUIET OF MIND AND HEART, A DISPOSITION OF PRAYER FOR LISTENING. THE PURPOSE OF YOUR PRAYER IS YOUR NEED FOR GOD’S HELP AND YOUR DEPENDENCE ON HIS TRUTH AND COMMANDMENTS - TO CHOOSE WISDOM RATHER THAN WEALTH, MATERIAL THINGS, MATERIAL SECURITY, EVEN THE COMFORT OF GOOD HEALTH OR FEELING GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF.
IN OTHER WORDS, FOR PRUDENCE AND WISDOM, PRAY THAT GOD GRANTS YOU SERENITY TO ACCEPT GOD’S WILL IN THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE, THEN COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE; WITH THAT - PRUDENCE - ALL THINGS COME TOGETHER FOR YOUR WELL BEING AND MORE BESIDES.
THE MESSAGE IN THE SECOND READING POINTS OUT HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO COME TO CHURCH PREPARED TO HEAR GOD’S WORD. GOD’S WORD FROM THE MASS ARE POWERFUL. PREPARE YOURSELVES TO HEAR IT WITH ATTENTION. THE WORDS YOU READ ARE JUST MARKS ON THE PAGE, THE WORDS YOU HEAR ARE TO PENETRATE YOUR HEARTS SO THAT YOU RESPECT THAT WORD YOU ARE HEARING. TO THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN ENTRUSTED TO READ, DO NOT TAKE LIGHTLY YOUR AWESOME RESPONSIBILITY. WHOMEVER IT HAPPENS TO BE, THE WORD IS TO BE PROCLAIMED DRAMATICALLY WITH ENTHUSIASM.
THE GOSPEL IS PRECIOUS AND ALSO A HARD PILL TO TAKE. INDEED, IT IS FOR SOME. IT SPEAKS TO YOUR PERSONAL VALUES AND FAITH. WHAT IS THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION FOR YOU? LORD, WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO BE GOOD???
SURELY IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT I HAVE TO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS ... BUT WHAT ELSE? IN A FEW WORDS, ...GOD SAYS, DEPEND ON ME, NOT MONEY, NOR MATERIAL SECURITY... THE LORD LAYS IT ON HARD ON ALL OF US, NOT ONLY THE VERY WEALTHY. FIRST AND FOREMOST, WE MUST REALIZE THAT WE CANNOT MAKE IT TO HEAVEN, ACHIEVE SALVATION, WITHOUT GOD’S HELP.
THE WEALTHY, AND THOSE WITH LOTS MORE THAN WHAT THEY NEED SHOULD REALIZE THEIR OBSTACLE, AND THE STUMBLING STONE IS THEIR ATTACHMENT TO MATERIAL WEALTH, DEPENDING ON MONEY, POWER RATHER THAN ON GOD. THE WEALTHY FIND LOTS OF EXCUSES FOR HANGING ON TO THESE THINGS - THE EXCUSE IS USUALLY I AM DOING IT FOR MY GRANDCHILDREN, FOR MY EMPLOYEES, FOR THE GOOD OF THE TOWN.
LET ME GET BACK TO THE FIRST READING AGAIN. PRAY FOR QUIET, FOR A CALMNESS IN YOUR MIND AND HEART. THEN GOD SHALL GRANT YOU THE CLEAR DESIRE TO ACCEPT THE THINGS YOU CANNOT CHANGE, THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS YOU CAN - A REAL CONVERSION IN YOURSELF FIRST - THEN WILL YOU HAVE THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.
VIVE LA DIFFERENCE!!
Sunday Homily of October 8, 2000
The creation story, from the book of Genesis, gives a look at the beautiful passage about the differences of the sexes and the importance of man and woman - VIVA LA DIFFERENCE! - the importance of woman and the unity of husband and wife. By creation they were made for one another. Marriage was designed by God for the continuance of the human race raised up to His image and likeness.
In the second reading of the Letter to the Hebrews, the final words of that passage are important. "He who consecrates and those consecrated have the same origin. God becomes man and man was created to the image and likeness of God." That's why Jesus calls us brothers and sisters. The personal relationship between God and man.
The gospel enlightens us about relationships and how they become inter-related to creation - man and woman, differences of sex to become husband and wife ...two become flesh, and confirming the purpose so that we might become like Him.
Divorce is contradictory. For Catholics, the one man, one woman principle is carved in stone. Who divorces compromises God's plan for the good purpose of each couple in marriage which is seeking the good of the other and the salvation of each other and one another. In our Catholic Church, we have the mandate that couples must take preliminary preparation and inquiry in order to assure each other of their compatibility to enter Christian marriage - into a covenant contract unlike the civil contracts in society.
I CANNOT ESCAPE IT!
Sunday Homily of September 17, 2000
The first reading of today hears Isaiah describing his faith by saying, "The Lord God is my help..." I accept the problems, difficulties, sufferings in my life! That's life; it is the law of my human nature; I cannot escape it.
I am not disgraced but rather, whatever the opposition, I set my face "like flint", to whom can I turn? "The Lord God is my help..." I am immovable in my faith that the Lord God will be my help! Any believer of God will know suffering, but FAITH on God's support provides comfort. This very idea may seem to be repulsive, that my faith in God includes accepting suffering. But in simple words that is exactly what Jesus Christ taught and tried hard to convince his disciples by his miracles and words. Christ accepted suffering willingly for our good - to help us from self destruction.
On the other hand, those of weak faith, or no faith at all turn to the world and its frustrations in "wiping out" suffering. In one way or other, suffering will always be a part of our human condition. God wants to help you today to endure and overcome the world and its sufferings. To follow Christ!
In the 2nd Reading, St. James says to us, "What good is it to say I believe in God, I have faith, but I don't practice it - IF I don't make it evident to those around me - those who know you, work with you, those who live with you. St. James says show me your faith, demonstrate it in action, not merely pietistic words or good intentions that never become a reality. If you don't make it a habit to pray, to make sacrifices for others, you will not only forget your prayers, but you shall expect from others what you are not willing to do for them. If you do not use it, practice it - YOU WILL LOSE IT!
And finally, the Gospel teaching of Our Lord today nails it to the cross. A shocker for Peter and the disciples and most likely for you too.
In simple language, PRAYER IS THE MEANS WE USE TO SAY WE DEPEND ON GOD FOR HELP. WE ACCEPT, WILLINGLY, SACRIFICE AND SUFFERING TO CHANGE THE WORLD FOR THE BETTER WHICH IS "PART AND PARCEL" THE BASIC PRINCIPLE OF LIFE, OUR HUMAN NATURE, AND OUR CATHOLIC FAITH.
In today's Gospel, Peter took Our Lord aside and HE rebuked Peter when Peter said, "Pray God that you may not suffer and die". Our Lord answered, "You are thinking as humans ..." And so do we! Peter considered it wrong for Jesus to talk that way. But Jesus says NO, IT IS NOT WRONG. You are my baptized followers, Christian Catholics of Faith, called by Me to be men and women of the Spirit. When we hear Our Lord's words, "Whoever wishes to come after (follow) me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me"... that means SACRIFICING, praying, self-denial, self-discipline, commitment, and a sense of responsibility for oneself and others. These are the trials we are expected to accept. That's what following Christ is all about. We endure the crosses of our human existence in order to reach a higher life of the Spirit. That is why we are cofnident when we cry out to God to help us get there. That's the Gospel faith confirmed by St. James words.
Despite God's compassionate mercy and His generosity to a fault - if you believe in Christ as the Messiah and God - you, too, should be willing to "walk the walk" of self denial, discipline of morality, prayer and a desire to change, to make a difference. Our Blessed Mother tells us repeatedly to learn the way and the how in the "school of self-denial, self-discipline" - accepting your crosses to save your own soul and the souls of others, to change the world that we live in, and stop the evils destroying us today. Revisit the story of the newly beatified, shepherd children of Fatima. It is not easy and quite impossible without the help of God. Yet, it is our commitment. And YES, God promises to help but you have to want it!
BE CAREFUL HOW YOU LIVE
August 20, 2000 - Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
St. Paul says, "Don’t live like unwise men!
Be careful how you live! Use your time wisely in these evil days. Understand what the will of God is. Don’t get drunk with the wine of this world; that is to say, with an over-indulgence (what the world claims to make you happy) and don’t be drugged by the addiction for material happiness and security.
In this new millennium, let us be grateful that we have gotten out of the 20th century with what you have. Be thankful even though much evil still continues in our own time, yet we have greater hope than ever before. Be filled with the Spirit of God's life, present, and given for us in the Eucharist we celebrate. We celebrate life, confident of the Presence of God in our lives.
St. John’s lesson today wants to take us a step further in our understanding of what Jesus meant when He said, I AM THE BREAD COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN,...I GIVE MY FLESH FOR YOUR LIFE...FEED ON ME, AND YOU SHALL HAVE LIFE BECAUSE OF ME". When He told us to eat of his Body and drink His Blood, Jesus was telling us that He was giving His Flesh to feed on - His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity to feed our hearts and souls and minds.
Some people have a hard time with that. You who have that problem, you have to want to believe. It is not going to happen just sitting there making no effort, wanting God to prove Himself to you - just like the ones in the Gospel who had a hard time recognizing who He was and understanding His claims that He was the Bread of Life.
When Jesus enters our bodies in Holy Communion, open your hearts and minds - make Him part of your life - body and soul. "Feed on me, you shall have Life because of Me".
St. John wishes to convey the understanding that though Jesus, God become man, He remains external for us who believe, especially so in the Real Presence of God in the Eucharist. But understand that He wants to be in our lives, inside us and remain there.
We see, we eat and drink at Mass; when we adore Him in the Blessed Sacrament, He remains external. The Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity that the Priest brings down upon the Altar of Sacrifice at Mass remains external - outside - even though in Holy Communion we receive Christ, God, into our bodies. We see, eat and touch.
We are called to go a step further. Don't be satisfied just with the external Presence. Make His life yours so that His Life will remain in you.
Let me try a kind of simile, a hypothetical example.
For St. John every dinner table, or picnic meal, was a communion table where we experience the life of others, of someone else in the eating, the breaking of bread. Every dinner, every sit down dinner was a kind of Eucharist - a thanksgiving to God and a sharing in one another's life.
As long as He remains external - just a sign - He is outside us but when we allow Him to enter our minds and hearts and have a conversation with Him, we feed on His Life.
When we come into Church just to satisfy the ritual exercise to be at Mass, we miss the richness of the moment. Use the time in Church wisely - taste and see the goodness of the Lord!
A SHEPHERD, AN APOSTLE
Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
The Holy Scriptures, you heard this morning, concern the responsibility of being a good shepherd and good apostle. The shepherd is called to lead, the apostle is sent to teach, to heal, to lift up the spirit with hope. We as Catholics share in these responsibilities, by reason that we are committed to be faithful members of the Church, followers of Christ, and His teachers and His Vicar - Our Holy Father, the Pope. We share that responsibility to lead by our example and loyalty to the Holy Father, his Bishops and their pastors.
The rebukes of the prophet Jeremiah, in the First Reading, should not be taken lightly - because that prophet could be referring to you. The Shepherd, the Apostle may be you, as adult parents, husbands and wives, mothers and dads, older sister and brothers, elders, yes - seniors.
What may you have done or neglected to do that could have mislead your children, brother or sister, grandchildren and younger neighbor or friend?
Can you now call yourself a good shepherd, apostle of Christ with the disunity that continues within your own family - not to mention the disunity and dysfunction in the society around us that appears to be so often the case. If you feel powerless to change or make the difference, "cry out to the Lord", but be firm in your leadership and teaching.
So many times, more than not, problems, disunity, and dysfunction is caused by permissiveness, laxity and license. How can you shepherd your children and younger people of today rightly by compromising the principles of the faith in which you were raised and confirmed? The weak and permissive claiming so often that times have changed. Christ’s rules haven’t changed in over 2000 years!
My dear people of God! I do not mean to lay a guilt trip on you, but you cannot sleep on this! It demands action - a change in attitude and the faith you say you have and practice! Because we have to be aware of our mistakes to correct them and if we have been lax or culpable, we need to ask God to forgive us and want to change. The past is gone, let us not brood over spilt milk, but plan for today and tomorrow .
In this matter I personally believe we are all party to the problems of one another and in society today. That is why we say the words in the act of contrition at the beginning of Mass..."I confess to Almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do; ..."
Once you're aware of what you are called to do as leaders of your families and brothers and sisters, then you can apply yourselves to being apostles - bringing the message of the Gospel, the message of hope. In simple words, we need to clean up our own mess, before we can tell people to clean up their own!
God sees very well that you wander around feeling powerless to change the situation around you. I am sure that Our Lord is moved with pity for you. That is why he has gathered you together this Sunday morning not only to rest awhile with Him - also to teach you many things. Try to hear Him, have courage - desire to make a difference. Christ is your teacher and He has given us His Mother to treat us tenderly with care and her concern.
Raise up in your hearts the desire to change the past and hope for a better tomorrow for yourselves and for the children.