A Glimpse into Heaven

Every Second Sunday of Lent, we hear a gospel passage about the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor.  The apostles – Peter, James, and John – get a glimpse at the future glory of Jesus.  This gospel accounts that the face of Jesus changed in appearance and His clothes turned dazzling white.  He is seen with Moses and Elijah, two Old Testament saints who represent the Law and the Prophets.  The voice of Father is heard and the Holy Spirit is represented by a thick cloud.  In the Transfiguration, we are getting a preview of heaven — the goal of our lives.

So, what is heaven?  Heaven is being with God, the Most Holy Trinity for all eternity, surrounded by Our Lady and all the saints, and the holy angels.  Heaven is seeing Jesus face-to-face — the Beatific Vision – and being united with Him perfectly forever.  We will [hopefully] see many of our lost loved ones.  We will not be sad, we will not suffer, and we cannot sin.  St. Paul says, What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor 2:9).  The best memory we have, the best feeling of which we can conceive, the happiest we can ever remember being — heaven will be better than even these things.

In the meantime, we are here on earth with our eyes set on heaven.  The closest we will truly get to heaven on earth is the holy Mass.  As with the Transfiguration, the holy Mass is a glimpse of what heaven will be like.  In heaven, we will sing with the heavenly choirs in adoration of Almighty God.  In the Mass, we sing our responses and our voices join the chants and hymns of the Church.  In heaven, we will worship Jesus face-to-face.  In the Mass, we worship His presence under the veil of a sacrament.  In heaven, we are united to Jesus perfectly.  In the Mass, we are united to Jesus through holy Communion.

We might ask ourselves on this Sunday of the Transfiguration (March 16): Do I really see the Mass as a foretaste of heaven?  If I am bored or uninterested, why?  Am I the problem?  Do I desire eagerly to be with Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament constantly?  Is Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist truly my light and my salvation?

Liturgical Characteristics of the Season of Lent by Msgr. Peter J. Elliott

The distinctive English word “Lent” is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for “spring”, which appropriately coincides with the great forty-day fast, common to both East and West at least since the fourth century.  Notwithstanding the fact that autumn occurs at this time in the Southern Hemisphere, the English word has the advantage over the Latin words based on “quadraginta” or “forty” because it calls to mind the new life, growth, hope and change that should characterize this time of prayer, penance and conversion, this season of initiation into the grace life of the Church.

In these forty days, Mother Church vests herself simply in violet.  Her sacred halls are bare, and much of her gracious music is muted.  Flowers at her altars and shrines are set aside, and, at the end of the season, the lamps will be extinguished, the bells will fall silent and her altars will be stripped.  But this is her true springtime, when her children grow in grace, in ways often imperceptible, subtle and varied.  Lent thus reminds us that the great graces are given by God, not when our senses perceive them or when our hearts are full of consolations, but in the silence and the stillness of “the night”.

A certain austerity should thus characterize the setting of the Lenten liturgy.  Simpler candlesticks may well be placed on or around the altar.  Flowers are not used to adorn the altar from Ash Wednesday until the Gloria at the Easter Vigil, except for Lætare Sunday, solemnities and feast days (cf. GIRM, no. 305).  It would be best to exclude them entirely from the church, even at popular shrines, during the whole penitential season.  The organ and other instruments are to be used only to sustain singing.  The Te Deum and the Gloria are sung or said on solemnities or feasts, but not on the Sundays of Lent.  “Alleluia” is never sung or said on any day until the Easter Vigil, and  hymns that include this praise should be excluded.

From Msgr. Peter J. Elliott, Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year according to the Modern Roman Rite (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2002), pp. 53-54.

Thou Shalt Not Kill

After giving the Beatitudes and presenting to us our mission to be salt of the earth and light of the world, Jesus begins to give his teaching on what ‘salt’ and ‘light’ mean concretely in the moral life.  But before He does so, He prefaces His moral teaching with “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Mt 5:17).  Therefore, the moral precepts that He preaches in the Sermon on the Mount should not be seen in discontinuity with the Old Testament.  The Ten Commandments were specific, divine-positive promulgations of the natural law.  Our Lord’s intention in reviewing the Commandments is to clarify that mere external observance of the Law is simply not enough.  Jesus’ New Law of love is the law that must be written on each believer’s heart.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you. . .” (Mt 5:21).  “By speaking in the first person (‘but I say to you’) Jesus shows that His authority is above that of Moses and the prophets; that is to say, he has divine authority. No mere man could claim such authority” (The Navarre Bible Commentary).  The point that our Lord is making is that murder results from uncontrolled anger and revenge.  It is inevitable in this life that we will get frustrated with one another every so often, and even that some people will hurt us — sometimes deeply hurt us.  However, when we let that anger simmer in our hearts; when we are unwilling to forgive; when we resort to nasty words and hateful insults — Jesus is telling us that we are not only murdering that person in our hearts, we are killing ourselves both spiritually and emotionally.

 Our Lord Jesus Christ instructs us that, despite countless injustices, we must have a heart of mercy, which reflects the Beatitudes of meekness and joy in the face of persecution.  A heart of mercy signifies a positive attitude towards life.  “Every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake in the image and likeness of the living and holy God” (CCC 2319; Gn 1:27).  Rather than being obsessed with the hot-button moral issues that face us today, we emphasize that all human life is sacred because it reflects the Creator Himself.  “Precisely for this reason God will severely judge every violation of the commandment ‘You shall not kill,’ the commandment which is at the basis of all life together in society” (Evangelium Vitæ, 53).

In this Sunday’s Mass, (February 16) I will carefully but directly preach our Lord’s teaching on the virtue of chastity (Mt 5:27-30).  Our Lady of Fatima said “More souls go to hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.”  So, the sins against the Sixth and Ninth Commandments need to be properly addressed in light of our Lord’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.  Sunday Mass, when everyone is present, is a perfect place to do just that.

What should I do this year for Lent?

        Well, it is almost March and Lent has still not begun.  But in just ten days – ready or not – Ash Wednesday will be here.  The Church offers Lent as a way for us to be healed of our spiritual sicknesses, namely, our personal sins and vices.  Like the paralytics in the gospels, we often times encounter obstacles to Jesus’ healing in our lives.  These obstacles can be people, places and things.  Nevertheless, the four actions that help to liberate us from sin – to receive Jesus’ healing – are prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and our own personal sacrifice during Lent.

       Some of you may already know what you want to do for Lent, but I would like to offer for your own spiritual reflection some ideas.  If you have decided to “give up” something, there needs to be an action on your part to “do” something in its place.  For example, if you are giving up soft drinks or sweets (or alcohol!), you need to donate the money that you would have spent on these things to the church or another charitable cause. (This year, the Bishop's Annual Appeal begins right before Lent, so contributing to the ministries Bishop Strickland is promoting in the Diocese of Tyler is a wonderful way of making a sacrifice in union with our local successor of the apostles.)  If you are giving up TV and/or radio, you should take up a practice of prayer or spiritual reading to do in their place.

       If you are thinking of “doing something extra” during Lent (as opposed to “giving up” something), then it needs to be united to a pure intention.  For example, if you are going to start a new exercise routine during Lent, your intention cannot just be so that you “look good.”  Physical health (detached from vanity) is good, but perhaps you could go to daily Mass during Lent as “spiritual” exercise.  Rather than exercising with your iPod ear buds in your ears, you could pray a rosary instead.  If you are planning on giving more money to charity during Lent, you could decide to not go out to eat to restaurants during Lent as a sign of your solidarity with the poor.

       If you are still unsure of what spiritual practice you want to do during Lent, you might ask God in your prayer: "What do You want me to do?"  The important thing is that we do not take on too much, but that we persevere with our personal discipline through all 40 days as a sacrifice pleasing to God.  As we approach Jesus today in the Most Blessed Sacrament, let us ask Him what He wants us to do during Lent — that our prayer, fasting, almsgiving and our own personal sacrifices will bring us closer to Him throughout the upcoming Lenten season.

The Sermon on the Mount

Last Sunday, the readings for the Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time were replaced by those of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.  Unfortunately, we missed the gospel reading of the Beatitudes (Mt 5:1-12).  This Sunday’s gospel (Mt 5:13-16) and the Sundays leading up to Lent are a continuation of what has traditionally been called the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7; Luke 6:20-49).  The Sermon is early in our Lord’s public ministry; it has a prologue of Jesus traveling around, and it begins with the Beatitudes and ends with the “Parable of the Two Foundations.” The Navarre Bible Commentary sums up the Sermon with five main themes:

1. The attitude a person must have for entering the Kingdom of heaven (the Beatitudes, the salt of the earth, the light of the world, Jesus and His teaching, the fullness of the Law).

2. Uprightness of intention in religious practices (here the Our Father would be included).

3. Trust in God’s fatherly providence.

4. How God’s children should behave towards one another (not judging one’s neighbor, respect for holy things, the effectiveness of prayer and the golden rule of charity).

5. The conditions for entering the Kingdom (the narrow gate, false prophets and building on rock).

Vital to these teachings of Jesus Christ in the Sermon is the perfection of the Mosaic Law rather than its elimination.  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Mt 5:17); “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets” (Mt 7:12).  Jesus Christ presents Himself as the New Moses.  Like Moses going up Mount Sinai to retrieve the Law, Jesus ascends the mountain to teach the New Law.  St. Matthew accounts the disciples following Christ up the mountain, a sign that the New Law consists of encountering Jesus Christ Himself—not just His teaching.  He begins His discourse with the Beatitudes, His plan of how each believer can obtain blessedness—true happiness—amidst the tribulations of this world.  They are promises of definite salvation, though not in this world.  I will return to the theme of the Beatitudes during Lent, and this Sunday I will treat the themes of salt and light in my homily.  It is my hope that these teachings and reflections on the Sermon in the coming Sundays will help you to find true blessedness in your work and prayer amidst the coldness of winter.

The Problem of Removing Texas Woman from Life Support Last Sunday

The last two months have been a blur for me as a parish priest.  The sheer amount of liturgical celebrations and sacramental ministry plus the preparation and leadership of the Rome Pilgrimage have kept me barely informed of current events.  I remember hearing about a pregnant woman on life support in Ft. Worth at the end of November, and I tracked some of this news on National and Texas Right to Life e-mail updates.  Unfortunately, this woman, Marlise Muñoz, and her unborn baby were disconnected from life support last Sunday, January 26.  Since I do not have space in this posting to recount all the details of what happened, I direct you to an article of The New York Times .  This case was tragic and complicated, and moral arguments were made on both sides.  However, for several reasons I believe the wrong decision was made – both by the family and by the district judge – to remove life support from this pregnant woman.

Firstly, the use of the term “brain dead” is ambiguous in medicine because it has a different definition depending on the hospital or the doctor whom you ask.  (The debate of when live organs can be harvested from “brain dead” patients has already been a long-standing bioethical issue due to the lack of a standard definition.)  According to Texas Right to Life, Ms. Muñoz was “not experiencing multi-system organ failure or cell disintegration, and her body [was] supporting the growth of the child within her – all signs to indicate that her brain, though impaired or quiescent, [was] still ordering her physiological functions at some level.”  Secondly, while it can be morally licit (and even necessary depending on the circumstances) to remove extraordinary life support from a dying patient, the fact that this was a woman whose body was nurturing an unborn child makes this choice an act of direct abortion, which is intrinsically evil.  Some have tried to make the case that “disconnecting” the mother (a shrewd way to evade the word “abortion”) was justified since the child would be badly-deformed and mentally-handicapped anyway.  How sad that we have to remind good-intentioned people that no one deserves to die simply because he or she is handicapped.  A person is still a person even in the womb — even if deformed in the womb.  Thirdly, under Texas law, this pregnant woman was supposed to be protected from medical officials cutting off life support.  This is just one more example of a radically liberal judge who legislated and executed his own ideology instead of applying the law.  If this were not exasperating enough, Dallas Morning News reported a lawyer of the family as saying, “[P]regnant women die every day. . . They die in car accidents. They die of heart attacks. They die from head injuries. . . And when they die the fetus dies with them. That is the way it has always been and that way it should be.”

The coldness of the world (and of the weather!) can be overwhelming and discouraging to us as Catholic Christians.  Today on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, almost two weeks since we remembered the fateful decision Roe v. Wade (and seeing the appalling repercussions of this law as in the case of Ms. Muñoz and her baby), we are mindful of how much our society – even Pro-Life Texas – needs the truth and love of Jesus Christ, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel (Luke 2:32).

Back from Rome Ready to Go

Many of you know that I was leading a pilgrimage to Rome for the last two weeks.  It started out as an opportunity solely for parishioners of Centerville and Hilltop Lakes, but eventually it was opened up to other folks in the Diocese of Tyler and beyond.  I accompanied twenty-five pilgrims from my own parishes as well as from Gilmer, Nacogdoches and a few other places.  Having studied in Rome for five years, I was ready to offer the pilgrims an experience of the Roman Church in her glory from an East Texan perspective.  I spent almost a year planning the pilgrimage with Perfect Impressions Tours of Springfield, Illinois so that I could utilize the expertise of two of my favorite English-speaking tour guides, John and Ashley Noronha, and also so that I could be the one to give the tour of St. Peter’s Basilica and keep the group together and on schedule.

We arrived in Rome on the morning of January 14.  The very next day, everyone was ecstatic to be present at the general audience of Pope Francis.  Over the course of nine days, the pilgrims visited St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, the Holy Staircase, San Clemente, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums.  The seminarians of the Diocese of Tyler who study at the Pontifical North American College (the NAC) greeted the pilgrims and gave them a tour of America’s seminary in Rome.  Most everyone spoke of Sunday Mass at the NAC as a highlight of the trip.  We also took a day trip to visit the Eucharistic Miracle at Orvieto and the shrines of Sts. Francis and Clare at Assisi.  The meals were at restaurants that specialized in regional cuisines of Italy.  And, of course, there was a bit of time for free-spirited pilgrims to tour the city, shop, pray and appreciate (or be intrigued by) Roman culture.

As the priest in charge of the pilgrimage group, I was a little concerned at first if I would be able to comply with all the needs of each and every one of the pilgrims.  However, despite the range of ages, genders and comfort levels, I think everything went pretty well.  I was impressed with how everyone looked after each other, how they let me know if someone was left behind, if they needed a bathroom break, etc.  (Lots of bathroom breaks are the key to a happy pilgrimage :-).  It was a joy for me to celebrate Mass for the group each day at some of the most beautiful and sacred altars in Christendom.  On one of the days, I offered Mass at the Altar of St. Leo the Great in St. Peter’s Basilica.  The relationship of the 5th Century pope to Centerville, Texas at that moment was a profound reminder of the reality of the Communion of Saints and the universality of the Catholic Church.

During the pilgrimage, I was able to visit with some of my friends and professors who still live, work and study in Rome.  I received some inspiration in my priesthood from them, and now I am fired up to get back into the swing of things in Centerville, Hilltop Lakes and Madisonville.  For the next few weeks I will be planning for pastoral, spiritual and building goals for 2014 in keeping with my five-year plans.  I am thankful for the prayers and support of my pilgrimage group and to start this year with the blessing of Pope Francis and the encouraging example of the Church of Rome.