THANKSGIVING 
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HOMILY BY DEACON DAN KIMUTIS
    
    It is always a special joy to gather family around the Thanksgiving Table and take turns telling everyone what we are thankful for.  It is especially interesting to hear what children have to say.  It is common for pets to be included among God’s blessings that families are thankful for.  They say that dogs are man’s best friends.  Is that all dogs or just some dogs?  My wife Kris will tell you that Harper, our 6 year old Terrier/Hound mutt and I have a love-hate relationship.  I likely won’t name Harper as my top one or two things for which I give thanks to God, even though I do love dogs.  I will however thank God for my human friends.  My best friend of 43 years is Kris, and my kids and my siblings are my really good friends too.  Kris and I share several life-long couple- friends and have our own life-long “BFF’s”, our Best-Friends-Forever, as well.  One of my friends and I went to the same schools Kindergarten through graduate school - 18 years of schooling together!
 
    In light of today’s Gospel, I have been thinking about what makes for a really good friend.  A good friend is someone you share similar values with, someone you can trust and feel comfortable telling anything.  A good friend generally overlooks your short-comings and your mistakes but is willing now and then to call you out, to gently redirect you, kindly offering advice.  A good friend is loyal and forgiving – psychologists say that a true friend is someone who has seen us at our lowest or our ugliest, and still loves us and stays with us.  In the book of Sirach we read that “A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure.  A faithful friend is beyond price, no sum can balance his worth.”  (Sir 6:14-15). 
  
   In our Gospel today, Jesus tells His disciples the night before his passion and death that He chose us and that He calls us His friends.  He proved His friendship beyond all measure the next day by submitting Himself to the Cross.  He showed His disciples and all future followers not just a new way, but by His Cross and Resurrection He drew us into a forever life of friendship with God.  This Gospel is part of John’s Vine and Branches passage where Jesus described Himself as the vine, His Father the vine grower, and us as the branches – only by remaining on the vine, connected to Jesus, can we be fruitful and share His joy.  Jesus revealed that His Father wants an intimate relationship with us, a friendship.  Even though Jesus had already been teaching the disciples to know God as a loving Father, to be called friends by God the Son would still have overwhelmed them and should humble and amaze us as well.  

     Our Responsorial Psalm today was Psalm 8 and is the subject of our beautiful upcoming Offertory Hymn today, “The Majesty and Glory of Your Name”.      Psalm 8 speaks beautifully and poetically in wonderment, and with praise and thanksgiving, to an Almighty Creator who intimately loves us: 
 
    “When I see the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which You arranged, what is man that You should keep him in mind?”  And yet, God does not just keep us in mind; He gives us a “crown of glory and honor”, places us over all His creation, and calls us His friend.  
 
   Our “BFJ”, our Best Friend Jesus, is everything a best friend should be and much more.  It is unlikely any of our friends would pay the sacrifice Christ has paid for us, and no one else can promise us heaven.   And, we can have a falling out even with a best lifelong friend if our mistakes or misunderstandings are too much for one of us to overcome.  But not with Jesus, His Mercy and Forgiveness knows no limits and He always welcomes us back.  And what does our Best Friend Jesus tell us to do to stay in friendship with Him, to remain in His love and joy?  Jesus tells us to obey His commandment by loving each other.  That’s not always easy and we need His grace.  As with any good friendship, we need to spend time talking with Jesus – we do that through daily prayer.  As with any good friendship, we should want to keep learning more about Jesus; we do that by reading and reflecting on scripture and other spiritual writings.  And thankfully, Jesus gave us something more than just a friendship ring, necklace, or locket to remind us of our bond and to help us stay faithful.  He gave us the Church and the Sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, to help us stay united in Him and to each other. 
 
    This Thanksgiving, and every Thanksgiving, we should give thanks for ALL of God’s Creation - the Majesty of His Glory, all things small and large….and yes, for our pets, our cats, and our dogs.  Let’s give thanks for our families and all our friends, especially for our lifelong BFF’s.  Most importantly, on this Thanksgiving Day, and EVERY day, let’s make sure to tell God thanks for our Best-Friend-Jesus, our “BFJ”!
 

THIRTY THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
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HOMILY BY FR. JIM DEITERS

For a while in my childhood, it seemed like my parents and the nuns teaching us in grade school were ganging up on us… since they both repeated phrases like “take responsibility” and “be accountable” for your choices.  I eventually learned they were super helpful parenting and teaching tools for a healthy, successful adulthood.  The wonderful Sisters I had in school encouraged any good, responsible action with more important roles that kept us striving to do and be our best.  When I prayed over this Gospel, I was struck by how Jesus uses the word “responsibility” several times, which led me to a prayer of gratitude for Sisters Barbara and Maxine, now surely around the table of the Lord in heaven, for teaching us these things.  I am inspired by parents who teach by word and example that there are rules and Commandments to live by, even when our rebellious young minds falsely think that commandments, including “being responsible,” limit our freedom.

It would be helpful if we think of Jesus’ teachings as ‘laws’ of spirituality that lead one to a more meaningful life.  If we think of Jesus’ spiritual ‘laws’ of love and responsibility as running parallel to the laws of nature, we can realize that as much as we may resist them, ultimately they lead us to being our best self.  So, one of the first steps of ongoing conversion is to admit to our self that there are some ‘rules’ I need to follow if I really want to work on my relationship with God. 

In a culture that rejects religion simply as an antiquated system of ‘laws’ to control a person…, it is more difficult than ever to convince or self or someone else to submit our lives to this Gospel of Jesus.  As Christians, we do have ‘rules’…such as being responsible with the life God gave us…and bring back to him an accountability report of how we invested and used our life for His glory and honor.

The parable of the talents is about the gifts of Divine Life that God gives to each of us, meant to be ‘invested’ and used responsibly during our time on earth.  Each of us has been given unique characteristics of God’s Divine Life in different amounts.  It may at times seem ‘unfair’ to us if we are not as attractive or successful as someone else, but instead of comparing our life to others, God created each of us as we are to make our own unique contribution to God’s Kingdom…that no one else can make in the same way that we can.  No other person has the exact proportion of virtues and “talents” that God has given to you or me. 

The parable teaches us that God is a ‘risk taker’ …in that he invests part of himself into us, trusting that we put to good use what we have been given in order that God’s love and life will increase in the world.  The “talents” in the story represent God putting INTO our bodies his life and love…and giving us a responsibility to ‘invest’ them generously through our words and actions.

But sometimes when we DO use our gifts and no one acknowledges us…or we give love away, but the other person does not reciprocate, it can feel like there is no ‘return’ on our investment.  From our economic way of thinking…the temptation is to stop giving or regret the investments.  Imagine if Jesus had done that with us?  As strange as it may sound, the more we invest and give away God’s life and love…the more God’s Joy actually increases within us!  God’s ways of ‘banking’ and thinking are not our ways.  We don’t know when our seeds of love will bear fruit…or give us a good “rate of return.”  While we may need to ‘move on’ from someone who rejects our love, we cannot stop BEING a loving person…since the Divine Gift of love within us must keep flowing outward. 

Of course, this all runs contrary to our fiscal view of life that is based on “the more I keep or save, the more I will have.”  Now, I’m not trying to portray money or economics as ‘bad,’ but I’m just saying that we cannot apply our usual principles of saving and spending to our spiritual life, since our accountability is to God about how we put to good use the gifts God gave us.

The Eucharist always points us back to Jesus’ example of selfless love, giving one’s life away for God and others.  Given this parable from Jesus, the spiritual question for our prayer this week is to review “…into what am I investing my time and life?”  Or another way to self-reflect, “what responsibilities has God given to me…and how does my accountability report look…if these were the last six months of my life?”
 

THIRTY SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
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HOMILY BY FR. JIM DEITERS

The images of children and adults being slaughtered in the Israeli-Palestine war are haunting…and it is inconceivable to imagine living in that situation, where even hospital staff have their lives on the line caring for the dying.  I remember one of my scripture scholars saying in class one time, “You know, it wasn’t a coincidence that God decided to be born and live in this part of the world that has so much conflict; God intentionally sends his Peace and Love at the right time and place.”

But, with our long human history of not following through with God’s Commandment and example of Love, people of every race and nation, including our own, need these timeless scriptures still today…to remind us that God never gives up on us…or on his vision for Peace and Unity.  Since God knows that we humans keep messing things up, he keeps trying to ‘intervene’ and give us his Wisdom…to help us think differently, on a higher, spiritual level, about our lives and the state of the world.

Which leads us to this timely, beautiful passage from the Book of Wisdom…which describes God as actively seeking us out…to bring healing balm to our restless hearts.  Listen again to some of the phrases we just heard in the first reading about how God sends into the world his gift of Wisdom, which is described in the feminine: “She sits at your gate…anticipating your desire…seeking to help you be free from care; she makes her rounds…and meets you with solicitude.”  I love that word ‘solicitude,’ which the dictionary defines as, “to have excessive attentiveness.”  It is beautiful to know that God has ‘excessive attentiveness’ for us.  Or another way to describe God’s “solicitude” more personally…is that he has a particular concern for you and what you are going through.

The part that stands out for me is how this passage emphasizes God’s Spirit as proactively looking to help us.  Again, describing God’s Wisdom in the feminine, it says, “She” – Spirit Wisdom - doesn’t wait for us to come to God first, but rather she goes out looking for US!  It describes God’s Wisdom as coming to your ‘gate,’ the entrance to your soul “…with solicitude,” with ‘excessive attentiveness’ to your needs.  Just when many think that God has forgotten the world with so much suffering…or when we think that we need to go ‘somewhere’ and look for God, we learn that…GOD is the one who comes looking for us when we may feel hopeless or anxious.  Now, here is the key ----what we have to do…is let our self “be found!” 

This short Book of Wisdom in the bible is a great resource for one’s spiritual journey, well worth praying over this week.   The author wants us to know that while we can gain knowledge and be pretty ‘smart’ at some things, true WISDOM comes from God.  The gift of making wise choices hinges on…if we are prepared when “Lady Wisdom” shows up at our gate.

This is why the Gospel parable bring up the issue of “being ready” when Jesus the Bridegroom appears on our judgement day.  And PRAYER is the main way we ‘practice’ being ready to meet Jesus.  Prayer, which I often define as quiet time with God, helps us have our ‘gate’ open…when Wisdom “makes her rounds.”  If the gate of our heart and soul is cluttered with anxiety, our ‘things,’ and self-centered thoughts, we may not even hear her knocking on our gate door! 

Being “ready” to receive God’s gift of Wisdom…requires us to admit that too often we live by our own wisdom, stuck in our own paradigm and perspective, with a closed door to new ways of seeing all things through the eyes of God’s Love.  The Eucharist… is a time and place for us to thank God for all the ways Spirit-Wisdom has indeed helped us in the past…and wants to be our guide in every decision.  Through the Body and Blood of Jesus, God comes seeking us with solicitude…to feed us with His Wisdom.

So, think of your daily prayer, NOT as a search to ‘find’ God ‘out there’ someplace; Rather…find a quiet place, here in church or in your home, and, as Spirit Wisdom is “making her rounds” each morning to bring peace to the open gate of your soul…simply say, “here I am God, ready to be found… by you.”
 

THIRTY FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
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HOMILY BY FR. JIM DEITERS

Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has been putting in extra hours these past few weeks, both praying for the people in the Middle East, and making personal phone calls to leaders in that area and around the world to work toward some kind of peaceful resolution.  While most people want to pick sides and blame others, the Pope’s role is be a voice of peace and reconciliation, following Jesus’ example, calling people to a higher level of love…which many write off as impossible.

Each time we hear about the conflicts and war in the Palestine-Israel area, it transports our thoughts to the very region where many of our Bible stories took place…as we remember how fragile “peace” is in our world.  I want to give a brief historical connection of this situation to the Gospel we just heard.

I am particularly thinking about a significant war that had just happened in the Palestine area at the time Matthew was writing this Gospel.  It was around the years 80-90 AD, that Matthew started putting in writing the many oral stories and fragment texts about Jesus which his followers had passed down.  At this same time, the whole region was just beginning to pull itself together after the horrific war between 67-70 AD, in which Jerusalem was destroyed.  Especially with the great Temple tragically leveled, Jesus’ disciples and the whole region was trying to redefine who it was and what its future held.  In other words, the context of Matthew’s Gospel is to a community who were not quite named as a separate religion of “Christians,” and yet their Jewish religion was also being tested to survive…as the region was taken over by the Pagan Romans.

With some correlations to our own day, the people living there at the time of Matthew’s Gospel, were fighting for a land to call home…and had a suspicions of anyone in authority.  It makes a little more sense then, that this Gospel passage highlights a mistrust of their leaders, especially anyone who misuses their title or role to subvert others.  Jesus affirms the teachings of Moses… but is reminding people to stay grounded in his example of being selflessly humble, and not follow self-important leaders.  Jesus clearly denounces any leader whose arrogance and self-righteousness cause division by putting themselves above others.

Throughout history, we have had leaders in both the Church and Civic governments who have misused their power and titles for their own gain.  Jesus often got frustrated with the leaders in his own Jewish religion who were not really helping the people…but clamoring for their own rise in power and prestige. And thus, the passage ends with Jesus timeless message, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Of course it easy to think of any leader we do not like and wish we could send them this Gospel passage in a frame.  But as always, we have to apply it to ourselves first.  No matter what our job and role in life – be a title we have at work, our vocation as a spouse and parent, a leader in our youth sports team, or some other position of authority, we each face the challenge of remaining a humble servant of God and others.

We need the Holy Spirit to help us keep a balance between…using our gifts and getting involved…while remaining a humble servant…in whatever role we have been given.

My favorite line in the Gospel is this, “You have but one Master, the Christ.”  THIS is what Pope Francis and the Catholic Church proclaims – Jesus as the “Master” of peace and humble love.  Let us approach this Holy Eucharist with humble faith…seeking to become more like Jesus…the Master …of taking the higher road…of selflessness, humility, and love.

THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
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HOMILY BY FR. JIM DEITERS

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article in our parish bulletin about the great ministry of our St. Vincent De Paul group of volunteers who work directly with the poor of our area.  Through the generosity of our parishioners who donate through their monthly envelope to “those in need,” our Vincentian leaders meet one-on-one with each person seeking help, listens to their story, and discerns the best way to assist them with food, housing, or a single mother needing electricity or water for her children.  It was St. Vincent de Paul and his colleague, St. Louise De Marillac, who heard this exact same Gospel in the early 1600’s… and reset the Catholic Church on its primary mission to serve those in need.

Jesus sums up his Mission and all the Commandments into one word… LOVE – love of God, love of self, and love of others.  To “love God with all our heart” is to have God as our center: the core of our desires and actions.  Part of the way we demonstrate that we are living Jesus' commandment to love God above all things, is by making that love visible in our love for others.  This is the connection Jesus is trying to make---that Love of God…is seen in our love of others, he calls our “neighbor.”  By his own example, Jesus defines ‘neighbor’ by the people he cared for… including the overlooked, the vulnerable and those whom most of the culture looks away from. 

But to go ‘deeper’ than me just standing up here talking about being more ‘loving,” what stands out for me is how Mother Church lines up this Gospel on love…with our first reading from Exodus in which God describes himself as “compassionate.”  The scriptural link for us to hear is that “compassion” is the highest expression of love.  We know that love for others isn’t always pure, as it can sometimes be based on selfish motives of “what’s in this for me?”  Love is more ‘other-centered’ when it evokes empathy or compassion.  Empathy is when I listen and ‘feel’ the other persons suffering.  Compassion is when I know of someone’s suffering…and I take action to DO something about it.  We need empathy and compassion.

God saw our human suffering from his place in heaven…and out of compassion, came to earth to show us a new way to live through Jesus’ example of selfless love.  Therefore, in our Christian desire to be more like Jesus, we must continually work on being more compassionate – being more aware of other’s needs…and actually doing something about it.  Research shows that compassionate people are happier.  Couples that are compassionate with one another have more joy and understanding in their relationships.  And we all know that when we go out of our way to help others, it gives us a sense of meaning and purpose…since actions of compassion reflect our identity as made in the image and likeness of God, who IS compassionate Love.

Jesus’ great commandment of love seems so simple…and yet it challenges us to return to the basics of our Christian faith and re-look at our priorities to make sure that LOVE and compassion…are our guides through life.  Whenever we may notice that our heart has started to become ‘hardened’ or judgmental toward others, it is usually a sign that our quiet prayer time with God has been lacking since prayer always softens the heart.  And if we start to get cynical about the state of the world, and maybe even criticize or gossip about those who are trying to help our “neighbors,” set aside some time each day to invite the Holy Spirit’s gift of compassion to come make a home deep within…re-sculpting our heart to be clean and full of God’s compassionate love.

Sometimes…our neighbor in need is the homeless person at the intersection; sometimes it is a person living in our own home or parish; and on a global level, it includes our brothers and sisters living in war-torn areas or refugee camps.  Every act of loving compassion is like a blood transfusion that refreshes our heart and mind to be more like that of Jesus.  How beautiful then…that Jesus gives us the Eucharist, his own Body and Blood…to expand our heart to love others as much as God loves us.
 

TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
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HOMILY BY FR. JIM DEITERS

When I spend time with high school or college-age students, one of the common things I hear them struggling with is their own self-identity and a sense of belonging.  During those years of development, a person begins to get attached to that which gives them affirmation or a feeling they are accepted.  This is why peer pressure becomes so powerful, and a parent can often feel like they are competing against strong, outside forces.  Depending on how we deal with peer pressure during those early, formative years will often determine how well we deal with it as adults.  The pressure to conform to what our friends and culture are doing does not go away when we become ‘grown ups’ and thus we sometimes cave into making choices that are not in line with our core Catholic values if we do not have a clear sense of our own Christian identity and morals.

Often people wait until some tragedy or loss in their life to realize what really matters to them and who they really are.  And up to that point, if we do not really know ourselves… and be committed to what is important to us, we sway in the winds of cultural trends and continue to hunger for something more meaningful.  If we base our own ‘worth’ on what others think of us… or how our life compares to others… it will be one long journey of disappointments.

When Jesus makes one of his most famous ‘one-liners’ in the Gospel “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God,” he is getting at this core issue of our human need to belong.  From our consumerist mentality we often associate a sense of ‘belonging’ or worth with what we purchase, our ‘things.’  Most people are not aware of how many of their choices are driven by a need for peer approval.

When the Pharisees ask the trick question about paying taxes, they associated the payment of those taxes as a ‘belonging’ to the corrupt Roman authority.  Instead of debating about if one should pay taxes to the government, Jesus turns the question in order for us to think about how our whole life belongs to God.  When Jesus says, “…give to GOD what belongs to God,” it is really a rhetorical question for the listener to think about – What DOES belong to God?

From a stewardship perspective, we know that EVERYTHING belongs to God – our life, our things, our time, our money, our family.  And since everything we have DOES belong to God, then we are faced with a bigger question of what we are DOING with the gifts of our life, our time, and our money, that we have been given by God?  Moreover, am I using my time and money how God wants me to use them?

In that one short phrase, Jesus wants us to see that in our life-long desire to ‘belong,’ we can feel fulfilled when we realize that from the moment we are conceived in our mother’s womb, we DO BELONG…to God.  Knowing we belong to God sets us free from trying fit in to whatever our culture says we should ‘be’… or belong to. 

And so, there is great irony when Jesus uses the coin of Caesar to make his point.  Metaphorically, each Christian is a "coin” of God…since in baptism God has stamped His Divine Image into each of us. In other words, Jesus is saying, "pay your taxes but remember that the ‘coin’ of your existence, your sacred life, was created BY and belongs to God."  Do you see how this all fits in to our Catholic understanding of morality?  This is why it is so misguided when a person claims, “It is MY body and I can have an abortion if I want;” or “it is my body and I can change it into whatever I want,” or “This is my life and I can end it with euthanasia if I want;” or “It is my money and I can spend it how I want without thinking about how it affects the lives of others.”  All selfish ‘my’ statements collapse under the Truth that our life and body belong to God and we are held accountable for what we do with what we have been gifted.

If we each reviewed our calendar of where we spend our time, and examined our credit card statement, it would reveal what and to whom I am ‘paying’ my life. Here in the Eucharist, we seek God’s forgiveness for the false gods we have been surrendering tribute.  Coming forward to receive Holy Communion means we are willing to submit our lives under the sovereignty of God, realizing we are stewards and caretakers of everything in life God has given to us.  Do we dare to let go of all of our other cravings to belong…and be satisfied with belonging to God …who loves us like nothing else in life can?
 

TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

HOMILY BY DEACON DAN KIMUTIS

 Where were you August 21, 2017?  That was the last magnificent total solar eclipse, when locally around 1:20 pm the street lights came on and crickets could be heard.  I was at work and everyone from my small office went outside well ahead of time to witness the event….everyone but me.   I was caught up checking e-mails even as my cohorts prompted me to come and join them.   When I finally stepped outside I had mostly missed the amazing spectacle.   They say that showing up is half the battle, and this was a case of my not showing up – such a loss. 
     In October that same year, my wife Kris and I joined Father Jim and other parishioners on a pilgrimage to Italy.  We attended the weekly Papal Audience outside St Peter’s Basilica and a crowd gathered along the path the pope mobile would travel, hoping to be greeted by the pope before he addressed the general audience.  I got up close, intent on taking the photo of my lifetime.  Obsessed with my camera as Pope Francis zipped by, I felt like I did not really see him at all, and all I came away with was a lousy blurred picture.  Meanwhile others were moved to tears as they made eye to eye contact with St. Peter’s successor.  This is a case of showing up but not really being present and not being moved by the experience – such a loss.   Taking great photos was not God’s mission for me during our travels in Italy and thankfully with God’s grace I was open to Him and spiritually moved by many other experiences on that pilgrimage.  Some of those moments helped influence my pursuit of the diaconate. 
     Our Gospel parable today is about God’s invitation into His Kingdom, and it presents two tragic bad choices.  There are people who reject the invitation completely, and do not show up at all, and there are people who accept the invitation, showing up physically, but their heart is not present.  The guest in the parable who showed up not wearing a wedding garment is symbolic of someone who just goes through the motions and does not repent nor conform their life to Christ’s teachings.    The apathetic guest in the parable, tragically, fails to stay included in the king’s banquet, which is to mean God’s heavenly banquet, no differently than those who never accepted the invitation at all.  YIKES.
     Perhaps all who are reading or listening to this homily have accepted Christ’s invitation, so let’s focus on the parable guest who shows up half-heartedly.   Indeed, showing up, so to speak, is a big part of the spiritual battle, and participating regularly at mass, for example, is vital since the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life.  But participating with heart, mind and soul, not only in the liturgies, but in all aspects of faith in action, is the greater battle.  Our Gospel prompts us to assess in what ways we may be apathetic disciples and what opportunities we have to be more moved by and on fire for our faith. 

        One of the Seven Deadly sins is Spiritual Sloth.  Animal sloths are literally low energy, sleeping 15-20 hours a day, and acting as if they have no purpose other than to exist.  When they do move they barely move.  The term sloth is translated from the Latin ‘acedia’ meaning “without care”.  Spiritual Sloth involves an inability to muster any energy, interest or enthusiasm for spiritual good.  The Catholic Catechism defines Sloth as a sin against God’s love – ingratitude, a lukewarm, indifferent response to God’s love, a repelling of ourselves from divine goodness (CCC 2094, 2733).  When we grow bored or complacent in our faith response we are suffering the deadly sin of Spiritual Sloth. 
     In Bishop Robert Barron’s DVD series “Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues” he defines Spiritual Zeal for the Mission as the antidote to Sloth.  We are each called uniquely by God for a definite purpose in Christ’s Church, to be a conduit for His love.  God has a one-of-a-kind wedding garment waiting for each of us.  Finding our own unique mission in Christ gives us Spiritual Zeal and Enthusiasm.  Throughout old and new testament, God’s people respond with urgency and conviction when God reveals Himself to them and they know their calling.  Isaiah says “Here I am Lord, send me” (Is 6:1-13).  Mary proceeds with haste to tell Elizabeth she is pregnant with Jesus (Lk 1:26-56).  The repentant Samaritan woman at the well joyfully rushes away spreading the Good News (Jn 4:1-42).   How do we find OUR unique spiritual mission?  We must regularly pray and read scripture, deliberately asking God for us to know our calling.  We might seek help through a spiritual mentor.  Most effective though, Bishop Barron suggests, is to find spiritual purpose by engaging in the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.  We can find our mission by regularly doing acts of love and service for the hungry, homeless, homebound, sick, lonely, outcast, mentally ill, those battling addiction,  by visiting the imprisoned, or helping out at funerals and consoling those grieving.  We find purpose by praying more for the living and the dead, teaching the faith, lifting up the downcast, being patient and kind to the troublesome, and forgiving the unforgiveable.  MOVED with compassion, such acts of love, can take us out of our Spiritual Sloth by giving our faith lives meaning.  Simple daily acts of mercy unite our lives to Christ; married to Him we live with Christian joy and enthusiasm, as more and more we say, “Lord, PICK ME!  SEND ME!!”
     The Good News in today’s Gospel is that God wants EVERYONE to be in His Heavenly Kingdom and He offers His grace to help us accept and act on His invitation.    The good news at St Clare parish is that there are many opportunities to find your mission in Christ’s Church by participating in one or more of 75 ministries.  “Slothy” un-awakened Christians cannot awaken anyone else to the Good News.  Now, hopefully my homily has not put anyone to sleep, because at St. Clare we work to be an ALIVENED “Spiritual-Sloth-Free –Zone”!   This weekend we kick off sign-ups for the Parish Life, Outreach and Faith Formation Ministries. Get involved, stay involved, and invite others to get involved as we enthusiastically help build God’s Kingdom here on earth. 
“Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in us the fire of your love. “

TWENTY SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
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HOMILY BY FR. JIM DEITERS

It seems like one of God’s favorite fruits is the grape.  And a favorite drink must be wine…since God talks a lot about vineyards and winemaking in the scriptures, in addition to Jesus enjoying wine himself.  Interestingly, scientists who study the history of grapes and wine discovered that all European grape varieties come from an ancient root of 11,000 years ago in the Israel/Jordan area where our scriptures originate.  Closer to home, in a discussion about the Mass at school one day, a 4^th-grade boy asked me, “do you have to like wine to become a priest?”  What I wanted to say, but did not, was, “it’s just an added bonus to the job description.”
If you have never been to a vineyard, it is an amazing experience of learning the hard work and planning that goes into getting a good crop.  The flavor depends on such things as the soil and which way the sun hits the grapes; and harvesting them requires different kinds of laborers if the land is flat or steep hills.

In the scripture’s vineyard images today from both the prophet Isaiah and Jesus himself, the part that sticks out for me is the use of the word “tenants” and how the work they do in the field determines their relationship with the actual “owner” of the land, who is God in the parable.

The first challenge this parable poses for us is accepting the fact that we are laborers/ “tenants” for God…and NOT the owner or the one in charge.  Much of our culture and education system is rooted in training us to be the owner, colonel, head nurse, or CEO.  But then we get to church on Sunday and hear scriptures that talk about being the servant of others, ‘workers’ for God and the Church.  In this sense, we need to help our young people find a way to merge their gifts and passions for ‘success’ in the world…with our Christian goal of humbly serving God and others…for Jesus’ Kingdom of justice here on earth.  When societal norms drive us to think how much money a career makes and what ‘title’ I get, being an active “tenant”/volunteer in one’s parish… or being called to the priesthood or Religious Life for God’s Vineyard… won’t make much sense to a lot of people.

Applying this vineyard image to Jesus’ goal for justice and peace, the second challenge is accepting how ‘big’ God’s Vineyard-Kingdom IS in which we have to work together for a good harvest.  Sometimes in parish life or the bigger Church, we can misjudge the good work others are doing in God’s Vineyard.  The different ‘sectional plots’ in God’s Vineyard need different kinds of skills and workers.  For example, if we look at the Church’s Teachings about the various issues of justice, we can think of them as different ‘hills’ that need tended to.  An example of a big hill in the vineyard of justice is one we highlight this month…and that is the area of respecting the sacred life of a baby in the womb.  I am inspired by our parishioners who keep before us keep this significant life issue, which especially requires educating young people about chastity, marriage, and the sacredness of every pregnancy…as a child of God.

As God is elated with each new baby conceived in his vineyard, He is also looking out over the other hills in his fields that need ‘tenants’ to work in as well.  Looking to another part of the vineyard, is a section with the sacred lives of those in prison on ‘death row’ as God sends worker-tenants to care for these children of his.  In another direction of his vineyard, God looks with love at the hillside of elderly and those with severe disabilities, whom some want to terminate and ‘cut down the vine’ by euthanasia.  In a world that says the ‘grapes’ of that section are not very useful for society, God’s tenant/laborers work with great compassion.  Hill after hill, God sees the hard work that needs done for a harvest of justice…and he asks us to keep inviting new laborers to join us in the good work of reverencing all of life.  Parents and grandparents are the first ones to recruit new ‘tenants’ for God’s fields by teaching their children both the joys and challenges of doing ‘vineyard work’ for God.

A challenge we face as a Christian community is how to respect and celebrate the talents of others who might be working on a different ‘hillside of justice’ than we are.  Those doing prison ministry must bow in gratitude to those working on the hillside for the unborn; and those caring for the weak branches of the mentally ill cheer on those caring for the sacred lives in immigration camps.  We are a part of a beautifully diverse Church indeed!

While some divisive voices try to pit God’s Church workers against one another, more than ever we must stay united in our untiring Catholic voice for the sacredness of every human life.  Being a simple worker, laborer, grape gatherer, or “tenant” doesn’t have much glamour at all in this world.  But when we start each day knowing for Whom it is we are actually doing the hard work of discipleship, then with our eyes fixed on Jesus, we can give thanks for the different ways people do God’s work… and realize the joy of being a part of a ‘workforce’ for God… that has incredible rewards beyond this world.
 

TWENTY SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
WATCH THIS HOMILY
HOMILY BY FR. JIM DEITERS

I remember last year at the Oktoberfest, one of the children coming up to me excitedly to show me all of the bottles of soda he had won at one of the games.  He then looked me right in the eyes and asked, “Father, why do people at Oktoberfest eat such weird food like purple cabbage?” There is nothing like a child’s pure honesty.  But somewhere in the process of growing up, our innate gift of being honest… gets covered up by a need to impress others and put on false masks about who we really are.

An important step in the spiritual process, we learn from the saints, is coming to embrace our humanity, our human limitations as creatures of our loving Creator.  In other words, letting God be God, and enjoying our role as servants of the Author of our life.  Our Scriptures for today invite us to reflect on our humanity and what it means that Jesus became a human to show us how to live…our fullest potential.

In our world that is driven by what a person does or produces, rarely do we take the time to ‘be’ who we ARE as a human person, a beloved daughter or son of our Parent-God.  Being ‘fully human’ takes a lot of work in one sense…as it requires a person to grow into an ever deeper ‘self-knowledge’ of who I really AM… created by God for some specific purpose in His Kingdom.  Sometimes a person gets stuck in one level of psychological development… if they had a rough childhood or traumatic event later on… and can have a difficult time either loving themselves or loving others in healthy ways. 

Often times on Sundays, the Scriptures challenge us in terms of what we are ‘doing’ as followers of Jesus.  Today’s beautiful second reading from Paul to the Philippians gets us to think more in terms of how we are BEING disciples for Christ, meaning our identity with Christ…and do we really think and act like Jesus?  Not to set up ‘doing’ and ‘being’ as opposed to one another, but in reality, before we can go into the world ‘doing’ the work of Christ, St. Paul is teaching us that we first need to BE of the “same mind” with Christ.  The writer goes deeper and gives us this beautiful phrase, “Have in you the same attitude that is in Christ Jesus.” 

The second half of this section from Philippians, Paul is explaining what it really means to think and act like Christ.  He focuses on Jesus’ main attribute of ‘self-emptying’ in this powerful sentence, “though Jesus was in the form of God, he emptied himself and became a human…” Paul goes further in telling us that Jesus shows us how to be human and not ‘grasp’ to be equal to God.  Jesus’ act of ‘self-emptying’ is his way of showing us a life of genuine humility.  Or quoting our reading today, we must “regard others as more important than our self.”

Since St. Paul tells us to have the same ‘self-emptying’ attitude as Christ, we need to think hard and pray about what it would take to “empty” our self.  The first step of humility would mean we have to acknowledge that often times we are ‘full’ of our self…and we need the Holy Spirit to help us empty our self to make room for God!  That could be a question we keep asking in prayer this week – “God, what part of myself do I need to empty out…to be more aware of other people’s needs?”  If we cannot come up with what we need to empty out…maybe ask a good friend or family member what they think we need to empty out and let go of.  Is it an inflated ego or arrogance? False pride, greed, anger, or fear?  Or in other words, what do I need to ‘let go of’ …to be of the same mind as Christ?

St. Paul is teaching us that God loves us so much, that he was willing to empty himself in order to come and be one of us…and save us!  The human race was lost and disconnected from God’s Self, so Jesus came to draw us back INTO union with God!

This all brings us back to our humanity and honesty.  Jesus models for us that to BE fully human we must be willing to submit our lives to a bigger wisdom of what God has in mind for us.  We spend much of our lives trying to convince ourselves and others that we are something greater than who we really are – human!  Instead of our false pretenses and inflated egos…Jesus teaches us an “attitude” of love and humble service of others.  Or as St. Paul says, “regarding others as more important than our self.”  Let us take St. Paul’s advice and pray over and over this week, “God, help me empty myself…and have the same attitude as Jesus… in everything I say and do.”

TWENTY FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARTY TIME
HOMILY BY FR. JIM DEITERS

When we were designing this church, we were intentional about creating devotional spaces for people’s personal prayer time.  This is why we have large shrine areas for Saints Mary and Joseph, a separate devotional chapel to St. Clare, and of course the Blessed Sacrament Chapel for time with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.  The statue that elicits the most questions is the unique one we have of St. Francis of Assisi, which is in the St. Clare chapel.  Children and teens are particularly interested in why St. Francis has a skull laying at his feet.  Paintings of St. Francis also sometimes include a skull since a big part of his own devotional prayer life was reflecting on his mortality - that death could come at any time - and to always be prepared for our judgement day before God.  St. Francis even called death his “sister,” as a way to teach us to embrace our own mortality…as part of our journey to God.  The thought of dying does not have to be a morbid thing, especially for those who believe in God’s gift of heaven.  I am edified when I am at the bedside of a dying person and the spouse or other family member is looking into death’s face and expresses their faith with something like, “I am okay with letting go since I know God will take him to heaven and we will be together again one day.”

From these powerful scriptures for today, one of the phrases that stood out for me is when the author of Sirach says, “remember your last days…and set enmity aside.”  Again, not to sound morbid, but those words actually speak of a kind of spirituality.  When we remember regularly that any day…could be our “last day,” it helps us put into perspective what really matters…and what I really believe about this life and the afterlife with God.  Sirach especially challenges us to be aware of any unresolved anger, hate, or feelings of resentment that harbor in our heart or mind…which must be healed and let go of before our “last days.”

The author of Sirach deeply examines our heart with these challenging words, “Wrath and anger are hateful things…yet the sinner hugs them tight.”  When we read those words, we have to ask our self, “is there anything that I ‘hug tight’ in my heart or mind that is not of God’s love?”  Our false pride loves to “hug tight” past hurts, angers, and resentment…trying to convince us that by holding on to them…makes us the ‘winner’ and ‘right’ …and that somehow by my holding on to it causes punishment and pain for the other person.  This is one of the great lies of Satan.  When we cling to these past grievances, the only person it really hurts is our self…since it puts a heavy weight on our heart…and web of conflict in our mind. 

Jesus knew this psychological mess we put ourselves into sometimes…and is therefore relentless in talking about the importance of forgiveness.  In this parable about a king who forgives the huge debt of his servant, Jesus is speaking about God’s incredible loving forgiveness that is offered to us every day…and how we are called to practice the same kind of reconciling love with others.

Jesus knows from his own experience that forgiving…over and over and over…is not an easy way to live.  It is so hard for us to imagine…that as he was being nailed to the Cross and speared in his side, he was offering forgiveness to the very people causing him such harm.  He wanted the world to know and believe…that forgiving others is the most freeing thing we can do for our own heart and mind.   Every act of forgiving, therefore, becomes an act of freedom…as we become more and more like Jesus, expanding God’s Love in the world.

Yes, our self-righteous ego will scream “no” to such an idea, wanting us to keep storing up and saving all the hurts of the past.  But just imagine how freeing it would be to simply empty the whole closet of angers and resentments…and set the persons free whom we have been keeping locked up in a cell of anger or revenge?

None of this can happen without GRACE, the heavenly ‘superpower’ that the Holy Spirit wants to pour into our hearts… to help us open the ‘storage cabinet of upsets’ and empty it all …into the hands of God.

Coming back to the invitation from Sirach, if these were indeed your “last days,” take time this week to let the Holy Spirit’s healing balm be poured over your heart and mind…to be freed from ‘hugging’ on to anything… but God’s pure love.