All Souls Day Homily

Chris Stefanick from our Rectory Basement!!!

A Great All Saints Family on opposite sides of the field!

 

The Catholic Church on Politics and Synodality

Episode 35 of "My Lourdes Faith Journey" - Part 2 ministering to victims

Max Klare, an All Saints Parishioner, catches his first touchdown of many for Ohio State!

My Lourdes Faith Journey on EWTN

"Triumph of the Heart" is one of the best films I have ever seen

Here is the link to the movie page where you can find a local showing https://www.triumphoftheheart.com/ 

Charlie Kirk: A Catholic Response

Mary Caltrider's Podcast of my Lourdes Story

Homily Text - Assumption 2025

 

The Assumption of Mary

Many non-Catholic Christian ask where the Assumption of Mary into Heaven is in the Bible?  It is not

First of all, it doesn’t say in the Bible that everything is in the "Bible Alone" (sola Scriptura).

For example, it doesn’t say in the Bible how the 3 Persons of the Trinity work together.

The early Church spent the first 300 years figuring out how the Trinity worked.  Mqny non-Catholic "diagrams" (see an example below) say that around the year 300, when Constantine had his conversion to the Catholic Faith, that is when the "Catholic Church went off the rails".

 – so precisely when non-Catholic diagrams say the Catholic Church was lost when Constantine made Catholicism the official religion of Rome, that was actually the precise time where the Church was being the Catholic Church; there was a MAJOR break in the Church, and newly converted Constantine basically convoked the Council of Nicaea to settle the dispute - and it was at that Council where the priest Arius was given the label of a heretic in order to help him understand how serious was his theological error.

Also, with regards to those who say "By the Bible Alone", Saint Paul says in his second letter to the Thessalonians “brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours”  The "letters of ours" are Paul's letters in the Sacred Scriptures, and the oral statements are what the Catholic Church has always referred to as "Sacred Tradition".

 

But what does "Sacred Tradition" say about Mary being assumed body and soul into Heaven?

 

In the 600’s Saint John Damascene: “It was fitting that Mary, the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions.”

 

also in the 600’s, St. Modestus of Jerusalem said: “Mary has received an eternal incorruptibility of the body together with Him who has raised Her up from the tomb and has taken Her up to Himself in a way known only to Him."

 

In the 700’s Saint Germanus said “Your virginal body is all holy and entirely the dwelling place of God, so that it is henceforth completely exempt from dissolution into dust. Though still human, it is changed into the heavenly life of incorruptibility”

 

In the 1200’s Saint Anthony of Padua, when,  while explaining the prophet Isaiah’s words: "I will glorify the place of my feet," said "you have here a clear statement that the Blessed Virgin has been assumed in her body, where was the place of the Lord's feet.”

 

Also in the 1200’s Saint Albert the Great said: “"From these proofs and authorities and from many others, it is manifest that the most blessed Mother of God has been assumed above the choirs of angels.”

 

Also in the 1200’s Saint Bonaventure said: “Mary’s blessedness would not have been complete unless she were there [in Heaven] as a person. The soul is not a person, but the soul, joined to the body, is a person. It is manifest that she is there in soul and in body. Otherwise she would not possess her complete beatitude.”

 

In the 1400’s Saint Bernadine of Siena said “Mary should be only where Christ is."

In the 1500’s Saint Peter Canitius said “"The teaching of Mary’s Assumption into Heaven has already been accepted for some centuries, it has been held as certain in the minds of the pious people, and it has been taught to the entire Church in such a way that those who deny that Mary's body has been assumed into heaven are not to be listened to patiently but are everywhere to be denounced as over-contentious or rash men, and as imbued with a spirit that is heretical rather than Catholic."

 

In the 1600’s Saint Robert Bellarmine said “Who, I ask, could believe that the ark of holiness, the dwelling place of the Word of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit, could be reduced to ruin? My soul is filled with horror at the thought that this virginal flesh which had begotten God, could have been turned into ashes or given over to be food for worms."

 

Also in the 1600’s Saint Francis de Sales said “"What son would not bring his mother back to life and would not bring her into paradise after her death if he could?"

 

In the 1700’s Saint Alphonsus Liguori said “Jesus did not wish to have the body of Mary corrupted after death, since it would have redounded to his own dishonor to have her virginal flesh, from which he himself had assumed flesh, reduced to dust."

 

Mary being assumed into Heaven isn’t in the Bible.  But it has been consistently taught in the “Sacred Tradition” of the Catholic Church.

 

As Catholics, we work together on a lot of really good projects together helping the poor and so forth, but it is important to know that Jesus says in John 17 when He prays “That they may be one, even as we are one” that means that Christ’s followers should reflect the same unity as the Trinity, and to the extent that all of us who profess to be followers of Christ are not united, it will signal to non-Christians that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are not one either.  

 

Putting myself in the position of a non-Christian for a moment, it would seem ludicrous to me to become a Christian seeing different denominations believing directly contradictory things.  

 

Finally, Marian devotion is not an optional thing a Christian can choose to do or not do.  The Bible DOES say, over and over and over again in the New Testament that Baptism makes us an adopted son or daughter of God the Father, and an adopted Brother or Sister of Jesus.  Mary is the Mother of Jesus and thus our adoptive Mother, and one of the commandments is to honor your Mother.  Mary is our adopted Mother, so to fail to honor her is to break one of the 10 Commandments!

 

We pray for all those who do not yet honor Mary our Mother, that they will soon realize the error, and begin honoring Mary moving forward.

 

Movie Trailer for Saint Maximilian Kolbe Film

This looks really good!

Giving More and Needing Less - Homily for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Homily on NFP and World Day for Grandparents

Gordon Hayward - Butler Star and NBA Star converts to Catholicism!

 

Here is Gordon Hayward's near miss in the National Championship game that would have caused Indianapolis to burn down!

Saint Paul's Greatest Failure - Homily for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2025

 

Saint Paul’s Greatest Failure as a Preacher

I would like to preach about Saint Paul’s greatest failure as a preacher, how he learned from it, and what the implications are for us today.

About halfway through the Acts of the Apostles, it talks about how Saint Paul went to Athens.  And he is walking around Athens getting ready for his opportunity to address the philosophers in Athens.  Saint Paul sees all these different altars around town just off to the side of the roads.  There was an altar to Zeus, and candles and incense being lit at the altar by devotees of Zeus.  Maybe several hundred yards down the road, there was an altar to Aphrodite, with a statue of Aphrodite on it, and candles and incense being burned to honor her.

Saint Paul, at some point during his walk around Athens comes across an altar, as the inscription says, to “an unknown god” with no statue on it. 

Later that day, then, when Saint Paul gets his chance to speak to the people of Athens, he shares the experience of his walk through town and says “As I walked through your town, I came across an altar to an unknown god.  That is the god that I serve.”  And the people of Athens are completely unimpressed and say “we should like to hear more about this from you some other time” which means exactly what it does 2,000 years later – “we could care less.”

 

The Acts of the Apostles says after this, Saint Paul went to Corinth.

 

And when we read Saint Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, it is clear, right from the very start, that he has learned two HIGHLY valuable lessons from his Athens failure.  In Chapter 1 Saint Paul writes “Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified.”

And in Chapter 2 Saint Paul says “When I came to you, brothers, proclaiming the mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom.  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified”

 

In Athens, Saint Paul did not mention the Name of Jesus, and he did not mention suffering.

 

In our Gospel today, when Jesus sends out the 72, they come back saying “Jesus, at the mention of your NAME, demons tremble.  In the Mass, and everywhere, when we hear the name of Jesus mentioned, we are to bow our heads.  If we hear someone take the name of Jesus in vain, we should charitably correct them, and ask them not to take the name of Jesus in vain.

 

So, getting to our 2^nd reading today, Saint Paul says “may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”

 

The lesson, it seems to me, is clear.  When we are talking to people, we should be mentioning the name of Jesus, and we should be talking about the power of the Cross; the power of suffering and offering our suffering up, and how that helps others and ourselves.  We should be, as Saint Paul says elsewhere, “boasting in our weaknesses” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

 

Let us never fail to mention Jesus’ Name when trying to spread the Good News of the Gospel with Joy, and may others see in us a joy in the midst of the various sufferings, big and small, that we encounter each day.  As St. Paul learns, those are the 2 things that will attract other people to also follow Jesus Christ.

Mass for July 4th, 2025

The Catholic Church has a special Mass for the United States every July 4th.  I prayed the Mass this morning.  The Collect (opening prayer) was especially poignant:

 Father of all nations and ages,

 we recall the day when our country

 claimed its place among the family of nations;

 for what has been achieved we give you thanks,

 for the work that still remains we ask your help,

 and as you have called us from many peoples to be one nation,

 grant that, under your providence,

 our country may share your blessings

 with all the peoples of the earth.

 Through our lord Jesus Christ, your son,

 who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit,

 one God, for ever and ever.

Corpus Christi Processions 2025

 

Pope Leo With Encouraging Words for Us Priests!

 ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER TO THE CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF ROME 

Thursday, 12 June 2025

I want to ask for a big round of applause for all of you who are here, and for all the priests and deacons of Rome!

Dear Priests and Deacons who provide your service in the diocese of Rome, dear seminarians, I greet you all with affection and friendship!

I thank His Eminence the Cardinal Vicar, for the words of greeting and for his presentation, telling something of your presence in this city.

I wished to meet you to get to know you personally, and to begin walking with you. I thank you for your life given in the service of the Kingdom, for your daily labours, for your great generosity in the exercise of your ministry, for everything you live in silence and that is at times accompanied by suffering or misunderstanding. You carry out different services, but you are all precious in the eyes of God and in the fulfilment of his plan.

The diocese of Rome presides in charity and in communion, and can fulfil this mission thanks to each one of you, in the bond of grace with the Bishop and in the fruitful co-responsibility of all God’s people. Ours is a truly particular diocese, because many priests come from various parts of the world, especially in order to study; and this implies that pastoral care too – I am thinking above all of the parishes – is marked by this universality and the mutual acceptance it entails.

Starting precisely from this universal outlook that Rome offers, I would like to share cordially with you a few reflections.

The first note, that is particularly close to my heart, is that of unity and communion. In the so-called “priestly” prayer, as we know, Jesus asked the Father that his people may be one (cf. Jn 20-23). The Lord knows well that only by being joined to him and united among ourselves can we bear fruilt and give credible witness to the world. Presbyteral communion here in Rome is favoured by the fact that, by ancient tradition, it is it is customary to live together, in rectories as well as in colleges or other residences. The presbyter is called to be the man of communion, because he is the first to live it, and continually nurtures it. We know that this communion today is hindered by a cultural climate that favours isolation or self-absorption. None of us is exempt from these pitfalls that threaten the solidity of our spiritual life and the strength of our ministry.

But we must be vigilant because, in addition to the cultural context, communion and fraternity among us also encounter some obstacles that are, so to speak, “internal”, which relate to the ecclesial life of the diocese, interpersonal relationships, and also what resides in the heart, especially that feeling of weariness that arises because we have experienced particular hardships, because we do not feel we are understood and heard, or for other reasons. I would like to help you, to walk with you, so that each person may regain serenity in his own ministry; but it is precisely for this reason that I ask you for zeal in priestly fraternity, which has its roots in a solid spiritual life, in the encounter with the Lord and in listening to his Word. Nourished by this lymph, we are able to have relationships of friendship, outdoing one another in respect (cf. Rm 12:10); we feel the need for others in order to grow and to foster the same ecclesial drive.

Communion should also be translated into commitment in this diocese: with diverse charisms, with different paths of formation and even with different services, but the effort to sustain it must be one. I ask all of you to pay attention to the pastoral journey of this Chruch which is local but, because of who leads it, is also universal. Walking together is always a guarantee of fidelity to the Gospel; together and in harmony, striving to enrich the Church with one’s own charism but having at heart the single body of which Christ is the Head.

The second note I want to give you is that of exemplarity. On the occasion of the priestly ordinations on 31 May last, in the homily I recalled the importance of the transparency of life, on the basis of the words of Saint Paul who said to the elders of Ephesus: “You yourselves know how I lived among you” (Acts 20:18). I ask you, with the heart of a father and of a pastor, let us all undertake to be credible and exemplary priests! We are aware of the limits of our nature and the Lord knows us in depth; but we have received an extraordinary grace; we have been entrusted with a precious treasure of which we are the ministers, the servants. And fidelity is required of the servant. None of us is exempt from the suggestions of the world, and the city, with its thousands of offerings, could even draw us away from the desire for a holy life, inducing a levelling down in which the profound values of being a priest are lost. Let yourselves be drawn once again by the call of the Master, to feel and live the love of the first hour, that which drove you to make important choices and courageous sacrifices. If together we try to be exemplary in a humble life, then we will be able to express the renewing force of the Gospel for every man and for every woman.

A final note I wish to give you you is that of looking at the challenges of our time from a prophetic perspective. We are concerned and saddened by everything that happens every day in the world: we are hurt by the violence that generates death, we are challenged by inequalities, poverty, many forms of social marginalization, the widespread suffering that assumes the features of an unease that no longer spares anyone. And these are not distant realities, far from us, but rather they affect even our city of Rome, marked by multiple forms of poverty and grave emergencies such as the issue of housing. A city in which, as Pope Francis remarked, the “great beauty” and charm of art must also be matched by “simple decorum and the normal functioning of places and situations in ordinary, everyday life. Because a city that is more liveable for its citizens is also more welcoming to everyone” (Homily for Vespers with Te Deum, 31 December 2023).

The Lord wanted us in this time filled with challenges that, at times, seem to exceed our strength. We are called to embrace these challenges, to interpret them evangelically, to experience them as opportunities to bear witness. Let us not flee from them! Pastoral commitment, like that of study, become for us a school to learn how to build the Kingdom of God in today's complex and challenging history. In recent times we have had the example of holy priests who have been able to combine a passion for history with the proclamation of the Gospel, such as Don Primo Mazzolari and Don Lorenzo Milani, prophets of peace and justice. And here in Rome we have had Don Luigi Di Liegro who, faced with so much poverty, devoted his life to seeking ways of justice and human advancement. Let us draw on the strength of these examples to continue sowing seeds of holiness in our city.

Dear friends, I assure you of my closeness, my affection and my readiness to walk with you. Let us entrust our priestly life to the Lord, and let us ask him to be able to grow in unity, exemplarity and in prophetic commitment to serve our time. May we be accompanied by the heartfelt appeal of Saint Augustine, who said: “Love this Church, be ye in this holy Church, be ye this Church; love the Good Shepherd, the Spouse so fair, who deceiveth no one, who desireth no one to perish. Pray too for the scattered sheep; that they too may come, that they too may acknowledge Him, that they too may love Him; that there may be One Flock and One Shepherd” (Sermon 138, 10). Thank you.

My Ordination