HOMILY ON THE PRIESTHOOD JUNE 13, 2021
TODAY I WOULD LIKE TO REFLECT ON THAT MYSTERIOUS CALL THAT YOU AND I RECEIVED AT A SACRED MOMENT IN OUR LIFE. WHAT IS THERE INSIDE OF YOU AND INSIDE OF ME THAT ENABLED US TO HEAR THAT CALL AND TO ANSWER THAT CALL?
AS YOU LOOK INTO THIS PULPIT, TODAY, WHAT YOU SEE IS THE OUTSIDE OF A MAN. THE OUTSIDE OF A MAN IS A MATERIAL SUBSTANCE. IT IS VISIBLE. IT CAN BE EXPERIENCED BY THE FIVE SENSES. THE OUTSIDE OF A MAN, BY ITS NATURE, IS TEMPORARY. IT SERVES ITS PURPOSE AND THEN DISAPPEARS FROM VIEW. IT RETURNS TO DUST-- A FACT OF HUMAN EXISTENCE.
THE INSIDE OF A MAN IS A SPIRITUAL SUBSTANCE. IT IS INVISIBLE. IT CAN BE EXPERIENCED ONLY BY THE INTELLECT. THE SUBSTANCE ON THE INSIDE OF A HUMAN BEING IS A SPIRITUAL SOUL. WE HAVE A DIVINE PROMISE THAT THE SOUL WILL NEVER DIE. IN SOME FORM, IN SOME MYSTERIOUS WAY, THAT SOUL WILL LIVE FOREVER.
DID YOU KNOW THAT NONE OF THE ANCIENT CULTURES BEFORE THE JUDAEO-CHRISTIAN REVELATION EVER KNEW ABOUT THE INSIDE OF A MAN—WHAT WE CALL HIS SOUL? NONE OF THE ANCIENT CULTURES EVER HEARD THE WORDS OF GENESIS : "THE LORD GOD BREATHED INTO HIS NOSTRILS THE BREATH OF LIFE AND MAN BECAME A LIVING SOUL". NONE OF THE ANCIENT CULTURES EVER DREAMED THAT THE LORD OF THE UNIVERSE COULD BE INSIDE A HUMAN BEING.
TODAY I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL SOUL THAT IS INSIDE OF EVERY ONE OF YOU. TODAY I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL SOUL OF A PRIEST.
I WAS 7 YEARS OLD WHEN I FIRST HEARD ABOUT THE SOUL. THE FRANCISCAN SISTERS AT OUR LADY OF POMPEII SCHOOL TAUGHT US THE WORDS OF JESUS:” WHAT DOES IT PROFIT A MAN IF HE GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD AND LOSE HIS SOUL IN THE PROCESS?”
I TOOK THOSE WORDS VERY SERIOUSLY. YOU MIGHT SAY THAT I BECAME OBSESSED WITH THEM. AS A YOUNG BOY, THOSE WORDS MADE SO MUCH SENSE TO ME. AFTER ALL, THE OUTSIDE OF A MAN
WOULD SOME DAY TURN TO DUST. THE INSIDE OF A MAN WOULD LIVE FOREVER. MY PRIORITIES WERE ALREADY ESTABLISHED. AND THEY SEEMED LOGICALTO ME AT THE TIME. IT SEEMED LIKE A N0-
BRAINER TO ME
I COULD CHOOSE TO LIVE ONLY FOR THIS LIFE WHICH WOULD LAST 100 YEARS OR SO. OR I COULD CHOOSE TO LIVE FOR THE NEXT LIFE WHICH WOULD LAST FOREVER. LITTLE DID I UNDERSTAND THE IMPLICATIONS OF THAT CHOICE? LITTLE DID I UNDERSTAND HOW DIFFICULT IT WOULD BE TO
BALANCE THIS LIFE WITH THE NEXT LIFE?
EVERY HUMAN BEING WHO WALKS THE FACE OF THE EARTH HAS TO FACE THE DILEMMA OF BALANCING THIS LIFE WITH THE NEXT LIFE. THAT’S WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE INSIDE OF A MAN AND WOMAN.
A CONTEMPORARY FRENCH POET SAID: "THEY TELL ME THAT I AM FLESH AND
BLOOD. I AM ASTONISHED AT THAT! I THOUGHT THAT I WAS SOMETHING MORE."
WHAT IS THAT SOMETHING MORE THAT THE POET IS TALKING ABOUT? WHAT IS THAT SOMETHING MORE THAT HAS STRETCHED THE MINDS OF PHILOSOPHERS, FOR CENTURIES? WHAT IS THAT SOMETHING MORE THAT INSPIRES A FAMILY TO KNEEL DOWN AND WORSHIP? WHAT IS THAT
SOMETHING MORE THAT LIFTS MEN AND WOMEN FROM TRIVIAL PURSUITS TO GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR HUMANITY? WHAT IS THAT SOMETHING MORE THAT INSPIRED MEN AND WOMEN TO SING ON THEIR WAY TO THE COLLOSEUM WHERE THEY WOULD BE EATEN BY LIONS?
WHAT IS THAT SOMETHING MORE THAT ALLOWS A CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE INSIDE OF A HUMAN BEING AND HIS GOD? WHAT IS THAT SOMETHING MORE THAT ALLOWS US TO HEAR A CALL AND TO RESPOND TO IT? THE SOMETHINGMORE THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT IS THE SPIRIT IN GOD ANDTHE SPIRIT IN MAN.
DO YOU REMEMBER THAT SACRED MOMENT IN YOUR OWN LIFE WHEN YOU BECAME AWARE OF SOMETHING MORE? WAS IT WHEN YOU KNELT DOWN AT NIGHT TO SAY YOUR PRAYERS AND SENSED THAT THERE WAS SOMEONE ELSE IN THE ROOM WITH YOU? DID YOU BECOME AWARE THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING MORE WHEN YOU REALIZED THAT SPIRIT WAS REAL; THAT GOD IS MORE THAN
AN IDEA- THAT GOD IS A PERSON?
DID YOU BECOME AWARE THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING MORE WHEN YOU RECEIVED THE HOLY EUCHARIST FOR THE FIRST TIME AND YOU WERE OPEN TO THE POSSIBILITY THAT ANOTHER HEART
WAS BEATING INSIDE OF YOU?
MOSES KNEW THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING MORE THAN THE BURNING BUSH. HE KNEW THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING MORE WHEN HE SAW THE CLOUD BY DAY AND THE PILLAR OF FIRE BY
NIGHT. HE SENSED BEHIND THEM THE SHEKINAH THE INVISIBLE PRESENCE OF GOD THAT KEPT HIM FAITHFUL IN THE DESERT FOR 40 YEARS.
ARAHAM, MOSES, ELIJAH, EZEKIEL, JONA, JEREMIAH, ISAIAH ANDDANIEL KNEW THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING MORE. THE PROPHETS WERE OVERWHELMED WITH THE GRANDEUR OF DIVINE PRESENCE. THEY WERE SWEPT OFF THEIR FEET BY THE REALNESS OF GOD. THE MIND AND THE HEART OF THE PROPHETIS INFECTED WITH GOD.
WHEN GOD GETS YOUR ATTENTION, IT’S NOT LIKE ANYTHING ELSE IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE. YOU KNOW HE’S THERE. YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE NOT ALONE. YOU KNOW THAT YOU MUST DO
SOMETHING.
WHEN YOU ARE AWARE OF SPIRIT, THE DIMENSIONS OF LIFE EXPLODE. YOUR CAPACITY FOR GOD EXPANDS.
WHEN YOU ARE AWARE OF SPIRIT YOUR VISION OF LIFE SOARS BEYOND THE LIMITS OF THIS WORLD. WHEN THAT AWARENESS HAPPENS TO YOU THEN YOU ARE READY TO HEAR THE CALL TO
MISSION.
IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY B.C. ISAIAH WAS READY FOR THE CALL TO MISSION. WHEN HE HEARD THE CALL HE SAID: "HERE I AM LORD SEND ME". LORD, I’M OVER HERE. I THINK I CAN DO IT. SEND
ME.
CHARLES DE FOUCAULD, WAS A CAVALRY OFFICER IN THE FRENCH ARMY, HE WAS AN EXPLORER AND GEOGRAPHER. EVENTUALLY HE ENTERED THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD. HE LIVED AMONG THE POOR IN THE SAHARA DESERT IN ALGERIA. HE FOUNDED THE LITTLE BROTHERS OF JESUS. FR. CHARLES DE
FOUCAULD WAS ASSASSINATED IN 1916. POPE FRANCIS CANONIZED HIM THIS YEAR. CHARLES DE FOUCAULD SAID: "ONCE I KNEW THERE WAS A GOD, I KNEW THAT THERE WAS NOTHING I
COULD DO BUT TO LIVE ONLY FOR HIM".
WHEN A MAN FALLS IN LOVE WITH JESUS CHRIST, SUDDENLY HIS HORIZONS WIDEN. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE HE SEES BEYOND THE LIMITS OF TIME AND SPACE. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN
HIS LIFE HE SEES ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE HE EXPERIENCES EXHILARATION BUT HE ALSO EXPERIENCES FEAR BECAUSE OF THE NEW CHALLENGES.
SIX CENTURIES BEFORE CHRIST, GOD CHALLENGED THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. GOD SAID TO JEREMIAH: "I HAVE APPOINTED YOU AS PROPHET TO THE NATIONS". JEREMIAH WAS SCARED STIFF. HE BEGGED GOD TO LEAVE HIM ALONE. JEREMIAH SAID "I USED TO SAY I WILL NOT THINK ABOUT HIM, I WILL NOT SPEAK IN HIS NAME ANYMORE. THEN THERE SEEMED TO BE A FIRE BURNING IN MY HEART, IMPRISONED IN MY BONES. THE EFFORT TO RESTRAIN IT WEARIED ME. I COULD NOT BEAR IT".
I BELIEVE THAT A MAN NEEDS THE HEART AND MIND OF A PROPHET TO ATTEMPT ANYTHING AS OUTRAGEOUS AS THE DEMANDS OF THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD TODAY.
THIS IS A DIFFICULT TIME TO BE A PRIEST. WE SEE OUR NUMBERS DWINDLING. WE SEE A SHORTAGE OF VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD. WE SEE HORRENDOUS SCANDALS IN CHURCH AND
STATE. THE VOICES OF ATHEISM, SECULARISM ARE GROWING LOUDER AND LOUDER. HOSTILITY TO RELIGION IS LEADING TO THE PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS IN EVERY PART OF THE WORLD.
PERSECUTION DID NOT INTIMIDATE THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. THE RENOWNED HISTORIAN, WILL DURANT, DESCRIBED THE RISE OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY: "THERE IS NO GREATER DRAMA IN HUMAN
RECORD THAN THE SIGHT OF A FEW CHRISTIANS, SCORNED OR OPPRESSED BY A SUCCESSION OF EMPERORS, FIGHTING THE SWORD WITH THE WORD, BRUTALITY WITH HOPE, AND AT LAST
DEFEATING THE STRONGEST STATE THAT HISTORY HAS KNOWN. CAESAR AND CHRIST HAD MET IN THE ARENA, AND CHRIST HAD WON. (Will Durant)
DID CHRIST WIN? THERE WERE 12 PRIESTS, AFTER PENTECOST. WE HAVE OVER 400,000 PRIESTS IN THE WORLD TODAY. THERE WERE 34 MILLION CHRISTIANS IN 400 A.D. WE HAVE OVER 2 BILLION CHRISTIANS IN THE WORLD TODAY.
DID CHRIST WIN? THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY CHRISTIAN GROWTH, OVER THE PAST CENTURY, HAS COME IN AFRICA, WHERE THERE ARE 542 MILLION CATHOLICS.
CHRISTIANITY IS THE FASTEST GROWING RELIGION IN CHINA. IT IS PREDICTED THAT EVENTUALLY, CHINA MAY BECOME THE MOST CHRISTIAN COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.
IN 1979, IN SHEA STADIUM, IN NEW YORK, POPE JOHN PAUL II LOOKED OUT OVER THE FIVE BOROUGHS AND SAID: "THE CITY NEEDS A SOUL." THE PRIEST IS THE SOUL OF THE CITY.
CARDINAL SUHARD, A CONVERT FROM JUDAISM AND FORMER ARCHBISHOP OF PARIS, SAID: "A PRIESTLESS SOCIETY IS A DEAD SOCIETY, BECAUSE IT REFUSES TO DEAL WITH GOD ON HIS
TERMS." WITHOUT THE PRIESTHOOD OF JESUS CHRIST THERE WOULD BE NO CLEAR AND VISIBLE CHANNEL FROM THE CITY OF MAN TO THE CITY OF GOD.
ARE THERE ANY YOUNG MEN TODAY WHO ARE WILLING TO BE THE SOUL OF THE CITY? I THINK SO.
HUMAN NATURE HAS NOT CHANGED. THERE IS STILL AN ENDURING HOLE FOR GOD IN THE HUMAN HEART. THE BURNING DESIRE FOR GOD IN THE SOUL OF MAN IS JUST AS POWERFUL TODAY AS IT WAS FOUR THOUSAND YEARS AGO WHEN GOD CALLED ABRAHAM AND MOSES AND THE PROPHETS
THERE ARE MANY YOUNG MEN IN THE WORLD TODAY WHO ARE JUST AS CAPABLE OF FAITH AS PETER, ANDREW, JAMES AND JOHN. THE WORLD TODAY IS STILL CAPABLE OF PRODUCING FIREBRANDS LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST AND SAUL OF TARSUS.
THERE IS GROWING EVIDENCE THAT THE YOUNG ARE BECOMING DISILLUSIONED WITH THE EMPTY PROMISES OF THE WORLD. THE YOUNG NO LONGER BELIEVE THE SHALLOW PROMISES THAT LEAD
TO MEANINGLESSESS, DEPRESSION, ADDICTIONS AND SUICIDE.
THE FALL OF THE DECADENT ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE SPREAD OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY IS A WITNESS TO THE TRIUMPH OF GOOD OVER EVIL AND THE POWER OF SPIRIT OVER MATTER.
MANY GOOD PEOPLE ARE ASKING: "WHEN WILL WE HAVE MORE VOCATIONS?" WE WILL HAVE MORE VOCATIONS WHEN YOU AND I BEGIN TO TAKE JESUS CHRIST SERIOUSLY. WHEN YOU AND I
MODEL THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, THE YOUNG WILL COME IN DROVES.
"LORD, TO WHOM SHALL WE GO? YOU ALONE HAVE THE WORDSOF ETERNAL LIFE?"
SUPPOSE A YOUNG MAN ANSWERS THE CALL TO PRIESTHOOD? WHAT DO THE PEOPLE OF GOD EXPECT FROM THEIR PRIESTS?
THE PEOPLE SAY TO THEIR PRIESTS: PLEASE BE A REAL PRIEST FOR US. THE VATICAN COUNCIL SAYS THAT THE PRIEST IS A SACRAMENT OF CHRIST. BE A LIVING SACRAMENT OF JESUS FOR OUR CHILDREN. BE A CREDIBLE SIGN OF GOD’S PRESENCE IN OUR MIDST.
THE PEOPLE OF GOD SAY TO THEIR PRIESTS: "YOU TELL US BY YOUR CELIBACY THAT YOU ARE A SPACE FOR GOD IN THE SECULAR CITY. SHOW US BY YOUR CHASTITY THAT YOU REALLY HAVE FOUND IN YOUR PRIESTHOOD THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE—THE TREASURE BURIED IN THE FIELD—THE CITY ON A
MOUNTAIN TOP.
BE A WITNESS TO US THAT SPIRIT IS WORTH MORE THAN SILVER OR GOLD—PROVE TO US THAT IT DOES PROFIT US MORE TO SAVE OUR SOULS THAN TO GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD."
HELP US TO BELIEVE THAT THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT MUST HAVE FIRST PLACE IN OUR LIVES. LIFT UP OUR CHILDREN FROM THE NAUSEA OF MATERIALSM AND IMMORALITY THAT IS SUFFOCATING
THEIR SPIRITUAL LIVES AND DRIVING THEM INTO ALL KINDS OF DEADLY ADDICTIONS AND DISEASES.
THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE PLEADING WITH THE PRIEST. "TELL OUR CHILDREN ABOUT YOUR SECRET RENDEZVOUS WITH GOD. TEACH THEM THE MYSTERY OF GOD THAT GOT THE ATTENTION OF
ABRAHAM AND ELIJAH AND MOSES AND JEREMIAH AND DANIEL.
SHOW THEM THAT YOU STILL BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF PENTECOST THAT SWEPT THROUGH THE EARLY CHURCH.
LET THEM HEAR THE MESSAGE THAT JESUS IS ALIVE. THEY NEED TO KNOW THAT THE FOUNDERS OF ALL OTHER WORLD RELIGIONS ARE DEAD. ONLY JESUS IS ALIVE. ALL THE OTHER HEROES OF
THE WORLD ARE DEAD. JESUS IS THE ONLY HERO WHO IS ALIVE.
‘DON’T LET HISTORY BE A SECRET. TELL OUR CHILDREN ABOUT PETER AND PAUL, IRANAEUS, IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH, AUGUSTINE, AMBROSE AND BENEDICT. LET THEM SEE THE ALL-CONSUMING FIRE OF FRANCIS OF ASSISI, DOMINIC AND VINCENT DE PAUL- IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA, JOHN BOSCO AND MAXIMILLIAN KOLBE. UNVEIL FOR THEM THE COURAGEOUS FAITH OF CLARE OF ASSISI,
JOAN OF ARC, LOUISE DE MAURILLAC, ST. THERESE, KATHERINE DREXEL, MOTHER CABRINI, MOTHER TERESA, MOTHER MARIANNE COPE, AND THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD.
THAT’S ALL THE PEOPLE WANT FROM THE ORDAINED. THEY EXPECT THE PRIEST TO TELL THEM ABOUT GOD AND THOSE WHO EXPERIENCED HIM IN THE JUDAEO-CHRISTIAN CENTURIES.
71 YEARS AGO, I ENTERED THE SEMINARY TO SAVE MY SOUL. LITTLE DID I REALIZE THAT THE SALVATION OF MY SOUL DEPENDED ON THE SALVATION OF THE SOULS ENTRUSTED TO MY CARE? I CAN ONLY HOPE THAT, WITH HIS HELP, I ACCOMPLISHED WHAT I WAS SENT TO DO. JESUS I TRUST IN YOU.