Shawn The Baptist - Sunday Scriptures

On this last Sunday of the liturgical year, we often focus our attention on the end of time and the world to come. Without doubt, knowing where we are going and that this world is passing away has a big effect on how we live. However, today's gospel also gives us two key insights that directly effect our day to day life in a big way.

Pilate asks Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Pilate is trying to figure out who Jesus is, but he's only considering it in an earthly sort of way. Is Jesus a threat? Is he a political rival? Jesus is a king, but he's much more. This leads us to the first of the key things we have to know, namely, our identity. Jesus knows that he is the beloved son of the father. Do you know your identity?

Secondly, Jesus tells Pilate, "For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth." Could any of us answer clearly if questioned why we were born or why we came into the world? What a question! Yet it's the most important question we need to answer. In short, what is our mission?

Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman wrote a prayer he entitled "The Mission of My Life" wherein he offers this insight:

God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.

In our times, it is easy to become so busy that we spend most of our time doing lots of things without giving much thought to why we are doing them. Like any of the animals, we can get stuck in a very basic cycle of "Eat. Survive. Reproduce." We need to do those things, but only human beings are capable of asking the question, "What's it all about?"

At the end of his life, Jesus was so certain of who he was and what his mission was that he could even face death. Take some time today to pray about these two most important questions you can ask in your life: "Who are you - What's you identity?" and "What is your mission?"

In today's reading from the prophet Daniel, we hear,

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake;

some shall live forever,

others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.

Do you ever think about living forever? We are so used to the idea of life after death, that the shock of this incredible truth often fails to affect us. Sure, one day we will die, and then there's life after death, but we tend to think that this has nothing to do with our life now. The truth is that the life to come should make all the difference in our lives right here and now.

One thing that eternity causes us to realize is just how temporary this life is. Compared to eternity, this life is over in the blink of an eye. Yet notice how we sometimes live as if we think this world will go on forever. Think of all the material stuff we accumulate and hoard as if we could take a u-haul with us to heaven. Everything is passing away.

This has been made all the more obvious to me as several of my relatives have been going through the process of moving. If you want a good exercise to see just how attached you are to the things of this world, think of all the stuff you have and what it would be like if you died today and someone had to go through your house to sell it. Recent experience has taught me that this is no fun at all. The other thing I've found that people do when selling their house is that they do all these projects to fix the place up to get it ready to sell. New paint, new carpet, new appliances. It always seems sad to me to fix a house up so nice just to sell it. Why not fix it up while you're still living in it?

Both of these house-selling lessons provide good spiritual food for thought as well. How much "baggage" are you carrying around in life? Grudges, hurts, past sins? And what if you knew you were coming to the end of your life? What things would need fixing on your house?

With the end of the liturgical year almost here, the Church gives us a little practice in thinking about eternity. Let's pretend the world is ending. What do you need to get rid of? What do you need to fix up? Watching family members sell their homes has convinced a lot of people in my family, myself included, that we don't want to leave others a mess to clean up later. More importantly, we've all had to think about what really matters. God helps us to value things correctly. He wants to give us an inheritance, but it's not a storage locker full of junk. Rather, God points us to heaven and says, "All this will be yours."

Earlier this summer, I reported about a false accusation that was made against me. Although I denied the allegation, I chose to voluntarily step away from ministry while this was being investigated by local authorities. Today, Fr. Brian Schieber, the pastor of St. Michael the Archangel and Vicar for Clergy for the Archdiocese, announced that I had been cleared and am returning to ministry:

The Linn County Sheriff’s Department has now completed its investigation, finding that there was no evidence of a crime, and no probable cause to support the filing of any charges against Fr. Shawn.  Fr. Shawn is no longer the subject of any investigation, and the matter is now closed.  In other words, the investigation by Linn County authorities reached the same conclusion as our own investigation back in May of 2017... Today, I’m happy to welcome him back to priestly ministry.

Following the announcement by Fr. Brian, I then preached the homily at all the Masses this weekend. While I am grateful to have been cleared of the false accusations against me, I know I am not completely without blame in all this. As I asked four months ago, I ask you to continue to pray for the person who made this accusation and her family. This weekend's homily is a chance for me to explain some things, to apologize, and then to express my own commitment to God going forward. In short, I am ALL IN.

Full Text of My Homily

Full Text of Fr. Brian's Statement

"All In" by Matthew West

The following homily was given to Boy Scouts gathered for Mass in the Chapel of the Twelve Apostles on the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation in Osceola, Missouri.

We don't like to wait. We want to see results of our efforts right now. In today's gospel, Jesus reminds us that the kingdom of God is not like this. Rather, it's like a farmer planting a tiny seed that grows slowly, "first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear." Only when it is ripe does the farmer then proceed to the harvest. Most of the farmer's job is to wait patiently while the seed grows.

This parable is obviously about patience, but it's also about commitment. Imagine what would happen if the farmer gave up on the grain before it was ripe, thinking that it just looked like grass or even weeds. It takes a commitment to stick with it, from the beginning as a tiny see all the way through to harvest. There is great value in remaining committed to something over a long time. Scouting is something that is worthy of such a commitment.

It makes me sad today to see that so many boys are missing out on the scouting experience because of our society's ever increasing obsession with sports. Don't get me wrong; I love sports. I played all kinds of sports growing up. But here's the thing... I don't play any of those sports anymore. From today's vantage point, they were mere temporary distractions in my life. But I'm still scouting. After almost 32 years, I'm still a scout. Scouting has proven to be worthy of all the time I have committed to it over the years.

There's a certain magic to the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation and the Tribe of Mic-O-Say. You start out as a first year camper, like that tiny seed in the gospel. But then you come back. You come back another summer and another. The growth is slow and perhaps imperceptible from one year to the next. But then one day you're a brave and then a warrior, and before you know it you've got a bunch of coups around your neck and you're back with your own son, or perhaps like me, back celebrating Mass at the same altar that you once looked upon for the first time so many years ago as just a first year camper.

This kind of growth produces real fruit, fruit worthy of a lifetime commitment. But notice that it only happens if you stick with it. The real joy in scouting, and in life, comes not from temporary distractions, but from real giving of yourself. As we say down here in Osceola, "Come back. Come back and sink your roots deep." This is good advice not just for scouts hopeful of hearing their name on call night, but for all of us who would hope to hear the greatest call ever, the call from God to do something great.

The following homily was given to Boy Scouts gathered for Mass in the Chapel of the Twelve Apostles on the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation in Osceola, Missouri.

Do you know what story you are in? Did you even realize you are part of a big story? We can tend to get so focused on the little things of every day life, that we lose sight of the big picture. We can have trouble finding meaning and making sense of things unless we see how it all fits together. We have to know the whole story.

Today's readings serve to remind us of the big story that God is writing with the history of creation. In the first reading, we go all the way back to the Book of Genesis and the creation of our first parents, Adam and Eve. We see that everything is happy in the beginning, but then Satan enters the garden. This is a key part of our story. Right from the beginning, we see that we have an enemy. This enemy is out to destroy our happiness and keep us from God.

Do you live your life mindful of this part of the story, that we have an enemy? Sometimes it can seem that we just go about our days trying to be "basically good" and believing that probably by default we will just end up in heaven. Satan would love for us to continue through life unaware of his workings, watching us compromise at every turn and never really fight or even realize we are in a fight.

Everything of value is worth fighting for. We don't expect the greatest rewards to just be handed to us. If they were, they wouldn't be very meaningful. Today's homily is a bit of a call to arms. We've got to realize what story we're in and where we're called to fight but are instead surrendering. Men especially are called to this heroic engagement, fighting to protect women and our families. It's time to wake up and get in the fight. Life is not a peaceful falling into heaven. Life is tough. Life is a battlefield.

On this Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known by its Latin title, Corpus Christi, we celebrate and honor the incredible gift of the Eucharist. It is the greatest gift that Jesus has left us on this earth because it the gift of his very self. Today's homily proposes two key aspects of this feast for meditation. First, we need to better understand what/who this Eucharist really is. But, secondly, we need to reflect upon our response to this gift.

Hopefully, most Catholics would easily get the first part right. The Eucharist is truly the body, blood, soul, and divinity, of Jesus Christ, the second person of the Most Holy Trinity. The Eucharist is God! That's why we worship the Eucharist, because it is really Jesus. This is the way that Jesus has chosen to fulfill him promise, "Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." We should have such a great reverence for this gift.

The second part is harder. What is our response to this gift? Both our first reading and the gospel refer to the "blood of the covenant." In biblical times, a covenant was always ratified with blood. Much more than a mere contract, a covenant brought about a sacred obligation and brought about a new family relationship. In the old covenant, an animal had to die to witness to the covenant. In the new covenant, there is also blood, the blood of Jesus, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. To receive the Eucharist is to renew this covenant first made in baptism. When we come forward for Holy Communion, we are saying, as they did in the first reading, that we will do all the Lord has commanded. As Catholics, we say we believe all that the Church teaches, that we are truly part of this covenant family.

Today, as you come forward to receive the Eucharist, the priest will hold up the host and declare "Corpus Christi - The Body of Christ." What will your response be?

On Memorial Day, we are called to remember the great cost of our freedom so as to appropriately value our country.

Laurel or Yanny? It turns out the answer is both/and. Appropriately for Pentecost, it's the same phenomenon that makes the Church Catholic.

What is real? We often reduce reality to what is scientifically provable. The Ascension of Jesus shows us there is much more to reality.

In today's gospel, Jesus talks about the greatest love in the world. Surprisingly, the word he uses to describe this love is "friend."