Shawn The Baptist - Sunday Scriptures

This weekend's homily provides some practical tips and an explanation of the basics of making a good confession.

We all love the symbol of an Advent wreath, but in today's homily I introduce my favorite Advent symbol... the orange construction cone.

Jesus tells us over and over in the Gospel today to "watch." This is our attitude for the season of Advent.

Pop Quiz

Like a pop quiz or a thief in the night, Jesus will return. The good news is that we know the questions that are on the test. We even know the answers. In the evening of life we will be judged on our love. How well did we care for the least of those among us? How well did we use the gifts God gave us? That is the emphasis of today's Gospel. God has given each of us special gifts according to our ability and each of us is called to greatness. Let's resolve not to compare ourselves to others but to do the best we can with the talents we have been given. If we do that, we will hear at the end of our life, "Well done good and faithful servant."

Those Who Have Fallen Asleep

Paul uses the language of sleep to describe death. This makes death sound so temporary and indeed it is. The early Church had seen firsthand how Jesus could raise someone from the dead. They had experienced the resurrection of Jesus, a word literally meaning "to get up again." It is not surprising then that the Christians refused the pagan practice of cremating the remains of those who had died. Instead they created large underground cemeteries such as the catacombs in Rome. There they placed the bodies of their loved ones awaiting that great day of awakening. This weekend's homily explores the Church's traditions regarding care of the body after death and explains what the Church really teaches about cremation.

Prayer in Communion

Yesterday we honored the Church in Glory, the saints in heaven. Today we commemorate and pray for the Church Suffering, all those who have died and await the full glory of heaven in purgatory. There is a tendency today to "canonize" everyone who dies and talk as though it is certain that they are in heaven. Yet, the Scriptures tell us plainly that nothing imperfect can enter heaven. Certainly we know many of our deceased loved ones who we believe died in a state of grace. Yet, how many of us are completely free from all attachment to sin and are thus perfect when we die? Purgatory is the great gift of God's mercy to allow us to get cleaned up before entering heaven.

On this day, we remember that it is a great spiritual work of mercy to pray for the dead. Let us remember our brothers and sisters who have died and can be greatly aided by our prayers, especially those forgotten souls who have no one to pray for them. May perpetual light shine upon them and may they rest in peace.

Like the crowd in the stadium at a sporting event, the saints in heaven cheer us on as we compete well for the faith.

Sharing Our Very Selves

St. Paul tells us in the second reading today that he is proud that he shared with his disciples, "not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as well." We all love teachers who put themselves into their teaching and give us more than just the words in the textbook. I think we love this quality in our priests as well. We love priests who understand us and with whom we have something in common. While we have beautiful examples of how the humanness of our priests helps us to know God better, their are also cases where the humanness of priests becomes a major stumbling block and even a scandal. It has always been this way since the beginning of the Church.

On this Priesthood Sunday we give thanks for our priests who are chosen from among us. We priests are called to image the perfect fatherhood of God, yet we often fall short, as all fathers do. Pray for your priests. Give thanks for the good you see, quickly overlook the bad, and remember that the two are always wrapped up together in the human condition. May God allow us as priests, broken though we are, to be living witnesses as we share not only the gospel of God, but our very selves.

St. Francis shows us how, if we love God above all else, we can have perfect joy even in the midst of great affliction and suffering.

Who would have thought that Arrowhead Stadium would be such a great place to learn about the Mass? Is a Chiefs game Catholic?