Homily for the Solemnity of Saint Joseph - March 20, 2023

 

Solemnity of St. Joseph

Matthew 1: 16, 18-21, 24a

Introduction

Silence….

Silence is an uncomfortable way to begin a homily. Did the preacher forget what he was going to say? Did he have a stroke?

Let me ask you; in those few moments of silence, what thoughts went through your minds, what happened in your heart?

We gather on this Solemnity of a man of silence – St. Joseph – and we ask God to speak to us.

In the first reading from 2^nd Samuel, we hear, “that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan.” God speaks to his prophet in the silence of the night to reveal that the Davidic throne will have no end.

In today’s Gospel we find a “son of David” as the angel calls him, in the midst of a great dilemma. His betrothed wife is with child, and he is not the father. He considers the situation in silence and contemplation and decides to “dismiss her quietly,” St. Matthew tells us. That is, he decides to release her of their betrothal. His consideration of the situation was in silence. He determined that his actions must be done quietly.

When God reveals through an angel that Joseph not only must receive Mary into his home but also name the child – that is, take on the role of earthly father – he does so without whispering a word of protest. In fact, here is the only indication that Joseph ever said anything. He must have said the name “Jesus” at the circumcision in order to obey God’s command. We do not have that fact recorded nor do we have any words of St. Joseph recorded in Scripture. Why? He was a man of silence.

Joseph is a man without fanfare. He does not want attention. He lacks the motivation of modern football players who, after scoring a touchdown, engage in some communal dance in order to bring attention to themselves. Joseph, on the other hand, is happy in the shadows.

When the census it announced, there is not a word of complaint that escapes Joseph’s mouth. He searches all of Bethlehem for a place for his wife to give birth without a whisper of anxiety. He takes the child Jesus and Mary to Egypt without a murmur. 12 years later we find him in the Temple but Mary does all the talking.

Joseph doesn’t speak. He just does.

Now, silence is not the inability to speak but the choice to listen. Silence is not passive stillness but active tranquility. Silence is not the death of the tongue but the life of the soul.

We gather at Mass on this Solemnity to hear God speak to us through the silence of St. Joseph.

Many today are afraid of silence. Pascal once said, “All the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber.”

Silence frightens us a bit. We reach for our headphone, we turn on the radio, we have to see the latest news story or Tik Tok video. When we have down time or are waiting, the phone suddenly emerges from our pockets and a dull noise enters us by way of our ears and eyes.

Why can't we just be silent?

One evening at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when all the seminarians were receiving “Zoom formation,” I stood on the front porch of McSweeny Hall and just listened. There was no noise from Route 15. No trucks braking or shifting gears. There was no noise coming from campus. No ultimate frisbee players yelling for the disc. There was no noise from inside the Seminary. I couldn’t even hear Louis McHale’s laugh.

All was quiet. And I was shocked how refreshing this was! Our minds and hearts find silence a refreshing change from the cacophony of our modern world.

We need silence. We need it for a whole host of reasons.

We need silence to grow interiorly.

We know that as the spiritual life grows and prayer becomes more intense, words diminish into the silence of the contemplative gaze. As Pope Benedict XVI once said, when John the Baptist proclaimed that Christ must increase and he must decrease, there is a direct parallel – the Word “must speak and I must be silent.”

Active silence is active listening. Contemplation is a gaze of love without words. It means that we have to humble our intellect and it involves the willingness to learn and be guided not by our own voice but by the voice of another. Our spiritual lives cannot grow without the nourishment of silence.

We also need silence to discern the will of God.

Federico Suarez in his book Joseph of Nazareth says, “A man who keeps quiet can listen, and a man who listens is able to learn much” (p. 24). When St. Joseph was considering what to do, he heard God speak through an angel. He was struggling to know his role in God’s plan. It became clear to him because he was willing to let God speak in the silence of his heart.

Silence opens a door for God to step through. It was only in silence that Joseph discerned the divine will. For those still discerning their vocation, or discerning any decision big or small, St. Joseph shows us that a calm, listening soul can best determine God’s will.

Finally, we need silence surprisingly to practice fortitude.

You know, there are times in which we need to speak up about difficulties in order to correct things but, overall, we can complain way too much. We grumble about difficulties, whine about frustrations, protest about how others treat us. We can also try to justify our defects and failings by telling everyone our excuses for not doing our duty.

We do this often because we have not learned to bravely face trouble in our life and just bear it with a level of supernatural spirit, cheerfulness, and silence. To do so takes courage and courage comes by way of silence. So, the next time there are difficulties, stop complaining and just courageously face it without complaint. St. Joseph had plenty to complain about. Life was tough. But we do not hear a single word of protest. He bears it. He embraces it. He does it in silence.

We now move toward the altar to find Our Lord coming in the quiet disguise of the Holy Eucharist. He arrived for the first time on this earth in the quiet of the night. St. Joseph was there without words, contemplating a mystery that cannot be fully captured with words.

His silence shows us that moments without words and without noise can help us grow in the interior life, discern the divine will, and acquire the virtue of fortitude. For these reasons and many others, silence is not only golden; it is necessary for each of us.

Homily for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception December 8, 2022

Introduction

In his article “The Beauty of the Virgin Mary and the History of Art,” Theo Howard claims that, other than Our Lord, “there has been no more frequent subject in Western figurative art than the Blessed Virgin Mary.”[1]

Why is Mary’s image sculpted, painted, and drawn more than just about any subject in world history?

Is it because she is the Mother of God? Possibly. Is it because she is the greatest of all God’s creatures and the most important among all the saints? That’s also possible.

I may be wrong, but I think it is for another reason. I think the reason Our Lady is so often an object of art is because no one has been able to capture her beauty! They keep trying and trying but never get it just right. So, they try again and again and again.

When St. Bernadette was shown a beautiful statue of the Blessed Mother and asked what she, a someone who had a vision of Mary, thought of the work of art, Bernadette responded, “Oh, it doesn’t look like her at all!”

What is the source of Mary’s beauty and why does it matter to us?

What is beauty?

Let’s begin by asking the question, “What is beauty?”

There is a famous Mount professor with a double first name and Italian last name who wrote a book on beauty. He explains that beauty “expresses God’s intelligence and freedom.”

Allow me to re-phrase that definition using the Gospel for today: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.” Here we see God’s freedom active in His creature. God freely offers divine motherhood and leaves it to the freedom of His creature to say yes.

The Virgin of Nazareth concludes her response: “May it be done to me according to your word.” Here we see Divine Intelligence, God’s Word, becoming flesh.

On this feast of the Immaculate Conception, we see human beauty at its zenith – we contemplate, celebrate, rejoice in the person of Our Blessed Mother who is most beautiful.

Tota Pulchra

As you may know, there is an ancient title of Our Lady “tota pulchra” or “all beautiful.” Since the 10th Century there has been a special Mass of the Blessed Mother called “Mother of Fairest Love,” which honors Mary as “tota pulchra.”

The instruction for this Mass says that the Church, both East and West, “contemplates with joy her spiritual beauty. Beauty is the radiance of the holiness and truth of God, ‘the origin of all beauty’, and it is the image of the goodness and fidelity of Christ, ‘fairest of all God’s children on earth’.”

Our Blessed Mother is “fair” or “beautiful” because in her there is no flaw of sin or corruption. “From the first moment of her conception,” the Catechism says, “by a singular grace” she was “preserved immune from all stain of original sin.” She fulfills to a perfect degree the words of St. Paul in our Second Reading, “blessed… with every spiritual blessing to be holy and without blemish before him.”

The grace of the Immaculate Conception means that Mary is “tota pulchra” or “Mother of Fairest Love.”

The Beauty of Full of Grace

Mary is called beautiful for several reasons. She is beautiful because she is full of grace, as we heard her called in the Gospel. This means that she is resplendent with the glory of her Son and the beauty of Christified holiness. The Preface to the Mass of “Mary, Mother of Fairest Love” says, “Beauty was hers at her conception: free from all stain of sin, she is resplendent in the glory of grace.”

Beauty and ugliness, you see, are fundamentally spiritual realities. As one author puts it, “If beauty manifests the perfection and splendor of something, ugliness distorts it, corrupting what it is meant to be and blinding us to its true reality.”

We hear in our First Reading from the Book of Genesis just how God’s beauty of man and woman and creation is distorted by the ugliness of sin. Disobedience distorts the loving gaze that Adam and Eve had toward each other in their nakedness. The serpent now has to crawl and eat dirt.

A flower crumpled and crushed. A stained-glass window dirty and broken. The Philadelphia Eagles losing to the Dallas Cowboys. They are all ugly because they are not what God meant them to be.

Holiness, on the other hand, is beautiful. Mary is beautiful because she is “full of grace.” She is the new Eve, who reverses the disobedience and fear of Genesis and offers herself as His “handmaid” to the Word of God. She is what God meant all of us to be.

Our world needs to know Mary so that it can seek holiness above all, so that “live significantly” is understood as “live holiness.”

The Beauty of Love

Mary is also beautiful because she loves God, her Son, and loves the entire human race as her children with a love that is full of beauty; that is, a love that is virginal, bridal, and maternal.

Love, as you know, is the fundamental vocation for all men and women.

St. Paul tells the Ephesians in our Second Reading that “in love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ.” God has created us out of love and for love. It is our common and most important vocation. In loving, human being are perfected. We become beautiful.

Our Lady is stunningly beautiful. She knows how to love as Christ taught and shows us this more than anyone else.

Love has so many counterfeit images in the world today and we struggle to deal with them. We have the plague of pornography and the scourge lust. We see the failure of commitment to marriage and to the celibate priesthood.

God wants us to be truly ourselves, truly creatures capable of loving and being loved. Unchastity is ugly. Chaste love is beautiful.

Our world needs to know Mary so that it can know how to truly love.

Fairest Love and Evangelization

Is there a concrete application for the beauty of Mary, Our Mother? Yes – for evangelization.

Many people today claim to be spiritual but not religious. They have faith, but in a secular “gospel,” if you will, that answers their need to be authentic and to define themself and their lives as they see fit. They are satisfied with the comfort they experience and the good feelings they achieve by a certain altruism to those in need. As one author puts it, people aren’t just “walking away from faith,” they are “opting for a way of life that they found more attractive.”

Evangelization cannot bear much fruit in this secularized world by condemnations and purely intellectual arguments. We need to introduce the beauty of the Catholic faith and make it more attractive – the beauty of our beliefs, the beauty of our liturgy, the beauty of our lives.

Pope Emeritus Benedict puts in succinctly, “I have often affirmed my conviction that the true apologia of Christian faith, the most convincing demonstration of its truth against every denial, are the saints, and the beauty that the faith has generated. Today, for faith to grow, we must lead ourselves and the persons we meet to encounter the saints and to enter into contact with the Beautiful.”[2]

We call Mary the “Star of Evangelization” because of the way she brings people to Christ. I would propose that the more we introduce others to her beauty, her holiness, the way she loves, the more people will see just how she is “Mother of Fairest Love.” People will be surprised by her beauty and respond to her attractiveness by coming to faith in Christ.

Conclusion

At a Gala raising money for a good cause, an elegant woman served as the MC. She was stunning in her manners and dress. All eyes were on her throughout the evening. At the end of the evening, a little girl went up to a table and asked those seated whether they thought the woman was beautiful. They all answer, “Why, yes, of course.” The little girl replied with satisfied pride in her eyes, grinning from ear to ear, “She is my mom!”

And we can feel today just like that child. As we contemplate the Immaculate Conception, we contemplate the one who is full of grace in the beauty of holiness, the one who loves God and her children most beautifully. She is God’s supreme masterpiece. She is most beautiful, and she is our mom.

Mother of Fairest Love and the Immaculate Conception, pray for us!

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[1] Howard, Theo, “The Beauty of the Virgin Mary and the History of Art,” November 25, 2021, One Peter 5, https://onepeterfive.com/the-beauty-of-the-virgin-mary-and-the-history-of-art/

[2] Joseph Ratzinger, “The Feeling of Things, the Contemplation of Beauty” (August 24, 2002).

Homily for the Solemnity of St. Joseph, March 19, 2022

Solemnity of St. Joseph

Matthew 1: 16, 18-21, 24

Introduction

I want to extend a word of deep gratitude to the Daughter of Charity and the wonderful staff here at the National Shrine of Elizabeth Ann Seton.

We are here not only to honor the patron of the Universal Church on his feast day but also to remember our predecessors. In the great fire of March 20, 1885 on the campus of St. Joseph College, Mount faculty, seminarians, and college seniors acted with the courage of St. Joseph and came running the 2 miles from the Mount to fight back the flames of destruction. Since that time, seminarians have come to celebrate the feast day of St. Joseph with the Daughters of Charity to solidify our spiritual bonds, to remember our predecessors’ courage and commitment, and to ask St. Joseph to help us live in the same way.

St. Joseph is the earthly father of Jesus.

The instructions from the angel to Joseph in today’s Gospel could not be clearer: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

In ancient times the name of the person was a compendium of a person’s identity and mission. “Yeshua” means “one who delivers, one who rescues, one who saves.”

Giving a name to someone was the role of the father. It was a way in which the father bestows identity on the child and publicly professes his fatherhood, promising to fulfill his responsibility to care for that child.

In Joseph’s case, he names the child Jesus, not a name originating from Joseph but a name given to Him by the child’s true Father – God. In doing so, Joseph recognizes that God is the true father and yet he, Joseph, has the responsibility on earth to be the child’s earthly father in caring for him.

So, what does St. Joseph tell us about being a good father?

Crisis in Fatherhood

There is a crisis in fatherhood today. Many are left physically, emotionally, and even spiritually orphan. The 2020 US census says that 1 in 4 children, live without a biological, step, or adoptive father in the home. Research shows that a child raised in father-absent home has significant higher risk of many societal problems.

On the other hand, a Swiss study (1994) showed that when a dad attended church regularly along with his wife, 33% of the children ended up attending church regularly as adults. When the dad was non-practicing, but the mother went to church regularly, only 2% of the children ended up going to Church. Such a huge change with only one difference – dad was going to Church.

What kind of a father is needed today?

Our world needs fathers like St. Joseph. I would like to briefly point out three ways a man, especially a future priest, can be a good father in the line of St. Joseph.

We need fathers today who are present NOT absent.

Sometimes people say, “Father is always busy. Don’t bother him.” Or “When I’m with him, he’s always looking at his watch or smart phone.” Or, “I never see him around except when he is required to be somewhere.”

Priests have many responsibilities and duties. A pastor may be caring for more than one parish. His time is limited, that’s for sure. But he needs to cut back on his busyness and be present for his spiritual children.

His availability for confession, his presence before and after Mass, his attendance at social events, visiting the sick and homebound, all assure his flock that God is present. It is impossible to be present for everything and for everyone. But children need to know that their father will be present, especially in time of need.

In a real way we could call the priest the “presence of the fatherhood of God.”

Secondly, we need fathers of mercy NOT of severity.

When a father is too demanding and never satisfied with his children, the situation tends to crush and discourage them. As Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew, “They tie up heavy burden [hard to carry] and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them” (23:4).

In preaching and teaching, a priest’s words need to reflect the truth but avoid making the good news a heavy burden. Our words should ultimately encourage, not discourage. Preaching the Gospel should no doubt challenge its hearers but also provide hope.

In the confessional a spiritual father acts as an agent of Divine Mercy not as a blunt instrument of condemnation. Good fathers know the proper balance of teaching a lesson without demoralizing the soul.

St. Joseph imposes the name of “savior” on his adopted son, for “he will save his people from their sins.” A priest’s fatherhood is about salvation not condemnation. It is about mercy not severity.

Finally, fatherhood should be exercised with humility NOT with power.

What do I mean?

Power is the exercise of the imposition of one’s will that is raw and forceful. It is not service but domination. For a priest to exercise his fatherhood with this kind of power, he falls into the sin of clericalism. He feels superior and even distant from his people. It is no way to be a father.

Fr. Jacques Philippe observes that sometimes the drive for recognition seeks satisfaction through ambition and “an expansion of me.”[1]

This ambitious drive for power is polar opposite to the humble life of St. Joseph. He was a “righteous” man willing to be accused of abandoning his betrothed rather than expose her to the punishment of the Law. He quickly and quietly obeys the instruction of the angel.

A priest is father not in how he can lord over others but in how he can serve others. He looks for the needs of others and tries to fulfill them without pomp or drama. He visits the sick in the hospital, finds time to speak to a worried grandmother, organizes a special holy hour for young adults, and is not disturbed when someone asks him to hear a confession after Mass.

He is humble.

How to become a spiritual father

How can someone become a good father? Be a son first.

St. Joseph was first a child of God, receptive to his vocation and obedient to God’s command.

Sonship means spending time with Our Father in heaven, recognizing that we receive everything from the Father, our identity and our whole life. This, of course, means spending time in prayer to live and deepen one’s sonship. A good father always prays because a good father knows he is a son who depends completely on his heavenly father.

Pope Emeritus Benedict puts it this way: “A fundamental priority of priestly life is being with the Lord, and thus having time for prayer. St. Charles Borromeo always said: ‘I couldn’t care for the souls of others if I let my own waste away.”[2]

How can someone become a good father? Be a groom

On the natural level, a man needs a woman to be a father. God’s plan for marriage is that man and woman enter into a covenant for life and then have children, thus making them a father and a mother.

For a priest, he too cannot become a father without the grace of a spouse, and that spouse is the Church.

Too often “being a churchman” is looked upon disparagingly. Yet, the Church is our bride and, as the Mount Mission Statement says, we ought to love with the heart of the Church and think with the mind of the Church.

We must love our bride as a groom does. We must be willing to sacrifice our life for the portion of the People of God entrusted to our care. This is the best way we can be a groom and thus father for the Church.

Being a son and being a groom are the antecedents to true, good, and lasting fatherhood.

There is a story I once read about a Spanish father and son who had become estranged. The son ran away from home and the father set out to find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a last, desperate effort to find his son, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper. The ad read: “Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father.” That Saturday 800 men by the name of “Paco” showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.

The world needs holy fathers. St. Joseph, help priests and future priests to be good spiritual fathers. May our lives be an imitation of yours and a living icon of Our Father, who is in heaven. St. Joseph, pray for us.

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[1] Philippe, Jacques, Priestly Fatherhood, New York, Scepter, 2021, p. 45

[2] Pope Benedict XVI, Meeting with Priests of the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone, August 6, 2008

Homily for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Immaculate Conception

December 8, 2021

Luke 1: 26-38

Introduction

It’s obvious, isn’t it?

When looking up the mountain toward the Grotto it is obvious that something is missing. Our Lady is not there. More accurately, the 25-foot statute of Our Lady in not atop the campanile.

As preparations to regild began this past spring, engineers discovered that the statue’s interior structural steel supports were corroded and unsafe and needed to be significantly refurbished.

She, I mean the statue, was taken down and work is being done by a firm in Virginia to restore her.

As I look up at the Grotto on this day in which we celebrate her Immaculate Conception, I think a rather disconcerting thought. What if Mary was truly missing?

Now, I know that only her statue is missing. I know that Mary is present in so many profound ways in our lives and especially here on her mountain. I don’t ask this question to doubt God’s power and salvific plan. But as a kind of spiritual “thought experiment,” what if Mary had never been immaculately conceived? What if she was always missing from human history?

To put it positively, what does her presence, her virtue, and her intercessor power bring to the world and the Church and to our individual lives that we would not have if she was truly missing?

Joy

If Mary was missing, there would be no joy.

One of the titles of Our Lady in the Litany of Loreto is “Cause of our Joy” (Causa Nostrae Laetitiae).

As our Holy Father has said, “The Church calls her ‘cause of our joy,’. Why? Because she is the bearer of the greatest joy, which is Jesus.” Joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit who “overshadows” Mary in today’s Gospel.

Another thing to consider is the angelic greeting in today’s Gospel. The word in Greek can mean “hail” or “rejoice.” “Chairo” was used frequently as a greeting and a way to say goodbye. The message being delivered to the one who is “favored” or “full of grace” is good news of the highest order. The only proper response is one of joy. The angel who is delivering this good news cannot help but rejoice in his very greeting of Our Lady.

Later in Luke’s Gospel, Mary will bring this “bundle of joy,” Jesus, to Elizabeth and the child in her womb will leap with joy. Wherever Mary is, there is true and incarnate Joy. Wherever Mary is, there is Jesus.

The world desperately needs true joy. Depression rates are sharply on the rise in the US. 29% of Americans say they are very happy. What is missing?

As Pope St. Paul VI pointed out so many years ago, “Technological society has succeeded in multiplying the opportunities for pleasure, but it has great difficulty in generating joy. For joy comes from another source. It is spiritual. Money, comfort, hygiene and material security are often not lacking; and yet boredom, depression and sadness unhappily remain the lot of many” (GD)

What is missing is an interior life centered on God. Without God, there is no true joy… and Mary is the one who brought Him into the world

Without Mary, there would be no joy in the world. With Mary, we have joy Himself.

Divine Grace

If Mary was missing, there would be no divine grace.

The angel says, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!”

The angel does not call her “Mary” but “full of grace.” You see, we all have a name before God. It expresses the deepest meaning of our life and the reason for our creation. For Mary, it is to be the one who is full of grace

She is full of grace because of her Immaculate Conception. No sin has touched her soul. She is empty of sin and, as Genesis says, at enmity with the serpent. She is full grace and, as the Gospel says, has “found favor with God.”

Even more importantly, however, and the very reason for her Immaculate Conception, is that she is the Mother of Divine grace. That is, Our Lady is full of grace because she is for Jesus and becomes full of Jesus.

For us, as Lumen Gentium says, “she is our mother in the order to grace.” Grace Himself came to us through her. She gives birth to divine life in our souls. Her maternity is in the order to grace.

When we invoke her as “Mother of Divine Grace,” we affirm that she maternally brings grace, brings Jesus, to our souls.

Without Mary, there would be no divine grace in the world. With Mary, we have grace Himself.

Hope

If Mary was missing, there would be no hope

I mentioned that many lack joy in the world. Maybe it is because they have no hope!

The words of the angel, “For nothing will be impossible for God,” strike many today as fantasy. Many have no faith in eternal life, see no meaning in suffering, think that God does not love them.

We have good news, however. Good News that has become incarnate in the womb of Mary. Her “fiat” gives the hope of eternal life back to humanity.

In our 2nd reading Paul says of himself and the Ephesians, “we who first hoped in Christ.”

Mary is our hope because what was lost has been restored. What was lost? Through the prompting of the devil, Adam and Eve rebelled against the divine plan: you will be like God, knowing good and evil (Gen. 3:5), the father of lies insinuated to them. And our first parents accepted his words. They didn't want to owe anything to God's love. They tried to attain, by their own strength alone, the happiness to which they had been called.

But God didn't turn his back on mankind. From all eternity, in his infinite Wisdom and Love, foreseeing how we would misuse our freedom, he had decided to become one of us through the Incarnation of the Word, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. God does so in the womb of Mary, our hope.

Our 1st reading from Genesis says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers.” We see here the first announcement of the Redemption, in which we already glimpse the figure of a Woman, Eve's descendent, who will be the Mother of the Redeemer and, with Him and under Him, will crush the head of the serpent.

We have so many reasons to call Mary “Spes Nostra,” “Our Hope.”

Conclusion

There is every reason to believe that the statue of Our Lady will be back in the Grotto by spring. I look forward to the day as I’m sure you do as well. On this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we should be confident in Our Lady’s continued presence and faithfulness to her children.

There is a story about a priest who was asked by a hospital nurse to visit a patient in Ward 3. On entering the Ward, he found a man who was surprised to see him. He hadn’t asked for a priest, and he hadn't received the sacraments for many years. "Nevertheless," he explained to the priest, "I have always kept up a promise I made to my mum on her deathbed: to pray three Hail Marys every night. I prayed that Mary would 'pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.'"

After a long conversation, the man made his confession, was anointed, and received the Eucharist with great devotion. Leaving the Ward, the priest met the nurse and found that he had been in Ward 4 and not in Ward 3. The patient in Ward 3 was still waiting for him! This was soon put right, but the priest felt thankful for the mistake.

He felt still more thankful when the following day he found out that the man in Ward 4 had died suddenly that night. The man had kept his promise to his mother... and Our Lady, his spiritual mother, was faithful to him… “now and at the hour of our death.”

My thought experiment is an experiment that fails. We do not have to wonder or worry about what life and history would be like without Mary. She said “fiat” to the angel. She became the mother of the Incarnate Word and our mother as well. She is Cause of our Joy, Mother of Divine Grace, and Our Hope, no matter what happens to a statue. Our Lady is always with us and will always be faithful to us… “now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

Rector's Ruminations, November 4, 2021

 

Rector’s Ruminations November 4, 2021 Dear Seminary Community, Greetings from the Mount! So much has been happening on Mary’s Mountain that I just don’t know if there is enough room in an email to write about it. Seminarians did several exciting things during their Fall Break (October 2-10). Some went camping, others joined Msgr. Heintz and me in the Diocese of Ogdensburg, NY, for the diaconate ordination of Leagon Carlin and his father (to the permanent diaconate). Seminarians John Winslow and John Brusa had the opportunity to join Bishop Reed, Auxiliary Bishop of Boston, on the CatholicTV Network speaking about Blessed Carlos Acutis.  A group of seminarians spent the first days of their fall break on the Evangelization Mission Trip. It was held at West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV, with the very able guidance of two Mount grads, Fr. Brian Crenwelge and Fr. Phillip Szabo, who are the pastor and parochial vicar respectively at the local parish and center for campus ministry. Our seminarians carried out “street evangelization” by engaging with students on campus in conversations about faith. There were many grace-filled encounters which culminated with a Eucharistic procession on campus. Between October 11 and 13 Bishop Louis Tylka, coadjutor Bishop of Peoria, made his second visit to the Seminary. He celebrated Mass for the entire Seminary community. Since the Bishop Jenky baseball game between the Diocese of Peoria and the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend was such a “hit” last year, it has become a classic and a tradition. The 2nd Annual Bishop Jenky Classic was played on October 12. Bishop Tylka threw out the first pitch (a strike) and his Peoria men went on to win the game. Following Bishop Tylka’s visit, we were blessed with a visit from Archbishop William Lori, S’77, Archbishop of Baltimore. He had the opportunity to visit with each of his seminarians and then we were honored to have him celebrate Mass that afternoon. Family Weekend was October 22-24. We had 140 family members and 50 seminarians participate in the events. It was wonderful to see so many parents and family members in person this year. Parents and family members had the opportunity to hear from formators about the formation process and the daily life of the seminarians. If you would like to see some of the images from the weekend, thanks to seminarian Michael Pray, we have a slideshow. Just click here: 2021 Seminary Family Weekend Slideshow - Large 540p.mov We had two big house socials in the past month. One to celebrate Columbus Day and another called “Oktoberfest.” Our lives at the Mount are filled with much prayer and study but we also need time to relax and enjoy each other’s company.  On October 28 we welcomed Fr. Gene Ritz, chancellor of the great Diocese of Allentown (I’m from Allentown so that’s why I say “great”) and co-postulator of the cause of canonization of the Servant of God, Fr. Walter Ciszek, SJ. Fr. Ciszek spent 15 years in confinement and hard labor in Russia as he simultaneously ministered clandestinely to the faithful. He was finally able to return to the United States in 1963. He is the author of “With God in Russia” and “He Leadeth Me,” both of which provide a powerful witness to his work in Russia and the power of God’s grace. Fr. Ritz provided some moving insights into Fr. Ciszek’s heroic life and work in Russia. He is an inspiration to all, especially to seminarians. We are looking forward to November 18-19. Bishop Stephen Parkes of the Diocese of Savannah, GA, will lead us in a day of recollection and then be the main celebrant of the Mass of Candidacy. Candidacy will be given to the seminarians in First Theology, and it is considered to be the indication that a seminarian has finished the Discipleship Stage (Pre-theology or College Seminary) and that his bishop accepts him as a candidate for Holy Orders as he enters into the Stage of Theological Studies or the Configuration Stage of formation. Finally, the Mount is planning for a special conference in January. The new universal guidelines for priestly formation (called the Ratio Fundamentalis) calls for a Propaedeutic (meaning “preparatory”) Stage of formation. This stage will take place before a seminarian would enter Pre-theology. We are planning a Roundtable at the Mount bringing together our partner vocation directors and others to discuss, exchange ideas, and begin thinking more deeply about this stage of formation. It will take place January 17-18, 2022. Please pray for its success. May Our Lady, Queen of the Mount, continue to watch over our Seminary community.  In Christ, Msgr. Andrew Baker Rector

Mount St. Mary's Seminary

 

Homily for the Solemnity of St. Joseph, 2021

 

Solemnity of St. Joseph: Matthew 1: 16, 18-21, 24a

Regarding St. Joseph, one scholar says, “Men of our time do not see the figure of Joseph as sufficiently interesting to consider it worth a more detailed examination” (Suarez, 14).

We, however, think differently. We are not only interested but fascinated with St. Joseph. Let’s begin a journey of discovery.

The Bible speaks of Joseph as a just man, as a carpenter or craftsman, and as a father. What does each of these attributes mean for us?

Mt. 1: 19: Joseph was a just (or “righteous”) man

First, Joseph was a just man or “righteous” man as the translation of today’s Gospel says.

Being “just” means he was a man of the covenant. He was in right relationship with God. In essence, it means that he was a holy observer of the Law.

But I think there is something more revealed to us in today’s Gospel than just a generic description of a just man. He was just but in a certain way.

St. Matthew tells us that “since he was a just man,” he decided to put Mary away quietly. Notice, I did not say “divorce” her. ἀπολύω (apolyō) is a verb in Greek that means to give leave, or even to forgive. It is probably better translated, “to put her away privately” or, as the RSV says, “to send her away quietly.”

But how can Joseph be described as “just” because he wanted to send Our Lady away quietly?

For Joseph, in being a just man, sending Mary away quietly needed to avoid, first of all, any indication of an indiscretion on Mary’s part. Joseph knew the Immaculate Virgin better than anyone. He could not have concluded that she had sinned. At the same time, Joseph could not see how he was part of this supernatural event and divine plan so he needed to remove himself from the equation. How could he do both?

Federico Suarez in his book “Joseph of Nazareth” provides a wonderful explanation. Sending Mary away “meant simply avoiding the issue, leaving unfulfilled the marriage to which he had solidly committed himself with the betrothal ceremony.”

You see, Joseph had not yet brought Mary into his home. They were legally married, but the process was not yet complete. If Joseph sends her away, he does not fulfill his legal obligation. His lack of action will reflect badly on him but not on Mary.

Suarez concludes, “with this solution, Our Lady would not now be a rejected wife but an abandoned wife. Not a woman marked out by sin, but one marked by misfortune. Not a woman expiating a misdeed, but one who suffers for someone else’s misdeed.” (Suarez, Joseph of Nazareth, 44-45)

Joseph found a solution that preserves Mary’s reputation, puts the blame on himself because he would be seen as not fulfilling his duty and abandoning his wife and child, and does not interfere with God’s will. He is willing to quietly suffer this indignation from others for the sake of preserving Mary’s good reputation. It is the choice of a truly just man.

In the end Joseph discovers that he is part of the divine plan. Thus, he does not need to put the blame on anyone. Whatever his fear, it disappears as soon as the angel tells Joseph of how he has a role in God’s mysterious plan of salvation.

Dealing with ambiguity and confusion, preserving the good name of others, willing to suffer so that others do not have to, and, in all things, discerning and following God’s will not matter the cost, is who a “just” man is. This man is St. Joseph, and this man should be you and me.

Mt. 13: 55; Mk. 6: 3: Joseph was a carpenter or craftsman

Joseph is also called a carpenter of craftsman. The word the Gospels use is “téktōn,” a common term used for artisans, craftsmen, and woodworkers (so, yes, it can translate as “carpenter”). The Latin translation of “faber,” preserves the broader meaning and is a general term used for workers and craftsmen.

Pope Francis reminds us that “working persons, whatever their job may be, are cooperating with God himself, and in some way become creators of the world around us… Saint Joseph’s work reminds us that God himself, in becoming man, did not disdain work.”

Joseph knew intimately the world of manual labor. With his skills he could provide for the Holy Family. He even traveled to Egypt without a truck! He worked hard, long hours not as an end in itself, but for Jesus and Mary.

The world of work needs to recapture its supernatural direction.

All noble work, no matter its level of importance in the world, is capable of being an offering to God. When we do it well, with a keen sense of how it serves others, and we put love into it, it becomes a sweet-smelling offering to the Lord

Joseph had projects and clients. He had to order materials and care for his tools. He practiced order and timeliness. He knew the importance of getting it right and according to specifications given to him by others.

He was a proud craftsman of his work and did it well as an offering to the Lord, the Lord that worked with him under his roof.

The work of a priest, while not considered manual labor, is sacred. Priestly ministry involves preaching and the celebration of the sacrament, which needs to be done well.

Priestly ministry also involves paperwork, meetings, mundane conversations, and long hours. It demands unseen menial tasks and hidden visits to the hospital and nursing homes. A priest’s work can be thankless and sometime even despised. No matter. Like Joseph, we are spiritual “craftsmen” who receive from God’s providence and offer back to Him a people redeemed by His love.

Lk. 2: 48: Joseph was a father

Finally, Joseph was a father. Our Lady simple says in the Gospel of Luke, “Your father and I have been looking for you.” There is no adjective like “foster father,” “adoptive father,” or “earthly father.” All of these are legitimate adjectives, but Our Lady uses none of them. Joseph is simply “father.”

Now, we know that he is not the biological father of Jesus. But he was father in every other sense.

God the Father’s choice for who would be the father on earth for His Son Jesus was a choice for someone who could best reflect His fatherhood in the world. This man needed to protect the savior, even save the savior from Herod. This man needed to raise the Son of God in all the ways of faith, of culture, of language, of work, of relationships, of affections, of virtues, etc. In other words, this man needed to represent God the Father in the most perfect way possible. Joseph was that man.

Two particular moments in the Gospel illustrate Joseph’s fatherhood, the Circumcision and the Finding in the Temple.

At the circumcision, Joseph had the ritual duty to name the child. He was charged by the angel to name Him Jesus, “because he will save his people from their sins” (Mt. 1: 21). On bestowing the name on the child, Joseph revealed to the world that he was acting as father and filling in or standing in for the heavenly Father.

Every father on earth, especially a priest, stands in for God the Father.

When he and his wife find Jesus in the Temple, Joseph hears the direct words of his 12-year-old son, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Lk. 2: 49). Joseph learns in the Temple that there are limits within which he can exercise his fatherly authority. Joseph had authority over Jesus but only in so far as it aided the mission given to Jesus by his heavenly Father.

Every father on earth, especially a priest, knows that his ability and authority have limits and that God the Father’s authority and activity of grace are preeminent in the life of every soul. Fathers must know what they can and cannot do and leave the rest to God the Father. He is Father of us all.

After Mass a number of us will formally consecrate ourselves to God through St. Joseph. It is simply a way of recognizing his role as a just man, craftsman, and father in my life. It is a way to “enter into” the spirit and power of Joseph and deepen our love and dedication to Our Lady and our complete self-giving to Christ.

As we continue in the Year of St. Joseph, I pray that the great Patron of the Church will be your and you will be his more deeply. I pray that you and I will be able to better live as St. Joseph did as a just man, as a craftsman, and as a father.

Rector’s Ruminations, July 31, 2020

 

Rector’s Ruminations

 July 31, 2020

Dear Seminary Community,

As the summer break comes to an end, I have some exciting news to share with all of you. We all know that Ms. Julia Parker can never be replaced but we are excited to welcome to the Seminary community Mr. Nicholas J. Will as the new Seminary Organist and Director of Liturgical Music. He has recently been the Director of Liturgical Music at the North American College in Rome and he is Founder and President of the Saint Gregory Institute of Sacred Music. Welcome Mr. Will!

I am also happy to announce that Fr. Lee Gross will have a special assistant this year in the person of Fr. Diego Ruiz, I.V.E. Fr. Ruiz will be the Assistant Dean of Men, lending a hand to Fr. Gross and sharing the work of the Dean of Men.

If you have been following the Seminary Facebook page, you will know that Archbishop Lori recently received permission from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments in Rome to insert in the liturgical calendar of the Archdiocese of Baltimore the optional memorial of Blessed Stanley Rother. The Congregation has also granted the indult for the Mass in honor of Blessed Stanley to be celebrated in St. Bernard’s Chapel for priests who are part of a pilgrimage or for priests who celebrate Mass for the benefit of the members of a pilgrimage. We are grateful to the Holy Father for this tremendous honor.

Starting Monday, August 3, a group of administrators, staff, faculty, and seminarians will begin a Strategic Planning Summit led by the Center for Catholic School Excellence. We will consider the responses that many of you gave during the multiple focus groups conducted this past year. We will complete our work on Wednesday, August 5, and will produce the first draft of our new five-year Seminary Strategic Plan (2021-2026), which we will be sharing with the Seminary community this fall for your feedback. Please pray for this endeavor.

We will soon be welcoming to Mary’s Mountain many new seminarians and one priest-student – Fr. Juan Garcia. Fr. Garcia has been serving the Hispanic community in the Archdiocese of Baltimore for the past few years. He has been assigned by Archbishop Lori to the Mount as a full time English as a Second Language (ESL) student. He will be a member of our community for this year as he experiences a total immersion into the English language, giving him an opportunity to strengthen his language skill so as to better serve both the Hispanic and English speaking communities in the Archdiocese.

After such a long and unusual hiatus, I am looking forward to the Seminary being once again full of seminarians. New seminarians arrive Sunday, August 9, during the afternoon. On Wednesday, August 12, the First Theologians arrive for an integration activity which will take place on Thursday with new seminarians in their class. All other returning seminarians will arrive on Thursday, August 13 in time for Mass at 7:15 pm with Archbishop Lori.  

Life on campus during the next few months will be different due to the various COVID-19 adaptations. As I said to the seminarians in my Zoom meeting a few weeks ago, we are trying to manage the risk and still have priestly formation in person. We have devised many ways to “protect” ourselves and others from the spread of the virus but, as I was praying about the beginning of the semester, I sensed that God was asking us not to forget the power of prayer as a way to protect ourselves. So, I now ask the entire Seminary Community to pray daily (if possible, even more than daily) the Memorare, invoking Our Lady, Queen of the Mount, to protect the entire Seminary community from the virus. Let us pray this prayer until the risk of COVID-19 has subsided:

MEMORARE

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to you do I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

Our Lady. Queen of the Mount, pray for us.

In Christ,

    Msgr. Andrew Baker