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Eucharist by Fr. Reid

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2012/04/06 at 11:09 AM

• About an hour north of Rome in the Umbria region of Italy is the very picturesque town of Orvieto. Like so many of the towns of Italy, at the very heart of Orvieto is a beautiful Catholic church.

• And within this beautiful Catholic church in the heart of Orvieto is the famed Corporal of Bolsena. A corporal, you may recall, is the square white cloth, placed on the altar, upon which the Eucharist rests during Mass.

• The Corporal of Bolsena is famous because it is stained with blood from a Eucharistic miracle that occurred in the village of Bolsena in 1263.

• A traveling priest from Germany was passing through that village while on pilgrimage to Rome, and while a pious man, this priest had some serious doubts about transubstantiation and the true presence of our Lord in the Eucharist.

• While offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in Bolsena, blood started to seep from the Host just after the priest spoke the words of Consecration. The blood was so profuse that it soon covered his hands and spilled onto the corporal.

• Confused, the priest stopped Mass and then asked to be taken to the nearby city of Orvieto, where Pope Urban IV was staying at the time. Upon hearing the priest’s story, the Holy Father began an investigation to determine the authenticity of the miracle.

• Once the Holy Father ascertained all the facts, he had the corporal brought to Orvieto in a grand procession and placed it in the cathedral where it remains on display to this day.

• For the past couple of weeks, our Gospel reading has come from John 6, which provides much of the Church’s scriptural background for our belief in the Eucharist.

• In today’s Gospel we hear about the Jews who are murmuring against Jesus for saying that He is “the bread that came down from Heaven.”

• They know Jesus, they’ve watched Him grow up, they know His parents. So for them, to hear Jesus say that He has come down from Heaven, and that He is the bread sent by God, is scandalous! How could this be? Is this not Jesus, the Son of Joseph?

• Of course the Jews are relying solely on their physical senses to make this determination that Jesus is nothing more than a carpenter’s son.

• Although they have just witnessed the miracle of the loaves and fish, as well as countless other miracles, they refuse to look upon Jesus with the eyes of faith. Rather, they choose to limit themselves to the myopia and fallibility of human knowledge and experience.

• It is a sad consequence of that Fall that we humans often doubt. Even though God gives us the great gift of faith at our baptism, in our sinfulness, it is not always easy to be strong in faith, especially when our senses cannot confirm or deny a truth for us.

• Yet as Christians it is so very important that learn to rely not solely on our physical senses, which are easily deceived, but on our spiritual senses as well.

• It is so very important that we train ourselves to see with the eyes of faith, for it is only when we walk by faith and not by sight that we can see things as they truly are.

• While every human knows that there are visible realities that we can perceive with our physical senses, as Christians we know that there are also invisible realities that are knowable to us only through faith.

• So for example, while we cannot see it or touch it or drive to it, while it has no attributes that are accessible to our physical senses, as Christians we all know and believe that Heaven truly exists. It is a truth written on our hearts that we believe by faith.

• And much of our Faith is like this! Our belief in the Trinity, the angels, the intercession of the saints, the efficacy of the sacraments, and so on are all things that we cannot prove with our senses, but that we must believe by faith.

• Note well that the lack of empirical evidence doesn’t make these realities any less true. In fact, as Catholics we know by faith that the invisible realities of our faith are more real than the visible realities!

• Central among these matters of faith for us Catholics is our belief in the Eucharist. While our senses cannot perceive any change taking place in the bread and wine as the priest says the words of consecration during Mass, we know by faith that the bread and wine do, indeed, become our Lord’s body and blood.

• And every once in a while, in order to bolster the belief of the faithful, our Lord allows a miracle – like the Eucharistic miracle of Bolsena – to occur. Miracles like this remind us that our faith is not a collection of pious myths, but rather that what we believe is believable.

• Yet we cannot depend on these miracles. We must make the choice to believe. And this choosing to believe without any confirmation from our senses is an exercise of faith.

• But keep in mind that faith is not a matter of believing something irrational or illogical. To the contrary, faith is a matter of submitting our intellect and will to God. As Hebrews 11:1 tells us: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

• Thus, true faith is never blind. It’s simply a matter of trusting in our Lord and what He has revealed. It’s a matter of cooperating with the grace that God has given us. Thus, while faith is a supernatural gift from God, it is also something we must choose to exercise.

• At its heart, our faith is rooted in our relationship with Jesus. The stronger our relationship with the Lord, the stronger our faith will be. Thus, faith is not something that God gives to some and not to others; faith is accessible to everyone. But we must be willing to be in relationship with God and to humbly submit ourselves to Him.

• It’s important that we choose to exercise our faith because it is our faith in Jesus that leads us to eternal life. As Jesus tells us today: “whoever believes has eternal life.”

• So, truly, my friends, if you fear that your faith is weak, then look to strengthen your relationship with Christ through prayer and the worthy reception of Holy Communion.

• Several years ago a study revealed that only _ of Catholics really believe in the True Presence in the Eucharist. This is sad not simply because it means that most Catholics have a defect in faith. It’s sad because it means that most Catholics don’t really know our Lord!

• And in failing to believe in the Eucharist, we miss out on graces important to our salvation! The Eucharist strengthens us and prepares us for Heaven. It joins us in closer union with our Lord, and it forgives our venial sins. The Eucharist is how Jesus shows His love for us.

• Every time we come to Mass and are presented with Holy Communion, we respond “Amen!” Amen means: “I believe.” So ask yourself: do I really believe? Do I believe that the Eucharist is truly the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ?

• And if you do believe, then make it a point to act as if you believe. Ask yourself: do I always behave in a manner consistent with my belief in the Eucharist? For example, do I always genuflect when I pass in front of the tabernacle or do I walk by casually with nary a thought to the presence of my Lord?

• When I come to church, do I dress in a manner that shows my understanding that I am in the Lord’s holy presence, or do I just put on what feels comfortable? Am I quiet, reverent and prayerful in church, or do I chat needlessly with those around me?

• Do I take the time to prayerfully prepare myself to receive Holy Communion, making sure I have no un-confessed grave sins before approaching our Lord, or do I receive Holy Communion when I know I shouldn’t because I fear what others might think of me?

• Do I receive the Eucharist with great devotion and recollection, realizing that it is the Lord Himself Who is being placed on my tongue or in my hands? And afterwards do I return to my pew and thank the Lord for the graces He has just given to me?

• I ask you to consider these questions not simply to ensure that everyone is following “the rules.” I ask you to consider these questions because acting in way that is consistent with our beliefs actually strengthens our faith!

• When we respond to the Eucharist in a way that shows that we do believe it to be the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ, our faith in the Eucharist grows, and we grow in holiness.

• My friends, it is our greatest privilege as Catholics to receive our Lord’s body, blood, soul and divinity in Holy Communion. It is not merely bread and wine that we receive. By faith we know that the Eucharist is truly our Lord made present for our salvation.

• As we consider this great gift, let us pray for a strengthening of our faith in the Eucharist and in all the divine mysteries of our faith, and let us resolve to exercise our faith with great zeal, charity, reverence, and integrity.

Copyright 2009 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC

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Good Friday by Fr. Reid

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2012/04/06 at 9:11 AM

• After listening to the story of our Lord’s Passion, we may be tempted to ask the simple question: why? Why did the Son of God suffer so? Why this terrible violence? Why did Jesus, Who was innocent and perfect in every way, suffer the cruel ignominy of the cross?

• At the very least His execution like a common criminal some 2000 years ago was the most unjust and heinous crime the world has ever known.

• For those of us who know that Jesus is Lord and who love Him as our savior, it is unthinkable that He suffered at our hands, and yet we know it to be true. His suffering is a truth that we cannot deny.

• The crucifixes that adorn our homes and churches, and that we wear around our necks testify to this terrible reality. Even the Sign of the Cross, that we Catholics so often make with nary a thought, bears silent and perpetual witness to man’s inhumanity to the one Man who was also God. We are haunted by the fact that man the creature murdered God the Creator.

• Regardless of when we were born into history, there is blood on our hands, for we have all sinned against the living God.

• And this sad fact begs yet another question. If Jesus truly is God, then why did He allow this? For surely God cannot be coerced or forced by even the strongest and most powerful of men to do anything. If God is truly God, then He must have chosen this.

• So why did God choose the cross? St. Thomas Aquinas gives us two answers: First, Jesusendured the shame of the cross as a remedy for sins. Secondly, He did so as an example of how we should act.

• St. Thomas tells us that the cross is remedy because “in the face of all the evils which we incur on account of our sins, we have found relief through the Passion of Christ.” Yet the cross is also an example, “for the Passion of Christ completely suffices to fashion our lives.”

• St. Thomas teaches us that “whoever wishes to live perfectly should do nothing but disdain what Christ disdained on the cross and desire what He desired, for the cross exemplifies every virtue.”

• But even more than being a remedy for our sins and a pattern for our lives, the cross is our bridge to Heaven.

• Although God created us in His own image and likeness and destined us to live with Him forever in Heaven, we forfeited our rights to our eternal inheritance through our sinfulness.

• Our sins cut us off from God; they alienate us from God and bind us to this world. Yet, through the power of the cross, we have a means for passing through that veil that separates God and man, Heaven and earth.

• And in this we see the true divinity of our Lord, for only God could take a shameful instrument of execution and make it an instrument of glory and the very key to Heaven’s gate.

• With a love that we cannot fathom, Jesus pours out His mercy upon all who seek His forgiveness. The same blood that covers our hands in guilt now covers our souls with mercy!

• And that, my friends, is why Jesus endured the cross, for without the cross we would all be utterly lost. And that is why we call today Good Friday; and it is very good indeed.

• And so, my brothers and sisters, let us all confidently approach the throne of grace to receive His mercy. Come and behold Him, our savior and our king, and let us give thanks today for the gift of His holy cross, by which He has redeemed the world.

Copyright 2009 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC

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Palm Sunday by Fr. Reid

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2012/03/31 at 9:11 AM

• “Because of this, God greatly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

• My dear friends in Christ, in listening to the Gospel story of our Lord’s Passion and death, we have heard the most important story told in the history of man, for we have just heard the story of our redemption – and the price our Lord paid for it.

• And we read it today on Palm Sunday as a preparation for Holy Week, which we now enter, and during which we will see the mysteries of our faith writ large upon the canvas of our liturgies.

• Today we witnessed Jesus enter triumphantly into Jerusalem amidst a chorus of hosannas and the waving of palms. Today we see Him heralded as a king, but we also call to mind today all that Jesus will suffer for us.

• Jesus is our King, but He is a king who suffers for His people.

• While we herald Him today, over the course of this week, we will see the conspiracy that leads to our Lord’s betrayal.

• On Thursday evening we will sit with Jesus and His apostles at His last supper, at which He will institute the holy priesthood and give us the incomparable gift of the Eucharist.

• We will follow Him to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray with Him as He suffers His most bitter agony.

• Through our liturgies we will watch as our Lord is arrested, imprisoned, unjustly judged and condemned. He will be mercilessly scourged and crowned with thorns amidst bitter mockery. Every imaginable ignominy will be heaped upon Him.

• Our Lord will be stripped of every human comfort, even His clothing, and ultimately Jesus will suffer the humiliation of crucifixion like a common criminal, hanging upon the cross for three agonizing hours until He can breathe no more and expires.

• And all this He does for our sake. All this He does so that we might be freed from our sins and made worthy to take the places with Him in Heaven that God the Father has prepared for us as His sons and daughters.

• In our second reading we hear St. Paul write to the Philippians that Jesus “emptied Himself.” Jesus literally poured forth His blood, His very self, out of His deep love for us. And we are called to have this same type of love for one another. His is a love that is completely selfgiving – as should be our love.

• My dear friends in Christ, as we once again enter into this most holy of weeks, let us bend our knees and confess with our tongues that Jesus Christ is Lord.

• And as we do so, let us pray for the grace to empty ourselves of all that is not of Christ so that we may love as Jesus loves.

• Let us take the time to meditate deeply on all the mysteries of our faith that are about to unfold for us this week, and let us pray that we may be able to give ourselves completely to Jesus, just as He gave Himself to us.

• And lastly, let us pray for the strength and courage to endure whatever suffering we must for the sake of our own salvation and for the salvation of others. Have a blessed Holy Week.

Copyright 2009 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC

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Cathedral of Chartes by Fr. Reid

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2012/03/29 at 9:11 AM

If you asked me what I thought was the most beautiful church in the world, I would have to say the Cathedral of Chartres in France. And perhaps the most famous and most beautiful element of this church is its famed stained glass windows.

For centuries people from around the world have gone on pilgrimage to Chartres in order to view these artistic masterpieces. Not only are they aesthetically splendorous, but they also teach us about the history of our faith as their artwork contains the story of salvation history.

Bear in mind that this stained glass is not just mere window dressing, but that along with the other art and the architecture of the church, these windows create a certain atmosphere that transports those inside the cathedral to the very heights of Heaven.

Most importantly, these windows – and indeed the entire church – are a testament to God’s power and glory and a testament to the great faith of the medieval French people.

Recently I spoke of the visible and invisible realities of our Catholic faith and the invisible realities, the things that we cannot perceive with our physical senses but that we know by faith, are really “more real” than the visible realities of our world.

In order to make these invisible realities visible, the Church has always relied on Her liturgy and on Her art and architecture. Embedded within our liturgies, our church architecture, and our art are signs and symbols that speak of the invisible realities of our Faith.

So for example, our church buildings themselves are meant to symbolize Heaven. When we walk into a church, the art and architecture should, in a sense, remind us of the celestial realms and thereby lead us to contemplate God.

Church buildings are like bridges that connect us with Heaven. Not only are they places where we go to worship God, but they should speak of the Heavenly realities to which we are all called and to which we must all aspire.

Thus, it is so very important that church buildings be beautiful. Beauty is truth! Therefore, beauty for a church building should not be an option but should be integral to the design. Accordingly, churches should be built with an eye to proportion and symmetry, grace of design, and a verticality that draws our hearts and minds to up to God.

Noble and worthy materials should be used in the construction of the church and its furnishings, and every effort should be made to incorporate artwork and symbolism that speak of the mysteries of our faith and help us to meditate on Heaven itself.

Our reasoning for building churches this way is two-fold. Not only do churches connect us with Heaven by leading us to contemplate the heavenly realities of our faith, but they are also meant to give glory and honor to our Lord.

There are some people who are of the opinion that churches should be built inexpensively so that more money can be directed toward the poor, but Scripture reveals that perhaps Jesus had a little different opinion.

In Matthew 26:11 our Lord rebukes the disciples for complaining about the woman who anointed His feet with costly perfume, as they were saying that the perfume could have been sold for money to give to the poor.

Jesus, however, reminds the apostles and us that we will always have the poor with us, and that we should make it a point to serve Him generously in recognition that He is our sovereign Lord. His point is that we owe Him every ounce of respect and gratitude that we can muster, even if it costs a lot of money!

For us Catholics our churches are not only places that should lead us to contemplate God, but through the Eucharist they are actually places in which God dwells!

While our Catholic art, architecture, and liturgy are suffused with beautiful symbols that speak of the invisible realities of our faith, God loves us so much that He doesn’t make us rely on these symbols alone to commune with Him.

Out of His great love for us, Jesus actually dwells with us in the Eucharist. This is a magnificent truth and an astonishing privilege that we Catholics enjoy whenever we walk into our one of our churches: that God is really and truly present in our churches.

Jesus Christ is really and truly present in the Eucharist, as present to us as He was to His disciples 2000 years ago.

And through the Eucharist, not only does He dwell with us in our churches and chapels, but He also dwells within us. As our Lord attests in today’s Gospel: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.

Not only can we go to be with our Lord in a Catholic church, but by receiving Holy Communion, we can take our Lord into ourselves! What can be more magnificent and yet intimate than that?

So as we consider this incredible gift of the Eucharist, the challenge for us is not simply to conform our exterior actions to our belief in the Lord’s True Presence in the Eucharist.

In addition to treating the Eucharist with the proper respect through our personal piety, manner of dress, and reverential decorum in the church, we must also try to make our souls a worthy place to receive Him.

My point is that it’s not enough for us just to build a beautiful church. If we are going to give God the proper glory and honor He deserves, we need to be beautiful ourselves!

And the way that we beautify our souls is through our good works, by diligently striving for virtue in all things, and most especially through our prayerful communion with the Lord.

Holiness of life should be the goal for which we are constantly striving. And when we find that we have fallen short and committed sin, we should hasten quickly to the confessional where we can receive our Lord’s tender mercy and forgiveness.

My friends, I know that holiness can seem elusive and difficult to attain, but the witness of the saints shows us that it is possible, despite whatever weaknesses, short-comings and failures we may have in life.

Just remember that true sanctity is not simply a matter of not sinning. It’s a matter of persevering in virtue and prayer. It’s a matter of humbly asking for forgiveness when necessary and relying on God’s grace. It’s a matter of living in faith, hope  and charity.

In a few short weeks we will be moving into our beautiful new church that (hopefully) will lead us to meditate on the heavenly realities and be a worthy home for our Lord.

Let us pray, my friends, that through our prayer, good works, and reliance on God’s grace and mercy, our souls, too, may become beautiful and worthy homes for our Lord to dwell.

Copyright 2009 by Reverent Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is the pastor of St. Ann Catholic Church in Charlotte, NC

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The Annunciation by Fr. Reid

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2012/03/24 at 9:11 AM

• Today, my dear brothers and sisters, we enter this church with great anticipation. Our hearts are hopeful, for the Virgin Mary has heard that she will conceive and bear the Son of God, the Savior of the World.

• He is to be called Emmanuel, God with us, for this Son is both God and man, our savior and redeemer. In offering this Son to Mary, the Father – through the intrepid service of the archangel Gabriel – has offered to her the very price of our salvation.

• Like those condemned to die for their sins, we look to Mary as the only sure hope of reprieve. Her yes gains us pardon and calls us back to life. Through her fiat salvation is born for all mankind.

• So we beg her this day to answer quickly. As St. Bernard once wrote to our Lady: “Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident. This is no time for virginal simplicity to forget prudence. In this matter alone, O prudent Virgin, do not fear to be presumptuous.”1

• And so it is that our Almighty Lord, Emmanuel, God with us, comes to dwell miraculously within the womb of one of His creatures. To be sure, our Lady is the highest honor of our race, immaculately prepared for her role in salvation history from the first moment of her conception.

• But she is a creature nonetheless, and the annunciation of our salvation and Mary’s acceptance of this august role in the salvation of all mankind is therefore a cause of great wonder and rejoicing, for the mystery of the Annunciation is the sign that God is desires to with us as well.

• Our Lord was with Mary in a very particular way as He dwelt enfleshed within her sacred womb, the tabernacle par excellence. Her fiat opened the door for Him to enter and dwell within her, making her the Mother of God, and by extension, our mother, too.

• But because Mary allowed our Lord to dwell within her, she has now opened the door for Him to enter the world and dwell with the whole human race!

• Though our Lord’s earthly life was a mere 33 years, and though He has died, rose again from the grave, and ascended into Heaven, He still comes to dwell within us: at our baptism.

• It is in that most sublime moment of our lives that we make our own personal fiat, asking Him to dwell within our souls. When we pass through the saving waters of baptism, He comes, as surely as the sun rises in the east every morning, bringing with Him that grace by which we are saved.

• But at our baptism our Lord doesn’t just come to dwell within us. He also takes us to Himself. He comes to dwell within us, but at the same time He makes us a member of His mystical body so that we may dwell within Him.

• At our baptism a covenant is formed between us and our Lord in which we promise to give ourselves fully to Him, and our Lord promises to give Himself fully to us. And every time we receive Holy Communion worthily, that covenant of grace is consummated and renewed.

• But all of this is only possible because one young woman agreed to say yes first. Our Lady with grace and humility, both sublime and gentle, allowed God’s will to be done, and we are the beneficiaries.

• So my dear brothers and sisters, let us give thanks this day to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the handmaid of the Lord, for without her fiat we would all be lost.

• And let us pray to our dear Lord above that we may be made worthy sons and daughters of so noble a mother.

1 St. Bernard, In Praise of the Virgin Mother.

Copyright 2010 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC

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St. Joseph by Fr. Reid

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2012/03/16 at 1:00 AM

• This weekend the Church celebrated the feast of one of her greatest saints: St. Joseph! As we consider all the many wonderful examples of faithfulness we find amongst the saints, it’s difficult to imagine anyone more beloved in God’s eyes than good St. Joseph.

• Indeed, St. Joseph holds a very special place in Heaven because He was given the most difficult and important responsibility in human history: the earthly care of the Christ Child and His Immaculate Mother, and he completed this task with perfect fidelity.

• St. Joseph is such a great saint because he trusted the Lord, even when doing so caused him much suffering.

• Think of the pain Joseph must have felt when he could find no shelter for the pregnant Mary in Bethlehem, nor a place for her to deliver the Son of God, thus forcing him to allow the Queen of Heaven to give birth to our Redeemer in a cave.

• Imagine the anguish in Joseph’s heart upon hearing Simeon’s prophecy that Jesus and Mary would be future victims of our sins, or the fear that seized him upon learning that Jesus was in danger from Herod, requiring the Holy Family to flee to Egypt.

• Yet in all of these sufferings, St. Joseph trusted in God’s goodness and providence, even though he may not have understood why such things had to happen, and by trusting in the Lord, St. Joseph was able to help bring about the wonderful events of our salvation.

• Because he trusted much, our Lord has now entrusted St. Joseph with the patronage of the entire universal Church. Not only is St. Joseph the Patron of the Universal Church, but he is also a model for all of us who seek to deepen our trust in the Lord.

• And learning to trust our Lord is supremely important, for without a generous willingness to trust our Lord, we will never grow in the docility and obedience necessary to grow in holiness.

• We must remember that, while our salvation is something we cooperate with and participate in, the actual work of our salvation is done by God.

• Therefore, we must trust our Lord if we hope to be saved by Him, for cooperating in the work of our salvation always requires the pain of dying to one’s self and one’s desires.

• This is why we say with the psalmist today: “Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in You.”

• For the past two weeks I’ve spoken about the necessity of obedience, but our obedience to God must not be blind, nor must it be given begrudgingly. To the contrary, our obedience to God must be rooted in a loving trust in God.

• And we are given a beautiful example of loving trust in the person of Abram, the soon-to-be Abraham: the man we refer to as “our Father in Faith.”

• Abram was a man for whom our Lord had great plans. As our Lord said to him in our first reading: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great so that you will be a blessing.”

• Like St. Joseph, Abram’s great virtue was his trust in the Lord. Abram trusted that the Lord would provide him an heir, even though he was old and his wife was sterile.

• Abram even trusted the Lord enough to be willing to kill that beloved heir when our Lord tested him by instructing him to do so. Because of this trust, Abram became Abraham, the father of many nations, and our father in faith.

• Just as our Lord had great plans for Abram, He also has great plans for all of us. While most of us will never be great in the eyes of the world, our Lord does desire that we be great in His eyes by becoming holy.

• As St. Paul tells St. Timothy today, God “saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to His own design.” But this holiness can only be achieved if we are willing to conform our lives to Christ, most especially in His suffering.

• It is our trust in God that enables us to bear our “share of hardship for the gospel.” Our trust enables us to see our sufferings with the faith that tells us that our Lord can make us holy through all that we suffer when we unite our sufferings to His.

• Of course trusting in the Lord can be a difficult thing, especially since we cannot see Him, and because it is often difficult to hear Him. Yet during His life on earth, Jesus gave us many proofs of His trustworthiness. Today’s Gospel story is a perfect example.

• Our Gospel today tells us of the familiar yet amazing story of Jesus’ transfiguration before Peter, James and John. In this event these three apostles are given a glimpse of Jesus’ glory and a foreshadowing of His resurrection from the dead.

• In this miraculous event Jesus proves that He is Who He claims to be: the only Son of God. Up to this point in His life, Jesus’ divine glory had been obscured and hidden by his human flesh.

• Although our Lord had worked many miracles that revealed His divine power, never before had Jesus revealed His glory in such a way. And He did this not only to strengthen the faith of the apostles, but to strengthen our faith as well.

• The very beautiful thing about this Gospel story is that, as we allow this mystery of Jesus’ life to strengthen our trust in Him, we, too, are transfigured.

• You see, the more that we trust our Lord, the more docile and obedient we become. The more docile and obedient we become, the more willing we are to bear our share of hardship for the sake of the Gospel.

• And the more we are willing to suffer in this way, the more we are transfigured into a greater likeness to Christ Himself.

• My dear brothers and sisters, how much do you trust our Lord?

• Our blessed Lord has great plans for all of us. He has plans for all of us to become holy and righteous in His sight. But for this to happen, we must trust in His providential care – even when doing so causes us to suffer; especially when doing so causes us to suffer.

• Through the graces of this Mass and through the strengthening from the Eucharist we are about to receive, may all of us grow in our absolute trust in God’s love and mercy for us.

• And by our trust in Him, may all of us be transfigured into a greater likeness of Him.

Copyright 2011 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC

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Holy Mass by Fr Reid

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2012/03/10 at 9:11 AM

 • According to Aristotle the highest good or the greatest joy to which man can aspire is achieved in the contemplation of God, which requires the most excellent and virtuous use of that most important human faculty: reason.

• Indeed, Aristotle taught that the natural end for which man was created is the contemplation of God, which is a remarkably Catholic notion for a pagan philosopher who was born almost 400 years before Jesus Christ.

• Throughout our history Holy Mother Church has always encouraged her children to devoutly employ the gift of reason to contemplate God and the invisible realities that constitute the very beautiful mysteries of our Catholic faith. That’s why we have the Sabbath!

• The third commandment reminds us to keep holy the Sabbath. It is a day of solemn rest that is holy to the Lord. According to the Catechism, the Sabbath is meant to bring everyday work to a halt so that we might have a respite.

• The Sabbath, which we Christians celebrate on Sunday, provides time for recreation and leisure that not only gives rest, but that also renders us more capable of meditating on God. And this produces joy within us.

• You see, my friends, because we have been created as eternal creatures, because we are created to live eternally with God, we all desire something that is eternal and true.

• Contemplating our Lord gives us a foretaste of the eternity we all desire in the depths of our souls, and thus it produces joy. And living a life of joy is the vocation of every Christian.

• As the prophet Nehemiah tells us in the first reading today: “Today is the holy to the Lord your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep, . . . for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength.”

• Moreover, when we turn to today’s Gospel, we hear our Lord proclaiming His message of glad tidings, a message of joy.

• Since the beginning of the Christmas Season, I’ve been speaking about how Jesus has revealed Himself to us through human history, how our Lord has pulled back the veil that separates heaven and earth in order to reveal His power, glory, and ultimately His mercy.

• In today’s Gospel He reveals Himself not through a miracle but simply through His joyful words. Jesus tells us that He has been anointed “to bring glad tidings to the poor”, “to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”

• In other words, Jesus has come to bring joy to the world, and as His faithful followers, we are called to do the same thing! We are to be living witnesses and examples of the joy of Christ.

• Now let us understand something before we proceed any further: the Christian sense of joy is not to be reduced to or confused with simple human happiness. Human happiness is an emotion that is transitory and fleeting, but true Christian joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and a gift from God.

• Christian joy does not depend on one’s circumstances. Rather, it is supernatural in nature. While we can “feel” joy, it is ultimately something that we choose to participate in. It is a deep and abiding sense of peace that comes from choosing to exercise faith and hope in God.

• Because joy is something that we choose, because it is a particular orientation of one’s mind and heart, Christian joy can and should be found even in the midst of suffering.

• In fact, one of the curiosities of Christianity is that the more Christ-like we become, the more we rejoice in suffering because suffering is one of the greatest ways we can become even more Christ-like. Many of the lives of the saints attest to this fact.

• Now I mentioned earlier that joy is a benefit of observing the Sabbath day. But at the very heart of observing the Sabbath and contemplating God, of course, is our participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

• Thus, keeping your Sunday obligation to attend Mass is part of the basis of living a life of true joy. This is because “participation in the communal celebration of the Sunday Eucharist is a testimony of belonging and of being faithful to Christ and to his Church” (CCC2182).

• When we come together like this as a parish community, we give witness to our communion in faith and charity. We testify to God’s holiness and our hope of salvation. And we strengthen one another under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (cf. CCC 2182).

• This is the very foundation of our Christian joy! Worshipping our Lord together and contemplating the divine mysteries at Mass brings us into our Lord’s presence. It is how we come into contact with that which is eternal.

• It is at Mass that we hear our Lord speak to us through the Scriptures (and hopefully the homily). It is at Mass that we witness His life-giving sacrifice on Calvary to save us from our sins.

• And it is at Mass that our Lord feeds us with His Body and Blood in Holy Communion so that we may experience His resurrection.

• Thus, Holy Mother Church requires us participate in Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. Unless we are excused for a grave reason, such as illness or the care of infants, intentionally missing Mass on a Sunday or a holy day of obligation is a grave sin.

• And the Church has handed down this rule to us not to make life more difficult, but because She desperately wants us to receive these manifold graces that are available to us only at Mass!

• Holy Mother Church obliges us to go to Mass so that we can experience the true Christian joy that can only be found in contemplating our Lord and the beautiful mysteries of our Catholic faith.

• So I urge you, my friends, make Sunday Mass your highest priority each week. And do it not simply because you dread the loss of heaven and fear the pains of hell, but because you love God, because you want to contemplate Him, because you want to live a life of true joy.

• My friends, true Christian joy – our ability to rejoice at all times – is our vocation and our testimony to who Christ is. It is a sign of God’s almighty power at work in a dark world and of our trust and hope in Him.

• As we are gathered together here for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, let us all pray that we may receive worthily the grace of true Christian joy and live it faithfully in the world.

• May our lives be a reflection of the eternal joy we hope to experience with our Lord in Heaven. And may the joy that we live be a means of drawing more souls to our Lord’s Kingdom.

Copyright 2010 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC

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Temptations by Fr. Reid

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2012/02/25 at 9:11 AM

• Temptation is the focus of our Gospel today. Today we hear the familiar story of how Jesus retreated into the desert for 40 days after His baptism in the Jordan River.

• While He’s in the desert fasting, our Lord encounters the devil, who tries to seduce Him with various temptations.

• In our Catholic moral tradition, we understand that amongst all of the sins that are possible to commit, there are 7 capital sins that are the most objectionable of vices. And all of us, generally speaking, suffer with one or two of these vices.

• These capital or deadly sins are: lust, greed, pride, anger, envy, gluttony, and sloth. While it isn’t easy, facing the temptations these vices pose with courage and determination is part of the road we must all walk on the way to salvation.

• As with all parts of the Christian moral life, we must first turn to Christ and His example if we wish to overcome the temptations that afflict us.

• In our Gospel story today the devil misinterprets or misuses a portion of Scripture to arouse a temptation in Jesus. And Jesus very resolutely counters with another Scriptural passage that He interprets correctly.

• The point here is that Jesus’ response in the face of temptation is strong and forceful, and His response is completely rooted in a sound interpretation of Scriptural morality.

• Thus, if we hope to stave off sinful temptations, it is imperative for each of us to be well-grounded in authentic Catholic moral teaching, and to have a resolute will not to sin.

• It is also good for us to turn to the examples of the saints, like St. Francis, for help. But it’s especially important for us to have a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. One of the titles by which the Church has long venerated Mary is “Our Lady, Refuge of Sinners.”

• Being the Mother of our Redeemer, Mary receives us sinners with great compassion and prays for us so that we may escape damnation. For those who are devoted to her, Mary provides invaluable protection from sin and evil through her maternal prayers.

• From her throne in Heaven, she prays and intercedes for us, she does all she can for us, so that we might be triumphant in the face of temptations. Countless saints have recommended that, when faced with temptation, we should simply pray a Hail Mary for help.

• Moreover, when we pray to Mary for help, she turns us toward her merciful Son, increasing our trust and our hope in Him.

• As Catholics, we must also turn to the Sacraments for aid in fighting temptation, especially the Eucharist and Confession. Because they are two sacraments that we can receive as often as we wish, they are God’s primary vehicles for communicating the grace we need to grow in holiness.

• When we receive Holy Communion in a state of grace, it increases our union with the Lord, forgives our venial sins, and preserves us from grave sins. And confession, too, not only forgives our sins, but it also strengthens us in the face of future temptations.

• Therefore, if we’re serious about fighting sin and overcoming temptations, then it’s veryimportant that we make it a point to go to confession regularly and to receive Holy Communion regularly because they give us strength to fight our temptations.

• Keep in mind that going to confession only once a year is not going to confession “regularly.” That’s going to confession “annually,” and there’s a difference!

• The Lenten practices of fasting and almsgiving are also very useful in helping us overcome temptations. These are spiritual practices that are meant to help purify us, but they also strengthen our wills so that we will be stronger in the face of temptations.

• By saying no to things we enjoy, by forcing ourselves to give more to others, we gain greater mastery over our wills so that we have greater self-control in the face of temptations.

• But lastly we must also be people of prayer. Having a steadfast prayer life is absolutely essential to overcoming temptation and growing in holiness. And whatever prayer life we have must have some element of recollection and meditation.

• As important as they are, we cannot exist solely on simple verbal prayers. We must also have prayer that is rooted in complete silence. We must learn to shut out the noise and distractions of this world so that we might be fully recollected.

• To this end, my friends, we need to turn off our televisions and computers! TV and internet cause so many needless distractions. And quite honestly, if you spend more time watching television or surfing the internet than you do praying, you’ll never grow in holiness.

• Holiness requires silence for it is only in silence that we can truly hear God. While it is important for us to speak to God in our prayer, it is even more important that we learn to listen to Him. This is part of the genius of the Traditional Latin Mass.

• One of the criticisms that is leveled against the old Latin Mass is that people can’t understand what’s going on because most of it is in Latin. And yet that’s part of the point of it all!

• The Latin Mass fosters this sense of recollection and meditation by allowing people to get lost in the mystery of the Mass. The periods of silence, the Latin, and the intricate movements of the priest are all meant to foster a sense of awe and wonder that better enables us to meditate on the beautiful mysteries of our faith and thereby draw closer to God.

• And if you want to know what’s going on at the Latin Mass, you can always follow a missal that has Latin on one side and English on the other.

• But other means of praying, such as the Holy Rosary, Lectio Divina, and going to Adoration,are also wonderful forms of prayer that help us to meditate on the mysteries of our faith.

• The point is that meditation and recollection are necessary components of prayer if we wish to grow stronger in the face of temptations, for this type of prayer strengthens our  int4rior union with God and renders us more capable of cooperating with God’s graces.

• My friends, we all have temptations to face, and we will do so throughout our lives. But wedon’t always have to be a victim of our sinful inclinations. We can overcome sin and be victorious in the face of temptation.

• We can be victorious over our temptations by turning to Our Lady and the saints for their example and intercession, by faithfully and regularly partaking of Holy Communion  and Confession, by fasting and giving alms, and through our recollected prayer.

• Without real struggle against our temptations, none of us will win the crown of heaven. So as we move forward in our Lenten journey, let us turn to the Lord, trusting that “everyonewho calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Copyright 2010 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC

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Ash Wednesday Approaches

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2012/02/17 at 9:11 AM

•  Ash Wednesday – marks the beginning of our annual pilgrimage through the Lenten desert to that glorious promised land of Easter.

•  Ash Wednesday  is the day each year in which we renew our pursuit of holiness with greater intensity using the simple tools of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

• Ash Wednesday is also the day of the year when we take a good, long, hard look at ourselves, reflecting on our personal sinfulness and failures in the moral life and making the decision to sin no more.

• And the ashes that we wear today are the outward sign of our repentance – of our desire to be reconciled. They are the sign of our desire to turn away from sin so that we might be faithful to the Gospel.

• The ashes that we wear today symbolize our recognition that we are sinners, and that without God’s grace and mercy, we are nothing more than dust, and unto dust we shall return.

• The ashes we wear on our foreheads today are a sign of our desire and our intention to unite ourselves to our Lord’s passion and death during Lent so that we may be united to His resurrection at Easter.

• But I encourage you to wear your ashes today as a sign of something else as well.

• There is a great sickness in our society, a sickness that has afflicted our western society for many centuries. And that sickness is selfishness. We have become a very self-centered and self-absorbed society, and this sickness is leading us to spiritual death.

• We are constantly bombarded in our world today with the message that we need to take care of ourselves first. We are encouraged constantly to indulge ourselves, to spoil ourselves, and that we deserve whatever luxury we can afford.

• We are even told that we can determine for ourselves what is right and wrong, taking our self-centeredness to new heights of depravity. And in doing all of this, we make ourselves to be gods, for self-indulgence, my friends, is just a way of worshipping ourselves.

• Yet as Catholics we know that selfishness is the heart of all sin. Like Christ whom we worship and adore, we know that we are called not to be self-centered, but other-centered, placing the needs and desires of others before our own.

• We are called, of course, to share our goods with others and to sacrifice for the good of others. But we also called to think about the feelings of others before we speak, to defend others when they are in danger, and to encourage others in the pursuit of holiness.

• And honestly, my friends, if everyone in the world were focused on the needs of others, no one would ever be lacking in anything.

• Thus, I encourage you today to wear these ashes not only as a sign of turning away from sin, but also as a sign of turning away from self.

• And in turning away from self so that we might serve others, let us hope that our Father in Heaven who sees what goodness is hidden in our hearts will repay us. May our Father in Heaven have mercy on us all this Lenten season.

Copyright 2010 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC

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Do You Love Jesus by Fr. Reid

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2012/02/04 at 9:11 AM

 • Do you love Christ? Is Jesus your friend? Is our Lord the highest priority in your life? Are you willing to forsake everything for the sake of your relationship with Him?

• Are you willing to give up your possessions, your money, your reputation, your friends and family, your very life for the sake of Christ and His Church?

• This is a subject St. Paul takes up in our second reading today. Think about his words for a moment: “I consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things…that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.”

• St. Paul makes the very basic point that Christ Himself is our prize! And while he hasn’t yet attained the eternal possession of Christ in heaven, he continues his pursuit of this in the hope that he may one day possess Jesus eternally.

• And as Christians we must do the same! Why? Because Christ first loved us.

• Moreover, Jesus is the only path to heaven. If we hope one day to enjoy the eternal bliss of heaven, we must know Christ, love Christ, and serve Christ.

• We are now getting close to Holy Week and the end of Lent. Lent is the particular time of the year that Holy Mother Church calls us to renew our relationship with Christ and to be reconciled to Him.

• For Lent is not simply our time to prepare for Easter; it’s also our preparation for eternity.

• Perhaps sometimes we approach the thought of conversion and reconciliation with God with some amount of dread and fear, for being converted and reconciled to God requires that we face up to our sins, because it is our sins that destroy our relationship with the Lord.

• Perhaps we fear facing up to our sins because we fear God’s wrath and judgment. Maybe we fear that God is waiting to punish us.

• Yet, in truth, God has created us to live in relationship with Him, to be in friendship with Him. And God has really gone out of His way to make this friendship with Him possible.

• Ever since the fall in the Garden of Eden, there has been a barrier between God and man. But God has overcome our sinfulness.

• We see God’s work of overcoming man’s sinfulness writ large in the stories of the Old Testament that speak of our salvation history.

• The stories of Abraham, Noah and the flood, Moses and the Israelites being delivered from Egypt through the waters of the Red Sea and their 40 years in the desert all show the great lengths to which God is willing to go to save mankind and reconcile us to Himself.

• The prophet Isaiah alludes to these mighty works in our first reading when he reminds us of how the Lord opened the way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters, and of how He has put water in the desert and rivers in the wasteland.

• These waters of grace through which the Israelites passed in the Red Sea and of which they drank in the desert are still given to us today through the Sacrament of Baptism.

• Just as the Israelites were freed from the slavery of Egypt by passing through the waters of the Red Sea, so too are we freed from the slavery of sin as we pass through the waters of baptism.

• Today’s first reading is a prophecy by Isaiah that foretells how the Israelites will be restored to their land and the miraculous natural events that will occur along with their restoration.

• But this passage was not meant to be understood just in literal terms. It was also meant to be understood spiritually, and spiritual writers see in this reading an analogy for how God desires to work in our souls. In short, He is a God who restores us.

• Even though our souls may be a desert wasteland because of our sins, the Lord can make a river of grace gush forth within us. Just as God restored the Israelites to Judea, He can restore our souls to their natural beauty. And this He does through the sacraments.

• If we open up our souls to God with heartfelt contrition and sorrow for our sins, He will flood us with His healing and His peace.

• This is all possible because of God’s mercy! Last week I mentioned the point made by St. Thomas Aquinas that God’s all-powerful nature is most perfectly expressed in His mercy.

• We see a great example of this in today’s Gospel. Like last week’s story of the Prodigal Son, today’s Gospel really shows us what God is like. This week’s story gives us some real insight into how our Lord deals with sinners.

• Think for a moment how Christ treats this sinful woman. Unlike the scribes and Pharisees who want to stone her, Christ doesn’t condemn her. Instead, He forgives her and tells her to go and sin no more. Jesus doesn’t excuse her sin; He simply encourages her to stop doing it.

• My friends, this is the God we worship. He is a God who doesn’t condemn us, but who is always ready to forgive us when we’re truly sorry and ask for forgiveness. And that should give us all great confidence as we approach the confessional.

• Our Lord is not harsh and judgmental, but gentle and loving. He seeks to heal us, to forgive us, and to be one with us. And He encourages to live good and holy lives, putting our sinfulness behind us.

• Note, however, Jesus’ last words to the woman: “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” He tells her quite clearly to desist from her sins. While He is compassionate to her, He does not turn away from correcting her.

• Brothers and sisters: our Lord is constantly looking for opportunities to reconcile with us. He desires above all else to give us His mercy. Our Lord loves us with a depth and an intensity that we cannot fathom.

• The truth of His love is a reality that we are reminded of every time we look at a crucifix.

• Considering this unfathomable love of our Lord, can we not make Him our highest priority in

life?

• Therefore, my brothers and sisters, let us be willing to forsake all else for the love of Christ, which is beyond all understanding. Let us place all of our hope in the mercy of our Lord, by which we will be saved.

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC