26th Sunday - homily

I went to seminary at Mount Saint Mary’s in Maryland. In my first year there, I went on a service trip during Spring Break with the college students from the Mount (we’ll have an alternative Spring Break here, and let you know more about in October). About fifteen to twenty of us drove down to Mobile, Alabama and spent a week in the L’Arche community. This community is incredible. It is made up of men and women with physical and mental handicaps. You would think they would be the angriest people around; the opposite is true. They were filled with such joy! We had a great time with them.

It was kind of awkward at first getting to know the college students. Here I was just one year out of college and hanging out with them dressed like a priest and studying to be a priest. The ride down was kind of quiet between us. As the week went on and we did work together with the people at L’Arche, we got along much better. Then, on the way home, they launched into their questions…the flood gates opened! In the midst of their questions, we got talking about mortal sin. They asked what that was, so I explained that a mortal sin is 1) seriously wrong, 2) you know it’s wrong, and 3) you freely choose to do it. One of them asked if skipping Mass on Sunday is a mortal sin. “Um, yeah”, I said. Then, “is getting drunk a mortal sin?” Um, yeah. One of the girls kept asking these questions; even her friends knew the answer to them. She was bummed out. So, I said, “but remember, you have to know that it’s a mortal sin for it to be a mortal sin”. She breathed a sigh of relief. Then, I said, “But, now you know”. She was like, “oh, thanks a lot!”

Another time I went to Tennessee for a Catholic Heart Workcamp with some teens. It was another service trip that had cool, Catholic stuff at night. At the end of the night, we slept in school classrooms. Our guys were in the same room as a rowdy bunch of guys from Cincinnati. The first night was rough because they were so loud. We all fretted the second night. When eleven o’clock rolled around, I asked the guys to keep it quiet. The next thing you know, they were asking me all of these questions about Purgatory…! They said that no one from their school or parish could answer their questions. So, I made a deal with them: if I answered their questions, they all would have to go to Confession the next night. They all agreed. Well, the next night they all went to Confession! They were actually very psyched about going to the sacrament afterwards, and bragging to each other about long they were in there!

I know you all have questions. You have questions about sin. You have questions about Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. You have questions about Confession and the Eucharist. I was camping with some teens a few years ago on a white water rafting trip. The second night there, I gave a talk about Confession and the Eucharist and then opened it up to questions. The teens asked questions for an hour about these two sacraments! I put copies of two pamphlets out and they devoured them. Then, later, they were sitting around the campfire, saying to each other, “26…32…41”. I asked them what that meant. They replied, “that’s the number of sins we have!”
I invite you to bring the questions about our faith to us at the Newman Center. Bring them to me. Bring them to Meg, our campus minister. We will try to help you find the answers to your questions. If you don’t feel like talking to us, grab a pamphlet or book from the Newman Library. Also, you can post questions or comments on our blog site; you can do this anonymously. We just want to help you find the Truth. That is one of the biggest roles of the Church.

I also know you have questions about the Sunday readings. Our Bible Study on Monday nights really help to understand the readings better. For this Gospel (Mk 9: 38-43, 45, 47-48), you might be wondering why is (nice, peaceful) Jesus talking so much about Hell. And, does he literally mean that we should pluck out our eye or cut off your hand if they cause us to sin? If he meant this literally, then your chaplain would be in sad shape. I would be maimed, without eyes, hands, etc., would be drooling…Mass would take a whole lot longer here! I am a great sinner. No, it’s not meant literally. I think Jesus is referring to is Confession. It is in Confession that we get a new eye, a new hand, etc. St Paul would say that we become a “new creation” when we walk out of the confessional. And, the main purpose of Confession is to keep us out of Gehenna, to keep us out of Hell.

May the Eucharist help all of us to turn away from sin and turn back to Him who is Love. He offers us His Love each and every day. May we know His love this week.