THE SPIRIT OF THANKSGIVING

PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING OUT THE NEWMAN CATHOLIC CENTER WITH OUT CHRISTMAS APPEAL - Read More HERE

So four years ago I was writing some OP-ED pieces for Fox News' website. I had forgotten about this till someone had directed me to this after they had found it on Google.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

What makes America great?

Depending upon your perspective, your experience or your history, the answer to that question will vary. For many nations, greatness is measured by military strength. By this measure, the United States is peerless.

The bravery with which young men and women volunteer to risk their lives in service to our country is a measure of American greatness. Today, we are mindful of those serving so far from their homes and families so that we could enjoy this holiday in peace and security.

Another measure of a nations greatness is it's diversity. Whether you use the term "melting pot" or "salad bowl" to describe it, the variety of races, religions, cultures and nationalities that have made their home in the United States is a characteristic of our nation that is uniquely American. Though there have been some serious lapses throughout our nation's history, America has always strived to offer all the opportunity to live in peace. Today, we have a peaceful nation where Muslims, Christians and Jews can be on a line in a department store or in the same restaurant and not fear the other. This is something of which many people in other nations are rightfully envious.

Some would argue that a nation's greatness comes from things over which they have no control, such as the physical land that nation occupies. For some countries, problems such as poverty or hunger are caused by their location. America is also great in this sense--from rich farmland to busy sea ports, from reserves of natural resources to thriving cities, from the Rocky Mountains to California's beaches.

All of these things make America great, but these are not all that make America great. There is something more, which encompasses all of these and reveals the true greatness of this nation. What makes America great is that it is the greatest experiment of faith ever attempted. Our nation was founded by Christians who were fleeing religious persecution. Our forefathers believed that each person had a soul, and that soul was made and given as a gift by a creator. They knew that the greatest gift in the heart of a soul was the freedom to chose between what is right and wrong.

Our Founders had faith in God, and tried to create a nation where everyone could choose their own way to serve him. Our national songs do not say, "God Save the Queen or King;" we sang "God Bless America." We imprint "In God We Trust" on our institutions; We pledge to be "one nation under God."

Today, there are many who disparage religion's influence on America. They don't want to hear that our leaders believe in God and openly practice their faith. They want to remove traces of religion from public places--whether it's a plaque of the Ten Commandments in a court house, or Christmas carols being sung in a public school. Yet, Thanksgiving isn't about turkey, Pilgrims or football.

Thanksgiving was first proclaimed by President George Washington in 1789 with these words "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor...[we] recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanks-giving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors Almighty God."

You'd expect to hear this from a member of the clergy. Yet, our first president, in proclaiming Thanksgiving a national holiday, articulated the belief that was in the hearts of the people who had entered into this great faith experiment that is America. When the United States finally became a truly free and independent nation, it must have seemed miraculous. So our forefathers thanked God for their many blessings.

As millions gather with their families this Thanksgiving, our prayer at this meal is obviously one of thanking God, but also a prayer of petition that Americans will be able to rediscover their spiritual selves, and draw strength and comfort from their individual spiritual faiths in the same matter that our Founders did, a faith that guided them in creating this great nation, and has sustained American greatness to this very day.

IS CHRIST OUR KING?

This is my homily for the FEAST OF JESUS CHRIST THE KING - Sunday, November 22, 2009. The readings can be found at http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/112209.shtml

Thanks as always for reading and your feedback. God Bless, Father Jim

HOMILY:

Are you the King of the Jews - Pilate asks Jesus, and by all appearances, it sure doesn’t seem like it, does it? King’s aren’t usually turned in by their own people to an enemy. You have to be really hated for that to happen. And that’s what’s going on here. The Jews hated the Romans. Hated them for occupying their land. Hated them for making them live under their rule. Hated them for treating them like second class citizens. So they must really hate Jesus to be looking for the Roman authorities to take care of him. Not exactly royal. Not exactly what we imagine a King to be.

We kind of have in our minds what a King should be like. Maybe you’re like me and think of that guy from the movie 300. King Leonidas. The guy becomes king because when he was a kid, he makes a spear and kills this giant wolf. That’s cool right there, isn’t it? I mean, considering what a mess our political scene is, that seems as good a way to pick a leader as any. (Just kidding on that) Years later in the movie, these messengers come from Persia, a larger, more powerful kingdom and they demand the Spartans submit to their king peacefully or that they would be attacked, enslaved and taken over. King Leonidas doesn’t take those threats too kindly - he kicks the messengers down this massive well to their deaths. Then realizing that the Persians probably are going to be ticked off and attack them, King Leonidas leads this band of 300 men to battle against this massive army from Persia. Most (if not all) of the 300 realize that this is certain to end with their deaths - yet the King would never consider surrender. In the end, the Spartans prove to be more difficult to deal with than Persia expected. Even though the 300 would lose their lives the King and his men’s valor and sacrifice inspire the people of Greece to unite against their Persian enemy.

The scene we have of Jesus Christ our King in this Gospel is the complete opposite. There’s no one in sight coming to Jesus’ rescue. In fairness Jesus had told Peter in the Gospel just a few passages before to put away his sword. So what could be done? We’ve heard this story before, so we know what’s going to happen next. Pilate would ignore the truth of Jesus’ innocence. Instead compromising the truth so as not to hear the angry hateful voices that were shouting “CRUCIFY HIM” turn on Pilate himself. So the embodiment of truth, Jesus Christ, the Son of God ends up nailed to a tree.

If that were the end of the story, it would be ridiculous to look to Jesus as a King. We know that Jesus is King because we know that Jesus’ story didn’t end on the cross or in the grave. We know that Jesus rose from the dead, ascended to God’s right hand in the heavenly kingdom and that He remains with us in this His Word and in His Body and Blood which he gives us to eat in the Eucharistic Bread and wine

On the Feast of Christ the King, you would think we’d read something from the Gospels about those realities of our faith rather than this scene that we just heard focusing on Jesus’ trial. I doubt the directors of 300 would pick this scene to celebrate Christ the King.

So what’s the Church thinking? I think it’s meant to remind us that this feast isn’t just about that fact that Christ is our King because he has destroyed Sin and Death in his crucifixion and resurrection. It is meant to point out that this world still seems to want to fight our king. This world continues to question his authority. This world continues to put Jesus on trial. This world has always and will always reject Jesus Christ as it’s King.

Jesus’ radical call of selfless, sacrificial love isn’t popular in this world of ours. To follow this King means being obedient rather than seek power. It means putting others first rather than trying to be first. It means trying to live our lives with that same radical, selfless and sacrificial love that He had.

It sounds good, so why does it still elude us? Because people of this world still feel the effects of original sin – We go right back to the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. The sin of Adam and Eve wasn’t simply about eating a piece of fruit as much as it was self-centeredness. By doing the complete opposite of what God asked them to do, by buying into the lie of the serpent, they basically asked - Who need God when we can be god’s ourselves?

So the trial of Jesus, the interrogation by Pilate resonates thousands of years later. We are asked point blank, is Jesus our King? Or are we stuck with Adam, Eve and many of those who live focused on this world who still try to be gods themselves, living by their own rules, making their own definitions of things, rejecting Jesus and His Gospel.

To be a follower might not seem as dramatic as following King Leonidas to the battlefields against the mighty Persians, but make no mistake, our King is calling us to battle each and every day in small but meaningful and eternally important ways -

Do we cheat in that class?
Do we sleep with that girl or that guy?
Do we take that drug?
Do we make fun of that classmate, roommate or colleague?
Do we forget about that relative who’s suffering because we have stuff to do too?
Do we refrain from telling someone that something’s wrong because we don’t want to deal with the hassle of testifying to the truth?

“Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus has already answered that in his death and resurrection. Is Jesus really our King? The choices we make, the lives we live gives testimony to where our allegiance ultimately lies.

HELP ! CHRISTMAS APPEAL!!!!

-- Homily for this past Sunday November 15 follows this note...

Dear Friends of Newman:

Have you ever felt like you’re living in an alternate universe? Spending some time with us here at the Newman Center you might begin to wonder. In an expanding secular world that seems to question the validity of religion’s place... In a culture that seems to be encouraging everyone, especially young people to “Eat, Drink and be Merry for tomorrow we die,” you would be encouraged and inspired to witness what is happening here at the Newman Catholic Center here at Montclair State University.

Our Sunday Night Mass continues to be the most important thing we do as the Catholic Campus Ministry here at MSU and is becoming a fixture on the campus as the number of students continues to increase. Visitors joining us often comment how beautiful and uplifting our liturgies are - and especially how the “students are filled with Joy.” But our activity doesn’t end there. The number of students coming to daily Mass has tripled since last year. Eucharistic Adoration is offered weekly as more and more students want to spend time with Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament. In fact, between all the spiritual activities, community service opportunities offered on a weekly basis, and the usual number of social events - there’s usually several things going on every day of the semester.

In addition, this semester we have been blessed with 5 missionaries from FOCUS - the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. These selfless young men and women are recent college graduates, who sacrifice two to three years of their lives to Jesus and His Church by ministering to their peers. The missionaries have added so much in such a short period of time. They presently conduct ten bible studies per week; hold monthly Men’s and Women’s Evenings focusing on living chaste, soberly and pursuing excellence in academics and life (as Jesus came that we might “have life and have it more abundantly” - John 10:10) They are challenging their brothers and sisters to realize how they are “Made for More” than what the world shortchanges them as.

There’s so many wonderful things happening here, that it might feel like an alternate universe, but we are very much apart of this world. So I know that this is a difficult economy for many people, but I am confident that I can turn to you - our parents, friends and supporters - will help us continue to do the good work God is directing us to do here for His children. With the increase of students, and programming, our needs continue to increase for supplies and financial resources. Whether it’s something as trivial (but important!) as food for an event or paying a registration fee for a student unable to afford attending FOCUS national conference this December in Florida, we have had to dip into our savings to meet these challenges. I am hoping that this Christmas Season we will be able to raise $10,000 so that we can continue to build on all the good we have started as well as purchase much needed furniture for our new community room (our basement – which was renovated through your generosity this past summer).

Thank you for all of your support and your prayers for us. We remember you often in our prayers, especially when we look around the house and see what has been accomplished through your generosity. May God’s saving Love which we celebrate with the Birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas, shine brightly upon you and your loved ones at this special season of faith.
In Christ’s Peace and Love -



Father Jim Chern,
Chaplain & Director

Please send all donations to: NEWMAN CATHOLIC CENTER; 894 Valley Road; Upper Montclair, NJ 07043

OPRAH IS NOT EQUAL TO JESUS (Shocker, isn’t it?)

Hi everyone - here’s my homily for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Sunday November 15, 2009. The readings can be found at http://www.usccb.org/nab/111509.shtml . I appreciate you’re reading this and sharing it as well as all of your comments and feedback

God Bless- Father Jim

HOMILY:

I am not an Oprah Winfrey fan. This may or may not shock you. It’s nothing personal. I’m not much of a talk show fan, period. So I could just as easily (and accurately say) I am not a Jay Leno fan or a David Letterman fan. I can’t stand their shows. I'd much rather watch episodes of “The Office” or “Seinfeld.” Anyway, back to Oprah, no, I’m not a fan of hers. And I realize that puts me at odds with what is popular or what is considered “mainstream” in America.

Because, by many standards, Oprah is the epitome of “mainstream”. Actually, to give credit where credit is due, she helps define what is mainstream. She sticks an “O” sticker on a book, and it’s #1 in the NY Times Best Sellers' list. That’s why former Vice President nominee, Sarah Palin, who was a political rival to the ticket Oprah was supporting in last year’s presidential election, will make her first appearance on Oprah’s show this week in anticipation of her book’s release – after all, it can’t hurt.

Oprah is a multi-media phenomenon; she has her own radio channel on XM satellite Radio, her own magazine (with her own picture on it every month – a little much, isn’t that?). She’s been involved in TV shows, movies, broadway musicals. Commentator Bill O’Reilly said about her, "This is a woman that came from nothing to rise up to be the most powerful woman, I think, in the world."

O’Reilly has a point. After being a dominating presence in the United States, conquering every realm of media, Oprah can be seen in 140 countries. According to the 'Wall Street Journal', one channel in Saudi Arabia centers their entire programming on reruns of her television show because of the record number of female viewers it draws. The reason, they say is because women in that culture see Winfrey dressed modestly, telling her own story of how she overcame adversity and abuse to get where she is today.

For those of us who are used to (and maybe a bit tired of) her media influence, we've probably forgotten that’s why she has captured so many people’s attention. People see this successful women, speaking candidly and in some cases heroically about her own struggles and how she overcame them. This, in turn, taps into people’s own pains, their own struggles, their own fears and so they become optimistic – if she can do it, well, so can I. And so they listen to her words. They buy her books, they follow her advice and endorsements. Oprah in many ways epitomizes optimism, and optimism, especially in times of adversity, sells.

Fr. Willian O’Malley, who is a Jesuit priest, who is hysterically, brutally honest and real made the following observation. He said, “I’ve learned the big difference between optimism and hope. Optimism is 'Annie' [that’s the little orphan red curl-headed kid] belting out, 'The sun’ll come out tomorrow! Bet yer bottom dollar there’ll be sun.' Good luck, kid. The forecast says rain for the rest of the week. Hope’s different. Hope says, 'Okay, so it’s gonna rain. We’ll get the job done anyway.' Hope says, 'It’s the last inning, and we’re down by three, but let’s go out swinging!' Unlike optimism, hope knows that quite often nice guys do finish last, but that it’s a helluva lot better to be a nice guy than to be first.”

Which is why Jesus is different from Oprah (wow, never imagined I’d be saying that sentence). Jesus isn’t selling us optimism. Jesus is offering us Hope.

Today’s Gospel passage has Jesus telling us how the world is going to end – tribulations - the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, stars will be falling from the sky, the powers in the heavens will be shaken - and this is some pretty scary stuff. For many people, though, it remains a distant event they don’t worry about right now because they've got more frightening things to deal with. The family going through a rough time. A loved one sick. Unemployment. Someone they're close to dying. Struggling with addiction. Any one of those things - or a combination of them - can definitely make someone feel as if the sun has truly disappeared.

In the midst of those struggles, we want optimistic words. We want someone to tell us it’s going to be alright. Everything’s going to be fine. We want things to go back to the way they were. 'The sun will come out, tomorrow.' And if it doesn’t? Then what?

If things don't turn out the way we want them to, we don't have to give into pessimism. But we do need to be honest.

Jesus is honest; He doesn’t sugarcoat this truth. Yes, there will be tribulation and darkness - not just at the end of the world, but probably through many moments of our lives. Things might get so terrible that we feel things will 'never be the same.' But – wait for it - here are the words of hope from tonight’s Gospel – listen to them once again:

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

If we’re looking for a quick fix, these words will pass away. Because Jesus isn’t promising a quick fix. He’s not promising to make things the way they were before, or the way we would likr them to be in the future. His words are not going to get you a job tomorrow morning, immediately cure your illness or miraculously pull up your GPA.

The point it, if that’s just what we’re looking for - a quick fix, an increase of pleasure and a decrease in pain - we will, ultimately, be disappointed in life - disappointed not just by Jesus, but by Oprah and any who market the 'power of positive thinking' as a religion, or tell us the Gospel is all about 'prosperity' ('pie in the sky when you die, and steak on the plate while you wait'). The Gospel, Jesus - the Word of God - is all about Hope. Hope is borne of deep love and trust in the One who loved us into existence, the One who constantly lifts us up after we fall, the One who promises us - even though the road ahead of us may be difficult, will be difficult - that He will never leave us, and that His words of hope will never pass away.

NOT A JERRY SPRINGER EPISODE: SURPRISED TO BE RELATED

Here is my homily for the FEAST OF ALL SAINTS - November 1, 2009. The readings can be found at http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/110109.shtml. Thanks for reading and all your feedback! God Bless - Fr. Jim

HOMILY:
James Crowley - Henry Gates. You hear those names and for a majority of people, they sound like regular names - like John Smith. There might be some familiarity. You might say “where have I heard that name before?” but for the most part, unless you’re really focused on the news and have a great memory, most people, probably don’t really recognize those names.
If we add a few details though, for example that James Crowley is a Police Officer and that Henry Gates is a Professor at Harvard University, it’s a good bet that their “name recognition” would increase. Especially since, this past summer, both men were pretty prominent names in the news. For those who might not remember, Henry Gates, had been returning home from an international trip. He and his driver were having difficulty trying to open the front door of his house. A concerned neighbor called the police thinking that she was witnessing someone trying to break into the house. When Police Sargent Crowley arrived to investigate, Gates, who is an African-American, accused him of racial profiling. Tensions escalated, words were exchanged and well, as they say, the rest is history. Things got even more contentious when President Obama was asked about the incident at a press conference and characterized Gate’s arrest as “stupid.” After that, something that had already been controversial in the media became even more so. The police officer, his union, and many law enforcement personnel all came out in support of Crowley. Gates had his own supporters. It seemed to bring to the forefront debates about whether white people and black people can understand one another’s perspective. Things seemed to be boiling out of control. You might remember that things seemed to come to a conclusion with what was being called “the Beer summit” - where the President invited both men to sit outside the White House on the porch, have a beer and talk.
With a media that is constantly out to out-scoop one another, a story came out that didn’t catch a lot of people’s attention, but was incredibly fascinating. In the midst of the daily coverage over this incident (you can tell how slow the news was over the summer) ABC news discovered something. They reported a story with a headline saying “Harvard Professor Gates, who is Half Irish, related to Cop who arrested him.” The story told that Gates had discovered after having his DNA analyzed in 2008 that he was descended from an Irish immigrant from the 4th century. James Crowley, ironically is descended from that same line. You’d have to imagine for these two men that had to be pretty surprising. Here you have a white Irish Cop and a Black scholar. In so many ways seemingly coming from completely different worlds. As things became more and more contentious, the thought that they must have absolutely nothing in common with each other and that one another had no idea what the other must go through, think, experience on a daily basis must have gone through their heads. And for the most part, had there two paths never crossed, as they did in this unfortunate encounter, they could have gone through their lives thinking that. You could almost imagine the cop working a shift, maybe driving on patrol passing the professor walking to a classroom, never imagining they had anything in common with one another.
Yet in this amazing “coincidence” - they turn out to be distant relatives. True maybe their not like second cousins or something, but it had to surprise them at least a little bit, don’t you think? Perhaps this knowledge helped ease their tensions with each other. (Well, probably the beer from the beer summit helped too) But when people discover some connection to one another, it seems to be able to break down walls. Maybe it’s not something like a DNA test proving a connection of centuries to some Irish ancestry like it was for Crowley and Gates. Maybe you’re talking to a co-worker or a classmate and discover you’re from a neighboring high school or that you’re both Italian. You both are Yankee fans (and both hate the Phillies) - up until that moment you might have never perceived one similarity between each other - but now that you discover a connection, it’s hard not to appreciate that connection and feel differently. You’re able to stop seeing the differences so much and see something similar to each other.
Today we celebrate the Feast of All Saints. And like so many things in our faith, we often misunderstand what it’s all about. We often look at these Saints just as really holy people who we have nothing in common with. These are holy people who love God and God loves them. They’ve died, they’re in heaven - they got it all together, while we focus on how we struggle. We think, hey it’s great if I get to Mass on Sunday , what connection can I have with the saints?
The reality is, today’s feast is meant to remind us, (or perhaps it’s sudden, new, shocking information to us) that we’re related to these Holy people. By our Baptisms we’ve been joined into God’s family, which is why throughout the Mass we refer to each other as brothers and sisters (not something we should be limiting just to Mass, by the way, but that’s something for another day)
So the Saints are in a sense our older brothers and sisters. Men and women like you and me. Who in their day and age struggled to be good people, holy people. Tried to find God in their lives and the world around them and to respond to his direction and activity. Which is why we had the Gospel reading we had today, Jesus Beatitudes. If we go up and down that list of all the people Jesus is calling “Blessed” - the poor in spirit, the mourning, the meek (when have the meek ever been high on anyone’s list?) those who hunger and thirst (yeah them too) - would anyone of them consider themselves “Blessed?” Most of us when we experience moments of those things consider them “difficult time” or we’re “having a bad day.” But what makes a saint a saint is that they understand they are “blessed” not because it’s great these rough things are happening, but because they remain absolutely convinced that God is with them through that. And they pick themselves up, they struggle and try to live that reality in the face of those trials.
And the world notices them. Even with our 30 second- attention spans - names like Francis of Assisi, Therese of the Little Flower, Augustine, from hundreds and thousands of years ago somehow resonate in our memories. And more current heroes like John Paul II or Mother Teresa witnessed to us that saying “no” to the way the world operates and “yes” to the Lord is possible.
And there’s so many others that come in and out of life that might not elicit the global attention like those Saints, but there holiness impacted our lives. I can think of relatives, friends, or good holy priests who affected my life. I’m sure you can too. This feast day calls us not to idolize them from afar but to see our connection, see our relationship, see how we’re related to them. Our older brothers and sisters call out to us to recognize how God is active and present at all times in all things. In the joys and the sorrows - when we are mourning, when we are comforting those who are mourning - and everywhere in between. Our older brothers and sisters are encouraging and rooting for us too, looking for that banquet, that heavenly “summit” when we will be united together for much more than a brewsky in the sky - rather God’s eternal banquet.