Greetings

My name is Fr. Joseph Illo, your new pastor. Fr. Driscoll and I hope to continue the good work of Fr. Mazza and the faithful laity at Star of the Sea, and I am deeply grateful to him for solidly establishing the Latin Mass here. Please pray that we may work faithfully and diligently in accomplishing God’s will at this beautiful parish, dedicated to the mother of his Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. I myself was baptized at Star of the Sea parish in New York City in 1961, and now I return to Our Lady, Star of the Sea, on another coast.

Stewardship

Jesus describes a “steward” in today’s Gospel, someone who manages another man’s wealth and property. St. Paul writes (1 Cor 4:2) that it is required of a steward that he be faithful, but this steward is unfaithful and loses his job. If your office manager is unfaithful, he cannot remain your office manager. On a more personal level, imagine lending your brand new BMW to a friend for his road trip to Chicago. You would want him to treat your automobile as if it were his own. Well, the Good God has lent us something infinitely more precious than a new car. He has lent us our lives: our bodies, our minds, and our immortal souls. We do not own our lives, or anything else. The car you drive, the house you live in, the education you’ve achieved, even your own body—all has come from God and all is returning to him. The fact is, we are stewards, now owners, and God will require a full account of our stewardship. If He finds that we have “squandered” his property, he will take back what is His. St. Paul writes in the Epistle that we are not “debtors” to the flesh—our flesh does not own us, but neither do we own our flesh. God owns both, and if we squander what is His, we will lose the lives God has lent us. Most of our neighbors in post-Christian America unthinkingly live as if they owned their own bodies, and their bodies end up owning them, slaves and debtors to their own flesh. We Christians must witness to the fact that our bodies are not our own.

Our Bodies

I remember the tag line first used by the pro-abortion lobby in the mid-70s, when I was a high school student. “It’s my body, and I’ll do what I want with it.” First of all, the unborn child is not the mother’s body, but a genetically distinct individual, even though they come from their mothers and depend on them. But even if the fetus were just an appendage of the mother, she does not own herself anyway. Her body, and her soul, are on loan from God.

All around us people are squandering their bodies and souls, as if they were theirs to waste. This city is famous for playing with human bodies as if they were toys, but I think there are many more sensible people in San Francisco than not. We all know that God is not mocked. Everyone, even the demons, serve Him, either willingly or unwillingly. Even should we prove to be bad stewards, we are all still stewards, for we are not owners. I’ve never seen a dying person holding on to the illusion he owned his own life. Our lives will be taken back someday, and it is for that day that we are preparing a “full account of our stewardship.” We must be prudent, for which the Master commended his dishonest ex-steward, but above all we must be faithful.

Our Lady

Our Lady, the virgin most prudent, is also the virgin most faithful and mother of grace. If we want to be not just prudent stewards, but faithful stewards; if we want to become saints, we must have daily recourse to her in the holy rosary and other devotions. I am so happy to be at a parish named for Our Lady, Stella Maris. May we entrust our life’s pilgrimage to her, God’s own mother, the Star of the Sea guiding us across the waters of this life to our true home in heaven.

Homily: Be Not Afraid
November 11th, 2012
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Veteran’s Day

Today we honor our military veterans who have defended our homeland’s sovereign freedom. An army protects her nation’s freedom from external tyranny. Political leaders protect a nation from internal tyranny. Today’s opening prayer reminds us that freedom is essentially the pursuit of God’s will: “Almighty and merciful God, … unhindered in mind and body alike, may we pursue in freedom of heart the things that are yours.” Freedom is the capacity to attain the “things that are Gods”—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Last week’s election focused on the things that are man’s (mostly the economy) and not the things that are God’s (respect for human life and freedom of religion, for example). Some of the leaders we elected, sadly, disregard human life, and so violate human liberty. It is an unhappy and tyrannous state that strips God’s natural law from the public square. We honor our veterans best by defending America from internal threats to her freedom, as they defend her from external tyrannies.

Tithing

In the Gospel today, Jesus praises the indigent widow for giving her mite to the temple treasury. Tithing—giving ten percent of one’s increase—was obligatory for Jews in Christ’s time, but the widow gave not 10% but 100%.  “She, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.” The Church does not specify the Biblical ten percent, but the fifth Precept of the Church, as defined in Canon 222, states: “The Christian faithful are obliged to assist with the needs of the Church, so that the Church has what is necessary for divine worship, for apostolic works and words of charity.” The essential purpose of charitable giving, however, is not to fund a need; it is simply to give. The poor widow’s mite certainly did not fund much of the Temple’s expenses, and yet Jesus said that she had given more than the wealthiest benefactors. We don’t give to a need; we have a need to give. Sacrificial giving is absolutely essential for our sanctification, as an act of surrender to God’s providence. In giving from our substance, we proclaim God sovereign Lord and possessor of all we have. Consecrated religious make an absolute vow of poverty. Those of us in the world give a sacrificial percentage of our wealth as a sign of our absolute trust in God’s providence.

As a layman, I gave a portion of my income to the Church, but as a priest I figured I was exempt. Then I heard someone give a convicting talk on sacrificial giving. I decided to start giving 10% off the top, but the timing was bad—always is. I had just bought my first new car (I still have it today—runs like a top). It took me three years to save $17,000, but the car ended up costing $27,000. So I borrowed $10,000 from a friend and told him it would take two years to pay it back. Just after I started tithing to my parish, a series of strange windfalls came to me over the next two months—someone paid me back for a loan, I got a hefty tax rebate, the Bishop reimbursed me for expenses over some years without my asking, etc. In two months I was able to pay $10,000 back, even while tithing, whereas before tithing it took me almost two years to save that amount. Wow, I thought to myself. It really works! Actually, it doesn't always work like that. Little miracles like that happen just enough to open our eyes to God’s providence.

Stewardship

Money is important, but certainly not the most important, of God’s gifts. Faith, hope, and love, for example; our time, health and energy, personal talents, and friendships— these gifts are much more precious than financial wealth. And God asks us to return a portion of these gifts as well. It’s what Blessed John Paul II called the Law of the Gift: that we receive to the extent that we freely give. In St. Francis’ words, “it is in giving that we receive,” and in Fr. Robert Barron’s words, “abundance comes through the willing gift.” If you want more faith, give faith. Share it with others, and your faith will grow. If you want more joy, smile at others, share your joy, and God will fill you with true joy.

In fact, everything we have is God’s anyway, and sharing some of what we have convicts us of this truth. It detaches us from things so we can fulfill the two great commandments of last week’s gospel: to love God and neighbor. Returning a portion of our gifts is called stewardship. We are stewards, not owners, of everything we have. Giving part of it back to God convinces us of this over time. We learn to trust Him.

Be Not Afraid

But we are afraid to give—to give even the token 10%, let alone the 100% that we ultimately must give.  God, and the man of God Elijah, urges us to be not afraid. In the first reading, the Prophet asks a poor widow for a bite to eat. She says that her son and she have only a morsel left, and then they will starve. Elijah then says to the widow: “Be not afraid.” Give it all to God, and you will see what wonders he will do for you. “And the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the cruse of oil run dry,” for the mother and son until the drought ended.

“Do not be afraid.” Do not be afraid to give what God asks, and to smile as we give it. John Paul II thundered these words in his first papal homily, given at St. Peter’s, October 22, 1978. I watched it on YouTube last night. Let me translate it for you:

Non abbiate paura! Aprite, anzi, spalancate le porte a Cristo! 
Do not be afraid! Open, even fling wide, the doors to Christ!

Alla sua salvatrice potestà aprite i confini degli Stati, i sistemi economici come quelli politici, i vasti campi di cultura, di civiltà, di sviluppo. 
Open to his saving power national borders, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, of society, of development. 

Non abbiate paura! Cristo sa “cosa è dentro l’uomo”. Solo lui lo sa!
Be not afraid! Christ knows what is in the heart of man. He alone knows!

Pope John Paul spoke these words as the borders of his homeland were closed to Christ. Perceptive people see our own national borders—our fields of culture, our political and economic systems—closing their doors to Christ. In this year of faith, we must not be afraid to give everything we have—not just 10% of our time, our abilities, our money—to the work of the Gospel. 

Most of you are college students. You labor long hours to learn the eternal truths and principles undergirding western civilization. You will need these first principles to defend, recover, and preserve America’s basic freedoms. As our military veterans fought tyranny from without, you must fight tyranny from within. Many will become teachers, and businessmen, and political leaders. You must wage these battles in the fields of economic development, political leadership, higher education, and in the vast fields of culture and society. Do not be afraid to trust God as the poor widows of our Scriptures today. Do not be afraid to witness to God’s truth as did Blessed John Paul II. May God, and Our Lady, strengthen you in waging the battles for culture that are certain to require your service. 

Homily: The Holy Eucharist
 
St. John, Chapter 6

Today begins the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 6, the great Eucharistic teaching of Jesus Christ. It is impossible to read this chapter carefully and not be Catholic. Today Jesus feeds 5000 men with five loaves and two fish. Next Sunday he declares himself to be the bread of life. August 12 he will reveal that “the bread that he will give is his flesh for the life of the world. On August 19 Jesus will say five times that “unless a man eat my flesh and drink my blood, he has no life in him, but if he eats my flesh, he will never die;” and finally, on August 26 Jesus will allow most of his disciples to leave him over his insistence on the doctrine of the Eucharist. How many disciples have left his company over this very teaching throughout the centuries? How many find this teaching “too hard to accept,” and so reject the Catholic Church, and reject Christ’s sacraments? And yet the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar is our very life, our only hope for eternal life.

In a few days I will be leaving this community after 12 years with you. If I have done nothing else, I hope I have been able to provide you with the Holy Eucharist, the one thing necessary for our salvation. The Eucharist, however, will not save us, if we don’t receive it in faith. Jesus will not save us, if we don’t surrender to him in faith. I hope that over the last 12 years, I have been able to walk with you a little farther on the lifelong journey of true faith. I hope that together we have been able to study the Scriptures, and so been able to receive the Sacred Eucharist in purity and faith. That is the only real desire of every priest: the sanctification of his people through Word and Sacrament.

Stewardship: Five Loaves and Two Fish

In today’s Gospel, 5000 hungry men, not counting women and children, crowd near to Jesus. Where to get food for all these people? A boy has brought along five loaves and two fish—just enough for his family. Little boy, will you entrust your supper to Jesus, so that he can do a miracle? The boy knows that the food he has is from God anyway, so he gives it back to God: “Stewardship.” He trusts Jesus to provide. And this boy goes down in history as the “efficient cause,” God’s chosen instrument, for the great miracle of the multiplication of loaves. I would like to know your name, little boy. Thank you for offering what you had to God.

The Mass

The same happens at every Mass. A little boy, or girl, brings up a little bread to the priest. Someone else brings up a flask of wine. We also give a little bit of our financial blessings at the offertory. And hopefully we give this little bit with trust and joy. Let me entrust this to God, that he may multiply it. And from the little bit that we give, God gives us the body, blood, soul, and divinity of His Son. He gives us the means of eternal life, at every Mass.

Good-bye

For what am I grateful as I leave this parish? Most of all, I am grateful for the Mass, our supreme act of thanksgiving. It is only a small thing that we do—giving an hour or two of our time each week, standing with the Lord as he dies for us at Calvary. But in this parish, we do it with great love. I can see it on the faces of the altar servers, in the tenderness with which folks receive Holy Communion, in peoples’ rapt attention during the Scriptures and the Consecration. I can see it in the folks who prepare for the Mass, and sing the Mass, who read the Scriptures at Mass, those who come day and night to our adoration chapel, and to confession, and in those who feed the poor, who teach our children the Gospel, and who give themselves in 95 different apostolates at this parish. Let us “live in a manner worthy of the call we have received,” as St. Paul says in our second reading: with all humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another, striving to preserve unity. Not big things; just small things done with great love.

I leave you in the hands of our Lady, where I began 12 years ago. The first act I did as your new pastor was to consecrate this parish to Our Blessed Mother. She will teach us the way of humility and gentleness. Let us turn to her in every difficult moment, and she will show us her Son, Jesus Christ.