Fr. T. Zehr Uncategorized

HATE Your Mother and Father?!?!?

Jesus often says radical things in order to get our attention and to shake us out of our false understandings about life. Jesus says in Luke 14:25, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” That is a pretty radical statement!

Disclaimer – Jesus is not giving us permission to treat our families like garbage or to intentionally treat our mothers, fathers, and families with disdain or malice, but that we cannot allow these things to be the center of our lives. 

The first of the 10 commandments that God gave us is to Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, mind and strength, and that we should have no strange god’s or idols. Now, hopefully we all are doing our best to Love the Lord our God as much as we can, certainly we are all a work in progress here. However do we really assess that second part? Do I have idols in my life or strange gods? Now likely we aren’t worshipping the gods of the Egyptians or have little statues of Zeus or Poseidon or Bahamut in our rooms that we light candles in front of and pray to. But I’m sure if we sat and thought about it, there are things in our life that we spend more time, effort, energy, and thoughts on than God. 

Maybe it is money that is our idol, looking for a way to get a little bit more out of our paycheck. Maybe our idol is popularity, wanting others to think a certain way about me. Maybe it is the hobby that I spend a lot of my free time thinking about. Maybe it is food, or TV, or exercise, our favorite sports team, sleep, or vacation. I think I can say that all of those things have manifested themselves as minor deities in my life. 

None of these things, in themselves are evil, many of them are good; but if we spend our lives pursuing these things INSTEAD of God, that is when it becomes idolatry. Perhaps our idol is our family. I would never say that Family is not important. I love my family, but do I love them more than God, who died for my sins, who offers me eternal life, who I have committed my life to serving as a disciple? So the lesson that Jesus is teaching us today, is detachment. We need to have detachment from things of this world, of things that are not God. Ultimately detachment is what God is calling us to, to not be tied to things that hold us to this world and be free to pursue God, who is the greatest goal. Only in God will I find my true fulfillment, happiness, and satisfaction; why should I settle for anything less than Him. 

Fr. T. Zehr Uncategorized

The Dying Man in Your Path?

“For this command that I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you. It is not up in the sky or over the sea, but very near to you.”

This is what is told to us by Moses in the first reading. But I will come back to that in a minute.

In the Gospel from this Sunday we hear a familiar story; the Good Samaritan. A man is attacked by robbers and left to die. Three men walk by. 1 man helps him after 2 ignore him including a priest, a man of God. This reading is always a challenge to me as a priest, as is any mention of priests by Jesus because they are usually the bad example in his stories and parables.

This past week I was working at a catholic summer camp and on the last day I said, “Raise your hand if you think Jesus did something in your heart this week. (All hands are raised) Raise your hand if you think Jesus is calling you to do something great with your life! (those hands stay up)” We can ask ourselves the same question. Truly, we are all called to do something great with our lives. Well the thing is, oftentimes we are looking up in the sky, or across the sea, or in a far distant land, or too far in the future to do something great.

I want you to put yourself in the shoes of the priest here on the journey. But instead of priest, replace the word that would describe you, a doctor, a banker, a mother, a teacher, a father, a student. Now imagine that you are walking on the path and you see the dying man on your side of the path. So often we are looking for somewhere else that the Lord is calling us to be great instead of right where we are.

There are people that are dying right in front of our path and we are walking on the other side of the road because we have something better to do. I want you to think and pray this week about the person who is suffering who is in your path; not in another country, not someone who we’ll see in a month, or someone who needs it more, but I’ll get to them later. Who is on the path with us who needs a companion and a help up? Who at work is struggling with a family problem but whom we’ve ignored because we don’t want to get involved? Who is the person we know who is just in need of a friendly face to ask them how their day was? Who is the person I need to bring Jesus to in my life? Who needs the Love of Christ from you?

In the words of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”  That is a life that is worth living and a life that is filled with greatness.

Fr. T. Zehr Easter, Jesus Christ, Lent, Salvation, Uncategorized

The Harrowing of Holy Week

I know this is a little late, but we’re still in the Easter season, so (at least for me) I think that it’s important to reflect on the most sacred time in our Catholic Faith.

This was my first Holy Week as a priest, which was exciting and terrifying all at the same time. Holy Week, from as early as I can remember, is one of my favorite times of the year (I guess if we are excluding Christmas)!  As a seminarian it is an especially joyful and exciting time; being able to follow the bishop around and help serve at the different masses and liturgical services is really beautiful.

I had a tough Lent this year. Long hours sitting in the confessional, turmoil with some of my relationships and my ever-continuing battle with sin made for a desert journey of sorts through Lent. So I was looking forward to Holy Week to bring that crazy Lent to a close and rejoice with the Resurrection and the beautiful liturgies of Holy Week.

The day of the Easter Vigil, Holy Saturday, I spent the day with some good friends of mine before the Mass that would begin around 9pm. For some reason there was something that was just irking me all day long; something that made me feel anxious and unsettled. While I was with my friends I was irritated and anxious in a place which usually gives me peace and relaxation. As I was leaving my friends’ house, I recognized that it was simply the devil attempting to steal my peace and joy (which he was partially successful in doing). First I acknowledged that, then I tried to gear myself up to celebrate the Easter Vigil liturgy.

This lack of peace and anxiety continued well into the liturgy until I came to the point where I was to sing the Easter Proclamation (the Exsultet). The Exsultet is a long chanted song that beautifully recounts the great deeds of the Lord during the events of the His passion and Resurrection. As I was singing this ancient hymn, there was a beautiful, almost cathartic, movement within myself as I proclaimed the power of Jesus Christ, the risen Lord, the King of Kings, and the conqueror of Death! My singing of that hymn was me telling the world, “I choose you Jesus Christ and I reject the lies and temptations of the evil One!” And I began to sing this song as a prayer:

“Let all corners of the earth be glad knowing an end to gloom and darkness (I can rejoice because Jesus has brought light and life to me)!”

“Who for our sake paid Adam’s debt to the eternal Father and pouring out his own dear blood wiped clean the record of our ancient sinfulness (Jesus wiped out the sin that would bring me to hell, and gave me a chance to choose him).”

“This is the night when Christ broke the prison bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld!”

Christ has already conquered the evil one, there is no battle left to fight but my choice to live and follow Him. Jesus conquered sin, broke its power over humanity and has given us an opportunity to live in His love. My singing the Exsultet was as if Jesus ripped the Devil’s dirty fingers off of my restless heart and pounded him with a sledge hammer straight back to Hell! I know that my Redeemer lives and that he has saved me from a miserable life as a slave to sin.

That is what this Easter Season is about. “Let the trumpet of Salvation sound aloud our Mighty King’s Triumph!”resurrection2007

Fr. T. Zehr Uncategorized

Martha, Martha, Martha!

Martha and Mary are two very different people. We read in the Gospel of Luke, the story of Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet while Martha is working away. Martha complains that Mary isn’t working and should help her, but Jesus says that Mary is doing the better thing. In this Gospel, the two sisters have a very different reaction to Jesus coming to Lazarus’ grave.

Initially Mary is back at home and Jesus meets Martha. Martha says, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died, but even now, I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give to you.” We can almost hear in the tone of her voice, a hint of bitterness that Jesus wasn’t there, but more strongly a trust in the Lord’s plan.

Mary, who I would say is more struck by grief, says almost the exact same thing to Jesus. “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.” But what is the difference? There is a much greater sadness with Mary than with Martha. We can hear behind her words “Why weren’t you here, you could have saved him! I believed in you and your power, but you didn’t show up. I’m beginning to doubt in your love and care for me.” How many times have we felt like Mary here? “Why weren’t you here God? This doesn’t make sense. You could have prevented this evil from occurring. Do you even care what happens to me?”

Whereas in the previous story Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen the better part, here Martha has the truer faith and trusts Jesus. Mary is treating Jesus like a vending machine: if she has faith in Jesus’ power and has Jesus show up, then she will get what she wants. Whereas Martha has faith in Jesus’ power and in how he will use that power, trusting that Jesus will provide for what she NEEDS and not for what she WANTS. This is the faith that we must have.

I believe that Martha’s trust in Jesus’ plan is what brought about the miraculous raising of Lazarus. The Lord is always able to work great things through those who trust in him.

Martha is one of my patron saints. I was born on her Feast day, she is the patron saint of cooks (and I love to cook!), and Jesus is constantly telling me, like Martha, “You are anxious and worried about many things that are not me.” But what I love most about St. Martha, and something that I need to be reminded of daily, is her reply to the Lord, “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Christ!” I have COME to believe – Not, “I believed the first moment I met you” But after a brawl of difficulties, being corrected, having experienced pain and suffering and loss, you have shown me, gradually, that you are truly and really my savior.

I believe Martha is the model of faith for us. We can say, “Lord I really wish you would have helped me here. But I know that whatever you do, you do because you love me. I have come to believe that you are the Christ and you can save me from my sins and pains.  Jesus, I trust in you, and in your plan for my life.”

St. Martha, Pray for us.

Fr. T. Zehr Catholicism, Fasting, Lent

Can I eat Sushi during Lent?

During Fridays in Lent, the Church asks us to abstain from eating meat as a sacrifice. But why? First of all, why Fridays; that’s usually the day when we want to indulge a little and relax from the busy work week. No, the Church didn’t choose Fridays because it wants to invade on our relaxation time.  She chooses Friday as a day we remember the great sacrifice that Christ offered on the Cross on Good Friday. So every Friday (in or out of Lent) should be a day that we offer up some small inconveniences as a sacrifice, to unite our sufferings with Christ and to remind ourselves of His great sacrifice.

So we should make Friday a day of sacrifice. Well, what if we want to go get a giant tuna steak or a lobster feast or some delicious sushi for Friday dinner? Technically I am meeting the Church’s request to not eat meat, but is it really a sacrifice? Are we really joining with Christ’s great sacrifice on the cross by indulging in something that we only get on special occasions? Perhaps not. But on the other hand, we don’t need to be eating cold dead fish heads to be intentionally miserable.

So following the LETTER of the law, which means what the Church literally says, eating sushi is permitted because it is not meat. But following the SPIRIT of the law, which is the idea/concept/reason behind the letter, maybe eating a giant sushi platter or an entire shark for dinner on Friday isn’t the best choice.

The Friday meat fast is a way that we, in some small way, can accept an inconvenience that reminds us that the Lord sacrificed his entire life for us.  The entire season of Lent should be a time when we are saying “NO” to our sinful/selfish desires and saying “YES” to the Lord. As St. John the Baptist proclaimed, “HE must increase, I must decrease.”

During these Fridays in Lent, let us see abstaining from meat as a small reminder that as Christ gave His all for us, I can give up this small thing for Him.

Fr. T. Zehr Catholicism, Mary, Relationships

Baby Jesus and His Mom

I have 2 nieces, 2 nephews, and one on the way.

Recently my little sister had a baby boy and I was sick at the time, so I didn’t get the chance to hold my new nephew. My sister was somewhat upset that I didn’t hold him, I think because she thought I didn’t want to hold him, which was NOT the case.

When I finally did get to hold him, she made kind of a big deal about it and was really excited. I think the reason is that it wasn’t enough for me to just see him, or for her to tell me about him, but she wanted to share him with me; she wanted to share the joy and excitement that Henry was for her.

On Saturdays and feasts of Mary, we continue to celebrate the coming of Jesus, but in a special way we celebrate the person who brought Jesus into this world: his mother.

Just like my sister, Mary, being the good mother that she is, wants to share her son with all of us, for us to hold, to cherish, and experience for ourselves the Love and Joy which He IS.

Mary wants us to have physical contact with her Son, just like my sister wanted me to have physical contact with hers. This might seem odd, we can’t hold baby Jesus like I can hold my nephew, but we can still experience Jesus Christ in a physical way: in the Eucharist.

Just like my sister, Mary LONGS and DESIRES to have us be with Jesus, and we can when we receive the Eucharist at Holy Mass. We need to be sure that we aren’t sick when we hold something as precious as a baby, so we need to be sure that our SOULS are healthy before we receive something so precious as Jesus Christ. If we are in a state of sin, we should refrain from receiving, but in the meantime, Jesus’ mother is waiting and longing for us to return to her son with a healthy soul.

So Get your soul clean and receive the baby Jesus into your heart in the Eucharist.

Fr. T. Zehr Catholicism, Feast Days, Jesus Christ

3 Gifts Point to the Cross

Why is the feast of the Epiphany such a big deal? Are we simply celebrating the beginning of giving gifts at Christmas? All of the gifts of the wise men indicate some essential aspect of who Jesus Christ is and what role he will take in Salvation history. These gifts, I don’t doubt, were divinely inspired. As wise as these 3 men were, I doubt they had the supernatural vision to foresee what this little baby was going to become!

The first gift is a somewhat normal gift of homage and respect. Gold. This gift is indicative of the royalty and power that Jesus has.  And really, this was the main reason the magi visited Jesus in the first place: to pay their respects to the new KING! Jesus is the King of heaven and earth, so this gift of gold points to Christ’s kingly royalty.

The Second Gift, of Frankincense seems somewhat strange. Frankincense is a type of incense and during the time of Jesus was almost as precious as gold because of its importance. In the Jewish culture, incense was used by the high priests of the Temple to bless and make holy the sacrifices that would be offered to God in the sanctuary. As the smoke of the incense rose up into the air, it was symbolic of their prayers going up into heaven to God. The gift of Frankincense to Jesus foretold the fact that Jesus would be the Great High Priest and would offer the true sacrifice of himself on the cross. 

The Third gift, is even stranger than the second. Myrrh. Myrrh is an oil that was used to anoint the deceased body of someone as they are preparing for burial. Imagine how Mary and Joseph would have felt receiving this gift for their newborn son??? Why would their son need this? Did the wise men think he was sick or was going to die soon? No, it was foretelling the type of life Jesus was going to live – a life of self-sacrifice, death to selfish desires, and obedience to God the Father even to death. The gift of Myrrh was appropriate because Jesus’ greatest act on the earth was his death, and the oil of Myrrh was symbolic of this great gift. 

Even today, we give these same gifts to God through the Church: We fill our sanctuary with beautiful, golden gifts to point to Christ’s Royalty and to adorn his Church with beauty. On High feast days, we light incense and fill the Church with the beautiful smoke to make holy the sacrifice which is offered on the altar.  And we use holy oil to anoint those who are preparing for death in the Anointing of the sick, We anoint with oil those who are dying to their old ways of sin in baptism, and we anoint priests and bishops who will die to their selves in a deeper and true way in their ministry, no longer living for their own passions and desires, but conforming themselves to the life that Christ lived. 

We celebrate on Epiphany more than just 3 guys who went to visit Jesus to give him presents on his birthday. We celebrate a great Foreshadowing of who this small child will become, what he will do, and how he will bring life to each one of us.