Thursday, May 1, 2025

Strengthened by Mission - Men's Evening of Recollection at St Ferdinand Shrine

Happy Easter. 

On the night before Jesus died, when He inaugurated the Sacred Priesthood and instituted the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the Last Supper, He opened His heart to His closest Apostles and spoke tenderly and intimately to them. Most especially, as a father to a son, Jesus spoke to Peter. 

Simon … I have prayed for you … et tu aliquando conversus confirma fratres tuos. And when you also have turned, strengthen the brethren (Luke 22:32).

 I have prayed for you.

 Many years ago, I had the pleasure of serving at the altar with Cardinal Burke. After Holy Mass, we were greeted by two of my friends. I introduced them to the Cardinal, “This is my friend Shelly and her husband Steve.” We didn’t have much time with the Cardinal, all of just a minute after Holy Mass. And at the end, my friends asked the Cardinal to pray for them. He promised that he would.

 Nearly three years after that brief encounter, I was again serving Mass with Cardinal Burke. And again after Holy Mass, my friends came up to me and the Cardinal. But this time, I didn’t have time to introduce them. Cardinal Burke extended his hand and said, “Oh Steve and Shelly! It is so good to see you again!”

 We were all floored. How did he remember their names? He had only met them once, years ago, and for only a minute.

 Many seminarians and priests think that Cardinal Burke has a photographic memory. I think there is some truth to that. But I think it’s more than that. I think it is because he kept his promise. He prayed for them. 

Jesus said to Peter, “I have prayed for you.”

 Steve and Shelly felt like a million bucks because a Cardinal remembered them. What must have Peter felt, knowing that the Messiah, the King of Kings and his closest friend, had been praying for him?

 I would like to think that, years later, after Jesus had ascended into heaven and Peter was walking through the streets of Rome, struggling mightily to do the Lord’s will, and even facing many set-backs and disappointments – I would like to think that Peter remembered Jesus’ words on that First Communion night: “Simon, I have prayed for you.”

 Those words are meant for you. Jesus has prayed for you.

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 And then He says to Peter, “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.” 

Jesus’ petition to the Father is specific. He asks that every grace be given us so that, when we face the crucifixion and the darkness that is inevitable in this life, that we will continue to see and walk in the light, that we will keep the faith and not fall away. I don’t know about you, but this is supremely comforting. When I am in times of difficulty and darkness, it is good to remember that Jesus has prayed for me that my faith may not fail. I can bank on the heavenly Father answering generously to His Son.

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 Then Jesus adds, “Et tu aliquando conversus confirma fratres tuos. And when you also have turned, strengthen the brothers (Luke 22:32).

 I want to hone in on these lines.

 One of the things I have noticed in my years as a Catholic and as a priest is that we are really good at Lent, but we are really bad at Easter. We know that we are to do penance and fast and go to confession during Lent, but what are we supposed to do during the days of the Easter Season – besides smoke cigars, drink beer, watch playoff hockey, and attend graduations? First: 

Et tu aliquando conversus. And when you also have turned.

 I think firstly we have to realize that Peter does not convert during Lent. He converts during Easter. We think that Lent is the season of conversion. It’s actually Easter.

When Our Lord Jesus was betrayed, arrested, imprisoned, scourged, crowned, spat upon, crucified, died, and pierced with a lance – I think it is safe to say they were traumatized. They had so much faith in Jesus; they loved Him, left everything for Him, had days and night sitting at His feet and in the boat and sharing meals and seeing His miracles. And in a heartbeat, it was all extinguished.

 And not only that, it was one of their own – not a random disciple, but one of the Twelve – that had caused the tragedy. The emotional rollercoaster of those seventy-two hours, from Last Supper to Easter morn, was intense. 

The forty days, therefore, were the days that Jesus spent in communion with His Apostles, telling them and showing them why it all happened. They had to learn that the Resurrection wasn’t just a spontaneous event; rather, the Resurrection was the definitive sign of the Father’s loving heart. The Father loved His Son back to life and glorified Him and the sacrifices He had made. The Apostles needed to learn that everything fell within the providence of a good Father and that, because of the Good Father, everything – truly everything – works to the good of those who love the Lord.

 In short, Jesus spent the forty days resurrecting the Apostles faith.

 But that resurrection was not enough.

 Thomas needed to touch. And Peter and John – we find them back in Galilee, having gone back to their old lives, pre-Lent. They go back to being fishermen instead of fishers of men. Jesus is risen, yes, and their faith in Him is new and deepened, but what now? In a way, they are aimless.

 This is when Jesus meets them on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, makes them breakfast, and then gives Peter to chance to amend his three-fold denial with a three-fold affirmation: Peter, do you love me?

 Yes, Lord, you know I love you.

 That is the moment that Peter turns.

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 Et tu aliquando conversus confirma fratres tuos. And when you also have turned, strengthen the brothers.

 Jesus tells Peter, Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.

 Peter has a mission now. And the first ones that he needs to feed are his brothers. None of the brothers are yet building the Church; they have scattered on gone back to their old ways. Peter needs to gather them and bring them back to Jerusalem and to the Upper Room. There, they will receive the promised Holy Spirit who will set them on fire and send them to the ends of the earth.

 Listen to how the Catechism of the Catholic Church talks about this.

“… [God the Father and the Son] invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.

So that this call should resound throughout the world, Christ sent forth the apostles he had chosen, commissioning them to proclaim the gospel: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” Strengthened by this mission, the apostles "went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. (CCC 1-2)

The Apostles were strengthened by this mission. Notice. It doesn’t say they were strengthened for this mission. They were strengthened by it.

 What does this mean?

 Have you ever been around someone who has lost their purpose, their direction in life? Ever been in a corporation or a community that has lost sight of its mission. It can happen to any of us at any time – the man who has lost his job; the man who has grown old and the kids have left the house; the man who can no longer do the things that he used to do in the past and wonders, what now? …   

 When God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit send the Apostles out from the Upper Room – the same Upper Room where the first Eucharist was offered, the same place where Jesus gave them the power to forgive sins, the same place where they ordained a man, Matthias, for the first time, the same place where Thomas touched the heart of Jesus (yes, all of this happened there in the Upper Room) – when they are sent out from there, they are strengthened by the fact that they have something to do. Their future is full of hope

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 Strengthen the brothers, Peter.

 One of the things that we as men can struggle with is hopelessness. I don’t think I need to speak much on this point, because I think that temptation is quite clear. We get disappointed by something or we are not appreciated by those around us whom we wanted to be the first to see the good things we do. And we start to wonder whether what we do is worth it. Hopelessness can really affect our drive to do what we are supposed to do. It can even blind us to the great things we can do, even when great things come by way of accumulation of the small, hidden, Joseph-like acts.

 The other thing that we as men can struggle with is acedia. This is commonly called laziness. But it’s more than just that. Acedia is a spiritual sadness. It’s not depression, although depression can be a relative. Acedia can be born from a hurt in our heart, caused perhaps by a relative, a dad, a father-figure, a priest, a wife … but a hurt in our heart that thinks that we are no longer delighted in. I’m sad that I can’t bring anybody joy.

 Acedia can enter a death spiral when it is accompanied by comparisons, or by doom scrolling, or when we seek to control things that are really outside of our control. We spend our precious time and energy on things that further harm our souls and we shut down. We not only forget our mission as men, but we also lack the strength to see it through. That’s why acedia is often thought to be laziness, when it reality it is deeper than that.

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 Simon, I have prayed for you…. when you have turned, strengthen the brothers.

 Some of you here are more spiritually stronger than the other men. Some of you are weaker. This is fine, either way.

 But all of us need to remember what our mission as men is.

 First, you and I are called to image the heavenly Father. He resurrects the Son. He delights in His children. He works, but He also rests. He instructs, but He also extends mercy – one may say even foolishly so. He is so patient. And you and I get to image Him. The one who holds heaven and earth and everything in His hand. Not only children, but everyone can be so affected by what we say and do and don’t do.

 Second, you and I have a mission to serve beauty. Starting with the woman, we are to rejoice in her and open doors for her and remind her who made her beautiful. The woman’s beauty can wound us. This is a strange reality; seeing something so beautiful can be painful. Jesus agonizes over the fact that He wants to love His bride the Church, but that there is a certain hour that He is called to do so in a particular way. The world tempts us to medicate this pain by trying to grasp and control beauty through lust, pornography, perversion, and so on. Our mission is to fight that demon in the garden and serve beauty.

 Finally, when you have turned, strengthen the brothers. Remind each other why we are here. Our mission is intense and grueling, but is there anything more rewarding in life? If we succeed, we will have brought our families and our community to heaven. This is our hope and our joy, the antidote to acedia and hopelessness.   

Strengthened by this mission, the apostles "went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it.

 The Lord worked with them. You are not alone brothers. Our Lord is working with you and He is doing great things through you. Believe this – this is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

 Happy Easter.

 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

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