Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s Sunday homily, given March 9 at St. Augustine

My dear sisters and brothers,

When I was young, there were two signs that spring was coming. The first was the ritual you and I undertook last night or early this morning with the coming of daylight savings time. As we will see tonight, the sun will set a little before seven o’clock. As a little boy, that meant to me that winter was ending, spring was coming, and summer was not far away.

Then there was the other. And that usually happened on a Sunday afternoon, when after dinner, my mother would make the solemn pronouncement that she was going to begin her spring cleaning. And when my mother said cleaning, she meant cleaning. Venetian blinds, drapes, windows, mattress covers, comforters, cupboards, closets, nothing was spared.

My father and I knew the best way to survive those three weeks was to get out of my mother’s way. We did because we were given the job of doing spring cleaning outside, which meant the garage and the little garden in the back of our house. My father taught me how to do both. You could well imagine where I grew up, the garden was not very big, yet big or small, it’s the same thing.

Two parts. First, you have to undo the effects of winter. My father, with his little hoe, would break open the soil that had been hardened by the rains and snows of the winter. He would then pull out not just the weeds, but the roots of the weeds and all the plants that were wild.

Then, of course, he would trim the bushes back. Why? So that after a bit more time and the temperature was right, he would plant the tomatoes, the cucumber, and the salad that my family would enjoy in the months of August and September. To clear the path to allow new life.

I often wonder about that, my friends. As we begin the season of Lent. Because what we sometimes forget is that the word Lent in English comes from the old English word lecten, which means spring. As you and I do in our natural life, the church asks us in these 40 days to do it in our supernatural life. Both things needed.

So today we hear in sacred scripture, Jesus goes out into the desert, and so the church invites us in the name of Jesus to go out into the desert of our own life to look at the garden that is our soul and spirit and use these 40 days to prepare it. How? By breaking open the hardness of our hearts that at times have been the result of lack of attention, religion, vices, sins, the rough and tumble of life, to break that hardness so that you and I might become more compassionate, merciful, kind and forgiving.

We are to take the roots of our sins and rip them out of us. The vices you and I hide at times with his help and grace. That is hard work. First to admit it, then to find them, then to root them out. Even the good that we do, we are meant to trim it. Why? So that we do the good for the right reason, not to be seen, not to be acknowledged, not to be thanked, simply because the Lord asks it of us. We who are His hands and feet in the world. We spend all these weeks doing that as the winter cold leads to the warmth of spring, so that when you and I come on Easter, the spring of our eternal life, the Lord will be able to grant us graces beyond our wildest imagination so that He might plant in us new life.

What He has in store for you may not be what he has in store for me. But the water of the Holy spirit in the promises of baptism will be poured into your heart and mind so that the soil of our life will ever more fruitful. He will plant into our hearts faith, hope, and charity once again when we renew our baptismal promises. He will come to give us opportunities to do the good for His sake, to be able to learn the truth and proclaim it for his sake, to be able to learn and relearn how to adore and worship him for his sake, and to be able to live a springtime of new life that will not just last the 50 days of Easter, but for years and decades to come.

We are beginning the first week of Lent, and we are asked to do some spring cleaning. I ask you, my friends, are we willing to do that work? For the garden that Christ wishes to give to you is a garden has an empty tomb and a garden that will lead us to everlasting life. Are we willing to begin the work?

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s Sunday homily, given March 2 at St. Augustine

My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord, the 22nd of August, 2006, Pope Benedict made me an Irishman, which proves miracles can still happen, right? That was the day I was ordained a bishop, and Benedict gave me the sea in Ireland, which is now called Skattery Island, right in the mouth of the Shannon River. It is the monastery that was itself its own diocese, where Saint Dennis and St. Sennin left to really evangelize and convert Europe as the earliest missionaries from Ireland.

I’ve always wondered after that day what it was like, what was my kingdom, what it looked like. What does my kingdom? What did it look like? Two years later, I went to Ireland for the first time for Youth 2000, and a group of hardy young Irish youth said, Bishop, let’s go see what it’s like.

Now, you know better than I, the weather in Ireland does not always cooperate. And so after the two-hour drive from Clam M’Mocnois, we arrived and it was so stormy. Even with my wellingtons, it was impossible to go. You had to traverse the mouth of the Shannon River. So I just waved from far away.

And Moira, who was with me, a young woman who was far wiser than her years, just looked at me and said, Bishop, I guess that’s life. And I’ve never quite forgotten her words because whether she realized it or not, she was really teaching me something very profound. It is, in fact, what life is like, is it? When our best laid plans go to naught. When the storms of life arise, not of our making that we cannot control, but we try to navigate, and in some way, shape or form, hope that the boat of our life does not sink. Times of suffering, times of loss, times of confusion, not of our making.

My friends, you and I gather here as as people of faith and as members of the ancient order, because we are no strangers to those storms, are we, in our own lives. Times when we have faced crises or challenges, that, quite frankly, there was no easy response to them. When we think of the long and rich history of the Irish people and how they have faced political oppression and injustice, and at times the inability even to practice our own Catholic faith, then we think of challenges beyond perhaps a single individual to overcome.

And yet we remain united, do we not, as a people of faith, to ensure that there is justice and freedom for all God’s children and all the Irish people. We come here each Sunday, do we not, to receive the body, blood, blood, and divinity of Jesus, so that when this storms arise, we may not despair, but that we might have His strength and grace and power to travail whatever’s there, because we never do it alone. That whatever challenge there is, Christ never abandons us. For He will love us to the end. He will love us to glory.

Then there are the storms of our own making. Those, my friends, we can avoid, and at times you and I fall headlong into them. Those are the mistakes, the decision, the choices you and I make that are perhaps sinful, perhaps unreflective, perhaps reactive. The Lord’s counseling us today to at all cost avoid them. When He speaks of the log and the speck, when He speaks of good fruit from good trees, He’s reminding us that we in our lives can navigate our life to some extent. You and I, with the grace that we receive in baptism, confirmation, and every Sunday here at the altar of the Lord, you and I are asked to follow the example and witness of Jesus Christ so that we will not add insult to injury, that we will not create that which is not needed. The tempest of our own foolishness and sins.

For the Lord wants us, longs for us to have joy, a joy that is within our grasp. You may say, Bishop, what does that look like? Well, how many times have you and I reacted when we were dealt with unjustly by an equal act of injustice? How many times have you and I, all of us in this church been hurt or wounded or betrayed by someone perhaps we love, and we have refused to forgive. We hold a grudge. We live in a world that says, When you are hurt, seek vengeance. Not necessarily mercy, kindness, or peace. That’s apart from the sins that I have committed in my life and you have committed in yours.

You see, my friends, we’re on the cusp of lent, the great discipline of 40 days and 40 nights when you and I will walk into the desert with Jesus Christ. The word lent comes from the old English word, and it means ‘to plant’. As you and I celebrate the great gift of St. Patrick. When you and I gather at the club, I will have much more to say on how St. Patrick is going to navigate the waters of this world.

But for all of us here, we have a few days to recollect, to remember, and to prepare for those 40 days. What is it that you and I have done for which we need forgiveness? What is it that you and I can do in our lives so that we will avoid the tempests and storms of our own making? Because Christ has come, Christ has died, Christ is risen so that you and I may have a clear path to glory in Him, and that path is for the asking.

I must confess, my friends, it is many, many years since I first went to Ireland, It is still on my bucket list to get to Scattery Island. I’m going to give it one more chance the next time I go. I presume what I’m going to see is a lot of ruined buildings, for that monastery has It has not been used for 1,300 years. But that’s not my destiny, is it? Nor is it yours for the destinations that you and I will be navigating today. Our destiny is eternal life, where there will be no storms, no struggles, no pains, no injustice, where there will to be peace and love beyond our reckoning.

That is the journey you and I are on. Let us ask for the grace to navigate it so that we might have what Christ wishes to give to us all..

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s Sunday homily, given February 2 at St. Augustine

My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord, today we gather to celebrate the feast of the presentation of the child Jesus in the temple. It is the traditional end to the season of Christmas. As we heard in the sacred scriptures, it was the fulfillment of the law. That is, recalling that in the plagues against Pharaoh in Egypt, when God’s people that was still in slavery, the last plague was the perishing of the first born among those in Egypt.

And so the Lord prescribed that the first born son and the first born male of all animals were to be offered to the Lord in recognition of that great sacrifice. And so Mary and Joseph come forward to do that. And of course, they are presenting the savior and the redeemer, the light of the world that’s come into its darkness. And so we bless candles. It’s a sign that that light dwells in you and me.

But the feast raises a very interesting question. Today, we hear in the gospel that they were prescribed in the law, it said you had to offer two turtle doves or a pigeon. But you see, my friends, that was the offering of the poor. The law also said that if someone could afford it, they were to offer a lamb, much more expensive than a pigeon. But the obligation was to offer offer the most you could to Yahweh.

And so I ask a question. 39 days before, the Holy Family was given three gifts, and one of them was gold. So what happened to that gold that was not available to buy the lamb? Why did Mary and Joseph choose a turtle dove or a pigeon, the offering of the poor?

And while scripture does not answer that question, I think it is safe to say, my friends, that there is only one reason why Our Lady and St. Joseph did not purchase one, and it’s simply because they no longer had the gold.

Our lady knew that everything in her life depended on her God. She and Joseph and her newborn child, as poor as they were, she knew that there were many more poor than they. It would not surprise us that she gave it away to those in their midst, those they met, those they encountered who needed it more than they. And they who are poor in the eyes of the world came to the temple with the greatest riches humanity has ever seen.

So as you and I gather on this feast, allow me to ask you, you and I who are ambassadors of the light, you and I who are come to this temple so that we can leave this temple and proclaim the light of Christ to the world. As the light gives itself away, so too you and I are to give ourselves away so that Christ can shine within us. We bring that gift that Simeon is reclaimed to everyone out there. Allow me to ask you a question as I ask it of myself. Is there gold in your life and mine? Something we consider so valuable and precious that we have not yet given it away?

The answer to that question may actually be startling. For as your spiritual Father, as I stand I do not stand before you as a man who is wealthy, but I must confess many times in my own life, I am tempted to hold the gold of my life, which I consider to be my most precious possession, which is my time, for I am pressed by many things. And there’s sometimes inside of me the desire to hold some of the time for myself or some of the time not in service of Christ.

And I’m reminded today that I am to give what is considered gold for the sake of Jesus. What is it in your life that you consider to be gold? To be perhaps a possession that is so valuable that you may be tempted to keep it for yourself rather than give it away to the light of the world.

Perhaps this week you and I can meditate and reflect on that, for the challenge is simply this. We are to bring the light of Christ and proclaim his love and mercy, his patience and forgiveness in the world. And that requires that you and I learn ever more, as Our Lady and Joseph did, to give ourselves away, to give everything away, so that we can hold in our arms and in our hearts the greatest gift we have, who is Jesus, the Lord. The world may not always welcome the light, but we are called to bring the light to that world. And let us do it as best we can for his honor and glory.

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s Sunday homily, given January 12 at St. Augustine

We have to make sure we don’t get hurt on this carpet. Boys and girls, why don’t you come up? Whoever wants to come up, come on up. And be careful on the edges of this carpet because it’s so cold, the carpet is like stuck. Come on up. Come around. Come around. Come around. Is there enough room? Come on, let’s… Yeah, perfect. Is there enough room? Come a little closer, boys and girls. Come just a little closer. I don’t want anybody to fall off the edge.

Good morning, boys and girls. We could do better than that. Good morning, boys and girls. Good morning. Much better. Boys and girls, today we celebrate a very important feast. Can anybody tell me what we are celebrating? Tell me. Today is the Christmas that night. Yes, Yes, Jesus was baptized. Who baptized Jesus? Tell me. St. John the Baptist. St. John the Baptist in the River Jordan.

Now, boys and girls, it is important for us and what the Lord does for us today, because there’s a very interesting problem, which chances are you have not yet thought of when it comes to the baptism of Jesus. I’m going to give you the problem and see if you can give me the answer.

You see, St. John was asking people who had sinned to repent, meaning to seek forgiveness of their sins through the baptism he was giving. This is the problem. Jesus had no sins. He is sinless because He is our God. Why did Jesus get baptized? You have an answer. Tell me. That’s how we get baptized, yes. Why do you think so you’re close? Anybody? Anybody out there? Tell me. A plus Did everyone hear that answer? So that Jesus could bless the waters to open the gift of baptism for us all. A plus. Excellent.

You see, boys and girls, today we celebrate the fact that through Jesus’s baptism, Jesus blesses the waters that you and I were baptized with. Now, do you remember your baptism? Chances are no, I certainly don’t because we were little babies. But do you know what happened to you at baptism? So give me an idea. What happened in baptism? Tell me. They put your head under the water. Right. They poured water.

See, in the old church, they actually put you in the water. But now we’re kinder now. Now we just pour water over your head. What happens to you? What happens to your soul? Are your sins forgiven? Yes. It’s originally “Are you washed clean in baptism”? Yes. What else happens? Who comes to visit you? The Holy Spirit. And does He come just for that day? Does He come just for a year? Does He come just for a few years? How long does He stay, the Holy spirit? How long? Forever in you because you are a temple of the Holy Spirit.

See this beautiful church is a temple of the Lord, and we We gather to celebrate the sacruments. You are a temple of the Holy Spirit, and He is always there to walk with you, to guide you, to protect you, to inspire you, to encourage you, to forgive you. God is always with you, boys and girls. If everybody you knew, turned their back on you, which, please God, will never happen, God will never do that because you’re living inside of you.

What else happens in baptism, boys and girls? More happens. God gives you three gifts, faith, hope, and charity, and they’re like little seeds planted in your soul. You and I go to religious education, which you love to do, don’t you? Oh, we could do better than that.

Don’t we love religious education? Yes, of course we do. And come to Mass every Sunday and pray every day so that those seeds are like water is added to them, they begin to grow so that you can come to know your faith. Who is Jesus? Who is the church? What does He want for you? What is His will to you, to also grow in hope. Because hope, boys and girls, reminds us that this life does not end.

But where are we going? If, please God, we have been good, where do we go after we die? To heaven. And of course, charity is love. Jesus loved us so much that He died for you, and He asks us to love one another. All of this happened to you and me in baptism.

What’s the lesson to be learned today? Is that all these gifts cannot be taken for granted. But as you grow older with the love of your parents and your catechists and those who will form you for all the opportunities you have to pray, to come to Mass, to receive the sacruments, to go to confession when you’re old enough to be confirmed, In all those ways, you allow the gifts I just described that Jesus begins to open up for us today, that they will allow you to grow into a woman or man of Holiness, of greatness, and one day enter eternal life.

My dear friends, the same is true for us. We are the great privilege to come into this sacred space because we have been washed clean, we have been baptized. We have become the adopted sons and daughters of God. To each of us has been given these great gifts, and we should never take them for granted. And when we fail, we should ask for forgiveness to be washed clean again, that we should never lose an opportunity to learn our faith in its fullness and beauty, to grow in the life of the spirit in prayer, here and in the quiet of our hearts, so that we too may receive the destiny of our baptism, which is a place made only for you and me in the glory of everlasting life.

Boys and girls, I have very bad news for you. You want to hear it? Today ends Christmas. I know. Now we go into ordinary time. Next week, when we are together, I will talk a little bit to you about what that means and why what the world considers ordinary, we as Christians consider extraordinary. Thank you for your attention, boys and girls. Off you go.

Back to your places. Be careful on the carpet, boys and girls. Good..

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s Sunday homily, given January 5 at St. Augustine

My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord,

We gather here on this most solemn day to reflect on the mystery of the epiphany, the revelation of who this child born in Bethlehem is for you, for me, and for the nations. So today, we reveal, we reflect, we wonder the mystery that this child came for all God’s children. The three wise men, Caspar, Balthazar, Melchior, they represent those peoples, my friends, who were not given the privilege of the covenant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They thought they were excluded from the mercy of God. And today, they represent the fact that this child has come for all God’s children.

And yet the epiphany is more than one event. The epiphany was all of the Lord’s ministry as we gradually come to understand who this child really is. And so next week, we will hear that He was the one baptized by John, not because He sinned, but to bless the waters of this world because He came to free us from our sin. And at the wedding feast of Cana, again, an epiphany, He came not simply to change water into wine, but that wine may be changed into His body, blood, soul, and divinity because He invites us to freedom from death in a place in a banquet that will never end.

You see, my friends, in faith, we look upon the face of the child of Bethlehem, and we see the Lord of all nations, the Lord who forgives all sins, the Lord who will give us eternal life.

We open the Holy Year, this Jubilee of Hope on this day because my friends, Pope Francis is inviting you and me to be the instruments of a new epiphany in our modern world, to bring the revelation of who Christ is to every waiting, broken heart. For that is our hope. And so I ask you to ponder, my friends, in these months to come, how can you and I shed light on those who are searching for meaning, for forgiveness, for purpose, for food, for drink, for shelter, for friendship, for hope? Where can you and I be the means of Christ’s epiphany?

There are many ways. Perhaps you and I need ponder just one. For if each of us in this church chose one means with Christ’s grace to bring His light to those who are searching for it, we can change the world. And so, my friends, who is it in your life and mine whom we have excluded, who believes they are outside of the mercy?

Their life is too messed up. Their life is too far afield, their life is lost. Who is it to whom we can go and be the bridge of understanding patience, mercy, and forgiveness, to be like the magi? Who is it that you and I can reach out in these days ahead and be the vessel of Christ’s mercy and forgiveness, who have offended us, and we will now forgive. Who wonder whether or not their sins could ever be forgiven and gently remind them that they can have that forgiveness only for the asking to be an epiphany of light in the chains, the slavery of sin. And who in our city, in our community, and in our lives is looking for someone to give them tangible hope, not just talk about hope?

Because my friends, oftentimes talk is easy it’s sometimes even cheap. But to talk about real freedom, freedom for someone who’s searching for work so that he or she may have food on the table. To reach out to those who today, tomorrow, next week, next month will be alone and always alone. To have a phone call ring or a doorbell ring and to spend time with those and bring them, that they are riced into a heart that may be tempted to give up. Or to simply in a world that is so divided, to be able to resurrect the great virtue of respect and to listen to one another, even when we don’t agree with each other. For that is where the light of Christ, the epiphany, epiphanos, comes forward in the world.

You see, my friends, we have begun the Jubilee of Hope, and Pope Francis is asking us to be ambassadors of hope, or if I may put it this way, to be like the Magi, to offer our gifts to Christ and offer them to our sisters and brothers so that they may see what we see and believe in whom we believe. The three Magi gave to this child gold, frankencense, and myr, to reveal light of Christ to the world. As we begin the Jubilee, what gift will you and I give to Him to show his light to the world?

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s Sunday homily, December 29, at St. Augustine

Thank you.

My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord, I make every effort to avoid looking at the news feed that appears on my phone because it is inevitably bad news. But this day, the day after Christmas, I gave into the temptation. As I’m looking through the articles and looking at all the wars and calamities and disasters and gossip and scandal that seems to mark our the world. There were two articles that I stumbled upon which I thought were fascinating.

The first reminded us that there is a housing shortage. We all know that. That homelessness in this country may reach the largest level since the Great Depression, in that we need to build houses that people can buy and live in. And then the second article maybe gave a reason why we have such a shortage. Could you imagine in New York City, in Tribeca, the average rent for an apartment with one bedroom is 8,300 $300 a month. Insane.

Now, of course, I’m not raising this for you so that we could debate what the social solution is. I raise it because the real thought it provoked in me was, my dear friends, there is not just solely a housing shortage in America.

There is a home shortage in America. And there is a great difference between having a house to live in and having a home to belong to. And as you and I celebrate this great feast of the Holy Family, we remind ourselves of the great insight that Paul VI offered to us nearly 60 years ago when he went to Nazareth and spoke about the gift of the home that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph formed as an invitation for you and I, no matter what our family looks like, and they look very different, every size and shape imaginable, that every family can create a home.

So my dear friends, the question we could ask ourselves is, what does it take to make a home, to make a house into a home? The answer lies with what the Holy Family did. Among many other attributes, they exhibited, too, every moment of their lives together.

Can allow me to suggest that that’s homework for you and me in the new year. And that is to look at the family of which we are apart, wherever you and I may live, and ask the question, do we live Christian charity together? And do we live respect for each other? For those two qualities, my friends, are essential for us to be able to enjoy that which God wants for us, that we live in a home of love and peace.

Charity. Charity is to lift up those with whom we live, no longer to look at those around us as those who are to serve my needs my desires, my pleasures, what I want, but rather to lift up those around us. A husband lifting up his beautiful wife as the spouse God chose to walk with Him to heaven. And the same for her wife, for her husband. For parents to look into the faces of their children with deep gratitude because they are the physical expression of their love, and also to see in them precious lives that God is asking through their love for them to lift them up and allow them to blossom with all the goodness and beauty God has in store for them, not to be their friends, but to be their parents, to discipline, to encourage, to correct, to accompany, even when they mess up royally.

You see, my friends, love is something we can often take for granted. But love is essential for family to become one great unit of love that is literally the dwelling place of the Holy spirit. And the house they live, whether it is magnificent or simple, whether it has four walls and a roof or whether it has many, many rooms, that house will become a home for them when love is made real.

And where there is love, there is respect. And respect, my friends, is not found often in the world because I dare say it is not often found even in our families. And respect is acknowledging one another’s place, obligations, and duties. For those of you who have the privilege to be parents and grandparents, allow me to remind you that God has asked you to be the first teachers of the faith way before they come to their mother, the church, to learn the language of faith. You do it not by giving a lesson, but by living your life in fidelity to Jesus to be an open catechism of His love. Our children in our midst to remember that they are to respect their parents, even the Lord in the gospel today, who is God himself submitted to Mary and Joseph.

After all, He created them, but He submitted to them in obedience because he respected those who were his mother and foster father, their authority over Him, and knew that by following what they asked, he would be doing the Will of the Father.

So my dear friends, I alluded to the that New Year’s is only a few days away. You are in the midst, as I am, of making resolutions. Can I give you spiritual homework? And perhaps I could cast it this way. Among the many promises you and I will make, solutions, please God, we will keep. Can we ask ourselves the question, in the family God gave us, whatever it may be, is there something you and I can do to make that family become more of a home to one another? What is it you and I have neglected to do, forgotten to do, taken for granted over the years and Can we make the resolution to do it in the new year so that all the families of God can live in homes of love and respect with His spirit living in the midst of it.

For I do not stand before you, my friends, with any practical solution on how we’re going to solve the housing shortage. But God has given us the solution on how to solve the shortage of homes. The question is, will you and I do it?

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s homily, given Christmas afternoon, December 25, at St. Augustine

My dear sisters and brothers,

Allow me to begin by offering to you and to your families and your loved ones my best wishes and prayers for a blessed and Merry Christmas to you all. We gather here in the growing darkness of this night to join our sisters and brothers in faith all throughout the world, to raise our minds and voices in praise and adoration of God our Father, for this night He has given us a great gift, a gift beyond price, a gift that was long promised to His chosen people who longed for the One to Come, who would be called wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, the Prince of Peace, who would break the rod of Midian, who would set God’s people free, the one who gives rest to every human heart that allows Him entrance.

And He came. He came while the world slept. He came while Herod paced the rooms of his palace, wondering when the Messiah would come and how He could destroy him, in that He came. He came with the rich and the famous and those in religious authority were sumptuously dining, and only the shepherds came to welcome Him. He came while the magicians and magi of the east, watching their charts and stars, had intuited that the moment had arrived, and they came to pay Him homage.

He came, and He comes to you and I tonight.

He comes every moment of our lives, does he not, my friends, when we ask Him to come to be born anew in our suffering, in our pain, in our joys, in our triumphs, in the midst of our families, with our neighbors and friends in this broken world. He comes. He comes as our Savior, our Messiah, our Redeemer, and our King. He came to overthrow kings and those in authority who refuse to do the will of the Father. He came to establish a kingdom that no one and nothing will stop. He came so that you and I, born poor, may one day become rich in Him. He came to cause death to die and to give a place to all who follow Him, who share His name in everlasting glory.

My dear friends, I am sure you and I are going to gather with our families and friends, tonight, tomorrow, and exchange gifts. To sign of the love we have for each other, to sign of the joy we have in our hearts for this great feast. But it is also, my friends, a symbol that we should not forget, a small token symbol of the one gift above all others that has changed reality, creation, the world, our church, and you and me, forever.

Friends, we may ask the question, how is it possible for God, who created all things, who is light and love Himself, with whom and for whom all things are held in being, the One who knows all things, has all power, all grace. How is it possible for that God to His Son, the eternal word, to become a child? How is that possible?

And the answer, my friends, lies in the heart of this mystery tonight. For it is only possible because God freely chose to make an exchange of gifts. For in His great love, He exchanged the glory of His heavenly throne for the wood of a manger. He chose because of His love for you and me, He chose to leave the homage of the angels and saints to come into a world where they would gradually evermore reject Him. He gave up all his authority and privilege as God so that He might become poor like you and I, born into a broken life so that He might heal it and lift us up.

My friends, the mystery of this night is that God chose to exchange his glory to become poor like us so that you and I who are born poor may one day be like God. That is the great proof of God’s reckless love for you, for me, and for all His children. That is the gift that never stops giving.

Having said that, my friends, there is nothing more to say. There are no words, there is no language that can adequately describe the greatness of the mystery of the gift you and I have received except this, my friends. As the words of the hymne remind us. We ought to bow down before the manger. We ought to have the courage to look into the face of God. You and I must make it our business to spend time in silent prayer, thanking God for the gift in which you and I have eternal life.

And may I ask that as God exchange so much so that you and I may be given much? Can we this Christmas have the courage to do the same for our neighbor, to give to those to those who are poor a share of what we have, to those who are lonely a share in our company, to those who are looking for love and affection, a share in our love and mercy? Can we dare to imitate the infant born in Bethlehem and allow those around us who may be struggling to be lifted up in glory because of your love and mine?

That is the miracle of Christmas. For that, we give thanks and praise to Christ, who was born in Bethlehem. To Him, our newborn king, our Messiah, to Him who is the one who will lift us up to glory. To Him be all honor in glory now and forever. Amen.

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s homily, given Sunday morning, December 8, at St. Augustine

My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord from the time when we were little children, even to this time in our lives, whatever that may be, we have been both reminded and taught and encouraged to pray. To pray every day. For prayer is our opportunity to commune with. to relate with. To speak with our Lord and Savior.

And as you know from your own experience, prayer takes many forms. Sometimes we use words, and for that reason the Lord gave us the great prayer of the Our Father, boys and girls, which you need to memorize and pray every day. It is the perfect prayer using words. But sometimes we don’t use words. We just sit before the Lord and let our hearts speak to Him and He speaks back. And when we do pray, at times we just simply stand before Him and give Him praise and adoration. We give Him thanks for all the blessings He has given you and me. Sometimes we pray for those whom we love, those who have asked for prayers, we intercede for them.

And sometimes you and I, perhaps more than sometimes, we ask for ourselves and the needs you and I have, and at times those needs are many. We pray because the Lord asked us to. Did He not say, ask, and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. And so, my friends, in our busy lives, we must find always the time to pray.

However, on this day when traditionally we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which we will celebrate tomorrow as a solemnity. Because today is a Sunday in Advent, our lady has one more lesson to teach us about prayer, something that you and I at times may forget in all that I just described is your prayer life and mine. One thing to ask for. One thing to seek, one thing to find in your life and mine, which at times we may forget, as ironic as that is. And it was Saint Augustine, our patron, who in his homily on the 33rd Psalm, expressed it best in one question.

Why do you seek things from the Lord when you do not first seek the Lord?

You see, my dear friends, at the heart of all prayer should be one petition. One desire is to ask for Him, for Him to burn in your life and mine, in your heart and mind, in your mind and mine. He is the gift above all other gifts. And many times we ask things from Him, but we do not invite Him into our lives, to rearrange it, to convert it, to transform it, to bring it into his will.

You see, my dear friends, we gather here today to not only learn that lesson, to be reminded of that lesson, but also to pray for our sisters and brothers who are the founding members of the Morning Star Guild, the fifth guild to be created in our diocese, and the Morning Star Guild and its members has only one purpose, and its purpose is to foster in its members and in the whole church a spirituality that honors Our Lady.

Why? Because she is the one who reminds us that everything about us should be about Jesus, and all that we ask for should be first and foremost to seek Him. She did that her entire life. She is the morning star, the brightest star in the sky, which the navigators and sailors used as they did the moon to navigate their way to safety. She is the one who asks us to come to her not because of her, but because of the one she will point us to. There was not an action Our Lady took, not a word Our Lady ever spoke that did not point to her Son, because she sought Him and received Him, and everything else fell into place.

So, my dear friends, those of you who are joining the Guild, I commend you and I will pray for you that God will continue to mold your minds and Hearts so that you might do what Our Lady did, that you will shine a light in your mind and heart, in your words and behaviors, in your values and attitudes that point to Jesus.

But that is how you honor her. You honor her to go to her Son. And may I ask for you and for all of us here today, my friends, the next time you sit to pray, do not first begin with asking for things for yourselves as important as they are. You and I perhaps should not ask for our neighbors and friends first, as much as they are in need. They will be time to ask for all of that. But perhaps we could follow Our Lady.

And before we utter any other words, say to the Lord, I need you. I seek you. Come to me as you came to your son. For you dwelled within her, in her very womb and led her throughout her earthly life to seek nothing else but you. Come to me first and take my mind, my heart, my will, my life, my family and all that I have. And what we will find is that He will answer that prayer. And once that prayer is answered, all the other needs we have and those around us have, they too will be answered, because we will have found what the morning star points to.

That is the Savior of us all.

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s homily, given Sunday morning, November 24, at St. Augustine

Okay, boys and girls, why don’t you come up? Who wants to come up? Come on up.

Make yourselves comfortable.

Yeah, we have a carpet now. Isn’t it nice? Yes. No, come a little closer. Come closer.

Come closer. Come here. Come, come, come, come, come. Perfect, perfect, perfect. First of all, who’s excited about Thanksgiving?

Raise your hand. Who’s ready for Thanksgiving? Raise your hand. Oh, they all are. I won’t ask back there.

I won’t ask. Okay, boys and girls, I have a question to ask you. Does everybody have a place? Okay. What does a king or a queen wear on their heads?

Tell me. A crown. Absolutely. And can you describe what a crown would look like, you think? Tell me.

Yeah, it’s golden. Sure. And what else do you think it would have? What else? Diamonds and jewels and…

Exactly. So it’s very, very special and costs an awful lot of money. Where do you think? What is it called? The seat where a king or queen sits.

What is it called? A throne. Excellent. And what do you think a throne is made of? Tell me.

Yeah, what is it made of? You think? Is it special? It’s special. Do you think it’s made of special things like gold maybe, or jewels or silver?

Would you like a throne? Yes. Now, you know, boys and girls, also, kings and queens have many privileges. Not only because they wear crowns that are very precious and they sit on the throne because they rule over a kingdom. But do you know that if I were a king, like the king of England, when you got up at the end of my homily and walked down those stairs, if you turned around and showed your back to me, you would be arrested because it’s illegal to turn your back to the king or queen because they are considered so special.

And of course, kings and queens through the centuries have led armies and navies. They’ve sent countries into battle. Of course, they don’t fight. They send everybody else to fight. So they are very special people.

Now, boys and girls, you do know that there’s another type of crown, A crown that is worn by only one who is the king.

Would you like to see it?

No.

This is the crown of the king. All things. What does it look like to you? What is it made of? Tell me.

It’s made of wood. It’s made of sticks. It’s made of thorns. And they come from bushes that. In the Holy Land, there are bushes everywhere with this.

This is not made of gold or silver. And our Lord Jesus wore this crown for a reason, which I’ll mention in a second. But what was His Throne, do you think? What was His throne? Where was Jesus born?

Tell me. In. No, no, not in. Yeah. What?

What’s. What town? What town starts with a B? Bethlehem. And where was He born?

In a hotel? In a hospital? In a resort? Where was he born? In a barn?

In a stable. So what was His throne? A trough where animals would eat straw. That was where the king was booked. And of course, He never said you couldn’t turn your back on Him.

Actually, He let people slap him on His way to die. AndHe didn’t have armies of soldiers and sailors. He had armies of angels who proclaimed His birth. You see, boys and girls, this crown tells us that there is a king unlike any other king. Because He came not to show power or wealth or privilege.

He came to love us. And He wore this crown because He loves us. He loves you. Not just us. He loves you.

And He died wearing this. So that you, like me, might have our sins forgiven and come to the glory of eternal life. I would have you touch this, except I’m afraid it will cut your hand because it has already cut mine last year. But you could imagine what this would be like if I took my miter off and put this on my head.

And the sacrifice it would take. Our king loves you in a way I could never describe. That is why we honor Him. So now the question is, what does our King want from us? Does He want gold, you, silver, jewels?

Will he arrest you if you turn your back on Him? No. But what does He want? Read this bag. What does He want?

Who can read this bag? First one. First read the first line. Tell me, what’s it say? Be kind.

Be kind. That is, to love one another as He loved us. What’s the second one? Tell me. Be good.

Do good. And what does that mean, boys and girls? What does that mean? Tell me. I’m sorry.

Yes, of course. Good. What else does it mean? Can you tell? To do good.

What does that mean? Give me an example of doing good.

Help an old lady cross the street. And even an old man cross the street. Good. What else? Tell me.

To be respectful to the people around you. Very good. Even if you don’t agree with the people. Tell me, what else?

Empty out the dishwasher. What a great idea. What else? Two.

With your heart.

Exactly. And what else?

A typical task to do, you see, boys and girls? Because what did our Lord do? He was the king, right? And He walked with people when they were sick. He ate with His apostles.

He healed those who were blind, those who couldn’t walk. There was no place the Lord would not do. Good. And what’s the last word? Let’s say it together.

What’s the word? One more time. And when do we say Amen? When we are praying.

Because our King doesn’t want a distance. He wants to be with us. He wants to be close to you. You know the king is right next to you. Now, in spirit, He’s in your heart, He’s in your mind, He’s in your soul.

And every time we pray, we acknowledge it, we recognize it. And we say thank you to Him for being such a loving and merciful king. You see, boys and girls, the lesson for today is this. We have a king who’s not afraid to love us, no matter what the cost is. And He asks us to love one another in the exact same way.

You see, my dear friends, today is the story of the two crowns. The two kings. The kings and queens of this earth and all that is represented by them and the king who is the shepherd of love. And today we are reminded that only one king rules.

The question you and I need to ask is, to whom have you and I given our allegiance?

Amen to that. Boys and girls, you were great today. Thank you for coming up. Why don’t you go back to your seats and we can continue Holy Mass? Let’s give our boys and girls a round of applause, shall we?

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s Blue Mass homily, given Sunday morning, November 17, at St. Augustine

My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord,

I think it is safe to say that among the topics that are in the modern world considered socially unacceptable to talk about, on that list, surely there is the question the reality, the mystery of death itself, a topic that few people ever want to talk about. And of course, in our secular world, there’s a reason for that, because in fact, in our secular world where there is no place for a God, death is a problem. And so you hear that people pass away. Of course, no one asks, Where did they pass to? We hear about celebrations of life when a person’s life has ended, not asking the question to what is that celebration about?

We have a culture, my friends, where youth is idolized, as if there was no dignity for those of us who are growing older and frailer each day. Death has a very troubled place in our modern secular world, but not here. For as we come to the closing Sunday days of the Pascal year, you and I are being asked by the church to contemplate this great mystery, not because it should cause fear and trembling and anxiety, but because you I who believe see it in a different way with a different set of eyes.

And today in the gospel, we hear that Jesus says, Heaven and Earth will pass away, but My Word will not pass away. And what is that word that will not pass away? But the very words of the Lord that said, he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood will remain in Me and live forever. What is the word that will not pass away? I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will never die.

Of course, for all of us, myself included, consider the day when we will enter the mystery of death does leave many questions in my mind, a bit of apprehension. But we need not truly fear, because you and I know that death is not the end, but death is a passage to a greater life of glory. Perhaps that is a good context for us to come here today and to pray for those men and women who are not afraid courageously to face the mystery of death or to risk their lives for others that they might have life and escape the mystery of death.

Today, we gather to honor all of our police officers, our firefighters, our technicians, our emergency medical technicians, because my friends, oftentimes as a society and individuals, we forget the sacrificial work they do every single day.

For many times, they find themselves in circumstances where they themselves must risk their lives for others. Oftentimes, they face the mystery of the death of those whom they serve, and they don’t They don’t recoil. They don’t run away. They are not afraid to face whatever the situation is, but with courage and generosity and self-sacrifice, they lift the the lives of those whom they serve, protect them from harm, save them in times of great turmoil, in fire, in chaos, in their moments of suffering, you, me, all of us.

So it is a great gift in a society that wants to run away from the mystery of death that we have these noble men and women who every single day do whatever is required so that others may have life, protection, healing, and peace. They are not afraid of the mystery of death.

And that is why we come here to pray for them, to pray for all of you, my friends, who have taken the time to join us, for which I am most grateful that you are here, to pray for every single one of you, that God will protect in your noble work, will keep you safe with the love and protection of the angels, most especially Michael, the great Archangel, the Guardian of the gates of heaven itself. That the Lord will grant you whatever courage you need so that you may continue to be faithful in the noble work that God has chosen for you, and that God will always keep you safe in His love.

And to come here today for all of us to say thank you for what you do, to serve others in their greatest need, even at the cost of risking your own life. I can think of no greater and more noble work. And we are all grateful. And I promise to continue to pray for all of you each day. And you know what, boys and girls? As you grow older, you are going to have many opportunities to consider what you would like to do in life. And really, the sky is the limit.

But I do want you to remember today, because as you consider a vocation, what you would like to do, consider the possibility of becoming a police officer or a firefighter, or a nurse, or an ambulance driver, because you know what, boys and girls? That work is beautiful. It’s courageous. It’s noble. It is one of the most important vocations you can embrace. Something to think about as you continue growing in wisdom and grace.

And so, my dear friends, on this 33rd Sunday of ordinary time, as we prepare to conclude our pastoral year next Sunday with the solemnity of Christ, the King, the King of all things, the Church asks us to pause and to look at the mystery of death straight on with the eyes of faith. The men and women we are praying for and we honor today do that every single day, standing firm with courage, conviction, confidence, and grace. They do whatever love requires. I ask you for the rest of us who are here praying together as sisters and brothers, before that same great mystery, how will you and I respond?

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s Sunday homily, November 3 at St. Augustine Cathedral

My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord,

Because they were in great hast, having been summoned to go forth into freedom, to escape the clutches of Pharaoh, to walk through the waters of the Red Sea, the ancient Israelites did not have time to prepare their bread. And so they ran with unleavened dough, a sign of a new life given them, promised them in the covenant.

And so the Passover meal is born. A meal our Jewish brothers and sisters have celebrated for countless generations, a sign of their own liberation and blessing from the Father. The Lord Jesus took that meal, as you and I know, and allowed it to become a means of a far greater liberation, not just a liberation from the tyranny of this world, but from the clutches of the evil one himself. For it became the sacrament of our salvation and freedom from the chains of sin and death itself.

You and I entering into the mystery of our redemption in his one unrepeatable, perfect sacrifice on the cross. And each time we gather to celebrate this great sacrifice, we received unleavened bread that is the sacrament of our salvation and hope.

St Augustine, who is the patron of this parish and this great church, says, “We receive this sacrament not solely as the invitation to our own redemption, but to strengthen the bond that we form because”, he said, “We receive the body of Christ to become the body of Christ.” Which means, my friends, that we are all in our different vocations, lives, and states. We form one living body that brings the life and message of Christ out into the world.

But allow me to suggest this morning as we gather to celebrate the guild, the creation of the Guild of the most Blessed Sacrament, that this bread is leavened unlike this great sacrament, which is not. And what are we leavened with? Ourselves as temples of the Holy Ghost, the Holy spirit, the power and grace of God’s own life.

For you see, my friends, you and I have been given the grace so that we might animate, move, stir this body to greater Holiness, to greater service, to greater dedication, to greater witness of this offer of salvation in Jesus Christ. Each of us in a different way, each of us with our own gifts and talents, each of us with our own prayer life and our own struggles and challenges, all of us called to be leavened so that this bread, this living body of Christ, may continue to grow and multiply until it includes the whole world.

And those of you, my friends, who are becoming members of the Guild of the Most blessed Sacrament, you are being called to be the heralds of this great mystery. You are to be leaven within leaven, not by you perhaps may preach or teach, but by the integrity of your life, so that people may see in you a joyful, faithful, dedicated, generous, a kind and forgiving woman or man who proclaims that the Eucharist is alive in your heart and in it, the presence of Christ. And by that attractive witness, invite guide others to seek what you kneel before as often as you can in adoration.

For you see, my friends, the world is blind to this, and much of the church is asleep before this great sacrament. And it is time to arouse the giant to new life. To energize God’s people, to proclaim this offer that is given to everyone who comes to faith in Him. And so for those of you joining the guild, I am deeply grateful and delighted to initiate you. I hope and pray that there will be many more following in your footsteps so that the body of Christ may be leavened and energized and the world come to see that there is one road to salvation, one road to joy and hope, one road to everlasting glory, and it begins here.

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s homily from All Souls Day Mass, November 2 at St. Peter Cemetery

My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord,

He finally came to visit. It was 12 minutes past four o’clock. On the eighth day of January, 2012, it was a Saturday. I knew he was not far away because my mother was struggling for a few days, I, intuiting her life was coming to an end. And so the angel of death came to visit. My family was preparing for this day for a long time, for she had been diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer 13 months prior.

But we have all been in that place Have we not? Someone we love dearly. Perhaps we are preparing ourselves. Perhaps it comes suddenly. Whenever the moment does come, nothing can prepare us for that experience. Because our minds are immediately filled with memories of the past, fears for the future, tremendous sorrow for the loss of the person who is so much a part of our lives, and, if we were honest, tears as much for ourselves as for those whom we have lost. And for a priest to say this is extraordinary. But I was at a loss for words, completely at a loss for words.

And at the time, I was the pastor of St. Dominic’s in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. And so the next day was Sunday Mass. And with all of this swirling in my mind, I remember right before I was going to pick up the consecrated host, when the priest fractures it as a sign of that which the Lord has done for us. My mind heard with a voice that was not my own. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood shall live in me”. And in that moment was the beginning of a healing that has taken years to move forward. Same for all of us in this place.

On this All Soul’s Day, we come here to pray for all the dead, those known to you, those who are buried here in this cemetery, neighbors, friends, relatives, all those who have passed away in all the centuries of human life. We pray for those who died in Valencia, in Spain. Suddenly, death came to visit them on a day they did not expect. No different than those who died in North Carolina in so many different times and places in our lives. We lift them all as the Holy souls to ask God’s mercy upon them and to remember the words of our savior, He who eats my flesh or drinks my blood will have life in Me. He or she will never die.

On this Old Soul’s Day, we end our Eucharistic Pilgrimage today at this very celebration and the procession to follow. For Jesus has visited the living, now He comes to visit the dead. For He is master of both, and He calls both to life. Consider, my friends, all those who are buried here, how often they receive the bread of life, drank from the cup of eternal salvation. All who are buried here who believe deeply in their hearts that the Lord can be trusted and believed because He is God made man, the one who could deliver what He promises, the one who never lies and never fails.

You see, we come here not to mourn, but to celebrate all of us despite our broken hearts, despite the tears we may continue to shed for those whom we have lost. It could be decades. Perhaps there will be moments we will still shed a tear. Nonetheless, my friends, we come here to celebrate that our Lord is victor over death. You and I, and those buried in this cemetery, and all who believed in Him received the seeds of eternal life on this altar.

How awesome a mystery, a mystery for which there are no words to describe. My friends, when we come here to the altar of God, we come in grace through the power of the Holy Spirit to Calvary. We come here and we enter into the one mystery of the Lord’s death and resurrection in which our deaths have hope, and those who have died have the promise of eternal life. We come here so that we may share in the victory of the Lord over death in His resurrection. What happened seemingly 2,000 years ago is alive and real here in our midst.

Each time we come to pray and each time we receive His sacred body, blood, soul, and divinity, we are given that share of everlasting life. There are no words to describe it, nor should there be, for we are describing the very life of God in us.

When mass ends, for those of you who are able, we will have two processions. The first, I invite all of you to join, which is a simple procession around the circle. Here, it will last no more than six or seven minutes. But for those of you who have the strength and the willingness, I invite you to join me as we will bring the Eucharistic Lord throughout this entire cemetery for about 45 minutes. We will walk all four of its corners.

And if you can come, my friends, join me in song, for the Lord is walking in the garden of life. He is reminding those who sleep in this place that He has given them the seeds of eternal life, that the day will come when they will hear His voice, and they will rise from these graves, and they will have the fullness of the promise of life. Body, soul, and spirit, healed, glorified, risen to take their place in the glory of everlasting life in heaven.

We will walk among the dead to whisper to them that they are dead for a time. They sleep for just a season, but they will live. Why? Because they ate of his body and drank of his blood, and know that He will keep His promise that they shall never die forever. May the Lord, may the risen Lord, may the crucified Lord, may the Lord of the Eucharist be praised now and forever. Amen.

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s homily, given Tuesday Evening, October 29, at St. Rose of Lima

My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord,

The mere glance at it usually had the effect of making my legs queezy and my stomach even more so. If it wasn’t more than a glance, the smelling salt needed to be found. Okay, of course, as a little boy, the sight of blood was something I did not ever want to see. You could imagine one of the vocations I took off my list from the beginning was surgeon, out it went, off the list. I’m happy to report that now that I’m much older, that no longer happens.

I even have the courage to watch when they draw blood. The last time I did at Quest, a thought crossed my mind. How precious blood really is for you and me. For our lives would not be – it’s impossible without it. It is the liquid of life. For it carries nutrients, carries oxygen, and allows us to live our lives. Unseen, most of the time. Unseen seen.

And the ancients understood that principle, my friends, the importance of blood being the bearer of life. And so our Jewish sisters and brothers in the ancient, the ancient world, understood that blood was an essential piece of the sacrifice that needed to be made in remission of sins.

They understood what we understand in our own age, that the penalty for serious sin is death. It is its natural consequence. And so when sin occurs or is committed, there needs to be an atonement. There needs to be a forgiveness. And so in the ancient practice, animals were sacrificed so that their blood could pay the penalty and make atonement for the sins of God’s people. They would not endure it.

But an animal that was innocent and without sin, as are all animals, would do so. And blood once again became the vehicle not simply of life, but an invitation to a greater life.

We gather here tonight to begin this extraordinary period of prayer, this Eucharistic Pilgrimage, entering into the mystery of a divine sacrifice. We call it the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. What we are celebrating in grace, in a re-presentation in grace of the one act freely given where Christ became the Pascal lamb, where He took the place of the animals of the old covenant, and He freely shed His life and His blood so that our sins might be remitted, the penalty paid for us, for you and for me, and the effects of our sins be atoned.

You see, my friends, this sacrifice has liberated us from the penalty that would naturally be ours, and it is the doorway into a greater life, a life of glory, an eternal life. And we gather in prayer because He offered His life in sacrifice for us.

But there is more at work here, my friends. For Christ freely gave His life, shed His blood in sacrifice, not simply to atone for our sins, to pay the penalty for us so we could be freed and healed and forgiven. But He also revealed to the world the great power of love that is self-sacrificing.

You see, my friends, as we depicted here on the cross, in the sacrifice on the cross, this is the greatest act of love the world has ever seen. And it is so precisely because it was total self-gift, not because we merit it, not because we’re worthy of it, not because we’ve earned it, but simply for sheer grace. Christ offered all an imperfect love was unleashing that love and its power in you and me.

So we come here not simply to enter into the mystery of His death and resurrection and to be freed, to have the opportunity to be freed from the penalties that are ours. But we also come here to be fed so that we might love as He did. To love in total self-gift. To love in perfect sacrifice. To love so that there is nothing else to give, and in return, we have everything and a hundredfold more back.

That, my friends, is the mystery of discipleship, because we are all on the road trying to live that love, some days better than other days. But that is why He feeds us, His body, blood, soul, and divinity. For He knows our weakness. He has mercy upon us all and gives us the food that will ever make us more able to love as he loved and to unleash the power of Calvary upon the whole world.

To summarize, blood gives life. Blood allows life to exist. The divine blood of Jesus Christ allows us to hope for eternal life in Him. St. Thomas has taught that it only required one drop, one drop of the precious blood of Jesus to redeem all creation. One drop. In these days to come, let us come forward and adore Him.

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s homily, given Sunday morning, October 20, at St. Augustine

My friends, let’s give our brothers a round of applause, shall we? Why don’t you sit?

My dear brothers, my dear friends in the Lord, it was an audacious request to ask for a place at the right or the left in the glory of eternal life to their Lord who had no interest in power, money, wealth, or status, was certainly audacious, to say the least. But when you consider, my friends, that the portion of the gospel we do not hear today, immediately preceding what we did hear, claimed, when we hear that the Lord, right before James and John, opened their mouth, He revealed to them that He was to suffer and die and give His life over as ransom for the many.

When you consider, those were the last words Jesus said before they said, Oh, yeah, and by the way, I want a place in glory. It’s more than audacious. One could ask, what did they not understand? What did not register in their minds? But the truth is, my friends, for all the Apostles, they were only beginning to glimpse what the Lord was trying to teach them, and perhaps glimpse it in their minds But their hearts still had a long journey to walk, to understand what the Lord was truly trying to teach them.

And the lesson became clear at the foot of the cross, at which all but one ran. For you see, my friends, what the Lord was trying to teach them, and you and me, is the great mystery of the type of love He is asking us to offer to the world. For you have often heard me say in my homilies that the world out there understands love simply as an emotion, a feeling, a pleasure, and perhaps all of that is somewhat true.

But Jesus did not come to teach us a love that seeks gratification or pleasure. In His entire life, the Lord offered Himself to those around him in self-sacrifice, choosing to do it each day to those who accepted Him and those who did not, those who followed Him and those who turned their back on Him, those who would ultimately understand and accept the good news that that He was the savior and redeemer, and those who’s cried out, Crucify Him, and watched the Romans put Him to death. In every place, in every circumstance, to every person, the Lord was teaching those who followed Him and those who came after them the true meaning of love.

It is a choice you and I make every day, hundreds lots of times a day, to do what’s good for our neighbor, our friend, our coworker, our spouse, our children, our grandchildren, and those we don’t like, and even those we could claim to be our enemies. It’s a choice that does not always feel good and never seeks something in return. It is self-gift. I have come not to be served, but to serve and give my life as ransom for the many.

My dear friends, if discipleship has a hallmark, it is that. It is the one characteristic above all else that should mock us as followers of Jesus Christ. And how sad it is that there are so many who bear His name but do not do what He asks. And we become part of the woodwork of the modern world.

You three, my brothers, have come here because you have heard a call in your heart not to be served, but to serve. You have lived lives of discipleship already with your spouses and children, and you have learned here and here what the Lord is asking. You have struggled with it as I have.

You have not always loved freely, selflessly, nor have I. But you understand what the Lord is asking from all of us. And in the mystery of His love for you, He is calling you into the sacrament that will be assigned to all of us of what we are all called to do every day. For as a deacon of the church, you will serve His word. You will become lectors today. And what will you proclaim? You will proclaim the good news of God’s merciful, forgiving, liberated love in the world. You will serve the altar, but you will also be a minister of charity, a minister of that which James and John, at this point in their life, could not see. How many of your brothers and sisters cannot see it.

The task before you is to grow ever more wholly in life, ever more selfless in your love of the Lord Jesus, that your sisters and brothers will see it in you. Seeing it in you, they may have the courage to live it in their own lives as well. I’m very grateful that you have said yes to your vocation and that you will be a minister of love, the only love that truly gives us joy and hope, peace and destiny in this life.

In a world that seeks self-gratification, self-absorption, one that is distracted in so many ways, I pray that as you continue your formation, and if it is God’s will that you be ordained the deacon, and please God, I will see it and be the one to ordain you. When that that comes, may you be a deaconal apostle in the world to remind them of what the Lord is asking of us, to be women and men of love, to choose the other over us, to sacrifice so that others may have life, to learn to forgive and have mercy in a world that seeks revenge and vengeance, to be able to look upon our neighbor and seek to know their name and to choose to do what is good for them, even if they walk away from us. That, my brothers, and that, my friends, is the task before us. So allow me to ask you, are you seeking a place of glory at His right side? If you are, He will will not give it to you now. Are you seeking a seat on the left side of power and privilege? If you are, the Lord will not grant it to you now.

He has something far more important to give you in a life to come. But if you are truly, you, I, us, and you, my three brothers, are truly committed to walk in His footsteps, to bear His name worthily, and to be those who will not be served, but to serve and love others, then I invite you to look upon the seat He will give you, all of us in this church, a seat from which we will learn evermore each day what it is to love as He loved. And from that place, my sisters and brothers, with the grace of the Holy spirit, call the nations to peace, and we will allow the world to see the path you and I have glimpsed, which is the road to glory.

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s homily, given Sunday morning, October 6, at St. Augustine

Boys and girls, why don’t you come up? Come on up. Come on up. Oh, Lord. No, come all the way up. Come on, come. We’re going to sit here. Come, come. The carpet’s very small, though, so many of you are going to have to sit on the marble, which is going to be a little bit cool. Sit, sit, relax. Now, aren’t these children Good. Not a single one sat on the carpet. They were all around. Boys and girls, good morning to you. Good morning. Are you excited? Yeah. Yeah, good. Because I’m going to need your help to help me and everyone here understand what Jesus was talking about today. Is that okay? Okay, so I have to ask you a question. Have you ever made a promise in your life? Raise your hand. What about everybody else? Nice. Thank you. Now, if you’re comfortable, can you tell me what type of promise you made? Tell me. To be good in life. To be good in life. How many of you made a promise to be good? Great. What else? What other type of promise? Tell me. To not? To not do any drugs. Yeah, that’s an excellent promise.

You want to keep that your whole life. What else? Tell me, what did you promise? Never to drink alcohol. Never to drink alcohol. An excellent promise. You’re going to keep that your whole life, right? Or at least That’s not in excess. But who haven’t made the promise not to fight with your brother and sister? Raise your hand. How many of you ever made a promise not to talk back to your mother and father? How many of you ever made a promise to do your homework every day when you get home. Now, let me ask you a question. How many of you kept your promises? Oh, the numbers are fewer. I’m not asking out there at all. We How can you keep that to yourselves. For you see, boys and girls, promises are very important in life because they either can help us to do what is good or to stop us from doing things that are not good, that can even be sinful. We pray that when we make promises, that we’ll have the strength to continue to live those promises because it’s not easy. You and I have discovered that. Let me I’ll tell you a secret.

Last year, I went to my doctor, and my doctor said to me, You have to lose 10 pounds. I said, I promise I will do that. Boys and girls, this is the bad news. I didn’t lose 10 pounds. I gained 10 pounds. I see him in two weeks. You must pray for me. Pray for me. You see, boys and girls, some promises we make for of time. Like in Lent, we make promises to do something special or to make a sacrifice so we could grow in Holiness. Some promises are for your whole life. Like, for example, when a man and a woman fall in love and they want to marry, they make promises that should last their whole life. When you were a little child, someone made a promise for you at your baptism, and you were baptized into Jesus, His life, and you were given the Holy Spirit. That promise lasts for your whole life. That promise lasts for all eternity. When you are confirmed, you’ll have the opportunity to make those promises for yourselves. So promises are important. And for those people who have made promises for their whole life, those who are priests, bishops or deacons, those who are sisters and brothers, those who are married, please pray for all of us that we will be able to live our promises well with the grace and power of the Holy spirit.

But there’s someone else who makes a promise. When He makes a promise, He keeps it always, forever. Who do you think that is? Tell me. God himself, excellence. Thousands of years ago, God made the promise to the Jewish people that one day He would come and save them and us, that He would come to give them and us new life and new grace, that He would send a Messiah. And who is that Messiah, boys and girls? Jesus, the Lord. And then Jesus made promises, did he not? On the day When He died, He turned to one of the thief and promised him that he would be in paradise, in heaven, forever. And Jesus kept that promise for him. And Jesus also promised that He would send the Holy Spirit, and the Holy spirit is alive in you because God always keeps His promises. And why does He keep His promises? Why does He keep His promises? Tell me. Because He loves us. That’s the greatest promise of all. Because boys and girls, God has promised you that He will always love you. Always. No matter what you do, no matter even whatever mistakes or sins you commit, God will always love you.

And He promised always to be there for you so that when you do commit sin, He’s here to forgive you through the sacrum of reconciliation. He’s here to feed you when you’re old enough with the Holy Communion, which is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus. That He’s always there when you pray every single day. He will never stop loving you. And He asks that we promise to love one another as He loves us. That is not always easy, but that’s a promise worth trying to live every day of your life.

And the same is true, my friends, for you and me. So boys and girls, who here likes to do homework? Raise your hands. Oh, good. Good. Because I have homework for you. What do you think? What do you mean no? Yes, of course. We have to do homework. And for those who are a bit older, feel free to do this homework. Is there something that you are doing, boys and girls, that you know you should not be doing? Is there something that people who love you, your parents, your teachers, your catechists, maybe your grandparents are saying, You know what?

You should stop doing that. If there is, are you willing to go home, talk to your mother, father, both of them, and see if you can make a promise to stop doing it and to ask God to help you to stop doing it? Or is there something that you’ve always wanted to do that you know is a good thing to do? And you say, Well, you know what? I’m too busy. I’d much rather play this video game. I’d much rather spend time with my friends. I’ll do it tomorrow. I’ll do it next week. I’ll do when Father or the Bishop tells me to do it. I’ll do it Christmas time. Is there something you know that’s good, that you can do, but you haven’t yet done it? Can you make that promise after talking to your parents? Make that promise, and with that help, try to live that promise. Because promises are important. And promises that we make to one another and to God will help us to get to where we really want to be. And where is that, boys and girls? Where does God promise us one day to be together when we’re joyful, happy, no suffering, no pain, no death?

Where is that? Heaven, which is where, please God, we will all go. Boys and girls, you were great today. Tremendous. Weren’t they great? Let’s give them a round of applause. I promise you that the next time I come to Mass here, which is in two weeks, if you are here, I’m going to invite you up to come so we can have another talk. That time, hopefully, I’ll have a bigger carpet for you to sit on. Okay? Off you go. Back to your places.