Deuteronomy 18:15-20/Psalm 95:1-2,6-9/1 Corinthians 7:32-35/Mark 1:21-28 

 

A common thing that I hear is about the debate over celibacy in the Church, specifically within the priesthood.  People will say to me, “Father, I think you should be allowed to be married.”  Most of the time I believe that comment comes from a place of concern for me, people are worried that I am “lonely” because I’m “alone.”  Sometimes people recommend I get a dog for the same reason!

 

But being “lonely” and being “alone” are two different things, I’m frequently “alone” but rarely if ever “lonely,” and being “alone” frees me from a responsibility to a wife and children and allows me to be present to my Church family.  It allows me to spend my free time in prayer and be able to respond to the needs of my congregation when they call.  

 

Not being married allows me to focus on “the things of the Lord, [concerned about] how [I] may please the Lord.”  This is what Paul told us today.  People that have that concern for me might forget that St. Paul was celibate.  Jesus and John the Baptist were celibate too, this was a normal thing in the Jewish faith, and a recommendation for Christians, with some great examples to follow.

 

We heard Paul encouraging celibacy for both men and women saying “I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to impose a restraint upon you, but for the sake of propriety and adherence to the Lord without distraction.”  The Revised Standard Version of the Bible says it this way, “to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.”

 

Either way, celibate lives are lived for our own good first of all, for the sake of our relationship with God, and for the good of others, in order to serve the people with single minded devotion, with the view of Heaven in mind.  

 

Celibacy is possible because we, like the Jews, believe in eternal life and the idea that our bodies weren’t ultimately created for this world, but for the world to come, in which there will be no marriage (Matthew 22:23-33, Mark 12:18-27, Luke 20:27-39), and no more death either, so there’d be no need for procreation. 

 

More and more I am convinced that it is necessary to live in the light of the Resurrection, to be confident in our own Resurrection, then to live in the Kingdom of God here and now, not just seeing it as a place we will go after we die, it's a state of mind now.

 

Last weekend I talked about the Kingdom of God starting here.  The choice to live a celibate life is simply a choice to embrace the Kingdom more fully right here, right now. And in our Gospel today, we pick up where we left off last week, after Jesus proclaims the Kingdom is at hand, He goes into a synagogue to teach.

 

While Jesus is teaching, His role as an exorcist comes out, we heard, “In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!"” 

 

It’s an interesting statement, the unclean spirit speaks in the plural, twice using us, and then in the singular using I.  It could be that there were multiple unclean spirits - demons often run in packs - but it could also mean that the unclean spirit also had a Kingdom view, and until that point, his kingdom, the kingdom of Satan ruled, and now someone stronger had come. Jesus was there to reclaim His Kingdom.

 

Jesus didn’t come to destroy anything, He came to remove all that was unclean from His Kingdom, which meant removing unclean spirits from His chosen people.  

 

I've been reading a great little book called Diary of an American Exorcist. In it, the well-known exorcist Msgr. Stephen Rosetti talks about when we are considering unclean spirits, we have to recognize there are different levels, fully possessing spirits are one thing, but uncommon. There are levels of lesser presences of unclean spirits so it goes “oppressions, obsessions or harassment” (p. 63) and I've often heard the lowest harassing spirits called “attachments.”

 

Jesus wants to help remove even the smallest unclean spirits from our lives.  I’m not saying we are possessed by any means, but if we are harassed by impure thoughts, if we have any attachment to sin, any desire to sin, that has to go - that which is unclean in our hearts has to be removed from our lives.  

 

For instance, I feel like personally I am dealing with a “spirit of gluttony” - if you watch sports on TV you’ve probably been seeing these commercials too, it’s for Applebee’s “all you can eat” wings, riblets and shrimp, and the other day I felt I just had to go, I was somewhat obsessed with going out even though I had plenty of food in my fridge. 

 

So I went to Applebee’s with my dad the other night and I proceeded to have three servings, and it wasn't terrible, it’s not like I ate so much that I got sick, but it was still more than I needed. That “spirit of gluttony” is an unclean spirit and I've renounced it in the name of Jesus Christ just in case it was present in me.  Then I prayed for more of the Holy Spirit - whenever we remove an unclean spirit, we must replace it with the Holy Spirit.

 

Removing the unclean spirits and replacing them with the Holy Spirit has another, more positive name, which is simply growth in holiness.  This happens in so many ways, I always try to give you options and ideas, like last week I encouraged reading the Bible.  

 

God gives us so many opportunities to grow, but one great way to grow in holiness and remove the unclean and replace it with the HS is to attend our upcoming parish mission.

 

It starts next weekend and is similar to the last three years of parish missions, but different.  It is similar in that there will be great worship music and Eucharistic Adoration and we will still be invoking the Holy Spirit and seeking healing. 

 

But it is different in that it will be led by eight priests of the Archdiocese, including Fr. Scott Bullock who was pastor here for three years, Fr. Bob Gross who was an associate here during that same time, and Fr. Martin Coolidge who was an associate at Cathedral but helped me from time to time here and was with me at Wahlert.  

 

Fathers Andrew Marr, Kevin Earleywine, Michael McAndrew, and Ben Valentine will be here too, along with myself, but I won’t be giving a talk because you hear me all the time.  And with that huge number of priests, confessions will be available each night as well.  

 

Basically, all of us priests experienced healing through the power of the Holy Spirit, physically and emotionally, and I’ll only speak for myself, I feel like I have grown in holiness over the last three years, and we just felt like we could come together and do this ourselves and help everyone in the diocese to experience healing and growth.  

 

This is the fourth one that we have put on together, and it has been a lot of fun for me, to be with my brother priests, to collaborate and work together in order to benefit the people that we really care about, the people we will accompany for the rest of our lives.

 

You know, going back to this celibacy notion, or the flipside for a second, in a marriage, obviously, the man and the woman have to both say yes, and similarly, with the diocesan priesthood, I had to say yes to the call, but there was another party that had to say yes to me, you know, that’s the diocese, and then when we are ordained we stay and minister in the diocese forever.

 

But in my case, when I was discerning the call I was living in Des Moines, I could have very easily chosen that diocese – they may have said no – but I didn’t try, I came back to my home diocese of Dubuque, and they said yes to me, which is why I am here, serving you – as a celibate, undividedly for you.

 

So us priests of the Archdiocese see this traveling around northeast Iowa, introducing people to the Holy Spirit, praying for Healing, and Imparting gifts of the Holy Spirit on the people, us priests see this as a benefit for all of us.  Just like unclean spirits and sin hurt a community, an increase in the Holy Spirit and growth in holiness benefits us all!

 

Sometimes I feel like I want this for you more than you want it for yourselves. I think it is like a Father who wants to give his child a great gift, but the child just isn’t ready for it, or they reject it for other toys, just not knowing what they are missing out on. I want your healing and more of the gifts of the Holy Spirit for you, but you have to want them too. 

 

So, I just want you to know this, out of a place of love, I would really like to see all of you here for those three nights.  

 

I know it isn’t possible with your busy lives and many responsibilities, but I’d like to invite you to come and experience God’s love through an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the purifying Fire of God that drives out all that is unclean, and helps us to experience the Kingdom of God in a deeper way here and now.