Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

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

My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord, today in our second reading, St. James wastes no time to be quite courageous and quite direct in calling to task the landowners and merchants of his own age, who, because of the unjust practices that they ascribed to, caused many, most especially their own workers, to live in poverty while they grew rich. And we recall what he told them. He warned them of the judgment that awaits them, for all their possessions will be like corrosion.

And when you consider, my friends, that St. James was writing to Christians, could you imagine the horror he felt when those who claimed faith in Jesus Christ, savior and redeemer, the one who came to have mercy, to love all, especially those who are poor, how they quickly betrayed their faith for money.

Two thousand years have passed, my friends. Not much has changed. For we still live in a world that, unfortunately, is held in many ways in the group of the ‘sites’ and the ‘sites’ of the tiny kinds, where those who are poor struggle to have just the basic necessities of life. And sadly, in many countries, including our own, there are more and more becoming poor, whereas there are those who are becoming more and more rich.

What do we do about it? For St. James is also speaking to you and me.

Now, of course, my friends, the natural response would simply to be to say what we are trying to do, I presume in our own individual lives, and that is to help those who are poor by our generosity and our time and our volunteerism. And all of that is a work of the Holy spirit, and all of that is very good. You and I are called to be the hands and the feet and the heart of Jesus in the world. And so each time we live in charity and mercy, each time we reach out to a brother or sister, neighbor or friend, or even stranger to help them in their material need, we are fulfilling the will of God. We are helping to build the Kingdom of God.

But my friends, allow me to offer one other possible bit of homework for you and I to do. And this will not be easy to do. This will make you uncomfortable. And quite frankly, I will offer it because it will make me uncomfortable as well. But why is there so much material poverty? Why, after all these centuries, is the world still facing so much injustice? Why?

Perhaps part of the answer, my friends, is simply this. Spiritual poverty in large part creates material poverty. To put it another way, when those who are in leadership and those who follow Jesus are spiritually poor, when they do not embrace that which the Lord asks of us wholeheartedly, without compromise, without mediocrity, when those who follow in the footsteps of Jesus do not cast out the sins that always threaten us, including the sins of avarice and jealousy, the sins of complacency and mediocrity. When you and I do not attend to our spirits and allow them to become poor, then there is little hope that injustice in all its forms can be truly addressed by all of us, not just some of us.

So my friends, I ask you, where are you poor in your spirit? Where in your life, in mine, in our spiritual lives, do we need to convert, repent, or simply grow? Is it the fact that we have just accepted the situation and have come to the conclusion nothing can be done of it? Are you and I just simply content of reaching out and helping those around us and not speaking a prophetic voice to the world as we heard the Book of Numbers, to be able to speak the truth to power, even when power does not want to hear the truth?

We will be voting in a few weeks. How much time will you and I take to truly reflect on that important act and to discern, perhaps with some trouble, who it is that can lead us on every level of government to help build the Kingdom of God, one brick at a time. Jesus says in the gospel, If your hand, your feet, your eye bother you, they prevent you from becoming faithful Look, cut them off. Please don’t cut anything off. Except our sins. What sin do you and I have that’s entslaving us, that does not allow us to speak the truth, that does not allow us in our own way to rise up to ask for a better world. What is that sin?

And my friends, cut that out for you and for me. Jesus said in the gospel, You will always have the poor. And I always imagined to myself He was talking about the materially poor. But I wonder if He was not, in fact, reminding us that there’s another poverty that we will always have if we do not submit to the grace of the Holy spirit, ask for the courage to, one step at a time, become ever more faithful to what he’s asking, to be prophets in the modern world.

For the material poor need those who are spiritually rich to help them to find the dignity God to drive them, the solidarity that unites us as one family, and to allow them the opportunities you and I have to exercise their freedom for their own good and the good of their families. That is the world the Lord asks us to build. And we can. We can. If we leave this church committed to ask the question in the mirror, what part of my life is spiritually poor? And Lord, help it to be healed.

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s homily, given Saturday afternoon, September 21, at St. Matthew

My dear friends, I think it is fair to say that paying taxes has never been popular in any nation, time, or culture. Unfortunately, those who beautifully do their work to collect taxes oftentimes get the ire and anger of those who may not wish to pay as much as they are asked to pay. I think that’s universal.

But in the time of Jesus, those who were tax collectors were particularly disliked for two other reasons. The first is that the entity, the state for which they were collecting taxes, was the oppressor. Matthew collected taxes for the Roman Empire Empire, the Roman Empire, which had robbed the Jews of their liberty and occupied their land. Those who collected taxes for Rome were considered to be traitors.

If that is not bad enough, Roman law was very strange. Can you imagine that the law said the minimum tax, that is, the minimum amount the tax collector had to hand over to authorities. But the law would not prosecute that person if they tried to collect more than the law prescribed, and they kept the difference. We call that extortion in the modern world. They called it ordinary life. You could imagine Matthew sitting at his post would have had many people walk by, muttering things under their breath that I could not possibly say in church today.

And yet Jesus did not walk by. Jesus refused to cast him away. Jesus refused to cancel him out. Jesus saw not only what he was, but what he could become in His power and grace. And to imagine that he chose Matthew as one of the Apostles must have caused turmoil, to say the least, among the people who heard of it.

For you see, my friends, every Sunday we gather to worship the Lord, who is a forgiving and merciful Lord, who never gives up on any of His children, no matter how astray they are, no matter far they have wandered. No one is junk before God. No one is lost before God, and God gives up on no one.

And today is the proof from the hand of the Savior and Redeemer. So now the challenge for us is an obvious one. You and I gather here to ask for the grace of the Holy spirit and to receive the body, blood, soul, divinity of Jesus the Lord, so that we might not pass by those who otherwise the world tells us, Just don’t bother. They’re extortionists, only interested in their selves and their self-interest.

They’re traitors to the things we believe in and the values we hold. They may disagree with us in the things we believe or the lifestyle they live or whatever else it may be. And we’re tempted in a world that wants to divide us to simply say, Write them off. What the Lord says is, No, take another look.

For you, I, we in this church, live, move, breathe in His name. We are his living presence in the world. You and I are called to imitate His holy example, even when it is difficult to do. And so the challenge the Lord is giving us tonight is to say, We pass by no one. We ride off no one. Not easy to do.

But if that were not enough, my friends, allow me to go one step deeper. And this is where it may hurt. Certainly for me, it will hurt. But allow me to ask all of us in this church, who is the tax collector in your life? Who is the one that you have or I have just simply written off? We’re not talking about theory. We’re not talking about society. We’re talking about a living, breathing person that we have walked by and said, I am done.

Can you picture that person in your mind today? Perhaps that person is the tax collector for you and me because they really have betrayed us. They really have hurt us. Their gossip has destroyed our reputation. Or perhaps they have taken that which rightfully belongs to us. Or they’ve hurt the people we love, and sometimes that’s harder than when they hurt us. Perhaps that person is someone who has bitterly disappointed us or has made life choices that we fundamentally disagree with, and they refuse to listen to the reason we wish to give them.

Or simply, it is someone who has extorted us and our goodness and our patience and our forgiveness. We’ve forgiven, and we’ve forgiven, and we’ve forgiven, and we’ve forgiven again and again, and they come back again and again. Finally, what we can say to ourselves, enough is enough, enough is enough.

Is there such a person in your life and mine? Because if there is, the challenge of tonight’s gospel is to ask the Holy spirit for the grace to do what our humanity would not do by itself. To ask for the grace of the Lord so that we might one day stop at his or her table and to reach out to that person, and to allow that person an opportunity to not simply be a person in our eyes for that which he or she has already done, but to dare to imagine that we could walk with them to become the person that they were meant to be.

If you’re sitting there, my friend, saying, The Bishop needs his head examined, if he thinks, I’m going to do this. The truth is, I may need my head examined, but that’s a different story. Truth is, None of us in this church could do that alone. But with the power and grace of the Holy spirit, who will dwell here in just a few moments and dwells in you and me every moment of every day, with His power and grace, we can.

St. Matthew was chosen and gave his life for Jesus. My friends, who is it in our lives that perhaps unbeknownst to them is waiting for us to stop at their table and call them to follow Jesus?

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s homily, given Sunday morning, September 15, at St. Augustine

My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord,

As you know, the last World Youth Day was held in Portugal, in Lisbon, and I had the privilege to attend and serve as a bishop catechist. But this World Youth Day was different because the dicastery that ran it instructed all the bishops to keep their remarks to 12 minutes. I could guarantee you there were some bishops who did not do that. But I tried my best. I tried.

The first topic that we explored was ecological stewardship, the proper care of all creation. My job was to listen to what the young adults were saying, and I tried to do that. At the very end, when they reported all that they had discussed, they I came up with wonderful ideas. The need to recycle, the need for education, the need for political advocacy, all the stuff, all good things. They are all good things. Then it was my turn to get up. Twelve minutes. I had to say something that made a difference. Quite frankly, it was a question that has been burning in my heart for a very long time. This is what I basically began my remarks by saying, I said, My dear friends, all these ideas you presented are great, but can one person in this church, there were about 200 and some odd, 19 countries, all English-speaking.

Is there one person in this church who could explain to me why any of what you are saying is Catholic? They all looked me. I said, I could be Jewish and recycle. I could be an atheist and do political advocacy. So tell me, what makes all of these things Catholic, Christian? Well, you could imagine they all began to murmur among themselves, and that was my hope, to raise a question that perhaps they had never asked themselves. But it is a question, my friends, that the apostle James, 2,000 years before, through the inspiration of the Holy spirit, asked and answered for them, for you, and for me.

We hear it in the second reading today. When James tells us that we who have faith in Jesus Christ are called to have that faith express itself in works, perhaps a better word than works is acts of goodness. Acts of charity, acts of mercy, acts of forgiveness. This faith cannot be held within itself, but it needs to manifest itself in the way we live, in our relations with each other. And the connection is the answer to my question. For you and I, my friends, as disciples of Jesus Christ, are called to do acts of goodness each day, as often as we we can, as sacrificial as we can, for two reasons: to give honor and glory to the One who is our savior and redeemer, and to build His kingdom brick by brick. To give honor and glory to Jesus Christ.

You know, my friends, we live in a world that wants goodness to be anonymous. But you and I will not do that. There’s an entire world waiting to answer Jesus’s question, who do you say this Jesus of Nazareth is? And we are the ones who, by our actions, will point them to the answer of that question. And we cannot do it unless we give glory to Christ in all that we do in His name. We should never forget that when we feed someone, we’re doing as Christ’s ambassador. Then when we clothe someone, we’re doing it because the Lord asked us to do it and to utter His name while doing it. In all the things that you and I are called to do, the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, we are there because Christ called us, Christ asked us, Christ graced us, Christ sent us out to proclaim His Holy name. You and I do not do goodness anonymously. We do it to give Him glory and to name who He really is. And as Jesus says in the gospel, it will require much sacrifice, and quite frankly, for us to truly do the works of goodness.

Only He can ask us to give until it hurts, until there’s nothing else to give, because we know in the end, He will give us a hundredfold a share in everlasting glory. We also do the things we do in goodness because we’re building the Kingdom of God one brick at a time, just ecological stewardship. I mean, my friends, even if the whole world converted, we have already created great damage to the creation God had given us as a great gift. Perhaps there may be a way to reverse it. I am not a scientist, I do not know.

But the truth is, for every problem and challenge in our world and all the sufferings they create, our job is not to go out there and think we can solve it permanently and make up for all its effects, because in our broken world, that is not what the Lord is asking. He will do that when He comes in glory. But what He does ask us to do is rebuild the world into His kingdom, one living brick at a time. For you and I to go into the lives of our neighbors and friends and coworkers and those who have offended us and may say, even our enemies, and to proclaim that we are there for their good because Jesus has asked us to love them. And in His name, we will to the end.

And even though you and I cannot make up for all of the effects of sin, we can begin to build in our midst a kingdom, His kingdom, with His grace, and show the world what it was meant to be from the garden of paradise. I have no idea, my friends, after my time with those young people, if they actually came to terms with my question because I only gave them a hint of the answer. The reason I did that is simply because they don’t need to hear it from my lips. They need to hear it from their hearts because that’s where they will find the Lord Jesus.

But I pray for them every day that they that answer as I pray for you and for me in the rough and tumble of our lives when we are called to do that which is good, that we will also remember the answer to that question.

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

My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord,

I’m sure in our travels, we have often heard an exasperated mother or father turn to his or her child and say, Are you listening to me? Growing up, I heard that many times from my mother. In her less delicate moments, she would add by saying, Are you deaf? Now, of course, my mother knew I wasn’t physically deaf, but she also knew I was not listening for a lot of reasons. Growing up, myself, and I guess a lot of young people, but myself in particular, I was lost in my own world and my own thoughts, preoccupied with what I was interested in. Quite frankly, sometimes I knew that what my mother was going to tell me, I did not want to hear, and so I simply did not listen. And you could imagine the consequences. We won’t talk about those in church. It’s interesting the importance of listening. Today in the gospel, we hear of a miracle that the Lord performed to a man who was physically deaf. And interestingly, when the Lord, through the agency of His own body, He literally was touching him with spittle. What happens?

He hears for the first time. And what does he hear is the key. He hears a single word from the mouth of the one who is the word of God. You see, my friends, that is the point. You and I know that Jesus performed miracles as signs of the kingdom. They benefited the individual who may have been healed, but it was also as a sign and a lesson for everyone else. Jesus, in his many miracles, was teaching us that there is a life to come where the deaf will hear and the blind will see, that the lame will walk and those who have their hearts broken will sing and rejoice. A life where there would be no suffering and pain, a life of perfect glory, a life that He won for us in His death and resurrection that we will celebrate here in just a few moments in the sacred Eucharist. For the man to be healed of deafness, the very first thing he heard was the most important in his life. For the first time he was able to listen to the words of God. Allow me to ask you, how deaf are you and I to the words of God?

Do we listen? And not just listen like a little child, Yeah, I’m listening. I heard you. But listen in such a way that the word of God penetrates our mind, pierces our heart, convicts our behavior. We allow the word of God to transform us and to challenge us and to change us. It’s like planting a seed. Do we allow the word of God to be planted as a seed in our hearts so that it could grow as the days and weeks go by? And the Lord continues to speak to us in the quiet of our hearts as to what it is that His will be for you or me and what he expects of you and me. The word of God is living. It is Christ’s presence. Forgive me for asking this question, but even when the readings were complained today, were you listening? Was I listening? Was I really listening? Was I really listening to allow that word to dwell in my heart well beyond the ending of this sacred celebration? And if we were not, and if we do not as well as we can, this week, I’m going to ask you, my friends, to take some time in your life, as I will in mine, and ask the reason why.

Why do I not take the time to listen and pray over the word of God? Why, when it is claimed, do I not, in fact, allow it to be planted in my heart as a seed to grow? What is it in your life and mind that are the impediments? Perhaps it’s fear, perhaps it’s anxiety. Forgive me, perhaps it’s laziness. Perhaps the choices you and I make are not the right choices in the way we use our time. We are all busy. But who is so busy that they would not invite Jesus to come to their table and sit with us in his Holy word of God? My friends, you and I are working on the renewal of the whole church, and that renewal is not possible unless you and I break open the power and grace that comes from the words spoken by God himself. First in ourselves, then amongst ourselves. It was interesting when I was chatting with the deacons in the sacracy. Today is September eighth, is it not? Today is the birthday of Mary. If our math is correct, our lady is 2,040 years old today. Does she look great for that?

If there ever was a person who listened to the word of God, it was our lady. Her whole life, from when she over the words of the prophets and the law. When she dwelled in the deepest part of her heart to find the will of God, when the angel Gabriel came, she knew the answer was yes. And to have the privilege to hear the word spoken by the word of God who was her Son as a little boy, as a teenager, as the itinerant preacher who is our savior and redeemer. And what is the scripture says? She treasured all of it in her heart. Can we dare to believe that you and I can do the same thing? For there will come a day when you and I are standing before God Himself, and he will ask you and He will ask me, Were you listening to Me? And on that day, what shall we say?

The following homily was given by Bishop Caggiano at the Permanent Diaconate Ordination, June 29, 2024.

Please be seated and relax.

My dear friends, what a joyful morning it is for you and I, all of us here, sisters and brothers in faith, to gather around our three brothers whom God, in his loving providence and mercy, has called them to this moment in the journey of their life, supported by the love of their wives and their children and their grandchildren and all those who have walked with you, brothers, in this adventure that is your life, we all gather here with great gratitude to God, for he has called you into a great mystery. To to become living sacruments of self-sacrificing love, and to remind all of us by our baptism what we are to do, you will now dedicate your life to that, both in your ministry and, quite frankly, in every moment of every day that you will live. You know very well what it is the Lord is asking of you. And all of us in this church as well know know what this great sacrament of the Achanit is. Certainly, it is to be a servant. And so you are being called to join your brothers already ordained to be a servant of the word.

And as we said last night when we gathered for that beautiful dinner, so too, you are a servant of the word by the words you speak, but by the living testimony of your life. You are to become a living gospel. And from what I have heard last night, you are already doing that. You are very well prepared to be the herald of the good news of salvation, even in the moment or perhaps most effectively in the moments of great suffering, of great loss, of great pain, of great uncertainty. And then, of course, you are going to be the servant of the altar, not simply assisting the priest or deacon in the manners so that liturgy can be celebrated reverently. But remember, you are the sacrum of charity, and so you will bring to the altar all that the people of God share with you their hopes, their dreams, their challenges, their pains. You will be there interceding for them, praying for them, and bringing the Holy Eucharist to them, the sacred body, blood, soul, and divinity, the food of everlasting life. And then, of course, to be called not to be served, but to serve, to be a man of charity to your spouse, to your children and grandchildren, to your family and friends, to your coworkers, to your fellow parishioners, and wherever God takes you.

As I said before, you are already doing this well. And with the of God, you will do it in ways that you will be able to sit back and wonder at what God can do through frail human lives like yours and mine. But today, we gather, my friends, on a beautiful and singular feast day. We gather to join our voices with believers throughout the world and believers through all the ages. To honor the two great princes of the Apostles, the Fisherman and the rabbi, the one who was educated and the one who was a simple laborer, the one who was called the rock by Christ, as we heard in the gospel, upon which the entire church was built, and the one with the fiery sword and fiery tongue who went where others feared to go among the Gentiles. Together, you and I stand on their shoulders in this great symphony of faith whose first notes were sung in the empty tomb. For me to have the privilege to ordain you on the feast of Peter and Paul, the Apostles, reminds me of the great gift you will be to me and my successors. For like all your brothers in the deaconet, The relationship between the bishop and his deacons is a special one, a unique one.

May I dare say, a beautiful fraternal one. For you will become the marines of charity to go where I may ask, my successes may ask, and to follow in the footsteps of the fearless ones, Peter and Paul. But both have a lesson, and may I suggest that it is true for you and all of us in this church. For Paul was the one who said, When I am weak, then I am strong. He is the one who said, But for me, life is Christ and death is gain. For Paul was zealous for the law. He boasted of it. He was single minded in his devotion to what he believed Yahweh was asking him to do, even to persec the early church. And yet when he encountered Christ, his entire life changed. And that same zeal, single mindedness, then propelled him to do things which you and I, my friends, chances are, would not have the strength to do, to even be saved from the lion’s mouth, as we heard in second reading. And so today on your ordination day, Paul, from his celestial place, is reminding you, brothers, of single-mindedness. Your life now must be all about Christ, who is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, the Lord of the living and the dead.

And by doing that, it will free you to love your wives in a whole new, more beautiful way, your children and grandchildren in a whole new way, and God’s people in a whole new way. Because by giving up everything for Christ, we gain everything back and more. It is all about not about you, not about me, but about Christ. And Paul teaches us that. Then, of course, Peter, we heard today, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. He gives the first testimony of who Christ really is as our savior and redeem. And yet was he not also the one who said, I do not know him. I do not know him. I do not know him. And yet Peter was a man of great conviction. He was stubborn in the best sense of the word, and he recognized his frailty. He recognized his sinfulness. He recognized his faults and failings. And when Christ rose from the dead, you remember, Christ asked him, Do you love me? And three times made up for his betrayal, Yes, Lord, you know I love you. Then feed my sheep. Brothers, you have been called to something you are not worthy of, nor am I.

That you will look yourself in the mirror every day and realize there are a thousand reasons why someone else perhaps has better gifts and talents than you. And you will also always, like I do every morning and every night, confront my own sinfulness as you do yours. Remember the example of Peter. For Peter was chosen not because he was perfect, but because he was humble of heart, Because even in his stubbornness, he knew the voice of the shepherd, and he learned how to truly love. And so may Peter guide you. May Peter help you to unlock the true depths of your heart in humility of life so that you will love, you will love sacrificially, recklessly, generously, everyone you meet, and teach the world what service really means in Jesus Christ. Allow me to end by simply saying this, There was one who consol both Peter and Paul, one who was their advocate and guide, one who was their hidden strength. You know to whom I am referring, it is the great mother of God, the mother of the savior, and your mother, our mother as well. As you prepare to prostrate yourself here before us and to rise up to be ordained into this great sacrament, feel her love, her mantle, guiding you, wrapping you, protecting you, always, every time, all the days of your life.

For if you ever find yourself confused or doubting or discouraged, turn to her with the example of the Apostles, you, brothers, and you, brothers, and you, brothers and sisters, all of us have nothing to fear. Congratulations. And may God bless you all the days of your life through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

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

My dear sisters and brothers,

I believe it is fair to say that every society and culture, perhaps from the beginning of recorded history, has valued the role and the health of our families as a building block for society. When our families are healthy, society is healthy. When our families are in crisis, so too is society. We live in a time when our families need our care. Please God, in the years ahead, it will be one of the major initiatives we will work on together as we seek the renewal of our diocese to strengthen our families. Our families are extremely important. And yet, there have been times in history where the families were not just extremely important, they were essential for the survival of individuals. And that, my friends, was very true in the time of Jesus. For in that age, where most people did not travel more than five or six miles from where they were born, in a time when there was no social services, no daycare, where families had to rely upon themselves for their own survival, I cannot overemphasize how important families were. For example, in the time of Jesus, most people did not use a last name because they identified themselves by their family and its genealogy.

I would be Frank, the son of Arnold, the son of Joseph, and you will go back enough until a person recognized to what family you belonged. It was fathers who taught their children their trade, the way to speak, how to write. It was parents that taught their children their prayers and brought them to temple or wherever they worshiped. It was families that bound together in a trade or employment and shared their wages so everyone could eat. When there was conflict, it was families that gathered together to protect their own. So that they would not be overrun in a time when laws were on the books, but they were not followed in ordinary life. Having said all that, let’s take a step back and appreciate the enormity of what Jesus says today in the gospel. When his family comes to him and he says, Who is my family? Those who do the will of God are mother, brother, and sister to me. Jesus is upending everything I just described, and it must have come as a complete shock to the people who are listening to Him. But you and I know, my friends, that the Lord did not say that to make us orphans.

The Lord came with His grace to strengthen our families, but rather what He was teaching them, and they did not understand, and you and I must understand, is that the Lord came to give us a second family, a family born in grace. You and I know that because if you look around this church, this is the family I am referring to. That in every community of faith, we are not just an assembly of those who have the same faith, but we are actually sisters and brothers in grace because our identity comes not from who my father and grandfather and great-grandfather were. Our identity in this family comes from Jesus Christ, whose death and resurrection has given you and me the promise of eternal life and the forgiveness of sins. And we come here to be fed by our heavenly Father so that we might have, through the sacred body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus, have the grace and courage to go out and feed one another. With the stuff of life. For when the family of the Church is healthy, there should be no one in the faith who is hungry or homeless or has nowhere to go.

And that the protection that this family gives to us is not the protection against the issues of the world, but we come here because the spirit of the Christ who has made us family gives us the protection of the Holy spirit against Satan and all his evil ones so that there is nothing that can harm us unto eternal life. If that is all true, which it is, then today, my friends, I’m going to ask you to accept some spiritual homework that I will give to myself as well. Because as is true for our natural families, so true for our church family. We can fall into two traps. Perhaps this coming week, you and I can spend some time doing an examination of conscience of where we need work. First, it is the world of commission. What do I mean by that? Sometimes you and I, through our sins, have actually hurt the family of the Church. How? By our gossip, by our judgmental attitude, by the fact that we have refused to forgive. When someone seemingly gives an offense to us, when that person may or not even know they offended us. In many ways, we can create the disunity that Jesus says is the work of the evil one, Beelzebub. It is not His work.

And so there may be in your life and mine things we have done that have not allowed the family of the church here at St. Augustine, wherever we may be, to be healthy, strong, and faithful in the power of the Holy spirit. And we must admit it, we must seek forgiveness for it, and we must try to make it up. Same is true in our natural families as well. And then there is the other side, which is not commission, but omission. The opportunities you and I had to make a difference in the life of someone else, and we let the opportunity slip through our fingers. Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps next week, procrastination. I’m embarrassed to go over and ask him or her. I mean, I’m not sure she even knows who I am. Or the excuse, Well, I’m sure someone else will help them, so why would I need to do that? Or they look sad, but I’m sure somebody at home is there for them. But do we know that? See, that is why we have We have two families. For the one cannot do, the other does on our road to heaven.

And so I ask you, my friends, in your homework for this week, as I promise to do in my life, what are the opportunities you and I have had which we did not take? And are we ready to accept the next opportunity and refuse to let it slip through our fingers? To to build up the family that we are in Jesus Christ. For allow me just to conclude by saying this, it is not enough for us to build up our natural families, as important as that may be, because natural families come now in all sizes and shapes. They need our strength, support, our help, and we will work to do that together. But that is not enough if we do not do the same thing for our family here in the church, in every parish and school, because it’s from here that we go out into that world and proclaim who we are, who we believe in, with whom we stand in allegiance. And if this family is not healthy, joyful, welcoming, charitable, seeking forgiveness, the face of God’s mercy, if this family, we are not that, how do we expect anyone else to come and join us?

The following homily was given by Bishop Caggiano at the June 1 Mass of Thanksigivng (Fairfield University)

My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord,

It was day three of the eucharistic procession, and I woke up with a grateful heart. And my feet were killing me. In fact, there were parts of my feet that were hurting that I didn’t even know I had. But nonetheless, day three, and all the graces that would come with it were before me. And as the other days began, that day, I found myself with the good people of St. Matthews in Norwalk and those who were visiting that wonderful parish, first to celebrate the Eucharist together, and then to have a procession to a place in a moment of grace that, I must confess, my friends, has transformed my life. For, as many of you know, near St. Matthews is St. John’s cemetery. And on that morning, we took our Eucharistic Lord to that place of rest for those who ate His body and drank His blood, and rest now in the sleep of peace. And it was remarkable to see the Eucharistic Lord being carried in the midst of rows and rows and rows who are awaiting His return in glory. And the words we heard in sacred scripture, in the gospel today jumped out and became, took a life in my own mind that, quite frankly, up to that point, I had understood, but not, perhaps so deeply felt.

Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood shall live forever. On that morning, the Lord, the eucharistic king, was claiming the living, the dead. It did not need a homily, a talk or presentation. It was a living catechism of who we are and what we believe in Jesus Christ. But it was not the only moment of a living catechism. We began that extraordinary period of grace in, in Bridgeport, where we walked from parish to parish, different languages, races, cultures, and liturgical prayer. And we hear the words of St. Paul to the Corinthians. Though we be many, we are one body in Christ again, an experience of grace, in the power of the Eucharist that did not need a speech or homily, for we were living our eucharistic faith. And then, of course, in all the other stops, if every single one of them was a moment of grace. And yet what remained stuck in my mind and burned in my heart is to see the faces of our young people, whether it was the young people of Colby Cathedral or St. Joseph’s High School or the Catholic Academy of Bridgeport, or whether it was in Fairfield with our young people from assumption or St. Thomas Aquinas School, or in Stanford, where we had the young people of Mater Salvadoris, Cardinal Kung Academy and the Catholic Academy of Stanford with their faces lit alive, joyful, laughing, bowing, waving their handkerchiefs in joyful jubilation, because they knew, even in their young hearts that this was not the bread the Israelites grumbled over. This was not just a sign or a symbol. They were welcoming their Lord, and in their young hearts were teaching those of us who are older, without speech, talk or homily, what it is to enter into the presence of the Lord and savior of us all.

And in those days, we were not only reminded, but we lived the power of walking together in faith, side by side, hand in hand, all of us making the Lord known in the world, whether it was in Greenwich or Ridgefield or wherever else we were led to go. For you see, my friends, we gather here to celebrate the great mystery of our faith. To enter into the death and resurrection of Christ, to receive His body, blood, soul and divinity. To be able to receive the foretaste of eternal life. And our renewal, which begins now in our midst, is not simply to learn our faith, but to live it and to proclaim it to a world that is starving for the bread of life.

You see, my dear friends, the church teaches us that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our life. And so we come here to ask for the grace. To do what? To train, to walk, run, leap to the summit. For if you think of our own world, and of course, I discovered this in this four days, you need to be fit to walk. And so we gather here not simply to say we have arrived at the summit, but to train in these years ahead in all the work associated with the one, so that we may run with hearts burning to the top of the summit, which is here every day of our lives. And so you have heard me say that that training involves that we recognize, in the 167 hours of our week, apart from the one sacred hour we spend together at Sunday mass, that we must train our minds to recognize the truth of Christ all around us and the beauty of our faith, to train our hearts so that we may stop in wonder and awe and recognize his power and grace even in the beautiful day God has given us today.

This is God’s gift to us. This is no mistake of nature. To be able to learn to get on our knees and to pray with fervor to pray with all our hearts for all the things that not only we ask for, for the things we give thanks for every day, and to train our wills, yours and mine, so that we might become ever more men and women of virtue, so that the grace of this eucharist can build upon it and help us to grow into the saints we are destined to become in the grace of our baptism, and to learn that not everyone can walk up to the summit. And so we will help each other to do that. And those who cannot walk will be carried every step of the way. And then you and I can dare to believe that there is a future to our church that is not chained to perhaps the sad episodes of the past, but a future to our church that will erupt in our own midst, in this county, in your communities, and in mine, erupt with a joyful song that we gather around the Lord who has not abandoned us, a Lord who has not left us to our own devices, a Lord who does not wave to us from the distance of the right hand of the Father, but is with us, abides with us, walks with us, caresses us, has mercy on us, calls to forgive us, will love us to the end.

And our task is to allow his abiding presence to transform our lives and come to the Eucharist. Running to the Eucharist, to this summit, every day of our lives renewed, recommitted and dedicated to allow every christian, every catholic, every person of goodwill to discover what we have discovered. So, my dear friends, I thank you for coming here as our large, richly diverse and beautiful diocesan family of faith. And let us ask for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon you and me, a new Pentecost in our midst so that we might burn, as the disciples on the road to Emmaus, burn with the faith a hope and a charity rooted in the Lord, who under the veil of bread and wine, truly, really, substantially and forever, is present in our midst, that we might proclaim Him crucified, died, risen, ascended, abiding with us and calling us to glory. For the Eucharist, my friends, is Christ the Lord, the master, the savior, and He who claims the living and the dead unto eternal life, to Him be glory, honor, thanksgiving and power, now and forever. Amen.

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s homily, given Sunday morning, May 26, at St. Augustine

My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord,

As many of you know, I have a great love for astronomy. Since I was a little boy, when I would sit in the backyard of our home in Brooklyn, looking up into the night sky and imagining what was out there. Now that I’ve grown older, I’ve rediscovered that love and how much it animates my imagination, particularly in the last few years, with all that scientists have been able to teach us about the universe, just to consider, a single beam of light would take 96 billion years to get from one side of the universe to the other, and that’s the universe that we can see, for there is a universe that we could never see. And it gives rise now in the modern world among scientists to ask questions that they never asked before in any serious way. How is it possible to have creation so vast, so organized, so beautiful? How is it possible that we, you and I, exist on this small little planet among trillions of planets? What’s the ultimate cause and explanation? Of course, they’re beginning to whisper something a scientist perhaps before, would never have whisper, that perhaps the only explanation is that there is a God who is greater than it all.

But for you and I who come here in faith, that comes as no surprise. But we have recognized His presence. We know that God is alive, not because we look at the stars or we ask questions that perhaps we cannot answer, but because God himself has revealed His life to us in Christ Jesus, whom we know in our hearts is our Savior and Redeemer. Today, we celebrate with Catholics around the world, the Solemnity, the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. And what does that mean? It means, my friends, that the God who created all things, who’s the unmoved mover, who is the source and foundation of all creation, has told us that He is love itself. And love demands more than one. When Christ, the second person of the blessed Trinity, who is God, entered into the world, He taught us that truth, that God dwelled in the heavens, and yet he still walked on Earth, that God does not just create and become a stranger to creation, but deeply cares for all creation, most especially the highest of creation, which are those who are made in His image and likeness, every human person. That the same God who holds the universe in His hands was the one who died on the cross so that you and I might have life.

Talk about wonder and awe at a mystery that is so deep and powerful that there are no human words to fully describe. It is the mystery we celebrate today. If that is not enough, consider, my friends, that that same God who holds all things, created all things, sustains all things, the same God who revealed Himself as love, who came into creation that He made so that you and I may recognize Him for who he truly is, who died for me and you. Lives in me and you. Consider what that means. That the God who is above all things, when He decided to find His home in creation, decided to make His home in you and me, in the power of His Holy spirit. My friends, how could it be that we are worthy to be the dwelling place of God? How is it possible that you and I and all who walk in his life could be the temple, to be the Ark, to be the place where He resides? How could it be possible that God would choose so unworthy a place as my heart and yours? But He has. And that is the fulfillment of that mystery because God wants us to share his life, not from afar, but inviting us into it.

And so what do we believe? That one day, my friends, we who were born poor, destined to die, will one day be rich by sharing in the very life of the God who created all things, sustains all things, who has come as the face of love in the world, and now wants us to rejoice in His life forever. If there is a mystery in Christian life that should cause us to close our mouths, to get on our knees, and to in wonder and awe, give thanks, it is this, that He who is love has brought His life to us, that one day we might have the fullness of love in Him. And so, my dear friends, in this summer to come, and it feels like summer this morning, as the summer comes, many a night, you and I may have to be able, please God, to have the time to relax and look up to the sky. Look at the trillions of stars we can see and not see. And in wonder and awe, stand before the God who is above all things, who sustains all things, who has entered into all things as love, and to stand in awe of Him.

But allow me to suggest that if you really want to stand before the wonder and awe of God, find a mirror, look into it, and see reflected back the place where this God has chosen to make his home.

The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s homily, given Thursday morning Mass at St. Augustine, to graduating 8th graders in attendance.

Good morning, everyone.

First and foremost, welcome all of you to the Cathedral here at St. Augustine’s. This, my young friends, is the mother church of the diocese, the oldest parish, and this is the church from which the entire unity of the diocese comes. For those of you who have never been here before, welcome home, for this is your home, and it will always be your home.

Allow me to begin by just offering you my personal congratulations. In a few weeks, I presume you will all be graduating and setting off to the next chapter in the adventure of your young life. I know I speak for everyone, your teachers, your principals, your parents, to say we are all very proud of you and all that you have accomplished. It was a lot. You’ve done it successfully through hard work and perseverance, and because many have loved you along the way and helped you. So congratulations. I also imagine, now maybe I’m wrong, but I also imagine that you’re coming to these last weeks of your elementary school education with some mixed feelings. Is that fair to say? I’m sure you’re excited about going to high school wherever you have chosen to go.

You’ll have much more to learn, experiences you would never have in elementary school. You will make new friends, and you’ll begin to forge your path towards college. And please God, whatever career God has in store for you, it’s exciting. But it isn’t also a bit sad, to be able to leave a place you have called home? Some of you, perhaps for eight, nine years, 10 years. Classmates you’ve grown up with, some of whom may be coming with you to the school you have chosen, and perhaps may not be. I’m sure everyone makes the resolution, We’re going to keep in touch, and we’re going to keep in touch, and we’re going to social media, and we’re going to keep doing, and we’re going to get together. I hope that’s true, but life sometimes gets in the way, especially when you start high school and realize you will have even more to do in high school than you ever had in elementary school. There is a bit of mixed feelings, and that’s normal. My young friends, this is perhaps the first great transition in your life. You will have many others as you get to my age.

You always have to remember that the Holy spirit is with you during this time to help you, to seize the opportunities before you, and to give thanks for everything he has given you up to this point. For graduation looks back and looks forward. Now I have to ask you a question. What are the things God has given you these years in elementary school? What are the gifts you bring to high school? I’m sure there are many. First, you’ve all had a first-rate education. You have learned and beginning to learn the depths of the truths of this world, which was created beautifully by God in a universe that is even more beautiful. You can spend your entire life learning more and more about the truths that govern the natural law, our lives, and the way God wants us to live together as sisters and brothers. You’ve begun to learn all that, and that’s a great gift. You’ve also have made friends. And some of you will be friends your whole life, which is a great gift. My closest friend I met in second grade, and we still keep in touch from prehistoric times to now. And then there is the gift of your faith.

For you came into school with your faith as a seed in your heart. And these years, the people who love you, your teachers and principals, have helped to water that seed so that you may begin to open your eyes to see not just the beauty of the world, not only the beauty of the universe, but the beauty of God’s life who dwells in you in the power of the Holy spirit. And that spirit, as I said, is always there, as your faith will always be the rock of your life. But there is one gift I want you to consider because there’s one gift you may not necessarily immediately recognize that you received these years. It’s the gift I want you to think about over the summer because it is extraordinarily important that you remember you have it and you use it so that high school is a happy, prosperous, joyful, fruitful time and not one that can lead you in the wrong direction. And that gift is wisdom. Because wisdom and knowledge that comes from books are not the same thing. You see, my young friends, you have learned many things about life, but you have also begun to learn how to live life and to live life well.

That is wisdom. And wisdom comes to us through the gift of the Holy spirit. It’s an intuition. It’s a way of looking at life. It’s a way of looking at the people around you. It’s a way of appreciating all that is as part of your life. It is a divine gift, and each of you have it since baptism, and those of you who are confirmed received it even more in confirmation. I want you to consider that it is there for you, and you are called to allow it to grow so that you can be truly successful, not just successful in the eyes of the world, but to be successful in the eyes of God. You may say, Bishop, well, what does that look like? What does that look like? You say, I have this gift and you want me to develop it in high school. But what does a wise person look like? Oh, my gosh, I could paint a picture. We’d be here till dinner. I’m just going to give you three examples. Example number one. A wise woman or a wise man knows that truth comes in many different forms. If I were to ask you, do you love your mother or father?

Do you love your grandmother or grandfather? Whoever else you may love in your life, that’s not something you can prove. That’s not something you can measure. That’s not something that the world says that you can demonstrate, like in a scientific test or hypothesis or a math formula. All those are important, but you know it. You know it. And wisdom is a person who seeks love, to love those around them, to do what’s good for them, even those you do not know, even those, believe it or not, you do not like, even those who will oppose you. You’re going into a world that wants you to believe if you can’t measure it, if you can’t If you can’t prove it, if you can’t buy it, it’s not worth it. You have begun to learn the opposite is true. The things of the spirit, the things of love, Those are what makes a person truly wise. It is no different that a wise person knows that your friends are not the people you choose just to hang out with. It’s not the people who happen to be in the inn who are the most popular, the ones that you walk with them and everyone thinks you’re the best thing since slice bread.

They’re great, lovely. They could be your friends. But a friend is someone you can trust, someone to whom you can tell your story of life and know that they will continue to walk with you. My mother used to say, a wise person, you want to know what type of person you are? Look at the friends you keep. When you go to high school, I’m going to ask you, remember Consider what you learned here in our schools, in your school, your elementary school. Choose wisely the people you spend time with. Make sure they are people you can trust, people who are interested in your good, people to whom you can truly speak from the heart, people who are your good companions, people who you can spend a lifetime together, walking through life together. That’s the difference between living like the world does, knowing what you think you could get out of someone and being wise. My young friends, you have every gift and talent you need to grow into women and men of great distinction, of great success. You are all capable of becoming leaders in the years ahead. God has given you those gifts, and through the love of your teachers, you have those gifts.

I’m going to ask you, as you celebrate your graduation, as you start packing up, as you get swept up with the excitement of the life to come, when you enter into high school, bring the gift of wisdom with you. Open your mind, your eyes, your ears, to all that you will learn, not just out of books, but from the hearts of those around you. And most importantly, my young friends, remember to pray every day, every day. Ask God to guide you, to accompany you, to make his presence felt in you, even when you’re challenged. Because if you want to grow in wisdom, prayer is the greatest way to do that. My friends, congratulations. As I said, we’re all very proud of you. And go on to high school and continue to make us proud of you as men and women of wisdom in the power of the Holy spirit.

Dear sisters and brothers,

I think it is fair to say that we live in a world that has great difficulty confronting, and even worse, having hope before the great mystery of death. Even in my own lifetime, the world’s language has changed. We no longer speak of someone dying where we say that he or she is passing. Many do not come to celebration of the funeral rites. They come to a celebration of life. And perhaps that is to be expected, because the world tells us also in subtle ways that there is no need for a savior or redeemer, because you and I are our own saviors and redeemers, the criterion of truth, the deliberator of what is good, that my life is all about me. But allow me to ask you, when we say that someone passes to, where do they pass? When we speak of the celebration of life as beautiful as that is, what would any life, my life, your life, our lives, what hope could they have if they don’t rest on a life greater than all of us combined? Perhaps the world has great difficulty confronting the mystery of death, but we are not of the world.

That is why we are here.

For you and I may have our own natural anxieties, not knowing the day or the hour when you and I will be invited into that mystery. But we gather here and have hope. Hope in the one who said, whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood shall have life in me. You and I come here each and every time we celebrate the Eucharist to enter into the mystery of Christ’s own death and resurrection, and through the gift of His sacred body, blood, soul and divinity, to receive the grace and benefits, the fruits of the redemption He offers us, He himself embraced death. And so those of us who are His servants, His students, cannot expect to avoid it. But because He is our savior and redeemer, we can enter into the mystery with hope, because it will not have the last word. The Savior redeemer has the last word. And for those who follow in His footsteps, who seek the forgiveness of their sins, who have the courage to imitate Him and to follow His teaching, we can enter into the mystery of death with the hope that we will also one day open our eyes unto glory.

See, it’s interesting, my friends, the early christians had no difficulty with this. Recall that in the ancient church, when Christianity was outlawed, where did the christians gather but in the catacombs where they buried their own who died for the faith, for they knew that the church was more than what was visible around them, that there is a militant church walking the pilgrimage of life. But there’s also a penitent church, the church whose members have gone into the mystery of death and through the purgation, the purification that God offers in his mercy, will one day see glory. And then there’s the triumphant church, the church that are among the saints who are always here with us at every moment of every day and gather here to sing their voices of praise and alleluia to the Lord who has given them glory and waits for us to join them at their side. See, the ancient christians built their churches on the tombs of the martyrs because they didn’t run from death, but they knew death was the entree to the promises of the Lord. So it is most fitting, my friends, that today, in our small portion of the eucharistic procession that began at the tomb of Blessed Michael McGivney and will wind its way to Indianapolis, it is fitting that here you and I, sisters and brothers in faith, are going to process to the resting place of our parents, spouses, siblings, neighbors and friends, and we will walk there to invite them to join us in our great adoration of the Lord.

For they, too, are with us in the great communion of the church and in a world that wants us to believe that death is the end and therefore we must be afraid and run. We will sing our praises to remind the world that they are wrong and that death is the preamble to glory in Jesus Christ. Consider, my friends, one drop of the precious blood of Jesus Christ has saved the whole world. One fragment of his sacred body has saved the whole world. And you and I have the privilege to come every time at the celebration of mass to eat fully and deeply of His sacred body and blood as the pledge of eternal life. Who are we to have so great a gift? Who are we to have deserved and earned so great a merit? But the truth is, we don’t deserve it. We can never earn it.

It is graciously given to us by our merciful, gentle, and loving savior.

That is why the Eucharist is the heart of who we are, for it will bring us in God’s grace unto eternal life. And so, in anticipation of our procession after mass, of which I invite all who can, although it is a lengthy walk, all of you who can, to come join us. Let us pray. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. May their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord,

As the day was approaching, when the Lord had already foreseen that he would freely give His life for the salvation of those who would believe in Him, He prepared to give His disciples two great gifts. And today we celebrate both gifts and how one is so intimately linked with the other. For my young friends, the first gift is what brings us to Sunday mass, what brings us here today. For as you know, on the night before the Lord offered His life for us, He gathered with His disciples in the upper room and shared with them a meal that was His heritage as a faithful jewish man. But He took that meal and transformed it into the sacrament of our salvation.

For in simple bread and wine, Jesus celebrated His Passover from death to life that would unfold in the days ahead. And each time we come to mass, you and I, in an unbloody way, participate in the one act, the one sacrifice that has set us all free, that dares us to hope that our sins will be forgiven if we ask in sorrow, and that the doors of heaven are open to every single one of us who is willing to walk with Him. My young friends, we come here so that we could receive the food of eternal life given to us by the Lord himself. An extraordinary gift. But as we just heard in the gospel, Jesus also gives us a second gift.

Moments before He literally handed over His spirit to the Father. His last great gift was his own mother, the Virgin Mary, the one who said yes to the angel Gabriel, the one whose yes allowed her son to enter into the world, the one woman above all others who had set the stage for our salvation.

You know, my young friends, all through the history of the Church, to try to understand the enormous importance of our lady, many people have used different images. One in particular I find absolutely beautiful, and I’d like to share it with you this morning. You know, my young friends, there was a time when there was no GPS, right? There was no Internet. For thousands of years, mariners who would travail the seas and the oceans relied on maps of stars and of the moon.

And it was those maps that allowed them to find their way home safely. The image of the moon has been used to describe the beauty of our lady for three reasons. As you know from science, the moon does not generate any light of its own, but it reflects the light of the sun that is hidden. But we see it because the sun is shining, and it reflects that sun. Number two is that the moon allows us to find our way when the sky is the darkest, where there is perhaps no other light to guide us.

The moon rises so that we have a path. And of course, in the end, number three, if you follow that path, generations of sailors found their way safely home.

You see, our lady is our spiritual moon. For our lady is the one, above all other disciples, who shone completely the light of Christ. Our lady’s life had nothing to do with our lady and had everything to do with her son, Jesus. Her last words were, do whatever He tells you, which is exactly how she lived her life. Everything about our lady points to the Son of God, whose light shines in the darkness of our lives, as she is present to us, us in the darkest moments of our life, so that she may lead us home to her son.

And our Lord knew that. And our Lord knew that we would struggle, all of us, through the ages, with our own sinfulness, with our own disobedience, with our own temptation to pride or to think that my life is all about me or that my opinion is what matters. He knew that we would all struggle. And so He gave us both the food of life and the woman who is our model and our lady, if you and I share her example, will lead us not only to receive the Eucharist worthily, but to see her son one day face to face. And as you know, when a mother loves her children, there is nothing she will not do for them.

And there is nothing our lady will not do for us. For you, my young friends, if you turn to her, because her heart is most joyful when you and I are one with her son, how blessed are we. How great are the gifts God gives us. Who are we to have the food of eternal life and the mother of all mothers who will lead us to glory? But that is who we are.

We are the Church. We are the disciples of Jesus Christ. We are the ones chosen by Him to carry His life and message and mission in the world. And today we celebrate the fact that we all have the same Mother Mary, mother of the church. May she lead us safely home so that one day we might all share in the glory of everlasting life.

Bishop Frank J. Caggiano delivers the homily at May 18th Confirmation Mass, St. Augustine Cathedral

My brothers and sisters in the Lord,

Of all the thing we do in life, all the things we can devote ourselves in life, the one that matters the most, the one that we should love the most, the one that has the greatest value is to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, to be His disciple in the world. Because you know, my friends, as you are learning, that is the road to everlasting life. And I come to you to remind you that walking that road is not easy. It will demand hard choices, hard decisions, hard work. It will demand discipline and sacrifice. It will demand from you, from us, and from me that many times we will not do what we may want to do because we will choose to do what is right to do. And that, my young friends, takes a lot. That is why you’re here, because the spirit who is already alive in you will come again today, right now, and He will give you the seven gifts of His power so that you could make the hard choices, that you will be able to make the sacrifices, that you will take a step away from the crowd or the flow or what everybody else does, that you’ll be able to stand on your own two feet, as we all do in our Christian life, to live faithfully, whatever the cost may be, because you will never make those choices alone.

The Spirit will come with His grace and power so that you will be able to do what you know is right, even if you’re the only person who is doing it. You may say, Bishop, but I mean, I try to be good. I just try to say my prayers. I try to come to Mass. So what else could that look like? My young friends, I could give you many examples. Allow me just two. You are growing up in a world that is telling you the truth doesn’t matter. You’re growing up in a world that tells you the truth is only your opinion or our opinion, or worse, we are all being told that what’s politically correct, that what our politicians tell us how we should live is the truth. But you know differently. Look, our Lord and savior, our redeemer, who freely gave His life so you and I might have eternal life, did He not say, I am the Truth? And we’ve begun to understand what that means, to be able to make choices that are not popular, choices that may make you have to step away from the crowd to say, with all respect, I don’t believe that, and I will not live that.

Is that hard? Yes. Can you and I do it? Yes. If the Spirit is alive in us, us, and we allow Him to give us the courage to speak the truth. One other example. You know, my young friends, I was confirmed 53 years ago in pre historic times when there was no internet at all. Can you imagine? Therefore, you’re growing up in a world that I don’t understand completely. You have opportunities I never had. You could go online and ask an opinion, a question, and you could get a thousand people giving you all different ideas and opinions. But you could also go online and go on social media, and people can be disrespectful. People that will not tolerate you because you look different, sound different, have a different religion, different politics. We now have this phenomenon that we cancel people, whatever that means. And yet I want you to look at the Lord once again. See, on the day He freely died, notice what He did. He extended His arms on the cross. Of course, the Romans forced people to do that so that crucifixion might be more painful. But Jesus chose to die. And at the very end, He was teaching us a lesson for His arms were extended it out because He was embracing all God’s children, the rich, the poor, people of every color, language, culture, and way in life.

He was embracing the saints and the sinners, all God’s children, to give them an opportunity to learn a path of life and forgiveness and peace. You and I, we do the same thing. When you have to make a choice between either canceling someone out or with respect, listening, between choosing to hold a grudge or forgiving, to choose between violence and mercy, those choices, my friends, are not easy for any of us. But the Spirit is coming to help you to to do the right thing, which is also often the hard thing, so you may achieve your destiny in Jesus Christ. Do you see here in this sanctuary? We have your pastors are here. They are your spiritual fathers. You know, my young friends, they love you dearly with all their hearts. Their doors are always open to you as your parishes will always be home for you. They are here because they love you. If you ever have a choice or a challenge or something hard that you need to talk to somebody about, their doors are always open to you. My friends, these wonderful priests deserve a round of applause in thanksgiving for all that they do for us.

Which means if they are your spiritual fathers, I am your spiritual grandfather. And so on your confirmation day, make grandpa happy. Never be afraid to make the hard choices. Never be afraid to step out of the crowd and do what you know is right. Never be afraid to make the sacrifices you have to make to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Never be afraid to be great. My young friends, we are proud of you, and we all love you, and go out those doors with the power of the Holy spirit and show the world Jesus is alive in you. Congratulations, and may God bless you all the days of your life.

Video available here >>

Bishop Frank J. Caggiano delivers the homily at the 2024 Baccalaureate Mass at Franciscan University of Steubenville.

My brothers and sisters in the Lord,

One of the most vivid memories I have of my collegiate graduation, which occurred in prehistoric times, was what we are doing right now, in the celebration of the Baccalaureate Mass. I found myself doing something which I heartedly recommend that you do not do. And that is, daydream during the homily.

And I did it not because there was any purposeful act on my part, it’s just that I just found myself consumed with the flood of emotions and questions that overtook me. Certainly, that strange mixture that perhaps you are feeling at this moment, intense joy and enthusiasm, beginning to write a new chapter in the adventure of your life, but also some of that mixed feeling about leaving behind a university that is not a university, it’s a home. And friends that you have made for life. Strange place to be.

And of course, in my own case I had made the decision a few months prior that I was not going to become a priest. Shows you my judgement, right?

And so, I was wondering to myself as I graduated, took my first steps out into that world, what was awaiting me. Will those job interviews pan out? Would I be able to support myself? Questions swirling in my mind.

It has been 44 years since that graduation day. And when i look upon the journey of my own life, as I suspect the same will be true for you, there have been lots of twists and turns, curves, sometimes really sharp turns, when I was going at breakneck speed, not knowing what I was going to find at the other end. There were mountains to be climbed. There were valleys to endure.

And throughout all of it I’ve come to realize that the advice that the Lord gives you tonight was exactly the advice the Lord was trying to give me in my daydreaming. And it comes through the Apostle Paul.

The Lord says, “do not be afraid”.

You, my young friends, are graduating from a university that has given you graced confidence, and every tool you need to climb whatever mountain the Lord asks of you, to traverse any valley that may be in your future. To be able to go forward with confidence and joy. Because the Lord will always be at your side. The Lord you’ve come to know, you have come to love, and you know will never, ever abandon you.

The great remarkable miracle that is Franciscan University, is precisely that place that has helped to nurture the faith you brought here and allowed it to blossom so that you might go on to the journey of your life, wherever it takes you. And always know that the Lord’s love will never fail. That you will never face whatever challenge or joy in life without Him.

The fire that burns in your heart will continue to burn and it is destined to grow ever brighter because you have fallen in love with the Word of God. You have come to understand His presence in your neighbor, whoever that may be, that you have not been afraid to serve those around you, even the poorest of the poor. And in all of it have been reassured over and over and over again in the spirit of St. Francis that the Lord is alive, is He not? Always and everywhere, alive. Dwelling in His people, dwelling in you, dwelling in me.

You see, there is nothing to be afraid, because you know the end of the story. The victory is ours in Jesus Christ. And that is what the world does not know yet.

And that is why He gives you the rest of the advice that we hear from Paul. And what does he say? “Do not stop speaking”. But what proclaim in word, and more importantly in the spirit of St. Francis, the foundation of this place, in the powerful witness of your lives and mine. What it is we hold dear to our hearts.

For I don’t think it is too cynical for me to say we live in a world where words are cheap. But witness speaks.

And as I said before we began mass, every time I come here I have been profoundly touched by your witness. Even the way you greet one another and have greeted me, with sincerity, with joy, with an authentic Christian hospitality. How Franciscan can you be?

And so, I’m going to challenge you, your fellow graduate. When you leave here please do not stop speaking. Talk as loud as you can. Never be ashamed. You and I and all of us in this sacred space here tonight. All of us baptized into this mystical body. All of us, the ambassadors of hope and truth in a broken and confused world. All of us, to speak clearly, to speak authentically, and speak without words, the kinship of Jesus Christ. And how He is alive in this, His church. You and I, members of His mystical body.

And I do not know how many twists and turns you will have in your life. But wherever the Lord leads you remember this night. Because if you’re daydreaming and don’t remember my homily I won’t take offense. But please leave this place with the words of the Master inscribed in your heart and mine. My dear fellow graduates, let us never be afraid. Let us never stop speaking His love. For He will always be at our side.

Congratulations, and may God bless you as you continue to write the adventure of your Catholic life.

The following is Bishop Caggiano’s homily for the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.

My dear friends,

Words matter.

When I was in high school, my debate teacher would constantly remind my classmates and myself of those two words. Words matter. He would tell us that in an argument and debate, it’s just a few words that can make all the difference. And so when we do speak, we should make sure that our words matter, that we say exactly what we mean and to use our words as best as possible

It’s interesting. When Winston Churchill addressed parliament at the beginning of World War Two to rally his nation, there was much pressure around him to make peace with Hitler. But in his heart, he knew he could not make a deal with someone so evil. And so he gave a very memorable speech. Not long, but his words mattered. And his opponent was asked, what just happened?

And he said, the prime minister militarized his words and sent them into battle. And from those few words, England went to war and freed all of Europe with our help of the evil of Nazism. See, words do matter.

I want to remind us of that tonight, my friends, because tonight we gather here in this sacred space to marvel, to sit in awe of the words that Jesus spoke this night to His apostles. We heard it in the second reading. This is My Body. This is the cup of My Blood. He did not say, this is like My Body.

He did not say, this is a sign of My Body. He did not say, this should remember, you should remind you of My Body. He said in His original Aramaic that we now speak in English, this is My Body.

And if words matter, the One who speaks the words matters even more. And so the One who spoke those words is Our Savior, Our Redeemer, God made man.

And so Jesus this night took the ritual of the Passover, when the jewish people commemorate the passing of the angel of death over them. To free them from the pharaoh and his slavery. He took that simple meal and re transformed it into the sacrament of His Passover from death to life, and gave you and I the great, be able to enter into that mystery without having to be crucified ourselves, without having nails driven into your hands and mine. But in an unbloody way, we enter into that mystery, which we will commemorate tomorrow on the Friday we call good for us.

And He allows us this mystery by simply saying, this is My Body. My friends, here is the Lord Jesus true body, true blood, soul and divinity. This is the Savior and Redeemer of all things who sits on the throne of this altar. And He comes to us every time we gather to do this in His memory. For when we remember the Lord, He is truly, really acting and present in our midst.

There are no words in any language I have ever heard, who could fully and completely describe the mystery we celebrate here. The only thing we can do is to hear the priest in the person of Christ repeat the words that have changed all creation. This is My Body. This is My Blood.

My dear friends, Jesus gives us a share in the ultimate sacrament of love so that we might, with his grace, love as he did. That is why in a few moments, I will, in my own way, reenact with twelve individuals coming here. What the Lord did as our God and savior, he did it to teach us that we received the sacrament of love so that we might love one another. We received to become what we receive. And so, in the time of Jesus, it was a slave that washed a person’s feet.

No one but a slave. And anyone who washed someone else’s feet would be considered impure. And yet, God did it for us. The question is, as we come forward to receive this great mystery every Sunday, perhaps every day, are we willing to allow that sacrament to fill our hearts so that we might love as He did, to love those who have no one, to love them, to love by forgiving those who have offended us, to love those that, at first glance, we have nothing in common with, those we are afraid of, those we have never made it our business to even come to know his or her name. Are you and I willing to love in a way different from that world that sees the poor as a problem, that world that wants us to be divided, to love that way, my friends, will not cause us to hang on a cross, but it will cause us to suffer.

We will leave what’s comfortable. We will leave what’s familiar. We may actually have to leave apart our reputation, even our friendships. But if you and I are going to come forward to receive this great mystery, the true, real, full, complete body and blood of Jesus Christ, and we are not willing to love as He did? Perhaps we are receiving it in vain.

Tonight is a great mystery. Tonight is also a great challenge.

Allow me, my friends, to suggest one more thing. My mother used to say, familiarity breeds contempt. And what does that mean? To put it another way, is that we can easily take for granted one another a wife or husband who no longer talk with each other, a father or mother who takes for granted the time spent with the son or daughter or grandson or granddaughter. A friendship we keep meaning to call the person, and a day becomes a week and a month.

You see, familiarity allows us to take another person for granted.

How often have you and I taken for granted the presence of the Lord. He’s here 363 days a year. Tonight He is no longer in his tabernacle. He will come to his altar of adoration as we depict the Lord preparing for His agony and His crucifixion. And tomorrow and Saturday, He will be gone from this place so that we might once again break that possibility in you and me to take His presence for granted.

When we come into this church, do we acknowledge Him? Do we kneel before Him? Do we genuflect to our King here when He is in our midst? Do we actually spend the time to adore Him? Before mass and after mass, myself included.

Tonight we will have an opportunity to spend time with Him. Please, my friends, spend that time with Him. And allow your heart and mind to once again burn with the fire of love and zeal for the Lord who has come to walk with us.

This is My Body. This is My Blood. These are the words that have changed the whole world. What words will we say to Him in return?

The following is Bishop Caggiano’s homily for Holy Thursday Chrism Mass.

My dear friends in Christ,

A few days ago, while I was taping my podcast with my comrade in arms, Steve Lee, Steve asked me a question on behalf of one of the listeners of the podcast. And the answer I gave initially, I thought was smart. The question was this, what is the most important passage in all of sacred scripture? And of course, my initial response was, they’re all important. Case closed. But something has been, if I may put it, burning in my heart for a very long time. In fact, since we have begun this great spiritual odyssey together, which I affectionately call the One, but really, it is the invitation for all of us to be renewed in spirit and to renew our church for its mission in the world. So I coopted the question, and I said, Perhaps we could phrase it differently. It’s not what is the most important verse in scripture, but what is the most poignant, what is the most provocative? And that, my friends, has a very different answer. For all the years that I’ve had the privilege to be with you, I’ve asked that question in many a talk, and I’ve always answered it the same way.

You may recall the answer I have given in the past. It was the words that came out of the mouth of Pontius Pilate when he’s looking into the face of Jesus, thinking that he had the power of life and death over the Lord. And he asked the question, what is the truth? Of course, the answer was staring him in the face. But now, my dear friends, I have a different answer to that question. And that answer, I believe, perhaps gives us the context about what we’re about to begin to celebrate as Christians. It is the parable of the struggle of discipleship. It’s the reason, I believe, why these oils that we will bless are so important in the life of the church and why the ministerial priesthood born this day is essential to the life that Christ has given to all of us. My brothers, it gives us an understanding of one aspect of our Priestley ministry that we must never forget. You may be wondering, what are those words? For those of us who go to Daily Mass, we heard them a few days ago. We will hear them again tomorrow on Good Friday.

They are the words that St. John puts into his gospel immediately after Judas betrays the Lord. And as he takes the morsel, says, Is it I, Lord? It is you who say it. And then there are four words, John says, And it was night. And it was night.

For you see, my dear friends, in those four words, perhaps in its own sense of parable, we are reminded of the great struggle that lies for those of us, all of us, who wish to follow in the footsteps of the Master and the Savior. For there is in the word night all that is implied within it. It is the struggles that you and I face in our lives to peel away the darkness of sin and deception salvation, the lies that oftentimes try to seduce us, to expose the temptations of the evil one. It is all that takes us away from the light, which is what we are about to celebrate as dusk leads to night, tonight. The great mystery, the unfolding of our salvation, is He who we will proclaim in the Easter Vigil as Christ, our light, came into the very midst of the darkness that this world could muster.

And by His free gift of His life and His everlasting love, love that does not demand that those to be loved should be worth that love or earn that love or actually in some way prove they are lovable. In that great drama, the Lord Jesus allows the light to be victorious, to shine not just in the tomb, but in every moment of His grace, in every moment of the ages to come until the light is alone what exists. And the darkness, and he who creates it is cast into the abyss forever.

You see, my dear friends, that is why we are here today. We are here because these oils and the sacruments that celebrate them are the vessels of the light of grace for those preparing to be baptized so that all their sins of their life could be forgiven, all of us have had that great privilege in this church. All of us have been set free. For those who are sick, those who may be dying, the oil of the sick comes as a bomb, perhaps not to heal them physically, but to invite them to be healed spiritually so that they may enter into the mystery of death prepared to look upon the light that has no shadow.

Then and, of course, in the oils of chrism, baptism, the confirming of baptism and sacred orders, priesthood and Episcopacy. They consecrate us so that we might be what? The vessels of light in a world that, unfortunately, my friends, you know better than I, is in great turmoil, where the clouds continue to grow thicker and the darkness threatens too many of God’s children, ourselves included. So the ministerial priesthood, my friends, my brothers, you and I that share this great gift, today we must remember that we are called to be the heralds of light. To dare, by word and example, by our ministries and by our preaching, to give God’s people, you and I and our own selves, the path by which we might bring the light of Christ where there is no light or where the darkness threatens that light.

You see, my dear friends, you and I who gather here, please God, none of us in this church is guilty of a colossal failure before the light. That was Judas’s fate that he chose. But perhaps the struggle you and I face in discipleship is more the struggle of twilight, that mixture of light and darkness.

The times when you and I struggle with our own temptations, our own faults, our own failures, or at times when you and I are swayed by the opinions of those around us, or simply wanting to be accepted, or simply lacking the courage to speak what needs to be spoken. So many different ways, you and I in ordinary life, we struggle with that mystery of twilight. And so we come here to be strengthened so that we could peel away that portion of the twilight which threatens us, our integrity, our effectiveness, and quite frankly, our fidelity. I do it every day. I struggle with it every day. And I don’t believe I’m the only one in this church who struggles with that every day. But how blessed are we? My gosh, how blessed are we that Christ offers us His merciful love, His forgiveness for the asking that He never abandons us. And we who are as priests, you brothers know as much as I, the challenges you and I face, and they are many, and they are not getting easier. And yet you and I know the light has never and never will abandon us, even in the moments of our greatest struggle and doubt, even when our temptations raise their faces to try to tempt us to do what we know we should never do.

And yet Christ is there with the light beckoning us to be his herald. And even when we have failed, myself included, He comes to bless us, forgive us, and send us out again in mission. My dear friends, the world needs the light of Christ. The world needs heralds of good news. The world needs a clear, effective, unambiguous, zealous, courageous, reckless proclamation of the light. And that’s true for all of us in this church of every vocation, But as you and I, brothers, celebrating the day when the birth of our vocation was given to us, let us, you and I, together, brothers in Christ, make the pledge as we renew the promises of Priestley life that we will stand shoulder to shoulder as one brotherhood to help one another to peel away the twilight, wherever it threatens you and me to be able to live in the light. If we do that, we know that you and I may not see the effects of all that we do, but Christ us, and the world will, and those who come after us may inherit a world that is willing to cry out, Christ, our light. What’s interesting, my friends, is that in the natural course of 24 hours, twilight happens twice.

At the dawn, and at dusk. We are now on the threshold of the great mystery of all mysteries, the great mystery of salvation that tells us that the twilight light is destined for dawn, not for dusk. Perhaps you and This day may be resolved, rejoicing of the great gifts God has given us, but most especially, if I may be so bold, is to rejoice in the great mystery and gift of the priesthood and the men who serve and give their life over, all of them here and those who are not here, my brothers in the priesthood who give their life so generously so that the light may triumph in small and powerful ways. Let us leave this church ready to go into these days so that those of us who will proclaim it and those of us who will respond will be able to say to the whole world, We believe that Christ is our light.