Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21 | Raising the Next Generation of Leaders: How Catholic Education Can Unlock Your Child's Potential

Good morning everyone.

Well, my dear brothers and sisters, today we celebrate the beginning of Catholic school.

And it's amazing how the readings on this day correspond to what we try to do on a daily basis with young people that attend Catholic schools.

And what is this exactly?

Let's focus on today's Gospel.

If I can find it.

Jesus went in the synagogue, and he was handed a scroll, the reading of the day.

And when he opened it, it said, The Spirit of the Lord is upon you, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sanctuary of life, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim that you're acceptable to the Lord.

And then what he says after that is remarkable.

He says, Today this scripture passes, this prophecy is fulfilled.

To have such a clarity of who you are, and what your mission is in this world.

To be able to realize that when you're young.

What did God want me to do on this world?

Why am I here?

What is the purpose of my life?

You know, I didn't grow up going to a Catholic school.

I went to public school.

And so, in public school, I took up the piano. I ended up playing piano for 20 years.

I'm good. But not as good as my friends. My friends were great.

But I remember being in a piano competition.

And in another room, there was a young person that was practicing their piece.

I was practicing mine, and then I overheard theirs.

It was one of the most difficult Chopin pieces I've ever heard.

And it was extremely difficult, and they were playing it amazingly well.

I was in high school.

And I went over to the other room to see who was playing… and it was a 9-year-old.

At that moment, I realized I have no future as a pianist.

No future whatsoever.

And my dad was happy.

Because when I told him I wanted to be one for music, it was like I'd never been one.

And I said, well, what should I do, Dad?

What should I do?

He said, be an engineer.

And I was a pretty good engineer.

I was good.

But I wasn't passionate about it.

And I was happy being good.

And when it was 4 o'clock, I left work.

And I dried my body every morning to go to work.

And I loved the pain.

The pain was good.

But I wasn't passionate about it.

The only time I ever had become passionate about anything is when I learned about my faith and love.

And I was 27 years old when finally someone, anybody was looking for me.

Someone, my girlfriend, she challenged me.

She said, do you know who God is?

And I was like, yeah, God.

God.

God.

Up there.

I've never been as passionate about anything as I have with the Catholic faith and with God.

And you know when you have discovered what your reason for being here is when you are passionate about something, when you love something.

When work is not even work.

When you love going in every morning and doing what you do every day.

And the fact that you get paid for it, you love it.

But that you love it.

That is what you want in every, you want that for yourself and you want that for your children.

You want them to be happy in this world.

Really what you want them to do is you want them to discover who they are.

And who God is.

And then when you do that, then you say to yourself, I am happy.

My curiosity has been fulfilled.

My wonder.

You can imagine what the people were saying.

Who does he think he is?

Imagine.

Imagine what Jesus says to the people in the synagogue.

One day this prophecy has been fulfilled, it is in me.

And the people are like, who does he think he is?

Can I tell you something?

When I first arrived at Mariana, the school for the last 15 years had been going down in a bowl.

Every year, they had been going down in a bowl.

And the fundraising stacked up.

I remember going to one of the meetings, one of the four meetings, the school advisory meetings, and I said, we are going to raise X amount of money and we are going to get this number of kids.

Afterwards I heard that someone said, he doesn't know our community.

And you know what?

I didn't.

But I knew what my mission was.

I knew what my mission was.

I knew what my job was.

And no one and nothing is going to stop me.

And the team that I have today at the school, the sisters that are over there, Sister Marianne, Sister Lucia, Sister Margaret Mary, please stand up.

Pleasure to see you.

Thank you.

There is a famous entrepreneur who says, Jeff Bezos, Amazon.

He says, he has this thing that he calls regret minimization framework.

Regret minimization framework.

You know what that means?

When he had a great job, and then he had the opportunity to leave the great job for someone that he was curious about.

I wonder, I wonder if I can do this, start my own company, because I have this dream.

He said to himself, I asked myself at 80 years old, when I'm 80 years old, am I going to have regrets that I didn't try?

When I'm 80 years old, am I going to have regrets that I didn't try to follow my dream?

To follow something that I'm passionate about?

And he said to himself, I will.

I will.

So what did he do?

He left his job.

Safe, secure job.

And he said, I'm going to try this.

And of course, the rest is history.

Do you have any regrets?

Before you turn 80 years old, if you have any regrets, if there's some dream that you have, something that you're passionate about, something that you dream that you would love to be able to do before you leave this earth, then do it.

Do it.

If you think that you can be great at it, and you have the passion and willingness to sacrifice for it, then go for it.

That's when you realize and discover who you are.

And look at this.

It took me 27 years old to be able to put together art, art, piano, music, science, technology, engineering, and God.

When you have a good formation when you're a young person, those three things go together easily.

And that's what we do at Mary Mack.

We put the arts, we put the sciences, and we put God all into the same place so that you can discover new creativity and the presence of God, the universe, in your life.

You know who does that?

Geniuses do that.

Leonardo da Vinci.

Do you know the man who cut the drawing and he has the man in the circle and the square?

You know who that is?

That is da Vinci's man.

Who is human, who is in this world, this square, and who also touches the infinite, God.

Art, science, spirituality.

When Einstein, while he was working on his theory of relativity, when Einstein would hit a roadblock, right?

He was a pretty smart guy.

But he would say the thing that he appreciated most was the sense of wonder they had in the universe.

And so whenever he hit a roadblock in his theory of relativity, when he was trying to figure it out, you know what he would do?

He would put down his notes, he would go over to the music room, pick up the violin, and start playing Mozart.

And that would open his mind to the next guy in his theory of relativity.

Who doesn't want to give their children an opportunity, the best opportunity, to discover who they are and who God is?

Without leaving anything out.

Having all the opportunities to discover who they are and who God is.

The best combination you could ever have.

That's what we do.

How many of you, raise your hands, how many of you went to a academy school?

A few more.

And look at our beautiful choir.

And wait until you hear them sing the last song tonight, today, at Mass.

It's a song that you sing at the end of every month, giving glory to God.

And it doesn't inspire you, really.

I don't know why.

But that's why at Mary America our mission is very simple.

Create a Christ-centered learning environment that fosters curiosity, fosters wonder and excitement.

So that's the most beautiful gift that you can ever receive, is wanting to be a learner for the rest of your life.

That is the mission.

To find out what you're passionate about, what you can be great at, and how you can serve God.

Amen.

Mark 1:14-20 | The Power of Baptism: Unlocking the Sacrament that Unites Us with God

Good morning my dear brothers and sisters,

Growing up in New York, upstate New York, we used to take field trips to the museum so that we could learn about the Iroquois Indians and the Hurons.

And of course, there was never any mention of the Jesuits that had gone there years later to evangelize those Indians, especially the Huron Indians, who eventually were massacred by the Iroquois after they had accepted Christianity.

So we never learned anything in public school about that, you know, nothing.

We just learned about their arts, their crafts, and everything.

In the diary of the two Jesuit priests that were martyred, St.

Isaac Joves and St.

John de Bourbeuf, French Jesuits, the one, the priests that followed after them, they were massacred because the Jesuits, they were butchered to death because they, because the Indians had a plague that ran through their village and they blamed the Jesuits, they blamed the priests for bringing that plague, that evil spirit that they called it.

But they were impressed because when they, now this is, let me see, okay, too many children here, so.

But there was a moment when they were torturing them that the Jesuits did not scream.

They never screamed out.

And so the Indians were so impressed by their faith that it began to have them have doubts about whose God was stronger, their God or this God that came from this foreign land.

Anyways, the Jesuits, they followed them afterwards.

At a moment, the Indians appeared before them and they asked them, do you love us?

And the Jesuits said, we do, we love you.

And will this, if we are baptized, will this plague disappear?

No.

It will not.

And then the Indians looked at them, the Hurons, and they said, well then, baptize us.

And at that moment, they were all baptized.

The power of baptism.

Today we celebrate the baptism of our Lord.

When our Lord was baptized, it was the first time that the Holy Trinity appeared, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all in one place.

With the words, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

Baptism is not just a ritual.

Baptism is a powerful moment in the life of every single Christian because at that moment, we become sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.

It is not something that is ceremonial, it is a sacrament.

It is a moment of particular grace when we receive that sonship and that being daughters and sons of Jesus Christ, of our Lord.

I formed you and set you, in the first reading, in the prophet Isaiah, I formed you and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

We are Christians.

Why?

Because we have been baptized into the faith.

If you notice, in every Catholic church, almost every, well, every Catholic church that's designed well, okay, if you notice, there's some churches that don't have the baptismal font right in the main entrance.

I won't name those churches like Christ the King, but anyways.

But if you notice, right, at Mary Immaculate, our baptismal font is right at the entrance of the church, because it is literally our entrance into the body of Christ, into the church.

And then, as baptized Christians, what do we do?

We walk the walk.

We walk the walk, right?

We're baptized, and then from that moment on, you are walking your walk, right?

And all these people, look how beautiful the design is.

All these people are supporting you, helping you, all of them, the people of God, you know, come on, you can do it, you can do it, you know?

I mean, that's the ideal.

That's the goal, that we're all supporting each other as we're making it to the other end of the church, which is Jesus, the crucifix.

Every time you receive communion, right?

You receive communion, body of Christ, amen, you receive the communion, and you go right back to work, right?

You go right back to work.

You receive it, and you turn around, and you go right back to work.

My time has not yet come, but there will be a time where you will not go back, you will continue forward, and that will be the moment that we see Jesus face to face, and are with him forever.

So baptism is the beginning of everything.

You know, I will tell you, I've never received many miracles personally in my life, but two things stick out, and one of them is when I was so scared to answer the call to be a priest.

I was scared.

You know, I had my job, I had my career, I was an engineer, I mean, I was doing well.

And then I remembered something that St.

Augustine did, when he was having doubts, he picked up the Bible, closed his eyes, opened the Bible, and boom, he put his finger on the page that helped him to take the next step.

I can't remember what that was, but anyway, so what did I do?

I took my friends, so I was in a cubicle at Kodak, and I took my friend's Bible, Protestant King James Bible, still good enough, right?

I picked it up, and I said, can I borrow this for a second?

Yeah, sure.

I said, Lord, what do you want from me?

I opened the Bible up, I stuck my finger, and for sure I thought I was going to get killed the fatted calf, or something, you know?

No.

I got the page that was almost completely empty, except for this one last paragraph, this one last paragraph that said, go throughout the world baptizing in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and I will be with you till the end.

That is probably the only amazing thing that ever happened in my life.

And then I opened it up again to see, no, because that's how we are, right?

Anyways, baptism begins everything.

It is our responsibility to make sure that if we have a child, or a grandchild, or someone that we know, that they are baptized.

They need to get baptized.

It isn't a ceremony.

It isn't even just a ritual.

Do you consider a ritual when you receive that engagement ring?

Yeah, there is a ritual.

You get down on one knee, you know, you open up that little box, and you say, will you marry me?

But it's more than just a ritual.

It's an actual event.

Something is taking place, something that is amazing.

And that is you are committing your life to someone else.

You're saying, I want to be with you.

Baptism is the way that we say to God, I want to be with you till the end, till the end of my life.

That is the way.

That is the way that the Lord wants it.

We have a responsibility.

And you know how many times I hear from parents?

You know what?

I'm going to wait until my child is old enough to make up their own mind.

What age is that?

13?

15?

16?

18?

21?

Like, as if we already know who God is by 21 years old.

Right?

Does anybody here think that they know God really, really well by 21?

I'm 59.

You know, I'm still learning who God is.

Right?

Forget about that.

This is, what do you want from your child?

I want my child to be baptized.

I want my child to be a child of God.

I want them to have a father and a mother in heaven and all these brothers and sisters that we call saints.

I want them to be with him and her.

I want them to be a part of their life.

You know, there's a beautiful story in the Bible.

In the New Testament.

A man named Jairus.

A man named Jairus.

Was waiting for Jesus on the shore.

And as Jesus approached from the boat.

Got out of the boat.

Immediately Jairus ran to him.

And said, Lord, please come to my house.

My daughter is dying.

And Jesus says, let's go.

Let's go.

So before they make it to the house.

Someone comes out of the house.

And they say, don't bother the master.

Your daughter just passed away.

And Jesus looks at the father.

And he says to him.

Do you believe in me?

And Jairus.

And Jairus says to Jesus.

I do believe in you.

And then he said to him.

Let's go.

Let's go.

And Jairus.

And Jairus.

I do believe in you.

And then he said to him.

Let's go inside and save your daughter.

When you baptize your baby.

It's your faith.

Your faith.

That is saving your child.

It may be the greatest thing.

That you ever did for your child.

Allowing them to enter heaven.

With the title.

You are my son.

You are my daughter.

Don't ever underestimate.

The power of baptism.

Don't ever underestimate it.

It is your faith.

Your faith.

That brings that child to heaven.

And unites that child to God.

So.

If you know anyone.

If you have a child.

If you have a grandchild.

If you have a friend that needs to be baptized.

Then fulfill your mission.

As a Christian.

Go throughout the world.

Baptizing in the name of the Father.

And the Son.

And the Holy Spirit.

And I will be with you.

Until the end.

Amen.