Gus talks about today's Gospel from Matthew where Joseph recognized Mary was with child even though they hadn't consummated their marriage yet. An angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph in dream and told them the child in her womb was the long-awaited Messiah. When Joseph awoke, he took Mary into his home. Gus talks about how God communicates with us in a variety of ways; sometimes in dreams. He recounts a dream he had shortly after his father's death and, afterwards, talks with listeners about dreams they believed were given to them by God.
Also, Gus talks about a story out of Detroit, Michigan where a priest, Fr. Don Lacuesta, has been barred from funerals after giving a homily at the funeral mass of a teen, Maison Hullibarger, who committed suicide. His parents, Jeff and Linda, were displeased with the homily, which mentioned suicide several times, and after complaining to the Archdiocese of Detroit, went to the news to publicize this unfortunate event. Gus plays the audio from the news report and follows it up by reading Fr. Lacuesta's actual homily. To read the full story, click here.
Gus is also joined by Nathaniel Binversie, the director of missions for Exodus 90, which is a 90-day spiritual exercise for men in order to build their faith. It's geared especially to those who are discerning a vocation, getting married or attempting to overcome an addiction. Nathaniel gets into the nuts and bolts of what they do and tells people how they can be part of it.
Good evening Gus. Thank you for your ministry; it reaches and touches many people in different ways. I was able to catch your broadcast this morning and I believe Fr. Lacuesta’s homily was, although not what the parents expected, very appropriate considering the circumstances. Several references were made to the final act, and yes, we are taught suicide is wrong. But Father Lacuesta made equal number of expressions of our Lord’s love and compassion, regardless of the act. And right from the start, the Holy Church allowed the funeral to be in the church. I remember a time when suicide death funerals was not permitted to be held in church. The parents are grieving and our prayers are for their healing, comfort and understanding from the Holy Spirit. Their reaction was not unusual, they are bitter. So were my parents when we lost my little sister. My prayers will also be for Fr. Lacuesta’s insightful homily and he be restored to his ministry. And to Jesus for Maison; God will find a way to make right, those who love Him, but have sinned.
Peace and blessings
Gus,
I listen to you on the way to work each morning. I missed the section of the show on dreams, so I thought I’d relate my dreams I’ve had where God has spoken to me. They revolve around my discerning the diaconate.
In November of last year, I had a very vivid dream of my granddaughter’s baptism, scheduled for that December. In the dream, I wasn’t just there witnessing it, I was performing it, as a deacon. It was very real; real enough that it caused me to speak to a close friend who is a deacon. He and I discussed how God uses dreams to lead us into important decisions. I hadn’t even thought of the diaconate!
Then in February, I had another dream – two forks in the road. The easy one was leadership in the Knights of Columbus – I’d been on that road this year as State Program Director. The second fork was less traveled and led towards the diaconate. I was drawn to that fork in my dream.
Fast forward to this month – I’ve been accepted as one of 10 men and our wives to begin the Inquiry phase next month for the diaconate in the Archdiocese of Dubuque. Praise God! I’m a HUGE believer in God communicating in dreams!
God Bless you and your family this Christmas season,
Mike DeMoully
I caught most of your conversation on the show this morning and was anxious to read the homily. To my mind Fr. LaCuesta was very compassionate and I don’t see anything out of the way. In fact, I would think that a family in this kind of pain would derive immeasurable comfort from Fr.‘s encouragement that there is still room for lots of help that God’s mercy could still come to their loved one.
My feeling is that these grieving parents have not yet faced the reality of the pain their son was in and they are probably struggling with a lot of guilt about not seeing, or not acknowledging the signs this young man may have given. There solution at least so far seems to possibly be to not acknowledge the facts.
Hi Gus,
I just wanted to comment regarding the Lacuesta story. First, let’s pray for the Hullibarger family. Second, I believe Lacuesta was right in spirit, in that providing hope for the family. The error, in my mind, was the format (not taking into account their mindset). I believe the format should have resembled the following:
1.) Celebrate the life, love, and good qualities of Maison.
2.) The mindset of that person in #1
3.) A message of hope, the church teachings on suicide
4.) A prayer for Maison that he is remembered by God for #2
I am sorry if I have offended anyone. I’m only writing what I think is best with the information I know.
Patrick
The skeptic in me can’t help but wonder if the priest’s homily that was presented to you was “rewritten in his hand” differently but not the original to soften it.
I am listening to your broadcast right now and can’t help but feel that, contrary to some of your callers, that to use this family’s wounded moment to “teach” was not the right time at the funeral. Save it for Sunday
Re Fr. Lacuesta’s funeral homily, part of the problem is that the Church has permitted our view of funeral masses to be secularized. Having gotten used to secular and liberal protestant memorial services, we think that the funeral mass is supposed to be about celebrating the life of the deceased by reciting extensive endearing details about which sports teams and rock bands they were avid fans of. It isn’t. It is about celebrating their resurrection to new life. If they were baptized Christians, we say the Apostle’s Creed which was said at their baptism. The Paschal Candle is lit as a reminder of Christ’s triumph. The readings are about heaven, not earth.
I thought the homily was good in intention, but as a stranger with no emotional involvement with the situation, it still made me cringe because of his insistence on using the word “suicide” in every other sentence. What I would have heard, had I been a friend or family member, was “suicide, suicide, suicide, suicide, suicide.” Fr. needs to have a normal lay person edit his homilies.