15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily

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15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Deuteronomy 30:10-14
Psalm 69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37 (33)
Colossians 1:15-20
Luke 10:25-37
July 14, 2019

We hear the “scholar of the law” ask Jesus a question.  We are told that he asked Jesus the question “to test him.”  While the scholar’s motives may not be pure, the question is one we all want to know the answer to, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

We are here today because we seek eternal life.  What does it take?  Jesus puts the scholar’s question back to him by asking, “What is written in the law?”

The scholar responds quoting Deuteronomy 6:5, calling us to love God with “all” we have and are, and Leviticus 19:18, calling us to love our neighbor.  Jesus affirms the scholar’s response.  We are called to be loved and to love.

The scholar then asks, “And who is my neighbor?”  Physically, our neighbor is someone who lives in the house next to us or near us.  For the Jews, it would be kinsmen and other Jews.  To help us understand who really is our “neighbor”, Jesus tells the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Most of us have heard the story before, “a man fell feel victim to robbers” who “beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.”

Who would help him?  First a priest came along.  The priest was a man of God.  He should have helped but he didn’t.  Instead, “he passed by on the opposite side.”  The Levite, also a servant of God does the same thing.

The third person is a Samaritan, who would have been despised by the Jews.  He is the one who does the right thing and stops to help the victim.

Would you have stopped and helped the victim?

Let me tell you about an experience I had while in seminary in Washington, DC.  On this particular day, I went out for my daily walk.  I had barely started walking along Michigan Avenue, when I noticed a man laying on the sidewalk.  I don’t like to stereotype but, for lack of a better description, I will say, “he looked homeless.” 

Michigan Avenue is a major thoroughfare so there is lots of traffic but no one was stopping to help.  Sadly, there are a lot of homeless in the area so people don’t pay much attention.  However, it was unusual to see a person laying in the middle of the sidewalk.

Did I stop?  I will be honest and say I didn’t.  On a positive note, I did not cross to the opposite side like the priest and the Levite.  I paused long enough to see if he looked sick or injured.  He didn’t.  I should have asked him if he was okay but I didn’t “heed the voice” within me and I kept on walking. 

The thought of him laying on the sidewalk stayed with me the whole walk, enough that I made a point to walk past the spot on my way home but he was already gone.  I hope he was okay and simply woke up and left on his own but I don’t know.  Now, whenever I hear the story of the Good Samaritan, I think of that day.

What would you have done?

Some would do nothing because they “don’t want to get involved.”  Others say they don’t have the means to help.  Part of me might have thought that with this man in DC.  I didn’t have much money and I didn’t know where to direct him to get him any help. 

We are all called to help the poor.  It might be financially but we wonder about helping the stranger on the street, what they might do with the money?  We have two options there.  First, instead of giving them money, buy them what they need so they can’t use the money for something else.  Another option if you are financially able is to give to charities.  Then, when you see some in need, direct them to a charity.

Another option if you can’t help financially, or want to do more, is to volunteer.  I’m new here but I know there are charities around like the food pantry and Catholic Charities.  We have parishioners who volunteer in prison ministry or in bringing Communion to the nursing homes and homebound just to begin to name some options.

Lastly, whether or not we are able to volunteer or to give financially, we can all pray. 

When I think of the experience I described from my seminary days, I wish I had done differently.  I feel like I went astray and ask God to keep me on the right path going forward.

We can all pray to ask the Lord to “open our eyes to the needs of our brothers and sisters; inspire in us words and actions” that we may love God and our neighbor.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily

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14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Isaiah 66:10-14c
Psalm 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20 (1)
Galatians 6:14-18
Luke 10:1-2, 17-30
July 7, 2019

Jesus sent “seventy-two others” out on a mission.  In identifying them as “others” a distinction is made from the Twelve Apostles who had already been sent out on a similar mission (the Apostles actually had more to do on their mission).

The number “twelve” for the Apostles is rooted in the Twelve tribes of Israel, the whole of Israel, but why 72?

At the time of Jesus, seventy-two was the number of all the known nations, so it symbolizes the mission to proclaim that “the Kingdom of God is at hand” is to the whole world.

Seventy-two is also the number of elders appointed by Moses to help in advising the people.

How are the Twelve and the seventy-two represented in our church today?

Today, bishops are the successors to the Twelve Apostles.  Who succeeds the seventy-two is less certain.  Some scholars say it is the priests.  Others say everyone. 

Certainly, priests have a particular role to play in offering the Sacraments but the work of the Church is not limited to just the clergy.  At Baptism we all receive the Holy Spirit and are anointed as priest, prophet, and king. 

We are all called to be willing to make sacrifices for the good of others and for our faith.  In sacrificing, we fulfill our priestly calling.  We are all called, in different ways, to share God’s Word, fulfilling our prophetic call.  We are all called to be a king like Jesus in serving others.

Is it easy?  No, especially in a culture of relativism that says we aren’t supposed to talk about our faith with others.   The same culture of relativism says we shouldn’t talk about our values and morals to others. 

If we try to share the gospel, we might face rejection, we might feel “like lambs among wolves.”  It becomes easier to keep silent outside our church walls.  Unfortunately, this means people outside the church don’t hear about Jesus and even inside the church, people really don’t understand why our faith teaches what it does.

Struggles to live out our faith can take different forms in different places and time periods but the struggle is nothing new. 

The Israelites had grown weak in their faith and turned from God.  For this, God allowed them to be defeated by their enemy, the Babylonians.  Many were taken away in exile. 

Our first reading today from Isaiah was written at the end of the Exile.  It speaks of mourning because, as they return home, they find the Temple and Jerusalem has been destroyed.

Yet the Lord tells them to “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad.”  In their mourning, the Lord promises He “will spread prosperity,” that He will “comfort” them, and that they will “flourish.”  They rejoice at God’s promise.

When you hear “prosperity,” you might think of having a big home, fancy cars, and a lot of money.  These things are neither good nor bad on their own, but it isn’t true “prosperity.”  The treasure that the Lord offers us is eternal life.

We truly “flourish” not when we are materially rich.  No, to truly flourish is receive the blessings of God.  Earthly treasures bring a short happiness.  Real faith brings eternal joy that lasts forever.

So, going back to what I said earlier about how we are all called to share the faith, what are we to do?

We are not all called to do the same thing.  I am called to preside at the Sacraments and preach.  You are not but you are called to “shout joyfully” and “sing praise.”  We are all called to speak of the tremendous things the Lord has done for us.

How do we do this in a “culture of relativism” that says we aren’t supposed to talk about our faith publicly?

We do so by being the best we can be at whatever we do.  It can start with looking at our motives from what we do. 

I used to be an engineer, specifically I worked in civil engineering on roads and bridges.  One might suggest that engineering has nothing to do with how one lives out their faith.

One might choose a profession by how much money they can make.  As an engineer, if I had gotten my professional license, I could have made a lot more money.  I didn’t because the work the licensed engineers wasn’t what I wanted to do.  I saw my job as an engineer as to provide safe roads and bridges for people to get where they needed to be.

At work, it is also an important witness to hold fast to our values, treating those around us with love and compassion.  When people see us living this way, it can be a powerful prophetic witness to them.

Our parish is called St. Luke the Evangelist.  Luke was an evangelist in writing the gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.  What do you to evangelize, to share the faith?  What do we need to do as a parish?

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily

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13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21
Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11 (see 5a)
Galatians 5:1, 13-18
Luke 9:51-62
June 30, 2019

Easter ended at Pentecost three weeks ago and we returned to Ordinary Time.  However, for the last two Sundays we celebrated two special solemnities, the Most Holy Trinity and the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

Today we fully return to Ordinary Time.  We pick up with the Thirteenth Sunday of Year C.  Our gospel reading today comes from the beginning of a section in Luke’s gospel known as Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem.

It’s called this because Jesus literally is on a journey to Jerusalem but it is more than just a geographic journey from one town to another.  Yes, He is going to the city of Jerusalem.  That was a journey He made 2,000 years ago.

It is his journey to the Cross.

It is also a metaphor for the journey we are all on.  Coming here to worship, we are all on a journey to the heavenly city often referred to as “Jerusalem.”  We all seek the same destination for eternity.

Keeping this in mind, the story of Jesus’ journey is not a short story telling us what road He took or where He stayed.  The journey encompasses ten chapters, almost half, of Luke’s gospel.  On the journey He will continue to cure people and to teach what God’s Law really means for us.  He does this to lead us on our own journey.

We are all seeking the same destination, Heaven, but our paths can take different directions.

Jesus sets out on his journey “resolutely determined” to make it to Jerusalem in accord with God’s plan.  Are we “resolutely determined” in our journey to the heavenly Jerusalem?

What is someone opposes us on the way?  Are we like James and John who wanted “to call down fire from heaven” to destroy those did “not welcome him”?  Jesus told them not to do that.  We need to share the faith but we are not to force our faith on others.

Are we willing to follow Jesus wherever He goes?  Many think it should be simple to follow Jesus but the reality is it can be difficult.  Here Jesus says, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”

What keeps us from following Jesus on the journey to Heaven?  Are we like the disciple who responded to Jesus’s call by saying, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father”?  Burying the dead was considered a work of mercy but God must always be first. 

Another disciple said, “but first let me say farewell to my family at home.”  Were they just looking for a quick goodbye that one might expect or they want a long time to take of some stuff first? 

Are you ready to answer the call in God’s time or do you expect it to happen when you want?

I see people who are just getting out of school and they want to get their careers established so they focus on that and forget about Jesus.  Then, they want to start a family and they focus on their children, which God wants us to, but not at the expense of forgetting about him. 

Then retirement comes and freedom of time but then they say, let me relax for a while and then I can think about what God might be calling me to.  There’s nothing wrong with resting in retirement but it is never okay to put Jesus at the bottom of the list. 

Sometimes we want for something spectacular to happen to know what God calls us to do.  However, it is often in the ordinary things of life that God calls us.  Elisha was plowing the fields when God called him. 

If you are a parent of young children, God is calling you to be a good Christian parent.  Made God a daily part of your family’s life.  If you are retired, God can call you to serve in the simple or extravagant.  You just need to let him lead you on the “path of life.”  

God gives us freedom to choose our path.  Do we choose the ways of the flesh, meaning letting earthly pleasures control our lives, becoming slaves to sin, or do we seek the ways of the Spirit?

Are we firm in our resolve to make the journey to Jerusalem or do we waffle?

Sometimes it can be hard to make good choices for the journey.  When we go on a journey in the car, we rely on GPS.  That stands for “global positioning system.” 

On our spiritual journey, we need a different sort of GPS, “God-positioning-system.”  It begins in regular prayer where we listen to God and letting him lead us.

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Year C – Homily

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The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Year C
Genesis 14:18-20
Psalm 110:1, 2, 3, 4 (4b)
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Luke 9:11b-17
June 23, 2019

As we come together to praise God this weekend, this is a very important weekend in the life of our parish for three reasons.

First, I’ll mention it is my last weekend here as your Pastor.  On Tuesday I will move to St. Luke’s in Geneseo.  St. Michael’s will become part of a new cluster with St. Joseph the Worker (covering Lyons/Clyde/Savannah) and the Catholic Community of the Blessed Trinity (covering Wolcott/Red Creek/Fair Haven).  Fr. Tedesche will become the new Pastor here and Fr. Walter will become the assistant. 

Second, as part of the new clustering, this is also the last weekend that St. Michael’s will have a 4:30 p.m. Mass on Saturday.  For those who have been coming to this Mass for years, this will be a big change and a loss.  Thus, this is important in the life of our parish.

Loss and/or change can be a challenge.  How do we get through it?  This question leads me to what is really the most important thing we celebrate this weekend.

This is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  It is the Body and Blood of Christ that we receive in the Eucharist that gives us the strength we need in our lives to live as Christ’s disciples through our sufferings and life’s challenges.

The Eucharist is the “source and summit” of what we do as Catholics.  Jesus really is present in the Eucharist.  It is Jesus we receive in Communion.  It is Jesus we gaze up in our Holy Hours. 

The use of bread and wine in religious life was not new with Jesus but it took on a new significance.  In our first reading today, we hear of Melchizedek offering bread and wine.  Later in the Old Testament, God fed the Israelites with the manna, the bread from Heaven, during the Exodus.  Unleavened bread was part of the annual Passover celebration as prescribed by God.

The Last Supper came at the time of the Passover.  Before that, Jesus had fed 5,000 men with the five loaves.  “They all ate and were satisfied.”  It was their bellies that were satisfied.  At the Last Supper, Jesus takes the bread and wine and makes it his Body and Blood to satisfy the hunger of our souls.

This was not some human invention.  As Paul speaks of the Eucharist in today’s second reading, he speaks of how he received it “from the Lord.” 

There are those in other denominations who only believe what is found in scripture (sola scriptura).  They do not see the Eucharist in scripture but it is.  The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all contain stories of the Last Supper that include Jesus’ words, “This is my body… this cup is the new covenant in my blood…do this in remembrance of me.”

For those who think our belief in the Real Presence is not founded in scripture, we also find it in chapter six of John’s Gospel where Jesus says we must “Eat his flesh and drink his blood.”  We need the Eucharist to strengthen us. 

Here I turn to the Christmas story, the nativity scene.  Where do they lay baby Jesus?  In a manger.  A manger is not a crib.  It is a feeding trough for animals.  It prefigures Jesus feeding us with the Eucharist.

As I said at the beginning, this weekend brings changes.  I am leaving.  New priests are coming.  We lose the 4:30 Mass.  There is also changes to the daily Mass and confession schedule (you can find the schedule for the entire cluster here).  As these changes occur, I imagine some of you may also be facing difficulties in your own lives.  Whether it be the changes we face as a parish or the challenges you face in your own lives, you do not have to face them alone.

We face them as a community of believers.  We face them as disciples of Christ.  We face them led by the Spirit, with gifts of understanding and wisdom along with courage.  We face them as Jesus feeds us with his Body and Blood so that we have the strength we need.

Homily for June 2019 Holy Hour

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Homily for June 2019 Holy Hour
Genesis 12:1-4a
Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
Romans 8:31-39
John 3:1-17

How much do you trust God?

Do you have the faith of Abram (who will become known as Abraham)?

The first reading for tonight comes from the very beginning of the story of Abraham.  The very first words we hear God speak to Abram are, “Go forth from your land, your relatives, and from your father’s house.”  God is telling Abraham to leave everything that is familiar to him.  That alone can be a huge challenge.  We are often comfortable with what is familiar.

Where is Abraham supposed to go?  If it is a really good place, that would make it easier from him to leave what is familiar.  However, God doesn’t tell Abraham where to go except “to a land I will show you.”   

Abraham is to trust the Lord.

God makes a lot of promises to Abraham, “I will make of you a great nation..I will bless you” and “I will make your name great.”  It might sound great but it is all in the future. 

Abraham could have started asking questions like where or why.  Yet, Abraham does not ask any questions.  He simply “went as the LORD directed him” no questions asked.

Would you?

Abraham is sent to a new physical place.  I am going to a new geographic location but we are all facing changes.  I know where I am going but I don’t really know much about the parish or the towns.

You aren’t changing churches (unless you go to Saturday Mass).  If you normally come to 8:15 or 10:30 Mass you don’t have to even change Masses.  You will still seem some differences.  Maybe you will see some of the 4:30 people on Sunday morning.  The priests will change.  Will they do things differently?

What are we to with the changes?

We are to place our trust in God.

God is always with us, and, as Paul writes, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”  If we place our trust in God to lead us, He always will.  He will always love us.

Can anything stop that?  Paul writes, “What will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the word?”

No…..none of these things can separate us from God.  They may make us wonder why things are bad.  They might make it hard for us to trust in God, but they cannot “separate us from the love of Christ.”

No thing, no person, life, angels, principalities, can “separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

It is God we are created to know and love.  I turn to the words in our opening prayer that originally come from St. Augustine, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

We are created to spend eternity with God.  Eternal life begins in Baptism but before Baptism we are first born in this world.  This is only the beginning.  We must be “born from above.” 

What does “from above” mean?

Nicodemus misinterprets it as being “born again,” meaning to reenter our mother’s womb.  He knows that is impossible.  To be “born from above” is to be “born of water and Spirit.”  This is Baptism.  The waters of baptism both cleanse us (of sin) and give us life.

Which is more important to you, to be of the flesh or the spirit?

If the spirit, do you totally hand your life over to God or to you hold on to “control”?  When you face “anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine,” do you expect God to get rid of these things but leave the rest of your life alone?  Or do you totally hand it over to Christ?

I know I didn’t ask for changes to happen.  I’m guessing none of you wanted these changes either.  We may not have asked for this but God will lead us through it.  Jeremiah 29:11 provides us with God’s words to us about the future, “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you—oracle of the Lord—plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope. “

God has a plan.  It requires us to place our trust in him.  How can we be assured that God will provide?  Read the Bible to know that God has always been there for his people, so much so that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

The Most Trinity, Year C – Homily

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The Most Holy Trinity, Year C
Proverbs 8:22-31
Psalm 8:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 (2a)
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15
June 16, 2019

In a world where science has /definitive answers for many things, many people come to expect the same type of answers for everything.

This leads some to deny the existence of God, claiming people only used God to explain what they didn’t understand.  Others expect definitive answers for all their questions about God. 

Believing in God is not about getting scientific answers.  Faith is not about proving everything.  In fact, the word “faith” means to believe in what cannot be proven. 

Through study we can come to understand much about our faith.  Led by the Spirit, we can come to know why many of the commandments are good for us.  Even so, there are aspects of our faith that remain a mystery.

When we hear the word “mystery,” we might think of a mystery novel or movie where a crime was committed and the book or novel tells us how they capture the criminal.  As such, a “mystery” is something to be solved.

God wants to help us know the Truth.  Jesus came to bring us the Truth but He didn’t teach us everything.  He told his disciples, “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.” 

Jesus knew we are limited by our humanity.  God is all-knowing and all-powerful.  How can we expect to understand all that God is? 

We can continue to learn.  That is why we receive the Holy Spirit in Baptism and are sealed with it in Confirmation for the Spirit “will guide you to all truth.”  Yet the Spirit does “not speak on his own.”  The Spirit comes not to deliver his own message but what He hears from the Father and the Son.  In this way, we recall how the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father and the Son.”

This brings us to the “mystery” that we celebrate today.  Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity.  Today we celebrate the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit who are three persons united in a perfect unity as one God.

It is a mystery how the three are one but it is our faith.  All three are eternal.  Jesus did not come into existence when He was conceived in Mary’s womb.  The Holy Spirit did not come into existence at Pentecost.  Both Jesus and the Holy Spirit have always existed with the Father. 

Our lives have a beginning and an end and we often try to fit God into this picture.  This falls short of believing God is who He is.  It fails to appreciate the awe and wonder that is God as He transcends human existence. 

The Trinity is a mystery of a perfect relationship.  The Communion between the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit is something for us to model, appreciating that “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” and that the “love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.”

We may not understand the Trinity but we can believe through what Jesus and the Holy Spirit have revealed to us. 

The future is not certain.  It’s graduation time.  Graduation marks an end to one stage in education.  We plan for what comes after but there are no guarantees.  We also celebrate Father’s Day this weekend.  Being a father comes with uncertainity.  A father does his best in raising his children but there is no guarantee of how the child will turn out.  Parenting includes teaching one’s child to believe in God and to follow Jesus.  It also includes praying for your child, commending them to God’s care.

We can never be sure how life will turn out.  There is always “mystery” in what the future will bring.  What you can be certain of is that no matter what happens, God is with you.  God protects us as our Father.  Jesus loves us as his brother.  The Holy Spirit guides us “to all truth.”

Pentecost Sunday, Homily – Year C

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Pentecost, Year C
Acts 2:1-11
Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31-34 (30)
1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13
John 20:19-23
June 9, 2019

Fifty days ago we celebrated Easter morning with the news that Jesus’ tomb had been found empty.  That began our Easter season.

Today our Easter season draws to a close with our celebration of Pentecost.  “Pentecost” means fifty days.  For the Jews, Pentecost was a commemoration of God giving the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai.  They were guided by the Torah.  For us, Pentecost is the giving of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that we count on to guide us.

The Holy Spirit arrived as “a strong driving wind” symbolizing the power of God and how God breathes life into us.  The Holy Spirit was visible as “tongues of fire” descending on the disciples as “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” 

They were giving “different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit.”  They were called to “different forms of service” but to the “same Lord.”.  “The Spirit enabled them” to fulfill the mission to proclaim the gospel to every nation.  To make this possible, each person in the crowd was able to hear the disciples speak in their own language.  The Spirit brought them together, many parts but one body.

God gives each of us some “manifestation of the Spirit” but not simply for our own individual good but so that we might work together as one body.

Think of the words we say in the Creed, “I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.”

Are we all of these things?  Are we one, are we one as we heard Jesus pray last week that we be one?  Are we holy?  Are we “catholic,” meaning universal?  Are we “apostolic” in holding to our roots in Jesus that come to us through the Apostles?  We ask God to help us be better at these.

In terms of being “one” what do you think of when you hear the word “church”?  Is it this building?  Is it the people around you at this Mass?  How about the other Masses?  How about the other Catholic churches in Wayne County?  The diocese?  The world?

I think we tend to focus on the church building and community where we attend because that is our primary experience of church in a physical sense.  As we become a cluster with St. Joseph the Worker and the Catholic Community of the Blessed Trinity, we are invited to rethink that.

We are part of something bigger than just what we have here.  We get used to what is familiar.  Most people come to the same Mass week after week, sometimes because of need for their schedule, but often simply because that is what we are used to doing.  When we cluster and no longer have a 4:30 Mass things will certainly be different for those who regularly came to that Mass.  As they shift to other Masses, it will also be different for those not used to seeing them at the 8:15 or 10:30 Mass. It’s okay.  We are all Catholic, whether we attend the 4:30, 8:15, or the 10:30 Mass.

We like what is familiar, at least I know I do.  However, I have seen a lot of different churches.  Nineteen years ago, I quit my job with the state to enter seminary.  While in seminary I was formally involved in ministry in six different churches.  Since I was ordained twelve years ago, this is the fourth different parish I have served in.  So, I have been in a lot of different parishes but they have all been part of the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.”  God is present in all of it.

I say this to invite you to think about our identity as Catholics and to ask what God is calling us to be as we become part of a cluster.  We are not to turn everything upside down.  We are called to be “apostolic” holding on to what we have always believed as the Truth that comes from God. 

The question is how do we live that out.  To do this, we call out in the responsorial psalm, “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.”  It says “renew”.  It does not say forget the past.  I think “renew” is about becoming what Christ has always called us to be. 

Being renewed isn’t just something we need to do because of the clustering.  Our numbers have been shrinking for a long time.  We ask God to renew us, to bring us new life, and to reveal the same gospel that the Church has always proclaimed to new people.

We might “fear” what is to come.  Fear is nothing new.   Remember how after Jesus’ tomb was found empty, the disciples were in locked in a room “for fear of the Jews.”  The Holy Spirit brings us the gift of courage/fortitude.  We need this gift as face changes.  We also need the gifts of the Holy Spirit of understanding and wisdom, as well as right judgment to lend us through the changes. 

When we trust in the Holy Spirit to lead us, we receive “peace,” peace as a fruit of the Spirit.

As we prepare for the changes that come later this month, I pray that everyone in the cluster receive what you need as individuals and as a community of believers to be who God calls you to be and I ask to you to pray for me as I move to a new parish and face change in my life.

7th Sunday of Easter, Year C – Homily

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7th Sunday of Easter, Year C
Acts 7:55-60
Psalm 97:1-2, 6-7, 8 (1a, 9a)
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20
John 17:20-26
June 2, 2019

The words that we hear from Jesus today are his very last words before He is arrested and crucified.  They are words of prayer.

Since Jesus knew what was coming, one might expect his final prayer to focus solely on him.  It did not.  Jesus’ prayer is for his disciples and all who will come to believe in him through the words of the disciples.  Jesus is praying for us. 

In fact, all of chapter 17 in John’s Gospel is a prayer of Jesus.  It is known as Jesus’ “high priestly prayer.”  In today’s portion, Jesus centers on two things. First, that we, as his disciples, may be one.  Then He speaks of knowing God our Father.

He prays that we “may be one” just as the Father and He is one.  The union between God our Father and Jesus is a perfect union.  Along with the Holy Spirit, they are three persons but one God.  In two weeks, we will celebrate Trinity Sunday as we recognize the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as a central mystery of our faith.

Jesus wants us to be part of that union, for us to be “one.”  To lead us to this, He came in the world because the world did not know the Father.    Jesus makes the Father known to us.  The Mosaic Law guided the people to know what is good.  Jesus comes to help us know God not just as a giver of commandments but as one who loves us and wants to be one with us. 

Knowing God is not just knowing history and commandments.  It is much deeper than that.  Think of all the people you know.  Do you know them all in the same way?  How many people do you know their face and/or their name but you know little more? 

For those in school, there are probably a lot of students you know their name but you don’t really know them.  The same can be true if you work.  You know people’s names.  You may even know what they do in their job.  Your job may even be dependent on what they do but do you know them as a unique person, a child of God?

In the same way, ask yourself how well you know God.  Is God someone you say hello to on Sunday or is He part of your whole life? 

In Revelation, John tells us of God’s words, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”  God is eternal.  He was present at the beginning of time as we know it and will be present at the end.  God transcends all that we see.

Is it possible for us to be one with God, God who is all-knowing and all-powerful?

Stephen is an example of one who lives striving to be one with God.

Jesus began his high priestly prayer by “Lifting up his eyes to heaven.”  He does this as his persecutors are about to attack.

Stephen was being persecuted for preaching about Jesus.  As Stephen faced this persecution, he “looked up intently to heaven.”  Stephen did what Jesus did.

As Stephen was being stoned to death, ‘he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,”’ paralleling Jesus’ words on the Cross, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

Stephen’s last words were, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them,” paralleling Jesus’ words, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”

Stephen was a human being just like us.  He was not perfect but he did know Jesus’ words, action, and love.  Stephen centered his life on following Jesus.  Stephen sought to be one with God.  He submitted to the Father’s Will.  He followed the example of Jesus and was “filled with the Holy Spirit.” 

Knowing Jesus can start in the human sense of knowing about Jesus’ life and what He did for us.  Knowing Jesus includes knowing what He taught.  Truly knowing Jesus means opening our hearts and souls to him, to be one with the Father and him.

6th Sunday of Easter, Year C – Homily

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6th Sunday of Easter, Year C
Acts 15:1-2, 22-29
Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 (4)
Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23
John 14:23-29
May 26, 2019

The first words of Jesus in today’s gospel are, “Whoever loves me will keep my word.”  One might think that Jesus is making “keeping his word,” meaning doing what He says, a condition of love. 

There are people who do that, “if you love me, you will do what I want.”  I think we need to look at what Jesus says differently.  We need to pay attention to the order of the words.  He first speaks of loving him and then speaks of keeping his word.  If we love Jesus, which we do based on the love He shows us, we know we can count on him.  We “keep his word” because we love him and trust him.  We know we can count on him.  “Love” involves what we feel on the inside.

Likewise, Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.”  What is the “peace” that Jesus speaks of?

If you follow the news, when they speak of “peace,” it is generally in the context of countries or groups not being at war with each other.  This is something we need to seek.  We need to work to get along with each other but the “peace” of which Jesus speaks is something different.

Sometimes, we keep quiet, meaning we don’t say what is really on our minds, to keep from arguing with others around us.  Sometimes that is the best thing we can do but is it really “peace”?  Are we at peace within ourselves?

Jesus’ peace refers to the peace that we seek in our souls.  We learn to state our opinion when appropriate when we disagree but then we trust in God.  We hand our worries over to Jesus mindful of his words, “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”

This doesn’t mean things are the way we want them to be.  It doesn’t mean they are the way that Jesus wants them to be.  It does mean that we trust that God will walk with us and lead us through all adversity.

This is the “peace” of which Jesus speaks.  It gives us the joy that only God can give.  In turn, the joy makes our souls gleam “with the splendor of God” and radiant like jasper.  This is routed in the hope we have knowing Jesus’ love for us on the Cross.

This is what Jesus calls us to be.  When we come together in trust, hope, and love in Jesus, we become the Church that Jesus wants us to be.  Here, when I speak of “Church”, I speak is not about the building or a single community.  It is about our fundamental identity, coming together as Christian disciples united in a vision of hope.

With there be disagreements within the church as an institution?  Yes.  We see that in the Acts of the Apostles.  There was “no little dissension and debate” concerning whether or not Gentile converts needed to follow the Mosaic practices regarding things like circumcision and the food laws. 

They could have let that dissension be their undoing but they didn’t.  They could have let it tear them apart but they didn’t. 

What did they do?  They came together with the apostles and elders in Jerusalem to discuss it and come to an agreement, to be in “one accord” offering the “same message.”

Who gets to decide what the message is?

Living in a democracy, one would say the people vote and majority makes the decision.

That is not what we are talking about here.  Did they dialogue?  Yes.  Did they each offer their own opinions?  Yes, but the goal of each person is not to be rooted in getting their way. 

It is to discern what God’s way, what God’s will is.  When they come to agreement, they do not begin by speaking of their decision.  No, they say, “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit.”  It is essential that we let the Holy Spirit guide us to the truth.

This is the same Holy Spirit our regional planning group tried to listen to for the last eighteen months to come up with a plan.  We learned last week that we will be implementing the plan at the end of June.  It will come with challenges.  The temptation can be to get our own way, to think we have all the answers. 

The Holy Spirit does not speak through just one person.  That’s why we need to listen to one another calmly and peacefully.  We need to be willing to speak up when called but in accord with the Spirit.  We need to let our love for Jesus be at the heart of who we are.

We need to hand our worries over to God.  We need to mean what we say when, in the Lord’s Prayer, we pray, “thy will be done.”

Who Do You Say That I am? – Holy Hour Homily

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Homily for May 2019 Holy Hour
Isaiah 42:1-4
Psalm 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 16:13-20

Why do I like to come to Holy Hour?  One might simply think I do it as part of my job.  I don’t.  I want to be here.   

Why?  Because my soul is thirsting for Jesus.  There is a place in my life that only Jesus can fill.  We are created to know Jesus and nothing else can fill us.

What is it about Jesus that draws us to him?

Another way of approaching this question is to look at what Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  Who is Jesus to you?

The disciples responded by listing names of famous biblical characters.  These are all prophets who are dead.  Well, except for Elijah as he was taken up to Heaven without dying.  There were prophecies about the return of Elijah so it might have been natural for the people to wonder if Jesus could be Elijah returning.

For Jeremiah and John the Baptist, one might suppose they wonder if Jesus could be them because they are coming to realize that Jesus is indeed sent by God and so they equate him to them as a great prophet.

Then, Jesus asks them, “But who do you say that I am?”  Of course, Peter is the one to answer.  He gives a different type of answer.  Instead of listing names of famous biblical characters, he responds, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  Peter had come to realize that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah.  He is right.

Jesus is the one who fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah.  Jesus is the “chosen one.”  He is the one who “will not cry out, nor shout.”  He comes to bring us truth but He does not force it on us.

I say Jesus “comes”.  Where does He come from?  Paul helps to know the answer to this question in his letter to the Philippians.  He tells us that Jesus “was in the form of God.”  He was with God, consubstantial with the Father.  Jesus had nothing to gain for himself by becoming human.  Yet He chose to empty himself, becoming human like us becoming “obedient to death, even death of a cross.”

Jesus came down from Heaven not for himself.  He did this for us because He loves us.

None of this should be anything new to us.  You are all familiar with Jesus.  We might not feel worthy of his love but we know Jesus does love us. 

What does this have to do with what I initially said about being here?  I said I come to holy hour because my soul is thirsting for Jesus.

We are in God’s house.  God is present here.  The building and its contents are designed to get us to think about God.  We have the stained glass window behind me as well as the Processional Cross to remind us that Jesus dies for our sins.

We have the Stations of the Cross on the walls to remind us what Jesus went through for us. 

We have statues of Mary as model disciple, Joseph as a righteousness man, and St. Michael as our defense against Satan to remind us that we are not alone. 

There are various images in the other stained glass windows to remind us of other elements of our faith.

Tonight, tonight we are here for one specific thing.  Jesus is present in an extra special way tonight.  We see him on our altar.  We see him in the monstrance.  The monstrance is shaped like rays of light emanating from the center.  At the center is bread, but not ordinary bread.  It is the Bread of Life!  It was ordinary bread that has become the Body of Christ.  It is Jesus for whom our soul thirsts.

To end, I turn to the second stanza of tonight’s responsorial psalm, “Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary.”  Now, let us take time, each in our own way, to gaze on Jesus in Blessed Sacrament.