7th Sunday of Easter, Year B – Homily

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7th Sunday of Easter, Year B
Acts 1:15-17a, 20a, 20c-26
Psalm 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20 (19a)
1 John 4:11-16
John 17:11-19
May 13, 2018

Today we hear Jesus’ final prayer before he is arrested and crucified.  He knew what was coming.  He knew he was about to suffer his Passion but he accepted it as God’s will.

One might think Jesus’ prayer would be entirely about himself at this point.  It isn’t.  The portion of Jesus’ prayer that we hear today is for us.  Here we might learn a lesson for ourselves.  When we face death, do we think of others?  It is possible.  I have seen people say on their deathbed that their concern is not for themselves but for those they leave behind.

Let’s get back to Jesus’ prayer.  What is it that Jesus prays for us?  He prays that our Father keeps us in his name.  He prays that we may be one just as he and the Father are one.  He prays that the Father keeps us from the evil one.  Lastly, he prays for us to be consecrated in truth.

Jesus has protected and guarded his disciples.  Now he asks the Father to keep us in his name.  What does this mean?  Jesus came as the way and the truth and the life.  He came to lead us in our Father’s way.  To live as God teaches is to remain in his name.

Jesus prays that we may be one just as he and the Father are one.  It is not God’s will for us to be centered on ourselves.  The greatest commandment is love God.  The second is to love our neighbor.  This means setting aside our selfish desires to focus on the good of all to work as one.

Here I bring in Jesus’ words of how the world hates his disciples.  I see this today in people who put themselves at the center of their own universe.  They hate us in the sense that they can’t understand why don’t think like them.

We know there are people who don’t like what Jesus offers, Truth.  They want to have their own truth but we don’t get to determine what “Truth.”  It is something that transcends us.  “Truth” comes from God.

Do you share the “truth” that Jesus brings?

It isn’t easy.  Telling the truth can come with a price.  For instance, we know that as children, if we have done something wrong, we might get in trouble if we tell the truth.  So, we try to hide the truth.

As adults, we might be afraid to speak Jesus’ truth because we might offend someone.  I know that.  I feel it myself sometimes when I preach.  Even now, I feel that I could offer a list of things that the world thinks are okay but our faith tells us is bad.  The list includes how we treat life in the womb, sexual behaviors, and how we care for the world that God has created for us.  Sometimes I fear someone might not hear me correctly or misunderstand what I say or someone might be offended by what I say.

So, it can seem best to keep quiet.  However, is Jesus offended when we keep quiet?

Jesus died for us on the Cross.  Are we willing to suffer rejection in his name?

It isn’t easy.  Jesus does not want us to “hurt” anyone.  We are not to judge but we are to offer the truth.  It is for each person to decide what to do in their own lives but, if they are to be truly free in their choice, they must know about Jesus and what he offers.  It is their choice but it is only truly a choice when they know about Jesus.

We need to listen to Jesus and the Holy Spirit to know if and when to speak up.  When we are called to speak up, we rely on the Holy Spirit to give us the words and the courage.  We pray that as we work to make God’s truth known, we make sure God’s love is also known and the center of what we say and do.

Again, it is not for us to judge.  Jesus says so in Matthew 7:1.  To use a common phrase, we are to hate the sin but love the sinner.

Some may reject what we say.  Others may embrace it. It is their choice.  Ezekiel 3:17-21 tells us we are only responsible for whether we speak the truth or not.

Again, I feel like I could start offering a list of behaviors that the world embraces that are contrary to what God has taught.  Yet, it seems more in keeping with the Spirit at this moment in time, to focus today on the importance of “Truth” as it comes from God.

It’s not about what I think is “truth” or what you think.  God is the origin of the “Truth” that we truly seek.  God kindles a flame within us to know the “Truth” ourselves.  When we know it, then we can live it and share it with others.

Jesus prayed for his disciples before he departed.  He did what he was called to do and it was time to move to the next level.

Here I think of parents who have children whose time has come to graduate and move onto the next stage of their lives.  Sometimes it is hard for the parent to let go as the child wants to go running out the door.  The child might think they are ready for anything but they will discover the world is not an easy place.  Parents can always pray for their children, that they have prepared them well with the “Truth” of Jesus.

It is my prayer that as a spiritual father that I help you embrace the full “Truth” of Jesus Christ and that you live in all you do.

May the Spirit always guide us to know if and when to speak and what to say.

6th Sunday of Easter, Year B – Homily

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6th Sunday of Easter, Year B
Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4 (2b)
1 John 4:7-10
John 15:9-17
May 6, 2018

Both our second reading from the First Letter of John and our gospel reading from John each contain the word “love” nine times.  Why?

“Because love is of God” and “God is love.”

We can only love because we are first loved by God.  God always loves us because it is of his essence to love.  Even when we sin God still loves us and sent his Son that we might have love.

God created us out of love.

God gave his commandments because he loves us.

God allows us to suffer the consequences of our sins because he loves us.  We have to face the consequences to motivate us to change.

God sent prophets over and over again to bring his Word to the people to help them because he loves us.

Jesus comes to share his love with us.

Jesus says, “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love.”  Keeping God’s commandments begins in obedience on our part but finds a firm foundation in our recognition of God’s love for us so that we know we can trust that his commandments are good for us.

Our obedience in doing what Jesus commands shows that we trust in him as our friend.

Jesus tells us what the greatest love is.  “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Jesus’ love for us is absolute.  We see this as he freely lays his life for us on the Cross.  We celebrate this act of Jesus’ love each year on Good Friday in the reading of his Passion and the veneration of the Cross but once a year is not enough.

In his love for us, Jesus gives us the means to celebrate his sacrifice on the Cross throughout the year.  It is the Eucharist.  It is the source and summit of our Catholic faith.

Baptism is the first sacrament we receive and so it is called the gateway to the sacraments.  Baptism is where we receive the gift of life but it is the Eucharist that feeds us with the Body and Blood of Christ.

The words of consecration come from Jesus’ words at the Last Supper,

“Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my body, which will be given up for you…Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

We know it is Jesus’ Body and Blood because he says so.  We know it is the sacrifice of the Cross where he lays down his life for us as he speaks of his body given up for us, his blood poured out for us.

We know we are to do this over and over because Jesus said, “Do this in memory of me.”

We need to do this over and over to remember Jesus’ act of love done so that our sins are forgiven.  We also need to do it over and over as food for our soul.

We know that if we don’t eat earthly food on our regular basis, we will not live long.  The same is true for our souls.  We need to receive over and over the bread of life that is Jesus.

I spoke last week of how our kneeling during the Eucharistic Prayer is a statement of our faith that the bread and wine are transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Jesus.  Our kneeling is an act of homage, even more so it is our response of love to the love of Jesus giving his life and feeding us with his Body.  Likewise, we bow just before we receive the Eucharist as an act of love.

We need to feel loved.  We need to receive expressions of love.  Even when we know someone loves us, do we not feeling better when they express their love in words or in actions that show their love?  It can be as simple as a hug.

Of course, we know that God is always with us but it can be hard to be aware of God’s presence.  We come to church to help us be aware of God’s presence and love.  In the Eucharist we celebrate Jesus’ love.  In Communion we receive a hug from Jesus.

 

The Optional Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker

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Today (May 1st) we celebrate the Optional Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker.  I stress the word “optional” because in the United States, depending on what resource one uses to look at for the daily readings, you won’t find it listed,  The reason for that lies in the basis for this memorial.  Pope Pius XII established this optional memorial in 1955 because several countries celebrate May 1st as their “labor day”.  Countries that do use this memorial to talk about the meaning of “work.”

Of course, in the United States we celebrate our Labor Day on the first Monday in September so this memorial on May 1st doesn’t get much attention.

What is our attitude towards “work”?  I know people who describe their work, meaning their paid job, as what they do just to have money to do what they really enjoy.  Work is just a necessity of life for them.

I think the first reading, Genesis 1:26-2:3, for this memorial helps us see “work” in a more positive light.  It is the story of the sixth and seventh day of creation.  Genesis 2:2 writes, “On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.”  Clearly, God does work and all that God does is good.  So work is a good thing.

What good comes from work?  If God does it, the good can’t be the money made from work.  God doesn’t need money.  God has nothing to gain for himself from the work.  God created the world for us and gave us dominion over it.  God did this work because it was good for us.

As I was referring to this in the homily at Mass this morning, I was speaking to a congregation of mainly retired people.  If “work” is only the job we do, then it ends in retirement.  If we see “work” as the good we do to build up God’s Kingdom, it continues.  It can be bringing Communion to the homebound.  It can be helping open the church and set up for Mass or serving at Mass to help provide a reverent space and time for Mass.  Going beyond church, work in retirement can be watching the grandchildren or helping our ailing friend who is alone.

May the work we do bring God to the world and may the Lord “give success to the work of our hands.” (quote from the responsorial verse of this memorial Psalm 90).

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

5th Sunday of Easter, Year B – Homily

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5th Sunday of Easter, Year B
Acts 9:26-31
Psalm 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32 (26a)
1 John 3:18-24
John 15:1-8
April 29, 2018

The Acts of the Apostles is the story of the building up of the early church.  One of the challenges the early church faced was persecution from both the Romans and the Jews who rejected Jesus as the messiah.

One of the most zealous Jewish persecutors was a man named Saul who we come to know as the Apostle Paul.  He was a Pharisee.  He was very strong in the Jewish faith but rejected Jesus, that is, until Jesus appeared to him one day on the road to Damascus.

Saul’s encounter with the Risen Jesus was so powerful that he immediately became a Christian and spoke “boldly in the name of Jesus.”

There was one problem.  When Saul comes to Jerusalem “to join the disciples,” they knew his history persecutor of Christians and so they were afraid of him.  So, Paul ministers in other towns, helping to build up the church.

Our first reading today ends with describing the church as “being built up and walked in fear of the Lord and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers.”

Today our church is shrinking.  What is it going to take for our church to grow in numbers today?

First, we need to follow Paul’s example of the speaking “boldly in the name of Jesus.”  By “boldly” I do not mean that we are all called to go out on missionary journeys like Paul and preach.  What we are all called to do is to simply speak up for what we believe in.  This is easier said than done.

What are we to say?  What are we to do?

When we think of what we are to say, I think of the first part of our response to our psalm today, “I will praise you.”  The best way to help others believe in Jesus is to offer praise to God by speaking of the good things that God has done for us.

Praise can be in words.  It can also be in actions.  The second part of our psalm response today says to praise him in the assembly of people.  Simply making the effort to praise God by coming to Mass every week shows that he is important to us.  Our effort shows our praise.

We can also think of our postures as Mass as ways of praising God.  When we kneel, it is not in fear but rather in recognition of the awesomeness of God.  When we stand, it is because we know we have been raised up by Jesus.  When we bow, we acknowledge that we need God who is greater than us.

As to what we are to do, we are to “keep his commandments and do what pleases him.”  We do this in fear of the Lord but fear in this sense is not being scared of the Lord.  How can we be afraid of Jesus who loves us so much as to be willing to die for us on the Cross?  No, fear in this sense is to recognize the greatness of God.  That leads us to want to follow him.

Jesus is “the true vine.”  We are the branches.  If we wish to thrive and bear good fruit we must remain connected to Jesus because without him we can do nothing.

What we need to so is remain in Jesus.  This means recognizing that when we do great things, it is because of the goodness of the Lord.  It means not just having a superficial relationship with him but to unite ourselves in a deep abiding way that penetrates our soul.

One way of doing this is to look at the attitude we approach Mass with.  Do we come looking to feel good for one hour or do we look to let Jesus and the Holy Spirit penetrate our hearts and souls to change us?

Think about it.  Are you willing to let Jesus and the Holy Spirit change you?

Another way to think about it using Jesus’ words is to ask ourselves if we are willing to let the Lord prune us?  Do we let Jesus direct the way our lives go?

Years ago, my dad’s property had a few grape vines that were intentionally planted and pruned.  As long as they were pruned, they bore a sizable crop of grapes for so few vines.

What remains today is only wild grape vines.  They grow aggressively.  I just finished cutting up an 85-foot willow tree that had fallen down.  Wrapped around it were several wild grape vines, some of which reached most of the 85 feet the tree stood but they never bore any grapes.  They put all their energy into growing without putting any effort into actually bearing fruit.

What do we try to do in our lives?  Are we bearing fruit?

4th Sunday of Easter, Year B – Homily

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4th Sunday of Easter, Year B
Acts 4:8-12
Psalm 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29 (22)
1 John 3:1-2
John 10:11-18
April 22, 2018

Peter becomes a bold preacher for Jesus.  He faces questions and persecution but he is no longer afraid.  When Jesus was arrested, Peter denied knowing him out of fear.  Peter’s fear is no more.

What has changed?

We see part of the answer in the first line of today’s first reading.  It describes Peter as “filled with the Holy Spirit.”  One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is courage.  Peter has received this gift.

Another part of the answer relates to other gifts of the Holy Spirit of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding.  In listening to Jesus during his public ministry, Peter gained some knowledge of Jesus’ mission.  It is only after Jesus’ death and Resurrection, that, following Pentecost, Peter comes to understand all this.

Before Jesus’ death and Resurrection, Peter came to know Jesus as the Messiah but didn’t understand what that really meant.  When Jesus first called Peter, Peter followed immediately but it is only now that Peter truly makes Jesus who had been rejected by others his cornerstone.

Peter was not the first to refer to the Lord as “the cornerstone.”  We see this in our psalm today.  When Jesus was arrested, Peter denied him because Peter was afraid of the humans.  He was more concerned about what the humans could do than faith in Jesus.  Now, he has come to put his trust in the Lord.  Instead of trusting in “princes”, he now takes refuge in the Lord.

When I think about the words of Jesus that Peter heard before his passion that only come to full light in his death and resurrection, today’s gospel comes to mind.

It begins with Jesus identifying himself as the Good Shepherd and indeed he is.  Jesus’ words continue with “A good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.”  Peter could not possibly understand the full meaning of this until Jesus truly laid down his life for us in giving his life for us on the Cross.

Jesus is willing to do this because he knows this is what God sent him to do.  It is his vocation.

Peter, on the other hand, initially is like the “hired hand” when he sees the “wolf” come and arrest Jesus.  He runs and hides but he never abandons his faith in Jesus completely.  He watched what happened from a distance.

Peter finds more faith when he sees Jesus risen and receives the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  It is only then that Peter truly embraces his vocation as the first among the Apostles.

Today is the Fourth Sunday of Easter when, in all three years of our Lectionary cycle of readings, we hear from chapter 10 of John’s Gospel, which is known as the Good Shepherd Discourse.  So, this Sunday is sometimes referred to as “Good Shepherd Sunday.”

Based on what I have already said about “vocation”, today is also the “World Day of Prayer for Vocations.”

We are all called by God to be his witnesses in this world.  This is the common vocation of all of us.  For instance, when we hear Jesus’ words, “A good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep,” we might think of parents who do so much for their children.

However, on this “World Day of Prayer for Vocations”, our Church invites us to think about vocations to the priesthood and religious life.  It is no secret that we have far fewer priests than in years past.  The number of religious has shrunk even more.

Why?

We live in a world that places focus on self.  The idea of being willing to lay down one’s life for one is being lost.  It doesn’t always mean crucifixion.  For a parent, it means giving up some of what they might want for themselves in possessions and time to for the sake of their children.

People today often blame the priest shortage on the fact that priests cannot marry.  I might agree that for some men, not being able to marry is the reason they do not seek to be priests.  However, I don’t think priests should be allowed to marry.  I cannot envision being a good priest, a good husband, and a good father.  As a priest, I “lay down my life” in the sense of not having a family of my own for the sake of the church family.  Being a priest for me is not just a job to fit in my life.  It is my life.

Likewise, fewer people are entering religious life.  Those in religious life lay down life in the way society seeks it for self-gratification, wealth, and power to put Jesus at the front.  While there are not many entering religious life today, I believe those who are can be a powerful witness against the worldly life lived by so many.

I hope that all of you see a witness value in those who lay down their lives to be priests and religious.  It is a vocation that doesn’t make sense to everyone but it is a vocation that comes from God.

Because it doesn’t make sense to the world, it is not a popular choice today and that makes it all the harder.  That’s why I ask that you regularly pray for those who are called by God to priesthood and religious life, hear the call, and have the courage to respond.

Do We Recognize Jesus? Homily for April 2018 Holy Hour

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Homily for April 2018 Holy Hour
Acts 2:14, 22-33
Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
1 Peter 1:17-21
Luke 24:13-35

In my homily this past Sunday I referred to the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. This is the story that we hear in tonight’s gospel.

Each of the four gospels include stories of Jesus appearing to his disciples after his Resurrection. Even The Acts of the Apostles speaks of Jesus appearing to his disciples and gives us the story of Jesus’ Ascension.

In some of the stories the disciples recognize Jesus but think he must be a ghost. As I have said in my homilies at Mass, we need to remember that Jesus is the first to rise in the resurrection so this is all new to them.

Knowing that they don’t understand what resurrection is, Jesus’ invites them to see his wounds from his Crucifixion, even to touch so that they know he is not just a ghost but has a body.

Resurrection is a key theme of our faith in general and a focal point of what Easter means for us. However, rather than focus on what “resurrection” is tonight, I want to look at the question of recognizing Jesus.

In this gospel passage on the road to Emmaus, the two disciples did not recognize Jesus as he walked with them. Likewise, in other gospel stories like when Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene near the tomb, she did not recognize him.

Why not?

I think part of the answer lies in that they weren’t expecting to see him. When he appears to Mary Magdalene near the tomb, she assumes that he must be the gardener because who else would be there. Remember, no one had risen before. The two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus assume that he is just an ordinary person.

Actually, this gospel passage says, without saying why, that they were prevented from recognizing him. We might wonder why. I think the answer centers in the fact that Jesus first needs to open the scriptures for them to understand what has happened before they can understand “resurrection.”

As with so many topics of faith, we can look at “recognizing” Jesus on two levels. The first is recognizing Jesus as a human being. Here, we might think about how when Jesus goes to his hometown shortly after beginning his ministry, they recognize him as the son of Joseph and Mary, the boy they watched grow up. They know the human Jesus. Seeing only the human side of Jesus, they block out the possibility of Jesus being something more than the boy they watched grow up.

During his public ministry before his Crucifixion, people came to recognize Jesus for the miracles he did but many missed how these miracles point to Jesus as more than just the descendant of King David that would set upon David’s throne.

They had their expectation of a messiah. As the two disciples said on the road to Emmaus, they “were hoping he would be the one to redeem Israel.” Of course, we know that Jesus does “redeem Israel” but not from the Romans as they expected. Rather, Jesus redeems us from our sins.

It was those who failed to recognize Jesus in his public ministry that get him arrested and crucified. Of course, we know that Jesus had to die for our sins. His life was not taken from him. He freely gave it over, but, still they did not recognize him for who he truly is.

Do we recognize Jesus?

First, we need to realize that Jesus does not come to appear to us as he did to the first disciples after his Resurrection but that does not mean he is not with us.

Wherever we go, Jesus goes with us. Just as Jesus walked with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus so he walks with us. We can’t see him with human eyes but he is with us.

I spoke on Sunday about how we need to have regular contact with Jesus to recognize his presence in our struggles.

It is difficult for us to be aware of Jesus’ presence. There are too many distractions in our world today for one. For the times when God does something good for us, are we even open to seeing his presence or do we think we do it on our own? Do we give God credit for what he does for us?

Going back to the story of the two disciples walking with Jesus, when did they recognize him?

It was not while walking on the road. Even as Jesus spoke their hearts were burning from his words but they did not recognize him.

It was only when they sat down to eat with Jesus and he broke the bread as he did at the Last Supper that they recognized him.

The “breaking of bread” is, of course, a reference to the Eucharist. Tonight, we are not here to celebrate Mass but we are here to see Jesus in the Eucharist in the consecrated host that is in our monstrance on the altar.

Many people do not recognize Jesus’ Real Presence in the Eucharist. They can only see with their human eyes. All they can see is a piece of bread, a small one at that.

Our brains get in the way. The bread does not look any different after the consecration than it did before. It doesn’t taste any different but it is Jesus.

I have heard that scientists have done tests before and after the consecration trying to find a change but they can’t and they won’t. We know it is Jesus but not based on science but on Jesus’ own words at the Last Supper when he says this is my body.

Our belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is not based on science. It is based on faith, faith that is a gift from God.

3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B – Homily

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3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B
Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
Psalm 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9 (7a)
1 John 2:1-5a
Luke 24:35-48
April 15, 2018

For the last two weeks we have heard stories of the risen Jesus appearing to his disciples as told in the Gospel of John.  This week we hear a story of the risen Jesus speaking to his disciples from the Gospel of Luke.

What we hear today is not the first time Jesus appeared to his disciples after his Resurrection in Luke’s Gospel.  We see this in the very first line of today’s passage when it says, “The two disciples recounted what had taken place of the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread.”

What they are recounting to the other disciples is what happened in the passage right before this one.  It is the story of the road to Emmaus.  Jesus had been crucified.  The tomb was found empty.  Later that day, two of Jesus’ disciples are walking on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus.

They are talking about what has happened when Jesus came up to them walking on the road “but they were kept from recognizing him.”  As they walked, Jesus explained to them what had been written about him in the scriptures.

Their hearts burned with zeal at what Jesus said but they did not recognize him until he broke the bread as he did at the Last Supper.  This is wonderful news!  Jesus is risen!

They immediately returned to Jerusalem to tell the others that they had seen Jesus.  That passage ended with news that Jesus had also appeared to Simon.

I tell all this to help us relate to what goes on in today’s passage.  As the disciples were sharing what happened on the road to Emmaus and the appearance to Simon, Jesus once again “stood in their midst.”

One might think they would be excited and joyful.  Instead, “they were startled and terrified and thought they were seeing a ghost.”  This meant seem odd, at least for Simon and two disciples who had already seen Jesus risen.

What’s the problem or, as Jesus says, “Why are you troubled?  And why do questions arise in your hearts?”

Yes, the three of them have already seen the Risen Jesus and the others have heard of him.  Yet, this is still all brand new.  Remember it is still the same day when the tomb was found empty.  No one had risen from the dead before.

Jesus wants to give them assurance.  He allows them to touch him so that they know he has flesh and bones.  He ate fish in front of them to confirm this.

From there, “he opened their minds to understand the scriptures” and how the scriptures foretold all that would happen to Jesus.  Jesus helped open their eyes to see the scriptures in a new way.  They had expected a Messiah to be a great political king based on the promise the Lord made to King David that an heir of his house would sit upon his throne forever.

The Jewish expectation of a messiah in Jesus’ day focused on this one promise.  So, Jesus’ Crucifixion did not fit this at all.  Jesus gives them a broader view to look at the Hebrew Scriptures as a whole.

In our passage from Acts today, Peter helps the people to understand how what happened to Jesus was the fulfillment of all the God had foretold through the words of the prophets.

We have not seen Jesus for ourselves.  We have statues and paintings of him to help us visualize him but, again, we have not seen him for ourselves.

If we were to hear just one of the stories of Jesus appearing to his disciples after the Resurrection, we would probably tend not to believe, but with several stories, we begin to accept it.  And when we look at Salvation History as a whole, we see how Jesus really is the fulfillment of what God foretold.

Do you remember Jesus’ last words to Thomas last week?  “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”  We have not seen Jesus for ourselves but we do believe.  We believe because the Holy Spirit has given us the gift of wisdom and understanding so we can take the knowledge of Jesus and believe.

When Jesus appeared today, the disciples were “troubled.”  What do you have going on in your life that causes you trouble?

Do you find it difficult to believe that God is there with you?  It might seem odd.  We have faith.  We believe that God is with us.  Why is it so difficult to find peace?

When we pray, we come closer to Jesus.  We are more aware of his presence among us.  Yet, then we finish our prayer and go out into the world and face the same old struggles or perhaps a new struggle.  These struggles can be very evident.  They distract us from Jesus.

This is why coming to church once in a while is not enough.  Coming to Mass is very important for one of our closest moments to Jesus in this world comes in “The Breaking of Bread” that we know as the Eucharist.

Yet, if we only come once in a while, the struggles of this earthly world draw us away from Jesus.  That’s why when we feel distanced from Jesus (when we might doubt) that we actually need to come more.

Then, even when we are not in church, to take some time each day to connect with Jesus.  We can’t wait for the bad times.  We need to remain connected to Jesus all the time and then we see our struggles through the eyes of Jesus.  We see past our doubt to see Jesus.

2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy), Year B – Homily

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2nd Sunday of Easter (Sunday of Divine Mercy), Year B
Acts of the Apostles 4:32-35
Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
1 John 5:1-6
John 20:19-31
April 8, 2018

Jesus has been crucified.  How could this have happened to the Messiah?

The tomb has been found empty.  What does this mean?

It doesn’t make sense.  The disciples are gathering together in a locked room.  They have locked the door out of “fear of the Jews.”

In human terms, they have reason to fear.  Jesus, the one whom they had come to follow had been arrested, beaten, and crucified by the Jewish leaders who opposed him.  His disciples were afraid the same thing could happen to them.  So, they gathered together in the locked room.

Jesus knew they were struggling to make sense of what happened.  He knew they weren’t sure what the empty tomb meant.  He knew they were afraid.

In his mercy, he comes to them through the locked door.  Knowing their fear, he greets them “Peace by with you.”  Knowing they don’t understand what it means to rise, “he showed them his hands and his side,” his hands where the nails were driven through, his side where he was lanced after his death and the blood and the water flowed out to show them that he is indeed the same Jesus who has been crucified.  Again, he says, “Peace be with you.”  In his mercy, he continues to offer them peace.

One of the Twelve, Thomas, was not there.  When the others tell him about Jesus’ appearance, he refuses to believe unless he sees for himself.  For this, he has been known since then as “doubting Thomas.”

Does he doubt?  Yes.  Why?  Because it seems impossible.  Remember, no one had risen from the dead before so this is all new.

Were the other disciples any different?  What did all the disciples do as Jesus was arrested?  Didn’t they run in fear?

Where were the others when Jesus appeared to them?  In a locked room!  If they had no doubt, why would they have been behind locked doors?

A week later Jesus appears again and speaks directly to Thomas, inviting him to touch his wounds.  Thomas immediately comes to believe.  In his doubt, he receives assurance.

What does it mean to doubt?  To doubt is to be uncertain about something.  The disciples were very uncertain about what “resurrection” meant but they still believed.  If they had lost all faith, why were they gathered together in a locked room?

We can look at the world today, see all the violence and wonder why is God in all of this?  Why doesn’t God do something about it?  Morality is on the decline with some giving up on any sense of an absolute truth or right and wrong.

It can make us wonder.  Some would call it doubt.  But in faith, we still trust in God.  We still come together because there is still hope in our hearts.  Where does this hope come from?  It is a gift from God.

I want to point out that when Jesus appeared and spoke to Thomas, Jesus did not explain the Resurrection and Thomas did not ask for an explanation.  Once he saw the Lord, that was enough.

That’s why Jesus came to him and to the others in that locked room.  Did Jesus teach to his disciples?  Yes, but he did not explain everything.  He spoke to their hearts to nurture their faith and hope rather than provide knowledge.

Jesus did this, as he does everything, out of mercy.

In 2000, Pope John Paul II declared that this Second Sunday of Easter be always celebrated as Divine Mercy Sunday.

What is “mercy”?

In church terms, we think of mercy as the forgiveness of our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Certainly, this is a form of mercy that we need throughout our lives.

We also talk about acts of mercy, starting with feeding the hungry and visiting the sick to counseling the doubtful and offering instruction but, again, what is mercy?

For the recent Jubilee Year of Mercy, the Vatican published a series of books.  One of them is called, The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy (Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2015.)  In this book (page 15), we read that the Latin word for “mercy” is “Misericordia.”  The word comes from “misere”, meaning “misery” and “cor/cordis” meaning “heart”.  Thus, it identifies mercy as “having a heart full of solidarity with those in need.”

This is at the core of who Jesus is.  Everything he does comes from his heart, from his love for us.

We can have lots of questions that we want to ask God.  In our humanity, we might like some answers but we don’t have all the answers.  That means we aren’t going to understand everything.  We might doubt (wonder) why things are the way they are.  This doubt is not a denial of God.  It simply means we have questions but in faith, we had it over to God and ask for his mercy.

 

Easter Morning Homily 2018

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Easter Morning
Acts 10:34a, 37-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 (24)
Colossians 3:1-4
John 20:1-9
April 1, 2018

Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb on the first day of the week.  They find “the stone removed from the tomb.”  She knows this is important and immediately runs to Simon Peter and “the other disciple whom Jesus loved” and told them about the stone.

Immediately, they both ran to the tomb.  Simon Peter goes in first and sees the burial cloths but no body.

The other disciple follows Peter in.  We are told “he saw and believed.”

What did he see?  What did he believe?

By the way, whose tomb is it anyway?

All the running tells us the fact that the tomb is empty is important.  Today, the fact that so many people come to church this morning tells us this is something important.

So, again, whose tomb is it anyway?

It is the tomb of Jesus.

This gospel passage standing alone assumes we “know what has happened all over Judea.”

To understand the important of the empty tomb, we need to take a step back at what happened leading up to the empty tomb.  Obviously, Jesus had died or they won’t have laid him in the tomb.  What led to his death?

Jesus came as the Messiah but not the messiah that some people wanted.  They wanted a great political king who would free them from the Romans.  Jesus doesn’t do that.

These same people wanted a messiah that would agree with everything they said.  Jesus didn’t.  His words came from God our Father.

Jesus knew they were plotting to kill him.  He was not deterred.  Knowing what was about to happen and knowing how it would shake the faith of the disciples, Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples.

It was not just any meal.  It was the Passover meal celebrated with unleavened bread and wine.  Jesus takes the bread and wine and transubstantiates it into his Body and Blood which he will give up for us on the Cross.

And so he gives us the precious gift of the Eucharist and tells us to keep celebrating it in remembrance of him.

Then came the arrest and trial of Jesus.  He was an innocent man but those who opposed him wanted him dead.  They beat him, they mocked him, and mocked him as the king of the Jews because they didn’t understand what it means for Jesus to be our king.

Ultimately, he was crucified, considered the worst and most humiliating form of execution.  Did it have to be?

Yes.

To understand why, we must understand that Jesus’ life was not taken from him.  He freely gave it up for us.

After his death, Jesus was laid in the tomb.  Now, we come back to the empty tomb on Easter morning.  The empty tomb means Jesus is Risen!  It means that Jesus was not defeated.  Jesus is victorious over death!

So, we can see Jesus’ death as something good (Hence, we call it Good Friday).  His death brings us salvation.

He did this because he loves us!  He died for our sins so that we might have eternal life.

This is what brings us here today.  We need the hope that Jesus brings.  It reveals God’s love for us.  It is the high point of salvation history.

God has always loved his people.  He watched over them.  He heard the cry of the Israelites in Egypt and rescued them from slavery.  He formed a covenant with them based on the Ten Commandments.  When people failed to follow his commandments, God allowed them to suffer the consequences of their sin but he did not stop loving them.

He sent prophets to lead them to conversion but they didn’t always listen.  Ultimately, God sends us his Son Jesus because he knows it is the only way for us to be saved.

Jesus died for us!

Jesus gives us a way to celebrate his sacrifice.  It is the Eucharist!  Every time we celebrate Mass, we are celebrating the sacrifice of Jesus.  Every time we receive Communion, we are receiving Jesus to strengthen us, to help become who Christ calls us to be.

Let us rejoice for Jesus Christ is Risen Today!

Thank you Jesus!

 

Easter Vigil Homily 2018

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Easter Vigil
Genesis 1:1-2:2
Genesis 22:1-18
Exodus 14:15-15:1
Isaiah 55:1-11
Romans 6:3-11
Mark 16:1-7
March 31, 2018

We start in darkness tonight to remind us how before “God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland and darkness covered the abyss.”

Our blessing of the Easter fire reminds us of how God brought light into the world.  We hear the story of creation from Genesis.  There are people who look at this creation story and reject it as disproven by science.

They are missing the point of the story.  The story is not trying to explain the “how” of creation by rather the “why”.  This story as we find it in the Bible today was first written down over 3,000 years ago.  The story is even older than that.  If God had tried to explain all the how/science, the people back then would not have understood it.

To understand the point of this creation story, I think the key word in the opening sentence is “formless.”  This story is given to us to try and teach us that it is God that brings order to the universe.

Scientists can talk about “Big Bang” but I think there is too much order and beauty to say that God is not behind it all.  The balance of nature, things like plants breathing CO2 and breathing out O2 while humans breath in O2 and breath out CO2. The way male and female come together to reproduce in all animals and humans cannot be a random chance of science.  God has brought order to the universe.

So goes the story of creation.

Then, God did not choose to create and walk away.  God has remained involved in what he has created.  This is the story of salvation history.  It is the story heard in the singing of the Exsultet and in our readings tonight.

From the story of creation, the Book of Genesis tells the lineage from Adam and Eve to Abraham.  Abraham was a faithful and righteous man to whom God promised descendants as numerous as the stars.

The problem?  Abraham and Sarah were a hundred years old but God fulfilled that promise in giving them Isaac.  With them well beyond childbearing years, clearly this happened by God’s grace.

Then, “God put Abraham to the test.”  He told him to offer Isaac “up as a holocaust.”  Amazing!  Even more amazing, Abraham is willing to do it because his faith is so strong that he is willing to do whatever God asks of him.

Genesis continues with the lineage from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob and Joseph who end up in Egypt.

That brings us to the story of Exodus.  The Israelites had become slaves in Egypt until God sent Moses to rescue them.  God performed ten “plagues” revolving his power before leading the Israelites across the Red Sea to new life.

Just as the Israelites entered new life by crossing the Red Sea, we enter new life through Baptism.  Just as God saved the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Jesus will save us from slavery to sin but I am getting ahead of the story.

The lineage of the Israelites who become known as Jews by Jesus’ time continues through the Old Testament but to be a child of God and to hold Abraham as a father in faith is not just a matter of genetic ancestry.  It is a matter of faith.

We see in our reading from Isaiah that the Lord invites all who are thirsty to “come to the water!”  Salvation is God’s gift to us.  We cannot buy or even earn our salvation for we hear the words of the Lord, “Why spend your money for what is not bread, your wages for what fails to satisfy?”

We cannot save ourselves.  We need to let God shape us and form us.  So often, God’s people have tried to live their way but it doesn’t work out.

We don’t have to figure it out.  God has.  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”

The people continued to sin.  God always loves his people and rescues them when they cry out to him.  This brings us to Jesus.

We are sinners.  That’s reality.  We must always try to learn the truth of Jesus Christ and to live it but when we fall short, we count on Jesus.

Jesus knows how much we need him.

This is why he gives us his Body and Blood in the Eucharist so that we might become what we eat.

This why he gives his life for us on the Cross.  He is the one “without blemish.”  He is the lamb sacrificed for us.  That’s the Passion of Jesus.

That’s where our story stopped yesterday as we celebrated Good Friday.  Please note that I said that is where the story “stopped” not “ended” for the story of salvation did not end with Jesus’ death.  It did not end when Jesus was laid in the tomb.

It continues in today’s gospel.

The tomb is found empty!  Jesus Christ is risen today!  Alleluia!

Jesus was not defeated in his Crucifixion.  He gave his earthly life so that we might have eternal life.  Jesus’ life did not end in earthly death and neither does us if we follow Jesus as the way and the truth and the life.

I thank Jesus for all he does for us.