Why it is Important That We Reached Our CMA Goal

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This weekend I had the pleasure of announcing at Mass that, for the first time in long as anyone remembers, our parish reached our Catholic Ministries Appeal (CMA) goal.  You can read the letter Bishop Matano wrote to our parish upon reaching our goal on our parish website.

It was my pleasure to announce this as good news for our parish for a few reasons.

First, I’ll be honest one reason is that it saves our parish money.  The goal is a mandated goal, meaning that if we don’t make our goal, the parish pays the difference out of our general budget.  Last year we paid just over $14,000.  So the fact that we made our goal saves our parish a lot of money.

Secondly, the CMA makes up over 50% of the entire revenue for our diocese each year.  We are not an isolated parish.  Rather we are part of a diocese and a world wide church.  We are called to share in the mission of our diocese.  The funds raised by the CMA help fund ministries like Catholic Charities and campus ministry.  It also enables the diocese to provide IT support on our computers and administrative support on all the regulations we need to follow.

This much I have said before (Catholic Ministries Appeal (CMA).  Now, for what I want to say today.  I was my pleasure to announce this weekend that we met our goal because it means you listened to what I said throughout the year, you cared, and you responded.

I put a lot of work into the CMA from the posterboards in church to my homily last Fall to the information on our parish website and the bulletin articles but my efforts would have been for nothing if our parishioners had not responded so generously.  Even before my arrival as pastor here our parish had increased our CMA contributions from $30,097 in the 2011-2012 year to $36,971 in the 2015-2016 year.  This year we had 30 more households contribute than last year.  Many households who had already been contributing in recent years increased their giving.  So, we raised $8,804 more than last year.  This, together with the fact that the diocese lowered our goal by $5,834 made it possible for us to met our goal.

To show that every contribution matters, I want to include that two weeks ago, we were still $1,712 short of our goal.  I made one last plea for contributions at Mass and you listened.  A $1,700 donation was received leaving us just $12 shy of our goal.  Then came a $25 contribution that put us over the top (as well as a $12 contribution).  EVERY contribution matters.  The bigger contribution got us close but we never would have made our goal without all the little contributions.

To those who contributed and to those praying for a successful appeal, THANK YOU.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

7th Sunday of Easter, Year A – Homily

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7th Sunday of Easter, Year A
Acts 1:12-14
Psalm 27:1, 4, 7-8 (13)
1 Peter 4:13-16
John 17:1-11a

On Thursday we celebrated Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven.  This marked an important moment as the disciples saw him ascend on the cloud so that they (and us!) might all know Jesus has returned to his place in Heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father.

Now, it is almost time for the Apostles and disciples to take the gospel message to all the world.  I say “almost” because Jesus told them to wait for “the promise of the Father.”  This is, of course, a reference to the Holy Spirit that they will receive at Pentecost and that we have received in our Baptism and were sealed with at Confirmation.

So the Apostles once again gather in the upper room.  Earlier in our Easter season, we heard how the disciples gathered in the room with the doors locked for “fear of the Jews.”  At that time they couldn’t understand what had happened.  Jesus, the one they thought to be the Messiah was crucified and the tomb was empty.

Since that time Jesus spent forty days with them teaching them about his Crucifixion and Resurrection fulfilled what had been foretold.  They rejoiced to have this time with Jesus.

Now Jesus has “left them” but unlike with the Crucifixion and the tomb being found empty, this time they know exactly where Jesus has gone because they saw him ascend.

I wonder how they felt as they once again gathered in the upper room.  We are told that they “devoted themselves with one accord to prayer.”  I wonder what they were saying in their prayers.

Perhaps they prayed that they might experience Jesus’ daily presence among them.

Perhaps they prayed to know what to do next.  Remember Jesus is our light.  As our light he helps us to see the world as he sees it.

Perhaps they still had some fear, fear of what was to come.  Jesus had told them that they would suffer.  Did they fear the suffering?

We can all fear suffering.  Society teaches us to avoid suffering.  Suffering is seen as bad yet we hear Peter write, “Rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ.”

Rejoice?  The very definition of “suffering” would seem to indicate that suffering is something to avoid.  How can we possibly rejoice in suffering?

Peter does not say that all sufferings are good.  He speaks of the suffering that comes as the result of murder, theft, or evil as not good.  No, the suffering Peter speaks of is when we are “made to suffer as a Christian.”

For instance, one of the reasons we don’t talk about our faith outside church much is because we are afraid of what people might say to us.  Will they ridicule us?  So what if they do?  It is their loss, not ours.  So, instead of becoming silent, we should ask the Holy Spirit for the gift of courage so we can proclaim Christ to the world.

Now, I want to shift to our ‘response’ to the sufferings we face in our worldly lives.  Our response can say much about our faith.

For instance, say one is facing a terrible illness and gives up on God because God doesn’t give them a miracle that says something about their faith.  On the other hand, if, when we are ill, we turn to our faith to ask Jesus to walk with us through the illness then we are glorifying God.

If, in the midst of our sufferings in the land of the living, we look past that to see eternal life, we “hallow” God’s name, trusting he is with us.

When I say, “We look past that to see eternal life,” I don’t simply mean eternal life as we will know it after death.  We just heard Jesus’ words he prayed to the Father, “Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.”

We do know God and we know Jesus.  We know Jesus to be the one who embraced suffering in his Passion.  He didn’t want to suffer.  He prayed in the garden that if it was the Father’s will, this cup of suffering might pass from him, but he knew that it was the Father’s will and that his suffering had a purpose, our salvation.

Does our suffering relate to our salvation?  Absolutely.  If we run from our faith in our suffering, then we close ourselves off from salvation but if we turn to God in our sufferings, we open ourselves to the glory of salvation.

This isn’t easy.  I will admit there are days when I pray all my problems would just go away but then I try to leave it in God’s hands as my light and my salvation.

Why Do We Celebrate the Ascension ‘Today’?

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I’ve titled this article “Why Do We Celebrate the Ascension ‘Today’? but even the title needs a short explanation.  I put “today” in single quote marks because not everyone is celebrating the Ascension today.  Some dioceses move it to the following Sunday.  I’ll explain why it falls on today later in the article.  In the northeast, we celebrate the Ascension today and that is the perspective I write from.

The Ascension is a holy day of obligation.  One might ask why?  What makes it so important?  Why celebrate it at all, let alone on Sunday or especially Thursday?

We can turn to today’s first reading (Acts 1:1-11) for the answer.  The first line begins “In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the day he was taken up.”  The writer of the Acts of the Apostles is Luke, the same Luke that wrote the Gospel of Luke.  It is this gospel that he refers to as “the first book” as he begins the book of The Acts of the Apostles.

We can take a further step back in time to see Old Testament as everything that happened up to the time just before Jesus’ birth.  Then, the gospels tell everything that happened while Jesus walked on Earth including right after his resurrection.  It is important to note that the Gospels do not end at the Crucifixion or Resurrection.  They end just as Jesus returns to his place in Heaven where he sits at the right hand of the Father.  This is the Ascension.

So, the Ascension is a pivotal point in our history.  The Acts of the Apostles begin the story of everything that happened after the Ascension but the first eleven verses focus on the Ascension itself.  Jesus did not simply disappear.  He “ascended” with his disciples watching so that they (and we) would know where he went.  They saw him ascend as the “cloud took him from their sight.”  It is important to know that Jesus returned to where he came from.

So back to the question why today?  Why celebrate this day on a Thursday when it is easier for people to get to church on Sunday?  The answer is found in Acts 1:3 when it sets the stage for Jesus’ Ascension, “He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during FORTY DAYS.”  It makes it clear that Jesus ascended forty days after he first appeared on Easter morning.  Forty days was no a random time interval.  Jesus spent forty days in the desert after his baptism and was tempted by the devil.  It rained for forty days and nights in the great flood (Genesis chapters 6-9).

Today is forty days from Easter and so today we celebrate the Ascension.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

6th Sunday of Easter, Year A – Homily

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6th Sunday of Easter, Year A
Acts 8:5-8, 14-17
Psalm 66:1-3, 4-5, 607, 16, 20
1 Peter 3:15-18
John 14:15-21

The Samaritan people were despised by the Jews but Samaria is where Philip to proclaimed Christ to the people in today’s reading.  Philip was not one of the Twelve Apostles but he shared (just like all of us) in the mission to proclaim Christ to the world.

The Samaritan crowds “paid attention” to Philip and “saw the signs” he did, driving out unclean spirits and curing people.  Because of what Philip said and did many people there “accepted the Word of God.”

We are not able to do miracles but we can still proclaim Christ to others.  Our psalm today says repeatedly today to “sing praise.”  As first hearing, we think of the “singing” as referring to our music.  Our music ministry is important for us in offering praise to God.  Our music ministry is led by Tim as our music director and organist.  Our cantors and choirs play a very important part in our music ministry.  If you have the gift of musical ability I encourage you to consider being part of our parish music ministry.

We are not all given the gift of musical ability but we can all join in signing our hymns and Mass parts but singing praise is more than music.  Our psalm says to “shout joyfully to God” and “let all the earth cry out to God with joy.”

Even if we can’t sing we can still speak of the tremendous deeds of the Lord.  Everyone doesn’t have to be a great preacher.  Peter tells us to “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.”

I’ve spoken before about how some people feel they don’t know what to say.  They feel that if they are even to mention Jesus to others, then they need to be able to answer any question the other person might ask.  They know they can’t answer every question so they don’t say anything.

To this I say two things.  First, then do something more to learn about your faith.  You’ve just admitted you don’t know enough.  You can do something about that!  Learn!

Secondly, the most important thing we can do is to provide a reason for our hope.  Even if your faith isn’t as strong as you would like, the fact that you are here right now says that you have some faith.  Why?

As I’ve said on previous Sundays, sometimes we might be here just out of a sense of obligation.  Even if you are coming out of obligation, it means something to you.  Ask yourself why the obligation is important to you.  Is there something about your answer that you can share with others?

Sometimes the thing that keeps us coming back is the stories that we read in the Bible of how God rescued his people in distress.  Such stories give us hope that God will rescue us.  So we keep coming back.  Then you should share these stories with other people.

Maybe you have had an experience in your life where God’s presence and help was evident to you.  It may be a healing from sickness.  It might be a sense of peace and comfort that the Lord has given you in a time of loss where the promise of eternal life gives you hope.

Such experiences can involve a feeling of being loved.  What does it mean to be love God?

Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”  This might be troubling to us.  If another human being begins a conversation by saying, “if you love me….” We might immediately wonder what they are going to ask for.  If they ask us to do something we know to be wrong, then our response to them might be, “if you loved me, you won’t ask me to do that.”

With this in mind, Jesus tells us to keep his commandments but he doesn’t know this to benefit himself.  Jesus has nothing to gain for himself by us keeping his commandments.  We are the ones who benefit from keeping Jesus’ commandments.  ALL of God’s commandments are good for us.

When we keep his commandments and see the good it brings us, we can know that Jesus loves us.  We need to see with our hearts, not our human eyes.

For instance, if we look at Jesus on the Cross only with human eyes, we see a man whose life was destroyed by his enemies.  When we look at Jesus on the Cross with the eyes of faith, we see not a man defeated but Christ who loves us so much that he gives up his life for us.

Our opening prayer asks “that we may celebrate with heartfelt devotion these days of joy.”  We are still celebrating Easter as our “days of joy.”  May we know with heartfelt devotion what these days mean for us.  This is the reason for our hope.  Jesus died and rose that we might know eternal life.

5th Sunday of Easter, Year A – Homily

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5th Sunday of Easter, Year A
Acts 6:1-7
Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19 (22)
1 Peter 2:4-9
John 14:1-12

Throughout our Easter season our first reading comes from the Acts of the Apostles.  Acts tells the story of the early church.  If you read the whole story, you hear how the early church faced persecution and challenges.  Today’s reading starts with the good news that “the number of disciples continued to grow.”

Growth is certain very good news, something we pray we begin to see today.  Yet the growth was not without its challenges.  God always provides for us in our challenges if, as our psalm response says, “we place our trust in you.”  Jesus himself says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You have faith in God, have faith also in me.” Jesus leads on our way through our challenges.

What is the challenge they face?  Jesus chose 12 disciples to become Apostles but as the church grew, it became too much for them to do all the work.  So, they call forth others to take on a portion of the ministry.  This is not a new concept.  It is reminiscent of when Moses appointed seventy elders to share in his work and God laid his spirit upon the seventy.

In today’s passage, seven men are appointed to the task at hand.  The Apostles “laid hands on them.”  This is seen as an “ordination.”  Even today, our ordination rites include the bishop laying hands on those being ordained.  (The bishops are the successors to the Apostles).  Our church considers these seven to be the first deacons.

If you continue to read the Acts of the Apostles, you will hear of “presbyters.”  These were people appointed as leaders in each local community as the “bishops” couldn’t be everywhere.  (See the letters of Paul to Timothy and Titus whom Paul appointed bishops).  As the church grew in the first century following Christ, the role of “presbyter” grew into what we know today as priests.

In the centuries that followed we also saw the development of monastic and religious life.  Last week we celebrated the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.  When we think of vocations, our thoughts might often turn to the bishops, priests, deacons, and religious.  Last week’s day of prayer for vocations focused on this but we all have a vocation.  A vocation is take the gifts that God has given us and to use them for the building up of his kingdom.

For instance, married life is a vocation where a man and woman come together as husband and wife in a covenant relationship based on love that serves as a witness to the love that God shows us in the covenant relationship he has with us.

Today our society in our country celebrates another vocation, motherhood.  Being a mother is not simply a task or a job.  It is a way of life that forever changes the way women lead their lives.  When a woman becomes a mother, she is entrusted by God with the gift of her children.  A mother is no longer just concerned with her own needs or her spouse.  A mother helps her children to become who God calls them to be.

Of course, mothers should receive help from the fathers.  To do God’s work is not for one individual or one “class” of people.  It was not just for the Apostles to do the work of the church.  They, and the bishops as their successors, are called to be the leaders of the church but they do not do the ministry alone.  It takes many.

We see this in the way we celebrate Mass.  As the priest, I could do everything myself but the priest does not do it all alone.  We have altar servers, ushers, readers, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, and musicians (the last of which you probably don’t want me doing alone).

This should be a sign of what should go on outside Mass.  It is not for the bishops, priests, deacons, and religious to do it all.  On staff we have a Pastoral Associate to help in ministries like home visits.  We have a Catechetical Leader who oversees our faith formation and youth ministry programs.  We have a Finance Director and a secretary to work on the administrative tasks.  We have a maintenance person to work on our building and grounds.  We have a music director to lead us in our music ministry.

However, these people, along with me don’t do it all either.  For instance, for Pat’s ministry as Pastoral Associate, we have parishioners who take Communion to the homebound and nursing homes.  June has parishioners who volunteer to teach our children.  Tim has the choir members and cantors who share in our music ministry.  Gary is assisted by our Finance Council.  I am assisted by our Pastoral Council in planning our future.  We have a Building and Grounds team.  There is our Rosary and Altar Society, our rummage sale and festival volunteers.  My point is we all are called to help in some way.

I want to end with a prayer I first read in our diocesan stewardship materials but you find in various church resources.  I’ll put it on our Facebook page and my blog.  For now, I just invite you to listen.

My church is composed of people like me.
I help make it what it is.
It will be friendly, if I am.
Its pews will be filled, if I help fill them.
It will do great work, if I work.
It will make generous gifts to many causes, if I am a generous giver.
It will bring other people into its worship and fellowship,
if I invite and bring them.
It will be a church of loyalty and love,
of fearlessness and faith, and a church with a noble spirit,
if I, who make it what it is, am filled with these same things.
Therefore, with the help of God,
I shall dedicate myself to the task of
being all the things I want my church to be.

Taken from our diocesan Joy of Stewardship Manual

4th Sunday of Easter, Year A – Homily

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4th Sunday of Easter, Year A
Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
1 Peter 2:20b-25
John 10:1-10

Today we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Easter.  Each year on this Sunday we hear Jesus’ Good Shepherd discourse as found in chapter 10 of John’s Gospel.  Jesus identifies himself as the Good Shepherd who always watches over his sheep.  Today is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations as we pray for all those who serve our church.

Today we hear Jesus tell how the sheep know the voice of their shepherd and will not follow any other shepherd.  They trust the one who has protected them in the past.

Unfortunately, today Jesus’ voice may be one voice among many that we hear.  There can be many different people trying to tell us how we should live.  Which voice should we listen to?  Jesus loves us so much that he willingly gives his life on the Cross for us.  He is the one we can trust.

Still, it can be hard for us to recognize his voice apart from all the others.  That is why we need to keep coming back to church each and every Sunday, so that we can learn Jesus’ voice apart from the others.

When we keep coming to Jesus, he will, as the 23rd Psalm says, refresh our souls, he will spread the table before us.  As the Good Shepherd, Jesus always feeds his flock with grace.

God nourishes us with his words, providing us divine wisdom and grace to follow him.  One of the ways God gives us grace is the “sacraments.”

The first sacrament we receive is Baptism.  In Baptism we are marked with what we term an “indelible” mark, meaning it can never be taken away.  We are forever marked as children of God.  In Baptism we receive the Holy Spirit.

I said Baptism is the first sacrament.  There are seven total.  Today I want to focus on three of them that we call “Sacraments of Initiation.”  Baptism is a Sacrament of Initiation as it is how we come (are initiated) into God’s Church.

The second Sacrament of Initiation is Confirmation.  We receive the Holy Spirit in Baptism.  As Catholics, most often we are baptized as little children.  Confirmation comes when we have grown into an awareness of our faith for ourselves and are sealed with Holy Spirit.  As we come to this “awareness of faith” for ourselves, we see Confirmation as a new step in our initiation in faith.  This week, sixteen of our youth will be confirmed at the Cathedral by Bishop Matano.

Now, we turn to the third Sacrament of Initiation, the Eucharist.  Baptism and Confirmation are both celebrated just once (and can never be undone).  While Baptism and Confirmation are each done once in a lifetime, Eucharist is the sacrament we are called to repeat over and over, at least weekly on Sunday, and even daily for those who are able to come during the week.

It might seem strange to call something we do over and over “initiation.”  One way we can see the Eucharist as initiation is that, since it is the Body and Blood of Christ, it is the highest the highest of the sacrament.  It is Jesus we receive and it is Jesus we strive to become like.

When we receive the Eucharist over and over, we might become complacent in what it means to us.  It might become too routine for us, meaning we receive without thinking too much about it when what we really need to do is think about what it is that we are receiving.

If all we needed to do was just receive Jesus, one might suppose that we could run into church, receive Communion, and leave.  That would be simple but I think we would have no appreciation for what we receive.  Every time we celebrate Mass, we participate in the consecration and should think about what it is we are receiving.  It is not just bread and wine.  It is the Body and Blood of Jesus that he gave on the Cross for us.

As we get ready to receive Communion, we need to realize that “Communion” indicates a coming together.  That’s why we start with readings from the Bible, so that we can hear how God calls us to live.

We can also think about how it is that we receive Communion.

We do not simply pass the ciborium around and everyone reach in and grab a host for themselves.  No, we come forth in line for Communion.  Our coming forth in a line signifies our desire to come to Jesus.  Then as the consecrated host is placed in our hands, we receive the host as a gift while hearing the words “The Body of Christ” and we respond “amen” which means yes I believe.  Then we can receive the Precious Blood as the chalice is handed to us with the words, “The Blood of Christ” to which we again respond “amen” signifying our belief.

Then, we don’t go immediately running out of church.  Instead we return to our pews and kneel to think about what it is that we have received and to give thanks to Jesus as our Good Shepherd for this gift of the Eucharist.

At the 10:30 Mass we have six children who will be receiving their First Communion.  At the Easter Vigil, we had one person complete their Sacraments of Initiation so this weekend will be the fourth time she receives Communion.  How many times have you received Communion?  What does it mean to you to receive this gift of Jesus?

Accomplishment vs. Meaning: What Drives You?

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I have been reflecting on what fulfills me.  What is it that motivates me in what I do?  Ultimately, I am trying to fulfill God’s will for me.  Initially one might think it should be easy to do God’s will.  Yet, it can be challenge.  The first thing to work on is discerning what it is that God wants us to do.  Then one needs to figure how to go about doing it.

In thinking about what I am supposed to be doing, I ask myself what makes me feel fulfilled.  This leads me to think about “accomplishments” versus “meaning.”

When I worked as an engineer, it was easy to know when a task was complete.  The job was not done until the bridge was fully complete and cars were able to drive over it safer.  (In reality it is more complicated than that but for the engineer it was clear when the job was done.)  Some of the tasks I did as an engineer might take a few hours.  Replacing a bridge spanned several months.  Regardless of how long it took, it was easy to see what was accomplished.

I find it is not so easy to define what is accomplished in ministry.  I know when a baptism is completed.  I know when Mass is over.  I know when I am done with confessions.  But there is always more.  Some things are a little harder to measure.  I know when I visit the hospital and how many people I see but there is no end to that.  I know when I have finished giving a presentation but as soon as I finish one I am often already beginning to give some thought to the next one.

There are “accomplishments” in ministry but the ultimate accomplishment of ministry is leading people to Jesus and that is hard to measure.

What brought me back to Church and what I seek in life is “meaning.”  After years of not going to church, I started to realize something was missing in my life.  God helped me realize that what I needed was to improve my relationship with him.  Through my return to Church and my studies I have found a deeper relationship with Jesus.  I have been ordained for almost ten years and I still continue to work on my own relationship with Jesus.  This means that I continue to read and look for other opportunities to learn so as to deeper my own relationship with Jesus.

Working in ministry, I have found that helping others deeper their relationship with Jesus actually helps me too.  The part of my ministry where this is most evident is in the presentations I do.  For many of the presentations I do the material covered is either based on some book(s) I have read recently or I actually do some research to address a topic of interest to people.  In that preparation I learn more myself.  I also find some grace in offering what I know to the people to help them know more about their faith.

I also try to celebrate the sacraments in a while that shows meaning.  Baptism is not simply a task but it is a life changing moment.  The Sacrament of Reconciliation is not simply a mechanical process of listing one’s sins, doing a penance, and being absolved.  This Sacrament helps us receive God’s mercy and to explore what grace we need to do better.  Celebrating Mass is not simply so we can say we fulfilling our obligation to go to church.  I try to celebrate Mass in a way that shows God offers us something very profound in hearing his Word from the Bible and what we celebrate in the sacrifice of the Eucharist.  My point being, celebrating the sacraments is much more for me than accomplishing a task.  I truly believe the Sacraments go much deeper and I try to celebrate the Sacraments in a way that makes that clear.

I admit that I enjoy seeing some things finished.  However, what matters most is finding meaning and helping others to do the same.  It is hard for me to know when I am doing this.  Please pray that I always serve God how, where, and when He wants.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A – Homily

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3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A
Acts 2:14, 22-23
Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
1 Peter 1:17-21
Luke 24:13-35

Once again, we hear a story of the disciples right after the tomb was found empty.  This time it is two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus.  We are not told why they are going there.  That is not the point.  The point is the encounter they have with Jesus.

Now, when I say ‘encounter’ I do not simply mean their conversation with Jesus.  That is very important but the conversation is much more than just a conversation.  They had been “hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel.”

They were looking for a Messiah to set them free from the Romans but instead Jesus was crucified by the Romans.

They came to believe that Jesus was the one they had been waiting for because of his miracles and his teachings.  Now they are not sure.

With all this in mind, the two disciples were walking along the road.  As they walked, they were conversing about Jesus and all that had happened.  Once Jesus was crucified, it would have been easy to think he was just another prophet at best, and at worst, a false prophet.  They could have given up on Jesus but they hadn’t.

Instead, as they walked, they conversed “about all the things that had occurred.”  It didn’t make sense to them so they talked about it.  Here is lesson #1 for us.  When we don’t understand something about our faith, instead of giving up or thinking it is too hard to understand, we need to talk about it with others who share our faith.  It might be at home or at dinner.  It might mean starting or joining a small Christian community of parishioners just like us.

Let’s go back to the disciples as they walked.  Jesus appeared to them without them being able to recognize him.  He asked them what they were discussing.  They are amazed that he couldn’t guess.  To them what has happened to Jesus is so important, they couldn’t imagine anyone talking about anything else.

Jesus had filled their hearts with hope.  Even the fact that Jesus had been crucified did not end their hope.  Even in what seemed devastating to them, they still spoke of his mighty deeds and words.  I think we see them recall Jesus’ words that he would be raised on the third day when they identified the current day as the “third day.”  Otherwise, it won’t be significant.

They were devastated but they still had hope.  Here is lesson #2 for us.  When we suffer, when things seem difficult or impossible, it is not the time to give up.  There is always hope in Jesus.

They couldn’t understand what had happened.  It is in this context that Jesus told them it was “necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory.”

They were focused on the promise of a messiah, an heir to David that would sit upon his throne over Israel.  From these, they expected a messiah who would be King of Israel on Earth.

Their expectation was based on what was in the scriptures but it was shaped by their human desires.  Jesus “interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures.”  He showed them how the prophets foretold what happened in Jesus’ passion.  That means it all happened as God foretold.

So, another lesson for us might be is to always be mindful that what we expect, that what we want isn’t always what’s best for us.  They didn’t want Jesus to be crucified but it was necessary for the forgiveness of our sins so that Heaven is possible for us.

The two disciples were amazed by what Jesus said.  They do not want their ‘encounter’ with Jesus to end.  They invited him to stay with them.

As they eat, “he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.  With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him.”  What did they recognize?  In his breaking bread with them, they recalled the Last Supper, when Jesus gave us the Eucharist.

In a few minutes, we were will break bread.  It is the Real Presence but do we recognize Jesus in what we receive?

At Jesus’ disappearance, they realized their hearts were burning in the presence of Jesus.  Do our hearts burn with the faith that Jesus gives us?  I would hope that all of us have hearts on fire in faith but I know that isn’t the reality.  That doesn’t mean we don’t have faith.  We are here, aren’t we?

We might say we come to church for various reasons.  Honestly, I know some of you are here because mom and/or dad make you come.  Maybe you come to make your spouse happy.  Maybe you come because that is what we are supposed to do.  It is.  Our church still calls us to come every Sunday to celebrate Mass.

While you might feel like you are here for one of the reasons I just mentioned, I say that you are here because of the seed of faith within you.  If you are here because mom and/or dad say so, then you are honoring your mother and father.  If you are here to make your spouse happy, then you are here because of love and love starts with God.  If you are here out of obligation, then that obligation must mean something to you.  You might be here to make a human being happy but if you are listening to what I am saying, then God means something to you.

So, every one of us has some faith.  For some, it might not seem like much faith.  Others might feel on fire with faith.  Either way, what we need to do to nourish our faith is to talk about it.  Maybe it is a conversation with the people you live with.  Maybe it is friends or a prayer group that I referred to earlier as a Small Christian Community.

Whatever it is, we need to do what the two disciples did when they realized it was Jesus who had spoken with them.  They went and told others.

So What?

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Jesus was born on Christmas as a little baby laid in a manger.  What does this mean for us?

Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist.  What does this mean for us?

Jesus did many great miracles?  What does this tell us?

Jesus teaches what it means to be a disciple.  Do we listen?

Starting at the Last Supper, Jesus gives us his Body and Blood.

Jesus died for us on the Cross.

Jesus rose on the third day.

Jesus ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Together with the Father, Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit.

What does all this mean for us?

In today’s gospel, Jesus tells Nicodemus we must be born from above.  Nicodemus misinterprets this to mean that we must literally be born again by reentering our mother’s womb to be born physically again.  Jesus then speaks of being “born of water and Spirit.”  From this comes the idea of being ‘born again.’

Some evangelical groups will ask when were you ‘born again’, meaning when was the moment that you turned your life over to Christ.  We can have powerful moments of conversion in our lives but our Catholic faith sees conversion as something ongoing in our lives.  As we listen to our first readings  from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear how the apostles faced trial and persecution.   They did not flee in fear.  Instead, as our first reading ends today, “As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”

Jesus’ birth, baptism, miracles, teachings, death, and Resurrection are meant to change our lives to be better disciples.  As the Body and Blood of Jesus, the Eucharist strengthens us to live as his disciples.  May we grow each day in our relationship with Jesus, living as his disciples.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

2nd Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy, Year A – Homily

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2nd Sunday of Easter, Sunday of Divine Mercy
Acts 2:42-47
Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31

Last week we celebrated Holy Week that culminated in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  The tomb was found empty.  Some wondered if someone had stolen Jesus’ body but we know that the empty tomb means Jesus is risen!

This fulfills Jesus’ words, ‘Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.’  While the disciples had heard these words of Jesus, they were troubled in trying to understand.  What does it mean to be raised up?

The disciples are gathered together trying to make sense of what has happened.  It is in this context that Jesus appears to them.  Clearly, the body has not been stolen.  He is risen!

Risen, he is not just spirit.  To help them understand the Resurrection, he points them to his hands to see where the nails were driven on the Cross.  He points to his side where he was speared.  This is not just his spirit nor is it a new body.  Jesus is raised body and soul to new life.

This might be difficult to belief.  It was for Thomas.  Because of his disbelief, he is forever referred to as ‘doubting Thomas’ but would we have been any different.  No one had ever risen from the dead before.

Jesus shows us the Resurrection that we will share in after our physical death if we believe in him as the way and the truth and the life.

We think of the Resurrection as something that happens to us after our physical death but our life in Christ has already begun in our baptism.

Life in Heaven will be glorious and joyful as we stand before God.  Knowing of life in Heaven should shape the way we live in this world.

The Acts of the Apostles tell us about the life of the early church and the spread of the faith.  Specifically, today we hear how the disciples lived a communal life.  “They would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need.”

We might think of this as applying to those in religious life who take promises of poverty.  That is one way of living this out but the passage applies to all of us in some way.

When I say it applies to all of us, some might be concerned if I am going to advocate for socialism.  I am not.  In fact, if you read the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2402-2406), our faith affirms the right to private property.

Then how does this passage apply to all of us?  I take it as an invitation for all of us to think about what we do have.  It says that each received according to their “need.”

What do we need?  How much of what we have do we need?  How much do we have just to look good?  How much do we hold onto?

I went to a workshop this week where the speaker commented on how many mini-storage places continue to pop up.  What are we storing in all of these storage buildings?  Or perhaps you have a garage that you can’t get the car in because it is full of stuff in boxes.

Do we really need all of the things we have in storage?

Maybe or maybe not.  There might be seasonal items or maybe we are storing some stuff in between selling one home and buying another.  Maybe we just have too much stuff.  Maybe it is time to clean ‘our closets’ and give what we don’t need to charity so that it can be used to help those in need.

What our faith is calling all of us to in this passage from Acts is simplicity of life.  This simplicity of life calls us to set aside our pride and concerns.  I say ‘concerns’ because sometimes we hold onto things we don’t need to be prepared for bad things.

It is good to be prepared.  We should have some in reserve but not the point of greed or hoarding.  The saying ‘you never know when you might need’ only goes so far as a reason to hold onto things.

Life can bring challenges.  As Peter writes we “may have to suffer through various trials.”  There is a point of being prepared and there is a point of trusting in God’s mercy.

When we hear of God’s mercy, we might most often think of his forgiveness, certainly something we need at times but God’s mercy is not just his forgiveness.  It is the aid he gives to us, the concern he shows for us.

Think of the disciples in the room where Jesus appeared to them.  They were sitting behind locked doors “for fear of the Jews.”  In his mercy, Jesus did not want the disciples to live in fear.  He appeared to them so they could begin to understand what the Resurrection really is.  Jesus came to help us know how we are called to live.

Simplicity of life can help us know Jesus and to trust in him.  If we spend all of time and effort trying to have ‘more’, then we bind ourselves up.  If we live ‘simply’ we unlock ourselves to focus on what life in Jesus offers us.