Making Hope Visible

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The first reading for today’s (February 15, 2017) Mass comes from the story of Noah and the Great Flood.  The reading picks up at the point where it has just stopped raining for forty days and forty nights.  There is water everywhere.

When God first spoke to Noah to tell him about the coming flood and destruction Noah might have feel good to know he had been good enough to be chosen to be saved from the flood.  Now, put yourselves in Noah’s shoes as he is on the ark.  He can see nothing but water.  How would he even know if the water is receding?  Where can the water go?  It might have been difficult to have any hope that they would ever get off the boat.

Multiple times Noah sends out a bird to search for land.  I wonder how much dejection there was each time the birds returned without any sign of the waters receding.  But then came the day when the dove returned with an olive leaf!  HOPE!!!

Now, look at today’s gospel reading.  It is a story of Jesus healing a blind man.  The man is physically blind but it serves for us as an analogy for spiritual blindness.  How do we see the world today?  When we are spiritually blind and/or living in difficult situations do we see hope?

Think of the young woman who finds herself pregnant and alone.  She has no idea how she would provide for the child in her womb.  What about the young girl who finds herself pregnant and fears that her parents will throw her out if they find out she is pregnant.  She might not see any hope and that can lead to bad decisions.

What about the person at the end of life who feels no hope and can only see pain and suffering.  They might like no one cares or that their live no longer matters.

What about the family without a job?  How can they provide for their family?

What about the person who works but too few hours or too little pay?

What about the person who feels all alone in the world?  They struggle to maintain any relationship.

All of these people need HOPE.

We can show them hope.  To the pregnant girl, we can help her through the pregnancy and caring for the child after it is born.

For the person at the end of life, we can offer them compassion, show them love, and help ease their pain.  We can show them we care.

For the unemployed, the underemployed, and those who can’t make enough money to make ends meet, we can show them we care.

For those who feel alone and struggle in relationships, we can show we care.

When we wonder how, as individuals, we can do all this, the answer is we can’t do it alone but we can help by being generous to support the individuals and to support programs and agencies that do help.  We care pray for the people and for the programs that help them.  For those considering abortion it can be Crisis Pregnancy Centers (locally CareNet of Wayne County).  For those at the end of life it can be programs that offer comfort homes (locally Laurel House is under construction in Newark or House of John in Phelps is fully operational).  For those in between the beginning and end of life, I recommend starting by looking to see what Catholic Charities offers in your area.  You can find them  locally here in Wayne County, throughout our diocese, and nationally.

May all our efforts show those in need hope.  In showing them hope, we show them God and his love.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily

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6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Sirach 15:15-20
Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34
1 Corinthians 2:6-10
Matthew 5:17-37
February 12, 2017

Sirach reminds the people “If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you, if you trust in God, you too shall live.”

We live in a society where many people don’t like rules.  It’s not just a matter of objecting to certain rules, we can all do that.  These people to whom I refer don’t want any rules.

Sirach’s words remind the people that God did not give the commandments for his own good or to be cruel.  God gave the commandments to help us and that we might have eternal life.

With commandments like thou shall not steal, we should realize that we need rules like this so we don’t have to live in constant fear of our things being stolen.

Likewise, commandments like not bearing false witness are necessary.  We need to be able to trust others to live in community.

Yet, many in Jesus’ days, had made following the commandments a matter of “law” rather than being good disciples.  As such, the Law became a burden to many.

Paul was one of those who was strict in his interpretation and following of the commandments.  However, from his conversion experience, he came to realize a new way of living, “life in the spirit.”

It won’t be hard to take what Paul says about “life in the spirit” rather than the Law to mean the Law of the Old Testament is abolished.  There are people who live that way today.

However, that is going too far.  The Law is still good.  We know this because Jesus himself says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.  I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”

Jesus brings us a new understanding the Law.  Everything the Law says has been and is still good but Jesus wants us to understand the purpose of the Law and its intent.

We all have free will.  We can choose between good and evil.  The Law is meant to help us know what is good vs. evil.  It is here that Jesus leads us to a deeper understanding of the commandments.

For example, Jesus begins by referring to the commandment against killing.  This is a basic rule in societies.  Jesus takes it a step further when He says that we shouldn’t even be angry.  Anger can lead to killing.  Yet, anger can seem so natural to us.  What’s wrong with getting upset when somebody does something wrong to us?

It may seem natural to get angry but that doesn’t make it right.  When we hold onto the anger, we push out love and that means we push out God.  We can’t always stop angry thoughts from coming but we can work on controlling what we do with (how much we hold onto) the anger.

Likewise, Jesus takes the commandment against adultery and says if we even look at another person with lust, we sin.  Again, it might seem natural to have the thought but the problem is when we dwell on lustful thoughts, we are objectifying the person as an object of pleasure rather than as a person.

Jesus then tells us, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.”  This seems really radical.  Before we actually do this, ask yourself, does your eye cause you to sin?  If our sin is lust, our eye might be involved in the sin but it doesn’t cause the sin.  We can have lustful thoughts without ever seeing a person.  The lust comes from within our desires.

Again we can’t stop a lustful thought from coming into our head but we can work to control what we do with the thought once we realize it is there.  This can be difficult.  Since coming to St. Michael’s, when I face temptation and struggle to resist, I find myself praying for God’s help against the temptation and ask for him to send St. Michael, who defeated the dragon, to my aid.

Lastly, Jesus speaks about taking oaths.  Why we do we ask people to take oaths?  Because we do not know if we cannot trust them.  It might be because they have lied to us in the past or because others have lied to us.  If we all mean what we say, then we trust each other.  “Let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’”

Getting back to the Law, following the Law is measured by our actions.  Our actions can be reveal what is in our hearts.  It is our hearts that God looks at.  God knows the thoughts we have.  So, let us pray that God instruct us in his ways and help us discern how we are to live loving Jesus with all our hearts.

Assisted Suicide & the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily

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This is our diocesan public policy weekend.  This year’s issue reflected below is speaking against a bill introduced in the NYS Legislative recently to allow assisted suicide.  For more on this issue, check out the USCCB “To Live Each Day With Dignity” and the New York State Catholic Conference.

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Isaiah 58:7-10
Psalm 112:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Matthew 5:13-16
February 5, 2017

Jesus tells his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth.”  The reason people put salt on their food is to make it taste better.  We are to be like salt by working to help make the world a better place.

Jesus tells his disciples, “You are the light of the world.”  Many people live in difficult situations.  There are people who don’t have enough, if hardly any, food to eat.  There are people who don’t have clothing or shelter.  For them, life may seem very dark.  We help them see the light of Jesus when we come to their aid.

Certainly helping people in their physical need is important but it is not just about their physical need.  It is about treating them with dignity, about treating them with the respect they deserve created in the image of God.

I feel I need to turn our attention to another group of people who might feel like they are living in darkness, the dying.

The process of dying can be a difficult one that brings difficult decisions.  Our psalm today speaks of fear of an evil report.  In my own life, I think back eight years ago.  My mother had been battling emphysema for almost ten years at that point.  Then came the “evil report” that she had lung cancer.  They immediately tried to treat it but it was found too late.  She died just five weeks after the lung cancer was identified.  She spent the last ten days on a ventilator.

Those were a very difficult five weeks.  Even though the emphysema had been getting worse over the ten years, we still didn’t want her to die.  We wanted her to live.  That made for a very difficult decision to remove the ventilator but it was the right decision.

Our Church views the removal of the ventilator as putting it in God’s hands as our loved one goes through the natural process of dying.

What is not natural is “assisted suicide.”  Our faith calls us to realize that we do not live forever and that we will all face death but it is not for us to dictate the time.  Pulling treatment like a ventilator hands it over to God.  Assisted suicide, generally through a pill, isn’t putting it in God’s hands.  It’s saying we don’t want to live.

Some describe it as death with dignity, meaning we go out on our own terms but I say we must remember the words in the Lord’s Prayer, thy will be done.  It is not for us to decide the time.

As to “dignity,” I can’t get this.  To me, supporting assisted suicide is like saying the person is no longer any good to us because they are ill.  Where is the dignity in that?  They are still good.  They are still the person we love.

People talk about wanting to avoid pain.  The desire to avoid pain is natural but pain and suffering is also natural.  Our Church teaching very much supports pain management in what is known as palliative care and hospice.  It’s all about keeping the person comfortable and treating them with dignity.

I don’t know if you heard but a bill was recently introduced in our state legislature to make assisted suicide legal in New York.  We knew this was probably going to happen so this was already selected as our diocesan public policy issue this year.

You will find in the pews a letter which any adult can sign and complete your address information to let our governor and legislature know we do NOT support assisted suicide.  Instead we ask them to promote measures to improve palliative care and hospice, supporting efforts like Laurel House, so the dying can receive compassion and pain management.

I know there are people around who support assisted suicide to avoid pain.  We must help minimize the pain felt by the dying but we can also remember the pain Jesus endured for us in his passion and turn our pain over to him in prayer for the good of others.

I hope you read the insert in last week’s bulletin that talked about the flaws and concerns over this bill.  We need to realize that in places where assisted suicide has become legal, there are statistics that are now beginning to show the general suicide rate increase in those regions.  Life is being devalued.  We need to show we value the people.  This is treating them with dignity.

We must also realize that while the proposed law requires a terminal diagnosis, such diagnoses are not always right.  I have a friend is a religious sister.  About three years ago, when she was around 89 years old, she was told she had four to six months to live.  This month she will celebrate her 92nd birthday and if you visit the center where she lives, she is one of the healthiest looking sisters there.

There is also the fear of people being pressured into choosing assisted suicide.  There was a story a couple of months ago about a woman out west who was fighting with her insurance company to get them to pay for treatment for her illness.  They denied coverage but told her they would pay for medicines for assisted suicide.

Dying is not easy and we must treat the dying with dignity.  We must show them that we still love them and want them to be with us.

So, I hope you will sign the letter.  As you leave today, there are boxes you can put your letter into and we will make sure they get to our governor and legislators.

Life is a gift.  It is a gift to be cherished.

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily

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4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Zephaniah 2:3, 3:12-13
Psalm 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Matthew 5:1-12a
January 29, 2017

The prophet Zephaniah wrote in the 7th century B.C.  This is shortly before Jerusalem falls to the Babylonian Empire.  He speaks of how Israel did not listen to God’s voice or draw near to God.

Zephaniah speaks of how the Lord will leave a “remnant of Israel” who will take refuge in the Lord.  The Kingdom of Israel had already shrunk some when the northern kingdom fell to Assyria in the 8th Century B.C. and soon (at the time Zephaniah writes), the southern kingdom will fall but there will always be some who keep the faith as the “remnant of Israel.”

It is in knowing all this that our first reading began today, “Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth, who have observed his law; seek justice, seek humility.’

Zephaniah uses the word “seek” three times in this one sentence, the first of which is with regards to the Lord himself, and the other two with regards to the virtues of justice and humility (both of which are a vital part of our faith.)

What does it mean to “seek the Lord?”

In human terms, we could define seeking the Lord as to try and learn about the Lord.  In action, it can be to spend time in prayer and coming to Mass.

How much effort do we put into our seeking?  Obviously the fact that we come to Mass shows some effort.  Celebrating the Eucharist is the source and summit of what we do as Catholics but is it the only thing we do?

I recently finished reading Forming Intentional Disciples by Sherry A. Weddell (Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division. Huntington, IN. 2012).  She describes five “thresholds” of our faith that I believe are a good way of thinking about the depth of our seeking.

The first threshold is “trust.”  Now I have to admit that when I saw trust as the first (lowest) I was surprised because I immediately thought of “trust” as trusting in the Lord, which I certainly won’t put as the lowest level.  As I read I discovered that she was using “trust” in terms of our trust in other people or things.  For instance, maybe the first time you came to church was because of a friend or family member who you trust and invited you here.  Maybe you can include here that mom or dad said you have to come.

The second threshold is “curiosity”.  You’ve heard something about God, the Church, or some aspect of our faith that has triggered some curiosity in you.  You aren’t sure where it is going but you want to know more.

The third threshold is “openness”.  You’ve experienced something you like or your heart and soul have been touched and you ask more but you aren’t quite ready to change your life yet.

The fourth and fifth threshold become harder to distinguish.  Number four is “seeking” and the fifth is “intentional discipleship.”  In moving to the fourth threshold of seeking, one has a definite interest in our faith and has begun to engage with their faith.  When we have reached the fifth threshold of intentional discipleship we have turned our lives to God and being a disciple has become the priority of our life.

Where would you put yourself in terms of the five thresholds of trust, curiosity, openness, seeking, and intentional discipleship?  You can’t assume just because you are coming to church you are an intentional disciple.  In fact, Sherry Weddell puts most practicing Catholics in the third or fourth threshold.

What are indicators of “intentional discipleship”?  I think we see some in our readings today.  Paul speaks of those who are wise and powerful by human standards as opposed to the foolish, the weak, and the lowly.  It is the latter who are open to God.  To be disciples we have to realize that we can’t do it all ourselves.  We need to be willing to put in some hard effort but to be intentional disciples, we have to realize how much we need God.

We also see it on our gospel reading, known as the Beatitudes.  We also see the reward of intentional discipleship.  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”  To be “poor in Spirit” is to realize how much we need God.  When we fully open ourselves to God, we receive the Kingdom of Heaven.

The same could be seek for the meek who are described as blessed.  Then, when we “hunger and thirst for righteousness,” we stop seeing things our own way and worrying about ourselves and realize that God has a better way.  When we set aside the things of this world, we receive what we are created for, the fullness of God’s grace and we are “satisfied.”

If we want to be “intentional disciples,” we need to stop worrying about what others think or worldly things to put God at the top of our priorities, to put God at the top of our lives.

A Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Life

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The title I have given this article, “A Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Life” is not my own line.  It is the name given to this day by our United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Yesterday was January 22nd, the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.  Normally on January 22nd there is the March for Life in Washington, DC and this “Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Life.”    However, when this day falls on a Sunday, it is moved to Monday so that Congress and the Supreme Court is working to see the March.  So the day of prayer is today.  However, this year, because of the presidential inauguration, the March is moved to this Friday, January 27th.

We pray this day because we value life in the womb.  To talk about this we should think about what life is.  As I was thinking about my homily for today, I did an Internet search for the name of a man I remembered reading about in seminary who argued that parents should be able to kill their children even when the child is one or two years old if they discover the child has some illness or something that makes them undesirable.  That man’s name is Peter Singer but I quickly found other names of people with similar positions.

Such a position would seem to determine the value of life by its usefulness or ease of life.  Those in favor of such of a position might speak in terms of quality of life.  I want to firmly state that all life has value and life starts at conception.

First, let me put it in biological terms.  When an egg and a sperm cell come together, a unique individual is formed with a unique genetic makeup that will never be exactly repeated no matter how many children the same two parents have.  This uniqueness makes the child special even if it isn’t exactly what the parents wanted.

Speaking spiritually, when an egg and a sperm cell come together, God already knows that child (Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”) and loves the child.  We treasure the life as a gift.

One last comment before I go celebrate Mass.  When we talk about our value of life in the womb, we must recognize that someone maybe listening that has had an abortion or even a man who has been involved in an abortion or not given a say in it.  This should not stop us from speaking up for life but it should remind us of the importance of including God’s mercy and forgiveness in what we say.  Abortion is wrong but if the people involved repent, God’s mercy and forgiveness is triumphant.  We must always be witnesses of God’s love, for life in the womb, and all life.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily

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3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Isaiah 8:23-9:3
Psalm 27:104, 13-14
1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17
Matthew 4:12-23
January 22, 2017

Paul had helped start the Christian community at Corinth.  Now, he has heard about division and immorality going on there so he writes this letter to them to help them address the situation.

Today’s portion of Paul’s letter centers on divisions and rivalries that have arisen.  People are identifying themselves by who baptized them or taught them about the Christian faith.  They are saying, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos.”

Paul tells them that it doesn’t matter who baptized them or who taught them.  Everything and everyone should point to Christ not to human people.

We can see a lot of division in our society today and it is getting once.  We saw it in the elections in the Fall and we continue to see as the newly elected officials take office.

We can see division in general society over beliefs or background.

We can also see division in what it means to be Christian.  Who can count all the denominations?  Some of the denominations aren’t that different from each other while others are very different.  The Christian Church started as one.  The first major split came in 1054 when the Orthodox and Catholic Church split.  The next big split came in the Protestant Reformation.  This year is the 500th anniversary of when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the doors of a church in Germany objecting to some of the practices of the church.

It used to be it took major differences to lead to a schism or new denomination.  Now, people go looking for a church that follows their beliefs and if they can’t find it, they might go start a new church.

Martin Luther gets the credit for starting the Protestant Reformation but Luther didn’t want to start a new denomination.  His goal was to help correct points where he thought the Church had strayed.

Today we celebrate the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time of Year A.  This reading from Paul is the proper reading for today but it fits something going on right now.  There hasn’t been a lot of talk about it but this week we celebrate a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  It started last Wednesday on the 18th and will end on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on the 25th.

This week of prayer dates back to 1908 when the Atonement Franciscan Convent in the Episcopal Church outside New York City called for a week of prayer for unity.  Since then, many Protestant Churches and the Catholic Church have come together to pray for unity.

We need to pray for unity, both in the church and in secular society.  There is way too much division in the world.  We spend more time thinking about how we are different rather than how we are alike.

We can have different skin color.  We can speak different languages.  We can have different cultural practices but we all have one common creator who is one God.

Our belief is in one God but our God is a triune God.  There are three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  They are three persons yet one God coming together in perfect unity.  The Trinity gives us a model of unity for the Father, and the Son, and Holy Spirit, while three persons, work together with one Will.

Everybody united to do one will?  This meant seem impossible to imagine.  As I already said there are many divisions in the whole today.  It can be very hard to get people to work together.  A lot of people think they have the right answer.

When religious groups come together in dialogue, sometimes they just seem to look for the lowest common denominator of what they all believe in.  If we are sincere in working for unity, the lowest common denominator is only a starting point, not an end point.

In any dialogue it can often be best to start with what can be agreed upon.  This makes for a solid foundation.  For Christians this begins with the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that Christ was born, taught and cured many people, then died for us to show us salvation and the Resurrection.

This is what the light of Christ offers to all of us but our Catholic faith has so much more to offer.  We believe in the Real Presence, we believe in the moral teachings that comes from God.  We believe in the Communion of Saints.

We believe in these doctrines and many others yet we probably don’t talk about them often.  When we don’t talk about them, we forget about them.  For instance, since we don’t talk about Purgatory much, there are some people who think we stopped believing in it but it still exists.

Why don’t we talk about them?  The two reasons that come to mind for me are “fear” and our own “lack of knowledge.”  We fear getting into an argument with others and then we fear not have the knowledge to back up what we say.

We need to do our part to learn about our Catholic faith.  As we do this, we can turn to the same help, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom to help us understand what our faith teachings and then the courage to dialogue with others about what we believe.

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily

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2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
1 Corinthians 1:1-3
John 1:29-34
January 15, 2017

Our first reading today is part of what are known as four “Suffering Servant Oracles” in the Book of Isaiah.  These oracles speak of the role of the servant of the Lord and, at times, how the servant will suffer.

The question can be who this servant is.  The biblical scholars see different possibilities.  Some say it is Isaiah himself.  Others say it is the people of Israel as a whole, as evidenced in today’s passage that names Israel.  For us as Christians, it is Jesus who is the ultimate fulfillment of these oracles.  In his passion He suffers much for us as He is beaten, scourged, and crucified.  He brings us light by showing that God is triumph even over death and will raise us up in the resurrection.

I personally believe that Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the Suffering Servant Oracles but that each of us as individuals and collectively as a church are to play a part in being the servant.

For instance, the servant is the one through whom the Lord reveals his glory.  God’s glory can be known when we share with others the good things that God has done for us.

The servant is the one formed by the Lord in the womb.  Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb by the power of the Most High.  God is our creator and knows us even before we are conceived in our woman’s womb and God gives us a soul.

We can serve as servants by sharing the “light to the nations” of the salvation that Jesus brings “to the ends of the earth.”  We need to point others to Jesus just as John the Baptist did when he pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

These words of John the Baptist should be very familiar to us.  They are the origin of the words spoken by the priest at Communion “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world, blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.”

John was pointing to the human Jesus passing by.  The priest is pointing to Jesus presence in the bread and wine that have become the Body and Blood of Jesus.

God has called each of us to be his servants, each in our own way.  To be his servants, we need to realize that “God is now my strength.”  We receive this strength in the Eucharist.

I have no doubt that God will give us what we need as individuals and as a parish to accomplish what He asks of us.  The challenge can be for us to figure out what God asks of us.

Part of the challenge is that we often think about it in terms of what we are supposed to do.  Serving God is not just a matter of what we “do”.  It is a matter of “being.”

Think of it this way.  I stand before you as a priest.  We could talk about the various duties I fulfill.  Today I want to center on what it means to preside at Mass.

At Mass, I do most of the talking.  Now, if you look at the two books we use at Mass, the Roman Missal and the Lectionary, you can find every single word that needs to be said for Mass except the homily and introduction.

That means I could basically stand up here and just read word for word from the books (you can find a homily in other non-official books).  That would only reflect on what I do at Mass.  However, the diocese didn’t send me to seven years of seminary and formation just to read words out of a book.  It is important to use the correct words as found in the rite but I need to convey meaning and show that the words mean something to me.  This can happen in the homily.  It can also involve how I say the words and my body language.  I hope the way I preside shows you that I truly do believe what I say and that I believe it is truly the Body and Blood of Jesus we receive.

This is what drew me to the priesthood.  I enjoyed aspects of being an engineer.  We need some people to be engineers to develop and build things.  I simply discovered it wasn’t what God was calling me to be.

As much as I do more than just say words at Mass, I hope you do more than just physically hearing what is said.  To open yourselves to all that the Mass offers you, you need to do more than listen.  You need to actively participate in what is said by thinking about the meaning behind the words and actions you hear and see at Mass.

So, if you want to get the most out of Mass, in fact what I say is true for all the sacraments, it isn’t just a matter of showing up.  We need to engage in the real meaning of what is going on.

In the responsorial psalm today, we sang “Here am I Lord, I come to do your will.”  May we open ourselves to what we hear today and the Holy Spirit so that we can do what the Lord asks of us.

Epiphany – Homily – The Gift of Jesus

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The Epiphany of the Lord
Isaiah 60;1-6
Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Matthew 5:1-12
January 8, 2017

Today we hear what we consider as the last piece of the Christmas story.  Here come the magi.  We don’t know much about them about them except that they come some distance from the East, were guided by a star, and they brought three gifts for Jesus.  The fact that they came from the East would indicate they are Gentiles.

As Gentiles, they would have believed in a different god than the Israelites.  Herod was appointed as a king over the Jews by the Roman Emperor but his response to the news of Jesus’ birth is not one of faith.  “He was greatly troubled,” by the news.  He saw it as a threat to his power.  He rejected Jesus so he could have the life he wanted.

This contrast to the response of the Magi who, as Gentiles, could have been indifferent to the birth of Jesus but they are the ones who travel afar and bring gifts to Jesus.  It is the Gentile Magi who recognize the gift of Jesus to the world.

At Christmas there is a lot of gift-giving.  How many gifts did you receive?  What was your favorite gift?  Did you receive some gifts that you didn’t want?  Did anyone “reject” a gift you gave them?

How about the gift of Jesus?  I think sometimes this can be the forgotten gift even for us who come to church.  We can become so used to celebrating Christmas that we take the gift of Jesus for granted.

The gift is offered to “every nation” including the Gentiles as coheirs and copartners in the promise of Jesus.

What does the gift of Jesus offer us?

We live in a world where there can be a lot of darkness, terrorism, war, violence, poverty, homelessness, illness, and broken relationships.  On Friday, there was another shooting, not necessarily an act of terrorism but mental illness.

In the midst of the darkness, Jesus brings us light.  It’s not that He takes away all our problems.  Sometimes He does but more often He offers us a way through the sufferings we face.  In doing so Jesus brings us light in the darkness.

Do we accept the gift of Jesus?  Some don’t because Jesus doesn’t give them what they want.  They want all their problems instantly gone.  They don’t want to have any problems.  They might want wealth, power, or prestige.  They want to have it their way.

If we are to accept the gift of Jesus, we need to accept that our way may not be the best way, that Jesus has a better way.

Our coming here says we want to have Jesus in our lives.  I’m reading a book called Forming Intentional Disciples.  The author, Sherry A. Weddell (all quotes from page 54, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Huntington, IN. 2012) speaks of “three concurrent journeys” that we need to embrace to be “intentional disciples.”

I’m going to start with the two that should be most familiar to us.  #2 is “the ecclesial journey into the Church through reception of the sacraments of initiation.”  This should be familiar to us as Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist.

#3 is the active practice of our faith in coming to Mass and joining in the life of our parish.

Now, I want to go back to what she lists as #1, “the personal interior journey of a lived relationship with Christ resulting in intentional discipleship.”  (See my website article – “What Does it Mean to Have a Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ?”)

Having a relationship with Jesus isn’t something we often talk about as Catholics.  We might that’s for the Protestants.

Actually, in this time of electronic communication, we might need to start with asking ourselves what it means to have a relationship with anyone.  You can’t have the kind of relationship I am talking about by texting, email, or social media.

We need to ask ourselves questions like who is Jesus to us personally.  What does knowing Jesus mean for us?  Is He a friend, brother, or a distant being?

Where do we find Jesus?  In church?  At home?  In others?

Do we spend time with Jesus?  Do we listen to Jesus?  Are we honest with Jesus?

When we open ourselves to Jesus, He gives us light.  When we follow his light, we experience what Isaiah talked about when he wrote “Then you shall be radiant at what see, your heart shall throb and overflow.”  When we begin to embrace Jesus, we in turn show his light to the world, a world that very much needs it.

Where are you in your relationship with Jesus?  What does seeing the light of Jesus mean to you?

The Re-Evangelization of America

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Today (January 5th) is the Memorial of St. John Neumann.  He was born in Bohemia in 1811.  He came to the United States and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of New York in 1836.  At that time, the diocese reached as far as Buffalo.  In his first assignment, Neumann was sent to the Niagara area.  (On his way there he stopped for a few days in Rochester, NY where he celebrated Mass and a baptism).  In 1840 he transferred to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists).  In 1852 he became the Bishop of Philadelphia.

In those days, Catholicism was a growing religion in the United States.  Catholics faced rejection, if not persecution, for many decades.  (This reminds me of today’s gospel when Philip tells Nathanael he has found the one of whom Moses spoke, Jesus, of Nazareth. Nathanael responds, “Can anything good come from Nazareth.”)

As Bishop in Philadelphia, Neumann worked for the establishment of parish schools and parishes to serve the Catholic immigrants.

In its early days, the United States were officially “mission territory” in the Catholic Church.  Many missionaries, like Neumann, came to America to offer our Catholic faith to the natives and to serve the needs of the immigrants.  Today there are many more Catholics in the United States than in Neumann’s time.  In fact, today Catholicism is numbered as the largest single denomination in America.  Yet, I can’t help but think that our nation has once again become “mission territory.”

According to sacramental records, with baptisms and people who come into our Catholic faith, there are more Catholics than ever.  However, how many people are there who have been baptized or received into the Catholic Church but now, seldom, if ever, practice our faith?

I see it in the people who comes for marriage and to have their babies baptized.  They admit they don’t come to church often.  I see their coming for the sacraments as hope that the seed of faith is still alive inside them.  I always try to work with them as opportunity to encourage them to invite them back to the practice of the faith.

People are fallen away from the faith for different reasons.  Some do it because their own personal beliefs are contrary to what our Church teaches.  Others question the existence of God.  They might think that science can explain everything (see my article “Catholic Teaching and the Question of Evolution“) or that the existence of the evil we see in the world proves that either God doesn’t exist or, at least, God doesn’t care.

With all this in mind, I wonder if the United States, along with much of the “old world,” should be named as “re-mission territory.”  I believe that one of the most important needs facing our Catholic faith is the need to re-evangelize people to understand not just what our Church teaches but why.  Some don’t know about our faith at all.  Others know something about what our Church teaches but can’t really make it their own faith until they understand why we believe and teach.  If we can help them here, we can help them see how our faith is still relevant.  

Maybe I am biased because I love to learn and teach about our Catholic faith.  What do you think?

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

 

 

Honoring Mary, Mother of God at Christmas – Homily

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Mary, the Holy Mother of God
Numbers 6:22-27
Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 2:16-21
January 1, 2017

One week ago we celebrated Christmas day but our Christmas season continues until next week.  Today marks the eighth day of Christmas and on eighth day, we celebrate Mary in her role as Mother of Jesus, which means she is the Mother of God.

Our gospel picks near where our Christmas gospel ended.  On Christmas we heard how Mary and Joseph had gone to Bethlehem for the census.  While they were there, the “fullness of time” came for Mary to give birth to Jesus.  It happened in a stable as we see in our Nativity scene.

Then the angel appeared to the shepherds to tell them of the birth of the Messiah.  That is where we left off on Christmas Day.

Today we hear the response of the shepherds.  Upon hearing the angel’s words, they “went in haste to Bethlehem” to see Jesus.

There “they made known the message” that the angel had given them.  People were amazed at these words.  What was Mary’s reaction?

We might think that Mary knew everything that was to happen but she didn’t.  The angel Gabriel had told her that she had been chosen to be the Mother of Jesus and that she would conceive by the power of the Most High but she was given no details of what life would be like with Jesus.  She simply trusted that God would take care of them.

So, Mary took the words delivered by the shepherds and reflected “on them in her heart.”  Then on the eighth day, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple as good Jewish parents.

Have you reflected on the words of our Christmas story?  It is a story of the birth of Jesus.  The birth of Jesus is an important story but it is not the whole story.  It is the beginning of our salvation.  Jesus, Son of God, has been “born of a woman, born under the law.”

As we reflect on the mystery of the Incarnation we honor Mary as the one through whom we received the author of life, the greatest Christmas gift.

Today is also a World Day of Prayer for Peace and Justice.  This fits with the beginning of a new secular year as we hope for peace in the New Year.

When we look at “peace” in this context, we might see peace simply as the absence of violence.  That is certainly something we seek but in the context of our faith, “peace” is something we receive from God in our hearts.

The Hebrew word for “peace” used in the first reading is “shalom.”  Shalom is not simply an absence of violence.  It involves happiness, health, prosperity, and friendship.  It involves these things not just as physical and/or earthly peace but in our heart and soul.

Here we turn to reflect upon what it means to receive God’s blessing.  God offers us a good life through his blessing but what is a good life?

I think some people give up on faith because they don’t get the life they want.  Now, we should all pray for a life free of war, violence, illness, and full of prosperity but life is more than these things.  These people think if they don’t get these things, it means God doesn’t exist.

If we are truly open to receiving “the author of life” then we need to open ourselves to seeing our lives as God sees them.  We need to stop measuring goodness and success in our lives by merely physical terms.  In physical terms, we might always want more.

Receiving “the author of life” transforms our world view to look at things differently.  To do so we need to make God our highest priority.  Do you?  It isn’t easy.  There can be so many demands on our lives.  Some people have to work even on Sundays.  If you have kids, there can be activities scheduled even on Sundays now.  Are those activities really that important?

For the adults, think back to when you were young.  Were you involved in so many things?  If not, then why now?

For the youth, you might enjoy doing these things but do they make your life any better?  How busy are you?  Do you ever relax?  Do you ever think about Jesus?