Homily for November 2018 Holy Hour
\nJeremiah 1:4-9
\nPsalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51
\n1 John 4:7-16
\nJohn 15:1-17<\/p>\n
We come here tonight not to be alone.\u00a0 No, we come to be here with Jesus, Jesus who is Son of God, consubstantial with the Father.\u00a0 It is Jesus who is present in the bread in the monstrance.<\/p>\n
In Baptism, we become adopted children of God.\u00a0 That means that Jesus is our brother and God is our Father.\u00a0 We come here seeking to be close to God.\u00a0 The Lord said to Jeremiah, \u201cBefore<\/em><\/strong> I formed you in the womb I knew you, before<\/strong> you were born I dedicated you, a prophet for the nations I appointed you.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n The same is true for us.\u00a0 God knows each and every one of us before<\/em><\/strong> we are conceived in our mother\u2019s womb.\u00a0 God knows us better than we know ourselves.<\/p>\n While God knows us so well, we might struggle at times to be aware of his presence.\u00a0 God is everywhere but, as humans, we are limited to in our ability to be able to perceive his presence.<\/p>\n This is why we have churches, to have special places dedicated to God where we might be free from the distractions work, school, or home.\u00a0 Everything in a church building is designed to point us to God\u2019s presence and activity in our lives.<\/p>\n We have stained glass windows and statues to remind us of sacred things and the saints who have gone before us.\u00a0 We have a Crucifix to remind us that Jesus died so that our sins might be forgiven.\u00a0 At the center of our church, we have an altar where we celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus at Mass.<\/p>\n Today we are not here to celebrate Mass but our being here is dependent on what happens at Mass, the consecration where God turns ordinary bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus.\u00a0 It is from our belief of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist that we come to be here with Jesus.<\/p>\n We come to experience the love<\/em><\/strong> that Jesus shows us in the Crucifixion.\u00a0 We come to embrace the Resurrection and eternal life.\u00a0 We come here to be renewed in our relationship with our Lord and Savior.<\/p>\n It all starts with God\u2019s love for us.\u00a0 We are called to love God and to love our neighbor but it starts with God loving us first.\u00a0 We do not initiate the relationship we have with God.\u00a0 God does.\u00a0 It is our choice of whether or not we accept and respond to that love.<\/p>\n We come here tonight to simply be in the presence of Jesus, to \u201cremain in him.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n We need Jesus.\u00a0 He is the vine and we are the branches.\u00a0 We cannot truly live, we cannot bear fruit unless we remain in the love of Jesus.<\/p>\n We need to let Jesus prune us.\u00a0 Sometimes we drift away from Jesus, often without even being aware of it.\u00a0 We don\u2019t mean it but when it happens we know we need to get back to Jesus.\u00a0 If we have strayed, then we need God to prune us of the extraneous things.<\/p>\n I think I have mentioned in the past that when my dad first brought the house he lives in there were grape vines on the property.\u00a0 Those grape vines used to bear fruit every year as long as he pruned them.\u00a0 If they were not pruned, all the nutrients went into sustaining the extra growth but pruned, pruned they bore wonderful grapes.<\/p>\n We are no different.\u00a0 We might have a lot going on in our lives that really isn\u2019t necessary or helpful to us.\u00a0 Yet, we put a lot of energy into sustaining those things and we have little left for Jesus.<\/p>\n God knows we need grace. \u00a0That\u2019s why He gives us Sacraments.\u00a0 We have seven sacraments.\u00a0 Some of the sacraments, namely Baptism and Confirmation, we receive only once in our lives but they are very important<\/em><\/strong> moments.\u00a0 Baptism formally begins our life with God.\u00a0 In Confirmation, we affirm that choice.<\/p>\n While we receive Baptism and Confirmation only once, there are two sacraments we receive over and over.\u00a0 One is the Sacrament of Reconciliation where we confess our sins and receive God\u2019s forgiveness as many times as we realize we have sinned and repent.\u00a0 God loves us and forgives us.<\/p>\n Of course, the sacrament we receive the most is the Eucharist.\u00a0 It is the source and summit of our Catholic faith.\u00a0 We are called to come to church each and every Sunday unless we are sick or prohibited by weather.\u00a0 This is not simply to please God.\u00a0 This is for our own good because we need Jesus.\u00a0 We need to hear God\u2019s word and receive the Body and Blood of Jesus.<\/p>\n We need<\/em><\/strong> to come to Sunday Mass.\u00a0 Yet, we do not have to be here tonight.\u00a0 We choose to come tonight because we want to be close to God.\u00a0 So now I am going to stop talking as we take time to simply sit in adoration of what is before us in the Blessed Sacrament.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Homily for November 2018 Holy Hour Jeremiah 1:4-9 Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51 1 John 4:7-16 John 15:1-17 We come here tonight not to be alone.\u00a0 No, we come to be here with Jesus, Jesus who is Son of God, consubstantial with the Father.\u00a0 It is Jesus who is present in the bread in the …<\/p>\n