TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I - Humble yourself and you will find favor with God. + The opening prayer for Mass today focused on God’s many gifts: “every good thing comes from you, Almighty God!” Among those good things are late summer flowers, fresh farm produce, and the last days of summer vacation. Surrounded by such abundance and bounty and beauty, it is easy to trust in God’s “constant care and protection” – also a phrase from that same opening prayer. Today’s readings suggest the proper attitude of those who have received so many gifts: HUMILITY! This humility has nothing to do with “groveling before the Almighty,” but is instead a certain “down-to-earth-ness.” The root of the words “humble” and “humility” is “humus”: meaning “earth.” A humble person is “earthy!” The true activity of the virtue of humility keeps us from reaching beyond ourselves, from excessive, unfounded pride; from lording it over others and thinking that rules just don’t apply to us, no matter what our social or economic position might be. Humility reminds us of our oneness with the less fortunate – “the poor, the cripple, the blind, the lame” – whom Jesus commands us to invite to our tables. THE TRULY HUMBLE PERSON KNOWS THAT EVERYTHING IS GOD’S GIFT! Of course, humility is not a highly treasured characteristic in our culture. How can we possibly “get ahead” if we don’t exalt ourselves? It is only right that I should sit at the places of honor at fancy corporate banquets – I have certainly “earned” the right. Yet Jesus reminds us once again that God’s standard of success is different from the world’s – in fact, it is the opposite. The second reading gives us a taste, though, of the heavenly glory we stand to inherit when we are willing to set aside earthly standards and earthly fame: we will inherit “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels [and saints] in festal gathering.” May we pray for the gift of humility daily – especially the greater among us, the ones with larger responsibilities. May we conduct our affairs with holy detachment, expansive love and “earthy” humility so that we may be able to appreciate and rejoice in the “proverbs of the wise,” have the “mind of a sage” and have a place reserved for us in the new and eternal Jerusalem! Take my yoke upon you, says the Lord, and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart! TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I - They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nations. + Perhaps a very valid and burning question is: considering the state of the world, considering the state of the Church, considering what justice demands: LORD, WILL ONLY A FEW BE SAVED? This is most definitely a “loaded question” and a serious one! More appropriately the question might read: LORD, WILL I BE AMONG THE ONES WHO ARE SAVED ON THAT LAST DAY? Jesus, in the gospel passage, wisely does not answer the question directly. He does not say: YES, or NO! Because, he actually doesn’t really know! Since, we each cooperate in our own salvation – the final tally is still very much up in the air. It is up to us in the final analysis to either seek “the real way, the real truth and the real life” or not! Strive to enter through the narrow gate: Jesus advises in the gospel passage - which is only for the spiritually disciplined and strong – this includes those who have “endured trials because of their faith.” Being in the right place at the right time at the end of our lives will not guarantee us entrance into the kingdom (just shouting Lord, Lord, here I am! will not be enough); but being a humble person, who tried to live the best he could, a life of prayer / action / joy for others will lead straight to the fore-gate of God’s throne! Therefore, being “strong enough” as Jesus would have it, means being willing to accept our utter weakness and total dependence on God for everything we need to live our lives. And then, to live outstanding lives in the service of God! When we acknowledge ourselves as weak, it is then that we are truly strong to do his will! The second reading today tells us the discipline that is needed to form us in our spiritual weakness. Weak does not mean incapacitated! Weak simply means it can only be God’s wisdom and will and ways that can make us truly strong enough to battle our way through this world’s wiles (and there are so many of them out there beyond these walls), and strengthen our drooping hands and weak knees, guiding us along straight paths, where our disjointed feet may be healed – so that we may honor God and give him glory by the lives of holiness and helpfulness that we lead! All nations are invited to salvation – not “just a few” – as our first reading tells us; but these same nations must present themselves before the Lord with docility, humility and openheartedness and willingness to be formed and disciplined by a loving Father – just as we must. We are all called to holiness - and when we demonstrate that we are beginning to truly be holy people, then God will be glorified as is his due, and we will be that much closer to attaining our place with him as a community of love, justice and peace residing deep inside his amazing heart! God bless you! SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION I - A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet. + Today we are in the height of summer and we pause to celebrate a feast of the Virgin Mary. We celebrate “the gathering of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the harvest of salvation.” Christ her son was the “firstfruits” of this glorious company, as we heard in our second reading. Today’s feast recalls that his Blessed Mother shared from the very moment of her death in that same fullness of life that she witnessed on Easter Day – and her body and soul rose from this earth to take its place beside her Son, the King of the Universe. Today’s feast is ecumenical in its reach, as well: Orthodox Christians celebrate Mary’s Dormition, or “falling asleep,” while many Protestant communities honor Mary today as “Mother of the Lord.” Our Roman Catholic tradition, however tells us on the other hand, that Mary actually died and not just fell asleep; and, of course that Mary is not just the Mother of the Lord (that is “Jesus the Man”), she is truly Mother of God – as his Divinity - his being Son of God - cannot be separated from his being also Son of Man at the same time. And so, if she is Mother of the Man, she is also Mother of God. Most importantly, we will hear in our preface before the Eucharistic Prayer in just a few moments: Mary is the image of the Church; where God has taken her, we (who are the Church – the Mystical Body of her Son) hope to follow. This is no simple wishful thinking, but this hope is based on the promise obtained by the reality of the redemption wrought by Jesus her Son in his death and resurrection – just so that we could be with him and her and all the saints and angels forever in our Father’s House! O Mary, our Mother – splendorous woman, clothed with the sun, having the moon beneath your feet – pray for us all, now and at hour of our deaths, so that we may enjoy your company in that great experience of living in God’s heart forever! God bless you! NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I - Just as you punished our adversaries, you glorified us whom you had summoned. + Our gospel passage today is a continuation of last week’s passage about “storing up treasure!” The man in last week’s story that Jesus told, piled up his treasure in earthly storage bins, very large ones – thus thinking himself well-off, safe and “in good shape” for years to come. But God demanded his life that very night, asking – so now, you foolish man, who is all of this stored up wealth going to go to? The point was that we need to make our treasure where it matters most to God – and that is with him! Today the theme continues: do not be afraid little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom – what an amazing treasure that is! Place your heart here, in mine, he says and your treasure will be secure not only through this life, but well into the next! No thief can reach it here, or moth destroy it; the storage containers cannot wear out here! “The one condition, however, to place your treasure here, in my heart, is complete and total detachment from the things of the world, so that you will have to live on complete and total trust in me: this trust is called faith: the faith of Abraham (of the second reading today). Abraham lives in my heart, and so can you!” [This does not mean that you cannot own things, but they must not own you, and you must be ready to give them up at a moment’s notice – to drop it all when the Lord calls you – (which as our gospel passage tells us can be any time at all) - so that you can reach out for your treasure with open hands and hearts in heaven! Closed fists clawing on material goods will not get anyone anywhere when the Bridegroom comes knocking on the door!] God, you have chosen us to be your own possession, your own people, your own children! We are fortunate beyond all imagining having you as our Father! May we this day, and the days of the coming week: open our hands and our hearts, and set our goal on seeing your Face one day, fix it there, keep it there – keep this desire above all other desires – so that we may not have anything at all to fear – in this life - or when the next one begins! May your kindness, O Lord, be upon us who have put our hope in you! EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I - What profit comes to a man from all his toil? + Our readings today have that “Jacob Marley / Ebenezer Scrooge kind of twist” about them. In “A Christmas Carol,” Jacob Marley tells Ebenezer Scrooge that his greed is forging chains that will bind him to this earth. “It is a ponderous chain!” – as Dickens describes it. This indeed is a stark reminder to those who are attached only to their wealth: especially material wealth. All the readings today call us to store up treasure in the one place that really matters most – with God! If we try to hold on to our wealth in this life, if we become so attached to that which we think we deserve, we can be sure that it will weigh us down – like Jacob Marley’s ball and chain - and make us unable to accept the light burden of Christ. Unless we become detached from our possessions, the readings warn us, we will be unable to accept the gift of salvation. And what a tragedy that would be – both theatrically and in real life. We need to stand with open hands, and minds and hearts - always ready to receive and share the graces that God, in Christ, offers us through the Holy Spirit. This is the simple but difficult message that we hear in these scripture passages today, and it is also the message that we see played out every day in our world, where so many are living in want. Today, in a special way, as we are fed in the celebration of this Eucharist, let us also call to mind the command that we have from the Lord, to share our wealth, to share what we have with others – who are truly in need! It is never too late to put our Christianity into practice – until the last chime: and then it truly will be “too late” – and we will be held accountable for any possible good deeds NOT DONE! Let us “share the Christmas Turkey” while we still can! SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I - Let not my Lord grow angry if I speak. + Today we have very instructive and powerful readings. They teach us a lot about the inner life and workings of God – which is one of the main reasons we come here on Sundays: to learn about God, so we can love him and serve him better! The first reading is a dramatic rendition of how much God wants to accept repentance for sins when it is made, and to withhold his justified anger in not reducing to ashes the sinner! Even in a society as bad as that of Sodom and Gomorrah, the reading tells us that if even ten innocent people can be found, he would save the whole region for the sake of the ten. That is some pretty powerful language. And it speaks so very well of what is actually going on in our own society – and on the world stage in which we live – which is in so many ways even worse than Sodom and Gomorrah: it is the good, holy, decent, justified lives of a relatively few people that is actually withholding God’s justifiably angry hand from wiping out the entire planet: holy lives of hopefully groups of fully practicing Catholic persons like ourselves (and others), we are the ones doing this! O yes! What we do when we come here is very, very important to the spiritual well-being not only of ourselves and our families and our parish – but the entire Church – and the world at large. And what is it that we tune in to when we come here week after week? It is the very life of Christ that we share in by our baptisms and confirmations. In baptism, as St. Paul tells us, in the second reading, we are truly buried in the ground with Jesus, as he was on Good Friday Night; and we are also raised to newness of life with him as was such for him on Easter Morning. By doing these things Jesus freed us from our sins, our transgressions, the things that could separate us from God forever after we die. And if this is so, and we stir up this reality within us each time we come to Mass, and each time we pray at home, or wherever we are – then we are among those courageous, holy few who are holding the world together – so that it can achieve the end for which it was created: fullness of itself as a Kingdom ruled by Jesus as King forever! This is not just rhetoric, or pie-in-the-sky, or a fantasy – this is the reality of what the world is headed for whether it knows it, or likes it, or not! Finally, dear brothers as sisters, I return to a theme that actually should be part of every Mass – a reminder that God pardons us, and forgives us and is willing to transform our world into a glorious place for us to live – because he is our FATHER! It is only by means of the Holy Spirit working in us that we can even say that! God is our adoptive Father! Only Jesus is his Son by nature – he cannot be otherwise. We are true sons and daughters by adoption (through baptism) – it cannot be otherwise. The gospel passage today tells us that God is FATHER. Jesus taught his disciples to pray using that term and it was a definitive prayer, and a definitive term: which means it cannot be debated or otherwise interpreted. Jesus is the eternal Son; the Father (his Father) is the eternal Father: and now Jesus tells us we can call his Father “ours!” What an astounding privilege! We must never tamper with the theology behind that term, that name, that Person, that prayer. God delights to have us call him Father! May we delight him thusly many times a day! Thank you Father, our Father, for loving us so very much as to reveal yourself to us fully by means of Christ, our Lord, but also our older Brother and our dearest Friend. Through him, show us the way that leads directly to your house and the room that you have prepared for each of us in it! God bless you! SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I - Lord, do not go on past your servant. + Today’s gospel passage needs to be carefully and clearly understood. BOTH listening to, and then serving, the Lord are necessary and important; welcoming him into our presence, and then allowing his presence to make a big difference in the way we treat people afterwards; sitting at the Lord’s feet; and then being his hands and feet and arms to embrace all who need his compassionate care! If Jesus was reprimanding Martha today, perhaps it was just to emphasize the point that service must always be preceded by prayer and listening to God for his will. Otherwise, our service, our work, what we do for others could be aimless and less than it could be. But what he is not saying is that one is more important than the other in the total picture! BOTH ARE NECESSARY AND IMPORTANT! It is possible to be both attentive to Jesus (“the better portion”) and to attend to the needs of others (Martha’s portion) at the same time. Perhaps this is the real lesson here. What is also to be understood clearly from this passage is that not only men are called to be disciples of Jesus, but also women. Women too are equal to men insofar as they can be hearers and doers of God’s will and ways – each in the design and way that God has in mind. In the first reading today we have a holy man and a holy woman welcoming God into their lives. Some say that the three visitors represent the Holy Trinity itself. And that our Father in Faith, Abraham, and his wife Sarah in being so hospitable to them – serving their needs – were rewarded by the announcement that Sarah – even in her old age – would in one year’s time be the mother of a son – Isaac. When we welcome Jesus into our lives, we also welcome the other persons of the Trinity as well: Father and Spirit. It cannot be otherwise! And it is their dynamic, effusive, ever-expanding life of giving and service within us that motivates us and moves us to live not only like them, but to be them, for our brothers and sisters. This love, this service, is not always an easy thing – as our second reading tells us. And we must, by our willing self-sacrifice make up for what is still lacking in the sufferings of Christ: in the now physical manifestation of his Body, the Church, which is still in so many ways imperfect. May we gladly offer our own crosses and sufferings* so that the Church will become purified and perfect – and become the spotless Bride of Christ that it is intended to be in heaven; and that the world may be transformed into the glorious Kingdom of God with Jesus reigning as King forever! Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest through perseverance. FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I - The word is very near to you; you have only to carry it out. + Our gospel passage for today is a compelling one. It asks very pointedly and directly: “Who is my neighbor?” It seems that the scholars of the law were in agreement as to the theory of loving God first, and loving neighbor as self, after that, – but they split the hair by asking Jesus “just who then is this ‘neighbor’?” What they were implying is: “just how far-reaching does your definition go, Jesus?” In reply, Jesus told them a story about an unfortunate person who was beat up by robbers. They did quite a job on him and left him half-dead. Three people passed by the wounded man – a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan. Two of them ran across the street and passed on the opposite side: the priest and the Levite. But the Samaritan, the one you would least expect (coming from a hybrid for of Judaism) came to him immediately, poured oil and wine over the wounds and bandaged them. Then he put him on his own beast and took him to an inn and cared for him. Asking which of the three was “neighbor” – the scholar was forced to admit that it was the one who treated the man with mercy! Then Jesus told the scholar – he tells us all – go and do the same! Your neighbor is anyone at all who needs compassion, mercy and forgiveness – go and bring God’s healing love to all who need it! Today the Church also remembers the Feast of St. Benedict of Nursia – a sixth century monk and founder of Western monasticism- who chose to serve his neighbor in a special way. The Spirit of God led Benedict to Monte Cassino to organize a way of life that would offer the possibility of spending a more concentrated time, in an environment of quiet and peace for the pursuit of holy wisdom, gotten from the law of God in written form (the Scriptures) and discovering, as the first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy tell us, that the mysteries and secrets to a holy and perfect life are not too remote or far away; they are actually fact already written in our hearts – and all we have to do is to be still, listen and then carry out by word and deed what we thus experience. This, for the monk, and for the lay-person: everyone is called to be a monk or a nun for at least an hour or two a day! Today we, the Joyful Servants of the Cross, acknowledge with gratitude the contributions that St. Benedict, composer of the Rule of Life that we follow, made to the Church. The Cross of Christ was very important to St. Benedict – and his own Crucifix is still held in highest esteem in the Church as a focal point for our meditation of God’s love for his people, and as a source of defense and protection against the snares and wiles of the evil one – who though mortally wounded – is still trying to take down with him into hell as many as he can! We, on the other hand, exist to pray and work for the purification and perfection of the Church on earth as it makes its way to heaven to be the Bride of Christ in her fullness, and the spiritual transformation of the world into the glorious Kingdom of God – that is its destiny – whether it even knows or cares about it or not! Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life. May we attend to your word at every minute of the day – in one way or another; and may it lead us to acts of kindness and true supernatural charity to any “neighbor in need!” This is our Christian vocation – this is our Monastic vocation – this is our Holy Catholic Life! Amen! FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I - Behold, I will spread prosperity over her like a river. + Our gospel passage today is a continuation from last week. Jesus is still resolutely making his way to Jerusalem. He is still determined to embrace the Cross of Calvary that will save so very many people, including you and me, from eternal separation from God and punishment. He loves us so very much! While on the way there, today Jesus sends out into towns where he intends to visit on the trip, seventy-two pairs of helpers – whom he asked to courageously go among all kinds of people and announce that the Kingdom of God is at hand for them. These helpers (these disciples) were to travel very lightly. They were to keep as their main focus their job, the task that Jesus gave them to do. They were to test the waters of their visitations by announcing peace. When peace is offered to someone – it pretty much speaks for itself. If a peaceful man hears the offer, he will accept it gladly and offer it back to you. If not, there will be a lot of mumbling and even cursing and the offer of peace will be thrown right back into the face of the giver. Jesus is actually calling us to do as these disciples: follow him to Jerusalem, where we will have the privilege of witnessing God’s tremendous love for his people – by an unprecedented act of forgiveness, reconciliation and setting free – by means of the Cross. Later he would have us boast of the Cross of Christ as the sure hope of salvation for all in the world, but also he would have us carry our own crosses, boasting of them as well; for if we do not carry and boast about our own crosses – then we shall not share in the glory of the resurrection, the grace of forgiveness, the fullness of freedom, the fullness of peace forever! God wants our hearts to rejoice because we feel so very much loved by him – even as a mother loves her children (I - Isaiah). We are his children – by baptism – and this is huge – this is our access point to so very many gifts, the greatest being faith and charity: belief in Jesus and the ability to love as he did with a love that emanates from the heart of God the Father himself. Our greatest joy, our greatest freedom, then, is the freedom of the children of God! It is only as free children of God – operating on the supernatural level of faith and charity that we can even begin to understand how human life both individually and in community, the secular society, ought to be lived. In this we can see clearly how all natural law is based on and derivative of supernatural law. It cannot be otherwise. It is very difficult for a real Christian to live in the world – but no one ever said that it would be anything other than that. Jesus himself said it quite plainly: the world will hate you and persecute you if you believe in me and live by my brand of charity! In fact unless the world does look askance at us, perhaps we are not as Christian as we ought to be. And on this fourth day of July, may we remember that the independence that this country was founded upon sprung from a desire for religious liberty – which was so very welcomed back then. Today it seems however to be so much the opposite case: exercising the legal right of religious freedom – especially by Church members - can get one labeled an enemy of progress and of the state. It’s time for freedom – true freedom – freedom of the children of God – to ring out throughout the land; whatever other kinds of freedom there are out there can only be valid if they participate in this fundamental God-given freedom – paid for by the Death of Christ Jesus on the Cross! It’s time for the lamb to lie down with the wolf – in peace, peace that can only come from God alone! Let the peace of Christ control your hearts; let the word of Christ dwell in you richly! Be transformed by the renewal of your minds! THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I - Then Elisha left and followed Elijah as his attendant. + Even though the message of the readings is short today, it is a hard message, and it shall not be softened. Following Jesus is not meant to be an easy thing – in any way, shape or form – but it is meant to be extremely rewarding for those who go all the way with him – all the way to Jerusalem – all the way to the Cross – carrying their own! Jesus resolutely made his way to Jerusalem – knowing exactly what awaited him there. Jesus determinedly reached out for what would bring salvation to all of mankind including us. Jesus perseveringly refused to be distracted in any way from his goal and the glory that it would give to his Father. Are we still with him? Both the first reading and the gospel talk about discipleship – about leaving behind and going forward with Jesus – but both warn us that this turning must be decisive, immediate and uncompromising: “Go back” – Elijah answered Elisha called to discipleship – “why do you want to go back when God is calling you NOW?” And in the gospel: “Bury your father? Let the dead bury their dead.” “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” When we choose God, when we choose Jesus, when we choose to be members of his Church – we are turning away from darkness and sin – we are turning away from anything that would lead us back into that place of shadows and terror – we are turning away from all that has to do with death and destruction. And we are turning instead to life – to light – to love! Do our daily choices reflect this major choice that ought not to be withdrawn? In the second reading, St. Paul tells us that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free, so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery, the yoke of sin, the yoke of death. LIVE BY THE SPIRIT and you will truly be alive both in your body and in your spirit. And you will have dismissed from your vocabulary and your actions that which is contrary to the Spirit of God that does indeed dwell within you by your baptism and confirmation! How radical is your discipleship? How powerfully does the Spirit live in you? How far along the road to perfection in the spiritual life are you? Either you are heading towards the fullness of spiritual life, with your cross on your back; or you are heading towards the fullness of spiritual death, crossless but also ultimately lifeless! Jesus’ death on the Cross made it so that you don’t have to endure that punishment, that separation that unending pain and torture – if you don’t want to! It is entirely up to you – but just remember: real discipleship is all or nothing! But the payoff is complete never-ending bliss Who would not want that? Speak, Lord, your servant is listening;[I believe what you are telling me!] you have the words of everlasting life! TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I - They shall look on him whom they have pierced. + Our message for today is short and to the point: Christ Jesus is God; and as he had to suffer much, and even die to fully attain this position, so, if we want to be his followers and recipients of a share in the new life he attained – then we too must suffer much, and even one day die! In the gospel passage today Jesus separates out two levels of understanding of himself: the one circulating among the people (John the Baptist back from the dead, or a dead prophet from the past like Elijah); the other, the one hopefully different, emanating from his own chosen band of Apostles, who by this time should have gotten to know him a little better. Peter – inspired by the Holy Spirit of Truth – blurts out: YOU ARE THE CHRIST OF GOD! Peter could never have come up with this on his own, or any of the rest of the Twelve. The Spirit teaches us something extremely profound and important here: in fact the most central fact of the Incarnation: JESUS, THE CHRIST (the Anointed One) IS GOD! Belief in this fact is the hinge on which the salvation of the world swings. CHRIST IS GOD – the first-fruit of the likes of all of us – who, by faith in this fact and baptism (as our second reading tells us today) – become children of God in Christ Jesus and an heir to the promise God made to Abraham of mercy, grace and salvation! The first reading today from the Prophet Zechariah foretells that it would be from the pierced heart of Christ that salvation and the sacramental life of the Church would flow beginning with the moment of his death on the Cross: and among the sacraments Baptism is the first and most important. Becoming a child of God and a member of Christ is meant to make all the difference in our lives and the lives of all in the world. People in the world are thirsting, thirsting, thirsting after something deep, primordial and satisfying: the only thing that can possibly satisfy that thirst is to drink of the spring of life welling up from the pierced side of Christ. This is not just religious poetry and rhetoric: this is fact, plain and simple. Only God himself can fill up what he made, knows and understands - and can see is so broken and anguished by the sin of Adam, and personal sin. It is up to us to witness to the fact that incorporation into Christ and the voluntary placement of ourselves underneath the streams of grace flowing from His Most Precious and Sacred Heart – is the sure way to peace and joy that will have no end. Part of our witness is that we demonstrate that the attainment of such peace and joy can only come, as Jesus himself told us and modeled after much cross-carrying, suffering, and eventually death! But we rejoice in this process because all of our red crosses will be turned into gold crosses of victory! Jesus promised – and he always keeps his promises! My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God. ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I - The Lord has forgiven your sin; you shall not die. + Today we begin once again the green season of the year which the Church gives us “to feast on the banquet” that God provides for his people, his children, the flock he loves to shepherd. Just as it is time now to break out the picnic baskets and barbeque grills, let us not forget this veritable Banquet of the Word of Life, and the spiritual Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus that he provides here each Sunday, so that we can appreciate the Eucharist that we receive at the table, and so that we can be the living Eucharist for others whom God places in our lives so that we can encourage, nurture and help along the way. During these next several months, I would like to once again take up my New Year’s Resolution to keep my homilies a bit shorter and more to the point (I may have stayed a bit now and then) – and so: today’s point is this: the Lord has provided a very specific way to forgive the wrong that we do! King David, and the Penitent Woman were each different in their motivation to sin, but they both had one thing in common – that we can also have in common with them - they both turned to the Lord / and were forgiven / because they asked to be. One came to the intellectual and heartfelt realization that he had sinned and announced this fact to a representative of the Lord (this being David), and Nathan told David that the Lord for his part had forgiven his sin; the other literally turned to the Lord Jesus, approached him, and out of great love simply washed his feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair (this being the Penitent Woman). He knew who and what sort of woman she was and it was her faith and love that was the cause of the forgiveness of her sins. If we put both of these rather beautiful and dramatic penitential stories together we come to a model for ourselves.We can see that the story of King David confessing to Nathan prefigures the great Sacrament of Penance, Reconciliation and Peace. The Church tells us we must confess serious sin to the priest – to God’s specially appointed representative – and we shall be surely forgiven. This Sacrament is not optional! But before this happens, we can also turn privately to the Lord like the Penitent Woman did and pour out our sorrow, our love and hopefully our tears on his feet. And we will hear him tells us two things: everything will be alright: your faith is working and now useful to you, so go to the priest and confess your sins. This is implied, by the later institution of the Sacrament of Penance. Should the woman sin again, she could avail herself of the Lord’s forgiveness directly in that wonderful sacramental encounter. That’s it for today! A man and a woman sinned. A man and a woman were forgiven. Men, women and children like us, in fact us, are invited to partake of the “Sumptuous Banquet of Forgiveness” that is offered in all our parish churches weekly on Saturday afternoon! Penance is the great unforgotten sacrament of our day! And it is a shame, because it is absolutely essential for everlasting life, for anyone who sins - in an even remotely serious way - after baptism – to confess his sins to a priest! THE SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST I - Melchizedek brought out bread and wine. + Last Sunday we celebrated the “summary” Sunday of the Most Blessed Trinity: One God who is Three Divine Persons: each Distinct, Separate and Real; but One, Equal, Holy and Essential Being. This is the “uncreated God” who is an eternal dynamic relationship of love – having no beginning, and no end – who exist in an eternal now of supreme joy and peace! We said last week that this amazing Being – completely sufficient and content within itself – had no reason whatsoever at all to go outside Itself EXCEPT for the fact that BEING LOVE – they wanted to share what they have with other beings, who they would create, to be like them, created in their image: meaning, PERSONS sharing their GLORY and their POWER. That is where Adam, Eve and their children - that is, you and I - came from. It was an amazing relationship that they had – Adam and Eve – until they were tricked by the Devil into demanding something that they already possessed: life in the divinity of God himself. They were already like God, created in his image; but Satan twisted it 180 degrees and told them that he could make them gods in their own right, after their own imaginings and likes and dislikes– quite divorced from any dependent relationship on anyone, most especially GOD THE FATHER! And that was it! Like a great clap of thunder sin cut though the family relationship between God and his children. Mankind was mortally wounded – and would be for all time, unless a totally unprecedented event took place: a Man-God offering his very life for the likes of sinful men! It was the offended, God the Father, who went so far as to devise the plan and send his only-begotten Son to be the one to die for the salvation of the human race! What a tremendous reality the Divine Heart of God is! He loved and loves his creations so very much. And then thanks to the effectiveness of the action of the Holy Spirit who has been present to the community of believers in God’s love, his salvation and the whole process based around the person of Jesus, his Son – access to the Divine Life is now once again possible by means of the Sacraments of the Church which begin with BAPTISM! When one chooses to be baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” an entirely super-natural event takes place: the son or daughter of Adam, becomes instantaneously a son or daughter of God himself (once again) by means of the grace of reconciliation merited by Jesus Christ who is not only our Savior, but also our Brother and our Friend. This is amazing! We, of course also, become members of the Church, the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, Branches of the Vine, a community of believers! But first and foremost and most magnificently WE BECOME CHILDREN OF GOD! We become children of God! Everything follows from that! And the great message of today’s feast is that God provides for his family: he provides the greatest spiritual food that could ever possibly be imagined: food which is the spiritual Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the same Savior and Lord, Brother and Friend who promised to stay with his people, his Church, his Body, his Bride throughout all of human history, until the very end of the world: CHRIST JESUS, his Son. This angelic food, this Bread of Life, this Eucharist that was instituted on the night of the Last Supper, contains also the very death of Jesus on the Cross the next day because Jesus had exactly the same intention at both events: to lay down his life completely for his only then potential and possible brothers and sisters: so that they could have life and have it to the full! It is absolutely necessary to eat this bread and drink this cup, in order to gain everlasting life. Jesus says this quite plainly and he means it. That is why it is vital for all of us to get the message out that this is so: that fullness of life must be tasted and experienced here, before it can even be recognized, tasted and experienced later in heaven. While baptism is also a requirement for salvation – and alternative ways of being baptized are recognized by the Church – there is only the slightest way around not eating and drinking the bread and wine consecrated by a duly ordained priest of the Catholic Church - whose ordination is verifiable in the true apostolic line of succession. There is surely a legitimate means of “spiritual communion” for those who cannot in any other way avail themselves of the true Eucharist in their lifetimes directly! Just as Baptism creates holy childhood of God in us and Confirmation strengthens it and gives it gifts to use for the good of all in the family: so Eucharist completes the initiation process with a family meal that can be partaken of daily if wanted, weekly as prescribed for our own spiritual welfare by the Church. It is of extreme importance to know that the Divine Life begun at Baptism and strengthened at Confirmation would quite literally die if it is not nurtured and nourished by participation in the Holy Eucharist, and by prayer and works of charity done for love of God. Perhaps this is why so many lukewarm and fallen away Catholics, and members of other religious persuasions who have baptism as part of their initiation rites seem so miserable, disjointed and generally unhappy: their own unattended, neglected, forgotten but spiritual lives are smothering them! Let us prune ourselves, if necessary, let us pray, let us help others for love of Christ and let us appreciate the depth of love that went into the creation of the Most Blessed gift of Eucharist - for the Divine Life of our very souls – and let us eat and drink and proclaim the death of the Lord joyfully and happily until he comes again – so that we can go with him home and live forever in our Father’s house! TRINITY SUNDAY I - Before the earth was made, Wisdom was conceived. + Today is “summary Sunday” – that is: S U M M A R Y, as well as “summery Sunday” S U M M E R Y as we celebrate also Memorial Day and the beginning of the “summer season” here in Vacationland – the beautiful state of Maine. We welcome any visitors from out of town! “Welcome to you all!” First we consider S U M M A R Y: on this solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity we celebrate really ONE AMAZING FACT: that God who is a dynamic loving relationship within himself – One Relationship of Three Distinct, Real and Interrelated Persons – not by any necessity at all - chose to share “personhood” with other created creatures with whom they could enter into a very special, dynamic and familial, filial, relationship. God the Father wanted not only one Son, in the Word, but also many sons and daughters who would participate in a family relationship the only way they could really do it: by spiritual adoption. Only Jesus is Son of God by nature; God predestined and calls everyone else to family life with him, with and in Jesus, by adoption: that can only be accessed by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation and nurtured daily by the Eucharist – the very bread of Divine Life for our spiritually starving souls! THIS IS ASTOUNDING! When we are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit we instantaneously become forgiven “children of God,” brothers and sisters of Jesus and one another, and heirs with Jesus of eternal life! WOW! God is very clear – his creatures, born into the world with Adam’s sin attached to them, must in some way, shape or form be baptized in order to become forgiven children and family members of his. The pouring of water and saying the words is the ordinary means, but there are other legitimate means that the Church allows for and are enumerated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. That’s really all there is to it! And we have just taken six months to explain in great detail the process of how this salvation came about: how the plan of transforming the sin of Adam into the grace of eternal life began with a babe at Bethlehem, continued with a man who revealed everything there is to know about God, including the nature of total self-gift to the point of self-sacrificial death on a Cross, and whose resurrection from the dead into a newness of life was the great break-though event that made Jesus unlike any other human being in history. That newness he made available to any who would believe in him, and in his Father and in their Spirit. Last week we celebrated the great Gift of the Father and the Son: the Holy Spirit: who not only was sent to affirm and confirm everything that Jesus ever said and did, but was also to be the continued presence and source of spiritual power in the community of believers that became the Church, upon his arrival: a source for Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist – and the rest of the sacraments, as well as the entire life of the Church that we are so privileged to be a part of! No matter what human inadequacies infect the Church with scandal and veritable hypocrisy: the Church is still and will always be DIVINE in its source, its root and its very life! There is every reason to cling to it, as if to a floating timber in the great rough sea of life! May we now meditate upon our amazing membership in God’s own family: we, being his children, he being OUR FATHER: a title which God delights in hearing us call him: Jesus told us to call him OUR FATHER!!! ABBA!!! DADDY!!! because he likes it, he deserves it and nothing else suffices to describe the precise and exact nature of the relationship – and may we affirm our faith in the works and working of the Most Blessed Trinity by answering the following questions? Priest: (PLEASE RESPOND “I DO BELIEVE,” if indeed you do believe)! Do you believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen? Do you believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father? Do you believe that through him all things were made? Do you believe that for us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven? Do you believe that it was by the power of the Holy Spirit that he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man? Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son? Do you believe that with the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified? Do you believe that he has spoken through the Prophets? Do you believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church? Do you acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sin? Do you look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come? This is our faith! This is the faith of the Church! We are proud to profess it in Christ Jesus our Lord! AMEN! PENTECOST SUNDAY I - They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak. + One day after the celebration of the Ascension of Jesus into heaven (ten days ago), the space shuttle Atlantis was launched for the last time. We have all seen space shuttle launches. There is GREAT FANFARE! GREAT LIGHT! GREAT SOUND! GREAT POWER!!! While this may not be a good analogy to what happened on the day of the Ascension: Jesus actually simply went up into the clouds, with a gesture of blessing as he made his way. But this is exactly what it was like on the day of Pentecost! The Spirit came down like the experience of a space shuttle going up – and the house where the Apostles were SHOOK! There was BRIGHT LIGHT! THERE WAS GREAT SOUND! There was POWER! And there was the de-scending, rather than a-scending of tongues of flame and fire that landed on the heads of the Apostles and filled them to overflowing with the JOYOUS, PEACEFUL, POWERFUL PRESENCE OF GOD – deep down in their souls - like they had never experienced him before. Everything immediately became different – the very newness of life of God began to surge inside of them like never before – and they knew who God was, they knew who Jesus really was for the first time, they knew who they were, they knew how they were now related to one another in a new and sacred relationship, they knew how eager they were to bring the message of all of this to all others – no matter what the cost might be! It was a magnificent day! The first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles tells the narration of what exactly happened: when it was time for Pentecost, the apostles were together in one place, and suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. They began to proclaim the glory of God and his will for the salvation of the entire human race to the residents of all the various nations who were gathered in Jerusalem for the Jewish Feast of Pentecost – and each person heard the same message in their own language. This is the gift of tongues – and a foretelling that the gospel would be spread to every land – as Jesus had commanded. In addition to the impetus behind evangelization, the Spirit gives different gifts for the benefit of the whole body of the newly formed community of believers – each new member is given at least one gift to use to keep this new Body of Christ alive and well: to keep the shuttle flying to use the alternative analogy! It is up to each member to more fully discover his or her gift (or gifts) and put it (or them) at the disposal of the whole community. As I mentioned two weeks ago, Jesus promised “two parting gifts” when he would finish his work on earth and ascend to the Father’s right hand – PEACE and THE HOLY SPIRIT ….today those combined gifts are delivered – in great force, with great power - for the purpose of renewing the face of the earth. But as I said at that time, this peace, given by the presence of the Holy Spirit, is the result of the experience of heartfelt giving and receiving of forgiveness. The beginning of the sending of the Apostles occurred on the night of Easter when Jesus actually introduced forgiveness to them, after abandoning him (all except John) at his Crucifixion, by appearing in their midst and greeting them saying (twice) “Peace be with you!”Then he breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit, if you forgive sins they are forgiven, if you judge in a case that they ought not to be forgiven, then they will not be forgiven.” This means that SUPERNATURAL FORGIVENESS IS REALLY POSSIBLE and must be the key to a full reception of the Spirit and his gift of Peace and all the other gifts besides! And so, may we forgive those we need to forgive in our lives, and ask forgiveness of those we ought to ask it of as well – so that the rush of the Spirit may fill us to overflowing with God’s joy, God’s peace and God’s strength for the purification and perfection of the Church on earth, and the spiritual transformation of the world into the glorious Kingdom of God, with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Brother, ruling as King, forever! Come, Holy Spirit, Come! In your sevenfold gift descend; Give us virtue’s sure reward;
SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER I - I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. + Today we are in the beginning stages of commemorating the first “novena” that was quite actually instituted by Jesus himself. Just before his Ascension into heaven (which we celebrated three days ago on Thursday) Jesus gives the Apostles the jurisdiction “to act in his name” – the “spiritual legal right” to bring the gospel all over the world, but he withheld the special power to do it effectively for the time being. He said virtually: “Go, but first wait!” Wait for the gift that my Father and I promise to send you soon! Wait for it, gathered together! Wait for it, patiently! Wait for it, prayerfully! And so, the Apostles and Mary, and perhaps some others went to “the Upper Room” where Jesus had celebrated his Last Supper, the First Mass - with these same Apostles - and they waited and they prayed and they were very hopeful – for they knew that God always keeps his promises! They had no idea how long this “waiting/praying” time would be –but they were committed to the task! In the end, they waited for nine complete days! (novem dies , in Latin– which is where we get the term “novena”). And then on the tenth day: the day of Pentecost, the promised Gift arrived and it was truly spectacular and amazing: but more details on that will follow next Sunday when we will celebrate Pentecost. What is necessary for us to do, this day and all the days of the coming week is to live more patiently, more prayerfully than we might ordinarily do, more expectantly, more hopefully – waiting for God to fill us this year with gifts of the Spirit that might be even unexpected or unplanned. Everything changed forever for the Apostles and the first group of thousands of recipients of God’s amazing grace. Maybe he has an amazing gift for us, individually and as a group – as a new parish - this year! As Christians we ought to be always in a patient and expectant mode anyway – for we are living in what the scriptures call: the end times! In the first reading we read that the giver of the revelation of the last book of Scripture says: Yes, I am coming soon! And the Spirit and the Bride (that is us, the Church) says: Come! Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! One day – he will come – and it will be wonderful for the faithful – and terrifying for the deliberate and unrelenting unbelievers! While we wait, we must be willing, like St. Stephen of the first reading today, to witness completely to the realness and trueness of all of this – even by giving our lives if necessary! This however need not mean physical death – but rather a decisive, faith-filled, rational witness daily to core Christian values in the face of the world – which for the most part has left God quite literally in the dust of pseudo intellectualism and heartless philanthropy – and which will oppose us and our ideals and standards every inch of the way! In quiet, in patience, and in prayer – we await you, coming Spirit of God: we await your strength, your courage, your gifts! Mold and fashion us as you will! Amen! Alleluia! SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER I - It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities. + It is certainly not difficult to understand that “two parting-gifts” ought to be much better than just one. Who would not want “a double dose of good things?” Today Jesus is preparing the Apostles for his departure from them – very soon – by now telling them “to prepare themselves for a very interesting pair of parting gifts:” he promises to send them “the HOLY SPIRIT and PEACE.” Either would have been amazing by themselves – but together they are a truly awesome jackpot of prizes! It is his death and resurrection that made possible the gift of the Spirit. Out of his pierced side as he hung dead on the cross came Blood and water – symbolizing the life-giving Spirit that is now available to all. And the risen Jesus “breathed” the Spirit into the disciples with the words: “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit, who will teach and remind us of everything that Jesus told us, is the instrument of bringing about the peace that Jesus promises to give us. This kind of peace is not as the world gives it, which is often merely the absence of warfare or conflict, something illusory and transitory. Jesus, on the other hand, promises us God’s own peace, a permanent and complete well-being and harmony with God and with one another. This Spirit of Peace, however, is the Spirit of Forgiveness: which makes it so very different from all other kinds of peace. And so it is when we allow the given Holy Spirit of God to move us to enter into situations and circumstances of experiencing the giving and receiving of forgiveness that we experience the true and lasting peace that God wants us to have. No one is perfect, yet! Forgiveness, empowered and brokered by the Holy Spirit of God himself, must be a substantial part of our Christian experience or we are missing out on a major portion of it! Because we are baptized we are all called to be filled with peace and to be peacemakers: let us joyfully take up this task and experience God, communion with one another and peace among us, as we are intended to! In the first reading today we see the apostles and elders in Jerusalem acting as peacemakers, invoking the Holy Spirit directly, to settle the dispute as to whether Gentile converts to Christianity had first to become Jewish, if only for a short while (become salvation must “come from the Jews”). The Holy Spirit himself made his intentions known and it was not necessary for this to happen. And, the deep peace of God resulted and the spread of Christianity took a leap forward. In the gospel passage Jesus tells the disciples clearly that he was to leave them in a short while, and that another Advocate would be sent in his name to teach them everything, and remind them of all that he told them. Then he gave them the gift of peace: deep, pervading, abiding peace. Don’t let your hearts be troubled! Do not be afraid of being a member of my community! You are safe in my care! The combined gift of Spirit and Peace – these were for the early Church, these are for us – if we want them, if we ask for them, if we forgive (as we are forgiven). Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord, and my Father will love him and we will come to him! FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER I - They called the Church together and reported what God had done with them. + In big bold letters, chiseled in stone, above the porticoed three main doors, at the entrance of the Romanesque-style Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, in Richmond, Virginia, where I was ordained a priest thirty five years ago tomorrow are the words: IF YOU LOVE ME, KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS. On that bright, sunny Saturday morning, I walked under those letters and into the cathedral a deacon of the Church, and came out two hours later “a priest forever” – a priest of the New Covenant, according to the older “order of Melchisedech.” It would now be my mission – filled with the Holy Spirit of God, in a powerful way - to encourage others by my preaching and teaching and most importantly by my example - to do what the Lord Jesus commanded all of us to do: TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER, AS HE LOVED US, and still loves us – and will always love us! This, on that day, I promised to do! This I have tried my very best to do for thirty-five years! Only God knows how truly successful and pleasing to him I have been, thus far. And with the help of his grace I will continue to minister for as long as he wills and needs me to do it. The first reading today talks about the hardships endured by Paul and Barnabas and the first team of Apostles and evangelists as they went about setting up the first communities of faith. We too, here, are in the process of, really, doing the same thing – taking six communities of faith and combining them into one: FOR THE HOLINESS AND GOOD OF ALL INVOLVED: and for the good of the local diocesan church which has a God-given responsibility to look after our spiritual needs! Thisventure is not without its difficulties and hardships as well. But it was getting together to talk about what the Lord had done in their midst in building up their numbers and their faith that sustained the early communities; and it can do so for us as well. Real physical getting together for not only worship, but for all kinds of parish activities, including pot luck dinners, parish reads and other faith sharing projects can only be good for the material and spiritual well-being of all involved, and for the new parish as a whole! The one faith-related story that I would like to share with you today, stemming from the gospel mandate, and my personal mandate “to preach and teach the dynamics of theological love,” is this: as I stood in the pulpit of my home parish in Upstate New York, at the end of my first Mass there (which just happened to be Pentecost Sunday) – wearing these handmade vestments: quite unexpectedly I blurted out this statement: which surprised me to say the least: “And it is only through the red cross of suffering, that one can attain the gold cross of victory!” I had not planned on saying that at all, even though I had obviously chosen this “gold-cross superimposed on the red-cross” for my symbol and vestments and prayer cards as well. I suppose I thought the image was just obvious and not worth commenting about; but the Holy Spirit, whose feast it was, had other plans and out it came! Well, little did I know…little did I know that only a few weeks later events would start to happen in my life, beginning with an automobile accident, that changed everything from what I thought it was going to be like. After that, nothing seemed the way it should be! And so now, here I am, thirty-five years later with a different “Richmond” as part of my “voluntary pastoral duties” – in the state of Maine, of all places! I was not even sure that Maine was part of the United States back then! I have seen a host of red and gold crosses thus far since that day in the pulpit in New York State – but what I can share with you most assuredly is that I was right (HSP)way back then in 1975 – every one of the red crosses eventually turned into gold ones sooner or later, one way or another, and mostly in their own sweet time – the goldest of which I can guarantee is my association with this wonderful new parish of All Saints, in Maine, with all the amazing acquaintances and friends I have made these years that I have been here! Father Steve Concannon asked me four years ago if I would be willing “to help take care of a little country church in ‘Richmond’” when, schedule-wise, he wasn’t able to do it, and I replied: “Sure, Steve with the grace of God, I would love to!” And with the grace of God, I am still here – and now with three more churches that I have the honor to visit each week – and all within the same parish! It is my joy to visit you and to serve you, and to love you, all! The responsorial refrain today prompts us to say: I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God: I praise and thank God daily for bringing me to Maine and for entrusting me with the sacred duty still, of encouraging others to love as selflessly, self-sacrificially and self-givingly as Jesus did for each one of us, and for all people everywhere! How about it? Let’s do exactly what Jesus said to do and see what happens: let’s see how many more of those sometimes very painful red crosses can be transformed into indescribably glorious and radiant gold crosses of victory in both your lives and in mine.
God bless you all! FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER I - We now turn to the Gentiles. + This Sunday has been traditionally known as “Good Shepherd” Sunday. And immediately our thoughts turn to a familiar pastoral, country, image of Jesus, crook in hand, standing in a meadow, amidst a flock of attentive sheep. This is a useful image, it is a true image, but the full import of it has many layers and should not be taken at face-value only. The first sub-layer is that we must keep in mind that it is both God the Father, and the Son who are the Shepherd, and not just the Son. Jesus begins now to tell us, as he will tell us repeatedly the next several weeks that he and the Father are one, they are of one substance, they are of one will, they are of one mind: one, though not identical. And so both Father and Son are shepherd of the flock of sheep, the community of believers that are formed by the sending of the Spirit (the Gift of the Father and the Son) at Pentecost– and which is increased every time someone is baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the same Holy Spirit. The second sub-layer is that the sheep, this community, is not just a small and limited number of persons – but as our first and second readings both tell us today – it extends to all peoples and nations and tongues everywhere. Salvation is not just for Jews, it is for Gentiles as well. The flock is meant to be a global communion of mind and heart centered on the vision of the Worthy Lamb that was slain for our redemption! The third sub-layer is that God the Father and the Son still call qualified and willing ministers, both men and women, to shepherd the flock, to lead and guide the community, to ensure that sacramental graces promised will be available until the end of time. There is a preplanned, well-thought-out and viable “hierarchy of ministerial service” which basically includes everyone here today to one degree or another. God entrusts, “shepherding,” not only to priests, bishops and popes, but also to deacons, Pastoral Associates, lay ministers ( Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers), Altar Servers, Choir, Ushers, Greeters, and all who volunteer and work in any parish organization or venture. Shepherding can also be an aspect of the job of parent, older brother or sister, grandparent, aunt, uncle; teacher, policeman, or other helping professional. But one thing needs to be made very clear, and that is, all shepherds, from the policeman to the pope himself and everyone in between, are not gods or superhuman persons. They are representatives of God who are each as potentially sinful as the next person is: I would dare say that there is no one among them without “the proverbial skeleton or two crumpled deeply in the back of the closet;” and you must remember, when you are prone to judge rashly or prematurely, anyone at all, but especially your shepherds: “the skeletons you may have stashed away in your own.” There was only one truly, entirely and completely GOOD and SINLESS SHEPHERD and that was JESUS. All of us others are entirely dependent on his grace, and mercy and forgiveness to be able to do anything at all of service for him and his Church and the world. We must remember this! We pray today for vocations for all ministries in the Church, but in particular for those of priesthood and religious life, trusting that God will be faithful to his promise to never leave the flock wandering alone. And may we take the pressure off potential candidates by encouraging them with our understanding that they need not be “inhumanly perfect” in order to be our leaders, we just need them to be as holy as they can be, loving and willing to serve. Jesus simply wants shepherds after his own heart, the kind he can call his friends. May we pray for such shepherds to rise and be called forth from our midst – perhaps even from our own parish! “I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my sheep and they know me!” THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER I - We are witnesses of these words as is the Holy Spirit. + In our gospel passage today we see Jesus busy preparing his Apostles for his departure from them and their role in carrying on what is now begun: a community of believers in his person, his resurrection and his teachings. From the description of the large number of fish that the Apostle/Fishermen caught at Jesus’ encouragement, it seems clear that Jesus is projecting a rather “large catch of souls” for this new living organism called “church.” Just as Jesus prepared the Last Supper for his Apostles and instituted the Eucharist as a rite of giving thanks and breaking bread for spiritual nourishment; so today we see him also preparing a meal, this time a breakfast, for his Apostles, also consisting of broken bread, and now fish. The spiritual sustenance of his Risen Body and Blood would preserve the faith of believers for all time. The fish are a symbol of himself as “food for souls.” Lastly in the passage, Jesus makes it clear that the ultimate leadership in this new community of faithful would reside in one man (Simon Peter) and his successors. He makes love: the charity of service, the precondition for such leadership. Three times Jesus asks Peter for a confession of love, charity and service before he entrusts the spiritual feeding of the whole flock to him, his successors and their helpers. God so painstakingly thought out and executed our salvation; and now we are entrusted with the task of carrying the message of its climax, the Resurrection of his Only-Begotten Son, to the ends of the earth. And yet there seems to be still in the world today two camps, like those of the Sanhedrin and the Apostles in the first reading today. The Sanhedrin were not only instrumental in killing Jesus the first time, but after his resurrection they were intent on killing any stories about his resurrection to squelch the newly found community of believers; Peter, John and the other Apostles were intent on the other hand to spreading the truth about the death and resurrection of their Friend, their Teacher, their Lord, their God. They could not help but be bearers and proclaimers of such astounding news: HE IS RISEN! HE IS REALLY RISEN UNTO A NEWNESS OF LIFE THAT NO ONE COULD HAVE POSSIBLY IMAGINED OR DREAMED UP. In our world there are those who insist that God is dead, in fact not even just dead, but completely irrelevant and out of the picture; and that Jesus was no more than a good man, one among many such good men in history who had revolutionary ideas and came to a tragic end. These want to squelch any attempt to keep the possibility of a persuasive story of Jesus’ resurrection alive. But this is one story that cannot be squelched; there is no power in heaven or earth that can stop the gospel message from being proclaimed for those who want to hear it! May we be among those who not only want to hear it, but receive it into our heart and proclaim it with our lips and demonstrate it by the lives we lead. And what we proclaim is nothing short of this (as was found in our second reading today): The resurrected Christ is the worthy Lamb that was slain! Power, riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing are his now and forever! This is the cry of the angels in heaven, may this be our cry today! And, the four living creatures in heaven answered, “AMEN” May our answer likewise be today: “AMEN!” SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER I - More than ever, believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women, were added to them. + Today we celebrate the conclusion of Easter Day! For eight days the church has exulted in the glow of the Resurrected Christ; for eight days the “alleluias” have resounded and the angels have sung of the power of him who is Life over the conquered one (another angel), who heralded death; for eight days believers have renewed their faith in the one source of newness of life and forgiveness of sin!: The Resurrected Jesus Christ! Last week we focused on the “newness of life.”Today, we focus on “the forgiveness of sin.” The very first gift of the Risen Christ, on Easter night, as we recount in the gospel passage today, is the offering of Divine Peace, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them” Peace be with you,” (this, as opposed to temporary worldly cessation of turmoil and chaos that we sometime call a “peaceful truce” or a benign period of respite in between sessions of more turmoil and chaos); the second gift is the institution of a second sacrament of the Church which would from that time onward be the dispenser of Jesus’ hard-won victory of Life and Forgiveness of Sin. The distribution of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness would forever be entrusted to the priests of the Church especially in the Sacrament of Penance,: the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Sacrament of PEACE! And for those who avail themselves of this wondrous sacrament, no words can describe the PEACE (the real peace) that is experienced as a result of celebrating that sacrament. Then he breathed on them and said to them – “Receive the Holy Spirit, whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” What an astounding institution this sacrament is: the direct application of the Last Supper and the Brutal Death of the Lord on the Cross for us and our salvation!The whole reason Jesus came to this earth, and was born – was to die and rise, and to breathe forth the very newness of life of God sacramentally in the church that he would found. All of the sacraments emanate from Jesus dead on the cross, with a pierced side, draining blood and water: the blood signifying the forgiveness of all sin, the water signifying the new life of baptism and all the sacraments of the church. These details are noticeable on any crucifix, and most undeniably noticeable on the painting of the Risen Christ in the form of the Divine Mercy Image that Jesus himself commissioned through the cooperation of St. Faustina Kowalska. Faustina was a Polish nun of our own life-time, who was instrumental in allowing the Risen and Ascended Lord Jesus to make his Mercy and Forgiveness known, as a relatively immediate preparation for his Second Coming. There are three categories of persons who desperately need the divine mercy and forgiveness of Jesus to enter their lives: those who are empty and sad and know they need it; those who have absolutely no clue that they need it at all; and most importantly, those who are lukewarm: those hundreds of thousands, if not millions of persons, who know enough about God and his mercy and forgiveness to both save and condemn them – those who have the chord of truth about the matter striking deep within their hearts, along with an unfortunately louder din of “worldly wisdom,” rationalization and pop psychology telling them that they really don’t need any of this godly mercy and forgiveness: they can figure it all out themselves, a good self-help book or 12-step support group is really all they need to successfully navigate through life: but to what end: where will they go and what kind of life will they have when this life is over?? Yes, Jesus himself had no tolerance at all for the lukewarm. On this Divine Mercy Sunday, as John Paul II renamed this Octave Day of Easter: let us pray for those who need a direct application of God’s mercy, those who don’t think they do, and most especially for those who think they are exempt: these being the most pitiable of all. Let us pray for ourselves who fall into one of these categories – more or less. For those who wish to participate, I will lead the Divine Mercy Chaplet immediately after Mass today: a prayer formula given by Jesus himself to release the fullness of the graces of this wonderful feast! Complete changes of heart are not uncommon during the celebration of this feast in its entirety. A plenary indulgence is granted as well for those who receive communion on this feast and who make a good confession within a reasonable amount of time before or after the feast. The indulgence allows for the complete remission of all temporal punishment due to sin: in effect, it opens the gates of heaven wide for us – and keeps them open until the time that we might sin again. This is the day the Lord has made! We continue to be glad and rejoice in it! And may the Lord in his great mercy, look kindly upon us, forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life! AMEN.
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