THE SOLEMNITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST THE KING I – His dominion is an everlasting dominion. Now I would have you continue that thinking process: someone “created” all these things: someone very intelligent, very powerful and very loving – because it all fits together and works together so very well – when operated by instructions given by the creator and maker. The “someone” who “created” all these things was “God” – He is “Creator,” Provider, Sustainer, Father, and Friend. He gives creation – all of it – what it needs to keep going, as created, as intended – if certain conditions are met: which are found in the “Owner’s Manual” called: Sacred Scripture, among other important documents. Now in God’s plan for creation he had the idea of making his Son: who was later named Jesus – King of all of it! He could do that because he was the Creator / Father and he had the power to do it, and so he did it. Jesus was made King of the entire Creation / Universe – even before he was born into our world. He has always been King of it, and he always will be King of it. Now when he was finally born here, he started making claim to that kingdom, right away, because it was his, but it was always the opposite way of what people thought he would be doing if he were really king of it all, starting with the fact that he was born in a stable, and not a royal palace; and he died on a Cross, and not in a luxurious hospital setting. His main job, while he was here among us, would be to get everyone on earth ready to meet God one day when a new kind of experience of life would begin – in a new kind of kingdom. In the “getting ready” process, he would share his authority and power to rule with many men and women – so that people could feel safe and happy and provided for concerning the basics of this life, while making their way to the next one. They could enact laws based on his laws, and act as judges in cases of figuring out the real meaning of things according to the way he made them. But these rulers would be wise never to forget that they are temporary rulers, that their power comes from God, and that he will expect a full accounting of how they used the power given them. But Jesus’ kingdom (or nation or country) was not to be like other kingdoms that we think about in earthy terms (which are geographical territories that have limited power and constantly changing rules); his Kingdom would not be an external kingdom (made up of palaces and servants, and subjects) but an internal one: a kingdom of the heart and mind and spirit: it would be a very special sharing by everyone of what is really true about every subject and topic, of a living of life that could not even possibly be imagined beforehand, of holiness (which is simply a wonderful sensing and feeling that, through and through, we know who we are, and we are very happy because we are God’s children, of the power of doing good constantly flowing through us and helping us in all situation, of being completely fair and just with everyone all the time, loving and willing to help everyone and at peace with ourselves and with each other and God and his saints and the angels FOREVER! WOW! What a wonderful kingdom! And this is what we celebrate today on this Feast of Jesus Christ King of the Universe, King of our Families, King of our hearts, minds, bodies, spirits and King of all people everywhere – whether they even know about or have heard about Jesus. We thank God our Father for sending Jesus to be our Savior and our King, and our Friend. And we thank them for sending the Holy Spirit to us so that we could have the power to be loving subjects of this amazing and different, never ending and reaching everyone, everywhere - kind of Kingdom. Perhaps we can promise Christ the King today to put our thanks into practice by listening to his voice, hearing the truth and giving evidence of it in our actions which promote holiness of life, doing good for others, establishing true fairness and justice, and deep abiding peace which this world cannot give! Dominion, glory and kingship belong to Jesus, forever! His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away; his kingship shall not be destroyed! And, if we live like we want it, we shall be a very integral part of it! God bless you! THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – The widow made a little cake from her flour and gave it to Elijah. Jesus does not condemn the rich who dump large amounts into the treasury – mostly for the show of it – sure, the money can be used for good purposes – and because they followed the dictates of the law, the rich will be credited for their contributions; but the truly lasting and favored donations are the seemingly insignificant ones that are made by the lowly poor who give from the soul because they believe it will somehow work out in the end! The widow gathering sticks in the first reading from the Book of Kings was also poor, and she and her son were about to die. But when Elijah, a prophet of the Lord, asked her to bake him a loaf of bread, she trusted what he had to say, that she and her son would not die if she trusted enough to make the bread just for him. She did. He ate. And then at his invitation, they ate. And there was enough flour and oil to supply her need for a very long time. This of course is a prophecy of the very gospel passage that we read today: I doubt very much if the widow in the gospel passage went hungry either: when one puts God first in one’s life things do work out – eventually – and oftentimes even miraculously! In both cases, the rich and the poor – God wants the devotion, loyalty and commitment from hearts, to surrender entirely to him, so that he can use the person possessing the heart as he wills to make the lives of others better! So that we can be like Elijah, sent to encourage someone who thinks they are on their last measure of flour and oil; so that we could encourage all to receive the gift of Jesus who was sent to multiply his very Eucharistic Body and Blood throughout the ages – never letting its available supply run dry - so that no one would go spiritually hungry as they travel hand in hand with their brothers and sisters throughout this world into the eternal life of the next! Rejoice in the Lord always; the Lord, who keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry, who sets captives free – forever! SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS + Rarely have Catholics been given an opportunity to shine the peaceful light of Truth, the peaceful light of Christ, the peaceful light of Charity as, you, the faithful members of the Catholic Diocese of Portland are being called upon to do in two-days’ time. You will have the opportunity to make a real, significant and Christ-centered impact on the outcome of a ballot referendum question that directly involves the “first institution,” that God gifted to his newly created and established male – female union, and essentially related offspring: the institution of marriage and family life. Voting YES on QUESTION ONE, for you, will be a stand for God, a stand for marriage, a stand for family life - as he gave them and intended them to be lived “in the beginning.” Voting “no” would simply further confuse and distort an already emotionally overcharged topic. A YES vote is a vote for “God-speaking his will and intent for marriage” (which he has every right to do); it is not a vote against the dignity and respect for gay persons, at all – who, in the heat of debate, can find themselves largely at odds with God! In point of fact, the Church of Portland wishes to make abundantly clear two important facts: it has had a long, nearly twenty year, history of working with the gay community to sponsor and defend civil rights legislation on the state government level. It fully supported a “gay rights bill” in the early 1990’s. The Church and the gay community stood together on this legislation. This bill was signed by the governor but overturned in referendum the following year despite the support of the diocese. The Church is not against the gay community it itself, but in this particular case, it must stand against it to keep the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman because it is God Himself who first spoke it into existence in the beginning. This is one wheel that ought not to be reinvented. Secondly, the diocese does and will continue to enthusiastically and wholeheartedly make welcome all gay Catholics who are already in our very midst – whether they are active members of our parishes or not yet; and then make it known that those who have left our membership due to valid and real feelings of frustration and alienation, have a true and rightful place with us, who are attempting to live the same life of the Beatitudes as they are! It is the same flesh and blood life that all Christians and all the Saints have lived throughout the ages of the Church! It is a life transformed by the redemptive death of Jesus Christ, Lord and Friend! Because of it, death can now be transformed for us into life; darkness into light; hatred, anger, hostility and resentment into love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness and caring for those who accept these realities in faith, with hope, in order to translate them into a life of self-sacrificial service (love) for others. Along with this, the Church of Portland recognizes and commits itself to its pastoral duty of catechizing (teaching) about the magnificent reality of marriage as it is given by God, and about the nature of sexual attraction in its varieties of manifestations, and subsequent Gospel-oriented, civil-rights-based solutions to gut level delimnas faced by all of those who do not fit into neat and tidy concepts of conventional sexual attraction. With all that is going on in our country on so many levels at this time in our history – this is just not the proper time to be conducting a potentially unpredictable and hazardous sociological experiment such as the one proposed on the ballot! The ramifications involved are truly deeper and farther reaching than any of us can possibly imagine. It would be a launch into totally deep and uncharted waters and the project can count on numerous inevitable shipwrecks, with varying degrees of damage from slight to nigh-on catastrophic – further on down the road! Remember that freedom is only freedom for doing what is right and good and just! Freedom does not mean simply “doing what feels right.” It may feel right to rob a bank, but more than likely the arresting officer will not care too much how you “feel.” If Maine truly is the Vacationland where an adventuresome spirit of freedom abounds, it would seem that this means that all kinds of right, good, just and useful things are happening here not because they simply feel right, but because after thinking about them, consulting with God about them, and then feeling the movement of the Spirit of God, they are then done! In other words, with freedom comes responsibility! And of course, the imaginary logic that two essentially different things are now equal simply because they are defined as equal by popular opinion is an example of classic fallacy, and could be the source of great difficulties if systems which affect people’s lives are built on it. For example if the red colored light on a traffic signal now equals the green one by popular vote, then untold damage can be expected at all major intersections that have traffic lights! Applying this to marriage: if red colored marriages are now equal in every way to green colored ones: then there will be an assortment of collisions wherever marriage intersects with real life – because red does not equal green! The “yellow light” analogy also works here: when you see a “yellow light” in the context of a moral decision, especially this one, at this time – “proceed with caution” – and “when in doubt, go with the Church!” until you can more surely satisfy your own intellectual curiosity. We are celebrating today the great Solemnity of All Saints. The saints in heaven are those who above all else “kept their sights pure and simple”- on the lights of God - and focused on His Will; the Cross of Christ; and the wisdom, grace and strength of the Holy Spirit. Nothing could deter them from staying the course, especially, when the going got rough! Jesus invited them and he invites us to live the life of the Beatitudes: embrace being poor in spirit, mourn for the times you fail God, hunger and thirst for the formula for right living, be merciful to everyone, be clean of heart, be peacemakers – and when you are persecuted, be very happy about it because then you are sharing in my Passion, and you are also sharing in my Resurrection. This goes for all of you – all people everywhere – of every race, nation, religion, political party and sexual orientation. You are all invited to HOLINESS OF LIFE, TO FRIENDSHIP WITH ME AND MY FATHER, AND TO COMMUNION WITH OUR HOLY SPIRIT. Each of you, do the very best you can to help one another out and to act like the brothers and sisters that you are, the brothers and sisters that I made you “in the beginning!” It is important, my dear friends, to encourage as many as you can, with you, to vote the faith, to vote in defense of what God had to say about marriage when he established it, not simply because the Church says so, but because you really believe it. A YES Vote on Question 1 - for the right reason, above all, for the glory of God and obedience to his Will, – would be greatly appreciated for the ultimate good of us all, but most especially our beloved gay brothers and sisters in the faith to whom we pledge our support and our willingness to help find alternate solutions to their heart-felt needs for equivalent security, legitimate civil rights, a family-like living arrangement, and Gospel-oriented ways in which to spend their creative desire to love and be loved. There is a strong possibility that people might end up voting the opposite of what they truly want to vote “on a technicality.” Don’t let that technicality be either, “the church is behind the times” or “the church does not care!” Neither of these are true! The Church is very much on target with its opposition in this case; and it certainly does care, it cares very much about the very ones who are opposing them. Open minds on both sides of this ballot issue will allow appropriate votes to be cast for the right reasons: votes cast with heart, mind and soul combined – and not any one of these by themselves. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ of the Diocese of Portland – let the peaceful light of Truth, the peaceful light of Christ, the peaceful light of Charity shine brightly all over Maine in two-days’ time – on this election day – by endorsing and celebrating our life in God and his care for all his children – by voting YES ON QUESTION 1. The Church cares! THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – The blind and the lame I will bring back; I will console them. Spiritual and intellectual blindness can be suffocating for the one experiencing them, and exceedingly detrimental to any relationship that such people attempt to build with others. There is always something faulty with such a person’s vision, and their perspective is undeniably off-kilter and their conclusions are therefore unreliable. Do you know someone who is spiritually or intellectually ill-visioned, off-kilter and regrettably conceptually unreliable? Are you such a person yourself? Such a state of blindness was the lot of the children of Israel for centuries. They were so blind and stubborn of heart that they all but exterminated themselves from existence – with the exception of the remnant that God preserved to keep his love and friendship with his people alive. It was God’s intention to, in a very real way, perform a group miracle of conversion and restoration of sight to his spiritually and intellectually handicapped people! Behold, I will bring them back from the land of the north; I will gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst, the mothers, and those with child; they shall return as an immense throng. They departed (into exile) in tears, but I will console them and guide them…on a level road, so that none shall stumble. Yes, God offered the grace of conversion and healing, and the people responded and were gathered as they were invited to be. Those that sowed in tears, reaped rejoicing! It is important to pray for the physically blind, that sight might be restored; it is much easier to get around in the modern world as a physically seeing person – but it is even more important to pray for spiritual and intellectual healing so that what we look at and see with our physical eyes, will make sense to the eyes of our souls! May we pray, now, for the faith needed to cry out: “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me! – and heal in me, whatever needs healing, spiritual or otherwise!” TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – If he give his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his descendants in a long life. All of the readings today point to the fact that worldly greatness and spiritual greatness are two entirely different things. And the one that counts in the end, naturally, is the supernatural one: the spiritual. It is what God thinks about anything that really matters: and he tells us prophetically in the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah that the great one who would justify many and bear the guilt of all would be the afflicted one and the suffering one: not a very appealing characteristic of greatness for the upwardly mobile, worldly minded, self-serving individual. This “Suffering Servant” would of course be Jesus, who would come to be our salvation and our true and lasting joy! The second reading tells us that this Suffering Servant, Jesus, would also be the one, true, great and eternal high priest, who would do what no other high priest had ever done: offering one, unending sacrifice to remit the sins of all; and also to do this as one of us, one who could sympathize with our weaknesses and temptations(because he experienced them - although he never gave in to them and sinned): which gives us the hope of almost eradicating sin in our lives if we really work at it! We will probably never be entirely sinless – even after we go to confession – which we ought to do at least on a semi-annual basis – but when we hook our spiritual lives onto the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus – with its need for constant reexamination and inner conversion - we can get a lot closer than we ever thought possible. In the gospel passage, of course, we have the classic lesson taught by Jesus about greatness. Sometimes it is easy to jump to criticism of James and John for being so presumptuous as to ask for privileged seating assignments in heaven. But the reason they did this was because they loved Jesus so very much, and wanted to be as close to him as possible when they got to his Kingdom. Jesus took this opportunity to gently teach them that who it is that will actually sit at his right and left at the end of the world, is yet to be determined; and that greatness – the topic of discussion among the twelve which precipitated this whole exchange in the first place – is not about places of honor, or power, of having lots of money – but it rather has to do with loving service – even to the point of great self-sacrifice! Just as he himself had left his divinity behind and came among us as one of his own creatures, coming to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many – so too, if we want to consider ourselves truly great, we must do the same (with his help). Just think what a fantastic world it would be, beginning right here with this gathering and then extending everywhere – if greatness was truly measured by willingness to serve, in the lowliest positions (if needs be); and then the actual engagement in such sacrificial service, out of love for God – to give him thanks, praise and glory! He would be so very pleased and would bless us and our efforts abundantly! Be great today, be small today, be a servant of all today – just like Jesus! You will receive him in Holy Communion shortly – what other help could you possibly need to do this well, to do it lovingly, to do it daily?daily? TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – I deemed riches nothing in comparison to wisdom. And the fear of the Lord is the beginning of real wisdom! Some don’t like the sound of that already. The “fear” involved here is a real and healthy “awe” that we must have for the almighty, the all powerful, but o so loving Father God, who existed long before anything or anyone at all! We are truly here on account of his love and his generosity and his good will towards us. If we do not have a healthy respect for this God, then we are foolish! Now the wisdom of God (the very ability to see things as God himself sees them) comes from seeking her and asking for her – and then being willing to recognize her wherever she may be found: which could be anywhere at all. But it also comes from reflecting on the word of God-speaking: quite literally speaking in the Scriptures. Jesus is the Scriptures, and no one is wiser than he. The word of God is therefore sharper than any two edged sword: it cuts right to the heart and lays bare what is truly going on there, for where there is Jesus, there is not only wisdom, but there is also Truth! How very fortunate we are that we do not have to stumble around in the darkness of ignorance any longer; that our hearts can be pure and holy; that our lives can be filled with the joy of self-sacrificial giving and loving! This is what it means to be rich! Dollars and status and power do not make us rich at all; humility, obedience, compassion, mercy, tenderness, and self-giving do make us not only very rich spiritually, but also very wise supernaturally – and these things you can definitely “take with you” into everlasting life. The young man is the gospel passage went away sad because in his riches he lacked wisdom: he lacked the insight to see that what really mattered was detachment from “what owned him,” and attachment to Jesus and his seemingly contrary but eternally rewarding way of life! Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; not the rich and the famous – unless they get their priorities very, very, straight! TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – The two of them become one flesh. In the gospel passage, Jesus can only back up what his Father (and he himself said) in the first place, in the beginning, regarding marriage: marriage stands as is, as given, and no human must separate what God has joined together according to his own wishes, desires and formulation. God would not contradict himself. Divorce is therefore not to be allowed, but was tolerated by Moses only because of the hardness of hearts of the people. However, neither party could remarry without causing adultery to be involved in any new relationship, which is a grave sin in itself. This is the long and the short of the Church’s defense of God regarding Question One – and this is exactly what it is – a defense of God and his will! It ought not to be a defense of the Church or its status or its finances. And it is most definitely not to be an offense against those finding themselves with a same-sex sexual inclination. The Church would be making this same stand no matter who proposed it. In point of fact, the Diocese of Portland has had a long, nearly twenty year, history of working with the gay community to sponsor and defend civil rights legislation on the state government level. It fully supported a “gay rights bill” in the early 90’s. The Church and the gay community stood together on this legislation. This bill was signed by the governor but overturned in referendum the following year despite the support of the diocese. As Bishop Malone made clear in his address last week, the Church is not against the gay community in itself, but in this particular case, it must stand against it to keep the definition of marriage as between one and one woman and all the related terminology that goes with it – because it is GOD HIMSELF WHO FIRST SPOKE IT INTO EXISTENCE IN THE BEGINNING. This is one wheel that absolutely ought not to be reinvented by anyone! The emphasis of the gospel passage today is about STAYING MARRIED – after it re-presents its origin. The Church, not only of this diocese but all dioceses, cannot spend too much time and resources on catechizing and teaching its faithful members the exact splendorous and magnificent reality of marriage as God made it – so that married couples and their children – who are all members of God’s family – will get the most out of the wonderful relationship that they are already in. Children need a mother and a father in our own sacramental expression of married life. This fact needs to be enormously emphasized - not to defeat a gay marriage bill – but because it is simply the nature of marriage and family life as God intended it! Unfortunately, there is illogic and even purposeful misrepresentations in the media on both sides of this issue. May the Holy Spirit enlighten us all to form our consciences rightly so that we can see the light and grace of truth when it shines clearly through the hype of media presentations! The truth of the matter is certainly there to be seen – for those who have the eyes of faith. Without faith it is next to impossible to really understand what is truly going on here. Here is a hint from the second reading today from the Letter of Paul to the Hebrews: Jesus came to earth, to be our friend and to not be ashamed to call all of us “brothers” (and sisters). If we are thus related to him, then the real question here is this: How can we help our brothers (and sisters) who are crying out so desperately for true and legitimate recognition and a place with us that includes equivalent security, legitimate civil rights, love and a family-like living arrangement? How can we help them in a Christ-centered, Gospel-oriented way; not how can we judge them, hinder them, and cause them to lose heart and hope? THEY ARE OUR BROTHER AND SISTERS, IF NOT IN CHRIST, THEN AT LEAST, OF THE HUMAN FAMILY! It all comes down to love, doesn’t it? If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is brought to perfection in us! TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – Let us condemn him to a shameful death. + There are a whole lot of things going on in the gospel passage today. It is written by St. Mark who is the simplest of all the gospel writers, and it was his intention to mainly introduce themes and ideas without much fleshing out. Matthew, Luke and John did that part quite well! Mark is the “secretive” one, and kind of leaves you wondering… Today Jesus and his disciples leave where they were and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples along the way that the Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him and three days after his death, the Son of Man will rise. They did not understand the saying, were probably not even sure if he was referring to himself, and they were afraid to ask him any questions. When they arrived at Capernaum he asked them what they had been arguing about along the way, but they remained silent. (They had been discussing among themselves who was the greatest among them). Then he sat down and had the Twelve gather around him and (knowing all along what they had been discussing) he said to them: the first shall be the last of all and the servant of all. This is plain enough – but very difficult indeed to do – has anyone here today really, truly tried to do this consistently, regularly and well? But then Jesus joins in the same instruction period the ideas of his identification with children – all children; and he connects this with the unity that exists between himself and his Father in heaven. All of these really have to do with being last and a servant of all. Children and the child-like like to be helpful and comforting. This indeed makes them truly great, not only in the eyes of their parents, but also in the eyes of another one who really counts even more: God their Father in heaven. By the way: the reason St. Mark is so “secretive” is that, at this early point in Church history when his gospel was written – to be the seed for the other gospels – the Holy Spirit who was actually doing the writing, through Mark, knew that the minds of the Jewish people had to be opened very slowly to the truths of the new dispensation, the new testament, the new way of Jesus. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to recommend the gospel of St. Mark to those who have never met Jesus, or who want a refresher course and want to start with something bite-sized! Of course, in the course of time, what Jesus predicted about himself, the Son of Man, did come to pass; and as prophesied in the first reading he was reviled and tortured and condemned to a shameful death – and he went to it WILLINGLY, LOVINGLY, and even JOYFULLY – he loved us so! For us, this means we are redeemed; we can have the fruit of righteousness deep within our hearts that is sown in peace – IF WE CULTIVATE PEACE! LET US CULTIVATE PEACE, BY BEING A PEACEMAKER TODAY AND EVERY DAY – ALLOWING THE HOLY SPIRIT OF PEACE TO FLOW THROUGH US AFTER WE SIMPLY ASK HIM TO DO IT! The secret is now out! Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Savior, Jesus is Prince of Peace! Go and tell everyone you come across! God bless you! TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – I gave my back to those who beat me. + The next time you come to an intersection that has a traffic light in it – especially a multi-laned intersection such as the one at Cook’s Corners – I want you to think of this thought: if a small minority of the population of the State of Maine decide that – as far as Maine Traffic Lights are concerned: “red is now to be equal in every way to green” – “red is now green” – this statement, even if it is written on a piece of paper and signed by the governor of Maine does not make red green; but practically speaking now it is green and therefore it is not a far leap to predict that there will be chaos of major proportions at all major intersections, especially the multi-laned ones. Red - can – never- be - equal – to - green! Marriage, defined in any other way than what God has defined it, will never be marriage. “Marriage-set-up red,” can never equal “marriage-set-up green.” It is theologically impossible, it is anthropologically impossible, it is biologically impossible, it is psychologically impossible, it is sociologically impossible for them to be equal. Therefore to superimpose the name and change the content of the definition of one, into and onto the other will give a distorted looking black color! Red on green basically looks black! I heard it said that “God created man (as male and female) and marriage in the same breath!”(This means that marriage and family life goes back that far – to “the beginning” - before any other institutions existed at all – and for some non-coincidental reason it seems to have been preserved, even by civil society, as is, for thousands of years). God intended for the male and the female, the husband and the wife to enjoy the deep companionship of divine friendship with him and one another, in a monogamous life-long relationship; and to populate his own family, by co-operating with him in co-creating offspring, children, new family members. The human family was intended to mirror first of all the family of God that he is in his own Trinitarian life, and also the family life to which we all belong whether we even know it or not, and to which we are called to live in forever in the new heaven and the new earth! How faithfully we live out marriage and family life as given by him will determine our place of honor in that new existence! It simply does not make any sense at all to redefine the amazing and precious reality of marriage. The Church, therefore, cannot do anything other than to stand for marriage as is: as it is given by God! But at the same time, the Church also understands absolutely the varieties of “sexual appetites and orientations” that exist in men and women– that may not be totally consistent with the ideal and perfect man and woman! The very fact that there is variety has to do with Original Sin, in general, which basically weakened and watered down everything about our human life, blurring many lines of self-identification and inclinations – and introduced death to boot! But God left us with our free-will, a weakened, but quite functional intelligence and even his own “light of grace in our minds and hearts” to recognize truth when we see it! And so while, standing firmly with its insistence of the definition of marriage, the Church is also very understanding of the need to protect the basic and civil rights of persons who find themselves having a same-sex sexual attraction. The church is against all forms of discrimination against gay persons. However, the matter at hand is not one of discrimination, at all. Marriage, as authored and defined by God requires a man, and a woman. Two persons of the same sex simply are not physically qualified for marriage. The subsequent requirement for God’s idea of family life as husband, wife, and children – can also not be met. Neither of these dis-qualifications makes gay persons bad, or undesirable, or unsuitable in any way to be a welcome part of the fabric of society – but it does mean that these persons must find other creative, loving, Gospel-oriented, legally protected ways in which to live a happy, chaste lifestyle. The readings today call us to stand up for the faith! The first reading told how Isaiah prophesied about Jesus setting his face like flint, not turning his back on those who wanted to beat it, not turning away from those who wanted to pluck his beard. He knew, as Jesus would know in his “hour” of triumph, that God (his Father, and the Holy Spirit) would be his help! In standing up with the Church in the weeks ahead before Election Day, we, as committed Catholics, can set our faces like flint too, dig in our heels and speak the truth calmly, in love: God’s amazing gift of marriage must remain as he gave it! Of course, the second reading says it point blank: St. James says: what good is it to have faith, if you don’t put it into practice! It is not going to save you! Don’t be fooled! It is our faith – it is God speaking in the depths of our beings - that tells us that doing things his way is the best – and that rewriting and reworking his express wishes and commands cannot be a good thing; it is our faith that will make us strong when the TV and radio ads, and the public debates get nastier and nastier, which indeed they will, as time goes by, you can count on it! But faith will tell us that: freedom is not simply “doing anything at all that you want to do” – freedom is acting responsibly after combining mind and heart and soul and inviting God into the final analysis! In the gospel passage Jesus says it another way: this is not going to be easy for you, my beloved brothers and sisters, but in this case think as much as possible the way God does, rather than as humans, don’t be like Peter, who tried to talk me out of Calvary! If I listened to him you would not have salvation, and the end of your life would be oblivion. So, deny yourself, deny especially those reactions that are based on “guts and feelings alone” – the cross you carry is easy and light because I did die for you and rise again – you will be able to stand for your faith, stand for marriage as my Father gave it – with his help, mine and our Holy Spirit’s. The next time you are at an intersection with a traffic light, think that things will truly go very wrong - in a great number of areas across the board– there will chaos and collisions and a slow, corrosive erosion of the fabric of our American society – ifwe, as Catholics, allow red to be redefined as green ‘legally’ in the context of marriage!We must vote YES on Propositions One: affirming that marriage is between one man and one woman – because it is God who said so “in the beginning” – and the Church of Portland is only reiterating and underlining what he said, at this critical time in our state and nation’s history! The bishop has told the priests of the diocese at a recent meeting that a full catechesis and education program of what true marriage is all about; and the welcomed and respected place of gay persons in the Body of Christ, the Church - would be forthcoming. But from the reliable and true information we already have, looking deeply into our minds and hearts for confirmation, since Election Day is fast coming upon us, we can speak truth in love now by supporting* (collection) and promoting (rally) a Yes vote on Proposition One – for the good of us all! TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – The ears of those who are deaf will be cleared; and the tongue of those who are mute will sing. + Part of the Catholic baptism ceremony is to touch the ears of the baptized, and to touch the mouth, with an accompanying “Ephphatha! Be opened!”command. What occurred in the gospel passage is the direct scriptural reference for this ritual. A miraculous healing of the ears and then corresponding ability to speak clearly – if they are not done in order to pave the way to giving glory to God always – have been erroneously, and have been sought with a duplicitous motive. The reason that God cures anyone from anything is for his own glory; not the glory of the one cured, nor the one or ones instrumental in the curing! Maybe this is why so many miraculous cures do not take places these days: they are sought after for the wrong reason! The glory of God and his will must be the sole reason for seeking healing and miraculous intercession: and then God will proceed according to that will, his, to bring about the very best possible solution to the prayer request for healing! It’s all up to him! And this may, or may not correspond with what we think and feel the answers might be! But just the fact that God definitely can effect a miracle ought to be reason enough to seek out the proper way in which to ask for one, and then to use it! There are two kinds of miracles that Jesus was fully equipped to perform: the interior and the exterior. Opening the eyes of the blind, clearing the ears of the deaf, allowing the cripple to leap like a stag, and the tongue of the mute to sing are the exterior ones: they are easy to recognize when obtained! The interior ones though, usually have exterior manifestations: any type of opening and clearing and renewing of the mind and heart leading to a more virtuous life is an example of this kind; but the greatest of all interior miracles is the miracle of conversion: the miracle of turning around and facing the Lord Jesus and accepting all of the grace and love and gifts that he has to offer. This is an enormous miracle! Hopefully, then, once one has allowed oneself to be thus loved by God, he in turn will externally find himself unable not to love others more genuinely in return: to treat others more fairly and justly, to work tirelessly for all of the needy but especially the poor, and to shed his own need for gold rings and fine clothes and the lifestyle of the rich and famous! Jesus truly is found in the poor – and so identifying with them and helping them is about the most redemptive thing that one can do! As we begin our busy fall schedules, and we continue to benefit from the fruits of our labors*(LDW) – let us not forget those who simply profit less than we do – and who need and have a right to our friendship, care and aid. Miracles can abound – externally and internally – for those who respond to the baptismal miracle that they have already received: opened ears to listen to God’s word; and then a cleared tongue to speak out and sing out his praise and glory by defending the rights of the poor – both now and forever! God bless you! TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – You shall not add to what I command you…keep the commands of the Lord. + We have come now to the end of August, and the new school year is upon us: some have already started school, others are soon to follow. If I were to ask all of you what is more important: what you learn in school, or what you do with what you learn – what would be your answer? There are pros and cons for each side being more important. It would seem to me that both are very important: and even equally so – we learn so that we can apply what we learn; we can only do successfully what we have learned well! In the second reading today, St. James tells the Christian community to humbly welcome the word of God that has been planted in them – because it is not just simply an academic thing – facts, figures, dates – but it actually has the power to save their souls. There is no other word or lesson like it! But then once they hear these words: they are not to just sit there daydreaming: be doers of the word you have heard: put what you have heard into practice someway, somehow. Apply it! He tells them that their Christian religion is about hearing the need to help the poor; and to keep oneself unstained from the corruption and filth of the spirit of the world: and so he says: do these things: help the poor, keep yourself unstained, and you shall save your souls! The first reading also spoke about “doing what you hear and have learned:” keep the commandments you have learned, not adding anything at all to them, nor taking anything away. God knew exactly what he was doing in giving them the way they were given: it is in his precise prescription of them that the power to save comes – not only to save our souls, but to save us and our nation from our enemies – even the enemies within! Jesus says very much the same thing in the gospel passage: stop worrying about pots and pans, and dishes and the washing of hands: it is not what goes into your mouth that is evil, but rather what comes out: it seems you have learned the lessons about cleanliness backwards: it is what comes out of your mouth and what is in your actions that is a reflection of what is in your heart, that is truly evil: evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly! These are what defile; and these are what need to be eliminated by relearning the commandments of God in their entirety: for they have the power to save! We pray today that all students this coming school year will remember that being a “doer” and not just a “hearer” of their school subjects is what education is all about: families can discuss at the supper table not just what was learned in school that day but how it can be applied! Encourage creativity! And of course this applies to us all each and every time we come to church – all throughout this school year and any other time: we must not just listen to the word of God in the Scriptures and the homilies; but we must also pray very hard to know how to apply what we have heard! God gives us our whole lives long to learn and learn and learn, so that we can do and do and do all we can to help build his kingdom here on earth before it is reaches its completeness and perfection one day at the end of time! Be a doer of the word, and not just a hearer! TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – We will serve the Lord, for he is our God. + This is the last in our series of five homilies about Jesus as “Bread of Life.” Last week Jesus said: I am the bread of life, and unless you eat this bread which is my flesh, and drink the cup of wine which is my blood you will not have eternal life. Today is the big fallout: the Jews quarreled among themselves and said: this kind of talk is very difficult to endure; and a great many of them left Jesus at that point and most likely never returned. Jesus looked at the Apostles and said: do you want to go too? But Peter said: Lord, to whom shall we go – you have the words of eternal life – we have come to believe and are convinced you are the Holy One of God! [Peter was graced by the Holy Spirit and blessed in order to make this statement of truth.] To put it another way Peter no doubt would also say: “you who speak, and can only speak, words of eternal life, you say that bread can become your flesh, and wine your blood – WE BELIEVE IT! WE, YOUR BEST FRIENDS, BELIEVE YOU ARE WHO AND WHAT YOU SAY YOU ARE: BREAD OF LIFE – AND THAT WE CAN SPIRITUALLY EAT YOUR FLESH AND DRINK YOUR BLOOD in a way that you will give us when the time is right! WE CANNOT POSSIBLY GO ANYWHERE ELSE for this truth and this life! And Jesus is relieved: someone “gets it!” Jesus is very happy! As for us, here, today, many of us “got it” at one time or another (at least hopefully we “got it”). I pray that our faith and belief was very strong in Jesus; and all that he had to say of himself; including about being really and truly present: body, blood, soul and divinity spiritually in the Eucharistic bread and wine. But what is our “got it” quotient today – right now? Do we “get it” now as fully as ever? If so, great! If not, may I suggest this: close your eyes, and open the eyes and ears of your heart, and listen and believe Jesus when he says these words: I am the Bread of Life! I am the Eucharistic Bread you eat and the Eucharist cup you drink. I am the Bread of God’s Friendship Restored. When you eat this bread and drink this cup you become more deeply and really a part of my living Body (which is the Church on earth), than you can possibly imagine; you become not only my Divine Friend, but also my Divine Friendship now available for others who are in need of comfort and compassion and care; you become my eyes and ears and hands and feet to bring light and love and peace to the whole world. This is what Eucharist is all about! This is what “Bread of Life” is all about! This is why we take five weeks each summer to talk about it! It is meant to be the Object of our Focus all the days of our lives. We are to look at the Host (and remember what it looks like always); we are to say “Amen” “I believe it is you, Jesus,” and then we are to be the Love and the Friendship that we eat and drink – so that not only we ourselves will have food for the journey of life, but we can help out a great many others along the way sharing the love and the friendship of God. As Joshua addressed the people and said: We will serve the Lord, for he is our God! So, we say the same thing this day: fed by him and strengthened by him, we will serve him in love, for he is our awesome God! TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – Come, eat my of my food and drink of the wine I have mixed. + When something is there, it is there – whether anyone “believes” it to be there or not. For example, Niagara Falls is there. It makes no difference if anyone at all particularly “believes” it to be there or not – it really is there! This reference has everything to do with today’s very important Gospel message from Jesus. Jesus truly is the Bread of Life come down from heaven! Our believing it in does not make this fact any more or less so. Either he is or he isn’t. And he is! Who are we to contradict Jesus and say that he isn’t? Besides this, today, Jesus takes us one step further in his discourse of himself as this “Bread of Life”: if you eat this bread and drink this cup you will have everlasting life, and if you don’t you won’t? Believe it, or not! But can you really afford not to believe it?Was Jesus serious here? Did he really mean that everyone must eat the bread that is his flesh and drink the cup that is his blood in order to share in everlasting life? Well, yes, he did mean it! Jesus would not kid about anything at all – let alone what has direct effect on where we will be spending eternity! But not even everyone is Catholic – how can Jesus mean this? Does this mean that most of the world will never see heaven? No, not at all; what Jesus is saying here is that the ordinary and most direct route to eternal life is eating his spiritual body and drinking his spiritual blood in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist. If the whole point of eternity is to be totally absorbed into him (as scripture tells us: we will be “all-in-all”), then having us begin that absorption process right here on earth does not seem illogical at all: remember, when we eat any other kind of food it becomes us, but when we eat and drink Eucharist, we become it; we become Christ, we become God’s intimate Friend qualifying us for life forever in our Father’s house! Now for those – outside of the Church - who have not yet responded fully to the grace of believing all of this to be so, God credits a sincere search for truth, a heartfelt desire for fullness of life in goodness, kind words said, and self-sacrificial deeds done as sufficiently qualifying them for a real, significant and blessed place in heaven. Such persons have “eaten the bread and drunk the cup” in a proximated but very valid sort of way and it does count if they truly believed what they were doing was right for them and can say that what the Catholic Church had to offer was not yet for them. But for any who are not Catholic – and who seek the truth, desire the fullness of life in God, speak good words and do good deeds and have been given the initial grace to consider the strong possibility that the fullness of what they are looking for just might be found in the Catholic Church – and this seems more than just a passing fancy – then they are obligated to follow through and fully investigate the entry process into fullness of life within the Church – which includes the Initiation Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist! They need to talk to a priest! God the Father is always so eager to welcome new members into the Body of Christ his Son – the Church - and to fill them to overflowing with the gifts of the Spirit for their own amazing happiness and his deserved glory! Everyone is invited to join – there is room for all! Yes, Jesus was quite serious – you must either directly or indirectly spiritually eat his flesh and drink his blood that only the Catholic Church provides in its reality and fullness – it cannot be found really or fully anywhere else. Yes, Niagara Fall is really there, believe it or not; but, believe it, says the Lord Jesus: whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him –both now and forever! NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – Strengthened by that food, he walked to the mountain of God. + Our readings today for the third Sunday in a row have to do with the idea and theme of Jesus as the Bread of Life come down from heaven; and this is only the half-way point: two more Sundays follow with the same theme. Why is that? It is because this is the high point of the “green-vestmented teaching Sundays” – the Sundays of Ordinary Time – ordinary not in content by any means, but ordinary, as in the word “ordinal” or “counting,” having to do with counting down the Sundays to the Solemnity of Christ the King in late November before beginning again the whole “life of Christ cycle” in Advent. These Sundays are the high point of this season because they have to do with an enormously important and almost unfathomable gift of God to us. Advent/ Christmas; Lent/Easter and finally Pentecost – are the three major seasons, celebrations and expositions of the works of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Each season is rich in its pageantry and music and readings and festivities. But the point of these five teaching Sundays during the summer months, is that, as far as we Catholic Christians are concerned, Jesus as the very Bread of God’s Life come down from heaven is what is meant to sustain, nourish and feed us throughout all of the days of the entire Church year. Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, is here on earth – by the words of the priest and the working of the Holy Spirit – as an object of adoration; he is here as spiritual nourishment, energy and motivation DAILY! This is astounding good news! Nowhere else can Jesus be found in this particular, truly awesome and truly miraculous way; in no other way can his disciples be so intensely spiritually fortified than this way; and in no other way can any human being feel him residing completely and deeply within the inner recesses of his human heart! We are fortunate beyond words to be able to eat this bread that not even the angels can eat! What an extraordinary gift the Eucharist is – an unmerited and exceptional gift from the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit! The first reading today intimates the power of the Eucharist: eating and drinking the food that God himself will provide – (not by means of an angel – but by means of one who is higher than the angels – Jesus himself, through the ministry of his priests) – will give you all the strength you need to walk through your entire life until you reach the mountain of God and the heavenly banquet prepared for you there! The gospel passage gives a typical worldly reaction to Jesus direct statement that he himself is this “bread that came down from heaven;” they ridiculed him and said: Yeah right! You are just the son of Mary and Joseph. You are just a carpenter turned rabbi. Who do you think you are saying you are “bread come down from heaven?” At the same time Jesus is trying to at least convince some to listen to what he has to say: because if you do listen and act on what you hear, he tells them, then the Father will draw you to himself through me and my words: and that is the only way that you can get to him! Eating the bread that I give, the bread of my flesh will bring you to everlasting life – will bring you to the Father himself! And all you have to do is to BELIEVE IT and then EAT IT and then LIVE THE LIFE OF THE BEATITUDES THAT YOU ARE NOW EMPOWERED TO DO BECAUSE YOU DID EAT! All it takes is faith for all of this to make perfect sense: my dear people, pray, pray, pray for more and more faith and you will be amazed at how your life will change for the better and forever! EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – I will rain down bread from heaven for you! + What powerful readings we have today at Mass! And how contrary to what the secular, worldly mind would think! Jesus tells us one thing today, in two different formats, so we get the message: do not work for perishable food (as though it were the be-all and the end-all of your earthly activities) as if collecting power, position, authority and money; homes, cars, boats and a variety of “things” were your chief goal and occupation in life. You will be sadly disappointed at the end of your life, if this is so! None of this will get you into heaven – at the moment when you truly arrive at the gates thereof – and knock on the door! On the other hand, Jesus tells us to: work for spiritual food – with all of our might, all of our being, all of our energy, all of our ingenuity: this is and ought to be our chief and spiritual life’s work! A great many people spend hours a day thinking about themselves and their appearance and their possessions and their projects and their plans, and their likes and their dislikes; going here, going there and everywhere – at a faster and faster, noisier and more chaotic pace: and all the while, their very real spiritual lives - that count so much more than the material and the physical - is slowly withering away and dying (if it is not already dead and rotting) – and then when their lives around them start falling apart, said people wonder what happened! Jesus tells us today: CARING FOR THE SPIRITUAL LIFE WITHIN US MUST COME FIRST- everything else follows from that! “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his way of doing things, and everything else will be given to you besides!” St. Paul puts it another way: BE TRANSFORMED BY THE SPIRIT OF YOUR MINDS! Wake up mentally! Put on the new self that sprang to life at the moment of your Baptism; live with the Gifts of Confirmation, God’s Way, in rightness of living, and holiness of life! Do the work of God which is: BELIEVING IN THE ONE HE SENT: JESUS CHRIST! It is a simple and complex as that! BELIEVING IN JESUS, and then LIVING LIKE WE BELIEVE IT! We make it complex by doing so much to block the inspirations that God gives us in order to come to fullness of belief! We sabotage our own salvation! We turn up the noise, the TVs, the IPODS, the cell phones, the clatter and chaos of modern living – and we can’t hear God speaking slowly, softly and gently to us – all that we need to know about living productively life here, as a preparation for the Greater and more Glorious hereafter! Not only does he speak to us in the Scriptures, in the homilies at Mass, in our private prayer time: but Jesus speaks most eloquently to us deep within our hearts immediately after we receive him in Holy Communion! Jesus is the Bread of Life, come down from heaven! Whoever eats this bread will live forever! When his heartbeat is in sync right next to our own, he reveals to us the secrets of the universe, the secrets of a happy life, and the secrets of what lies ahead for us in eternity! “We must be still and listen to God speaking”: and then we must “obey and do whatever he tells us to do!” We believe that Jesus is who he said he is: the very Bread of God’s Life and Friendship for us come down from heaven! That is why we say “AMEN” when “The Body of Christ” is held up before us, and presented to us! Yes, it is true, our relationship with you, Jesus, is the most important thing in this life – and everything, absolutely everything, follows from that! SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – They shall eat and there shall be some left over. + “A great prophet has risen in our midst. God has visited his people!” As I proclaim these words here in St. Ambrose Church building, most all of you have pretty much of a grasp of what I am saying: you search quickly into your mental memory banks and retrieve the Folder that has the name “Jesus” written on it! Yes, Jesus is the great prophet who has risen in our midst. Yes, in Jesus, God has visited his people! And each of us, though at a different points of fully grasping the meaning of this concept, we each know at least that the subject and topic and person involved is JESUS! Now, if you heard the same proclamation made (“A great prophet has risen in our midst. God has visited his people!”), in the exact same way by Katie Couric, Brian Williams or Charles Gibson, it would come across in an entirely different sort of way – and if it was proclaimed by local news anchors it would produce an even different level of reception! Why is that? To put it briefly: the “spirit of ‘the world’,” in general, is not a “spirit of God” – it is not God-friendly, God-welcoming, God-accepting! In fact, it is God-suspicious, God-dubious, God-disbelieving! Therefore, the exact same proclamation that we hear and receive quite readily in Church becomes something even a bit suspect in our own minds as we sit in front of our televisions at home! And just think of those who choose not to go to any Church at all: who choose to live a “God-Free Life” - these words must sound quite bizarre and even laughable! This is the heart of the matter! What we embrace is Jesus, as the One True and Great Prophet: the One who not only speaks Words from God the Father to us for our guidance and growth, leading us to everlasting life – but who actually is that very Word Made Flesh and Blood – in a human person – so that we can befriend him and receive all that he came to offer us! And what he has to offer us is an abundance of life: an overflowing measure of spiritual and temporal gifts for our journey into our heavenly homeland: this superabundance is prophesied in the first reading today from the Book of Kings: “they shall eat, and there shall be some left over;” and manifested by Jesus own miraculous feeding of the five thousand: “they had their fill, and twelve baskets of fragments was left over!” This miraculous feeding of course was also a prophecy of Jesus’ Great Feeding of his Flock that would continue throughout the ages until the end of time in the Most Blessed Eucharist (the Holy Communion of his very real Body and Blood that we receive at this and every Mass) that he gave to the Catholic Church to treasure, eat, adore and preserve on earth until he comes again! Our beloved Friend did not want to leave us alone; without his presence and spiritual energy! Yes, the Great Prophet, Jesus, has visited us and he has provided a way to remain with us – THIS WE BELIEVE! THIS WE CELEBRATE! THIS WE TREASURE! And this message with its invitation to “come and experience it for yourself” is entrusted to us to carry to all people everywhere, most especially to all those hungry and thirsting souls who are daily watching the CBS, ABC, NBC Nightly News! A great prophet has risen in our midst. God has visited his people! Come to him – and let him feed you with what only He can give you – his very Self! SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – I will gather the remnant of my flock and appoint shepherds for them. + Our gospel passage today once again speaks of the tender love that Jesus has for those following him, those seeking something better than what they now possess. They know that something is lacking in their lives and they have a great instinct telling them in their hearts that Jesus is the answer to their problems! And Jesus does look at them with compassion; his heart is moved to the point of empathetic pity and he gives them what he feels they need first: knowledge of the way things truly are, and how things can really be different if what he presents is adopted and put into practice! This knowledge is very important: for from knowledge can come love, and from love can come communion with God and with one another! But it is also to be noted in this passage that Jesus is not only concerned with the sheep of his flock, but also the shepherds. The Apostles, after going out and announcing the arrival of the Reign of God in the person of Jesus, come back to him exhausted and they gather at his feet and tell him all the marvelous things that they had accomplished that day in his name! Jesus looks directly at each of them and sees their weary, worn faces; they are tired and hungry, and so Jesus invites them to come away by themselves to a deserted place and rest a while. But people kept coming and coming! So Jesus had them get into a boat to get away for while – but the people found out where they were going and arrived there before them. The attraction of Real Truth and Real Peace is a driving force It appears that the Apostles and Jesus never got their rest that day! This sometimes happens in meeting the needs of God’s people! They helped Jesus preach and teach these spiritually thirsting and hungry souls. But sooner or later these primary ministers would need some time to refresh and regroup and be renewed by the Spirit of Love, for more work in the vineyard. My dear sheep, I am asking you to remember the good shepherds that have just recently been appointed to serve your needs: Fr. Murray, Fr. Norm and myself; each of us are in the state that many of you are as we face the prospects of building a brand new parish (some of you whether you even realize it or not), we are ourselves are mourning the loss of what was, in the old parish set up and all that went along with it; all of us, including you all, are involved in a real grieving process that might take some time to get through; and so be very kind and gentle and loving to one another and to these new priests: Jesus was concerned about his helpers and their spiritual and physical welfare – so must you be on behalf of Jesus! There is nothing more moving that to see a sheep taking care of its shepherd! It does work both ways! The Lord is both your shepherd and my shepherd; their is nothing that any of us will ever lack if we trust him and follow him all the days of our life! FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – Go, prophesy to my people. + The “alleluia verse” today is magnificent! May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our hearts, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to our call. It is the heart of the message that I want to give you today! This week, at the weekday Masses, on several days, there was mention of Jesus power over demons – and his curing of illness and disease. These were very easy things for Jesus to do; after all he is Son of God. Not only did he go about doing these things, but he also, the readings tell us on these day, and again today appointed others to do these things as well. This was mentioned in the first reading: “Go prophesy to my people!” We immediately think of the priests, and they have been sent to do these things – but many others have been given the charism of healing by the Holy Spirit as well – religious and lay persons too. You may be sitting right next to one – or might even be one yourself and not really acknowledge it! If you are a peacemaker – then you are a healer; if you take care of the sick, then you are a healer; if you talk with others about their problem you help them drive the demons out of their lives; if you pray with others and for others – your influence is very powerful in bringing the very healing of Jesus to them! We are God’s adopted children, the second reading tells us today – and he wants us to bathe ourselves in the forgiveness, compassion and mercy and healing that he can offer us through his Son Jesus, and his Church. He loves us so very much and is looking forward so much to calling us all home to him one day in heaven, and summing all things up in Christ – all things in heaven and on earth – this has been the plan all along and would have happened even if Adam and Eve had not sinned. Everything always has been about Jesus, Jesus alone, He truly is Lord, God, Savior, Priest and Friend. This gives us every reason to have hope! We have been called to God’s house, and even while we are sojourning to be there on those difficult days that we all face in this hectic oft-times weary world, we can still rest in his heart, in his peace, in his joy, in his love – most especially when we receive him in the Most Blessed Eucharist. It is in the moments after receiving communion when we are seated in silence that we can ask him to enlighten the eyes of our hearts, so that we can be confident of our call and willing to work all we can to cooperate with his command of love, so that we can get there – and bring as many other with us as we possibly can! You are kind and merciful O Lord; let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation! FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – They are a rebellious house but shall know that a prophet has been among them. Well, we made it! We are a brand- new church, part of a brand new parish! It is an excellent opportunity to begin again, taking with us the very best of the past, and leaving the worst behind. And so we take up our posture again to “receive the glad tidings that are brought to us, in the Word of God, and in preaching;” and also to take up the mandate to spread that Word and to be that Word, that is transformed into the Bread of Eucharist to spiritually empower us to do just that: be evangelists and helpers, to be friends and peacemakers amongst ourselves in the Christian community and in the world at large. St. Paul gives us a clue as to who will be successful in doing this: the one who declares himself/herself weak! For God tells us that “my grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” And so we are to “boast of our weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with us!” In that way we can accept and even be content with whatever life sends our way: weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST: for WHEN I AM WEAK, then I am strong! And so God chooses and empowers the weak to do his work, but all he can do is invite the general public to receive the work, to receive the word, to accept a helping hand, a kind word, an embrace of peace - to act like they have received it – all it takes is FAITH THAT IT INDEED DOES WORK THIS WAY! Jesus tells us that in his own hometown he could not spread the word like he would have wanted, nor performed miracles as proof of his identity because they lacked faith! This is, of course, was prophesied in the first reading from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel. The Lord indeed will send one as a true prophet: that the rebellious house – all those who are stiff-necked and obstinate - shall only know that a prophet has risen among them – but not many will hear or heed what he has to say! As we begin a new life as a “church-in-a-parish” let us keep our eyes fixed “on the prophet” the Great One – the True One – Jesus Christ – and let us never stop pleading for his mercy as we cry out in our weakness: Lord, hear us! Lord, save us! Lord, heal us! Thus we shall be strong and faithful members of the new and improved St. Ambrose! God bless us all! THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME I – By the envy of the devil, death entered the world. Today’s readings are about “what was and what will be,” about “endings and beginnings,” about “death and life.” In a sense it is about the great “spiral of life” ever leading upward and onward, though in somewhat of a circular, motion. The readings are very clear that God is a God of Life! “He did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For he fashioned things that they might have being; and the creatures of the world are wholesome, and there is not a destructive drug among them nor any domain of the netherworld on earth, for justice is undying. God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made him. BUT BY THE ENVY OF THE DEVIL – EVERYTHING CHANGED – AND DEATH ENTERED THE WORLD AS A RESULT OF SIN and they who belong to his company experience it!” It is not God’s fault that death and sin are in the world: it is ours, the individual and collective children of Adam and Eve. But it was God’s immediate response, as soon as the Great Sin happened – the sins of mistrust, and disobedience which is what Original Sin is all about – to change the sin to forgiveness and the death to life. The sending of his Son was all about such a tremendously compassionate and urgent desire for reconciliation. And because Jesus went through with it – and died on the cross – the sin was forgiven and life was restored – the gates of heaven were opened and things were once again made right – HOWEVER – the good effects would only apply now to those who want to participate in them, those who believe in Jesus and his Father and their Spirit and who are willing to act like they believe it in a life of self-sacrificial service after the example of Jesus. In a real sense he said: I carried my cross, now you must carry yours! And so death was transformed into life; the ending of one situation was transformed into the beginning of a new one; what was, was transformed into what is now new and what will be from now on! Does any of this sound familiar? In just a few days the same process of transformation will take place as six parishes in the Midcoast region experience a death in their present parish setups, but solely for the purpose of being transformed into one living new parish by the name of All Saints, having six “churches” or “worship sites” for the faithful to continue gathering for worship and to experience extended parish life; this will be marked as the end of the way things were, and the beginning of a whole new way to be; what was will be transformed into a new now and an uncertain but exciting future. Will it work out? Will we like the new priests? Will we all get along under one “parish umbrella”? Chances are we will! This has worked out in other places in this diocese and in many other dioceses in the country. In many ways it is much more like the way the early church was set up – with a central administration and several worship sites. What will make it work out is if we remember the little girl in the gospel passage today: Jesus raised her to life for the good of her family! He will also raise up our new parish for our good and the good of the diocese of Portland if we approach him with the same trust, and faith and love that the parents of the child did! Jesus knows our need! He knows any pain and confusion and frustration that might be accompanying this transition (in the gospel passage he tells the people to stop their weeping and wailing and commotion) – and he will help, if we ask him! For both he and his Father, are the God of the living and not the whining and the dying and the dead! And he wants to see to it that our efforts in glorifying God are fully supported! Another thing that would help, as with all new beginnings: is to let bygones be bygones (if there are any to be gone); not to carry unnecessary baggage from the old parish to the new one! Life is too short for people on the same team to quibble with one another over relative and subjective interpretations of things. We are “forgiven people” (all of us); and unless we forgive, then we really are not fully plugged into the ranks of discipleship and we are selling ourselves short of a truly happy parish life! And so next week you will have a new designation as St. Ambrose Church of All Saints Parish; you will have a new Administrator: Father Frank Murray who seems to be quite capable of taking the helm of this new endeavor; and you will still have Angela, as Pastoral Associate and myself as Sacramental Minister – as we venture forth into the great adventure of being a brand-spanking-new parish! St. Ambrose, pray for us! Holy Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, pray for us! All you Saints of God, pray for us! God bless you! TWLEFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – FATHER’S DAY I – Here shall your proud waves be stilled. This is Father’s Day – and I know for me it is a time to think about my own father – who even though he has passed on – still lives in my memory and encourages me with what he said and did for me and the family I grew up in. One thing that my father provided for in a special way was “security.” I knew that I was living in a “safe environment” and that he cared deeply for my mother, my brother and me; and he would do whatever was necessary to provide for our needs. And he did. And he did these things in a very friendly and loving way! I hope that many of you have that same regard for your own fathers! Not that my father was perfect all of the time – ask my mother and my brother, ask me – but he tried to do his best with what he had to work with – my mother, my brother and me! But there was once TWO FATHERS who were nigh unto perfect in every way: the first is GOD, THE FATHER! who was and is definitely not only perfect, but is Perfection itself, who is the very Author of Life, Creator of everything and everyone, and Provider for everything that his beloved children need in their pilgrimage through life on earth to our true home in heaven. And the other is a man of the house of David who was chosen from all time to be the FOSTER-FATHER of God’s Son when the time was right for him to come to earth in order to save mankind from sin and death! This foster-father’s name was Joseph – and he was the true virginal husband of the ever virgin Mother of the Son of God: Mary of Nazareth. Theirs was a very unique relationship and marriage, yet one that –especially at this exact particular time in history – needs to be talked about. With rightful marriage and family life being in an all time high critically challenged state; with wrongful marriage and family life being touted as a “logical, just and compassionate” alternative – may we spend a few moments today on this Father’s Day, this Family Day to think about the way things were set up to be “in the beginning” as the normative way! God the Father/Creator set these things up this way “in the beginning” – according to the first book of the Bible: Genesis:
This is the way things were set up and this is the way that God intended and still intends for them to operate and work – with no deviation. However… when the man and the woman misused their gift of free will and caused sin and death to enter the picture, GOD THE FATHER set into motion a marvelous plan: to forgive their sin and restore their life – at the cost of the life of his own Son (the only one qualified to do it: because he was both God and man at the same time): Jesus – Son of Mary, Foster-son of Joseph, the carpenter. An important thing to remember here (not only for this family, but for all families, including every family represented here today) – GOD ALWAYS PREPARES INDIVIDUALS FOR THEIR TRUE VOCATIONS IN LIFE! Everything they need to make them fully qualified is provided, and will all work out, if the people involved cooperate with the gifts given and prepare themselves humbly, willingly and generously from the heart. Thus – since Mary would be the Mother of Jesus, who is God – his body would come from hers – it was only right that her body had no hint of Original Sin – thus she was immaculately conceived in the womb of St. Anne. Mary was always full of grace – a fitting dwelling place for the unborn Jesus. She is thus the most blessed of all persons. This we probably already knew: but did you ever stop to think that Joseph too was very specially prepared to do his job as foster-father and earthly provider of Jesus – Son of God and Son of Mary: he would be the one to teach Jesus so many things that only a father could teach a son: and so, while not immaculately conceived in his mother’s womb: he was, however, the Church tells us, by certain logic and valid inference, all but completely sanctified in the womb of his mother and is considered second in degree of holiness only to that of Mary herself. And so Jesus was born. Mary was his adoring mother, Joseph was his ever-attentive and devoted foster-father and the pattern of family life for all Christians was set. What made it all work out for them was that they each put God the Father and his will first in their lives, they each were as humble and unassuming as one can be and they each dedicated their lives to be of loving self-sacrificial service to other people, beginning with each other: we can do the exact same thing, both as immediate and remote family members! But what a task Joseph had before him, no doubt he wondered “can I do this?” “can I be all that God wants me to be for this precious little gift he has placed in my life?” – and God answered “Oh, yes, Joseph, you can do it – with my help as your Father, you certainly can do it!” – and he did do it. May St. Joseph, the model of all earthly fathers, help all men – who follow their vocation to be fathers – do what they need to do to be the spiritual and material resources for those placed in their loving care. St. Joseph, pray for us! Amen! THE SOLEMNITY OF THE HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST I – This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you. Today is part three of a series of homilies on the “dynamic life” of God that is available to us initially in the Sacrament of Baptism, and is increased in the Sacrament of Confirmation in the form of Seven Major Gifts (WUCKPFF). Last week I stated that there is still one “missing piece” to this series and I asked you to think of what it was. What is it? (Pause) Yes, it is the Most Blessed Eucharist: the great Sacrament of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus – that he left us as a memorial of his passion and our pledge of future glory when he comes again. “While you are waiting for me to come again, I want to be with you at every moment – not only in your tabernacles – but also in YOU – so that you will have every possible chance of making it to where you want to be: heaven, with me and your brothers and sisters! The Eucharist then is “the missing piece” to our homiletic puzzle. The way I have recently come to get the most out of Eucharist is to F.O.F. (as opposed to WUCKPFF). F.O.F.= FOCUS ON (the Divine) FRIENDSHIP! Let me break it down this way: God’s Friendship became a man: Jesus. (named at his birth). This is an astounding reality to think about: The Word of God has “pitched his tent in our world” – as “God’s-Friendship-Made-Flesh!” WOW! Jesus became a piece of bread: then died for us to prove that Friendship. (The Last Supper; The Cross of Calvary). Both of these were the exact same act of redemptive total self-donation on the part of Jesus for us and for our salvation. By this supreme act of obedience the lost friendship between God and mankind was reconnected! Where we have the bread, we have the cross; where we have the cross, we have the bread! They are inseparable! That’s all there is to it! But once again: WOW! What an absolutely astounding reality that is! And it’s as near to us as this Mass (or any other Mass we will attend in the future). Here we have an absolute guarantee that everything we could possibly need in life will be provided if our faith in the Eucharist, in the gifts of Confirmation, in our gifts of Baptism are fully engaged and used by us! It takes work on our part, but it is so worth it! And, oh yes, it is always a great day to be Catholic for the fully initiated member of the Church: initiated by Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist! God wants our reconnected Friendship with him to reach Divine status in our own minds, because it has already done so in his! We are his dearly beloved friends and children. And so we must Focus on the Divine Friendship (F.O.F.) as often as we possibly can – especially in FRIENDING OTHER PEOPLE! This is the way to maintain and keep alive the grace of the Eucharist we receive here when we leave. FRIEND and you will KNOW AND FEEL JESUS like you never have before. FRIEND in a self-sacrificial way and the knowledge and feeling will be even deeper and more satisfying to you and to the one beFRIENDED! And so my dear friends: let us this day and always F.O.F., Focus on the Divine Friendship – it makes all the difference in the whole world and will do so until the end of time! The Broken Bread of Life is the Holy Bread of Friendship! THE SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY I – The Lord is God in the heavens above and on earth below and there is no other. Last week on the Feast of Pentecost in my homily I said that it’s a great day to be Catholic! We are so gifted! We are so primed! We are so ready to go out and make a real and lasting difference in the world as we find it May we rededicate ourselves to being Spirit-filled-and-sent Catholics today! Today I would like to begin on another footing! IF we are so gifted! IF we are so primed! IF we are so ready to go out and make a real and lasting difference in the world as Catholic Christians, then why, as of late, is there such an unusual amount of negative commotion in the One Church that was sent out on that One Day to bring One Faith to all the world: drawing it together in unity and peace? I am referring to the now familiar fact that a priest-president of a major Catholic University stood up defiantly against his own bishop and at least 82 other protesting bishops, and hundreds of thousands of faithful Catholics who petitioned him not to do what he did in inviting the President of the United States - who clearly demonstrates in certain critical areas of morality -values that directly oppose Catholic teaching - to speak at the Commencement Exercises of the University and award him an honorary law degree – causing embarrassment to the Church and grave scandal to the whole flock of God. I am referring to the fact that a popular young publicly known priest in another part of the country recently not only “got caught” living a double-life but then left the priesthood of the Catholic Church (which he claimed to love so much) in order to marry the woman he was having an affair with - as an apparently quick and emotionally charged reaction to being caught - without proper time for thoughtful, objective and detached assessment of the entire situation in the light of his true vocation (whatever it might be), and his obedient response to it; and not only that, but in an even more stunningreaction to his misdeed, renounced his Catholic Faith completely by joining a protestant community and applying for its priesthood and being given permission immediately to start ministering to their people in a minor role – causing quite frankly a grave scandal in both religious communities. I am talking about the fact that clergy abuse surfaced again recently, this time in Ireland, causing the healing scars of what happened in our own country these past several years to be brushed and bruised. If the Church is so filled with the Holy Spirit and called to be the Light of the World: then how can all of these dark things be happening within it? The answer is very simple: free-will. Men (and women) will always be free to choose the right or the wrong; the good or the bad; what is of God, what is of the Evil One. But even this takes some doing: for humans are pre-wired, pre-programmed as it were, to “go for the good and the right,” it is part of our human nature. And then as I talked about last week there is Counsel as a Gift of the Spirit. This is what counsel is: it seasons our consciences with even more of a taste for the good and right – and it makes us want to go there. However, the Evil One who is still allowed to deal with us tempts us to go the other way: and since his greatest trick is camouflage, he makes the very bad appear o so good - and unless we think, pray, act and use WUCKPFF: especially, Counsel, then it is very easy to be duped. The things mentioned above have been examples of recent super-duping by the Evil One. Now, the Good News today, on this Solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity is that for the baptized and confirmed Catholic Christian person: there is an enormous amount of help available to successfully tread through life – day by day – for as long as we live. We have the very dynamic life of the Triune God within us. What is this “dynamic life?” It can be explained like this: before there was anything there was God, just God. He was Three Persons all intercommunicating with each another in a very living, dynamic, moving, energized sort of way. It was the Father, loving the Son; and the Son returning the love in a never-ending exchange: the circulating energy, love, friendship between Father and Son being the Holy Spirit. The Three Persons are all separate but equal; all individual, but united; all participating in what it means to be God. Where one is, the other two are truly there somewhere, somehow! Then, God created everything, including people, male and female: man: to share the love and the friendship, to share his own dynamic life with persons outside himself: just because he could do it; and because love and friendship are expansive: they go out from themselves. But we know the relationship of love / friendship was all but destroyed by the Original Sin, until Jesus, Son of God, also came down to earth to become Son of Man. By his death on the Cross he restored the love / friendship relationship with the Father; and then when he returned to heaven he and his Father sent the Holy Spirit to remind us of all these things and to provide a way so we could be intimately reconnected to God (because we are born into this world still unconnected). The way is baptism! Baptism is an amazing sacrament where our lives become completely different - we are born a new creation; we are alone no longer; we belong to a community of other baptized people and are confirmed (given gifts of the Spirit) to help each other out and the whole world the best we can! THIS GIVES US EVERY REASON TO HAVE HOPE: to believe that the Church has the fullness of God’s presence no matter what might go on with individual members – who oftentimes have a very difficult time using the gifts they have been given. Without casting the first stone, (because we ourselves sin and sometimes choose to remain in darkness), we ought not judge these members; and also not neglect to pray for them to receive the fullness of God’s grace and mercy that is always available to all of us! Yes! It is always a great day to be Catholic! [Actually this homily is not finished – and actually it is the second of a three part series that began last week and will conclude next week (I didn’t really even know this myself until I started writing it all out)– there is still a very important “missing piece” – perhaps during the week you can identify what that piece is? What is it that can guarantee that every day is a great day to be Catholic, come what may?] THE SOLEMNITY OF PENTECOST I – They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak. One of my most favorite hymns in the entire repertoire of the Catholic Church is the hymn: Veni, Sancte Spiritus! Come, Holy Spirit! It was sung for us beautifully at the conclusion of the second reading today. I pray this hymn/prayer every single morning and have done so for over two years and I know that it has had a major influence in the quality of my spirituality and Catholic life. [I have made double-copies of it as a bulletin insert so that you might use it and share it with someone else. Pray it alone or better yet with someone.] I truly believe in the power of this 9th century gift from God! It can be the cause of great peace, joy, strength and healing any place, any time! And so today we celebrate the great solemnity of Pentecost: the coming of the promised Holy Spirit upon the now fully sent Apostles. Jesus sent the eleven, (now 12 with the replacement of Judas with Matthias) at the Ascension; and he already breathed on them and placed the Spirit within them for the forgiveness of sins on Easter Sunday night – but now he is “releasing them fully equipped” into the cold, cruel and even hostile world to invite it to become radically different: to become a place of Life rather than Death, a place of Light rather than Darkness, a place of Love/Friendship rather than Hatred/Anger. The coming of the Spirit on that day had several applications, but there were seven major Gifts from the Father released upon the Apostles, that were also released on Jesus after his baptism in the Jordan, and released upon us after our baptisms at our confirmations, and I am referring to: WUCKPFF! WUCKPFF???? What in heaven’s name is WUCKPFF??? WUCKPFF is the way that I remember and have always taught other to remember the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we all receive at our confirmation which were released into the Church on Pentecost Day: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord! WUCKPFF! The definitions for these actually come from the “rite of Confirmation” itself:
There you have it: WUCKPFF! Coupled with the gifts of our baptism: (the theological virtues or powers of FAITH – the ability to communicate with God on his own level; HOPE – the ability to yearn for a better tomorrow and the completion of this life which will transcend this one in heaven; CHARITY – the ability to self-lessly, self-sacrificially and self-giving-ly be-FRIEND others who are in need) – (coupled with these), the gifts of Confirmation /Pentecost can enable us to enthusiastically proclaim the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. Evangelization was born on Pentecost: the Church filled with the Holy Spirit – everyone having their own general and specific gifts, and assigned a particular mission - is the Church as Evangelizer – sent to bring the good news and transforming power of the gospel to the ends of the earth - SO THAT ALL MIGHT BE ONE! It’s a great day to be Catholic! We are so gifted! We are so primed! We are so ready to go out and make a real and lasting difference in our household situations, our work places, our schools, our recreation sites and into society as we come into contact with it! May we rededicate ourselves to being Spirit-filled-and-sent Catholics today! Happy Birthday to the Evangelizing Church! Happy Birthday to us! and thank you Holy Spirit for all that you continue to do for us - as you are with us -making of us - responsible citizens not only of our temporary home here on earth but also our lasting and “true native-land” in heaven! COME, HOLY SPIRIT COME Come, Father of the poor! You, of comforters the best; In our labor, rest most sweet; O most blessed Light divine, Where you are not, man has naught, Heal our wounds, our strength renew; Bend the stubborn heart and will; On the faithful who adore Give them virtue’s sure reward; SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER I – It is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us become with us a witness to the resurrection. Our gospel today is very powerful. Holy Father, Jesus prayed looking up to heaven, keep them (keep these men I have chosen as Apostles, and those who will believe in us through their preaching) keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one.
Jesus tells his Father: when I was with them, walking and talking with them, teaching them and encouraging them, feeding them – uniting them – giving them the first taste of real peace – I guarded them, and none was lost, except the son of destruction (in order that the scripture about him be fulfilled).
My heartfelt desire, Jesus goes on, is that all of them experience the joy that I know and have the power to share with them, but they must be very vigilant and not be taken in by the (dis-unifying) world around them or else they will know no such joy!
Jesus is now ascended into heaven – he is “seated at the right hand of the Father” – and he is interceding for us constantly – that we might REMAIN IN HIM – REMAIN IN TRUTH – REMAIN IN THE CHURCH: the one, sure and certain vehicle to get to where he is!
While the Apostles waited, with Mary, in the Upper Room as they had been asked to do by Jesus before he ascended – praying for the coming of the promised Holy Spirit - who would remind them of everything that told them, who would teach them Truth and would lead them all safely to Paradise – they were to appoint a replacement for the betrayer, for the traitor, for the one who denied friendship with Jesus (Judas Iscariot) – by prayer and asking a sign from God. They prayed, they cast lots and Matthias was chosen because it was the Holy Spirit’s choice and because Matthias was most qualified to die witnessing to Jesus and the newborn Christian faith. All of us are asked to give ourselves completely to the cause, as well – and perhaps, some, in one way or another, even literally give our lives – but in any event: witnessing to Jesus, to the Truth, to the Kingdom of God is what being a Catholic is all about. We all want to go to heaven; but know that it is our job to take as many along with us as we possibly can! We need witnesses more than ever – at this very critical time in salvation history! May the words you hear today, the songs you sing, the prayers you pray, the Eucharistic food you eat – be exactly the nourishment you need to be a committed, joyful and loving Catholic, this day, this week! God bless you! SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER I – The gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles also. This coming week we will be celebrating the feast of the Ascension of Jesus into heaven. His work on earth as Son of God / Son of Mary – Crucified and Risen is just about at an end, from a strictly earthly perspective. It is time for the Son to return to the Father, it is time for Jesus, Son of Mary to take his place at the right hand of the Father in heaven, to prepare a place to receive his Mother, when we celebrate her Assumption in August: and to prepare a place for us as he promised he would. It is an exciting time of year. We are still in the wondrous season of spring when everything is bursting forth green, flowering and fragrant. It is the great Easter Season! It is still –after six weeks - a fitting time to talk about baptism. That which brings us into the newness of life that Jesus won for us on Calvary and released by his Resurrection is Baptism. We use the water – so recognizable as spring showers and rain – to welcome into the Church those selected by the Holy Spirit to be members. In the first reading today, even Peter was surprised when the Holy Spirit fell upon the Gentiles who were listening to him preach. It was the same Sprit that fell upon him and the Apostles and many others on Pentecost day. It was quite obvious to Peter then that these Gentiles ought to be baptized right away for the forgiveness of their sins; and in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And they were. [Now, it seems that at this very early stage of the game – on this particular occasion – the Gentiles were “confirmed” first before they were “baptized.” Not until later did the Church sort out and define the order of the full initiation rites of the Church: which now are Baptism – Confirmation – Eucharist]. The important thing here is that God does the calling; those who hear the call are graced to respond to the call: to receive the waters of Baptism, the fire of the Holy Spirit, and the Bread of Life – if they are attentive, alert & willing! Today we will celebrate – following this homily – the baptism of Cody Fournier. We are so fortunate to have this opportunity today to celebrate the human life of a child, and the new-spiritual-life that comes with Baptism. Parents, cooperating with God give the child human life; but their greatest gift to the child is to give him/her an opportunity to possess “newness of life” – the gift of “Divine Friendship; and the gift of becoming an adopted spiritual son / daughter of God – and a true adoptive brother and sister to everyone else who is baptized and lives in Jesus Christ: brothers and sisters in the Church. In the gospel passage Jesus tells us that by dying for us: our lost friendship with him and his Father was restored; and the possibility of true, deep and meaningful friendship with one another – which had also been seriously wounded by the sin of our first parents - was also restored: we were reconciled to God and to one another! Baptism is what connects us to that Divine Friendship that runs up and down (from and to God); and all around, to our brothers and sisters – who if they are baptized too, are qualified to be our very best of friends, not only for life but forever. This is what life in the Church means: life in a Community of Friends – who are united with one another by the amazing love of Jesus (God’s own Son and our Brother and Friend) who proved that friendship by dying for us: no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. [And to boot, Jesus died for us when we were still enemies – due to the technicality, that we couldn’t even be friends of his until he did die – he loves us so very much!] He asks us then too: to do as he commands: which is to LOVE: to FRIEND as many people as we can, as he friends them: by being nice to them, helping them when there is something we can do to help, and to do this because we first have been loved and friended by him! Our Alms Program is called: Friends Helping Friends / Help Thy Neighbor – this is an excellent way for us to do what Jesus commands – along with many other of your own ideas. And now it is time for us to welcome into our parish family of caring friends: a young one whom we now promise to take under our wing to give spiritual support, sustenance, love and friendship to all the days of his life: it is time for the rite that has been passed on for 2000 years to begin: it is time to celebrate the great sacrament of Baptism! FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER I – Barnabas reported to the Apostles how Saul had seen the Lord on the way. St. Paul had such an extraordinary experience in meeting Jesus because he was such an extraordinarily stubborn man! But the old saying is absolutely true: “the bigger they are, the harder they fall;” and when they rise again, they are a completely new creation! Saul, as he was known then, thought he was doing the right thing: persecuting this young upstart of a religious sect which followed a young, crucified and now supposedly resurrected carpenter turned rabbi: Jesus of Nazareth. Saul was a stalwart Jew, an educated man in the law of Moses: this blasphemous outrage of one claiming to be God’s Son – and now proclaimed and preached as still alive by this traitorous group of rag-tag followers – had to be stopped once and for all. But it was actually he who was destined to be stopped once and for all. And in a dramatic sort of way: (the bigger they are, the harder they fall); Saul, on his way to Damascus to persecute the disciples of Christ saw very plainly and distinctly the very LIGHT WHICH IS CHRIST JESUS! And he became physically blinded by it and was unable to see until God deemed it the right time. With the LIGHT came the VOICE that said: Saul, Saul why are you persecuting ME? Saul was persecuting Christians, but the voice said ME! The reason Jesus said this is because of the reality given in the gospel passage: Jesus is the Vine, and his Father is the Vine grower. Just as branches of a vine cannot exist apart from the vine, can disciples of Jesus exist apart from him. And they did exist in him! And so, if the branch is persecuted, then the vine is persecuted; the “ME” Jesus was speaking about! Now, if you say you are a disciple, as St. John relates in the second reading, a branch of his vine, then you BELIEVE in him, and LOVE as he commanded: self-sacrificially, with acts of usefulness and helpfulness to all in need – even those who persecute you. Now, the Father also prunes the vine, making the fruit-bearing more fruitful, cutting off the decaying and the withered to be burned. The Father here then is pruning Saul. He has deemed him worthy, even in his misguided zeal, to be an instrument in his hands for the conversion of the Gentiles – and so now he stops him in his tracks, gives him an ample period of darkness and powerlessness so that he can think things over and get his facts straight before sending him off on his way as one of the full-fledged, even super-Apostles – with a ranking right up there with St. Peter, the rock on which the Church is built. The message today is that God has a plan for every one of us. Last week we called it a vocation. It is perfectly suited for us. And sometimes he has to take some pretty drastic measures to get our attention, and aim us in the right direction in order to discover it. But if, like Saul, we cooperate with grace, with light, with the new incoming information: when it comes – we will be, filled with the Spirit and sent on our way to make a difference in the world around us: to make it what it ought to be and can be! More than ever it appears that “the world” is changing into something that is oftentimes unpleasantly “unrecognizable.” But the one, true, stable, never-changing, always reliable, steady, promised, safe and protective reality that we can count on day in and day out, night in and night out is God’s love for those who love Him, God’s delight in those who “love” others, God’s friendship for those who “friend” others; God’s healing, calm and mercy for those who bring healing, calm and mercy to others: very much like our mother’s did and do for us – no matter where they now are. We can count on the Catholic Church to nurture, mother and love us through it all! Happy Mother’s Day! Happy Day as a Branch on the Vine that is Jesus! Happy Day of Life for all those committed to and defensive of life as God gives it and intends it to be lived! God bless you! FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER I – There is no salvation through anyone else. Have you ever wondered what it meant for “the shepherd to lay down his life for his sheep?” Why would he do that? They are only sheep? I heard it once said that, especially back in those very olden days, sheep were everything to a family of sheep-farmers. They meant survival for them. It was not unheard of, then, for a shepherd, while defending the flock from attack by wild animals – to end up dead himself – for the good of the rest of the family. The gospel passage tells us today that the hireling – a non-family member – who was simply into shepherding for the money was not about to sacrifice himself for any sheep. There was not family oriented responsibility in it for him. He simply ran away and left the sheep to the wolves. Jesus uses this powerful imagery of sheep farming not to illustrate how much we are like real sheep: dirty, smelly, unruly, always getting lost and being basically unintelligent – but rather to tell us about himself as SHEPERD of us his beloved flock of BEAUTIFUL BROTHERS AND SISTERS – whom he wants very much to be able to have all the benefits that were lost for us by our first parents in the Garden of Eden. He wants to forgive our sins; he wants to nourish us with his own self, spiritually; he wants to lead us by safe paths to the shores of everlasting life. He calls us each by name – and he would love it if we would follow after him! Then he tells us that the manner in which this would be brought about would be for him to voluntarily lay down his life – at the moment planned from all eternity – and die on the Cross of Calvary; and then three days later voluntarily to take it back up again, in a newer fuller format: all of this in obedience to God the Father who was in charge of the whole thing, and still is in charge of everything. What the Father and Jesus planned as well was that, with the Holy Spirit, they would empower men and women and even children to carry to others the Good News about all of these things that had happened; and that everyone was invited to join the new people of God called the Church. In this Church, all new members are called to carry the message to other possible new members. But the coordinators, preservers and ministers of the very special gift of the Sacramental System of the Church (his chosen method of dispensing grace and peace and strength), along with the official teachings of Jesus - would go to St. Peter, his fellow Apostle friends, and their successors and helpers throughout the ages, in an unbroken line of transmission – until as Jesus said: he comes again! Today I celebrate the day on which, 34 years ago, I became one of those coordinators, preservers, administrators (of the second order) of the Sacramental System of the Catholic Church – I was ordained a priest at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Richmond, VA.* At that moment I became joined to Christ the Head of the Body; Christ the Vine which has branches; Christ the Shepherd who has sheep (faithfilled people of the Church) to take care of; Christ the Teacher who has much to share with those who want to know; and Christ the Priest – who celebrates with God’s people Jesus’ proof of his friendship by becoming a piece of bread and then by dying on the Cross – and then made it so that I would have the supreme privilege of making that ordinary bread really him, by my (which are his) words as a priest, and the working of the Holy Spirit. Being a priest is an extraordinary thing – and I am humbled beyond belief every morning when I open my eyes to face another day in the pasture, in the vineyard, in the “classroom,” at the altar! Pray, my dear branches, my dear sheep, my dear students and my dear fellow priestly-people of God for me and for vocations to the priesthood! God will never leave his flock untended – but he wants us to pray like it just might be! Of course, vocation to the priesthood is only one way in which God calls his children to spend their lives for others. Marriage (between one man and one woman) and ensuing family life together is another. Sacramentally it is extremely beautiful in the way that marriage is a reflection of God’s own love for all of his people. The way husband and wife and children all give to one another, and to the world-at-large, is the way the family of God the Father is meant to interact with one another – and the way we will interact one day, when we go to our Father’s house in heaven to live forever. The celibate, consecrated, religious life is also a very special way to spend one’s days! It is said that experiencing the celibate life of a religious brother or sister or priest – if it is done according to the intent of the founder of the order – is like being in heaven already. The only thing is that you are still alive here on earth and do not yet have those seven attributes of the risen body that we talked about a couple of weeks ago. The celibate non-consecrated person – those who simply live life in the single state – of any age – are also invited by God to live life fully in a relationship of Divine Friendship with him first, and loving service to others as proof of their love for him, secondly. Do all you do – in work and play for God and for your brothers and sisters in the human family – and you will be very happy! Everyone is called by name to do something for someone else; everyone is called to give their all doing it; everyone is called to be JUST LIKE JESUS! I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my sheep, and mine know me! I have laid down my life for them! and now I live again – to be with them always to help them give themselves for one another! THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER I – The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead. Last Sunday we celebrated Mercy Sunday! Our readings today still reflect that wonderful theme of God the Father’s ever-present, heart-felt offer of mercy, forgiveness and healing which is ours for the repenting, the converting and the asking. Sometimes, we human beings like to think that we have it “all together” – and that we know what is “best.” If this thought does not come as a result of prayer: the letting of God in on the process; the reception of God’s grace and the willingness to follow the Owner’s Manual for Life provided by God (called the Scriptures)–then chances are we will not end up with what is best. We may even end up with what is worst of all. The first reading shows how Peter is telling the Jewish people that they got it wrong. The long-awaited Messiah came – to them – and they killed him! The author of life you put to death! What an amazing statement that was! But God raised him from the dead – this is an even more amazing statement! Then Peter demonstrates a measure of compassion for them: he tells them that he knows that they acted out of ignorance. In this case too, ignorance was not an excuse, but it was an explanation! Yes, sometimes God can even use ignorance to bring about what he wants brought about! But, once the ignorance is discovered and confirmed then the time has already come to acquire proper knowledge and to turn toward the source of that knowledge: God – so that your sins may be wiped away! God delights in wiping our sins away – especially after we have acted out of true, non-contrived, sometimes invincible ignorance! In the second reading today St. John urges the faithful children of God not to sin; but to know that if they do sin, they now have an Advocate with the Father who will bestow his merciful forgiveness because he is the One, True Righteous One and has earned the right to do so! Jesus will forgive our sins – through the instrumentality of the priests of the Church – so that we all can live as authentic and genuine a Christian life as we can – and experience the ever-increasing joy of the presence of the Risen Christ deep in our hearts! John goes on to tell the Jews not to count themselves members of the children of God if they don’t keep the commandments (if they sin). If they do so they are liars, and do they not know Jesus. To those who try the best they can to live the life of Jesus in them, keeping his word, then the love of God will be in them, they will love others and they will daily reach higher and higher on the scale of perfection! The gospel passage today relates how Jesus – the great accomplisher of our salvation – the great forgiver of our sins – makes a third appearance after his resurrection from the dead. He uses the now familiar greeting of “Peace be with you!” when he appears.” Then he has a meal of fish with them, and at the same time explains to them everything written about him in the Law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms that had to be fulfilled by him. He shows them how he did fulfill them. He opened their minds – and they understood! Yes, the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. And once we hear this good news and believe it, then we are invited to be among those who retell the story, who bring this message to everyone, everywhere – in many situations and circumstances – translating it into paraphrases and analogies and modern day parables as needs be – whatever it takes – to let the world know that THE RISEN JESUS IS HERE – AND THAT HE WILL BE HERE WITH US UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD! Belief in him can make all the difference in one’s life – and in the life of the world at large! All it takes is a little faith, a big generous heart – and the desire to put our belief into action! Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to us; make our hearts burn with love for you while you speak to us; fill us with your Spirit and move us out away from ourselves to put our love and our belief into action for others!
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