All Souls Day – Year A

This weekend we are called to do two things:
first, to celebrate the glory of the Church
as we ask her prayers for ourselves
on the Feast of All Saints;
and also, to commemorate in a special way
the Souls of the Faithful Departed
as we pray for them.

We pray for them
with the Christian hope
that they may share
in the victory of the Risen Christ.

The Catholic liturgy offers
a glowing testimony to the Christian hope
in a “blessed resurrection”
and to a Christian love
for departed relatives and friends.

And while today’s liturgy may have
an element of sadness in it,
it is not the sadness of those who have no hope,
because it is filled with Faith
in a “blessed resurrection”
and the eternal joy that awaits us all.

Jesus presents himself to us
as the Good Shepherd
who does not want to lose
even one of his sheep,
nor does he spare any pains
to lead them to salvation.

Rather than the end
death is for the Christian,
a door opening into eternity,
a door which admits a soul
to eternal life.

Jesus tells us to be faithful to his teaching
and to wait patiently for his coming.

A black slave wrote a poem
that was later set to music.

The poem concerns
the second coming of Jesus.
It Reads:

“There’s a king and captain high,
and he’s coming by and by,
and he’ll find me hoeing cotton when he comes. . .

“There’s a man they thrust aside,
who was tortured till he died,
and he’ll find me hoeing cotton when he comes. . .

“They’ll be shouting out Hosanna!
to the man that men denied.
and I’ll kneel among my cotton when he comes. . .
Author unknown

The poet says that when Jesus returns,
Jesus will find him working faithfully
and waiting patiently.

This raises an important question.
What constitutes being prepared?

We find the answer in the Sermon on the Mount.
There, Jesus compares the good deeds people do
to oil burning brightly in a lamp.

Jesus says:
“Your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.” Matthew 5:16

This brings us to the practical application
for our daily lives.

In one of his writings,
author Richard Evans spells it out this way.

He says that there are mothers
who plan to enjoy their daughters more.
But they keep putting it off.
There are fathers
who plan to get to know their sons better.
but they keep putting it off.

There are husbands and wives
who plan to spend more time together.
But they keep putting it off.
Then, in a burst of emotion,
Evans says:

“When in the world are we going to live
as if we understood that this is life?
This is our time, our day. . .and it’s passing.”
When are we going to stop putting things off?

This what Jesus had in mind
when he talked about the foolish bridesmaids
being unprepared.

Jesus was warning us
that there are certain things in life
that we must do now.

There are certain things in life
that we can’t put off to the last minute.

The message is an important one.
It’s one that Jesus repeats again and again.
It is one that we need to hear again and again.
It’s one that all of us
are failing to live out in our lives,
to some degree.

It’s the message
that some things can’t be put off
to the last minute.

It’s the message
that we could get caught off guard,
that Jesus may one day say to us,
what he said to the foolish bridesmaids:
“I do not know you.”

This is the message of Jesus.
Happy is the person who takes it to heart.

Let us close with this prayer:
Lord,
help us to stop putting things off.
Help us to realize that certain things in life
can’t be borrowed or bought at the last minute.

Help us realize that this is our time.
This is our day,
and it is passing faster than we can imagine.

Help us take to heart
the words of that black poet:

“There’s a king and captain high,
and he’s coming by and by,
and he’ll find me hoeing cotton when he comes.

You can hear his legions charging
in the regions of the sky,
and he’ll find me hoeing cotton when he comes.

They’ll be shouting out Hosanna!
to the man that men denied,
and I’ll kneel among my cotton when he comes.”

Tags: All Souls Day

Tags: Homily

Homily: 27th Sunday – Year A

27th Sunday – year A

The suspension bridge
that links Canada and the United States
by spanning the Niagara River
was built in this way.

First a kite was flown across the river.
Attached to the kite was a piece of string.
Attached to the string was a rope.
And to the rope was attached a steel cable.
The steel cable was then used
to get the rest of the bridge in place.

The story of the Melrose Bridge
is often used to illustrate
how great things can often have humble beginnings.

The parable of the vineyard owner
can be seen as a summary
of our salvation history.

Story telling has been popular
ever since human beings learned
to put words together to form sentences.
Few ancient people were able to read or write.

Whenever they wanted to teach
something important,
they made up a story about it.
This made the teaching
not only easy to learn,
but also easy to remember.

Jesus probably told more stories
than most teachers.
His stories are called parables.
Someone has cleverly described a parable
as a an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.

For all practical purposes,
the parables fall into two categories:
Window parables and mirror parables.

A window parable is a simple story
that teaches about God or God’s kingdom.
It is a “verbal window”
through which we can look to get an insight
into God or God’s kingdom.
A window parable often begins with the words
“The kingdom of God is like.”

An example of a window parable
is Jesus’ story of the lost sheep.

It compares
a shepherd’s concern for a lost sheep
to his Father’s concern for a sinner.
The shepherd goes out to search for the stray.
When he finds it,
he doesn’t tie it to a tree and punish it.
He carries it home, lovingly, on his shoulders.
Jesus’ point is that his heavenly Father
treats sinners the same way.

And so window parables are stories
that give us an insight into God or his kingdom.

Mirror parables on the other hand,
are stories that act as “verbal mirrors”.
That is,
they give us an insight into ourselves.

Jesus constructed these parables in such a way
that people in his parable
represented people in his listening audience.
In other words,
people listening to Jesus
were able to see themselves
in one of the characters in the parable.

Today’s parables of the vineyard owner
is a good example of this.
Jesus directed it primarily
to the chief priests and the Pharisees,
that is, the religious leaders of Israel.

Let’s now look more closely at this parable
to see how it served as a mirror
for the chief priests and the Pharisees.
Let’s look at the parable’s cast of characters
and see who Jesus intended them
to represent in real life.

The vineyard owner, of course, is God.
The vineyard, as today’s first reading shows,
is the people of Israel.
The vineyard tenants are the leaders of Israel.

The first group of slaves, sent by the owner,
are the early prophets God sent to Israel.
The owner’s son, who was killed, is Jesus.

The new tenant farmers,
to whom the owner leases the vineyard,
are the apostles of Jesus.
They are the new leaders of God’s people.

The parable’s conclusion,
says, “The chief priests and the Pharisees. . .
knew that [Jesus] was talking about them.”
In other words,
they looked into the mirror parable
and saw themselves.
But instead of changing,
they continued in their wrong ways.

This brings us to an important question.
Did Jesus intend this parable to have meaning
only for the chief priests and the Pharisees?
Not at all.
He intended it to have meaning for us also.
And what does the parable say to us?
I will list just four things.

First, it summarizes
the complete biblical history of salvation,
even to the point of making
clear-cut references to the Old Covenant
and to the New Covenant.
The first leasing of the vineyard
refers to the Old Covenant.
The second leasing of the vineyard
refers to the New Covenant.

Second, the parable affirms
that Jesus is the Son of God.
The last person sent to the tenant farmers
is not another slave.
He is the vineyard owner’s own son.

Third, the parable affirms
that Jesus’ apostles are the new leaders
of God’s people.

And finally, the parable teaches us
about God’s patience with us
and our accountability to God.
The vineyard owner made three efforts
to get the tenant farmers to change their ways.
When he saw more patience was futile,
he passed judgment on the tenants.
He held them accountable for their actions.

It is the same way with God and us.
Our heavenly Father is infinitely patient.
But the time will come
when God’s patience will give way to judgment.
We too, will be held accountable
for our actions.

And so today’s parable was not intended
merely for the chief priests and the Pharisees
of Jesus’ day.
It was intended for us also.

It summarizes the bible history of salvation.
It teaches that Jesus is the Son of God.

It teaches that Jesus’ apostles
are the new leaders of God’s people.

Finally, it teaches us about
God’s great patience toward us,
and our own accountability to God.

Let us close with this prayerful thought,
which is expressed in the lyrics of a song,
written years ago, by Richard Wilson:

“Jesus was the story telling kind.
He painted pictures in the mind.
It was how he showed people,
Like you and me,
the way things were supposed to be.

“He used the sky.
He used the sea.
He used the birds.
He used the tree.
He used whatever he could see.

“Storyteller?
Yes, Jesus was the story telling kind.
He painted pictures in the mind.
It was the way he showed people
like you and me,
the way things were supposed to be.”

23rd Sunday – Year A

As Christians
we have an obligation
not only to do what is right,
but also to help others
do what is right.

Jesus told his followers:

“You are like salt for all mankind. . .
you are like light for the whole world. . .
your light must shine before people.” Matthew 5:13-16

A successful restaurant woman,
who professed no religious affiliation at all,
said to a priest,
“I don’t want to disillusion you, Father,
but some of the most unethical people
I meet in my work are churchgoing Christians”

The priest replied,
“Well, unfortunately, there are bad Christians,
just as there are bad non-Christians.”

The woman said, “But Father,
aren’t Christians supposed to be special?”

The priest looked sad and said,
“Yes, they are. Yes. They are.”

So how is the ethic of churchgoing Christians
different from that of non-churchgoing Christians?

First, consider these three, true cases,
then I will tell you how the people involved
actually responded.

A ticket seller for an airport limousine service
said to a father,
“Sir, your son looks young for his age.
take a half-fare ticket.
If the limousine driver questions you,
just say the boy’s under twelve.
Save yourself a few bucks!”

If you had been that father,
what would you have said to the ticket seller?

Here is the second case:
A mother noticed that her daughter
had a stolen candy bar,
just after they returned from the grocery store.

If you were that mother,
what would you do?
This is the final case:
Suppose you heard your son’s best friend
say to your son, “If you need any answer
in the math test, just give me a signal.”

If that had been your son,
would you keep on reading the newspaper,
or would you put it down
and have a heart-to-heart talk with the boys?

The solution to all three situations
is found in today’s readings.
All three focus on the mutual obligation
that Christians have toward one another.

The prophet Ezekiel says:
“You shall surely die
if you do not warn the wicked
to turn from their ways.”

In the second reading, Paul says:
“Love does no wrong to a neighbor.”

Jesus says in today’s gospel:
“If a brother or sister sins against you,
go and point out their fault.”

So what would be the Christian’s response
to the three cases I gave you?

First,
what would a follower of Jesus say
to the limousine ticket seller
who had said to the father,
“Just tell him your son is under twelve”?

This case really happened in Chicago.
What did the father say?
He told the ticket seller,
“I appreciate where you’re coming from,
but I want my son to be truthful,
even if it seems a disadvantage.”

And what about the mother
who caught her daughter with a stolen candy bar?
This too actually happened.
The newspaper columnist, who reported the story,
said the mother had the child return the candy
and apologize to the store manager.

To the mother’s dismay,
the manager said,
“Oh don’t worry about it.
It’s such a small item.

My employees
steal much more than that from me, every day.”
As the newspaper columnist pointed out,
that’s an incredible reply.

The manager gave the child the impression
that stealing is no big deal
if only a small item is taken.
Stealing is always wrong
no matter the size of the item.

And finally, what about the son and his buddy
who agreed to help him cheat during a math test?

Jerome Weidman,
Author of the book Hand of the Hunter
was involved in such a situation as a boy.

He said about 30 years ago
he was attending school in a big city.
He had a third grade teacher named Mrs O’Neill.

One day she gave her class a test.
When she was grading the papers,
she noticed that 12 boys had given the same
unusual wrong answer to the same question.

The next day she asked the 12 boys
to remain after the bell.
Then, without accusing any of them,
she wrote a quotation on the board.
It read:

“The measure of a man’s real character
is what he would do
if he knew he would never be found out.” T B Macaulay

Jerome Weidman says:
“I don’t know about the other 11 boys.
Speaking for myself, I can say this:
Those words became
the single most important lesson of my life.”

And so we have three different cases
where three different Christians spoke up.
Three Christians heeded Jesus’ instruction
to help their brothers and sisters
live the Christian life.

Three Christians took seriously
God’s word to Ezekiel in today’s first reading:
“If…you do not warn
the evil man to change his ways. . .
I will hold you responsible.”

Three Christians took seriously Paul’s words
to the Romans in today’s second reading:
“If you love someone,
you will never do him wrong.”
And finally, three Christians took seriously
Jesus’ words in today’s gospel:
“If your brother sins against you,
go to him and show him his fault.
But do it privately, just between yourselves.”

“All that is needed for evil to prosper
is for good people to remain silent.”

We are invited to follow
the example of the Christians
in these three stories.

Let us close with a prayer:

Lord Jesus, help us to take to heart your words
to your followers when you said:

“You are like salt for all mankind.
but if salt loses its saltiness,
there’s no way to make it salty again.
It has become worthless,
so it is thrown out and people trample on it.

“You are like light for the whole world.
A city built on a hill cannot be hid.
No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl;
instead he puts it on the lamp stand,
where it gives light for everyone in the house.

“In the same way
your light must shine before people,
so that they will see the good things you do
and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:13-16

For as St Paul says:
“You know what sort of times we live in…
it is time to wake up…
we must stop behaving as people of the dark
and be ready to live in the light.” Romans 13:11

18th Sunday – Year A

18th Sunday – Year A Homily

Not long ago
a woman interviewed a reporter
from Argentina.
He had been held prisoner
by the military government for six years
without trial.

During this time the young man was tortured
and was subjected to long hours
in solitary confinement.
The interviewer asked him if he was bitter
about his suffering
and the loss of six years of his life.

He surprised her, saying,

“I don’t regard those six years as lost.
I took advantage of them
to strengthen my character
and to deepen my relationship with God.”

The young man’s response illustrates beautifully
what Paul talks about in today’s second reading.
He writes:

“What will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will anguish, or distress, or persecution. . .
or peril?”

Then Paul answers his own question, saying:

“Neither death. . . nor powers. . .
nor any other creature
will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul’s point is clear.

There’s no prison in the world so strong
that God’s love cannot penetrate it.

There’s no tragedy in life so great
that God’s love cannot transform it
into something good.

There’s no trial in the world that’s so crushing
that God’s love cannot use it
to make us into better persons.

As a matter of fact,
the reverse is more often true.
God uses tragedies and trials in our lives
to prepare us to do things
that we would never otherwise be able to do.
Our heavenly Father
never takes something away from us
unless he intends
to give us something in return.
He never erases something in our lives
unless he intends
to write something more beautiful in its place.

A famous maker of violins
once said that the best wood for violins
comes from the north side of the tree.
The reason is that the wood on that side
has been seasoned by the cold north wind.
And that seasoning gives it a special sound
that no other wood can duplicate.

The same is true of human beings.
Some of the most beautiful music in our world
has come from people who have been seasoned
by suffering, by tragedies, and by trials.

For example,
Handel wrote his famous “Hallelujah Chorus”
when he was poverty-stricken and suffering
from a paralyzed right side and right arm.

Beethoven was the son of an alcoholic father.
He lost his hearing at the age of 28.
And when he conducted his Ninth Symphony,
he couldn’t hear the music as it was played.
Nor could he hear the thunderous applause
that followed the performance.

Or consider the great French painter Millet.
At the time he was painting his Angelus
he wrote,
“We have only enough fuel for a few days.
and they won’t give us any more
unless we can scrape together the money.”

Yet, from hands so cold
that they cold hardly hold the brush
came one of the world’s greatest paintings.

There’s a moving scene
toward the end of the movie Little Big Man.
An elderly Indian, named Old Lodgeskins,
has lost his bodily health
and his eyesight.
As he prepares for death,
he prays to God in words something like this:

“Lord God,
I thank you for giving me life
and for giving me eyes
to see and enjoy your world.
“But most of all, Lord,
I thank you for my sickness and my blindness,
because I have learned ,more from these
than from my health and my sight.”

This brings us back to our opening story
about the young man in the Argentine prison.

He was able to grow in his relationship to God
and as a person.
In spite of an awful situation.
He could do this
because he chose to open his heart to God
and to accept whatever God gave him.

And he did this without growing bitter,
without feeling sorry for himself,
or without complaining.

If God is to use
the trials and tragedies of our lives
to help us grow in our relationship with him
and to help us grow as persons,
we must do what the young man did.
We must open our hearts totally to God.

 

We must do what the Apostles did
in today’s gospel.
We must give Jesus our five loaves and two fish
and let him do with them whatever he will.

And if we do this,
we can be sure of one thing.
He will multiply them
beyond anything we ever imagined possible.

The important thing is the open heart.
The important thing is the trusting heart.
The important thing is the believing heart.
The important thing is the loving heart.

Let’s close with an old poem
by an unknown author.
It’s called “The Folded Page.”

“Up in a quaint old attic,
as the raindrops pattered down,
I sat paging through an old schoolbook -
dusty, tattered, and brown.

“I came to a page that was folded over.
Across it written in childish hand:
‘The teacher says to leave this now,
’tis hard to understand.’

“I unfolded the page and read .
Then I nodded my head and said,
‘The teacher was right -
now I understand .’ “

There are lots of pages
in the book of life
that are hard to understand.
All we can do is fold them down and write,
“The teacher says to leave this now,
’tis hard to understand.”

Then someday – perhaps only in heaven -
we will unfold the pages again,
read them, and say,
“The teacher was right -
now I understand.”

Feast of the Ascension – 2008

Ascension – ‘08

Let me reread
the last two sentences of today’s gospel.
Then I’d like to ask you two questions
about them.

Jesus says to his disciples:
“Teach them to carry out
everything I have commanded you.
And know that I am with you always,
until the end of the world!”

Now let me ask the first question:
To whom does the you in those sentences refer:
“I am with you always”?

Obviously,
it doesn’t refer to just the disciples of Jesus
who were with him at that moment.
It also refers to those disciples
who would follow in their footsteps.

It refers to his Church,
which would continue his work
after he ascended to his Father.

The second question is a little harder:
Have you ever wondered
whether Jesus is, indeed,
with his Church?

For example,
when you even see leaders of the Church
failing to live up to the teachings of Jesus,
do you ever wonder whether Jesus is, indeed,
with his Church?

Or when you see members of the Church
ignore needy brothers and sisters,
do you ever wonder whether Jesus is, indeed,
with his Church, inspiring its members
to lead lives of love and generosity?

Let me share with you a true story
that might help clarify the question
about Jesus being with his Church.

It concerns a nine-year-old boy,
who lived in a big city.

One day the boy and his father
boarded a commuter train
to go a long way downtown
to his father’s office.
When they got on the train,
the father took the boy over to the map
and traced his finger along the blue line
that showed the route of the train downtown.

He explained how they would transfer
at a certain street.
He also explained
how they would cross a bridge
and then go underground.
Finally, he explained how the train
would skip stops during rush hour.

Soon they arrived at the office.
The boy spent most of the morning
meeting his father’s friends
and looking at magazines in his father’s office.

Then just before noon his father said to him,
“Well, it’s time for you to go home now.”

The boy’s eyes widened.
His mouth dropped, and his face turned pale.
The thought of going home all by himself
frightened him half to death.

His father walked him over to the station,
put him on the train,
patted him on the head, and said,
“You’ll be just fine.
Follow the directions I gave you earlier.”

The boy was excited as the train leaped forward
and roared out of the station.
But his excitement turned to fear
when he noticed
that the train skipped certain stops.
But then he remembered
what his father said earlier about rush hour.

Soon the train disappeared underground.
The boy’s heart beat faster
when he noticed how it twisted and turned.
He didn’t remember it doing that earlier.

Finally, the train emerged from the darkness
and roared over the bridge.

The boy was so nervous by now
that he almost missed his transfer.
But he managed to get off just in time.

Minutes later
the boy breathed a sigh of relief.
He began to recognize the familiar street numbers:
and finally his street.
The train screeched to a stop, the doors opened,
and the boy stepped off.
He was so proud and happy.
He had actually made it home all by himself.

What the boy didn’t know, however,
was that his father
was in the next car on the train,
watching over him all the way.
He had been with him every foot of the trip,
just in case he needed help.

This story of the boy and his father
bears a striking resemblance
to the story of Jesus and his Church.

Before departing at his Ascension,
Jesus gave his Church
all the directions we needed
to journey through life
to our heavenly destination.

Like the boy however,
we sometimes notice
the Church taking unexpected twists and turns.
And sometimes this alarms us.

When this happens,
we should recall the story of the boy.
We should also recall the promise of Jesus
to be with us always
on our journey through life.

Even though we can’t see him,
we know he’s there, ready to help us,
just in case the need arises.

And so the feast of the Ascension
is both a challenge and a consolation.

It’s a challenge in the sense
that it exhorts us to follow the directions
that Jesus gave us
for journeying to our heavenly destination.

It’s also a consolation in the sense
that it reminds us
that Jesus is with us every foot of the way.
He is sitting in the next car,
just in case we need help.

This is the message of today’s feast.
This is the assurance we celebrate today.
This is the good news of the Ascension.

Easter 3 – 2008

Easter 3 – 2008

An artist
designed a tabernacle door for a church.
He divided it into four panels.
Then he decorated each panel
with a set of symbols
that stood for a gospel story
that was related to the Eucharist.

In the first panel
he put six water jars.
They symbolized the miracle at Cana,
where Jesus changed six jars of water
into wine.

He interpreted this panel as a preview
of the Eucharist,
when Jesus would change,
not water into wine,
but wine into his own blood.

In the second panel
he placed five loaves and two fish.
The loaves and the fish symbolized
the miracle at Capernaum,
where Jesus multiplied the food
to feed the hungry crowd.
After this miracle,
Jesus said to the crowd:

“Whoever comes to me will never hunger. . .
I am the living bread come down from heaven. . .
and the bread that I give is my flesh. . .
whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life, and I will raise him
on that last day.” John 6:35,551,54

The artist
interpreted the miracle at Capernaum
as a promise of the Eucharist.

He decorated the third panel
with thirteen people seated around a table.
They symbolized Jesus
and his disciples at the Last Supper.

The artist interpreted the Last Supper
as the fulfillment of that promise
that he made after he multiplied
the loaves and the fish.

And finally,
he decorated the forth panel
with three people
seated at a table.
These people symbolized
the Emmaus supper on Easter Sunday night.,
where the Risen Jesus broke bread
and revealed himself to two disciples.

The artist interpreted the Emmaus supper
as being the first celebration of the Eucharist,
which Jesus instituted at the Last Supper.

And so the artist’s door
is an excellent summary of the Eucharist,
the Lord’s Supper.

It traces the Eucharist
from Cana, where it was previewed,
to Capernaum, where it was promised,
to Jerusalem, where it was instituted,
to Emmaus, where it was first celebrated.

Let’s look more closely at the Emmaus supper,
which is described in today’s gospel.

At first glance,
it doesn’t seem to bear any close resemblance
to the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper.

But a closer study of it,
reveals just the opposite.
It bears a striking resemblance
to the Lord’s Supper
as we now celebrate in each Mass.

Our celebration of the Lord’s Supper
divides into four parts, or rites:
the Gathering Rite,
the Liturgy of the Word,
the Liturgy of the Eucharist
and the Dismissal Rite.

We find the same four rites present
in the Emmaus supper.

The Gathering Rite for the Emmaus supper
took place on the road,
when Jesus and the two disciples came together
and greeted one another.

The Liturgy of the Word
took place when Jesus explained the Scriptures
to the two disciples.

The Liturgy of the Eucharist
took place in the house of one of the disciples.
when Jesus “was with them at table,
he took bread,
said the blessing,
broke it,
and gave it to them.”

Finally, the Dismissal Rite took place
when Jesus “vanished from their sight,”
and the disciples went forth
to bear witness to their encounter with Jesus
in the breaking of the bread.

Especially important
is the Liturgy of the Eucharist,
where Jesus
“took bread,
said the blessing,
broke it and gave it to them.”

These actions
describe the three major actions
of the Liturgy of the Eucharist
as we know it today.

The taking of bread
describes the preparation of the gifts.

The blessing of the bread
describes the Eucharistic prayer over the gifts.

The breaking of the bread
describes the Communion service.

And so our modern celebration of the Eucharist
reflects, in a striking way,
the first celebration of the Eucharist
at Emmaus.

A teacher once asked her students
which part of the Mass
was the most important part.

She was not prepared for the answer
one of her students gave.
The young man said,
“The Dismissal Rite
is the most important part of the Mass.”

“Why do you say that?” the teacher asked.

The student replied:

“The purpose of the Eucharist
is to nourish us with the Word of the Lord
and the Body and Blood of the Lord,
so that we may go forth
to bear witness to the Lord
and to bring the kingdom of God into existence.”
The student was right.

“The Eucharist does not end
with the Dismissal Rite.
In a sense, it begins with it.
We must go forth and proclaim to the world
what the disciples at Emmaus did.
We must proclaim that Jesus is Risen.
We must proclaim that Jesus lives on.”

This is the message the world needs to hear.
This is the message the world must hear.
If we don’t deliver this message to the world,
we have failed our mission as Jesus’ followers.

In a very true sense, the Dismissal Rite
is the most important part of the Mass.
It is this rite that missions us to go forth
to tell the world the good news of Easter:

Christ has died!
Christ has risen!
Christ will come again!
This is the Good News Jesus entrusted
to his disciples to preach to the world.

This is the mission
each one of us shares in this church today.

Feast of Epiphany – 2008

EPIPHANY ‘08

At Christmastime many years ago,
a reporter wrote a beautiful true story
about a man who was born without arms.

This man had received national publicity
by playing the guitar with his feet
for Pope John Paul II
during the Holy Father’s visit.

The Pope was so moved
by the man’s faith and courage
that he left the stage,
wrapped his arms around the armless body
and kissed him.

Ever since that moment,
the man’s life changed drastically.

He has been invited to play
for audiences across the country.
He has appeared on national television.
He’s now recording his music.
His life story has been published.

 

His victory over his handicap
and his new celebrity status
have cast him into the role
of being a spokesperson for handicapped people.

“It’s scary, very scary,” he says.
“It’s something I have to pray over.
I figure God’s doing this for some reason.
He’s got some special mission for me.”

As the story is read,
people ask themselves,
Why was it written at Christmastime?

After thinking about that question for a minute,
the reason becomes clear.
It’s because this is a Christmas story.
Actually, it is an epiphany story.
It’s a story
about the feast we celebrate today.

It’s a story of someone
who lights up the darkness of our world
the way the star of Bethlehem
lit up the ancient world
for the three wise men
who were attracted to the light of the star.

This story makes an important point.

If many people today
are to find their way
through the spiritual darkness of our world
to the infant lying in the manger,
it will have to be
through the faith and example
of people like this.

For their faith and example
speak more eloquently to most people
than do homilies preached in churches.
For they speak not only to the mind
but also to the heart.

Furthermore, they also reach people
who have stopped going to church.

And this brings us
to the practical application of all this
to our own lives.

Each one of us in this church,
without exception,
is handicapped to some extent.

We all have something that causes us pain,
something we wish we didn’t have,
something we wish we could get rid of.

Maybe it’s a family situation
that is terribly painful.

Maybe it’s a physical thing,
like having an allergy
or a physical abnormality.

Maybe it’s a spiritual thing,
like finding it hard to live
the way Jesus taught us we should.
Maybe it’s finding it hard to pray
the way we wish we could.

Maybe it’s a material thing,
like not having enough money to help others
the way we’d like to do.

Whatever it is,
we have a choice.
We can choose to let our handicap defeat us.
or we can choose to battle it
and defeat it,
as the man born with no arms did.

Christmas is a time of hope.
The infant lying there in the manger
tells us that nothing can defeat us any longer.

No handicap – physical or spiritual -
can conquer us.
Thanks to the infant lying there in the manger,
we have all the grace we need
to battle the handicap and defeat it.

And if we do battle our handicap
and defeat it,
not only will we win a great personal victory,
but we will also become
an inspiration to others.

We will become a modern star of Bethlehem
lighting the way for some lost traveler.
We will become a light shinning in the darkness
and pointing the way
to the infant lying in the manger.

And so it’s up to us!
It’s our choice!

People like the man without arms
can touch our hearts and inspire us.

But in the end,
it’s up to us to imitate him or not.

But if we choose, we can do it.
No one can stop us.

That’s the message of the star of Bethlehem.
That’s the message
of the infant lying in the manger.
We can do anything we wish.
Nothing can stop us.

It’s the message
that if we open our hearts to God’s grace,
we can become modern stars
shinning in our world,
leading others to Bethlehem.

This is the good news
contained in today’s readings.

This is the good news
we can celebrate together in today’s liturgy.

Let us close with this prayer:

 

Lord Jesus,
help us to open our hearts
to the light of the star of Bethlehem.
Help us let it shine through us in such a way
that everyone will realize
that it’s not our light
but your light shinning through us.

Then we will praise you
in the way you love best,
by being a living homily
that speaks not only to the mind
but also to the heart.

Then we will be a modern star,
pointing the way to Bethlehem.

Christmas Blessings and Joy

Merry Christmas,

Deacon Kerry

First Sunday of Advent – Year A

 

ADVENT I -Year A

Some time ago,
An interesting article was written
about simulators in a magazine.

It went something like this:

“I had never piloted a plane in my life.
so I was nervous when I took control
of a commercial jet in Miami
and prepared to fly to Washington DC.

“The trip was far more eventful
than I or my copilot had ever anticipated.

One engine did a flameout.
A fuel tank sprang a leak.
And the plane’s rudder kept sticking.

“But the real problem came
as we prepared to touch down for our landing
at Washington’s airport.
All of a sudden
it became obvious that the runway
was coming up at too steep an angle.

“Bam! We hit the runway hard, bounced up,
came down, and hit again.
My Copilot shouted at me to hold on.
Then he hit the brakes hard.
as he did, we came to a screeching halt,
just a few feet from disaster.

“My heart was pounding like a drum.
But then I began to relax.
I remembered that we had never left Miami.
We were in a flight simulator.
The experience was so vivid and real
that it took several minutes
to get myself back together again.”

The author went on to describe
the important role that simulators
are playing in modern life.

For example, hospitals simulate disasters
to see how doctors nurses and equipment
react to the over load of victims.

Schools simulate fires to find the fastest way
to evacuate several hundreds of children
from their classrooms.

The military simulates nuclear attacks
to find the most effective way to coordinate
planes, ships and submarines
in the event of such an unthinkable disaster.

It is against this background
that the Church wants us
to look on the season of Advent.
It wants us to treat it as a time of simulation.
It wants us to simulate
the coming of Jesus into our world.

And the coming of Jesus
that the Church wants us to simulate
is not just his coming on the first Christmas.
The Church also wants us to simulate
Jesus’ Second Coming at the end of time.

And it’s this Second Coming of Jesus
that the Church stresses
on this first Sunday of Advent.

So let’s turn our attention to it.
The first thing the Church tells us is
that the Second Coming of Christ
may be closer than we think.

Thus Paul says in today’s second reading:
“The night is advanced,
the day is at hand.”

The second thing the Church tells us is
that the Second Coming of Christ
will catch us by surprise. Matthew says:

“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
In those days before the flood,
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage,
up to the day that Noah entered the ark.
They did not know.”

Matthew concludes:

“So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour when you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”

Someone said
that the most dangerous day of our lives comes
when we learn the word tomorrow.
For on that day we begin to put things off.
On that day we begin to procrastinate.

On that day we begin to act as if
we have plenty of time to do whatever we wish.

William Barclay, the Scottish theologian,
tells the story of three devils
who were preparing to depart for earth
for their apprenticeship of deceiving people.

Before departing,
they each had an interview with Satan,
the chief of the devils.

Satan asked the first devil,
“And how do you plan to deceive people
and destroy them?”

The first devil said,
“I plan to convince them that there is no God.”

“And what about you?”
Satan said to the second devil.
“How do you plan to deceive people?”

The second devil said,
“I plan to convince people that there is no hell.”

“And what about you?”
Satan said to the third devil.
The third devil responded,
“My approach is going to be less intellectual.
I simply plan to convince people
that they have plenty of time
to prepare for death
and for the Second Coming of Jesus.”

Satan smiled and said to the third devil,
“Do that, my son, and you will deceive many.”

The point is that there area certain things in life
that we should never put off until tomorrow,
because we don’t know for sure
whether tomorrow will come for us.

This brings us to the big question
that the Church sets before us
on this first Sunday of Advent:
How prepared would we be to meet Jesus
if he were to come at this very moment?

If we had five minutes to prepare for death,
how would we use those five minutes?
Whatever we would do, that’s what
Church wants us to do in Advent.

 

Once there was an elderly woman
who used to sweep and clean her house
each night before she went to bed.
One night her husband said to her
“You’re very tired tonight.
why don’t you sweep and clean the house
in the morning?
No one’s going to visit us
in the middle of the night.”

His wife replied,
“My dear,
Jesus may come in the middle of the night.”
He may come for you or for me.
In any event,
I don’t want him to enter a dirty house.”

The elderly woman’s point
is in keeping with the spirit of Advent,
especially the spirit of this Sunday.

Her point is simply this:
we should be ready for death -
or for Jesus Second Coming -
at any moment in our lives.

Let us conclude with this prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ,
you have not revealed to us
when you will come.
We only know that you will come.
When you do come,
may you find our souls swept clean
and ready for your arrival.
May you find us watching and praying,
ready to receive you.
Amen.

Twenty-Seventh Sunday – Ordinary C

27th Sunday – year C

There is a legend of a small town
in which there were no liquor stores
or nightclubs.
Eventually however,
a nightclub was built right on Main Street.

One of the churches in the area
was so disturbed
that they conducted several
all-night prayer meetings
and asked the Lord
to burn down the nightclub.

Lightning struck the nightclub
a short time later
and it was completely destroyed by fire.

The owner
knowing how the believers had prayed,
sued the church for damages.

His attorney claimed
that their prayers had caused
the lightning and fire.

The church people on the other hand,
hired a lawyer
and contested the charges.

During the trial
the judge declared,
“It’s the opinion of this court
that the owner of the nightclub
is the one who really believes in prayer
while the church members do not!

Today’s liturgy
offers a reflection on faith.
And it offers three distinct perspectives,
each of which is enlightening.

First, in Luke’s gospel
Jesus makes the point
that we should expect
faith to make a difference in our lives
and in our world.

At the very least,
it changes the way we view the world.
At the very most it can redistribute
the energy of the planet.

But we shouldn’t miss the real point
Jesus is trying to make.

He is not trying to make his disciples feel guilty
because of their lack of faith.

He is trying to tell them
they need to expect amazing things to happen
when they do live in faith.
Faith can and does
change the way the world operates.

St Paul adds a second perspective.
He says to his friend Timothy:
“Stir into flame the gift of God that you have.”
He is reminding us that faith
is sometimes like a dying wood fire.

It sometimes needs to be fanned back into flame.
You don’t have to feel bad about that.
That is the nature of faith.
It ebbs and it flows.
It flames sometimes
and sometimes it’s barely a flicker.

The Jesuit poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins,
in speaking of his relationship with God,
wrote:
“I greet him on the days I meet him,
and bless him when I understand.”

The clear implication is that some days
we may neither meet nor greet God.

Living in faith is a lot more difficult
than just holding on to certain beliefs.
It is a way of seeing and living life.

In today’s first reading
the prophet complains to the Lord,
because of the violence and decay
he sees all around him.

In a daring but respectful way
he asks God to explain
his strange way of governing the world.

As a man of faith, the prophet
did not become skeptical or unbelieving.
The vitality of his faith is not lost.

Our faith increases
as we continue to serve God and others
no matter what the hardships.
Why?

Because in serving others
we grow more in the likeness of Jesus
who constantly prayed to his Father
as he helped everyone he met
walking through the towns.

Today’s first reading tells us
faith is the vision in God’s eye
that can uproot trees,
that can move mountains
and that can burst into flame
at the most unexpected times.

God responded
to the prophet’s cry to heaven
and said “Write this vision;
make it plain on tablets of stone
so that those going by may see it.

And write it in a book,
so that it may be kept as a witness forever.”

In his message God had said:
I still give you a vision of the appointed time;
it speaks of the end and it does not lie.
If it seems to tarry,
wait for it;
it will surely come.
The prophet later explained
that during his vision
the nations shook
as God approached.

He saw that the evil people would perish
as a result of their own doings.
And those who were steadfast in faith
would know God’s grace.

God assured the prophet
that this was a prophecy
that would be read again in the future
when its fulfillment had come to pass.

During today’s gospel
we heard the apostles ask Jesus
“Increase our faith!”

True faith is unselfish.
Living faith is unselfish.
It seeks to give rather than receive.
And it seeks to obey God.

Let us close with this prayer:

Lord, open our ears to your word,
even when it challenges us
more than we want to be challenged.

Lord, open our minds to your word,
even when it disturbs us
more than we want to be disturbed.

Lord, help us to put your word into practice,
even when it means changing our lives
more than we want to change.

Above all Lord, help us realize that
you want to achieve great things
through us
and that we can achieve great things for you
if we but open our hearts to you.
Amen.