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Homily

13th Sunday Ordinary Time – Law of Reciprocity

Posted on by Deacon Joe

2 Kgs. 4:8-11, 14-16a; Ps 89:2-3, 16-19; Rom. 6:3-4, 8-11; Mt. 10:37-42

Today, Jesus reveals one of his eternal truths we recognize as the law of reciprocity.  Reciprocity is considered in general a “give and take”, an exchange of generosity with a sense of obligation.  The difference with God is that we cannot outgive the Lord for his love is eternal. 

Elisha was treated with generosity by Shunem providing him not only a meal but a place to stay.  Elisha felt obliged to return some favor “Can anything be done for her?”  The return was far greater than imagined when he promised her “a baby son”.  Elisha uses the power of his gift from God in reciprocity for her unselfish attention to the need of Elisha. 

Jesus presents to the apostles similar examples of the law of reciprocity, “whoever receives a prophet…will receive a prophet’s reward”, or a “righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.  Even something as small as a cup of water to someone who needs a drink will not be overlooked.  Generosity underlies God’s law of love.  If we seek love the place to begin is with an act of generosity. 

If we seek God let it begin with an act of sacrificial generosity.  It begins with taking up our cross and follow where God leads us even in welcoming death as most of the apostles experienced.  Who among us does not carry a “thorn” of suffering, physical, psychological, or spiritual in need of healing.  The suffering of the cross can also be a hardship in caring for others, setting aside our personal needs to care for someone. 

In suffering however, we must discern God’s will for us.  The well-known Serenity Prayer leads us to discern the difference by praying for the “serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”  The full prayer calls us to surrender to His will and we can do that by offering it up and as an act of trust even when in our understanding we cannot see the purpose it brings.  These are the moments to remember “let go and let God”. 

What is the “end goal”?  It is what waits for us in eternity.  It is not about “my way” but about his plan of salvation.  This life is our battle ground and some battles are won by the grace of God but some we must leave to God and his divine providence.  The victory is his to win, ours is not to question why, ours is to persevere in good times and in bad for eternity will fulfill the law of reciprocity in ways we cannot imagine. 

The book of Roman’s reminds us we were baptized into his death.  We live for God in Christ Jesus by denying ourselves the temptation to sin.  To empty ourselves of the temptation to sin requires an active intent to fill our lives in generosity doing the good that brings truth, justice, peace, and unity in our daily encounters with others.  The reciprocity that comes to us comes with the power to overcome not only the world but our very self and rise from death to life. 

Jesus is the light seeking a nation of saints “no others need to apply”.  The application is received in baptism.  It is the beginning not the final call to holiness.  Jesus provides the way to holiness in the sacramental life of the church.  The law of reciprocity reminds us if we deny him in the sacramental life of the church, he may deny us because by our will we have turned from him to choose another path.  For every act there is a reciprocal act in the universal plan from God.  Let us seek God’s mercy so that even in death the reciprocal response may be our final cleansing in purgatory for the will of God is that all may be saved and our hope lies in his love and mercy. 

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Homily

12th Sunday Ordinary Time “Fear no one”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Jer. 20:10-13; Ps 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35; Rom. 5:12-15; Mt. 10:26-33

In this world we are to fear no one as sheep under the care of our shepherd.  Without fear we are to be bold Christians unafraid to stand for our faith and acknowledge our God before others.  This is what the culture of death cannot accept, that we are not to fear proclaiming our faith in the public square.  In fact, the test of fortitude is to acknowledge our heavenly Father before others or we too will be denied before the Father. 

Consider the four cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance.  With prudence the Holy Spirit can guide us to right action and with justice we can discern what is just in the eyes of God but unless we have the fortitude to stand for what is just and take right action, we can fall into the sin of omission afraid of being judged by the world and compliant by our silence.  Do we have the courage to let others know “I am a Catholic”; to silently pray by making the sign of the cross before a meal at a restaurant or if you are a student at lunch on campus?  Do we dare repeat the words of the church when it says abortion is intrinsically evil?  If we deny our faith before others, have we denied God himself?  Let us pray for prudence to take right action before others. 

We also receive the gift of temperance that we may recognize the right balance in standing for justice without falling into sin by extremist reactions.  We are called to be warriors for Christ by following as imitators of Christ and not imitators of the evil one.  Recall how Jesus corrected Peter for his wrong intentions, “Get behind me, Satan.  You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” (Mk. 8:33) We must always discern right action in times of wrong by seeking the mind of God or risk becoming zealots of our own ideology.   

Just as in the early church there was a time of persecution for proclaiming the one true God, today the cancel culture is back seeking to destroy anyone who does not accept the mantras of what is viewed as “progressive” ideology.  There was a time when the compromise seemed to be silence, just keep your views to yourself and leave politics, religion, and money out of the conversation.  That is no longer the approved standard. 

Unless you demonstrate support for progressive ideology with chosen pronouns, gender affirming language, even required colors in clothing that support certain views there will be an effort to punish and cancel a person.  Unless people demonstrate support for freedom without restraint in termination of life of the unborn, assisted suicide, and gender transitioning at any age you will be persecuted. 

What is true for Jeremiah is become true for society at large.  There is “terror at every side!” ready to denounce anyone who dares to oppose what is labeled as “progressive”.  Ironically to call the current culture “progressive” is an oxymoron.  Our times reflect the words of Isaiah 5:20 “How terrible it will be for people who call good things bad and bad things good, who think darkness is light and light is darkness”.  This is nothing more than the work of the evil one and many have fallen seduced by a “feel good” philosophy.  If it feels good then do it.

Did it feel good for Jesus to suffer and die on the cross?  Not at all.  By his goodness he opened the gate into heaven by way of the cross.  Does it feel good to face your fears in order to overcome them?  Not at all.  It would seem best to run from those fears but that only adds greater fear.  It is in facing our fears that we struggle and learn how to overcome them.   Does it feel good to get old and see our body struggle with illness, our mind lose cognition, and lose our independence?  Not at all.  Yet, it is in dying that we are born again into the kingdom of God, the resurrected life and the glorified state.  This the world cannot understand or accept but we have come to believe in the Son of God sent to redeem us and give us true freedom. 

The “feel good” philosophy is the gate to Gehenna where some fall into damnation and others come to be purified by fire.  Gehenna between the 7th and 10th century B.C. was a valley where child sacrifices were made to the gods, the modern-day abortion world to the god of self.  In the time of Jesus, it had become the city dump outside of Jerusalem where the trash was burned, the modern-day confessional where we go to dump our sins and be forgiven.  For Jews it also came to represent a sign as a “place of purification” which in Christian eschatology is taken to be purgatory (Britannica.com) the modern view of washing our baptismal robes of our sins.  Gehenna is the fire of transformation from great sinner to great saint but not for all. 

It does not have to be Gehenna for us when we choose God’s way.  God’s way is the imitation of Christ.  Christ is the image, person, and God we are to follow.  For this he came to show us the way to salvation.  “Fear no one except the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna”.  Who has the power to do this?  Is it God after all he is the one creator of all who can destroy all; is it the evil one who comes to destroy body and soul through sin; or is it something we have done to ourselves by our own free will?  Let us pray that we will not be the one to find out the answer by having denied Jesus.  Remain in him and he will remain in us.    

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Homily

11th Sunday Ordinary Time “Keep my covenant”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Ex 19:2-6a; Ps 100:1-2, 3, 5; Rom. 5:6-11; Mt. 9:36-10:8

The Lord says to us to “hearken” to his voice and “keep my covenant”.  To “hearken” is not only to listen but to act in obedience.  The Hebrew word is “shama” meaning to receive and carryout.  We are to carry out the commandments of the Lord as a covenant, meaning a promise under the principle of cause and effect.  The cause of our obedience to the covenant is the promise of being a holy nation.  The promise made to the Israelites has now come to us through Jesus Christ who opened the gates of heaven to all the “ungodly” who will repent and believe. 

“Repent and believe in the gospel” is the beginning of our salvation.  In order to repent however we have to also believe we are guilty of some sin.  Sin is defined by the standards set by the law giver and not by our standards.  God reveals his way when we are in right relationship with him.  The first step to being in right relationship is repentance.  To repent we must recognize our sin in the eyes of God when we fail to keep his covenant.  A covenant is being in right relationship with our God to know how to live by his ways. The word of God cannot be simply a list of rules and commands to follow as lost sheep in ignorance of our God.  The word of God is his incarnation in Jesus to be in right relationship with him, a relationship bound by love. 

To keep his covenant, we must recognize the Mass as the central act of love and worship in which Jesus makes himself present to us in the Eucharist as a sacrifice for our sins.  It is not enough to say “I am a good person and I believe in God” and ignore the Mass.  Doing so is breaking the covenant and listening to our voice of justification not to his command.  The command of the covenant is the Lord’s way to provide for our “manna” in the desert of life with his body and blood to gives us eternal life.  It is the “source and summit” not only of our faith but of the one act of love we are called to “hearken”.  The Mass is the word made flesh in the Eucharist. 

To believe in the gospel is to believe in Jesus Christ the word made flesh.  The word of God is beyond a collection of books of people, places and historical events that speak to our faith in God.  The word of God is a revelation of God that requires study to understand the gospel in the history of salvation.  If the Mass is where we come to offer our worship of the Lord where is our instruction, our catechesis for right teaching and interpretation of the word?  Where do we begin then to learn the gospel that we may live the gospel and become better Christians of the faith we profess?  We begin by turning to the Church for proper instruction with endless resources.  For example, the bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church work together to deepen our understanding of the gospel message.  The key is to begin and allow God to “hearken” our way in keeping his covenant. 

Repent and believe in the gospel.  God is the just judge of what we have done and failed to do and his standards are based on perfection, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” we are remined in Mt. 5:48.  Who can say a day goes by in which we loved God perfectly, acted perfectly, forgave perfectly, and was perfectly charitable?  Clearly not I.  It is easy to say “I am a good person.  I have nothing to confess.” avoiding the reality that God knows our every thought and motive behind our actions.  God’s ways are not our way so we must come to know our God by way of God’s truth.  In a world that tries to deny there is a God, deny there is absolute truth, deny there is a day of judgment coming, “sin” is simply a personal sense of right and wrong at best and at worst nonexistent to the truth deniers. 

Every believer is called to seek God through prayer, word, fellowship and service.  Prayer is personal and intimate but it is also unitive. God says “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt. 18:20).  As Catholics we pray and we offer our prayers.  The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray and he gave them the Lord’s prayer.  The Bible is filled with psalms of prayer to become our prayer and live out his covenant.  In the Mass we unite our hearts as we respond to the prayers of the Church.  We also go into our inner chamber where only our soul and God can enter to reveal himself to us, awaken us to his loving presence, and give us his light to follow his way.  Without prayer we remain but lost sheep, a doubting Thomas, simply another truth denier.   

The word of God is a revelation of God himself.  It is a gift of knowledge to be studied with right interpretation.  To correctly understand the fullness of scripture it comes through a literal, moral, allegorical, and mystical synthesis within the context of salvation history.  It is too easy to be misguided and to misguide others if it is only viewed through the literal sense.  Even those who try to accept only a literal interpretation of the bible admit none dare to cut off their hand or pull out their eyes for committing sin.  Centuries have been devoted to giving us that perfect picture of God’s revelation through his word but God entrusted his word to the Church that we may not be deceived by false teachers.   

We are called to be a community of faith.  In fellowship we gather to offer our worship bringing together our prayers, the word of God, and to offer our service to do his will.  Anyone who claims they don’t need church and rely on their own prayer to God is like someone seeking water from a dripping faucet on a hot day.  The water quickly evaporates in a dry mouth unable to quench the thirst.  Graces come from the one body by the authority Jesus gave to his disciples to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.”  Jesus instituted his church so that through the sacramental life of the church his graces may be poured out on the harvest.  This is God’s way in Jesus with the Holy Spirit and through his church that we may “boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

To believe in the gospel is to believe we have a calling to service.  For some it is to the priesthood but for most it is to be a witness of Jesus’ love and mercy by the way we lead our lives in service to others.  Is our work a blessing we offer up to God or a simply a duty to fulfill for pay?  To believe in the gospel is to believe that God can transform every act into a gift of service and a moment of grace in which he unites his people to be interdependent for a greater good.  We become one body in Christ not in silos between God and each person but as a communion of saintly people who believe, follow and live the gospel truth.  

In keeping God’s covenant, that is his promise to us by living his commandments we become his special possession.  In baptism we join his kingdom baptized priest, prophet and king as a member of his holy nation.  As members of his holy nation, we live the gospel message in service to each other and in worship of our one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

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Homily

Solemnity the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Deut. 8-2-3, 14b-16a; Ps. 147: 12-15, 19-20; 1 Cor. 10: 16-17; Jn. 6: 51-58

Never forget the test that the Lord gave the people of Israel for forty years in the desert while still providing for them with manna and water.  It was a test of obedience to the commandments and love of the Lord.  Never forget the power of God to set us free not simply from the slavery of the human condition but from the attachment to sin. 

Never forget to praise the Lord for the cup of blessings that comes from the hands of a priest to give us the most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.   It was Jesus who instituted his priesthood in the disciples he chose to make himself present even as he died and rose to heaven through his body and blood in the Eucharist.  No priest, no Eucharist, no real presence of Christ as body and blood.  This is the great tragedy of our times that the Christian world has abandoned the command of Jesus to make him present as body and blood in the bread and wine. 

Never forget the promise of Jesus as the “living bread” that comes down from heaven in the Eucharist.  This is what he calls us to eat to receive eternal life.  This is the sacrifice of Jesus which the Jews could not accept then and the world continues to deny.  We have only to recall the many Eucharistic miracles where the Eucharist turns into flesh and drips blood to confirm our faith in the words that Jesus spoke “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life”. 

“Do this” is to make Jesus alive in the Eucharist, to receive him and proclaim his sacrifice and death until he comes.  Jesus coming is always a present event for he comes in the Most Holy Body and Blood in the Eucharist.  Having just visited many holy shrines in Italy, one place visited was Lanciano, Italy.  Here is the “Miracle of Lanciano” where the sacred host changed into flesh and blood.  Able to stand within feet of the reliquary which holds to this day the flesh and blood you see the fleshy host and below it five globules of blood intact.  Within the miracle itself scientist weighed each of the five separate parts and found that each part weighs the same as all five together.  They also determine that the fleshy host is human cardiac tissue of type AB blood and they can point exactly what spot of the heart muscle tissue it comes from.  This is consistent with all other Eucharistic miracles in the church.  What are we to believe?  More importantly do we believe Jesus is “the living bread” in the Eucharist “that came down from heaven” and the source of eternal life when we “eat this bread”?  This is our celebration today!

In the gospel, Jesus blesses the five loaves and two fish and it is multiplied to feed the five thousand plus.  God is the creator of natural law thus his power is outside of the natural law.  We are bound by natural law but he is not bound by the object of his creation. 

Years back we went on a pilgrimage to Israel.  Our guide was a very well educated older Jewish man with a sense of humor.  He was also in much better physical shape than a lot of us younger people.  During daily Mass he always sat in the back but remained in church.  He had a good understanding of Christian history and was a very good guide.  When discussing the church faith in transubstantiation, that is the changing of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist, it was a stumbling block for him.  His response was “it cannot be that easy”.  It is that easy if it is the will of God.  What happens the next day after the multiplication of the loaves?  The people want a sign from heaven to believe in him.  Jesus responds by saying, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day” and again repeats “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him”.  (Jn. 6: 54, 56) How did many of his disciples respond?”  They said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?”  Many left and “returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” (Jn. 6:66) How do we respond to the invitation today?  Do we follow the teaching of Jesus or do we go through the “cafeteria line” and pick and choose only what we can accept? 

Today this teaching is a stumbling block for many other Christian denominations.  Some take crackers and grape juice to reflect communion as a symbolism skipping over Jesus’ teaching.  The literal meaning is too hard to accept.  Some say the Word of the gospel is the body of Christ as we consume his word to transform us.  We receive both in the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist for the fullness of truth.  Do we believe what we profess every day in all the tabernacles of the world?  The miracle is present for us today who believe and receive the Most precious Body and Blood of Jesus. 

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Homily

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity – Mystery of one God

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Ex. 34:4b-6, 8-9; Dan. 3:52-55; 2 Cor. 13: 11-13; Jn. 3:16-18

Mystery of one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is revealed to the disciples and to us through Jesus.  It is the love of one God in unity to the divine will that we may all be saved.  His name “The Lord” is now given as “Father”.  “The Lord” who Moses bowed down and worshiped is now the “Father” who we embrace with the grace of the Son to receive the gift in fellowship with the Holy Spirit.  He is “Our Father” in one body and three persons from the beginning of time.  From the old to the new the Word remains an act of love for the world but the world must respond to this love to receive its salvation. 

This great mystery of one God comes to us in the Son as the true sacrifice of love.  Believe in the Son and in his sacrifice to receive eternal life.  Belief it not simply done by an expression of word but as the word manifested in our act of love, sacrificial love.  The history of Christianity is a history centered on sacrifice.  Too often Christianity takes this famous bible passage of John 3:16 to proclaim we are saved by faith alone.  This sets us to be free to then follow our own ways.  Jesus left us his witness to remain obedient to the Father as he was obedient, to love through sacrifice as he sacrificed himself, and to listen to God through the Holy Spirit we have received. 

“The Lord, the Lord a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity…so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life”.  In this the promise of the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament in the person of Jesus, second person of the Trinity.  Today we need the Lord’s mercy upon our nation and the world as we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of this nation we pray that we remain “one nation under God”. 

The powers that seek to undermine our foundation do so under the false pretense of inclusivity that in order to be open to all we must be a nation that is agnostic, trust in the power of the people rather than in God we trust.  It is an ideology destined to fail as it has been proven throughout history as nations rise and nations fall under the power of the people.  A nation consecrated to God trusts in a power greater than itself, humbled to worship the God of creation and the Lord who is a “merciful and gracious God”.  We must not be silent in our faith but be ready to proclaim it in word and deed.  The freedom we live was won by the sacrifice of many who have not only shed their blood but stood with courage to proclaim a nation of faith in God. 

Free will dictates we make a choice and the choice we are to make is to embrace God in the Trinity, God with us in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  The opposite choice is to remain “a stiff-necked people” where condemnation comes from rejecting faith in his name.  In who are we to believe?  Many will claim science as ultimate truth but science is limited focusing on the study of the elements of truth, incomplete and evolving.  Others look to a political nirvana that exists in theory with no potential of survival in a fallen and broken human nature.  Finally, left without a place to turn many are left to believe only in themselves, never at peace without the unity to God or neighbor. The most holy Trinity reflects the need for unity. 

Who do we serve, science, politics, oneself, or someone greater than and creator of all that is above, below and most importantly with all?  The Lord, Our Father from the beginning is a unity in communion as a Trinity.  This the church proclaims as a revelation from God, our Lord and Father in the Son through the Holy Spirit as the source of life itself.  Do we believe?  Eternity is dependent on the answer.  This is the choice this nation finds itself on the streets of good versus evil as we approach our 250th anniversary.  With who do we stand?   

Who do we serve one God in three Persons or an endless list of ideologies, religions, and broken away denominations?  God is a unity of one and until we accept this unity to love God as one united to the one body in the Trinity and our neighbor as one with us in our one Lord and Father, we have a way to journey in the desert of faith. 

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Homily

Pentecost Sunday “Jesus is Lord”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 2:1-11; Ps 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34; 1 Cor. 12:3b-7, 12-13; Jn. 20:19-23

“Jesus is Lord!”  Can we say it?  This is a confirmation that the Holy Spirit is active in us. This is the time when the Church is celebrating the sacrament of Confirmation for many of our youth.  It confirms the gift of the Holy Spirit but the gift comes with a mandate.  The mandate is our call to go forth and proclaim what we believe.  We believe that Jesus is Lord of our life, he suffered and died for us and rose on the third day.  We believe that he ascended into heaven and will come again.  Until then he leaves us with the Holy Spirit to be our light and lead us to salvation. 

This is also the time of year when many are graduating from High School, college and higher degrees to bring closure to one phase of life and begin a new mandate.  It is a mandate to go forth into the world and serve your purpose.  The baptized and confirmed Christian knows that when we serve God first the doors will be opened to us.  The world is wanting to be served first waiting for the sacrificial blood of the willing to meet its needs.  The world is not our enemy but it is not a friend, it simply needs to be served.  Jesus is our friend.

Sacrifice underlies both our service to God and to the world.  With God the sacrifice brings eternal rewards.  With the world the sacrifice is temporal and ends with mortal death.  Thus, we are in the world but not of the world.  We are called to a greater purpose than profit, prestige, or power.  In the world there is despair when we hear of all the suffering, crime, war, and disease.  We are not a people of despair but of hope. 

The disciples felt despair after Jesus died because their hope was that he would transform the world and bring a new world order by governance.  Jesus’ resurrection was a confirmation that he came to transform the world from within the life of each person.  He governs our souls and sends us the Holy Spirit to be that light to lead us that we may transform the world by our witness of faith.  It is the fire to be all that God created us to be.  The world crucified Jesus and has never stopped searching for ways to separate itself from him by rejecting that there is one truth, one God, and one way to salvation. 

The Holy Spirit come to lift us up in the battle of life with gifts of prudence to have right judgement, justice to act in fairness, fortitude to have courage to act, temperance to seek right balance and many more.  The Holy Spirit is our ally, our advocate, our comforter, and our rescuer.  It is always good to pray, “Come Holy Spirit, take possession of my heart, strengthen me by your grace”. 

The confirmation of Jesus is Lord came to the disciples through the Holy Spirit in a visible image of “tongues as of fire”.  The disciples were proclaiming in different languages “the mighty acts of God” in the person of Jesus.  They were being given their priesthood to speak and fulfill all that Jesus had commanded them to do.  Thus, by doing what Jesus commanded with power and authority there could be no doubt of the proclamation that Jesus is Lord. 

This Spirit given to the disciples though one Spirit came with different gifts that each may fulfill one part of the body of Christ yet each gift reveals the same truth “Jesus is Lord”.  Today we each have each received our gifts to serve a divine purpose. In fulfilling our gifts, we come closer to God and to his divine will. 

Today we continue to receive our inheritance of the Holy Spirit’s gifts through the sacramental life of the Church though many gifts, one Church, one faith, one Lord.  “The manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit”.  The benefit is a reciprocal blessing whereby placing the gift at the service of the Lord we become the blessing of the Lord and are blessed with even more graces to grow in holiness.  This is the law of reciprocity, we cannot outgive the giver of all that we are and offer of ourselves to our Lord and to our neighbor. 

Jesus breathes on the disciples the power of his love and desire for mercy raising them to his priesthood to “forgive and to retain sins”.  It is a tremendous gift and responsibility for them and a great opportunity for us to receive God’s mercy but it requires an act of humility to admit our sins.  When Jesus washes the disciples’ feet at the Last Supper, he is reminding them that they are clean but not completely.  The stain of sin remains but as he raises them to the priesthood he provides for them a church and a sacramental life to wash us clean. 

Jesus says, “As the Father has sent me, so I sent you” and he breathed on them the Holy Spirit.  Let us go forth with courage and trust to be all that God is calling us to be.  Fear not because Jesus is Lord and faithful to his promise to be with us until the end of time and into eternity.

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Homily

Ascension of the Lord – The Promise

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 1:1-11; Ps. 47:2-3,6-9; Eph. 1:17-23; Mat.28:16-20

The promise of the Lord is the baptism with the Holy Spirit.  The promise of the Lord is “I am with you always, until the end of the age”.  The baptized live with these promises where death has no power proven by the “many proofs…appearing to them” that is the apostles revealing to them the kingdom of God.  The promise of the Holy Spirit comes with power to overcome all our trials but it must act in unity with our will, our prayer, our desire to live by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to believe and not doubt. 

This our hope and salvation as Jesus visibly ascends only to remain as the invisible God with us.  The disciples went to the mountain of Galilee and “when they saw him, they worshiped but they doubted.”  What a contradiction to see, worship and still doubt what you see. It reminds us only in Christ can we do all things through him who strengthens us.  The promise cannot manifest itself in doubt.  The weakness of our humanity cannot be our trust to lead us simply by our human understanding.  Believe and go forth trusting in the promise in faith and the victory is ours. 

In the midst of uncertainty as the disciples found themselves even in seeing the resurrected Jesus, they doubted his real presence.  In the midst of uncertainty how often do we doubt the presence of God and promise that Jesus is with us?  In receiving the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ in the Eucharist how many remain in doubt to his real presence even after seeing Eucharistic miracles where the host turn into flesh and drips blood?  The power of faith to believe is the coming together of our will to the will of the Father to give life in the spirit of truth. 

Jesus provided “many proofs” he is alive yet they doubted.  The human spirit desires what only the Holy Spirit brings to the soul, the voice of God.  God enlightens the soul to truth out of the  darkness of doubt through the waters of baptism; it confirms us in faith to the divine will to witness against the passion of idolatry; it feeds the hunger for love out of his own body and blood in the breaking of the bread; it brings conviction of sin to be cleansed in confession against condemnation of the law; it fosters unity in one body with the Trinity and fellowship of humanity against division of relativity; it raises sacrifice for a greater good against indulgence of narcissism; it brings peace and joy where there is fear and confusion; it is God with us  and who can be against? 

God sees the depth of the heart’s prayer as worship with doubt or worship in faith.  Jesus asks Martha, “Do you believe this?”.  He was referring to himself as “the resurrection and the life”.  Martha responds “Yes, Lord.  I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God…”  First, Martha came to believe indicating faith is a journey and each of us are on that path with its’ own share of joys and sufferings that bring us to this revelation.  Second, Martha arrived at a point of faith that allowed Jesus to perform the miracle of faith in raising Lazarus. 

The Spirit is present and active but where are the believers who have arrived without doubting in this power of God present in us and with us?  We remain as the people of God in the desert looking beyond for the promise land wandering, waiting, hoping, yet doubting.  Jesus is with us yet we must arrive in our faith as he walks beside us while our hearts are burning, wandering and wondering.  Believe and receive the promise waiting to be revealed. 

There was a radio talk show in which the person interviewed came to believe and converted from atheist to Catholic.  The one statement that had a profound impact in her conversion was when they heard “what if you just believed for 30 days what do you have to lose”.  She decided to act in faith what she was discerning and see what would happen knowing that if nothing happened the worst thing in the end she would “eat some crow” for her foolishness.  The encounter with God was not delayed as after only a few days there was a new profound faith giving birth in her soul that was left with no doubt.  Let us come to believe and set doubt aside so God can enter into our faith and make greater miracles of us, through us, and for us. 

For forty days Jesus appears to the disciples after the resurrection and before his ascension to bring conviction and instruction as to the kingdom of God.  They were to “wait for the promise of the Father…in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit”.  This promise is given to us who wait upon the Lord in faith already believing and “shout to God with cries of gladness”.  Thank you, Lord for receiving me who receives you this day present to manifest power and glory in this humble servant for this I know your promise is everlasting.  God is faithful to the promise let us respond in faith to his Spirit of truth and revelation. 

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Homily

6th Sunday of Easter – Spirit of Truth

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; Ps. 66:1-7, 16, 20; 1Peter 3:15-18; Jn. 14:15-21

The Advocate is the Spirit of Truth.  It is him who comes to us and remains with us when we follow his commandments.  Our act of faith is to follow his commandments with a spirit of trust which leads God to fulfill his promise to us.  Who is in the driver’s seat, the Spirit of Truth that leads the way or are we still holding on tight to the wheel? 

The Spirit of Truth is one that hears the cries out to God in good times and in bad, in joy and in sorrow, in love and worship and in surrender to love.  The Spirit of Truth is faithful when we empty ourselves of our attachments and allow him to fill us with his truth in unity with his love.  This is our conversion to the goodness of God.  Still holding tight to the wheel? 

The driverless vehicles are already on the road.  Some are happy to allow technology to take over while they focus on their own self interests while riding from place to place.  Others are fearful to let go of the wheel with the old adage “what can go wrong will go wrong”.  Some don’t even like to use cruise control and let go of the gas pedal.  Trusting technology is an act of faith to a lesser degree but it reveals to us something of our own level of trust in God.  To say “I believe” in God does not reveal how far we have come to trust in God. 

 A sign that the Spirit of Truth is active in our lives is how we trust in God.  We trust in God when we sanctify Christ in our hearts.  Christ is our hope regardless of what is going on in our world.  This hope is visible in the way we live our lives and the way we respond to the world not only with hope but with the peace of Christ that remains within us.  The Lord’s greeting “peace be with you” is not just an opening invitation of peace but a sustaining peace that remains with us in the light of hope and in the darkness of evil, God’s will be done and will prevail. 

The Spirit of Truth cannot be deceived.  Recall the adage “you can fool some of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time”.  Well, you can never fool the Spirit of Truth at any time and keep a conscience clear.  When the Spirit of Truth resides in us then we can still try to deceive others by our passions but we cannot deceive ourselves and believe it.  The truth that resides in us will not rest until we bring reconciliation with God and others.  This is a blessing though some may consider it a curse, the moral conscience to do right.  A moral conscience comes from God’s law of serving a greater good. 

Keeping his commandments gets tested not only from within but also from without by a world that does not know him and lives not by a Spirit justified by God’s truth but by the spirit of self-justification.  The spirit of self-justification follows the principle that “it’s all about me”.  Because it is all about me then if you disagree with me, you are the enemy that must be “cancelled” or eliminated. 

That is the lesson seen in the crucified Christ and the experience we live with in a culture of cancellation and death.  If they could crucify Christ who walked doing what is good and spoke of Godly truth then we can see how easily the world can finds ways to silence, cancel, and if needed destroy a person for the act of practicing their faith in the public square.  The Spirit if Truth is not bound by the walls or limited to personal beliefs.  It is a Spirit of freedom to be lived, to be shared and to even be proclaimed.   

1st Peter in his letter calls us to testify to God’s power in us when we “suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God.”  The “if” reminds us not all suffering is the will of God when evil remains in this world.  The will of God comes in suffering from keeping his commandments.  These works represent his truth coming the “Spirit of Truth” as our Advocate when we respond with “gentleness and reverence, keeping our conscience clear”.  This is our hope and our challenge calling upon the Advocate in our struggles when faced with adversity.  Let us let God be our driver and we will arrive at our destination in good hands. 

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Homily

5th Sunday of Easter – The Mystery of Faith

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 6:1-7; Ps. 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19; 1Peter 2:4-9; Jn. 14:1-12

What is the mystery of faith?  We say it in every Mass after the consecration.  It is the real presence of Christ in the bread and wine as Christ’s body and blood, a reality accepted in faith more than by reason.  Many do not believe even among some Catholics that the Eucharist is the real presence of Christ because it sounds too cannibalistic.  It is seen with only human understanding, reduced to mere symbolism.   

Easter is the revelation of Jesus resurrected yet maintaining the capacity of being in body and blood.  It is the divine body and blood that we are now receiving in the Eucharist.  How can this be?  In the same way that he reveals to us that to see him is to see the Father, he is in the Father and the Father is in him adding to the mystery of faith.  Not only that but to complete the mystery of faith, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one God. 

To add to the mystery of faith, Jesus does not “cancel” the priesthood so that we may all be led by a good pastor of the sheep.  This is what the reformation tried to do in separating itself from the Catholic church.  It claimed by our baptism we are all priests, prophets and kings so no need for as priest.  In doing so however no more consecration of bread and wine so it had to be a mere symbolism. The first reading tells us that “even a large number of priests” became obedient not by giving up their priesthood but by joining the priesthood of Jesus. 

The first Apostles are revealing to us today in the scripture the priesthood of Jesus.  The community was growing and they found themselves having to ensure that the community was being taken care of for basic needs.  They saw this as “neglect” of the word of God and of the priestly role to “serve at table”.  This was their first obligation to proclaim the word and consecrate the bread and wine into the daily Eucharist.  The solution was to appoint “seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom” who they laid hands on them to assist in the care of the church and thus was created the first deacons.   

The origins for the call to the diaconate was to serve the needs of the people.  In being “reputable”, they were trusted with the resources of the church and not prone to scandal.  In being filled with the Spirit and wisdom they served as a channel of grace to minister to the needs of the people as the hands of the church.  Deacons are called apart out from the people but not to the priesthood become the bridge living “in the world but not of the world” uniting church and people as a visible Christ.  The diaconate is to go forth as a voice for our times in our homes, work places, and in the community. 

Jesus is our cornerstone “the way the truth and the life”.  This is our invitation today, just as the Father dwells in Jesus and Jesus in him, we are invited to dwell in Jesus and “offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ”.  The complaint we hear from people is that they come to church to “get something” by being here.  Jesus is here waiting to receive what we are ready to offer him, our worship and praise, our fruits even our very selves.  It is in giving that we receive.  If we come to church with the idea of “Jesus show me what you got, show me the Father” not ready to empty ourselves to his love and mercy then we leave just as we came in.

In our times it is often repeated “the church is the people” who share in the one priesthood by baptism.  This focus on the people is meaningful and part of Vatican II’s effort for the people to be more engaged in the church.  It is not meant to deny Jesus his institution of a church to lead the people in his divine plan of salvation. 

The mystery of faith is also the church.  The church is born in the one priesthood of Jesus Christ!  Ecclesiology is the study of the nature of the “church” and traditionally Pentecost celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus after his Ascension as the birth of the church.  These are the priests set apart to lead the people.  Pope Leo last Sunday, also called the Good Shepherd Sunday ordained a group of men to the priesthood in which he told them “You are a channel, not a filter.”  The good shepherd leads people to Christ with an open gate to add to a “holy nation, a people of his own” with love and mercy as we place our trust in him. 

The mystery of faith rises and descends from the Eucharist as the source and summit of the church. Can there be church without the Eucharist or the Eucharist without a priest?  Let us continue to pray for the priesthood and the call for vocations as the cornerstone that Jesus left us as his way to remain with us. 

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Homily

4th Sunday of Easter – The Good Shepherd

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Ps. 23:1-3a, 3b-6; 1Peter 2:20b-25; Jn. 10:1-10

Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  His voice is what runs through our minds, hearts, and will to do the Father’s will.  He leads us through right paths for he himself is the way the truth, and the life. 

The Good Shepherd’s voice calls out to “Save yourself from this corrupt generation…which does not enter the sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.”  When Peter stood up and proclaimed to his generation “this Jesus whom you crucified…they were cut to the heart”.  Salvation comes through repentance and baptism but first the word of God must cut to the heart and reveal our sin before us.  Sin is the thief and robber that climbs into our lives unsuspectingly to steal our hearts with temptation until we become “normalized” by a corrupt generation. 

The sin of each generation is a thief and robber in search of souls for a self-indulgence trying to feed on the pleasure principle, “if it feels good then indulge” until it becomes toxic but by then the heart is compromised and it stands at the gate holding us in bondage to “steal, slaughter and destroy”.  The thief lays the “feel good bag of goodies” to savor but it is our response that is the sin we possess.  Fault always is personal to be rejected with virtue.  Corruption came from the beginning, the genesis of sin after creation by free will and it remains “mia culpa” by our choice.  “For you have gone astray as sheep” but now we hear the voice of truth to lead us back. 

Truth leads to wisdom of a greater understanding beyond ourselves.  It is not about “me” it is about salvation for “us”.  Easter is this gift of salvation in Jesus giving of himself for us in his passion, death and resurrection that all may be saved through the “good shepherd”.  Jesus proclaims “I know my sheep, and mine know me.” 

How does Jesus recognize his “sheep” and how do we recognize our Lord?  We are recognized in being “patient when you suffer for doing what is good, this is a grace before God”.  Jesus is the example we should follow that he may see himself in us.  In this Jesus recognizes his own who are responding to evil with good.  How then do we know Jesus?  Jesus’ revelation comes in the voice of truth that cuts to our hearts “and the sheep follow him”.  The voice of the shepherd burns in the hearts of his sheep and it cannot be denied. 

“The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want”.  The people of Israel sought freedom he gave them salvation.  They sought a king for this earth and he gave them a kingdom in heaven.  They wanted someone to rule over them and he gave them a shepherd to follow.  They wanted to conquer other people and he gave them the power to conquer their own corruption. 

What do we “want” from the Lord?  We seek freedom from disease and pandemics he gives us salvation from sin.  We want to preserve our kingdoms we have built and he promises one in heaven.  We want leaders for nations to rule and he gives us himself calling us to follow his example.  We want to conquer in this world all our enemies and we are given the power to conquer the enemy of the world and victory over death.  Jesus is the promise of life more abundantly. 

The abundant life in Jesus Christ is the good news!  In him is our courage to “walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil”.  The corruption of each generation remains in a kingdom not our own but the Lord has called us by name and if “today you hear his voice harden not your hearts” salvation is at your doorstep. 

Our heads are anointed with oil of salvation at baptism and we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to keep our hearts burning for truth, goodness, beauty and unity in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Open the doors of hearts to “dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come”.  Today we pray for the doors to the church to be opened and a return to the banquet of the Lord in the Eucharist until we enter the heavenly banquet closer to us than we recognize in the mystery of faith. 

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